Catching up

Where has the summer gone? I now realize that I am NOT a good blogger in the summer. So many things to keep me busy. I'll try to catch up on a few...

A couple weeks ago I spent a week at the farm & got some things done. At the end of the week, the kids came up to visit. Shane has been there before and helped us with projects but for Kristin & her husband Tim, it was the first time. We decided to take the weekend off from working on the barn & enjoy ourselves. Everyone got there on Friday afternoon/early evening so we had a relaxing time at the farm. Saturday morning after a big breakfast, we went to town to the farmer's market and walked in town. For lunch, it was the co-op for sandwiches before heading to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.
What a beautiful area that is. The reserve was created from a previous dam site that never happened. The boys went out for a short hike while Kristin & I sat on the deck of the visitors center enjoying the view. It was one of the only truly hot days we've had this summer. The heat was sapping our energy, so home for a nap before going out to eat at The Driftless Cafe.We always have a good time there and the food is excellent! After stuffing ourselves with pizza, we walked over to the Green Man Music Hall for a concert.

I know. Goofy name for a band but they were really good. It was a fun show with talented musicians playing all sorts of instruments. There was even audience participation. See the guy playing the jug?

There was even a washboard for a couple of songs. (When we got home we had our own makeshift band with a washboard, lid & wood block :-)




Sunday morning came too soon. Another big breakfast, a tour of the farm groundsand it was time to head home to Peoria for Kristin & Tim. Being newly pregnant, Kristin needed to get her rest before work Monday.

Putting more stakes on the tomato plants. Yes, that's our "garden of neglect"

Steve, Shane, Kristin & Tim


We left a couple hours later and headed into a storm front which was pretty scary. Tornado warnings, high winds, heavy rain, yuk!

It was beautiful before the storm hit

Drove right into the storm after Madison but still made good time getting home.

Since then, we've been up to the farm a couple more times. Steve put in 3 more windows (2 next to the other new one & one downstairs) Still have the door to replace on the downstairs then the new living area will be winter-ready. We will eventually be getting new garage doors, too.

We also took measurements for moving the wood stove into the new living area and put up wood strips on all the walls to add extra insulation. We want a thermal break between the wall studs & the drywall. We will be using the blue jean insulation over the existing insulation.

Some of this weeks produce

This coming weekend will be a short one. We will be leaving early Sunday to come home for our niece Lindsay & nephew Andy's birthday party. It is only supposed to be in the low 60's. Kinda chilly for the last weekend in August but that's the way the summer has been.

The garden hasn't been producing like it did last year. I'm sure that not having it weeded is not helping but we also have gophers this year. They have been snacking on all the ripe tomatoes they can find. I think that is what ate the seeds of about 5 squash/pumpkin/gourd hills I planted. And then there's the cool summer. Oh well. We still have enough to eat. Just not much to give away. I did start selling garlic & onions yesterday at work. We'll see how that goes. I'm also selling hand stitched felted wool dryer balls. I'll post more later about them.

Hope everyone has a good week!