Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Summer bounty

I am pretty excited to say that this year's garden has been the most productive thus far! Not only did the rainy spring help to establish deep root systems, but we haven't had to worry about drought this late in the summer either! Lots of rain and cooler temps in August is putting me in the fall mood for sure. I've been busy cooking away my tomatoes, peppers, and beans in practically every dish. We consumed all of the onion harvest (which wasn't too hard, as my onions did poorly again this summer). I've also been leaving boxes of small tomatoes outside by the egg fridge in case anyone would like to take some away. Every 3 days I usually just take them all and put them in the dehydrator for sun-dried tomatoes. So we'll be able to enjoy them at a later time!
5 chickens lay eggs at this time. Although, when we got back from vacation, one hen had gone broody. The isolated chick cage became known as the "Broody Buster". It took about 3 days to bust her of that mood, but she's back to normal again. Also, a few months ago one of the sisters I got from Oersheln's flew over the fence, wasn't able to get in the coop that night, and was attacked by some animal. So as for the chicken count, I'm at 6.
July was a crazy month. Ted went on a weekend trip with a buddy to hike a 14-er mountain in C.O. Was home for a few days, then left for a work trip to N.M. to do lidar work with his boss for a week and a half. He was back another few days, then left once again for his Exxon short course, which was another week long. We reunited in M.T. (Billings) at the end of the month, did some hiking and outdoorsy things at Red Lodge, visited with family, and witnessed the beautiful wedding of my cousin, Troy, and his wife, Breeann.
Day hiking trip at Red Lodge
 From there, we flew to upstate N.Y. to the lake house, and spent another week with more family. We spent many hours on the pontoon boat, relaxed and played some fun games in the new cabin, and got to ride around in the top-less, door-less, windshield-less Bronco!
Yearly picture

Finn's turn!

This week Briggs started pre-school! He ABSOLUTLY loves it. The teachers are great, there's a cool playground equipped with a treehouse and miniature 2 story house outside, and their classroom even has a pet bunny! On Saturday, my first baby turns 3 years old. All I can say is "Wow"!
1st day of school

Morehice Meet-up

It's a new year, and I do feel refreshed and energized! I think that's partly due to this past week of reflection, rest...