{a good day}

This little guy saved the day!  And, yes, he pretty much ALWAYS wears his bike helmet because you never know when you may be riding through the field, do a bunny hop, jump off your bike and need to plant spinach.   You never, ever know.  Thankfully, he loves spinach.   But, he did great with the plant spacing although I re-set a few when he wasn't looking as the line got a tad wavy. ;)   Today was such a good day in getting us all out of the house.  Well, all except Scott, he's super-sick right now. :(  But, James came down and helped me out with the tiller.  Until it started smoking about 3/4 of the way through.  I'm thinking tillers are not suppose to smoke.    But, it was so nice to be away from the desk, medical records, driving in the car just to dig in the dirt.  There is just something about it, very therapeutic.  Something really nice until that back pain you've been having for about a month kicks into high gear.  So frustrating.  And, it's actually making me a little nervous, it's a pain I've never had and the stiffness if disconcerting in a big way.  I'm thinking I need to go back in {no pun intended, I've been on a roll with them}.

I will say early on in the day, I  got a bit overwhelmed with the garden.  I am already envisioning at its peak - not at the point all of the grass and rocks and weeds still need to be evacuated.  Or, that the seeds are hidden and the wimpy spinach is wilting.  I'm envisioning the lush, beautiful bounty.  So, I think I almost had myself a panic attack until I mentally {and physically} broke up that plot into small sections.  It will definitely take time and since this is the first year to use this location, it will definitely be the most difficult just in prep alone.  Baby, baby steps I kept chanting to myself.  The end result with come.  And, then, I'll be all sad because it will be time to pack it all away and ready it for winter.  So, to enjoy the here and now.  The birds singing helped a lot with that.   On a fun note, I do have my layout sketched and have decided to go with a natural picket fence around it.  {I have needed one for pictures anyway, so that tipped the scale}

Yes, the size of it - got the best of me for a few minutes.

Noah was in and out of it all day.  But, he had another project going on in the garage.   

 Uncle James saved the day! 

And,  Uncle Shawn called to inform me he had my clothesline welded together and ready to paint.  I think I am regressing back to pioneer days.  Forget the 50's. 

This is the project Noah helped with all morning.  He is great with projects like this; whereas I would be chopping it up using it as a firestarter before I could even finish the directions.  It is

is so fun to watch him in action.   This is the little coop.  I'll move the chicks from their bin in probably 5-7 days.  They grow so fast.  Then they will reside in here remaining in the garage where it is safe and warm.  In the meantime, the big coop will be built and this will serve as a separate area for injured/sick birds, new chicks/chickens that will join in the flock, etc.  Are ya'll getting sick of my chicken adventures yet?  Sorry!    

Although there is so much still to do out there {major yard work, yuck!}, despite my ailing  back...it was still a good day.  I have had the hardest time sleeping lately, so I'm at least hoping the fatigue I feel, will allow me to sleep tonight as the lack thereof is about to do me in!    

today we planted:  from plants - romaine lettuce, cabbage, onions and spinach.  from seed:  zinnias (yay), romaine lettuce, salad bowl lettuce and collard greens (for e)

next:  strawberries, daisies, sunflowers and i'm thinking.........more zinnias ;)