Well hi!

Well, it's officially been a long time since I wrote a post.  Actually I think it was officially a long time about 2 months ago. But here I am again.  :)

As you can see I finished my garden fence quite a while ago now.  It's very rustic but is very sturdy and fulfills its purpose very well...keeping the deer and rabbits out!  I built it so the gate to my chicken yard is inside my garden so you have to go into the garden to get into the chicken yard.  I designed it this way so that I can open up the chicken gate and let them roam around in my garden in the winter, eating bugs and fertilizing while they do it.  Eventually I will have their chicken yard stretch all the way around the perimeter of my garden so they can eat some of the pests and slugs that are making their way into my garden.  At the moment I have two Golden Sexlinks and two Barred Plymouth Rocks. My two Blue Wheaton Ameraucanas died suddenly, we think it was some kind of genetic defect and not a virus since my mother-in-law had some from the same group and hers did the same thing.  We had our first egg yesterday!!!  It was very soft as first eggs tend to be.  We think it was the larger of the two Goldens since she was up in the nesting loft a lot yesterday acting like she nesting and laying more eggs. 

The past couple of weeks have been filled with lots of celebrations! Daisy turned 18 AND graduated from high school!  Her plans are to head down to Portland on July 1st, get a job and share an apartment with her childhood friend Victoria.  

And Daniel turned FIVE!!  Where does the time go??!! 

He got his first big boy bike for his birthday.  Can't wait to take it camping with us so he can ride around the campgrounds like we did when we were kids! 

Homeschooling has been going really good and I will have another post about that up later on this week.  :) 

Have a lovely Tuesday everyone! 

Taggy...

Where would a little boy be without his taggy blanket?  Daniel wanted to work outside with my dad and I in our gardens but he wanted to bring his taggy too.  So my dad stuck it in his back pocket.  :)  A friend made this taggy for Daniel when he was about 5 months old and it has never left his side.  The edges are fraying and the tags are showing signs of wear.  Even when he is grown I will still have this little blanket as a keepsake from his little boy days.

 This forlorn look is when I told him it was time to go home.  He loves working with Grampa in the garden.

 

 He moped into the house to get his things. :)

 

And this spawn of Satan beautiful moth was on my parents' front porch.  Daniel refused to go out this way, he took the back door.

 

My dad put his hand up next to the spawn of Satan beautiful moth so you gauge the size better.  Daniel said it has sharp wings.  :)

Spring happenings...

Well, I figured it was time for another post since it's been almost two months since I last posted.  I am glad to get back to blogging.  I have a few plans for my blog and my Etsy shop coming up soon.

The above picture is of the pond on my parents' property.  My veggie garden plot is right next to it so I have a lovely view when I am working in my garden.  Sadly though as summer gets closer the pond will dry up until fall comes around again.

To get my garden ready I removed all or most of the gravel that had been between the beds.  I purchased a yard of organic compost and incorporated it all in into the soil.  I bought some straw to put between the beds. Daniel helped me spread the straw around and he thought it was the funnest job ever.  He did such a good job of making sure the straw didn't get in the beds. This is a trick my mother-in-law uses and I really wanted to try it this year.  Eventually when I put my beds to rest at the end of the fall the straw will be a little more broken down and I will turn some of it into my beds.  So far I have planted onions, garlic, kale broccoli, lettuce,carrots, fennel, beets, bush beans, zucchini, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, pumpkins and potatoes.

We've had some amazing weather the past week.  Daniel and Daisy spent quite a bit of time in the sprinkler and slip and slide. 

Nothing like the pure happiness of a little boy playing in the sprinkler.

And here my sweet little niece Adaryn now 2 months old.  Time sure flies!  I love squishing her all up and I don't get to do it nearly enough.  :)

Happy spring everyone! 

Charming...

http://pinterest.com/pin/266416134178961257/

Happy weekend everyone!

Daniel's radishes...

I got my veggie garden all planted yesterday. I planted onions, fennel, beets, carrots, lettuce, zucchini, broccoli, pole beans, cilantro, and parsley.  I will be planting my potatoes soon and I have a cool idea that I am going to use.  Look for a post about that soon.  :)

I saved a nice little end spot next to the pole beans where Daniel could have his own little garden.  I had him plant radishes since they are super easy to grow and they will be ready to harvest in less than a month.  I can't wait to see his face when he sees the little seedlings coming up. 

My brother Ben, sister-in-law Mai and sweet little nephew Charlie leave for Alaska tomorrow morning.  I will have a post up about that soon.  Needless to say it is making me feel a little blue.  I am going to miss them so much!