The Measurement of Time

Pre-School Graduation today for my Nephew!

10 Ways Which Time Has Been Measured This Week

10. My Nephew is 5 and is graduating from Pre-School. Huh wha...you were just a little baby like yesterday right. I attended your birth. You can't be 5 and having your first Graduation ceremony...it's just not possible.

9. I broke my ankle 7 weeks ago...I thought the pain was never going to go away. Last night I managed 20 minutes and .55 miles on the treadmill. I'm so thankful for fast healing bones. But why can't I heal up faster?

8. We replaced the barn roof over the weekend.....it was put on 30 years ago. This fact just smacked me in the face. I remember them building the barn...how is it 30 years old already?

7. The scale. You know that thing you weigh yourself on. Ummmm yeah. It's going in the wrong direction like every year. I'm going to have to start paying strict attention to that one.

6. Thursday lunches w/my Grandpa. This is a revelation to me. I remember when HE used to pick ME up for dates. Now it's the opposite. The circle of life.

5. When my Mum was my age.....I was Graduating from High School. Ummm hello! I still don't think that I'm mature enough to raise a child and my Mum did so successfully by my age. Thanks Mum!

4. Last night I was going through some pictures that I have taken over the last 4 years. And wow they have got progressively better. I can not wait to see how my photography is going to change in the upcoming year.

3. Yesterday on the 4 Wheeler .... I was cruising the nursery checking out trees. And I thought ... Wow this field is about cleared out. How is that possible. I remember very clearly planting it on a Saturday morning. I was late for week and still a bit tipsy from the night before. (lol) The realization hit me then....that was 14 Springs ago.

2. Polo starts next Friday night....it seems like forever since I've been to a match. But it's only been 8 months.

1. The last 12 months with my husband have been AMAZING! The way I gauge happiness has been forever changed and I'm just amazed and thankful daily for my fabulous life. Thanks honey...I love you more now than I ever have.

What about you? How have you measured time this week?

Broken Ankle Blues

Happy Spring Everyone!

I've been seriously short on free time over the last month and a half. My Mother-in-law (age 56) passed away suddenly about a month ago. And I'm laid up on the couch with a broken ankle as I am typing this.

I was stacking hay on Friday and stepped back to heave a bale up on the 5th row and my left foot went through a rat tunnel in the dirt floor. I of course went over backwards with the bale of hay. Fun times! So I have broken my fibula. I hate hay stacking with a passion now. And I'm stuck in the house with my leg elevated above my heart.

The bright side of this is that I can finally get to posting some of my winter photos and maybe learn Photoshop while I'm down. And definitely catch up on my blog reading. I've been reading along on my mobile but it's hard to post comments from it. See you at your blogs soon folks!

Harvest Time

Fall is the season of massive farm machinery. And days like the last two our area has been a literal hotbed of harvesters zipping down the road moving from one farm to the next.

Soybeans, dried down and ready for harvesting

Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat?

It's a game me and my computer are playing.

I'm wanting to post pictures to my blog....I go through all the proper steps.

and.....

the computer plays a trick.

In the form of an error. I can not download anything to the net because of a firewall. I can download anything I want from the net onto my computer though........an example of which would be the picture over there that I hijacked from AllPosters.com ......

but I can not download to the internet.

Does that seem bizarre to you?

Do you have a suggestion?

I'm taking pictures everyday. I put them in my computer. But I can not post them.

Isn't a firewall supposed to protect ME from viruses? My firewall is working in the opposite direction. If I can not come up with a fix by this weekend. I will pack the computer up for a trip to the Geek Squad (money I don't want to spend).

Can anyone help me? I'm getting seriously backup up with my Project 365 Pictures. HELP!

Polo Revolution

Now...can anyone figure out what point this guy is trying to make? He's rockin' a Che Guevara T-shirt, American flag, fanatical fan face paint, and a good ol' hamburger and french fries....at a polo match. Really I just want to understand....

Of course someone we all know and love took this to heart......

She came home and immediately set to work on her 'Manifesto'. She has some surprising and shocking views regarding Cats and Pet Health Insurance.

Eyebrows

Pup-Pup is well on the mend. She is still on leash lock down. Which as you can see is a major bummer for her.

Last week this blog received an award.....which you all know I love.......from JoMo at peaceofpi Studio

I'm going to nominate some blogs for this award. I love my blog community.....It's such a fun way to get to know people and new places. So here are 7 randomly picked links to blogs in my Google Reader. Happy surfin' folks!

Boyd & Silva Martin - Boyd's from Australia, Silva's from Germany. Both are living here in the USA pursuing equestrian carriers. Boyd recently became a US citizen....and I wouldn't have to go out far on a limb to say he will someday represent us on a US Team.

Robert La Follette - Stunning pictures....I visit to educate my eye!

Hillbilly Farm Girl - Born in Austria, living in Sweden. Horses and Jack Russell's, oh my.

Hannibal's Animals - Visit the Wildlife of Ohio. Beautiful pictures.

Occasional Scotland - Linda in Scotland...wonderful country, fabulous woman. She brings us along for a great ride.

Palos Verdes Daily Photo - Sunny California folks!

The Firefly Photo Files - Beautiful South Africa.

Please if you have blogs around the world that you like and would like to give them a little bit advertising please swipe the badge above and share some of your reading list. You can then ad your blog post here: Bloggista Info Link

A New Day

The sun coming up over the farm last month.

Hello Friends.....welp it's been significantly longer than a week since I last posted. Sorry! I still have no Internet connection at home. I set up text posting today, so I have no more excuses. I'm sitting in Starbucks posting this as I needed to escape my office. It's just seems decadent to leave work and come here.

So here's where I attempt an explanation about why my posting has been at best erratic and at worse non-existent since November.

Short version:

**PORTION DELETED ON 11 MAY 2010....FOR PRIVACY PROTECTION (WILL GLADLY SHARE VIA EMAIL FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE DEALING W/A LOVED ONE W/AN ADDICTION)**

Okay...sorry for not fessing up sooner. But somethings you just can't share when the topic may hurt someone else. More on this later.

For tonight.....The POLO season is finally starting. So I'm off to put together my hamper for tonight's tailgating. Then off to Darlington for Polo under the lights. First chukka starts at 8pm. Have a great weekend everyone!

The Shy Side

I decide to give Macro Monday a go!

Nature's First Green Is Gold...

One my way home from dinner last night with Sisterella and the Munchkins...We saw the the most amazing sunset: orange, purple, pink, yellow. It filled the horizon. It was breathtaking and I didn't have my camera. I went to bed thinking about that sunset. Thinking that it would be a long time before I saw another such spectacular natural display.

I woke this morning tired and in a hurry to get to the office. Just as I had my hand on the doorknob, the memory of something that caught the corner of my eye as I was getting dressed came to light. I set my bag down and walked back to the bedroom. There on the sill in the most perfect morning light was this beautiful Orchid flower, reminding me that natures little displays are equally as spectacular and awe inspiring if only we take the time to look.

Bloggyland Surfin'

I've been cleaning stalls for 20 years.  Got a new pitchfork.  Got a blister.  Twice in the same spot.  What's up with that.  I want my old pitchfork back.  At least the handle.  Grrrr.

Checkin' in on a few of my bloggy land followers ... and some of my thoughts to go along.

Neas .... is on a 'fat followers' rampage.  Hey Neas...I'm a bit fluffy and have followers can I rage with you?

Lee Lee Lulubelle ... girl we are going to have a frog intervention for you!  A peak inside how my brain works.  Lent + Frogs on Lee lee's blog = Charleton Heston in The 10 Commandments.  Scary huh... that movie was always on at Easter and I was mortified as a child that frogs were possible hurt in the making of that film.  Going to have to rent it and banish weird childhood phobia.

Roxane ... Gave up commenting for lent.  Now for sure she has shut off commenting on her blog.  It remains to be seen if she has decided not to comment on other peoples blogs.  We have 40 days to find out.  My own Lent give up is going very very poorly...more on that tomorrow.

Shell's hubby has a naughty employee so she gets to go to her log cabin for the weekend.  If I obtain a naughty employee can I come to your cabin too?

DVM's corgi has the sexiest little legs in the land.  

Monica made me snort and laugh....over milk.  And I don't like milk.

Michele ... posted a picture on Sunday that I'm still thinking about.

Linda B ... has me falling hopelessly in love with Scotland an 'occasional photo' at a time.

Colorado Farm Wife ... went on a trip and is now talking about grass.  The last time I went on a trip and came back raving about grass it was the late 80's.

Claudia ... had wordless wednesday with out a picture.  Hope the muse comes back for you soon Claudia.

Trainwreck is heading down the road. ...erm... rails... ummm tracks?  Whatever... heading off.  No wait... Maybe he doesnt head or heal and that's why he's going.  Sigh what a confusing line of thinking.  But there is a JRT photo to be had....and that makes it all better.

The Wife ... is playing with bulls.  Really she is.  

Janie ... teachin' us about the oil industry.  Girl...I thought of you when I put a band-aid on the above blister.  The band-aid didn't hold though....so I thought of you when the darn thing fell off too. 

Blue Bird of Happiness

I'm not a collector of 'stuff'. I just don't have the patients to shop for things nor the time to try and keep anything clean beyond a basic living space. Sigh, lazy...possible. Impatient....very likely. Frugal....most definitely.

BUT....

I was so happy to buy this little guy. The money just flew out of my wallet with out a second thought.  When I was a kid my great-grandmother had one of these little guys on her kitchen window. About 4 years ago I was actually shopping (in a store...wonders never cease) with a friend at her favorite 'junk store' and I caught sight of a display of these on the shop window sill. I grabbed one for me and one for Mum.

The Blue Bird is on the window sill in my bedroom.  It never fails to remind me to smile when I catch a glimpse of it.  Maybe it's because Blue Birds are so rare to see in the wild, maybe it just reminds me of my childhood.  Perhaps it's that our stained glass windows at church are just the same magnificent shade of Sapphire.  Or it's a reminder of those days when the skys so blue that the sun is positively bursting right out of the sky.  Or the water in the gulf stream....that deep blue that is bottomless and you can see the fish right through the water. 

I don't know....but that darn blue bird makes me happy!  In spite of the fleas, flu's, colds, and sinus headache's, just a short peak at it from under the quilts on the bed is enough to know that all's well in my world....even when the floor around the bed is covered in used Kleenex (ick).

Do you have any little trinket or treasure that you've found that just reminds you to smile?  That reminds you that life is wonderful?

The Simple Woman's Daybook February

Outside My Window...The snow is flying, the sky is grayish white, the farrier is pulled up to the barn, and the drive is suitable for a hockey rink.

I Am Thinking...Snow Shoes, can't be that hard to use.  The JRT's need a good run.  And I definitely need more physical activity.

I Am Thankful...A roof over my head.

From The Kitchen...Sprouted Grain toast with butter, cinnamon & honey, my favorite comfort food.

I Am Wearing...Black yoga pants, zip up polar fleece pullover, and Uggs.

I Am Creating...Converting the business's from Quickbooks to MS Office Accounting.  And trying to learn Microsoft Office Live

I Am Going...Barnes &Noble, x-mas gift cards still to use.  And new book is just the ticket.

Reading...Through A Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen (Just started it.)

I Am Hoping...That business is going to pick up.  Yesterday Obama comment about 'trying' to fix the economy before the next election run in three years time was a bit of a startle.  Was hoping for 12 months.

I Am Hearing...Forced air furnace.

Around The House... lumber, drywall, screws, nails, a saw, a pre-hung door.  I'm getting a closet in my bedroom.  The first bedroom closet I've had in 15 years.  And it's going to be big enough for a washer and dryer.  Oh my!  The excitement is palpable.

One Of My Favorite Things...Harney & Sons Chinese Flower Green Tea

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...Closet building, stall cleaning (lots and lots of stall cleaning).

The Picture Thought I Am Sharing...loved looking at these icicles they were a solid wall down the length of the building.  Under there somewhere is a rain gutter.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside My Window... an orange and white feral cat is walking along a field of Euonymus alatus 'compacta' aka Burning Bush, marking his territory.

I am thinking... I could really use a little sunshine.  Just an hour or so would be so very nice.

I am thankful... Charlotte Pup Pup!  Her bright disposition and energy are contagious.

From the kitchen... Vegetable soup with leeks Rosemary & thyme.

I am wearing... A wonderful comfy light grey polar fleece with bell selves, split sides and a Mandarin collar.  The cuffs, collar and hem have blanket stitching.  It was a wonderful post Christmas gift from my Mum, purchased at Coldwater Creek.  The rest is the daily uniform of jeans and lace up work boots.  

I am creating... project boards.

I am going... to the barn.

I am reading... Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days At Pemberly by Linda Berdoll (sigh)

I am hoping... for a nice birthday... Sunny!

I am hearing... An Excavator, footsteps, papers shuffling.

Around the house... things are quiet.  The JRT's need a nice long walk.

One of my favorite things... Mr. Darcy

A few plans for the rest of the week... A night out (hopefully), more painting at Sisterella's (probable), stall cleaning (most definitely).

The picture thought I am sharing... I need a bit of color.  The closest thing to sunshine in the my archives.  Acer palmatum var. 'Bloodgood' aka Bloodgood Japanese Maple in fall glory. 

The Many Colors Of Smoke

12:59:19 PM

First let me say....this is an abandoned trailer at a farm.

DVM's Wife wrote a post last week.  And because of it I remembered to get two new smoke detectors.  (So thank you DVM's Wife).  While perusing the instructions for the proper place to hang the new ones.  I noticed the strange fact that Mobile Homes need about two to three times the amount of detectors as stick built homes.  Interesting I thought.

Come Saturday I got a lesson in why.  I went to my Mum's to help her make x-mas cookies... I'll leave that experience to another blog.  But afterward we walked over to a farm that they purchased where clean up is in progress.  

The boys had pushed this trailer off of it's foundation and were in the process of lighting it up.  This fire was lite w/out an accelerant.  The first couple of pictures were taken about 1 1/2 minutes before the top one.

I totally 100% get why mobile homes need so many smoke detectors now.

1:01:39 PM

Black, Dark Gray, Light Gray, White....smoke comes in many colors.  All represented here. 

1:02:16 PM

1:07:36 PM

Test and change batteries on smoke detectors folks....and if you have a travel trailer or mobile home.  YOU NEED AT LEAST ONE IN EVERY ROOM.  Were talking seconds to get to safety.  When it was all said and done this thing went from first flame to on the ground in a matter of about 9 minutes give or take a few seconds....along with several trees.  And Ohhhh...the poor trees are being cleared to make room for more farmland.  Sigh....you all know how I love trees...so I was feeling a bit bad for them while all this was going on.

Russian Navy

Question?

Do you bother with your nails?

File, clip, buff, paint, ponder, pick, bite. Do you do anything with them? Or do you let someone else take care of them for you....you know a professional. A manicurist .... not your dog using them as a chew toy.

A couple weeks ago I posted a picture of my working hands. I have farm girl hands. Dry, scaly, calloused, cuticles messy...unkempt. And they have been that way since...well forever I guess. I remember at a high school sleepover all us girls sitting around giving each other mani's and one of the girls saying 'Oh my gosh your hands are so rough!'  I was shocked...until she preceded to have everyone feel my hands and mine theirs. She was right. I didn't have girly girl hands. I had farm hand hands.

But every so often I shape my fingernails with a file, buff, push cuticle, and slap a couple coats of paint on....like this picture (I didn't mean to take a picture of my hand....I meant to take a picture of a wildflower whilst brush hogging). Yeah I go for the shocking colors too! That's OPI 'Russian Navy'. I have four bottles of nail polish. Blue, Red, Pink, and a weird clearish pinkish whitish color.

The paint never lasts though. Because I work with my hands. So in a couple days they are completely chipped and a mess.

So ....... Fess up!

Combine Harvester

I have an amazing life....a big part of what makes it so amazing is the wonderful people that I am surrounded by.  My Mum is married to Jeff who has a dairy and crop farm in Volant.  They farm about 850 acres and milk 80 head.  Things are always happening there.  Trucks, tractors, and equipment zooming in and out of the drive and around the farm yard.  I caught this photo of their Combine Harvester coming up the drive of the home farm as I was getting in my car after a visit with Mum.  I had just enough time to snap one shot.  And am so glad it turned out to be a good one.

Japanese Fall Glory

My very most favorite tree in the yard. The beautiful Acer palmatum var. atropurpureum 'Bloodgood' aka Bloodgood Japanese Maple. I will post some pictures of the different variations of the Japanese Maple in a couple of days. All beautiful. This one is of course very old.

Bonfire

Sisterella called and wanted to know if we would pull a hayride and have a bonfire for her friends and their monsters....oooppps I mean kids. (Halloween joke people I don't really think that they are monsters!) Anyway. Chad thought this would be a good time to burn all the smaller branches that were not going to be used as firewood.
I'll just put a little diesel fuel on and light 'er up. He said. Well he started this brush pile up at 5:30. Good thing to. 'Cause the flames were a good 35-40' high. Hardly an appropriate fire for smores.

Mamacita

Mamacita

Mamacita is our farm cat.  She's not a pet.  But rather an valued employee.  She can be found all over the nursery taken care of business.  Mice, moles, voles, rabbits...  You name it, she eats it.  

She didn't even have a name....or at least I thought she didn't till I overheard bits and pieces of a conversation that a couple of the guys were having.  She was hanging around the garage during lunch break.  Moochin' lunch meat on her break.  They were calling her Mamacita.  So it just stuck.  I pretty much lay eyes on her everyday.  She just sorta pops up in various locations.  And when the hunting gets tough.  She'll hang out in the barn waiting for the horses to come in so she can get a bit of cat chow.  She'll get close enough to rub on your leg and tolerate a scratch behind the ear on occasion... Otherwise she keeps to herself.  She sure is pretty though and very much appreciated.

PTSD Over The Black Locust Part 6 The End

At what point do you stop referring to a tree trunk... As a tree trunk and start referring to it as a log?

The jaggy stump.

And of course. My husband's girlfriend. The bane of my existence. The Stihl Farm Boss. After a big job like this hubby lovingly tears her down and puts on a fresh chain and oils her. PERLEASE. Wait a second. That's not a new chain is it? Pretty wicked lookin'.

So Far Side asked me what I'm going to plant?  That's a good question.  Today I'm going to take some pictures of the remaining trees in my yard.  And we'll have a sorta' kinda' vote on it, okay.  You can help me decide.  I do have a couple ideas.  And will dig out shots of prospective trees.

In a way I was born to be a tree hugger.  I'm a 4th generation nurseryman (woman)...but it's definitely something else too...trees are a wonderful part of God's creation for me.  They are miraculous really.  How they grow, survive, overcome damage, insure the survival of the species...a system so incredible perfect that I can not believe that there is anything random about their creation.  

When is the last time you planted a tree?  Take yourself, your kids, your grandkids, your niece and nephew, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, bestfriend, random person off the street, Jack Russell Terrier, whomever... out and plant a tree.  Fall is the best time to plant for most parts of the country.  Seedlings are cheap.  Or go to a nursery and ask for environmental or park grade.  Even if they are wholesale only....chances are they may be happy to part with the park grade to retail customers.

Fall is for planting.