June Smiles

June was a busy month.  We started the month by attending Pops in the Park, a tradition we've had for a long time.  We took a picnic supper and enjoyed the music.  The cannons firing during the 1812 Overture was Phillip's favorite part.

We had fun getting together to celebrate both Phillip's 64th birthday and Father's Day.

Rachel gave him beef jerky that she made in her dehydrator.  He enjoyed that.

Jason and Jennifer fixed their famous ribs.  He enjoyed that, too.

Laura and Hannah enjoyed some "sister time."  They're both so busy that they don't get to spend much time together anymore.

Jonas tried on a couple of hats.  The boy likes hats.

Lilly lost a tooth.

Lucy and Jimmy got their pictures taken.  

We saw a rainbow.

Phillip and Jonas hoed the corn patch.

 One of my favorite June events:  Sam's Birthday!  This year we got to give him his gifts in person.  I can't believe our Samuel Paul is 6 years old!

We hosted a wedding shower for Michael and Laura.  Emily and Jaclyn were able to come from Virginia, which made it very special, indeed.  They received some nice gifts and one rock.  Of course, there was a nice gift card attached to the rock.  It was from Rachel.  Our family is like that sometimes, giving a rock as a wedding present, but we love one another anyway.

We went to Carolina Beach for a few days.  The ice cream at Squiggley's was really good. 

 The weather was perfect and the beach wasn't crowded at all.

We came home to a bountiful garden.  Hopefully, these are only the first of many more quarts of beans we'll can.  There are more to pick next week, and Phillip planted more yesterday.

And that was June, busy but fun. 

May Flowers and Other Things

 April showers really did bring May flowers to our yard.  I need to move the fire pokers but I don't know where to put them.  Mom's amaryllis  trumpeted bright red this year.  The wildflowers beside the shed are starting to bloom.  They'll bloom through frost and we always enjoy them.

The garden is flourishing.  The sugar snap peas have outgrown their stakes.  We have baby tomatoes and peppers.  We are picking broccoli and kohlrabi.  We've never grown kohlrabi and it's delicious, sort of like a sweet turnip.  We'll be planting it again. We transplanted the strawberries from pots into raised beds and they're doing well.  So far we've picked 16 strawberries.  That was our entire harvest last year so we'll at least be equal.  Something is eating the strawberries, though. Phillip thinks it's slugs. We are battling them by putting eggshells around the plants. 

Phillip took the base of an old treadle sewing machine and a vanity top that he found in the outbuilding and made a garden sink for me.  He did a great job.  The water drains to the bucket underneath and I use it to water the gardens.  It is handy to wash the vegetables before we bring them in to the kitchen. 

The old washing machine stopped working, with a full tub of water and a load of Phillip's work jeans, of course.  We decided not to buy a front loader or an HE, just a regular machine.  So far, I've been pleased with it.  

 I'll close this post with pictures taken at our Memorial Day cookout. The weather was perfect and we had a really good time.  Jason brought his Kubb game and even Jonas got into the spirit of the Vikings.  Jason was our chief cook but everyone contributed to the meal.  It was all delicious and I ate way too much. 

 

In April

We celebrated birthdays.

Rachel's - obviously not a current photo

Jonas

Jason - another photo from a birthday long past

  

                                                                          I bought new cookware.  I love the way it stacks together so neatly.

Phillip worked in the gardens,

and things are growing.

See the baby broccoli!  We've never grown broccoli before.  This may be the entire harvest but we're very pleased with it.

Mama's irises bloomed.  They smell so sweet.

I finished copying the book of Joshua. I started in December.  One of my goals is to copy the whole Bible before I die.  I have a tendency to read things very quickly.  Copying scripture word for word is a way to force myself to slow down and really see what it's saying.  It's one of the best things I've ever done.

I got a new sewing machine, but I really miss my old one.  Jaclyn had given it to me and it was the best machine I've ever used.  I knew it and it knew me and we got along well.  One day it just stopped.  Since I was in the middle of sewing dresses to send to the mission in Haiti, I feel that it gave its life in service to the Lord.  This new one has quite a lot to live up to.

The Legendary Chocolate Bunny Heist of 1989

Jason was apparently trying to convince either Jaclyn or Rachel to share their candy.  Emily, holding her bunny, was looking quite concerned.

Jason was searching his empty box for a few last crumbs of his chocolate bunny, which he had already devoured.  Emily unwrapped hers and seemed to be pleased with it.

 

Jason reached around and took Emily's bunny.  He took a big bite of it before I could intervene.  Emily was really, really, really upset.

 Jaclyn and Rachel enjoyed their bunnies.

Laura enjoyed her bunny.(She was a baby.  She apparently didn't get a big one.)

No more pictures of Jason or Emily.  Emily was inconsolable and Jason was banished. I don't remember what his exact punishment was but I'm sure it was designed to instill character.  It seems to have been effective because, as far as I know, he never took another chocolate bunny away from a small child.

And that's the way it happened, a few days after Easter, 1989.  We have the pictures to prove it.