Happy 21st Birthday to my Firstborn Baby Girl

They grow up so fast

Weekend Nature Pics...

Another hummingbird pic. I love these guys

A view of my backyard in the unkempt area.

"The woods look lovely, dark and deep

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep..."

"The wood(pile) looks lovely, dark and deep..."


Mammoth Sunflower

I am harvesting the seeds for next Spring.

This was one of my summer season favorites

This one grew to be about 12 feet tall

Can you spot the Hummingbird in this photo?

I took many pictures but this is the only one where you can see the hummingbird approaching the feeder. They are very cautious, fast and territorial. As one comes to drink another one chases it off and I've seen five to six hummingbirds fighting over the same feeder. I don't believe that the world's finest engineers could create a mechanical hummingbird that could rival the real thing. They are truly marvels of nature.

Mother Hen

I am enjoying raising chickens!

The mother hen, seen coming down from the roost here, rules the nest. She promptly returns to the roost around 7:30 am and comes out shortly after 8am each morning and when she is done there is a nice fresh egg waiting for me. I save them up all week long and then serve them at our family brunch on Sundays. Yummy :)
The other three will start laying eggs in about another 3 months or so.
That will be 4 eggs per day X 7 days a week = math I can't even do without a calculator!

The poop makes great fertilizer too so, about every 3 or so days, I open the side of the roost and clean out the poop ladened sawdust and add it to the composter bin for future compost for my secret garden.

In God's ultimate design, nothing is wasted

Morning Glory

I found a Morning Glory vine growing on my property and I didn't even plant it myself. I love when flowers appear out of nowhere (I am sure that a visiting bird pooped out a seed) and just starts to grow.

It's a nice little surprise :)

I even let what others consider weeds to grow, such as clover, which naturally adds nitrogen back into the soil as well as provides a low growing ground cover and pretty white flowers that look like faint stars on a moonlit night.

Simple Pleasures, little Treasures...

'Give us this day our daily (homemade sour dough) bread'

This little being has taught me so much about true love and joy

A few pics from the 4th of July weekend

Ruth and I

My youngest daughter, Maria or 'Mia'

My oldest daughter, Anna

My 3rd oldest daughter, Cecilia

An old friend, Johnny, and I

My oldest son Jajo and I