Our Prairie

Did you notice I updated the look of my blog? The green & tan background were so 2009. lol

The photo is looking north from our "other" farm, which we call "The 80", because it is 80 acres of farm ground and some native prairie grasses and 2 creek/timber areas. You can see one of the prairie fields in the above photo.

Notice the rolling hills. We live on the western edge of the glacier till from the last ice age (if you believe that) or more likely, from the climate change after THE Flood (which is my chosen belief.)

"The thick green lines in the east mark the western limit of the great Pleistocene glaciers. In these areas glacial till overlies the old rock: blue clay, then thick beds of loose gravel and boulders, with occasional buried soils where once forests grew."
(Copyright [2010] by Andrew Alden, geology.about.com, reproduced under educational fair use.)

Anyway, we live in the rolling hills, with some clay soil, some good, dark bottom ground, LOTS of rocks in some areas, creeks and woodlands in the low areas, grass on the steep hill sides.

It may not be mile-long flat row-crop land, but I think it's wonderfully diverse and beautiful.

...says the Prairie Chick....

Hugs,
K~

"He best expressed his preference for his wild homestead by saying that his Bible seemed truer to him there.
"If one stood ... and looked off at the rough land, the smiling sky, the curly grass white in the hot sunlight;
"if one listened to the rapturous song of the lark, the drumming of the quail, the burr of the locust against that vast silence, one understood what Ivar mean." O Pioneers! Willa Cather

It's Spring!

Lettuce "starts"

Well, I was back for a day, wasn't I? Sorry.... life happens. Resurrection Sunday has come and gone. We are filled again with that wonderful Hope of "Someday in Heaven!"

I spent a fun day in the city with a friend, going to a Quilt Shop, having lunch, buying her ds a guitar, and then another Quilt Shop. I have new fabric to play with and some new patterns. Just need the time now.


I attended my niece's dance recital, which was her last performance of her Senior High days. I thoroughly enjoyed all the dances from the little ones to the Seniors' self-choreographed dances. That was something I missed having only sons. :o)

During this week, we've found Spring on the Prairie!

The peeper frogs have started singing, some of the song birds are back and nesting. And the Prairie Chickens are dancing:



The red bud trees are blooming, as well as the forsythia and the wild plum:



And Farmer-dear started planting corn today:



Yes, Spring has sprung on the prairie.

Hugs,
K~
** "April is a girly kind of month, frilly and flowery and scented and all dressed up for her first dance. The dreams, poetry and hopes of the winter come to fruition in this month when life is new once again."
--PennyAnn Poundwise
http://pennyannpoundwise.xanga.com/

A new website addiction

I'll admit it... I get addicted to websites & blogs. There are so many super talented people out there, who inspire me in my day-to-day life.

First would be Facebook.... I know, I know. It's not technically a blog, but it keeps me in daily (sometimes hourly) contact with most of my favorite people. I probably wouldn't hear that our Pastor's dd was sick or that my dear friend in PA is having a pizza-for-lunch day otherwise. Just the randomness of it, makes me like it so much.
Search for me and if you want to be friends be sure and send a message along with the request telling me how I know you. If I don't recognize your name I won't accept the request. Sorry, but I've had to up my personal security. :o]

Second, I'm still addicted to Ree, The Pioneer Woman and Brin, of My Messy, Thrilling Life and Cat, RuthAnn, Linda, Tania, Clarice, PennyAnne, etc...etc....etc.... You can find most of them on my sidebar links.
If you do, you'll notice a theme.....quilts, cooking, farm/rural life, vintage, thrifting, Home, Family, God. All the things that make me tick. :oD

And finally, here is my latest addiction: The Farm Chicks . I preordered their "In the Kitchen" book. (Thanks Ds2 for the B&N gift card... it came in very handy!) I loved their blogsite at first glance. Aprons! Hay bales! QUILTS! Jeans. The Prairie (ok-- in Washington State, but still the prairie!) I want it to be summer so we can have a prairie party with hay/straw bales covered with quilts for seating & all the women wearing aprons.
Just go check it out. (The Prairie Party is HERE, on Country Living's website, another of my favorites!)

I know you all are waiting for photos of the girls and calves and such. Bear with me. We're calving still and taxes need to be completed and I'm trying to get my office organized since we got the new desk.

And to make you smile, I have Pansies blooming on my sunny, unheated back porch! I simply brought in my front walk pots when it got really cold and tucked them away on the porch. What a happy surprise to see those smiling "faces." My rosemary bush is doing wonderfully back there too, as is the curly parsley my neighbor gifted me with. I want to remember to pot up some thyme next fall. I miss having fresh sprigs.

Time for breakfast! Homemade raisin, cinnamon oatmeal, yogurt & pecans mixed in or saved for mid-morning snack.
We're trying to eat better after the over-indulgence of the holidays. A better breakfast, larger lunch and salad or smallish dinner. Cutting down on carbs (me) and lower fat (Farmer-dear).

Have a great Thursday and I'll be back soon with those photos!

HUGS!
Kay~
** "...and when the moon rose rapidly above the bare rim of the prairie, the pond glittered like polished metal..." ~Willa Cather, "O Pioneers!"