blossoms and dandelions

Rory is so, so thrilled about this. That black tape above is where he grafted a Zestar branch onto the old apple tree in our front yard. He has tried grafting a number of times, but this year he went to a grafting workshop, learned a few things and came back and got to work. And now about half of his branches are budding and alive! It's a cool thought that we could Zestar and Honeycrisp apples growing on the same tree one day!

Those pictures above are lovely, aren't they? Spring is just so pretty. But I want to show you two other pictures. Last night we were driving to a park for dinner and on our way out of the driveway Rory said, "Kids, have you ever seen a dandelion farm? That's what these people are farming right here..." And the kids were quick to point out, "Daaaad, that's our farm!" And he replied, "that guy really needs to mow." "Daaaad, that's you!"

But we still love our dandelions. Rory reminded me this week that Elsie used to call them DandyLands. I did not remember that at all, so I thought I'd better write it here so it's documented. Because that's pretty adorable.

Our Chicken Yard project continues. Yesterday we painted in the hot, hot heat (Rory said it was 86, a friend said she saw 90 at the bank). Well I should clarify that Elsie painted for about three poles before she started complaining long enough that I was fine to have her mojo go into the house. Ivar worked until noon, the time his dad said he could be done. And he was cheerful the whole time. "Mom! Only 17 more minutes and I'm done!" And I was the last one, painting until the sun when down last night. But we got it painted! Next is the gate, the wire fencing and then closing up the birds. We painted it brown, which was a big deal because we haven't done any brown around here yet. But Rory chose it, and he nailed it. It actually blends in quite a bit and matches our house nicely. The color was parkbrown and I'm pretty sure it's the brown you see at every National and State Park.

So that's the latest. We're pretty tired around here after a full week of summer weather and spending every moment of every day out in that glorious sun. But it feels really good. We're getting things done and that's a special kind of motivation and reward.

Happy Weekend everyone!

post holes

We've got some big projects in the works around here. Rory and I are working side by side in the midst of  home school, sales calls and parenting. We are building a fence from the barn to the orchard which will serve as a path for the sheep to follow each morning and evening. So far we have ten posts in the ground with 16 to go. It's a tedious job but it will make our lives so much easier when it is done!

And in the midst of that project, we began what I am calling 'the chicken compound.' This project took priority because our broiler chicks are ready to get out of the chicken tractor. But we can't let them out until the big hens are fenced in (pecking order would leave the little broilers a bit too vulnerable...) We had taken down the chicken yard fence to put around the garden because 1) we needed it for the temporary garden fence and 2) they could fly over the four foot fence anyway. The hope with the chicken compound is that the birds will have to stay in their yard and stop pooping in my yard. We do love our chickens just not in our garage, on our driveway and harassing my babies. (Our rooster tried to grab Alden's big toe when he was in the stroller and I was thinning the raspberries! The rooster thought it was a big worm, I suppose. But Alden was not amused, as you can imagine!) So this will be a good thing all around which means we are working hard to get this project done. It's another tedious task, but the motivation is so great...we can't wait to eat picnics without birds casually flying up to join the meal.

I will say our kids are absolute rockstars. They like watching us work, and the bigs are so great with the littles. We are very grateful for them! I'll leave you with a close up of Miracle, laying with the kids between Ivar's winter boots that he had stuffed with kleenex. That boy is always prepared!

Alden LOVES sledding

...and I'm fine pulling him on the grass. No need for the white stuff!

hattie's own book nook

It does look cozy. Not super comfortable, but definitely cozy. :)

one thing a day

How sweet is this? Rory is walking Miracle back to his stall in the barn. Miracle had followed Rory back to the house and then stood in front of the big window baaing for his friend to come back outside. 

I feel like I'm out of words this month. I have tons of pictures, but when I write anything out it sounds redundant...like I don't have much creativity left beyond the photographs. I think all of my extra creative juices are going into the work being done around here. I believe Infrastructure is the word that will describe our year. Everything we are doing this spring has to do with systems and structures. Each day Rory has us answer this question, "What is one thing we can do today that will make tomorrow easier?" It's a really great question and puts different items on the top of the list that haven't been at the top before.

Tasks can be small or large. We started with putting a gate on the temporary garden fence. Last year we never had a gate and had to take the chicken wire off of five spots on the T-post to get in and out. We already love our slick garden gate.. Now we're building a fence all the way out to the orchard to help us get the sheep from barn to pasture each day. We have the electric lines marked for building a taller chicken yard so our layers have more room in their yard and stay out of my yard (notice Hattie below...she has a definite love/hate relationship with those birds...) The list goes on and on. But it's so great. Each one of these projects will make our days run more smoothly. It's a fun question to ask each day.

One night last week it all sort of hit me that we're really doing this. That somehow our lives turned from urban and techy to rural and farmy. Even the Becca of 6 years ago wouldn't believe this all was coming. But here we are. Raising pigs. Reading books on rotational grazing. Building long fences and thinning the raspberries. I know we've been at it for five years, but I'm just saying that sometimes I still find myself surprised at my life!