Hellooooo March!

 

Okay, time to finish up last week's post.

I don't know about you, but we are SO excited March is here!!
Yes, the winds to get crazy and it's still deciding whether it wants to be warm or cold,

but hey, AT LEAST IT'S DECIDING!

 

So we are all loving the warmer weather.

Lots of in and out of the house.
Which is good.

Sam loves to dig, and this time, it paid off...he found "treasure"...

 

I love their expressions here.
Brook found a piece of wood that had some awesome designs from bugs,

and Sam found...OUR FIRST WORM!!



 

Haha, this looks like a memorial or something, but they were putting the worm in the garden.



We got a 1/2" of rain!!
Unfortunately, we only had 1 of our 7 rain barrels set up, but it still filled it up to the tippy top.
I really wanted to drink a glass of rain water, so we got the water filter out and started pumping away.
We each got a cup, filled it up, clanked glasses and took a big gulp.
YUCK!!!!
It tasted like the bottom of a barbeque.
I guess it has been awhile since our roof received any precipitation, and we have had many fires in the fireplace since then...alas.



Walking to the mailbox means collecting LOTS of rocks.



Brooklyn created this rock polishing "tycoon" to clean up her new rocks.
(she and Sam play this game online called Roblox, and occasionally Russ and I will play if they find a tycoon world where you earn money, then make your machine or whatever better, make more money, etc.  So this is her real world tycoon.)
I had taken a video explaining it all, but it is refusing to upload.
She had a wash bucket (one for small/medium rocks, one for large) with soap, and then a rinse bucket (for both sizes), and then a perfume bucket (with peppermint oil), then a drying towel and then a shining tissue.
And then she laid them all out in nice rows.  They were very pretty!
And peppermint-y.

Sam loves kicking this box.
Especially when I put my seedling cups in it...they explode when you kick it.
Sigh.

 

Mulch pile playing.
Usually, Brin will follow her back and forth across the "chasm," trying to get that darned stick.

Not what I had in mind when I mentioned doing some yard work.
You have to admit though, it's much cuter than a load of mulch.

"Mom!  I have something for you!"
ACK!  SAM!!  THAT'S A CACTUS!!
"I know, I dug it up for you!"
So freaking sweet.  And smart, carrying it by it's roots.


 Somebody had a birthday!!

Happy 8th, Brooklyn!!!

Cream cheese and bagels for breakfast, with a side of strawberries.

The one thing she wanted to do was go swimming.
Unfortunately, it takes us about 45 minutes to get to this pool, so we don't go often.
But how could we not!?
Sam went down this waterslide last year and it was scary...he can swim, but the turbulence knocked him around and the lifeguard had to hop in and get him.
This time??  Easy peasy!!

"Happy Birthday to you!"

Most of her gifts came courtesy of the UPS man that day, so we opened them after we got home from swimming.
Thank you for all of the awesome gifts, everyone!! 
We (yes we, hehe) have all been having lots of fun with all of the goodies.

It was an exciting weekend--one of our ewes went into labor!
It was such a neat experience.  We got chairs, water bottles, hats...it felt like a spectator event.
There were even cheers and white knuckles, but she was a rock-star momma!

She had two--the white one is a boy, we aren't sure about the black one yet.

Awww....they are SO sweet.

In case you need another dose of cuteness...
Chuck, Head of Defense is fitting in quite nicely.
He's got this Great Pyrenees thing down.

After spending a day running, swinging, digging, jumping, and watching a ewe give birth...

it can tucker a boy out.
He was so excited about a new game he got on the phone.
I went to go snuggle with him while he played, and found this.  Ha.
Looks like a good way to end the weekend to me! 

 

Until next time!

DITL - March 2014

Hellooooo March!  I have been waiting for you!!

First things first, brew for the honey.

 And then?
On to the Morning Kitchen Clean-Up.

Good morning, ducklings.
Ready to go out?
I can't wait for your real feathers to come in so you will stop stinking up my kitchen each night.

Morning meds.

Good morning, Miss Blondie!

Chat with Russ before he heads out.

Alright, time to suit up for the day.
Carhart?  Check.
Mud boots?  Check.
Work jeans?  ...leggings will have to work until laundry is done.

 

Assemble the basket!
Water for seedlings.

Eggshells for the chickens and garden.

Food scraps for whoever gets them first.
Basket for much-needed laundry.

'morning everyone.
Ready to run amok?

Oh, not you.
I suppose you should finish up there.

How are you, kits?
Ooh, opening your eyes, I see!

The ladies are impatient for me to fill their water.

Brin checks on his girls.

No lambs yet!

Gah, dang ducks.
Sometimes they lay in their nests,

and sometimes they lay right in your walkway.

So far, no casualties, though!

 

Oy vey.
While the fowl have done a great job of aerating and composting all of this soil,
it is looking like a tornado went through here...

My herb spiral is finished though!
I even got my rosemary in there

 (although it was living under a box while the chickens were out, for a few days...).

They have this sixth sense for when I have food on my person.

Animals are finished, let's check the greenhouse temp.
Perfect!  Time to fetch the seedlings.

Unload 'em all, spritz 'em, water the rest of the soil
(I planted stuff there last week, but only radishes survived the cold).

Russ's cups were a great idea! 
I ended up planting these (collards and kale) in the greenhouse to see if they would survive yet.
Nope.

More collards and kale!
They get taken into the house at night though.

While I very much enjoy having a rooster, having 2 is proving too much.
Roo is SO DAMN LOUD.
And not just at sunrise, or sunset, or when there is danger.
ALL OF THE TIME.

Including 2 am...
We think he and Mullet (behind him in the photo) are trying to one-up each other and they just get so dang loud.
So we will see if we can find him a new home.  If not, sorry my friend...you have been given ample warnings.

 Mmm...I love clothes drying in the sun.
I've been lucky enough this winter to only have to use the dryer for a few weeks when it got really cold.
I can usually find a day that's above freezing with sunshine and it works great!

Morning chores complete, time to get some work done while Brook and Sam are waking up.
With spring here, it's time to start planting.
When I planted my rosemary, there was a ring of chickens around me, hungrily watching.
It's time for a run!
That means I need to mulch it...the mulch pile is at the other end of the yard (down some stairs and outside of the gate, even). 
It's a lot of work to get just one load over here!
But I finished.
And got one part of the run up.
...crossing my fingers that this wire will keep them in...
I know they can hop it in an instant if they want!

Sam's up and is hollering across the yard something about food.  :)
In we go, then.
Wash up.
Whip up some crepe batter.
Start warming some berries.
Unload the clean dishes, load up the dirty.
All while half-watching The Bachelor, of course.

"Come and get it!"
I don't know what's up with the face...they had thirds and fourths,

so I know they like 'em!

For good reason, too!  Yum.

Got the kid approval.

Finished up The Bachelor.
Kids internetted.
Let's move outside!
Chalk on the trampoline?  Okay!
Sam left me a sweet message.
Well, I thought it was sweet...
Until he told me that the "smiley face" on the left was someone pooping.
Oh, Sam.

"Watch my flip!"

"Let's be fighting cats!"

Oh Travis.
Your tire stuck again?
That's the fourth time in 3 days!

Ooh, it's time to take a much-anticipated drive!

...to bring home this little bundle!
He's a 9 week old Great Pyrenees.
If you're unfamiliar with this breed, it's known for guarding livestock.
Of course he'll be growing into his role, but we wanted a pup so he'd grow up with all of our livestock and we can take lots of time to teach him where the property boundaries are
(they also have a tendency to wander...).

Meeting the mommas.

I wasn't worried in the least about bringing a new puppy home to Brin.
That dog NEEDED a puppy friend.
He's trying to show the pup how to toss this chicken and sprint after it.
It's pretty funny because Great Pyrs don't sprint.  Far from it.
They are much more sedate, as their job is to observe.
Unless there is a threat...then they'll sprint.

More chalk and trampoline!

The day is coming to a close, and it's getting cool.
Time to do the evening animal check and pack up the seedlings to bring them in.

 Skype, gaming and YouTube time for the littles.

Hey look!  I finally finished cleaning the kitchen!

Pre-birthday dinner request--cream cheese on a cheesy bagel!

Time for this momma to sit down with a double chocolate stout.

Daddy's home!!
Russ, meet Chuck, Head of Defense.
Russ wasn't a big fan of getting another dog, but I was pretty persistent...

I'm not a fan of the weekly coyote sprints out onto the back porch.

As you can see though, it didn't take much for him to come around!

 Play time!

 While everyone was playing, Russ went down to the garage to attempt to finish tanning our rabbit hides.
It's our first attempt and it shows, ha.
We're learning, though!

While the kiddos settled into a rousing conversation on Skype with friends,
Russ and I grabbed some dinner and took turns yelling at Shane (The Walking Dead, for those who are unfamiliar), "STOP BEING AN IDIOT!!  YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!!"
...Oh.

It's in the 30's outside, time to wrangle those ducklings so they can settle in for the evening.

I'm getting pooped.
Had better situate this pup in the mud room, so no one else has to be on Poop n' Chew Patrol.
(Seriously, this dog poops like 8 times a day!  ...not surprising I suppose, given that he eats 3 times as much as Brin and has a stomach a fraction of the size...)
He wasn't very happy the first night, but he eventually quieted down and I found out why the following morning.
He'd grabbed my jacket there, that's hanging off of the freezer, and made a bed out of it.
Sweet pup.

Russ said he'd put the kids to bed, so I quickly kissed good-nights, 

and Brin and I turned in for the night.
Zzzz....