Happy Anniversary

Can you believe it's been 15 years! Wouldnt trade it for anything. I love you, Larry.

And some Napping

We had a great day fishing on Sunday! It was a beautiful day and warm enough to head for the lake. The fish were slow to start but did bite once they realized the worms were fresh. Everyone really enjoyed the sunshine and since we had a late nights weekend everyone finally just enjoyed the sunshine and took a nap. After that we came home and watched the Penguins win. We grilled chicken and had a bonfire complete with marshmallows.

Even More Fishing

More Fishing

Fishing

Chicks First Outing

The chickens were out in the garden for the first time on Thursday. They are growing and are really funny. They try to fly all over the place. They are all named. The three yellow ones are Olga, Ingrid and Elizabeth and the three dark ones are Madge Flo and Fannie. The three Buff Orpingtons , the yellow ones, just think they are the queens of the coop! The Silver Wyandottes think the Buff's are pretentious. Can't wait for the eggs!

More Work Day Pictures

They had a lot of kids and each got oodles of goodies and junk food. They came home so excited. Garrett decided he was three parts computer geek and Hunter can't wait til next year because it's like a "real holiday." I really enjoyed my day off too. So it was a rousing success. Special thanks to Larry who worked to arrange the whole thing at Time Warner. Good job, Babe!

Take Your Kids to Work Day Pictures

Here are a few pictures of the Take Your Kids to Work Day, IT was a huge success. Everyone had cocoa or in Summer's case a latte to begin the day. They had a magician and a speaker about internet safety. They loved the tour This is Summer and Garrett in Daddy's office.

Hunter's Medals are Here

Here is Hunter with his new medals. His team results weren't in at the last meeting. His team won 5th place in the Shoot at Kersey and he got an honorable mention. He was so proud and he should be. Shooting is over for this year except for the Beloved Pizza Party. Tomorrow the kids are all going to work with Larry for Take Your Kids to Work Day. The day is full of fun activities and speakers that Larry has set up and the kids get to pick out doughnuts for the group for breakfast tomorrow. Everyone gets chocolate covered cream filled if it is up to Hunter. (and Mom gets a full day off!)

Felted Kool-Aid Bag

I finished and felted my bag made with the Kool-Aid wool. I am so excited that the final results turned out so good. It is so cute. The only thing that did not turn out was that the pocket shrunk a little more and pulled away in one corner. Easily remedied. I am ready for my next project!

My Dear Husband Duck Wrangling and with Guinness

Wool Fun

The kids and my friend, Cindy and her daughter, Hannah dyed wool for a few felting projects today. The weather was perfect and we set up on the porch and dyed three skeins of sheep's wool. The kids thought it was great and we drank the unused Koolaid so it was a great day. After they left and Larry got home we hung out on the deck, played with the ducks and had a great evening.

Dying Wool

The Pond is Finished

After a great deal of hard work and sweat, the pond is finished. It is beautiful and looks great. The ducks love it and the waterfall is so soothing when you are sitting at the deck to relax. We need to add some water plants, but the waterboatsman bugs are already showing up. We are going to get some fish and a turtle or two. The tiger lilies are coming up behind the pond already and the bleeding heart shouldn't be far behind. Larry is planning on planting more Morning Glories to climb the deck this summer. Summer will bring a pond in full bloom!

Circus

OK well I can't get the pictures to upload but I wanted to post about how much fun we had a,t the circus. Summer brought her girlfriend Katie, who had never been to a circus before and had a complete blast. The kids all rode an elephant. The best act of the night was definitely the performing bears by an overwhelming vote. We stuffed ourselves at the circus and then went to Kings where we stuffed ourselves again and Hunter and Eli and the girls ran around like hooligans. A wonderful time was had by all! Thank you Pop Pop and Mom Mom for a great night and for Katie's first circus experience. We then spent the night with Pap and went shopping with Jill the next morning. We had a blast!

Pictures of Our Progress

Here are some pictures of our progress around here. The pond is half done and very beautiful. Larry dug all the rock out of our yard! At the top is a waterfall. It looks great. Our pergola is up and great to sit at. Jill, the great vase you got us for our anniversary is in the center of the bar but it is hard to see! I love it. My chicks are growing and getting tail feathers. This is either Flo or Ingrid, I'm not sure which she is yet! The names will settle on 'the appropriate chicken in time. We had a great time at the Circus on Friday and I am going to get some pics up today as soon as I get them transferred from my phone. Thanks you Pop-Pop and Mom Mom for one of the most fun nights of the year!

Spring in Progress

The deer farm was beautiful on Wednesday but no babies. The geese let us know it was their pond and we were not welcome but we weren't fishing so we let them alone. Snowflake was the most curious (Blanca is her real name but we call her snowflake) Cant wait for the babies.

Ducks First Swim

The ducks got to swim for the first time ever today! They weren't quite old enough to go without care so we watched them closely, dried them off and put them under the heat lamp for warming afterwards but they absolutely loved it. We ended up taking them out again in the afternoon. I think it will be a very happy place for them.

Fawn Picture

The fawn isn't new, it was last years fawn. I was tired of the snow picture but it wasn't green enough for a good spring picture. So until I get a new happy green picture of the house we can enjoy the fawn. I got to hold this one for a while. They smell wonderful! Can't wait for this years crop!

Signs of Spring

Just had to include the picture of Hunter watching TV with a chicken and Maggie baking her Bassett self in the window. Signs of spring for certain. We are planning a big deck opening bonfire tomorrow when it gets to the 68 degree mark. Checking on the deer at the deer farm today. Can't wait for the fawns!

Planting Table

This is the planting table Larry built me by our upstairs far window. As you can see, our seeds are sprouting quite nicely. Since we are STILL so far from planting season we have plenty of time for them to grow. We have all sort of seeds planted for a much bigger garden this year.


The table has a work space for planting and several shelves with grow lights to get them started. I may try to grow lettuces and such year round. He did a great job, I wasn't patient enough to wait til it was painted though. I guess Ill do that when the seeds move outside!

Ribbed Collar and Kool-aid Dyed Yarn

I have been taking a knitting class and wanted to post pictures of my first completed project. It is a ribbed collar like a gaiter that the kids wear snowboarding to keep their neck warm. Summer modelled it for me below. Such a beautiful model. To the right here is the yarn we dyed with kool-aid at our last class. It was a fantastic thing, the kool-aid is soaked up by the cloth and all the water in the dying process runs clear. The kids and I are going to do it this week! This yarn is for a felted pocketbook for our last class. Those felted bags are all the rage up here. I don't know about you down southerns, but up here they are way cool. So, I am excited to get it done. I have really enjoyed taking the class.

First Completed Project

Wedding Anniversary Celebration

Here are some pictures of Mom Mom and Pop Pop's 60th Anniversary celebration on Saturday. It was a perfect day in spite of the forecast and everyone had a great time. People just poured in all afternoon and croquet was played and cakes baked and the chatting never stopped. Mom Mom and Pop Pop both looked fantastic. It was great to see and catch up with everyone. If you read this blog it will probably push some of the pictures to the next page so check out the older posts too to see the pics. I put the same croquet pic up twice by accident but I haven't figured out how to fix it yet!

60th Wedding Anniversary Pictures

60th Wedding Anniversary

Shooting Champions

Summer, Garrett and Hunter competed at A 4-H shooting event in Kersey, PA last weekend. Larry was a complete super dad and took our kids plus two others by himself so I could to a knitting class in Olean. Thanks, Honey. But anyway back to our purpose here , the kids shot and Summer placed 6th in her age group and her team was !st overall. Garrett was 5th in his age group and his team was also third overall. Summer looks bummed because I didnt let her change her shirt! They had a blast and there are more awards to be given out in a few weeks at the pizza party to end the year. We are so proud of them all and now that Hunter is over his fear of the competitive shoots , I can't wait to see what he does at the next one in the fall. Way to go guys! We are so proud of you all!

They are still egg shaped!

Hunter and a Gold Laced Wyandotte

Here are my chickens. One day old. We had to teach them to drink water and eat today because they never had before. They were in the eggs yesterday. Just after hatching, they got on an airplane and came here! They are buff orpingtons and gold laced wyandottes. They aren't afraid at all and they are so sweet. Summer was sitting here typing to her friends with a chick in her lap. If they are handled well they should be just like pets when they get older. Makes it easier when they escape. They are all getting biddie names so if you have any suggestions that would be great. Garrett is naming one Fannie, I thought Flo and Vera were good options too.

Chick Pics

Ducks and Chicks!!!!

Aren't they beautiful! These are the kids ducks, Quackers, Tootles and Daffodil. They are going to live in our pond that Larry is putting in starting this weekend. They are so cute and Guinness is terrified by them. We do not know how long they will survive the PA Wilds but they are going to sleep with the chickens in the coop. It may prolong their lives.