Still No Pigs!

We're STILL waiting!! She seems to be a little (or a lot!) attached to this litter! Jeff's brother James came by and looked at her yesterday-he seems to think she still has another week! And boy does she miserable! And to top it off-we had a cold front blow in this afternoon-temps dropped 20 degrees in about 10 minutes-and we could have sleet over night. But the sow hasn't built her bed/nest yet-so hopefully it'll warm up some again before she has them!

Productive Weekend

Jeff tilling close to the greenhouse.

The first of the new raised beds. There is broccoli and red cabbage in the back one and the lettuce closer up-the potatoes are in the bed to the right.

Even though Jeff had to work 8 hours yesterday-we still managed to get quite a bit of stuff done this weekend. He hasn't been able to get our tiller started this year-so after he got home-we went and borrowed his brothers'. He had to work on it a little bit to get it started, too. So we did get a small area tilled up and ready to go! Today I got out there and started getting the raised beds in-decision-decisions!! I have a hard time deciding exactly where I want everything to be. I had bought nine-packs of brocolli-red cabbage and romaine lettuce yesterday-so I got them in there this afternoon. I planted some potato eyes that Shorty gave me last weekend and still have red onions to plant-but I'll get them in later this week. We cooked a turkey today and we'll have it and ???? for supper tonight. Jeff's made up a batch of yeast rolls-so we'll be eatin' good!!! I also set 19 eggs in the incubator yesterday-they are due to hatch on Valentine's Day-how special!!hehe One of my aracauna hens just up and died this week-after laying her daily egg-what's up with that? And she's not even a year old! And still NO baby pigs-and the sow is HUGE!!!

Mady's Two!!!

Sorry-I had a third pic to publish-but for some reason it doubled up on this one and I couldn't get rid of it!!

I really don't know where the last 2 years went-but our baby granddaughter turned 2 years old today. Madysen is still SO tiny and petite and getting a head full of curly hair-just like her Mom had at that age. She loves feeding the rabbits in the evening and if you ask her about the chickens-she'll tell you real fast-"they bite!!" She seems to like sticking her fingers in the pen-then crying when they peck her! Still no pigs!!

Almost all of the tomato seeds I planted came up-earlier than I expected and they got a little tall and leggy before I even got the cover off them. I put them out in the greenhouse this evening-hopefully they'll get enough sun to straighten them out.

My first week at work went very good. I am learning so much already. Our district has a virus in the computers-so it's been a VERY hectic week in the department. I was able to help out a little bit and have learned things I didn't know about computers. Next week I get to do major surgery on one of the laptops(get to change out the hard drive!) I've always liked to take things apart-just not always too good at putting them back together!!! I did warn the boss!! Spare parts could appear! Have a great weekend everyone!

1st Day of WORK!!!

Well-the first day went really good-I think!! I wasn't too overwhelmed by anything and they have LOTS of patience!!! I learned several new things yesterday and that's always a plus!!! And I get to go back today!!!
Jeff called a few minutes ago-scared me to death-he never calls in the morning! But he wanted to let me know that the lights were out at the plant and they might get to come home-bummer-I'll be at work! Said he would go by and get a new battery for the tractor and oil for his truck. Also they have to start working 6-10's tomorrow!!! YUCK!! What am I gonna do on Saturday???? Have a great day-gotta run!!

Slow Weekend

We had a pretty good weekend-things didn't all go as planned- as usual-but it was good. The weather took an unexpected warm turn-so we didn't butcher the last pig. We did go look at travel trailers again and found one with the PERFECT floor plan for us!! But-it was a little out of our price range! So we'll keep looking. Gonna try to go look at one this afternoon and see!
Sunday morning we didn't make it to Church as planned-Jeff wasn't feeling very well. We had plans to meet with our best friends-Sheila and Alfred to go out and eat at Olive Garden and Jeff felt better-so we had a very nice afternoon with them. We even went by Petco and bought new Goldfish for the pond. I also got our income taxes finished and filed! HEH!!!
Today is my last day off before starting my new job in the morning! I'm more than a little nervous-but I'll do fine-a new job is always SOOO nerve racking! I have a list of things to try to get done today to make the rest of the week go smoothly!! I'm gonna try to get an eye exam, too-but the one place I've called is booked for today-the other probally will be too. Oh-still no baby pigs either. But she sure looks ready this morning!!!
Our weather is supposed to stay a little warmer all week. I got some tomato and pepper seeds started here in the house last Thursday and have them sitting close to the wood heater to keep them warm. Hopefully they'll be up in a few more days. It will be tough trying to do a garden this year working full time-but it will be necessary with the shape of the economy right now. We might just have supper a little later a few nights since we'll be out working in the garden!! Sounds like a plan! Have a great day!!!

Strawberry Jam

WOW!! I can't believe I let nearly a week go by without posting! And I really haven't been that busy. Time just slipped by I guess! Cayden and I made strawberry jelly yesterday-Boy was she Proud of herself! It came out pretty good and was really a nice change from dealing with all the cold weather-but our weather is nothing up against what's going on up north!!!

I got an unexpected phone call yesterday. Remember the job interview I went on back in October for the Technology Secretary at our local school district? I didn't get the position-but that was OK!! Well-they called yesterday and offered me the job if I was still interested!! SO I start to work on Tuesday-full time!! Boy is this gonna help us out-'specially trying to get things back on track with the beach house!! And with never knowing about Jeff's back-this cold weather is really giving him a time with it right now! God is good and always looking out for us-everything in His time!

Jeff wants to butcher the last of the feeder pigs this weekend-and wants to scrape this one so we can make some bacon. The sow was due on Tuesday-still no pigs-but she stays in with the boar for a few weeks being bred-so we never know the EXACT date!! I just seem to walk a trail between the house and the pig pen watching her!

Honey Bees & Goldfish Ponds

I let some of the broccoli heads go to flower-OK-it wasn't on purpose-just got lazy I guess. I knew it needed to be cut-but I always remembered it while at work or at 2 in the morning-you know-at times when you can't get to it? Anyway-I was out there yesterday and the flowers were just swarming with honey bees. It made me REALLY glad I had left them-the bees were very much enjoying their afternoon treat! I just wish I could follow them back to their hive and try to capture them-I know that they are from the hive we lost in a swarm a few years back! Randy came in a few minutes ago and said they are all over a Coke can on Julie's front porch,too. This warm weather we're having has got them moving! It's 80 degrees today-but a cold front is due in here around midnight and it won't get out of the 50's tomorrow.

Jordan and Kaytlynn helped me get the goldfish pond cleaned out the other day. It had gotten pretty nasty. We didn't find any of the fish this time-the old ones were a few years old by now. I got it filled back up with CLEAN water yesterday and got both of the pumps back up and going. Now I have to replace the fsh-the grandkids LOVE to feed them-although it usually starts a fight over who's gonna get to feed them!

I watched the 3 youngest girls for Alana this morning so she could go to the Dentist. She's got a bad tooth that will need to be pulled on Jan. 23rd. Mom has to be there next Tuesday for oral surgery to remove some bone fragments from her gums. They told her it wouldn't be an easy experience! Don't know what we're gonna do this weekend-I'm sure we'll find something to get into. We are just SO used to heading to the beach every weekend-sometimes we're still kinda lost! Have a great weekend every one!!!

SUNSHINE!!

We actually have SUNSHINE today!! It's wonderful!! I FINALLY got to put a load of clothes outside to dry!! It is supposed to be 78 degrees on Friday-but rain and another front come in on Saturday. I've been gathering everything up to get ready to file our income taxes-YUCK! I'm usually pretty good at keeping up with it through the year-but I didn't do ANY of it this year. Took me ALL afternoon-but I think I'm ready for the w-2's to come in now!! Sure didn't like the totals we spent on feed this year-but at least we know what's IN our meat and eggs! We have a rabbit due next week and the sow is also due next week!!! She lost the whole litter last time-so we are hoping for better results this time. And the milk cow-which Jeff didn't milk but a few times-is really showing-you can see the calf rolling around in her belly!! I have Feb. 2 as her earliest due date-so it's getting close. I'll keep everyone up to date!

Vacation???

Randy and Ricky digging the last bit of the drench for the waterline. Jeff was gone to the ER with his Dad-so Ricky got all the line dug to the barn and almost to the front pasture-then him and Randy finished it up. Boy was Jeff grateful to the two of them!! You can see a small part of the new fence in the background.

This is the pond(lake!) that Curtis, Jr dug this week! That is Jordan standing near the bottom-there is a small deeper hole that he's next to. A small area above where Jordan is standing is now seeping water-so he might have hit an underground spring!

Well-we stayed REALLY busy this last week. On Monday, we took a trip down to the beach just to check on things. It had been raining alot down there and all of our lots were standing in water. All the drainage ditches are full of sand and there's no where for the water to run off. Hailey went with us and she took the devestation well. We were worried about her-she's been with us every step of the way with the house-even at closing. We did find a few more of our things-Jeff even found one of my lamps that I really was hoping to find! Tuesday we got to working on the little pasture up front so we could let the calves out of the barn and back on grass-not that there's much of it this time of year. We finished it on Thursday and boy they were happy to be able to run around again. Friday was spent up at Mom and Shorty's doing odd jobs and cleaning up some around their house. Saturday Jeff started running new water line from our meter to the house and barn. The old black pipe was starting to get lots of leaks so it was time. Sunday morning Jeff had to take his Dad to the ER-he was having trouble breathing again. They admitted him-he should come home today sometime. And Jeff had to go back to work this morning. All in all, we've had a nice Christmas and New Year's and vacation all rolled into one-even if it goes by faster each year!!!