Time at the Neighbours Strawberry/Poultry Farm

I think I need a pet pig.

So cute.

But how do I convince hubby that this would be an asset to the yard??

A jiggly wet walk down the farm lane.

A goose mama sitting on her eggs.

I cannot wait to see the little babes.

Now that is an egg.

I spent the night listening to the rain pouring down and all I could think of was our dear friends/neighbours who make their livelihoods from farming strawberries.

Not for the weak I tell you.

They work so hard and do so much year round and now they are faced with the possibility of loosing their crop due to this inccesent rain.

I felt so bad that the girls and I stopped by this morning to see if we could help in any small way and we were immediately put to work laying down straw.

The girls helped for a row or two but then became distracted by picking up slugs.

As slugs are not a friend in these fields, the girls were cheered on to see how many they could get.

Failing to have a bucket on hand, but being creative and determined, K came up with a solution.

Her hoodie.

She fed them to the chickens....yummy.

One thing I noticed is that they crawl and quite fast really.

Why people say as slow as a slug have never really watched one of these slimy critters move.

This year the farmers have invested in some inventive slug maintenance.

As they are trying to be as organic as possible they learned that these ducks will eat slugs...and lots of them.

Once mama ducks (the people) introduce their sluggy diet, the ducks learn and gobble up copious amounts.

Go duckies Go!

K thought that maybe this slug would enjoy a massage and demonstrated the technique.

How kind of her to soothe it before she tossed it into the duck pen.

And now that we know, we used Borax when we got home to clean our clothes and hands before enjoy the rest of the day indoors out of the rain, with a puking girl.

Doing a Bit of Crafting

Please do not notice that these are not ironed and such by they are the beginnings of 2 small quilts that I am making for a friend who is expecting twins.
I love to just sew pieces together with no regard to any real pattern and such.
Guerrilla sewing is my way of copping out of taking the time to really learn the fine art of quilting.
One day!!

I would have liked to taken these pictures on the clothes line in sunshine but nature has had other plans for over a week and it looks like it is going to be a while till we see Mr Sun.

I have found that there is a need for a huge bag to lug every day things around lately so I made this from a great canvass material I got at Ikea last year.

I have already used it twice and can see that I may need to actually make one or two more.

In the blogasphere I have seen this idea floating around and thought it would be a great touch for any picnic.

I painted the inside of a variety of glass jars with a white spray paint and hopefully, one day when the weather allows us to host an evening gathering in the yard, they will adorn the table nicely lit with tea lights.

Recently I have been sold on the merits of an E-book.

I did a bit of research and found that the Kobo would be best for me.

It came preloaded with 100 "essential" books and at this point I find it quite user friendly and useful.

Downfalls??....I am a very tactile person and miss holding an actual paper book.

Bu this has it's place in the library and will be taken along on any trip, plane ride, picnic or sleepover.

And of course I had to make this little case to tote it around.

My imagination/inspiration book is so full of things to do and make that I actually feel behind and it sort of stresses me out.

I may need to rethink t his a bit if my leisure time is a stressor!!

Break in the Rain

Today started early and suddenly with E puking.
It is another rainy gloomy day and we have been stuck to the couch enjoying books, talking and a movie.
I am amazed at how relaxed we all are and at how much I have gotten done.
All the bed linens are washed and changed, schooling done and snacks baking.

J went and picked up 14 new laying hens this morning.
They are just settling in and the pecking order is being established.

There was a small break in the rain and puking so I took a moment to get a bit of fresh air and capture some photos of the yard.

The weeds are loving this rain and so are my flowers.

Here is our expanded garden with all the goodness growing happily.

The new beds are a great addition and I have planted the best RAW garden.

The other day J took the time to build me a stand for the clothes line.

No more reaching up to hang things and there are hooks and a rod for extra stuff.

It even has a flower bed attached in which I planted sweet peas for a nice summer look.

The yard is getting many additions this year and a BBQ center is in the works.

We are so excited to spend endless summer days playing about and enjoying the fruits of our labour.

Post On

The weather has been less than desirable as of late and I have been crafting up a storm.

Funny thing is I haven't had the desire to post it all like I usually do and it got me to thinking about my blog life.

I have been doubting my blogging ability lately, scared to be boring, lack lustre and redundantly posting.

But then a dear friend said "who cares?" and I thought ...your right!!!

This is my life and it is full of my magic, no matter how small it is important to me.

So I will post on.

Going on a Frog Hunt....Galump!! Galump!! Graaackk!!

Hard to see but in the middle of the picture closer to the right side there is a tadpole egg sac attached to a twig in the pond.

The sac is clear and gelatinous. It is dripping out of J's hands as he brings it out to put into the waiting jar that we brought, filled up with some of the pond water.

Determined to get more he trudges through a pond in search of egg sacs.

Tadpoles and bull rushes in hand he returns to our side of the marsh.

The first day 6 tadpoles hatched.

Now we have about 20 and have placed them into an aquarium filled with pond water.

We filled a bucket today with pond water and came across this beauty of a frog.

He now resides in our tank for a 2 day adventure.

Then he will be returned to his home.

Quite unimpressed with all the handling.

And in he goes.

He can jump over 2 feet as we found out a few times.

Home sweet temporary home.

I sure hope he doesn't eat our tadpoles.

My Life as an Ant

K had her camera today and asked that I download it tonight so I could see what her life would be like if she were an ant.
These are a few of the pictures she took and I just feel in love with the whole idea.
Maybe tomorrow she'll be a bird!!

Yes she took these all on her own.

Mucky Hands D'Jour

It is rather unusual to see racoon prints, as they like to keep their paws clean for eating.
I loved this mud print we found and thought would be fun to share.

E had a great time while I was knee deep in the garden planting potatoes and strawberries.
She was playing under a tree quietly and I was so thankful of her calmness, well exhaustion really, that allowed me to get so much work done.

That was until she came and asked to have her hands washed.

This is what a pair of busy hands do with tree sap and an endless supply of dandelions.

Lots of butter and some serious scrubbing took care of it nicely.

Post on Craft Gossip .....Good Day!!!

It is so fun and humbling to be re-posted on other wondeful blogs that I admire.
Craft Gossip is a great one that I am a regular with.
Thank you for the shout out.
Check them out here if you'd like some great ideas for the family.
Tutorial: Dye fabrics using natural materials

Sweetness of the Day

Lots of wonderful and treasured moments to share.....

So many thoughts and great words to express the joys and fun.....

Too dog tired to write......

Know that I mean well but have dropped the ball at this late hour.

This is where a picture is definately worth a 1000 words.