The Day Before the BIG DAY!!

Busy! Busy! Busy!

What a day its been trying to tie up loose ends and finish up projects before our BIG TRIP to Colorado!

Biggest projects of the day included scrubbing down and cleaning up the Uplander!

Big Helper!!

The other big project of the day was completing the last of the Cha-Cha bracelets for the nieces!


The above and below remind me of wild flowers in a green meadow!

This one I call the Strawberry Patch! Isn't it yummy?

Neopolatin Ice Cream!!!

This is has a retro feel to it!

Peas and Carrots!!

Apple Harvest!

Primary colors!

Only thing left now is to put the clasps on the braclets, load up the car and celebrate Her Royal Higness' third birthday (three days early :D )

A New Season and the First Spray!

Kinda makes one a little nervous when the farm equipment like the tractor and the spray tank start right up after sitting through winter! That hasn't EVER happened to us before, until now! There is always one form of drama or another!! So this year's first spray was as simple as turning on the tractor, rinsing the spray heads, filling up the tank, and taking a video clip! Isn't it a beautiful morning?!?! It is just amazing how quickly things have greened up in the last two days! And as thrilled as we are about that, we are hopeful that bloom is still a little ways off - it is still a bit too early for bloom!

Dirty Hands - Happy Heart!

Here is how one thing can lead to another and here is how my sunny days melted away into chilly nights!

I'm preparing my soil for a cottage style garden - a garden that is a mix of flowers and yummies. Except my really handy Mantis didn't work and I had to do it all by hand!

Here is how a small project turned mammoth!

I wanted a little brick 'niche' right next to the sidewalk. This little 'niche' would be the perfect size for a table to sit two people - me and the Apple Farmer! Wouldn't that be sweet? The rest of the grass in this area would be turned and garden would be planted in it. Only problem was, I hit something hard when I started removing sod! I unearthed an old path which likely leads to the site where once stood an outhouse - a necessary edifice in the early days of our 130 year old farm house! So my little 'niche' got bumped out into the middle of my flower bed. I didn't finish un-earthing the path, or I'm sure I'd still be digging today!

Here is why I go to bed after I take Advil!

But I'm sure these onions are going to be so yummy this summer in salads and sandwiches!

Here is why my muscles hurt - not because I run - but because I plant asparagus!

My chickens like it when I dig up the dirt! They scratch and scratch! They also scratched up all the onions we planted in the above bed! The onions have officially been planted twice - that is why they will taste extra good this summer!

So now you know why my hands are dirty and my heart is happy!

Time to weed the strawberry patch! Can you see how much fun that will be? Grrr! But I'm sure I will be really happy when it looks like the north end of the asparagus bed - all cleaned up and ready to go!!

Cash or Check Only!

No electricity, no problem! It doesn't stop the Amish and Mennonites in our area from building a great business! But, if you decide to visit two of my favorite places and forget to bring cash or check along because you are in the same habit that I am of using the debit card, you will find yourself up a creek, which is where I've found myself on more than one occassion! But happily, not today!

Today we were in need of asparagus crowns, peat moss and elemental sulpher (to plant my blueberries in so that they will live long and prosperous lives). Of course, it is nearly impossible to leave this place with other essentials, like a Fuscia, eight little brussel sprout starts (mmmmm!) and some rooting hormones... Yeah, I know, who buys rooting hormone? Well, I do when I want to propagate a bunch of concord grapes and red raspberries!

I LOVE greenhouses!

I really, REALLY LOVE greenhouses!!

So I tried to get out of the greenhouse within a reasonable amount of time....

We also went to H&M! Bulk foods and great prices! You can even buy a big bag of dehydrated marshmallows to mix in your healthy cereal so it isn't healthy anymore!

Our main purpose for coming here was to buy candy! I know! Even my kids had a hard time pulling their jaws up off the floor when I told them what was on the shopping list! But hey, there's a price to pay for being the favorite Aunt, and this favorite Aunt has only a couple more days to get ourselves ready to head to higher elevation to enjoy a bunch of nieces and nephews! Thirteen, to be precise! Note to siblings and parents: I can't wait to see you all either!!

The 5K Puzzle

I'm starting to experience a running burn-out! I've been feeling it coming on for a couple of weeks now, and because I really want to meet my 5K goal this coming September, my burn-out concern has been in the fore-front of the peanut in my noggin. So, while at the grocery the other evening, when the Runners Times magazine reached out to me and beckoned, I followed its call. I really try to avoid purchases like these because they are not on the grocery list! So I thumbed through it looking for an excuse to ignore the temptations and put it back on the rack! I didn't put it back on the rack...

It has been a very educational and fabulous read! I've tried to order books on interlibrary loan on the topic of running, including one very highly recommended by my sister-in-law, Teresa, the "Chi of Running," and the books have been unavailable. So this read was perfect timing!

A fabulous article, called The 5K Puzzle, has me all charged up again with a whole new perspective. After reading the article for the fourth time, I am certain that my burnout has everything to do with working too hard! Too hard? Yup! Too hard! I'm a tough coach when it comes to coaching myself to run! LOL I drive myself for improvement and focus on mileage for the training log! But I'm a changed self coach and will refer to this article all the way up to race time! It has reminded me that the reason we run is for fun.... duh! I kinda forgot that part! It is full of guidelines for improvement without over doing and ruining the efforts made to improve pace, endurance, stride, efficiency and even recovery!

So there it is! Goodbye burnout! Hello fun! And today was fun!! Tuesday was a medium run, which, as a beginner, the short, medium and long runs will not vary greatly yet. So I decided this means that my long run is likely my hilly road run - I can accomplish it in around 40 minutes. My short run is likely about a mile and a half, roughly 15 minutes (a tad over that because I'm really slow!)- I can run that and still have plenty "gas in the tank," so my medium run is going to be somewhere in between and so I aimed for a 30 minute run (note the focus on time, not distance - see, the article is already working for me!). I tried to aim for more level terrain - it was a beautiful morning!! Found some, but still, not much!

Going Up! Up! Up!

Running through one of our hayfields towards Joe's house - isn't the Amish Saltbox Style architecture so neat?
My running buddy - she can't run on the highway with me, but she can run around the farm with me!!

Much better! Level ground! But check out all of the pruning that still needs to happen!

Running up through the hayfield to the north side of the orchard - up! up! up!

Ah - level for a teensy bit with a lovely lift in a short bit!

I can handle this one!! Down! We call this The Fairway - I'd be lying if I said we've never considered a driving a golf ball down that direction!

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

- a chinese proverb

The Nursery!

After my lettuce, broccoli and artichokes germinated and wore out their welcome in my bay window in the front room, I relocated these little babies into the cold frame outside the front door. But I probably relocated just a tad early, since we are expecting 26 degrees tonight... Now if they were still in my bay window we would be enjoying lovely evenings in the 50's, but not anymore! I ruined that luxury! So there they are under glass with a brooding lamp over the top of them all. They are incubating! Well, that is except for the artichokes. They were germinated and destined for a productive life while they are under my cruel control and they are in the process of being brainwashed so that they will think that they will be starting their second year of life this summer. We are slightly too cold for this amazing perennial plant. And it will never live a perennial life here, that's for darn sure! So while the above little plants bask in the warmth of the brooding lamp, the little artichokes are left in the dark to shiver and winterize. (insert evil laugh)

Souvenir and Farewell!

Flat Stanley-etta is on her way back home to Ashlin! Don't worry, Ashlin, I marked on the envelope so that the post master will be extra careful so our friend and traveler will arrive safely back to you!

Flat Stanley-etta didn't leave here empty handed, though! I've been busy working on some gifts and Flat Stanley-etta saw this bracelet that I had just finished and just knew it would be a perfect souvenir to bring back for Ashlin!! So this fun Cha-Cha bracelet is also making its way to Utah!

We send it to you with tons of hugs and kisses! Thanks for sending your Flat Stanley-etta to us! We really enjoyed her!