The Farmer's New Toy

All good boys should be rewarded.




Complete with Driver (when she is tall enough to reach the pedals...)




Oh No! Not another woman driver!

The Farmer's Latest Project

All last week the Farmer worked on the horse barn roof. Correction: MY horse barn roof, as I was reminded many a time...He did recruit some good helpers though (Uncle Pat and Farmer Dan...Oh yeah, and the boys!)

See, doesn't he look happy doing his wife's bidding? Not sure what Micheal is looking for up there though, maybe his replacement?We did have to keep a close eye on David though. He tended to fall off the roof quite a bit...Slight lack of spacial awareness there... Please note in the picture above that his father, Farmer Dan, seems to be watching his son slide down the side of the roof with utter disbelief. Have no fear - he lived through the week! He did come away with a sun burn and a nail in his foot though. I think I will owe him a trip to the comic book store as repayment...

Busy Days

These are busy days for the Farmer. Either he is out spraying the fields, or we put him to work at home. Last weekend we went out and bought Sarah a new play set - one that has been about 5 years overdue, not that she would ever complain. The next task was finding the time to put it together. I figured it would not be a functioning play set until some time in late August - at least according to the Farmer's current work load - but he did it! He got it (mostly) together that weekend and finished up this past weekend. He had plenty of help too, as you can see!
So bring the kids and come on out to play!
Even Uncle Mike came out to help. Despite this picture - he was a pretty good assistant too.

Aiden proved to be a great supervisor - he was not afraid to get right in there and show The Farmer what he was doing wrong


THIS is how you do it...Sarah, on the other hand, stayed far away, playing on her brother's play set.


OK - she helped a little, but it was awfully labor intensive and she had to take a break before long.

Ahhh, Country Life

Car Trouble

This morning, after finishing at the gym, Aiden and I made our way back out to our car only to be greeted by a loud hissing sound near the rear of the vehicle. Sure that I was getting a flat tire, I immediately called the Farmer and told him I was on my way to him for a quick tire change and patch at the shop.
I was able to get to the shop and stood supervising as the Farmer then proceeded to remove the tire and take it over to the workbench to find the hole. Meanwhile I was thinking how strange it was that I was able to drive the 15 miles from the gym to the shop and not have a completely flat tire, especially seeing as the hissing sound was loud enough to hear from a distance of about three feet from the car...Hummm....So I put my ear to the vehicle under the wheel well where he removed the tire, and sure enough the hissing was still there.
So we (by "We" I mean "He") replaced the tire and slid under the car for a closer inspection. He had me start the car and turn on the air conditioning. Now, you would think since he asked me to do this, he would be ready for just about anything under there, right? I started up the car and switched on the air, at which time I heard several four letter words from under the car...OOPS... Apparently I have a leak in the refrigerant, which seems to spray from the line when the air is started. The Farmer emerged from the car spitting freon which had shot directly in his mouth. OOPS. Why would you have your mouth open anyway?
We made an appointment in town to have the car fixed and he came to pick me and Aiden up as we had to wait several hours for the repair. When the Farmer got there to pick me up we needed to move Aiden's car seat from my vehicle to his. Only one problem. About two weeks ago I had participated in a Car Seat Safety Check during which the 250lb. man that was inspecting proceeded to tighten my car seat by sitting in it, pushing down against the ceiling of the car and tightening the latch system....Well, now we cannot get the seat out of my car...So we did what we could do, we put Aiden in his sister's booster seat (NOT RECOMMENDED...Or legal...). And here he rode all the way home. Very uncomfortably, might I add.
So, now I am here at home, waiting for the call that says I can pick up my car and once again be mobile. That call cannot come soon enough.

The Dinner that Wasn't

With having Thanksgiving at someone Else's house, you miss out on one very important thing...The leftovers. So I had it in my head that I needed to make my own Turkey Dinner the evening before last. I gathered the bird...Uhm...Ok, I may have cheated a little on the bird. I found this wonderful JennyO bird in a bag thingy that promised I did not have to defrost. I am all for no defrosting. After all, I never really know when I can cook the bird after it has been frozen...For me, defrosting is a mysterious and unreliable thing. I can take the turkey out of the freezer, sure, but how many days it will take from that point is lost on me..Anyway! So I have the bird in a bag here.Doesn't that lovely woman on the front of the package make this look glamorous? I am sure that is what I will look like when I finish cooking this foul.
Some left over cranberries, scalloped corn (what a great invention that is!) and sweet potatoes, all of which I froze the day after Thanksgiving. Yes, I can defrost simple things like these.

Then I whipped up some taters and gravy. This is what my gravy started out like - look at that! Then I did some culinary magic and Viola! Just look at that smooth texture, that wonderfully thick, mouth watering texture. Ok - So I lied - it came in a bag too.
Here is that bird in the oven - ain't she a beauty. I can still smell that wonderful aroma wafting out of the kitchen... They come in this nifty cooking bag, as long as you can push a button to turn on the oven, and you are trusted with scissors to put some vents in the top, you can cook a turkey! I didn't tell the Farmer I used scissors, it will be our secret...

Then I got a little too busy nursing an infant and let the turkey cook a teensy bit too long. Oh well, almost everyone can do this.
I have to say though, this was a very good turkey. So tender it fell off the bone, and very well seasoned. Then there was the discussion I had with the wine bottle... It went something like this:

Me: "Oh, you're one of those bottles."
Wine: "He he, you will never open me!"
Me: "Do I even own a cork screw anymore? I knew I should have stuck to the cheap stuff."
Wine: "Here I am, cold and tasty and you will never open me!"
Me: "Oh look, a cork screw! Now, how does this work again?"
Wine: "You will never figure it out! Look, you couldn't even cook a turkey in a bag!"
Me: "hummmm, I think it goes like this.... Ah-ha!"
Wine: "Oh NO! Wait a minute - she still doesn't have it right yet. He he he"Wine: "Uh-oh"
Me: "Ta-Da! I didn't even drop any cork pieces in the bottle this time!"Wine: "Chucks."

Ok- so once the wine was opened, the dinner table set, fixin's fixed, it was time to eat...There was only one thing missing - the Farmer. Insert telephone ring here...

Farmer: "I'll be late."
Me: "Late? Really? I made a turkey! And I have wine - real wine, not that $3 stuff I usually buy. I used a cork screw."
Farmer: "Bla bla bla..Chisel plow...Bla bla...Have to help...Bla bla bla bla...Late."
Me: "Fine." - click.

But have no fear, Sarah, Aiden and I enjoyed a very nice turkey dinner by candlelight. And now I need a new bottle of wine....Not really, but I would have liked to have polished it off! Darn nursing child.