Grand Children

Today we are waiting for word from Louisiana. Bayou Mommy was going to the hospital today to have her labor induced. So while we wait for word on our ninth Grand Child I thought I would post some pics of the other eight.

#1 JB

#s 2 &3 Sparkle and Fayfie

#4 The Princess

#5 Bubba I

#6 Bubba II

#7 Gaga

And # 8 PB. We just got a call that # 9 is here. Another boy, 9lbs. 6 oz. Cool. We are happy. Mom and baby doing well.

Snowstorm

Most of our snow was gone. The ditches, the woods and some of the fields still had snow, but it was melting.

Today the Boy's High School Basketball Tournament starts. So, guess what?

That's right. SNOWSTORM!

I'm not sure how much we have, because the wind is blowing and it's drifting, but I think we have at least 8 inches and it's still coming down. Yesterday at the feed store the kid that works there asked me if it was supposed to snow during the night. I told him "Yeah, but don't worry cause it won't be much and won't last long". Bet he never asks my opinion again. They closed the schools here today. Gramma's computer for her new job might come today, so I'll have to try and plow, even though I don't want to. Bummer. Should have prepared for the worst. Must be getting old. I had to take the cat food down to the shed cause they couldn't get to the house. Saw brother Kitty's tracks part way to the house and then he turned around and went back. In other news, it looks like the sap run might be over. It's supposed to be cold for a few days and then warm up, but stay warm at night too. That means no more sap. Tapped twice as many trees and we'll end up with less than 1/4 of the sap as last year. :-( No one gets syrup. Sorry.

Snow melt and sugaring

This is a picture of the septic mound two days ago.

This is yesterday. The top of the mound always melts first and the deer always come to eat.

I tapped trees a week ago yesterday. In one week I got 4 gallons. Had to cook it yesterday cause you can only store it a week. This was the result. About 4 oz. I had the heat too high and I boiled it too long, so it has turned into some kind of maple candy. I would rather have syrup, but I think I can eat this too. Today I got 6 gallons and every tap was still dripping pretty good, so I'll check the jugs in the morning. It got down to 16 last night and up to 46 today so that's why it ran. Won't get below freezing for a couple of days now, so we won't get much again until it does. Flows best when it gets below 20 at night and up to 40 or more during the day. Mother Nature makes the decisions and all we can do is hope. Stay tuned.

Critters

The deer have been hitting the hay bales a lot lately, so I got some pics from the garage window. Guess I need to clean the window.

Nice big doe.

Doe on the left and probably her fawn from last spring.The doe has her head all the way in the bale. She'll have a tunnel in there pretty soon.

Saw this young deer from the window and she kept burying head, so I snuck out the front door and got these pics from the driveway.

She didn't see me until I waved at her. Then she kept eating anyway, so I started talking to her and she would just look at me and go on eating. I stood there for several minutes and talked to her, but she just didn't care. She was still eating when I went back in the house.

Well, my varmint pile finally paid off. A nice grey fox showed up late yesterday. I found a place in Duluth that will tan the fur for about 35 bucks, so I bagged it and put it in the freezer. I hope this will turn out good and if so will probably do it again. TH-th-th-th-that's all folks.

Ice fishing, Antoine and Sugar Time

First of all I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Favorite Youngest Daughter. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Also I want to say CONGRATULATIONS FAYFIE on your math accomplishment.

Last weekend my Favorite Oldest Daughter and I went ice fishing. We only saw two fish on the camera, but we caught one of them, so we batted .500. She took a picture of me with the fish and assured me that she would upload it by this summer some time. I don't know why this pic looks cropped, I didn't do it.

Wednesday The Boy and The FDL and the kids went Ice fishing with me. The kids got to see lots of fish on the camera, so they had fun for awhile. Grampa caught two fish that were about three inches long. Pretty small, but we didn't get skunked.

This was Antoine in November.

You remember this pic from February.

Here's what he looks like now. All the black frozen stuff fell off. Looks like he went to the barber and got a crew cut. I don't know if it will stay this way, or if it will grow back. We'll just have to wait and see. Thursday afternoon I started to tap the maples and finished yesterday morning. I put in 23 taps. I think I had 11 last year. It got to 43 degrees yesterday and we got about 1/2 gallon of sap. It's cold today and supposed to be cold tomorrow, so it won't run, but starting Monday temps in the 40's are expected for the next two weeks. As long as it freezes at night and gets that warm in the day the sap will run. Can't wait Yummo.

This and that

Just some stuff from the farm.

Here's Heidi sitting on Gramma's shoulder. Gramma looks a little worried.

This is a shrew. Brother kitty likes to leave us stuff by the door so that we know he's doing his job. Usually it's just parts, but it's always whole shrews. I found out that only some birds eat shrews. Other animals don't because apparently they smell really, really bad.

I haven't seen any coyotes on my critter pile, but the other day an eagle was on it. Way cool. They are so huge, they make the crows look like blackbirds.

This is what we bought today. It's not new, (we can't afford new) but it was the best deal we could find and will make some things easier around here.

Old farmer on his new toy.