Grasshopper Glamor Shots

My entomology skills are lacking so I don't know the gender of this one but for some reason I think it's a girl.  Even odder is that I feel like she was posing for this!  I can sincerely hear her singing, "I feel pretty,  oh so pretty,  I feel pretty and witty and light and I pity any girl who isn't me tonight! " Never gave much thought the self esteem of grasshoppers before but hey! I figure even grasshoppers have their good days.
Yesterday was nice. No, I wasn't posing for glamor shots with morning glories, just off. I got home from dropping the girls off at school and the sun was just hitting the right height to put everything in the morning spotlight.  I
I walked round the yard taking pictures and didn't even mind the mosquitoes too much, although I am still itchy this morning.
I didn't get a whole lot of anything done but I did get a little of several things done. Back to the grind today though.  Time to get up and moving. Todays theme song is more like, "When you're a Jet you're a jet, from your first cigarette to..." Although I do have to get the girls up and it's picture day for Tori so...."How do you solve a problem like Maria? " Morning all, I leave you with those song worms.
#musicals
#songworms
#entemology
#prettybugs
#goodmorning.
#covertchickenfarm

Angel's and Psychos

Today shall be interesting and long. I'm helping chaperone and the girls are attending the library's tween Halloween lock in tonight.  9 p.m. to 9 a.m. with 35 kids ages 8-12. Say WHHHAAAAT?

Yeah I have some pretty daring staff and the kids love it. I'm just not sure how daring I am.  It's been a few years since I last helped with it. I'm not good with lack of sleep.  Not sure how good the girls will be with it. We shall see.

It's a costume party.  Tori is going ad an angel and Gabs...Harley Quinn from the suicide squad. We've traded the fishnets for shiny blue leggings and combat boots for the heels.  Don't want to squash a kids imagination. We actually spent awhile last night making her mallet/hammer to carry around and bonk people in the head with (don't worry, I already told her NO bonking! ).

Anyway tis the season!  Here's hoping I make it through the night....and that I can convince them to sleep when we get home Saturday!

Embracing My Oddities

Walked 'round the yard last night for the first time in awhile.  I've either been too busy, too tired or too distracted to do much in the way of just letting myself "be". It was a good feeling to enjoy the quiet that isn't really all that quiet.  Cricket choirs and bird talk played alongside the rustle of dried corn stalks and the mooing of the neighbors cows. It's funny really how while you think you've been doing pretty okay, despite stress or worries or what have you,  you can still be surprised to feel how good you feel when everything is truly ok for a bit. Like you forget what normalcy is like until it creeps up on you. Yes I realize the oddness of that thought.  Again,  I never claimed to be anything but odd.
Anyhow it was good, to feel....good. I think I will try to go with that for awhile.  Gonna try to let go of unwarranted worries and incessant self doubt.  Time to let me be me for awhile and not feel wrong for embracing all my oddities.
#feelingok
#feelinggood
#embracingthepossibilities
#lettingmebeme
#covertchickenfarm

Hunky Dory Life

Tori was asked by a teacher to read this for a school assignment.  She's slowly getting it done.  Funny enough I tried to get both girls into reading it years ago.  Alas despite my career as a librarian and lifelong love of reading neither of my girls consider it a real passion.  Both do great in school,  read on much higher levels than their own grade but Tori only tolerates it because it's required. Gabs actually does seem to enjoy reading some but nothing like me as a kid. I sincerely lived in books.

The little house books were some of my favorites.  I read them all from the Big Woods,  to the Prairie and even about the Farmer boy.

My absolute favorite book was, "The Hunky Dory Dairy," by Anne Lindbergh. It was about a girl growing up in modern (nineteen eighties) time who accidentally finds a family from the 1800 's who, along with a dairy farm, had been magically spirited away to the future by a crazy preacher man.

It's comical really how much my taste ran to pioneer, farming type stories when I grew up (until around 13) living in a small town city setting.  Even when we moved "to the country" it was to a town part not to a prairie side or farm yard.

When I moved as an adult to our little "Covert Chicken Farm " I guess it's why I finally feel like I made it home.  This place,  this life with my family, the birdsong in the morning, sunsets at night and peace in between, is home.  I can't see myself living any other way.  I only wish I could slow down a little more often and cut down on outside life stress a little bit to enjoy it more.

What were the books that lead you to where you are? What stories were the map to you?  Comment below.  I'd love to know.
#bookworms
#littleHouseonthePrairie
#hunkydory
#lifeinbooks
#covertchickenfarm

Amuck! Amuck! Amuck!

I love the Halloween season! I love playing dress up.  As a kid I can only remember ever having one store bought costume. That was Strawberry Shortcake.  It had one of the hard plastic masks with two tiny nostril holes and a just as tiny mouth hole. Suffocating really.  But it had a plastic printed pinafore type apron that I was in love with.  In fact that apron only just got thrown away because it finally succumbed to too much wear and tear because Gabs had found it from where I had it put up and had started to wear it when she played. I suppose it should have made me sad but actually I thought it was pretty cool that a costume from the eighties was getting a second life.  I much prefer old school Strawberry to the new one too.
Like I said that's the only store bought costume I remember.  Otherwise I usually made up whatever I was and what my poor younger brother was.  One year we were both old ladies with warts, curlers and blue eye shadow.  I have a photo somewhere of that. Poor kid! I've moved on to the girls now lol!
I still love to dress up myself too. These pictures are from the past few years.  Not sure what I'm/we're doing this year.  What about you?  Do you like dress up?  What's your favorite costume?
#wickedlovelieschallenge
#HalloweenIsComing
#dressup
#Amuck!Amuck!Amuck!
#covertchickenfarm

I Like Big Coffee Cups And I Cannot Lie

#wickedlovelieschallenge
Coffee....lot's of it! In a great big ol' cup! The warmth, the feel of the cup against my palm. The velvety taste of it as it hits my tongue.  Yes. Wickedly lovely.

Wicked Lovelies Challenge

I love October,  I love all things creepy and spooky, mostly I'm a good girl but sometimes...I'm a tad bit wicked
This October join me in displaying your wicked loveliness.  Each day please post all the fall, Halloween and personal things that make your heart race. Show us your vices, your guilty pleasures, things that make you feel alive and make you feel like you get to walk a little on the wild side! It's October dear friends!  Come run amuck with me! Don't forget to use: #wickedlovelieschallenge

Move On Down

Awake and listening to the trickling, tapping music of the coffee pot being filled in the kitchen.  Work today.

I feel better than I have for a bit but not really great. I have this vague crick in my neck and I'm not sure if it's sleep or stress related. I have some stuff on my mind that is making me feel a little weighed down. I feel like maybe while outwardly it doesn't really show it's taking some physical toll on me.  At least neck wise in regards to tension. Maybe nothing the coffee won't fix. It's hit that slurry straw sound and just now the happy beep to say, "Ready! Come and get it!"

So...I'm up. Time to get going. Shake off the cricks and stretch out the creeks. No time for the tension,  just keep moving and grab a cup of coffee to oil me up like the tin man. Better move on down the road this morning.

I'll leave you with a picture of yesterday's morning sun.  Not sure where all those jets were going but I guess they were moving on too.

Sweet Beginnings

Tuesday September 13th: I have to work Saturday this week so I got yesterday off to balance out my hours.  It was honestly the first day I'd been home alone, that I didn't have some errand to run, in around 4 or 5 months. Nice really. I mostly cleaned, watched TV,  made potatoe soup for supper and baked. I decided to split the bread recipe I like and make part of it into cinnamon rolls. The other half made one loaf. After supper the bread is all but gone. Still have the cinnamon rolls, with a caramel glaze, for breakfast though. Let's see if they'll help me get everyone moving out of bed this morning.
#sweetbeginnings
#covertchickenfarm

Monday Haiku

Hello Monday morn.
The day has dawned with a blush.
The new week looks good.
#positivevibes
#sunrise
#covertchickenfarm

My Soul Has Been Fed

Saturday September 10th:
I woke up late this morning
to find that the world was alive with peace.
The air outside was filled with the sounds of cicadas,  crickets and tree frogs. Their songs being tossed along the hillsides by the perfect breeze.
My body and hair felt buoyant,
more like I was floating than taking a step as I walked round the yard.
Kind of like stepping into a slightly heated pool.
I've been swaying on the front porch swing as I wait for the coffee to finish up.  It's awful close to lunch but I'm not much hungry. The world has already fed my soul it seems.
#saturdaymorningserenade
#momentsofmagic
#morningmeditation
#covertchickenfarm

Near and Far

Hello Friday, I've been looking for you all week! The picture is a close up of one of the roosters.  No filter, just enlarged. Pretty amazing how intricate his colors are. I'm thinking we should have named him Monet. An impressionist rooster. Pretty cool.  Not much time today, as usual.  Gotta get the girls moving. Here's hoping you find beauty in the day near and far.
#nofilterneeded #rooster #covertchickenfarm

This Little Piggy

I'm trying my hand at some gourd jewelry.  I'm working on some pins for the local Ham Days festival.  Still need to get the back on and the tail wired completely but I'm happy with my first try so far. Just gotta figure out how to keep the mosquitoes from eating me alive in the building!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy anniversary to my best friend of 21 years, husband of 14 and the most amazing father for over eleven of those! You are my best everything Dennis Morgeson Love you too big! And for always!

Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day!  These are a few of my all time favorite work photos.  Seven years ago, pre Covert Chicken Farm. Tater planting day. Funny how, sometimes,  a day of work can feel more like rest. Here's hoping that you have a great holiday!
#septemberharvest
#tool (a day behind)
#reapwhatyousow
#covertchickenfarm
#covertchickenfarmfamily
#covertchickenlittlechicks

Morning Light

Morning light, it makes me happy.
Evening sun can also too.
Dappled rays can burn away worries,
they wash the world all anew.

To stand within those golden fingers,
stretched across the fresh faced day.
To watch highlights form as night falls on lashes, helps me once again to find my way.

Often times my head hangs weary, my anxious mind it runs away.
Yet in this moment I can forget them,
all those things for which I pray.

There's beauty there all around me.
There's guiding lights to show me home.
I simply must remember to turn from shadows and not allow my heart to roam.

Gardens Glory

With fall tiptoeing in alongside the morning fog the garden is graciously bowing out. Exit stage left.

The wildflowers and weeds seem to be throwing themselves on the stage, in adoration of all their predecessors season of celebrity. Our cabinets are full of the momentos of their glory.

Still Learning

I got a little time to play last night. I had went down to give the chickens some treats, macaroni and green beans, the light was dying fast but I couldn't help but get sidetracked heading back to the house from the coop and I ended up in the building. There was just enough light from the back doors,  still need to get a light for out there, to play around with the dremel.

I'm still learning to use it.  I've been trying out the different bits and speeds, it's hard to estimate the pressure to put on the gourds with each one. Right now I'm using a tiny practice gourd.  I'm not entirely happy with the outcome of all the cuts but I think I'm getting better.  Once I feel more confident I'm going to move on to the two big guys! 

I really want to make massive lanterns,  possibly even one that could be a hanging fixture.  I love how you can get different colors of light and designs by cutting only halfway through and leaving a thinner layer or drilling completely through. Here's the "rough" draft that I've managed so far.

Wednesday Haiku

Have brain fog today.
I can't find the words to say.
Trying hard to move.

Seem to have lost the
ability to...adult.
Hump day's, looking steep.

Mr. Lewis Gourds

The gourds are growing! We're calling these Mr. Lewis gourds because well...Mr. Lewis gave them to us and we're not too sure of the real name. Gourds who shall not be named are fine by me. These of course won't be ready till next year. I have a ton of them waiting in the building though, just need to find time to carve!
#gourdart #covertchickenfarm

Where To From Here?

Do you ever feel that the so called "normal" procedure of every day life just doesn't fit you and your family? Like all the things you do because that's what's supposed to be done,  the day to day grind, was designed with a few in mind and maybe it ought to be rethought?  Maybe life isn't a one size fits all sort of situation?

I'm feeling a little frustrated. We're dealing with some stuff and trying to play catch up and really just need to get a little organization and at least in one area some answers. 

Our oldest has been dealing with some stuff for a little over eight months now.  She's been in physical therapy twice a week for around seven of those months.  She's had x-rays,  an MRI,  test for childhood arthritis. She takes Alieve twice a day ever day, does her exercises at home,  still she goes to bed hurting and wakes up hurting and it seems to be getting worse not better.

The arthritis test was negative.  The x-rays and MRI don't show any bone issue.  The orthopedic Dr keeps saying physical therapy but also says she doesn't think it's bone related. Her physical therapist had been great but she seems to be at a loss too. This past week she basically said what we've thought,  it doesn't seem to be working.  She also mentioned a term that has made more sense than just about anything we've heard so far, after researching it. Hypermobility. Which means her joints can basically overextend themselves. Like all of them. 

Obviously we're not Dr's so we're going to try and get her into a juvenile rheumatologist to see if this is a possibility and if she can be tested for us. We're sort of grasping at straws at this point. But like I said, after reading up on it, this makes more sense than anything else has. At this point we'd just like to have a label for why she's feeling this way.

You know we've only been dealing with this for a short while in the grand scheme of things.  The way it has affected our life has been subtle in comparison to what others go through with a sick child.  It's truly given me an even bigger respect for those dealing with an ongoing issue like this.  It also makes me view the "regular" schedule of life and all the things we do because "that's just how it is" with a newfound level of, frustration I guess for lack of a better word.

It's hard to make a kid get up a going when you know they ache all over and pain medication and nothing else seems to help them.  We do, and she does, but when you're all tired from the extra rush,  appointments, worry any sometimes lack of sleep because of the nights sleep being interrupted because an achy back is keeping her from sleep it's hard to get moving.

I'm just venting.  We're just tired. We just want answers really.  Okay, enough griping.  We still have school and work.  Still need to find matching socks.  I'm going to end my little pity party and get moving.  I will ask for a prayer or two though.  Tori really feels cruddy,  she could use them I think.
.

Gathering Figs

So I'm in competition with the birds and ants. I've been gathering the figs each day and freezing them as I go. The goal is to one day make fig jam. It's a slow going,  or rather I guess growing, process but I'll eventually have enough!  Happy Sunday!
#gathering #figs #covertchickenfarm

Birds of My Past

This came up on one of those "memories from the past" things on Facebook.  I had just scrolled past another post someone shared about an estate sale of a so called hoarder in Michigan.  Funny the powerful connection we can have to things.

I'm by no means a hoarder, our house is a wreck most days but I actually make a conscious effort to keep de-cluttering our house and life. Doesn't seem to be working all that well...but by golly I'm trying. Some stuff you just can't get rid of though. Some things I would give anything to have back. Like this odd glass bird and the family times it resided over.

When I was a little girl, on up through my last teen years, a bird like this hung from the ceiling in the middle of my Great Grandmother's kitchen. I never got the chance to ask where the bird came from and I don't know where it went after her death. I just recall it silently perched there amid some of the happiest of my childhood memories. It swung over Sunday dinners and Christmas Eve supper, back when it seemed that most of my family could be in a room together and still laugh with one another.

It watched my father and uncles shine the old brass bed that Nannie shared with my Great Grandfather who we called Big Daddy. It hung over my shoulder as I sat listening to my Grandpa, Papaw, talk with Nannie about the family business, on the few times I was lucky enough to follow him up the street to her house for the second breakfast he daily had with her after having toast and coffee with his wife, my Granny.

I have dreamt about that bird flying up through the attic door that it was attached to many times. I'm not sure where it was going or why. Perhaps to the other side of some place I can't know about yet but where perhaps many of my family waits with the answers to things like the origin of this odd glass bird.

I guess many of us are odd birds. I know I am.  I'd say I come from a whole flock of them.  They all seem to have flown the coop over the years, some in opposition to each other, some of them perhaps over the rainbow. What I often wouldn't give some days for birds of a feather to flock together and relive some semblance of the past without prejudice or pettiness. I'd relish the opportunity for us to return to birds of peace instead of prey.

Awake Again

So we all went to bed around 9:30. Yeah,  9:30. Yesterday was kind of a day, not just mine, all of ours. We were tired, stressed,  the weight of the world was on our shoulders and all that.  Not necessarily the girls per say,  at least the weight of the world and all, but the tired thing was all around.

So when the girls got ready for bed so did we. We all fell asleep and then around midnight I woke back up. It was funny really,  I woke up pretty refreshed for 2 and 1/2 hours of sleep.  I then of course couldn't go back to sleep so I ended up on the couch eating dry Lucky Charms, my breathe right strip still on (I've ran Dennis out of bed most of the week with snoring) watching Felicity on Hulu.

I never really watched the show when it was on in...mid nineties?  Early 2000? I didn't watch it when I should have had more in common with the characters.  I have to say though, I really like it. The melancholy dramatics of the first years of a liberal arts college during the age of alternative rock.  Totally me. The thing I like best is, I think, the sense of discovery. Everything new, all the possibilities. It was refreshing,  rejuvenating in a way.

The really strange part of watching it at this age is that I can identify with the Felicity character as well as her parents.  It makes me remember that the me that I had this notion I "was" is actually "still" me, that I'm essentially the same underneath all the extra years and responsibilities and worries of adulthood. 

What does all that mean?  I don't know really.  It just made me feel this kind of hopeful happiness and kinda like the weight of the world might just lighten a little.  Like maybe being a bit of the melancholy, alternative rock loving, slightly flakey,  artsy dreamer of my youth wouldn't tilt my universe of all the things I'm supposed to be doing.  And maybe stepping off the path of all the things that I thought were already long ago determined wouldn't mean I'm shirking all my duties and leading my daughters down a road of lifelong wandering.

All that from a forty minute show and corn syrup sweetened stars, hearts and moons. Yeah a little too deep for TV in the dark. All the same I think I needed the reminder.  That said I really do need to go back to bed,  yeah I'm typing this at 1 a.m. So that's what I'm going to do,  I'll leave you with the image of a bit of that artsy person I was and am. This is the gourd I'm carving that keeps calling to me from its window, just like the me that was and is. 

Keep On Keeping On

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2016

Keep On Keeping On

I need a little breathing room, 

I need a little space. 

I need a moment to remember

that I'm still me, not just part of the human race.

I need a little quiet,

a time to be free, 

some time to walk the hillsides,

lest I forget to see. 

There's a peaceful world around me, 

there's stillness to be found, 

even if my head is spinning

my feet are still planted, on this piece of ground. 

I know my poetry is simple,

my words sing song like a child

but I write them all the same

to keep from feeling mild.

I need these pauses of autonomy, 

if only a few a day, 

for if I don't re center I tend to lose my way.

I don't always understand it,

it isn't always sane, people don't always do what's right, and it can be a drain.

I don't always understand it,

it isn't always sane, 

people don't always do what's right, and it can be a drain.

There's beauty all around me though,

there's happiness to see,

I'll just keep on keeping on, 

I'll just keep on being me.

#humpday 

#covertchickenfarm

Tired Tuesday

Not enough time in the day to get everything done.  It's Tuesday and it feels like Monday again.  Not sure what the answer is to time management.  My iron levels are low, I know.  I tend to lean to the anemic side so I get run down fast.

It's a vicious cycle.  I don't feel good.  Don't feel like doing much beyond the basics because I'm tired. Then I get behind on stuff so I'm rushing to get stuff done, that leaves me more worn out.  Maybe I need some sort of vitamin shot. Either way it's Tuesday and I'm tired.

Name That Bean

So I learned two new things yesterday:
1. You can actually get motion sickness on a zero turn mower.
2. Soy bean pods are fuzzy...
And I guess a third thing really.
3. It takes FOREVER to shell soy beans/edamame.

Dennis is particular about the yard. Or rather his flower beds and trees. It's taken him almost three years to let help out with the mowing for fear that I would knick a tree or hit a plant.  Yesterday was the first day I'd ridden/mowed with the zero turn mower. I didn't do too bad, his words lol! I did end up with motion sickness though. Much faster ride than a regular mower.

Dennis picked some of the soy beans yesterday too and to my surprise the pods are fuzzy.  They are also slow going to shell. We got through like half a pan in almost 2 hours and that was with me, him and even Tori (a little bit) helping out. I think these are one of those things that are probably worth just buying if you want them. Granted one row ought to do us for a year.  It's just that it may take as long to shell them!

So, it's Monday again.  Beyond motion sickness I was left battling a lot of pollen too. I'm starting the new week with some pretty bad allergies. I think Dennis is just as worse for the wear ad I am though, I seem to have snored all night. The morning is much cooler today though.  Hopefully it will help me breath. Almost the end of August.  Also almost time to go. Have a great Monday.  Here's to a new week and fuzzy beans!

Sunday Haiku

Homemade bread is good.
Butter and bread is better.
Coffee and bread ' s great!

Butter, bread, coffee.
I'm starting a new platform.
Vote for homemade bread!

Neverland

Driving home last night I had such an odd quiet feeling of happy contentment.  We were coming back from having dinner out for my Mommas,  yes I call her Momma,  63rd birthday.  It wasn't too horribly late but Dennis, the girls and I were a little on the tired side from all the rushing this week and from running straight from the work and school day that ended at 5 to make a 6 p.m. dinner time.

We were tired but not grumpy like we might have been.  I was driving for once though and for me that can make the world of difference in the day and my mood.  I often write in my head while I drive. I know it might seem odd to some but I sincerely have about three ongoing story lines in my subconscious that I've been trying to flesh out for several years now.  Driving affords me the opportunity to be in the mindset to do that.

Ever heard of a fugue state? Websters Dictionary defines it as:  a disturbed state of consciousness in which the one affected seems to perform acts in full awareness but upon recovery cannot recollect the acts performed.

Now obviously while driving I'm not in a "disturbed state of conciousness that I can't recollect." For me though I find it a very relaxing and mind clearing task.  I know others who feel similarly about other mundane tasks. Best as I can explain I think basically it can happen when you are in the process of doing some routine action, like driving,  the dishes,  mowing maybe.  Your whole body is actively involved in the doing of this thing that you, for the most part,  could do in your sleep and it's like for those moments your body remembers the habit of the action (never underestimate the power of habit) and your brain is sort of on a mini vacation. At least that's how I'd describe it.  Again,  I say I'm not completely in lala land, I focus on the road,  I'm still interacting with the world and those in the vehicle with me, but in the quiet moments between music playing and the chatter of those with me I can float off a bit into a world of my own creation. Neverland.

Last night was like that. It was nearing almost nine and we were listening and singing along to the songs on the radio and one in particular came on that perhaps best fit the feeling I have when driving like this better than any other ever could,  "Lost Boy" by Ruth B. Click on the blue words to listen:
Lost Boy

We all, even the girls,  were quiet. We drove into the first blush of sunset as the sky shaded over from pink to periwinkle and deep navy at the very edges where it blended into the black velvet of silhouetted trees. It was only just a three to four minute song but it left me such a deep sense of peace.

As we drove onward home and other songs and the voices of the ones I love most filled the air around me I thought again about the coming of fall, we commented on how the days were growing shorter as we speed past the years longest day. 

Despite all the worries of the week and rush that never seems to slow,  for that span of time and even now the morning after,  I feel hopeful and look forward to the cool slowness of fall. Looking forward.  Not dreading or trying to make it through.  It's been a long while since I've felt that way about the coming of what will eventually be winter.

I wish I could have captured a picture of the sunset we drove into but I think that might have ruined the peace of it some how. I'll include another sunset but the one from last night will have to remain inside my mind. In Neverland I suppose.

Good Saturday morning everyone.  I hope you each enjoy your own moment of flight to Neverland soon.

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front...

Dennis has had to get the girls every night this week. Monday was my board meeting,  Tuesday I closed at 7 to cover being short staffed, Wednesday I had to stay late to finish up interviews,  last night was late because of presenting my budget and tax rate to fiscal court and because we're starting up a new outreach program out in the county once a month.

Tori also had two afternoon physical therapy appointments and Dennis also had a night program himself.  Tuesday was really interesting with me picking up Gabs,  Dennis getting Tori,  then coming to get Gabs at the library and taking Tori back to physical therapy and then on to work with him because they could wait there until his program wrapped up.  It's been a pretty crazy week.

I've been getting home most days for us to try and juggle homework,  baths, supper and loose teeth. That's been an underlying theme. Both girls are late in losing teeth it seems.  Both have, or I suppose now I should say, had, loose teeth.

I got home from doing an evening family program a little after 6:30 to find Tori had already lost a tooth and Gabs had two barely hanging on. We spent the better part of the night trying to convince her that we needed to get them out, they really were barely in there.

We tried the,  "Tori let your Dad help, why don't you let him help you too? You're a big girl right? " To which she responded, "Tori is more sofisticasted than me." Yes I spelled that the way it was said with a heavily affected lisp due to the teeth issue. 

Finally around 9, after letting me help a little,  Dennis help a little and much dramatics, she pulled them both at once and now looks like a little old toothless lady. She thinks it's great that she often spits when she speaks. Tori seems no worse for the wear.  Her tooth gap is hidden on the side and she's much too, "sofisticasted" to worry much about it.

So now it's Friday.  One more work day for me, Dennis still has tomorrow too and we have a family thing tonight.  My whole notion of going to the fair with him has passed.  The girls and I are going to hopefully sleep late and play catch up on the insanity that the order and cleanliness of the house has taken on. Here's to the weekend,  probably going to be eating a lot of soup, or maybe scrambled eggs around here because of all those lost teeth!

Still Turning

The busy day yesterday was held over from the busy one Monday and is going to blend on over through the weekend.  More morning meetings,  afternoon interviews,  presentations and night programs to keep us all spinning.

Saturday Dennis heads to the State Fair to judge plant identification tests. Depending on how the rest of the week pans out the girls and I "may" go with him or may stay home to sleep in.  It's a fun day usually.  We like to wander around the displays of fair entries and displays from the counties across the state. Junk food is good too.

It's interesting to see it and also kind of have behind the scenes knowledge of some things since Dennis is in Extension.  I know how much work goes into setting up everything by the county agents across Kentucky.  The week (s) before a lot of them literally stay there the entire time setting up.  There are also volunteer judges who give up a day to come in and keep everything fair (no pun intended).

It's also a big milestone in the road to fall.  Once the state fair is over we are really spinning headlong into colder weather and the new school year.  Tired or not I may be talking myself into going,  if only for the pictures of the animals.

Gotta spin on out of here this morning though.  Almost time for the staff meeting and I have the breakfast oatmeal bars! Happy hump day!

Modern Sunrise

Today's morning light is not brought to you by the sun rising over the hillside. Nope, today I'm basking in the modern glow of a computer screen.  I've been trying to get caught up on plugging in numbers to the budget spreadsheet that we don't seem to be sticking to all that well.

Our biggest problem is eating out and convenience purchases. It's crazy really how our lives outside the house seem to be lived in complete opposition to when we're at home. Summer slows us down a little but when the girls head back to school it compounds it all again.

Two people with meetings, reports,  projects and responsibility,  paired with two little girls with homework,  tests, physical therapy appointments,  church meetings, home responsibilities,  laundry,  lunches and everything else involved in the day to day living of life. Basically it can be summed up in one word,  rushed.

We end up grabbing lunch, grabbing afternoon snacks and sometimes dinner.  We're two weeks into the school year and the spinning of our days is already wearing me thin. I've been feeling cruddy and worn out for days now. Ended up in bed by 9 one night and a little before ten the next.  The extra sleep seems to have helped a little. Enough really to clarify what I think every year right about now
Something needs to give and we need to get a plan in place to organize all this craziness.

So that's where I'm at today. Pecking at another screen,  plugging in numbers and setting my resolve to rise above the rush. That's about all I have time to talk about right now though.  Time to go again.

Crazy Habits That Keep Us Sane

My husband thinks I'm crazy.  I seem to have formed the habit of waking early no matter what day. As I sat here pecking on my phone and skimming through the photos I just took of the sunrise I heard him waking and making his way down the hall,  "what are you doing," he asked in amusement, "you know you don't have to get up early today right?" We actually went to church last night,  so in case you're wondering we're not entirely heathens, at least this week.

Either my body or brain one betrays me though and rise I must, for a few moments at least.  I wish I felt the same about exercise.  Perhaps seeing the sunrise is good for my health too. I know it's good for my soul. If only my phone could capture the true essence the morning. Pinks don't seem to film just right.  I suppose I need a real camera but I like the convenience the phone affords me to take pictures and write. One day maybe.

I think I will go back to bed for awhile.  I'll be back up soon though.  I need to gather Gabby. She went to her very first sleep over last night.  Before this she'd only ever stayed at my Mommas house overnight.  For all their bickering of late I know Tori missed her. She kept complaining that, " I can't go to sleep in here alone, I don't have Gabs to talk to." Yet they both still beg for their own rooms,  I wonder how that's really going to pan out if and when we finally get that wish granted?

I think I'm back off to bed.  I can still hear the roosters crowing outside and I seem to have collected a few mosquito bites along with the sunrise, I'm also craving my other habit, coffee.  I don't want Dennis thinking I'm entirely crazy though, so good sleepy Sunday morning all. Here's to crazy habits that keep us sane.

Highly Brown Biscuit

I'm moving slow this morning.  Work today. I just didn't want to move from the bed though.  I woke up at six, put the coffee on and put one lonely frozen biscuit in the oven to bake. Then I laid back down and fell asleep again.  The coffee smell and scent of the biscuit woke me.  I didn't burn it but as we like to say 'round here, "it's highly brown."

Logic tells me that I should be having eggs instead, still need to up my protein and lower my carbs, if I'm going to truly get the diet notion moving anywhere. But I woke up cold and moving slowly as I said,  a biscuit seemed to fit the mood.

Standing at the kitchen sink,  while I poured my coffee,  I could hear the crickets outside. Fall really is coming this way. Still a few weeks of summer left on the calendar but nature doesn't seem to pay much attention to numbers on a grid.

Funny enough I'm not dreading winter in quite the same way as I have over the past few years.  I'm looking forward to the slowness and longer nights for once.  I guess the summer has left me like my biscuit this morning.  Not quite burnt out but I'm definitely "highly brown. "

Moments Of Magic

Have you ever stood outside just before dawn? If you stay quiet you can recognize it. The gradual waking of the world.

There's a heightened end to the night bugs chorus, the feathered ones are only just starting to sing. You can actually hear the moths lift off to find solace from the heat of day, their wings fanning past your cheek, 'hurry," they call, "it will soon rise again."

The shift between seasons is even more subtle than those minutes before sunrise.  It's a miniscule change in the air,  a note or two's difference in the tree frogs song.

The birds are quieter. Even the rooster knows it's not yet time to crow. "Hush now children," the earth seems to be saying, "time to slow your summer scramble, to muffle the worries of plans you think must be fullfilled while the sun stays high and long in the sky. The things left undone will simply have to stay that way," is the advice of mother nature, "for fall is coming and it's time to rest."

Hit The Wall

We've hit that wall. You know the one. The it's the first full week back to school and lawdy how have we managed to get up at 6 and complete a full day of school and homework plus get in our required amount of "chill" time wall. Parents included in that wall.
#backtothegrind
#tiredout
#covertchickenlittlechicks
#covertchickenfarm

Breakfast Cookies

Thursday August 11th 2016.  School is back in session and breakfast cookies have made a return.  Yeah I'm sure some will think poorly of me but I decided awhile back that I would rather have the girls eat something like this,  that I know exactly what went into it, than some of the other breakasty items I could buy. In Gabs case it's like pulling teeth (she has two loose one by the way,  Tori also has one) to get her to eat anything atall. So  we eat a lot of strange choices around here for breakfast.  Today it's breakfast cookies and at least the girls got to help make them with me last night �� another plus over something that would have came from the toaster and was covered in blue frosting.
#breakfastcookies
#dontjudgemechallenge
#covertchickenlittlechicks
#covertchickenfarm

Weary Wednesday

Wednesday August 10
Like the tomatoes I feel drained and under pressure.  Hoping. Wishing.  Praying.  For a little time to slow down.  Couldn't tun off my brain last night and didn't get to sleep till around 2.
#wearywednesday
#covertchickenfarm

Tomato Tuesday

#tomatotuesday
#wishitweresundaythatsmyfunday
#toorushedtuesday
#covertchickenfarm

Minding Our Own Bees Wax

So after collecting the honey and straining it we were left with lots of bits of sticky comb which is of course just wax laying in wait! We just had to separate it. I'm not sure we did it exactly right,  Dennis and I had conflicting Internet searches, but the outcome was still fun.

I first put the gloopy bits into a piece of cheesecloth,  tied it off and dipped it into a bowl of warm water. This was done to try and wash away some of the excess honey. I poured that off and repeated the process till the water was pretty clear. When untied I then had the crumbly, much less sticky remains.

That's where Dennis's research kicked in and we put the crumbles into a double boiler. The heat melted the wax to liquid which we then strained into a bowl through another piece of cheesecloth.  What was left was a bowl of butter yellow wax with a bit of residue.

I'm not sure yet what we plan to do with it.  We might reheat and strain it again.  Maybe some little tealights? Maybe lip balm?  I need to research it more. I will say this, while fun for us, it would be quite a bit of work if you needed the wax for your primary source of light! My hat is off to the pioneers.  Shew!

I doubt we'll become professional candle makers.  I do want to try it again though.  Dennis wants to get one of the heated knives to use when uncapping the comb for honey extraction. I think that would make for a smoother process. Raking the comb with the de capping tool makes it sort of messy, honey and wax wise.