Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

What a day!

The young man, A, wasn't able to get here until about 4 this afternoon. I had to start without him. I got several layers started in the beds before my relief got here. While he was shoveling dirt and sand I spread peat and pine bark mulch - then we planted the blue berries.

DH hug the gutters on the fence and filled them with dirt for the strawberries. Maybe tomorrow I'll have time to plant them. We just started with two 10 ft. gutter sections - kinda to get the feel of it. I really think it's going to work out pretty well. I'll need to space the strawberries out fairly far apart from each other because the gutters are fairly shallow. We almost forgot to drill drain holes in them. I'd love to try Pink's idea for the strawberries but that project will have to wait until later. I've spent so much money on the blueberry beds that I need to try to do the strawberries on the cheap for now.

I have to laugh at A because I really think the only reason he comes to work here is so he can play with the critters, lol. He wrestled with the big dog and chased the pigs in between wheelbarrow loads.

After he shoveled and spread dirt and sand and planted and helped entertain the grandson - he helped feed and tried his hand at goat milking. Watching him try was a HOOT! I showed him at first, and of course I was showing off a little bit so it kind of made it look like milking iseasy, lol. He tried and tried and he kinda got the hang of it, but like any beginner, he's slow! He's so good natured an he tries sooooo hard at everything he does - it's so rewarding to know that good kids like him are still around.

He was thrilled that he got a football scholarship to a college in Nebraska----I know that I'm gonna miss him almost as much as his own mama will. This family has 5 sons and every one of them are as respectful and polite and hardworking as he is. His parents certainly did it right!

We had time to get started o another project that I hope we can finish tomorrow. He said that he'd love to come by after church. I think we can replace some fence posts that have rotted off at ground level. Today he was able to pull a bunch of staples out of the posts so that we can just take out the last few tomorrow and plant some new fence posts. It's a real pain in the rear job, but it'll go a lot faster/easier with good help.

I'm tired so I'm gonna call it an early evening and head to the bed real soon.

 

[Denim Deb]

Oh yeah, and I never have good help for that job. But, I've gotten to where it takes me about 15 minutes to take out an old fence post, and plant a new one. Sometimes getting the staples out of the old posts takes longer!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I realized last Friday, after Momma's funeral, that DS hadn't fed my animals and he was all decked out in a suit. Well there was my nephew....16 years old and always wants to read my poultry magazines and asks me if he can have a few hens, in whatever make shift chicken tractor he can put together, so I gave him spacific instructions on exactly how to check on each of my projects and what to feed each.....he, of course getting more and more interested with each of my sentences and he was off. He came back to the house a few minutes later, all smiles and spoke to me about all his concerns and questions and asked me if I might have a job for him this summer. I told him I did have a few big jobs that needed doing and we can probably put something together. I will put 3 or 4 hundred aside, so I can slowly pay him.....because I need the help and because I know there is a farmer in him and it just needs a little hands on to make him come out. Spoke to my brother about him. Told him that boy needs a section of his yard to do his thing.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Just a little bit stiff and sore this morning. I know my grandson is gonna want to get in the hot tub this morning, so I might just have to join him. Even after getting so much done yesterday, there's still soooo much more to do...AND...40% chance of rain tomorrow...ugh

DH is gonna put a couple more raised beds together this morning. The dirt I'm putting in the bottom of the beds is what's leftover from the installation of the septic system. It has a lot of clay in it so I'm only putting a shallow layer in the bottom. I don't have a stockpile of compost anywhere so I'm going to have to buy dirt..... I hate it, but I'm gonna just bite the bullet and do it.

I still want to get into the big garden and get some more areas ready for planting. I haven't had to make new beds for a couple of years. I just mulched real heavy in the fall and didn't till for a few seasons. Since putting the pigs in the garden there isn't any area that they didn't root up - so it's back to tilling and bed/row making this year. It's a trade off. It'll be more work for me right now, but the benefit is that they took out a bunch of weeds and left-over crop residue while turning it up and fertilizing at the same time. And - BACON!

Things on the 'to-do' list for when I get around to it.... a fence around the raised beds in the backyard to keep the terriers out. We had a few 'talks' yesterday while we were flling the beds. Ummmm - this is going to be a problem, lol. West Highland White Terriers are bred to 'go to ground' and my dogs take their 'job' quite seriously. There is no 'give-up' in them - but hey - they're really good terriers, lol. DH started this morning by saying maybe we should build the dogs a little run in the other corner of the yard to keep them out of the garden beds. NOPE - not gonna do it. Just because I want some beds in 'their' territory does NOT mean they will be forced into a little dog run.

My vision of the beds in the backyard has always included a cute little picket fence around it - so that'll have to happen! It dawns on me that my list is never ending, lol. It's always that way, isn't it?

I've already cleaned and boiled a bunch of eggs for the pigs this week. They're each getting about a 6 eggs a day now, more of a treat than a real addition to their diet - but I'm about to increase that. I'm getting 24 -30 eggs a day now so there's no reason why they can't get at least 10 -12 eggs apiece each day. The hens are really picking up production but there's a couple breeds who haven't started laying again yet. I've got some Black Copper Marans and some Wheaten Marans. Neither of them have laid an egg in months....I'm thinking chicken stew if they don't get it together soon! The Black Coppers are older hens and I don't expect too much out of them, but the Wheatens are from last years late spring hatch so here's no reason why they shouldn't be earning their keep...grrrrr.

 

[Wannabefree]

Neverending is the key to a good farm "To Do" list If we ever stop, well I really can't say what would happen because we don't know either but me thinks it would not be good

 

[frustratedearthmother]

The mid- day report is as follows:

DH built two more raised gardenbeds. We're using cedar 1 x 12's. The cedar is quite pricey, but I'm expectng it to last many, many years.

I hauled a load of dirt over to the area of the yard that one of the beds will be going because the ground is uneven there. Got that done and got into a huge pile ofants...ugh.

Planted strawberries in the first two sets of gutter planters.

Started tossing the hay remains of a big ol' round bale over the fence into the garden to use as mulch. Got into another big pile of ants.. GEEZE!!

And, have the half of the garden that does NOT have pigs in it all rowed up and ready to plant.

Time for a snack and a glass of lemonade.

DH is taking the grandson home. It's about a 90 minute trip each way....I sure wish all our grandchildren didn't live so far away.

OH - and the best news of all - it's 72 degrees! We started at about 40 this morning, but it's gosh darn beautiful out there right now. Windy though - probably blowing in the rain we're supposed to get tomorrow... ugh.

Gotta get as much as possible done today before the rain sets in again and we're back to swampland.

 

[Wannabefree]

Wow, ya'll have been getting it done!

 

[Denim Deb]

OH - and the best news of all - it's 72 degrees!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Sorry.... Move south, lol!!

But, I'm gonna enjoy it - at least until it starts raining tomorrow. That's the main reason we worked so hard this weekend. I wanted to get as much done as possible. I had help again this afternoon, but only for a couple hours. He (A) got dirt in the two newest raised beds, while I mulched part of the garden.

The old body held up pretty well for all the physical work I've done this weekend. Lots and lots of shoveling and pitching hay with an honest to gooness pitchfok...ugh. My back feels just fine, but the weirdest thing - my wrists are so sore! Think I'll soak 'em in the hot tub for awhile... maybe actually put a little ice on 'em after I get out.

I talked to my neighbor this afternoon about butchering the pigs. We've decided that we're going to do it before the end of March - so the pigsters have, at the most, 6 more weeks. I"m ready.

Out to the hot tub!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Do you ever have one of those days? Yesterday was one for me. Got up early so I could go out and give the pigs a morning feed. They've jacked up their feeder and I need to work on it - so for now - I'm tossing feed to 'em twice a day. I walk out and can see that there's water everywhere. HUH? Somehow, the water got left running all night and everything out there is flooded. We've spent a couple weeks in mud boots because of the rain, and just as it dries up, we've got a new man-made flood.... ARGH!

I take care of that, go back inside and tell hubster what happend. He's mad at himself because he did the watering, but I know we didn't just go off and leave water running so I tell him not to beat himelf up over it. We have a new sprayer on the end of the hose and it's just got a lever you push forward or back to turn it off or on. I really think that one of the critters must have stepped on it and pushed the lever forward and, voila(!) flood. Lesson learned, now we turn it off at the faucet.

As I was ready to leave for work I was gathering all my stuff, glasses, keys, work-out bag, purse...etc... and I couldn't find my cell phone to save my life. Couldn't find it...had it the evening before, but it was like it had vanished off the face of the earth... Came to work without it and emailed my DD, DS, and DH, so they'd know what happend. Unfortunately, my parents don't 'do' email so I was a little worried about that. Worked out a plan with DH... I'd go home and he'd start calling my number for at least 15 minutes. I walk in the house and can hear the darn thing ringing. Run upstairs and it's definitely in the master bedroom in the vicinity of the bed. I'm looking on the headboard, on the bed, under the bed. It was IN the bed and when I made the bed that morning I must have covered it up, lol. Mystery solved. Grab the phone and head back to work.

I took the back way because on the way home there was a trail ride on the main road. While I'm on the back road which is pretty desolate, a sheriff deputy decides to pull out right in front of me. DANG people! At that point I'm having to drive the speed limit cuz he's right there... And the speed limit is 30... Just one of those days...

Get back to campus and start to get out of my car, reach for my purse - no purse. I left it at home. My boss had to buy my lunch yesterday cuz I wasn't about to go back home again, lol. Needed to buy feed on the way home - nope - not gonna happen. A friend needed to borrow 10 bucks - sorry, can't help you.

Got home - no internet. We have a small independant internet provider because we're so far out we can't get much of anything else. He says its our router - so DH brings a new one home. He spent all evening working on it. Calls internet guy and they spend about an hour on the phone trying to get it and nope, nothing works. He's going to come out this evening after work. At this point I'm wondering why my karma is so offfff! I've been good lately, I swear, lol!

OH, oh, oh.... Here's a good thing! I heard peeps when I was leaving the house. Not counting them yet, but we should have chicklets soon!

Hope everyone has a great day!