Sleepovers or "Sleeplessovers"

Last night Emily and Abbie came out to the farm for a sleepover (or sleeplessovers as our good friend David likes to call them). And, much to their shagrin (smile) they "have" to stay for another night. The roads are icy on Hwy 10, so Sarah and Doug decided not to risk the journey so close after her back surgery. When I broke the "bad" news to them that they were going to have to stay the night again, there was much rejoicing!! Not everyone is thrilled, however! Sometime in the recent past, Brett has grown up and has been grumpy with all of the girl noises emanating from all parts of the house. :)

When did he grow up, I wonder? I smile as I think of many years of sleepovers that we endured for him! Of course, there weren't screams of joy echoing throughout the house when he had his friends over. Although there were lots of boyish yells of "YES!" when the Hot Wheels cars performed their acrobatics correctly! Or when the rockets went off without a hitch and he went in search of the parachutes, etc., to pick up! And who could forget that he was the self-proclaimed "Number 1 Pokemon Fan!!!!"

I guess those days are long past, but the memories are glorious. Just as the memories of little girl's sleepovers, with their high pitched squeals of laughter and fun will eventually be as well. For now, I'll enjoy this, almost as much as they are!

It's January, and I'm Dreaming of Spring!!!

Here it is, January 15th and I'm sooo tired of winter. (We're supposed to get another inch of snow tonight!) This week we're going to be having "high" temperatures in the negative numbers. I think some people think we're crazy for living up here. And I'll admit that winter can be long, but it's so worth it for spring, summer, and fall! I'm glad I wrote this post, it's made me thankful again.

While I was at Fleet Farm this afternoon picking up feed for the chickens, I noticed all of the seeds and gardening stuff being displayed now. It made me happy just to look at them!! I think I'm going to start planning for the CSA garden we plan to have this summer. I always love going through the seed catalogs.

I can hardly wait to get my hands into the soil again, smell the rain, hear the droning of the lawnmower and smell the freshly cut grass. I'm looking forward to seeing the geese returning, and the first Robins, and hearing the birds singing. Other things that make me smile: sitting on the deck and watching the sunset and seeing the stars "come out", hearing the frogs croaking out their songs, and the Canadian Geese honking. Watching the eagles soaring in the air above our farm. Thunderstorms, windows open all day and night, crickets chirping, chickens wandering all over the farm expecting a hand-out whenever they get a glimpse of me. A full moon reflecting on the lake.

This afternoon, while we were driving into Moorhead, I asked Brett if he had noticed all of the seeds at Fleet Farm, and he smiled while he reached into his jacket and produced four packets of Watermelon seeds he had just bought! I must be doing something right!

We Wish You a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!!

Mmmm, Fresh Eggs!!

The chickens are finally earning their keep!! We've started getting eggs every day, usually around 2 dozen a day! They are absolutely delicious and our family and friends are enjoying the surplus! That's me in the picture above holding the very first egg. I'm not sure which of my 42 hens laid it, but they're all getting down to business now.

Yesterday I went out to the coop to get two more eggs to finish up a batch of eggs I was bringing into town, I walked in and said "Okay Ladies, I need two more eggs." I started walking around to search for eggs and found 3! I thanked the girls for their hard work and off I went. :)

What can I say? I'm a country girl!

Cowgirls, Tiggers, and Pretty Maids

A beautiful sunset on our farm.

This past Monday, Sarah and the kids came out to the farm to carve pumpkins. Everyone had a blast! As you can see from the pictures, everyone was up to their elbows in pumpkin! The pumpkins turned out great, too! I hope to be able to post some pictures when I can get them from Alicia.

Halloween was a fun day for our kids and granddaughter. Jillian was a cowgirl, Julie was "Tigger" and Natalie was a pretty little maid. We went "trick or treating" with Sarah's family, and good friends of ours, the Perkin's, family. First we went to the Eventide retirement home as we have for many years now. The elderly patients and caregivers enjoy it as much as the kids do, I think! I enjoy seeing a son or daughter sitting beside their parents giving out candy and talking with the children. And I absolutely love watching as these beautiful elderly folk with their lined, weathered, wise faces light up with joy as they see little ones standing in front of them. I want my children to feel at ease and to honor their elders. I think this is a small step toward encouraging them to do that.

Saying "Goodbye" to My Loyal Companion

This afternoon my black cocker spaniel, Molly, was hit by a car out by our mailbox and killed. The driver of the car didn't even stop. Out here in the country, we have so little traffic out on our gravel road, but this car was really flying.

I miss my little companion. She always followed me around the house until I sat down (even when her arthritis was acting up and it was hard for her to stand), and then she would lie down at my feet. When I was homeschooling at the dining room table, she was at my feet. When I would sit on the couch, she would hop up and lie down beside me. Whenever I went outside in the morning and evening to take care of the chickens, she accompanied me. I felt safer when she was with me, because I knew she would alert me if anything was amiss.

She loved the farm. When Jay was outside working in the garden this summer, she was with him. She loved to chase the barn swallows when they dipped down to catch the bugs that were near the ground. She would chase them for hours! She never chased the chickens, though. Somehow she knew that those were off limits. She loved being outside if either Jay or I were out with her. When we came in, she wanted to be inside too.

Molly loved us unconditionally and was a faithful companion. As I sit here at the table tapping away on my laptop, the area beside my feet where she would be lying now, seems too empty. I am thankful for all of the animals that God has made. And, I am glad that I had 8 years with my little "cockeral spanish girl" called Molly.

To be a good mommy...

Today Jillian is ill with a cold or allergies. She is really down about it because she had to miss her cousin, Emily's, birthday party today. So, we are going to watch a movie together and just relax for a couple of hours. I'm looking forward to it! She is such a sweetie and has always been my "cuddly one".

I'm trying to get a bunch of things done before Jay's mom, Myrna, arrives on Wednesday. My efforts keep getting sidetracked by tomatoes that need to be canned, etc. :) It will be worth it this winter when we can still have our delicious tomatoes, albeit cooked instead of raw.

Jay has done a fantastic job in his garden this summer. I especially loved the green beans and corn. We've never been able to successfully grow corn before, and it was such a treat to walk out into the garden, pick some ears of corn, bring them inside to shuck and drop them into a pot of boiling water. They were incredible!

Now the zucchini and yellow squash are done, as is the corn. We lost the okra, watermelon, cantaloupe, and a few other things to a hail storm that hit us about 3 weeks ago. (It did quite a bit of damage to our siding and gutters too.) But, we have many, many pumpkins and the kids are really excited about that!

Well, it's off to the "movies".