Tax Day

Today is the day we all had to have our taxes in. This year, due to my lallygagging, they only got mailed a few days ago. A thorn in every one's spring I'm sure. But they are done.

I looked at Layla "The Wide" today, and told her that I was naming her son "Tax" if she kids today. She has been taxing our patience, so I think its only fair. I can't even make plans with friends for dinner without saying, "Well, unless Layla kids then..."

The udder continues to grow, but I give up on guessing. We now figure its a two headed, six legged set of triplets, she is so big! That will be quite the fair goat!

Sing Along Time - Our House

It was another visitor day today, and what a pleasure to show a fellow blogger and her family the real thing.
Looking at the pictures, the next bit if silliness came to me.
Sung to the chorus melody of "Our House" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Go to 1:30 of the You Tube video for help!
Our house is a very, very, very fine houseWith three walls and no doorsWith goats and real dirt floorsBut everything is easy 'cause I'm two, ooooo...La la lala la la, lalala lala, la lalala la lala, laaaaaaaaaa...
(OK. Just la la a bit here!)
My visitor Dylan brings out the old tunes, and poetry in me!
See more of her at her Mom's blog - http://www.somuchshoutingsomuchlaughter.com/

Floral Jewels

The violets are at our kitchen path. The kitchen door is our "front door". They'll be everywhere soon.Sundays we often take the time to walk through our woods. Half our property is woods, and at the top of our hill. There are many small flowers opening in between the leaves,......and along the paths.The prior owners had planted these along the horse trails. An unexpected find in the woods.The bluets are blanketing the fields. Back home, I was happy to see that the primroses were in full bloom.
These flowers are just so cheerful.

Everyone's Getting Bigger

The herd is getting bigger.

Ella with Sam,...

...and with Isabelle.

Tisa, on the left, and Ella, are getting too big for the young visitors.
They are quite the arm full.

Brees/Wally is getting big for his mom.

Trinity is getting big with her first udder, and first kid(s)! Yeah!

Layla! Can you get any bigger?

I've counted on another 18 days from her last date I had calendared. Tax day baby?

Arbor Project -Done For Now

Friday was a busy, hard working day. We were ready for rafters, and the tails needed trimming, so I designed the templates for what I wanted. We got help from my son-in-law for the next stage. We also were assisted, and well documented, by our daughter. The guys did all of the heavy stuff, which was good. I had started to aggravate the rotator cuff shoulder injury, as we ended Thursday night's prep work. With SIL's input, we lined up the face boards a bit differently than the original design, and got a very pleasing look. For now the project is done. We want to wait and see what is needed to darken the area more, depending on the rotation of the sun.
For now we have a grand looking arbor.
Thanks everyone!

Happy Easter!

We enjoyed Easter Saturday here with family, as has become our tradition.
The Braid pre-baking
With college kids having to travel back to school for Sunday evening, Saturday became the easier, relaxed day, to gather family and friends. The turban dough, ready to go!
And after years of pulling out Easter bread recipes and not making them, I finally made two challah breads that were lovely.
The recipe I used was inspired by one of the blogs I follow, "a stitch in dye",

http://stitchindye.blogspot.com/2010/03/little-unplugging-help.html
and the link below in her post:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10809/sweet-vanilla-challah

Today, after Easter Mass at beautiful St. Vincent's Basilica, we feasted on a big breakfast under the arbor.

What a place to enjoy!

Arbor Project

We have been talking about this idea for a long time. Finally it is underway. We leveled this area when we moved here, and it became known as " The Beach". We love to sit outside for our summer meals, but sometimes it gets too hot to enjoy it, even at breakfast.We have lost or ruined two umbrellas, a glass table, and a few planters and pillows to the wind gusts we get here. We hope the arbor works for us.