In order to get to the "new post" part of the blogger.com site I have to go back to the previous post. Today that included reading yesterday's post and...goodness! I really should begin proofreading these things. What a mess, including sentences that were inaccurate and misleading.
Good thing I'm not writing anything of significance.
I spent the first part of the morning at the coffee shop working on prep for my Brazil trip. When I got home I started putting the gravel down on the paths. I got the path to the raised garden beds done and started on the path to the barn. Turns out 1.25" gravel is heavy.
It looks better and will be better footing, especially after rain. And easier when taking the wheel barrow to the garden.
The beds are ready for planting which Pam will do before she heads to Phoenix in a few weeks. (I'm jealous.)
While I was working on the gravel and enjoying the high-60s temps I took a break to walk around and look at some of the signs of spring on Baker Rd.
One of the two rhubarb plants is doing very well. The other one (not pictured) is a lot smaller but I thought it had died so even the little growth its showing is a pleasant surprise.
I like rhubarb pie, so I'm already planning that baking project.
I also didn't expect the two blueberry bushes to come back but they have, albeit weakly. You can just see the small leaves beginning to sprout. I didn't realized how much water blueberries require and didn't give them enough last summer. Now I know, so I'll water them much more frequently this year. We still won't get many berries but if the bushes recover this year they should produce well the next.
The Marion berry bushes did well and look like they'll give us another bumper crop this year. They're pretty tart and I discovered the pie recipe I have needs almost twice as much sugar as it calls for. But it's gooooood pie. The Marion berry is a hybrid of a blackberry developed at Oregon State Univ. developed because it's especially well suited to the Willamette Valley.
I let the chickens out of their pen today and they were more than happy to spend the time scratching at the ground for bugs and whatever else it was that kept them so engaged. They didn't go much more than about 10 yards from the pen but as they get more accustomed to being out they'll wander further afield. When I walked by them it was easy to tell which is Cogburn's good eye. He kept his left one pointed my direction.
Poor Sundae. She's starting to get uncomfortable. I tried to get a pic of her swelling udder which seems to get bigger every day but every time I went behind her she turned around to see what I was doing. This view inadequately shows her spreading girth. Goats carry their kids on one side (I think it's the left) and their four stomachs on the other which is why she's not symmetrical. She's due in four and a half weeks.
Meanwhile, Dolly is full of activity and curiosity. "What's that thing??" Dolly is normally skittish and runs from anything the least bit unfamiliar but today she seemed more at ease than normal. She's a Nubian/Boer cross but her face is all Nubian. Ears, too. She's only about 7 months old so she won't be ready to breed for another year.
There's more. The grape vine, the fruit trees full of buds, the creek running spring high, the Dogwood trees coming to life... But maybe this gives you an idea why we enjoy life here so much, especially this time of year.
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