Cutting Up...

The trip to DC was stellar! I drove the bus. Yeppers. Me. The old gal up front... It was such fun to drive past the huge trucks on the interstate and wave to the drivers! I loved it! When we stopped for lunch, some of the folks went to Burger King and I got a crown to wear -- Bus Queen!

The first night, Thursday, we saw:

Which was hysterical! We had such fun at the Kennedy Center and enjoyed the play. Everything was so lovely around the Center. Flowers were in full bloom and the trees were just starting to sprout! The highlight of the evening was riding back to the Metro on a shuttle and talking with some folks who worked on Capital Hill.

Me: So, where you folks from?
GuyInBlackSuit (GIBS): New Jersy.
Me: Oh no.
GIBS: Why oh no?
Me: I hate New Jersey. Every bit of it.
GIBS: Turnpike, right?
Me: Nope. Roy Rogers.
GIBS: Roy Rogers? He isn't from there!
Me: I know that. But his restaurant is. The chick at the counter was so busy flirting with a bus driver that she let our food get stone cold. I left. And was hungry. And then a truck ran me off the road on the Turnpike. I vowed never to go back to NJ or spend one red Lincoln there. We drove four hours to PA.
GIBS: What happened then?
Me: My husband prayed: "Dear Baby Jesus. Please don't let anyone make my wife angry here. It is late. I am hongry. And I have to use the bathroom. And we are nearly out of gas and I am too weak from hunger to push. Amen."
GIBS: So? Then what happened?
Me: We ate donuts at Sheetz at 2 a.m. and stopped in Paradise.
GIBS: Yeah?
Me: Yeah. It was, too! They had a bathroom, no busses and no Roy Rogers restaurant.

By this time everyone was howling, especially me and the GIBS. What a fun sense of humor and what a great sport! Thanks, GIBS, for a great ride to the Metro!

Coming soon: The Mall, Rain, and Me....

First Day Musings: Safe and Sound

We are safe and sound here in the mountains, other than a little flooding, but our fellow North Carolinians didn't fair as well. Please be thinking of them.

Great stories to tell -- tomorrow --- when I am able to sit up. I ain't as young as I used to be...

Road Trips and Bail Money

Taking a class to this place this week. If you hear of a certain farm gal being arrested for mooning the Capitol Building, please send bail money. I am almost positive it is the only thing that she believes our great leaders will understand. After all, you know, you have to play to the lowest common denominator... And, somehow, I think her students will approve....

I'll write when I get home or get work. Have a great week!

The Truth Will Out...

The Airman showed me what he really does. BTW.. the suit weighs about 80 lbs.... Enjoy!

First Day Musings -- Immortal Spring

Flowering quince, covered in bees, by the back door...

Spring – An experience in immortality.

       ~ Henry D. Thoreau

What is it about the brilliant sunshine, gentle breeze, and singing birds that makes one feel as though they are coming alive for the first time? This is how it feels this weekend at Lazy Bee Farm. It is as though I have been asleep for years, as Rip Van Winkle, and am waking to discover the life around me.

It is delicious.

Just last week there was snow on the ground and I was in wool. Today, I am barefoot and the windows are fllung open to allow winter out and spring in. While they are not speaking to each other, I feel that each is ready to take up residence in their new home and is making their exchange willingly. And, as for me, I am happy to see the relocation.

I am a spring baby and it is this time of year that I feel it most. Summer is too hot for me and winter, while I can wear wool, wears thin after a few weeks. Spring is my time. It is a time of possibilities and opportunities. We are certain that this will be the year that our tomatoes will not blight and just as certain that this year we will get the shed cleared out once and for all. For me, spring is the time of hope and ambition. I have not yet suffered the disillusionment of dreams unfulfilled. All is pregnant with new energy -- ready to burst forth and flourish.

Today, I am giddy happy. Flower boxes that the Mister and I built this morning and I have painted a soft lavendar are drying on the porch. The round planters with dwarf spruce pines are overflowing with a ring of purple pansies who cheerily dance in the breeze by the front door. Dark, dusky earth has been turned up and is nearly ready for seeds to nestle down for a  little sleep before erupting into lettuce, radishes, greens, and onions. Stones we gathered yesterday tumble on each other as they wait to be placed as the outside of one garden bed, raised slightly, to accommodate more lettuces. Baby bee bottles glisten in the wings to replace the ones on the feeders that we use to help the girls with a head start on honey.

Isn't it beautiful?? What is your spring day like? Are you feeling immortal??

A Little Construction

THE New Greenhouse is going up and we are so excited! This is where the old barn was many years ago before I bought Lazy Bee Farm. The little building on the left was the old chicken coop that the Mister and I built four years ago, but we outgrew it and built another on the hill that is much larger. This one will come down and a hay building is going up along the side of the greenhouse for protection of the greenhouse and the hay.

Many, many years ago, when my parents, siblings and I all lived in Florida (for about ten years), Daddy had two orchid greenhouse. He loved them! He had everything from cymbediums to oncydiums -- about 5000 total. Then, we all decided to move back to God's country, but keep the greenhouses. This worked well, fall and winter there with spring and summer here, until Hurricane Frederick came ashore. Both greenhouses were nearly destroyed along with all the orchids.

We salvaged what we could of the two greenhouses and brought them here where they have been stored in the edge of the woods until two years ago when Daddy decided he wanted to put up a small one from the remnants. His is about 20 x20, but he has only hardy plants -- no more orchids for him! The Mister and I brought home the rest of the legs and sorted out what could be used and replaced what couldn't with chain link fence posts. We ended up with 20 x40 greenhouse which is Perfect!

We are so excited about having the greenhouse up and plan on using it in the fall and winter for greens and starting seeds. It is my hope to have a CSA in another year and the greenhouse is a big part of how we will keep our members supplied in the late fall and winter months.

And, the best part is that it is nearly all recycled material!

Don't forget Amy's Farm Friend Friday!

Let Me Go!

We have had lots of rain lately which results in the runway between the chickens and the goats not only being flooded, but slippery as well. Rubber soled boots and leather gloves are always worn in the pastures so there is little to fear from the electric fences that run around the top of each paddock. However, today, even those did little good for a certain farm gal.

The Mister is at band rehearsal tonight so the feeding duties fell to me. Between the snow (yes, snow), rain, and sunshine, I dressed and scurried to the barns to feed. The boys' paddock is a total wreck, so I had to gingerly walk into the slush and mud to retrieve their bowls for feeding. To do so, I reached up and held to the top of the fence.

But, then, the fence wouldn't let go of me! I had hold of the electric fence line while standing in water. And, to add insult to injury, the Mister had just upped the power on it last week when the bucks realized the does were in heat and were trying to get out.

Let me just say here: ANY buck who can go over that kind of charge should be able to date all the does.

Needless to say, once the fence let me go, I had to crawl back to the house, flop on my back like a flounder and cough until my heart rate settled down.

Thank goodness only the goats saw that....