Seeing Double...

 

I've been out of town for the last 8 days.  I stayed at my sister's house to take care of her kitty while she took a vacation with friends.   If you read the last post, you'll know that the day before I left, we acquired a new dairy goat ~ an American La Mancha.  There were 3 of them available, and while I was gone, my husband and I decided we should get one more and get rid of Abby.  So, I gave Abby to a friend who lives close by and my husband picked up the other doe.  Here I am with both of them this morning.  They are very sweet tempered and now all of a sudden, we have LOTS of milk.  So, first thing today, I made cheese with 4 gallons of milk:





For Mother's Day, our son that lives locally (and his family) came out to see me and brought me a very pretty Bromeliad.  I didn't want to keep it in just the boring plastic pot, so I retrieved a terracotta pot from the greenhouse, cleaned it up and decided to use my talent (cough...) craft paints to decorate it:

Here it is, transplanted into its new home!  :)

Another thing I did today was pick our first batch of strawberries of the season:  Oh, heaven!  And then I promptly made some shortcake and we had strawberry shortcake with fresh cold milk on it.

Here is a photo of my basket willows that I took today.  They are coming up nicely.  We pruned them down at the end of the winter.

 Another sweet treat from today ~ a Columbine blossom: 

Last year, a friend let me come and dig up a yucca plant in her garden.  I was thrilled to see that it is actually getting ready to bloom for the first time!

 And see the momma barn swallow?  She is sitting on her clutch of eggs above a window.  They have been nesting there, every spring, for several years.  It's so sweet...

The Japanese irises started blooming while I was gone.  These lovely flowers like having their feet wet, so I planted them in a low spot in the yard that collects rainwater.  In the middle of the patch is some zebra grass as well.

My new spider plant:

The Bromeliad  is living outside by my hens and chickens and the glorious aloe our daughter gave me recently:

 The same daughter gave me a box full of culinary herb plants for Mother's Day.  I got them all planted today.  There are also some Dahlias.  Her children wanted me to get some flowers too.  It really touches my heart when someone gives me something that is living.

 Speaking of Mother's Day, another daughter sent me some gifts, amongst which was a set of cast iron waffle irons!  I seasoned them today (and filled the house with smoke) and am going to see if I can figure out how to use them tomorrow.  I will take pictures to show you, Gentle Reader.

So, that is what is going on around here.  I am very glad to be home.  It was a pleasant break to stay at my sister's alone, and I took walks, practiced piano, watched HGTV (we don't have television at home) and sewed 9 Little Dresses for Africa while I was there.  When I get all the fabrics used up, I'll post a picture of the final result of that project.

I got to talk to all of my children yesterday except one, and he called, but I was in bed at the time, so saw I had missed it this morning.  It was a special day for me, not only hearing from our children, but thinking about my own mothers (I had 2.)  How I love them and miss them.

Gardening season is upon us.  Oh my!