2022 January - June

 Hello, Hello, 

Some of you maybe wondering if I fell off the face of the earth as this blog has been sadly quiet for the past 10 months.... (gulp!)  Like always, life has been full of all kinds of adventures, and hasn't slowed down for me to catch up. A fun bluegrass song captures my feeling well in it's chorus:

"Tick, tock, tick tock, seconds fly too fast, 

Tick tock tick tock, why can't I make them last

Try to stop that second hand from spinning round and round, 

From spinning round and round, so I have more time than I have with you now, 

I'm trying to make the clock slow down."**   

So here we are in the middle of November. Back in June, I started on an blog post but didn't quite get it finished to share, so I'm going to at least get that post finished up now. And then hopefully I can make time very soon to share more adventures! 

January and February were filled with working on a project that we'll call "the house next door". It really deserves a post all to it's own, but I'll share just a couple before and after pictures later in this post to give you an idea of what this project entailed.  Thankfully, Dad regained some energy during this time period and was able to offer some help and lots of guidance for the workers for this project.

 

The kitchen: part way through the remodel process and after:

The living room before and after

I asked Dad and Silas to build me a cookbook shelf to cover up a section of logs that had been cut out at some point in the past, and I think it turned out lovely! It's one my favorite things in this house. :)

February is also Sled Dog Race month, and Matt participated in 2 this year, both significantly longer mileage than his past races, so he spend lot of time training his team this past winter so they would be ready for the races. His hard work was worth it. 

Here are a couple pictures from a training run that I helped him with:

 The first race was the 3rd weekend in February. Northern Pines Sled Dog Race. Matt ran a team of 8 dogs in about a 30 mile race. He was hoping to do it in 3.5 hrs and just made it 3:29:46! The whole family was able to come cheer him on that day. 

Sharing the sled runners with his friend and mentor Ruth on the way back to the truck. 

 It was a colder weekend (which was good for the dogs) but the muffins we intended to eat for breakfast got a little cold- so I improvised an "oven" to thaw them out. :) 

The following weekend Matt and I headed for Ely, MN to run the Wolf Track Classic. This was a 30 mile race with 6 dogs on a trail that was all hills. Matt and his team gave it their all- Matt says he ran up every hill, (and he was sore for the next few days!).  They passed teams on the trail and placed 21st out of 33 teams. But the most exciting part was his time: He did this race in 3:07:58!!   

 Less pictures from this race, as I was both the dog handler and the photographer. ;)

 

After the racing season, we jump right back into life here. March was moving month. We moved furniture into "the house next door" on Feb 25, and had a pizza party there that night. Matt and I were gone that weekend for the Ely race- so it was the following week before bedding got moved over, and I started living there. The "house next door" is now referred to as "Emily's".  [Though I am just a renter.]  The rest of the moving in process was a bit of a stretched out procedure as it was done around my work schedule. My siblings think that I have too many music books- but I'm not willing to admit that there is anything wrong with that. :) 

My sisters and a friend threw me a house warming party the first weekend in March. The roads weren't in great shape that day, so that limited the size of the party, but it was an enjoyable day! Thankful for the community of people who support and encourage our family. 

The moving continued when mid-March, relatives from Florida made the move to Wisconsin. My great uncle and aunt (Grandma Fran's brother and his wife), moved into the upstairs level of my house. They are temporary housemates of mine while their house is being built on some property they purchased in our area. They were welcomed by a good ol' cold snap and lots of wind. Apparently wind is rather non-existent in FL based on all the comments I've gotten about it in the past 8 months.    

After I moved out of my bedroom at home, Matt and Silas moved in it for a few days so they could sand and varnish the floor in their room, repaint the ceiling and walls, re-arrange and move back in. Next, Mom emptied their bedroom and we repainted the ceiling and walls.. Next step there is to finish removing all the things that got left from the shuffling and then redo floors and paint that room and Laura will move in that room eventually...

April is a blur, and to be honest I don't have any idea what happened that month other than daily life and maple syrup season. 

May was month with a few more musical commitments,  we played for two funerals and for the Memorial Day service at the local cemetery. May marked the 10 year anniversary of our town hall music nights- so we had fun pulling out some songs that we've done over that time span to re-work, update, and share. At the beginning of the month I hosted "music parties" (recitals) for my music students. And May is also the start of baby animal season. 

 Moving the goats to summer pasture.

Matt raised the broilers this year- 2 batches of 150. And did a great job of raising the dairy calves as well.

 A flag at the grave of a distant relative of ours.

May also marked a milestone birthday for my Grandma, so we threw a birthday party for her. It was a nice day and lots! of people showed up to visit and celebrate with her. Her friend made a special birthday cake for her. :) 

 June: Gardening, haymaking, moving fence, and caring for animals of all ages filled our days. Daily life has lots of routine but also a decent amount of excitement. (Sometimes a little more than we care for), but God is faithful and continues to give us the strength to face each day. Grace and I helped with VBS at church.  Silas worked to finish high school class and we had a party for him in July. We wrote a song in his honor and performed it at June's music night. You shouldn't be surprised that we did it to the tune of "The Auctioneer". If you have a copy of our CD, you'll understand. :)  He worked a job off the farm for the summer and this fall is taking classes at the local tech college. He is ready to be done with school though, so after this year he is ready to work.  

 

Just another load of hay- Charlie style...

We did squeeze a few fun things in along the way: 

A late spring Sunday afternoon exploration trip by Silas, Grace, and I to Grundy's Canyon in the Blue Hills.

Canoe lessons with Aunt Jane:

 

 I shared back last November about Dad's health concern. It's hard to believe it's been a year already. Thank you to all you who pray for him and us. Please continue to pray as the battle continues and the road is long. The training for phase 1 was completed and mom does a good job of her end of that process. Now they are working on phase 2, which has been quite a journey, and is taking way longer than either of them would care for. Please pray for patience and wisdom for them. Dad still doesn't feel very good and is lacking in energy. Grace and Matt have taken on most of the responsibly for managing and caring for dairy side of the farm. Mom helps with nearly every milking, and Dad milks as often as he is able.    

 

Hope you enjoyed this post, and if life doesn't get to crazy this week, I'm planning to dust off the camera and take some November pictures for you all. 

 

** Lyrics from "Trying to Make Clocks Slow Down" by Darin & Brooke Aldridge.