A New Season in Life... Spring!

Farming the rolling hills in Northern Idaho is sort of like life, you have hills to climb up or climb down or go around to get where you need to go.

We all have those "hills" in our lives and it just depends on how you decide to view your walk in life.  I've been reading some amazing books that talk about keeping a positive mental attitude no matter what.  Sometimes it is hard to figure out which direction to go, and yes, the struggle to make it to the top of the hill isn't so much fun, but very much worth the effort in experiences and lessons learned along the way. 

And so.... if you've read the past blogs about both my daughter and I suddenly finding ourselves single, well here is a brief update.  Kaitlyn bought a cute new (but old-looking Craftsman like) farmhouse in a neighboring town and moved into it the last week-end in February.  She is settling into her new life and home pretty well and is doing quite well in her MaryKay career.   But to be honest, she (as well as myself) will trip over a poignant memory or a what should have been....and a wave of sadness will splash over us,  but after shedding a tear or two both of us will usually end up laughing and once again brushing off the sadness and moving forward.  As for me, well I have been focusing on "Girly-Up House Projects" & started a new page on some how-to projects found on the page "S-Wheatie Pie Projects"  My other daughter, Jen and I are working to do a S-Wheat Farm Chick Vintage sale this Fall, so mostly I am found with a paint brush in my hand working on various projects.  I even am taking Country Swing and 2 Step dance lessons to prepare myself for a cousin's wedding in Montana this summer.  Just doing that all by myself  was a big step out of my comfort zone and I have found it is really fun. Plus I get to wear my red cowboy boots!  I also agreed to be a Marketing Committee Chair for Chicks n Chaps, a breast cancer fundraiser for an upcoming rodeo. In short, I keep myself pretty busy.

Both Kaitlyn and I  realize that we continue to be so blessed with the wonderful readers who offer their love, support and sometimes their favorite quote to stay strong,  such as, "Strength does not come from a physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will". Gandhi.  Which was sent to me by blog friend, Cheryl.


The Rolling Hills of  "Palouse"

And now for what is happening on the Anderson Farm.... well a couple of days ago as the ground was being worked, I finally "smelled Spring in the air" that heavenly scent of fresh dirt.  Yup, I am a total farm-chick nut who likes to smell the smell of dirt over anything else, just wish I could bottle that smell....

Farmers Jay & Joe have finished planting Spring Barley and Soft White Wheat down at the southern Tammany farm, and have now moved up to the Genesee farm.  This picture below is volunteer wheat from last harvest.  As the field rotation will be garbanzo beans, the farmers need to prepare the fields by spraying out the volunteer wheat and any weeds. 

Volunteer wheat from last year's harvest

And this is what was being done to the field.  I wanted to share what it looks like for a tractor in the field as it goes up the hills, down the hills or around the hills. 

Guessing this to be  a 45 degree slope

Cresting the hill

Starting the decent of the hill

The decent and moving to reaching the other side



Being on top of the hill



Even though I share what a farmer does, we are all American Heroes who go about our lives and jobs. mostly unnoticed.  So in my view, we are the great American workers, as we all do our jobs in different work forces, and here is a very worth while contest that I wanted to promote.  The Great American Worker Contest by Brawny. So hats off to all of you who do your job, just as I do mine.  Together we are what makes this country great.  P.S. if you are a reader and win this pick-up, please share the news with me!  And with that, MAKE TODAY COUNT!  All my best, Gayle