The Snake

So Lil'Bug and I decided to tromp down to the frog pond. We squeak around in the mud for a while, poke sticks in the water and generally explore the shore. I spot a pretty snail shell and ask Lil'Bug to reach down the hole and get it for me, then I spot this little critter.

Um. We back away and go get Daddy. I could not believe I had just asked my four year old to stick her hand down there. Then her face. What was I thinking?! Our county has something like 4 of the 5 poisonous snakes in Iowa and our property has all of the habitats. 

We hike back to the house quickly. 

Of course Dearest gets excited. I panicked a bit and might have blurted out that it could be a hibernaculum. Fine. I use big words when I get freaked out. I grab the camera, because this was an event I was going to blog, Dearest sticking his hand into a pit of snakes. Even just the one was scary enough.

And then......well, the peels of laughter rang far and wide. My snake.....

.....has legs. Meet the big, scary snake. A leopard frrrrrroooooogggggg. I am never going to live this down. 

Never.

Nope. Never.

Of course she had to kiss him to make sure he wasn't a prince.

He wasn't. But he has a cute belly.

Then she found a leech. Yuck. She had to hold that too. Fascinating creature. Lil'Bug that is.

Make Way for Ducklings

The Bees

The bees are still alive! They didn't move this week because of wet weather. Perhaps the weather will be better soon. Anyway, these are just portraits of the girls hard at work. 

The First Trees of the Orchard

This is our dream, an apple orchard. We planted the first trees. Turned the first bit of wonderful soil and planted hopes firmly in the ground. It was quite the family affair. 

In the ground now are two apple, two peach, and two hazelnut. Next up for fall planting are two more apple, two pear, and two cherry. My thought is to plant 6 every Spring, 6 every fall- every year. That way if there is a weather event that wipes the saplings out, we only lose (knock on wood) 6 and not 100. We build the orchard slowly and will replace slowly as needed. We will grow slowly and as big as we should. Hopefully. It makes sense on paper, we will see if it does in practice.