Good News!!

And some not so good, 

Got the property tax bills in the mail, yuck.  I have a big dislike of that pile of envelopes in the mail every year.  Plus we got one more which I wasn't expecting.  The school evidently did not do their paperwork to keep tax exempt status for the school property so I got the bill.  I was begining to stress about it (it's not a small bill) and trying to tell myself all morning to let it go.  Easier said than done.  But I finally decided to listen and give it up to God aand guess what?  By the end of the day I had a call from the school saying they were working with the county on getting it taken care of.  Thank You!!!

On the good side, we found out that there is a chance C's team may make it to playoffs this season.  I was very surprised.  They have to win this Saturday's game against Milwaukie.  I looked them up and they are 0-7.  C also happened to see it and said sweet we'll beat them.  OH NO!!  :(  
We needed to have a talk about not getting over confident and cocky because they have lost all season.  I told hm it would make their day if they could keep us from the playoffs.  Do you ever get the feeling that what yo said went in one ear and out the other?  I sure did.   Hopefully Coach will give them an earful at practice tomorrow. 

Looks like we'll have a freeze tonight.  About time, we've had some frost but not a good freeze.  That should sweeten up the kiwis.  I got enough picked to make a batch of Jam.  It sure was good, been hearing the toaster going off all evening as the kids are digging into it.  Speaking of freeze I need go sync the thermometer so I can find out how cold it gets.  And it is bedtime.  So I'll be taking at ya all later.
 

Finally Friday!!

What to do today, I actually really need to get a field sprayed for weeds before the rain starts. We thought it was going to be raining by tonight but it looks as if it has been pushed back. I need to take advantage of it. Also need to get some tomatoes picked at least the ones that are close to being ripe. I hope that will help the others ripen up and I really should do some more shearing. A little bit everyday and I will eventually get done.

This afternoon will be filled up with football and errands. Have to run farm donations down to town for the volunteer fire fighters and to the FFA for their dinner and auctions coming up. Going to throw in a donation for the CSA and hope that might help drum up a little bit of business or at least some interest for next year. Then it is practice and the homecoming game. # has to go to do a presentation during halftime for the youth football program. Then its home, bed, get up and get ready for a game in Estacada. After the whooping they got last week I hope they will pick it up and kick some butt tomorrow. They can do it, they just have to get it together. I'd like to see # get some good sacks.

Oh one last thing, I've seen where people don't put the names of their kids on here and I think that is a good idea. So I give them all sumbols. I'll leave it up to you to figure out who is who. Or you can just ask me.

The first family post

Hey, 

So this will be a quick post, it is getting late and the bed is begining to call.  I don't want to miss that since the last few nights I have found myself laying awake around midnight wishing I could go to sleep then waking up at 5:30 to the alarm wishing I could go back to sleep.  :( 

Was a rainy fall feeling day today.  Did a quick browse out to the garden.  Everyting has stopped, no slowing down or gradual die down of growth, it is done.  I was hoing to get a couple more weeks of cucumbers and summer squash before it all ended.  Time to get the hoops and cloth back over the things I want to ripen.  I did finally get enough tomatoes to can 2 canners for us.  The CSA people have all their canning veggies so the rest belongs to me.  I would really like to hit my 100qt goal this year.  We're 14 closer to that woo hoo!...?   Spent several hours shearing Christmas trees, but weenied out when the blisters started to form on my fingers. Tomorrow its tape and hopefully batting gloves (if I can find them) to make it less painful.  That is if my arm will work, it is pretty tired tonight.  Finished up today at football practice with C.  They had a bad game on Saturday, the boys weren't "feeling it" and played badly, more like the 3/4th team instead of the varsity players.  They spent some quality time pushing the coaches son around on the sled.  Hopefully the will "feel it" this Saturday when we play Estacada. 

A Change of Plans

I have obviously been doing badly at keeping up with this blog as a farm blog.  I have been using a blog on wordpress for farm stuff and think I will continue to do so.  So my intention at this time is to turn this blog over to a family blog to help me keep family members who I should be calling more in the loop of waht is happening around this zoo we call home. 

That being said, if you were following this blog (or what little I have wrote) for farm stuff please check us out at snowlinetreefarm.wordpress.com  or look us up on facebook"snowline tree farm"  those two places will have the most up to date info on what is happening farm wise for us. 

Thanks
Denise

Long Time, No Write,

I have not updated this for quite some time. For quite awhile I had a hard time even accessing this account. Too many passwords for my brain to remember.

We are waiting for winter to get over with. Even as I write this I look outside and see snow falling out the window and the piles of it left over from the last snowfall earlier this week. Does not feel like March.

Well it is time to get going, I hear horses starting to tell me it is food time and the ducks will soon be chiming in. This must mean I have had enough coffee and it is time to work. I think today is a good day to do some greenhouse work.

SummerYule is just around the corner

For everyone who wonders just what do tree farmers do when it is not harvest time we have the opportunity for you to find out. The farm will be open weekends for SummerYule.

This is a program designed along the lines of the Fruit Loop (like the one in Hood River) where you can visit several farms and see the day to day operations. Only with us you're checking out Christmas Trees, not fruit trees.

We will have a hay ride and give you a tour of the farm, including parts you don't see during Christmas season. We'll show you what we do to the trees to shape them and explain a bit more about our work here. If you would like you can pick out your Christmas tree we'll tag it and save it for you (a deposit is required to hold a tree). You can even trim your tree so it looks the way you want it to. This is your chance to get one of the first picks of the entire farm.

Fresh produce, flowers, and eggs (depending on how well the girls are laying) is available for purchase. We hope to have some local crafts in the next couple weeks. If weekends don't work for you, call or email and we can schedule a time for you to visit during the week.

Bring a picnic lunch and come enjoy the farm in a whole new season!

May Showers.....of Snow

Today is not a typical May morning,

The birds are singing, I hear the humming birds at the feeder and I even hear frogs croaking. But I see snow! Not a lot, but enough that the ground is getting a skiff of white on it. This is one of the few shots I got before the batteries died in the camera. Would'nt you know it, couldn't find anymore. They were probably eaten by the battery monster called Wii. It's a chilly 33 this morning, so I should go crank up some heat in the greenhouse to keep everything in there happy.

The greenhouse is full of starts of every variety just waiting for a bit more warmth so they can get hardened off and put in the ground. Evidently that is not supposed to happen yet. The forecasters are saying not much longer for this.

I hope they're right.