Apologies, dear readers. This spring and early summer had been very, very busy for me. I have just now stopped unpacking (mostly because we need more furniture...without it I cannot place books on shelves) and have been setting the apartment in order.
To be perfectly clear, we are not on the farm. Robinson accepted a job in Beloit, so we have settled there for the time being. Eventually we may decide to live in Janeville or even Milton, but since we don't have a car and still have a giant mortgage to pay until our house in Fairbanks is sold, we're kind of stuck. He's making more than he was before, but we're still pinching pennies (and if the Gods are kind, hopefully not for long)!
The boys took to farm life quite readily. The second day we were there, Arthur caught a frog (well, I caught it. Arthur carried it around in a bucket). Later, when we would go on walks, we would find juvenile frogs hopping across the road and Arthur became quite adept at catching them. Robinson was impressed at Arthur's prowess. The frog in this picture was the biggest one we found. His name is Sir Hops-A-Lot and he used to live in a crack in the sidewalk outside the farmhouse door. I'm not sure where he's moved to now.
I wasn't sure how the boys would handle the numerous thunderstorms we had during the four weeks we were at the farm. They didn't complain about the noise and never seemed fearful. They happily played in the puddles that formed in the driveway the morning after a storm, so really there was nothing to worry about.
For a time, the boys wanted to wear nothing but their puddle boots - even in hot weather and when the ground lacked puddles. People noticed and would often say something, but they didn't care. They seemed oblivious to the comments and still wore them whenever they could. They still prefer to wear puddle boots over any other type of footwear, even when it isn't raining.
Balin and Arthur had a wonderful visit with their cousins, Molly and Ella. Molly and Arthur are only five months apart and Ella and Balin are about a year apart. However, Ella is so small that I'm surprised more people don't mistake her for being much younger than she is.
Surprisingly, there weren't too many issues among the kids. When there were, it was usually sibling confrontations rather than cousin conflicts. They planted tomatoes, peppers, kohlrabi, and peas in the garden. They walked to the train tracks and watched the corn grow. We counted 126 train cars on a single engine. We caught and held frogs. We picked flowers and leaves. They did puzzles together. They watched movies together. They played "Mommy and Daddy" - a favorite new game which resembled "House" of my childhood. They rode bikes around the driveway. Molly discovered she could ride a bike without training wheels. Arthur and Balin were a little sad when we finally moved out to our apartment and I think Molly and Ella were going to be a little bored without Arthur and Balin.
The farmhouse was built in the 1940s. There's a barn, an old silo, a grainery, milk house, and trailer on the property. It's very picturesque, but I could never get the kids to cooperate to do some photo experimentation. Balin was my only child who really stood still, but not long enough to get the settings on my camera figured out. These two are the best of the bunch, but I think they would have been much, much better given enough time and more patience (on the kids' part). The stone walls, ivy, and painted red wood are such an attractive combination. The next time we head out to the farm, I plan on taking some pictures of the boys. And I will bribe them if I have to...
...with watermelon!
A new obsession with the boys. Every time we went to a Piggly-Wiggly, they would beg for watermelon. Not that I could blame them; watermelon (and most fruit, actually) here is so much tastier than in Fairbanks. Or Anchorage for that matter. As much as I miss Alaska, I don't miss the outrageous prices for produce and the poor quality. I could go on and on, but more on that later.
Back in April when I thought we'd be living at the farm, I bought a CSA share in Lomira, about five minutes away from the farm. I was really excited that I'd be spending $15 a week on amazing produce. Dad laughed at me and joked that with all the rain they'd been getting in the area, all I'd end up getting would be nothing but rhubarb. Imagine his surprise when I received my first box with garlic, green onions, two kinds of lettuce, asparagus, radishes, turnips, and kale...all of it beautiful and organic! Needless to say, he was very excited to see what would be coming in future boxes!
The kids were excited to try the radishes and the turnips. The turnips were so good raw. I'd never had raw spring turnips before as turnips are a fall vegetable in Alaska, but they reminded me of very mild kohlrabi.
If there's one thing about living in Wisconsin I'm looking forward to, it's the produce and the cheap food. Both weeks we've been shopping has brought our food budget down to $60/week. It's going to be interesting to see how long that lasts.
Gloria had also visited the farm while we were there. We cleaned out an entire bedroom of clutter and then painted it and brought in some furniture. She, Arthur, and I also did a bit of gardening. We took a trip to Mothe Lake. The boys had quite a time digging in the sand. We also went to the Theresa Community-Wide Garage Sale where she kindly bought Arthur a real bike. He can now ride it and wants to take it everywhere.
This was a very long post. Hopefully I will not have this much to say in the future, but it has been a while since I've shared. I hope you've enjoyed the update!
Blessed be.
To be perfectly clear, we are not on the farm. Robinson accepted a job in Beloit, so we have settled there for the time being. Eventually we may decide to live in Janeville or even Milton, but since we don't have a car and still have a giant mortgage to pay until our house in Fairbanks is sold, we're kind of stuck. He's making more than he was before, but we're still pinching pennies (and if the Gods are kind, hopefully not for long)!
The boys took to farm life quite readily. The second day we were there, Arthur caught a frog (well, I caught it. Arthur carried it around in a bucket). Later, when we would go on walks, we would find juvenile frogs hopping across the road and Arthur became quite adept at catching them. Robinson was impressed at Arthur's prowess. The frog in this picture was the biggest one we found. His name is Sir Hops-A-Lot and he used to live in a crack in the sidewalk outside the farmhouse door. I'm not sure where he's moved to now.I wasn't sure how the boys would handle the numerous thunderstorms we had during the four weeks we were at the farm. They didn't complain about the noise and never seemed fearful. They happily played in the puddles that formed in the driveway the morning after a storm, so really there was nothing to worry about.For a time, the boys wanted to wear nothing but their puddle boots - even in hot weather and when the ground lacked puddles. People noticed and would often say something, but they didn't care. They seemed oblivious to the comments and still wore them whenever they could. They still prefer to wear puddle boots over any other type of footwear, even when it isn't raining.
Balin and Arthur had a wonderful visit with their cousins, Molly and Ella. Molly and Arthur are only five months apart and Ella and Balin are about a year apart. However, Ella is so small that I'm surprised more people don't mistake her for being much younger than she is.
Surprisingly, there weren't too many issues among the kids. When there were, it was usually sibling confrontations rather than cousin conflicts. They planted tomatoes, peppers, kohlrabi, and peas in the garden. They walked to the train tracks and watched the corn grow. We counted 126 train cars on a single engine. We caught and held frogs. We picked flowers and leaves. They did puzzles together. They watched movies together. They played "Mommy and Daddy" - a favorite new game which resembled "House" of my childhood. They rode bikes around the driveway. Molly discovered she could ride a bike without training wheels. Arthur and Balin were a little sad when we finally moved out to our apartment and I think Molly and Ella were going to be a little bored without Arthur and Balin.  |
| He's got such a sweet smile, doesn't he? |
The farmhouse was built in the 1940s. There's a barn, an old silo, a grainery, milk house, and trailer on the property. It's very picturesque, but I could never get the kids to cooperate to do some photo experimentation. Balin was my only child who really stood still, but not long enough to get the settings on my camera figured out. These two are the best of the bunch, but I think they would have been much, much better given enough time and more patience (on the kids' part). The stone walls, ivy, and painted red wood are such an attractive combination. The next time we head out to the farm, I plan on taking some pictures of the boys. And I will bribe them if I have to......with watermelon!A new obsession with the boys. Every time we went to a Piggly-Wiggly, they would beg for watermelon. Not that I could blame them; watermelon (and most fruit, actually) here is so much tastier than in Fairbanks. Or Anchorage for that matter. As much as I miss Alaska, I don't miss the outrageous prices for produce and the poor quality. I could go on and on, but more on that later.
Back in April when I thought we'd be living at the farm, I bought a CSA share in Lomira, about five minutes away from the farm. I was really excited that I'd be spending $15 a week on amazing produce. Dad laughed at me and joked that with all the rain they'd been getting in the area, all I'd end up getting would be nothing but rhubarb. Imagine his surprise when I received my first box with garlic, green onions, two kinds of lettuce, asparagus, radishes, turnips, and kale...all of it beautiful and organic! Needless to say, he was very excited to see what would be coming in future boxes!The kids were excited to try the radishes and the turnips. The turnips were so good raw. I'd never had raw spring turnips before as turnips are a fall vegetable in Alaska, but they reminded me of very mild kohlrabi.
If there's one thing about living in Wisconsin I'm looking forward to, it's the produce and the cheap food. Both weeks we've been shopping has brought our food budget down to $60/week. It's going to be interesting to see how long that lasts.
Gloria had also visited the farm while we were there. We cleaned out an entire bedroom of clutter and then painted it and brought in some furniture. She, Arthur, and I also did a bit of gardening. We took a trip to Mothe Lake. The boys had quite a time digging in the sand. We also went to the Theresa Community-Wide Garage Sale where she kindly bought Arthur a real bike. He can now ride it and wants to take it everywhere.This was a very long post. Hopefully I will not have this much to say in the future, but it has been a while since I've shared. I hope you've enjoyed the update!
Blessed be.
