What Is Spring?

What Is Spring?

Spring is…

A time to stretch.

A time to reflect on where the year will take you.  Time to wake up from your winter slumber.

A time for flowers.

The most vibrant of all the seasons.  Soak up the colors as they abound.  

A time for vegetables.

 So many to choose from.  It can feel like watching a baby grow into a beautiful adult.

A time for finishing projects.

So many things were promised at the beginning of winter.  Where did the time go?  Best to hurry and don't delay.  Spring is calling, "Come out and play!"

 

A time for new life.

New birds, new puppies, new kitties, too.  New rabbits, new chickens.  All brand new.

 A time for love.

Look inward and find the love within your own home.  Appreciate the love that surrounds us in nature.  

 May your Spring be filled with abundance. 

***I'm linking this post to Common Ground***

March 5, 2014 Baby Cry

Oh boy.  That puppy sure is a baby cry at night.  That's what we call it around here instead of cry baby.  So I'm up early again to make sure Jace will get some sleep.

I'm kind of excited today.  It's warm enough to take Cooley outside.  There's a big wide world out there.  It turns out he did pretty well.  He ran and romped around for a little while.  He got scared and really wanted to hide under the truck so that was the end of play time.  I don't want to go looking under vehicles for him.  Time to come back inside.

I used the rest of my day working on homeschool with Rowan.  We finished up the work for this week so we'll be able to go on our field trip tomorrow.  I finished cleaning out and organizing my kitchen rack.  I took all the stuff off the china hutch and will resume the sanding project.

I'm working on a post that I'll share in some link parties.  I hope.

I didn't do anything outside today because the weather is still cloudy and cold.  I think I've reached the end of my endurance for cold weather this winter.  I'm ready for some nice days.

March 4, 2014 Vet Visit, Cooley, Kitchen Rack

Today I woke up early to help Jace out with the puppy.  He is crying at night and it makes getting sleep hard.  This is just the puppy phase they all go through learning to sleep at night.  I don't think it should last much longer.  Right?

Jace has chosen the name Cooley Fuzzles McFeltingsley for the puppy.  A very long name for such a small puppy.  He said Cooley is the name of an Irish town.  Today we'll head over to the vet for a first visit, shots, and dewormer.  It's a tedious first group of visits but well worth it after six months.  We should have all the shots and deworming completed and had a visit to get fixed.

Today we're spending time getting caught up on homeschool.  This week we'll be taking a field trip so we're squeezing that day's work into our other days this week.  I'm going to start searching for a better spelling program since Rowan has difficulty in that area.

Today is crisp and cold.  There was lots of rain last night and lots of icicles this morning.  I noticed some garlic is coming up.  That's exciting since I've never grown any before.  In the hoop house the temperature was 59 degrees.  How cool is that?!

Inside I'm trying to get some cleaning and organizing done.  It's reached critical mass in here.  It starts to feel claustrophobic when there's too much disorganized clutter.

 

Spending the day tucked under a blanket with your favorite toy is the best!

 

 

 This is the kitchen rack I'm tackling today.  I actually took this picture after I had started cleaning it off.  It was in fact much worse.  Over time it has become this catch all for kitchen things.  When we redid our kitchen I got rid of the kitchen island with the storage underneath.  I opted to get this kitchen rack.  I love the idea of open storage and not having to dig around in low to the ground, dark cabinets.  I'm also a fan of the pictures I see of European style kitchens.  It's hard to keep neat and straightened all the time and if friends visit they might think you're a little messy.  I did manage to almost finish this today.  A little more dusting and moving around and it will be done. 

 

 

One more picture of the cuteness.   

March 2, 2014 A New Farm Friend

I'm up early and my fingers don't want to type.  I'm up early to work on a special surprise for Jace.  I really hope this works out...

The weather was nice this morning in the high 50's.  A little muggy.  Then the rain came and now the cold.  The temperature is down into the 40's for sure.  I still need to go get the chickens fed and watered.  I'm procrastinating.

23 days till planting!

 This plant is gorgeous.  I don't think I've ever had a plant like this one.  It was free.  Some days a company brings by all the flowers and plants they can't sell and donates them.  This plant was completely wilted.  It wasn't dead, though.  It was bone dry.  I thought it might be ok if I watered it and put it in the window for some daylight.  Within two hours it had perked all the way up.  It looks even better today.  I figured if it didn't survive at least the green planter could be reused.

 

Here's Jace's surprise.  It's a Maltipoochi.  I think that's a mix of maltese, poodle, and chihuahua.  It's a boy.  Jace hasn't named him yet.  It will probably be a few days before he settles on a name.  Rowan likes "Fuzzle."  His tummy is fat so we also called him "Mr. Waddles."  I suggested Thor and Fang.  I think he'll be a smart dog and good asset for the homestead.  Humor wise if not work wise.

The rest of the animals weren't sure what to make of him.  Lots of sniffing.  Lizzie is too rough right now so we'll have to watch their playing carefully lest she get carried away.  Peppermint seemed offended that he wasn't a cat.  She didn't mind him being around the water bowl at the same time she was eating next to it.  That's a good sign.  I kept Onslo away.  Since he's 6 years old he's more set in his ways and does snap at Lizzie to remind her who's boss.  I think we'll wait till this little guy is a bit bigger before a real introduction.

It looks like a night of being cozy and tucked in.  The weather has only gotten worse.  Things were freezing up outside this afternoon.  Hopefully the roads stay dry since I have to drive to work tomorrow.  Crossing my fingers the rest of the week will be much better than today.

February 28, 2014 A Daffodil, Chicken Gate Progress and Lizzie Gets Her Hair Done

Yesterday I had a very early work meeting which had me getting up at 4:30.  It pretty much made the rest of my day worthless.  I ended up taking a nap for 3 hours.  When I got up I was tired and pretty much wanted to go back to bed the rest of the day.  So nothing was done in the garden.

Jace gave the dogs greasy pork chops yesterday.  It's been a nonstop poopfest since.  I'm pretty irritated about it.  A lot of times my life seems to revolve around poop.  Chicken poop, rabbit poop, dog poop, and cat poop.  

Today we're hoping to get the new chicken run gate done.  I don't think time will allow any more than that today.  Otherwise I'll water some things in the hoop house.  Everything is coming along nicely.  Only 25 days to go!  Lizzie got dropped off for dog grooming today.  Can't wait to get a picture when I pick her up.

I found some time to dispatch another rooster.  Only 6 more to go!  This will have to be done pretty quickly before they get too big.

Here's today in pictures:

 The first daffodil to open up.  They are smaller in size than I was expecting.  Still a pretty flower.  I'm sure they're more impressive in larger groups.

 

We completed framing in the area for the new gate for the new chicken run area.

 

They just keep growing!

 

The best shot of Lizzie I could get.  She was very excited to be home.  She looks so sweet.

 

February 26, 2014 Rainy Day Thoughts and A Throw Together Sundae

The weather today is chilly and very windy.  That will make this an inside day.  We're kind of in an open spot and really get hit with wind.  It's at its worst in spring.  The wind will howl day after day for a few months.  It can be frustrating gardening through this.  It's time to plant but you don't want your plants getting beaten up and torn to shreds from the wind.  I've had this happen.  It's very disappointing.  I'm getting better at arranging plants to be protected from the wind.  At this time there just aren't enough plants in the garden. (Remember, all those gardens in the magazines took 15 years to grow.)

 

(I just learned how to take a screen shot!  Woo hoo I'm feeling smart.)

As you can see from this screenshot the winds are up to 24 mph.  I temperature part is making me cranky.  It's getting colder after 11 am.  It looks like tomorrow will be good, though.

I went outside and let the chickens out.  They are always so full of bluster when they first come out.  After finding out it was cold they ran back into their coop.  Silly birds.  The daffodil has decided not to open yet.  I wouldn't either with this rain.  I'm grateful for the rain so I don't have to water the new trees, potatoes, onions, and garlic.

There are a couple of inside projects I'll be working on besides the usual housework.  I think it'll be a day for making comfort food, too.

We ended up doing all of that.  I completed some overdue housework, Rowan worked halfheartedly on her school work.  The dogs were happy to stay in the warm house and even let the cat sleep with them.

I made an appointment for Lizzie to get her hair styled.  She always looks so cute after she has it done.  There is so much cute I can't even look directly at her.  It's just too much cuteness.  I'll post a picture when she is done on Friday.

Jace came home from work and made some delicious pork chops and mashed potatoes.  I had a sweet tooth later in the evening.  Thinking back on some blogs I read today, they were all about dollar store desserts, I was inspired to pull some ingredients I had around the house to make my own small sundae.
  

 

Starting at the bottom I filled with a chocolate pudding snack cup, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of homemade strawberry jam, and topped with crumbled walnuts.  

It hit just the right spot and now I'm ready to tuck myself in for a long winters nap.

February 25, 2014 Potatoes Planted and A Couple of New Plants

Today I woke up feeling almost normal.  Outside the weather is looking a bit rainy or heavy fog.  This crosses off two of the things on my to do list that can't be done due to rain.  I wanted Jace to set a cedar post for the new chicken yard and I needed to water some trees.  As of right now that leaves me with just two other things to work on.

As it turns out the weather improved some.  I was able to plant a Silver Maple tree.  The tag says it grows to 55 feet tall and 45 feet wide.  We'll just see about that.  I also got a hosta plant to spruce up the area where the grapes are going.  I'm trying to follow what some of the gardens in the magazines have. 

It also turned out to be potato planting day.  There are now 15 seed potatoes in the ground.  I got a hold of some straw and put it over the top of the bed and then watered it down.  

Lastly I have a new rose bush in the ground and it looks like one of the daffodils will be awake tomorrow!