(Um.  Oops.  You may have received a notice that I posted already then it disappeared.  Don’t ask.  Just know that I’m getting used to the new photo-posting doohickey AND Josie decided to pull two handfuls of Nellie’s hair at the very moment my clicker was hovering entirely too near the “publish” button.  Just pretend you didn’t see it.

Now let’s see if I can do this the right way…)

Of course, there were menacing clouds as we tried to leave Oklahoma.  Lots of rain.  Lots of mud.  Lots of really bad things that I’ve since crammed into some dark, musty corner of my mind in hopes of forgetting it all…

For those who were asking about the animals:  We brought both dogs, Rocko and Kong, and four of this spring’s kittens, Tom, Jerry, Blackberry, and Tiger.  Also joining us were about a dozen chickens.

The goats were sold at auction shortly before leaving.  The new van did not yet have a hitch for the trailer at that point so the kids and I enjoyed a ride to the sale with several does and one very rutty buck.  Good photos of such events are just not possible without seven extra hands and a gas mask.  And elephant tranquilizers.

Ever get the feeling you’re not accomplishing anything? Yeah. That feeling. It’s much easier to swallow, calling it a “feeling”, rather than admitting that it’s reality.

So, instead of awing you all with photographic evidence of all of the progress around here, I shall deviously distract you with random nature photos (and Charlie Daniels classics)!

Fire on the mountain (Run, boys, run!)*

Cleome, one of my favorite flowers.

Nasty storm coming in over the lake. We were on our way to town and just about got blown off of the road a few times. Visibility went down to zilch. White knuckles and all that. Pull over and wait for it to pass? Pshaw. That’s like asking a man to stop for directions.

*Fire on the mountain reference:

With Steve gone, we’re all having to pick up the manly slack around here. Lots and lots of extra stuff to do with the move in our future! There’s just no way it could happen without some really cool kids. They may be loud and obnoxious. They may have the most disgustingly stinky armpits known to mankind. They may be completely freaky alien pod people. But! They’re there to help when the going gets tough!

Thanks for helping with the sweaty stuff, Cody. You are my main muscle.

Isaac, a big thanks to you as well, for taking on the so not glamorous job of taking care of the shorter people in the family. (How cute is it that Josie snuggled up on his lap and took a nap?!?!?!)

And, Abraham, thanks for slobbering on my camera. Dork. Not at all helpful.

More new crap posted on the For Sale page.

More stuff added to the For Sale page just a few minutes ago.

Okay, so I couldn’t find a unicorn. I did, however, find a magical dirty butt. That’s close, right?

I posted a couple of new things on the “For Sale” page. Take a looky-loo if you’re interested.

Harvested from the lower garden Monday evening:

It’s going to be a big, big melon year…

When in doubt, use caulking. Lots of it. Everywhere. (Except on the kids as they tend to bloat and then explode out some newly-formed hole.)

(I’ll spare you the details of my urinal and bathroom plumbing adventures. You do not want to know.)

Now how to gracefully segue from urinal caulking to eating?

I give up.

So, for the first time since moving out of Illinois, I saw corn on cob on sale for 10 cents each. Wow. Guess what we had for dinner?

And a wee bit of garden porn for you in a beautiful basket we got from the plant swap this spring. (I use it every day and wish I’d had it years ago!)

Our first cherry harvest, from the trees we planted this spring. I took this pic back in… May? and then forgot about it until today.

The kitchen garden in May, neat & tidy.

The kitchen garden in July, definitely looking more lived in.

In addition to watermelons, we’re growing a bunch of other melons this year. It won’t be long now!

Okay, so the last one is not really a melon. It’s far too large. It’s like a planet. It has its own weather system.

Taking turns talking to Steve on the phone.

Discovering evil bugs on the summer squash.

And giant grasshoppers eating everything they can.

Bringing out a few chicks to play (and hopefully eat a bunch of bugs).

As long as we’re here:

The newly seeded spots of beans and cucumbers.

Holy basil going to seed.

Okra loving the heat.

Lemon verbena — the kids love taking a branch in the house to make tea with.