Christmas Tunes

Today I’ll give you another double of my favorites, The Carpenter’s Christmas Portrait. If you don’t have this CD you should get one, all the classics are on it, so let’s give a listen….

 

Mr. Grinch

As we get closer to Christmas I will watch my favorite Christmas movies. One of them is How the Grinch Stole Christmas, I watch it every year. It always helps me to remember what is important during the holidays. Just like Cindy Lou Who said “Christmas is not about presents and gifts, it’s about being together with family and friends.” This is just for you, Amanda!!!!!!

 

First Snow!

I picked an appropriate Christmas song yesterday didn’t I? It’s Christmas time pretty baby, and snow is fallin’ on the ground…..

 

Stay all warm and cozy today

Tuesday Tunes

This is a special Tuesday Tunes, Holiday Edition. The first song is on most lists of greatest Christmas songs, and the second song is my favorite Elvis Christmas song because we all know Santa drives a great big black Cadillac!

Let it Snow!

There are some big flakes of snow coming down now, I still don’t think it will amount to anything. Check out the video….

You can also see the heirloom roses by the door are still blooming. They don’t have really showy blooms, but they are tough and hardy, disease and insect resistant and will make good filler plants on the homestead.

Woodstove

Today is another dreary, rainy day.

You can’t tell from the picture but we are having a combination of rain, sleet and snow. There is no danger of accumulation because the lows are going to be around 35 degrees, but it is still cold and nasty if you are out in it. But I just bought something to take care of that feeling…..

Yeah, that’s right, a new wood burning stove! It will probably be a while before I can get it set up but I already have a supply of green firewood to burn. By this time next winter I will have a good supply of dried wood to burn, I’m really looking forward to it. It should keep me warm and toasty!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

May you have a wonderful day with your family and friends, as each of us pauses to be truly thankful for the many blessings we have. We may not have everything we want or need, but there are many people out there less fortunate than us. So let us give thanks for what we do have and count our many blessings.

Barn Construction

Sweet Thing and I started to work on the interior walls of the barn. This is what we started with, 6X6 posts set on 10 foot centers.

The white you see is some kind of 1 inch thick space age insulating wrap. I don’t know what the R factor is, but I know I want to add more.

So first we framed up the interior walls.

Then we added some 6 inch thick R-19 insulation all the way up to the ceiling height, which is 9 feet.

Then we placed a 4X8 sheet of OSB for the bottom and a 4X8 sheet of pegboard for the upper wall. We are going to do this all the way around all 4 walls so that should give me a lot of space to hang things. As it is now, I have lots of stuff in my current shed but I can’t see it so I can’t put my hands right on it. It aggravates me to know I have something but I can’t find it so I have to go out and buy another one. Grrrrrr! If you hang it up on the peg board you can see what you have and can put your hand on it, it’s almost like being in the store but you don’t have to pay for it this time!

I paid particularly close attention to detail in the corners, making sure they were braced straight and strong. Some people slack on this detail and the corners buckle in because they don’t have enough support. Sweet Thing said I would have to paint that OSB with white paint right away so it would be nice and pretty. I can’t worry about that now, I have construction to do so stand back and let me get at it!

Winter is Coming

The weather has been dreary and rainy these past few days. It has been so bad, Frank can’t even go out and patrol his territory and you can tell it really perturbs him. But you wouldn’t know it from these pictures, he seems pretty content.

I saw this little bee trying to get some last bit of nectar from this dandelion. Sure looks like autumn is over and winter is coming.

Tuesday Tunes

Today let’s try something a little different, I’ll give you two different versions of the same song. The first song will be a trip back to the psychedelic era of rock and roll. This is the version of Cry Me A River I grew up with in my youth, early 1970’s. At the time this was the only version I was familiar with. I later learned this song is an old standard with crooners and torch singers everywhere. This is Joe Cocker and The Mad Dogs and Englishmen band. This is a live version so the sound quality is not so great, but you get a real feel for the atmosphere and emotion of the time. Note the clothing and hairstyles…..

Now, here is a later version in a completely different style. This is a smooth jazz version performed by Mrs. Elvis Costello Nee Diana Krall, live in Paris.