Ger and I have been eating salads from the garden all spring and summer, but I believe that tonight we had the best garden salad yet!  This cucumber plant which is much bigger now than in this picture, grows huge armenian cucumbers and we had a cucumber, tomato, onion, basil, and anise hyssop salad for dinner, all from the garden. I added some blue cheese crumbles and mayo and it was amazing.  I love when the cukes and zukes start coming on. We are probably strange, but we will eat huge plates of  zuchini or salads and perhaps a garden potato with it because we love eating all from the garden as much as possible.  Another of our favorite summer foods is pesto, so  we grow lots of basil and make pesto a couple times a week.



 

 These little swallows survived our cats and flew off with their mommy last week......at least I hope that's why they are no longer here! :)  My kitty was showing a lot of interest.........hmmm

Swallowtail visit....so beautiful.
God is an awesome creator!

Last Dance Performance

My dance performance partner is moving to warmer climates....so we had our last performance together at the Sandpoint Ballroom Dance last week. A Fox Trot with some swing mixed in! Mac and I got teamed up as kind of an odd team, because he is so tall and I am so short, but we make it work anyway. We've done two other performances together besides this one. I will definitely miss dancing with him as he is fun to dance with and a nice friend to my husband and I.  My husband was kind enough to video this for us and so I'm going to post it.  It is pretty much focused on Mac and I, so you won't see much of the whole group.It's been a great experience for me, we have made such nice friends with other dancers.  Gerry and I organize a practice dance a couple of times a month for friends.  We used to do it at my house with the great dance floor, but it is a little too snug here at Gerry's, although we have done it here several times; we have moved on to renting the Cocolalla Community Center. Hope you enjoy one of my hobbies!
Blessings. Leslie

The Spring Farm

 Spring is on it's way and I have been meaning to put our little farm animal pictures on.  So here we have our two Dexter Cows, they are displaying their best side.  Little Cow is the fat short legged dexter, she's the one I milk, and Big Cow is on the left.  I am actually watching her, (Big cow,) right now with the binoculars from the sun room as she is in labor and will hopefully drop a healthy little calf for us.  It will be our first farm birth.  We're excited.  Of course, I want her to be put in the barn with fresh straw and all but, Gerry says leave her alone.

 Next, our latest addition is some new little layer ducks.  In these first pictures they are about three days old.

This little dark one is a drake and the one above is a hen.
They are so cute and fun to watch.

 Here we are moving them outside as they keep outgrowing their warm place in the garage.  We have a lot of cats so we had to fix up a safe place for them outside and let them get a little bigger before moving them.  I think that they are almost three weeks old here. They grow pretty fast.

We picked up our nucs of honey bees the other day and here Gerry is getting ready to put them in the hive. 

The two hives....I'm sure the bees will "bee" glad when there is some nectar for them to gather.  Right now we are feeding them cane sugar syrup, but they have started collecting pollen!

















I don't have any recent pictures of our "old" ducks, so I will put a picture from last summer. These girls are being replaced with the new babies in a few months.
So, far other than the dog and five cats that patrol the premises and keep us rodent free, that's all the animals we have. 

We are hoping to add some Bourbon Red Heritage Turkeys and some Delaware Chickens for meat birds.

I will hopefully be adding a picture of a newborn calf soon!
Blessings,
Leslie and Gerry

I'll Give you Tall Tall Trees......

 Gerry and I have been taking some morning hikes a few days a week and then we end up looping back to our property; "Walk in Love Ranch and Tree Farm".  Gerry has been growing some tall, tall trees.  This one is a Red Fir and in the next photo we tried to get an "up" shot of it.  Being a tree hugger really isn't such a bad thing....as long as you understand that God gave us these trees to use for good purposes and that we care of them and continue to properly manage all these good gifts that He has blessed us with.








With these wonderful gifts we can make lumber to build a myriad
of things or sell to the mill for others to build with. We don't usually heat our house with the very best that the forest has to offer, we use trees that have died naturally and that have been standing dead for a while so as to be nice and dry.  Or if we have to clear trees or do other logging, there is usually part of the tree that becomes firewood for us. Also, with the mill, we have a lot of "mill ends that work for firewood.

This Cedar is a BEAUTY!  Gerry has done a terrific job of managing his timber for years.  It is no wonder that the mills keep coming year after year to ask to buy our timber.

It's kind of funny.  When I walk in our woods, I look around, but when Gerry walks in our woods, he looks up!  We'll be walking along and all of a sudden he says, wow there's a red fir that's dying, it'll be a good saw log.  Or, that will be good firewood.  Or, that white pine will make some nice clear lumber!  I don't know how he keeps from falling!
I love our woods, there always seems to be a cool, secret place waiting to be found.
Blessed are you Lord Our God Creator of the Universe.
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheynu Melech Ha Olam!

Little People Visit

 Ger and I were totally blessed last Sunday with a visit from some little people (and their Father)!  Jerry brought out the kids for a visit and some fun.  They didn't have warm enough coats for the chill so Gramma Leslie outfitted them with some extra vests that she had.  They looked so cute in them. Cohen always wants to wear the "ninja" hat!

The little duck ponds are still frozen so they did a little "walking on the water."
So Fun!  It was good to visit with Jer who was keeping the kids by himself for the weekend while Jess was at a conference in Atlanta Georgia!

That evening after they were gone, Ger and I revisited the many little happenings that brought smiles to our faces and joy to our hearts.  Such little blessings.  Thank you Lord.

Could winter possibly over this early??

Last weekend Jasper Dog and I took a walk on the property and I came across a seasonal creek that was flowing strong It was quite pretty so I'm sharing it.  It is just the snow melt, it doesn't run all year long. It's just amazing to me that the snow can bring so much water.

Shabbat Shalom!

With whom will you compare God? By what standard will you evaluate him?

Don't you know? Don't' you hear?  Haven't you been told from the start?  Don't you understand how the earth is set up? HE who sits above the circle of the earth- for whom its inhabitants appear like grasshoppers-stretches out the heavens like a curtain, spreads them out like a tent to live in..........Turn your eyes to the heavens! See who created these things!   Isaiah 40:18,21-22, 26

This is a picture of Pend Orielle Lake, I took this picture on a paddle board trip a couple of summers ago.  I am sure looking forward to getting in some more paddle board excursions this year. Most anywhere on the lake is a feast for the eyes, it is just beautiful every direction you turn. It always makes me thank God to be able to enjoy the beauty of his creation.

Winter Magic

Generator Shed

 I so LOVE a fresh snowfall.  And, being out in the snow while it's happening.  It's kind of magical and I don't know why.
I LOVE walking out in the dark each morning in the snow with our headlamps on to go down to the barn to do the chores.  It's kind of magical and I don't know why.
I LOVE bringing back the milk and eggs, even though they make a little more work for me each day, it;s nice knowing where your food is coming from.  It's kind of magical and I don't know why.

It may be that these are gifts from God, good and perfect gifts and that is why they seem so magical.

I caught Gerry bringing wood to the back porch this morning.  We're using wood this winter that has been in his woodshed for almost 10 years!  He hasn't used this part of his wood shed for a long time. It's kind of weird that he remembers when and where he got his wood!  "I got this birch when I was back working for Danny Eiche."  Ha ha...

Now, these two lazy critters take the entire winter off.  They think winter is all about hanging out at the fire and that it is our job to keep their little cozy spot pleasant for them. Feed them, pet them let them in and out.  Yes, life on the farm is very laid back for these two.

"Sometimes this old farm feels like a long lost friend..."

I just spent a lovely hour and a half looking over old posts and pictures on my neglected blog site.  It was a wonderful trip down memory lane and for that purpose alone it made me want to pick back up and restart my blog.  However, I have much updating to do,
To start with the picture of me on this account is way younger than I look now...........Walk in Love Ranch is in a new location and if I believed in reincarnation, I would say I was in my third life, but really it is just my third stage of life.  Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Messiah will last.  I pray I will have done well when all is said and done.

Welcome, the sign says, although it is covered with snow. Welcome is how Gerry and I want to make everyone feel when they come here.
Walking in Love, easy to say, hard to do, but it is the quest of our lives. We are trying to learn exactly what that means and put it into practice.

I will introduce you to our little farm creatures another day. Tonight, we just want to say Welcome and come again.
Blessings,
Leslie and Gerry
P.S.  They sure have improved the ease of blog spot since I last used it!!