Lilac Dreams

One day soon I hope our grove will be as pretty as this bush

I named my blog Lilac Lane Cottage because we have a long grove of lilac bushes that follows our lane from the road to our cottage. We moved to the country last June so we have never seen the grove in bloom but I can just imagine how pretty it must be and the scent...I can smell it now! The bushes are starting to leaf out an I find myself watching the weather closely to see if there is a chance we could have a freeze. It was sunny when I got up but the weatherman is predicting rain for this afternoon. As long as we don't get hail I'll be happy! Last year a killer frost hit while the former owners lived here and unfortunately the lilac buds froze and so there were only a few small blossoms that opened up. This year I plan to throw sheets over the grove along the lane to protect them as best I can if the weatherman gives us a frost warning....I just hope I have enough sheet's to do any good! If all goes well I will be able to replace the main picture of my blog with the grove in full bloom....keep your fingers crossed please!

Oooo wouldn't it be lovely to be able to put together a

bouquet like this from your gardens!

I can dream can't I!

What a beautiful colour

I guess butterflies love the colour lilac too

Mmmm what more can I say.....

Oh I like this ring!!

Hey...that's my birthstone!!

Wouldn't you LOVE a bed with these on it?!

What Bride wouldn't want this dress for their Flower Girl

Ok enough dreaming of Lilacs...time to get back to cleaning house!

Fur and Feathers

Olly visiting the garden shed.

He hears the chicks inside 

The other day we finally had sunshine...it was a good day to get outside and do some work around the farm. I cleaned the chicken coop and raked some of the soil  around the outside to get ready for when we throw down some grass seed. I will be SO happy to finally have grass and not dirt all around the house. You can just imagine what a mess 3 dogs (one HUGE pup included) can make running and playing in dirt and then coming onto the back porch! In between chores I went in and got my camera and spent time with some of the animals...the cats and chickens were enjoying the sunshine and warm temperature and the dogs were spending time watching the chickens and the cats. I know the dogs wanted to do more than just lay in the sunshine...they were waiting for one of the chickens to fly over the fence or for one of the cats to wander over so they could have some fun! Unfortunately for them everyone was feeling rather lazy and just wanted to lay around and enjoy the sunshine.

Butter Cup hears something

Little Lizzy checking out the chickens

She'd love to chase them but the rooster will come a runnin!

Romeo with his girls

Henrietta getting ready for a dust bath

Olly putting on a show for us

He REALLY wants to visit the chicks!

Henrietta starting her dust bath

She says 'this does wonders for my skin!'

Olly ...daydreaming of butterflies and and bugs

and

little fluffy yellow and black chicks!

 

Our Daily Bread

Today was just one of those dull drizzly days where you can't work outside so you may as well do something constructive inside. It was the perfect day to make bread! I felt like trying something different so I found a recipe for Oatmeal Bread in my Grandmother's old green cookbook as she use to call it. Actually it's The Betty Furnace Westinghouse Cook Book and it's definitely seen better days. It was different from any bread I had made before as it actually made what they called a 'sponge'! It took a bit longer doing it this way but once the sponge was ready the rest of the recipe was the same as usual other than the addition of molasses and oatmeal and an extra packet of yeast. While the dough was rising DH and I headed into town to pick up a few things. I love small towns...most people know you or recognize you and so you spend quite a bit of time talking to people which makes your trip take a bit longer. That turned out to be just the perfect amount of time for rising the dough!

Getting ready to soak the oatmeal

Yeast mixture is ready to make sponge

Mixing the sponge

Sponge is ready for the rest of the ingredients

Adding the molasses and other ingredients

My favorite part...kneading the dough

and kneading....

..and kneading....

It's done the first rising

Done second rising

Ready for the taste test

Wish I'd brushed the tops with melted butter and sprinkled oatmeal on top.

Oh well..next time.

Mrs Robin Hood

Me and my Hoyt bow

About 5 years ago my husband and I took up archery. I really didn't want to do it but DH wanted to try it so he borrowed a bow from a friend and gave it a whirl. He loved it! So...he borrowed a bow for me to try. I have bad shoulders so I can't pull very hard but once I got used to it I LOVED it. We practiced at home every day and started going to the 3D shoots where you walk trails and shoot at life-like foam targets at different distances (we don't hunt the real thing). It was a blast...it was wonderful getting out in the forest walking the trails to shoot 50 targets and I discovered I LOVE to compete with my husband. At first he beat me every time...but within a couple of months I was beating him! Being the sweetheart he is...he was happy for me and built shelves to show off my plaques and trophies. We bought new bows and started going to shoots in different towns..we loved it and the people were very nice...we always came home dead tired but happy. Eventually we moved and it was too far to drive to our archey club so we gave it up. My hubby still shoots his bow once in a while here on the farm but I haven't picked mine up for a couple of years. Maybe one day I'll take it up again...but if I do...I'm going to practice in secret first so I can still beat the pants of my hubby!

DH practicing at the club

My daughter Angie came to visit from Canada so we took her to a shoot

She loved it!

Angie and DH showing off thier 'bulls eyes' or 12's

There were 'fun shoots' where you had to do different things like shoot backwards at a target 20 yards or more away.

Sometimes you had to wait along the trails for your turn at a target.

This little fellow travelled along with his Mom and Dad and other siblings.

He got a little sleepy along the trail.

Shooting through the trees downhill was always fun NOT!

One of my better days with my old bow

Archery is a fun sport when a husband and wife do it together. My sweet hubby and I REALLY enjoyed hiking through the trails and meeting the people. It was a wonderful way to spend time with each other.

I hope if some of you have thought about trying archery that this will inspire you to go ahead and just DO it.

Hey...it's great exercise too!