Sometimes sequential events spring to life in one's timeline that have a theme. This past weekend was the time of the couch.
What does that have to do with homesteading, Kat? A few of you may be wondering. Well, this weekend was full of homesteading chores, sights, and sounds. It's just that couches were a very present part of all the hoopla.
For instance, the weather finally warmed up just enough to get some raking and burning done. Okay, I am stretching it a bit, more like it warmed up enough as long as I had a pile burning to get some raking and burning done, but hey, I'll take it.
And rake it! I raked, and used my trusty lawnmower sweeper, and picked up sticks, and burned!
At one point on Friday night I burned three hundred feet of pine needle piles. It was glorious!
It's getting about time to plant my one row of potatoes. I know this because Tax Day is tomorrow and I always plant my seed potatoes round that time. This year I don't feel bad planting them a bit later since we are in the throes of a cold, late spring.
But, it did make me happy to see that our garlic is peeking out of the straw as are the hops.
Since I was in such a good mood from burning things, I stopped by the calendula and hollyhock patch and grabbed some calendula seed heads. I had meant to harvest some last fall but as we went from 84F to snowing in two weeks time last year, I didn't get that task done.
So I did it in April. Last week I took some hollyhock seed heads from the same patch, soaked them, and have them currently sprouting in a flat in the greenhouse. It's just the calendula's turn now.
I can't wait for flowers for YEARS!
Because as it stands now it looks like I will have about 1/4acre of flowers in the market garden. That's not counting the half an acre of lavender out in the field. The bees are totally going to be loving my homestead this year!
Also, I will probably be sleeping out in the flower field most nights in my hammock. Because...reasons...
The birds are growing nicely. By birds I mean the chicks I picked up at the post office on February 9th. Wow, that sentence could mean so many things, but I meant chicks of the poultry variety.
The pullets are in full mini chicken phase right now, which if I am honest, is my favorite stage of chickenhood. They are all sorts of sassy and look like a half-sized version of their future adult selves.
Plus, Bruce thinks it's funny to violently peck the feed pan before I fill it like she's tough or something. I think I will be tucking Bruce under my wing and taking her for a perspective altering walkabout round the farm. She needs taken down a peg or two.
The ducks have been laying a ton of eggs lately, which really hasn't hurt any of our feelings as when there are more eggs about I bake a LOT more baked goods.
The teenagers that materialize on the weekends seem very appreciative of this fact. The double chocolate chocolate chip cookie bars that I made evaporated in one business day.
And the alien plant in my yard is starting to look more rhubarb-like. Which is nice. I also got the asparagus bed completely weeded the other day, which makes me happy. Well, I still can't feel my left index finger because it about froze off while I did that chore, but I think it's going to live, so that's a happy thing!
This week is a bit of a melee in the making as we have the hub's rifle team dinner, my daughter's senior class party auction dinner fundraiser, and my daughter's 18th birthday. Along with a couple track meets and such. But planting season waits for no one, so in that time mess I also have to plant the potatoes, get the garden beds ready, and start zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos, and some cold weather plants like the peas.
I need a hot tub...
But what about the couches you might be asking? Well, my cousin got a new couch. My podcast co-host has a terrible couch and my cousin's couches were not too terrible. We have a big one ton pickup truck.
I bet you can see where this is going.
So, in between all that homesteading that I did this week, we also did couch potato.
One night I moved out my cousin's old couches to his patio.
The other night the hubs and are daughter and her friend loaded the old couches onto Rufus (our truck).
The next night we delivered the old couches to our bud whilst also loading and removing his old couch that my husband hates more than anything.
And now the old couch is currently sitting on Rufus. I think it's new home will be Fort Cankles (the kid's fort in the back ten acres of our property), or possibly the dump. I'm a little scared to take the old couch to the dump. While my son was driving the old couch to our home that couch decided it wasn't going to take its getting kicked out lying down and threw one of its legs at the car behind my son.
Luckily he saw the bad behavior, pulled over, and removed all the couch's legs so that it couldn't commit a fit throwing homicide. Every time I walk by it I can feel its hatred flowing.
But to be honest, lifting another couch right now is not really appealing to me. Maybe we'll just drive the truck around with a couch accessory adorning the back. Who knows, we might start a trend.
But that could just be my concussion talking. Yep, I got one of those this weekend too, but I am going to save that story for another post😉