Why my children won't be trick-or-treating

For the past four years, my kids have dressed up for Halloween.

Yes, we recycle costumes.

We have done the "neighborhood" and grandma's. 

We have done Trunk or Treat.

 And while it fun for the kids to wear their costumes, it is torture on the parents to get them dressed, buckled in and out of carseats, staying up to late and eating WAY too much candy.

And the candy put us over the edge last year.  Our kids don't often get candy.  And when they do it is a small piece here or there.  Most of the time, a treat in our house is homemade cookies or pie...not pure sugar candy loaded with dyes and colors.

It took us two days to detox them from their evening of fun.  They were crabby and cranky and had tummy aches.  Hubby and I vowed "never again"!

What put me over the edge this year was when I went to look for costumes.  Apparently, when girls reach size 5T, that's when they quit wearing cute costumes and start dressing as miniature hookers.  My daughter will not be an off-the-shoulder princess, a pirate's booty, or a sexy witch.  She and I were hoping for a ladybug.  And we were denied.

So, it was either make their costumes myself or we just skip Halloween all-together.  Since I have no time this year for costume design and construction and we still have the bad taste from the candy detox in our mouths (pun completely intended), we are taking the year off.

In our house, it's just another day filled with fun, games, toys and laughter.  But it won't be filled with buckets of candy and scantily clad young girls.

Getting Ready to Roll

Now that we're moooo-ving,

it's time to get the free trailer road and animal ready.

We divided the workload to best suit our gifts and abilities.

Meaning Hubby took all things metal.  I took all things wood. 

The trailer needed a new floor and Hubby graciously pulled all the rotted boards out for me.

Here was my mission and I chose to accept it. 

Cover that floor with boards because these girls need to get to their new home.  

(And I didn't think the current Flintstone-esque set-up would work very well.)

So I got out my trusty circular saw, stuck a pencil in my hair and got to work.

A stack of new lumber awaited my tape measure, pencil and saw.

And less than three hours later, we had a new floor!

Complete with custom rounded front.

And I'm happy to report that Hubby changed the bearings that needed to be replaced and put new tires on.  We're ready to roll!

You Can Go Home Again

I'm going home.

Home to the house I grew up in.



Home to the barns and corrals and fields that raised me.

(Yes, that is me riding a sheep.  Ironically, his name was Henry and he was our pet for 11 years!)

But I'm not going alone.

I'm taking this bunch with me.

Already, word is getting out that we don't farm like everybody else.  There's one of these up there and it's got the community talking.

On Monday, November 5th, I'm headed home to make my home.  We're buying my parents' farmstead.  We're moving our family and our business.  Our current customers have no need to worry, we will still serve them as usual.  We'll just be in a different location.

You might be thinking, "This seems a bit sudden."

These plans have been in the works for almost two years.  Hubby and I had talked about moving for a few different reasons.  I said, "If we're going to move somewhere, let's move somewhere that means something to us."  So we called my parents and said, "If you ever want to sell the farm, we'd be interested.  We don't want an answer now.  Take a few days.  Think about it, pray about it and then we'll talk."

The phone rang an hour later.  "Nothing would make us happier than for you to take over the farm."  According to Mom, Dad had tears in his eyes because his farm would stay in our family.  My children are the 4th generation to live and work on that land.  Until the day he died, he kept saying how proud he was that I and Hubby were going to take over the farm.

He knew we wouldn't farm in the traditional way and that made him even prouder.  Every time he visited our farm here, he would want to see what we were doing.  Asked questions and listened to our explanations.  Provided encouragement.

It is sweet and humbling to take over your father's farm.  To walk the paths he walked, to hold his tools, to open his gates.  To take what he built and do more.

I'll share more of this physical and emotional journey over the next weeks and months.  But for now, I'll be deep into boxes.  If you'd like to help, we're packing the truck around 10am on Monday the 5th and unloading late afternoon at THE FARM.  I promise there isn't as much as stuff as THE SALE.

You can go home again...I'd like you to come along!

Ask Annie - Volume II

Fantastic and fun questions again this week!  Thank you to everyone who asked...I'm happy to answer,

1.  What is hotdish?

Quite obviously the person who asked this question is not a ND or MN native.  My friend, Lori, had only lived in this state for a month when her California born and bred taste buds were introduced to hotdish.

(This is the classic "OGT - Olive Garden Topper")

Simply put, hotdish to us is often "casserole" to the rest of the planet.  It has a starch base (potatoes, noodles, or rice), some kind of meat and a sauce (of either cream or tomato).  Vegetables may or may not be included.  You can make it on the stovetop or cook it in the oven.

(And the legendary "Scottdish")

Hotdishes are the cornerstone of any good potluck.  Wait...potluck is also a regional term.  Did you know that in the south, they call it a "coverdish"???  Potluck, or coverdish, is a wonderful event where everyone brings a dish and we all share.  I come from a church that does potlucks at the drop of a hat.  Or the mention that there might be a hat dropping.  We do love us some potluck!

2.  How do you put the cover on your hoophouse?

---With a grunt and a groan and an "oh-my-goodness"!

But seriously, we've done it two ways.  Neither way was suggested in the assembly manual.  The first time we put the cover on, it was in hurricane force winds.  We bunched it up and pulled and pushed it up and over one end of the hoophouse.  Then we secured that end and pulled it (with the wind) across the frame and secured the other end.

This past week we put the cover on again (because we moved the hoophouse).  Hubby climbed to the top of the peak on one end with a ladder.  I handed up the cover and he pulled it onto the top purlin.  Then I pulled the sides on (going back and forth to keep them semi-even).  This worked really well!

In case you were wondering, the assembly manual says to tie ropes on across one side edge, toss the ropes over the frame and then pull the cover over.  Maybe next time...

3.  What is the easiest way to grow potatoes in a small backyard garden?

---Potatoes are so fun to grow!  And I have never met a potato I didn't like.  That makes them the top of my list of garden must haves.  Before I married Hubby, I lived in a small town.  I had a small garden.  And I had potatoes.  Potatoes can be planted fairly close together which allows you to maximize garden space.  They aren't fussy:  the don't like too much water or too fertile of soil.

There are some people who have grown potatoes in garbage cans and tires.  From what I hear, these methods were either a huge success or a colossal failure.  It's 50/50 at best.  I prefer good old soil to grow my potatoes.  But if space is an issue, you can use extra large totes to grow potatoes in...but I'd only do that if I was desperate.  

Bottom line, I'd save space on other vegetables by trellising my pole beans, peas, cucumbers, etc. and saving space for potatoes.

But that's from a gal that's never met a potato she didn't like.

4.  What is the easiest thing to try and can the first time?

---I get this question a lot.  And my answer is this:  fruit or jam.

Peaches are super easy and the taste of a homecanned peach during the dead of winter transports you right back to summer time!  Here's how to can them!

Jam is just as easy, but slightly different.  My sister and I canned jam our first time and that's how I was bit by the canning bug!

I must warn you, once you start canning, you'll can everything.  Hubby often jokes that if he leaves something in my kitchen too long I'll can it!  

The most important thing is to have a good canning book (I recommend Jackie Clay's Growing and Canning Your Own Food) and clean equipment.  The process of canning is the same whether you are canning chokecherries or chicken, taco meat or tomato soup.  The only thing that changes is what goes in the jar and how long you process it.

5.  What quilt do you really want to make but haven't gotten to yet and why?

---Oh boy!  There's a few of them.  I just went through all my books and patterns and only kept the ones I REALLY wanted to make.  But if I have to pick one, it's this one:

I love just about everything by Crab-apple Hill!  I'm a sucker for embroidery and piecing together and this lap-size quilt is gorgeous.  I don't think I will do it in this colorway.  I'm torn between doing a sepia and cream or doing hunter green, red, cream with hunter green embroidery for Christmas.  It's at the top of my list for this winter...after I finish some UFO's.

Why haven't I gotten to this project?  The short answer is Kiddos.

The long answer is that it requires a tremendous amount of tracing and I don't have a lightbox, so I would be tracing vertically on a window and I just can't get excited about that part of it.  Now, if I had a preprinted panel?  I'd be done.

6.  What quilt store would you like to buy the fabric and why do you like that quilt store?

---This could get me into trouble...

I have a LOT of favorite places to buy fabric.  But I'll narrow it down to two:

• The Quilted Ceiling in Valley City 

          The gals at the QC know their stuff.  Especially Linda and Paulette, two sisters who make me laugh until I cry.  Linda and I share a passion and love of handwork (she taught me to English paper piece and for that I am eternally grateful).  The QC also stocks embroidery, yarn, etc. for other types of handcrafting.  Their classes are fantastic!  For years, my two quilting friends from Bismarck and I would go to a weekend retreat there and eat and sew and eat and sew.  The rule was when you sewed through your finger, you had to go to bed.

• The Bay Window in Perham

          This quilt shop overwhelms me every time I go there.  And I go there anytime I'm within 50 miles of Perham.  This is one shop you MUST detour for.  Why?  First of all, they have in-house designers so they have one-of-a-kind patterns you can't get anywhere else.  And they have samples and kits of everything.  Second, their fabric selection is second to none.  Any type, any colorway...they have it.  I bought the fabric for Kiddo3's baby quilt there.  Had no idea what I wanted and found something I wouldn't normally pick, but I love it and can't wait to finish it!  (She's almost 2 so it's about time!)

Like I said, these were fantastic and fun questions.  Thanks so much!

If you have a question you'd like answered in "Ask Annie", leave it in the comments and I'll answer it next time.

Calling Your Children Names

This is my baby.  When she was born her brother couldn't say her name.  He called her "Elnote".  Which Hubby and I responded, "Well, that's Spanish for 'The Note'"!

And from then on she's been The Note, or Notey.  Sometimes LoveNote or QuarterNote.

Our other two children have had nicknames, but none that have been as well-used or as long-lasting as The Note.

This week I dedicated a whole day to bread baking to fill my freezer with some loaves and buns.

A quadruple batch yielded 24 buns and 7 loaves of bread.

My kids got up from their nap and when my back was turned... 

...buns were snitched...

...and holes were poked in loaves.

I banished them to the great outdoors and may or may not have referred to them as "BUN-STEALING-LOAF-POKERS".

I wonder if that will catch on like The Note...

He's No Rhinestone Cowboy

As you may recall, we have a cowboy in our family.

A rough, tough cowboy.

A cowboy who potty trained pretty quickly when he was told that John Wayne and Matt Dillon didn't pee or poop in their underwear.  And neither did Gil Favor, Cowboy Sam, Shorty, Lomax, John Chisum or Mr. McClintock.

Our cowboy started doing a strange thing a few days ago.  He walked around the house holding a pair of jeans in front of him.  When we asked him "Ummm, what's up with the pants?"

He said, "They're my yudder cowboy jeans."

OK.

But it made playing and running kind of difficult.

Then Hubby was watching an episode of Rawhide with our cowboy.  As he saw Gil Favor wearing a large pair of chaps, it dawned on him that our cowboy was wanting to have chaps!

{light bulb moment here}

The call went out to grandma that chaps would be a great Christmas present.  She thought she had a Halloween costume pattern that had chaps.  

Until then, here's our cowboy with his chaps.

Tuesday Tidbit - Time

Now that fall has arrived, farm life has slowed down quite a bit.  Chores don't take as long.  We have less daylight so we can sleep in and go to bed earlier.  

And we have more time for family horse rides!