New Years Eve!

H wanted out at 5:30 today then to her kennel, it was -27 when I woke just before 8 to hear Shaina making tea. BRRR The last day of 2021 is a cold one. I made a pot of coffee after feeding pets then got the new robotic vacuum in service. The frames lady backed out as I anticipated seeing shipping in Canada is $$.

Laundry and marketing then I was off to town before noon to pick up horse feed with Harley coming along to get out too. It was -22 now but thank goodness for a heated garage and drive thrus.

While in town I grabbed Cooper, some teas and a burger only not have Shaina call and say her massage was at 12:30 rather then 5 which she planned for. Her tea can be reheated later but she does have the gym and her nails booked today as well. I was back home around 1 letting dogs out for a quick rip then into the kennel to dry. 

I got Bruce: the new robot put back to work. I created my top 9 IG posts.

Shaina was back home and to work in her office while I finished the furnace room and vacuumed the basement. It is almost all in order except some boxes Sheldon needs to go thru. Shaina ran back to town for a nail appointment after 3:30 only to find the place closed but when she checked the number she had been dealing with it was a place in the city with same name as one in town. HAHAHA I worked on accounting for awhile the out to feed H, scrub all her dishes up and sort recyclables. Then I found this...

Seems a kitty knocked it off the window ledge trying to get some sunshine. Sheldon's masterpiece is no longer after all these years.

last sunset did not disappoint

I prepped the last HF meal; Moroccan chicken however all the veggies were frozen so it will be pretty plain. Britt was to be off early today at 2 but volunteered again to be on call for 2 1/2 X pay and had to stay. Shaina was back from her workout and no nail appt before 6. She picked up Cooper's food so I fed him. Bruce started back up after charging continuing his floor mapping. I started cooking closer to 6:30 and plated the supper (divided by3) and just got started eating when B arrived home from work.

B went to feed horses, Shaina off to get ready to head to the city for NYE and I tidied up. Shaina did paint my nails quick with gel after I had them prepped. She was off for the city to meet up with Kaylin before 8 as B was coming back from the barn in -27. She started her car and loaded up Coop at 8 and was off. I caught up the blog and headed to bed to relax with my iPad and finish season 4 of This Is Us and start season 5. I stayed awake till 12:01 and shut off the iPad.

Shaina emerges from quarantine

After taking a sleeping pill because I was wide awake turning off Netflix at midnight I was awoken by H to go out the the usual 1:30. Once back in her kennel I was back to sleep till 8. It was lightly snowing out and -22. I held off feeding till after 8:30 which was torture to her it seems. I made a pot of coffee and delivered it fruit and yogurt to the roomie then did some marketing. Once she was done the TV tray was folded and put away, the last of maid service for the Dude. I posted some of the treasures for sale online.

She and I took a brisk walk with Harley at noon at -17 out but a brisk breeze. It was her first venture out in a week and her Jeep started after being plugged in, yeah! In side I called Dad to chat after talking to Mom this am. Seems he is tired of being cooped up, Shaina was stir crazy after 10 days so I can only imagine life in the cottage bedroom for him. I made us grilled cheese for lunch and delivered one to her while on a call.

Now for a shower quick then back to furnace room; the sorting and posting continues. Shaina surfaced to sit in big brown for a bit and even sorted laundry that had stacked up over her quarantine. Emily stopped out after 4:30 at the same time the lady arrived to pick up the fold down edged table. The gal tried it in her car as is then brought back in so I could take the legs off for her and she and Emily who visited with Shaina briefly left at the same time.

I cooked up the 2nd HF meal; blueberry pork chops. Even though I was skeptical about blueberry mixed with barbeque sauce it ended up being ok however Shaina got all the beans and most of the tomatoes. 

We were finishing up as Britt and Cooper rolled in at 6:30. She went to feed horses the feed I soaked and pill Pep then was off after 7. She picked up a parcel at the gate on her way in too, thanks!! Yep it is yet another robotic vacuum, this one says it will go in straight lines no random chaos and will empty itself and carry on, let see. I found a box to fit frames a lady needed a postage quote on and will await her e transfer. Another extreme cold warning is issued with -32 coming overnight.

How not to remove ice from horses feet 101 but one way to make ropey veins disappear :)

Shaina was off to the gym at 7:30 stopping to check the mail for a work Xmas present on her way but no luck. She grabbed some groceries and skipped the gym getting back home in over an hour. In the meantime I had a series of unfortunate events; while refilling my diffuser I set it down on the counter only to knock off a bottle of peppermint oil. Of course it was a near full one with the 2 empties beside it staying on the counter. I put the broken bottle parts in my epsom salts then tried to scoop the puddle into an empty bottle. The rest was wiped with a facecloth to leave to smell the closet but it seems the whole house is smelling like a bandy cane. I then washed my face and rubbed the mascara on my eyes;; dang there was still oil on the fingers causing burning right eye. It is def time to climb into bed to watch Netflix now. However it was a challenge trying to watch and sleep as with the heated tile it fell on it was like a jumbo diffuser full strength. I eventually put on my mask upside down so the nose and eyes were covered, new use right?

I made this funny reel video of Beibs playing with soccer ball for IG

Furnace room tidy continues

H wanted out at 1 am, I hear voices in roomies room and text to find she was watching Game of Thrones. It was -28 when I awoke to what I thought was Harley rustling around but indeed it was the covid kid getting a tea at 7:55. She plead her case as per the CDC suggestion omicron could be 5 days quarantine and 5 days masked. I said ok you can try it masked and lots of hand washing but I will be the delegator. She did have a mask on ;) 

Dang it, I woke with a headache and achy so took migraine pills and perused IG before getting up to make cappuccino after feeding H and the cats. I took out banana to thaw and did a bit of quick marketing. Dude was up to get cereal then back to her work in her office now. I bottled blueberry kombucha and made a new batch. I like to blend up the veggie scraps for H after I have blended the kombucha fruit. I checked the other HF bags to get all scraps and found the veggies had all froze in transit. BOO!

I made another cap and one for her delivering to her office with a side of frozen pepper. I then got started again on the furnace room tidy. My goodness we are blessed with stuff. I had a big box of wooden painted items and western stuff still from storage so went thru that and sorted it. Back upstairs I made the banana bread and popped in the oven then back to tidying.

the floor still is not completely dry but dont want to turn floor heat us as +24 down there already.

there was so much more then this!!

I heated up borscht compliments of Ma K for lunch break. Shaina had a customer drop her cash off at Britt’s under the mat, this had Shaina planning a trip out of the house, the first in a week. However she did not think to start her jeep nor plug it in having not been privy to the cold snap this last week and when she went to start it, it was DEAD. I had banana bread still cooking so she plugged it in and asked Sharon to pick it up for her seeing Britt was at work. 

She was back to calls so I delivered her soup and a kombucha to her office and got back to the furnace room sort. The pantry rack was complete now so on to more sorting and repacking. It has warmed to -23 but sunny so I bundled up (from my minimal wear in the super hot furnace room) and put Harleys coat on and we went to feed the horses and play some ball. 

Harley playing ball in -24 video

video view of my stinger

I hauled the wheelbarrow to the barn to load poop in and grabbed the hammer as feet were balled up. I banged pepper free and as I was going to swing at Switch’s she moved and the hammer hit my hand, YEEOUCH!! That ended that task and inside we went. Back to tidy tasks this time putting away the nativity set, angels and wreaths.

These angels were added to my Christmas angel box

And these few favorites I may find wall space for, will see.

Harley’s dog food was delivered just before 4. The headache required more drugs so I laid on my bed writing the blog in the last of the days sun while H paced hoping to get fed. This did not last long as I cant stay in bed when the sun is out. I am skipping cooking tonight and just went with coleslaw and gyoza. The drugs kicked in now, yeah! I delivered Shaina's tray with her favorite diet coke after her shower.

Time to get working on the blog, photos and videos were loaded for yesterday and published. I was working on it when B and Coop were out around 6:30 usual time. She brought Coop in after his poop then she went and scooped poop picking him up after 7 along with a toffee tart care package. I wrapped up my computer work and headed to soak in the tub then to relax in bed watching This Is Us. I did deliver a diet coke, banana bread and toffee tart to the roomie too. Looks like room service is coming to an end soon :)

Water issue solved!!

I woke at 6 but did not want to get out of bed and wake H, outside temp says -27. She did however want out after 7 so while she was out I hustled down and saw no new water yeah then back up to let her in, text S who is going to get in touch with our water guy. I heard the furnace kick in then I fell back asleep till after 8:30. After answering a few texts - 1 from B hoping I might get Cooper today and the other to S having the guy arranged to come look I went and fed H and the cats. Then it was off to the furnace room where DAM!! there was way more water then last night. As I was moping the floor I felt it dripping and looked up to see it coming out of the humidifier. I shut off water to it! 

watch these too videos of what I saw

Back up to get tools after sending videos to the boss. I pulled off the tray full of water dumping mostly into a bucket and saw the drainage pipe clogged with calcification. I think this is the culprit!! I am guessing the furnace kicking in this am sent the water to humidifier and it has no were to go seeing hose plugged. The water was mopped up, soaked rugs were hauled to garage to wash once the hot water gets turned back on, buckets emptied, tray washed and put back in place sans filter. I also had a pot of coffee going as Shaina has calls today starting at 10 and had requested coffee by 9:30 :) I delivered a cup of coffee, refilled her water bottle and put tea tree oil in her diffuser she sets out. Then back to finish the furnace room water mopping.

The day was warming up having gotten to -20 mid morning. Snow lightly fell after 11 for a short while and just before noon the sun actually came out for a bit. I took Shaina her second coffee, fruit and hot oatmeal just before noon too. Guess this is her lunch brunch. I was eating the last of the sweet potatoes for my lunch when the egg lady dropped off 2-18 packs for $4! She says some were frozen in the past week, of course they were LOL. It was now warming up to -16, how balmy! LOL I finished writing a tutorial for the white cabinet and got yesterdays blog post finished too. Now to get to the animal care; kitty litter cleaned and horse feed soaking. The horses have been out and about today seeing it is much "nicer" then last few days. The sun did not stay out long and the soft snow started again at 1.

Time to get busy in the furnace room. I started with the games rack and spent the afternoon organizing, wiping and sorting. There was a break with the Harley alarm going off to alert me the  Hello Fresh arrived. There is no water coming out so things are hopefully contained. I threw the largest rug in the garage washing machine/dryer and did a load of towels seeing we went thru allot of hand towels over the last week. 

Looks like we could have a good time at a AV social if they still accept the drink tokens ;)

The center rack was up next finding a few treasures B was looking for like the little 2 cup coffee pot. Seeing I did not go to town and get Cooper I bundled up, mixed the feed, put H's coat on and she and I went out to feed Pepper and Bird. It was like herding burning cats trying to get just those two into the barn from the arena but once I did Bird would not eat. It is like she has not been in there 1000 times before. She did eat about 6 mouthfuls if I held the tub for her but after Pep finished I put them back out, cleaned some frozen poop in the arena then brought Bird's food back to the garage for B to feed later. Even at -16 H back legs froze up trying to chase the ball twice, inside we went.

Harley and the cats were fed next before I came in to write a tutorial for the purple jewelry box and get it published with a cold beer on the side. Of course then it has to be sent to paint company and posted on various sites. I also made a FB shop post for the damask magazine rack. It was then time to get cooking the first HF meal; farmhouse chicken. It was ok and finished just in time for Shaina to have about 5 minutes before her 6:30 call. I finished Emily in Paris while washing up the pots and pans. B and Coop arrived at 7, he hung out inside while she scooped some poop in the barn then they were off.

I did some marketing then headed to bed and watched This Is Us, it has been a long time since I watched this series. I saw on TV that the season currently airing is the final season so I have a bit to catch up with it seems. I even got to have some of my ice cream I missed last night. Princess requested her daily diet coke and it even came with a toffee tart; shhhh don't tell Sheldon, Britt or Kaylin.

Furnace failure and water issues

-32 upon waking at 8!!! WTH! It was -30 at 5:30 when S woke me heading to the bathroom. He also woke H too but she was happy to go back to bed when he offered her to go out. I fed her earlier today then sent her out into the sunny frozen tundra. She raced around checking the horses who were now out in the shelter sunshine then back in to her warm kennel. The kitties are so happy to be vacationing in the garage for Xmas. I made coffee and enjoyed one in bed while playing some cookie jam.

S had a sleep in then up for a coffee or 2 in bed while I worked on loading pics and posting Christmas day blog and working on marketing that has been lacking. Breakfast and coffee to the quarantine room along with her therapy cat for a bit.

I mixed a jumbo bucket of beet pulp to soak for B who has today off too. Vacuuming, plant watering and laundry up next to continue the boxing up week :) Once I was done I took the wand and pulled out the basement one for roomie to do her room. S packed his backpack, tried on his new clothes and had a rest in big brown. After a tuna sandwich he had a wee nap to to prep for the trip north after starting the merc to run.

B was out at 1 as I was giving S his massage for the day. She braved the cold and fed all the horses, picked feet and visited all the ponies. I managed the dogs going out quick after my massage then brushed H in the garage as she seems to be shedding.

B loaded up Coop and was off for home after 2. Sheldon was off for the airport at 2:30. Before he left he checked the furnace outlet under the deck and found a huge snowball again so knocked it off and on his way. I got busy catching up with marketing, working on tutorials as well as writing a post on Hometalk for the white antique dresser. I have a lady interested in the fold down table planning to pick up tomorrow then changed to Wednesday. Sheldon text he passed his rapid test but then the plane was delayed, hope the week gets better.

For supper I cooked up the sweet potato I forgot on Xmas and made a fresh batch of coleslaw, this was paired with the remaining Brussel sprouts and roast bison for a most delicious supper. Roomie even sent up a yum emoji and an IG story :) She is on a count down for 2 /12 more days of confinement. I worked on marketing putting the desk on a boxing sale and creating a fun reel for Instagram. 

I headed to bed after 9 to watch Emily, it is back down to frigid deep freeze -31 temps hitting a high today of -28!! And another EXTREME cold warning just popped up for overnight. Good grief, where is the nearest beach that allows dogs :) I decided to jump in the shower first and once I was crawled into my cozy bed Shaina text for ice cream. I got up and took her a bowl and grabbed my little tub and back to bed however the furnace still continued to run since Sheldon left  but drop in temperature so I went to check boiler. I had checked the panel late afternoon and it seemed to be firing but now it says error intake issue. Just like last time, which was in February, it seems the outlet S knocked ice off is covered again. And I have wet hair and a nightie on. As I looked around as I was leaving the furnace room I saw the rugs were soaked around the hot water heater!!! WTH!!

water video

I ran back up put ice cream away, pulled on covies, boots and a toque and Harley and I went out to remove the air intake elbow completely. Instantly it sucked in a ton of air and was on its way. OK that issue was handled after checking the boiler panel was indeed heating. Now onto the water soaked floor. I hauled all the items around the area out to living room for starters. I rolled the soaked rugs, put in buckets and blocked in the hot water tank. Next I grabbed the mop and got the water up but it slowly is oozing from under the hot water tank. Sheldon tried to trouble shoot from his seat on the bus heading to work. Why did this not happen yesterday when he was home?? Once he got to site and Wi-Fi I could facetime him the issues. He had me lower hot water temperature (which required me to run back up yet again and get my glasses LOL) and the in floor heating and wants me to check in an hour or so to see if more water or same. I also had Shaina who was just vacuuming her room try and get some hot water in the lines into her tub to take off pressure. No hot water now till I figure it out, good thing I showered and ran dishwasher tonight. I used a large wet rug as a berm around the hot water tank and found a short garden hose and attached to the base in case I need to drain the tank. Seeing the vacuum was out I pulled it in to vacuum around the vase of the vacuum bin area seeing I was in cleaning mode. I did have cleaning out this room on my list to do over the holidays and actually thought about doing today but moved till tomorrow. Looks like that is now a for sure thing.

Now it was back to my comfy bed and watch Emily till 12:30. When I went to check I saw a river of water from a different direction going to the drain but saw it was the bucket of rugs that tipped over. Thank goodness I had rolled the dry rugs up to to be sure the floor was bare. There was not much more water in the rug berm I created around the hot water tank, whew. Time to get some sleep.

Deep freeze Boxing Day

H was quiet till the garage door was opened at 9 am, she preferred to eat and even then hesitant about going out in the -25. It was a quick in and out. Coffee was enjoyed in bed with a test run of the new massage machine. I think it will be a keeper. Dude had her coffee and hot oatmeal and fresh fruit delivered. Today she has moved to a 8.5/10 from the 8 yesterday and 4 on worst day which was Tuesday.

A kitchen clean and wrapping tidy was next as well as opening a gift from Ma and Pa XOXO. Time for a fire and blog catch up for me while S relaxed in big brown. S moved to the couch to sleep while I decided to lay on the bed and continue Emily in Paris between maid duties. Today I plan to have a relaxing stay in your housecoat and cozy new house socks from Ma and Pa day.

Snack and J were requested to the quarantine room which J loved. S ran out to plug in skid steer and shoveled the front walk where some snow accumulated overnight. More boxing day tidying up.

Britt and Cooper were out at 2 and for the next almost 2 hours she catered to feeding her horses. Everyone got the beet pulp combo I had soaked for her. The province wide cold alert came out with temps hitting into the + -40 with the wind chill over night. Currently it has a -36 wind chill. The dogs tried to go out and play but it was not long before B had to carry Cooper back in and drag H back to the warm garage. They stayed in with me then. 

Once the horses figured out B had a bucket of food they came running - video

I rousted Sheldon to go help her bring down the blue tub and square bales to put in the arena after she opened the big door for them to come in. Snow stated to fall softly. He also rolled a bale out just outside the door which B helped get baler twine off etc. She is such a dedicated horse care owner.

setting out the all inclusive hay buffet - video

B and Cooper headed home after 4, she brought S a bottle of white rum and mini chocolate bars for his gift which paired well with part of Kaylin's gift; make it rum kits. He added the rum to the flavor jars and left to infuse. We laid on the bed and started the movie the Starling. It is an ok movie but pretty mellow being based on mental health.

one kit is spiced and the other vanilla

We stopped at 6 so I could chop and roast Brussel sprouts to go with the leftover meat and watch the news. S went to the TV room to watch the end of the juniors hockey game while I worked on catching up the blog. Once game was over we finished the Starling movie then watched The Unforgivable. It was a good movie ;) which we followed up with this weeks Yellowstone. S was off to sleep and I watched some more Emily.