Day 181

Day 180

:: The yummy buffet line at the Sheep OHSU extension class this afternoon at SuDan Farms.
:: Marguerite, the bantam hen, hatched a bunch of little chicks today. I forgot to count how many, but they are now happily settled into a wading pool in the garage. 

Day 179

:: Enjoying wildflowers on a run this morning with Hadley A., Tyler and Jacob
:: The view for a moment... if we (and maybe our neighbors) cut down  all of our trees on the hillside this could be our view too..
:: Laundry on the line
:: Hadley & Kerrilynn A. weeding!
:: Enjoying the fruits of Andrew's weedwacking
:: Ryan A. & Daniel working on mortaring bricks
:: Delicious cherries that Jana brought to bible study
:: Sara Jane's fantastic Bridal Shower
:: What else? Some woodworking, coming home from bible study to a bunch of sad Ayers who had found out that the house stuff is getting further delayed :( , enjoying having Jana & Christine and Sam & Julie over for dinner, and thankful for brothers (and Sam and Ryan!) who did my farm chores for me!

Day 178

:: A playmobile cup I discovered in Scott's tools
:: Moving the sheep
:: Misty the kitty and Brownie the cow checking each other out
:: What else? Woodworking, Jacob to piano lessons, more woodworking, making brownies with Jacob, continuing to re/watch season 1 of Leverage with Mums and Susan A.

Day 177

:: Beautiful coloring of the artichokes before they got cooked for dinner
:: My view from the pasture walking back from evening chores
:: What else? Feeling much better thanks to staying home from church on Sunday and sleeping in until 9:30 this morning, enjoying having (almost) all the Ayers* here! - Kerrilynn made pancakes for breakfast, and then throughout the day, Daniel & Ryan worked on mortaring the patio brickwork, cleaned up lunch, helped dump barrels, and worked in the barn, Andrew and Jacob worked on the processing trailer, weed wacking, fencing and organizing the barn, Hadley and Kerrilynn weeded for an amazingly long timer and helped with the barn. It was really great to have so much help! I worked on getting the electric fencing wires repaired around the pastures. And then Hadley and Susan made a cake for dessert tonight. I could get used to this. :) 


*The Ayers are good friends of ours who are "attempting" to move to Bend, three hours away. However, the bank/loan co./? has majorly mismanaged the paper work of the buyer of the old home. and of course the Ayers can't officially close the deal on their new house until the old house is settled. And, they didn't find out that everything was incredibly behind until the day they were loading the truck (almost two weeks ago) as they were getting lied to by a loan employee. So, we get the pleasure of them staying with us until everything gets sorted out. Which God willing, should happen by the end of the week! 

Day 175

:: Giving Brownie and Moozer their evening feeding
:: What else? Taking it easy since I came down with a nasty chest cold, woodworking with my new plunging router :)

Day 174

:: Eating lunch near Llyod center with Mom and Jacob. And wishing we had planned our day in advance differently so we could have gone to the homeschool conference!
:: 2 & 3 Topaz playing with my hoopskirt laying on the rocking chair
:: What else? Mostly the day was spent up in Portland. Got some new pajamas! I haven't had a "matched set" in eons. I feel special. :) Moved the sheep fencing in the orchard. I'm experimenting with Mob Stocking. I'd like to try and do it in some of the fields we are not haying this year. Hopefully the sheep will cooperate.  Right now I'm getting them used to the idea of portable electric fencing. 

Day 173

:: Picking strawberries with Amanda and her kiddos and Andrew, Daniel & Ryan 
:: A sweet moment between Lucy and Esther. Lucy was making sure that Esther didn't get lost on the way back!
:: And what else? A picnic lunch back at the house with Amanda & co., a nap, errands in Molalla, watching Pink Panther

Day 172

:: The boys goofing off when we went out to admire the sunset... which was much redder than in the picture!
:: What else? A productive morning of farming, cleaning up the pastures, winding hoses, weedwacking, some of the Ayers arriving (poor Ayers, their move to Bend has gotten incredibly complicated due to a bank error, so they have another week until they can move in!), making strawberry jam

Day 171

1. Watching heifers move to fresh pasture at the Ralph Meyer Farm

2. What else? Uncle Roger and I attended an OSU Extension Small Farms Program: Raising Beef on Grass. It was well worth it! Gained some helpful tidbits about pasture maintenance and rotation, cows and enjoyed meeting new people! Ralph's wife and son also cooked us a delicious dinner. 

Day 170

1. Strawberry picking
2. Making strawberry daiquiris for the first time!
3. What else? Enjoying the Walkers visiting, farm stuff with Uncle Roger, recovering and cleaning up from family camp, talking to Sally, eating lots of strawberries!

Day 169

1. While waiting for people to come out to the car after church
2. What else? Church!, beginning reading Dune, taking a two hour nap, eating steak in celebration of Scott's birthday, Mom and Dad's anniversary, and Father's Day!, taking a few pictures of Tyler, watching Courageous

Day 165 (Family Camp!)

1. Purty bush in Canon Beach
2. At a pub in Canon Beach with Uncle Roger & Aunt Susan
3. Walking around Canon Beach..an eclectic artists gallery and residence
4. On the beach after taking a nap... building a sand castle with the Sumpters
5. A dying campfire
6. What else? Enjoying the drive to Canon Beach, taking a nap, late walk on the beach with Rachel

Day 164 (Family Camp!)

1. Lunch
2. Rachel's Color class
3. A quick run to Fred Meyer. 
4. Bubu speaking on Dystopia & CS Lewis 
5. Handcarved farm animals by the Roaches
6. Visiting with the Roaches
7. Family Camp Dance
8. What else? Nursery duty in the morning, singing for half an hour in Mr Erbs choir (was all my brain could take!), shooting hoops, watching the last part of the volleyball tournament in the rain, enjoying a last minute visit to the Roaches to borrow an air pump for Mom's new air mattress, missing most of the dance (oh well!).

Day 163 (Family Camp!)

1. Purty fleurs
2. View from the little chapel during my morning run/walk. Week 4, Day 1 of C25K!
3. A starfish Christine discovered on our beach walk
4. Andy running to third base during the softball game
5. What else? Good talks by Dave Erb and Toby Sumpter. Fun songs to sing. Walks on the beach, campfire, shooting hoops, spectating at Andy's gymnastics class and watching softball. Catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. :)

Day 161

Packing for Camp!

What else? Eating strawberries brought fresh from California, thanks Aunt Susan! Pre-missing all my friends and family who won't be at family camp. Making sure the sheep, cows and chickens are all taken care of so I can be gone. Enjoying Uncle Roger's company during farm chores and his willingness to erect two pea trellises today. :) And finding my itouch. Oh yes, I'm very thankful!

Natural Pools & Unicorns

 Plant filtered swimming pools! 

I want one...pretty please.

See the various items from the universe in scale. 

Amazing zooming in and out features! 

A really nice historical clothing blog.

FDIM is doing an excellent job of showcasing items that aren't on display every day.

In one of my alternate lives, I would have been an historical clothing curator...

Porcelain Unicorn

As a friend, George Shubin posted on facebook...

British film director Ridley Scott launched a global film making contest for aspiring directors.

 It was entitled "Tell It Your Way". There were over 600 entries.

The film could be no longer than three minutes, contain only 6 lines of narrative and be a compelling story. 

The winner was "Porcelain Unicorn" from American director Keegan Wilcox. 

It's a story of the lifetimes of two people who are totally opposite,

 yet, very much the same - all told in less than 3 minutes. 

You'll see why it won.

Day 158

1&2. Jacob and I went jogging/walking in the logged area near us. So pretty and peaceful!
3. What else? Cleaning, organizing and re-straightening and labeling in the kitchen and the pantry...

Day 153

Well, ahem. I don't know where my itouch is... so that's kind of why there's been a lack of photos this week. Other reasons for the lack of pictures...
1. Jacob has the stomach flu
2. Mom has the stomach flu
3. See previous two reasons
4. I've been too busy to seriously look for it in the car because of the previous reasons.
5. I just went and looked for it but it's dark. Hopefully it will show up tomorrow in the sunlight.
6. I can't think of where else to look for it but the car. Think outside the box, Sara!


Anyways, in other news or until I put up some photos.... Tuesday, Jacob and I had a little adventure in the car on a long car ride. Unfortunately, we left before he knew he had the stomach flu and we both definitely knew that he had the stomach flu by the ride back. Poor guy. And no, I don't have photos of that!

Wednesday, allergy season hit me strong. And I had to move the sheep. Achoo. Spent the day doing paperwork and straightening my wardrobe. All the miscellaneous things I've been putting off with all the wonderful weather.

Thursday, a visit to the allergy doctor set me straight again. Yay! NAET is seriously amazing. For years I was getting more and more allergic to everything, and it had progressed to the point where I couldn't got outside 3-4 months of the year. And now, I'm good! Like allergy free... except for one month of the year and even then, I can go outside fine. I just can't walk through the middle of the hay field. Never thought I would be a fan of weird medicine! Daniel and I spent the day hanging out going to the doctors and then to the mall. He also got some driving practice in. He now has 55 minutes of driving experience under his belt. Then we met up with Andrew and Tyler at some friends Art Show that their art school was putting on. Seriously amazing art.

And today, erm, cleaning up, working on a project for Dad (yay) and gardening. Daniel helped me get most of our vegetable garden in. Tyler cooked a yummy dinner including a new delcious dish of creamed cauliflower. And now we've just finished It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. And it's time for a smidgen of yoga and then bed!