our Vegetable Garden!

This year my husband got an idea
to plant a garden.

We have not had a garden on our farm
since the first couple years we were married.

Oh, you know we always have sweet corn
but, that was the extent.

He woke up one day and decided he wanted
a garden! :)

So far, I have picked leafy lettuce, butter lettuce,
spinach and radishes!!

We have tomatoes, onion, potatoes,
squash and pumpkins yet to come
and the grandson has his 'own sunflower'!

I am kind of excited for all the pumpkins
and of course zucchini for zucchini bread!! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Today, I decided to make a Macaroni Salad for
dinner.
With the weather so nice right now,
I had the urge for some summer time food! LOL

Creamy Macaroni Salad

1 lb. small elbow macaroni
salted water
1 T. celery salt
1/2 t. garlic salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 t. Johnny's seasoning salt
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. relish
1 1/3 c. mayo
1 T. vinegar
diced green onion (I used 4)
1/2 regular size cucumber, diced
handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
2 hard boiled eggs (diced fine)

Boil macaroni and drain.
Rinse again with cold water, drain and transfer to bowl.
Add celery salt, garlic salt, pepper, johnny's and mustard.
Let this sit on counter uncovered to 'marinate' for 10-15 minutes.

Small bowl, whisk the mayo with the relish and vinegar.

After letting the macaroni marinate.
Add all the diced veggies and eggs to the macaroni.
Top it with the mayo mixture and stir and mix well.

Sprinkle a little paprika on top.
Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

ENJOY!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

blessings,

what's on my phone? :)

as you read this post
i will jetting off to vegas
to witness my brother's wedding.

his two daughters
her two daughters
my mom and step dad
and my hubbie and i
will all be there to witness this
joyous day. :)

so i am sharing pictures
from my phone.

daffodil fields 

with the grandson

arm bling

farm life

some of my pyrex and stoneware

i wore this cross blouse to

our good friday 

worship night

practicing for good friday 

worship service

shoes on a

coffee date

shoes waiting for the

easter egg hunt

have a LOVELY weekend friends.

may you be a blessing to someone today.

st. paddy's day partay

i am not sure when it started actually;

but, my brother started throwing
st. patrick's day parties
making corned beef, potatoes and cabbage
for his daughters.

he was a single dad and i believe
he wanted to make special memories
for his two daughters
when they were quite young.

 and so it began.
years and years of parties...:)

this past sunday my husband
along with 22 other guests showed
up at my brother's fiance's place

for their second annual party.
they have been together two years now. :)

we were suppose to wear green of course.
so i had a bit o' fun.

the food was amazing and the fellowship
was great too!

my brother and his fiance'
we will be heading to vegas in a few
weeks to witness their vows.

cannot wait!

my brother and his youngest daughter. 

oh, how i love this girl.

this is just part of the gang!

and finally my future sister lives on ten acres

and has lots of barns and out buildings

which of course my hubs being a farmer

wanted to have a look.

so my brother gave us the tour

and what did i see?

high in the rafters

this adorable barn owl! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

have a lovely tuesday

and may you find blessings

in each and every day

because they are there...

if you only take the time to 

look.

pumpkins & corn, oh my

we live, own and operate
a dairy farm

my husband has been working
to get our grass and corn harvested

trucks were filled to the brim
with corn which was dumped
& then tractors worked
to stack and pack
that mountain of corn

one of the piles was huge!

i took a few pictures but,
really truly they do not
do it justice.
there is no way to truly
grasp how very high that
mountain of corn
really was!!

later that day my daughter and i 

took little guy to a pumpkin patch

so he could pick out

some bright orange pumpkins! :)

the corn is all in

and hubbie can now relax

for a few days before

it is time to get the manure

on the grass-

so we are taking a 

few days and escaping to 

portland, oregon to visit

his two sisters and families.

we are going to a benefit dinner;

one of my sister in laws is very

involved in the oregon korean foundation.

both of my sister in laws

were adopted from korea.

our youngest daughter

who moved to california

last month is driving up to see us 

for the weekend too,

i get to hear all about her

new job and see her sweet face!!

it is a time for:

visiting

laughing

friendship

shopping

eating lots &

staying up late-

so much fun

to be had!

what do you have planned 

for the weekend?

be blessed and 

shine, my friend shine!

bountiful

life on a farm especially this time of year

can be a bit crazy!

there are fields to mow

and grass to put up, manure to get out

and corn to harvest and...

the list goes on and on!!

there are times that i barely see my husband...

this is the season i refer to as 

my 'widow season' on the farm

because he works from the time the sun
comes up until it gets dark. 

(or the work is done, is it EVER done!?)

today in fact, he was up at 3:30 am and said he will be 

going until midnight...

yes, this is the life on a farm!

but, there are blessings living on a farm

that totally outweigh all of the other things.

raising a family on a farm is the BEST!

(these last three photos were taken this summer-before jack moved to vienna)

my husband was raised on the farm

that we now own- 

and so were all three of our daughters!

yes, the best place to raise kids. :)

so the other day while he was working,

my daughter and i went out on the RTV

and checked the corn, blackberries and

a nearby spot that has overgrown 

pear, plum and apple trees 

just waiting to be picked! :)

my daughter picked a whole lot more 

blackberries than i did!

i was more concerned with all the pokey stickers and

of course the cobwebs! :(

she even crawled up on the back of our RTV

so she could reach the pears, plums and apples!

and then after we got them home

we washed them and feasted

on a wonderful assortment of farm grown food!

the corn this year is some of the sweetest we have 

had in a very long time. It was so delicious!

~~~~

with the bountiful harvest from the sun 

and the abundant yield of the seasons;

deuteronomy 33:14

~~~~

fall is starting to show up in all the retail stores,

while here in the pacific northwest

i feel like we are still enjoying the sunshine!

it takes so long to get here and then it is fall!  ha.

i am not sure i am ready for it yet!

school has begun; i hear the football players

practicing next door at the high school...

with school starting it is a sign that fall is on its way!

it also means i will be hauling out the fall decor, 

cozy blankets, scarves, sweaters and boots too! ;)

are you ready for fall?

oh, sunshine

sunshine

has finally arrived! 

mr. sun

has shown his face this

week in the pacific northwest 

and it is- lovely!

birds are chirping,
doves are cooing

as i sit in the backyard

on our porch swing

they sing to each other

in harmony

and it is peaceful

to sit and just listen.

a gentle breeze

washes over my face

and life is good-

i can hear the 

cows and calves

bellow,
tractors starting up,

and the milker as he gets ready

to do the afternoon milking/chores...

such is

a day on the farm-

the rooster 

next door has walked over

to sit under our tree

he stirs up the ground

a bit and then

stretches and crows,

he doesn't just crow

in the morning

but, all day long!

on my way to church

i noticed a hawk

sitting on the wires above me.

he was gorgeous

and instantly i am 

flooded with memories

of my dad...

he knew all the names of 

birds along with their 'calls'

and before he died taught

a lot of them to our eldest daughter.

he always noticed the animals and birds

when we were driving...

and now

 every time i see a hawk floating

or sitting on a wire 

there is that sweet memory

 of him.

days like today

where it is still and quiet around here

help to remind me

to

be thankful

for it 

all!

may i never forget

to sit. and. be. still-

to always, always be

thankful.

life is good

it is a gift-

may i never

take it

or my loved ones

 for granted.

*weekend pictures*

saturday my husband and i
went and bought some
rabbits for the grandsons
we found them on craigslist
of course we had to get two ;)

jack named his on the left of the picture;

taco

and so far lane's which is on the right

doesn't have a name;

we are giving him options.

i was thinking of:

nacho, dorito, pico

or maybe bell or salsa...

see a theme here? :)

we will see what he actually picks. LOL