Coming up for air

There is much to catch up on here,  kind of like catching my breath after a constant stream of summer activities.  The kids cracked open their journals a few Sundays ago and discovered it had been more than six months that they had last written.  For that purpose I have a renewed interest in keeping up on this blog simply as a record for our family.  I've taken to facebook lately because it is a quick place to store a thought and photo but sometimes there is more to say...........

My parents visited us, the last time they were in Michigan was over a year ago, that was the week we signed the contract to buy the farm.  We have grown in many ways since then and it was a joy for us all to share it with my parents.  

One of the highlights from their visit was a trip to the nearby farm, garden and ice cream shop.  While the kids were licking their cones and my dad and I were inspecting pickling crocks my mom got comfortable in a rocker next to one of the owners.  They sat and chatted like old friends......we actually had to alert her when all the kids were buckled in the van and ready to go.   Now whenever we make ice cream stops the first thing I am asked from the owners is, "how is your mom?"   

My dad having spent some time on a farm in New York while he was young was thrilled to see what we are trying to do.  He kept snapping away on his Leica, shaking his head laughing......"I would never have guessed, Al".  I showed off the bees, milking, eggs and whatever vegetables we could find. And my dad confided in James that when he was young he was not too happy to be living on a farm either, he said he regretted not helping his dad more and encouraged James to be more positive about the experience.

There was much to feast on together.  For a few days it felt like the summer we got to live with them.  My mom and I had long talks and many laughs while my dad fed the kids licorice and had them goofing off beyond that which us adults could control.  I miss those days of us living just a corner away.

Soon after we also got to enjoy a visit with Paul's aunt, uncle and cousin from Wisconsin.  We gave them a 2 hour farm tour in the mid morning sun, treated them to a kale smoothie and Maryanna performed an old country song for them.  Paul's aunt gifted us with a beautiful gathering basket which we put to use immediately as there has been many gatherings, and much to be gathered.

Then cousins Julius and Zander stayed a few days with us.  They jumped right into the farm chores and Julius helped me finally master a soft and delicious goat cheese.  He laughed really hard when I told him my last attempted was spit up into by baby Charles.  Julius suggested we add basil, chives, garlic and a little more salt - we made it two times together and was gobbled up with great reviews.   

Rob and Eva also made it to Michigan this summer.  I enjoyed a full day of sewing talk and Japanese pattern instruction with Eva and her mom and sister.  Between us there were 12 children to be cared for and we still managed to make progress on a few new sewing projects (just haven't managed to finish them yet - stay tuned!).

Getting together with cousins is an instant party!  Henry especially bonded to Luke while we were in UT for the reunion so seeing him again in Michigan was another reunion.

But just like the weeds, children don't stop growing on account of a busy Summer.  Maryanna's 7th birthday snuck up on us.  In haste I ordered a pair of red clogs for her on ebay not noticing they were embroidered with the original owners initials.  There was just enough time to drop them off at a shoe repair shop to stitch a piece of leather over the initials, but there was not time for a new felt birthday crown. Instead I unpicked the six from last year and sewed on a seven.  I also sewed her a chicken gathering apron with two big pockets for eggs.

In celebration we had an impromptu gathering with neighbors.  All of her best friends around here are at least 60 and they were here hiding behind couches to shout "surprise" after she walked in the door from a trip to The Toy House with Daddy.  Maryanna was so excited about the Calico Critter set she picked out and seeing all her favorite friends and cupcakes that she peed her pants at the surprise.  But with total confidence she announced to all her guests, "I'll be right back, I just have to change".  And so she did and continues to daily with losing teeth and stepping over the gap between the "big kids" and "little kids".

And still no break in the fun, we visited to the community fair, had a tent sleep over with friends and cousins David and Kate spent the weekend with us.  The boys kept the tent up all the while and after sleeping in it for a week now James has suggested the tent could be his new bedroom, this he insists even after a soaking rainfall.



Through it all Paul has kept up with a busy travel schedule. It seems he has been gone mid week every week since the beginning of July.  Upon his last return Maryanna was near by playing with my camera and I called out "quick Maryanna, take a picture of me kissing Daddy because I'm about to get really mad at him".  Well, not so much mad at him but simply exhausted from playing the part of a one man band.

And so I made it clear that I needed a breather.

And so he made it possible for me to take off  in his truck to a girl's night out with some neighboring farm ladies.  

I also spent a whole day in bed reading, pondering and making plans for the up coming homeschool year.  I believe I swallowed enough air to jump into it.  

Men's shirt to apron

An old men's shirt was passed into my hands last week and I instantly knew what was to become of it, a new apron.  I like aprons because they are useful in collecting spills, and the pockets are handy for storing my cell phone, pocket knife and even a few small squash or cucumbers from the garden.  

The transition from shirt to apron was simple, using mainly the back half of the shirt I kept the hem intact, removed the chest pocket and sewed it back down in a new location.  I added a few tucks on each side of the waist and then cut the ties and waist band from the extra long shirt sleeves.  And for a finishing touch and to remind myself not to work too hard with this apron on I freehand stitched the phrase "Vivir bien".

Here is the before:

And here it is in action in the kitchen.  Kind of love the crooked-out of focused-action mom shots my kids catch of me.   Also kind of love that a few days of rain gave me an excuse to squeeze in some much needed sewing time (finally!).

Early Christmas

It's been a couple weeks that Paul has been teasing me about a surprise he ordered for me, "it's an early Christmas present and you're going to love it"!, he'd say.  I couldn't be sure of what it'd be but I kept making guesses, begged for clues and continually kept an eye out for the friendly delivery truck.  

At one point I thought Paul may have checked my browser history and discovered I spent some idle moments browsing through the jewelry on the Sundance catalog site, maybe he got me that necklace I kept going back to, I thought. But I had to guess again when he clued me in that the surprise was something the whole family was going to share, a cream separator?  I really want one of those.

But when the small square zazzle box showed up I knew in an instant what the surprise was going to be............a Nubian goat trucker hat!  That was also on my browser history from several weeks back.  And so it was and I'm now an official "goat lady".  

      

 I love these lady goats and I believe the feeling is mutual.

I also love that I can wear whatever the heck I feel like here on the farm, it seems I've been taking fashion cues from my 5 year old daughter and it is liberating.

Paul was right when he said it was a gift that the whole family was going to want to share.  Out of all the children Maryanna and William love the goats the  most so they were first in line to borrow the hat.

George loves the goats too, he rarely misses a milking, but it was hard to keep the hat on him long enough for a photo.  

Here's what I caught instead, him independently milking the rocking horse.  Really this should be videoed because he has the process down just right, he cleaned the pretend teats, put the first few squirts in a tiny cup and offered it to some tiny animals. Then he proceeded to milk alternating both hands and making a squirting noise with his mouth.  When he was finished he brought it over to the little wooden play kitchen and strained the milk into a little container.  

This boy is so funny he may deserve his very own youth sized Nubian goat trucker hat or T-shirt, maybe for Christmas.......or an early Christmas.

Catching up

I'm not sure it is a good idea to plant a huge garden and leave it for over two weeks mid summer.  I thought I'd get caught up on it as soon as we returned from our trip but there was a lot of laundry to catch up on and then the stomach flu hit and moved through us one person and one day at a time.  So the laundry grew faster than I could tackle it, as did the weeds (which were already plentiful and very high).

My sister Mary suggested a little weeding party so we geared up for it in boots, overalls, tractor supply shirts and gloves.  We use to run together in high school and college and in those days we'd gear up in baggy t-shirts and old running shoes, it felt like old times there in the garden sweating along side each other, talking, pacing each other, laughing and at times almost crying.  I was the one who was almost crying because I was overwhelmed, not too long into it the weeding party turned more into a pity party.  But again, just like old times Mary was by my side encouraging me, "come on Al, just 1/2 mile more", "come on Al, just finish the row of beets". I was cursing those weeds all the while and Mary admitted to feeling the same way about neglected dirty dishes and paper work, that made me feel better.    

Here is only a tiny portion of our work.



Mary is a natural in the garden, she combed through all the cabbages till it looked tidier than a flower bed.  That was enough to keep me going, maybe not as focused as Mary but I kept going.  And it was a sweaty muscle aching workout that us sisters shared.

After our wedding workout we feasted on a berry/beet/kale/carrot smoothie and prepared the rest of the vegetables for roasting.  So I can't complain, the garden is certainly producing more than just weeds!

Not all my visitors are as encouraging as Mary though, my mom simply said, "oh you don't have time for this."  And there is one neighbor who knows just the wrong thing to say at the height of noon day sun, but I don't need to mention that here.

As for Paul and the kids, they have a lot more enthusiasm now that we are bringing in daily harvests.  Still, it takes a lot of energy to keep children going in an overgrown garden.  The goat kids on the other hand take to it like trick or treating.  Here they are barely fenced in to the area that was suppose to be our strawberry patch, I love that they love those weeds!

This is Yagi assisting in some really tall lambs quarter.

And since Maryanna likes to be in charge the job of garden goat herder serves us all, at least those little kids know who's boss.  

Here's what was suppose to be the sunflower house.  The back and sides are barely in reach of the sprinklers so they are not growing evenly, and I think some birds got to the corners. Clara said "that's okay the sunflower house did not work, we can just make a weed house this year because we already have so many tall weeds everywhere."  Peter is still very impressed with the height that some of the sunflowers are gaining, "they are even way taller than Daddy!" he observed.  And I answered "yes, we are all in over our heads in this garden".

Not sure we'll ever "catch up" on this year's garden, but I cannot doubt we are making huge strides along the learning curve.