Girly

Something came in the mail. I ordered it a week ago, but it arrived on Black Friday. Man, what timing. I felt just a bit guilty since I refuse to shop on Black Friday. My big, rebel, anti-consumerist attitude.

Serves me right. I bought something girly. God help me, it's even pink.

But I didn't feel guilty for long, and it didn't stop me from ripping into the very small box. Handcrafted in this country, not mass produced somewhere across the sea. So very soft. No plastic parts, and amazingly, not even any plastic packaging.

Can you guess what it is?



I might possibly have crossed over to the dark side... ummm, I mean girly side. At least one of my sisters will shake her head in disbelief.

Then again, I did find out how to make a tutu.

Please, someone stop me.

Lest I sound too girly, let me say earlier on Black Friday I found a mouse. A fat little brown mouse, awfully cute. And I killed it. With a cat.

I had absent mindedly (who, me?) left the lid off a garbage can in which I store barley. Chickens obviously eat barley, so it's quite reasonable that I have a barley can. Or three. Which I do. Unfortunately for the mouse, but fortunately for the cat, the mouse had a feast until it realized it could not escape.

The next time you have a bad day, be thankful you are not a mouse stuck in a barley bucket.

I shoved the lucky cat into the garbage can headfirst. What happened next was sort of like a blender running upside down, and it made me laugh.

So I am left wondering.

Just how far to the girly side am I destined to go... and why, why, WHY didn't I bring my camera to the barn?

The mouse was cute. But not this cute.

Hi Ho Cherry-O?

No. Apples!

Being thankful

It is that time of year when, once again, many of us contemplate thankfulness. Yesterday, I had very, very much to be thankful for. When I feel like I'm running a circus here, there are many times I am so thankful it was not worse.

And so...

I am thankful, oh so thankful that we were running just a minute (or two) late for preschool. My littlest boy did not come when I called him to put shoes on, so I went searching. I found him on his little potty chair. My biggest boy explained it like this, "Mommy, if he had no pants on, and if he had no underwears on, then his poop would have EXPLODED ALL OVER ME!!!".

Right.

Or it would have been in the car, had we actually been running on time.

On a side note, I am also thankful the poop (although considering the consistency, I'm not sure that is the correct term) still resembled the food it used to be. I think I have figured out the cause of this boy's ongoing, sporadic diarrhea issue.

Carrots. Seriously, carrots? What in the world.

If you are still reading, yes, that is honestly how my day began. Very thankful!

My next moment of thankfulness came soon after, as I was searching for my wallet. I reached into my coat pocket and discovered three eggs that someone had forgotten there yesterday. Who... not me? Those eggs could have been smashed a hundred different ways, but I chose not to think about that. Instead, I placed the still-fully-intact-eggs in the fridge with a thankful heart, and a mind that cannot multitask.

The day continued with beautiful weather, warm sun, and homemade whole wheat bread. AND an unplanned baby photo shoot when I realized the light in the living room was perfect, which turned out adorable if I do say so myself.

I think I'm so funny for describing it as an "unplanned baby photo shoot". Ha! Unplanned, yes. But also thankful, yes!

I almost want to eat her, she's so cute!

At one point I was thankful I do not have real...

...snakes in my house.

When I noticed a bit of clear liquid on my bedroom floor, I followed the trail down the hall with much curiosity. It was there that I discovered cat vomit splattered across the entire width of the hall, and with much gratitude I realized all of it was on the wood floor! And both walls, but that's easy to wipe too.

What was the chance my violently, explosively puking cat (I believe she poisoned herself by chewing on a pepper plant) would be on the wood floor at the exact moment it mattered!? It could have been on my bed, or the carpet, or the stairs...

At that point I was starting to think I should be playing the lottery, so I went for the big money when my husband got home.

"Oh goodness, look at that, the toilet is plugged and here I am sooooo busy trying to make supper with a baby on my hip and a three-year-old climbing my leg!"

Ah, yes, much to be thankful for...and best of all, tomorrow is a new day!

Dog

Catwarmer, protector of poultry, doorbell, broccoli thief, pillow...

Worth every penny we paid for her.  Oh wait, she was free.  Well, she's earned every egg that goofy hen insists on leaving in the doghouse.

Sometimes, everything is perfect

"A child's life has no dates, it is free, silent, dateless.  A child's life ought to be a life full of simplicity."  -Oswald Chambers

Sometimes, a perfect fall afternoon invites us to go exploring.

There is magic in blankets of dry leaves that crunch under stomping feet.

Naked trees that beg to be explored.

From angles high and low...

Huge eyes take everything in.

Little hands that hang on.

And sometimes just hanging around, soaking up life.

Sticks and rocks are tools.  Ladybugs are captured and inspected, then "gathered up", and covered with grass to "keep them warm and safe".

Time doesn't matter.

Boys are lazy and busy... all at the same time.

We find ourselves at the edge of a field and suddenly it is snacktime.

Boys love soybeans.

The little pods are so fun to open.  Catch the beans before they roll away!

The table is here.

Now.

More snack is just over there.

There are no problems in the world.

Sometimes, everything is perfect.

Boys work together to smash apart an old stump.  You never know what could be in there.

Spiders, ladybugs... you just never know.

It could be very exciting.  It could be "the coolest one ever I've seen!"

Sometimes, everything is perfect for a mom too.

Boys are happy, exploring and learning.  The sun is warm, and the light is perfect for photography.

Sometimes, everything is perfect for a baby too.

The warmth is satisfying.  The ride on mom's back is snug and safe.

The strap is perfect for sucking on.

"A child's life has no dates, it is free, silent, dateless. A child's life ought to be a life full of simplicity." -Oswald Chambers

The sweetest thing

Kale gets sweeter after a light frost.  We've had frost.  But I really can't say if the kale is sweeter since I haven't tried it yet this year. 

The chickens still like it, although lack of sweetness never stopped them before.  They are unapologetic kale addicts.

So maybe it's sweeter. 

We've had snow too, but I don't know if that makes the kale any more sweet.  And honestly, how in the world is "sweet" a good way to describe a leafy green vegetable?

But there is something on my farm that is very sweet.

Since we've had frost and snow, it's not raspberries.  They are amazingly sweet, but they're gone for now.

                               

See you next summer, yummy raspberries.

So what could it be, you ask?

Hmmmmmm...

Is this little bean the sweetest thing on my farm?

Nope.

But she knows what the sweetest thing on the farm is...

Yes, it's....

...these sweet little toes.

Scrumptious.  She can't help herself.

I can't help myself either, so I know she's right.

But I still miss the raspberries.

Pumpkin invasion

My home has been taken over by pumpkins. Honestly though, I guess I did invite them in. And they are terribly pretty lying all around.



Aren't they pretty?!

We grew Autumn Gold and Snackjack pumpkins this year.

Autumn Gold is a nice average pumpkin. Round and orange. Orange and round. With seeds inside... it's a nice pumpkin, really, a good size for carving... but what in the world will we do with eighteen of them?

Anyone want a pumpkin? Or three?



But the Snackjacks are special. They are small, and cute, and just the right size for boys to haul all over the house.

Sorry, the boys are keeping every last one of the Snackjack pumpkins. We do need to learn to share, but even I might have a hard time letting these jewels go.



Can you tell Snackjacks make boys happy?

The Snackjacks are extra-special because they are absolutely jam-packed FULL of hull-less seeds. We love roasted pumpkin seeds! Hooray for Snackjacks!

With very, very much anticipation... and very, very much giggling... I carefully split two of them open.

The boys dug in with spoons and before I knew it we had pumpkin seeds everywhere. Seeds on the floor, seeds on the underside of the cabinets, seeds in the sink... but thankfully, most of them made it into the bowl.



You can't quite tell from the picture, but we got a TON of seeds from these two tiny pumpkins. And yes, that is a scientifically accurate measurement of them.




The boys love them roasted with just a bit of olive oil...




and just enough season salt, or more than enough, depending on who's in charge...

Yes it's almost noon, and yes, the boys are still in their jammies. Sometimes it's more important to roast pumpkin seeds! I'm a Mom with my priorities straight, that is sure.



shiny seeds in the pan ready to roast




still warm, the boys dig in and



YUMMY!!!

If Daddy is lucky, there will be a few left when he gets home.