Category Archives: life on the farm

Water

The forecast calls for rain for the remainder of the week and well into the weekend. We need the water, since our pastures have been bone dry. Just so happens that yesterday was the first day of (early) irrigation. I guess when it rains (ha, ha) it pours.

It was a beautiful day yesterday, and we spent the bulk of it outside. Taylor ran the water and Josephine and I worked on maintaining the goat pasture (I will get you thistles…this is my year!). Well, I worked on it, Josephine mainly played various goat pasture games, including, but not limited to: Paint on a tree stump with water, paint on a goat with water, pretend goat trough fishing, three little pigs (which consists of pretending to build houses and then asking the wolf to come in to play), night night (consisting of Josephine laying in the dirt in the goat shack and closing her eyes), and peanut butter and jelly (which is a new game, where she pulls weeds and insists they are peanut butter and jelly while she feeds them to the goats).

If you have been around me recently, you may have noticed (or heard me complaining, rather) that I have not adjusted to having a two year old and all of the ups and downs that go along with that age. My patience is worn thin. I feel like my well is as dry as the pastures have been. This shall be known as the great patience drought of 2012. I am easily frustrated, and I am not the parent I know I can be or know that I want to be. I feel myself questioning what I am doing constantly. Consistency is taxing, and I feel like I’m always saying no, redirecting, fending off a tantrum. I don’t like being the bad guy. I know it can’t be fun for her either. I also know that she just needs more attention from me, so it’s time to slow down and do that. I need to get my head in the game, and I am trying to center myself and be a source of calm, but it is trying. I think it’s time for me to get back to the newborn/infant mantra that got me through: everything will change, the good and the bad, so enjoy it for what it is. I need to irrigate my mind, perhaps?

And now for some kinder, more enjoyable thoughts. It is nice this year to have a little more independence while Josephine plays by herself in the yard so that I can get some work done and spend time with her at the same time. It’s actually one of my favorite things, being in the goat pasture with Josephine and the goats milling around. She plays the abovementioned games, and I love her imagination, determination, and creativity. Her sense of humor is spot on, and she can make me laugh like no one else. I love the activities and play that comes with a two year old, and I will work on acceptance of the other stuff because, just like the baby stage didn’t last and now I kind of long for that again, this won’t last either and I’m sure I’ll long for this.

20120312-125040.jpg

Advertisement

Sunrise, Moonset

I was greeted by two spectacular views when I left this morning
A moon setting

20120309-061800.jpg
And a sun rising

20120309-061841.jpg
Pretty cool. Happy Friday!

20120309-062642.jpg

20120309-062950.jpg

Lookin’ out my back door

20120307-223802.jpg

Hello, welcome to my back porch, also known as “The Captain’s Porch”. Yesterday while Josephine napped after our family zoo trip (for over two hours!) I decided to work on cleaning this area up. Over the next couple of months I hope to make this into a nice little area. Our house is awesome, and our back yard is particularly badass, however, there is no direct route or clear path from the inside/living room to the back. It’s a little funny. Enter the Captain’s porch. There is a door leading from our dining room/music area to the side yard. It is our hope to make this the passage to the outdoors. Right now nobody uses the side door or the Captain’s Porch. Probably because it’s overgrown with weeds and grass. There is also a broken down hot tub out there, but that’ll stay for a while I’m sure.

20120307-224707.jpg
I went to town weeding and clipping back a bush that I’m getting ready to dig up. Fun Emily Fact: I HATE bushes. They are awkward and need to be manicured and are only good for a rousing round of hedgecore (Ahhhhhh, to be 19 again). And so I’m tearing it out.
I worked my behind off cleaning this area. And I am super duper sore now. But this was COMPLETELY worth it!

20120307-224507.jpg

20120307-224551.jpg
Please excuse the goats. They love to be everywhere I am when they are out. I had a little gang going with the three goats and Buddy all hanging around while I worked. Apparently, I am quite popular with the farm animals.
But I digress, doesn’t the porch area look good! It’s a start at least. Eventually we’ll have an herb garden out there and some chairs to make it a proper Captain’s Porch 🙂
The sun is shining, I’m getting crap done and feeling good! Which is nice because I’ve been having a rough go with balancing life, work, relationship and two year old for the last week. Don’t feel too bad for me, most of it boils down to bad time management and inability to say no and stay home on my part. Live and learn. But, things are looking up!

20120307-225418.jpg
Oh, and because my family is the cutest and I know you all yearn to see pictures from our day at the zoo, here you go. You’re welcome.

20120307-231949.jpg

20120308-075822.jpg

I love my neighborhood

20120301-163138.jpg
This picture was taken on my way home from work just down the road from my house. It doesn’t do it justice. It was beautiful. Right after I took this picture, a flock of 15 or so pheasants flew over my car from the orchard next door to my house. Man, I love my neighborhood!

Weekend Work

I did quite a bit this weekend with two parties, family visiting, etc… and I still managed to get some work done. Woo Hoo!

Taylor and I went on a date Thursday night to watch a Thursday Night Ramble show in Modesto. Afterwards we went to Bauer’s restaurant for some food and more music courtesy of our friends Big Earl and Ray (so amazing!). If you haven’t been to a Thursday Night Ramble and you live in town you should totally go. And make sure you head to Bauer’s afterward. If you’re out of town, you can stream the Ramble’s here. Fun stuff. I think this might be the start of a regular, once a month date night. Getting ready to check that date night goal off my 30 while 30 list!

My dad came to visit on his way to Mexico for some dental work and together we moved Josephine’s play kitchen from the living room (where it has been residing since Christmas Eve) into her bedroom. This required moving the changing table out of her room (one step further from a baby, which made me sad) and re-organizing some shelves to put toys away, but it’s done! I forgot how big my living room is without that giant kitchen sitting in front of the fireplace! And I think the kitchen looks nice in Josephine’s room. I hung up some more art, and I think it’s really coming together. Check it out:

20120206-123046.jpg

20120206-123216.jpg

20120206-123413.jpg

20120206-124344.jpg
Candlelight breakfast with Grandpa Tim

Taylor left to play a show in Chico on Saturday night, and then drove to Reno for a Super Bowl/Craps playing extravaganza with some friends, so Josephine and I were solo on Sunday morning. It was beautiful, so we went outside to paint. After that Josephine spent some time feeding the goats. We got a good system going, where I was pulling weeds and she was picking up the weeds and throwing them into the goat pen. Seriously, such a great assembly line. She had fun, I did some much needed weeding, and the goats were so so so happy.

20120206-123603.jpg

When Josephine tired of hauling weeds, she asked me if I would clean out her playhouse. Since that is another goal on my list and I was feeling spry, I said yes. We got rags and buckets and hoses and scrub brushes out and I tipped the spider web and mud filled house over, turned on the water and went to town. Josephine waited patiently playing in the water and even helped by wiping down the outside with a rag. After about 30 minutes of scrubbing and washing and spider/wasp removal (what is it about dead wasp bodies that freak me out? They are dead and harmless. I am a wimp), it was clean enough to play in. And while I’m not going to mark this off the list, since the house still needs some detailing, it’s a darn good start. Darn good, I tell you.

20120206-123926.jpg

I love coming into a week feeling good about my accomplishments. I’m still feeling a bit chicken with it’s head cut off-ish, but things are looking up. Oh, and if anyone has any ideas for stuffed animal storage, I’m all ears. This avalanche is killing me. Just killing me.

20120206-124710.jpg

Monday morning

Josephine spent the night at her Grammy’s house last night. Taylor was in Reno with friends for the Superbowl. I had the house to myself overnight. It was the first night I’ve spent alone since Josephine was born. I’m not going to lie, it was totally weird and I didn’t sleep well. Grammy kept Josephine because it seemed better than her having to be at our house at 6 am so i could leave at 6:15 to go swim. This morning it was hard to get up and go to the gym when I could easily have slept in and gotten ready at home. But here I am, albeit 15 minutes late, warming my car up in the driveway and writing this post. My reward I this beautiful sunrise. Happy Monday everyone!

20120206-063244.jpg

Just Start

Yesterday Josephine and I started clearing out what is soon to become our garden area. It is currently part of the goat pen, however, the posts are set to fence it off, and it’s time to start the prep work.
There was a lot of debris in there…chunks of concrete, old fence parts we were using to reinforce the fence when the asshole goats were around, lots of rocks. It felt really good to get started. Taylor reminded me that “every little bit helps”, and so I just picked a spot (as Taylor advised, smartypants that he is) and got to workin’.
Today marked the first day where I wasn’t focussed on the end, but enjoying the process of doing something in my yard. My own lovely yard. And so I cleared debris and sifted through rocks and pulled large tufts of weeds. And Josephine hunted worms, painted with the goat trough water and moved dirt around. Such a lovely day. Such a lovely state of mind.
And I also caught a glimpse of what our springs are going to be like out in that garden and man, oh boy, am I excited!

20120108-232430.jpg

Nice Sunny Day

Instead of lounging on my couch all day, as I wanted to do this morning, I called some friends and had them over for a play date. This was perfect, as it forced me to whirlwind style clean up a little bit AAAAAND got me off my couch and out into the backyard with Josephine and our friends (the two guests and their children came over one right after another, so we had a nice little break for lunch…perfect). This plan also enabled me to stay in my yoga pants all day, let me visit with two wonderful women who I rarely see or spend any one on one time with, gave Josephine some much needed kid time, and wore my little J bird out so she went down for a nap with nary a whimper. Quite the nice day. I’d say darn near perfect. And it isn’t even 4:00. Life is lookin’ up!

And did I mention how much I love my back yard? Because I fell in love with it again today. In love.

20120106-154710.jpg

Happy Mouseday

I’m so proud of our little fur baby. This weekend he killed his very first mouse. He’s not too outdoorsy, so this was a big deal! Awww, he’s all grown up!

20111205-074707.jpg
(and, yes, we live in the country and occasionally a mouse will get in. That’s why we have Bacheecho the Brave!)

Brrrrr

I am writing this from my driveway at 6:12 am while I wait for my car to warm up. It’s 36 degrees and I’m wearing a dress. It’s supposed to get to 72 degrees here today. Stupid weather center. I’m ffffrrrreeeezzzing!

20111110-062207.jpg