We are really enjoying the spring here. The blackberries have come in a little early and we have been picking them by the pound. We have 6 pounds in the freezer and that is just from one day's picking. Cody really wanted to make something with them so we spent the evening learning the art of pie making. He did a really good job helping and he especially enjoyed shaping the dough.

This is the child who tells me every day that he is going to be a chef when he grows up. He also says he will never leave home and will cook for me every day even when I am old and in a wheelchair. Then he tops it off with, "Mommy, even when your ugly, I still love you." How...sweet. I think.

The Fruits Of Our Labor.

A year and a half ago, our family moved out to the country and started a small hobby farm. We longed for a simpler life. One in which the children would learn about hard work, family, and the joys of living a simple life. We all knew it would be a lot of hard work but it did not quite sink in how much work or how difficult it would be until several months later.

We had dreams of a beautiful green pasture with horses and chickens, a garden and a beautiful orchard.

This is the transformation of the orchard.


When we bought the house, there were many tall skinny pines that were in danger of falling on the house and others that were strangling out all the light and grass as far as the eye could see. There was plenty of poison ivy, moss, brush, and leaves at least 6 inches thick. Not exactly the best place for an orchard. We had a total of about 180 trees cut down around the property to make room for an orchard, pasture, and to save our roof from being obliterated.




It took us over a year to get all the limbs piled,
Needles raked,


And piles burned.
Only to be left with a million piles of ash and charcoal. Which took many, many weeks to clean up.




Finally, we were left only with stumps. Stumps everywhere. As far as the eye could see. They were like a ton of pimples all over the property. Ugly, big and annoying. It would be a while before we could get someone to come out and grind them up so.....


I started to dig them up and Lee would use his chainsaw to cut them out. We did several this way until we found a reasonable and honest stump grinder company that did not see dollar signs as soon as they came on the property.


They had the stumps out of here in less than two days. Watching the stumps get obliterated was the most deeply satisfying feeling ever. It took another month and a half before we would have all the shavings cleaned up, transferred to the garden, and put to use as mulch around the property.





I put in a 250 foot walkway, an arbor, stepping stones, and planted as many herbs, seeds, and flowers as I could get my hands on. There are about 20 fruit trees, lots of blueberries, grapes, figs, strawberries, honeysuckle, rose bushes, azaleas, crepe myrtles, and a mint garden. We are still trying to figure out what to put at the end of the walkway. We are leaning toward a small pond with a fountain coming out of it.



The trees are bearing fruit and doing so well.



The berries have started to come in.




This is the mint garden with 6 different kinds of mint.


I planted hundreds of purple cone flowers (from my sweet Dad) and a lot of wildflowers along the walkway.
There are also lots of herbs, tulips, and gladiolas on each side. I can not wait until the flowers come up, bloom and everything fills in.

Working on the orchard has been a lot of hard work but so very rewarding. There is still a lot of work to do but we have come so far. It is so nice to sit in my rocking chair on the front porch and look around to see the fruits of our labor. God has blessed us so deeply and I am truly thankful.

Wordless Thursday. Because I have too much to say on Wednesday.

Azul and Violeta

I answered an ad on Craigslist yesterday for two free "Easter chicks." I'm not sure if you are familiar with the practice of dying chicks at Easter time. Here is a little info. to get you up to speed. http://www.poultryhelp.com/coloringchicks.html

While the original purpose of dying embryos was useful for scientific observation, I'm not certain that it is a good practice to dye chicks just for the novelty of it. My primary objection is that many people think they are cute to have at Easter and then don't know what to do with them as they grow. It encourages irresponsibility at the expense of the chickens.

Not to mention embarrassment. Just look at the poor things. Hiding in the corner, not wanting to show their faces. I think I even see a tear forming at the corner of Violeta's eye. Just imagine the therapy bills they will incur over this traumatizing fiasco. I don't mind though. That is just the kind of farmer I am. Sensitive, caring, whisperer of chickens. I need my own t.v. show.


Don't worry, babies. Soon, you will molt and this whole humiliating experience will be far behind you. The other chickens will accept you, after they stop laughing.

The Marathon That Wasn't

We arrived in Nashville a few days before the marathon so that we would have plenty of time to go to the expo and do all the touristy things. The expo was awesome. It was well organized and I was surprised at how easy it was to pick up my race packet and make my way through the booths. We bagged a ton of free stuff and had a lot of fun walking around.

We went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and spent most of the day there. It was enough of a distraction to quell my nervousness and keep my brain busy so I did not obsess about the nausea creeping in. I learned a great deal about country music and enjoyed all the displays.

I had been carb-loading most of the week. By Friday night, I was tired of chewing and even more tired of whole wheat anything. I had a last meal of pasta with chicken and bread and hydrated as best I could. I spent most of Friday evening getting all my gear ready and double-checking to make sure that everything was easily accessible.

I slept lightly but managed to get enough sleep to feel rested. I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and started to get dressed and everything ready to go. We left early but still managed to get stuck in traffic for 30 minutes. What I didn't know was that the race officials decided to start the race early but only made a brief announcement on T.V. Most of the runners did not get that information. I got there just in time to find my corral and to hear the start gun go off. I was really nervous walking up to this crowd of 31,000 people but was surprised that once I found my spot, my nervousness went away.




The first 9 miles were pretty tough. Most of the hills for the entire course were in the beginning. I was trying really hard to conserve energy going up the hills and then making up for it going down. The hills were a lot tougher than I thought they would be and I exerted more energy than I would have liked. This threw my time off a little but I kept going as best I could.

I had my camelback on and was staying well hydrated. I was also eating a Powergel every 4 miles or so to keep up my energy. Well, something happened around mile 15 and my stomach shut down. I felt like I was running with bricks in my stomach and eating a Powergel at the time was the worst thing I could have done. I started gagging, dry heaving, and almost lost it. Gatorade helped keep the nausea at bay but my stomach felt heavy for the rest of the race.

By mile 20, I was feeling quite a bit better. I saw my husband with my youngest kiddo on his shoulders and he was holding a banner that read, Go Mommy Go! My other two kids were cheering me on and encouraging me as I ran by. That touched my heart and gave me the extra burst I needed to keep going. But then the rain started. And the lightening came.

At first, the rain was a welcome blessing. I needed to cool off and did not mind running in it. Then, I heard the strangest thing. I ran by a water station and the volunteers were yelling, "Good job, keep going, only one more mile." Wait. What? One more mile? I looked at my Garmin. It only said 21.2. Something is not right. They must be confused. I put it out of my head for another mile until....... I saw the finish line. My heart sunk. I only had 3.8 miles to go.

They diverted all the runners and called off the race on account of the weather. It was too dangerous to keep the runners out on the road so they pulled everyone in. So, of course, they shut down the race immediately and closed the course and made everyone go home. Oh wait, no they didn't. They let everyone take pictures, engrave their medals, visit the various booths and enjoy food and massages. They also let the 1/2 marathoners stay on the course an additional 2 hours while they threatened to arrest several of the full marathon runners for continuing on the course.

I could not help but be angry. I can understand calling off the race on account of the dangerous weather. However, they did not follow through. They were not consistent with everyone and as a result, several thousand runners were not able to finish the entire marathon. So, my finish time of 3:39:27 was for a 22.2 mile race. Not a marathon. I could not feel more let down.

Looking at my medal makes me feel sick and I cannot say I ran a marathon. The director of the marathon sent an e-mail out this morning offering $50.00 off another Rock and Roll Marathon in various cities to the runners affected but that hardly took the sting out of the whole thing. I do not know if I will run another Rock and Roll event. What started out to be a well-organized and fun event ended up being a huge disorganized letdown. I did not train for 4 months to run 22.2 miles. I trained to run 26.2.

So, what next? Well, I'll suck it up and start training again. I moped around for 3 days and now I need to get over it. Anyone have any race suggestions? Fun marathons? I'll be waiting anxiously for your recommendations

Hmmm.

One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn't belong.


Can you tell which thing is not like the others,



by the time I finish my song?

This is the smallest chicken egg I have ever seen in my life. That, or a quail is sneaking into the barn to lay eggs. Cody thought it was so cute that he just had to boil it and eat it as soon as possible. Brandon thought we should let the hen hatch it out so we could have a dwarf chicken.

Cody won.

New!

The running trilogy is complete.

Click on the My Crazy Running Addiction tab for the scoop.

Blog Makeover

I'm in the middle of giving the blog a makeover. Meanwhile, allow my sweet Lum to give you your farm fix and make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He is my favorite horse. Just don't tell princess, she is a bit of a D-I-V-A.

Easter

"And he departed from our sight that we might return to our heart, and there find Him. For He departed, and behold, He is here." -- St. Augustine

What a beautiful Easter Sunday we had. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky and I got to spend the day with the ones I love the most. The tulips and fruit trees opened their blooms. I could not think of a better day for them to say hello.



The kids had a great time looking for eggs and spending the day outside.

My egg hiding tricks did not fool them.
The eggs the kids decorated were cracking me up. Don't ask me why I bought them a monster egg decorating kit. I just have to be different. They had a lot of fun coming up with egg monsters. Then went all sticker crazy, putting them on noses, fingers and eye lids. They were out of control.


We had such a nice day. I am so thankful for the blessings our family has. I thank the Lord for each and every one.

Early Spring

Spring has started to tip toe in. The daffodils are up, tulips are peeking out of the ground and I am as busy as a bee.
The walkway in the orchard is starting to take shape. Tulips are growing up, giving the area some much needed color. I am planting herbs, dinner-plate dahlias and wildflowers all along the pathway. It will be so pretty in a few months.

I have been working on landscaping, planting our spring garden and getting the kids ready for benchmark testing. Also, trying to be patient while we are waiting to hear if we will get orders to move or not. That is a whole other post....meanwhile, I will be working like a crazy woman and trying not to think too much.