New Horizons!

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Last year was tough. 

We lost some friends.

Too young.

Far too young.

As Christians, we know this life is just a temporary stop in the big picture,
but we still want to savor the 'blink of an eye' we are here.

In my last post, I told you there were changes coming. 

Our lives have taken a turn in another direction. 

We have left the role of caretaker behind.

We look forward to a new adventure away from the farm.

As often happens when people stare death in the face, it spurs them to make changes--which for us was buying an RV. There's nothing like losing friends at a young age (from our perspective) to make you realize how really short this life is. Suddenly, priorities shift and those unfulfilled dreams become urgent.

As much as we love our life in the country, we have always wanted to see 49 states. I've seen a few--Ray has seen more--but now we want to check them off the proverbial bucket list.

Both of us have camped and boated a lot in our separate pasts.
Now it's time to make those memories together. 

We did a little bit of traveling last fall. 

We hope to do a lot more this year. 

We plan to do it almost full time next year.

 Eventually, I'll make our own map, 

and slowly fill in the blocks.

 

We plan to take an extended trip out west next year, hitting many landmarks, but also scoping out our next address. Could it be in Colorado? Utah? We've talked about being snow birds, but we would miss the four seasons. A place with milder winters would be nice. Our friends out west have told us to come. "There's land waiting..."

My future posts will be mostly about our travel adventures (and misadventures!) along with memories we've made here on the farm.
 

so far...

I've had fun going through my photo files trying to pick some for a collage.  As you can see, I have a little trouble making decisions.  I guess I kinda overdid it.  I have some ideas of how it'll end up, but I didn't have much time to work on it.  Let me know which shots you like, and any ideas you have.

Here's a shot of my weeping cherry:

Spring has sprung!

I do love winter, but this winter was long enough.  I've started weeding my gardens... not making much progress, but I've got a very good reason...

Yes, this is the guy that has kept me from blogging.  It's his fault I haven't had my giveaway!  But he's just so doggone cute...

Brady comes to see me every morning at seven, and stays all day until his ride comes.  We sing, we play with a cow.  We watch Spongebob.  We eat, we nap.  We laugh, we cry.  The hours pass quickly.  I think I'm in love.

I have been trying to capture a smiling face, but Brady doesn't like cameras.  He puts on his 'glassy-eyed' look and stares at his shoulder each time I try to snap a cute shot.  Or...

...he moves.  I have a lot of blurry shots.  Even the camera that freezes the galloping horses is no match for Brady!

Brady does let me go out sometimes...

I caught Sadie and Chubs having fun in the weeping cherry branches.

I have some good news to share...  Sadie lost almost 10 pounds!  Daddy has a hard time holding back the treats, but, now that she's made some progress, he's ready to stick to the diet, too!

I have managed to leave the farm a couple of times...

...like the night we went to see Dani (G #1) in South Pacific.  She's a nut for musicals.  Dani passed up trying out for the fall play because it wasn't a musical! She wasn't crazy about this one, but she went out for it anyway.

I think she looks cute in her military uniform.  It makes my heart just a little bit heavy to think about how grown up she is...

OK, I just had to post one more...

Brady is starting to settle into a schedule.  Soon I hope to be announcing that giveaway!  Stay tuned.

Now, I'll leave you with a couple of shots of my lovely river birch.

A Quick Update...

 I've been MIA again...  Last week I had a very sick granddaughter here for some TLC.  Today I started babysitting my new grandson, and also have the kindergarten girl for a few days.  And I still haven't started my taxes!  So don't be surprised if you don't read comments from me for a few days... or a couple of weeks!

I thought I'd take a minute to post a couple of pics to show you what I've been up to in my 'spare' time...

A while back, I shared my  drawing of a TV table I wanted Mr J to build.  Well, here's the almost finished product:

 

I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.  It's the first piece of furniture that Mr J has built.  I('m already planning the next.)  I still have some detail work to do...  The trim has carved detail that I am going to paint to make it stand out.  Of course, whenever I get around to that I'll post a pic.  

As you can see, it holds a lot of the kids' toys and games.  Videos fit nicely on the bottom shelf behind the wood boxes.  I found them at Michael's and painted them to match.   Now I have a handy place to keep my cameras, batteries and PC cables.  Plus, I finally have a little more space to display some of my  handmade gifts from the grandkids!

I bought two slipcovers last week... one for my FIL's ugly worn recliner and one for my over-sized, over-stuffed chair.  So I stripped the ottoman that matched the chair...

I've had it for almost 20 years!  It was due for a change.  It had a muted print with a pleated skirt.  When we moved the TV, we balanced it on here for a few minutes and now it leans to one side.  I'm going to take it apart and replace the uprights with a beefier size, but less of them.  I'm going to add a solid bottom and keep it open for handy storage for magazines or games.  It will be painted off-white to match the TV table.  The cushion will be covered in denim or tooled leather.  Haven't decided yet.  I'm thinking denim since I have two rectangular ottomans under the front windows that will be the tooled leather.  (I'm not a 'matched set' kind of person.  I prefer eclectic.)

Well, it's after midnight. the baby comes at seven, and the farrier is scheduled to come at eleven.  I think I'd better go, but first I'll share a video of the boys experiencing a bit of spring fever...

G'night all!

Tada! Finis!

The transition is complete!  I have finished merging my two blogs and setting up the new format.

Sorry if I clogged your dashboard yesterday.  I don't know if all the posts showed up there or not.  I imported all my posts from the old Blahwg! location.  Now, when I'm rich and famous, and you want to research my life, you need only look in one place!  ROFL

I also completed my tabs.  I just finished up 'The Humans' tab a few minutes ago.  My tabs will take visitors through a tour of how we got here, all the various critters (except the llama), and introduce the family.

I really enjoyed setting up the family page.  I spent some time looking through photos and reminiscing...  My, how the girls have grown!  We have so many memories built here on this ground.  Perhaps some of those stories will be the subject of future posts.  Maybe I'll even tell you about the llama...

One Week Ago

I could finally see my front walk again.

   We don't clean snow from it.  Everyone uses the side door.

I

The big drift on the front porch was quickly shrinking.

We could even see the bottom of the chairs!

It's gone now... every bit of it.  The last few days, I've been running around town in a T-shirt and sandals.  The grass in the new pasture is looking like a green carpet.  Where the grass is thin, the mud has become a problem.  The horses are getting antsy to run, but the ground is too wet.

As much as I love spring and fall, I miss the snow.  I hate the thought of summer being so close.  In my perfect world, the temperature never gets above sixty, unless I want to swim.  And it doesn't get dark until I get tired.  But this world is pretty good...

Ride Along One More Time...

Mom wanted to go to WalMart tonight...  I told her that if I could get out of the driveway, I'd take her.  All this melting has made for some icy slush.  Boy do I miss my Tahoe 4x4!



Coming home, even more had melted, but it was starting to refreeze...



Don't worry...  I didn't crash.  The video just blinked.  I made it safely to the house.

More Snow

The view from the living room...

How about a cookout?

 

Check out the way the ice formed on this fence rope...

Never too deep for Sadie!

 

And we had more after this!

Right now my car is stuck about 300 feet from the garage!  It's in a dip, so... uphill on ice both ways!  

Tomorrow I'll lug some of the horses loose salt down there.  Wish me luck...

Take a Drive with Me... Part II

This was shot tonight.  Notice the big piles of snow on each side?  Hubby was busy today getting the driveway open for traffic!

After we parked the truck in the driveway, we started unloading groceries.  The truck began to slide down the driveway!  Hope it's still there in the morning...

Take a Drive with Me...

It's a little bumpy because Mr J's driving too fast.  (Shh.... don't tell him I said that!)  But here's a look coming down our driveway before the big snows hit! 

Birthday Snow

I always want a white birthday, though rarely get one.  Seems this time of year the snow only lingers around for a day or so, but not this time!  Although the sun had some melting power today, there's still plenty around (over a foot) for my birthday tomorrow!

Here's what the view from my bedroom deck looked like before the last storm...

 

We've got around fourteen inches now, and the weatherman just said we'll get another 6 inches between tomorrow night and Tuesday morning!

Actually there was another thing I wanted for my birthday...  a ticket for the theater.  If you follow my essay's blog, you know that my bf and I love to go to the theater.  She got us tickets to a great broadway show.  So the day of the show rolls around, and... yep!  More snow!  We wondered if they would cancel the show, since a large concert had even been canceled.  Even the malls were closing.  But you know what they say...  "The show must go on!"

I'm the designated driver whenever we go anywhere.  She doesn't like to drive on nice days.  I don't mind the snow, so off I went.

And they complain about teens texting while they drive...  Here I am taking pictures!  But, I wasn't looking at the screen.  I just held it and shot, hoping to get some good ones.  And I only picked it up where the roads were clear and there was no traffic.

 

The roads were terrific!  I guess everyone thought they'd be a mess because there was hardly anyone out that day!  It was like driving through my personal winter wonderland!  It sure put a smile on my face...

OK, don't laugh at my goofy sunglasses.  They do the job.  You should see the heavy-duty pair!

 

ramp to I-75 south

 

Middletown's main route!

We made it to the show with time to spare.  Turns out Cincinnati didn't have very much snow.  Can you guess what show we saw?

The actors took up a collection for Haiti.

Meanwhile, back on the farm...

I love the way the snow clunge to the fence!

 

Look how much snow is hanging on the rope in the background.

 

This is a view of our neighbors farmhouse from our driveway out by the road.

 

This bike path borders our property. 

That's our woods on the left.

The snow had molded to the gate and was now falling off.

 

Coming down the drive by the front pasture.

Over the hill on our driveway.

The trees border the creek.

The house is in the background.

On the right, behind the trees, is the goat house.

Ice Fog on the Farm

Most of these shots are from the 2nd week of January.  We had lots of heavy fog for several days.  It was a beautiful site to behold!  It wasn't as shimmery as ice on the branches, but it wasn't as damaging either.  The frozen fog left very artistic detail covering everything   ...even the deck boards.

 

Click on this close-up...
 

Doesn't the smoke from the wood burner make it look even colder?

 

  

  

  

  

 

Sweet Baby James was right...

"the birches seem dreamlike on account o' that frostin'... "

  

But don't worry...  I stayed toasty warm while enjoying this view from the edge of my bed:

Record Breaker

Yep, you're reading it right... 

Eight and one-eighth inches around this bad boy!

We can't sell these because they don't fit in the cartons.