A Busy Time

First of all, I would like to thank Debbie at Happy Days and January and Steven from the Caffienated Globe for the The Versatile Blogger award. It is an honor that I have been double awarded :-).

The award comes with rules. Some of them are: I must tell 7 things about myself ; and I must pass along the award to other blogs which I have recently discovered and think are fantastic. I'm happy to
to do this....here I go.
About Me.
1. I am a bit shy. Not one to small talk, I have trouble thinking of things to talk about. (OK. Not with everyone :-)
2. When I was little & there was a bad storm, I would always get my piggy bank (and my favorite doll) to take to the basement. I couldn't understand why Mom & Dad didn't take their money too. I was going to take care of everyone if our house blew away :-)
3. I never felt more loved when growing up than when I got hugs from my Grandma Prott, my Mom's mom. Unfortunately, she died when I was in second grade. My mom & dad weren't affectionate. After we quit getting bedtime kisses around 2nd grade, I didn't get a hug from either parent until I had my first born, Kristin. Of course, because of that, I am very affectionate with my kids.
4. I am picky about what Steve puts on the kitchen counter. Somehow, his lunch bag always seems to end up on my glass cutting board. Now this is a lunch bag that goes in the work van with him on jobs and it is pretty dirty on the bottom. No matter how many times I say it, it always ends up there. Of course I am always washing the cutting board.  I tell him he is lucky I am not a nag :-)
5. When the kids were little, I babysat. I was always looking for things to keep me busy while at home so I used to clean the stove with a toothpick. Wow! Not any more :-).
6. I love Minnesota! Our annual vacation up north is my favorite time. It is like home to me. We stay in the same cabin every year. Dread the day that the owners tell us they are selling the resort.
7. I want to be an accomplished bread maker & fiddle player some day.

There you have it. I had a hard time thinking of things to write. Debbie named three other blogs & January named fifteen. Sorry January, Debbie is who I am going to follow on that one.


1. Lisa at http://anotherdayinparadisesortof.blogspot.com/. Lisa blogs about life in Ohio with her husband Chris. They have an acre of land & grow an awesome amount of fruits and veggies.

2. Julia & Suzi at http://aprongoddesses.blogspot.com/ They have giveaways, recipes & of course, aprons.

3. Deborah at http://antiquityoaks.blogspot.com/ and her adventures on 32 acres.

We have been so busy lately that I have a hard time keeping up with everyone's blogs. I do drop in & read but hardly ever have time to comment. Sorry. I know how I love it when I get comments.
Since the closing, we have settled in in our new place. It is close to work & small quarters. Nothing much to clean. Good thing, because I am working more now than ever. We are super busy at the shop. We hired my brother to help us too. He hasn't had work for a while, being a union plumber. He worked new construction which is non-existent around here.He has been a great help to us. My sister is still working for us one day a week so I can do all the running around I need to accomplish. I just got back from a quick trip to see Kristin, Tim & Jaelyn. Jaelyn is growing so fast. She is almost six months old.

Such a little ham and she is jabbering up a storm!

Last week, I took a quick trip to the farm to mow. Got there at noon. Mowed for a few hours. Weeded about an hour. Talked to the Amish neighbors, went to the food co-op & the laundry mat. Left at 8am the next morning. Whew! No wonder I am tired. I picked strawberries, garlic scapes. lettuce and radishes while I was there. The weeds have gotten out of control. There has been a lot of rain lately & the Amish neighbors (who I am paying to keep it weeded) haven't been

able to keep up with it. The garlic really needs to be weed-free in order to get it's final growth spurt in. Hopefully they aren't stunted by the weeds.

The potatoes are getting tall, but it is hard to tell because of the weeds. Blueberries are covered. Sorry birds!

This weekend we are leaving for vacation. I will be driving up to the farm Friday early in the day to mow and Steve & son Shane will join me in the evening. If the weather is nice, maybe a campfire & a few marshmallows. The next morning we are off to Minnesota.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!