We had a great weekend around here. We worked really hard on a lot of projects, got a few done, invented a few others, hung out with some of our kids, and the girls, took care of a few things and got rid of some stuff. It was a lot, but also not enough. I did not get finished with my list. Not even close. This time of the year, I am very guilty of putting an unreasonable amount of stuff on my to do list. Added in with kid activities, and weather and it was a perfect storm of close but no cigar! And that is ok. I will keep plugging away. It is good for me to have a list, it makes me happy, keeps me on track and out of trouble.
Although, sometimes trouble finds me. :) This little girl sure does love to show up out of nowhere, get dirty, eat my popsicles, and then go fishing with her dad and Poppy, followed by another bath, and a salad and after dinner swinging. I sure slept good last night, I am guessing she did as well!
She is ALWAYS ready to help with the animals. Loves being in the barn, never worries about dirt, doesn't really care if she has on pants or not, and absolutely cracks me up. The animals love seeing her coming, she always brings treats!
Mr. Mackey loves carrots and anything else he can get his teeth on!
Cameron's corporate softball team had a game. He said he got to pitch, but got in trouble for doing too much smack talking! I am happy he is keeping himself busy.
Evelyn is working really hard with Stitch, her 4-H goat. Stitch is a pretty stubborn girl, and Maude is not really that helpful. Evie is unphased by all of it. She knows her goat will be a great walker someday, and she will get her to be a friendly girl. I have confidence that she will get the job done! I am proud of her for working so hard and staying kind and patient.
Watching her pull and try so hard reminded me of when we were kids. My dad would run in several pens of heifers in various ages for us to pick from for showing. Eric always got to pick first because the previous year something tragic had happened to him, and dad would just say "since Eric's calf last year got ring worm, he should pick first." or "since Eric got the nasty attitude calf last year, let him pick first." Nobody ever minded letting him pick first, there were plenty of choices and we never lacked for enough calves to show. And we all knew in our hearts, that Eric's calf would be the stubborn one, or the one to contract some disease or get sunburn at the last minute and look discolored, despite being a beautiful heifer a couple weeks before the fair. Eric just could never catch a break. I remember watching him pull and pull and sweat and sometimes cry. Sometimes dad would hook the halter to the bumper of the old truck and slowly pull them for him. And then it seemed like you would think the calf was walking better, but when Eric would get back on the halter, the calf would spook and drag him across the yard. He was the most stubborn person, and would never let go. Ever. He spent half the summer working his butt off, getting drug around and rope burned, but not one single time did he quit, or stop trying. And when the fair rolled around, his calf would be broke, and he would be there happy as a kid could get because he LOVED the fair!
This weekend, they loaded up all of Eric's cow/calf pairs and took them into the sale barn for the weekly Monday sale. It feels too final. And wrong. He should be here, giving me advice on feeding goats, laughing about how stupid they are, and telling me the kids need some pigs instead. He should be here. It is just not right. Not fair, and flat stupid. Tomorrow, I will go to the auction and sit with my parents to watch them sell. I love the auction, but I am not looking forward to this one. It is just too sad. My brother was a simple man, who liked simple things. He worked hard his entire life. I cannot even express the sadness we are all feeling.
Which is why I tried extra hard to stay busy this weekend....to keep my mind on everything else. Like utilizing the massive amount of eggs that we have accumulated this week. I made hard boiled eggs, breakfast burritos, and Madison made cream puffs. I gave away 6 dozen eggs at church this morning, and came home this evening to find that Jim had gathered another 2 dozen. This is not a bad problem to have, and I am not complaining, however, I am looking for some new ways to use them, to preserve them, and perhaps some new people to pawn them off on! :) This week, I am planning to use the dehydrator to try to dehydrate some eggs. I read that it is easy and makes them shelf stable. I am also going to attempt making pickled eggs, if I can find a big jar that I haven't filled with sweet potato slips!
Cameron went to visit Preston this weekend. They went to one of those bars with a patio area that has the fire pit tables. They snuck in hotdogs and marshmallows. They are a hot mess.
The grandkids were busy this weekend, fishing, getting new fishing hats, and catching whoppers!
A couple of weeks ago, I bought some Nanking cherry bushes. I planted them, and then they sort of disappeared. I figured a rabbit ate them, and I told Jim I was going to buy a couple of actual cherry trees instead. He agreed it was a good idea, and we happened to be in the Tractor supply in Topeka a day or so later, and they had some cherry trees. He asked if I wanted to get them, but we were headed to run a lot of errands, and already had feed in the car, and so I said no, we would get them next time. Except next time, they were sold out. I was sad, and kicked myself. Thursday night, I drug Jim into a nursery in Lawrence that had advertised they had cherry trees. When we got there, the prices made us choke and sputter, and we left without them. Enter today....Harper had a CWF meeting in Ottawa. Harper and Saige needed clothes for band, and I needed a couple of things, so we ran down early to do some shopping before the meeting. On a whim, I stopped off at the store there, and sure as heck, they had 3 pretty little healthy looking trees, in a more reasonable price range. I did not have time to buy them before the meeting, but said we would come back afterward, and crossed my fingers they would not sell before we got back. When we got back, there were 2 trees left! I grabbed them up! Which is how I ended up outside this evening, in the almost dark, planting cherry trees. The really cool thing, I had decided to plant them in the holes I had dug a couple weeks ago for the cherry bushes, but I found that they are coming back from the roots! So I had to start over with new holes, but I am cautiously optimistic that maybe I will get both cherry trees and the cherry bushes to grow!
And since I was already caught up in an emotional weekend of memories and feelings, I was thinking back to when I was a kid, and our aunt Mary had a small orchard. We used to go pick fruit, help her pit cherries and peaches and then help can jellies, pie fillings, and fresh fruit for eating in the winter time. As I was sweating my buns off, and trying to beat the darkness, I was thinking about how none of that stuff seemed like work when I was a kid. We just all worked together and visited and hung out and it seemed like fun. I hope that someday, I will have some fruit to can and my grandkids can come over and help, and that it won't seem like work to them, because they are just enjoying visiting and hanging out together. But even if that never happens, it makes me incredibly happy to be fulfilling my dream of having a small orchard, and taking steps toward growing more of our own foods.
Cameron was invited to some sort of sword fighting group. Looks like he had fun there!
And now the weekend is officially over. The upcoming week is going to be filled with lots of stuff. Some emotional, some work, some just business. I am sure we will all be ok, but I am not sure I am quite ready. Do over?
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