No Plans... Still Busy!

Every once in a while, it is good to have a weekend with absolutely no plans. 

 It seems like our weekdays are so busy of late, it felt great to have two days with nothing scheduled.  Of course, it never stays that way... because invariably, something comes up... like Sunday's last minute hay delivery.

But still, the weekend was relatively relaxing.  Brood 10 cicadas made their appearance... in a big way.  These big, red-eyed bugs are all over the place right now...

though, quiet for the time being, they should make for a relatively noisy summer here on the farm!  Seventeen years ago, this brood went underground and have not emerged until now.  They will visit for the summer and then return to the earth for another 17 years.  Amazing!

Their old shells are hanging from everything.... trees, fences... everywhere!  There must be something we can do with all these empty carcasses!

Timed perfectly, the peonies opened in conjunction with the cicada arrival. ( I might be just a little more excited about the peonies.)

It was a weekend of spectacular weather.  Sunny, but hot.  We desperately need rain and I am hoping that today's prediction holds true.  

Mornings are the most pleasant time of the day and are perfect for eating breakfast outside on the deck.

We had asparagus-morel mushroom quiche...

and chocolate croissants with our morning tea...

as the sun rose high into the sky.

We took a long (28 mile round trip) bike ride to the local Amish bike shop to check on the status of Hubbs' bike.  For safety reasons, he traded-in his road bike with skinny tires for a wider-tired gravel bike.  Our roads are rather unpredictable out here in the country, and a bike accident is something we'd like to avoid.

I love the change of wildflowers that we witness on our rides during the spring, summer and autumn.  Right now there are so many mountain phlox blooming along the roadsides.  In some places, it is literally a carpet of pink and purple.

A closed covered bridge didn't stop us... we simply walked our bikes across (shhh....don't tell!) This part of Pennsylvania has a good share of covered bridges.  

Once home, I headed back out with a scissors to cut some of the phlox to bring in the house...

Farm chores were un-eventful... just the way we like it!  I was thinking that picking up manure would be a completely thankless job if it wasn't something I enjoyed so much.  I often wonder if the horses take note of the fact that I am constantly cleaning up after them....

And just a moment after I cleaned up this corner, Moonie took the opportunity to make another deposit.

Don't worry, Moonie.... I'll get it!

Sunday morning we took delivery on a load of fresh hay.  It's been the perfect hay-drying weather.  Our neighbors Anna and Jarod always help us stow the hay in the barn.  It's heavy work.  We gals loaded all of the hay on the elevator and sent it up to the second floor of the barn, where the guys piled it neatly.

Even Anna's oldest girl, Becca, helped.  It's great to have help... and necessary, too!

I wanted to show you the gallon of honey that we got from last summer's wild beehive.  Sadly, the bees did not make it through the winter... not for lack of honey, that's for sure!

Today, I'll be doing a little rain dance...keeping my fingers crossed that Mother Nature does today's watering for me!

For those of you who have been receiving my blog via email... for some reason, Apple is not allowing me to send out a mass mailing.  I could not find any other mail services who could accommodate 500 recipients, so I am at a loss for how to get my blog out to you.  It is still available on Facebook and at the normal URL:  beehavenacres.blogspot.com   

I suggest bookmarking it for future reference on your device.  I am sorry for this inconvenience!