“Dad, what can we do together?”  That is the question that gets me every time.  For some reason it catches me off guard.  Tonight, as Sarah drove off to the PTO meeting, so Meg, Ella and I went outside.  It was time to finish the snow fort.  Here is a picture of the girls in one of the entrances.  Meg and I had started the fort on Sunday evening, nut didn’t get to finish it.  Today we finished it.  Now we can go in the one entrance and get out the other.  A nice warm and quite place – now that the temps are so mild here, maybe I’ll head out there in the sun and read a book – real peace and quite.

i made a snow girl but it fell over but even it fell it is good because my hill

would of ran it over and i like my hill and it turned icy in the middle and i am building a

snow fort but i need different tools to make a snow fort and fang came to

wilson and from the timber rattlers i went sledding down the hill

I’m taking a page from my daughter’s book and doing a little math….

Kirk and I are committed to giving away a lot of money over our lifetime. A lot is, of course, relative but the goals we have set for ourselves look something like this:

• Live on half our income
• Give away 20%
• Save 20%
• With the remaining 10% being ‘free money’

We’re a ways off from these goals. We’ve been working on them for 5 years or so but we’ve been distracted by things like our mortgage, school loans, a little $3000 sewer problem 6 weeks after we moved into this house and $4000 in car repairs last summer – in short, the stuff of life.

Later this summer, we’re hoping to free up a little cash to participate in micro-financing. There are two that I know of – Finca and Kiva – and likely more. (note: a google search turned up LOTS more options) And while this isn’t technically giving money away we’ll consider it a gift and upon repayment reinvest it in another project.

Reading the stories on Kiva was humbling – it’s amazing what $25 or $50 can do! Wondering what to do with some pocket change? Change a life or two!

Those were the words that came out of Miss Meg’s mouth at bedtime when I asked her to go read quietly on her bed until I could get little Miss El to sleep. She is obviously more Kirk’s child than mine.

So where exactly does one begin when the decision – at least in my mind – has been made to acquire both chickens and honey bees for one’s backyard.

As of today, I know that I will have access to chicks this spring, and that the cost of those chicks will be pretty very doable.  I found someone that has agreed to set some eggs for me when the weather is nice enough to raise day old chicks.  That is really good news.  Looks like the next step for getting ready for the chickens will be where to put them once they show up.  I need to choose a coop design that will be sturdy enough for them to live in andbe safe, but light enough that we can move it around the yard.  I guess we’ll see how that goes.  This summer structure won’t really cut it during the winter.  That brings me to the next point – what do I build for the birds to overwinter?

So then there are the bees.  Where do I start with them?  I have a contact name to call, but haven’t gotten there yet.  I need to find out if there are any regulations within the city, county, or state that I need to pay attention to in order to get started.  Fortunately, i think that this endeavor will not be a solo effort – my Mother-In-Law and my dad have agreed to supply support on several levels – not the least of which will be money, space, and expertise.

Oh, so many things to get done.  All this talk of spring makes me think of not only the chickens and bees, but what to do with the gardens – when to start the seedlings so that they will be big enough to go full steam ahead when the ground is warm enough, but no so big that they outgrow the seedling pots (yogurt containers).

Ok – I guess I will stop now and think warm thoughts and try to get all of this snow to go away.