Last weekend...

"God does not send strange flowers every year.
When the spring winds blow o'er the pleasant places,

The same dear things lift up the same fair faces,

The violet is here."

--Adeline Train Whitney

This tiny violet is one I started from seed this year.

"Praise ye the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation...

O my soul praise Him, for He is thy health and Salvation."

"Dear common flower, that grow'st beside the way,

Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold."

--James Lowell

The guys are putting up a new fence for our steer, Ferdinand.

"Work, and thou wilt bless the day
Ere the toil be done;
They that work not, can not pray,
Can not feel the sun.

God is living, working still,
All things work and move;
Work, or lose the power to will,
Lose the power to love."

--John Sullivan Dwight



Unusual leaves!

Raspberry bloom

"Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Luke 12:27"

"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things." Isaiah 45:7

Taking a family walk to admire the new fence!

We stop by the chickens and admire them also!

Our wonderful Dad!

Springtime!

Often on chilly mornings the mist creeps across the pond and from the woods, and transforms the air...

The canteloupe coloured grass is so unique--especially with the fresh honeydew of new pasture!

Ghostly layers of trees...

Mom's winter kale has bloomed with the warm weather.

We do not know what these lupine-like flowers are called, but we love them!

This message was on a taco package!

Spring brings an abundance of oxeyes.

"As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth."

Psalm 103:15

Nature's lace.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

Psalm 23:2

"The year's at the spring

And the day's at the morn;

Morning's at seven;

The hill-side's dew-pearled;

The lark's on the wing;

The snail's on the thorn;

God's in his heaven--

All's right with the world!"

--Robert Browning, Pippa Passes

Testing out the hoist!

I love the perspective here of how tall the trees are. We are in a pause of an army dodge ball game down near the back of the property in the "dodge ball field"--so called because that is all we use it for!

Deborah loves reading--like most of us!

Stephen's idea of how to pose for a portrait!

Three dedicated water lovers...

Triple Splash!

A trio of cute young people take a walk after their swim.

No. Ben did not take this picture and never will. On Saturday, we dove headfirst into the strawbale project again, and accomplished much!

The General asseses the project and gives suggestions...

Setting up for a fan

Lightbulb

-by Deborah

The various ways we relax at lunch break...

...before heading out again.

A cozy window

April

Here Nathaniel is feeding wires through conduit.

At the end of the day--conduit and switches done, fans installed and working, more stuffing of straw in the eaves, and--the whole place cleaned up after being a working area

Andrew at the top of the unused telephone pole

Decsending the pole

Spring Coreopsis and daisies...

On Sunday, these cows came from the end of our road, and having got into our neighbors fence, they stood and stared longingly through the fence at the hay we provide for our steer!

We were delighted when this Canada goose glided down, and sailed on our pond for a little, before deciding the pond was too small, and taking leave!

Photos From The Last Two Weeks...

This gorgeous Redbud was on one of the trails on the property. Many thanks to Elisha for the beautiful photo!

Meat chicks arrive!

New leaves near our gate

Haircuts!

"I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills..."

Micah found this small green tree snake, and brought it up to the house for us to see!

This awe inspiring wall of clouds was enormous! If you click on the picture, it will come up large and you can see how small the huge trees on the horizon look in comparison.

We had never seen evenly spaced windows in clouds before!

Andrew tends the burn barrel

Another beautiful good night

Stephen and Deborah help me transplant cabbages. They are fairly good at digging the holes!

I am so grateful to Ben and Elisha, who take such nice photos.