"I HAVE TO HOLD THEM!" she exclaimed with delight.

Slugs.

My Husband is Ruining my Crockpot

All I have to say is that I am not being a good sport about this. He's slow cooking a beef tongue for tongue tacos. Ew.

I am trying to be open minded about the whole deal, using every last bit of last years cow before this one's arrives. I cooked liver. It was even a stretch for me to touch liver, let along cook it. But I did it. Yes indeed. I did it. But the thing in my crockpot right now? I covered the whole thing with a towel so I didn't have to see it so raw while I made breakfast. Lil'Bug just may get a trip to the Science Center today so I can escape the thing that must not be cooking but is. The smell is already permeating the whole house as a constant reminder of its presence.

Sure I will be a good sport and try a bite. I might even eat as much as Dearest ate of my latest apple pie. I mean that was just apples, sugar, and flour. Hmph.

You know, I am thinking it may be a good night for a mama coffee break escape too.

I know, I sound whiny. I am sorry. I am grateful we have food, warmth (yay, boiler is on!), and a loving family (even if I am not feeling especially lovey towards dearest right now).

And Now For the Interesting Bits

OK, so perhaps I did not post, after all the build up, about the farm. Our offer was accepted and one of the terms of the deal was that we wait to close until December so that the family that owns it can build their new house and move. At first, I was skeptical about the timeline (who builds a house in 8 weeks?) but now I realize that it is one more thing about the Amish culture that is simply different from ours. Building a house should only take that long, weather permitting. What we are accustomed to is ridiculous. Anyway, back to the update.

Another stipulation was that since we have to wait so long, they allow us to come and make minor repairs to the house, specifically repairs that will help weatherize and water deter until Spring when we can actually work on the house. Also, we'll need to chop firewood and get the systems ready before we move in and before they move out so there isn't a gap in there where anything could freeze. Make sense? They agreed. Nice folks.

So last weekend Dearest headed out alone to patch the roof. The main body of the roof, over the house, is fine. It will last another year or two with maybe spot black jacking when needed. However, both porch roofs have serious issues. The front porch has the added delight of being inhabited by bees. We love bees.


So the above is the before and below is the after. It is just a patch, but as you can see, a little black jack would not have done the job. Really, we need to completely tear off and redo the foundation of the roof, replace some joists, and rebuild the column. I think the only reason the porch still resembles a porch is that it has a concrete deck and foundation AND it was really, REALLY, well built originally.


Here's what I mean:


:) Nice. So that's the exterior of the house everyone keeps hounding me about seeing. Do you see why I am spending all my time at the color preview website? Do you see? Gah. White trim is a definite. My color choices are narrowed down, for the main body, to sage green, butter cream yellow, or a gentle sky blue. All would be stunning. Now picture me 10 years ago trying to choose the SEVEN different colors for the haunted mansion. Right. I was unbearable to live with and got no laundry done for months. Really, it was the paint colors. Not that I was 21 and had enough clothes to last that long. Heh. Back in the day when it was just as likely that raccoons would eat our dinner as it was that we might also fall though the floor while chasing them with brooms. Yeah, the first year in the haunted mansion was really fun; laundry was the least of my concerns. Anyway.....

This is the view from my new front porch. This is what keeps me in daydream land imagining what kind of tea I will sip while enjoying my first winter sunrise. Vanilla Chai? Cinnamon? My own raspberry leaf? Ahhhhh. Likely something spicy. At the bottom you can kind of see the last remnants of where the kitchen gardens were. I'll keep that location. Next week I am getting together with a gardening friend to shop catalogues for seeds. *I am giddy!*

So another thought that I had, as inspired by several other bloggers of late, was sort of a reverse meme. Ask me questions and I will answer them! Ask me anything, what haven't I shared? :) Not just house/farm related, but anything. This could be fun!

Grandpa, Do Not Read This One, aka Spider