Yup, we're still just as busy as we ever were. Me and Fred had to take a few days out of service due to a nasty virus of some sort that kept us both running between the bed and the bathroom but it has passed and we have returned to our abnormally busy selves.
We do have lots of newsy stuff going on around here and hopefully soon I'll get some pictures up. But in the meantime you'll have to settle for the print only version. Taeler and Caleb have their bees!! They each have very very active and strong hives and the whole family is facinated with watching the bees .... seriously, it is almost hypnotic to just watch those little critters flying around bringing in the pollen and nectar. They seem almost friendly and definitely curious. When we walk back there to check on them they fly right up like they are saying hi and more often than not they take a few turns around us to sniff out where we've been it seems. I never realized that bees have very distinct and different sounds depending on their attitudes either. Today they really sounded happy .... who knew that bees could be happy? Anyway, the new pet hobby/ family pastime/ hopefully family business venture is extremely interesting and so far going very well. We still have no news on whether or not we passed the test, I heard today though that we most likely won't know for another 3 or 4 weeks.
The garden is growing very well! Except for the stuff that our very hungry neighborhood produce thieving bunny ate. But (shhh) we have a trap set, hopefully very soon we'll be able to reclaim our lost groceries in the form of fresh wild rabbit stew. I have 4 rows of onions growing really well (the bunny didn't eat those), my cabbage is growing but not very quickly, the broccoli that the bunny left (3 whole plants) looks great and I have spinach, peas, pole beans, green beans, yellow squash, zucchini, cantelope, garlic, lettuce and potatoes planted.
Instead of using chemical fertilizers this year we have been putting all of the compost from the chickens and bunnies in the garden about 6 to 8 inches deep and burying the kitchen compost in between the rows of veggies. Well, me and Taeler were really shocked to see what we thought were weeds growing in the garden that we worked so hard to make sure would be virtually weed free this year so early in the season. After pulling up several of these "weeds" in an effort to identify and kill them we discovered that we've been disposing of volunteer (read FREE) potato plants that grew from our potato peels that have been tucked into the garden here and there. I hate the thought of throwing those away so I think I'll just start transplanting them instead.
We are making our first attempt at incubating some chicken eggs too. A friend of mine in Oklahoma sent me some Buff Brahma eggs to try to hatch. One of our little bantam hens is setting 7 of them and we have a homemade incubator going in the livingroom with 10 more. Hopefully in 3 weeks we'll have some chicks. The Buff Brahmas grow to about 9-12 pounds and lay large brown eggs, they tend to have very docile and quiet temperaments and are good mothers and laying hens. If this works then next we'll order some Dominique chicken eggs and guinea eggs. (and build a whole new chicken yard and house!!)
It's going to be berry season here again very soon and I still have 8 or 9 gallons of frozen blackberries to make into jelly and syrup, along with 4 or 5 gallons of blueberries that have been in the freezer too long to be good for anything else, and 3 gallons of strawberries that were frozen in sugar syrup and really need to be converted into jam and syrup before they get freezer burnt too. I am going to have to get busy with that before it gets too hot to do it and I get too busy canning and freezing the garden stuff!! The kids love it when we make jelly too and they try to include it in nearly every meal for at least a week afterward ... plus all you folks back home keep on having me send it back to you and then we run out ;-P
Anyway, that's enough rambling about our busy spring days around here. A good friend of ours who is currently serving his country in Iraq sent us a 4 things email thingy and Troy said I should put my answers on here so here ya are.....
Some things you may not have known.
Four jobs I have had in my life
1. Police Department Dispatcher
2. Waitress/Cook/Bartender
3. Firefighter/EMT
4. My all time favorite.... Mr. Thompson's help meet
Four movies I have watched over and over
1. Tombstone ..... I know it's awful but I really get sucked into it
2. Fried Green Tomatoes (gotta have a girlie one ya know)
3. The Outlaw Josey Wales
4. almost any one as long as I get to hold my hubby's hand but I like the ones with big explosions and lots of car chases and the more guns the better
Four places I have lived:
1. the middle of nowhere Missouri
2. Oklahoma City OK
3. various and nearly forgotten places "all over the place"
4. right now I'm happy right here in allergy crazed North Carolina
Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Heroes
2. I dunno, Troy got me to thinkin on the beverly hillbillies, I love granny
3. ah dunno but I used to love "I love Lucy" and Andy Griffith and Bonanza and Big Valley and Gunsmoke
4. can't I just sit down and hold my hubby's hand some more?
A few places I have been on vacation:
1. camping at the river when I was a kid
2. to Florida about 18 years ago
3. Blair's Fork Baptist Church in Lenoir NC for an awesome revival meeting
4. i have no idea when or if we will have a vacation but I'm hoping for a camping trip to the mountains
>Four of my favorite foods:
1. Finally an easy one!!! PIE, PIE, PIE
2. Almost anything with gravy
3. Cheesecake sounds good to me too.... hey isn't that pretty much just PIE
4. Ya know tomatoe pie with sausage gravy is really yummy!! But in the absence of pie I'll take biscuts instead
>Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Heaven
2. anywhere I'm not allergic to as long as it's not cold, or too far away to make it to church on time
3. somewhere just a little bit warmer but not too hot ....wait a minute, that's tomorrow here... .nevermind, i'll wait
4. On Vacation .... I think I might like one of those too but I'm not really sure if I would or not
>Four people who will respond.
1. I don't know but anyone who has read all the way through this deserves some kind of prize
2. but I'm really sorry I don't have one
3. but if you do the thingy right I'll read your answers too
4. maybe I'll have a piece of pie while I read it.
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Now the email thingy said to send it to a bunch of other people and back to the person who sent it to you .... it would be cool to see y'alls answers so comment away or email me!!
gotta go now, getting tired. See ya!
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