My mother left this morning. We are trying to get back to the daily ebb and flow of life up here on the mountain. So far, so good.
Monkey's birthday was yesterday. She is now four and had proclaimed that she is a big girl now and we should all treat her as such. Jeesh. Her birthday party was Saturday and she and seven little girlfriends (no boys allowed!) enjoyed a tea party and her new play set/fort/castle/pirate ship. They were all well behaved and finished off the morning with this... 
That's strawberry cream cheese filling wedged between three layers of decadently rich chocolate cake coated in strawberry buttercream and topped with pink fondant cherry blossoms. Just thinking about it now makes my teeth ache and my arteries collapse, but it sure tasted fabulous, if I may say so myself. Hey, you are only four once, right?
In other news, we are trying to purchase a piece of land next to ours. It has gone into foreclosure and the bank says we have first dibs, but we have to wait a month (or more) while they finalize details and so many things can happen in a month and I tend to be a worrier, and I really want that land... you get the picture. So keep your fingers crossed for us, will you?
I have located two young Alpine/Nigerian dairy goat does. Big Daddy just finished the goat shed, so I may be getting them. They aren't freshened, but will be ready to breed in the fall - so we can have babies and milk next spring. They were sort of a mistake (wrong daddy) last year, but they are supposed to be very sweet and have a good milking lineage on both sides, so they may be just perfect for us.
With envy, I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get that land. I'm curious, how'd you find out it was foreclosed/available?
ReplyDeleteGood luck on the land! How many acres?
ReplyDeleteWe just went through a similar thing (only it wasn't a foreclosure... just a neighboring piece that we desperately wanted to have) and all went smoothly. We feel like land barons. ;)
Happy birthday to Monkey!
And goats! Good luck with the goats!
ReplyDeleteThat is a crazy beautiful cake! Can I be four again, just to get one? :-)
ReplyDeleteWe have been eyeing the property next to us, too, but haven't done the footwork to find out who owns it, etc. I really hope you get the additional acreage you want. It's so nice to have a buffer...and extra land for your goats to roam on.
Girl and Liz,
ReplyDeleteThe owner told us about the land.
It's 1 1/2 acres with a double-wide trailer. We don't really want the trailer, but it may be a rental possibility to cover the cost of the land for a while.
Jamie,
I have to thank Martha Stewart, of all people, for the cake and the germ of the party idea. MS's "Kids" magazine, spring issue. It was indeed deeeelish. And you don't have to be four to enjoy it :)