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Week of September 10, 2018

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T O P I C R E V I E W
maryjane	Posted - Sep 10 2018 : 07:12:56 AM It's time to greet another September week. And I am out the door. Good morning!
16 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)
NellieBelle	Posted - Sep 15 2018 : 03:14:49 AM What a divine way to close the day MaryJane. Flowers and a warm fire. Perfect. (Well maybe an outdoor soak in the tub). Love the Paw Paw, it was delicious. It has the consistency of a melon and soft banana. I will be enjoying a few more as I checked the paw paws on the tree and they are just ready. Joe has never tried one so I shared half of mine with him. Caren, it was sure nice to see your post. I would certainly like to know what's going on down at your farm/ranch and how your cows are doing. Feeling autumns approach and that's fine by me. Ready for cooler weather, harvest, brisk morning and evenings, geese flying overhead, bring it on.
maryjane	Posted - Sep 14 2018 : 7:38:48 PM Janet, how was your paw paw? Looks yummy. Is it soft like a mango? Hi Caren. How are your girls doing? It's been chilly here for evening gardening so I've been treating myself to a little campfire.
Caren	Posted - Sep 14 2018 : 10:37:28 AM Just wanted to stop by and see how things are going for everyone. Looks like you are all busy as ever!
NellieBelle	Posted - Sep 14 2018 : 07:46:57 AM Just went down to pasture to spread some fly predator, and on the way back up I checked my paw paw trees, and I found one ripe fruit on the ground. Lovely. I may have to have a mid morning snack.
NellieBelle	Posted - Sep 14 2018 : 03:58:49 AM Congratulations to Alexa and Rowan on their first and second place winnings at the county fair. They must be pleased and excited on their success. More of the same here on the farm today. Carpenters, construction, Nellie is to be AI for the second time as she came in standing heat last evening. So that is to be done at 7:15 this morning. I have plants arriving that I will get in the ground and if I have time tomatoes to tend to.
maryjane	Posted - Sep 13 2018 : 7:56:34 PM It's county fair time. Julie wrote me earlier to say: "The MaryJanesFarm kids (Alexa and Rowan; Connie and Julie's teenagers) received first and second place in Dairy Showmanship this afternoon."
NellieBelle	Posted - Sep 13 2018 : 3:00:31 PM An oldie but a goodie was Password. We liked Taboo also. There are actual Comprehension board games for young folks. Yes, the peaches hang on until they are ready to fall off and then you barely touch them and off them come. I'm glad I had so many last year as we have no trees producing this year. Your apples are gorgeous. Makes your mouth water. East attic windows tore out, opening boarded shut. Hopefully plywood, drywall, and boards for studs will be moved up there in the next day or so. Bread (wild Bara Brith) out of oven and banana coconut cream pie ready for Mr. Joe.
maryjane	Posted - Sep 13 2018 : 09:47:08 AM Cindy, I asked Meggie for a list of the board games they play. Blokus Qwirkle Mancala Othello Chess Bird Bingo Clue Sorry (she said they've almost outgrown it) Rack-o sounds interesting. I suggested it to Meg. Ag dust is a drag. We were on site when our alfalfa was being cut and there were huge dust clouds around the machinery. I'm finding dirt clods in some of the bales where the machinery picked up small mounds of dirt while doing the close cut that alfalfa requires. The bad air we experience every summer is smoke from fires, but also ag dust. Come Sept. I'll start dusting everything inside. Anymore, it seems like I'm still dusting come May when it starts all over again. Around here it's considered a form of erosion 'cause the soil obviously isn't staying put. Nick was on the tractor the other day cutting tall grass around our buildings for fire prevention and he was covered in dust afterward. Janet, I have to laugh every time I visit my first peach. What a tenacious little bugger. I mean it's attached directly to the branch itself. My Macintosh are huge this year, about 4 inches across in some cases. I have several photos I have to stage today that require lots of fussing and things like painting. it definitely feels like fall is here to stay. I'm already missing summer. It doesn't feel like I got enough of it this year.
Boots&Flipflops	Posted - Sep 12 2018 : 09:17:47 AM Good Morning All. It has been so cotton picking busy, I don't know if I am coming or going. Today is no exception. All chores done, cleaning appt at 11, hair at 1 and a meeting tonight at Austin's school for all the seniors. Cindy, I am so elated that all the court dates are behind you know. It has got to be such a relief for everyone. Your pictures of the girls are just as pretty as can be. If you are looking for a fun game, we have been playing Rack-o with the kids for years. If they can count to 60 and put numbers in order, they can play. We started playing this with the kids when they were very young, and just the other day Rachelle who is 25 said "We need to play Rack-o mom" We have taken that game with us on more vacations than you can count and even have a second one that stays in the camp trailer. In my dairy science class we watched the movie about Temple Grandin. If you are unaware who she is, she is a person with Autism who is the great mind behind animal behavior. She has been a mastermind in the development of cattle handling facilities and processing plants. Incredible person, and we get the pleasure of having her as a guest speaker at our college in November. She is an professor of Animal Science at Colorado State. MaryJane, It is almond harvest time, and I will tell you that every car we own and everything around us is covered in dust. Our Solar panels are tan. Keep cleaning those and the next day you can't tell. How can something so wonderful be such a pain? I have got to get a move on, but wish you all a wonderful day. Blessings to All.
NellieBelle	Posted - Sep 12 2018 : 04:12:38 AM MaryJane, I thought that was you I heard. A squeal of delight. :) It's hard waiting on that first peach, but oh, so scrumptious when it's finally ready. I remember my first peach, it was large and lovely and I was so thrilled I could hardly contain myself. This is a photo of it. It's been about four or five years ago. And when they produce more they are just as nice. So happy you'll be having peaches in the near future.
maryjane	Posted - Sep 11 2018 : 7:59:37 PM It's soooo wonderful to see the girls. Your struggles with regression make sense. I just never thought of it in those terms, like when a child is asked to speak to a new-to-them adult who is being too forward and the child suddenly resorts to speaking baby talk. Uh? Hard to imagine girls as precious as yours enduring mistreatment and trauma. But it sounds like you've made plenty of progress. I will ask Meg about board games. They play games a lot. Right off the top of my head, I know they love kids Pictionary. And they often have a jigsaw puzzle going on the dining room table. It's something they can gather around for a quick minute or two. Lots of wins with a jigsaw puzzle. Jenga and Uno are great. I play Farmopoly with them but it tends to go on and on and a couple of times we've never gotten back to the game. Janet, did you hear me squeal your name earlier this evening? I couldn't believe my eyes. I was in the orchard picking a sampling of pears for the girls and admiring my two peach trees like I always do when I FOUND ONE PEACH! The peach itself is hooked to a branch just up from the trunk and not at all ready. I might drag a sleeping bag down there so I don't miss the moment it drops. Or ripens. I sure didn't expect to see one lone peach, and a big one at that. Ken Burns' Mark Twain special has been running on PBS and I've sure been enjoying it. Time to decompress and call it a day. Sleep well.
txbikergirl	Posted - Sep 11 2018 : 6:06:15 PM hi ladies. great harvest going on everywhere, even if you claim a "small harvest" this year janet. we still have some tomatoes coming on, some grape ones and some san marzano, but thats it. ours can't be blamed on anything but energies directed elsewhere this summer ;> maryjane, what are some simple board games you or meg might recommend for the girls? the girls came to us with serious comprehension issues. they can read, they are smart, but if you think back to any time in your life wherein you encountered trauma or grief you can relate to a "fogginess" of the brain... and after enduring years of trauma and then subjected to the grief of being pulled away from the birth family it is just too much for little minds and they protect themselves with that same type of fogginess. so we work on reading every day, because just doing it over and over works those muscles. and we worked up to card games this summer, and by the end of the summer the kids were playing cards all by themselves and making up games and doing really good. so we are moving on to board games but need something interesting but not so challenging that it will overwhelm them. the trauma therapist was playing the board game "clue" with our middle child on monday, but it was difficult enough that her regression was from a 9 year old to a 4 year old in a matter of minutes. if you have never seen that, it is really freaky when first encountered but now i find it interesting as it starts the wheels turning to see why she is regressing, if it is bad or not, and working ways to slowly reverse the regression to get her back to her own age... it used to happen daily when she first came, not it is rare. we got farmopoly and going to try, but it may be too long or complicated (they came to us with no concept of money and we have worked on that alot, but it may still be a stumbling block to enjoying a game). i am thinking of scrabble, and another game called "not parent approved", and kids pictionary. trying to also think of some others so anyone with ideas will be welcome. we do jenga and uno a lot already. we do a lot of flashcards and they love that, but i want to start doing a board game family style at least once every weekend. fun, family time, and push their little minds a bit while having the fun. the girls and our babysitter. she is a college kid, nursing student. luckily she is in first year of college so she'll be working days for us each summer for four years - she is such a blessing. have a nice evening ladies, get some well earned sleep!
NellieBelle	Posted - Sep 11 2018 : 1:38:04 PM Our produce is not nice and big this year. Sweet corn was nice, but done now. Everything was smaller due to no rain I suppose. Even the "little gems" hazelnuts are small this year. The few in the photos I picked up off the ground. The deer get most of them if you don't get them quickly. Small this year but still tasty in some biscotti. :)
NellieBelle	Posted - Sep 11 2018 : 07:03:23 AM Your abundant harvest of tomatoes are big and plump, good year. I'm down to little tomatoes. I'm not going to can them, but may dry some. Things are winding down here. I'm going to pull my tomato plants in the greenhouse and start new. Like you, tomatoes, and basil, as well as lettuce and arugula come up volunteer and I just let them grow. Nice surprise sometime. I harvested some acorn squash and the butternut are still on the vine. Yes, the perennial hibiscus plants, I purchased from White Flower Farm, Midnight Marvel, nice big healthy plants. After milking I checked to see how they took the transplant and they look happy.
maryjane	Posted - Sep 11 2018 : 06:27:38 AM Good morning Janet. Can you tell me more about your perennial hibiscus? Maybe where you purchased them? It's that over-abundant time of year again. Biggest one yet. Hope my watermelons ripen soon. Wishing everyone a lovely, productive Tuesday.
NellieBelle	Posted - Sep 11 2018 : 03:22:30 AM What a pretty bouquet to welcome in another September week. Puts a smile in ones face, and a skip in your step. Mowing was on the agenda yesterday. And I have the three new perennial hibiscus in the ground. May you have a pleasant day ahead!