Sunny, Windy pretty day!!

Things are starting to bloom which is wonderful, I think I am about my happiest when I am out working in my flowers. With all the beauty there is the ugly as in thistles, an over abundance of dandelions , creeping charlie and some sort of new creeping, sticky, green stuff. We have finally given in and started spraying to knock down all the bad things including burdock. I really am not a fan of poisons but there is a point where you need to throw in the towel. Please bear in mind that the "yard" I am dealing with is several acres. The plan is to eliminate the weeds this year and hope that they will be manageable next year.

I really like these Iris, they were given to me several years ago and I have dragged them with me each time we have moved. They have the most lovely fragrance, you can smell it all over the yard. In my plans for the yard are several areas that will be only iris and maybe day-lilies. The colors now available are just breathtaking. In the lily department more and more of them are every blooming.

Jim has been hard at work, he finished the wall for my garden shed and I now have a window which allows more light and some air circulation. He also built one door for the machine shed/shop/male playroom. Well, at least the frame for the door he still needs to buy the metal skin to cover it. He has the frame mounted on the rail so it rolls and when finished will really be nice and look super.

The latest project are the Adirondack chairs, the prototype is nearly finished and I am so proud of him. It took a bit but once he got going he is doing a really professional looking job of it. As soon as he has it finished I will paint and decorate it. I have several ideas as I want them to look different, not run of the mill. They are such a popular item and I am hoping that with my embellishments they will sell well. Jim's job hunt still has not produced any solid leads, the headhunters show up with jobs in CA, NY, WI. We just do not want to move again, we finally have all our possessions in one place and just want to settle here. I have leads on several big craft and art shows coming up so hope to have enough finished to be able to take them. If we are able to create a market for the chairs it will give us a bit more income. With this as a side line and my shop then he can aim a little lower on the job chain. The pay scale here is stuck in the 60's, we keep hoping that a job will show up in MN. Let me clarify that, in MN within daily driving distance.

Yesterday and today were the hottest days of the month, also very windy. I did manage to get a fair amount of mowing done, but still have down back and the large area the other side of drive way. So those will account for 3 or 4 more hours of mowing. It is nice to have all the windows open, little hot but bearable. I dare not complain about the heat as I just spent the last 7 months complaining about the cold!! When I was out mowing I looked over at the goats and had a good laugh. We have a large water tank for them, I had dumped it over to empty out the old water.
They now think it is a wonderful place to play king of the mountain or take a snooze on. This time when I looked one of the girls was on the top all nice and comfy and inside it was another girl. Kinda like bunk beds. The new chickens are almost as large as the big ones , so now able to hold their own. We have started letting them out during the day, well we try to let them out. They are still not quite sure how to navigate the door, so funny watching half out and half in squawking at each other. Then at night some make it in and the others make a pile in a corner so we have to herd them in. We are currently getting 10 eggs per day and end of July first of August the other 22 will start laying. I have a few regular customers for the eggs so more will be good, at this point they are paying for their feed.

The rest of the family are fine, everyone is getting along much better. Gretel has put on 20 pounds and nary a rib to be felt. I hope this finds everyone well and enjoying their lives.

Best to you, Barbara