Saturday

Yesterday was far from a lazy Saturday here. In between homework, cleaning my room and my closet and several other far over due projects I managed to get out and take a few pictures of what was happening on the farm.

Rosie and John were enjoying the sunshine and making 'wooden tweezers'. They were glad to give me a demo on how they work.


My flower garden suffered from serious neglect this summer, but it still produced some delightfully colorful blooms which the butterflies and bumblebees were willing enough to share with me.


Benjamin is working hard to get the tractor painted. First everything has to be pressure washed..

In the mean time, the last of the pears were being canned inside. Way to go team getting them all put up!

And out in the pasture, Dad was mowing the last cutting of hay for the year. If I get a chance to see them in action I will do my best to get some pictures of it being put up.

It was a lovely sunny fall day and everywhere I looked something beautiful caught my eye. Thank you Lord for awesome weather on a Saturday and blessing our efforts to get so much done.

What I Came Home To

As per my promise in my last blog post, I came home today and grabbed my camera to take pictures of what I came home to. The following is what I saw when I returned from a long day at school.

Leah was pinning her bugs. She has several very cool looking moths, a giant beetle, an overgrown praying mantis and some other random insects that were unfortunate enough to be spotted by the 'bug collection spotting crew', aka, anyone who sees a cool looking bug and then comes to get Leah...

Becca was processing cilantro from the garden. All this cilantro came up 'volunteer', or from seeds that fell off the other plants. She is planning to dry it and throw it into salsa this winter.
I found Rosie and John playing in the sun outside. They were marching and singing when I first got home, and Rosie was giving John a piggy-back by the time I grabbed my camera.


Signs of fall are everywhere, but especially evident in the fields that are rapidly turning brown as the corn and beans dry out. In case you have not noticed from how often I post pictures of it, I love this view.

The guys were working on the tractor, trying to get it back in shape for making the last hay of the season this weekend.

And finally, something that made me grin when I got home was seeing my Dad's totally awesomely hot truck sitting in the driveway. That meant that he was already home from work and I could stop and say hi on my way into the house. And there you have it, there are beautiful views the world around but nothing beats coming home to the people you love.

A Few Random Pictures

Lots of stuff has been happening while I have been at school. I have only managed to catch a little of it on camera. While it is only a little, here is a sampling of what I have been coming home to the last few days.

The pear tree produced a major amount of pears this year.

The kids went out and picked them and spent two days canning almost 100 quarts! Great team work guys!!

Trina got a puppy and we are all enjoying his cuteness. It took all of two seconds for me to fall head over heels for him. At roughly the size of my water bottle he is extra cute trying to run around the house on his 2 inch legs... Can you tell I get a huge kick out of him? :D

I came home to this today. Made my little teacher heart so happy to see them reading...

I swear, Benjamin grows every time I turn around. Considering that I grew this year as well, the fact that he keeps getting taller and taller than me is saying something.

It seems like just the other day I was carrying him around in the front pack...

Looks like that other adorable little kid in the picture grew up pretty well too. Every day I come home to a delicious home cooked supper made by this amazing gal right here. Leah, I know I tell you in person but it is worth repeating on the internet where anyone can read it, you rock!!!!

It is a small sampling, but it is all I have on my camera at the moment. I will try to get some more of what I come home to for the rest of the week.

The Barn Dance

Since they had so much fun dancing with the Rebelution crew when they came up, Leah and the boys decided to throw a barn dance the weekend Mom was here. Invitations went out to as many people as we could fit in our barn loft.

We had some supper, then headed out for some dancing. A Virginia Reel was first. John was my partner and he made it through the whole dance!

We then went to swing dancing. All of us who knew a little tried to teach everyone else. It made for some wild dancing, I can say that much. :D

Even with rather limited room (I think I managed to step on almost everyone's toes, even when I was not dancing with them), we still made some progress in both waltzing and swing dancing.

It was Katie's last weekend with us and she was able to come a few days early and stay for the party. We are glad you made it home safely although we miss you like crazy!!

Dancing with my Mom. Awesomeness... Oh, and the tattoos were temporary, not to worry...

Dancing the night away...

We had a total blast. I could have danced for hours and hours, but eventually the general populace decided we should move over to the bonfire for some dessert and singing.

Many thanks to Matthew, Leah, and Mom for playing guitar for us and leading the singing. All too soon it was time for everyone to head for home. Thank you all for coming and Leah for all your hard work making the party happen. Let's do it again sometime soon!

Hauling Wood

While driving to and from his job, Dad saw a large tree that fell during a summer storm. He asked the owner if he could take the wood off his hands and the owner was more than happy to agree.

He and the kids went up and cut and split the wood so they could haul it home.

Benjamin drove the 70 all the way over with the log splitter on the back so they could get everything back home all ready to be stacked.

It made for several loads like this. This is a time when having a big truck is really handy...

I got home from school one day just in time to help bring the vehicles all back to the farm. I called driving the Blazer from miles away. With the top off, it is the hottest truck on the road right now. So, this is me, driving my Dad's truck and wearing his hat while I am at it, and having a grand time. :D

Thank you, Lord, for wood to keep us warm this winter!! And thank you everyone who worked so hard to get it home!

Timothy's Big Improvements

As you may recall from previous postings, Timothy got a new bike for his birthday. He has since worked on it and made it the first bicycle I have ever seen with a CB...

Note the speakers right below the seat.

So, now he can ride in style, announcing whatever he wants to over the PA. Pretty cool if I do say so myself!!

The other morning Timothy came in wanting to borrow my camera so he could take a picture of a spider web he saw while doing his chores. When I looked through my camera later this is what I found. Keep up the good use of your creativity, Timothy!!