So Sorry!

I know.

It's winter.

For some of us.

(Of course SOME of us went to Mexico

for the week...)

(Lucky ducks!)

But for some, it is COLD.

And windy.

And snowy.

You know...

Winter.

But this is Florida.

And this is what my front yard looks like.

We have these awesome pink flowers.

But only in the winter.

Wish they were there all year...

but they aren't.

So we enjoy them while we can.

Hope you enjoy them too!

(the purple in the background in a 

bougainvillea - flowers all year round

so there's that...)

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I would have put more RRRs in the Brrr

but I ran out of room.

It was in the 80's over the weekend.

It was 32 this morning.

It will be 80 by Sunday.

And we wonder why we have colds.

And pneumonia.

And the flu.

(Except for those of us who didn't mess

with the stupid vaccine this year...

WE are all fine...)

So.

It's COLD.

I do not love cold.

A couple of my friends came over to walk

in the woods with me yesterday after work.

The one from Utah was wearing jeans, 

a t-shirt, and a hoodie.

Oh yah, and sandals.  

With socks.

(At least they weren't white!)

LOL

Oh, she DID eventually pull out a scarf.

The other one from Long Island was wearing

jeans, a t-shirt and a hoodie.

Regular sneakers.

The CANADIAN in the group

(who has lived in Florida for 34 years)

had on:

jeans

t-shirt

long sleeved t-shirt

hoodie

barn coat

hand knit (read THICK) scarf

knit hat (touque)

mittens

thick socks

boots.

And I was FREEZING!

Yes.

I am a pansy.

And I put blankets on the horses.

They weren't very happy about it.

We also FINALLY turned the heater on

in the house last night.

It's off now.

And likely won't come on again

until NEXT February.

I want my Florida back!!!!!

Septic Troubles

I believe I recently mentioned we were

having issues with our septic system.

Thinking back, it might have been

going on for 2 years or so.

As evidenced by the fact that the

grass used to grow THICK and LUSH 

and GREEN over the septic and leach fields.

And then it didn't.

So it turns out the pipes that come out 

of the tank and carry the, um, water

out to the leach field had all broken off

at the tank.

No idea how.

Kyle thinks it was the horses.

Everything bad is the fault of the horses.

Or the chickens.

But CERTAINLY not his dogs.

EVER.

(Unless Shadow ATE it.)

(which pretty much covers EVERYTHING lately.)

So anyway.

When I last left you, we had the septic company

(our very friendly neighbors)

come and pump out the, um, contents of the 

two tanks.  First (only?) time it's been done

in a good long time.

(Considering Saturday was our 10 year

anniversary of closing on our house...)

(HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HOUSE!)

They suggested we would need to dig out

the leach field, remove the existing pipes

(which were now packed FULL of Florida sand)

and then replace the pipes and recover it all.

Estimated cost:

$5,000.

Yah.  

No.

So Kyle grabbed his trusty shovel and got started.

He dug out TWO trenches.

Each 25 feet long and 2.5 feet deep.

HOLY TOLEDO!

Sadly I did not take any pictures.

Rod might have.

But he didn't send them to me.

Anyhow.

It was an amazing feat.

And he was whooped.

He said

"My brain isn't tired, and even my 

body isn't really tired, but I can't

raise my arms."

Ha ha ha ha ha ha

So... he dug out the old pipes from the

grey water tank.  Then we bought some new

pvc pipes (with strategically placed holes)

wrapped them in that black weed fabric

and stuck them in the trenches.

(And then went back and glued them all 

together so they don't wiggle or whatever.)

Then Jim and Sabrina happened by,

so Jim and Kyle then re-covered them with dirt.

Then it was time to start digging on the OTHER

tank (which happens to have THREE pipes,

requiring THREE trenches 25' x 2.5'.)

So Kyle decided to call it a day.

(This was a Saturday)

Sunday, at church, we sat next to the family

that Kyle has worked for the past 3 years.

He basically "manages" their property and

supervises all the other young men they

occasionally hire to help out.

(He prefers NOT to hire help)

(Kyle, not Doug - Doug is happy to hire

young men to help out.  Kyle prefers to

work alone - more gets done and done

correctly, but whatever...)

So anyhow.

Doug mentioned he hadn't seen Kyle all

week and that he had said he was working

on our septic.  He wondered about the project

and the expected length.  (He has more stuff

he needs Kyle to do...)

We described Kyle's latest adventure.

Doug's eyes got big.

And then he said 

"WHY didn't he just come get the backhoe???"

Um.

Well...

Uh.

Because he didn't think about it?????

Obviously Monday morning he rectified that.

Oh, THIS!

THIS is MUCH better!

This is NOT a picture of Rod digging
with a BAD BACK.
Nope.
It's not.

And even kind of FUN!

And the ENTIRE job was done.

AND he scraped up the pile of composted

horse manure that has been in the pasture by

the barn for several years and spread

it in the alleyway and my horse's stall

taking care of many low spots 

and creating MANY wonderful places for

the chickens to dig holes and eat bugs.

TOTALLY AWESOME!

Oh.

And the sink/washing machine/dish washer

all drain successfully now.

And the toilet quit gurgling.

WIN!

Thanks Kyle!

(And Doug)

(And Rod)

More Chicks

We have MORE chicks!

Little female Black Stars this time.

They are SO tiny and SO cute

and SO NOISY!

They came in a giant box this time.

Of course,

there were 110 of them.

(50 of them went to the farm next door)

The post office lady was happy to

see them leave.

She called us at 6:30 this morning.

Uh, this is the post office.

Your chicks are here.

You can come get them.

ANY TIME.

You don't have to wait for the post office

to open for the day, just come to the back

door and ring the bell and we will be

happy to get them for you.

(No doubt!) 

LOL

But being up and out that early let us

see a gorgeous sunrise this morning!

And, naturally, as we were putting

the chicks in their new house

it started to rain.

Because that's what it does when

we get new chicks.

Every. Single. Time.

But...

We also got to enjoy a rainbow!

So that was nice.

I was happy to see them all healthy.

The neighbors, however, were a

little wierded out by the new noisy girls

next door.

They'll be "besties" soon enough.

Welcome girls!

Now get growing!

Soooooo Busy!

Oh my goodness!

We have been SOOOOO busy!

So much going on.

And I've been swamped at work too

so no time to slam out a quick post.

But this morning I'm MAKING time.

So this will be FAST.

Let's see.

1. SEPTIC NIGHTMARES

Ok, our septic has been acting up 

for a LONG time.

We couldn't get the kitchen sink

to drain.

Rod and Kyle have snaked the

ENTIRE line.

Every pipe that runs under our

concrete slab.

Every inch.

Intermediate fix - took the plug

out of the "escape valve" and let

the kitchen sink/laundry/dishwasher

drain onto the patio.

The dogs/chickens loved it.

But made welding a little dangerous.

So after finishing the patio roof,

Rod and Kyle turned their attention 

to the septic.  Dug up a portion of the

septic tank and found a pipe that was

broken off and filled with dirt.

Down on his knees, trying to scoop the dirt

out with a spoon seems to have been the 

final straw for Rod's poor abused back.

1A - Rod hurt his back

We'll get back to that in a minute.

We finally got our friendly neighborhood

septic company to come and drain 

the septic tanks.

(insert appropriate {and inappropriate} jokes here)

$365 later we discovered they weren't

actually too bad, even considering we have

lived here for 10 years and who knows

when they were pumped last.

(if ever)

However, they were FULL of water and

unable to drain properly because the pipes

were broken off and FULL of dirt.

(Florida sand)

Estimate - $4,000 - $5,000

Yup, give us a minute on that one, ok?

So... Rod's back.

He can hardly walk.

The pain is in his lower back but

radiating down into his hip

(which has been giving him trouble 

for a couple of years on and off...)

We traded vehicles

(WAY easier to get in and out of the truck

than the "go-cart-ish" Honda)

He took a TON of turmeric.

He took 3 days off work!

(Meanwhile he was "supervising" Kyle

and the septic company.)

(Yah, right.)

He finally got an appointment with a

chiropractor - had his first adjustment

last night and says it feels some better.

Said he has "book end" issues.

(Lower back AND neck!)

He goes back again this afternoon.

Yea for Chiropractors!!!!

2.  Chickens

(You KNOW I can't have a post without

mentioning the girls...)

They are on strike.

LOL

We have approx. 150 layers.

We are getting 39 - 44 eggs / day.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Sometime in the haze of the last week

Rod and I caught all the "babies" and put

bright yellow bands on their legs.

I had 60.

Due to a management error on my part

(hard lesson to learn)

I lost 21 of them!

We have 39 left.

(in case you didn't feel like doing math)

They are supposed to start laying mid-March.

(Fingers crossed)

Meanwhile, we have 110 more being delivered

this weekend some time.

50 for the neighbor and 60 for us.

These are a different breed.

The "babies" are Red Stars,

these are Black Stars.

Both good layers, although I like the black

ones the best - wanted to order them last time

but they didn't have any in the incubators.

So we'll have a gazillion peeping babies

again!  I love chicks!

(Hope the {other} neighbors do too...)

As soon as the yellow bands start laying

regularly, we'll be having a HUGE 

"freezer camp" weekend.

3.  Rabbits

Ethel was the only successful Mama this time.

She has 4 adorable juveniles who started

eating solid food this week.

Mabel and Gertrude both had kits, but

lost them all in a really bad, surprise cold snap.

They are both re-bred and due around the 18th.

4.  Work

I got an email from my school boss last week

congratulating me on being approved for a 

RAISE!!!

(I looked back at my file and my last raise

was in 2001!!!!!)

(We get paid really well, but who can't use more???)

That was awesome, and I was super surprised.

It's not company-wide.

Just a select few.

(Three in Florida)

Glad I made the cut!!!!

However, I "get" to teach a 5-10 minute

segment on "Teaching Government Issues"

to the other instructors at our in-service next week.

Better find some time to get THAT prepared!

5.  Other Work

I got called into the Director's office this week

and got a new job title and another RAISE!

Tee Hee!!!!

Guess the Lord heard our prayers.

What with the roof,

the septic,

the truck leaking oil,

and oh yah, the barn well/pump on the fritz...

It's good to have a Loving Heavenly Father.

6.  THE PIANO GUYS

I'm pretty sure there's more stuff going on.

But I'm out of time

and brain cells.

But I just have to end with

THE PIANO GUYS!

If you follow us on Facebook,

you already know,

but we had SUCH a great time!

Rod gave us tickets for Christmas.

And arranged for our friends to sit next to us.

They came over for dinner.

(He is retired and she works part time from home)

He made a yummy pot of clam chowder.

She brought flowers and an angel food cake

with fresh strawberries and whipped cream

for desert.

(We also had green salad)

We had a really enjoyable dinner at our house

and then he drove us 

(nice, big, easy to get in/out

Lincoln Continental)

to the venue and we had a GREAT time.

Saw lots of friends!

The place was SOLD OUT!

(who knew!)

It was SO FUN!

If you get a chance, definitely see them.

They put on a very entertaining show

and the music is unbeatable.

Oh yah.

7.  I got a hair cut.