october at the grovestead

+The brothers who planted our barley and alfalfa came to harvest and found the barley was still too green. But the day they came our neighbor was combining his soybeans which meant we had two john deere tractors in our field. And poor Ivar slept through it all.

+This past Sunday as I took the kids to the car I was greeted by the seventeen turkeys that frequent our yard, two cats, three chickens and some barn swallows that were swooping in our garage. I had Elsie on the hip and Ivar by the hand and I had to navigate through a zoo to get my kids to the jeep parked on the gravel. I think I have a legit farmyard.

+Rory and I booked a little getaway, just the two of us. But before we left to check into our lovely hotel I told him, "hey, I really should take care of those black walnuts before they mold on me." And he replied, "Great, I was wanting to put a roof on the wood shed." While I took the outer layer off the walnuts it dawned on me, we are my grandma and grandpa with a list of chores to be done before we can leave with peace of mind...

+We went wading through the tall weeds where the big barn used to be. This spring we had planted pumpkins, squash, cantaloupe and watermelon there but then never took care of this garden patch. While gone on vacation, the weeds grew tall and intimidating and we just let it go. So the fact that we got anything out of this little garden patch is amazing. Each orange pumpkin, green pumpkin, tiny cantaloupe(!!) and squash felt full of grace to me. I don't deserve you... 

+I did use a lot of those weeds to make a pretty swag to hang on our house. And that felt like a sweet victory over the weeds that bothered me for so long. You are now quite lovely.

+My mom helped me dig up all of our gladiolas and calla lily bulbs, cut the flowers off and knock the dirt and then told me I needed to wash them, make sure they were perfectly dry, and hang them in a mesh bag in a cool dark place for the winter. I told her, "mom, I don't think I'm in a season that can handle bulbs." Instead we planted hundreds of tulips in our raised beds (which don't have to be dug up! Ever!)

+I got Ivar his Minion hat at a local handmade art fair. He's never seen the movie, but knows minions from his happy meal toys. The hat makes me very happy.