First chicks, signs of spring and sweet visits!

The house is quiet except for the sounds of rooster crows coming in from the outside and the peeping coming from the back kitchen. Jason has two side kicks (i.e. chatterboxes) out with him doing morning animal chores and I presume Kali is still sound asleep. It seemed like a good opportunity to rise to the challenge of updating our scrapbook. My dear great aunt Eleanor is here with us for a week right now and she has almost read through the entirety of the 2023 blog books in just a few short days. Her enjoyment of the books is nearly enough motivation for me to keep up the practice. But, as you can see, it's been over two weeks this time. We aren't even officially in spring yet and some days I'm finding it hard to catch my breath. That makes this practice of pausing and reflecting on recent days feel good and important (even though I aspire to be more present to the fullness of each moment of these precious, chaotic, sweet days). 

Buckle up for the ride!

Monday, February 19 - Mom and Dad left for 3 weeks of bird watching, shell collecting and sweet times with my sister and her wife in Florida. We spent this family work day not all doing the same thing. I still had "the dregs" of the kitchen deep clean to sort through and there was a bike shed door to construct. Jason and I did move the (rapidly growing) pigs to their final winter paddock in the morning.

Tuesday, February 20 - Jason was working away from home for Sassafras Enterprises much of the day. We enjoyed Luca's company in the morning and the girls had a playdate with Ivy in the afternoon. I was rather distracted this day with the FINAL hurdle of the kitchen deep clean (the drawer of file folders). It was the kitchen desk that was the most time consuming and emotionally laden for me. There were lots of things that had been tucked away there since I left CJP over TWO YEARS AGO! So it was not a simple sorting process but a trip through memories and the feelings associated with those memories. 

Wednesday, February 21 - While Jason worked with Jonas all day on their new addition, I took the girls ice skating with Ivy (an event with her homeschool co-op). This was just our second visit of the season but the girls had all improved a lot in a short amount of time. I did manage to catch Alida in mid-air on what I think may have been the only time she fell the whole time we were there!

In the evening we taste tested the very last delicata from 2023 (and even found a few winners this many months out!).

Thursday, February 22 - LUCA IS OFFICIALLY TWO! The gals of Tangly Woods got to enjoy birthday cake and ice cream with him in the evening, while Jason was at a writing event in Staunton. Before that Jason spent the day at home doing pig pen and chicken coop repairs for the upcoming season. The younger girls savored Bear care with me and it was a class day for Kali. There was clearly one part of the day that was most worthy of photos - BEAR CARE! I was so focused on just playing and savoring Luca in the evening that I didn't take a single photo of his bday gathering (so the one from our place a few nights prior will have to suffice!). 

Mobility is on the rise! But the direction is normally backwards. He started playing up with me and the blocks and took himself and his hammer away!

Friday, February 23 - This was a "normalish" Friday with Jason working at home (on the bike shed) and me spending the day in town (errands and Bear care). I do love that Kali's cooking night is Friday and so I get to come home to a delicious meal prepared by someone else! Over a dinner of cheesy corn pones and a Kali original soup, Tala took us on a tour of the market near her home. Even while eating a yummy meal, my taste buds were craving some of the delicious foods we were seeing. Tala and I continued talking for a few hours and I didn't know what was happening outside the room I was in until I downloaded photos this morning. There were A LOT of silly photos on Jason's phone from them giving each other prompts and then taking photos. Here's a TINY sampling!

Prompt: hearing the funniest joke you've ever heard

Prompt: you are in love with your thumb

Prompt: you found chicken poo on your shoulder

Prompt: best dance move in the world

Saturday, February 24 - I started the day with a lovely meander up to Hensley's Pond with a dear friend. On the home front it was door installation day on the bike shed and all the girls got in on the fun! 

For dinner, Alida treated us to another round of her delicious roti, made with 100% Tangly Woods' grown sirvinta wheat. We continue to taste test PA dutch squash as often as we have time to prep one when we plan to have the oven on. We've been finding some winners! Jason has also been selecting turnips to replant for making seed this coming year and bringing in all the ones that were not deemed seed worthy for our enjoyment (I'm a turnip convert, there's something pretty special about a crunchy fresh sweet veggie in February!)

As we finished up dinner, Bear arrived (with his parents in tow!) for a sleepover. The two of us had a good night together in the front room while his parents enjoyed the quiet of the in-law quarters for a night. A baby by the wood stove in the wee hours of the morning is pretty sweet!

Sunday, February 25 - And that same baby is equally sweet first thing in the morning in his jammies with little sleepy eyes.

We've been doing pretty well keeping our Sunday rhythm of Daddy/Mommy time with one daughter each Sunday afternoon. Today included a bike ride with Terah followed by snacks and games at the picnic table and some flower photography! 

Then we all took an afternoon hike with Emily, Jonas and Ivy up to - you guessed it - Hensley's Pond! 

Monday, February 26 - Mondays are quickly becoming my favorite day of the week. A family work day was such a good idea! We used to have them sporadically but not that we could count on regularly. For my busy and distracted mind, having a day that we have just one thing on the calendar (working together on the farm) makes for a day that can feel full of activity but calm and peaceful in my inner landscape. It's such a good way for me to start the week! We continue to make good progress on the winter cut back/pruning/preparations for the new growing season (finished the second new raspberry trellis system today) - the girls and I learning new skills as we go with one of the best teachers I've ever met! The weather was warm enough for meals/snacks/breaks outside and a light sprinkle didn't slow us down much. The chickens LOVE when we have picnics outside!

Every year the garlic worries me. Will it ever come up? I should have learned by now how consistent it is!

When I tell people that we are swimming in eggs and our ladies are laying in earnest, this is what I mean. Mind you that there are at least 6 nest boxes in the compost coop, but on this particular day several of them clearly preferred this one!

Tuesday, February 27 - Jason started a 3 day work stretch away from home today for Sassafras Enterprises. I get more time with our feathered friends on those days and do love how happy I can make these creatures by filling their feeders and giving them access to fresh grass!

Wednesday, February 28 - I was amused to find that Jason and I each took one, and only one, photo on our phones this day. Jason took his one picture of this friend he must have found while working on the clearing work he was doing for a customer...

...and I took one of my first bouquet of 3 yellow flowers. I don't think it will every change - that I will feel compelled to pick yellow flowers in groups of 3 occasionally (a memory of the spring Nora was with us and Kali deciding that it would be ok to take Nora outside when we saw the first 3 yellow flowers). 

Thursday, February 29 - Corey, Ivan and Bear arrived the evening before to enjoy a few days in the in-law quarters while it was unoccupied. It was pretty sweet to have them upstairs. It's hard to not agree with my Grandma Bucher that every home needs a baby. I mostly agree with the sentiment, in terms of how much joy a baby brings to my spirit. Jason was gone all day again, but the younger girls and I savored a full day with Bear, followed by his parents joining us for dinner and music together. Oh it was sweet! And after over 12 hours together, I was not at all tired of Bear and was eager for the morning when I would swipe him up again!

Friday, March 1 - It was a big day for the bike shed - it got its battens AND it was the back drop of our March 1 family photo. The end is coming more and more fully into sight!

I got to enjoy Bear's first nap of the day but then had to head to town for errands around the time when he was getting sleepy again. That meant that Alida got to enjoy helping him catch a second nap. 

Saturday, March 2 - Before the upstairs crew had to depart, we savored brunch together followed by project planning time (both for some cabinetry Jason plans to do for them and then we had fun reviewing the architectural work up of Jason's pavilion sketches - making it feel real!).

Earlier that morning Jason got the sweet potatoes, peppers and basil started. The seed shelf is full!

Sunday, March 3 - Hatch day #1 of 2024 arrived! With 100% fertility in the incubator, we had an amazing first hatch of the year (there are 33 VERY spunky chicks, out of 35 eggs set). Kali, Jason and I pulled ourselves away to donate blood, but only Jason had good enough blood (i.e. high enough iron) to donate. In the afternoon my great aunt Eleanor arrived to enjoy Mom and Dad's space for the last week of their absence. Her two daughters graciously help with transportation and the stars finally aligned for Betty and I to take a hike before she headed on her way. I am wearing quite the path to Hensley's Pond these days, and love it!

Monday, March 4 - Another favorite day of the week (for me) came around but this one got a bit disrupted at the end. After getting more wood chips for the pigs, emptying and refreshing bedding in a chicken coop and finishing up all the pruning/cut back in the main fenced garden areas, we decided to clear the walking trail up the hill behind our home. As we got started, our neighbors called to see if Jason could come help with a cow that was down (following birth). Sadly, if none of the treatments to get her up work, there is little to do other than salvage the animal for food. So while the girls and I continued with the trail maintenance, he headed down the road to help out our neighbors. It was 4-5 hours later when he finally landed home tired, messy and ready for dinner and bed! 

Tuesday, March 5 - And that brings me to yesterday. A day with multiple appointments for Jason and several walks for me (I guess Jason and I were both tending to our physical and mental health, but in different ways). I also tended to our home's health by FINALLY having a window where I could scrub the front room floor (I changed the water in my bucket 5x and it was equally disgusting every time!). My poor family was banned from the front room until I could enjoy at least ONE evening with it being clean before we start traipsing through it again. Thankfully being banned from the front room for a bit wasn't too much of a hardship when there are chicks for adoring in the back kitchen! 

In the afternoon Jason was doing a siding job down the road and it was kind of him to not show me how high up he was working until AFTER he was safely home! 

Everyone is up and at it here now so I think I'll end for now. I'll close by sharing a photo I took yesterday of the beautiful delicate tiny Dutch Iris that are blooming along our front walk. I feel so grateful for the splashes of color appearing in the world all around us. And I'm trying to savor and not take them for granted, as I know this view of vibrancy and abundance is not shared by all (as much as we want it to be and hope our way of showing up in the world makes it possible for at least more people to experience life in this way)!