Friday, March 1, 2024

We Have a New Home on the Internet!

Dear Friends,

Just popping in after a long absence to let you all know that I have a website for my herbal business, with a blog featuring stories and information about herbs and nutrition. The website is https://blossomandbirdsong.com/

I hope to see you there!

Love,
Marqueta





 

Thursday, July 15, 2021

Midsummer Fun

Dear Friends,

Happy summer to you! We have been busy working in the garden, and keeping up with all the crazy places that the chickens are trying to make into nests!


 
We've been learning about bumble bees, and watching them make their way through all the flowers.



Fairy houses were made for Midsummer's Day. They were made festive with various flower petals and leaves.




This last picture is a swing made for the fairies' benefit. I'm sure they enjoyed it!

We hope that you are having a lovely summer, and we pray for those of you who are suffering from extreme temperatures. We know it must be hard!

Love,

Marqueta

**********************************

To Summer

- 1757-1827

O Thou who passest thro’ our vallies in
Thy strength, curb thy fierce steeds, allay the heat
That flames from their large nostrils! thou, O Summer,
Oft pitched’st here thy golden tent, and oft
Beneath our oaks hast slept, while we beheld
With joy, thy ruddy limbs and flourishing hair.

Beneath our thickest shades we oft have heard
Thy voice, when noon upon his fervid car
Rode o’er the deep of heaven; beside our springs
Sit down, and in our mossy vallies, on
Some bank beside a river clear, throw thy
Silk draperies off, and rush into the stream:
Our vallies love the Summer in his pride.

Our bards are fam’d who strike the silver wire:
Our youth are bolder than the southern swains:
Our maidens fairer in the sprightly dance:
We lack not songs, nor instruments of joy,
Nor echoes sweet, nor waters clear as heaven,
Nor laurel wreaths against the sultry heat.

 

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Summertime on the Farm

Dear friends,

It has been a hot, dry summer here in the Ozarks! We've been busy watering everything, along with harvesting and processing the vegetables from the garden. 

Here is a video tour of our big garden out back~ https://youtu.be/MW8N9AnM3wI

The kids are getting bigger and more naughty than ever. Their mothers went back to our friends who have a place to keep them now, so they have decided that if their mothers went somewhere, they're going to go somewhere, too! They were jumping over the electric fence to get into the garden, so I became desperate and started hiding in the garden and popping them with a bb gun every time they jumped over, hoping they would think if was the fence and not I. It seems to have worked, since they haven't gone in for about four days now, as opposed to every time I turned around, like before. They also like to join the neighbors' cows in their pasture, which is completely eaten down and only has grass.
Books are on the menu today~


On the bunny front, we caught a cottontail bunny out in the field a couple of months ago and raised it up, but it really wasn't happy, so we released it in a good spot away from other people's garden.


My, what big eyes you have!

Our second doe rabbit had nine bunnies, and we've found homes for seven of them so far. When it's hot, rabbits have a hard time cooling off, so we've been freezing jugs of water and placing it in their cages to lie next to.


The butterflies have been quite abundant this year, especially on the wildflowers and zinnias. We love raising flowers to bring in the pollinators, because it helps us to have a better garden overall.



The lemon squash and burpless cucumbers have done the best out of everything in the garden, so far. For a month now they've really been putting out the fruit, and I've had to get really creative with hiding squash in breads, pancakes, etc. Out of fifty tomato plants, we had an okay harvest, but between the hornworms, goats, and a blight, they are limping along. Thankfully we've found other sources of tomatoes to put up salsa, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, and juice.


And last, but not least, my oldest son has made himself a shirt, to advertise his own Youtube channel. How clever is that!

May you be blessed as you finish the rest of this summer. Stay cool, dear friends!

Love,

Marqueta

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Spring Time Is Here!

Dear Friends,

My apologies for the long absence! My computer was being naughty, and then my firewall said my blog had a virus and wouldn't allow me to access it. Hopefully we'll have better luck from now on.

We've been blessed to have lots of farm babies lately.

We're taking care of our friends' goats until they find a new home, and they had kids (one had 5!). Our dog also had five puppies (anyone want one?). And our rabbit just had five bunnies!



 

I hope that you are doing well.
Love,
Marqueta

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

The Doll's Faire





Dear Friends,

Our family's dolls recently had their eleventh Autumn Faire to celebrate the harvest and handicrafts.

There were displays of various kinds, such as this one for savoury food~


A doughnut stand with delicious chocolate-covered pastries~





This is "C&D's Eat Place," where one could buy yummy sandwiches and bubbly drinks!



The hand-made book display is always a favourite!


~And don't forget the handicrafts and botanical displays (I helped make the orange pajamas and nightgowns)!





I hope you enjoyed our little Faire. We certainly did!

Love and blessings,

Marqueta