Hey there!
Goodness. Where do I start?
The first thing that pops into my mind is the mice problem. Over the years, we’ve managed to seal off places under the house that mice can squeeze through, and the numbers of mice coming inside have died down. There is still some hidden crevice under a sink that the mice are coming in from, but other than that we (thankfully) have no more invasions. Outside of the house is a different story. The little brown things are everywhere. Daddy has put up a few traps around our 5-acre homesite to keep them from eating our plants. Each one is triggered the next day. In the tightly sealed container alone, five mice have been caught in subsequent days. The quantities of mice appearing in traps seem to be slowing down. Very gradually.
Now onto the happier side of things… Daddy and I put up a new electric-fenced area around the walkways and blueberries for the pigs to be relocated to once they are done grazing the orchard. It will be nice not having to mow that area. It is just as hilly as the orchard.
The pond has been patched up. It is no longer leaking!! We have filled it to the brim and can now relax on the Adirondack chairs that overlook it. We also dug a shallow trench to tighten the fabric and hide the concrete blocks that hold the fabric in place. It is much neater now. The frogs are back— loud as ever— and the waterfall is up and running. The white noise is very welcome at night.
Just this morning, Daddy went out and purchased a bulk of raspberry, Autumn olive, goumi, and tea bushes. I had not heard of Autumn olive or goumi berries before this shopping spree. Daddy plans on planting them along the pond (to keep dirt from flying in) and along the fence.
Daddy also plans on selling all of our kid goats. This is a sad thing, but alas, this was the initial design. Jared and I are somewhat petitioning for at least one of them to be kept, but that would create complications. Since Pepe is the father and the only male goat, the next breeding season, he would be let into the girls’ pen. We don’t want any family-mixing, so unless a solution arises, the idea is that we sell our kids and milk Shamrock and Daisy. Around May is when we will start posting them for sale.
Last but not least, we moved the bees out of their shady and windy cove to the “backyard” where they encounter full sun and protection from the wind. Except the wind part is not really working out. The haphazardly strung up tarp for shade has come off. We are beginning to think that the original placement of the beehives might be better.
Thank you for reading!
Love,
Lauren
