Just random stuff...

Frank and I are getting ready to head out for a long weekend at the coast, so we had a little list of things we wanted to accomplish before we left. One of those things was to weed the garden, as we didn't want it to get away from us while we were gone. Well, there are a number of volunteer potato plants around the edge of the garden that we have left alone, but we needed to weed around them, and that's when we dislodged the first potato of year. Cute huh? So Frank mounded up a bunch of new dirt around these plants and maybe when we get home we can have a meal of new potatoes and peas. Yum.


Seems like we put up a lot of pictures of everyone else on the farm, but poor Jake the hunter kitty gets left out. I spotted him out in the field that we are resting behind our house, so I snapped a picture of him. I called him to see if he would look at me for the picture, but he was focused on planning his assassinations for the day and ignored me.


I have mentioned a few times that I use the neighbor's pasture for the boys in the summer. One nice thing about this pasture is that he has a pasture shelter built on the side of his shop that they boys really like on sunny days. On overcast days, like today, they can be found napping just outside the shelter, always with one standing and the other laying, taking turns. These boys are best friends and are happy to be together and stand guard while the other naps more soundly.


The donkeys are currently in our upper pasture by the barn while the lower one rests. In this pasture is a huge cedar tree that is just perfect for napping under. Here is Daisy showing how it's done.


We are taking the camera to Oregon with us to capture some of the fun we'll be having there. Of course Frank and Sandy will be spending some serious time on the beach, and Mom and I will be visiting a friend's goat dairy to play with the baby goats and I wanted to get some clamming in at low tide. Who knows what other kinds of trouble we'll be getting into!? We wouldn't be able to do this without such a good housesitter taking care of things here at home. Thanks Leah!! Catch you guys later!

One year ago today...

It was one year ago today that the sweetest dog ever left this earth but not our hearts. Carly was truly a special dog that I still think of every day, and probably will the rest of my life. I wanted a way to memorialize her and after much though and running it by Frank, on this one year anniversary I had this done:


I got a little paw print on my foot because we always called her a "foot dog" as she was always either laying on our feet, or right by them with one of her front paws resting on one of our feet. So now her foot is on me forever.


Here is a close up. It's hard to tell scale, but it would totally be obscured if you put a dime over it, so it's tiny. I wanted you to be able to see the little heart, too. The tattooist did a very good job and had his own memorial tattoo of his dog, so he understood why I wanted to do this. The actually tattooing I wouldn't call painful, just irritating. It's so small it went quite quickly too. So that's my memorial to the best Wiggly Girl that there ever was...and now she'll be with me until I leave this earth too.

A lettuce bouquet!

Yeah! I finally have a picture to show you of the first harvest out of our garden this year...LETTUCE! Actually, we've been eating it for over a week now, but I was reflecting on the beauty of all the different varieties and thought it would make a beautiful bouquet to show you! And this bouquet tastes even better than it looks! I asked Frank to take a picture of me in there too, just for posterity's sake, and to keep the mommas happy. So here you go!


You might look back just one blog and see the little potato plants just starting to greet the world after their long winter sleep. Well, I wanted to show you how much they've grown in just a couple of weeks. We planted another row a week later after not being able to find the Yukon Golds we wanted to try, so we went with the last of the seed potatoes of the proven winner from last year. This is double what we planted last year, so we will feel comfortable taking out some new potatoes without cutting into what we will keep for use throughout the year. Oh yeah, of course the boys had to get their mugs in the picture too.


I totally forgot to mention in any of my blogs that last year we planted a table grape plant last spring. It did OK last year, but this spring it is just going nuts! Frank built this lovely arbor/pergola for them to climb on and they'll be up there in no time. Our neighbor grows wine grapes and he's been a big help will all things grape. This variety is one that is a blush red, and is grown for just eating, so it should be nice and sweet. (I forgot the Christmas lights were still up there until I saw this picture! OOPS! Better get those off before the plant reaches that far and they're stuck there forever!)


Here is a bunch of little tiny baby grapes! They are so cute!! I would say I can find about 15 bunches of these on the vine so far. What a nice treat should they make it all the way to eating. At least the hens can't reach them!


I am a little late planting the annuals in the side garden (this is also where the grape plant is based) but at least I bought the flowers the other day and am ready to put them in. Really hot weather (for us at least) prevented me from putting them in the last few days, but it's cooled down nicely now and it will be a lovely thing to do this afternoon. The only bad part is that I have to put up some kind of barrier to keep the hens out, at least until the plants are well established. The little white fence we bought to try did NOT do the trick, so I might be back to dumb chicken wire and stakes for a while. Oh well, the chickens think everything is theirs unless I discourage them. Good thing they're so entertaining and lay us eggs all the time!


Lily and Daisy have been moved to the upper pasture that had been rested for about 6 weeks. They are happy to have access to their favorite cedar tree and be by the road so they can watch all the neighborhood happenings. The lower field is resting now and probably won't be used now until some time in July. It is nice to be able to let pastures rest, especially on such a small property. Having the neighbor's field and now another little pasture for the boys is allowing me to rotate everybody to some degree. I am very thankful.


Maddie was so peacefully eating some grass in the front yard in front of the blooming rhododendron bush that I got the camera and took a few pictures. She has been through a lot and it's nice to see her healthy and if anything, a little beefy for once. She is such a sweet little mare. I have told Frank that if I ever had an extended illness and was in the hospital, I expected him to sneak her in to see me!


So today is a lovely Sunday. Nice and cool again, like it should be!! We went to church last night, so today we're headed out for a bike ride and to visit the farmer's market in Everett, about 20 miles away. Most of today's chores are done, so all that's left is fun! Hope you have a wonderful week! Last full week of school for us...WHOOO HOO!