A Full Day of Work Even With the Snow and Mud and Inspiration from the March for Our Lives

What a wonderful work day we had yesterday.  Despite the snow cover and the mud, we were able to get so much accomplished.  I am so thankful for our health and the ability to use our bodies to work.

*The goat stalls cleaned out

*More sap collected and over 20 gallons boiled down.  We made about 1/2 gallon of syrup yesterday.

*Some window trim replaced and some painted (that was directly in the sun.)

*Hay picked up from a nearby barn where Mike and Isaac had to use a sled to bring the bales from the barn to the car but we are thankful for a nearby source of hay

*Because of all of the snow I am not sure when I will get the lettuce seedlings starts planted so I separated some to see if that will help them to continue to grow while inside

*Oh, and I spotted a little woolly caterpillar - spring must be coming soon.

On another note, I haven't been going on twitter or facebook lately so I wasn't aware of the scope of the March for Our Lives.  At lunch as Mike and I were checking on things online, we noticed that there was live coverage of the DC march and we watched some of the young people speak as we ate.  Later that evening, we watched a few more. 

So many sad stories - so much needless violence and death.  What I found so encouraging and hopeful was how the men in the video I link to below, were sent to Parkland shortly after the shooting to help them cope with the aftermath of gun violence - it opened the Parkland students' eyes to the fact that so many young people in the cities of our country, are living with this same trauma every day of their lives.  And the Parkland students realized their privilege of being heard and being able to utilize financial resources to make themselves heard,  and they realized that so many others do not have this privilege.  Together, young people from all walks of life, from all different backgrounds, are coming together.  Such brave and heroic people with the bottom line being that we do have the power to make change.  It is called voting and being in contact with your elected officials.  It is called standing together such as so many did yesterday.  Our country has an amazing foundation - the constitution  - which makes change possible.  I want to share the video of two young men that we found particularly moving - especially the second speaker in this video. 

Warm wishes,

Tonya

Just Catching Up

 

I can't believe it has been nearly a month since I posted.  From this day forward, I am making posting regularly a priority.  Just last night Sarah was looking through the blog's archives and showing everyone pictures from five to eight years ago and we all laughed and were amazed at how everyone has changed.   So not only do I want to share bits of our life with all of you, but I want to preserve our family's growth and milestones.

We have been collecting sap and have, so far, have made nearly 2 quarts.  I also planted lettuce on February 21 and they are growing so well.  I used organic potting soil and planted in salad mix containers that I have been saving this winter.  I have since planted more lettuce and will keep starting more every 2 weeks or so.  I also planted onions and they are coming along well.

These are what we use to collect sap - it may not be pretty - but it was free.

Here is what it looks like in our backyard today.  Those are piles of compost on one of our garden areas.  The snow is nearly gone but we are supposed to get quite a storm this coming Wednesday night into Thursday.

I posted this page as part of my instagram post today and was asked where I found it.

Here is the link.    We fold three pieces of copy paper in half and make little booklets to make our monthly "books".  Randomly throughout the month we add a poem, a drawing, etc...

"March winds and April showers bring

forth May flowers."

And it has been windy here!  There has been all kinds of kite making.  None of the prototypes have been to Abraham's approval, but he keeps trying and researching.  

This afternoon, Abby led Abe and Emmy with some windy tarp play.

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How are you getting ready for spring?

Warm wishes,

Tonya