June

Our bull returned to the farm and was parked in our shiny new freezer.

Alexe and I splurged on a date night in Memphis and enjoyed the prix fixe meal at Iris.  The meal, and the view, was superb.

Hazel met his cousins on Facetime.  Next month we're planning a get together to have a real meeting of the cousins.

Lazy summer.

Several weeks later the cow hide from our bull was cured, stretched, and dried.

I put this on our upstairs porch as a rug.  Alexe doesn't like it.

My corn, and a few tomatoes, before the drought wreaked havoc on my garden.

Happy boy opening birthday presents.

These kids are constant companions, and fight incessantly.  Many nights, after a day of squabbles and tears, and being tucked into their separate rooms, I find them curled up like puppies.

Despite our best efforts our house has another copy of this game.

A group from the inaugural class at Base Camp.  

Caspian worked for a day as Mr. York's production assistant.

Annaliese putting the newly repaired scissor lift through its paces.

Rice from the Mississippi Delta.  Corn from the garden.  Beef form the pasture.  Squash from the garden.  We didn't set out to be hippy-self-sustaining folks, but we're getting pretty good at it.

In that vein, we started work on the green house and small pond in the back pasture to provide irrigation for said green house.

Night on Main Street for a gallery opening.

After party at the pizza place.

Waiting for their ride to the Ecology day camp at Ole Miss.

The latest addition, he hasn't been named.  The guys working on the ponds got to be very fond of this little one, so he's headed to their house when he gets old enough.

Caspian keeping me company while I work on the green house.

Rookie mistake, I left the tractor parked in the pasture.  The goats flipped on the hazards and drained the battery overnight.

Belated present from u.William!

My girls.

When I first saw one of these in a magazine I thought they were super cool.  Seeing one in Water Valley, complete with lighting, gave me mixed emotions.  

Lovely.

We had to take down large sections of fencing to fit the dirt pan into the field for the pond project.  The goats immediately took advantage.

Base Camp classes in session.  A short visit from some marketing folks out of Jackson, in town to work on a Code.org-type promotional video for Mississippi.  Any visitors that come to town to check in on the school are encouraged to come prepared to share some knowledge with the class.

The baptist and methodists churches scheduled their vacation bible schools for the same week this year.  Regardless of religious leanings, everyone in town takes the churches up on their offer of a week of free child care, and we're no exception.  They spent the mornings with the Baptists and the evenings with the methodists, and the late evenings having discussions at home to temper the more vigorous lessons.

This was crazy hair day.

My little girl, who has always had a hard time transitioning from social settings to home, refusing any help carrying her garden post to the truck.  That's a heavy chunk of pressure treated 4x4.

Sneaking some video gaming during a birthday party celebration for Ace.

Some things you don't know to look forward to, but when they arrive you love them so much.  Matching bow ties with my son is one of those things.

The late spring drought arrived with 90+ degree weather.  We wait for the late afternoon to be outside, and the kids are on their own when it comes to entertainment.  I love seeing this when I check in on them.

I grew this meal all by myself.