Weekend Hodgepodge

 We've had a cooler than typical Spring, and it's been wonderful.  This weekend, however, gave us a taste of early summer and it was magnificent!

The garden is soaking up all of the sun and warmth and the plants are growing like a jungle.


The most wonderful part of this is harvesting fresh vegetables.  We cut them and eat them immediately!  You just don't get any fresher than that!

We are getting the farm ready for a couple of events happening in the next few weeks.   The local Head Start preschool class is coming to the farm for a field trip, and we are having a big family picnic in two weeks.  Hubbs gave the grill at the picnic pavilion a once over to make sure it was working perfectly, and found this guy curled up inside keeping warm.

Later, I found this guy next to the old log cabin.


We either have a lot of turtles, or we keep finding the same one over and over!

It's that time of year... critters of all types are out and about - enjoying the warmer weather. 

We made the most of our weekend starting Saturday morning at Easton's T-ball game,

 and spent a little time with this one, Elijah, as well.

Saturday afternoon, after chores were finished, we took a bike ride through the countryside.

There are beautiful places all over this world, and yet, to me, the most beautiful place is right here in my little corner of the world!

Hello sheep!  There were some very pregnant sheep in this herd.  We'll return in the coming days to see the lambs.

Sunday morning, Tyler and his Mama joined us for farm breakfast.  

I don't get to spend as much time with this young man as I would like, but he's at that age where he likes to spend time with his friends.  I totally understand.

The rest of the afternoon was too beautiful to miss, so we threw the kayaks in the truck and headed to the river and spent a couple hours paddling downstream,

Hubbs and me,


and were treated to a wonderful wildlife show.  In keeping with all of the reptiles that we found around the farm, it was only fitting that we would see this...

at the river.  What a line-up!

As we floated down our lazy, peaceful river, we saw several species of goose - Canada and a couple of domestic geese.   I'm pretty sure these two were domestic at one time.

 We spotted a mama merganser and her brood sunning themselves on a fallen tree...

so sweet!

As My eyes scoured the trees above the river, I spotted a bale eagle perched on a dead tree.


And last, but not least, we got the biopsy report back on the growth inside Chester's nose.  He has a condition called Discoid Lupus Erythematosis. 


 It is an auto-immune disorder where the body fights itself.  We are going to try a course of several medications that should help to keep this disease in check.  The good thing is, none of this seems to bother Chester.


We are hoping that the medications keep the disease from progressing.

Today is Memorial Day... official start to my summer.... and a day for remembering those who lost their lives in service to their/our country... the ultimate sacrifice.  

We'll probably be spending today doing some mowing around the farm.  With this season's plentiful rainfall, the grass is growing like crazy!

Comments

jaz@octoberfarm said…
poor chester but i know he is in the best of hands! will you be doing pizza for your family picnic? i would love to know how you prep your pizza shells in advance. i haven't set my new pizza oven up yet but once i do, i will be making lots of pizzas! tyler is so big!
colleen said…
I had a feeling it was going to be a SNAKE in the grill. I would never open the grill again. Just the other day I was thinking about the one that fell from the top of your garage door. Hopefully Chester will get the right meds and will continue to not be bothered by this condition. It was so much fun going on the bike and canoe rides with you. Your flowers and vegetable garden are looking so lush. Tyler is so handsome. It's nice to see him once in a while. I've been following along with BHA since he was born. Have a great week. xoxo
Lynne said…
Your kayak trip looked refreshing . ..
Liked the turtle line up.

If the snake slithered into the grill . . .
think of all the other places he could slither!
Oh dear!

Chester doesn’t seem bothered at all with his
auto immune nose thingy . . . hope the meds help!

GREEN is lush around here right now too.
Darn right delicious!
Kelley said…
Your post reminds me how lucky we are to be living in such a beautiful world.
wanda devers said…
It's amazing how quickly gardens grow in this time of year. I am so looking forward to fresh vegetables!

Poor Chester! But he seems to be pretty unaffected by his disease, thankfully. It seems to me that autoimmune type diseases are happening more often. I hope his medicine will be easy to give him and will control his disease.

Marcia LaRue said…
Happy Memorial Day ... What a great way to start off this week with a great breakfast, a T-ball game, a bike ride in your beautiful countryside, and a peaceful cruise down the river in the kayak!
Judy G said…
You could put a little spot of nail polish on the turtle by the old farm house and then you’d know if you keep seeing the same one.
Really enjoy your excellent pictures! Thanks!
This N That said…
Hot weekend for sure...Not my fav!!
I might just eat vegetables if I could go out in my yard and pick 'em!!
I always love opening up a grill for the first time of the season..Always a possible surprise..
You should mark that turtle..You seem to have plenty in the area though..Different varieties I'll bet!!
Looks as though you had a jam packed weekend as always..
Never a dull moment..Hugs
Your garden boxes seem to be overflowing with goodness! Love the beautiful and colorful flowers adorning your land. Your grands, little and big are so cute....how fun to see three of them in one weekend! And a quick jump into your kayaks for a paddle down the river....what joy! So fun to check in here and see what you guys are up to....always so fun to see and hear about. Hoping Chester will be just fine! Thanks for sharing your Memorial Day with us. Sure miss that bearded commenter....hope he's OK.