Stuff around the homeplace

I've got to start posting more often.  There's too much for it all at once!  Anyway.

These sticks are our raspberry bushes.  I'm really hoping they grow, but I'm a little concerned as they still look just like sticks.

These are our strawberries.  I thought maybe they'd die from cold, but they are green and growing, yay!  Now we really need to get a fence around our garden before they get eaten.

(I don't know if that black thingee is very helpful or not, but I read somewhere that it's good to use, so we tried it.  It would probably also help if we had more pegs to peg it down firmer, but when I went back, Walmart was out of them.)

Here you can see our tiny fruit trees.  Grow fast little trees!

Here is Brett's hand after working on the tractor one night.

Here is Wyatt's hand after sticking it in the Nutella jar.

 Last Sunday we found our first PA geocache.  I read the description and it said it was a long hard hike, so I was wary of going there, but it was also a big geocache (5-gallon bucket) and the last person that found it said they had left quite a few toys, and so I wanted to go.  It was neither long nor hard.  There was a quite steep part for a bit, but that was it.

The boys showed me their trick one day, of how Wyatt can stand on the toy container and then Orrin can piggy-back him.

Good trick boys!

 The little fluffies are getting bigger.

And our ducks--look how big they've gotten!  And they're no longer yellow--mostly white and the mystery breeds are whitish with a fawn color.

See on the side of the chocolate duck you can see the feathers just starting to grow in.

Gulp gulp gulp.  Ducks drink a lot of water.

 My seed starts.  The tomatoes all died.  But the pumpkins are huge and there are some watermelon, cantaloupe, peppers, basil, flowers, and I'm not sure what else because most of our identification tags disintegrated.  It reminds me of this cute springtime book we got from the library where a boy is waiting and waiting for his plants to grow and he posted a sign for bears that said, "Do not stomp.  There are seeds and they are trying."  :)

And my temporary front-yard container flower garden.  (I've been told it's too cold to plant still, but I think I'm going to plant this week.)

I adore these cute little pinky flowers I got at Lowe's.

Salvia and dahlias (which are my favorite).

Some scabiosis and dusty miller.

 Just like in our flower fairy book:

Like frilly cushions full of pins

For tiny dames and fairykins;

Or else like dancers decked with gens,

My flowers sway on slender stems.

They curtsey in the meadow grass,

And nod to butterflies who pass.

Anyway, we've been digging window wells.  Here are the kids waiting for the ride to the dumpsite (over in the woods).

Barefoot boy in a truck bed full of dirt.  Sadly, on that very trip, Brett did not see that Wyatt had left his Strider bike right there and he ran over it.  It was sad.  But a few days later Brett fixed it--I don't know how, I thought it was a goner for sure, but that's my husband for you.  :)

Selfie.

These are out of order, but more ducks and chickens pictures.

Adorable little flowers!

The best birthday card EVER made!!  Hazel made it for Brett (whose birthday got pretty much overlooked, although I TRIED to find rhubarb for his strawberry-rhubarb pie but couldn't find anywhere!  Not even frozen!).

The card got wet and then we dried it out again, so it has stuff from the other side on this side, so if you can't read it it says, "So, who's birthday is it?"  "My daddy's!"  "Who's yo  daddy?"  "My daddy drove a tractor when he was 5.  He could dance a thing-a-ma-jig right now.  He was in the newspaper.  He helped build the Auto Robot for cochlear implants.  Do you even know what that is?  He's gone through Europe.  Even China.  He built and rode a mini baja.  So you better shout happy birthday to this very special guy."

Love it. :)

 

 

And what a lovely surprise to see our front-yard tree grow these pretty pink buds!!

And the other day THIS came out, led by Ethne, who said, "Look at my lovely lady ghostie."  It was Orrin.  Hilarious.

There's so much more to be recorded, but I must go to bed.  I am up way too late already but I couldn't sleep because I had a nice, delicious Sunday nap too late in the afternoon.  Tschuess.