Baby robins

   The baby robins are finally old enough to leave the nest. This will be the 2nd nest of robin babies that have hatched this summer on our front porch from their little nest nestled among the climbing roses that climb up the side of our porch. Watching them daily from the living room picture window has been such a joy. I will miss them.

Berry Picking

                                       
 Today I was happy to discover that our raspberries are finally ripe. :) I noticed when I saw our resident Mama robin happily carrying a juicy ripe red raspberry in her beak to take back to her little feathered babies (pictured below) that currently reside on our front porch hidden among the climbing roses.

 Excited to go and check out the berries we grabbed our bowls and headed out to the berry bushes to go picking. We filled 3 bowls and then headed across the street to my MIL's to pick back raspberries, where we filled 2 more bowls. Then we headed home to make black raspberry cobbler.

   I tried out a new dairy free cobbler recipe since our daughter Gwen is now completely dairy free due to allergies. Unfortunately it didn't turn out too well though (ok, just not great :P), although Gwen absolutely loved it, so I guess it wasn't a total failure. ;) Ella about ate her weight in fresh berries, but I still have enough left to make some raspberry jelly and there are plenty more that should ripen later in the week.                                                

Sun tea & memories

  Today Miss Ella made herbal sun tea using some of the fresh herbs from our garden- chamomile, mint, pineapple mint, & chocolate mint. Not sure how great it will taste but she had so much fun making it who cares. :)

   I love that even at only 5 years old Ella has such a love of plants and gardening. She loves to walk around the yard and identify herbs and flowers in the garden. It reminds me of the time I spent with my Grandmother in her garden as I would follow her around and she would point out various flowers and tell me their names. I am very thankful for that experience and for such a caring, beautiful soul in my life growing up. Every time I smell the sweet scent of lily of the valley or see a happy, little blue bachelor button blooming I am reminded of her and of her love for God and nature. :)

The first cherry from our cherry tree!

  We finally got our first cherry from our dwarf cherry tree that we planted 3 years ago. Usually the squirrels beat us to them. So this year we finally bought some bird netting. I'm hoping this year we may actually get to taste a peach from our peach tree too for the first time. ;)

My "new" kitchen chairs

Before & after photos of our curbside finds last week:

                                                                        BEFORE:
                                                 
                                                                       

                                                                         AFTER:
                                     

  It's amazing what you can do with some sandpaper, some spray paint, some time, & some good ventilation. lol

The baby robins

Our little robin is a Mama :)

Hello Mrs. Robin

A robin has decided to make her nest right outside our living room window in the climbing roses that grow up the side of our front porch. We now have the perfect view of her little nest that she is busy building. It brings me so much joy watching her fly to and fro, carrying little bits of dried grass in her beak to build her nest. Sometimes it's the simple things in life that can bring the most joy.

Our Family Valentine's Day Dinner

With four kids it's not always easy to slip away to a restaurant for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner for two, so we've come up with the next best thing....a family friendly Valentine's Day dinner in with everyone included. :) We set up the kitchen table in the livingroom, decorated, lit candles, turned on relaxing music, made a yummy dinner, and even invited my mother in law and sister in law over to celebrate. The kids loved it and we had so much fun. :)