Summer's in full swing!

Summer is in full swing for us finally. I have green in my garden, animals literally running all through my yard, a dozen different projects that are all started but not completed, and a constant draw to be outside.

We have made it hiking a couple of times this summer, which is unusual for us. The last one we went on we found snow. We were having a snowball fight in July. I've added some books and pull-outs to our backpack this year. Now when we are out we are identifying birds, berries, wild flowers and butterflies. There are some others that I want to get such as the nighttime sky, which does us no good until Aug., geology, wilderness survival and so on.

One of the things that I love so much about living here is the views that we can see. We don't have to go looking to hard for them, they are everywhere. We went hiking at an old mine (Independence Mine) and it was so neat to see how time works on things that have been left in ruins. It was also neat to get a glimpse of how things were here in the past. Then to hike along the old trails and see the scenery was breathtaking at times. It has inspired my son to make a documentory on the different places that we have visited, so that he will have them later in life.
The best part of all of that is when I come home and still have that same sense of awe. I love pulling into my driveway, it reminds me of driving down some road in the middle of nowhere. Everything is green right now, we have lupine, daisies, and fireweed in bloom. As I pull in I see my garden, my chickens, the turkeys and hear the sheep in the back ground saying hello. I've never had an actual garden so to see small veggies coming on is a huge accomplishment for me. To see the turkeys getting bigger, and the males are getting their big feathers, is exciting as well. I know that I won't have to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner this year, it's being raised in my yard.
Other than that we are building a riding ring for the horses. Which will be nice to have, less to mow. We are going to be redoing the front porch as soon as we are finished painting, and a sidewalk. Hopefully that will be done before winter.
In the meantime we are taking the littlest one on her first camping/fishing trip. We are going to take the kids for the Pink Salmon Derby. We have one other camping trip planned, but I'm looking forward to getting away a bit more than we have been. So I know for a fact that I will be trying my hand at making fireweed jelly this year...will definitely put that on here. We will be out berry picking hopefully soon, and I can't wait to pull veggies out of the garden. I have already used some of my basil and parsley to make pesto....and loved that it was so fresh. It makes me feel like I'm actually on my way to living the life that I've been dreaming about for so long. Hope you are all having a great summer as well!!!!