The move is over!

The move is finally over!

First though the pipeliner saved the day!

The job he was on got shut down for a couple of weeks do to the cold and snow.

(I was so thankful to have him home!!)

He had a back-hoe delivered from work to fix the water break.

We had water for the weekend before the move.

It was 20 days without any water.

I sure hope that never happens again!

That backhoe came in so handy!

We have had snow, and more snow.

The pipeliner got all of the snow cleared away at the farm and at the new house.

The driveway was getting smaller and smaller!

The night before the move we had a snowstorm move through.

We even had 6 people stranded at our house for the night.

The next morning we weren't sure if the movers would make it.

They called and said they were on the way.

The pipeliner had to plow a path for them to get up our road

and for the stranded people to get out.

But the movers made it!

It was a frigid -10 that morning!

Those guys were troopers!

They got everything loaded in the truck.

We waited for the snow plow to make its way down the road.

The drifts were huge!

The plows passed by, turned around at the end of the road and then we followed them back up the road.

This is looking out my passenger truck window at one point.

We made it!!

The truck got unloaded.

Most of our stuff got put in its place.

I still have a few things left to unpack.

As I have come to expect, things are always unpredictable in our world.

The day after the move, 

the pipeliner got a call to be in New Jersey for work Friday morning.

Guess who tagged along?

ME!

We boarded the dogs for 2 weeks.

Shut up both of the houses.

All of the work will still be there when I get back.

I was ready for a little break!

The place we are staying at has a pool, whirlpool, exercise room and free breakfast every morning!

My main goal for today?

A hot bubble bath!

I sure have missed those!

Just another adventure in the life of a pipeliners wife!

Liz

Little Mans 1st

Our grandson celebrated his first birthday last weekend!

I can hardly believe he is a year old!

He is already a tractor man!

The green kind too.

His mom got him a John Deere cake for the party.

He wasn't to sure what to do with all of that green frosting!

One of his favorite friends came to help him celebrate.

Happy 1st Birthday little man!

Grandma and Gramps love you!

BBQ'd Lima Beans

The pipeliner has been gone off and on since mid December.

While I miss him like crazy, 

it gives me the freedom from having a nightly meal on the table.

Plus it gives me a chance to eat some of my favorites.

Things that he just refuses to eat.

I started out with my all time favorite,

liver and onions!

YUM!

I made meatloaf one night when the daughter and grandson were here.

The little man loved it!

I've fixed sauerkraut and sausage, chicken and dumplings, red beans and rice.

Can you believe the man doesn't like any of these tastey dishes?

Tonight a made a big batch of lima beans my style!

I will share the recipe with you guys!

2 cans lima beans drained 

1 can tomato soup

small onion chopped 

green pepper chopped

1 cup brown sugar

4 slices bacon chopped

1 tbsp mustard

Mix all ingredients together.

You can bake it in the oven for an hour or so at 350 F.

Or throw it in the crockpot.

Set the temperature on low and let it simmer all day!

Thats how I cooked it today.

The house smells great!

I can't wait to have a big ol' bowl!

On the menu next,

deep fried chicken livers!

Liz

Views from the new!

Well I mentioned back before Christmas our exciting news,

we bought another house!

It was a battle from the time we put in our first offer, even up to the last minute of the closing.

But the papers got signed, and it is ours!

(The pipeliner came home, grabbed his bags and left for a month out of town)

We decided to add our own touches to the place before anything was moved in.

The first thing to go was the laminate flooring.

It took me a couple of days to rip it all out but its out!

The new hardwood floors will be installed on the 20th of this month.

Living room

I can't wait to have a warm, crackling fire!

Love fireplaces!

The windows needed restained and sealed.

Great view of our 5 acres

It has a spacious sunroom. I can already picture myself sitting out here enjoying my morning coffee.

Fireplace in the dining room.

The countertops in the kitchen were a dark red. 

They had to go!

Granite ones coming soon!

The painters have been there all last week. 

I think they should finish up sometime this week.

We ran into an issue with the paint.

Many of the cans had been froze prior to delivery.

Not quite sure what we will do with the master bath yet.

Red was a dominate color in this house!

I can hardly wait to get everything done and moved in!

Especially with our water issue at the farmhouse or should I say no water!

I am thankful that we have this place so I can run over in the morning and take a shower.

The new place is only about 2 miles from the farmhouse!

I am hoping to be all moved in by February 1st.

Just in time for the pipeliner to be home!

I am glad he made it home for those few days when the snowstorm hit!

I took this picture one night as I was closing the garage door and heading back to the farm.

Yep, with view like that, I know it will make a wonderful home!

Liz

A Big Thanks!

I received a nice surprise in the mailbox a few days after Christmas.

It was a bundle of handcrafted soaps that I had won!

Plus 2 moisturizing lip balms!

(my daughter quickly swiped one!)

The contest was sponsored by a fellow blogger that I just recently discovered.

Jump over to visit Daisy at

Maple Hill 101

She has such an informative blog.

Truly a girl after my own heart!

The handmade goodies were made by a fellow blogger as well.

Staci at

Life At Cobble Hill Farm

Hers was one of the first blogs I started following.

I came across it while looking at ideas for building our own chicken coop.

She has the scoop on coops!

Now Staci has branched out with a wonderful line of handmade cold process soaps, herbal salves, lotions, lip balms and sugar scrubs.

They can be ordered at Staci's 

Etsy shop.

Thanks again to Daisy for choosing me to be the winner!

And thank you Staci for a wonderful product!

I can't wait to order more!

Liz

What a start to the New Year!

Happy New Year!

Ok, so I am only about a week late.

Since New Years day this is what we have been dealing with about every other day!

Snow.

And more snow.

Now it is extreme cold.

The high today was -13, with a wind chill of -40.

Add to that blowing and drifting snow.

One friend with a plow truck came to dig us out.

He got stuck in the drive and the pipeliner had to pull him out.

Later in the day another friend came to check up on us.

He got stuck farther up in the drive way.

The pipeliner had to pull him out too!

On top of the snow and cold our water froze.

Somewhere between the house and the well pump.

The pipe burst and left a nice layer of ice over the drive.

( reason why plow truck # 2 got stuck)

We have had no water since early this morning.

But we did manage to drain the pipes into buckets for drinking water for the dogs.

I brought in a few gallon buckets of snow to melt for flushing the toilet.

We have a supply of bottled water.

And of course milk, tea and what else.

As I type the road grater finally made a pass.

The guys in plow truck 2 called after he left and said the road was almost impassable, glad he made it through!

Tonight we are warm and toasty in the little farmhouse.

Tomorrow we will dig back out.

Figure out what to do about the water situation.

Everything always seems better in the morning!

Stay warm!

Liz