My Woman Cave, Part 1

A couple of years ago a whole thing got started about "Man Caves". It was their place to hang out, their place to shoot pool or play air hockey and watch sports. Some man caves were featured in magazines because they were so incredible.

Mike has his version of a man cave, its his office. He has all kinds of personal stuff in there and he spends a lot of time in his office. I am allowed to sit in a very comfortable chair and use my computer, but that is it.

I had complained that I had no where to work on sewing projects, or make wreaths, or arrange silk flowers or put my treadmill.

After a lot of discussion we decided that I needed a woman cave where I could work on my stuff and be able to use my treadmill. So, rather than add onto the house we bought me a shed. A 12' x 28' shed with 2 windows and 2 sets of double doors.

Mike knew exactly where he wanted the shed to go. This was a fairly level area of the yard and close to the yard hydrant and a power box was nearby to connect to.

The guys showed up on a Friday with the shed and then backed it up to where it was going to be placed. You can see the black garden hose, right past that is the yard hydrant and to the left of that near the tree is the power connection.

The guys started working on unloading the shed.

They got one end on the ground and then propped up the other with cinder blocks so they could get the trailer out from under the shed.

While they were working on the shed Mike and I decided that I should light the burn pile which had a lot of yard waste and our Christmas tree on it. There was a lot of smoke and I am really glad that no one called the fire department.

After awhile they got the shed off the trailer and started on getting it level and properly supported. As I looked at this picture I realized that I got the tip of my neighbor's dog's tail in it. That is what that odd black thing is, the tip of Abigail's tail.

While I was clearing out for the shed I found this piece of,,,,whatever. I asked Mike about it and he told me it was made with pressure treated wood and had been used for storing buckets of chicken feed on. We are going to put legs on it and set it against the back of my shed so I can use it as a planting table. And with the yard hydrant nearby that will be great for playing in the dirt.

When you open the double doors on the end of the shed this is the view. We will put a Formica counter top on the workbench. This will be my sewing and craft area. Mike said he has a stereo system that he will install for me so I have tunes while I play. We will replace the single bulb light fixture with a 4-foot florescent fixture so I have lots of light.

When you open the side doors and look towards my future sewing & craft area this is what you see. I am going to put up insulation in the entire shed and then we will either put up sheetrock or paneling to finish it off. Thus making it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Either way I will still get to hear the rain on the tin roof. We are also going to put a small refrigerator in here against the partial wall so I don't have to hike to the house when I want some water or a diet coke.

As you stand near the partial wall at the small end and look to the larger side you can see the loft area. It goes around 3 walls. All our seasonal decorations will be placed up there. I am not sure yet what the workbench on this end of the shed will be used for.

When you back up to the work bench on the large end you can see I have a lot of space to work with and my treadmill will fit nicely in here.

As work progresses on the inside of the shed I will make additional posts. I am very excited that soon I will have my own place to play and will be able to start working out again.

A Honeymoon Trip

We had been hanging around the house since we got married because we knew Miss Savannah's 1st Birthday Party was coming up and that meant a trip to Jacksonville, Florida. This trip became our honeymoon trip and reminded me of a little song I had heard on the country radio stations in Jacksonville years ago called "Honeymoon in Palatka".

On a different trip, when we went to Palatka, we actually stayed at the Holiday Inn mentioned in the song. You can Google the song and read the lyrics.

Anyway, on our way south, we stopped at a rest area in South Carolina and were shocked to see there was an actual pay phone. We thought these things were extinct.

After a night's rest at our favorite Jacksonville Holiday Inn, we went over to my daughter and son in-law's house for the party. My daughter, Patricia, had made a poster of statistics for Miss Savannah.

When it was time for her cake, the birthday girl dove right in with both hands.

Bunny got to hold her great granddaughter.

Mike took a few turns holding the birthday girl. Savannah always seems interested in Mike, maybe its his beard.

I got a turn at holding the little munchkin. She kept grabbing at the diamond necklace my mother had given me. Maybe one day, I'll give it to her.

The next day Mike and I met my daughter, son in-law and Savannah for brunch. They make a cute couple.

Savannah likes to feed her mommy.

She also likes her fruit. Look at this adorable berry face!

Before we headed back home we made a stop at the local Peterbrooke Chocolate store for some of their movie theater style popcorn that is drenched in creamy milk chocolate. Actually, we made two stops there. The first and much smaller bucket didn't last too long.

In all it was a nice trip and the weather was good. Looking forward to our next trip down to see Miss Savannah.

For the Birds

Santa brought me a new camera for Christmas. Mike and I love to feed the birds and watch them outside our windows.

With my new camera I have been playing with settings while taking bird photos. With the weather being so screwed up I have been learning to take photos through the windows.

A male Cardinal

A woodpecker

A pair of Cardinals. Some days we may have up to 3-4 pairs of Cardinals hanging around the front feeder.

I moved one of our suet feeders to the back deck and in no time at all this Brown Thrasher showed up.

A female Cardinal. She was patiently waiting for the Brown Thrasher to leave the suet feeder.

I have also been taking pictures of the waxing moon, during the day.

And closer to sunset. That is a star directly to the left of the moon.

The weather has also gotten some attention, mainly because it is for the birds. Cold and snow seems to have been the January theme. Here is snow on January 21st. We got snow again on the 28th. See the female Cardinal photo above.

I love looking out across the orchard in the mornings.

Note: this was not the coldest temperature we had here. It was down to zero one morning. Nothing compared to what my mother and step-father are facing in South Dakota but still too cold for this Island Girl.

Shooting Range

Walk out our back door onto the deck, head down the stairs and turn left. Way out back we have an area that Mike has always used as a shooting range. Since we were hosting a Conceal & Carry Permit class and needed a range that targets could be attached to. Mike called some buddies and went right to work.

Hike down into the woods and you are near the Roanoke River Basin. There used to be a creek back here. On a warm day it gets a bit mushy.

The guys worked hard for several hours before I headed down to take photos.

The end and center supports were set in cement. The center was made of 4'x 8' sheets of plywood.

The plywood was then covered with sheets of metal on both sides.

A few days later Mike and I went down and attached 2" thick pieces of wood to the target side.

After a couple of hours we had finished the backstop for the range.

Its a long walk back to the house but it is so convenient to have a range in our back yard.

After the class Mike had to make some repairs to the backstop. He is also in the process of making it thicker and we are going to limit the caliber size of firearm that can be used.

Canning Chicken and Broth

My beloved husband, Mike, and I had been talking about canning. I know, what else is new? We agreed that the next time chicken was on sale we would can some, or in southern terms "put it up". It was not but a few days later when the local grocery store had chicken thighs for $0.98/pound. We bought 25 pounds of chicken and then the next day went back for 20 more pounds. Because chicken is considered a low acid food it has to be pressure canned. I found my canning pot out in the garage.

We brought in some jars and got them washed and ready to go. I actually have 2 pressure canning pots.

The chicken came in large packs of 4 1/2 - 5+ pounds.

This is what 20 pounds of boned and skinned thighs look like.

We took the skin and the bones and placed them in a very large pot and added some water. We let this simmer for several hours.

Mike did the canning of the chicken. He packed each quart jar with a chicken bouillon cube, a teaspoon of salt and then the chicken. After they had cooled we had 13 quarts of canned chicken.

Here is some of the canned broth with bits of chicken in it. This will be great for making dressing and sauces.

Part of doing projects like this is having the right tools, like canning pots and jars. But for this project a great boning knife was necessary. Mine is from Cutco. It is wonderful and super sharp. By the time I had finished boning and skinning the chicken I had nicked myself in all 3 sections of my right index finger. One was right on top of an old scar, ouch.