Christmas?

It really is beginning to look--and feel--like Christmas! Here are some dead giveaways Christmas is coming to Pine Ridge Farm:

Around Thanksgiving, The Mr. starts to panic. He is afraid of stuff--not stuff in particular, but stuff in large quantities. His eyes dart from room to room, corner to corner, as his respiration, heart rate and perspiration increase, anticipating a new-stuff invasion. To put his mind at ease, The Mrs. fills large bags marked "Goodwill" and place them in the garage to The Mr.'s relief. The picture above is Laura's attic-doll-compound in the throws of stuff-removal. Ah, The Mr. has perfected performance management!

Once the attic is rearranged, The Mrs. asks The Mr. to transport Christmas decorations downstairs.

Little by little Christmas has entered our home, eking and limping, but making its way. Matthew has a real job this year. Thankful for employment, he's discovered that responsibility dampens Christmas break.

Real life happens. You'll be thankful I failed to get pictures of stomach flu that kept us up from dark-thirty until morning and kept some of us home for days in a row.
Later this week the lazy-Susan cabinet stuck. Laura was kind enough to climb in and pull out wayward items, which, for now, are underfoot.

Also lacking are pictures of lemonade falling from the top shelf of the refrigerator, our 6:00 a.m. stranded motorist, and bickers that rose to the surface as personal desires were frustrated. Harumph!

We woke this morning to our first decent snow of winter. The rest of the world may change, but we still have old-fashioned snow storms in the American Midwest. The Mr., cheerful as always, cleared the drive and brought order to our world.

As I write, dough is rising. Cinnamon rolls are nearly ready to shape, raise and bake.

Merry Christmas!*

*For thoughts on how to translate, "Christmas," follow this link. 

The Apple Plague of 2013

A few weeks ago you saw pictures of Grace and Company processing apples. We're still trying to figure out what to do with them all.  Last month, Grace canned
- 17 quarts of apple pie filling
- 13 quarts of apple cobbler
- 73 quarts of applesauce
- 48 pints of apple jam and jelly

And that was from apples within reasonable reach. Last week I set up six-feet of scaffolding and harvested these buckets plus one more that made its way through the juicer:

Today, with David's help, we added another layer of scaffolding.

And in two-hour's time, this was the bounty from 1 (one) tree:

We're about appled out. We're running out of ideas, jars, freezer space, sugar... and the trees still look like this:

Tree One (yellow delicious?)

Tree Two (red, crisp apples)

Seriously. That's what's still left after all this time. The ground below doesn't look much better.

We've lost count of bucket after buckets we've fed the sheep and chickens and cow, oh my. There's a tote of apples in the back of the vehicle to take to church tomorrow, but many of our neighbors suffer the same fate.

As someone said, if you don't have apples this year you don't have enough friends. Need apples? Find a friend. Need a friend? Ask for apples. You never know how many fruity folks you'll find. Could lead to a doctor shortage? Hmmm....

October in Iowa!

If October means costumes, we're on the right track.
I drove a full load of corn from the combine to the semi-truck, but didn't recognize the driver. If you know Jacob, he's a fun-loving guy who helps his mom with props and costumes for local drama productions. This is one he threw together just for us! Of course he found it more interesting to change halfway through the morning. David and I both took a second--and third--look before we figured out what was going on. I laughed aloud. David shook his head. I'm not sure what the insurance agents thought when they showed up unannounced.

My harvesting co-workers

Rachael dressed up for marching band.

The Homecoming Parade

Grace dressed up for powder puff football and the homecoming celebration.

 

 



It's been an incredible year for apples! We've lost count of the 5-gallon buckets we've filled: rotted ones for the sheep and cow, beautiful ones for apple pie filling, others for applesauce, and plenty for immediate eating.

 

It's a canning party!

Laura caught a white bunny with black spots a month or two ago because it was so different from the others. Lo and behold, we now have a nest full of spotted babies--and flea bites, too.

 

 

The 2014 harvest is done. We're praising God for safety and bins full of grain. It's a once-a-year shot, and we have been blessed with abundance!

 

 

May you enjoy the abundant blessings of fall--the activities, bounty and change of color before the cold, quiet days of winter.





Note

Due to a scare from porno sites following this blog, names were changed.  Please bear with me as we continue to make necessary changes.

Must be Fall

Fall has arrived! Temperatures remain high, moisture is absent, but other indicators point to a change.



"Babe" the wonder truck loaded down with a new, as yet unnamed, motorcycle (!).

Matthew loaded up and moved out for another year of college.  He's studying forestry and living in an apartment for the first time. Thanks to our "u-shaped" driveway, he made three complete victory loops before heading to the interstate, much to Hoover's delight (and his parents').

Marching band and cross country are in full swing.

Rachael front and center for her first year of marching band.

Grace, ready to run!
 

And, as family life moves, so does farm life. Grace came in the house after school last week very excited to have found a new kitten in a back granary of the barn. Laura was disappointed and a little envious--until two days later when Grace discovered another to share.

"The Mr.," as Jacob says, dove into the corn to fill a contract for the third week of September, which meant his harvest crew of Jacob, the boyfriend/all-around-can-do-man, and yours truly was up and running this week.

Digging in!

My set of wheels.



For the person driving the tractor and grain cart, here is View 1, getting ready to accept a load;

View 2, driving forward, looking backward as grain fills the cart;

and View 3, unloading grain into the back of the semi.

You would guess that a harvest doesn't happen without an oopsy-daisy.  Here's the one I'm willing to share (as David willingly cleaned up my mess).  There have been others, and will be more, but the Lord has graciously spared us from more than slight inconveniences.

 

 

Each day wraps up with meetings, family life, laundry and activities but the moon keeps its own time, reminding us that hours never go backward, only forward.

 

 

 

 

 



Life in a Circus Tent...and the Unbaling!

Life at Pine Ridge Farm happily clicks away. The Big Guy scouts and care for crops. Matthew provides steady assistance for the Agricultural Services and Products in town. Grace, Rachael and Laura have been busy here at home, at church and in the community.

One rainy day David decided to look for the source of our dripping kitchen ceiling...

And now, to quote Laura, "We're living in a circus tent!"

Although David's all over it, we've each taken a turn hauling shingles, unloading plywood and 2'x4's, even working overtime on fly patrol.

In wildlife and livestock news, half of the bunnies sold and we've adopted five gifted hunter-cats--which accounts for our decline in rabbit acquisition.

This little fellow, flight impeded, was cleverly camouflaged against the cedar near our mailbox.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. I hear bated breath... Yes, (drum roll, please) it's time for the un-baling! We observed, discussed, and came up with differing opinions. Take a look...it's not a raccoon. It's not an opossum. It's not a cat.  It's a... ??

Fox? Coyote? Probably.
The young men, ahem, were having such a fine time befriending the pelt that I left the party early.  On my way to the house I was reminded of a wonderful evening sharing laughter and s'mores, throwing the end of too-long hot dog buns to Hoover and creating new memories the evening of Independence Day.

May your summer, home and everyday mysteries be filled with knowledge of their Giver. Thanks for stopping by! 

Garden Invasion

It began when Grace found her pepper and tomato plants eaten to the ground--$20 of nubbins. And, in the tradition of Mr. MacGregor, she threw the nearest garden implement with great gusto. The second offense was a little more aggressive. Thus began the Great Bunny Chase.

Under the horse trailer, in and out of bunny tunnels.

Around the silo, through the downstairs granary, and into another tunnel.

Becca, easily caught, is in the trap and waiting for a friend.

Almost!

Rabbits in hand--or two in the bush--Grace moved on to more productive ventures.

Outside, the chase went on:

Victory achieved--one more rabbit caught under the mower.

Phase 2-the slingshot... To put you at ease, be assured that no bunnies were harmed in the making of this blog.

Fortunately for Grace and MacGregor, the Big Guy picked up poultry fencing and secured her garden spot. Stay tuned as rabbits continue to multiply....