Busy, busy week and weekend, so no blogging has happened for a long, long time.
We've loaded pigs and taken them to the butcher. We then picked up their little white packages, and they are now "enjoying" freezer camp. There will a post about this in the not-so-distant-future.
We have a new grandchild! John Morgan Peterman V was born on November 7, and he's a cutie! I'll be headed to Michigan to visit him/them for about a week. There will be a post about this in the not-so-distant-future.
A good time was had with friends. Sadly, no pictures, so, no post. Just know there was wine and food involved.
A coyote grabbed up one of our chickens this morning. I heard the cackling, and he was gone before any of us could grab the gun. Mary and John headed out to the woods to look for him, but, no joy. It was a young hen, too.
Leaves have been raked and burned continually. I am hoping to finish that project today.
So I'd best get moving.
Showing posts with label Mary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mary. Show all posts
Monday, November 10, 2014
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Spring Break
This week is Spring Break. We've been relaxing on a warm Southern beach, enjoying some time off.
No. Strike that.
We've been working busily on and off our farm. Off the farm, we bought a "new" garden tractor and a "new" car. Both were desperately needed, and are welcome expenditures.
On the farm, we've been cutting 3 years' worth of dead and downed wood. Scheduling, illness, and just plain denial have kept us from this. But finally, finally, it is getting done. I'll share some photos with a smack upside my head. I should have taken a Before picture so you could see how wonderful our pasture looks right now in an After shot. The tree line is clear of dead things, low-hanging branches, which endanger critters and humans alike, are gone, and it almost looks like we care about this place.
But I didn't. So please just enjoy these shots of hard work being done. (The young man in the photos is a Boyfriend. Scary times.)
No. Strike that.
We've been working busily on and off our farm. Off the farm, we bought a "new" garden tractor and a "new" car. Both were desperately needed, and are welcome expenditures.
On the farm, we've been cutting 3 years' worth of dead and downed wood. Scheduling, illness, and just plain denial have kept us from this. But finally, finally, it is getting done. I'll share some photos with a smack upside my head. I should have taken a Before picture so you could see how wonderful our pasture looks right now in an After shot. The tree line is clear of dead things, low-hanging branches, which endanger critters and humans alike, are gone, and it almost looks like we care about this place.
But I didn't. So please just enjoy these shots of hard work being done. (The young man in the photos is a Boyfriend. Scary times.)
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Snow White, I'm Not. But I Have Seven Dwarves to Work in the Kitchen!
As one of my faithful stalkers, you know that one of the things I am doing this fall is teaching a Home Economics class. The kids have learned some handsewing, and have done a little learning about nutrients and food. It is getting closer and closer to the time when I actually have to teach them something about cooking.
Thing is, our school is in an old church school building, and, while we have a kitchen, it's the traditional church basement kitchen. The appliances are elderly, the facilities, while Health Department approved, have been let go for a bit, and the supplies are of the "I got new stuff so I'm donating some things (read: antiques) to the church kitchen" variety. Fun times.
This week I decided to have the kids tackle cleaning the kitchen. It hasn't been used for Home Ec since last fall, and then it was used by a bachelor teacher as his personal kitchen. When I started cleaning one of the sinks, I found remains of a salad he probably made in May. Eew. We also found evidence of rodent residents, but, undeterred, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.
Today, after three class periods, (one of those was actually a double period) we can say that we've made some headway. I'd like to start cooking next week, but, sadly, we'll need another day of cleaning time, I think. But that's OK. Cleaning is a Home Ec lesson, too.
And some of the kids need that lesson. Today one of the girls sprayed degreaser on the old stove, and dug in to scrub. "Wait," I said. "What do you mean?" she said. "I mean, WAIT," I said. "Let the stuff work, and you won't have to scrub so hard." Sure enough, 10 minutes later, we wiped the stove pretty clean. That impressed her just a bit too much. When I asked her and Mary to put the grates from the burners in some tubs, pour in some water and degreaser, and let them soak a while, she got creative. I imagine her thought process was something like, "If degreaser works that well alone, I bet it'll work even better with bleach." Soon we had some hydrogen chloride cooking away very obnoxiously in our kitchen. One of the girls noticed first, saying, "It stinks,that stuff." Then I heard Mary say, "I told you not to do that." "Do what?" I asked. Minutes later, EPA be damned, those tubs were being emptied down the drain, the fans came on, and water was flushing everything that could be flushed. "Now, what have we learned today?" I asked. She said, "I didn't know you couldn't mix things like that." But now she does.
I love being a teacher...I love being a teacher...I love being a teacher...
Thing is, our school is in an old church school building, and, while we have a kitchen, it's the traditional church basement kitchen. The appliances are elderly, the facilities, while Health Department approved, have been let go for a bit, and the supplies are of the "I got new stuff so I'm donating some things (read: antiques) to the church kitchen" variety. Fun times.
This week I decided to have the kids tackle cleaning the kitchen. It hasn't been used for Home Ec since last fall, and then it was used by a bachelor teacher as his personal kitchen. When I started cleaning one of the sinks, I found remains of a salad he probably made in May. Eew. We also found evidence of rodent residents, but, undeterred, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.
Today, after three class periods, (one of those was actually a double period) we can say that we've made some headway. I'd like to start cooking next week, but, sadly, we'll need another day of cleaning time, I think. But that's OK. Cleaning is a Home Ec lesson, too.
And some of the kids need that lesson. Today one of the girls sprayed degreaser on the old stove, and dug in to scrub. "Wait," I said. "What do you mean?" she said. "I mean, WAIT," I said. "Let the stuff work, and you won't have to scrub so hard." Sure enough, 10 minutes later, we wiped the stove pretty clean. That impressed her just a bit too much. When I asked her and Mary to put the grates from the burners in some tubs, pour in some water and degreaser, and let them soak a while, she got creative. I imagine her thought process was something like, "If degreaser works that well alone, I bet it'll work even better with bleach." Soon we had some hydrogen chloride cooking away very obnoxiously in our kitchen. One of the girls noticed first, saying, "It stinks,that stuff." Then I heard Mary say, "I told you not to do that." "Do what?" I asked. Minutes later, EPA be damned, those tubs were being emptied down the drain, the fans came on, and water was flushing everything that could be flushed. "Now, what have we learned today?" I asked. She said, "I didn't know you couldn't mix things like that." But now she does.
I love being a teacher...I love being a teacher...I love being a teacher...
Monday, July 23, 2012
I'm Canceling Weekends
Do you look forward to weekends? I remember doing that. We couldn't wait for Fridays, loved lazy Saturdays, enjoyed family Sundays.
If the past few have been any indication of the future, I'm cancelling future weekends.
Friday was busy right up to 5pm. We had nice steaks for dinner, and enjoyed a little Sherlock in the night. But Saturday...
Saturday was the 4H dog show. We were up and at 'em bright and early, shuttling 3 dogs 2 towns over. These things make less and less sense every year. I wish I could organize one. I'd either revamp it into a masterpiece of efficiency, or I'd learn my lesson and shut up in the future. Mary's three dogs did well...until the sits and downs. One was set next to a dog who barked throughout the entire show. Barking dogs at an obedience show, in my opinion, should be treated like crying babies in church. Quietly take them out. But, no, barking brown Lab stayed, and when Skye had had enough of that noise, she got up to walk to Mary, where it was quieter. -30 points for the long sit. Ditto for the long down. Henry sat well through the long sit, and lay quietly during the long down...and then decided he'd had enough, too. Can't blame a barking dog for that one, just a stubborn corgi. Jaeger, Matthew and Keri's young Lab, was, in the words of the judge, "an active dog." While Mary was complimented on her handling of him, he, too, got bored during the long down and decided to sit up. -sigh-
After dropping dogs and girls at home, we headed out for an evening on the lake with some good friends. The evening turned into night, and then into early, early morning. But a good time was had by all.
Until we had to be for a Youth group breakfast at church... -yawn- It was fun, and Ryan showed up midway through. So, when the hay truck came by in mid-afternoon, there were two extra arms to lift bales! Wakiya will eat this winter!
After which came a 2-hour riding lesson for Mary and Wakiya. Oh, was that horsey MAD at her girl. "I was spending a perfectly LOVELY day in a perfectly LOVELY pasture, and you load me into a trailer, drive me across the world, to another barn, where you don't let me sniff the other horses, throw a saddle on my back, and expect me to LEARN?" Poor baby. The lesson was good, and both girls learned a lot.
But, when I fell into bed, all I could think was, "Thank you Lord, for another weekend. And thank you that the week is beginning and I can REST!"
Stay tuned...
If the past few have been any indication of the future, I'm cancelling future weekends.
Friday was busy right up to 5pm. We had nice steaks for dinner, and enjoyed a little Sherlock in the night. But Saturday...
Saturday was the 4H dog show. We were up and at 'em bright and early, shuttling 3 dogs 2 towns over. These things make less and less sense every year. I wish I could organize one. I'd either revamp it into a masterpiece of efficiency, or I'd learn my lesson and shut up in the future. Mary's three dogs did well...until the sits and downs. One was set next to a dog who barked throughout the entire show. Barking dogs at an obedience show, in my opinion, should be treated like crying babies in church. Quietly take them out. But, no, barking brown Lab stayed, and when Skye had had enough of that noise, she got up to walk to Mary, where it was quieter. -30 points for the long sit. Ditto for the long down. Henry sat well through the long sit, and lay quietly during the long down...and then decided he'd had enough, too. Can't blame a barking dog for that one, just a stubborn corgi. Jaeger, Matthew and Keri's young Lab, was, in the words of the judge, "an active dog." While Mary was complimented on her handling of him, he, too, got bored during the long down and decided to sit up. -sigh-
After dropping dogs and girls at home, we headed out for an evening on the lake with some good friends. The evening turned into night, and then into early, early morning. But a good time was had by all.
Until we had to be for a Youth group breakfast at church... -yawn- It was fun, and Ryan showed up midway through. So, when the hay truck came by in mid-afternoon, there were two extra arms to lift bales! Wakiya will eat this winter!
After which came a 2-hour riding lesson for Mary and Wakiya. Oh, was that horsey MAD at her girl. "I was spending a perfectly LOVELY day in a perfectly LOVELY pasture, and you load me into a trailer, drive me across the world, to another barn, where you don't let me sniff the other horses, throw a saddle on my back, and expect me to LEARN?" Poor baby. The lesson was good, and both girls learned a lot.
But, when I fell into bed, all I could think was, "Thank you Lord, for another weekend. And thank you that the week is beginning and I can REST!"
Stay tuned...
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The Prom
I suppose it had to happen sometime. You bring home a little pink bundle, you feed and water it, it grows into a very lovely young lady. She talks about not being one of those silly girls who are all about the boys. But, eventually, one comes along and changes things. She's still not silly, but there's this boy...
And then the school announces a prom...The prom was held at the Wisconsin Dells, and involved a boat ride and a day at a water park About 40 students and dates attended. Our Korean daughter, Minah, also attended.
Mary and Ryan.
Mary and Minah.
Mary and her good friend, Ana.
Minah, being very elvish.
The little pink bundle, about grown up.
And then the school announces a prom...The prom was held at the Wisconsin Dells, and involved a boat ride and a day at a water park About 40 students and dates attended. Our Korean daughter, Minah, also attended.
Mary and Ryan.
Mary and Minah.
Mary and her good friend, Ana.
Minah, being very elvish.
The little pink bundle, about grown up.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
We Have a New "Daughter!"
Minah is from South Korea. She is 16, and attends school with Mary. She is here on a student exchange, and will be here with us until January. You can bet she'll be popping up on this blog from time to time!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Saturday Farm Report
This week the weather has been amazing! It's been about 40 all week, and above 45 most days. The horses have been out at night, leaving me less cleanup in the morning. That may sound lazy to some horsekeepers, but they look cleaner, happier and calmer than when they spend nights in their stalls. It has helped with the cleanliness that it's also been dry, so there's less mud to roll in. I don't understand the rolling in the mud thing, but our horses love it. I was talking to our farrier the other day about that, and even he, the expert, couldn't explain why they roll in the cold, wet mud, even in the winter. We could both understand summer rolling, but winter? We're mystified.
I've been working on scheduling and planning this week. Last year, I talked about planning the garden. This year, I'll be doing that soon, but I am also planning horse projects, house and garden maintenance projects, and vacation scheduling. Our first planned trip away will be in February, when we go to visit cousins in Iowa City. We planned that for this month, but the silly Buick decided it needed new tires. Our trip money was invested in Firestone. So, next month it is.
Today Mary and I are headed out to visit two stables near us. At the first one, I am going to talk to a lady about lessons for me and my horse. I last took lessons about 30 years ago, and, although I am generally content with what Hope and I do, I am beginning to want a little more. If I can put a little polish on my meager skills and connect a bit better with her, it could be fun. After a stop for lunch, Mary and I will head to another stable, where one of her 4H leaders works. Said leader has offered her the chance to work with a young horse, and is going to show her how to do that. That's golden, and I'm going to make sure she gets that opportunity. So, since it's later than I thought, I'll be heading out now. Have a great Saturday!
I've been working on scheduling and planning this week. Last year, I talked about planning the garden. This year, I'll be doing that soon, but I am also planning horse projects, house and garden maintenance projects, and vacation scheduling. Our first planned trip away will be in February, when we go to visit cousins in Iowa City. We planned that for this month, but the silly Buick decided it needed new tires. Our trip money was invested in Firestone. So, next month it is.
Today Mary and I are headed out to visit two stables near us. At the first one, I am going to talk to a lady about lessons for me and my horse. I last took lessons about 30 years ago, and, although I am generally content with what Hope and I do, I am beginning to want a little more. If I can put a little polish on my meager skills and connect a bit better with her, it could be fun. After a stop for lunch, Mary and I will head to another stable, where one of her 4H leaders works. Said leader has offered her the chance to work with a young horse, and is going to show her how to do that. That's golden, and I'm going to make sure she gets that opportunity. So, since it's later than I thought, I'll be heading out now. Have a great Saturday!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
In Which Our Daughter Gets an F
And we are proud. She earned her letter in cross country this fall.
And she earned another award, which made us even prouder. Her coach chose her to receive the Outstanding Christian Cross Country Runner award, "For outstanding Christian leadership, Christian attitude and display of Faith on the 2011-2012 Faith Lutheran High School Cross Country team."
It made me cry.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Saturday Farm Report
Yep...I'm back! At least for today.
Today was a busy, tiring day in which we accomplished many things. Our grandchildren are here, visiting their dad. We visited a bit this morning, and then Mary and I headed out to the feed store and a driving lesson. She's been through drivers' ed, and was planning to get her license this week. Last week, however, she told me that she doesn't feel as confident as she'd like, so we're doing a little more practice. She worries too much; she does fine! Even in her little Ranger, which is a stick, she handles herself well. She's a decent driver, and, with a little time, will be a very good one.
After breaking the bank buying horse bedding, steaks for tonight and lunchmeat, we came home to serve that lunchmeat and start our afternoon fun. Over the years, we've collected a nice collection of firewood. It was, however, scattered in various places around the farm, and I wanted it brought together. The boys, who were all home today, helped their dad with that, while I cleaned stalls, stirred compost and fed critters. After work, we all trouped inside for hot chocolate, nachos and salsa, and NAPS. I think the neat woodpile looks lovely, but the loveliest part of the day? That nap!!
Supper was steak, baked potatoes and veggies. After cleanup and jammies, we are now parked in front of Star Wars: Episode V. That's The Empire Strikes Back. It never gets old!!
Today was a busy, tiring day in which we accomplished many things. Our grandchildren are here, visiting their dad. We visited a bit this morning, and then Mary and I headed out to the feed store and a driving lesson. She's been through drivers' ed, and was planning to get her license this week. Last week, however, she told me that she doesn't feel as confident as she'd like, so we're doing a little more practice. She worries too much; she does fine! Even in her little Ranger, which is a stick, she handles herself well. She's a decent driver, and, with a little time, will be a very good one.
After breaking the bank buying horse bedding, steaks for tonight and lunchmeat, we came home to serve that lunchmeat and start our afternoon fun. Over the years, we've collected a nice collection of firewood. It was, however, scattered in various places around the farm, and I wanted it brought together. The boys, who were all home today, helped their dad with that, while I cleaned stalls, stirred compost and fed critters. After work, we all trouped inside for hot chocolate, nachos and salsa, and NAPS. I think the neat woodpile looks lovely, but the loveliest part of the day? That nap!!
Supper was steak, baked potatoes and veggies. After cleanup and jammies, we are now parked in front of Star Wars: Episode V. That's The Empire Strikes Back. It never gets old!!
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