Not so far and away...day 2...

After a night of smores and campfires it was a morning of leisurely lounging

at the breakfast table...

There was one thing on the agenda after breakfast and that was the horse chores...

We checked their feet...gave them a good brush...

And some good scratching on the withers...

Kicker makes the funniest faces when we hit 'the spot'!

Then the kids make funny faces back and every ones giggling...

Blue is getting old and just takes it all in stride...

But Kicker just loves these kids...loves to try and nibble on the ears...

These kinds of days are the ones that kids take home with them

and talk about them in years to come.

It's what summer holidays are all about.

Actually it's what life in general is all about.

Moving through the simple beauties of everyday life and grasping

on to the threads of things that make you feel joyful.

Abbey and Michael cast out a few of these threads to me.

Beautiful, interesting, people.

The kind that makes camping in your own backyard a real treat.

Not so far and away...Day 1

Norene and Bill had promised the visiting grand kids, Abbey and Michael

a camp out while they were here...

So they made the big half hour trip to one of the best campgrounds around...

Our house!

First things first...set up the tent...Bill sets up to the abundant wood pile...

Abbey supervising Grandpa...

Next thing on the campers agenda...fun..Fun...and more FUN!!

And there's nothing more fun than the cable ferry across the creek!

Everybody on board?

And away we go!!

Muscle power to the rescue...

On the other side, the woods were 'lovely, dark and deep'

...and MUDDY!

We slipped and slopped all the way to to suspension bridge...

This bridge is super wobbly and only one can go at a time...

Or two holding hands...

It was a perfect summer day to sit on the birdsong-filled riverbed...

 catching fish...

...catching sticks...

Let's see...we've gone across the river, through the jungle...hmmm... what else..
Oh yeah...trees of mystery...
These carvings are in the woods...no idea who did them or when, but what a
surprise the first time I found them...

Then it was time to go back...across the wobbly bridge...

Tiger hunting in the long grass...

Back at the house, we recapped our adventures by the pond...

Telling tales of the one that got away...

But the best part of all was the campfire, the moon and the SMORES!!!

What does tomorrow hold in store?
Off to dreamland for now.

The birds and the bees...and the butterflys...

This morning, out in the garden, the world is a-buzz.

The bees are so happy to have the warmth.

No wonder someone once capped the term

"Busy as a bee".

Trying to catch one still enough to take a photo is quite the challenge.

Especially when they are diving in and out of foxgloves!

Can you imagine the view inside that flower?

Not that the bee is paying attention to that...too busy collecting pollen.

...but, hey...maybe they do notice the beauty...I'd like to think so.

Some early mornings I find a big bumble bee asleep on a flower.

Maybe they were so drunk on nectar and the loveliness of the flower

that they decided just to curl up and have a nap.

As I was watching the bees, I noticed a tiny movement on the flower.

This is like one of those 'find the hidden image in the picture' games...

Do you see her?

Blending right in with the colours...

Isn't nature fantastic?!

A bug that I've never seen before was also visiting the foxgloves...

How pretty is that golden beetle?

The honeybees from the hives are also crazy busy collecting food for honey production...

I hadn't seen many butterfly's this year but the weather being what it has been, 

I wouldn't want to risk my weightless, fragile body, floating around in all the cold and rain either.

But this morning they were out as well...

If you have high blood pressure or stress, just sit and watch a swallow tail.

Guaranteed to calm you right down...

And the birds!

Oh the symphony of song in the early part of the day!

The dawn chorus.

It always starts with the robins.

I call them the hardest working birds in showbiz.

First ones up and last ones in.

This morning I caught this one having a bath...

I was lucky enough to see one of the most handsome birds as well...

The cedar waxwing.

So dashing in his velvet coat and black mask!

And so I've spent another few hours day dreaming in the garden when I should be

out there weeding and pruning...oh well...there's always tomorrow.

New kid in town...

11 years ago we got three little male goats from the local petting zoo.

Tramp, Leif and Licorice.

Then we decided they needed company, so we got three females.

Gloria, Dancer and Star (Leif's mom).

So the years went by and the goats got old and we were recently left with one.

Tramp was the sole remaining goat and was quite alone.

 Spending 12 years with his 'gang' and the last 2 with Leif, he was 

quite forlorn.

Wanting us to hang out with him more than we had time to...

So we put out the word for company.

Enter: Katie...

 She came from a place up the road where her two other male barn mates

beat up on her all the time. She took refuge in the pony who lives there.

So when she came to our place, she didn't want to hang out with Tramp.

She liked the chicken...

...and the rooster...

...and even the baby barn swallows, up in their nest...

...Tramp kept looking at us as if to say

"You want ME to hang out with HER ?!

 Lets just say it wasn't quite the match made in heaven we had hoped for.

But slowly they have grown on each other and sleep in the same stall and 

hang out together more and more.

We have had to do some major fence maintenance as well since Katie

is a wanderer...bless her little goats heart, but the neighbours don't like her

eating all of their bird food.

I've had to go over twice to bring her home.

Luckily she walks really well on a leash!

Goats are herd animals and don't like to be alone.

Now that she's got to know the handsome Tramp, she's is feeling 

much more comfortable in her goat skin.

She's a big talker and bleats her hard head off all the time.

But we're growing to love her as well.