Dirt In All It's Glory!

Humility comes in so many different shapes and sizes.  I know this from personal experience.  Just this morning, in fact, we had a load of dirt delivered to fill in a low spot in our yard.  The problem began when I completely forgot they were coming early to deliver the dirt today - like before 8 a.m.  So, the kids and I were all cozy in my room, still sleeping....heavily (no judgment!  we're on summer break), when I heard this deep "Honk, Honk!"  I woke up, half in a daze, realized who was here, and threw on the first items of clothing I could find that were not pajamas...which means, I was decent enough to be seen, but I SO did not match in any way, shape, or form.  I actually debated about brushing my teeth before going out to direct the guy where to put the dirt, but he just kept honking, so I didn't have time.  So embarrassing!  I guess that's what I get for actually begging God for humility.  Humility always comes in ways I least expect, and in ways I really would rather it not.  Anyway, we now have a nice mountain of dirt in our backyard.  Which means the kids have a new playground...at least until Daddy gets around to spreading out the dirt to fill the low spot.  So, they spent the better part of the morning playing in the sprinkler and playing in the giant dirt pile.  I love these kinds of days!  Where the kids have no other care in the world, besides just enjoying being a kid.  Just simple fun.  It's country living at its finest.

Of course, the aftermath is not near as pretty, but hey, that's what bathtubs are for =)
(this was actually from a couple days ago, when they were playing in non store-bought dirt, but they pretty much looked like this today, as well)

Natalie told me before the dirt arrived that she was particularly excited about digging for dinosaur bones...I'll let you know if she finds anything ;)

Oh, and just for good measure, here's Rachel, watching the cows from our front window.  This was too cute to pass up!  She was actually 'mooing' at the window =):

Summer Harvest and the Homefront

In my last garden post, I didn't have any pictures of our vegetables, and I promised to come back and put some, so here are just a few pics of what we've been getting from the garden:

 

This was my first real, serious garden, and so far I'm very pleased with the results.  Not everything came out perfectly, and that's ok.  Like the corn...I did something really wrong with the corn!  That stuff just didn't produce worth a darn.  Once full grown, the kernels were all different sizes, some of them were bare in spots, and the ones that were uniform were chewy.  Phil said that maybe my seeds were too old.  I'm going to put my money on that, because I'd hate to think that I can't grow corn!  I love fresh corn on the cob and maque choux (that's a very tasty Cajun dish consisting of smothered corn and tomatoes in butter for those who have never heard of it - so good!).  I'm going to be very sad if I have to give up on the corn thing.  I'll try again with some fresh seeds that I bought this spring.  Why didn't I plant those, you ask?  Well, I had some left over from a few years ago, and I didn't want to waste it (I read online that seeds keep for a few years if you keep them in the fridge)...so much for that plan...I wasted way more than just a few kernels of corn.  That stuff takes forever to grow!  Oh well, so it goes.  Live and learn.  The pigs will eat well this week.  All I know is that we have been enjoying the heck out of some fresh cucumber and tomato salads every night, and I'll be sad when they are done producing.  The okra plants have also been producing very well....slow, but steady.  I've almost filled a gallon-sized freezer bag that I'll use in the winter for gumbo and smothered okra.  I usually get about a hand full of okra pods every few days.  Sometimes we just fry them, and that's really good, too!  I'm also really looking forward to the watermelon and cantaloupe we planted, assuming those produce.  I've got a ton of decent sized cantaloupes on the vine, so hopefully they'll ripen nicely.  Phil actually told me today that he found a wild watermelon vine out in the pasture!  And, I'm almost ready for my next round of planting.  I'll probably do another round of cucumbers and tomatoes (because we are addicted!), maybe some more bell peppers, and later in July I'll be able to start stuff for the fall garden, like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage.  I may also do another variety of squash and zucchini if I can make it to the seed store...I'm not sure what variety I planted, but they are kind of funky looking.  Some of them came out half orange and half green, and they were kind of tough...what is that??  Maybe those seeds are bad, too, because they weren't new, either.

On the animal side of life, I think we've finally got our fencing set up the way we want it!  So, Phil has the cows on this rotational grazing schedule (please don't ask me to explain it...I just go out there and dump feed in a bucket when Phil asks me to), so we finally have cows grazing around our pasture!  It's pretty cool.  They are close to the house now, so when we go outside, we can actually see them by the fence, and they stand there and moo at us as if we are supposed to feed them or something.  I thought that's what all the grass was for???  All we need now are a handful more cows to keep up with the grass...they can't eat enough right now to keep it down, which is not a bad problem to have, I suppose.  Little by little we are easing into this more self-sufficient kind of life.  It may not be how I imagined my life to be, but I'm finding that it is better than anything I could have imagined.  I'm glad Phil talked me into it =)  On Monday, we will bring our first grass fed steer to the butcher! (And by "we", I mean someone other than myself).  Which means we'll add steaks, ground beef, roasts, and briskets to our current freezer selection =)  All those trips out there to feed ole T'bone is finally going to pay off!  

Here they are, munching on some grass:

you can see how far down they mow the grass from one section to the next, where we have them partitioned off:

On a totally side note, it seems lately we've been hearing so many stories of hardships and sufferings; people's jobs on the line, family illnesses, the problems in the gulf that hit close to home, and here we are, just so blessed to have a beautiful family and a little piece of heaven on earth where we live.  Sometimes it just doesn't seem fair, but I know God knows what He's doing, so for now, I'll do my best to foster gratitude for our blessings, and to pray and sacrifice for those who are struggling.  I'm not sure if that's enough, but that's all I know how to do.

3 a.m. Fun

Early on Monday morning, around 3 a.m., Natalie comes running to our bedroom.  "Mommy!  There's a mouse in the bed by Andrew's foot!!"  Well, I'm guessing it wasn't a restaurant grade mouse like Little Chef from Ratatouille.  They never are!  Why do movies like to portray mice as some kind of cute, little creatures that are oppressed by humans??  Don't get me wrong, I love Little Chef...but, in real life, mice are WAY grosser than that.  Once, at our old house, I went to grab a pair of shorts off the top shelf of my closet, and I saw two little pairs of eyes and ears peeking out at me from the corner of my closet, on top of my pajamas!  The nerve of those things.  Mice are probably close to the top of my very short list of things that I don't like about living in the country....second only to snakes.  Anyway, back to Monday morning.  Of course, Natalie comes to my side of the bed.  So, I do what any logical woman would do in this situation...I shake Phil, who's still sleeping, and send him to save his only son from the mouse.  Meanwhile, Natalie gets snuggled up, all nice and warm, in our bed next to me and Rachel.  Phil comes back and mumbles something about "no mouse"..."must have been dreaming."  Natalie shoots up and quickly defends herself:  "yes there was!  I heard it squeaking, and I felt it when I pushed on it."  What, and then you just left Andrew to fend for himself against the ROUS???  Actually, I found out the next day that she did try to wake Andrew:  "I shook him and said 'Andrew, wake up, there's a mouse', but he wouldn't wake up, so I came and got you."  That's good to know...at least she tried to save him.  So, who knows.  Maybe there really was a mouse, and maybe there wasn't.  We have an excellent barn cat who we've actually seen hunting in the pastures, so while I believe Natalie wasn't making it up on purpose, I do think she may have imagined it (at least that's what I keep telling myself so I can sleep without being paranoid about mice in the beds).  But now, they are completely scared to sleep at night!  Last night, they must have woken me up 4 times!!!  "Mom!!  Did you hear that?"  "There's another mouse in the bed" (me:  "no there's not...go back to bed.")  Andrew came in at one point claiming he heard ducks!  Good grief!  They are really paranoid.  Hopefully tonight is better.  And then there's Phil...I was almost asleep last night, and he says "I just heard a mouse run across the floor!"...me:  "really??"...him: "no, just kidding, haha."  *SIGH*

The Great Fencing Project - Part Deux

**just a clarification:  technically, the fence in these photos are not technically 100% finished...the pictures were taken *before* the face boards were put on there to cover up the seams...my camera has a mind of it's own, and works when it wills...I've yet to get pics of the fence completely finished...**

It's been awhile since I've sat down and written a blog post.  We've just been so busy lately; I've not had the time.  And, really, I should be folding laundry or sweeping right now, but I'm pretty sure 'blogging' is synonymous with 'procrastinating from house work', so here I am!  

A few weeks ago, my husband began working on putting up fencing around our property, so that the cows could get to grazing.  Last weekend, his Dad and cousin came by to help him finish up the fencing around the house.  It looks so good!!  I'm so excited about this fence.  It really dresses up the yard and makes it look beautiful.  Plus, the cows can no longer just show up on my doorstep looking for food or a place to chew their cud =)

My handyman!

The first row of boards up:

Second row of boards:

And, all three rows:

I think my favorite part of this project was the fact that it ended up being a family project.  Phil got help from his Dad, brothers, and his cousin to do the bulk of the hard work, like putting the posts in, and hanging the boards, but for the lighter work, like putting up the face boards, and a few other little things, the kids and I joined in and worked as a family to get it done.  I'm finding more and more that living in the country on a large piece of land is so great for family life!  Not that it's always perfect and happy - I mean the kids were pretty much whining the whole time because "they were tired", "we don't want to!", and "Andrew's not helping"..."Natalie's not being nice!"...blah blah blah!  But, even so, it forced them to learn to cooperate and at least try to work as a team.

Don't let those smiles fool you!  They were only posing ;)

They would carry the boards and line them up along the fence, then Phil would put the board on the face of the fence to cover the seams with one screw, and then I would go back and put the rest of the screws in.  It was work, but it was fun...

Natalie making sure Daddy gets it level:

On most afternoons, they just opted to play instead of help:

Liesel even got involved!:

I'm sure the kids will be forced to do work around here that they absolutely do not want to do, and it will cause all sorts of arguments, but in the long run, I truly believe they will benefit from life in the country...even if they never see it that way.  Having that strong sense of family, and expecting everyone to contribute to family life instills values and virtues that are hard to find else where.  Not that this can't be done if you live in the city, but I think it's harder, because when you live out in the country, life is just slower and simpler and more conducive to working together and communicating.  There's no stress of city traffic, or loud noise, or all the lights from businesses that are open 24/7....it seems like cities never sleep.  And, I love that my kids spend the majority of their time outside, exploring nature, catching frogs, finding baby birds, playing in the dirt, learning about farm animals and gardening.  It's amazing to see the wonder on their faces when they discover something new.  Now, don't get me wrong, there are days when all they do all day is fight, or beg to watch TV all day long (some days, I just give in to their request for my own sanity ;), or refuse to go outside, but I would say that the majority of the time, life out here is just simply awesome!  On top of all that, it's so easy for me to find God in our life here.  I'm not being constantly distracted by the glitz and glamor of the world (although, the internet does a pretty good job of filling in that hole...).  It's so peaceful and quiet - it's hard NOT to see God in nature when it's all around you.  

Anyway, I got side-tracked.  Back to the fence...we are pretty much finished with the fence around the house.

The next phase is for Phil to finish up the perimeter fencing.  He has one more side to go, I think.  After that, he has to put up the fencing to divide the property into separate paddocks, and then we'll be cow proof, or "cow tight", as he likes to say =)  In the mean time, we've got up some temporary electric fencing so that the cows can start eating on the grass that has been growing like crazy!  It needs to be eaten, and we are running low on hay, so we put up the temporary fence last week, and the cows got their first taste of the grass since we moved here.  They were beyond excited.  The littlest one just kept running through it and jumping in circles...it was so cute!  I tried to get a picture of her in action, but she was too quick...