The weekend is over so quickly!

We had a high of 70 today.   The chickens laid some eggs this weekend.  They haven't laid eggs all winter and I certainly wasn't going to buy any at $4.00 a dozen.  For store bought eggs!  Never!  We have still eaten eggs this winter.  During summer when we had so many I froze some.  I know you can separate yolks from whites and freeze them separately if you want.  I didn't.  Instead I cracked the eggs and whisked them up like I was going to make scrambled eggs.  I didn't cook them, just mixed them all together.  Then I froze them in the ice cube tray.  Two egg cubes equaled one egg.  After they were frozen I individually wrapped each cube.  I didn't have to, I could have packed them six or eight cubes into a baggie or at least wrap two cubes together, which makes one egg...but I didn't.  I then took all the wrapped cubes and put them into a couple of big freezer bags.  We did use them sparingly or we would have run out.  But this next summer, I am going to freeze them a little differently.  If I know we can use six eggs while making scrambled eggs for breakfast then it would be convenient to freeze those six eggs into a baggie.  Each bag could then be taken out of the freezer for a meal.  You defrost them in the refrigerator over night, or in our case, if we didn't plan you just defrost them in a bit of water and break the cubes apart with a fork.  The little bit of water will cook away so it's not a big deal. 

Since I forgot to finish pruning the fruit trees, yes really I did, I figured I'd better get started.  I got several done today.  Since last year I did such a good job, many just need a slight trim rather than a full pruning.  The prune plum needed a lot of work.  The tree tried to fall over a few years ago and now is just at enough of an angle that it's really hard to prune it well without it completely falling over due to too much weight from a good crop. I probably have to spend another day or two trimming trees but if we keep having warm weather I may run out of time.  I got the cherries trimmed since they are the first to bloom. 

One of the nice things about living in the Great Central Valley is the variety of fruit that I can grow.  I can almost grow everything I want.  Almost.  Today I picked oranges, lemons, and grapefruit from the trees.  Just last week I picked the last of the persimmons before they got too soft and the birds finished them off. 

I also watered all the trees.  It's the first time I've turned on the drip irrigation since last summer and only one of the hoses had a hole in it.  I also tried to water the raspberries but one of the sprinkler joints was cracked and water was spurting out in the wrong direction.  The ground is still damp from the little bit of rain we had last week.  Normally at this time of year the ground is saturated and you can't walk through the trees without sinking down into the mud up past your ankles.  I decided to water to try to saturate the ground.  I'm concerned that if we keep up the dry winter that this summer will be really stressful on the trees.  I water them each week from spring on because we don't get any rain at all during the summer and very little once April comes.  So now, I'm trying to recreate what a normal winter would be.  I will water again next weekend, and every weekend until we get some rain...if we get some rain.

Blind cat has made great strides this week.  First he relearned how to use the cat box.  He has been afraid of the cat box since he went blind.  He didn't care wear he was in the house or outside, he would just squat and go.  This is not good!  Fortunately I don't have carpet in the house or I know I'd be a lot less tolerant.  I found some cat litter that said it was guaranteed that the cats would use it.  I put it in my room and had to pick him up and put him into the cat box two or three times per day.  He'd jump out and I'd put him right back in.  And he would use the box.  He wouldn't go in on his own but would go every time I put him in.  The past few days he's gone on his own!  Hallelujah!  He also has been jumping onto the cat food table (I keep the cat's food elevated so the dogs don't get to it) and eating out of the regular cat dishes.  I'm not heating up his food and putting it next to the water bowl.  And just today, I was moving my finger in front of his face.  He was tracking me from directly in front and going towards his right side.  He has vision in his right eye.  Real vision!  Nothing in the left eye, but he can see and eat and take care of business.     

I'm going to have a good variety of things to do at work this week.  Monday and Tuesday will be normal long days, Wednesday I have a meeting in the city so I will be home to see the kids off to school and may even do some yard work before I head into town.  We are meeting for lunch at Red Robin prior to the meeting and the boss is buying.  I always bring home extra fries for the kids.  Thursday I will get a ride in the company helicopter and fly over the mountains for a meeting.  It's a cool part of the job!  And this Friday I am off.  Although I'm off every other Friday, this will be the first one in almost two months where it will just be me.  No grandkids home for school vacation, no doctor appointments for Girl.  Just me from 7:30 until 3:30.  I'll probably do yard work.  Unfortunately Spring is just about here.