Raspberry bushes

On Saturday we saw an ad in the local free weekly paper for raspberry bushes. A woman one town north of us had lots of overgrown bushes was looking for people to come dig bushes that had overgrown the path through her huge raspberry patch. So we got 16 free red raspberry bushes and she got her paths back! Most of the larger bushes look to be surviving transplanting. I'm not so sure about the smaller ones.
James cut 4 of the large, leafy, oak branches that were overhanging the yard. We now have a bit more sunshine in the vegetable garden and the spot where the apple trees are going in. I hope to have those planted tonight! The sugar snap peas are trellised and have a number of blossoms. The tomatoes are staked or caged. I did a bit of weeding. It was a hot, humid, and pollen heavy weekend so I couldn't get too carried away out there. Can't complain about a three day weekend though.
Friday was a sad day. We had our almost 15 year old labrador/doberman, Kobi, put to sleep. He was getting very weak and his kidneys were beginning to fail. Rather than prolong an unhappy few months we decided to let him go now, as hard as it was to say goodbye. He will be missed very very much. He came to us as a 2 year old, unwanted pup, in the back seat of a coworker's son's Jetta. Seems this guy was recently single and Kobi wasn't fitting into his life style.  The new home he had lined up for Kobi fell through but the guy was moving to a no pets apartment and his mom didn't want to take him in. So she called me and asked if we could keep him at our house until her son found another home. Kobi took one sniff around the backyard and made it quite clear to all that he WAS home.
Tomorrow we all head back to school for a short but busy week. I have 13 days left and the guys get out 4 school days after me. James' big hovercraft race is June 9 so he is busy planning that. Alex starts fencing lessons on June 5 so we will have a couple of really busy Tuesdays.
And then summer will be here and we can breathe a little bit. Just a little. There's LOTS to do!

It looks like this blog will pretty much be updated no more than monthly! At least until school lets out. I have 18 days left to this year.
Today was sunny and warm, but not hot and humid, so managed to plant everything I bought last weekend in the square picket fence garden we added last year. It's now got not only garlic and sugar snap peas, but Brandywine and Lemon Boy tomatoes, and 6 Roma tomatoes, bell peppers and banana peppers (for pickling!) and Swiss chard, dill, parsley and basil. I'm out of room! I got the elderberries I ordered planted. I still need to get the gooseberries and apple trees in. This weather should hold and I'll get them done tomorrow after church.
Today marks a big occasion! 10 year old Alex helped James mow the lawn for the first time. There was much supervision, and sneezing. I'm not sure that was a good idea.....  
We ran some errands this afternoon and I came home with a pattern for a vintage apron, full and LONG so it will cover long skirts when I'm cooking up a storm. I don't have fabric for it yet. I'm thinking gingham feels right, because if I try to do it in a tradition white I'll trash it the first time I wear it!
We have plans to make...   we need to sit on the deck swing with clipboard and paper and make sure we're all headed in the same direction. I think we are. But there are thoughts swirling in my head that don't always make it out my mouth and then I'm surprised when James is caught off guard by some comment I make. "I didn't know we were planning to do that..." Tonight seems like it might be a good evening to do that. Stay tuned!

They are here! We picked up Rose and Clover on Saturday morning and brought them home to join Daisy at Caprini Hill. They bonded to Daisy very quickly, crying whenever she is out of sight. She has been putting them in their places, bashing them around a bit, but I suppose it is to be expected since she has been an only goat for about 6 months. It will all work out although I think poor little Rose will always be at the bottom of the herd pecking order. Daisy does seem more content and is much quieter than she had been so she must be revelling in her new role as herd queen. Rose is warming up to her new humans a little faster than Clover. They are letting us pet them as of today, as long as they are eating a few sun flower seeds or other little treats.
Each morning Rose has been very loud. We think she is crying for her mother, Opi, looking for her morning milk. I give her a small amount of grain and after a little while she settles down and goes to eat her hay with the big girls. Clover is very quiet most of the time, letting out a little bah only once in a while.
Alex is spending more and more time with them now that they aren't running in fear from him. He has been giving them lessons on how to use their seesaw, with Daisy's help. He obviously did a good job teaching her two years ago when she was a kid!
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Hopefully the video will work. I will add some pictures soon too.

The peas are beginning to pop out and so far the chickens and ducks have not found them. I have also discover the blueberry and currant bushes that never got planted last year and are still in their pots are all still alive! I need to decide whether to plant them in the fenced garden or behind the garage. If they go back there they will need to be fenced in to keep the chickens away.  
Today we worked on the fence in preparation for the doelings coming home. Three more weeks! Thomas, Daisy's twin brother, had gotten his head stuck a few times and I'd had to snip the wire to free him and that left large holes that were patched. James took down one side of the fence and put up nice new fencing. No more holes that little bits could wiggle through! Looks a lot nicer too. It made me miss Thomas though. There's still more to be done on the other side, but that is mostly to remove chicken wire that was put up to prevent him from putting his head through. It is now mashed up from goat hooves pulling on it.
We also started to clean out the barn today, the BIG spring clean, right down to bare floors. I started but it was soon apparent that it was more job than I could handle. James finished and I got the more pleasant job of spreading fresh bedding down. We didn't finish the chicken side. That will have to wait until tomorrow.

Goat pictures and an arrival date, more or less!

                                         

                                         Hay! I'm Clover!!

                                         Little Miss Rose says "Hay!" too.

It looks like we will be bring the doelings home at the beginning of our April break from school! Perfect time to be able to keep an eye on them and make sure everyone is getting along. We've begun barn and fence upkeep, added a hay rack and mineral feeders (So Rosy can continue her tricks....) We will need to raise the height of the fence in the front I think. Eventually this summer I would like to expand the goat pen. The ground is currently too hard, although with the temperatures we've experienced this week it won't be long. I should be able to plant some peas in the raised beds tomorrow. Granpa always planted peas on St. Patrick's Day!

Spring cleaning and getting ready for doelings!

I have a huge bag of clothes that we handed down by my hair dresser. I will be sitting watching "Up" with Alex while going through them. That will make a big dent in the pile in his room. Since he wears school uniforms I don't put a whole lot of effort into his other clothes I'm afraid! There are play clothes that probably didn't fit him a year ago.....  
Tonight I gave Daisy her CD/T vaccine. We'll need to do a thorough barn cleaning and fence repairs before we bring the doelings home next month. It's been too cold this week but this weekend is looking promising. We're hoping to visit Aspen Creek Farm and the babies this weekend. We'll also be caring for the sheep and rabbit at Sheepfold Farm. It is supposed to be 62 degrees on Thursday. I hope it still is by this weekend!

This week I will be purging the kiddo's room as part of Spring cleaning. There are far too many clothes in there that he can no longer wear. It's easy to ignore them, since as long as he has a clean school uniform, he's pretty much set. It is time! I have a huge bag of handy-me-downs to go through. And the toys, oh, the toys! He has made a dent but there are still far too many of those as well...

I know that spring is around the corner. I heard a red winged blackbird today while visiting another farm with the 4-H group!