Simple Living

I can honestly say that these are some of the best times of our lives! When people ask how things are going, how are the kids I have nothing but good to say. I sometimes worry that life is too good and fear that something will happen and taint this awesome life we've been living. Even before we bought this place I didn't have many complaints about our daily lives but here on the farm it just seems so much better, our lives are so fulfilled. The connection with mother nature is on such a larger scale in so many ways.
In my twenties and my earlier days there was so much I took for granted, so much I thought I knew but really hadn't a clue. I am glad that I have finally come to realize what is important in life...the simple things. "It is the things in life that are free that matter most", John always use to say to me. For so long I was striving to make more money and have more material possessions until some time of soul searching passed and I had that ... uh huh moment. Looking back I realized John had been telling me these things all along but I just wasn't listening close enough. I had my own agenda, striving for big things and he was along for the ride although he thought some of my aspirations were a bit on the wild side. My friend Mary spoke once of John and referred to him as "an old soul". To this day I have always thought that statement was right on. Since we were young John has always known what kind of life he wanted to live, simple. He never cared what others thought, he lead his own path in life. He is an amazing hubby and daddy, we are fortunate to have him in our lives!

When I was mowing I came across this by the duck pond. One lonely wild asparagus spear.
I had heard of wild asparagus but never seen it until yesterday. My neighbor gave us some fresh asparagus last week and when I came home from work one night John said, "Kim, I have a confession to make." I could not even imagine what he was going to say and he says, "I ate all the asparagus Gary & Dawn gave us." I was quite entertained by his "confession". That's ok John cause Gary snuck me some the other day and it was really tasty. In 3 years we'll be picking our own, I cannot wait!

I had thought I had scared him off from going knee deep in the pond. Last week I thought he had swimmer's itch. Turns out I was wrong because the next morning he was fine, I think it was the cleaning soap John used before he took a bath..oops, misdiagnosed by mother....no worse then the time I accidentally cut both sides of the stitch that was in his upper lip leaving it there permanently...good nurse...at least it was my own kid.

Check out the size of him (or her?)

Anyone know what this flower may be?

Last note, me and some friends have started a group blog titled Fit4Life with a focus of exercise & healthy eating. Anyone interested in being a participant let me know and send me your e-mail address and I will give you more detail.


Check us out: http://fit4life08.blogspot.com/

Mini Van Momma

I swore I would never own one and today we bought one. There is a point in life when you give up on doing things based on looks and ego and you do what is right based on practicality and comfort.
We didn't plan on buying another vehicle until later in the year but the opportunity arouse and the price was right. The vehicle came from a friend of a friend. It was his wife Linda's van but sadly she passed at the young age of 45 from cancer. I was a little reluctant to buy it at first given the circumstance but I knew that he had planned on selling so I thought I might as well be the one to buy it if it is going to be sold. When we were at the house we chatted a bit while 2 of their 3 young boys busied around. Just before we left as we were talking about Linda the 4 year old looked up at me and said, "I really miss my Momma." My heart sank! Shortly thereafter we headed out the door and I got into the van and I suddenly was overwhelmed with emotion. I held it together and drove out of the driveway as Dean and his oldest boy watched me. The moment was surreal. By the time I arrived home just a few miles away the tears were flowing.
It is amazing how many people are affected by the death an individual, even those that do not know you.

Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality. -Martin Luther King Jr.

On a lighter note the kids bought their first four wheeler. Mom fronted them some money so they will being doing lots of chores throughout the Spring and Summer to get caught up. They are still in the negative twenty something from the goats. For the last year or so since they started their chore board I have always owed them money now the tides have turned! I am excited that they have this because they will be able to come out back with me now when I go jogging. Last summer Luke joined me some but really was not able to keep up the pace. This year his sister can give him a ride back if he gets tired and Mom will have no excuses to not get a good work out in.
Below is a picture of a chicken pen that John is creating. I cannot wait to get them all out into the fresh air! We have sold all 200 of our last shipment of chicks except for the 8 I kept, we are still getting tons of calls. Someone drove 1 1/2 hours today to pick up our last 20 chicks.

Some of our Rhode Island Red girls

We did lots of yard work this afternoon. Luke was helping me by moving some rocks. He said "does this count as a chore?"













This is the duck pond, not too long before the ice is out. Bam Bam & Pebbles should be out here before the week is out. Horray for them and us!















They are already catching critters!






















The back pond has a ways to go until ice is out!

Mother Nature

These pictures were taken by John on one of our ice fishing trips to.. They were waiting to see what we would leave behind.

Today was a beautiful Spring day but not quite warm enough to melt the snow...what's up with that? I cannot believe we will be going into April with a few feet of snow still on the ground. I should not complain they have 7-9 feet up North so our chances of seeing grass by May is a little more likely.
I did manage to go for a 2 mile jog down the snowmobile trail this morning. There is nothing like getting your cardio workout done outside rather than on that monotonous elliptical in the gym. I didn't even turn on my MP3 player. My goal is to do some type of exercise EVERY day off! Ok, now that I have announced I am committed.
I feel very fortunate to have this land to work out on. I never have to worry about a crazed dog chasing me.....just the coyotes checking me out on the back 40 thinking it's been a long winter. I do not have to worry about cars splashing me or running me over...just have to avoid all the mud holes that are inevitable after this Springs thaw. I came home many days last year with sopping wet sneaks.

We should be getting our chicks tomorrow so I will have a video posted by the weekend, Im working the next couple days.


I will end this post with a few quotes.

The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration. ~ Claude Monet

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. ~Frank Lloyd Wright

There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story. ~Linda Hogan