A day spent with friends, and a greenhouse update!

This has been a very pleasant day, especially for me! First thing this morning, (first thing, that is, after getting up, dressed, doing chores, and showering) our neighbor, Kristi and her 3 little ones (Amelia, James & Michael) came and picked me up to go with them to Napoleon for the morning. We did some errands and then we went to the nursing home I work at and watched Amelia and her daycare friends "Tumble" and sing songs for the residents. It was fun to see other neighbors there as well, and it was different to be at the care center without having to work there! After Kristi dropped me off again at my house, Mom and I made a quick lunch and, after we all ate, she and I headed for Linton to do some more errands and then drove to our friends, the K. family's (the ones who had a little baby girl about a month ago) house to help Sarah with whatever needed doing. Mother helped Sarah by taking up a broom and scrub mop and folding clothes, while I got to be outside in the nearly unbelievably beautiful weather! (Ila informed me that it got up to 65 degrees!) My job was to cut off and rake up all the dead flowers and leaves from Sarah's flower beds. The children helped me some of the time and, once we were done, they (Ila, James and Edmund) wanted to show me their big water puddle. So, after putting away the shovel, rake and pruning shears, I followed Ila over to where her brothers were already splashing around in the "Puddle"---the puddle proving to be the ditch, with quite a bit of water lying in a flat area. :) The children assured me that their Mama lets them "walk around in the water because it's so nice out", so I watched them play for a while and then, as the water was coming in my boots already from the soggy ground that I was standing on, I took my boots and socks off and joined them in the cold water that was sparkling in the sunlight.... Sarah came out a little time later with the baby to ask if I'd be willing to hold her (and keep her dry) so she could get some things done in the house, so I stayed on the dry land then, cuddling the sleeping baby. It was a great day! The following pictures were taken over 3 days time and are of our greenhouse project. The first step was to level out the ground, as our garden area is slanted and we wanted the greenhouse to be level. We thank God for tractors that can do in a few minutes what would take us a few days to accomplish with shovel and backache! Meanwhile, the boys trimmed off several branched from the trees by our garden, both so we can mow under them and so we can get to our greenhouse easier from the house. At this point, the guys were laying out the bottom boards and getting them level, sometimes piling dirt up and, more often, digging a trench so the board would go down into the dirt.

The next day, the guys built the frame and the greenhouse started to really look like something. They put the black plastic on the storage shed wall to attract as much heat as possible.

Now, what do you think they used the 4-wheeler for?

Well, the guys thought it might come in handy to stand on while putting the extra little braces in the ceiling, and they were right!

They had to dig out the long ladders though when they got to the 3rd row!

Here, Jacob is drilling holes in the boards and then putting bolts through to clamp the boards onto the rods the guys stuck into the ground several feet.... I helped too, by holding boards while Dad measured and screwed them in, and also by leveling out the dirt inside a bit, as there was quite a mess left from the tractor tires and all..... We still need to bring in some composted manure and possibly some top soil from the field and then mix it all together so as to have a soil that will actually sustain life!

Cutting...

Screwing...

And finally, enjoying a nearly finished project. We just have to put up the clear plastic now and build some doors and, yes, get the dirt ready. This greenhouse is really a dream come true for Mom and I!!! And it's so big!!!!!! I can hardly wait to start planting in it. :)

A beautiful gift!

Our neighbor, Tamera and 3 of her children came over for a couple hours this afternoon to visit...

...AND Tamera had a WONDERFUL belated birthday present for my mom!

Tamera is a very talented quilt maker and she had made a lovely quilt for my mom... :)

Isn't it amazing??? I love the color combinations she chose for the blocks--and the flower and bird border fabric...

Thank you for your thoughtful gift, Tamera. Even though it was a gift for Mother, everyone here will enjoy looking at for many years to come!

Jacob won.....and won......and won!

Yesterday, I mentioned that perhaps my brother, Jacob would not wish to play games with me for a while, as I'd won both of the games we played together. However, in Mother's list of assignments for Jacob's schoolwork, she said that he and I needed to play some of his math games this afternoon. So, we dug out the instruction book and the math cards and played two games and, guess what? He won both of them! Then, Mom had also said he should play a game of chess--either on the computer or with someone else. I guess I shouldn't have agreed to play anymore, as his thinking cap was on straighter than mine was today, but I did agree to, and he won again! He was pretty happy. :)

I've made it sound like all we did was play games today, but that was not the case... Outside of doing the usual household tasks, I got the next batch of Kombucha started again--using our two favorite flavors of tea:

The Kombucha mushroom needs black tea to feed on, but we add these also for the sake of our taste-buds!

I also did a little birthday shopping on-line for my mom's birthday (Dec. 25th). Oh yes, and I watched it snow outside all day long (and it's still snowing now)! The snow is so pretty--and slippery! Tonight, it was quite a challenge to walk to and fro in the barnyard without taking a tumble.

Here's the view from our patio-door--taken around 3:00 in the afternoon:

My dad hauled grain once again and was glad to get home, as the roads were not the best. He was driving on ice some of the time! My mom was also travelling, as she went up to her office and did several sessions on clients. I'm praising God now that we were all brought back together, safely under the roof of our little house on the prairie!!!

Before I go, I just have to tell you something that I'm excited about... Yesterday, while babysitting our neighbor, Stacey's little ones (Alan's too), she called me up to check how things were going and then told me that she'd just had it confirmed that they are expecting another baby sometime in June!!! How precious new life is! I wasn't able to tell you yesterday, as Stacey said they weren't "Telling the world" yet, but seeing as she sent out the "Expectancy Announcement" today, I guess it's alright to say it now. :)

"A hundred and twenty two"...

For those of you who know my little neighbor girl, Ella, you may recognize "A hundred and twenty two" as being her very favorite number in the world... When she counts the stars, there are always "A hundred and twenty two" of them. When we pick dandelions, she wants to pick "A hundred and twenty two". She'd probably say that there are "A hundred and twenty two" drops of water in the ocean if you asked her! So, being with Ella a lot over the last 2 years has made me come to see what a lovely number "A hundred and twenty two" is... And that's why I'm writing on this subject today, because I have reached the milestone of my one hundred and twenty second post! :)

Cake and popcorn...

Today was a very busy day--in the fields; at home; and in town... Dad and Andrew worked in the fields almost the whole day, (although Andrew helped with barn chores). Mom and I worked in the garden a couple hours this morning before it was time to make lunch. I decorated a cake for a surprise 80th birthday party a lady's giving her husband. We cleaned the house. Then, from 7:00 to 9:00, Mom and Jacob and our neighbors worked in Napoleon, selling pizza, popcorn and pop at the 4H booth. They said most people just bought popcorn and then had to come back for water later! I'll just post 1 picture here, as this is more Mom and Jacob's story than it is mine... Here Tamera, Olivia, Jacob and Sophia are on duty:

I thought I'd also post a picture of the cake I made, as I'm certain that the guy this is for doesn't read my blog, so it should be safe! He is a farmer and doesn't have many other interests, so I decided to make a sunflower cake. The notes are because his wife said he really enjoys listening to music...

My dad should be home soon now for supper, so I'll post this and make sure the casserole is ready~