Molasses......yuck

Today I went with my husband to "repo" 2 molasses tanks. This is not a part of his normal job but he was doing someone a favor.

Once we got out to the place and made sure we weren't going to be shot for driving out in the field, we loaded them up. The first one went fairly easily. The second one, well, the second one is the point of this story. The second tank was about 1/4 full of molasses. This made it weigh a million pounds (+/- a few pounds) and when we rolled it onto its side to load it molasses started oozing out. Soon the entire tank was covered with molasses, dirt and cow poo . And we still had to pick the sucker up. Needless to say we got pretty dirty.

My poor husband took the brunt of it. He was covered in brown goo from head to toe. I didn't escape unscathed either.  Lucky for us, there was an irrigation ditch close by and we were able to scrub off the gooiest stuff. So now we were brown, sticky and wet. Does that count as "date night" ?

The best part was the Little Man. He just stood next to the truck and watched us. Never said a word. Poor guy. He's probably traumatized for life. Sigh.

Did I forget to say we still had to bring them home and clean them out  ?

This picture was taken AFTER he washed in the ditch

The calf thinks this looks good.....

Molasses bath anyone?

Blessings.

Done!!!!!!!

Praise the Lord! Our refinacing is finally done! We signed last week and they funded this morning. That is such a huge relief. Our old loan was going adjustable next month and they already told us the payments would skyrocket . We had everything done and were ready to sign last month when the bank we were working with closed their doors . So we had to start all over but now it's done! Woo Hoo! I am so glad, I can hardly believe it's actually done. Now we'll have lower payments, no pre-payment penalties, and no adjustable rate. Yee Haw. I am truly just so thankful to have that done.

Blessings.

Busy Weekend

The Little Man is 2 today. Wow. Where does the time go?

It just doesn't seem possible.

This weekend was "Bonanza Days". It started out with a parade and carnival on Saturday. Our church had an entry and somehow we were sucked into participating. Our pastor & wife rode in a horse drawn carriage driven by another couple from church. Our kids & our pastors grandkids rode in our pony wagon pulled by a 4-wheeler my husband drove. The Little Man & I rode in the wagon too. The kids jumped in & out passing out fliers for "Church in the Park." A community event where all the churches worship together at the city park & have donuts & coffee. Both days were very fun. On Saturday at the carnival there was an evangalistic tent set up, playing Christian music & doing face painting & passing out the 'wordless" book & making bracelets. My daughter played piano there in the afternoon. Today was Church in the Park and that is always a good time to see the people you don't get to see very often.  The pastors from 3 local churches trade off on who preaches and this year was our pastor. Since it was the Little Man's birthday our pastor called him up to the stage and everyone sang to him . It was pretty fun. Here are some pictures from the parade:

Here's the whole rig

Here's a "close up"

Here's the view ahead

Here's every one "enroute"

That was our busy weekend. I hope yours was just as fun .

Blessings.

Clotheslines

A few days ago I received the latest edition of New Harvest Newsletter. In it, I was appalled to read, several women wrote that clotheslines were not allowed in their neighborhoods.  Come again???? That pretty much blew me away. First of all, how can they stop you? Oh, I know about HMAs and CC&Rs and all that but I have to say, if I spent X amount of money on a house I'm going to hang what I want where I want and anybody who doesn't like it is SOL (sure out of luck). Which is probably why my husband keeps me as far out in the boonies as he can manage .

All kidding aside though, when did clotheslines become something to outlaw? What does that say about this country that clotheslines offend so much they have been legislated out of existence? First of all, what is there to offend? I am trying to picture the worst things I have ever seen on clotheslines and I can't come up with anything to merit outlawing them. Anybody? Clothesline horror stories???

Secondly, they are an ecologically friendly, financially sound, passive method of drying clothes. Who could be against that? I am truly at a loss as to why a person would outlaw clotheslines. Although, from what I understand most communities that won't allow clotheslines, won't allow the flying of the flag either . Again I have to ask how that could offend???? Are people just too busy running others lives? I have to wonder why you want to live in such a community? What else do they outlaw???

It should be interesting in these times of economic upheaval, to see if communities over turn these rules. Will we reach a point where saving money and energy is more important than their perceived offense at the clothesline? How bad will things have to get before that happens? I wonder.... In the mean time, I am off to hang my laundry out on my heavy duty, 6 strand clothesline that came with the house. And I must admit, it was quite the selling point for me .

Blessings.

True Confessions....

I have a confession to make. This may be the worst garden I've  ever had. It's the pits. Entire rows did not come up. And of the things that did come up, something is  eating the broccolli. Here it is the end of July, and I have not harvested a single pea, green bean or tomato. SIGH.

We had a really wet and cold spring and our planting was delayed by several weeks. I was also feeling quite poorly at planting time and that didn't help. But I just don't understand how everything can be so pathetic??? The cukes and zukes have hardly  any growth to them. Only a few potatoes came up. The artichokes aren't growing. The peppers are tiny. The beans and peas and broccolli have apparently dedicated themselves to higher cause. It's depressing.

My husband keeps saying "that's farming." Some years you get a crop and some years you don't. Sigh. The last  several years we haven't had to buy any veggies over the winter. I was able to can, freeze or dry all that we needed. Unless folks start leaving veggie donations on my doorstep I just don't see that happening this year. I feel like such a failure. Isn't that silly? It would seem my entire self-worth is tied up in my ability to garden. What a goob.

Trying to look on the brighter side ( and failing miserably) it is looking like an excellent fruit year. The apple and plum trees are bursting with fruit. I'm just waiting for the call on the blackberries being ready. And I need to track down some peaches. In a few years, Lord willing, we will produce ALL of those here on our homestead. So we may not have any veggies but we should have lots of jam, apple cider, and peach cobbler this winter .

Blessings.

Quilt Give Away

Dana at Old Red Barn is giving away a gorgeous quilt. Check it out.....but don't enter 'cause I want it

Blessings.

Godzilla

Okay all you B movie fans, time to 'fess up. Who loves monster movies? The bad acting, the cheesy costumes, all those train sets being destroyed, the most ridiculous, far fetched plots this side of Days of Our Lives: what's not to love?

Right now I'm sitting here while my kids watch Godzilla v. King Kong. You'd think they could have coughed up a few more $$$$ for a more realistic monkey suit, ya know?

The kids have been on a monster movie kick the last few days. They have watched our entire collection:

Godzilla  (the original)

Godzilla v. King Kong

Godzilla v. TheCosmic Monster

The Blob (you gotta love Steve McQueen)

Reptilicus (hands down the DUMBEST movie ever made)

Dinosaurus

I think we need to ad some more. Definetly need more Godzilla. Maybe the one where Godzilla has a family. Remember the cute little baby Godzilla? Or how about the Mothra one? My son wants Creature from the Black Lagoon. I think we need some Bela Lugosi vampire flicks. Those were flat creepy. Nothing beats Godzilla though. He had more lives than Stefano.

Blessings.

Funerals & Birthdays

Tomorrow is my husbands birthday. He will be 35. He will also be doing his first funeral.    Sometimes being a pastor is just weird.

My SIL is in nursing school. A while back she met a gentleman, Mr. S,  in a nursing home and struck up a conversation with him about the Bible on his nightstand. Come to find out, he had been raised in a church, his wife was a believer, but he just didn't know if he was saved or not. So my SIL says "You have to meet my brother."

My husband started to stop by and visit when he was in the area (3 hrs away). He would read scripture and answer questions. After a few visits Mr. S asked Jesus into  his heart. Awesome, huh? My husband continued to visit when he could. Last week my husband got a call that Mr. S wasn't expected to live more than a day or so. My husband drove down right away. Mr. S was coherent enough to recognize my husband when he got there but then he started to slip away. My husband spent the day with the family. Many of them did not know he was saved and they were understandably upset. My husband was able to reassure them of his salvation and give them the peace that would be seeing him again someday. They asked my husband to do the funeral service and of course my husband said yes. So that is how he came to be doing his first funeral. On his birthday.

Blessings.

Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside My Window...  Is a sunny, hot summer day I am thinking... that last week I forgot to sign the Mr Linky-thingy I am thankful for...  answered prayers From the kitchen... fresh, warm cinnamon rolls, gooey with frosting I am creating... absolutley nothing  I am going... to irrigate the front pasture  I am wearing... a red gingham dress, my hair is in a ponytail & of course I am barefoot I am reading... the 4th "Mitford" book I am hoping...that we sign our loan papers this week I am hearing... more episodes of MacGyver  Around the house... lunch is being finished off & feet are dragging to avoid the dreaded math One of my favorite things... children's laughter A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: mow the lawn plant my new trees call the piano tuner celebrate my husband's birthday Here is a picture thought I am sharing... Come join the fun with Peggy at  http://thesimplewoman.blogspot.com/ Blessings.

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Raising a daughter

I don't  wear makeup. I stopped wearing it a few years ago. Why? I stopped wearing makeup because of my daughter. You see, I have the most beautiful 8 year old daughter in the world. She has knee-length, dark blonde hair. Petal soft, pink skin which turns a wonderful golden brown after being in the sun (thanks to her Portugese ancestry). The biggest, bluest eyes, surrounded by the darkest, thickest lashes you've ever seen. She's beautiful just as she is.

But this is America. In a few years, if we don't we do something to make it different, she will be like every other teenage girl you see. All of her beauty will be hidden under 5 pounds of  makeup. Foundation. Blush. Mascara. Powder blue eye shadow . Blush. Lipstick.  And she will spend the rest of her life feeling like she can't go out the door without all that junk hiding her true beauty.

Now I've never been a big makeup person. Fully made-up for me was mascara, lipgloss and a little powder. But I would put it on before we went anywhere. In the car on the way to church I would always put on lipgloss. My baby girl would want to be like me and she would ask for some too. So I would let her "powder her nose". It was cute.

But then I started thinking about it. I didn't want her to cover her beauty with chemical junk. So I stopped covering my beauty (I use the term loosely). And we talked about why. I explained that God had made us the way he wanted us to look. And if you think about it, changing our looks or trying to "improve" upon them, in a way, is saying we can do better than God. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying wearing makeup is a sin or that I am better than anybody by NOT wearing it. I am simply saying, I want my daughter to grow up secure in how beautiful she is, WITHOUT hiding her beauty under makeup. I want her to grow up with her big blue eyes standing out on their own right. Her petal soft skin serving as it's own foundation. Her beautiful pink lips unhidden by the "in" color of the season.

Now the day may come, when she marries, that her husband may like her to wear makeup. It's out of my hands at that point. But I can give her the confidence to not to need to hide under makeup. I can give her the confidence to put her best face forward. The face that God gave her.

Blessings.

Guess what I found in the Barn?

Yesterday, as I was watering my berries, I heard a brand new sounding little "baaaaa" from the barn. I dropped the hose and ran over and this what I found.

Isn't he cute?

The kids sure thought so.

And his mama thinks he's pretty special too.

Life on the farm is good.

Blessings.