Rocks and More Rocks

We debated a long time about what to do with the concrete on the basement level.  We finally decided that only rocks would do for Finca de las Piedras.  These rocks have to be flat, not like our rocks all over the farm, so we bought them.  Our wonderful brick masons, Steve and James, came back to install the rock facing.

It was like a giant puzzle and turned out much better than I ever expected!

Tom continues to clean up.  While the brick mason's little skid loader was here, Tom used it to move some big, dead trees.

One of my old hens became egg-bound and the suggested remedy is to hold her in warm water for 20 minutes.  I was afraid she would freak out, but she actually liked it and went to sleep.  I think she's better.

The broody hen did such a good job with the first chicks that we bought some more but she refused to have anything to do with them.  We put them under a brooder light and they've made themselves at home.

The county has been grinding up trees, clearing for widening the road near us, and they are giving away the mulch for free.  We have gotten two wagon loads so far and used it to mulch the fruit trees and grapes.

It's a lot of work, but it does make everything look neater.  Now we have to replant the garden!  Late, unexpected frosts have killed the tomatoes once and the peppers twice.  We're not supposed to have frost in May!

Spring

With the contractors gone, Tom and I worked on our own for awhile.  I was so glad to help move Tom's temporary office from the side porch to the basement!

It's still temporary because this is not the room that will actually be his office.  We have to paint and put down baseboards before we move everything again.

It turned out that the neighbor who cuts our hay is also a preacher and a contractor!  Marshall and Ricky started work finishing the siding.  

Tom is the cut-man and works all day cutting the siding and handing it up.

We shopped for rocks for our next project and selected Desert Sand.

Spring in the mountains means Ramps.  They don't grow here so I ordered some on the internet.

We ate most of them but also planted some by the creek in the woods.  I hope they will grow!

If I eat ramps, have a camouflaged dump truck, gun and baseball hat, does that make me a Redneck?

Our mama hen is teaching her babies to take a dust bath.

Our big news for April was the arrival of our new grandbaby!

Welcome, Sadie, and congratulations, Cathy and Ryan!

She's beautiful.

Contractors!!

Our contractors were moving right along getting the siding on the house when Donnie called in sick one day.  After a week of waiting and many unreturned phone calls, we finally figured out that they had moved on to a better paying job, leaving us in the lurch with no notice.  Why do contractors do that?

Thank goodness our tile contractors were not like that.  They finished installing about 1500 square feet of slate covering the whole basement floor with no problems and on time.  It looks beautiful!

Our search for wallpaper continues.  We thought we had found a goldmine in a wallpaper outlet on I-85 but were not able to find a single suitable roll in the thousands there.

Tom has been cleaning up some old stumps, moving them around with the tractor and setting them on fire. 

 The fire for these stumps burned for three days.

It's garden planting time!  We planted a bed of potatoes first.

It's also chicken hatching time.  We incubated some eggs for the required time, but nothing happened.  We think Rooster Cogburn is not doing his job.

So we bought some baby chicks and put them under a broody hen.  

She accepted them immediately and was very proud of herself.

For about a month we had a visitor on the farm.  Obama the Llama decided that he liked our pasture better than our neighbor's so he broke the fence and come over to stay.

We enjoyed seeing Obama out in the pasture but he did come and sleep near the barn every night and in the morning liked to nibble on our fruit trees. We finally managed to lure him into the horse pen.

His owner, Ebbie, came over with a lasso and halter.

Once he had a halter on, Obama was very tame.  Ebbie decided to sell him at auction.

We'll miss him.  Maybe we'll have a llama someday.