Well,

  The chicks are coming, the chicks are coming!  We have buckeye pullets coming this week and freedom ranger chicks coming next week.  That means time to break out brooder boxes and check the heat lamps.  Chicks need to be under heat lights for about 4 weeks until the adult feathers emerge.  We keep them in boxes in Ron's shop.  He hasn't complained yet, which is quite amazing.  I'm trying this year to order extra chicks so that people who don't want a large number of chicks can try chicken owning.  I also am trying to push those without large lots to start chicken ownership.  Urban/suburban chicken rearing has become quite the popular push with the concern about food safety and an interest in being closer to the food supply.  So all of those getting new chicks this year, we celebrate with you.  Happy brooding.

So for the last 3 weekends we've been working on placing hardwood floors in our bedroom.  We've been without grown up floors for the last 3 years.  OSB floors cause multiple injuries (think splinter shards under the fingernails) and are very difficult to clean though can be customized.  We have finally finished the 3 bedrooms and they are beautiful.  Working in the home is a great way to pass a long winter.  We never have time to do indoor chores when the days are long and the nights are warm.  It's hard work, but very satisfying and we now have something we can be proud of.  The next step is buying flooring material for the living room, dining room, and hallway.  

The chickens are strong believers that spring is coming.  They have started laying eggs again.  Maybe the groundhog was right this year and we'll have a short winter.  I think we've earned it.  Also, our first calf of the year was born on Friday though I haven't had time to walk down and take pictures and perform a gender check on the calf yet.  That notice will be coming soon and the picture posted on our for sale page.

I've also identified an additional source for a couple of more packages of bees so we should be going strong this spring with four hives.  But we'll see.  

Hope everyone else is getting their indoor chores done.  It does make Spring come that much faster.

It was 60'ish today.  In February.  In Ohio.  And though I know that this is just an Indian Spring (my term that I've grown fond of), I still cherished the time I had outside today.  After noon, the sun came out and the earth began to warm.  The snow is, slowly, melting away and I can hear the birds starting to sing.  I was able to remove the burrs from some of the ponies' manes and tails and give them a good brush down.  I will work on the other guys tomorrow.  I was working outside with a t-shirt and loving it.  The girls have started to lay again, it's slow but it's picking up.  And we are still on Dolly watch for the first calf of the year.  Next week, it will probably snow, but for today it was Spring! And I rejoiced.  I hope you were able to enjoy your day, wherever you were.  

Life on the farm can be disappointing as well as exciting.  There is sadness as well as joy.  Today I went to check on the bees and found that both surviving colonies have died.  They had food but our winter has been so long and so cold that they were unable to move to the stored frames in honey.  They basically starve in an ocean full of food.  It was very disappointing because we harvested our first batch of honey this year and were expecting and even grander harvest this coming year.  

However, we do have a close eye on Dolly.  She is expecting and sometime VERY soon.  I don't think she can get much bigger, but she keeps trying.  This week would be an excellent week for her to have her calf as it is going to be relatively mild.  I keep telling her this.  I don't know if she is listening as she is a very stubborn cow.  

Calls are still consistently coming in about the cows.  We still have several available, for all purposes.  Don't miss out on the opportunity to own your own miniature oreo cookie cow.  Also, while we are not expecting any foals this year, we do have several geldings in training that will make awesome saddle horses.  

And, so, life on the farm continues and chores must be done.  There is no rest for the modern day farmer.