Chainsaw and an Axe

We got a chainsaw and a good ax this week. I paid $40 for the Chainsaw, it's a, Echo 14inch, so not big enough to cut the big tree trucks, but big enough to cut our firewood. I paid $20 for the axe, it's an Estwing.

I'm feeling pretty good about my purchases :)

Tomorrow we start cutting wood

I had been watching Kijiji and other classified sites for a cheap chainsaw and ax, but in the end did better simply asking the neighbors if they had an extra they wanted to sell. Much easier and cheaper.

We WILL have our winter wood done by the end of next week.

I'm super excited to be warm and toasty this winter!I love the woodstove :)

Once we get the winter wood done, we still have lots of other getting ready for winter chores to do, such as wrapping the well pipe that comes into the house, gathering wood for the outside woodstove for maple syrup making, putting plastic on many of the windows, etc.

Right now the days here are average around +15 and the nights around +8, so winter is still a few weeks away!

October Election

So, it's almost election time again. Anyone who knows me knows I will NOT be voting Conservative. Harper and his gang of Conservatives have done more than enough damage to this country!

Please take the time to get out and vote this October, it is really really important. Please help return this great country to the country it once was; to a country that cares about people and the environment.

For all the woman and men who care about equal rights: Shush baby! Just look pretty. 17 ways the Conservative government has controlled you like a terrible boyfriend.

For all the fellas who like to see sex workers; the Conservatives made it illegal for you to see a sex worker! (it's not illegal for the sex worker, it's illegal for the person paying for the services now)It has never been illegal

For all those who care about our environment; Harper wanted to dump nuclear waste in our lakes!

Shall we talk about his disrepute for our veterans? ...

Seriously everyone, please vote this election and please please please vote any party but the Conservatives! Harper needs to go!

All these memes were on my Facebook feed today (plus the article I posted the link too)

A Successful Day Freeranging

I am happy to report that the little hens had a successful day freeranging!

A couple of the big hens were pretty mean to them, but they eventually hooked up with Alice (shown in the pic below)and she helped take care of them

I was a little nervous about the cats (cause they are so much smaller than the older hens), but the cats completely ignored them

Cause I have been feeding them for the last four weeks they have gotten super friendly with me. I leaned down and they all came rushing over the see me. They also follow me around like baby ducks :)

The white one is the rooster. It's very important that he gets tamed so he doesn't get aggressive with people.

 The photo below is of Stella, she is a Welsummer. She is a beautiful bird and has perfect camouflage for this time of year.

The little hens went back to the coop by themselves at dusk and are not safely locked away for the night. I pray that when I let all the ladies out tomorrow everyone will be alive.

Dead Hens

Sadly, in the last week two of the young hens I got about a month ago have died. :( One died a couple of days ago and another died last night.

Both of them died the same way; their head through the dog cage bars. Their neck was snapped. I'm not sure if they are doing it themselves or if one of the older hens is grabbing their head and snapping their neck.

I have no idea what to do. This is a first for me. It breaks my heart when a being in my care dies.

A friend suggested letting them out of the cage. I tried that last week and it didn't go well (Dirty Girl outright attacked one and tried to kill it). I'm going to try again today and see if things go any better, but honestly I doubt it. The little chickens are just so small!

I normally get hens at 4-6 months old as it's way easier and less stressful. They are old enough to safely free range when they are about four months old and they start laying when they are 5-6 months old.

I'll let you know how things go today, fingers crossed! Hopefully I'll have a good report tonight!

Enjoying the Weekend

Hi! Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

I've had a fantastic weekend!Got lots of fun tasks done!

We expanded the family Ritual/Altar area so we could have small group Rituals there, added a small fire pit and included a pine tree in the circle to decorate at Yule.

I set up a second long table inside (as there was lots of room for it), so I had more room for my crafty projects. Right now I am working on making a greenman stump, a plaque and i thought my son and I would do a puzzle. It's nice having lots of room!

Yesterday while out looking for wood, I found this interesting place. I had been told about it, but it was the first time I actually saw it. Not sure if it's an old mine entrance or what. I was very careful around it to ensure I didn't fall into anything. Others that found it before me said they thought it was very fairy, but I found it rather creepy and dark. it's a place I will avoid.

We did find a maple tree half down that we can cut up for winter wood, there is at least 2-3 cords of good hard wood, and it's not too far from the house. That's a huge relief as finding hard wood here is really tough.

All in all, things are going well here. I'm enjoying the peace and quiet very very much and looking forward to a great winter of crafting and wood stove warmth!

Starting to Get Chilly

Last night the temperature dropped to 3 degrees, with a wind chill that made it feel like -1. When we woke up at 8am it was friggin' cold in here! I had dances at 11am, so we decided that we  would start up the wood stove.

This is the woodstove. The heat comes out the top and from the front. 

The side of the stove opens up to put the wood in; it has two doors.

Wow, it works great! It took a bit to warm up the house, but once it did it kept the house toasty warm all day on very minimal wood.

Travis and I gathered another cord or so of wood today. I think that puts us at about 7-8 cords so far. We still need to add another 5-6 cords.

I think it's going to b a nice toasty warm winter this year, no more freezing like I did at my old place!

Hugs!

Ragged Lake

Ragged Lake is the closest lake to my house. It takes about an hour to walk there via the road (as it makes you loop around) or about 15-20 minutes to walk there if you go to the back of the property and cross over the neighbors property.

Ragged Lake is a great lake for boating and fishing. It has a lot of large mouth bass. You can swim in it to, but it doesn't have much for beaches.

The first photo is of an awesome tree; I love how its roots are growing over the stone. It sucks that someone put a sticker on it, it ruins the pic.

The trees are changing colours

Ragged Lake