Diamonds!

OK, not real diamonds, but close!  We have what are called Lake County Diamonds here where we live.  We went "hunting" for them and were happy when we found some.  We found all different sizes.  I know there are bigger ones out behind the "no trespassing" signs, and although it was tempting, we didn't go into those areas. 

Here is the girl getting ready for the hunt-

We couldn't find her little bucket, but that didn't bother her a bit.  A watering can works just as good!  LOL

A little digging is all it takes-

To find a little gem like this-

When we got home, this is some what we had-

And just because it was so beautiful, I snapped a picture of where we were at-

Not only did we find some twinkly diamonds, but we found some other really cool rocks too!  We don't know what we are looking at, but we can certainly enjoy the beauty!

Lake County Diamonds are a form of Beta Volcanic Quartz.  They have a hardness of 7.5-8 on the Mohs hardness scale, real diamonds are a 10.  LCD's are the only known gem quality volcanic quartz in the world.  LCD's are Silica (SIO2) and although they are not real Diamonds (Carbon), they are very hard and make beautiful faceted stones.

We have a local Rockhounders group that we are thinking about joining.  It sounds really fun, really educational and lots of great field trips!  What a great way to explore the earth and find beautiful things!

Alexa's Angels Necklace Giveaway Winner!

For some reason I can't get the little Random.org box to show up here.  Either I am really, really tired or well I am a complete buffoon.  I'm going to blame it on being tired.  Way beyond my bedtime!

Thank you to everyone who participated in this giveaway! 

Drum roll please.....and the winner is.........#6

Alexis Pierce Matthews!

Somebody should be contacting you soon so we can get that necklace out to you!

I hope you love it as much as I do.  I have gotten so many complements.  It's really a sweet piece of jewelry!

New Additions!

Just when I said "no more animals!" we got the phone call.  And I just couldn't say no.  One of Maggie's 4H leaders has a daughter who shows rabbits.  She was diagnosed recently with leukemia and is undergoing treatment.  She will be in treatment for the next 2 years and can't take the chance of getting scratched by her rabbits, so she has to get rid of all her bunnies.  When we got to their house there was about 11 rabbits.  We took 4.  We took 1 American Fuzzy (lower right corner) and 3 Holland Lops. 

We are totally enjoying everyone of them.    So much for no more animals, huh? 

HAPPY SPRING!

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

The Voice of Spring

by Mary Howitt

I am coming, I am coming!

Hark! the honey bee is humming;

See, the lark is soaring high

In the blue and sunny sky,

And the gnats are on the wing

Wheeling round in airy ring.

Listen! New-born lambs are bleating,

And the cawing rooks are meeting

In the elms--a noisy crowd.

All the birds are singing loud,

And the first white butterfly

In the sunshine dances by.

Look around you, look around!

Flowers in all the fields abound,

Every running stream is bright,

All the orchard trees are white,

And each small and waving shoot

Promises sweet autumn fruit.

Alexa's Angels Necklace Review & Giveaway!

I don't know about you guys, but I love jewelry. I love jewelry that has meaning. That's why I was so excited to find Alexa's Angels! I absolutely loved that each piece in every collection had a simple message. Jewelry is a great way to express who you are and what you are about. Alexa's Angels really touched me. Their message is simple but powerful. I scoured their website looking through each category very carefully making sure I noted everything I wanted. Let me tell you, I think I marked almost everything in there! LOL

I decided to start my adventure by ordering the Friendship Token Necklace. It arrived in the mail on Saturday (I ordered it on Monday or Tuesday, hows that for service!) and I absolutely love it! Not only is the front adorable, a little tree with heart leaves, but the backside is so sweet. It is inscribed with the words "Many hearts one family."

The quality is outstanding and I love the strength of the chain. I am not one of the most graceful people out there, so a nice strong chain is a requirement!

I am so excited that I have the opportunity to share the same necklace with you! I am sure that you are going to love it as much as I do!

To win it:


1. Go to Alexa's Angels on Facebook and friend them.

2. Go to the Alexa's Angels website and tell me what you like the most and why.

3. Follow my blog PUBLICLY on Google Connect (you can find it in the sidebar here on this blog)

4. Follow me on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway. Make sure you leave the link to your tweet :)


*Giveaway is open to US only*

*Giveaway ends Monday, March 22, 2010 at 7:00p.m.PST*

*Remember to make sure you leave your email address with each entry so I have a way to contact you if you are the lucky winner!*

The winner will be picked by Random.org

Good Luck!!

*Disclosure Policy

Another Friday Follow!

Is it already Friday again? This week has gone by so quickly!!

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Come join the fun!

Ooops....we did it again!

Chris and I just can not be trusted. We needed dog food and we were happy that we got an e-coupon from our local feed store for $2.00 off. So off to the feed store we went. Admittedly, in the back of my mind I already planned on getting 1....maybe 2 new chicks if they happened to have any Frizzles. I didn't say anything to Chris about it because I knew he would think I was crazy.

So we get to the feed store and I made a bee-line for the back where I know they keep the chicks. The top of the box had Rhode Island Reds. Cool. We already have two, I wasn't tempted. The second row of the box were all special order being held for two different people. Even better! Then came the third row. Golden Laced Wyanadottes and Delawares. Heavy sigh. I knew that we would come home with two Delawares because Chris has mentioned in the past that he likes them. So I sent Maggie over to tell him to come look. What did he say to me? I really like Golden Laced Wyanadottes. Dang! I knew right then we were in big trouble!

We came home with these little cuties: Barb, Margene, Nicki and Maybeline--



Yup, that's right. 2 of each. We laughed all the way home about our decision. We never in a million years thought we would have 13 chickens. But we do and we love it.

Here they are waiting for us to get their brooder ready. They are meeting the other babies in the house:



And speaking of the other babies. They are now 3 weeks old. They are getting in to that "awkward" stage. The name Mrs. Pteranodon is very fitting now!



One of the "triplets" we have had a hard time naming. The first two were pretty easy. Maggie named hers Mrs. Pteranodon. I named one Gloria and the other has had several names. From Tallulah to Cheese Puff to Sunshine to Shiny and a few others. Today we finally came up with her name. Aunt Bea. It just seems "right".

Also! I don't want to just brag on the littles! I am excited to share that Meryl Peep laid her FIRST egg this week! Yup! 4 of the original 6 are now laying. We were a little put off though by Meryls egg because it was brown. She is an Easter Egger and we really thought for sure we were going to get a blue or green egg. In fact we got her and Ellen DeHeneres because we wanted some colored eggs. But we have just chalked it up to "our luck" and keep our fingers crossed that Ellen will pull thru for us!

So we have learned a very good lesson today. Buy all our supplies ahead of time BEFORE chickie season so we wont have to go to the feed store and be tempted or pay our neighbors to go pick up our stuff for us! I can't help but wonder how many more chickens are in our future!

Sickies!

We are all sick. :( Hoping to be back in full swing soon!!