Country Days

Well hello there, long time no see.

What a crazy few weeks it has been.  Oh look, its actually been a whole MONTH since I've been here.  For shame!

Between getting ready for holiday craft shows and all the other insanity of...well..life, there hasn't been a moment to spare.

But there are Things!  Happening!  To be true.

We have 6 baby bunnies, alive and well, that will soon be bouncing around their enclosure.  A far cry from the last tragedy involving bunnies. They are fat, and happy, and they made ME so happy.

We've been busily preparing for winter as well.  Gardens to put to bed, garlic to plant, windows to seal up.  Oh, and a bunny hutch to build! It's main purpose is actually to be a greenhouse for the spring, at which point we will kick the bunnies back out to the great outdoors. 

We also currently have a deer hanging in our backyard.  Yes, a deer.  It jumped out of the bushes onto the road the other day, as deer are want to do round these parts, and lo and behold if Steve's car wasn't in it's way.  The OPP had to come and put it down, as it was severly injured, but luckily we got to keep it.  Luckily as well I had the experience of helping butcher a deer last week.  And now I get to do one all on my own.  Oh the things I have learned here in the valley!  Between the deer, and the side of pork that we have arriving this week, and the rabbits that need to be processed, imma gonna need a bigger freezer!

And we wait for snow, and deck the halls, and eat ALL THE MEAT.  And carry on carrying on, in this lovely spot that we call home.

I guess that's all I really popped in to say - life is good, my friends, life is good!

Passive Solar Greenhouse Design. (Or, How I spent my weekend.)

I've been dreaming of a greenhouse for years.  This year, with the addition of our furry friends, it got bumped to the top of the list so they would have a place to stay out of the cold this winter.  Bunny hut in winter, and as soon as it's time for the seedlings to go in, the bunny party goes back outside.  It'll also be a spot to store all those garden bits and pieces that, up until now, haven't had a place to live due to our lack of outdoor storage.  (No garage, shed, or covered porch to speak of.)

I scrounged up most of the material for this little project.  The windows are are recycled from here there and everywhere, and the wood siding came from an old fence that got demolished.  We're still on the hunt for some roofing, and likely a bit more wood for siding (please, universe, send some my way!) Grand total, $100 for 2 by 4, and $20 worth of screws.  The rest was salvaged, or we had on hand.  (I can't tell you how happy that makes me!)

The greenhouse isn't a traditional greenhouse - it's a passive solar design.  Most greenhouses are to effing hot to do anything with in the summer) and everything in them melts or is destroyed by the sun.  Not this one.  Designed (by Steve) for maximum light in the winter, and minimum light in the summer (it all has to do with roof angles and overhangs) and some cross-breeze action, we're hoping this beauty will be good to us all year round.

We also put a great counter on the south side.  Potting bench on top, wood storage underneath. Oh, and butchering table too...

In the spring there may be cedar shingles attached, or not.  There will be a roof of sorts before the snow flies.  And some form of white twinkly lights, to light up our fire pit.  On Thanksgiving weekend, we will put a match to all the scraps in the fire pit just in front of it, and christen it with a fire, and thank the universe for all the kind things it delivers us - windows, and wood, and food to eat, and fire to cook it over, and friends to share it with.

What more could you ask for? 

xoxo