June's Garden

 It has started off and continued to be a very dry, very hot summer. Wattering the garden has become a chore, but it is enjoyable and we are eating the fruit from our labor. We are eating raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, herbs, kale and lettuce. We have lots of happy good bugs and insects crawling and flying all over the place. 

Raspberry picking in pj's

Plants and then some from my group of friends private market day we had

I made a witch garden (you know, like a fairy garden...but witchy, not fairy). I planted medicinal herbs in a huge pot then added pretty crystals, rocks, sticks, a cuoldron, a small container of water for bees and a little witch. 

Ezra enjoying the garden

 Rocky, just hanging out...waiting to get a chicken

We have HUNDREDS of ladybug eggs and larvae in various stages all over my hops plant!

Echinachea

Pink Lemonade Blueberry

Lucy sprawled out, enjoying the back patio

Raspberry leaf, chocolate mint and lemon verbena fresh tea

Tortillas, Rocky, Games and Fun Around Town

Grandma Angelina and the kids love making tortillas together

Rocky the Raccoon. We eventually discovered that she is a mama. I saw her one evening with 3 little fur balls bouncing along behind her in our back yard. With our very dry hot weather, I think she has resorted to being out during the day to collect enough food and water for herself to feed her pups. I have concerns for my chickens with her not being primarily nocturnal. She sure is cute, and I wish I could help her somehow, but I do hope she leaves my chickens alone.

Playing with a game Tia Eva got Ezra for his birthday

Camas Farmers Market

Waiting for our food at Top Burger

So much fun and so much dirt

Crown Park

At a friends house in Camas visiting her goats

A Swim In The River And A Stroll Through The Market

We packed a cooler with food and drinks and met some friends down at The Sandy swimming hole on the Washougal River the other day. It was our first time there this year, the kids both remembered being there last year. 

As we set our stuff down and got comfortable, Esperanza asked

"Mom, why is this place called Sandy? There's no sand, only rocks. I'm calling it Rocky."

I've wondered the same thing me entire life.

The kids then began to collect rocks they liked. Olive and Esperanza wasted no time getting in the water and swimming across the river to the other side, where they explored and then swam back and forth. The distance is a good swim for Esperanza, she doesn't use a lifejacket, and I'm still a little anxious when I watch her swim that distance in a river with a current. She really enjoys the challenge and the independence, and the practice is good. 

Ezra waded in the water and tossed a few rocks in. He doesn't know how to swim yet, and is cautious of the water. The water was too cold for me to get in, otherwise, he'd probably have gone in with me. 

After the river, Esperanza went to kid yoga with Olive and Holly, while Ezra and I went home for a little bit. We picked up Esperanza later and went down to the Camas Farmers Market. The kids played on the lawn and we ate tacos and blueberries.