well, the computer broke

some child who we won't name, toly, shoved stuff other than optical media into the dvd slot. it didn't really like it. luckily we have insurance for such accidents. we have taken to purchasing extended service plans on anything we can around here. so far it has paid off. the computer was in the repair shop for ten or so days. i went to pick it up today.

on my excursion to springfield i picked up twelve new pullets--silver laced wyandottes. that was the first breed that we purchased when we moved here. they preformed very well for us and we have decided to fall back on a working breed for our next group.

aren't they cute?

during my forced sabbatical from the internet we took the stomach flue. kassi got it first.

doesn't she look sad? i followed her lead in short order and managed to ruin an entire extended weekend.

tristan took the bug after me and was miserable.

he was so cute psyching himself up "i will not vomit, i will not vomit" hey i take entertainment wherever i can.

rome and toly seem to have displayed the least symptoms so far.


kassi got new patten leather shoes from my parents and wore them the entire time she was sick--even while she slept.

very nice aren't they?


tabitha knit me a new hat for valentines day.

tristan looks very cute in it. i love it. it is perfect and would like at least one more.

tabitha let tristan carry rome in the "paxie" ergo baby carrier. this might be an extraordinary solution for distraction this gardening season.


during our illness we might have cooked our seedlings. the green house gets very hot and sick people operate barely on routine. where routine doesn't exist yet things seem to crumble quickly. we might have to buy more seeds and replant. in my experience early struggle seems to ensure success. we are still early enough to replant without any repercussion--except financial. the lesson to be learned here is save more seeds.

on another bad note, i had catastrophic failure of all of my kombucha. i need new scobies. any help would be appreciated. i'll pay the shipping. here is a normal scene at the pile of o'melays.


tabitha's sewing machine took a dump. i took it to the pfaff dealer and he said that it would cost in excess of five hundred dollars to fix. enough about that..

tristan even read a little harry potter while he was sick.


rome has been doing his baby exercises






we have been eating tons of chicken soup--thanks tabitha. many many movies have been watched. before the illness struck we managed to pour piers for the new chicken house. i took receipt of chicken plucker fingers and specialized pulley. yesterday i found a plastic fifty five gallon drum. there are only a few parts lacking for our new automatic chicken plucker. i loaded the final load of fully cured wood into the wood box. i have a bit more of almost seasoned wood to fulfill any further short coming.

the chickens are still at twelve eggs per day. i turned off their daylight extending cfl light last week. we are excited to contain the chickens this year. tabitha wants flower beds and dreams of uninterrupted mulch in all gardening/orcharding endeavors. once the new coop in finished the kids will be in charge of collecting eggs and feeding the chickens. kassi is excited about this. we also got two easter egg colored laying pullets today. this should provide wonderful excitement for her. araucanas are allegedly very friendly hens. it will be fun to see how she makes pets of them.

here is a gratuitous cute o'melay photo


i know that i haven't answered any comments in a while and will reply to all comments in this post. my penance for such slovenly behavior will be that all questions about this or any past entries will happily be addressed.

i'm happy to be back online as i kiss the virtua-firma and thank saint of technology that i can now wiki anything i desire.