Today we...

: : returned home from a weekend of camping 
: : are thankful yesterday was warm enough for a swim in the lake
: : wished we came home a few less bug bites
: : smelling the lingering scent of smoke from the campfire on our clothes
: : wishing I had picked some huckleberries to bring home instead of eating them all at the site
: : appreciating those quiet moments we enjoyed out in the woods
: : are glad we had time for reading (both Daddy and I had foraging themed books) and knitting
: : wished we all got more sleep but enjoyed the trip all the same
: : loved the time spent in each others company


Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. 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.

Inspired by SouleMama

Berryfest

This weekend we attended the first annual Berryfest here in town. I love festivals that celebrate what the land has to offer. We attend the Apple Festival every year and I'm sure the Berryfest will be an annual tradition for us as well. Unfortunately, we didn't have the best start as my camera battery died with no warning and I didn't have a spare so all these photos were taken with my phone. After that little blip we settled right in to enjoying all the things the festival had to offer.
The whole thing started with a wagon tour of the farm. April loved it and it just reminded me of how much I'd love to have an acreage to farm. The had kiwi, blackberries, a beautiful field of squash, apples, cabbage, currants, strawberries, gorgeous raspberries, and a bunch of other veggies.
The first thing we did after the wagon ride was the cedar maze. It smelled so amazing in there, it reminded me of all those cedar wreaths they sell at Christmastime. April loved being able to just run and run without us reminding her to hold our hand. It was quite large and harder than we anticipated. We were so relieved to reach the end.
Next we stopped by the 4H club tent. Our little girl loves animals and was thrilled with the chance to pet a duck. She also really enjoyed the cows. I personally love the bunnies. And then we moved on to the Young Farmers Club and April got the chance to play with some soil and plant a little container of basil. I love things like this that encourage young children to think about where our food comes from and how we treat the animals that are raised for human use.
April also got the chance to play her first go fish game. It was fun to watch her face when she felt that little tug on the other end of the line. She won a little bottle of bubbles which was the perfect thing to keep her occupied while we waited for the wagon to come back and pick us up.
Included with the price of admission was a cup of ice cream with farm fresh berries. I didn't really get any ice cream because I only really wanted those berries. Luckily April had no interest in the berries only the ice cream so I ate her berries too. After that we went and pick our own berries to take home. At that point April could not get enough raspberries. For every two I put in the basket, April demanded one for herself.  We still managed to leave with about 3lbs of raspberries. We also picked some strawberries, although it wasn't the best time for strawberries. We seemed to have the choice of either mushy, over-ripe berries or tiny green ones. We will wait a few more weeks before going back for more berries.
Yes, it was a great day. April was so tuckered out for all the fun that she fell asleep on the drive home (which is very rare for her). Celebrating the harvest just helps to keep our lives in rhythm with the seasons and strengthen our connection to the land.

Oh so many peas!

One of my favorite things about summer is fresh peas. I usually just stand in the garden eating them straight from the vine. Peas always do really well in my garden. So far this year we've been getting about 5lbs a day from our garden. Most have been shelled and frozen for the winter but we are still using them in salads, stir fries and of course right out of the pod. I'm interested in trying the pea soup recipe from My Father's Daughter and this pea and mint spread
I'm surprised by how much April likes these peas. She has been pretty stubborn about vegetable lately. I was so pleased when I looked up from picking peas to see her sitting by the basket of peas eating away. I had to laugh, it reminded me so much of Blueberries for Sal which we have been reading to her.
Yes, we all are enjoying the peas from the garden very much. Are you enjoying peas? What it your favorite way to eat them?

This Moment

this moment} - A Friday ritual. 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.

Inspired by SouleMama

First of Many

We got our first egg the other day. It's rather small and I'm not sure if that's because it's an early egg or if something is missing from our hens diet. I'm going to have to get out the chicken books. It's pretty perfect though. I think only one of our girls is laying at the moment and she has been laying every day for the past 3 days. There is lots of excitement here as we look forward to finding many more eggs in those nesting boxes.
Eggs are one of my favorite protein sources. I ate them on a regular basis when I was pregnant. I'm dreaming of the day when we can collect enough during the week that we can have quiche for dinner on the weekends. Omelets, poached egg on salad, french toast, meringues, oh so many things to look forward to.
A little side note: The past few weeks our chickens have gotten very very noisy. Is this common when they start laying? Has anyone else noticed that change in their hens when they reach laying age?

This Moment

this moment} - A Friday ritual. 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.

Inspired by SouleMama

Honeybees

Today we got our honeybees. It turned out to be not the best day for transferring the bees but it is getting very late in the season so we needed to move them into the hive now. Normally you would want your bees in the hive in May so they can take advantage of the fruit trees in bloom. However, it has been very cold and wet this spring and even June was windy and wet. So we decided to take our time and get our bees when the average daily temperature was a little but higher. We were fortunate to get local bees from an experienced beekeeper. She even came and helped me install the frames and get the bees comfortable in their new hive.
Although I've been reading up about bees like crazy (this book is my favorite), watching Youtube videos and I attended a local beekeepers association meeting, I was still a little nervous about welcoming these little bees to our tiny homestead. I was greatly relieved when the beekeeper selling the bees said she would return to help us with our first few hive inspections.
They really are amazing creatures and through the whole transfer I was not stung once (we do not use smoke to calm the bees). It ended up raining a few hours later so I hope that doesn't leave them feeling too stressed. I'm hoping this is the start of an amazing and productive learning experience. I will keep you posted on our journey into beekeeping.