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Busting ice for livestock is a pain, especially the for the chickens, a plastic tank of frozen water sitting in a plastic pan of frozen water. Can't bust the ice without breaking something, have to melt it.

Don't know why it never occurred to me... 2 water tanks makes dealing with ice so much easier. I have the std 3g tank, had to buy another recently. Now, I just swap them out. Take down a fresh tank that'd been in the house. Then bring the back the frozen one to thaw inside over night, rinse, repeat. Hopefully temps will be back to normal next week.

Didn't do a lot today, mostly sat by the fire..

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That's what I do, bring it in. But we have alot of them. Looking forward to not doing this, the dog sleeping in the milkhouse again, and the release of 25 guineas that are in the milkhouse. Can't wait for better weather...it's coming soon!
Husband's appt this morning for bandage change on his midline, had to stop for air in all of the truck tires, coyote hunt was going on here all day, little granddaughter's mom came to visit her, and got a good amount of housecleaning done today. Talked to my favorite cousin, they have church tomorrow at their place, and have been working hard all month to get ready for it. She asked if we would come, but husband can't do it. Talked to a Florida cousin, her mom was my aunt that passed last week.
 
Y'all just brought memories of chore time when I was a kid. Our cows got their drinking water from a pond in the pasture and part of my winter chores every day after school was to take a big axe and chop a hole in the ice so they could get a drink. I'd always end up with ice pebbles frozen all over me from the splash.
Daughter is spending the weekend, we're camped out in the living room watching Mike Holmes renovations and taking turns adding wood to the fire. So glad to have the company! Brother was here earlier and helped me install the battery back up sump pump I ordered. Peace of mind! I was telling him how incredibly fast the water was pouring in yesterday and I just didn't understand it; in the old house the sump basically went dry once the ground froze and didn't really kick on again until the thaw, but here in the new house it's just constantly running. He took a look around and pointed out that it looks like the downspouts are tied into the foundation drain, and that the excess flow was likely from snow melt off the roof. I hope he's right! That means next summer I can re-direct the downspouts away from the foundation and remove some of the load from the sump pump.
Had some snowmobilers trespass through my property this afternoon. Going to have to stop at TSC tomorrow and pick up some more no trespassing signs, and some bright colored rope to temporarily string through where the fence is broken.
Actually had a bit of sun today and the snow glittered like diamonds; the high was around 14 and it felt good when I went out for a walk.
 
Had some snowmobilers trespass through my property this afternoon. Going to have to stop at TSC tomorrow and pick up some more no trespassing signs, and some bright colored rope to temporarily string through where the fence is broken.
Actually had a bit of sun today and the snow glittered like diamonds; the high was around 14 and it felt good when I went out for a walk.

Out of curiosity i checked purple paint laws around the country. I know my state has it. Seems more states are adding similar. A link for Michigan came up. Looks like it passed in '21, a line of purple paint on a tree has the same meaning as a no trespassing sign. Around here signs get stolen or shot full of holes. I'm seeing a lot more purple lines on trees these days.

https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2021-2022/billanalysis/Senate/pdf/2021-SFA-0106-G.pdf
 
Out of curiosity i checked purple paint laws around the country. I know my state has it. Seems more states are adding similar. A link for Michigan came up. Looks like it passed in '21, a line of purple paint on a tree has the same meaning as a no trespassing sign. Around here signs get stolen or shot full of holes. I'm seeing a lot more purple lines on trees these days.

https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2021-2022/billanalysis/Senate/pdf/2021-SFA-0106-G.pdf
Three purple stripes in Texas!
 
I didn't know you have a Subaru. When did you get that?
I bought it this last summer.
My ex neighbor , who is my friend left it here for her mother to utilize for her cancer treatments. Her mom died unfortunately and my friend left her car and a few personal items with me untill she can get them. She is in the northeast.
We made a deal that If maintain it , I can use it. Well it's been two years and she doesnt really want to drive it back, doesnt need it and offered it to me. After the money I put into it to get it going again and kept it up for 2 years..I got a nice subie for 4 grand. It's been perfect for commuting up the mountain n back. If I can get another year or two out of it untill I've saved for a new truck, that'll be pretty good.
 
Sounds like me. Animal chores and doing my "rounds". Todays included loading up the firewood racks on the porch. The logs were frozen together, so I'd throw a big log on the pile to loosen the others. Pork in the electric pressure canner, finished lunch and husband's IV. Getting ready to go to Aldi and Walmart, and to also stop in for a small amount of feed, maybe 5 bags or so. I'll get more later in the week at Atwoods.
 
Church was canceled due to roads so I took the opportunity to bring in my “real” quilting frame and get it cleaned up. It has spent the last 4 years out in the garage 😖. It’s now all nice and clean, wood conditioned, and maybe tomorrow morning I can wipe it all down to make sure there’s no excess conditioner left so it will be ready for the next quilt since I’m nearly finished with my forever quilt.
 
Otto dog got sick overnight, spent first thing this morning for a few hours cleaning up after him. It was everywhere. Not sure what he ate either. So I just gave him some of the rice soup but he didn't want it. Did drink a bowl of water
I sure hope this isn't anything serious, but he's not acting like he is very sick, still wanted to go out and play.
I didnt give him any dog food today, cooking rice for him tomorrow with egg and pumpkin

It was not quite as cold today as the forecast said, nice that they made a mistake in our favor for once. So animals got to go out and enjoy the sunshine even if it was cold out.

The house is now at the point of disgusting but I am not cleaning the floor until I am sure Otto is ok again first

Hope everyone else had a better Sunday
 
Oh..here is my on demand water heater that I used for a few quick showers when my pipe was frozen..
I know were not supposed to use it inside..
But I did..a quickie n everyone is alive..
Hooked it up to the toilet pipe water intake and ta da!
 

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Otto dog got sick overnight, spent first thing this morning for a few hours cleaning up after him. It was everywhere. Not sure what he ate either. So I just gave him some of the rice soup but he didn't want it. Did drink a bowl of water
I sure hope this isn't anything serious, but he's not acting like he is very sick, still wanted to go out and play.
I didnt give him any dog food today, cooking rice for him tomorrow with egg and pumpkin

It was not quite as cold today as the forecast said, nice that they made a mistake in our favor for once. So animals got to go out and enjoy the sunshine even if it was cold out.

The house is now at the point of disgusting but I am not cleaning the floor until I am sure Otto is ok again first

Hope everyone else had a better Sunday
Cottage cheese n rice is a good combo for sick dog tummies too
 
Dawn and I are spending the day with chills, a bit of a headache and general tiredness. Not surprising; we spent an hour a two at Wally World yesterday, got some groceries and we each got a Shingles vaccine and the latest Covid booster.

This is the first time we got the Shingles booster. I know a couple of folks with intermittent shingles and is pretty painful. We're in the high-risk factor because we both had chicken pox as kids. I figure the one-day crappy period is worth it. Same for the Covid; we both had it back in 2020 and had a couple of family members die from it. I think the medical system here in the US sucks, given that it's controlled by the insurance companies; I'd much rather see a single-payer system like they have in the rest of the world ...

...but it is what it is.
 
I have yogurt, but I think he doesn't like it
Tried giving him some before and he refused to eat it ( when he was not sick , just to add some probiotic)
the other thing that sometimes works is pumpkin pie filling, seems to help their gut function, kind of strange but had good success in the past
 
the other thing that sometimes works is pumpkin pie filling, seems to help their gut function, kind of strange but had good success in the past
German Shepherds have notoriously bad bellys!! They have pancreatic issues and many are diabetic. I feed Bear like a diabetic and he gets a probiotic with enzymes daily! He gets Tractor Supply's 4Health Puppy food, low fat high fiber (pancreas and diabetic friendly,) and only Milk Bone treats, no people food! It works!
 
Got some feed in town today, and they're doing a Tuesday Senior Discount 10%, so that's good to know. I qualify! Went into Walmart for a few things, and watched some very grumbly people as they looked at the egg section. Or lack of eggs. Glad I don't have to buy eggs. None to be found. Luckily there were three containers of cottage cheese that husband wanted, I only needed one. Bread was cleared out, too. Went and filled a cart at Aldi. That little two buck bottle of olive oil is $4.49. A container of oats is nearly $4 now. Wow.
 
I've got a 2020 CanAm Defender HD10 and I love it. I've never had a problem changing the oil filter. I just raise the dump bed and pull the 3 screws out and swap filters. Of course the first time it took a little cussing putting that third screw back in. OK, everytime it takes a little cussing to put that third screw in. I admit that they could have done a better job in locating the oil filter, but I've never had to take the seats out to change oil.
I'd recommend the CanAm to anyone looking for a side by side.
Different models have different procedures. The only Youtube video I could find said take out the seats and open the access and you are good. The one we had had back row seats and lots of stuff to unbolt and remove and it would have been a coin toss at to what was faster. Polaris are usually easier but even some of them have pain in the but oil filter locations. Designers and engineers should be required to do simple maintenance on the stuff they draw up.
 
Went to the neighbors to watch the football games.
Lions won. Yay!!!
I wasn't sure who I wanted to win between Kansas City and Buffalo but it was a good game. The neighbor pays more attention to sports than I do and thinks neither of them will get past Baltimore. So, once Detroit gets past the 9ers we shall see what happens against Baltimore.
One game at a time.
 
I have been the normal routine of tending to the greenhouse, planning Hobbit Hole next steps, and clearing snow this week. But today The Princess and I sat down to document our estate planning.

What sticky mess that is! We developed 4 flow charts to document our desires but that was just the tip of the iceberg.

We have invested in real estate whenever possible and practical. Two parcels are jointly owned by The Princess and her sister ( not a princess). What happens to those parcels may have taxes involved and the possibility of using insurance to cover the taxes.

But rather than drive ourselves crazy, we stopped after 4 crude flow charts.

This planning on diing thing is not trivial. ;)

Ben
 

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