Abundant Harvest

So, did you ever hear the one about the lady who was buried alive by zucchini?
No?
Well, it's me.
No joke, I currently have 45 zucchini sitting on my counter.  And we have already shredded and frozen enough zucchini to make multiple batches of zucchini bread and brownies.  Plus there's more in the garden ready to be picked in few days.

I know a picture is worth a thousand words, and believe me when I tell you I would LOVE to photo document this craziness.  Unfortunately, my camera is lost.  These are the pitfalls of letting the children find ways to entertain themselves during the summer.  They take the camera, make crazy movies and take crazy pictures and before you know it...Look Ma, No Camera.  Eh, well.  I'm assuming it will turn up when the dust settles.

Of course I would like to have pictures to show you, but more importantly I'm going to need documentation to present to my dearly beloved husband next year when garden planting time rolls around.  He's a good man, but has a short memory for these things.  I need for him to remember that our plants are massive and produce more than all of Franklin County could consume.  I need for him to remember that the plant sizes range from a mere 6 foot diameter to a staggering 15 foot diameter...and that's plenty big.  I need for him to remember that NO ONE needs 12 varieties of zucchini and squash planted in their garden.

Please remember People, I'm no gardener.  I'm terrible at it in fact.  Sure, I try to fake it. But, who am I kidding?  I've spent so very little time out there this summer, I'm plant neglectful and a weeding fiasco. Imagine how this garden would do with someone who really knew what they were doing and put their heart into it.  Kind of frightening if you ask me.

Peace out.
If you need me I'll be shredding, blending, grilling, breading, frying or steaming zucchini.  And in my spare time I'll be pickling beets, like 14 quarts of them.

Love,
farmgirl

that's farmgirl. not gardengirl
could someone please tell mike that.

Hackee addresses Hacker

So, I really did get on here to post today.  For reals, it's all legit.
And then I discovered I was Hacked.
That's a really weird feeling.
It's like being spot lighted in Primary or something.

Good, and weird.  But good more than weird.
Thank you.
Everyone should get a shout out now and again, so thanks for giving me mine.

Now....who did it!?
There's brownies in it for anyone leading me to information about the culprit.
:o)

Hacked ;)

Attention everybody!

This Blog has now been hacked!

This Hacker would just like to say that this lady....

 

This lady right here...

This awesome, amazing, fun, incredible person....

 Is one of the most...

Is by far one of the greatest...

Most inspiring...

Most caring...

and above all...

Most loved person...

That this hacker has ever encountered.

So lets give it up, ladies and gentlemen, 

for this fantastic blessing that the Lord has given us all.

This is a tribute...

 

To one who has done a many great and wonderful thing.

People of the World...

I give you...

 The ever Loved...

Farmgirl.

Idaho's Stonehenge

Second crop hay- cut, raked, bailed, stacked and ready to be loaded and taken to the hay shed.
I love the way it looks in the field like this, it doesn't last long (like a day)--but I love it.

Just in case anyone is wondering...
You should know that summer is kinda kickin' my trash.

Sometimes I self medicate with lots of projects and hard work and other times I self medicate with warm brownies and cold milk.
It's about 60/40 right now.

Seriously, what's my deal?  Am I too busy?  Am I not busy enough?  Are my kids not busy enough?  Are we all just wound a little too tight?

Summer chores are killing me.  And it's a slow and incredibly painful death.
You know my summer philosophy, "Summer is a continual lowering of my cleanliness standards" and I have added "...until I drown in my own houseful of disgustingness, or they go back to school--which ever comes first."
It's not SO horrible, they do try (well some do...sometimes) but -let's face it folks- I'm a control freak when it comes to my house.  I just like it done my way.  Is that so terrible?  It should speak volumes of the love I have for my children that I am willing to give them the opportunity to learn to clean and to work, even though it makes me want to pull my hair out.
I love them just that much.  So much that I am willing to make them redo a job, more than once.  So much that I am willing to listen to them whine about doing their chores.  So much that I am willing to put up with weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.  So much that I am willing to nag them until they do it.  So much that I am willing to not kick them all out of the house and do it all myself.  That's a lot of love, my friends.  A Lot.

And here's another question...Where exactly in the sand is the line drawn Bad Parenting wise?  Is it when you are just thinking that you should smack your teenager upside the head or is it when you actually do it?  I haven't done that, but there are moments when I think it seems like a fairly sound decision.
Please, someone tell me it's a phase!  That they are both phases--me wanting to smck them upside the head and them acting like a total dork deserving of a head smacking.  Where is the sweet person I carried for nine months and birthed from my body?  When did this alien negative being come into my life?  And more importantly, when are they leaving and my kid is coming back?

Okay, enough venting for now.

On a happier note:

I finally found a walking/running partner, which means I finally found a friend.  Two actually...sure, one of them is an oldie moldie friend living with her folks this summer whilst she's in the middle of a move across the country but beggars can't be choosers.  And I'm just happy to have some peeps to talk to that don't live an entire state (or two) away.

Vehicular drama is over.  We found and purchased a suburban.  We looked and looked and looked and found a great deal and had enough money left over to fix all the troubles with the truck.  And 'The Monica' has a smaller engine so it gets better gas mileage than the Beast did.  Win/Win


Hope summer is treating you well.
Peace out.
:0)

*post script *

*afternoon 7-13*

the teenage crabby-pants

is redeeming their

little teenage self.

and it's nice.

Knee Deep and Lovin' it.

Holy Shnikies, Peeps!  Summer is in FULL swing.  I didn't even change my calendar until June 15th.  Please.  Is that not ridiculous?  It's been busy.  Real busy.  Let's just hit the highlights, shall we?

I give you...
The Latest and Greatest.

• I got a wild hair and painted my front door blue with a free pint of paint.  It may or may not look a little like an Easter egg, but I kinda like it.

• For Mothers Day Mike made a screen door for me, cuz he's handy like that.  I LOVE it. I love enjoying that crisp morning and evening air.

•  We planted a massively huge garden.  No, really, it's big.  No pics, but I'll get some and you'll be impressed.

• Memorial Day weekend Mike built a porch, cuz he's handy like that.  I LOVE it.  It really adds to the house.

 

• I've already been to Girl's Camp.  It was an adventure.  I came home totally pooped, but I sure do like those little punks.  They are fun.

• 
  

•  I assisted in the week long transformation of my SIL's kitchen and laundry room.  It is amazing.  Hopefully, I'll be able to steal some pics from her.  All you need to know is it rocks, and so do we. (FYI, that's the second kitchen I've helped do-over in recent months. Check out my little sister, Amanda's.)

• For the second time in a mere 16 months our family mode of transportation has been totaled.  That's right, the Beast is no more (well, I guess it's not official yet--but I'd be mighty surprised if it's not).  Some guy ran a stop sign and pulled out in front of Mike and, well...ya Mike hit him.  Luckily, every one was fine in both vehicles.  The other guy was able to change a tire and drive away...us, not so much.

Well, there's the highlights.  Or at least what I can remember at the moment (honestly, by the end of the day I am generally fried and so is my brain --and I've had a headache all day)....But,
Things are good.  Really good.
I am....Knee Deep and Lovin' it.
Peace Out.
:o)

Holy Cramolio! POST SCRIPT!!

• I got a job.  That's right, I'm a part time lunch lady starting in the fall....can't believe I forgot to put that down.  Told ya I was tired and had a fried brain.  Anyhoo, Woo Hoo for me!

One Year Later.

Holy Smokes.  I can't believe it has been a year since we left St. George.  Some times I still can't believe we really left.  It seems like forever and it seems like yesterday.  No regrets, we knew it was time to leave and we knew this is where we were to go.  I've often thought during this last year that it is a really good thing we were so certain this is what we needed to do, because it's been hard at times.  Good.  Always good, but hard.

I think we thought that once we moved we would quickly know why we came...writing in the sky or something like that.  I mean, really, is that so much to ask?

We have a lot; healthy kids, a house to live in that we adore in a place we love, a small part time job, little jobs here and there . We have stayed fairly busy, busy does not mean that the money is rolling in.
Busy means it's enough to survive, barely...and your standards for survival need to be fairly low. 

There have been days during these past 3+ years that I thought I would lose my mind.  I've been in the dumps more times than I really care to admit.  I have wondered if I have something like clinical depression or if life has just beat me up a bit.  A few weeks ago I read a blog (my bestie's sister's) where she openly described her clinical depression, but she wasn't describing me--that's not where I'm at.  That's not what's going on with me.  I can pull myself out of it.  It takes time and I have to work at it, but it can be done.  So, I'm not clinically depressed- which, in a weird way, kind of made me feel worse...and better.  Worse because I then think 'Well, for crying out loud! You shouldn't be this way, snap out of it!'.  Better because it's up to me...and that's kind of a bit of pressure.

So, I guess life has just beat me up a bit.  That's okay, build's character- right?  It's been tough, but I'm no quitter.  I'm a hoe to the end of the row kind of farmgirl.

I think I am the queen of epiphany's (I like to think that because the other alternative is that I'm a really slow learner so I have to have all these epiphany's to remind me of things I should already know).
Here's the great epiphany's of late:

-This one came a while back in answer to a question from one of my kiddos.  This kiddo was a little frustrated with life at the time.   
Why did we move here?
...I seriously don't know why we needed to move here.  I don't know.  BUT, I do know that we are not here to be miserable.  We are not here to fail. There is a plan, and it's not a plan of misery and woe.  It  is not a plan of loneliness and heartache.  It is a plan of happiness and joy.  Some times I lose sight of it, but it is the truth.

This next one is the big one,  it's taken me a long time to get this.  I think I've got it, and then I don't, and then I think I've got it again, and then I don't.  But right now...I GET IT.

-There are a lot of things in my life that I CAN'T CHANGE OR FIX.  A lot, the list is long.  And I know this, I have known this for a long time hence the 'good attitude farmgirl'.
The serenity prayer comes to mind:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference. 

I do know the difference-- I was accepting it, but I wasn't letting it go.  I knew there were all sorts of things that I couldn't change but I was still stewing over it all.  

Here's my epiphany:  

My way is stupid.  My way is kicking and fighting against the dumbest things, my way is doing my best and still worrying myself sick, my way is wondering why my life isn't changing the way I want it to even though I'm really trying.  I do things my way and I'm frustrated and discouraged.  My way is stupid.

I can't change or fix everything.  I can't.

  

So...I will do all that I can do and I mean ALL that I can do, then I will wash my hands of it and send it off to heaven.  And He will take care of the rest.  I really am setting it free.  Either my circumstances will change or I will be strong enough to continue on.
I'm good with what ever comes, every time I start to freak out I just tell myself
'Do your best.  Wash your hands of it, and send it to Heaven'.
I think this is the most freeing epiphany I've ever had.  It lifted a huge weight off my shoulders, I could take a deep breathe.
I don't have to fix it all, more importantly I don't have to worry about fixing it all.

'When you come to the edge of all the light you have known, 

and are about to step out into darkness, 

Faith is knowing one of two things will happen; 

there will be something to stand on, or you will be taught to fly.'

I can walk or I can fly, but either way I'll make it.
:o)

Even MacGyver would be proud.

Has your Monday been like mine?  Pretty much super inefficient, I'm feeling like I've been spinning my wheels all day around here.  So, I given up on accomplishing much and decided to share with you a project we finished last week that was all sorts of efficient.   
(It's either this or make a pan of brownies 
and we all know I'm trying to avoid that these days.)

Are you ready for something amazing?  Something so fantastic you can hardly stand it?  This is re-purposing at it's finest. I'm talking about the Queen Mother of Fabulous Projects.

Project:          Firepit & Patio
Supplies:      Old tractor tire rim, Old concrete, Tractor, Shovel,
                             Sledgehammer & People who really love you &
                             your wild ideas
Cost:               Blood, Sweat & Tears

bring in piles of concrete with the tractor, 

 take a sledgehammer to it,

break it into big pieces

bring in old tractor tire rim (also with tractor),

dig a hole for the tire rim 

(NOT with the tractor)

 dig out the grass and start placing the concrete

work in progress

(actually a lot of work)

almost done

bring in more dirt to fill in the cracks

TAH-DAH!

victory is ours!

the first fire

followed quickly with a cookout

Our new patio & fire pit.

Isn't she a beauty?

Who's coming over for smores & a little star gazing?

I am seriously in love with this project.

I admire it a minimum of 800 times a day.

frenemies.

It's time I face the music, admit to something I have known for quite some time.
Me and freshly warm baked chocolatey treats, we are not besties.
We are frenemies.
I want to be besties, really I do.  I've spent years- a whole life time- working on our relationship.

I thought we were besties, a match made in heaven.  It's been a good run.....but,
the old metabolism, she aint what she used to be.
I think that's a big part of it, and also I'm an emotional eater.
A big time emotional eater.

Now, listen, I know I'm not morbidly obese.  I don't weigh 700 pounds (yet).
Lucky for me--REALLY lucky for me--I was blessed with great genetics and I fairly high metabolism, because as my mother used to tell me as a kid when I was shoveling in the sweets,
"If life were fair, you'd be as big as a barn."
And she was right.  Life isn't fair.  And in that particular case it really worked to my advantage.
Well, life is catching up to me now.

Something must be done.
I came up with a little plan several weeks ago.
I called it 'TreatsTimes2', which means I can have two treats twice a week.  Maybe to some people that still sounds like a lot, but trust me when I tell you it's much less than I have been known to have.
And, I just don't think I want to give it up all together.
The plan hasn't panned out as I had hoped.

So, my new plan is to:
 -admit to my frenemy relationship
-write it here
-get the support of my peeps
-and stick to it, at least for the month of May.  That's also part of the new plan...to have an a-MAY-zing month.  One month.  Just one.  And see where I'm at.

Wish me luck.
My name is farmgirl and treats are my frenemy.

The Red-Neck Deck.

So.  What's a girl to do when she is occasionally wanting to grill a little something up for the fam and her husband is a die hard charcoal kinda guy and she is not interested in always waiting for said charcoal?
She ho hums about it for years and years and then one day a few years ago she just goes ahead and purchases one of those itty bitty grills.  You know, the kind that are 20 buck-a-roos at Walmart.  And then she turns a deaf ear to her husbands remarks about the Mickey Mouseness of the thing, but embraces the name he selects for her new item.  The Barbie BBQ.  (really, I should paint the thing pink)

Fast forward to yesterday when she says to her husband, "Hey, I had this idea...do you think some super handy handsome guy wants to build a little shelf-esk thingyoff the deck/stoop so we could put the Barbie BBQ on it?  It would make it waaaay more user friendly, then we wouldn't need to go all the way up and down the steps."

*side note*  When I say deck/stoop I'm not actually kidding.  It's pretty tiny.  Some day we want to make it bigger.  But that day is not today.  Or tomorrow.  And so I asked myself, WWMD?
*side note #2*  While I am an avid believer of the 'Ole Pioneer Spirit' my beloved husband has been a little slow to see the light and embrace the genius behind it all.  Therefore, he generally gives me a polite nod and smile when I suggest a way to make something 'just work'.

He gave her his usual polite nod and a smile. (which she knows means he's probably thinking "oh, your cute.  but, umm, that'll never work")  Imagine her surprise when that very afternoon that very handy handsome of hers took 45 minutes out of his life and did just that.  I love it when he gets all Macgyver like.

Behold, I give you the Red-Neck Deck.  (so named by my brother David.  thanks David)

 TA-DAH!!!

Fabulous, innit?

And, yup, that really is the view right from my very kitchen.

 From the north. 

Yes, it still needs to be stained.

That's a job for tomorrow.  It's too durn cold out there now.

Can we say snow flurries and bitter cold wind today, Class?

Brrrr.

From the south.

Do you see the genius? 

Are you embracing the Ole Pioneer Spirit?

Good.  I knew there was a reason we were friends.

Spring has Sprung

...well, it's springing any way.  But not today.  Today it is raining.
What happens when Spring is springing???
Spring Fever.
What's the cure?
Ohhh....lots of projects.
Projects in the house and in the yard, just all kinds of fantasticness.

So, I had this problem.  The problem was called
"What to do with stinky chore clothes and milking boots?"
This was a big problem.  I don't have a mud room or anything like unto it.
The kids come in and out the back door down stairs, the back door that is part of the family room.  It was an unorgansized  mess.  And we all know how I feel about those.
I just KNEW I could come up with something.
Some way to solve this little problem the WWMD (what would macgyver do) way.

The solution?  These: 

Beautiful, right?  They'd been tucked away in the barn by our house for who knows how long.  Word on the street is they'd been here since my folks bought the place years and years ago.  I got the okey dokey from the folks and away we went.
With a bit of elbow grease and paint they turned into these:

TA-DAH!! 
Do you love them?  Well, I do.  And they're in my house so that's what matters.

 And look at that...Adam made a shelf to further organsize the boots.

Yay!!  Love a good project.
And I love that the project was just sitting around waiting to be discovered.
And I love that Adam got so involved.  He's a mighty handy guy.

More to come on all the projects going on around here.
Try to stay calm and keep your excitement at a minimum.