Morning Walk

A perfect Summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing,the birds are singing and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent

Summer Discoveries

The bat was found by Slugger in the jungle Gym area, It appears to have bite marks in it as from a cat. We have a fair amount of bats that show themselves at Twilight. They are actually pretty cool as they flit through the air. Ducking and diving as they fill up on that nights dinner.

Last night while setting up a campfire on the last day of school. Yoda found these two neat nature discoveries. The butterfly was found while setting up a tent and the Chrysalis was still on the butterfly's body. Dad helped to get it off. It is very beautiful. We think it is a Black Swallowtail.

Fathers Day at Genesee Country Museum

Love this stretch of farmland that we pass on the way there.

Jugs in the Pioneer cabin, note the corn cob for the cork stopper

Talking to the Tinsmith

Bumblebee on the Comfrey
Comfrey is an herb that has many uses most pioneer farmers would try to have it on their property. We had it for a long time but the deer also love it. The blossoms are wonderful to sugar for decorations. I learned this trip that they sugared flowers as follows: Using a feather and eggwhite gently paint the front and back of each flower, coat them in granulated sugar and place them on a greased plate and let harden 24-48 hours depending on the humidity,

Genesee Country Museum is one of our very favorite places to go. We love to see what is happening where, it is a place of quiet gentleness, the era of hard work and quiet. They were very "green" by necessity it shows just how complacent we have become.

Slugs for Summer

Are slugs just not one of the yuckiest things around? My kids think so and we have an over abundance of them right now. We have had like 4 inches of rain in the last 72 hours. Every tree has slugs crawling up them . . . .Slugger counted 50 on one tree alone. The best killer is a shallow dish of beer and they drown them selves, salt directly on them or a firm and direct squash by ones foot is sufficient.

What is the purpose of slugs besides leaving a gooey mess on pets, ruining plant leaves and the like. This is our quest- the purpose of slugs. For now we will prevail in our vigilance in obstructing them from the garden!

Summer Solistice

Summer Fun begins here!

Never enough Ice Cream

The First of the Lilies

Stacking wood for the fall, hard to imagine when it is 85 and humid but come fall/Winter we will be loving it every minute.

Marvelous watermelon on hot summer days.

Thoughtful Thursday

Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast — you also miss the sense of where you are going and why. — Eddie Cantor

Sleep and Beds

So this is a post that posted before I got anything typed. then when I typed it seemed to eat the post - so we'll try again.

This is our bed- looking pretty good as it is either covered with clean clothes, cats or paper/card making/scrapbooking stuff. This is one of my favorite quilts. Very simple but pretty.

We just got Yoda a new bed. His very own Twin, no more Loveseat futon that his feet hung off and was incredibly hard. Last night was his first night in it. It looks so weird to see him in it. It is so much higher off the ground than the futon ever was.

Sleep I think is incredibly important. Getting enough and getting good quality. Fatigue can manifest itself in many ways, forgetfulness, decreased concentration, in attention, anger, we need 8 hours but how often do we get it? The kids need 9-11 hours but that is not all that often either. We need to go back to the days of rising and setting with the sun. I had a college roommate who was one of 9 children. her mom had few injuries with the kids and she said it was attributed to them getting enough rest.

Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds. ~JoJo Jensen, Dirt Farmer Wisdom, 2002

Oh to have enough sleep or the luxury of an afternoon nap. Afternoon nap two of the best words in teh english language.