Sunday, June 30, 2013

A Fairy in the Garden ♥::June 30

I used to have another fairy in the garden,


But she broke apart, slowly and steadily. So it really was time for another fairy to come and fill her spot.



This was my mom's windchime that she gave to me. I ♥ fairies, and my heart is happy that she is here :)

Have a wonderfully slow Sunday

Thursday, June 27, 2013

26/52::June 27



Michael loves to swing on his swing. Tonight, I happened to catch him in action :)

Can you believe that half of 2013 is over already? Crazy!

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

25/52::June 26

I got behind again :/

Here is Michael, relaxing in his daddy's chair :)



Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Bugs you don't want to see in your garden::June 25

I love seeing the "good" bugs in my garden: earthworms, ladybugs, honeybees - I can even tolerate wasps for the purpose of pollination - but these are on my "bad" bug list:

This guy and his family will feast on and lay eggs on my squash plants' leaves. He looks menacing - like he's going to bite me before I can fully squish him.


And this guy and his family live in my herb garden. They love the protecting density of all of the leaves and stems of sage, oregano, lavender, and parsley. I'm not happy at all with their choice of location of their home. This one was fed to the chickens after the picture was taken..... looking at his cute little spotted eyes and striped antennae makes me feel a little guilty about that. I'm sure I'll feel differently when his relations starts feasting on my garden plants and overrunning the garden.


I'm babysitting Baby Bentley today. Maybe I'll take a picture or two and show them to you tomorrow :)

Monday, June 24, 2013

Ladybug on a Leaf ::June 23

Today Matt is going to Scout camp for a week. Boy will I miss that kid! Say a few prayers through the week for his safety, will you? I am the nervous mama hen who likes to have her chickies close by. But alas, the chickies grow up....

Yesterday I was in the garden taking pictures, because when I went out to see how my plants were doing, I saw this:


I think ladybugs might be the only bug that people think of as sweet, not creepy :) I bought a bagful last year to get rid of the aphids on the roses. I like the side effect of being able to capture them in pictures too :)

Have a wonderful day!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

He ate it all gone::June 13

Michael loves baked potatoes and I am thrilled! He still has his g-tube that we put pediasure down at nighttime, but during the day, he is doing great at eating his food. Hurray! My oral-aversed boy is doing great! :)

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Playing with Macros::Grasshopper::June 12

I love shooting macros! It feels like I enter a world within a world. Who knew that grasshoppers had polka dotted eyes and striped antennae? He looks like he is ready to be saddled up for a grand adventure! .... or perhaps I watch too much science fiction/fantasy..... ;)

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Sunday Drive::June 11

Josh and Amber came over yesterday. We had a nice lunch - though sometimes barbequing seems to take so.much.longer than just cooking it inside! Afterward, we took a Sunday drive.

First, Amber, Josh and I took a ride in the truck. Josh drove. He likes driving stick and wanted a turn driving it :) So we drove out in the country for a bit.

Then we came back and went for the REAL Sunday drive up the canyon :)

Everyone went but Emily. Josh wanted to stop and get out for a while, since last time we just did the loop, so we stopped at a shady spot and we all did our favorite things:

I took pictures of sun stars:



and pics of some of the people I love most in this world:

Josh, Jared, and Matt hiked around the hills:



Amber used Josh's iPod:



Michael climbed under the very back seat - I really don't know why he likes that so well, but he does - so I opened the very back door to get a pic. Behind the hot dog cookin' sticks and Michael's wheelchair that we use for long walking trips, Michael played under the seat. :)



Steve read - he takes his nook everywhere :) He was a super good sport to go with us at all, since he hadn't felt great all day.


This was where we parked. If you look closely, you'll see Steve just outside the doors of the van. Between his blue jeans, grey t-shirt, and camo hat, he pretty much blends into the scenery :)



Then we came home and Josh and Amber left within minutes, leaving us to do our normal evening stuff: I played with the pictures I had just taken, the kids watched tv in the living room and Steve watched tv and read his book. I do love Sundays with the family ♥

Monday, June 10, 2013

81!!::June 10, 2013

Today is my dad's 81st birthday. When he was here in May, I took advantage of him being here and made him a birthday cake, since I knew I wouldn't be with him on his real birthday.



I went easy on him and just had 8 candles on one side and 1 on the other. :)



May all of his Birthday Wishes come true!

I'm very thankful that he is in good health and can still work harder than many who are decades younger than him. He is a great dad and I'm glad that he's mine. ♥

I called him this morning, and the kids, Bill, & I sang Happy Birthday to him. May he have many, many more!




Friday, June 7, 2013

This Moment::23/52::June 7

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."



{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by Soule Mama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

1 Honey bee in the Garden:: June 5, 2013

I have said before that I am very worried for the honey bees, not just in my area, - though I can see a significant decline from past years just in my yard - but across the nation.

In past years, I have always seen bees on my blossoming sage, but this year there was only 2 when Jared went out to check - and 1 was dead with its head stuck in the blossom eating.

Here is the latest news about honey bees in 2013.


And if you're wanting to look even deeper into the problem, this article talks about colony collapse disorder.

Also, if you'd like to brush up on your basic honey bee facts from elementary school, here is a page that talks about drones (males used only for breeding), worker bees (entirely female - they are the ones you'll see on the flowers), and the queen.

And this is the lone honey bee in my yard:











I wish all the best for her and her hive. May the queen have many babies, the worker bees gather all the food they need for winter, and the weather/climate/pollution not take too much toll on their little family.

What about in your area? Have you seen many bees this year? Even the bumble bees and wasps aren't showing up in my yard this year. Normally, I'd be happy about the lack of wasps, but it is very concerning to not see any pollinators buzzing around.



Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Sunday Drive + 22/52::June 4

We took a Sunday drive. I think they are my most looked forward to part of the week. I love my family, and I love going into nature.

Steve drove. I like that. Then I can close my eyes when the road gets to narrow, and I can look at all of the beauty around me w/o worrying about driving :)


Josh came to visit on Sunday. All alone, which felt weird to him :)


Amber came to visit too. I had a better picture of her sticking her tongue out, but it was too blurry to post :)


Matt loves rides almost as much as I do, even though his face doesn't show it in this pic :)


And there were only out of focus pics of Mike other than this one. Not super flattering, but enough to know he was there :) And since this is the only picture of him I took this week, it will have to count for his 22/52 pic. I'll have to do better next time.


Yesterday I got my tomatoes planted - just 5 plants, 4 of which are cherry tomatoes - and a spaghetti squash plant. I have heard that you can use spaghetti squash in place of actual spaghetti pasta. I plan on trying it!

This was my facebook post last night,
"Today's successes: My tomatoes are planted, thanks to Matthew for helping get the plot ready by weeding, Jared for watching Michael, and Emily (Echo) for CLEANING! (she went above and beyond!) the kitchen!

Also, so thankful it was so warm outside. I think I'm getting old! I like it HOT!"

I was so excited for the help! It was wonderful and amazing! I am thankful!

I still need to get back to the greenhouse for some zucchini - I'd like to put up some more sweet pickle relish using zucchini. It is delish! Also, I want to plant some green beans. I'm holding out because I'd like to make a green bean teepee.... I just need to not hold out too long, or get the teepee in gear.

Summer is my fast becoming my favorite season! :)

Here is a song for your day; I hope that you like it :)


Have a wonderful day!