Nearly Artsy

Maybe we'll have to have the next Barns 'n' Bridges tour on the dry side!  Look how well these old barn details are preserved. This is our friend's old barn a few miles out of town.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

      I am still not sure why I have so much trouble consistently blogging. I could come up with many excuses good reasons, but what it comes right down to it, it's because I just can't come up with the right words most of the time.  Good words come when computers are unavailable. Like in the shower or the car. Or standing by the river looking at a view that is so heart-achingly beautiful that it seems it just can't be real. Also, picture taking is not my forte and many of the girls that follow this silly blog are wonderful photographers so it's a little bit of embarrassment.  However, I am going to jump in and post pictures and silly words and at the very least share some of my fav's in this new place.

Poochies (what's blog without a picture of Marian?)

Compost Piles (the first ever layered-on-purpose. Though it isn't pretty or contained, it is planned.  Yes, that is a kiddie pool on top.  I use it to haul leaves and such to the pile because of the lack of wheelbarrow.)

Redneck Garden Markers (because after all, if you are going to leave soda cans and used diapers for the new renters, why not a couple sets of tires?)

Shadows of Me (when I am wearing many clothes on 14 degree mornings, looking at sunny windows full of baby rosemary)

Old West Chicken Houses (that has been used for many things, but most recently a place for misc. garbage which after many hours and bonfires and trips to the dump is now cleared. The good thing is that it is a needful reminder to me to take my things with me when I vacate.)

 

 

 

Baby Rosemary on Sunny Windowsills (because I just couldn't stand not having one to pet and love and snip)

Outdoor Fireplaces (for sitting and contemplation. In the corner, under the pile of leaves, is a grape vine I am told is delish and shared with all the patrons of the post office next door)

   

Mama's very own spots (with flocks and herds and pictures of loved ones)

 

 

 

Wood stoves (with crackling fire)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Addiction, anyone?

Well girls, you knew it would happen and you probably had a good idea that I wouldn't make it too long, but I've gone and ordered chicks.  It actually isn't my fault.  I had every intention of waiting until after the new year but then my aunt (the enabler) called and said she HAD to have some more Cuckoo Marans like the one I had given her, and didn't I think that sooner was better so they could be laying by spring??  So after a fun filled morning of looking through hatchery websites and checking availability, I decided on five Buff Orpingtons (my long time favorite) and five Speckled Sussex (a newer-to-me breed) to be delivered the 5th of December.  Which means I won't get them until Christmas!! Ugh!

In other news. I really do have pictures to post of the new place and the new town and all, but haven't put them on the computer yet.  Hopefully after Thanksgiving. Suffice it to say, we love it here and still are convinced this is exactly where God wants us to be right now. More on all that later. With pictures. Another day.

Lists for The Moving

A List-
 having my own house again
 having a yard that is mostly a clean slate
 being 15 steps from Darrin's work
 quiet, quiet, quiet po-dunk town

S List-
 leaving Mom
 leaving Madi and Tim
 leaving the rest of the fam
 leaving the notJoy and notLolly and KayLynne and Gina and the OverWoods girls
 leaving the awesome music program at ND

Trying Lists-

 trying to make lists of the things that I need to take to live in a place that is 49 miles from the nearest grocery store that sells produce

 trying to be sure I get everything ready here to make mom's transition to caregiver as easy as possible

 trying to not hurt anyone's feelings with my excitement
 

End of Summer Ramblings

Oh yes, friends, it is the end of summer.  If you can believe that.  It may be the shortest on record (so if it's the shortest on record, does that also mean the shortest in history?  Because if history is what is recorded....this is why I shouldn't drink Coke at the church picnic at 8 o'clock at night.)

So when summer started, (sometime around the 20th of July. Pfft.) I had all kinds of stuff to do and get ready for and absolutely no energy to do ANY of it.  I am blaming the weather for my general malaise, but it was probably a combo of just plain too much to do and the an inability to organize my time and lack of recognition that emotional strength must be conserved just as physical is.

Well, now the big stuff is done and I feel all miraculously better (weird isn't it?) and it's fall...my favorite time of year.  In my brain, (which works WAAAY different than most people's with letters and numbers having gender and personality and the months of the year being a big kidney bean shaped affair) late summer and fall hold a huge portion of my mental calendar.  When it's your own calender you can emphasize any portion you want, right?  Except I came this way. 

The real reason I am blogging, though, in my caffeine and sugar induced insomnia, is to post some pictures of Madi's wedding (and instead I am treating you to the Grand Tour of my true strangeness) so here you go...with commentary.

When Madi and I were wandering the woods looking for misc. forest "stuff" for her bouquet, we saw that the lighting was so pretty up here in the afternoon, we thought it would be perfect for the "just the two of them" shots.

These two just crack me up and Madi probably won't use them anywhere so I get to here.

One of the few serious faces and I like the

light and it was kind of the eye of the storm of activity that crazy day. 

My favorite.  I love everyone in one place, lookin' so good. I think it will be the Christmas card.  :)

There are about 50 that I would like to put up of the pre-wedding bridal party shots but I'll limit to one. 

 KayLynne and Joy did such an unbelievable job on the photos.  Because I love them so much and because they know the kids and love them, too, it wasn't weird or uncomfortable having them snapping away all day. I can't even begin to say thank you for all that they did.

So.  I am now a Mother-In-Law.  Everyone keeps asking how it is.  It's good. Very.  I believe in marrying young. I believe it can keep us from  many regrets...especially when God is in the middle, as he is for these two.  I hope that they get to wait a while to have kids, just so they can enjoy this time in their lives that is the only "just the two of us" time they will have.  But whenever Ben and Lucy come, I will be ready to be the gum carrying, stream wading, mud pie making Yaya.

July Compy Fast

Instead of taking just Sunday off of the computer, I have decided to take all of next week off.  If any great revelations come of this, I'll let you know next Saturday. :)

Artsy Pics and Thankfulness for the Weather

 Madi needed to get some wiggles out yesterday 

so she took a good bunch of pictures of all kinds

of interesting things around the place.

Like my dog.  From dog level. Up the dirty porch ramp. Nice pooch...not so good porch.

 This one was my request. Poor girl got my sausage fingers and my simple, silver taste in jewelry.

Here are the chosen ones.  The Babies that lived through the weasel and will be installed as my greenhouse companions. His name is Rupert and I believe I'll call her Rapunzel, after one of my favorite fairy tales. Though she probably won't have long flowing hair.

Oh, and IT'S SUMMER!

Just in case you've missed it.

Spring? Hello? Are You There?

I have almost entirely, completely, totally made the decision to garden in the greenhouse alone this spring of cussedness.  The picture on the left is the greenhouse, with things that I planted growing.  The one on the right is a wooden box that has been repurposed (again) into a greens bed.  The picture on the bottom is the "garden."  Just hideous isn't it?  The greens are growing, coddled and sheltered and loved at the door to the greenhouse.  The tomatoes are happy and glad to be in the nice toasty bag of potting soil.  The peas are spitting out babies like no body's business. And the "garden" is a sickening tangle of half cocked plans of mulching and carpet killing and "this year it will be better" plans...all gone awry.  Perhaps after a week or two of HUGE does of capsulated vitamin D3, I might tackle it.  Or I may just weedwhack it throughout this year and see what 2012 brings.

Here are the survivors.  All four of them.  Poor babies had to watch their siblings get weaseled and in retaliation, three of them are roosters.  Anyone want a sweet Silkie boy?

A Poser....

of the question kind not of the pretending to be something you aren't type.  


I have been blessed with long-living grandparents.  I still have three out of four on the planet and have spent so much time with all of them it seems strange that I have not made this observation before.


One of my grandmothers is prejudice and judgemental and seldom has a good word for anyone.  One is accepting and kind and has trouble asking for help even when she really needs it.  Now the question is...which one do you think is in church every Sunday that she is able?  Its door number two.  Why is that?  Is it a lack in the church's teaching?  Is it "calling Me Lord, and knowing me not"?  


In all honesty, the two people in my life who are most loving and unselfish are NOT church goers.  Grandma P and Mom don't profess any sort of belief and yet they are examples of what Jesus calls us to be.  I need help understanding.

Is it Possible....

....to link?  Here is a sweet little column for Mother's Day.


http://www.registerguard.com/web/livinglifestyles/26203998-41/cleo-jenny-didn-baby-cat.html.csp


However I think I may have missed Dorcas's point.  My favorite part of the whole article is her by-line. 


"Dorcas Smucker is a homemaker and mother of six. She can be reached at dorcassmucker@gmail.com."  


She is one of my favorite authors and still she describes herself as a homemaker.  She does all kinds of interesting things and writes truth to salve the soul but her claim to fame is making a home for her family. I love that.


   

Chick-u-bator Update

Though most of you who "follow" this blog already know this because I've been crowing all week....THE CHICKS HATCHED! Even now, looking at their little sweet fuzzy heads and funny little toes, I can't believe that the beer cooler incubator actually, factually HATCHED CHICKS!  If you have the inclination and $8 and a friend with eggs (which you all do) and 21 days that you will be home to turn eggs(or a friend who does, which you do) you can be a chickie mama!

Official statistics...eight live babies out of 13 eggs (thank you, thank you Miss Katie) and yes Mr. Smartypants, I am counting the one that wasn't fertile. :P
View the new additions here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10150165695871818.297083.616126817
for now, and later I will put them on the blog for real.

Thoughts and Wonderings

~Are the things you think about and worry about in the night the real things or is it the daytime knowings?  I had some epiphanies last night that seem less true this morning, but they seemed honest last night. Hmmm.

~We saw the peeps last night!  Almost all of the eggs had wigglers in them and only one was obviously a bad egg.  Yay.

~Its supposed to rain again tomorrow for the market. I am very weary of the rain, but I am very NOT weary of whole days with my mom who is one of the most fabulous people on the planet. (Run-on sentence, anyone?)

~I am exceedingly excited to spend time touring the countryside with my farm chickie friends on May Day.  Does anyone know of any great barns or bridges?  These girls are wonderful photographers and so.....I will be the driver.  I am  an excellent driver, excellent.


~While at Miss Katie's farm the other day, I realized that she is the only friend I've ever had that was also a Laura fanatic growing up.  Why did it take so long to find her?

~Did I mention I am tired of the rain?

Chickie Mama

I am beginning to believe I am not cut out to be a mother. (Some who have witnessed the interaction between myself and my children might agree.)

This venture into a new phase of motherhood is driving me batty! (Though it seems logical I am speaking of becoming a Mother-In-Law, I am not.)

I am having trouble sleeping and have been crawling out of bed at odd hours to check temperatures. (No, no one is ill at our house, but that would be another logical assumption.)

Its this dad-burn INCUBATOR! Dear Mom gave me 40 one dollar bills for my birthday and I used them on shoes and gum and the makings of a styrofoam incubator to try hatching my own fuzzies. I had fully intended to buy the Silkie babies from a reputable hatchery in our area but when the e-mail containing the PRICE of said three ounce bundles of joy arrived, I balked and thought this would be worth a shot. It may not have been. Being one who leans toward worry anyway, this may have been a bad choice. Being one who is a bit obsessed with all manners of the birth process it seems that this would be right up my alley but it may be my undoing. We shall see in about 18 days.

Ponderings and Musings

I believe that the occasion of turning 40 (not "the big 4-0", plain 'ol 40) usually warrants some sort of interspection or contemplation or at the very least acknowledgement. Here are my exceedingly dull thoughts on the matter.

First of all, as there is no stopping or changing or even slowing the coming of said milestone, is it truly a milestone? I am fairly certain at on Thursday, I will wake up feeling almost exactly the same as when I go to bed on Wednesday night, and I wonder, if it truly meant anything wouldn't it change something? It doesn't change the fact that I am already past middle age, if middle age is defined as the MIDDLE of your life, which would be at 39 with our current life expectancy in America at 78. It doesn't change the fact that our eldest is planning to marry this summer (and no, I didn't give birth to her as a teen, but thats another post that would probably be considered by some a rant) or that we have no children of our own in our elementary age Bible study group. Must you have control over something for it to be a milestone?

Here's another thought. A few months ago I contemplated "doing something" before I turned 40; like losing 20 pounds or getting into better shape or taking a basket weaving class. But I didn't. I just kept doing all the things that a 39-year-old wife, homeschool mom, Bible story teacher, wanna be homesteader does. And honestly, I am not sure where any of those life changing things would have fit in! (Yes, I started TWO sentences in this paragraph with conjunctions and used an exclamation mark, but I didn't say "so" or "um" to start them, and that is a step up from my usual verbal communication. Maybe that class should be a repeat of WR121, 122, or 123 instead of basket weaving?)

Just one more thing. The setting of goals. Isn't that something that is traditionally done about now? In all honesty, the longer I'm hanging around down here on the third rock from the sun, the more it seems to me that making it through with heart and soul intact is the only thing we can hope to accomplish. The body is temporary, which is rapidly becoming obvious, so staying true to our commitment to march forward in our Walk with God and true to our vows "til death do us part" are the only objectives that hold water. There are many underlying notions wrapped up in those two "greatest commandments" but every worthwhile pursuit can be boiled down into those.

Seems to me.

Ask me in 38 years.

Misc is Such an Over-Used Word

Outdoor living room remodel....new metal firepit.
Someday soon the rains will move on to Spain,
and we, on the plain, will be able to PLAY!
(I'm definitely not a poet.)

Once upon a time, my paternal grandmother
(not the one we are caring for)
used this lovely crockery bowl for mixing bread
and feeding us potato salad. Then one sad day, my
Aunt and I while snooping through Grandma's
donation box and FOUND OUR HERITAGE stuffed in the bottom!
With many cries of disbelief, we rescued said bowl and after promising
the Matriarch not to use it for food service, I gained possession.
I do believe it's second incarnation is almost as
good as the first.

I finished a project! I finished a project! Dear CRD bought me this printed apron panel for Christmas and I finally finished it! Three months isn't completely ridiculous for a two hour project, is it? :(

Felix and Peppermint Mocha aren't sure they like this cold weather. "Just keep the bottles comin.'"

This years batch of peeps are certain theydon't like it at all.

"PUT THE LID DOWN!"

Thats whats going on around here....heat lamps and hot snacks and getting over a terrible flu bug that laid us low. What about your neck of the woods?

Is it wrong to desire to be an over-all useful person instead of "exceptional" in one particular way? It seems culturally, pursuing excellence is what is most strived for. It also seems that this view sets up a constant competition within us as well as with our fellow man.

Some days this "eating healthy" thing just plain hurts. I miss you, Pepsi.

Meeting Goals

This afternoon's lovely weather inspired me to snap a few shots of the weekends work. The greenhouse, which is still producing broccoli leaves for the bunnies and side-shoots and greens for us, is now all ready for soil amendments. After growing food almost constantly for two years the ground is looking BAD. Its an extremely ugly color and compacted something terrible.


We also used our outdoor living room during this respite from winter. Having that area has changed the way I draw house plans. We all enjoy the firepit and BBQ area so much, now it is just incorporated into our long term home hopes. Behind the seating area in the picture is the field where sometime in the future we plan to build.

Here is Big Bird and his harem. We are down to only five fluffy bottoms, but later in the week, we have nine new little peeps coming home. This is the second year that I put a light on the girls for the winter months, so we have had good farm eggs most of those years.

Some second hand store finds are almost too perfect.
This one is called "Eggs-in-the-Sun" by Cara Dailey

-Greenhouse is ready for planting. YAHOO!

-And now the starts are started.

I have wanted to save my own seeds for many years. Last year I happened to have plants in places that made it do-able, and so I saved broccoli, spinach and Swiss chard. BUT! When I went to plant it yesterday, I was hesitant. What if it doesn't germinate? Or worse....looks lovely, but fails to make food? What if I spend all the time and energy and money and water on a worthless crop? ( I think there is a Sunday School lesson in there somewhere.) We shall see.

Yesterday was one of those Saturdays that make you so glad that we have home days. We all got things accomplished. We all got to spend time with good friends. It reminded me to be extra thankful that we are one of the "one out of five families" that live in "Rural America." We are so BLESSED.

LOOK! I figured it out! This was me many moons ago with one of the triplets and the old dog. I miss the goats....it must be spring.

Sorry, no new Deep Thoughts today. Just old memories.

I have added some new to my to-do list....even though I haven't finished my last one. :P I want to pretty up my blog and write more often. I'm always excited to read what new things are on others pages, so I need to follow the golden rule and write unto others so that they will write, too!

Who's with me?

(Oh and I also still need to remember myself how to post pictures so I can mark off on of the last to-dos to-dos.)

Cleanin' the Rainboots and Goin' to Town

I actually scrubbed my green garden boots for my trip to the 'Grove with miss Katie today. As I was brushing them down, I thought, "Is this normal?" Then I thought, "When Farmchics go to town, we really do it up right!"

I got all the still growing things in the greenhouse tidied up this morn, but didn't do A SINGLE THING on my little house. I need a maid, or a wife so I can do the garden-weeding-chicken-watching-bunny-poop-scooping things that need done outside. Maybe thats why they had more than one woman in the house in Bible times?

I have decided that, as much as I love my Maid Marian, I DO NOT want another Corgi, unless the maid/wife is up for vacuuming every day. I will gladly clean the barn and do all the cooking, but I am tired of the even film of cream colored hair that covers everything in my domain.

I am planning a Farmchic Day of Prayer for Puxatani Phil. The little booger better not see his shadow....I am ready for spring. I'd better do some research first, because maybe there is something sacrilegious about praying for a rodent? Even a weather-forecasting one.