Sunday, May 27, 2018

Life is FULL and it has been raining A LOT!

I just pulled up the 10 day forecast - rain, thunder, rain, storms, showers, thunderstorms, rain and more rain. We came in awhile ago and I dumped our two younger gals in the tub as they had been having FUN outside in the fire ring and were messy. They played (mostly peacefully) long enough for Jason and I to stroll through the wet lush gardens, making a task list and taking pictures. Not that we will get to most of the tasks any time soon as it is going to be rather gooshy under foot for awhile.

Kali is away for a sleepover this evening and Alida was grieving her departure a lot today. She was pretty sure life would be no fun without her. I love how much they love each other and enjoy being together. That said the grief seemed a bit excessive for a 24 hour or less separation and I'll let you be the judge if Alida was having any fun in her absence. Even Jason joined in - though he is probably not all that impressed that I'm putting this out for the world to see:



While I'm exposing Jason to the world, this is another pretty uncommon scene. I heard about it when I got home from work the other day but only saw the evidence of Jason snagging a cat nap when I downloaded pictures this evening. The girls tucked him in with stuffed animals and then Kali grabbed the camera to get some proof. This man deserves a few cat naps - he has been working so hard! We've been pushing pretty hard to get seeds and plants in the ground and while the girls and I have tried to chip in here and there and help out, the bulk of the grunt work falls on Jason. He is pretty amazing with a wheel hoe. Just sayin'! We are really loving when we can get out and work together and a few times recently just Jason and I have enjoyed short gardening stints while the girls played together.
Jason is also out there a fair amount alone while I'm making cheese about as often as I can squeeze it in and the other food processing/preserving tasks are starting to ramp up. The spring spinach freezing has concluded and I've moved on to freezing lambsquarter and trying to start drying herbs (first round of oregano done on the one sunny day recently). I'm also often occupied with things with the girls - like our Saturday soccer morning! I even have proof that I was there this week as Terah had the camera for a good part of Kali's game. :) 
Ok, as is typical for us, it is 10 p.m. and I'm trying to get this blog post done and move towards bedtime routines and kids are starting to unravel. The difference is that Kali is not here to come to my rescue, so here are some pictures and a video for you to enjoy. This mama hen hatched out about 7 chicks and then Jason gave her 10x that many to foster. She has been tending/fostering about 70 chicks and it has been a sight to behold. As of today she has decided she is done so they are now on their own but she was one great mama for her first go round. I guess she didn't know anything different but Jason cracked up the other day when I noted that I wished I could give her a massage or something!


We did a partial family retreat day today and will do a second partial one next weekend. The day included picking strawberries this morning, enjoying nutty sweet potato waffles while playing the Farming Game, doing some music together and then making and enjoying fresh strawberry shortcake. As you will note, Terah was also taking a retreat from clothes today - but this happens for her much more often than quarterly!
 And now from our evening walk around!
I can't get enough of the clouds on the mountains. They are so beautiful!

Alida's garden

Garlic scapes here they come - who wants some?!?!
Rye and vetch before the rains

...and after

Will we get any peaches?

Nora's garden!

And another from Nora's garden. Love that spot!

I AM EXCITED!

Blackberry flowers

Kiwi

Yep, more clouds and Kali's ducks HAPPY in the drainfield - who knows what all they were finding but they were making very contented duck sounds!

And, last but not least, cute and crazy kids!

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