Summer Storm

After such a hot, dry summer-a genuine drought-any rain is welcomed. I rather love storms, though, and feel blessed to have seen the last few God has given to replenish the horribly arid land. I will take split tomatoes aplenty, if it means we get some regular precipitation again. It was a lovely storm this past Wednesday when I got these photos. The big kids were in the basement playing while G and I stayed upstairs while she napped. 70 mile an hour winds, the threat for hail, and loads of rain is just my favorite storm to munch cookies and drink hot tea to. I sat facing the back door and took it all in.

I *heart* Spring

Little glimpses all over...I actually can't wait until we head out to hike a different park Wednesday, just to compare how much else has popped up with the warm weather and rain. Out here the grass is greening beautifully, and we actually had to mow this weekend. We got up around the frog pond and out camping area from last year, plus a few new paths through the part we leave wild and a really nice new spot to camp down by the creek. All the fruit trees have buds on them and in the flower beds daffodils, miniature irises and the mints are looking beautiful. My oregano has spread big time since last year. I see some areas that need moved around and improved. I love growing food, but I love my herbs and flowers as well-they bring such beauty to the house area. I cleaned off the patio and front porch this weekend, so we are ready for enjoying our outdoor living areas. Today I received my yearly order from the tree nursery and my coupon for the Central Campus plant sale. Spring is most certainly upon us. I love it. The kids were even in the sprinkler this weekend (though personally I thought it was too windy to enjoy waterworks, they were begging). That being said, if my posts are even more spacey than they have been (as in space between, though my brain has been in some sort of fog here lately. I would love to say it is diverted blood flow to the baby, but I have my moments when I'm not pregnant, so I doubt it), it is because we are outside enjoying this GREAT STATE, and GREAT COUNTRY full of natural beauty we live in. I'll play catch-up when it rains. :) Get outside!

One Frosty Morning

A week and half or so ago, I awoke to the beauty that is winter in Iowa. 

Although certain tasks can be trying in winter weather, I still love that I get definite seasons in Iowa.

I love what each one brings, including winter. 

There is something exhilarating about snow and ice storms, and I somehow take them as personal challenges to prosper and push forward despite what they bring, like icy roads, thick mounds of snow, frigid cold and power outages. 

 I have always had way about me, aiming to prove someone, or thing, like strong winter weather, wrong that I have always enjoyed. 

Here God's creation made me stop and admire his amazing handiwork, and ever changing beauty that is the earth we all live on. 

I love living in this great country, and state, and can't imagine not waking up to beautiful winter morns such as this one was.

First Snow Fun

The kids anxiously await the first snow fall each year, so they can sled, and make snow men, and do this-scoop up snow and eat it, either plain or drizzled with maple syrup. I have a recipe for snow candy to try sometime this winter, too. Basically it is a maple syrup based caramel that you instantly cool in cups of snow and eat. Yummy!

Heat Lightning

Rays Over the Farm

Caught these about a month back while our dear friends were over for their weekly dinner/work night. I am not sure what phenomena causes this, but it looked awesome. I was thrilled the pics turned out. These were  coming from all over the horizons.

Our Major Insurance Claim for the Year

At least that's what it's feeling like-a yearly insurance claim after what we've dealt with the last few years. About a week ago, in the midst of one of the many severe thunderstorms we've dealt with this June, our house was struck by lightning, most likely multiple times. This storm had some crazy lightning with it, as well as what turned out in our little pocket of the midwest, about a foot, yes, a foot of rain in a 24 hour period. When the lightning hit all the adults in the house heard it. Dad and I jumped up and grabbed the kids after we decided that was too loud for the weather radio to not be warning us of something and headed downstairs to the summer house to stay the rest of what was already early morning. As it turned out, Dad has seen sparks, as well, and knew at that point something had been hit by lightning. We had Auntie sit with the kids (who hadn't really woken up yet at this point) in the summer house bedroom while Dad and I went to grab flashlights. In the midst of this we noticed smoke. In the house. Greeeat. So I ran down to Auntie to take help her take the kids out to her van parked in the drive a safe distance from the house, while Dad gathered fire extinguishers. He had forgotten about the one in my kitchen and so ran and busted through the door in his garage for his (his door is far too easy to bust through). We came back in to hear the sound of water pouring out of the summer house ceiling somewhere (did I mention it was pouring and Dad was in his underwear?). We ran down to the basement and saw where the fire (hoping it was only the one) was and Dad put it out with the extinguisher amidst a lot, a lot of smoke. I turned off the main water line while he turned off the gas. We ran out to the truck and waited for the fire department to arrive (I had called them amidst all that chaos). That took about 20 minutes, and our house would have burned to the ground by the time they made it out. It is one of the risks of living in the country. We are fairly close to town, but in the middle of everyone being asleep, it takes awhile to get suited up and out. They came out and noticed gas leaking and shut it off at the tank, then checked the house for any other issues and fanned out some of the smoke. In the meantime Sully, our new puppy, decided to try to help and followed them into the house. They brought him out to us, thinking we had left our puppy inside (he's an outside dog) so he got to sit in the truck with us. After all was said and done we saw for sure that a main entry point in the house was the TV antenna which sat a good 20 feet above the house and was electrified, though grounded. Unfortunately grounding something doesn't work so well when the pole it sits on leans over to the house gutter to make a new path. The strike traveled the gutter and came into the house again (it came in via the antenna line, too) through the gas regulator on the side of the house. It then grounded out inside where several lines cross at a metal bracket on a floor joist and started  a fire on the gas line it welded through. That fire melted the water lines that sat there and that pretty much was the incident in the summer house playroom. The jolt of electricity blew the antenna apart as well as blowing the ceiling tiles under where the fire started out onto the floor.
So, we knew after a quick run through that most our electric items in the house were toast, even if they were in power strips because a) the jolt was that strong and b) we hadn't replaced a few of them in a long time. We all took off for breakfast (the incident happened at 3:30 am, it was now close to 7) after recomposing ourselves at my mom's house just about 10 minutes away. After we got on the road, though, Dad thought of another plan the electric could have jolted, and was afraid another small fire could have been started there, we turned around to check once more. Everything looked fine at this point. There was little water on the floor in the playroom where the lines burst not much else. So we ate in the closest town over while Pony Gal, Aunties and Grandma B headed to a bigger town over to eat. We garage saled a bit and made a few phone calls to calm our nerves, then headed home. Once home (and having picked up Pony Gal) we went back downstairs to notice A LOT of water in the basement. The main line was off as the it was melted through, so it wasn't that. Water was seeping in from all the baseboards-basically coming up from the ground because there was so much water in our area (our creek which is usually a four foot or so waterway in our back pasture grew to 50 FOOT rapids for that morning's worth of storms). We grabbed shop vacs, made some calls and started trying to clear water out, as it kept coming in. Dad's step dad headed out to help a little later and it took us all day hauling out 12-20 gallons of water at a time, to clean it up. There was easily 1-2 inches throughout the entire 1860 square feet of the summer house, and more behind walls we soon found out as we started removing access panels.
What a nightmare.
Luckily the insurance agent has been great to work with. They were ever so grateful to be working with water and lightning damage versus a toasted house, and informed us that jolt from the lightning could have blown up the house had there been pressure in the gas line. Instead, it just burned the gas coming in. Dad putting out the fire kept it from being a fire loss as well. They sound like they are going to completely cover all the electrical, smoke, fire and water damage, plus pay us for doing all the water cleanup work, which should make our deductible covered by proxy as well. The kids are more afraid of storms than they were. Now they insist on being in the basement and we end up doing a lot of cuddling when they hear the weather radio. Super Boy keeps insisting that "sunder put fire in house", which is cute, but a little heart wrenching. I hope they are able to relax a bit in knowing that God totally covered us here. All things said, we came out fairly unscathed. A little shaken, a lot of work to do, but okay. Things could have been far, far worse but they weren't. Dad is having some trouble sleeping, but I think that will pass with time, or at the very least, once the stormy season lets up a bit.
Now we wait for insurance checks and I have been cleaning like a mad lady-lots of laundry, lots of moving things back into place. That smell from house fire smoke is awful, and clings to things, so we are wiping down walls and painting anything that hasn't already been painted to make sure we can get out as much as possible. Unfortunately I am old-hand at all that from my parents' house fire when I was a teenager. This is tiny in comparison, but smoke is smoke and sheesh. It just forces us to do some items on our big list we weren't planning on anytime soon and many of our item replacements will be "consolidate and upgrades" which will make me very happy. Also, Dad has decided on no more antennas. He won't live without TV, though, so we are now getting dish or direct. Whatever. They mount down low on the back of the house, so his hope is that no antenna will be an entryway again. And in the midst of it all the electric fencer blew so I got to rescue goats who figured it out all too quickly, from the neighbor's yard. They have been living with the sheep while it was repaired, and haven't enjoyed it much (the sheep shelter for summer is not as hearty as their's is). I am moving them back today now that things have been tested.
What a week. I can honestly say I am worn out and a little overwhelmed, but we'll make it. There is just a lot to deal with at the moment (because I am also trying to get food prepped for a 400 person wedding in two weeks). Hopefully that is our big event for the year, or the next couple years, and we can get back to some sort of routine and normalcy soon.

First Snow of 2009

Double Rainbow

You can see Pony Gal down by the goat barn. She insisted on waiting out the storm with them to make sure they were okay.

You know its getting bad when...

You know its getting bad when you are driving by the bottom waters that are usually surrounded by trees and fields and your four year old, rather seriously asks, "Is that grass, mom?"
Then you answer, alarmed, "No, honey, those are the tops of the trees..."
And its supposed to rain tonight.

Rain, Rain Go Away

So, when your job involves pretty much being outside for everything important, rain is not so good. Especially on the extended weekend you were going to use to get caught up on. Urgh. I may end up getting a few things done, but planting-wise, I am just going to have to wait and hope to fly through the work midweek when it is supposed to be nicer.
The rain is good, though, for what is already planted. So, not a total loss, but still a bummer of a weekend.

Ice Storm

We learned today just how well our house holds heat. We lost power at 8 this morning and didn't regain it until 3. It was torture for Pony Gal because I didn't want to open any doors to let her (or Mr Deeds for that matter) outside, and let the cold in. I ended up just sitting with Superboy most the day, rocking him. When the electric did come on, I had accomplished only one thing-a scarf for my husband's grandmother, and realized I didn't feel like cooking. So, I called Dad to have him pick up dinner from the local bar and let Pony Gal out the door. This kid loves winter. She played with the ice for so long. When she came in her little hands and face were so red. It was so cute to walk in on her all wrapped up in a blanket lying in front of our fireplace.
So, what if our power had not come back on? Well, that is one of my big reasons for wanting to be "off the grid" as far as energy is concerned. But for this go around, we had plans to go to my mom's for as long as it took. She has a furnace (and still had her power) but keeps her wood stove in working order, so we would have been nice and cozy. She also is only 10 minutes away, so it would have been no prob. And, it seems, the roads weren't too bad about the time we would have taken off. For whatever reason our county thinks it is unnecessary to clear our roads, or to even keep an adequate amount of gravel on them, so traction stunk. Luckily we are only 8/10's of a mile from pavement.
Oh, and the chickens hate this weather. They hate it more than usual because Papa H failed to tell me he HAD NOT been checking on their food and water levels regularly. In freezing weather. So, I look outside to see there are no footprints to the coop. (He is all of 50 feet from the coop, while I have small, needy children, and am more like 200 feet from the coop). Anyway, I managed to get Superboy asleep long enough to go rescue the poor ladies. They had no food left and their water was frozen. And he had been feeding and watering them outside, which is just torture when there is snow on the ground. Who wants to walk on that with no shoes? So, it seems I am now in charge of this-not a big deal, but one that I would have loved to have heard about rather than found this way. It had been at least four days since the snow, so they had been waiting at least that long. No wonder they have slowed down tremendously in their laying habits. I wouldn't either if I was starving and cold. Yes, very cold. But, yet again, is a situation that did not have to be. It would have taken all of an hour for our friend/electrician to run electric in the already dug trench to the coop so we could hook up the heating lamps so it wasn't so frickin' freezing in there. We have the trench dug, but didn't know about it until it was filled with snow and ice and impossible to access until spring. So, now, hopefully my husband will be able to help me this weekend as we try to amend the mess Papa H has made by running an extension cord from the garage to the coop. This could have all been avoided had we just purchased the solar lighting/electric system (cheaper) from Harbor Freight I wanted months ago. But, no. Lets be difficult. Right. For those of you who don't know, I have lived on a farm, with chickens since I was about 5. That's well, 20 years, with a couple years lost in town. So, ya think I know what's going on?  I just felt so bad for those birds. It's cruel. And all it would have taken was a legitimate phone call (as so many I get from Papa H are not). Anyway, that's our ice storm story. Nothing too fancy.

Lazy Day

I feel like such a goon right now. We were supposed to go the firestation in Big City West with IHE today, but ended up not making it. And someone else could have had our spot had we known we weren't going. Unfortunately it just kind of happened. We got up too early this morning, to help out my sister (which was not a problem, because I always enjoy seeing you), then went to the local babywearing meeting. I enjoyed seeing all the different mamas there, although my shy nature prevented me from being too active. I basically sat and watched them try different slings, all of which looked far too complicated for my taste. I like my asian carrier. And the one piece tube style carrier I have on my wishlist at Wallypop is nice and easy also. But, either way being as pregnant as I am, nothing was going to fit too comfortably so trying anything on was futile today. Pony Gal got to be with other kids, though, and I got to talk to a few moms, all of whom I actually already knew from other things. I think we will make it a regular visit with us, though. So then we went to lunch with Dad, as I was too tired to pack something for him last night. That was fine but I found that Pony Gal and I both were looking pretty sorry and dragging major booty, so we went home afterward rather than to Big City West. By the time we were about seven minutes away from daddy, she was out. And as soon as we got home I laid her down in our bed, took care of a few small things, and laid down with her as my head hurt so bad from lack of sleep that I was no longer at a functioning level. I had also let me blood sugar get way low, a no no with this pregnancy as it then it takes a while to get back to where it should be. Next thing I know a fly wakes me up and it is 3:30-a nearly 2 1/2 hour nap. How did that happen? Actually, Pony Gal is still asleep. We obviously need that extra 30-45 minutes that we missed in the morning. We are going to be hurting units when the baby comes. But in the end, today was just one of those perfect days for siestas. Nice and cool. I lit some candles, opened the windows and had some hot cocoa. I still have to work-as Tuesday is harvest day for the farm, but sister is coming over to help so hopefully it will go quickly. I still feel drained. This back and forth weather seems to do a number.

Random Stuff

First and foremost, I hate being sick. I have dealt with allergies that I have not had for the last three years, which have been trying as I can do NOTHING about them. I refuse to medicate my baby. I do drink some tea that helps, but definitely does not fully alleviate the problem. Now, I also have a nasty cold on top of it. I think it is due to catering my brother in law's wedding this weekend, which totally wore me out. I am, after all, eight months pregnant. I woke up-no got up because I did not really sleep at all-about an hour and half before I usually do and ran a hot bath (as hot as it can be because of the baby) and laid in it for about the full hour before my husband got up. My throat had pretty much swollen shut so I wasn't going to be sleeping. I tried to nap yesterday when Pony Gal did, but it was futile. I hate flies also, I might mention. They were the problem then. I still had to get farm deliveries ready and need to get garage sale stuff ready, too. I can't really give myself much time at this point to be miserable, and yet I am.
So, about the garage sale. For those of you who like the city-wides, as I do because then you don't have to drive much, you can walk most of the them, the prison town to the north is having theirs this weekend, Thursday on. My sister lives in town there, so we are selling a lot there. Lots of toys that I have weeded out that I just don't care to have around anymore. Plenty of other stuff, too, of course.
On a third note, Pony Gal is growing up so fast. We woke up this morning and there were lights on in the house that we know we turned off last night before we went to bed. I noticed the kitten had not followed us in to sleep like she usually does, so I left the door cracked. Well, at some point she must have decided she wanted to come in, but needed to be rescued to do so. Pony Gal woke up and was telling me about the kitten crying and how she had gotten her. I didn't think anything of it until the lights issue came up. She managed to get up in the middle of the night, turn on lights, find Callie, and bring her back in to go to sleep with her. She has done pretty well at helping with her care. I am trying to find a bucket to keep the food in so she can keep that topped off and she runs Callie to the litter box when she gets whiny like she needs to potty. She also watches her to make sure she isn't getting into trouble.
I love the weather, though. It is definitely nice. If only I could enjoy it...