Happy Fourth of July!

Remember why we celebrate!

 

 

 

A Little Local Chalk Art

Byron Center Chalk Art Festival!

 

 

Spring Days

Oh, what a nice day we had today.  After colder than normal temps and lots of rain we finally had a nice warm and sunny day!  It is so much nicer to do chicken chores in warmer weather.  Of course I had to fill the chicken's water a couple of times.  Those ladies can drink!  But just being able to be outside.  Happy sigh.

The only shame to the day was the ground was still to wet to work in the garden much.  Last week we had torrential rain!  By Thursday morning everything in West Michigan was flooding.  I'm crossing my fingers that my recently planted spinach seeds didn't get washed away.  I guess time will tell.

So we spent this lovely day practicing archery, going to the park and perusing the local libraries for good spring reading material.  And as I write this, we have homemade ice-cream whirring around in the maker.  It is good that winter has disappeared at least for today.

Here are some pictures of the local flooding last week:

 The dairy farm across the street.  That's supposed to be a field, not a lake.

 The creek that passes through our property flooding by the road.  The owners of the house in the background were very worried.

 The other side of the road.  The creek didn't overflow quite as bad.

 The Cooke Family rescuing their calves from the rising flood waters.

 

 Our next door neighbors home.  Normally this is all grass not water.

 

 The farmers working on getting the calves and their houses moved to higher ground.

 

 Flood waters getting pretty close to the diary barns!

 

The back forest part of our property. Normally not wet!

The Trees Come Down!

Last week we had to cut our two front yard trees down due to septic issues.  It was quite the excitement on the street.  Our Pastor (Sam Hendrickson) heats his home with wood during the winter and is always on the look out for free wood.  Our landlords said if he could take down our trees he could have the wood.  So He and my DH had a very full day of  "logging".  In the picture above my DH and Pastor Sam assess the situation.

 Why did the Pastor climb the tree?  To cut it down for firewood, of course!  Don't worry... he's a yooper.  (That's someone from the Upper Penninsula of Michigan or the U.P.)  They eat trees for breakfast up there.

 The job in progress.

 The job almost done!

 What a mess!

 My naked front yard. :(

 Of course all those branches made for some cool fort building!

Last Days of Summer; First Days of School!

Another summer comes to a close for the Lewis clan.  We spent our last day before school with Dad. (He was off of work.)  We drove up to Rockford, MI to visit a u-pick farm and purchase a 1/2 bushel of tomatoes for salsa making.  Besides fruit and veges the Post Farm also grows flowers.  They were so pretty, but swarming with bees so certain individuals- SEVEN- wouldn't go near them.  After our produce purchase we went and found a little ice cream shop and enjoyed the warmth of the day.

Alas, the next day brought the return of school.  I decided that starting on the 1st of September would be good and give us a short week to start with.  Kind of an ease into school.  I'm happy to report that it went really well-  no major melt downs from the ones that don't really appreciate the school process.

I'm hoping the rest of year is like this!

My highschooler... in her "black" phase.

My second grader

My eighth grader

My fifth grader with his new glasses. (First pair ever!)

My "play" schooler.  We aren't even to "pre" yet.

Garage Sale Day One....

...Over!  Made about $40 dollars not bad for a Wed. selling our junk.  Now lets see how tomorrow goes.

Moving!

No... not me, us or this blog.  We are just about out the door to help our fellow church member and missionary, Dr. Troy Manning, move into his new home.  "Mr." Troy is a translator at Bibles International, based in Grand Rapids.  He will live here in the States and travel as needed.  We are excited to get to help him set up his new home!

My Favorite Thing About Summer!

God is so good!  He gave us wonderful, tasty, sweet fruit!  My favorites are berries but cherries and peaches are close behind.  I love summer fruit picking and in my little area of West Michigan we have wonderful u-pick farms close by.  Some day, when we have property, I'll to be able to grow my own. (Well, we do have a small strawberry patch- our landlords are awesome- they let us garden.) But for now I have to get my fix at the u-picks.

Strawberries and raspberries get picked at Beaver Creek Farm- they are organic growers and their prices are affordable! Besides yummy things like strawberry shortcake and homemade ice cream, we also freeze berries for year-round smoothies and make homemade Jam! So much better than store bought.

It is such a good feeling of accomplishment to see these pretty little jewels sitting on my counter!

Cherries come next.  (About the time we are starting to get Zukes from the garden... see background.)

We can sweets for eating straight out of the jar and pitted sours for pies and other baking.

Blueberries at Dykstra's are next!  Their farm is just right down the road.  I can walk or bike to it.

I make some jam with the berries, but mostly freeze them for smoothies and baking.

Lastly, for us, come peaches... I'm sadly remiss of peach picking pictures... sigh... but we like to can them up for eating and also for pie making.  Picking your own and canning/freezing is a great, affordable way to keep your family in fruit for the year.

You can check for farms and u-picks in your local area here. 

Lewis/Hall Vacation... Historic Village Time

If there is a historical village in the area, the Lewis family will be there!

 and since the children were literally climbing the walls... off we went...

 Seven of the nine Hall and Lewis kids!  Missing Will Hall and Seven Lewis.

 I'm a sucker for a pretty garden

 The General Store

 Required picture of a spinning wheel for Grandma Lewis

Required outhouse picture 

 Aren't you all glad we don't all have to live in only one room?

Trapper's cabin

 Church cemetery

Neither Bill nor Will Hall thought this grave marker very funny.  Six year old Will asked his dad..."Am I dead?"

 The little church

 Would make a cute little wedding place

 Bill and Heather keeping their marriage healthy

 It was very hot and humid

 I want this garden

 The raspberries were so good and the corn tall

Relaxing in the shade