front garden

I took the boys to an all-city everyone participates track meet today, but forgot my camera. Both boys did the high jump, Christian ran the 100 and I ran the predict a mile where you predict how long your mile will take and the person with the closest actual time wins. I was very conservative on my time. It was really my walking time. I had a rough time on the run because of the heat and high pollen count. I had to walk part of the race. Even with all of those factors taken in my actual time was 1:15 faster then my estimate. We will go next week and will use this weeks time as my guess.
I took photos of my garden since I could not get pics of the track meet. Next week I will remember the camera. I told Christian he could photograph me on my race too.

layouts

It has been a while since I have posted layouts. Here are some I have done lately...


Credits: Rainforest by Alana McCarthy at scrapbookgraphics

Kit: Another Day in Paradise by Lindsay Jane Designs



Credits: Template - Flying Solo 2 by Hillary Heidelberg at scrapbookgraphics, Kits - Oceanside by Melissa Bennett, 365, For Melissa & What Dreams May Come by MGL Scraps



Credits: Kit - More Moments by Lindsay Jane Designs

Credits: Watermasks by Hillary Heidelberg.

herbal infusions and artwork

I am taking advatage of all our herbs and making herbal teas. Today my infusion has rasberry leaves, lemon balm, peppermint, lavendar and rose pedals. I bring a big pot of water to a boil, cut the herbs from the garden. When the water is boiling, I pull it off the heat and add the herbs. I let it infuse for 20-30 minutes. I drink it hot when it is fresh, then put the rest in the refridgerator and drink it cold. It is very refreshing on a hot afternoon.

Liam decided he wanted to take the different scooters and make Thomas train this afternoon.

Bug Control - The Natural Way

We added two more birds to our flock. Muscovy Ducks. I have been reading about how duck eggs are much better for baking than chicken eggs and they are also excellent for slug and insect control. They don't trash the gardens the way chickens do. They might nibble a bit, but the amount they eat is probably much less than the bugs they like to eat cosume.
I am waiting for the hens to retire for the night and I will move the these two into the hen house.
The boys picked them out and named them. Rascal and Rosie

Happy Father's Day and First day of summer

I am making pesto pasta today for our Father's Day dinner. I made the pasta in a pestal and mortar and will roll out homemade egg pasta (with eggs from our chickens) in a few minutes. I will also pick lettuce from the garden to make a salad.

Rasberry season is here! I have all the supplies on hand to make freezer jam. We will also be enjoying them fresh off the vine.

Lightning Bolt is quite the flyer. I was getting ready to dump the kitchen scraps in the hen house and she flew onto my arm and used it as a perch. She and Boofy are also quite friendly. We did a good job on domesticating them.

New Shoes - Kind of...

Today is one of my favorite events of the year in Portland. The Annual Laurelhurst Garage Sale. Laurelhurst is a nice neighborhood about three miles from here. I like this sale because the people in the neighborhood own nice things and sell the nice things they are tired of for good prices. When I had babies, I would buy name brand baby clothes at the sale.
I rode my bike around the neighborhood and checked out the different sales. My favorite conquest are these shoes. They are all designer brands, they are all cute and they cost $14 all together. They show signs of being worn once or twice, but are still practially new.

Horseback riding

A friend of mine from high school raises horses. We went out to visit her today. The boys got to feed and groom the horses. Both boys were given the opprotunity to ride a horse. Liam did not want to, but Christian did. Christian did very good on the horse and had a lot of fun. Liam enjoyed playing with the hose and rocks while his brother was horseback riding.
I had a nasty migraine coming on while we were out there and it hit full force while driving home since my meds were at home. I have an appointment with my doctor to discuss my migraines and how we can treat them with non-narcotic drugs.