Too-Early Spring

As it is supposed to drop to 26 F tonight, these little bits of growth may all end up frozen, but on the day I took the pictures, it was gorgeous.

Rose leaves...

 Daffodils...

 Plum buds...

 Willow green...
I love the way green creeps over this tree until, suddenly, it's full of leaves!

 Strutting tom, named Effingham Sandwich...
It's a long story.  He likes to show off for me, but he stalks the rest of the family and scares them.  He may not last past this summer.

 Buzzing bees...
I'm ridiculously grateful that the bees survived the winter, as we are new bee-tenders.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Goings On

Saturday, we spent a glorious afternoon spreading composted manure in the garden and around the fruit trees.  I raked the asparagus beds.  There's still work to be done, but the beds are much improved.  We added mulch in various places.  James tilled.  I weeded and watered the garlic.

It was glorious, all but the part where I lost my glasses.  I had prescription sunglasses on, but it's hard to see in the barn and the shed, so I thought I'd be clever and keep my glasses hooked on my shirt.  I can't drive, cook, sew... I have an old, distorted pair, and they'll do until I can visit the eye doctor and get a new pair.  It may or may not have been nearly seven years since my last eye exam.  On a side note, if you're good friends with St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost items, will you put in a good work for me?  He hasn't told me yet where to look, so I keep asking.

Then, best of all, we had almost three quarters of an inch of rain Sunday night.  Everything is pleasantly squishy and the compost is soaking in.  It feels like an eternity since the last rain or snow.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Do you see what I see?

... Exceptionally gorgeous sunsets each evening
... More pleasantly cloudy days
... The first green of daffodil and tulip leaves
... A need for rain
... Bradford pear buds
... Preening turkeys
... A rainbow of chicken eggs
... No longer, a nearby house that has been dismantled piece by piece
... A few browning, decaying pine trees (a weekend's labor)
... Beds full of promise
... Decadently brown compost, ready for application
... A collapsing shed (a mite more than a weekend's work)
... Baby smiles

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Life, Inside

Outside, a fox killed a chicken and a guinea.  It's cold (finally, hopefully to destroy the oak mites).  The water freezes.  I can't lift bags of chicken feed or gallons of water yet, so James has manfully taken on all the chicken chores.  The chickens are laying more/again, so our egg bucket is filling again.

Inside, I'm washing eggs and there are eggs for sale again.  Baby PK, born December 14, keeps my arms and heart full.  We're still trying to find a new normal as a family of eight.

One thing I'm trying to do is be more conscious of things I haven't taught the big kids.  For example, gratitude.  We had a family and gift-filled Christmas season, but somehow in my survival of the day to day, I've grown lax at expressing gratitude in the form of thank you notes.  I love to receive them, and actually, I like to write a few at a time.  The trouble for me is there are many, and I feel less grateful when I write "thank you" for the tenth time.  Rarely do I manage to enlist the kids in a low stress manner, if at all.    In additon to the regular gifts, we've been blessedly inundated with meals from friends and parishioners.  Every time I think I'm caught up, generosity is bestowed on us again.

This year, I'm hoping to have each of the three big kids write two notes to extended family.  It's taking  significant time to guide the six-year-old, as I really write the thank you note and he copies it, but I remind myself that I only learned to write thank you notes by the teaching of my parents.  I can do this, and so can they!

Thank YOU for reading, commenting, and supporting our farm.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

A Brief Snippet: Wee Things

There's been a baby...

And a few tiny eggs...

Winter well, my friends!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch!

The World Turns...

Feeding chickens, free-ranging turkeys, managing weeds, and being tired...

In the last few weeks, we've named the remaining turkeys: Effingham Sandwich, Christmas, and Thanksgiving.  Effingham has become a little aggressive to everyone but me, so turkey chores rest solidly with me.  I open the coop in the morning and round them up in the afternoon.  Last night, in preparation for a brutal cold front (FINALLY), James and I moved the turkeys to the old guinea coop.  Turkeys are not small animals, so James had quite a task to wrestle all three.  Now they'll stay cooped for a week or two, to familiarize them with their new home, before we try letting them wander again.

The chickens are moving closer to their stationary winter homes.  Egg production has dropped dramatically with the shorter days, and one flock has chosen this rather cold time to molt.  It looks like Armageddon in their coop from the number of feathers.

James mowed down the weeds in the strawberry patches.  I'm afraid many of the strawberries died over the summer, since I couldn't keep up with the weeding.  Next year, God willing, we will mulch thoroughly, replant as needed, and manage better.  The three big kids are big enough to weed, so next year that will be part of their morning chores.

A happy and blessed Thanksgiving to you, in case I forget to blog next week.  Support your local farms and grow some of your own food!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

A Week Later...

We've been busy in small ways.

The barn is cleaned out in preparation for the "stuff dumping" that happens when the cold weather arrives.  We also are making space to stock up on chicken feed so when Mr. PK arrives, we won't have to make the feed run for a month or so.

Some irises has been dug from a nearby house that's slated for demolition, as well as a few lilac saplings.  We'll see what survives.  Our flower collection needs to grow to support the bees.

Speaking of bees, our rescued hive died.  James reports that the other two hives are full of honey and capped brood, so they are ready for winter.  We removed the empty hive and sealed it up for the winter.  Maybe next spring our hives will raise more queens and swarm.  If we're attentive, we can set up another hive or two.

Weeding on the neglected strawberry and asparagus beds is moving along slowly.  It's difficult with mosquitoes still in force due to the warm weather.  Still, we're making a concerted effort to catch up.

Finally, the garlic was planted today.  I saved the largest heads and planted about 30' in a double row. That's less than last year, but we have a better bed prepared and are hoping for consistently larger bulbs.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.