Our Hearts are Full

Spring. AAhhh, nothing like a windy spring day in Kansas. The temperatures have been in the 70's. Even a few 80's. It's just been beautiful. The tulips are almost blooming, the trees have little leaves on them and the animals are frisky.
The farm has come to life. We had a new baby calf a couple weeks ago. It's so cute running and jumping around. The birds are back. And Country Boy has been working around like crazy. He fits right in. That's what this whole blog was going to be about until yesterday.
Yesterday really got crazy.
Let me tell you about it.
It was an average normal day until mid afternoon. C.B. had decided to do some work in the pasture, fixing creek crossings. Which had gone well for him until he got the skid loader stuck.
Yes, stuck in the creek.
In the mire and the muck.
You see, there's a creek that runs through our farm. It winds around. It divides up. It becomes two separate creeks. It becomes one again. It's a maze of creek beds and trees and stuff.
The thing about it is that it is spring fed. One of them doesn't ever go dry. (don't ask me which one, I'm already confusing myself.)
Anyway, this day that was the problem.
When C.B. throws bog boots at me as soon as he walks in the door, that is my hint.
He wants me to put them on.  haha.
So out the door I went.
We hopped in the truck and he took me to the sight of the problem and I saw this:

Well, ok. We hooked up chains to the truck and the back of the loader and started in.
A couple hours later it looked like this:

The bucket is now buried. I think we broke a few sets of chains by this point. We started calling for help. People started coming and the work kept on....

The mud and the muck just wasn't going to give up it's prize without a fight. I'm not sure of the events in the next few hours. People kept coming to help. Equipment kept showing up. Poor C.B. just felt terrible. I think he just felt so bad about getting it stuck in the first place. Then you feel bad inconveniencing people when you ask them to help. If you notice the cab, C.B. sat in there most of the evening covered in water.

Some of these pictures aren't too good. I was snapping photos with my phone while running around. I was in the creek for awhile trying to help move rocks so the water would flow downstream instead of into the cab.

Hours later we had 3 tractors and a back hoe and several men running around trying to get that darn skid loader out. We had kids, dogs and watchers too. I held a dog and ran around and watched. Then I would just run around.
It looked bad from every angle.

It just kept getting worse. C.B. was in there. Earlier my Father in law was in there. They had to get in and out by using the back window.
Well, by the grace of God, no one was hurt and we finally got it out.

Thank you to all our friends and family who helped!!
Our hearts are full.
It's times like these that the farm is the best place to live.
Friends will drop everything at the drop of a hat to help another.
Family is always close by.
We are blessed!

A Winter Day

There's nothing like a nice winter day. The sky was clear and the sun was shining. There was a hint of smoke in the air.
And Country Boy asked me to help him with a project.
It doesn't get any better than that.
C.B. usually does not ask me for help. Therefore, it means it must be a pretty big project!
I asked what we would be doing and he replied there were just a few things he needed done in the shed. (Which Shed?) Good Grief. Oh yeah, ok, the old Grainery shed. Got it.
I made a pot of coffee and started gathering my supplies.
It wouldn't be good if I went somewhere without my phone or camera. haha.
I skipped out to the shed with a pot of coffee and some cups thinking it was going to be a great afternoon. Then I saw this:

C.B. was already out there working and I spied a scaffolding. WHat??
Oh boy.

I asked how it was going.. cause it was the polite thing to do.
C.B. said it great. He just wanted me to climb the scaffolding and hold up a heavy light fixture so he could screw it in the ceiling.

No big deal.
Now, I didn't get a good picture of the scaffolding itself, but just so you know, it has wheels on it.
Yes, it does. So you can move it easily and push it around and stuff.
I was going to be on that thing.   Oh geez.
I'm not afraid of heights. Not really.
I'm not afraid to work... not usually.
I just didn't want to look down when I got up there.
It made my tummy feel funny.

I just didn't know why C.B. felt like he had to have lights out here in this old shop.
I mean, goodness, if it was dark out he could just go in the house.

We had lots of help.

Lucy is Miss Curious and would whine whenever I would climb up... But Waylon.. well, he didn't really move much. lol.

We had lots of things to do before we could pull that darn heavy light fixture up there, and C.B. made a mess...

But, it cleaned up ok.

Allrighty then,  it's time for a break. My favorite part...

We sat around on things and I let my feet dangle while we discussed the history of this ole' shed.
You see, it's been a work in progress for 18 years.
C.B. had to clean it out, take the insides out, and pour a concrete floor. Then he added interior walls and organizational things. It's been a spare time project for all these years and now he thinks he needs lights to keep on working on it. I don't know what he's thinking.
There's some little handprints in the concrete to remind us of the girls when they were little.
Kinda made me tear up. Golly, and where were they now when we needed all this help??
haha.
Teenagers are never home. You should know this by now.

Anyway....

C.B. got his lights up and all is right with the world.
They even work.
He had to go out after dark last night and test them out.
I decided it was alright.
He can have some lights out there because not only will he be able to see what he was doing...

So would I.

Let there be light!  :)

One of those days

Have you ever had one of those days? One of those days you wished would have gone different... could do over or never even happened??
Yeah, I had one of those days a couple days ago. I had to wait to talk about it.
I had to make sure it was really over. Didn't want to jinx myself by discussing the matter. Ha.
It started out a lovely morning. I worked out. Made breakfast for the family. Got ready and made it to work on time. (That always starts the day out right).
It was a busy day at work. Which was a good thing. It really makes the day go by quick.
Well, I had put supper in the crockpot before I left so I was ready to go home and eat and put my feet up. Of course that didn't happen. I got home to figure out that I had turned the crockpot on but had forgotten to plug it in. Oh my.
The next morning didn't go well either. There were still bad vibes in the air because of the crockpot.
Anyway, I made it to work on time. That in itself was a miracle. I spilled coffee on myself and all over the floor chasing the dog that didn't want to go out, forgot my phone and halfway to town realized it and had to go back and get it, then I barely missed hitting a tire in the road. That was all before 9 am.
Not a good sign.
Work was fine. Thank goodness. (As a hairdresser you'd hate for me to say that something went wrong.) lol
It was after that.. I had left work early because I needed to attend a funeral. I think it was weighing on my mind... because I forgot to make arrangements to pick up one of the kids, had coffee spilled completely down my front again.. and then I couldn't find anything to wear.
Life just catches up with you sometimes.
I made it through the funeral. I felt so bad .. it was for a dear friends mother.
The rest of the afternoon was just crazy.
Dishes were staring at me, the laundry was hollering and there was food to fix.
So I sat down.
I just had to sit down.
Obviously my brain was not functioning properly.
I have recently ordered vitamins for this.
Oh dear.
I lost my camera usb cord.
I couldn't find my notes from work.. (for my other Real Estate job)
I broke the butter dish.
Need I say more??
And all my kids can say is that they're hungry.
They are always hungry... unfortunately it's never for what I"ve fixed ...
Ok... the 24 hour brain freeze was just about over.
I fixed supper... and went to bed.
That's it.
It's never the big things that cause me such stress.
It's all the little annoying things.
Thank goodness it's over.

That's all I've got to say about that.

Happy New Year!

As I'm sitting here contemplating all the things that have happened last year.. I'm eating caramels and banana bread trying not to remember my New Years Resolution. Which of course is to get into better shape. Actually my resolution is not to have a get into better shape resolution next year!
Anyway,...
The very best thing that happened 1 year ago was the purchase of our little farm.
It's given Country Boy all kinds of things to do and work on.
A reason to tinker.. and to buy things.. (it's a deduction you know)..
And it's given him a place to hideout so I can't find him.

Now he always has something to do.
Not that he didn't before.
It's just validated now.
We are so thankful for some dirt to dig in,
our family and friends,
our health,
and our jobs.
And our puppies.
ha.
(They seem to be the entertainment around here when the girls aren't home.)

Sometimes in all the chaos of life, I forget about all these things.
It's too cold to sit on my front porch and ponder.
Although I did go for a walk last weekend when the temp. made it to 57 degrees!

Well, this year definitely had it's share of work and worry, fun, good and bad times.
I can't remember the bad ...
but I'm sure there was some somewhere.
Anyhow,
Now it's just all a memory. A moment of time that has passed.
We're looking forward..
We're anticipating greatness...
And.. we are wishing you all Blessings in the year to come.
May God Bless you and Keep you and may His light shine upon you....
and give you Peace.
Happy New year!

Hello.

Why Hello there Country Boy. I almost missed you up in that tree. I really had to look.

I almost forgot it was hunting season and that you were setting up your 6th tree stand. Or is it 7th? I believe I've lost track.

What can you see from up there? I bet you can't see me. I look normal. No antlers or white tail or anything.
Hello, it's been awhile. Here is a picture of life on this farm for the last few weeks...
Hunting.
Football.
Football.
Hunting.
My goodness. It about wears me out.
A week or two back.. C.B. agreed to go on a date with me. I was so excited.
We went to the city and had a lovely breakfast at IHOP.
Then we went shopping. It was really quite lovely.
We bought a tree stand...
scent blocker.
deer treats..
I'm sure there was something camo in there.
I really can't remember.
It's such a blur.
It's not been as bad as years past,
 the obsession, possession,
complete deer craziness.
One year he didn't eat supper before 8 or 9pm for 3 months. Whew.
There were deer out there you know.
What are they doing? What are they eating? Are the bucks chasing does yet?
Oh my.
I do understand. I guess I could get a little that way with shopping and doing my hair and stuff like that. It's fun. It's what I like to do.
So ...  last week I came home with red hair. Yes. I did.
C.B. did not recognize me.   Not at all.
Maybe if I were wearing antlers.... haha. just kidding.
So anyway...
 I decided I better get out there and check this new tree stand out.

I'm up there looking down at C.B. who was then taking a picture of me. haha.

I also decided that I'm keeping this red hair for awhile.
Other people have not recognized me also.
 It's okay. It's good to do something different.
Next time I see you... just wave. You won't recognize me.
Happy trails...  hunting trails that is. :)

It's still Fall.

Yes, it's true. Last time I checked it was still Fall. Although I can't remember when I checked last. Was that yesterday or the day before? I'm really not sure. It doesn't matter... it's still Fall.
C.B. has been drilling some wheat.

Lucy has been laying around.

And there are hedgeballs floating in the creek.

Yes, all these things have happened. Although maybe not in this order.
I also found a frog in our pond. What is he doing? It's getting colder!

There's some wheat popping up out of the ground!

Things just keeping happening around here and
I can't seem to dictate where I'm going or what I'm doing.
It's mystifying...
It's hectic.
It's chaotic.
It's unbelievable.
Yeah, it's fun too.
A couple days ago we had 8 high school girls here to get ready for Fall Ball.
That was crazy.
I can't believe my little girls are so grown up.

Where does the time go?
What happened to having pig-tails and wearing cute little dresses with cowgirl boots?
Don't blink.
Next thing you know all the food in the house is disappearing and there's no more money in the pocketbook.
Don't blink..
You also might miss the transformation...
from cute little girls to lovely young ladies!
I think I need some more coffee.
Can you pass the whole pot please.
I really need to sit down......

It's Fall!

It's finally Fall. I think I missed the whole month of September. It's such a blur. I think I had a post a while back about routine. How excited I was to have it. I don't know what happened. The routine sure didn't.
Anyway, We just harvested our first bean crop. It was exciting! It was also dusty, dirty, crazy and fun. :)

How about those dried up looking things? Yeah, they look kinda funny. It's okay. They'll harvest just fine.

It's amazing how the process works. How the combine cuts the beans and cleans the field and how you get little beans in the end!

C.B. is checking his field out. These beans were pretty tall. Almost to his waist! Better watch out.. here comes the combine!

After 2 days of cutting, we're glad to have our crop in the elevator and some wheat planted!

This is what you call farmin'!

We know it's Fall around here because the barn swallows left. Yes. I was pretty excited. No more chasing them off my front porch and being dive-bombed in the yard now till spring. They will be back and I"ll be ready!
We know it's fall because...
The garden is on it's last legs.
Ragweed is in the air.
The nights are thankfully cooler.
There are fuzzy caterpillars everywhere!
The squirrels in my yard are possessed. They run from tree to tree and chatter at my dogs! (poor Waylon and Lucy.)
Some days are still hot. Some are not.
Football is back on T.V. and there are beautiful orange pumpkins on my porch.

Fall decorations are so fun!

I'm ready. I'm ready for fall.
For the big pots of soup.
For longer evenings at home.
Maybe a nice fire in the firepit....

The best image of all.....

Country Boy enjoying harvest time.

This picture is going on my wall at home. Maybe even above the fireplace in the most respected place above the mantle!
Whatever your fall may bring, may you enjoy it to it's full extent.
Happy Fall Ya'll!