tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73244352722073721302024-03-19T06:39:03.299-05:00Journey JoysThere is a joy in the journey.
There is a Light we can love on the way.
There is a wonder and wildness to life and freedom for all who obey. (Michael Card)Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comBlogger238125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-35595650207688063192017-09-20T15:04:00.001-05:002017-09-20T17:39:08.805-05:00MelancholyI shouldn't write when I'm feeling like this. <br />
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Emotionally fragile and oscillating between tears, fears, and frustration. Yet there is a catharsis in consolidating one's thoughts. A lifting of life's burdens when shared with another. <br />
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It's dry here on the farm. Five weeks without measureable rain. 90+ degrees today. While Puerto Rico and the southern states brace for the pounding of liquid dumped unceremoniously from a spinning hurricane. No late beans, no fall broccoli or cauliflower. The flowers fading and withering. Only the verbena, dahlias and eucalyptus seem unaffected by the dryness.<br />
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And my inners - my thoughts and my heart - spin dizzily like Hurricane Maria.<br />
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Pumpkins to pick. Chrysanthemums to water. First year blueberry plantings hanging on somehow in this heat and drought. Tomatoes needing to be put up. Honey to be extracted and bees tucked in and treated for the winter. Academia and the demands of teaching. Wearying me this year. More so than before. I wonder why?<br />
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Son Ben is away at college. Learning and growing and maturing. I miss him terribly. A mama's heart longing only to see him, hear his voice, smile when he smiles. Be a part of his day to day life. Yet, I know it is time for him. He must choose his way. Follow the Path made unique for him. I feel like a mama robin singing and encouraging her baby to fly. "Leave the nest!" "There is joy in journey, in the flight!" "You can do it!"<br />
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And our house is almost completely framed, sided, with windows installed and insulation. It is almost time for Gary and me to take over - time to frame, to run wire, to get the plumbing done, to have a well drilled, electric trenched, natural gas installed, and a septic and field created. "Ah!" It is overwhelming and I have a deep sense of pressure, of time crunching, and speed influencing my decisions. Not all of them good or thoughtful ones. Winter is coming soon. We will turn around and the temps will fall; the ground will freeze and the snow will fly. <br />
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I go back up to Mayo in a couple of weeks for my six month check up and the last infusion of a biphosphanate. I've been having some weird symptoms in the girly parts of me for the last three months or so, so on Monday, I'll have an ultrasound to see if something's up. That too weighs on me. I wonder when that little nagging voice of reoccurrence ever goes away?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shari, Marlena, Cindy and me - Family Reunion 2017 - Amazing sisters - SO glad I went.</td></tr>
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<b>Today's Journey Joys</b>: A watering hole still with some water, blueberries somehow surviving, the Morton team, chickens ready to process, gift of a new (old) hoophouse, cosmos waving in the wind, wild purple aster against flowering pokeweed, thyme from Stacy-friend planted and watered, colleague's who graciously help, and Farmer Husband Gary who works so very hard.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-50090223936303149042017-08-18T21:24:00.003-05:002017-08-18T21:37:05.217-05:00Summer Stories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Steamy, sticky, muggy and hot August is the usual weather here in Western Illinois, but this year it has been dry and moderate, mostly in the eighties with cool clear evenings. It reminds more of September and I end up dreaming of the crispy crunch and aroma of autumn leaves. But not so fast please. So much yet to do this summer...<br />
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The peach tree delivered a plethora of peaches - dripping-down-the-chin-juicy-sweet. Many were scarred with Japanese beetle bites but they tasted amazing nonetheless. I'm already trying to figure out how I can do better next year. Our four pears trees were all struck with fire blight to some degree but not so much that I had to remove limbs. It was our best pear year ever. I've saved the last one for me....it lies in the fruit basket ripening. I can hardly wait.<br />
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I harvested the garlic just in time this year. So many years I wait too long and the tops break off and I have to go excavating the garlic field to find the treasure. Due to the drought, the garlic is smaller this year, but the concentration of oils is superb. I completed the harvest and set them in the garlic dryer for a couple of weeks. Now they are ready to sell or to make into garlic powder. But of course I will save the biggest ones for seed.<br />
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Before progress on the house could be made, we had to wait until the guys from Morton Building braced the sides of the basement prior to backfilling. The south side of the basement is a common wall with the garage and so we had to compact layer after layer of rock/clay mixture, four to six inches at a time - ten feet tall and about four feet wide. Gary worked for days while I was preparing for Market. But Saturday we had to finish so I gave him a helping hand. By 9:30 at night we completed the job and actually had a pretty presentable surface prepared for the guys. Rain was expected the next day.... it never came.<br />
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While we worked on the backfilling, the guys worked on various walls of the house. This is the north end of the building over the walkout basement. Believe it or not, they will attach this somehow to a giant crane and set the whole thing in place at once.<br />
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The first wall being lifted up and set in place.</div>
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This is the view outside and through our current living room window. The crane could be seen from a mile away. It lifted both the north and south walls and also the giant support beams. Amazing.<br />
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In one day the house had structure! </div>
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The view from the walkout looks huge. </div>
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By the end of the week the guys will have framed and placed most of the windows inside and out, and applied most of the siding on the east and west sides. Today, they even started insulating the ceiling and placed some metal on the roof.<br />
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Framing the windows really makes them "pop out". So pretty.</div>
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I set up a camera in the work site which takes a picture every thirty seconds and have recorded the daily progress through time lapse photography. When they are completed I will have the days all put together into one video and we will be able to see the whole process. It's really fun to watch. The camera did not capture the height of the building on the first day with the crane.... I had to guess how high the house would go. Since then I've adjusted the view and doubled the picture rate which makes for a smoother video.<br />
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And on a different note, I'm truly enjoying the flower farming this year. Zinnias, cosmos, ammi graceland, verbena, dahlias, snapdragons, gladiolus, goldenrod, foxglove, strawflowers, and asters make up the current pickings. I had the pleasure of picking flowers for a wedding this week. Eight huge bucket fulls. They were beautiful. I hope their special day was filled with the wonder of color.<br />
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The days are full. Oh-so-full. But the scurrying of summer is slowing. Now I wait for broccoli starts to grow, beets to fill out, and pumpkins to swell. The mums are just starting to open. The gourds are forming and the winter squash sweetening.<br />
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And the farm stand is finally open!</div>
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<b>Today's Journey Joys:</b> podcasts on long drives on Hwy 80, waves of field corn in the summer breeze, our farm home taking shape, fall produce beginning, safe journeys to far away places, adventures for father and son and fish, mom and daughter time together, hummingbirds greeting me at the flower garden, meat chickens ready to process, apples crunchy and sweet and frisky kittens playing.<br />
<br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-75385542004852815682017-08-02T08:03:00.000-05:002017-08-02T08:03:02.061-05:00Pleasure in Toil<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. <i>He has made everything beautiful in its time</i>. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is <i>nothing better for them than to be joyful</i> and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take <i>pleasure in all his toil</i> - <b><i>that is God's gift to man</i></b>." (Ecclesiastes 3: 9-13).<br />
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The salty perspiration flows from my brow across the tip of my nose and down around my neck.... following gravity.... the air thick with water, oppressive in heat. Yet the weeds do not stop, the planting continues, the harvesting progressing. The life of a farmer - rain or shine, sun or sleet, rain or shine. The blueberries finally done but not before the carnage of Japanese beetles.<br />
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They attacked my blueberry bushes; sucked the sweet juices of the fruit and decimated the foliage. I stripped the bushes off the best I could - trying to harvest the last of the good fruit - and then, yes, I sprayed. Sprayed those 1600 bushes to save them. I then put up seven traps with garbage bags attached on the west side of the field while we had a wonderful west wind. The spraying dislodged the buggers from the plants and the trap pheromones drew the bugs off the field. Within thirty minutes the bags were half full of creepy, crunchy, smelly beetles. By the time the week had past I had collected over 35 gallons, yes <i>gallons</i>, of those plant-devouring creatures. There remain a few stragglers, but the field should recover.<br />
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Much to think about while weeding. Dreaming of next year already. Thinking of ways, of methods or techniques to make this farming easier and more efficient. Enjoying the beauty of the flowers while listening to the hum of the bees & viewing the soft floating ventures of the butterflies.<br />
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"Pete" our new black kitten and his brother "Re-Pete" have been joined by yet another black kitten "Three-Pete" to our farm. Applesauce had four kittens this spring as well. So our little farm home is filled with curious, playful, cuddly kittens.<br />
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Our new Market trailer! Gary and I will build the shelves and organize it so that we can haul everything in the trailer safe from weather and travel wind - and without having to drive two cars every week.<br />
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Last week the wind came hurricane-ferocious for 15 minutes accompanied by torrential rains. Four major branches of this elm fell - just feet from Ben's car. Other trees around the farm also suffered damage. Yet the promise reminder of the rainbow reminds me Who is in control.<br />
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And the basement floor and heating have been installed! Ready for the Morton guys to start their construction. Gary dug the trenches for the drain tiles and will backfill with gravel rock this week. It will start to look like something really soon! <br />
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<b>Today's Journey Joys</b>: Cooler temperatures, blueberries planted, garlic harvested, chickens plump, flowers blooming in vibrant colors, music while weeding, Ben recovering from wisdom teeth extractions, sweet melons and soft food, squash and pumpkins forming.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-54602500177847321342017-07-10T21:17:00.003-05:002017-07-10T21:17:51.985-05:00Berries, Picking & Waiting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The end of June marks the beginning of the annual race between blueberry picking, weeding, and summer planting. The juggle of horticultural demands this year has brought me to the realization that in spite of my visions of weed-free rows, blooming flowers, heavily bearing fruit, and only happy helpful insects landing on my plants - fruit and vegetable farming is <i>hard</i>. Hard, laborious-at-times, back-aching work. </div>
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"I don't know how you do it all!" I hear from folks almost every week. And I remind them ever so gently, that I don't do it all. They only need look around the farm to see the challenges of clutter and chaos here and there. But I do press on. Keep moving. Until I can't move anymore or Ally-girl emphatically invites me to come inside and make dinner. </div>
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Two years ago, when I was recovering from the chemo, radiation and multiple surgeries for cancer, we planted about 400 more blueberry bushes. These were different varieties from our typical three. I ordered some Cargo, Blue Ribbon and Last Call to extend my season. (All patented varieties). Blue Ribbon is producing nicely - big beautiful sweet berries. Can't wait until these plants mature. I already told Bethany, my picking helper, that we will save these for us in the coming years - and let the U-pickers pick the other varieties. <br />
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This year the field was grassier than usual. I was not able to clean the field like I prefer as this Spring we were busy building an access road to our new homestead. While picking, twice I was stung by yellow jackets. And once, when I was picking dreamily on a summer's morn, I almost put my hand in this bald-faced hornet nest. Thankfully they were not concerned about me. But I did eliminate them.<br />
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Our Indian Summer Echinacea is blooming beautifully. A joy to behold as the blooms are prolific. The bumbles happy.</div>
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And our new plantings of blue berries for this year has begun. We amended the soil and made these beds a month or so back. While the boys were away in Alaska I was able to plant about 200 of the 1000 plants purchased. It was slow work in the heat. We are planting Draper and Bluecrop over here. I am hopeful the water-permeable plastic mulch will help my woes in weeding. <br />
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Apple blossom snapdragons are amazing! These seeds were an impulse buy over the winter. I started them in March and transplanted them with the rest of the snapdragons. They are gorgeous.<br />
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And I've tried my hand out in the baking section of life these past few weeks. I made my first ever blueberry pie. It was scrumptious. Then I tried blueberry cobbler - which I found to be "ok". And then I made these really cool blueberry muffins. They've all been a hit. <br />
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One more week of blueberry picking and then gleaning the field for syrup berries the following week and then the blue berry season will be over for this year. We've had many U-pickers out this year and are hopeful to invite even more the following year. Then it is the arduous task of pulling and weeding all those plants so that they can prepare for next year. Somehow fitting that task with weeding the raspberries, building trellises, harvesting tomatoes, summer squash and cucumbers, and planting beans (again). It's been a particularly difficult year to grow - lack of rain, bugs (Japanese beetles everywhere!) and rabbits. Those adorable looking creatures with cute little soft noses ate the top of my sweet potato vines and all my melon starts. And they keep eating the tops of the bean plants. So no beans yet and it's already July.<br />
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News on the farm home - we are waiting. Waiting for plumbing rough-in, inspection, and flatwork. The building materials are supposed to come this Saturday but the site will not be ready. I am doubtful the concrete guys will be able to get the flatwork done this week.<br />
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<b>Today's Journey Joys</b>: Air conditioning in 90+ high humidity weather (sure is great to cool down after weeding all day), ice cream, voice lessons for Ally-girl, the guys being home from their father-son trip to Alaska, friends for coffee, baby kittens frolicking, bees making honey, flowers in bloom, bats flittering, owls hooting, crickets singing, warm tea, refreshing showers... all the while being grateful, being thankful, for the gracious amazing and bountiful gifts from the Giver.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-67388772810048649242017-06-19T18:38:00.003-05:002017-06-19T18:38:30.573-05:00Dry Times, Exciting Times, Beautiful Times<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eCPHIWgWSbljgvkg5d3vTVmqJD5JRUkq2vWP26pkQjE4Sf1OFpKuPsuPHOmfdr2wjAH5b0BOzPKf3Fe_eXmO3CXEAIhR3iEz6MRBQRlt3FOGorKm4mcezi6Clb6jZnffmmKZlqFt9vqi/s1600/IMG_2572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eCPHIWgWSbljgvkg5d3vTVmqJD5JRUkq2vWP26pkQjE4Sf1OFpKuPsuPHOmfdr2wjAH5b0BOzPKf3Fe_eXmO3CXEAIhR3iEz6MRBQRlt3FOGorKm4mcezi6Clb6jZnffmmKZlqFt9vqi/s640/IMG_2572.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
The end of the month of May and most of the first two weeks of June was a period of time in which rain was absent. Nothing. The air was even dry. Mornings arrived without dew, without moisture. Yet the blueberries were growing in size and beginning to ripen. No rain, hot weather, and sunny skies make for early ripening blueberries - but small ones. My fears of a lost crop laying heavy on my nurturing farmer's heart.<br />
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Ben and his class celebrate the completion of their Senior Project presentations. The Mighty Mississippi flowing by. Ben, Farmer's Husband Gary and I ventured to the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana campus for Ben's registration. The campus is beautiful and the folks there very inviting and friendly. Certainly helped to reduce some of my mother's anxieties....</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watering, watering watering. The ground dusty. The heat oppressive. Tomatoes wilting.</td></tr>
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Midway through my hauling load after load after load of water from the pond (about 25 trips in all), the water tank broke in two. After many faithful years of service, our auction find, was irreparable. And although I used a little transfer pump to help me water the blueberries, the task took five days 6-8 hours each day to go through the field even once. Enormous effort. Exhausting work.</div>
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Stacy-friend told me about a big old heavy brush fire tanker for sale from one of the county's fire departments. It holds 250 gallons, can discharge 125 to 30 gallons per minute and comes with a electric hose rewinder! Sweet! We bought it. Farmer's Husband Gary placed it on our old F150, tinkered with it a bit and said, "It runs well!". Can't wait to try it.....ah, wait a minute. I can wait. Hopefully our four week dry period is done.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The flowers still bloom amazingly.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And the garlic sends out its flowers faithfully. I cut hundreds and hundreds of scapes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A gift from Stacy-friend last year. The cluster bellflowers are lovely!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love blue. Scabiosa is such an airy beautiful blue.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHY2WadQo7ciYiYte5nWTqVlVYBVk6Sy59gU__l9H-iERm6bylMpJxySZ2c2uyHzc6PGSWdnjxWpbrUwHST4RkQV51lyE_iKVi_PTfk06geioLCZGWxCSRcTxha0-mp26-DyCEX4bkI-4c/s1600/IMG_2652.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHY2WadQo7ciYiYte5nWTqVlVYBVk6Sy59gU__l9H-iERm6bylMpJxySZ2c2uyHzc6PGSWdnjxWpbrUwHST4RkQV51lyE_iKVi_PTfk06geioLCZGWxCSRcTxha0-mp26-DyCEX4bkI-4c/s640/IMG_2652.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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But more than farming continues.... the farm home is starting to take shape. Footings poured and last Friday the foundation was poured. Huge trucks everywhere. It was amazing.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now that's a pumper truck!</td></tr>
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Our guys from Morton Building scoping out the forms and preparing to set the bolts when the concrete is poured.</div>
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I kept trying to remember during all this dry time.... "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls, <i><b>yet</b></i> I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation." (Habakkuk 3:17-18).</div>
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<b>Today's Journey Joys</b>: baby kittens frisky at play, gushing rain on Saturday evening - weeds easy to pull, fruit widening, black raspberries juicy, blueberries scrumptious, flowers blooming, leeks thickening, university friendly, songs from Ally-girl, conversations and encouragement from friends.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-71105443023113496102017-06-05T09:00:00.001-05:002017-06-05T15:18:29.819-05:00Multi-taskingOh! How the days are filled with wonder! Farming, planting, weeding, tending, caring, and building.... Celebrating and rejoicing. It's been a full month around these acres. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The barn is finished! (sans the floor)</td></tr>
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Catching swarms! I should have split those two strong hives this spring! At least I caught the swarms. This one took three attempts. They kept flying back to this branch about 12 feet in the air. Gary would lift me up on the big loader and I would either snip the branch or drop them in a bucket. It's a little tricky with such a big swarm and being lifted up in the air.</div>
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Needed more woodenware for the new swarms. This is the first time I've ever painted my hives the traditional white. Looks nice. </div>
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Our baby chicks and turkeys arrived. Alas, two weeks into their life a varmint attacked the coop and we lost about half.</div>
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The first year I actually got my tri-colored chrysanthemums in their pots by mid May! </div>
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Poppies! The bees seem to love them.</div>
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Preparing the new blueberry field. Peat moss and our secret recipe acidifier applied and tilled in. Followed by making raised beds with 20+ year durable, water permeable fabric. I'm going to get on top of these weeds yet!</div>
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The biggest events have centered around the graduations of Ben. He graduated first from our area's Community College with his Associates in Science and then from high school (yes, in that order!). We are SO proud of him! I cried so many times at his high school graduation. The closure of one chapter and the hopes of a new one, yet unread, unlived, awaiting. (For both of us!)</div>
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Ben (and his classmate majoring in aerospace engineering) will be attending University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in the Fall majoring in Biology. He is yet unsure of whether he wants to pursue medicine with an emphasis on research or genetics or something else. It will be an adventure seeing how his decisions and life's passions come together.</div>
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<b>Today's Journey Joys:</b> Growth - plants, chickens, farming and most importantly our son Ben. My heart cannot contain the love I have for this young man. Tears of joy oozing out everywhere. </div>
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<br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-41545669708671622982017-05-16T14:16:00.001-05:002017-05-16T14:27:46.836-05:00Barn Raising<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 100; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">o·ver·whelmed</span></i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> - to be buried beneath a huge mass; to overcome completely in mind or feeling</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 100; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">It happens every Spring. The long dark days of winter
sequestered in the confines of our warm & small farm home result in me
wondering and dreaming about growing things... through electronic media.
"Oh! That looks lovely!" "Why, I wonder, have I not
planted that before?" "Maybe a few more of this will add even more
beauty to my bouquets..." "People asked about this vegetable,
(ok, only once), I should try growing it." So I peruse catalogs,
websites, Pinterest, and dream of the sweet aroma of Oriental lilies, cactus
zinnias, poppies the size of dinner plates. I order, and then order, and
then order more.... Seeds, starts, and plants.... And by the time
May comes I am inundated with planting and transplanting, weeding and more
weeding.</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 100; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieeIG_JxXdoQHGMZbDBQhHNbjy8vTXMG3aH5veaQqz5qOfCsqI4OzdiMJvHwr6ztqtI-_VqocRNzQCLw6kpkvtKkZMg6mQotbCgrZwja60AmE_W-8M3XlEJWCiW_L5g18t96-zYQs40SIv/s1600/IMG_2348%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieeIG_JxXdoQHGMZbDBQhHNbjy8vTXMG3aH5veaQqz5qOfCsqI4OzdiMJvHwr6ztqtI-_VqocRNzQCLw6kpkvtKkZMg6mQotbCgrZwja60AmE_W-8M3XlEJWCiW_L5g18t96-zYQs40SIv/s640/IMG_2348%255B1%255D.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Garlic growing happily in the straw. Just-transplanted 350 snapdragons </span><span style="font-size: small;">with Achillea and Columbine in the background.</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just planted zinnias, baby's breath, and cosmos</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLVWlTp7QI-MqOhl5MkIDhvpW6Xm_-X6bBnHFa2WU8z2eWa-voZ6tfelbmicxJU9lAWf34u0yJbBvZXjNpm095sRWsWGfzJER5e9XqwvVAb4APvjNwpT2As5ObYnKPXKjdvO8xst2Oo0AN/s1600/IMG_2377%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLVWlTp7QI-MqOhl5MkIDhvpW6Xm_-X6bBnHFa2WU8z2eWa-voZ6tfelbmicxJU9lAWf34u0yJbBvZXjNpm095sRWsWGfzJER5e9XqwvVAb4APvjNwpT2As5ObYnKPXKjdvO8xst2Oo0AN/s640/IMG_2377%255B1%255D.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">1200 one gallon pots of Bluecrop, Draper, Northland and Patriot blueberries.... ready and waiting to be planted in our new raised beds. Just need to make those beds....</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 100; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">So as always, I press on. Press on through the achy joints and stiff muscles. Unsure of whether they are due to the work of the farm or the residual of the aromatase inhibitor I take to prevent cancer reoccurrence. Mourning the loss of energy and expectations of pristine and weedfree rows. But rejoicing in the beauty of the new, the rebirth, the hope and the gratitude in life.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLohlQN_DTbqWf49M_NSI05vpMLdRf9FZi5Xj9oPOBJMP_dErNo_uFFDbu5-zwbET-rGxeXCy0AkQTIaKOaZJl3TDM3P_y9QpOxdP8uGrfPqMrXnhUDvSmCoC8D5Iqo_RBDjoG7Ogv0CM/s1600/IMG_2360%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLohlQN_DTbqWf49M_NSI05vpMLdRf9FZi5Xj9oPOBJMP_dErNo_uFFDbu5-zwbET-rGxeXCy0AkQTIaKOaZJl3TDM3P_y9QpOxdP8uGrfPqMrXnhUDvSmCoC8D5Iqo_RBDjoG7Ogv0CM/s640/IMG_2360%255B1%255D.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My supervisor Ally. Enjoying the sunshine and watching me catch our first swarm of the season.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSK_bmwf050gAWzFXI4zc888FUmdg7GAQFlzeJWOAa03Ruj3kLVFOyDGC1M9Pw3AEgi4f6iElSCw96emjEcxz5jn2n3J7np6-nqQXm69GOla36yqWcwtAJDCMcF1nIkVsYAm0bym1Gpxnn/s1600/IMG_2366%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSK_bmwf050gAWzFXI4zc888FUmdg7GAQFlzeJWOAa03Ruj3kLVFOyDGC1M9Pw3AEgi4f6iElSCw96emjEcxz5jn2n3J7np6-nqQXm69GOla36yqWcwtAJDCMcF1nIkVsYAm0bym1Gpxnn/s640/IMG_2366%255B1%255D.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was an "easy swarm". Only six or seven feet from the ground in a blooming honeysuckle bush. All I did was backed the Gator under the limb, climbed in the back, opened the deep (a big hive box) with drawn out comb and gave the branch a good downward shake. Most of them landed in the deep. Some of them of course landed in the back of the Gator. I just waited for a while and then they all flew into their new home. Happy as bees!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFkFlo5hVjYwlCQYFHt_0aI0hXTU8_dCct-CPMX23DjDY3ewBGAqjUihyphenhyphen3r1jrNjMeoo5c0UhSxCZEEA0GWBc-eVI2zKSoiBJPa8tF035HY4Rx8dis4jJKwMsKqcgNDvhmcIE3cuonHpZa/s1600/IMG_2350%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFkFlo5hVjYwlCQYFHt_0aI0hXTU8_dCct-CPMX23DjDY3ewBGAqjUihyphenhyphen3r1jrNjMeoo5c0UhSxCZEEA0GWBc-eVI2zKSoiBJPa8tF035HY4Rx8dis4jJKwMsKqcgNDvhmcIE3cuonHpZa/s640/IMG_2350%255B1%255D.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The barn is taking shape. Just last Friday the piers were poured.</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJHrBqV4HCFYhW46ttI8brH6NcSUoC3hTJ7SffJJgbfVC03RjTZ0UA6YxVRIZh8MbsHxQ7j3WPZTo78Uv-n8sqCCu3GwDrH8Vtx8aQn2-mpTVi5U7kpqqbwymSYe0RFZVO84FN7G2x06J/s1600/IMG_2351%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJHrBqV4HCFYhW46ttI8brH6NcSUoC3hTJ7SffJJgbfVC03RjTZ0UA6YxVRIZh8MbsHxQ7j3WPZTo78Uv-n8sqCCu3GwDrH8Vtx8aQn2-mpTVi5U7kpqqbwymSYe0RFZVO84FN7G2x06J/s640/IMG_2351%255B1%255D.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Marty, Thomas and Chad - our foreman and crew from Morton Buildings. They work SO hard.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Filling the holes. The next morning the whole crew returned (with Steve, a fourth member not pictured). They started putting up the walls. And then by Monday afternoon they even had most of the windows in.</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today's Journey Joys</span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">: blueberry plants producing, strawberries in bloom, honey being made, flower planting and dreams, baby white kittens, sweet potato starts, freshly mowed grass, warm sun and wind, friends who like coffee and conversation, potatoes growing, warm showers, herb garden growing...</span></div>
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<br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-67090433857117466372017-05-10T12:19:00.003-05:002017-05-10T12:34:28.181-05:00The Rush of Spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Spring brings a frenetic pace around these parts. Tilling, planting, weeding, tending, birthing, chopping, burning, digging, and sculpting the soil..... in between copious amounts of soggy cold days which chilled the soil and seemed to never let up. As we watched the rains come down for over two weeks, the weeds grew, the grass flourished and the flowers bloomed. Finally, the sun came sliding through the clouds warming the bones and nurturing the warmer weather crops. Asparagus and rhubarb stretching their stems skyward.<br />
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Seven of my hives from last year survived the winter and are doing well. So well that I double- supered them right before the cold wet weather came. Now they are eager and "busy as bees" to capture as much nectar and pollen from the spring blooming flowers and trees as they can. In two weeks I will harvest the delightful springtime honey - my favorite honey of all.<br />
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In the meantime, planting of the dahlias, orchid gladiolus, and ranunculus kept me busy.<br />
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Our NRCS guy Joe, sold me eight of his red star chickens... they are much more friendly than mine and seem to follow the tractor wherever it goes. I like when they gobble up the grubs. But could you kindly leave the worms please?<br />
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Picking tulips for the first day of Market. It was a fantastic first day at the Farmers Market. We brought blueberry bushes, black and red raspberry bushes, tulips (of course) and rhubarb and asparagus. This year our placement at the Market is in an ideal area. Much more visible. Ally decided that she would come to the Market and help every weekend. It was great having her with us!<br />
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Spring has also been filled with end of the year adventures for Ben. For months he and his friends at school have been rehearsing for the annual school play. This year's play was an acting stretch for most of the students. Ben played an erudite, elitist member of the ruling class who appeared to be caring and compassionate but later turned out to be ruthless and self serving. There was a part in which he had to yell at the top of his voice off stage, seemingly at a young girl (who actually was in a different room). Believe it or not, Ben rarely has risen his voice in anger. He said it was an interesting experience. That and wearing a wig...<br />
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Gary also took advantage of the dry days between raindrops when the road to our new building site was too muddy to work, to finish burying the electric line from our well to the house. It's been on the surface for about half a year. What a great project to have completed.</div>
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And..... (drum roll)..... the materials for the barn arrived this morning!</div>
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I must admit - I was concerned about those massive semitrailers getting up and around the bend. But the driveway stood strong and the ground was dry..... at least for an hour or two... then ten minutes of rain fell hard. Turning the dry road to a slippery mess. But the heavy tractor trailers made it down and drove away. I'm sure that it was an adventure that they don't do every day!</div>
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The time for building has arrived!</div>
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<b>Today's Journey Joys:</b> Heavy trucks maneuvering through our S-shaped driveway successfully, tulips for another week, Columbine flowers in bloom, snap peas and potatoes growing, university decisions, the end of my semester, blueberry plants ready for the field and the opening of walnut leaves on trees.</div>
Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-10437864356835595712017-04-17T18:36:00.005-05:002017-04-17T18:38:33.785-05:00Blossoms!<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the vanilla-plain of winter colors in which the bones
of our deciduous trees stand naked, spring enters...</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tree frogs singing, bees buzzing, robins whistling…. Even the chickens
seem to cluck with a joyful noise.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
trees are producing pollen; the flowers opening, and the sun sets with warm
orange and reds.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fresh mowed grass and
aromatic daffodils fill the air.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spring
has sprung! The "ahhhh..." and "ohhhh...." of newness everywhere.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bluebells everywhere. One of our first naturalizing flowers of the spring.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Romaine lettuce starts</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Northland blueberry plants early in bloom. The bumbles just waiting for them to open.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our tulips returning. Such an amazing site every year.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple blossoms</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black raspberries preparing for bloom</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A busy time for the bees. I smell the sweetness of early spring honey. Time to put the supers on!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even the wild violets and yellow pollen-producing, bee-making dandelions are lovely.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sweet cherry blossoms</td></tr>
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<b>Today's Journey Joys:</b> color, reflection, prisms of light and dancing, bird music, momma kitty preparing for birth, the promise of light golden spring blossom honey, perennials returning, tomato plants one week away from planting, and a semester close less than one month away...Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-89758402841288311932017-04-10T08:11:00.000-05:002017-04-10T08:14:48.890-05:00Pauses and Puddles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The days between rain drops and mud are few. We've been trying to move the clay from our "basement" to raise and widen the driveway.... hoping to get it high enough so that it will be above the riser for the pond and wide enough so that drivers feel safe. But soft, squishy soil sticks to tractor tires and spins the four wheel drive dump truck. So on this beautiful blue-skied day Farmer's Husband Gary lit the twig/stump pile on fire and cleaned up around our building site. <br />
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We've made some impressive progress. Yet there are many loads of dirt which need to removed. Unfortunately, the ground is too soft and slimy to work on this weekend (2 weeks ago). <br />
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This Saturday and Sunday brought 70 degree temperatures and drying wind. The marshy grasses took off. And the ground was firm enough to travel and dig more dirt from the basement. We moved 24 dump truck loads to the driveway. And then it was time to bring out the laser level again. We had made it to our original goal of seven feet. Now to fine tune that last foot or so before the concrete guys come on in and do their measurements and make it perfect!<br />
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All this lowland grass will one day be under 7-8 feet of water....<br />
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The evening shadows across the upper pond...<br />
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One more load to dump on the way to putting the tractors back in the pole barn... We've made great progress! I am eager to put the gravel and finishing touches on the drive. But rain is expected again this evening and so the excavating and rock delivery will be postponed. The materials for the new barn have been rescheduled for delivery next Tuesday. One step at a time.... learning to be patient and enjoy the process. There <i>is</i> Joy in the Journey....<br />
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<b>Today's Journey Joys</b>: a driveway in the making, tractors and trucks, the trickling sound of running water in creeks and streams and culverts, butterflies flitting, honey bees buzzing, dandelions in yellow glory - baby bee food in the making, purple creeping Charlie, daffodils smiling, new rose bushes planted, the arrival of 1300 new blueberry plants, and honey bee pick up tomorrow!Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-73049384868770872142017-03-29T11:45:00.001-05:002017-03-29T11:52:13.854-05:00Chickens, Ally, and More Dirt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A week or so ago, I was invited to do a little segment on Backyard Chicken and Turkey raising on our local NBC station. So I brought Mr. Rooster, the beautiful chatoyant black feathered fellow and three of his girls - a Red star, an Americauna, and a New Hamshire cross. They were a little puzzled by it all and were really funny, clucking and talking. Too bad Mr. Rooster didn't crow. Now that would have been funny.<br />
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It's been an extra busy month for our sweet Ally. She turned 16 on March 13th. For a special treat she and I went to <a href="http://qccoffeeandpancakehouse.com/" target="_blank">our favorite pancake house</a> and invited Grandpa Lee to join us. It was a heart warming time.<br />
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March 21st was World Down Syndrome Day and Ally's class tie-dyed socks in honor and support of everyone who was born with trisomy 21. The whole school got involved. Another special day.<br />
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And on March 25th, Ally decided to get baptized. I was humbled to be part of it and to experience the joy right along with her. My heart was freshly filled with love. <br />
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And we continue to make progress on the building site in between raindrops and downpours. We skimmed off about 6 -8 inches of topsoil where the barn will be built. And I think we have about 20 loads left to take out of the basement and dump on the side of the driveway to make it super wide and tall. Then Gary will take loads of topsoil for the edges to grade away..... I have visions of wild flowers and ornamental grasses filling and decorating the borders. <br />
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But alas, the spring rains have come. Red clay is super-slimy when wet and tractors and trucks can not grip. The site preparation is paused. <br />
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<b>Today's Journey Joys</b>: a body that heals from a nasty rattly cold, tulips sprouting and daffodils beginning to bloom, peonies poking their heads up and pussy willows fluffy. Sprouts in the basement and new chickens in the coop.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-19027915625639388602017-03-14T12:03:00.000-05:002017-03-14T12:03:03.334-05:00Wax and Driveways<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Over the past several years I have been accumulating a lot of bee's wax. Every time one enters the hive there is burr comb which is scraped away and saved. And every time we harvest honey, the cappings on the honeycomb must be removed before we can extract the honey. This leaves us with quite a bit of wax. Over the summer months I used my solar wax melter to render the wax.... a slow and tedious process which required three renderings for each load and resulted in small quantities. By the time summer ended, I still had a huge tub of wax left. I stored the wax in the basement. But it was time to do something with it. I needed to clean out the clutter in the basement so that I could set up my spring shelves for plant starts. </div>
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I found some net screen material we got at an auction and cut a piece big enough to tuck under the edges of the Nesco cooker. I placed about an inch and a half of water in the pan and then set the pan in the cooker. I piled the comb on the net and covered it. After setting the temperature to 220 degrees F., I worked around the house doing other things and left the wax to melt and drip through the netting. And in less than 20 minutes I could smell the honey trapped in the wax. It was a yummy sweet smell just like one experiences when opening the hive in the heat of summer.</div>
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The tub in which I was taking the wax was brimming full even after filling the cooker. But I was able to place more and more wax on the screen as the wax melted. It dripped through the screen and floated on top of the water. A couple of hours later this entire tub full of wax was rendered through the screen.<br />
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The screen caught almost all of the debris, propolis, and detritus. When the wax cooled it became solid and slipped right out of the cooker. We have one final rendering to do in order to get the last of the debris and stuff out of the wax. Perhaps this coming weekend?<br />
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There was no time to render wax this weekend. Because, once again we were moving fill dirt from our "basement" to our new east driveway.<br />
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Gary started the day with completing the last of the digging of the borders of the new house. All that was between where the backhoe dug would be moved.<br />
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As usual, Gary and I would scoop up the dirt, load the truck and drive across the field to the new driveway.<br />
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Depending on where we wanted to fill, I would back the truck up and dump the load while Gary would "place" it. Here we are working on the last S curve towards the road.<br />
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Before we can make it to the road though we had to insert... yes, one more time.... another culvert. Here, the County road folks suggested that we place a 24 inch diameter culvert. Our driveway would be super wide so we made sure that the length was sufficient. The culverts were delivered by our local Menards truck - the first "big" truck to drive on our new driveway!<br />
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We had a little preparation left to do before placing the culverts.<br />
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Once connected and placed we went back to filling the truck and covering the culvert. You can see there is a lot of fill needed.<br />
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Thirty two degrees but we were toasty warm in our nice black insulated coveralls.<br />
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After about 20 loads or so the Gator made the first attempt (as always) across the culvert. Yeah!!!<br />
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The rest of the weekend we simply dug from the basement, filled the truck, and dumped load after load after load of fill. We eventually dumped 52 truckloads last weekend and now we can drive the truck all the way to the road (although it is quite bumpy and still needs another thirty or so loads to be wide and high enough). <br />
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Sunday evening brought clouds, cold, and yes, snow. It's lovely. Our hope is that it will melt this week; the soil will dry and we can again go back to making the driveway. Time will tell. If not, there is plenty to do on the farm!<br />
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<b>Today's Journey Joys:</b> bright sunshine, full moons, and sparkling planets, birthday girl's 16th, tomato sprouts, upcoming television spots with chickens, dreams of warm weather and growing greens.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-5779661704534295612017-03-06T09:12:00.003-06:002017-03-06T14:52:20.584-06:00Edges and Fills<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This Saturday morning proved to be a brilliant, bright, and warming day. Although windy, the sun radiated heat bringing temperatures to the mid fifties. The bees were eager to find something to sustain them until the pollen and flowers began their spring blooming. I discovered that the bottom of my uncapping tank had some thick, semi-crystallized honey left over from the last honey harvest in the fall (ah....yes, I forgot to finish cleaning up!). Anyway, it was a perfect opportunity for me to place the tank outside and let the hungry bees "clean-up" for me.</div>
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Because frankly, we had other important tasks to attend to.</div>
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It was time to attach the second half of the 3 foot culvert and hopefully, oh-so-hopefully, move enough fill dirt to get access across. </div>
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It all began again with bringing the culvert across the road.</div>
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This is where we left off last weekend. Water flowing through the culvert, but edges needing straightening and debris needing removing. Thankfully the ground was dry! No slip-sliding into the brink today.<br />
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So after placing the culvert in a clearing, Farmer's Husband Gary set out to lessen the incline at the edge of the creek. Somehow, we would need to get close enough to scoop out the bricks and straighten the stream so the culvert could rest straight and true. It turned out that we needed to approach the creek from both sides in order to get the distance we needed.<br />
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But prior to placing the culvert in, the coupler needed to be attached. So Gary gently raised the culvert we placed last weekend with a chain attached to the tractor. While that was elevated a couple of inches, Gary separated the coupler with a bolt and nuts so that it wouldn't spring back after closure. We still needed to have it opened to attach the other culvert. And remember, these things weigh several hundred pounds. It's not like you can just lift it into place and fine tune the line-up by hand.<br />
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Here comes the culvert!<br />
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We wiggled that big culvert to just the right angle and while Gary held it in place, I got the coupler around it. Then we attached the bolts to tighten it together. Success!<br />
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Now to haul load after load of fill so that we can drive over it.<br />
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After eight loads or so, there was enough fill for the Gator to make the first pass. The sun still brilliantly bright.<br />
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More fill would be needed before the heavy tractor and fully-loaded truck could safely drive over it.<br />
So back to loading and dumping I went...<br />
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I would dump the load and then Gary would strategically push it in place. By mid-day the next day, we could drive over it and I no longer had to back the fully loaded truck down the hill. I could drive straight across, dump my load, and then turn around in a clearing (while Gary move the dirt) and drive straight back up. Yeah! Backing down a hill with a curve was really hard for me. Farmer's Husband Gary had to direct me each time.<br />
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The next day we assessed our building site and planned our next steps. The top soil was pushed to the side and the corners of our future home were pinned with step-in stakes. Remember hypotenuse triangles? And I thought 9th grade geometry class would never be helpful!<br />
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We decided in the afternoon that it was time to dig the edges of the basement so that the borders would be clear and so that we could move only that dirt which needed to be moved. Farmer's Husband Gary and I measured 3 feet from our pins and painted the ground with marker's paint so that Gary would know where the edge of the bucket should rest. I got the laser level out and set, and then created a story-stick (measuring tape basically) out of a young oak sapling we had to remove. The slope of our building site required that Gary slowly bring up the bottom of the trench as he progressed northward. Otherwise we'd have an unlevel house.<br />
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As Farmer's Husband dug, I would scoop up the dirt and load the dump truck. By the end of the afternoon Gary had finished the west wall of the basement....but dusk was fast approaching and we had to stop. Perhaps next weekend, weather permitting, we can complete the other two trenches and extend our driveway fill. On the 10th of the month the last of our four culverts is due to arrive - a 24 inch diameter 40 foot double wall HDPE pipe. If we can get that in and covered, we will have access from the Road! Then the fun work really will begin!<br />
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<b>Today's Journey Joys</b>: A weekend without getting a truck or tractor stuck, sunny smiling skies, the foundation taking shape, ibuprofen for sore muscles and backs, Mr. Rooster crowing, honeybees preparing for Spring buildup, green grass sprouting, daffodils breaking ground, computer repairing by Ben, and the first day of chess club for Ally.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-8346740037872087672017-02-27T08:30:00.002-06:002017-02-27T08:37:04.996-06:00Back to the Culverts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
During the intervening days from last week when record temperatures, blue skies, buzzing bees, and singing birds filled the air, I scurried over to our new "road" with the Gator. The temperatures were more typical for February. The skies had dropped some wet precipitation, and the clay fill for our new driveway was shiny, greasy and slippery after the melted morning frost. Our hope was that it would dry throughout the week. The three foot culvert needed to go in.</div>
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So on Thursday, when Farmer's Husband was home, we endeavored to place the new culverts. The galvanized culverts are 14 gauge steel, 3 feet in diameter 50 feet long (after coupling them together). Eventually the seven foot riser will be attached in the pond-side as well, but probably not for a year or so as our new created driveway will need more and more fill during its settling year. That additional water would make fine tuning of the driveway's surfaces a little more complicated.<br />
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It all started with picking up the 26 foot long section and carrying it across the road.<br />
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The "creek" from the 2-3 acre lowland trickled slowly into the ditch where it eventually met a river. From where I am standing on the berm to the bottom is about 4 and a half feet deep. The edge is filled with soft dirt. And, as you can see there are still roots and concrete to remove from the bottom before we can place the culvert. Gary gently placed the culvert temporarily in the ditch.<br />
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Around the back access road to the other side of the creek Farmer's Husband drove his JD 4720 (our biggest workhorse on the farm) and dug out the old root and straighten this end of the flow so that the culvert would be settled on the bottom.<br />
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This end Gary had straightened last weekend as one of the last things to do before dusk arrived. But the area where the riser would eventually be attached needed to be enlarged before we placed the culvert and so the big, heavy tractor and backhoe wiggled its way to the the bottom of the berm and dug gray, sloppy-wet mucky clay out of that area.<br />
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We placed the culvert in the broken berm and had to dig out (by hand) the edges where the seep preventer would be attached. In hindsight, we would have dug this perpendicular trench prior to resting the culvert and seep preventer in the berm.... sure would have made inserting this section of culvert into the berm much, much easier.<br />
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What's a seep preventer? I'm glad you asked. I didn't know either. What I discovered is that critters like muskrats and crayfish like to burrow near the edge of a culvert. When they do that they create passageways for water to penetrate and of course that weakens the berm. The seep preventer does just that. It prevents burrowing alongside the culverts and prevents water from traversing its way outside of the culvert. All the water must therefore go through the pipe.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg16Ket8_iaXj8Oxx55ecozTv3i7ELvg0W-_NBsdKTMQ_Tdnxbg3kJ48bBlXChcPgRBG2DbypkyR4w4cTfN3V3Ix34PXSSJUgjjwHvUK7FXNlK7qUH7hBsFozHOtGUwV-2RbuTx15Hf8s35/s1600/IMG_1775.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg16Ket8_iaXj8Oxx55ecozTv3i7ELvg0W-_NBsdKTMQ_Tdnxbg3kJ48bBlXChcPgRBG2DbypkyR4w4cTfN3V3Ix34PXSSJUgjjwHvUK7FXNlK7qUH7hBsFozHOtGUwV-2RbuTx15Hf8s35/s640/IMG_1775.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
Putting the seep preventer on was a little tricky. I almost lost a couple of fingers when I accidently dropped my end of the top component of the metal preventer and my fingers pinched between the top and bottom sections. Ouch! Got a nice bruise and swollen index finger but all the parts were still attached! While I recovered, Farmer's Husband bolted the two sections together while the tractor held the culvert out of the hole.<br />
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Now, in theory, one should only have to drop the massive heavy culvert into the clay berm and the culvert with the metal edged seep preventer should settle nicely to the bottom of the trenched stream. In theory.<br />
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Ah.... not quite. <br />
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Since the backhoe was already near, Gary considered whether the boom could press down the culvert. He was able to get it in a couple of inches. But no more. Thankfully though, the flowing water could still go under the culvert. Otherwise that "pond" would have quickly enlarged.<br />
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But even with lots of effort and changing positions on the culvert, the backhoe could not press the pipe and preventer into the clay soil....<br />
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Perhaps the loader could?<br />
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Unfortunately by now, the drizzling rain had begun. Rain and fresh clay soil with an incline are not a good combination. Yes, you guessed it. Turning the tractor around at the edge of the marshy field resulted in burying the tractor to the axles, hanging up the back hoe and getting our poor JD 4720 stuck yet again. This time we had a 4+ foot edge to keep away from. But the slope of the driveway, and the slippery clay kept making the tractor slide towards the culvert and the "cliff" of the berm every time we tried to get out. We wouldn't be walking or driving out of this one.<br />
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Thankfully, there was a nice strong black walnut tree on the other side of the driveway. Farmer's Husband and I grabbed some thick chain and the mega-strong come-a-long. And yes, he winched that tractor out of the slippery, pond edge.<br />
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After about an hour and a half of "pulling", the tractor was free and Gary drove it up the driveway as fast as he could before even more rain came. With a little slip-sliding, he made it up the driveway, around the building sight, across the upper pond berm and down and around the previously made culvert and marshy area. Coming from this direction, where there was still grass on the berm and less incline, we thought we could press the culvert and seep preventer into the edge with the loader. At first only a few inches were achieved. But then Gary got this marvelous idea about adding a little more weight to the loader and to wiggle-waggle the culvert into the ground with a back and forth motion on the culvert.<br />
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It worked! The culvert is now at the bottom of the "creek" and water is flowing through it and not around or under it. Yeah!<br />
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Half the culvert is in. It was simply too slippery to continue and so the second half of the culvert and the adventure of attaching a coupler to the existing culvert in the broken berm, would have to wait another day. The rest of the weekend was cold and wet with rain and snow. But I am eager to get access. Perhaps next weekend?<br />
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<b>Today's Journey Joys</b>: aching muscles which heal, safety (and fingers!) from dropped metal seep preventers, a strong come-a-long, unstuck tractors, flowing water and the soft trickling sound, green grass peeking out from under golden dried blades - they too longing for spring, and seed starting next weekend!Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-57617454747306602482017-02-20T10:34:00.000-06:002017-02-20T13:44:26.182-06:00Finding our Way<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Several weeks ago we started making our access to the new building site. To get to our desired location we have been in conversations with the County Highway department so that they could tell us where we could make the approach from the road. After several weeks and many visits to the road, we all decided on a path which would be the best and safest access. However, to get to where we want to go (our new home) one has to go down and through a steep ditch, up a narrow berm, across an eight foot chasm where the berm ruptured many years before, around another narrow berm and up a steep hill. Sounds like fun! So one day in early February we began. (This posting covers the span of several weeks). Here's our adventure.... thus far. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7WS6K5m1tLr0vPGhHRTKyRSrt-Kpr39A78qZ7MxOvn4bhjpU1M61RkmlwW48c8Tn6QwTEQshO29ijx5WZCJhn4D7V8y-_ouC1AcElxnipJN8zSSSnYINaLfb9_fKZYM-63eSiZWJ8lh-/s1600/IMG_1595+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7WS6K5m1tLr0vPGhHRTKyRSrt-Kpr39A78qZ7MxOvn4bhjpU1M61RkmlwW48c8Tn6QwTEQshO29ijx5WZCJhn4D7V8y-_ouC1AcElxnipJN8zSSSnYINaLfb9_fKZYM-63eSiZWJ8lh-/s640/IMG_1595+%25281%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">On the other side of these brambles, brush and scrubby trees lies the entrance to our new driveway.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Decades ago, I suspect, this narrow berm held the water from the 2-3 acre lowland area. When we purchased the land about 12 or so years ago the berm was washed out and the "pond" was reduced to a little stream surrounded by marshy, grass. Wild rose, honey suckle and brambles rimmed the edges.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">You can see our Road better. Some of the old concrete which was dumped here many years ago will need to be re-positioned.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mJYrXtGfI_Z-YVqAkcGvHz7tveM_6QxqVdz9hkZhNJr31K_hLXKc5DLa2XzOLRu3LI4Ib4OiVdkhSbNPHsE9wIp350QlePGnKD90Djmn9hV6ej7Rf3vmF43oB0jIv4M5QZfH5GpZjwJr/s1600/IMG_1598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mJYrXtGfI_Z-YVqAkcGvHz7tveM_6QxqVdz9hkZhNJr31K_hLXKc5DLa2XzOLRu3LI4Ib4OiVdkhSbNPHsE9wIp350QlePGnKD90Djmn9hV6ej7Rf3vmF43oB0jIv4M5QZfH5GpZjwJr/s640/IMG_1598.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Brambles, old weeds, dead wood and a steep edge will make this a "frisky" clearing attempt.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYIw35XtYYAE09A5KHEqiMYbzUtl4lNVe4K2WVbeW5UJ5J532ay0qxjADo-WwfbcWhR4lSg7w3_fNutgus2QilIneHtT7bWdip7Yy_aQAmydJW4ju8R8Me09YHOfGEcodb7Gp6bEPrKs_/s1600/IMG_1600+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYIw35XtYYAE09A5KHEqiMYbzUtl4lNVe4K2WVbeW5UJ5J532ay0qxjADo-WwfbcWhR4lSg7w3_fNutgus2QilIneHtT7bWdip7Yy_aQAmydJW4ju8R8Me09YHOfGEcodb7Gp6bEPrKs_/s640/IMG_1600+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">On the other side of the berm the way to our driveway can be seen. Yes, across the washout, up the hill, on the south side of the utility pole and around the bend.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsvxly9ITNwnc513gMhtxMBdY681bCBstNRszHCXrw60kHcuLctbcC75okjrlL7Jv9rQvCLTA7Bz2C_KvKpwraUyYA9aDIjJ7c2pgvmF0BUIrX4rVX5mmANi2ogLpg7lZG60oCNOOEW_y8/s1600/IMG_1603.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsvxly9ITNwnc513gMhtxMBdY681bCBstNRszHCXrw60kHcuLctbcC75okjrlL7Jv9rQvCLTA7Bz2C_KvKpwraUyYA9aDIjJ7c2pgvmF0BUIrX4rVX5mmANi2ogLpg7lZG60oCNOOEW_y8/s640/IMG_1603.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">But the brambles and dead wood would need to be cleared first.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAveA3bmX_u9S-Il7t5d7y8_rIxVMejac8d1VEUgJRi50bU9zmYF_UiOwM0E53r98P48B6UIphKw6y2csQJXGgNNwXFWwWsFrJ5JUCNU7z2NE7vgiqeKDWz7dBouzndO7DEdW2ohsAgzj/s1600/IMG_1604+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAveA3bmX_u9S-Il7t5d7y8_rIxVMejac8d1VEUgJRi50bU9zmYF_UiOwM0E53r98P48B6UIphKw6y2csQJXGgNNwXFWwWsFrJ5JUCNU7z2NE7vgiqeKDWz7dBouzndO7DEdW2ohsAgzj/s640/IMG_1604+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">And yet, I can't help but look to the west to imagine what that big clearing, that big wet marshy and soggy grass area will look like after a repair of the berm and re-installation of riser pipe. I picture wood ducks & turtles, bullfrogs & grey herons, bass & crappie and perhaps some bluegills as well....</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHWISkkc1th-t5y0lHAdLSlp4wcS-HZo9EX-KuA1cxeMmasjgKehfi0VMGc7DQ-CouD0UqaAn3j4TC-NiDkufKJZ3mY9pyoywuv8vHdiTXa2O-lmruzBA3SPNUc0Qm-edZvJqPD24-moX/s1600/IMG_1606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHWISkkc1th-t5y0lHAdLSlp4wcS-HZo9EX-KuA1cxeMmasjgKehfi0VMGc7DQ-CouD0UqaAn3j4TC-NiDkufKJZ3mY9pyoywuv8vHdiTXa2O-lmruzBA3SPNUc0Qm-edZvJqPD24-moX/s640/IMG_1606.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">But back to the matter at hand. How to remove this in the most efficient, effective manner? Me? I would use a chainsaw and some muscle and haul it out. Farmer's Husband Gary? Much smarter....</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6RTsO7V-6zj9zpOHOhp-Xw-QLwaNZegVhEr6vOqWXjvG-B0iVrbftgh36tLbKlT6Tdcopg5nOUu5Fr-8jknWTUo4Td-ZsOtdbim7-9soN4IzGmif5Drz1xnlLJEdC0CLNIiUFgMZPOIm/s1600/IMG_1608+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6RTsO7V-6zj9zpOHOhp-Xw-QLwaNZegVhEr6vOqWXjvG-B0iVrbftgh36tLbKlT6Tdcopg5nOUu5Fr-8jknWTUo4Td-ZsOtdbim7-9soN4IzGmif5Drz1xnlLJEdC0CLNIiUFgMZPOIm/s640/IMG_1608+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why God created tractors! "Work smarter. not harder" :-)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtFbgMG-okIGimoqsf3j2odRiChlcbp9JLvWP7aaIPRaVjzJTDO3hDu7gu3OJloPWUUf_AdQ5QIKyXSq1EPujS8JYwXW7ME7EKujJjdPhNkRLKv72L1uEZoGGF6YqCCm934auWQU2evv2U/s1600/IMG_1610.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtFbgMG-okIGimoqsf3j2odRiChlcbp9JLvWP7aaIPRaVjzJTDO3hDu7gu3OJloPWUUf_AdQ5QIKyXSq1EPujS8JYwXW7ME7EKujJjdPhNkRLKv72L1uEZoGGF6YqCCm934auWQU2evv2U/s640/IMG_1610.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A couple of hours later and the clearing is passable.... ok, a little rough, but you can sort of see your way now.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsp3aJB8SBctRFl8N2n4SNoogOk2F10B9dM5bc7VJIJJagnRQ2ZCcVapWbe3Ju0-Cv-NdADaVy5xQsz5k9Is5Ri0e9ZAt9KPxuHFKDz6VwEe5vL4tQ6Q0PVdY2XjjmtI2SUWr0bJ1b39n/s1600/IMG_1615+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsp3aJB8SBctRFl8N2n4SNoogOk2F10B9dM5bc7VJIJJagnRQ2ZCcVapWbe3Ju0-Cv-NdADaVy5xQsz5k9Is5Ri0e9ZAt9KPxuHFKDz6VwEe5vL4tQ6Q0PVdY2XjjmtI2SUWr0bJ1b39n/s640/IMG_1615+%25281%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's hard to capture the dips and valleys and incline here. Suffice to say this will take a 24 inch culvert 40 or so feet long covered by massive amounts of fill in order to reach our existing berm. Just a little additional effort.</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRf6u9irYQFWAXk5x-zRaux4FpkuHLEUD0sf0FUagGJqjuHMMi3wC50aueY55wJuOrXzKqtjRvVnL9i8rvONWRhesUXlLuQtJXLI5E6KHdYbExDZAf1tuulID6Jct-7y2UR7bkbkpyXL9x/s1600/IMG_1613+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRf6u9irYQFWAXk5x-zRaux4FpkuHLEUD0sf0FUagGJqjuHMMi3wC50aueY55wJuOrXzKqtjRvVnL9i8rvONWRhesUXlLuQtJXLI5E6KHdYbExDZAf1tuulID6Jct-7y2UR7bkbkpyXL9x/s640/IMG_1613+%25281%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now for the other side... the side adjacent to the waterway.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcA50i9bW0HX-6GKeofb3gpQzKGL_-P959aMJAS5yyMDLSkJoQow547Jn_TgHLrVIuV4_L4OXQg6iPnWi6AyVQqcEYnk_kFlY7qTjGNfvk8AEf-SHFKXB5MHZ-XkEW_iHNwCM0dg0aZVdB/s1600/IMG_1638.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcA50i9bW0HX-6GKeofb3gpQzKGL_-P959aMJAS5yyMDLSkJoQow547Jn_TgHLrVIuV4_L4OXQg6iPnWi6AyVQqcEYnk_kFlY7qTjGNfvk8AEf-SHFKXB5MHZ-XkEW_iHNwCM0dg0aZVdB/s640/IMG_1638.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here's what was lying in the broken berm - a toppled and twisted willow and masses of wild honeysuckle. None could remain.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDBoVDgOSFFE7Tt5ymmSgsNya9MqvRtJGNybHMi5mbT9kz879JiEoVXnFmh4qjWDlVJb1NrCBZr2jwyaZaoCtfvY5bHlvoavpCjfVXbE2UfCYbqzBOb3gw9HsPdA6s1TJr3LZ_RcupzIR1/s1600/IMG_1703+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDBoVDgOSFFE7Tt5ymmSgsNya9MqvRtJGNybHMi5mbT9kz879JiEoVXnFmh4qjWDlVJb1NrCBZr2jwyaZaoCtfvY5bHlvoavpCjfVXbE2UfCYbqzBOb3gw9HsPdA6s1TJr3LZ_RcupzIR1/s640/IMG_1703+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Toppled over willow trees, mulberry bushes and other brambles removed. Farmer's Husband Gary cleans up the dead wood from the bottom of the "creek" - the passage where the berm broke many years prior.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2py8xhX3meJ1WXNey8Mi5lI83_Y0EJ3NfpRevhzrVwm4aRsbwtkfs9voUoTQSjJ3XDIa8Oi_GZV_IxmeRRvAH1zyO09YDx3TIbD4Iu6N1nrTlERs8tkrA9RqMNP0HssV6C9wpT6oSChhB/s1600/IMG_1705+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2py8xhX3meJ1WXNey8Mi5lI83_Y0EJ3NfpRevhzrVwm4aRsbwtkfs9voUoTQSjJ3XDIa8Oi_GZV_IxmeRRvAH1zyO09YDx3TIbD4Iu6N1nrTlERs8tkrA9RqMNP0HssV6C9wpT6oSChhB/s640/IMG_1705+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The broken berm.... Look toward the top of the photo. The steep incline? That's the way to our building site....</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8x-XvH6ExcLbZwHXUOFpeDkkYiQDcAvCuKIOUWom4ikG_RfdF_5w0zgwP8Et6JZzdViJXesAw4-5t6sBUthcldPuBlrAN-ThNNKdw0UdWaJgpFe9Bf0VoxcyTl7jl0CcTdHSE-CHd496/s1600/IMG_1706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8x-XvH6ExcLbZwHXUOFpeDkkYiQDcAvCuKIOUWom4ikG_RfdF_5w0zgwP8Et6JZzdViJXesAw4-5t6sBUthcldPuBlrAN-ThNNKdw0UdWaJgpFe9Bf0VoxcyTl7jl0CcTdHSE-CHd496/s640/IMG_1706.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Taken from the perspective of standing in the "pond". Clearly we could not have roots in the berm. They weaken it as they decompose and water penetrates and creates new pathways..... To keep it strong, we had to remove the organic debris, even the debris beneath the surface.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFhaEaP8SbEGDQVQOStQvNnqUc_bWmwmIcUbfxs_ZvWpwcOnzuZJweuqZLUMY4op3Js9OA5foJ_aWdbIksExKFNdg55LmSBzLQAaUSR6DMJChkaOvn-JV_LUFT_WLKlyrgbE0gDsWEN2w6/s1600/IMG_1712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFhaEaP8SbEGDQVQOStQvNnqUc_bWmwmIcUbfxs_ZvWpwcOnzuZJweuqZLUMY4op3Js9OA5foJ_aWdbIksExKFNdg55LmSBzLQAaUSR6DMJChkaOvn-JV_LUFT_WLKlyrgbE0gDsWEN2w6/s640/IMG_1712.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Farmer's Husband digging out the first of many trees roots.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDX7zohNXrad29rmsZCHsQX3riiZLxjCyXcqeFTEHYF88FbqAfwQD7fhYIP7WPpRhWlt-rIDJzBsTW1eRzqoUmLOUlYjS5lfIL2wbdn23xPwCz5FnUVvay-DJsWmQ9ywcLkbZfjbNXFzS/s1600/IMG_1714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDX7zohNXrad29rmsZCHsQX3riiZLxjCyXcqeFTEHYF88FbqAfwQD7fhYIP7WPpRhWlt-rIDJzBsTW1eRzqoUmLOUlYjS5lfIL2wbdn23xPwCz5FnUVvay-DJsWmQ9ywcLkbZfjbNXFzS/s640/IMG_1714.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The old twisted willow proved to be a challenge. Both because it was bigger than expected but also because the old berm was quite skinny at this point. Not much to stand on for the tractor. But he got it and removed it to a giant burn pile.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpriIKEx-cFxY-KBO91mVLgPkufTh2lpYQOpg2nJh_kr9lyVuO9PfhxlErzbX1D5q-mt_pxG0oRA81FFYnMnYnKyx4Aru-IMU4TgbF15JTfRTTJ7oKVd2Dwgs-9Zh5HkUDr5pIxctIhuC/s1600/IMG_1731.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpriIKEx-cFxY-KBO91mVLgPkufTh2lpYQOpg2nJh_kr9lyVuO9PfhxlErzbX1D5q-mt_pxG0oRA81FFYnMnYnKyx4Aru-IMU4TgbF15JTfRTTJ7oKVd2Dwgs-9Zh5HkUDr5pIxctIhuC/s640/IMG_1731.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now to widen the berm. We laid out the edges of the new house and started the "access" to the walk out basement. After removing the topsoil (over 1 foot!), we loaded up the one ton dump truck with fill. Load after load after load....</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpixdzPGi4MKxN6RxdlFwzp8EMDHil-vEq-BoUXijRsKDAvQG11WyUrIy3fSpYIlBmmAsLotb8v8NUfvtDUjqQ-QeMgZExLiGGWuQfae9oXJsH-q_yQxaRwPJQXEZ8YLVRv4CZnKWywVl9/s1600/IMG_1733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpixdzPGi4MKxN6RxdlFwzp8EMDHil-vEq-BoUXijRsKDAvQG11WyUrIy3fSpYIlBmmAsLotb8v8NUfvtDUjqQ-QeMgZExLiGGWuQfae9oXJsH-q_yQxaRwPJQXEZ8YLVRv4CZnKWywVl9/s640/IMG_1733.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The way to the berm from on top of the hill. It too had to be cleared. It was very difficult for me to remove these oaks. The "mama oak" had died many years ago in a massive wind storm. Thankfully, there are many others on the site.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiIrv58EhbCuqF_jUtNvxf6dP0NfYSZrXer8W-KIO0ouu4ghyphenhyphenZ5avFx7BuZDCUI17L3zXvtElfx7BuWXp3WT3gjbh_TuvhH2TtDVnFnfI2nNbzO8HY6Zlft73ESxxi0BvfywIEXsGgUl4p/s1600/IMG_1734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiIrv58EhbCuqF_jUtNvxf6dP0NfYSZrXer8W-KIO0ouu4ghyphenhyphenZ5avFx7BuZDCUI17L3zXvtElfx7BuWXp3WT3gjbh_TuvhH2TtDVnFnfI2nNbzO8HY6Zlft73ESxxi0BvfywIEXsGgUl4p/s640/IMG_1734.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Looking down the hill. One can see the narrow existing path with the broken berm at the bottom. Quite a steep hill. Should be an adventure in making our new driveway!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicb1zX-OpVhvsm3JG5-RezsFXhA3vTVhSTITqw37Ngz4Qi2W4hJEqHK6XGhAF1-2issFoWg14B4YpiVgUuQEdBC4vM1YM_nOh2PxhSIj7aIvMkirMSM_6Qcpg38ujzU2Lb1F1nV6MrjYza/s1600/IMG_1735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicb1zX-OpVhvsm3JG5-RezsFXhA3vTVhSTITqw37Ngz4Qi2W4hJEqHK6XGhAF1-2issFoWg14B4YpiVgUuQEdBC4vM1YM_nOh2PxhSIj7aIvMkirMSM_6Qcpg38ujzU2Lb1F1nV6MrjYza/s640/IMG_1735.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The driveway will start on the other side of that guard rail and smaller utility pole in the distance. It will gently curve to the berm and then curve again around the high voltage utility pole in the foreground. A wide gentle S curve....</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfrH-CZxvlFdMmFqpb4gO_X0TZ6n2NMhejbhrUg9TkeLWRRzECZx2h8Z1Z1AWznV6x-GZephk8uqmWk6UoixtF-pjB_z5c0POmJ-ohP48DWL2NIws4HJu8EobP4qrfIspYs0_fiUvTP-22/s1600/IMG_1736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfrH-CZxvlFdMmFqpb4gO_X0TZ6n2NMhejbhrUg9TkeLWRRzECZx2h8Z1Z1AWznV6x-GZephk8uqmWk6UoixtF-pjB_z5c0POmJ-ohP48DWL2NIws4HJu8EobP4qrfIspYs0_fiUvTP-22/s640/IMG_1736.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bringing our first loads to the "hill"</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">After about ten truckloads we were able to make it safely to the high voltage utility pole. On the east side of the pole we discovered the old "spillway". It was only about 14 inches in diameter. Went down about three feet (the other two feet above the ground we found alongside of the hole, rusty with holes). It then traveled at a steep angle to the other side of the berm. Nothing flowed now. It all went to the crevasse in the old berm. Farmer 's Husband Gary filled the horizontal pipe with some broken concrete blocks. We then mixed portland cement, sand and gravel and dumped it into the old standpipe and added water to seep into the mix. That way, the new driveway will be strengthened and water will not leak into the old pipe.</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVdg0jV9j32K8Vl94HxoTHb47-H5lKI6vAWx6JWGd8XWqyvx23WnljDPgvNej0rAeDUCmlzBywH0Dtm8nZjhV3_w8o4mt4LKt3QEzAqkOZJYn-QZKzCW5Hw6uwAI2vnRGBaHH41PsNZSm/s1600/IMG_1745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVdg0jV9j32K8Vl94HxoTHb47-H5lKI6vAWx6JWGd8XWqyvx23WnljDPgvNej0rAeDUCmlzBywH0Dtm8nZjhV3_w8o4mt4LKt3QEzAqkOZJYn-QZKzCW5Hw6uwAI2vnRGBaHH41PsNZSm/s640/IMG_1745.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was a gorgeous day! Can you believe 70 degrees in February? We took advantage of the light breeze to burn all of our brush. I had the brilliant idea to burn some of the marshy area so that we could see the contours more easily. Ah.... something about dry grass with a little wind.... and suddenly I was on the brink of starting a forest fire! We quickly grabbed shovels and ventured into the edge of the pond through rose thorns and brush and stomped the leading edge out. Whew! That was close!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">After about 38 truckloads of fill from our building site we could safely drive to the other side of the broken berm. The driveway will be widened another 13 feet or so, but for now it was easily passable with our truck and tractor. Gary was ready to dig the trench area to put our new 3 foot culvert in. It was getting late, the shadows were getting long. </span></td></tr>
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Going down the edge of the driveway to the break in the berm. Laying the culvert will have to wait for another day. Hopefully we can work again next weekend. But for now we will happy with the progress we have made. Smile.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwdXMsg_8AFAEILdWuhmVolyM8v-ROPuHtGzpG_Y_iTPdXMG7mZJs1joXGZryXQaGGHdoORxswdAnnpS9ggIf84f5TqWyVy9SBrX5i3eIcZnoE2KWr_V5CvAqe0XhQMu7_B8SgqTCVer5/s1600/IMG_1755.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwdXMsg_8AFAEILdWuhmVolyM8v-ROPuHtGzpG_Y_iTPdXMG7mZJs1joXGZryXQaGGHdoORxswdAnnpS9ggIf84f5TqWyVy9SBrX5i3eIcZnoE2KWr_V5CvAqe0XhQMu7_B8SgqTCVer5/s640/IMG_1755.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> The culverts arrived this morning.</span></td></tr>
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<b style="text-align: start;">Today's Journey Joys:</b><span style="text-align: start;"> 70+ degrees and sunny skies in mid February - an opportunity to get a jump start on our building site, water bottles without leaks, frozen pizza when one is tired from hauling fill all day, nibbling on chocolate while watching a movie with husband and son, comfortable and supportive beds, and laundry machines.</span></div>
Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-51495365208899806542017-02-09T11:28:00.000-06:002017-02-09T19:21:21.125-06:00January Thaw and Culvert Replacing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Well, if you haven't guessed it by now, we are going to build a home! We've been in discussions with our friends at <a href="https://mortonbuildings.com/projects/residential" target="_blank">Morton Buildings</a> (yes, they do more than pole barns!) and have over the past month or so decided on plans, windows, doors, colors, and features. Whew! Lots of decisions, but really fun and exciting!</div>
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But in order to get to the west 15 acres with BIG trucks (semi-tractor trailers filled with steel, lumber, and doors and windows and of course concrete trucks for foundation and basement) we had to widen and provide an easy access. Currently the only access was down this big steep hill just south of the observatory. One had to cruise down the hill, go four-wheeling over a marshy area where a bridge/culvert had washed away years prior, and clamber up another just-as-steep hill. This would bring you to an eight foot wide (or so) berm which was the eastern boundary of a half-acre pond - which also had a long-deteriorated culvert washed out at one section. The "pond" was only about 2 feet deep surrounded by a wetland. The only way to our future building site would be an extremely narrow, steep slope over a washed-out ravine. Obviously, this would not do. And will not do for big trucks and trailers. Our "access" would have to come from another direction but I'll save the story of that adventure for next time! Anyway, this access was necessary so that we could use the fill which would be taken from the "basement" to widen the eastern access - the permanent driveway.</div>
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But I get ahead of myself. Before we could do any of the "permanent access/driveway" we had to actually make a way for the big JD 4720 tractor to get to the building site. And to do that, as I've already mentioned, we needed to replace some culverts and refill the coverings. January of 2017 has been oh-so-odd weatherwise. We had at least a week of above freezing temperatures which made a muddy spring-like mess everywhere but also gave us an opportunity to place these culverts, dig fill and cover them up. So the culvert-adventure began with Farmer's Husband Gary carrying the culverts on his JD 4720 down the big sloped hill. </div>
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No problem.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkorZyqICZNP5RCjGQGHUb0sKNXOJZmoLQxdbBT4EXrITi-qd1OnGkNrFASmsbkFMV-lPWVWd8niumfqYTx1J1l4H30tX3XyPAcpN77GWrnw0LUNgEfORRAzJ0ckvyBQbK8TlBBWXYjtCy/s1600/IMG_1644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkorZyqICZNP5RCjGQGHUb0sKNXOJZmoLQxdbBT4EXrITi-qd1OnGkNrFASmsbkFMV-lPWVWd8niumfqYTx1J1l4H30tX3XyPAcpN77GWrnw0LUNgEfORRAzJ0ckvyBQbK8TlBBWXYjtCy/s640/IMG_1644.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Farmer's Husband Gary bringing the culverts to the washed out area. There was snow cover but the ground underneath was pretty thawed. Nothing that a 4-wheel drive tractor couldn't handle.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Getting closer to the marshy area. I typically go splashing my way through with the Gator but there seemed to be enough icey hard stuff on the surface that day that when I went over it the Gator stayed on the surface.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhvfenI8g9n1HuZgXHnoB8aKwIv6NSzpli0eBDkLa-AJXSnlVegl607iTUorsI7-refKghr2yzULrV3rX92ulL2SQq8D51qHGP8xMsFaSlTyLIBBoOWKZtqSBa31M_mmr06IWnjcpNFmE/s1600/IMG_1647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhvfenI8g9n1HuZgXHnoB8aKwIv6NSzpli0eBDkLa-AJXSnlVegl607iTUorsI7-refKghr2yzULrV3rX92ulL2SQq8D51qHGP8xMsFaSlTyLIBBoOWKZtqSBa31M_mmr06IWnjcpNFmE/s640/IMG_1647.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">But alas, the JD 4720 with loader and backhoe weighs a ton (almost literally) more than my Gator. And.....well,....progress suddenly halted amidst mucky, sticky, soft and wet marshy soil. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Farmer's Husband Gary picked the back end of the tractor up with the stabilizer feet of the backhoe. While he was doing that and grabbing some old tree trunks, I went to the brick pile and grabbed all the broken but big concrete blocks I could fit on my Gator trailer. We filled the holes that the tractor made..... hoping to provide a way for the tractor to get traction - enough at least to reach some solid ground.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Even the thick coarse tractor tire treads were filled with the mucky marsh.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">And we prevailed! I drove from the "front" with four wheel drive enabled and with the differential locked while in low gear. Gary "pushed" and lifted from behind on the backhoe. Together we marched up the hill and got to solid and firm ground. Whew!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">We replaced the culvert at the lowest point and then hauled fill from the farm to cover it and provide a way for trucks (at least farm trucks) to drive over without succumbing to the great marshy mire.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The JD 3720 doing what it was made for!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9VnP64jI2Uv2Lt8Ig-yLAJrt3dXSod9DzPo6A6DztSVeaZJuQxlHyM6LmGmAPMCSSO3uWCaSk-xcT5FkJiHOIPXkCRTDvLXrU0Wq2lhxe23SQQtWeA2Q7e7z8iTXcY32VYSQjmPeUa3o/s1600/IMG_1690.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9VnP64jI2Uv2Lt8Ig-yLAJrt3dXSod9DzPo6A6DztSVeaZJuQxlHyM6LmGmAPMCSSO3uWCaSk-xcT5FkJiHOIPXkCRTDvLXrU0Wq2lhxe23SQQtWeA2Q7e7z8iTXcY32VYSQjmPeUa3o/s640/IMG_1690.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">You can't even see the mega-ruts we made just hours (or was that days?) earlier.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmNuoM4482unWTiXAXK0QdKA3ZEimxFcmb-RrBOvxgXK9YylToUpiHINXCcm1JWn-ktC1o1gyhCrBsXPlBMdFzgMnLOsoiIaA46ygzcbZMAUYXPKPyEPswYZAhMvc4zOIHranuUyCAiJt/s1600/IMG_1692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmNuoM4482unWTiXAXK0QdKA3ZEimxFcmb-RrBOvxgXK9YylToUpiHINXCcm1JWn-ktC1o1gyhCrBsXPlBMdFzgMnLOsoiIaA46ygzcbZMAUYXPKPyEPswYZAhMvc4zOIHranuUyCAiJt/s640/IMG_1692.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Interesting, the different colored clay fills from different areas on our farm.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtq3kXQCTvD3c7irUsrocT2rR24WJH0QEsHFU1aynH7hpLBkvC4KyBxFZU1gTIxvPEyq0HaTTY4ZGM9wEVyPQZDjRMnQJVk1-PbCAfaNHNt08eT4vLqrHpKTyNUfCd4McNV2Ci921BUk_/s1600/IMG_1694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtq3kXQCTvD3c7irUsrocT2rR24WJH0QEsHFU1aynH7hpLBkvC4KyBxFZU1gTIxvPEyq0HaTTY4ZGM9wEVyPQZDjRMnQJVk1-PbCAfaNHNt08eT4vLqrHpKTyNUfCd4McNV2Ci921BUk_/s640/IMG_1694.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Success! Dressed in winter gear and cruising on my Gator - the first vehicle to traverse our repaired site. There's more fill to be brought and the sides still need sloping - but its functional. Yeah!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Today's Journey Joys: </b>Warm January days, adventures in the mud, husband who uses innovative, creative methods when obstacles arise, warm coffee and hot, hot showers to warm (after c-c-c-old days working outside), sunny wintry days in February, promise of warmer days to come.</span></div>
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<br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-56222199170366336642017-01-05T18:34:00.000-06:002017-01-05T18:36:13.243-06:00BelatedHappy New Year!<br />
<br />
It has been my intention to write over the winter break.... alas, life's present needs filled the minutes, hours and days.... Soon, I hope. Soon....<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hoping to build a road....</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Farmer Husband's favorite cookies.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deer by the beehives... I was just driving by on the tractor late in the evening after a cold but happy day of splitting firewood.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My friend Stacy's new fangled contraption....how cool are those swirls?</td></tr>
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<b>Today's Journey Joys:</b> wonderful warm house in single digit temperatures, hot chili with spinach salad for supper, friends and coffee dates, ordering seeds and baby plants for spring plantings (I can hardly wait!), dreaming and planning for building our new home and barn.....</div>
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Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-78640354510781508572016-11-27T15:17:00.004-06:002016-11-29T07:03:23.723-06:00Tucking In<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMs3S6SgKKVadxecu1KuHC3z6e5ZZEO38I_LV0kPLBby6a6qVGNXZV__QUzG_bv-AqZOXEjjm76csRQ0PTVG94ibHBA6nVOSwSoMmruXA8pbmM1Oa707W_k6XZLVDDqGXf-J4oDUzkkqN/s1600/IMG_1489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMs3S6SgKKVadxecu1KuHC3z6e5ZZEO38I_LV0kPLBby6a6qVGNXZV__QUzG_bv-AqZOXEjjm76csRQ0PTVG94ibHBA6nVOSwSoMmruXA8pbmM1Oa707W_k6XZLVDDqGXf-J4oDUzkkqN/s640/IMG_1489.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chasing mama bumble from snapdragon to snapdragon</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNlhHcitU_McfdWIgd5QAeRQJW9BwJSoYf4JrXB3mm3nOaZGrwM8yXcD0YXjU38jU_juQfieJGJl6N04cVf5DDPsW7CN8vYReSAnBzjlXAk_3zHeXwBlItff6D4k-MNFYqw9sf013djJwb/s1600/IMG_1487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNlhHcitU_McfdWIgd5QAeRQJW9BwJSoYf4JrXB3mm3nOaZGrwM8yXcD0YXjU38jU_juQfieJGJl6N04cVf5DDPsW7CN8vYReSAnBzjlXAk_3zHeXwBlItff6D4k-MNFYqw9sf013djJwb/s640/IMG_1487.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post 20 degrees and the blooms are done now. Mama bumble tucked away in her wood or bramble winter home. <br />
See you next spring Mama Bumble!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finishing the apples. Apple sauce, muffins, and crunch. the aroma of sweetness and cinnamon.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our peeler makes this job easier.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple peel noodles.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apples piled high. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yummy appetizer for Thanksgiving dinner. Made with our black raspberry jelly and summer honey by Karla our amazing hostess. We were oh-so-blessed to spend this thankful holiday with Karla and Jason and family.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simmering apple sauce.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our beautiful free ranged and pastured chickens - Rocambole garlic powder and rosemary herb rub.</td></tr>
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<b>Today's Journey Joys:</b> Planted garlic with abundance of straw mulch - tucked in for winter's cold, chicken broth steaming on the stove - preparing for noodle soup, flocks and flocks of blackbirds flying south, enormous bald eagle soaring overhead, kittens with winter's coat, rosemary in her pot ready to flavor, warm showers, Farmer's Husband making firewood - storing for winter's brrrrr-cold..Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-74296293451439410992016-10-31T08:39:00.002-05:002016-10-31T08:44:12.236-05:00Autumn Changes<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38DCbpI2tYJm9LJEgkLaTWgCAV7eTh_NnCbifaPOS9m9ua-Ltu_mMi53ov0XeHZp8LhaQiyY8ERwmEkHnhdCZJrokI7jdD112GQ32CIUXmyeYa0ekzbFJg1-8ZoP5Y-FQdwkwPRmDwdR0/s1600/IMG_1453.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38DCbpI2tYJm9LJEgkLaTWgCAV7eTh_NnCbifaPOS9m9ua-Ltu_mMi53ov0XeHZp8LhaQiyY8ERwmEkHnhdCZJrokI7jdD112GQ32CIUXmyeYa0ekzbFJg1-8ZoP5Y-FQdwkwPRmDwdR0/s640/IMG_1453.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crunching down the path</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Golden rod fuzzy with seeds</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hard maple in Fall colors</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The changing colors over the pond</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shelling popcorn. We shelled about 10 gallons this year.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tulip planting time. 1400 whites, yellows, peach, red and purples. I can hardly wait until spring!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncapping the Fall honey. A dark yummy golden rod honey. Not much this year but what we did get was super great.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only filtering we do,</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bees cleaning up their supers before I put them away for the winter.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQwWdg7GuQQBszlUGoAjVKUt6CVXCH4nEnvW7SscnG-Y_LQIPpuW0bJC8Eez7-qyRLR4Mmcd5ubng9OPXHjUX6vvqzLzFuEKkq1I0RAyUpZSUGjCdigGcjeSoxYT8sEeHcAx9b-gSCFGxr/s1600/IMG_1484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQwWdg7GuQQBszlUGoAjVKUt6CVXCH4nEnvW7SscnG-Y_LQIPpuW0bJC8Eez7-qyRLR4Mmcd5ubng9OPXHjUX6vvqzLzFuEKkq1I0RAyUpZSUGjCdigGcjeSoxYT8sEeHcAx9b-gSCFGxr/s640/IMG_1484.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seven years ago this oak fell over in a huge wind storm. The roots still strong. Even the backhoe couldn't get this out. I guess my caldron will return to its resting place -not to mention Snowy the cat's favorite summer sleeping area.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful red berries. Not sure what these are called. The birds don't even eat them. Yet they add such lovely contrast to the changing colors of Autumn. </td></tr>
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<b>Today's Journey Joys:</b> The humming of the dishwasher, warm Autumn temperatures, super-finds at the auction, wood mulch delivered, firewood stored in the hoophouse, pumpkins being gobbled by our free-ranged pastured chickens (what orange yolks they have!), cleaning up outside and in, storing and sorting for winter, and the smell of fall leaves.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-22932815042682453172016-10-17T16:22:00.004-05:002016-10-17T16:22:48.829-05:00Autumn's Preparations <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMfsavwuXNMWInJSVstJORhOswoGeQmQYmM2bMS0pz_3KCAm-0WYeXaImgn9selOJqBgn1gQu3cPDGtMq4jpI9k2_KISZIqrCjrG_Yg6fIdLenBPw5ZVXh40lAL0oCZ0fZ-ulaRG4ZA5c4/s1600/IMG_1436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMfsavwuXNMWInJSVstJORhOswoGeQmQYmM2bMS0pz_3KCAm-0WYeXaImgn9selOJqBgn1gQu3cPDGtMq4jpI9k2_KISZIqrCjrG_Yg6fIdLenBPw5ZVXh40lAL0oCZ0fZ-ulaRG4ZA5c4/s640/IMG_1436.JPG" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Firewood ready to split. I'm so thankful for renewable resources which are readily available. I'm imagining being toasty warm inside during a cold, breezy snow storm. Drinking hot tea and ginger snap cookies. Why wait?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZXqQkxuP5k9tf4XDwLTg4Pg5nyLD-ZyaQO6SyZ6SkUDnZ_5_0TMt_Gwv7PF8KXLghTFkZoM-V18j-eyAANV3KbUX_ycFIsDCbE59YL-iGK15GeW6-rNwHclCQhWqjUvH4An0G6juNPdqv/s1600/IMG_1426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZXqQkxuP5k9tf4XDwLTg4Pg5nyLD-ZyaQO6SyZ6SkUDnZ_5_0TMt_Gwv7PF8KXLghTFkZoM-V18j-eyAANV3KbUX_ycFIsDCbE59YL-iGK15GeW6-rNwHclCQhWqjUvH4An0G6juNPdqv/s640/IMG_1426.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gourds</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wRBJ2sTu-2dYyDTyIMDD-eSZXHU2cTT3keSTK4zqnqmll_9fwm4YRX89MZScUbl5Jvglfw6xsqchSliofCJsEbcFfNZJcerckopMQIU_BUZfY7ERfP0nfH_nCzBB9xFcJIiqHWwgVHPC/s1600/IMG_1421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wRBJ2sTu-2dYyDTyIMDD-eSZXHU2cTT3keSTK4zqnqmll_9fwm4YRX89MZScUbl5Jvglfw6xsqchSliofCJsEbcFfNZJcerckopMQIU_BUZfY7ERfP0nfH_nCzBB9xFcJIiqHWwgVHPC/s640/IMG_1421.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harvesting popcorn before the racoons and deer do it for me.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXdNICTPgod6hgNC6tW4NHtYIJwxtuMcwJIQ4W_zAfP4ceIXZ9HTSobqz5BKYLlRRQnizwXkdcuyF785bBYgWjaM5ed1ktTbjKcTZpaUE3MeNCPeEnRUZz5mCPDjc6O1nOBrbURe2PIoM/s1600/IMG_1417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXdNICTPgod6hgNC6tW4NHtYIJwxtuMcwJIQ4W_zAfP4ceIXZ9HTSobqz5BKYLlRRQnizwXkdcuyF785bBYgWjaM5ed1ktTbjKcTZpaUE3MeNCPeEnRUZz5mCPDjc6O1nOBrbURe2PIoM/s640/IMG_1417.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our neighbor's beautiful young cattle. They like to look at me while I'm working. I wonder what they think about?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEzRD1BdXz3RR41kturcEQoajMgeOEm4URogrFNfopRkf5UCF-W7QMGmDNHCMBZN6xq5rfbxJwx9JTM5TDOkSl8cK3Txv7pY1Zqmvq2gargtVJ4ErTY40G3MBBow1fjHozdoVYzgDY6hyS/s1600/IMG_1433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEzRD1BdXz3RR41kturcEQoajMgeOEm4URogrFNfopRkf5UCF-W7QMGmDNHCMBZN6xq5rfbxJwx9JTM5TDOkSl8cK3Txv7pY1Zqmvq2gargtVJ4ErTY40G3MBBow1fjHozdoVYzgDY6hyS/s640/IMG_1433.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lavender - growing but still little. I sure hope they make it through the winter.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGkIyh7Yf6iyTEjwp2NOfLUI9Zd5zfHR7x0aAm-hSQvo-qJ7mg-nRwb1Z_91ToRm3PhD18bndd1HUtDvnACc7uwoEAF8gBQg4W98hTjmR-B8MsRqJntiYsKOQjY7qPqMjVMVLslTuJW_5/s1600/IMG_1430.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGkIyh7Yf6iyTEjwp2NOfLUI9Zd5zfHR7x0aAm-hSQvo-qJ7mg-nRwb1Z_91ToRm3PhD18bndd1HUtDvnACc7uwoEAF8gBQg4W98hTjmR-B8MsRqJntiYsKOQjY7qPqMjVMVLslTuJW_5/s640/IMG_1430.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The last of the zinnias. We had two evenings of frost last week.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpD80KUDJqFmIFMzz8mryOx34-LTd0DT9NL6oKzNKSDiNs9JlFg8Eci0uixLuN585bvnRjXOw-EkkFaP3qq77F7kieHHgkcGmlVtIergfCAllXika8LOFUafZRqVUQiPRE04XtxoyJFYoz/s1600/IMG_1440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpD80KUDJqFmIFMzz8mryOx34-LTd0DT9NL6oKzNKSDiNs9JlFg8Eci0uixLuN585bvnRjXOw-EkkFaP3qq77F7kieHHgkcGmlVtIergfCAllXika8LOFUafZRqVUQiPRE04XtxoyJFYoz/s640/IMG_1440.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rusty golden colors of autumn</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpYI3usUhM1UMoj52XO5Bc0UuS6u9wKAKocAPRqQ6hjkk2I4QbGG8OlnO2dMq-wfcpr8yHBpeh2UKA9mqsPZvNbUR8kyzw5cehzPWVgZ3ZIf1Sx1GVLBlYq1tVidQA1I9eG0QGf38f52Dn/s1600/IMG_1442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpYI3usUhM1UMoj52XO5Bc0UuS6u9wKAKocAPRqQ6hjkk2I4QbGG8OlnO2dMq-wfcpr8yHBpeh2UKA9mqsPZvNbUR8kyzw5cehzPWVgZ3ZIf1Sx1GVLBlYq1tVidQA1I9eG0QGf38f52Dn/s640/IMG_1442.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bones of the hedge apple tree starting to show. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXUxem3OGtihgGLBDTXOvQeHaU_lnnXWKVpkQXrXOiooFr8ve-Co1YEBmKUl3kNgwdnIQHJ64PILsFZRWBsiBI-UY_9B_DCyifXyiOUESigMXB3BfehBJvr4We4Rk2VFR45mW2bdRRnxcB/s1600/IMG_1432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXUxem3OGtihgGLBDTXOvQeHaU_lnnXWKVpkQXrXOiooFr8ve-Co1YEBmKUl3kNgwdnIQHJ64PILsFZRWBsiBI-UY_9B_DCyifXyiOUESigMXB3BfehBJvr4We4Rk2VFR45mW2bdRRnxcB/s640/IMG_1432.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cactus & <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Oklahoma </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">zinnia.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXpsqT2uTYRanMT4VC2TasortFlUCQqCGhVijCtIe8SZIvvXwfIznG3ZmSxW5BbStOgGVg1Jd5QlLsk6gP0yjJ_4Cs45l7p2KTGHEtrA6iLqObD9QEOHyIbpZX3rg5DmLKqMsvTp429Nb/s1600/IMG_1439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXpsqT2uTYRanMT4VC2TasortFlUCQqCGhVijCtIe8SZIvvXwfIznG3ZmSxW5BbStOgGVg1Jd5QlLsk6gP0yjJ_4Cs45l7p2KTGHEtrA6iLqObD9QEOHyIbpZX3rg5DmLKqMsvTp429Nb/s640/IMG_1439.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The road less traveled.....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Today's Journey Joys:</b> Turkey and chicken processing done for the year. A summer-like warm day after nights of brrr-cold temperatures, kitty-fur thickening, bees tucked into bed for winter, crunching of leaves during morning strolls to meet the bus, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, applesauce and muffins, brewing coffee and tea.<br />
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<br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-87974583742454857012016-09-19T17:18:00.002-05:002016-09-19T17:18:25.751-05:00Capturing the Beautiful<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Today's Journey Joys</b>: early autumn warmth sustaining the colors, safe and restful trip there and back to Indianapolis with warm reception of presentation, munching cotton candy grapes, popcorn drying in the field, surprise weeds with deep purple flowers, honey bees on golden rod, huge orange pumpkins and pie pumpkins waiting to be made into yummy delights, even more flowers in bloom.... O, the sweetness in blessings noticed!</div>
Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-840890076527654682016-09-14T07:45:00.001-05:002016-09-14T07:45:13.898-05:00Colors of Early Autumn<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsorFj7pHEDQc8GmpjW-dC4CDgMe4tD_pVDNOojJ6MR3EdAEWd8rSSw_uLmpkgPIwohxuavl5-8EVWh5hkv4XjHiZdle-JqgYjAw48vBd5ly49rQTsJlEjDSs7VSSXvB-48k03PrT0qzi/s1600/IMG_1380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsorFj7pHEDQc8GmpjW-dC4CDgMe4tD_pVDNOojJ6MR3EdAEWd8rSSw_uLmpkgPIwohxuavl5-8EVWh5hkv4XjHiZdle-JqgYjAw48vBd5ly49rQTsJlEjDSs7VSSXvB-48k03PrT0qzi/s640/IMG_1380.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The colors of autumn are captivating. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBnqpQWqQFi45jfZpQ8psBEnF_TSh3PtXwUxgnR15h0wqCgTGcR4erGbltpwfaoC2xMetTCG8Lwg_JoBiKGb2xSubIT07KpjxdJMEhfhnHkPzZp4rILqBM3V22chfEp4hNk0JmrgnEixca/s1600/IMG_1364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBnqpQWqQFi45jfZpQ8psBEnF_TSh3PtXwUxgnR15h0wqCgTGcR4erGbltpwfaoC2xMetTCG8Lwg_JoBiKGb2xSubIT07KpjxdJMEhfhnHkPzZp4rILqBM3V22chfEp4hNk0JmrgnEixca/s640/IMG_1364.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes called shattercane and sometimes broom corn - they are over twelve feet tall.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFFYSRKp4A3ePnsRNRvE4joW8a1mflj_yjCpObTaqBHzrSDy_ThboYe5UMIhyphenhyphenJw5wQXMDnMTRWJwx_uByDad4Iz0rYQpF9_Zx1qEFlZC4w1NmZALVMwH62bk3ROlxce3K78Gv6WTdugN-4/s1600/IMG_1377.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFFYSRKp4A3ePnsRNRvE4joW8a1mflj_yjCpObTaqBHzrSDy_ThboYe5UMIhyphenhyphenJw5wQXMDnMTRWJwx_uByDad4Iz0rYQpF9_Zx1qEFlZC4w1NmZALVMwH62bk3ROlxce3K78Gv6WTdugN-4/s640/IMG_1377.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our farm stand filled with color....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilhShvPFrlgRdgR7K8neecRgOJg6dhmWKcCnS8nRM576f4CLcav7q1qf60H8SbERLfr2EJKMgCd_rPIRWERYj4yxP2ZvKGtHowUBDYY9vJSXxL7MS9Iv5Jxr68c4MWj0NmfU7VyjqZ5Ih1/s1600/IMG_1387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilhShvPFrlgRdgR7K8neecRgOJg6dhmWKcCnS8nRM576f4CLcav7q1qf60H8SbERLfr2EJKMgCd_rPIRWERYj4yxP2ZvKGtHowUBDYY9vJSXxL7MS9Iv5Jxr68c4MWj0NmfU7VyjqZ5Ih1/s640/IMG_1387.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The welcoming flower garden.....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM35BlS8QSLZUiWMYkKorYDlI9E16r6ZnxzWxtjD0bJHX_VCz6ii1KsqopkUMnGM0C6yzI2ZMVra-8mSKIjmplEZfURW2hs_-oMtLoO_vcaTbLixdu9rLS_SsBDM2ZliYYprdMIMXM31Wh/s1600/IMG_1374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM35BlS8QSLZUiWMYkKorYDlI9E16r6ZnxzWxtjD0bJHX_VCz6ii1KsqopkUMnGM0C6yzI2ZMVra-8mSKIjmplEZfURW2hs_-oMtLoO_vcaTbLixdu9rLS_SsBDM2ZliYYprdMIMXM31Wh/s640/IMG_1374.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild flowers among the trees.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb8zkK0oXHxvuvRGmAxmdULHxuakE14TDwQeArdBZI8WJdWm76XY31Zrxjo_r1flyBVvrFfQ0D0s86HttpKPLIe3ATQzmznTniCC_4iaQvnfDIUUFb20lNOsJ9qoGUJjeA-iqSkgjr8fLW/s1600/IMG_1373%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb8zkK0oXHxvuvRGmAxmdULHxuakE14TDwQeArdBZI8WJdWm76XY31Zrxjo_r1flyBVvrFfQ0D0s86HttpKPLIe3ATQzmznTniCC_4iaQvnfDIUUFb20lNOsJ9qoGUJjeA-iqSkgjr8fLW/s640/IMG_1373%255B1%255D.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Golden rod and purple loose strife.... a naturally occuring beautiful combination.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyE22_YP5ZgJtAK9Z6qH5sBENDwOokgxOi_DnRx3m7juP4TifdQa-4Y6qPeFQEr26z0o_YGfxR5gyTxRxMN3jgRpGykFYVbHjhRN63Sdrk32_yiLJmXswLZT5SdYDrvdOe8h6-kVVdTUvh/s1600/IMG_1292%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyE22_YP5ZgJtAK9Z6qH5sBENDwOokgxOi_DnRx3m7juP4TifdQa-4Y6qPeFQEr26z0o_YGfxR5gyTxRxMN3jgRpGykFYVbHjhRN63Sdrk32_yiLJmXswLZT5SdYDrvdOe8h6-kVVdTUvh/s640/IMG_1292%255B1%255D.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunsets of rose and pinks.....</td></tr>
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<b>Today's Journey Joys</b>: maturing chickens, the tweets, clicks, chirps and gobbles of our big tom turkeys, dragon flies fluttering, black birds beginning to gather, orange pumpkins, blackberry plants alive and well under weed cover, chicken and ranch pizza with a small birthday ham and pineapple pizza for Ally's half-a-birthday celebration.<br /><br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-39306507140029586092016-09-06T07:59:00.000-05:002016-09-06T07:59:34.567-05:00Summer's Heat Returns<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_pXhqECJ1pNEP9cPuwepQnqzxIz0MSaVv4V0pmTb_7HE8LrSfuq1gzcS_vS2dh-EbRAzx_FnzYcQvNHHhejJ8sea90kflNq2yKRrd6Z0JAlQDZ6aaO5NVpo5rfIZdvQj1qXxBohOh5N1M/s1600/DSC_0006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_pXhqECJ1pNEP9cPuwepQnqzxIz0MSaVv4V0pmTb_7HE8LrSfuq1gzcS_vS2dh-EbRAzx_FnzYcQvNHHhejJ8sea90kflNq2yKRrd6Z0JAlQDZ6aaO5NVpo5rfIZdvQj1qXxBohOh5N1M/s640/DSC_0006.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Angelonia</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij80rEJyhPUKOVirWSkuHOOUAlRB_OZoKNdmQQUgGRcQ33rYAP6RDinaYIbfpj5bMD-IWTcRr18Mq8pEM9NAfUPVKjs9X9rjgtlo-_8FJQmCMk79KMH0xUUobnpIHjdrDd2z5tJyNOe2ma/s1600/DSC_0005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij80rEJyhPUKOVirWSkuHOOUAlRB_OZoKNdmQQUgGRcQ33rYAP6RDinaYIbfpj5bMD-IWTcRr18Mq8pEM9NAfUPVKjs9X9rjgtlo-_8FJQmCMk79KMH0xUUobnpIHjdrDd2z5tJyNOe2ma/s640/DSC_0005.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Straw flowers - perfect for bouquet or dried arrangements.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiroI2R4Nk4PoBSKfDG-_8pF_Bz6kYFJ5q_cbyCB6tgfnBR_uxnAZ2dTwh7aO978ZBGTfXgEITTJrSX___3y1gqbPrt-czDlNf5zoFwHubrhu2bFPKwPtc25AIKaUf7f-IF3euUlLMagdew/s1600/DSC_0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiroI2R4Nk4PoBSKfDG-_8pF_Bz6kYFJ5q_cbyCB6tgfnBR_uxnAZ2dTwh7aO978ZBGTfXgEITTJrSX___3y1gqbPrt-czDlNf5zoFwHubrhu2bFPKwPtc25AIKaUf7f-IF3euUlLMagdew/s640/DSC_0004.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White gomphrena</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi25BmbM2obDhOQpwQ9XdA8Bq-xI5PmcEDCWAJwFL5_w58bB7P70uXd8tRonXxS7Ao8Dd7SI3cLaBK1aMPQkyuZYezcCUeoJTps33hUoPLFi9bpWZ76xOh3YKIzOljNErovOrtnikNMx7qQ/s1600/DSC_0009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi25BmbM2obDhOQpwQ9XdA8Bq-xI5PmcEDCWAJwFL5_w58bB7P70uXd8tRonXxS7Ao8Dd7SI3cLaBK1aMPQkyuZYezcCUeoJTps33hUoPLFi9bpWZ76xOh3YKIzOljNErovOrtnikNMx7qQ/s640/DSC_0009.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our tri-colored chrysanthemums beginning to bloom. Autumn must be right around the corner.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQibhlrHtfpT00xYobYfbrD6hY6sLij2Vu6af_yR6Um2KEgoeIGae12_rdvy9IC3A7uzezbGuVil8nYAGsdiPUxP_4yFUEbSjR6wEk82SNkQGExHVerh0MnGysoWZT_RRzJZE4jTOvACdf/s1600/DSC_0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQibhlrHtfpT00xYobYfbrD6hY6sLij2Vu6af_yR6Um2KEgoeIGae12_rdvy9IC3A7uzezbGuVil8nYAGsdiPUxP_4yFUEbSjR6wEk82SNkQGExHVerh0MnGysoWZT_RRzJZE4jTOvACdf/s640/DSC_0012.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Golden raspberries - sweet.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTeTiHL2cW6idNnVlYpb51dXpmebkMzRLlDyUe6C7DUSuplvgGveBKiJ84Gx0kuCacCFzALJ96noPmAGrCIMGti_JRRui9ERg5JoS9UzQapGED9P5tMoc9KrB0hort-Uxb7XHNnJZKJRi/s1600/DSC_0016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTeTiHL2cW6idNnVlYpb51dXpmebkMzRLlDyUe6C7DUSuplvgGveBKiJ84Gx0kuCacCFzALJ96noPmAGrCIMGti_JRRui9ERg5JoS9UzQapGED9P5tMoc9KrB0hort-Uxb7XHNnJZKJRi/s640/DSC_0016.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pump-ke-mon decorative pumpkins. I love their stripes!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4wlFOYD1GZyufr82crBEzVpOLzp9FaM3UIYPHvu5iYUBcwO2eg87e7itivQQw3fRPZSoyxUtTL6OJbNaMKOKYklu5d5voI-MjDbjJHoLIKcw-GJV1Tubujb9hwBl72ZwKGY4a9k-rDCE/s1600/DSC_0017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4wlFOYD1GZyufr82crBEzVpOLzp9FaM3UIYPHvu5iYUBcwO2eg87e7itivQQw3fRPZSoyxUtTL6OJbNaMKOKYklu5d5voI-MjDbjJHoLIKcw-GJV1Tubujb9hwBl72ZwKGY4a9k-rDCE/s640/DSC_0017.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild flowers along the hoophouse.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBqzSwfkExDH_bTwPWLe92JbaXRZ1p70qAmE6e8ClZBOSNcCbo2ALYIG4uHKX8DwBQtR6ol-NsnG29a8pdz7VCCEqIasiLK1KojJuDYYSiF5Cwb9x_uLrpHL8140Hq5DlL5UASsCAH7LA/s1600/DSC_0021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBqzSwfkExDH_bTwPWLe92JbaXRZ1p70qAmE6e8ClZBOSNcCbo2ALYIG4uHKX8DwBQtR6ol-NsnG29a8pdz7VCCEqIasiLK1KojJuDYYSiF5Cwb9x_uLrpHL8140Hq5DlL5UASsCAH7LA/s640/DSC_0021.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gourds growing</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUIFNWtWaf0PQbddmsas6qUonnW9sIu-Gc6aKAuObvEeba5dA9TgTH6yEwDj0rlS8BOitH2rPwlscKZiMvEHrLoUHxMJDF4HYYvjOJlB4sgvhhYi8UGWylZizRK1D_Tx3oUfSKwf8LNtL7/s1600/DSC_0022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUIFNWtWaf0PQbddmsas6qUonnW9sIu-Gc6aKAuObvEeba5dA9TgTH6yEwDj0rlS8BOitH2rPwlscKZiMvEHrLoUHxMJDF4HYYvjOJlB4sgvhhYi8UGWylZizRK1D_Tx3oUfSKwf8LNtL7/s640/DSC_0022.JPG" width="580" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can smell the honey! Time to harvest - yet the thought of dressing up in a bee suit with heat indices over 100 degrees - well, it is just not going to happen. The honey and bees will have to wait.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8m_eF43ZBmsslHehpaviPohcQu0CblbHoY8cPKzoRszusCXNo6mMJt5S8zqgAT4SKBYab5dYKJXVdvIEP3WiesdSSgXOI8xNFxva2I1QXj_TyHOYWcRwD_EOHLajtJHnI1MXJjPi7709G/s1600/DSC_0028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8m_eF43ZBmsslHehpaviPohcQu0CblbHoY8cPKzoRszusCXNo6mMJt5S8zqgAT4SKBYab5dYKJXVdvIEP3WiesdSSgXOI8xNFxva2I1QXj_TyHOYWcRwD_EOHLajtJHnI1MXJjPi7709G/s640/DSC_0028.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom turkey strutting his stuff.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ljLYjTMsWFKvnbBZhBqiaZV56HtIpLTl1s0I78bwNie9sV8yqlWk03SPBR_xs2IC3H4gZOM5t2x5lPwSZdrtLNEg_eD7IrIT5RUAJGFv7_QnQKKkLY-JCurUytFoGV2Z2dlrh5rJUG8t/s1600/DSC_0025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ljLYjTMsWFKvnbBZhBqiaZV56HtIpLTl1s0I78bwNie9sV8yqlWk03SPBR_xs2IC3H4gZOM5t2x5lPwSZdrtLNEg_eD7IrIT5RUAJGFv7_QnQKKkLY-JCurUytFoGV2Z2dlrh5rJUG8t/s640/DSC_0025.JPG" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Afternoon pecking </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5t62cEsRTcmW705YUm6-ZElbtvWCf6XUgZzU24p-_mtFos9T6B14FZFKx5B8ImAzf-tfv87ojLX4iAySE7Yof1JqbDW-i4yE3Uu9mXfKvoxFpQoqQ7eyrnGdjAwqubpw2-3Hf5rhdMuo/s1600/DSC_0026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5t62cEsRTcmW705YUm6-ZElbtvWCf6XUgZzU24p-_mtFos9T6B14FZFKx5B8ImAzf-tfv87ojLX4iAySE7Yof1JqbDW-i4yE3Uu9mXfKvoxFpQoqQ7eyrnGdjAwqubpw2-3Hf5rhdMuo/s640/DSC_0026.JPG" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Golden rod.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikQVmddLDCSBEh-5B4H1HOWovxhDdNmXNW4P9gH48cKufR_aZsnmOK3-c7suQwPo49XDfgT5AB0ppn4QyOBDonhp5g2MNaxlL3fo70kdeo0h9Bf00zZjcXQQ_PVfcvgALuUQZNZSzqeZkA/s1600/DSC_0031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikQVmddLDCSBEh-5B4H1HOWovxhDdNmXNW4P9gH48cKufR_aZsnmOK3-c7suQwPo49XDfgT5AB0ppn4QyOBDonhp5g2MNaxlL3fo70kdeo0h9Bf00zZjcXQQ_PVfcvgALuUQZNZSzqeZkA/s640/DSC_0031.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kitties in a box.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPr5p7F08CQNu2zfE8OftGTwsqVK0IbrDBsy4Z8h4LJLoZgPDo6BysyNmku7KwWVzNWEMQwQRTdwji0PMmECMic5t_743o9TZB1Qm28SftxqvTt6igILZdsigZ_d00qLVmaKXdHjdGuySU/s1600/DSC_0008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPr5p7F08CQNu2zfE8OftGTwsqVK0IbrDBsy4Z8h4LJLoZgPDo6BysyNmku7KwWVzNWEMQwQRTdwji0PMmECMic5t_743o9TZB1Qm28SftxqvTt6igILZdsigZ_d00qLVmaKXdHjdGuySU/s640/DSC_0008.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even more tri-colored mums.</td></tr>
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<b>Today's Journey Joys</b>: A nice southerly breeze in the heat, hydrangea, peony, and hosta transplanting, weeping willow starts in a jar, learning to make bread and butter pickles with our abundance of cucumbers, lettuce starts hanging-in-there in late summer's heat, caramel cinnamon pancakes with new friends.<br /><br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-74033814239023066932016-09-02T08:21:00.000-05:002016-09-02T08:21:50.146-05:00Random Late Summer Activities<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFjJ3TSrfQKKR6FFaleqBpxVjzb1dnJN62u4EUl734dNiMSchO3KnYJgbvKZu2l3rhQ4zDS1cPLdlmnZbTeuMZTr2fWvFxQln4a2Ld0VVTQqP50OTZVuxNCiBrv2qLcfR9q4PIaLk92xVN/s1600/DSC_0014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFjJ3TSrfQKKR6FFaleqBpxVjzb1dnJN62u4EUl734dNiMSchO3KnYJgbvKZu2l3rhQ4zDS1cPLdlmnZbTeuMZTr2fWvFxQln4a2Ld0VVTQqP50OTZVuxNCiBrv2qLcfR9q4PIaLk92xVN/s640/DSC_0014.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bi-colored lilies , done for the year.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNK_PtOlobVnj1G5At2tITaJWjLS9rLm1PjBtfKRn1jd2ghDaAb5Qv3PlEVBl9uYSi91DfOAF8uS2ZY5rl_NT6QelVWyzq6Ci7pIcxG-bF42a4EpRpSChpq8X6YcfihoPS4m4xW5-sQMA/s1600/IMG_1256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNK_PtOlobVnj1G5At2tITaJWjLS9rLm1PjBtfKRn1jd2ghDaAb5Qv3PlEVBl9uYSi91DfOAF8uS2ZY5rl_NT6QelVWyzq6Ci7pIcxG-bF42a4EpRpSChpq8X6YcfihoPS4m4xW5-sQMA/s640/IMG_1256.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These keep on blooming!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiyEEc1JJrdu2XN70krNipp-V68XF3vo_z_nlIuL8Ld_yXfCkrnXohMs-lR2BjIMjH-DU2Q14ok8Col3U1E5kfbbch20ncLKoHf9sfLYm9B69wIeZupn2YWmcSt1sOkgV1qUfeIaKQsnkL/s1600/IMG_1362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiyEEc1JJrdu2XN70krNipp-V68XF3vo_z_nlIuL8Ld_yXfCkrnXohMs-lR2BjIMjH-DU2Q14ok8Col3U1E5kfbbch20ncLKoHf9sfLYm9B69wIeZupn2YWmcSt1sOkgV1qUfeIaKQsnkL/s640/IMG_1362.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tomato hornworm...ugh. Defoliating my poor cherry tomatoes. At least the chickens like them!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJijpvOvKvpZ0jXk-lIR4WqYNMa8Hap_DzsrcNhd-32DZwK79BWoRtUb2r6jcXcvetk5H-MuNwjQ6Bw-_aqN013Z04YoE3P5TdSGJlZ3czSkMMjDm2v1Sjjt1UXy4B7j3gEfzi6BjLQ0cN/s1600/IMG_1363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJijpvOvKvpZ0jXk-lIR4WqYNMa8Hap_DzsrcNhd-32DZwK79BWoRtUb2r6jcXcvetk5H-MuNwjQ6Bw-_aqN013Z04YoE3P5TdSGJlZ3czSkMMjDm2v1Sjjt1UXy4B7j3gEfzi6BjLQ0cN/s640/IMG_1363.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These guys are just a little over a month old. Happy in their pasture. <br />Safe from predators with electric fencing and overhead netting.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNOSDNZ7vK5fP33SpK_eQ_Yv53gvs5YN1TTk7rjlhofHEKpQa9Ugo-WvcnF-Loi5-Eap2mEM6ii-WCwuiY7dlGRtPcmr7ILrNu42xrG9P73W7v4Dq-XShGIqtushX-fW9QSTXYM7SO8gM6/s1600/DSC_0008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNOSDNZ7vK5fP33SpK_eQ_Yv53gvs5YN1TTk7rjlhofHEKpQa9Ugo-WvcnF-Loi5-Eap2mEM6ii-WCwuiY7dlGRtPcmr7ILrNu42xrG9P73W7v4Dq-XShGIqtushX-fW9QSTXYM7SO8gM6/s640/DSC_0008.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Farmer Husband Gary leveling out, moving dirt, and grading the hill so that we can <br />amend and plant more blueberries in the Spring.</td></tr>
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<b>Today's Journey Joys:</b> Sunshine and cooler temperatures! Golden leaves turning, the chirps, whistles and gobbles of our twelve turkeys, grape vines growing, a transplanted hydrangea, harvested leeks, sweet cherry tomatoes and ripening apples.<br /><br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7324435272207372130.post-82955503758609958912016-08-22T16:02:00.000-05:002016-08-24T07:03:03.017-05:00Late Summer Joys<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiInslfqmYPu5H9eX7mPT7lMWxh_Xj1hLO8kx3y8PUnGWufftGOfm9bWUjRz1OZsik7FXLyPQ5TFOvZWAXnTRkhCB9soJ-sOdcXX34m3waHShuBCAANdr3_enD3oXsC1WaXox_v8XWP05JC/s1600/DSC_0006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiInslfqmYPu5H9eX7mPT7lMWxh_Xj1hLO8kx3y8PUnGWufftGOfm9bWUjRz1OZsik7FXLyPQ5TFOvZWAXnTRkhCB9soJ-sOdcXX34m3waHShuBCAANdr3_enD3oXsC1WaXox_v8XWP05JC/s640/DSC_0006.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our peaches! Heavy, oh so heavy, the young branches bending like a fishing pole burdened. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTSJg5n6gQqUYUIoZaUqB7hgtn9rO_hS6cMGMtCY36i2QtATglIjl6xpCcRVumJ6NcxBiTf8mOyVZ70OPIB6qQQ99TuZelYO43nkDNMMmv_meMbMk18nrBmdplzZiQQRbs-ULNr6oisAb/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTSJg5n6gQqUYUIoZaUqB7hgtn9rO_hS6cMGMtCY36i2QtATglIjl6xpCcRVumJ6NcxBiTf8mOyVZ70OPIB6qQQ99TuZelYO43nkDNMMmv_meMbMk18nrBmdplzZiQQRbs-ULNr6oisAb/s640/DSC_0003.JPG" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The leaves took a beating from Japanese beetles but the fruit.... can you just smell the sweetness? <br />
The mouth watering, aromatic juiciness?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLnM14c7cwC5YWh1DWf4egpm39uwsYbrKM0Hm2XICSsfZmWn1bgXDS-v7pwYPUAdO8L3Ol1zP1wU-Skm9tqoL0kIXMQkTfFUtjh3laObza2hwMEKMvGqNiamZUbpvofazZhPmswp4xiLf/s1600/DSC_0005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLnM14c7cwC5YWh1DWf4egpm39uwsYbrKM0Hm2XICSsfZmWn1bgXDS-v7pwYPUAdO8L3Ol1zP1wU-Skm9tqoL0kIXMQkTfFUtjh3laObza2hwMEKMvGqNiamZUbpvofazZhPmswp4xiLf/s640/DSC_0005.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yum....</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8yMeQmKiGM8vvVJ-v47LiuQkKrZVh6mwPNaWcQO8PYORFR7ANa_tYIGt8G0ig7muJLpb3X2i0m4SfOLr6G48Pq80hZCP0-P0MQmuVekYzWIbpqzM_kBRkCQFhi81Sxj2hFCcxeS4s_v_/s1600/DSC_0015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8yMeQmKiGM8vvVJ-v47LiuQkKrZVh6mwPNaWcQO8PYORFR7ANa_tYIGt8G0ig7muJLpb3X2i0m4SfOLr6G48Pq80hZCP0-P0MQmuVekYzWIbpqzM_kBRkCQFhi81Sxj2hFCcxeS4s_v_/s640/DSC_0015.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The blooms and textures of late summer. Bumbles everywhere!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghluPD62w-2n20bYJ7XdRDkXpnbhlnc7lOqQqB_tn-2C2Y4I5Gx2SyxoJJYt4U5IgXVlILkOteiBQ1SDs7zWO1Fx3jSfmG8qdUOWfUYsjfqnaWJjQvImgOj7eaLROkkH85lMMvRnTVw8Vp/s1600/DSC_0160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghluPD62w-2n20bYJ7XdRDkXpnbhlnc7lOqQqB_tn-2C2Y4I5Gx2SyxoJJYt4U5IgXVlILkOteiBQ1SDs7zWO1Fx3jSfmG8qdUOWfUYsjfqnaWJjQvImgOj7eaLROkkH85lMMvRnTVw8Vp/s640/DSC_0160.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meadow gazing.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hFBuisd7oX7DJaozWJmmDGb8LPm9QSD5aWgmrJYKYy8el4xdMjxEcwa4KqGABi93-EurSq9yR5nbWd1XmZS0Ka7FEpx9AEev3AkmIbItBoW1j0MJ9-0ptCVjpwLP7s5CRF61GTgi1ns5/s1600/IMG_1232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hFBuisd7oX7DJaozWJmmDGb8LPm9QSD5aWgmrJYKYy8el4xdMjxEcwa4KqGABi93-EurSq9yR5nbWd1XmZS0Ka7FEpx9AEev3AkmIbItBoW1j0MJ9-0ptCVjpwLP7s5CRF61GTgi1ns5/s640/IMG_1232.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bouquets from zinnias and wildflowers on the farm.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXI1WXmPi3blhL5ArIHstP3sP-cULdkPn0Gf67cyZtWlR7fXTLTGJbWYGSfx0-FvdiD8oQSBOmBZ3iTfY39gygKhKrOT5la5hQXEAvLboK-Qy9yZLu9XVvg6LpS-tgATyi1P9eM4T2QY3i/s1600/IMG_1233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXI1WXmPi3blhL5ArIHstP3sP-cULdkPn0Gf67cyZtWlR7fXTLTGJbWYGSfx0-FvdiD8oQSBOmBZ3iTfY39gygKhKrOT5la5hQXEAvLboK-Qy9yZLu9XVvg6LpS-tgATyi1P9eM4T2QY3i/s640/IMG_1233.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's nothing like farm fresh peaches!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjDw4EDrDiMHmzCDJSMJFUIZSaCdqNMTFIBKlV-wcFa77AqxpVCdNGIzdk9GYH1THXvtIUdVGWi-FmhUSQvkbUEWW247Kfr6W_lV2Ldh6Qt1Xba_LnfJkaLYe74HVPb529a98s0rTrrmz/s1600/IMG_1240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjDw4EDrDiMHmzCDJSMJFUIZSaCdqNMTFIBKlV-wcFa77AqxpVCdNGIzdk9GYH1THXvtIUdVGWi-FmhUSQvkbUEWW247Kfr6W_lV2Ldh6Qt1Xba_LnfJkaLYe74HVPb529a98s0rTrrmz/s640/IMG_1240.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr. Toad....hopped his way right into the pole barn.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJKUuWecwsmFOkMX8gguMxqHbU22d9orcw7lDTjdMzmxRt2CuDeZy4aCOB4SyIMC-Tsn82op2oziUAWb0N0JsnkgtsHfL6CuatBsp6mZrUy8TJ10bQ5PxiYmPHykZhOffgC6Pa34eXMHN/s1600/IMG_1243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJKUuWecwsmFOkMX8gguMxqHbU22d9orcw7lDTjdMzmxRt2CuDeZy4aCOB4SyIMC-Tsn82op2oziUAWb0N0JsnkgtsHfL6CuatBsp6mZrUy8TJ10bQ5PxiYmPHykZhOffgC6Pa34eXMHN/s640/IMG_1243.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watch out little bee! Someone has her eye on you! <br />
(Thankful for the preying mantis - especially when they attack the beetles).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPBWdPIKo-OsaFmi30oAUnZFujBqfb7dy5ZdAzqI5BTgGEsTiCWW828p7hl3qyVRqgzyKuCPw8JE5k1ELcjbdqs8DpBncehn6E99KhIudT6tBehPWP6UiHTv8sJsyExjnuyqh9aSdEf0Ax/s1600/IMG_1254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPBWdPIKo-OsaFmi30oAUnZFujBqfb7dy5ZdAzqI5BTgGEsTiCWW828p7hl3qyVRqgzyKuCPw8JE5k1ELcjbdqs8DpBncehn6E99KhIudT6tBehPWP6UiHTv8sJsyExjnuyqh9aSdEf0Ax/s640/IMG_1254.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Butterflies everywhere!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfGrCz4eY5FenijAUjKH-Gol4dfR7Kr87omNtIxVW8ywBuOgT8XCeSrPiss7fy9OGSkNz_Bx3YqmHIfbkLeZKSKd8PvrWKPd56UoUAo5cB5WkZhtR0cHawMOQu2KyLEzRp1R2-Wi8JmtOG/s1600/IMG_1257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfGrCz4eY5FenijAUjKH-Gol4dfR7Kr87omNtIxVW8ywBuOgT8XCeSrPiss7fy9OGSkNz_Bx3YqmHIfbkLeZKSKd8PvrWKPd56UoUAo5cB5WkZhtR0cHawMOQu2KyLEzRp1R2-Wi8JmtOG/s640/IMG_1257.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sun rays among the wildflowers in late afternoon.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEj5CBhE-4TFPYdfeyXIuT3LYQmSCTfrZ6evqOmGX4Nc4NvTCc5p2jKWGn9e5xRTZfxcwS_bRpjoiycuRylSgmlRU6DTY8F4VaN3xEc0oS5xmEkwUnXIqJLkvymJ3bxU_SjSR-Q50cnmYF/s1600/IMG_1263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEj5CBhE-4TFPYdfeyXIuT3LYQmSCTfrZ6evqOmGX4Nc4NvTCc5p2jKWGn9e5xRTZfxcwS_bRpjoiycuRylSgmlRU6DTY8F4VaN3xEc0oS5xmEkwUnXIqJLkvymJ3bxU_SjSR-Q50cnmYF/s640/IMG_1263.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Decaying elm stump with fungal beauty</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMEGAf6GHEM3yx7YI007tzHF-4LSEA1vlwSv6p0VjeGRDBUSgkWD-bqIjg-xjxI769m6BX91uXaUE2gzRGh0HLEKGSYxAOcRlcIPDCQuJxk39s9FT5YjEn1HS6BAGwXgxVu2j7ex9NaC7K/s1600/IMG_1237+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMEGAf6GHEM3yx7YI007tzHF-4LSEA1vlwSv6p0VjeGRDBUSgkWD-bqIjg-xjxI769m6BX91uXaUE2gzRGh0HLEKGSYxAOcRlcIPDCQuJxk39s9FT5YjEn1HS6BAGwXgxVu2j7ex9NaC7K/s640/IMG_1237+%25282%2529.JPG" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prickly nectar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Today's Journey Joys: fresh coffee and encouraging conversation with a dear friend, school starts (all of them!), fall plantings and raspberry picking, peach jam, dinners with new pastors and their wonderful families, bright blue skies, comforting hugs, fresh tilled earth, and colorful farm fresh eggs.<br />
<br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08324830040398227202noreply@blogger.com