Tuxedos,Strawberries, Window Boxes and A Dog With A Sense of Humor!

Things are pretty hectic here on the homestead. Out youngest will be getting married in July, and things are starting to get real. I have been in denial, since we just had the next to youngest get married last summer! These kids are trying their best to make Pud'nin and I old!
So, with that in mind, Pud'nin had to go get fitted for a tuxedo Yea, a tuxedo. For anyone who knows him, you know that he does NOT wear tuxedos! He rarely wears a shirt that is even in one piece. He is a jeans and sleeveless denim kinda guy. Just goes to show, this Dad will do anything for his kiddos. Even wear a monkey suit! But, I have to say, Pud'nin cleans up pretty good!

Nice!

Shiny shoes!

We also walked around the Mall checking out dresses, went to Hobby Lobby and ate dinner with Mom, Katrina and Joy. THEN, we came home just in time to watch Kaeli play basketball in her Intramural games. She did AWESOME!! My phone was dead, so I didn't get any pictures. If I get a few I will post them so you can see her cuteness. She really was a force to be reckoned with on the court.
It was quite a busy day! Fun in so many ways, but still, by last night I was more than ready to go to bed, lol
Today, was a new day. It was sunny and the temperatures were perfect. Of course the normal chores were still there! Flossie has been losing quite a bit of weight and we were thinking it was Ellie being such a piggy. But we noticed today that her hay roll was packed so hard that she could not tear any off and eat it during the day! I am heartbroken! Of course she still gets a lot of stuff to eat other than that roll of hay, but still, I feel like a bad cow mom! Tomorrow we will take that roll out, and replace it with one that is not hard as a rock! I also have to go get feed tomorrow so I will get her some Alfalfa cubes to help her with her nutrition. Even though she still gets 3 huge coffee cans of 16% feed twice a day, plus about 4 to 5 flakes of Bermuda hay at night, she needs hay during the day!

That is the offending hay roll in the background!

After my morning animal chores, I weeded the strawberry bed. I am a bit sad that it is not spreading like I had hoped. Still a good stand of plants and I cannot wait until the berries are ripe and ready! Freezer Jam here I come!

Oooooh Berries!

The window box that Pud'nin made me for the barn is now up and bloomy! He did such a good job, and it was such a sweet surprise. I love flowers and maybe with it being up in the air little Miss Jayne will not dig all the flowers out, lol That doggy is the flowerocolypse! Here is the flower box in all its cuteness.

Pretty!

We also checked the eggs in the incubator and out of 9 dozen eggs we only had about 6 that were not viable. Woot! So in about 2 weeks we are going to have little fluffballs popping out everywhere. I can't wait. Baby chickens are just too darn cute. We are really hoping that we will be able to turn this into a money making project. Wouldn't that be awesome!?
The seeds I planted are sprouting and looking all healthy and green. I cannot wait until it is time to get the garden ready and start planting. I absolutely love summer and all the fresh fruits and veggies. We are out of several yummies and I need to restock the pantry!

Squash

Peeking out of the dirt!

Now, about that dog with a sense of humor. Let me tell you, just because you feed a dog every day, let them in and deal with their terrible gas, do not think they will cut you any slack at all..they will not. I was sitting out in the yard, enjoying the sunshine under the peach trees. Then, without any warning at all, It happens!! Trina yells for me to LOOK OUT! I turn around, and THIS is what I see!!

WHAAAAT!!

That is exactly what it looks like! Ace, was PEEING in the tree I was sitting by! Of all the nerve! Only I, have a dog, that will literally pee right on me! Luckily Trina yelled, and I was able to jump out of the way of the waterworks. Of course, I did whip around and take this quick picture, because after all. without pictures it didn't happen!
That about sums it up here on the Backwards Homestead. I am so blessed to be able to live out here in the country, surrounded by nature. This life can be hard, and the hours are long, but I cannot imagine living anywhere else.

Springtime On The Farm!

Busy days around the farm. Warm weather brings a lot of work with it cleaning up all the mess that Mother Nature left during the winter. Flowerbeds to clean, leaves to rake, sticks and limbs to pick up. Not to mention all the spring animal chores like cleaning their pens, fence repair and making sure they are ready for the new season. Even though it is a lot of work, I can say that it is just so wonderful to see the flowers blooming and the sun shining!

I even managed to plant a few things in the garden! Yay me! Pud'nin tilled me up a small plot and I put out some cabbage and broccoli. I also planted some peas, lettuce, spinach and onions. It is always nice when it is time to garden. My favorite time of the year. Earlier this year we found a couple of the little greenhouse thingys on sale at Tractor Supply. We picked them up and I did manage to get some seeds started in there as well. Not many, but it will be nice to get an early start on a couple things. I will say that the wind has made the greenhouses a challenge, I have to tie them to the fence to keep them from blowing away!!

Such cute little things!

I checked yesterday and the seeds are actually sprouting, Woot! I am pretty excited, and I also planted some cabbage in a big pot that I have in the yard. It works like a charm every year. Keeps me from having to buy the plants from the store.

Look! Baby Cabbages!

Flossie and Eleanor are doing great too. Ellie is growing and is just beautiful! The only negative is that the little piggy is getting almost ALL of the yummy Flossie milk! She is quite the eater, lol She is eating hay, grass and will even belly up to the feed trough with her mama for her share of feed. She is leading pretty good, but a but stubborn! Hopefully we can get her all ready to be a milk cow like her Mama! It will not be too long before she will be old enough to wean, and I am sure she and Flossie will not be happy about that little bit of news. We are trying to figure out how to get Flossie and Ellie out in the pasture, but I am worried that once Ellie hits the open range, she will be hard to get back out to train. Not to mention that Twister can be a real turd and I do not want him to hurt her..Then we have Keg, the steer. He is just too aggressive for us to go out in the field to get her or Flossie. It is past time for him to go to freezer camp, but I actually have NO room in the freezer for him at this time. Seems nothing is easy when it comes to the farm life!

Here's my girls!

Ciskgo in the afternoon sun

Princess and Elvis are adjusting very well to their new home and they have become best friends. It has been really good for Princess since she is getting older and the huge pasture was sometimes a challenge for her as far as getting up to the barn at feeding time. Now we can keep a close eye on her and she does not have as far to walk to get to the food and water.

Elvis saying hello!

Time for a Spring Brushing!

We also have a few chicks this spring. We have Silkies, Buff Orpington and Polish Crested babies. We also have several eggs in the incubator. I sure hope we have a good hatch and can sell the little fluffballs to make a bit of money here on the farm. These guys need to pull their weight a little bit, LOL! Here are a few pictures of the little cuties!

Getting ready!

Chickies!

Little Polish Crested

Buffies enjoying the great outdoors!

Look at all these eggs! They were all laid right here on the farm! We are having a bit of an issue with Jayne getting in the chicken house and eating the eggs, so not so many eggs these days. We are working on persuading her to stay out of the henhouse, and I am sure she will get the point soon, She is a smart girl!

Can't you just hear them peeping!

The piggies are also getting along just great! Hopefully we will have the pitter patter of little hooves this summer. I know Wilbur has been wooing Charlotte and although she does not seem as impressed as she could be during the day, who knows what happens in the pig pen at night!? Here is the happy couple.

I am especially excited about something that is not even an animal! Pud'nin made us a fire ring! Yea, I am SO happy. He made it from the rim off an old tractor tire. Took him a while to cut the old tire off, but now I have not only a nifty flower bed, but we also have this nifty fire ring! Last night we all went out and roasted hot dogs and made s'mores. It was so nice, Sadly, I do not think we gone ONE picture..BOO!!! We were just having so much fun I suppose. But, I do have a picture of the fire ring filled with wood and ready to go.

Too Cool!

Well, that is what has been happening here on the Backwards Homestead. Now off to do a few more things on the endless list of chores! It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day, so lets all get outside and get some warm and cheery sunshine on our faces!