I AM still alive!

Ah...its been a while, but lots has gone on - and what I really wanted to do was a pictoral guide to my excuses for not blogging...but since I have no patience for uploading on my slow speed 'net and I'm not sure how to link in pictures from any of my online albums, I guess I'll just be writing a bit...
So what HAVE I been doing with all the spare time I must have since I'm not blogging...

-Lorelei...besides the usual, feeding, diapering (and washing diapers) and carrying around - I've been playing piano with her, reading her books, tossing her around (she loves this, I think she's going to be an adrenaline junky!), having tickle time, enjoying bath time, and of course many miscellaneous adventures! She is almost 7 months old now, she can sit, does lots of rolling and wriggling around to get where she wants to go, and I'm sure she'll soon be crawling! She has two teeth now and loves to feed herself mum-mums.

-Garden...Well, truthfully, I haven't spent as much time on the garden as I should have, it ended up with a LOT more weeds in it then I had planned...but it has also produced well, so I can't complain...I have just a few carrots...they didn't germinate well; lots of lettuce and spinach...which I didn't use as much of as I had hoped/planned; a ton of beets...anyone want some? I can't eat THAT many red things!; Quite a fair number of beans...I just pulled out the plants and they're in the truck waiting for their trip to the horse pasture; a few peas...the most inefficient vegetable ever; a nice crop of onions; two very prolific zucchini plants; a very prolific spaghetti squash...it has over a dozen good sized fruit on it; a golden hubbard squash plant...not as prolific; some wonderful cucumbers; and last but not least a few lonely potatoes...I didn't have room for many...my garden was packed and planted too close together as it was! I did attempt to plant some in a strip of broken up ground across the yard, but the cow ate the tops off, and I think the competition from thistles and quack grass did them in. I am stil going to check and see if they happened to produce though!

-Canning & Freezing...Somewhat related to the above, but I have some pleasantly full shelves in the coldroom now and my freezers are filling up! I froze beans, peas, 20+ bags of raspberries, shredded zucchini and applesauce. I canned Apple Juice, apple butter, apple sauce, apple jelly, dill relish, zucchini relish, zucchini dill pickles, cucumber dills, sweet dilled cucumber slices and peach raspberry jam!

-Farm stuff...Milking the cow each morning (I've experimented with making some cheese, yogurt and cooking with lots of cream and milk!), tending to my declining flock of chickens...now down to 14.5 hens, and helping with fencing, checking cows and cleaning the barn.

-Projects...mostly of the sewing type of late...reparing diapers and mending clothes and making gifts.

-The Usual...of course there is the never-ending tasks such as laundry, cleaning, lawn mowing, dishes, cooking, grocery shopping and so on...but we find ways to make them at least bearable!

So, I guess thats my update for now, since LoLo is fussing and needs to have a nap! I'll be back...no telling when!