The Last Week (or two) in Pictures

 The beginning weeks of April have been very busy, and very fun filled.  So I thought I would share some of the random photos I have taken the past two weeks.  Enjoy!!!

 April 6th was Sadie Rose's first Birthday, so to celebrate we took her to the dog park.

 She was rather timid at first but soon she realized that it wasn't so scary after all, and that maybe all the other dogs weren't out to eat her, and then she really enjoyed herself.

 We also had some last minute pruning to do.

 One afternoon, after pruning, we went down to the flint river to "cool" our feet.

 Another item in our day's work was babysitting 11 Saint Bernard puppies and their Momma.

They were absolutely adorable, and their Mother was an angel dog, putting up with all of them nursing around the clock.

 On the last day that we took care of them, the puppies eyes were just beginning to open and they were trying to totter around on their chubby little legs.

 One of our great finds was this absolutely stunningly beautiful male Pileated Wood Pecker.  Yes, he is real, and no he is not alive.  Mom and I found this gorgeous bird lying dead in the middle of the road.  We were so glad we got to see one of these evasive birds up close, but saddened that it wasn't alive and well.

So there is the last couple weeks in a nutshell (or should I say in a camera lens) I do hope you enjoyed it! :)

~Chs

Just Ducky!

 As hinted in the last post, I recently purchased 7 Fawn and White Indian Runner ducks.  I took Faith along with me to the Hatchery and she was so overwhelmed by the adorable bills and feet of some certain Khaki Campbell ducks that she bought 4 of them!  :)

So following are some mostly uncaptioned pictures of adorable duckiness.  Uncaptioned, because sometimes the picture just says it all.

The Khaki Campbells

"Hello!"

Posing perfection.

My baby ducklings are growing up so fast, they have already graduated from the kitchen to the front porch, and this week they will move outside for good!  Already I am starting to be able to tell which are girls and boys.  Dear little fluffiness aren't going to be fluffy much longer, but I enjoy all the stages, from duckling to duck.

~Chs

The Birthday Celebration

 On Monday, the week of my birthday, we went on the adventures already documented. Tuesday Charity took Grace and I to see a movie. Wednesday was my truly Birthday but we were rather busy so we didn't do too much then, so on Thursday we had my special dinner, cake and party!

 Mother has always been creative making our cakes, but I think she topped all this year with my 3-D Camera cake.  It was a three layered Carrot Cake with cream cheese filling.   Delicious!

 In between dinner and dessert, we had presents!  Faith gave me a set of adorable laughing Duckling pot holders, :)

and I was thrilled to receive a Jemima Puddle Duck music box that played Clair-De-Lune.

 ^Taking "pictures" with my Camera Cake.^

 I also received a candy dish, whose polka dots look just like pretzel M n' Ms!  :)

I am very grateful for the 20 years the LORD has seen fit to give me, and pray that in the following year He will use me more and more for His glory.

I am also thankful for my wonderful family, and dear friends who were so generous this year for my Birthday.

In fact, as direct result of a gift from one of my dear friends, I am now the proud possessor of 7 Fawn and White Indian Runner ducks!

And as an indirect result of said gift, Faith is the owner of 4 Khaki Campbell ducks.  But you will have to wait till later to hear about that! :)

~Chs

The Birthday Trip: Part 2

For the second part of our mysterious adventure we went to the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Conservatory.  It was amazing.

The conservatory was really a hunormous greenhouse with all sorts of tropical and exotic plants in it.  They also had some plants that you could grow in pots or in your backyard... but these were 3-5 times the size!

There were pineapple plants, with precious little tiny baby pineapples growing on them.

There was a "chocolate tree" with absolutely huge cocoa pods on it.

 

And near the back was a tree with ready to pick, larger-than-softball, grapefruit.

Then there was this tree with the very appropriate label of "Sausage Tree".  For there suspended on its thin branches, were these massive sausage shaped clubs.  I have no idea what they were used for.  I wonder if you could eat them!?  :)  All of these, and many, many more, were in the first 2/3rds of the building.  The back section was full of desert plants.  Magnificent desert plants.

There was a Agave plant, with a snake like aspect to it, towering a good 8-10 feet in the air.

One little Cactus had the most tempting little white fuzz down beneath its spines, but if you tried to reach it you would be cruelly poked by the little barbs.

Some of the Cactus reached way up towards the ceiling, exceeding 15 feet at least.

And others were small in stature resting in the rock bed provided for them.

 Some looked rather like something else other then a cactus.  Like this coral reef like plant,

 and this little cactus that had the appropriate name of Bishop's Cap.

 And there was of course the Texan cowboy Cactus. :)

Most of the plants were painful to touch,

And some uniquely beautiful to look at.

After we had our fill of the Cactus gardens we went outside to the herb and perennial gardens.

A beautiful knot garden was at the center of the herbs.

There was also a children's garden, which was very fascinating and I am sure would be more so in the summer.

Some of us were a little large for a few of the structures in the children's garden. ;)

We perused through the "gated gardens" which had a beautiful display of daffodils and grape hyacinth, and was dotted with small fountains and ponds.

In one of the ponds, we found a little baby painted turtle.  He was about the size of a half dollar, and very inquisitive.

We left the gated gardens, and went down one of the many paths that traversed the 200 or more acres that the Matthaei botanical gardens were made of.

We saw some wildlife (mostly of the feathered variety),

and lots of pretty flowers and trees.

The path we took went a total of 2-3 miles, and when we returned we had tea in the gated garden, before one last trip through the Conservatory.

It was a lovely Birthday adventure, and we all would love to visit these places again!

~Chs