IT'S THE BEGINNING OF THE END: HARRY POTTER IS NO MORE!

I have been a little depressed lately, things haven't been the same around here.  I feel a little lost and I finally figured out why. One might not attribute the ending of the Harry Potter series with the ending of their life as they know it, but I DO.  It's over! And this means it's the beginning of the end of my life as I know it.  We were first introduced to Harry Potter when Maddie was five, we had just moved to Woodstock, IL and signed her up for school.  She said she went to school and all these kids are talking about this Harry Potter guy and she had no idea who he was.  So once that was clarified that he was a fictional character that performed awe inspiring feats of magic and not the boy sitting in the next room, Harry has been with us ever since.  And if you are keeping track, that is now 12 years. Meaning - life as I know it.  We grew up with Harry Potter, i mean my kids did and now that the end is here,   my life is over, as I know it.


Harry Potter and company in the beginning:

My children - in the beginning:

Last month I went and saw the last movie in the Harry Potter series - twice. Yes, twice.  and I was strikingly saddened by it all, but couldn't put my finger on it, i mean it's just a movie, right?  I've known the ending for years now - I read the book for goodness sake, so why was I so sad?  Then it dawned on me: truly the ending of Harry Potter is the beginning of the end.  We've spent the last 8 years here, that's from when Madison was 9 and Samantha was 11, that would be their entire teenage years, here on the farm, learning new things, homeschooling, going to high school and now college, raising ducks, rabbits, chickens, goats, birds, rats, cats, dogs, ferrets, fish, hermit crabs, horses and learning to ride. Having horses in their lives has been such an incredible experience that it certainly changed them deeply.  As Maddie once said, " If a girl can push around a 1000 lb. horse, she's never gonna let a man push her around!"

Now - it's over.




Harry and gang, now:

My girls, now:

It's over!  Do you know what that means? It means that the kids will be leaving me soon and they will no longer need me. WAAAAAAAHHH! I can't stand this! 

Samantha moved out last year after graduating high school, and then shortly there after Everett passed away.  So half our family left the farm and now  Madison is planning her escape.  We barely showed the horses this year, Maddie didn't want to and Sam just did a few in the spring - we used to do that nearly every weekend.  We didn't do 4H this year - that meant no fair.  We didn't go camping as much as i wanted and now that the camper is dead, i don't know what we'll do, buy a tent I guess, which is REALLY depressing.  See? It's the beginning of the end of my life as I know it.  So now what?  Now what am I supposed to do?  My children will all be gone, I won't get to be around them all the time, it's just me and Bob left here to TRY and keep up with the farm, which we can't even do now!  It's no wonder I am sad.

Perhaps I'll just find some kids to rent.

YES, JULY IS OVER AND I AM NOT KEEPING UP!



No that is not a check mark on the side with those "10's" there,
but m not really sure what they mean.

 Ok, everyone always asks, "How do you do it all?"  Well, I have a lot of help from Bob and the girls, and we have lots of friends that come out and help.  Plus we pay in cash.  But in all honesty, it never really does get all done.  How can it?  I have to take the time to make a livin' too.  and when you factor that in, well, then things get pushed to the side sometimes.  And even if my husband has the cushiest job in the world (college professor) were they pay him WAY too much money for what he does, and for the time he's there (his schedule for the fall is two classes on Monday and Wednesday, and remember he usually doesn't work in the summer), having him around a lot does lead to him doing a few things around here more then the average husband (yes, i am one lucky lady).  We still do have a "Honey Do" list, which by the way he wrote up this year, not me.  The list has about 15 items to do on it and we have tackled only about 2.

But boy have we been having fun!  We have fun just about every night: going to open mics, playing with the band, having barn parties, going to weddings, going to Thursday's on First (downtown street festival), camping, riding, you name it- we've done it.  Except what were supposed to do like clean the stalls.  And with all that fun, we run out of time for such things as fixing the barn door or repairing the girl's bathroom tub that should've been done three years ago.

So I fret, think about it and then say, "Oh well. It's not going any where, all those things will still need to be done. Whenever i get to them, i get to them."  And that's usually what happens.  I never worry.  It's wasted energy and all that really matters is what we HAVE gotten done and that's alot.  We:

1. got the garden in
2. had a good time
3. painted most of the barns
4. had a good time
5. fixed the trim on the garage
6. had a good time
7. fixed the horse's waterer
8. had a good time
9. Bob started rehearsals for his fall play
10. had a good time
11. i trimmed all the goat's hooves
12. had a good time
13. cleaned out the pole barn a little to make room for more hay
14. had a good time
15. fixed some fencing (this is a constant)
16. had a good time
17. did the farmer's market more often then projected
18. had a good time
19. got the fall garden things planted
20. had a really good time

So i guess we did get some things done.  And when you really think about life-  life has a practice of living you, if you don't live it.  I choose to live it, and love it!

It's just another day in paradise....

APPLE ALERT!

Yes, these are apples.  And yes this is the year for apples. I say this year because apple trees produce ALOT every other year, and it's the every other year, year. We have four apple trees and each year i say to myself, "I must get out there and get all those apples and make apple sauce and apple chutney and apple butter and apple pies and..."  but what do ya know? by the time the apples are ready i am SO done with canning tomatoes that i have no energy or gumption to even think of picking apples and making something out of them.  So again i get that "Blah!"  look on  my face and ignore the apples.  But i do give as many as i can to the horses, and the goats, and the deer don't have a problem coming around and eating them at night when were not looking. Deer are sneaky like that.

If anyone is interested in apple pickin' this year, call me!  I will be happy to share.

This is Ellisium, she is a happy goat.

PROCRASTINATION OR LAZINESS OR TAKING A BREAK?

I have been feeling incredibly lazy lately; i don't feel like working, doing anything or going anywhere.  And no i am not depressed.  I stare at the things that have to be done outside, inside and everywhere in between and i turn away and go, "Blah!"  Then i find something else to do, like blog.  So I will blame the relentless,  never ending heat wave that was here this week that put a damper on my fun, fast-paced lifestyle just so no one else can be blamed for such non-sense, as blaming someone for your own laziness makes about as much sense as blaming the weather man for the steaming heat index of 115 degrees. Which i will anyway, cuz it makes me feel better.

So due to the lack of air quality, the steaming windows, and my measuring the heat index as "minutes before dripping sweat, "  i totally avoided the garden because i had no choice:  the Heat index the past three days was "8 minutes before dripping sweat" and it takes longer than that just to seek out a zucchini.  And speaking of zucchini, did i not say that i would be finding some out there the size of a Volkswagen by the time i could return to the garden?  Well it was true!  After the heat wave broke last night, I awoke to a very nice 75 degrees and cool breeze this morning, so i ventured out to the garden.  Seeking out the ever elusive jumbo sized zucch!  Well I found it!  It was not quite the size of a Volkswagen but it was bigger then Edy's head.

HELLLLLP MMMMEEEEEEE! IIIIII'MMMMM MELLLLLLLTINNNNNGGG!

look at this!  LOOK AT THIS!  Even the horses are melting in this heat standing still!  Another day of "RealFeel" = 114 degrees!  What have we done to our world to screw up the weather so badly?

MADDIE'S LATEST RANT!

Here ya go - just what you've been waiting for!

Read the whole thing here: Maddie's Rant July

THE TRIALS OF COMMERCIAL WORK

I learn something new every day, and when it comes to long exposure times (which i don't work with very often)  i found out some new things: always use your remote, and when you don't get it right the first time- try, try again!

It took me three evenings and three days to get all these images done, but i am very happy with the results and so is Sontes (a local restaurant).