Tuesday, November 29, 2011

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Breakfast for Supper!

One of my favorite appliances after the coffee maker and bread machine,
is this trusty old waffle making iron!

When we have grandkids staying over night it is either sugar cereal (Lucky Charms or a knockoff) or Waffles for breakfast!

But tonight it was just the two of us and I felt like having some waffles for supper,
with of course some sausage links. It has been a while since we had waffles, and they tasted so
good as usual, and I make them from a scratch recipe in a Betty Crocker cookbook.

As a child we had waffles every so often for supper with 5 boys and one little girl, my mom
would have to stand by the waffle iron for a while cooking up these tasty treats.
So having breakfast food for supper as always been a treat!

Monday, November 28, 2011

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Cleaning my shop!

Okay, we all know how when you are busy doing things, you tend to just set things where it is convenient.

Well I do that a lot sometimes, and after a busy summer of projects like salvaging wood off the old barn, a huge pool deck project, various other building projects. And let's not forget that we constantly have things showing up in our yard from Crystalie's Dad, and his salvaging business. Plus we manage to collect somethings ourselves at garage sales and other shopping excursions.

My 30 by 36 shop, needless to say was basically a pathway between shelf units and shop tools and piles of wood and extra tables (Wooden Nichols stuff) along with a lawn tractor and mower deck.

So I got home a little early and went out to the shop and started moving things around and also sweeping the floor as I went. I reorganized my shelf units and cleared a few shelves facing my
radial arm saw and then proceeded to re-stack all my barn wood and left over deck wood all on the shelves and also the floor right in front of it. After doing that I moved the tables....6 of them and stacked a few of them on top of one another.

Then I proceeded to move the 9 ft flat bottom boat in storage in my shop( another Wooden Nichols item) to the far end and created another row in the shop.

This allowed me to create a space of clear floor about 9' by 20' which means if I had to I could get a car in the shop this winter. But for me I just need a roomy spot to park my lawn tractor with the snowplow on it and also a place to do some wood working when the weather permits.

Next step is to haul the recyclables and the trash to town, which will clean out the corner by the door! And to clean off my work bench and re-organize my tools.

Crystalie was even impressed!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

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The wood pile

Well I finished moving all the wood I split yesterday, and here is the way the
current woodpile looks. The 4 rows on the left were added today from all the wood I moved
from the landing area, that I split yesterday.
I also filled in closer to the stove, where I had used wood from the pile, and also added
some to the backside of the pile, where I had a few spots that needed a little more.
Overall, I feel pretty good about what I have going into the dead of winter.
I have some more to cut at our friend Colette's house, but I may rest a week or so,
before tackling that, and the weather sounds pretty good for a week or so, not to cold
or no large snowfall amounts are heading this way.

The dogs were tired out also today from all the trips back and forth to the landing area.

Friday, November 25, 2011

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It's Splitting day!


Here you see my chunks of oak awaiting the splitting process.

More of the oak to be split,as you can see I have my work cut out for me today.

Below is the pile of popple log chunks to be split, up into smaller sizes.

Below is the nice splitter I borrowed from my neighbor John across from us on Coffee Lake.
He had offered it for me to use about a year ago, but I had never bothered to ask. Well with the piles above you saw to split and haul, I thought I would ask to use it for a day.

Below is the pile of popple pieces all split, and awaiting to be hauled up close to the wood stove.

Below you see the various piles of oak pieces, all split also. I finished it all, starting about 9:30 this morning, and finished about 4:30 pm, and returned the splitter.

Needless to say it was a long day but it feels good to have it all split, I am still sore from moving the bigger pieces of wood around to the splitter, but it is done!

Next step, is to use my lawn tractor and trailer to move it up by the stove and stack it.

That is Saturday and Sunday's work this weekend!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

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Landing area wood pile update

Well the pile of logs I have on the landing area across the creek is nothing more than a pile of chunks of wood now. I spent yesterday (Saturday) cutting the smaller stuff up and hauling it up to the wood pile by the wood stove.

It started snowing after I had started and snowed off an on, making it kind of slippery and a necessity to pick the pieces up I cut yesterday, in fear that they may get buried by the snow. I went through 3 chainsaws of gas, meaning I cut up about 2 plus cord of wood.

Today (Sunday) I spent cutting all the bigger logs in to those chunks of wood. Today I burned through 5 tanks of gas. needless to say the shoulders are a little sore from all the cutting. I used my tractor with the snow plow on it to move the logs around some to make it easier to cut the logs and move the cut pieces out of the way.

Next step is to split what I have left and haul it up, and it sounds like next weekend after Thanksgiving, I will have temps in the 40's to work in. Still a lot of trips up and down the path to the landing area, but I hope to finish with 3 days to work, as I have Friday off.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

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Tonight Coffee Lake freezes over!



Yes tonight Coffee Lake will freeze over, it is finally still and the temps are already below freezing. ice was already forming in the middle of the lake when I got home tonight.

It is rare to see it actually begin the process, but there were areas that were growing in the center of the lake, it looked like something floating on the water, but the area's kept expanding in size. I look out the window and see the reflection of the light from the neighbors yard light and there are dull spots appearing in the reflection on the water.

This weekend's forecast is for snow on Saturday, maybe up to 5 inches. So things will look different by this coming Sunday!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

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Homemade Ice Cream

Many of us when we grew up all remember making homemade ice cream. Growing up in North Dakota, we used to make ice cream in an electric ice cream maker, that you had to have the ice and salt, along the outside edge and the motor would turn the can till the ice cream was made, but never fail the ice would get cause it to stop spinning as it would start binding on the outside of the container.

Well now the makers of the machines have even simplified it even more. Below you see an ice cream maker, a 1 quart size, that we recieved from Ricki and Grant that Ricki found in a thrift store and tried it out and sent it to us. Notice there is no empty spaces aroud the inside can area, because the whole outside shell is placed in a freezer and after 10 hours or so the liquid in it is froze solid.

Once you bring it out of the freezer you assemble the motor and cover and pour in the rich creamy
recipe for ice cream you make beforehand. Then you flip the switch and about 20-40 minutes depending upon your recipe and the amount you make, you have a nice soft serve ice cream.  

 Below it is working away constantly going around and around.


The first batch we made was a coconut ice cream! Oh so refreshing!
We had plenty left that is now frozen nice and hard in our freezer!
One problem with this whole process, the ice cream recipe called for 2 cups of cream, not a good diet type of food, we will have to try some of the frozen yogurt recipes next!
Thank you Ricki and Grant!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

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What is this white stuff?


Looking down our driveway this morning, yes we had about 2 inches of heavy wet snow during the night, and it was actually raining when I left for work.
You can see our birdfeeding area, and how the roof top looks over our bedroom, and the birdfeeder roof also, is nice and white.

Needless to say it got warm enough here today for most of this to disappear, but it appears it is the season for Snow!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

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The landing area...

Just a short distance form the house, and across the little metal bridge over the creek is my
landing area for all the logs I harvested this weekend. 
Below you can see some of the area I have logs waiting to be cut up, in to pieces that will be
 hauled up close to the wood stove.

The pile below is mostly oak logs, and one birch log, which will be used into
December and January mostly.
The one below here is a bunch of popple logs, softer wood to burn when things are a
little warmer next spring.

This last pile is birch and some oak but has more branches that need to be trimmed off. Most of these logs are 25 feet in length if not longer and you can see they have some serious thickness to them.

All the trees as you can see below are beginning to see signs of disease and rotting from
the inside out. I try to get them before they are completely useless.

I will spent the next two weekends cutting these logs up and hauling them across the bridge up into the yard, next to the wood stove. But at least I have the wood all down and in a place I can easily get to, thanks to the handy skidsteer loader.

I also got my other projects done with the skidsteer and I even went and picked up a
big round hay bale for the animals this evening. Plus I hauled a few loads of the tops of the trees, that I cut up for firewood.

Friday, November 11, 2011

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Weekend work plans

This weekend I am fortunate to have the skidsteer loader sitting in the yard to help with the firewood making process.

Don't worry this is a picture of it from last winter...we don't have snow yet!

Here is a short summary of my weekend list for it and me!
1. drop numerous trees and move the logs to better places to cut and split
2. move my manure compost pile some..to let it breakdown further and also to move it out of the way of winter hay feeding area and unloading area
3. move some dirt along the driveway
4. move more trees...in case it is not enough...
5. use it to move some of the old barn walls so I can cut more of it up this winter

This is the short list for Saturday and Sunday...

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

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Crystalie's Fabric Field Trip!

Crystalie, had an older consignor, and frequent visitor to Wooden Nichols mention to her recently that she was remodeling her home and that she no longer had room for a wide array of
fabric that she wanted Crystalie to come and look at her home by Gun Lake NE of Aitkin.
So she made plans to go see her and today was the day for her Fabric Field Trip,
and below you see the results of that trip! 

The above photo is her Blazer stuffed completely full in the back!

The front seat is full along with the back seat being collapsed for more room, but you can see
through the side door it was full.

This is the 29 bags, which are large clear plastic bags filled with all kinds of fabric.
Some of it actual clothes that will be utilized for various projects, but yards and yards
of different fabric types just waiting for her to become some new and fun.

This is a shot of the contents of just one bag!
There was some cash exchanged in this trip, but no where near the
value of all this wonderful fabric!

The next problem is where to store it all here at home, and trust me it will be organized storage,
it will be sorted and stored for easy reference, so she can find it when the inspiration its her!
For that special new item hand-created by Crystalie!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

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Trailer repairs

Anyone who owns a trailer they pull with a car or a pickup has to deal with the
problem of trailer lights not working. Hence my current project.
I mentioned the early darkness we now have which means when I need to haul those
big round hay bales, many times it will be when it is very dark out.

So I removed my set of lights I currently have on the trailer and I am replacing them
with new LED trailer lights, and in the process I am rewiring the trailer lights and putting
electrical tubing on the sides of the trailer to house the wires running the length of the
trailer, to help protect the wires and make future replacements easier.

I got the tubing installed, and the wire to the lights and the lights mounted on the
back of the trailer, but I ran out of daylight and will finish hooking up the wires and 
replacing the wiring harness on the back of the pickup. 

Another 45 minutes or so of work, tomorrow night!  

Monday, November 7, 2011

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Yes, our clocks fell back this last weekend one hour, and now 5:30 pm it is pretty dark out,
the long days of winter are soon to be here. It still is a little light in the morning
driving to work but that will soon be a darker drive.

Needless to say I think all of us experience this feeling, but it was so nice to have
that sunshine later into the evenings, which now will be gone well before
evening starts!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

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Firewood cutting time

Yes, that is what I am up to this weekend. I spent most of the day cutting, splitting and hauling firewood.

It is the time of year for me to get our winter's supply of firewood put up. The leaves are gone and it is easy to see what I am doing and when I have to move branches, they are lighter.

There are a few things I do enjoy when I am out cutting wood. Watching Smarkle run back and forth while I use the tractor and trailer going to and from my wood cutting spot. I have had a headset to help keep the noise to a minimum, which also has a radio in it and I get to enjoy some music, or a Gopher Football game or the Viking game if I am not in  the house watching it.

Needless to say I also develop a few aches and pains, but I try to minimize those with some Ibuprofen and wearing a back support and also some tennis elbow bands.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

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Flat Tires!

Okay in the last 4 days I have had to deal with 2 flat tires...this is not mine but just a stock image.

The first, Monday morning, I just pumped the tire up before leaving for work and drove right to the tire shop in Brainerd and had it repaired, turns out it had two smaller punctures in it.

Then yesterday, I was coming home and I hit something on hwy 18 just before my turn off on to County 10 and I stopped on County 10 as something didn't feel right and sure enough it had already gone flat.

So I dig out my jack and tire wrench, which I knew where it was...and then proceeded to get my spare out from under the back of the truck which was the most difficult part. After that I I loosened the lug nuts and jacked it up and switched the tire out. Pretty uneventful and needless to say I have had my share of practice over the years. Got it fixed today, one bigger hole but still repairable, and put the tire back on and put the spare back where it belongs.

Probably the coolest thing was 5 different people stopped to make sure I was okay and could handle changing it out. That is a good thing...but I also was wondering, do I look that old now???



Tuesday, November 1, 2011

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Photos of some of the weekend projects

Well below I have some photos of this last weekend's project. The first is a picture of the now full
firewood storage leanto for the studio, there are 2 rows of the longer pieces stacked almost 7 feet up. In the back of the little shed, and the front is filled with a lot of little pieces, that are being held in by the wood boards attached to the frame...this is 8 ft across on the inside of the shed. I ended up stacking some longer pieces on top of the small chunks because I had a bunch left.

Below you see the gazebo, wrapped in it's tarps, now it looks like a small grain bin!

Here is the pumpkin garden, all cleaned up.

Below here are two pictures of the main garden, it is pretty well cleaned up, I still have some gourds and vines on the fence, but they come off very easy in the spring when they are all dried out.


 I use some oak boards to hang my pvc rings on, this allows them to get cleaned up with the rain and snow and also the sunshine.
Just a little look at all the fall chores prepping for winter.