The temperatures have been up and down here in North Texas this winter. We have had some beautiful and warm days. However, we have also had some pretty cold days. We have had too much rain at times, but when I see how the weather is in other places, I know that we have actually had it pretty good. There are some signs that spring is just around the corner, such as buds on our peach tree, but the forecast is turning cold with multiple freezes expected in the coming days.
Photo by Faithful Homesteader.
I try to take advantage of the good days by going on hikes with my dog when I have a chance. I know I need more time in the fresh air, and I want to get into better shape. The chickens seem to be doing well. They are quite active these days, and most of them are laying. I do love seeing them active. My girls bring a lot of joy into my life. Our girl Nailie had quit laying for several months, so I am so glad to see her laying again. I always worry about her, because she is never quite as active as the rest.
Our original chicken Buster has been with us for seven years, and we don’t even know how old she really is. We are wondering if she has another season in her. We are fine if she doesn’t lay again. She has been a productive girl over the years. I don’t know if we would have ended up with chickens had she not wandered into our yard and chose to stay.
We have started the garden preparations. Most of our seeds are ordered. We have a new fig tree and will be growing a lot of fruit along with our vegetables. We will be growing wild plum, gooseberry, Nanking cherry, and Jostaberry this year. I am not familiar with Jostaberry. I read that it is a cross between a gooseberry and black currant.
We love our trees and continue to add more, but we had one tree that had roots growing too close to our septic system, so we had to cut it down. My husband had everything planned perfectly, and he said it fell in the exact right spot. He started cutting up part of it with our chainsaw. I decided that I wanted to give it a try. I had never used a chainsaw in my life. It was challenging, but I did it. We don’t have a heavy duty chainsaw, so we were not able to cut up the whole tree.
I am looking forward to the end of the cold weather and the start of spring. I am hoping that as we are approaching our severe storm season, that it won’t be so bad. We are supposed to have an awesome wildflower season here in North Texas. I am looking forward to that. I also look forward to the flowers that we are planting, like my favorite sunflowers and marigolds.
