Central Oregon in February

We typically head over to Central Oregon with family in late February to get some serious sledding in.  Since we actually drove over Thursday night we had Friday to do things before the rest of the family showed up.  So, after some coaxing I agreed that we should go to the High Desert Museum just outside of Bend.

Mia is watching the trout in the stream outside the entrance.  She fit right in with her boots on.

There was a pond and stream that had some pretty good size trout.

The tortoise's were fascinating, as well as the poisonous frogs.  

We enjoyed listening about falcon's and other birds of prey.  Below is a Bald Eagle enjoying lunch.

The homestead area was also a favorite of ours.  It was almost like Little House on the Prairie.  

These were some good size chickens and well suited for this colder climate with lots of feathers.

Ethan is ready to plow the garden for spring.

I could get use to a quiet chair in the shade.  But then again I don't want to be the following:

"He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely,

But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully"

Proverb 10:5

However the line at the restrooms was outrageous!!

Before leaving the kids played on the huge spider web.  Note how they are not wearing jackets and it is sunny, the next day it was snowing and blowing sideways.

Family photo op before leaving.  

We are looking forward to going back in the summer when they have people at the homestead in period clothing and possibly seeing the sawmill run.  

Fencing continues . . . . . . slowly

Since we had some decent weather last weekend the boys and I set out to putting some more posts in the ground for our cross-fencing.  As my wise father reminded me "now is the time while the ground is soft".  With the old school post hole digger we use it is easy for the boys to help out.  I usually use the shovel to cut slice the grass off the spot where the post goes and once I get the hole about 10-12" down one of the boys can take over .  I was quite surprised to come back and find that Ethan almost had one down the to the required 3' depth in not too long.

Here Evan is digging the post hole and Ethan was measuring.  The white bucket off to the right is for catching spiders during their down times.  The gate you see leaning up against the post was one that came with the property and we are going to try and reuse at this break in the fence to give us access to the pasture.  The two larger gates will be farther down in either direction.  Someday we hope to put a little shelter just to the left in this picture to allow the cows to get out of the wind and rain.

Ethan emptying the dirt from the digger thingy (that IS the technical term).

After the posts holes were filled with gravel, and the gravel packed down with a piece of rebar we drilled the holes for the brace pins.  It was odd how easily the pins went in, and then I realized I had grabbed the 1/2" drill bit instead of the 3/8", so the holes were plenty big.

Ethan drilling the holes in these two posts.

After putting the horizontal post on we ran the wire and twisted the whole thing tight with a branch.  It is fun to use branch's for this kind of thing, kind of looks chic rustic, and they are cheap.

I am getting anxious to finish this project and Lord willing we will have some nicer weather this weekend, allowing us to get a little farther along.

Earlier in the day we had put up plywood on the interior of the pump room walls to keep the mice from tearing up the insulation we had installed.  This curious lady got to close and Evan grabbed her so she could see the pump room up close.

Speaking of chickens, it is about time to go get some more chicks.  Looks like the farm store has the 5 free ones next weekend, so we need to get everything ready in the nursery.  The kids vacuumed it out but we need to sanitize the feeder and waterer.  We have not settled on how many to get, but you need to make sure you over-estimate, just in case you have any unexpected losses.  15 or 20 ???

Blueberries & Stuff

This last weekend we finally had some decent weather where I could rototill a couple of rows for some new blue berry plants we had bought some time ago.  The kids dug the holes and then we filled them all back in.  The next step is to wrap weed cloth around them and then get some fir sawdust to mulch around them with.  We have 12 more mature bushes that we planted last year, and are looking forward to bountiful crop this summer.  You can never have too many blueberries.

Above are the two new rows, with four plants each.

In this picture you can see the more mature plants.

We also need to raise our garden fence to keep the deer out.  They are not deterred by the pretty pink ribbon, and our one motion sensitive sprinkler can not cover enough ground.

A couple of bonus items from the weekend were dinner out at Sweet Tomatoes on Friday.

Here Lily is enjoying her ice cream.

We opted for a dinner out since Jennie had a late doctor's appointment for Baby.  Praise the Lord everything looks good and the babies heartbeat was a calm 165 beats/min.  Jennie is at her 12 week mark, and it seems like she is starting to get some of her energy back and is not sick as often.

The last exciting thing from this weekend was that we gained a new trailer.  It came with the property but we had no idea we had one as it was covered in blackberry vines down at the bottom of the property.  On Saturday Evan, Mia and I cut our way through the brush and blackberries so we could try and pull it out with Big Red (tractor).  We got it part way out when one of the barrels that were in it fell through the floor and got stuck under the trailer.  It was dinner time so we called it quits for now.

Here is a picture of it being pulled out.

March Snow!!!

Here we are the 1st of March and we woke up to 2.5-3 inches of snow. YES!!! Don't get me wrong. It is beautiful but I am soooooo ready for spring and warmer weather. Of course with this much snow I had to give the kids a snow day. There was just to much to not let them go sledding and have snow ball fights. They played for a few hours outside and then came in for lunch. Right now as I write at almost 4:00 p.m. the snow is almost gone. Except for the shadowy spots. It comes and goes so fast. But we had fun while it lasted. 

The kids ready for a fight. I wasn't though. :o)

Lily just wouldn't hold still. She was so excited I let her out today to play in it. 

Our pretty curly willow tree. I love this tree!

Mia sledding backwards. She loved it.