All The Baby Birds Are Here

There is a nest that gets built somewhere on or around the tool shed and for the past three years these nests have been well occupied.  This Spring we have 4 to 5 baby birds.  Since we cannot get too close to really see Lisa has gotten very good at getting pictures with her phone but she does it in a way that it does not threaten the nest, baby birds or parents.  With that said, she cannot really see what she is taking a picture of so it is hard to determine how many babies there are.  We know that we have counted 4 beaks but we also think we saw a fifth beak.  Anyway, the baby birds are doing great and we predict that within the next week they will be leaving their nest. 

Cow Tails Saga Continues

A Cow Tails breakthrough has been found.  The cows came visiting once again and decided to walk through the blueberry plants.  The blueberries were looking so good until the cows came for another visit.  We will be planting the garden in the orchard in the next few days and we really do not need the cows to visit and take out some items so George and Tim got busy yesterday and went to find the area along the fence line that had been compromised and aided in the cows coming to visit here at the farm.  They found it and it was no wonder the cows came in with a herd; there were a couple of trees that had fallen down on the fence crushing it and allowing a nice opening for the cows to get through.  There was even a nice path created by the cows to ease in their coming and goings.  So George and Tim got busy in removing the downed trees and repairing the fence.  This should stop the visiting cows and protect our garden from being stomped on.  Thanks Tim and George: very nicely done!  So this should end the Cows Tails saga.  Now all we have to do is watch out for the gifts the cows have left us in the orchard...cow patties!

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Preparing The Vines

Last year we had a pretty good crop of grapes and used the grapes to make a lot of grape jelly, which was/is delicious, and some grape juice.  The grape crop from last year was not as big as the year before but it worked.  This year we are expecting a bumper grape crop and since we are still sitting on several jars of grape jelly we are going to try and make wine with most of the grapes. The grape vines had to be tied up to the grape trellaces that help support the grape vines as they grow.  George and Lisa were busy doing it before the rain hit.  Now that the grapevines are tied up we are ready for the grapes to grow and harvest them. Some of the grapes harvested will still be used to make some grape jelly but most of the grapes will go into making wine.  We are learning that wine can be made from almost every fruit we are growing so we are going to be experimenting and will try to make wine from watermelon and peaches too.  We do know that with making wine it is a process that will take almost a year before the finished product will be ready to try but hey, we can wait...I think? 

"Going In Sytle"

We all went to the movies yesterday and saw the movie "Going In Style" at the Newport Cinema.  It was a really good, cute and entertaining movie.  It starred Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Alan Arkin.  It is a remake of the same movie from the 1970's and just as good if not better.  It is full of comical moments that makes the movie fun and enjoyable.  If you want to go see something just for fun than this is a good movie to see.

Colors Of The Mountains

Last night the mountains were glowing with color that the setting sun was creating.  I have not seen this before but it was absolutely beautiful and of course I had to take pictures to share.  I even used my real camera and not my phone just to make sure I captured all the colors. The sun was putting on quite a light show highlighting the mountains.  Even the far off mountains in North Carolina were highlighted enough to show the ranges we normally don't see.  It made for a beautiful ending of the day.

We Got A New Car

Tim and I have been discussing getting a bigger car due to traveling and needing room to seat more than four people.  Tim went to the Dodge/Jeep dealership yesterday to have our Jeep Compass looked at because it has a hum in the engine that was not there a couple of weeks ago.  He was gone for about four hours and when he came home he drove up in a white car but it was not our Jeep Compass.  It was a brand new Dodge Journey.  It is a V6 with third row seating and is all wheel drive.  It is really nice looking and now we have plenty of room for traveling and carrying passengers.  It was a nice surprise and it drives really nice.  Thanks Tim!

Time To Dry Out

We have just finished three days of almost solid rain.  It started Friday and did not quit until late Sunday night.  We even had over 24 hours of solid rain from Saturday night at 7:00 pm until 11:00 pm Sunday night.  With all the rain came a cold front so we went from 80 degree temperatures to 55 degree temperatures.  However, we knew it wouldn't last and today we woke up to sun and warmer temperatures.  It is going to be so warm that by the end of the week it may be in the 90's.  Gee, I hope it won't get that warm that soon!  The rain has made everything so green and you know the saying, "April showers bring May flowers".  If this is true we are going to loaded with flowers in May!  It is pretty outside even with the low lying clouds.  Welcome Spring!