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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Enjoying Summertime

Yesterday was the official first day of summer, and it has finally hit here. It was warm enough to turn on the AC. I'm sure my veggies are going to grow much faster now with warmer temperatures, but I'm going to miss sleeping with the windows open.

Last month Mike and I went to Texas to see Nick graduate from Air Force Basic Training. Many people have asked if we saw a change in him. His haircut was not a surprise to us because he's shaved his hair off many times over the last several years, but we did notice more confidence. We are so proud of him. He made it through the ups and downs and is now ready to see what the Lord has in store for him. Seeing his neatly made bed and orderly locker was a special treat for me. :o) The hardest part of the weekend was having to say "good-by" again, but now that he's no longer at Basic, he is free to call us and email more. He's currently in Mississippi attending his Tech School. We're still not sure when he'll be done, but we're hoping he'll be able to come home for Christmas. The girls can't wait to see him.


Let's see, things around here have settled down a bit. Mike is still working, but I think it's a little more relaxed atmosphere now that the teacher's and students are on summer vacation. The girls and I are doing a little bit of school work each day, but for the most part, we're enjoying summer break as well. Grandma Carole put up a big pool at her house so the girls have been spending a lot of time over there, which leaves me free to do some crafty stuff. :o) I've even started my Christmas ornaments already so I'm not rushing to finish them in December. Last year I never even finished all of the ones I send to my nieces and nephews so this year I'm going to send them two.

We've been trying to get stuff done around the yard, but there haven't been very many dry days to work outside. I'm not complaining though, we need the rain, and more rain means juicier berries! In fact, Michelle and I picked the first ripe raspberries yesterday. There will be hundreds, if not thousands, more to pick over the next several weeks.

Mike and I are pulling up some sod to make room for some of those flowers growing in our field. I may transplant the phlox that I transplanted out of the woods last year. The bed they are in now is apparently far enough away from the house for the deer to feel safe as they munch away on the plants. The new bed is closer to the house and I'm hoping that will deter them. If it doesn't, I'll be able to get some REALLY close up pictures of them. :o) Speaking of pictures, here's a few I got of the girls in our daisy filled field.

I guess that's about it for now. I hope y'all are enjoying your summer. Till next time...

God's love and blessings.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Ooops, it's been a while!

I just went back and read my last post. I didn't realize it had been that long since I'd updated this. In my last blog entry (back in April!) I mentioned how spring had sprung and the tulips were out. Little did I know then that God planned a little more winter for us--in fact, 3 more inches of it--in May!

Here's my tulips after a surprise winter storm. We even had enough snow to make a snowman and Michelle and I enjoyed a snowball fight before everything melted.

Isn't he cute?

By the end of May though, we were back to enjoying our beautiful spring time weather. We got the vegetable garden in and we're currently working on removing sod to put in another flower bed. Our lawn mower wasn't working for a few weeks and while it was down, the front "yard", which is more of a meadow started sprouting flowers all over the place. I'm hoping to transplant a bunch of the daisies, lily-of-the-valleys, daylilies, and peonies into a bed where they won't get mowed down. We're still debating on how long we're going to let the meadow grow, but for now I'm totally enjoying all the flowers.

The flowers are enjoying all the extra rain we've been getting this year. We've had so much rain that our creek has had running water in it twice since the snow melt. We didn't have water in the creek at all last year. All this rain will mean big juicy raspberries and blackberries! YUM!


This is 3 of several hundred blackberry canes on the property, and as you can see, they are going to have a LOT of berries. Looks like I better stock up on some jars and make sure I got my canning gear ready. :o) Blackberry syrup...raspberry jam...YUMMY!

Well, since it's been a while, I have a lot more to write, especially about our trip to Texas to see Nick, but I will wait until later to write. I need to get some more work done around here.

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!