Back From Staycation

After a very hot and extremely dry July,

August brought us some much needed showers.

This rain happened to coincide with our Staycation,

but didn't put a damper on things at all.

We were lucky to get overnight and early morning showers,

which cooled down the days considerably.

With little ones here for three days, we were lucky to be able 

to play outside quite a bit.

We had tea parties in the garden playhouse...

We crowned a king and queen of the haystack...

My son, who loves to cook, treated us to pizza in our 

outdoor wood-fired pizza oven.

He has been perfecting his own crust recipe for months...

and all of the practice was well worth it,

because it is the best pizza crust I have ever tasted!

While the fire in the pizza oven died down, we built

up a fire in the fire pit and roasted marshmallows.

S'mores for dessert is becoming a farm tradition.

I still have memories of childhood picnics in my aunt and uncle's

picnic pavilion... so I know these little ones will carry 

these memories through their lifetime as well.

After three days at the farm, little ones returned home Friday

evening- and we enjoyed a quiet weekend here at the farm.

With temperatures in the 80's we were able to spend a lot of time

outside.

Saturday we went for a 30 mile bike ride through the countryside.

We stopped at a local Post Office to drop of Etsy packages,

then continued on into a predominately Amish area

to look for more elastic in an Amish dry goods store.

Here is a video of that ride. [link if needed]

I was able to finish a shawl that I had been knitting,

and listed it in my Etsy store.

(It is sold, now.)

I began knitting a pair of fingerless mitts.

With color inspiration from our morning glories...

And found a little time to sew more masks...

with many more already cut out ready to sew.

I am also doing a few hand embroidered masks of my own design...
"fancy" ones, as Mackenzie would say.

I installed a mailbox on the front of Maven Haven...

just in case!
I'll let you in on a little secret...
one of my favorite things each day is going to the mailbox...
and when there is "good" mail for me...
well, that's just the best thing!

 Saturday afternoon, I took a trip back down to the creek...

to dig up that red cardinal flower that I had found along the shore.

(It's now planted in my garden.)

I hiked along the upper bank of the stream in search of

some colorful fungus that I had seen earlier in the week.

I had to crab-walk to get down to the edge of this hill,

so as not to tumble over the cliff, into the stream.... about 20 feet below me.

My mission was successful and I harvested a few lovely

pieces of this fungus that I will dry to use in decor.

After leaving the creek,

I sat, quietly, in our "Field of Dreams" watching a fawn play in the grass...

a magical moment.
I didn't move a muscle as she walked closer and closer towards me
before scampering off into the tall grass in search of her Mama.

I've missed caring for our animals over the past week...

as those chores were largely done by friends and neighbors,

so as to give us a week's vacation.

But like every vacation... even those in which we never 

leave the farm... it's good to be back home again taking care of my

furred and feathered loves!