Here & There: Part II

We see some really neat animals/organisms here in the country and I'm always amazed at the detail of each one's appearance.  This moth was HUGE!

What is it about boys and being naked?  Ours spend most of their time at home in nothing but underwear-because I require at least that-but jump at any opportunity to be completely free.  The garden is perfect for their preference since the garden soil stains clothing BADLY and I'm practical.  Plus I LOVE spraying them off with frigid well water with the hose.  It's pretty fantastic.  

This was taken way back in the spring when I was very late preparing to plant.

 They pride themselves in their ability to be mud covered, head to toe.

This cedar tree was shading my garden so I cut several large limbs over a period of a few days to feed the goats during the process.  They enjoyed the cedar and so did the boys.

Here's the appropriate time to share my geriatric moment.  I'm a relatively new chainsaw user and am always super cautious when using the chainsaw and pole saw since do-overs aren't usually a thing where these are concerned.

So in prep for this job I'd let Hots (who was at work) and Kaydie (who doesn't like for me to do anything dangerous and who'd be over shortly) know my plans.  I cut into the first branch which was maybe 10' above me and about 12" in diameter, carefully placing my feet and repeatedly analyzing my escape route should it fall this way or that.  I also always clear the ground around where I'm working so as not to trip on anything lying around.

All went well and the limb cracked and leaned to one side so I put the pole saw down a ways away and started pulling on the end of the limp that was just within my arms' reach.  It cracked and swayed a bit in the right direction, then cracked loudly and started to fall so I stepped to the side of the tree quickly and was flat on my back almost instantly, wondering what had happened.

Turns out I'd stepped on a 3' x 4' flat rock that was at a slight angle in the dirt and still had dew on it, making it SLICK.  When my boot hit it, I just wiped out.  I don't think I would've hit my head since my head didn't jerk back, but because of my height my head was off of the rock and over the dirt (but not on it!) when I landed. 

My phone was in my back pocket so I had a pretty interesting bruise on my back end, but other than feeling old for just having ended up on the ground so suddenly, I was fine.  And thankfully I was up to tell about it by the time Kaydie arrived.

This cedar cutting & subsequent goat feeding should work well for us for some years to come!  (And I sure hope those cute boys will help me out next time, too!)

J has really enjoyed orchestra and he got to entertain a Kindergarten class one day.

One of our favorite Starkey Elementary traditions is the annual Easter Egg Hunt at a neighborhood yard.  This was J's last year and it was a raging success-the entire Fifth Grade hunted together.

I wanted to be at J's the entire time since it was his last so Hots went with SK, then dropped her off with me at J's.  He was so sweet to her and made sure she felt included.  That girl has no idea how good her brothers are to her.  :)