Various Questions to Ponder

Okay, somebody answer this...
I got up the other day at 0530. Tended to the goats and chickens, made breakfast for the fella, got the kids up and off to school (fixed them breakfast, too) did 4 loads of laundry and hung them on the line , made the bed,  started bread dough, swept and mopped the kitchen, swept and mopped the master bath, cleaned the master bath, punched down the bread dough, went out and gathered eggs, filled the water for the chickens, cleaned out the small goat pen and cleaned out and refilled their water, started some more seeds, thawed out meat for dinner, baked bread, brought in laundry off line, vacuumed living room and den, brought in goats to pen and fed them, fed chickens, folded laundry, greeted the kids when they got home from school, started dinner, greeted the fella when he got home from work and finished fixing dinner.(Average day here)
The fella goes to the bathroom for a bit after dinner, comes out, gives me a smile and says "I put a new roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, didn't know if you would notice.You're welcome!"

My question....uhmmmm... yeah...why did I not go in a corner and bang my head against the wall?
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 My unanswered Question of the Universe:
If you step on a dogs tail---even the tiniest bit, the dog freaks out and wails as if it were mortally wounded...you end up apologizing and comforting said canine with pet-pets and doggie treats. YET, the same dog will stand there and wag it's tail, slamming it against the door jamb or coffee table so hard the house shakes---  with apparently no distress whatsoever.
What is up with THAT!??!?
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I currently have "seedling envy" as I see other folks post pics of huge, hale and hearty seedlings ready to go in their gardens. My seedlings are respectable, but some of the pics I see look like the other folks seedlings are Godzillas and my seedlings look like anemic representations of a seedling in comparison! I coddle them. I give them manure tea (not too much). I KNOW my seedlings are fine....but it's like watching the other kids in school becoming Olympic athletes while your own child is the last kid picked for the kickball team.
Well, my seedlings may not look like superstars right now, but they will suit me just fine come harvest time!
How about you? You ever get *seedling envy*?
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I have three different varieties of Tomato Seedlings growing.

Ananas Noire Tomatoes (Look how girly-pretty they are! SQUEEEEEEEE!)

And Black Cherry Tomatoes

I am s-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o tempted to start another 6 or 7 varieties...but I just don't think I have the room!
Going to maybe buy one or two seedlings of a different variety at the farm store (yes, they get heirloom type seedlings) and maybe grow it in a decorative container.
I love tomatoes so much. I tasted one a friend grew last year that had a definite pineapple flavor. Have tasted others that were lemon-y.
I do hope mine do well this year.
What varieties are you growing this year? How many varieties? Do you have a favorite?
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Someone recently asked me "If you could only have TWO kind of animals on a farm, which two would you have?
For me, it would be cows and chickens. More bang for your buck, so to speak.
Besides, I LIKE cows and chickens!
Then they asked...if you could only have ONE animal on a farm.
My weird answer---a good hunting dog!
If I can't raise livestock, I better have a good dog so I can hunt for meat on the table!
How about you?

Sometimes You Get More Than You Ask For...

So, I had explained my raised bed garden plans to the Darlin' Man and explained to him that we either needed more cinder-block/stone or lumber of some sort to construct them. I figured we would budget out the funds in April and see what we could find in the way of scrap lumber on Craigslist as well.
Well. Sometimes things happen...
My Darlin' Man is in the military.
His unit is getting ready to deploy again to Iraq, so they have been getting lots of equipment, etc. Lots of equipment, etc. means lots of pallets and shipping crates.
Friday afternoon his C.O. told him to "get rid of all that stuff now". The fella said "Sure, when the dump opens back up on Monday". C.O. said "I need it gone NOW". Fella: "I can get rid of it, sir, IF I can take it off base" C.O "Where are you taking it?" Fella, "I believe in recycling, I'll take it to MY house". C.O. "Grab some warm bodies , a few trucks, load it up and be gone. I don't want to see a scrap of this sh*t here on Monday."
Apparently his C.O. told another unit's C.O. about this clever plan to clean up all the scrap lumber in time for an inspection Monday morning...so they added a couple truckloads as well...
These were NOT pick up truck loads, mind you. These were trucks that were a little larger than the average dump truck but a little smaller than a semi with a trailer.
A platoon of guys came along to unload.
So...until around 10-11 pm Friday night I had a line of trucks showing up with nice men in uniform, unloading their contents onto a corner of the property. As we have walls around much of our property, our befuddled neighbors could see the trucks arriving, but could not see what was being unloaded.
Needless to say, a few neighbors asked questions on Saturday!
Many of the crates are already PERFECT for raised bed gardens!
All I need to do is drill some holes in the bottoms for drainage, fill with soil and plant!
I have WAY more than I need, so a couple of my neighbors are getting ready-made raised bed gardens as well!
The pallets will be put to good use as well. I am starting a new compost heap in the front yard and will use pallets for the sides along with a bit of left over fencing. A neighbor is getting a few to build a small chicken coop for the hens she is getting.
Just think...if we weren't recycling all this lumber, it would be taken to the military dump and burned! What a waste that would have been!
A nice thing about the lumber is everything is labeled...the labels not only tell us what the crates contained, but also what (potentially) hazardous chemicals/materials may have been in them, whether or not the lumber itself was treated and with what. Information you normally don't get with scrap lumber and is important to know if you are going to be using the lumber in a garden bed!
So, first seedlings are sprouting nicely...raised beds are darn near ready...the first of April we get our garden soil delivered...I am S-O-O-O-O-O ready to get this garden going!
This week I will start my *second wave* of seedlings. I stagger plantings all season long for maximum productivity. That way I don't end up with a gazillion heads of Bibb lettuce all ready at once, or a ton of tomatoes all ready for canning at once.
Since I live in the American Southwest, I have the luxury of having an extremely long growing season, so staggering my plantings just makes sense!