We spent a day amongst the grass...

From right after chores were finished this morning, until a quarter to 7:00 this evening (with only taking half an hour out of that time for lunch, and Mom having a client here for a session in the morning), we were outside.  First, we loaded our 45 heifers (in 5 loads) and took them up to a separate cell of the pasture than what the main herd is in (we'll be putting a bull in with them first before putting them with the rest of the cattle).   We let them out of the pen we were holding them in so they could start grazing while we went around their fence to fix it up after Winter had taken it's toll.  Many mosquito bites later, we were finished with that pasture and moved on up to where the main herd was.  It was time to move them to the cell North of where they were at.  After trailing them up to where Dad was taking the fence down so they could go over it, and after getting the 2 pickups and the ATV over as well, we split up and went around all of that fence too to repair it where it was down; put new clips on; straighten fence posts out......    Mom and Jacob headed West on the ATV and Dad and I headed East with the 2 pickups.  There was one spot where we had to cross a slowly-flowing marshy creek area...  Dad went first with the 4-wheel drive pickup and then said I'd need to cross there too, as there was no getting around the water.   He said I'd have to take a run for it (the half-ton pickup I was driving is just 2-wheel drive) to make it through and, if I didn't make it, he could always pull me out! 

"But be sure and close your windows, as the mud is going to fly!"  Dad warned.

After taking his advice, I drove up the hill a ways so as to be able to get a good "Run" at it.  Thankfully, I didn't hit any rocks on my return fly!  And, thankfully, I made it through, and after using my windshield wipers, I could even see again.  :)

After getting up by the windmill, Dad and I went separate ways so we could get done faster.  It took me a while to fix a downed-wire that was in a swampy area, so Dad actually went around most of the rest of the fence and then helped me there too.  (And yes, we got wet feet!)  Mom and Jacob headed for home in the half-ton pickup (appropriately named "Half-Two") and Dad hopped on the ATV to go fix 2 places Mom told Dad about, but since they didn't have the fence-stretcher, they were not able to fix....   I drove Jacob's 4-wheel drive pickup back to the windmill and dropped some salt blocks off there by the herd and also mixed up some mineral and loose salt in a couple troughs.   Cows love eating mineral, so they were quite impatient and barely let me mix the two yummys together before they had their noses in it! 

It was a good day and hopefully we've got all the ticks picked off of ourselves finally... 

We heard from Andrew again and he says he was out canvassing again literally all day long.  He's happy to have his friends, Jared and Trevor there with him now...

Here are a few pictures from today:

Move along, little "doggies"!

Everything is so beautiful and wild up there!

Dad letting the heifers out of the pen we were storing them in while bringing the others.  :)

Mother, marvelling at how tall the grass is!  "Cell grazing works!"

Myself, wondering how I was ever going to find the camera battery I'd just lost in all that fine grass!

The really nice thing about having a greenhouse...

....is that you can weed in the rain, as you're out of the rain.  :)  It was sprinkling off and on again today.  Jacob came out for a while and helped me re-staple the black plastic up on the back wall (it's in two big pieces), as it had fallen down after the last windstorm.  Then, I tried training my Hops vine to turn sideways onto the pieces of twine I've tied up for it to climb on, as it's already up to the ceiling and beyond!   It should provide some nice shade in there come Summer...

As I was weeding, I was thinking about how, as soon as Andrew left, the sunshine literally left our lives.  Does this mean he needs to come home real soon so that the sun will shine and the temps will rise again?  ;)    (We miss you, Andrew, and Sally does too.  She keeps trying to go past the gate when I go to get her in.  Then, this morning, she just stood in front of the barn door and wouldn't move for the longest time, so I petted her for a while until she finally decided to go in.)

New plants; new clothes; and new fence posts...

Mother went to town and brought home new plants to fill up that last open bed in the garden (some peppers, a tomato---we have many more growing in the greenhouse, and flowers).

I changed my clothes around from Winter to Summer items---hence the "New" clothes.  I also cleaned out my closet and did a bunch of laundry that was piling up.

Dad went to town and bought new fence posts and wire, then he and Jacob spent the afternoon fixing up the fences around the farm here so the heifers quit getting out (hopefully).

We've also received some new e-mails from Andrew, saying he's well and busy.  He's staying with a young/middle aged couple (in their unfinished basement) and their 4 cats.  He's been making lots of phone calls and has been doing some canvasing around the town.   He'll first get to see his friend, Jared tomorrow and recently found out that his other friend, Trevor will be coming from Virginia to help out soon too.

Oh, I also gave my fish some new water and cleaned out their home....   And, this morning, my dad and I went up to the pasture to drive through the cow herd and make sure everyone was still doing ok.  They all were very content looking, spread out all over the pasture.  Some of the calves were even exploring the bee-hives up there! 

'Twas a busy day.~

Memorial Day

I received the following quote in my e-mail box this morning and wanted to share it with you all:

"Memorial Day is on the last Monday in May and honors those
men and women who lost their lives serving their country.
What we celebrate as Memorial Day today, began at the end of
the Civil War. Family members of the many soldiers slain in
battle would visit the grave sites of their fallen relatives
or friends and decorate the graves with flowers.

'It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in
defense of our country in wars far away. The imagination
plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and
wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers,
grave and gray-haired. But most of them were boys when they
died, they gave up two lives -- the one they were living and
the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up
their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers.
They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave
up everything for their county, for us. All we can do is
remember.'   "  
(I would actually change that last sentence a bit to "....Remember, and then keep fighting to keep the freedoms they fought and gave their lives for."  We  must hold our Congressmen and women accountable to the oath they gave to uphold the Constitution ....  In other words, "Bind them down with the chains of the Constitution.")

-- Ronald Wilson Reagan - Remarks at Veteran's Day ceremony,
Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Virginia, November
11, 1985

I spent 9 1/2 hours of my day over caring for the little neighbor girls again.  It was too cold to go outside.  Thankfully, the little girls' Grandma and Great Aunt stopped in for a fun visit, so that broke up our sleepy afternoon! 

It rained a bit last night again, so I took Jacob's pickup over.  There are a few really muddy areas where 4-wheel drive comes in very handy!  :)

I hope you all had a memorable day.~

Happy girls...

I spent most of the day watching Johanna and Tracy Jo, and they were so happy---it was so fun.   So many smiles and giggles....

Andrew made it safely to Sioux Falls and is staying with a Ron Paul supporting family/couple.  He says it's the biggest city he's ever been to, but he drove around to familiarize himself with things and sounds comfortable.  I guess his friend, Jared won't even be there until Wednesday, so Andrew doesn't know anyone there.  His smile and easy-going manner will help him make friends soon enough, I'm sure.  :) 

For anyone willing, there is a young man and his family that need prayers right now.  Please visit my friend, Carra's blog for more details.  Thank you and God bless~

Andrew's packed...

...and heads for Sioux Falls, SD in the morning.  He plans to be gone for at least a week.  We'll miss him.  It was good to have a day together before he left.  My brothers and I did something we haven't done in a long time and "Rumbled" (drove Monster Trucks on different tracks) on our computers together for over an hour.  :)   We also watched some Andy Griffith and Barney Fife clips to try and find something for the boys to do at Prairie Days this year.  Have any suggestions? 

DONE.

Almost. 

.....With planting the garden-------I left about a beds-worth of space for the plants Mom says she wants to get next time she's in Bismarck.  Now the rain can pour!

I spent a couple hours in Napoleon this morning, getting all my loan paperwork signed (the bank is taking over my loan now so I won't be working through FSA anymore----woo hoo!); making deposits at the bank for nearly everyone in the family; mailing a letter to Canada for Mother; and stopping at the meat-locker for a special treat of all-beef fry sausage (seeing as our own supply is long gone). 

I could have worked at NCC today, and at Helen's, but it was time to get the garden planted and the house was a disaster from Mom and I being gone quite a bit this last week, so I said "NO" and got so much done. 

Dad ran over the South corn-field with the prickly machine again.  Mom and the boys worked on changing around Winter/Summer clothes.  Mom and I talked to her cousin, Kristi on the phone for a while.  :)  Jacob and I made a rhubarb dessert for supper and Andrew and I made scalloped potatoes with fry-sausage cut up in it.  Mom and I cleaned the house.   The baby turkeys just ate, drank, and slept, all except for one very noisy one who just kept cheeping and cheeping and cheeping and.............until someone picked him up, then when he was set down again, he's go walk around the box again, cheeping.  He finally went to sleep now, thankfully.  The turkeys are all still alive so far.  I'd ordered 20 and 22 came.  :)   It's hard to believe how fast they'll grow, but we know from our previous experience that they won't stay little and darling for long!   Our 15 older turkeys are doing really well outside still.

Let's see....  What else happened today?    Well, Andrew researched different kinds of butterflies and found out that not all the orange and black ones that are around here this Spring are Monarches.  What else?  Oh, there were 2 bulls out this morning, but they came right back in for oats when Dad fed them (then he fixed the panel that they'd pushed out of the way).  

OH!  AND, I donated to "South Dakota For Liberty": http://www.southdakotaforliberty.com/ and would ask you to do the same!  Andrew will soon be leaving us to go down to SD to help his friend, Jared H. get as many Ron Paul delegates to the National convention as possible.  Please, keep praying for the leaders/future leaders of this Country!!!!!

So precious...

I spent most of the day (from 9AM to 9:30PM) caring for Johanna and Tracy Jo.  They were very good little girls too.  It was on the cool side today, but we did bundle up a little and headed outside for a nice long walk and then to play on the deck for a couple hours.   I think my favorite part of the day was when I was holding Tracy Jo (nearly 5 months old now), and Johanna (1 1/2 years old and learning to talk) wanted me to go with her into another room, so she grabbed my skirt and gently tugged me in that direction.  Then, when she/we were done looking at the phone in that bedroom, she held my skirt and started walking out again.  I followed her and then she let go and ran back and closed the bedroom door.   So cute!    It was fun getting them ready for bed too---reading stories; brushing teeth for several minutes; and all....

When I got home, I saw that a bull was out and was in the process of demolishing one of the lilac bushes with his large neck.  I went to the house for help and learned that Mom and Andrew were not back yet from Bismarck, but Dad and Jacob got ready to go out and just then, the 2 travelers arrived home, so Andrew helped with the bull too.  Of course, as soon as he got in with the others, they all had to start fighting.....   Bulls are NOT one of my favorite animals!  God hears a lot of prayers when I have to be around them!

After unloading the trunk of Sams' supplies and putting the things requiring refrigeration in the fridge, we had family prayer time and visited a bit about our days, and now it's time to get some sleep before another full day tomorrow.

Cattle mooooving day~

 Yep, one hopped on the cow and the other pushed her the the 5 miles up to pasture!  

Well, maybe that wasn't quite how it was....

Green grass at last!

This red fella looks pretty comfortable! 
PS. Bartletts, I believe this guy is for sale.  ;)

Andrew said, "Smile, Phyllis", and she did.

But, before I post the rest of the cattle pictures, here's one of my new babies/kitchen companions!

The rest of the pictures can speak for themselves......   I just wanted to say that we're happy to have Mom home with us again (she was in the house not even 10 minutes  when we recruited her to drive the pickup/stock trailer on the 5-mile journey North!).

Two somebodys got stuck!

I rode on the 4-wheeler with Dad when we got to the part where I couldn't drive the Ram anymore without getting stuck!  Soooooo, I took lots of pictures.....

I love the geese in this picture!  (And yes, this is a different cow than the one Jacob was riding on.)

~The end~

Spent a quite day at the neighbors...

It was a pretty peaceful day over at the neighbors' with the girls taking unusually long naps this afternoon and just being content and happy in general!   Their mom, Paula and I spent some time editing the pictures we took the other day of Tracy Jo and then I burned my first CD---thanks to Andrew showing me how to do it!  (He also let me borrow his camera and taught me how to use his photo-editing program).  :) 

When I left and got out to the gravel road going South, I saw a tractor coming down the road about half a mile away and, behind him, my dad in the semi.  :)  Good timing!  We stopped and chatted a couple minutes before I headed home to make pancakes and strawberry/rhubarb sauce for supper. 

I'm looking forward to receiving turkeys in the mail tomorrow.....and to Mom coming home.....and to getting the cows moved up to pasture (possibly---weather permitting and all)....and whatever else we find to do. 

Until then...I'm going to get some sleep.

There was a policeman at our house today...

...just because Andrew asked him to come though.  :)  Andrew needed a State Patrol to check out his 2 newest pickups so he could get there titles cleared (they had salvaged titles), to make sure all the lights, windshield wipers, horn, etc... work. 

I worked in the greenhouse and garden most of the day (planted the cherry trees I'd ordered and the sweet potato plants that came in the mail today).  Oh, and I planted in the small flower bed right by the house.  The boys worked on my car some more and my dad hauled grain for a farmer.   We talked to Mom via the I-pods tonight and she's really enjoying class. 

I received an e-mail today from "Cackle Hatchery", just letting me know they shipped my 2nd batch of turkeys.  They should, Lord willing, arrive on Wednesday!   I'd better find a big box somewhere....

I'll be babysitting for thee little girls tomorrow.  I haven't seen them in several days and I imagine they've grown a little more and changed a bit too....  I'll have to borrow somebody's vehicle though, as the boys say mine won't be done when I want to leave in the morning.  I'm just so glad that I live with people who are so technically blessed!

Graduations...

It was quite the busy day here!

We worked all morning through 'til 2:00, sorting cows and calves, retagging cows who'd lost eartags over the last couple years; and tagging calves.  Two of the more spunky cows jumped over a panel and into the milk cow pen, so it took us quite a while to get them back in and run through the chute.  Thankfully, the Lord kept us safe, outside of the usual bonks, scratches and sore muscles at the end of the day.

Mother left right at 2:00PM for her friend, Elizabeths' place in/by Rolla and then they took off together for a class in Canada.  I cleaned up, changed quickly and left shortly after her, heading for the graduations I'd been invited to in Napoleon.

The ceremony was about half over by the time I finally got there, but I got to see the slideshow and the diplomas being handed out.   After going through the line, shaking everyones hand and wishing them well, I went to 3 open-houses.  It was fun to see several people I hadn't expected to see and visit with them...  

I stayed the longest at the last stop----April's party.   Here she is, cutting the cake we made.  :)  We got a picture together too, but it's on April's Mom's camera.... 

 Isn't that a cute watermelon?

 I stayed and visited with April and her cousin, Samantha mainly.  Sam and I actually went for a little drive, as she wanted to show me where she lived and then we walked around their garden area and over to the museum.  It was a lovely afternoon, just nice and warm but not too hot.

Right at supper time, Clarissa and Kevin came over (Clarissa had to work at the nursing home today, but was on her supper break) so it was fun to see them again.  Here is a picture of 4 of my coworkers/former coworkers:  Samantha, Clarissa, April, & Kevin.  :)

While I was gone having fun, Andrew sold a computer to a person who saw his ad on BisManOnline and also showed one of the cars he's fixed up when another couple stopped in to see it after seeing his ad on the same website. 

Later yet, Jeff & Donna M. stopped in and were still here when I got home.  We had visited at the 2nd open house I'd gone to, so it was the 2nd time I'd seen them today...

Then, we did chores and ate supper; talked to Mom briefly and Dad talked to Grandma Marly; and now we're calling it a day! 

It rained, some.

We need rain, so it was glad we were when we woke to find a few small puddles on the driveway!  It wasn't a lot, but was a start.  :)

It was a quite, peaceful day here.  Nothing much happened, really, outside of our hunter-friends having tractor troubles that Dad needed to help them with for a couple hours.

Tomorrow will be much more lively, I'm sure!  Let's see....  We have on the agenda:
 

• Getting all the stock cows/calves in the corral and tagging everything that lost tags or doesn't have any.

• Mom needs to pack and then head for Canada sometime in the afternoon, to return Wednesday.

• And then, it's Graduation Day in Napoleon, so I for sure plan to attend (and then drop off cards and greetings at 3 graduates' homes afterwards).  

Should be a full day!  

May God guide our steps, yours and mine, tomorrow and always.~

Cakes and friends~

Here's a picture of the cake I worked on yesterday and finished this morning:

And here's my coworker friend, April who came out to help make her cake this morning.  (She likes animals a lot, can you tell?)

 April's Mom and Aunt came along as well, and they iced the cupcakes speedily!  It was nice that they had the cake planned out how they wanted it so I would know how to do it...

April's class colors are lime green and hot pink, so here we are---concocting!

 AND, the end result: 

April's Mom and Aunt had so many things to do at home yet to prepare for graduation, so they left while I was starting to work on the writing...   After the cake was finished, I gave April a quick farm and playground tour before lunch.  After eating, she and I went to town to deliver the cakes....   I got stuck visiting and looking at pictures at April's house for over an hour, :) and then got groceries and gas, so it was around 4:00 until I got home.  April's mom very generously gave me all these bottles of flavorings out of her supply to experiment with----flavors that are anything from "Watermelon" to "Bubble Gum" to "Anise" to "Root Beer" to......   What a nice gift!

About an hour after I got home, Mom and Andrew left to attend a friend's graduation in Hazelton.  Jacob and I cleaned the house quick and made chicken enchiladas quick and then we (plus Dad) did the chores quick so we could get to our yummy supper.  :) 

Tomorrow we may go target-practicing with some friends (the ones we went bowling with a while back) in Hazelton.  Should be fun!

We had a very full day!

Besides the usuals (chores; meals; quick cleaning; etc...), it seemed like we got a lot done today.  It was lovely and hot outside---lovely in that there was almost no wind and hot as in HOT (for this time of the year). 

After morning chores were done, my dad went to Napoleon to buy more ear-tags; cake ingredients for me; and to put money in the bank.   I baked a half-sheet cake and a grad-cap cake to assemble later. 

Meanwhile, Mom and Jacob drove down to Kintyre to take pictures of the big fire (they burned the elevator remains finally), and Andrew and I got the heifers/cows/milk cow assortment of livestock in the corralling behind the barn.  Many of them had lost their tags, so it was time to put new ones in while we still know who is who, before they leave for pasture.  By the time we had them in the pen, everyone else was back to help.

   After some troubles getting everything adjusted (and Dad getting banged in the knee--ouch), we got into a routine and got the new tags in and recorded.  Then, Mother went in to make our lunch and the rest of us got the bigger group of yearling heifers in so that we could re-tag a few of them (some of them had changed ownership, so the old tags had to be removed and new ones put in).  We actually put a tag in each ear so that, if they loose one tag, we'll still be able to tell who the heifer belongs to.

After eating, Dad went out with his, well, I don't even know what it's called.  I call it the "Porcupine Machine", on account of all the little teeth it has on the wheels.  He went over the corn fields around our farm here to kill the little baby weeds before the corn pops up.  That took him all afternoon.

Andrew spent the afternoon working on his vehicle projects.  Jacob spent most of the afternoon mowing the lawn and Mom later went out to help him finish------after her new client left. 

I finished planting in the greenhouse and planted some more in the garden.   I'd ordered several new things to try this year (grapes, for one, and yellow raspberries, and roses...) and so it was fun to plant those! 

 Right around 6:00, our hunter friends from the SE showed up, so we visited with them for a while and showed them the not-so-little turkeys.  They'd come to rent 2 of our tractors again, as they want to plant about 70 acres of food plots for the deer and other wildlife.  It was good to see them again!

I whipped up a double batch of buttercream icing and started working on K's graduation cake...

After supper, Mother had another new client to do a session for, so the rest of us did chores.  Then we untangled the swings after yesterday's windstorm and rested for a few minutes before heading inside.   

I worked on my cake some more....trying to get a true black color for the cap, a task which is more difficult than one would think!  I have the writing left to do yet, but decided to take a break and watch a show with my family.  Right at 10:00PM, Andrew went on another conference call with his friend, Jared H. and others from SD.  He'll probably be heading down there sometime next week to help for a while...   The rest of us prayed together before heading our separate ways for bed.

Oh yes, I forgot to say that Jacob and I put some panels up (he pounded the posts in and I did most of the wiring) and got the goats out on grass.  They'd been jumping over the panel where the hay's built up and eating grass anyway, but now they can officially be out grazing.  :)

'twas a good day, yah?

Baby photo shoot!

Paula M. and I had fun doing a mini-photo shoot with baby Tracy Jo this afternoon!!!  It was too windy and cold to go out of doors, so Paula set things up nicely in the living room.  It would be very hard to choose a favorite out of the 100+ pictures we took, but these are a few that I really like: 

(If I HAD to pick a favorite, I think, maybe, this would be it: )

 Mama and her precious butterfly...

Me and the little darling...

I posted this one so that sweet Johanna doesn't feel left out!  ;)

Andrew installed a photo-editing program on my laptop this evening, so I was having fun experimenting!

Isn't she just adorable? 

Swingin' with the baby...

I spent most of the day over at our "Neighbors", caring for their 2 little girls.  I think my favorite part of the day was swinging on the deck-swing, holding a beautiful sleeping baby!   Although, playing "Catch-me-if-you-can" with Johanna and hearing her laugh as I "Ran" after her was very fun too.  :) 

I learned when I got home that Andrew went to Bismarck and also delivered a variety of grains to the Geiger family for their chickens (we're so grateful to trade Organic grains for already-butchered chickens later in the Summer)!   They invited him to supper too, so he just got home a few minutes ago.

The remaining guys got the drill home today and cleaned it out really good.  Dad changed the tire on his grain-cleaner trailer again, as the one he was borrowing was Andrew's tire.  That's about all I know that went on today.  I guess Mom wasn't feeling too well as she was dealing with an allergic reaction or something.  It's been so long since she's had one of these shock-attacks, so we're not sure why it came up now?  If you would, please pray for that to be a thing of the past and for us to figure out what causes it....  Thank you!
 
 

Yesterday was Mothers' Day...

...Today was father's day---my dad's birthday, that is.    What a special Dad he is!!!   Just to give you an idea...............  On a scale of 1-50 (50 being the best), he's a 56!  :)  Yep, we're blessed.   He's always looking out for his family and doesn't expect anyone to do anything that he himself wouldn't do.  He's quite sometimes, but that's because he's always thinking...........   I pray he has many, many more years of happy livin'.

My dad spent most of the day cleaning grain for 2 farmers (he had tire troubles at the 2nd one's place by Linton and Andrew had to take him a different tire), but was home for a special supper and just in time to open the gifts we'd wrapped......and then we watched a movie. 

It was a very warm day with little wind, rather a rare occasion for our part of the world!    I finished staining the deck boards and then Mom helped with beginning to varnish them.  The mailman pulled in with a package and informed Jacob and I that our neighbors were painting their fence right at that moment too, so it was obviously a good painting day.  ;)  

Mom and I spent about an hour helping the boys put together Dad's big birthday gift (while he was gone)----a 3-person swing to put on the deck or under the trees.  We were so happy when he came in the house and hadn't seen his gift yet, as God must have used the dogs as a distracting-agent, because he walked by the swing without seeing it.  So, then we could take him outside again and have him close his eyes and walk over and sit down in it.  Fun!

I baked Dad his favorite kind of cake, "Angel food" and the boys brought home strawberries and ice cream from town to go with it.  Yummy!  Mom made Dad's favorite (meatloaf) and also a bunch of deviled eggs, plus a strawberry milkshake.  Double yummy! 

I also planted the lily bulbs that Grandma bought for me and sent home with my parents yesterday.   I'd never grown lilies before this year, but Sarah K. gave me several of hers when I helped them with packing to move, and I also ordered a couple different kinds this Spring, and now Grandma gave me some, so I guess it will be a lily year.  :)    Do you like to grow flowers?  If so, what is your favorite kind?  I think my favorite would still be pansies, but there are so many pretty ones, it's hard to choose!

So, if you were a crow, would you be scared???

 My brothers and I made this happy couple today while our parents were in Mandan, eating out and then visiting my dad's folks.... 

 Think the crows will be scared?   Millie, our dog, sure was when she first saw them!!!  Woof, Woof!

Mom says she had a wonderful Mother's Day, so I guess then the day was a success.  :)

"Thank you Lord, for my mother, and all we've been through together!  It's an interesting, almost always wonderful life..."

A peaceful day...

...in which nothing much happened.  Delightful!

The fields are planted!!!

Yes, we're done seeding (except for in the garden)...

Speaking of the garden, here's a picture of one of the bulbs I planted last Fall, which has now burst into bloom:

  This picture was taken a few days ago, when we were working on staining the deck boards...

 Oh, and here are a couple pictures of the big machines that were in our yard a few days ago, putting that future-faster-Internet-cable in...

 This picture shows "Half-two" loaded down with seed corn, the 4020 and corn-planter in the background...

 Oh, and this is what my feet looked like after a day in the garden...  :)

 Lady, resting in the shade...  (Notice the orange striped lawn?)

 Our silly Millie...  She sometimes reminds me (in looks only) of a wolf!

 My freshly-mulched strawberry pyramid...

 Yes, they're starting to bloom!

 Our garden spot...

 My Bleeding Heart...

 OK, here's a mystery picture for you all!   What is that thing tied to that stalk?

 Some of the flowers I transplanted out of our front flower bed, as we'll be planting new flowers in there this year...

 And finally, Andrew fixing the collapsed trench...

We had a very full day here on the farm.  Mom worked up the last field; the boys picked tons of rocks; Dad seeded the last field; and I cleaned the house, baked bread, and made chicken enchiladas and frozen yogurt. 

Around 6:00, we had a visitor----a young lady whom we'd met once before when she'd stopped in to buy a computer from my brother.  She and her sister live not too far away.  They were home schooled and are a part of a large family.  They raise cattle and train horses.  We enjoyed our visit with her for nearly an hour, showing her the goat babies, turkeys, calves, and the greenhouse. 

And that was our day. 

We are so thankful that God let/had/blessed/arranged everything to go smoothly so as to be able to finish with seeding before the weekend.  Now we can truly rest!