Sunday, February 27, 2011

February Update

Where has this month gone to? Seem like I would almost have to get out the calendar to keep track of where we've been and what we've been doing! The weather has finally warmed up nicely-we still have had a few cool mornings-and a few cooler days are expected for this next week-but things are beginning to bloom-the redbud tree in the front yard is beginning to turn purple and a few of the spring bulbs have been showing their beautiful colors!
We spent more than a few days hunting down a u-joint that was needed for Shorty's tiller that goes behind the tractor-only to find out that it had to be bought from the dealer in Mississippi-Then when it got here-it had been redesigned-so the one at Tractor Supply would have worked all along! But the garden is all worked and tilled-Best of all-the potatoes have been planted-this last week along with carrots and beets.
And-sorry for the double pictures-but this is the new member of the farm-Lucille-or Lucy-for short. She is 11 weeks old and will hopefully become our next brood sow-in time! The pictures aren't to good-due to the cloudy weather-but wanted to get a good starting size picture.
The hens are picking up the pace-ever so slightly-we have now gotten 3 eggs a day-a few times! We also have the incubator going with 19 eggs-and 1 turkey egg-thrown in by our good friends-Bob & Viv! Hoping it hatches too!!
Fozzie bred Glory this past week, too. (Do you see a pattern of Spring here on our farm?) So we'll keep a close watch on her in 3 weeks to see if she took and we can start looking for a new calf in November!

Jeff and the cows-Glory is looking for any extra cubes he might have in his hand!
Alana and Ricky bought a log cabin yesterday and it should be delivered tomorrow or Tuesday. It is just a shell-so they have lots of work ahead of them. Their goal is to be in it before the baby gets here-but it'll take alot of work! I'll get pictures when it gets here and set up.
Got lots more to add-but it's time to leave for Sunday School. Get back with the rest and try to stay on top of the blog better!


Monday, February 7, 2011

Play Day-(Evening!)

Kaytlynn & Mady decided it was just too cold outside to play-so they turned the livingroom into a play room! They had blankets and CareBears and babies everywhere! It is so much fun to just watch and listen to them play! They had my undivided attention-they just didn't know it! They had the whole place to themselves-no older sisters or brother to boss them around or tell them how to play! And they didn't even fight with each other!
Last Wednesday the kids were picked up for a new class that was beginning at Church. They all had a blast and can't wait til Wednesday rolls round again! It is so great seeing them excited about going to Church. Kaytlynn was the only kiddo in my class this last week-so we had a great one-on-one lesson about Abram and God telling him to take his family-and all the animals and move to another land. She really enjoyed our story time!
The weather has been much nicer today-warmer, but very windy! We have a chance of snow again by mid-week-then back up in the 70's this weekend-I am so ready for Spring-Which reminds me-Spring Break is only about 5 weeks away!!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Cold-Icy Weather

Icicles hanging off the back porch on Saturday morning-they've been there for 2 days now!
Ice on the back porch-it's beginning to melt!

And on the porch railing-you really had to watch your step out there-it was frozen over!


Icicles hanging off the back of the house.



Thankfully it's all over now and we've had a beautiful, sunny, and warm day today! But we have more icy fronts predicted for the middle of this week! I am SO ready for Spring! We took a bad weather day on Friday-no school-because of all the iced over bridges and roads-we also had reports of trees down over the roads-but we were fine here. Just went through LOTS of firewood. It even got so cold at one point we turned the gas heat on-the wood heater just couldn't do the job on its own!
My back is much better-but is still bothering me at times. I don't want to take anymore of the pain meds-so I'm just bearing with it. I'm still trying not to lift anything and just being a couch potato most of the time. I got out and walked some yesterday-went down to the pond to check the water level-it is filling up nicely with all the rain we've had. A little bit more and some warmer weather-and we might be looking for some fish to stock it with! We did go into Cleveland yesterday and picked up some feed and a few groceries-so I walked a little bit there, too.
We had the Grand Opening of our new library at Church this morning. They had a donation luncheon along with getting to see all the work they've been doing on it. All the kids seem to be loving the idea that they can get books at Church as well as at school. We've even had a few computers donated as well. There is a children's side along with books for adults to check out as well.
We've got 3 roosters to butcher this week and Jeff just got a call for 6 more rabbits to be delivered to the Austin area-so looks like he'll be busy starting the week off. And we had a heat lamp on the front porch for my houseplants-but it appears some of them froze anyway-:( The cold got my ivy's-a little of my big palm-and a few others-hopefully some of them will recover!!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

"B" Things-1 good-1 BAD!!

The first heads of broccoli-I put 1 quart bag in the freezer! And the other b-Jeff had to take me to the ER in Conroe Sunday evening-I have injured an old back problem that I didn't know I had! I just finished helping Jeff fill the wood rack on the back porch-in anticipation of today's cold weather. I sat down on the porch swing with 2 of the grandkids for about 20 minutes-then got up to go in the house and only made 3 steps-then couldn't walk any more-my back was killing me! I have never experianced pain like this before-it took me 20 minutes to just make it to my bed. I laid on the heating pad for an hour and got no relief. So we headed off to the ER. I have an old injury as I said earlier-a bulging disc-and I aggrevated it. I had done quite a bit this weekend-even rode Stormy a little bit-so I guess I over did it-You can bet that I'll take it easy and be much more aware of what I'm doing from now on! I stayed home from work yesterday and only worked half a day today. It is getting better-but it still hurts like crazy if I move the wrong way-I told Jeff that I really do know what he goes through now-and will probably be more protective of him-He's not having any of it!!
Boy is it COLD here! And will be for days to come-it's below 30 now and won't get much warmer through the week-and they are calling for SNOW Thursday night and Friday morning-up to 3 inches! That's alot for us-if we get any of it~
We got a pullet egg yesterday-the first egg a young hen lays-so that means they should all start laying really soon. But no eggs today-the cold change in weather might have messed them up!
Stay warm!!!