Thank you to the ditch witch...

I have discovered a new 'tool'... it's called a ditch witch.

I like this machine!  It does an awesome job.

While it was here, I tried to get the man to use it to break up a new garden area!

After  two weeks or more of 'water hijinx', I am eternally grateful to say that our
nearly 70 year old pipes running from the well to the house, which disintegrated when touched,
have been replaced....

... and once again, water flows, we have 'indoor' plumbing, toilets flush and we have clean hair!
Laundry can be done and meal preparation is so much easier.  I didn't realize how many times a day I wash my hands until I had to do it with more primitive equipment.

I hope that we're seeing the end in sight of bad run of 'aged utilities/appliances, bad weather and just
aggravating inconveniences.

The chickens also hope that the end is in sight.
They HATE the very cold.  Naturally, this is just when their bodies went through the molt.
Otherwise proud rooster without his gorgeous tail, his comb discolored from the very cold weather.

A hen, so embarrassed by her plumage that she refused to have a face shot:

Actually, she was busy running to where the ditch witch was turning up grubs and bugs.

For the uninitiated in chicken life, the molt will happen, their feathers will fall out, leaving you a comical looking bird, but during this time, they 'rest' from egg production.  When the molt is over, which takes about 6 weeks or so for my chickens, because I do not supplement with artificial light, they'll return to laying my morning eggs and filling the early mornings with their productive cackling.  Adding lights at night, to lengthen their days, will return them to condition earlier, but I give my flock it's natural break, even while I despise storebought eggs during the   ahem... layoff period... tehehehe.  Rest is good and rest is natural and as it should be in the grand cycle of things.

And might you wonder what these girls are looking at?

Tank, who was having a shy moment... something rare for him.

In his defense, this is a particularly forward batch of hens.

Stormy simply refuses to be out and about when the chickens are running loose.
She sat on the porch and guarded my knitting, just in case the plumber guys might decide to rest and knit a spell in the rockers.

I did my first of the year 'front porch knitting'... which certainly has a way of making me feel better.
Though it was nice and brisk, in the low 50's, my rocker on the porch is protected from the wind and for a while each day, is in the nicest little late winter sunbeam...  from my happy perch, I could survey the 'kingdom' and chat with the workmen, who periodically needed me to turn water in the house on and off.  I could supervise rumpus time for the puppies and start a project with the nice strong natural light.  I could hear the cluck of the rooster when he found a particularly tasty morsel and called his girls to 'come and get it'...

I spent a while chatting with the neighbor, who heard all the commotion of the machinery and came to 'check on me'... we caught up on the 'goings on' in both families and lamented over the inconveniences of the season.

I'm not sure that I say often enough how very much I love living in the country.

I do...

...while there are always trials, it abounds with blessings.
Simply taking the time to see it gives a new perspective on the troubles and reminds me that
life is best lived, one day at a time.