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| It’s amazing how much rock weighs. Phew! |
Then, we piled it all up and burned it. Parenting tip: if you want your kids to help you unload wood, tell them they’ll be able to roast marshmallows if they help. Works every time.
Since we were already on a roll with fire, we also burned our back pasture to get rid of the foxtail and other weeds, then reseeded it. That’s a lot of walking and admittedly, Jack did most of it. Sometimes my nesting extends to motivating others to do it for me.
One word: cleaning. While everyone else in the world seemed to be gallivanting off in Florida or Mexico for spring break, the kids and I cleaned the house from top to bottom. We’re talking scrubbing behind toilets, wiping out the fridge, cleaning under the couch, washing windows…it was exhausting but so nice to have a spic ‘n’ span house. It lasted for all of two seconds, but it was nice.
There were plenty of rewards for their hard work, including a few April Fool’s jokes to keep everyone laughing. Everyone except Henry. He was really looking forward to brownies, not brown E’s. Don’t worry–he was compensated with ice cream instead.
Amidst all the flurry of cleaning, burning, and farm chores, Jack had a trip to the U.K. It was kind of a blur while he was gone because that leaves me to be the fun/responsible/disciplinarian/homework helper/activity goer/etc parent all at the same time. Still, my desire for nesting and spring cleaning didn’t ebb, and we added that to the list. Talk about a relief when he got back and could help share the load. I may have taken a few days off bedtime duty to recover.
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| He brought back dandelion soda from England. The kids were not thrilled with it and decided to pour it back. |
Meanwhile, work around the home and farm continued. The chicken coop got a good cleaning (or as clean as a person can get a chicken coop), we mucked all the stalls, scrubbed water buckets, swept the aisles, and tidied the tack area.
With all the rain we’ve been having this spring, it really brought out the worst of qualities about the Indiana mud–sticky, sloppy, smelly, and impossible to walk without slipping. One of the grossest parts of the farm is the chicken run. To remedy their slick, muddy area, Henry, Zoey and I got a very heavy load of gravel and bucket by bucket, emptied it. Surprisingly, that did not induce labor, despite my best efforts.
With the chickens happy, we also decided to get ready for two new beehives, putting landscaping cloth underneath, weeding, and moving the pavers. We’re all ready for some fresh honey!
One pressing issue that had to be tackled was repairing the fence at the back of our property. We’d given it an honest effort before when Woody escaped once but with his insatiable desire to eat everything in sight, he managed to get out again. So, we moved everyone to the front and instead of high tensile wire, we put up a mesh fencing that wouldn’t let a rat through. Hopefully, that’s the end to our problems with Woody escaping.
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| Flinging mulch around the trees, two fistfuls at a time. |
Then we turned to the garden. The strawberry patch and asparagus are looking good and the purple, red, and white potatoes are all in the ground. It’s slow work but row by row, it’ll get done. Someday. When the rain quits soaking everything.
Oh. And I finished writing, editing, formatting, and publishing another book. That might’ve been the most frantic task of all, since who knows how much brainpower I’ll have after having a new baby and being sleep deprived. Glad to say it’s finished!
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| Get your copy here! 🙂 |
I’ve officially made it past my due date, which I don’t know why that surprises me. Henry was the only one earlier than his expected arrival, Katherine eventually came on her own, but everyone else was two weeks late and had to be induced anyway. I’ve tried it all–eating fresh pineapple, walking for miles, squatting while planting potatoes, mowing, eating spicy food, waiting for the full moon, celebrating Earth day by starting garden planting, cleaned the church, hid (and found) Easter eggs, chasing down escaped cows, and every other possible labor-inducing tactic known to science and old wives but I’m still waiting, waiting, waiting. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though and really, I don’t care how my kids arrive as long as they’re healthy. In the meantime, everyone will continue to be subject to my crazy nesting/spring cleaning urges and when the time comes, it’ll be a well-deserved “rest.”
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| Kate helping me get ready by painting my toenails since I can’t reach them anymore. |
