Selling poinsettias, ordering seeds for greenhouse
It's paper work time now for the farm.
Hunkering down in this cooooolllddd weather!

Let us know when the kids arrive. We raised sheep for 20+ years, and well remember lambing season in the winter.
Miss the cute, lively babies, but not being there at all hours in the cold nights.

Were getting snow, they said flurries we got about 1" so far.

Snow and cold here, outside Buffalo, NY. This is January weather we're having now ... can't imagine what January is going to be like.

2 weeks ago, we got dumped on just as people were leaving work for the evening ... some people spent 18 to 20+ hours in their cars on the Thruway.

Barn cats are huddled in their box, warming each other. Donkeys not leaving the barn ... it's supposed to be warmer this weekend ... I'm going to kick them out of the barn for an afternnon.

Well had 2 kids this afternoon, a doe & a buck. Cute little things they are. The buckling is red and white (legs, head, and spots on the back-end), and the doeling is all black with a slight belt on her belly. Why do the boys always get the better coloring???

Brendasue

brendasue
Congratulations on the arrival! Were your guesses correct?
I can picture them right now.

Husband and a couple guys cut trees this weekend. Had to take two big ones down, they were damaged years ago, now dropping branches. They trimmed the limbs off one side of a third, to prevent any limbs falling on the parked vehicles below.

For some reason I thought things would move along much faster than they did. Probably doing a "Walt Disney Moment" where they only show progress, not all the picky stuff that ALSO must be done. Limbing off the tops sure took a lot of time! Along with picking up all those pieces so the trunks could be dropped in the same place for cutting up.

Husband rented a Hi-Lift, so no climbing needed, but you had to move that around to reach stuff. Also rented a log splitter for the cut wood. We were pretty sure the trees were rotten inside, not good for lumber. Was mostly true. The one in the yard had soft edges about 3 inches deep around the outside where they cut it off at the ground level. THEN there was a hole in the stump, which shows NO ROOTS in the center under the top layer! Husband said we should stick a gargoyle or garden gnome statue in the hole looking out! Could be quite funny.

The guys said they have seen trees like that, some last for years, while others fall over if the wind is in the right direction. This tree could have reached the house, had poor leaf growth last year, so that is why we made the decision. This one and the other, had severe damage about 15 years ago in a tornado. Most of the top gone on the other, a Burr Oak. The rootless one had some big limbs peeled off, leaving rips in the bark. Both had done alright until this year, no acorns, poor leaf coverage. I am sure the drought didn't help any.

So we have got a LOT of firewood piled up, still have one big trunk to split up, but it is not in the way now. Just laying on my garden that needed some attention anyway.

Trying to decide what to replant with. I am looking at Beeches, don't have any. Also Tulips. Both are big trees, but we have plenty of room for them.

We still have a number of small trees to take out, dead Ash, trash trees in the way of Hickory. Husband can do them himself.

Made for a long weekend. Nice not to have to worry about the vehicles parked there now. Kind of leaves us much reduced in large trees though, over 3ft trunks. Just the one-sided one left by the barns now, with younger, smaller trees coming along. It is mostly hardwoods of Oak, red, white, pin and Hickory. I cull out any volunteer Maples and Cherry, both bad leaves for the horses. I have one Dawn Redwood going in there, a very interesting tree that seems pretty happy. Just a slow grower.

We call it the woodlot, but it is mostly regrowth for wind protection, with wildflowers and small animals living in there. Probably an acre, located at the bottom side of our fields, so runoff water goes there in heavy rain, before emptying into the drainage ditch. Can get kind of deep water at times!! I weed whack the miscellaneous plants a couple times a year to prevent reseeding. All of them seem to have burr type seeds, stick-tights that get on the cats and dogs, so keeping them cut off works for me! I will be planting flowering shrubs in the open areas, they have berries too. Have natives and cultivated types in mind, Witch Hazel, Star Magnolia, Elderberry, Mock Orange, Paw Paws, Highbush Cranberry. Spring work there.