Squirrel at Mich. cemetery wraps nest in American Flags

AP Photo/Times Herald, Mark Rummel

Squirrel at Mich. cemetery wraps nest in Old Glory

Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle: 'tis the season, a trip with kids in pictures

The Woodland Park Zoo with kids: fresh, exciting, busy, crowded, overstimulating! But worth it! Checkout their website at: http://www.zoo.org/ and their blog: http://woodlandparkzblog.blogspot.com/

Sleeping hippo was easy to spot

Ferruginous Hawk

bird handler with a great horned owl

This monkey was very interested in us, above and below

Connecting with the monkeys

The peacock was pretty cool

Hippo statue a favorite sitting place and slide

There are lots of fun things to climb on: rocks, statues, rails . . .

I think s/he is sticking her/his tongue out at me!

Stella is spellbound watching the penguins, a new exhibit at the park.

the new ferry loading zone, what a pleasure!

Kid's Art Craft: Painting Rocks for the Garden ~ Some ideas for making a mini garden for & with your kids

It is great to set up a craft for your kids that you can actually use and enjoy later. Painting rocks is one of those special crafts. We used acrylic craft paint and spray it with a shellac to preserve the paint, otherwise it will wash off in the rain. The stones make nice garden ornaments and great gifts for family and friends.

Here are some tips and ideas for painting your rocks:

• use a separate paint brush for each color
• paint garden insects, ladybugs, birds, butterflies, faeries on your rocks
• paint each rock a different color and make a rainbow
• try painting words on rocks
• make a mandala with different color rocks and patterns radiating out into a circle
• place your painted rocks in your kids' very own mini garden with kid friendly plants, vegetables, and flowers
• paint different vegetables on your rocks then mark the rows of your vegetable garden with them
• paint your kids' names on the rocks
• paint different weather scenes on your rocks: sun, rain, wind, snow, lightening . . .
  

Painting outside, Marina

Marina painted beach wood, sea shells, and various sized rocks

Grandma's (Nanny's) Magic Garden Marker, by Candice

Butterfly, by Marina

Star in the night sky, by Marina

butterfly

Vegetarian Sweet Artichoke, Basil and Cherry Tomato Pasta

Like most people I like a good pasta sauce and noodle dish. My kids and husband like it even more, and they inspired me to make a special recipe just for them (the artichokes are for me!). A little basil for its sweet fragrance and its flowery, earthy flavor. Artichoke hearts for a sweetness that lingers in your mouth, and cherry tomatoes for, well, a fresh tomato flavor!

Here are the ingredients:

Pasta Sauce
1 large can of tomato marinara sauce (I used some from Trader Joe's)
2 ears corn, cut kernels off ears
2 shallots chopped
1 can artichoke hearts in water, chopped into halves or quarters
1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
4 TBS chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup red wine ( and some more for your glass)
soy sauce to taste
butter for frying shallots in pan
pepper to taste

Pasta: 1 package spaghetti noodles, try ones made of rice for a yummy wheat free alternative
Garnish: chopped basil, pepper, and freshly grated Parmesan

How to make the Pasta sauce:
Begin by heating a pan on medium heat. Add a TBS butter and stir in chopped shallots. After 5 minutes (the shallots should be lightly browned and soft) add a large can of marinara tomato sauce, stir and bring mixture up to medium heat. Then add cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and red wine. Cook for 5 minutes then add corn and chopped basil. Continue to cook the sauce for another 5 minutes or so. Serve with noodles, soy sauce, fresh basil, pepper and freshly grated Parmesan.*

Noodles:
Use spaghetti size noodles, cook according to package directions.

****Serve also with a spinach and carrot side salad. Try my favorite dressing:

Easy Homemade Sweet Balsamic Dressing
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
2 TBS olive oil
1 tsp honey
Mix all ingredients thoroughly with a fork, toss with salad and serve. Especially good with spinach salads, and the spinach will not get soggy overnight like lettuce does.

My Flower Girls, it's going to make you smile! And some pictures of flower jewlery

Sister flower faeries

Kisses

And more kisses

Fragrant Rose Neck Wreath from a climbing rose variety

Marina made these flower rings by wrapping the stems around the flower heads and tucking them in.

Trader Joe's Marinated Tuna Sandwich with Broccoli and Salsa Stir Fry

This tuna sandwich is amazing! It is an open sandwich with previously frozen tuna. Trader Joe's frozen tuna is a lot better than any canned tuna sandwich could ever be, just don't over cook it! Here's how you make the sandwich, the recipe serves 2 people or one hungry runner:

You'll need:
sandwich
1 package of Trader Joe's Marinated Frozen Tuna (use half for 1-2 people, or enough to cover the number of sandwiches you will be making)
2 pieces of bread (I prefer Ezekiel Sprouted Bread with Sesame Seeds)
3 TBS freshly grated Parmesan
mayo for bread
stir fry
butter for cooking pan
1/4 cup salsa
1 head of broccoli, cut into bite size pieces

Begin by heating a pan to medium and then adding butter and frozen tuna. I take the tuna right out of the freezer and put it in the pan without unthawing it. Immediately add broccoli on top of the tuna. Cover the pan and let cook, while occasionally peeking in and stirring. Turn down the temperature to low-medium after it has cooked for a few minutes. The broccoli takes about the same amount of time to cook as the tuna.

I keep a close eye on the tuna as I want it just cooked all the way through and no further-- that way it is still tender and safe. I can't stand hard tuna, yuck. You can break the tuna in half to check on it. Just before it is done add the salsa and stir.

Broccoli and Tuna cooking, prior to adding salsa

I use sprouted wheat (Ezekiel bread) and toast it lightly then spread a little mayo on top. Next I place the tuna and garnish it with Parmesan and Salsa. Serve with broccoli and salsa stir fry.

Freshly grated Parmesan

Time to Shear the Sheep

Late May, time to shear the sheep. The horses hung out sniffing and watching the whole time.

Shearing the old fashioned way, no electric clippers!

Feisty Mama Americana Hen hatches 2 baby chicks!

Above and below: This is that feisty fierce look of "don't mess with me or my chicks"

She's looking like she is going to peck me

To the left is one of her cute babies

Our little Americana hen is only one of two hens to ever hatch baby chicks at our farm. We hope to have more hens hatching chicks, but they just don't seem to get broody and if they do, they forget about the nest before the eggs have hatched, which is quite disappointing.

Don't get to close to a mother hen, she will peck you! Her chicks are dark black-gray colored and are absolutely adorable-- as far as chicks go.

This little red hen is checking me out. . .

. . . but food is food, as long as I stay very still!

Chickens with teeth and little bit about Omelets: Basil-Feta and Cherry Tomato Omelet with Fresh Spinach

I found out this interesting bit of information about chickens from Wikipedia:

In 2006, scientists researching the ancestry of birds "turned on" a chicken recessive gene, talpid2, and found that the embryo jaws initiated formation of teeth, like those found in ancient bird fossils. John Fallon, the overseer of the project, stated that chickens have "...retained the ability to make teeth, under certain conditions..."

Whoa! Now that is cool! Dinosaur chicken anyone? Checkout the entire article at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken
Also a picture of of toothy chicken at: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060220/chicken_ani_zoom0.html
And more: http://www.livescience.com/animals/060222_chicken_teeth.html
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=mutant-chicken-grows-alli

Now for the piece on omelets:
Chickens are laying lots of eggs this time of the year. As the days get longer chickens lay more eggs. I imagine it has something to do with this being a good time to raise chicks. So now is the time to enjoy farm fresh eggs in omelets, quiches, souffles, and more! Checkout this cool website for information about eggs and lots of yummy recipes:
http://www.incredibleegg.org/recipes-and-more

I recently made myself a yummy Basil-Feta and Cherry Tomato Omelet with Fresh Spinach (see pic). Whidbey Island is a great place to find farm fresh eggs: in coolers for sale on the roadsides (I know of at least one on Saratoga Road and Amble Road, Langley), at the farmer's markets, and at produce stands (checkout Bur Oak Acres).

Mukilteo Ferry Dock Holds Twice the Cars: what a nice surprise

Clinton-Mukilteo Ferry, with Whidbey Island in the background (headed for Clinton)

What a pleasure it was to wait for the ferry last Thursday. I got in the ferry line at 4 PM just before Memorial Day Weekend and much to my surprise there was no line up the hill. As I reached the toll booths I realized why: the dock has been expanded to approximately twice its original size. On the far right side of the dock there had been a convenience store and restaurant that was demolished to make room for the expanded dock.

It was really nice to be able to park my car on the loading dock, get an ice cream with the girls AND take a nice walk to the water to watch the ferry come in. Usually when we get stuck in ferry lines we are parked up the hill and have to sit ready to go at any moment in case the line begins to move. With young children this kind of waiting is a horrible kind of car seat torture. They can't understand why you aren't taking them out of their car seat.

So enjoy the new relaxed waiting for the ferry and get yourself an ice cream while you're at it!Ferry headed for Mukilteo, I'm watching it from teh beach by the lighthouse. There is also a playground and a park and ride