A Wow Moment..reflecting on my judgementalism?

"Summer" has sprung with a vengeance here in Nebraska. Along with the powerful winds of yesterday, came humid warm temperatures...we don't generally experience until sometimes in June. I can't complain, it's much nicer not being encumbered with the coats and gloves and layers to stay warm, yet I have to say I prefer it not to be this warm and humid this soon. That is ok, though! I'd take this over a snow storm!!!

We have been steadily working on the house, and especially since we'll be having company. It's it a wonderful push to know you will soon have visitors and to get those last minute things done? I know we always do 5 times more on last minute remodeling jobs, decorating, putting things away...when we will have company. I always feel so renewed, relieved, and ready to do more, but why do I wait until I am going to be showing our house to someone that I actually get more stuff done? :) I think that's just the way I work. :)

My goal is to work on the front area of our house. When a person drives up it doesn't look inviting...sometimes I expect people to stop and ask if we are having a yard sale! I never thought I'd be there...but I am kind of a perfectionist and if I can't get it done and perfect I let items lay until I can. So...trying to do a little...we relocated Bekah's bikes, scooter, tractor and other items to the back of the house, and I will try, try, try to get the front area cleaned and approachable - for tea...not a yard sale! :)

Speaking of yard sales...maybe I should just try one. I don't have too much to sale - ha! listen to that! I have much to sale. I just take a while to part with things! So...I'll give it some thought. :) Since we have moved I've unloaded most things I would have sold to Goodwill and it's felt so freeing...Wow. That's a thought. What about a Yard Free? Maybe I'll think about that. That would be fun. I enjoy giving people things and if they could actually just come and take things for free...wouldn't that be a twist. I know there's freecycle, and craigslist, but I get tired of posting pictures and setting times for people to arrive...this would be much simpler and unexpected to alot of people.

From my old friend Laurel I stole one of her ideas to pay for the person behind her in line at a fast food stop. I did that a week or so ago and wow...it was so rewarding. I have to admit that I looked in the mirror to see if it looked like they needed or would appreciate help. I hesitated because upon looking in the mirror I saw it was 2 college kids...acting maybe as if they could care less about anything. When I realized that my reaction was to wait until another opportunity of someone "more worthy" of my gesture, I stopped and gave myself the "talk". Maybe they needed a kind gesture more than the person I thought was worthy...and thank the Lord that God doesn't look at people how I did. "Um...you look like you would appreciate it...and you look like you have no cares in the world so I'm not helping you" Wow. I paid for them, after the what seemed longer than, 2 seconds of drama in my head, and it was so rewarding. I don't know how they took it, if they cared, but the cashier taking my money seemed moved beyond words. Had she never heard of people doing that? Apparently not. She acted like she had just been the recipient of a Publisher's Clearing House Check. That in itself was worth it.
Makes me want to do it again.

Cinco D' Mayo Surprise

We obviously aren't very good at predicting due dates for the goats! Here's Daisy with Ricki, the cream and black one is Maddie, the white horned one is Lucy, and the white hornless/green collar is Sweet Pea.

The goats are 100% Saanan, 1/2 Saanan & 1/2 Alpine, and 100% Alpine. Such Lovers. I couldn't imagine not having goats. :)

Lucy is milking, and we sold her baby to a family wanting to start a herd. Sweet Pea will be the next to kid, then Maddie. We are planning on selling the milk. Oh...it's so good.

Paint colors anyone?

For those few people that look at my blog:) I would like some ideas to what we could paint the outside of our house. We'll be tackling that sooner than I think.

We will be adding a steel roof to the house and I'd like a dark color with white trim. I've thought about a dark fudge, a slate blue, and my brother teased about a bright red house....do you have any ideas?

Some pictures to share...

Here's some fun pictures...Bekah loves to mop now. That's our little bathroom off the laundry/mud room. It used to be just part of the laundry room and Chris constructed a bathroom from nothing! I'm so proud of him. Now, if I can just get the laundry finished! :)

The other pictures are part of our land. C and B went "mushroom" hunting...which was a wonderful excursion for them and the animals....the 2 kittens and our dog traipsed
all over with them.

Even deer do not like their picture taken. I wasn't there to see what possessed them to look the other way, but women and cameras...they either love them or they don't! They came upon 6 deer on their quest, yes, they were VERY close.

Although they didn't find what they started out for, they had a wonderful time just the same.

10 Reasons I DON'T want to be Amish

I have come back to reality. Where was my mind and what was I thinking?
There is no way I want to be Amish...it's such a romantic idea, quite nostalgic...WHEN it's warm and sunny. WHEN there aren't emergency renovations that need to be done...WHEN there is knowledge/understanding about animals and that lifestyle.

It's funny how one's mind fantasizes about how things could be when you have no true understanding of what those "things" entail. I'm sure many would agree that the Plain People in their simple buggies, pulled by their gorgeous well-kept horses, hold a certain allure for those of us ....fancy folk. There is a longing for the simplicity of life, the well behaved children bustling around minding the chores and each other. The beautiful gardens, the quaint homes, the closeness of the family units...

There is another side to every story. Whether one wants or cares to know. The other side to the romantic ideal lifestyle I dreamed about. Eeks...the cold outhouses, no warm water, having to work the garden by hand, no mowers, no stoves that heat up hot water in a couple minutes...I'm certain there isn't any excuse for the monthly downtime we ladies need when we would have animals to tend to and gardens to work.

Isn't it ironic how that dreaming of the "greener pasture" plagues us all in one way or another. It may not be to be Amish, maybe it's to win the lottery, to move to a faraway place, to have more kids, less kids, a fancy car, no car....wherever one finds themselves, I think we all dream of the "better".

In no way do I mean disrespect to the Amish society, I admire them even more knowing all that they must endure for the sake of their lifestyle and beliefs.

I think one of my favorite sayings is:
Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.
Alphonse Karr


So, I'm off to pop popcorn, watch a movie and enjoy my little family. I definitely enjoy some of the ease we can have being fancy folk.

Sunshine, Sunflowers, and Sanity...

YAY!!!! It's springtime...I had started to wonder if it was a figment of my imagination.

We moved while the weather was still nice, but once moved we were hit by one of the worst winters seen in a long time. In short we were ill-prepared, but this next winter will be different! :)

We are in the midst of remodeling, cleaning, and landscaping a neglected farm. So, the pictures aren't much of the house because it continues to look like utter chaos in pictures:) Between fading paint and moving around "treasures" we continue to find, it looks more like a moving sale than a moving in.

My grandparents-in-law came to help us gain perspective on what we need to do and where to start, and boy was that a blessing!!! Not only do they point out what may need to be done, they pull up their pant legs or sleeves and jump right in. I couldn't have been blessed with a better in-laws. I absolutely adore them.

The pictures are of our animals...we now have 4 does, 3 cats, 2 ducks, and 1 dog. 3 of our dairy goats are pregnant and due in a month, and our female cat is ready to deliver any day. We weren't planning on taking off on our adventure of animal hood as soon as we did, but I think being out here and having a seemingly endless amount of room, we keep justifying more. :)

We plan on selling goat's milk once our others start producing, and at one time I planned on making it a business of selling the babies as well; however my hubby seems to have fallen in love with the goat species, and wants to keep different herds of them all over about 15 acres of our property. They are very good animals regarding their hardiness and productivity, but I can only handle so many! We haven't exactly been blessed with an Aldrich herd, meaning we are limited on caregivers.

The ducks were a surprise from Grandpa Aldrich and Daddy to Bekah. Eny and Lenny absolutely love life. Ducks are some of the messiest animals...but their cuteness and quirky ways make up for the "mud" in the yard and continuously dirty water bowls, pool, pond, etc. We've been blessed with harmonious animals...neither the cats or dog care whether they are here or not.

I've been busy moving our "stuff" (to which I will be getting rid of)around from room to room for Chris to remodel. If one ever wants to move into an old house...make sure you have no allergies and an endless supply of patience and money. I will be glad when the house at least is done so that I don't have asthmatic problems and feel like it is a sanctuary again. We don't have an endless supply of money to anyone wondering;) but we do take advantage of craigslist.com and other ways to put to use or make over things that have seen better days.

Well, I'm off to plant flowers and enjoy the sunshine...