Calluses

I think I have finally broken my hands into this season of farming.
Over the spring I had quite few blisters as my hands transitioned out of my winter mitts. Finally, they have all turned to calluses and my muscles are volunteering for jobs they previously complained about.



Like always, we had a crazy busy week!
It started with some wonderful visitors. Matt's Grandparents and Dad spent some time with us this week. We had a lot of fun and it was so great to reconnect again. I felt blessed to have 4 generations of Young men around my table!

We finally got the whole garden planted! Here is a squash seedling that I started in the house.



And here are my purple top turnips starting to flower. I am hoping to get some seed to save from them!



Here is our whole family after a gardening picnic lunch. Little farm boy is playing in the grass behind the pick up.

Working and playing in the garden

We got all of our critters moved to fresh grass again. The horses are moved daily, the chickens weekly and the pigs as needed. We don't want to move the piglets away from our barn shelters until they are a little bigger, but there is still plenty of grass for them where they are so far.

The clover was selected first and thoroughly enjoyed!

I love how pigs look like they are smiling. Or maybe they really are smiling...

Our weather has been so unpredictable. Just over this morning alone we have had brilliant sun, torrential rain, wild winds, stinging hail and two power outages. Every time I look up the weather is different. I am hoping all my transplants are doing ok in the hail, it honestly hurt to walk through!



You can just see a furry cinnamon blob right in the center of this picture. 
Gardening and bear watching are not separate events around here. Little farm girl calls this guy Latte and she enjoys watching him through her little binoculars while I garden. I don't mind as long as he stays over there...



And look who is slimming down and looking handsome! He gets lots of time on grass but he has to wear his grazing muzzle which limits how much grass he can take in. He was dangerously overweight so I am glad to see him slimming down a bit.



And here is a sight you never want to see: Pigs on the wrong side of the fence.
I saw them come through in a spot where the wire is just a touch too high. Its was actually pretty comical. They started curiously chasing that little white cat on the right, and then the horses started curiously chasing them. It was a chain of animals following each other around. The pigs finally realized they were being pursued  and panicked and ran back to their buddies.



And my kitchen garden has been turned into a berry patch. We planted all the beds with strawberries and little farm girl has been diligently caring for them. You can never have too many strawberries!