Where does the time go? It's been over a month now since I posted here. I've been so very busy living life (especially putting up garden produce), but at last, we have a rain day (3+ inches so far today), so I will take the time to post here in my on-line journal of sorts.
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At the end of July, Andrew's friend, Marie came from Kentucky to visit us all and stayed for over a week. We worked on reshingling the farmhouse roof (where Michael and I are living currently). That took longer than we thought it would and we ended up covering part of the roof up with tarps and plastic while we went on vacation for 3 days to Medora and the Teddy Roosevelt National Park in the Western part of North Dakota. Josephine L was kind enough to do all of our milking and other chores so that we could all go.
Almost finished....
A panoramic view of the T. R. national park....
The first night there, we went to the musical.
The next day, we took old-time photos; walked through Medora; and drove through the National park, stopping to hike in many places. Jacob was along with Michael & I in our car, so we did most of the hiking with him.
Can you believe this is in North Dakota??
We got to see many wild horses...
...and a few bison (one of them was really close to the car).
He sounded none too pleased.
Then it was time for ice cream... (I had black licorice ice cream. Delicious!)
Marie and Andrew...
The next day, we walked through the Chateau de Mores visitor center....
...then toured the Chateau. This was the home of the lady, Medora, her husband and their small children. Medora was an avid horse rider and marksman and loved to hunt.
On the way home, Michael & I stopped in to visit Lauretta. :) Lee was at work, so we didn't see him.
After returning from the West, my parents hosted a get together at their house. It was a fun day of playing games, eating sweet corn (and other food), and just visiting. The M. family (from IL) stopped in on their way to their vacation in the West.
Mid-week, Michael and I left again, this time to see Duluth, MN. Oh, and we were there for the main purpose of helping Michael's sister, Rachael load up some of their heavy earthly belongings as they were moving down closer to Michael's parent's place where Nicholas got a new job.
Rachael took us to see a few of the sights...
Michael and his dear sister...
We got to see the bridge go up and a huge ship go underneath it...
This is the ship!
We got to spend a little time at Dale & Kathy's before having to head for home again. James & Jenny came too, so we were able to visit and catch up with them. The brothers had to drive their dad's new tractor around a bit, of course.
Snitching peas from Kathy's garden...
When we got home, it was time to celebrate my beloved husband's birthday!! :)
He worked up at Steele for a portion of the day, but did come home early so we could spend some time together. That evening, we had the neighbors over for....
...cake and ice cream.
Not long after that, it was time for the last Project Appleseed of the year. We had a good turnout this time (17 shooters), with a Shoot Boss coming from IL and 2 other guys coming to help out with instruction and safety, running the line and such.
Andrew got promoted to SHOOT BOSS!!!
AND Michael made the RIFLEMAN score!!! :) I'm still so happy for him. :)
What a great shooting event it was!!
The cider press that Michael & I ordered arrived and I've been busy making lots of cider.
We ordered some champagne yeast and turned a small portion of the apple cider into sparkling cider (it's fizzy, just like pop).
The garden produce is coming in fast and furious now. I've been making pickles, putting up green beans, and freezing sweet corn.
Michael keeps moving fences for the sheep/goats/llama so they have new grass and weeds to chew on.
The lambs really don't need milk anymore.
Michael has a pet chicken: Cookies & Cream the 2nd
When he was little, he had a pet chicken of the same breed (Light Brahma).
Michael, my dad and brothers have been spending their days up at Steele, setting up the plant to be much more efficient and to move grain through so much faster. They've been buying supplies on online auctions, so will be doing some traveling in the days ahead.
And now, it is time to go stir the apple butter down.
God has been so good!
So fun to see snippets of your life! The scenery pics are beautiful and the appleseed project looked like a blast!:) I also find it interesting that Andrew's friend is has been a sweet family friend for most of my life! Unfortunately I've only met her once in person, but she seemed like such a darling! Blessings!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, Abigail! That is really neat that you know Marie too!! :) She is indeed a darling. :) I hope I get to meet you someday as well, somewhere, somehow.
DeleteI hope to meet you someday too - I've heard so much about you so it seems like I know you just a little! Hopefully I can come up and see the Heather and Rachel sometime and maybe we could meet then! I would also love to finally see what Dakota is like!
DeleteBy the way I'm a bit curious about something ... do y'all use guns because of a like/enjoyment of them, or more from safety reasons, or both? Although we do naturally enjoy them here, it seems to be more of a safety concern because of how things are getting to be here. I guess since I've always heard that ND is more rural and mainly farmers etc. I wasn't sure if it was just something y'all like to do, or a serious safety concern. Your appleseed shoot looks so neat, and I think it'd be so much fun to join something like that except for the fact that I'm one of the worst shots I know:0! Literally, I went shooting in one or our pastures the other day and when I got done I just wanted to hide my target! At least I got ONE bull's-eye, but all the others were a sad story, and having bad eyes and very shaking hands don't help any! About once a year we have a shoot day with friends which is so much fun, despite my being such a pathetic shot:)
DeleteHave you met Heather & Rachel before? They're very sweet young ladies.
DeleteNorth Dakota is a pretty, quiet place. It is made up of many farmers as you said, although the cities are growing as the farmers retire and their children don't take over and the land gets sold to one or two large farmers who want to run everything.
We do enjoy shooting/target practice and my husband enjoys hunting. It's a good skill to have and, just in case we have to use our skills in self defense, well, it's a good skill to keep up on. I had to laugh when I read your description of your shooting! Sounds like a Project Appleseed shoot would be just the thing for you. ;)
Thanks again for commenting. I have to go milk our cow now. :)
So sorry for the delay - we had a lot of company through the weekend and I try to stay off electronic devices then:). They were able to come down for a few days this spring ... it was such a good time although I felt terrible because I was so sick when they were here! I'm definitely looking forward to spending more time together someday! And I agree, they are very sweet!
DeleteI figured that was how ND was ... I've never been there but always wanted to go:). That's sad that people are selling out and not continuing family farms ... we have a lot of that down here, although instead of farmers taking over more land it usually gets chopped up and turned into building sites:(. I love TN so much but it is getting really crowded.
My little brother really enjoys hunting too! I've tried before, but I guess I don't have the patience it takes, and with so much always needing to be done I can't really justify going out for hours to sit and wait:). We all appreciate a good venison roast though!
Haha, maybe that would be just the thing for me, although I'm afraid I'd be a losing cause! Really, I'm very pathetic! I'm the kinda gal to get talked into shooting a can off a post, and instead I hit the post, which knocks the can off, and everyone cheers because at least I got that close:b. Um, awkward! This actually happened a few months ago when we were at a friend's house they'd just gotten a new gun - talk about embarrassing!! I'll never be a sharpshooter, but I AM practicing and hoping to get a little better (without going broke on ammo bills:)) - it can be a very useful skill to have.