4-29-03: Chirping, Braying, Bleating

Tuesday April 29, 2003
7:25am  I’m in the sunroom, wrapped up in a blanket (it’s 58*) and looking outside from the comfort of my brown recliner. Seems it rained a little overnight—just enough to wet the fields that the farmers planted in the last couple days. We’ve been interested by the giant rig we’ve seen working the field to the west and north. They must have known about this rain coming, because the other night they were plowing or seeding or something at 10:00pm by the light of bouncy headlights.

I’m still glad I watered yesterday, though, because everything was very dry. Just unbelievably beautiful, sunny days! Yesterday was gorgeous, with tank-top temps near 80—David broke down and wore shorts. Some of his projects included washing windows in the sunroom & kitchen, chainsawing the logs in the W field “burn pile”, and digging a trench between the pier & the house to run an electric cord underground.

As you can see, we were quite the
expert sod cutters by this point.

I puttered around watering things, especially the area I seeded (grass) under the two big trees in the front. Then I worked on the *compost pile; finished prepping the 2nd & 3rd bin ground area, turned the first into the 2nd, and started a new pile with stuff I had on standby. 

David helped me finish chipping & shredding a small pile I had set aside (we’re having some mechanical issues with that unit, so it’s good he is nearby when I use it) so the two giant piles we accumulated since moving here are now officially dispersed. I shouldn’t have to turn the bins again until mid May—need to get a thermometer to stick in the pile (needs to get @ 150-160*) The strawberries are doing well. Not growing tall but looking stronger every day.

We are loving our patio. Were worried a bit that being on the north side of the house might be a problem, but it gets plenty of light in addition to the shade that moves in early from the shadow of the house. We have tikki torches, although there was a little trouble keeping them lit last night in the breeze. David worked outside until @ 7:00pm, and was filthy from the chainsawing and digging. He showered & scrubbed, then I served up BBQ’d steaks and brown rice.

I love how bright & sunny it is so early in the morning. Near Seattle, the marine clouds/fog/rain clouds rarely “burned off” until afternoon. Tessa is having a nice nap on a blanket on the floor next to me. Vince wanted to go sleep with David, and Pav’s in his usual spot. Birds are chirping, donkey braying, lambs bleating. 

I’m keeping an eye on Cocoa Chanel (‘Sassy’), the mini that shares the field with Sam. I had a hunch recently that she is pregnant, and neighbor Don confirmed it. Due in @ a month, but I’m on alert because yesterday she kept neighing at the boy horse across the road in Don’s field. He’s the daddy, so I guess she’s keeping him informed. The apple pie I made is tasty, although I didn’t hear the timer go off & it got a little overdone. The crust look nice but the apples were a bit soft.

Projects for today? I plan to plant a flower mix in the back yard flower garden ($1 bag closeout from Home Depot) and lay out the proposed outline for the flower bed in the front yard, near the porch. Oh, yesterday we placed and planted 3 trees by the pond. Two crabapple and one dogwood. There will be a willow at the east end.

8:20am  Tessa’s awake & sitting on my lap now—guess I’ll play with her awhile and then get going.

7:10pm  Just finished dinner (spag & toast) and thought I’d note some of the things we did today.     David: made pancakes & coffee, paid bills, ordered shredder parts, upgraded satellite service, then outside to: mow front yard, used tractor to dig post holes for the greenhouse, worked on tractor, plowed W field garden (again & again), hauled cut wood from “burn pile” to by the barn, showered.
Tina: wrote in journal, ate breakfast, kitchen cleanup, folded laundry, planted flower mix, derocked the driveway, made pathways in the garden, de-rocked the garden, misc watering, showered, made dinner.

New “Frasier” on tonight.

*compost: After I found an example online of the 3-bin compost system I wanted, David built it for me, with improvements of course. It was awesome. Can't seem to locate any photos of it just yet.


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