The Keeper of the Flame has had the esteemed job of mowing the lawn. Not just your average postage stamp of grass, but rather a couple acres. By push mower.
As parents we were super impressed with our forward thinking that the mower we gave him to push is gas powered. The Keeper of the Flame dilligently pushed for three weeks of the July heat index beyond 100F. The lawn is large enough to make it divisible into five smaller parts so that it was five days of an hour or two of lawn mowing. Small complaints were breathed, but no large blow-ups. And then the day came when the request was made, "I don't need any birthday gifts. Save the money to buy a riding lawnmower." This is the way to any mother's heart, through humility and self denial. Willing to give away all worldly pleasures for a simple riding mower with which he could bless his parents and continue to cut the lawn. So when the neighbor was selling his riding mower, the Wife was willing to pay whatever he was asking for her dear sweet boy. The haggle was short, and the mower drove to its new home. At dinner that night the conversation was light and good humor abounded. Tomorrow the Keeper of the Flame would be cutting the full lawn in one day. Everyone was jovial! Soon the conversation became something new to the Wife's ears..."Hey, Pop! Could we hook up a trailer to the mower to haul water buckets?"
...Such a thoughtful son, she thought, helping do his brother's chores...
"Pop, I could drive the mower to weed the bean field with the neighbors.."
...ahh, everyone should have a son so willing to be a blessing to everyone...
"and we could hook a trailer up to the back for the canoes going down to the canal, maybe we could tweek the engine to go a little faster? How do we lift it for four-wheel drive? do you think I could drive it to the gas station to get ice cream?"
...eh?...who's child was this?
And this was when the Wife realized...she had just bought her son his first vehicle...which just happens to cut the lawn.
(He is still a sweet boy, thoughtful, and diligent.)
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
The Adventures of Dear Farmer and Indoor Plumbing
Disclaimer:this is probably one of the more disgusting posts. But in our family everything is shared news. Everything! It is part of Dear Farmer we love. However, the Wife does not believe that this is part of country hospitality....though, should you visit, you should know this beforehand.
No, We do not have an outhouse. Yes, we do have indoor plumbing. However, we have the indoor plumbing from when indoor plumbing was first made. And then in the ninteen sixties someone thought it looked old, put a new pink face on it, and made it appear hip and trendy.
A mere fifty years after the facelift, the bones of the original plumbing are brittle and clogged...and needing replacing.
Insert Dear Farmer's newest adventure...indoor plumbing.
To give Dear Farmer more time to research the "how to" his family has come up with a jingle you might have heard in a playground, " If its yellow, let it mellow. If its brown, flush it down." This is the core of playground humor, and reality in this old farmhouse. Well, reality until Dear Farmer has figured out how to fix and replace the old plumbing.
Insert the family joke: "but what do you do if its green?"
Now you can screw up your face, giggle and laugh. But really...what do you do?
Here in lies the adventure every time we open the toilet lid. What did the person who used the bathroom before you do? What did they do with the green?
No, We do not have an outhouse. Yes, we do have indoor plumbing. However, we have the indoor plumbing from when indoor plumbing was first made. And then in the ninteen sixties someone thought it looked old, put a new pink face on it, and made it appear hip and trendy.
A mere fifty years after the facelift, the bones of the original plumbing are brittle and clogged...and needing replacing.
Insert Dear Farmer's newest adventure...indoor plumbing.
To give Dear Farmer more time to research the "how to" his family has come up with a jingle you might have heard in a playground, " If its yellow, let it mellow. If its brown, flush it down." This is the core of playground humor, and reality in this old farmhouse. Well, reality until Dear Farmer has figured out how to fix and replace the old plumbing.
Insert the family joke: "but what do you do if its green?"
Now you can screw up your face, giggle and laugh. But really...what do you do?
Here in lies the adventure every time we open the toilet lid. What did the person who used the bathroom before you do? What did they do with the green?
Saturday, July 30, 2016
What I Like About You!!!
It is one of those things that bring a farmer great joy, to be able to show you what he has accomplished.
Our family identifies itself as "Faithful Stewards". So as the Pied Piper is learning to fill the water buckets without complaining, he is listening to the Wife explain how this job is so important as a faithful steward of the animals, but also this family. Yesterday he did the job entirely without complaining! Recognition was given in front of everyone at the dinner table. He had accomplished something he will be expected to do every day forever...hopefully there will be recognition thirty years from now.
Dear Farmer does the dull work every day. Make soy meal...move fence...weed wack. And here we tell you about it. And (joy!) you read it!!!
Its one thing we like about you...
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Just two small words...manure fork
Excited the children with a manure fork this week. It's what Dear Farmer and the Wife picked up on their date...because we know how to thrill our children.
When they rush downstairs(because they aren't actually sleeping when we walk in from our date late night) and the question is "what did you bring me?" They were all just hoping we would say "a manure fork", I am so sure!
Shoulders slump, feet thump back upstairs, certainty that the other shoe will drop in the morning, they trudge back upstairs to bed.
With no messing around, the Wife got people moving into chores the next morning. Take that brand new shiny manure fork to the barn, she told the WhizBang!Farmer's Daughter, and clean the floor.
About half way through the job a tragedy struck. The locking nut fell off disconnecting the tines from the handle. And the nut was lost! WhizBang!Farmer's Daughter concealed her joy and delight well as she broke the news to the Wife. The manure fork would remain new and relatively shiny until a new nut could be bought.
Not to fear, the Wife still has the old pitch fork. The job isn't nearly as neat as it would have been with the manure fork, but it'll work.
The floor of the barn is now clean and fresh. Next date: locking nut for the manure fork. And this time, we'll tighten the nut before chores.
When they rush downstairs(because they aren't actually sleeping when we walk in from our date late night) and the question is "what did you bring me?" They were all just hoping we would say "a manure fork", I am so sure!
Shoulders slump, feet thump back upstairs, certainty that the other shoe will drop in the morning, they trudge back upstairs to bed.
With no messing around, the Wife got people moving into chores the next morning. Take that brand new shiny manure fork to the barn, she told the WhizBang!Farmer's Daughter, and clean the floor.
About half way through the job a tragedy struck. The locking nut fell off disconnecting the tines from the handle. And the nut was lost! WhizBang!Farmer's Daughter concealed her joy and delight well as she broke the news to the Wife. The manure fork would remain new and relatively shiny until a new nut could be bought.
Not to fear, the Wife still has the old pitch fork. The job isn't nearly as neat as it would have been with the manure fork, but it'll work.
The floor of the barn is now clean and fresh. Next date: locking nut for the manure fork. And this time, we'll tighten the nut before chores.
Friday, July 15, 2016
Heat, Humidity, and the Search for Water
One thing that you will never hear the Wife complain about is heat or humidity. Yea, she's one of THOSE people. The rest of the family, however, has no qualms about letting you know exactly HOW hot they are, HOW liquid they feel, or HOW miserable they anticipate the next hours to be.
So, when the weather turned to full blast summer with a hundred and fifty percent humidity, and the family began melting they made their feelings known. The Wife learned several facts that had apparently escaped previously...like: we do not own a pool and the cattle tank we have is not big enough for more than one big teen-age body, or two small children. We do not have air conditioning...anywhere. We do not have a trampoline. And dinner is always HOT! { O the horrors of life, the Wife had no idea.}
The Wife made one of those verbal suggestions that she made regret later in life...she said, "Stop complaining and figure out how to survive." Which the children did a few days later, while cousins were in town...
They went on a walk...to the canal...and jumped in.
(Can you do that?)
The reviewers were raving, "This is great!" "Water!" "We won't die!"
The Wife had forgotten, she is a water-girl, the children were all raised at the beach. So, now, in the middle of a corn field, it should not have surprised her that all her children were in need of a good dunking. They were parched.
The canal isn't what the Wife would have chosen to jump into. The Wife prefers clear water...she's a lake snob. But the children don't care.
Dear Farmer and Honorable Son No.2 were impressed with the ingenuity of the children. They think it's a great idea! So much so, that when they come home from the feed mill, coated in soy-meal, they grab their towels and a bar of soap and down to the canal they go!
The Wife...she's not jumping in. She did, however, pack up all the children and drive three hours to the lake. She sat on the beach with her toes wiggling in the water(she could see her toes in the water!) and enjoyed the beauty of the water. The cooling and beautiful water...while the children all jumped in and splashed!
So, when the weather turned to full blast summer with a hundred and fifty percent humidity, and the family began melting they made their feelings known. The Wife learned several facts that had apparently escaped previously...like: we do not own a pool and the cattle tank we have is not big enough for more than one big teen-age body, or two small children. We do not have air conditioning...anywhere. We do not have a trampoline. And dinner is always HOT! { O the horrors of life, the Wife had no idea.}
The Wife made one of those verbal suggestions that she made regret later in life...she said, "Stop complaining and figure out how to survive." Which the children did a few days later, while cousins were in town...
They went on a walk...to the canal...and jumped in.
(Can you do that?)
The reviewers were raving, "This is great!" "Water!" "We won't die!"
The Wife had forgotten, she is a water-girl, the children were all raised at the beach. So, now, in the middle of a corn field, it should not have surprised her that all her children were in need of a good dunking. They were parched.
The canal isn't what the Wife would have chosen to jump into. The Wife prefers clear water...she's a lake snob. But the children don't care.
Dear Farmer and Honorable Son No.2 were impressed with the ingenuity of the children. They think it's a great idea! So much so, that when they come home from the feed mill, coated in soy-meal, they grab their towels and a bar of soap and down to the canal they go!
The Wife...she's not jumping in. She did, however, pack up all the children and drive three hours to the lake. She sat on the beach with her toes wiggling in the water(she could see her toes in the water!) and enjoyed the beauty of the water. The cooling and beautiful water...while the children all jumped in and splashed!
Well, Hello Dolly!
"Dolly"-our someday milk cow-currently a three month old hefier calf. She's a Jersey-Angus Mix, given to us by dear friends.
Under her is "Chili Pepper" and in front of them is "Cayenne Pepper" our two newborn goatlings from mother "Paprika". They were born July 13 during dinner. It was great fun to hear and see the excitement of all the children knowing that "Paprika" was giving birth while we were eating. Dinner was a good excuse to get everyone out of the barn so she could have a little privacy, also. When we were done eating everyone hustled out to see not just one baby, but two!
It seems that the three have formed the "Future Milk Suppliers" Club.
So, come on down to the farm! The little kids are curious to meet you!
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Raspberries for Breakfast
We have the most giant patch of red luscious raspberries right outside our back door.
When the Wife was a littlest girl she had a raspberry patch that she used to eat breakfast in. A cup of milk from the kitchen and out the door to the raspberries for a morning graze.
This morning, while the Wife was cooking oatmeal over the cooktop outside, the Chicken Dinner Farmer's Daughter followed her out. But she didn't stay with the Wife. She continued past the Wife and began a morning graze...in the raspberry patch. She was happy and completely content eating berries.
The Wife did finish up the oatmeal, and took it inside for everyone for breakfast. Chicken Dinner happily brought in a few berries to add to her oatmeal, as well as a few to share with siblings.
How can you not just LOVE raspberries from your own backyard for breakfast?
When the Wife was a littlest girl she had a raspberry patch that she used to eat breakfast in. A cup of milk from the kitchen and out the door to the raspberries for a morning graze.
This morning, while the Wife was cooking oatmeal over the cooktop outside, the Chicken Dinner Farmer's Daughter followed her out. But she didn't stay with the Wife. She continued past the Wife and began a morning graze...in the raspberry patch. She was happy and completely content eating berries.
The Wife did finish up the oatmeal, and took it inside for everyone for breakfast. Chicken Dinner happily brought in a few berries to add to her oatmeal, as well as a few to share with siblings.
How can you not just LOVE raspberries from your own backyard for breakfast?
How would you like to live a hundred years ago?
Been missing us? We've been missing you.
So, we found this amazing farmhouse! We moved in from the sock and the shoe, into this amazing farmhouse...and stepped back in time! Was it a time-warp?
Nope. It's called "Amish Country" by the locals. Apparently, that's because we are surrounded by a Mennonite Community.
So, step back in time, it's a very interesting ride:
1.indoor plumbing(limited)
2.electricity(gee, no one knew the power had gone off in the storm...because everyone uses limited electricity!)
3.country hospitality--people around here are teaching us about this!
4.internet...nope.
5.neighbors...300+ acres away
When I talk to the Amazing Farm Wife(Grandma) she says that there are people that didn't like the look of the electric lines in the (nineteen) forties. They thought that it destroyed the view of the countryside. Now there's wind-turbines that dot the countryside.
Here in "Amish Country" the locals take the changes of the modern-day in stride. The farmers aren't using horses to plow, and the acreage well exceeds the hundred year old standard(one man to every one hundred acres). But the life is hundred year old simple.
For the past month we've eliminated the modern day from our thinking. Outhouses, cooking over an open flame, and sleeping in the sweltering heat and storms. It was good! Going back to the simple reminds us how far we've come...and how much we've lost.
So here's how we're making this work now. This farmhouse, this awesome hundred year old farmhouse, it's going to glow with the life we're giving it. When it saw us coming, it might have cringed, but we're breathing the life back in it's old bones.
Dear Farmer is jacking and bracing the old foundation. Reinforcing and skim-coating.
Replacing the old roof shingles with metal roofing.
Connecting the limited electricity so we can plug in fans on sweltering nights, and use lights on gloomy days.
And Dear Farmer has the opportunity to learn about "French Drains"...which is so exciting to the Wife because she speaks French, though Dear Farmer doesn't believe that one has anything to do with the other...
Those modern-maids that the Wife loved so dearly...Mme.Dishwasher, Mr.World Wide Web, and that glorious babysitter "Netflix". Those we've said good-bye to. It's sad to see them go...but we'll survive without.
So, your blog posts will be less frequent, but the stories more full.
And Dear Farmer and family will still do what we do...
we hope you laugh and we hope that you sigh, when you think of those days far gone by.
How would you survive sleeping on bedrolls and walking creaky stairs?
How would you survive living a hundred years ago?
So, we found this amazing farmhouse! We moved in from the sock and the shoe, into this amazing farmhouse...and stepped back in time! Was it a time-warp?
Nope. It's called "Amish Country" by the locals. Apparently, that's because we are surrounded by a Mennonite Community.
So, step back in time, it's a very interesting ride:
1.indoor plumbing(limited)
2.electricity(gee, no one knew the power had gone off in the storm...because everyone uses limited electricity!)
3.country hospitality--people around here are teaching us about this!
4.internet...nope.
5.neighbors...300+ acres away
When I talk to the Amazing Farm Wife(Grandma) she says that there are people that didn't like the look of the electric lines in the (nineteen) forties. They thought that it destroyed the view of the countryside. Now there's wind-turbines that dot the countryside.
Here in "Amish Country" the locals take the changes of the modern-day in stride. The farmers aren't using horses to plow, and the acreage well exceeds the hundred year old standard(one man to every one hundred acres). But the life is hundred year old simple.
For the past month we've eliminated the modern day from our thinking. Outhouses, cooking over an open flame, and sleeping in the sweltering heat and storms. It was good! Going back to the simple reminds us how far we've come...and how much we've lost.
So here's how we're making this work now. This farmhouse, this awesome hundred year old farmhouse, it's going to glow with the life we're giving it. When it saw us coming, it might have cringed, but we're breathing the life back in it's old bones.
Dear Farmer is jacking and bracing the old foundation. Reinforcing and skim-coating.
Replacing the old roof shingles with metal roofing.
Connecting the limited electricity so we can plug in fans on sweltering nights, and use lights on gloomy days.
And Dear Farmer has the opportunity to learn about "French Drains"...which is so exciting to the Wife because she speaks French, though Dear Farmer doesn't believe that one has anything to do with the other...
Those modern-maids that the Wife loved so dearly...Mme.Dishwasher, Mr.World Wide Web, and that glorious babysitter "Netflix". Those we've said good-bye to. It's sad to see them go...but we'll survive without.
So, your blog posts will be less frequent, but the stories more full.
And Dear Farmer and family will still do what we do...
we hope you laugh and we hope that you sigh, when you think of those days far gone by.
How would you survive sleeping on bedrolls and walking creaky stairs?
How would you survive living a hundred years ago?
Friday, June 17, 2016
Low Stress Farming
Dear Farmer came in yesterday and did his electrician thing. Wired up the outlets for a brilliant chuck wagon, the "sock" and the "shoe". Then we took a walk in the garden with children howling beside us (they are the local natives). He decided to get gas and took three daughters with him. When he came home, it still wasn't bedtime. What is this strange life? We call it " low stress". No need for a pot of coffee and an hour of pacing to get worked up enough to walk out the door. No bombardment of phone calls or emails. For anyone wondering if it's worth it to make a major lifestyle change or have a stroke...do the change!!!
What we changed to:
Pay cut
Tiny house
Smaller herd
Bigger garden
More time
New job
Moved location
What we changed to:
Pay cut
Tiny house
Smaller herd
Bigger garden
More time
New job
Moved location
No Regrets!
Friday, June 10, 2016
Dear Farmer's New Day Job
So, we kinda left you hanging. We were hanging too...
but now we know what's going on!
Dear Farmer has left the fields full time to tackle another aspect of farming, while the family farms during the day. Dear Farmer's new day job is at an organic soybean processing plant. What's he doing? He's running the plant. Actually, he's firing up the machines and running the soybeans to them in order for the machines to process the soybeans. BY HIMSELF! {sigh, he's so amazing!}
While Dear Farmer is gone during the day the Wife and the children are farming the garden, preparing for the goats and the chickens, and cutting a lot of grass. The "Sock" and the "Shoe" suit us very perfectly, we find. We are people that like to be out-doors rather than in-doors. We like to spend time together, rather than cleaning. And we are minimalists...well, some of us more than others.
The largest challenge of Dear Farmer's new position...we are in a location that doesn't have internet.
The Wife didn't know how much email was part of life. And grabbing information off the world wide web. And GPS. Messaging. Blogging.
It's a bit of a pain, but everything has challenges.
Like Dear Farmer's new day job, a job he's never done before. Never even thought it existed. But he's doing it to spend more time doing what he loves most...spending time with his family, and farming.
I love this Dear Farmer!
but now we know what's going on!
Dear Farmer has left the fields full time to tackle another aspect of farming, while the family farms during the day. Dear Farmer's new day job is at an organic soybean processing plant. What's he doing? He's running the plant. Actually, he's firing up the machines and running the soybeans to them in order for the machines to process the soybeans. BY HIMSELF! {sigh, he's so amazing!}
While Dear Farmer is gone during the day the Wife and the children are farming the garden, preparing for the goats and the chickens, and cutting a lot of grass. The "Sock" and the "Shoe" suit us very perfectly, we find. We are people that like to be out-doors rather than in-doors. We like to spend time together, rather than cleaning. And we are minimalists...well, some of us more than others.
The largest challenge of Dear Farmer's new position...we are in a location that doesn't have internet.
The Wife didn't know how much email was part of life. And grabbing information off the world wide web. And GPS. Messaging. Blogging.
It's a bit of a pain, but everything has challenges.
Like Dear Farmer's new day job, a job he's never done before. Never even thought it existed. But he's doing it to spend more time doing what he loves most...spending time with his family, and farming.
I love this Dear Farmer!
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Blogging Standing Up
The joys of moving include...Blogging Standing Up. Literally the chair has been packed, but not the computer...yet. Is it possible for a large family to move in ten days? Answer: yes. However, that "yes" comes at an expense. Little sleep, the children being out of the house, no meals being made, or ate, and no social activities what-so-ever! So, for each piano lesson add one day more of packing. If you have to even think of breakfast, add four hours more of packing.
We are twenty-four hours away from our goal of being done packing in ten days. Now, breakfast is going to be REAL interesting...because I have no idea of whether or not I have pots...I think the Haus Frau packed them...
Next blog in a week from "The Shoe"!
Keeping Calm and Farming On....
We are twenty-four hours away from our goal of being done packing in ten days. Now, breakfast is going to be REAL interesting...because I have no idea of whether or not I have pots...I think the Haus Frau packed them...
Next blog in a week from "The Shoe"!
Keeping Calm and Farming On....
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Jell-O: part of the Tapestry of Family
There is an art in the family that appears on the buffet line at every family gathering...the Jell-O.
In our family, the Jell-O rarely comes plain...there's always an additive. The additive makes it stretch further, and gives it some sort of health(maybe). The Amazing Farm-Wife tells me she will only use a couple boxes of the gelatin concoction...so the additive is that much more important.
Here's the Jell-O's we know best:
Lime with cabbage shredded in
Lime with cottage cheese mixed in
Orange with cottage cheese mixed in
Orange and Lime both got carrots and sliced celery
Pineapple mixed in with just about any flavor
Our family has a special list of favorites, because there's people that we have had over for dinner that do not understand/like the wonderful taste of cabbage shredded into their Jell-O:
Raspberry with Raspberry Pie Filling
Peach with Peach Pie Filling
Blue with Blueberry Pie Filling
Strawberry with (did you guess it?) Fresh strawberries!
Old-timers remember Jell-O plain gelatin with veggies and hard boiled eggs in a wonderful visual display, but it takes a little getting used to for younger people...
Regardless how the Jell-O comes, it's always served with love, laughter, and a whole bunch of great people!
In our family, the Jell-O rarely comes plain...there's always an additive. The additive makes it stretch further, and gives it some sort of health(maybe). The Amazing Farm-Wife tells me she will only use a couple boxes of the gelatin concoction...so the additive is that much more important.
Here's the Jell-O's we know best:
Lime with cabbage shredded in
Lime with cottage cheese mixed in
Orange with cottage cheese mixed in
Orange and Lime both got carrots and sliced celery
Pineapple mixed in with just about any flavor
Our family has a special list of favorites, because there's people that we have had over for dinner that do not understand/like the wonderful taste of cabbage shredded into their Jell-O:
Raspberry with Raspberry Pie Filling
Peach with Peach Pie Filling
Blue with Blueberry Pie Filling
Strawberry with (did you guess it?) Fresh strawberries!
Old-timers remember Jell-O plain gelatin with veggies and hard boiled eggs in a wonderful visual display, but it takes a little getting used to for younger people...
Regardless how the Jell-O comes, it's always served with love, laughter, and a whole bunch of great people!
Friday, May 13, 2016
Threads of a Multi-Generational Family
There's lots of great things about being part of our big family. But the Wife's favorite part is that there's a bunch of people! Grandma, the Amazing FarmWife, had just left the arena of "mother of little children" when us older grandchildren were born. Thus creating a multi-generational family setting for all of us to grow up in. The Wife was growing up with Aunts and Uncles, our Great-Grandmother was a presence in our daily lives.
It was always an adventure to go to Grandma's house...with her revolving door. First one there got the beds! As a younger child, I just prayed we'd be late, so I could sleep in the living room on the floor and listen to my mother and her siblings stay up late and laugh as they told stories!
Three of the Wife's favorite movies are: Cheaper by the Dozen(1950 film), With Bells on their Toes(1952 film), and My Big Fat Greek Wedding(2002 film).
(The first two are books also, read the books!!! The movie, however, was good as well.)
The reason these were/are the Wife's favorites are because of the family situations, and close to real life!
When Frank Gilbreth, Sr. answers the question: are these all your children? And he says, "Yes, they are, and it's NO PICNIC!" About him children are hooting and hollering...That's the Wife's life on a daily basis now...but I am sure the Amazing FarmWife had her own moments of chaos.
Films that mirror our own lives and give laughter to all the hard times we weren't laughing at; that's therapy.
Upcoming we have a wedding in the family...it's the first wedding in a long time. A family tradition is to compose a song to sing to the Bride and Groom, based on their favorite musical...a tradition that was started some twenty years ago. The more family who comes to the wedding, the more singers there are. Sometimes the crew has even had time for props and choreography.
We watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding with Uncle Photographer-he's all excited about another new family tradition: spitting on the bride. All this time, we had no idea our family was so Greek!
The best parts of being in a large family are bunches and bunches of people! In our family, that's bunches of laughter, bunches of love, and bunches of support in every and all situations. All these threads, woven into a beautiful tapestry of Family.
It was always an adventure to go to Grandma's house...with her revolving door. First one there got the beds! As a younger child, I just prayed we'd be late, so I could sleep in the living room on the floor and listen to my mother and her siblings stay up late and laugh as they told stories!
Three of the Wife's favorite movies are: Cheaper by the Dozen(1950 film), With Bells on their Toes(1952 film), and My Big Fat Greek Wedding(2002 film).
(The first two are books also, read the books!!! The movie, however, was good as well.)
The reason these were/are the Wife's favorites are because of the family situations, and close to real life!
When Frank Gilbreth, Sr. answers the question: are these all your children? And he says, "Yes, they are, and it's NO PICNIC!" About him children are hooting and hollering...That's the Wife's life on a daily basis now...but I am sure the Amazing FarmWife had her own moments of chaos.
Films that mirror our own lives and give laughter to all the hard times we weren't laughing at; that's therapy.
Upcoming we have a wedding in the family...it's the first wedding in a long time. A family tradition is to compose a song to sing to the Bride and Groom, based on their favorite musical...a tradition that was started some twenty years ago. The more family who comes to the wedding, the more singers there are. Sometimes the crew has even had time for props and choreography.
We watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding with Uncle Photographer-he's all excited about another new family tradition: spitting on the bride. All this time, we had no idea our family was so Greek!
The best parts of being in a large family are bunches and bunches of people! In our family, that's bunches of laughter, bunches of love, and bunches of support in every and all situations. All these threads, woven into a beautiful tapestry of Family.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
A Mission and a Message
Honorable Son No. 1 has always been a "man with a mission".
His catch phrase is, "Living the American Dream!"
What is that???? Check it out on his blog...farmingthedream.com
I know that you'll enjoy it as much as we do!
His catch phrase is, "Living the American Dream!"
What is that???? Check it out on his blog...farmingthedream.com
I know that you'll enjoy it as much as we do!
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Country Hospitality: Example E
Part of Country Hospitality is making sure that you don't care what the other person looks like...the Wife had just gotten out of her robe and thrown her hair helter-skelter(not suburb ready by any means, not even a lick of make-up on!) The neighbor was a little more polished than the Wife. She had been to the store.
She lives down the road quite a way.
She drives past the farm everyday, saw that we were outside and thought, "Today is it! I'm stopping!"
So glad she did.
She grew up on a beef cattle ranch in N Dakota. Where her oldest brother(who just turned 80) carries on. His son, in his 60s is trying to convince his dad it might be time to take it a little slower. At least, just ride the ATV, instead of the horses, to check the fence lines. She's the youngest of 12 children! Most of them still live in N Dakota, she's one of the few who doesn't and misses being there with the family.
She made this comment, I think you'll love: "Farming works this way. You clock in when you're five and you clock out when you die."
She's right. I gets in your blood. The hardwork, the ethic, the appreciation, the smell of fresh air, the quiet of the breeze and sound of the grass.
It's a great place to raise a family, that's for sure!
Now her son, grown with a family of his own, raised on his parents small farm down the road-lives in town. Guess what he does every weekend? Takes his children to the farm. So they can grow up with a taste of what he grew up with, which is what she considered so important, with a taste of what her father considered the most important way to raise his family.
Apparently she's familiar with Country Hospitality...because she drove up in the driveway and popped out to have a chat.
She lives down the road quite a way.
She drives past the farm everyday, saw that we were outside and thought, "Today is it! I'm stopping!"
So glad she did.
She grew up on a beef cattle ranch in N Dakota. Where her oldest brother(who just turned 80) carries on. His son, in his 60s is trying to convince his dad it might be time to take it a little slower. At least, just ride the ATV, instead of the horses, to check the fence lines. She's the youngest of 12 children! Most of them still live in N Dakota, she's one of the few who doesn't and misses being there with the family.
She made this comment, I think you'll love: "Farming works this way. You clock in when you're five and you clock out when you die."
She's right. I gets in your blood. The hardwork, the ethic, the appreciation, the smell of fresh air, the quiet of the breeze and sound of the grass.
It's a great place to raise a family, that's for sure!
Now her son, grown with a family of his own, raised on his parents small farm down the road-lives in town. Guess what he does every weekend? Takes his children to the farm. So they can grow up with a taste of what he grew up with, which is what she considered so important, with a taste of what her father considered the most important way to raise his family.
Apparently she's familiar with Country Hospitality...because she drove up in the driveway and popped out to have a chat.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Dear Farmer "Repurposes" The Wife's Furniture
Dear Farmer has built the Wife almost all her furniture. Everything starts with scrap lumber from farm projects. The only things Dear Farmer hasn't built have been handed down to us by generations before(family heirlooms). The coffee tables started as wood racks-which explains why they've been built with 2 x 12 boards. The tops were the siding from the first barn he built. Leftovers, cut to just the right size. Our bed started as the children's playtable...but built with the thought that four children(at that time) never fit around a small play table well, it needs to be big enough for all four...like the exact size of a king-size mattress. As time marched on the playtable repurosed into the Wife's bed. Which Dear Farmer built her a frame for, that looks just like the fence that he built around the perimeter of the farm.(Check out blogpost 5/8/15 "Building, building, building")
So this leads us to the next repurposing of furniture...since we're moving what can we take apart and reuse elsewhere? So far the list of furniture Dear Farmer can't touch is simply the list of heirloom furniture. Everything else will be far game...
What will the bed frame become?
What will the coffee bar become?
Will the wood racks that became coffee tables become shelving or countertops next?
Will the boxes to store blankets, that became end tables, which now store toys stay the same, or change?
This is all very exciting! Like getting a whole bunch of new gifts, a whole new furniture set of furniture! And the Wife will be able to look at the countertop, or butcher block, or stud on the wall and tell a story of how "this plank was....and I always loved how Dear Farmer thought of each detail and each need we had, and filled it."
{Sigh} I love this Dear Farmer! What a guy!
So this leads us to the next repurposing of furniture...since we're moving what can we take apart and reuse elsewhere? So far the list of furniture Dear Farmer can't touch is simply the list of heirloom furniture. Everything else will be far game...
What will the bed frame become?
What will the coffee bar become?
Will the wood racks that became coffee tables become shelving or countertops next?
Will the boxes to store blankets, that became end tables, which now store toys stay the same, or change?
This is all very exciting! Like getting a whole bunch of new gifts, a whole new furniture set of furniture! And the Wife will be able to look at the countertop, or butcher block, or stud on the wall and tell a story of how "this plank was....and I always loved how Dear Farmer thought of each detail and each need we had, and filled it."
{Sigh} I love this Dear Farmer! What a guy!
Monday, May 9, 2016
Things...they are a changin'....
Change is a tough thing.
The world changes seasons, we grow up, grow older, grow wiser, dye our hair, go gray...
In our world right now, we are changing locations.
We have lived in the North for our entire marriage. We are now moving South. It's not in the deep south. It's the northern part of a central state that is south of where we currently are.
The move, in this case, gives us time.
Time...something we never have enough of...
The move gives us four extra weeks of growing season a year. Deep dark and rich soil.
More time to grow in the garden...more time to grow hay...more time to enjoy life.
The vision is the same.
The people will be the same.
The location will be different.
Change. Sometimes people run from it.
We are embracing it!
The world changes seasons, we grow up, grow older, grow wiser, dye our hair, go gray...
In our world right now, we are changing locations.
We have lived in the North for our entire marriage. We are now moving South. It's not in the deep south. It's the northern part of a central state that is south of where we currently are.
The move, in this case, gives us time.
Time...something we never have enough of...
The move gives us four extra weeks of growing season a year. Deep dark and rich soil.
More time to grow in the garden...more time to grow hay...more time to enjoy life.
The vision is the same.
The people will be the same.
The location will be different.
Change. Sometimes people run from it.
We are embracing it!
Saturday, May 7, 2016
The Bear Cub Puppy Grows Up
Yesterday the Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter had a long and beautiful day to spend outside. She spent it out there with the former "bear cub" puppy, 'Mate. 'Mate has grown into a ruggedly handsome aussie-teen. He's tall, sleek, and has just enough puppy left in his face to call him "adorable" as well.
The Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter has been teaching him not to jump up on anything...
this is a huge ordeal for this breed. The instinct of the Australian Shepherd is to stand and lean on cattle to move them, if that doesn't work, they move to the front for the nose.
Interestingly enough, no one wants a dog jumping up on them after the rain with muddy paws, or on a Sunday morning as we make a mad dash for the van to get to church on time! Nor does anyone want a dog nipping them at their nose if they aren't doing what it wants. So, training was necessary on this level.
'Mate has been doing great!
He also has instinct to herd the animals to a location where he can see them all. This means every chicken that goes behind the garage, the house, or in the woods is getting flushed out and driven home. 'Mate is quite the task master, we've watched chickens pant because he won't stop.
Of course, the Haus Frau is finding that 'Mate demands her attention at all times. There's no downtime for a working dog-until the sun goes down. He loves working all day! Doesn't matter what the weather, doesn't matter if the Haus Frau has sniffles, or would really rather go to see a movie.
Responsibilities always come first on a farm!
The Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter is doing good at training her first farm puppy/dog. It hasn't been the "cake walk" she thought it'd be, but she's making it a sweet time anyways!
The Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter has been teaching him not to jump up on anything...
this is a huge ordeal for this breed. The instinct of the Australian Shepherd is to stand and lean on cattle to move them, if that doesn't work, they move to the front for the nose.
Interestingly enough, no one wants a dog jumping up on them after the rain with muddy paws, or on a Sunday morning as we make a mad dash for the van to get to church on time! Nor does anyone want a dog nipping them at their nose if they aren't doing what it wants. So, training was necessary on this level.
'Mate has been doing great!
He also has instinct to herd the animals to a location where he can see them all. This means every chicken that goes behind the garage, the house, or in the woods is getting flushed out and driven home. 'Mate is quite the task master, we've watched chickens pant because he won't stop.
Of course, the Haus Frau is finding that 'Mate demands her attention at all times. There's no downtime for a working dog-until the sun goes down. He loves working all day! Doesn't matter what the weather, doesn't matter if the Haus Frau has sniffles, or would really rather go to see a movie.
Responsibilities always come first on a farm!
The Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter is doing good at training her first farm puppy/dog. It hasn't been the "cake walk" she thought it'd be, but she's making it a sweet time anyways!
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Family Series(Part 4): The Wife's Mother...MorMor
The Wife's mother was raised by Grandma the Amazing Farm Wife, she is the oldest girl. She has always had a heart to listen. Listen to the hurt, listen to the sad, listen to the person rejoicing!
She taught the Wife how to put aside all the "TO DO"s and stop and listen.
Which is good when running a house with a lot of people and things going on...to be able to stop and recognize the people are more important than the "TO DO"s.
Thank you, Mor Mor! Happy Mother's Day!
She taught the Wife how to put aside all the "TO DO"s and stop and listen.
Which is good when running a house with a lot of people and things going on...to be able to stop and recognize the people are more important than the "TO DO"s.
Thank you, Mor Mor! Happy Mother's Day!
Family Series(Part 3): Dear Farmer's Mother...the Dynamo!
The easiest way to explain why Dear Farmer is the amazing man he is, is to introduce to you his mother, the Dynamo!
From poorest of poor origins, growing up in the Gary Area of Indiana, she was the toughest little Puerto Rican you'd encounter. She endured trials and heartaches, but never was a victim of any circumstance. She rose above and prevailed.
So when she adopted a blonde haired, blue eyed, little boy who seemed to be the energy level of the Tazmanian Devil...instead of veiwing him as the "spawn of Satan", she saw him as a "Beloved Gift from God". When everything seemed like the world was set against them, she took everything head on and plowed through.
So Dear Farmer, being brought up by the Dynamo!, does things much the same way. He takes the world head-on, looks at the facts and deals with the necessities. Had he not been taught to be an over-comer rather than a victim, he wouldn't be the Dear Farmer that he is today.
Thank you, Dynamo! You have awfully big shoes for us to fill, for having such tiny feet.
Happy Mother's Day!
From poorest of poor origins, growing up in the Gary Area of Indiana, she was the toughest little Puerto Rican you'd encounter. She endured trials and heartaches, but never was a victim of any circumstance. She rose above and prevailed.
So when she adopted a blonde haired, blue eyed, little boy who seemed to be the energy level of the Tazmanian Devil...instead of veiwing him as the "spawn of Satan", she saw him as a "Beloved Gift from God". When everything seemed like the world was set against them, she took everything head on and plowed through.
So Dear Farmer, being brought up by the Dynamo!, does things much the same way. He takes the world head-on, looks at the facts and deals with the necessities. Had he not been taught to be an over-comer rather than a victim, he wouldn't be the Dear Farmer that he is today.
Thank you, Dynamo! You have awfully big shoes for us to fill, for having such tiny feet.
Happy Mother's Day!
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Dear Farmer's Morning Call
It is slightly unusual that Dear Farmer will call from the barn.
If we get a phone call, it's usually not good.
"I need help!" is most often the message.
So when the phone rang this morning, the Wife shouted-"It's Pop!"-before she even answered. Children began scurrying and searching for shoes. The house was in general chaos.
On the other end, this is what we heard:
"There is the cutest baby goat down here! He's about four hours old."
A hip-hooray from the children went the cheer, and out the door they flew!
Babies are the chocolate of the job, with whipping creame and a cherry on top! Baby Goats are nearly the most adorable thing we have ever seen. They even rank higher than baby ducks(which are pretty darned cute as well).
And so, the children rushed down to say "good morning" to our newest member of the farm family...Peppercorn. And a hearty congrats to his mom, Cumin.
We don't mind these phone calls from the barn ONE BIT!
If we get a phone call, it's usually not good.
"I need help!" is most often the message.
So when the phone rang this morning, the Wife shouted-"It's Pop!"-before she even answered. Children began scurrying and searching for shoes. The house was in general chaos.
On the other end, this is what we heard:
"There is the cutest baby goat down here! He's about four hours old."
A hip-hooray from the children went the cheer, and out the door they flew!
Babies are the chocolate of the job, with whipping creame and a cherry on top! Baby Goats are nearly the most adorable thing we have ever seen. They even rank higher than baby ducks(which are pretty darned cute as well).
And so, the children rushed down to say "good morning" to our newest member of the farm family...Peppercorn. And a hearty congrats to his mom, Cumin.
We don't mind these phone calls from the barn ONE BIT!
"The Shoe" Report
This weekend the beginning of the building for "the Shoe"... our tiny house for the summer.
Unfortunately, this project is having to be done in a Weekend Warrior fashion. So whatever we get weather-wise, is how we have to work. And of course, this weekend was rain...and rain...and rain.
So much of the building was done inside the barn, and then pulled out for assembly.
Dear Farmer always impresses the Wife when he just cuts and builds a building. No plans laid out. They are all in his head.
So we left the project for this week...with a deck and walls. Anxious and waiting for the finishing of the shell in the next weekend.
Unfortunately, this project is having to be done in a Weekend Warrior fashion. So whatever we get weather-wise, is how we have to work. And of course, this weekend was rain...and rain...and rain.
So much of the building was done inside the barn, and then pulled out for assembly.
Dear Farmer always impresses the Wife when he just cuts and builds a building. No plans laid out. They are all in his head.
So we left the project for this week...with a deck and walls. Anxious and waiting for the finishing of the shell in the next weekend.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
The Repair from the Deer
Dear Farmer hit a deer. The first deer he's EVER hit in his entire life...either as a passenger, or as a driver.
Unfortunately, he hit the deer with the van that we tow everything with. Our first van. Our "Love Bus"(as the children have known her).
Good news:
A 2000 Chevy Express that hits a deer will only sustain minor dents on the outside.
The parts to repair cost less than you think they might.
The parts to repair are almost all available at your local auto-supply store.
Bad news:
There are three parts that are most likely to be damaged in a "head on" hit with a deer...they are all necessary.
You have to order all your lenses for the turn signals directly from GM if you want new ones(cough, cough, sputter)
Dear Farmer is plenty busy and doesn't have time to fix a van right now!!!
We need that van to haul all the material we've been gathering on sale for our tiny houses!!!
So, Dear Farmer and the Nordic Ninja are outside, on a cold (35 F) night working by flood lights to repair the van. They have assembled all the pieces (they think), and though neither of them are mechanics...they are going for it! Dear Farmer turned into a pumpkin a half hour ago, and the Nordic Ninja worked a ten hour day with only one fifteen minute break, they are bone tired...and determined.
Moral of the Story: never hit a deer
Unfortunately, he hit the deer with the van that we tow everything with. Our first van. Our "Love Bus"(as the children have known her).
Good news:
A 2000 Chevy Express that hits a deer will only sustain minor dents on the outside.
The parts to repair cost less than you think they might.
The parts to repair are almost all available at your local auto-supply store.
Bad news:
There are three parts that are most likely to be damaged in a "head on" hit with a deer...they are all necessary.
You have to order all your lenses for the turn signals directly from GM if you want new ones(cough, cough, sputter)
Dear Farmer is plenty busy and doesn't have time to fix a van right now!!!
We need that van to haul all the material we've been gathering on sale for our tiny houses!!!
So, Dear Farmer and the Nordic Ninja are outside, on a cold (35 F) night working by flood lights to repair the van. They have assembled all the pieces (they think), and though neither of them are mechanics...they are going for it! Dear Farmer turned into a pumpkin a half hour ago, and the Nordic Ninja worked a ten hour day with only one fifteen minute break, they are bone tired...and determined.
Moral of the Story: never hit a deer
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Doorknobs and Broomsticks
Currently we own five brooms and three dustpans, inside the house. Then there's the two outdoor brooms. No outdoor dustpans. Of our five brooms one broomstick is broken at the perfect height for a three-foot tall person to sweep with (which we have one of) and another broomstick is broken at a perfect height for a four-foot tall person to sweep with (which we have one of, also).
Broomsticks and doorknobs are two things which our family uses everyday. A lot. Practically every time we turn around. That is why when we purchase broomsticks and doorknobs we are very particular about quality and replacement costs.
Our front door has a doorknob on it that the previous owners did not care about either quality or replacement costs. The door gets opened and closed at least four times every ten minutes. The doorknob is now revolting against either use. Sometimes it simply locks itself, as if to say to us "you crazy people! In OR out, it's not that difficult! That's it! I'm done!"
I currently have all five brooms in use by someone somewhere on the premise. And the door is opening and sometimes shutting, but never latching.
This means one thing to me...they are all healthy! Sick people can't run in and out every waking moment. Sick people don't destroy doorknobs. Sick people aren't sweeping inside and outside, and sometimes for fun. Sick people do not use a broom so much that it bends and breaks.
What could be an annoyance, is...in my case...peace of mind.
Thank you, God, for a healthy and energetic family!
Thank you, God, for doorknobs and broomsticks!
Friday, April 22, 2016
Easy to be Distracted
It is the season that Dear Farmer and Family can be all too distracted.
There's chickens to be housed and cared for, buildings to build, the garden to plan and plant, goats hooves need to be trimmed, calf needs brushed, house needs little tweeks here and there, people to visit with, unending chores, fences to build, tractors to fix and clean, barns to clean, yard to cut....the list goes on and on....
With such a list, it's hard to "Stay On Task!" {Perhaps that will be our theme this year...hmmmm....}
Priority given to things that must be done IMMEDIATELY!, like housing the little chicks. And our missing 200...they came in yesterday...all 300 of them. Someone at the chickery is having a good laugh, we think. The littlest chicks cannot fend for themselves, depending on us for their every need...
What else on the farm ranks in that same class? The smallest children. Okay, both go on the highest priority.
Next on the list probably comes the rest of the animals, and medium size children.
And so on, and so forth...
But the list becomes hazy when the sun is shining and the birds are singing...and all Dear Farmer really wants to do is walk among the cows. Sit in the shade and admire the beauty of creation. Watch the children play Frisbee on a warm summer night. These are both the reasons to keep plugging on through the work of today...and reasons to stay on task tomorrow.
Distractions can be the making of the memory...or the downfall of organization...
And so...we attempt to "Stay On Task!"
However, if you come to visit us, we'll happily be distracted!!!
There's chickens to be housed and cared for, buildings to build, the garden to plan and plant, goats hooves need to be trimmed, calf needs brushed, house needs little tweeks here and there, people to visit with, unending chores, fences to build, tractors to fix and clean, barns to clean, yard to cut....the list goes on and on....
With such a list, it's hard to "Stay On Task!" {Perhaps that will be our theme this year...hmmmm....}
Priority given to things that must be done IMMEDIATELY!, like housing the little chicks. And our missing 200...they came in yesterday...all 300 of them. Someone at the chickery is having a good laugh, we think. The littlest chicks cannot fend for themselves, depending on us for their every need...
What else on the farm ranks in that same class? The smallest children. Okay, both go on the highest priority.
Next on the list probably comes the rest of the animals, and medium size children.
And so on, and so forth...
But the list becomes hazy when the sun is shining and the birds are singing...and all Dear Farmer really wants to do is walk among the cows. Sit in the shade and admire the beauty of creation. Watch the children play Frisbee on a warm summer night. These are both the reasons to keep plugging on through the work of today...and reasons to stay on task tomorrow.
Distractions can be the making of the memory...or the downfall of organization...
And so...we attempt to "Stay On Task!"
However, if you come to visit us, we'll happily be distracted!!!
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Multi-tasking...
There are a lot of things Dear Farmer can do.
Multi-tasking, however, should not be one of them.
Dear Farmer has a habit of working in his head on a project, "listening" to the Wife talk, all while actually working on another project.
Surely I exaggerate, you say? No. I am totally serious.
The fact that he does this, and does it on a very (all too) frequent basis, can fool most people into thinking that he can do it well.
The Wife concedes...usually he does do it well.
EXCEPT! Except if it is late at night. Late at night and driving. Not a good combination.
Example: Dear Farmer and the Wife were out on a date. Another "hot date" to the local farm-implement store and lumber yard. While in these locations the Wife had opportunity to think on the present "tiny house" project we have going. Think and think...and then release on Dear Farmer. The conversation on the ride home was lively and funny and insightful. And un-knowingly to the Wife...Dear Farmer was building the ideas into the plans of the "tiny house" in his head. He was measuring lengths and angles while the Wife continued on the conversation about wash-tubs and clothes lines...
Then it happened.
As we were driving down the highway, approaching our turn-off to home...Dear Farmer didn't slow. At all.
Not even a little. And the turn was coming up really fast!
The Wife did a little yelp ("turn."). He didn't respond.
The Wife did a little more forceful yelp ("Turn!"). He blinked and looked around bewildered.
The Wife got all out bossy ("TURN, NOW!").
Dear Farmer finally responded, "WHY? WHERE ARE WE?!"
"At the ROAD we LIVE DOWN!", the Wife elaborated in a rather forceful voice.
Dear Farmer yanked the steering wheel, stomped on the brake and turned (not a delicate movement by any means).
"What were you DOING?!", the Wife laid into Dear Farmer.
Sheepishly, Dear Farmer responded..."I was working on the tiny house, and driving home from Illinois on a Sunday night."
So we could either say that Dear Farmer was multi-tasking...or displaying signs of early-onslaught dimensia. We'll go with the multi-tasking.
Dear Farmer, being his wonderful multi-tasking self, was figuring out the gutter system for the tiny houses, thinking about his upcoming commute to see us at the family garden on the Illinois farm and then returning to the Northern Farm on a Sunday evening, all while talking with the Wife on our drive home from our "hot date".
But late night, the worlds in his head, and in reality clashed...and he almost missed the turn to home.
Lots of laughter, lots of elbowing, and some good chuckles from the Farmer's Daughters, the Nordic Ninja, and the Wife.
We love our Dear Farmer...even while he's multi-tasking.
Multi-tasking, however, should not be one of them.
Dear Farmer has a habit of working in his head on a project, "listening" to the Wife talk, all while actually working on another project.
Surely I exaggerate, you say? No. I am totally serious.
The fact that he does this, and does it on a very (all too) frequent basis, can fool most people into thinking that he can do it well.
The Wife concedes...usually he does do it well.
EXCEPT! Except if it is late at night. Late at night and driving. Not a good combination.
Example: Dear Farmer and the Wife were out on a date. Another "hot date" to the local farm-implement store and lumber yard. While in these locations the Wife had opportunity to think on the present "tiny house" project we have going. Think and think...and then release on Dear Farmer. The conversation on the ride home was lively and funny and insightful. And un-knowingly to the Wife...Dear Farmer was building the ideas into the plans of the "tiny house" in his head. He was measuring lengths and angles while the Wife continued on the conversation about wash-tubs and clothes lines...
Then it happened.
As we were driving down the highway, approaching our turn-off to home...Dear Farmer didn't slow. At all.
Not even a little. And the turn was coming up really fast!
The Wife did a little yelp ("turn."). He didn't respond.
The Wife did a little more forceful yelp ("Turn!"). He blinked and looked around bewildered.
The Wife got all out bossy ("TURN, NOW!").
Dear Farmer finally responded, "WHY? WHERE ARE WE?!"
"At the ROAD we LIVE DOWN!", the Wife elaborated in a rather forceful voice.
Dear Farmer yanked the steering wheel, stomped on the brake and turned (not a delicate movement by any means).
"What were you DOING?!", the Wife laid into Dear Farmer.
Sheepishly, Dear Farmer responded..."I was working on the tiny house, and driving home from Illinois on a Sunday night."
So we could either say that Dear Farmer was multi-tasking...or displaying signs of early-onslaught dimensia. We'll go with the multi-tasking.
Dear Farmer, being his wonderful multi-tasking self, was figuring out the gutter system for the tiny houses, thinking about his upcoming commute to see us at the family garden on the Illinois farm and then returning to the Northern Farm on a Sunday evening, all while talking with the Wife on our drive home from our "hot date".
But late night, the worlds in his head, and in reality clashed...and he almost missed the turn to home.
Lots of laughter, lots of elbowing, and some good chuckles from the Farmer's Daughters, the Nordic Ninja, and the Wife.
We love our Dear Farmer...even while he's multi-tasking.
Hey! They clean up pretty well!
Permit me a proud moment of bragging...because I have good cause, not bad character...
This past weekend the Wife had the pleasure of working at the Farmer's Daughters' Prom. The Wife had the joy of shopping for dresses with the Farmer's Daughter and the Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter. We looked at hairstyles, accessories, shoes...lots and lots of shoes...we talked logistics of time-frames and conversations with people-we-really-like versus other-people. It was a pleasure to spend a month of planning and seeing the results of age, maturity, and life-experience. We had a great time. Then came the moment of truth...the Wife left the Farmer's Daughters with the beautician and went to the Prom location for set up and preparation. Having already been briefed by the Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter on good photography-know-how(the Wife was the photographer #2 for the event)...the Wife was off and running!
It was between the pictures of the appetizer table and drink fountain table that the Wife was able to see the most beautiful girls in the event walk through the door. The Farmer's Daughters, with their BFFs(who are also farm-girls) walked in like Greek Goddesses(a look I think they were pleased to have attained). They floated on clouds, laughed liked music, and conversed with ease...making all in their presence feel like royalty. And all the Wife could think was, "They clean up pretty well!"
See, covered in the muck and damp from the rain. In the middle of feeding a bottle to a calf, or hay to a horse, a farm-girl is pretty impressive. It wasn't a charade for an evening. They weren't playing a part. They really are these beautiful Goddess looking ladies on a day-to-day basis, just cleaned up for the "Ball". They are beautiful on the inside as they muck stalls, wipe off grime and bend down to clean gooky-noses all out of love. Daily they are disheveled and dirty with no make up on...But when that farm-girl can get cleaned up and walk with the best-of-them(in high stiletto heels) in a situation so opposite from her day-to-day...THAT'S pretty impressive.
This past weekend the Wife had the pleasure of working at the Farmer's Daughters' Prom. The Wife had the joy of shopping for dresses with the Farmer's Daughter and the Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter. We looked at hairstyles, accessories, shoes...lots and lots of shoes...we talked logistics of time-frames and conversations with people-we-really-like versus other-people. It was a pleasure to spend a month of planning and seeing the results of age, maturity, and life-experience. We had a great time. Then came the moment of truth...the Wife left the Farmer's Daughters with the beautician and went to the Prom location for set up and preparation. Having already been briefed by the Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter on good photography-know-how(the Wife was the photographer #2 for the event)...the Wife was off and running!
It was between the pictures of the appetizer table and drink fountain table that the Wife was able to see the most beautiful girls in the event walk through the door. The Farmer's Daughters, with their BFFs(who are also farm-girls) walked in like Greek Goddesses(a look I think they were pleased to have attained). They floated on clouds, laughed liked music, and conversed with ease...making all in their presence feel like royalty. And all the Wife could think was, "They clean up pretty well!"
See, covered in the muck and damp from the rain. In the middle of feeding a bottle to a calf, or hay to a horse, a farm-girl is pretty impressive. It wasn't a charade for an evening. They weren't playing a part. They really are these beautiful Goddess looking ladies on a day-to-day basis, just cleaned up for the "Ball". They are beautiful on the inside as they muck stalls, wipe off grime and bend down to clean gooky-noses all out of love. Daily they are disheveled and dirty with no make up on...But when that farm-girl can get cleaned up and walk with the best-of-them(in high stiletto heels) in a situation so opposite from her day-to-day...THAT'S pretty impressive.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
The Wife's Log: April 14, 2016
The day started like any other day. The Pied Piper was sent outside to milk the goat, he returned in the house fifteen minutes later whining that the goat was not cooperating.
The Farmer's Daughter had to leave for work, but went down to milk the goat for the brother instead.
Meanwhile, the Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter (who just had a birthday) madly was doing her own chores so she could go and enjoy her new kayak on the pond.
The Wife drove the Farmer's Daughter to work and sent the Farm-boy Trio out to help Dear Farmer finish preparations for the incoming 1000 chicks this morning.
The Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter finished her work and pleaded to go kayaking on the pond. She took with her the Pied Piper. The Keeper of the Flame and WhizBang! were anxiously anticipating the soon-to-be chick delivery. It is always amazing how the Wife can find jobs for waiting people to do...they began a job and disappeared "under the radar"(which means the Wife doesn't see them again)...
Left alone in the house with the smallest Farmer's Daughters, the Wife tried desperately to get dressed and clean the kitchen from the onslaught of breakfast. With three "helpers"...it was going slowly.
In walked the Farmer's Shadow, who had a cold for the past few days and couldn't manage to get up and collect eggs. He had been feeling well enough to make a dime, and brought in three dozen eggs that he found. He began sorting through the hay in the egg basket for the eggs in the middle of the kitchen floor. Hay all over one's kitchen floor, does not make a cleaning process go faster or smoother.
While changing a diaper and giving orders to the egg sorter a faint "Mother? Mother?" is heard above the roar of life. The Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter was back with the Pied Piper--both wet. Apparently all of kayaking is fun, except for the part when the electronic device slides out of the back pocket and lands in the murky bottom of the farm-pond. Tears were shed over the device that she was sure kept her world revolving...but lesson learned: Don't go kayaking with anything in your pockets.
During the tears, and before the laughter, the chicks came in. Out went the Keeper of the Flame and the WhizBang!Farmer's Daughter to settle them down in brooding houses with Dear Farmer.
Into the house whooshed the Farmer's Daughter with a friend for a lesson on the attachment of fake eyelashes. Upstairs echoed giggling and laughter. Downstairs we were preparing for a (hopefully) early lunch. With four helpers making lunch, snitching ingredients, and generally causing chaos lunch did happen. All were called with a whistle.
Downstairs whooshed the Farmer's Daughter with friend to the next appointment.
In came Dear Farmer...the 1000 chicks were short...by 800??? On the phone went Dear Farmer to find out where 800 chicks are peeping currently. In came the children to snarf down food, all are excited about being next to try out the kayak. The Youngest Farmer's Daughter Trio is just too small to kayak. Great tragedy's of life are often solved by popcorn and a movie about a dancing British mouse. Which works once again today!
Clean up in the kitchen goes much faster without help.
The Pepper Goat was arguing with the Garlic Goat, and the Garlic Goat snapped the Pepper Goat's neck. Tears shed over the loss of a pack-goat, but quickly recovered with another ride on a kayak.
The Nordic Ninja is over to replace headlights and tail-lights with Dear Farmer. The Farmer's Daughter whooshes back home to change into work clothes and whooshes out again to evening work.
No one can find the 800 missing chicks currently, they are somewhere in the USPS(where I am sure someone is going mad listening to unrelenting peeping). Dear Farmer is working to build and wire infastructure, while at the same time keeping the phone nearby in case he hears word of the chicks.
And now, onto those dinner preparations...at 6pm the whole family will be at the table, there will be laughter of the fun, remembering the losses, and encouragement that we can all do this again tomorrow.
This is an amazing world we live in!
The Farmer's Daughter had to leave for work, but went down to milk the goat for the brother instead.
Meanwhile, the Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter (who just had a birthday) madly was doing her own chores so she could go and enjoy her new kayak on the pond.
The Wife drove the Farmer's Daughter to work and sent the Farm-boy Trio out to help Dear Farmer finish preparations for the incoming 1000 chicks this morning.
The Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter finished her work and pleaded to go kayaking on the pond. She took with her the Pied Piper. The Keeper of the Flame and WhizBang! were anxiously anticipating the soon-to-be chick delivery. It is always amazing how the Wife can find jobs for waiting people to do...they began a job and disappeared "under the radar"(which means the Wife doesn't see them again)...
Left alone in the house with the smallest Farmer's Daughters, the Wife tried desperately to get dressed and clean the kitchen from the onslaught of breakfast. With three "helpers"...it was going slowly.
In walked the Farmer's Shadow, who had a cold for the past few days and couldn't manage to get up and collect eggs. He had been feeling well enough to make a dime, and brought in three dozen eggs that he found. He began sorting through the hay in the egg basket for the eggs in the middle of the kitchen floor. Hay all over one's kitchen floor, does not make a cleaning process go faster or smoother.
While changing a diaper and giving orders to the egg sorter a faint "Mother? Mother?" is heard above the roar of life. The Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter was back with the Pied Piper--both wet. Apparently all of kayaking is fun, except for the part when the electronic device slides out of the back pocket and lands in the murky bottom of the farm-pond. Tears were shed over the device that she was sure kept her world revolving...but lesson learned: Don't go kayaking with anything in your pockets.
During the tears, and before the laughter, the chicks came in. Out went the Keeper of the Flame and the WhizBang!Farmer's Daughter to settle them down in brooding houses with Dear Farmer.
Into the house whooshed the Farmer's Daughter with a friend for a lesson on the attachment of fake eyelashes. Upstairs echoed giggling and laughter. Downstairs we were preparing for a (hopefully) early lunch. With four helpers making lunch, snitching ingredients, and generally causing chaos lunch did happen. All were called with a whistle.
Downstairs whooshed the Farmer's Daughter with friend to the next appointment.
In came Dear Farmer...the 1000 chicks were short...by 800??? On the phone went Dear Farmer to find out where 800 chicks are peeping currently. In came the children to snarf down food, all are excited about being next to try out the kayak. The Youngest Farmer's Daughter Trio is just too small to kayak. Great tragedy's of life are often solved by popcorn and a movie about a dancing British mouse. Which works once again today!
Clean up in the kitchen goes much faster without help.
The Pepper Goat was arguing with the Garlic Goat, and the Garlic Goat snapped the Pepper Goat's neck. Tears shed over the loss of a pack-goat, but quickly recovered with another ride on a kayak.
The Nordic Ninja is over to replace headlights and tail-lights with Dear Farmer. The Farmer's Daughter whooshes back home to change into work clothes and whooshes out again to evening work.
No one can find the 800 missing chicks currently, they are somewhere in the USPS(where I am sure someone is going mad listening to unrelenting peeping). Dear Farmer is working to build and wire infastructure, while at the same time keeping the phone nearby in case he hears word of the chicks.
And now, onto those dinner preparations...at 6pm the whole family will be at the table, there will be laughter of the fun, remembering the losses, and encouragement that we can all do this again tomorrow.
This is an amazing world we live in!
Monday, April 11, 2016
The Careful Planning of a Tiny House...or...The Size of My Shoe
Dear Farmer promised to build the Wife a tiny house in lieu of tent camping this year out at the garden. The Wife has always loved tiny houses, we first started in one(see article: The Movement We Never Abandoned 2/23/2016 ) and the thought of being able to go back into one is a dream come to reality.
But exactly how to build a tiny house for a family of...ahem...thirteen?
Start by checking out the regulations for building a tiny house on wheels. For a family of thirteen to live in the tiny house for an entire summer and fall...that size is SO not happening. He would need to build three tiny houses...but as we do not have three trailers, three vehicles to pull trailers, or three drivers. We quickly eliminate the wheels and trailer.
Now we are looking at building tiny house on skids. This way house can be moved from location to location on site which makes the house an option for more uses. If no one is residing in it, the house can become a storage shed, a studio, or even a chicken coop.
The tiny house will have two doors, two windows(actual double hung windows) and sleeping spots enough for thirteen.
But what happens to all the stuff you need?
Let's talk needs:
Food
Water
Clothing
Shelter
Those are all our basic human needs. Past that it's all luxuries.
The Wife has every intention of giving each child the luxury of electricity, internet, plumbing, fans, heat, and a small space for individual trinkets/toys.
Clothing will be kept in a mobile trailer that we will need to power-wash to get the stink of animals out of(the goats had lived there for a time) and Dear Farmer has plans to make it into a "family closet".
So far as washing those clothes go...a Laundromat isn't so bad, and if the Wife gets desperate to have her arms get a good workout, there's the clothing plunger and wringer secured on a tub. Old Fashioned has a time and a place.
Now Dear Farmer is in the process of drawing up the plan for the tiny house for the Wife. He estimates the size to be 10 x 20.
I guess for the summer the Wife will be the "...little old lady who lived in a shoe, she had so many children she didn't know what to do...". Perhaps, like the Gilbreth Family (Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank and Ernistine Gilbreth) we will have to name the tiny house "THE SHOE".
Friday, April 8, 2016
Dear Farmer Gets Comfy
When the day is done, and the work is at a point where Dear Farmer can sleep(because work is never actually done), Dear Farmer comes inside the house all excited.
The woodstove is still blazing, the weather outside is muddy and wet and cold (spring in the North! Yippee.), and Dear Farmer begins the process of getting comfy.
Aching joints and sore muscles get oiled. Bumps, bruises and nicks are identified and patched up. And then he sits down in front of the stove.
Off come the wet socks to be hung behind the stove, wool is a wonderful material! It's kept his feet warm and dry all day!
Off comes the crocheted hat from the Farmer's Daughter (also wet), to be hung to dry. He loves this hat! It's his favorite!
Off comes the flannel button down shirt. It's also dripping wet. We make sure we take everything out of the pockets...the pens, the notebook, the index cards(his field and herd logs), and the immense amount of hay. Into the laundry it goes. He's now down to his T-shirt. He goes and changes this for a dry and clean one for the rest of the evening.
And finally the pants come off. No, this is not a strip-tease! The pants are covered in muck and mud, poop and hay, and don't forget the occasional egg that he's sat on accidentally while working on the chicken coop.
(Seriously, would you want your husband sitting around the house in these pants???)
To put everyone's mind at ease...he's wearing polar fleece PJ pants under his work pants, so he's not in his undies! So, the pants go into the wash as well.
And now, Dear Farmer is officially comfy.
With all the work clothes off, the house shoes on, lounging in a T-shirt and PJ pants...he's ready for some good conversation and coffee.
Sounds like it's time for some Country Hospitality!!!
The woodstove is still blazing, the weather outside is muddy and wet and cold (spring in the North! Yippee.), and Dear Farmer begins the process of getting comfy.
Aching joints and sore muscles get oiled. Bumps, bruises and nicks are identified and patched up. And then he sits down in front of the stove.
Off come the wet socks to be hung behind the stove, wool is a wonderful material! It's kept his feet warm and dry all day!
Off comes the crocheted hat from the Farmer's Daughter (also wet), to be hung to dry. He loves this hat! It's his favorite!
Off comes the flannel button down shirt. It's also dripping wet. We make sure we take everything out of the pockets...the pens, the notebook, the index cards(his field and herd logs), and the immense amount of hay. Into the laundry it goes. He's now down to his T-shirt. He goes and changes this for a dry and clean one for the rest of the evening.
And finally the pants come off. No, this is not a strip-tease! The pants are covered in muck and mud, poop and hay, and don't forget the occasional egg that he's sat on accidentally while working on the chicken coop.
(Seriously, would you want your husband sitting around the house in these pants???)
To put everyone's mind at ease...he's wearing polar fleece PJ pants under his work pants, so he's not in his undies! So, the pants go into the wash as well.
And now, Dear Farmer is officially comfy.
With all the work clothes off, the house shoes on, lounging in a T-shirt and PJ pants...he's ready for some good conversation and coffee.
Sounds like it's time for some Country Hospitality!!!
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Do What You're Supposed to Do...you won't have time for the "don't"s
Here's a thought...if you do all of what you are supposed to DO, then you won't have time to DO any of the "DON'T"s.
In the farmlife it looks like this:
DO your chores
DO your responsibilities
DO love eachother
DO take care of the animals
DO take care of the land
DO be respectful of others(even city-people who don't know what a farm is)
there's no down-time from doing the "DO"s.
This is simple.
So why do we all make this so hard?
In the farmlife it looks like this:
DO your chores
DO your responsibilities
DO love eachother
DO take care of the animals
DO take care of the land
DO be respectful of others(even city-people who don't know what a farm is)
there's no down-time from doing the "DO"s.
This is simple.
So why do we all make this so hard?
Monday, April 4, 2016
Just a Thank You! On Our Blog's Anniversary!
Thank you for laughing at us, with us, and for us.
Thank you to our readers...in the United States, Poland, the Ukraine, Germany, Canada, Japan and Puerto Rico. We don't know most of you, but it's so exciting to see that you keep getting to know us better.
We hope that you get the opportunity to see that farmers are just people, families aren't perfection, and love abounds.
Thank you to our family who has graciously been added into our posts-thank you to our family who has yet to be added into our posts(your time is coming). Your support keeps us going on the days we don't want to...
Thank you to the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, Soli Deo Gloria!
Shalom! Dear Farmer, The Wife, and family
Sunday, April 3, 2016
This Farm has Princesses
The Bucket, the middle-younger Farmer's Daughter, loves to DO just about anything...as long as it works into the current play...
"Mama, you be the Princess Mama, and I am the Princess Mermaid. What are we doing Mama?"
Usually the Princess Mermaid's Mama responds, "Unloading the dishwasher." After that job, there's plenty more! Anything can be done singing and laughing as long as we are Princess Mama and Princess Mermaid.
Chicken Dinner, the youngest-younger Farmer's Daughter, tags along with the Bucket. She tries desperately to be a princess, but past looking cute is yet mastering anything else. Apparently her primary job in the house is to "seek and destroy".
The Bucket tries to wrangle and teach, but Chicken Dinner is young enough to not care about her sister's direction and will march off in her own tornado.
Over-seeing the entirety of the Princess Population is the Oldest of the Youngest Farmer's Daughters...Me-Oh-My! She is the one that has to be the boss over everything, even if she doesn't know what's going on...she is the oldest of them! And having the three bigger Farmer's Daughters always bossing Me-Oh-My! around, she knows how it should be done:
"No, no, Bucket, Princesses do it this way!"
"No, no, 'Ninner Dinner!!! Don't Touch that!!!"
"NOOOO! We will play this or NOTHING!"
Me-Oh-My! Can be ruthless...
Before I had three Younger Farmer's Daughters, I had no idea Princesses could herd goats, use chickens as confetti that they throw to imaginary admirers, or dance through cow-pies in high-heeled play shoes. I never foresaw a princess dress riding on a tractor, or a tiara-clad little girl dunking chick-heads.
All of this must prove that Princesses really can be everywhere, and do everything. Even farming.
"Mama, you be the Princess Mama, and I am the Princess Mermaid. What are we doing Mama?"
Usually the Princess Mermaid's Mama responds, "Unloading the dishwasher." After that job, there's plenty more! Anything can be done singing and laughing as long as we are Princess Mama and Princess Mermaid.
Chicken Dinner, the youngest-younger Farmer's Daughter, tags along with the Bucket. She tries desperately to be a princess, but past looking cute is yet mastering anything else. Apparently her primary job in the house is to "seek and destroy".
The Bucket tries to wrangle and teach, but Chicken Dinner is young enough to not care about her sister's direction and will march off in her own tornado.
Over-seeing the entirety of the Princess Population is the Oldest of the Youngest Farmer's Daughters...Me-Oh-My! She is the one that has to be the boss over everything, even if she doesn't know what's going on...she is the oldest of them! And having the three bigger Farmer's Daughters always bossing Me-Oh-My! around, she knows how it should be done:
"No, no, Bucket, Princesses do it this way!"
"No, no, 'Ninner Dinner!!! Don't Touch that!!!"
"NOOOO! We will play this or NOTHING!"
Me-Oh-My! Can be ruthless...
Before I had three Younger Farmer's Daughters, I had no idea Princesses could herd goats, use chickens as confetti that they throw to imaginary admirers, or dance through cow-pies in high-heeled play shoes. I never foresaw a princess dress riding on a tractor, or a tiara-clad little girl dunking chick-heads.
All of this must prove that Princesses really can be everywhere, and do everything. Even farming.
Friday, April 1, 2016
The Hunt is On!
Now that the snow is gone, and warm days have begun, the chickens are re-establishing their egg laying spots and routines.
This means...not all the chickens are laying eggs inside the coop. Some of those chickens, the renegades, are laying in the barn, on the hay, in the window wells, in the tiger-lilies, and on my front stoop.
The eggs on my front stoop aren't hard to find. It's all the other eggs.
So, who's job was it last year to find eggs?
Well, we aren't really sure who was assigned to do it, and who actually did it every day...so we needed to make sure that this job was covered. We needed someone who wouldn't get distracted, someone who would be thorough, someone who would be careful with the eggs(not to bring up a dozen cracked ones)...the choice person was the Wife. She's just too busy.
We chose the Farmer's Shadow. He's great at the job!
Everyday is an exciting adventure to find as many eggs as he can! AND he gets paid for each (uncracked) egg that he brings in!
So the hunt is on!!!
This means...not all the chickens are laying eggs inside the coop. Some of those chickens, the renegades, are laying in the barn, on the hay, in the window wells, in the tiger-lilies, and on my front stoop.
The eggs on my front stoop aren't hard to find. It's all the other eggs.
So, who's job was it last year to find eggs?
Well, we aren't really sure who was assigned to do it, and who actually did it every day...so we needed to make sure that this job was covered. We needed someone who wouldn't get distracted, someone who would be thorough, someone who would be careful with the eggs(not to bring up a dozen cracked ones)...the choice person was the Wife. She's just too busy.
We chose the Farmer's Shadow. He's great at the job!
Everyday is an exciting adventure to find as many eggs as he can! AND he gets paid for each (uncracked) egg that he brings in!
So the hunt is on!!!
Thursday, March 31, 2016
It's Officially Springtime in Dear Farmer's World
It's not the calendar that says when spring officially arrives, it's nature. When the pasture starts to green and the air begins to smell of sweet warmth and the farmers are all out driving around and looking at each-others' farms.
So, yesterday, under the guise of needing to pick up fence posts at the most local supply store(which is forty-five minutes away), Dear Farmer went out and about.
The route he took was the most out of the way...
but past every farm that he knew of where there would be cattle and where they grow hay.
"Look there", he would say, "They still have a lot of hay left on the ground."
"OOOoooh, the barn roof didn't handle that last snow."
"I have always loved his location."
All the comments, the drive through the countryside, the beautiful sunshine after the gray of winter....it was a wonderful day.
And the trip that was supposed to take forty-five minutes...took an hour and a half.
Spring has officially arrived.
So, yesterday, under the guise of needing to pick up fence posts at the most local supply store(which is forty-five minutes away), Dear Farmer went out and about.
The route he took was the most out of the way...
but past every farm that he knew of where there would be cattle and where they grow hay.
"Look there", he would say, "They still have a lot of hay left on the ground."
"OOOoooh, the barn roof didn't handle that last snow."
"I have always loved his location."
All the comments, the drive through the countryside, the beautiful sunshine after the gray of winter....it was a wonderful day.
And the trip that was supposed to take forty-five minutes...took an hour and a half.
Spring has officially arrived.
Monday, March 28, 2016
Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and a Birthday, oh my!
We have been absent for a little while, but for good reason...we were off celebrating the Amazing FarmWife's Birthday!!!
We had pre-arranged to meet cousins in Dixon and bring a celebration with us! The choice for dinner was Ice-Cream Sundaes (make-your-own!). And we thought that some birthday balloons would hit the spot!
Wouldn't Grandma have an amazing time?!
So, we packed people up, packed up food for (actual) meals, packed up children, drove to Illinois, stopped at the store to get toppings and miscellaneous needs(really, who doesn't NEED headphones?Which child left shoes back at home?), pick up the balloons, and deposit everyone and everything at Fabulous Aunt and Uncle's home.
A quick call to Uncle Photographer to arrange for a drop off for the Amazing FarmWife to attend her party, and we had the weekend in full swing!
Night one: play outside with the Reese's Pieces Cousins, welcome the Amazing FarmWife and Uncle Photographer, eat ice-cream sundaes, stay up late talking
Day two: play outside, eat an actual three meals, go to park, play outside, Welcome MorMor and the Amazing FarmWife, stay up late talking
Day three: good-bye to the three Reese's Pieces Cousins, play outside, welcome Uncle Yoga-Ranger, eat three actual meals, go to park, stay up late talking
Day four: go to church, have dinner with Dear Farmer's whole family, plus Uncle and Aunt Bike Doctor and Mac-Amazing, Uncle Yoga-Ranger, Uncle Photographer, Fabulous Aunt and Uncle, Twin-Cousin#1 and her cousinettes and the Amazing FarmWife. Eventually Dear Farmer's entire family has to go home this afternoon...{sigh}
if you are reading and get the feeling that Fabulous Aunt and Uncle have a revolving door...you are correct. That is what happens when the family comes home, but ooooooooh, how much fun we all have!
After this weekend, it may take the Amazing FarmWife a little while to recuperate. She deserves a little rest.
Happy Birthday, Grandma!
We had pre-arranged to meet cousins in Dixon and bring a celebration with us! The choice for dinner was Ice-Cream Sundaes (make-your-own!). And we thought that some birthday balloons would hit the spot!
Wouldn't Grandma have an amazing time?!
So, we packed people up, packed up food for (actual) meals, packed up children, drove to Illinois, stopped at the store to get toppings and miscellaneous needs(really, who doesn't NEED headphones?Which child left shoes back at home?), pick up the balloons, and deposit everyone and everything at Fabulous Aunt and Uncle's home.
A quick call to Uncle Photographer to arrange for a drop off for the Amazing FarmWife to attend her party, and we had the weekend in full swing!
Night one: play outside with the Reese's Pieces Cousins, welcome the Amazing FarmWife and Uncle Photographer, eat ice-cream sundaes, stay up late talking
Day two: play outside, eat an actual three meals, go to park, play outside, Welcome MorMor and the Amazing FarmWife, stay up late talking
Day three: good-bye to the three Reese's Pieces Cousins, play outside, welcome Uncle Yoga-Ranger, eat three actual meals, go to park, stay up late talking
Day four: go to church, have dinner with Dear Farmer's whole family, plus Uncle and Aunt Bike Doctor and Mac-Amazing, Uncle Yoga-Ranger, Uncle Photographer, Fabulous Aunt and Uncle, Twin-Cousin#1 and her cousinettes and the Amazing FarmWife. Eventually Dear Farmer's entire family has to go home this afternoon...{sigh}
if you are reading and get the feeling that Fabulous Aunt and Uncle have a revolving door...you are correct. That is what happens when the family comes home, but ooooooooh, how much fun we all have!
After this weekend, it may take the Amazing FarmWife a little while to recuperate. She deserves a little rest.
Happy Birthday, Grandma!
This story is full of Bull
Dear Farmer had to take a bull to a friend for the summer.
The bull was not thrilled to take the ride, but the dog convinced him it would be better.
Dog yipping at his heels, he got in the trailer.
A long drive in nice weather.
The door was opened, the bull walked out, and everyone was happy ever after.
Around here, we spread bull around...but in the realistic sense.
So, here's the story:
The bull, Tuxedo, was purchased a few years ago from a dear friend, Ray-of-Sunshine. Ever since Ray-of-Sunshine has said, "wow, I'd really love to have him back."
This year, Dear Farmer could make that happen. So, Tux is spending the summer at Ray-of-Sunshine's farm. Dear Farmer was so excited to be able to bless him. The loading process was a little long. Tux didn't really understand why he had to be going in the trailer...I'm sure he's realized that not all that go in the trailer come out. So, Dear Farmer had to call the farm dog out to do her job, which she did great. No one had to play dangerous games with a 1700lb bull...he ended up walking in(unhappy) into the trailer. Six hours later, Tux was unloaded and Ray-of-Sunshine blessed us with beautiful handmade plaques out of barn-boards! They say, "Hope" "Love" and "Believe". Then he made my favorite one: "Trust in God" ---that one's going on my tiny house!
So glad Tuxedo can reside there for a little while and everyone is safe!
The bull was not thrilled to take the ride, but the dog convinced him it would be better.
Dog yipping at his heels, he got in the trailer.
A long drive in nice weather.
The door was opened, the bull walked out, and everyone was happy ever after.
Around here, we spread bull around...but in the realistic sense.
So, here's the story:
The bull, Tuxedo, was purchased a few years ago from a dear friend, Ray-of-Sunshine. Ever since Ray-of-Sunshine has said, "wow, I'd really love to have him back."
This year, Dear Farmer could make that happen. So, Tux is spending the summer at Ray-of-Sunshine's farm. Dear Farmer was so excited to be able to bless him. The loading process was a little long. Tux didn't really understand why he had to be going in the trailer...I'm sure he's realized that not all that go in the trailer come out. So, Dear Farmer had to call the farm dog out to do her job, which she did great. No one had to play dangerous games with a 1700lb bull...he ended up walking in(unhappy) into the trailer. Six hours later, Tux was unloaded and Ray-of-Sunshine blessed us with beautiful handmade plaques out of barn-boards! They say, "Hope" "Love" and "Believe". Then he made my favorite one: "Trust in God" ---that one's going on my tiny house!
So glad Tuxedo can reside there for a little while and everyone is safe!
Monday, March 21, 2016
Dear Farmer Places an Order Online
Dear Farmer is of the opinion that phones are for calling and talking to people...not texting, snap-chatting, insta-gram-ing, taking pictures, or reading on.
Dear Farmer likes to do business with a handshake...not bids, quotes or contracts.
Dear Farmer likes to buy things from a person...not the self-checkout, vending machine, or online.
These days aren't like the days when Dear Farmer was a boy. Bread costs more than a nickle a loaf, gas costs more than ten cents a gallon, and there are some things you just order online.
"Back in my day..." Dear Farmer will begin a story, and the children groan.
"Pop! Get in the twenty-first century!", they say. But that's not when Dear Farmer was born.
So, ordering online is a big "to-do" when Dear Farmer has to do it. He only orders from companies that he's dealt with in the past...ones that have people on the other end. Then spends hours "one-touch" typing in the desired items. It's so painful, none of us can watch him anymore. He has to do it himself!
Then, after hours and hours of filling a cart....he calls in the Wife to checkout....
He has learned that the quick typing and quick clicking is un-nerving...so he usually tries to leave the room when it comes to checking out. There are some times he has to be present for the orders because they need special instructions...he's usually found rubbing his head for the headache that comes on afterward.
No, these aren't the days that Dear Farmer grew up in.
It only takes two days to get something from an online order, he doesn't pay extra, and we don't have to wait at the mailbox for the delivery.
Pictures of animals are sent instantly from farmer to farmer with questions, concerns, or for sale.
Decisions take seconds, not weeks.
Modern machinery can do the work of three-hundred horses.
His tractor can do 45 mph on the road!
"Those Good Old Days", we remind Dear Farmer, "you still get to live. You walk among your herd, hear the softness of the hay being munched during feeding, touch the tops of the grass as it begins to seed-head. You work in the beauty of creation every day! One afternoon ordering an automatic chicken door that's timed to close at night and open at the break of day(so that none of us have to do it)...that's really not that bad!"
Dear Farmer likes to do business with a handshake...not bids, quotes or contracts.
Dear Farmer likes to buy things from a person...not the self-checkout, vending machine, or online.
These days aren't like the days when Dear Farmer was a boy. Bread costs more than a nickle a loaf, gas costs more than ten cents a gallon, and there are some things you just order online.
"Back in my day..." Dear Farmer will begin a story, and the children groan.
"Pop! Get in the twenty-first century!", they say. But that's not when Dear Farmer was born.
So, ordering online is a big "to-do" when Dear Farmer has to do it. He only orders from companies that he's dealt with in the past...ones that have people on the other end. Then spends hours "one-touch" typing in the desired items. It's so painful, none of us can watch him anymore. He has to do it himself!
Then, after hours and hours of filling a cart....he calls in the Wife to checkout....
He has learned that the quick typing and quick clicking is un-nerving...so he usually tries to leave the room when it comes to checking out. There are some times he has to be present for the orders because they need special instructions...he's usually found rubbing his head for the headache that comes on afterward.
No, these aren't the days that Dear Farmer grew up in.
It only takes two days to get something from an online order, he doesn't pay extra, and we don't have to wait at the mailbox for the delivery.
Pictures of animals are sent instantly from farmer to farmer with questions, concerns, or for sale.
Decisions take seconds, not weeks.
Modern machinery can do the work of three-hundred horses.
His tractor can do 45 mph on the road!
"Those Good Old Days", we remind Dear Farmer, "you still get to live. You walk among your herd, hear the softness of the hay being munched during feeding, touch the tops of the grass as it begins to seed-head. You work in the beauty of creation every day! One afternoon ordering an automatic chicken door that's timed to close at night and open at the break of day(so that none of us have to do it)...that's really not that bad!"
Friday, March 18, 2016
Farmhouse Kite Instructions
On a blustery day this is how we entertain ourselves. (Don't forget to sing the song from "Mary Poppins"...let's go fly a kite!)
Supplies:
1 plastic shopping bag
1 length of yarn or string
Instructions:
Supplies:
1 plastic shopping bag
1 length of yarn or string
Instructions:
- Tie the length of yarn or string to the two handles of the bag. They do not need to be tightly tied, a loose loop will work just fine.
- Hold the end of your length of yarn or string at the opposite end of the handles.
- Go outside into the wind and run.
- See your "kite" blow up full of air.
- If it is a very windy day, you can stand in one place while your "kite" flies in front of you.
- Encourage children to run against the wind for a long time.
- For extra fun, let go of the "kite" and see how far the wind takes it. Then go and retrieve it.
- Remember to discard the "kite" into the trash can when you are done. Cows will die if they eat plastic shopping bags.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
CHICKENS! It's what brings Fathers and Sons together?
CHICKENS! It's what we're doing on the farm right now...preparation, anticipation, building, and raising.
CHICKEN fencing, CHICKEN waters, CHICKEN feeders, CHICKEN brooders, CHICKEN houses, CHICKEN-egg washing, CHICKEN butcher dates, CHICKEN chicks, CHICKENS roosters, CHICKEN...CHICKEN...CHICKEN....
So it comes as no surprise to anyone around here when the current project is the CHICKEN house.
Dear Farmer and Honorable Son No.2 have been plugging away at the creation of the new CHICKEN house. They had the spent one day grating and leveling the area where the house will go. Now they are in the shop building the frame...because that's a good indoor activity during the cold rain.
Dear Farmer is loving getting to work with Honorable Son No.2. The two are very alike in ability and practical thinking. Honorable Son No.2 anticipates what is coming next, measures everything correctly, and laughs at the same jokes as Dear Farmer.
Dear Farmer came in from work...after day number two of working together...very happy!
Dear Farmer is anticipating the work taking half the time, and turning out to be correct from all angles in the end. Those alone are reasons to be happy...but the best part is working, laughing, and spending time with his son.
And Honorable Son No.2 has found out...he really likes Dear Farmer too.
This proves two beautiful facts:
CHICKEN fencing, CHICKEN waters, CHICKEN feeders, CHICKEN brooders, CHICKEN houses, CHICKEN-egg washing, CHICKEN butcher dates, CHICKEN chicks, CHICKENS roosters, CHICKEN...CHICKEN...CHICKEN....
So it comes as no surprise to anyone around here when the current project is the CHICKEN house.
Dear Farmer and Honorable Son No.2 have been plugging away at the creation of the new CHICKEN house. They had the spent one day grating and leveling the area where the house will go. Now they are in the shop building the frame...because that's a good indoor activity during the cold rain.
Dear Farmer is loving getting to work with Honorable Son No.2. The two are very alike in ability and practical thinking. Honorable Son No.2 anticipates what is coming next, measures everything correctly, and laughs at the same jokes as Dear Farmer.
Dear Farmer came in from work...after day number two of working together...very happy!
Dear Farmer is anticipating the work taking half the time, and turning out to be correct from all angles in the end. Those alone are reasons to be happy...but the best part is working, laughing, and spending time with his son.
And Honorable Son No.2 has found out...he really likes Dear Farmer too.
This proves two beautiful facts:
- Neither Dear Farmer or Honorable Son No.2 are CHICKENS themselves.
- Real men aren't CHICKENS about mending relationships.
Monday, March 14, 2016
Late-Night Hay Feeding
Dear Farmer was all in a tizzy...rain was coming!
Lots of rain, over a relatively short time, makes the fields very sloppy for the tractor.
Sloppy for the Farmer.
Sloppy for the feeding process.
Dear Farmer HAD to get fifteen very large square bales out into the fields before the rain came and he would not be able to traverse the tractor-path due to rain.
Hooking up to the hay-forks and loading a helper(WhizBang!Farmer's Daughter) onto the tractor, out they went....two bales at a time...this means they would need to make ten trips to get the cows the needed fourteen bales of hay and three new-to-us feeders into the fields.
They started the process at four-thirty in the afternoon. Tractors don't move very fast. The process of just picking up two bales can be time consuming.
By five the rain started coming. Little drops can feel really big when you're in an open cab riding in the open fields.
By five-thirty the temperatures started dropping. The two made a quick dash inside for winter coats and gear. They were feeling the cold chill quick!
By six in the evening the wind kicked up. They were on trip six and just hoping to get in before...
By six-fifteen it was pretty dark.
By six-thirty it was dark and the family was sitting down to dinner...feeling a little bad that we were eating grilled pork chops(Dear Farmer's favorite meal) and he was still on a tractor working. DONE! Now they just had to park the tractor back down at the machine shed and walk back home in the cold, dark, rain.
Dear Farmer and the WhizBang!Farmer's Daughter sat down to dinner. We had the food warm, the woodstove hot, and the fellowship lively.
Dear Farmer won't be doing that one again soon. He can sit back and enjoy the rain...
Lots of rain, over a relatively short time, makes the fields very sloppy for the tractor.
Sloppy for the Farmer.
Sloppy for the feeding process.
Dear Farmer HAD to get fifteen very large square bales out into the fields before the rain came and he would not be able to traverse the tractor-path due to rain.
Hooking up to the hay-forks and loading a helper(WhizBang!Farmer's Daughter) onto the tractor, out they went....two bales at a time...this means they would need to make ten trips to get the cows the needed fourteen bales of hay and three new-to-us feeders into the fields.
They started the process at four-thirty in the afternoon. Tractors don't move very fast. The process of just picking up two bales can be time consuming.
By five the rain started coming. Little drops can feel really big when you're in an open cab riding in the open fields.
By five-thirty the temperatures started dropping. The two made a quick dash inside for winter coats and gear. They were feeling the cold chill quick!
By six in the evening the wind kicked up. They were on trip six and just hoping to get in before...
By six-fifteen it was pretty dark.
By six-thirty it was dark and the family was sitting down to dinner...feeling a little bad that we were eating grilled pork chops(Dear Farmer's favorite meal) and he was still on a tractor working. DONE! Now they just had to park the tractor back down at the machine shed and walk back home in the cold, dark, rain.
Dear Farmer and the WhizBang!Farmer's Daughter sat down to dinner. We had the food warm, the woodstove hot, and the fellowship lively.
Dear Farmer won't be doing that one again soon. He can sit back and enjoy the rain...
Friday, March 11, 2016
Burning Stumps
The Keeper of the Flame was less than thrilled when Dear Farmer told him it was nice weather to burn stumps. Stump burning is endless days of watching the smoldering stump and raking out the old ash so it will keep burning. The object is to burn the stump gone.
The Keeper of the Flame, rather heartlessly, asked Dear Farmer when he should start.
He asked in front of the Nordic Ninja, who suddenly got very excited!
"Stump burning?!", the Nordic Ninja asked, "When are we stump burning?!" He was practically jumping up and down! The Keeper of the Flame had no idea why the Nordic Ninja could be so excited???
What was so great about endless days of stump burning???
Then the Keeper of the Flame found out how the BIG BOYS burn stumps.
First they rip them out of the ground with a chain and a tractor.
Then they haul them all over to the pit in clearing of the edge of the field.
They douse the whole thing with a little "love", and throw in a match!
WHOOSH!
We have bonfire stump burning.
The Keeper of the Flame may never see stump burning in the same light again...all the more reason to grow up faster!
The Wife and littles supplied all the s'more fixings, and life is good!
The Keeper of the Flame is in love with the stump burning tonight.
The Keeper of the Flame, rather heartlessly, asked Dear Farmer when he should start.
He asked in front of the Nordic Ninja, who suddenly got very excited!
"Stump burning?!", the Nordic Ninja asked, "When are we stump burning?!" He was practically jumping up and down! The Keeper of the Flame had no idea why the Nordic Ninja could be so excited???
What was so great about endless days of stump burning???
Then the Keeper of the Flame found out how the BIG BOYS burn stumps.
First they rip them out of the ground with a chain and a tractor.
Then they haul them all over to the pit in clearing of the edge of the field.
They douse the whole thing with a little "love", and throw in a match!
WHOOSH!
We have bonfire stump burning.
The Keeper of the Flame may never see stump burning in the same light again...all the more reason to grow up faster!
The Wife and littles supplied all the s'more fixings, and life is good!
The Keeper of the Flame is in love with the stump burning tonight.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
The Family Question of the Night...the Wednesday Night Special
Dear Farmer was asked a question tonight at dinner..."Who has been the biggest influence in your life?"
He looked around the table. The whole family was there. Something that doesn't happen often enough anymore...
There was a time when it was just Dear Farmer and the Wife. They dreamed about winning the lottery. Two people with a million dollars, they had it spent! Alas, they never had a ticket, it was all just a dream.
Scrimping and saving.
Giving and living without.
Rejection of "wants and desires", but the joys of each need being filled.
Somehow, year by year, the most important thing became Family.
Each set of eyes staring back at him were a monument to a time when he learned,
a time when he sacrificed,
a time when he overcame!
He was blessed by each one of those children countless times.
More than they will ever know.
Not until they are parents, will they understand....it was worth it all!
He'd do it all again...the scrimping and saving,
the giving,
the living without,
the never-having-it-all, but the just-having-enough...
he'd do it all again in a heartbeat!
Dear Farmer's answer was perfect..."Your Mother. Without her, none of you would be here."
I Love this Farmer!!!
He looked around the table. The whole family was there. Something that doesn't happen often enough anymore...
There was a time when it was just Dear Farmer and the Wife. They dreamed about winning the lottery. Two people with a million dollars, they had it spent! Alas, they never had a ticket, it was all just a dream.
Scrimping and saving.
Giving and living without.
Rejection of "wants and desires", but the joys of each need being filled.
Somehow, year by year, the most important thing became Family.
Each set of eyes staring back at him were a monument to a time when he learned,
a time when he sacrificed,
a time when he overcame!
He was blessed by each one of those children countless times.
More than they will ever know.
Not until they are parents, will they understand....it was worth it all!
He'd do it all again...the scrimping and saving,
the giving,
the living without,
the never-having-it-all, but the just-having-enough...
he'd do it all again in a heartbeat!
Dear Farmer's answer was perfect..."Your Mother. Without her, none of you would be here."
I Love this Farmer!!!
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Buying Fencing...or...The Reason Dear Farmer Takes His Wife Shopping
So off to the local farm supply store Dear Farmer and the Wife go! It's date-night!
On the list: goat oats, new collar for polar bear(she's chewed off the other), and...fencing.
About three seconds outside the store the Wife realizes...she forgot her phone at home.
"Ugh!", says Dear Farmer, "Why do you even HAVE a phone?!"(This is a mute argument, everyone knows Wives have phones so they can leave them where they are not.)
The Wife says to Dear Farmer, "Don't worry. I'm a big girl! I can handle the farm supply store. I'll get what I need for the goats and the polar bear and I'll meet you in the fencing supply."
And so off they separate.
Dear Farmer goes off to the fencing supply.
The Wife detours to the kitchen gadgets, then rounds the corner to the canning supplies, over to the shoes...boots...children's boots...looks for all the sizes for the children who are needing shoes, realizes the boots cost more than she is willing to spend...over to the clearance racks for clothing..., down past the baby clothes(that are so darn cute! do we know anyone that is having a baby???), through all the garden supplies, checking out the seeds, meanders through the paint department(to grab some colors that she'll never get to paint, but wouldn't it be nice to dream), through the hunting section, over to the bikes, and the books, and the dog toys....picks up the collar for the polar bear, picks up the goats oats, and turns to the fencing...
where she finds Dear Farmer.
It's been an hour.
Dear Farmer is staring at a computer screen.
This is where he's to order the fence.
There's no one around to help him work the computer.
He looks at the Wife and growls, "I hate technology! I've been messing with this screen and I can't get it to the stuff I want!"
The Wife has two choices: Do it herself or find an associate.
She opts for the associate.
Over one aisle she finds an associate and explains a farmer needs his help.
He doesn't look surprised.
Dear Farmer tells the associate what he needs. The associate finds it, makes the screen work just fine, asks Dear Farmer if there is anything else he can help him with, and prints out the needed papers for the check out. Dear Farmer laughs with the associate about the "good ol' days" when a person spoke to another person and they handed them what they needed. The associate smiles and nods, then walks away...Dear Farmer figures the associate must be about twelve, "Had no idea what I was talking about.", he says.
Dear Farmer and the Wife go to the check out.
The cashier checks them out, she's about twelve as well.
They hand the cashier cash.
She looks at Dear Farmer almost sympathetically as she asks if he would like to open a credit card with the store.
Dear Farmer replies a solid, "No."
The cashier has to inspect the bills, draw on them with a marker, and then the computer tells her exactly what change to hand back.
She didn't have to do any math.
Dear Farmer and the Wife drive away with everything on the list. Most importantly the fencing...
On the way home the conversation is about how young everyone in looks these days, and how young the police officers are(do their mothers know they carry guns?!). They laugh about the not having to do math, and the credit card offers. They giggle about the computers that aren't Dear Farmer's friends.
It's the fun of the evening...it's the lighter side of a boring activity...it's life...Dear Farmer's life.
On the list: goat oats, new collar for polar bear(she's chewed off the other), and...fencing.
About three seconds outside the store the Wife realizes...she forgot her phone at home.
"Ugh!", says Dear Farmer, "Why do you even HAVE a phone?!"(This is a mute argument, everyone knows Wives have phones so they can leave them where they are not.)
The Wife says to Dear Farmer, "Don't worry. I'm a big girl! I can handle the farm supply store. I'll get what I need for the goats and the polar bear and I'll meet you in the fencing supply."
And so off they separate.
Dear Farmer goes off to the fencing supply.
The Wife detours to the kitchen gadgets, then rounds the corner to the canning supplies, over to the shoes...boots...children's boots...looks for all the sizes for the children who are needing shoes, realizes the boots cost more than she is willing to spend...over to the clearance racks for clothing..., down past the baby clothes(that are so darn cute! do we know anyone that is having a baby???), through all the garden supplies, checking out the seeds, meanders through the paint department(to grab some colors that she'll never get to paint, but wouldn't it be nice to dream), through the hunting section, over to the bikes, and the books, and the dog toys....picks up the collar for the polar bear, picks up the goats oats, and turns to the fencing...
where she finds Dear Farmer.
It's been an hour.
Dear Farmer is staring at a computer screen.
This is where he's to order the fence.
There's no one around to help him work the computer.
He looks at the Wife and growls, "I hate technology! I've been messing with this screen and I can't get it to the stuff I want!"
The Wife has two choices: Do it herself or find an associate.
She opts for the associate.
Over one aisle she finds an associate and explains a farmer needs his help.
He doesn't look surprised.
Dear Farmer tells the associate what he needs. The associate finds it, makes the screen work just fine, asks Dear Farmer if there is anything else he can help him with, and prints out the needed papers for the check out. Dear Farmer laughs with the associate about the "good ol' days" when a person spoke to another person and they handed them what they needed. The associate smiles and nods, then walks away...Dear Farmer figures the associate must be about twelve, "Had no idea what I was talking about.", he says.
Dear Farmer and the Wife go to the check out.
The cashier checks them out, she's about twelve as well.
They hand the cashier cash.
She looks at Dear Farmer almost sympathetically as she asks if he would like to open a credit card with the store.
Dear Farmer replies a solid, "No."
The cashier has to inspect the bills, draw on them with a marker, and then the computer tells her exactly what change to hand back.
She didn't have to do any math.
Dear Farmer and the Wife drive away with everything on the list. Most importantly the fencing...
On the way home the conversation is about how young everyone in looks these days, and how young the police officers are(do their mothers know they carry guns?!). They laugh about the not having to do math, and the credit card offers. They giggle about the computers that aren't Dear Farmer's friends.
It's the fun of the evening...it's the lighter side of a boring activity...it's life...Dear Farmer's life.
Waiting for the Rain
Every day, without fail, Dear Farmer is checking the weather. Using his instinct as a farmer, his skills as an untrained meteorological professional, and the ache in his sinus cavity: he interprets the various websites that predict weather, reads the forecast in the farmer's almanac, and watches the animals.
The old-saying is true...cows will lay down when it's going to rain.
The cows feel the change in the pressure system, and when it gets too heavy, they lay down(probably because of the throbbing headache...have you seen the size of a cows sinus cavity?). So usually we see the cows lay down, and then they get up-move to high ground, and the rain starts.
The goats will smell the rain coming and run inside the barn. Goats hate to get wet.
Our farm dogs will beg to come inside. They are wimps when it comes to rain. One of our dogs will hide in the hallway...the sound of the rain on the metal roof scares her.
Dear Farmer hasn't started to ache in a joint or "feel it in his bones"...but he does get it right more often than the weatherman.
The old-saying is true...cows will lay down when it's going to rain.
The cows feel the change in the pressure system, and when it gets too heavy, they lay down(probably because of the throbbing headache...have you seen the size of a cows sinus cavity?). So usually we see the cows lay down, and then they get up-move to high ground, and the rain starts.
The goats will smell the rain coming and run inside the barn. Goats hate to get wet.
Our farm dogs will beg to come inside. They are wimps when it comes to rain. One of our dogs will hide in the hallway...the sound of the rain on the metal roof scares her.
Dear Farmer hasn't started to ache in a joint or "feel it in his bones"...but he does get it right more often than the weatherman.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Dear Farmer is Inside Too Long
The snow returned for it's last few appearances before spring. It throws the whole family into a "tizzy". First of all, we can no longer find half the gloves. Secondly, no one is really excited about playing in the white stuff AGAIN. Lastly, Dear Farmer is anxious to get on with spring preparations, and it places everything he wants to do on 'HOLD'.
When Dear Farmer has to 'hold' for the snow to melt away, it usually means he has to do paperwork. Because he's done everything else there could possibly be to do.
And Dear Farmer would rather not do paperwork. Ever.
On days when paperwork is inevitable morning chores takes a lot longer. And then Dear Farmer
d-r-a-g-s himself inside.
Dear Farmer drinks about two pots of coffee.
Snuggles the littles.
Gets the biggers moving.
Eats breakfast.
Fiddles with the woodstove.
Makes several laps through the house commenting of the deplorable amount of stuff this family has.
And finally makes it into his office to sit down and do paperwork.
Then he spends hours as a caged animal in the office.
We hear thumping and grumping, the occasional bark.
By the fifth time that he's asked "When's lunch?" and it's only ten o'clock in the morning...we know it's going to be a long day.
So, here is the conclusion we have drawn: Dear Farmer doesn't like paperwork. We had a pretty good idea before, but now we are sure.
Also, Dear Farmer needs to be outside where there are no walls, the scenery is constantly changing, and the jobs are endless(unless there's snow and ice mix with windchill temperatures in the single digits or lower).
We are all anxious for the spring-like weather to reappear, so that Dear Farmer can go about being the happy farmer we prefer.
When Dear Farmer has to 'hold' for the snow to melt away, it usually means he has to do paperwork. Because he's done everything else there could possibly be to do.
And Dear Farmer would rather not do paperwork. Ever.
On days when paperwork is inevitable morning chores takes a lot longer. And then Dear Farmer
d-r-a-g-s himself inside.
Dear Farmer drinks about two pots of coffee.
Snuggles the littles.
Gets the biggers moving.
Eats breakfast.
Fiddles with the woodstove.
Makes several laps through the house commenting of the deplorable amount of stuff this family has.
And finally makes it into his office to sit down and do paperwork.
Then he spends hours as a caged animal in the office.
We hear thumping and grumping, the occasional bark.
By the fifth time that he's asked "When's lunch?" and it's only ten o'clock in the morning...we know it's going to be a long day.
So, here is the conclusion we have drawn: Dear Farmer doesn't like paperwork. We had a pretty good idea before, but now we are sure.
Also, Dear Farmer needs to be outside where there are no walls, the scenery is constantly changing, and the jobs are endless(unless there's snow and ice mix with windchill temperatures in the single digits or lower).
We are all anxious for the spring-like weather to reappear, so that Dear Farmer can go about being the happy farmer we prefer.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Scrubbing Out the Muck Boots
When was the last time you had on your "to do" list...scrub out children's muck boots. ????
It ended up on the top of my list today. I'm not exactly sure how that happened, I was doing a pretty good job of making sure that there were more important things to do all the time.
But I had it there...and the children saw it...and they expected me to do it....ugh. Thankfully it was a nice day...
The Wife dug in. The children were no where to be found. It was nasty! Inside the boots were muck, mud, leaves, twigs, bugs, and I think I saw a frog-leg...
But now they are clean! Well...one pair is clean. Four more pairs to go.
There will be a lecture soon: What Muck Boots Are For
One would think it would be a "no-brainer"...well, apparently not for my children...
It ended up on the top of my list today. I'm not exactly sure how that happened, I was doing a pretty good job of making sure that there were more important things to do all the time.
But I had it there...and the children saw it...and they expected me to do it....ugh. Thankfully it was a nice day...
The Wife dug in. The children were no where to be found. It was nasty! Inside the boots were muck, mud, leaves, twigs, bugs, and I think I saw a frog-leg...
But now they are clean! Well...one pair is clean. Four more pairs to go.
There will be a lecture soon: What Muck Boots Are For
One would think it would be a "no-brainer"...well, apparently not for my children...
Monday, February 29, 2016
Dear Farmer is used to this phone call...but not this ending.
"The cows are out!"
If I had a dollar for every time Dear Farmer got that phone call...I'd have thousands of dollars! And rain, snow, or shine. During hay, startled awake, or driving...Dear Farmer drops everything and goes to call the "ladies" back to the fields of safety.
"The cows are out!"
At 10 pm when he just falls asleep. At 4 in the morning. While we're on a date. When we're sitting down to dinner.
"The cows are out!"
Absolutely the worst time to hear that is when we're out of town....which is what happened this weekend.
Dear Farmer and the Wife attended the MOSES Conference. It's the largest midwest organics conference, and the place where Dear Farmer isn't alone. ALL the farmers have the same lifestyle. ALL the farmers are in the same boat, doing the same paperwork, and needing some "atta-boy"-time. This conference is that refreshment for all those farmers. And the Wife? Really, she was just along for the ride. She went to the conference, heard the speakers, and came out patting Dear Farmer on the back("Look, Dear, you're not alone.").
After a wonderful weekend, on the trek home, we got the phone call.
"Pop! The cows are out!"
sigh.
(then the rest..)"Don't worry, Pop. We got them back in ourselves. Drive Safe!"
Wow! What a blessing to have a family that knows how to do what you do! A family that can pitch-hit without you, and appreciates you all the more.
Makes you feel like you did things well...makes Dear Farmer feel a tingly and happy inside.
#MOSES2016
If I had a dollar for every time Dear Farmer got that phone call...I'd have thousands of dollars! And rain, snow, or shine. During hay, startled awake, or driving...Dear Farmer drops everything and goes to call the "ladies" back to the fields of safety.
"The cows are out!"
At 10 pm when he just falls asleep. At 4 in the morning. While we're on a date. When we're sitting down to dinner.
"The cows are out!"
Absolutely the worst time to hear that is when we're out of town....which is what happened this weekend.
Dear Farmer and the Wife attended the MOSES Conference. It's the largest midwest organics conference, and the place where Dear Farmer isn't alone. ALL the farmers have the same lifestyle. ALL the farmers are in the same boat, doing the same paperwork, and needing some "atta-boy"-time. This conference is that refreshment for all those farmers. And the Wife? Really, she was just along for the ride. She went to the conference, heard the speakers, and came out patting Dear Farmer on the back("Look, Dear, you're not alone.").
After a wonderful weekend, on the trek home, we got the phone call.
"Pop! The cows are out!"
sigh.
(then the rest..)"Don't worry, Pop. We got them back in ourselves. Drive Safe!"
Wow! What a blessing to have a family that knows how to do what you do! A family that can pitch-hit without you, and appreciates you all the more.
Makes you feel like you did things well...makes Dear Farmer feel a tingly and happy inside.
#MOSES2016
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
The Movement We Never Abandoned
When Dear Farmer and the Wife married, their first home was a less than five-hundred square foot remodeled chicken coop. It was a house with no doors. A great and wonderful thing for Dear Farmer and the Wife while they were newly weds. Issues had to be dealt with face to face. Neither would run away, neither would back down, neither would give up their bed. Problems were fixed by the next morning.
After child number three was born they listened to the advice of the ages...get a bigger house. So they did. They actually doubled the square footage and purchased a house nearly 1000 sq.ft.
After children 8 & 9 were born they had to move for the farm...the house was triple the size of the house they came from. The Wife nearly had a mental breakdown! So much house!!! Dear Farmer and the Wife have been overwhelmed by the amount of house, the amount of stuff, the amount of space. They have an entire room just for a table and chairs! Well, actually...it's two tables and chairs the room holds...and a buffet, and corner hutch, and coffee bar....and there's still room!
Dear Farmer and the Wife reminisce about those good old days...in the chicken coop. Sure it was a squeeze, but it was the happiest squeezing ever. The Wife made Dear Farmer promise to build her a chicken coop to move onto Honorable Son No.1's "someday" farm. Dear Farmer promised he would.
There is a movement of people who are tired of stuff, tired of waste, tired of debt. They are moving into "Tiny Houses". We didn't know twenty years ago that our lifestyle would be "trendy". Though we live in a house that is far too big (by 1950's standards) for our family (there are only nine children left at home presently), our hearts are in the tiny house.
Recently Dear Farmer decided we weren't going to be replacing the tent that we've had for twelve years. The tent served us well for many family campouts..."It's just not worth replacing.", he said.
We've talked of buying an RV?...a pop-up?...maybe just a trailer with bunks built in? Then Dear Farmer had a "lightbulb" moment! The Wife's tiny house!!!! He's building the Wife a tiny house...a bunk-house, if you will. It will be mobile, able to be trailer-ed from location to location, but with electricity and real mattresses! And real walls! And real windows! And real doors! Dear Farmer's winterizing it, and seriously talking of A/C(which the Wife has yet to be convinced of).
How exciting! To be able to share a love of small spaces and rustic living with our children! The Wife doesn't have to wait until she's a Grandma...she gets to do it now!
Looking forward to sharing the tiny adventures with you!
After child number three was born they listened to the advice of the ages...get a bigger house. So they did. They actually doubled the square footage and purchased a house nearly 1000 sq.ft.
After children 8 & 9 were born they had to move for the farm...the house was triple the size of the house they came from. The Wife nearly had a mental breakdown! So much house!!! Dear Farmer and the Wife have been overwhelmed by the amount of house, the amount of stuff, the amount of space. They have an entire room just for a table and chairs! Well, actually...it's two tables and chairs the room holds...and a buffet, and corner hutch, and coffee bar....and there's still room!
Dear Farmer and the Wife reminisce about those good old days...in the chicken coop. Sure it was a squeeze, but it was the happiest squeezing ever. The Wife made Dear Farmer promise to build her a chicken coop to move onto Honorable Son No.1's "someday" farm. Dear Farmer promised he would.
There is a movement of people who are tired of stuff, tired of waste, tired of debt. They are moving into "Tiny Houses". We didn't know twenty years ago that our lifestyle would be "trendy". Though we live in a house that is far too big (by 1950's standards) for our family (there are only nine children left at home presently), our hearts are in the tiny house.
Recently Dear Farmer decided we weren't going to be replacing the tent that we've had for twelve years. The tent served us well for many family campouts..."It's just not worth replacing.", he said.
We've talked of buying an RV?...a pop-up?...maybe just a trailer with bunks built in? Then Dear Farmer had a "lightbulb" moment! The Wife's tiny house!!!! He's building the Wife a tiny house...a bunk-house, if you will. It will be mobile, able to be trailer-ed from location to location, but with electricity and real mattresses! And real walls! And real windows! And real doors! Dear Farmer's winterizing it, and seriously talking of A/C(which the Wife has yet to be convinced of).
How exciting! To be able to share a love of small spaces and rustic living with our children! The Wife doesn't have to wait until she's a Grandma...she gets to do it now!
Looking forward to sharing the tiny adventures with you!
Monday, February 22, 2016
The Farmer's Daughters Are In Charge!
Dear Farmer had to leave the farm for a night. It meant he wouldn't be home to do evening, morning, or afternoon chores. He had to leave the Farmer's Daughter in charge of the chores.
The Farmer's Daughter was excited! Dear Farmer was leaving as the weather was warming up to a balmy 40F!!! Chores are actually a whole lot more fun when the weather is warm and sunshiny.
Dear Farmer left the HausFrau Farmer's Daughter in charge of the kitchen. Armed with four pounds of butter the HausFrau Farmer's Daughter had the "okay" to make anything she wanted!!! Kitchen work is actually a whole lot more fun when the ingredients you want are being provided for you.
Dear Farmer left with the WhizBang!Farmer's Daughter. She would be in charge of keeping him awake while he was driving, and entertainment while on the road. She's very excited to have Dear Farmer all to herself for a full 24 hours.
There will be a day when the littlest Farmer's Daughters will be in charge...but that's not yet. They are busy dancing like princesses and cuddling dollies.
Dear Farmer is just pleased to be able to hand over responsibility to these three daughters and know everything will be done just how it should be.
The Farmer's Daughter was excited! Dear Farmer was leaving as the weather was warming up to a balmy 40F!!! Chores are actually a whole lot more fun when the weather is warm and sunshiny.
Dear Farmer left the HausFrau Farmer's Daughter in charge of the kitchen. Armed with four pounds of butter the HausFrau Farmer's Daughter had the "okay" to make anything she wanted!!! Kitchen work is actually a whole lot more fun when the ingredients you want are being provided for you.
Dear Farmer left with the WhizBang!Farmer's Daughter. She would be in charge of keeping him awake while he was driving, and entertainment while on the road. She's very excited to have Dear Farmer all to herself for a full 24 hours.
There will be a day when the littlest Farmer's Daughters will be in charge...but that's not yet. They are busy dancing like princesses and cuddling dollies.
Dear Farmer is just pleased to be able to hand over responsibility to these three daughters and know everything will be done just how it should be.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Preparing for Fabulous Uncle and Aunt To Come Into Town...
Checklist in preparation for Fabulous Uncle and Aunt's visit...
- clean Dear Farmer and Wife's bedroom with a black trash bag.
- vacuum bedroom and vent grates.
- remove cobwebs that have been turning hallway, stairwell, light fixtures into "haunted house" look.(Because if I leave them there small children will be scared to get out of bed and come to mine. Well, it was worth a shot.)
- clean stairs(Smallest Farmer's Daughter painted them with nail polish. She's a very abstract artist.)
- repaint stairwell and hallway(would you look at that, she didn't keep it to just the stairs...and nail polish remover removes paint. Learn something new every day.)
- Get the laundry under control...it's over flowing into the hallway.
- Change the bed-sheets.
- Make breakfasts to pull out in mornings(Who wants to cook in the morning?)
- Lecture children on manners.
- Remind children to load dishes into dishwasher as soon as they are done eating(So Fabulous Aunt doesn't spend the whole visit washing dishes by hand.)
- Plan out meals. Really easy, child friendly meals.
- Make sure everyone knows their chores and jobs for the week.
- Lecture children on not arguing with chores and jobs.
- Set out towels, washcloths, and soap for Fabulous Uncle and Aunt.
- Write note reminding them not to leave out soap or children might use it to make the slide "go faster!".
- Lecture children about not using soap to make the slide "go faster!"
- Pray the mud dries or freezes before Fabulous Uncle and Aunt get here!
- Be the first one to get hugs from Fabulous Uncle and Aunt!!!
Friday, February 19, 2016
Don't Use The Door Today!
The wind actually dictates what Dear Farmer does some days. Today the temperature is warmer than usual which means Dear Farmer has been planning a whole bunch of "to-do"s that he hadn't been able to do during the freezing temps. However, when he awoke this morning, he heard the wind. Blowing at a constant
16 mph and with gusts up to 50 mph, it's going to be a "rather blustery day today".
This means there will be no:
The in and out plan was to work well as there would be few ins and outs. But the first time the plan was in action...things did not go well. Dear Farmer's hand did not move away from the inside edge of the door fast enough and the door slammed shut on Dear Farmer's index finger. This is where we all say "ouch!".
This was not just a finger slammed in a door.
This was a finger crushed by a heavy metal service door at ??mph. Dear Farmer knew this was not going to be good.
It took Dear Farmer a good couple minutes to pry the door open again and dislodge his finger from the doorway. I won't continue to describe the feeling of blood oozing from inside his gloved hand, or the squishy feeling of a finger that isn't supposed to be squishy...Dear Farmer rushed inside the house yelling for the Wife. We didn't remove the glove from the hand, but did rush to the ER.
Dear Farmer stayed conscious during the duration of the x-rays, shots, and sewing of the mangled digit. He passed out after the adrenaline rush was gone.
The result of the door's violent attack is an index finger shorter than the rest. An index finger that doesn't have the feeling that the rest of his fingers have.
And so we add to the list of things that cannot be done on a windy day:
16 mph and with gusts up to 50 mph, it's going to be a "rather blustery day today".
This means there will be no:
- moving of hay in the fields
- high limb-cutting work
- climbing on the feed bins
- placing of tarps
The in and out plan was to work well as there would be few ins and outs. But the first time the plan was in action...things did not go well. Dear Farmer's hand did not move away from the inside edge of the door fast enough and the door slammed shut on Dear Farmer's index finger. This is where we all say "ouch!".
This was not just a finger slammed in a door.
This was a finger crushed by a heavy metal service door at ??mph. Dear Farmer knew this was not going to be good.
It took Dear Farmer a good couple minutes to pry the door open again and dislodge his finger from the doorway. I won't continue to describe the feeling of blood oozing from inside his gloved hand, or the squishy feeling of a finger that isn't supposed to be squishy...Dear Farmer rushed inside the house yelling for the Wife. We didn't remove the glove from the hand, but did rush to the ER.
Dear Farmer stayed conscious during the duration of the x-rays, shots, and sewing of the mangled digit. He passed out after the adrenaline rush was gone.
The result of the door's violent attack is an index finger shorter than the rest. An index finger that doesn't have the feeling that the rest of his fingers have.
And so we add to the list of things that cannot be done on a windy day:
- no using of doors.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
I Bought My Love a Flock of Chickens and Ducks
So, you may have gotten the idea that around here gift giving is pretty practical.
Examples:
Birthday - Dear Farmer built a bed for the Wife
Anniversary - Dear Farmer and Wife give eachother goats
Birthday - The Wife gives Dear Farmer fence supplies
Christmas - The Parents give the children "bus tubs" for cleaning the dining room/kitchen
Yeah...it looks pretty bare bones around here....
ANYHOW... for Dear Farmer's upcoming birthday (June) this year, the Wife told him she'd like to buy him a flock of chickens and ducks. The Wife has to give Dear Farmer this gift now, because he has to place his order to the hatchery so that the flock can be delivered by mid-spring...and then be able to be enjoyed by June.
The Wife told Dear Farmer he could choose what-ever he wanted...like a kid in a candy story, Dear Farmer's eyes widened and he started jumping up and down! His very own flock!
He has been working hard pouring over the hatchery catalog, researching and pricing. He's still undecided on everything he wants...but he's pretty set on laying chickens and a "straight run" of ducks. (A "straight run" means that the hatchery just sends you little guys without looking for male or female parts.)
We've learned that ducks do a great job eating ticks, so the more ducks we have, the less ticks we have. Dear Farmer's theory is "Let those boys feast all year, and then we'll eat them!"
For the laying chickens Dear Farmer wants just female...obviously, THOSE are the ones that lay eggs...but a colorful flock, and no broody hens.
He's having fun with his birthday gift preparations...and the Wife is looking forward to all those eggs!
What other Wife can say, "I bought my love a flock of various foul for his birthday!"???
Anyone else?
Examples:
Birthday - Dear Farmer built a bed for the Wife
Anniversary - Dear Farmer and Wife give eachother goats
Birthday - The Wife gives Dear Farmer fence supplies
Christmas - The Parents give the children "bus tubs" for cleaning the dining room/kitchen
Yeah...it looks pretty bare bones around here....
ANYHOW... for Dear Farmer's upcoming birthday (June) this year, the Wife told him she'd like to buy him a flock of chickens and ducks. The Wife has to give Dear Farmer this gift now, because he has to place his order to the hatchery so that the flock can be delivered by mid-spring...and then be able to be enjoyed by June.
The Wife told Dear Farmer he could choose what-ever he wanted...like a kid in a candy story, Dear Farmer's eyes widened and he started jumping up and down! His very own flock!
He has been working hard pouring over the hatchery catalog, researching and pricing. He's still undecided on everything he wants...but he's pretty set on laying chickens and a "straight run" of ducks. (A "straight run" means that the hatchery just sends you little guys without looking for male or female parts.)
We've learned that ducks do a great job eating ticks, so the more ducks we have, the less ticks we have. Dear Farmer's theory is "Let those boys feast all year, and then we'll eat them!"
For the laying chickens Dear Farmer wants just female...obviously, THOSE are the ones that lay eggs...but a colorful flock, and no broody hens.
He's having fun with his birthday gift preparations...and the Wife is looking forward to all those eggs!
What other Wife can say, "I bought my love a flock of various foul for his birthday!"???
Anyone else?
Monday, February 15, 2016
The Thrill of Discovery!
Winter is a gigantic treasure hunt on the farm. Things that were supposed to be put away the night before are covered by a white blanket of snow in the morning. Chickens are hiding in the hay bales to stay warm. Goats are burying themselves under hay to stay warm. Dogs are burrowing bones and toys to keep away from chickens and goats who might want them.
Often through the day we use these opportunities to be treasure seekers. Sending the Farm-boy Trio to find the shovels...was it really an accident they were left out? Perhaps they were hoping that the snow would make the shovels melt-away? That glove that the HausFrau Farmer's Daughter let the puppy hold...he's now burrowed it away to insure she returns with him later.
But the absolutely most wonderful discovery is the EGGS!
As the cold gets colder our independent chickens like to hide their eggs, if they lay one. So eggs become like "gold". There are many things that we simply won't make in the winter due to lack of eggs. Eggs for breakfast is the first to go...Eggs in recipes are counted. Happy are the days that we find more than four eggs! Exciting are the days that we can have a full dozen in the fridge!
We talk about the days of having eggs as though they were years ago, with wars and children between them. Really...it was a short two months ago...
It is something that we look forward to returning to...the day we find TWO DOZEN EGGS!
Often through the day we use these opportunities to be treasure seekers. Sending the Farm-boy Trio to find the shovels...was it really an accident they were left out? Perhaps they were hoping that the snow would make the shovels melt-away? That glove that the HausFrau Farmer's Daughter let the puppy hold...he's now burrowed it away to insure she returns with him later.
But the absolutely most wonderful discovery is the EGGS!
As the cold gets colder our independent chickens like to hide their eggs, if they lay one. So eggs become like "gold". There are many things that we simply won't make in the winter due to lack of eggs. Eggs for breakfast is the first to go...Eggs in recipes are counted. Happy are the days that we find more than four eggs! Exciting are the days that we can have a full dozen in the fridge!
We talk about the days of having eggs as though they were years ago, with wars and children between them. Really...it was a short two months ago...
It is something that we look forward to returning to...the day we find TWO DOZEN EGGS!
Friday, February 12, 2016
The Goats are Messing Up the Barn
Dear Farmer is in the midst of a frustrating situation. The Goats are being goats.
They are climbing his hay like mountains and while doing so, they are making a mess of the hay.
The Goats are jumping and romping up the steep cliffs of the bales as though it were nothing. They bounce around like they have anti-gravity-hooves. They are healthy, happy, and energized Goats.
Gone are the days of Dear Farmer having the barn all to himself, the hay remaining neatly stacked until he fed it...the Goats are terrorizing his solitude. The Goats seem to have no concern for the neatness in the hay bales.
Dear Farmer is aghast!
He comes inside at night shaking his head and moaning..."my hay. they are wrecking my hay bales..."
The Wife looks at Dear Farmer.
She has two children hanging on either leg, snotty smiles and giggles. She is holding a baby who needs a diaper change(again). The living room is covered in legos and children. An art project is strewn out on the table with more children. There is lots of activity inside the house. Yelling, laughing, thumping activity. Happy and healthy, energized children.
The Wife offers to Dear Farmer, "I'll send the children out to the barn to help you clean up from the Goats."
Dear Farmer actually looks around, at the Wife, at the house, at the children.
"No...I'll go clean it up later." , he says.
And Dear Farmer goes back out to his barn...and the Goats. It's really not that bad of a mess down at the barn.
They are climbing his hay like mountains and while doing so, they are making a mess of the hay.
The Goats are jumping and romping up the steep cliffs of the bales as though it were nothing. They bounce around like they have anti-gravity-hooves. They are healthy, happy, and energized Goats.
Gone are the days of Dear Farmer having the barn all to himself, the hay remaining neatly stacked until he fed it...the Goats are terrorizing his solitude. The Goats seem to have no concern for the neatness in the hay bales.
Dear Farmer is aghast!
He comes inside at night shaking his head and moaning..."my hay. they are wrecking my hay bales..."
The Wife looks at Dear Farmer.
She has two children hanging on either leg, snotty smiles and giggles. She is holding a baby who needs a diaper change(again). The living room is covered in legos and children. An art project is strewn out on the table with more children. There is lots of activity inside the house. Yelling, laughing, thumping activity. Happy and healthy, energized children.
The Wife offers to Dear Farmer, "I'll send the children out to the barn to help you clean up from the Goats."
Dear Farmer actually looks around, at the Wife, at the house, at the children.
"No...I'll go clean it up later." , he says.
And Dear Farmer goes back out to his barn...and the Goats. It's really not that bad of a mess down at the barn.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Dear Farmer is Getting New Glasses...or... The Family is Laughing Uncontrollably...
Dear Farmer, after not being able to read the small television screen, having to find the "sweet spot" while reading books, and his glasses breaking beyond repair...finally consented to going to the eye doctor.
The last eye appointment he had was three years ago. Why doesn't he go every year? Well, he doesn't like to spend the money...and they always prescribe him new lenses. Hmmmm...being a farmer that NEEDS glasses to see...well,moving on...
So the Wife made Dear Farmer an appointment and sent him on his way.
Dear Farmer was impressed with the new technology the doctor had! The doctor took a picture of his eyeball, and was very impressed with his healthy eyeballs! Then he did the actual exam...
The doctor flashed up the first card...Dear Farmer squinted and squeezed, but he read the card.
The doctor told Dear Farmer,"Don't try so hard. Just glance and read."
The doctor flashed the next card...Dear Farmer didn't squint or squeeze. Dear Farmer glanced up and read,"E, T, G, B, A."
The doctor's response: "You can't see it. Those were numbers."
(Insert family rolling with laughter!!!)
The doctor asked Dear Farmer about farming, and fencing, and picked his brain on sheep pastures. The chatter softened the blow of reality...
Dear Farmer has a wonderful healthy eyeball that needs glasses...he now needs bi-focal glasses.
The glasses will cost more than before, but he'll see better than he used to! Once he gets used to those new-fangled progressive lenses.
The last eye appointment he had was three years ago. Why doesn't he go every year? Well, he doesn't like to spend the money...and they always prescribe him new lenses. Hmmmm...being a farmer that NEEDS glasses to see...well,moving on...
So the Wife made Dear Farmer an appointment and sent him on his way.
Dear Farmer was impressed with the new technology the doctor had! The doctor took a picture of his eyeball, and was very impressed with his healthy eyeballs! Then he did the actual exam...
The doctor flashed up the first card...Dear Farmer squinted and squeezed, but he read the card.
The doctor told Dear Farmer,"Don't try so hard. Just glance and read."
The doctor flashed the next card...Dear Farmer didn't squint or squeeze. Dear Farmer glanced up and read,"E, T, G, B, A."
The doctor's response: "You can't see it. Those were numbers."
(Insert family rolling with laughter!!!)
The doctor asked Dear Farmer about farming, and fencing, and picked his brain on sheep pastures. The chatter softened the blow of reality...
Dear Farmer has a wonderful healthy eyeball that needs glasses...he now needs bi-focal glasses.
The glasses will cost more than before, but he'll see better than he used to! Once he gets used to those new-fangled progressive lenses.
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