When it rains.....it pours

......and pours, and pours! Such is the way of it the last few weeks. The Lord saw a need for us to have rain and over the past weeks has been blessing us.....abundantly! With the rain has come new challenges and lessons to learn.

The first has been how to dry laundry without being able to hang it out on a clothesline. That has been a challenge for me. One solution has been to take advantage of the cooler temps brought by the rains and to light the wood stove. I hang the laundry on hangers to be placed on a clothes rack near the stove to dry. I also have a wooden dowel type drying rack that fits perfectly on top of the stove for drying additional items. We are planning to add a clothes drying area in the laundry room at some point this summer to prepare for winter when line drying is more difficult.

Another challenge has been the garden. Alas, with all the blessings of rain has come a serious delay in the tilling & planting of the garden. I had seeds already started and have had to rethink where to plant so that I could get the seedlings out of the containers before they became root bound. I finally found a nice area in the side yard where the seedlings are now set out and will grow well. Not the first choice of a garden area, but we are making use of what we can. Once the spring rains are over and the garden area can be tilled, we will set about planting the summer garden. The seed varieties that I have not been able to set out due to the rains now will be planted in late summer to give me a nice autumn garden crop. We are already making plans to attend farmers markets in the region to buy what we are unable to grow this season. This will allow me to be able to can and stock our pantry in preparation for winter.

Abigail is getting so "grown up" in her play and how she interacts with others. She has been working on preschool level workbooks for a couple of months now. Yesterday, she began writing the capital letter "A" and did quite well. I had to hold her hand steady at first while she made the letter, but she picked it up pretty fast. We are going to buy her some writing tablets for her age level so that she can practice her letters easier.

Micah is finally walking! Whoo Hoo!!!!! He is so funny. As he walks, he laughs and is really enjoying it. Now, he only needs to gain the confidence to let go of our hands.

The lamb is growing very nicely and grazes most of the time now. He is such a funny little guy to watch. When he runs and is excited, he jumps and hops as he runs. We are looking forward to expanding the herd a little more so that we can start raising them for meat.

Thank you for all the comments and pen pal letters that I have been receiving. I am thoroughly enjoying them. My Beloved has set up my prepay cell phone to accept and send emails, so if you have my email address @ gmail, feel free to write. I truly enjoy being able to stay in touch.

May the Lord's blessings be with you,
Paula