Herb Garden Report

At last the herb garden is underway now that the weather has improved.  It will be a while before it is finished though.

I started out by collecting empty gallon milk jugs which I cut almost all the way through, made drainage holes and then filled the bottoms with soil to make little miniature greenhouses.  That is where I planted my herb seeds.  Ultimately I had about 14 containers.  I kept them in this large plastic tray.  When we were away from home for nearly a week, I was able to fill the tray with about an inch of water which served to keep the baby plants watered the whole time we were gone.

Soon the little seeds started to sprout and quickly because little plants.

Keeping the jugs in the tray made it is easy to bring the containers
inside when the weather became too cold.  Now that the weather
has become warmer, I have started to transplant the plants into
planters outside.

Spring Freebies

Springtime always brings freebies in the yard.  The rhubarb is lush and ready to use.  The asparagus just pops out of the ground with no real effort on my part.

The fruit trees are showing real promise this year.  So far the rainy, cold weather has come in between the vital times .  The trees have bloomed, so now we wait to see if the flowers were pollinated!  It is too early to tell about the peaches, but the apricot tree has lots of little apricots!  If all of these apricots make it, we will definitely have to do some serious thinning!

More reunion pictures 2012

A few weeks ago some of our favorite people got together to visit. Today we received some pictures from that event so just thought we'd share.

It is with reluctance that I post this one with the crazy hair. As an excuse, I can only say that the wind was starting to howl about that time.

Before the wind came up, it was sunny....very sunny. My sunburn is just now starting to peel.

Baby Animal Days - What a difference a day makes.

I'm pretty sure at least some of those 7200 people who came to Baby Animal Days yesterday considered the weather report as it was no surprise that the weather today was less than ideal. For those who came today, they had a huge advantage in seeing the sites as fewer people meant lines were shorter and there was more room for baby animal viewing. There were a few more unique animals than the usual farm animals.

Most popular of all were the baby bears. These bears were born in January, so they are about 3 months old. These little guys have been raised in a home...but are nonetheless bears. The lady caring for them today was asked if she wears leather under her clothing to protect her from scratches and bites. She says she doesn't wear leather, but does always wear long sleeves when appearing with the bears in public to hide all the scars she has from scratching and biting from her young charges. Watching the bears was about like watching a room full of two-year-olds at play.











It was hard to leave the entertaining bears but the baby turtles were waiting nearby.



The children loved snuggling up with the baby bunnies.





Even the buffalo were there today.



Many of the horses seemed to be doing a lot of patiently waiting around.






But some were busy working. These horses have been plowing one of the fields.






I'm sure with so many horses around, a blacksmith shop was essential.



When I peeked behind one of the barns there was a most surprising animal. It had a head, but no legs. People who tried to ride it generally were soon bucked right off.



Another fun day...in spite of the weather!

Baby Animal Time Again

Last year, Baby Animal Days were rather miserable due to the cold, snowy, rainy, sleety, undecided nasty weather. Yesterday arrived with blue skies and sunshine....and 7000-7500 guests, all eager to see baby animals.







I think the horses were happy to have a large place to graze in the midst of all the visitors.




Strollers were everywhere.



The fur trader/mountain man site has been moved this year and they have a new little cabin to base their activities in.


This fellow is busy making a fire.



Indoors, visitors were allowed to try writing with a genuine quill pen. It worked amazingly well, although judging from the ink on the fur traders hands and cloths, maybe it isn't always as easy as it looks. I managed to make a decent entry while keeping my hands clean.



The woodwright shop stayed really busy. Gary sat outside with the shavehorse making spoons.



Neil brought along a display of some of his carvings.



The children's area had heavy usage.



As always, the coffin was in constant use as a photo op.



If you are in the area, please stop by!

Dinosaurs!

We've been working hard on various projects, so this afternoon we took some time to have a little fun and go visit the local dinosaurs. The woodworker is a boy at heart when it comes to dinosaurs.

T-Rex is still his favorite.




I'd run, too, if I were this little fellow....



'cause look who is right behind him!



We decided to watch the 3D movie they had playing. Amelia wasn't too impressed at the fireball and loud noise at the beginning, but after that she was happy. Maybe it was reminiscent of her experience with the fireball and cold water at the Japanese restaurant a while back. She seemed fascinated by the black lights in the hallway leading into the theater.



Here is a fossil of one of the critters from the movie.



The exhibits were well done and showed plant and animal life from earth, sea and sky.



Some of the dinosaurs seemed to be wearing silly grins.






Many of the critters were set in sort of natural dioramas to add a bit of reality to the situation. The vegetation in the settings was also true to the period.













Have to watch out or a dinosaur may seem ready to leap down on an unsuspecting visitor.



The supersaurus and his friend here, were almost too large to fit into the room, and certainly too large to fit completely into the picture. You can get an idea of their size if you notice a person standing there looking at a smaller exhibit.




One fun thing about this museum is that they have lots of interactive, fun things for kids to do.



This one involves making dams and floods, splashing in water and playing with sand.









There was even a fun room where kids could dig for fossils.



The mammoth is under attack by a band of wily humans!





This little boy is pretty fearless looking into the mouth of the prehistoric shark!



I would recommend this place for anyone who enjoys dinosaurs!