Crazy for Butterfly Weed...

I LOVE bufferfly weed! I look out across the back yard and I can see 4 or 5 splashes of orange. For the butterfly our suburban lawns are like deserts so I feel really happy to offer this little respite in a sea of scarcity. I tried to smell them but couldn't catch even a tiny scent out of them.
Everything is running late this year. I remember that last 4th of July we already had blooms from the butterfly weed.
Milkweed is very common and will come uninvited. I have a huge stand of it in the back of the yard. I saw 4 chunky Monarch caterpillars a couple days ago but they have already left for the next stage. My photos aren't that great, but, here you have it!

*****Utube Homeschooling Video

Whether you homeschool or unschool you'll be able to relate to this short video. On a daily basis we confront these weird attitudes and assumptions that have nothing to do with the reality of our lives. This video turns that around by harpooning conventional beliefs about education. I kind of "stole" this video from Alex, a fellow unschooler's blog (Thanks! Alex.)

A Day at Duskwind Farm

Yesterday I went up to Pine City to spend the day with my friend Jennifer Peterson on her homestead Duskwind Farm. She and her husband, Chuck, and their daughter Ilana have been living on their new homestead since the end of May. They are in a trailer right now but are building a small house due to be built by November.
Everything has been late this year including the lambs. I was hoping that I'd get to seeing a birth while I was there because two of the sheep were in labor.
Jen and Chuck have a Scottish Highlander cow who calved in early summer. She's quite an impressive cow! She kind of pushes the other cows around, no one wants to be at the other end of those horns. When she wants something (from the other cows) she gets it!





Jennifer and I visited with the sheep and enjoyed watching the lambs. Here Jen is giving a massage to one of the mothers in labor. Jen carries Ilana around in a front carrier.
Lulu is a Jersey mix heifer and is the future family milk cow. She is grass fed and her milk will be consumed raw!

This morning in the library...

It's a lazy Sunday morning and we are all half asleep, enjoying our coffee and watching the dogs lounge around. Skippy Lu seems to be aware of the camera when we pull it out. She almost seems to pose as if she knows she needs to keep still. She and our foster puppy, Franklin (Frankie) are quite fond of each other.
Here is "baby Franklin." He's only 4 months old but is an established member of the pack. His paws are big and he has a lot of loose fur; we're guessing that he'll get to be close to 90 pounds.
A baby profile!!
Skippy Lu and Franklin snuggle on the dog bed.

Happy 80th Birthday, Grandma!

On Tuesday my mother turned 80 years old. Alice Marie (Rodde) Bishop was born in a farmhouse in Kenyon, Minnesota. We celebrated her birthday by bringing food, dessert and ourselves to the house. I brought a chicken lentil dish and we stopped by the 50's diner and picked up a Key Lime pie.
One candle represented 80 years! We thought about putting 8 candles on the pie but didn't want anything to melt.
After dinner rest with Skippy Lu. Skippy Lu always enjoys a visit at Grandma and Grandpa's house because she is the only dog who gets to go and as a result she gets 100% of the attention. It was a very enjoyable evening!

Xavier performed at Woman's Club of Minneapolis

This spring Xavier was a 2nd place scholarship winner in the Thursday Musical Young Artist competition (http://www.thursdaymusical.com/id13.html.) The scholarship money gave him the opportunity to work with local guitar masters Alan Johnston (MacPhail), Chris Kachian (St. Thomas University), and David Crittendon (Bethel College). It has also been a wonderful opportunity to perform. Earlier this summer he performed for the American Association of University Women and on Tuesday he was invited to perform at the Women's Club. He played Villa Lobos, "Prélude Guitare no. 1." We were both invited to the luncheon and we got to sit at the head table and talk to some of the other young artists (including Argentine celloist, Ramiro Alvarez) and the leaders of the club. All of these women are very supportive of all of the young artists in our community.
Xavier received star treatment at the club; he had his own parking space!! It was so much fun to find this parking space after coming into the parking lot expecting to spend some time looking for a spot. What a GREAT day!

Ferrets take a peek at our world...

Selena has four ferrets that rarely venture out of her room. We have three dogs plus 3 foster dogs, so it's a bit precarious for them out here. Although her ferrets are curious and fearless the dogs and ferrets aren't used to each other, so we keep them segregated. When I visit Selena in her room I get a chance to spend some time with them, but otherwise this is how we make contact... under the door!

Minnesota Native Flower??

What is this??? Is this a native plant to this area? To Minnesota? If you know, please let me know.

About 5 years ago I put down native prairie grass and flower seeds in my "back yard." The back portion of my property is almost 2 acres. Every year I see new flowers and plants. I assume that some of these are from seeds that were part of the native seeds that I left there years ago. It's always fun to see something new spring up. For example, we started seeing Butterfly Weed about 3 years ago and now there are 3 separate plants.