Well I’m still here. I bet you weren’t so sure. We’ve been swept with storm after storm this spring, flood waters have risen to record levels, damage has been wrought, but alas we are still here and just fine. Times are still tough, we have had our struggles, but all-in-all we consider ourselves very fortunate for, among other things, living on high ground. Sure the lower pasture turned into a lake, the creek turned into white water rapids and demolished a fence line, and everything is a muddy mess, but we trudge along. Some starts in the garden were beaten to a pulp by marble-sized hail amidst torrential rain. Some seeds haven’t sprung up due to cold weather immediately following the ravaging rains. But the green house is framed, and even has plastic on over the main arch. Once we get the ends done, with doors and screen to release hot air when necessary (which is MUCH during our summers) we will be a little more protected from the elements, whichever way they turn. That’s a very nice idea right about now.
Through many feet of snow in the north, tsunami warnings in the west, fires and tornadoes in the south, and flooding here in the midwest, we persevere, if for no other reason than that we are Americans. We’ve been through feast and famine. Liberty comes at a great price, but it is oh-so-worth-it!
One blessing to count is that Cookie, the ewe that we bottle-fed when she was a lamb, surprised us with her first lamb on March 30th. She actually had twins, but one didn’t make it from the getgo 
But she is a great mama!
On a sad note, Mama C (Cleopatra) lambed a few days ago, but her lamb was still-born. The saddest part was how she tried to clean the lamb, and walked around the pasture crying and looking for the lamb all day after the guys buried the poor wee babe. She has had a baby every year we have had her, I think, and she has been an excellent mama. She even mothered her grandbaby last year along with her own lamb, when her daughter turned out to be a weak mama.
We’re bathing in college talk, plans, arrangements, etc. around here since our second-born, our eldest daughter, was accepted to MSU – her dream school. It’s quite contagious actually – so who knows …
Happy May!