I've Been Given an Award

Lisa at Retro Housewife Goes Green has kindly given me this award. I enjoy reading her very thoughtful blog and am honored that she chose me as a recipient. The requirements are 1) I name 7 things that I love and 2) that I pass this award to other bloggers.

The 7 things I love are (and it was hard to narrow it down):

1. My dear hubby who is the love of my life and is always supportive of everything I do.

2. My two children who have grown into happy, well-adjusted individuals.

3. My black lab Ginny who shows me unconditional love and is the real farm girl around here.

4. My house cat Dixie who has been my side-kick for over 11 years.

5. Reading. As Thomas Jefferson said, "I cannot live without books."

6. Summertime. I love everything about summer (with the exception of mosquitoes and ticks).

7. Yoga. I try to practice yoga every day. It helps keep me centered and keeps my body flexible.

I'm passing this award on to:

1. Tricia at All in a Day: The Early Beginnings of a Farm. She doesn't post very often (I assume due to her very hectic life), but I enjoy seeing her take the simple steps toward farming and sustainability.

2. Brambleberry Blog. A blog that shares daily farm life in rural Virginia.

3. Missi and Nic at Domestic Sophisticate for sharing their fashion tips for those on a budget. I especially like how they incorporate thrifted items into their looks.

Farm Happenings

Spring has certain sprung around here. We've been busy harvesting asparagus and strawberries, although production is tapering off. We've been sharing with friends and family, as well as stuffing ourselves with the delicious goodness of this bounty. Meanwhile, hubby has been planting gardens to harvest this summer: green beans; green peas; tomatoes; okra; eggplant; lima beans (yuck); cantaloupes; onions; garlic; and a few other things I can't remember right now. In addition to having new plant life, we're expecting at least two baby goats next month. Nellie (the goat on the right), our dominant goat, and Maggie (on the left), her sidekick, both look like they're ready to pop! They've both had twins in the past, so we're probably going to have two sets of twins. Note to self: I need to come up with some names for the babies.

I'm Back...Hopefully

First of all, I want to apologize to my readers and to the bloggers whose blogs I read on a regular basis. I have been almost completely off line the past few weeks. Obviously, I haven't posted anything on my blog. Also, I haven't been reading any blogs and I know I've missed out on some good posts. I've been so negligent that I haven't even read my dear hubby's blog! It's just so much has happened this month.

First of all, our daughter, our youngest child, graduated from high school. She has been home schooled since 4th grade so she didn't have the traditional high school commencement. Instead, our local home school group put together a program in which six of the graduating seniors participated. Being a home school group means the mother's put together the program. We decided to put together a slide show for each child, along with music selected by the student and/or parents. We hired an emcee, a speaker, and had the church's pastor open and close with prayer. In addition, we had a small reception following the ceremony and assigned a table to each child for him or her to display objects representing their interests and accomplishments. Everything came together beautifully, with only one technical difficulty with the slide show, but I was exhausted the next day!

After graduation, I had to put together this year's home school portfolio for submission to the umbrella school that we've been using since my daughter started high school. This entails pulling together tests, essays, homework, and grades. We needed to get it put together and submitted so that the school could send transcripts to the university she will be attending. I'm glad to say that I got the portfolio put together and shipped via Federal Express yesterday - yay!

Meanwhile, my hubby and I have been given the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Haiti to visit a school/orphanage. It's a look-see visit to learn what the organization's needs are and to see if we and our church can help fill those needs. As a former Floridian, I've always had a place in my heart for the Haitians. We are the richest nation in the world (and Florida is one of the richest states) and our next door neighbors are the poorest in the hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. This opportunity came up unexpectedly and we have been scrambling to get our paperwork submitted.

Now that some of the rush is over, I'll try to be more diligent about posting and about reading other blogs.

Quote for the Day

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed.

~Gandhi

Dear Oprah, Is plastic my true purpose?

I saw this video on Retro Housewife Goes Green (http://retrohousewife05.blogspot.com/) and was stunned by the image of the baby albatross carcass filled with plastic. I'm sending it to Oprah and encourage my readers to do the same, as well as to share it with others.

Life

I cannot believe it's been over a week since my last blog entry. As John Lennon said, life is what happens when you're busy making plans. Much has been happening in family and farm life. My son finished his first year of college - yay! - and I had to go help him move from the dorm back into the house. Meanwhile, my daughter is wrapping up her senior year of high school. She attended a prom with some friends so there was a lot of activity around that event. We have also been busy planning the home school graduation ceremony. We had to put together a slide show which meant I had to learn how to scan photos onto my computer plus we had to write a biography to be read at the ceremony. We had another shopping excursion to purchase a dress for the ceremony - we decided to forgo the caps and gowns - and still have to buy shoes. In the midst of all this, school is still taking place.

Things have started to pick up on the farm. We had two hens decide to go broody - that is incubate some eggs - but the breeds we have aren't particularly good at motherhood. One chick hatched so that mother promptly abandoned the other eggs so we won't get any more chicks out of her. I haven't gotten a photo of the chick yet. First my daughter had my camera, then the mama hen decided she didn't like me handling her baby and attacked me. So, I've left her alone for now. Since we have so many different breeds of chickens, we're not sure what combination the chick is; right now, it's light yellow with a few tiny dark spots on it. (The "mama" might not even be the mother as the hens share nesting boxes. Our other sitting hen is still sitting; I'm starting to think she won't be hatching any chicks.

We have asparagus coming in so I've been busy eating and freezing it. My hubby picked a few strawberries this morning so we have those to look forward to. The lettuce and other greens that I put in planters are coming in so I'll be having a few fresh salads soon. Looks like the growing season is here!