Winter Spring

It's still hard to figure out if it's winter right now or if it's spring. On the one hand, we still have snow everywhere and it was snowing again today. My hike this morning was a slushy mess...but the dogs had a good time! Zoey ran around for almost the whole hour - she just needed a small rest zipped up in my vest when she got too cold and tired.

My friends Emma and Jess came to visit last weekend. We had a good time that included Emma throwing a halter together and taking a snowy ride on Sam. 

On the spring side of things, guess what's in this box?

Chicks, chicks and more chicks! Our 50 broiler chicks arrived today (the pink dye is to mark that they were vaccinated). 

Unfortunately, it's pretty cold outside for trying to keep chicks warm. Nathan set the brooder up with 3 heat lamps in the 'barn house' (the section of the original barn that has been insulated and has flooring) and the chicks seem to have plenty of warm spots in there. 

Chicks spread out  - a sign that they're warm enough. 

We put a chick waterer in just in case, but they've already figured out the water droppers.

Baby animals everywhere...no lambs yet, but look who's back!

Meghan and Meghan's calf (now called Missy) are back with their calves, Mac and Molly. They are so cute and very curious about the dogs! Some fences will have to be fixed to be calf proof, though - the calves can get under one side into the neighbouring paddock and then don't seem to be able to get back to their moms again. Their moms get very upset when that happens!

And then there's the baby animal that's keeping us the busiest at the moment: the puppy. Having a puppy isn't necessarily hard work (other than the stress of making sure to socialize and train her well!) but it sure is time consuming. You can't take your eyes off of Zoey for even a second or she'll have a power cord, a piece of the carpet or Ryan's foot in her mouth. She is a great puppy so far - outgoing and playful and silly. She loves all people and dogs and she is pretty respectful of Abby and Ryan. Abby has decided this week that Zoey is worthy of play time. 

Puppy in sunny leaves - she was so happy to be out of the snow!

She loves the warm greenhouse.

Meeting our landlord's daughter. 

Having a 4-year old around who just wants to ask the puppy to sit and then feed her lots of treats is great for socializing.

She also decided that the puppy needed a hay blanket.

Abby showing Zoey the ropes.

While not watching the puppy and taking care of the animals, we've been busy planting lots of seeds. Yesterday we planted over 300 tomato seeds.

Nathan built an awesome table in the greenhouse that's under some of the extra greenhouse plastic. It's perfect for hardening off the seedlings since it's even warmer than the greenhouse and protects the seedlings from the cold nights. 

Broccoli, arugula, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, lettuce...

Seedlings on top and mushrooms growing underneath.

The mushrooms look really cool growing out of the bucket that Nathan made.