Catching up….

Things are rockin' and rolling at our farm lately.  We bought a new cart (well….new to us) and might I say.  Best investment EVER!  We are using the fire out of that thing.  And it gives the "young-uns" some mighty fun rides.

We left for a weekend visit to see family and came home to these two cutie-pies.  Twins.  Just born.  We happened upon them and got just within a few feet of them before we noticed them.  They. Did. Not. Move.  Of course one of them had planted itself right in front of our door to our garden.  So needless to say, I didn't garden in that one that evening.  But boy, they were so cool to see.  They stayed around for a few days and as far as we know they have left.  At least for now.  Wait until the apples are ready.  They'll be back….

The weeds have come in our gardens with a vengeance.  But the flip side of that, is that we are getting plenty of rain right now.  So that is a good thing….

…until I turn around and see this.  

We have worked almost everyday gaining control of this again.  It looks a million times better.  I just haven't taken a picture of it yet.  I will.  But right now, my hands are just too sore.

Our farm is also just filled with animals that we've spotted everywhere.  And I'll be honest, it's quite fun.  Well, except for that whole snake thing. And I was too scared to take that pic.  

Okay, technically this isn't our fox.  But it looks like this one.  We are trying to take a picture of him.  But he is FAST….

We are less than 60 days into getting in our home.  The woodworking crew has been in for the past several weeks putting in all the cabinets and building all our built-ins.  The stairs are done and trim is getting up.  These are the finishing touches that really make it cool.  The well has been run out to the gardens and the water is now being connected.  We are so excited.  This has been a really long process, but we are nearing the finish line.  I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

And it's coming like a freight train.  

Brush piles, mowing and apple trees….

This is a poor man's version of a cart.  A cheap blue tarp and two strong arms pulling at the corners.

This is also my version of a gym membership.

My husband and I have been working around the farm lately cutting back trees and brush piles.  We are trying to make our mowing around the trees easier.  Plus, many of the brush piles contain tomato cages which I can use in the garden.  Last night I was working in the brush pile in the picture above when I probably counted over a hundred cages in just that one pile alone.  There are a lot of cages on our farm.  Everywhere.

I'm not complaining.  Just sayin'.

I've been looking at getting a dump cart to go on the back of our lawn tractor to help us pull some of the big branches and stumps around the farm.  One of these days I'd love to get a gator, but for now our lawn tractor is pulling double duty and it works just fine.

For Mother's day I asked for a chipper/shedder.  What?  Doesn't every Mother want a chipper for her special day.

No?

Well, I guess I'm just weird.  Or practical.  No matter.  We plan on chipping up our burn pile and using all that mulch around the farm.  I love me some free mulch.  Plus, our burn pile is so big that I'm sure you would see it from the moon if we lit that sucker on fire.

I've also been researching a lot about our apple trees.  And oh yes, do we have apples growing.  Thousands upon thousands of them.  I'm in need of thinning the fruit on the trees….by hand, the article says.  63 trees, people.  I'll be doing this until, umm…like forever.

It's overwhelming at the moment.  The vast amount of work that needs to be done.  But the only thing I keep thinking about is this.  For about 10 or more years our farm has been so neglected.  So really, anything…and I do mean anything….is an upward motion.  It's better than nothing.  Our apple trees, no matter how much I flub them up, are better off than doing nothing at all.

Well, I'm off to work.  Brush piles, mowing and apple trees are calling my name.  More like screaming….but I can tune out a lot of stuff being a Mom.

Daddy likes that boy's style….

Our Stihl gas trimmer wasn't working the other day and I went with my little boy into the Toro/Stihl dealer to pick up a part to fix it.  Not 30 seconds into the door, my little boy proceeded to tell everyone in the store….as loud as he could…..that they didn't have anything green in their store.  And that they needed to go out and get some John Deere to sell.

Man oh man, Daddy (who works for Deere) likes that boy's style….

It's time to bring on some animals….

Finally, both gardens are in and I must say it feels so good to have that done.

So with that out of our way, our focus has turned to the grass.  Something that at this moment just won't stop growing about an inch an hour, it seems.  Lately we've had our share of rain, which I must say that I am enormously thankful for from a garden aspect.  But when you are trying to keep up with the mowing, there are days you just want to throw up your hands and say….little help?

So this has got me thinking.  (What else ya gonna do on a lawn tractor?)  I believe it's time to bring on some animals to the farm.  Something that needs a nice little pasture.  Something that can eat weeds, grass, brush piles and anything else we got going on all over the farm.

It's time to bring on some animals.

So if you'll excuse me, I need to go and convince my husband that we need a goat, and a sheep, and a horse and some chickens and….

Oh boy, this is gonna take a while.

So tired of shopping….

I am not a shopper.

There I said it.  I don't like to shop.  I'll go to the grocery because there is that whole you have to eat in order to survive kind of thing going on.  And I'll do the occasional online shopping for things, but I really do not like going into store after store to pick things out.

Wanna torture me?  Make me go Christmas shopping…..at the mall!

So needless to say, this past week I am just gonna say it….was painful.  I have looked at a bazillion lighting books, flooring books, carpet samples and tile.  Oh, don't even get me started on that.  There are so many tile options that it should be outlawed in all 50 states.

I am just plain worn out.  I would rather spend a day grinding out the weeds in the summer heat than to shop for all of this again.  There are a thousand….and one……different things you must think about, plan out and search out in order to get this house done.

They finished putting in the insulation this week and I believe drywall is next week.  Walls, people.  We are about to get walls.  How cool is that?!  We are nearing the last few sections left on our outline that our builder gave us.  Next is the drywall phase and then it's millwork/trim phase and finally the final phase.  Which translates to me to mean….okay, gimme my key so I can move in, please.  Eight months is a long time to wait for a house.

So we just got to keep on chugging to the finish line.  Keep on picking out stuff.  And hope we're making the right choice.

A farmhouse, people.  That's what we're creating here.  And it's gonna be awesome…..I hope.

I have officially put God in the driver's seat….

This morning I finally finished planting the big garden and officially put God in the driver's seat.

You see, we have no water at the farm yet.  Okay, scratch that.  I have water.  But it's in a well down in the bottomless pit thingy near the chicken coop and I don't have any way to get to it.  We are having the workers for the house pipe the well to the garden area but I have been told that it's gonna be a while.  Ugh…

I now know what the farmers feel.  When they watch the skies and rely solely on the Lord above.  They pray a lot and have a lot of faith when they plant.  Which is a good thing.  I plan on planting the second garden this weekend, if all goes well.  And keep on praying.

So, come on Lord….bring on the rain.

 ….please

Anne of Green Gables….

My youngest daughter and I are going through the Anne of Green Gables movies again.  We have all three and I cannot say enough good things about it.  Love these movies.  My favorite quote is the one below….

"Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it."

Anne says that a lot.  It's so true.  Kind of like starting out with a clean slate.  Nice to go through life with that thought.

I love the slow pace of life in the movies.  Where tea was served on real china, and walks around the lake were common.  Where ladies dressed up to go "visit" someone and where gentlemen were still plenty to be found.  Just slowing down and enjoying each and every moment.

If you've never seen Anne of Green Gables, I highly recommend it.  It's just a good wholesome kind of movie.  I hope you fall in love with all the characters as I have.