Went walking on the property today to watch the progress

I can hardly wait to live among the trees on our property. The house is finally underway, and we took the opportunity to wander and dream of our garden area...what we will put here...or there...

Meandering down our path...



and over to the "future" garden. We imagine some flowers, a nice path, a bench for sitting and listening to the creek (when there's water), and maybe a little wooden bridge for crossing to the other side so you can go from the back of the property to the front or vice-versa. What do you think?

More Arts Festival...

Here is Sarah with her paintings.

There was an expressive dance at the opening of the program portion of the festival.
This is Beth Pearson and her daughter. Beth organized the whole event.

Homeschool Arts Festival

This Arts Festival was held at our church. Many of us participated. Rebekah did a dramatic reading of "Hungry Mungry" by Shel Silverstein. Sarah displayed two of her paintings: "Blazing Sunset," and "Quiet Garden". Hannah made the cakes for the reception (many were impressed with her culinary art...and it tasted good too!). Josiah dressed nicely and was a welcoming door man. And I planned the cookies and punch for the reception.

More Biltmore...the blacksmith, and house

Here are pictures of the blacksmith.



This was taken in front of the house itself. We were waiting for the shuttle to take us back to the parking area.
Sarah liked this long hallway in the winery.

More Biltmore...the petting farm

Sarah and Joshua especially had fun chasing the animals around..chickens...goats...sheep.

There was a lady there who played the violin for the goats, but they seemed more intent on eating her bow than listening to the music.

A visit to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville

We visited Asheville in February on a very nice day. I had never seen the petting farm, and my parents hadn't tried the winery, so we had a chance to do both. We also saw a blacksmith make a leaf key chain while we watched. It was interesting for the kids to see a craft from long ago that people can still do now. All in all, it was a fun, but long day.
These first pictures are from the winery.

Look! I finished Josiah's sweater (and even before it was too warm to wear it)! I was pleased the arms were the same length, and the seams, while they could be better, were not too bad. Josiah was so happy that he allowed me to take this picture.