Piggie Update

Oh my pigs are so cute!  They love to see me coming with their slop or grain :)  At first they would not eat the slops, which greatly disappointed me as we have a lot of slop around here and I was counting on them.  But now they realize that I serve nothing but the best kinds of slop (corn cobs, moldy cheese bits, leftover oatmeal with milk and syrup.. mmm-mmm) and they are all over it.

You can see that I have not had to fill my pigs mud hole recently.  Indeed we had more rain last night and again this morning.  I am thankful we did not plant the gardens yet.  The seeds would almost certainly have washed out in the many separate deluges of rain we have had over the last 10 days.  High temp today of 50... with rain... of course... and frost likely for the next two evenings have me wishing for a trip south.  I see it is already 82 degrees this morning down in my favorite place in the world.

Weather Blues

I know I should have been focusing on the wonderful green that all this rain is bringing on... I should have been thankful that we were getting some much needed water as things were so, so dry.  Just take a look at how much rain we got over the last 5 days:

Trees are really coming out!
But terribly muddy garden goes unplanted...

Pool is really full!

But so full the skimmer cannot work properly...

Low spots in yard are starting their own little mosquito swamps.

No way to get out of the vehicles and into the house without soaking your shoes.

Good thing the horses have moved to a pasture with higher ground now.

 And now today, finally, the sun is out and I am whining because the wind is blowing about 90 mph, out of the north, with tons of clouds, taking all possibility of warmth right out of the 50 degree air. We are not going to see even 70 degrees (according to weather.com) for 10 days... sigh...

Well at least I can get some laundry on the line today.  I have refused to wash any more towels and bedding until I can hang them out, so by golly, I have plenty to do today.  Guess I will bundle up in my hoodie, jeans, SOCKS AND SHOES (what?!) and get at it.

But first I will leave a little a picture for Mongoose :)

Take a look at the Moon flower!  Yes this is the first actual FLOWER we have ever gotten from a Moon flower plant, and the seeds came from  my cyberfriend Mongoose.  This is one of many we have going out in the greenhouse.  The Old Guy brought it in last week to show me that it got a little sun scald, even in the greenhouse, and two days later a beautiful blossom appeared to cheer the dreary, dark day.

And I promise you dear friend, it is on my summer plans list to learn more about this great camera so I can move beyond point and shoot to some photos of better quality!

May Showers

Oh it has been dismally dark and rainy here at the loghome up north.  And windy. And chilly.  There were a couple of nice days last week, but that seems ages ago now.  We don't even have the ladder in the pool yet, and you could not get me in that thing (although one day the pool temp was a lovely? 67 degrees) but Jackie and Molly have braved a swim almost daily.
My ambition declines in direct proportion to the length of time I go without seeing the sun.  So you can guess I have little ambition right now.  Our homeschool is done for the year, and the public school kids' last day is next Wednesday.  Hopefully the weather and my attitude will improve by then and we can start off summer vacation with some fun in the sun :)

Tom Graduates from High School

Thomas had his homeschool high school graduation ceremony last Saturday.  I got a picture of every kiddo present except Jackie?! Not sure how I missed her... 

 I love our homeschool graduations because the parents get a chance to say to their child, in front of a crowd, how much they love their child and how privileged they have been to be their parent.  Not too many dry eyes at these ceremonies.  And for sure I could not be more proud of Tom.  I have been blessed to be his mom and teach him at home, and be a huge part of his childhood.  This fall Thomas will be going to Concordia University Wisconsin for a four year degree in Law Enforcement.

Three Little Pigs

These little porkers came to live here 10 days ago :)  The old guy and a couple of the kids drove for about 2 hours with three little pigs in an extra large dog kennel in the back of the suburban.  Apparently there are few things that beat the smell of fresh swine poop in these close quarters... I wouldn't know, thankfully ;)

I am going to try to get a picture up every week to sort of track how fast they grow.  They were approximately 45# a piece when they came and will weigh in around 200# in October at butchering time!

The kids wanted to call them cute things like "Babe" "Wilbur" and "Gordy."  But I overruled because I like my names better:  "Pork Chop" "Ham Bone" and "Sausage Patty" :D

A Very Happy Mother's Day

From the Old Guy

Jaime made me a beautiful tissue paper flower

Melissa made the paper and put this nice Mother's Day greeting on :)

A vase of cute flowers from Jaime

Strawberry Tea and candies from Mary

Pretty Painted rocks from Jackie and Molly

A Fabulous Fuchia from Peter

A beautiful scented candle from Kat

Another from Jaime

From Ty

From Tamira :)

Pretty little impatiens from Tony

The best pair of binoculars I have ever owned from
Kelly and Reuben

From Tinia and Jaime



And an IOU a Fishing trip
(Hopefully this week)
from Tom :)

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

My present from Joshua :)

A few weeks ago, as Jaime's behavior was escalating almost beyond control, and certainly beyond belief (even for her), she got mean and crabby and ruined my kindle... my new kindle that I got because Mary got mean and crabby to  me (a payback for my going to Florida I think) and broke my previous (first) kindle.  Joshua just happened to call to talk to me when I was crying (I know, what?!  Like I am so unfamiliar with this behavior that I would cry about it? But honestly... my KINDLE!!) and so decided to buy an early Mother's Day present for his mommy :)  It is a TOUCH kindle and I LOVE it!
And take a look at what I am currently reading!  A huge kindle splurge, but Joel Salatin's views on pasture raised food, and caring for the earth and the animals are just spot on.  Makes me want to be a farmer and that's for sure.  His books are always a great read.  If you strive to be an earth friendly environmentalist, you owe it to yourself to read this book and be informed. Every time I read something by him I am inspired all over again. 
Our laying hens are free range and take a look at these beautiful brown eggs we get every day I know... blurry but matt is still learning:)  And was Matt thrilled

with this whopper of an egg... yes double yoke :)