Lotsa Pictures from the Weekend

We had a full weekend! Friday was Kyle's fieldtrip day. They orginally planned on going to a state park, but with the extreme flooding we have had this last week they couldn't do that. Plan B... the teachers took all the kids to the park to play all morning, and then they went back to class and paid more games. I stopped by the park on the way to get the mail and took some pictures of Kyle playing with his friends.


Chet and his BoyScouts group did some clean-up work on the town square yesterday.

I am molting. This sunburn is taking forever to heal, and the second degree burns around my neck are still tender. You can see the molting skin on my arm here, but I will spare you the view of my back. It isn't pretty.
Beth woke up the other morning, came downstairs, and fell back to sleep on the couch. Polly took advantage of the warm lap, and climbed up for an extended nap. Yesterday morning we took the younger kids to the Farmer's Market for the "First Ever Flower & Garden Show." It only took about 30 minutes to go through everything, but it was still a nice way to spend the morning. We got to talk to farmers who gave me some good advice on my garden, and I will be going back this weekend to buy some plants. Apparently, if you plant cilantro next to your tomatoes it will keep the aphids away. I don't know if it will stop the dogs from digging beds under my tomato plants, but at least the bugs won't be there!

The kids loved all the puppies that were being sold and given away. They begged me to let them get a chihuahua. Are they kidding me? We can't have a dog that tiny! He would get trampled!

There was a lady running a booth that let all of the kids at the show have a plant. The kids brought home watermelon and sunflower plants. The lady guaranteed they really are watermelons and not pumpkins, but I am skeptical.I KNOW I planted two packs of watermelon seeds last year, and nothing but pumpkins came of it!

The baby ducks, baby turkeys, and baby chickens were a hit with the kids too. This box has a mix of turkeys and chickens. The girl said the yellow ones are the turkeys, but I couldn't tell them apart at all at. We didn't get any because I knew I would end up with a chicken house full of turkeys. Things just work that way for me. We are getting a chicken coop put together in the next couple of weeks, though. Have you seen the price of eggs lately?

For some reason, this booth just cracked me up. I have never seen compost packaged up so prettily before! Each bag had raffia and hand-punched title cards. I never knew rotting organic products could be such a work of art!

This was my favorite booth... cakes of homemade soap that look good enough to eat.
There were tons and tons of plants to choose from as well. I discovered chocolate mint plants. The farmer let me pinch off a leaf and taste it. It was good. He told me if I planted a pot by my door it would keep away mosquitos. I am thinking about bordering the property with it if that is the case.
Somebody ran over a big turtle on our dirt road Friday. By the time I came home from work, it had been discovered by this vulture. When I stopped the car he circled above me while I took his picture, waiting rather impatiently for me to get on my way so he could return to his meal.

This winged creature is a lot prettier to look at. Doesn't she (he?) have some gorgeous markings?She was fluttering around one of the flowering bushes in the front yard, and was very cooperative about opening her wings and staying still long enough to let me shoot her.

I also wanted to share this recipe with you. I saw Giada cooking it the other day, and it sounded so good. Then artichokes went on sale for $1 a piece, so I decided to try the recipe out. Faith loooooves artichokes, and she was really excited for dinner last night. These were very good. I added some green onions to the cheese filling, and I didn't have parsley so I used basil with the breadcrumbs, but it was still yummy. I am going to make them again and add some chicken to the filling, which would make it a whole meal.

Anyway... I need to go get tonight's dinner going. We are having deersteak and roasted taters tonight..... mmmmmm. Then we won't have anymore deermeat left. Is it hunting season yet?