Thinking Out Loud

I love the light at dusk here.

I been thinking a lot. Probably too much. I have a tendency to over think things. Just ask Sweetheart. I've been thinking about "how I've always done it" and "how things are done now".
I'm learning to rephrase and rethink past automatic responses, but it isn't easy. I think (!) I need to do it, or I just might go crazy living here in Planet Idaho. Because, seriously, it's another world here in the middle of nowhere.
I don't miss what most people might think I'd miss. I mean, I do miss Target and Starbucks being 15 minutes away instead of two hours. Some conveniences are nice. But I just don't feel like making the effort even when the opportunity arises to go. I don't really care about that old way of life anymore. Besides, it sure saves money not going there!
I miss my dear friends, of course. I miss hanging with my best friends once a month at least. But I'm not lonely here. Not even like I felt for so many years in the city. Plus, I know I still have those dear friends even if I can't just see them when I want. It's ok. It's different.
I am thinking about other, bigger ideas and ways of viewing life. This isn't meant in any way to demean city life, or all the people choosing differently. A lot of what I'm thinking about probably applies to everyone.
I've been thinking about "trying vs. training", "instincts vs. experts", "perfect vs. done", "routines vs. schedules", "entertaining vs. hospitality", and more. Most of these thoughts have come up from various other bloggers and I'll try to add links later. But, it is likely that some of the original posts and where I've gone with them, may no longer resemble one another. (I am trying to "pin" relevant posts where I can find them later, so as to not have the brain fade I am currently operating under.)
I could type for hours on all these things, but the reality of life is that nap time is almost over, the tortillas I made need wrapping and freezing, the boys want to make cookies today, and I should sweep the floor for the 100th time this week. All this to say, I'll probably try to tackle each one of these pairs of thought in its own posts.
I have so much I want to write and share and it all gets lost in the dailiness of life.  But I don't want to miss this.  I think, somehow, it's more than me just needing to get out more.  Life has changed so much these last few years and I want to somehow articulate, maybe just for my own sake, what those changes mean and where to go from here.
*
Was able to track the post on "Trying vs. Training" I read that has me thinking about a lot of life in light of this.  Feel free to read and come back here and tell me your thoughts.  :)  I'll post more on it soon and would love to bounce the idea around with others. 

Mornings Around Here

Outside:::

Good morning, Amelia!

I love the blue of the chicory.  Must dig up some and try to roast the roots for coffee.  I've read about it.  Anyone else doing it?

Rusty stuff:  we've got lots of it!

Inside:::

 Milling wheat for the day's baking.

 Goat's milk from Bella and eggs from the Ladies.

 A favorite cookbook.

 A lovely breakfast we enjoy year round by just changing the fruit.

Go visit the ladies at BARN HOP #21 !

Morning Light

I was fixing Cupcake's breakfast 

when I noticed the sunlight streaming through the lace trim shadowing the cupboard. 

The flowers' silhouettes completed the moment.  

Looks like it will be a lovely day, don't you think?

A Quiet Moment

Barn at Sunset

The end of another day.  The animals are in the barn, the children are in bed.  And it is still light out really late here.

Linking to Barn Charm & Saturday Silhouettes.

Tea

It's time for a tea party. Soon.

Look What I Found This Morning!

Cherries! And lots of them.




Too bad they're up there.
That arching tree BEHIND the other trees and in the thorny thicket is the cherry tree.
That thicket is a pain.
Sigh.

These currants will be easier to harvest for sure.  We also discovered a huge currant bush out in the grove  covered with fruit.  Here's to hoping we can harvest them when they ripen before the birds do.

We also found another apple tree up the pasture fence.  We hadn't walked along there in a few weeks because the grasses were so tall in the pasture walks were no longer pleasant.

But we had the fields mowed and baled, or whatever you call making hay, last week so we can take our walks again.  A neighbor volunteered to haul the hay to the barn for us.  She was able to move half before her skidsteer broke.  Everything with a engine here on our property breaks.  It apparently doesn't even have to be ours!  The count so far:  the tractor-BIG problem, the mower, the other mower, the string trimmer, the rototiller, the chainsaw, more I am sure I am forgetting.  It's amazing we've gotten anything done.

Anyways, so yesterday it clouded over and looked and smelled like rain.  Sweetheart brought the rest of the bales from the pasture to the barn.  He hooked up the conveyor belt which looked like it wouldn't work, but surprisingly did.  I loaded the bales onto the conveyor and he stacked them in the loft.  5000 + lbs. later and we were done.

Another job done for the year!  And we're stocked up in hopes of a getting a cow soon.  Sadly, no takers on the goats yet.  They must have heard about them...

Until next time...
go visit here!

farm pictures

anyone know what this is?

three years

still missing what might have been

morning coffee

Puzzler

Deciding on a myriad of cow options...

Just puzzling it all out. (I like this picture because it seems like it would make a great puzzle and that the only way it relates to the cow thing.)

A Quiet Morning

I went yesterday morning to one of the local cemeteries. No one appears to have been added for over 50 years. It was quiet and peaceful. The marble monuments worn, bowing with time.
I wonder the stories behind the stones. My Mama-heart aches at the too short time span between the dates; little ones lost. One stone for two children gone the same day. Another, three names carved on three sides, young siblings gone over a week's time.
It's all contained in one little area on a knoll in the valley overlooking beauty. I sit amazed, wondering about the beauty of heaven and the timelessness of a soul.