Spring has Sprung… why haven’t I

 

So this is my view out of my bedroom window now.  After that funny post on FB I thought I had better snap a few pictures and get them on here… We have moved the cows to the other field and plan on putting in field fencing next week instead of the hot tape… 

I didn’t zoom so you could see just how far it is to the road… those two cows jumped and kicked and played when we moved them… it was so hilarious!  A couple of 1000 lb dogs… The bare land is filling in with weeds… but we aren’t going to plant a lawn until fall.  Dad says October… so October it will be… to plant the best lawn…

I zoomed in on Mr. Moo… named because he does just that… Moo… A LOT!  He knows what the bus looks like when Bub comes home and starts in… and if you make eye contact… he starts in… and if he senses you might be outside to give him a snack of clover… he starts in… lol 

 

T Bone wont even look up… He is out by the fallen Elderberry tree… and the pear tree/patch I need to do something with.. at some later date in life… 

 

The back yard… we have so much work cut out for us… but its coming together.  I will mow it as soon as the second batch of Turkey broth comes out of the canner…

 

We cleaned up the woodstove for the year…I propped my little owls that my oldest bought us on top to welcome us home! 

There is that whole you might be a homesteader if… your egg basket sits next to your daughters kindle; the pressure canner never leaves the kitchen (turkey broth today); and while you check on the cows out your bedroom window you come back to your kitchen to refill your home made dishwasher cubes and remember you were saving seeds from the last butter nut squash you made into soup last week.   Only to look out the front window to see all your poultry playing nicely in the coop yard.  Sighhhh… Nope I wouldn’t change it for anything!

After an hour of ABCMouse.com learning preschool stuff… with her bathing suit on backwards… she regressed and asked for her binky to take her nap… which she did promptly! 

 

 

 

I call this Russ’ science project.   You never know what he is going to grow… right now its sweet taters and yams it looks like. And some African violets need attention… lol 

 

So I just deleted the pictures of the seeds…  lol  but I laughed at myself as I finished the detergent cubes only to fill the bowl you see to your left with a plate full of seeds… Oh how I miss my memory! 

 

 

And to finish as the canner calls and the lawnmower awaits… T-Bone grazing… In a different life… I’d live on a cattle ranch… I just love my cows… I know… there is something wrong with me… Happy Homesteading!!

Chelle’s canning camper

So the neighbor called up a month ago or so and was all excited that they were getting a new RV.  She had been wanting one for a very long time.  I was very excited for her.  She then asked if anyone would be interested in her old one.  Not that we need any more ‘clutter’ around here as we are still buying the dump I swear, but I have been wanting a ‘space’ to call my own to can in.  So she called this morning to let us know it was time to get the trailer. 

We spent the morning cleaning the pile of junk the contractors left us…

I really thought I had a picture of the junk.  Apparently I lost it somewhere.  Needless to say the dump trailer is about full already and I have a canning camper…

Isn’t it just adorable!  Well maybe adorable isn’t the right word… but I am excited to have it and look forward to the project of fixing it up and getting it ready for canning season.  Oh you wanted pictures of the inside too???  Well that was an afterthought.  I’ll get them tomorrow.  lol 

Pass the next ones along to Miss Mandy… Lola LOVES all the play clothes.  I am now hunting for a dress up basket to keep them in.  If spiderman (child) (girl?) wasn’t so fast I would have snapped a picture off for her…

So I am still reeling from the fact I got absolutely NO pictures of us all together… I guess I am going to have to take Russ’ camera to download pictures from the Caves.  Until next time… hugs to all the children’s and know we love you over here…

Special Assembly Day and Memorial

It started out well enough.  Matching outfits ( thanks Miranda for putting up with me ) and ready to go.  Hair in braids, and all adorable.  By the end of the morning session we have what you see below… lol

Lunch break… braids are now pony tails…. but the Assembly was great and the kids all being together was nice.   

 

Onto Memorial… only two days later…

 

Thank you again Miranda for humoring your poor mother and wearing matching dresses with your little sister. You two were adorable!  It was nice having Mercedes and family with us too so that I could get my hugs in with Tristen.  The three brothers there asked for picture… but when I took it, I heard my camera make a funny noise.  Its not working properly anymore… so I am not sure which one broke it as they guarded the emblems…  lol. 

So there you have it Mom.  I should have found the camera while you all were here.  I am good at this living stuff, not so much the documenting.  But I try…  I Love you….

Outside Update

 

My first attempt in a keyhole garden.  We are all about recycling. There is so much ‘junk’ around here I have not spent one penny on anything for this project.  Seriously… not one!  All these cinder blocks I have dug up from around the property when we bought it.  Same with the old bricks. 

 

Part of a keyhole garden is layering your green compost with your brown compost.  So I used old phone books, cardboard, newspaper, old branches, leaves, rabbit manure, and some top soil to fill it up. 

 

You’re right… its not a keyhole!  LOL  I made a major mistake so its now a raised bed we will use for strawberries.  Cheryl next door is tired of bending over for berries too, so here is one of our new strawberry beds.  I am going to utilize some old gutters for the other strawberries…

 

This is the mess left from moving the greenhouse.  Its been a year.  But at least the greenhouse is in the sun now and all the hoops will be in a line. 

 

 

My lens starting fogging up.  The beds are popping with seedlings. The pea gravel is on its way… I cant wait to get the pathway in order…

 

 

Here is the greenhouse being reassembled on the inside.  A few more shelves and I can start getting pots and trays ready for seedlings.  That’s Russ favorite thing in the world is planting seeds. 

Potato Beds…  Four in total… 12 x 12 ft.. some partitioned into 4 ft squares and others in half.  We grow sweet potatoes, yukons, russets, blues, fingerlings, purples, and they  have lasted all winter… and have some to replant this year without having to buy more tater starts.   

Last years potato towers.  They will be joined together in the middle and built into a more permanent raised bed… for what I am not sure yet… but nothing is wasted around here. 

Below is our poultry yard that includes Muscovy ducks, barred rock hens and a handful of old layers I cant seem to part with.  My Java hen… the original homesteaders chicken, and a favorelle…

More panels being being counted and dragged over to be upcycled into another hoophouse.  It will sit behind the greenhouse so all hoops will be in a neat and tidy row. 

We have been in the new house now for three months and the mud is finally subsiding so we can begin to think about landscaping.  And our pile of dirt that was left over… lol  So until next time…  happy homesteading!