I was about to title this post "Springtime ramblings" but then I decided I better go back and read what I posted about last time...and, umm...that was the name of my last post...oops - I guess it would help if I posted more often!
As an update to the previous chicken stories, the girls did NOT stay in their approved premises after "Chicken Move Spring 2010", no, after being locked in the coop for a couple days to get them used to it, I let them out during the day, only to find them about 12 feet up in the rafters of the loose housing every day from then on....oh well, so far they've been safe from predators, and since we finally used up all the hay and straw in there, they've decided to start laying in the chicken house again, so at least I can find some eggs. The great mobile chicken coop has been inevitably and indefinitely pushed to the back-burner, much to my chagrin. I say inevitably, because my husband hates both chickens and carpentry...so I wasn't surprised when he said he just wasn't going to do it for me :( I suppose I should just get things figured out and do it myself, but it would sure be a lot easier with some help - hey sisters, wanna come do a work bee at my place? I see you made Amy some pretty nice raised beds...I'm kinda jealous!! I'd even provide lots of yummy food and stuff....and umm...a cute niece to entertain you too! Oh yeah...you DO live like 1500 miles away, never mind :(
In other news, tonight I successfully managed to weed whack my flowerbed...yup, I had to weed whack it so that I might have a hope of tilling it someday this week...pretty sad when one has to weed whack the flower bed so you can see where the flowers are. I even weed whacked my asparagus bed after I harvested yesterday...so I can see the spears, the grass is TOTALLY out of hand...so that's another ongoing event for this summer "The Great Quack grass War" Between my majorly infested perennial/asparagus plot and my fresh broken ground in the middle of a quack grass "field" which makes up half my garden, I've got lots of the nasty green stuff on my hands. I've basically surrendered my perennial bed for the summer, but come fall and next spring it won't know what hit it...or at least that's the plan. Now that my garden is twice as big as it was last year (it is now approximately 50x 60 including my raspberries, Saskatoon's and a couple fruit trees) I hope to be able to transplant my asparagus into part of the garden once it goes dormant this fall, and some of my perennials too (these however will be drastically reduced in number...anyone want some beautiful lilies, iris' or peonies?) and then till the dickens out of that darn area until no quack grass dare set foot there (wishful thinking I know). So yeah...that's my battle plan. For this year, I've got a nice big garden planned/partially planted. First off, in my spare bedroom I have a lot of beautiful green plants...93 tomatoes (13 varieties), approx 20 peppers (4 varieties), eggplant, celery, broccoli and cauliflower. These will go outside soon...they need more space!! Already in the garden are 2 varieties of potatoes, black beans, 2 varieties of peas, 2 varieties of carrots, 3 varieties of lettuce, spinach, 3 varieties of onions and beets. The wet weather and storms interrupted my planting, but i have more beans, melons, squash, cucumbers and possibly some other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my head....to put in this week hopefully! I saw some little peas poking their heads through the surface tonight as I picked up clods of sod that were trying to regrow...along with some potatoes, onions and lettuce. I love the hope of a vegetable garden!
Lorelei finally decided to start walking, at 15 months and 4 days old - last weekend. Its pretty cute to see her toddle around from place to place, but she still does quite a bit of crawling and makes many crash landings on her nicely padded tush (another reason cloth diapers are lovable!). She is slowly expanding her vocabulary, adding animals to it mostly- kitty(key or itty), horsey (ocee), puppy (updy), bybye, ya, hi....etc. Its really neat to watch her learn, explore and try to express herself. She has already shown an intense love for music, she'll clap her hands and "headbang" with music all the time, and loves to "dance" with me. If she can fabricate a way to get on the piano bench, she's up there plinking away, or else she just stands in front of it and reaches up to push the keys beyond her sight. She doesn't just bang, but seems to consider what note she's going to hit next...I'm very curious to see where this takes her! She is also enthralled by the workings of the piano, I showed her the inside of the piano and how the hammers move, and she often peers through the crack to watch them move while I play if she is sitting on my lap. Around the house she loves to ride her "ocee" (now painted a handsome black), help me unload the dryer (and sometimes the washer), climb into her highchair (its a darn good thing that thing is stable!) and climb on her stool or anything else that makes it possible for her to look out the window and the world outside. She is such a joy and a blessing! I miss her when I'm at work, but I just count my blessings of being able to be with her as much as I can and look forward to the day that I can hopefully stay home with her and her future (hopefully) siblings.
A couple weeks ago I was able to become the new owner of a nice border collie dog. Speed is 9 months old and a very interesting pup. He is a completely different personality than Sneef (yes their names are VERY similar...no I didn't name him....and I'm not sure I can rename him now-due to his age - any suggestions for names that are audibly similar to Speed, but different enough to distinguish him from Sneef??). He is definitely a challenge for me, because he is a somewhat submissive dog, whereas Sneef has been very assertive and stubborn. I find myself quick to jump on his mistakes harshly, which was very beneficial in the training of Sneef, but detrimental to his sensitive nature. This will be an interesting summer, as I try to get some good obedience on him and see how things go from there, he definitely has drive for herding, but we'll see how we can control and encourage things to get him to be useful. He IS very good with kids, although a little bit overwhelming with his love sometimes, but that is one blessing, as he and Lorelei are sure to spend many hours outside together, and I don't want to have to hover because of him.
This spring, we decided to quit renting out the few acres of crop land on the edge of our acreage. We put up fence around the perimeter and planted an alfalfa mix on the 5-7 acres that had previously been cropped. We also planted 600 hybrid poplar trees for windbreaks along parts of all 4 sides of the property in an attempt to protect the yard a bit more from the constant wind of this area. I know it will take 10 years or so before their effective, but the trees were free and its a great start at least!
The previously mentioned trees had to be picked up at a nursery near the city on a specific day, and since my SIL had wanted to make a shopping trip to the city, we combined forces. I played Nanny most of the day, tending to my 4 month old(at the time) nephew, so that his mommy could shop. I had made a Mei Tai using my spin off of this pattern, and that day was my first real test. It worked well, Dimple is around the 17lb mark (ish??) and I carried him for several hours without feeling any strain. He even fell asleep in it, which was a first - he never falls asleep while being carried! I made it in ever so stylish Real Tree Camo and lime green twill....haha...I'm sure some people wouldn't be caught dead wearing it, but hey, at least my hubby can't say its too girly (though I'm not sure he'll ever be convinced to "wear" a baby"). I hope to do another one someday with some slight changes to my pattern, but overall, I am quite happy with it. I've used it for carrying Lorelei on my back while fencing and such, and see it as being a useful tool for years to come! So for anyone that's looking for a cheap and easy way to carry the baby on your back - check it out!
I've been spending quite a bit of quality time in my sewing room lately, since I plan to get a table at the local farmers market to see my extra garden produce. I am hoping to market some sewed stuff as well, and put my shingle out for doing mending/repairs/minor alterations. I'm kind of excited, even though part of me is so worried it won't work out...I keep squashing that thought and telling myself its only $15 for the whole year, what can go wrong? At the worst, I'll have a bunch of stuff to take home with me and give away as gifts... So - I've been working on Aprons, receiving blankets (specifically ones big enough to swaddle a baby properly) and kids aprons. I've got lots more ideas of ways to use up my fabric stash and even some knitting/crocheting so I can work on it during my lunch hour at work and such. So - if anyone who is reading this has received a gift from me that I made, please let me know how you liked it (good AND bad), how it fit, whether it was useful, etc etc. I NEED feedback in order to try and market my stuff effectively and make stuff that is useful and saleable. Wish me luck! I'll keep you up to date with my progress, and maybe I'll get some updated pictures up on my portfolio blog, as my portfolio is DEFINITELY a lot bigger than it was last time I updated that!
