Just a little update

Well, my back has finally recovered. I still don't know what I did to it but it was bad....really bad. I couldn't even sit at the computer for more than a few minutes at a time and being on the couch or in the bed was extremely frustrating. My husband and Petunia took over the feeding chores and did pretty well getting food for everyone. It is a good thing that I prepare extra soup and can it up. We ate a lot of soup. We also ate a lot of cheese/crackers, cereal and sandwiches. Frankly, I am a little sick of cereal and sandwiches. The one thing that I learned is that I don't need to put off teaching Petunia how to milk any longer. I have known that I need to teach her so that she can, just in case. It is one of those things that I just didn't get around to doing. My mom had to bring over one of her canes so that I could get out to the barn and do the milking. Thankfully, that was all that I had to do. It was painful enough to do just that. Needless to say I have gotten way behind in my farm schedule. I should have had the cole crops under the row covers by now, but I don't. Housework is behind also. My back is still a little sore and I have to be careful how I move and such, but thank goodness I am back to being functional. I did start incubating eggs this past week so we should start having chicks in a few weeks. Yipppeeeee!!! The girls are getting back into the swing of laying after their winter siesta and we are up to about 8 eggs a day now out of 11 hens. I have 3 more due to start laying in March. It is nice not to have to ration eggs anymore. Despite things being pretty cold there are subtle signs of spring around. For one, the days are starting to get longer (just a little bit). We have had a pretty mild winter this year with only a few days here and there with freezing temps. This would have been a great year to keep the garden going with greens and such. I guess it is good to have a couple months off from gardening. When I have the garden going I am in it everyday and by the end of the year I am simply tired of it. The next few weeks will be busy as I add compost, finish wattle fences, plant the coles, onions, and green peas. I will be in full swing in the garden in just a few more weeks. So I guess I need to spend the next couple of weeks getting the spring cleaning in the house done and odds and ends chores finished and put away. I have quite a few sewing projects to finish. It seems like I never finish with the sewing. Today it is pouring down rain so that seems a good thing to do. Maybe I can make a good dent in that and finish those winter skirts that have been sitting half done for the past 2 months. Speaking of skirts....My sister gave me a gift certificate for Kohl's for Christmas. While the children were at their Sunday church activities Sunday night I went shopping. I bought a few things for the kitchen and then couldn't find anything else that I really needed for the kitchen or the house. I then took a look at the bras because I really do need some new bras. I then struck a huge dilemma...why are all the bras padded?! I am well endowed enough, the last thing I need is extra padding. So I couldn't find a bra that would not make me look bigger than I am so I headed over to the clothes. There in the women's clothing section I scored!!!! On the clearance racks I found some great skirts for this summer and some awesome shirts also. The best thing is that no one item was more than 3.00. I bought 5 skirts and 3 blouses and was tickled pink. It made up for the bra issue. It was fun to actually buy something for myself and not just something for the house, or the kids or the farm. I haven't spent money just on me in a very very long time. I know that sounds selfish, but I think we all need to do something for ourselves every now and then. The kids were funny though as they are used to me usually getting stuff for them and were quite disappointed when I started pulling stuff out of the bags. However, once Petunia got over her initial disappointment she did say that it was good that I used my present on myself. Little Britches didn't think so though. Well, I guess that is about all I have been up to the last few weeks. It is hard getting back into the swing of things after being down for so long (2 weeks is a very very long time for me). I just simply don't know where to start. Blessings, Kat