Signs of Spring!

It has been a busy few days around the house. Mom and Aunt Judi planted a lot of flowers around the house and cut back a bunch of the goose berry bushes. The daffodils are blooming beautifully out front of the house (see below) however they are calling for another shot of snow this week so we are going to enjoy them as long as possible. We also moved one of the bird feeders to the front window so mom can monitor the traffic while she works out on her bike.

We also have mom's garden started for the year. She had a great idea to use the drawers from Dad's old office desk as garden boxes since she doesn't need the huge garden from year's past. She spray painted the drawers green and white and we put layers of manure from the barn, top soil, and compost to make the garden boxes ready to plant. She wants to get the lettuce in ASAP but again with a call for snow this week we might be holding off a week. I think the drawers are a great idea and a wonderful way to still utilize the desk that Dad built over 30 years ago.

Another project I'm working on is clearing out the old garden patch. Its a huge space and Mom is thinking about eventually planting a beautiful meadow out there so that it won't be a lot of maintenance but will still attract insects, bees, butterflies, etc. Before we get there I need to clear out all the old broom corn stalks and old plants from last year. I got the lawn mower out and working and mowed down the asparagus patch so that will be ready to go when they start sprouting but the broom corn is a pain in the ass (although hacking away at it with a hoe is a good stress reliever). Here's the old garden right now. We have the Martin Bird house up too so that's good. I'll post another picture once we have the garden cleared and tilled up.

And now for another sign of spring that's not so nice. Last week was spring break for the local school system and apparently the kids out here had nothing better to do on Saturday night but beat our mailbox up with a bat. So Wednesday we are making our weekly trip to Menard's to pick up a new one and hopefully our neighbor can help us get it in.

So that's what is going on here. Enjoyed a beautiful day of almost 80 degrees and a wonderful breeze. Looks like Wednesday is going to be wet and Thursday is going to be cold and snowy. Hopefully this is the last blast of winter before...TORNADOES! Gotta love Indiana weather :)

I Built A Wheel Barrow!

Ok, so I'm totally going to give myself a big high five here. Tuesday Mom informed me that we needed a wheel barrow so on our weekly trip to Menards we looked at wheel barrows. It hadn't crossed my mind before but wheel barrows don't come in one piece. If you ever wondered, this is what they look like...

So needless to say I was a bit worried since I'd never assembled a wheel barrow before and it's usally something I would have done with my dad. But, I think he would be rather proud as it only took about an hour or more to put it together. The end result is...

So if you ever find yourself in need of assembling a wheel barrow you know who to call!

I See Semen!!

I thought that would get your attention! No it's not what you think. I'm organizing and documenting all the dairy goat and cow semen we have in the semen tanks so we can sell it or at least figure out what to do with it. For those of you unaware...artificial insemination was going on with livestock long before humans. Livestock semen can be very valuable depending on the quality of the bucks/bulls offspring. My dad collected many things, and yes, that included livestock semen. We have two semen tanks that have to be filled every three months with liquid nitrogen to keep the semen frozen until it's ready to be used. Since breeding season won't be here until the fall I'm hoping to sell as much semen this spring and summer and make some profit. I've gotten through the smaller tank but still have the big tank to itemize and figure out what all is in there.

It's been hard going through some of the papers and looking back on pictures of showing the goats, remembering all the great times we had at shows. I guess it's just all part of the process and since I'm the most familiar with the farm I don't think my dad would want anyone else to go through it but me.

Projects!

It's finally warming up a bit in the Midwest. Mom and I are starting to work a little more on projects in and around the house. We are having a few neighbors over for dinner tonight and mom is cooking duck!  I think after next week she'll have the taxes behind her and we'll be working on revamping her bedroom. Shannon, Erin, and I are going to be painting it the weekend of April 1st and we're getting new carpet and a new mattress for her. We'll be starting some of the gardening soon as well. I'll keep you posted as things go along. I'll try to get more pics as well. Stay tuned!