The seventh of April Ian started a new job with the Town of Vernon.  He is the official mechanic for the town.  He is also the first mechanic that the town has ever had.  He came over the other day with his "official" Town of Vernon shirt on so, of course I had to take his picture.  Now you would think that my children would be used to it but you can tell by the look on his face that he is a little annoyed by it.  I am, understandably proud of my son for getting this job.  He's a hard working man.  The only drawback of the job is that he has to work on Fords.

The Clean-Up Continues

Back on April 10 I posted that the clean-up had begun on our farm.  They were using our tractors to bury the debris that had been left from the fire and from cleaning out the house that we had sold when my father-in-law had died.  Unfortunately our equipment was too small in some cases and in some places we dared not use our tractores because of the danger to tires because of leftover glass and nails.

So Ian contacted a local man who has a bull dozer and worked out a deal with him to rent his dozer for a few days.  The transformation is amazing.  All of the garbage is burried and the debris is gone.  The danger from nails and glass is gone and we managed to pile up a good deal of scrap steel to be sold.

The trees that were damaged by the fire have been cut down and hauled away and the brush was piled up and burned.  They hauled in mulch and graded the area so that I can expand my garden and beautify the area beside where the barn used to be and grow some more vegetables closer to the house this year.  Maybe I can even sell some this year and recoup the money I spend on seeds and plants.

the only trouble area left is where they pushed the barn over the bank after the fire and Ian has the town bringing in fill from digging out the ditches all over town and they are going to dump it onto the pile where the barn pile is and then he will get the dozer again and cover that when there is enough fill.

With the sunshine and the warmth of spring it feels like the hope is being realized of the farm being cleaned up and becoming something productive again.  Maybe not a dairy farm again but something else.  We are rising out of the ashes and coming together and I think that we are even now beginning to come out of the fog and beginning to see a path.

Back in February Doug bought me a Mantis tiller for my garden.  I have always wanted one.  They are small and easy to run.  Now I don't have to call the guys to get out the big tiller everytime I want to work in the garden. 

So last week we went out to work in the berry patch to try and get that under control before the weeds really got established.  Of course Doug had to be the first to run it and try it out to see if it was going to be something that I could handle all by my "little ol' self".  So we took it up to the berry patch and he ran it for about and hour.  Then it got late and he brought it back to the shop and put it away, on it's side.  Not a good thing for a Mantis.  I could have told you that.  But I had gone in the house to get warm and go to bed long before he had gotten done.   Last night I went out to run it in the berry patch and finish up before I went to planting the beans and peas.  It wouldn't start and there was engine oil coming out of the carburator.  I had smoke coming out of my ears.  My oldest son, Ian, took one look at it and at me and just said "Time, mommy, time." and walked away.  He knew what I was in for.  An hour and a half later I had that engine purring like it did the first time it was started but not before it had smoked and struggled.  It took a lot of patience and beer before I could get it right.  The moral of this story is: don't lay your Mantis on it's side.

I have a book in the house that I use whenever I have to work on one of my sewing machines entitled, strangely enough, Don't Spit Into Your Sewing Machine and Other Helpful Hints. I am thinking that I should write a book of that type.

When The Cat's Away The Rats Will Play

Last week Ian rented a bulldozer to do some cleaning up where the fire had been.  The day that he ran it he had Matthew on the dozer showing him how to operate it.  Ian is good that way.  He has always recognized the desire in younger kids to do what the older kids are doing and to let them join in.  So the next day when Ian was gone to work and I was in the house doing laundry I heard the dozer start up. 

I looked out and saw Matthew starting it up all by himself.  Now Matthew is one who will run if he thinks that I am there with the camera pointed at him.  But he was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn't see me sneak out of the house to take his picture while he was running the dozer all by himself.  I knew that Ian wouldn't mind and that he was relatively safe so I would be the last one to say anthing to him. 

Of course the jig was up when he turned around and saw me out there with the camera in hand.  Oh, well, so much for that Kodack moment!!!!

Today I went to the school to pick Mary-Kate up early from drama.  She was a little reluctant to go.  I told her that I had a surprise for her.  She came out and got into the car and we left the school.  I turned the tape player on and out of the speakers came the voice of her brother PG OBrien.  She smiled and started to sing along.  When we turned into the parking lot for the DMV she started to smile.  She was going to take the test for her permit.

We went up to the counter and presented her documentation.  The clerk gave her the paperwork and we went to the desk and filled it out.  Then we came back and she signed the papers in front of the clerk.

Then she stood in front of the camera and had her picture taken for her license. Then she had to go into the testing room to take her test.

She sat down and took the test.  She wasn't in there very long before she stood up and said that she was done.  The clerk graded her test and told her that she got them all right.  Better than all of her brothers did.  Then we paid the clerk and they said the photo permit would come in the mail.

Then a very smiling and happy young lady walked outside.  I think she ended up liking her surprise.

The Holy Father has landed in the US.  Mary-Kate and watched while the Holy Father's plane landed at Andrew's Air Force Base and he disembarked from the plane.  We are going to be glued to the TV this week as he makes his talks and speeches while he is in the country this week.  We truly appreciate the wisdom and holiness of this great man.

May the Lord bless and keep this holy man.  May He make His face to shine upon him and give him peace.  May the Lord protect him and keep him safe from harm.

Adam called on Wednesday to say that they were back in port.  He posted this picture on his blog to show what he looks like with a beard.  Not bad for a swabby.  When they are out to sea they sometimes get what is know as a chit to not shave or for the girl sailors to leave their hair down.  I guess it helps to boost moral.  It looks like this sailor got his moral boosted big time.

Last April we drove to Norfolk to see his ship dock after they had been out for six months.  It was quite a sight.  When they came into port the ships loud speakers were blaring Thin Lizzies song The Boys Are Back which was popular way back when I was young.  Since then that has been the ringer for Adam's number on my cell phone. 

Today Matthew is loading another tractor trailer load of hay.  The weather has been absolutely glorious all week long, except today.  Wouldn't you know it.  It is raining so hard that it is deafening under the steel roof in the house.  Poor Matthew!  Fortunately he is in a tractor with a cab.  That has broken windows and a broken door.  But he is a man and real men, I am told, do not complain.  They suck it up and drive on. 

When he comes in I will have many toasted cheese sandwiches ready for him and some hot soup and he will be a very happy boy.  This mother knows how to handle her boys.

Twenty-five years I have lived on this farm and I have silently struggled to clean up the messes that have sprung up around here.  It has been a constant tug of war with my father-in-law.  In the spring I would clean up the piles of lumber and scrap that would appear throughout the rest of the year as he went to auctions or made deals with people to haul away the bits and pieces that they no longer wanted but couldn't throw away.  He was a packrat.  Now he has passed away and I have to struggle to clean up the mess that selling his house and our fire has left behind. 

So day before yesterday Ian and I made a great start.  Last summer we had made hay like there was no tomorrow and we thought that we were going to build a barn so the clean up got put on a back burner.  I think the fire damage was too raw for everyone too and we just weren't ready for that big job.  But now everyone is ready to see that mess buried and gone.  So we used tractor buckets and started to put the mess into the hole left by the old loading dock.

This is the pile that resulted from selling grandpa's house and the resulting cleanup of that.  We sorted out the scrap metal that could be sold and put it into a dumpster.  Then we sorted out what wouldn't rot down such as plastic and put that into another dumpster.  Then we buried the rest.  We used the piles of dirt that the trackhoe man left from putting out the barn fire.

Many trips back and forth with the tractors sorting throughout the piles and then burying the pile.  Next Ian is going to order a couple of loads of gravel and there is going to be a driveway going through there to the back field that he is renting.

This very large pile of dirt was left after the fire.  They used it to cover the smoldering hay to finally get it to stop burning.  You can see that it is as tall as Matthew is.  The white barrel in the foreground is a catchbasin that Ian made to help drain the water away from the eventual driveway that will be there. 

I recently went to school to pick MK up and got there a little early.  The older kids were having gym class and were playing kick ball out side.  Now her back doctor gave her permission to play some gym as long as there would be no danger of contact with other kids.  So I guess she felt that kick ball was okay.  So I sat in my car and watched her play ball and took these pictures of her.

My daughter has never been the team sports type.  Definitely preferring to be in control of what was going on around her.  I was proud of her performance here though.  The other kids were yelling at her because they seemed to think that she would not do well because of her enforced inactivity of the last months.  But she gave that ball a good wallop.

She managed to run to first on her own in spite of them yelling that they would do it for her.  Don't challenge my stubborn daughter.  Her motto has always been that she can do it herself (even when she can't she will at least try before she admits defeat)

Then she made it to second when the next kid kicked the ball.  She was not going to be the reason for an out for her team.

Here she is on third.  She is still determined not to be the reason for an out.  (she later told me that she may not understand all the rules but she knows what makes an out and she isn't going to do that).  Then the next kid kicked and the pitcher caught the ball and that was the third out and she didn't even get to go home.  At least she didn't make that third out.  That's my girl. 

This tree is found in a small corner in a far pasture on our farm.  Many a warm summer evening has been spent by our family and friends around a bonfire singing songs, reading poetry, talking good talk, playing games and just having a good time.  Oh, and did I mention, eating good food.  This tree has played a part in many of these good times too.  This tree stands there very silently day after day, year after year just waiting for the good times to come to it.  When my boys discovered it they were fascinated by this tree because of the way that God had made it grow.  Many is the time that they would try to climb it.  Now I refer to it as Adam's tree because he has always been the most persistent of my children.  He is the one who has to conquer.  He is also the only one who has actually climbed that tree. 

The reason that I have recently been reflecting on this tree is that on a walk around the farm last Sunday Ian noticed that it is dying.  He suggested cutting it down this summer rather than letting it fall down.  Now the tree is in the pasture and we have no cows anymore so no one and nothing is in danger from it falling.  I was slightly taken aback by the thought that it should be cut down.  My husband saw my shock and suggested that he leave it to fall on it's own since I was so attached to it.  How perceptive for my husband who is usually so oblivious to the feelings of others.  Thank you Douglas for your thoughtfulness.   This tree which is a monument to Adam's persistence.

Matthew and Mary-Kate decided to take her 410 shotgun out and do a little target practice.  She is very careful and big into safety (thank God).  So she gets a bunch of green tea bottles and fills them with water so they stand up and measures out the distance.  Then she sets them up and gets the ear protection.  She and Matthew take turns shooting.  Then they break the weapon and set it down before they go down range to check their targets.  I love to take pictures of their intensity while they shoot.  She is getting so she doesn't even flinch when the gun goes off. She also is getting more accurate.  Next she wants to get a box of slugs to try practicing with them. 

Last Sunday we thought that we would take a leisurely walk through the valley and see what animals we could find down there.  Also what changes the winter had wrought in the contours of the land.   Now most people take a nice walk of a Sunday afternoon.  They like to chat with the other people who are walking with them.  Most folks like to look around at the flora and fauna that they may encounter.  Not Matthew.  Not only does he not stroll but he takes the hardest path that he can find. 

Whenever the valley got deep he had to climb up.  In some places it is deep, very deep. 

Here the sides are shale and slippery and there is no under growth to grab onto.  Remember here is central New York we have barely gotten into spring yet so not much is growing yet.

But he is nothing if not persistent.  He climbed and slipped and climbed some more until he finally got to the top.

This climb was so intimidating that the dogs even avoided it.  They waited until they got to a less steep part. 

Oh to have that kind of energy and determination again. 

 After the fire and when the decision was made that we could not finance another barn, Doug sold the rest of our remaining herd.  When Mary-Kate heard that she burst into tears and begged her father to let her keep the few calves that had been born since the fire.  Her dad being a father through and through (this is a phrase that here means soft in the middle) gave it no thought and said "of course we will keep the calves that have been born since the fire and how about the nurse cow too!!!!"  This had the desired affect and immediately dried her tears and made Mary-Kate happy.  Now my daughter is not completely spoiled and I have to say that she has cared for these animals like they were her children since. 

She feeds and waters them daily and cleans out their pens (now that her doctor will let her).  When it came time to dehorn the calves she asked her brother to obtain the most humane method possible and she did the deed herself.  She fretted all night and day last weekend when one of her bull calves wandered off and couldn't be found.  And the father of the prodigal was no more pleased than Mary-Kate when her calf wandered back into it's yard the next evening. 

She talks to them and they will follow her around the pasture and they come when called at feeding time.  And as you can see from these pictures, this one heifer will even eat grain from her hand.  Each animal has a name and, God forbid, one of us should use the wrong name for the wrong animal.

Last Saturday she attended her first ever dance.  No she did not have a date.  The school that she goes to is a private Catholic school and dating and steady company keeping is not allowed there so that was not that kind of dance.  The kids were required to come single and the boys were required to dance with all the girls throughout the evening.  The chaperones checked to make sure there was a proper distance between couples at all times. 

A couple of her brothers were not sure they approved of this dance but she went anyway.  Her friend Grace came over and did her hair and make-up.  That's right, big brother, make-up.  Just a bit and very discreetly done.  You can trust Grace. 

Before the dance all the girls had to bring their dresses to school to have them approved for modesty.  Mary-Kate designed and made hers.  She looked lovely. 

Here she is with her friend Colette.  Mary-Kate put straps on Colette's dress so that it would pass inspection.  You can't see them but their are butterflys all over MK's dress and in her hair.  She was beautiful and so grown-up.  When did that happen?  Today she has me picking out pictures for her yearbook page and for her graduation poster.  It seems that she was just my baby.

Last week Mary-Kates dad let her adopt another dog.  She went to the local shelter and picked out a dog after looking at many different breeds.  Then the shelter sent him to be neutered.  Then we went to the vet to pick him up and bring him home. 

Now, this guy came with the name Moe but in this family everyone has to have a NAME, with a capital N.  So Mary-Kate and Matthew sat down and brainstormed and came up with the name Moses, Moses.  Now why two times you may ask?

If you see the movie The Ten Commandments with Charleton Heston you will soon notice that they never say Moses once.  When they were young my children, of course, noticed that little bit of trivia.  So thus comes the name for our new dog.

He's a sweetie pie.  He has yet to bark.  He wet in the house a few times but doesn't do that any more.  A funny thing happened the day after we brought him home.  Mary-Kate had him up in her room.  He wet on her floor right next to her American Girl doll and got one of the feet wet.  She sat there for about ten minutes explaining why he shouldn't wet on an American Girl doll.  My husband and I laughed because we were wondering if the dog was understanding what she was saying.

The shelter told us that he had been abused before he came to the shelter.  He has been great since we got him. 

He's a real keeper.