Cookin' with gas...

I can't believe it is Sunday evening and I am almost ready for bed, to begin another week. Albeit a short week.

Yesterday morning J woke up before the alarm and found that it snowed. Not much. A dusting really, but we were worried what that meant just north of us at the farm where the weather is always a bit more extreme. We were very lucky to have not had enough to delay starting work on the siding.

Any weather typically means one thing on the farm. You guessed it...wind. It was so gusty that the roofers tarp blew off the south side and was blowing over the top of the roof. We finally got hold of them in the late morning so they could come fix it and not leave the roof totally exposed. I think it is taking them so long because of the wind. I anticipated the job to be completed by now. That is me giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Due to the wind, it has been an ongoing project picking up old shingles, tar paper and nails that have blown all over the yard. Hoping we don't get a roofing nail in a tire. Not fun.

Even though it was windy, Dave and J's friend from work Mike arrived to help start the siding.

The nice thing is the sun actually did come out and the snow was gone rather quickly. We were able to finish siding almost the whole south side.

The down side is when we arrived this morning we had no heat. The thermostat read a chilly 46 degrees. Not so good when you come into the house to warm up and it feels colder inside. When we were finally able to get hold of someone from the heating company they told us it was probably related to the roofers. J went on the roof (no wind today...hear that..angels singing hallelujah). The roofers had covered the vent when they came to fix the tarps. As a result, the heat kicked off, otherwise carbon monoxide city, or something like that. Luckily by lunchtime, totally toasty.

Today we had additional help. While we didn't have Mike again, our friends Josh and Lisa came to help. It was awesome having a couple extra hands today. Unfortunately they came later in the morning. Which meant I had to climb three stories of scaffolding to help J finish the peak on the south side. Does anyone out there know how afraid of heights I am. Think complete white terror. I actually burst into tears for a moment trying to make it to the third level. Then I told myself a lovely little saying a dear friend used to say, "Buck up and be a woman". Apparently it worked and I was able to assist finishing the peak. Now for the north side, I am hoping to time it in line with our helpers. One magnificent moment of overcoming absolute terror at a time please.

So as a result of all this assistance (thank you thank you thank you) we finished two sides this weekend. The downside is that we ordered primed siding and didn't get it. Too much hassle to fix the error. However, that doesn't leave us a very big window to paint and painting when it is cold is not exactly ideal. We may just prime and wait it out until warmer weather. In Colorado that could be next week. Maybe.

At the end of the day, after all the tools are put away and we played a game of nail sweep in the driveway, it was very satisfying. J and I took the dogs for a walk along the cornfield and talked about windbreaks. We picked dried corn cobs left over from the harvest on the edge of the fields behind the house. These will go to the chickens. The rest of the field is headed to Connecticut to be made into organic livestock feed (probably the one I buy!).

I spent most of this past week studying trees for windbreaks and coming up with an order for CSU's nursery. They provide modestly priced trees in bulk for windbreaks and creating forested areas. Most of our choices will not only provide the break, but also fruit for preserving and food to attract wildlike and birds, acorns for the pigs (future plans) and cover for the animals. They will come to us very small, but it always seems like you plant your own roots and plans for the future when you plant trees. No instant gratification with trees. But now, it is time to plant my weary butt in bed. It's almost 7:30 for crying out loud.