Back online!!!

We have had a very crazy summer!!

*My month away from the internet turned into 3+ months of sporadic use and I am still quite sporadic!!  I must say though, I found that I did not miss the connection to the "world" as much as I thought I would!!!  My kids really missed their games at first, but by the second week they were all about playing together outside, inside, everywhere!! It was lovely!!!

*The church where we are members purchased an old daycare building and invited a team missionary builders to come renovate it to make it more suitable for a church building!!  We (my family and many of our church members!!) have been volunteering manual labor as much as possible as there were only 6 people on the team!! We got to demolish, clean-up, help with plumbing prep, clean, do some painting, help with wood trim, clean some more, help with building the stage, organize a bit, clean and sing at the dedication service!! We are in our new building and loving every minute of it!! =)

*Our garden was pretty much a flop. We had high hopes for a good yield, but it was not to be. We had record amounts of rain which in one sense was good because we have been in a drought for years, but there was hardly any sunshine and our tender little heirloom garden just did not adjust to the extreme conditions. We will try again next year...

*Our chickens are finally laying eggs!!!! The moment we had been waiting for for 20+ weeks finally arrived and we couldn't be more pleased!!! My daughter has tenderly cared for these chickens since we received the in the mail!! She was so completely excited to get that first egg!!! She got to eat it and she declared it better than a store bought egg!! I agree with her!!

*The bees did beautifully!!! We were able to harvest close to 2.5 gallons of honey this year!!! We thought that was pretty good for our first year!!! =)

*We started back to homeschooling on July 15th. It has been a challenge to get my kids on board with year-round  school. But this week we are having a family vacation in the mountains and I think they are catching on to the reason why I chose to do it this year!! They are good kids and hardly ever complain!! I am one blessed mama!!!! =)

Blessings!!!

Chirping birds....Yep! It is Spring!!

Spring is positively gorgeous this year in South Alabama!!!!!
 I can not remember a better one!!!

The days have been cool-ish and humidity free. The skies are an intense shade of blue.

The trees are all the bright green of new leaves. It is stunning!!!

The year we bought this property, I remember chatting with my husband about the lack of birds we saw or heard. It was a little disappointing. But this spring they have come back in full force!!! I have my window open and I can hear them constantly. We have seen many robins and cardinals and a few blue jays!!! SO wonderful to hear the sound of birds. Lets me know that the balance is being restored after so much neglect here...


I just took a bit of a walkabout in the yard and here some things I found....

                                                    ^^^^Just lovely!!!^^^^

 I just love little wild/weed flowers!!!! =) They make my day brighter! Especially since my planted flowers are not really blooming yet!!!!

My first Day Lily bloom of the season!!!!! YAY!!!! Happiness!!!!! =) =) =)

Our garden seems to be doing well, here are a few pics......

                                          Cucumbers and bush peas.^^^^^

                                          Bush Beans^^^^

Corn!!! (With two stray stalks in the middle of the path---due to heavy rain right after planting!!!)

Some of the joy I see when I walk around are things I actually planted.....like....

                                                   Blueberries!!!!^^^^

This little guy was very interested in what I was doing....

And right there on my blueberry bush!! But I didn't have the heart to move it!!!

 This is my Florida Jasmine bush.......I love it, but it is a baby and not very full yet. Those little yellow flowers just make my day!!!! =)



A few other things that bring joy to my day are.....

Bella!!!!!! The world's best border collie mix!!!! =) She is a bit camera shy......

 Lizards doing their thing on my porch!! ^^^^^ They are fun to watch!!!!!!

A buzzing Bumble Bee!!!! I love that sound....it is the sound of spring (and summer!)!!

 

                                                And this!!!!! ^^^^^^^
This is the view when we drive up our driveway!!!! Talk about peaceful!!! I love living out in the country, hearing the sounds of spring, seeing the sights of spring and knowing that it is our little piece of heaven on earth!!!! =)

So very thankful for this place we call ours!!  And this time we call SPRING!!!!! =)

Blessings!!!

Big day!!!

By "Big" I mean lots of work!!! We took our chickies outside again today!!!
This may sound like a small matter, but let me assure you, it is not. We have to remove the chicks from their kennel, put them in a box and hope they don't fly out, get the whole kennel out of the house (so we can clean it and put them back in), get the kennel out into the yard somewhere and put the chicks back inside without the base on.
But they sure do love it and I'm glad my kids don't mind a bit of hard work!!! Brining it back inside is the same, but in reverse!!!! =)

They were so cute scratching around and eating weeds and grass!!

Notice the kid's drawings for their temporary home!!!!

They do seem to enjoy the sunshine!!!

It is amazing to me that they know what to do even though they have never seen another chicken doing it!!! =)

Apparently, playing outside is tiring....they have all been sleeping since they came back in!!!



Now, on to the garden work......it rained quite a bit right after we planted our corn last week, so in true slope yard form, our garden got washed out a bit!!!! =/

It was very annoying, but at the same time I must be thankful for the rain. We need it!!!
 My hubby suggested we make a diverter out of wood (what we have on hand), so the kids and I have been working on doing that today!! I tilled the spot for the wood, McCoy and Thoene have been hauling wood in our little yellow wagon and bringing it down to where I needed it, and Truly has been helping me with the grass that popped up after the rain.
 I have such good kids!!!

The wood is newly cut and is heavy, but they were diligent and brought down enough to finish the job!!! They can only fit so much wood it that little yellow wagon!! It took many trips!!!
You can see where the water has washed out a bit of the garden.....those lighter dirt spots are wash-away places!!!! =/

This is my view when I sit on our porch!!!!! =)   This land makes me happy, happy, happy!!!!!

Of course there is more on each side, but that will have to wait for another day....

And this is why we are working so hard on our garden (and land)......we want to rely less on the grocery stores and more on ourselves for the food that we eat and share!!!! 
A little corn sprout can bring so much joy!!!!

Blessings!!!!!