Day "Off"...

I woke up happy, knowing the day was stretched before me, full of possibilities. I had a long "to do" list and hoped to cross many items off of it. The day was fair and warm, the air scented with apple blossoms and full of the sound of birds singing and bees having a pollination party in the flower-laden trees.

I did the morning chores; milked the goats, collected eggs, fed and watered all the livestock. I chatted with my sisters on the phone, our lovely weekly tradition. Then Chris and I went out for breakfast. After that we hauled out a huge role of electrified netting wire and fenced in a scrubby area between the pasture and the road. We turned the goats out there to browse. "Browsing" refers to eating leaves and brush, rather than grass. Goats prefer browsing over grazing, but our pasture is mostly grass so they are browse deprived. Turning them out into this area is good for them, as they can eat food they enjoy, and good for us, because they will tidy up a scrubby spot on our property.



Bonus! There are a few huge boulders there, and the kids found them to be fabulous spots to play "king of the mountain."

Once that project was done we took the weeks trash to the transfer station, then stopped at the local farm stand and picked up some beautiful hanging pots of flowers to decorate the yard. Back home I tackled the messy front flower bed.



I moved boulders, raked up leaves and debris from the long winter, then hoed out weeds. I pruned back the roses, and hung two of the pretty pots I had brought home. Then I hauled bucket after bucket of mulch and raked it out, deep and dark and pretty. The garden is now ready for planting. I will probably put annuals in there, so it will be bright and colorful all summer.



I weeded around a few other smaller spots and mulched them well. There is still a good bit to do to get the yard looking the way I want it to, but we made big progress on our day "off."

As evening approached we had our first "summer supper," at the picnic table. Chris treated us to lobsters and cooked them table-side.



We keep our lobster feasts simple. Bread, butter, lobster, wine. Paper towels to wipe up the mess. It's not fancy, the focus is entirely on the rare, succulent, special flavor of the steaming crustaceans that grace our plates. The buttery, salty, sweet taste of summer. And the perfect end to a delightfully productive day.