Keeping busy

There is certainly no shortage of excitement around here!

The children gathered some frog eggs in a bucket

There were two bunches of eggs.  One of them was farther along than the other (right)

Our first hatched tadpoles!

Our first meal of wild fiddleheads harvested from our property!  So yummy!

Sprouting some sweet potato slips for the garden

The children are very excited to finally be using the trampoline they got for Christmas

About 300 bulbs of garlic planted last fall sprouting.  Can't wait for the garlic scapes!  This garden is protected from deer by some fishing line hung at various heights

A work in progress.  An incubator built from 2 old aquariums and a heat lamp.  We wanted to build it without spending any money, so the temperature is controlled by hand.  We really should have it on a thermostat.  We have to manually adjust the lid to vent it to keep the temperature in an acceptable range.  It takes almost constant monitoring.  I would be surprised if these eggs are all viable by the end of the 21 days of incubation.  In fact, I would be happy if even a few hatched.  So far though, I have been able to see growing embryos in almost all 16 eggs!

Thermometer, hygrometer, wet sponge for humidity, wire mesh for air circulation, beautiful fertile eggs from our own chickens 

And our biggest excitement!  This will be our new house!  The building plans are finished, the building permit has been approved, and the foundation is staked out!  Phoenix (left) is standing in the laundry/ mud room.  Zander (middle) is standing in the pantry.  Finnlee (right) is standing in the dining room.  In the back, you can see my parent's house.  Its not done yet, but they are already living in the basement.

Looking to the road from what will be my kitchen window.  The view will be much improved once the mobile home is gone.  You can see the chicken coop to the right

Looking left from what will be the front door.  The coop is just to the left

Looking right from what will be the front door.  That bit of red at the right is the newly painted shed Chris built a year and a half ago.  Next step, heavy machinery!