Tag: rambles

Hanging in there

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

It has been such a silly spring it’s truly unreal. So remember how I said we were having warm weather and I was stuck inside last update? About the time work started slowly ironing out, the temperatures plummeted and we went back into winter time. It only started warming up again this last week, and unfortunately I’ve earned myself a case of walking pneumonia so I haven’t been able to be out in it much yet.

That said, we got a few things done around here. The garden beds are starting to get cleaned out. It’s slow going, but we are separating bulbs, weeding, planting and replanting, and laying down some weed control and bark. It’ll be really pretty when we pull it together. And a little easier to manage. We are looking for pretty ground cover that flowers or stays nice all summer, or for a series of flowers that will bloom one after another and every year, so they are always attracting pollinators. I’ve been looking into chaos gardening, but I’m not quite ready to commit yet.

As you saw in the video, from three weeks ago, The canal was burned and cleaned out and it started filling up about a week later. Really stressed out the girls because they started filling it in the middle of the night. Very unusual, I never did hear why. But it also filled super slowly, I think it sat at halfway for almost a week. Probably because it started freezing again. Craziness. It’s full now though, and just so pretty. Such fun to have that “babbling brook” sound while you’re working around the farm. 

The girls have had a lot of lazy days lately, although we had the big vet day. All but Nellie got vaccinated, but the vet agreed that there’s two issues at play with Nellie and we need to address them separately. First she’s terrified of the needle, so I’ve been working on that with her for a few months and while the vet call and my getting sick set us back, we will probably be able to vaccinate in a couple weeks (the vet isn’t really worried because right now they don’t really interact with a lot of other animals, so we can prioritize making it a good experience.). We realized that the second issue is that she’s still just terrified of new people working with her. She panics before we can even get to the checkup. That ones a little harder to solve, but we will get there. I’m still so proud of her, and all the animals on the farm, they all did fantastically. It was Honey’s first big kid checkup, and other than turning me into a pincushion, she handled it like a champ. She was a little mad at me for a couple days, but she quickly decided we could be friends again. Didn’t help that she needed her rabies booster, that makes all the critters unhappy.

Nobody has gotten a garden in yet, almost any time we’ve gone to plant, it’s frozen overnight again. As much as I really wanted a big garden this year, I think it’s much more reasonable to get some potatoes in the ground and start prepping for next year. I hate to give up, but this spring is proving a battle, and I think it might be the smartest to work within our constraints for now. Plus potatoes are dope so I’m excited to be growing them. Lots of potato based recipes I want to try. For my fellow Psych fans out there, I wanna get brave and try “fries cuatros quesos dos fritos”. For my non Psych fans out there, go watch Psych, the first seasons especially will explain a lot about my humor haha.

We found some more Easter eggs today in the garden. I’m honestly surprised we haven’t found more, but it’s a running joke that I find Easter eggs all year long around the farm. We hide so many throughout the gardens, I figure there’s a few that are probably composting out there at this point.

Did anyone get to see the northern lights? We got them really faintly here, but they were so cool. Amazing to see them all the way down here. This far south, it’s a “tell the grandkids one day” moment. Very very cool.

Anyways, I wish I had more of an update for ya. I’ve kinda come to the conclusion that this spring is just a bit rough around the edges. Hoping it means there’s a great summer around the corner.

Until we chat again my friends!

All For Now!

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

Last update of the year!

Unfortunately it’s kinda a boring one. I’ve been working 16 hour days and weekends to pull off a project at work and it’s sorta come at the detriment of the farm. But I guess going into winter is a good time to start slowing down.

We have not yet got the permanent hay storage up, but we’ve made progress! We had a pretty wet, stormy period of time that sorta slowed us down, on top of work, but I finally got enough wood salvaged for the beams and as soon as I can find the fittings I need, we will be good to go. It should just be a trip to Home Depot, but it’s been hard getting away lately. But I kinda need a few brackets and things to make this work… I think. Do you trust me to build a thing? Juries out on the side of the screen haha. 

Full disclosure, I’m writing this just a little before Thanksgiving, because I doubt I’ll have much time the rest of this week, but I’m going to assume it’s going to be a fun holiday because it always is. We have lots of little ones running around, and usually some spirited board games. I’ve bought the pies and drinks, turkeys, ham, and all the fixings will be coming in potluck form day of. I’m pretty excited!

The wild turkeys have heard its Thanksgiving and are pulling some serious mafia behavior, including trying to break into my neighbors home

The horses have gotten to be lazy because of the weather and my schedule, and because Ro continues to struggle with her cracked hoof. It’s not really hurting her, but it’s also not very stable. It’s been pretty hard getting the mud to stay out of it, which always worries me. But she’s in good spirits and she’s giving her all in work and in play, which probably explains the cracked hoof haha. She’s my little firecracker, injuries and all. 

Nellie Belle on the other hand is absolutely thriving. She surprised us so much the other day, she’s not wanted to take her mask off because of the velcro noise and I can’t really blame her. But I was gearing up for an argument, and bless her heart, her arguments usually end in my bruises. But she worked so hard and took her mask off, and I was so proud of that alone, but then, just in case I wasn’t blessed enough, she then offered to put her face back in it and took if off and put it on several times for me! And she’s done it a couple times since too, we’ve been casually keeping up on it. She’s so amazing!

Look at these breathtaking sunsets we’ve been getting! It’s been unreal, I’ve been standing outside in the freezing cold to watch these, its so worth it

I’ve been learning about wood fungus lately. Unfortunately I learned the hard way, by writing a too big check from my emergency fund to keep my house from caving in. I mean, it wasn’t quite that dramatic, but the end result was an eventually unplanned elevator to the crawlspace under the house. Luckily we caught it before that, because that’s a little too green acres, even for me. Anyways, we’ve had more contractors in the house and I’m starting to think November is cursed house repair wise and… anyways.

Yall, I tried an apple sauce cake cheat recipe the other day, and it was so good! And that’s coming from someone who generally despises apple based sweets of any kind. It was super simple, a box mix of yellow cake, apple sauce, and some eggs. Then you add some cinnamon and sugar, swirl, and tada, 30 minutes later: cake! We had it with ice cream and powdered sugar and, oh my goodness, it was tasty. It kinda reminded me of coffee cake but without the crumble on top. Which, now I kinda wanna make more apple sauce cake and a coffee cake. I haven’t made a coffee cake in a very long time, but they used to be my favorite thing on a Sunday morning. I might be baking this weekend, and not just for Thanksgiving. 

Anyways guys, I really appreciate you all being understanding about my taking December off for the holidays. It’s really going to take the stress off, especially because work is making it hard to get even a little free time.  I’m sure I’ll check in, I probably can’t stay away that long, and I wish you the happiest of Thanksgiving, full of food and love and gratitude. 

Until we chat again my friends!

Busy, Busy

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello Friends!
It’s definitely not been very chill around here, but there’s not a whole ton of farm news.
We’ve been trying to rig up some hay covering, some of which you will see in an upcoming video, but it continues to be a thing, I think I am just going to have to bit the bullet and go spend a little money on the lumber I need, instead of just shimming together a bunch of pieces. I was hoping this would be a no spend project, but I’ve already had to buy a new tarp so that’s a long gone dream. Hoping in the next catch up I can tell you how we solved it. Eventually I am going to build a more permanent storage for hay but there’s a lot more planning and steps that need to go into that.
We also blew up a fuel line in the flatbed working on this, which was just such a fun little side quest. I’m pretty sure that truck really needed that new hose anyway, but the timing was comically wonderful and practically quite annoying. Again, that will be in the November video, since it happened after I had to post October’s.
We’ve had lots of house guests and visitors as of late, lots of family friends we haven’t seen in a long while, and it’s always lovely to have friends stay. It’s always a little awkward for me, because working from home means I sorta say “good morning!” and then turn into a hermit for ten hours, but everyone is pretty chill about it. I’ve said it a million times, and I’ll say it again, the pandemic was awful, no good, very bad, BUT the change in understanding toward remote work was huge and very helpful. So… silver lining.

We had (or maybe still have? technically all of this is unconfirmed) a mountain lion hanging nearby for a bit. Luckily I did not see it, I only heard about it from neighbors, but I was super on edge for a while. Then, one day, I was sitting on the porch after a morning of chores, and I heard a rifle shot. That in itself is not unusual, although not common, you usually hear the occasional shotgun or small handgun, but not rifles. Anyways, that already sounded odd so I stood up to walk over to the pasture, when suddenly I heard the sound of panicking yelling and screaming and THREE more rapid rifle shots! This is insanely unusual because, for one, a neighbor would have to be exceedingly loud for us to actually hear them, and rifles are not usually panic-fired around here, because this isn’t a hunting spot and … and you shouldn’t panic-fire any weapon. It unsettled me so I shouted for Dad and rushed the dogs in the house, and the horses took off for the barn, but in the panic the bicyclists that had been randomly going by our house had fallen/dove off their bikes at the noise and so I was concerned they were hurt (they were fine). Dad came flying out and we sorta checked everything the best we could, and I explained what I had heard, and Dad said it sounded very much like someone probably had to put down the mountain lion, which would explain the rifle, the shouting, and the weirdness of how it all went down. We don’t get a lot of more aggressive wildlife beyond coyotes and wolves (thank goodness) so it would make sense that someone was a little caught off guard. Again, it’s unconfirmed, but honestly, I like that better than what I was initially imagining (not that I love a mountain lion getting potentially murdered, but ya know, I watch a lot of true crime).
Finally, we’ve just had so much fun family stuff happening. My cousin blew up his transmission and was using our shed to fix it. That in and of itself is not fun, but the fact that I got to see a lot of my cousins after work each day for a couple weeks was fun. Another of my cousins got engaged! They’re a lovely couple so we are so unbelievably happy for them. They are such a cute little family already, I’m excited they get their ceremony soon. Another family member got a promotion and one got a new job so we got to celebrate those things, and the big one: we had a bit of a surprise wedding (and it wasn’t the cousin who got engaged)! Got a call to meet them at the courthouse, they think they might have a celebration later on when life calms down, but they wanted to be Mr and Mrs now. It was a fun little weekday celebration.
So, ya know, now it’s probably more evident why I haven’t gotten a lot done since we last chatted. Just so much family stuff! I love it, but when I tell you I am so far behind it’s unreal. I hope this blog doesn’t disappear unexpectedly because I haven’t done a back up in a hot minute, I really need to clean the tack room, and, ya know, fix the fuel line, and the hay storage. Lots to do, lots to do, and work just needs more and more attention. This adulting thing is hard!
Until we chat again my friends!

Let’s Make a List

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello Friends!

Well, it’s officially starting to feel fall-ish around here. It’s chilly in the mornings, and there’s harvesting in full swing. Although I will admit, in this part of the world, the weather was so uncooperative all season that a lot of my local farmers have already started packing it in for the year, it’s just been a really hard one.
Usually I just get a little bummed this time of year and try to hold on to summer as long as I can, in full denial until the snow flies. Sometimes even after the snow flies, feel free to ask Ro and Nel how often the three of us end up huddled in blankets by the burn barrel after a work session because I can’t quite commit to staying indoors. I’m a “It’s fine, it’ll warm up” kinda person until December.

BUT!

I have decided this year to try to embrace Autumn. Don’t get me wrong, I fully intend to hold on to the hot weather for as long as I can, but I am also going to try to enjoy the feelings of fall as much as I can. So, I’ve decided to make a list of things I want to do this Autumn that normally I would ignore until it’s too late. Maybe my list will inspire you too, or you can add to mine with your great ideas!

To start, I wanna embrace the cozy. So, on the list goes “read a mystery novel with a warm bev by the window”. Admittedly this is a thing I already do sometimes, but I want to make a point to slow down and recognize it as a joy of the season. Full on, just like in the movies, curled up with a blanket and the dogs, the whole shebang. I want to bake a cobbler or pie, which is easy enough because my uncle loves my cobblers, and I do love the smell in the house. I intend to make lots of cookies too, but that’s less of a fall thing and more of an all the time thing because I really like cookies. I also want to try more soup recipes, because as the boys get older they are more willing to put up with my soup dinners (we are a meat and potatoes kinda household) and I want to take full advantage. Like, veggie soups, chicken noodle, potato, all the soups.

Outside the house, I would like to take some fall walks. I was hoping to get into walking this summer but work sorta demanded more time than it had a right to, and I sorta let it happen, so we are kinda just rolling over a goal here, but I think it would be so pretty as the leaves change. I also would like to go apple picking, I live 5 miles from a U-Pick orchard, you would think I would take better advantage. I have been peach picking once, but I LOVE apples so I would love to go picking for snacks. Thing is, I absolutely hate apple desserts, so I really only need to pick a handful.

Full Disclosure, I literally wrote this, immediately went to the farmers market and got peaches, came home and made a peach cobbler. So… list is working!

I do love apple cider though, and since coffee is no longer a thing I can have, I intend to fully indulge in warm apple cider… and hot chocolate, all Autumn long. It’s only fair since I’ve had to give up my mint coffees for Christmas. I want to find a yummy mint tea, but that’s more of a long term goal.

I want to pick a good fall tv show to curl up with too since I’ll be inside more, and pick out a puzzle or two, and I think I need to pick up my crochet projects that have been set aside this summer. I have to finish Watson’s sweater, my Mom’s gloves, the large blanket (that I started two years ago, oops) and I wanna add to the pumpkins I was making. Some cozy activities for when the winds blow too hard.

What else? I really want to decorate for fall. Cute leaves, lots of oranges, PUMPKINS, cornstalks. I don’t know how successful I will be, and I have to defer to our decor queen, my mom, for most of it, but I feel like the only true way to defeat the autumn blues is to make it an exciting season. 

What’s on your fall list? Share with me so I can unabashedly steal your ideas! Steal mine! Let’s try really hard to give Summer a good send off and Fall a warm welcome!
Until we chat again my friends!

Décor

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

So, I had an interesting experience recently. I had a tradesperson in my home, who unfortunately made himself a rather unpleasant guest very quickly. Most of what he said is a story for another time (and not a pleasant story, let’s just say I watch just enough true crime), but one of the things he said was “you can tell you are one of those crazy horse people, but only if you pay attention”. He was referring to my decor. He was meaning, at least I hope, that the decor I contributed to the home was tasteful, and while some of it was a nod to my chosen passion/hobby/lifestyle/vice, it wasn’t super in your face.
I think with the rise of Joanna Gaines we saw a huge influx in “farm” decor, and it became a huge trend to have farm animals, and implements, play super heavily in your aesthetic. Which is totally great, if that’s your thing, and it’s also a little funny, because “Chip and Jo” never really went the full “farm” vibe, it always stayed in the more classic “traditional farmhouse” realm.

I have seen a lot of horse people go full tilt in their home furnishings, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I have two questions. How do you find this stuff, and was it intentional? Or, like me, did it just happen to you too?
Don’t get me wrong, I love farm themed decor, I personally think I fall mainly in the “industrial farmhouse” aesthetic, but I don’t think I ever made the conscious choice to decorate with horse decor. In fact, I don’t think I ever really made the conscious choice to decorate “farmy” at all. It’s just a funny sort of thing that happens the minute you start on your horse journey.

I have some horse paintings in the guest area, there’s some western themed decor in the living room, little statues of horses in my room, and a coat rack made out of horseshoes. It’s funny, because I love the pieces, but I don’t think I’ve bought a single one. It’s always been a gift. I’m grateful, because like I said, I like having the little nods to my favorite thing all throughout the house, and although I don’t go nearly as hard as some people, I like that others can see that love and are being so thoughtful in their gift giving that I get decor that truly means something to me. I think, like any style, “equestrian” or “western” can be done really tastefully, and I am excited to keep adding sweet little sentimental touches to my home.

But, that leads me to my next point, does anyone around here decorate their house with tack? I will admit I have a couple bits up on the wall, mostly just because I pick up interesting looking bits for fun at garage sales (it’s dual purpose, I learn a thing or two about them and their uses and I get a potentially scary bit off the market). But I’ve had friends and neighbors who use saddles as seating and bridles as wall art. I think it’s for sure a style, but to me it sorta takes away the magic of the tack room, and it can look cluttered. That’s just me, and that’s probably rooted in my impatience with lots of random clutter, I love having little sentimental things around, but I don’t love lots of clutter, it majorly stresses me out, and the “western” or “equestrian” decors are often quite cluttered up.

I’ve seen it with not just those styles either, I have a cousin whose living room looks like a mechanics shop, and I have a friend whose entire place is devoted to her video game setup. I think it’s super cool when people devote their living space to their hobbies, and I am always super impressed when they can find all the pieces to pull a look together. I can appreciate the time, effort and skill, to make a space like that.
I am firmly of the mindset that if your space works for you, if it makes you happy, brings you joy, and is a peaceful place to lay your head? Then it’s perfect however you have it. I have spent a long time working to get my room to a place of peace, since it’s my little getaway in my shared living situation. It’s a constantly evolving process but I think it’s a good mix of the dorky computer nerd side, the overly enthusiastic horse girl side, the academic bookworm side, and the sentimental adult who-also-just-really-needs-whatever-this-is-to-be-functional side. It’s forever evolving, in fact, as we speak I am mentally planning to save for a different desktop, because while I love my antique teacher’s desk, it’s’ not long enough, so I am going to protect it and make it more functional with a floating top and some kind of desk legs. Wouldn’t have even thought about that a year ago, but currently my keyboard is in my lap because I am truly out of space. Not great ergonomics.

So, let me turn it on you, what is your style? Do you decorate according to your hobbies or more of a curated aesthetic? Are you more Joanna Gaines or David Bromstead? Saddle pads in the living room, yay or nay (neigh)? Moreover, do you set up a space and leave it, or is your space constantly evolving? Have you ever outgrown a space and had to get creative?
And finally, have you ever thought this hard about decor before? Because I seriously don’t think I would have written a whole blog post about it if I wasn’t really really annoyed at the cable guy and trying to be productive with that frustration.

Anyways, all for now!

Yea, cacti too, I have no idea when that happened, but apparently cacti are also “my thing”

Lessons

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

I’ve just had a birthday, I’m 27, now officially in my “late” twenties. It’s funny though, because some days mentally I’m still 19 trying to get life held together with duct tape and caffeine, and I don’t think those feelings are going away any time soon. 

But it’s got me thinking, what did I learn during the last year? What lessons did I get this year that I hadn’t fully grasped before? What lessons am I still learning? Am I on track for a twenty something or am I about to out myself as a total goof up? Who knows? 

Thing is, I went into 26 with the goal of getting it together more. Not being a superwoman or anything, but I wanted to stop reacting and start taking charge, and not just existing to survive. I got in that habit when Mom was first sick, but I wanted to actually put constructive input into my life now that things are more settled. Done feeling like life just happens, ya know? I think I got there, or at least, I am learning to.

Exercise sucks, but it can suck a lot less, and is important 

I despise exercising. I love moving my body to be clear. Farm chores? Mostly fun. Working with my horses? Exceptional, 10/10. Walking with my camera? Lovely way to spend a morning. Doing a weight circuit to pop music? Death. Death and torture and probably a violation of some part of the Geneva convention. So, how do I do the whole “get active” thing?

Solid question. Not a clue usually. But I’ve recently realized 90% of why I hate exercising is because it’s not fun, generally there’s not a lot of modifications for injuries (which I usually have), I usually don’t have the particular skill set, space, or equipment for the exercise, and I don’t often have time. Plus, when I do, I don’t wanna lift weights or run (if I’m running, you should be too, because that means things have gone horribly wrong). So, like most computer nerds when faced with a problem, I’ve taken to the world wide web, and basically started creating a collection of fun, non-traditional workouts to pick from when I don’t want to exercise. And I’m allowing myself to suck at them. Ballet for adult beginners? Sure, I’ll look like an angry flailing spaghetti, but why not? Pilates? Not a clue what that is but I can do plank variations for 5 minutes, sure. Jump roping? Okay, admittedly my knees hated this but I tried and it was fun!

Point is, it never occurred to me that there’s a million ways to move and get fit without raising a dumbbell over my head forty two thousand times while listening to Uptown Funk (not that there’s actually anything wrong with Uptown Funk). My mom’s Zumba classes when we were kids suddenly made sense. Plus, it really does feel good to get that workout in, as disgusting as that sounds. I do actually see the difference, and I like being stronger and not getting winded going up my driveway. So, if, like me,  you haven’t considered alternatives and also hate the very concept of a kettlebell, I suggest finding your zumba. And if you have a cool work out thing, share with me!! I wanna know!

Rest looks different at different times and on different bodies.

Yall, does anyone here meditate? I’ve tried, because, see, I’m not only the oldest kid born of two oldest kids, I’m a pretty anxious, uptight person just in general, so that running dialog of thoughts and responsibilites never, ever stops. Anyways, I’ve been told for a long time that sitting quietly with your thoughts is the best way to quiet a mind and you know what? NOPE. At least, not for me. I cannot sit still or be calm long enough to even get to the quiet. It’s not calming, it’s stressful!

So, what do you do when you can’t relax, like, ever? Burn yourself out and assume that’s just life? Yea, same.

NO. Guess what my latest epiphany was about? Rest! No, seriously. I, for reasons unknown to anyone but God, picked up painting again for the first time in years. And the brain went quiet. Quiet in a way that usually only happens when I’m working with my ponies. So, then, tell me why I don’t paint all the time?

Because for too long I assumed I was only resting if I was still, so I didn’t prioritize those kinds of hobbies. The idea that if I am too tired to be productive, I’m too tired to do hobbies. But let me tell you, twenty minutes of creativity is way more restful and restorative than twenty minutes of stressing out while sitting still. So, now, I’m trying to pay attention to the things that bring peace, and prioritize them during my rest time, instead of trying to force the quiet. Sometimes rest is a 30 minute walk in nature, or painting a little illustration, or even playing video games with my little brother and dad (we’re a Minecraft household).

You cannot change how someone feels about you, and its useless to stress about it

Okay, real talk, I may never truly learn this one. I take things too personally. I had a situation at work, it wasn’t a big deal, someone told some fibs, we sorted it out, but it led to people being in my business a lot more for a while. And I’ve realized recently, even though I was proven completely not at fault, my boss still feels the need to “check in”. There’s now that teeny little kernel of “what if”. I’ve been feeling really hurt about it, because I don’t feel that I earned this lack of trust, but it occurred to me recently that I can’t fix it, so why am I letting it bother me? My boss has to find that trust and comfort level on his own again, and if he’s worried, that’s his to sort out. I can’t force someone to draw the conclusions about me that I want, I just have to live my best, and hope they see that. Not just at work either, I mean in life in general. I’d do better to remember that more often, someone’s view of me doesn’t say everything about me. If anyone has tips for that, I am all ears.

Your todo list shouldn’t rule your life 

I’m so bad at this. I like checking things off, and I have a million little things that get lost if I don’t write them down. But, let me tell you, if I am not watching it, that little list will rule the roost. I can’t tell you how many times I’ll start stressing about finishing my to-do list before I can eat or go to bed or just chill for a few and about 98% of the time, the things on that list are not, in fact, that pressing. The amount of times something feels like the end of the world, gets pushed off, and eventually stops even mattering without getting resolved should prove this. Heck, this very blog can become a pressing issue on the to-do list, when realistically I know that you all will understand if the post is late or the gallery is smaller on any given week.
It can also convince you that you can’t remember things, or that things don’t matter if they aren’t on the list. If you are starting to rely on your list so heavily it’s the first thing you think about when you wake up, time to drop it. I’m not joking, about once a quarter I take a week and don’t use a to-do list. I find it tells me what things I have made a habit and dont need to stress about, it helps reset my brain a little, and it’s easier to spot the danglers… things that need to live elsewhere because they just keep dangling off the end of the list. IT also ensures I am not prioritizing “do things” over actually achieving goals, or putting the dang list before family and friends. 

Visit your family on a whim.

Now, obviously, this one comes with the caveat that I mean your family in the sense of “people who are important to you” not, like, an abusive parent or mean aunt kinda thing. But I try to visit my elders especially every so often and it’s paid off every time in love and fun stories, but more often than not, you can also help them with something. I stopped in not too long ago on a whim and it turned out my great aunt needed help with her printer. Made her day that I could visit and help, made mine that I was able to see them and ease the load a little. I stopped in to see my grandma this last week, brought some grocery store brownies and an intent to surprise her, and it had turned out she was almost in tears over a plumbing issue. I was able to help with the plumber, and as we all know, chocolate is a great mood improvement food.
I guess what I am getting at is, make sure to take care of your clan, especially those that can be isolated accidentally due to limited abilities and such. Make sure to take the time with your loved ones, not only will it bless you, it may end up blessing them, and it’s never time wasted.

Anyways, what lessons have you learned in the last year? What are your new birthday goals? I don’t know what mine are yet, still trying to figure out who I wanna be next year. But I think they will be things like, smell the roses, take care of yourself, laugh more, that kinda thing.
Until we chat again my friends!

Good Grief, Where’d July Go?!

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

Oh my goodness, what a whirlwind few weeks! I haven’t been home on the farm a whole lot, so now I’m more than a little behind. Lots to do, lots to do!

Well, to start, we had the Fiddle Fest and Parade. It was a hoot, my friend was visiting and we were at the park almost every night listening to music. There were some really great acts! We also went to this lemonade stand that had watermelon lemonade and I’m still thinking about it. It was so tasty we went back almost every night. It was a smaller fest again this year, but bigger than the last couple years, so I’m hopeful we are headed back in the right direction. The parade was pretty fantastic, you could tell that’s where a lot of the effort went, they had lots of different organizations and community groups, as well as some bigger corporations involved. It was a lot of fun! I helped with the float this year, but mostly kept out of the planning, letting my cousin take the reins. She absolutely nailed it, it was so adorable. The theme was “coming home” so, being the float for a Christian organization, she chose to make a stairway to heaven showing the “pathway home”. It was a pretty big hit. Of course, the candy throwing always helps too.

Here is an “In Progress” shot, most of my finished shots have little ones in them, so they aren’t really shareable

While my friend was here, we did a bunch of other things too. We found an army/navy surplus store in Boise that was really cool. My friend got an incredible deal on a backpack, and I found this cute little Belgium surplus shoulder bag…  or, at least, I’m using it as a shoulder bag. It’s technically a claymore satchel, or so I’m told. It’s kinda a black hole inside, I need to make or buy a little bag organizer, but it was a great little garage sale-ing bag, and for $12 I can’t complain at all.

We did a ton of garage sale-ing too! I got some neat stamps, a couple books, a few video games for Christopher, and a monitor for $3. I have to buy a power cord for it, and it may be junk, but I thought the gamble was worth it. I’ll keep you posted when I find the right cord.

I got totally lucky, the Fourth of July, or Independence Day, fell on a Tuesday this year, and my company let us have it off. I had a little pto squirreled away to dip into, so I took Monday as well, combined with the fact that I currently work 4 10s and usually get Friday off as well, yours truly finagled herself a 5 day weekend using only one pto day. I’ve honestly never been so proud, and it was much needed, because between visiting friends, helping family, the festival, and one very injury heavy day helping to pull a buddy’s landscaping company out of an oops (it’s a long story), I was jonesing for some time off. Of course, my boss found it hilarious that I managed a 5 day weekend approximately 2 weeks before my actual preplanned week long vacation. It’s been a pretty fantastic July for yours truly.

The Fourth itself was pretty low key, we don’t launch fireworks because of the animals and the high fire risk being butted up against rangeland. Being up on the hill though means I have a great view of just about every legal fireworks show in 20 miles, and several of the not so legal ones too. So, I mostly eat picnic foods, dress in red white and blue, and watch the valley paint itself in colors when the sun sets. We did make toaster oven smores which made my mom exceedingly happy and still respected the burn ban.

I’ve also had that vacation from work, which was much needed. Funnily enough, it meant falling way behind on blog admin-y type stuff because I had no desire whatsoever to be at my desk, and I completely forgot the concept of filming things. Honestly, it was a nice little break even if it means some of the posts upcoming might be a little lean. 

I’ve loved my little week off of work, I like my job a lot but like anything, after about 50 hours of it every week, one tends to want a break. It doesn’t help that I am currently heading a particularly nebulous project and its driving me a little mad. But hey, that’s life.
I spent most of my vacation just relaxing. I worked on some projects here and there but I am learning about the idea of rest as productivity and am treating myself to actual breaks instead of “I’m off work so lets shove as many catch up projects as possible into the space” when I can because I don’t really want to be worn out and over whatever breaks I get by the time I get back to work. The repairs, renovations, and improvements were all still there when I got back to it, and to be honest, some are still rolling over on the to-do list each day. It’ll all get done eventually. Or it won’t and then clearly it wasn’t that important anyway, ya know?
Anyways, I know this ones a little shorter, but since I am kinda buried in work catchup and blog catchup and life catchup, there’s not been much to write about, unless you’d like a detailed list of all the laundry that has personally offended me as of late. But I am so grateful I can occasionally take some “drop everything” days that the every growing todo list is 100% worth it.
Until we chat again my friends!

Nostalgia

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello Friends!
This time of year I always get super nostalgic. It’s funny, you would think that Christmas time would be more in line with those feelings but for me, June and July always were the best time of year. It was the time of year that I got to come to my uncle’s farm, we were out of school, the Fiddle Fest happens, Fourth of July, and the sun is always up and it’s always warm.
This time of year, I am always tempted to pick up writing again. Pick up writing, Amanda, are you aware of what you are doing right now? Yea, I know, but I mean fictional writing, like a novel. All I wanted to consistently be, all throughout school, was a mystery writer. I’m not sure why, other than I truly love Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and the like. I think I just wanted to write brave and daring adventures. I spent a lot of time as a kid writing stories, and this time of year always reminds me of it because the beautiful weather in this valley was such a huge source of inspiration and motivation as a kid. I’ve joked for a long time that I am truly solar powered, and moving here has really proved it. Remembering that little girl who was so sure she was going to get published really makes me think about taking it on again, reviving an old idea or two, and just seeing what happens. Maybe it’s just a little longing for those summer afternoons on the porch scribbling away, oblivious to everything but my own little world.
It’s been an extra reflective summer for me this year so far, and in a lot of ways it’s been really good for me, a strong reminder of all the amazing parts of my life that I should be appreciating more, and it’s been a little bittersweet remembering some things that are completely different now. I’ve had lots of reminders of Seattle and the PNW lately, for example, and they are good memories, but there’s a twinge of homesickness to them too, even if I don’t really want to go back.

I often talk about the things I don’t miss from my childhood stomping grounds, and those things are very true. I do not miss the rain, or the gray, I don’t miss the traffic, or the very isolating attitude of the people there. I don’t miss the crime, and I don’t miss the defining high school and college years that happened there. Don’t get me wrong, I had lovely high school and college experiences compared to some, but those aren’t times I would particularly go back to in their entirety, even if I look at them mostly fondly.
But I do miss the dragonflies and frogs from my childhood home, and listening to the tugboats in the fog. I miss the plethora of food, especially seafood, the mountain, and the science center. I really miss my friends and the barns there sometimes, even though I know 98% of my friends moved around or shortly after I did, and the barns that I did most of my riding at have all been torn down and replaced with widening highways, park and rides, and apartments. 

And that’s the thing right? Nostalgia for a bygone age is blind to the changes of time. My favorite restaurant has closed, the barns are gone, heck, the school I completed high school in has completely changed and is totally different. My 4h group didn’t get enough attendance and had to shutter when we all grew up, the church I went to has none of the original pastors, and many of my adopted grandparents there are now angels looking down. I know if I went back, there would be tears, because it isn’t the home I grew up in. And in my case, the town I grew up in, well, it’s a lot worse for wear.
I also worry that going back would be hard, because it’s the last place my mom was healthy, pre-strokes. She started having them shortly after the move, so for me, who didn’t move until a little later, there’s almost two different people, and I think some of that childhood nostalgia is just missing who my mom was. She’s doing so much better now though, so don’t worry, even in the time since I’ve started the blog she’s grown stronger and more independent.

But, whinings and pinings aside, I think nostalgia can also hit for a time or place you’ve never been. Sometimes I get almost a homesick heartache for Weiser, a town I have known since I was little, but only been a part of for the last five years. I’m not homesick for Weiser itself, I can go in whenever I want to go explore, but I think I get a little bittersweet about what Weiser was, as I see a town that needs a little extra love to get itself pulled back up, but who just doesn’t seem to have the energy anymore. I hear all these stories from the old timers about a town with lots of soul, that had events and opinions and was known all over, a town that has a rich history and earned its title as the county seat, and I wish I could have seen it. I really do. You know the movie Cars? You know that throb you get in your chest when you watch the residents fight for their little town? That, that’s it, that’s the unearned nostalgia I am speaking of here.
And I think, finally, there’s a feeling akin to nostalgia that hits when you do something for yourself that would have made the child you proud. Like what we spoke about at the start, I look back a lot at the middle school and high school Amanda, who was struggling so hard to be a decent rider, and who frankly, was in a perfectly safe, fine environment, but not the right one for her to learn to to be a horsewoman, and sometimes I wish I could show her us now. Sure, I still ride with a nervous disposition, and I get frazzled really easily. I am a lot more busted up now, and sometimes I get called into work mid-ride, but she wouldn’t care. She’d be amazed that we own horses, that we moved to a farm, that we ride bareback AND took on a rescue horse, and that we actually find peace and calm in our sport again. I’ll be honest, I still have days where I hear my old trainer in my head “Amanda, some people are just not meant to ride horses, you are not meant to ride horses” and, some days, I still believe her. In fact, I’ve heard her a lot lately, especially with Nellie. But most of the time now, I just feel bad for that little girl, who had so much school pressure, peer pressure, and couldn’t find a foothold in a sport she so loved. I am really proud of that girl for persisting so that I could be where I am now. Not just with equestrian sport, but with school, with medical stuff, with everything that just seemed so hard and now is just “life”. I don’t know what you call this, I’m sure it’s not quite nostalgia, but I think that its close. And as I grew up a little more each year, that feeling becomes more important. Who cares what others think, 13-year-old Amanda would love me.
Anyways, I wanna know, if you feel comfortable sharing, where do you find those “heavy chest feelings”? Do you long for places you miss? Times you won’t ever see, either past, future, or simply paths you didn’t take (those get me a lot with Mom’s medical stuff, lots of futures and alternatives I never had to consider before)? Do you wish sometimes you could just go back and hug your past self, child or not, and tell them they get so much better? Have you done something recently to make your past self happy?
Or am I just a highly emotional mess with too much quiet time behind a screen? That’s fine too, I’ll fully own that if that’s the case. Someone has to be haha.
A little bit heavier today, but it’s been on my mind a lot, summer is my favorite season, and some of that is thanks to the look back I get to do each year, anyways, thanks for letting me ramble on.

Until we chat again, my friends!

Got A Fun Opportunity!

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Christopher and I got to walk around an abandoned, condemned old schoolhouse. I haven’t been able to find a lot of information on it, but I know it’s on it’s way out because of safety concerns, so I am glad we got to document it.
Please note that Christopher and I had permission to be in there and on property, please get your proper consents before traipsing into old buildings.

Signed, Confused in the Country

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

I’ve mentioned this a lot on the blog before, but if you’re new here, hi, I’m Amanda, and while I spent summers on my uncles farm, I did my growing up mostly in the suburbs and only moved full time to a hobby farm about 5 years ago. The area I grew up in was really lovely for most of my childhood, but as I grew up, it turned into an overgrown city that was lacking good government and good infrastructure, and was part of the Puget Sound area. Some of you familiar with that area have probably conjured a name, and you’re probably right haha.

Anyways, all that to say, when I moved headlong into Small Town America, I came barreling into rural life with all the self preservation and paranoia that comes from a doors locked, alarms on, don’t walk around outside at night lifestyle, and it showed. I’ve relaxed on a lot of things, but some will never change. And some small town idiosyncrasies just absolutely blow my mind still. I thought I’d share the ones that still confuse, confound, and sometimes, crack me up the most.

First one, and the one that prompted this whole rant: small town stores keep whatever hours they want. This isn’t a bad thing, we love a flexible schedule in this house, but when it differs from day to day it’s a little hard to keep the plot. Recently I walked into a store that had, up till then, been open until 5 pm, google said so, Facebook said so, I’d been in there at 4:45 before. Other than the occasional time I’d found it closed for the day with a note on the door (always for adorable reasons like “out for the day with my husband”), it had been fairly consistent. So, you can imagine my absolute mortification at walking into their staff meeting with the air of uneasy, keyed-up confidence only someone who’s hiding some serious social anxiety can conjure (we’ll discuss my “fake it till you make it” non-coping methods another time) only to hear “excuse me? We’re closed, you’re not supposed to be here”. Now, to her credit, they were truly lovely, and still helped me, AND two more people walked in after me, but I still feel all sorts of cringe about it and, more importantly, this is not even remotely the first time that’s happened! I get sweaty palms now even recalling it. But shops run on rural time.

Beyond needing a crystal ball to see if a shop is open, “rural time”, as I’ve taken to calling it at work, is a persistent source of confusion for me, even 5 years in. Some things make total sense, for example, anyone who works with horses knows that scheduling with the Farrier is a loose event, because your appointment depends entirely on how well-behaved the clients before you are. I’ve gotten calls from my farrier before that go something like “just finishing up at urgent care, last horse broke my arm, I’m gonna be late” and I totally get being late because of that (I shoo them off anyway, I’m not going to let them aggravate an injury on my account, geez). But I’ve also had irrigation guys show up three days late because they “finally got around to” us. I can’t be mad, they’re honest, but I’ve learned to just not to get too invested in times. My pest guys (I saw one mouse, once, never again) regularly call me to set a time window, and are almost ALWAYS 2-4 hours late, unless I have a meeting early, then they show up during that meeting. Without fail. Time just moves differently out here, it’s like everyone took training from the cable installers. My morning check ins at work now often include “…and if the good Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise, at some point today I might need to step away for a tradesperson…maybe”, because I can’t accurately give any more info than that.

A funnier one, that I get teased for but I don’t think I’ll ever change, is locking points of entry. Whether it’s my car doors or house doors and windows, I lock up. I almost always lock my car up, and while I’ll leave the house back door unlocked during the day, it’s only if others are home. I’m much more willing to leave doors and windows open, since moving here, in parts of the house I’m frequenting, but I won’t, for example, leave the back door unlocked if I’m in my office up front. This leads to family members often calling me to let them in, or someone offering to grab something from my car only to wait while I fish my keys from my bag (or unclip them from my belt). My great aunt and uncle, who live farther out on the farm/ranch I spent summers on, haven’t locked a car or the house up since I’ve been alive. I regularly walk into their kitchen to find no one is home, which IS convenient because I can leave treats or paperwork or whatever on their counter as needed, but it’s a weird thing to just let yourself into someone’s empty house without a key. I could easily “borrow” a vehicle if I wanted and I’ll be honest, I don’t even know if their garage door works if there’s not snow on the ground. It might be a prerequisite. It’s the only place in the world I’ll leave my keys in my vehicle while I visit… out of reverence.

My uncle, who lives in town (and on a main street too) regularly leaves his door unlocked. We regularly end up accidentally swapping dishes at family events, and so many times I’ve stopped by after work, gone in, gotten my dish and returned his, without any of them being home. I can maybe see it farther out, like at the ranch, but in town? So trusting. 

Some people take it even further and leave their keys unlocked in their running vehicles when it’s very hot or very cold. I know it’s for AC or engine warmth purposes, but, like, it’d be so easy to steal a car in the grocery store parking lot. Shockingly easy. Not that I would, but I could, is my point. Especially little old people, they just trust that God and the Sheriff will do their jobs, and the thing is, it’s worked so far. I simply could never. I still wake up in the night when I hear a car that sounds too similar to my car driving by up on the road. I don’t think I’ll ever outgrow that. 

For those of you who’ve had a huge lifestyle change like this, what’s the thing that got you the most? Grocery store stock? Price of gas? Level of friendliness? Did you move to a small town? A big city? A whole new country? Tell me all about it!

Until we chat again my friends!