Last week, I took a little vacation. My good friend (we'll call her Al) came down from Omaha to spend time with me and the cicadas in Nashville. Since we were to be without children for three days and are creative sorts, I had hoped to get in some art time. Instead, I sat and stared while Al sewed a cool, little sock-doll. I hope she wasn't terribly disappointed with my lack of motivation, but it was really nice (for me) to just sit with nothing pressing to do and have adult conversations.

On my return to The Funny Farm, I found that Chris had gotten a lot accomplished. He had mowed the lawn (a three-hour task), taken Joe to two baseball games, hung most of the sheathing on the 20-foot-high west gable, gone to visit his grandmother, and kept the house clean. The profanely long list of recently watched kids' shows on Netflix revealed how he was able to accomplish all this while keeping an eye on the three kids. So, on Sunday, guessing that the kids might be suffering from vitamin D deficiency as well as mush brain, I set up the wading pool and let the kids play outside...
while Chris and I finished the sheathing on the gable walls.

Memorial Day was spent with a little work around the farm, then an afternoon at my folks' place for a cookout. In the evening, I started up the tractor and spent a little time bush-hogging. The cicadas seemed to think I (or the tractor) was an ideal mate, and I was constantly swatting them away. The grass had gotten quite high in the north field, and after 5 or 6 circuits, the tractor started to overheat. It looks like I'll just have to take it a little at a time in order not to overwork our poor little International.

Today is laundry day, and I am taking advantage of this heat. Someday, it would be nice to get a real clothesline set up...

Pile-O-Peas

What was it the back of the package said? Dwarf Sugar Pea. "Vines grow 24-30" and do not require staking." ? Mine are pushing 6 feet, and are leaning over my carrots from the 3 foot fencing I put up.

This weekend, we finally finished putting up the gates and fencing to allow the chickens out of their pen to range while (hopefully) keeping them safe from the neighbor's dogs.

Some of the little chicks can still squeeze throught the fence, but it won't be long before they grow too big for the holes.

The only worry now is Dragon. He looked a little too interested in the smaller chicks.

Chickens Love Cicadas

Last Monday, Finley's soccer season ended. It was a little bit of a relief to me, since we had been juggling Joe's baseball practices and games with her practices and games all while trying to get work done on the house. And since I am competitive by nature, games were a bit painful for me to watch... Finley usually played defender, paying more attention to the dirt or what was growing in it rather than the ball. She wasn't an aggressive player, and only made attempts to kick the ball if it came within a 5 foot radius of the spot she seemed determined not to leave.

In spite of all that, and the fact that the team probably did not have a winning season, each player got a trophy to take home after the last game.

Then yesterday, Finley got this note in the mail from her coach:

Dear Finley,
I'm glad you chose to play soccer this year and were on my team. Your confidence and courage are impressive. Many times, you bravely went against kids much bigger than you. I was proud to see you get after the ball. Good Job! Above all, your kindness shown to all. Joy is spread when you are around. I hope these seeds grow. I know you like to give flowers to your mom.
Coach Dan

Enclosed was a packet of daisy seeds.

This weekend, in spite of the misty, moisty weather, we got some work done on the house. There was some blocking that needed to be installed between some ceiling joists to help stabilize and support the upstairs, and we got that finished.

We also reinforced the soffits. Chris had just tacked the soffit overhang to the last rafter, and I was pretty certain they would eventually sag. We came up with a few ideas on how to stabilize them, but John P., the county codes guy, gave us the best idea. (He's helped us out a lot. Never be afraid to ask questions... It's easier and cheaper in the long run.) So we notched out the rafter that sat on the gable wall to accept a flat 2x8 that would tie the soffit into the first two rafters on the house and prevent a sag. I am feeling much better about them now.

Next up, we need to build out a form around the front porch so that we can pour our slab. We want to get that done before we frame out the porch roof. We've seen the pros frame out a porch roof temporarily supported by 2x4's before they pour the slab, but we just aren't brave enough to try that.

It's hard to believe that a week and a day ago, I was worried about the tomatoes possibly getting bit by frost. It's hot out there.

And thanks to all that rain we got, the mosquitoes are terrible. In the morning, when we pile into the van to take Fin to school, the mosquitoes pile in with us, and I swerve down the driveway as I try to swat them to death before they can bite.

The breezy, hot afternoons force the bugs into hiding, so I wandered out to the garden this afternoon to see what I could see. My peas are standing three feet and higher, pods developing beneath countless wilting, purple flowers. I pulled one off to eat, the peas barely beginning to makes bumps in the outer shell. It wasn't quite as sweet as I anticipated, but maybe that will come as they come closer to maturity?

My two rows of bush beans didn't germinate very well. I am deciding whether or not to plant more.

Still haven't finished thinning out the lettuce, but I am not brave enough to face the mosquitoes. With this heat, I wouldn't bee to surprised if the lettuce decided to go ahead and bolt and get life over with.

I was gifted with a load of mixed decomposing goat and chicken manure and hay. I'm going to try just a bit around some plants before I cover the whole garden just to make sure it won't burn anything.

Sometimes, the apple falls from the tree, then rolls down a long, long hill. Or it gets carried off by a squirrel to an entirely different yard.

Z is almost three. Today, she asked for an M&M, so I told her if she peed in the potty, she could have one. She ran off to the bathroom, sat down on her potty, and tinkled. I rewarded her with two M&M's, slapped some Elmo underwear on her, and poured her a glass of juice. Then, every 15 minutes, I asked if she needed to go potty. An hour later, after repeatedly denying any need to go potty, she pooped and peed in her underwear.

This is a far cry from her self-potty-trained-at 23-months mother.

Help me.

It's turning out to be a nice day...

What better thing is there to do on Mother's Day than to go cicada hunting with my kids? Finley quickly got the hang of holding the jar, then knocking the bugs into it with her stick. Joe wasn't quite as brave, so I had to hold his jar for him while he hit at the cicada with his stick. Z was my personal bug spotter, just the right height to find the newly emerged cicadas hanging in the tall grass.

After we got tired of the hunt, over we went to the chicken coop where we dumped them inside and watched a feeding frenzy ensue. We are doing our part in Marshall County to reduce the magnitude of Cicada Brood XIX.

Here they come!

Z's First Ever Haircut

Today, I finally cut the mullet out of Z's hair.

Before:

After:

A Few Thoughts on Motherhood

There's nothing like Mother's Day to help point out how flawed I am as a mother. This week, as I was talking in an exasperated fashion to (also known as 'yelling at') Finley, I opened her backpack to find a Mother's day card she had made at school. Finley had carefully colored it various shades of green (my favorite color). Boy, did that make me feel lousy.

Joe, who up to this point is generally considered a well behaved child by those outside of the family, bit Finley (hard) on the arm. In Sunday School, of all places. He is a good kid, really. He just needs to learn how to handle frustration properly. Okay, so maybe I do, too.

But Mother's Day is coming, so I will try not to be too hard on myself, because my mom says I'm doing a good job.

Can you see it?

Asparagus! Today, I noticed the first two shoots have emerged from the roots I planted a few weeks ago. I would be lying if I said that when I planted them, I couldn't wait until the day I could harvest some... But really, I planted them because I wasn't sure that the asparagus my mother planted in her sad-looking soil would survive; and since she loves asparagus, I wanted some for her. Sure, I could handle a spear or two, but I honestly couldn't say that I would have been thrilled with a huge pile on my plate.

But then it was Easter, and Andi had asparagus roasted in butter, salt, pepper, and lemon zest. Wow. Suddenly, the two or three years I am supposed to wait until harvesting seems like a long, long time.