Future Mechanic?

The past few weeks Sailor has been working on piecing a bike together from parts that were strewn in the barn from the previous occupants of this property. After a lot of hard work and dedication he was quite happy with the results.

And now we will have to see if we can find tires for his bike soon. After all that work I would say he deserves to ride on something other than the rims.

Eeeek!

Earlier this summer the children found a baby frog in one of our flower beds. They were quite fascinated with it and enjoyed watching and playing with it.

We were gone for quite a while and when we got home last weekend they were amazed and a little creeped out at the great big toad that was sitting there waiting on them. Rosebud had the honors of taking a picture of it. But this was the closest that the girls wanted to get to it. No chance of having it turn into a prince.

Future Florist?

We really enjoyed the past few days in the mountains soaking up the gorgeous pre-autumn days. But one of the highlights for me was when the children invited me outside to their "house" to see the bouquets they had arranged for me.

Somehow these floral arrangements are sweeter to me than any beautiful bouquet a professional florist ever created.

Laundry Adventures

We have been camping out for the past month in an empty house with only very minimal comforts. Folding chairs and air matresses aren't the greatest but at least they help us get by.

Let me introduce you to a monster I have been dealing with since we have been here. Most people would probably call it a washing machine but I am convinced it has connections to other things as well. 

1. Train engines. When ever it's running it sounds like a freight train is ready to plow into the house.
2. Sprinkling systems. It leaks water so badly that it keeps me busy wiping the floor the whole time it's cleaning my laundry.
3. Something really bad. When ever the spin cycle comes on the whole machine rocks so badly that I keep expecting it to either explode or lift off and fly away.

I don't have a dryer so everything needs to be hung out on the clothesline. Somehow even with all the aggravation nothing quite beats the sense of satisfaction I feel when I'm done doing the laundry and I can stand back and look at a clothesline full of clean laundry flapping in the breeze. I don't get that feeling from  using my own well behaved washer and dryer.