Leaving the farm

     Has it really been since December that I have written a post?! I guess time got away from me again. I had started working full time at the end of December. I got a job cleaning at a high school in the evenings. Then in June we moved back to NM. I really miss our farm.  I sold our calves, and our crazy duck went to live with Aunt Cheryl. Its been quite an adjustment, even though we had lived here in NM for 10 years before we moved back to Ohio. There is no place like home. I will miss the geese that would fly over the house in the mornings and honk, the fog that settled in the hills across the road, and the lushness. I just thought I would post some of my favorite photos I took while we lived on the farm. I was glad I got to live there, even if it was only for a few years. I will always remember it.

our dog tried to swim across the pond and catch this goose, it was so funny

I loved the mums that were for sale at the farmers markets in the fall

my daughter feeling moss

The Odd Duck

We have owned many animals. Seems like we have had it all, horses, cows, goats, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys. They have provided us many crazy stories. Each one has had its own personality. We used to have 4 muscovy ducks that would line up facing you when they saw you with the water hose because they liked their chests sprayed with the hose.
 We now have one female duck. She is the only one left out of some that we had bought as ducklings in march. The rest of them got picked off by some kind of predator. This is the strangest duck I have ever seen. The duck will have nothing to do with our pond, she will not swim in it. She will not swim in a kiddie pool either. She will not get her feet wet!  The duck quacks constantly and occasionally flys away quacking at something obviously invisible. Maybe she has PTSD from seeing her friends get eaten?  Who knows. All I know is that she is one ODD duck.

This was taken before her friends got picked off.

Now she just hangs out in the barn standing next to the rabbits all day or hanging out with the calves.

Reminessing

Its a cloudy and rainy Sunday. The daughter is taking a nap and the house is quiet and dark. I got to looking at old photos since I had the time. I came across a file of photos I took about 4 years ago, it was a vacation we took to southern Colorado before our daughter was born. We camped every weekend the summer and fall before she was born. This particular trip was to Vallecitos Lake in southern Colorado. Being from Ohio originally and then being transplanted in the desert made me miss certain things.....like water! New Mexico was beautiful in it own way but sometimes I missed seeing water so bad I couldn't stand it. The dust and dryness got to me after a while. Looking at these photos made me remember that, there were lots of closeups of the water lapping the shore and what not. I had to laugh at my own silliness.

Our camp

First thing I wanted to do was walk down to the lake and smell that water!!

I saw tracks in the sand of all kinds of animals that had been there earlier that morning

Seagull

I think this was a mountain lion

Racoon

Mule Deer

During lunch we heard a bunch of rustling in the brush by our camp. Scared us to death, we thought it was a bear or a more than one bear! Then we see this!

A large herd of free range herford cattle came walking through the camp. they made them selves at home hanging out at the camp right next to ours an starting licking the fire ring and grate. I hope they know what was cooked on top of that grate!

yummy!

They hung out for a little bit and then wandered off back into the woods

Another camp critter

 It was so beautiful there! I took alot of pictures that weekend. These are just some of my favorites.

At the end of the weekend I didn't want to pack up and go back home. We talked about going back but we never did. Maybe one day. 

Its that time of year again

Yesterday was the first day of fall. A cold front came in and the night time temperatures dropped into the 40's. The house sure was cold in the morning. I heard it was going to be a really cold and wet winter here.  The husband is preparing us for it by getting our firewood stocked up. He has been working really hard lately on cutting wood and also finishing up that outdoor wood furnace project.  Hopefully this winter we will be spending the evenings infront of the tv in our t shirts. Here is the stockpile of wood he has so far.

He's been a busy beaver!

Legacy of the Quilts

A few weeks ago I drove up to visit my grandpa who is 94. He is by himself now, my grandma passed away 6 years ago. My grandpa lives in a condo they bought before she passed away. He zooms around it in his hover-round because his knees are so bad he can hardly walk anymore.  We all laugh at the things he has dinged up with that hover-round. The fridge has a dent in it, the dishwasher pushed back into the space for it, a hole in the bathroom door, the corners of the walls chipped off.  He still has his independence, hes so happy to be able to stay in his own home, and that is priceless.

While I was there my mom and I went through my Grandma's quilts, spread them out on the bed and looked at all of them. We were so amazed and in awe of them. My grandma was very crafty. She was known for making braided rugs and crocheted afghans. These quilts were a work of art! Of all the times I remember being at my grandparents house I do not remember seeing any of these quilts on the bed or displayed anywhere. I am sure they were used at some point because of how soft they are but they have been in the closet for years.  Alot of them were very old, they were the one's she worked on with her mother and some friends.  Here is a picture of my grandma's mother. She is the second from the left. Her name was Helen. In the picture she is cleaning chickens for my grandma and grandpa's wedding.

                                       
                                         Here are the quilts she made with my grandma.

This one is a masterpiece

I love the edging on this one

The poppy quilt

Can you imagine the time it took to embroider these baskets on here

This one is my grandpas favorite. The pattern is called log cabin. Look how it was put together so that it made alternate  lighter colored and darker colored stripes in in diagonally.

This one is not as old as the previous. I recognize some of the fabrics used in some of the things I remembered from my grandparents house.

Grandma won many ribbons for her crafts

   I don't know how many hours were spent working on these quilts. I do know that they were hours well spent with family talking and laughing together. What is this generation going to leave behind for the next one? It's not just the quits that we are to pass on to our loved ones but the lessons learned from spending the time to make them. What are we doing with our spare time?