Garden update

I thought I should post something - since it has been awhile since I did.  Here is an updated picture of our garden.  The plants are doing really well - unfortunately so are the weeds. ;-)

What We've Been Up to Lately

Hello - I finally took a few minutes to download some pics from our camera.  I've posted some of them here so that you can see what we have been up to lately.

Garden 2011 - Gardening season is getting started - slowly but it's getting there. :-)  My wonderful husband got our garden spot tilled and ready to plant.  We've planted peas, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and broccoli so far outside and we have quite a few things started inside.  Inside we have mostly flowers and herbs so far because it is too early to plant the other stuff - although this morning I noticed that my tomatoes and peppers have started to peak through the dirt.  Yay :-) Here are a couple of pics of our garden so far.

Outside garden spot

Indoor garden

Dog Run - Also in the effort to get out yard in shape for the year we decided that we needed to contain the dog's mess.  She is a good dog and we love having her but she is hard on the yard.  First of all she thinks the entire thing is her bathroom so she just goes where ever - it makes it a scavenger hunt trying to clean it all up.  Second, she doesn't like to walk.  She runs everywhere and puts the brakes on at the last minute so we get a lot of take off and skid marks.  Finally she likes to run the fences and is wearing paths around the yard.  Soooo...... we found a good deal on a 10x10x6 chain link kennel.  Matt was going to build one but we ended up saving quite a bit by just buying it.  We're pretty happy about it but I'm not sure the dog appreciates it. 

 Birds - Our duckies are doing great and getting really big.  :-)  Also, this weekend we decided to get some baby chicks. We now have 5 Barred Rock and 5 Black Sex Link chicks living in our garage too.  Bob and Matt are building a chicken coop to go with the duck pond so they won't have to be in the garage for very long.  Both kinds are supposed to be good layers and cold hardy so hopefully we will get some good farm fresh eggs here in a few months.  Here are some pics of our birds.

Well, I guess that is all for now.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.  Talk to you later.  :-)

Getting Ready for Spring

Well Idaho keeps on reminding us that it isn't quite Spring yet.  We have some beautiful days - like yesterday - then the next day it will try to snow.  (sigh)  Oh well, I love being in Idaho where the weather is always a surprise. ;-)

Anyway,  I thought I would post and let you know that I have one of the best husbands ever.  He surprised me by tilling my garden and getting it all ready to plant yesterday.  Yay! :-)  I'll try to post some pictures later.  I know it is a bit early to be planting most things but my peas are going to love this weather.  Hopefully - now that the ground is ready - I will get a chance to plant between rain storms. :-)

Also I suppose I should add that our duckies are doing well.  They are getting really big and starting to grow some of their down and pinion feathers.  I will try to post some pictures of them later too.  My biggest problem with pictures is not remembering to take them but remembering to get them off the camera and onto the computer.  ;-P

Quack! Quack!

So Matt went to Cal-ranch last week to get another pair of work pants and you'll never guess what happened.  He was just strolling along when 6 baby ducks jumped in his cart and insisted on going home with him. ;-)  That's right we now have 6 ducks living in a box in our garage.  He even stopped by my work to surprise me with them because he couldn't wait until I got home that night.  They have been lots of fun and the nieces and nephews really like them.

Here is a video if you would like to see them:

Road Trip

We made a quick road trip to Oregon this weekend to pick up Rachel and Traygen.  She wanted to come for a visit but didn't think she could drive that far with a 3 week old.  This was the last weekend that we could guarantee that Matt would be available (before he has to start riding the trains) so we decided to drive out.  Mom and Dad drove out with us (actually we took their car).  We stayed in a nice hotel in Ontario then drove home the next day.  It was a fun trip.  We did a lot of visiting and saw a lot of pretty country.  Traygen did pretty well on the drive back.  We had to stop a few times to give him a break from his car seat, he definitely let us know when he was ready for a break. :-)

We didn't take any pictures but here are a few screen grabs from Google Maps so you can see where we were. These images were obviously taken a few years ago and later in the season but you'll get the idea. :-)

Here is Rachel and Destry's house

This is Destry's parent's place (mostly you can just see the farm yard but the house in under the trees on the right side of the picture).

March 14th

Ok so it has been a year since I posted anything.  Oh well, Que Sera Sera.

My sister has recently started blogging.  Her blog is so cute and fun that it has made me feel like I really should be doing something with mine.  (Thanks a lot for the guilt trip. j/k).

Nothing much exciting is happening in our lives at the moment.   Matt's new job is going well.  He has one more week of class then he has two weeks of student trips as a conductor.  My work is the same a always but it is going well.  I did get to start my garden this weekend.  Matt brought me home a four pack of broccoli one day last week in lieu of cut flowers (what a romantic ;-) ).  Since we had the broccoli I decided to go ahead and start the other cole crops as well (cabbage and brussel sprouts).  Also we ended up at Home Depot on Saturday and a pack of spinach and two things of strawberries jumped into our cart. :-P  We won't be able to plant anything out side for another month or so but it's fun to have some things started.

I guess that's all that is new from our end.  I have some pics that I will try to post of various family activities.  Also I have some video from Rebecca and Spencer's good bye party that I will try to post soon.  Bye for now.

Yay Spring!!!

I tend to hole up in the winter.  I enjoy the snow and other things that come with the wintery season but I get so excited as spring approaches.  I love looking for the first flowers to poke through the soil, hearing song birds again, and (most importantly) making plans for the coming growing season. :-)  If I were one to look for symbolism and hidden meanings I suppose I could say that in some ways I "awaken" in the spring just like the beauties of nature around me. (I know - it's silly - I guess I'm in a whimsical mood today).

Matt mowed our lawn for the first time yesterday and he tilled the garden.  I started a bunch of seeds last week and most of them are already growing.  This year (in addition to garden plants) I am going to try growing a medicinal (and seasoning) herb garden.  As I look around our yard I see a lot of new life peaking through the soil.  We can't wait for it to warm up so we can have backyard BBQs with friends and family. :-)

Bye for now

Rebecca's baby girl

I just got some pictures of Elle. I thought you might like to see them. Isn't she soooo cute!! (no I'm not biased ;-))

Brand spank'in new

Daddy's Little Girl

Mommy and Me

Don't bother me, I'm sleeping

Welcome Autumn

There's just something about this time of year that's just fun. :-) Happy Harvest!!!

Potatoe Harvest 2009

This weekend was the annual potatoe harvest. For some reason it seems earlier than usual. Matt and I were talking and we've decided that the potatoe harvest should be an official "Warth" holiday. Last year we did participate and it seemed really weird, like missing Thanksgiving. Anyway this year we got a good haul. We went out twice and probably got several hundred pounds each time. I'm going to try to can some of them for soups during the winter. Also we like to give some away to family/neighbors/coworkers. Amica (the dog) had a blast running a round and the weather was nice. All in all the was a good harvest "holiday" - can't wait for next year. :-)

Amica

Our home has grown by four paws and a tail. :-) This is Amica (Italian for friend). We adopted her from the Pocatello shelter on Saturday. She is a great fit in our family and a well mannered dog. She is probably almost pure German Shepherd and about a year old. She already has us wrapped around her "paw" but we're really glad to have her. :-)

She loves to hang out on the porch and wore herself out "helping" us pick up potatoes this weekend. She help consisted of finding a puddle to get muddy in, chasing potatoes we threw, and trying to take potatoes out of our buckets. :-)

This picture was taken by the shelter. I'll post some more when we get a chance to take them (we're having too much fun playing to stop and take pictures.) :-D

Our Garden

Our garden did really well this year. Of course so did the weeds. :-) Yesterday we harvest everything but the root crops because we've started getting frost.

Now I just have to find the time to can/freeze everything.

Playing with the cats

Our cats are getting really big. We've enjoyed having them but five cats is too many for the amount of space we have. My parents stopped by on Sunday (on their way back from Oregon) so we sent three of the cats with them. The cats are going to live on Rebecca's in-laws' farm. They'll love it and they will have plenty of things to chase. :-)

We kept the yellow and brown striped cats. Here are some pictures of one of our last days with all of the cats.

Camping Sept 18-20 2009

We've been really busy lately but we've been able to find some time for fun as well. We went camping at big Springs the 18-20 of Sept. Here are some pictures. :-)

The nice new truck makes the camper look like it needs a paint job huh?

Matt likes to sneak pictures of me. . . .

Here's one of him :-)

Thank goodness for cameras with timers. :-)

Here are some pictures of the campground and our campsite. Maybe next year we can get some of our family to join us.

New Job

It's finally official . . .

I have been hired but ISU to be the new Instructional Technologist at the ITRC.

YAY!! :-)

Nature's Fireworks

For the 4th this year we went to Matt's uncle's house for a BBQ. We had planned to eat outside but nature had other plans.

We all commented how neat the clouds looked, but certainly didn't expect what came next. It started out raining gently but quickly changed to driving rain and hail. Some of the hail stones were as big as marbles.

Harkers and Matt's parents got to the party in the midst of the storm. Umbrellas didn't have much of a chance against the wind. Everyone ended up really wet.

Look at the hail piled up against the deck. Kendall's poor garden. :-(


After the storm. Look the beautiful colors. Nature had to show off before the "puny mortal" fireworks could get started. :-)

New Look

You'll find that I like to change things (usually according to my mood or the season). In this case a new season needs a new look. Check it out! :-)

Elise Marie Atkin

My sister had her beautiful baby girl on the 19th of June. Here are some pictures of her at about a week old.
Isn't she pretty? :-)