So Much Rain at the Farm

We are back from Minnesota. We spent Saturday & Sunday at the farm, leaving Monday morning. It started raining Sunday afternoon. I mean it just poured! It was getting darker & darker so I looked out the west facing window & I wasn't able to see the neighbors farm. A sheet of gray rain coming at us. It didn't stop raining until Monday morning. In the weeks before that we had several inches of rain too. We had to have more gravel brought in for the driveway. In a hard rain, the water rushes down the hill & cuts gullies through the driveway. We have to work on the channels for drainage soon. On the way to Minnesota we stopped at the farm overnight. I noticed the computer wasn't working but it is old & I thought it finally just quit. When we were there this weekend, I tried turning on the printer/fax machine & it was dead too. When trying to hook up the laptop I couldn't get connected so I checked the phone & it was dead too. Our neighbor Jim came over & he said that there was a lot of lightening & one was really close. Maybe that is the problem. There is also a sensor on the solar hot water tank that is flashing an error code. I hope that is not something serious. We are having that looked at today. So next time I am up there during the week, I will have to have the phone company come out top fix the problem & will also have them hook us up for wireless. Then I can just bring the laptop with me. I have another printer I can use, it just doesn't fax. I do work for the shop when I am there during the week, so I will have to go to town to fax if necessary.

                                                    Steve loading up the bikes in the rain.

The garden is doing great & is almost all the way weeded. The Amish neighbors have been trying to keep up with it between the raindrops. There are a few things that just didn't grow because of the weeds, but there is still alot coming up. We picked blueberries, raspberries, Nanking cherries, radishes and lettuce last weekend. There'll  be a lot more blueberries  & raspberries to pick this weekend. I am freezing the cherries for later use in jelly.  The garlic is also ready to harvest so I am hoping it will be a rain-free weekend. Don't know how I am going to get everything done in two days but I'll try my best.
Work has been so busy this spring that we feel like we are ignoring the farm. Steve is stressed out about getting jobs done on time. He relaxed on vacation, actually more than he wanted to since he hurt his back the day we got there. (More on that in my Minnesota post later).

                                                             Daddy Tim with Jaelyn

Mommy Kristin with Jaelyn

                                                     Hope everyone is enjoying the summer!

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!

A Smile to Brighten Your Day

Farm Stuff

Garlic Chives Blossom

The few days I spent at the farm between the weddings was spent mowing and planting the garden. We  had the drywaller come while we weren't there to do the ceiling. It looks really good (which is a relief) and saved us a lot of time.
Gardening update... neighbor Jim came over with his tractor & plowed two long furrows for potaoes. That saved me so much time. I planted Yukon Gold, Yellow Finn, Rose Finn Fingerlings & German Butterball. Most of them are coming up already after a week and a half. Next came ten kinds of beans (Lazy Housewife, Calypso, Ireland Creek Annie, Hidatsa Shield, Hidatsa Red, Charlevoix Dark Red Kidney, Boston, Lina Ciscos Bird Egg, Fiskeby soybean , Envy soybean), Purple Top White Globe turnips, Lacinato kale, Silverbeet & Rainbow chard, radishes (French Breakfast), sunflowers, cilantro, beets (Detroit Red, Chioogia), zucchini (Black Beauty, Cocozelle Bush), cucumbers (Double Yield, Poona Kheera, Parade), pumpkins (Small Sugar, Young's Beauty, Dickenson) and squash (Jauneet Et Verde, Verte Et Blanc, Table Queen, Summer Crookneck, Waltham Butternut, Long Island Cheese).
Then & planted some flowers. Feverfew, Crane's Bill, Rudbeckia, Carpathian Harbell & Astilbe. That was all in one day. The next day I planted transplants. Peppers (Habernaro,
Sheeprose Pimento, Golden), tomatoes (Cherry Roma, Beam's Yellow Pear, Amish Paste), eggplant, leeks, brussels sprout, cabbage (green & red). One to the herbs of oregano, basil, chocolate mint, hyssop & plain & curly parsley.
This was all planted on half the garden space. The other half I planted in organic clovers (Cinnamon & yellow). I plan to leave this area dormant until we move up there. Clover will help bring nitrogen into the soil and hopefully keep the weeds out. After I broadcast the seed, I went over the soil with the golf cart to compact the seed so the birds wouldn't eat it all.

Clover is coming up.

I still had a few things left to plant before I left the next day, so I planted peppermint, Black-eyed Susan and ten Blue Spruce pine trees I received for joining The Arbor Day Foundation again. Oh, I also put down 5 bags of mulch in the flower border.
I was totally whipped after a hard day of mowing and two full days of planting. I left the next morning for home to start packing again. Can't wait to settle down again into a semi-calm state :-)
We were at the farm this past weekend (Memorial Day) and moved a lot of our stuff. After unloading the van & trailer, Steve started mowing & trimming and I went to work in the garden again.
Here is what I planted on Sunday...
Lettuce-Gold Rush, Slobolt, Barcarole, Jericho
Spinach-Monnopa, America
Carrot-Scarlet Nantes, Scarlet Keeper, Dragon
Two other squash-forgot to write them down :-)
Eggplant (3)
Onion sets-yellow, white & red (60 each)
Tomato transplants-Amish Paste, Hartman's Yellow Gooseberry
Pepper transplants-King of the North, Wenk's Yellow
Nasturtium-Black Velvet & Ladybird (edible flowers)
More mints-catmint & peppermint

I tried something different this year in the garden. I pla nted onions throughtout the garden & leeks bordering the one side of the garden by the potatoes. I am hoping that plants in the allium family will help keep away pests when mixed thoughout the garden.

The garlic is huge now. Should be getting scapes soon. After the garlic is harvested in July, I will be planting the fall crop of lettuces, etc. where the garlic was. The beans are all up too. Strawberries are getting started. A few ripe ones on the vines and there are a lot of blueberries on the bushes. We covered them with netting before we left for home so the birds won't be the ones enjoying them.

Columbine

I am done ( I think) planting the garden. This coming weekend is the final move of excess stuff to the farm. The townhouse here will be empty and I will be cleaning it next Wednesday before the closing on Thursday. We are very lucky to have sold it when we did. Even though we lost a lot of money, it could be even worse. A short sale went on the market last week for $40,000 lower than what we got. It is a terrible time for real estate around here now. We are thankful we didn't end up paying the bank to get rid of it. An option if we wouldn't have sold it was to rent it out, but we didn't want to take the risk of a non-payer when we are on a lower income at the farm. That would hurt the budget.
So I have written enough and taken up an hour of packing time. Have to get busy now. Hope everyone is having a great spring!

                                              Garden is planted and beans are up.

Still here...

Where does the time go? We've been so busy lately, I seem to come to the end of the day with no brain cells left to blog.

On the house sale front...we finally got word that the buyer has his loan commitment as of last Friday. Banks are really slow to approve anything right now. He was pre-approved too. I was holding my breath until that phone call. We are set to close on the 10th of June. I should be packing up the garage right now but I have the urge to write. We took a van & trailer load to the farm this weekend and have only one weekend left to get the rest moved out. Not too much left, but enough to keep us busy.

 I wanted to let everyone know that we had two beautiful wedding events, first Amy (our daughter) & Rob on May 15th. It was perfect in every way. The sun came out as the ceremony was starting. Everyone had a great time & of course, the bride was beautiful. They had a band and Steve & I danced almost every dance. Fun! Here are a few picures.

Rob's sister officiated & did a great job.

Rob's niece Savanna.

Amy's best friend Lea.

Steve & Amy.

The happy couple!

The following weekend was my niece Kellie & Eric's wedding. It was another beautiful day for an outside wedding. It was in Chicago at Architectural Artifacts. It was fun to look around at all the antiques while we waited for the wedding to start & afterwards. Some pics...

My sister Cathy, mother of the bride & Eric's brother.

Niece Trisha, sister of the bride.

Great-niece Addy, flower girl.

Great-niece Noelle, flower girl.

The happy couple, Kellie & Eric.

Son Shane & Jaelyn.

Kristin, Tim & Jaelyn came up for both events. Jaelyn made her "debut" as most of the extended family hadn't seen her yet. She was a happy baby for both events. So we got to see her 3 weekends in a row (including the baptism the week before Amy's wedding.) I am having withdrawals :-(.

Here is a family photo from Kellie's wedding.

The day after.

In between the weddings, I made it to the farm for a few days to mow & put the garden in. I'll blog about farm stuff next post.

Catching Up...

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day yesterday. It was a beautiful day in Illinois. We left very early in the morning for Jaelyn's baptism south of Peoria. Tim's family lives there and that is where the church is that they attend. Jaelyn was a good girl all day. She only cried when the holy water was poured over her head (the pastor got carried away a little :-).

So sweet in her dress & tights!

We are the short ones next to Kristin :-)

                                      Son Shane, Tim's sister Meghan and husband Jeff were Jaelyn's sponsors.

Tim's grandparents shared the day with Jaelyn.

After the service, we went back to Tim's parent's house for lunch, opening presents and cake. It was a wonderful day at the Leesman's. They are a close-knit, fun family. We are very happy that Kristin is a part of it.

On the way down, we went past a lot of windmills. I took this shot on Route 30 headed west. The smoke in the backround to the right is the Byron nuclear power plant. I think I'd rather look at windmills :-)

On the way back, we attempted to find Henry's Farm.   We were in the area, but didn't see a sign. Weren't sure of the exact address. I read the book The Season's of Henry's Farm and Steve is reading it now. The land in most of Illinois is so flat, but around the area of the farm it is quite a rolling river valley. After we got home we took a walk down the path by the creek. We have both been tired lately. Steve from overworking at work and me from overworking at home with sorting & packing after work. So it was early to bed.

I haven't been blogging much lately because of being tired. My brain just seems to shut off. Don't want to be writing jibberish, so I just stay away from it when tired.

Last weekend at the farm we met with a contractor who does drywall. We finally decided that the ceiling finishing is too much for us to do with our necks being hurt in the accident. He got back to us this week with the estimate. Although it seems high, we are going ahead with it. He is probably finishing it up today or tomorrow. He has worked for the neighbors before, so we trust him to be there without us. We also planted more trees. Ten aronia bushes were planted by the hazelnuts. Four Siberian Pea Shrubs in the orchard along with four Pixwell gooseberry bushes and two Jostaberries. Four Russian Olive were planted in misc. spots near the wooded area of the property. The Siberian Peas are good chicken feed, so we planted them close to where we want the chickens to be. We still have three Kiwi and three Paw Paws to plant. We received the kiwi's the Friday that we went to the farm & put the box in the van. When I opened the box, the instructions said they first should be planted in a pot indoors and placed in the sunshine until they get stronger (a couple weeks). Well, we forgot them along with a box of other stuff at the farm. The Jostaberries got here after we got back. So by the time I get back to the farm to mow, the kiwis might be dead. I won't be there until next week sometime. That's quite a while to be in the box with no water.

      Trees planted in the orchard.

          Sunday morning at sunrise.

       Steve playing with Shep, Eli & Lizzie's dog

We also mowed on Sunday and weeded the garlic. Next visit, I hope to get to the strawberries and maybe plant the potatoes. I might ask Eli or one of the boys if they can use the one bottom plow to make a couple rows for me. So much easier than digging it all myself.

Amy & Rob's wedding is this weekend! Time is going by so fast. Amy is so organized. Everything is all set. Hope everyone has a good week.

It's Official!

Our townhome appraised at what we needed it too & we are set to close on June 10th! I just found out this morning. Off to work now...will write more later about the weekend at the farm and all the trees we planted and meeting with a drywaller...