New Life Old Farmers

The last week has been eventful!  It started with our pregnant black lab, Zoe not eating.  Labradors typically eat as if their last meal had been days ago not simply hours ago.  Labradors eat everything and anything, that they are allowed to gobble up.  Zoe was huge (large, giant) and resembling a pot-bellied pig more than a lab, so I was worried about this big Mama not eating, especially with a whole week left to go until her due date.  Zoe would gobble up scrabbled eggs.  She was quite partial to farm fresh, free range eggs, lightly scrambled, so I obliged…all week.

The first pup came after a restless night at 5:30 am, born on our bathroom floor.  Born exactly on her due date a little girl, black with a white blaze.  We quickly moved mom and baby into the whelping area, relieved and nervous that things were finally underway.

2, 3, 4, 5 came quickly…and then there were 7, 5 black 2 yellow, all wiggly, wet and ready to eat.  Mama Zoe then took a long break, which really, can you blame her?  I spent the rest of the day, counting little pups, and hand feeding anything Zoe would eat, fresh turkey, sliced ham and left over steak (that My Loving Spouse thought would be his dinner when he got home).  Every time I checked, they looked the same, a lot of puppies on the teets.  It took a second look to often spot another new-born pup.

8 another yellow!

9 another yellow!

After a long day, I was sure she was done.  Zoe hoped she was done.  Number Two Son came home and counted…10.  10!  We counted again, black legs, black pups, tired humans…it took a few tries, and sure enough…10.Zoe is still being a picky eater.  We are catering to her.  Under the circumstance, this is fair as she is eating for 11.  Canned dog food (stinky) mixed with high protein puppy food is her current fare.  The pups…all getting rounder by the day, each one cuter than the next.7 girls, 3 boys…

Puppy love!

We celebrated My Loving Spouse’s birthday in a big way!

First, let me back up.  A few years ago we gave Team Offspring an IOU to go Tubing on the snow.  Then one of them broke their wrist, then there was no snow, then another of them broke their arm, then there was so much snow we were sick of it and nobody could ever get the same day off!

Yesterday, we did it!  We rewrote our IOU’s, everyone managed to get the day off and we took off to Lake Chelan for a day on the water jet skiing!  The sky was blue, the lake was warm and the hills were filled with rows of orchards and vineyards.  It is gorgeous!

We rented two large jet ski’s and the 4 of us jumped (climbed, cautiously slipped, nervously mounted) our floating motor craft.  With the Y Chromosome members at the helm, we sped out onto the water, with some of us saying things like “Slow Down!”

I finally took my turn to drive.  My Loving Spouse, knowing I’d never been on a ski before offered vital words of instruction.  The actual quote was,

“Goose IT, Mother!”

We all did get good at zipping around the absolutely beautiful lake.  The day was filled with laughter.  I did manage to ‘catch some air’ and when our Jet Ski capsized, well, all I can say is, that I was not the one who was driving.

We capped it off with a quick wine tasting at Hard Row to Hoe Vineyard….how they got their name is another story.

…and we are certainly blessed.

Thank you each and every one of you who entered the first ever ‘Giveaway’!!!

Your comments and your entries made my day!

Thank you so very much!  

Winner, winner chicken dinner….

My best to you all!

Update July 17, 2017

Today I received a photo from our winner with the table runner on her table in her home.

It is a perfect fit!

Thanks for sharing, Cynthia!

We have lights in THE Bathroom!  Lights as in, one walks into the room and flicks a switch and lights go on!  Not the lights we have had called, do not trip over the extension cord to the power strip, which led to the shop light leaning up against the wall.

We had the lights themselves for quite a while.  We’ve had them so long, that My Loving Spouse forgot what was actually in their box, just sitting upstairs waiting for the wiring to be finished.  I had ordered them online, with My Loving Spouse’s complete agreement at the time of ordering.  Except…we both forgot about one thing…the room is not square.  It is not even a rectangle….in math terms it is a hexagon.  Yep, 6 sides, which makes lighting on the wall (where I wanted it) more difficult.

Enter “One of THE Seattle Cousins”….who was on his anniversary trip…complete with his tool box.He graciously worked all day on our electrical, hooking up light switches, installing the new lights (that everyone thought was wrong), conferring with me about their placement, which meant for the first time in my life, I got to boss him around!  (This nut did not fall far from the Bossy Tree, but being one of the younger cousins, I rarely got to exercise my bossy ‘gift’ with him.)See that short slanted ceiling…yes, that was the bit we forgot about.  With My Loving Spouse off driving, My Cousin put the lights I LOVE where I want them.  This does mean I will have to redraw the plans for the medicine cabinets…oh, well, those plans only exist in my head anyway.I love them!  We had time for dinner, croquet and card games!…and one of my favorite things ever…sitting in the same pew at church with people I love.

Thank you!

…and I am very blessed.

Have you ever read the most famous blog Confessions of a Pioneer Woman?

Ree Drummond is sort of amazing.  I do enjoy her blog, her honesty and the cows.  How much she takes on could be a tad overwhelming, but I do urge you to check her out.  She also does…Giveaways!  Seriously!  This gal gives away some amazing stuff…boots, mixers, purses and plates….  I’ve entered a few of her Giveaways, but so far, my 1 in 10,000 chance has not panned out.

It made me realize that I wanted to do my own Giveaway.  The first (possibly the only) New Life Old Farm Giveaway!

Just in time for the Fourth of July, a red, white and blue table runner.

It measures about 12 in by 55 inches. 

Made by me….candlesticks not included.

Here is the scoop.

How to enter:

1. Comment saying that “I am in” or “Winner winner chicken dinner” or “Please pick me!”

OR

2. Email me at Ellenewalton@gmail.com and tell me to enter you in THE Giveaway.

I will place your name in the hat.

Giveaway ends Sunday June 25, 2017 7:00pm PDT.

Entries really will be put in the hat, everyone is eligible….family, friends, foes…

I figure your chances of winning are probably about 1 in 5, but who knows maybe I will be surprised.

I had fun making this table runner and the thought of sharing it with one of you makes me smile!

Sometimes in life there is that friend.

The friend that inspires parents to say such things as, “If Johnny/Susie/Taylor jumps off of a bridge are you going to jump off of a bridge?”  Of course the ‘child’ always says, ‘No’.  However, if that friend invites them to jump off a bridge, then… they are probably jumping.

Which might be how on a certain recent evening The Hillbilly Rig was driven (noisily) up into the hills.  It was drizzling and the windshield wipers added more noise to the journey.  The road was shared with more cows than people, which was just perfect for our Hillbilly escapade.  We arrived at our location and enjoyed some appetizers.

…and a bit of ‘cheap’ beer.  I am a tiny bit embarrassed to say, that I did like the ‘cheap’ beer.  What can I say?  I’ve never been known as a beer connoisseur.Yes, that is a gun, and no, it doesn’t take bullets.  It is a pellet gun and it was so much fun!  We did a bit of target practice and this is considered the ‘proper’ form.

Who knows what kind of form I had, but not only did I actually hit a few cans, but I took the award for the most dents given to the cans.I’d probably be bragging a bit more, but I also earned the ‘one who had to pee in the woods’ award, so enough said.

We had fun!

So much fun, that more Hillbilly escapades are planned…quickly…. before My Loving Spouse sells the Hillbilly Rig!

That friend….every Thelma needs her Louise!

.

There are certain times in life when your phone rings, and your heart stops for a second.  The middle of the night phone calls, that wake you from a peaceful slumber to dread in a nano second.  Usually, your heart starts beating again, when it is a wrong number and all you get from the caller is, “Donde esta Juan?”  I also get a similar reaction when my neighbors call.  Let me clarify, we have 2 neighbors and we could NOT ask for better neighbors, however, when they call, my gut reaction is ‘Oh, Bad British Word’ and I often do not say ‘hello’, I answer with this country greeting, “Are my cows out?”

I was recently in town having dinner with our New Jersey City Guest, Number Two Son and My Girl, when My Sweet Neighbor Sue called and because we were eating, I did not answer.  I breathed a sigh of relief when she did not leave a message.  We finished our meal and headed home.  We were about a third of a mile from home, passing one of Our Friend The Farmer’s fields, when we saw a big black cow.  His cows were in an adjoining field so immediately we assumed, one of his cows was out….until we got closer.  Agnes!!!

I slammed on the brakes of the truck, and I might have said a Bad British Word and kicked all the kids out to help wrangle her, including our New Jersey City Guest who was wearing cute City sandals and slightly intimidated by the large beast.  My Girl and I quickly changed places, so she could drive the truck and I could help chase the cow.  These two kids of mine live in the country, but not actually on purpose.  The last time they truly wanted to be ‘country folk’ was about 20 years ago.

Number Two ran after Agnes all the time moving her toward the direction of our farm, extremely careful to not let her get farther out in the big field, because once that happens…well, let me just say, the bovine usually wins the race.  We moved Agnes at a trot/run from one field, across the street, through the neighbor’s yard, where she stopped to poop in his freshly cut hay, back toward the City Guest (who tried to wave her City arms, but gave up and went for cover when the large cow came her way), down the driveway, into another large field, luckily back out into the road, where My Girl moved her down the road with the truck, into the driveway and back into OUR field, where she went to get a drink of water.

All the time you are chasing your cow, you are thinking, ‘Bad British Word, how did she get out?  What fence to I need to fix tonight?’

These two suburban born kids are country kids now, whether they meant to learn how or not!  They know exactly what to do, when the cow gets out.  They might be wearing sandals and shorts, but they get the job done…and with sweat streaming down their faces say things like, “I hate that cow!”  I was so proud of them.

The fences were fine, so how did Agnes get out?  Well, not all of our kids are Country kids yet.  There may/might/probably will be some gate latching lessons the next time our City kids visit.

Who let the cow out?  Moo, Moo, Moo,  Moo!

My Grandmothering heart is full and my Mothering heart is hopeful.

With 5 full days to soak up THE Grandchildren, I was a very happy camper.  Some say, that THE Grandson has me wrapped around his little finger, but if a darling boy asks me to play croquet, or trains, or read books or play with bubbles, why would I say “no”?

It was a time to get to know our smiling, beautiful and sweet granddaughter, Little E, and as always, real life was in session.  Two sinks leaked, the 4 dogs did not get a long, THE Grandson fell and went to Urgent care, a gate got left open and the cow got out.

However, we were there…for Number Two.  This was his time.  His graduation from college.  It took him more time and more years with a transfer from one school to the other, but he did it with honors and the respect of his classmates and his professors.  So, his family gathered to watch him walk. 

I was moved by the Bagpipes as they led the faculty and graduates for their walk through campus.  I was grateful for Professors who cared for my son, for well thought out seating, jumbo trons and plenty of port-a-potties.  …for silly, fun Number Two faces on sticks.

I am grateful for him…this special son of mine.

Celebrations can sometimes be hard. We wanted this to be as special a day as Number Two deserved, but it was out of our hands.  My Loving Spouse and I tried to include Number Two’s Dad and Step-Mom, we handed them a face on a stick.  I sent in THE Grandson to ask his Papa Jay, if he would come to the farm to have lunch with him.  After all, THE Grandson is hard to resist and he is 2 and destined to say ‘why’, if told ‘no’.  It has been many, many years…and finally…something thawed….something changed.

They came…we all sat at the same table…we all celebrated our son…and we were all blessed.I love you Number Two Son of mine.

Witty, funny, thoughtful and dear.

Voracious reader….Harry Potter lover.

You bless us all.

Congratulations!

It takes a LOT of imagination to tackle restoring an old house.  

We must ‘imagine’ that we will finish someday.

We must ‘imagine’ how it should/could be.  We must ‘imagine’, that we can do it….get it done.

The upstairs bath is coming along….we are almost there!  It is such a treat to our eyes.  We can ‘imagine’ it done.After all, all we need is the glass door, the floor sanded and painted, the window painted, the lights installed, the fan installed, the heater installed, the bead board finished and the medicine cabinets built….that’s all, from where we started…we’re pretty happy with how our imagination works.  Feel free to use your imagination and you’ll see it done.

The Buck-a-roo room is ready for Number One’s Family.Luckily for me, I have a Sweet Girlfriend who like to paint.  She came and helped me put fresh paint on the walls.  Two walls accented with gray the rest a lovely fresh white.  You just need to ‘imagine’ the new red curtains are hanging up as well.  We only had time for one window treatment and as you can see, we opted to install the new room darkening shades so that THE Grandkids nap’s would go well.  A folding cot is set up for THE Grandson, in what is supposed to be the closet….sort of cozy, wouldn’t you say?  Walk-in closet to be or cozy toddler room now?Complete and ready for our little book-worm boy….or perhaps he is a book-cow boy.We are still a few (or a lot) of Advil bottles away from completing all the restoration we imagine here.

However, from our earliest imagination, we hoped to fill and enjoy this farm with our family…and we are indeed blessed.