Green Acres is the place to be…..

Just like in the military, there is a whole lot of hurry up & wait here on the farm during harvest.  Oh, and I have good news and bad news.  The good news is that we FINALLY started wheat harvest and the bad news is that the wet wheat I couldn’t even give away is now dry and you’d have to pay dearly to get your hands on it.  You snooze, you lose!  We’re bringing wheat in about 6 weeks late.  That’s a record and one we don’t care to repeat thank you very much. 

What’s my job you wonder?  I am the head go-fer, the ride giver, truck mover, food person and any other stupid job they can think up.  Oh, I’m kidding.  There’s nothing hard that I do but it’s important that I’m here.  As in not out having fun.  But there are many perks that go along with my job.  All the wheat dust I care to breathe, the opportunity to travel (back & forth from the field) and best of all is my salary.  My employer (Mr. Picket Fence) is so generous – he doubles my salary every year!  (zero X zero = double zero!!!  WaHoo!)  Wait, there’s more.  I get to drive the really old farm pickup.  It does have 4 wheels but the radio doesn’t work, there is no air conditioning except for the model 2/55.  That’s the kind where you have 2 open windows and go 55 MPH.   Power windows were invented about 100 years after this pickup was built.  Truly, I don’t mind rolling up/down the windows.  But  picture me in the pickup alone with the air conditioning on (2 windows open) .  Then picture the combine coming up on the passenger side of the pickup.  Yep, I now have lungs full of wheat dust because I couldn’t reach the window crank.  Not that I’m complaining.  I LOVE FARMING!  :-)

This is Baxter’s 1st year as a farmer and he totally loves it – even more than I do.  My farmer guy can hardly take a step without the little darling right there.  But when it’s time to get in the truck, this is what you see:

So, what do you do when you’re too short to get in the truck by yourself?

HELP!!!!

(I get by with a little help from my friends!!!!!!!)

And then there’s the bliss of being in the truck:

And this is WHY we’re in the truck:

I wish I’d taken a good picture of the huge cloud of dust behind the combine but I guess you’ll have to take my word for that.

That’s enough of the farm report for today.  Stay tuned tho – soybeans are next and then sugarbeets.  I bet you can hardly stand to wait.  Not.

I found a fun place to shop the other day that is just full of interesting things – mostly old things – like myself – I mean, like my mother.  (Whew, almost let that cat out of the bag!).  A few things hopped in my car for a ride to my home:

I love, love, love that window.  I have a couple plans for it which will be so awesome – IF I get ‘er done!  You know what I’m saying sister?  The step ladder is in front of my house with flowers  and the bench immediately went in front of my woodshed.  It’s a very plain bench and of course it looked very lonesome.  It needed some friends to sit with.  Hmmmm.  Fall is coming.  Why, I asked myself, don’t I build some pumpkins since I didn’t grow any.  Here’s how it looked:

  

 

These pumpkins measure 9 X 17 and are 2 1/2” deep.  I will make these for any orders I get for $25.00.  Shipping would be extra but I gotta warn you that they weigh about 3 lbs. so shipping from Minnesota could be – well, more than a postage stamp.  If you hear what I’m sayin’?  If you live in my neighborhood you would of course save shipping.  Just leave a comment on my blog if you are interested. 

I also made these other pumpkins last year using 2” lumber and added gouges around the edges.  They are plain pumpkins but Mrs. Farmhouse showed them with a punch needle project attached.  Like this:

These pumpkins are 7” X 14” and 1 1/2” thick and sell for $12.00.  (Does not include the punch needle.)

Just thought I’d try this to see if there’s any interest. 

Have a great week!

Ms. Faye

Gator Time….

What do you mean, “what’s a Gator”?  I live in Minnesota so you can be sure it’s not an alligator!  Whew!  A Gator is a like a tiny, little 4-wheel drive truck – only way cute!  Well, here’s a picture of our darling Baxter – (who is almost perfect by the way) – just waiting to take off on the Gator:

I know it looks like he’s going to drive, but believe me, he’s just keeping the seat warm for his farmer/best friend/master, etc. (Not Me!  I’m the farmer’s wife and cleaner-upper of messes.)

So, Gator Time.  You know how I mentioned that Baxter is almost perfect?  Today wasn’t the day.  Our carpenter is coming on Thursday to begin work on our new deck so we (mostly not me) were busily taking down the old one.  While we were working, Baxter took a notion in his head to go for a run.  Alone.  Un-supervised.  Without permission.  Since I was mainly on the clean up crew, it was my joy & pleasure to go find him.  We are surrounded on 3 sides by fields of wheat – soybeans – sugarbeets.  All of which are taller than Baxter.  Not a problem because when he’s out there running and he wants to see where he is, he just leaps in the air a few times for a look-see.  It also helps us get an eye on him.  That boy is FAST!!!!  BTW, don’t try using logic on a dog.  DOES NOT WORK.  Baxter loves, loves, loves riding in the Gator tho so I hopped on the Gator and went Baxter-hunting, knowing that when he saw me on the Gator, he’d come running.  Ha, ha, ha.  This is where it gets really funny.  At least Baxter thought it was funny because every time he got close enuf to eyeball me, he took off in another direction.  And hide while running under the radar so to speak.  Then I’d see him 1/2 mile or so away as he’s leaping thru the air.  The fields are a mile long and after we’d made that route a couple times, I decided it was time to bring out the big guns.  If there’s anything Baxter loves more than Gator rides, it’s riding in the pickup truck.  I drove back to the farm and traded for the old farm pickup and drove back to the field.  The next time he took a flying leap (?) and saw the pickup, well, GAME OVER!   So was playtime if you hear what I’m sayin’.  Besides the fact that he wouldn’t listen to me, he was running thru beans with very wet leaves on black dirt.  You see what I’m sayin’?  He was one dirty dog.  Like this:Well, long story short (too late for that I guess), we got our boy home, cleaned up and explained to him the error of his ways.  He looked totally innocent so I’m sure it will never happen again………….

Its Weds., so this is what I’ve been working on. 

I’ve been on a woodshed kick lately and the sawdust has just been a-flying.  I saw some wood pumpkins and came up with my own version:

The smaller pumpkins were made last year for Mrs. Farmhouse.  She had a halloween punchneedle project mounted on the pumpkin which was adorable.  Speaking of Mrs. Farmhouse, she talked me into making some frames for her – you know how she loves stitchers and wool designs.  These came out of my shed this week  - OK, Ms. Karen???? 

And then, I’ve been so inspired by all the prim blogs and this has always been a design I admire, so……I made one. But excuse the picture as I don’t have hanging hooks on it yet.

To see more of Whatcha Working on Weds, head over to http://sweets-mycountryhome.blogspot.com

Oh, and before I forget, Mrs. Farmhouse is entertaining both Woolies and Peeps at her home tomorrow.  It’s sure to be a great day with good friends, good food and lots of laughs.

And now it seems awfully quiet.  I wonder what Baxter is doing?????]

Ms. Faye