And God put enmity between them...

between the serpent and the woman...

and I being a daughter of EVE 

have it in my gene's

I don't LIKE snakes

but ...

as a home school ma

I gotta grab the camera for the kids when they find ANY "thing" 

gross or not

thankfully this was a friendly garter snake

still..

(yuck)

another reason 

besides TICKS

for Mama (Mrs. C) to get Guinea Hens! :)

(thinking... the lavender.. what about you???)

ok..

back to the post...

Here is C.S. holding said Snake..

because..he is not woman?

perhaps

but a few weeks ago NOT only did Mr. J hold one...

but so did his beautiful bride Mrs. J!

she is so my hero!  

(making Eve proud EVERY day!)

i remain ever the wimpy chick

saying ICKY ick

to the snake in the grass 

look at her..

she is like ... 

a glamour model out of a lands end catalog.!

too cool!

That said, the snake was RE released to the wild

no animals were injured during this posting

a wee discovery I forgot to mention...

Soooo

a few visits ago, Princess made this AMAZING discovery...

and I got a few photos of it..

WHY only a few?

I was too busy nibbling after that

I KNOW!  

I have a little vineyard!

and a WHOLE lot to learn!

I must tell you 

THESE are the most delicious I have had since France

and I am thrilled...

so this winter 

in addition to researching

guinea hens

chicken breeds

duck breeds

dog breeds

sheep breeds

apple trees

pear trees

blue berry bushes

and countless other wonderful things we hope to grow..

we MUST hunt down...

a used wine press

and figure out how to tame this wonder :)

FUN TIMES!

isn't God AMAZING ?  

May His Blessings upon our House NEVER end,

we are ever so thankful to Him!

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good His love endures forever

saying.. thank you

we have WONDERFUL neighbors

they bring us treats

like cake

or cookies

or chocolates

and we are always SO thankful !

(wouldn't YOU be?)

Our new neighbors are also Amish

which I have to say,

Buddy thinks is SUPER terrific

and every time he sits down to write down the Thank you card

they get another version of a Chariot

he simply LOVES the horse and buggy bit

and thinks it's SO cool that she's in a Chariot...

I tell him it's a buggy

he says " I know Mama..."

and draws a chariot of some sort,

it's ALWAYS magnificent

mighty

or romantic

this on is tiered, with 3 levels

we feel it's important to work on saying thank you, 

by writing cards, or sending notes..

I confess, 

I am NOT always the best at getting the blessings to do this,

It's something I really want to work on.

Life can get terribly busy in the suburbs, 

with one doctor appointment after another

the days just fly by...

but in the country...

well..

that cookie,

or cake

or piece of chocolate just reminds you...

and you can't HELP but make it part of handwriting class..

YES those G's an E's are all gumbled...

we are working on it.. 

(giggling)

don't you LOVE the fancy T?

my little Artist has even created his OWN emblem

hmmm

Buddy working Wally the Wheelbarrel

Buddy LOVES to be put to work..

REAL work

He LOVES uniforms

and LOVES to work with Wally

Wally is what they named the Wheel barrel

remember..

we NAME everything here at Blessings Farm

Preparing for Winter, 

OUR very first winter at Blessings Farm is a BIG deal,

and Buddy (still AGE 6) takes EVERY job we give him, 

(well every job BUT pick up your socks, make your bed... etc) 

every OTHER sort of job very seriously

It is a BEAUTIFUL DAY

and Buddy's BIG Job today is to put these neat 

glow in the dark sticks along side the 

very very very very VERY 

long drive

so we can snow blow it with Forrest

(the snow blowing tractor, that you have YET to be introduced to)

and NOT fall off the drive 

because that ..

would stink

a whole LOT

so Buddy is feeling VERY excited

because

his JOB is 

well..

let's be honest..

VERY 

VERY 

important

he's wearing hunter orange

and it sorta FEELS like a uniform

it sorta LOOKS like a uniform

and he HAS to wear it

because 

EVERYONE is out hunting

and

we don't want ANY ol' hunter mistakin' OUR Buddy

for Bambi

and taking a shot

he's working hard I'll tell ya

we're spacing them all out real good

because we ONLY have

SO many..

because..

we are CHEAP

and the drive is SO very very LONG

and it dips pretty harshly in spots

is that Buddy DANCING while he works?

YEP!

Buddy gives  WHOLE new meaning to the concept of 

Whistle while you work..

What a neat guy

snowball bushes..

so in front of our sweet little Farm House

are these Snowball bushes

and not just one or two

like ooodles

and ooodles

like they had babies

there are literally 

generations of them

and they are TALL

and beautiful

but

thick

and OUT of control

and buggy in the summer

and Machine Man wants to KILL them all

(hunter instinct)

and Opa thinks they retain too much water too near the house to be logical

and I LOVE them

and want to save them

and Princess

well 

agrees with ME :)

LOVE her!

so WE devised a plan

and every single time we have attempted the plan

it has..

failed..

because their stems are SO many

and SO thick

and we are ...

it would seem...

VERY wimpy chicks

see how TALL they are?

see those stubs in front?

those are DAYS worth of work!

and you can BARELY NOTICE!

ugh

it's like a bad hair cut

so i brought up my hedge cutters

lame...

and Opa brought up HIS ELECTRIC hedge trimmers

(still IN the box... because he IS ... THAT cool)

let's see what does the job

neither

we had to go to a chain saw

those suckers are like wood!

we ended up with a HUGE burn pile!

looks great  right!

the plan is...

(you're just really eager to know right?)

that with them more...

manageable, shall we say...

we can now DIG them up in the early spring,

and transplant them

along my side of the park way...

see on the left of the drive way, how it dips a bit, and there is a white birch, that is sort of...

the road way..

and I think these would look beautiful,

dotting all along my yard as people drive by... 

my home is high up enough it won't hinder my seeing the street or the neighbors, 

but sure will make the drive beautiful 

and my view...

my neighbors LOVED the idea too

who knows..

perhaps they'll help..

goodness knows

we'll NEED IT!

(giggling)

PULLING up staples!

The Bunk Room...

It IS the biggest room BY FAR in the whole Farm house.. 

Simply put

it is HUGE

and we dared to pull up the carpet

(oh MY!)

and made the BOLD decision to not recarpet but to keep the plank wood floors

though they may need a bit of repair in one spot...

that left me

with a WHOLE lot of staples to pull

and trying with pliers just left me depressed...

so..

I did what ANY gal would do.

I goggled.. and chatted ALL about my dilemma..

and turns OUT...

MY DAD

had to deal with this 30 years ago

and INVENTED a tool for it!

(wonders NEVER seize) 

now Princess confessed that his ORIGINAL wasn't so cushy as this...

he told her he used a hard metal handled one way back then...

but because OPA just LOVES his little girl

he bought these nice can openers from OXO :)

can openers??

YEP!

and then what?

he took a file and sharpened them...

sorry for not having photo's of that process.

it was a surprise for me

they had NO idea that I'd be wanting to do a tutorial on this..

silly them..

ANYHoo...

think, MANfile... not nailfile..

think HARDware store

NOT beauty salon

he REALLY filed this to a NICE point for me

 LOVE my dad!

the other tool I had was a hammer

for the occasional NAIL that I came across that just needed to be PUT in it's place

and my dixie cup

that I used to put all my mess

so here is a wee little staple

doesn't LOOK like a staple DOES IT?

looks like a bunch of fuzz

so I pull extra fuzz away

and get my sharp opener in there

it really lifts EASY

shocking after trying SO hard with other tools

LOOK at THAT

up and gone

~phew... 

all done lickity splity

thankfully Opa made 3 of these tools and ...

my helpers helped me

yep 

even Buddy helped

and Princess

But sometimes those suckers aren't in there even steven..

SOMETIMES they aren't fair

and boo -boo's occur

first...

wash and clean the wounds

know first aid, it's essential,

have banaids ON hand, and BE prepared to wear a banaid EVEN if you don't have a boo boo

just to match, 

it helps the crying to STOP

then.. attend the nasty and offensive

staple

like this one

with that cool whole in the middle of the can opener... 

sometimes it works when you attack it this way

some times...

it works better if you get it this way

but with a little giggle

it comes 

RIGHT out..

shocking

i know

my dad is an amazing inventor

we are thinking of selling these at the farm! 

interested?

email

we can perhaps figure something out :)

So now.. 

the room is ..

workable..

NOT pretty

NOT done

but playable

while we work on some OTHER things..

whatcha think?

THAT wall....

SO

something "special" planned for THAT yellow wall??

yep !

on the left..tiled walls, 

and the sink, fridge,

EVENTUALLY 

a dishwasher..

on the right... 

tiled walls

counter with drawers, 2 shelves and the stove

all tiled walls go up about 3/4 of the way

and all are subway tile white

ok.. maybe not the perfect photo to show it.. but

YOU get the idea 

and

straight ahead.. 

well it's the pantry.. a big pantry!

it needs a LOT of work

but..we don't mind some elbow grease and effort!

here's some ideas

i LOVE how white this is..

I want all white..

but a door a bit more perhaps like this

just not so.. curly q

and jet black

but the walls.. what about Those?

i am thinking white planking...

horizontal if you please

i first fell in LOVE with the look and idea

by seeing THIS picture in Layla & Kevin's 

WONDERBLOG

www.theletteredcottage.net

if you need inspiration,

LAYLA is sure to give you a heaping plate full!

here is another wonderful picture of the general idea of what I am going for..

Isn't this just darling?

can't you see it in your mind?

(these photo's were borrowed from Pinterest- check out the link!)

planked white wood

(we'll probably re-cycle wood palettes! )

(it's super cheap & I love the idea of recycling wood)

and 

jet black screen door

could look pretty great

What do YOU think?