eggs and young men

What do these two things have in common?

... they have both arrived at the farm...

My nephew Will, has come to Big Table to work for about 6 weeks. He's been a great help so far..
among many of the farm projects Will has done... he has: worked in the gardens, watered trees, cleared brush, moved goat pens, chipped burn piles and helped b chop down a tree... He's been very busy and I'm sure will go home to Wisconsin thinking this farming thing is for the birds... : )





And our hens are finally starting up we are only 4 eggs a day at the moment (I'm hoping for closer to 15-20 but I know I must be PATIENT!!!) it's exciting to see them starting to come in though! : ) go hens go!!

On the being grateful side

Porter rocks!..life without your girl friend would just be sad and empty!!!. she just came to visit for 4 days and pretty much saved my ass... remember that pathetic "poor me" post .. well between pampering me with an amazing spa day and hanging around in Portland together she also worked in my garden , planted some of my poor suffering plants and was my hands, shoulder and general pick you up off the floor friend for 4 days!! I love you darlin' THANK GODNESS for you!!!

what a 4th...

We had a completely impromptu 3rd and 4th and amazingly everyone brought just what we needed... Thank you everyone for coming that was the least work (none to be exact) I've ever done for a 20 person BBQ at my house ! .. Thanks to all for such a fun party and happy birthday to Roisin!!



(Brian having fun)


(Thanks Alex for all the grilling)


(Thanks Joseph for the tomatoes, berries and onions)


(this photo thanks to joseph!)





(even chief enjoyed the berry cobbler)






Porter thanks for doing (all the things I couldn't!!)











(the ice cream makin' was so fun and yummy!! thanks Laura)










(Thanks Christina for braving allergies to pick wildflowers)


(this photo thanks to joseph!)

feeling grateful

I've been totally overwhelmed by everyone's outpouring of love, good thoughts, prayers, flowers, and care packages. Thank you to everyone for being so supportive. Special thanks to Mom and Dad, who put their summer on hold for a week plus to help Brian and I feed animals, take care of the garden, etc. etc. You guys are the best.

The news on the arms: I'm healing up really well; faster than any of the MD's thought, thanks in part to all the good lovin' you guys have been doin'. I'm due to get the casts off this Friday, at which time I will get braces...not sure for how long yet. I'm getting lots more mobile and can finally work again. The farm work is still out of reach for maybe a couple more weeks to a month--thank God I have such a wonderful husband, who was the one who picked the colors of these casts for Port and Starboard.

So, news on the farm: We got our first egg two days ago, which means we should be in full production in a couple of weeks... the chickens are taking very well to the chicken bus and stay close and are truly free range with copious amounts of what ever they want grass, bugs etc in addition to organic layer pellets on demand.. they pretty much have the good life.. despite this a few still insisted on coming into the house with one on the counter that was not ok... (they where NOT welcome to stay)...

We got our new baby goats and they're the cutest things ever. Roisin has named them for us: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
The month of June has been incredibly beautiful. It's been in the 60s and the 70s, and sunny nearly every day, and the wildflowers are going crazy. We have these huge fields of daisies that are beyond words. So that definitely helps the spirits these days.

So the lesson with the arms has been learning to just be and not do. It's the old sit back and smell the flowers... Clementine seems to have it down... : ) and I'm doing my best ..

the new "flop house"

Joseph and Brian took the new goat shed up the hill yesterday evening! It' very exciting as the temporary goat shelter for rain and shade was made of an embarrassing combo of bungies and tarps it wasn't pretty... so now we have yet another mobile unit for our farm on wheels... this shelter will move around with the goats where ever they go they seem to have takin to it right away and it's big enough that it will accommodate our new boys coming at the end of June...


Flops and scooter checkin' out there new home.... hence the new name for this mobile unit.. the "flop house" named thanks to Joseph...







The "CARVERLAITERMEISTERMAN" ridin' on the tractor


This is the new log splitter... and no I don't mean Joseph.. it's the first tractor implement we bought brand spankin' new!!! from OVS ... Mr. Gauna and Dara you won't have to worrie about those "unsplittables" anymore and although I'm sure this December I will miss swinging the maul in the freezing cold at 6 am to get a fire going I'll remember it fondly : )


I'm also trying a new photo size I felt like those little photos just didn't do it... but if these are too slow let me know and I'll go back to the smaller ones..