We got a late start on our garden this year.  I had a hard time convincing my mind and body to actually get out there and plant anything.  But, we still have our strawberries.  (Which haven’t produced hardly ANYTHING, thank you!)  We also got some potatoes in the ground and they are looking promising.

As far as our bucket garden, it seems to be doing well.  I don’t think I have all the information and so it isn’t working just how I intended, but the plants are doing well.

In order for it to grow properly, you are supposed to put up a trellis support system.  We decided we would also make a frame that we could maybe cover with plastic.  John made a little “hoop coop” like we did for our chickens and it works great so far.  We haven’t covered it with plastic yet, but I think there is still time before winter sets in.  We hope to extend our season a little bit and maybe have some greens into the winter.  We’ll see if it actually happens!

My tomato plants are out of control and I wasn’t sure how to plant a bunch of “secondary” plants around them.  Apparently, I was supposed to “prune” the tomatoes to make that work.  Who ever heard of pruning tomatoes?  I guess I need to do some internet research.

We have gotten some pickling cucumbers out of the garden, a few tomatoes, some peppers, etc.  The potato that I planted is starting to die, so I think it may be time to harvest the potatoes.  I’ll keep you posted on that.

Avy uses the garden as a jungle gym.  Her friend is joining her here.

I guess that is about it.  The verdict is not out yet on the success or not.  But we are excited to try something new and maybe get even better next year.  I like not having to think about watering this part of the garden.  It is all automatic.

Ivan and I hatched out some more baby chickens.  They are so cute and adorable.  We are selling them for $2.50 a piece.  Straight Run–meaning not sure if they are male or female.  Mixed breeds.  We have fifteen to sell.  If you buy a lot, we’ll give you a good deal!  Raising chickens is so fun!

We have enjoyed having our little duckie around.  She has been placed in a new home and we wish her the best.  Here are some updated photos and movies so you can see how much she has grown.  (We often called duckie a “he”, but now really believe it to be a “she”.) We hope she continues to live a happy life.  (We took her to a farm down the road where there are other ducks living in harmony.)

The smilebox takes a little over 5 minutes to see the whole thing.  Eric and Brayden will for sure want to watch the whole thing.  And, of course, Gma and Gpa.  Or, you could skip some of the videos and get through quicker.

Free photo slideshow generated with Smilebox

We just so happened to be going shopping the other day when, lo and behold, there was a kids “safety day” at the supermarket.  There in the parking lot was a HELICOPTER!!

All the kids got to sit in the cockpit for a few seconds.

They even had a fire truck and ambulance, etc.

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Avy loves to take care of her babies.  Here they are all lined up for some fun.  Avy is a good little mommy.

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The kids and I went to a local “Milestones of Freedom” event around the 4th of July.  It was very patriotic.  There we got to have our picture taken in front of the Statue of Liberty.

Ivan is trying to operate the magnified viewer, but for some reason it won’t accept his quarter!

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The boys found some more wild duck eggs by a nearby pond.  We incubated them and had two little ducklings hatch.

We gave them away to  some friends.

Ta Ta for now!

We got in on this fun gardening opportunity that is mainly down in Arizona.  Somehow we got a chance to have a residential bucket garden.  It is kind of like square inch gardening.  These boys volunteered their time to install the garden for us.  Thanks, guys!

More info and pictures to follow, but if you want to know more, go to

http://thegardenmaster.com/

or

http://readymadegarden.blogspot.com/

Yes I am a guinea pig….  This is sand in plastic bags.  The bags last about 17 years.  There will be a trellis system and I spray the plants every three weeks with some organic nutrients.  Can’t wait to see what it produces.  I have some stuff planted and will continue to add more as the weeks go by.  A new adventure.  No weeds.  I can do this!

This is our little duck that hatched last month.  Of our eight eggs, only one hatched.  This photo was taken on May 16th.  It is amazing how much he has grown.  I’ll post some updated photos soon.  And, some videos.

Avy LOVES the duckie.  And, the feeling is mutual.

Here is a picture of our first hatchlings.  They are even way bigger now.

Here is picture of the duckling right after it hatched.

These chicks hatched the next day.

Baby chicks are so sweet.

Alright, I didn’t take this picture.  But, I wanted to share with everyone a great way to discern between T.P. prices.  When I first got to Utah I was amazed at how high the price of toilet paper is here.  Way more than Oregon.  I was really upset about it because while I’m no longer a t.p. snob (I can do without the Charmin…) I still liked a good soft toilet paper.  Every time I went to the supermarket I felt swindled.  How was I to know what is a good deal?  Well, go to this webpage that my friend Diane wrote and you will learn the secret.  And, you will also know why my toilet paper is the cheapy stuff.  Just double/triple it up and know that your sister/friend/daughter/in-law is being a frugal shopper.   By the way, there are only two brands here in Utah that typically meet the “good buy” at my local Macey’s Supermarket.  One is the “Sure Savings” brand that is sold in a four pack on the top shelf and the other is “Scott” (Yup, the thin stuff!).

TOILET PAPER

Check it out!

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Here is the rag rug I recently learned how to make.  It uses scraps and is lots of fun.  I realize this picture is pretty crummy.  John won’t let me put it in it’s intended spot (the mud room).  He says it’s too pretty to get muddy with shoes.  So, it is in my kitchen now.  I guess when it is dingy enough, he will let me put it in the mud room.  :)

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Have you ever seen a rooster with a comb like this?  Strange, huh?  We call him “Spikes”.  Well, we used to call him Spikes.  We had too many roosters.  And, Spikes lived up to his name.  He would chase Reedy down and peck him.   He is now in my freezer awaiting a good time for me to make chicken noodle soup….

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Ivan was inspired by one of those spam e-mails that is floating around the internet.  He decided he wanted to play with HIS food, too….

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On April 1st, we had a nice little snow storm.  So, for April Fool’s day we bagged the home school and went sledding in the morning.  We had practically the whole hill to ourselves.  Due to strange weather, this was the first time all year that there was enough snow to sled with.  We went at Christmas, but since then if there was snow, it was on Sunday.  We had a great time.  I even went down the hill twice!  Ha!  Those of you who know me would be proud.  :)

I got some video of Calvin snow boarding, but it wasn’t great enough to share.  You can see Reed very tiny in one of these pics.

Avy and I got cold, so we took a break in the van.

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And, to end the random picture sequence, I don’t think I have shared this picture of me and John.  We just celebrated 11 1/2 years of marriage on Valentine’s day.   What a handsome guy I have for a spouse.  I am one lucky girl.

Have a wonderful day!

Remember this?

And this?

And this?

Well, we are at it again!  We purchased our very own incubator and have patiently been turning eggs twice a day for the last three weeks.  So, the hens we hatched last summer are providing us new baby chicks.  We had our first chick hatch yesterday afternoon.  Ivan just so captured the hatching on video!

Here (below) is the first “pip”.  It is where the chick first cracks a hole in the shell.

Here the chick has made the hole into a large crack– all across the egg.  It is getting ready to hatch.

She/He did it!

Exhausted!

So, we went to bed last night happy in our dreams that our little chick had hatched.  Isn’t it so sweet?

We woke up to this!!!

Four chicks!  Three more had hatched in the night.  John and I were wondering why it was so noisy last night.  (The incubator is right outside our bedroom.)  I knew one was going to hatch because it was trying real hard right before I went to sleep.

As I have worked on this blog post there has been one more little black chick that has hatched.  It has yellow on the tips of it’s wings.  So cute!

Here is a little smilebox if you have a few minutes.  The video at the end is about 2 1/2 minutes long and shows the hatching of the chick.  (Cousin Eric, this is for YOU!)

I am one happy Mother Hen!

Personalize a digital slideshow

Do you remember THIS????

And THIS?

And THIS??

Well, we now have THIS!!

This is the FIRST EGG we collected from our baby chickens.  They are no longer chicks, but full fledged chickens!  And, some of them are laying eggs.   Right now we are collecting about 2 to 3 eggs per day from them.  Plus, our older chickens are laying about the same.  So, we are almost self-sustainable on eggs now.  Isn’t that fabulous?   We are thrilled!

Scrambled eggs, anyone?  Yummy!

This post is NOT for the weak of stomach.  So, if that is you, kindly refrain from reading.  But, farm life is interesting and full of adventure.  I have to share!

We have wonderful friend and farming mentor named Sherrie.  She has horses and offered to help us bring a load of manure for our garden.  We jumped at the chance.  Here are John, Calvin and Sherrie flinging horse dung onto our garden area.  Thanks, Sherrie!

This is another common site around the farm.  We have mice.  I have talked to several folks in the area and it is a bad year for mice.  They are everywhere!  We find them dead just laying on the snow.  And, they come in the house.  GROSS!!  So, we have lots of mouse traps set up around our house and the boys check them frequently.

After we had caught so many we started keeping a tally.  Do you want to know the total we have caught so far….IN OUR HOUSE???

33

Are you grossed out yet?  I know I am!

Here is one John caught under a bale of straw he was unloading.  He (She??) was a big one!  And ALIVE!