Bad Bunnies

So we bought three more strawberry plants to plant in our little patch and I go out this afternoon to plant them and guess what? THEY ARE GONE! All that was left was a few naked stalks! I was SO MAD! I gathered up the materials and Bryon helped me fence them in. I defy those damn bunnies to get in now. I'm pretty sure this bunny in the picture was one of the culprits. He looks pretty well fed. I think we are going to have to cage in our entire garden. Last year we had lots of awesome green tomatoes that were just about to turn red and the next day...gone. Like they had never even existed. Pretty much we just garden for the wildlife now that we don't have a dog. We've been run amuck with squirrels and rabbits and Bryon even caught a bobcat on his trail cam. Welcome to nature.

Easter Morning

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Originally uploaded by trlrover

The Easter Bunny almost missed Grace this year because at 3 am when he came to deliver her goodies, she was in bed in the next room with Nana! Lucky for her, he knew she was probably close by! She got Peeps, Nerds, a chocolate bunny and a rubber stamp kit she had been eyeing at Wal-Mart. She was pretty pleased. She ate the chocolate bunny all at once (yep, she's my daughter!). Mom thought it would make her sick but she's got the Lisa Rice Medley chocolate gut and you really can't get too much chocolate :)

The Sky Is Falling, The Sky Is Falling!

The chicks are coming on Monday! I'm so excited. I have everything ready for them. I ended up getting 10 chicks and I got regular sized chickens. We had talked about getting bantams but they only sold them straight run and I didn't want 8 roosters! I ordered pullets (hen chicks) and hopefully that's what we'll get. It's going to really look like a farm out there when those chickens get to go out to their house. It will take about 6 weeks before they can start staying in the chicken house. We have half of their chicken yard finished and hopefully can complete it this weekend. I got two each of Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshire Reds, Buff Orpingtons, Red Sexlink Sussex) and Silver Laced Wyandottes. They are all on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) Conservation Priority List as threatened heirloom species. ( http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/wtchlist.html#chickens ). I didn't even know this list existed until my friend Liz gave me some books and magazines yesterday just before I ordered.

It's an exciting time on the Medley Farm!

Big Top, Big Ride

Children of all ages...

We went to the circus last night at the Shrine Mosque in Springfield. I hadn't been since I was 5 and went with our Kindergarten class. Bryon thinks he went once when he was 4. It was a pretty cool three ring circus and I thought the elephants were the best part. Grace got to ride one which was just pretty neat. She was right in front of the basket and it's ears kept flapping against her leg. She got to pet it's head too. Of course Grace is all about the food and spent most of her time eating and looking at her snow cone drink.

We went to Incredible Pizza afterwards and she really liked that. I played skeeball while Grace and Bryon rode the gocarts and my machine malfunctioned and gave me 115 free tickets! So we got the second from the least cheesy prizes before we left. A good time was had by all.

A Girl and Her Tutu

A lady at work gave Mom this little dance tutu for Grace. Grace loved it until she tried it on and you'll see what happened.

Chickens are a coming...

Grace helped Daddy primer the chicken house this past Saturday. We got a nice coat of red on it on Sunday and we hope to get it dragged out of the barn and set this weekend sometime. We have to try to get the chicken yard made so the coons and possums won't twist their little chicken heads off. Then we are going to get some chicks and try our luck. It should be interesting. I think we are going to get about 8 chicks to start with. Hens only. Bryon and I don't want no crowing roosters around waking us up at 4 am! We hope to have some eggs in about 6 months if all goes well.

I checked on my bees last weekend and they were still alive so if I didn't squish my queen when I checked on them (which I probably did) they might make it this year. We'll see. I've only had two out of five good years with them. I'm getting frustrated with them. Hopefully I'll be able to keep the chickens alive a little better.

Grace sure did love painting that chicken house. She had paint in her hair and everywhere, but she sure had fun. It made me hopeful I might be able to get something accomplished outside this year. I just have to watch her every second! I need to tie a bungie cord to her so I can keep her in site. She's a bug hunter, rock picker and puddle stomper for sure. She got her shoe stuck in the mud puddles twice and hopped over to me for help retrieving them. She was a filthy mess. Guess that's the fun part or at least that's what I keep telling myself :)

We are going to use our tax refund to fence our field so we can get a couple of calves to raise for beef. Let the farming commence!

A Wrinkle in Time

I just finished "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Enlge. I had never read it before. I don't know how I missed it but I really enjoyed it. I found it much along the lines of "The Chronicles of Narnia" with the mysterious creatures and biblical references.

I think I never really knew what it was all about and it was always on one of those "must read" lists which I generally avoid at all costs. I just can't stand to read things when some tells me I HAVE to. My stubborn streak I guess. I have to say I really missed out though. This book would have meant a lot to me during those awkward preteen years. (Of course some might thing I'm still awkward :)

This this the first of a quintet of books. I do love a series so I'll probably try to read the rest in between book club books etc. This book seemed pretty contemporary and timeless even though it was written in 1962.

I guess I'd have to agree with the "experts" on this one and would definitely recommend it to preteen boys and girls especially. Great heroes and heroines in this one :)

Mouse Hunt

We spent about half an hour on Saturday before we left for Garrett and Boone's birthday party chasing a mouse in the house! It was crazy! I guess I left the garage door ajar and one squirted in while we were upstairs. Bryon had shut it without me knowing and as I was walking into the bedroom I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye. I freaked. MOUSE! MOUSE! MOUSE!

Bryon jumped up, Grace jumped up and then they both started laughing at me. Now I REALIZE I'm bigger and smarter than a mouse but they are just so disgusting and fast! I do not like them Sam I Am. I don't like them in a HOUSE, I do not like them here or there, I do not like them anywhere.

Bryon chased it into our bedroom and we shut the doors at least confining it to one room. We put Grace up on the bed (still in her monkey night gown) while we tried to flush it out and stomp on it. It was pretty comical. We got Pansy (the cat) and threw her into the mix but she just ran away from it. Pussy.

Let me tell you those damn things are fast! Bryon just missed it like two dozen times. We'd see it go one place and it would sneak out another. Grace was a good spotter and told us where it was several times. In the meantime, she was jumping and clapping on the bed and cheering "You can do it Mama and Daddy, You can do it Mama and Daddy". For a minute there thought maybe I could :) She's quite the little cheerleader :)

Finally after about 30 minutes the jig was up and Bryon stomped it's fuzzy little head and threw it out the window. Yuck! They are just so disgusting.

Paintball Maniacs

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Originally uploaded by trlrover

Austin, Bryon, Aaron and Chris (the Huggler Men) have been playing paintball in our woods. They are ate up!