We celebrated Sam’s birthday last Wednesday with a homemade angel food cake and a gift of this quilt.
See Ivy under the table? I also have Moe staying here – she’s real nervous! Haha!
The days are so perfect – I read in the porch, sew in the porch, eat and drink in the porch – with only dogs and cats to keep me company. Rick doesn’t see much attraction in the porch.
Remember the succulent desk? Here it is today – nearly full!
Reader quilts:
Have a nice weekend, Everybody!
Loved your pictures. Everything is so green and healthy. You are right about
living on the porch. It is so relaxing. I enjoy mine, too. Thank you for all your
work and effort to provide the blog. It is so enjoyable to read.
Beautiful plantings! Love the animals also! We are happy that we only got a little rain yesterday, so Richard was able to get some of the yard mowed. Still have standing water on a good chunk of yard. Expecting more rain this coming week. So far today is dry and my grand-dog and I are enjoying it.
Your pictures are so enjoyable. All of the plants and flowers look so healthy.
Thank you for all the effort and time you take to provide the blog for us to
read and enjoy.
Loved seeing all of your beautiful spots throughout the “garden”! Your succulent desk garden is very tempting! I’ll keep my eye out for an appropriate container. Even though our state and the ones around it are finally open I still find it hard to just get out there to shop – except for food. It’s a very strange feeling. Anyway, your blog is so fun to read Mary. Thank you for sharing your life with us! Jan in MA
Your succulents and flowers are beautiful! Love your farm animals and pets and your entire property. Looking at your pictures makes me happy! Thank you for sharing, Mary!
Looks like the woodchuck won in the clean department. Have you eaten nasturtium in a salad? They are a little peppery like a radish I love them.
I can’t imagine anything more wonderful than sitting in a place you love doing things you enjoy! Those moments are golden….and often scarce. Right now I’m sitting on my daughter’s couch watching a silly movie with my three grandchildren and sneaking peeks at quilting blogs! Same idea!
Gorgeous plants, gorgeous animals, especially the chicken! What a peaceful place-I almost said relaxing, but it’s obvious the work that goes into all of it. Bet the kids enjoyed the party. Thanks for sharing!
Your succulent garden is beautiful! My question is how do you maintain them when they get overgrown and go to seed?
Your succulent garden is so pretty. Will it survive Iowa’s winter or do u take it inside?
LaNan Eldridge – it will have to come inside either the house or the shop.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!!
That glorious chicken. Everything, and everybody looks so happy.
How’s the trough plants coming?
We have had a little rain, so it’s hot and humid. At exercise we huff, puff and sweat. But it’s helping my hip, so I do a lot of standing under the fan.
I’ll try to get a picture of the cattle stock coming to town. Generally, there so many people watching it’s hard to get a good shot. I’ll try the road cams.
Like Mary, I hope you all have a great weekend.
Hi Mary, that chicken is magnificent, does she have a name? Have just had a 2 day storm, gale force winds knocking over the port a loo across the road (we have ongoing roadworks).lt now held upright by a seat belt!my son from taiwan and family are in new Zealand doing their managed isolation before visiting for 6 months,yay!take care everyone, best wishes from sandy
Sandy – I can’t wait to see pictures of Stella and Luna!!!
Mary your gardens are beautiful. I just spent a few hours the last couple of days cleaning the small weeds from the flower beds. Have zucchini, cukes, beans, summer squash and tomatoes from the vegetable garden. Love the rooster, Sandy.
Thanks for posting all the quilts. Home to Roost was a gift from my quilting buddy in a kit form. She had all the pieces cut and I just had to piece it and then quilt it. I looked at some pictures of chickens to get ideas on the quilting. Very happy to have it hung. Thanks for a great pattern from 2001.
a wonderful post today 🙂
Love all your pictures! Summer is the only time you can sit in the porch and totally enjoy! Thanks for the post!
The desk turned out so cute and all the plants are so pretty!!! Love that chicken (and the kitties and the goats et al). YIKES, a WOODCHUCK!! Did it bite Hazel (not sure if woodchucks bite or not). Dang that dog, always into something huh? LOL
Your porch is a delightful place to host a birthday party, and Sam is such an adorable guest of honor.
The animal pictures are great; I was especially happy to see Jackie and Colton. Moe is a hoot. Thanks for this wonderful post, Mary.
Thank you for your hard work to have your blog. I really enjoy not only reading your blog but also reading everyone’s comments. That chicken is so cute. I’ve not seen that type of chicken with the mop of feathers on top. We had a white crested black polish chicken-all black except the white feathers on the head. She was the sweetest chicken we ever had. I just need a farm so I could have more chickens. I have five right now.
I love my porch too but unfortunately mine is an open porch and lately the mosquitos have made us stay inside. When it is pleasant and we aren’t afraid of getting eaten alive the dogs go crazy when I say lets go outside because they know they will get a chew and run and swim while mom sits on the porch with hummers buzzing and do some handwork. I could stay out there forever! I do get some exercise because Oliver, my deaf lab with the super nose, likes to wonder and the neighbors woods must have more interesting smells than we have so off he goes. Since he’s in his own world he sometimes gets on a determined path and I’m trudging through woods and over and under fallen branches following the sounds of the bells I put on his collar in order to track him.
I appreciate the time and trouble you put forth to show how interesting a farm life like mine can be. And if you need a couple more roosters I have two beauties that need a good home!
Your gardens are so beautiful. The succulent desk really came out nice and I love the cement dog . I had to take a second look as it is so realistic. Thanks for sharing your farm life with us.
So much to enjoy in your blog today! Plants, animals, quilts, and birthdays. So much to enjoy. That Hazel sure had fun digging in the dirt! The bath was probably worth it. I love how full the succulent desk is becoming.
We celebrated my aunt’s 90th birthday yesterday and my dad’s 85th is today. We’ll celebrate his in August since it’s hard to get all 7 of us “kids” together at once. My Iowa son will be here in Texas the last week in July for my birthday. Yippee he finally gets to show my grandson off to the great grandparents.
You r the perfect person for the shirt and so glad you like it. I love all the pics and especially the last one, it needs to be in a magazine. Paula in KY
Mary – what kind of chicken it it that you have posted? My 5 year old granddaughter needs one like that. She carries around her little chickens, she likes them almost as much as her little kittens! She would love your farm – she too has 3 geese, a bucket calf that is going to the County Fair this week with her older brother, and she has been showing pigs at the area progress shows. Mom wants her to get some lambs (cuz mom started out 4-H showing lambs), Dad says: “No goats”! We’ll see if she gets her lambs. Great post today (as always)! Thanks for sharing! HUGS… and stitches
Christie B – the chicken I showed and called Bad Hair Day is actually a Polish Top Hat hen. I have one more hen and one rooster both in the infirmary because their feet are so bad and because they aren’t “at the top of their game”anymore, the healthy hens and roosters would end up killing them.
Thanks for getting back to me on this – I will have my daughter check into where she can find a couple of these hens. Hope the two can get out of the infirmary soon.
Christie B – chicks can be ordered through the mail from Murray McMurray Hatchery in Webster City, Iowa if you can’t find them elsewhere
thanks Mary!
This was just the wonderful pictures and reading! Thank you so much, and what kind of chicken was that — so adorable. Have a wonderful time. lov you and your family so much,
Oh, Mary—I would be in that screened-in porch all summer long doing exactly what you are doing!!! I wish I had a screened-in porch rather than a deck! Or both would be better yet!And all of your flowers are just so beautiful! Didn’t get June’s project done so now I’m really behind! Hope you get both done soon.
Mary, I too would be out on that porch all summer. What a great porch! I love seeing all the photos of your farm. I appreciate all your efforts (and Kayla’s) to keep the blog going. Thank you.
Question about the cats: Is the mother cat, I think her name is Darla, still around? Also, which cats stay mainly in the house, versus the barn or shop?