A Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space.  It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe.  It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished.  ~Michael Strassfeld

Is it Friday yet?

The check marks on my "to do" list are minimal although I'm working on it daily.  I am so lucky and thankful to be able to do my job from home but man oh man has it been stressful and a time vampire lately with very disappointing results.  My mojo is low, the summer heat is here and the sinks full of dishes.  Chance has been a challenge this week as well. Our training hit a few speed bumps but I'm certain with continued consistency, love, patience and some more confidence on my part we'll get there.  He is such a sweet guy but can seriously be a handful at times and tests my leadership often... like horses do.
 

Life is not always fair. Sometimes you get a splinter even sliding down a rainbow. ~Terri Guillemets

Sheesh all this for a pity party and it's only Wednesday! Just keeping real, I didn't want you to think its sunshine and roses over here all the time, haha. Simplify, focus and challenge are my 2012 words. This week i am again reminded that simple is good, not just good but super good.

I am blessed and have a wonderful life. I am thankful for everyday, even the one's that aren't great are okay for they pass and typically bring joy and more appreciation for the next. With that being said i sure am thankful tomorrow is a new day and one day away from the weekend. The music man has a gig, we have friends coming to visit and i will be taking a break from my desk and computer to spend time outside and documenting the time spent with the clicking of my camera.

This week...

The music man met and rode Zima this week. This horse is amazing! He is so sweet and gentle and is automatic, seriously smooth and awesome so perfect for new riders.  Both the music man and monkey are taking lessons and may be leasing him in the future so we can ride together.

Chance and i went on our first trail ride at the new barn and my riding buddy is back in town so we've been out a couple more times this week and it's been great!

I turned Chance out into the large arena for some exercise and fun but he had other plans. Once in, he promptly walked over to a corner, rolled and stayed down for a little nap and to soak in the sunshine. I think he likes the new place too and has settled right in as you can see.

Bug spent some time with the horses this week too, perhaps a family affair? Motorcycles, he loves but i sure have enjoyed his visits to barn this week.

 Of course there is life away from the barn so more work was done on the coop and

we received the the biggest egg i have ever seen... EVER. It was a double yoker but the size seriously huge and heavy.  I also applied the calcium phosphate to the garden soil and threw on my back pack sprayer gifted by the music man and sprayed my oil and soap mixture to my plants in hopes of ridding the aphids that are picnicking there.

spring garden update

My soil is sad, grapes love decomposed granite but veggies don't. I have been composting since we moved and for the last few months tilling in the girls droppings as well all in hopes of infusing some much needed nutrients and growing strong healthy plants. For the most part with regular feedings the garden seems to be much more healthy than last summers crops and doing well.

Now that the heat is here though i am battling a gazillion black aphids on my chard and zucchini plants and now all of my tomato plants are experiencing blossom end rot due to week plants.  I have researched and am pretty confidant my calcium levels are low for the tomato plants since the watering is consistent.  I purchased some lime and gypsum but held off due to the toxicity this option offers. 

I am spraying a mixture of dish soap, water and oil onto the leaves to help rid the aphids and have done this before with varied results. Today while at the Vet supply store picking up hoof supplements for Chance i noticed they have bone supplement for horses. This is a mixture of calcium and phosphate and since its edible i figure it's got to be better than the gypsum so i grabbed a bucket, drove home and with much anticipation i sprinkled it around the base of each plant and watered. Fingers crossed this works... i have over a dozen plants growing and am dreaming about canning my sauce later this summer.

Spring garden harvest totals
red potatoes 39
onions 50 plus red's still in the ground
chard no idea. I'll weight it next year as the harvest is long, we've been enjoying it since last fall
cabbage, 1 lost the others to gophers
lettuce, 8 heads, lost most to squirrels
zucchini 5 and just getting started
grapefruit, too many to count we've enjoyed a few dozen

Eggs 98

The music man has fortified the fence around the garden and after several modifications i have a good handle on the rabbits, i haven't seen a new gopher hole and the traps have been empty for a while now. We've also enlarged the girls coop and doubled the size of their yard.  I hope to pick up a squirrel trap soon but in the meantime the pellet gun is working to slow them down.

The summer solstice is just a couple days away and our summer fruit and veggies are off to a great start if i can just get a handle on the aphids.

What have you planted for your summer crops and have you ever had to deal with blossom rot? I would love to hear if and how you got your plants back to health.

Home

Every house where love abides
And friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home sweet home
For there the heart can rest.
~Henry Van Dyke

Day one

 

 was going to be a flower study but within a couple hours they began to open.

The next morning all but one was open and today 4 days later we're still waiting for the last hold out to share its bloom.

Since i was here last~
I moved Chance to the new barn and love it there. He settled right in and is doing wonderful. His hoofs are continuing to grow out much healthier now, his coat is shed and shiny and he's such a sweet boy. I am having a lot of fun with him, can you tell.

The Bug came home for a visit and has decided to stay for a bit. Nothing like having family close and i am sure enjoying having him here.

I planted a blueberry and raspberry bush in hopes that they will grow deep roots and give me a few berries next season. My Strawberries are not doing so good this year so perhaps another berry will do better in our area.


Goldie our youngest girl started laying. Now all four of them are gifting us eggs daily. My fridge is filling quickly and i have already begun to give some of them away. 

*Note to our local buddies,  when you come to visit bring a egg carrier with you if you'd like to take a few fresh eggs home.

I've harvested more onions and the red potatoes. This was my first year planting potatoes and it was so easy. I heard mixed reviews but boy did they grow for me, maybe beginners luck. Either way I'm super happy with them and will be planting much more next time.   What an easy and bountiful crop to grow.

The days are so full and busy yet I've been feeling very quiet and loving the fullness of our home. Summer is coming fast around here, the temps are up, the days longer and the priority to be outside doing stuff is definitely on.  


Thank you for stopping by this space of mine, i love that you swing in and enjoy reading your comments. 

smelling like roses...not

 We've had a bummed out Hobo who has had a belly ache all week. Belly aches mean multiple trips outside during all hours of the day and night. Unfortunately we cannot let him roam at night because of all the predators in the area so in and out of bed for us it was. Thankfully he's feeling much better since the pacing and late night trips outside the last couple of nights are much much less. Last night the music man took him out around 12:30 and he and Hobo met a skunk in the drive way... yep they both got sprayed so it was tomato's to the rescue. I'm happy to report it worked and they both smell so much better. Nothing like bathing a dog in tomato's at 1:00 a.m, seriously...I'm exhausted.

Our Bug is coming home for the weekend and I'm looking forward to catching up with him and on some much needed Zzz's. I'm also looking forward to moving Chance to the new barn, working in the garden and who knows perhaps i'll even pick my knitting needles if there's time.

Happy Friday I hope you have a great weekend!

Country Friday and a balloon glow

Friday afternoon i left work early and the music man and i took my parents to our cities annual wine and hot air balloon festival.  Friday night was country night and Glorianna, Chris Cagle who was awesome and Phil Vassar played. There was wine, snacks,  lot of sunscreen and after sunset a balloon glow.

This is my favorite photo of the day.  The sun's flare, my boots and a cold beer captures the mood of the day. 

Even the music man got "his country on" and enjoyed Chris Cagle's set.

Cant wait for his new album!

the moon was out early and there were lots of balloons

We had such a good time, i'm already looking forward to going again next year.

this week around the house

We picked oranges from our tree and made clean, fresh and delicious juice. I made our first batch of strawberry jam this season and preserved  part of the onion harvest from last weekend.  I haven't been able to drive my jeep for a couple weeks because of this, can you see it?

'blue speckled eggs! A mama birdie set up her nest on the spare tire bracket of my jeep. I didn't realize it was there until the music man pointed it out but not after i had driven to the barn a couple times. The nest was okay and the mama came back both times.

We have a new baby in town, one of the eggs hatched yesterday, chirp chirp. I'm off to spend the afternoon with my parents at the local wine and hot air balloon festival with my camera, so excited.

Happy Friday!