Redirection

For what are probably obvious reasons (and it's probably fairly obvious already...), I won't be blogging at the address "lbsmithfamily.blogspot" anymore.It'll still stay up, as perspective and a little review of the last few years will be a good thing for me to have... (and I'm wretched about saving photos in appropriate places, so at least I'll have these...) but please feel free to visit me at what will become my new website in the next month or so --

"http://sallysfields.com/ "

It's not up yet, but will be by the end of August, as the new farm begins to take shape.

<3

--Sally

New Farm Names

Trying to come up with a name for the imaginary farm that I aim to bring to reality in the next two years.

So far, we've got these as the best candidates:

Sally's Fields

From the Ground Up

Double S Farms

Serenity Valley Farms

.....

got an opinion?

Or a new idea?

New Photos

I was so excited to be able to come here and say... I finally dumped my camera photos! And I finally organized all of them on Photobucket so they're easier to find! And then I signed in, and realized that every photo I'd posted here from there is now a dead link... because I moved them all around. To make them easier to find.

*Sigh.*

but... hey.

I downloaded all my photos from 2010! Who wants to live in the past, anyway??

A few Highlights:

The first day of school. 4th grade, kindergarten, and Rainbow room.

There was a mole in my Garden. A MOLE!! He screamed at me when I dug him up. He was relocated.

There was also a bunny in my compost pile. Several, actually. I couldn't bring myself to relocate them.

The Cereus Bloomed TWICE this year! Twice the fun, too. I love Blooming Parties.



And this is my friend, the Frog. We met on a camping trip in July. He hitched a ride back to the lake, escorted by me and five or six excited kids.

It's been a heckuva year so far, in many different ways. I am so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in my life... if you're one of them, which you probably are if you're here in the first place, ... THANK YOU. You mean more to me than you can know. And this year has shown me just how wonderful you are, and how important you are.

It is still a beautiful world...

Desiderata
-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even to the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;

they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain or bitter,

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals,

and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love,

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,

it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life,

keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Sheep says Baaa, and other photos.

I love it when the kids get a hold of my camera. Their perspective is so much fun.

(sheep says baaaaa.)

We had our friends the Alts over for a campfire, and fun was had by all. (I love my backyard.)

I made sure my broccoli couldn't escape.

Then this horror occurred:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo!!! Not my BEETS!!!!!

So immediately, I erected this:

I like to call it "Mama Sal's Home For Wayward Flora." It's a halfway house for recovering bunny fodder. (I'll have a story about bunnies coming soon. Pictures, and everything.)

The Sweet William Bloomed EVERYWHERE.

And one Sunday, we took a trip to the Children's Museum in Bloomington. There was a little something for everyone, and we had a blast.

Willow got to paint on the wall as much as she wanted:

Gideon got to play with one seriously awesome train set:

And Glen was kept occupied by a whole wall full of bins of legos of all varieties.

*PHEW!!* It's going to be a busy summer. Bear Hunt has to remind us how important it is to take naps.

(There's all kinds of new photos at my photobucket site: http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn184/ssmith0130/ )

Charm-ing

First things first, updates, and then a story about my unparalleled sophistication.

Everybody got new swim stuff for birthdays from Andy and Leanne. They are REALLY HAPPY about it. They got to wear it all to swim lessons on Thursday.


I got to experience my very first for real mood swing of puberty on Monday night. In retrospect, I should have seen it coming.... Glen took this photo of himself a few days before:

Bear Hunt stepped in and rescued me one day when the boys were really tired and cranky. He just wrestled them to the bed and put a sleep spell on them.

And ... now.... telling on myself.

I was so proud to be wearing the earrings my sister, Sarah, had made for me last Christmas. I love them, and have worn them all year, but one morning I got inspired to show her how much her gift was appreciated. I sent her this picture:

...with a note that said, "recognize those lovely earrings?"

I got a phone call about two hours later.

She says to me...

"I've never made earrings."

"I made you wine charms."

:)

I wondered why none of them matched.

Weather.com, you done me wrong

Today, a garden update.

Sometime in Mid-April, about 15 days before our last "normal" frost date, I looked up the 10-day forecast on Weather.com. They assured me that for the next 10 days, there would be no threat of frost.

"Well, hot diggity!" I thought. "Then there's only 5 more days until the last risk of frost has passed! There's NO WAY it'll frost again. Let's get those babies in the GROUND!!"

Having a long history of planting the garden in mid-June (due to work constraints), I was over the moon with excitement.

I filled the garden. Tomatoes, peppers, four kinds of beans, cucumbers, tomatillos, spinach, swiss chard, kale, carrots, beets, turnips, garlic, onions.... Now, of course, I still have a bunch to plant, but I filled up the available space. (Now I'm working on finding other space to plant. I could fill 10 acres without batting an eye. I love this.)

Then, this past Friday, I hear the unthinkable.

Frost Warning.

oh, poop.

I had a gig until after dark.

So my blessed, wonderful, insanely understanding parents drove out to the chateau with me in the dark, carrying flashlights, headlamps, and a laundry basket full of ittybitty "blankets".

And we snuggled everyone in for the night.

The next day, I went out to wake everyone up, and make sure we all made it through the night.

(This is the part of the garden with the frost-sensitive transplants.) (Apparently, I'm growing kleenexes.)

Everyone made it through, although some leaves still got a little wimpy -- they got a little too cold. But the majority of each plant made it. *Phew!*

Then on Mother's Day, I didn't have the kids (as it was Larry's weekend), so I boogied out of church right after choir and decided to get my sermon in the garden. :) I put snap peas in some lonesome places, and thinned the turnips, and started what will become a wonderful fence row of sunflowers.


I labeled the row with flags because I'm not the one who mows out there, so you can see where they'll spring up. I've gotten in two kinds so far, both tall, big, and yellow. I'll also be putting in some stunning red ones that grow on purple stems, and then a whole gaggle of them that are designed for kids -- they stop growing at 3 feet, so the heads are right at kid height.

And here, I have big plans for flowers:



By July, there should be a big bunch of old-fashioned farmyard flowers here -- hollyhocks, daisies, zinnias, asters.... Oh, it'll be pretty.

So feel free to come play farmer with my any weekend this summer! It's a lot of fun. And kids can just run free.... and they get so, so, so tired.