Obviously May is "Missing In Action" Month!

It's been a long time since I made it here to make updates. We've been so busy and by the time I actually have TIME to post, I'm out of energy!!

Spring is definitely here and we've been working on all the projects we sat around thinking up all winter! Our lilac bush bloomed this year (we missed it last year) and is almost done now. Soon I will try to think it out a bit and prune it back and try to make it look a little less unruly!

This past weekend my parents came to visit... was so nice to see them again and catch up. Their visits are never really long enough for my liking... I'd love if they could stay longer... but I also know they have other things they have to do... I'm glad for any time they have to spare to come for a visit.

While Mom and Dad were here, we got 2 trees planted in the side yard. One is a honey locust and the other is a hackberry. They don't look like much yet, but even once they leaf out this year they'll be better. Thanks Dad for all your hard work digging holes for the new tress in our crappy clay soil!

We've also been working on putting up some 5 strand electric fence for the goat babies. The posts were put in last fall... the insulators are up.... the ground rod for the fencer unit has been pounded in (Thanks Dad!!).... now we just need a bit of time to hook up the fencer and actually run the wire. We're doing 3 strands of regular wire and 2 strands of electric rope for visibility. We're hoping this will work out ok and hold in our goats.

We've had the goats out on grass for weeks now... every two days we move their enclosures to a new grazing area for fresh grass, they seem to like that well enough! They are good eaters and it only takes about 2 days for them to clear their pen (approx 30 feet diameter) of decent grass. We could maybe get 3 days out of it, but I don't want them eating it too low. We have lots of grass, there's no need to worry about running out just yet. The spots they ate first, are already just about filled in and could likely be grazed again. We'll wait a while to do that though, make sure all the manure has gone away and the grass solidly reestablished.

A couple weeks ago, we got a great deal of some 5 foot chain link fencing on kijiji... we haven't decided where that will go up yet... but we'll use it somewhere for sure! I just can't pass up a good deal on used fencing in good condition.

I've been doing physio on my knee, its an old injury that now apparently has some arthritic changes in it. I'm not sure if the physio is helping yet or not, its more sore than it was when I started, but mostly because I've learned to compensate for it for a very long time. This morning I actually got fitted for a hinged brace for it.

The ligaments (MCL and LCL) are shot in it, which allows my lower leg to move left and right against my thigh. Obviously this is not good, so this new and extremely expensive brace should help stabilize it and act like external ligaments and maybe let the inflammation settle down and slow down the progression of arthritis in it. I should have the brace in about 2 weeks or so... takes a while since its custom made. It'll look similar to this but should be metallic blue. Hopefully it will provide some relief and stability.

We installed a garden next to the house... on the driveway side, next to the mudroom. I haven't planted anything there yet, I added some manure and grass clippings to the soil and I'm waiting for them to break down a bit more before I plant. Likely in the next week or so I'll put something in there. It'll be a good place to plant bulbs in the fall... its on the south side of the house and right against the house, so they should come early next spring. Spring flowers, what a novel concept around here!

Yesterday Jess and I dug out the sod around some existing trees in the side yard. They keep getting hit by the lawn mower (they were hit with lawn mowers long before *I* moved in!) and I wanted to make it so I wouldn't have to mow so close to them. After we removed the sod, we added a couple bags of the soil I have around that I bought at TSC a while back on sale. Cleans it up around them and looks nice. Perhaps will add some nutrients to the soil and maybe those trees will grow a bit more... I'll put some manure around them in a couple weeks also.

For Mother's Day, I got some lovely flowers from Jess, Martha Washington geraniums. They are gorgeous, though one of them seems to not be doing really well... I'm not sure WHY, as its in the same type of container, same soil and right beside the one that's doing well. Seems strange to me. Shawn gave me a book "All Flesh Is Grass, The Pleasures and Promises of Pasture Farming" by Gene Logsdon. I've only read a bit so far, since we've been busy, but it seems like a neat book. I've read some of his other books and I find them really interesting. I look forward to making some time to read it all! :)

We took the dogs to the vet last night for their heart worm tests and meds. They did just fine, the tests were all negative, as expected. We really like this vet clinic... you're in, they do their thing and you're out. Not near so much lecturing and time wasting as our old vet. Not near so stressful on the dogs OR us.

Though we did just receive an ad in the mail for a mobile vet practice that interests me. His whole practice is based on coming to your house and he's affiliated with an animal hospital for emergencies and referrals. I don't know anything about the vet himself, but the concept really appeals to me. He also provides at home euthanasia, which is something I will likely have to think about in the next while.

Speaking of which, Buddy (my shep x) is doing ok right now... about a month or so ago he wasn't doing great. Him and Pixie were wrestling in the yard, when he suddenly yelped and wouldn't bear weight on his hind end. He was unable to do stairs for a few days and we carried him upstairs at night for bed. He's been slowly improving though, but we're trying to be very vigilant about them not messing about and re injuring it. Its remarkably hard to stop them though, his brain still thinks he's young and puppy like, his body.... not so much. Anyhow, no decisions need to be made NOW, but its something I just KNOW is looming ahead of me at some point. I guess that's always true when you have animals.

I know there are tons of things we've been working on that I haven't mentioned... I just can't recall them all right now, of course! Anyhow, since there's always so much to do, I should get going and do some of them!

I'm planning to post a few pics also, so check out the FHH album!
--L