Glimpses of our farm

Yesterday I followed Diego around the property while he toddled around exploring for flowers, chased a few butterflies, dug in the dirt, and tried to stalk a song bird. Since a friend asked for pictures of our property, I carried along my camera and documented a few of the places Diego went. 

First we collected the mail. This is what the road in front of our house looks like. I think it's so peaceful and quiet out here! Little one lane roads have such charm. It's perfect for biking with our kids. 

This is the gated entrance to our driveway. Most country properties out here have gated driveways to keep in the livestock. I LOVE the way it keeps away any unwanted solicitors. In our city house we were bombarded with door-to-door salesmen several times each week. Now I don't see any. Score!

Here is one of the children's favorite climbing trees. (See the chair left behind from the last child's play?) They hang from the tree like monkeys, or sit up on top and straddle it like a horse and pretend it's a giant dragon giving them rides to a far off castle. This tree gets more play than any other tree on the farm. Diego always climbs on the chair and tries to reach the tree, but he's not tall enough yet. 

This is the view walking back up our driveway. The trees shade our property nicely, cooling the yard several degrees in the summer. Most of the yard near the house is under a canopy of leaves, so we spend a lot of time there. 

This is one of the many flowering bushes on our farm. It smells just like a rose, but I'm not sure what it is exactly.

Part of our front yard.

This week we counted 49 new fruits on our apple tree.

I love all the different flowering plants we have this time of year. There are different flowers on vines, bushes, grasses, and trees. I love the spring in Texas! The wildflowers are everywhere!

This is a view of one shaded area of the yard. Several clusters of trees completely shade an acre or so of our farm. It's a delightful area to play. My hope is to put picnic tables here and install a couple zip lines for the kids.

This is my favorite tree- The Grandfather Tree. Last year Daniel climbed this tree and became tightly wedged. It's too far from the house for anyone to hear his calls for help. He had to sit there until I found him. It didn't take long for me to find him, but it was pretty funny discovering him trapped in a tree with a cat who climbed up to keep him company.

These are some of the wildflowers who populate the sunny parts of the yard in our fruit orchard. They dot the landscape anywhere there is sun. We also have white and purple wildflowers. It's lovely. I love seeing a field of flowers nodding their heads in the breeze. 

Shots of more trees...just cause I like them so much.

This is the view out of our dining room windows. Diego loves to watch out this window for the school bus and wave 'hello' to the Big Kids as they come home.

Often while we wait for the school bus to arrive, I take Diego out to the tire swing. He loves singing our "Swing Song" while we sway slowly in the shade. It's a song my grandma always sings when she pushes children on the swings. I like passing the tradition on to my own children. 

This is what we see when we recline on the tire swing and look up. 

So. There is a wee bit of our farm. I love it here and feel contentment every time I step outside to listen to the birds. 

There is a special peace that I feel around big trees, and a unique joy that fills my heart when birds fill the air with song.

I wouldn't trade this little patch of earth for anything.