everyday we are writing the book!! a new page, a new chapter in our family. we have been busy.
here is a photo montage of the goings on around here.
this baby starling was given to us by our neighbor to try and save. he didnt make it.
this is our new island....with my little sick model (she has said all day long "mama, me bery sick"). we just picked out the counter top for it now and will have to order it. it's very nice & i'm thankful for Clay getting it. i needed the cabinet space & food prep space. we never seem to have enough room.
rachel being the model. i told her i was putting these pictures on here & she said "ok".
we picked about 9 1/2 lbs of strawberries today. they are good!!! asher was very selective of the berries he picked & he barely covered the bottom of his bucket. so when we were leaving rachel combined her very full basket with asher's barely any basket & he said to rachel "you did a good job picking my strawberries rachel!" that boy is so funny.
this would be the strawberry shortcake i made - fresh strawberries, pound cake & whipped cream. needless to say 1/2 is gone. it was dessert after supper.
rachel posing again with her bucket of strawberries.
this is the flower garden i put in this week. there are gladiolus bulbs, peony roots, and tons of dahli bulbs/roots & some day lilies underneath those pretty annual flowers. I cant wait for the bulbs to take off & produce. it's very exciting. i have wanted some flower beds for a long time now. next i want to put one on the other side of my clothes line & load it with roses.
abigail & asher playing with the box that the kitchen island came home in. who needs toys when you have big boxes?!
levi was a bear this afternoon after a 4 hour nap. he cried at everything. so while i was taking pictures & fixing supper Clay rode him around (and sick esther too) in the go-kart. they love it. clay was crawling along & they are just thrilled. and levi quit screaming.
these are our cemantis plants. they are on a trellis up the side of our little shed that houses our animal feeds, cats & lawn mower. they are my favorite. they are gorgeous & come back more prolific every year.
this is our garden. it looks bare, but i assure you it is planted. there are a ton of plants & seeds in there....watermelon, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, jalapeno hot peppers, cucumbers, 4 different types of sweet corn, purple hull peas (best pea ever!), fordhook lima beans, onions (tons), garlic, squash, zucchine, and tons of canteloupe - as well as some beautiful sunflowers for good measure. i plan on putting in potatoes soon & pumpkins. as it grows & we get the pine straw around the plants to keep the moisture in (pine straw courtesy of Ms. Robin's yard & hard work) i will update the pictures.
we purchased some apple trees from a catalog last year - as well as some climbing rose bushes. we lined the rose bushes up along liberty's cage/kennel & they are gorgeous....a sunset/pink colored one (not pictured) and these sweet pale pink ones. i dont know about you but i DO NOT like red roses. for whatever reason they just dont impress me...but white or yellow or pink or orange...oh yea!
this is coco chanel. she is a frizzled polish. she has a mate, wolverine (not shown & named courtesy of asher) that is a white & black mottled polish. we bought the eggs off of ebay & hatched them out in our own incubator. i was not happy with our last few hatch rates but the 3 chickens we got out of our 50 or so eggs are pretty special.....especially coco chanel.
this is ariel, a white leghorn. the lone chick that hatched out on Easter Sunday. i surely hope she is a hen & not a rooster. esther will not be happy as she is in love with ariel.
of course you remember buble', the pig & lola, the goat. they are so much fun. asher, abigail & esther love to run out to them & pull leaves off the trees or grass out of the ditches & feed them. i know these 2 animals are glad to see us put in our garden as they get a lot of the excess & the cast off. buble' is especially cute these days...his tusks have started to come in.
we also purchased some pear trees, peach trees, & a plum & fig tree last year. this is our pear tree...keifer pears. i was so ecstatic when i saw the fruit on the tree. i thought for sure we would have to wait another year or 2 for the trees to start producing, but nope.....every single tree we put in last year ---- EVERY ONE OF OUR FRUIT TREES is producing....they all have their particular fruit growing on their trees. i am beyond thrilled. i didnt put a picture of our grapevines or our blackberries but they are putting out also!
this is our apple orchard (i use the term orchard loosely) of 5 apple trees. we bought 4 trees - "old timer heirloom" apple trees from Jung Seed last year. they are either semi-dwarf or dwarf apple trees. (so we can actually pick without the need of a ladder). they were 2 year old saplings when we planted them last year. so they are 3 years old. they all have apples. the one on the end we got at walmart last year. it's a granny smith (abigail loves the green apples better). again, fruit growing on the tree. the cinder block gardens in between the trees has strawberries in them. some 10 june bearing plants already putting out & about 7 everbearing that will probably produce next year & not this year. either way strawberry plants last 3 years. i did not know that. i forgot to take a picture of my asparagus bed. we put about 30 crowns in this year. asparagus last upwards of 25 years. we got 1st year crowns so we will need to wait for 2 more years to actually harvest but i'm thrilled.
as you can see Clay found a few more riders. i know this picture probably scares some people as that is the wrong way to ride in a go kart....but he was super careful...super slow. and it kept everyone happy until supper was on the table.
can you see the apples?!! EXCITING!!
LOOK AT THE PEACHES!!!! we bought these peach trees last year at walmart. these are elberta peaches. look how cute & little they look. man i'm so excited. can not wait to see how it all turns out.
we also purchased 3 pecan trees. they have foliage & are doing well in our side yard up front, but it will be a few more years before they bear fruit. i wouldnt mind adding a few more.
as i was finishing up snapping pictures i couldnt help but weep just a little at how good God is to us. we planted all of these trees to be good stewards. we do not know what the economy is going to do & i want to put up as much as i can to have for later. i also want to be a blessing to our neighbors & friends. my kids love the fruit & what the garden produces. but God is good in that everything we have planted...without really knowing how except to put in in the ground, pray over it & let it grow (yes we pray over our trees & garden as we plant). only by His grace do these trees produce. i really am ever so grateful.
i was telling Clay that & he looked over at the kids in the go kart with him & said "yep we have tons of fruit on our tree." isnt that the truth?
Lord let us be found faithful in raising them. Make them a blessing to others around them. I pray they grow to glorify you in all they do.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23
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