Kitty Prints

Yesterday we poured the floors for the holding area and the exit area/mechanical room in the dairy barn. Finished the holding area and moved to the exit area. Went back to the holding area and there were the prettiest little kitty foot prints in the cement. My husband asked if I wanted him to fix it. I said, "NOPE! These are special." So now we have nice little kitty prints in our milk barn courtesy of Rylie the barn cat. :)

My Favorite Time of Year....one of them anyway :)

It's the middle of December and this is truly one of my favorite times of year. Yes, it's the holiday season, but who cares?! I have seed catalogs!!!!!!

That's right! It's cold outside, the fire is warm and the seed catalogs are calling my name!

As I pour over all of the beautiful plants in my catalogs my mind starts to wonder and I imagine my gardens as they will be come spring and summer. As the signs of spring emerge, so do all of my beautiful garden plants. I have lettuce, onions, spinach, radishes and carrots. I have broccoli and potatoes and the most gorgeous sugar snap peas you have ever seen! As spring time warms we are planting tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, squash, melons and on and on. The gardens are by far the most gorgeous gardens you have ever seen! All of the plants are big and tall and strong! The soil is dark, rich and fertile and there is not a weed in sight!

Still in my mind I am looking at the wonderful bounty that we are harvesting from our gardens and taking to the area farmer's markets. All of the local market clientele are just as thrilled as we are with the bounty of the harvest and as much as we enjoy sharing our harvest with our clients we are relishing in the annual renewal of those friendships!

After several hours of sitting with my catalogs open while staring blankly into space I slowly come back into reality and as I close my catalogs for the evening I know that only one portion of the above dream will be easy. That portion is the annual friendship renewal, but the other parts of the dream are what makes farmers farmers. Without the dream, it is all for naught.
As long we have anticipation and expectations the American (or is it HUMAN) dream lives on.

So I do my chores and hurry through dinner so that I can once again get back to my seed catalogs and stare off into space until I am called back to reality and head off to bed with the eagerness of child knowing that I will get to "re-live" the experience again tomorrow evening.

Have a GREAT night and we'll see you at the market!

News or Lack Thereof

I haven't posted in a while. :(

I was sick for a full week then spent a week preparing for my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary, which turned out GREAT by the way. Then spent a week preparing for Thanksgiving, which was also Wonderful!

Today our dairy inspector came out for a "progress" visit. He was just looking to see what all we have gotten done on the new dairy and creamery and to answer some of our questions. The visit went really well and he answered a lot of questions favorably. Chrys and I both felt very good after he left. I think we are on the right track. :)

.......on the other hand I am so ready to be done with the construction part of this and get on to kidding season then milking and making cheese. This should prove to be a very interesting venture. :)