LAWNMOWER WARS

I know, it's been a long time, but I'm ready to come back.  Actually, my main problem was losing the chord that hooks the camera to the computer to download pictures.  I finally broke down and bought an adapter.

So, life on the farm goes on, but it is rough by myself.  I am really proud of what I have accomplished so far, but I have a long way to go.  In the meantime, I lead the typical farmer's life, which means when you have a project to get done, the equipment usually fails and you have to spend a day working on it before you can even start.

Why is it that when you have three lawnmowers, not one of them is working?

Here is Ladybug with two flat tires.  I just need a jack to lift it and get the tires off so I can take them in to have tubes put in.  Just.  Around here, I have at least three of everything, but can I find a jack?  I'm usually tripping over them.  Then it occurred to me I had one in the car!!!

And here is the Jane Dear.  I won't tell you all of the problems I've had with her.  Today, I had baling twine wrapped around the blades.  My dear friend who has planted flowers in one of my fields just doesn't understand the importance of picking up every little piece of twine.

So, there I was, lying on my side with my arms under the mower; I felt like I was delivering a baby alpaca.  My arms in up to the pits, feeling around for the legs, er, twine.  I finally cut the twine loose and this is what was born:

And here is the oldest model who moved here with me from Lynnwood over 10 years ago.  The racoons have chewed on the gas cap, which allows water into the gas.  I will buy a new cap today.  The big problem is that the starter chord broke.  Now, I could call on one of my neighbor men to help me with this, but I am stubborn, and I am determined to fix this myself.

I have a family reunion here on Saturday, so getting my lawn mowed is sort of a priority right now, along with preparing the picnic chicken.  Yum.

You know me and scarecrows.  This one was left over from last Fall.  I just added a new shirt, some baling twine braids, and a hat.

Found this wedding gown at a thrift shop for next to nothing, so we have a demure little bride now.

This little character has been moved to the fence.  She looked like she was hanging there, so now I have her climbing the fence like all good children are not supposed to do.

Summer finally arrived last weekend, and the flowers are blooming and the weeds are growing.

I have leased 7 acres of land to an Organic farming  group called Growing Washington.  It's great to see them out here working, and they have already planted the back 5 acres.  Now I'm working on finding someone to hay the rest of the land.

Each day is a new challenge and a new victory.  I am thrilled to be doing what I am doing, but I'm getting a little tired.

Sounds like time for another vacation!!!!

Linda's New Hat

Some of you have seen my new hat on Facebook.

I spent a week in LA with my wild and crazy friend, Jenny, who talked me into this hat.


 

It's very versatile, and can be worn many ways.

I'm too sexy for my hat, to sexy for my hat, toooooooo sexxxxxxxxxxxy.

Oh, oh.

I feel like the kitchen maid in a medieval play in this do.

This is my Mata Hari Look.

It has a wire in the brim, so you can even make it look like a nice sunhat, if you want.  I really like this look.

I wore the hat all over LA, especially since I forgot to take hair product, and Jenny put little pigtails in my hair.  NOT attractive.

Jenny was the healing power that brought me back to life.  She has inspired me to decorate my house, to paint, to plant.  She is a former (sometimes even still) actress and an incredible artist.

Jenny, I miss you!

Please come for a visit.



A Very Happy Mother's Day

Introducing:  The new Linda.  These blue streaks are affirmations to myself that life goes on and I will survive!  I've had so much fun with this since I got them on Friday, I just might try Magenta next time.

On Saturday, if was my DIL's 30th birthday party, and she celebrated by having a Derby Party at their favorite local bar.  Everyone was to wear a hat.

Here I am in my dull hat, along with my son Michael who engineeered the party.  Yes, that's one beautiful Bloody Mary in my hand.

This is the hat that my DIL made for her mother.  Is it not precious?

This is my DIL's hat.

And this one is for her sister, who loves to bake.

She has an excellent blog:  The Dirty Oven. 

We went to Mother's Day lunch at a Korean restaurant just a couple of blocks from them.  What DEEEEElicious food.

This gem, chosen by our two hosts, was the Hangover Soup.

This was my meal:  Shrimp and Thai basil egg fu Young.

Chad told the chef he was vegan, so he just whipped this up for him.

Afterwards, we toured the Fremont Market and absorbed all of the local goods.

It's A Beautiful Day

Those of you who are my age will remember a group who had one album, and one great song:  White Bird by "It's A Beautiful Day".  I love that song.  Hmmm, maybe I can find it and put it on my blog.
Anyhow, it was a beautiful day yesterday.  It was also beautiful today, but I'm going to write about yesterday, since today is another story.

My friend has been house sitting at a very large estate.  She invited me up to spend the night.  We spent the afternoon working on our Mind Maps, then took a walk on the grounds.

This is the view from the deck.  Well, the entire west side of the house.  Gorgeous.

Here is the garden shed and green house.

There are real trout in this pond.  We were feeding them, and you can see where they have been jumping.  We contimplated catching one for dinner, but I knew I would have to kill it.  I quit fishing years ago when my husband informed me I had to kill what I caught.

Pat, these are Trillium.  It's actually a wildflower that grows in the mountains here.

This is a Goodle.  He's a cross between a Golden Retriever and a standard Poodle.  I had fun playing with him, but when I started wrestling him like I used to do with my Tibetan Terrier, he almost took me down.  Well, it cemented our friendship, at least.  In the evening, after a dinner of Nettle Quiche, we watched Black Swan.  I got so worked up watching it, the Goodle came and put his head in my lap to comfort me.

Have you seen this movie?  I loved it.  It's all symbolism, but when she finally found the passion to dance as if she WAS the Black Swan, I was cheering.  Weird but wonderful.

Then, we finished the day with a long soak in the hot tub, under the stars.  I slept well. 

Feeling Better

It's getting better all the time.  I have moments that come up and hit me like a sledgehammer, and I'll be crying like crazy, but that's to be expected I guess.  This grief thing is very, very hard.  I am an impatient person and want it to be over with now!  But I guess I have alot more pain ahead of me, so if I start crying at the gas station or the grocery store, at least everyone knows me and they will talk to me or hug me.  I don't have to be shy around here.

So on to the good life.  Yesterday was beautiful, and I picked a nice bouquet to put on my front door.  I find it to be very welcoming, don't you?

This is a coral bead plant that my cousin gave me for Easter.  It's also called the Pincushion Plant, the Greek word being Nerteria.  From South America, I'd best keep this little gem in the house if I want it to survive.  Isn't it sweet?

Here is my latest skein of yarn.  I really like it.  But, I like every skein I make.  I'm soooooooooooo modest.  I have made such wonderful contacts at the Bellingham Farmer's Market, three local stores want to carry my yarns now.  Good thing I have that little mini spinner.  It goes everywhere with me now.

I've missed blogging, and I feel like I have turned the corner.  I hope to be back, at least twice a week.  Every day would be asking too much at this time, but who knows, we shall see.
Hugs everyone.  It's good to be back.

A Brief Respite

Looks like we are going to have Spring for a couple of days, which means I have to get some work done, FAST.  First of all, I decided to walk out past the sloughs to see if it was dry enough to move my truck, which I got stuck in the mud three weeks ago.  There it is, still mired.  A few friends have offered to pull me out, but they will just get stuck, too.  I knew better than to drive out there, but I just HAD to get this one chore done on THAT day.  Like I said, I knew better.

On the way back, I shot this picture.  If you look really hard, you can see the 11 alpacas I still have here.  They should be gone in a couple of weeks.  I am going to arrange to be gone when they get transported to Muddy Waters Farm.  I know I can visit them any time I want, and I will, but to actually see them leaving is going to be way too much.

Did I ever show you the potting table I bought at the Craft and Antique show?  It's been getting alot of use.  I'm so happy to have it.

Now I need to go outside and finish my planting.  I've already planted 4 salal, 2 Oregon Grape, 4 Knickknicks and a Witch Hazel.  I'm not sure what is left out there, but they are all getting rootbound from sitting in the rain.

Hasta la Vist, Baby.

The End of an Era

  

This was a hard one.  I believe this sign has been hanging out front by the road for at lzeast 10 years.                       

Soooo, I finally took it down.  Without the alpacas or Alan here, I won't be giving tours anymore, so I will also not have a store here. 

I'm thinking of redoing it as "Lost River Farms.  I still have all the paint, and I think I could make it work.

And here is the arbor without the sign.  Just many of the changes I've been forced to make since Alan died.

Since I have three different farmers leasing the land, I think I should change the sign to "Lost River Farms".  Make sure people know this is farmland.

So, I've had some great times with the family the past two weeks.  And for Mother's Day weekend, my DIL is celebrating her 30th birthday with a Kentucky Derby Day.  Everyone has to wear a hat.  It will be fun.  Have you seen Secretariat yet?  It's wonderful.  I remember watching all these races, but I still watched the movie with my breath held, wondering if he would make it.  Fun.