Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Gosh.

The weather has been killing me here.

Depressing, really.

We would have three or four warm days in a row, and then snow, and cold. Mother Nature has, apparently, not been a happy Goddess. I'm not sure which one of you pissed her off, but, really, it's time to apologize.

We do, finally, have a nice run of warm weather, although I'm stuck inside today due to thunder and lightning. I spent the last several days putting some goodness from Mother Nature back into our soil.

Egg shells, for calcium, from the eggs She gave us for  nourishment.
Chicken manure and hay, to make the soil more fertile, from the chickens She gave us, both for food and entertainment.
Wood ash, for potassium, from the trees we took from Her to warm our home.

There is a connection built, I believe, when you are giving back to the Earth. A realization that the whole relationship is very much give and take. And that when we give, the Earth gives back-far more than we take. We will take so much of our food straight from the Earth this year, so it's important to give back what we can, to help heal Her, to make her whole.

Pretty philosophical today, I guess. I have some pictures to share with you, since I finally got a camera phone. I hope you love them!

To me, the first tulip popping always signifies the arrival of Spring. It's pretty late for tulips.

The chickens were curious when I was out working in the garden area. They're right next to the garden. Eventually their run will include a way into the garden so they can go in after harvest and eat the leavings and help with turning the soil and fertilizing for the following season. Can you see the barn cats keeping watch? They like to share the household scraps I take out to the chickens. They are especially fond of bread.

Rocky got tired after a long day of playing with Bellatrix, chasing chickens, sniffing chicken poo, and barking at, well, whatever it is he barks at. Which is usually nothing.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Some days...

...when it hasn't been above freezing in a week and you just want to stay inside and watch the Law and Order: SVU marathon, but spend an hour outside working with the dogs...

Photo Credit: mmarcotte51

...when the wind takes your breath away and you tell yourself that the chickens will be okay even though the coop door isn't shut and it's supposed to snow tonight so you go out anyway, refill the feeder and waterer, and shut the door...

...when you can't feel your toes and you have to go reset the circuit breaker for the back of the house, again, because you're trying to warm it up for your shower, finally...

...when the snow starts to fly again and you still haven't gotten to take a shower and the dogs need outside again and you need to take your cold meds and....


you wonder why you do it.


Then you watch the deer moving through your yard, as they do almost every afternoon, checking to see if you've dropped any goodies on the way to the chicken coop.

Then the barn cat sneaks inside because he's cold and you sit down after your shower and he curls up in your lap.

Then you have your lunch-toast, and eggs that didn't exist twelve hours before.

Then your kids come home and there's laughs and giggles in a room heated by fire.

And you remember...

Monday, January 28, 2013

Had three kiddoes home sick today. A pretty basic cold. I'm thankful it's not the flu.

Photo Credit: thisreidwrites

Spent most of the day mourning the loss of our warm weather. It may snow tonight. Got clothes off the line, brought in a few days' worth of food from the freezer, some herbs and spices from the herb shed, and hooked the heated water bowl for the chickens back up.

Snows after it's been warm always worry me. They are usually wet and heavy. Broken trees, downed power lines, and all kinds of not so fun stuff.

The chickens have decided they don't like it when I don't bring them scraps from the house. I was feeding them their layer feed this afternoon and standing in there waiting for that one last rooster who didn't want to come in yet, and they started pecking at me.

Unless there is some miraculous wake up cure happening tomorrow, two of the kiddoes will be home again tomorrow. They feel fine and are running around like crazy, but the cough sounds horrible and neither of the littles have really mastered the whole "cover your mouth when you cough" thing. I know I get irate when other parents send sick kids to school to infect everyone else, so they will probably be home again.

Dinner tonight was pizza and salad. I did a quick shopping trip to get us through the next week with just the basics. The pizza was on sale, and it's good to indulge once in awhile.

I have to rinse sprouts and then I'm going to bed. I am wiped out. I have been super tired today. I know part of it is because I stayed up too late last night. I just hope I'm not getting sick. So much to get done!