lisamariem9653

Luci Lu receives a Christmas gift from Grampa.

Luci Lu enjoying our new rug at our new place...crazy time it is.

This is the true way a fitness ball was meant to be used.

Luci Lu found an awesome creek nearby to cool off in. About a half mile up the road, so it is hard to say no. Plus, it has one huge deep pool that she can actually swim in. What more could a pup want?

Looking for his parents. Keeps pecking our window and trying to get to us. He just flew off, so hopefully he is okay.

Luci Lu taking a fun dip in the river to cool down during these hot days!

Continuing our Luci fun amongst our seedlings. Can anything get any cuter?

Having some fun with Luci Lu in the midst of growing our seedlings...all from seeds we have harvested for years. Touch base if you want any! (Not including Luci Lu)

Our garden has, thankfully, been blessed with a huge amount of bees. Here is just one of the little lovelies taking in one of our sunflowers in our garden. Please excuse our little Luci Lu going in the background...I suppose when a girl has to go she has to go. Hahahaha! We are hoping next year to increase the bee population by adding our own hive(s)!!!

Our pup, little Luci Lu, received two new fantastic rope ball toys from an adorable pup friend, Charlie. So we took her out to see how she liked them. As you can see, she loves them!!!

Last year a sweet person got our pup a gift card at her favorite local pet store. Unfortunately, with everything going on we were unable to stop by and let her pick something. Turns out we timed it perfectly. She once had a soccer ball that she loved but quickly fell apart. Well, Midnight Izzy's (Ligonier, PA) had one on steroids and she has fallen absolutely in love with it! Here is a small clip of her playing (she had already been out for a while). Enjoy!

Another that I forgot to upload during our Lemon-Rosemary Jam/Marmalade making process (only one left to add for the finished product). ;)

Forgot to upload the rest of my Lemon-Rosemary Jam making process. Here is the second part where we are finally getting it up to a boil.

So, we decided to switch things up a bit by doing a Lemon Marmalade! Originally, we were going to do a Lemon Basil and then noticed we ran out of our homegrown Basil. So we opted for a Lemon Rosemary. Here is Part 1...just getting started!

Here is part one of a wonderful Split Pea Soup using our homemade stock, leftover Christmas ham bone and ham, onions, garlic, celery stocks, and thyme (homegrown). Generally, we would also have split peas...but, as I mention in the video...we forgot them. Yes. In our travels today we actually forgot the main ingredient for our soup. The ingredient for which it is named. We did that. It happened. So, we are doing this a little backward, but have no fear. I have spent my entire life doing everything backward and I am still alive and fine. Right? Well, for the most part anyway. My point really is that, in many or most situations, doing something backward or changing the steps up a little often leads to amazing results rather than the same old same old. So, we will post Part 2 when we pick up the split peas tomorrow. Until then, enjoy and Happy New Year!

Our little Luci Lu decided it was a great idea to go rolling in some seriously smelly deer poop in the backyard! So we, of course, had to throw her in the bath which is not something she is generally used to. We were not sure how this would go. Turns out it was pretty uneventful. She was such a good girl...then comes Part 2...

Our little Luci Lu enjoying the wonderful and beautiful Christmas Day snowfall.

Well, while the actual bath was fairly uneventful, it appears she was saving all of her energy for a post-bath crazy run around the house! Please excuse the mess, construction wins over! Hahahaha! Enjoy!

Hahahaha...our little Luci Lu. She loves playing fetch with her favorite stick "Tomohawk," which is sadly missing right now. But she is still happy as can be playing with her pop and this stick. Until I step in. Whenever I ask her to drop and sit she gets into temertantrum mode. Never with her pop...only me! It is actually quite adorable! Enjoy!

Enjoying this beautiful weather and taking a moment to peek at how well our avocado tree is turning out, which is wonderful! We never thought it would have turned out so great. We had tried a couple of others and this one came through. I know it will be quite some time before it actually produces any avocados, but we are pretty excited. And, Luci Lu decides to make another quick cameo appearance as she firmly believes everything revolves around her. In her defense, it actually does! She is such a cutie throwing her bone down to play and enjoying this wonderful gift of amazingly beautiful November weather! Enjoy it while it lasts!

Well, not sure what it is like in everyone else's neck of the woods, but it has been an absolutely beautiful day here in western PA. So, we opted to take our flowers, herbs, and pepper plants out into the sun for the day. We immediately had a wonderful bee on all of our Cosmos (tall pink flowers). Unfortunately, I was not quick enough to capture him. However, I did get a quick look at everything including the few tiny Salsarific and Habanero peppers we have going. They will, most likely, not amount to anything. We are mainly just keeping them going for a head start next season. Best of all though? Our Luci Lu makes a quick cameo appearance to say hello! She is having such a fun day in the sun. (Please excuse the leaves!)

Seriously, nothing beats a good backyard, summertime bonfire. I am thankful we spent the time redoing our fire pit. We definitely had some fun and relaxing nights enjoying a cold beer or glass of wine while staring into the dancing flames. Of course, our pup Luci Lu, was also completely entranced...how can you not? Hope you enjoy it too! Until next year...

Just a peek into our early season tomatoes in our garden. It includes 100's, Super 100's, Lemon Boys, Black Krims, Yellow Beefsteaks, Cherokee Purples, and Indigo Rose. It also quickly touches upon some of our lettuce and peppers...with a little peek at our Marigolds. Keep your eyes open though for a brief and unexpected appearance from our wonderful Luci Lu! She is probably our garden's biggest fan. She loves wandering in and randomly snacking on some of our lower-lying/growing tomatoes. It really has become her favorite late-day snack! Anyway, hope you enjoy it! Looking forward to next year's crop already!!!

It seems a daily occurrence that we come across some sort of interesting little creatures when tending to our garden. This one included. I am still not entirely sure what it is, but it certainly was really cool being able to check it out. I would love it if someone would let us know if you have any idea what it is? Thanks and enjoy!

I should preface this by saying we had been exiting a three to four-week drought. Suddenly, the skies opened and began pouring down. We quickly worked to set up containers around our backyard to collect every bit of rainwater we could for the garden. We also, for the first time in years, had been dealing with little critters attacking our produce. Unfortunately, with all of the craziness of 2020, obtaining chicken wire to protect the garden was impossible. So we added some extra screens and brickes to our open areas we were able to also protect our garden. That lasted all summer, thankfully. But this was, by far, the best rainstorm we had received this entire year while making do with what we had or were given. If you turn up the volume you will hear the calming storm and see some of our plants. :)