Heart Concert with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Posted on March 21, 2015 by farm2011

What a fun weekend we had!

We had tickets to go see Heart in concert along with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts this weekend in Cedar Rapids Iowa and it was a fantastic concert!

We went with my brother and sister in law and headed out early on Saturday to not only pick up our tickets for the show, but to also possibly check into the hotel that we were staying at.

Well we didn’t have any trouble with getting the tickets but it would have cut it too short to get back and forth to our hotel and find something to eat. We had a late check in, so we opted for eating instead.

And the funniest thing happened. You know when you’re sitting somewhere and you see someone that looks like you know them, but you’re just not quite sure? Well, we were all sitting just visiting in this one bar/restaurant and here walks by one of Daryl’s best friends from high school. Both him and his wife were also going to the concert and they stopped in at the same place to grab something to eat before the concert. How fun is that!

So we spent some time talking not only to him but also his wife and said that maybe we’d see them at the concert. Seriously, that’s probably not going to happen right? The venue that we were going to holds up to 8600 people for concerts and the likely hood that we’ll see them is slim to none.

After we killed sometime downtown, we were off to the concert. Our seats were in the 5th row from the stage and we were ready to do some jammin’. Then my brothers phone goes off and it’s from the one guy that we were talking to downtown and he sent a picture of us four. What? Here they were in the bleachers right beside us and up some levels. Too funny! I guess I have to take it back that we wouldn’t see them again tonight 🙂

It didn’t take long and Joan Jett came out on stage and put on an awesome opening act! I’m telling you, she might have been doing this for awhile, but she is really good!!

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Then Ann Wilson walks up on stage and the crowd goes crazy! I am a terrible singer and I know it, but I also know a really good singer too. And she is definitely someone who can sing! She rocked the house and if you left the concert and didn’t have a good time – well I think that’s your fault. But I just can’t believe that anyone didn’t have a great time!

Ann Wilson from Heart

Ann Wilson from Heart

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We got home Sunday afternoon and was able to skype with Kyle one last time while he’s in Korea. He’s heading back to the states this weekend and will be staying on the East Coast for a couple of weeks before he makes it back to Iowa. It’ll be great to see him again in person!

Well the weekend is over and now it’s time to get ready for the upcoming week and possibly snow. Yea.. not so cool! But heading out for the weekend with great company and a fun time is just what makes the winter go by so much faster! Snow? Whatever.. bring it on! We’ll be singing Barracuda!

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Pulling the trigger

Posted on March 20, 2015 by farm2011

I decided that I either had to make this decision or stop talking about it. And since I think it’s something that I really want to do … and it’s the first day of Spring and all.. well I just signed up for my first half marathon this fall.

Yup, I don’t know if I should be happy or puke 🙂

I’ve got about a million excuses on why lately I haven’t been running and now that it’s official, well I think it’s time to get down to business.

I obviously never filled out a registration for something like this before and when I got to the question on estimated finished time I thought what? I just wanted to finish without dyeing or something. So then I had to go to find out who long it takes for a 54 year old women who’s out of shape and packing on a few extra pounds to run 13.1 miles. And guess what? They don’t have a Google search for that. So I guessed. Holy Smokes.. the pressure is on already. Now that I had to put down my time, I went back to change my emergency contact number. I originally just put my home phone number so I wouldn’t get any junk calls in the future. But now? Yea now I’m thinking that Daryl will need to have his cell phone pretty close to him just in case there is a man down. Or in this case, a women down.

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Cleaning up stuff & lessons learned

Posted on March 19, 2015 by farm2011

The weather has been awesome for this time of the year and who would believe that it’s March in Iowa? Well not me for sure! We’ve been in the 50’s, 60’s, and even hit 70 the other day. SCORE! It just makes you feel better doesn’t it?

Well with the nice weather, it’s also time to burn our Christmas tree. We usually just leave it outside behind the garage after Christmas in case the little birds or critters need it, and then in the Spring – Light her up!  The scary part of all of this is that it takes just one little spark and then the whole thing goes. But we put it in the garden to try to burn off some of the other weeds and that usually works pretty good. Soon it’ll be time to plant the garden again and the less weeds that I have the better. I’m seriously thinking of putting a good dose of Round Up on the whole thing and killing the weeds before I even start. I’m sure I’ve said this before that I’m not one for chemicals – but in this case .. I say go for it!

Christmas tree ritual

Christmas tree ritual

Daryl has been busy with getting machinery out of the shed, checking them out, and then cleaned up for the spring. And just like any routine, this all happens down by the new milk house.

Working on the skid loader

Working on the skid loader

Next comes the manure spreader and tractor with the bucket and into the cow yard they go. Now there’s a party going on in the cow yard and I’m not sure how many loads Daryl hauled out of the pen, but I’m sure that it looks tons better!

Daryl had lots of help from the dogs tonight just checking the spreader out

Daryl had lots of help from the dogs tonight just checking the spreader out

As for me? Well I wanted to make a baby basket for some babies that are coming up in our family and what better way than to make soap to put in the basket. OK, yea… I know that this sounds more like an excuse to make some more soap, but the soap that I made is literally called ‘Baby Soap’ because it only has 3 oils in it and some baby powder fragrance so I just had to try it out. And I’m telling you that it smells Awesome! But I did learn something new with this batch. I knew that it was going to be a smaller batch when I got done so I used a smaller mold to put it in. But of course, I had too much for that mold and I quick grabbed a plastic container and filled her up. No big deal and I was even thinking that I was pretty smart about the whole thing. Well tonight when I unmolded it, it wasn’t the prettiest and kind of stuck in the container.

One good mold and one not so good

One good mold and one not so good

At first I was kind of bummed, but then I thought just to trim off the bad stuff. duhh! With a little fixing up, the soap was all good as can be. I made some small sampler sizes for my friends who I’m asking to be my critics. DSCN9683So our kitchen smell this week is baby powder. Could be worse right? DSCN9684

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Mystery Photo 3-18-15

Posted on March 18, 2015 by farm2011

Here you go….

Who can guess what this is first?

DSC_0411a

Posted in Wednesday's Challenge Photo | 6 Comments

Mystery Photo 3-11-15

Posted on March 18, 2015 by farm2011

Wow! Was there ever a lot of good guesses this week. 

So here is the hintDSCN9641

And because it’s kind of hard to show a better picture of what I actually took the photo of, we’ll have to use this one.

Unloading the first corn of the year into the bins

Unloading the first corn of the year into the bins

The mystery photo was the inside of an empty grain bin looking up at the roof while laying on the floor. 

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Watching the sky

Posted on March 17, 2015 by farm2011

This is a good and a bad post.

Let’s start first with the bad post. There was a severe solar storm that hit the Earth today that created a pretty big jot. The jolt could affect power grids and GPS tracking. OK, so that’s the bad part.

Now the good part. For some reason, this solar storm is pushing the colorful northern lights further south than normal. And with this storm ranking at a 4 (severe by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) in a scale of 1 to 5, well SHAZAM!

So of course about every 20 minutes or so I grab the camera and pick up Checkers and Smoochie the cat and with the dogs right beside me, we all head up north of the barn to see just what we can see. Now I’m a terrible picture taker at night, but I’d give it my all if the lights were cool enough to snap a few pictures. 

But for now? Well, it’s just the cats, dogs, and even the cows were wondering just what in the world that I was doing. I’m not thinking that they’re minding our trips tonight at all. The dogs got a couple of sets of treats already and tons of attention tonight along with the cats are being carried all around the farm. But as for the lights? I can’t see anything yet.  I guess I’ll keep checking the northern sky until it’s time to go to bed.

The picture of the day is that of my new batch of Lavender soap that I cut. I wanted to see how much coloring it took to make it a lavender color. Yea.. obviously more than I used on this batch!

Lavender soap with lavender flowers infused in it. My kitchen is smell'n good!

Lavender soap with lavender flowers infused in it. My kitchen is smell’n good!

Posted in Farming, Soap | 2 Comments

This weeks healthy thing to do

Posted on March 16, 2015 by farm2011

First things first. I am not one of those people who are so healthy and eat only what’s good for you. Heck, as I’m writing this post, I’m enjoying a fine beverage and let’s just say it’s not goat milk. Now I’m not saying there’s something wrong with goat milk – but I prefer having a drink once in awhile that has the natural hops in it instead.

OK, so I decided that every week I’m going to commit to doing something healthy. And this week I finally pulled the trigger and signed up for the Young Living Oil program. I’ve been looking at this program for some time now and everything that I read about it is something that I feel is good for you.

So like I said, I’m an official member as of this weekend. And let me also say that I’m quite overwhelmed! Who knew trying to become healthier was so much work! I’ve got stuff to study now at night and I just am chomping at the bit to get my first set of oils in.

Daryl on the other hand – well let’s just say he’s not so much of a believer yet. I’m sure he’s thinking to himself here we go again. And that’s it another gimmick that I’m looking in to. But a bunch of my friends are believers and members and truly love it, so I’m going to give it a try.

Heck, what’s the worst that could happen – I might get healthier?

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Sunday, Best Day

Posted on March 15, 2015 by farm2011

I must admit something, Daryl and I really didn’t work too hard today. I mean, we got up late and watched a movie for most of the morning! Crazy isn’t it? We had NO intentions of spending the morning watching this movie but it was so darn good, well I just couldn’t leave it. 

The movie was called ‘Million Dollar Baby’ and I could see why it was so many awards. It’s kind of an old movie (2004) but we don’t watch too many movies and I was sure glad that we stumbled on this one this morning. I’ve come to the conclusion that I think I must like about any movie Clint Eastwood is in anyway. But if you get a chance to catch this movie – especially on a Sunday morning.. I say go for it! 

Then it was crunch time! First things first. I had the wet towels left over from the supper last night from our church so that went into the laundry machine first. And following that was some bed sheets and towels. While all of that was going on, some fast room pickups to get rid of some of the clutter, catching up on some paperwork, and then…. 

then it is my favorite time of the week. It’s the time that we get together with the boys to skype and see what’s all going on in their neck of the woods. It’s always so nice to see their faces and with Kyle half way across the world and William a couple of hours from us – it’s just a really nice time.DSCN9674We usually only talk for about 30 minutes and then Kyle needs to get ready for classes. With the time changing last week, the difference between us and Kyle is now only 14 hours, it’s the next day there. 

What else did I do today? Now I’m sure you’re guessing that I made some soap, right? If that’s what your thinking… YOU ARE CORRECT !! Whoo Hooo! I made some lavender soap and it was my first time that I mixed in some coloring (boughten stuff this time!!) It wasn’t as dark as I would have wanted it to be, so the next time I’ll know better. All the reviews on the web say that it’s just kind of live and learn and, well today I guess I did the learning thing. 

Do you know what else that I did today? I ordered our new baby chickens. Yup! It is that time of the year. Even though our chickens are diggin’ the good weather lately and started to lay again. I’m thinking they are hoping to sit on these eggs – yea.. not going to happen. No big rooster remember? DSCN9645Our chickens are getting a couple of years old now and it’s time to get some new ones hanging out in the group. So I was doing some research on the web this afternoon and was trying to find a hatchery that would hatch some Araucanas. Now if you are wondering what the Araucana chickens are,  well they’re a fairly new breed in the chicken world. They were recognized by the American Poultry Association as a breed only in 1976. They are blue egg layers with yellow skin, no tails, no beards and no muffs. They have ear tufts, which are feathers that grow from a slender, fleshy flap just below the ear. And if you ask my opinion, there are no two chickens in this breed that will look alike. 

So like I said, I’m looking to see where I can get some and wasn’t having too much luck. Then I got this brain fart and realized that there was a hatchery only about 15 miles from our farm and so I wondered if they would carry them? It was around 5:30 in the afternoon, but I decided to call them anyway. And guess what? SCORE! Not only can they get me some, but they were even a better price than the ones that I did find that I could order. Now since they were less than I had budgeted, I also bought some red chickens and some black ones. I forgot what the guy said they were called for sure, but they lay some nice brown eggs. It’s going to take about 3 weeks before I can get them and I know one thing for sure, they are not going to get too close to any waterer this time!! 

Now it’s bed time and the upcoming week is in front of us. I know that Daryl started to clean out the cow yards and will want to continue with that if the weather holds out. DSCN9643But for me? Well, I’m not sure what’s all in store for me just yet. I got quite a bit of the laundry all washed and dried today and now it’s time to get the church towels folded and hit the hay. DSCN9671

The photo of the day is one that I took this weekend of Giggles. He is pretty darn cute! 

Giggles

Giggles

 

 

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Today is the day – St. Patrick’s Stew

Posted on March 14, 2015 by farm2011

Alright – the sun is shining and it’s going to be a great day to go out and get some stew. Well anyway, that’s what I’m hoping for! The basement is ready and the stew is simmering, so now we just have to do some final things in the kitchen and wait.

There is one thing about helping with a community activity that is going on and that is that there are always people to help if you need it. We had so many great volunteers to help and even some from a neighboring town! Seriously, how cool is that? With so many people on board to try to make this meal a success, how can it not be?

The stew was awesome once again and were happy with the crowd that showed up to enjoy the night with us. DSCN9657Not only was the food really good, the hall looked great and the band was really fun.

The Guilty Kilts Band

The Guilty Kilts Band

But now it’s great to check this off the ‘to do list’ for the year and see what’s coming up next on the calendar 🙂

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Getting ready for stew

Posted on March 13, 2015 by farm2011

I’ve been busy these past couple of days with an upcoming Irish Stew supper that our town is hosting. It was one of those deals when I said that I could help, and just as fast as that came out of my mouth I found myself setting up the workers list and making sure that we have all the food.

So is it so bad? No, not at all. The towns Irish Fest Committee works really hard and it’s just one way that I can help them with all the stuff that they got going on.  And this meal is a good thing for not only our the town’s Irish Committee, but it’s also good to host it in our church. I’m a big believer that if you don’t use stuff… when it just kinda goes bad. And our church basement isn’t used all that often, so it’s kind of a win/win thing going on.

Like I said, these past couple of days have been busy and that means spending time cutting up potatoes and making a video of the pictures from the past years festivals, to name just a few things. The biggest challenge with any meal is to guess how many to serve.  So with the best guess that we can do for food- it’s Friday and the stew is almost ready and the basement is all set up. DSCN9648Now to just wait for the guests to come and enjoy some great homemade Irish Stew that the chef made and also some fun Irish music to go along with it! We’re ready!DSCN9646

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