I like to think of this as my summer motto....free and easy down the road I go. Originally it was my motto for rolling down the highway heading to horse shows but as I have mentioned before that has been postponed a little. However, for my birthday we got I got a new motorcycle. It is a 2008 Yamaha TW200. It is street legal but actually is an off road bike in most respects. Doug rides it to work quite a bit and we use it on the farm to ride down to check the pump in the creek or to check irrigation or whatever else we need to do. But last night I took it on our maiden voyage to town for dinner. Doug rode his bike and I rode mine. We went to my FAVORITE restaraunt in town, Bangkok 103. It serves the best Thai food. The woman who cooks is from a family who used to cook for the king of Thailand. It is always a little slice of heaven when we can eat at this hole in the wall and we eat like kings. Doug and I both love the variety of dishes served and the exotic flavors. But back to my original story...my maiden voyage on the bike. I have ridden the bike on the farm a fair amount but taking it to town was a new experience. We had a blast. The warm summer evening was perfect, the smell of locust blooming, the wheat starting to turn from green to golden followed by a gorgeous sunset. I am hooked. We talked about the possibility of taking the bikes to the San Juan islands this summer and touring the islands from the back of our bikes. I suppose we are both feeling inspired after watching a really cool documentary recommended by a friend called the Long Way Around which follows a couple of actors on a motorcycle journey all the way around the world from London heading east and ending up in NY. Photo credits: Hadley Dunham
With summer comes a lot of mowing. We probably have 10 acres of grass to be
mowed around our place so your conventional lawn mower would require a full time yard person to take care of mowing. So it gives us an opportunity to show our truly red neck side. Doug loads up the kids and a dog or two into our special Suburban and starts mowing. I always wonder what people think when they drive by and see Doug out mowing. Maybe it is best if I don't know what they are thinking.
With temperatures feeling more like summer I continue to feel inspired to garden this year and put as many perennials in the ground as I can. Hadley and I have enjoyed picking out flowers and learning a lot about different plants and educating myself about what might thrive out on the farm. It is a good way to enjoy the shade in the front yard and still be outside when the temp's soar. Our strawberries are close to being ripe and ready for picking. Late harvest this year, not unlike a lot of things in the valley. Raspberries also look like they are going to be be a bumper crop.
With Hadley done with school for the summer, our schedule is freed up and our
trips to town are minimized which sounds good to me. We have her scheduled to participate in a dance camp next week and she and Kate will be taking some swim lessons at a friends pool before too long. Of course, there are always the usual actitivies on the farm. Collecting eggs, fishing in the horse trough with long pieces of grass and playing in the mud bogs left from the irrigation lines.
To satisfy the followers of my blog who take a special interest in Jesus I offer you 
an updated image. She continues to offer laughs--at her expense I am afraid. I recently read these chickens are easily spooked because they lack the ability to see things until they are upon her. And this makes her easier to catch than the average chicken. She is the slowest chicken of any I have had and it is hard to imagine her being a contributing member of the roost (laying eggs) but she will keep us entertained non the less.
Lastly, I would like to direct you to another blog of a child hood friend of mine. She is in the middle of a very exciting adventure with her husband and two young children out on the Atlantic ocean. In addition to living in a variety of countries since graduating since college as a CPA, they have now taken up residence on their beautiful boat and they will be sailing for the next year as I understand. Their blog is http://duerfamilycruising.blogspot.com/ . My hat's off to her for having the courage to go ahead with their dream. YOU GO GIRL!!
mowed around our place so your conventional lawn mower would require a full time yard person to take care of mowing. So it gives us an opportunity to show our truly red neck side. Doug loads up the kids and a dog or two into our special Suburban and starts mowing. I always wonder what people think when they drive by and see Doug out mowing. Maybe it is best if I don't know what they are thinking. 
With temperatures feeling more like summer I continue to feel inspired to garden this year and put as many perennials in the ground as I can. Hadley and I have enjoyed picking out flowers and learning a lot about different plants and educating myself about what might thrive out on the farm. It is a good way to enjoy the shade in the front yard and still be outside when the temp's soar. Our strawberries are close to being ripe and ready for picking. Late harvest this year, not unlike a lot of things in the valley. Raspberries also look like they are going to be be a bumper crop.
an updated image. She continues to offer laughs--at her expense I am afraid. I recently read these chickens are easily spooked because they lack the ability to see things until they are upon her. And this makes her easier to catch than the average chicken. She is the slowest chicken of any I have had and it is hard to imagine her being a contributing member of the roost (laying eggs) but she will keep us entertained non the less. 
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