So today was the big day…she was going to see her baby on the ultrasound for the first time at 6 weeks 3 days pregnant. She called earlier to let me know that she saw the baby growing great! Not only did she see her baby, but also saw as well his/her brother or sister! Yep, it’s twins!! Both measuring perfectly, hearts beating away and all nestling in nicely!
Congratulations my darling darling sister…I couldn’t be more happier!!
Peace!
CONGRATULATIONS MAMA!!!!!!!!!!! (I just found out I’m going to be an aunty again..woohoo!)
She and her hubby have been trying for too many years to count. So this is just too exciting for everyone, but especially them of course!
Peace!
It’s been a whirlwind 2 weeks to say the least. With the party last week and then commitments this week, I don’t know if I’ve even had time to breath! Hah! The girls are doing great though and have been enjoying alot of fun with cousins (my sister was in town), friends and summertime fun. They got to go horseback riding on Weds. and I swear Xiola is obsessed now. She was such a natural on the horse too, no fear at all! My friend said she can come out anytime and ride. T will take care of her and teach her all the proper ways to do it. Lola really loved it too but was more interested in exploring the property with her friend..hah. Xi just didn’t want to leave the horse.
After the morning of riding, I took the girls and their other friend to the Hoppin’ House, which is an indoor jumpy house playground. They jumped for over 2 hours and were exhausted by the time it was all said and done. Both crashed right after dinner and didn’t move until the next morning. It was hard to capture pictures of them there as they were running all over. Lola immediately found friends of course and was buried so deep in the jumpy houses that all I got were a few of her back..haha!
My nephew has been hanging out with us this weekend. He’s 15 and so very sweet. He just moved here to live with my brother full time. His mom is in New Orleans. We are so excited to have him close again. He’s been helping J do maintenance on the skate ramp and will help him resurface it as well. He’s also great with the girls and helps me around here. I might just keep him..shhh! And J decided to cut his hair! It was past his shoulder blades when wet, now it’s up to his neck. He looks good!
The chickens decided it was time to thin the pumpkins…you can insert a growl from me here. I had to clean up the bed and then work on the stronger ones that are still hanging on. I am battling borers and am hoping they don’t win. I was able to get alot of the stems covered with good dirt and then fertilized with Rocket Fuel. The cantaloupe vine is doing well as are the pepper plants, nothing is setting though as the temps are just too high. I’m trying to keep everything alive until the Fall in hopes that they start pumping out fruit..so we’ll see. My tomatoes are doing just okay. The plants themselves are healthy and I’ve been pruning for Fall. My bush tomato is pumping out fruit but it’s so hot that it’s taking forever to ripen. We did manage to get 3 good size tomatoes that we just finished eating today however..yum! Jalapenos are growing beautifully, but no flowers. The plants are very pretty however.
I planted more Zinnia, Cosmos and Mexican Sunflowers from seed in the veggie bed yesterday. That bed will turn over into a new flower bed and then the veggies will be grown in the raised beds and the Back 40. I did manage to get the second raised bed built by myself. Let’s just say I’m not a carpenter and have never built anything from scratch alone, so it’s not the prettiest bed but will work just fine. I hesitate to put pictures up just yet though. Hah!
The front yard is looking great and so far the drip is working like a charm. We are going to tweak a couple things but nothing major. Everything is looking happy so far, better than when I was hand watering and I know we are using alot less water.
So that’s a bit of the news. This afternoon we are going to my brother’s and swimming with the kids. Making it an early night. I have one more week off from my child care work and so am going to find things for the kids to do this week. Then starting on the 10th it’s back with my extra kids and then the 24th its full time again. The summer is actually going by fast and I’m really looking forward to cooler Fall weather.
Hope you all are well! I want to send a huge hug to my sister Carol at Happy High Heels. Just letting her know I’m thinking of her today!
Peace!
Xi going down a HUGE slide at the Hoppin’ House. This one was her favorite. Notice her scared face, she loves to be scared. Hah!:
After Xi’s ride was over she didn’t want to get off the horse, so she stayed on her while the horse refreshed himself with food and water:
Xi and her new-found love. She eventually wanted the reins and actually rode with T just walking alongside and Xi controlling the horse:
Climbing up for the big ride alone:
At first she wanted T riding with her:
Lola and T’s daughter, R riding together:
Xi up on the horse for the first time:
Lola having fun:
Waiting her turn:
What do you do with all the leftover cups from a party? Make a tower of course! The girls spent one afternoon for hours just playing with these cups…makes you think about all the money that can be saved from buying toys..hah!:
My girls being happy:
And finally, J with his new shorter hair…he isn’t one for pictures so I don’t have any good ones of his face and him smiling..gotta love the man though!:
We had such a busy, but wonderful weekend. My son and his fiance’ came up for a visit with our most adorable little grandson and we had a party for them. My sister is visiting from Sacramento with her son so it was so great they got to meet little William. We had all my family from Texas, minus one sister who had to work..boo. Kim’s folks were here too and it was so good to spend time with them. We also had several friends in attendance. Lots of good food – Java Dive did their amazing gluten free bite size cupcakes as well as hummus and pita bread, J bbq’d a brisket all night (oh my goodness was that so delicious!), my mom made the best chicken salad bite size sandwiches and potato salad, and we had several appetizers and bite size goodies like fresh strawberries and blueberries. J finished putting together the skate ramp too and broke it in in it’s new place with all the cousins wanting a turn. My nephew is here permanently after having decided to live with his dad (my brother) and it’s so great to have him. He’s 15 and really excited about the ramp. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing alot of him..hah!
William is just amazing. I can’t get over the feelings I have for this little guy. He’s so sweet and adorable right now – 4 months old today! I couldn’t get enough of him…neither could anyone else. He was having so much fun hanging out with everyone. It is always great to see my son. He lives in Huntsville and for us it’s a bit of a trek with the girls and our schedules…so we just don’t get to see him as much as we’d like. We are really hoping they will decide to move closer in the next year, but we’ll see. Crossing my fingers and toes!
Lola is very excited about being a “kid auntie” as she calls herself, and just adores William. Xi loves him to death as well but insists she’s too little to be an auntie so will be his friend until she’s older..hah!
We did manage to get some gardening in before all the festivities and J got the studio cleaned out. We really want to finish that out and make it a guest space/office/crafting area. It’s getting closer to that goal. I think the landscaping and beer garden will go in first however. We also spent Saturday afternoon at the Bee Cave Library where the girls got their prizes for reading in the summer reading program – Lola did 1130 minutes and Xi did 980 (she got to be read to rather than read herself as she’s so young). They had a really fun entertainer there, Joe McDermott, who we all enjoyed alot. Lola couldn’t stop dancing and even bought a cd afterwards. Xi wasn’t feeling 100% however so sat quietly in J’s lap and watched. She’s better today and back to her old self.
I also received such a wonderful surprise in the mail from my darling friend Marina over at A Small Tribe. She wrote me the most beautiful handwritten letter (which yes, brought tears to my eyes) and sent loose tea and 2 packs of organic tomato seeds, which I will definitely be planting some for the Fall and seeing how they do. Thank you my dear…love you tons!
And, on Friday at the pizza place with our friends, Lola lost her other top tooth! So now she’s missing her two front teeth and looks as cute as can be. We got lucky when we found the tooth on the floor of the restaraunt. She didn’t even know it had fallen out!
So that is a quick synopsis of the weekend…how was your’s? Peace!
(There are pictures of me holding William floating around, but not from my camera which I was snapping away with…hence why I am not featured in this photo journal..hah!)
The toothless wonder!
Lola and William…she couldn’t get enough of him:
Lola in the kiddie pool:
Xi in the kiddie pool:
William in the kiddie pool:
Aunties and nephew all in the kiddie pool:
Grandpa and William:
Lola at the library celebration:
My gift pack from Marina:
J putting the skate ramp to use:
Here they are with their friend. I can’t tell you how much easier this is going to be with both of them when combing hair…not to mention how much cooler they will be!
Peace!
So I thought I’d share what the front garden is looking like right now. I’ve been keeping things watered, but was concerned about wasting so much water from run-off, even without sprinkler use. My father-in-law has been guiding me on drip irrigation and how to set it up, and yesterday brought me 3 big bags full of supplies. The only thing I need is the starter kit with the main 1/2″ poly tubing and we’ll be set. Yay! That will be a project for the weekend and I know the garden will love it. Until then, it’s watering by hand but that’s okay if it keeps looking alright. I’ve lost a couple plants in this heat, 2 lavenders which I am kind of bummed about actually. I have no idea why they up and died…too much water, too much sun, I don’t know. But I’ll try again. The white rocket isn’t looking too happy either and I may be pulling that soon. The zinnia seeds are all sprouting away though and I think I’ll end up with a decent zinnia bed finally. It’s small, but I’ll expand it after the tomatoes are for sure done and I can pull the one plant that is in the middle of all those zinnias. The shade garden is looking good too and I’m hoping will fill in nicely with the coleus, periwinkles and yarrow in there. And I saw my first Swallowtail in the yard yesterday! There are caterpillars on the proper host plants out there too, so hopefully we’ll be seeing more.
Friday we took a day off and went into town. We decided to eat lunch at Uncle Billy’s Brew & Que. So much fun! They have great food, great beer and super laid back atmosphere. The girls took their scooter and bike so were able to play on the patio until their food came. The trike that Xi is riding has a story behind it, which I’ll share in a different post, however this was the first time it had been put to the test and we think it passed with flying colors.
After lunch we made a snap decision to go over to the Alamo Drafthouse and see Transformers 2. Yes, my girls love action flicks and the Transformers is one of their utmost favorites. And to get to see it at the Alamo with ice cream and treats, too much fun! The Alamo is such a cool theater, they have tables in front of the each row of seats and a full menu. You can literally have a gourmet meal, drinks and dessert all while watching the movie. It really is alot of fun!
After a long day of sun, fun and good food we headed home and milked Kubra for the first time. Much easier than June (our old goat), but I still need help so tonight I am going to get J to help me as her utters are full and I don’t want the poor dear to dry up or feel bad. I am sure that once she gets used to it she’ll be fine, I just need him to hold her steady and feed her flax seed chips while I milk. The excitement just continues around here.
Hope you all are fine, staying cool and not as bummed as I am about the storm completely missing us. Rain is much needed as we all know!
Peace!
We had a blast with J’s folks yesterday, and as promised I have some pictures of their back garden. J took all of these. His folks have been gardening all their lives and know their stuff. Super green thumbs going on in that household. I don’t know the names of everything, but you’ll get the general idea. J and I have had the privilege of watching everything grow and change. We came up the week after it was put in when they first built the house. A lot has changed and it’s all looking so amazing. Enjoy the photos and Happy Solstice!
Peace!
Xi and her new-to-her “princess” dress:
Farm Girl L looking much older than her mere 6 years:
The first upside/down tomato is growing fast:
Call me crazy, but I’m trying my luck with trashcan potatoes. I got organic seed potatoes and even though it’s summer, I’m going to see what I can do with this method:
I have no idea what this sweet little flower is, but a few have popped up in my yard and I just love it:
Halloween pumpkins and radishes that will hopefully help ward off the borers:
Oh! The first cucumber of the season:
I never show pictures of the very back of the property because, well, there’s not much to show right now! But here it is, new fence and all. We have big plans for back here with terraced gardens (very bad dirt back here now…all caliche that won’t grow anything except weeds and sunflowers), maybe a lap pool someday, and a beer garden with our cobb oven. That is probably going to get started this summer if we are lucky. The rest will take time, lots and lots of time..and money..lots and lots of money…we have the time, not the money..haha! Someday! For now however the chickens and goats enjoy the massive amounts of sunflowers, weeds and dirt to forage, run in and just be in (and hopefully help amend some).
My first passion flower…how exciting!
And my pumpkin harvest! Before the borers completely anhiliated my volunteer pumpkins, I was able to get this modest harvest out of it. So exciting to me!
Our small succulent collection. My dear friend, Becky, has added much to this group and actually really got us started on a collection at all. We are now trying to figure out the perfect spot to put them into the ground. For now they look fun on the table out front though.
We got some rain earlier this week, so that saved on a big watering in the middle of the week. The plants sure do love the rain!! Everything is doing alright for now. We are putting up the extra shade cloth over the veggie bed tomorrow and I transplanted a few things from the front to back in that area. I also ordered some specialty pole beans for the structure and picked up a pack of regular pole beans as well. Those will go in the ground this afternoon if I get lucky.
So far we are staying pretty consistant in the low 90’s, but I know the hotter weather is just around the corner. I seriously am not complaining though after last summer’s death heat starting in May. And I’m learning alot more about watering efficiently and deeply. I can see the difference in my plants.
It’s all a learning process, but what a fun ride! Hopefully, 10 years from now I’ll start feeling less like a newbie gardener…hah! I’m loving the lessons though, and it’s so fun to see everything change from day to day.
Hope you are having a wonderful June 5th! Peace!
The girls and I had a wonderful week with my darling Jonathon, Kim and our gorgeous little grandson, William. Xi couldn’t get enough of the baby, and neither could I! Such a calm little man. Jonathon and Kim are doing alright too. She was very ill and had to be back in the hospital for a week 3 days after giving birth. Her blood pressure skyrocketed. Fortunately, Jonathon’s dad and step-mom were there and able to take quick action. She was one sick mommy! She’s doing great now though . We are talking about them moving up here and have offered our studio if they want it for temporary. We have some work to do on it, but have alot of help and donated time and materials, so it’s definitely doable. There is more opportunity for them in Austin, and it would help her finish school without having to go back to work and put William in daycare. So we’ll see what they decide. We had plans to finish the studio anyway, this is just making it more motivating right now!
On the farm front, we were thrilled with the arrival of Kubra’s babies yesterday afternoon! First one arrived at just about 5:30 and the next was around 6:15. I was the goat midwife and she did great! Two little boys who are just beautiful. We don’t plan on keeping them past weaning, but it will be hard to let them go too. Haha! Fortunately we have good resources with our friend, Cindy from Paleface Feed. She will most likely keep one of the boys and we’ll swap for credit in the store…and then she will help us find a good home to the other one. Kubra is going to be an awesome milk goat too, based on how she let me handle her during birth. And she’s a really good mommy too!
I’m catching up after a week away, but the love of my life did alot of work while I was gone, so I came home to clean windows (inside and out), a scrubbed down kitchen and all the laundry done. Those 3 things are life-savers for me..haha! Thank you darling!
On Saturday, Lola got her ears pierced! She did great and is excited about this new chapter in her young life.
I’ll update on the goats, for now, enjoy the pics! Peace!
So our darling X wanted “up jeans.” I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about. I thought she wanted to wear her jeans that pulled up rather than snapped or buttoned. For weeks I believed this is what she meant and wasn’t sure why there was a moment of hesitation from her before she’d put them on. Then, one morning, I finally figured out what they are and the happiness in that child’s eyes was confirmation. Up jeans are cut-offs! So we took her old Levi’s that were finally getting too short and cut them off. These are now almost all she wants to wear. She’s my little hippie farmgirl through and through. Haha!
Yay for Up Jeans! Peace!
