Fish survived winter, and a baby lamb

Tom and I stopped at the fish pond to see if any fish had survived the winter. The ice had melted from the bog pond. Much to our amazement, there were three fish, three times bigger than last year, swimming around in the water. The larger pond still has a covering of ice, so we don't know the plight of the two fan tails. We knew that they survived in Tennessee under ice, but this was frozen solid, or so we thought. I am delighted.

Tom and I went out to see a new baby finnsheep baby who was born this week at three and a half pounds. I'm doing a story for the paper on the sheep and the farm. The baby's name is Venus.

Daylily seed mystery

It is a big mystery to me how I can spend so much time preparing soil, getting everything just right and then plant my day lily seeds only to find the ones I accidentally dropped in a bowl of rocks sprouting long before the others.

I bought new potting soil and soaked it two days before I planted the seeds carefully in the little sections. I no longer label my seeds because I just don't have the time or energy. I can pretty well spot who the parents are when they bloom and my days of selling are over.

The day I was sorting the seeds to plant, some seeds fell into the rocks. I didn't have the patience to dig them out so I just thought they would be lost, but I had plenty others. You can imagine my amazement when I saw seedlings which were already 6 inches high in the rock pot. The pampered ones have just begun to sprout. This does not exactly go along with the parable of the sower, does it?

Maybe I have discovered something, but the problem may arise when I try to get the seedlings out of the rocks to transplant. I'll let you know.

Chile family doing well

In spite of too many after shocks keeping them awake, the family in Chile seems to be doing well. Charles and Luz Maria moved back into their home last Friday after a structual engineer gave them the approval.Most of the things they lost were in the China cabinet which fell across the dining room table. Lots of other things were damaged as well, but those things can be replaced.
Luz ended up getting five stitches in her foot from rushing out of the house with the baby.
This photo was taken when they were here for Christmas.

Our two weeks in Texas was not exactly a winter vacation as we were there for the 12.5 inches of snow. We've had no new snow for nearly 2 months, except a small amount, which has all melted. We still have snow from the winter, but the new stuff just melts.

I've planted my daylily seeds and have great hopes of seeing them bloom in two years. I should have new ones blooming this year from last year's seedlings. You will be hearing more about that.

Pictures to liven up winter

It's been a while since I have gotten to my blog what with watching earthquake news and taking physical therapy for the back. However pictures that arrived this morning in my e-mail box prompted me to brag a little bit.
Aden is the one drooling and Autumn is holding baby brother Gabrielle. These are Heather's children which makes them our greats, and great they are.
News from Chile is that Charles and family are back in their home, but the aftershocks continue. We have a shaky world.
Winter was long and cold, but we are emerging.