Sunday, March 20, 2016

Garden Time

I am so excited for gardening season this year. We have had a very mild and warm winter, therefore we have been able to get an early jump on our garden. It is usually raining too much to get started until about May. So we have taken advantage. Hubby rototilled two weeks ago and I went to the hardware store to get some of the cold crops that can be started this time of year here.

We planted peas with plastic chicken wire as a trellis for the peas to grow up. I used to do bush peas, but that was WAY too much bending. So last year we devised this plan, and it works wonderful to hold up the peas. After they are done we cut the zip ties holding it on and drag it out to the field for the goats to clean it up. Then we roll it up for the next use. Goats make great recyclers.


We also planted cabbage, garlic, green onions, and walla walla onions. We also planted two different kinds of lettuce.



I even got on the stick and dug up a couple starts of rhubarb from my mom. I see lots of strawberry rhubarb crisp in our future!





So we are trying something new this year with our potatoes. We had these huge plastic bins leftover from some fruit trees we planted. We hadn't gotten rid of them, but did not use them either. As we are trying to plant as much as we can this year in the existing plot, we need to be creative in our planting. So we are trying our potatoes inside these that sit next to the garden plot. That way as the plants start to grow we can add dirt to them with ease. I am so excited. Potatoes are our favorite thing to plant because it is a treasure hunt digging them up. We planted red, russet, and Yukon gold. Can't wait!





I will let you know how they work in these bins. Happy gardening! Now I have to go screen rocks.





Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Christmas 2012

Gardner Family Christmas 2012
This year has been a very good year around the farm. After a rough start with unemployment and lots of stress, we have ended the year well. We are all healthy and quite happy. I started working, Robb started working out of town. Addison & Logan are both doing paino, and Landon played soccer for the first time and loved it. We were going to move 2 hours away, but didn't feel it was the right time, we shall see about this summer.

In our new Christmas pj's. One of our favorite traditions is to get new pj's for Christmas.
Here is the house just after Santa left. Everything is set and ready. Addison said she woke up at 3am with excitment. Skipper decided to help himself to Santa's leftover Christmas cookies and I was up several times getting him out of things. Naughty little dog.

Logan on his maden voyage. He loved spinning out in the snow.
Big brother and little brother being boys!

Table all set for dinner. We got out the china and went all out to eat dinner in our pj's. It was great!
Of course, Skipper had to get into the holiday spirit with his new sweater. He slept through most of Christmas, but did love his new rope bones.

 Landon got a Razor tri-cycle and had fun riding it all around the house for the day. Logan and Landon even made a race track through the kitchen. Good thing we have a great room.
Addison finally got a nook to be able to keep up with all the reading she likes to do. I am sure every cent of her babysitting money will end up going to Barnes & Noble from now on.
Skipper and I just cuddling and enjoying the day.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

New Arrivals

Tuesday, February 28th these two little cutie pies joined us on Rainy Day Farm.
Rainy Day Farm Hillbilly Bone (Billy)
&
 Rainy Day Farm Sunny in Seattle (Sunny)
came shooting into the world.  They got their names from Blake Shelton songs, since I am a bit of a fan, and since we already have a Honey Bee.

 Billy is the one in front and Sunny is the darker one in back. Sunny is the adventurer and the rowdy girl, while Billy is a super sweet snuggler like his dad.
 Their mother, Maddie, was kind enough to wait until we got home from Logan's scout meeting. She had Sunny so fast that I missed the birth and got there just in time to clean her up. I have never had a delivery go that fast and am so glad everything ended up ok. I am sooooooo thankful that she waited until I could be there to help.
 They are 24 hours old here and loved being outside in the fresh air. They jumped and hopped and ran all over the place. Made their mother very nervous.
This is just a few hours after they were born. Up and ready to take on the world. It is amazing that within minutes of being born they are up and walking around. I did have to give them a blow dry because the night was a bit chilly.
Here is a little video of their first day outside. As you can tell by all the hopping, they like being outdoors.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Snow Days

A few weeks ago we got a wee (biggest snowstorm in 40 years) bit of snow. The first day was fun good snow, but then it turned ugly as most Washington snow does.

 Landon and Skipper decided to brave the 18 inches of snow, even though both of them do not have legs that are even 18 inches long.
 The wind drifted all over the place and this is what it did to the snow on our picnic table. It is amazing how the wind will shape and mold the snow in weird shapes.
 This is our back fence where most of the snow drifted. It was an amazing site for sure.
 Our poor heat pump was a solid chunk of ice. I am not even sure how it managed to work and heat our house. We were really lucky and only lost power for 1 hour. We had friends further up north that were without power for almost a week. One friend said she felt like a pioneer.
 The kids only were able to play in the snow the first day, but they made sure to make use of their time. Then it was inside for hot cocoa and cookies. The dogs both loved the snow. They were so excited to run around and chase the kids through the snow. Skipper rolled all over the place and had a blast. By Friday of that week we were all sporting a big case of cabin fever! We finally dug out on Friday morning and went to town for some bowling and dinner. It felt great to get out!
The snow was lovely and fun until the rain came and made a 1/2" layer of ice on top of the snow. It made it impossible to walk in and all of our trees took a beating. We lost several trees in the pasture due to the heavy load of ice. It was a pretty scary sound to hear trees snapping all over the place. Thankfully we do not have any large trees near the house. Other than being cooped up for a week we were prepared and good.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

New Favorite Snack

 My super awesome friend Megan, who is a very yummy cook, introduced me to this very yummy snack. You get this Greek yogurt dip at Costco and it is to die for. I pair it with pretzels or our all time favorite chip Food Should Taste Good Multi-Grain chip. When I eat this snack I don't feel as guilty. It tastes good and is good for you.We will be munching on this next week during the Super Bowl for sure. Happy snacking!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Sometimes it stinks to be tiny!

We have had a record breaking snowstorm here in the great Northwest and poor Skipper is not equipped with long enough legs for this kind of accumulation. He loves the snow and tries his best, but he really has to work at getting around. It sure is funny to watch though.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

We love our pup!

Addison & I love our little dog Skipper. He is our lap buddy, sleep buddy and all around cuddler. He is definately a woman's dog and has to be with us wherever we are in the house. If we lock him out he scratched and whines at the door until we let him in, and don't even think about leaving him at home. He LOVES to go in the car with us everywhere we go. We would be lost without our little munchkin.


Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thankful Heart

I am feeling very greatful today. I am greatful for a wonderful family who love and support me no matter what. I am also so thankful for great friends. God had lead wonderful people into my life to help me endure the bumps in the road of life. I am so greatful that the holidays are a joyous time for our family. May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Holiday season.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

November This and That

I had several pictures that were not really related to much of anything, but still fun. So, I decided to post them together in one fun mish mash of topics.

 Logan made a really neat model of the world. He had to take a picture because I had no idea how to store this for posterity. You can already see the cracks in it. He did a great job and it was a really fun project for him.
 Landon made this cute little feather head band at school for fall. You can tell by the look on his face that he is pretty proud of it.
 Logan finished up his last game for soccer. Here he is with his medal and his favorite soccer buddy Brett. They have been playing together since they were 4 and were so excited to be on the same team.
 We let Honey Bee come visit in the house one day and she loved running all over the couch. She is sniffing Addison and I think Addison is a little scared! Maybe she is afraid of goat cooties.

I just love crisp fall mornings. The front yard just looked so beautiful that I had to grab the camera.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Easy (Microwave) Halloween Carmel Corn


 
In honor of Halloween today I am posting a really great recipe that I stumbled on last week when I was looking for a fall snack for watching this...



I was looking for a different recipe when I found this one in a cookbook my mom gave me. It is super easy and super yummy! So here we go.

Carmel Corn
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. Karo syrup
pinch of salt
1 t. vanilla
1/4 t. soda
6 qt. popped popcorn
(three bags of microwave popcorn, any flavor)
In a glass bowl, put brown sugar, Karo syrup, butter, and salt, microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir and microwave for 2 more minutes. Add vanilla, baking soda and stir together and pour over 6 popped popcorn in a brown paper sack. Stir with large spoon and shake bag. Roll down top of sack and microwave 1 1/2 minutes on high. Shake. Microwave 1 1/2 minutes more. Pour onto large pan or bowl and let cool. Break apart and enjoy!

This recipe makes ALOT of popcorn, so you may want to bag some up and share with some friends. It is ready in about 10 minutes and gone in about 5 minutes. I love this flavor, because it reminds me of Cracker Jacks. So good! Hope you enjoy it! Hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween!