Lovely things are Growing....

an heirloom variety of Iris (here when we moved in)

forget me nots (one of my favorites)

wild columbine (a native)

a lupine that graces our front yard

the wild rose outside our new dining room.  i hope to be seated at our dining room table all together in time to see the blooms on this fellow.

i'm not sure if you can see it but there are sooo many buds!  i can't wait for the rose hips that will follow.....

i'm not sure of the name of this guy...a daisy perhaps?  i like how pink he is....

another columbine.  such a beauty isn't he?

Kitchen Update

The wall color.  Feather Grass is the name.  Strange name.  Nice color.  How DO they pick paint names anyway?  I imagine someone sitting on a couch with a cup of coffee in one hand and a swatch in the other and then thinking, thinking.  Then she spouts off  "feather grass" and someone else writes it down and there you have it.  I would SO like that job.  ha.

I truly love the color.  It's the kind of color that you don't really notice at first, but you just feel it.  It changes depending on the light, but not in an irritating-what-color-are-you kind of way.    Anyway, I like it.  I hope you do too.  You should come to my house and see it sometime.  But you may want to wait a bit before you come...say....until there is a place to sit and running water.
I still love the big window.  Here you can see some of the cabinets.  The still-not-installed cabinets.  Ahem.
Do you see the floor? *squeals of excitement*  It's awesome!  J is putting it in.  It's a maple laminate.  We hope to finish it this weekend.  I say "we" because he has helpers.  

Millie's Haircut

The dog is a luckier girl than I'll ever be.   She got to spend 2 hours being groomed this morning.  Sounds nice doesn't it?

Before

After

 J says she looks like a shorn llama.  (it's true. she does.)  

And don't worry, we took the decorative bandana off as soon as we left the groomer's.  What is with people putting clothing on dogs?  It seems sort of humiliating to me.  Millie seemed to think so too.  The first thing she did when she got home was sniff out a good spot in the yard and roll around in the dirt.  After all, if you're a dog you should smell like a dog.

ps.  I know the pictures aren't the best quality....but I haven't any new batteries for the camera and am too busy painting while making sure my children remain fed and alive so I haven't gotten around to getting new...and also the dog does move around a lot...it's actually surprising I got her in the frame at all!

Today I took pictures....

Aren't they sweet?  Two days old now....

There are quite a few of them this time around.  30 meat birds...to be shared with our friends.  We are going to brood them for the first three weeks.  Then they will be raised on our friends' land.  Then we butcher them together.  Yeah....it's not as bad as it sounds....and it's important to know where your food is coming from.  An assortment of 12 laying hens.  Some of them are Auracanas....like the two darker colored ones in the picture below.  Aren't they beautiful?  The brown striped one actually has blue eyes!  They are such pretty hens and they lay blue green eggs.  
I love this little black one.  She is really friendly and will come right up to any of the boys.  She also is the first one to the feeder when it is replenished.  I like this picture because she fits right into one of the slots in the egg carton.  :)

It's been really hot here lately.  We've been doing alot of this.......
This picture is just funny.  So I thought I'd show it to you.  Nothin' like a doggie kiss.

Here are two pictures of Hen and I in our jammies. 


We are tired.  So there have been plenty of mornings lately where we have been hanging out in our jammies till lunch.  We've been reading a lot and building legos and planting potatoes.  Today I started priming the kitchen.  It's taking me awhile since I am tired and painting ceilings is not the job for a tired person.  But I am determined to finish in a timely fashion.  So here I go.....a little painting before bed.

The Postman Called at 6am Today....

To deliver our baby chicks.   :)  All 48 of them.  And silly old me didn't even get one picture.  Oi!  And now it's dark and the sweet little things are all tucked in for the night. Actually, they are all locked up...safe and sound....because we don't like providing the raccoons with treats around here.

Anyway....I promise to get you some pictures tomorrow.  They are so sweet and little.  And even though this is our fourth time raising day old chicks the boys are still totally infatuated with their fluffy cuteness.  And little Hen is so curious about them.  :)

In other news the dry wall is finished!  And I have plans to prime the walls tomorrow, Lord willing.  Off to spend some time with my J.  G'night.

Walls!!!

Do you remember what it looked like before?  (In case you don't you can check out the "before" pictures here.)

The Great Kitchen Remodel, part 605.  (okay maybe it hasn't been that long but it's gettin' there....)

Walls

They have a few more coats to do on the drywall.  Then the texture. I'm thinkin' orange peel, but I'm not totally convinced.  Then I get to paint.  I can't wait!

In the picture below you can see the beam that was placed in the ceiling to hold up the roof now that the wall is gone.  I like the different levels of the ceiling.  Somehow it makes it more interesting and helps with the flow of the room.
Here you can see the orange door that is the side entrance of our house.  I want to have an umbrella stand by that door.  I've always wanted an umbrella stand.  

And last but not least....here you can see a very dull picture that probably holds very little meaning for you....but it's my favorite part of the kitchen so far!!! This is the new pantry closet.  Well, it's going to be that anyway!  The plastic you see in the picture is the basement door...for those of you that know my house....Anyway....I'm looking forward to having a place for all the nice little jars of jam and such.  

It's supposed to be 90 degrees here this week.  It started today actually.  I'm really not looking forward to being home with the boys in this construction phase while it's so very hot.  Ick!  But on the bright side the garden is growing really well.  :)  I hope to post some pictures for you soon of all the green loveliness.  And be sure to check back tomorrow....something fun is happening tomorrow here at the farm!

A giant leaf & a snake

Rhubarb anyone???  We have a bumper crop this year.  Some of the leaves are as big as umbrellas!!  The kids were having fun with the giant stalks, but apparently Cricket does not approve.  Check out this skeptical look.

We spent the morning working in the garden.  It's soooo full of dandelions.  But, hey!....you can eat those so that counts for somethin'.  The weather was splendid today.  The first really warm day of the season.  We planted more onions, covered the strawberries with netting, tucked in the currents, and watered all the growing things.  While we were out there we dug up an earthworm for Lavender's lunch.

She likes her privacy, so we didn't actually see her eat the worm.  Nevertheless, the worm is not in the cage so he must have been eaten.  She seems to be settling in just fine.  She likes to go under the grass and move around the dirt.  We've also seen her sit in her water dish and climb the branch in her enclosure.  She seems really curious about us and reacts in different ways depending on how you approach her.  I am working with the boys to teach them how to help her not be defensive and to give her the respect and privacy she needs to thrive.  

I want to be able to help the boys learn to hold her.  I've read that handling for short sessions (like 5 minutes a day) will help the snake learn our scents and help her be calm.  The thing is, I'm not really keen on handling a snake.  I'm not afraid either.  It's more like....the actual sensation of her in my hand doesn't seem like something I would like.  And also I don't want to disturb her.  Or drop her if the sensation freaks me out.  But I guess I'll have to get over that.  I did pick her up to put her in the aquarium and it wasn't bad at all.  Of course, that was just for five seconds...not five minutes.

Isn't she lovely?

Bringing Home Treasure

We headed to our friend's house this morning for a treasure hunt!  We are very blessed to have another homeschooling family that has kids with the same interests as ours.  It is an added bonus that their mom happens to be awesome!  And that they live in the country and have a beautiful place that we love to visit. :)

Today's hunt....

had an Egyptian theme....since we are both studying ancient Egypt right now.  The clues were written in Cuneiform. 
I don't have tons of pictures because between the two of us we were managing 8 children.  :)  But we had lots of fun!  See the treasure?  The kids got a reward if they returned the treasure to the people of the land. (good thinkin' mama J!)

And here is one more super exciting part of our day!  We actually got to bring home a treasure of our own today.  A snake!  We are keeping her for the summer....to take care of and learn from.  Why you ask?  Why would I let a snake in my house?

Well...I don't really like it either.  But I do love my boys.  And I'm committed to letting them learn about what they are interested in.  All of the boy's are really interested in snakes, but especially Cricket.  These friends are both veterinarians and have experience with caring for snakes.  Their son actually has a fox snake (or should I say snakes? since it laid eggs that hatched!) and our boys have had so much fun watching the snake be fed and interacting with it.  Anyway....the snake we are caring for is a very common snake for our area and our friends often find them on their land.  They offered to let us keep him for the summer as a good way to see if Cricket is interested in following this passion a little further.

She is a Northern Brown Snake.  Sometimes called Decay's snake (did I spell that right?) or Little Brown Snake.  Ours is rather large for it's species, but still it is only about 14 inches long.  She is rather cute.  (I'm guessing its a she since female snakes are usually larger than males.)  The boys have named her Lavender Brown.  

Owl's Birthday Adventure

"I want to go fishing, mama!"

There was a little hike to get there....Hey, Owl...I think you're going the wrong way...

That's better.  A little help from Papa.

A beauty we saw along the way.  

The men kept walking around the lake until they found a good fishing spot.  The hike was rather steep, but they enjoyed every second of it.

Grandma, Hen, and I stayed where the path was a little easier.  We watched them from across the lake and had a nice quiet time enjoying the surroundings.  Hen loves Grandma time.

A water bird that visited us.  It was a treat to see him, and I wonder what kind of bird he his.  See his long legs?

We also were blessed with a visit from several turtles!  Here are two little guys who were polite enough to let me take their photo. 

The boys stopped to play at the beach for a bit before we left. Fun times.

Little Owl.  4.  

Owl's Birthday Cake

Turning 4 has been great. :)

Here is the cake creation we came up with for Owl this year. It is quite different then we had first planned. See, all year he had been talking about having a woodpecker cake. (Woodpeckers are his favorite kind of bird) I had thought of making a chocolate cake that looked like a tree stump and then fashioning some kind of woodpecker cookie? or perhaps finding an ornament? or making some kind of woodpecker to attach to the stump cake. (Stump cake. Ha ha.)

However, when we went to the specialty store to get a few more cake decorating supplies, Owl saw this Buzz Lightyear candle.....and the rest is history. :)

He really liked it, and when he first saw it he said, "It looks delicious!" He is ever the sweet tooth.
Buzz's rocket was lit for the festivities and successfully extinguished.
It was delicious! If I do say so myself. :)