If you don't hear from us...

...it's because we are completely underwater.

Ok, not quite - but getting there.

Happy dogs love playing in the shallow part of the flooded pond!

The problem here is that our pond has no outflow area. It is the lowest point of our property...and it's lower than the road (and no ditch next to the road). So we aren't quite sure what to do about that, other than adding a ton of fill or making a huge bank. Even with a high bank, the water will likely flood the 'dry' side since it comes down from everywhere else on the property. 

Hopefully some willows will grow and eventually help...

The ducks really love their swim up/waterfront property. Duck-erty value has skyrocketed this year ;)

We're going to try some swales along the edges of our paddocks to help with water retention and flooding.

We finally built a fence in this back area! The project was put on hold the day of my wasp anaphylaxis. This is where we were clearing when it happened and it just got left in a semi-finished state (it didn't look this bad - this is mid-project). 

Fence posts in (dug and cemented in). 

Fence complete! We're finishing up the stairs up the hillside here, too. 

Enjoying the sunny days

We also enjoy the rainy days...but not quite as much - although we have gotten a ton of indoor projects done over this past year! So that we can remember (this is since last Feb):

Kitchen:

-redid floors

-painted cabinets

-finished painting trim

-started wood countertop

-new kitchen faucet

-built dog bowl holders

-new dishwasher hoses 

-plumber replaced all the old plumbing under the sink

Bathroom:

-redid floors (due to dishwasher flooding due to rat-chewed -ick-lines)

-new shower head

-plumber replaced bathroom plumbing and re-seated toilet

Living room:

-painted walls grey

-painted trim

-'pinterested' the coffee table and tv stand

-cut up the couches and made them into a sectional..

-turned upright bookshelf into back-of-couch bookshelf

-made wooden dog bed holder

-stained crates for wall decoration

-new TV

Office:

-painted old desk (needs replacing)

-temporary floors (also need replacing)

Hallway:

-painted grey and wainscotting along bottom

-painted all doors and trim white (was dark particle board)

-painted hall closet and put a shelf in for linens

-redid front closet

Guest room:

-painted walls and trim

Bedroom:

-made a bed frame for our high bed

-redid closet

-painted armoir and crate bedside 'tables'

Basement:

-painted cinderblock walls and cement floor

Basement room 1:

-foam puzzle floors 

-organized shelves/storage

Phew! No wonder we like to rest in the sun sometimes

Such a nice view on this hike!

7 week old incubator chicks exploring for the first time outside:

They are in an xpen in the coop next to the 3 week old chicks from the next 'batch'. When we're around we let them out. The 3 week old chicks took off exploring the first time (it was hard to get them back in!) but the older chicks barely left. Maybe they develop some 'stay close to the coop' survival instincts between 3-7 weeks? 

Clarice and Squishy, the 2 oldest gals. Pushing 3 this year!

Dogs watching over our sheep while they graze in the neighbours' field (Ryan, you're facing the wrong way...)

3 amigos:

Seedlings house very close to complete! We've got some cilantro, kale, broccoli and cabbage seeds planted in there.

Dining Al Fresco

Ryan also dining Al Fresco...

It was the most lovely evening a few nights ago. We both got home from work by 4:00 and we stayed outside for a few hours in the sun puttering around and watching the funny animals. It felt like spring! We let the sheep down to the bottom area to graze, and then fed them their evening hay out on the pasture. 

See that little guy lying down? He was a surprise Friday afternoon! I was feeding the girls when I looked down to see a tiny newborn lamb. I guess the other ewe that we got from my friend a few months ago was pregnant! And we thought she was just getting fat from the nice hay (speaking of which, look at Oprah's giant fat body in the front of that photo...clearly the one non-pregnant ewe doesn't need as much as the nursing mums...).

Such a cute little guy! Three days old here.

I'm not sure how to be PC about this, so I'm just going to say it... he's got the biggest nuts we've ever seen! Look at those things - down to his knees! He brings back memories of our trip to the nude beach in Hawaii...

Here is a subject changing Goat. 

Abby is still as fast and athletic as ever with her frisbee, at 11.5 yrs old!

Selfies with Goat

"You guys are beyond ridiculous...and I would never tolerate such nonsense."

See that shoddily barricaded barn behind Zoey? That's the rapidly dwindling hay supply. As soon as we let the sheep out for a wander when we're down there, they head straight to the hay and pretend to be goats; they hop right over and in to eat hay. Luckily, Zoey was a good sheep/hay guarding dog. When one of the mama ewes gets fresh with her, she has no problem leaping back and forth at the ewe until the ewe backs down (Ryan tucks tail and runs in that situation, and Abby would never let herself get into that situation in the first place). 

Zoey, stick-y in mouth, carefully watching her sheepies. 

Our farm might be entirely underwater soon. Ducks are happy.

That bench? That's the now underwater dock.

Recycled window seedling house is nearing completion!

Collies in love

Three dog beds and a big couch and they choose to lie like this...

Empty nest

The chicks moved out of the house and into the coop (in an xpen) today! Here they are in their dirty transport bucket.

In a few months they'll contribute to the work force...

Oh Pinterest, you inspire me ;)

Updates

I haven't had a chance to take any photos in this rainy muck, but hopefully we'll see the sun again sometime soon! I went out to do the chores on Friday morning and I was half paying attention while feeding the sheep...and suddenly I noticed that there was a brand new lamb there! One of the ewes that we got from my friend (the ones that rode back here in my car) had her lamb! We were told she was due in February, but she had sure been looking close to lambing - and yup, one super cute ram lamb! This is good news, because if we're organized we can split the sheep into two groups and have this ram breed with Oprah and Amelia, and Amelia's ram can breed with the two new girls. That will get us through another year of lambing without a permanent ram.

The one little mink-surviving chick has turned out to be a rooster - of course - just our luck! Luckily, 11 eggs hatched healthy chicks in the incubator and they're now 2 weeks old. I've got another batch in there that will hatch in 2 weeks. We'd like to have another 10 hens or so. If we end up with too many, it should be easy to sell point of lay pullets (people are always looking for those). Any extra roosters will go in our freezer. They don't get as big or as meaty as purpose bred meat birds, but they work well for 2 person meals...especially if you don't mind less breast meat and big free-range meaty drumsticks!

Pippa didn't seem to go into heat last week, so that hopefully means that she is indeed pregnant! Little Pippa(s) in 4 months.... can't wait! Our neighbours probably want one mini-mower, and I should get a list of some other interested people. I have no idea how many kids she'll have (first time pregnancy means usually only 1-2, but her mom had 4 last year and then 4 again this year).

The two pigs are growing quickly! Having them over the winter has been fine so far - they were comfy in their fort in the barn and now that they're much bigger, they spend most of the day out in the open. I'm sure they grow a bit slower in the cold since more energy goes into keeping warm, but we'll see how long it takes them to get to bacon size...