8/3/08 So it continues to rain this summer which some people have been complaining about, but I think is pretty wonderful, everything is staying green and growing. In other notes we are low on the animal count these days. My brother is moving out and so now the chickens have moved on as well. Ila the black Lab is moving with him of course and so we are back down to a rabbit. So we will see what may arrive in the next few years but for now we have plenty going on.
7/14/08 It's berry time up here, the strawberries have been pretty well picked, the blueberries are coming on as well as the wild berries.
5/25/08 So all the early flowers are taking their turn, now it's the lilacs and the white flowering crab taking their turn, so we took the opportunity to get a updated family picture.
5/12/08 So we've been a little low on pictures recently so here is something.
5/9/08 A little grass has been mowed, and green is popping all around, The lilacs look like they will be pretty killer this year. I am wondering about getting the old Ford 600 up and running again to help with chores, course that would mean getting ahold of some more implements like a cutter bar and a snow plow and such. It may not happen this year though. Maybe we could get a stimulus check every year.  

4/22/08 Our lettuce has sprouted so it won't be long till we can go out and get our morning greens.

The other bit of news is that my brothers cows are moving to greener pastures this weekend. For a couple of reasons the fences have not been adequate (I guess I really haven't shared about all the times they have been on the wrong side of the fence), and there is not enough good grass fenced in anyway to support all three cows.
3/28/08 So the seeds have arrived, there is still 8 inches of snow on the garden with the possibility of more arriving tomorrow so it won't be any time soon. We have learned some lessons on time limited gardening over the last few years so this year (as it will be even worse) we are only using the crops that take the least amount of work and I'm keeping a log to determine if it is economically worth the time. I think that if everything goes well we can come out ahead. So I have assigned a per hour value for our gardening time ($20per hour) and am keeping track of all expenses. I figure that if I value my time at 5 per hour I'd rather not spend it weeding. In our favor we will price the produce we get at the store bought organic (which they will be) equivalent. so we will keep you posted.  
3/2/08 Cabin fever?? Haven't heard of it. This is what we do in March when the snow is good. Now I'll concur that mud season can get you down, but even then you know dry ground and all that comes with it is around the corner. Right now we have 2 feet of snowpack at the house that is not going away soon, so we may as well use it.

2/10/08 So the snow is making a fine comeback. With what it is snowing now we will be surpassing the snow totals of 2 of the last 7 winters and it's not yet mid Feb, nor have any of the storms been more than 8in here at the house. The sking is great out back with plenty of snowpack to get to most of the good places.
1/19/08 So we got our thaw done with and we are back to winter with a couple of small snow storms this week, so that's all good, maybe Sunday I'll get out and do some skate skiing.  
1/10/08 Lots of snow in December made for lots of fun (and snowplow bills) and so now the Jan. thaw comes right on time. It looks like we will hold onto some base by the time the weather gets cold next week and we get back to winter.