REMEMBER WOODY FROM TOY STORY - PULL HIS STRING AND HE SAID, "THERE'S A SNAKE IN MY BOOT!" NOW I KNOW HOW HE FEELS!

Yes, OMG!  Uber, major, heebie jeebie, creep out morning: went to put on my shoes to go do chores, when I  felt something squishy in my left shoe. Thinking "How the heck did someone get a pile of poop in my shoe - or - did I step on a big pile last night when it was dark out and i had to fill the water tank for the horse?"  So I pick up my shoe and look into the toe area, but I can't really see anything so i lean the shoe over the sink and tap on the bottom.  Kerplunk! Out falls a SNAKE! A SNAKE! IN MY SHOE!!

  I did the icky oooey dance for about 10 minutes, did a little oooooooo (shaking violently), I had thoughts of calling Madison back home from school to remove the snake from the sink with no concerna aboutr her schooling, the teacher would understand, " Sorry i am late teacher I had to save my mother from a man eating, fire breathing 8" gardner snake."

No i couldn't do that but what? All I was thinking now was get that damn thing outta my sink!  I didn't know what to do. He was just lying there, i know scared to death, he was pooping everywhere.    All i knew is I wanted him gone and i was the only one home that could do it.  Do i nail a board across the sink and wait til Maddie comes home to remove him?  Can't do that - she won't be back for another 5 hours and what if he escapes?  Then i have him wandering around the house and I don't know where he is, he could show up in another shoe or perhaps my bed!    EEEEEEewwwww!  (Shiver)

So i suck it up and grab a towel, thinking I could just wrap him up in it and throw him out the front door.  But then i realised that I can't do that, he'll just shimmy right out the towel, I'll drop him on the floor, he'll take off and I'll be screaming bloody murder while watching him writher around my kitchen getting all freaked out at the woman screaming at him when all the little guy really wants is to get the frick outta my house!  We were in this together now.

So my next thought process is a plastic bag.   I can properly hold him by the throat while using the plastic bag and not have any way to physically come in contact with his body. As i reached into the sink for him I noticed he looked a little bedraggled and worn and i realized he probably was bought in by one of the cats last night or this morning so he wasn't moving very fast. I picked him and tossed him out over the front porch into the flower bed and watched as he just laid there for awhile, probably quite disturbed and disorientated. 

This is no way to wake up in the morning And now, an hour and half later I can still feel the chills up my entire body thinking of how that felt in my shoe, wondering if i had left him alone if he would have entangled himself in my toes....(big shiver still happening). This may take a few days to get over.

And NO!  I didn't get any pictures!

YEAH! AN ALL NEW WATER WELL PUMP! WE HAVE WATER PRESSURE! WAIT! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SOUND?

We lost water a few weeks back after we had that big rainfall and on Sunday (of course, it HAD to be a Sunday), our water stopped running.  So we called in the experts at the well company to see what might be going on.  Last time this happened, a mouse had gotten jammed up into the switch and died causing it not to work, this time it was a snake!  Yikes, me?  I don't like snakes, never have, never will.  Anything that moves along without any legs is not something that I think is right.  Not right at all.

Anyway… this was something we knew would come at some point:  we had to replace the pump.  I don't know why, i mean look at it, it looked pretty efficient to me:

This is where it hides in the ground, under the old windmill armature 

That's the thingy to turn the pump on and off

This is some kinda tank thingy.  Don't know why that's there.

I guess this happens, things get old, they go bad, but how bad was it?  I mean we could last a little while longer, right?  Not according to our expert here, he said, "On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most efficient, perfectly running pump out there, yours is at about a 1 1/2."

Well, that means we have a little time left, right?  I mean it's not dead yet?  It's got 1 1/2 left in it!  He gave me the look; that one eyebrow up in the air, head cocked look of, "Really, lady?" So i guess that wasn't gonna fly with the man, so we decided to go ahead and take care of the pump once and for all.

And all that extra money Bob made for picking up a class this summer, literally went down the drain.

But i got excited when the promise of taking a shower and doing a load of laundry at the same became too real.  From now on could we actually NOT have to announce to the household that we were taking a shower so no one would flush the toilet while we were in there?  Could we actually have the dishwasher going at the same time we were scrubbing our bodies?  It seemed too good to be true. We got all excited at the prospect of good water pressure!  Ahhhh, the little things in life.

The new pump delivery and hook up was scheduled to arrive yesterday. We waited patiently for the well guys to arrive and at long last about 11 am our knights in shining armor (blue work uniforms) came bounding down the driveway on their white stallions  (white pick up trucks) and brought with them the best treasure of all:  a shiny new water well pump! It was special: it was bluuuuueeee and it had new hoooooses and it looked all - perfect!

Tall, really tall!

Specializing in "Country Water"  yes!  that's for us.

After they arrived we waited with baited breath for the imminent water pressure we dreamed of.  And within two hours they were done.  They said turn on your faucets and allow it to drain out for a little while.  Then they took off out into the sunset on their mighty steads.

But within minutes, our water had stopped and there was nothing coming out of the faucets.  Bob got on the horn and called them right back.  The boys returned, worked a little magic and when we turned on the faucet, black sludge came out.  Turns out they had put a new pipe in that they pushed right through the old one, so it got a little clogged.  But to our relief, our water was on, there was pressure, and boy oh boy did we have fun!  I mean i went all out:  we turned on the washer, I got in the shower, I even flushed the toilet all at the same time to see what would happen!  It was great!  The water pressure didn't go down to a trickle like before when the washer was running, but it did get WAY too hot when i flushed the toilet.  Oh well, can't ask for everything, it's still an old house.

We basked in the glory of perfect water pressure and a new pump for nearly five hours.  Then the worst happened.  We came home to find the basement with an inch of water in it and the sound of a torrential downpour seeping through the house.

Not only did we have no idea what was going on, we had no idea how to stop it. Yes, logically, it would have been wise to turn the pump off, but it was 9 pm, dark and as you saw in the previous pictures: not someplace you want to be hanging out in the dark.  So i found a lever that i pulled on and the sounds of the waterfall behind the wall silenced slightly.  We went to bed and hoped for the best.

This morning we called them back and they immediately came out to see what was up.  Well, that's when we were socked with the bad news:  the new pressure busted the old pipes!  Now we need to replace all the piping leading from the pump to the house.  Found out that it had never been replaced. These poor "country water" boys hadn't ever seen anything this old before.  Now mind you, they wouldn't have because this house is 125 years old.  I don't think there was indoor plumbing back then, but whenever it was put in, it wasn't made to last this long.

Well, there goes the next five summer's worth of extra money down the drain.  Goodbye new camper!

HOW MUCH FUN CAN ONE PERSON HAVE? (WELL, TWO OR MORE PEOPLE I GUESS)

So what is all this fun i've been talking about that we had in July?  It's all here in pictures:

The Artists Happy Hour at the Rochester Civic Theatre's Outdoor Patio

A Be CD release party in the Barn Bar.  Bob plays mandolin with these boys and they asked him to record with them on their new CD.  So we had a release party.

Then our band Blue Monk played at the Olmsted County Fair. This is Madison's fine artwork:

"yeah, I'm with the band."

And our band played at the Rochester Civic Theatre's Friday Night Bistro:

And Bob played with Ted at Daniel's NorthWoods Lounge:

Of course, we were at Thursday's on First and Third every Thursday (except for that one day that was 110 Degrees)

Image compliments of Don Vaughan

So with all this playing out we had to practice a little.  So our friend's Susan and Roger made us all pizza in their outdoor brick oven after we practice on their farm called Squash Blossom Farm.

Maddie took her training horse Maui out to Haycreek for her first real trail ride.  I think she liked the water!

oh small pic!

And I got published on the cover of Rochester Women Magazine!

Annnnddddd…. We got some tomatoes out of the garden.
Phew!  i am exhausted just thinking about it!

MY FAVORITE AUTHOR IS AT IT AGAIN...

Here it is in all it's glory:
Maddie's Rant

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.