Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.

Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.  ~Sam Keen

I chuckled to myself when I read this quote the other day. Oh what a true statement. In the spring time, it seems there are so many outdoor chores to be done. Cleaning up the leaves and sticks from the yard that fell in the winter months, pulling weeds from flower beds and gardens and what seems to be endless mowing of grass just determined to grow and grow.  In the spring time, I wonder if I will ever get it all done. One way or another, the work seems to eventually get done. I set back, take a look around and feel the ah of being caught up.

 As the heat of the summer sets in and the grass slows down a bit, the garden is planted, the flower beds looking great and we’re waiting for veggies to grow and harvest, it does seem like everyone is slowing down a bit or certainly wanting to. I think at some point it is a necessity to take a deep breath and allow a bit of respectable laziness to find one’s self by the deep summer; even if it is for an afternoon. After all, it won’t be long until storing up some of your veggies for the winter months and readying the young ones for school will be consuming your time by the summer’s end. So, deep summer bring on the respectability of a lazy spent day here and there. I’m ready! 

My favorite way to spend a lazy summer day is to spend it in nature. It is a way to restore my energy, mind and heart. 

I hope you all find time to have a respectable lazy summer day without the guilt. Have a slice of watermelon and a glass of ice tea. Prop your feet up and just listen to the birds and the kids laughing, playing and enjoy your summer day.  Breath!!! It is wonderful to be alive.

Blessings to you all!

Learning to Earn

We really wanted to start teaching Doodlebug about saving money. We wanted her to learn that working and saving money for the things she really wants and needs, is a worthwhile thing to do. So back in January, we washed out an old pickle jar, made a hole in the top and placed it on the kitchen counter. Each time Doodles was given a chore, I would remind her about the jar. At the end of the week, I would talk to her about the chores she did or didn’t do, discuss how much she earned or didn’t earn for the week and why. I would give her what she had earned and she would put it into the pickle jar.

Over the next few months while working on money Math, we would pull her jar off the counter for a counting session. She was excited to see how much was adding up. Each time, she would talk about what she really wanted to do with the money and I would encourage her to think about it for a while. At first she thought she would buy an American Girl doll.

One afternoon we had to go to the co-op to pick up a few things and from that day on, she had made up her mind what she was saving for. She fell in love with the baby bunnies at the co-op. For weeks and months, that is all we have heard about were those bunnies.

This morning at the co-op we walked in to pick up supplies and sitting right at the front entrance was a bunny hutch and several little bunnies inside. We sized up the hutch, did a bit of math with the supplies needed and the cost of the bunnies and she had enough to buy them. She is so excited. When we got home this afternoon, we talked with her a bit about what it meant to work and save money and also about how good it felt when a goal of saving was reached.

She still has a little money put back but, her pickle jar now only holds her kindergarten two dollar bill and a bit of spare change.



So, here are photos from today of Doodlebug with Snowy or Snowball, she hasn't decided on it's name yet. The other little one is gray and white. It is Papaw and mine's favorite. She named it Raisin.

 I am waiting for it to cool off a bit this evening so that I can go out to the barn and put a few coats of sealer on the rabbit hutch. We are in need of getting it done so we can get it set up and ready for them. For now, the bunnies are in Doodle’s bathroom in a box. It seems her bathroom is becoming our livestock nursery these days.

We may have to start a business venture with her in the future. We have no idea if we have a pair or the same sex or not. The bunnies are only 6 weeks old and too young to be able to determine that now. I am keeping my fingers crossed we have two of a kind. If not, we will be in the bunny marketing business until we can make a few changes.

An Update From the Hen House: As of today, we are a couple of eggs from our first dozen. We now have two gals laying daily, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. They are sharing the same nesting box. The eggs are slightly different colors but as the gals are really starting to produce. One of our gals is laying nice dark brown eggs, while the afternoon gal's is a bit lighter in color. They are still a bit small but hopefully with age, they will produce large eggs.

Hope everyone is have a wonderful 4th of July weekend! God bless America and God bless all of you!

So much Eggcitement!

Doodlesbug couldn't wait to pop out to the hen house this morning to check for eggs. She was so eggcited so, I thought I would share just a couple of photos. So far, I guess we have one hen on a roll. She has laid 3 days in a row. Can't wait till the others get on board. I would love to start using some of the eggs and do a bit of baking.


As soon as robbing the 1 nest was over, I jumped on the tractor and cut the grass. Wow, the grass had really grown with all the rain we have had. I noticed that the little garden spot needs weeding and the flower beds as well. I think I will try and get some of that done first thing in the morning, if it doesn't rain. The rain has been good for folk's gardens around here for sure. I am amazed to see how tall some of the neighbor's corn crops are. I think we'll be seeing a bumper crop of corn in the area if the rains keep up as they have.


I am looking forward to making some fried green tomatoes too very soon. Yum!!!

Many blessings to you all!

What Luck?

I know we have been a bit crazy lately and all caught up with our chickens so, let me apologize and say, I am sorry if we have seemed a bit obsessed the last few days. I know the eggcitement will die down soon. {grin} I did want to share this with you though. Can you believe the very first egg our chicken laid was a double yoked egg? I am sure it is a maturity thing but I did research what the odds were of getting double yokes. The stats say, only one in every 1,000 eggs produced in this country is double-yolked.

So, you maybe asking yourself the same thing we did, what about egg number two? Believe it or not, it too was a double yoked egg. They were small yokes but we were impressed with her first attempts and giving us doubles. If I played the lottery, I would be buying a ticket tomorrow.


Now we are laughing it up and wondering how many doubles in a row could this gal lay? We'll let you know.

Doodles got back this evening and we had to fry them up and make egg sandwiches. They were delicious too. She had her's over easy and I scrambled mine up. Papaw said he would try a bite but let us gals have the first two eggs. Tomorrow's egg is all his. We are looking forward to the other gals getting busy here very soon too. Who knows, maybe tomorrow there will be more than one egg in the nesting boxes.










Doodles wants to raise goats and rabbits next. She really wants to turn this place into a "real farm" as she calls it. It has been a wonderful teaching opportunity raising the chicks with her and she felt a real sense of accomplishment while eating her egg sandwich.

Now I promise, no more mention of our chickens again for a while unless...they do something eggtraordinary.

Hope you all have a great week!
Many blessings!!!