Crazy Week

The last two weeks of school are always so crazy in this household. Between me working and then the end of the year festivities, simple things get pushed aside. Monday was a class picnic which I painted faces for 3 hours, this was crazy because by the end, my rear end was killing me from sitting on a picnic bench for those hours. A lot of the kids wanted curly mustaches and uni-brows. Not sure what that was about but OK. Then I had the little girls who wanted hearts with initials in them. Are they really thinking about that at this age???

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Tuesday was a Country Fair which 2 of my friends and myself had a booth at. It was great to see all the kids one last time before the school year ended.

They even had a fire truck hosing the kids off at the end.

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Wednesday...work and PT.

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Thursday...strawberry picking in the morning and then chiropractor appointment in the afternoon. The strawberry season is weird this year. Apparently the whole state is in some sort of berry shortage. The plants have been dying in the fields and the berries aren't as red as they usually are. But they are still sweet to eat and Graydon at I picked 8-1/2 pounds of them in about a 1/2 hour. I have been non-stop eating them the last two days. I'm not joking when I tell you I have eaten about 100 strawberries. Yummmm! I also made strawberry shortcake Thursday night and last night I made one batch of jam (8 jars). It is a little too sweet for me but Todd and Graydon love it.

I also have a bunch of new pottery listed on my etsy site. You can see it here .
Since last weeks Strawberry Fest was a totally wash out, I have a bunch of berry bowls to sell. I will be listing more items throughout the weekend. Stay tuned for berry bowls, sponge holders, welcome plaques and more.
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Yesterday I went to the doctors about my knee and he gave me a clean bill of health to start back up running. So last night my running partner called and I told her the good news. This morning at 7:00 AM we were hitting the streets. We only ran 2.2 miles this morning and walked 1.1. I did a lot of stretching and the knee feels great. The orthotics are a different story. It actually felt good to run in them but my right heal is slipping a little bit, on top of I feel like I am 10' tall now. But it is totally worth it!! No pain!!! Yea me! Now let's keep on this road!!!

Weekend Recap

This weekend was pretty much a wash as far as the Strawberry Fest goes. I decided at around 6:30AM not to go after I turned the weather channel on and saw what was in store for the day. Downpours all day long, does not make for a great craft show! Upon speaking to Nancy and telling her what I had decided I ended up back in bed for an hour. The night before I got to bed at around 1:00 AM and then got up at 5:30 AM to start loading things into the truck. I am very disappointed that I did not attend the fest. I was really looking forward to it and also hanging out with my pal, Nancy of Round Rabbit . What a bummer!!!

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So needless to say I was hanging out all day with no energy to speak of, icing and heating my knee and reading Confessions of a Shopaholic. Cute book...and movie comes out tomorrow. I'll get through the book before I catch the movie. So...again, seriously nothing on accomplished on Saturday!

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Sunday...Happy belated Father's Day to all you Dad's out there. I didn't get a chance to post anything but we spent the day just hanging out. Todd and Graydon got up and went to a motorcycle race where our neighbors Grandson came in 2nd. I guess it was a complete mud bath and they came home covered. I on the other hand, ran to the studio to unload a glaze firing and did a couple of things. When I got home I loaded up some pottery orders and delivered them to friends for teacher gifts. When I got home Todd had mowed the lawn even though the rain had left standing water all over the yard, but if he hadn't, we would have had to hay it, it was so long. Todd's parents came over for dinner and we just enjoyed the evening.

Here is my veggie garden I have told you all about. It is finally coming along nicely, although you can't really see but there is tons of water in it. I tried to bail out the potatoes yesterday but the ground is so full of water that it just seeped back in. To the left of the pic is beans, tomatoes and peas. To the right are more tomatoes, potatoes and zucchini. On the far end are more squash, corn, cucs, toms, pumpkins and tons more stuff. I am happy that the garden is starting to flourish although I did go out there yesterday and something pulled some plants out....Ugh!

While Graydon was swinging on his swing, a chickadee baby flew out of the birdhouse smack right into the chickens house. He was so stunned that I was able to pick him up and hold him for while. The concerned look on Graydon face is because he was afraid to hold this little baby in fears that he would hurt him. I just love chickadees....their so cute! I wanted to keep this little guy forever, especially when he didn't want to leave my hands.

After putting him on the pine tree the mom immediately found him and off they went together...

thanks to the baby for the wonderful experience!

And here is my almost 10 year old who never gets tired of his swing!!

Thank goodness, stop growing up too fast!!

Oh so blue...

Living up here where we do, gives me great pleasure in viewing all the wildlife. From birds to deer to bears (yes, bears) and porcupines to everything else you can imagine. Sunday night we were eating dinner on our patio when Todd told me that there was a bluebird on one of our posts grooming himself. Well I grabbed the camera which was nearby and slowly walked over to the bird. He took off to the power line but then a car scared him back my way and to my luck, he landed right where I was standing. On the top of our flagpole.
His coloring is so beautiful...

Then yesterday I was in our office on the computer, when I looked out my window to see these scruffy baby bluebirds. The mom and dad kept flying over to feed them while I was watching...

This is a same view of the bird feeder but from our bedroom.

These guys hung out for most of the early morning.

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I ventured out to my veggie garden holding my breath the whole way there in fears that the crows pulled my plants out again...but yea!!, they didn't and it is starting to thrive! Once the sun is back out I will take some photos for all of you to see. I counted my tomato plants and oh boy, I have over 24 of them!! Canning here I come!!!

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But while I was out in the garden I had a wonderful surprise. The baby chipping sparrows and their parents were popping in and out of the garden getting bugs to eat!

I was so happy to see all of them again.

On to the creative news. I have been slowly trying to get ready for the Strawberry Festival this Saturday in Owego, NY. Here are some of my treasures I unloaded from the kiln yesterday. The larger bowls are already spoken for but I will have these cute little berry bowls for sale. I glazed two more plus some welcome signs and bird feeders yesterday.

Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather on Saturday!

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Well, I'm off to shower and then to physical therapy. Today is the first day and boy do I hope they can help me. To let you all know, I have injured my knee and I am praying that it isn't something more than what they are telling me. So far they have diagnosed it as bursitis and tendinitis...but let me tell you, it's not a picnic. I have never felt knee pain like this before and although my right knee has always bothered me and I even had some minor surgery on it, this left knee is killing me. Keep good thoughts coming my way for a speedy recovery.

I'm tired of being injured!

Weekend Misfits

What an incredible weekend we had here in Upstate New York. The temps were in the high 70's and a slight breeze. The sun was out most of the time in full force which made it a little warm working out in the gardens. Yesterday morning I was laying in bed watch these clouds roll by. Todd woke up and I told him to look at the clouds and his comment was "Hey, they look like The Simpsons clouds"...this made me laugh out loud. They do don't they, you know in the beginning of the program where the song starts...OK so maybe you don't watch The Simpsons so take my word for it but the occasional times we have, stuck in his head.
I wandered around our property seeing what was in bloom and where I needed to start weeding. Let me tell you, this garden that these peonies are in needs desperate help. Field grass has taken over and I'm not quite sure how to tackle this problem. I guess a lot of digging and pulling the roots out. Oh what fun it is!

Mr. Frogger has shown up at our little pond on our patio. He is finally getting use to me peeping at him all the time. He is pretty big with a good size stomach. I love his coloring too. His bottom half is a muddy brown where as the rest of him is gorgeous greens. Can you believe I actually put gorgeous and frog together in the same sentence? But you know, you really need to see the beauty in each and every thing you look at, if its a frog or a snail or even a slug. I was in my broccoli and cauliflower patch yesterday weeding and there were tons of slugs. OK I admit, I squished them but before I did I was checking out their colors. Burnt sienna, rust, brown and tan....I'm a wierdo I know!

This big fat bumble bee was just hanging out taking what he needs when I was snapping these pics. After I took the photos and put them on the computer to change their size and what not, I zoomed in on his wings. If you can click on the photo above, check them out.

Pretty amazing...the structure and color!

I just can't resist nests especially if they are full. Last year I found a little nest in my bush so this year I kept my eyes peeled for a new one. Sure enough, chipping sparrows built this tiny nest close enough where I could watch them in action. One day there were eggs, three beautiful blue with brown spot eggs. I watched every day, talking to the mama bird so she would try and get use to me. To my surprise, two of the eggs hatch into scrawny little birds with only tuffs of feather on their sides. Each day I looked and each day they got a little bit bigger and a little more feathers. One week passed and these babies looked like the photo above. They were almost ready to fledge the nest. Boy, was I sad to see them go!! I felt a little bit of motherly instinct take over wanting to keep them safe. Yesterday I was out in the yard when I decided to take a peek, only one baby left. He/she took out of the nest in a shot, but was not a very good flyer. He went way too far from is parents and I got a little nervous as he crashed to the ground. He almost looked a little stunned so I went over and picked him up. He cuddle to my chest as he regained his tiny little head.

Graydon ran in the house and gabbed our camera and took this shot. The baby kept opening his mouth for us...we tried to feed him a squished worm but he really didn't know what to do with it. Finally I decided to put him back into the nest and he hung out there waiting for his parents to show back up. Very quickly is mama and papa came to see him and they flew off together.

Baby and parents found refuge in one of our pine trees. I hope today to see him again,

my little feathered friend!

Crow Anyone?

Why this photo of the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz you might ask. Well I need him!!! I replanted the garden on Monday during a day that was so humid you could cut it with a knife. Yesterday after the thunder and lightening storms, I went out to view my progress and the bast$#@s pulled up my plants again!! Now I am beginning to think it is crows and not deer or chippies! Whats a girl to do? My mother-in-law has a scarecrow for me to use and he is going to be planted in the middle of the garden and boy he better do his job! OR ELSE I will have to be forced into something I don't want to do!! I'll be like one of those crazy hillbillies shooting at everything that moves! :)

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On another note...I have been slacking in the creating field lately so this afternoon and tonight I will have to step it up a notch. I've got orders to fill and stuff to stock up on. Strawberry Fest is right around the corner and I am in need for some dinero right now. I need a outfit for a wedding coming up in July. I have an idea and I will have to see if I execute it. Stay tuned for the progress on finding a dress (which by the way I have not worn in years). Why you might ask? Well I'm just not comfortable in dresses and I don't like the way they fit me because I have such a long torso. Well me and my bright idea maybe pulling a Project Runway here.

Let's see if I can impress Christian...

Up Early

I was up bright and early this morning in hopes to be able to catch a bear on film last night. The night before last, we had a visitor here on the farm. Although he did not exactly ruin anything here, he did at my in-laws, which live directly behind us. Every bird feeder was mangled including the hummingbird feeders. We had borrowed a night camera from a friend in hopes to catch a critter that had been roaming our farm killing animals and leaving their bodies behind (we think a raccoon or coyotes), but to no luck we never caught it on film. Oh, not our animals....

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We still had the camera, so Todd put it up at his parents house last night in hopes the bear would return for another meal. Seed was spread on the lawn, camera in position.....and

NOTHING!!

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What a bummer...
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Well, we'll try again tonight. In the meantime I will be working at the pottery studio this morning, putting my monthly hours in and then I am off to but more plants for the garden. Hopefully I can still find the plants I need to replace. And on top of that...deer scram and liquid fence will be spread along the perimeter of the fence. I will prevail!!

Gardening Frustration

So I am not 100% sure what exactly decided to take my vegetable garden and use it for their dinner but whatever it is ,(deer, chipmunk, rabbit, crow) they are in serious trouble. Yesterday I went out to the garden and everything was fine, today, not so much. Cucumbers, some tomato plants, pumpkins, squash, corn, sunflowers, beans and peppers...PRETTY MUCH ALL GONE!!

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What's a girl to do? I guess I have to go and buy all new plants...and considering I started almost everything from seed, it's money down the pooper, literally. I will have to be like those old fashioned gardeners who have tin pans on each of the fence posts or maybe I'll just have the guys pee around the perimeter of the garden...(no, not in it)!

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Tomorrow will be a trip to Lowe's, Painted Daisy or Agway!!! Ugh!

Twins

I finally have two minutes to myself (hopefully), before I have to run off to another baseball game tonight. I feel like I have been living in my car all week long and tomorrow is no different. Today for example: Get Graydon on the school bus, leave the house to take Callie to the vet, come home, woof lunch down, in my car to the post office, back in the car to my job, leave my job, back in the car to Lowe's, then home for a grand total of 10 minutes, back in the car to school, pick Graydon up, back in the car to the Orthodontist, leave the orthodontist and then back in the car to home....ugh!! Now we have to eat dinner and then off to a baseball game for 2-1/2 hours!! Geez, and Todd wonders why I can't get anything done at home!
Yesterday morning I woke up and was standing by our bedroom window stretching when I saw these two yearlings. Notice the top photo is of them checking out what's good in the vegetable garden to eat. They did not attempt to make the jump over the fence into the garden for now. They just meandered away to find other things to eat.
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Can I just tell you that I am happy that the week is almost over.
Hello to the weekend!!

Slacker of the Blog Too!!

So my friend Nancy may have me beat for the slacker of the blog lately. I have been so busy working, working and more working, so it seems like this has been low on the totum pole. Oh by the way Nancy, sorry I called you out on this one :)

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I have been feeling really healthy lately so I guess I am making up for lost time. Between outside the home work, my fingers have been really busy creating. I have been so graciously invited to participate in a lawn show on June 20th by Nancy of RoundRabbit. It is the day of the Owego Strawberry Fest and her house is right near the action. I have been making berry bowls galore...in all sizes too! Amongst the bowls, bird feeders are a new addition to my pottery line. Stay tuned for some photos of them in action!

And speaking of action...from my computer I can see up close and personal all the birds that frequent my feeder. This morning was so adorable. This little adult house sparrow on the right was feeding his babies. There ended up being a total of 3 babies that were begging for food, following this parent around. I felt so bad for the parent, he couldn't even have one bite himself before these three were bugging him. But I do have to say the babies were adorable!

Some people frown upon these birds, calling them a nuisance, but I happen to love them!

Check out my alliums in full bloom!

And one of my many irises I have. I do have to say that irises are one of my favorite flowers. I may even try to create a new variety myself!

This yellowy-orange is such a stunner in my flower bed!

Oh and guess what? I started harvesting some greens in my garden. Baby spinach, baby romaine and mixed greens galore. Good thing I eat a salad every day for lunch...

Yesterday was so yummy...I included some dill and basil leaves to the mix, along with some baby radishes. Now if I can only get the tomatoes to start producing we'll be all set!

Friday afternoon I picked up my nieces, Shea and Ahne to spend the night. The next morning we were outside playing when they discovered this yellow swallowtail butterfly hanging out on my pink lilac. The girls were so excited and followed this butterfly around the yard.

Can you say hello to summer?

And here is the clan of kids...

Shea, Graydon and Ahne!