Winter is Coming

I think I can safely say Winter is on its way.  It is chilly and breezy outside and I'm wishing I had a nice warm fire and a good book to curl up with.  Alas, we are low on wood and are rationing it until we have a chance to bring some more home from the property.  The last two nights it got down around 25°F and out little nursery in our Citrus Heights backyard had to be tucked in for the night.  We covered our baby orange and olive trees and the little blueberry bushes.  And my rabbits bunkered down for the night in timothy hay forts, while the chickies huddled together to keep each other warm. 

Today is Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to more Turkey, crab cakes, Granny Goose's rolls, and all the other yummy food we are having this afternoon!  Right now I'm watching the pre-Thanksgiving Day Parade and then the National Dog Show.  Now, I must go finish my triple chocolate mousse cake.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!

Photo Update!

I was not fortunate enough to make a trip up to the property this week, so I thought I'd get caught up on photos from the past few months.  Next time I'm go I'm hoping to get some cuttings from the crape myrtle trees and propagate a few more.  And I'm hoping to have a giant bonfire!

Let the Rain Come!

So I guess I'm not too great at keeping this blog up. It's not that I don't want to; it's more like that I don't know what to say. But I will make more of an effort, because this really is a great adventure!

Summer has come and gone. It was hot! But we actually did a lot! Mom has almost officially completed the rock retaining wall around the crepe myrtle trees. It looks really amazing! We have all learned a lot about building with rocks, how to fit them together and use smaller rocks to fill in the crevices. Next week I'm hoping to cut the suckers off the Crape Myrtle trees to propagate.

I have painted and set up bee boxes for Dad hoping the bees would come...they did not. But in the spring we will catch a swarm from an area beekeeper or a home-owner with a swarm in their yard. As terrified as I am of bees I'm actually excited about this project. I want to have the home-harvested honey and the bees-wax to make candles and cosmetics.

Our current project is building a pole-barn style well/pump house. I can't remember the exact measurements, but it is fairly large and will cover the well, pump and our holding tank. It will also provide shelter for our barn cats.

I probably should make a statement about Hobble Rock's current barn cat population. Hunter is still watching over the property for us, but unfortunately Winchester is in kitty heaven. From our observations he probably caught and ate a rat that had eaten some poison and consequently died. We do have three (or so) young kittens born earlier this year that are Hunter's little buddies. We love our barn cats, they keep our rodent & snake population down and give us entertainment.

As I said in the title of this post "Let the Rain Come!" It is now Fall and we have had a couple good rain storms. Since the rain has started, our trailer has begun to leak. And I have become good friends with a product called Henry Roof Cement (or that's what I call it) and you can put it on in the rain! How awesome is that?! I have so far done two applications on last week and one today...I really hope it works for good this time. The view from the top of the trailer is really cool!

Since it has officially started to cool off for the Fall & Winter, Dad and I have started to cut out more of the dead brush. Next week we will hopefully hook up the tractor & trailer and haul what we have cut up to the fire pit and burn it! I'm so excited for bonfires!

Last but not least, we have started on the barn!  It will be a 24' x 36' pole barn.  We have started to auger the holes and hope to have it done by early spring!