Too many things to do!

I woke up this morning(5am) thinking of all the things I needed to get done before the weather turns really cold and the snow begins to fly.  Seal the windows, quilt the doors, repair this, repair that, cut wood, winterize garden, put up flower pots, store garden hoses, clean up leaves, change furnace filter, change batteries in thermostat, dig out electric heaters for upstairs, fix hole in ceiling at the top of the stairs, cover access hole above the stairs leading to the basement.  The list goes on and on.  If I went any further you would probably quit reading because I am reminding you of all the stuff you need to finish.  :)
I also need to get the wood stove into the wood shop.  I finally ran across an affordable deal on some insulated stove pipe.  Two 4 ft pieces for $50.  Normally $200.  Now I can have heat in the shop this winter.
It is a big one with dual blowers, more than enough heat for that little shop.  Now I just have to cut some wood.  Speaking of wood I need to convince someone to let me bring the fireplace back to life in the house.  That would really help on the gas bill this winter.  I'm telling you those $500 gas bills per month last winter almost did us in.  For Christmas this year we will have to give the kids heat.  :)  Yeah they probably won't be to keen on it.  With the economy the way it is and the cutbacks.  Losing ten thousand dollars a year off my income is really starting to take it's toll.  That ten thousand paid my utilities on this drafty old farm house.  Well not all ten but probably half anyways.  I am doing everything I can to cut down on heat loss but when your house lacks qualified insulation there isn't much you can do except remodel (ain't gonna happen) or move.  Moving might be the answer.  If it ain't the furnace breaking down it's the water softener, if not the softener then the water heater ( which still gives me problems and is not a yr old yet).  If not the water heater then the well.  If not the well, then it's the electrical and blowing fuses all the time.  You say why do I keep renting?  Because I am very close to securing a mortgage and I don't want to move twice in one year.  I love this location and the property it's just that the house is old.

So anyways I finally found someone to take all of the old chickens off our hands.  There was about 24 that needed to go.  I put an add on Craig's list and ended up with 41 people who wanted them.  Ended up having a younger guy, 20 yrs old or so, come from Fowlerville to pick them up. Now I can work on remodeling the coop for better efficiency.  I am installing a coop poop chute, windows, and a new egg laying area.  The back corner of the coop is not included in the fenced in portion of the outside yard so I will cut a small door into the corner so we can back the lawn trailer up and shovel all the poo right out the door and into the trailer.  The floor of the coop is actually about 2 1/2 ft off the ground in that corner so it works out well for loading poo.

  I will have pics when the project starts.  I also need to re-construct the west side of the barn floor.  The old wood is all rotted away and that side of the barn is pretty much useless.  I spent the last two years slowly cleaning all the crap out of there (old straw and wood etc.) and revealed the rotted floor.  A friend was getting rid of some plank wood he had cut on his home saw mill so we loaded up two trailers worth and brought them home. 

On a Halloween note I received an e-mail the other day with all these crazy tombstones.  I thought I would share.  This one here should have the person's name not what they died of!  I'll add more with future posts.
There is a bunch.

I was thinking.....this is outrageous.  Without a coozie on his beer bottle it will get warm.  Crazy guy!

This is my pumpkin from last year.  I have been challenged to a carving contest by a friends wife.

I have some great ideas.  She better watch out!

Well enough for now looks like I have a lot of work to get done.

See ya later!!

PS  I checked into a Mt. Everest base camp trek.  $2000 plus airfare-$1500.

You start in Kathmandu and fly to a small airstrip, then begin your ascent into the mountains covering, streams, lakes, forests, Sherpa villages, and climbing up to the base camp from which the summit attempts of Mt. Everest begin.  Elevation is around 5364 meters.(17,600 ft)  No special skills are needed but it is a 2 week adventure.

I'm in- any takers?  There are also some climbing trips available for around $2600 to climb neighboring peaks around 6000 meters.  Like Island Peak or Amphu Laptsa  Everything paid except your extras like drinks and souvenirs while in the city.  A two week visa is about $30.

No special gear other than good hiking equipment, which you can buy while there a lot cheaper then here.

Here is one of the views.

trekking map and elevations.

http://www.himalayanglacier.com/trekking-in-nepal/1/everest+base+camp+trek.htm

Check this link out it has lot's of info.