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....

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!

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.

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!

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.

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!

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 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!

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!

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!

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!

"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.