Our newest additions to the family, happen to be two Muscovey ducks from a good friend of mine from high school. Lindsay has appropriately named them John and Vanessa and has profusely told everyone in the family that she will be doing ducks next year for 4-H. I can't wait to see how she feels about this when her Dad decides to begin to wake her at 6:30 a.m. to take care of the ducks each and every morning! Right now, she has the luxury of sleeping in!
Another hen has decided that spring has sprung and she must give us some more baby chicks - how sweet those darling chicks are to watch with their momma. It is so much simpler when they are hatched and taken care of by momma than by artificial means through the incubator! She currently has 14 eggs under her, so we'll wait a few more days and see what happens. This just adds to the General Manager's farm list of things to do - "Build Permanent Nursery" in the chicken coop. It will be a blessing to have that built for the many years to come of momma hens giving us baby chicks.
The General Manager and my father enlarged my garden, double the size of last year, when we added $500 worth of organic dirt to the soil. This year we will be able to plant more, harvest more, and store more over the winter. Once I began the task of hoeing up the rows, I quickly realized just how much work is involved in maintaining such a large area. I wish I could say that my nerves and attitude were always meek and quiet, but alas, I can say that we have worked well as a family unit to maintain this new area, even though I may have raised my voice a time or two. My Anne usually takes Georgie and Abby when they have tired of helping water the garden everyday; Hannah and Lindsay also have taken turns with them on the tire swing to keep them occupied. We've slowly over the last month been able to get all the vegetables planted. Now we just need some SUN and HEAT to get those beautiful sprouts sprouting.
Some summer plans we have for the yard is a hedge row in front of our main entrance. This hopefully, will help keep the chickens in the yard and out of the busy country road, as well as keep the younger children from being tempted to get too close to the road. We also want to grate and re-rock our driveway so that next winter it isn't a giant mud puddle.
On a more restful note, my Dad's 75th birthday celebration is this weekend. It amazes me that he is turning 75 because I can remember back when he was my current age. I pray for his salvation daily; I want him to know Jesus and to be comforted by His love. He is such a wonderful and talented father - I gave him a picture that I had seen in a magazine, in which he was able to build this beautiful chalkboard for our front kitchen wall. I no sooner had put the shellac on it and this is what was to be had with the chalkboard. I know that the girls will be able to enjoy this for years to come and it will be a family heirloom to be passed down for many generations. Family is about memories and it is those things that I cherish the most.
In Andi's Scary School Days, Andi wants no part of school. She doesn't want to be away from the ranch, Riley, Taffy and Coco all day. School means wearing dresses, sitting still, sitting next to a boy who puts a lizard on her head and watching him smoosh a fly between hands. Ewww! To top it all off, she gets sent to the corner for something she didn't even do. She quickly finds out running away from school is not the answer and hiding in trees doesn't help either.
