Boy, n.: a noise with dirt on it~

You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again.
~Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The sweetest crop on the Palouse

Any crop other than wheat, barley, or legumes on the Palouse draws a bit of attention, not just from honey bees. One local farmer has planted a long strip of lovely sunflowers, not to make his fellow farmers question his sanity, but to please his daughter, for when she was a little girl she told him that one day she'd like to get married in a field of yellow sunflowers. She will be wed this summer. I can think of no sweeter action from a loving father!

Stunning Sunflowers

Finally blooming in my garden this week!

Home

Home is where the sage brush grows
that smells so good in rain.
Home is right around the corner,
just a quick flight on a plane.

Home is where my Mother lives,
her heart is filled with love.
Home is where her children come
because home fits like a glove.

Bulletin Board Herd

Meet the herd.... L to R

Herb, the Belted Galloway

Emmy, the Appy

Frank, the retired old quarter horse

Marvin, the Scottish Highland

Gertrude, the bunny

and Chester, the pig

I'm so EMBARRASED!

OMG, I can't even believe I'm posting this picture! I am HORRIFIED!

This is the scrapbook table in my craft room. Clutter, inefficient, uninspiring, BLA! The walls are panneling, the ceiling is foam board, the previous owners are all on my list (you know the one, THAT list). Notice how I cleverly cropped out the underside of the table? Ha, you don't even want to see it! My organizers are haphazard, with the exception of my awesome sticker tote- It totally rocks! Sadly this is only half of my scrap supply. Over that-away ~~~> there is another table with a big stacking cube organizer thingy, for lack of a better word. It holds all my paper, Cricut supplies, unfinished scrapbooks, memorabilia, and photos.

I see you asking yourself "Um, whats the point to this post?"

........................HERE.....................

............................IT.........................

.............................IS..........................

It's time for a makeover! Paint, organization, OVERHAUL- It's all going down this weekend (fingers crossed here). So watch for dramatic after pictures coming soon!

Learning about my cute caprines

Pan is very sweet, usually sports a smile, and is always pleased to see us. He is the smallest of the goats, although he may weigh just a bit more than Luna. (Shhh, don't tell him)

~~~

Merlin and Luna are syncronized pasture skaters. They generally walk around just like this perfectly in step with one another. Luna stomps her feet at predators and does all the talking for the herd but Merlin is the HOH (head of household) as he is the biggest, bravest goat.
~~~

Orin...Well, he is quite the comedian. He really enjoys getting up on our level and looking us in the eye when we first come in the pen. I think he wants to make sure we watch him (kinda the "Stuart" of the bunch- Mad TV watchers will understand).

~~~

Some interesting things I've learned about goats so far

• They LOVE bananas, peel and all
• They don't like little white dogs that stare through the gate at them
• When itchy, they lay sideways on the fence and walk along it, banging thier horns like a kid holding a stick on a picket fence
• They prefer weeds to grass hay, the weedier the better
• Baby pine trees are a delicacy to escape goats

Matchbook Milly

Milly's DiamondMmmmmmm~ PastureMilly & Mom "Let's Ride"Nappin' with Skipper, Hanging with the troublemakersBaby Austin with his momma, MillyModeling the Bridle

Grease Monkeys

From combines and dirt bikes to four wheelers and trucks...

These two little grease monkeys are notorious for having smelly, dirty hands and giant, happy grins!

Cody helped Uncle Jason work on his four-wheeler this weekend. It was a selfish task in part because Cody wanted Uncle Jason to accompany him on a ride to the river. They sure have fun together!

A Funky Fortune

Really? The color purple? In all my years as a Chinese Cuisine connoisseur I have NEVER received a fortune regarding such a specific color...any color really.

What could this possibly mean?

I am boggled.

"The Color Purple" was a great book. Perhaps I should read it again for the umpteenth time.

I wear purple shades of eyeshadow~ someone told me it would make my green eyes POP. Is some company going to discover me as an eye model? (Are you picturing the photo shoot as I am?)

I have a purple cami...hopefully I wont have a "Janet Jackson" moment...but if I do then maybe the purple cami will keep me covered.

Why couldn't my lucky color be green?

Joy Journal- Home

Monday night, after a grueling and tiresome day, I sat at my favorite kitchen table with the gnawed leg (thanks to teething pups) and tried to remind myself that life just isn't that bad! To ease my mind and release the day's tension I jotted down a few things that bring me joy...

• The toads hanging out under the run off from the air conditioner, happy to share the puddle
• 'Chick' 'chick' 'chick' of the sprinkler watering our "almost everything grew" garden
• Little goat bleats
• The horses calling to me when they hear the screen door slam
  
• Dakota, the grey and red bird of happiness, yelling at the dogs and whistling to me
  
• Puppy tails wagging ecstatically as if everything I say or do is AMAZING
  
• The smell of laundry freshly pulled from the line- reminds me of farm, sunshine, health
  Lavender growing in my garden and flower bed
  
• Stacks of hay in my barn, shed, and on the slab
• And this guy...

I'm sure there is so much more!

So what brings my readers joy?

Meet the Goaties!

Merlin

Luna

Pan

Orin