What a birthday!

It's really rare that you receive a truly monumental present when you turn 40 something. I did!!! My daughter came to Maine to meet her brother that she had not seen in 12 years. My previous blog shows my reunion with my son. It has truly been an amazing year. I have not seen my daughter in 2 years myself and we had lots of hugging to catch up on.

The reunion was fantastic! We relived childhood memories, had lots of laughs and a few tears as well. It was only a weekend and there just wasn't enough time. None of us wanted it to end. I have so many pictures that were taken and I can't wait to share them. We went for long rides to see the Maine countryside and snow, visited with friends at work, had a little snow adventure that I can't wait to tell about and had a family celebration with the grands on my birthday. It really just doesn't get much better than this.

The final trip to the airport was the hardest... I had to return her to Florida and her hubby, Jonathan. I am happy that she is so happy and happy that she was able to make the trip. At least I know that the sadness I am feeling at this moment is temporary. Even though there are many miles between us...it isn't a separation like it was before. My kids are getting to know each other again and feeling a closeness that they both need.

This reunion gave my heart stitches and completed my circle. Thanks for letting me share this with you.

Take me home...

Road trips are fun but my goodness is it ever wonderful to be back home again. This trip was straight down and back, so most of the pictures are actually taken from the front seat of my van. We stopped for a few hours to get some sleep after I picked up my son, for some much needed shut-eye. Here are a few of the pictures.



Still quite a distance away, but here is the first view of the mountains that I love so well. We were actually in Maryland here. About eleven hours into this trip....but I can see it.








Here are the dear friends that went with me on this journey. They just couldn't bear the thought of me going alone. The picture is taken at Blackwater Falls State park, which is where I was headed to pick up my son. My friends really didn't have to worry that I would get lost or anything......
I borrowed a GPS named "Betsy" to make sure that didn't happen. She certainly saved us too. We got turned around and landed outside of New York City and she got us through Pleasantville and back on the path home to Maine. Thank you, Betsy!!


At the beginning of our journey home...we were greeted with a glorious sunrise coming over the mountains.










The farmland throughout Pennsylvania was beautiful. Since I have an addiction to barns, I will share a few with you.

And the farmhouses... I had 167 pictures that I was determined to take on this trip. I snapped to my little hearts content.






Unfortunately, a lot of the pictures looked like this......

We had a great trip, I achieved what I wanted to do. I was really happy to see this sign.
We returned safe and sound although a little worn out as you can see.

























My son and my friend..(the backseat drivers),
...... my friends hubby(the pilot)












And me. I am very happy to be home in Maine. I remembered all of the beauty that I left behind in West Virginia. I took so many pictures between two road trips to document many memories. This whole experience gave me closure of sorts. I am no longer homesick for West Virginia. Anything that was there....I just brought home with me.

A trip to West Virginia

Wow! It has been a very long time since I've done any work here. I have great exciting news, though. I am going on a road trip to Davis, WV. I went a month ago and it was very special. I have lots of pictures and I will post them sometime next week. This trip is straight down and back from Maine. I'm leaving at midnight tonight.

The reason that this was so special to me... After 11 years separation....I reunited with my son. I spent my vacation with him and he is as special as I remember him to be. I am going back to get him. He called and wants to come to Maine to get to know me again. So....off I go.

I'll post those pics soon!!

Time to slow down

It is the time of year that I try to get caught up on housework, quiet times, reading, sewing and so on. For instance, my blog here... I love this but have not been here to post in FOREVER!!! Ok, well, it seems like forever. I guess I will start here in catching up with my life.

It moves so very quickly sometimes more than others. Since last post-- I know, a long time ago--but I'm fixing that. Anyway....since last post. The summer rolled on through. Then there was harvesting and canning and butchering and processing. Then for some reason I agreed to do a craft show and wasn't a bit ready. SOOOO, off to the sewing machine I went and I made my hubby a craft widow. I had one month to create a saleable inventory. I achieved my goal, it was a great success. That was October 20. See, how easy it is to lose a few months.

So then we are into the holiday season. My professional ties are in the retail field, so I was assisted in my whirlwind. On top of that, I had hoped to make some really awesone presents for the family and some decorations too. Some of it happened...some of it didn't. My mother in law helped me at crunch time. You know, the 20th of December and I've got to get these gifts in the mail, crunch time. Christmas is now over, time to take it all down and get back to normal. I think I'm coming to terms that my normal is just always going to be busy. January is the time of the year to slow down because there is nothing else to do. OK, it used to be. I got a promotion that with it came about 5 more hours.

You will be happy to know that I took a five day hiatus from work. I caught up on all the cleaning and neglect that my home has acquired in months, made beef stock and canned it, made 8 pies for the freezer for those hubby neglectful times, made new curtains, organized my entire craft/sewing room and simplified my wardrobe. Alas, my vacation is over and its back to work tomorrow. I feel very satisfied knowing that I accomplished much needed things.

Spring has sprung!

Life certainly has been very busy here on FourAcreFarm. Mostly due to finally being able to plant the garden. Hubby tilled, and planted and planted some more. Most of the 4500 square ft garden was planted over a few day span, just in time before the remnants of tropical storm Barry came in and tried to turn the garden into a swimming pool. In places it was quite swampy. Most all seems to have survived... 6 rows of navy beans may have been lost and as a precaution, Greg replanted them. Here is a list of what we planted... 5 types of beans- green, navy, pinto, kidney and shell; peas, onions, collard greens, swiss chard, cukes,2 types of squash-yellow and buttercup; rutabagas, potatoes, pole beans,corn, beets,carrots, sugar baby watermelons, and 88 tomato plants and 3 different peppers-green,chili and jalepeno.

We planted a herb garden and have a perennial flower bed planted. The flowers are very special to FourAcreFarm. My mother-in-law invited me to come get some of her perennials to start my flower bed. Some of these flowers came from her fathers flower garden when she first set up housekeeping...50 years ago. These include peonies and hardy mums. It is such a treasure to have some of Greg's grandfathers flowers. They all transplanted well and seem to be thriving.

There are wild irises all over the property. My first one bloomed today.

The farm is beginning to turn green and lush all around. I am looking forward to our first tomatoes and all the yummy stuff to taste. Now to find time to just sit and watch it all grow...someday!

Dixie

She is a satin angora, four year old rabbit. She is no longer breeding but has years ahead of her for fiber. Here are the pictures and excuse the mess in the shed. hahaha

It isn't a lamb....

So to any of you following my previous post, here is the rest of the story. The conclusion to the running joke. Before I went to the Sheepfest, I agreed that we were not ready for sheep just yet. It really wouldn't be fair to the sheep if for no other reason. But it was fun, because hubby knew that it would be something that I would do....carry livestock in a taurus wagon! He just knows me way too well. Anyway... a lady was at the festival with angora rabbits. I have been wanting one for awhile, but most are very pricy. When I saw them, I immediately thought of hubby....hmmm, its not a lamb. And....we didn't think of rabbits being there. And... its just a cage and a bag of food. And....we don't have to get the pasture ready for this critter. And....its SO cute. And...the prices were good! And..... I walked away.

I went inside to the spinning part of the festival, talk to some spinners, got to spin some myself and asked some questions. The rabbit wool could be mixed in with the sheeps to spin.....hmmmmm.....a purpose. Went back outside...of course I had to pass the furry little critters. So then I had to talk to the lady and get some educational information. That was definitly a mistake.

I took precautions before I left home and only had enough cash for my day....no significant purchases. Then I had to find out how far the nearest ATM was. Remember that I am out in the mountains of western Maine ...farm country. So I traveled about 10 miles to get cash for a bunny. I really did attempt to talk myself out of this. I got distracted by the barn...stopped by the road and took pictures and forgot that I was talking myself out of buying a rabbit. Back to the festival I went.

This is long winded, but bear with me. So I bought the rabbit, stopped at the Farmers Union and bought water bottle and feed and headed home to inform hubby that not only had I bought a rabbit, but "would he build me a cage too". I had this all rehearsed while I was petting the bunny on my front seat, the whole way home.

When I got there, hubby had his motorcycle out, polishing it, changing oil and guy stuff like that. I told him that I did not buy a lamb. He said thats good. I told him...that it does poop but its not a lamb. hahah He asked where I was going to put it and I told him I'd put it in the shed for the night and we could build cage on sunday. Well, the cats started sniffing around the shed. He stopped what he was doing and we went to look for a place to build a cage. He gathered up all of his tools took them to the shed and got started. He was still smiling throughout all of this. He will just say..."girls" and thats the extent of it. As he finished up the cage, I told him that I was going to chase down the rabbit that was hiding under a cast iron stove in the cook shack. I came back and reported that I would have to have another pair of hands.

I did not think rabbits were so strong. She gave us quite a fight and we scrambled around in the dirt for some time trying to catch my new addition. After a time, we finally caught her, put her in a box and took her to her new cage. She went in the cage with a thump...she was very scared but is just fine. Hubby then reminded me not to bring home any critters unless we had a place to put it.

Throughout all of this, he was never sour or dismayed. He kept smiling, ok maybe he sputtered just a little at the things girls do...lol. But it was always playful. In tribute to him.. I have to say that he is always supportive of the things I want to do or try, he may not want to be a huge part of somethings, but he never discourages me. I am definitly his biggest fan. He deals with all of my little quirks and loves me just the same. He spoils me with respect and kindness and we take very good care of each other. We enjoy each others individuality and independance but make great companions as well. LIFE IS GREAT!!!