Farm Visitor of the Two Legged Kind

How is it possible to be worn out from the constant chatter and activity of a three year old one minute, then have your heart ache for her the next? Leah came out to visit with us this past Wednesday morning bright and early. A visit that required that I drive one and a half hours round trip to pick up her and her sleep-over bag. Meeting her mommy before going to work was the only way to get her here without too much fuss. She has spent almost 3 days with us, leaving under protests this afternoon.

Every room in the house speaks of her presence here, these past few days and tugs at my heart. Tears sprang easily enough to this grandmother's eyes as she left and again as I see all the reminders in each room. I miss her already and understand the longing her Mommy had in her absence. I do look forward to a sound night of sleep, but will miss my "bed fellow". As tiring as she can be at times for this 53 yo. Nana. I long to hear her spontaneous "I love you, Nana" and all the free hugs and kisses she gives without being prompted. I pray that we are making memories that will bring a smile to her face and a tug at her heart when remembered one day. That the pleasant sights, sounds and smells will flood her with memories of a joyful time spent with her Papa & Nana on the farm. Like the ones that sweep through me of my own childhood spent out in the country with my grandparents. Life is so precious and passes so quickly that I am afraid we let too much of it slip through our fingers unnoticed.

I lost an uncle today, my last one, to death after a sudden illness at 87 years of age. He was my Mother's only living sibling up till 4:32pm today. All of her brothers, sister and parents are gone now. Her heartache is so ever real and haunting at the same time, of her own passing years and aloneness now. I can't imagine how it must feel. Sorry Mom for your lost. Lon and I discussed the issue this evening as we rocked away our weariness over a pot of coffee, as rain once again covered our world. He has already lost both of his parents and knows the pain of separation it brings, I have not. We spoke of those who have lost a spouse and how that must put a heaviness in the heart of the one who is left behind. Neither of us like the idea of being a widow or widower. We pray the Lord will allow us to go home together one day or give us the grace to go on alone. One may have children or even grandchildren around them. But I am sure they will never take the place of your parents and especially your spouse. All of these events happening this close together today has already served to make me quite weepy.

Reflecting on life,

Deborah

Autumn has Arrived!

I love this time of the year, though if I was to confess, I have reason to enjoy every season of the year. Guess I just love living and can find something pleasurable about each one. It just depends on your perspective. The weather has been rather cool lately and is serving to stir the blood towards thinking hibernation. Our leaves around the farm are already showing hints of color, with a few spreading their bounty across the lawn. Breezes of the snuggling kind have caused me to add quilts and blankets for our outside sitting pleasure. A few mornings have even required a sleeve and a briskness to our morning chores. We have turned off the air conditioning and in turn have opened the house to the refreshing air. A sure way to save on electricity and increase our time sitting close together .

Changes can already be seen in the stores and around town. Everyone is placing their fall decorations out and mums can be readily found at the garden centers. I plan to get a few to dress up our porch and yard too. A trip back to storage will be needed in order to get my rather large box of Autumn decor to use at the farm. Wishing at present that I had been able to put in a pumpkin patch and few corn stalks to be used now. No worry, I am sure I can find a few dried up stalks in a neighbor's garden and pumpkins of all sizes are available in the grocery stores. With all these changes my mind wanders off to the collection of recipes I have gathered that taste like fall to me. One especially enjoyed is a flavorful pumpkin bread recipe that I want to share with you.


Pumpkin Spice Bread

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 plus 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon canned unsweetened pumpkin
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease and flour an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan. Sift together the first 5 ingredients; stir in salt. Combine sugar, oil, and pumpkin in a large bowl; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg, beating until well blended. Gradually add dry ingredients, beating at low speed until blended. Transfer to prepared pan. Bake at 350* for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until loaf is golden and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes our clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Hope you are enjoying this early taste of fall weather that we have been experiencing. Dig out some of your fall favorites and cook some up soon. Before you know it these days will turn into the cold days of Winter. And pumpkins will be a thing of the past, along with ever changing leaves, mums, Friday nite football games, fall fairs and other pleasures of the season. Grab some now while they are available.

Don't forget to leave me a comment on a post with your favorite fall item, so I can add you to the list on this blog.

Digging through my fall favorite list,

Deborah

Visitor in the Night

Awoke this morning to find Spirit standing fence side with Sassie. Seems from the looks of things in the yard (poo piles) that she thought it was a good idea to spend the night and invited herself down. Her owners generally let her run around their yard loose, which seems like an unwise thing to do, especially when they are not home. But it is their horse, not mine to decide this for. Spirit is on the bony side and could use some good grazing and obviously some "horsey companionship" too. I feel sorry for the horse and her unhealthy condition, but I have to think of my own horse's health first. So I gathered Spirit up and started the trek back up the driveway. I didn't have to go too far before I met her owner who had come looking for her. Guess he knew where she would be after yesterday's adventures. She is sweet horse and leads easily enough. But her physical shape has me wondering if it is due to malnourishment or disease. Plus we need all the grass around here for Sassie's grazing, there's not enough to share.

Horsing around the farm,

Deborah

Four Legged Exercise vs Two

I am feeling under the weather today and the skies are cloudy and wet with rain. Lon nor I am moving very fast this morning. He had a sleepless nite after drinking coffee too late in the day yesterday. He also has his own physical aches to deal with today as well.

It appears that Amber, our milker is in heat and with Samson's "moves on her" we are unsure if he will be able to get the job done. Samson is 7 months old and this is his first breeding rut of his short life, though bucks are fertile as early as 3 months. So we decided to travel down a nearby road where we had been told that a family raised Nubian goats. We hoped to find a "buck for hire" for our girls. Had a wonderful ride down back country dirt roads but never found anybody that appeared to have goats at least from the roadside. We will have to keep searching and/or pray that Samson steps up for duty. As we want all of them to be bred and in milk next year. Plans are to use the extra for making goat cheeses, yogurt and soap besides all that we can drink.

Sassie gave me my exercise this morning by getting loose from her tether and going to visit the neighbor's horse. Hiking up the driveway to retrieve her only led to the other horse following us home. Second trip up the LONG driveway to walk it back to it's home resulted in it promptly returning to ours. Third trip up the LONG, LONG driveway (did I mention we live way off of the road?) involved Lon and I both with a roped horse in tow. Taking her all the way to her owner's front porch steps, we learned that her name is Spirit. Guess that speaks of her persistence and drive to be with Sassie. Throughout the day she would appear in our upper pasture intently watching Sassie graze out in the front yard. Who by the way I had to convince twice that it was not a good idea to return to the top of our drive.

Lon was able to sow the grass seed and clover over her future home today with high hopes of getting a good stand for next year's grazing. With all the rain we've been getting it should be a good time to plant. A load or two of chicken manure would help it along as well.

Catching my breath,

Deborah