March Was CRAZY Busy Part 4, NLE

Our booth at the Natural Living Expo.  

Grampa with Baby Zap, maybe he's explaining why babies are not an item for the recycle bin?

We decided to spend our small bit of money for marketing on a booth at this expo. First, I've been attending this expo as a consumer since year 1 and second, what an amazing idea Tanya had way back when to get all these local businesses together under one expo and connect people! She doesn't run it anymore, but still, I am glad someone is carrying on the torch and keeping this event going. One of the things I love about Des Moines and Iowa is all the people with good ideas and motivation to make things happen AND the temperament to keep the ball rolling even when it becomes someone else's turn with that ball.  :) I really liked working with these folks and the expo was busy both days with local musicians, classes, and constant foot traffic to our booth. Bonus, I met several other farmers who are doing the same thing we are and we got to talk shop.

March Was CRAZY Busy Part 3: Something Fishy

Spring on the farm. I never thought I'd see huge round bales on our farm, but there you have it. 

This was something Blueberry Girl and Chad did as a Daddy Daughter task (Grampa took pictures). 

Grass Carp and catfish. Mmmmm, catfish.

Last winter, winter 2009/2010, we had heavy snow fall and cover and we lost a large amount of whale sized grass carp. Ok, maybe not whale sized, but pretty big. One of the dead fish carcasses was 6 ft long. Yes, carcass. When the dead fish is THAT big it's a carcass. Anyway,  losing that many large grass carp was bad for the pond and last summer we saw the affects of the fish kill. This winter we had next to no fish kill at all, but we decided to stock the pond and get a good start.

The dock and the kids used to make me nervous. When we first moved here I fell through one of the boards and was stuck up to my hip, baby on my back, and camera held high. It's had some repair but mostly I think we've just all gotten used to its weaknesses and strengths and navigate its structure more deftly. 

Managing the pond ecology is one of the biggest responsibilities we have to our land and farm, but we get so much enjoyment from having this amazing resource right in our backyard. Yes, this IS our backyard. Wow. Every time I look at it, breathe the fresh country air, I praise God for our many blessings.

March Was CRAZY Busy Part 2

My gorgeous and very talented sister in law Aunt J. Not only does she play the piano, but she is a master of its construction. I had a pedal that never worked and a few keys sticking. I blamed the girls dancing on it last week and I was wrong! Turns out that pianos need to be regularly opened and vacuumed out. It's on the yearly cleaning task list now. 

Very dusty. Some of the keys were broken too, on the inside where I never looked. A little bit of super glue and a lot of cleaning fixed all of that.

The heart and guts of the instrument. Of course this fascinated Blueberry Girl and she couldn't and wouldn't keep her hands off things. She ended up tearing some of the felt off of parts. 

I loved that my SIL did this for us.  It didn't take long and made a huge difference in how the girls treat the piano and how they play it now. Love love love love. (Four loves in honour of my little bro's childhood obsession with the number four....;)....)

This Little Piggy ran all the way home.....

Our first round of pigs arrived at the farm on Sunday. Our customers know that we can only bring home as many pigs as customers have paid deposits, so only 11 pigs have arrived. (eh em, please get me your deposit!) They settled in nicely and have been running and jumping and exploring. Hopefully, they will be joined by another group in about 3 weeks.