We've been digging potatoes for the last couple days.  The chickens had started to scratch around in the garden and had uncovered more than a few.  We finally decided to see just what we had out there.

We'd planted red, white, and had some volunteer purple ones from last summer.  They are all so beautiful!  Some of them have been eaten by a mole or vole.  They have tiny little bite marks in them and are nearly hollowed out with the skin still intact.

But these were perfect.  We have  about three large baskets so far.  We've had them for dinner last night and tonight in two different ways.  Oh my, are they ever good.

We also have onions, radishes and did have beets but something has eaten them.  First the tops went to the chickens along with the kale, then the beets completely disappeared.  No telling what happened to them.  Oh well, always next summer I guess.

Here's a picture of a bunch of potatoes my daughter just picked.  My niece was delighted to get the biggest one of the day!

Oh, almost forgot.  We have eggs!  I've never seen such small eggs though.  They are shorter than my thumb and could almost slip through my thumb and index finger.  So far this week we've gotten about 8.  I dropped one on the kitchen floor.  That one went to the dog.  He LIKED it.  :-)

Also our pasture was mowed by our neighbor!!!  He came by the day I was trying to do it with my riding lawnmower.  Told me it would ruin my mower and he'd be back the next day with his brush hog.  He was and that thing is fast.   He finished it in no time.  Maybe I might just have to get one next summer if I have any money.

I've nearly finished the baby gift I'm making for my niece's baby.  Her baby shower isn't until Sept so I won't be showing it before then.  I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with it but its nice and soft so that part is ok.

My niece is going to camp Sunday.  She will be leaving in the afternoon heading up to an old Forest Service Work Camp in the mountains.  They will have swimming, horseback riding, campfires, cookouts, Bible studies.  Just lots of fun stuff.  This will be her first time at camp and she is very excited.  I remember going to camp as a child.  What a great memory!

And she loves s'mores.  We made them a couple years ago, she never had had them previously.

 This week we've had the pleasure of picking cherries from our little cherry tree in the orchard!   It has really grown since we moved here and this is the first crop we have had.  Well, last year we had about five cherries and they all got eaten while we were standing there admiring the little tree.   This year we have a bumper crop.  We still have more beauties at the very top but the tree has grown too high, even for our 20' ladder and its not very big around so not too steady when leaning the ladder.  Here's a picture of my daughter near the top and some (yes,some) of the cherries we picked.

Our little chickens are finally getting close to full-size.  They are still a little skittish but will come when we take their feed out to the garden.  I'm still mad at myself for putting them in the garden.  They have eaten the tops off everything we planted (kale, radish, beets.)  The only thing they haven't bothered is two huge sunflowers that grew as volunteers, and the potato plants.   We planted purple potatoes last year and have several of those coming up.  This year we planted red potatoes (my favorite) and have lots of those growing.  Potatoes are so easy.  Thanks to the chicks, they scratched up the rows where we planted so our veggies are spread everywhere.  But no bugs. 

Our blue berries are coming on strong now.  I actually picked two ripe ones this week that were very sweet.  The rest are getting big but are still the pale light blue color.  The apples and pears are still fairly little, their harvest season is in the fall.  Right now they're getting bigger and sweeter. 

Can't wait!

On our way to 100 °

I'm so happy our beautiful blue flowers are once again in full bloom.  Since we've had so much rain this spring they are really in abundance.

I'm still not sure what they are called.  Anyone have an idea? 

They have rather tall stalks with the clusters of purple trumpet flowers at the top.  I found one yesterday that had clusters all the way up a very tall stalk.  They seem to grow wild around here and I've only seen them one other place near us. 

We have a little place not far from us out on the hwy that has plants and veggies.  They set up a small stand with information, some plants and a money tube.  There's lots of plants out in the driveway on benches that they've started.  Boxes to put them in.  Prices are on signs so you know what you owe.  Then you just put your $ in the cash tube slot.  Its all on the honor system.  I love it.  You just don't see that much any more.  Anyway, she had some of these plants in little pots for sale but I never got to ask if they knew the name of them.

 Bella in her favorite cool spot, under our stairs with her food bowl where she can see it.  Dexter on the other hand, is sitting where he knows she can see him and get excited with him close to her dish.  They play a game every day.  She lays down, he sits on the stairs and torments her until she barks and growls and chases him away.

Even Emmy the chihuahua gets in on the act, running back and forth, hiding under the wood stove that's sitting nearby until she is noticed, then barking loudly at both dogs and Runnnnnnning as fast as her little legs will carry her.  Usually into her mom's arms for safety.

Funny thing, if no dogs or cats are around and Bella wants to play the game, she will find one of them and bark a few times, run back under the stairs until they all are playing the game.

Drives me crazy!

Well, here's what is left of my starter plants.  I had them sitting on our stone bench in the yard for more sun and watering.  Dexter must have found them and decided they looked like food.  This is all that's left.

I have found them all over in the yard (the 2-1/2  acre part), under leaves, in the driveway ... well you get the idea.  But never found any plant starts in them, just unrolled tp rolls with possibly some starter soil in them.  He must have had a real good time tossing them up in the air and trying to catch them before he ate them.

This is not a farm.  It really is a zoo!

 Just because I love looking at the woods so much I take pictures all the time, watching how they change with the months.  This is certainly a spring picture, so nice and green.

We've had so much rain lately that everything is growing in abundance, especially our weeds.  Not so much knapweed.  I think it likes the drier weather, actually hot and dusty.  Right now they are green and tender shoots that you can even pull.

I like this old rotted stump.  Its so serene and peaceful looking.  This is where the deer and moose come down to irritate the dogs I think.  Its just on the other side of our back fence.  We've never fenced it off, really no need to right now.  And we like the wildlife using it and keeping it as natural as possible.  A logger friend really cleaned it up a few years ago, getting rid of all the dead, dying and down trees.  Most of it got used for firewood.

A nice way to clean house!

The woven baby blanket for my niece is getting there, very slowly.  I couldn't figure out what colors to use so decided it will remain white, unless I come up with something in the mean time.  You just never know.  Sometimes I wake up in the night with a really brilliant idea.

Of course its always more meaningful for me at 2am than during the next day.  But ... you never know.

Tomorrow is supposed to be 80 something.  We were enjoying nice weather until last week when it turned very cold (40-50's) and rained.  Did I say rain?  You can bet it didn't stop for several days.

This next week rain will be back, but only for about three more days.  Then summer.  We always have a nice couple months right after the 4th of July.  Let's hope that happens this year too.

 Our garden is already a non-entity.  The chickens have eaten the seeds we put out, and whatever plants have grown to any size have been nibbled to death.  These on the left are just about the only ones we have left right now.  They are red potatoes planted early this spring.  I guess I got a picture of my daughter's little dog at the front.  She's a pure bred chihuahua, but looks like she's a little chiweenie.  Under five pounds, and a little ball of dynamite.

We also have a bunch of other potato plants that are what we call volunteers.  Ones that we somehow missed last fall when we were digging them, or possibly pieces of potatoes left in the frozen ground until they woke up and decided to sprout.  Those were the purple potatoes we had so many of.

They must be very hardy.  Our winters are usually dark, cold (around 0 degrees) and pretty long.  I have to admit that last winter was a pretty nice one by our standards, but still.  To hang around all that time and still be able to grow six months later is pretty remarkable.

Also still growing is the tiny little whats-left-of our rhubarb plant that has been rototilled nearly to death the last few years.  And it was so pretty.  Finally moved it to a pot and will try to grow it as a potted plant.

The picture on the right is some our blueberry bushes that yield the most glorious berries you've ever seen.  The are as big as your thumb, dark blue black and sooo incredibly sweet.

We had so many a few years ago that I froze them unwashed on cookie sheets, gathered the frozen berries into several very large zip-lock bags and tucked them into our big freezer in the carport.  We have enjoyed them so much.

Just take enough for your meal out of the bag, put into a colander and rinse under cold water to wash and also thaw them.  They are not mushy or too soft and you can sprinkle them right on your cereal in the morning, or eat them right out of your hand if you prefer.  I know you're probably not impressed with the way these bushes look, but every little round spot on them is a cluster of delicious blueberries.

One more note, at the top of the blog is a picture of some awesome dark clouds.  We took this picture this last Thursday as a storm was rolling in from the west.  I'd never seen these types of clouds before, at least not this low or close up.  It looked like you could reach up and touch them.

 Driving near our house every day there is a beautiful bison ranch just off the highway.  Silly me, I should have lowered the window in the car before taking this picture.

See how green and fresh everything is this time of year.  And these bison are LARGE.  They move them around to different pastures as time goes on.  Unfortunately I waited just a little too long to get the picture as last week they had been up closer to the road.

But you can just barely seen them over near the lake.  What a life!

 Ahhh, sweet little Emmy, my daughter's dog.  She is almost two years old now.  What a doll.  She is good natured, thinks she is a real meanie but she's not and isn't afraid of hardly anything.  When the Great Pyrenees and the border collie start barking at something outside, she is the first one at the door.

And she's the only one who gets to come into the chicken yard garden area.  She runs into their coop to see what morsel she can find.  Fortunately she's not much on the 'organic' kind if you know what I'm talking about ... the kind the chickens leave behind.  But she will find scraps of food and veggies they've missed and carry it around in her mouth.

At under five pounds, she is a little stick dynamite on four legs, very quick, very loud and verrrrry sweet.

Ok, so here's the start of my next weaving project.  I always mount my warping board (the big square with the round pegs) on the back of my Ashford loom.  Its just the right height for me and doesn't make my shoulder hurt going back and forth.

To warp (measure your length) you have to figure out how long your project will be and wrap your warp threads back and forth over the pegs.  You can see the cross at the top I'm doing.  This is all to keep the warp threads from getting tangled when its taken off until its ready to wind on the loom.  I will be taking some short pieces of a different yarn and tying these cross threads.  This will help me keep everything straight and tidy when I'm getting it from the warping board to the actual loom (which in this case is currently connected to the board).

Tune in later for more.

Spring at Woven Dreams Farm is such a beautiful time of year even if it is very busy.  Our lilacs are all in bloom, we have around three or four large trees / bushes that smell so good!

As soon as our weather heats up a little more those pretty flowers will be gone sad to say.

But until then we cut long branches of them to make our house smell so wonderful.

This weekend we got out a bit and went to the local Farmer's Market in town.  Even though its too early in our summer for too many veggies, the flowers and early type vegetables such as lettuce were everywhere.  We didn't buy much but its so nice to see the sunshine.  We've had lots of rain and overcast skies and even several nights lately of frost. Some of our volunteer potatoes from last year got 'bit' by the frost.

Our big orange kitty 'Big Mike' is enjoying laying in one of my upstairs windows.  I wonder what he's so intent on looking at outside.

Hmmm, maybe its our chickens we have in the garden.  He's got the perfect view from my bedroom window.  These chickens are called Mottled Java's.  They start out as white chicks and as they mature they turn black.

These little girls are only about 2 1/2 months old now and still too young to lay eggs.  But I can't wait to try them when they start laying.

I've started a new weaving project, a surprise for my niece Ivy and her husband Sergio's new baby.  I'm making it out of 100% cotton yarn so it will be easy to wash.  Babies can be a little messy if you know what I mean.  The yarn is white and I'm hoping to do some dyeing on it before its finished.  No details right now, its a secret.  I will take pictures along the way and post them after I send it to them.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all mothers and those of us who have mothered anyone anytime.  These beautiful flowers were given to me by my wonderful daughter.  Also the yellow and purple tiny petunias in the gorgeous hanging basket at the top of the blog.

She surprised me yesterday with a trip to a friend's plant farm where she had already paid for these plus two beautiful red geranium plants.  All I had to do was pick them out.  These sweet little alyssum plants will be planted with the geraniums in large pots today.

I love her so much!  Thank you Valerie for all you do for me and for our farm.  You are a wonderful, sweet daughter.  May God bless you richly.

UPDATE:  She just surprised me with another gift!!!!!  A Red Velvet Cake she knows I LOVE.  I know what I'm having for dessert.  THANK YOU.

This was not so good however.  These little tp cups I made for our starter plants have done nothing so far.  I had such high hopes for these.  Only three on the left side have even started sprouting from the first seeds we planted.  I am very disappointed and will probably not continue with this project.  We used a good starter soil, kept the plants covered with plastic wrap and put in a sunny window.

These plants are another story.  I planted these last week.  There are two kinds of lettuce and one type of radish in this little planter.  As you can see they are already taking off.  These were planted in the same starter soil as the other, watered the same and placed in the same sunny window.  No difference there.

Not sure why the other didn't sprout.  I think I will scrape the cups out with the seeds into another small similar planter and see if they were viable or if there's something wrong with the tp cups.

More later.



Again, I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day and my 92-year old mother enjoys her time with two of my sisters today.  She is well and I talk with her often.  Love you momma.

The little starter pots I made last week are working perfectly and they were free!  How great is that.
 
 I just planted these little Basil seeds last weekend.  They are lovin' the sunny window I put them in and showing their little heads already.  I'm surprised.  I didn't think they would take off so quickly.  The little yellow pot is the basil.  The green box (Tupperware) on the right contains around 8-10 different veggies.

I also planted lettuce, chard, spinach and radishes in the two little metal planters.  They are in a sunny window downstairs in the kitchen.  Its hard to find a place that the kitties don't have access to.  We will see what happens to the little metal pots.  And already Dexter has nearly ruined my only peonies bush in the yard.

I'd like to start planting in our garden but today its very windy and even starting snowing a little while I was working on the blog this morning.

I've hired someone to take out all the old raspberry plants and two worthless raised garden beds that were so full of grass and weeds there would have been no dirt left in them if I'd pulled out that stuff.  He came back today to finish up and it started snowing / raining.

And let me tell you, it was COLD.  But in north Idaho in the springtime, you get what you get, it changes every day sometimes every hour.

What's not to love?

Spring is finally here.  Our nights are still below freezing some nights, but all in all things are warming up.  Nearly 60 degrees today, into the 70's by next week.  Soooo glad!

Daughter and I will be starting our seeds today.  I don't like to buy the same supplies year after year, so thanks to another blogger at Rural Revolution, I have borrowed her idea.

We've been saving the empty tubes from bathroom tissue.  Peel off as much of the paper remnants as you can.

Then fold the tube long-wise in half.  Turn it and fold again, so it is approximately a square shape.

Measure 2 1/4" all the way around.

Cut at this mark.  Your two halves should be just about the same size.

Mark the little pieces at one end 1/2" all the way around.

Now take your scissors and cut each corner up to the line ... do this just on one end.

Fold the four sides inward to form the bottom of a 'box'.











As seen here, these should form little boxes which we will be adding starter mix to and planting our little seeds in.  Not everything needs to be started indoors, so probably just a couple tomato plants, and maybe something like eggplant or peppers that need a little longer growing season than we usually have up here.  I will be posting pictures as time goes on and we can all see if my 'borrowed' experiment is working for us.

April 1 and spring has arrived.  The past week has been so glorious and warm for north Idaho.  In the upper 50's and even lower 60's.  It feels so good to be out in the sun even if the wind is blowing and cold.  Our skies are the deepest blue, the forest that surrounds us is green, fresh and healthy.  We are so blessed to live in this beautiful place.

Sometimes it seems like so much work to keep things up.  My yard isn't nearly as well-kept as is has been in past years in other places such as living on the golf course.  But we have so much freedom and it is so quiet up here.

I wouldn't trade it for anything now.  See, here's our first daffodil of the year already.  Always starts right behind our old metal wagon wheel at the end of the porch.  And its always just before we start weeding.

Finished my pygora scarf.  The fiber was from our little pygora goats, LoverBoy, Toby and Snowball.  I had the mill combine them all so I can't really tell who's is who's. 

After washing and ironing it came out soft and beautiful just like I'd hoped it would.  What a difference ironing while still slightly damp makes the woven items.

Its funny how it looks like it is a soft plaid.  The pygora was space dyed blue and lavender while it was still in the hank (a circular way of dyeing with different colors).  Email me if you want to know how to do this.  www.WovenDreamsFarm@wovendreamsfarm.net

As I said, the first of April was gorgeous.  Now we are getting a pretty big storm ... wind, rain, cold temps.  If you watch the weather channel it looks like a huge snowstorm is heading this way, but our local forecasters tell us not to expect snow up here.  Just down south of us.

So please don't think this is Alaska or the Northeast, folks.  We live in the banana belt of Idaho.  I keep telling you this, you just don't believe me :-)

Happy and blessed Resurrection Day to all.  This is the wonderful day we celebrate as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rose from the grave after defeating death. 

He willingly went to the cross to suffer and die, not for his own sin as He was sinless.  But for our sins.  And folks, not just for our sins we have already committed, but for our sins we haven't done yet. 

He knows everything.  He knows how weak our bodies are.  He knows what we need and it is Him and only Him.

Thank you Lord for your sacrifice on my behalf.  Thank you for your mercy and your grace to me, a hopeless sinner.  Thank you Lord for dying in my place so that I don't have to.  Thank you Lord for loving me so much you want me to be with you for eternity.

Praise the Lord, oh my soul.