I want to ride my bicycle.....

Bicycle! Bicycle!

I thought you'd like to come along on one of our rides.

Right out of our driveway is our first major hill.

At the top of the hill we encounter some dogs.

We are lucky with our tree lined ride.

When we hit blackberry lane we start the coasting race.

You have to pick up speed and can't pedal past this sign.

We see who coasts the farthest.

The girl always wins. I have come in a very close second, or a very far third.

We pass the old farmhouse I lived in until I was seven.

About a mile later, we stop in and visit my dad and step mom.

This is where the Jersey Giants live.

The girl grabbed the rooster...

...and plays with his waddles.

Then back on the road....

...and pass my brothers house..

...then stop at my sisters.

Can you guess what this is????

It's my freakishly bendy nephews chicken wings.

The boy's got talent!

Then I check out my sisters cute garden.

Back on the road, we pass another veggie garden...

...and a neat old farmhouse...

...and their chicken mailbox.

Two summers ago they took apart our quaint wooden 100 year old bridge and replaced it with this monstrosity. For our safety, right. We protested and held them off a few years but in the end, they won.

One consolation is they rebuilt the bridge and put it in a local park.

We ride over the monstrosity and see the train tracks below.

The final stretch is the down hill ride (remember our first hill). A nice way to end the ride.

Into our driveway...

...to our waiting pup.

"Hey T-Bone, are you sticking your tongue out at us?"

Maybe he wanted to go too.


Thanks for riding along.

Its a berry good week

Monday we started with a road trip.

Bridge in Ohio.

To Cedar Point.

An Amusement Park.

Not a frugal trip ("let it go, let it go") but we had a blast.

We met my sister and her family there. I rode two roller coasters, I get extreme motion sickness but didn't want to be the mom that sits out every ride. The kids had a great time. It was a fun experience to go somewhere with their cousins.

Tuesday morning the four of us plus grandma went strawberry picking.

My Step mom has a friend and this is her strawberry patch!

I have never seen such a huge patch in someones yard.

This is our haul. FREE BERRIES!

I did bring a dozen eggs as a thank you.

I traded labor with hubbie, he helped pick berries then I painted the rental for 5 hours. Not quite an even trade but he works hard for me every day, it would be pretty crappy not to help when he asks. The good news is we found some tenants who seem nice and I only have the upper floor left to paint.

We then got Chinese takeout on the way home. When we split 2 meals (tons of food) between the four of us, it is less than $14 which is cheaper than fast food, and tastes better.

My fortune said "You will be successful in business". I'm not so sure since I haven't made any bags so far this week. Then my daughter got the same fortune, she did do well on her first pet sitting job. $20 and a fancy pen! Her next job starts this Saturday. She can't stop smiling.

I am starting to freeze pea pods. Last summer I froze half then blanched half to see the taste difference. The unblanched were bitter and the blanched were tasty, so blanched it is!

So Tuesday evening I candled Bandits eggs. I used a high powered flashlight. Three of the six were a no go, but on the other three there was something growing and we saw movement. The kids were in awe. Pretty cool.

So Wednesday, I used major child labor, they had more fun working as a team, humming songs in 2 part harmony, they cut off the stems and cut out any squishy parts. The chicks loved the scraps.

Then I made 4 bags of Strawberry pie filling.

Three frozen in 2 cup portions of puree for a tasty lemonade add in this summer.

I froze seven 2 cup servings of Strawberries in a sugar syrup for smoothies, crisps, shortcake, or anything else i can think of.

Then I canned 4 pints of strawberry syrup for winter pancakes. Delish. Also 10 pints of jam.

We had shortcake for desert and have enough berries in the fridge for at least 3 more evenings of shortcake.

The only cost was 2 1/2 bags of sugar, 3 boxes of pectin and 1 1/3 cups flour for the pie filling.

Now I have about 2 weeks rest and sugar re stocking till the wild raspberries are in.

A berry good week indeed.

Happy Fathers Day!

I tell my husband frequently how much I appreciate him. He has been the major breadwinner ever since he was 25, making my dream of being a stay at home mom and now a work at home mom a reality. When I give him props he modestly says "We make a great team."

So after a hard summer days work, I gave him his own place to relax....

....and have a beer....

.... and listen to his favorite bullfrog "Bully".

(Yes he has the genius naming skills too)

Happy Fathers Day to my Dad, Step dad, and all the other great fathers out there who are making their wife and childrens lives much better.

Summer is here!

The kids last half day was Tuesday, so what have we been doing so far this summer?

We started our bike riding.

Last summer I got a crazy idea to ride our bikes on a 5+ mile route on our country dirt roads with many hills, a minimum of 3 times per week (not if away on vacation). This way we would all benefit from the exercise.

Last summer we logged in over 130 miles. The kids and I were proud and we are starting again.

Wednesday we put in 5.2 miles. Today we were about 2 miles out and heard the thunder rolling our way so we turned around and only got in 4.

I am going to keep a tally of our miles and hopefully we'll beat last years total.

We have pea pods! I love the snow peas fresh in the garden, in salads, stir fry or with dip.

We've also been eating salad for lunch and dinner.

I dream of this during the winter.

We've fed the fish.

Somebody rolled in something gross so the girl gave him a bath.

Doesn't he look pathetic?

Speaking of the girl, she has 2 cat sitting jobs already lined up for the summer from two different neighbors. She just got back from visiting one cat and took in their mail. She can't stop smiling about it.

We are trying not to freak out Shoebird although she is right by the door.

You can see part of her head and beak in this photo if you look close.

Speaking of birds....

The Partridge Rocks are almost 9 weeks and the Dark Cornish are almost 7 weeks.

I am trying not to get attached to the Dark Cornish due to the fact that I'll only be keeping a few and the rest are going in the freezer. I figure I have a month or 2 to decide which ones we'll eat. I can't tell the difference from the boys and girls yet.

This is our free exotic, "Hamburg". Short for Silver Spangled Hamburg, there is our genius naming skills again. Not sure on that ones gender either. It's kind of nervous and runs super fast. I love its black and white coloring, we will probably keep this one even if it's a roo.

Hubbie sold his 16mpg Blazer and got a 32mpg Honda Accord.

It's in great shape for being 22 years old. Of course most of us were in great shape at 22.

I filled my Monster Truck tank Tuesday for a whopping $150.00, yikes! I have a large tank and the plus is, I was still driving on $3.53 gas I got back in March. I'm hoping to make this last most of the summer. I do way less driving in the summer.

I have been busy and suffering from sewing burnout and only got 3 bags made this week.

The plus is my house is very clean, laundry is caught up and the kids and I have been having a blast!