So my sister just sent me this and it made me laugh…hard. It basically is true, but only Bob Newhart can deliver like this. So sit back and enjoy!

Stop it! Oh wait, I got a little carried away..I meant to say…Peace!

Oh yes, amidst this ungodly heat I did break a few rules and am going to be putting in a few new plants tomorrow in the wee hours before it’s too hot to breath. I couldn’t help myself. I went to Natural Gardener and blacked out. Next thing I knew I was loading some really fun plants into the back of the van. I will take pics tomorrow after the planting and let you know what I got. Every little bit is just one step closer to our vision of our garden. Next big project will be the new raised beds in back. J is not looking forward to hammering rebar into landscape timber (which is how we will build them), but we both love a good project and so will make it fun.

More tomorrow…

Peace!

We are new to this, and having put out 3 new feeders are very excited about attracting our feathered friends. I can’t find an identity for this particular fellow however. Finch? Sparrow? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks and Peace!

ETA: I might have figured it out. A Carolina Chickadee perhaps?

The babies are 7 weeks old already and at that point where we are working on finding them new homes. The time went by fast, much like it does with my own kids. They are healthy, happy, sweet little boys and we’d love to keep them, but that wasn’t the plan. If we don’t stick with the plan, we’d end up over-ridden with goats and other pets (we already have a full house..haha!). So the ad is up, our goat lady is on it as well and these little guys will probably be going to new homes in the next couple weeks. We will miss them alot, but my desire for fresh goat milk is stronger so that wins out. I’ll be milking Kubra starting next weekend. One more thing to add to my to-do list for the day…I think I’m booked up now. Ha! Here are the boys this morning…so cute! If anyone local reads this and is interested, please let me know! Right now they are still billy’s, but we will be wethering them at the end of the week unless someone wants them as breeders.

We had a soccer Saturday with L playing in 2 back to back games. It was hot, so we kept her well hydrated and had wet bandanas for her neck. She did great! J’s folks came down for it and we all had a really good time. Then Sunday J and I spent the day working in the yard. We put down mulch, dug out a plant to re-locate; re-did one of the big pots for shade plants; fertilized everything; planted new plants; pulled out the borer infested pumpkins (I have new sprouts coming up however and was able to get 10 pumpkins off my volunteers so I feel like we are still ahead!); tightened up the shade structure; and got 5 new upside/down tomatoes going. We were busy in the heat but it was well worth it and it makes us happy to do the work.

This is the old pot redew, and the veggie garden without the pumpkins. I have more shade cloth arriving as well, so we’ll be putting an additional 60% on it in hopes that it will help with our hot hot days ahead! Also some pics of the upside/down tomato starts and other garden pictures, including a very curious one full of bubbles…hmmm…

Hope you all had a great weekend and welcome to June! Peace!

Peace!

Here are some pics that Xi took last week. No help, no suggestions. We just let her go with the camera and this is what came out of it…I’m biased I know, but I have to say she might have quite the eye! I only editted two of these, and that was to crop her toes out of the shot on one and the other was with the fish and the flash was reflecting on the glass in the corner of the picture. Enjoy!

Peace!

Peace!

For anyone who hasn’t tried this, now is the time. It is so much fun and the kids love it! Even Xi gets in on the fun. Lola is getting super fast and is almost ready for more complicated “stitches”. For now, here is an awesome tutorial with the story of the Farmer and his Sheep. Enjoy!

Peace!

Just a quick update. For everyone who wondered about my last post, I am just fine…it is sometimes difficult to see someone in a much different light than they had presented themselves after thinking you know them fairly well. So after surprise and shock over this discovery, I am totally fine and actually feel a bit lighter and less manipulated. So it just wasn’t meant to be and all I can hope is that this “friend” finds her way and discovers her inner light once again. I can’t be anything more than I am, and I do try to find the good in everyone. So with that said, all is well…I am happy…and no need to discuss anymore. Thanks for your concerns though!

Now on to farm news. I’ll post pics in a bit but I wanted to update on things going on around here. Baby goats are growing fast! At a week old today they are already jumping, running, head butting and scampering around tasting cedar bark, leaves and anything else they can find. They are so amazingly cute and still smaller than the cats..haha! Mama Kubra is doing well except her leg seems to still be bothering her. The day she gave birth she was limping and I checked her out, not finding any injury or swelling. We thought maybe a baby was sitting on a nerve. After birth she seemed to be getting better, but the past 2 days she’s been limping again and even carrying her leg up when walking/running at times. She does put her weight on it when she’s eating, but not so much when walking. I checked it all over again this morning, lifting her hoof up to see if something was stuck in there, squeezing all the way into her hip, etc.. She didn’t flinch or act like I was hurting her in anyway. She’s eating and drinking fine and babies are nursing up a storm happily. The only thing I can think of is maybe there is something further up in her hoof that I just cannot see and will need to get her to let me do a longer examination this afternoon. If we need antibiotics, I can call my friend who is a vet, but I don’t think she has any infection. It just seems to bother her more than hurt her, if that makes sense. Other than that, she’s doing great! She’s such a good mama and her babies are thriving.

We’ve been doing more gardening, getting our veggie seedlings into the ground and rearranging and maintaining our herbs and ornamentals in the front. Everything was so happy to get a good soaking rain Friday and Saturday. When out this morning they were just thriving; lots of growth and blooms. The veggies are amazing and it looks like we have about 20 tomato plants that will make it…yikes! That’s alot of tomatoes…haha! We are going to do some upside down pots and then some in the ground. I have a bunch of volunteers coming up as well, along with volunteer pumpkins. I don’t know if the pumpkins will bare fruit, but the plants are super healthy so I’m leaving a few of them to do their thing and hopefully we’ll have some pumpkins this year! Cucumber seedlings are strong too and on their 3rd set of leaves. I have about 8 to get in the ground along with the 6 I already planted. Peppers are also thriving. So far so good! This year I started all my seedlings and instead of getting super attached, went ahead and culled the ones that were weak and repotted the stronger ones in bigger pots to help them thrive a bit more. They are doing great! So hopefully we’ll have a more successful tomato year this year. I am late with my basil seeds, but figure I’ll get them in the ground anyway. The lasagna garden we started last fall is full of gorgeous, healthy dirt now, so things should thrive. Radishes are going in this week as well. Oh, and I got my heartier lettuce seeds going too.

Both farmgirls are growing like weeds and doing great. Lola has decided she wants to try first grade in the fall. My immediate reaction is to continue homeschooling, but we also believe that if we allow her to try and in turn it maintains her trust, then hopefully that trust will continue as she grows. We’ve always told her we’d let her try if she wanted, and we don’t want to go back on our word. We can always pull her out if it’s just not working. We figure we’ll try for 6 weeks and then re-evaluate. Xi is doing good too and changing everyday. She’s turning into quite the little artist. I keep her artbox within reach at all times now. It’s nice to see her express herself like that. Both girls were under the weather this weekend, but seem to be fine today. Lola even went jogging/walking with me early this morning!

So life continues and we move forward with it. That’s about all anyone can do, right? We are some of the lucky ones for sure! We have an amazing extended family, consisting of not only blood family but a healthy group of friends all over the country. We have our healthy, thriving, wonderful children and now grandson. We have a home of our own and now gainful employment once again. We have love. And are one step closer, everday, to the Peace we desire.

So cheers my friends and family! Peace!

“There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.” ~ Lord Buddha

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory will swell when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature.” ~Abraham Lincoln

“If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don’t accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend.” St. Augustine

“Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.” – Albert Camus