Well now, have I ever been remiss ...

I have had some startlingly good news and haven't said a word about any of it.  That must change:

1st off I have a new granddaughter.  Born Sept. the 10th of 2013.  She had breathing problems at birth so she spent a small amount of time in the ICU for babies.  She was named Mary Elizabeth, and is such a happy little girl.  The best part of all is she looks like my baby pictures.  I had 3 sons and all three looked so alike at birth.  All 3 look like dad.  I didn't get to play at all.  So now here's my chance!  It's only fair though because I looked like my own grandmother so turn about IS fair play I say.
2nd I moved to my Xanadu home.  I found a country home, a little over a year ago and decided that was where I wanted to spend the rest of my forever.  Due to unforeseen circumstances (the owner screwed me over, BIG time) I lost the house only to have the owner contact me a year later and ask me if me and my husky would like to have the house.  I was happy but very cautious, he dangled the house in front of me once and then snatched it away.  Through a horrid flurry of packing I finally made it to my new 1830's old home last September 3rd.  I felt like when I walked in the door that the house was welcoming me.  I have never been anywhere before that gave me this feeling.  I have been and hopefully will always be, home at last.  70 acres of blissful freedom, I can well and truly be a loner once again.  There are people occasionally coming and going, the fields are worked, the beautiful barns are being restored and I am mending body, heart, and soul.  I heat with mostly firewood in a Buck stove.  There are 2 fireplaces, I would imagine there were once a fireplace upstairs as well.  Only one is operational, but one is enough for me.  I set the furnace to 50 and it only just recently started kicking in.  I lower the furnace to 45 during the night, 50-55 during the day and so far that has been enough.   We'll be dropping back into single digits tonight so the electric heater in the living room is also on.  I haven't burnt wood much recently, the last cord of wood was fresh cut, and creosote can be a big problem so I've backed off burning very much wood.  I have a small wood pile that is burnable but it is also frozen together so much so that I was unable to get enough loose.  I love the cold, and this winter has been a doozy so far!
3rd is my grandson's 3rd birthday was just a few weeks past on Jan. 4th.  Happy Birthday again Matthew Eric. 
And 4th a new year has begun.  I didn't mean to miss posting Happy New Years to everyone in the whole wide world out there, you may not see it written but I wish it all the same.  Blessings to us all, and may this be the best year yet in all of our lives.  God Bless and Godspeed.