Folks this ain't normal

I know I haven't blogged in months. I guess I'm just limited in my mind to bits and pieces that I might type into my Facebook status.

This is my current book, and my current passion. Finding, growing food. Good food. With the papers nearly ready for us to sign on our Minnesota homestead, the reality is getting closer. We are both growing more and more excited about the prospect of this life change. It's going to be tons of work, but Lord willing, we will be healthier than ever and eager to share what we learn with anyone who want to talk about it.

A bit about the book. It's not just about chickens and eggs. Much of it is about what's going on in the government that restricts our food choices. (Once government got out of the bedroom, I guess they went into the dining room and kitchen!) Much of it is the scientific evidence for the benefits of raising grass fed beef, the benefits both to the soil and for the cow. He has a 550 acre farm in Virginia that he has transformed from a rockpile to acres of rich grassland, all through his rotation of grazing animals. He also uses his pigs to clear underbrush in the woods. Just a few of the things the book talks about. There are lots of YouTube videos of him on his farm sharing with people what he does, how he does it and why. Dennis really enjoyed those. He says he's too tired to read at night.

It's also a very humorous book. And because he is a Christian and educated about the Bible, he uses many biblical allusions. He says he is a caretaker a manager of the land. God has given us the earth to care for it. We sure have made a mess of things!

One Fine Weekend

Most of my posts lately are about my trips to the "homestead". This is another one. I keep Facebook updated, but I don't write at length about my doings on my blog. Those of you who only keep up with me here, I'm thinking of you!
The weather was fantastic! Better than summer because there were very few, if any, bugs! Warm dry days. Cool mostly clear nights and a nearly full moon. What more could I ask? A longer stay, perhaps.
I had wonderful visits with cousins, too.
Raked leaves, dug around in the shed and found an old trumpet still in its case and an old wooden
wringer washing machine patented in 1899!

It's heavy so I couldn't pull it out, but it sure would be interesting to clean up and really get a good look at.

One evening my uncle and I enjoyed a bonfire complete with a howling coyote!

Days with Grant

Here is a slideshow. I couldn't get it to just play here.

Grant was our minister when we lived in Scotland. I was the first to meet him. Dennis had Sunday duty and Linnea and I walked up to the Free Church for the Sunday service. I don't remember any more than just shaking his hand when I left the church. The next Sunday Dennis was there, and so was Grant's wife, Tricia, who had been home with young children. She was more than thrilled to have another young couple in the church. They had been PRAYING for a young couple and here we were! Where else could we go. That was 26 years ago.

Our two families went to the Keswick Conference in the Lake District. The first year was 1988, the photos are from that memorable trip when we both had very young children! The next time was in 1994 when we camped. It was the summer of the World Cup. Great memories of David lip-synching with Pavarotti and of Alison and David jumping in to Derwent Water from the pier. Beautiful place and fun memories.

Grant patiently helped us understand the Free Church of Scotland and particularly the lovely folks at the Castletown Free Church. Lots of wonderful memories of those who have gone to heaven before us as well as those we love to visit when we go back. Grant baptized both William and Andrew and to this day whenever I hear, "The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you...." I hear Grant's voice blessing our boys. I loved to hear his rich deep voice praying. Every time we went back to visit I loved to hear him pray.

Grant also led our Free Church singing group called, Free Harmony. Our little group won the cup our first year at the Caithness Music Festival.

We had Christmas dinners together, American Thanksgiving, dinner/lunch/coffee at the drop of a hat. Life in Castletown made impromptu visits acceptable.

We even have a crazy memory of a local woman who had a tiff with Grant about something come right in to the evening church service and chew him out. Whoa.

Dennis and I went back for a visit in 2009. It was a rather spur-of-the-minute decision to make the trip to Scotland. We are so happy we did! We had the best time we've ever had with Grant and Tricia. We spent days out seeing the sites around Scotland as well as enjoyed good discussions and good laughs. We are so thankful to God for moving us to take that trip then. Two of our dear friends have gone to heaven since then.

I'm so glad that God took us to Scotland and gave us Grant to minister to our hearts those four years. Memories are precious. We will miss you, Grant, but look forward to meeting up in heaven!

Words from a friend to a friend

I don't have time to write all that I would like to write about our friend Grant. I will save it for a later blog. Today was his funeral, and I want to share some words with my friend Trish from a friend we both know who also lost her husband many years ago.

After telling me that her husband had died peacefully in his sleep the night before our friend writes:

"We are like a small ship that has come into the harbour after a long and stormy voyage, and our captain has disembarked, for this was his destination and for the moment we are resting in the shelter of the harbour, though we know that in a few days we have to leave this calm and secret place to face again the rough and stormy seas, and captainles, the crew is a willing one. And we have the sure knowledge that there are many havens like this one, formed by the great enfolding walls of God's grace and His salvation."

Flicka, Ricka and Dicka

My three Swedish chairs.

They were old white chairs. One was partially striped, one I tried to strip, and one that I just gave up, sanded and painted. After all that stripping and sanding, I figured I'd just sand it. They sure do add some punch to a room. I also painted the front door red, but never took a photo. Oooo, it's lovely!

And the Sistahs!

I'm going backwards in time in order to catch up on some of my summer's activities. The last blog was about Mom and her generation, but my generation also made it up. We had a lively three days with Celeste, Dave and Mindy and Jenny and five of her children. Gorgeous weather those days so we could spread out! :)

Cousin Steve came and brought 22's so the kids had a great time with some target practice!

 And climbing the windmill! (The photos won't post right side round!)

A couple of us went for a walk down the newly widened road. It's like a highway compared to the tracks it used to be!

And they never tired of their game! I think everyone had a great time! Anyone want a cookie?

And before that, family time

The August trip to Minnesota was more family reunion time, although I did get a couple of projects done. It began with Mom getting together with her two sisters. We all had fun going through the photos and letters.

We had a monster bonfire one night! All those old papers, branches of trees that had blown down, boxes, junk. It was huge!

The Aunt and Uncles and Mom got together several times for meals and coffee time. It was Mom's 60th class reunion this year! So glad she was able to get up there for that. And what lovely weather!

Catching up

 Last week was Moms and babies week. I had Helen and Amy here three times to swim. On Wednesday Norah and Arliss joined the fun. Not so sure Helen and Norah are having a great time on their "boat", but at least they lasted long enough for a photo! :)

Little Judah came, too, already four months old! He looks like the Gerber baby! We had him floating around in the water for a little bit, even. So cute! It was a fun week enjoying these little punkins!

To the Homestead

We're taking a long weekend this weekend back up to the Homestead. The way I feel you'd think I hadn't been there for ages. Yippee! I'm going back up. This time Den is coming too and that makes it even better! The forcast isn't great for the rest of the week, but maybe we can relax and plan out the garden and/or the house addition. Either way, I'm looking forward to the whispering of the wind in the birches and the pines!

Inspiration

Obviously blogging has slowed to nearly a halt. And it's not just me. The sisters that have blogs rarely if ever blog. Yes, I think the fault lies with Facebook. It's far easier to stay caught up with friends, it's far easier just to write a quick note about trips made or just life's every day activities. Blogging takes thinking. Not just what to write, but what to title it! I need inspiration.

But while I was scraping away the loose paint on the back of the house I thought of people that have inspired me. Hard-working people. Terrific, descriptive writers. Since I've spent nearly the whole month of June in Minnesota among my very hard-working relatives, this blog is inspired by them, particularly my cousin's wife. This is NOT to say the rest of that clan don't inspire me, believe me!

I never really got to know her very well before this year. Oh, we knew each other. I went on visits every year since 1999 when we moved back to America. Since we decided to buy the house in Minnesota, I've made several trips up and stayed with them. This time we worked together and it was so much fun!

A farm wife does not have a lazy life, and a dairy farmer's wife has to work far harder! She can do anything! She mows, chases calves, drives tractors, paints the house, gets meals ready for her family and any others who work there OR who just happen to drop by. She makes delicious snacks for workers in the middle of the afternoon all while also running her own interior decorating business.

One morning we left the house by 7:30 to go to a flea market to get some deals on fresh fruit and vegetables. By that night she had made about 20 (was it more?) jars of strawberry freezer jam and cooked up 10# of mushrooms frozen for later. This is while kids and neighbors are coming and going, spending the night, getting picked up from spending the night, making sure clothes get washed, dried, folded put away and the kitchen stays tidy.

Cheerful, helpful, friendly to everyone. People are always stopping by and each one is welcomed warmly. What an inspiration.

The storm came.  The oak tree branch landed right on the roof but never broke through or broke the huge picture window in front. But the storm brought more work. Everyone was out cleaning up. I spent just a couple days helping but I'm sure it's still going on! We piled load after load into the pickup, hauled it away and unloaded. Everyone worked together. It was hard work, but cheerful. There's something satisfying about working hard together.

So while I was scraping away, I thought of Julie. She is an inspiration!   

Another trip to "Jenny's Place"

We met up with one of my Grandmother's friends while we were there this time. He says he still thinks of the place as "Jenny's Place". It sounds nice. Not sure what we'll end up calling it. It's always "Gramma's House" to me, but Jenny's Place is good.

                   
                                      Grass is green, green, green-And LONG!

                                                 White birch in the green now

                                                    Nelsons' farm bursting lilacs!

                                                   Nothing like spring green!

                                                     Down to the picnic place at Roger's

                                                  Jessica getting that hotdog just right

                                                     Lanae and Melanie chillin'

                                               Farmers thankful for Sunday rest!

                                              Monday Melinda, Joel and Mom came to keep me company. We loved our evening bonfires!

                         Joel rode his bike 57 miles from Finlayson to Duluth. He's finished here and getting a much-enjoyed burger from the Sunshine Cafe!

                                          Lake Superior!

                                                Looking down on Duluth and over to Lake Superior

                                     Just don't get enough lilacs! Spring went backwards the farther north we went!

                                     First iris to bloom at "Jenny's Place"!

Minnesota May

When all three kids were home we decided to make a quick trip up to Minnesota to visit "our" house, our family and our Johnson friends.

 Pale green of spring touches trees and grass.

 Lilacs were just beginning to bloom!

                                                                  Symmetry

                                         Linnea got to the top! Yikes! It was turned in the original.

                                           Gracie found a kitten!

                                             Linnea and Corinne glad to catch up again!

                                            Two old sailors picking up where they left off.

                                               Great smile from Will!

                                              Our military boys. Andrew and Avery.

For dinner that day we met up with Drew in Des Moines! Old friends are sweet!

Homecoming!

 On Tuesday, May 17th, Andrew flew home from Norfolk, Virginia, where the day before, his ship, the USS Ponce, had just returned from a nearly nine month cruise to the Middle East.

A few friends made it to the airport. Two other friends from church came too, but I forgot I had a camera then. Thanks, friends!

I was hoping there could have been a bigger welcoming committee since no one met the ship the day before, but as you can see, he wasn't too upset about it!

It is nice to hear his man-voice around the house again!