Dailey Bread Farm

Mom Guilt

2012-01-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

I had to post Dorcas's blog again...so much good truth and it made me think (as usual.

http://dorcassmucker.blogspot.com/2012/01/moms-guilt-etc.html

So here's my biggest MG...I had the wonderful opportunity to really teach my kids about God's love and plan and Word, and I didn't. They probably know comparatively lots of Truth, but I wasted sooo much of those years with them. I won't ever get that time back! They are flying out of the nest and I won't get the chance. I just hope they look back when they have kids and know that my intentions were good and I love them to the moon.

Embracing Melancholy

2012-01-03T13:48:00.000-08:00

Up the creek...no paddle.

My favorite 4-wheeler corner.

One of a million raindrops.

The barn where many good games were hatched.

It seems to me that the normal everyday average human is on a quest to be as discomfort free as possible. Myself included. Over the ten days we were visiting the ~~west~~ wet side for Christmas, I found myself thinking that it would be much easier on me to just never go back. That I would be so much more comfy doing my own thing without seeing those I love (and knowing that it was painful for them knowing we were only visiting) and wandering the places that shaped me (and seeing big changes in their landscape)

While doing that wandering I took pictures of the most homey of my homes-Grandpa and Grandma's place. notJoy and I and our younger siblings ran that place top to bottom for many years. We made forts and played games and had lots of hours of talking. We swam and made dams and got badly sunburned on many occasions. I love it. It is what I think of when someone says home, even though my nuclear family lived six miles the other side of town. That home is very different now. There have been 40 years of changes to the land and trees and four-wheeler paths. There have been many logs cut to pay for improvements and taxes.

Coming back from being away makes me melancholy. It makes me want to play avoidance. I would rather not think about what will happen when Grandpa and Grandma are gone and my father and his eclectic collection of siblings are trying to make decisions based on their wishes. It makes me want to stay 288 miles east and pray for them from a distance. I wonder if that is selfish or self preservation.

In those hours of wandering in the drizzle, I had time to think well on the reality of melancholy. It isn't something I long to experience, but when I change the perspective, and look at my feelings, I realize that feeling the way I do is because overall the memories are good. That the experiences I had there were because I had something so many people long for...roots. Long standing, deep growing. And that avoiding the melancholy could make them less important and maybe even less meaningful.

I hope the next time we spend time on the other side of the mountains, I am able to embrace the melancholy the first day of the visit, not half way through.

The Flock

2012-01-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

Have these ^


And for spring...these ^


Or these^?

The major problem is that I have an

uneven number of birds and I just can't have that!

It just isn't RIGHT!

AND besides, while the buff and brown together are very nice,

I believe that some black and white are necessary for balance, correct?

Nearly Artsy

2011-12-13T12:42:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-09T09:01:00.001-08:00

I am still not sure why I have so much trouble consistently blogging. I could come up with many ~~excuses~~ goodreasons, but what it comes right down to it, it's because I just can'tcome up with the right words most of the time. Good words come whencomputers are unavailable. Like in the shower or the car. Or standingby the river looking at a view that is so heart-achingly beautiful thatit seems it just can't be real. Also, picture taking is not my forteand many of the girls that follow this silly blog are wonderfulphotographers so it's a little bit of embarrassment. However, I amgoing to jump in and post pictures and silly words and at the veryleast 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?

2011-11-23T07:56:00.001-08:00

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

2011-10-16T07:18:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-22T04:24:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-22T06:35:00.000-07:00

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?

2011-06-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

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....

2011-05-16T08:20:00.000-07:00

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....

2011-05-08T17:33:00.000-07:00

....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

2011-04-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

~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

2011-04-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-25T06:44:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

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? :(

2011-02-25T08:16:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-02-17T16:17:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-02-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

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

Meeting Goals

2011-02-06T16:27:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

-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.

2011-01-30T14:56:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-01-25T07:09:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-15T18:34:00.001-08:00

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.

Control and Worry/Controlling Worry

2010-11-21T20:51:00.000-08:00

I have been slowly coming to a realization about myself. I have always thought that I was not a controlling person. I despise manipulation and guilt trips, and when I have found myself leaning that way, have tried (sometimes with much prayer and trembling) to curb that tendency. HOWEVER, what I've come to see (most likely very late in my Walk) is that worry is also a form of control in my life. I have this warped way of thinking that if I stew over something, it won't happen. Isn't that so messed up? If I think about the unthinkable, I will somehow convince God to spare me. Isn't that a ridiculous thought?

In our small group study of "The Bible in 90 Days" there is often mention of scriptures in the Old Testament pointing to "The End of All Things" ( to quote one of my favorite philosophers, Bilbo Baggins.) And I was Divinely shown that I have also been worrying about that for such a long time, once again believing that if I fret and think and worry on it, I will somehow side step the horrors. I have no control over anything, let alone the Lord putting the kaibosh on this whole mess! I have no control EVEN IF the worst thing I can think of happens and I have to hold fast to my faith at the expense of those I love. My only task is to profess Jesus to the very end NO MATTER WHAT. God knows the end from the beginning and He is in charge of my children's hearts. Not me.

Tonight I know these things....but can I continue in the knowledge?

Pics

2010-09-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

Fall goals (maybe if I post them here rather than in my own private paper brain I will get more of them accomplished)

-New bunny home and installed in poop collecting hutch that I finally made (!)
-Outdoor garden all tidied up and put to bed properly (if this gets done it will be the first time EVER I can check it off in my book)
-Greenhouse organized and all ready for January plantings
-Little house all CLEANED (seriously, when even I am embarrassed, its bad)
-Most importantly...read the Bible from cover to cover in 90 days (this is the challenge to all of our church and I am nervous about even attempting it)

There are two more that I can't think of right now...I'll add to as they come to me.

2010-09-16T07:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes praying is like trying to get up the guts to approach this huge, magestic, throne where the Creator and King over all is sitting...and realizing He's got this beautiful smile and is saying '"I'm so happy you're here. I was just thinking about you."

Copied from a friend's Facebook status.

Autumn....

2010-09-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

is my favorite season. I love the first rain and the cool mornings and a fresh new start to school. This year is very different because of the changing seasons of our lives. No more elementary students...a sophomore and two in junior high. Only counting to five to see if we are all ready to go. More class time with other families and less time at home. And now that I've been at it a couple weeks, its a good change of season. Madi is feeling better after an illness mixed with an adjustment to the different climate of the "Dry Side" so I am back to being so very thankful that she has the opportunity to pursue her dream of Bible college.

The garden is a goner but the greenhouse is coming along so well, that I am thinking of making the outdoor garden more for perennials and doing the majority of the annuals inside. If that is what we end up doing, I can fence it tall enough to keep Bambi and his kin out and keep things looking tidier through mowing. This year took much of the gardening wind out of my sails.

The old hens and extra roos have gone on in The Circle of Life (feeding the lions) and the new ones are laying sporadically enough to keep us in eggs. I have redesigned the bunny area to make the dropping collection and removal much more accessible. All the critters should be snug and safe for the winter months.

As for canning....SQUIRREL!

Now I am off to pack for a weekend of relaxing, worshiping, visiting, NOT cooking, NOT cleaning and NOT having any jobs to do! Hope to see many of you there.

We interrupt this summer....

2010-08-07T07:16:00.000-07:00

Well, next week is the camp we are "directing" so I'll be out of commission yet again. Hope to have oodles of good stories to tell when we get back.

Blog time=good time?

2010-07-31T07:35:00.000-07:00

While sitting and digesting (really?) my morning cup 'o joe, I thought I would spend a little quality (wasted?) time reading the farmgirl's older blogs. Wow was I wow'd at the excellent, as well as entertaining older posts. Then I wandered further into blogspotdom and WOAH, there are some seriously scary people(?) out there. Are they really for real? Speaking of....

Last night we had all the little DD's with us IN ONE PLACE (!) and after family dinner (called not so lovingly, "guilt dinner" because if you are so unfortunate as to have another engagement that prevent you from attending, you get to have heaping helpings of said guilt for many a Thursday night after) we took in a concert at some old friend's music camp. It was actually more of a recital, but COME ON, Cara, what does that have to do with "for real"? Here's the story (that I am sure will not be entertaining enough to warrant all this fooforah) the little fiddle teacher told us she had long wanted to write a song called the Reel for Real. And she did write one and she did play it and it was GEWD! That is just such a great play on words that I had to share. If only we could remember how to do the reel from Junior High PE class. Speaking of....

I am a place that I have never been before, NOT ready for school to start. I have two junior high age daughters, and I haven't even decided what to use for curriculum as of now. What will I do!? Our son is once again doing an online high school. I am not confident enough that I would do a good job keeping track of credits for a child (who is nearly 6 inches taller than I)who plans to go into the military and then college(or vice versa.). Possibly my hesitance is that I don't feel as though I am prepared to leave summer behind because of my complete lack of food preserving, due in part to the horrendous (is that word applicable to the mundane?) growing conditions of this season. Speaking of...

I have decided to move on along in the garden and concentrate on fall crops in the greenhouse and put the main part of the outdoor garden to bed early. It will be like a naughty child, except that I plan on feeding it a HUGE dinner before sending it off. Today I am contemplative on the subject, not bitter or grumpy. I know that something as silly as a poor agricultural season is unimportant in the grand scheme, but there are times I am less accepting. Even whiny. Slightly.

Next time, a run down of the garden bedding and such.

2010-07-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
Thomas Alva Edison

I love overalls!~CaraDD

Delusions of Summer, revisited, once again

2010-07-21T07:47:00.000-07:00

Why is it that for the three rainy months leading up to the end of the school year I have myself convinced that THIS SUMMER we will have all the time in the world to do projects and swim and generally do all the great stuff we can't during school? And even more mysterious is why I have these same thoughts year after year! Isn't the definition of crazy "doing the same thing you've been doing but expecting different results?" Sheesh.

So here it is the 21st of July. I have one child missing this week. Next will be two, and another the week after that. The week following Mr. DD and I will be directing a camp with three of the children there in different capacities. We will arrive home after a week of no sleep and running around like heads with our chickens cut off, only to spend the next day preparing for the party to send our oldest chick off to college in another state. We will have exactly three days with all of our family in one house before we will be in different houses, save vacations, most likely for the rest of forever! How does this happen? How did we go from holding her tiny little self to the beginning of them flying away? Time goes.

Next time...less whine, and more mundane topics.....

2010-07-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

We are too busy! No one is posting but the mama with a new baby...whatever shall we do?

Laundry and Fur and Other Nonsense

2010-06-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

Most people who have spent any amount of time in my presence have heard me lament the amount of laundry I am supposed to do. It really is, and has long been, the bane of my existence. I have even wished that the human race had been Created with fur. Then we could be long or short furred and all different colors. And calico. Oooo tabby! Or a nice blue merle. But no, we have to cover ourselves and then wash the coverings. That was yesterday's project. I did four loads and could probably do another four, not counting Madi's (of which half will be clean but inside out because she tried them on then changed her mind and pitched them on the floor.) Someday, there will be enough space for all the clean laundry to be put away into cupboards and drawers, and only then, will I be caught up. Ugh.

As most of you know I am on the "Drop 30 Pounds" diet. I have gained (almost) control of my eating but the whole exercise thing is getting me! I actually really hate (yes, hate being wish it was dead) doing exercise for it's own sake. I enjoy hiking and waterfall hunting and working in the garden for hours on end, but to spend time doing actual planned out, work each muscle group, is your heart rate up? exercise seems completely ridiculous. Am I the only one?

I do want to share the "Drop 30 Pounds" breakfast of choice. My son calls it Hippy Oatmeal because he is a proper little red-neck.
-1 1/2 cup water
-1/2 finely chopped apple
boiled together a minute or two
then add
-1 T wheat germ
-1 T flax seed
-2/3 c old fashioned oats
cook on medium low 5 minutes
turn off heat and add
-1 T raw honey
-1/2 t cinnamon.
Makes two days worth, and the second day's is better.

Last night I made salsbury steak for the non dieters and black eyed peas for myself and the vegetarian (who ate a mini burger on Sunday, but that's another story) then we all had boiled potatoes and Swiss chard out of the garden. Black eyed pea juice is honestly as good as gravy on spuds! And that reminds me.....

Is anyone else having trouble with their greens bolting already? I had to cut out the majority of the chard and spinach because it was headin' up. Its in an unheated greenhouse on the end with no door, so it shouldn't have been having heat trouble. Any garden girl ideas on that? On the outdoor garden front, the potatoes are coming up! They are my favorite thing to grow so I am very excited to see their little green heads popping. Still didn't get the three sisters planted seein' as how our lovely, sunny weekend turned into one sunny day and just enough time to get the main part of the jungle mowed. Do the rest of you already have everything happily situated in the dirt?

Next time I will post some pictures of the prom and such, but now I's better get ready for school....which, I might add, is over in four days! Woot.

2010-05-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

Rainy May day be darned....yesterday
was waterfall huntin' day. We bagged two,
and came home with only minor injuries.
This morning the bod is a little unhappy
but yesterday we were all glad to be moving!

This was the low-lying fall we went to.
It was a bit of a trek to get down to it,
and there were some pretty muddy
places, but it was worth the work.

Here is mini me...I made it small
because it doesn't show
off my general state of disrepair.
But it's kind of a cool picture because
that branch is what we rappelled
down a bank on.

Now that we have thumbed our
nose at the wetness of spring,
we will probably have a lovely sunny weekend.
Oh please, oh please!?

Sun?

2010-05-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

Mister Weather Guesser says partly sunny this weekend? Do we believe him? We have only home things to do all four days Darrin has off and it would so great to have NOT RAIN.

The grass on the huge amounts of side hills around the house is as high as an elephants eye and its way too wet to weed whack it. I kind of like the look of it, as well as more privacy, but when the pollen starts flying, it could be very bad around here.

I want to get the three sisters garden in as well. When we are gone those couple of weeks, I would like to leave then at least partly established so that they don't need water everyday. Have any of you ever planted that way?

The there is the gigantic task of folding all the clean clothes that I have been stacking on the spare bed for the last month. Most of them will need dryer ironed before they can be folded, but it would sure be nice to not see them in there anymore.

Oh, and hang out with the kids and friends. Wouldn't that be nice?

Tea Time

2010-05-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

Tea parties are one of my very favoritest things to do and today's was one of the best. Of course, the group of gals here made the setting and cleaning up more fun then the actual tea itself! It's unbelievable how many good helpers it takes to put on a party for 60ish women.

Here is my table all decked out. We had the dainty savories first then the more dainty sweets after that. Women who we didn't even know were bringing treats showed up with such delicious things!

Look how cheerful we were before the shindig started! I think when we do our mom's fall get away we should do a tea at the beach. What do you girlies think?

2010-05-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

Isn't it strange the differences in blogs? Mine is fairly superficial, for the most part. I started a more serious post a couple weeks ago, and have spent some time editing it, but it just isn't coming together. It isn't as though I don't have deep(er) thoughts, I just can't seem to make them into fodder for public.

This morning I read my cousin's first two posts (her's is a new blog as well) and it was all about her inner thoughts. Definitely NOT "I'm making a grilled cheese sandwich" kind of posts. And of course, as I am nearly always want to to do, I started comparing my self to her. And I was shown, once again, that while we may be similar in looks and even personality, our season in life is very different.

How often I have known moms with young kids who would like to have time away from their littles. I was there! I remember! I wish there had been someone there to tell me, "Hang in there and enjoy this time! It's such a short season!" Our message from the world, and even lots of times in the church is that we need more time for ourselves, and while it is necessary to have rechargings, how I wish I hadn't nearly lived for those. If only I could have some of the time back. If only I hadn't spent so much time comparing myself to other, more "free" women. If only I had learned a long time ago what I know now; that in a blink I would have one child leaving for college and one a sophomore and two middle schoolers.

All that leads to another thought...mentoring. As I approach an age where I am starting to feel more qualified to speak, I wish even more I had sought out an admirable woman to ask questions of. I have a wonderful mother, but she is not a believer and that puts things in a very different light. Am I a woman who is approachable to others who are in a season of needing advice? Lord, please let me be. And let me be the kind of mother whose daughters will seek and ask.

Oregon Spring....

2010-05-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

A tomato variety or insanity? It seems that this wacky weather (which, by the way, is COMPLETELY NORMAL) gets to me more and more as I get older. I have spent the vast majority of my life here, so why is my attitude about it getting worse? Weird.

On the upside of Global Weirding, the garden is lovin' it. Raining at night and 65 during the day is prime potato, squash, strawberry weather. Glad I got those those things in the ground. Unfortunately, it also means that the tomatoes that I have been nursing in the greenhouse are probably going to need potted up again before time to go in the garden. Then it will turn summer before the roots fill the pots and I'll get them out late! :P Poor real farmers!

Chicks are growing. Kids are nearly done with the book part of school. No reason whatsoever to be Droopsy.

2010-05-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

No post again yesterday! Bad me.

Today's sunshine did wonders for my attitude. Now if it will just hold out until Saturday, Darrin will til and I can plant, plant, plant.

We finished our Mother's day present to me...instead of saying growly meanness to each other this week, we wrote it on index cards. Then tonight after the kids finished burning marshmallows over the fire, we burned them. They made a few jokes about being cultish, but it really did seem to make then stop and think before barking at or slamming each other. My cards were more internal. When I felt the hurt and anger welling up over words or circumstances, I would write it down and try to also write what could or couldn't be done about the situation. It might be juvenile, but its been a good week.

Darrin and Madi are working on desserts for the CIY auction tomorrow night. Its been a little LOUD in there...that's why I am out here!

Now it's popcorn and bed time. Tomorrow is taekwondo all day, so I need to get up early for the yoga and quiet. Have a terrific weekend, girls!

2010-05-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

This is a test of the blog picture system. This is only a test.

(Me and the dependents at Multnomah Falls.)

2010-05-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I fell off the wagon...no post yesterday. Between worship practice, Sunday school, church, family dinner, grocery shopping, a thunderstorm in the Goodwill (literally, not because we were in there) then popcorn and "Lost" with husband, I just didn't have the time! :)

Hope you mamas all had a great day celebrating YOU!

2010-05-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

Here I am blogging again. Impressive. Two posts in one week. Wonder how long it will last.

I just finished perusing the blogs of the three people I "follow" which I believe may be something akin to stalking. Katie, who's blog is such fun but who is without internet at home...bummer. Mrs. Back Acher, who I find so very entertaining. And Hop_A_Long, who is greatly missed on the wet side of Oregon.

I hope to have some time this weekend to post some pictures and maybe even an entry of substance.

2010-05-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

Maybe if I start a new blog I will use it more? We shall see.