Outside My Window…A clear blue sky. It was a down right cold 27 degrees when I got up early this morning. It is a balmy 50 degrees right now. The wind was so bad last week it knocked down the windmill in my garden and blew loose garbage all over the place. The boys are on their go-cart mucking through the field. The horse is out in the pasture grazing the early green grass. The goats are not with the horse. The goats are not happy about this. Many of the chickens are loose and plucking around the yard.
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| The entry way to the garden. Tony used a hog panel to make an archway over the entrance. A hog panel also makes a nice makeshift gate to keep the plucky chickens and naughty goats out. |
On my mind...I have some nagging negative thoughts lurking around my brain today. I am working on finding the positive in this particular situation and banishing the bad stuff hanging out up there. It is a constant struggle.
I am thankful… I am thankful that the days are growing a bit longer and we are seeing more and more sunshine.
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| Kids enjoying the sunny day! |
From the kitchen… Yesterday was Gabe's 14th birthday. He requested bacon cheeseburgers, (on those fantastic homemade buns!) fries, and mozzarella sticks. Today we had leftovers for lunch. I have a loose menu plan for the week.
I am wearing…Jeans, t-shirt, and a hoodie, all with bits of hay and mud stuck to them. I have been in and out of the barn all day.
I am creating…It's all about the garden right now.
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| A neat little bed of various lettuces. |
I am reading…"The Dirty Life" by Kristin Kimball. It is pretty enjoyable. It is helping inspire me to keep plugging away at the garden, the chickens, the goats, the pigs, the muck, the hay, the feed, the poop, the slop, the compost...
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| Dexter and Lily, cute and curious. |
I am hearing…The whining of the go-cart engine, the muffled sound of the radio from the garage where Nicholas is working on his car, Celia and Greta chatting about a book they are looking at, Josie making nursie sounds in my lap and the gentle sound of the wind chimes outside the closed window.
One of my favorite things… The view.
What's happening in the barn.... We are preparing to welcome two piglets next week. This will be our first go round with pigs. We have had a hog raised for us over the past few years, now we plan on doing it ourselves. We moved our bantams to a temporary pen in the barn a few days ago. We housed them with the ducklings until they are big enough to move in with the rest of the flock. Unfortunately one of the little bantys found her way into the tub of water for the mallards and was not able to find her way back out. I was so sad to see her little body floating on top of the water this morning. One of our older mama cats birthed two kittens in the hay bin this morning as well.
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| Dusty Mama and her babies, only about 6 hours old. |
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| The little banties. Soon they will move in with the rest of our flock. (24 hens and a roo) |
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| Sammy and Henry's mallards. |
What's happening in the garden....Potatoes went in last week. I planted thirty three seen potatoes in 11 potato sacks in hopes of growing them vertically. Abby and Gabe both work at the corner farm market in the summer and we bartered with the owner for 100 pound burlap potato sacks for a sack race in the fall. These were perfect for planting potatoes in this spring. Sammy, Henry, and I put a bed of lettuces in last week as well as one hundred onion sets. The garlic we planted in the fall is coming through the ground nice and green right now. I have four trays of tomatoes and two trays of peppers under grow lights in the basement. It will be awhile before we get them in the ground with the cold nights we've been experiencing.
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| Eleven 100lb. potato sacks planted with three seed potatoes each. |
What's going on with the children.... They are all, for various reasons, really excited for summer. Nicholas will be working hard saving money for Hillsdale College in the fall. Josie is eager to take her first steps. One gearing up for college and one gearing up to walk. Abby will be working hard saving money for a car. Gabe will be working hard saving money and just because he likes to work hard! The rest of the children are looking forward to long days outside.
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| Josie Posie pretty pie! |
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