The simple pleasures of the day (please add your own)

I've been watching many types of humming birds feeding on the comfrey in front of my kitchen windows.   They are fun to watch and a welcome guest in our gardens and pastures.  
 

Wandering barefoot in the dew around the garden and grounds while visiting plants with my hot cup of coffee at dawn...I love to check on the bee balm now especially since it's almost at its peak...trying not to do anything but observe and enjoy  

Checking on my garden in the early morning with the songbirds singing to me while my cats antics unfold in the yard. As I take closer inspection on my plants, the sounds of the bees become apparent as they dutifully check every blossom unaware of the frogs and praying mantis' standing guard.

I got quite a few pieces of heavy equipment; tractors, skidders, excavators...but being on my bulldozer is the only one that makes me smile. I think it is because we always had bulldozers growing up.

Being able to harvest enough pole beans for dinner tonight knowing they won't be producing much longer. Walking past the cow peas and seeing they are coming on so can soon take the place of the snap beans. Life is good.

I woke up to find hummingbirds on the plants here and 4 otters sleeping amongst the heavy growth by the house. The otters have made trails all over this peninsula that sticks into the ocean on the edge of the city.

Not my house unfortunately. I'm working here, but I have moved in so mine for now.

Stumbling upon these 2 cuties and they dont run away

When my cat reaches up to me and then jumps in my arms to cuddle.

Doing the chores and finding new blooms on stuff, and better, strawberries...  soon it will be blackberries.

Stepping outside and nearly tripping up over a pair of dancing lizards who have taken over my patio as their personal dance-floor.

The baby squirrel that I found huddling terrified in the corner of my chicken coop, now nearly adult sized, eating well, and runs up to sit on our shoulders.

Eating red currants at a public garden.

Checking out the pollinators, as I grab some really nice glazed pots left behind at one of my jobs.

Finding that the same people left enough firewood to fill two pickup trucks.

Looking at my shiny, new to me, $600 Toyota in mint condition. Boom!

Home Made BACON!

Today my raspberries made me happy. I picked enough to give some away (the best ones) and still have plenty to put in my own mouth (the over-ripe of uglier ones)

Throwing pine cones into the lake for my doggo at sunset.

After a few light storms the temperature here dropped nearly fifteen degrees, with a nice breeze.  I'm on the hammock in the backyard, eating fresh strawberries and drinking a nice local Heffeweizen, blowing bubbles.

Pure bliss!

Each day, mostly after each meal, my wife and i step into our small garden, checking out what is changing, hearing the wind, making a litle play with the dog. A couple of restpoints in our day.

Eating sea buckthorn and other tasty morsels from the community garden. Oops just went into the pictures and I didn't take one of sea buckthorn. Not sure what these tasty berries are called.

I took a visiting member of the forum to the garden, for a look at the autumn olives, that aren't ripe yet. Buckthorn grows naturally in the Ural mountains of Russia, where she's from. This was her first taste of those berries in 20 years.

I knew there was a nest nearby

Watching the last light hit the forest above the fields behind the house as the late sun sets and the rest of the world goes quiet and soft in the grey dusk and the baby squirrels raid the seeds under the feeder one last time, hiding under their tails.

Any time spent relaxing and talking with my dog.

Seeing Dale Hodgins picture of goumis and knowing though mine are done for the year there are more out there.

That sweet time after the evening chores are all done and I stand in the barn smelling animals and hay, and hearing contented chewing and those little noises of settling down for the night.  

Having a hammock in the shade that over looks all the hard work you have do- if you don't have time to lay in it and enjoy the view, you're doing something wrong.

Changing the world is easy- the hard part is realizing you can.

What a pleasure to see my first cucumber, peeking out from under green leaves. And there are tons of little cuc's growing!

The G.G. Pen (goats and geese). My husband dug a pond, then scraped small ditches to channel the run-off downhill to irrigate. Now it's LUSH! There's been green for a few years, but nothing like this. We have a hose running into a stock tank for the goats, the overflow goes into the pond which has had waterbugs for a few years now, but this year there are at least 2 varieties of tadpoles. No mosquitos!
The more green there was, the more time the critters would spend down there fertilizing, the greener it got.
I forgot to mention the birds that are nesting there or taking advantage of that area! Everyone's so happy!

Planting some later season tomatoes (a few rounds of planting to extend season) and reveling in the worms showing up as I dig.

Hitting nirvana in pain management and painting pinecones like a five year old... heh.

Gave my daughter's dog Theo, a bath and then took him for a walk at the beach.

Sitting with my feet on a 5 gallon bucket, the chickens came to see if I was doing anything exciting, started pecking at the bucket. Four of them got a pretty good beat going on it! Need to get creative with seeds etc and make a Berky Birds Drum Circle video.

Going for a walk with my new goat and seeing all of the plants that she's interested in.  Being surprised that a lot of my favorite wild edibles are not at all interesting to a goat.      

Really???  they don't like lambs quarters?   Huh...  ok, more for me then.

Ah, simple pleasures of today......
...I got up and about this morning with my body properly functioning without too many complaints
...I'm happy to be living where it's generally safe and secure on my 20 acre homestead
...the weather is mild today and the sun is shining enough to charge my solar batteries and operate my Sun Oven
...I shared locally grown coffee and conversation with friends this morning
...this afternoon I "played" in some beautiful soil that I've created and planted yet another crop of beans, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and beets
...gathered fresh eggs, harvested the excess potatoes, Chinese cabbage, beans, peas, and tomatoes
...invited friends to share an evening meal

Other pure joyful moments....
...listening to the birds sing at 5:15
...doing my TaiChi routine as the sun rises and the breezes start up
...watching the young chicks forage around the banana trees
...having my donkey, sheep, and goats mob my for their daily handful of grains
...having my hen's come running when they see me approach
...walking the fence line with my farm dogs

I love my homestead farm. Oh, it's a LOT of work, but it's a constant stream of daily simple pleasures.....bird song, wild critters, flowers, food gardens, ponds & fish, livestock, food harvests, making soil, sun/rain/wind, farm cats rubbing on my legs or bringing me presents, happy dogs, the smell of mown grass. Even though it's daily hard work, there's plenty of rewards and little pleasures going on all day long.

Walking home from my garden through the woods as the sun is setting and seeing the vibrant colors of the woods

Looking out the window to see my 16 year old son sitting in the garden eating goumi berries and enjoying a quiet moment. It was very satisfying to see him taking the time to relax and made me feel so grateful we live here.  

As much as I love mornings (and I do!) my favorite part of the day happens  every evening as I bring a bowl to the garden and wander around picking things for a big salad.  I'm able to do this 7-8 months of the year and I really miss it when I'm traveling.  I'm often accompanied by my dog and of course the barn cats have to come hang out too.
Later in the summer, I'll be harvesting a lot more but right now, this time of year, it's just big salads and berries and I absolutely love it.  

After years and years, my feijoa have finally set fruit!

Noticing that the pumpkin that is growing in a pot with an avocado that was put in some 'spent' compost has got itchy feet and is trying to make off with my bike!

The rain falling today is a pleasure for my garden! It needed water after so many dry days!

The ancient plum tree that has been clinging to life by the skin of its teeth ever since we bought the place is giving us plums for the first time.

Taking off my steel toe work boots and putting on a pair of comfortable shoes. This may seem very basic to some folks. It was very recently that I wore anything but work boots. There is every chance in the world that I may have been born with a pair on....I'm 51