April Update for the RanHonFam...

It's Spring on the farm and good news for us is evidenced in this picture of the raspberry canes...Despite the rapid onset of bitter cold in December, our plants have not suffered significant damage. You can see that there are leaves coming all the way out to the top of the canes. The tops are most vulnerable to damage -- and in our field they are looking good. We are very pleased. There are fields with noticeable damage -- mostly first-year plantings where the tops are leafless...We thought we might see this too, so feel very fortunate!



Randy has been busy in the fields, getting the new babies cared for and ready to grow. He’s also spent some time spreading a new kind of natural fertilizer – his latest experiment in the fields. It is a blend of manures with a little nitrogen thrown in. It has been heated to kill any pathogens and pelletized to spread like commercial fertilizers. It’s called Perfect Blend...well, that’s what the company (& Randy) call it. The rest of us call it "Perfectly Stinkin’ Blend"...not pleasant, those natural fertilizers, especially when it is mostly natural chicken poop...Daisie loves it – enough said. Fortunately, once spread, the stink dissipates over a few days. Storage – no dissipation there...Whew! The first load was stored in the shop...We began requesting a respirator when we needed to retrieve something from there! Thankfully, the "Blend" is mostly on the field – and the smell is fading...



You see here the tractor Randy bought me for mowing duties this year...It’s such a cute little hummer, and right away he took it over to use his new fertilizer spreader and spread the aforementioned "Blend". It since has been hooked up to the new mower, but I have not yet had the opportunity to run it...Dillon and Randy seem to be having too much fun with it.






Dillon is settled in his new country home (pictured here in the snow, the day after he moved there). We’re grateful that his roommate, Kyle, moved with him despite the fact that he will be moving out when Dillon & Tiffany get married the end of August...Yes ! I did say "the end of August" – August 29 to be exact. The date was recently changed to accomodate relatives traveling from afar. We are looking forward to it, and Dill & Tiff are getting busy with plans. I hear that Tiff has selected her dress after much consideration.(I think it must be hard when you look good in EVERYTHING!) Dillon is also trying to pick up extra field work wherever he can, as his job w/ KGMI continues at part-time. Tiff is working full-time with the youth ministry at her church. They are busy!

Caitlin is enjoying a foot problem worse than her mother’s. Earlier this year, Cait slipped off a step on her way down, catching her big toe on the next step, folding it under (ouch!). The result was stretched ligaments, and a small piece of bone broken off the joint of her big toe. Back then, it looked like this:















Now it looks like this:
After 8 weeks of babying it, wearing only hard-soled shoes, an x-ray showed that no significant healing had taken place...So now – the boot! Hopefully this will do the job and get her back to walking, and then running which she is missing a lot – especially with the nice spring weather. We were pleased to see her be baptized a couple Sundays ago at her church, Bellingham Christ the King. She really likes it there and has gained a lot from her involvement, and we are very glad for her, and proud of her!




Jess is gainfully employed these days, working for the Census. He is an address lister. They are not counting people yet – just preparing for next year’s survey by checking formerly listed addresses, and adding new ones to the database. He’s met some nice people, and even nice dogs, who bring him sticks, balls, even rocks to throw. (They are so hopeful, he can’t turn them down. ) He’s also met some people who live out in the country because they don’t really want anyone to find them. This he understands, but feels a bit like Big Brother’s operative when he explains that he has to get their address sent in...No one has been particularly nasty, so that is good.


The worst thing that has happened so far is that on a very windy day this week, a free-standing basketball backboard blew over and landed on his car...the windshield and hood to be exact. Ironically, he was just about to leave the place...SO – his car spent the afternoon getting the windshield replaced, and Jess was figuring out how many hours of work he would lose, in time, and to pay for it...Crazy! He’ll be busy with this job until early June, and he is grateful to be even temporarily employed. The job market is tough right now.




After spending many winter days catching up my scrapbooks – 400+ pages done! – I have done no more for the month of April...I needed a break, but if I want to stay caught up, I better do some more soon! I did also help w/ planting. We went to our first Sunrise Service on Easter and hosted the Ivan Likkel Family for dinner here.









My crazy family enjoying the crazy Easter "poppers" I purchased for them... :D







I was a Tea Party Protestor with some of my former co-workers from the Bank...That was fun!












I enjoyed a visit with my dear friend, Ruby, here from Tennessee.


We welcomed a new great-niece into the family when Madelyn Grace was born to Loren & Teresa!















I turned Dillon’s former room into a movie-watching room/den for Jess & friends...And the yard-work has begun...I guess I’ve been keeping fairly busy!


Daisie has been happily eating chicken poop and un-earthing old bones from the fields, reminding me every morning that we need to get walking. Today she is afflicted with another case of "Gurgle Gut" – hope whatever she un-earthed comes out on its own... Here you see her doing "Dirty Diaper Detection" during our monthly visit from nephew Colby. :D So helpful!


Okay that’s T.M.I., so I will stop ...that’s it for the April Update on the RanHonFam!