It isn’t a understatement that we have been swamped with activity here on the farm. This year has brought us many changes….many good changes for our family and we are starting to feel like we are gaining traction once again.

This spring, we are enjoying all the babies being born. We’ve had several different sets of sheep twins born recently. Baby lambs are so adorable!

We also had baby goldfish born which was is something we didn’t expect!

We are now getting lots of eggs from the chickens and even some from the ducks.

The boys have been working on repairing their “Indian Fort”. It’s served them well over the years and they have put a lot of hard work into getting it back in shape. So they have been measuring, drilling, cutting, sawing and nailing wood for days.

We are still having some cool nights but on the warmer spring like nights, we all love hearing the loud frogs.  During the day, the little ones are having a great time making frog homes for all their pet frogs. 

We also found the first snake of the season yesterday and it brought back really bad memories. I know warmer weather brings the ticks, chiggers and snakes, I just like to forget about it and hope they might just go away one year.

Also with warmer spring like weather comes the beautiful greenery in the leaves and grass. Which means the grass is going to need to be mowed soon. We’re taking a proactive approach on keeping the grass down this year. It’s an old fashioned lawnmower and natural fertilizer all-in-one!

The ponds have been frozen.  Not yet frozen enough to ice skate all the way across.  Although they have had some good laughs at the ducks slipping and sliding all over the pond.   The kids are sure hoping the drop in temperature coming up later this week will do the trick.

The frogs and toads are out in full force.  Night time is a symphony of sound.  I love leaving the windows open and listening to the night sounds…that is until I am reminded we live on a farm with renegade roosters who know where my bedroom window is. 

Our science lessons are all around us…outside. 

My kids love picking up all the frogs, toads, lizards and salamanders.  Even as a kid…I didn’t like touching them.  My girls fight over who gets to hold the frog next. Frogs are their babies and they get pretty serious about taking care of them by building lavish 5 gallon bucket homes for them with lots of grass and “pretty flowers” for them.   

Lately, there have been plenty of frogs to go around.  In fact, our ponds are being over taken with thousands of baby tadpoles or as the 3 year old says…the “tad-uh-polts” (say it just like you would catapult.  She has brothers.)  One day not too long ago we spent a morning out at the pond…watching hundreds of frogs mate.  The kids thought it was a great.  Frogs give me the creeps…especially hundreds of them…mating…and carrying on like they do. 

The boys brought me a present one night…a 5 gallon bucket hopping mad with frogs they had captured on the way back from the milking barn.  They knew how much I would enjoy a 5 gallon bucket of frogs…that’s what made it so funny for them. 

We have bull frogs, tree frogs and toads…all kinds…all over.  I was pleased, however, to find out that the tad-uh-polts make great duck food.  And when they finally leave the pond, the chickens are in for a real treat. 

Lately, the frogs have provided a great opportunity to observe, discuss and learn many important science lessons for all of us.  The best thing about frogs is that they eat a great many bugs.  That makes me happy! 

We’re trying too.  We just realized it has been almost two weeks since we posted.  For shame.  Good thing the blog doesn’t require water or feed, doesn’t need it’s pen moved to a fresh green patch, doesn’t need a bottle or need to be milked …it just sits there and waits. 

We have lots to post!  The farm is waking up this spring.  We have plenty of fresh green grass and are enjoying watching the trees burst out new leaves.  We have quite a bit of new life around here…some of our hen’s have hatched out new chicks with new broody hens making themselves known.  The calves are growing well and we hope that they are over their newborn frail hump.  The ducks are growing rapidly in our frog pond with more tadpoles to eat than they could ask for. 

We’ll be back with some of the happenings and upcoming events around here….

Happy Spring!!!

In an effort to repair his pond from the devastating effects that the 2007 drought caused, he has been tending his pond like a sick puppy (…like he would attend a sick puppy, not like I would…).

He’s already added bentonite clay. 

Today, he walked in the house with a big bag and a box and a smile.  A bag of water with grass carp swimming around in it.  And a box of ducks.  And a smile on his face.  I’m assured they are just farm tools…not more animals. 

Ducks to help seal the pond and grass carp to eat the grass in the pond. 

We know nothing about ducks yet, so hopefully they will live longer than the ducks do in all the stories I hear people tell me.  Have you noticed that no one has ducks very long??  We had a nice bedding spot for them but they quickly messed it up.  They promptly began to eat the wood shavings we laid down for them.  That can’t be normal or good.

So we are trying to learn Duck 101 tonight?  These farm tools didn’t come with instructions!