Fixing Fence - A story in pictures

     You have to love Texas. The ground was covered in snow yesterday morning, and today it's 77 degrees outside! Dalton was fixing fence not far from the house and when he came home for lunch he invited us to tag along while he finished up after lunch. Not ones to turn down a ride in the Kubota, we got our shoes on and loaded up. It wasn't the most eventful outing, but I got some good pictures, so I figured I'd let those do the talking. I know you've been waiting for a post without the lengthy writing! I promise I try to keep it short but then I just can't stop myself. But I will stop myself today....captions only.

     First a few snow pictures:

 Checking on the chickens in the snow

Snowing Sunday night

     Fast forward to today: 

Ready to work? 

 Do I have to get out?

This is my idea of working!

 Daddy fixing a hole in the fence

 Where's Cooper? Hiding in the shade.

 Go get Daddy, I found another hole for him.

 I think I can handle this one. 

I'm working hard Mama!

 Moving to the next spot

 Daddy's putting Cooper to work

 I'm almost there!

 Hey Dad, let me borrow this tool.

 I think this is what you do.

Yep, I think I've about fixed it. 

     You can see by his little red cheeks that it got pretty warm out there in the sun. We finally waited in the shade of a cedar tree for Daddy to finish, then headed home. Cooper was in bed and asleep within 10 minutes...workin' wore him out. 

"Work hard, but not just to please your masters when they are watching. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." Ephesians 6:6

Surprise Valentine's Present for Me

     On the way to town the other evening Dalton said to me, with a very mischievous grin "You're getting a surprise!." To which I replied, "I don't like surprises, tell me what it is please." Then a guessing game ensued with me trying to guess what my surprise was. Of course I started guessing things of the animal variety...

"A puppy?"
"No"
"Chickens?"
"No but that would be a good idea."
"Surely not a horse?"
His reply was a 'you know better than that' look. So I moved on from animals to other things that I would like and he would be excited about having...because it was obvious he was excited about it.

"A storage building!"
"No"
"Garden equipment?"
"No"
"A green house"
"No"
"I'm running out of ideas...."
"Good..that's why it's a surprise!"

I ran through other options in my mind but couldn't figure it out so I stopped thinking about it. My big fear with regard to surprises is that I'll be surprised and not like whatever the surprise is. Then it's just awkward for everyone. Luckily I don't have trouble with enthusiasm, so I haven't had any negative surprise reactions yet. : )

 Fast forward to today. It's been really cold, but Dalton was determined to get things done outside. He added peat moss (to help the pH) and compost stuff to the garden, tilled it and then proceeded to go work on the chicken pen. When he headed that direction I told him not to worry about working on it...."We won't have chickens for at least a month," I said. He didn't listen and headed out to fix the invisible holes that the raccoons had found last fall. I watched him with admiration (I am too chicken, pun intended, to work out in the cold if I don't have to) and Cooper and I hung out in the house.

Finally he came in and relaxed on the couch, watching the Lone Ranger. I was in the process of making a chocolate pie (can't let a good pie crust go to waste), while slowly getting ready for a Valentine dinner/dance we get to attend tonight in Breckenridge. All of sudden, while washing a dish in the sink, Dalton rushed over and said "Go to our room, your surprise is here," and shuffled me off. He put a sock around my eyes as a blindfold and let me to the front door. I started to get nervous then...oh the joy of surprises. Then I heard Popsey's voice and continued outside. When Dalton removed the blindfold I saw my surprise......

Yep, a whole cage of chickens!! Woo hoo! I was super excited, and besides the slight embarrassment of being makeup-less and in my PJ pants (remember I was in the process of getting ready), it was a great moment. We now have 10 chickens and 2 roosters! Kudos to Dalton who managed to keep me off the scent until it was time to reveal...I had no idea.

Already liking their new home

Dalton wasn't too enthused about the roosters but I say, as long as they aren't mean, the more the merrier. Now we can hatch out babies if we want and raise more chickens. Is there room in my dining area for seedlings, our 'office things' and an incubator?? We shall see. ; )

Strutting his stuff for the hens

They drove the chickens down to the barn while I put on some 'real' pants. I managed to get a little makeup on too...whew. About that time Cooper woke up so he got to go meet the chickens too. There's quite a variety, and the roosters are really pretty. It was so nice for Popsey and Mere Mere to deliver them for us too. I'm glad they got to share in the excitement.

 Mere Mere and Popsey with the flock

Dalton voiced his concerns about the roosters being loud and just as I was about to give an excuse for them they both started to crow (thanks guys). It was pretty funny. Let's just hope they don't crow in the middle of the night! Cooper was NOT happy with the crows. He was near one when he crowed and Cooper cried. He's a hen man. They seemed friendly enough though, so we'll see if they stay that way.

Admiring the hens

 Cooper's checking to make sure they have food and water

 Popsey wrangling a chicken that escaped

Coop helping find just the right tool

So, thank you Dalton for the great Valentine's present! It's a gift that will keep on giving...in fact they had an egg already in the cage when they arrived...quality chickens. Who needs chocolate and jewelry when you can have animals?

Look closely and you can see Egg # 1in Popsey's hand

"Be joyful always; pray continuously; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1Thess 5:16-17

Pet Pig for a Day **

   
     Monday morning, as Cooper, Mom and I were rubbing the sleep from our eyes, Dalton dropped by with a surprise... a little bitty baby wild pig!! He was so cute. I gave an excited eeekkk with an accompanying excited gesture and called Cooper to the door. We looked at it and ooohhhed and ahhhed over the cute little guy. I know that they are disgusting and ugly when they are grown, but when they are babies they sure are cute.

 "Mama, can I touch it?"

     Dalton said we could keep him for a day..I was hoping more like many many days...so he put him in the currently vacant chicken pen and went back to work. I watched piggy out the back door while we ate breakfast. He would run around the perimeter checking for any holes (this is a good way to test before we get our chickens too) and grunt. The horses were very curious and not so sure about this little thing running around. The entire day they never strayed too far from the pen, just sniffing snorting and watching.

"What is it?"   "I don't know, but it's scary!"

     After breakfast we walked out to see him. Mom was a little cautious so we didn't touch him or anything, just looked at him through the fence...clarification: my mom was cautious; I was ready to go pick him up and pet him.  Piggy was pretty funny running around in the tall green grass in the pen. He looked like he was in a jungle, exploring and grunting the entire time. Cooper liked him well enough, but he can only stay interested in something he can't mess with for so long, then he's ready to move on to other things.

 "Look at that pig!"

"Mom really likes this pig."

     The day went on and besides me getting caught constantly staring at him out the window, the pig wasn't a big deal. At about 3, after Mom left and while Cooper was sleeping, I realized that the poor fella didn't have any food or water... a situation I was happy to remedy. I took him some horse feed and water, and after about a minute of looking at him, decided to touch him. It didn't take long before I was holding and petting him...who couldn't resist! It's amazing how solid they are, even as babies..all muscle. Then I walked around the pen and he followed me...we were bonding. After a little while I decided I'd better go check on Cooper and left little Wilbur until that evening. Just kidding about the name...I resisted, even though I wanted to name him really bad!

     When Dalton got home Cooper and I were ready to go check the little guy out again. This time we all went in the pen. Cooper chased him for a little bit, then got brave and touched him. Then the pig started turning around and rooting at him, which made Cooper laugh. Ahhh animals and kids..what a joy. It didn't take long before I was sitting on the ground with the pig in my lap. Cooper would come pet him and really wanted to pick him up. We let him and he picked him up...not too gently...and carried him to Daddy.

"Who's the big pig hunter now Dad?"

     I noticed that the pig was shivering so I let him get in my coat; he promptly started rooting around and wound up halfway down my coat sleeve...ok it was Dalton's coat and I probably should have asked him before letting a little pig nuzzle down into it, but oh well. He would root around in a sleeve then back out and root around behind me all the way to the other side and go for the other sleeve. It was great. Cooper liked playing 'where's the pig?' too and kept opening the jacket to see him.

"Can we keep him Daddy?"

     In case you were wondering, all this time of cozying up to the pig Dalton stood back and just watched, knowing that the longer he let me play the more attached I was going to get. Finally he said we had to open the door and let him run free. I really wanted to resist, but then the adult in me took over and I knew it was best to let him go. Note to Mom and Dad....I am getting better with my animal obsession. : ) I just knew if we kept him Cooper and I would get too close and then when he got bigger we'd have to kill him or release him in the middle of the night while Dalton was sleeping...both not such good options. At least this way he could have a chance.
     Just when we thought the fun was over Mr. Pig headed out of the pen and right up to the horses. I started getting really nervous because I really didn't want to see him get kicked or stepped on right there in front of us....talk about bad endings. So he moved, the horses kicked and snorted and I screamed...then repeat.
     That's when the tables turned. The horses began to act like elephants with a mouse around and took off away from the pig....and the pig did something I could not have predicted. He started chasing the horses!! It was the funniest thing I've seen in some time. He actually chased them all around their pen. I guess he just wanted to get close to something, but the horses wanted no part of it. I was still squealing some because he would chase them and then get close and they'd kick at him, then he'd chase them and they'd paw. At one point he stopped, Blondie turned around, snorted and ran and pawed at him, trying to kill him.  That's when I knew I had to step in.  I started running toward him, hoping he recognize me and run back to me. But he didn't. I did succeed in separating the chickens ... I mean horses...from the big bad pig, though. Then I followed the pig saying "Here pig pig pig" (I think I learned that from Charlotte's Web), until I lost sight of him in the tall grass by the road.

 "Come back..Are you my mommy?"

"Wait for me, wait for me!"

And that is the story of our pet pig for a day. I wish you well Pig; I'll always have the memories.

** You may have to play 'Find the Pig' in some pictures. Don't give up, he's there!

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13

Busy Weekend with a Surprise

     This weekend was our 'paint the nursery' weekend. Though we do not have a set 'room theme' that's matchy-matchy we do have some really cute bedding that Mom found. It has a cartoon truck, helicopter, plane and boat and the colors go really well with our house. We picked colors from the bedding to do the room in and figure we can add other cute decor that compliments it all.

Someone snuck under the cover..what a ham

     We matched our colors last week and painted a sample area on the wall before the weekend came. We weren't too sure about the colors, one looked kinda dark and one kinda pinky, but after a second test coat and the thought of having to go through the picking out process again we decided to just go with what we had. What's the worst that could happen..paint again?
     So Friday night Dalton put the first coat of red on the one accent wall. I heard the term accent wall from others..but don't assume I know what the full purpose or meaning of one is..for us it's the wall that the crib will go on. The next morning he added a second coat and we assessed. It looks really good! We like the color a lot and couldn't wait to see what the brown looked like. While Cooper and I tried to stay busy playing and watching TV (the beautiful weather of the previous week left just in time for the weekend, and in it's place came a chilly, windy couple of days), Dalton painted the first coat of brown paint. We had to peek a couple of times and I convinced him to let me roll some on one wall (I held my breath). After coat number one we decided it was going to be just right.

Starting the process

Cooper was trying to help too

     While waiting for that to dry, we ate some leftovers for lunch and got down to the business of testing our garden soil to see what nutrients it needs. It was fun playing scientist. I felt like a kid again....I used to want to be a scientist, but later figured out that with my lack of precision and detail it probably wouldn't have worked out. "I bet you got that right, we don't need to re-test"..... you see where that could lead.

The scientist and his helper

     We bought a kit from the feed store and went to the garden spot to collect dirt. After collecting we put it into little test tubes, sprinkled the magic solution on, added water and waited. It was pretty neat...basically our soil is very alkaline and very low in all the nutrients. Time to fertilize!

 Adding the water

Ready to test

     While waiting for our soil tests to finish, we heard a knock at the door and SURPRISE, it was my mom, coming up for a visit. She'd talked about coming up earlier in the week, but decided she probably wouldn't. I'm so glad she changed her mind...Cooper and Dalton were too.

 GG!!!

     We visited, she and Cooper bonded..he calls her GG and we can understand him. It's super cute. Then she volunteered to help with coat number 2. While she worked, Cooper laid by the door and looked under, saying 'GG.....GG'. Dalton came in to take over and within an hour the painting was finished. Woo hoo!

A glimpse of the finished product

     Now I want to paint more rooms in the house because the kids' rooms seem to be the only ones with personality. Most of our other walls are off-white. So we'll see if that happens sometime in the future.
     Sunday we moved a bit of furniture into the baby's room and again thought how great the colors look. Then Dalton, Cooper and I headed to church and left Mom at the house; she was heading out that morning. Then I got a text after church that asked me to pick up coffee for her...she decided to stay until Monday. Yeah! And while we were gone she had cleaned up and rearranged Coop's room. It looks so cozy now.
     We had a great visit that day and most of the day Monday. Mom helped me change up some things on the walls..I'm bad about wanting change but not knowing where to start decoratively, so I don't change anything. She helped me gain fresh vision. : ) Then she headed home. We're so glad she visited though...made our weekend!

     And it feels so nice to have the room painted. We're ready to get this baby moved in now! I have his dresser all filled with newborn to 3 month clothes..they are so tiny. Now if we can only think of a name.....

Haven't posted many pics of the expectant me, so here's one 

"And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house." Deut 26:11

Seed Starting

     When I was younger I was an avid gardener. Ok, maybe 'avid gardener' isn't the right description. I liked to have a summer garden, and once even grew potatoes. I've always enjoyed gardens and plants, especially the challenge and reward of keeping them alive year after year (plants, not gardens) and watching them grow.
     Dalton would roll his eyes about now because he has to help me keep them alive in winter by hauling them in and out of the house. Unfortunately my favorite are hibiscus plants, which can't tolerate the cold, so we have to be pretty committed in the winter to prevent freezing them. One day we'll have a garage or shed or something so we don't have to do that, but until then, it's the job of my faithful husband to help me keep my plants alive. And he does a great job, even if he does mumble under his breath and threaten to let them die sometimes.
     Back to gardens...as I said before I've only done summer gardens, but lately I've been wanting to expand and try to do some fall/spring gardens for broccoli, potatoes, lettuce, etc. I figured that this year I probably wouldn't do it either, but then some friends of ours started talking about their garden and I started getting the itch to get started. Dalton is really into it this year too...he even expanded the garden plot! So our friends are starting their own seeds inside and then transplanting them outside when the time comes. They offered to give us some seeds and we said 'sure' (we aren't ones to pass up free produce). They gave us our share of seeds, from tomatoes, to green beans, kale, peppers and squash...very generous.

     We bought some seed starting soil and cups and today Cooper and I planted our seeds. This process was a little frustrating at times because of my little helper. I had to first put soil in all of the little cups, which Cooper wanted to help with. He did ok, but never quite got them full. Then I had to water the cups of soil. Lucky for me Cooper was wandering around the yard for this part, otherwise I might have given up. After I watered I noticed that Cooper was in the mood to wander a little too far, and I didn't want to have to worry about him heading toward the road, so I brought him up on the porch with me. Bad idea..I should have just put him in the house. He wanted to add more dirt to the cups, then knocked a few over with his clodhoppers as he was trying to get between me and the seeds. A few tense moments passed and he left to chase Little Girl (the cat). I took my chance and quickly stuck seeds in most of the cups. I'm not sure if I planted them correctly..depth and all. It's always a little leap of faith when you put a seed in the ground and can't see it until it sprouts.

     When I got to the green bean and zucchini seeds I decided it was time to let Cooper help. I mean, how could I blog about it if I didn't have pictures of Cooper working with me? Besides, it's a good learning experience, and a good excuse to let him get dirty.

     I gave him the seed and showed him how to push it into the soil with his finger. He loved it and helped put the rest of the seeds in the cups and push down. If some don't sprout I'll know it's because he pushed them too far down, but I tried to control his power. After he finished he proceeded to wipe his dirty hands on my shirt...where does he learn this? I promptly directed him to wipe on his pants, which he did.

     Now we have 40 cups on our porch with seeds hopefully starting to germinate as we speak. As I gaze on the cups I realize we might not have thought this through as thoroughly as we should have. You see, these cups have to come inside every night, and then get taken back outside each day to sit in the shade. Sounds easy, but when you factor in a curious kiddo, and the fact that the only space we have to put the seeds inside is in our kitchen/dining area...very accessible to above kiddo, we could be in for some trouble. I'm now wondering if teaching him how to poke his finger into the dirt was such a good idea. Oh well, live and learn!!

     Note: If this is the last seeding/garden post you see for quite some time you'll know it didn't end well. Hopefully, though I'll have some pictures of little green sprouts to show you in the near future! I think that is my favorite part...seeing that first sprout of green...well that and the first piece of produce you harvest. Woo hoo I'm getting excited already!!

"And God said, 'Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth."And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seeds according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed , each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:11-12