Busy on these warm days

In spring on the farm once the sun starts to shine we get busy. You may have one or two days of nice sunny warm weather then rain for a few days and repeat. On the nice days I try to get lots done so I don't fall so far behind. Since I last posted I kinda have over worked myself. It all started with the front porch and back deck. I thought on one of the nice days it might be a good idea to get the porch cleaned off and get new slip covers made for the patio furniture. I dragged the water hose out and with dawn and bleach went to work scrubbing the porch. Got it looking nice. Got the cushions out and got the new slip covers made for those. I used an old comforter that I bought at a yard sale a few years back. They turned out nice. Too bad I don't have a picture to prove it. But you could guess that, right?

We got new satellite Internet installed last week too. Now I can stay online without gettin kicked off or the Internet being slower than dial up. I like it! My computer is old and slows me down some but I can live with it for now.

We are still waiting on that lil grandson to make his appearance. I took my pickup in last week to the nearest Chevy dealer to be serviced before we take it on a long trip. Rodger was there with his company truck gettin it serviced too. We walked around out side just talking and looking at vehicles and we spotted THIS...

Long story short, this is my new ride. Its a 5 speed Hummer, H3. Drives and rides much better than my pickup and I am sure the trip to Nevada will be a lil easier. I take my baby back to the dealer tomorrow to get the computer sensor that tells me I got a low tire fixed. Then I will be set. We are waiting on the call that our sweet daughter in law, Amoy is in labor and we are gonna head out to Nevada to meet our first grandson. I am really looking forward to seeing that lil fellow.Papaw Rodger bought him his first lil camo sleeper last weekend and a lil shirt/shorts sets in camo as well. I think they are just darling.

Wont that lil boy be cute in these? We think so. We have an online baby shower going on for Liam and Amoy. Its kinda neat with all the new technology to be able to be in on the shower and not actually have to travel all the way across the country. They have registered with Babies R Us for gifts so family and friends back here can get gifts and have them shipped straight to them to open at the actual shower. They have his lil bedroom almost done but they are lacking a rocking chair. We have a rocking chair here that Rodger bought for me when Jason was born. So its 31 years old. It have been moved around a lot and different people have used it and it had its fair share of damage. So this past weekend Rodger was off on Friday and we got the chair out on the deck while the weather was nice and sanded and refinished it. It looks like brand new now.

Our dining table was in bad need of refinishing too because a past owner had put an incompatible finish on it and it had bubbles and raised areas where the finish was peeling. So we toted it out on the deck and I started sanding the top. Rodger ended up taking a wood chisel and literally peeling the top layer of finish off and that made my job so much easier. I love the way it turned out. I love oak anyway and this looks nice.

I have the antique linens on there just to add some warmth to the dining area. I also put a fresh coat of polyurethane on the chairs that we have had since we been married. It sure freshened them up. I like the end result of a weekends work.

Sunday Rodger finally got my benches done for the greenhouse. Then I got all my seeds started the same day. I started just as much stuff I think but I still have empty spots on the benches. I hope I haven't had a brain fart and missed getting something started.

I went down to the chicken house across the road this morning to check on my lil Cornish babies and found the heat light had died sometime last night. Oh my goodness!! That is usually a disaster when they get cold. But fortunately they had huddled together and stayed alive. I came back to the house and got another heat bulb and put it in so they had nice heat. They got up and all of them were moving around good and started eating and drinking. So the heat must have been off a good while for them to be too cold to eat and drink. These birds do not tolerate extremes of heat or cold. I don't think the light was off all night or they would have all died as the temps were in the 20's last night. Talk about heart breaking. But it all ended well. That is just one reason I don't like having them so far from the house and I cant see if the light is on during the night. And its too far for a remote thermometer to alert me. So hopefully next time we can have a building up here hear the house.

This evening Rodger got in the garden with the rototiller and got the area plowed up good so we can plant taters and onions tomorrow. I have to get the taters cut and ready by time he gets home tomorrow so we can get them all planted and the onions set in. Our peas are up about 3 or 4 inches tall now and look great. I will be picking up some fertilizer tomorrow while I am out so we can get the peas side dressed and have enough to put in the row when we plant our taters too. I still need to get my raspberries cut down and some compost put on them. Doubt that happens this weekend because I am leaving Thursday to go visit my aunt Ann and attend my cousins wedding. I have to gt my visiting done soon so we can be ready to travel and when we get home from seeing the lil grandson and spending a lil time with him we have to hit the ground running. It will be time to plant the major part of the garden when we get back. I am just not sure my body is gonna tolerate much as far as gardening this year. All the piddly stuff I have done over the last 2 or 3 weeks have my knees hurting so darn bad. I am giving serious thought to maybe goin to the RA doc and having steroid injections. I am gonna try taking oral prednisone for a few days to see if that kicks the problem and if not, then its gonna be off to the doc.

Not much else happening here on the farm right now, so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella