A Little Success and a Lot of Snow

I am not sure how people keep up with their blogs so regularly. I can see between planting time and harvesting time there won't be as many days inside to post. I'll do the best I can.

After temperatures in the 70's we hit a normal March spell and then we had three days of snow. All in all I think we had somewhere between 8-10 inches fall. Pretty good for 'spring'. The first day of winter here was around 70 so it is only fitting the first day of spring should be 30.

We finally were able to get out and start the repairs on the boat. M successfully dove under and 'fixed' the keel. I say fixed as that is exactly what he did in that he removed the bolt and we put the new cable in. I had driven the boat into shore and in so doing the keel touched bottom. The point of a swing keel is that it should 'swing' when it encounters an obstacle. Unfortunately we discovered ours does not swing. So, yes, even though our repairs were successful it really doesn't matter because as it stands the keel is now 'fixed'. In the grand scheme of things it is not that big a deal. Most boats have a fixed keel. Problem will be in ever getting it out of the lake. Our trailer is for a swing keel boat and there is no lift on the lake. So for now its just do our repairs on the mast, get it back up and start sailing!

The boys are excited about the possibility of chickens. C has decided he would like to to do most of the work and sell the eggs to the neighbors. M came up with a great idea for a geodesic chicken coop tho I think for now we will start with them being in the barn.

Beautiful Birth Day

What a day! Much different from C's birth day. It was the coldest night of the year! Not that we cared. We were warm and snug in the bed. M's parents cared tho. They drove from west TN in a van with no heat! Today tho is beautiful. It might have reached 70. C has been playing his new GB game and G has been drawing cartoons from C's new drawing book. I have begun the spring chores. I cleaned up 3 of the 4 flower beds. We walked around the farm looking for more orchard space. Now that the bees have taken over part of the old orchard we need more space. We decided there are two spots on the farm that might work. One we will need to wait til summer to check out the coverage. Both places will need a few trees removed. Mostly tulip poplars that we can use in the treehouse or for firewood. What started this new idea was someone gave us 2 pawpaw trees. We also want to plant more cherry trees. I also cleared branches from the paths. Not a lot accomplished tho a good start.

Where Does the Time Go?

C is 8! He has had three days of celebration. Thursday we took him to the local outfitter to pick out a pocket knife. M has toldthe boys as they grew that 8 was the magic number for a pocket knife. C picked out a nice Swiss Army. M told him he could have any one he wanted. C was very thoughtful in his choice. Being 8 he wanted some tools. Being wise he didn't want too many knowing it would be hard to carry. He finally settled on one with a couple of blades, saw, scissors, bottle and can openers and a few other 'standard' Swiss army items. He and M had the 'how to handle the knife' discussion. M got a 'you are the best Dad ever' for the day!

Yesterday we had a party. We had it at a local art gallery. They made sculpey necklaces and had a nice time. I remembered everything, down to the matches - except the camera!

This morning we had the family birthday breakfast. All in all I think he will sleep well tonight.

The Grotto

I'm still trying to catch up! I didn't take too many pictures on our trip. Here is one of a strange place somewhere in Iowa (I think). This was the boys favorite.

Back on the Mountain

The mountains looked so wonderful Friday as we cruised back into east Tennessee. I love to travel (especially when you have a friend with a hybrid!). Tho I love coming home more. The girl trip was a great success. We pretty much ate and drank our way across Minneapolis and St. Paul. We met many of S's friends and enjoyed the hospitality of her niece. The main reason for the trip was for N to have a meeting with the medical school as she was hoping to go to U of M in the fall. Unfortunatley it is not going to work out. Gladly, tho, N is a person of possibilities. Don't you love people like that (and I hope I am like that!)? Although disappointed she saw that that one closed door meant several others would open.

The boys had a nice time with their grandparents. It is amazing how missing someone can become a physical thing. About day 5. I am glad we could make the trip and be support for N but if there is another trip sans boys it will have to be shorter!

Driving across Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin brought to mind how long some of those stretches are up in that area. As we are planning a summer trip to Wyoming I will have to think double hard on activities to keep the boys happy. They are excellent travellers and rarely complain on long trips tho it would benice to have some extra diversions.