Farmwife's Journal-April 29th

This morning the children and I uncovered the rest of our strawberries.  As Emily and I filled the wheelbarrows with the straw, the boys ran the loads to the asparagus patch where the straw got dumped to use as mulch.  The boys were having a great time racing back and forth.  They would bounce their empty wheelbarrows on the bumpy garden dirt to "catch some air".  As Jonny was running along, he called out, "Hey Mom, watch this!"  (I have learned that this is a dangerous statement coming from a boy) :)  Then he bounced his wheelbarrow, and since he was going a little too fast, the wheelbarrow flipped over and he landed on top of it!  Jonny's lips turned white and he had a look of horror on his face as he lay there on top of the wheelbarrow trying to figure out what just happened!  The three of us tried not to laugh....very unsuccessfully! :)  Once Jonny realized he was OK, he was laughing too! :)  As I wiped the tears from my eyes (from laughing so hard), I was reminded of yesterday....when Emily had me laughing so hard I was crying. 
Emily and Ben decided to race down to the garden.  As Emily was cruising along, going very fast, determined to beat Ben, she hit some uneven ground and toppled round and round until she finally came to a stop.  Ben, glad for her fall, cruised past her and won the race to the garden. :)   I wanted to scold Emily because she had on her good skirt, but I was laughing so hard I couldn't.  And as much as Ben should have shown concern for his sister, I was glad he kept going, as he missed the "show" when Emily was rolling across the lawn in her skirt! :)
Another crying episode....this morning....Mike, who likes to be Mr. Practical Joke, pulled a great one on Emily.  If there is one thing Em hates, it's bugs!  She can sit in a goat or sheep pen, assist with labor, and be covered with blood and goop and be perfectly happy.  But if a lady bug or spider is within a few feet of her, she will run and scream.  Well... when Mike was coming in from doing chores with her this morning, he found a very large bug (some kind of beetle, I think).   Emily didn't see him pick it up.  When he came in he set it on her chair.  Mike was playing with his new phone, and Emily knew he was video taping with it, but she didn't know why he was video taping!   As we gathered around the table for breakfast this is what happened..... :)



....oh did we laugh!!  Even Emily laughed...eventually.  Who needs TV with such entertaining children? :)

We also spent about three hours weeding and tilling the herb garden this afternoon.  My chamomile likes to come up EVERYWHERE, so we dug it up (like I do every year) and planted it in a row.  Em and Jonny hauled in a load of manure, which was put on a newly tilled section of the herb garden.  Then I got some dill seed planted, just before it rained...AGAIN! :(  There is still plenty of work to do out there, but we got a lot done! :) 



The BUG!!