Monday, April 19, 2010

The "new"to do list.....

I think everyone has several "to do " lists, I know we do. We just finished one and now a new one begins. This is the "after tax time" list. I am always so happy and relieved when that's done for another year.
Gardening begins this week. We began preparing our garden plots last fall and the amendments have been working together over the winter and are now ready to be lightly tilled and readied for planting. If all goes well we will be planting cold hardy crops in just a few days. Over the last couple of years of selling fresh produce, we know what the public wants as well as what our family prefers and have adjusted our varieties accordingly. I love being in the dirt -

Another task is hauling hay. Seems we are always doing that. The second story of our barn cannot hold enough square bales to get us through until the next haying season so the farmer we buy hay from stores our extra in his barn. We will haul that home this week as well as the 2nd crop we have left in his barn for our lactating ewes and their lambs. Even though we had a tough haying season last year, it appears their will be plenty of hay to get everyone through until the farmers can get on their fields and start mowing this year. That's always a relief to everyone.

Maine kids are on vacation this week and Ty has track practice everyday so we are running back and forth to school twice a day. Of course, practice begins during morning chores.......we are trying to make THAT schedule work :) We will figure it all out....it's good to have him home. Our school kids work hard everyday - I know he's as mentally tired at the end of the day as I am physically tired. They surely need the time off.

Yesterday we visited three very nice Romney sheep that will be coming to live at the farm next weekend. The story of their moving is very sad and yet their arrival is a blessing to their owners. We are happy to add them to our flock and the fiber and yarn that will be produced from their beautiful silver fleeces will be lovely.

We still have a few ewes that need to be sheared and these three gals need to be done as well. New yarns arrived on friday. I did take photos but haven't gotten them here yet. Some lovely lopi weight shetland. New natural colors that I'm very happy with. We will be putting up the screen house soon as yarn dyeing needs to start soon.

Time to get busy.....hope you all have a great day. The sun is shining here after three days of rain......I know it's going to be a good day!


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Deb,

we also have sun and there is much to do outside. I wish you a good start in the new week.

Greetings
Doris

threecollie said...

All through the winter Liz and I kid about Bahamas vacations...then comes spring and you couldn't drag me away. There IS a lot to do, but it is all good. You have a great week.

lisa said...

Ahhh the to do list, that is never ending when the growing season begins! You have a wonderful week and good luck with the to do list!

Shula said...

Well done for just having one to do list. I have one for the house, the barn, the garden, the horse it goes on lol. Have a good week, make sure you put relax on that list :)

Deb said...

Thank you Doris - enjoy your week as well.

threecollie,
same here - I just love the springtime. Everything smells so good and I itch to get in the dirt :)

lisa,
Thanks - enjoy your week as well....the list will get shorter for a day or two and then we find more things to add to it :)

Shula,
I hear you there - You have a good week as well - they are promising sun....I do sneak a little r&r by setting with all the lambs. It's great therapy :)

Unknown said...

Isnt farm life great? That in itself creates its own today list. The sun is shining and the rain has stopped. My new liitle goat finally got a name its "ANDY". And my method to this madness is to get a Annie since I already have a Daisy ,I need a Donald. Looking for piglets in NH is getting to be quite a job. I didnt raise and sows thru the winter and that was a BIG mistakes. I cant find piglets down here.I will be raising and having my own for next spring that is definite. We should be having baby bunnies next week. Our haying season I am praying is better than last yrs, we had to buy hay all winter. We just picked up 6 more fields so Please let it be a great season. One of our BIG to Do's this yr is a pole barn to store the hay in.Ok enough chatter time to get busy, have a great day

DayPhoto said...

Isn't Spring grand?! I just love it, I couldn't imagine living where I could not 'farm'.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/

Gayle said...

I'd love to be able to finish one to-do list before moving on to the next! And I'm sure my lists aren't as long as yours are!

Unknown said...

My next addition will be 2 white Romney ewe lambs;) I can't wait to see your new sheep! Yeah, that to do list...just way too long but it makes me feel better when others have a nice long one too:)