Internet

  Our internet was down again. Our internet is proving to be quite a challenge. But before we get into that, let me tell you how the pies turned out.
  Oh, the pies. Let's just just say I am not opening my own bakery anytime soon. The crust never came together right and was more crumbly than flaky. The lemon curd didn't set up right. And the meringue...well after my second attempt at trying to make it form peaks, I ended up using the first batch anyway. They tasted delicious so I guess that is what matters the most. Nobody complained or died. I will try again someday, though not anytime soon. I have decided that I am more of a cook and less of a baker.

Waiting for the lemon curd to set up. It never did.

They still turned out rather pretty.

  After a great visit from my Aunts (my Moms' sisters) they headed home this morning. It was so good to see them and I can't wait for another visit from them. One of my Aunts brought her two tiny dogs with her, which delighted my children to the core. They are a third the size of my cat, but think that they are very tough indeed.

Little kids love little dogs

That's a full grown dog!

  Hubby milked the goat tonight for the first time. We didn't get an awful lot. It filled a jam jar. It will take a while to accumulate enough to make cheese with, especially at the rate the children were consuming it.

Raw goat milk. Mmm- mmmm

   The children have been busy helping Meme and Papa on the ranch. They are growing and maturing by leaps and bounds. I have days though, that even as an uber-unschooling family, I worry that they might not be learning enough. Then they open their mouths and I am astonished at what they have picked up throughout the day. They are learning so much flora and fauna, not to mention anatomy of multiple animals. They are learning real world skills, like the value of hard work and dealing with difficult situations. Their grasp on themselves and what their boundaries are amazes me. They are not afraid to push themselves while simultaneously knowing when they need to step back. They are learning to love learning, which has been our goal all along.
  Now, on to the internet. We live in a long, narrow valley. Which is perfect for so many things, but really not conducive to receiving any sort of internet. We have to have this dumb little thing that plugs into the side of our laptop and picks up reception via Verizon cell towers. Which translates to really slow internet service. We are one step above dial up. I feel like I am stuck in the 90's. So when our dumb little thing decides to throw a temper tantrum, we are left with nothing. Maybe I should be nicer to it and stop calling it a dumb little thing. Maybe I should call it the amazing thing that brings the outside world to my fingertips. But I don't want it to get a complex. So I will just call it the little thing. And as long as it decides to work, you should be able to read a new post from me. Here's hoping.

This picture has nothing to do with this post. But I love it.
This is the apple I cut up for dinner. Reminds you of the
beautiful blossom that it came from.