A Mish-Mash of Things

Doesn't it seem hard to believe that February is already done and gone?   Spring is here - at least weatherwise, if not by the calendar.  

Spring doesn't always bring good things with it, though.  First, we had an awful storm roll through two nights ago with some incredibly strong winds.  Fortunately, we didn't get any tornados but, unfortunately, other folks did.   It apparently devastated some small towns south of here.  So far, no one was killed and I hope it stays that way.  Those folks are definitely in our thoughts and we hope they are quick to recover from such an awful event.

Our neighbors behind us just moved after being foreclosed on.  They had moved in about 8 years ago and rescued another early 1900's Victorian that had burned.  It was sad to see them leave, as they were great neighbors - always friendly and she loved to come over and see how the chickens were doing.  As they were packing to leave, she brought over the egg basket in the picture.  She left it while we were at work, so we didn't even get to say goodbye as they left.

Speaking of chickens and eggs...  The total for February came to 183, which is more than double what the girls laid in January.  Must have been the mild winter because, as you may recall, we didn't put any artificial light in the coop.  And, interestingly enough, almost all but 2 of them are in some stage of molt right now but their laying has not decreased.  We'll see what happens as March progresses.

Oh, one more thing... I've signed up for a 4-week class titled "Food Not Lawns" at the University of Missouri. It's presented by master gardeners and its focus is on urban and suburb backyard gardening.  I'm hoping to learn lots from this class, as it comes highly recommended.  March should be interesting as I'll now be in class on Wednesday and Thursday nights.  J. asked if I was ever going to be home!

Goal Updates

Now that we're two months into 2012, I though I'd take a quick look at this year's goals and see what progress has been made.

Organize the basement, laundry room and pantry.

We've made substantial progress here and I need to do a post to update you with before and after pictures.  But we still need to do an inventory and sort through things for the yard sale in April.

Learn to make our own bread and eliminate store-bought bread. 

Nope, and this is just laziness.  We've got the recipes and we just need to do it.  I'm putting it on the March list of goals below.

Learn how to use my camera. 

Unfortunately, I procrastinated and the classes were full but I did put myself on the waiting list.

Finish renovations on our rental house. 

In progress!  We started with the major tree cleanup.

Finish the renovations on our tavel trailer and get it moved to our 40 acres.  Just a little work here with picking the fabric for the curtains.  Which I can now sew with the new Janome!

Finalize water management plans. No progress.

Diversity the plants in the garden.  DONE!  In my 2012 garden plan I've included lots of new plants such as spaghetti squash, bush beans, purple asparagus, onions, garlic, sunflowers, etc.

Get healthier.  Um, yeah.  :-)

In the interest of taking that gargantuan list in baby steps, I decided to make a list for what needs to be done in March.  I saw this over on My Simple Country Living and think it's a great idea, so I asked if I could steal it. My plan is to do a goal update at the end every month.

 Behold!  CrankyPuppy's monthly to-do list for March.

March To-Do List:

Till up the garden beds and lay in new (old) compost

Start tomatoes, peppers and flowers seedlings indoors

Build two potato bins and plant the Yellow Finns

Build trellis for cucumbers and spaghetti squash

Research and start a "chicken treat" garden

Make our own first loaf of bread

Finish organizing the basement and pantry

Get ready for the yard sale in April

Fix the bikes and make time to ride

Whew!  That's quite a list but I think it's do-able.