First, a visit to the sycamore. It is more than twice her height now.
Then a walk by the river with moonshine.
Grandpa loves this.
Bluebells peaking.
Science! Psuedo-science! Nature! Art! Nonsense!
April 27, 2026
cute, dogs, farm, flowers, hiking bluebells, iulianna, iulie, moonshine, shenandoah river Leave a comment
April 7, 2026
farm, garden, nature, trees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, easter, easter bunny, iulie, tradition, treasure hunt 1 Comment
For years, the Easter Bunny was bigger than Santa around here. Real. And very pirate. The kids looked forward to the annual Easter Treasure Hunt (which ended in exactly the same place every time…but nobody ever figured that out). There was at least a decade of deep Easter Bunny magic.
Now that Iulie is 7 (or as she says, “almost 8”), the Easter Bunny is back.
This year we had a slight planning wrinkle. Since it was officially Monday and not Sunday, the Easter Bunny was mostly done with its duties and relaxing in the Bahamas. We called EB up to see if an exception could be made for Iulie on Monday evening. Indiana helped. The EB said “why I think so.”
And thus the stage was set for an ALL NEW EASTER BUNNY TREASURE HUNT. Here’s how that went.
Initiation was way early (before Pilates) at 7:30am.
The kitchen table started everything off with map clue #1.
Iulie reads the clue, thinks a bit and figures out it’s her tree (which we planted together in 2023).
But does she stay on target? Nope. LOL.
Hunt for eggies AND remember the clue? Lots to do when it’s so exciting.
Iulie got just slightly ahead of the grandparents on her way to the tree.
And there it was, map clue #2.
Which led us right past some eggies hidden in the grass on the way to the Garden. Behind the machine (awaiting a tire change) was map clue #3.
A slightly trickier clue, this one needed “bouncy” for sure. Leading us t the newly fixed Swinging Bridge.
Iulie went flying right by map clue #4 and had to be called back.
And then it was off to the Guesthouse (BIML world headquarters). Eggies to find along the way.
Map clue #5 was tricky. A.poth.e.car.y is a low frequency word. Hey, that’s this blog’s namesake!
Finally, we found the Easter basket and some loot from the Easter Bunny! At the apothecary shed.
The treasure hunt was over. Time for a Spring picture.
And some sorting of the loot.
Who knew that the Easter Bunny liked legos?!
February 14, 2026
who knows chilli, cooking, dogs, eli, iulie, maybelline, moonshine, the ulluh Leave a comment
February 7, 2026
dogs dog, iulie, leiden, maybe, maybelline, odessa Leave a comment
December 23, 2025
December 23, 2025
cooking, farm, food dad, dead turkey day, iulianna, iulie, leiden, romey, sweet tooth, thanksgiving, turkey Leave a comment
After all that prep, it’s time for a feat. Leiden’s first thanksgiving.
It all starts bright and early.
Family gathers
The long table is set.
The turkey comes out of the oven.
Feast time.
Sweet tooth between generations.
Winding down
Final fire
November 10, 2025
who knows baby, banana, bubby, halloween, iulianna, iulie, kiki, leiden, O, odessa, trick-or-treat Leave a comment
Romey and O love Halloween. This year we went trick or treating at O’s house. The neighborhood was awesome. Filled with kids, costumes, great setups and even the occasional tequila shot.
Kiki!
A raccoon hunting racoon.
The banana
Bubby and the grand kids.
After some lasagna and banana pudding, we headed out for a trick or treat run. Leiden came in his carriage.
Somebody was excited.
There was, in fact, a bunch of bananas.
We even found Iulie’s second grade teacher.
This setup was by far the best…
A nice costume.
The house next door was taken over by the kraken.
Loot!
The favorite? Ramen of course.
So great to see the grand kids.
November 10, 2025
cooking, cute, dogs baby, bubby, chores, gem, Gerald, haircut, iulianna, iulie, jackolantern, Jerome, leiden, pumpkin, string grandpa Leave a comment
Wait, that’s not Iulie, that’s Leiden. Iulie’s brother came along to drop her off for a visit to bubby and “strong grandpa.”
And we had a morning fire the next morning since it was under 40.
We made Captain Crunch pancakes. Well one anyway.
The dogs were amused.
We did a chore. Iulie is an excellent helper.
Then we carved some pumpkins…ultimately named Gerald (the big guy) and Jerome.
We separated the seeds.
We checked out the tree.
We visited Bubby at work.
Leiden came to retrieve his sister too.
The fork…Iulie and I did lots of cooking together.
Bubby and Iulie.
August 21, 2025