Summer of 2016, you did take my breath away! Here is a bit of a catch-up!

The boys dressed up as pirates to play at a local playground that has a large wooden pirate ship play structure

Jude took these swinging pictures of Jason and Ollie :)

Playing with Isabella's old doll house miniatures

Building

Silly Jude with a toast mouth!

and snuggling one of his quail

Jude and Ollie had a brief-but passionate obsession with ancient Egypt, and most specifically, mummies. They spent hours each day 'preparing' one another in turn for mummification, and then would lie quietly on the floor 'being' a mummy! Jude mummified both Ollie and his stuffed cockatoo in this picture. Aren't their imaginations wondrous?! 

Jason cut and stacked the firewood in such a way that we could use it as a little fort!

Here are the three boys taking a much-needed rest in the firewood house :)

We celebrated Jude'seventh birthday! My mom and Dad came and it was a happy day.

Jude and Ollie with my beautiful Mama :)

We visited with a good friend. There was swimming, snacks and great talks

Dress-up and goofy days with homeschool friends :)

Beautiful flowers in my garden are an every day blessing

Ollie being Ollie

He is a bit of a wild-rabbit whisperer, my sweet boy

Sick :(

And Jude spent the summer losing teeth and then growing more!

All of these pictures were from the summer!

It has been busier than ever..It is all I could do to catch my breath!

Now that autumn is upon us, (and winter close behind!) - I look forward to slowing down :)

June goodness

Rhubarb Crisp in the makings. It was sooooo good.

My woolies!

Jason and I went canoeing with the boys.

...and Isabella took out the kayak.

Jason made masks with the boys one afternoon. Here is Jude's.

And here is Ollie's! What a long face for a four year old!

Chicken aprons in the works.

We spotted this lady-turtle laying eggs on our friend's beach.

And this rabbit was in the yard!

Our days have been filled with kids and gardens, chickens, sheep, and the making of food. We are tired as we are every spring and summer, the busiest times of the year, but it is a good tiredness; A satisfied, long-day-spent-working-at-something-you-love kind of tiredness!

From May to June

Our beautiful old apple tree in bloom behind the barn.

Our front flower garden in early spring. The Forget-me-nots are plenty!

Two boys in one pair of pants and one shirt, stuck on the floor!

Spring fashion!

Lots of pumpkin pies, gluten free and vegan, made from half of one of our Jarrahdale pumpkins.

Jason and his Dad chatting in the kitchen :) His parents made their annual drive up to visit us for a week from Pennsylvania in early May. It was a lovely visit!

 Gramma Carol reading Uncle Remus to the boys :)

Ollie made Gramma Carol and Grampa Tony a handful of beaded bracelets each in the weeks before their visit and was delighted to finally gift them :) Here he and Gramma Carol are making yet another one!

Cutie on the deck!

This was taken a month ago now when our seedlings were hardening off outside the greenhouse. They are all in the ground now!

The smiliest of my adorable smilers. This sweet wee ewe is the shyest of the lot, and it took a whole month for her to let me pet her.

Big love!

Our adorable ram lamb, Stillwater.

Wolfie! She has the wildest and wooliest face :)

Jude is a bird whisperer. He really is. He loves birds so much, and will sit still for a long, long time and wait for the chickadees to eat out of his hand. Chickens, ducks, songbirds; He loves them all! I was delighted to find a special birdseed mix that had no gluten in it (he has celiac), so he could feed them himself!

We have a family of barn swallows inside the barn, and on the side of the lamb building. Our German friend told us that if you have swallows in your barn, it is very good luck :)

Our wonderful little homestead. We love it so!

Jason has begun replacing the plastic on the greenhouse with old windows. I LOVE love love it!

Jason gardening in May

This happened!

One of the most wonderful things in my homesteading life happened just a few days ago when my sister and I spent a good 10 hours of driving to pick up four registered Olde English Babydoll Southdown lambs - Three ewes and a ram to start my own breeding flock! I will be adding one more ram lamb to my wee flock in just a few weeks when he has been weaned from his mama.

Oh, but they are darling! Like sweet little teddy bears with such gentle faces and little bodies! I love them!

For as long as I have had sheep., my heart has known that THIS is the breed I want to raise. It was just a matter oh how and when..

They were very well-behaved during the five-hour drive home. They never bleated, and mostly just stood quietly and peered out the window, sometimes lying down to rest for a bit and then quickly jumping up when a transport truck zoomed by. When I came to a traffic stop, I had to open the window to tell the excited nearby drivers yelling out to me that the adorable creatures in the back of my small car were indeed lambs, and I caught at least two drivers behind me taking photos of the lambs looking out the rear window. An adventure!

They are timid and run away from us, but are slowly adjusting to their new surroundings. They don't seem to know how delicious grain is yet, but once they do I am sure hand-feeding them some will quickly gain their trust! They have been through a lot in the past few days, as have I. Sweet little nuggets, I love them so. I am just deciding on names now and will share them soon!

A few pics from March and April!

I work at an antiques shop on the weekends, and while I am there I practice my spinning!

Amazing robot drawing by Jude, age 6

Girls' afternoon out; a rare occurrence as we all lead busy lives and live hours apart. My mom on the left, then me, Isabella, and my sister Tash :)

Three boys being goofy at sunset

Easter eggs!

They were so happy to run outside just before dusk, wearing only sweaters and no coats after a long, cold winter!

Jason and Jude

Living room picnic!