Early Spring

Spring has started to tip toe in. The daffodils are up, tulips are peeking out of the ground and I am as busy as a bee.
The walkway in the orchard is starting to take shape. Tulips are growing up, giving the area some much needed color. I am planting herbs, dinner-plate dahlias and wildflowers all along the pathway. It will be so pretty in a few months.

I have been working on landscaping, planting our spring garden and getting the kids ready for benchmark testing. Also, trying to be patient while we are waiting to hear if we will get orders to move or not. That is a whole other post....meanwhile, I will be working like a crazy woman and trying not to think too much.

We went to the rodeo and had a blast! I was in heaven. Cowboys, Wrangler jeans, chaps and wild broncs. Did I mention chaps? Oh. my.

My favorite parts of the rodeo are the bronc riding and mutton busting.

First, bronc riding. I can not imagine being thrown and jolted around on a mad horse. Let alone getting stuck. You have to see this.....



I was a little scared for this guy. Glad everything turned out okay. The hysterical laughing you hear in the background is my son. My 6 year old son who, apparently, needs to work on empathizing with others. He thought this was just the funniest thing he ever saw. He has issues.

Now the mutton busting, that is funny. My tummy hurt because I was laughing so much.



Wait. Maybe I'm the one with issues. Laughing at small children being thrown from a sheep and being drug several yards. That's a little warped.

Well, at least the boy comes by it naturally.



All the laughing must have worn him out because he slept the remaining hour and a half. You would think sleeping at a rodeo would be hard, strange or abnormal.


Apparently not. Somehow, it's contagious.


Girls are immune. This has been a public service announcement.

Your welcome.

Stumps....or lack therof

After a year and a half of clearing brush, picking up sticks and raking. It is finished.


The source of my pain, aggravation, irritation and constant bellyaching is gone.



The stump men cometh and wrought a path of destruction in their wake. I could not be happier.



First, they cut down the stumps close to the ground.


Then their large stump grinder turned the stumps into sawdust.


Hardly a trace of a stump was left, except for a stray root here and there.

The crew was so hard working and did a wonderful job. They were professional, friendly and fast! They were also one of the few that gave us a reasonable price and negotiated with us. So, if you are in Southern Alabama and need tree or stump work done, you should get in touch with these great guys. www.alabamatreearborist.com (No, I was not compensated to say that, they are just a great company) They are also heavily involved in community and christian services.


We are now filling in holes, using the wood chips for mulch in the gardens and leveling everything out to seed grass. I can't wait to show you how it all turns out.

All the hard work has been worth it. Things are looking so much better around here.

New post in Homeschooling~~~~ The children are paying taxes and rent. Insert maniacal laughter......

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I left you all hanging the other day about the pig situation. Instead of going on and on elaborating on every little detail, the engulfing anger in the pit of my stomach and my wishy-washy feelings on the whole thing, I made a video that is much more delicate and subtle and without all the words that would make me pay a lot of money to the swear jar.

New posts in Art, Home and garden and Running.

I like Blogspots new options but it would be nice if each page could have new posts added to it like the homepage.

Piggy Wiggy

Two of the piggies left the farm yesterday to be prepared for my freezer. Wait. Three piggies left the farm. Hopefully, one will come back. We think the sow is pregnant and we really don't want to butcher her. We are keeping the Boar as well. I'm a little nervous to find out how it goes down today.

Loading pigs is not as easy as it would seem. I have always heard that when the time comes, they know. After yesterday, I agree.

The two that we did not want to load kept coming to us but the two we did want kept running to the corner. With a lot of food and many entertaining antics, we were able to get them loaded. So, after three pigs finally went up into the trailer, we closed the doors and called it a day. If we tried to get the extra one out, the others would surely follow and we would have to start all over again.

A friend came to load up the pigs and take them to the processor. Lee is off vacationing for a week, er..I mean getting laser eye surgery, so it was up to his friend and I to deal with the pigs. This same friend came to my rescue a few days ago when the pigs escaped their pen. I was able to get all but one back in. I tried for over an hour and was just about ready to put my 9mm to use when he showed up. It took a while but we got the little convict back in the pen.


It is a little sad to see them go. Raising them has been a really neat experience. I have learned a lot from them. Pigs are smart and funny and cute in an ugly kind of way. Hopefully, we will have a bunch of piglets running around in about 4 months. That is IF the sow comes back. I am sitting on pins and needles.

Cramming....

It seems like I have been doing a lot of cramming lately. Cramming home school, cramming farm work, marathon training, and fun. That is not necessarily a bad thing. We have been getting a lot accomplished and that feels very good. Now, I have to do a lot of cramming in my blog update because I have been neglecting it.



We actually got 4 inches of snow here in lower Alabama. It lasted for a full day. The kids really enjoyed playing in the snow, making snow men and snow angels. Except for Brandon. He had surgery to get his adenoids taken out the day it snowed and he could not enjoy it. He did enjoy 2 gallons of ice cream, however.



The snow left as fast as it came and spring is trying to creep in. My fruit trees are budding out,
welcoming spring and begging it to stay. This is one of my peach trees. I just love the flowers.



My tulips and daffodils are poking up through the ground. I have been planting pansies and dusty millers. Dusty miller has done remarkably well here. I planted some last spring and they lasted through summer and winter and are still doing well.


I have put in two strawberry beds like this one. As the plants spread out and get bigger, I will make more beds and transplant the overgrowth. These beds are in the orchard, by the path I am putting in. I have a tree guy coming over tomorrow to give me an estimate on stump removal. I could not be happier. It is like Christmas for me. I have been waiting so long to get these ugly stumps out of here. The property is really starting to look better and that makes me happy. Our hard work is starting to pay off.

We had a chance to get out as a family. We found a nice trail not too far away and spent the day hiking. It was so nice to get out in the sunshine and take a day off.



Elllie (the white goat) had a miscarriage. I guess Butter did have a chance to breed her before he died. Sadly, she could not carry the baby to term. May (the grey goat) should have been bred as well. I have seen some subtle signs that she may be pregnant. I am really hoping she is. If so, she will kidd in a few months.



Lee built this chicken coop inside the barn for me. I would say "we" built it but all I did was hand him things. He used material left over from when the barn was built. It matches the barn nicely. He did a wonderful job. This is the side view.


Here is the front view. He made built-in nesting boxes with access from the outside of the coop. He put in a large window and a nice walk-in door.


Here is the view from inside the coop. One of the Americana hens is laying a turquoise egg. They are so pretty! I have another Americana that is laying pink eggs that are speckled with brown. These are my favorite chickens! Just don't tell the divas that.



He also put in this multi-level roost......



And a door to the outside. They are happy hens and I'm a happy wife. My husband is so good to me.

The egg bowl runneth over

The chickens started laying again about a month ago. They only took about 6 weeks off for winter. I was surprised how quickly they started laying again.

After all the drama and cannibalism in the barn was over, I started finding eggs everywhere. The divas are giving about 6-7 eggs a day. There are still several that will start laying for the first time in the spring. Things are very eggciting around here. Sorry, it's a rainy Tuesday. That's the best joke I can come up with on a gloomy day.

One of my Americana hens started laying yesterday. I was so happy to see a beautiful green egg waiting for me in the nesting box. Lee told me it was not ripe yet and to put it back in for a while. ; ) Finding the egg made my whole day, which is good because I was having a pretty cruddy morning.

It has been so rewarding to raise these chickens from fluffy, soft, yellow, chirping balls to hens that are providing food for our family. I don't think I would have appreciated them nearly as much as if I bought them full-grown and laying.

It has been a lot of hard work, drama, and some heartbreak raising them the past year. It was worth it though. I am one step closer to earning my farmer membership card.

Wordless Tuesday....

Yes, I realize that most people post Wordless Wednesday pictures. Maybe because wordless and Wednesday both have "W's". Who knows?

Well, I am never one to go with the flow. I'm a rebel, a bad girl, B-b-b-b-b-b-Bad to the bone... da nu nu nu nuh.

What? What's that you say? How can this be a wordless Tuesday picture if I won't stop typing? Well, that's because I'm not talking about the picture.

Get it? Got it? Good.

Anyway, I won't talk about the picture because I think it speaks for itself. I was going to give this picture a title like, "Getting Chicky With it," however, I did not think Will Smith would appreciate me mutilating his song. I like Will too much to do that. We're tight like that.

So, in honor of my first Wordless Tuesday post, I would like to have a teeny, tiny, small little giveaway. I would like you to name my picture. The cornier the better. Puns, similes and metaphors are all accepted. Heck, I'll even accept haiku.

Winner gets a $15.00 Starbucks gift card. Just comment below or e-mail me if that makes you feel all warm and gooey inside.

I will announce the winner on Friday, the 22nd. Sometime after my morning java hit but before I climb in my soft, warm and heavenly Tempurpedic oasis.

I look forward to reading your brilliant submissions.

A quick update...

Boy have we been busy. Like everyone , we are trying to get back in a good routine after the holidays. That would be a heck of a lot easier if water pipes, duct work, and gas lines did not all burst, break or malfunction all at once.

Lexy the Chemist.



Apart from repairs, we have been going on several field trips. We were able to visit a Hyundai manufacturing plant. They had over 2,000 robots that we were able to see in action. It was awesome! Of course, we could not take pictures so you'll have to use your imagination for that one. We also visited the Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness exhibit at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

http://www.artsbma.org/about-the-museum/newsroom/press-releases/538-life-liberty-press

It was outstanding! Again, no cameras allowed. The art on display was from the 1700-1800's .

Seeing paintings from the Revolutionary War and the founders of our country was inspiring. The children learned so much and left with a sense of pride and patriotism.

Then we headed to the McWane Science Center. http://www.mcwane.org/exhibits

We had a blast.

They were "transported" inside a game that let them play the drums, participate in a soccer game and play volleyball. I think this is the next generation's game system. So cool!



Visit a weather center and play with a green screen to report the weather.
Dig for fossils.

I really need this at home when the kids won't listen. A bed of nails. Bwa ha ha.


This booth replicated high wind speeds up to 90 mph.
This was a ball gadget course. Probably the boys favorite thing to watch.



Then, it was back to work. Stumps and more stumps. Can you see how massive the stumps and roots are? Some of them are as thick as the stumps themselves. I can not wait until they are gone and grass and flowers take their place. I'm tired of looking at them and digging them up.




I hope everyone had a good holiday season and are making progress with your goals for the new year.