Mud

What a glorious 60 degree spring day! No one wanted to be inside today. But I'd forgotten how muddy a spring day on the farm can be. Our yard would make any pig very happy.

I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter what I say or do the mud is bigger than any house rule I can make. And until the sun dries everything up I'll be battling mud daily.

Himself said at dinner time, "It's easy, the mud stay outside. It only comes in on the pets. The kids can take off their shoes outside the porch door."

I had no words. He doesn't get it.

I stood up the youngest and twirled her around quietly pointing out the mud smeared on her head, more on her rear, knees, and elbows. And then I pointed the rest of my dirty crew. Yes, their hands were washed for dinner, but that was about it!

And tomorrow -- RAIN. :(

Who, who!

The International Festival of Owls was a blast! We saw Skreetch, Barred, Great Horned, Prairie and Snowy Owls during the Illinois Raptor presentation. They are such beautiful and intriguing birds that God has created.

The Owl Prowl was our favorite. We drove through the dark country side and stopped at various fields and roadsides to get out and call for owls. The weather was very windy and the owls weren't out. My  kids learned how to make the calls of all the local variety of owls so they can prowl for owls here on our farm. 

It was a very late night for all. Owls aren't awake in the day time and the festival started at 5:30 p.m. So I  was surprised when my baby woke up this morning at 7 a.m.. But you just have to smile when you hear her practicing her hooting. 

Building Bee Boxes

I built two bee boxes today with my Dad and Sis. We're putting the two new hives at our farm. The new boxes still have to be painted white. White is a very pretty color to bees.

The live bees & queen bee are scheduled for delivery in April. I'm still not sure where to put these boxes. They need to be visible but kind of tucked out of the way and on an East facing slope of one of our hills. The early morning sun warms & wakes them up early to start their pollinating.

That pretty much means they'll be in the East valley where the pole barn, apple trees and my garden are located. Ideally it be nice if I could drive the truck & tractor near them as supers get heavy when they're full of honey. And a clear path to run if the bees are crabby is important too.

I remember going with my Dad once and the bees were cranky. They crawled up his pant legs and chased us back to the house. If I'd have had to trip over brush, down a hill, to get to the barn instead of the newly mown hayfield it'd have been a disaster!

Why am I doing this? Honey! It's amazing stuff.

Thankful for ......

State provided health insurance.

Our cards arrived this week and we were able to end the painful experience with COBRA.

In a Nutshell

And in no particular order:

Rabbits

Chickens

Homeschool

Puppy

Death of a beloved pet

Major move

Unemployment

Karate

Swim Team

Swim Lessons

4H

Bees

Awana

Sunday family dinners

No wonder the "February Mom Burnout" is more intense this year.  All of these scheduled activities and events are new since September.

Puppy Progress Report

Our dear puppy has been through a number of name changes. Himself finally admitted that he'd like to reuse the name Gypsy in honor of our previous guard dog friend, Gypsy I. So Gypsy it is.

Gypsy has not endeared herself to our kitty Rex. Poor Rex now finds himself in exile on the porch. He isn't yowling so we think he's actually relieved. They haven't made peace yet and Rex has been very twitchy about any sound or movement that might be a signal the the dog is chasing him. .

In the middle of the night last week there was a crashing sound. We didn't investigate because we didn't hear it followed by one of our children crying. In the morning we discovered an overturned cat box at the bottom of the basement stairs. It seems poor Rexy was so nervous that during a midnight poop he thought he heard the dog coming. We think he rode down the stairs in his enclosed litter box.

His ride scared him badly that he stopped using his box altogether. Instead he found a spot in the in the root cellar. Yes, the very same root cellar we vigorously cleaned because of cat poop from the previous tenants! Ugh.

So the porch is where Rex must stay until he relearns his litter box is his friend. He will probably come back into the house again. Oh yes, on the night of Rex's ride down the stairs Gypsy was sleeping quietly in her crate in our bedroom. :))

A Job!

Not employment. But a commission-based contract job.

Next week Himself starts this telecommuting job.

There's still an employment option that's "alive". One that is quite interesting and a good fit for his corporate skills. He's interviewed with them 3 times.

He did get a, "Dear John, we chose the other guy. But you were our second choice!"from another place he'd interviewed.

Thankfully it was after The Job details were firmed up and a "Go!"