Wow, it’s been a while since I have posted.  Nearly all of Spring has whirled right past us.  Things have been soooooo busy. My schedule had been pretty rough for couple months as I was transitioning to a store closer to home and there are many projects around the house we have been working on.  Phase 1 of the remodel is almost complete, garden is mostly in,  the pastures have been mowed down and new animals have arrived, wild and domestic.  We have been busy around here!  The more we clean up, plow down and plant, the more it looks like ours.

Many things have been a buzz quite literally (bzzzz). The status of the orchard trees remain “special needs” due to several years of neglect and no time to prune this year.  Nature however, is determined and everything has flowered, everything has bloomed, everything is showing signs of making food. The plum trees were the first to sprout their leaves and the cherry and apple blossoms were beautiful.  Layla and I have checked each week for signs of progress. Happily we have found the cherries and pears starting as well as Apples and walnuts. Thankfully there has been no shortage of bees around. You can hear them buzzing in all of the trees. Tiny fruit is happening.

 

A few of the Mystery  trees I pruned in the winter (while unsure of what they were), turned out to be gorgeous lilacs. They smell amazing! The largest and purple lilac tree seems to be appropriately placed just outside the office window and in full bloom is an amazing natural mural of flowers. I wish I had gotten a perfect picture to share!  The other tree by the driveway finally bloomed and I still have no idea what it is. It’s the strangest shaped flowers.  I have never seen these before, but I like them a lot.   Just this week the magnolia tree has started to flower.  Right now there is just one flower open and many other blooms looking like they are almost ready.  I can’t wait!

Now back to the remodel. Phase one is nearly complete! We have a hallway! Also, a bigger laundry room and the entire house works like a normal house now.   I can smell my coffee brewing in the morning now that our master bedroom is connected in a normal way.

We also have a few new animals around here now.  There are 4 new little chickens that just joined the big girl coop in the “chicken nursery” side of the coop.  This side is closed and safe feeling but they can still see the big girls. They will live here for a couple weeks while the grow a little bigger and the current girls get used to seeing their cute little faces every morning.  This should make for an easier transition when they are all set loose. The older girls are all laying eggs every day now and singing about their success.  Click here to listen to their song.

  

 

  
We also now have a resident horse named Bentley.  He is renting our front pasture.  A local Brownsville couple are in between houses with no luck house hunting.  His stables he was being kept at closed suddenly and Bentley needed a field to stay in, and we always need a horse to hug.  He’s very sweet and gives long hugs at the fence and rest his head on your shoulder.

Things are looking back to normal around here with work and school. New posts coming soon as the harvests begin!