Updates

 Today was a beautiful day and I got to enjoy it. It was so nice seeing the sun out and the temperature warm.

I spent the morning playing with my 19 month old niece. Here are a couple pictures of her playing in the dandelions. Isn't she a cutie? She also helped me feed and water the rabbits and chickens. She is such a good helper, she carried buckets for me and she was even able to carry the 2 liter bottle of water out to the rabbit pen.



After the little cutie went home I cleaned up the living room. I am trying to thoroughly clean the trailer by doing one room a day. I do not know how I let the place get to be such a mess. I also got to spend some time in the garden. I hoed the weeds out of the flower bed or herb garden, I haven't decided which I am going to plant there. I also planted potatoes and had to transplant 2 of my rosebushes because they just happened to be in the spot that they have to put the well. I think they are putting it there because they are men and do not realize the importance of beautiful roses. I decided though that having a good well and water all year long is much more important then keeping my roses there. I just hope that they survive my transplanting them.

The animals around here are doing great. We will be butchering some rabbits this weekend and moving around the other ones. With all of the babies my pens are getting a little crowded so this weekend everyone is, in the words of George Jefferson, moving on up!!

I opened a jar of the pork and beans I canned the other day for lunch today so that I can see how they taste before I can anymore and they were good! I will definitely be canning more of them.

My chicks are getting so big! I can no longer feed them out of my hands without gloves on because they bite me while they are getting the food. I think I will definitely be getting more cornish rocks for meat. They grow fast. I haven't lost any either and I have read that they have  30% death rate. Hopefully mine survive.

It is time for NCIS so I am going to sign off now. Blessings to you all!!

~April

Sunday ramblings

It has been rainy all day today so I did not spend much time outside. I cannot wait until it is nice out and I can get some more things planted in my garden. I have some spinach, potatoes and onions that are patiently waiting to get into the ground and then after we are out of danger of frost I have some tomato plants to put in the ground. The rest of the things I am planning on planting are still waiting to be bought at the local greenhouse. That my friends is a trip I cannot wait to make because that means summer is close. Since it was so wet out today and I was spending so much time inside I decided it would be a good time to get some pork and beans canned. It was nice to get some canning done I haven't done any in awhile. Here is a picture of my beautiful beans. I only got to make 8 pints because I ran out of lids. It seems like I am always running out of something I need. 

Yesterday my wonderful husband built me a moveable chicken pen. I know it doesn't look pretty but I love it!! It works great for letting the chickens move around without them being able to go into my neighbor's yard or get into my garden. We move it everyday so that they have fresh grass and they are not ruining the yard in places. He is such a great guy for doing this for me.
 

Another thing we did today was go to Sears to get my husband a new pair of shoes. While he was looking around I went to the women's department to see if they had anything on sale and they did!! They had their winter clearance and I got a flannel nightgown, a nice vest, and a blouse and skirt and the best news is that it was all $1.99 each. Cannot beat that!! Of course the original reason for us to be in town today was to get oil for the car and that was the only thing we didn't come home with but I still consider it a success. Hope everyone had a nice Sunday. Blessings to you all!

~April

headache!

     I am having trouble getting pictures to upload so sadly there will be no pictures along with today's post.
     A few days ago watermelons were on sale at our local grocery store so I bought one and tonight my son and I were eating some and even though I thought it tasted all right it didnt seem to have the wonderful flavor that watermelon should have. It is another example of why I love growing my own things instead of puchasing them at the grocery store. I also like to buy fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market when they are in season. Yum! I cannot wait to start eating out of my own garden again this year.
     Today my husband had a doctor's appointment and I went with him. On the trip back I developed a horrible headache, the throbbing pain was unbearable in my temple. So, when I got home I rubbed some peppermint oil onto my temple and put a little above my eyebrow where my head was throbbing and almost instantly I could feel some relief. My kids say that I think peppermint cures everything, lol. I dont think it cures everything but I think it is good for alot of things. If you have an upset stomach sometimes sucking on a peppermint candy can help. Now, how often does someone tell you that candy can be a good thing. Also, if I am starting to feel congested or like my allergies are going to bother me I will drink some peppermint tea or simmer some dried peppermint leaves on the woodburner or the kitchen stove depending on what time of year it is because we only have our woodburner in when it is cold. I also like to use peppermint oil on an assortment of things. I have read that putting peppermint oil on your dog will repel fleas but I havent tried that one yet but I do know that it is good for muscle aches and headaches. I do want to say though that I am not a doctor and I am in no way telling you to do these things, I am just sharing with you what I do while I am on this journey of discovering how to take care of myself more naturally. Have a wonderful and blessed day!

~April

Spring!

It finally feels like spring might be here, I am so excited. I cannot wait to get my hands dirty and feel the dirt between my fingers while I am planting and raising my own vegetables, herbs and some fruits. My uncle came down today and even tilled up my garden, it was such a nice surprise. He even made it alot bigger this year, here is a picture of my chickens enjoying the loose dirt and looking for bugs.

Another nice thing about spring is kidding season, it seems strange that it is over for us already because the kids are already all born and getting big and it is just now starting to get warm, but who knew that March would be so cold besides our Lord. Here are a few pics of the babies this year, they are getting so big.

Jane

Jane and Wednesday

CB and Clarice

Bardock

 Goat kids are so much fun. I am bottle feeding Wednesday and Jane and they come running everytime they see me. I like to pretend it is because they love me and not because they want milk.

I noticed today that my strawberry plants are starting to peek through so I am planning to clear the old weeds and leaves out of them so that they have lots of room to grow. I love love love strawberries.

Another fun thing about spring is incubating eggs and hatching chicks. I just moved some of my chicks outside since it is getting warmer, they still get a heat lamp at night though. I also need to move them because I have lots of eggs in the incubator. Hoping I have a good hatch this time.

The last but not least of the animals being born this spring are the bunnies, arent they cuties?

Hoping everyone else is getting to enjoy this weather. Will update again soon.



~April