Grandpa's Farm: Part I

We left the raging wildfire at home to hop on a plane and visit my grandparents in Illinois.  We've had the trip planned for a few months now, and at the time we purchased our plane tickets we had no idea that we'd be leaving during a natural disaster of epic proportions.

We flew right over the fire in the airplane, and it looked ominous from the air.

It was my kids first ride on an airplane, and they were excited beyond words.

My grandparents' farm is in the heart of Amish country, and although my grandpa is no longer Amish, he still lives and farms on the same land that my great-grandfather purchased in the 1940's.

He grows corn and soybeans as far as the eye can see.

This old barn was built by my Amish great grandfather in the 1940's.  It was made to hold ear corn, and he built many other barns like this one in the surrounding area.

A tornado came hit my grandpa's farm and destroyed many of the old buildings, but this one stayed standing.

The original house was bulldozed under and my grandpa built a new home when my mom was growing up.  Many of the sheds, shops, and barns on the property are new, but the old barn stands as an iconic reminder of the past.

The clip- clop of horses can be heard throughout the day as the Amish neighbors  and Mennonites on surrounding farms go about their day.  It's so quiet on the farm that you can hear horses approaching from quite a ways away.

It's a neat community because there are farms that use draft horses in the field next to farms that use giant tractors.  It's like stepping back in the past one moment, and then returning to modern agriculture in the next.  I'm glad that there is a place for both types of farming in the area.

From daybreak until dark, we explored the farm and enjoyed the surrounding beauty. My children played so hard that they fell asleep as soon as their little heads hit the pillow.

More To come Tomorrow!

Rescuing "The Duke" and other Wildfire Tidbits

Thank you for your continuing prayers! As of this afternoon, the wildfire is over 140,000 acres with zero containment.

As we drove closer to the fire today, the sky changed dramatically.  This picture is over 15 miles away from the fire.

As we drove to closer to my in-laws, the sky was black with heavy smoke and ash.  This picture was taken around noon.

The smoke was so heavy that the sun barely shone.  This was taken around noon as well.

Here is a Sikorsky Skycrane that flew over-head.  It hovers low over a water source, and sucks up water with the hose that hangs down.  Then it flys over the fire and drops the water over a specified area.

After a few hours, the wind changed and the sky turned an eerie orange color. 

With the eminent threat of evacuation looming over at my in-laws, we decided that it would be wise to take a few of the family's most treasured items to a safer location.

It sounds silly, but when the threat of fire causes you to evaluate your worldly possessions, you realize that the things that are most important to you are often not the most expensive things in your home, or even the nicest things.  The most valuable things are often the ones that can't be replaced: Pictures, family heirlooms, things that hold a special place in your heart because there is a fond memory attached to them.

I had to chuckle as I loaded up the truck because one of the things that our family holds dear to us is a giant old photograph of John Wayne riding in a parade in my in-laws town.

Have no fear, "The Duke" is safe and sound in a secure location.

John Wayne is kind of a "Big Deal" in these parts. After all, he DID own a ranch here.  He's legendary. This picture is very sentimental.  How many people actually have a real picture of  "The Duke" in their living room?

"Don't worry little lady, I'll fix your wagon."

-John Wayne

We evacuated "The Duke" along with a few boxes of family treasures, and now we wait, watch, and pray. 

A Question to Ponder:

If there was fire approaching your home and you had to quickly load your vehicle and evacuate, what items would you take? 

Fire Update: Keep Praying!

The wildfire on our mountain is gaining ground at mind-blowing speed.  It is now over 120,000 acres with zero containment.  Please keep praying for us. Below is a picture of the fire just down the road from our pasture.  It is burning ever closer each day.

I hope to update again later this afternoon.

Please Pray!

There is a wildfire raging out of control on the other side of our mountain, and it is spreading rapidly.  With high winds, and extremely dry conditions, the fire has more than doubled in size over the last 24 hours, and was well over 40,000 acres this morning.

Nine years ago, we were evacuated  from our home for the largest wildfire in Arizona's history. Some speculate that this fire has the potential to match the Rodeo-Chediski fire in size and intensity if conditions don't change.  For the next ten days, high winds and low relative humidity are forecasted.  Couple this with our ongoing drought and large amounts of fuel wood carpeting the forest floor, and you have the ingredients for a monster wildfire.  Some reports say that the fire is spotting up to three miles ahead, meaning that sparks and burning timber are blowing in the wind and causing new fire to spread up to three miles away.  The voracious nature of this inferno is frightening. 

Many of our mountain communities are being evacuated as we speak.   It is devastating to watch the areas where many of our fondest memories were made going up in smoke.  My husband's family has deep ties to this forest, and it has been their home for nearly 35 years.  My husband grew up in these woods, and it's heart wrenching to know that the landscape will forever be changed by this.

Please pray for:

Weather conditions to change

Safety for those fighting the fire

Homes, ranches, and livestock that are in the path of the fire

Wisdom for those planning the strategy to battle the fire

Quick Containment

Gardening Tidbits

We are blessed to have not one, but two gorgeous plant nurseries in our town. There is nothing more exciting to a gardener than a stroll through the meandering paths of the quaint flower gardens and green houses bursting with color.

Honestly, the plant nursery is one of my weaknesses.  I could spend an outrageous amount of money there.  But, alas, I don't have a large sum of cash lying around, so I go there to dream, to be inspired, to discover new varieties of plants, and to get educated on all vegetative things.

Sometimes I go there to ask a fertilizer question and leave with two flats of flowers.  Sometimes I go there to buy a gift for my mother-in-law and come out with hanging baskets cascading with flowers for both of us. 

They have a secret sales tactic that draws in the children to.  It's really quite ingenious of them. Their secret weapon that attracts kids from miles around: Tortoises.

Yep, they are in greenhouse #2.  I know this because my kids visit them often. 

On the upside, my children never  whine when I tell them we are headed to the plant nursery.  On the downside, every time we go to see the tortoises we end up buying at least $20.00 worth of plants.  It's a brilliant/sinister plan to boost sales.  It's along the same marketing strategy as children begging to go to Mc Donald's for the toy in the Happy Meal.  Marketing is everything.

If you have tortoises, you rule the nursery market.  Oh, and don't get me started about the Koi fish ponds.  Those are the second stop the kids make after seeing the tortoises.  Then they scratch the bellies of the two old yellow labs that you step over to get to the cash register.

Yep, it's a regular petting zoo at the plant nursery. 

Once we make our purchases, we go home and find places to plant them. 

This weekend, I converted one of my flower beds into a mint garden.  5 years ago I planted 1 small bag of daffodils and tulips in that bed.  When I dug them out to transfer them to another location I was pleased to find that over the years they have multiplied to the point that they filled a 5 gallon bucket. I'm excited to see them bloom next spring in a more prominent location. I added a 6th variety of mint to my new  mint garden. It's a variety that my local nursery calls, "The Best Mint".  I just love the stuff.  You can read my "Mad about Mint" post if you'd like to know more about my passion for mint.

Along with my mint purchase, I bought a few varieties of cascading flowers, and can't wait for them to spill over my old whiskey barrel planters when the summer rains start.


Gardening is so much fun!

Mom's Scissors

When it comes to grocery shopping, I will do just about anything to save a buck.  I shop sales, clip coupons, buy bulk...you name it and I've done it. I'm totally cheap.

However, the same does not hold true when it comes to tools.  I firmly believe that spending extra money for good quality tools is an investment that will pay off in the long run. This is one area where we never compromise quality to save a buck.

This week, I finally bit the bullet and coughed up the money to buy myself some new sewing scissors.  Not just any scissors.....these are the Cadillac of sewing scissors and they cut through fabric like warm butter.

Aren't they dreamy?

They even come with a protective sheath.

I feel like it's a bit of a rite of passage to own a pair of scissors of this quality.  It's been a LONG time coming, and I've paid my dues.

When I was a girl, I remember my mother teaching me to never use her "good" scissors to cut paper with.  She only pulled them out of her sewing box to cut fabric or trim my hair in the back yard.  I didn't see what the big deal was.  One day, I couldn't find the junkie scissors, so I snuck into Mom's yellow sewing box and used her "good" scissors to cut a piece of poster board in half.

Boy was she mad when she caught me! She gave me a real tongue lashing.

Now that I sew and have kids of my own, I understand what all of the fuss was about.  I had a pair of the best fabric scissors that Walmart sold (mediocre at best).  On the handle, I wrote "FABRIC ONLY" in black marker.  I gave my 3 kids the lecture about cutting paper. I thought I was safe.

My 8 year old daughter decided to cut a wire twisty tie with them several months ago and I nearly cried.  Then I gave her a stern talking to and I felt like my mother. I guess my chickens came home to roost, so to speak. 

The scissors would no longer cut fabric, and my girl learned a valuable lesson when she tried to use them at her sewing class. They were worthless.

I've been dreaming of my new scissors for months now.  I saw them at the fabric store in the big city, but couldn't bring myself to spend the money.  When it comes to a big purchase, I always have to sleep on it. After all, they cost three or four times more than anything at Walmart. They finally went on sale, and with an additional store coupon, I got them for a whopping 40% off!!! WOOHOOO!!!

I've considered locking them up in a safe to protect them from any impulsive lack of judgement on the part of my children, but instead I decided to give them a solemn speech about the "Wrath of Mom" if any of them so much as puts a fingerprint on them.

I think many women have memories of their mother's "good" scissors. We all learned that it's best not to mess with Mom's tools.

Wordless Wednesday: "The Chives are Buzzing with Activity"