By Alena Mentink
With a beautiful, warm break from the icy winter weather, we enjoyed spending extra time outside.The warm spell lasted for almost two weeks, and everyone made the most of this time. The boys pulled out their fishing poles and headed down to the dam to try to catch some fish. Although they were unable to catch any fish, they were able to find some water bugs to take home, and they did see a few small fish. Kailey has spent time working with her two horses. On most nice afternoons she can be seen carrying a rope and brushes across the paddocks. Mom, Kailey, Annika, Asher, and I have also taken several walks down to the dam. Although the migrating geese generally leave as soon as they spot us, we can generally watch them from a distance.
With the warm weather, we both finished and started plenty of small projects, and we were able to clean up some areas on the farm. A large tree branch had snapped completely off of a tree during an ice storm, so we spent some time cleaning that area up. We also loaded some scrap metal onto the flatbed trailer. Dad repaired the hoop house so that some early vegetables could be planted, and Annika and Asher both enjoyed helping Mom with the planting. Grandpa Larry brought us some eggs to start in our incubator. The eggs are from an older breed of chickens that are supposed to be smaller and better at hatching out young. Grandpa also brought us some Muscovy duck eggs to try out. We have heard that they make a terrible mess of yards, but since our yard was completely torn up by the house construction, we don’t have anything to lose.
On February 24, a snow storm blew in and abruptly ended the warm weather. After hitting two white-out conditions within one mile, Dad turned around and instead decided to work from home for the day. Later in the afternoon, the wind had somewhat died down, and Grandma Brenda arrived to take us kids to her house. Mom and Dad were going to have a date night; the first in two years. They decided to simply stay home, so Grandma Brenda brought them some spaghetti to have for supper. It was Asher’s first night away from his mommy, and although he missed her terribly at bed time, he did very good and had a fun time with grandma.
The work on the house is now proceeding at a much more leisurely pace, but progress is still being made. Dad laid down the counter tops in the kitchen, and we have been enjoying the extra working space that the counter tops provide. Dad has also finished laying the floor in Mom and Dad’s bedroom. After renting an orbital sander, he sanded the floor and applied the first coat of polyurethane. Altogether, three coats will be needed before the floor is completed.With the the first and second coats underway, the floor should be done soon, and hopefully it won’t be long until Mom and Dad can move into their future bedroom.
As we enjoy a second warm spell here on the farm, we look forward to starting seeds and spending time outside.We are eagerly looking forward to spring and all of the changes that it will bring.