I brought all of my flowering Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti in the first week of October and now my upstairs foyer is full of color! 
Everything outside has lost its beauty since the leaves are gone and we’ve had so many frosts and freezes! The beauty inside is grand!
Category: CHANGES
Cattle Working Pens
Hubby and I spent most of February tearing out our old loading pen. It was well over 50 years old and was worn out. Instead of repairing like we normally do we decided to start over with this section of the pen. The far end with the working head chutes and calf pens are on the opposite end and were redone three years ago.
We’ve rehung some gates, tightened up some posts, and put in some posts. Now, we wait for our lumber to arrive which has been an unexpected delay. Most of the private lumber mills in the area will only cut for commercial folks. Here’s some pictures of the work we’ve done so far and I’ll post more as we get the work completed! I’ve definitely used muscles that have been lazy for some time!!!
NOW WE WAIT!!
Graduation 2016
Our beautiful granddaughter has grown up and graduated from high school! We’re all so very, very proud of her and know she can accomplish anything she sets her mind too when she wants to. I want to share our evening watching her walk down the aisle and get that diploma.
I leave my granddaughter with this quote from Steve Jobs:
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” – Steve Jobs
Victoria Elizabeth, we love you and are very proud of you! Nana
Smokehouse cleanout
This building has been on my bucket list for cleanout for the last three years. It is so full of junk, metal, useless tools, boxes, jugs of all shapes and sizes, feed sacks and more junk. We hauled off to the landfill a 8 ft pickup truck load to the landfill. The old chest freezer sitting in front of the building is at least seven feet long and four feet deep. We filled it completely up with scrap metal mainly consisting of rusted nails, bolts and things of that sort. We also got a huge wooden box full of brass. All of the metal will be taken to a recycling center.
The building was so full we just had a path to get through from one end of the building to the other and it’s a really long building. It has sections in that were built to hold feed on one side and a corn crib and small smoke room on the other. There’s one small room in the building that Eddie will convert to a reloading room that he can lock up. It took an entire day to clean out the junk and the section that were initially for feed now hold all types and sizes of lumber that has been cut on the farm and seasoned. The rafters are full of 12 – 18 inch wide boards. I would have loved to have seen the trees that lumber came from. The rafters also hold a major abundance of bee supers and hives.
It looks so good now and have plenty of room to use for working up our deer meat.
We can get to our freezers more readily now.
I stacked enough deer antlers that amounted to a four foot high stack. Now, I need to find a way to repurpose them. You can see the antlers on the left corner at the back of the room.
AND, Roscoe is now living in the rafters of the smokehouse. He watched the entire cleanup and came down to check things out near the end of the cleanout. His bedbox is in the corncrib and that’s where we keep his feed and water.
Season changes and colder weather
Fall colors on the farm before the first freeze.
I love early fall but after the first freeze everything changes. We’re actually shocked that the pasture and hayfields are still as green as they are and the yard. Old man winter is touching us in many way but thankfully not as hard as last year when it started bitterly cold in late October and didn’t let up.
Bundle up and get out and walk in the woods while you still can!!
Grape arbors
We have four arbors on the farm.
Definition of ARBOR: a shelter of vines or branches or of latticework covered with climbing shrubs or vines.
We don’t exactly have the latticework but have “different” styles that our grape vines grow on.
Last fall and early spring, hubby finished building a new arbor that gets sun all day and we have five different grapes growing on it. They are a red grape, white grape, and three Concords.
The other arbors all hold the same grape but we’re not sure what kind they are. They’ve been on the farm for years and still produce gobs of grapes that are about the size of a normal marble and sooooooo sweet! They make wonderful grape juice, jelly and wine.
We have two more on the farm that include one at the sugar house and another on the back porch of the mansion. This one was the only one that had a lot of grapes on it this year but they rotted from all the rain we had during the summer. Hopefully, next summer will be better since I’ve had so much to can this year anyway. I’ll get them all trimmed this winter after the sap goes back in the ground and we’ll get bigger and better in 2016! I’ll try some new mulching methods this winter and next spring and hope the varmints don’t eat the tender bark on the new ones. There’s not going to be a lot for rabbits, coons and deer to eat this winter and they take whatever they can find.
Walking through a wildflower garden
Fall is here and so are the fall wildflowers. Here’s a few I took photos of just along the driveway from the house to the mailbox.
Once the weather cools a little and I can get out in the sun there will be an abundance of wildflower and nature photo ops.
Enjoy the summer as long as you can because that cold weather is just around the corner. How do I know?? My hummingbirds have left! 😦
Bath Re-do
Our home was built-in the early 1800’s and is part of the 200-year-old family farm we live on.
I have a very small bathroom and it’s the only bathroom in the house. We don’t have a bathtub and our shower is an antique surround of metal which is in bad need of repair. I would like to buy a new shower but the old one sets up on a concrete foundation and is embedded with concrete. Until we become rich (NOT) we’ll make do with what we have.
You have to remember that our house has been in the family for at least four generations and the bathroom facility was put in when hubby was a wee one, 65+ years ago, we think!! YES I DO LOVE OLD THINGS! Anyway, here’s what it looked like before I made some minor repairs/touch-ups a couple of months ago:
It took two weeks and the changes are not major but it’s much nicer taking a shower in what is new to me.
This was a pretty good start to my retirement and now on to bigger challenges.
Had enough. . . time to retire
I’ve been working at Virginia Tech since April 2011 and last July moved to a different department on campus. I loved the job, especially loved the students and worked hard for my department.
I will be 62 in December and my workload and the stress have been getting worse over the last couple months. By the end of most days I would have a headache that seemed to build until I started home. And no matter what anyone says, you can’t leave at the office. I would dream about my job and work issues.
I used to love my job but on Tuesday of last week I decided I just can’t take this anymore! It’s just not worth it!! I worked all day and when I prepared to leave for the day, I decided then it would be my last day. I packed up my personal belongings, locked up the files and left my office and file keys in the desk with no intention of coming back.
I came home and talked to Eddie about my decision and he’s behind 100% and was surprised I stayed as long as I did. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders!!
I drafted a resignation letter that night and attached it to an email to my supervisor and department head of the center where I worked. I copied my children and best friends on the note!!
I slept better that night than I had for several months and consider myself one of the luckiest women in the world.
I will have to find some odd jobs to help pay for the “dreaded” health insurance because ours will run out on the 31st of July and we can’t be without health insurance living on a farm.
The odd jobs I’m looking for will be light housekeeping (including washing windows, I love doing that) and home/office organization jobs. Organization seems to be my forte and I did housecleaning when my kids were growing up for extra cash.
WISH ME LUCK!!!!
Patience
Definition: the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset; the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast.
In the Epistle of James, the Bible urges Christians to be patient, and ” see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,…until it receives the early and the late rains.” (James 5:7-11, NAB).
I’m patiently waiting for spring and the first sign of spring on our farm is this little bird.
One problem, I don’t have the patience I used to have!!
Good intentions and New Year revelations (not resolutions)
For all my friends, whether close or casual, just because. One of the shortest posts I will ever do.. and the most real, too. Everyone will go through some hard times at some point. Life isn’t easy. Just something to think about…did you know that people who are the strongest are usually the most sensitive?
Did you know the people who exhibit the most kindness are the first to get mistreated?
Did you know the ones who take care of others all the time are usually the ones who ……need it the most? Did you know the three hardest things to say are I love you, I’m sorry, and Help me?
Sometimes just because a person looks happy, you have to look past their smile and see how much pain they may be in. To all my friends who are going through some issues now, I may not always email, call or write to you but I am thinking about you and praying for you.
The revelation of all of the wonderful family and friends that I have, came to realization this past year and I want to make a concerted effort to reach out to all of you in a letter or card in the coming months. I gave up Facebook because of all the whining, politics and “just bad news” posted on there. I want to get back to that one on one friendship that everyone needs. SO, be on the look out for the card or note that lets you know that I am thinking about you!!
Weight loss update
On the 25th of March I posted about starting over on my weight loss goals. It’s working!! I’ve started keeping my food journal again and though I may not walk everyday, I am walking at least twice a week during my breaks at work and working in the yard or with the animals on the weekends. I went back for a weigh-in on the 9th of April and had lost two + pounds. I’m meeting with my weight coach every two weeks again. The two new pair of pants that I had bought were size 14 and were starting to feel too tight to wear again.
The size 16’s were feeling very good but knew that wasn’t how I wanted to deal with this and I’m working really hard to get back on track with this weight issue.
My weight coach is wonderful and so encouraging. When I was dealing with my younger brothers health issues the anxiety was unreal and I didn’t want to burden my family with what I was feeling so I ate and didn’t exercise at all. I guess one excuse is as good as any!!
I also have three friends at work that listen to my troubles, walk with me, and encourage me to keep working at it. Carol, Gwen and Kathryn make me laugh and feel good about myself. You guys are my weekday lifeline and I love all three of you!
My best friend that lives on the eastern shore it my other lifeline. We talk, cry, scream and do all the things that best friends do together, even at a distance, to get through the “bumps” in our lives. I love you Margaret!!
I went back to my weight coach Wednesday and have lost four more pounds in the last two weeks. I was so excited!
I just wish the weather was more comfortable to walk in. The wind wreaks havoc on my sinuses and I’ve gone all winter (KNOCK ON WOOD) without getting sick and don’t want to push my luck. I will continue to take short walks a couple of times a day while taking breaks at work and definitely walk or work at the farm to get the exercise I need to lose more and replace the fat with muscle!
Hubby told me last night he could tell a difference and I know I feel better. I really think the exercise, the food journal I keep and the not eating after 7:00 p.m. is the results of the weight loss. My goal for the next 8 weeks is to lose 10 more pounds and I’ll be the happiest girl in the world.
Keep me in your prayers!!
Family room is complete
Not a lot of words. Just a few pics of the final results of the my family room remake. The first pictures are of the bedroom it used to be. I had so much fun cleaning and re-decorating it. I love to sit in here and read or watch chick flicks in the quiet.
First, as a bedroom:
Now the makeover into a family room:
I think it’s a wonderful place to relax, watch movies, read a book, or just chill!!
My New Family Room
Now that the addition on the house is no longer a bedroom but a family room I’m working on creating a cozy family room. It’s not a large space but it allows us to entertain in a cooler environment away from the wood stove in the main living area. I want to keep it warm, friendly, country and “my style” and will turn the main living area into a man-cave type decor so that all of hubby’s friends that visit can sit around comfortably and admire his trophies and talk of old times. The man really is a hunter first and farmer second. The man-cave reveal will be in another post and today I’ll show what I have to work with and what I have completed so far.
Most all of that furniture has been removed and I’ve done the following arrangements for now. I want to add lots of seating that’s easily arranged so that when little brother comes for weekend visits I can bring out a fold away bed or futon.
- View into room from kitchen.
Some rugs and wall decor makes a world of difference. I want to add a futon or small sleep sofa and some hassocks because when the whole family is here, we need the seating. Not too bad for a country girl using hand me downs and years of family treasures!
countrygirl-lifeonthefarm 