Thank You

On this Memorial Day, as always, I am reminded of those who choose to uphold peace and freedom for their fellow countrymen. It is an amazing gift they give to each of us as well as a huge commitment that they are willing to place on themselves and their families, at sometimes great personal risk.

For those who have chosen this path, both in the past, now, and in the future, I thank you and sincerely appreciate what you do for me. Thank you especially Daddy, Guy, Vince and Jeremy....

Summer Pots

The final planting of the summer pots is all done. I'm sure that once the sun comes out and the weather turns warm (if it ever does again!), that they will start to grow with wild abandon. In the meantime, I must rely on my imagination to see how decadent they will be. Come along, I'll show you some of them....

Greetings at the back door with ivy geraniums

Greetings at the front door with African daisies

A tub full of marguerite daisies

A corner filled with a bit of herbs, blue petunias and small, bright marigolds
One of several baskets between the doors of the garage

Brittany Blue

We went to Brittany, France a few years ago, to Rospico, on the ocean. We spent a week in a lovely old farmhouse, beautifully updated, complete with a hand-thatched roof. The house had a small orchard, gardens, pasture, and it was just a short stroll down the lane to the walking path that skirts up and down the coastline. I fell in love with it all.

I also walked away entranced at how an entire geographical area can be in agreement with the color of house trim, including big, beautiful, wooden shutters. I call it 'Brittany blue' - a deep gorgeous blue with just a touch of purple. I don't know how or why, but it works and I love it!

So last week I went on a search. A search for a BIG, O (round), Brittany blue, ceramic pot. It was an adventure, but we finally found IT and it is lovely. Right now IT is filled with three delightfully scented rosemary plants and six white lobelias. They are all young plants but can't you just see the white of the flowers tumbling down that gorgeous blue pot?? You can see what it looks like today, but wait, just wait - in a month from now I know how absolutely lovely it will be!!!

My Brittany blue pot!

Distractions

I need to get some 'real' work done. Since Lexie has company over, that means taking the laptop from the study to upstairs, and working on a table in my bedroom. I thought that wouldn't be a problem since we are wireless here in the house. I failed to consider something however.

The laptop works great and I am all ready to start working. First however, I must make the bed and fluff all of the pillows. Then I need to do a quick dust and straightening and freshen the water in the vase with fresh flowers. Next I see a needlework project that is 'almost' done, it just needs a little more work. And so it continues....

Life's wonderful distractions win out over working, at least for the moment. I must, I really must, get back to work, but oh look there - a lovely book I've been meaning to start reading.

Good-bye Feathered Friends

One year ago four beautiful little goslings arrived at our farm: fluffy feathery balls with great big feet, each fit in the palm of your hand. There were two little geese and two little ganders each with a fanciful name.

The goslings at eight days old

They were wonderfully cared for and not a thing wasn't done to make their lives healthy and happy; Lexie thought they were the most precious things in the world next to her own bright and beautiful child. They grew to look exactly like what American Buff geese should be and they were great fun to have on the farm.

The goslings at four months old - aren't they lovely!

And then last winter they took a good look at each other, and like any healthy, happy geese, their thoughts turned to love and they paired off. Each gander had a lovely goose to call his own and call they both did. And then Bergamot decided that possibly, just possibly, he should go the extra step of making sure that no usurper could take away the love of his life (geese mate for life and the lives are about 25 years long.) Then the other gander made the same decision and all life forms on the farm that were clearly not a goose, needed to be harassed and chased away with head down, neck stretched, wings flapping, full out running. I can't begin to describe how a 15 pound bird could possibly make you feel as though you should run for your life, but these guys can do it!


As responsible animal owners, one and all knew that running was not an option, therefore, plans B, C and D were implemented: B was to go through a pasture other than the one the geese were in, C was to make sure the geese were on the complete other side of the pasture and then quietly slink through and hopefully make it out the other gate before they noticed you, and C was to have a broom in-hand to yield as a shield in front of yourself. We all became adept at the required forms of evasion, though Lexie showed a definite preference for plan B.

And then goat kidding/milking season was upon us. Proper consideration of the noise levels and general chaos had not been sufficiently analyzed. Milking became a stressful time, even after luring the marauding beasts out of the barn into their outside yard, due to general complaints at now being outside of the 'action'. Have any of you attempted milking in this environment? It can certainly be done but it isn't calm and it isn't lovely, both of which is my normal milking experience with my goat girls. So it came down to this - delicious, fresh, wonderful milk, or the screaming banshees. Guess which won.

The geese have gone to a new home. One where there are also goats, but of the fiber inclination, not the milking kind, where noise and marauding can be happily continued by eight webbed feet. They should be happy there and next year they will be raising babies :-)

Flying By

Today is Watson's birthday - Happy 31st Birthday Watson!

Today is also the 30th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens. I've been wondering if the two events are related; I'm sure Watson was starting to cruise around at about that same time.

We made soap last week, lots of soap, nine pounds to be exact. I forgot to cut it last Saturday but I finally remembered late last night, and after finishing a large piece of editing work, I was able to put it into it's cutting form and take care of it. Strange - one of the blocks is dark in the middle of the cut soap bars. Normally this is a beautiful creamy yellow soap. I feel some internet research coming on.

I also need to complete a small embroidery project, a shadow work collar for a little romper. I can hardly believe our new little grandbaby will be here in just a few more short weeks. Not to mention the summer flowers that still need potting. Though, as I look outside with rain falling in sheets I know I couldn't possibly go work in THAT, so maybe I should just pick up a book and read? Time is flying by....

A Perfect Day

It started yesterday, my perfect day, and is just now coming to an end; reality is starting to beckon.

Ralph, the VVDH, came home from work early and we headed to the big city of Seattle. We had an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, and yes, there was an ending to our meal that included a classic cheesecake with strawberries - yum. Then is was off to the beautiful Paramount Theatre. Have you ever been there? The outside is quite plain, but oh, the inside is sooooo lovely. I always feel quite elegant and delightfully girlie when I am there!

Months ago we had bought the tickets and this was the night: "Celtic Woman, Songs from the Heart"!!!! My hands clapped, my feet tapped and my heart sang. I always get these feelings that I might, just might, be able to sing and dance beautifully one day. So far, that day is still looming far, far away on the horizon. But I was truly inspired and had a REALLY wonderful time.

And then my perfect day continued (after a blissful night's sleep). Today was sunny with barely a cloud in the sky. Ralph and I enjoyed a 4 1/2 mile hike in the Redmond watershed, and then ate a delicious lunch that I had packed before we left. I love being in the woods; it's my very happy place and I love to have the people I care about share it with me.

Afterwards, it was off to Flower World, and, yep, you guessed it, the purchase of the summer annuals. Fortunately, I keep a very large perennial garden, but I can't resist having additional pots brimming with lots of summer flowers. I'll be cursing myself just a little in the next week as I try to squeeze in time for all of the pot planting, but I'll be happy once it is all done and there are colors bursting about here and there!

And to end my perfect 24 hours - my sweetie bought be a Starbucks espresso frappuccino!

It's a wonderful life I have ;-))

Which would YOU prefer?

The sweet, beautiful child who lives with us, Peanut, has just started potty training as of yesterday; he's almost 2 1/2 years old and Mama Lexie, who is expecting his little sister in July, is thinking that two in diapers would be one too many, thus we have reached 'serious' potty training time.

And by serious, we mean that all the tricks of the trade have been pulled out: favorite books in the bathroom, special little cars (why do boys, even the very littlest of boys, like mechanical objects so very much?), special candies....WHAT, did I just say candies?!? Yup, I did. Peanut's Mama carefully watches what he eats which means that he rarely gets sweets unless it's associated with a fruit of some sort. So candy is a really, really, really HUGE deal.

Everything went well yesterday, Day 1; there were several admirable successes and many commendable attempts. Then last night, Peanut looked hard at his candies (he gets only six for a potty success), and considered, "Mama, I would like the big m & m's, not the little ones." Now seriously, don't you agree with him? After all, he's working pretty hard!

So today, there are big m & m's available for Peanut's efforts, and I must say, I believe it might be making a difference....

The Sun Came Out

What happens when the sun finally comes out after a long spell of cold, rainy days?

We play 'king of the log' (baby doe),

we soak up the warm sun on a lazy afternoon (baby buck),

we eat the juicy spring grass that we haven't been able to enjoy in the past week (Coquette - yearling),

we eat as much as we can since we have to make lots of milk (mommy Babette),

we just keeping eating and flicking our ears to keep those pesky bees away (Fannie),

ahhh, the pleasures of just chilling together and eating the afternoon away (the does),

and us, well we're not into 'real' eating since we get to mosey on up to the milk bar whenever we feel like it, so we just go and nibble on the old cedar stump!

Life is good here....

Where has the time gone???

I can't believe how long it has been since I've last posted! So much busyness and so much fun....

The bees arrived, actually, three sets of bees arrived.

The Bee Saga: Bee package 1 arrived, the queen ate through her little marshmallow plug quite successfully. So successful was she that the rude little soul promptly absconded from the hive and took all of the worker bees with her! There is nothing quite like hearing no buzzing, looking in and seeing no bees and knowing that $100.00 just winged their way away. Not much to be done unless you are able to locate the swarm. This is NOT a normal occurence; we suspect we had a floozy queen! Bee package 2 was courtesy of the bee guy who felt so bad about what happened with bee package 1, that he gave Watson all of the hitchhiker bees from the following week's California bee pick up and also gave him a new queen. This time, the entrance/exit was blocked and the new group took a few happy days getting to know each other before the queen was released into the hive, and they are now happily setting up housekeeping. Now the more exciting news: the bee guy had a few packages that didn't sell, so he offered Watson a free 4# package with queen! After lots of scrambling there are now two happy hives sitting in the bee yard (the little pasture behind all of the high hot wire due to the possibility of friendly bears who might decide to visit as a result of the delicious honey smell.) Watson is doing great and having a blast; he has lots of fussy stuff to worry over, just his cup of tea!

Preparing to handle a bee package for the first time!

Very noisy, not too happy, 3 # package (9,000 bees) plus one queen.

The floozy queen in the temporary queen box, prior to adding the marshmallow plug.

Goat News: The goat kids have grown and are doing wonderfully with the herd in the few hours a day that they are all mixed together. Babette is separated from her babies at night, starting when they were three weeks old, and I am milking her in the morning only and then letting the babies have the milk during the day and early evening. So far the arrangement is working out well, and Babette's teats are enlarging little by little and she is becoming more patient on the milking stanchion.