The Neighbors...

We have wonderful neighbors. On all sides. Of course you have to remember, that distance isn't measured in blocks around these parts. It's more like miles, quarter miles, two farms down, the old Doyle place, out Johnson road, etc. When we first moved to the 40 acre farm (as opposed to the later acquired 5 acre farm with the real house, which is about 3/4 mile away, on a different road), the post office in a nearby village and the post office in a more distant town took three days figuring out to which one we belonged. We are closer to the village. But the town actually had a mail route out here. So our mailing address is the town, which we are not close to - 20 minute drive, in fact. Distance is all relative. We are a long way from civilization.
And we don't even use the address for the 5 acre farm, we were not sure what would happen with the postoffice when we told them that we live at both addresses. But you know what? Occasional mail from the county comes to the 5-acre farm address (which no one else knows) and the mail lady delivers it right to the 40-acre farm mail box! Nothing like a small community for personal service! We are amazed how often we talk to folks we don't really know, who know exactly who we are and where we live...
But back to the neighbors. We are surrounded by farms, working farms. With cows, and hay, and corn. Not only do really nice folks live on those farms, the farms themselves are nice to look at. Very nostalgic. I think I mentioned once in the original Wisconsin Snapshots which was a series of newsletters, that we live in a Norman Rockwell painting. Take a look.



This one is my favorite, right across the road - well, down a half mile and right across the road. And it's for sale, in case any of you want to join us in Rockwell-land.

Did I mention there are cows on these farms?

"Whatchu lookin' at? Yes, I am a cow. A Wisconsin cow. Not one of those sissy California cows. And proud of it."

Unplanned Art is the Best

Referring to previous post - since the Great Garage Cleaning was a Father's Day present, of course the punks decided a card was needed. One dashed into the house for the markers, another reclaimed some cardboard headed for recycling, and they all spent a very congenial, cooperative half hour creating an amazing card...

Of course a gang of siblings can only be nice to each other for so long....

Doing the Can Can (farm style)

It all started with the Great Garage Cleaning. While Mom was lolling around the pool in Louisiana, the kids and I decided that having no money to go shopping, we would give Dad a special gift for Father's Day - his tools all in one place, by his workbench. Sounds reasonable - until you look at the three-stall garage, and realize that the tools are scattered on every shelf, and most are on the opposite end from the workbench! Just for added challenge, there are still a dozen or more boxes of various stored stuff still stacked in the middle, along with several large dog crates, the broken washing machine, exercise equipment---you get the idea.
So the gang pitched in, lots of moving to and fro, emptying shelves, lifting boxes onto other shelves, gradually rounding up the tools and "Dad stuff". They really were working up a sweat.
Then it happened.
Lee discovered the Can Crusher, mounted on one of the shelving units. Wow! A new toy! A few cans were lying about on the floor and were promptly crunched. That caught the attention of the rest of the punks. They remembered the huge black garbage bags of cans we had just stashed for recyling day. And the Can Can was on!


In the blink of an eye, the bags were emptied, scattering a kalideoscope of color across the floor, and every kid began their own unique way of stomping, smashing, crushing and otherwise flattening the million or so cans.

The LAST CAN!!!

Wait! What's this? They raided the recycle bins on the back porch, checked under the car seats, scoured the office - not a can escaped the Can Can!

If you ever want to have a great impromptu giggling, stompin' good time, just leave a few cans out near a can crusher, call the punks, and walk away whistling after the carnage.

And Dad was way impressed by his super new shop area, just for him! He could even find his WD-40 within 5 seconds.

Dusk descends, a day ends at the farm

At the end of a long day of gardening, cooking, mowing, meal prep, baking, playing with the punks, running errands, tending chickens, and the rest of the daily rounds we love on the farm, we are rewarded with God's paintbrush...

Lights gradually go out around the farmhouse as kids are tucked in - the soft echo of Brent singing to the boys as part of their "snuggles" drifts down the stairs, mingles with the quiet sounds of Carrie's final kitchen clean-up and next day's breakfast prep. The dogs find their favorite spots on the couches. The hum of the areator in the turtle tank is the only sound coming from the school room. Even the washing machine in the laundry room is finally silent.

It's been a good day for the farm family.

"Goodnight, John-boy..."

What the....oh. Four cats. The stillness of the house is like catnip. 16 paws sound like horses thundering up and down stairs, around and around the hall and living room and kitchen, another loop through the office and school room out to slide down the hall again, skidding around corners, up the curtains, tag-you're-it behind the couches (the dogs don't even look up), tackle Happy dog's tail (NOW he looks up), drag shoes around by the laces, hide under the couch throws...they sleep during the day, doncha know.

Crafty Kids

After several days of hard work in the garden and catching up the acres of mowing (the riding mower was down for about 6 weeks, things got pretty wild looking around here!), we were all ready for a break. The boys love to draw and paint and do crafts - we got out the paints and brushes, the glue sticks and scissors, colorful popsicle sticks and feathers, construction paper and plain paper, modeling clay and beading stuff, coloring books and crayons, all set out so they could do whatever they wanted. It turned out to be a hot, muggy day, so we were happy to spend most of the day indoors.


Collin isn't in the pictures, but his colorful popsicle stick house is on display. The boys picked out a couple of old movies to watch, we had all kinds of kid-snacks, and just hung out and enjoyed a kick-back day. The cabin is a perfect place for R 'n R.

My favorite activity of the day? I love coloring books, and a new box of crayons just makes my fingers itch. There is something about coloring that is so soothing and satisfying...I spent several contented hours parked on a stool at the bar, happily coloring in a new $1 "Jakers the Sheep" coloring book with my $1 box of crayons.
I have a friend whose counselor/therapist recommended that she get a coloring book and a box of crayons and color everyday - and it really helped! Cheaper than therapy sessions, that's for sure.

Meanwhile, back at the farm...

The "busy season" has kicked into high gear here in the countryside. Loads of grain are leaving the mill down the road, tractors are making the rounds of cutting hay and silage in verdant fields, noisy early summer thunderstorms roll through every few days just to keep us on our toes.
Meanwhile, back at the farm...(the next one on the right)....

...the grass is getting mowed,
someone's been up early (like 5:30 a.m.) to get the first of 9 loads of laundry hung out to dry,

trimmed the weeping birch that drapes over the driveway and discovered peonies in an overgrown flower bed left by a former resident,

checked the water for the latest batch of fryers and the two orphans,

cleared the front porch of overhanging junipers so we can use the steps and front door again,

checked the rabbit's water level (it's a HOT day, man),

shared a popsicle with the youngest punk,

made a quick check on the feed level for the banty gang (14 new babies in the past few weeks),
swung through the garage to check the broody banties now sitting on eggs from the layer flock,

said hello to the new baby layers hatched by a banty foster mom,

waved "howdy" to the neighbor cutting the field behind the barn for green chop,

stepped over the household cats on the way to the kitchen for a tall glass of cold water,

stopped to smell the flowers (that isn't a rose, in case you were wondering...) on the way back to the barn to put away the riding mower,

and after dinner returned to the clothes line to take down another basket load of dry laundry, which is where she started her day. At 5:30 a.m. - did I mention that?

In between the chores, there were three meals and two snacks to prepare (none of which she had time to eat - the shared popsicle got her through the day), bandaids to administer,get the youngest punk down for his very necessary naptime, owie tears to dry, kids to bribe into doing yard work and household chores, phone calls, lessons to prepare, books to read to the little ones, and a myriad of other details large and small that go into keeping a farm household and 6 kids operating smoothly.

That's our gal! And she's still smilin'!

In case you might be wondering why there hasn't been much action on the "10 in the Cabin" blog site, this ought to clear up idea that there was procrastination involved....

In the beginning...

It's sort of like the question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. When does the garden start each year: when the ground thaws enough to start poking in seeds - or when you order the seeds - or when you make this year's plot plan after reviewing last year's plans and notes...? Maybe the answer is, the garden never really ends. If you're a die-hard gardener, you are either planning, planting or harvesting, year round!
In a previous post I noted the "spring cleaning" of the chicken house happens the day we do the first tilling, so the partially composted bedding can be worked into the ground several weeks before planting dates. The following photos were taken the same day as the house cleaning party. In the words of a well-known author, "It was a dark and stormy night..." Oh, wait, that's a different story. It was a chill and foggy morn... (May 15, I think) The stars were aligned, Brent was available, the kids had a big breakfast of waffles under their belts, it was THE DAY!!



New work gloves for the slaves - these kids work hard, and every one of them, including Max, has their own work gloves. They actually wear them out...
One for all and all for one!
Brent finally quit hogging the tiller and let Carrie take it for a spin. She took it over. They are very competitive when it comes to their toys...


The tiller was a rental from our local farmer's co-op. It was shiny new, right out of the box.
Dad and son consult. The kid is turning into a reliable hard working teen, his Scout leaders love his initiative and ability to work - most of the boys his age don't have a clue how to work. Thanks, dad!
OK, so the girls are hard workers, too. Under Carrie's tutelege, Amanda is also developing work ethics and can stick to a job until it's done. Maybe it's the hats....
Finishing up a new section we decided to add to the overall footage this year. A garden is a constant work in progress, every year brings new experiments, new plants to try.

Now that's DIRT, folks. The good kind~
Thank you, worm. We couldn't do it without you! (That's Amanda's hand - she is not your typical girly girl...)

Five weeks later...the weather has warmed up, the planting is done, everything got a good layer of mulch after the last big storm dumped several inches of rain on us, and we are happy to report things are finally growing. A late, cold, wet spring got us off to a slow start this year, but the garden is shaping up.

We planted blueberry bushes in the hoop house, it was already covered with chicken wire from it's incarnation as last summer's chicken house. The wire will keep the birds out of the berries when the time comes - not to mention deer browsing through.
Remember the little fruit trees from Stark's? They are doing great - here's the dwarf pear, all leafed out. Pepper patch in the background.
News flash - the broccoli has several heads ready to cut - not huge, but more on the way.
Guess what this is?? ZUCHINNI!! Blossoming! I'm still trying to figure out how we ended up with 5 zuchinni plants. Two were plenty last year... This afternoon we were all naming our favorite ways to eat zuchinni. One of the kids mentioned chocolate zuchinni bread, another liked zuchinni muffins, another liked fried zuchinni - well, we might be able to eat at least half of the crop...
Onions! Red and yellow. You can never have too many onions. We can dry them, or chop and freeze them. I laugh at the kids, they swear they don't like onions, but they have no idea how many things we cook that have onions in the recipe and they don't even realize it. We're sneaky that way...

The herb garden is always first to show growth, it's like spring tonic to see those first little sprouts. I love weeding the herbs, they all smell so good. The hay in the background are old round bales that have been there for several years. We use them for mulch when we aren't using them for sitting on or for work surfaces or wind breaks...
Woohoo!! The peas are blossoming!
And here's my shadow. Jetta misses Sage as much as I do. She follows me around outside, and finds my lap immediately when I sit down indoors. She even plays "tackle", dashing up to grab my leg as I'm walking by her hideouts.
Jetta made the trip out from Washington with us. She actually started her little life with us tucked into Than's shirt (the Big Trip year) after we found her and her littermates abandoned in a rain storm at the age of 4 weeks. She is a good companion for me - she enjoys gardening, like I do; she favors soft beds, like I do; she really loves bird watching, like I do...wait a minute - there may be an ulterior motive there...