A smoky week

Hubby spent a better part of this week fighting fires.  On Monday, they were called out to offer mutual aide to another fire department.  This fire claimed 1000-2000 acres and a farmstead of an old farmer.  This was a sad loss since the farm had been in this family for many years.  He was left with the clothes he had on, his pickup, and a tractor.  That is a hard loss to swallow for anyone.  The guys got back to the hall about 8:30 that night just in time to eat some supper, clean up trucks, and get home to their families.  Hubby had to miss our 3rd child birth class due to this fire, but that was more important at the time. 

Then, on Wednesday, about 4:15pm, the guys were called out to a fire west of town.  The other rural fire department had already been called out, but it was too big for them to handle.  After spending a good 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get to the flames through the rough terrain, they started the long battle.  Because of creeks and railroad tracks and valley's they struggled with the getting to the fire.  After being out there for about an hour, they had to call for more mutual aide.  Two other rural departments were called out because the guys couldn't keep up with water.  They fought this fire, keeping it from jumping both lanes of the interstate and taking on any farmsteads or other structures, for a good 5 hours before making any real progress.  The ladies auxiliary supplied the guys with chicken for supper and more beverages to keep them hydrated.  This was going to be a long night!  I talked to hubby at about 10:00pm and he said half of the guys were going to stay out there until 3 to watch it and keep putting on water, and then switch at 3.  Hubby came in the house about 3:30am lookin' like he hadn't showered in a month! After a quick shower, all he wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep for a good 5 hours and then get up and go into work late.  Considering he had been up since 4:30am the previous morning, worked a 10 hour day and fought a hot fire for hours, I thought he deserved more then 5 hours.

The other group of guys all came back to the hall at about 8am to refuel and clean trucks.  But, they were called out to the fire again at about 10 that morning.  The wind and heat didn't help the situation.  All we could do was pray for some freak rain shower to dump at anytime, but that obviously didn't happen!  Again, the ladies auxiliary supplied them with lunch and beverages because this was going to be another long haul.  When I got off work, I headed to the fire hall to start making supper for them.  Luckily, the guys were able to come in at about 7 and eat.  They weren't real sure if that was it for the day or if they were going to have to head back out.  But that was it.  Between the two departments, they would check it throughout the night and the next morning.

Being at the hall when they came in was an experience.  They all came in, totally exhausted, not wanting anything else but a chair, some food and probably a shower.  They all drug themselves in and sat down not saying a whole lot, which is not normal for this group of guys.  Finally, they decided it was just time to eat and keep going.  As they were eating, they started sharing stories and experiences from the last two days and they started joking and laughing.  This was the group that I know!  They cleaned their plates, but didn't just sit there.  They knew their duties weren't finished.  They thanked us for the food and headed to the shop to wash and restock trucks and check them over quick for any needed maintenance.  After finishing that and cleaning up the shop, they had a celebratory beer and then headed home to their families who they probably hadn't seen much in the last 2 days. 

What I learned from these guys in those two days is real heroism.  No, they didn't save lives from burning buildings or save a drowning victim.  But they put their families and jobs on hold to sacrifice their lives.  This selflessness really inspired me and made me so proud of these guys.  Volunteers.  They don't get paid for their long hours out there.  And some don't even get paid at work for those days.  Some of them had never gone that long without seeing their kids, but I hope those kids see their dad as a real life hero!  These guys deserve so much respect.  So much more then us ladies on the auxiliary can give them by just keeping them fed and watered and saying a simple thank you for their hard work.  And no matter what they just did to keep a fire from destroying the whole country side, they were so thankful for what us ladies had MADE them.  We heard more thank yous then we deserved for what we did!



My real life hero!



Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

Gardening is something that my mom and I did together when I was younger.  I never thought I would have my own garden one day. 

Last year was the first time I tried out this long lost skill of mine.  Hubby tilled up a spot and manured it and I picked out some random vegetable seeds to plop in the ground.  I should probably explain why I randomly picked seeds.  In our small town, we have sandy soil.  Hubby didn't bring in top soil when he put up the house.  We spent lots of money and time trying to get our front and side yard to grow, so I was pretty sure a garden would be a large FAIL.  I was quite wrong! We had cucumbers and beans and peas coming out of our ears!  It was fantastic to see my hard work come to life.

This year, I was pretty convinced that I could do it again and it would be weedless like last year.  I was partially wrong.  Most of my garden grew, but there were 10 times more weeds.  I do blame this on the late start and all the moisture though.  Hey, we all have to find something to blame things on!  But, in the last 2 weeks, we have had some fairly dry and hot weather.  I fail to find the perfect time to water the garden, so my cucumbers were a little wilty.  I finally decided to I just had to water on Saturday night.  We may have joined some friends at the local watering hole and left the water on.  Let's just say, if the peppers could talk, they would have been shouting "Save us!" 

So, after a few hours of my time spent planting seeds and pulling weeds, I think my time has paid off.

My first good radish! Most of the plants went to seed before producing a large enough radish though.

This year's first kohlrabi!

First time growing peppers! And hubby enjoyed a pepper and summer sausage sandwich today :)

We LOVE cucumber salad! And it looks like we will have more then we can eat again this year!

This is the massive pile of cucumber plants!

My sunflowers.  They are all taller then me now! Can't wait for them to produce!

And this would be the beans....they no longer look like this.  I blame it on the hot weather....GONE

....our beloved peas.  I had 3 that tried to grow, but they gave up....I blame the moisture

So, you saw my vegtable gardening skills, here's a look at my flower garden skills!

This is my hydrangea plant!  I've read that they don't grow so well in ND, but this thing is rockin'!  I killed 2 rose bushes already and my SIL said that roses are hardy in ND.  I beg to differ!  So I will enjoy the beautiful greenish, white flowers that this bush is producing.  I'm stocked to bring some in the house!

Enjoy the nice temps and fresh produce from your gardens!

We are Family

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had our family get together weekend this past week.  The farm is never quite the same when everyone gets there.  More beverages are consumed in that one day then probably the whole year.  Not saying we are all alcoholics, but there are quite a few of us and we like to have a good time!

This year was a little different.  My uncle got married at the farm and had a reception in a nearby town.  After the reception, most of the guys decided to go golfing while the women went back to the farm and enjoyed the beautiful weather and hot temps. 

Every year, we learn a little more about each other and share more stories and tons of laughs to create new memories.  It's even better when a cousin comes that you haven't seen in at least 8 years.  Life kinda stops for the weekend while we all put our feet up and throw back a few drinks.

Sometimes you get the enjoyment of seeing your father in his new shorts, sandals, and holy farmer cut off...for the first time ever.



D checkin' things out.

Hubby showin' us how its done.

Horseshoes

My brother, popping a JiffyPop the hillbilly way



The whole family....minus a few cousins
And I may be from the country, but I am wearing a dress and I like to dress up!



A little glimpse of the farm

Beautiful flat land

This is what we call hills in ND

Hot as fire!

Yes, it is HOT today!  Right now, weather.com tells me it is 91 degrees but feels like 103.  I'm glad I work inside.  Too bad our AC blows sucks!! 

This weekend was almost as hot and we spent the day outside.  This was our family weekend at the farm with lots of laughs, hugs, beverages and reminiscing.  I have pictures, but for the sake of keeping my extended families lives a little more "private", I will refrain from posting them.  Just know that we are one good lookin', fun loving bunch!  ;)

But, before the family weekend, Jon and I helped a friend burn down his barn.  I enjoyed taking a few pictures of something that I don't get to see everyday.

We successfully got the barn burned and kept it undercontrol.  I'm  glad I was there to snap a few pictures!

Hope you are all enjoying the heat and keeping cool at the same time!

A July Storm

Friday afternoon, the weather turned crappy.  There were tornado warnings and sightings in surrounding areas and lots of rain and wind.  I was still at work with about 25 minutes to go when my boss ran out of his office saying there was a funnel cloud to the east of the office building.  It was far enough away to where it was still neat to watch.  All we got at the office was a massive amount of rain and wind, so we were lucky. 


Hard to see, but the funnel cloud is in the middle


I drove home with pounding rain on my windshield about 2 miles before it stopped.  It was sunny and blue skies at home!  But, I soon found out that the wind part of the storm had hit there. 

This is the picture after I rescued my poor flowers that fell off my deck.  Surprisingly, after losing most of the soil and being tossed violently to the ground, they are blooming like crazy now!

This is another poor flower who's petals are all blown off.  My favorite flower, too!

And then there's the garden.  Everything was leaning to the east.

It snapped off 2 of my sunflowers, the rest were just leaning.

Cucumber plants leaning to the east.

But, after all that wind and rain, the garden looks amazing and the flowers are coming back to life.

And this little guy is no longer plastered to our siding.

More pictures of my garden to follow.  I'm excited to show off some fabulous produce and maybe a gardening secret or two!

Enjoy the work week!
A P.S. from yesterday's post -  The best part of the weekend ------ I got to dance with my hubby to our wedding song, "I Get Carried Away" by George Strait, next to the bonfire! Loved it :)

Calf Photo Blog

*Picture heavy blog*
About 2 weeks ago, we moved our calves to the pasture.  We still have 4 in the barn that are about 2 weeks old.  Here are some recent pictures I took.

This one decided the grass and hay were better when eating INSIDE the bale feeder!

 The next pictures are my attempt to take a picture with Blue (my favorite and more friendly calf!)

First: had to let him suck my fingers to get him closer

Second: Missed my face but got him licking me!

Third: Kisses!

Fourth: He tried to eat me!

The simple things in life

This is a quick check on before the weekend hits.  It is about 2 hours away as of typing this! 
Can't help but wish I was going to Minnesota with my in-laws to meet up with some family and hit up a Twins game and spend some time at the Mall of America.  But because of some time off issues and conflicts, hubby and I will be staying back home.

But this weekend will be a laid back, relaxing one...or so I hope!  Seems like every time I plan a relaxing weekend, it turns into a weekend of unexpected work.

It's the simple things in life that I enjoy.  The rush of the weekend, trying to get everything done so that we don't have to spend our weekday evenings working out butts off.  The unexpected family "gathering."  The good times spent talking, laughing, and enjoying a few drinks.  The quiet walk around the farm taking pictures of the natural beauty.  Reading a book on the deck in my new outdoor rocking chair.  The nights that hubby says, let's feed and then spend the night at home doing nothing. 

Just a quick note on this picture: I was taking pictures of the old "barn" wood fence at the farm trying to convince hubby that those pieces of wood would make the CUTEST, most rustic fence around our utilities in our yard.  We have been trying to find a good fence to cover some ugly utility poles in our yard and this seems like a unique, cheaper alternative.  I think it's a GREAT idea...hubby, not so much.  Hmmm...maybe if I put it up myself he will like the idea more.


As of this last week, I've been "watching" my garden "grow."  Seems like it's taking forever, but I only planted it on Sunday!  I'm ready to pull weeds and water (which I might not have to do since we moved to Washington State, or so it seems).

I know you can't tell, but there are rows, and no they are NOT straight.  And yes, I know where everything is and what it is!
Potatoes, cucumbers, beans, radishes, kohlrabies, and sunflowers take up the middle, odd rows.  Peas and green peppers are on the side lines.  And the spot behind the garden shed that I will not be using will possibly be filled with pumpkins by the neighbor boy. 

Enjoy the peaceful, cool weekend! :)

Pictures

My attempt at being creative!

Sweet niece egg hunting!

Mom and I with our cruise confirmations!

Another sweet niece finding an egg

Another attempt at being creative. My brother's semi and the beautiful blue sky!

Cute niece on her birthday with ladybug cake!