Rain day brain dump

We're all cozy inside of the house today due to the chilly rainy weather outdoors. I'm still unpacking from our weekend trip to the Mother Earth News Fair. It was something! I attended workshops on raising guinea fowl, rainwater collection systems, and was immensely inspired by a man who gave a demonstrative talk on how to build your own cob pizza oven. I am pretty sure that will be in the works very soon. How fun will it be to have friends over and prepare dinner on some hot bricks!?

Briggs making cob from clay, sand, and shredded newspaper

We were so happy to see our extended family/cousins that live in Austin, and catch up on life with them. We also enjoyed finding a burger joint that had an outdoor playground for the boys to get their crazies out while Ted and I sat at a table eating (partial alcoholic) ice cream without any little mouths constantly asking for bites :) .

"Scraps" the traveling van proved to be a good purchase, and got us back in one piece without any road trouble. Once he gets a some new clothes, he will be ready to travel the country in style! Speaking of which, if anyone has the hookup for art-car enthusiasts or would like to help us paint some weird murals in the future, hit me up! I know nothing about painting vehicles.

We were welcomed home yesterday with a surprise in the goat barn. Can you guess what I found tucked snugly in the alfalfa trough?

A green tinted teeny tiny egg! 

Ophelia, our Blue Favaucana hen is the winner of the 1st egg laying contest. I am thrilled they are finally old enough to start earning their keep around here ;)

We got a nice long row of tomato plants in the ground yesterday afternoon, just in time for this lovely rainy day. I hope they get to growing...my seedling starters are definitely smaller than those you'll find in the nurseries this time of the year.

Fare thee well for now!

2-2-17

To be perfectly honest, I haven't put a lot of thought into what is about to happen in the next couple months with baby girl on her way. I guess the time is drawing near...but what have I done to prepare? I did get some newborn clothing tucked away in her dresser drawer last week. And today I ordered my birthing kit. I know there are a few more odds and ends that need to be put in order, but there's just so much else happening around here. 

I feel like I've accomplished quite a few tasks this morning. We collected a bag full of pine needles and grassy stick things from the park for a project we're working on. We had a big collection of mostly magazines and a few books that we dropped off at 2 different Little Free Libraries. Then we were off to the feed store to take care of all animal related needs. I needed to get goat and cat food, de-worming meds, and flea/tick meds. Hopefully they will be set for a couple months now.

Presently, Finn and I are trying to figure out how we're going to make a sign for 'Blueberry Hill'. We planted 4 bushes in the front yard and we spent our entire yesterday decorating the grassy slope with gnome-y mushroom-y things. 

More marigolds, peppers, and passion flowers were seeded in trays and everything in the greenhouse/hoop house is doing very well! 

Ted informed me that more rain is on it's way for the weekend, so it looks like tonight we'll be preparing for floody weather and getting the sump ready to drain the areas that turn into ponds. 

Also, the Superbowl is coming to town this weekend. Hopefully we'll be able to get around to wherever we need to go without dealing with all the crazies ;) (drivers, that is!)

Fare thee well!