I was busy weeding in the garden and P4 was busy with .... something. I went into the house and this was on my kitchen table. He's been collecting rocks like crazy for me. I wish he could tell the difference between pretty ones and the blah kind...bless his heart.

Hiding in my guitar case...

It's all adding up...

My desk is cleaned off and I'm lovin' it. This year, L's mom has agreed to look after the boys one afternoon a month so I can do the farm books. So I had a very quiet, peaceful afternoon doing one of my favorite things. If I ever decide to stop teaching music lessons, I'd look for a job in bookkeeping - I love data entry and crunching numbers! I know some gals get a little happy when they're shopping and find a great sale. I get that happy when my books are balanced...like I've really accomplished something great!

What gives you that little happy feeling?

Track & Field

R6's school makes a big deal of the day - I don't remember parents ever being invited to my track & field days let alone with a barb-b-q lunch and lots of visiting.

Gopher Woes...

These furry little creatures are becoming a real problem! Oh, they've always been around. Once in my early married days, I was determined to get one on my yard that always seemed to outsmart me. And one Sunday I was eating dinner after church...and there he was enjoying his freedom and my yard. I was in my Sunday best but I just hurried into my rubber boots and got my gun and .... I got him!

Of course, it may have been a brother or one of the others in his clan because who knows how many are really living on your yard when you think you see the same guy all the time.

But one day, I was driving lunch out to Ladger and as I drove, I would have to describe it as gophers swarming all over the place. It's downright disturbing.

Our federal government decided a few years ago to ban the use of the one poison that most farmers used to keep this varmint under some control. But it never ceases to amaze me that they don't seem to realize that they should have another alternative in place when they decide to do something like that. The result has been that this problem is becoming huge and ridiculously out of control. And farmers have had nothing effective to deal with it. Ladger's dad has spent so many hours every spring and summer shooting thousands of them (averaging 100/day) and it barely is making a dent and this year they are worse than ever.

But now there is an effective poison... environmentally safer. But farmers have to take an all-day course to be able to purchase it. Not a problem except that it was offered when Ladger was so busy getting ready for seeding. He was lucky to find one course that's being offered now - most told him he'd have to wait until fall....huh? Fall is a lot too late to do any good this year.

How bad does it have to get before government decides that this is a problem that needs to be addressed and that there needs to be a way to facilitate farmers in their endeavor to address this problem on their farms? I still wish I could trap a whole bunch of live ones and set them free on Parliament Hill. I think that might get some attention. Don't you?

A Quick Sick

Kids can say the funniest things. The other day R6 came back after visiting Grandma and Grandpa and said they'd been feeling wierd that day. "Oh, but it was just a quick sick", he says.

Westbank 2007

The homeschoolers in our area (southwest Saskatchewan) got together for a field day at a local Bible camp. We had a lot of fun and it was perfect weather. Warm but with a nice breeze most of the day (and not many mosquitoes). It was too bad that Ladger was busy spraying but the boys and I enjoyed various activities throughout the day including wall-climbing, canoeing, hiking and the zip-line. And the boys were pretty tired on the way home so we grabbed a bite to eat on the way home and I picked up a movie for us to enjoy before bed. We got "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" which the boys enjoyed lots.

I've put up some more pictures on facebook. Go ahead and check them out.

What a beautiful day...

The sun is shining and better than that... we finished seeding yesterday!! Today he's doing some other fieldwork but the biggest pressure is off now that the seed is all in the ground and the conditions are beautiful - moist soil and humid days. It's a good start to the crop year.

And all my bedding plants are also in the ground. I waited longer than I usually do because we had so many frosty evenings. I hope that is done for the season.

The only thing is, both of my rototillers are not working. Ladger looked at both of them last night but I don't think either of them are fixed for today.

So this morning I need to get off this computer and get outside! If I have to do my weeding by hand, I'd better get to it.

Circus...

Last night I took the boys to the circus. The boys enjoyed it but it was the later showing and it got a little late. Result: the boys are sleeping in and I have a little computer time this morning.

I don't recall going to the circus when I was younger - I wonder if I would have loved it or .... not. My boys just don't seem to get into it and my ripe old age - it doesn't hold a lot of interest for me. I probably have a greater appreciation for how difficult some of the stunts are - after all the boys believe they are super heros half the time. Really! How hard can it be to balance on cylinder tubes stacked on top of each other? Or hang upside down on rings?!! They did laugh at the clown acts and that was perhaps the highlight of the evening for us.

Perhaps it's a statement of how much it takes to really enthuse this generation of TV-infused kids.