Snow day...

Sorta. I have many files to review for work, however, the office was closed due to snow. Let's hope the barn at the farm doesn't fall and the roofs on the grain bins are intact.

J says that means I need to go to the farm to paint. Well, sorry to be a buzz kill, but work first.

J went to order the hardwood for the floor the other night and they were closed. He has this streak about him that is very lucky. He went back last night and the wood had just been put on sale. YAY! So now we have enough to buy both exterior doors for the house, rather than just one. See, frustration is just a distraction to seeing the better side of delays and obstacles. (Pardon my zen moment. The patience practice is working me thinks.) And, being quite chatty helps. Direct TV allowed us to keep our account in suspension a bit longer until we move, unless we decide life without tv is better (close). Life is good.

I am absolutely excited to have the seed order in. While there are a couple other packets I will pick up along the way, the majority will be in the mail shortly.

I did go a little nuts. Nearly $150 in seeds. Our weakness is fruit. And Colorado isn't exactly New England with it's orchards and berry patches every five hundred feet. With the short season and likeliness for July hail storms, local fruit takes some hunting and planning. With that in mind I ordered several short season melons and watermelons. I am searching for various fruit trees and fruit shrubs that can thrive in our arid and unpredictable climate. In the end, we will likely be inundated with fruit, which is part of the master plan. Pies, frozen fruit for smoothies, preserves and canned fruit for winter days when you just need a lift to get yourself through to Spring.

J says I tend to plant too much squash, so I am branching to things he will actually entertain eating. I am the rare person that is glad to find rogue zucchini stashed in my car from some person who thought two plants is better than one and is now left with a plethora of squash the size of baseball bats. (Note to all of you, I will have planted tons, so keep this in mind.) Of course, with all that extra I can share the wealth with my chickens and future bacon producers (results are still out on the name your dinner thing).

I would like to try my hand at growing dried beans, which do well here. I have yet to successfully start my own seeds since moving here. So this year, while we create plans to build a proper greenhouse, it will be tomato and pepper starts from the nursery. Let's limit things to one hundred things at a time, rather than try planting the whole elephant at once (someone gets that sentence right?)

I also think, with the winter weather here for a brief visit, it may be the weekend to stay at the farm for the first time. I will be packing the blowup mattress and pillows and blankets in preparation and head to the grocery store for the weekend meals this afternoon. I can't stop envisioning sitting in my Amish rocker in the window with a cup of tea looking over the snow covered pastures and the white caps on the mountains.

Another thing I am excited for is landscaping around the house. Think chaotic English/cottage garden. I have not let go of the dream that I can create a lush spot in this front range desert. Just need to keep a lookout for the snakes when we do this.

J went up to the house this week for our last inspection. We passed, and now we are done with the loan requirements and are just awaiting final payout. He did not anticipate receiving a lesson on the local snake population from the local inspector, an older woman who lives just down the road a bit. I am not a fan of the slithery set. I recently googled pig housing, and came up with a picture of a python swallowing a pig (who is the programmer, really, under "pig housing"). Ugh. Anyway, we are apparently close enough to the foothills for rattle snakes (not welcome) and bullhead snakes (apparently welcome). They like tall grass, so mowing is definitely part of my future, and they like spring when they come out of their hobbit holes and fall, when they are preparing to return. We have an open space area of trails about thirteen miles from the house. I am told the parking lot is built on top of a rattle snake den where they winter over. Folks who have gone out for a day of hiking on the warmer spring days have come back to find the ground surrounding their cars littered with rattle snakes. I am hoping this story is quite exaggerated for the benefit of totally freaking me out. One can hope right? Ahh, the wild wild west.

Well, work is calling me. I best get back to the payer of dreams.