Poem

This is a song that I've been playing on the piano. I just though I'd share it with you all! Its called "Poem" and its by Zdenek Fibich.

Its APPLE BLOSSOM TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes indeed, its Apple Blossom time!!

:)

On Sunday there was a huge festival in the area celebrating the Apples of 2009. Yeah, the people in this area are weird.....:)

All of our trees are blooming. I missed the Peach blossoms last week! They were beautiful!

The Season is starting: This is our first picking of Rhubarb. Markets start on Saturday, and we're all trying to get ready for that!
Our first picking of Asparagus!! Yesterday Mommy, Daddy, Oliver and I grilled our dinner on the outside grill, and then we ate outside because it was so NICE!!!! We had our first "batch" of grilled asparagus for the year. (Its become like a tradition to have grilled asparagus every year).

So we have been keeping very busy with the farm work. Today I am going to be "practice baking" for the markets. We've added some new recipes to our mix, and I need to make sure that they work before trying to sell them! :)

That's is for now! Have a fabulous Day!

Today Mommy, Daddy, Oliver and I got up early (4:00) and set off on a trip to Delaware. :)

Daddy signed up to run a race there, so we were all going along to watch and to cheer him on.

After a LOT of confusion with directions (we had FIVE different people give us FIVE different directions, and EVERY one was wrong!), we managed to get to White Clay Park at 7:20(ten minutes before Daddy's race started).

This is Daddy at the beginning of the race.

After the runners went running off, we (Oliver, Mommy and I) sat on park benches and read, wrote and stuff like that. :) Oliver and I played on the playground which was meant for 5-12 year old's apparently. nobody questioned us though, so we must look young. :)

Me Swinging.(I LOVE swinging!!!!!)

Daddy finished the Half-Marathon in really good time. It was actually more than a half-marathon, it was about 15-16 miles....because they got lost on the trail. Anyway, I was really proud of him! Because he made it, and also because I can admire anyone who runs. ;) If you know me, than you know that I'm not much of a runner.

When we left the park, we got back to Lancaster and grabbed some UNHEALTHY food!!!!! It was really fun!

This is me later today. I was lawn mowing, and noticed some weeds by the fence line that i couldn't get with the lawnmower. So, I simply ran out to the garage and grabbed some of Daddy's (He's the only one who really knows about spray in our house) toxic fluids. This is Gramoxone, (don't ask me to try to pronounce it, I just know its deadly) and I knew it was poison because of the skull and cross bones on the top (also because Daddy told me). :)

So that was what I did today.

It was great!

Today I had the PLEASURE of Dog-sitting!!!! :) I occasionally dog-sit for some neighbors up the road. So I spent all today up there.

They have two Boxers (I keep thinking that they're pitt bulls) Named Gypsy and Jasmine.

They're kinda funny to watch. They're almost like people. They sit down on the couch all day and watch tv.....:) I'll be doing it again on Sunday night after chuch. :)

Yesterday my Mom and I went to Washington D.C. for a special event concerning some of our CSA's. We now have over 100 CSA's, and about 70 of them came from the National Geographic Society. My mom was asked to come to the National Geographic Society's building to speak to some of the people who were interested. So we went, and we took three crates of Apples along too, to give out to the people. :)

We had a LOT of interested people, and Mommy talked to almost all of them. For some reason, I can never explain things quite right, and they sound confusing when they come out of my mouth....So I just let Mommy talk. I just sat and smiled. :)

This is my Mom, with the head Coordinator, Susan. Susan kept me occupied some of the time, introducing me to people, taking me to eat, and showing me the museum. So I had fun with her!

While we were there, I was able to get a FEW pictures of the "sights." We went RIGHT past Pennsylvania Avenue, but since we were lost at the time, and Mommy was asking me to look at the map, I wasn't able to get a picture of anything really important....:(

And that was the extent of my day yesterday. I had a HUGE headache after it was all over though! A big plus was the trip home. (Mommy let me drive!!!!) :)

The Meadows in Spring

The Meadows in Spring

Edward Fitzgerald

'Tis a dull sight

To see the year dying,

When winter winds

Set the yellow wood sighing:

Sighing, oh! sighing.

When such a time cometh,

I do retire

Into and old room

Beside a bright fire:

Oh, pile a bright fire!

And there I sit

Reading old things,

Of knights and lorn damsels,

While the wind sings—

Oh, drearily sings!

I never look out

Nor attend to the blast;

For all to be seen

Is the leaves falling fast:

Falling, falling!

But close at the hearth,

Like a cricket, sit I,

Reading of summer

And chivalry—

Gallant chivalry!

Then with an old friend

I talk of our youth!

How 'twas gladsome, but often

Foolish, forsooth:

But gladsome, gladsome!

Or to get merry

We sing some old rhyme,

That made the wood ring again

In summertime—

Sweet summertime!

And sometimes a tear

Will rise in each eye,

Seeing the two old friends

So merrily— So merrily!

Thus, then, live I,

Till, 'mid all the gloom,

By heaven! the bold sun

Is with me in the room

Shining, shining!

Then the clouds part,

Swallow soaring between;

The spring is alive,

And the meadows are green!

I jump up, like mad,

Break the old pipe in twain,

And away to the meadows,

The meadows again!

My Idea of a WONDERUL Evening!!!!!!!

Wow, this week has just flown by!! On Thursday, some good friends came to visit, and that was REALLY fun! Friday I went to my Home school evaluation, (to see if I passed 11th grade or not) and that went well! Yesterday after cleaning the house and the basement, we (Oliver, Me, Sarah and Daddy) planted about 3,000 onions (which doesn't really sound like much, but it took a while, doing it by hand). Then Sarah and I thought that it would be fun to go to Fuller Lake nearby. I haven't been there since last summer. We used to go there almost every week, and we all loved it there! So we went there and spent some time remembering what we used to do in order to get out of exercising. :)

This is Sarah.

and me

This (of course) isn't the lake, this is a creek that cuts off of the lake. We used to hang out by it all the time!

Me

Sarah at the gate.

Sarah poking her head through the trees....:)

Me, sitting by the lake. The sunset was really beautiful!

me, on the bridge.

After coming back home, I taught Sarah how to make bread, since she wants to make some when she gets back to college. :)

We used to do this all the time!!! We would cross "bridges" which were so rotten that its a wonder they didnt collapse on us. :) Sarah, Oliver and I were the one's who did that.

Well, I guess thats all for now! Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Oh my, I'm sorry I haven't posted in FOREVER! Our computer was down with a bunch of viruses, and I didn't want to be on the other computer's when other people needed them.

Anyway, so I hope you all had a great Easter! I know I did! :)

Here are a few pictures from our Easter meal.

Its almost a tradition at our house for Mark to make eggs for Easter breakfast. The first year he did it, he borrowed an apron with flowers on it. This year he happened to be wearing the same apron my mom was wearing. :)

Ryan cutting the Ham, Mark cutting the Turkey. :)
My dad in an apron! :)

Stuart and Tamara after the meal

Mommy and Sarah, ( I have no clue why she's making that face) :)

Anyway that's just a few pictures from Easter this year.

I hope you all are having a great week!

Hello everyone!

I managed to live through my ACT on Saturday. I think it went fairly well.

Yesterday, Martha, Mark and I practiced a song we're going to be playing at my orchestra concert on the 30th. That went well. This is me, playing Mark's mandolin. Mandolin's are almost EXACTLY like violins. They have the same strings and everything. Its just that mandolin's have 8 strings whereas violin has 4. :)

Oliver and Mark, jamming, or something.

Oh my, Oliver kept sitting on Daniel's lap to annoy him. All boyfriends, fiance's, or husbands of my four sisters has had to put up with this kind of behavior. The poor guys. :) Mark, Daniel and Ryan all have different ways of dealing with Oliver though. Ryan will pummel Ollie, Mark just ignores him, and sometimes Daniel will fight him, sometimes he'll cream him, I guess it depends on what mood he's in. :) Anyway, so that's Oliver in a mild form...Usually he and Daniel are punching each other, or something.



This is a 40lb. block of cheese we had ordered. I was chopping it up into smaller blocks. :)

And this is a video of me playing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on Mark's mandolin. That's one song that I can probably play on every instrument. :)

ACT

Ah yes, its almost the DREADED time! :)

I took my practice ACT yesterday and now I'm officially scared. This is my first time taking the ACT, so I'm hoping that I'll do well.

I just wanted to ask you all to pray for me tomorrow! It comforts me when I know that there are people out there saying prayers for me.

Thanks! And I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

Planting

Hello!

This is a picture of some of my kids in Nursery on Sunday. They all got in the toy box and were pretending that it was a car....:)

On Tuesday, I went outside and planted all afternoon and evening.

These are the Lettuce plants which we were transferring from the greenhouse to out in the garden.
Daddy did the row on the right, mine is on the left. It doesn't look like much, but it was about 750 plants (There was a third row which I didn't get a picture of).

Anyway so that's what I've been keeping busy with. Today I'm taking my practice ACT test, and on Saturday I'm taking the ACT. So we can all hope that goes well!!!! :)