Dreary Days

Today is one of those epic dreary days. The day started out drizzly, turned to rain, turned to cloudy, and finally thunderstorms. As I type, its pitch black outside, I have the window open and can hear the rain, and the loud thunder booms. Lightning flashes across the sky allowing me to temporarily see the front yard and tree. It lights up the neighbors house and yard across the street, and then its gone. I sit and wait for the thunder, counting seconds inbetween light and noise. A dreary day for sure, but perfect in my world. We need these to counter the 70 degree days I also love so much. My garden needs the rain. The rain barrels collect the water to be used for all the poultry and livestock. I wouldnt wish everyday to be like this, but for now I am enjoying it. That said, I did have to brave the day to run errands. My frist errand of the day was driving into Pennsylvania to pick up livestock fencing. The drive went smoothly. On my way home I stopped at Sonic Drive In. Sonic is on my list of favorite eateries, not because of its good food. I love it thanks to its epic Route 44 Ice Tea, along with all the memories Sonic holds. Fresh in my memory is the Sonic in Texas near our house. When Hubby was deployed, I would walk the dogs to the Sonic, get an ice tea and bones for the dogs. We would sit in the scorching Texas heat and enjoy our treats before walking home. When Hubby came home he too joined in on our Sonic walks. We could easily make tea at home, but I cherished the walk and talks we had. Delving further into my memories of Sonic, I revisit my childhood. We didnt have a Sonic nearby. I do remember family vacations to the midwest, visiting family in Arkansas and Texas. Sonics are plentiful in the midwest. I remember my first visit and how I couldnt believe one didnt have to leave ones vehicle. The icing on the cake was when the car hops delivered our food on rollerskates. To a little girl far away from home, something as simple as this was memorable. I remember laughing with my sisters as lowrider trucks circled the Sonic with nothing better to do. So today I enjoyed my tea, despite the fact it wasnt delivered via rollerskates. I brought home a tea for Hubby, not wanting to exclude him. When I arrived home, there was a box on my front door. I have been awaiting two boxes eagerly. One is a box of hydrangeas, and the other is our bee equipment. Todays box was small, thus being the former. I opened the box to reveal three small twigs . These twigs aka hydrangeas will grow to be huge bushes hopefully. I want to hide our parking area and thought I would do so using hydrangeas. Hydrangeas too have a special place in my memory. Growing up, my mom always had dried hydrangeas about the house. They were also our wedding flowers and due to that fact will always be special. Today's hydrangeas will bloom white and turn to green. They will take years to be the huge flowering bushes that grace the gardens nearby. I will have to remember not to mow them over with the lawnmower, mistaking them for sticks and twigs. On an extremely dreary day, what better than new blooms to brighten my day? After enjoying my package, I had to take Marshmallow aka The Kid to the vet. The Kid is our male angora, given to us as a spent 4H project. When we got The Kid, he had an eye issue. Not knowing what to do, as it was getting worse, I took him to the vet. The vet examined The Kid, flushing out his ducts, shaving off ruined fur and observing his nature. The Kid has always "hopped" funny. The closest comparison would be to the slinky dog on Toy Story. The Kid hops with his front legs, and his back follows later. The vet's theory is that a while ago he must have broke his back, and it healed wrong. The vet went into detail about what we could do if we wanted to know for sure. X rays, blood work and the likes would let us know what is going on while costing us a bundle. I told the vet that my main concern is getting him healthy. If he isnt in pain because of his back, then we dont need to research his history. The Kid is an old bunny. Thanks to the vet and some meds, he will be back to new, but with his own style of hopping about. Obviously he can still have relationships with the girl angoras so I dont think he is lacking too much. We returned from the vet with lighter pockets and a happy bunny. He was returned to his cage with some new chew toys (everyone got new chews) and I am sure he has already told the other bunns about his adventures. After dinner with the hubbs, I relaxed in a hot bath. A hot bath is my favorite way to unwind after a long day. Wrapped in my bathrobe and slippers, with the window open, here I sit enjoying the crisp air and writing to you. A good, dreary day indeed.

dreaming of green

We were completely spoiled the past couple of days. Yesterday reached up to 79 degrees, and I was at work. This weekend is starting out well (as well as it can be at 7am on a sat). During these nice days I find myself dreaming about the farm being green. Its hard to imagine the backyard looking like it did in the picture above (when we first got Jackie back in October). Right now I can see straight back through the woods. There are no leaves on the trees to add mystery to the forest. If I look closer, I can see tiny green buds on the branches, just trying to peek out. Its coming, spring is really coming. Hubby and I are planning the veggie garden. We have the less hardy seeds started indoors, and the cold tolerant outside. Hopefully this weekend we will get the potatoes and rhubarb in the ground. I have peonies ready to plant, and hydrangeas on order. I am itching to get the plants in the ground, but will just have to wait. The nice weather is just a tease. It is supposed to snow on wed... still, I can dream right?

Winter on the Farm

Its winter here at the farm. We have been busy getting everything ready for the snow, and just in time too. For the winter we have grouped all the animals (except the dogs) close together by the barn. The goats (now we have 3 nannies and a billy) have free range of the barn and pen. Right on the outside of their pen is the duck pen. This is caged on all sides, top and bottom. Come spring they will have a proper run, but for the winter this will do. The chickens still have their coop, located next to the ducks. We tried letting the ducks sleep in the coop, but they didnt like it much. Yesterday hubby and I built a rabbit run at the back covered side of the barn. We hope to inherit 5 more rabbits this week and needed a place larger than just the hutch. Ill post pictures when we get them. We have huge plans for the spring but for now with the ground frozen they will stay just plans... Inside the house we have had our pipes freeze multiple times which forces us to keep the heaters on. I am not terribly happy about this, as we were trying to be frugal and only heat what we need. lesson learned. Maybe it is more frugal to turn the heaters on, then to have to pay for a plumber to come fix broken pipes... The tree is up, the rooms decorated and we are ready to settle down for winter. Hubby and I found a bunch of puzzles we liked and are looking forward to spending time in the (warm) house working on them. Happy Winter to all!