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.

Soaking Up the Vitamin D

 
Still recovering from the surgeries. Though with the wonderful sunshine and warm spring days it is much nicer to sit/lay outdoors.

As you can see we still have a lot of snow but it is going down fast.






Even the crocuses are blooming in the small strip of exposed earth next to the house.

Life Changes Quickly

I thought it was time I posted something on the blog as I have been very quiet lately.  Honestly I haven't felt like blogging.

Husband was hospitalized unexpectedly on February 1st and had a minor surgery.  Since then he has been housebound with the homecare nurses coming everyday to change dressings etc.  Today he is scheduled for a second surgery.

Life has changed quickly and unexpectedly. 

We had to cancel our vacation to Mexico which we were to take with my entire family to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary (it would have been our first vacation in 6 years!).  Husband won't be starting any of the plants this year, but fortunately a friend has said she will start several varieties of tomatoes for us.  We had planned to hatch out some chicks, goslings, and ducklings this spring but I am thinking I may just do some chicks later in the springs. 

Right now I figure the less work and committment the better.  I don't know how long to expect for his recovery time.

Of course the snow keeps coming.  Luckily Son is old enough now to take on the responsibility of driving the tractor to clear the snow.

You Know Its Cold When....

#10 - The warmest jackets and boots are dug out of the closet

#9 - After saying goodbye to someone it is followed with a "Keep warm!"

#8 - You just want to stay in bed under the covers

#7 - The house begins to make loud cracking and popping sounds

#6 - You can't close or lock the outside doors because of the frost surrounding them

#5 - The dog doesn't want to go outside

#4 - The extension cord you use to plug in the car is frozen stiff (to heat the oil pan or the car won't start)

#3 - The ice is forming inside your windows

#2 - You have to bring some of the animals into the heated garage from the uninsulated barn

#1 - The eggs you pull out of the nesting boxes are frozen solid (and the coop is insulated and has a heat lamp)

Yes that is -38c!  (-36.4F)

But life here continues on as usual... schools, shops and businesses remain open. We just dress a little warmer and the topic of most conversations is the cold.