It's a wonderful life!

Almost every year for as long as I can remember, my family and I have had the tradition of watching "It's a Wonderful Life" on this day/night of death and darkness. This year however, Dad and Andrew were not even home until a few minutes ago, so the rest of us watched the sweetened condensed version of our old favorite. (Be sure to skip the ad in the beginning if you watch it.)

Then we watched "Sergeant York" which is another wonderful old movie (starring Gary Cooper, who becomes a Christian in the film....). That movie can be viewed on YouTube, part 1 HERE and part 2 HERE!


Here are a few pictures from cattle moving day:
(Dad on a 4-wheeler...)
Mom drove the trailer to pick up a couple little calves that were born this Fall....

Andrew's on his dirt-bike in this picture, although it's a bit hard to see him on account of the bright sunshine!

Jacob was on his dirt-bike that day and I drove the other 4-wheeler.

If you look closely, you'll be able to see my other brother in the picture below! I took this photo this morning, when Jacob went out to check the fence to make sure it was still zapping...

Mother, Jacob and I got several things accomplished in the house today. Outside of schoolwork, we got another batch of apples done, and worked on switching our clothes around (Summer to Winter). I also baked a crumb cake so we'll have something sweet to put in the guys' lunch boxes again.

When Dad got home tonight, he informed us that he sold another 7 loads of hay today! What a blessing. He also got a call from somebody who may be interested in buying our Temvik house....

Have a wonderful November everyone! We are preparing for the boys' birthdays which are just around the corner. :)

The cows are home!!!

Most everything went well and we had them all home and in the harvested cornfield just in time for lunch. Then, I headed for work in town and that's all I know about what happened here, as everyone was in bed when I got in the house tonight. I have two days off now, so am looking forward to getting many things accomplished at home in the next couple of days. :)

We played Cranium...

...and had some pretty good laughs with it (especially when we had to draw something with our eyes closed, or act something out)! Andrew had bought that game for very little at a second-hand store a while back, but we'd never played it, so today we decided it was time we did. "Cranium" will probably go back to a second-hand store though (unless one of you who reads my blog wants it), as it is really designed for a younger "Audience" and we probably won't ever play it again.....

Andrew and I did chores this evening. We're not milking any goats now, so I was done with my part of chores (hay, grain and water to the goats) by the time he was ready to get his cow in the barn. The calves/cows had spooked again tonight, so Sally ran away into the dark with the rest of the herd and Andrew had to go get his 4-wheeler (which thankfully has a bright headlight) to get her in. Once he got Sally to the barn, I drove the ATV back to the shed in the rain so Andrew could get to his milking. Sometimes I really miss our other milk cows and the fun times we all had together milking twice a day, but then other times it's really nice to not have so many chores to do anymore, especially when it's cold outside!

Well, tomorrow's a new day and a new week. I should get some sleep so I'm ready for it! I think we're bringing the cows home soon----maybe tomorrow even......

It was a lovely, Fall day...

The boys and I spent part of the morning putting the rest of the electric wire up around the corn field. Now, someone just needs to figure out how to get the water-tank over there... :)

At noon, Andrew helped us load up 26 goats in the stock trailer before he left to help Stan again for the rest of the afternoon (they got done with the corn today and will now move onto sunflowers). Several of the goats we're selling are weathers and then the rest are does that were not good milkers, or doelings that we just didn't want to keep as we needed to downsize. We kept 10 does/doelings and have 2 bucks, so our current herd equals 12! I don't think we've had this few goats for many years! Mom and Jacob delivered the goats to Mandan and then made a trip to Sam's Club to stock up on some supplies. They got home after dark.

This left me home alone (Dad was hauling grain today) to get the house cleaned up (although Mother did clean the bathroom before she left) :) and the supper made. I went out and dug some carrots and potatoes from the field (yes, they're still out there!) and added them to a roast. Next, I sliced some apples, put them in a buttercup squash and made a caramel sauce to pour over the whole thing. Yummy! There was laundry to do too, plus I got a phone call from Helen (owner of the daycare I've helped at in the past) and we visited quite a while, and she asked if I could help on certain dates in the future. I'm looking forward to that as I LOVE being with little children! They're just so full of life and fun. :) Plus, her business is in her home, on a farm, so the environment is very homelike.

We ate a late supper and are now heading for bed as we're all pretty tired.

It was lovely outside today, though a bit crisp and Fall like. We're just praising the Lord for each nice day!

Great guesses!

I loved reading your guesses, friends! :) Some of you were very, very close and even right on....

The first picture was of the apple butter, when I took it out of the oven. It had been boiling and made all those cute mounds.

The second was of the batch of vanilla I'm making---the pods being Madagascar vanilla beans. I've had a request for the info. on making vanilla, so will point those of you who wish to know more in THIS direction. It's basically like making a tincture, and will keep indefinitely... I ordered my beans from Penzey's Spices on the recommendation of a friend.

My morning was spent in the corn field with brother Andrew, pounding in more posts and then unrolling electric fence wire. It was cold and wet work, but it felt good to be outside. I spent the rest of the day indoors, at the nursing home. One of the ladies at the assisted living there (which is connected to the nursing home) asked me to come over to her apartment so she could give me a couple skirts, so I did that before work today and had a nice little visit with her. I found out that their former farm is only a few miles from ours. She was very nice and appreciated the pint jar of apple butter I gave her. :)

Dad cleaned grain today. Andrew worked for Stan (the farmer he's been working for recently). Mom and Jacob went to Bismarck for the day. Life is never dull!

A mystery picture!

It's been a LONG time since I've done a mystery picture, so here is one for you now that I took today. It just looked too funny to not take a picture of "It". :)

Please leave any guesses as a comment and I will wait until tomorrow night to publish them so you may all guess without seeing other peoples' answers.

Also, if you'd like, you can guess what I'm making in the jar below:

Happy guessing!

Oh yes, guess what came out of the sky today? Yes, that 4-lettered word: S*N*O*W! Thankfully, it was only a few flurries and they quickly melted in the sprinkles that followed.

Between the flurries and sprinkles, the boys and I started putting posts up around the big corn field so we can put up an electric fence and have the cows eat the remaining corn stalks/husks/cobs that are there. We ran out of small posts, so the boys went up to the pasture and pulled some out of a place that the cows are done feeding in for the year. Dad bought some more electric wire in town today, so I imagine some of us will work on the fence tomorrow....

It seemed like it was a good day for doing things we've been procrastinating, and we really got a lot of things accomplished. The boys got down the Winter clothes from the attic and I got most of mine changed around already. Mom and I made some tomato sauce. She got some cards written out that she's wanted to send for a while. Oh yes, Mom also called a guy to see if he could come pump our septic system before the cold weather sets in, as we haven't had that done since we've been here! It "Just so happened" that he was in the area, so he came and did that job. The boys also fixed Dad's 4-wheeler--the problem being caused by a mouses' nest! I started what's in the jar in the picture above.... Andrew got our R.O. water system set up in the kitchen.......... Dad was hauling grain most of the day.

It was a good day. We even had time at the end of it for playing a game of Rage and the boys played a game of chess too.

"Thank you, Lord, for all that got accomplished in the last 14+ hours.....and that the snow melted right away!" :)

Thank you...

...to those of you who prayed for me/us today! It was a lot better day and I don't even have much of a headache tonight. :)


It was raining here today off and on. Dad hauled grain; Mom kept the home fires burning (so to speak); Andrew went to Bismarck to get parts for his car (and to get the windshield replaced so it's more sell-able); and Jacob worked on his schoolwork. I worked in town this afternoon/evening, of course. This morning, my main project was making tortillas for the chicken enchiladas Mom and I made. Yummy!


Have a wonderful day tomorrow, doing whatever it is God has for you to do,
~Cora

Busy day!

After a morning of working on apples again and a few various other projects, I headed for work in town, knowing that the annual inspection there was in progress. Everyone is just a little bit nervous being watched, so it was a stressful day. I think we did alright, but it just adds a bit more stress to the day and my head aches again tonight..... I work there again tomorrow and the state inspectors will be there still, so any prayers on my/our behalf would be appreciated! I think I'll take my bottle of peppermint essential oil along to work tomorrow. :)

CORN!

The guys worked on bringing in our Organic, non-GMO corn from the fields today. God has been blessing us with warm weather lately. It was just lovely outside!!!

Mom and I spent the afternoon cleaning off the garden some more. We also worked on apples quite a bit and currently have apple butter simmering in the oven. :) We carried more pumpkins and squash downstairs and Mom oiled them (which helps them to keep a lot longer...)

Happy Fall to y'all!

The cows stayed in...

...and we were all home together for the whole day. It was so wonderful!

After sleeping in a bit this morning, Andrew and I did the chores while Dad went and checked cows. We all got cleaned up then and did various things until lunch time.

This afternoon, we sang several hymns, then watched "IndoctriNation"! It was fun to see "Wally" again (from "The Widow's Might"). Before watching that movie, I knew in my heart that I wanted to home educate my children (Lord willing and all that I marry and have some) someday, but after seeing the film, I was even more convinced that this is the only right thing to do! I feel so blessed to have been home schooled!!!!

After Mother took a quick nap and Dad checked cows again, we all played a 2+ hour long game of Agricola (a farming board game). I was so pleased to have tied for first with Andrew, as I've never even been close to winning before. :)

We ate a quick supper, then Mom and the boys headed out for evening chores while Dad showered and I played in my new piano book... This evening, we watched a John Wayne movie about moving cattle across the plains. I sure am thankful for modern transportation methods!

Before I go, I thought I'd share a neat idea I saw on my friend, Rachel P.s' blog recently. Visit HERE to find out how to make roses out of leaves....

Good night everyone and have a great new week!

Things don't always go as expected...

Mother, Jacob & My "Agenda" for the day looked something like this:

• Clean house


• Cook feast--including pumpkin bars


• Get down Winter clothes from attic


• Make lots of applesauce/juice


• Do lots of laundry


• Do evening chores

God's "Agenda" for our day looked more like this:

• Clean a little bit of the house (and be glad you swept the floor yesterday!)


• Cook a quick feast--including pumpkin bars


• Make 1 batch of applesauce/juice--which is still in the juicer


• Do a couple loads of laundry


• Cora: Go to town to put money in the bank and to work the first half of a shift at the nursing home because other people called in sick...


• Mother & Jacob: Spend 4 hours of the afternoon up chasing cows/bulls back in the fence and then fixing the fence. Then, try to drive home, but the Ram won't start, so Jacob, drive your dirt bike back to the farm and bring the 4-wheeler back up to the pasture to pick up your mother and finish going around the fence. But oops, Dad's 4-wheeler won't start, so get your brothers' 4-wheeler out of the Quonset, but first you have to get that big heavy door open. Eventually, you manage to do this task, with the help of a pry bar; shop jack; tractor loader; oh yes, and some muscle power!

Needless to say, God knows the plans He has for us and we just have to follow Him, and be willing to bend!

I'm so glad Sabbath is here though!

A new flower bed...

This corner of the house has been a mess for a while now, (truthfully, for a few years) ever since we had a water-line-trench dug in this spot. It doesn't help that the dogs love to drag all their favorite bones up by the house either!


Jacob and I worked together this afternoon to make the following transformations:
All that nicely composted soil is now a flower bed, in which I planted several kinds of bulbs that arrived in the mail yesterday. :) Poor Lady seems to be looking for her bones in that last picture, doesn't she? "I wonder where they could have gone....? "

Jacob and I also cleaned the house a bit; worked on laundry and dishes; and did the evening chores. Oh, and I baked some cookies.... Mother was in Bismarck all day and Dad and Andrew were away working again.

It was another good day and I'm praising the Lord for the warm(ish) weather He's giving us so we can continue to work on outdoor projects!

Have you ever used peppermint essential oil...

...to get rid of a headache? I have and I am doing that very thing tonight. It was a busy night at the nursing home and by the end of it, at least two of us had headaches! I'm done there now for the week though, and am glad to be able to work on apples for the next few days. :)

A blog post for brother Jacob...

An airline pilot was scheduled to take a flight from New
York to Los Angeles. The weather was too bad in New York to
allow his usual on-time departure. The weather in New York
finally cleared, and the pilot asked for his departure
clearance. He was very dismayed to hear that he had another
delay due to the increased traffic now leaving New York.

Sometime later he finally received his clearance and decided
he would try to make up the time lost by asking for a direct
route to Los Angeles. Halfway across the country, he was
told to turn due south. Knowing that this turn would throw
him further behind schedule, with some agitation he inquired
to the controller about the reason for the turn off course.
The controller replied that the turn was for noise
abatement.

The pilot was infuriated and said to the controller, "Look,
buddy, I am already way behind schedule with all the delays
you guys have given me today. I really don't see how I could
be causing a noise problem for pedestrians when I am over
six miles above the earth!"

The controller answered in a calm voice, "Apparently,
Captain, you have never heard two 747s collide!"


It was a quite morning around here. Dad and Andrew are still gone most of the time, helping that farmer with his harvest. I worked in town again this afternoon/evening and all went smoothly there. I just got home a little bit ago, got cleaned up and ate a delicious Organic orange from Azure. :)

I'm guessing tomorrow will be a lot like today.

It is really cooling off here in the Northern part of the country. The air was very crisp tonight when I stepped out of the nursing home and then again on my short journey from my van to the house door!

Happy Autumn everyone and God bless!

Tomato soup, comin' up...

Mom and I cut up a big kettle full of tomatoes this morning (after temporarily weaning some kids, and after visiting with a friend who stopped in). Mother later turned the tomatoes into a delicious soup which we will can for future use. Mmmm Mmmmm!

I worked in town again this afternoon, as I picked up a shift for a friend who needed the day off... I am so grateful for the safety the Lord has granted me on my journeys home, as it is very dark at 10:30 at night and there are many deer in the area!

It was a busy night at the nursing home, so I'm very much ready for dreamland. :)

May God be with you 'til we meet again.~

I saved our family $18 today!

"How?", you might ask?

Well, by giving each of my brothers a haircut, which I recently learned the going rate for nowadays is $9 a piece! I enjoy cutting their hair besides. :)

I worked in town today, so that took up a good portion of this day. Dad hauled grain; Mom was in class (her last day); and the boys worked on tearing apart the rafters we had put up and that the wind blew down so we can fix them and put them back up again.....

That was our day.

May the Lord bless you in whatever He has for you to do tomorrow.~

Is that watermelon ripe???

One of my friends asked me how you can tell when a watermelon is ripe?

Well.....

My mom has taught me to knock on a melon and, if it sounds solid-ish, then it's ripe. This trick has served us well many times while trying to decide which melon to choose out of a big bin of green giants.

However, I thought I'd do a search on-line before trying to answer this question to see if others had helpful suggestions pertaining to this subject. I thought the following article from Hillbilly Housewife was most helpful:

Summer is the time for cookouts, picnics, and watermelon. If you’re like me, you can’t wait to break open the first watermelon of the season.

Sometimes your rush ends up in disappointment because the watermelon you’ve chosen just isn’t tasty, which means it just isn’t ripe.

Let’s discuss how to tell if a watermelon is ripe so when you crack it open, it tastes like summer.

The trick to finding a ripe watermelon is to go beyond its appearance. Unlike some fruit, you can’t rely on your sense of sight to determine if you’re about to buy a nice, ripe, juicy watermelon. Take a banana, for instance. If the peel is yellow, chances are it’s ripe. With a watermelon you also have to call on your sense of sound and your sense of smell.

Watermelons, no matter what variety – small, round or large football shaped – have a particular sound when you knock on them. A ripe watermelon will give you a “thud” sound when you knock on it with your knuckles. Hold the watermelon close to your ear by cradling it in one arm, then knock on it with your opposite hand; like you’re knocking on a door. You should hear a dull sound, not a high ringing sound. Do this to several watermelons until you get the sound that doesn’t resonate a lot; it sort of disappears into the watermelon. This may not make any sense until you actually thump a few!

The watermelon scent is very distinctive and is another clue to a ripe watermelon. Once you’ve chosen a watermelon with the right sound, you need to use your sense of smell to finalize the deal. Take your watermelon and walk away from the bin so your nose isn’t confused by too much watermelon scent. Get your nose close to the watermelon end and sniff. You should get a delicious watermelon scent.

If your nose is still confused by all the watermelon aromas, walk over to the coffee aisle and do the old wine tasting trick. Clear your nostrils with a whiff of coffee scent. Wait a minute, then sniff your watermelon.

Now that you know how to tell if a watermelon is ripe, dive right into that beautiful pile at your grocery store or farmers market. Bring home a ripe, juicy watermelon for your family today and enjoy the fruit that says “summer is here!”


So, there you have it! Thumping on those watermelons really is a smart thing to do. :)

I just have to tell you this too... While on my Internet search, I came across an app. you can get for your cell phone/I-pod that, after you rest your "Gadget" on the top of a melon and select the appropriate size of the melon, you give the watermelon 3 good smacks and then your "Gadget" will tell you if the melon is ripe yet or if it needs to sit a while! What will they think of next I wonder???????

Friends, pictures, and pictures of friends. :)

To start this post out, I'll post a picture of one of my recent sewing projects... One of my coworkers gave me a brand new skirt she'd bought but then decided she didn't have anything to wear with it and thought I might like it. I did like it, very much, except that it was a little too short for my comfort, so I dug in my sewing pile to see what I could do to improve the situation. I found a skirt that I'd bought a while back at a second hand store that had had a slit in it. When I sewed the slit closed, I could no longer walk comfortably in the skirt, so there it sat. Now, however, I had just what I needed to make my new skirt wearable. I combined the 2 skirts and here is the end result: (I also made the bows out of extra fabric from the shorter skirt, the one bow that's laying on the brown shirt is a hair-bow I made and sewed onto a hair clip.)
Here's a picture of my little citrus trees: I lugged them inside tonight, as it felt pretty cold out when Jacob and I did chores this evening!

The other day, when Jacob and I were hauling in garden produce, we discovered 2 watermelons I did not realize had even grown! The large melon grew right beside one of the greenhouse posts, which is why it has a nice big crease in the side of it.

This afternoon, our friends, the Geigers came (actually, just a few of them came) to get some more Organic corn and oats for their chickens. They are trading us several chickens for the grain, so we are all happy!

I was thrilled when I heard that my dear friend, Miranda would be able to come along this time!!!!! She helped me in the kitchen for a while when the others were working on the grain outside. It's been SO long since we've seen each other (half a year, I believe), so it was such a treat to have a couple hours to visit with Miranda and her family!

Jacob and Josiah---and some remaining fruit pizza. :)

I had fun this evening playing in my new music book, "Jane Austen's World" which arrived in the mail today! The melodies are so beautiful.......

Well, Dad and Andrew will be pulling in the yard any minute now, so I'd best go make sure supper is ready. Mother got home about an hour ago, so we will soon be all together again, Lord willing, of course.

Until tomorrow,

~Cora

The full moon...

I'm not sure why it is, but the full moon seems to play a role in the way the residents at the nursing home act. It was a very challenging day there today. Does anyone know why that is????

I baked bread this morning, as the guys are going to be needing a lot of lunches in the following weeks! Mother is attending another class for the next few days again, so that means that, when Dad and Andrew are working and I'm in town working, Jacob mans the farm. :) Hooray for Jacob!

Blessings to you all and a good night to you too,
Cora~

Rosy red apples....

This morning, Mother, the boys and I drove over to a "Neighbor's" place (about 10 miles from here) to pick apples. Their apples are very large and beautiful and they taste almost like pears--nice and sweet. :) As long as we had everything along in Andrew's pickup, (boxes, ladder, and the apple-picker Andrew built this morning) when we drove home, we kept on going past our place and headed up to our neighbor's place (half a mile up the road) to pick some of the apples from their tree. Those neighbors are hunters from out of state, so they were not there, but they had told us earlier that they'd like us to use the apples from their tree so they don't go to waste like they did last year. We are very grateful to oblige!

SO, we feel very blessed right now, and our kitchen smelled of apples all afternoon as a batch of apple sauce/juice simmered in our steam juicer on the stove. :)

Jacob and I spent some time hauling more pumpkins and squash in from the garden and down the steep steps into our basement for future use. We also found 2 large watermelons hidden in the greenhouse! Then, I dug out 6 largish pots from the shed and Jacob helped me puts rocks in the bottom of them before I transplanted my dwarf fruit trees inside. We loaded the pots into the little red wagon and hauled them to the house where they'll be safe all Winter, Lord willing---and providing I can figure out how to take care of them indoors....

My dad is going to be very busy hauling grain for the next 2 months, mainly hauling for one farmer---a long time customer/client. Today, Andrew started working for this same farmer, driving the grain cart back and forth from the combine to the semi, then back to the combine again, then to the semi to dump, then back to the combine to load............... I asked him tonight if he was bored yet? He said that, "No," he wasn't, but by the time he's done with this job (which could last 3+weeks) he's pretty sure he'll be ready to do something else!

We are nearly done with our own field harvest. The corn is left, but is too wet to combine currently. Every once in a while, a truck comes from down South for a load of hay, so that is a real blessing this year. We actually have 2 different people buying hay from us now, and we never even advertised that we had hay for sale! The Lord just opened the doors, and we feel blessed.

Yes, blessed is a good way to describe how I'm feeling tonight. :)

I hope you also are feeling blessed this Autumn evening!

PS. I was not feeling quite so chipper this afternoon, however, when I tried loading the 60+ pictures I'd taken today and somehow lost all but 3 of them.... :(

Tired....

Actually, I'm very tired. I just got home from work in town and am so very much ready for bed.... I think I'll just quit boring you with telling you how tired I am-----and go to sleep!

Happy 31st wedding anniversary Dad & Mom!

May the Lord bless you both with many more years of happiness together!

Last night, Dad surprised Mom by meeting her in Bismarck when she got out of class for the day and then taking her out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, "The Ground Round". Today is their actual anniversary, but we celebrated last night as there's a lot going on today on the farm and elsewhere......

The boys did chores here at home last night and, when I got back at 7:45PM from babysitting the neighbor children, we hopped in my van and headed for Bismarck to meet our parents at the Grand movie theater. Mother was SO surprised, as she thought we were at home!!!

It was about 10:00 when the Sherwood Films' movie, COURAGEOUS began. :) It was SUCH a good movie---highly recommended, especially to the men/fathers of this world! We laughed and cried through many parts.....

We got to bed this morning at 2:00AM, but it was so worth the late night to have the experience of seeing an encouraging movie in a movie theater! I'll remember it always.~

Flat.

Jacob answered the phone this morning when it rang. It was Mother. Sadly, the Pacifica had a flat tire, but thankfully, she was just 5 miles from Steele where she was meeting up with another lady to travel the rest of the way to class with her, and PTL, that lady was willing and able to pick Mom up there and they weren't too late to class consequently. The boys and I went up (after chores were done) to put the spare tire on the poor vehicle. I then drove the Pacifica to Steele, where we left it in a parking lot for Mom to use on her return journey home.

When we got back to our place, the mailman had brought a package in and left it in the entryway for us. Inside were the spices and vanilla beans I'd ordered from Penzeys' Spices----a company that Sarah K. highly recommended to me when she told me how to make my own vanilla. Included with the order was a nice catalog, full of tasty looking recipes! There was also a cute bumper sticker that read: "Love people. Cook them tasty food." :)

I'm going babysitting tomorrow and am excited about it, as I haven't seen my little friends in quite some time. I can hardly wait to wake up in the morning! :)

Good night my dear friends. May the Lord bless and guide you all through the new week!

A good Friday...

My brothers helped me get much accomplished in the house this morning before they headed out in the still-very-strong wind to get another load of scrap metal together. After the house was tidied up; the laundry was done; and the aquarium was cleaned, I made a big pan of lasagna and 2 pans of pumpkin bars (made with 1/2 of a pumpkin from our garden. : )

My dad has been hauling grain all week for farmers and elevators. He leaves early in the morning, but gets back home in time for supper, which is very nice!

Mother is re-taking a class now in Bismarck. She started yesterday and will be done Sunday evening.

Thus, the boys and I have had the farm to ourselves for the last couple of days....

Well, there is more that I could write, but I just received an e-mail from a dear friend and, as I am very much looking forward to reading it, I think I'll say a quick "Good bye" and be off. :)

Come on it's lovely weather...

...to stay inside together....... as it's raining and blowing and flashing and rumbling and cold out of doors tonight!

I took the following picture of our large, wind-indicating swingset this afternoon: Don't you just want to hop on for a free ride? :)

It's a busy life!

This morning, after milking was done, I rode over to our rented land with Andrew and helped him fill the tractor tires with air (they have slow leaks that will need to be fixed when the guys have time...), and helped him hook up the mower so he could mow the tops of the ditches once more before bringing the tractor home. On my way back with Andrew's pickup, I checked the cows to make sure they were still in the right fence (which, PTL, they were!). Then I got home just in time to help make lunch, eat it, then get changed and head for work in town----which went well.....

It was VERY windy today, with dust blowing, and leaves flying North. It is still windy now. I heard that there were a couple fires around Napoleon this afternoon also and prayed for the fireman in charge of putting them out. I never did hear any more about it though.

Before I head for bed, here are a few random thoughts to brighten your evening/day: ENJOY~

Do fishermen live in the reel world?

You want to know a really, really hugely annoyingly bad
habit? It is: Over-exaggeration.

I may not be a great artist, but I am really good at drawing
a blank.

I wear glasses. Doesn't that mean that *everything* I see is
an optical illusion?

You can't stop progress, but you can unplug a good chunk of
it.

A chrysanthemum by any other name ... would be easier to
spell.

Raspberries for the future, Lord willing...

Mother, Jacob and I spent some time out in the bright sunshine, picking green tomatoes off of the vines. We've been waiting for them to ripen out of doors, but decided to let them turn red inside now, as it is getting quite late in the season and we don't want the tomatoes to freeze at night....


While I was down at the Keisters' house, Sarah asked if I'd like to dig up some of their raspberry plants to take home. As we've talked about getting raspberries before, but never did, I knew this was the time to do it! I finally got them transplanted into the garden today. There is a total of 36 plants. Hopefully most of them will "Take" and produce and reproduce like Sarah's have! Sarah also gave me several lily bulbs which I am very excited about! I planted them today also.

I have often admired this picture while at the Keisters' home and was so pleased when Sarah said I could have it---as something to remember them by. :) I'm thinking it might have to join my other "Future home" items up in the attic for the time being though, as all our walls are full and this is quite a large wall hanging....

Mother had clients here again this afternoon. Dad hauled grain all day, except for when he combined flax this evening. Andrew spent most of the day in the combine, except for when a tire went flat and he and Jacob had to change it. Jacob helped in the garden for a while and also helped Andrew with odds and ends, and swathed down the cover crop that was planted this Spring.... It was a good day!

October poem~

Crispy air and azure skies,
High above, a white cloud flies,
Bright as newly fallen snow.
Oh the joy to those who know, October!

Colors bright on bush and tree.
Over the weedy swamp, we see
A veil of purple and brown and gold.
Thy beauty words have never told. October!

Scolding sparrows on the lawn,
Rabbits frisking home at dawn,
Pheasants midst the sheaves of grain,
All in harmony acclaim, October!

Brown earth freshly turned by plow,
Apples shine on bended bough,
Bins o'erflowed with oats and wheat,
And satisfaction reigns complete. October!

Radiant joy is everywhere.
Spirits in tune to the spicy air,
Thrill in the glory of each day.
Life's worth living when we say, October!

~by Joseph Porter

This truly has been a lovely October day. I praise God for the beauty of it all. :)

So long, farewell...

This was a bittersweet day--the day that our friends of 7 years said goodbye. They leave on Monday, bound for SC. The Keister family arrived at our home around 1:30 this afternoon and stayed until shortly after 8:00 this evening. We had lots of fun between those 2 times!

The ladies, having one last chat on the swings...
...while the fellas discuss ? in the house...

...and the "Little" people play with my brothers' old wooden train set.

Mother and Sarah spent most of the day discussing how to keep a family healthy in this day and age...

...while the rest of us older people played our favorite game (which Lane taught to us many long years ago), "Settlers of Catan" with several expansions added for an extra challenge.

(Left to right: Jacob, Andrew, my dad, Lane, and myself)

My little friends came over to watch the game after a while, as is evident in the picture below:

After Andrew won the very close game (which lasted over 2 hours, by the way), we all headed outside to enjoy the lovely day.

It is so fun to see how children can find a way to play, no matter where they are or what they're given to amuse themselves with! Here, I'm watching James make small haystacks out of the newly mowed lawn. :)

Later, my brothers dug out some of their Tonka trucks/bulldozers for the K. children. In this picture that Mother took, I'm getting a picture of----------

----------Lane, playing his bagpipes!

Our dog, Millie wasn't quite sure what to think of such a sound, and Lady went into hiding! The rest of us enjoyed it though. :)

Later, after supper, Lane played us several pieces on Mom's piano. I just LOVE listening to him play! I remember, when I was taking lessons from him, my favorite part of the lesson was listening to him play what the song was supposed to sound like. :) (And yes, he played a couple songs from memory too!)

Baby Arianwyn is such a cutie pie!!! I just love her chubby little cheeks and her big smile!

More people swinging...

Look what James found! Wouldn't you love to have a woolly bear caterpillar crawling up your shirt? He did.

These next few pictures are from the first day I was at the Keisters' house (Tuesday), helping them pack to move. I didn't take any pictures the following days as I was too busy working. :)

There was another home schooling family there on Tuesday, helping with the work. They (the W's) were from MN, so had quite a drive home the following day! It was only 60 miles for me to drive there....

Abby W., playing with little Arianwyn on the grass...

Most of the pictures I took were of us while we were taking a break as that, obviously, is when I had the most time to snap a few quick photos! This one I took while Sarah; several of the K. & W. children and I went on a walk to the end of the Hull pavement and back...

Laura & Emily W. with the little sweetheart.... (See the stack of packed boxes in the background? :)

Isn't that a lovely sight???

The W. twins, Jessie & Jacob, writing their names on plastic water cups while Abby looks on...

Shortly before I left the Keisters' home on Thursday, (after digging up the raspberry plants and lily bulbs Sarah sent home for us), I did go around the house and snap a few quick pictures of the progress that had been made. I don't have before pictures, so these are more for my family and the K.s than anything....

Sarah's sewing area...

...all packed up.

...and my sleeping quarters, after several things had been packed away....

...I could post more, but I think you get the idea. :)

It was sad to say goodbye tonight, but they informed us of the possibility that they will be coming back to ND for a visit next June, so that was good to hear. Also, Sarah assured me that they would try their hardest to make it to my (or Andrews') wedding, whenever (and if) that might be, so we look forward to seeing them then too. :)

Plus, there is always the wonder of modern conveniences that allow us to stay in touch with friends, even though thousands of miles may separate us. I praise the Lord for that tonight and for the years that He did give us together!