Timber – Asbery's Echoes

Working on the Weekend

We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving. We spent the day at Dad and Mom’s along with Eric, Jeremy and Abby, and the grandkids. We had a delicious lunch of turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, veggie tray and Pam Cake. Pam Cake is made by a local lady and is so delicious. She made over 100 cakes as a fund raiser to make money to buy a piano for her church! There were a lot of Pam Cakes eaten over the weekend I’m sure! We spent the afternoon playing games and enjoying each others company. And I didn’t take one picture the whole day.

The rest of the weekend was spent cutting down trees and splitting logs at Dad and Mom’s. From morning until dark. I always dread the thought of doing this but once we get out there and get started I really do enjoy it. Being outside in the fresh air, the physical exertion. Just being able to see the finished product after a day of hard work is so satisfying. Now Dad has enough wood chopped and stacked to get him through the winter in his shop and so does Joe along with wood for next year’s campfires. I think we enjoy the campfires more because of the hard work that’s put into it rather than just buying some that’s already cut and split. And now the timber is looking a little bit better too, which makes Dad feel better.

Blessed Assurance, Beth Twist, Heartstring Samplery

In the evenings when we settled in I worked on this piece. I love this hymn and the song would go through my head as I was stitching! Beth Twist of Heartstring Samplery has introduced a new piece each month of this year based on a church hymn and this is November’s piece. I haven’t had time to stitch every design yet but when this one came out I knew it was one that I would have to stitch right away. I got up early in the mornings to stitch and worked on it every night. I watched the Prime series Victoria while stitching in the mornings before anyone else got up. I’m really enjoying watching that. I can’t imagine what her life must really have been like. I’m sure she never had to split her own logs for the fire but maybe she missed out on something there!

Busy Times

Drew decided out of the blue that he wanted a pet in the house. I thought we were finally past that and even though I sometimes missed having a four legged critter around, the work entailed kept me from not missing it too much! Then all of a sudden Drew started asking again. His choices, a hamster, a fish or a kitten. I said no to a fish. Cleaning out a fish tank is not my idea of fun! A hamster only lives for a very short time. And we had this beautiful little kitten living outside already. Plus, mice control! So, we now have Milkweed inside. Millie for short. Milkweed is one of five that we brought home from my folks’ to raise as their momma disappeared. We bottle fed them all. One didn’t make it, two disappeared and unfortunately Drew ran over one with the Mule. A hard lesson for him but he pays a lot more attention now when he’s driving something. So now I’m busy with a kitten in the house. Oh the messes she makes. Especially when I forget to put my threads away for the night.

Peace Be To This House – designed to be a Christmas ornament but I love it so much I plan to frame it. It’s teeny tiny – stitched on 40 ct and so very sweet.

A sampler I stitched years ago and decided to finally frame. Simple Joys, Simple Life.

Sweet little freebies from Pinker n Punkin Quilting. Perfect for ornaments for the kids. Now to decide on how to finish them.

Which leads to stitching! I’m always busy stitching! I’ve framed a few that I dug out of my finished pile to enjoy and I’ve stitched some new things. I am caught up on orders which is a great feeling. Now to work on the kids’ ornaments for last year and this year. And maybe get a jump on next year’s too!

Making gifts for birthdays and Christmas is keeping me busy too. I made two sets of these Advent Christmas ornaments. One for the grandkids and one for Drew. We’re all ready for December 1st!

I’ve cleaned out my bedroom closet and have a pile of clothes that no longer fit. Now to decide whether to keep them or give them away. I don’t plan to gain weight again but I’m still a little leary of getting rid of them all. And Drew and I cleaned and organized the bathroom cupboards. I have this goal of getting each room picked up and organized. Unfortunately neat and tidy is extremely hard for me! But I’m working on it!

This past weekend we had beautiful weather and decided to take advantage of it and spend time at my folks’ cutting down trees and splitting wood. For some reason I always dread the thought of this but once we get started, it’s work that I really enjoy. Their timbers were destroyed after the storm that went through earlier this year and Dad has been wanting to get some of the downed trees taken care of so that’s what we worked on. Some of the trees were already down, some needed to come down. Joe did most of the downing and cutting while I used the splitter to split the logs and Mom, Dad and Drew stacked the logs on the trailer. We were all tired by the time we were finished last night, and cold too as the wind had picked up and the temperature dropped, but it was such a great feeling to have gotten so much accomplished! And boy did I sleep good!

Drew and Rambler took a nap while waiting for the work to get started!

The garden is cleaned off and put to rest for the winter. The chickens have been cleaned out and bedded down for cold weather. The flowers are all sleeping. I love this time of year. I love all the seasons and am thankful I live where we get to enjoy each one. But I love this season the best. I enjoy the darker days and the time we are able to spend slowing down. A time for lamps and soft light and blankets to cuddle up in. I look forward to the holidays but even more, I look forward to that time after the holidays. It’s almost like we’re being given permission to settle in for a time. To be calm and quiet. To reflect on what has passed and to get ready for the what is to come. It’s my favorite time of the year.

An October Sunday

I planned an impromptu get together last Sunday. Drew had been begging to go on a Mule ride and I was thinking a wiener roast would be fun so I convinced Joe that we should drive the Mule to Dad and Mom’s and have a wiener roast in the timber.

Uncle Drew and Bayah relaxing in the back of the Mule.

The day was beautiful with warm temps and sunny skies. I contacted Abby to see if they would like to join us and let Dad and Mom know we were going to be using their timber. They had originally planned to be gone but decided to change their plans and join us.

It ended up being such a fun time. We ate hot dogs and chips and pumpkin bars. Some played corn hole, some sat and enjoyed the afternoon. Drew gave Bayah rides on the Mule and the kids had fun climing the bluff and exploring the timber. Then we had s’mores before heading home.

Joe and Jeremy are accomplished at roasting hot dogs!

If corn hole is being played, Braxton will be playing!

The kids love to climb the sandstone bluff

We had spent the weekend getting things done around the house and finishing up the chicken coop. Joe knew he had to be gone this week for work so was focused on that. I just wanted us to have a few hours of relaxation time, being with family and enjoying the beautiful fall weather. It was nice to just spend a few hours enjoying each others company and enjoying the beautiful fall day.

Quiet Places

We who live in quiet places have the opportunity to become acquainted with ourselves, to think our own thoughts and live our own lives in a way that is not possible for those keeping up with the crowd.

By Laura Ingalls Wilder

I’ve walked this lane so very many times and in all season. By myself, with family, and with many different dogs throughout the years, a cat or two, herding sheep, leading a horse, riding a horse . . .

We had a hectic couple of weeks again. A family camping trip (post to come), Joe was under the weather, babysitting the grandkids, helping Dad and Mom. I was starting to get overwhelmed again. Then this morning, while we were at Dad and Mom’s, I stole away for a walk down to the timber.

This little timber has been my happy place for oh so many years. Just a quick walk through the trees and I always feels so much better. Now that there is no livestock down here, the trees and grasses and wildflowers are taking over again and that makes my heart happy!

The beans are turning and look so pretty.

I love the above quote by Laura Ingalls Wilder and I’m working more and more towards living in a quiet place. I want to just be home and have my handful of acres be my quiet place where I don’t have to worry about keeping up with the crowd. And of course, I’ll head over to the timber too when I need to really unwind!

My tree – I always have to visit this majestic old cottonwood.

Easter Fun

The bluebells were up for Easter! One of my favorite spring flowers are the wild bluebells that grow in Dad’s timber. Rarely does a spring go by that I don’t get down to the timber to visit them. They are beautiful and the timber is my happy place. There’s no place I would rather be to relax and unwind!

We had a perfectly beautiful day for Easter and it was so nice and relaxing. Just spending time with family, sitting down together at the table, being outside and playing with the littles. There’s nothing better.

Grandpa and Braxton hunting for eggs. Braxton loved finding eggs this year!

Teamwork – I love how these two are bonding! They get along so well together right now. I can’t even imagine what kind of trouble they will get themselves into in the coming years.

A beautiful end to the day.

Busy Days

Wow – the last three days went by like a blur. Friday was a fun day. My mom and I spent the day in Kalona with my daughter Abby as she lives there. She was off work for spring break. We visited the antiques stores and specialty stores and went out to lunch. It was the first time we’ve ever done that and it was so much fun. No pictures were taken of course. We’re not a picture taking bunch. Kalona is such a fun little town to explore. It’s an Amish town. You see horses and buggies everywhere and lots of fun little shops. Our first stop was the Amish bakery. Lots of yummy pastries and fun things to see. Then a little shopping and lunch at the family restaurant and more shopping. We didn’t buy much. I picked up a little yellow vase and a potted plant. We just enjoyed the day with each other. Hopefully we can do this more often.

Looks like a serious discussion going on here.

Then Saturday Joe and I took a bunch of stuff to Goodwill. It felt so good to get so many things out of the house. Just the beginning of clearing things out and trying to simplify. Grocery shopping while we were out and then back to Kalona to babysit our grandson Braxton so Jeremy and Abby could go out for supper. He’s such a sweet little boy and he and Uncle Drew have so much fun playing together. I can see they are going to be quite the pair when they get older as they are buddies already. We could have our hands full!

Then Sunday was spent in the timber at dad and mom’s cutting down trees and splitting wood. It was a beautiful day – a nice cool breeze and sunshine. A perfect day to be outside and working. The timber is my happy place. I spent hours and hours down there when I was growing up. Wandering around, exploring the creek, sitting quietly for hours watching the squirrels and the fox play, picking wild raspberries, riding my horse, Cherokee. It was heaven for me. Now I hardly ever pass up a chance to spend time down there. We have wiener roasts down there and just take the mule down and ride around and spend time cutting down the trees that have died. It’s a great place for Drew too – he loves to spend time exploring and playing as did all the kids as they were growing up and they still do when they can.

Standing back while Joe cuts down a tree. Mom will hate this picture but I love it – this is how I will always remember them when we’re down in the timber.

And the chainsaw is stuck – time for a wedge.

A busy, busy weekend. Very little time was spent at home. But a lot of time was spent with family. There’s nothing better.

Time In The Timber

We spent some time in the timber yesterday. It was a beautiful day so Joe decided to head over and chop some wood. Dad had one dead tree down on the bottom he wanted taken down and hauled away before spring. Once it starts raining and the creek over flows its banks they won’t be able to get back there again anytime soon. Mom, Drew and I headed down for a little while to check out the progress. We didn’t stay long – it was just too cold! But it was nice to be outside and getting some fresh air for a little while anyway.

Heading for the bottom. It’s a good thing Dad knows which trees are dead and which aren’t – you can’t always tell this time of year.

I’m always amazed at how they know where to cut to get the tree to fall where they want it to.

Joe is back down there again today. Drew and I stayed home. I made a homemade strawberry pie and we’ll have a nice warm supper waiting for him when he gets home. According to the weather we may be in for some snow tonight and in the morning 4″ – 7″ is predicted for our area. That’s okay with me. I love the snow and in March you can enjoy it knowing it won’t be here forever as spring is on it’s way!