15 trees in the ground

I got all 15 trees planted out new orchard is on it's way!!! : )

Next trees I'd like to get are some plums and some nut trees : )

jinxed...

I awoke this morning to SNOW!! I spoke too soon : ) ... so got up early got my design stuff done by 9am and now I'm going to pull on my boots for a couple hours of digging... I soaked the plants starting yesterday so there's no choice now .. have to plant today... duhhh!!!... I'll post later .. we'll see how far I get "little miss ambitious" humm 15 trees... ??!! ... I'm gonna stop when my back does ... more later

signs of spring and the start of the water tale

Brian and I went out after lunch today and planed out the start of our "Orchard" we bought 15 bare root fruit trees this past weekend at a tree sale we got the trees for $10 a piece which was an amazing deal as they are decent size... so we are excited we got multiple varieties of apples, pears and cherries (we hope to get other types as well but that was all they had at the sale) we used an old apple tree at the starting point and measured out from there... I have the new trees soaking over night and hope to plant tomorrow... :) .. while I was out in the "orchard" with Brian I saw my first "sign of spring" a snow drop flower which is the "first spring flower" so that was fun... there are some other bulbs coming up too I'm excited to see what they are... look like daffodils and a few tulips..
.

In other news we had a state soil and water conservation guy come out yesterday to help us assess our "bountiful" supply of water. He just kept looked shocked and puzzled the entire time he was here which didn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling... our property has one and possibly two year round springs that are VERY active and about a 30 acre network of clay and metal pipe that seem to be loosely affiliated with not 1 not 2 but 5 (that we've found so far) cisterns in varying states of disrepair... it's a mess really .. the water guy just kept walking around going "wow ... hum mm wow" this is a lot of water!! yeah no S--t

So not exactly sure where we are going from here... but he's going to help us hopefully get in touch with other water gurus and maybe some engineers... it's sounding complex and EXPENSIVE!! but at the moment our property is VERY wet due to most of the clay pipes being broken and water coming up at will ...so we do need to start to get it under control ... if one can control water that is... this has to happen before we can start reclaiming land for use as pasture, gardens etc... ... even driving a tractor on for clearing... so we've started and that's the first step and we just have to see where it goes from here.. I'm sure it will make for multiple blog entries and I will learn more than I ever thought about ... ditches, drains, ponds catch systems etc... more to come

Pictures are worth a 1000 words...

Thanks Tyrees for a wonderful visit it was great to spend time with you and the boys and grandma roisin...

Thanks also so much for bringing the lobster and crab what fun!


clementine was such a patient girl:

)
Ty at 4 moths!!! what a woman!! congrats on the bun in the oven..

.
Grandma having a great time


Walter making him self at home



in a shell fish induced coma


what a guy - he's good with that welder


oh those marcy smiles..


the round pen!!


congrats Brian on finishing the wine cooler!!! : )

and congrats to me on getting chief a round pen finally!!! now I can get going on his training to pull : )

new babies!!!...

The second batch of new chicks arrived safe and sound... (although it took me getting them at Portland airport, but better safe than sorry... I think next time local chick or home grown ones will be in order:) ... so now old number 28 now has 27 new friends there all doing well and living in their new chicken house on the porch...

here are shots of a few and some of what they aspire to be :) it's going to be quite a colorful flock I can't wait...

Old number 28

This is a sad story so animal lovers be warned...



Our much anticipated chickens were due to arrive yesterday morning.. our mail carrier called us with the sad news that all 28 of our baby chickens where dead! Brian and I went to the post office and picked up the box... They where sad looking all lying in a heap with their eyes shut... As we drove home I held the box in my lap as I have so many times before except there was no little "ep ep ep" just the little silent heap of fur. So when we got them home I opened up the box and took another look and picked up each one... some felt less "hard" than others... and although they were not moving at all when I picked them up, I couldn't help but think a few might still be hanging on... there where four that I thought might still be actually alive three seemed to move their mouths a tiny bit when I put the electrolytes in their mouths with a straw... Brian and I nursed them for about 1/2 hour and during that time it looked like only two seemed to be alive sadly the little yellow one was with us for a litle while but didn't make it but "old number 28" as Brian dubbed her did... she is the sole survivor of the harrowing trip cross country and makes the whole thing not quite so sad. Old Number 28 was touch and go for about 4 hours but started eating on her own around dinner time last night... and it pecking around in her new box by the wood stove by the time we went to bed..



Baby Chicks usually make it just fine they are shipped next day and they keep each other warm and they have special travel food for the trip but something happened to these poor little guys ... I suspect they got too cold... so we are trying again next week but this time we are shipping to a different post office (the main hub in Portland) to take out the last long leg of the journey and hoping they all arrive safely...
in the first 1/2 hour not really moving much at all ...




by early evening : )

the beauty in a burn pile...

The Oregon Department of Forestry when they "scraped" our property to place the reprod' timber ended the life of not only huge amounts of brush and blackberry, also mowed down ash, oak, apple and various other hard wood trees. All of this "debris" was then mounded into 30' to 50' diameter burn piles. These piles I assume where waiting till fall to be burned and during this time the one close to the house was indiscriminately added to by the previous owners. These additions consisted of old furniture, the odd pillow, discarded toys tires and lots of "scraped" wood.

Brian and I (mostly Brian) in an effort to heat our home have been trekking up the hill and cutting trees out of the piles with a chain saw and hauling in back in a wheel barrow.

Now the hauling back in the wheel barrow is MUCH trickier that one may think. First off the forestry department in addition to giving us this abundant woof/fuel source gave us 1 to 3 foot deep ruts all over our property. Combine these ruts with a full load of logs, Some Oregon mud and 300 yards to travel and you have more fun that a barrel of monkeys...

So I go into the log hauling because Brian fired up his jeep yesterday and to my great pleasure we drove right up to the burn pile loaded the logs and drove home... ! I was so ecstatic I hardly did any work at all as you will note by the multitude of photos....

This brings me to part two of my Burn Pile saga... we set out to make two additions to our farm this past week .. and both I am quite pleased to report are from 100% salvaged materials from here on the farm... (ok except the hardware cloth for the bottom of the chicken coop) We used an old screen door from the barn, one of the old windows from the house and lots of salvaged lumber from the burn piles and of course Brian made it all possible... It was so much fun to work with Brian... he's quite clever that guy of mine... The first item was a cold frame that Brian built while I was back east ...and that we planted with our winter greens yesterday... and the second addition was the chicken coop which we built together in anticipation of our new chickens due to arrive Monday morning. I learned how to use a pocket joiner. This handy tool is especially useful when screwing into wood that is less than perfect...such as burn pile wood. So it was a full farm weekend of building things, splitting wood, moving chief's pasture again and planting seeds...

I love the spoon handle B' made on the cold frame : )

Speeking of cold.. we have been geeting some very nice warm clear weather ... and as a result I am also very please to report our house is 73 degrees tonight it's down right hot in here!!! It's very nice after weeks of running between 45 and 60 at it's warmest!!! I can take off my wool sweater and hat tonight!!

visit back east...

I've been off the blog for over two weeks ... much to tell : ) .. I had a great trip back east .. I was met at the airport right outside security by my folks and my mom with a giant bunch of flowers!!! wow that was so nice... I've never been greeted with flowers off a plane!! then off to Colette and Bob's house they where amazing host and hostess for an entire week!!! thank you both!!!...

I loved spending time with bobby! he's a gorgeous baby!! : )


I also got to spend some amazing quality time with Kateri, Roger and Sylas and Issac! thanks for dinner! and great to see your school Kateri!!! Time out at Cecelia's and Tim's place was really special as was the horsey time and dinner!! thanks Cecelia!.... Mom thank you for a really super evening with you and dad and dad I loved being able to share in your art in all forms : )

So all in all great visit I loved seeing you all!!! you made me feel very loved and I just ADORE all your kids there are all so unique and fun to spend time with real treasures every one...

I really look forward to hosting each of you out here in OR at some time!!! xoxoxoox