Winter was white and long....and spring has officially arrived.

It is now nearing the end of March 2013...and winter weather has been here for months and no end in sight.   We fortunately escaped six weeks of the snow and cold in Australia....but have returned to a world of snow and a blizzard every other day.    Just when we think the snow is melting away we get another dump.   Fingers are crossed that we have now seen the end of it.

Spring officially arrive last Wednesday - and we woke up to a foot of new snow - but spring activities have already started.

The first task was to make a start pruning the row of apple trees on one side of the home field.  Who knows how long it has been since they were pruned (if ever).  Last year they had flowers, but set no fruit.  After watching youtube videos and reading blogs and webpages I decided I was ready to hack into them with gusto!

 I have no idea if I have done a good job - I guess this season will tell!  We have at least five more apple trees on the property - four of them are so large and must be 100+ years old.  They are really now just ornamental shade trees and we will leave them that way.

The next step was to work on getting some vegetables started.   The kids helped with planting the first seeds in containers which we have under lights in the warmish basement until the last frost has gone (in about 50 days).

Already we have broccoli sprouted - something Madie finds fascinating!  Our plan is to try Square Foot Gardening techniques this year to see if we can beat the drainage issues we had last year, make it all more kid friendly, and same us time and work.  It's a big ask, but worth the experiment.

And the final stage for now was to get back into the world of chickens.  We have bought six little girls (well 5 little girls, and a possible sixth who could turn out to be a rooster).   They are currently living in a tote under a warming light as we prepare them for life on the farm.   We will have their company for about two months before they can go outside.  So I guess that means I have two months to build a chicken coop and run....fun!

So Murramarang is starting to feel like a real farm!

The farm in Colorado continues to be a thorn in our side.  The tenants have been great - but the hassles caused by the neighbors continues to have twists and turns to cause us heartache and money.  We hope it will all be over soon and life can be a little more free of stress!

Vale to Princess Belle - 4 October 2012.

It was the saddest day our our life saying goodbye to our little Chinhuahua Princess Belle!   She finally came to the end of her time - her poor heart decided that all the drugs in the world just could not keep her happy and healthy.   After days of indecision, we finally decided that she had given up on her own life by no longer eating and so wanted to give her a dignified end to a wonderful life.

The vet and vet nurses were wonderful - even if we were sobbing messes.  We said our goodbyes and she took her last breath in the arms of he human mother who loved her more than life itself. 

In December 2012 we journeyed to Australia and took with us some of Belles ashes.   We had always wanted to take her to Australia so she could run on the beach at Durras.   In a small way we fulfilled that promise and spread some of her ashes on the most wonderful beach on the planet.

We will miss her......always.