Happy SPRING!

So March 20th not only marks the birth of a lil sis but the FIRST DAY of SPRING!

With each passing equinox and solstice Pete-a-lee and I seem to celebrate each more and more. Perhaps its because we love to cook and planning a theme dinner is acutally a lot of fun for us ~ perhaps its because we like organics and in paying more attention to what we eat, we're thankful for new seasons & tastes as they arrive ~ perhaps its because like any holiday its less about what someone else says it is and more about what you make of it.

Either way ~ spring rocks!

While P was up getting the grill going, G & I made a new wreath for the front door. Sans picture, it has beautiful spring themed blossoms and 3 eggs tucked warmly inside the vine. Then for dinner we had grilled lamb & asparagus with a salad complete with flower blossoms and poppyseed dressing. Desert was a cupcake for G (i love that after then intial bite of icing ~ she flipped it over and only ate 1/2 of the cake.) And P and I had a rhubard & stawberry tart (almost glueten free - we ran out of almond meal)

After dinner we pulled out my favorite flower pot (mothers day gift from G last year) and planted some cat grass. Apparently its supposed to sprout in 3-5 days, but ummm that was fri and we ain't seen nuttin yet.

Chicken???

So apparently ALL we ever eat in this house is chicken. Or at least that's the world according to G. Occasionally she'll break out a "fisssshhh" in her vocab, but for the most part its "kickin" ("chicken").

Though she does / did know eggs well. She LOVES her morning eggs. However after the latest trip to the farm and picking up the eggs FROM the chickens. The girl is thoroughly confused. Now EVERYTHING is chicken and last night we got in a debate (yes I debate with a child who's not yet two) over chickens vs. eggs.

Ultimately she won.

OUR Farm!

Hee hee.

So Saturday morning was GREAT! We woke up, drove out to our farm ~ which really isn't that far away ~ had breakfast at a nice restaurant ~ and acutally got to the farm on time! AMAZING :)

First, we were given a tour of the greenhouse. Were told about the relatively new wood burning steam heating system (vs. the previous propane heating system that blew up like roman candles in the night) About how some of the 40,000 seeds had already been lost to frost, but were on order from another farm and would be arriving soon. April 15 is the estimated plant date for seedlings and seeds alike. Then in May we'll be invited back for a pick your own lettuce day!

Next, we walked back down towards the main house and learned a little about the history of the property (his wife's family previously owned) and about how the farm works. Of course G was far more interested in the animals and even i have to admit i fell in love with their dogs. So much so that i even googed and found that there are a TON of sweeties recently rescued not far from our home. To which Pete-a-lee dryly replys ~ "yea, that's just what we need in here"

THEN...it was down to the chickens. IT WAS AWESOME!!! Ok. Well *I* thought it was awesome. Peter didn't exactly dig the idea of having to dive underneath a tent with a bunch of birds to gather the eggs and once G stuck her hand in a broken shell, shrieked, thus causeing the closest birds to flutter ~ she wasn't so thrilled either. But it was really really cool. We got almost a dozen ourselves, then later on picked up a few more that were harvested the day before.


Peter altimately found a hoe (not me) and an alternate route to the eggs.

We even scored a GOOSE EGG.

Then we walked back up the hill. We were shown the bee hives and new bees, a few hive boxes that had been destroyed by bears and the humerous tales of their destruction. The herb garden and...A PEACOCK!!! They have the most beautiful peacock.

Then after all that we came home ~ i showered and was off to photgraph a Bat Mitzvah. It was quite an incredible day. If your interested in more of the pictures click HERE.

So in summary. I want a farm. With bees, a great pyrenees and a peacock for mothers day. Pete-a-lee I hope your reading this :)

Could it be???

I can't believe that I almost let March slip away from me. 2 months and I've already forgotten my new years resolution?!?! Bad Jenn!

Anyhoo, thanks to a great e-mail i recieved this morning I think I have a plan. We're going to visit our farm!!! (and by our, I mean someone else's entirely) We're part of a CSA for the summer and will be getting our veggies, fruits and some eggs from them on a weekly basis.

I just got an e-mail inviting us out to check out OUR chickens laying eggs (and get a free dozen) see the 40,000 growing seedlings in the greenhouse, get a tour, take a hike, collect eggs and if you really want ~ drive posts into the ground for a new hoophouse, or help pick up their new crop of rocks :)

I've got to be back in town for a BIG photo shoot, but how can we pass this up?!!?

(can you tell i'm excited??)

Practice Makes Perfect

So I've got a few photo shoots coming up in the next 30 days. Some BIG ones. Soo in addition to a couple new lenes (GULP) and other fun gear stuff ~ i've been working through the basics again with a tutorial. Its amazing how *lost* one can get in playing with the big stuff ~ that you loose sight of photography 101.

Its a beautiful day out ~ the windows are open and i'm following my tutorial...striaght to the park.


Photography may get better with time ~ but i think the subject started out pretty darn perfect from the beginning.