Testing, Testing, Is this thing on?

Oh my goodness! It has been so long since I have been here. I don't really have an excuse. So off my lazy butt I go and here I am!

We had been blessed this week with some wonderful Spring weather! Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and Winter seems to be coming back. It was sure nice and motivating though while we had a taste of the weather to come!

Chris build a new compost box. So excited to get that started. It's in a nice sunny spot, close to our garden and away from any windows by the house! I have missed composting. We haven't done it since we moved up here. Looking forward to seeing what we get out of it.

We planned out our garden. I think we are going to try out Square Foot and Vertical gardening. We definitely have the space for a large garden, but this looks so interesting. And, the way I see it, we can have even MORE than if we planted in our current boxes!
We got a great book at the library called All New Square Foot Gardening. We haven't been able to keep our noses out of it. Definitely a book we are going to buy for our shelves!
It looks like our garden will include:

Eggplant
Bell Peppers (red, green, orange)
Tomatoes
Yellow Squash
Zucchini
Green Beans
Cucumber
Corn
Broccoli
Lettuce
Swiss Chard
Radish
Carrot
Beets
Spinach
Jalapenos
Parsley
Chives
Mint
Cilantro
Basil
Oregano
Sage

I'm pretty convinced we are missing a few things, so I will be adding to the list I'm sure! LOL I am so excited. Our winter garden did pretty well, so I'm hoping that our next go-round will provide us with nearly all, if not all of our veggies for Spring/Summer.

The girls are getting big. They have started figuring out their "pecking order". Cocobelle is the definite leader with Dora coming in a close second. I can see where this may be a problem. LOL Ellen, the biggest chicken of the group is the very last in line. I think she prefers it that way. She isn't very brave at all and has the loudest squawk when you pick her up. Cocobelle has found her voice. She sits up on the perches and clucks and talks away. I could just sit and watch them for hours. They really are a fun bunch.
Here are a couple pictures from earlier this week:

Cocobelle enjoying a meal worm treat:

Ellen DeHENeres:


And, Mary Virginia. This must be where the expression "chicken legs" comes from:


It's amazing how quickly they are growing. Soon we will have eggs!

Since the last time I wrote we got a new family member. A new Dutch bunny (5 mo old) named Peter. He is absolutely adorable and so, so sweet. And a contributor to the compost pile as well!
Maggie really wants to do rabbits in 4-H so Peter is a good starter bunny!

Speaking of Maggie, she is doing great with school. She is really into reading, spelling, writing right now. So we have been focused on that. I'm really proud how she has been catching on. Tonight Chris was cooking dinner and I could hear her in the kitchen practicing her spelling to her dad. I love being able to sit back and hear it. Sometimes it's really hard for me to believe she is 5 years old. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. She is such a treasure and so fun to have. I am truly blessed.

I am going to leave you with a couple of pictures from earlier in the week when the weather was so beautiful!






See ya soon!

-Bobbi