Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

 The Blessed Virgin Mary's promise: "Take this Scapular, it shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger and a pledge of peace. Whosoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire." She further says: "Wear it devoutly and perseveringly. It is my garment. To be clothed in it means you are continually thinking of me, and I in turn, am always thinking of you and helping you to secure eternal life."
For more information click here about the devotion to the Brown Scapular at Our Lady of the Rosary Library.

 We were very blessed on this Feast Day to have a High Mass. After Mass those who wished were enrolled in the Brown Scapular.

 Following the Mass and Investiture we had a potluck dinner.

2 months

 Kili is 2 months now weighing in at 12-1/2 pounds.

 When the price is right... we buy hay. 

 We had a trailer we wanted to sell.  Someone wanted a trailer but only had a pontoon to barter.  This pontoon has been a lawn ornament for quite some time and we finally built a trailer to haul it (I know we are going around in circles with trailers here...).

 "Oh! It's a hot dog"  In case you wondered where hot dogs came from.

 This is a gas-free lake so we had to use a trolling motor... ours of course runs on solar.  I wonder if this is the first pontoon with solar power?

 Going for the Cousin It look.

 The solar panel can be rotated to... face the sun :D

 An inner tube from one of the tractor tires. 

 Pippin found a tiny frog... very tiny.

Someone graciously brought us a meal for all the fixings for Chilean hotdogs called Completos.  This was mine.  Basically a Chicago hotdog with Guacamole and Mayo. :D

Aragorn, Sam and Frodo went to an auction.  At an auction as you know if you bid on one item in a pile you take the whole pile.

You can spend $20 and come home with a truck bed full of ... junk treasure.

This was one of the good items. A nice small tractor.

But the best find of all was a 1884 Duoay Rheims Haydock Bible.  It is absolutely beautiful.  A work of art. It's so beautiful I will dedicate a full post just to that at a later time.  This is a true gem.

Men's and Women's Silent Retreats

If you are a local (or even if you aren't :) and would like the wonderful opportunity to go on a silent retreat, check this one out!  Fr. Isaac Relyea is the retreat master.  I went last year and it was awesome.  The women's retreat is coming up quickly so hurry!
Women:  September 13-15, 2013
Men: November 8-10, 2013
http://www.stpiosfriary.com/

Piglets

 We invested in 6 piglets.  The parents went to friends of ours to be butchered pronto. 

 I just thought I'd take this picture of the not-flooded stream on my way down to watch the transferring of the piglets.  This is what the stream usually looks like, unlike after all the rain.

 I will just say this is the noisiest project I ever heard.

 Apparently piglets don't like their ears twisted.  I can't imagine why.

 Piglets safe in their new home.  Hopefully these aren't flying pigs like our last venture with a pig.

We're hoping for something more like pork chops, bacon and sausage :D

Gardens

 Our garden boxes are actually doing pretty well this year.  Our basil is thick as ever.  I've got 6 "real family size" boxes of freshly made pesto in the freezer already.

 We actually have eggplants coming this year. We've tried every year to grow eggplants and finally they are growing!

 We could have planted the peppers a little thicker I guess.

 We have eaten some broccoli so far and it's so tender and yummy... or so they told me... I was late to the table due to feeding a baby so it was already gone.

 Getting rid of some weeds in the rhubarb box.

 This pepper fell off while... well... while some children were "helping"

Dill is one of the best smelling things in the garden.  So far so good. I haven't been down the check out what is going on in the giant pumpkin patch.

Bees Swarming

 Our bees started swarming.  Yes, those are all bees flying around in the air. It was an incredible sight.

 This was their hive. Incidentally this is still a thriving hive even though about 30,000 bees were swarming.  There are probably that many or more still in the hive!

 Frodo put on one of our (old) bee suits to help.

 The bees chose  a very inopportune place, right around a weed which couldn't hold their weight so they ended up on the ground.  Not so easy as a ball of bees on a bush.

 Aragorn donning the other bee suit.

 Putting down the base which looks like a screen.

 Putting together the main hive with the frames where they will build their honeycomb.

 Shaking the bees into the box.

At this point the pictures ceased as a bee got in my hair and then I tripped and fell trying to get it out. Frodo came over to help. That one stung me then another. Aragorn's only comment was that it would have made a great video for the blog. It must have been quite a sight.