Here we go again....

 Girls are thrilled. 

(You can see how interested Adrian is in the background, lol)

Two Buff Orpingtons (my fave, we used to have them years ago)

Two Lavender Orpingtons (haven't had these before)

Two Ameraucanas (be nice to have blue eggs again) 
Two banties (we lost the last one to a fox two summers ago)

Girls wanted more, 8 was their limit. I think we have 19 full grown in the barn now. 27 total now. 

2022 Garden Update: 1

Tried three methods of germination this year. All in the same room as our woodstove with a heat mat overnight. I kept each method covered in old salad containers for mini greenhouses. Paper towel on clay balls, stonewool and good old soil. I actually really liked the ease of just dumping pepper seeds on the clay balls and you can easily see which germinates. The germination seems best on the clay balls.  Whatever didn't germinate in the soil, I could easily fill the cells in the packs that were empty from whatever germinated on the clay balls.. Sometimes the roots got stuck in the papertowel, so that was harder to transfer. Pinching off the bit that was growing from the stonewool was easy and I kept a bit of the fiber with the roots for better transplant. Not the best pics, but the three methods:

Using the grow table my dad made me.

Zippy is thrilled.

My soil blocker is my new favorite toy.

Some things have been planted, some are already are up.  

Some indoor things grown and consumed.

Some outdoor things grown and consumed.

And this one is starting some preserving.

Five new apple trees have been planted.

And a whole bunch more is planned!  We are eager for gardening 2022! 

Mama Made: Coordinating Easter Dresses

 

New coordinating dresses for the girls stitched the eve of Easter, just in time. 

The girls decided to wear black leggings instead of the white tights I had. Oh well. I offered to stitch a bow tie or tie for Adrian, but he declined. 

I'm just pleased someone still lets me sew for them!  2/3...I'll take it!

Easter 2022

Easter started with two puff pancakes to make for the church breakfast.

The crew parading/stampeding in.

Gifts with these reusable bags that I made years ago now and use for basically every holiday. And books. Always books. 

They each got a chocolate bunny, reeces pieces, books to share and something special for them. 
Adrian got another Greenlight 1:64 for his diorama. 

Audra got a miniature crafty kit. She loves these.

Anna-Kate has been wooed by Disney. They are actually the perfect size to go with her vintage My Little Ponies, which she enjoys.

I always keep things so simple and they are just thrilled. 

The obligatory before church photos (more tomorrow). 

 

And home for some afternoon quiet reading fireside. 

For me too. 

Then our dear neighbors hid eggs for them to find and had an Easter basket for them. (Nam also colored eggs with them last week, thank you! Bottom picture from last week).  

Easter hunt.

And I let them take selfies, which was...entertaining. 

Throw in some outside time, a movie for the kids and a drive to the ocean by myself, it was a great day (other than my poor husband feeling a little worn down.) Happy Resurrection Day!

Family time!

 Our day began with 4-H, included bread baking, a lot of cleaning and laundry and we also got started on getting things ready to plant the fruit trees. But, we also made some time for family time.  When we have nothing in particular scheduled for family time, we tend to do a trio of activities: 1) A family hike.  2) A visit to a library in the area that we hiked (Maine has a reciprocal borrowing program in that we are able to visit and borrow from dozens of libraries across the state that are a part of the consortium.) 3) A thrift store local to where we hiked. It's our fabulous trio that costs us next to nothing and we all enjoy our time together.  

Here are pics from our trio of activities: 
1) Hike

Firstborn: First one ready. All put together, with water bottle filled. 

Second born: Free spirited.  One just never knows.

Third born: No we will not carry you. You can have allll the snacks if you just keep moving.

2) Thrifted.  A pair of jeans for Adrian. The same tablecloth my grandparents used to have on their table. Unicorn coat and Beatrix Potter movies for Anna-Kate's birthday, dog leash. $3.72.

3) Library. The library happened to be having a fabric and yarn swap. I left a bunch and came home with this! A pile of wool, flannel, Christmas and bug fabric and some whites and navy blue. Audra brought home yarn.

This library had all sorts of activities set up and each kid got a whole gift bag for Easter full of activities.  We have a few books we borrowed (that we can return at our own library if we so choose!). 

The activities kept her busy for quite a while at home too.

It's was a weekend day like so many others, but we just love family time with a hike-thrifting-library combo. Hours of fun only spending $3.72 and gas. Doesn't have to cost much to have fun and connect! 

Weekend plans!

My weekend plans just arrived!  Orchard expansion pack! I ordered these weeks ago, knowing they would ship in spring when the temps warmed.  They arrived today!  So excited to (hopefully) expand the season of fresh homegrown produce here. I bought an Early pear (the pear tree in my orchard is a late pear), an early ripening apple and two winter ripening apples (all my apples are fall apples).  And I ordered my favorite apple tree ever-Empire. Born and raised Northern NYer, Empires have long been my favorite. They aren't easy to find in Maine! Someday I hope to have an abundance. 

This will bring my orchard total to: 1 peach, 2 pear, 2 plum, 1 cherry tree & 2 cherry bushes, 2 pear (early and late), 11 apples (early, mid, late). Plus oodles of elderberries, concord grapes, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries.  Hard to believe this was all field a decade ago!