Inch by Inch

 Let me tell you a secret: I don't really like to work in the garden.  It really is a chore for me.  To drag myself outside for some "hard" labor on a hot day...meh.  Nearly every time I make it out there, though, I am blessed with a small breeze, the smell of tomato plants (is this a thing, or just me?), and sweet moments with my boyos.  Of course, these are mixed in with all of the dirt and bugs, and bugs, and "don't step on the plants!" and haggling to get proper tool back (I'll let you have the rake!")...but it's worth it.

There is something calming about the simplicity of gardening.  You "kill the weeds" and "pet the tomatoes", as Leo puts it.  Even when you get behind, and the weeds are a jungle, and it's a good thing tomatoes are red, so that you can even find them, it is still that simple.  Dirt, seeds, sun, water.

 Life in general is *way* way more complicated than a garden.  Life is stressful and busy and needy.  Gardening doesn't change much.  Yes, there are punches to roll with, like when you get too much rain, or not enough, or the bugs eat your veggies, or the groundhog won't go away...but, gardening is steady.

It's nice to have something steady in this crazy-mixed-up world, and if we're lucky, you may just get a hug from a plant. 

Dirt with Seeds In

After procrastinating the seed planting for 3-4 weeks, I've finally got some seeds into the dirt!  It is very fortunate that Steven and I are forgetful in different areas.  I remember people's names, and he remembers that I bought bags of planting soil on sale last fall to have this spring.  (Right, *I* bought them, and didn't remember!)  

Not much to see here, but the tote is full of dirt, the seed packets are from Johnny's...and now they're best  friends in the seed trays.

I planted a lot of tomatoes (mostly of the paste variety, so we can make tomato sauce at the end of the summer) and peppers (so we can make pepper mustard at the end of the summer).  Also some broccoli and Brussels sprouts, because: green.  Also also some tomatillos, because: I like to say tomatillo.

The garden isn't tilled up yet, because it's too cold to plant (unless you are daring/have more energy to cover things when it gets cold) and too wet also...and because: no plants yet ;).  We'll keep you posted for sure as the little dears start to grow!

This post is dedicated to Laura and Cate, who always take a kindly interest in the goings-on at Black Sheep Farm (and garden) :D.  Hi Laura and Cate!

{7QT: Tweets to My Sister and Other Exciting Things}

1.    I have decided that if I had Twitter, it would pretty much be exactly like reading my texts to my sister. SO...either incredibly boring for everyone else, or WAY over-share, I'm thinking. Like so:

-"I've decided I don't have the energy to write a post about Frozen"
-"Leo almost had a stomach at dinner"

-"you could be like Har-ry Pot-tah"

-"came outside smelling like he had been hitting the mouthwash"

-"maybe your tummy wants to watch a show"

On second thought, maybe @TheHopefulStarfish would be a fun Twitter read? Meh. I still say "pound" instead of "hashtag"; I'm too old for Twitter.

2.    We did watch Frozen with the boyos on Wednesday night. I thought about blessing you (ha!) with my thoughts on it in a post, but lucky you (srsly, folks), it was too much work. It was a fun movie, with fun songs and characters, and the main couple (::gasp!::) didn't even get married during the movie. One kiss only. Redemptive, even, I'd say (which, as you know, is one of my main criteria for winning as a story). 

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3.    IT'S DANIEL's SECOND BIRTHDAY TODAY!

He is pretty much awesome. I think he is growing up to be a really cool little brother. He is funny, fun, very very mischievous, curious, smart, and daring. Just the other day he told me "I so clever", which I do tell him quite often...because it's true. Two. That kid is two. Not even lying. 

4.    I am very excited about Black Sheep Farm (and garden)'s upcoming SPRING and SUMMER. This excitement will surely fade in approximately...however many days/weeks it takes to become over-run by weeds and sweat and bugs and tangled-up goats, but for now, from my 3 days of Spring seat, things are looking grand. Also in the works is another post for Real Housekeeping on Starting Out w/ Chickens. (It will look kind of like this, but maybe *slightly* more helpful. Slightly.) Because I am an expert, that's why. An expert who has sold 8 dozen eggs total, and who has lost 6 (at least) fowl to wild creatures thus far this year. 

I've already said I don't want any of these this year.
I probably lied.

5.    Speaking of Black Sheep Farm, it's been a completely epic few weeks, wherein we (Steven) caught and dispatched two (o?)possums and two raccoons (one of which I happened upon IN THE FLIPPING CHICKEN COOP whilst gathering eggs), the sheep has gotten off his rope TWICE, a stray little black lab mix puppy has appeared (anyone want a dog!?) and I have been charting non-stop from a deluge of nurse visits since about the time that my Mom showed up three weeks ago (just got caught up *yesterday*!). Seriously, folks, Nana has saved the day around here. She plays with the boyos, washes dishes, is patient with my cah-ray-zi-ness AND let's me win at Scrabble. Be jealous, be very jealous. 

Rockstar Nana...and...Leo. 

6.    April 10th is National Sibling Day.
It's a made-up internet holiday, so it doesn't count, but I have the best siblings, and I love making you look at pictures of us, so we buy in for it anyways. 

Siblings are one of life's greatest gifts. You can choose the relationships you have with almost any other person, but you don't get to choose family. Your brothers and sisters are laid out for you from time immemorial. Your husband or wife is your closest companion in this life, but even he/she does not share the same bond that you have with a brother or sister. Who else has your exact same context for life? The same degree of craziness in all the right categories? They drive us crazy, but siblings are truly special. xoxo

7.    Good Grief Third Grade
There is honestly too much out there to comment on lately. And, as you recall, I am way way behind the learning curve on being up to date. Apparently there's a Heartbleed bug to be scared of? And Kirsten Dunst is joining the war on women? I give up. Maybe I *will* write that post about Frozen...unless someone gives me a lobster!

Linking it up with Jen @Conversion Diary for the 7QT fun.
Head back over there for more from the rest of the gang...

Update from Black Sheep Farm

It's been a while since I've said anything about this little place we call home. So I figured I'd do some introductions. Plus, my friend Cate (hello, Cate!) asked me ages ago to put up some more farm pictures. Also, as a disclaimer, please remember that I am merely a farmer-ette-in-training, with barely enough motivation, and nearly no expertise on farming. I do have some aspirations to have a little vegetable stand one day, and eventually enough goats to sell (yes, that means for their meat...so...maybe not the cute ones!). Any-ways...here we go!

This is about my daily level of excitement over farm chores. I'm holding a bag of hay for the goats. The hay bag is a very good invention, if you keep it full. If it gets empty, it gets eaten (the bag, that is). There's a metaphor for life in there somewhere. 

This is Leo's usual attitude about farm chores as well: let's find a stick.  He does like to dig in the dirt (what 3 year-old boy doesn't?) and to drive a tractor (again...3 year-old boy...). I will be far too delighted when he is old enough to feed the goats on his own. 

Can't get enough of that smile.

Daniel is pretty content to pal around with Mom and Leo, so long as he can jump in all the mud puddles.

These are the goaties. 

Bramble (R) and Raspberry (L) were our first official farm animals (if you don't count cats and dogs). They are so named, b/c goats are supposedly about as easy to care for as raspberry brambles.  Supposedly.  Houdini raspberry brambles, we'll say. 

Those two are supposed to become matriarchs, but so far our efforts at raising a buck to older age have been...a learning experience?

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named

This little goat is our Prince Reagent, the Patriarch-Elect of the Goat herd. He is a Boer-Kiko cross (75-25), so he's supposed to get really big and be wonderful. We'll see. He is just called "the little goat" right now, because if we really named him officially, it would jinx everything. Some times I'll say his name is Izzy, or Israel, and his name in his previous life was Klondike (because he is brown-white-brown), which I refused to endorse. I've learned not to get my hopes up too high in farm life. The unexpected is right around the corner...

This is the sheep. Most of the time we just call him "the sheep" or "mean sheep", b/c he's pretty ornery. There was a time when Leo said that his name was "Red"...

Don't let that look fool you...he's a toughie.  And he *will* ram you. Srsly. I used to be more mad about the sheep's existence on our farm, which is understandable, considering he's knocked me off my feet more than once, but I've since decided that since he is a rescue animal, I'm getting points in Heaven from St. Francis and St. Isiadore (patron of farmers) by being nice to him. Nice from a distance, that is.

This is the chicken coop/yard that Steven built. He's handy like that :). The orange bucket things are water-ers that self-fill via gravity tubing from the outer white bucket (in the summer, when water doesn't freeze), and they are lovely lovely. Yes, I just called a chicken water-er lovely. Judge away.

Some of our flock. The chickens are very good layers when we're not in a polar vortex, and we haven't had to buy eggs since they started laying (well, except for 2 doz. during said polar vortex). We also *had* four ducks, which were quite funny-looking, and a delight to watch when swimming in  their little kiddie pool (not pictured, b/c it's yucky looking). Unfortunately, an opossum (possum?) killed them all last week. Remember what I said about the unexpected in farming?  Perhaps there's another post in this thought, but I think that it's rather healthy for us to experience death up close like this. Circle-of-life, ashes-to-ashes, and life isn't always a bed of roses on a silver platter and all that jazz.

And so, we truck along here on the "farm", where time passes slowly and the children grow too quickly. 

{7QT} Wait...these are always Random Edition

Joining Jen as always...head back there for the real stuff ;)

1. I mentioned before that Marie was coming.
Well, she did, and it was lovely!  We had great times catching up on our reflective converstations and corralling the boyos into some semblance of normal (ha!). Daniel chose this week to be extra...off his game. Teething? Growth spurt? Both? Yes. All that aside, we'll be missing "fwiend Mawie" now...and our applications to the Royal Geographic Society for the Switching of the States Placement in the Continent has grown again (Ohio-Maine-Washington-NH-Indiana...party over here!). 

2. One of the fun things we did was to go see "Star Trek: Into Darkness" with Steven.
Steve's parents watched the boyos (I *actually* got Daniel to take a third nap to prep for a late night! Wow! I get a prize for that, right?) It was so much fun! Plus there is a dollar theater here...so we all got to go for $3. Yup. True dat. (Any takers on visiting Ohio now?!). Also there was this guy:

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A'int nobody hating on a movie with Sherlock. Nope.

3. After sitting on this post for a while, I finally published it today. Reflections started from hearing Mackelmore's 'Same Love'. I hope it's received well; I AM talking about getting along! : )

4. Did you see this?!
Our dear Sr. Agnes Therese Davis (the artist formerly known as Emily), made her First Profession of Vows on Tuesday with the Franciscan Sisters TOR. She's been a novice and postulant there for...three (?) years now, and this is a pretty big deal. 

Also, she is just emits joy, doesn't she? And if you didn't see this from me earlier, check it out as well. This is a song that Sr. Agnes Therese composed. Simply lovely.

5. #35K4SMA
So, I've been trying to get back into running regularly. It is HARD to be disciplined! I went for a week...and then petered out. BUT, I saw this post today from Kelly over @ This A'int the Lyceum. She is a funny and cheery mom of five kids, TWO of whom have Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), which is basically NOT a walk in the park. Anyhow, she's committing to 7 5K runs to add up to 35K For SMA. It's a fund-raiser-awareness campaign...should I hop on the wagon? :D

6. We went to visit some dear friends last night, and had a blast. We got to see the lambikins that our ram (Mean Black Sheep himself) fathered earlier this year. SO CUTE! Daniel called them "baby". And Leo played outside w/ the boys. In the rain. Basically little guy heaven.

two little ramikins

don't let the face fool you. he had a blast.

7. For those of you who know Davy Crockett personally, and remember (how could we forget?!) that Leo wore this hat constantly (to church. to bed. all. the time.) for about 3 months this past winter/spring, will be happy to know that there is a new sheriff in town. 

Introducing...Daniel Boone!

{7QT} Freiken’ Chickens Edition

The edition wherein I give helpful “tips” about owning chickens. AKA: I convince you that it may just not be worth it after all. Also AKA: why those farm stand eggs cost so much. 

--- 1 ---

Chicks will die. They are really really cute at first, and not very hearty. Brace yourselves.

Very cute. Very fragile. 

--- 2 ---

Actual tip: Have everything prepared in advance of actually having the chickens. This would include appropriate housing for the chickens at each stage of their needy needy growth. Also includes fancy videographic equipment to record yourself chasing chickens around the yard so that you can make a viral YouTube video and become a millionaire—because it ain’t gonna happen by sellin’ those eggs.

Fancy housing for little chicks.
Tote w/ lid cut out and chicken wire attached w/ nuts & bolts.

--- 3 ---

Actual tip #2: A fishing net is THE BEST chicken catcher in the world.

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{Bonus take} Actual text sent to my sister today: "I am about to attempt to catch my chickens using a fish net. Please pray to the patron saint of that for me to win without to much heartache." Patron Saint of Chickens, for the win! (Apparently St. Brigid of Kildare is the patron saint of chicken farmers. Chicken farmers hang her image on their coops!).

--- 4 ---

Own only so many chickens as you can devote 15 min/ea per day that they escape from your age-appropriate housing that you have prepared in advance. (Translation: all the days you own them.)This is known as the chicken:actual-time-you-have ratio of the farmer and is expressed by the equation:

[x=15c]

where x=amount of time you will spend running around your yard like an idiot trying to catch your chickens (amusing for your neighbors!)and c=the number of chickens you are naïve enough to have purchased.

{Bonus take} Actual text sent to my sister today: "There is not enough chocolate for single motherhood to be a viable option in this world. Idk how they do it. Well, lemme rephrase. Idk how they would do it and have chickens." Translation: major props to you single moms out there. Steve's away on a trip right now, and this makes all the excitement with the chickens you know WAY MORE FUN (ha. ha. ha.). 

--- 5 ---

Actual tip #3: chickens are WAY WAY easier to catch once they have “roosted” for the night. They basically act as though they have had a few too many gin and tonics (gins and tonic?), and you can just pick them right up, saving yourself ALL KINDS OF TIME.

--- 6 ---

I haven’t had to buy any eggs from the store since whenever it was 

last summer that the chickens started to lay eggs. 

--- 7 ---

Chickens eat ticks. I loathe ticks. QED...

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 2): Shout Outs etc.

7 Quick Takes Friday: Shout-outs etc. Edition

1. 

Our seeds came today! 

We ordered approximately 2 bajillion seeds 

from Johnny's Selected Seeds, 

located in Winslow, Maine: 

Shout out to Rebecca Bratten Weiss for making me

 more conscious of where I buy my seeds :0)

2.

Now, I am already wicked pumped that this lovely seed company is in Maine, 

but should I have been surprised that the seeds were delivered in a Volk Packaging box? :o) 

Shout out to Derek Volk and his awesome cardboard crew!

3.

This is the lovely mirror that Steven bought on a local online auction for $2.50. That’s right $2.50!

[The picture doesn't do it justice, but you can see the pretty curtains we bought a while back, 

and none of the clutter on my table. :P] 

Shout -out to Deborah King, 

who I know will be very excited for this :0)

4.

Shout out to my BFFs. 

You know who you are! 4-evah!

But seriously, I am serious. :0) 

xoxoxo

...and I also think these little girls have super-cute swim suits. 

 5.

Shout out to my lovely sister Margaret (so that makes two for her in this blog--awww!),

 who loves me way much. Way much meaning she mailed me a 

whole entire *big* bag of these for a Valentine. 

xoxoxo

6. 

So, kind of returning to item #1, now that we have "approximately 2 bajillion" seeds, 

we've got to get them started...and we're thinking about doing some farmer's market stuff this year. 

Whether that means I'll get my act together and get one going here in town, 

or I grow stuff and then pawn it off on unsuspecting other people...remains to be seen.  

But those little packets are deceivingly small for how much potential they contain. 

(There is some philosophical life lesson in that, isn't there?)

7.

You really can't get enough of this guy can you?

He is making a strange face because he is still wary of the papparazzi and doesn't like his picture being taken.

This is his Davy Crockett hat. He wears it everywhere, 

and everyone asks him if he's Davy or Daniel Boone. 

Sometimes he tells them, sometimes he just shows them his gun, which is whatever household (or outdoor) item that is currently serving as his side-arm. This week it's his "stick gun", which you can see in the bottom left-hand corner of the picture. 

Of course, 7QT was started by Jen, over at Conversion Diary :0)

Goats!

Wow!  We "officially" have a farm now!  Yesterday, we went and bought 2 baby goats!  They are super cute.  They are Boer-type meat goats, both female.  ...and since raising goats is as easy as raspberries (i.e. wicked easy), they are named Raspberry and Bramble.  Raspberry is the reddish one and Bramble the white.  Leo likes them a lot, though he cries when they do at times...!