5-31-12

Somehow these pictures got overlooked...I guess they were from a couple weeks ago. (I wasn't around for the event.)

::Logan showing Aud and Sandy his new pistol.::

::Looks like it was LOUD!!!::

::Grandma made supper for the family::

::Sandy got to come!!! =) ::

::The other Grandma brought cake to help celebrate some of the birthdays from the last couple of months. ::

5-28-12

 "I am thankful for the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends." *

::Friends::

::Food::

 ::Volley ball ::

 ::Talk::

 ::Logan and Sandy::

::Thanks, Nevin, for doing all the grilling!!! ::

::Trent and Kate ::

 ::Sue and Brenda::

 ::Lightning!!!::

*Most of the photo credits go to Nevin.

Part Three

The conclusion of the last two posts....

Josh, bless his heart, ended up sticking with that brutal job of hauling load after load of hay home from the fields as Paul kept baling and baling. I offered to relieve him, but either he was too polite to let me or he actually wanted to keep at it.

I went out into the shop to see if I could be of assistance to my girls who were packing and packing and packing chicken. They didn't really need me so much, so I grabbed Brady and Trevor and we headed out to move the beef cow fence.

Paul and I usually move the beef cow fence together every evening. Often Trevor and/or Clay come with us. I was the most likely candidate to take charge of moving the fence since I had some experience.

By the time we left, some of our evening company had arrived. So, picture this: we have people pulling in to spend what should be a pleasant evening with us. The dad is three miles away baling hay, all three girls are packing chickens, and the mom is about to head out to the back forty to move a herd of cows. The barn is full of cows being milked by Geof, the guy who works here. Several freshly bathed and dressed children are in the yard.

Well, Logan was home and ready, but he was getting off the foot that he ran a nail through earlier in the day on the job. (Which of course has me doing a quicky "mom exam" and first aid and scanning my recollect for his tetanus status.)

Some of the young girls don aprons and help finish packing chickens, a young friend jumps on the Kubota with Brady and me to go move cows. The rest jump to setting up the volleyball net and situate the food.

It was all slightly reminiscent of those bad dreams that I have sometimes where I have an appointment somewhere and I just can't seem to get there no matter how hard I try. This time it was having a houseful of company show up before any of us were done working for the day. Some days are simply beset with unforeseen troubles like flat tires, dead batteries, broken discs on the hay mower and freezers that need to be cleaned, not necessarily in order. Oh, and had I mentioned that I had been in bed sick earlier in the week?

Anyhow, it's over now. Paul and Garth finally came to the house just as the first people were going home. Josh never did make it to the party. I feel bad about that, but you know, these guys (and gals!) work hard and sometimes miss the party. For what? Ultimately so people can eat.

Oh, after everyone left, the phone rang at about 11:45PM. It was the hay wrapper guys explaining that a bearing went out on their wrapper and they were headed home to see about fixing it....

~Colleen, who is clearly not the heroine of this account but merely the documenter. If you want another perspective of what happens here, you'll have to ask someone else or come live it yourself. :-)

Part Two

...A continuation of the last post...

So, Garth rounded up the necessary tire tools, and called me to let me know it was time to leave. This is where cell phones come in handy. We equip our children with them gladly. It saves many steps.

I headed out with purse slung over my shoulder. The girls are out in the shop finishing the chicken project and the rest of the children are here and there. Often the little children go with me on such occasions, but not today. It's so hot and bothersome today. I hate to make them (and me!) miserable by strapping them into car seats on a sweltering day back and forth to the hayfield. Farm trucks are notoriously non-air conditioned. LOL.

Well, wouldn't you know, just as I was about to hitch myself up into the truck, Josh pulls in the drive and offers to take my place. (Josh, to recap, is Christine's brother.)

Free! I am free of that job for now. Not, of course, that I'm jobless at the moment. Clay is on my lap. :)

I think I'm forgetting something......oh yeah.....we're having company tonight.....

Part One

As it turned out, this is part one of a three part post of one day at our farm/house.

I guess I sort of knew this beforehand, but I discovered the reality of it full force later: When you marry a farmer you are not merely becoming the wife of a farmer. You are becoming a farmer yourself. It's like getting a job along with a husband. A two-for-one.

A lot of jobs are certainly more glamorous. There are plenty that afford a person more notoriety. Let's face it, there are a lot of aspects of farming that aren't neat and tidy. Or convenient.

This afternoon, I get the call from the hayfield: bring the white truck with the gooseneck and bale spear. Just like that, I am doing housework and suddenly I'm behind the wheel of a truck. Actually, my children are better truck and trailer drivers than I am, but this would never fly as an explanation to any policeman who might discover if I would let them drive down the road!

Well, so I was in the hayfield driving the truck while Brady was loading bales up when we discovered the loader had a majorly flat tire. So, I am back home for a few moments to get an impact wrench to take back to get the loader tire off. We'll then bring the tire home, fix it, and then return it to the the loader in the hay field so we can resume loading bales.

As Brady and I were strapping our load down before getting out onto the road, Brady had his ideas about how it ought to be done and so did I. I told him that it didn't really matter how he felt like strapping the load, it was imperative that it was done right because the consequences of losing the load effected more than just him.

To be continued...

You know how some people can feel their arthritis flare up and know there's a thunderstorm coming? Well, I know that the Window People won't be coming to my house today. Why?

Because the house is clean.

The Window People NEVER come to our house when the house is clean. Nooooo. They've been here, what, 4 times EVER....and every.single.time the house has been a wreck.

And the thing about the Window People? They get to see every.stinking.room of your house when they come.

Just so you know why I was even thinking this.....the Window People were here the other day. Gulp. And you know, it would seem weird for me to speak up and say, "I'm really not the slob you think I might be." or "Come tomorrow, it'll be cleaner." or "In a family this size, it can be really clean one minute and a wreck the next."

No. That would just be weird. So, you just let them come as is and they can go home and tell their wives all about it. Humbling, it is. See......the Window People aren't blissfully from some-wheres-else. They live in this same neighborhood.....some of them even have some of the same relatives. Gotta love that "community" spirit....unless, of course, you have something for the neighbors to talk about.....

Anyhow. Pride is overrated. Pride is overrated. Pride is overrated.

I might add that it is deliciously wonderful that the house is clean right now because of all the things that are happening OUTSIDE and the amount of people it takes to do all of it.

For instance, I was outside cutting up chickens so Audrey could run them through the new handy dandy vacuum sealer we just got. Garth went to mow hay. Paul went to go bale it. Miles has been employed to babysit Clayton.....which he does for short stints because other people scoop him up to take him places on their short jaunts to feed the pigs or chickens or whatever.

Back to the house being clean (or not).....Some women have this elaborate plan on how to accomplish this on a more consistent basis than I do. My plan? (You might want a pen to jot this down......)

Invite company. Everyone just simply spurs into action when company's coming!

So, there's your quick update from the farm. Haymaking, chicken processing, house cleaning, and more.....

~Colleen

Sunday Afternoon

::Sunday afternoon walk with some friends::

 ::Getting arranged for a group picture.::

 ::Wonder what this guy thought when he drove past?::

 ::No, we are not saluting. The sun was in our eyes. ::

 ::Can you pick out the weird ones? =) ::

 ::I love how half of us are in the air and the other half are oblivious to the fact. ::

:: grins ::

:: Logan and Sandra ::

::Walking back home. ::

 ::Sheila and Maria-walking backwards.::

5-21-12

At the end of a hot, busy day, there is nothing like going to town (with the windows wide open, of course) and getting ice cream cones.

 ::Ice cream is happiness condensed.::

 ::An ice cream cone can solve any problem— even if it’s only for a few minutes.::

 

 ::After the ice cream, we went shopping for a gift for a friend...and ended up in the card isle for like half an hour, laughing over the cards with music in them...yeah, it's kinda weird, but hey! we were very tired and it was amusing. ::

 ::You should try it sometime!!! =) ::

Well...mom did not tell me to post pictures like she said in her last post...But I was planning on posting them before I even saw that. So, here goes...

Preparation...

 This may look a bit weird to someone who doesn't have a clue what they are doing...no, they are not washing the tire...they're pouring soapy water on it so they can find the hole...

 Looky there...I'm actually on the other side of the camera...I'm not faking it either (not that I would do that!!! =) ), I really am helping him!!!

Out in the field...

Trent, Garth, and barely visible Miles...

 

-The end...now off to bed-