A new favorite place

This week has marked the beginning of the wheat harvest-- an exciting, adrenaline-pumping, work-like-a-slave season in farming life--the harvest boogie. It's the time of year when tailgate suppers are standard occasions and take-it-with-you meals are extremely necessary. Living on the farm has made a night-and-day difference for me during this time (or like some silly blonde on a recent infomercial for Hip Hop Abs said, "what a 160-degree turn!") When you don't see your husband from dawn until after dusk 6 days a week, and the children are your responsibility that whole time, things can get ugly. Here on the farm, we see daddy several times a day, and we can help run meals to the field more often. It's much more conducive to family life. I guess I had to suffer through 6 years of being farm widow to truly appreciate living out here.

Jason remembers that getting a combine ride, as a kid, was a paramount event. Owen now has the same experience. The past few days, all he can talk about is "ahma-how" (Grandma's house) and the combine, his two favorite places.

I took Owen to get a ride and snapped a few pictures. I also did a mini-harvest with my scissors. I wanted some new wheat for display in my house, plus some for my friend and fabulous hair dresser, Angelique, since she had admired mine last fall. I did another mini-harvest Saturday from a different variety of wheat--a bearded kind. I think it is all so pretty, the hanging head stuff too. I love to use it when I decorate the communion tables at church.

On another note, if you desire an extreme work-out, and the flaky advertising for Hip Hop Abs turns you off, just grab an old-fashioned hedge clippers and head for your lawn. Our giant shrubs called my name yesterday, and I wanted to surprise Jason, so I went to it. I hadn't done much bush trimming until then, but I can safely say that now I have been introduced. Jason found me after a bit, and offered to sharpen the giant scissors. By the way, he was delighted that I took such initiative. I took him up on that kind deed, and it made it a lot better. My mother in law offered her electric hedge trimmers, but seeing how my inexperience could quickly do a lot of damage to a bush, I passed. Plus, she was using it earlier this week and sacrificed a slice of finger, and I'm a little squeamish and didn't want the same to happen to me. So I whacked some serious bush toosh with my handheld operation. And now my arms are so sore I can barely hold my babies! Plus my poor hands are a bit bruised. One more thing about hedge trimming--it's probably safe to say that pruning holly bushes would NOT be an activity of choice at a nudist colony.