Dog Days of Summer

I don't know if you knew already, but Tom brought home a new puppy this week. I knew we were getting the little one, but I didn't know when. He's a cute little bugger- Australian shepard border collie mix with a little blue in the bottom of one eye and as soft and fluffy as ever.

He's only done a couple accidents in the house so good thing I invested in a portable carpet cleaner a couple months ago, it's been a life saver!

So Ginger is starting to like him, not his ouchie sharp puppy teeth, but they seem to be getting along together. The dogs are extra lucky when I let them in the house since I consider it my only sacred clean spot on this farm, but yesterday was so hot and I know how cold the tile floor is (being pregnant I've laid on it a couple times during the day). So I let them in yesterday and let them fart around for a while. When I came back, this is what I saw and it made me smile. They're so alike, they just don't want to admit it.

The Farmer's Wife

Squishy Squash

My wonderful husband is very proud of his garden each year. This year with the weather being weird-hot and cold-we didn't know how good the production would be.

We still haven't finished planting the garden, we're hoping to do more okra, eggplant, and peppers.

I've been watering the garden religiously for months, weeding and powdering for buggies. Today I went out and actually looked at the garden and the plants individually. I must be a true blonde because there before my eyes were these huge squash just hanging out on the plants. I forgot how fast squash/zucchini grows! There were at least 2 veggies a plant. So I harvested, and guess what we're gonna start having every night for dinner, you guessed it, squash! Tom's gonna love this!

The Farmer's Wife

A Chick!

I haven't really been on my game with the egg collecting and we have 4 matching black chickens, so I can never tell them apart.

Winnie had asked me if I had a setting chicken (a hen that nests on her eggs, in preparation to hatch them out), I told her "no not right now" which was totally true. When I'd collect eggs in the morning there would be a hen setting maybe twice out of the 7 times a week I'd check.

Yesterday I went out to feed the chickens and noticed that a black mama hen was talking different, more clucking and she was poofing out her feathers. As I listened closer I heard a little peep, and there it was, a little black chick.

I love watching the relationship between a mama and baby, it's so refreshing and innocent. This mama is so proud, she's very protective and is showing her little baby off to all the other mother hens who are totally jealous. Let's just hope that this little chick is a hen and not a rooster!

The Farmer's Wife

The Beginnings of a Nursery

This baby could only be a month away, and the reality is getting scary/very very exciting! With the help of many hands, I finally got the bed and furniture out of the spare bedroom, cleaned the carpets, washed the windows, vacuumed the corners, and cleaned the walls. Now the room is sterilized and ready for baby.

With baby shower #1 down, it was time to put together the furniture and start to nest/hunker down. As you can see, the furniture is a beautiful shade of cherry (or spiced cinnamon as Target calls it). This color furniture can now work as unisex, just in case Tom wants to have a girl. I still haven't organized or decorated the nursery per se, but it's coming along little by little. This pregnant woman can only do so much in a day. My girlfriend Cassie was right when she said that the baby sucks the life out of you, I'm pooped by 7am (but very blessed to even be preggie in the first place-right?)!

The Farmer's Wife

A Cowboy in Disguise

Tom has always told me he's not a cowboy, he's a farmer. Yea yea, I always figured if you had cattle and rounded them up on horses, that it categorized you as a cowboy. But what do I know?

Last night we went to a family wedding (which was gorgeous by the way) and Tom decided to pull out his cowboy hat from the closet. I had to blow dust and a couple spiders off of it, but lo and behold it still fit him! I told him that I had to take a picture as proof that he sometimes looks like a true cowboy. "Okay" he says, so this is his pose of Cowboy Tom, oh heavens!

The Farmer's (sometimes Cowboy's) Wife

Gurdy the Apple Tree

I know you might have heard about Gurdy the apple tree before in my previous blogs, but today is her day to shine-again.

When my sister was in 9th grade (I believe), she had a farmer come in to her FFA class and teach them each how to graft fruit trees. The man gave each student a little apple tree to plant. Mandi brought hers home and I remember planting little Gurdy in a pot near the pool. Gurdy was doing great, she was living the life.

Then when I got married and my parents found out what an interest both Tom and I had in fruit trees, they decided that Gurdy needed a better life where she could thrive in the ground and not a mere terra cotta planter.

Gurdy was planted here about 2 years ago. She's having a hard time adjusting, with the wind, heat, cold, and buggies, she's still pulling through. Today I went outside to water her and lo and behold she has little apples (pictured at left). Last year she had little apples as well but the birdies got them all before we could taste test.

We'll see how this year goes!

Mandi- if you're reading this, we're taking care of her I promise! Your little Gurdy is safe with us here in Weldon!

The Farmer's Wife

Church Baby Shower

I had my church baby shower last Sunday, and I got the CD of pictures from our dear friends Lanny & Diana Trefz yesterday. I love going through all of the pictures and seeing who was there ( I tried to say hello to everyone, but what a blessing to have so many people).

This is one of my favorite pictures, besides the fact I look like a house. It was so entertaining to see the faces of people in the pictures with each gift opened. This specific gift is a quilt-hand made by Sharon Scott that had a matching activity square for baby. People are so crafty these days! But as you can see from this picture, there were tons of family and friends gathered to share in our baby celebration, not to mention that the whole social hall was full, this section of people is just the tip of the iceberg. Our baby has a great support group going for it already!

The Farmer's Wife