Hard work and rewards!!

In my quest to become more of a "farm girl" I spent nearly all day Saturday outside helping my Army Man (and our kids) work on our property!!! I got a little sun burned (grrrr) and my arms are pretty sore from all the mixing of top soil and dirt for our raised garden beds, but over all it was a good and productive day!

I started out with my Army Man trying to burn a pile of branches from a magnolia tree he cut down a few weeks ago. That did not go so well, but we did get to chat with our neighbor (who happens to be dying of cancer. He has 6-ish months left to live!) (Can you imagine knowing that you are going to die in 6 or so months?!?!?!!!!) for a bit and seeing him walking down our dirt road always makes me smile!!! =)

After that little bit of fun we went to the woods.....he decided to go ahead and burn the piles of branches and vines (so many vines) that we cut last winter (over a year ago!!)!!! Awesomeness!!!! That was a sight!!! It is a bit surreal to watch your woods burn....and a bit scary!

We have many areas that could use a fire "cleansing" and it was nice to see the areas that we did actually burn open up and look less jungle-y!!! There are so many vines!!!!

I know it may be hard to tell out there in blog-land how very different it looks, but trust me on this one... It looks so much better!!!!  There was a time (although, I have no proof because I can't find the pictures!!) that you would not have been able to see the trunk of these trees!!! Wildness!!!

~~~On a side note.....every time I think or say "there was a time" I think of this song!!! The video is cheesy (sorry Harry!!), but the song is awesome!!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGkz2qCkMZ4  ~~~


Somewhere between burning the woods I caught sight of some fun being had....

It is always fun to play in the creek, but adding the element of tractors takes it to a whole new level!!!


It was hard to top a large fire raging through our woods for fun, but it did get better!!! After lunch we started working on our raised beds for our garden!!! We bought some top soil and peat moss and had to fill 5 beds with it!!!!! I really did mean it when I said it was fun. Well, at least for the firs thirty minutes or so. After an hour or so my arm muscles we screaming and I started feeling weak!!! =(

This is almost a side by side of the beds!! =) Right now there are 10 ready for planting. We have two more that need to be filled with dirt and peat moss!!! =)



We are so excited to finally have this ready to go!! We have been working on it (in our minds, anyway!) since last summer!!!!

 I also found some moss....I love moss!!!!

Not sure what these are....I was just excited that my little camera focused on them so close up!!!! =) =)

After all the work was done we cleaned up a bit and took the kids to Dairy Queen for some ice cream!!!! We also took the top off of the Jeep and rode in style!!! =)   FUN TIMES!!!!

 ~~~Happy~~~

 ~~~Kids~~~

Blessings!!!!

Complete Randomness

I have had so many thoughts going through my head these last weeks I can't seem to focus on one and write a blog about it.  I may have ADD and not know it......

Squirrel!!!!

Just kidding!!
This is an inside joke in my family.  If you are not on the inside, you can figure out. We are easy. Just watch the Disney movie "Up"!!  =)   OR...you can watch some clips here>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxYYPziLdR4
We use many movie references in our daily conversations.  Random. I know.

There is so much going on that I really feel like I am not keeping up!!!
I'll start and go backwards from there!!!

On Tuesday (18 Feb 14) I got to escort my mom and dad to a Celtic Woman concert at the Montgomery (Alabama) Fine Arts Theater.
Panic!!!!!
What to wear to a concert?!?!?!!?
Tuesday morning (the day of the concert!!)(believe me, it was not for lack of trying!!) I finally found some dress pants that I could live with. It is difficult for this "fluffy" "farm" girl to find dressy clothes that are not ridiculous!!  I would have much preferred to wear blue jeans, but, you know, fine arts and all that!!
The 3 tickets were a Christmas gift from my brother to my parents and he was supposed to go with them, but realized he didn't really want to go. He called me before Christmas and asked me if I would go with them instead. (Are you kidding me?!?!?  YES!!!!)
My daddy cannot walk very far without a great deal of pain. He is also a very large man. So basically, I was going to push the wheelchair for my dad because my mom would not have been able to do that!!!
I am sure glad I was able to go!!! The concert was AMAZING!!! And bonus! I got to spend a delightful evening with my parents!!!!  =)
The bagpipes were my very favorite! Such an incredible instrument!!!

You can listen to them here>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsCp5LG_zNE

Friday through Monday  (Feb 14th -17th)....I spent the entire weekend with my husband!!!
Let me clarify.
We spent the entire weekend WORKING!!!!
Not relaxing...  =/
My husband bought a '91 Jeep Wrangler last year. Yes. It is a "Jeep Project". He bought it from a NASCAR fan...I may have mentioned this before. Anyway, the Jeep was painted red AND black and covered with lots of decals. =(     We have been working off and on since he bought it to remove the decals and goo that is holding on for dear life!!!!

We finally resorted to some kind of spray on adhesive remover (that worked ok) and a stainless steel scrubby!!!!! It was back breaking work.

We got it all off and my Army Man rattle canned the Jeep all black!!!

It looks so much better. All the effort it took to get it ready was worth it to see the satisfaction and joy on his face!!!  The whole family helped and we all took a ride with the top off!!!  The kids loved it!!!


So this is what we started with.....

And this is what we have now!!!!

Awesomeness!!!! =)

Monday afternoon, after the Jeep was completely painted and all the parts put back on it (except for the top. It is still off today!!) we began the process of enlarging our chicken yard.  After the recent death/killing of one our best hens we decided to enlarge their yard for safety. Especially since we do not really know how or when it happened. Our girls (and boy) love to free range so this will be a change for them. My Army man had me on my knees hammering U-nails into the fence posts.  He had to pull the fence while I nailed. That's right this girl was doing farm work!!! I wish I had pictures to prove that I am trying at least to be "farm-y"....  I only hit my thumb twice!!! =)  I still have to go out there are put chicken wire along the bottom of the fence, but it is functional and the chickens don't seem to mind too much!!!


We are about to embark on a new adventure.....
No. We are not having more children!
No. We are not moving away...
No. We are not starting a business.
We are going to fence a pasture and purchase cows to raise for meat!!!
Yes.
WE are going to F.E.N.C.E. a pasture on our property and purchase cows!!
We are going to purchase C.O.W.S. to put on our property!!!!!!!!!

YIKESAMOLY!!!!!

We are about to fence our property for cows!!!!
This is such a huge step for us!!! We have no idea how to raise beef cows. We just know we prefer to eat beef that has been grass raised and we prefer to know where our cows have been and what they have been eating.
I (self-proclaimed "not" farm-girl) (see this blog>>>  http://www.zubadeewopshoppe.com/2013/10/farm-girl.html )  will be helping with the fencing and keeping of COWS!!!  WOW!!!  (Ecclesiastes 4:9)
Army Man has been looking in to Holstein (sp??) bulls. They are very cheap. They don't produce milk for the dairy farms, but we can raise them to be meat cows. It wont be the same as an Angus or Longhorn, but beef is beef !! =)
So, wish us luck as we start this new adventure!!! One day (I am sure) I will be an official farm-girl. Until then I'll just fake it!!!! =)


Blessings!!!