On the eight day, God made a farmer.......

To all of the farming families out there, watch this.

Here is my farmer - my true love and the hardest working man I've ever met. 

Got food?  Thank a farmer!!!

We're going to have baby Canadian geese

Behind one of our buildings on the farm is a large pond.  

This year a pair of Canadian geese decided to nest there.

How cool.

Grabbed the boys, my camera and some bread 

and took off.

Five HUGE eggs. 

They obviously were a little skeptical and stayed away during our short visit.  We left some bread, took some photos and headed home. 

Just a neat old tree on the way out on the dirt road. Can only imagine the woodpeckers that have a time with it :)

Its planting corn time!

It's that time of year - planting field corn. 

Good and bad.

Bad - hubby has really long hours and is purely exhausted when he finally comes home.

Good - my youngest goes riding with him to be his "helper" and loves every minute

of his Daddy time.

I know, I know.  I have an obsession with wheat crops.  Just wait until it starts to turn yellow - GORGEOUS!  Then it'll be combine time and more time riding with Daddy :)

Just a canal in a ditch, but the water was running past go pretty!

I also love dirt roads.....don't know why - they are just so neat.

I remember braiding these  flowers weeds into bracelets and necklaces with other girls in elementary school.

Making the pass - better get lunch out of the cooler. 

Honestly, I try to remember my IPod and get some walking in while they are riding.  Nothing like sunshine, fresh air and a little Jason Aldean :)

Sometimes though, this is my view as I balance my checkbook, read or catch up on some phone calls.  A "Mommy" break :)

Old Time Farmer's Day

Recently, hubby, me and the kids and my father in law decided to take a road trip to see an "Old Time Farmer's Day" that had workhorses and donkeys.  

I especially wanted the boys to see that their great-grandfathers didn't just gas up the New Holland tractor, put on the AC, turn on the GPS and go to plowing.  They - as I was - were amazed!

I am not a "horse" person per say - I did spend some summers growing up riding on a dude ranch, but really have no idea the names / breeds of the following horses.  Just wanted to share some really neat photos.

Look at these guys sitting on a plowing and hanging on  steering the team. 

I was told that this "rig" was called a "courting plow" where a gentleman would take his

best girl riding with him to spend time together. 

How cute!  How Little House On The Prairie!!  

We did go for a ride through the woods in a huge wagon.  My youngest sat up front and helped the driver "steer" with the reigns.  The man was originally from Scotland - beautiful accent - could have listened to him talk all day.  His father immigrated to Canada to farm wheat and since then, this gentleman has been all over the US.  Very interesting man.

They ended the day with a wonderful lunch - we were starving!  Great food.  

I love taking the kids to "out of the ordinary" events like these - especially farm related.

Hopefully they'll appreciate all of the hard work that five generations of men before them

have put into our land. 

Ordinary day on the farm

Over Spring Break, we had the most beautiful weather.  

I tried to keep the boys outside for every moment possible.

When we do go out, I usually wander around with my camera

trying to capture things that can get overlooked by busyness. 

I slow down - breathe - relish.....

One of my favorite bushes - pyracantha. 

Great red berries that the birds love in the fall and winter.

Gorgeous flowers in spring. 

My azaleas are still hanging in there. 

Yes, I know I have a thing with a wheat field - LOVE IT!

This one....Marley.....has been getting on my nerves - really annoying

a nest of baby Bluebirds.  UGH. 

Probably a weed, I know, but a pretty weed. 

Garden is perking along.  We have been blessed with a decent amount of rain. 

Teamwork boys!!

Our other cat, Max, had such a large matted place on his hind quarter - 

almost like cement - we had him shaved.

I think he feels self conscious of his "nakedness!"

Go out side and wander around your house / neighborhood and see what you find. 

Strawberry Season !!!

Well, its here!  One of my favorite times....picking strawberries to make jam for the year!!

I usually start out with two flats, but this year, went back for a third.....feeling spunky, I know!

Don't they look delicious!

Here they are cooling - I love to hear that "pop" when they seal.

Such satisfaction for hard work!

This year I found some really cute labels online at Sweet Preservation.  Check then out here.

I went and found some light blue ribbon to finish of the pint jars.  

Oh, how pretty they look in the cabinet!!  

The simple pleasures, right???

The Great Horned Owl Rescue

My mother always tells me that my life is never boring living on a farm.  This is spoken from two retired people who basically read all day and a great outing for them is Sams and Walmart!  

Needless to say, the other week, hubby was planting corn about 10 miles from our house on a piece of land that we rent.  To say that our family is "owl crazy" would be an understatement!  Anyway, he sent me a wonderful photo on my phone of a great horned owl just on the edge of the field.  Truly beautiful!  

I called him - "Its 8:30am - what is he still doing up??"  "He's pecking at something at his feet - I think its a snake or something..."  OK.  

Hubby went about his planting and returned to that field several hours later - the owl in the exact same place.  Huh, something is not right.  He got out and approached slowly.  Wasn't this poor owl's foot caught in a trap!!!  How illegal!  He called with game warden who came and helped remove the trap.  Obviously the owl was badly injured - not only his right leg but also his left eye had a permanently dilated pupil.  The game warden said to leave the owl alone and let Mother Nature take its course - the owl will probably fly off. 

Well, it didn't.  So hubby calls me - "Whatcha doing?"  Oh, nothing, of course.....kids are home for Spring break and fighting, getting ready to start my strawberry jam, stripping beds, doing laundry.....you know....nothing much.

"Well, an injured owl is heading your way and will be there in about 10 minutes"  He had called a cousin with a dog kennel and caught him. He was transporting it to my house.   

"Better go to the pond and catch some fish for him to eat!"  OK, I'll just put that on my list to do for today.  

Oh my gosh!!!  Now what!  

The cousin named him "Pete" on the ride to my house and my two sons immediately fell in love......

He was very calm - probably very tired from being in that trap and also in a lot of pain. 

 His left eye obviously injured as well.  

Look at those eyelids!!!

Anyway, I jumped on the Internet and actually found a raptor rescue volunteer in a few counties over.
"Boys, use the restroom and put on your shoes - we're going on a road trip."  They were thrilled :)

I also saw on "transporting" an injured owl that they need to be covered with a dark sheet and have NO noise.  Wow, it was a wonderful trip.  No music, no DVD, only a little whispering and a lot of hand signals.....if you ever need your kids to be quiet, cover a box in the back and tell them you're transporting an owl - hahahaha.

The rescue woman was so nice and spent time answering the boys' questions about owls.  Really educational.  I asked her to please call me after the vet visit to let me know how Pete did.

Only an hour or two later, the phone rang.  Pete had apparently had his leg in that trap for several days and his foot was only hanging on by a tendon - the bone was dead and brown.  Federal law requires for perching birds even in captivity to have two good feet - they can have one wing - but need two feet to bear weight on.  They had to put him to sleep.

I sat the boys down and told them what had happened.  They cried most of the evening.  I encouraged them that all of us did the right thing by trying to get help for Pete.  He just went to sleep peacefully instead of starving to death out in the field or getting eaten by coyotes.

What a wonderful experience for all of us - when will we ever be in the company of  a Great Horned Owl!!

Pete will always have a special place in our hearts.