All About Them

My friend Kristi is motivating me to "organize" my blog. She posted about how she was planning to concentrate on one subject per day on her blog. I tried that about a year ago. It worked well, but I slipped away from it, so I'll give it a whirl again. I thought of copying her idea for Tasty Tuesday, sharing recipes here. But then you would have to decide whose recipes you would be cooking, and I wouldn't want to put that pressure on you. So we'll call Tuesday "All About Them." I'll update you on what my little darlings are doing with their lives. (Please hold your applause, and look for recipes on Thursdays.)

Jay and Kris are still in Marengo, still raising 4 great kids. Kris is attending school, courtesy of the GIBill, and, therefore, your tax dollars. She's doing well, so you can rest assured that your money is being spent wisely. There may be big news about them this fall, but that's all I'm told.

Matthew and Keri are in their last 5 months of Army life. Their plan is to move here to Illinois, where he'll study Criminal Justice and she'll beg him to buy a horse. Get a job, Keri; ponies ain't cheap!

Ethan is doing well at MCC. He's planning a big summer of Civil Air Patrol activities, including a trip to Britain as an IACE participant. If his suitcase gets really heavy, he should check for air holes. Someone who shall remain nameless -cough cough- may have sandwiched herself inside! He'll be home in time to maybe join us for a family camping trip and then he'll start his Paramedic coursework.

Mary is spending her days avoiding Math, working with Skye and Wakiya, and making dreamcatchers. One of these days she plans to open an Etsy shop. She was thinking of studying veterinary medicine in the future, and spent the last year and a half or so job shadowing our bovine vet to see what that was like. She decided that was not for her, and is now considering becoming a veterinary technician. She'll be job shadowing over the next few months, with a local small animal clinic, and also a regional horse clinic. I am so excited for her! One of the best parts of homeschooling is the flexibility to do such things, and she is so blessed to be able to do them.

So now you're caught up on the doings of our kiddos. The grandchildren are spending their time growing, aggravating their parents, and charming the rest of us. It's a rough job, but someone's gotta do it!

It Was Supposed to Be "All About Me..."

I had a plan for a post. I decided Monday would be "All About Me Day," and I would start using Mondays to toot my own horn. After all, Monday is crummy anyway, so I figured you might like reading about someone else's (mine!) troubles or thoughts, you know, get out of yourself and your misery a bit.

But then my darling daughter (and I really mean that) posted a bit of a rant on her blog. Yeah, she whined and complained a bit, but she made several really good points. So I decided to link you to that post, which is here. Take a gander. Her writing seems to be getting better everyday. I can't take any credit for it; she's self-taught! But she is a smart sweetie, and her post is worth a read. Enjoy!

Pro-Life Corner

When you devalue one life, you devalue all lives.

Bobby Schindler, brother of Terri Schindler Schiavo

Saturday Farm Report

Lunchtime. We've been to the grocery store, office supply, Starbuck's (a must do) WalMart, Menard's and the feed store. No, one single person did not do all that; we tag-teamed the shopping this week.

Jay and Kris will be bringing Sean for tacos tonight; we have everything we need for that. Cedar raised beds a la Pioneer Woman are being installed. Lilies have been planted. Chicken soup is being prepared and will soon be eaten.




This afternoon, compost will be carried to the beds and also used to fertilize raspberries and another flower bed. Peas will finally be planted. The pasture will be tilled and overplanted. And then all will fall onto sofas, clutching cold beers and ibuprofen.

Root beer, for some of us!

Friday Fun

Well, Mom has still not left the hospital. One of these days...

It's a lazy Friday morning. We've been busy this week, starting early each today. Today's busyness involves an afternoon trip to O'Hare, so I am starting slowly today.

This week's garden work involved triage. About a week after I started them, a certain puppy who shall remain nameless dumped my seedlings on the floor while chasing the cat through my grow-light shelving. I had foolishly labeled them very inefficiently, just placing the labels in the tray next to each row. About 5 seedlings were destroyed by the dumping, and the rest were jumbled and shuffled. I was counting on planting by appearance, rather than be variety; not very scientific, but, oh, well. This week, she found herself again next to my seedlings, which had been fertilized with fish emulsion. "Mmmmm...," she said, and ate about a third of them. So I now have a messed up jumble of cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli and lettuce seedlings. The lettuces will be fun; mixed salad greens right in the bed, ready to toss into a bowl. The rest, we'll just play, "Let's see what this blossoms into."

Yesterday onions were planted. I put floating row covers over them, trying to keep them a little warmer, and, more importantly, to keep the chickens out! The garlic is up, the asparagus is weeded and fertilized, the raspberries are pruned and some transplanted. It just gets more fun everyday!

This weekend, two more raised beds will be installed in the garden. I'll move a dwarf peach seedling out of the flower bed it lived in last summer. Stalls will be cleaned, compost will be moved. I'd like to get the chicken fencing repaired so the little darlings stay in their pen. We'll see!

Wordless Wednesday; Further Signs of Spring Edition, Horse Shedding File

Spring in Illinois

Friday, March 19, mid-morning



Saturday, March 20, mid-morning (notably, the First Day of Spring)



Sunday, March 21, mid-afternoon



Yeah, it's schizophrenic. But no one ever has to plan for an earthquake...or a hurricane. Tornado, maybe, but not a tsunami.