We are sowing....

The whole family worked in the garden yesterday- Joel harder than any one I must say. He spread composted manure in our "other" garden and got it all tilled under, so now both gardens are finished with the rototiller. The boys burned all the tumbleweeds that had collected behind the pumphouse shed. Then Joel and Torsten formed all the raised beds in the garden closer to the house. Heidi and Hailey helped me plant a gooseberry bush, strawberries, and all the peas and onions. It was a great DAY. Unfortunately, the evening brought in a storm and all these storms lately are wreaking havoc with my head. Major migraines....which then become "turn my stomache inside out" sessions that last all night long. It leaves me feeling a little bit drained. Any suggestions for horrible migraines that seem to be weather related? I'm beginning to feel a tad bit desperate.....

"March bustles in on windy feet
And sweeps my doorstep and my street.
She washes and cleans with pounding rains,
Scrubbing the earth of winter stains.
She shakes the grime from carpet green
Till naught but fresh new blades are seen.
Then, house in order, all neat as a pin,
She ushers gentle springtime in."
- Susan Reiner, Spring Cleaning

Maybe if I look at this horrible wind we are having as "spring cleaning", I can keep my spirits on the positive side. The wind was so loud last night that some of the kids and I had a hard time sleeping. We were worried about Bill (the rooster) sleeping in his precarious perch in the pine tree. Bill's bough was seeing a lot of action and I wouldn't be suprised if he's feeling a bit seasick this morning. When I got up to eat breakfast, I realized the wind blew the roof right off the rabbit hutch during the night, taking the hinges with it. Hmmm... with great access like that I guess I have no excuse for not thoroughly cleaning out their hutch!

While I try to patiently wait for "gentle springtime" to return, I am watching my babies grow. Aren't these little foxglove so cute?

Here is my kids favorite tomato- a russian yellow cherry variety that I've grown for the last 10 years.

Heavenly Spring

I just want to say- a day like today is pure heaven. No wind- just sunshine... windows are open in the house letting the beautiful fresh air in.... kids hammering away at their new tree house project in the pine tree.... Taylor helping me prune the rose bushes.... digging weeds by the rabbit hutch as the bunnies playfully run upstairs and down.... the chickens making their happy clucky noises as they eat all the weeds I throw in their pen.... Heidi jumping on the trampoline wearing a pink summer dress and not even feeling cold...

I'm done with lunch so I'm heading back out to enjoy some more!

Sewing

Lately I've been in the sewing mood. It started when I made Hailey's clogging costume and has just kept going. (I haven't taken a picture of her costume yet and right now it is out in the cold car because we haven't unpacked since the Pocatello competition on Saturday, so I'll just have to show that later.)

Here is a bag I sewed for Reagan. He wanted a bag to put his swimming stuff in but he also uses it when he and Heidi play "hobos" so it's always full of carrots and pretzels and such.
Then I made a pincushion you wear on your wrist. It has velcro to attach it as snugly as needed. I took a picture of it on my arm so you could see how nifty it works- but then I saw in the picture how white and freckly my arm is..... so never mind.
The pincushion itself is some irregular shape with a fancy french name, but if I were to do this project again, I would do a regular shape, because to me it doesn't look right. It looks like I couldn't sew a straight seam :-)

I'm also sewing a dress for Heidi. It's about half done, and I plan to finish it this week. The pictures of it in progress turned out blurry so I'll just wait until it's finished to take another picture.

Last of all- sewing patches on Joel's work pants. Not the most exciting project, but a good wife thing to do. (And he's been working so hard on my new chicken coop that it's the least I can do to try to get rid of the drafts in his pants.)

Needing some March decor ideas?

Early this morning, Reagan followed me down to the pantry, chattering away about how it is March- (this has been a big deal to him and he likes to discuss this topic with me everyday). So we get down to the pantry, where we also happen to store all our seasonal decorations and Reagan realizes an urgent need- We need to decorate for March! Hmmmm... our family must be pretty boring in the decor department because we have nothing in the pantry that is March themed . But have you noticed 4 year olds are very resourceful thinkers? Reagan took a look at some of the pumpkins we still have stored in the pantry and came up with this:
Yes, he carved a pumpkin before breakfast. Completely on his own. Yah, with a knife but I promise it was a small one (Okay, I'll be completely honest- my kids are always carving something: sticks, chestnuts, soap, boxes.... they love it and I'd rather they do that than watch T.V. But if you're worried when your kids come over, you just tell me and I promise we'll put all the knives away!) And what has a pumpkin to do with March? Reagan informs me it is for people to march by. And the various things taped to the chair? They are for "people to make March people with and March decorations". So peoples, come on over and make your own March decorations! Who says we can't make March a bit more festive?

Chinese New Year

For any of my homeschool friends and readers that are interested, I have finally posted about the Chinese New Year Party held clear back in January. It is available here.