~I Rode A Bull!~

Okay, you got me. It was actually a steer, about 12 years ago or so. I was largely the one in charge of caring for my parent's first beef critter, HP (Hamburger Patty). When I fed him his grain, I would empty the pail in his dish, then flip the pail over to stand on. I started out just patting him. Then, slowly over time (days) I would put more and more pressure on his back as I pat and rubbed him. Then I would start leaning on him a little. Then leaning my whole upper body on his back while he munched away at his grain. Then one day I just climbed on his back. He turned his head and looked at me, then went right back to eating. Eventually I was able to sit on him for long periods of time as he walked around the yard to graze on his tether.

Anyway, Saturday we went out to celebrate our anniversary. Darlin' said he had a surprise before we went to the bull riding. So off we went. He pulled into the university in Orono. As he drove around the parking lot looking for a space, I (still unaware as to what he was up to) observed people walking in and out of the building, and looked at the trucks parked outside. When I saw guys in black and green plaid wool jackets and "I love trapping" bumper stickers I figured it out. It was the Sportsman's Show!!!! I was so excited, I hadn't been to that in YEARS! It was awesome! They had over 100 vendors with everything you could think of from beef jerky to boats, canoe paddles, taxidermy, fudge, quilts, guns, you name it! We watched a fly fishing class (something I have been interested in for some time now) and picked up some great pointers as well as some humor! It was great!!!
     Then we went to Kobe's Japanese grill for supper and had habatchi (that is when they cook your food in front of you and do cool things like set stuff on fire). After that it was off to the bull riding!
     I used to watch bull riding on TV on Sundays when I was a kid. I never thought I'd get to see it live in-the-flesh! There were a couple of bulls that got a little crazy, chasing everyone around and had to be roped back into the gates. It was so cool!

 I have some video I took as things were getting started, I will try to upload it soon!

 Here we are, 5 years after "I do"!

 For Friday, I made a mini replica of our wedding cake. Our cake was chocolate with peanut butter frosting! It had all kinds of little farm animals all around it on each layer. These very two bovine were our cake toppers! I keep them in our china cabinet and put them on our cake each year. I think it's safe to say I don't have much of a future in cake decorating, LOL!

After cake and putting the boys to bed Friday night, we played our first dance song ("Look heart, no hands" by Randy Travis) and danced in the living room amidst the toys and the sleeping dog. I am truly thankful for my man. We are a perfect match. Not because we are perfect, but because typically where one is weak in one area, the other is strong. I love that he is constantly making me laugh and wag my head at his foolishness. We josh each other back and forth like an old couple. He is a good one for coming up with one-liners, grinning at me from behind his coffee cup with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. I pray that the Lord gives us many, many more years together!

Have a great Tuesday everyone! Batten down the hatches for our next storm! 

~5 Years~

 Five years ago today I married my bestest friend! What an awesome time it has been, sharing this journey through life together! It has been filled with lots of love and lots of laughter. Trials and triumphs. Hard times and plenty. We have two beautiful boys. And at the end of the day, we are still holdin' hands and sippin' tea. I would not trade one minute of it for anything thing else in this world.

 Becky, maid of honor

 The older bro's

 Sharp bunch of fellas

 Sister Mary

 Sister-in-love Kaelie

 Grammie Osgood

 Sister flower girls: Hannah, Ruth, Lydia. Brother ring barer; Sai

 Gampie Aldrich

 Five years ago, all my younger siblings were still shorter than me!

And of course, these two songs are sure to be a repeat post on here. I'm sure you'll all get sick of them, but I won't!

Our first Dance...

Our other favorite:

I've Been Spoiled And Back To Eden

That beautiful stretch of weather we had spoiled me. It was some what unseasonably warm for nearly a week here in my part of Maine. The Beech trees started to bud out. Now we are back into "normal". It was 6 degrees out this morning when I got up at 3:45. Not as bad as was forecast, they were saying -6. I think the chickens are thinking the same. During those nice days they started wandering around the yard and came up to the porch to visit me and get some treats. Now they are snuggled back in the barn with looks on their faces that say "What the...?.
      I am impatiently waiting for my seeds to get here so I can start what needs starting ahead. I think this is the first year I've actually planned out where every plant is going to go on paper before planting (tsk,tsk, I know).  I used a chart out of my old "Back To Basics" book by Reader's Digest. It has a chart of what plants do well with what plants, and which ones don't. So, keeping that in mind I made a layout for both our garden plot and the raised beds. I'm sure we will run into the same problem that we have every year; there just is never enough compost! Even after having several cows and thirty-some chickens, pigs, veggie scrapes, you name it. There just never seems to be enough for what I want to do! I would like to start working on making our garden a "back to Eden" garden. I will be making some phone calls to local wood cutting businesses this year.
     If you don't know what a "back to Eden" garden is, basically it is a garden which resembles the model of how the very first garden in the Bible (God's garden) was thought to have been grown. In the book of Genesis, after man sinned and was cast out of the garden it says he started to till the soil (Gen.3:23, KJV). Tilling causes erosion of the soil, and that is what makes your garden look like a dust bowl if you don't put mulch down. You know how the soil in the woods is black and damp? The leaves, sticks and branches of the trees fall on the ground, making a dense cover and hold in moisture, while also providing natural compost. The man in this documentary realized this, and incorporated it into his garden by adding wood chips. This is amazing and well worth your time to watch if you love growing stuff:

As a side note, if you use this method, you should know that when wood chips and similar, low-nitrogen material is breaking down, the microorganisms that feed on it use nitrogen from the soil in order to break down the material. That nitrogen is then later returned to the soil when the microorganisms die. But in the mean time, it temporarily lowers the nitrogen level in your soil. Composted chicken manure is great as it is high in nitrogen. You will want to incorporate some into your garden with this method (or other, high nitro compost). DO NOT put fresh, un-composted chicken manure on your garden, you will burn your plants! On the other hand, rabbit manure may safely be applied to your garden while fresh. But it is only about 2% nitrogen (which is exactly the reason it is safe to use fresh). 

Anyway, those are my thoughts this morning. I've got to get to the chickens now that it is light enough to see outside. Thanks for stopping in, I hope you have a great day!!!!!


   

An Excerpt

Now that this is no longer Darlin's work schedule, I felt that I could share with you on here.
   This is an excerpt from my memory book:

December 5, 2016

~Joe just left again for work in Connecticut. I folded his clean laundry and he packed it into our "new" 2008 Escape. I also gave him a bag of grapes to munch on for the trip down. It is about 7 hours drive from our house to Meriden, CT. Jack, Lem and I all gathered at the window to watch him pull out after hugs and kisses. As soon as the car pulled out of sight, the absence of his presence in the house was so loud, it was near deafening. It was as if the very soul of the home had walked out, leaving us to our thoughts in the silence left behind. Lord willing, four nights from now he will be home. We miss him so much.~

This Re-Mix Is Amazing!

I heard this on the radio three times over the last month or so, and I couldn't believe my ears! This is great! I just "YouTubed" it this morning, the video isn't bad either. If you love county music, you've got to take a listen! I must admit, I don't know some of the most recent artists, as I favor the sound of the older stuff (all the way back to Hank Williams Sr) but they are still good!

And just because, I thought I'd add in a song I haven't heard in a long while:

Have a great Monday!

Little Forever

My boys are 3 and almost 2. Lots of folks would say "they are so young" and "they're just getting started" and things like that. And for the most part, yes, I would agree with them. When I think of the long and full life I hope they each get to experience, yes, this is the beginning and so much lies ahead. But, then there are moments. Those moments that make your heart swell and you wish things would remain as they are. Playing tickle monster, building a snowman, reading the favorite stories over and over. Or just cuddling them in the silence of the evening, breathing in the smell of their freshly washed hair. Hanging their tiny clothes out on the line to blow dry in the Spring breeze. The expressions of pure delight and amusement as they discover a 'new' creeping crawling thing and joyously show you in their grubby, little dimpled hands, smiling ear to ear.
     When I think of how much they have grown since they were born, it seems as though it has been at a dizzying pace. If you've read much on my blog, you probably have heard me talk a little about my thoughts of "time".
     I find "father time" a rather rude character. He just keeps on racing by, completely ignoring the fact that you don't want to travel at such a pace. He flits on through, dragging you with him whether you want him to, or not. He changes everything, nothing remains as it once was. One moment you are making boats out of bark, sticks and leaves after a big Summer rain and sailing them across large puddles. The next moment, you are standing in front of the mirror, the child inside of you staring back at a stranger. You wonder how you could have changed so much, because sometimes you still feel like that carefree child, playing after the rain.

If you have children, hold on to those moments. Drink them up like Summer sunshine. Really look at your child, listen to them. Hold them, play with them, talk to them. Never forget what it was like to be a child, and seek to make precious memories for your children to remember, simply by being present in their lives. And for heaven's sake, put down the stupid electronics. I am not anti-technology, but if our use of it started to become addictive, leaving life to go by with empty days and empty hearts, it would go. We have, and I have, taken internet breaks in the past, and will do so whenever necessary to come back to this fleeting thing called life, and partake of it mind,body and soul.
     We were having supper at my parent's house this past Sunday. My mother and husband were trying to get little Jack to eat his spaghetti. "So you will get big" they said. Jack replied: "I don't want to get big, I want to be little forever." Even though I knew he said that because he didn't want to eat, but to be excused from the table, I couldn't help but feel a lump in my throat and my eyes tear up. And on the night before his third birthday I said "you are going to be three tomorrow!" Jack said "I don't want to be three, I want to be two."

Well, Jack, I wish you could be little forever too. 💙

Freezer Meals: Chicken Nuggets

Buried Alive!

View out back

 The tip of the seat on the tractor, all that's left!

 There is a car under there...

 See the antenna??!!

 The junk car...

 We had quite a drift on the roof!

 Watching Daddy.

 Daddy's "Kikup".

 After my Dad plowed our driveway, (after I took this photo) we have the equivalent of a cow path for a driveway, the banks on either side are up to my shoulders!

Hope you were able to dig out! I spent the better part of the day yesterday in the kitchen. I made bread, brownies and 10lbs of chicken nuggets!
     Upcoming videos: Freezer meals and my bill paying system. Stay tuned!

"While the Earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and Winter, day and night shall not cease." Gen.8:22   Spring WILL come!

Sap Heads

 Pictured above is a new thin-walled fiberglass sap spout. It does less damage to the tree when tapped and the hole in the tree heals more quickly than when previous models are used.

 A collar, tee, and spout.

 One of the sap heads, making drops.

 Another sap head, also making drops.

 Both sap heads, discussing sap stuff.

 Rolls of tubing, ready to be made into drops.

 Getting ready to put out some tubing.

 A snowshoeing sap head.

 An icicle, in the calm before the storm.

My kitchen has become taken over in sap supplies. When you are married to a sap head, this is just an inevitable part of late Winter. One more reason I can't wait 'till Spring! Lol!

    I hope you are hunkered down and nice and toasty in this storm. Keep safe! Spring WILL come, eventually.

School With Daddy

Little Boy loves to push the stool over to the vent in the floor where the forced hot air comes through, it is his favorite place to sit!

Big Boy fell asleep with Mama's backpack on, so cute!

We are all sick with a cold now. Darling took some time off, as working outdoors in the freezing cold when you have chills is not fun. Big Boy wanted to do school, so he traced A's and matched pictures. He also colored his Bible story picture while Daddy read the corresponding Bible story.

 Then he did some name practice with a laminated sheet that Gran-Gran made him. It is one of his favorite "school" things to do!

Later on, Darlin and I played Cribbage. I've only played twice before (both times with him) and that was a few years ago! I had to learn the rules all over again! We couldn't play too long,the boys were up and Little Boy was determined to take our cards and climb on the table. But it was still fun. It reminded me of the "old times" when we would make tea and read gardening and farming books together back when we only had a dog! Boy those days were too quiet!

Hope you are enjoying all this snow. You would think it was Winter in Maine or something!

Ain't No Fun Bein' Sick

I've gotten a nasty cold, practically overnight. No fun taking care of littles while Daddy is working. It is times like these I wish I were a kid again, I miss just being able to lay on the couch all day, watching TV, drinking hot tea ( that was brought to me, by the way!) and not worrying about a thing except getting better. That just doesn't work when you're a grown up. The wood stove doesn't fill itself, the animals need tending too, and then there are two toddlers running around that need to be fed, clean, loved on and kept safe. I started to lose my voice last night, right before story time. We made it through "Little Blue Truck's Christmas" and I put them to bed. Big Boy was bummed that we couldn't read more. I felt bad, but at the same time I was just tired and sick and wanted to go to bed myself. I am still having trouble talking today, and that is frustrating. I almost didn't realize how much the boys talk to me, until it became difficult to answer them. They will ask me the same question 5 times before I can squeak out an answer, which really makes me mad sometimes, but it is no use because I can't raise my voice and tell them to be patient for me to answer (now, if that's not the pot calling the kettle black!) If anything, this situation, how trivial it may seem, is forcing me to think about the words I say, and how I say them, before I say them, not after.  

That means not much has been going on here. Just the minimum, really. I was feeling well enough to clean up the livingroom with the boys last night and get some laundry through the machines. I hope today to fold the laundry and wash the dishes. I made a cream chicken/broccoli/rice/cheddar soup in the crockpot yesterday, we will have leftovers for supper tonight. I have English muffin pizzas all made in the freezer, I will just toast those in the oven for lunch. I think I will make scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast.
I hope to feel better soon, so things can get back to normal. And I've been wanting to do more bulk cooking for the freezer.
     I hope you have a good day! God Bless!

Bulk Food Storage

Here is a quick video on how I store our dry goods. Hope it is helpful!