Monday, February 27, 2012

free stuff!!

jambaloney here!

in october, we pitched in to install new windows and re-side the framboise firehall - it was quite an adventure and i learned how to put up the type of plastic siding we have @ framboise manor. it was a great 3 days and we all felt good about it. (in the pic below i am the guy in the blue t-shirt leaning on the truck in the foreground - waiting my turn on the scaffolding ;-)



the firetruck on the right has since been sent for scrap - it no longer worked and the community has raised quite a bit so far for a new one, we should have it by this spring/summer.

as we were working on the outside, we also cleaned up the inside of old equipment etc. i was able to score some pretty useful "junk" !! i am a big advocate of free stuff ESPECIALLY stuff that is going to be tossed out - one person's trash is someone else's treasure! NOBODY can deny the magnificence of the following haul:


here is about 50 feet of chain, chain is expensive, not this!!


here are some high quality pipe fittings:


oh, this is just a big roll of rubber firehose, only a hundred and one uses for that ;-)))


MORE firehose...rubber for irrigation projects and the cloth stuff to uses as strapping, lumber cradles, a canoe cradle down at the river... there are another 5 rolls of cloth hose under that tarp!!


this old gurney has 5" wheels and the highest quality aluminum frame.... kymber wants to suntan on it while i wheel her around but i think it will make a fine garden trolly!


these 4 cinder blocks are now keeping our new washer off the basement floor:


these are 2 10 foot sections of large diameter rubber fire-hose. i have to put in a 'quick and dirty' culvert under the back road this spring, these will be perfect!!!



this is an old stretcher which has some great brackets and hardwood rails on it for later use, and some rubber and asbestos gloves!!




these window casements are about 2 1/2 feet high and 5 feet wides, the glass is thick and they have screens.... i smell a green house!!



these windows didn't come from the fire-hall, i got them during last years large garbage pickup week... i'll find more this spring and will take the whole load, sand them, re-glaze as needed, paint them all white and start a second hand greenhouse!! can't wait!!


that's a pretty good amount of free stuff. you will see it re-appear in future posts as i put it all to good use this coming year!!

cheers all!!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

winter is finally here!

well it seems that winter, true and proper winter, has finally hit the Manor! we have been having a real mixed bag of weather for the past few days - wind, rain, wind, snow, wind, sunny, wind and more wind!!! there is only a bit of snow left on the ground as although it has been windy, it hasn't been too cold. but the snow that is left out there right now will probably freeze tonight as our temps are going down to -7C (22F) - brrrrrrr! we are supposed to have a cold spell until Thursday and then the temps will return to normal. there will be lots of home-made broth being made and lots of indoor chores getting done over the next few days. and lots of banshee-screeching will be heard for miles every time i get in and out of the hottub. so Duke, Stephen, 45er and JUGM - if you hear any banshee-screeching leave your weapons holstered - it's just me getting in or out - bahahahahah!

anyway, in other news, it looks like somebody took a stroll across the river the other day!



because the ice/snow had been melting for a few days, we can't tell if it is coyote or bobcat tracks. we always walk around our land and down to the river looking for tracks.





we haven't really seen any tracks - a bear cut across our road last winter but we haven't seen him again. and we have have seen a few coyote tracks at our compost but jambaloney scared them off - otherwise known as peeing around the compost regularly. he also pees at the top and bottom of the driveway, the top and bottom of the road and all around the perimeter of our cleared area. for anyone who has coyote problems - this is a nifty trick! because the cats sometimes think they are dogs, they have seen jambaloney do this and follow suit. although cats tend to do that anyway.

and lastly, here is a sight that always makes me happy - laundry blowing in the wind!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

some interesting links

i received an email from a friend who was interested in the free, online canning course that ScifiChick and i took together a few years ago. both SciFiChick and i found the course very easy and informative and although she is a canning and dehydrating fool, i haven't really done much canning since getting to the Manor. i am hoping that will change during this year's harvest - fingers crossed!

so here is the link to the National Centre for Home Preservation. scroll down to the bottom of the page where it says: Preserving Food At Home: A Self Study and click the registration button. once you fill out the registration form, you will receive an email with a login and can begin your course.

the other great link that i would like to share is Instructables.com. this link takes you to a page where you can learn how to make a greenhouse out of windows. if you look on the right-hand side of the page you will see other related instructables. there are tons of instructables on the site related to pretty much anything. play around with the topics or search for something specific.

i hope that some of you will enjoy one, or both, of these links!

anyway, it's laundry day here at the Manor. and yes, i really love my new washing machine!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

For Little Bit!



Little Bit is turning 7 today - woohoo! Happy Birthday Little Bit! i hope that you have a wonderful day with Nana and Papa!

love always, from your friend,
kymber
xox

how awesome!?!?!?!?!

we love our friend E's two boys - M and N! we met M(23) at our first dance at the community hall and then a few dances later we met N (just turned 16 today)!!!! they are both really good boys/young men!

last weekend when we attended the Valentine's Dance, we saw M at the dance - i ran over to give him a big hug and he picked me right up off of the floor. everyone saw how i reacted to him and how he reacted to me - everyone knows that i love him! i hugged him for a good 15 minutes and he did not mind at all. M and his brother N have a reputation for being little criminals around here but such good boys i have never met!!! at the dance we learned that M is interested in bow hunting and is in the process of making his own bow. of course, we told him that jambaloney has several bows and many practice arrows and we told him that jambaloney would give him a bow, some practice arrows, and teach him how to use them. he is also interested in joining the military, so every time we see him at a dance he is full of questions for me. we told him that we would have him over and spend some time with him.

we called M yesterday but he was in the city about an hour or so away. so we took turns talking to his brother N. N told us that it was his birthday today. we told him that since he must have plans already that we would have him over on another day. he assured us that he didn't have plans and would love to come for a visit - on his 16th birthday?!??!?!? so we got up this morning and tidied up the Manor. i wanted to have food pre-made but jambaloney thought it better to make the food in front of M and N to see if they were interested - he was soooo right!

we called M and N this morning and they sounded so excited to be coming for a visit. they showed up at about 2 this afternoon - and what an awesome day we all had!!!! they are such good boys and so interested in just about anything!!! we all yakked and talked about everything, sharing stories and the like. we gave N a card that jambaloney had laying around...and we put some money in it. he was blown away. i explained that since we didn't know it was his birthday until the day before, we didn't have time to get him a proper gift. he didn't seem to mind. i slipped some money into M's pocket and he was all "you don't have to do that" and i was all "it's gas money!" and he just smiled.

we all made home-made, fresh salsa together and they licked the big bowl of salsa clean. they had never had fresh salsa, they had never made it or seen how easy it was to make and they loved it. both of them said that they didn't like tomatoes - you should have seen them licking up that salsa!!! then i made fresh guacamole and some more salsa for our fajitas - jambaloney took M out to the BBQ and showed him how to properly BBQ a steak and a chicken breast. when the steak and chicken was done they piled their wraps with waaaay tooo much chicken, steak, salsa and guacamole that they couldn't close their tortillas. the whole time they were eating they just kept saying "nom nom nom yum yum yum".

i told them how honoured we were to have them as guests. and both of them took turns telling us how happy they were to be our guests. they are lovely young men and i just wanted to eat them! they look at jambaloney like he is some kind of god. jambaloney gave M an old bow and some arrows and he gave N some stuff for his bike. it made my heart swell watching them talk to jambaloney! upon their arrival they both kissed and hugged me in a way that most boys would be embarrassed of. they kissed me and hugged me even more beautifully when they were leaving.

they were supposed to be at home at 5pm as their Mom, E, was having family over for N's birthday. their Mom phoned at about 5:15pm. i told her that they were having a good time and didn't quite want to leave just yet. she told me i could keep them as long as i wanted. i told her i wanted to keep them forever. they stayed until about 10:30 and then we sent them packing with all of their goods.

it was wonderful to watch them hug and kiss jambaloney without any embarrassment - they really love him - especially after he had given them things that they both were so excited about. i love that they ate food that they were not familiar with, fresh and healthy food, and they ate it like a young man and a young boy would. i love that it was N's 16th birthday and he wanted to be with us. i love that they were so interested in everything that we had to say about growing your own food and eating healthy. i love that they both hugged me and kissed me with abandon and M lifted me right off the floor. they both told me that they loved me.

does life get better than this?

i may never be able to give jambaloney a proper baby or child...but i will find sons for him. daughters are coming soon. i couldn't believe how they hung on to jambaloney's every word. they sooo look up to him. and he loves them as much as me!!!

when i spoke to their mother this evening, she thanked me. and jambaloney. she thanked us for taking such an interest in her boys. i thanked her back. for being such a good mother and raising such beautiful boys.

we had such an awesome day. and cemented our friendship with 2 dear friends. i can't wait to have them over again. i can't wait to watch their awe-filled faces as jambaloney takes them fishing in the canoe. i can't wait to see jambaloney all lit up like that again. he loves them. and they love him. and i love them all.

i can't wait.