Clearing Out the Bottom Part of the Barn

Roger worked on clearing out the barn this Sunday!  This was all previously covered with tons of old junk, frames, and gross stuff!  He took advantage of the pettibone (we are still ever so thankful for this machine!) to load all of the junk and materials out.  He organized the important materials upstairs while trashing the junk.  I totally helped out by taking pictures ;)  

Look at the difference!  We have been talking about making this bottom area into a nice little workshop to finish projects for the property.  Maybe put some solid floors in and make it cozy?? The natural sunlight is beautiful in this area.  

He sure did get a lot accomplished as we have used this area for storage in the cold winter months.  Hopefully he finally got rid of the old cornstalks that we threw in there in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy?!?!?!  One can only hope!!!  We are counting down the days till warmer weather!

P.S.  The pond is beautifully quiet from the flocks of geese that cannot land on the frozen pond! :)

My First Walk on the Pond!

It was an exciting weekend over at Hearthstone!  We had lots of company including old friends, JA and Paul, and dear family from out of town, Jon!!  What a great weekend of touring the property and laughing with memories!

On Saturday night, I finally got to walk on the FROZEN pond!!!!!!!!!  It was thrilling!!!  What a gorgeous sight with the full moon lighting the way!  I was definitely a little nervous, but Rocky showed me the ropes.  Roger was hysterical navigating the ice.  The next day, I went out to buy ice skates!  Check out some pictures (although I apologize for the lighting and picture quality...these were taken without the flash and pre-set settings).  

From the peninsula...doesn't the house look so cozy???

The gorgeous full moon!

Blurry shot...

On the peninsula!!!

Our tracks

Rocky paving the way!

Walking up the creek...can you believe it?!?!?!

My new skates!!!  Yes, they are white with matching laces.  

Some Favorite Winter Pics

 Here are some more winter pictures.  Although after last night and this morning, I can't wait to get outside and get some pictures of the frozen pond and ice hanging off of the waterfall!  More pictures to come...  I just couldn't resist posting a few of these pictures I found on my computer of some of my favorite spots at Hearthstone!

Pine Trees By the Pond

The Winter Cottage

The Waterfall is Starting to Freeze

Anxiously waiting for spring....

A Winter Sunset at Hearthstone

Good Morning, Geese!!!

Good Morning!!!  

Check out this incredibly beautiful sunrise shot of an early morning at Hearthstone!  I had to share as I am feeling extra blessed this week that I get to wake up to such breathtaking views in the mornings.  The sun has been hiding most of this year, therefore I can truly appreciate watching the sun rise over the horizon during this especially cold winter week.  The sun streams in the windows at the cottage as we are cozy inside!  Trust me when I say that the pictures do not even do this place justice!  

I do have to share with you that I am becoming quite the bird expert.  I am still getting used to the incessant squawking heard in the early mornings and late evenings around here.  Literally hundreds of geese fly over our neighbor's pond and land in ours.  The running joke is that we need Don out there as the "scare-geese"!  They even have the audacity to try to literally tear each other apart on the pond!  Nothing seems to scare them off...i.e. me standing there, making noise, or adamantly insisting that it really is quite too cold for them to be here this late in the winter.   Hello?!?!  What happened to heading south for the winter?!?!  Anyways, it is quite interesting to watch them coordinate their arrivals/departure.  It is arguably even more synchronized than trying to fly out of an active airport!  They fly out in groups, squawking all the way.  During the seemingly never ending fog early this year, it was interesting to watch them try to seek out their  favorite (unfortunately) spot with such low visibility.  As I hesitantly ventured out in the freezing air this morning, I only managed to get a distance picture of the flock on the pond (see the picture below).  The sweet little duck families scram to get away from their impeding arrival/departure as lines are drawn on our forever busy pond!  Poor things!  Here is my "thus far verdict"...the noise could be somewhat soothing (like my old beloved dead noise of traffic) although I would prefer it in far lesser numbers!  :)  Baby-steps, folks, as I adjust to country living!! 

Love to all!

The geese (or at least a fraction of them!)

Nice weather = a little work!!

Although it was so foggy this weekend, we did enjoy the warmer temperatures!!! Roger and I had a great Sunday working on clearing out the house. Our goal was to rid the patio of the debris. We got everything but the leaves. It felt so good to finally be working on something again. I cannot wait for warmer weather And more daylight!!! It's such a tease to be there all of the time and unable to feel like we are accomplished anything!! Today provided the perfect opportunity to pick up where we left off and dream a little too!! So many options and so much to do!! We couldn't be more excited!! Here are a few pictures of our fun work day together.