HEY STRANGERS!! lol

First and foremost, I'd like to apologize for not updating this blog in quite some time...ok, so maybe it's been a LONG time, BUT...I DO have a lot of GREAT reasons why! LOL

Shortly after my last post, I ended up having major surgery (of the female kind!) that came with some pretty serious complications.  That set me back for quite a few months.  After that, when I started to feel better, I DID get my beloved chickens that I've wanted for soooo long!  AND...one beautiful fall morning, I was headed out to hang a corn cob from a string to the chicken coop, and was more concerned with the corn cob than I was about WHERE I was going!  A few steps before the chicken coop, I found myself laying on the ground after falling into a hole.  And yes...I broke my ankle in 2 places!  So that set me back another 2 months!  It's still not quite right, but I'm getting around.  The Dr. suggested surgery, but I really didn't want to have another one! LOL  So I'll deal with it until I can't stand it anymore!

BUT, I'm back..and ready to completely tackle my ongoing homesteading project!  We've come pretty far since I updated last time.  I'll give a quick summary:

We moved into our living quarters the first of September, and quickly found out that 800 sq. ft. was a TAD bit too small for 5 of us! LOL And when I have a 2400 sq ft building, built entirely with the intention of housing my photography business just sitting there, well...it became obvious that expanding our living area was the wise choice.  I haven't been shooting much, considering that MY income depends on the disposable income of others (since I'm a "WANT" based business and not a "NEEDS" based business) and our community has been hit very hard by the DEPRESSION (yes...you heard me right!) it just didn't make sense to have this huge building and not use 3/4's of it!  Don't get me wrong, I still shoot and have stayed busy enough to keep going, but it's just more like when I first started many years ago and worked out of my home!

The HUGE camera room is now our main FAMILY room! Still big enough for me to set up my equipment and shoot when needed!  The Lobby is now the master bedroom, (which makes the boys happy that they get their own room!)  I still need to build a wall in the master bedroom that makes a hallway that will enter into the living room, but yea...for now...when you come here, you enter into our bedroom! LOL  too funny! 



And as for my chickens...well...I love them!  They're my babies!  I chose the "ISA" egg layers, and they have been so wonderful!  I'll even yell for them, and they just come running to me!  I hand feed them, and actually have been known to "fork feed" them (yes...with a plastic fork!) lol  They really are such great girls!  My friend gave me a little black Banty Rooster, who we affectionately named, *hithead...lol and he's a great little rooster and takes care of the girls quite well!  Rockey, our beloved little Sheltie is very fond of our little hens too!  He's been the BEST little farmhand and watchdog I could have ever hoped for!  When he's outside...he's with the chickens!  I'll post some pics of the little ladies in a bit!



I also successfully raised 21 Meat Birds last fall which have been so wonderful on our dinner plates!  I got them as day old chicks, and me, my hubby and a couple friends butchered them ourselves!  Wish I would have gotten more pictures of THAT, but I'm placing an order for some more shortly, so I'll track that progress a little better this time!  I'd already placed my order before breaking my ankle, so it was all I could do to get by!

The last update, is that we installed a wood burner in the camera room/living room.  Even though we have the piping in the slab for the heated floors, the LP costs were killing us!  We didn't have enough money to put in an outside wood boiler, so I got to looking through Craigslist, and was able to score and AWESOME fairly large woodburner with built in blowers for only $200! Granted...we did have to install the chimney and all that pipe, which cost us around $600...BUT, it's been the BEST decision we've made so far!  LP was literally DRAINING our finances to the tune of $400-$600 a MONTH, (because we were trying to use a normal LP gas water heater to heat 2400 sq ft of floor!)  and we've successfully  been heating this whole place with that one woodburner for almost $65-$75 a month...yes...you heard right!!!!  under $100 IN OHIO!  We get our wood from an Amish neighbor in long log form, and we all take turns cutting and splitting!  We'll definitely be continuing that throughout the spring and summer to gather us a large amount to season.  Yes...it's a LOT of work, and I'm very fortunate to be here all day to stoke it, clean it, feed it...but it's been the BEST thing! 

Well, I think that's enough for now...and if you made it through the entire update, then congrats!~ :)  I'll post some images that I have been able to take throughout last year, and promise to keep better tabs on the blog!