Who cares which foot the shoe goes on...

It was great fun to splash in the mud puddles....

And nobody cared whether your shoes were on the wrong feet or not....

April Showers bring May flowers...

We were getting some April showers today so we thought we would take the ducks out to see how they would like playing in the rain.

They wandered all around in the grass checking out this great new world.

And I am sure they wondered what these strange duck feet were and where the duck was they belonged to...

The boys loved running in the rain along with the ducks...

Isn't she cute with her pants rolled up? The duck thinks she is the mother duck.

They kept trying to find someone they could follow. Mark wasn't too sure about that!

They are enjoying this! See their happy faces!

Not sure who is having the most fun here. The boys or the duck.

A duck is just made for water. What else can we say?
But all good things must come to an end.

Come to Mama so you can go back to your indoor home where wild animals won't eat you!

We have baby ducks!

We went to our local Orschelin farm store and the ducks and chicks have arrived. So the boys picked out the four they liked the best and we brought them home.

Aren't they adorable at this stage? Now the question is and I don't really want to know the answer. How do we know if they are boys or girls cause we want to eventually raise baby ducks. Guess I'll get on the Internet and get educated.

Mark named his something like Peep and Quack..

Of course Koda named his Thomas and Gordon. He's really into trains right now as you can tell.

On the way home Mark said a real farm has two things we don't have. Cows and horses. I told him we have a "farmette" because we won't have those two things. I like to keep things small. Like ducks and chickens.

Rachel was checking out the rabbits but no way.

I need a banty hen because they make such good mamma's and will take care of chickens whether they are hers or not. I am sure the same goes for ducks.

My chicken pen may have to get larger!

And I love to hear the chickens clucking away in the sunshine while I am working in the garden.

Aah, the simple life. If you haven't heard or seen from me for a while, I'm just busy "down on the homestead/farm." I'll be back some day.

It's turkey season again...the hunt is on!

Here's my son Kevin going after those elusive turkeys! Didn't see any this day but season goes for two weeks.

Rachel's Focaccia Bread Recipe...

This was the best sandwich I have ever eaten. Here's her recipe.

Ingredients:
Water 80 degrees, 1 cup
Olive Oil 1/3 cup
Sugar 2 tsp.
Salt 1 and 1/2 tsp.
Bread Flour 3 cups
Dried Italian Seasoning 1 tsp.
Active Dry Yeast 2 tsp

Select Pizza dough cycle on your bread machine.

With oiled hands, evenly press dough into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Using your fingertips, make indentations in the dough.

Cover, let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes or until doubled in size.

Brush bread with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and rosemary.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool and slice into sandwich sizes. Fill with your favorite filling.

Rachel's Sandwich Filling:

Chicken from Deli
Cooked Bacon
Provolone Cheese

Layer inside bread and toast in oven till cheese has melted.

What happens when your daughter sees a snake in her house?

My daughter Rachel called me about 10:30 last night to tell me that she was "inviting" me over. And I needed to bring some boots, some gloves and a flashlight. It seems Steve seen a snake go across the kitchen floor and go under the dishwasher.
These are my snake hunting essentials.

And I thought it was pretty rude of her to take a picture of my "rear end" while I had my head in her kitchen cabinets looking for a snake. I "edited" it so hopefully it wouldn't look so BIG!

Needless to say, the snake was not to be found. I pictured the whole family probably spent the night all huddled up in one bed sure that the snake was going to eat them some time during the night.

At least I was color coordinated!

The fish are biting down at the pond!

My son Kevin showing off the Channel Cat that he caught this evening down at the pond. Was starting to thunder. My dad always told me the fish bite just before a rain. Hmmm...

Guess we need to think about restocking the pond again this year so we will have lots of fish.

Trying something new in the Greenhouse this year!

I decided this year that we would try something different and plant some stuff directly in the ground inside the greenhouse. The roof is not totally clear as the sides are so I think that will be a plus. So I planted some tomatoes and some peppers right next to the south wall so they could get some sunshine.
Poppy ran his new tiller that he is so proud of. Likes to show me he can guide it with one hand


This little critter was hiding in the leaves when we raked them back


Poppy likes to pick these things up. They don't bother me but I don't plan on picking them up either.

And guess what else we found hiding in this pile of leaves in the corner?


Isn't it precious? Hope his mother is still around. And hope I didn't just plant their supper. And I hope snakes don't eat bunnies since they are both living in the same house!


After tilling the ground up Poppy added some peat to help enrich the soil.


Grandson Mark wanted to help do his part.


We planted heirloom tomatoes this year so we could save the seeds and grow them again next year. You can't do that with hybrids because they won't come back true to form. Good thing to remember when planting gardens during hard times. Learn to save seeds from vegetables and flowers. When I was a little girl I would follow my grandma around picking seeds from her flowers so I could take them to my house and plant them. And I was only about 5 or 6.

I also planted red peppers, green peppers, orange peppers, and yellow banana peppers as well as mild jalapeno peppers. I think I will also plant a few onions in here to see how they will do. The ground is so soft and wonderful after we got done adding peat to it.

Then I added straw to cover what we had just planted. Hope this will keep down the weeds and keep the soil moist at the same time.

It's kinda an experiment so we'll see how it goes. I may have to get some ventilation going when it starts getting hot. At least I won't have to worry about frost or hailstones!!

By the way, the price of plants seemed unreal to me. I paid $3.50 per plant at my local Wal-Marts for tomatoes this year. Planting a garden is getting expensive as is everything else in life in this day and time.

But what a wonderful feeling it is to be planting your own food and watching it grow.

Happy Easter to you all

Went to church services at two different places this morning and then hit the grocery store for some last minute things I needed to pick up for our Easter supper tonight. Hope your Easter was a special time celebrated with family and friends!

Rachel is listening intently to someone but Steve looks a little bored.

My oldest son Kevin trying out the dessert.

Jennifer finally gets her turn holding the baby as Abbey watches on.

Here's my sister Janet with her son Spencer. They just got back in the states from Mexico where they live part of the year.

Don't you love this picture of the grand-kids? Cousins are special.

Spencer is my buddy and calls me "Nana"! I consider that a special privilege!! We're trying to keep warm this cool Easter day.

We're all too stuffed to move too far off the couches.

Steve brings Kaden in for his first Easter dinner. My dad is in the background.

Here's Caleb relaxing. He just bought his first truck. Will be driving soon!

Poppy is making sure Kaden doesn't feel left out. We are so blessed that he is doing good and celebrating his very first Easter at home with the family!

So glad my dad made it and we snapped a quick four generation picture.

Hope your Easter was as enjoyable as mine.

Great-Granpa Hicks meets Kaden Stinson...

Let's see, this must be four generations, (Me, My dad, Kaden and Rachel)

The newest Great-Grandbaby, but not for long as Yevette will soon be having another one to add to the family.

Muleskinner and Tool Belt Jim Making a Tool Shed...

Poppy's Brother Mule Skinner brought over some logs that he wanted cut up into lumber so he could build a tool shed. Now I thought he was building his wife "Mother Dear" a potting shed but that must be coming later. What a beautiful day it was to be working outside too!

Poppy is loading some already cut up lumber onto the trailer.

Mule Skinner and Poppy's  dad " Allis Man" is watching. He use to have his own sawmill and was a logger in Oregon so he and "Mrs. Allis" came over to watch the goings on. They are Allis Chalmers tractor fans.

Can you tell Mule Skinner is enjoying this?

My guess is "Mrs. Allis" is enjoying watching her boys working together.

Poppy  has one of the logs loaded and is taking it to the sawmill for cutting up.

Measuring one of the logs so he'll know where to cut it.

Cutting the log with the chain saw.

The log has been placed on the sawmill ready to be sawed into lumber.

Notice Poppy  is working the controls from the end.

Here Mule Skinner is using the cant hook to turn the log.

And turn it some more.

Mule Skinner is giving directions.

Isn't this a great project for family to be doing together on a sunny day?

And I am so glad Allis Man and Mrs. Allis got to come.

Poppy and Allis Man checking out the controls that run the sawmill.

Mule Skinner told me these large beams will be used as skids for the Tool Shed.

Best seat in the place if you ask me.

My guess is this is the left over stuff that goes to the burn pile.

And here's the Wallace clan gathered at the sawmill.

O.K. "Mother Dear" it's your turn next to get that "potting shed."