Family Update

Memorial Day Weekend! A few shots of the goats and chickens and us being goofy. Parrot is chasing the goats in one of the photos.

The Chickens are in my pen... Luke is not looking happy.
Eric and Beau getting close.

Perplexcity.com

Ok, so if you know me, you know I love logic! Well, this weekend, I ventured into a game store and as I was buying this game called 'MadGab' I over heard another clerk talk about this worldwide game called 'Perplex City.' So I got involved in the conversation. Low and behold, I liked what I heard... logic, puzzles and a cash prize... well, check it out for yourself. You can play for free or you can buy in or a little of both. It is a blast!!

First Tree Out

Today, I started on the rose garden by pulling out the first of five trees... literally. hahaha

Landscaping ...

... has begun!

We are mowing with our riding mower, which has a new front tire (the first time we mowed, Eric ran over something metal and flattened it). We have about 2 acres now cleared!
Weed eating is my new favorite thing to do!









My first area of attack is this area. The plan is to make this into a rose garden. The trees on either side of the walk way are going to be removed and possibly replanted elsewhere. The area between the path and the window will be tilled and the grass removed prior to beginning the steps of planting roses. After much research, I have found my plan of attack for this project.

Here goes:

http://www.rosemagazine.com/pages/planting.asp

'Site: good drainage, and 4-5 hours of sun.
First of all, it is very important to choose a sunny area of the garden that gets at least 4 to 5 hours of sun for your rose. Do not crowd your rose with other trees and plants. Some roses, such as climbers and shrubs, don’t mind company, but most like to mix with other roses or other non-invasive plants. If you’re replacing an older rose bush, it is important to remove an 18 cubic inch area of soil and replace it with fresh soil. A newly planted rose doesn’t like to grow in the same soil that an older rose bush has been in. Picky darn thing isn’t it!

Step-by-Step Rose Planting: Here are the basics:
1) Dig a hole, slightly larger than the pot size or root system of your rose bush.
2) Add a small handful of bonemeal to the planting hole. Spade in some compost or peatmoss to loosen the soil. Mix the soil you took out of the hole with more compost or peat moss.
3) Remove the rose from the pot. Carefully place in the hole and shovel the extra soil around the new plant. Plant the rose with the crown slightly deeper than the original soil. The crown or bud union should be about 1 inch under the soil
4) Gently firm the rose into its new home and water well.
5) Stand back and watch it grow!
Important note!! NEVER fertilize a new rose bush with anything other than bonemeal. '

Our Niece

At one year old, our niece Sophia. She has expressions that make you wonder what she is thinking.

From top to bottom:

-Sophia

- Family Portrait - Neal, Sophia and Kristi

- Kristi and Sophia (straight on and profile)

- Uncle Eric with Sophia

- Papa (grandpa) Mike with Sophia

Spring Time

The weather is beautiful! And with gorgeous weather comes all sorts of special gifts. The main gift is that of spring! And in the spring comes flowers, blue skies, nice breezes and baby animals. Our back yard on a nighlty (and early morning) basis has a small herd of 5 or 6 elk that venture through keeping us from having to mow our lawn, very often. They come right up to our back deck and peek over the railing. There are tons, and I mean tons of rabbits that hop to and fro all through our front yard every morning... as I leave for work, I see their cute white tails lopping away. In neighboring pastures, which I drive past each morning, I see four sweet young colts cantering around in the crisp morning air, chasing bugs and running circles around their mothers. In the afternoons, they are keeping in shade of their mothers, or sprawled out on the pasture floor napping.

Enjoy the photos! Let me know what you think.












Elk. Can you see the two on the right, just beyond our deck?





















Cute. What is so interesting about a weed?


Being that it is spring too, it is perfect weather to begin burning some of the smaller piles that we have on our property. These piles are of stumps that we have had pulled up and piled so that we can have bon-fires like the one you see below. Check out our fun process. The last one is a super close up of the pile burning, just for effect.





























After five hours, only a third was burned down, and it took 45 minutes to put out. We have 4 other small piles like this one still to burn.



On another note, we had some friends from up north visit us. Their son is now three, super talkative and runs everywhere. On top of that, he found Eric's drums and is quite the little drummer!!


Eric and Issac.

MTBF - Easter, 2006

Easter Sunday, 2006, MeanTime Between Failure had their 2nd gig at Studio 7 in Seattle.

I am, ready to rock!










Below are some photos of the band. Their concert was great!!! There were a lot of people that showed up. If you couldn't make it, there will be tons more chances to see them in concert.












Band (Left to right): Eric, Godot, Heath, Jerry

If you look closely, you will notice that the bunny head has come off in the second photo. The bunny suit was incredibly HOT... by the third song, the body of the suit was off.

Tulip Festival

I have never seen so many beautiful tulips, or fields of flowers.


I went with a couple of friends up to Skagit County for the Tulip Festival last Wednesday, and took alot of great and goofey photos. We even got a shot of the tractor driver. The day was nice, cloudy, but very cold. And it had down poured an hour or so before we got there, so it was really muddy. Of course, if you know me, then you know that I am messy. So yes, my jeans were covered in mud. But it was a great time. Enjoy the photos.



Can you see us in the tulips??



It was a windy day!!



Close up!



We are in Tulip Town

You say I look good with yellow? I agree!

I really want to try and get back into photography! I used to take classes in high school (years ago) and I was good. The following pics are me trying to get back into the swing of "creative photography."

Claudia Tulips

LonelyTulip

Tulips Against Blue Sky

Lone Red