A bit about Andy

As I was rolling cinnamon buns in the kitchen earlier I was mentally going thru my to-do-list telling myself to remind Andy to snap some pictures tonight of the trucks carrying away the birds.
Yes it's that time again, the chickens are shipping, it's going to be a long night for my hard working husband.  So I made him and the catching crew some soft, warm, cinnamon buns.  Sometimes I wonder why I do all these make-work things...why not just go to Timmy's and purchase donuts, or Safeway and buy muffins?? Right? 
It's because I look at Andy and see how hard he works and how he gives it his all, and then I think, "He needs some cinnamon buns that were crafted with love!"  At least I love still love him.  ;)

One thought leads to the next and so while placing those gooey buns on the greased baking sheet I came to the conclusion that I should update the blog a bit on what Andy does around here. 
And it's alot.  Moving to a new farm is not for the faint of heart, but he's up for the challenge every day again at the crack of dawn.
It's not that we haven't had our share of trial yet, we have. So many things have gone wrong that it could be very discouraging - cold temps freezing water lines, feed lines busting and motors burning out...chicken catchers who don't do their job correctly, feed truck drivers who make work by pouring the feed beside the bin instead of inside the bin (!!) unexplained high mortalities due to who-knows-what...
People from "back home" have been questioning if maybe Andy's bored or not too busy with only chickens to look after, while others here who have seen the operation are surprised we have no employee.  
We are loving having Andy home with us, and this routine here has quickly become normal.  Not all days are packed from beginning to end though and Andy gets to enjoy some slower times to find enjoy old hobbies or develop new skills. 
Which brings us to skiing.  Yes, high on the hobby priority list around here, especially for my hubby:) He found some new friends and off they went to Fernie right on the B.C. border.  From what I heard it was an amazing day.  I'm so glad he could take the day off to enjoy himself that way! Those slopes have been on his radar since before we moved here.

 We knew the roof needed re shingling when we moved here so, along with Anno and his gang, that got done too.  Many hands make light work! All I had to do was provide the baking, coffee and lunch.   See the sparkling new shingles reflecting the sun?

When we were living in town Andy wasn't one who loved tools.  Now?  He likes tools.  I'm not quite sure what happened, but here he is, busy making a railing for the upstairs of the playhouse.  Those little boys of ours have to stay safe.  And they get a lesson during the process:)

 As you can see on the picture three above, there is a tree line here that is mostly dead.  We've been told we are crazy to cut down trees here since it will take years and years to grow back but seriously, who wants a dead tree line (sort of a make-work-project)?  So cutting we are, and the plan is to either have alot of campfires ourself...or sell it to others as campfire wood.  Either way, Andy bought himself a chain saw and has thoroughly impressed us in his tree cutting knowledge and skill.  The notch has to be at exactly the right spot, and the tree will land will fall down beautifully.  Chain saws can be persnickety tools, and with much patience and probably even more perseverance we have conquered pretty much everything that can go wrong on it;) including sharpening the chain. 

 And the newest tool in our ever growing collection is this Ax.  No, Seth is not allowed to use it, but just for this picture we let him hold it, hence the enormous grin:) 

So as you can see, there's lots to do here, and if not, something will happen, guaranteed, that will create work. 
Now off I go, to test one of those cinnamon buns.  Only a few more hours and the catching crew will be here.  We hope and pray for an uneventful night! 
Good night.