Monday, March 25, 2013

Monday Listicles - The Elusive Spring

Dear Mother Nature,
I hate you.
Love,
Christine

(In Mother Nature years, I'm still a teenager.)

I took the kids to Kentucky for a wonderful day of spring weather, baby lambs and all.  (most adorable photos will come tomorrow)  The kids even got a sunburn after being outside for 6 hours straight.

Gorgeous day, I tell you.

Then we came home.  It is snowing in Indiana.  Again. 

The weathermen and their yardsticks are back.  Even the snow plows are sliding off the road.

Bah. $%&*.  Humbug.

According to the calendar, and many, many people who live in better parts of the country, spring is here, so Stasha has chosen the topic 10 Things Spring for our Listicle today.

Here are ten things our family would be doing if Mother Nature got her act together and flipped the flippin' spring switch.

1.  Gathering/chopping/mulching the branches and twigs littering the yard.  It's been a long, windy winter, so there a whole mess of them out there.  We will then be able to spread that mulch all over our "flower" beds.  There won't be any flowers in the flower beds, seeing as how the dogs find the flower beds to be the best places to dig holes and have a little lie down.

2.  Disposing of the dead animals the dogs have killed over the winter.  First up is the massive opossum decorating the front yard.  I'm sure there are plenty of moles, mice, and various other creatures dotting the property, frozen and completely not decomposing because of the unusually long, cold winter we've had.

3.  Plowing and planting.  The lettuce and spinach seeds are patiently waiting.  They'll be first up.  Then the strawberries, garlic, beans, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes...So much planting. 

4. Mowing the yard.  We can't say lawn, as there are more weeds than grass, but it still needs mowed.  In spring, the yard takes on that sickly look, with some spots being a foot tall, but others still barely an inch tall.  It should be time for us to get the Dixie Chopper up and running so we can spend four to five hours each week keeping the yard under control.

5.  We can't waste all of those grass clippings, so we'll be raking and spreading them on the newly plowed and planted garden.   Lots and lots of raking, hauling, and spreading.

6.  Fixing the pig pen fence.  The new batch of hogs will arrive early April, and the fence has seen better days.  If the fence doesn't get some TLC right quick, those pigs will become free-range, dead pigs.

7.  Completely redesigning the chicken run, including putting up new fence and net cover.  The new chicks will be arriving in late May/early June, and we are determined to keep our new flock of chickens alive.  We are giving up on the completely free-range and going fenced in.  Those coyotes and dogs aren't getting any more meals from our coop!

8.  Soccer games will begin he weekend of April 13.  That means we get to pack up the car with chairs, umbrellas, blankets, soccer balls, and toys for the little boys.  We need to be ready for the rain, mud, and cold temperatures we will encounter on our weekends of non-stop soccer games.   

9.  Do the winter/summer clothes shuffle.  Haul the boxes out of the basement.  Try on clothes previously worn by other children.  Figure out what needs purchased to fill in the holes.  Then separating and boxing up the winter clothes into the appropriate totes.  The fun part starts after the major hauling is done and the boxes are back in the basement.  For 5 months, every single time I do laundry, I will find one item of clothing that should have been included in one of those boxes.  Do I let them pile up and do it all at once or find the correct box each and every day as I uncover the loose items?

10.    Clean up all of the dog poo before the kids step on it.  Picture it:  Six kids fanning out over a field, shouts of, "I found some!" coming fast and furious as I run around with a shovel, picking up each and every poo pile the children locate.  It's kinda like our own little Easter egg hunt.  Without the candy, of course.

Dear Mother Nature,
We apologize for our mother.  We believe you know what you are doing.  Keep up the good work.
Love,
The Coop Children

Have a lovely day!

27 comments:

  1. At least you were able to see the sun and get sunburnt kids! Have almost forgotten what the Sun looks like so if it's an consolation (and I'm sure its not!) the UK is suffering the same, if not similar - and most unusual - climatic eruptions you've got!! I mean snowdrifts 4 metres high, with "summertime" coming in this week-end. What a laugh (not)! Still, we'll all enjoy summer - when (or if) it comes: it certainly didn't last year.

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    1. That one day of sun was fantastic. I hear the UK is pretty miserable, too. Here's to summer being the best ever!

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  2. Oh this is fabulous, as always. I can picture it all like I was there. Love #10 (laughed out loud), and I hope #7 works out b/c I love some eggs from In the Coop! :)

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  3. Your kids certainly know the meaning of hard work. My kids think work means taking up their laundry from the steps that has been sitting there for 6 days after I've threatened them with taking away their video games, computer, cellphones and Ipods.

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    1. They do know hard work, but they also know how to avoid it. We have had laundry hanging to dry for a week, and it was only removed yesterday when I made them take their clothes. Don't be too impressed.

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  4. At least I feel a little better that you are dealing with the snow crap also. It took me an hour and 15 minutes to get to work. By the time I decided it was stupid, I was halfway there and just kept going. Spring, I want Spring...

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    1. The longer drives are awful. The kids had a delay, so I had to take them to school. No fun, I'll tell ya.

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  5. Awww at least they got some sun for a minute. We've even been cold (cool to you) here in NC. But even with that snap of cold air spring is still here. Let me tell you I would not want to play wife swap with you.

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    1. I'm thinking your cold is more like tropical to us. Oh for a cool snap...
      Shoot, I was hoping for a week in NC. :)

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  6. Love this take! Mother Nature can suck it! Your family sounds like a trip! Erin

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    1. Thank you. If I could track her down, Mother would be getting a good tar and feather.

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  7. What frustrates me about this cold weather is knowing I'll have LESS time to get all those darn spring chores done! My list looks a lot like yours, except for the chicken run!

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  8. I do the same thing with packing away the clothes. I always find something that should have gone in the box! I think I'll just start donating them to Goodwill because my piling up, forgetting about them, then finding them once they are outgrown is taking up a lot pf space. ;) Ellen

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    1. Not that our Goodwill pile goes anywhere anytime fast...
      :)

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  9. It's snowing here right now too. I am so eager for Spring I can taste it!!

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    1. Sounds like a whole lot of people are getting mighty tired of the snow.
      Thanks for stopping by!

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  10. Glad you got home safe, and also glad to know that I'm not the only one with kids shouting (at 8:30am on a Saturday morning), "MOM! There's POOP over here! SIX OF THEM!!"
    Love,
    C:)

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    1. Ha! At least our neighbors are far enough away that it is just us to see the silliness.

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  11. I hear you. My son pitched a game in the snow last weekend and it's snowing again today...

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    1. Fortunately, we have an indoor field, so the outdoor soccer practices have been postponed 3 times. Surely next week will be better!

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  12. Jeez, it's still snowing there? No wonder we've still got 90 degree heat when it's almost April!

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    1. I would pay cash money to see 90 degrees. I would much rather have 90 than 20.

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  13. WOW...that's a LOT of yard work! Hopefully nobody has allergies in your household. :)

    PS We have moss instead of grass at our house.

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  14. I am sorry for the cold, we are having crazy lows here and I feel badly for all the warm weather taunting I did over the winter. I am looking forward to 90 degrees! Our list includes using a root rooter on the yard and planting grass seed because of the dry and long cold winter the grass/weeds we did have are gone, and we don't have good dirt we have sandy dirt which is not good for growing... also have to move a camphor tree before it starts to move the foundation of the house... and of course our pool looks like a scene out of gator boys... (a show O is fascinated with, not funny just strange)
    sorry for your cold weather.

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  15. I see our children are eager to help in the yard ;) Love this so much, great list. Happy spring...

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