The Pond is Full Again!!

After getting three and a half inches of rain/snow a few weeks ago and another inch and a half this weekend, our pond behind our house is finally full again for the first time in several years.

When we moved here in 1991 the pond was full and since it is a spring fed (as opposed to just run-off) it always stayed full within just a few inches. That was until the drought hit! In the past several years it has been several feet low at times. We had wondered if it would ever be full again, but God has sent the rains and it is full once again.

The pond provides for us in several ways. It has fish (Bream, Catfish, and Bass) in it so we have the enjoyment of fishing. And we are catch and eat not catch and release so it puts food on the table occasionally as well. We also have a rope swing in one of the large trees next to the edge of the pond which provides many hours of entertainment during the hot summer months. And sometimes in the quiet of the evening it's nice just to slide around in our canoe and enjoy being on the water.

This is one of our daughters and our LBD (little brown dog). She is a registered Boykin Spaniel and she is due to have puppies on April 27th! We got her whelping box inside today and she will start to come in and get used to being in it so when her time comes she will be comfortable there. Dogs take about nine weeks compared to our nine months so in doggy time she is about at the end of her first trimester. All the stuff we've read say that it is 67 days from conception to puppies... not 66 or 68, 67! We'll see. We had her bred by artificial insemination last year and it didn't work. She went through a false pregnancy but no puppies. This time we did it the old fashioned way with a younger male and are hopeful for better results. This male (Beau) has already fathered two litters...both of which yeilded 11 puppies! Stay tuned.

Egg Production

Our Golden Comets have been faithful egg layers since they started back in August. They really caught us off guard because they started laying before we were expecting them to. (Turns out they are early layers) This is our chicken coop and run. We are getting more chicks next month so we will have to expand the coop and the run before then.



You need one laying box (about a foot square) for every 3 or so chickens so we have seven. Here is one of our girls laying an egg. Even though they have seven boxes to choose from they have their favorites. When we pick up the eggs, there will be some boxes that have six or seven eggs and some that have none.

Before...

We got the garden spot tilled up for the first time this year yesterday. The chickens are enjoying the fresh dirt to scratch around in for now. The kids also enjoyed running around in it. I love our rear-tine tiller attachment for the tractor...I can't imagine the old days of plowing up everything with a mule and a plow. We will try to till it up a couple more times before we lay off rows and plant our garden. Then I'll post some "after" pics once everything gets growing. We hope to can alot of vegetables this year so we're praying for a good garden year.

Angus Cows on Green Grass

We have been working hard recently rehabilitating the fence around this pasture and finally finished it this week. We moved our three heifers onto it two days ago and they are really enjoying it. We are half owner of a Hereford bull but he is at his other home right now visiting his other girls. These heifers are all pregnant and should have their calves next month (April) if all goes well.

The Honey Factory

This is our "bee yard" as it is called by beekeepers. It is 49 degrees today so they are staying in and keeping warm. Bees keep the inside of the hive a toasty 95 degrees no matter what the temperature outside by getting in a tight ball and buzzing. The Red Maple trees and several fruit trees are starting to bloom so they have been busy but today staying warm is job one!

Snow on the 2811!

Snow has become quite rare here on the farm in recent years, but this year we actually got a few inches. Enough to take a half day off work and for the kids to play in it and build a small snowman. I know many people who grew up in the north who could care less about seeing snow, but for us southerners snow is a big event. We raid the grocery stores and watch for the school/business closings. Our snow came in March this year; a little late but welcome none the less.