All sorts of great things

We've had a very full several days! It sure is a blessing to be living out here in the midst of nature. Wonderful! Saturday we spent a couple of hours participating in a clean-up drive of the road we live on, and then Jon built a chicken tractor while David and I planted most of our garden. For those of you wondering what a chicken tractor is, it's a pen with no bottom. You let the chickens eat and fertilize in one place for a day or so and then move it over a section. You just keep on moving them around and they keep the grass green and free of weeds. :)



I don't have pictures of these, but yesterday morning after Jon left and while David was still asleep I saw four Indigo Buntings at the edge of the backyard!! I was so excited! Then, David and I sat outside to eat lunch and saw two Summer Tanagers in the big pecan tree at the back of the yard. WOW! Later in the day, David went fishing and came running home to tell me that the Canadian Geese who've been hanging around the lake had had babies! So all three of us walked over and enjoyed watching the new family for a while.



Yesterday we also got to see the rat snake our neighbor found, as well as the largest black widow spider I've EVER seen!





Then, in the evening we had the cutest little tree frog on the kitchen window! I couldn't resist taking its picture.



With all these exciting things happening outside, the inside of my house is a mess! What's more, the weather is supposed to be this nice for the rest of the week. Maybe I'll do house work when it rains on Saturday...

Baby chickens

Well, we've taken the next step in living in the country, and added ten baby chickens to the mix! What will happen next?? :) David and I sat outside today, did school and ate lunch while watching the chickens. Jon and David are building a chicken tractor tomorrow so they'll have a bigger place to play than the pen they are in now. I did some quick sketches, but they really don't stand still long enough to do much. They are pretty, though!



As I pulled out a sketchbook I haven't used in a few weeks I discovered this small painting of a pepper I did over Christmas while we family members all sat around the kitchen table and sketched or painted. Fun! I'd forgotten about this.