January is a month long chocolate cake celebration in this farmerette's family...... both my daughters are born in January and 2 of the 3 grand-angels are too.
Miss B turned 7, already a fashion diva &growing up into a sweet young lady
Miss M turns 2, and this cutie pie rules the roost
Two bright spots in this farm-wife's life: the first is that I received notice that I won the "Excellence in Agriculture" award in the State of Idaho and will be honored at a luncheon at the capitol in February, 2013. The other bright spot is that our "Dinner on the Farm" article written by Pam Fretwell, Farm Journal Media guru showed up in the November 2012 edition. Besides the article being wonderfully written, it was dedicated to Andrew. Bittersweet.
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Oh my, where has the time gone too? Personal farm life has been a whirl wind of family stuff going on from Easter to the present and right now the recent weding of our daughter is where I guess I'll start.... I'm still gathering pictures, but I do have to share of goofier side of me and my very good friends, with whom we call our selves the "Co-op Queens". Most of us are farm wives who all had kids go through K-12 together, we have seen each other through good times and as well as bad times (which thankfully we have had more good times than bad). We have helped each other with our kid's graduation parties, now weddings - so here is a couple of my favorite goofy pictures I want to share as they are the true essence what we do when we get together.... we were only missing one of our shyer members.
Yup we are weird, but that is part of our true charm, plus there was beer involved too
If we didn't embarrass our kids, then we weren't doing it right
Oh and I try to corupt young family members, like my cousin's daughter too
Easter on the farm. Most years we host Easter at our home and this year is no exception. We have lots of family and a few friends joining us, so here is a short slideshow from our day...
My table decorations
Miss N posing
Yes I know Spring is mis-spelled, but Miss N was helping Grandma deocorate
In this family, no one is safe, not even the Matriach of the family!
Life on the farm is quiet in the winter. Farmer Joe usually travels quit a bit in his role as President for the Idaho Grain Producers Assoc, and while I do travel some with him, mostly I stay home and tend the home fires. I wear several hats and the ones that keep me the most busy are my off-the-farm job (3/4 time), watching the grand-angels (when their mommy & daddy's schedules in the medical field don't mesh and both will have shifts the same time) & helping my elderly dad... so not much down time right now. My step-dad passed away about 3 months ago, so I regularly do things with my mom too. Then when I sit down to think of what have we done on the farm the last couple of months, well we have squeezed in some vacation time, but mostly it's the day to day stuff that isn't too exciting...... However, I will be joining the Farmer later on this month and attend the Commodity Classic conference in Nashville. This is where I get that boost and rejuvenation for my farm advocacy. There I will get to see the friends that I have made along the way and get to rub elbows with really vibrant & renowed farm folk & those in the media whose efforts help connect the farmers and consumers. I will be chatting more about the conference on the main Home page in the next couple of weeks.
January is like a month long birthday celebration for this farmwife. Both daughters are born in January as well as 2 of the 3 grand-angels, sprinkle in a few other extended family members and a friend or two and oh my! Lots of cake to eat and people to see.
January, 2012 - Hawaii 101
It's pretty fun being an empty nester....getting off the farm,.doing some traveling & new experiences for the farmer and I. Altho have to admit some of the adventures were at first a bit scary, but fun!
12/17/11 There is nothing cuter than a Christmas play with the young ones. The two little girl cows are my grand-angels, Miss B and Miss N. =)
A scene from the Christmas play
Cute little people
12/10/11 Last year we went to a local tree farm to cut our own tree and that is what we did this year too. Despite the lack of snow, we all enjoyed the outing and finding the perfect tree. They smell so good, so a fake tree will never find it's way in our farm house.
Jen, Soren, Miss B, Miss N and Miss B
Miss N & Papa grabbing a cookie before heading out
Off to the pick-up with our find
Miss B and mom are still looking for their perfect find
Miss B & Papa scouting for the right one
Getting the trees loaded
Miss M & her Papa
Enjoying a cup of cocoa and cookies after the tree adventure
A fun family outing to get our trees and afterward we all headed back to our farmhouse and enjoyed some soup. Yummm. Next year Jen & I want to make a day of it and check out a tree farm that has a sleigh ride & all sorts of fun things to do besides getting a tree. So we have all year to work on our men to get them to agree and go over an hour away to get Christmas trees. If all else fails, we'll incorporate the little girls to talk daddy and papa into to it. =) 11/26/11 This Thanksgiving holiday has been bittersweet. The happy part is the gathering of family and friends for a traditional holiday dinner and the excitement of the holiday cocktail party to introduce Andrew to the fine folks that we call friends. I was really happy to have this event to keep me busy and occupied - as the sad part is my beloved step-dad is in the hospital nearing death. The family has all been able, for the most part, to tell him we love him and say goodbye. As I sat beside my step-dad’s bed, and hopefully in his semi-conscious state, that he could hear me while I thanked him for all the wonderful (35 years worth) of fun family memories we created and shared. I recalled the BBQs at their ranchette and the crazy croquet games that we played. These croquet games, mind you, were not the normal way of playing, as my step-dad would allow me (& my brothers Doug & Barry) to set up the course, which led us to set up “extreme croquet” fields and carefully position the brackets in front of the horse droppings or up a hill or across a creek bed (you get the picture, right?). Anyway my step-dad would graciously allow me to be my weird and goofy self and the rest of the family would follow along with my adventures. As my oldest daughter, Jen told her grandpa, “my holiday memories all have you in them”. As I sat beside his bedside and recounted the funny recollections, it dawned on me that since his long 6 year battle with bone cancer that we, as family, didn’t get together like we did before he got sick and that as you near the end, all you have is family and the memories. Nothing else matters. So my personal pledge to myself is to begin creating more new family memories and enjoying the wonderful people in my life that I am privileged to call family. Yes, we are a crazy bunch, and they seem to allow me to be the ringleader (poor Andrew doesn’t know what he is getting into =) ! ha ha ) so from here forward, more family events are on the menu for this farm-wife and her unsuspecting family members. Knowing my step-dad would not have wanted us to cancel the engagement party, we held it & made new happy memories. Here are some of the pictures of our first ever holiday cocktail party….. more visiting was done than me taking pictures, but I'll share what I have....
Kaitlyn & Andrew, guests of honor in the center
Sister, Jen (Maid of Honor) & Emily a bridesmaid
Sarah, cousin of the bride and also a bridesmaid
Farmer Jay visiting with his 2nd cousin, Doug
Tammy, Lisa (sis-in-law) & Tonya visiting
The groom visiting with guests
The kitchen is always the hot spot where the guests seem to like to hang out
As Kaitlyn loves the 1940's era, Wayne went through his dad's closet and found a fine outfit to wear and Jacie wore her mom's cocktail dress. They were the hit of the party.
Farmer friends, Wayne & Jacie by Kaitlyn
Good farm eats
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My mom, daughter, Jen and I had lots of fun looking at dresses (both wedding and bridesmaid) until it made our heads spin. So many styles to choose from and then the bridesmaid dresses had so many colors as well as styles. After driving 100 miles up to Coeur d' Alene, we met Kaitlyn at the bridal shop and she later bought the first dress she tried on. (her older sister, Jen did this too) But to ensure that this was "the dress", we looked at a few more shops, tried on lots more dresses and Kaitlyn ended up going back the next day, trying "the one" on again and bought it. I had to promise Kaitlyn that I would not post the pictures of her dress because she doesn't want her groom to see it before the wedding, so all you get to see is the picture of us at the beginning of the dress adventure. =) My mom, GG, found a dress for herself, but we still didn't find the exact perfect bridesmaid dress.... so it looks like we will have more shopping trips ahead of us.
Also, as Andrew is not from our area, we decided to do a holiday cocktail party as a way to introduce him to the family and friends that will be around on Thanksgiving week-end. So this farm-wife is going to spend some quality time in the kitchen between Thanksgiving dinner and the party, but that's okay as it is one of my favorite things to do, cook and entertain.
Wedding dress shopping in Coeur d' Alene
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A wedding on the Farm! We are gaining another great son-in-law as Andrew proposed to our daughter, Kaitlyn and she said yes! Being a farmer's daughter, she has chosen the date of July 14 for their wedding which is after spring work and before harvest. Andrew is a fine young man and we are excited to welcome him into our close knit family. Andrew grew up in Southern Idaho and has a ranching background which blends nicely into our farm family as he understands the demands of agriculture.
Andrew and Kaitlyn -newly engaged
A center stone that has been in Andrew's family for years
Showing off the at a family b-day dinner was a great venue
in which to announce the happy news
The happy couple will be wed in the same church as we got married in and our oldest daughter, Jen got married in as well. Then the wedding reception will be on the farm, just 1/2 mile down the road. It couldn't be more perfect. Now the flurry of activity begins..... =)
Our picturesque little white church in the country
October 2, 2011 I've neglected this page and have focused on harvest, so here is what we are doing on the home front. Relandscaping or better yet, taking out my huge wildflower garden. After 7 years, it was not doing what I had intended and it was a mess. So we mowed it down and out came the black plastic with rocks and bark to follow. The farmer helped me get started as shown below;
After Farmer Joe got my sections of tube cut, he left to go spray the fields down at the Tammany farm and I played in the dirt (one of my favorite things to do). I decided to do an "A" and shape the planters in that form. If I can't find cool "grasses" to plant in them this fall, I'll do it in the spring. So here is what it looks like. I filled the tubes 3/4 full of dirt and am waiting for the rain to come in the next day or so before I can continue. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
September Whew, most of my time and energy was spent on harvest and recording Dinner on the Farm, but here are our oldest grand angel started kindergarten as pictured below.
1st day of kindergarten
Also the local fair was in September and our nephew, Farmer Jay & Lisa's son is in 4H and was showing his pig.
Zack with his pig
Sunday, August 7 "So this is what August feels like when you aren't sitting in the seat of a combine" said Farmer Joe as harvest had yet to start. Normally we would be in a fast and furious pace of wheat harvest, but this year has been an exception and we are hoping to begin harvest tomorrow (Monday 8/8/11). So we decided to go play, like the rest of America does on a fine August day and we went huckleberry picking and swimming. We took our oldest grand-angel with us. While we only picked about a quart of huckleberries, we enjoyed the day.
Brinley and I picking the berries
Huckleberries are tasty & tart with a flavor all their own.
Farmer Joe as we were heading back to the car
Farmer Joe (papa as called by the grand-angels) enjoying
a dip in the pond to cool off and do some swimming
While playing in the water, these crazy young adults were riding their
bikes off a ramp and doing a flip on the bike into the water
August 4, 2011 A fine summer evening, dancing under the stars was what the farmer and I did last night. Even though it was a Thursday night we kicked up our heels as the Red Barn Farm was holding it's summer concert series. A hometown band played 50's, 60's & 70's music on a perfect warm summer evening and it was heavenly. It didn't matter whether you were young or not so young, people were out enjoying themselves dancing & having a great time - and more ventured out as the night wore on. All I had was my Droid phone, so here is the video clip and picture from last night.
Guests dancing barefoot in the grass at Red Barn Farm
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tales From the Road….the stories of the people we came to know last week who truly touched my heart. We came from all walks of life, but share the same passion for adventure and riding motorcycles, so let me introduce this colorful cast of characters. The beautiful scenery could be viewed from any travel book, but the true experience of the trip was getting to know an amazing group of people that we met and for me, it was the frosting on the cake. I am still in awe of the 3 women that I met on the trip and as you read more, you will see why. Angela, our tour guide, who was probably in her 40’s, whose motorcycle ability was the envy of the group and she also had a passion for finding the best pastries in Europe. Angela could speak several languages & her patience to keep us on track was amazing, as I'm sure it was somewhat like trying to herd cats. The farmer and I dubbed this trip as the Cappuccino and pastry tour…. definitely a yummmm factor. Besides bringing home souvenirs, we brought home an extra 2 or 3 pounds of body weight as well. Mary, the editor for Motorcycle of America magazine, she was able to make this a working vacation and her passion for riding was evident. Just being an editor was enough of an awe factor, but being an editor of a magazine in a mostly male dominated field was a standalone feat. Along with Mary was her significant other, Phil, whose smile lit up his face & whose genuine love of riding made him a fun addition. Kim, who was traveling solo, and whose goal was to ride her motorcycle in all 50 states before she was 50, plus a few foreign countries as well, was a great companion throughout the week. With only Alaska and Hawaii to go, she already has plans in place for those remaining States. Kim is a great rider as well and I don’t think there is any sport on this earth that she has not done. Often times we would be thinking the same thing and you could always count on her wit and humor to keep things lively. Eric & Kirk, the New Jersey brothers who were commemorating a 50th birthday with this trip. The comedian, Eric was fluent in German- but you never knew if what he was translating was true or not as he had a wickedly funny sense of humor that kept us laughing. Kirk, the super nice and somewhat quiet brother, whose main job I think on this trip was to keep Eric out of trouble. Kirk also was very good natured about us ribbing him about his “costume” as one day when taking a tour on a very hot day, he stripped down to his bicycle riding shorts accessorized with motorcycle boots and thus got dubbed as one of the “Village People” (sorry Kirk, I couldn’t resist - Eric, the evil brother, made me say this!) =) Dalton & Andrew, the Canadian doctors, a father and son team, whose family tradition was that the father (Dalton) took each of his kids on a father/child adventure vacation & this was theirs. Dalton was an orthopedic surgeon who retired last week and coincidently on the same day his son, Andrew finished his residency & then was hired at the same hospital. They were a treasure to be around, not to mention just knowing we had 2 doc’s on board was like a bonus insurance safety factor. Gary, Mike and Chuck, the 3 Musketeers, pals from Illinois, all ranging from their late 60’s to the oldest in his mid-70’s. Their friendship had no bounds and the camaraderie among these 3 was one of a lifelong bond. One of the things that Chuck mentioned was how his two companions helped him after the death of his spouse. Their great riding adventures as well as ability to be riding in their golden years wowed our group & gave us all hope that we had at least 20+ years more to ride. Kevin, from Korea whose mild mannered ways and sweet smile was always a pleasure to have around as well. Kevin mentioned that he hoped to take his son on a trip like this when the child got old enough. 2 Israeli men whose names I could never remember & they somewhat kept to themselves. Then of course, the farmer and I celebrating our 26th years of marriage. =)
At the BMW motorcycle rally, we found this guy above. He was kind enough to stop and give a performance.
Along one of our routes, we came across a parade, so we quickly dis-mounted and filmed it.
LtoR, with checked flag, Angela, van driver, Thomas, Eric, Kirk, Andrew, Chuck,
Dalton, Gary, Mike, Kevin, Israeli, Seated in the yellow bug cut out, Phil, Mary, Kim, me & Joe
All lined up before getting ready to ride
Looking over the day's route. L to R, Joe, Phil, Mary, Kim
Lunch stop along the way, Mike, Chuck, Gary, me, Joe
A scenic remnant of a building. L to R, Kirk, Phil, Kim, Eric,
Toby our other guide, me and Joe
One of our pastry and cappuccino stops
Touring a castle, me, Joe, Kim
In our riding gear (minus the helmets) at a scenic lake
Joe, me, Phil and Mary
Getting ready to get on the road again. The churches in
each town were beautiful
Amazing places to ride, notice the rock with the tunnel through it
As I was the only one riding behind (or 2 up), I was busily
snapping pictures while riding, as captured in Joe's mirror
This is what we looked like when traveling together
Eric and Kirk during one of our coffee breaks
Route planning, L to R, Mary, Phil, Angela, Dalton, Andrew
Breath taking view during one of our stops, Mary and Kevin
Angela and Mike during one of our pastry stops
Each night, most of us would gather in the bar to sample good German beer and socialize. Bonds of friendships were formed and it really was an adventure of a lifetime. When parting, an invitation was extended to each person that if they were ever in Idaho that they had to stop by so I could feed them, give them a comfy bed if needed and renew the friendship. Money can buy a good adventure, but it can’t buy the friendships that arose from the trip. I’m thinking it was good to be me, what a ride.
It's a wonder why the relatives invite me to family functions..
but my crazy cousins & I have lots of fun!
June 6-8, 2011 I made 5 cakes to take to a bridal shower for a new "farm-wife" that will be married in our small community next month. We had a "cake bar" and there were a total of 8 cakes to choose from. Needless to say the women who attended left on a sugar high from all the sweets there, me included. I forgot to get pictures...darn! What I find interesting is that even tho many people, especially women are wanting to know where their food comes from and seeing the re-surge in jam and canning as well as a new popularity for raising one's own chickens, many women do not bake. Or if they do it comes from a box. Yuck. It almost makes me think baking is a lost art, but one that I love. While growing up, I had both my girls helping me bake cookies and cakes, but the oldest doesn't like to cook or bake much and will use box mixes, and our youngest regularly cooks from the Julia Child's cookbook, so you never know. =) As for my cake making venture, I just got my first real paid cake of the month order for a year. I had been doing it as a fund raiser, but in the back of my mind, I thought this may be a fun little job (not that I really need another thing to do). The accountant that bought the Cake for a Year fundraiser certificate said this was the highlight for his office staff and they wanted this to continue... hmmm I can understand a nice slice of cake during the afternoon lulls. So I said yes I would be happy to continue bringing cakes and will now be paid for the service. Good to be me, doing something I love and getting paid. Yup - works for me. Other than the shower and baking, working at my off the farm job, I spent some time in my massive flower garden, then the usual, groceries, laundry, elder care, watching the grand angels, spending nice evenings with the cute farmer hubby and our spoiled dog. June 2, 2011 It’s been a busy week for this farm-wife, most of it is self imposed busyness, so I really can’t complain too much. Starting next week, I am hoping to go play outside in my huge wild flower garden. The 1/8 of acre flowerbed was intended to be a maintenance free space, but that is not how it has ended up and takes a large amount of my time to try to control the weeds and encourage the plants that I actually want. So it is safe to say it is still a work in progress even after 7 years. I need some warm temps and no rain to lure me out there as I am a pansy (no pun intended) when it comes to working outside in cold rainy weather. Joe was still out of town at a grain meeting, so I attended 5 yoa Brinley’s dance recital as the doting grandma that I am. What a sight to see, all those little ballet slippers and tutus twirling about.
The star awaiting the beginning of her performance
Brinley - front row on the right
A star, of course I'd a tad partial
Being married to a farmer, we have a very few weekends or free time when we can get off the farm, but this year is special and we will be doing our first (over 25 years) big vacation to Germany & a couple of countries. I am excited for the trip. Normally we will take short trips here and there, sort of try to work on the yard, but usually no camping. Again, I’m a pansy and like my comfy bed, hot showers and coffee, so this body doesn’t camp much, mainly cuz it’s me doing all the prep work to make it happen and I did try it, but again – I deemed it was too much work for any personal enjoyment on my part. =) Stay tuned for pictures! _________________________________________ May, 2011 5/27/11: Today we moved Kaitlyn, our youngest daughter 100 miles away. It was a bittersweet day for me, while I was excited for her to begin her new life as a young business professional, she is still my baby in a new city. Slightly unnerving for her momma, but I'm happy for her to begin this new phase of her life. Her older sister, Jen and I are already plotting trips to the big city to see Kaitlyn. Well, I'm beat as moving is hard work and I'm off to take my mom to Montana. =)
The month of May is a busy one for this farmwife, if I can get through the next 1 1/2 weeks life should be a little quieter, but this week will feel like a tornado for me. Monday & Tuesday will just be spraying weeds - weather permitting, baking around 4 cakes in preparation for a June 5th bridal shower & office work. Not so bad, then the rest of the week is craZy. From Wednesday to the following Saturday I'll work my regular hours at my off the farm job, help my daughter Kaitlyn move 100 miles away, drive my mom to Montana to attend a family member's h.s. graduation, attend a couple of board meetings, attend a dance recital for my 5yoa grand angel, bake one or two more cakes for a bridal shower and also host a breakfast for Joe's motorcycle buddies..... then thankfully very little as I think I'll be physically and mentally exhausted. =) Looking at this makes me think maybe I'm a little crazy, but most weeks are not like this - thank heavens. What is Farmer Joe doing? Well mostly working in the fields, helping move our daughter and then he has to head out of town next week for his own board meeting for the Idaho Grain Producers. UI Graduation
A perfect day dawned for the University of Idaho's graduation held on May 14, 2011. Our youngest daughter, Kaitlyn graduated from the same college as Joe and her Aunt Lisa. We had a joint celebration for Kaitlyn and her friend, Clark Gill who happened to be the nephew of some of our very best friends. As both are from farm families, it seemed fitting to hold the event in our shop. Being the proud parent, I've posted several pictures of the graduation party.
Kaitlyn as she is walking to the stage (she is the one looking at the camera)
Cupcakes say "Congrats UI 2011 Clark, Kaitlyn"
We mainly had family and a few close friends from both families at the party. Unfortunately, our oldest daughter, Jen had to work at the hospital that day, so she missed the festivities, but Soren our son in law and the grand angels made it.
UI Graduates, Kaitlyn, Clark, and Joan, his mom
Both Kaitlyn and Clark have landed great jobs in the Ag field and both are excited to begin this new stage of their lives.
Soren, my son in law with their daughters (my grand angels, baby is Maggie, Natalie and Brinley)
My mom, Ruth,( we call her GG ) enjoying the hearty food
My step dad, Doug and Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn and her daddy, both UI graduates
My brothers, Barry and Doug
Barry, Aubrie their daughter and Sis in law, Denise
enjoying themselves over good food
Grandpa Dale visiting with Clark
Jay, Lisa, Kaitlyn, me and Joe
We love the farmers who grow the
hops and barley for our favorite beverage
Andrew ( the boyfriend) and Kaitlyn
Our nephew, Zack, (Jay & Lisa's son) and Brinley, our grand angel
enjoying lunch and hamming it up for the camera
Longtime friends, Tedi & Jay, who were our next door neighbors
in town during Kaitlyn's childhood
Kaitlyn and Joe's Mother, Dorothy
Joe and good friend, Karen, who is also Clark's aunt
April, 2011 The month went by in a blur of many family events, like my birthday celebrated below. The girls' mama, Jen went back to work from her maternity leave and I've watched the little ones quite a bit. That may explain very little posts on this page! Three kids under the age of 5 keeps a person busy.
Me with the other grand angels, Brinley and Natalie
Papa holding the newest grand angel
Jen, our oldest had to take week-end shifts at the hospital for April and May so unfortunately she missed out on some fun kids things, but I helped their daddy out with the Easter egg hunt.
Egg hunt at the city park
Showing the loot after the hunt
Dying eggs is a sport in our family
Each year we gather at our house to dye eggs and write all sorts of things on them, from sweet to silly things. I make a big dinner and invite all my family over plus Joe's brother, wife & son. It's great fun. This year we had extra people as my aunt and uncle were visiting from Montana.
GG was helping Natalie as she was really liking this
dying the eggs activity
It seemed like if I wasn't watching the angels, I was puttering in the kitchen and baking a lot. Besides liking to bake, I am a "stress baker" and lots of baked goods are a result. Plus April was the 2nd coldest on record, so it seemed like a good place to be, in the kitchen creating all sorts of new cakes, muffins or other goodies. My 5 yoa angel says, " I am just like a chef" and a person can't get any better compliment than that. =) MARCH, 2011 March 19: Today long time friends Mary and her daughter Jill had a "Country Women's Brunch" and it was great getting to visit with many neighbors and friends. It was a potluck and the array of food was delicious.
One thing about farm-wives, we all know our way around the kitchen
and I've never met one of us who wasn't a good cook
The greeting among friends
Of course, our favorite place to be was around the food table
Good friend, Jacie (left) and neighbor, Renee (right)
Neighbor Gail chats with Ruth, my mom
It was a lovely morning eating, sipping great Mimosas and chatting with friends and neighbors. Thank you Mary and Jill for putting this together! A fun event. March 17: I have been working a lot on my other farm blog that will consolidate many other farm blogs and Ag sites throughout the USA into one blog in an effort to help the consumer connect with the farmer. For example if someone wanted to see what a dairy farmer did, there is a specific section on dairy bloggers, same with cattle farmers, corn, wheat, etc. As I have a tendency to get in a hurry and am impatient, I am trying to reign in my impulsive nature and focus on making sure this site is exactly as I have envisioned. I will keep this site (Idaho farmwife ) up as it is my personal farm blog, and the other site is purely for the consumer to check out other blogs on different kinds of crops and animal agriculture. If you want a sneak peek to see what I am doing you can find it at http://farmerinctherealstory.blogspot.com/ but please realize it is still a work in progress. The site is live, but I have not been promoting it in any manner. So if you have thoughts, ideas, email me. One of the good things about starting up a new blog, is that this blog website added some great new features that I was unaware of, and have now updated my site as well. Plus it needed a little bit of getting spruced up and refreshed for Spring. I still have some more things I want to do on it, and have enlisted the help of a friend - as some of the html codes are kind of scary to me. =) March 9: The farmer and I had a great trip to Florida where we were able to connect with farmer friends from all over the USA that we have met the last couple of years. After the meetings during the day, we sat in open air bars and had beer or two and ate lots of great food at fun places. I was a little worried about coming back 5 lbs heavier, but thankfully that didn't happen as I guess it was all the walking I did around the conference center and the Ybor district where we were staying. I'm enjoy getting to go to many of the conferences that Joe goes to and it is nice to just get away, sort of keeps me sane (altho family & friends may debate the sane part. =) The sun and warmth were great, so it was kind of hard coming back to cold weather again. It's March and I'm ready for Spring. Now I'm back into the regular routine of parent care, spending time with the grand-angels and whatever else I seem to do with my time. Tonight I did some baking, and made a Almond Cherry Pound Cake, a new version of some healthy granola bars and then a carrot cake for my hubby's birthday tomorrow. Well, I have to work tomorrow... so off to bed I go. FEBRUARY, 2011 I'm not sure where the month went, but we are packing to head to Florida for a farm conference. Besides getting to see some great folks that I only get to see at these kinds of events, I am looking forward to some down time in the sun and having fun with the farmer. I do like to go to some of the meetings/seminars about "farm agvocacy" and come back all refreshed and ready to blog more and do what we can to try to get our farm story out there. I keep feeling that there is something else just on the horizon that I need to do or accomplish regarding farm advocacy, but I'm not quite sure what it is. Maybe I'll figure it out in Florida. The first part of the month was no snow and we were thinking it was going to be springtime soon, then this past week and 1/2 we've had a winter, with snow and cold temps. So I finally did get to go sledding with the grand-angels, their mommy and daddy on a Sunday afternoon last week-end. The month was been busy with the usual and time consuming parent care issues, so now it seems pretty regular and I just incorporate whatever is needed into my regular day. At times though I do not feel that my time is my own, but I am glad to be able to be here to help my aging folks. I also try to make lots of time to spend with the grand-angels, plus one on one time as their mommy and daddy are pretty busy with the new little baby, Maggi who arrived a month ago. JANUARY, 2011
Wow, where do I begin? This month was a blur with so much going on. January is big birthday month as both daughters were born in January and now two of the grand-angels as well (Brinley and Maggie). Plus my step dad, sister in law, a cousin, a niece and mother in law all have January b-days too. So needless to say, it is a busy month of birthday celebrations as well as our anniversary is January 12.
L to R,, Kaitlyn, Jen with Maggie, Brinley (5),
me, Ruth (my mom, and Natalie (2)
L to R, Emily (Kaitlyn's roommate), Ruth, Joe & Maggie,
Jen, Brinley, Natalie and Kaitlyn during a joint b-day dinner
This farm wife was pretty busy after Jen came home from the hospital and had to be quarantined to our house as daddy and both big sisters came down with the flu right after the birth of Maggie. Jen had a brief bout with the flu at the hospital, but quickly overcame it and thankfully the baby never did catch it. Then daughter Kaitlyn came down with it as well, so I was tending 3 households helping everone(Joe was out of town) and of course have come down with it.... so as I write I am trying to rally and get over this nasty strain. To add interest to all of this, my step dad's shop burned to the ground and took with it his restored old car, pick-up and drag racing memorabilia, although there is nothing we could do, but offer our condolences, it was a sad event. Well it's off to "bond with the couch" again, as fatigue gotten the upper hand. So with that my friend's, stay well and take care. G
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Christmas, 2010
The Genesee Valley Lutheran Church
This is the church where Joe & I got married, our daughters were baptised there, our oldest daughter, Jen got married there 7 years ago. It holds a special place in my heart and also is a beautiful place of worship.
This year's holidays were bittersweet, I loved all the family stuff, but we have had some major changes in my side of the famiily structure. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, we have lots of parent care issues, my dad, step-dad and Joe's dad, all have serious health issues. I am guessing with a fair amount of certainty that it will be their last holiday for at least 2 of the 3 dads. It has been a time of change, wherein my mom and step-dad separated and out of necessity we had to create new Christmas traditions, going to my step-dads house for lunch, then over to my mom's for dinner on Christmas eve. Then we did our usual Christmas morning breakfast and went over to Jen & Soren's to watch the grand angels open their gifts, a quick stop into the nursing home for a Christmas lunch with my dad, then on to my Joe's brother's house for Christmas on the Anderson side.... whew! It was a whirlwind of events, but there was no other way it could have been done. As with anything, you do what you need to do and we made the best of the situation.
Me, Doug (my step dad) and Joe
All of my side of the family gathered around, plus
the caretaker of my dad (top middle)
Joe putting together a tractor for the
littlest grand angel. He was getting expert advise
from the two helpers.
My mom and daughter, Kaitlyn on Christmas morning
hanging out on the couch at Jen & Soren's
Jen + (baby #3 due mid-January) and the two grand angels
amidst all the gifts
Joe and nephew, Zack, patiently waiting
to open gifts. Zack is the son of Jay & Lisa. This was
our last of the 4 Christmas gift opening/dinner events.
Sis in law, Lisa, Kaitlyn, niece, Anna and nephew Larson
enjoying wine before dinner
Joe's dad, Andy quietly watching everyone
and enjoying the activity
This year we decided to go to a nearby tree farm to cut our own Christmas tree. It was a perfect day, cold but sunny. Our oldest daughter Jennifer, son-in-law, Soren and grand angels, Brinley and Natalie also came along. Our other daughter, Kaitlyn was working so she couldn't come with us.
Heading out towards the grand fir lot
Natalie sitting on poppa's shoulders was a
better option than walking through the snow
Brinley and Jen searching for the perfect tree
Joe looking at the one I wanted - somehow
the trees don't look so big out in the field as they do once
in the house.....
Photo op with the grand angels
After the trees were cut, the tree farm had hot cocoa and home made cookies in their office/kitchen area.
Joe and me posing in front of our tree
Soren, Jen, Brinley, Natalie and baby #3 in the making
It was a good day and I think we will do this again next year. This is what holiday memories are made of. The tree smells so good and it makes me smile every time I walk into the house and smell that heavenly pine scent. =)
Each year my oldest daughter and I make items to take to our local hospital's crafts fair. We are both hooked on making Christmas ornament wreaths. They are easy and look great. Sometimes we leave the wreaths up all year long. The wreaths are for indoor only.
What you will need for the project is a straw wreath form, a glue gun with lots of glue sticks, ribbon, tinsel garland, and assorted ornaments.
Step 1: I usually leave the plastic on the straw wreath - but you can unwrap it if you prefer. Cut a length of ribbon and wrap it around the wreath and glue it, but make sure you have enough to make a loop so you can hang the wreath on a hook. Make sure and use lots of glue when attaching the ribbon to the wreath.
Step 2: With the glue gun put a stream of glue on the outside and inside of the wreath. I usually do a quarter of the wreath at a time, so I do a stream of glue on the outside, then quickly attach the garland to the hot glue. Continue until the outside and inside of the form has a garland band as shown in the picture.
The wreath with the ribbon hook and an outer layer of garland
Step 3: Start hot gluing the various ornaments on the straw form. I usually will put large ones on first and putting them more on the front side of the wreath, saving smaller ornaments for the outer edges of the wreath, but there is no wrong way to do and completely what you like. From experience, I will use plastic ornaments on the outside edge of the wreath as they will not break, then I do the breakable ones on the front of the wreath (hope this makes sense) and see the picture below. The varying sizes of the bulbs and textures add interest. It is important to put a good glob of glue on the ornament where you want to secure it to the base. Then as I add ornaments, I not only glue to the wreath, but put a spot of glue on each ornament that it touches to help secure it.
Gluing the ornaments on the wreath form
Step 4: Continue to work around the ornament wreath until it is filled with bulbs. Once that is done, I will usually hang it up so I can take a look to see if the overall shape is round and even. Once I'm okay with the basic overall look, then I return to my work station and cut about 1" pieces of the garland, fold the piece in half and put a spot of glue on it and poke it into holes between the ornaments. Look at the sides of the wreath to make sure that you cannot see any straw wreath form showing between the ornaments as shown below in the picture.
Final stages, adding in pieces of the tinsel garland to fill in the holes
Step 5: If you have strings of glue on the ornament wreath, take a portable blow dryer, turn it on high and aim it closely at the wreath where you want it to melt the glue strings. I usually will have lots of glue fibers on the wreath and the blow dryer is great at either melting them into nothing or at least melting them so they are not noticeable. Note: be careful to not get too close to the garland as some brands will melt if the hot air stream is too close.
Finished ornament wreath
See you can do anything with the wreaths. For added interest, I glued a foil wrapped star in the center. Any color combo is great so just let your imagination go and have fun. =)
A white and gold themed with a star hot glued in the center for
added interest
October 22-25, 2010 I accompanied Joe to a National Association of Wheat Growers in Minneapolis, MN last week.While Joe attended meetings, I was free to roam the streets of downtown.While exploring the big city on foot, I attended a Sunday morning church service at the Westminster Presbyterian Church not far from our hotel.There I signed up to help serve the Sunday meal later on that day to the homeless, that are referred to as guests. The whole experience was a truly humbling experience and one I will never forget.I requested to take pictures, but could only take photos of the church crew working.The dinner was a highly organized event .I was so impressed by the kindness of those working, and in visiting with members, I learned that a professional chef donates his Sunday to cooking a wonderful meal. Several churches each take a Sunday to feed those in need. This week's dinner consisted of mashed potatoes, a breaded chicken breast, brussel sprouts, rolls, salad and carrot cake. Before the guests arrived, the chef always does a presentation plate so those in the kitchen know how to dish up the food, just as in a high scale restaurant fashion. The guests are seated at the tables and I was one of the volunteers to serve them. All the guests were polite and very appreciative of the meal. It made me very thankful for all that I have in my life.
Westminster Presbyterian Church
The Chef hard at work
A volunteer getting the coffee ready
Getting the salt and pepper ready for the tables
Another volunteer helping with the dinner
One of two serving stations to dish up the plates of food
The church dining area before the guests arrive
*********** October 9,10, 2010 Oldest daughter, Jen and I are vendors at the Red Barn Fall Festival in Colton, WA which is held the second week-end in October. This is our booth and while it's a lot of work, it's fun and sort of pays for our junking treasure hunting habit. It was fun to people watch, and again reaffirmed my thoughts that people enjoy getting out into the country and enjoying the wholesomeness of just being in a rural setting. Besides having vendors like us (shabby chic), there were vendors selling homemade canned jams/jellies to hand made jewelry, plus the event had activities such as hayrides, a pumpkin patch, live music and games for the kids. It is a great time for young & old alike.
Jen & me in front of our booth - named
S-Wheatie-Pie
A view of the event. People love to get out in the countryside.
People enjoying the day at the festival
September, 2010
The crazy women in our family, left to right
Kaitlyn, me,Sarah, Edie, Ruth, Jen
Other than family reunions, my side of the family has never taken a vacation together, so over Labor Day we rented a house close to the beach and enjoyed some much needed down time. Only my younger brother Barry & his family were not able to attend and we missed them. Pictured above were daughters, Kaitlyn and Jen, niece Sarah and almost sis-in-law, Edie along with my mom, Ruth. As I briefly mentioned in a previous update, a series of events and some heart wrenching parent care issues have forced my mom and step-dad to separate, so we are still working through all the heartaches and challenges of this new situation. So this time away was a much needed fun event, of which it proved to be. (we all were wondering why haven't we done this sooner??)
Poppa & Natalie playing in the ocean for the first time
Natalie loved the waves & the cold didn't seem to
faze her at all!
Mom, who we refer to as "GG", Jen and Brinley
looking for beach treasures
An addition to Jen & Soren's family
is on the way, which will make #3
Joe and I
Niece, Sarah being her exuberant self
Daughter, Kaitlyn enjoying a stroll on the beach
Sarah, Doug (my brother) and Edie
GG, Brinley and Son-in-law, Soren
More walks on the beach for more
cool rocks and shells
Natalie enjoying low tide
It had rained a couple of days before Labor Day, so husband Joe was able to come along as we were still in wheat harvest. Many of us took long walks on the beach, picked up lots of rocks, laughed and I think all gained about 5 pounds from the good food. It was heavenly. As a surprise to GG, we are making one of the really cool photo books that will showcase our family vacation.
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August 2010 Fun.... yard sales and cutting sunflowers
Jen with Natalie in the backpack and Kaitlyn with Brinley taking a look
at a yard sale in Uniontown, WA
In our part of the country our small communities will have a town wide yard sale. (Both my daughters and I are big yard sale fans and we are training the little girls to be yard sale fans as well)! =) Most any Saturday, you can find us scouring area sales looking for those unnamed treasures yet to be found. Both Jen's and my hubby tolerate our passion for treasures that we pack home. =) We can even entice my younger daughter, Kaitlyn's boyfriend to accompany us too.
Me finding a vintage bike to ride around the countryside.
Lots of treasures found!
On August 14th Genesee had their annual community yard sale and I helped oldest daughter, Jen at hers. My 4 year old grand-angel, Brinley, had a lemonade stand at the yard sale as she wanted to buy pretty new shoes and was earning the money for them. The day before, Brinley and I made goodies to sell at her stand and she manned the stand all morning carefully making sure baby sister, Natalie stayed out of the goodies. Brinley's daddy, Soren had made the cutest lemonade stand and Brinley painted the letters.
Brinley manning her lemonade stand at the garage sale
The youngest grand-angel sampling
the goods after the sale was over
Life is good with a cupcake in hand
The shoes Brinley bought from the monies
she earned from her lemonade stand
Just before harvest started, Jen, Soren and the grand-angels came out for dinner and afterwards Brinley and poppa were out in the yard cutting sunflowers for a bouquet for mom.
Poppa thought some of grandma's lavender would
look good in the bouquet
Hmmm lavender smells so nice
August 3, 2010 Blogging has helped me become more a little more insightful as well as attentive of events happening both around me as well as those that occur in my own life. This is new to me, as my single mindedness coupled with sometimes being oblivious to daily things happening around me has made me a target of some good natured kidding by family (and yes, I admit I deserved it). Now I find myself slowing down and reflecting on events and/or people and that is a good thing. I started this blog to put a face on farming and that farmers and their families are real people working very hard to put food on your table. And from the many comments that I’ve received from people (both friends and strangers) I came to realize that people read blogs because of the human interest element. If readers wanted to know the facts in a non-personal view, then you would read a farm publication and get the info that way. As there seemed to be interest in what goes on in our rural farm lives I added this page and to write about the random events of what my family and I are doing. I don't want to give the impression that just because To preface this, I wanted to share a couple of recent events that started me thinking about making this page just a bit more of a personal view into our lives. So…… it started with a memorial service on Father’s Day that I attended due to the fact that I am the president of a non-profit foundation and the memorial was for the woman whose munificent donation was the start of this wonderful grant giving organization. I went out of gratitude to thank the family for their mom's generosity and to pay tribute to a woman whose selflessness has helped many non-profit groups. I did not know our benefactor and I was also curious about this woman and her life as she was somewhat famous. The memorial started out with friends saying all the nice things and a shared a few funny stories, then one of her sons stood up and told a brief story about her life that was so heart wrenching, yet poignant and personal that I will remember it forever. I’d never been to a memorial where the family shared some true insight into their lives, even though it was painful and sad, it made me in awe of them – I guess for their courage and candor. The second event was a couple of weeks ago when some close friends of ours complimented me on the blog not only for its farm related content, but more about the personal connection this page has. They liked my writing style and said it was like having a conversation wherein it was giving the “real factor” and insight into one’s life and making that “connection” with the reader. (Thank you again Pete and Karen). The last 3 or 4 years my husband and I have been coping with the decline in health of all three dads, (my step-dad, dad and father-in-law). The variety of ailments are all serious as one dad is in the final stages of life with his bone cancer, one has had a stroke & now needs to have a heart valve replacement, and one has Parkinson’s/dementia and bone cancer - their diseases have been progressing and the past few weeks have been very difficult. I watch as the diseases take away the quality of their life, it has made me come to realize that at the end of a person’s life, the only real thing you have is your memories and the love of your family. So from time to time I’ll report on the dads. By sharing some of our fun times and some of our hard times, my hope is that this page will help readers to see those of us in the Ag industry as ordinary people who have an extraordinary job to do. (I’m thinking of trade marking/registering this saying to look like a dictionary meaning: Farmers \farm-ers\ n ordinary people who have an extraordinary job to do and put the saying on t-shirts to sell and donate the profits to go to Ag in the Classroom? What do you think?) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ June 26 - July 4, 2010 When you are married to a farmer you do not have very many week-ends in the summer to play. With our farm we typically have a 3 or 4 week window of time in which to get yard projects done or take a few days off to play, so our time away is late June to mid-July. This year Joe and I went to Canada with another couple for 4 days. Below we are pictured at Lake Louise, brrrr, was cool and windy but the view was fabulous.
Joe and I by our bike.
Riding the ferry.
Happy 4th of July America!
A couple days after we got home, we attended the Johnson 4th of July parade. This is a great event that draws 3,000 or so people in this little tiny town (maybe 20 houses and a grain elevator) in Washington. This is the only parade where the parade contestants spray water on the spectators and that spectators spray back. It's lots of fun and it wouldn't be the same if we didn't attend the parade. (Usually we are in the parade, but this year decided to just watch). You never know what or who will show up at this crazy parade and this parade is a "one of it's kind".
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Small Town USA Celebrations June 12, 2010 Around here, all the small towns hold annual celebrations wherein family, friends and visitors come to watch parades, visit, and enjoy the festivities that are unique to each community.
Kiddie parade
View of Genesee's main street
A parade in farming country is not complete without at least one tractor.
This year's theme was about the past and it's first settlers.
.
It's a place where the kids eagerly wait by the sidewalk curb for the candy to be thrown by the parade participants.
In the green gator are granddaughters Natalie and Brinley taking a tour of main street.
Our youngest daughter, Kaitlyn with Brinley.
Even the littlest ones (Natalie) get in on the candy action!
Natalie finds a safe spot to eat her candy.
Below is our oldest daughter, Jen with GG, my mom.
Living in a small community is wonderful and we enjoy it. Small town living may not be for everyone, but I would not trade it for the world.
************************************************** A View From Our Deck Sunday, May 30, 2010 7:00am It's a beautiful day on the Palouse and here is a picture from our back deck over looking the Genesee Valley. The field on the lower left side of the picture belongs to another farmer and they have planted peas which have just popped out of the ground. On the lower left, the brown field is our garbanzo field and the plants aren't visable like the peas, but they are up. To see a better view of what a garb plant looks like at this stage, go the Diary of a Crop page. Well off to go spend some quality time with my back pack sprayer to do war with the weeds! =)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Mother's Day 2010
I'm a little late in sharing what my husband got for me for Mother's Day - it was two 6' tall metal sunflowers. The pictures show them being installed in my flower garden. It was a complete surprise and they make me smile each time I see them. It's good to be me. =) Life in General on the Farm, Tuesday April 27, 2010 This Spring has been a busy one for me personally, in between parent care issues, babysitting the grand-angels, and working outside here and there - weather permitting, not to mention the off the farm job, my days are full with taking care of lots of people and things. Having parent care issues reminds me of the time when the children were really young and you had a "window of opportunity" (say nap time) to get lots of things done. My life sort of seems like that right now and I'm having to re-adapt myself to not having my days go as planned and now have to utilize those "chunks of time" to get what you want accomplished. I find blogging helps put things in perspective and that I really enjoy it. I'm always on on the look out for ways to blog about our farm activities, our personal events and life in general. Today I watched the grand angels and they are busy little people. The 4 yoa and 19 month old like to bake treats to take home to Mom and Dad. My kitchen ends up looking like a tornado hit it, but we have lots of fun and the dog likes to hang around for items dropped from our experiments. These are special moments for me and ones that I treasure. The youngest grand-angel is starting to talk and doesn't call me grandma or any version of it, but rather just calls me "mine" when she refers to me - so I'm "grandma and mine". I'm afraid that nickname will stick, but it is said with lots of love and to her little mind, I'm her personal possession =) - little moments like this are what gets me through tougher issues. So with that, I'll sign off.. take care and enjoy those people around you. =) . ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Sunday, April 18, 2010The Little Blue Tractor
When it comes to equipment, my farmer loves ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Friday night, April 5, 2010
The Annual Easter Egg Dying Event
For probably 20 years now, all of my side of the family (2 brothers & their families, my folks) as well as Joe's brother, Jay, his wife Lisa & their son have been coming to our house to color Easter eggs. Everyone partcipates and it is a firmly entrenched family tradition. Some years, Joe & Jay have have missed in partcipating or arrive late to the festivities as Spring work is usually just beginning or in progress depending on where Easter falls on the calendar and weather conditions. But most of the time they are here. This year the guest list grew a little as our youngest college age daughter, Kaitlyn brought home her boyfriend and a good friend from college. Lots of eating was done and there was much laughter and even the newbies were getting into the fun. It was a bittersweet event as my wonderful step dad couldn't make it due to his complications from cancer, but insisted mom attend.
Most years we gather for dinner before hand, then color eggs. Adults as well as kids get into the fun of writing or drawing pictures on the eggs and the end results are often eggs with funny sayings on them to traditional and sweet things. This year my youngest daughter was standing beside mom and secretly writing funny things on the eggs with the clear crayon, then mom would color her eggs and there lo and behold her eggs would have something written on them.... you really have to have a sense of humor to survive in this family. All in all the event was a great one. I served the artichoke/spinach lasagna and the regular lasagna of which both recipes are on the recipe page. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Friday night, March 26, 2010Friday Night in America After our girls reached their teens, my husband and I implemented our "date night" on Friday evenings, when Joe is not in the field =). Most date nights we go to dinner, sometimes alone, often times with friends. Occasionally we partake in going into our little town's local "watering hole" where many of the locals that Joe has known since grade school are having a cool one. Joe and I have coined the term, "Friday night in America" when we want to go have one or two cool beverages at the local bar/restaurant . As always, we can count on the regulars who gather and they truly are the "salt of the earth"' group. There is Jay who owns a construction business and his wife, Tedi, who owns her own business. I didn't visit with Tedi as her folks were there having dinner and she was engaged in conversation with them. Then there was Smitty, who works for a local fertizlizer company; Jim who owns his owns his mail packaging franchise business; Terry who works for our Ag co-op company; Doug who drives a semi; and Jim who owns , with his wife, a glass company and only was in to have one cold beer then on home to tend to his wife who is going through chemo for breast cancer. Anyway, this collection of good, hard working men & women are the fabric of rural America. They are honest, reliable people who serve on local boards and groups and are the ones that make America great! Although we only stop in a few times a year, it is always wonderful to connect with such a great group of citizens. There is no where I'd rather be than in our friendly rural town. I think we are living what many of the non-Ag sector can only dream about and I am truly grateful to be living this kind of life. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++The Commitment of a Farmer I started the blog about the 1st day of Spring work in the early a.m. hours before work and ended up finishing it in the waiting room of our local hospital. I was there as my dad was having emergency surgery. Joe and I kept in contact through cell phones and he worked, while I waited with other family members. It reminded me of this exact time 5 years ago when our oldest daughter also ended up having emergency surgery during Spring work. After our daughter was in the recovery room and the doctor assured us all was fine, my husband asked and I wholeheartedly agreed, he needed to get back out in the field to finish seeding the ground as rain was imminent. So off he went and finished about 2 hours before the rain hit. My point of the story is that farmers, (as well as family members) are passionate about their job, that we work when it is not convenient or easy and sometimes having to juggle a family crisis. The crops have a growing period and a window in which the crop must get into the ground to be able to harvest them -so we do what we need to do and work around life. We work very long hours, we can get frustrated over things we cannot control, such as weather and market prices, but it is a job that we love and a life style that we love even more. So the sacrifices made by those in the Ag industry are done with a single mindedness and a goal to provide the best crops in the most efficient and environmentally safe manner possible. With us, it’s a matter of personal pride and I’m glad I married the man I did and admire his work ethic. ************************************************** Thursday evening, March 11, 2011. 8:30pm My house needs cleaning, but I've chosen to have a glass of wine and sit here to chat with you =) ! I am dong a load of laundry and running the dishwasher as things like that always make feel a little bit more organized and like I'm getting stuff done. Joe is at a Masonic Lodge meeting and the house is quiet. Tonight I experimented on a few new recipes and wanted to see if there was a better version of chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake and coconut-chocolate bars.... hmmm I see a trend here! Can you tell I was craving chocolate? Joe can always tell when I'm stressed by the amount of stuff I bake. So tomorrow, I'll divide it up, some will go to my dad's house and the majority will be carted off to one of my favorite hardworking public service offices (our local sheriff's office). I knew I wanted to bake so after work I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few things and there I ran into a good friend and former co-worker of mine named Charlotte. She thanked me for my blog and had one of my recipes from the blog in her hand & was shopping for groceries to make it. Seeing Charlotte made me think back to the crazy, hectic, sometimes stressful days when I worked in the CEO's office with her. I miss the people, but not the 40+ hour job and the pressure. Due to elder care family issues I took a different job and only work 20 hours off the farm. It's funny how things work out and take a person down a completely different path than what they ever thought they would do, but I believe in serendipity. I've had it happen several times in my life, the way I met my husband, the jobs I held and now finding a new passion in writing and "championing agriculture". That was the last thing I ever imagined myself doing, but here I am and it's a right fit for me.
Here is a picture I took when in California last week for the Ag meeting, it was a fun place to visit, but city life has never been a draw for me. I like the wide open spaces, but again to each their own. Also wanted to share a picture of the exotic flowers I saw on one of my walks.
So thanks for your ear. Come back soon!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The weather has been pretty nice and I've accepted that winter is over and spring is very near. Time to begin decorating for spring. I started pulling out some spring like decorative items to give our home a fresh look. I still have my crappy camera which sometimes works, but I'm hoping to get a new camera soon and one that I can take both short movie clips as well as some good shots. I'm excited to share some of my projects that I'll be working on, both inside the house as well as outside. I have some cement planter projects in mind, I want to experiment on making some unique cake plates out of existing items and may learn to weld as I want to make some yard art... who knows where that will lead too. Either way, stop in often and check out this page for new things. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Here is a peek into our house. I like to decorate, no formal training, I just put things together that I like and I love wheat. In fact I counted 8 wheat bouquets around our house, not to mention the wheat lamps, wheat plate holders, etc. Here are some pictures of my favorite parts of the house. I need a new camera, so bear with me on the crappy quality of my pictures! =)
I found this wheat light in an antique store in Long Beach, CA when I was there on a business trip a few years ago. I carried it home on my lap in the airplane! Perhaps antics like that explain why my girls tell me I'm not "normal".... of course my standard reply is "normal" around here is a setting on the dryer.
Here is one of the wheat bouquets in an old thermos, grouped with an old childs truck and other little farmish items. Also displayed on this cabinet is a wheat plate that says harvest on it. As soon as I get my new camera I can take close ups.
I'm having technical difficulty with getting my pictures loaded, could be the "nut" behind the computer (me). So stayed tuned for more.
Oh Gail, what a wonderful account of your trip to Germany...ok now I'm just jealous....when are you going again? the farm radio girl wants to go too... hope all is well with you and thanks for sharing. Pam F.
It's a place where the kids eagerly wait by the sidewalk curb for the candy to be thrown by the parade participants. 
Here is one of the wheat bouquets in an old thermos, grouped with an old childs truck and other little farmish items. Also displayed on this cabinet is a wheat plate that says harvest on it. As soon as I get my new camera I can take close ups. 
1 comment:
Oh Gail, what a wonderful account of your trip to Germany...ok now I'm just jealous....when are you going again? the farm radio girl wants to go too...
hope all is well with you and thanks for sharing.
Pam F.
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