Yes...I'm still alive!

Early Morning Sunbeams
Hello to anyone out there still hoping I will post in my blog! (If there IS anyone.) LOL Between trying to heal from a few health issues the last couple years, and keeping busy doing whatever it is that I find myself doing around here, I found myself not blogging.  Part of that was due to trying to avoid as much stress as possible...and trying to think of something to write, especially when I wasn't getting out and taking lots of pictures, can be stressful, least enough that I decided not to try.  I AM still very much alive though, just not showing it here!

Just thought I'd share a photo I took early one morning  a week or two ago while I let anyone who has wondered, know I AM still here, and I think...hope and pray...my health is improving, just slow it seems.  I've had some issues for years, but they really had me down a couple years ago so I figured I HAD to try and figure things out.  I have to praise God for the journey, AND helping me feel better little bits at a time!


Violet, this years calf!
Lately, since I've been feeling up to it, I've been helping to try and tame the calf that was born here earlier this year. With my hubby always being so busy she didn't get a lot of attention, and was quite WILD!  But it was past time to wean her, so we had to get her caught and away from her Mom.

We had to have one of our wonderful Amish neighbors who is younger and more able to, come over and help catch her.  He had to do it twice, because the first time she broke the rope we had her tied to a tree with and went back in with her Mom.  LOL  Course that was just AFTER he left, so it was a bit before he managed to get back over and do it again.  This time we had a better rope I guess, cause she didn't break this one as she lunged trying to get away from it.


Violet & my hubby.
It's certainly been an experience, and I didn't know if we could do it, (I can train dogs decently well...but never have tried to a calf) but...she is coming along real nicely!  I think I won her over with apple cores when I was getting apple pie filling into the freezer. LOL Once those were gone, hubby brought home some alfalfa cubes, and we give them to her as treats. She loves them, and will come running for them sometimes.  Nothing like a bribe, to get those animals to calm down and come to us!  ;-))

She treats me differently than she does hubby, I'm not good at "cow speak" so not sure what it all means that she does, but it's just good to see her trusting us more. I've been leading her around the yard some, getting her used to being walked on a rope, and she is doing better that way too. I have no idea if she would come to us if she wasn't tied up...we haven't gotten that far yet, but least there is hope she will be a good milk cow one day. :-))

We almost tried to sell her...actually put an ad online and everything, but something kept telling me to keep her, so we decided to take the ad down and see if we could get her tamed down...thankfully it appears to be paying off! God willing she will be a good one for us, like her Mom appears to be! She is her Mom's first calf...so Mom is still young, so hopefully we will have them for many more years to come.


Beautiful Morning!
Anyway, just thought I'd share the fact I'm still here, just quiet and working on my health...along with my usual pursuits of keeping house here on the farm and enjoying my MANY hobbies. LOL I have to say it's GOOD to feel a bit better too!! I still have a ways to go, and who knows if I'll ever get to where I think I should be...but least I'm not where I was a couple years ago! :-))

No promises you will see me back here a lot...but...least I finally had the urge to post an update for once!  ;-)))

25 years and counting!

I don't know how I got so lucky 25 years ago today, to marry this wonderful man I'm married to, but God was sure looking out for me when he brought us together! Yes, to some people he may not be perfect, but I'm so far from perfect myself, I think he's way to good for ME! I do know he's PERFECT for ME, and that's all that matters! I'm also blessed cause he thinks that I'm perfect for HIM, even though I don't know how most of the time.

He is the sweetest, kindest, most gentle...in words and actions...MAN I know, and I'm so blessed that he's mine! I will never be able to put into words, how much he means to me. All I can really say is, that without him, I don't know where I would be now as he has helped me make it though the tough times...when I'm not strong enough to make it on my own. God knows what we need before we do, and I'm so grateful he KNEW I needed this fantastic Man and kept him for me.

We may not be "where" or "who" we hoped we would be, all those years ago in some respects...but we are who and where we are...and I have to say I'm loving the ride, even if it takes us off the beaten track at times! Those unexpected turns usually turn out to be the best!

I love you Dearly, Galen, You light up my life with your smile...your love...your presence, and I'm a better person, because of YOU!  Thanks for all the surprises that made this such a special day, I am feeling extremely spoiled!  ;-))

Family wedding

I see it's been a few months since I updated my blog again. *sigh* I think it's a lost cause trying to keep it up anymore. I get busy doing other things, and don't remember to come write in it any more. LOL Thought I'd make a quick post with a couple photos I took at my brothers wedding this last weekend though. This first one is my adorable young niece (great niece). She was having FUN running back and forth playing.

I've been busy, busy lately, getting ready for the wedding. My niece and I threw them a wedding shower the night before the wedding...and getting ready for that was keeping my busy, along with cleaning the house in case any of the relatives came over while they were here. I tell ya, I was so thankful when it was all over...we were totally lazy the day after, once our company left! LOL Did nothing at all. Not sure how I had to prepare for a wedding two years in a row...but I'm so done with weddings! ROFL


This is my new Sister-In-Law!!! She seems really nice, although I haven't been able to get to know her as well as I'd have liked to. Hopefully I can as time goes on.

It was great to see those who came to the wedding.  It was just a small country wedding, at the same church hubby and I got married at, but love small country weddings.  ;-))

Looking forward to seeing all the photos from the official photographer, cause I've seen 4 and they are SOO much better than mine are.  LOL  I'm rusty....not to mention not as good at taking people photos, so am glad my brother listened to me and got this lady to do them, instead of insisting I did them like he asked me to at first.  I will admit, my inside photos turned out better than usual...but still, she came up with better ideas for photos than I would have...not to mention them looking better.  She even got my brother to SMILE!  That's unheard of in photos!  LOL

Now...I have to get ready for hubbies knee replacement surgery next month...so can't rest to long. I want to get some meals into the freezer, so when we get back I don't have to cook much right away. After his back surgery, it took me a little while to not be sleepy all the time, from the stress at the hospital, not to mention I'll have thanksgiving coming up that I will need to cook for...so would rather put my energy...what little I have...into that.

Prayers for rapid healing from his surgery would be appreciated!

The lengths my hubby will go to, to keep me laughing!

Yesterday, I was at my computer when I heard my hubby come in the back door, and go over to the kitchen sink...and say "I could use some help up here!"  I get up, and ask what's wrong as I go up the stairs...no answer. Wondering how bad he is bleeding, I reach the top of the steps, and see him bent over the sink. No blood showing...so I head over to him and he kinda turns a little so I can see his face and it's all black and is his hands and arms. He turns back and starts scrubbing again.

I kinda chuckle and asked "What happened!" thinking it looked like he was covered in soot, but didn't know HOW he could have managed THAT!

He said "A paint can exploded" and he continued to try and scrub it off him.  It was a loosing battle...so I chuckled again and said you need to go down and jump in the shower.  So he picked up his glasses, looked at them, then put them back down and headed down stairs.

I grabbed his glasses...and tried to clean them, but it was stuck good (they were good and covered too...both lenses were totally black)...so headed downstairs with them.  DH was in the tub already, and the paint just wasn't coming off...a little did, but not much.  The above photo is the result of the first shower...still a LOT of black left!  *giggle*

I tell you, when he tries to cover gray...he COVERS it!  ;-))

So....here he is, his face, hands and arms covered...I have some on my hands I can't get off, from his glasses and we are wondering what the heck to do...neither of us can touch anything much because we didn't want paint all over the place...and I'm still having giggle fits, every time I look at him.

So...I gingerly grab the phone and call Mom, and ask if she can google how to get paint off...since I didn't want to get paint all over my computer.  Naturally in the middle of the phone conversation Galen reminds me I COULD put gloves on.  DUH!  ROFL  So...I get some medical gloves out of the cabinet, and put them on, so least I can again touch things.

We decide to try paint thinner...which we didn't have as Galen doesn't use it, so I meet Dad part way to his house to get some he had...and Galen is going out to at least try getting some of the paint off with Gas while I'm gone.

When I got back, we went to work getting the paint off his skin, with the paint thinner...and it got some out of his hair, but it still wasn't coming out of that very good.  Galen was just SURE he was going to have to shave his beard and head...but I kept saying NO...it's working, we just have to keep trying.  Galen jumped back into the shower, to get the paint thinner off, and used laundry soap as soap since it's harsher.

I called Mom and said it worked on his skin, and she said she read to try mayonnaise to get it out of the hair, so I went up and got some and we sat with that soaking for a little bit, then he used more laundry soap, cause it was working somewhat before...and he managed to get the rest of it out of his hair.  No shaving required!

As he was drying off, hubby quipped "Real men don't use hair dye....they use paint!"  ROFL  That's my silly goofball!!

I chuckled about this ALL DAY yesterday!  It was just to funny...had me worried a time or two, cause I know paint isn't good to have on your skin...and I was so thankful that his glasses stopped it from getting in his eyes, as that would have been disastrous...but God was good and helped us get it off...and I have to say, I do LOVE laughing, so it was good to have that chuckle not to far away all day.

That event pretty much filled up my morning...slowed me down a lot, but oh boy, did it keep me entertained!  As I was headed over to help my Mom that afternoon, I stopped off at our neighbors house, to drop off a jacket he had left in our car...and I just HAD to share the photo I had on my phone of hubby with them.  *snicker*

I just HAD to share it with the neighbor...as hubby has enjoyed telling a few stories about him...so I made sure HE had a good story about hubby this time.  *giggle*  I'm sure that one will get around our little Amish community over the next few days...several others have, but that is an extremely good one!  Not to mention...the neighbor now has a printed photo to go with the story!   I printed the one from my phone (which wasn't real good...my phone doesn't take good ones) and he took it when he came over last night.  ROFL

I had a good ol time sharing that photo...sent it to my brother...two nieces...and as I mentioned showed it to our neighbor, all the while laughing my head off.  Stuff like that just doesn't happen all that much...where I can laugh at something that happened to HIM...usually it's myself I have to laugh at...so it was good to have the tables turned for a change!  :-))

Poor hubby...he may be the talk of the neighborhood for a few days now...oh wait...he already has been!  He's famous with the Amish around here, they get a kick out of him and his stories I think.  Now they really will.  ;-))

I'm thankful it all turned out ok...makes it ok that I laughed at him.  *snicker*  He does love to see me laugh...he really doesn't have to go to this length to get me too...but since he did, I took advantage of it!  ROFL

Spring was beautiful again this year!

I was so glad to see signs of spring showing itself this year! I was ready for some color to be added, and it came out with a vengeance...green grass, the trees starting to come alive, and flowers bursting out all over!

Such a beautiful time of year!!


I was out walking in one of our pastures, admiring the beautiful redbud trees and even saw a few of these pretty little violets. One of my favorite flowers of early spring...least on the ground...I always love the redbud trees which we have a ton of here on our little farm!


Then there were my iris. They sure seemed to be early this year...may not have been, cause I know they are an earlier variety...just seemed really early. But they were sure pretty, and I thought of our Sister-in-law who died a year ago now, as she loved them so. It's hard to believe it's been over a year since she died. Course, it's hard to believe it's been 4 months since Clara died...time does fly.

Spring is always my favorite time of year...it's the time the frogs come out to sing, and life seems to be reborn here on the farm. This year was no exception. There have been a few hard times the last few months...but with spring back, it helps renew my hope that things will be better eventually. It doesn't always happen, true...but least it helps to be able to put one foot in front of another, with all that beauty springing forth around you. :-))

 Praise God for his fantastic paintbrush, and the beauty he LOVES to give us!  Now spring is almost over...but that brings it's own beauty with different wild flowers and the sweet smell of fresh cut hay!  ;-))

Tractor's, Company & other Rambles

It's been a somewhat busy spring here when it comes to visitors too. We've had our niece Abbie here a couple times for several days. It was good to catch up with her.

DH's friend Kirk also came over for several days, to help hubby get one of his old tractors running again. They had to totally rebuild the motor I think, but they did manage to get it running before Kirk had to leave. It's always wonderful to have Kirk here. :-))

They both rode this old tractor around our yard a time or two, once it was running...it left some holes in the yard, from the wheels...but it wasn't long before you couldn't see them with all the rain we've been getting. It was nice to see a cute tractor running around here for a change...as the other ones hubby has worked on weren't near as "cute" to me as this one was. LOL

We have also had the neighbor kids here for a few nights, while their Mom had to go out of town...so yep...been rather more busy with the company aspect so far this spring!!

As for hubbies knee replacement surgery...we still don't know about that one.  He keeps having more and more trouble with his knee...but God willing it will hold out as long is needed, till they get around to doing the replacement.  Prayers are still appreciated if you can send some up for him!

Anyway, that's about all the major stuff that I can remember at this moment in time.  I'll share a few photos tomorrow of our "spring" beauty if I remember to and have time to, and then I think I'll be up to date least photo wise!

Hopefully I can get a few taken in the next few days...depending on the rain for some of them, since it seems we are in a major rainy season lately, and update you on a little more newsy stuff.  Until then...I'll be in my soap room, or at my craft table if I'm not busy cleaning, cooking or helping my Mom at her house!  ;-))

Or...as the case of this evening and tomorrow is, in my kitchen helping butcher a cow that we were just given because it was down and the vet said it wouldn't be getting back up.  Hubby, my Dad and a neighbor just went to get it...and I'm taking a break for a sec, to post this...and just had to add our latest news on there.  LOL  Guess we will be busy tonight!  Least a neighbor or two will help us, for a share...and that way we don't have to try and find room for a whole cow in ours and Mom &Dad's freezer since we do still have some of our last one in there (although I was getting low on ground meat).  So...Praise be to God for giving us more, before we ran out!

 God is Good All the time!!!

See ya when I see ya!!

And then there were four...again!

About a week after Daisy left, we were sitting in the living room chatting when hubbies phone rang. He talked for a little while, told the people on the other end, he's have to talk to me then hung up.

I asked what THAT was about, and he said it was someone he had talked to several months ago, who had a cow for sale.

I laughed, and then asked how much...figuring it was sky high, knowing how the prices seemed to be going up...and up...every time I checked out craigslist.

He told me, and I replied..."whats wrong with her", cause it was pretty low, less than half of what I'd been seeing them for. Less than we paid for Daisy when we got her several years ago when cows WERE lower in price.

I guess she had a mild case of mastitis...she was located at an organic Amish dairy, so either they couldn't give her what most people do, and still be considered organic, or just wanted to get her out of their herd, if she was going to be having that trouble...I don't know just what was going on there, but we'd had good luck using Raw Apple Cider vinegar with cows that had mastitis...so hubby wasn't real worried about THAT issue.

Since I was tired of not having milk (cause our cows dried themselves up late last year, hopefully cause they were pregnant) and hubby wanted her...we decided to get her since she WAS cheap! She was still in milk...although is suppose to have a calf in July, so should be drying up soon, so least I could start having some more milk for butter, ice cream and cheese!

So...meet Poppy, our latest cow purchase. She was rather dirty when we got her as you can see...but has since gotten clean now she is out on good pasture enjoying what spring brings to this neck of the woods...nice fresh green grass!!

So...we are back to four cows again. *sigh* No sign of more calves coming...so least we only have two in milk so far...but hopefully that will change. LOL Course...who knows, we may decide to sell one of our other ones...depending on how much trouble they get into. LOL Will see how it goes, as the year progresses. Just had to laugh, that yet again, we got a new cow...hubby just CAN'T cut down on how many we have...even if he's not really wanting to milk that many.

Poppy really has turned out to be a good cow...I think she is hubby's favorite!  Her very MILD case of mastitis cleared right up with the apple cider vinegar hubby put on her food...and we got to start keeping her milk, much to the cats sorrow.  Their warm breakfast they had been getting while we didn't use the milk, turned into the leftover COLD milk I had after skimming the cream and making cheese.  LOL

 Poppy got her name cause at the time we got her, I was learning to use alcohol markers (cheap ones so far) to blend colors together on a picture and get one that has different shades, where shadows and all would be. I happened to be coloring a poppy at the time, so said..."we could name her Poppy" and it kinda stuck. LOL  (Remember, we have been naming all our girls flower names.)

Thankfully our cow money is gone now...so we can't afford any more, if someone offers to sell us one hubby will just have to say NO!  ;-))

I think that's all the cow news caught up now...that I can remember anyway.  The "flowers" of our farm are doing well!!  :-))