Just life at the homestead

Well........ not too much exciting news here.

Tim gets his hard cast off on Monday which we are looking forward to. Then it is in to a hinged brace/cast for another two months. He will have some limited use of his arm at that point, and he will be able to turn his hand over which is great.

I have spent the majority of the last few days mudding/taping our new house. I am SO slow at this new skill :) In my defense, however, my time is catch as catch can which makes it longer. I almost have our bedroom ready to texture. Have two coats on most of the living room and one coat in the hall, stairs, and Gabrielle's room. You never realize how many nails there are in a wall until you are mudding them! Had to redo a couple of seams that did not adhere well. So, I am headed back out there today. I am looking forward to painting and moving --- trying to pick out colors. That is ALWAYS hard for me. Too many choices! This time has been more challenging for me because I don't think any of the colors I love and would normally choose will really work in this style of house. I'm not doing many borders or anything either to inspire me. I am learning a lot and hopefully it will look nice when we are finished.

Solomon, Spats, and Stormcrow joined our flock this week. I had hoped to get a couple of roosters. My hens were getting so persnickety. One of our neighbors hatches out their own chickens every year and had 18 roosters hatch out last fall. They haven't had time to butcher so they offered us six. Three went in the stew pot and we kept the bigger ones for the hen house. It has been fun to have them -- roosters are so pretty. The hens have settled down almost immediately; isn't that amazing?? God's order and design are evident in so many things. I have missed the sound of the roosters singing good morning so we have enjoyed hearing them again.

I love the signs of new life this time of year. It seems to just bring in the feeling of spring. We got a new batch of chicks and turkey plouts at the feed store a few weeks ago. Hopefully with our own roosters again, we won't need the feed store next year. We have some good brood hens. Our laundry room echos with the sound of peeping. Pepper is due to kid in two weeks; Katie in about four, and Melody in about eight weeks. The trees and grass are starting to green and bud. I love spring.

We had ten inches of snow on Saturday morning. Made life interesting trying to get the kids in to their State Bible Quiz meet. The plow hadn't come to clear the roads; I ended up hitting something in the snow, never did figure out what. Flatted my tire and before I could get off the side of the road, it peeled off the rim. Thanks to the generosity of a neighbor we only had to tromp back about 1/4 mile and he drove us the rest of the way back (we were about 2 miles from home). Made life interesting for the weekend. The kids did not do as well at quiz this year, but definitely their own choice. They didn't invest in their study time like they have in the past. It still was good though for them to be in the Word. They learned a lot and they had fun with their teammates and competitors.

Well......... should get about my day. Have a call in to the State Ag Dept. We registered for two bee hives this year. Bees arrive May 1rst. I am nervous but excited. Should make a great home-school project and Josiah actually has no fear of bees so he will probably be my main man in this project.

Have a marvelous day!