Feeling Like Christmas!

Chilly this morning.  I say a little thank you every day lately to my 10 year old pair of deerskin gloves and Carhartt jacket.  The animals are all doing great.  The goats have a lot of straw bedding in the barn, barn cats have heated pads in a cat tree and the chickens get their heat lamp on in the coop when it dips below 30.

I'm building a small 24' x 12' implement pole barn to keep my tractor implements out of the weather including bush hog, tiller, plow, auger and blade.

Start of implement pole barn

It should be framed this weekend. That's probably the last build I'll need to do for a while since I'll have the cabin, barn, pole barn and garden completed.  A root cellar is something I really want but that's quite an endevor and I haven't figured out the best approach for it yet.

Garden area

Hard to believe the garden area will be bringing forth food in a matter of months.  There's something so hopeful and motivating knowing that everything surrounding me which now appears so still and absent will be coming alive with the change that just a little bit of time brings about.  It's a metaphor to live by when we find ourselves in those unexpected valleys in life.  Luckily, I'm not in one of those valleys right now.  I have a warm tiny cabin, great health, good friends and lots of hope and motivation.  I love the cold.  Feels like Christmas!  Hope you all are looking forward to it.

Theodoshia (Doshie) & Benecia

Garden corner & rising sun

Welcome, Nugget!

There is another addition to Lazy Dog Ranch.  A small one-eyed Pug was found wandering the woods by some distant neighbors across the creek.  They ended up tracking down her former owner who didn't care enough to drive and retrieve her and are either hoarders or breeders who apparently have dogs in kennels stacked on top of one another outdoors.  The woman said she "must have left the kennel door open" and this tiny little dog found her way through some woods to a meal and friendly hands but these neighbors couldn't keep her.  I said I would get her back to health and "find her a home" and after joining efforts with another neighbor about a half mile away including a few 45 minute drives to the nearest vet Nugget isn't going anywhere.  She is about half the size of CJ and they are good buds.  She is quite young, had clearly never been in a house before and didn't even know to use a dog bed till after about a week.  I worked with her hard at potty training and she is rockin' it now!  Her gait is a little awkward and this is likely due to being in a kennel for so long but she gets around just fine and is clearly happy.  No more cold and hungry nights for this girl.

Things are good on the ranch.  I'm enjoying Winter.  Time to reflect, deeply appreciate my tiny cabin on these cold nights with the wood buring stove burning hot and have gratitude for my health, strength, abilities and the people in my life.  There is so much to be thankful for.  The cold mornings which lead to stinging hands while gathering firewood and feeding the animals contrast perfectly with the wave of heat I feel while entering my cabin after the work is done.  The short days lend themselves to many evenings spent envisioning and planning what projects I'll start come Spring.  There is the occasional loneliness I feel but it's short lived since gratitude, hope and excitement for what could be next dominates.