The Other One

This is Donkey, the Rooster. 
No, I didn't name him.
I may eat him though.

Morning Sounds

This morning I went out to get the wood for the morning fire from the porch.
I listened to the coyotes bark and howl.
~
I poured a cup of tea and grabbed the blanket for the porch and sat wrapped in my rocker with my tea and knitting for a few minutes watching the morning light grow.
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Rain dropped and dripped from the eaves.
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The roosters (Colonel shown above) awakened with the sunrise.
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The songbirds flitted through the trees twittering and calling one another.
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I finished the final row on the dishcloth.  Now to figure out how to end it.
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I listened to the sounds of the first eggs of the day being layed.  Such a distinct call from the laying hen.
~
Good morning to all.

Farm Life

In between the work, I sit and just try to enjoy the gifts as they come.
A cup of tea outside on a sunny day.
Bliss. 

Dumpling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He'd had enough now. 

Squashbuckling Adventure!

Doing his best Errol Flynn impersonation.

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Hood. 
The Adventure Continues...

Spring! (for a day)

Cupcake loves the chickens.

 

 

Isn't her hair wonderful?

 

This is the best these shoes will probably ever look.

 It is such a beautiful day here!  I am in for just a moment to make lunch.  We're having a picnic out in the little orchard today.  The weather is supposed to revert back to yuck, so we're planning on being out as much as we can today. 
It is a perfect day for a nap in the hammock.  Maybe it will happen.

Rural Living

Yesterday Cupcake and I went "down below".  This is how people here talk about going to the bigger towns/cities.  We head down below as rarely as possible.  The places I need to go are about two hours away.  We hit the feed store on the way down in the town about an hour away.  This town has our closest stop light.  That part is nice.

After the feed store we went to the health food store in the next town to pick up some ginger chews in the hope that it would settle Cupcake's tummy.  Sadly, it did not work.  Any ideas for helping wee ones with car sickness?  It's bad.

We drove on to the city.  Here we went everywhere.  We did the bulk food shopping.  Joanne's for yarn and some knitting needles of my own. (I started a new dishcloth with my Tuesday group the other night and I am almost done!  So much easier and better than the first one I started and haven't finished from a year ago!) 

Next stop:  Home Depot for Sweetheart.  We will finally have outlets in the bathroom.  Pretty cool.  It's the little things. 

We next drove onto Fred Meyer.  I visited one on my retreat to Portland last fall.  It was pretty fantastic. 

My little one sat on my lap and we shared a sandwich from their deli.  She was so happy to not be in the car and filled that empty tummy of hers.  She asked about Daddy and her brothers all day.  We are all together so much now that to be apart is odd.

I was able to pick up a few things for Cupcake and some extra pants for Dumpling for a couple of dollars.  (She went through the three outfits I had for her due to the motion sickness.) Little boys are hard on pants and so many of his things are hand me downs from Pumpkin who wore them as hand me downs from his cousin, or my friend who has three boys. I did make all the jeans with missing knees into shorts for him so he is set for summer. Some of his things have been through four boys before landing on him!

I loaded up on fresh fruits and veggies there and a few other things one cannot find in our little local grocery store.  How wonderful it was to get really good fruit! 

A quick zip into Target allowed for a few of those things that only Target seems to have.  Cupcake's shoes are getting tight and so we found her the cutest pair of pink maryjanes with flowers.  Wish they came in my size!  (and note to grandma--bigger slipper shoes were found as well) 

I splurged and bought two things of makeup.  Not having bought any in over a year, I about fell over at the prices.  And all I got was one lipstick and a bottle of nail polish.  Actually, the prices of everything have risen considerably.  I think it maybe more noticeable simply because I am not in the stores regularly.

Then we were off to Costco.  One hour later and a lot of dollars, we have the bulk of our food for the next two months.  That place overwhelms.

We were barely back on the freeway when Cupcake fell asleep.  She slept almost the entire way back.  What a blessing as it meant her tummy didn't bother her. 

As we drove through one of the towns I often think of as small, I noticed its population sign says it has about 7,000 people.  I laughed at myself.  How life has changed. 

Our town has about 700.


(PS-For those that have asked:  I am not missing Buttercup.  And I slept in that next day until two in the afternoon.)

 

WOOHOO!

Buttercup is on to greener pastures!  And I am sleeping in tomorrow.

Here

This was our family room the other day.  The cold, greyness of the day required a constant fire and twinkle lights.  Of course, I think twinkle lights improve almost any day.  I had had them with an evergreen garland on the mantle at Christmas and decided I liked them so much that I wanted to keep them even after all the other decorations were put away. They are now entwined in an ivy garland. 

The twigs in the jar are forsythia.  This is my first attempt to force them indoors.  In the reading room, through the archway, is another jar filled with pussy willows just coming out.  I love bringing bits of the outdoors inside.

This picture doesn't quite show the all the coziness the room had as the lighting goes a bit off in a photo, but that's ok.

And I really will take down the hearts garland in the archway.  Someday.

Best news of the week:  I just finished my last milking!!!!  They are coming to get her after work today!!!

Today

Started early with the storm blowing in. 
The windows in this old home rattle something fierce and the wind howls loud. 
Cupcake awakened at one point,singing.
She has the sweetest, clearest voice when she sings that makes smile~even when it is way too early.
I let her sing for a bit.  When she started to talk though I went in.  She asked for Daddy.  I told her he was sleeping and she needed to be.  I covered her up and smoothed her hair.  We prayed and she drifted back off to sleep.
I finally did myself for a bit.

This morning the folks who are buying Buttercup came over for milking time.  They are planning to get her on Friday after work.  I am glad.

Last night at dinnertime the boys asked why Buttercup was in the backyard.  Sure enough, she was right there at the dining room window eating the grass just starting to grow.  She's had the run of the place for several days, but this was the first time she had ventured that direction. 

After dinner I went out to move her, but couldn't find her!  She ended up behind the garage over in the garden area from last year.  I directed her where she needed to be and hung the electric fence wire back up that Sweetheart took down last week.  I walked her up to the big pasture and told her to have fun.  I closed the yard gates on my way back which was good as she was soon staring at my over the gate looking longing at the backyard.

Today is Tuesday and so I will bake bread.  Not sure if the neighbor who wants to learn will be joining me or not.  Tonight I will get together with my new friend just to visit for a bit.  The whole group will get together next week, but tonight it will be just she and I. 

Well, it smells like breakfast is ready.  I put an egg casserole in the oven before I went out to milk. I made a pot of coffee and set it on low in case the buyers wanted some.  The percolator takes more time, but the coffee is so much better!

 I also made a pot of a new tea~Vanilla Spice.  It is an Ashby's tea.  I have enjoyed their Vanilla for years, but had to try this new kind with the addition of cinnamon and nutmeg.  I am nuts for fresh-grated nutmeg.  I had a cuppa and it is good.

I still need to strain my milk and do clean up.  I will miss the fresh milk, but not the mess!   I am hoping we can buy milk from her new owners.  They are excited to get her and I am excited for them.  And me.  :) 

And I will be sleeping in on Saturday.  Woohoo!
 

Cupcake

 

 

 

Lavender Shortbread Hearts

Sometimes, it's just the smallest thing that makes such a difference.
A few flower buds, alongside a pretty cup can just brighten up an ordinary afternoon.

It Was a Hit!

As were these.  :) 
There were two left which the boys are enjoying as I type.
 
There were about 10 of us that came.  We decided we'll meet every other week for projects and can use the off weeks just to socialize if we want.
The next time we'll work on knitting dishcloths and after that I'll teach everyone how to make an easy skin scrub that works great.  We have a serious gardener, a photographer, a few of us calligraphers, bakers, knitters, and more!  There are oodles of  more new things to learn from one another.

I did cucumber sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, orange cranberry spice scones, plain and lavender shortbread, chocolate chip mini muffins, and these little chocolate mousses (Joanne's recipe)  with whipped cream, blackberries & lemon balm.  They were yummy!

Getting Ready for Tonight!

Chocolate Mousse

A Welcome Adventure

I am excited about a new adventure. No, no livestock is involved. Yes, Buttercup is still here. Here's to hoping this will be her last week in residence. The good part of her still being here is that I will have plenty of cream for Tuesday night!

I should back up a bit.

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to join a book making class. I instantly said yes. It was my first night out with just ladies in over a year. After being used to my Bunco group each month and dinners out with my dear friend, this has been hard. There is a bit of a dilemna here in town as to what can be done in the evenings as simply nothing is open to just meet up with friends. Except the bar. Not a good option. And there is that problem of a total lack of friends here for me.

So, the last two Tuesdays a sweet gal whose company I really enjoy rented out a room in the library and taught us all how to a handmade book. It was so much fun that we decided we need it to continue. This Tuesday night the ladies will be coming here for tea and to talk about what we want to do next! Doesn't that sound wonderful?

She is willing to teach more book making classes, but we also want to see what others enjoy doing and teaching. She and I are the same age and we both have younger kids. Everyone else seems to have grown kids. :) Learning new things and teaching things are good, but we are also looking forward to just hanging out with people over the age of six for a few hours.

I have no idea what I know that anyone else might be interested in, but we'll just see. Any suggestions?

This Week

Monday morning brought tragedy to our quiet neighborhood. Sweetheart smelled smoke while we were having breakfast and went outside to check on things. He found our neighbors' home on fire.

Thankfully, they were not at home and no one was injured. By the time it was all over, the house was burned to the ground. They lost everything. It is just...gone.

We don't know what caused the fire and likely no one will know. It was a tense day waiting for them to check in and have it confirmed they were not at home. Also, the incredibly strong wind blew all the smoke and embers right to us. Mom watched the kids while Sweetheart and I walked the grounds and kept an eye on everything. He caught some firewood smoldering in time and sent me in to check the barn at one point. Everything seemed fine at first glance, but a nudge from the Holy Spirit sent my up the ladder to the loft where indeed, the roof was on fire.

I got down and ran outside and hollered for the fire crew. They backed up one of the engines and put it out quickly. We are left with just one area to repair. I am so thankful, but so incredibly sad for the neighbors.

Our town has a Burn Out Fund and everyone is doing what they can for the couple. This community really does care for each of its members. The loss is huge, both for the renters who lost everything they had and the owners of the home itself. I wish I knew better what to do and what to say.