Swaps!

My brother has been trying his hand at making bacon!

Thursday evening he came over with a three pound slab of double smoked applewood bacon.  I sent him off with a couple of crookneck winter squash and a few late season tomatoes.

I definitely think I came out ahead on this trade!

so... this thing happened yesterday

My baby girl got married!

Confusing weather

It is one of those 'soft' mornings.  You know, the kind where it is warm and humid and the air feels soft.  If it weren't for the changing leaves, the frost bitten garden and the molting chickens, I'd swear it was spring.
It will be a busy weekend here. Cleaning out the chicken coop and prepping it for winter is on the agenda, as are senior photos for my oldest son.
Last night was the final home football game of the season and so, it was senior recognition night for football, cheerleading and marching band.  I must say, Ian looks great in uniform!

For halftime, they did their annual Halloween costume show.  The weather certainly cooperated as heavy fog started rolling into the stadium.

So, I've avoided work for long enough.  I suppose I should get started on my mile-long to do list for the weekend.  sigh....

Another fun, run day!

It was a beautiful morning for a run!  This time, it was a bigger team.  We named ourselves The Gimp Squad due to the various injuries many of us have.  Justine screen printed shirts for us all and we were ready to Run or Dye!

See, we're all white, shiny and clean!

The team consisted of my three children and myself,  Justine's fiance (James), his two brothers and their mom.  A good time was had by all!  In this particular race, you run (or walk, or skip, or generally be silly) through the 5k course where there are 'dye stations' where you are pelted with cornstarch based dye powder.  

James and his little brother wheelbarrow their way through the orange station.

 A kiss in the pink!

 At the finish line.  

 Justine

 Karl (now he's 14!!) doing the rock star look!

 Ian (now 17!)

 Me!  Not sure how to act in front of the camera!

James, my future son-in-law.

After a bit more playing in the dye and dancing, this was the final effect!

Poor Vernon missed the fun.  He has two articles due on Monday morning so it is a work weekend for him.    That, and he's not really into this sort of thing...

A lovely, busy week

It has been a wonderful week, full of fun and family and all kinds or goodness!

Justine and I had a girls weekend.  Friday night we wandered into town to attend ArtsFest, a free music and art festival.  We got to see the Indigo Girls in concert.

 Sorry, it isn't the best photo but there is only so much you can do with a phone!
Saturday morning we went to Mount Vernon to attend the Chocolate Stroll.  We did the 5k race.

 I placed second in my age category!  But before you get too excited, there were only three in my age category!

And here is my darling daughter and I, enjoying some time together.

And finally, in honor of my birthday, Justine made a fabulous cake!

I hope you all had a wonderful week as well!!

Happy Day!!

Spring has sprung!  The peas and potatoes are up, some trees are starting to bloom and we got good news today!

V does NOT have lymphoma!  Woo Hoo!!!  They are still trying to figure out exactly what he DOES have- most likely something bacterial, but it is not cancer.  I have never been so glad that he has an infection!

It will take a few more days for them to finish the culture and figure out how to treat it.  But, for now, we are celebrating.

Champagne and strawberries all around!

and maybe I can finally get a decent night of sleep....

Another weekend come and gone

And once again, I'm tired.  Yesterday was a beautiful day but I didn't get as much accomplished as I would have liked.  K14 and I loaded up the tiller and headed into town to till up our friend Jim's garden patch.  With the rain in the forecast, we knew that it was now or not for several weeks.  But it's done and he is a happy camper.  Now I just need to supply him with a few tomatoes and peppers and he'll be set.  I was also distracted by other friends stopping by to get eggs and seedlings. It was great to see them and chat for a while but it put me behind.  Although, the quart of canned fatali peppers definitely makes up for anything.  We're OUT of hot peppers!  Unheard of, I know!  So this will see us through until the garden starts producing.
When we got home, I got the rest of my early garden planted.  My little romanesco, broccoli and cabbage seedlings went out and we got them mulched with straw and covered with the row covers.  Whew!  After loading the tiller in and out of the van several times and planting 36 little plants, my back is tired.
But, my lettuce I planted in the front of the pea planters is up and I'm hoping the peas will follow soon. We had fresh spinach salads from the greenhouse last night and tonight we had fettucini with nettle pesto.  Mmmm.....   I'm gonna have to harvest more nettles and get them in the freezer since they are quickly becoming a favorite here, whether in pasta, risotto or pesto.   Maybe tomorrow afternoon if it's not raining.
Tomorrow morning, we need to be at the hospital by 6am for V's biopsy.  That's an early start to the day.  But, good thing is that he is the first procedure of the day so he doesn't have to wait all day without eating.  And we should be home by noon.  Time enough to get a few things done while V sleeps.

In news that's more fun:  I16 and I have been running together.  He makes a great running partner, although I'm slowing him down.  Justine turned us onto this great running app for our phones.  It's called "Zombies, Run!"  It is a voiceover over your own music that takes you through running intervals by having you run from zombies.  Along the way you pick up things that help your community.  There is also an online component that's kind of like a game.  The 5k trainer is great.  It starts you as a non-runner and has you walk and only do 15 second running drills for the first week.  Even I can run for 15 seconds- even after the inactivity of this winter.   Anyway, it makes it fun and is just that extra bit of motivation I need.  We got out for a run this afternoon before the storms hit.
The storms were pretty violent.  Not as bad as some places but we had 60+ mph winds, heavy rain (about 2 inches in approximately half an hour!) and pea sized hail.  And it's supposed to keep raining all week.  Oh, well... we need rain, we're still behind and I can tell by the water quality from the well that the water table is low.

Yeah... I've been away for a long time

I know, I know... I promised to be better at posting here.  But life has gotten in the way and I've had a lot on my plate recently.
Justine is in the midst of transferring colleges and apartment hunting with her fiance.  I cringe at that thought but then take a step back and tell myself that V and I were the same age when we moved in together.... sigh....
The boys are doing well.  I16 has been doing college prep stuff like taking the ACT and looking for a job.
V has been busy with work but what has consumed my brain recently is a health scare that he is currently going through.  A while ago, he discovered a lump under his chin.  This has been felt by several doctors, none of whom got very excited about it.  But, he persevered in getting it checked out.  A few weeks ago, he had a CT scan which revealed that it is in his lymph nodes and that there are 4 nodes involved. The report came back that it is suggestive for lymphoma.
So, next step- a fine needle biopsy.   This had good news and bad news.  Good news: it showed that this growth is not a metastasis from somewhere else in his body. Bad news: it didn't rule out lymphoma.  The doc gives him a 50/50 chance of it being lymphoma (although by his expression and other things he said, I think that may have been generous) The other alternative is some sort of bizarre infection (viral, bacterial or fungal).  But the fact that it has been there for almost a year with no other signs of infection makes me worry.
Next step- a surgical biopsy to get a larger chunk to test.  Sadly, this isn't scheduled until the 28th of April and we'll have to wait a week for results.  I honestly think the not knowing is the worst part.  Give me a diagnosis and I can figure out how to cope with it.
So, I'll try to be better (again!!)
Now that it is spring I'll try to post some new photos of some 'improvements' I'm planning this year on the yard and garden.

The Spring Thaw

FINALLY!  I think it has finally decided to try to be Spring.  We hit 60F today!  And the snow is melting.  It's still a foot deep in some places but it is melting.

 A little bit of flooding but not too bad.  It's supposed to cool off a bit for the next two days so it should snow down the melt a bit.

I do so love that meandering stream!

And something actually green growing outside!! Woo Hoo!!!!

And I stopped by the chicken coop after my walk.  I didn't even have my coat on so I had to use my shirt rather than my coat pockets.

Justine is home on spring break from college this week.  It's nice to have her home but she has a sewing project for me to complete while she's home.

Maybe now that it has decided to be spring I'll feel that I have more to post here.  I know I have been pretty quiet lately.  But it's kind of boring to report...  oh, it's cold and snowing... again and again....

And she's off!

My darling daughter left this morning.  Back to parts east.  So far she has had an adventurous trip and she isn't even there yet!
It was snowing pretty heavily this morning, but it was a fairly narrow band and we didn't think too much of it.  On the way to the airport, we hit one section of nearly white out conditions and at one point V nearly lost control of the car.  A fair warning to slow down!  Apparently, in the opposite lanes, at about that time, there was a huge (30 cars!!!) pile up that closed the eastbound lanes of the interstate.  We still had to detour around it on our way home.
Anyway, Justine's flight was delayed a bit on take off (weather and de-icing) but the biggest delay came in Chicago when they had to sit on the taxi-way and wait for a gate to become available because the previous plane was still being de-iced.  Well... long story short, she missed her connecting flight even though she should have had over 90 minutes between arrival and departure. It was not to be.
So, she is still waiting at O'hare in Chicago and won't get out until nearly 7 tonight, which puts her arriving in Philly close to 10 tonight.  And then she still has to catch the train back to center city and then walk back to her dorm.  Poor sweetie.  More of an adventure than she bargained for.
And we already miss her.  We were just really getting used to having her home again and now she is away again.   But, at least we will get to see her again in March for Spring break so it's not quite such a long haul.  I know James, her fiance, will also be glad to see her again.

AWOL

Yep, I've been out of the loop again.  My bad.  I feel like it's been busy here but then again, not much is going on... and... I'll admit it... Justine introduced me to the evil that is Pinterest.  I had been avoiding it like the plague because I knew it has the potential to be a time-sucking kind of place.   So far, I've been good... we'll see how long that lasts.
The weather has been frightful.  Monday our high for the day was -7F.  The poor chickens were cooped up for a couple of days but they seem to have fared pretty well.  And, after a couple of weeks of no eggs at all, I've finally started getting a few.  Two today. Excitement!
Today it was finally above freezing for the first time in seemingly ages.  It hit the mid 40's!  So Justine, I16 and I went on a long walk (about 2 miles). It felt great to be out and about in the fresh air again.  I even opened a couple of windows in the chicken coop to let it air out in there since it was warmer outside than in.
Otherwise, it's a pretty slow time here.  I've been plotting the garden for next year.  I think I'll have my seed order ready to go soon. In the next couple of weeks I plan to start some cold weather stuff inside to try out in the greenhouse.  The greenhouse was a bust this winter. It got so cold so soon that everything froze off.  Last year I had fresh greens in mid January.  This year they all froze off in November.  sigh....  But I'm hoping that if I get some spinach and kale started inside that I can put them out in late February and have them survive in there. We'll see... it's an experiment.
Justine is home for only another week and then will head back to Philly for her next semester of classes.  We have been seeing a LOT of her fiance in the last few weeks but that's OK.  He is a great guy and we're all happy to see them both so happy.  She plans to move out of the dorms next year so we've all ben brainstorming things that she/they will need in an apartment and picking up things when we can.  We found a great 12 piece set of T-fal pots and pans yesterday.  The good stuff- stainless with copper bottoms: pans that will last a lifetime.  Got them on sale with an extra 15% off the sale price plus a mail-in rebate.  So we ended up paying just a little over half price for them- not a bad deal.  That girl has a good head on her shoulders and is always thinking ahead.
Otherwise, things are going.  I16 is finally taking Driver's Ed so we've got him out driving with us.  School is going well for both boys.  V is busy writing and now has a new client in addition to his old one so things are going well.  Construction is slow this time of year so it's a pretty laid-back time.

Hope you all are well.

A change of pace

Above is a little educational offering:  my daughter's final project for her color theory class.  I guess this is why we pay the big bucks to send her to art school!

I've been busy sewing recently.  I managed to finish the overcoat I was making for my son, a brocade vest for my future son-in-law (that sounds SO bizarre to say!!) and made a bow tie.  Now I've got a few other irons in the fire and I'll be ready for the holidays.

Still here

I haven't forgotten about you all!  It has just been insanely busy around here.  Nothing spectacular, just life.  I16 will finally be starting Driver's Ed tomorrow, Justine will be home from school in a month, K13 is plugging along in the 8th grade, V is busy with his freelance writing and working on the house, I'm busy, busy, busy with work and sewing.
Today, Justine's boyfriend J came over for a while (don't say anything because it's not common knowledge- but they're ENGAGED!!!!!).  He hung out with the boys for a while and I was able to get his measurements so I can make a holiday gift for him.  I would have just estimated on the size for a vest but he's 6'6" so I wasn't sure I could estimate the appropriate size.   He is such a nice guy and we approve whole heartedly!
I've been busy on sewing projects.  A couple of chicken bags, a coat for I16, a vest for J, and a few bow ties are in the offing.
In the farm/garden world:
The chickens are barely laying.  Only the new girls are giving us eggs.  Many of the older girls are moulting and look pretty pathetic.  V spent a little time yesterday clipping Magnus' toenails- A couple had gotten so long that the toes were starting to turn sideways.  They both handled it well.
I've got little seedlings in the greenhouse, they're growing slowly. I still need to finish clearing out the garden but it was a rainy, windy weekend.  Maybe next weekend....
Now... I've gotta go.  Tomorrow is another day that will come all too soon.

Apples and bands and all such nonsense

Yeah.... I've been absent for a while again.  My bad.
But it's been super busy here.  Work has been stressful and hectic, the garden is beginning to wind down as the greenhouse winds up.  Fall tasks have been much to the forefront of my mind.
A few photos of the past two weeks to tide you over....

 Last weekend, we went to the Little Hawk Marching Invitational.  Our school hosted a band competition for schools from around the area.  Above is the daughter of a friend of ours from a neighboring school. Isn't she lovely?
Not to be outdone by I16.:

 I love a man in uniform- even if he is my own son.

 I must say, their uniforms are sharp.

 While we were watching, we noticed the bees were all over a lost Starburst.  They moved it several feet in the time we were there.

 And V, looking quite dapper.

Bur fast forward to this weekend.  K13 and I paid a visit to my parents today.  V didn't go because he has an article due on Monday that he needed to work on and I16 was still asleep when we left (he had state marching band competition all day yesterday).

 We picked apples today!  Where to start??

 The trees were absolutely loaded.   Not that we really need any more apples after picking all from our tree, but variety is good.. right?

 And I got to visit my favorite tree of all time- the huge cottonwood on the farm.

 My parents supervised while K13 and I were up the ladders.

That's a LOT of apples!

Mom gave me a juicer so now I can make some cider.  Evidently, my BIL, Dave got it and didn't like it- so he gave it to them.  They didn't like it either (at least not as much as their old one) so, Mom gave it to me since we don't have one.
So, I know how my evenings will be spent this week.  I've got apples to dehydrate, cider to press, applesauce to make and still, I need to find room for storage for apples.  
Oh, what a dilemma....

I hope you all have a productive week as well!

Sunday already?

Oh my, where has the week gone!  And I only worked 2 days at my paying job last week!

Things have been going well here.  V arrived home safe and sound.  He is currently doing some repairs on the window at the bottom of the stairs.  Well, I guess when I say repairs, I mean he has removed it and is re-installing it.  It was put in really badly so he's trying to make it all right again.
The boys have been in school all week.  Although they had early release every single day since it was so unbearably hot and humid.  Justine is settled into her dorm room and started classes.  She has also restarted her blog about college life. If you're curious, you can check her out here.
I've been doing a little of this and a little of that. You know the drill- laundry, managing the garden and house.  I promise I'll do a feed sack to tote bag tutorial soon.  I just haven't had time.
I did go gather some jewel weed and am trying something new- a homemade itch balm.  I saw it at The Homesteading Neophyte.  And I've got everything on hand.  I'm trying to get it done today and tomorrow so I can send some out to Justine.  Her boyfriend will be out in Pennsylvania on business next weekend and is going to see her and deliver a few things to her.  So, itch balm and an aloe plant will wend their way eastward.
Otherwise, I've been wandering with the camera and having fun.  I'll leave you with a few photos of the week.

 Look at that clear blue sky!  But I do wish it would rain.  We have just finished the driest August on record. We had only 0.1 inches of rain all month.

 The greenhouse is cleared out and prepped.  I still need to re-set the pavers in the middle. There is one huge chard plant still in there but it looks pretty sad in the heat.  It was 99F NOT in the greenhouse!

 The mint is blooming and is a popular place for beneficial insects.  This is a Golden Digger Wasp.

And finally, can you spot the mantis?  She has been hanging out in the runner beans.  I nearly picked her one day.  

I hope all here in the US have a good holiday tomorrow.  

So... I lied

I have obviously NOT been posting more regularly like I promised last post.  Yeah... I lied.

But, in my defense, things have been really hopping around here.  In the past week I have processed 17.5 dozen ears of sweet corn, weeded the garden, done bulk shopping at Stringtown (an Amish store near here), traveled to my parents to help around the house with things they can't manage anymore (K13 and I washed all the windows), attended a 50th anniversary party, helped hang ceilings in the basement, worked my paying job (while short staffed and supervising a student as well) and have done all the usual household 'stuff'.

The tomatoes are just starting to ripen and I made my first batch of salsa yesterday.  Mmm!  The peppers and tomatillos have been ready for a while but we finally had tomatoes. And I'm a bit frightened of one of my peppers.  Our friend Roger gifted us with a Ghost Chili (Naga) plant this spring.  It has been growing in the garden and now one of the peppers is beginning to ripen.  Considering that these are reported to be the heat of police grade pepper spray, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it.  I have heard that you need more protective gear than just rubber gloves to process them.  Hmmm....

And one of the new ladies has started to lay!  This afternoon there was a lovely, little, brown, pullet-sized egg in with the others.  My bet is on Bettie Page but Ishtar would be the second guess.  Beatrice and Tabitha still look not ready yet.  Bettie was always much bigger than the other chicks so I'm thinking she was a few days older and as a black sex link, she is likely to mature faster than the others.  And they are just over 4 months old now.

That's about it.  Justine has only a few weeks left at home before she heads back to school. This week she is off in the evenings as she is helping as a stage hand in a community production of Rent that one of her friends is acting in.

So, things are still moving here.  I'll try to keep up.  You know, sometimes I really, really just want a day to do nothing.

A day trip to the farm

We took a day trip to see my parents on the farm yesterday. With all the rain and storms they had three trees go down, falling from the creek bank into the orchard.  Dad had worked to get them cut up already but at his age, he doesn't need to be hauling that much wood.  So, we all loaded up and made the trip.  Many hands make light work and with all our teenagers and V and I working, we had the brush moved and the firewood hauled and stacked in seemingly no time.   I teased Justine that it was our strength training workout for the day.
Speaking of training... Justine and I have been doing training runs, getting in shape for the zombie apocalypse that's coming sooner than I imagined.  We're doing a 'trial run' next weekend and doing the Mud Run in Des Moines.  I think it's supposed to rain next weekend so that will mean more mud to run through.  Joy.  We did invest in trail running shoes that have better than average tread.  Good for running through mud and up and down slippery hills.

The garden is growing.  We did manage to get everything planted last weekend.  And I noticed a few little cucumbers popping up out there.  Mom gave me a few extra eggplant and tomato starts that she didn't want.  Not that I NEED more plants but one of my deer ravaged tomatoes isn't coming back very well so I may replace it.  Now if only I can manage to keep the baby bunnies from devastating the rest of the garden.

The fab four pullets have integrated pretty well into the rest of the flock. They're not exactly mingling yet but they appear to have achieved a 'mutual tolerance' policy.  Abbie (our dominant hen) took it upon herself to bother them for most of the week.  Not exactly picking on them, but standing there, giving them the 'stink-eye' if they moved toward the feeder, chasing them off the roost, things like that.  But, we made sure they had plenty of unmolested time to eat and she seems to have gotten bored with watching them so they're becoming more adventurous with the flock, even running into the mix to grab strawberry hulls when I toss them in.

Yesterday's harvest:  8 eggs, a bowl of strawberries and a handful of radishes.  I've replanted lettuce but it may be a challenge to keep it from the bunnies.

We continue the battle with chipmunks.  V has been picking them off with the air rifle but they continue to create havoc.  I've pinned deer netting over the strawberry bed but they still manage to get in and eat the strawberries.  Grrr!  And they dig in the plants on the porch.  sigh.  But we will persevere.

 And... it's raining again today.  Looks like my garden plans will be put on hold and Justine and I will be running in the rain this afternoon.

Late, but at least not never

Sunday we had family game night.  We played a new game: Kill Doctor Lucky.  It's kind of like Clue in reverse.  You have to get a weapon, get in a room alone with the good Doctor and bump him off.  The catch, the other players will try to stop you.
We had a grand time,

and the guys all donned their game hats.

V's brother said this photo reminded him of the Dogs Playing Poker paintings.  Possibly.  But I think it's a great thing when the boys ask if we're going to have game night again soon.

Surprise!

We managed to pull off a surprise party for Mom's 82nd birthday today.  It was awesome.  One sister drove in from Colorado and they had the hard part:  how to get my parents to my brother's home 70 miles away.  They succeeded. I took the day off so I picked up my other sister from the airport this afternoon, prepared food and we all met together at my brother's house.  He recently had knee surgery and isn't traveling very well yet so it was easier for him to host even though I was cooking.
It was a glorious success.  The look on Mom's face when she realized all of us were there was absolutely priceless. We see each other but it seems difficult to get us all in the same place at the same time.

Here's the whole gang!  A grand time was had by all!

Time to relax?

Whew!  I made it through today's photo shoot. I didn't finish one blouse I was hoping to.  I made it as far as putting in the sleeves but knew that I would never get the collar and buttons on in time, considering I needed to pin and hem a skirt this morning after my model arrived.  Now, I've got a little breathing room until the next round.  I've got that shirt to finish, a coat cut out for I15 and a few more things in the offing.  Today was a ladies shoot, I didn't feel I had enough stuff done for the guys for them to turn out in the rain.  So more sewing is in the offing for me. I'm hoping for April or May for this one.
I also really, really need to step up the workouts if I'm to be zombie ready in July for our race.  Things have been totally hectic around here.  This week: Justine was home for Spring break, we celebrated K12 morphing into K13!  My baby is now officially a teenager.  EEK!  I15 finally got his learner's driving permit.  We had a band concert on Wednesday night, my brother had surgery on his knee and I've been sewing like mad and doing things like making goggles and hats.
But, it's also time to start little seeds.  Woo Hoo!  So that is on the agenda for tomorrow. I can hardly wait to get my hands in some dirt.  It's been raining all day.  Good for the moisture but not so hot for our photo shoot.

But, now that I've gotten through the first shoot, hopefully I'll have a little more time for blog reading.  I feel out of the loop because I've been bad about keeping up with all of you.