Out With The Old.
Posted on | January 8, 2014 | 7 Comments
Well, I got lots of good stuff for Christmas. But no one was able to find a replacement for my barn coat. Oh, they tried. But how do you replace this?
Ah, the perfection of a broken-in barn coat. It always has a piece of twine tucked somewhere in case of emergency. There’s always a stale treat hidden in its folds to lure a loose animal back inside the fence. It can be used as a rag to wipe things or a plug to stop leaking things. No matter how many times it is washed, it envelopes you with the comforting smells of hay and manure, woodsmoke and wet dog, fresh dirt and buck funk, curdled milk and dried egg yolk. (Do not put stray eggs in your barn coat pocket. Do not. You will not remember them until you have broken them.) The rips and stains stand as testimony to a full life and a long barnyard to-do list. Read more
A Christmas Gift.
Posted on | December 27, 2013 | 8 Comments
Well, it’s all over except for the tree burning ceremony. Since no one has watered the tree since we put it up (just like last year)(and the year before)(and, yeah,…you guessed it), I’m expecting the fire to be even brighter than the Christmas lights.
This year The Other Half managed all the Christmas shopping. Including shipping, handling, and hiding. And on the big night, while I was at work dealing with drunken domestics and brittle diabetics, he was up late reading Christmas tales to the kids, wrapping the presents, and arranging the stockings for Santa. By the time I got home in the morning there nothing left to do but sip coffee and watch the annual display of shock and awe. Read more
Keepin’ It Real.
Posted on | December 20, 2013 | 2 Comments
I took the truck to get hay.
So The Other Half and Middle took the ’85 Sprint and headed into the woods.
Which meant that when I heard them honking in the driveway, I came out to see this:
Yep. Carried that buck all the way home strapped to the front of the Sprint. Read more
Finished.
Posted on | December 13, 2013 | 3 Comments
I know some of you went for the “one and done” philosophy of parenting. Which is smart, if somewhat obsessive. After all, what is the point of worrying endlessly over 1 child when you could be trying to ignore 4 children equally instead?
Since we have 4 children that had to pass through the same rituals of walking, speaking, potty training, first day of school, etc, we never felt very finished when Big accomplished one of these things. It just didn’t seem that celebratory to say, as we were putting away the potty seat:
“Sweet! Only 3 more kids and 9 more years of diapers to go!”
Just like it doesn’t feel that encouraging now that he’s close to getting his braces out to think:
“Awesome! Only 3 more kids and $10,000,000 in teeth extractions and orthodontia to pay for!” Read more
The Calm Before The Storm.
Posted on | December 11, 2013 | 1 Comment
Brianna was one of our very first goats.
She and Carmen arrived together.
The Good Thing About Pigs….
Posted on | December 8, 2013 | No Comments
….is that even 11 days after Thanksgiving.
Long after Timmy, our Elf on the Shelf, has appeared….
and the onset of December’s freezing rain has forced me to pull out the winter clothes and put away the summer outfits.
When we can’t avoid getting out this stuff any more….
Role Playing.
Posted on | December 6, 2013 | 6 Comments
We all have a role to play. No one’s contribution can be underestimated.
Last weekend, someone around here forgot their role and I refuse to be held responsible for it.
After all, everyone knows I am the animal hoarder manager and it is my job to snatch up the adorable…
and the ridiculously ugly.
Score! Part II.
Posted on | December 4, 2013 | 3 Comments
So I was minding my own business, driving a kid to town for basketball practice, when I saw it. Right there. Out in the open. For anyone to see.
15 bags of leaves. Huge brown paper bags. Filled to the brim with leaves. Stacked neatly at the curb for pick up.
I drove by slowly. Were those bags really at the curb? Was the person really putting those out for pick up? Were all the cars driving by not even slightly interested in those bags? Are there rules about taking someone else’s bagged leaves???
I know what you’re thinking. Since this is what I can see from my kitchen window…
…what the heck would I find appealing about bags of leaves? Read more
Raising The Roof.
Posted on | December 3, 2013 | 6 Comments
The coldest days of the season aren’t here yet. But now that we’ve had the first few freezes and some winter rains, we discovered where the faults were in our farming set up. The floating row covers were doing a great job protecting the fall ground crops. Too bad row covers wouldn’t work for the peas. The peas were just tall enough to need a trellis and not hardy enough to withstand a heavy frost, so they had to be covered up, too. Good thing I had this clothing rack hanging around at the top of the driveway for…um…well, I was saving it because….huh. Apparently, I was saving it to make a pea trellis. For which it worked perfectly.
Especially with that handy center bar to attach the row cover to. Brilliant.
Score!
Posted on | November 24, 2013 | 5 Comments
Well, the boys went to the football game.
But I’m the one who scored. After an afternoon spent working on the fence and raking leaves, I wanted to get off the farm for a bit. Since the places I could go in my ripped and stained barn clothes were limited, I settled on a quick trip to the dump (cheaper than a trip to Lowe’s Home Improvement or the feed mill, which are the only other appropriate places for ripped and stained barn clothes). Excuse me, the solid waste convenience center. Which is conveniently open only 3 days each week. Usually I choose the weekday option in order to avoid the weekend rush and, by default, my neighbors seeing me in my ripped and stained barn clothes. But I was feeling bold and looking for excitement so off I went. Yeah, I know, you wish your life was as interesting as mine. Read more
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