Pharming in Philomath - or is it Farming in Filomath???

Farming is hard work! Hannah and Beka and I worked last week at clearing out three of our raised beds, and Mark tilled them yesterday morning and worked in some compost. Then in the evening, in order to avoid the heat of the day, the girls went to work. They decided that this will be called THE FARM, rather than the dainty "garden" we've had in the past. So, into the beds went peas, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and basil. Lettuce and broccoli will be transplanted when our seed starts are big enough to put in the beds. I watched as they worked, as I'd been feeling lousy all day with the flu, but I managed to chronicle the event in pictures.
Planting those very tiny carrot seeds. Do those instructions say three or four seeds per inch? Wait, maybe we got a few more seeds in the rows than that... oh well, we'll thin 'em later! The peas were much easier - bigger and easier to count!
Hannah was already sunburned from a previous outing in the afternoon - but she braved the elements again - anything for the cause!
An occupational hazard that all good farmers know about - mosquitoes! Hannah had at least eight bites on her arms and legs, and Beka counted seventeen on her back. Next time, girls, put on your farmer overalls, OK?
My big contribution - making the stakes to mark the rows.
Beka putting in the tomatoes. Look for more posts as the garden - oops, I mean FARM - grows!

Weed Poppin'

You just know your life is interesting when the most exciting thing you can think of to blog about is weeds... Our front yard is (WAS) infested with dandelions, but Mark has the tool to slay them.

The enemy

The super-hero, Mark, with his weed popper, purchased several years ago at a garage sale for $3 - he says it's his best garage sale purchase EVER!

The view from the street toward the house - just look at that killing field! Thanks, Mark, for your hard work. Our weed-free grass thanks you, too.

Our lilac bush is so lovely...and smells SO good!

Jo and the beautiful lilac bush

A close-up!

The handsome husband checks out the bush.

Back when Hannah was in fourth grade, I accompanied her class on a three-day "Oregon History" field trip. One of the amazing places we went was to Philip Foster Farm National Historic Site, which is in Eagle Creek, Oregon (see www.philipfosterfarm.com). It was at this site, located on the Barlow Trail (last leg of the Oregon Trail) where pioneers, who had traveled over 2000 miles, for seemingly endless months, could finally find real civilization: gardens, orchards, provisions at the store, fresh vegetables and fruit, pasture for their stock, a blacksmith, camping sites, home-cooked meals, and even cabins to rent. And being the history nut that I am, I loved this place, and I really recommend taking a tour there. Today it is operated as an authentic replica site, and tours and demonstrations of pioneer life are given by employees in period costume. Anyway, to make a long story even longer, when Hannah and I were there, I purchased a lilac start from the gift shop. (Actually, the gift shop had sold out of the starts, so the employees gave me a shovel and a pot and "let" me dig my own start from around the base of the original lilac bush, which they then sold to me, making it even more fun!) The neat thing about this lilac start is that it came from the first lilac bush in Oregon. The original start traveled to Oregon from the east coast of the U.S. in 1843, via Cape Hope at the tip of South America. Today you can still buy the starts from Mary Charlotte Foster's original bush, which is huge - taller than the two-story homestead! I bought and planted our start in about 1997, and it has been somewhat slow to strut its stuff, but this year, it has grown so much, is loaded with blooms, and smells SOOOO good! Thank you, God, for making such lovely things for us to enjoy.

and P.S... the rhododendron is looking mighty fine, too
and another P.S. - I don't know why my font size is so small in the paragraph above?

Her name is Christine...

We introduce to you Miss Christine Ouellet. She hails from Quebec City in Canada, and she is moving to Aspen, Colorado in a few days. And Ben thinks she is very special. Stay tuned!

A Lovely Day

Mother's Day was wonderful in every way. Mark and I were joined by Sarah and Chris, Jake and Beka, and Hannah, and my day was both fun and FUNNY! If you read Sarah's blog (link at right), you'll see that she and Chris brought a new taste sensation to our table, aka kangaroo meat. Hannah is having her first taste below.
I'm not sure if it really tasted that BAD (OK, maybe it did), or if it was just a psychological thing, but suffice it to say that we probably won't be serving it again soon. Oh - we also had delicious normal food, lovingly prepared by the kids. Thanks so much, all of you.
After the barbecue, we headed to Fitton Green, a park in Corvallis where, if you are willing to take a short, easy hike, you will be rewarded with beautiful views of our area. It was really windy and a bit cool, but we were ready for adventure. Jake and Beka are enjoying the view.

Sarah and ChrisBeka and me

My one and only sweetheart

And one very wind-swept dog

I love you all so very much! Thanks for making this the best Mother's Day ever. And thanks, Ben, David, and Nikki, for the phone calls. I missed you so much yesterday. It was GREAT to talk to you!

My Three Sons

Here are our boys in November, 1987... David is 3, Ben is 5, and Jake is 7. They were a sweet handful then, and they are a sweet handful now! Love you guys so much!

I've Been Tagged

Both daughter Sarah and daughter-in-law Beka have tagged me, so here goes:

Four jobs I've had:
1) Arctic Circle (like McDonalds - do they even still exist?)
2) Admissions Office secretary at two colleges
3) First grade teacher (Dayton, WA)
4) Substitute teacher (Philomath, OR)

Four movies I've watched more than once:
1) Anne of Green Gables
2) The Sound of Music
3) Fiddler on the Roof
4) Master and Commander

Four places I've lived:
1) San Francisco, CA
2) Las Vegas, NV
Seattle, WA (gotta include that one, too)
3) Santa Barbara, CA
4) Philomath, OR

Four TV shows I watch:
1) The Office
2) American Idol
3) The Waltons
4) Does the news count? on ABC
...I'm really NOT a TV person...

Four places I've been:
1) Hungary, Czech Rep.
2) Germany
3) Austria
4) Alaska, Hawaii

Four people who email me regularly (doesn’t include blogging comments):
1) my mom
2) my kids, and kids-in-law
3) my husband
4) travelocity.com

Four of my favorite foods:
1) barbecued tri-tip
2) layered pudding dessert
3) Ben & Jerry's Phish Food ice cream (like mother, like daughter)
4) pretty much anything chocolate

Four places I would like to visit:
1) England
2) Hawaii - this time with my husband, not the Girl Scouts
3) Israel
4) Africa

Four things I'm looking forward to in the coming year:
1) our 35th anniversary in June
2) vacationing with family this summer
3) planting our garden
4) going to the beach

Four friends I'm tagging:
1) Hannah
2) Beka
3) Most people I know have already been tagged,
so feel free to consider yourself tagged if you'd like!
4) ???