Northern Lights

Husband woke me up last night shortly before midnight as the northern lights were out. It was exciting as we have not seen them in many years. I don't why they have been so elusive, as I remember often in the late 80's standing out on the driveway with my parents and sisters watching the dancing light show.

If you have never seen Aurora borealis, they can be quite spectacular. Last night's display was like a faint green dome of streaky lights above the house which pulsated. Towards the north there were a few heavy streaks of light which looked as though a bright spotlight was pointed up in to the sky.

First chick of 2012

Our first chick hatched this evening... only 41 more to go. I'm curious to see if our hatch rate this year will be better than last now that we used the automatic egg turner.

Anniversary

Husband and I had our 18th wedding anniversary on Monday. We didn't get to celebrate as he is still recovering and is not up to going out, and I am still over run with work and was out with clients most of the day and evening.

But we did have a wonderful surprise....




Daughter baked us a beautiful carrot cake (my fav!)

Kijiji

Do you use Kijiji?  In my community it is the online buying and selling forum to use.  One always hears about Craigslist, but it has never really caught on here.  Kijiji is the way to go!

Last year we used it to sell our ducklings and chicks, and to purchase our pigs.  I usually check it everyday to see what has been posted in the livestock section.  I like to see what is being sold... mini horses, goats, cattle, pigs, chickens and the like.

Through Kijij, I have contacted a lady out west who will be selling rabbits in May (and she will deliver!).  It is something we have been debating about since moving here; whether we should raise some meat rabbits.  I am hoping to get a breeding pair of New Zealands and also a pair of Flemish Giants from her.

New Zealand Rabbit

Flemish Giant Rabbit

Not Enough Hours in the Day

I have already been working 14 hours today and I'm not finished yet.  I have a few minutes to make sure I get this post in for the challenge.

I did take a brief hiatus to take Husband to the surgeon for his check up.  We thought he would go back to work after the Easter long weekend, but it is not to be.  He's off for another 2 months with a third surgery scheduled during this time.  Wow, you really never know what kind of curve ball life is going to throw at you.

Yesterday's soup tasted MUCH better today.  Obviously it needs to sit to flavour.

Robins and Soup

I know I can eat some strange things, but contrary to the post title the robins and the soup are not connected.

Robins - I saw the first robins of the spring today. Even though it snowed all day yesterday (a wet sloppy snow) the birds appeared today.

Soup - I have been really busy with work over the past few months and I knew that I would be home late today, so I prepared a soup in the crockpot this morning. I have never used it for a soup before and it worked pretty good. I didn't find the recipe all that wonderful but it was filling. Some extra spices and tweeking and it could taste far better

Hamburger Lentil Soup

1 lb ground beef
1 chopped onion
6 carrots, sliced
3 potatoes diced
1 clove minced garlic
4 c tomato juice
2 c dry lentils
4 c water
1 T brown sugar
1 tsp tyme
1 tsp sage
1 T salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Brown ground beef and onions.
Combine all ingredients in crock pot
Cook on low for 8-10 hours

The Incubator is back in action!

Yesterday I placed 42 eggs from the Plymouth Barred Rock into the incubator.  For Christmas Husband and I received some gift cards for Home Hardware.  So we decided to purchase an automatic egg turner that we have been thinking about since last year for our Hovabator Incubator.  It turns the eggs every 4 hours and frees us from a lot of stress of always turning the eggs.

So in 21 days we should have some new little black fuzzy chicks!  They will look like this....

Goose Love

Husband says we have to really watch the geese this spring as they have become rather agressive. I see them every day and never see that side of them.

The geese are alway calm and gentle around me. The gander is actually very affectionate and gets rather put out if I don't talk to him or pet him when I am in the barn. He will fly up on top of his shelter and honk at me until I pay him some attention ( this is the only time he ever flies up)




Yesterday was such a beautiful sunny day that I let the geese out of the barn to roam free along the paths and the snow. I spent some time kneeling down and petting the gander. He began nibbling on my sleeve and then quickly jumped onto my bent leg... rather like he does when wooing the goose! (nudge nudge wink wink). I pushed him off and was a little shocked!

I guess the moral of the story is that you never know who you will fall in love with.  Either that or I look like a large waterfowl.

April Blog Challenge

Here it is another April, and like last year I have decided to give myself a kick in the pants to get blogging again.  For the month of April I will blog once a day.  I know I can do because I managed it last year.