Movie Night.

This last weekend we celebrated the end of our Girl Scout year with a Outdoor Movie Night at Teacher Kari's. Kari doesn't ever do anything half way and so I was in awe and yet not surprised at all when she made this outdoor theater even more special with all her personal touches.

The girls chose to watch the original Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory.

Kari made personalized movie passes and could "buy" concessions with their allotted amount of tickets.

She had signs up for cell phones to be silenced and then each girl could take a quilt or blanket to cuddle while watching the film. It was a beautiful night and though I love Gene Wilder's portrayal of Willy Wonka, I spent much of the movie looking up at the stars.

Lately.

Cousin love.

Cuddling Clara-Chicken.

Goo doing what he does best.

And the garden is going strong. This weeks treat: harvesting carrots. 

Week's End.

The Littles and I have had a great summer's week.

We spent 2 days playing with 2 little girlies we really enjoy (thanks Jax),

we rejuvenated ourselves in the fresh mountain air by playing in the fresh waters of a Crystal Basin lake,

(here with Tara's Littles; Olive and Lucky)

and cousin Addie is here visiting. The Little Girls can't hold still long enough for a photo so I gave up and found some time to make Apricot Jam.

Today Tim and I celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Crazy thing is I totally forgot about it as these summer days just flow from one to the next now that The Little Girls are out for break and I could not tell you the actual date in the month. But I think we will try and get a little date in this weekend to honor all these years together. Happy Weekend.

Pickled Radishes.

Did you know that by planting radish seeds and carrot seeds together you create a symbiotic growth relationship? If carrot seeds are planted alone, the gardener must thin out the plants to encourage shoulder and root growth. But plant the radishes (which mature earlier than carrots) with the carrots and you thin them by harvesting the radishes. This practice yields large amounts of radishes. 

What did I do with so many radishes? I pickled them. http://cookieandkate.com/2014/spicy-quick-pickled-radishes/

Pickled radishes are delicious. Thanks for the recipe Tara.

Mountain Majesty.

For Father's Day Tim wanted to explore in the mountains. So we took a quick half hour drive and lost ourselves in the quiet of nature.

We spent the morning at Ice House scoping out the perfect future campsite,

then drove to the top of Big Hill and walked around the heliport and lookout tower. The panoramic view of the Sierras to the East was stunning and the view to the West at the Foothills was lush and green.

I have never wanted to be a bird more in my life than when I saw this little house on the side of this tree. Talk about a room with a view!

Fair Friends.

On Friday Wrenna showed her goats as her 4-H project at the county fair. She was so adorable in her "whites" as she took photos with The Littles and then headed into the ring. To begin she showed Kona, her baby Nigerian Dwarf. Wrenna kept her calm and cool while Kona gave her all sorts of trouble but despite the jumping and bleating, she won 1st!

Then she showed Ruby, her 2 year-old Nigerian Dwarf goat and won 1st again! We were so proud to watch how she has grown in showmanship from last year. Seeing little children take responsibility for farm animals like this is inspiring.

After Wrenna's win we went to the Potter's tent for a celebratory drink and then it was off to the rides. (rides at these type carnivals are expensive, we let The Littles choose 2 rides each.

Tim took Amani, Ivy and Savannah on The Tornado.

The Littles also rode around on these tractors.

We watched The Mechanical Bull

and then the Mutton Busting. (Wrenna and Savannah sat off on their own just a few feet away from our two families, it was adorable to see them want some best friend time "alone".

On our way out Wrenna, Grady and I rode the Super Slide. Grady made a special request to ride just he and his "Wrenda" but in the end he was too scared to ride without his mama so I got to join in on the fun too.

Fair Time.

Savannah Jane takes sewing classes. Her sewing teacher entered her final project (the pillowcase dress above her head) in the El Dorado County Fair. She won 1st Place! We are so proud.

While we were admiring the other handcrafted projects near her dress, we met up with The Little Girls Girl Scout leader Kari. She also won 1st Place and Judges Choice, in the Professional Quilter's division. Hard to tell from this photo but this quilt is phenomenal, so intricate and detailed. She started it in 2007!

We met up with Potter's, Wren was tending to her goats. One of her babies always chews on Wren's hair.

After Goo saw how fun that was, he wanted to give it a go. Sadly goats are too big for him to deal with.

After visiting all the animals and seeing our neighbor's 4-H projects (4 pigs), we watched the senior division steer showmanship (I have no idea the technical term for this but basically it is teenagers showing their 4-H project or FFA project: steers). It was awesome. I could sit and watch that competition for hours. Here below: Krista, Wren, Ivy, Savannah and Goo.

Tomorrow Wren shows her goats and Tim will come see Savannah's project. But what I'm looking forward to most? Mutton Busting!

 

Chicken Post.

It seems my tolerance limit for rooster crowing is 1 week. Yesterday I called a local chicken supplier and asked if he would try to re-home our rooster El Señor. Luckily El Señor is a gentleman and because of his beauty, sweet nature and handling he should be a good candidate for reselling.

It felt fairly awful to give him up and because at the time he wasn't making that alarming sound, I called Tim just before I left the house to convince me to go through with it. The Littles were sad, giving up a pet is hard.

Since I was down a hen, The Littles picked out a 12 week old Americana to join our flock of "Babies". Meet Clara. She has yet to be welcomed into the flocks good graces, she is after all 6 weeks younger than the rest. And she is terribly frightened. There is definitely a big difference in chicken manners and friendliness when children hand raise chicks, I hope she will become more comfortable with us as time goes on.

Life In The Kiddie Pool.

Yesterday I promised The Littles a swim but couldn't conjure up the energy to drive to the lake. By late afternoon we were all regretting my failing miserably. I took them down to the garden to pick for dinner and we filled up the pool our sweet neighbors lent us as a water supply for the bees.

They started off slow, fresh water from the hose here is so cold. Then after I took away all dead floating bugs, Littles refreshed themselves splashily.

Izzie dug out from under the upper fence in order to join us. This Pug doesn't like to swim but we enjoyed her audible "Ahhhhh" when I placed her in the cool water. Now the kiddie pool is a hit and I don't get any grief from tending the garden while they are occupied.

Exploring Home.

On the recommendation of my friend Tara, Tim and I took The Littles on a hike Sunday to a reservoir in our small town. I have lived here for 30 years and I did not know that this dammed up creek even existed. The trail begins a short 4-5 mile drive from our front door, then a picturesque 20 minute easy walk amongst blooming wildflowers and swarming ladybugs takes you to the water's edge. 

Before we left the house, Littles and Bigs were cranky and testy. But after a dip in the water's refreshment, we were all level-headed and happy.

I can't wait to explore more.