Well summer is here and we are busy! Anyone who knows me even a little bit realizes why I haven't been blogging. I've been in the garden and in the woods. Gardening is definitely one of my passions and I am excited to say that the herb box is producing well. In the garden the lettuce is pickable and we have had radish salads the last 2 nights. Fresh radishes, yum!
Mike and I took a trip to Columbus where we did a very nice hike at Clear Creek. Then we ventured to Pigeon River Country for a hike on the west side of the State Forest. Lastly, Samone and I just returned from our annual "Auntie - Niece Trip". We went to Algonquin Park in northern Ontario. We had a glorious time. I even got to see my first moose!!! (PS. This was a big moment for me.)
I'll take some new garden pics soon, but for now you'll have to look at the beginnings of the garden this year up until a couple of weeks ago. Check the new pictures below (Click to see)...
Apparently I am not the only one that thinks that we are very busy! We talked to our neighbor the other day for the first time in several months and he asked where we are all the time. Hmmm.... He seems to caught on to our trend of always being busy. Oh well, we sure are having fun.
I've gotten some moderate gardening done and I am looking forward to more today as long as it isn't raining. The seedlings are getting big and its just about time to plant them. We are making a trip to the UP this weekend. Tiffany and Nathan are getting married. Should be a nice time.
In the last few weeks there was a double baby shower, the end of Portuguese for this year (Muito bom! Eu estou alegre.), Ned has gotten a injured leg, Joey is turning 11 and Mom successfully completed a 5k! Woohoo Mom! We've been busy.
We also got a very exciting new purchase. A handheld GPS for backpacking. We cannot wait to test it out in a couple of weeks. We're taking our first backpacking trip to Pigeon River Country. Looks to be a lovely month.
Also a shoutout to the new homeowners (Christy & Doug have just bought their first house!), "Have fun with your home improvements!!"
I'm not sure that I've mentioned yet, but my mom and I have been working out together. It has been great trying to whip her into shape now that she has lost over 100 pounds!
I gave her a big challenge that we are completing together at the end of the month. We are doing the Lansing, MI Susan G Komen Race for the Cure on April 27th! I'm so excited for this big challenge. Please think of us often and send prayers to keep mom going!
You can also support the cause by going to my race website - Becki's Page
Last night I got to thinking about blessings. I have so many lately that I seem to have lost track. It's funny how the generosity of one person can make you think about all the other blessings you have.
Little things like eggs and milk from our animals.
A husband that will help me build a beautiful home.
People who care about health like I do.
People who are generous with their time.
Ground that I can plant a garden in.
Tulips, hyacinths and irises that appear through the snow.
A workplace where I can update my blog and not get in trouble.
Great teachers.
So many things that I couldn't do without.
I can't believe it's spring already. It hasn't felt much like spring here in Michigan. It was snowing only a day ago. It is certainly been a trying couple of months. From illness in humans to illnesses in animals, we have been having a hard time at the Keenan residence. We had a very big tragedy at our small farm. Vernors, one of the Nubian goats that we received as a wedding present, has died. It was a very long horrible weekend as she withered away and we couldn't help her. We are also having various problems with Pepsi and Bell. Pepsi has a lame foot and Bell got some sort of respiratory infection and cough.
We were lucky to be able to borrow Opal, an Alpine goat, from our great friend Mandy. Opal had just had a kid when Vernors died and Mandy offered her to us for the milk. What a blessing. Opal and her kid (I named him Ned, an Alpine LaMancha cross) have been a real mood upswing to a very dismal end of winter and beginning of spring. Opal is very sweet on the milk stand and producing well. Even though Pepsi and Opal do not exactly love each other, everyone seems to be getting along. We have in the process of all this found the need to make big changes in some of our practices and hopefully they will lead to a more successful summer.
The kitchen finishing has been moving slowly as well. We found a great contractor to do our cement counter tops. www.decorativeconcretemichigan.com We are looking forward to getting him over to measure everything up and get it started! We could have had him begin much earlier, but we had a tough time deciding on a sink. We finally bought one last weekend and hopefully we can get Jeff out next week to get our counter top started! Mike and Dad have made great strides this week as well. They added 3 can lights for additional lighting in front of the pantry, above the stove and above the back cabinet. Mike also got one of the under-counter lights installed last night. It's so amazing to be able to see what you're cooking! Hopefully we can get the counter and trim done soon...
We had a great weekend with some of the Dodd family a couple of weeks ago and a quick visit from Doug and Christy. More on these in the next post. We are really looking forward to a fun weekend with Mom Keenan. She may be coming up for a visit today!
I have taken pictures of the kitchen and the goats. I will post them soon.
