What I've Been Up To

        I know, it's kind of a lame post title, but I wasn't about to spend a whole half hour trying to think up a more eloquent one so you'll have to put up with it. We have been soooooo busy lately, but I've taken a few pictures each day so I'd have them when I got around to posting. Well, the time is now! 

        First off, I sewed a bit several days ago. I had really been needing a new skirt, so I pulled out some fabric from my stash and started working on it. I bought this fabric about a year ago, and I really don't know why I did. It is a bit on the bright side for me, and I'm not sure what made me buy it. The skirt did turn out all right, though.

        Gathering the skirt part:

         Pinning it into the waistband:

        I ended up putting a zipper in it because I was feeling too lazy to close it any other way, even though I'm not especially fond of zippers. As soon as I finished, I realized that I really didn't have anything to wear with it. Problem. So I went up to my room, and pulled out a brown shirt that I've only worn once because it's just not my style. If you're thinking that this doesn't make any sense, I'll have to tell you that in my mind I was thinking "But it can be my style!". I didn't take a 'before' picture because by the time I thought of it the shirt was all pinned and I wasn't going to take it out and start over again, but this is how much I took in on each side.:

        This is what the back looks like now. It is fitted instead of very loose, and goes well with the skirt.

        In this picture you can kind of see the skirt. And yes, I am standing up on the coffee table with my boots on.
       

        Our farm has been doing well. Eponine had still been treating Thorin like some sort of inferior species, but then she went into heat and everything changed *evil laugh*. Suddenly, she was wanting to be around him, and he would nuzzle her with his horns and she would just stand there. It was pretty cute, let me tell you. Oh, and I think he knows now what he's here for. Yeah, I don't think she got bred this time around - he is still I think a bit on the small side - but next heat cycle I am hoping he will get the job done. Or the next. I really want her to kid by August, so he had better get his act together. Not that I don't love my little Thorin to pieces, he really is the most darling little man I have ever seen, but I think it will be easier to sell him when he is still young and cute and doesn't stink yet. I think I forgot to mention this in my last several posts; Daisy went to her new home two weeks ago, so that was a big responsibility lifted. We had been planning to separate her from Lily and teach her to take her bottle before we handed her off, but we were having problems with them hearing each other and crying, so our friend took her early and we just helped him figure the whole bottle thing out. I hear she is doing well and happy in her new home, which is good.
        I have never had to photograph a young child, but I have heard that it is very hard because they never stop moving! Well, that is what it is like with Thorin. I take maybe twenty pictures of him and hope to get one good one, so that is why most are pretty blurry and he's not in a great position. There is one that I managed to get done well, so I'll save that one for the end.

        "I know you're ignoring me, Mama, so I'm going to ignore you."

         "Oh, you're not ignoring me?"

         "You pay more attention to that funny black box you're holding than you do to me! Okay, I'll just go fight with the Christmas tree. You can snuggle your camera instead of your baby."

        Millie was finding green yummies:

        Lav was posing:

        "You want to see how I keep my lovely feathers so clean? Here, I'll show you!"

        Pretty soon, Eponine wanted me to take pictures of her as well.

        She was posing.

         My Eponine is so pretty! She has such beautiful eyes, such soft fur... I love to sit on the counter in the chicken yard and she comes and leans against me and I put my head on her back and she falls asleep like that. She is such a sweet goat!

        And now, drum roll please, we have the FIRST good picture of Thorin that I have gotten in the month that I've had him!

        Isn't he a cutie! I am hoping that by the time I do have to get rid of him he'll be so obnoxious that I'll be glad to. If I sell him right after Eponine is bred it will be pretty hard, but I am thinking about keeping him to breed Lily again in early fall. By that time, he would be about eight months and starting to smell pretty bad, so I have to think about it. I don't know, really...
         And now, for the really random pictures.
        My mom found some little asparagus growing in her garden, so she picked it and ate it. It was just so cute that I had to take a picture first, though:

        Some gorgeous flowers that grow in our front yard every year (I have no idea what they are called):

         They smell positively heavenly.

         My mom was feeding Eponine some treats; pea leaves and blossoms.

         I was just snapping pictures of her as she ate...

         ... Normal...

         ... Normal...

         ... And then when I was looking at them after, I found this:

         Let me tell you, I was laughing my head off! There are all of these pictures of her just chewing the food, and then all of the sudden, um, well, look at the picture again. I was so amused! After that, she got Nana snuggles. She loves Nana snuggles!

        I believe this is a nectarine. There are just a few blossoms starting:

         My pigeons:

        A ladybug:

        My brother's kayak clean and drying after all of the outings it got in the past week when the creek was high from the rain:

        The orange that I plan on eating in a few more days :)

        The top bar:

        There were a lot of bees outside for some reason:

        Some catnip that I harvested from my garden:

        Feverfew:

        Parsley:

        Anise Blue Hyssop:

        I have been so busy lately with school and miscellaneous chores, so forgive me if I don't post quite as much as I had been. I most likely will be doing kind of random posts just to update you on my life recently, so don't expect anything too interesting. ;)

Blessings,

Reyna