Get up. Get dressed. Feed Five Kids. Read the Bible. Stop at verse 2 to put 2 year old on the potty. Stop at verse 4 to retrieve 4 month old from swing and settle him in for a feeding. Balance Bible precariously on arm of couch and keep reading. Stop at verse 6 to tell 6 year old you have no idea where her rubber boots are, since after all you were not the one who wore them last.... (okay, I admit to using hyperbole a little, but you get the picture).
Enlist the help of 4, 6 and 8 year old to tackle your pigsty of a house that hasn't been cleaned or cared for in pretty much a week. Put in a load of laundry. Set the timer, tackle the rooms one at a time, 10 minute room rescues per room. 2 hours and 10 minutes later stop to feed the baby, put in another load of laundry and tackle the mountain of recycling and sorting through all the hodge podge of stuff that has been "culled" during the morning's cleaning.
Put some toast on and slice up some tomatoes for toasted tomato sandwiches (since you forgot your nice memento jar of stone soup at Chris' house the day before, shucks!) Send the kids outside to eat so that they don't spread crumbs all over the newly swept floor. Sit down and steal a moment's peace at the computer with a coffee and sandwich. Breathe.
Slip into your rubber boots, pull on your gardening gloves, and grab your favourite old produce tin and head out to the garden plot. Stop in your tracks and gasp when you take in the state of the yard. Sigh. Count to ten. Holler out some full names, first-second-last and watch kids stop in their tracks and come stumping dejectedly along, fully conscious of what's coming. Tell your children they are not pigs, and just because they live on a farm does not give them license to turn it into a pigsty. Sigh again. Send children for wagons and baskets and wheelbarrows and proceed to do 10 minute yard rescues on each side of the house.
Finally. Into the garden. It's now 2:00 pm. two hours till Prairie Guy gets off work and I need to start supper. Not a lot of time to be terribly productive in the gardening department. Sigh. Go and pick another batch of corn. Shuck it on site, yourself, since getting kids to do it last time on the porch was fun, but messy. And the kids have done alot already, so they have earned the right to play. Do moms ever earn the right to play? Hmmm. Better not linger on that one. Actually, to tell you the absolute truth, the yard and garden work I did today felt like absolute play. It was such a perfect fall day, the colors and textures and smells were tantalizing. After getting another 30 cups of corn bagged and in the freezer I only had time to go out and do a quick picking. Check it out....
A quick pick from my dwindling zucchini plants on the left
and my first picking of the biggest onions. (I have been picking them on a need be basis for over a month of course)
Then it was time to feed the baby again, so I curled up on my swing and sighed. and smiled. and looked. and listened. It wasn't long before I had to call my daughter to bring me my camera (of course), because I was just enchanted by the view at most every angle.
The cool metallic oxidization of the swing's chain.
That charming collection of fresh produce on my porch, shadowed by our old bench and dinner bell.
The clothespins on the line shadowed by the cedar shakes on the barn.
I have this thing for barns.
and clotheslines.
and clothespins.
The asparagus going to seed in the orchard.
Sigh. Okay, the baby was actually done feeding some time ago. Prairie Guy is pulling in the drive and it is time to pass baby off to him and start supper.
Introducing the cast of characters.
Corn chowder, not only homemade, but home grown, home picked and home treasured.
and of course, no chowder would be complete without pan fried Navajo flatbread. Don't even get me started.
Simple? You might laugh. I have to smile. I'm wiped. But you can't wipe the smile off my face.
24 comments:
I smiled as soon as I saw the title ;0)
I love the simple woman's daybook but feel like it doesn't always capture "all" the details lol!
I uploaded some pictures of our day on Satuarday and was planning to do my own "Day in the Life of us" but didn't find the time due to... well pretty much everything you put in this post :0)
It was very refreshing and as always I love the photography, beautiful captures.
Have a blessed day ~
Suzy
I feel as if I was there all day visiting...what a great share.
Now I'm tired for you and delighted you have the eye to also see those things around you!
How blessed and encouraging!
I think you're my hero! You go girl!
You inspire me. Although I know that you must be "completely spent" after many days. I know I would be. You give me a desire to do what you do and I am blessed that you share your pics. They are always beautiful and refreshing to see. You can see God beaming in each and every picture and post. Keep it up.
ok, I WAS going to take a nap this morning, but NOW I am shamed into cleaning my house (lol)
You make me tired just READING about your day :)
ah well, guess I'll start in on that mountain of laundry *sigh* Right after I have another cup of coffee...
Please post how to make your panfried bread! It sounds wonderful!
LindaGay
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
You totally inspire me...I LOVE having a peek into a "day in the life" on the prairie!
Yep.Simple often means an insane amount of effort. :) Loved the post and photographs!
Hope you don't mind that I linked one of your posts in my entry today. I really appreciated your thoughts on children as salt and light as that has come up around here lately. I would add just one point to your wonderful post. Jesus himself didn't start his ministry until, what, age 30 something? Unless you count him talking to the priests in the temple which I suppose would be like a child ministering to his teacher at a private school. ;-)
Well, to tell you the truth Berry Girl, I took a nap this morning... there, I confess. But does it make a difference that it was a 7:30 to 8:30 nap? LOL! Can anyone say E-A-R-L-Y start this morning? It's shaping up to be another LONG day.
That sounds like my kind of day.. and dinner.. yum. hope we can share one together one day! :)
Link away Heidi, although that post still gets my heart rate jumping a bit. That subject (and the other common ones) will inevitably come up perpetually at this time of year, won't they? That's a great point you make too about Jesus ministry. I mean, he was moving about freely in his natural environment and impacting people for sure before that. But it's different.
At this time of year I need to remind myself that people;
1. have good intentions.... usually. They really believe our kids would be better off somehow if we raised them in the "normal" fashion.
Or they are....
a. ill informed (it amazes me how people think kids will be better socialized locked up in a classroom full of peers for 5 hours a day, than living and moving about freely in a big, wide, diverse world full of changing faces, circumstances, people and places.)
b. stereotypically prejudiced (because they've met shy, awkward, misfit type homeschoolers. never sure how shy, awkward, misfit type public schoolers fit into their paradigm, but anyhoo.... moving right along).
c. unwittingly defensive. Because after all, *they* were public schooled (as was I, and think I turned out quite well too thank you very much), as were their kids, and 98 percent of the population. So it's gotta be good right? It's okay, sure. Personally, I want even more for my kids. Good thing we live in a free country ;)
I thought you were quite gracious in that post. It is a tough subject. I agree that most often people have good intentions, are misinformed (or completely uninformed), have homeschool stereotypes in their mind, or are defensive of their own schooling and the schooling choices they've made for their own kids. I need to give people the benefit of the doubt, but we also need to answer arguments with well-thought-out statements such as yours. :)
Love the captured proof of the work, love and grace that was planted, took root and flourished in your garden... and you know I mean more than the dirt. Lots of love.
Only YOU could make a hard day's labor sound so enticing!
Blessings!
You took those pictures while feeding a baby? On a porch swing! Okay, it's official, you da' woman!
What a wonderful day you had!! It sounds like the days around my house here lately. You take such wonderful pictures, and the corn chowder and flatbread sounds great, you'll have to give us the recipes. Great post! Have a blest day. Brandie
I'll post the recipes to my cooking label at some point, but for now here is the flatbread recipe as requested.
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup powdered milk
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 cups water
1/4-1/2 cup vegetable oil to pan fry
sift dry ingredients in mixer bowl, add water, mix with dough hook (just enough to get your ball of dough). Turn, knead and flatten, about ten times real quick. I usually separate into four balls, roll them each out and cut them into quartered wedges. But last night I was in a real hurry, so just pulled off biscuit sized pieces from the main dough ball, rolled them and flattened them into general biscuit shape and placed in the hot oil (medium high heat). Fry til crispy golden brown (about 2-3 min's depending on heat and pan, I use cast iron) flip and leave for another 2 min's and then transfer to paper towel. Enjoy!
Della.... you made me laugh. If you only knew the things I do while breastfeeding... I amaze even myself sometimes, LOL! That's why I just smile when I get the "you expect me to do that (ie, stir soup) *and* take care of the baby" comeback from Prairie Guy. God bless him.
Hi-I loved reading your blog. I am a farmchick on the prairie! Stop in and visit me sometime...I love meeting new people and making new blogging friends!
Are you going to post your chowder recipe too? That is my kind of meal! Busy days are the way to go! Good busy.
Amazing post...just loved it so much and am loving the barn/clothesline photos....what an AMAZING assortment of beautiful food!!! And all planted and cultivated and harvested and cooked by you! Be proud, mama!! :)
I can post a "general" chowder recipe... I don't have a precise one, I change it up depending on what ingredients I have on hand. I'll get those up by the weekend. I have so many recipes I want to post and never get to it, argh.
What an absolute treat for my eyes today. *sigh, sigh, and sigh again*
You know you are living my dream, right? Well, one of many, anyway...
Thanks for the recipe for the bread; I was going to beg but someone already had! Chowder too, but take your time...I got the impression you were just a wee bit busy ;o)
What a day you had, but it sounds like it was full of blessings! And that corn chowder looks delicious! Is that recipe posted anywhere, my husband would love that:)
Blessings!
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