A Moment...

The plums have started to fall. If they are not picked today there won't be much point to picking at all.

Leaves have suddenly lost their lush look and the tips are turning colors. Autumn is on it's way in the North Country.

The wild jungle chickens perch where ever they please at night. A coop must be built before the cold sets in.

Either I scale back my '07 breeding plans for the Shetland flock, or I get out there and build some more pens.

The boys are expressing a desire to change schools or home school. I still haven't made a decision and it is mid-August. Do I swallow the inertia right along with the guilt or do I jump wholeheartedly into the unknown?

And on the day when I should be getting her birthday card and gift and over-due letter sent off in the mail to her, a card and letter and small selected batch of clipped magazine articles arrives from my oldest and dearest friend...

And there she is...right with me at the playground while the boys run loose. Not in Florida. Not a million miles away. But right there. And she's so beautiful, and funny. And I cry to hear she has been sick a lot these past few months-as if Motherhood isn't hard enough when one is healthy. And I'm so happy to hear her joy over a spiritual affirmation.

This spinning earth slows down for just a moment. One son will hurt his shin. We'll have to get back home. Supper...maybe those plums...Clancy's meeting...dropping into bed too late...turning a year older...

Somewhere in Florida, she is a few hours ahead of me...a few parenthood years behind me...completely contemporary in this precious moment. Her letter is a room we both meet in. She gave me the key to the secret door there. And I hear her voice. I see her. I love her. I take a deep breath.

Up to speed I jump back on the Merry-Go-Round of Life. Centrifugal force flings me outward. I hold on with both hands and my whole heart.

The Work Party

This post is only partially illustrated. Pictured are the south side of the house awaiting a porch and siding, brother-in-law Elmer, and our friend, Chuck. Check back later to see the rest of the images and the "after" photo of the house.

The day was a great success. Almost all the framing for the wrap-around L-shaped porch got done. THANKS, Guys! And Dad showed up with his Bobcat and chainsaw. He took care of some trees that blew over in the yard during the last storm. Thanks, Dad!

In the week since, Clancy has finished up the rafter framing and now is laying the plywood for the roof. Hopefully we'll be shingling next week. (The boys are a great roofing crew-They roofed my lambing shed!-so they are looking forward to that.)

We ate way too much food. But honestly, we intended to. (That might have been the best part.)

Our friend, Chuck, (Huge THANK YOU, Chuck!) had to get back to his lovely family at a decent hour. But my family stayed until quite late. Mom and Selena worked their magic in the kitchen. Every dish was washed and all the left overs packaged up nicely in the fridge. Thanks Mom!

I helped. I did whatever Selena told me to do. There is even a photo of me drying silverware. I also was the butt of all the housekeeping jokes and I took the fall about the small mixup about snack vs. actual lunch time. (The corn on the cob had to wait in warm water for hours over that one. I don't really think it was my fault but one does not argue with the Kitchen Nazi while she is weilding a pair of hot tongs.) So you see, I helped.

Because the guys insisted on actually working instead of eating all day long, the Kitchen Nazi got bored. (I always say "what's the point of being over-prepared?") So she zipped over to Mom's and brought back all the stamping supplies. We set up the card table and made some cards for upcoming birthdays. We were still stamping at 10pm. Elmer and Clancy were discussing house-building. Our sons were euphoric with the idea that bed-time might never come.

As the adults wained, the kids increased their exploits. Apple pie bars were disappearing, and the sofa was taking a beating from four Jedi lightsabers. The dogs moved in pack-like formation behind the kids, focusing on the large chunks of food falling out of their fists and mouths as they ate while battling The Dark Side.

Time for Bed! When naughty boys turn into cave men, it's time to blow the whistle. We were all tired anyway. It had been a good, fun, productive day. Thanks to everyone that helped make it possible. :)

Really Quite Amazing...

All the ewes came running to the fence last week when they saw Anna Belle approaching for the first time. I was expecting they would sniff and posture for a bit and then the flock would take a few pot-shots at her until she stayed a polite distance from the rest of them. The next few days I expected to witness plenty of headbutting as the flock determined a new pecking order based upon the size, age, status, and confidence of each ewe.

There wasn't a bit of that. Rachel, my head ewe, sniffed noses with Anna Belle for a brief moment. And then, as if they had agreed upon it, Rachel and Anna Belle turned to face the flock as two reigning Sister Queens. I really felt I could read "mutual regard" in their expressions.

Rachel has always behaved superior to the other ewes in the flock, as though she tolerates them and knows they depend upon her leadership. I'm surprised how comfortable Rachel seems to be with the addition of a ewe that appears to be her equal; as if she enjoys the company. I know I like to live with a person that fully understands me. Maybe Rachel and Anna Belle do too. They seem content and pleased. I'm glad they have each other.

Housekeeping Olympian

Well don't look at me! I mean my mother.

It's now midnight. My sister and husband are in the kitchen cooking up a storm for Saturday's big feast. We are having a work party tomorrow, where friends and family show up to help us put the porches on the house we are building and we feed them lots of (hopefully) good food. Selena and Clancy are laughing their heads off while they perfect the oven-load of meatballs and the sink-sized crock of potato salad. They are night owls and rarely get this cook into the night and have a blast treat in my company. (I might add that the entire meal, right down to the apple pie bars, is gluten free. We girls and all of our children have Celiac disease.)

I made my contribution earlier in the day...I did my best to keep up with my mother. My house needed cleaning in a bad way. And Mother is the most extraordinary house cleaner person I know. She showed up at 11am and I had to send her home around 10pm. She was on her way out to clean the yard with my youngest when I intercepted her with heartfelt cautions about how uneven the footing would be in the dark.

I figure the least I can do while my mother is on her hands and knee-pads vacuuming my floor (yes, she shows up with professional grade knee-pads) is to remain standing and try my best to do useful jobs. Honestly, I can't keep up with her. If I hadn't convinced her to go home I would have fallen over. In the end, she took pity on me and agreed to let me get some rest.

When she showed up this morning, Mom started in the far corner of the house and worked her way slowly and deliberately toward the front door. She made a detour up the stairs with the promise that she was only going to vacuum the hallway. I came back from moving Anna Belle to find that Mom had cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the three boys rooms and vacuumed all. Good Heavens!

I got a double batch of really good hummus made this afternoon. And I cleaned off my desk which will no doubt serve as an eating table tomorrow. I did lots of other jobs too, but I'm too bleary-eyed to remember them. (Selena and Clancy are now comparing notes on what they ate today. Cooks are strange). Oh yeah...I baked a chicken and made a heavy stew/wet casserole thing for the boys and Mom. The boys dubbed it the Big Disaster but it tasted good. Can I go to bed now?

P.S. The Wenk's Yellow Hots are turning red! They are on the menu for tomorrow. Hope they are yummy. And I promise to be more coherent the next time I post.

Joining the Flock

All sheep that are brought in to Boston Lake Farm spend 2-4 weeks in quarantine. It's a good idea to do that, of course. But sometimes the reason for such an extended stay in isolation is because it takes me that long to get the more permanent accommodations ready. Or I didn't get the new sheep de-wormed the day they arrived so they have to wait longer than the 14 days it takes to worm them a second time.

Well...Anna Belle is the exception. I didn't get her de-wormed until a bit more than a day ago. And she has only been in confinement for 7 days. And I put her in with the rest of the ewe flock this evening.

I could make up excuses...She was lonely. (She actually was baaing a lot.) But the truth is that I had so much to deal with on other levels that I just wanted her to be with the flock so I didn't have as many water pails and hay feedings to carry in different directions. I already have a ram pen, a ewe pen, and then the other ram pen...

I don't expect any problems. Clancy and I have been inspecting Anna Belle's "just weaned" udder, and her feet and her general health for the past several days and she is doing well. I moved the whole flock to a new location minutes before I added Anna Belle so the girls were too busy ransacking the new forage to get uptight about the new sheep. And the ground they are on probably will not be used again until next year so I'm not too worried about worms. Maybe I should be. But today I just can't muster the fret. (More later)

So anyway-Anna Belle had to parade right past the ram pen and I swear they were yelling "Hey Baby!" (She led in hand like a pro, by the way. Someone must have put some time in there or she really is one of those angel sheep.) By the time she got to the ewe paddock she was thinking more about boys than girls...she checked all the ewes out and decided none of them had the equipment she was expecting and then she got busy eating the new pasture. It was almost dark by then, so I'm hoping that the flock goes easy on her.

Even with my niggling guilt of not keeping her isolated for another week, it was nice to see her get out into the pasture. I'm sure she is happier out there too.

Feeling Numb

I take care of my nephew a couple of days a week during the summer. Today, all the kids and I visited Grandma Erickson and didn't get home until about 6pm.

When my sister stopped in later to pick up her son, it was obvious something was wrong. She was crying...she asked me to turn on the computer...something terrible had happened in Minneapolis...

As the frightening photos began to load on the screen we were quietly searching for clues and details of the location of the accident. Selena was thinking of her many friends that live right in the Twin Cities. I was just starting to grasp the magnitude of the tragedy.

Hours later I have found out that our relatives in the Cities are safe and accounted for. A neighbor's brother is safe. Selena hasn't heard about some of her friends yet. My mind is replaying the footage and thinking of the people. The fear...the prayers...the heros...the injured...the saved...the lost.

Minneapolis-St. Paul, you are in my prayers.

To Canada, With Love

To my Great Auntie Alice and Uncle Walt, (the previous owners of Boston Lake Farm) and to all of their children and grandchildren in Canada....a photo tribute of the gifts Olive left us to remember her by...

Olive Bradseth Jensen loved her flowers. It seemed to me, (her granddaughter) that she was continually dividing her bulbs and roots and sharing the extras with those she loved. She cultivated her irises and lilies with passion. When she moved to new places, she dug everything up and took her precious plants with her.

One did not visit Grandma without taking a stroll through her gardens. Every nook and corner of her lawn had a different bed showcasing some beautiful species. During the winter she drew up plans for new beds, and she poured over the seed and flower catalogs for new varieties.

These blooms are planted at my mother's place. Some are planted along the edge of a wildlife pond Mom and Dad put in a few year's ago. Grandma had always wanted a water garden and she painstakingly drew up elaborate plans for Mom after it was announced that they were going to dig a hole. Grandma had so many borders installed in the plans that Mom didn't think anyone would be able to see the water. :)
Grandma went to be with Jesus a couple of years ago. And yet her flowers are blooming still...In Nebish, in Puposky, in Bemidji, and in the Twin Cities area.
Thank you, Grandma, for planting flowers for all of us.