Apple blossoms and compost.

Finally we are warming up enough for things to bloom. I just love this time of year. New growth, new life...new beginnings. The apple trees are in bloom and looking wonderful! Just thinking of sweet apples makes my mouth water some.

I walked around looking at all of the new growth.... Grapes...

Thorn less blackberries....

Oh, and lets not forget the little chicks! So cute!

Before we know it planting season will be upon us...today I worked at mulching the garden. 2 truck loads and I am about 1/3 of the way there. I need to get all of the mulch in the gardens soon. Hoping this beautiful weather holds out! So, get out there, get some dirt under your nails....sun on your face....and the wind in your hair.

Finally a little dirt under the nails.

*sigh* Finally... I was able to get to the garden yesterday and get a little dirt under the nails. We cleaned up the spring garden, and planted 3 rows of potato's! I know, it doesn't seem like much, however it was exactly what my soul needed. It was so warm, I ended up in a tank top. Then we worked on the blackberries. Last year they had sent out runners and were taking off into the garden. So we dug them up and moved them back to their own area and secured them to their fence. I am looking forward to big juicy blackberries this year. While we was in the garden I noticed the call ducks had gotten out again. *sigh* little boogers! They had worked the mud along the bottom of their fence enough to get under it. So, we corralled them back to their pen, and secured the fence line... I hope. We retired to the front porch to rest from our few hours in the garden. We had become so complacent over the winter that 3 hours work in the garden was enough for one day. It sure did feel great tho smelling the fresh turned dirt. Well, until we spread the "stuff" on the potato's. Wowsa. I know it will be great for the garden but steamy rotting mulch of rabbit poo REALLY stinks! Talk about "stirring poop to get a smell" Glad this little garden is down wind of the house. While doing the evening barn chores while I was in the barn grabbing hay, I turned around to see one of the new girls had somehow made her way into the barn. So, I stopped what I was doing and grabbed her and moved her back to her pen. Getting back to work, my husband called my cell phone to tell me he watched the little goat take a running start and catapult OVER the 4 1/2 FT gate! The little stinker! Hoping she doesn't become an escape artist. After the evening chores were done, we decided to treat ourselves to dinner out. China Buffet here we come! We both love Chinese food. Full tummies, worn out from a good workout in the garden...we retired with a fire in the woodstove, coffee, and good TV. Today we are supposed to get rain and storms so I will be working in the house, cleaning and boxing up the things we no longer need/want and get it all ready for a HUGH sale I have planned this summer. It is time to unload the extra weight around here. So Spring has sprung....summer is walking up the dirt road towards us and I am excited to be close to the growing season again. Our winter rest is over...time to get back in the swing of things.

Spring has sprung....a leak!

Here we are into spring....ahhhh, the gentle rains...our sleepy world waking up and turning green. Yes....Spring has come. However, right now, it has returned with loads and loads of rain. 4 inches in 2 days. I am thinking I might need to build an Ark! I have a pretty good start on the critters I would need to fill it. My hands are itching to get started on planting. I have the seedling started inside, for the garden..... as soon as the water drains off and the night temps stay warm, I will be able to get them in the garden. Oh I can't wait to smell the fresh turned dirt. With Spring comes new life. Not in the way you might be thinking. Since we do rescue, we never know what "new life" will happen here. It started last week with 2 ducks. I was asked to take them in from a lady that had them in town, in her house. ( oh boy, people never stop making me shake my head in disgust)

They are in good health, however they didn't know what to do with the duck food, since they were raised on dog food. They are now in with my other ducks, after a few days of isolation, and learning how to be ducks. They are still not sure how to clean themselves. Then a few days ago, I get a call about a few goats. The woman tells me " They are not what we were wanting, they are too big" She told me she recently bought 2 Pygmy's and that these two girls are "giants" compared to them. She described them to me and I was able to tell her she had a La Mancha and a Nubian. So, she made arrangements to bring them to us....I worked on fencing off part of the pasture to keep them separate from my girls. The day comes...and so do the "giant" goats. I tried hard to not giggle when I saw them in the back of her truck. Her "giant" goats are in reality... mini's. So, when she saw my full size Alpines...needless to say she realized these two were not "giants" Here are the girls.

They are pretty little girls, yearlings. Friendly and SUPER vocal. Oh boy can they scream!! Every time I step outside, they see me and start in screaming. Not the little Baaah of a goat, but screaming like they are being eaten alive! I hope for my neighbors sake, they settle in quickly, since they are closer to her home than mine. So today... I will put on my rain gear...and try to make sure everyone out there is dry and fed...then I will hide inside most of the day away from the storms. They are calling for possible tornado's, severe lightening, and rain... lots and lots of rain. Flood warnings for rivers and creeks. At least it is not snow!!! Soon, the trees will leaf out, the grasses will grow, and my feed bill will shrink. THAT in itself is a reason to be happy for spring... and summer. Happy Soggy Thursday everyone! Be safe if you are in the line of storms.

Oh the taste of SPRING!

Yes, I said it.... Spring like weather today. It is 10:30 AM, and ALREADY 52 degrees! Whoohoo! I am sitting here with my last cup of coffee of the morning.... the animals are already taken care of and I straightened up in the barn a bit. My plans for the day are to get into town and buy the pine shavings and straw I need to freshen up bedding. I will be working outside ALL DAY.. without a jacket! I am so excited to get out there...darned coffee is HOT! So... a few weeks ago, one of my favorite barn cats, TayTay came up missing. He is named after he lost the end of his tail when stepped on by one of the goats. Poor guy. But he is the sweetest barn cat. I went out to feed one day a few weeks ago, and noticed he was not there. I called...looked around, moved things..no Tay. :( Several days went by, I called and called for him, no Tay. After 2 weeks I just figured he had been taken by a coyote...a vehicle on the highway...or a stray dog. I never gave up total hope...but just figured he was gone for good. 2 days ago, as I went to the barn for the evening feeding...I hear a cat calling...loudly. I looked around, and from across the field...I see an orange figure running towards me. Could it be!? I called to him....and he answered...It was my Tay!! As he got closer, I crouched down...from about 5 feet away, he leapt onto my shoulder, wrapping his paws around my neck and purring so loudly. I was so happy...my boy was home. He was so thin...and his front paws look like he had been digging at something for a long time. I figure he was somehow locked in a shed or garage somewhere for 2 WEEKS! I carried him to the barn and put out the kitty kibbles. He ran from dish to dish, grabbing mouthfuls at each dish. He was starving.. poor boy. I went along doing my chores...and every time I was out of sight of him, he would call to me...I assured him I was still there. Once I finished chores, I headed to the coops. He didn't follow right away, but about half way there I hear him calling to me again. I stopped and picked him up... carrying him with me to the coop. As I finished my rounds in the Duck hut he followed me to the big coop where there are 4 separate pens I needed to go in to feed and water. He bawled at each door...wanting me to let him in. Once I finished and headed to the house...he tried his hardest to come in the house. Now, he is a barn cat and has never been in the house, mostly because we have 4 dogs. I assured him he would be fine now that he was home, and I came inside. It wasn't long before he was running his claws down the metal door... screeeeeeeeeech! *shivers* So, we decided to let him in for a bit, and see how he and the dogs get along. He was fine with them, they mostly just wanted to sniff out the intruder. He would walk around the house, bawling, calling to me. When I answered, he would run and grab on to me....jumping into my lap every chance he had. He found the kitchen, and immediately jumped up on the counter. THIS is why we do NOT have inside cats. I chased him down....and after a few minutes he was back on the counter. So, I decided to put him back outside for the night. Every time I go outside, he is there, at my feet. I am so glad our Tay is home. So...today I will have plenty time with Tay.... as I have a lot of outside work to get done while the warm weather is here. I am going to clean coops, get the rabbits back into their outside huts...put the rabbit mulch/bedding/poo on the spring garden, spread lime in the hog pen... boy does the warm weather bring up the scents of a farm! Whew! I also need to make a *Lime paint* and get the inside walls of the barn coated. This helps with the smell a LOT! Lots of project to do today.... and daylight is burning. So, I am headed out to see what I can get into. I hope the sun is shining where you are today...and warm enough to get outside. Put on those muck boots...warm weather means thawing mud/poo.

\March 1st. In like a Lion... out like a lamb?

I wonder who came up with that? Hmmmm, I hope they are right. Today is March 1st and we are under a winter storm warming. Starting tonight, rain...then freezing rain...changing over to snow later tonight into tomorrow...and snow all day Sunday. One forecaster says 1 to 3 inches....another says up to 12 inches. At this point it doesn't really matter.....snow is snow...and I am just about fed up with it. Today I spent getting to the feed store, packing in the feed...setting up dry bedding....hauling water.... and slopping through the muck. It was actually a nice day... almost 50 degrees and a light breeze. Yesterday I had someone come over and get the last of the wood pile split up. So, what I have now.. is it. Mother Nature, do you hear me!?? I really do NOT want to have to PURCHASE firewood. I am hoping we don't lose power tomorrow....I want to make this Chocolate Éclair Cake. Doesn't it look so yummy!?? Chocolate Eclair Cake 1 cup water 1/2 cup butter 1 cup flour 4 large eggs 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 large box (5.1 ounces) vanilla instant pudding 3 cups milk 1 8 oz. container cool whip (you won’t use the whole container) or one batch of homemade whipped cream chocolate syrup or homemade chocolate sauce Instructions: Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9″X13″ glass baking pan. Eclair Crust: In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. *If the sides of your pan are too greased you won’t be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides so make sure to just lightly grease. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown (Mine only took 25 minutes.) You may want to check it occasionally-you don’t want to overcook the crust, it will ruin the cake! Remove from oven and let cool (don’t touch or push bubbles down). Filling: Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl. In separate bowl make vanilla pudding. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly add pudding to cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in fridge.When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in. Top with layer of cool whip however thick you want it and serve with chocolate syrup. *If you want to make this even better use homemade whipped cream.

So, if we keep power... and are stuck inside because of the weather... I will be baking.. and of course eating this. I hope if you are getting this weather, you stay safe and if you can... stay inside and make this cake!!

Polar Vortex number 3...or is it 4..... or 5??

Yes, we have plunged back into the bitter cold. *sigh* Just when I thought we were going to get a break... WHAM! The weather gal is using words like "Bitterly cold" and "Painful cold" Yeah, I am thinking that winch doesn't know what cold really is as she stands there in the newsroom.... in her short little dress and thigh high leather boots. (seriously) Then she does this little *shiver* HA! She needs to spend a day here on the farm.....then she can talk with experience about the "bitter cold" At least we had a few days where the water troughs and rain barrels actually thawed!! I think I had 4 or 5 days that I didn't have to carry water. I felt so blessed!! Of course those warm days just gave way to thawing poop. So I spent a few of those days FILLING the garden wagon with rabbit poo/bedding. I am going out today to lay a piece of wood over it...so it can "cook" a bit before it goes on the garden. Ahhhh, the garden... have you been dreaming about getting dirt under your nails...inhaling deep the fresh scent of newly turned soil? Makes my heart go pitter patter. And, have you started your seeds?? That is something I am going to work on this weekend. I will be starting tomatoes, cabbages, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, peppers, pumpkin, and a few herbs. Maybe I will lay down a tarp....dump out a few bags of soil... get my supplies together and get down there on my hands and knees and pretend I am in the garden. That might help raise the gardening spirits! Then of course, if I do that...it might just be the last straw for hubby to have me committed. I admit... this long winter has taken it's toll on my sanity a bit. We have had the wood stove going almost non stop for 4 months now....at this point, I can't even THINK about bon fires this summer. So....put on the layers again...head out there and face the cold...and remember...it can't last forever.... it might just seem like it.

Finally a warm up

This winter has been BRUTAL! Not only for us here, many places have suffered the wrath of the "white death" WOW! I know I am ready for spring here. Oh sure.... in a month or so.. we will be complaining about all of the mud and muck then a few months later we will undoubtedly be complaining about the heat and humidity...but for now.. I am dreaming of warmer days. We are headed for a quick warm up here... and with that brings the threat of severe thunderstorms for Thursday. *sigh* That's ok tho...it will NOT be snow! 50's and 60's... for a few days, just a teaser as we will plunge back into the 20's for highs soon after. For today tho, I am going to sit in the sunshine and recharge my internal batteries. Oh, I know I SHOULD be out there cleaning out something.... or shoveling out something but I think I will just pay in the sun with a book for a few hours. Of course, that is after I take care of the morning chores...clean the kitchen... get supper planned out.. bring in more firewood to get dry...and run the sweeper. I hope you all are having a sunny warmish day too... if you are, try to get out there and ENJOY!