An Invitation for you!

You are invited to join me for Daniel's Feast, for the entire month of June. Click on the link for more details and to join up!

All Was Quiet on the Homefront

...Except for the phone ringing, people talking, tractors running...

The hay is cut. It's been fluffed into rows. The Brain is on the baler. Soon we will have lovely rows of bales lining the field.

But our bales are rectangle and MUCH smaller. I thought the picture was cute. :-)

And this year, we won't be pulling 13 hours in the field on my birthday, like we've done before (Seriously, birthdays at the end of June...). Because today is my birthday and the hay is just starting to get baled. :-)

Please let me pause to explain Haying. Haying is, I'm sure, recognized as a national holiday. If it isn't, it should be. The observation of this holiday is nearly always the same, and I will write it out here for you if you would like to participate. This annual bonding of mankind and his tractor is looked forward to every summer and reminisced every fall/winter/spring.

Day One: A tractor and mower are dispatched into the field, and grass is cut. The driver of the tractor will often receive burns from the sunlight as this is far too rugged a job to wear sunscreen.
Day Two: Again, the tractor is dispatched, but this time to fluff up the hay and make it into lots of cute little rows. The sun will then bake the grass until it is dry. It will also bake the driver of the tractor, but oh, well... Farmer's tan, yanno.
Days Three-End of Holiday: When the grass is deemed dry enough by an elder member of the family, it is scooped up by a machine and processed into bales. A truck driver (usually the youngest child or a lady member of the family) will putter along with a flatbed trailer while family and neighboring menfolk (and strong womenfolk) "buck" bales onto the trailer.
      A leader is chosen by the "crew" to be the one to stack hay. This is a crucial part of the ceremony; the stacker must make tight stacks so bales do not fall from the trailer on the drive back to the barn. However, if a stack falls, there is a special ceremony: First, there is the blame and demotion of the stacker. Then the pile of hay on the ground is thrown back onto the trailer. Occasionally, there may be a ceremonial "strapping" of the stack. This is accomplished by the tallest members of the crew tossing straps over the stack and tying them down.
      The noon meals on these last days are also of longstanding tradition. Hamburgers, Coke, and Mug Root Beer.
      On these days, it is customary for sunscreen to be worn, as there are often womenfolk on the crew and they insist on the men wearing it, also. Rugged though they may be, the lady driving the truck is the keeper of the water bottles, sunflower seeds, and brake pedal, so it's best to make her happy. :)

The end of the holiday is celebrated with high-fives all around and promises to come back the following year.

Go forth and celebrate summer, my friend!

I believe I have earned some brownie points...

Dear Mother left me specific instructions that I was not to touch the laundry until she got home this evening. There were delicate things that she was in the middle of washing, and under no circumstances was I to come near them.

The Lego Man called a bit ago to say that he NEEDED a certain pair of jeans cleaned NOW! Really? *sigh*

So Cora washed them. In a pot. In the sink. And hosed them off outside. Now they are drying.


In other news:
I went to see my "disfingered" friend, Clint, yesterday, and he was doing very well. His hand/arm was bandaged to the elbow, so thankfully, I didn't have to see the wounds. He re-told us the story of what happened, and it was way worse than I heard originally.

Please pray/send good thoughts to him and his family. The poor guy is so bored having to lie there on the couch. He's one of those hyper must-work-from-sunup-to-sundown guys, so doing nothing kills him. His main annoyance through the whole deal was that he'd miss a day of work. *shakes head*



In other, other news:
Today marks the third year since my mom was diagnosed with cancer. Yep, the day before my birthday. :-/ She is now well again, though. :-)

Short Snippits. :)

Since I'm in a whirl of activity this weekend, here's a brief overview:

Yesterday, a friend of mine cut off the tips of some of his fingers. They got him stitched up and sent him home. Today they'll check him out again and then we'll know on Monday if he'll get to keep his fingers. Poor guy. Every time I see him, I say, "So how have you injured yourself lately?" instead of "Whatcha been up to?" :-/

In about an hour, I'll be going to a bazaar in the next village. Should be fun!

Tomorrow is the MCI (multiple casualty incident) drill for the Fire Dept. We had an hour and a half to do moulage makeup on 10+ "victims" (again, squeamish people should not Google "moulage." Moulage is making fake wounds and such.). I'm heading up this area of the drill.

And now I need to go tie up some cheese that's draining. Please pray for Clint's hand if you think about it! And his family. I'm sure they are worried about him.

O... Suns and Skies and Flowers of June?

I memorized that poem once. "O suns and skies and clouds of June, and flowers of June together, ye cannot rival for one hour October's bright blue weather."

I'm sure that'll be true enough... This year we've seen the sun twice in June. Yesterday and today. For the first time in 9 months, it got to 75 degrees F. October's bound to be better than this "Junuary" we've had. With any luck, we'll get the hay in by the middle of July (It should be in... now.). Oy. The crops are just now getting planted in the fields, and it looks like another wet/cold front may be moving in.

Good thing we're not planning to do anything outdoors on my birthday. It might get pretty wet! :-P

Hehe! Thank goodness I made a caveman-style costume a few days ago, because it looks like the start of another Ice Age!

Unniversary...

Today was our "Unniversary."

The Cowboy and I were supposed to get married today, but due to job stuff, we had to postpone it. It leaves a sad and empty feeling to see this day come and go, but I think we'll be better off for waiting...

...Cora told herself optimistically...

Returned from grand adventure!

Well, I wish it was grand adventure. In reality, it's just busy. Which makes for a long post. :)

It started with Saturday. I took m'self into work for the morning. It was a gorgeous day, and when I got off work, I headed out to the Cowboy's for the afternoon. We (along with his friend) headed down to the lake for a while. We were sitting there by the lake having a good time, and then the friend announced that he was bored (I should blog-name this friend "Hyper," I think). He decided we'd go on a walk on a trail he knew by the river. So the three of us went down a deer trail through the woods. Of course, I was the only one with shorts on (arg!) and the blackberries were not very nice. But I survived. Obviously.

After that, with much bruising, bloodying, and so forth, we got back to the lake. When we arrived at the Cowboy's parked truck and went to leave, the truck wouldn't start. The Cowboy was about to be very annoyed, but it turned out that another of his friends who was at the lake had monkeyed with something under the hood and when he plugged it back in, the truck was fine.

And then we all went back to the Cowboy's parents' house to have a bonfire. Ended up staying out there until midnight drinking root beer and talking. Then at midnight, we wished the Cowboy a happy birthday. Most of us left and the Cowboy went home. Since I had an hour drive back to my house, I crashed on his mom's couch.

For sure, Sunday was the Cowboy's birthday. It poured rain all day. I thought it was glorious (see blog title... I have a thing for rain), but everyone else complained.

Monday was also glorious, but it was sunny (aw, rats!). The Cowboy had the day off of work, so he came over and we spent the entire day in the barn working on something. And you don't get to know what it is yet! Hahahaha!

Tuesday was the last day of the Fiber Arts class I teach at the community college. I was sad to see all my students go. They were a lot of fun and I enjoyed getting to know them. After class, I came home and made a big, honkin' piece of felt. You'll see it eventually. I need some yarn and beads to finish the project first.

Ah, yesterday. 5 hours at work as a cashier. By the end of my shift, I could barely walk and couldn't stand still. It was awful. I'm praying fervently that I don't have to stay a cashier for very long. :-/

Which brings us to today! I'm about to visit my goats to milk and then run off to a meeting at a coffee shop in town about the Rosie movie.

***

In between all of that, I've been working on my novel. I'm liking the way it's coming together now. One of my characters is very sick right now, the poor dear. Now that I've mentioned it, I'm dying to get back to my story. But chores first. Chores first... *Cora repeats this phrase over and over...*

Thursday Thirteen: Projects

As I was sitting here eating leftovers from Dad's restaurant dinner (yes, for breakfast) and wondering who General Tso was and why we are eating his chicken, it occurred to me that it is Thursday! Ack! What to write about? ... Me + Lists = Fail ... Me + Lists + Needing list on certain day = Fail^4736

But I came up with something. Lots of people have "bucket lists" of what they wish to do before they "kick the bucket."

Cora-style bucket list: Before I kick the bucket, I would like to make:

1. A pair of socks, knitted or nalbinded (nalbound? nalbindinged? Whatever. Past tense of nalbinding). I have never made a sock, have tried a bazillion times, and I officially *HATE* using double point needles and knitting in a round. Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things... So probably nalbinding.

2. Star Wars Rebel Jumpsuit. I have the fabric and pattern. All that's left is courage.

3. LOTR-style Elvish dress. Again, have the fabric and pattern. It will be out of a velvet fabric with autumn leaves, accented by long sleeves in a brown velvet.

4. Wool cloak. I've made them out of satin, but not wool. May have enough fabric.

5. THIS dress. Wow. Btw, GOOD movie. I'm not one for movies, but look up Pendragon: Sword of His Father. Soon I'll do a review on it (at least, that is the plan).

6. A set of hand-embroidered handkerchiefs for heirlooms.

7. Susan's green dress from The Chronicles of Narnia. I hate the movies/books/CSLewisInGeneral, but the dress is to die for.

8. Civil War era dress with hoop skirt. Oh, yeah.

9. A better corset. Mine is good, but I want a better one.

10. Weave another basket. A better one. Mine is pitiful.

11. Carve something fabulous, instead of just making hazelnut shells into miniature plates/bowls.

12. Make a huge piece of felt and make a tunic out of it. I may have enough wool for that.

13. Make costumes for a movie. Someday... Ah, someday... :)

For more Thursday Thirteen, go HERE!

Wordless Wednesday: Memememe! I wanna play, Dad!

Give-Away at Hannah's!

There's a give-away going on at Hannah's blog! Go check it out! The winner gets fabric and a pattern. All you sewing ladies (or gentlemen, I suppose) go over and enter!

First Day of Daniel's Feast

Today is the first day of Daniel's Feast. At the moment, it's me, the Cowboy, and possibly Christine's family.

I've been informed that there is already a Daniel's Fast where, I guess, you eat only vegetables(?) and water. I'm not going to do that (although I am trying to give up my addiction to coffee, but that's been a long time trying and nothing to do with this event). This is purging the things I do that make me impure as a follower of Christ. Click HERE to see more details.

Today's reading assignment: Read something from my beloved book of James. Pick a passage and report back with what you read. :)