Penelope the donkey loves carrots, but a handfull of grass will make her smile, too! Don't you love those teeth? Click on the photo to enlarge it.  

Visiting Fairview

I can give you an idea of what you would see if you visited my farm, but I wish I could let you hear the sounds:

Kitties meowing, demanding their breakfast

Mommies and calves calling back and forth to each other—MOOOOOO, moooooo, MOOOOOO, moooooo!

Blackbirds twittering and screeching so loudly in the pine trees that one has to raise his voice to talk

The wind blowing in the grove

The crunch of gravel under foot

The stream gurgling through the pasture

The splash of fish in the pond

The sound of foxes yipping in the evening dusk

HEE-HAW from Penelope, demanding that a carrot was what she came to the fence to get, not a pat on the head!!!

Cluck-cluck of the chickens in the hen house

The chatter of raccoons coming out for the evening

Coyotes howling in the distance

Frogs peeping at bedtime

Our neighbor's horse-drawn wagons rattling by

A tractor roaring past the house carrying two large round bales of hay

This is Fairview.

Not for the Faint of Heart

Cleaning the chickens

On Friday we butchered our chickens. Cousins came to help us get 40 of them ready for the freezer. The men folk started up at the shed, and they did the hardest part--beheading and skinning. Since they always get done earlier than the women folk, they came down to help us clean them up and put them in salt water to soak after the'd finished their task. I let the chickens drain and cool in the frig overnight and then bagged them for the freezer on Saturday. Sunday we invited Grandma and Grandpa out for oven fried chicken. Mmmmmm!

Oven Fried Chicken based on a recipe from my favorite Betty Crocker's Cookbook

1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Spray a large baking dish with vegetable spray. Place all the ingredients in a large plastic bag (I double the recipe for my family). Rinse thighs, drumsticks, and wings (or cut breast meat up for chicken nuggets) in water, drain, and place in bag. Shake to coat. Arrange in baking dish and bake in 425 degree oven for 30 minutes. Turn. Bake for 30 minutes longer or until done.
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It's Memorial Day. I'd like to take the time to thank the families who have members who are serving and have served in the military. They offer the greatest gift to our nation--our freedom. Blessings.

Weekend Thoughts

Thoughts from My Big Green Chair

There are times when I listen to others and hear what they are doing, where they are traveling, about things they are buying, or what their children are accomplishing, and I wistfully wish that I could have what they have. It is never long afterwards, however, that I am called to remember: He who created the stars and planets, who makes the earth rotate around the sun in perfect rhythm, who created the cells and their DNA, who purchased us at a phenomenal price, who counts the hairs on my head, who has given me my home and family—this is the God who has chosen my path; am I certain I would like to follow another?

Blessings.

If you were a cat and a boy came along and lined you up on the deck railing, would you sit there and wait for him to take your picture? LOL! 

In Honor of Donna: The Thursday Three

Donna does The Friday Five. I think I need to start something like this. I’d love to hear from more of you and know more about you! There are some people checking in from around the world (my site meter says so), and, just like my kitties, I’m curious to know more! So…Let’s do The Thursday Three:

1. Places I have lived:

I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. After I was married, we moved to 4 different cities in the state and finally ended up in Iowa where my 3 children were born. When my husband left his engineering job, we moved to the farm and have stayed here in our corner of Wisc. for 11 years. I did go to school in Madrid, Spain, and Durango, Mexico, for several weeks during my college years.

2. College? Career? Vocation? Or whatcha doin’ now?

I worked in a library in my high school years (also made popcorn for a movie theater one summer—ugh). I attended UW-Platteville (majored in Spanish education, minored in library), and UW-Madison (MA in English—specialization in linguistics & certified ESL teacher). I worked in a couple of libraries before I taught ESL in a K-12 school. When my 1st child was born, I “retired” and am now homeschooling my children.

3. Hobbies and the hobbies I’d like to learn:

I’m not doing as much as I use to—homeschooling and children have changed that! But I love to do a lot of things from gardening, cooking from scratch, sewing, knitting sweaters and socks, reading—my list is long…and of course, Astronomy. I hope the skies are clear tonight—70 children will be visiting our astronomy club’s telescopes!

I’d like to learn more about the skies and how to use a telescope well. I’d like to try my hand at weaving a basket.

Your turn!

Walk through the cornfield (careful not to step on the small slips of newly emerging corn), and crawl through the fence into the pasture. We can wander down to the pond and watch the snapping turtles that are sticking their necks out of the water to stare at us. The birds will be noisy, and some will be swooping over the pond, collecting bugs for their dinner. Perhaps we will hear a fish splash. Sit upon one of the old tree stumps and breathe in the heavily scented spring air. Life at Fairview can be very good. Blessings.

Even an Ostrich Can Be Tagged

I know that there has been a lot of activity about “tagging” bloggers to write about certain topics, but since I usually keep my head in the sand (busy at home and not reading too many blogs—sorry to have to admit this), I never thought it would affect me.

I received an email, though, informing me that I had been tagged:

Jean,
If you could read my latest blog entry, you'll see that you're tagged and are now it. I'll be anxious to hear what your answers are. http://classcialcatcourner.blogspot.com
Penny

The topic: Books. So here goes…

1. What is the total number of books owned, ever:

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. If I took the time to count my books, I’d not have time to read them. My dh tells me that next to the public libraries and schools, I’d probably have one of the most complete libraries in the entire town—maybe the entire county… If you realize that I started collecting books when I worked at a library as a teenager, you would understand his statement. Also, I minored in library science; I must have thought that meant that when I died, a new library would be started with my collection. The Jean in Wisconsin Library--sounds good, doesn’t it?

2. Last book I bought:

I assume this does not include school books? Hmmm. What if I say I don’t remember?

Let’s see…At the library book sale I found Dandelion, Pokeweed, and Goose foot: How the Early Settlers Used Plants for Food, Medicine, and in the Home. I did go to the book store to buy Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomer’s Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning about Over 125 Celestial Objects a while back—or perhaps I should admit to having picked up that Star Trek: Voyager book…What was the title? It is sitting on my bed stand still…

The last book I read:

I assume this means a book I actually finished. I’m reading about a half a dozen. I find them here and there around the house. Let’s see…

I have no idea.

Last summer I read about 40 books for preparation for this school year—you know Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Red Badge of Courage, Cry the Beloved Country, A Man without a Country, The Cay, Farewell to Manzanaar… Stuff like that.

Well, I’ll list the books I’m reading. Beware—I read books for months before I get all the way through them: A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. Star Lore: Myths, Legends, and Facts. Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot. The Journey: A Spiritual Roadmap for Modern Pilgrims by Peter Kreeft. Old Wounds (that Star Trek book). Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis.

Four books that mean a lot to me:

Oh, my! I’ll just meander over to some of my book shelves and see what pops out at me today. Tomorrow’s list of books would no doubt be different!

1. My Bible. It is the basis of all life.

2. The Hawk and the Dove. A Trilogy by Penelope Wilcock. It is a novel about men in a monastery so many centuries ago. The stories of these people and their joys, sorrows, faith, and passion—their anguish and horrors—stuck with me for weeks after reading these books. I don’t lend these out to anyone!

3.The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer. This is a little gem that keeps me creatively trying to run my home.

4. Do I have to pick only one of my George MacDonald books? The Highlander’s Last Song was good. Was it The Laird’s Inheritance or The Fisherman’s Lady that I learned so much about trusting in God? Sigh. I need to reread them before I can pick a favorite title here. Does this count as one of the 4?

Well, if not, I’ll throw in one for fun: Reader’s Digest’s Home Made Best Made. This is for those who love to make their own lotions and potions, grow herbs, quilt placemats and sew curtains, knit sweaters and make cute appliqués on baby clothes. It inspires me just to sit down with it—even if I have no time right now to work on anything.

So there.

I suppose I should tag someone else. LOL! Well, consider yourself tagged…

:-)Blessings.

Welcome to Fairview

My Web site crashed a while ago. I've spent hours trying to figure out how to get it going again. I think it is finally working. I did not put as many pictures up this time, but I did get our school schedules posted again-- a lot of the folks from The Well-Trained Mind boards have been asking for them. I hope to add more pictures and next year's schedules, but at least the information is now there! Also, I was working on it until 2 A.M. last night, so if you see any mistakes let me know--I already see that my font sizes are a little off. LOL!

Here it is!

Fairview

I walked in the pasture yesterday, and I found patches of May Apples announcing the arrival of spring! 

Thoughts During an Unusually Long Moment of Silence

Today I surfed over to Kim’s blog and found her talking about thinking deeply. I know Kim has the same number of children as I do and that they all are about the same ages as mine. What I don’t know is when she finds time for writing those looooong thoughtful blogs about complex subjects from the books she is reading! Since my children came along, I have seen my time for deep thinking and heavy reading evaporate. I find it hard to rub two thoughts together long enough to come to any conclusion at all since my stream of consciousness is normally not left to itself for any length of time. Although I have a list of daily “to-do’s” for both me and my children, I have times when I stand in my kitchen trying to decide what it was I was doing or should be doing. I forget that I put a quick load of laundry in the washer on Saturday night and find it (eeew!) on Monday morning. It is not unusual for me to get pulled away from changing my sheets, only to find it still a rumpled mess at 10:00 at night when I finally return to get ready for bed. I move from question, to need, from request, to task so often throughout the day that I would not get anything done that I had planned to do if I did not have that computer printout that tells me what I need to do each day so that I can cross things off and see what I should do next.

There was a time when I did amazing things. For seven years in a row I read all the way through The One-Year Bible. I kept notes of my Bible readings, wrote poems, and read Schaefer, Packer, and Tozer. I lead Women’s Bible and book studies, and I exercised daily without fail. I use to knit sweaters and socks. I taught myself to crotchet and stencil, and I made lip balm, hand lotions, and specialty soaps from herbs and other fascinating ingredients. I sewed my clothes, gardened huge plots of land, and canned and froze dozens of fruits and vegetables. I took a weaving class, made curtains, and put my waist-length hair up in beautifully intricate designs--and I did all of this around my work schedule of teaching English as a 2nd language in a public school district and spending time with my husband.

I am not nearly as fascinating a person as I use to be!

However, this summer I will be reading again; I do it every summer. I read all the books my children are going to read for school the coming year plus a few extras that I decide that I don’t want to add to their list. Last year I think I read something around 40 books. Now that my children are getting older, I am starting to read at a higher reading level—that, no doubt, is a good thing! Last summer I read many of which I had read decades ago: To Kill a Mockingbird, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Red Badge of Courage, Frankenstein, Farewell to Manzanaar, Rifles for Watie, The Cay, Cry the Beloved Country, Giants in the Earth—to name a few. This summer I also will help my children do their 4-H projects—in the past we have made furniture for woodworking, dipped candles, sewn aprons, painted flowers with acrylics, built rockets and made jams and quick breads. We’ve made posters about cattle, space, and 4-H trips.

No one thinks I sit at home twiddling my thumbs, but I’d say a lot of folks see me as rather boring—all I do is teach my kids at home, clean my house and cook meals, chase cattle back into the pastures, and periodically sneak out of the house to go shopping—grocery shopping, that is.

Sigh.

I wouldn’t willingly exchange it for anything.

Life is good.

Catching Up on the News

I had a wonderful day yesterday. Donna B. and her girls met my daughter and me in a small town that falls about half way between our homes. We ate our lunch at Culver’s and then visited a park where the older children could play tennis and Katie could explore all the new play equipment. What a sweet time it was! My daughter returned home with something she did not have before—her driver’s license. I’d much rather have wrapped her in bubble wrap than give her that little card. Who says old folks aren’t as adventuresome as their children? We bravely hand them the car keys and say, “Drive safely!” That has got to be one of the most insane things a parent can do!!

Earlier this week the whole family went out to the pasture to herd the cattle into a pen. We sorted them by pairs and took them to the big pasture. We have to load the mommies and the calves on the trailer at the same time so that when we drop them off at the pasture they do not get into trouble searching for each other—we do not want a mommy headed back down the road to get her calf or a baby running wildly in all directions bellowing for his mom! Now there are fewer cows in the pasture by the house, so we hope we will not be chasing cattle back to the right side of the fence as often.

Today there is a citywide garage sale in the town near by, and we are going to see if we can find a bike for one of our boys. Wish me luck!

God is faithful. Blessings.

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A woman had a mountain bike her dad had purchased and never used for sale--$35. My son is riding it up and down the driveway as I type!
He is Faithful.

A new set of lawn ornaments! Last year I had a little calf who always walked through the fence to nibble on the grass in my back yard. This year I can look out and see 5 or 6 of them wandering around my back yard. Cute, but I don't particularly like what they leave behind! 

Tattooing a calf--Mommy says, "What ARE you doing with MY calf?" 

Once upon a Time (A Cat Story)

Once upon a time there was a beautiful, white cat with clear blue eyes. The vet thought one of his parents was Siamese, which meant he, as one person suggested, worshiped his owners like a dog and played like a monkey.

One day this sweet kitty became ill. The family was very sad, and they wanted him to become well, so they took him to the veterinarian and asked her to try and find a cure. After two days they were called and told to come and get him; what was wrong with him, however, was not really known. He was dehydrated, and he seemed depressed. No other information was known about their sick friend.

Two nights later, one of the family noticed that their little friend had a dry nose again and that he was not feeling very chipper. So the lady of the house began to think, “You know, I use to have a water dish in the sun porch. I wonder if he use to drink out of that all the time and I have taken it away from him.” So she headed outside to find the old water dish and after cleaning it up, she filled it and placed it back where it had been. Kitty looked at it, but showed no interest. Again the woman pondered, “I wonder if I could cheer him up by getting out his play mice.”

The play mice had been set upon a shelf one morning when the lady had found them, as usual, all over the bathroom floor. You see, Kitty had the habit of forgetting he had a catnip mouse in his mouth when he went to get a drink, and he would accidentally drop his toy in the water dish. After rescuing his little friend, he’d carry the soggy critter around with him. The family members had become accustomed to stepping, bare foot, on cold, soggy critters in the hallway and stairwell. Each night when the household was quiet, he would play with his soggy mice in the bathroom until he had tipped the water dish over and, frequently, torn open the mouse, leaving wet, brown smears of dried herb pussy-pawed all over the floor.

So the lady went up to the bathroom and brought down his toys and laid them on the floor by the water dish. And then...

Kitty pounced. Kitty snatched the mice and plopped them into the water! Kitty’s eyes flashed with delight and his tail swished with pure joy! Kitty fished a mouse out of the dish and ran to the wood box, dropped it, and then pounced to scoop it back out again. For forty-five minutes, kitty played with kitten-like delight!

Today, the family has stockpiled little cat mice. Some are striped; others are fuzzy; a few are filled with catnip, but others have a hard plastic interior filled with pebbles that rattle. Kitty is happiest when one member of the family sits at the bottom of the stairs while another sits at the top and they throw a mouse back and forth while kitty tries to catch it.

Life is back to normal in kitty’s world, and the family has adjusted to the special needs of their little friend.

Thus they have learned: Never put the mice upon the shelf.
--by Jean in Wisconsin


Snowflake, the kitty

A violet is simplicity personified. 

Sing Praise!

"Earth and all stars! Loud rushing planets!
Sing to the Lord a new song!

Earth and All Stars!

Earth and all stars! Loud rushing planets!
Sing to the Lord a new song!
Oh, victory! Loud shouting army!
Sing to the Lord a new song!
He has done marvelous things.
I too will praise him with a new song!

Hail, wind, and rain! Loud blowing snowstorm!
Sing to the Lord a new song!
Flowers and trees! Loud rustling dry leaves!
Sing to the Lord a new song!
He has done marvelous things.
I too will praise him with a new song!

--taken from Earth and All Stars! by Herbert F. Brokering in our Lutheran Book of Worship

Sing praise!

The Cattle Are Out!

All the cattle are here in the pasture by our house right now. My dh feeds them constantly, and they finish it up waaaaay too fast. We need to do the spring vet checks and get them out to other pastures. It seems as though someone is always calling, "Everybody help! Cattle are out!" They've discovered that the green grass on the other side of the fence is long and lush and that they can jump the fences or push them down enough to get to the grass. This is a case where the grass truly is greener on the other side of the fence! Coming home last night after dark, we found several cows "mowing" the orchard. Have you ever tried chasing an all-black cow through a stand of pines on a dark, rainy night?


Snowie is home. We are not sure what made him so
sick, but we are glad that he is acting a little more
like his usual self. We all noticed that he is purring
more. Welcome home, Kitty!

We Rest on Thee

A red Simmental is drinking from the pond is this picture. This is the pond that has so many snapping turtles in it--we are going to have to do something about them.

Snowie stayed at the vet's overnight. Sniff. I'll need to bring him home today or the vet bill will be too high! They have not found a reason for his illness. Sniff, sniff.

We Rest on Thee

"We rest on Thee"--our Shield and our Defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe;
Stong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
"We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go."

Yea, "in Thy Name," O Captain of salvation!
In Thy dear Name, all other names above;
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure foundation,
Our Prince of glory and our King of Love.

"We go" in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
And needing more each day Thy grace to know;
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing;
"We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.

"We rest on Thee"--our Shield and our Defender!
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors--we rest with Thee, through endless days.
by Edith G. Cherry

This is the song Jim Elliot and his missionary friends sang prior to heading out to work with the tribe who killed all five of them so many years ago. Is it the coast guard that has the saying, "You must go out; you don't have to come back." This song reminds me of that. Sobbering.

Blessings to you today.

My Snowflake is sick. He's at the vets today being checked over. He won't eat and is sluggish, and I'm worried about my purrbox. If any of you would like to keep him in your prayers today, I'd be thankful. 

The weather here is finally warming after a cold snap that froze a lot of gardens off. The trees are blossoming and the days are getting longer. Would you like to help me plant my tomatoes? As soon as the ground is dry enough, I'll finish planting my garden--brocolli, cabbage, brussel sprouts all have to be added to the lettuce, spinach, radishes, onions, green beans, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins and zuchini (did I miss anything?). I've made my garden much smaller this year--with teenagers I do too much running to keep a large garden weeded and tended. Soon we will have green onions and fresh lettuce and radishes on our table. Yum! 

Beautiful Fairview! 

Keep a Quiet Heart

I think I find most help in trying to look on all the interruptions and hindrances to work that one has planned out for oneself as discipline, trials sent by God to help one against getting selfish over one's work. Then one can feel that perhaps one's true work--one's work for God--consists in doing some trifling haphazard thing that has been thrown into one's day. It is not a waste of time, as one is tempted to think, it is the most important part of the work of the day--the part one can best offer to God. After such a hindrance, do not rush after the planned work; trust that the time to finish it will be given sometime, and keep a quiet heart about it.

Annie Keary, 1825-1879

Hubby finished planting the corn yesterday. Next will be soybean planting. 

Things children do: hike in the woods, play with cats, build hay forts, and make spider 'n eggs with my kneaded eraser... 

Springtime Cleanup

They threw me out of an airlock!

Not really. It has been very busy with spring in full swing here at Fairview. I dug a flower garden and pulled the quack grass (which had probably not been tended for a few decades) along side the garage. My garden is partially planted (I hope the frost didn’t kill anything), and I’ve been pulling out roots of shrubs and digging roots of trees on one side of the house. I even crawled to the top of the roof to scoop dirt, leaves, and little trees out of the rain gutters. I cleaned out the garage as much as I can (a lot of it belongs to Hubby), and I’m beginning to do spring cleaning inside the house.

Whew!

And what have you been up to?

Ruffy on Ears. Brother and sister taking a nap on a warm spring day. 

Hi! My name is Rigel. I'm chewing my cud which makes me look like I'm talking. Click on the picture and you will be able to see us better. This little look-alike next to me is my new daughter. We're standing in the muddy part of the pasture, but if you come down the hill a ways, you can join us in a green spot of grass. Don't you think we will make a cute cow-calf pair at the fair? 

Hello. My name is Penelope (Pen-el-oh-pea)--although The Girl calls me She-Haw. If you come to visit, be sure to bring carrots.