Picture time

Great grandmas birthday party. May 2008.
Fun with dogs.
More fun with dogs
Can I see?
Worn out.

Grandpa and Joe and thunderstorms

Grandpa Lansing and Joe enjoying a literary classic 'Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?'. So this was taken last Saturday when Ed and Elsie came down for lunch and a visit. Then Joe, Elsie and I went to the local craft show at the town library. Cute but it was very hot so we really enjoyed the grape snow cones more then anything else. Joe was very curious about the whole ice thing. He liked it in small amounts but was not willing to endure brain freeze so if I got a little to much in his mouth, out it came. Joe had his first look at alpacas, not really interested in them. I know his father was very happy about that.

We had a quiet father's day. The next day, Monday was a little more exciting. The weather report had said rain and thunderstorms. It was peaceful until about 6pm when I noticed the wind was picking up so I ran out to put the pony and goats in. Well just after I shut the goats in it started to pour rain/hail side ways. So I decided to wait it out in the barn. As I stood there watching out the door the maple tree ten feet away from me split in half and fell right next to our chicken coupe. It missed the horse fence by one inch. I took some pictures and will try to get them on the computer today.

So today, Ed stayed home to clean up the mess so we could get in and out of the barn without difficulty. Our tree guy is coming over to see if the rest of the tree is stable or not. I am hoping it will be OK but this is wishful thinking. We will probably have to take the rest of the tree down very soon so that it does not fall on the barn.

Hope everyone else is doing well and that your trees are happier then ours.

Love ya Nikki

House Cleaning

Joe has decided to help me this morning while I do my house chores. It is amazing how one 18 month old can undo so much in such a short period of time. About the only thing I can say is my floors are clean and the dusting is done otherwise the house looks worse then when I started. There are more baby toys and dog toys out on the floor then when I started. All Joe's books have been removed from his shelf in the living room and tossed over the baby gate. In Joe's room he opened his dresser drawers and removed the clean clothes and put them in the dirty linen bin. Oh except for the the PJ bottom that I tossed at the bin this morning and missed. That one is still hanging from his book shelf. Go figure. All his stuffed animals are spread around the house, Jasper helped him with this chore. What a good dog. I guess it's a good thing it is a rainy day so we can start this process over and clean up again. I'll try and get a video of himself helping.

Daddy on the other hand is getting a lot more done then mommy. He is almost finished with the fire wood that was stacked on the side of the house and is planning to move onto the wood out in the pastures that needs to be picked up. Of course the lawn is always on his list and looks great.

Mommy is struggling to keep up with the garden, both flower and veggie. The strawberries are flowering and I am concocting a type of screen to keep the birds away from them. So far it is all in my head. I will have to make it a reality this weekend to keep those darn birds away from the fruit. My mulberry tree will be bearing fruit soon which will help. The birds love these berries and there is an abundance of them. Personally I am glad to let them have them. I am not that fond of this fruit, not very distinctive in flavor. The rabbits on the other hand are posing a whole lot of trouble. I am not quite sure what I am going to do about these little thieves. To bad they won't eat the burdock's. Those are every were and I wish they would just go away. Guess I am going to have to take them on too.

Alright, I better get started in this house project.

Love you all Nikki