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This is a simple blog of our simple country life. No added sugar, color or preservatives. :) Take a moment and reflect.....

Friday, April 29, 2011

Sunshine!

Yum!
The Sun just makes everything better. It makes even the silly everyday little things better. Like driving your car. It's so much better when your arm can be out the window and you can look good wearing your sunglasses. It makes dressing in the morning easier. You don't have to pile on the clothes and.. it sure makes eatin' better! This is what I found in my garden a couple nights ago:


Beautiful red radishes, fresh spinach and lettuce! Yay! The garden is bearing .. the garden is bearing! I am always to excited for the first thing from the garden, which is usually lettuce, and you go and take a big bite and it tastes like dirt. Why does the first bite always taste like dirt? Then the flavor starts in and you can tell it's lettuce. Radishes aren't so bad that way, they're either hot or not. But the lettuce and dirt have a thing going...

The sunshine also makes the landscape so much prettier to look at. On my walk yesterday I got lucky and snapped this little cutie:

This is a wheat field close to my house. If you look close you can see the windmill in the background. Yeah, I don't know how that got there. My photography skill amazes me. lol.   I just loved the blue sky and the green wheat. Now I"m going to have to get more pictures as the wheat matures. Great.. I don't know if I can .. the pressure of it all.....


The best thing about the sunshine is the free drying service. I LOVE to hang clothes on the line. The fresh smell just can't be beat. If there's a small breeze the clothes will dry without a single wrinkle and that's my style of ironing. I thought I had a picture of my clothesline but I can't seem to locate it, so I stole my sisters.



My sister lives on a farm about 16 miles from me and she has 4 crazy boys. That doesn't mean anything though. Just because I have 2 adorable daughters doesn't mean her boys are crazy or that they might be.
What is in question here though is clothes line hanging technique. Let me tell you... it is crazy.
 We were born of the same parents, reared in the same home and ate the same food.... how could she hang her clothes on the line different than me?? Well, I don't know. It's a mystery.  I have no photo to showcase my clothes hanging ability so I guess this one will have to be debated another time.



These plants looked sickly before the sun came out and now they're blooming. I think I'm going out to enjoy the sun now. Have a great day!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Buzzards

*DISCLAIMER* Anyone who views the pictures on this blog that starts to feel sick to your stomach, headache, chills or dizziness is not the fault of the very amateur photographer. (who absolutely has no photography talent whatsoever.. none..zero..zilch..nada) It may be to the graphic content of these photos! Proceed with blog at your own risk!

Yesterday morning started very normal, just like any other day. The kids were fed and kicked out the door, the beds were made, the laundry was going and the dishes were started. About this time I decided to have a very much needed cup of coffee and was visiting with my Mother-in-Law on the phone. We were having a very nice conversation when I looked out the window and saw this:
Turkey Buzzards
 Yes, that's right. There were 3 turkey buzzards sitting on top of MY barn. Eeww! I had to throw down the phone in the middle of the conversation with my MIL to take this photo. Then I rushed back inside. A few moments later I peeked out the window again and saw this:
5 buzzards
Yes, that's right. The darn things had multiplied while I wasn't looking. Again I threw down the phone and ran outside to snap this photo and ran back in. Wow, nothing like a little exercise early in the morning! Of course then a few moments later I saw this:
6 Buzzards
 After the phone hitting the counter-top again, my MIL and I decided to finish our conversation later. (She is still speaking to me, she just can't hear me!) ha. Anyway, Just a few moments after this shot was taken I missed the very best one. This is where the very amateur and pathetic skills of this blogger have gotten me. With no good pictures. Well, see the buzzard above with his wings spread out. The picture I missed was off all 6 buzzards sitting on top my barn with their wings spread out. It was very creepy. They are buzzards after all. What in the world did it all mean? Were they waiting for something in my yard to die? I just know there is an old Indian legend that will explain this to me. But do I really want to know the meaning?? Then and there I decided to go for  a walk to clear my head. (The buzzards had flown away at this point.) So off I went...
down my country road.
It was a pleasant day even though is was overcast and a little cool. I was on my way home when I passed an old farm site with a few outbuildings still standing. What in the world... you'll never guess what I saw. A Turkey Buzzard. Oh my, they are following me! Well the darn things came flying out of that shed and there were 7 of them now circling above my head.
If you look close you can see them on the edge of the picture. It's really hard to take a picture of the sky above your head! Because they really freaked me out I ran all the way home. When I came up my driveway I saw this:
My lovely barn without buzzards! I felt so much better. Then I started really looking at the barn. Oh dear, it's not looking very nice. It needs something, maybe a little paint and personality. After all, the way it is it's attracting turkey buzzards!!
Painting the barn may be in my future. It would only be a 3-4 week project. Well, then again... maybe not!

Monday, April 25, 2011

The Table

I love this table!
C.B. made this table for me. (C.B. = Country Boy = Hubby). It reminds me of so many things when I look at it. It makes me think of how something wonderful can be made out of something not so wonderful, how there are really nice people in this world and how you should always follow your gut. Gut feelings that is. This isn't any ordinary table you see. It has its own story...
It all started one morning last week. I needed to take the kid to the dentist (adorable daughter #2). I was having a shoe debate that morning. Should I wear flip flops or not. My gut feeling was to not wear flip flops but I really wanted to. It's been kind of cool and damp around here so I went the jeans and boots route. C.B. had given me an errand list and the kid and I were going to leave a little early to get the errands done.

We arrived at the store and the kid opted to stay in the pick-up. Thirteen year olds do not go into stores with their mothers. It is embarrassing and uncalled for. There was music, books and an Ipod in the truck so it was not necessary to leave it. lol. So I dashed into the store by myself.
I must say, I did get a little distracted when I got in there. I did finally make it to the lumber department though. I found a nice young man to help me and handed him C.B.'s list. We made quite the loop around the store and my cart was soon full of lumber. The man helping me had to go help someone else so I made my way to the check out by myself. I was feeling pretty good with a full cart on the way out the door until I realized I had to unload this by myself into the truck. I must have looked quite pathetic because the man parked next to me jumped out of his car and asked if he could help. Well, you should never turn down any help right?! In nothing flat we were on our way to the dentist.
Again I was feeling pretty good. We were going to make it to the dentist on time. However, my brain wasn't functioning properly that morning. Not enough coffee I'm guessing because I didn't tie down the lumber in the back. It was fine until we were a half a block away from the dentist office. As I was crossing a busy intersection going uphill the 12ft. pieces of lumber slid right out. Now here is where I'm really glad I listened to my gut feeling. I would have looked like a sap in the middle of that intersection trying to get 12ft. pieces of lumber in flip flops. ( Not that I didn't look like a sap anyway but it did make it easier wearing boots!) Here's where another nice person who was stopped at a stop sign jumped out of his car and helped me load it all back up. People are so nice!
Thankfully we were so close to the dentist office I told the kid to go ahead and go in and I was going to spend some time rearranging this lumber. I dug through the truck looking for some rope or tie-downs and of course found some. (C.B. is organized like that.) I spent the next few minutes making loops and knots and quite a mess. I must have just looked lost this morning because a man walking through the parking lot asked me if I needed help. Well, I just said sure. At this point I needed all the help I could get! By now the kid was at the front door of the dentist office hollering for me to come in. I thanked this nice man and scooted inside.

On the whole way home I was a mess. Constantly checking on the stack of lumber in the back. I was hoping that man's knots were better than mine! I had told the Kid I would take her to get something to eat before we went home but completely forgot as I had this lumber on my brain. Thankfully she's an easy going kid and was okay with getting something at home.

We made it home, kid fed and back to school and lumber in the truck and in the garage. As I was putting the garage door down I realized that the 12ft. lumber sticking out of the back of the truck wasn't going to fit. Oh man. I had to untie those crazy knots and unload that stuff all by myself. (No one around to offer any help that time..haha). 

By the time I finally got inside I was wiped. Who know just getting a little lumber could be so taxing. C.B. came home that night and started on that table right away. He can't sit still. Anyway, now I have a table with a story that I can pass on to my children. It's not just an ordinary table you see.... 
I love this table!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Greetings

Greetings to you and greetings to spring! Since this is my first attempt at all this I thought there should maybe be some introductions to the cast of characters around here!
This is Waylon. He rules the roost! All he wants from anyone is a little attention. He rolls over for all people!
This is Commanche. He is not wild or anything. He is just old.  

Little Miss Kitty cat (Ginger) decided to be absent while I was outside with the camera. Her picture will have to follow. lol.
Oh yes, I forgot my husband and kids. haha.
This is my country boy.. okay.... man. He is auctioning off the bride at a wedding here.
This is my oldest child. I had to hurry and take her picture while she was actually home before she left again!
This is my youngest daughter with my mom. She wasn't home to get her photo snapped so she'll just have to live with that! hehe.
This is my 100yr. old home. We have lived here for 17 yrs. and have been remodeling it for at least 20. (It sure seems like it!)  I love the history and the character of it all.

This is what I'm talking about! Spring greetings... Happy Easter!
Because this weekend is all about new beginnings it's the perfect time to try something new. Maybe I'll go do some laundry and clean my kitchen.......

Happy Easter!