animal planet, dolores edition

it's been very interesting in my yard lately. there are all sorts of fascinating new dynamics, a new chain of command.

i am busy trying to keep the chickens from eating the plants,

the cats from eating the chickens,

and molly from eating the kittens...

it's a bit stressful.

(the girls have named the kitties ellis, ellie, and elmer.)

and, can you keep a secret? the main reason we are not keeping a kitten (aside from the fact that we already have two cats) is that hazel is getting a bunny for her upcoming birthday! if you know hazel, you know that she is obsessed with bunnies. well somehow glenn came up with the decision that she could get a bunny of her very own when she turned eight. apparently, all year at school all she ever wrote about was bunnies and how she could get one when she was eight. so recently when glenn saw hazel's teacher she said "shame on you for not letting hazel have a bunny." and it worked. glenn decided that hazel should be allowed to have a bunny now. we will be surprising her on her birthday on june 14th and i can hardly wait. here she is:

the future "daisy", for that is what hazel always says she will call her bunny.

patty put an ad on craigslist for me, saying i was looking for a baby bunny that would be ready to leave its mama around june 14th. the woman who is holding this little dear responded. she raises bunnies for meat and said she didn't see why they couldn't be pets. (i know, tragic, right? we're saving her from certain death.) she told me to come over and pick one out so she could be sure to handle it a lot and prepare it for life as a pet. i went over there yesterday and this is the little one i picked. she is a rex rabbit, known for being very soft and very intelligent. i absolutely cannot wait to give her to hazel. she is going to freak out. today i went and got the cage and all of the accessories for her. how fun. it will be a "house rabbit" and we will litter box train it; i did this with the pet rabbit i had in my classroom when i was a teacher. she will also have a hutch outside.

there are also lots of beautiful things growing in my yard right now.

this is an iris from a bulb that i planted seven years ago.

they have never come up until now.

columbines

and the lilacs are smelling fabulous.

okay, and here's the food i am growing this year:

peas

tomatoes

(yes, i planted them too close together. glenn and i are building a new bed and i will split them up tomorrow.)

eggplant

squash

cilantro

basil

cantaloupe

and strawberries.

i've also got potatoes, onions, green onions, peppers, cucumber, brussel sprouts, lettuce, mixed greens, chard, and carrots in the ground. so exciting! what are you growing?

and i hope that there is something in your life right now that brings you this much joy.

workin' hard around here...

i have been working very hard lately, and not just in the shop. i've been getting ready for the show next weekend...

lantern earrings

lantern necklaces

and a new "lantern trio" design

the charm necklaces are always my best sellers at shows, so i made a lot of them.

most of them have pmc charms.

these necklaces only have pmc charms. birds, stars, and hearts.

oh, and don't forget the toe rings. it is the start of summer.

i am still working on some spiral earrings, stacking rings, and some other rings and necklaces. the show is next saturday, june 4th.

okay, the next very wonderful thing i want to share with you cannot be revealed without admitting that i haven't been a very good pet owner lately. as i told you, when the baby chicks moved into my shop, the cats had to move out. they were not very happy with me about it. and, in the last month, i have not seen much of either isobel or jasper. well, during that time, isobel is the one who has been very busy...

good golly.

hello babies!

look at that proud mama. she is so sweet with them and has taken such good care of her babies all by herself. they are chubby little suckers.

oh my goodness. yes, i realize that i should have had isobel spayed. i was irresponsible. she just seemed like a baby still herself. now i know better; as soon as she is done nursing, i will take her. but i can't say now that i regret it. what a miraculous thing to see her with these kittens. if you are local, at least two of them will be needing a home soon, probably three, unless we can break glenn. i am sure you can imagine the girls reaction to these three little delights. i have moved mama and babies into the shop. if you think i was distracted by the chickens, what's going to happen now?

in other news, the chickens have been free ranging in the yard.

and, as you can see, they're not the only ones who are growing up. hazel looks so old in this picture!

it's so fun and they are very happy.

the girls have been helping them dig up bugs.

on saturday we worked hard on the garden.

then we headed to durango.

we passed through a cattle drive on the way.

i asked hazel what she wanted to do to celebrate finishing kindergarten and she said trimble hot springs.

yay hazel!

it is now officially summer here in the smith household and i couldn't be happier about it. we leave a week from tomorrow for our fantastic santa barbara family vacation. very exciting.

what are your summer plans?

and they've moved out of the shop...

the chicken coop is finished!

isn't it lovely?

and the girligans moved in today.

they seemed a bit unsure at first, but they're adjusting quickly. i just went out to check on them though and they were all huddled up together at the base of the "stairs" that lead to the inside. i don't think they've quite figured that out yet. i had to block the doorway with a board and put them all inside, let them get settled in, then go remove the board. maybe tomorrow they'll figure it out for themselves? they are so dang sweet!

a desert camp

we had a wonderful excursion last weekend to celebrate glenn's birthday. we went with some dear friends from durango to the same beautiful place glenn and i went last fall.

happy birthday, dear!

we had such a great time. very exciting for the girls, we went with a boy (obviously a very brave boy, that col) so they got to do things they don't usually do when we camp...

like chop firewood...

and fish.

the fabulous rachel (my friend since i was 18 years old) made glenn brownies for his birthday.

not to mention the simply scrumptious dutch oven breakfast she and dan made, with elk sausage, eggs from their chickens, green onions and chives from their garden, homemade cheese, and, of course, fresh baked bread.

the girls love rosie.

rachel is a much better writer than i am; you can read her account of this trip here.

i hope you all had wonderful weekends as well. also, i found out today that i got accepted to do the durango autumn arts festival again this year; i am very honored and excited!