The cuteness

It's that time of year again. I lose my garage for the next 3 months, first to Madeline's fair pigs, then to chicks, and then to chicks again.

The garage is attached to the house, and I can tell you that 10 piglets make my house smell way worse than 150 baby chicks. Fortunately for the piglets, their extreme cuteness redeems them. Today they were enjoying a nap in a patch of sunlight.



Can you even believe those eyelashes?



But my favorite was this guy. Oy, the cuteness!




1 year ago:

The layer pullet chicks are still the most interesting thing going around here.

I can see for miles & miles

Me (answering the phone): Hello?

Matt: Can you see me?

Me: No, I'm in the basement. Where are you?

Matt: Grab the camera and step out the back door. I'm on top of the windmill.



Can you see him up there, sticking his arm out to the side?



This was the view from there, 265 feet up. Our farm is just left of dead center, partially obscured behind the trees lining the creek.



And this is the view looking down at his boom truck.

I don't think I'd look down.

1 year ago:

As I was saying... Best. Wheat Bread. Evah.

Small Farm Business : Taxes

This winter

The snow is piling up...


up, up, up to the eaves.


And the icicles are growing down, down, down.


For 7-year-old boys, this is heaven.

The other upside is that all of that snow insulates the ground, and our underground water line to the shed hasn't frozen yet. This time last year we were running hoses already.

1 year ago:

Showoff

A little Valentine love

I don't usually get that into Valentine's Day decorating. Not because I'm morally opposed to it or anything. It has more to do with my lack of organization. Which explains why normally I'm taking down snowman decorations somewhere around May Day.



But this year I was hosting my Bunco gals the last week of January. Nothing like having a party to get things done around the house, right?

I'd been wanting to do one of these "flag" banners for the longest time. So I fished all of the cute pink & red papers out of my scrapbooking stash and came up with this:



I took down most of my snowmen & winter decorations, leaving just the things that were red + white.

And then there was this quick little project, another one I'd been wanting to do forever. Cut various sizes of hearts out of various colors of paper and simply stitch them together. I did several strings of these & hung them in the windows.



Now to think of something to replace them with in a couple of weeks for spring & Easter!


1 year ago:

Watering

Matt's calves

Basking

Installment #10 : One of These Things Just Doesn't Belong Here

After 3 days the snow finally stopped this afternoon, so I stepped outside to see how everybody fared and snap a few pictures. As I turned my lens on the feeder calves I saw what I hadn't noticed before. One of these things just doesn't belong here...



One of these things just isn't the same...

See it? (And I'm not talking about the duck. They're sort of a permanent fixture around the cattle.)

Okay, how about from this angle? See it now?



That one silly little black pig just doesn't like to stay on his side of the fence!

Other installments are here.


1 year ago:

Warm moon

Remedy

tub toys

Winter is beginning to wear on me. Still, I'm not ready for the busyness of spring & summer yet.

I'm thinking maybe the remedy is a new craft project?


1 year ago:

Music to my ears

Iowa Food Coop, February

Snowy lane

The shopping cart is open at the Iowa Food Coop for February! It will be open until February 13, with delivery on Thursday, February 18.

This thing just keeps growing, and we're so excited to be a part of it!

Getting promoted

Rafe turns 8 next month, and in anticipation has entered into negotiations for a raise in his allowance. After explaining that a raise would have to be precipitated by a corresponding raise in responsibilities, he hand-washed the dishes, pots & pans that wouldn't fit in the dishwasher after supper. Prior to this his duties have included loading & unloading the dishwasher, so I guess this is a promotion of sorts. His sisters are certainly glad to see him moving up the ranks.

This was the scene when I came in the kitchen later.



I guess it's good that he's also learning to make work fun.

And to his future wife...you're welcome! A husband that does the dishes is a good catch indeed :)