June9
I was blogging regularly, and it kind of went out the window over the past week because things have been getting incredibly crazy around here.
Most importantly, my friend Melissa and her son Jack came to visit. They made the decision to move away to New Hampshire about 2 years ago. Luckily, they have found the error of their ways, and the whole family is returning back to Oregon where they belong. She came on Thursday night and left on Monday. She was here to look at apartments, get some moving information and show off her beautiful baby boy. He really is adorable, and upon downloading images from the card recently, I discovered that we had taken no photos. What a total bummer. Daphne was interested in playing with Jack as long as he did not touch anything that belonged to her. She can be a bit of a rat sometimes, but I think she is genuinely good at heart.
The weather was totally crazy last week being incredibly hot and humid. It really wasn’t any fun at all. It was supposed to storm 3 days in a row, but on Thursday we finally got hit with a big one. Big storms are not common in this part of Oregon, and in fact thunder is a big surprise often. I spent the afternoon with Melissa cooking and baking. The electricity started to flicker a bit while I was trying to make dinner, which I found annoying. Eventually, the wind just picked up from nowhere, and I watched as a neighbor’s tree snapped like a twig. I was quick to respond by running outside to put the chickens into their house so that they didn’t freak out and try to fly away. When I walked out the back door our trampoline had blown across the yard and bent. It took out some garden beds with it and caused some other serious problems. Jared and I scrambled to put the chickens in and then to take the trampoline apart so that it didn’t head through a window or blow over a fence.
The damage from the storm was felt by all. Our farmer friends lost a greenhouse and had some major crop damage. A lady from our spinning group had a barn blow away over two fences. I am extremely upset to be losing the trampoline because it was one of Daphne and my favorite things to play with. After some thought, we will work to pay off our debt this year, and we can get a new trampoline next year when the baby is big enough to enjoy it as well. You live and you learn. You should always anchor your trampoline in case there is a freak storm. I am upset about losing some of the garden as well, but I feel that with some work done this weekend that we are pretty much back to where we were last week–minus a trampoline and a few melon plants.
The storm did do one good thing. I got a REALLY great rise on my bread, and the whole wheat bread I made ended up looking more like Wonderbread with the nice mushroom looking top.

We went to go see the Lipizzaner stallions for my birthday on Thursday night after the storm. All the roads out of Carlton were closed because of down power lines and down trees. We ended up taking a side dirt road to Mcminnville. Daphne and I had a total blast watching the horses. We had gone to see them two years ago for my birthday, but it was a treat to see them again. My mother-in-law even got away and got a chance to see the beautiful animals.
My sister called me on Friday morning to say that she was going to head up and surprise me for my birthday (I turned 25 on Saturday). That was exciting. We don’t get to see each other much, and I always appreciate hanging out with my nephews.
While I waited for them to come, I decided to go get Poe out and shear him. He is on a different schedule than the other bunnies that I have, so he has been hot and hairy recently. Here he has some hair.

Now I have taken all the prime fiber off, but I have collected some fiber for myself.

He has much less fuzz after the whole process. He is going to be a happy bunny during our next heat spell.

It was nice to have my sister around. Eli and Daphne seemed to have closed the age gap, and they are finding it is a lot easier to play well together. There was very little screaming or hitting, and that was quite pleasant.

I see my future in this photo. That future is not too far off either.

I haven’t seen Noah in almost 6 months. He is totally adorable. He just turned 1 year old in May, and he is a total cutie pie.

Saturday was my birthday, and I decided I was going to make my own ice cream cake. I wanted a chocolate cake with pralines and cream ice cream in the middle. I made the cake on Friday night. The ice cream was made on Saturday, and I must say that I had a lot of help–in the eating process. Daphne now knows what comes out of the ice cream core when it has been running for a while.

And when a spoon is too cumbersome, use your fingers.


Apparently I thought it was necessary to share a photo of my first Caprii Salad of the year. It is one of my favorite foods. The basil, tomato, mozarella and olive oil just seems to hit the spot every time.

We did spend some time out at Delphi’s Parent’s Weekend this year. Though I am no longer a parent, it is nice to go out and hang out during this time of year because so many of the graduates that I know come back for one reason or another. It was nice to chat with some friends I had not seen in a while. That really kept us on our toes.
After all the company left on Monday, I was totally exhausted. It took me a full day to sleep and rest and clean before I was able to feel partially normal. The good news is that the list of projects I have to handle is coming quickly to a close, and the house is staying mostly clean. I like feeling a little on top of things.
My friend Rebecca came over today for lunch. I made a giant salad with all kinds of things in it from the fridge. It was totally delicious. We even managed to pick a few strawberries from the plants growing in the front yard.  They made a nice, simple dessert.
We went for a walk after lunch to enjoy the beautiful day. Daphne went right to sleep when we got home, and I was able to spend the afternoon getting some important sewing done, which always makes me happy.
Rebecca was even kind enough to let Daphne hold her 7 week old son, Oliver for a few minutes. Again, I see my future, but the truth is that Daphne is very sweet and kind with babies.


I am now exhausted and unable to sit at the computer for long because I have feet that swell up bigger than you can imagine. I’ve got some other exciting posts and updates in the near future, so stay tuned and please forgive my disappearance over this very busy past week.