Runaway baby...

I just can't help it, "why did the baby cross the road?"...

To watch everyone play volleyball!Notice the beaded braclet on his wrist... Elle made that for him...

Michael and his sister Elizabeth

Bye Bye Chicken Killer

Michael shot the racoon this weekend. One bullet, one shot... Bye bye chicken killer.
That coon took out about 20 chickens in the last 6 months! Elle was so proud of her dada. She's telling everyone about it. (She was there in the truck when the shot was taken.) At night now she tells him to go "check on the chickens" and "take care of any more racoons with your pcheuuu" (the she's got the gun shot noise down!) and "pick em up by their tail and throw them way (she holds her arms out as wide as they can go) far way into the bushes." She is happy to have safe chickens again. As are we...

Black and white

I JUST firgured out my camera does black and white with a quick push of a button! Love it!

Cedar steps

Michael made these steps with some incredible cedar that a friend gave to us. It is so nice to have steps off the deck now!

My little model... "tell me when you want me to smile" she says... nana taught her so well!

Love how they turned out! Michael did it all with a chainsaw! It'd be great to have a sawmill someday, but for now we are just happy we are not perfectionists!

A Tale of Two Roosters

Here was our first "hen" that appeared much larger than the others and then suddenly started saying, "Cock-a-doodle-dooooo!" He thought he was in heaven! 40 ladies to look after (okay, maybe he thought he was in hell.... =) ) a new voice to announce his presence... and then....

This "hen" who was also a bit larger than the others, realized he too had a voice! They both "cock-a-dooed" for about a day or so and then the white one stopped... we rarely hear it any more... I think this one got a hold of a mirror and decided that he was "prettier" and therefore had "cock-a-doodle rights"! =)Here's the first crower, silenced, but maybe enjoying just hanging out with the ladies, rather then keeping them in check! =)

***Little do they know, they will soon both be dinner, as they don't lay eggs, and eggs pay for their food! wink wink...

Here's what's grow'n!

Apples are starting to appear!BasilThese are the pole beans. To the left are the potatoes, to the right are some cucumber plants, corn and sunflowers

Blueberries! Yumm...Brocolli, we have already gotten to eat some of this. SO good!

Butternut SquashCabbage Carrots Corn- does NOT look like it is going to be "knee high by the forth of July"! We had sun for about 2 days and you could seriously see it growing! It grew over an inch in those 2 days...but clouds again today...  (Raspberries in background)

Lettuce-yes, it is suppose to be speckeled! Heirloom variety

More lettuce (and some weeds!)Peas- we have eaten about a handful of these, it is crazy how late they are this year... we need SUN!

Remember the branch trelises I made!? here they are with the peas growing all over them. I planted the peas in staggered time frames so they wouldn't all be ready at once, so some are further along than others.

Potatoes galore! We eat a lot of potatoes! There are a couple brocolli plants in there which are doing AMAZING! I read that they are good "companion plants"... this proves it for me! Also, with potatoes, you can keep mounding over the plants and burry them until about 1/3 is above ground, they will keep growing and you'll get tons more potatoes for your space. Mine are due to be mounded...

I put a lot of these plants in these containers mainly because I didn't lable them when I planted the seeds and I am not completely sure which are tomatoes and which are peppers! I am just now being able to tell the difference, so they will find a home in the garden plot soon.

Pie pumpkinStrawberries (and fushia plant)Elle wanted to take a picture of her "tractor" amongst the corn and pumpkins. Pretty good shot! =)

Well, there you have it! Everything grown from seed (other than the berries).

Making Jam

LOVE Spooner Farms Strawberries! This is about 1/3 of how many strawberries I got today! Two freezer bags in the freezer, jam to sell, jam for us and a BUNCH of strawberries to make sticky, red faced children!

Here's my little helper... we having matching aprons (thanks mom!).

Here we are sterilizing our used baby food jars and lids. Let me tell ya, the house smelled INCREDIBLE!Here's what we'll sell at the road side stand tomorrow along with some daisy flower boquets that Elle picked today. YUMMY! I had a peanut butter and jam sandwhich tonight....mmmmm mmm mmmmm...!

Here's the little rascels getting into the big pot of strawberries in the fridge! =)

Chicken Farmers...

Let me tell you what.... raising chickens is no easy or cheap feat! We lost 5 more to a racoon! 3 of our pullets that were just about to start laying eggs and 2 of the biggest, fattest meat birds (of course, therefore the slowest and unable to get away). We are now down to 9 meat birds plus the 3 we already butchered makes 12 out of 25 birds! UGG.... feed is expensive.... anyone who complains about the cost of TRUE farm raised, free range, organic eggs or meat.....let's just say.....it is a SCREAMING deal for what these farmers go through to get that product to you! It really makes me realize the extent of the "corner cutting" that must take place in order to provide 99 cents a pound meat from those commercial producers! (Is it really even "meat" ??? or....??? But that's a rant for another day...) I think we are going to butcher the rest of the meat birds tonight after the kids go to bed... I just can't bear to see any more wasted to the darn racoon! (not to mention the cost that was put in to those birds that will now not bring in a dime...)
On a lighter note.... we went to the most incredible farm this evening! Pigs, horses, cows, lamas, chickens, flowers, vegetables, blacksmith area, saw mill, cedar sauna shack, and more! What a set up! They sell their organic chicken eggs for $5/dozen and are thinking to move it to $6/dozen... we sell ours for $4/dozen, but the more thoroughly I am keeping records this year is teaching me that we are possibly losing money or barely breaking even. We'll see when those pullets start laying... It has been really tough to shell out $300/month for food for all the chickens and only bring in about $30/month from the 12 full grown chickens we already had.  OUCH! The pullets are suppose to start laying in July... so hopefully we'll make up for it. Anyway, I just thought I'd rant a little about it all. I finally made it to Kits Camera today to get my memory card in my camera put on CD so I can erase the card and be able to start taking pictures again! So I will try and post a lot next week to catch up on what is going on with the garden, the house and my new business that is just recently in the works... =) In the mean time.... know this.... those organic, TRUE/hands on farmers earned every cent you pay for their product.... happily pay it and question how anyone can offer it for such a drasticly lower price...

Happy Birthday Elena!

What a beautiful day for a birthday party! Elena (my niece) turned 1!!! She is about the cutest, most contented and well behaved baby I have ever seen! She has these incredible blue eyes, GORGEOUS brown hair and happily babbles and razzes as she walks around holding her hands up by her shoulders as if her nails are wet.

What a happy girl! I have seen her nearly weekly since she was born and I have probably heard her fuss for a TOTAL of 2 minutes...and I have NEVER heard her cry... they say it does in fact happen....I am still skeptical... =)

Here is my little man...No need for any comment about how often HE fusses and CRIES....

Nana and Christian... Boy oh boy does he want to walk!

My Little Pony!

My mom's friend's horses just had babies! SO cute!These ones weren't quite as friendly... mama horse was SUPER protective....I understand completly.... The end...

A Look at Heaven

Play Doh Picinic!

Elle made us a play doh picinic! It was so fun! A great way to pass these rainy days! It almost looks good enought to eat doesn't it!?

11 days in $7 to go!

Ha Ha Ha.... It is only 11 days into the month and we have $7, that's right, SEVEN dollars left of our $100 for the month! But I am loving it! It is instilling such a great appreciation in my heart for what I do have... for example... did you know apples are more than $1 each!? There will not be a SINGLE one from our dozen trees that will hit the ground and stay there this year! Every SINGLE one will be made into something! Apple sauce, pie filling, slices to cook with, or eaten whole! The other thing that is a bit humerous to my heart (and will be to anyone who knows me as well...) is my shock at the cost of somethings and my hesitation to buy them.... like apples.... $1 an apple.... how is that outrageous when I can drop $1 on a candy bar without even thinking about it and that candy bar does NOTHING for my nutritional intake and actually only has negative consequences... ie: makes my clothes shrink!
Point being.... it is really fun to HAVE to be creative with what we're eating and we may be eating mostly meat and potatoes and beans and rice, but I have no doubt it is good for us!
I also have to laugh that I spent $198 on chicken food a couple days ago! (That will probably only last about 5 weeks!) The chickens get nearly twice our food budget! =) Happy chickens lay excellent eggs!