Wimberly Farms

I know it has been so long since I posted. I don’t know exactly what has happened but, I have almost given up. My blog has been taken over by spammers. I have had this problem ever since I  came over to WordPress. I intend to go back to my other blog soon and will keep you posted.

Until then, we are putting in our garden and are so busy. We are installing raised beds this year and it is so much work that we haven’t had much time for anything else.

Keep on stopping by and I will try and get this crazy blog turned around soon.

Thanks,

Tonya

I know that it has been so long since I last posted but there is a reason. I have been gone to Phoenix, Arizona with Keith. He had a business trip there, yes he is so much more than a country man, and I got to go along. We left our kids behind and flew out for several days of rest, relaxation, shopping, and oh yeah, meetings. I have a cousin who lives in the area for the winters and we had the best time. She showed me all the great eating spots and drove me around where ever I  wanted to go.

Keith and I in front of one of those saguaro cactus. They are everywhere!

I had a wonderful outdoor luncheon with my cousin Jean. The birds were singing for us. This was a spinach, leek, & goat cheese tart. The salad dressing was so good. Yum!

This is my wonderful, amazing, cousin who gave me a great tour of the city. She lives in the Phoenix area during the winter to escape Indiana snow.

This was the outside of our little lunch spot. It was beautiful and 73 degrees! It’s called Arcadia Farms and I highly recommend it.

This is Camel Back Mountain, can you see it? It is so creative how God carved out beautiful landscape for us.

This is Superstition Mountain

Our Pool at the hotel.

The happy couple just before leaving.  We had a great time and even though we didn’t plan it, our trip fell on Valentines Day! What a wonderful way to spend it.

We have had 26 years of marriage. He is a selfless, caring, wonderful provider, and I love him.

“This is my beloved, and this is my friend.”

Song of Solomon 5:16

Last week we received ice and snow and all was well until the power went out. So we lit all the candles and oil lamps that we had and sat around reading out loud from the Book of Virtues( I love that book). Luckily, two hours later the power was restored and we all went to bed. The next morning our two girls, who share a room,were awakened by the sound of water dripping. They thought at first it was dripping from the side of the house because we don’t have gutters on this old house. Well it wasn’t. It was pouring from the ceiling into their room. Apparently, a limb hit the roof and you can imagine the rest of the story. So we had to move their beds and other furniture out of the room and there was nowhere else to move it except our living room, which is a good size but, it looks like the Holiday Inn suite. Two double beds with a sitting and TV area on one side and the kitchen on the other. Welcome to the Wimberly Bed & Breakfast. We are going to have to remove the sheetrock from the ceiling which is always a mess and we didn’t see any other way. We have contacted the insurance company and they told us to get some estimates and keep them posted. Thank goodness for good insurance.

This picture is only one part of the ceiling that is damaged. The other side of the room and right down the middle of the room are both the same. We had several buckets sitting all around the room trying to catch the water coming in as the ice melted on the roof. This room is an addition put on by the previous owners and has a flat roof. That means the water just sits there waiting to evaporate. Not the best situation when you have a leak.

It’s been a crazy week. It that weren’t enough, our horse Butterscotch colicked over the weekend as well. I think it must have been the extreme temperatures. We had to call in an emergency equine vet visit, $$.

But thankfully, she is better. Sorry for the delay in postings. As you can tell I’ve been a bit busy.

I am so pleased to report that everyone is well and back at the normal things that we do around here. School is back in session and Dad is back to work. We are fever free, except a little cabin fever and  just a nagging cough ramains. Yippee! I am so happy. No mother likes to see her children or husband suffer. Mine have really had a time getting over this terrible flu. Yesterday was really the turning point for us. They all felt better but needed some rest so we stayed home from church and just watched some movies. It was kinda nice to have nothing to have to do.

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes. Hopefully soon I will have some pictures of the new fence we plan to install.

Well, it hit us. I have wondered if we would get it. I didn’t really worry too much about it because I thought we were pretty strong, in general. But we have been targeted. No, it’s not a hit man, it’s the flu. First my Country Man came down with it, now Bennett (my country boy) has it. He is really sick. I took him to the doctor today and he tested positive for the flu. I asked was it the H1N1 and was told that they don’t normally test to differentiate because the test costs $300. The treatment is the same either way. He has been miserable for 2 days. He has slept so much the last couple of days, he is confused about time and is very weak. He hasn’t eaten much since yesterday although I have tried to get him to. As long as he keeps drinking I’m sure the appetite will return. I just took his temperature and it is 103.1. I gave him Ibuprofen hoping to bring it down.

You know, sometimes things happen around here that even I can’t explain. We have a crazy cat who loves paper. She loves to eat it and as you can see, sit on it. I don’t know what her fascination with it is. She has recently taken an interest in Bennett. She loves to sleep on his bed day and night. He says he doesn’t mind but doesn’t want to claim her as his for fear of having litter box duties.

Anyway, I thought this was a cute picture of him doing his school with her in a chair beside him. She doesn’t let him get too far out of her sight. In the first picture, it looks like she is reading too!

Yes, she gets in these positions all by herself, in case you are wondering. Crazy cat, it looks like your eyes are glowing.

Well, this is what happens when you hire your college kid (in a hurry) to stack your wood. He had a deadline, set by his dad, to get the wood cut and stacked before he had to go back to school or no payment for the job. Needless to say, he was in a big hurry.  We did notice after the job was complete that it leaned a little but tried to have mercy on him for his efforts. It’s only been 4 days and a little windy.

His 13 year old brother wants me to tell you that he warned the 20 year old, that this would happen(both know-it-alls). Gotta love em!  ;o)

As you can tell from all the broken branches, this tree was dying. We love trees and that is one of the reasons we bought this property over 10 years ago, but this one just wasn’t doing well. It had lost several limbs this last year and we decided it needed to be cut. You can see the hood of the John Deere got the brunt of it recently. (nothing a little duct tape can’t fix)

For some crazy reason, my guys decided to cut it on the coldest day of the year. I don’t know why but I think they were bored and wanted a challenge.  We would love to put up a greenhouse close to this spot and just couldn’t take the chance on more debris falling. It is all cut up and ready to sell. Thanks guys.

This big guy loves to sneak into the house any chance he gets and crawl into bed with my kids. He is such a sweet cat.  I don’t think we have ever had one that loves to snuggle like this one does. Even though he looks like a lion he acts like a lamb.

I love this picture of Bailey. She is an animal lover, as are all my children.  :o)

It is incredibly cold in our area. We saw temperatures last night in the single digits. And the wind chill was -5. We even had a meteorologist from the Weather Channel come to the Memphis area to report on the low temps. Although I love to be warm and cozy in my little house, I think there are good things about the cold temps. I will appreciate the fact that there won’t be as many bugs this year when we are in the garden. I like the time I get to spend crocheting and sewing, not feeling like I need to be outside “doing something”. I also love to crawl into my bed at night to read, under a warm electric blanket. It just soothes my tired leg muscles and is so comforting. Many times I think of all the people who are homeless out in the cold while I have so many blessings. I am not rich by any means except in the Lord, but I have enough.

Yesterday we prepared our outside animals so they could endure the cold that was coming.  We put plastic around the bunnies’ cages, bought a blanket for the horse, and installed heat lamps where there needed to be. I think everyone has what they need to have, except for we really wanted to get a wood burning stove in our house. It just hasn’t worked out for this year. With Keith being laid off for 8 months this year, we feel very fortunate to have a steady income again. With all the wood we have available on our land, it just makes sense to use it to heat the house. My silly guys even got out and cut down a big tree today of all days! We plan on looking for a good deal on a stove at the end of the season.

There are so many things we want to do around here. Build a new barn and chicken coop, put up new fencing, and install a greenhouse. Many dreams and plans that Keith and I have in our heads. Just our crazy life, but we love it!