everything nice

One of the benefits of getting....older...is the wonderful fact that the younger generation of our family is starting to have their very own younger generation. On Easter, the newest member of our extended family put in a very adorable and much welcomed appearance.


This is my newest little great-niece, and she definitely fits into the sugar, spice and everything nice category.

This little girl's got it all going for her.

Chubby baby hands.


Soft baby arms with little pudding rolls.


What a sweetie pie.


I

Love

Babies!

another week in pictures

I'm thinking this whole farm tour idea could become a somewhat regular feature, since it's much easier than coming up with one fabulous subject for a photo post. Basically, it's just a collection of not as fabulous subjects all put together in the hopes that quantity will win out over quality. It's the same philosophy that comes into play when you're out of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and end up settling for a bunch of chocolate chips out of the freezer. Not quite as satisfying, but it gets the job done.

So, buckle your seat belts and let's start the tour.

The pond this morning, bright and blue.


We've had a powdered sugar dusting of snow the last few mornings.

The pond yesterday, dark and stormy.


Every spring, we cut down all the old cattails and trim the pond grasses down to the ground, so the new growth doesn't have to fight it's way through the old.


It looks kind of naked to me, but it won't be long before that changes.

My favorite tree.....


has a fuzzy green glow.



I love green.


Last weekend, The Farmer and I built rock beds in front of the greenhouse.


He placed the big rocks, and I placed the smaller rocks. When he was done with the big rocks, he helped me with the little rocks. Then I re-did most of the little rocks he placed.

He likes it when I do that.


We're going to leave the farm now for a quick detour.

Now that the Junk House is pretty much done, I think we might need to take on a new project.


What do you think? Should we go for it?


Actually, I'm totally kidding. I don't think I have another renovation in me. Plus, this place needs to be condemned. It's beyond help. It really is for sale though, and I'm dying to see the inside. I love all the cruddy old porch posts and railings, but it does look like a bit of a hazard. What I'd really like to do is use it for a photo backdrop, but the large quantity of no trespassing signs are making me hesitate a bit.

Just a bit.


Lastly, a bouquet of beautiful tulips courtesy of my dear husband.


He does not bring me flowers very often, but this week he was getting his hair cut, and his hair dresser/stylist (can someone please tell me what the current, appropriate term for the person who takes care of your hair styling needs is these days? ) had a bunch of tulips on her counter. Knowing I would like them, he made a special trip out of his way to bring me a bouquet of my very own, and it made my day.
While I don't get flowers on a regular basis, what I do get on a regular basis is an offer to stop at the grocery store while he's going through town. That right there is my love language, and I'm happy to have flowers only make a rare appearance if it means I'm regularly treated to a gallon of milk without having to leave my house.
Thanks hon!

Have a truly wonderful and blessed weekend, as we celebrate our Lord and Saviour's resurrection.

Happy Easter!

the week in pictures

Photo Friday, the bane of my existence, has snuck up on me once again. One would think I would be used to it by now, as it's on a fairly predictable schedule. My new favorite pastime of complaining about Photo Friday also seems to be on the exact same schedule.

Every Friday, just like clockwork.

It's all very similar to the way dinner sneaks up on me every day at about four o'clock, so I guess there's a bit of a pattern here.

This week, I think we'll just take a little photo tour of the happenings around the farm. I have no doubt it will have you riveted to your chair with excitement.

Actually, this first stop is kind of exciting. Thanks to a comment left on my last post, my pillow experience with Amy just got even better, something I would not have thought possible. A reader asked about the little bundle in this picture.


In my haste to unwrap the pillows, I assumed each package had a sachet attached. I didn't take the time to look at each individual one. Looking closer, it's pretty obvious this wasn't another sachet, but I missed it nonetheless.

I was focused on getting to the goods.

I had my eye on the prize.


That little bundle is actually a pocket tissue cover. I can't believe I didn't see it right away. So, another shout out to Amy for this extra little treat. Very clever, very cute. I'm afraid to put it in the black hole that is my purse, for fear I will never see it again. I love it. Thanks again, Amy!

On the shopping front, yesterday The Farmer and I went to the local farm supply store. I never, ever in my early days here in Montana, thought I would enjoy going to the feed store. I fought it for the longest time. I was not a feed store/farm supply kind of girl, I was a mall girl through and through. But, it's grown on me. It's actually a pretty fun place. It was really fun yesterday, when I scored these cuties. On Sale.


You never know when you might need some daisy boots. It's good to be prepared.

In other outside news, we are starting to landscape around the greenhouse.


1. This is how it looked before we started. We flagged out the beds and a small patio. 2. Taking out the sod and topsoil. 3. The Meadowbrook Farmer, going over the plan with his crew. 4. Two weeping crab apples are planted and the ground is prepped for flagstone.

Speaking of the crew...


This is John. John is cold. You can see his breath in the air. John works for my husband. John and his wife are going to have a baby in about six weeks. What John and his wife don't know is that I am going to kidnap their newborn baby girl and take pictures of her. I hope they don't mind. I should probably ask first.

Next up is Cody. Cody also works for my husband. Cody's wife is going to have a baby in about eight weeks. I am going to kidnap their newborn baby boy and take pictures of him too. I will definitely ask Cody first. I don't want to get on his bad side.

But, they have to let me. I have connections with their boss, and their jobs depend on it.

Last but definitely not least is Ken. Ken is not married, nor does he have a baby on the way. Ken is showing us how he can pick up huge rocks with his hand. My husband calls Ken the human forklift. He is S.T.R.O.N.G. I call him Kennebunkport. When the first President Bush was in office, I was always a bit fascinated by his vacation spot, Kennebunkport, Maine. Why? I have no idea. I just loved the name. It's fun to say. Try it. You'll see what I mean.

Kennebunkport. Kennebunkport. Kennebunkport.

See? Fun.

(Sorry, I'm on a new allergy medicine.)


Things are starting to happen inside the greenhouse as well. The longer, warmer days have really kicked the plants we overwintered into grow mode.

Six out of eight of the rosemary cuttings I potted up a couple months ago have new growth. I almost gave up....things were looking pretty grim, but all of a sudden, they sprouted.

Patience is a gardening virtue.


On Sunday, we built a propagation bed for the greenhouse. We are trying our hand at some cuttings this year, so we set up a system to provide bottom heat for the little starts.

Cuttings are a new thing for me, so I'm really hoping they take root. My hubby had success with geraniums and fuchsias many years ago, but petunias are new for both of us. We had a couple plants unexpectedly make it through the winter, so we figured we'd give them a try. Some are already looking a bit peaked, so I have my fingers crossed for the rest.


I am currently obsessed with taking pictures of water droplets.


As far as the rest of the greenhouse goes, the ladybugs did their job with much success, nary an aphid to be found, and they've also gone to work on a little white fly problem we had going.


I think we're going to order another batch, as most of them are either hiding or have flown the coop altogether. I so wish I'd had a kid in need of a science experiment this year. Aphid annihilation is much more interesting than the sad little carnation and colored water experiment we threw together on more than one occasion in years past.

Okay, last stop on the farm tour. This is Ellie. She is The Meadowbrook Farmer's loyal companion. Ellie refused to look at me for a picture today.


She is without a doubt the sweetest dog on the planet.

She is also, without a doubt, the most disgusting dog on the planet. Ellie loves anything that smells bad. The compost pile, cow pies, horse manure. You get the picture. I call her Smelly Ellie, or Smellinore. This part of the post is purposely photo free. In this past week alone, Ellie has brought to her bed on the back porch, a deer leg (from who knows where), two dead fish, and.....a placenta. This is not her first placenta. Ellie has graced us with many placentas. I think it's her way of letting us know there's a new calf in the pasture. Unfortunately, the list of things Ellie brings us on a regular basis gets worse. I can't even tell you about the worst of the worst, but it may very well involve boy cows that are not quite as manly as they used to be.

Enough said.

Did I mention how very, very sweet she is?

Okay, I can't leave you there, so lets get that image out of our head with some pretty spring daffodils.


I love daffodils. They are so sunny and full of hope. $1.99 a bunch at the grocery store.

Now you're pretty much caught up on life on the farm. The only thing I've left out was the fire we had last weekend, but I'm not quite ready to talk about that yet. It involved watching my husband chop down three flaming trees, and enough smoke inhalation to take at least a couple years off my life. For my part, I manned the four wheeler mounted water tank, complete with a water gun that put out the equivalent of a half turned on garden hose during a drought in the Sahara. Good times.

Have a great weekend!

snap out of it

I've been in a bit of a funk.

Just a little one.

A photo funk.

It seems that Friday, and thus my self-imposed photo posting challenge, have been sneaking up rather quickly each week. Apparently, my old friends motivation and inspiration went on Spring Break without me, leaving me with no vision and a slight case of annoyance with myself for starting a weekly photo posting commitment in the first place.

But yesterday, instead of focusing on the seeming lack of late winter subject matter, I decided to change my viewpoint. I gave myself a kick in the pants. A little pep talk.


With a little thought, I actually have plenty of lovely subjects at my fingertips.


Simple everyday things that are beautiful in their own right.


I don't have to have a date with a baby, a teenager, or a garden of pretty flowers in order to create a worthwhile picture.


I just need to put on a fresh set of glasses and a new attitude, and a whole new world opens up. A beautiful world.

Happy Friday!

two steps forward

One step back. At least as far as the weather goes.

Last week, we had three glorious days...warm, sunny, work in the garden, t-shirt days.

Spring paid a visit, and it did my heart good.

I have an earlier than ever start on my beds, and in a case of sunshine induced mania, I crossed a gardening line I have never crossed before.

I took the shop vac to my flower beds.

Yes, you heard right. I vacuumed my flower beds. I was meticulously picking dead leaves from the many branched base of my spirea, and got to wondering if I could just suck them out. It actually worked pretty good, and once I got started, I couldn't stop. I just kept vacuuming. It was kind of fun. Actually, it was really fun. And addicting. It took a while, but eventually I mastered the technique for sucking up the leaves while leaving the compost and dirt behind. I still haven't found a way to get it to suck dandelions, roots and all, out of the ground, but the shop vac may just replace my favorite old scratcher as the garden tool of choice.

So, after three very productive days, and a fully developed case of what my sister calls Garden Body, (you're familiar with Garden Body, right? It takes twice as long to get out of bed, and muscles you didn't know you have are screaming in pain? It's also commonly known as, "I Recently Decided to Start Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred Body") then came Tuesday.


The snow was actually a welcome event, as I had vast amounts of laundry to do, and around here, history has repeatedly shown that when the sun shines, the laundry is the first thing to be neglected. Actually laundry and dinner, and since food and clean clothes just happen to be the two most quickly consumed items in my house, this leads to obvious problems. I wish I could juggle both inside and outside chores, but so far, I haven't found the key to making that work.


I'll leave you with one more spring treat found in our pasture this morning.


She's a twin, and for the first time for us, it looks like the mama has accepted both babies. Sometimes, the weaker one dies, or we have to bottle feed one, or try to get another mother, usually one who has lost a baby, to accept the rejected calf. I love their first hours of life, when you can pet them and they willingly pose for pictures. After that, they pretty much skedaddle when you get anywhere near. So cute.

So, what spring treats are showing up in your neck of the woods? Daffodils? Cherry blossoms? Baby animals? I'd love to know.

the eyes have it

This last week has been a little pathetic in the photography realm. I've been a
bit busier than normal, and kind of just kept shoving thoughts of Photo Friday to the back of my mind. Procrastination has always been a go-to behavior for me....it served me so well in high school when I wrote my 6th period speeches during lunch, and it's continued to work for me until today, when I have not a single decent photo from this past week to put on my blog.

I'm also in the process of removing a huge amount of photo's from my lap top and transferring them to a portable hard drive, so I've been sorting through a lot of pictures lately.
Sometimes, something catches my eye that I didn't see the first time around, so I thought I'd share a few that I've recently played with a bit.

When I took snow pictures of my little niece a while back, I had a mix of results...some that turned out really good, and some that had an issue or two, (or three or four, but those I usually just delete).

I love eyes and eyelashes, and when I came across this photo again recently, I looked past the fact that it's a bit too dark, and generally just kind of a blah shot.


I did a major crop, and ran a couple different Photoshop actions, and ended up really liking the end result.


I love the softness and the focus on her eyelashes while her sweet little face kind of fades away.

I love baby faces.

This next shot is actually pretty nice....she has a cute expression, and the exposure is good.


In my current close up loving frame of mind, I like it even better cropped in, with her eyes as the star of the show.


Of course the goal is to get the perfect picture straight out of the camera, but when you miss the mark a bit, it's nice to know the vast power of Photoshop is there to help a sister out.

That's all I got! Hopefully, something will cross my camera's path this next week that will knock all our socks off, because I really don't want to have to resort to the calf birth that I photographed last week. I like you guys too much for that.

Have a great weekend!

sweet senior

Oh. My. Goodness.

I have just had the biggest all out brawl with my laptop. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I lost. It was ugly, but finally, at ten p.m. I am able to start my Photo Friday post.

Non-cooperative computer? Filled up with photo's hard drive? How do I despise thee? Let me count the ways.

Or not.

Last weekend, I got a call from a from a friend, asking if I would be willing to take her daughter's senior pictures.

Why, yes I would, thank you very much.

While I had never met my subject to be, she is the auntie to this little boy, so we at least knew a little bit about each other.


She was so much fun to work with, and I was very impressed with her fence climbing, brook crossing, and wet ground sitting skills. Montana girls...there's nothing like them.



Pretty darn cute if you ask me.

This was fun. I'm getting a tiny bit more comfortable working with new friends, and I'm ending up with fewer botched shots each time, so I'm encouraged to keep plugging along. Now, as long as I can make peace with my laptop, I'm on my way.

this boy

This one's my youngest.


My baby.

Much to my dismay, he's growing up too fast.

Literally.

The other day I noticed I was looking up a bit more when talking to him. So, we got out the tape measure. Six foot two and three quarters. Actually, it was more like nine tenths, but I wasn't ready to admit that. That was a couple days ago, so I'm sure he's reached six three by now. Ridiculous.

Fifteen years old.


He's got a job at the local pizza place, and loves it.


It's tough being a teenager these days. Really tough. But he's doing a great job at being a good kid.


He's decided, once again, to hunker down at school. That's a good thing. Every single conference for the last five years has gone exactly the same way. "Mrs. Meadowbrook....your son is a pleasure to have in class. He makes me laugh. I enjoy having him as one of my students. He's a good kid. I just think there's a chance he's not living up to his full potential."

Well, yes, yes it's hard to live up to your academic potential when you're busy living up to your "life is good, let's have some fun" potential.

Baby of the family, anyone?

Here's his "I am a straight "A" student" look. Let's visualize.


He's a clown.

He's full of it.

He's funny.


He's a schmoozer.

He tells me he loves me in front of his friends.

He's a good kid.

Yes, I said it. You're a good kid, junior. Dad and I are proud of you.

Now go do your homework.

the horse whisperess

Otherwise known as the photo shoot that pretty much wasn't.

Last weekend, I called my favorite photo sidekick to see if she was up for a few pictures. She was game, as always, so armed with my camera and a very particular idea of what I wanted to accomplish, we set out for my in-laws place.

My father-in-law was just getting ready to load up the feed truck when we arrived, so we set off into the pasture ahead of him.

I started booking down the field, carrying an armload of stuff, when I realized Montana's Next Top Model wasn't coming with me. I turned around and saw this.


It turns out hungry horses are friendly horses.

We'd go a little further, they'd come along, and by the time I got my camera turned on, she was surrounded again.




They were especially fond of nibbling on her ponytail....no surprise there...and the fringe of her scarf.

Note to self. Check equine feeding schedule before planning next photo excursion.

This time, we really thought we had ditched them. I took a shot to test my exposure...


and voila...


just like magic, here they come.


I asked very politely if they would leave us alone for just a few minutes, and this was the response I got.


Nice.

With my brilliant plan thwarted, and a much colder day than we were expecting, we went to a very quick plan B at the barn.




Dear Horse Whisperess,
Oh my goodness, are you a good sport! I can't imagine any other teenage girl that could possibly be more fun to have as my photo buddy than you. Please keep taking my phone calls....I promise next time it will be warmer, and I'll make sure we don't have any extra friends following us around. By the time you're a senior, we should have this picture taking thing figured out.
Thanks for being my go-to photo girl.
You're the best!