Catch my full Blogher guest post here.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
On the First Day of Job Loss, My Blogger Gave to Me...
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Guy Reads: Akron Edition
So, thanks to Aunt CS, it's time for another installment of Guy Reads, the exciting segment where I share with you the news items I (and Aunt CS) clip out of the paper for my husband.
Small town side note: when she lived around here, Aunt CS used to share rides to college with my father-in-law. Not knowing that many, many, many years later her niece would marry his son.
Anyway, she surprised us this week with a fascinating story out of Akron about the very rare Red Wattle pigs. They are known for their extremely unattractive under-chin wattles and dark meat.
We know a little about rare breeds here on our farm, so we wish the young lady from Akron all the best.
We also know a little about fake cows here on our farm. That's why I was concerned to hear that the police in Akron have been hassling a kind man about his restaurant mascot, Cattlelena. Is that not the best name ever given to a fake cow?
Speaking of great names, the PR person in me just HAS to give it up to the forward-thinking geek at the Akron Beacon Journal who thought to register Ohio.com as their domain name. Some Akronite (Akronian?) back in 1995 really had their sh!t together, besides Aunt CS, that is.
Monday, September 14, 2009
What Farm Kids Do for Fun
What a different life my kids lead. Different than the majority of kids in this flyover State of Ohio, even. I have written before on the theme: What Farm Kids Do for Fun and the things they do are so foreign to people, that I may make this a regular feature. Plus, my little farm kids are very cute while they entertain themselves.
Here are Justin and Morgan making up some sort of barnyard parade that looks wacky even to other farm kids. But this is what you can come up with on a Sunday afternoon when you have a gravel circle behind your house large enough for a semi-tanker to manuever in.Here's Morgan on the swingset, enjoying a Saturday sunset. She shares her neighborhood only with wrapped hay bales, the odd hay wagon and a soybean field that's looking a little weedy.
Here is Justin in his tree house. It's actually in a split tree trunk two feet off the ground. Even though he has a swing set nearby--that took his father nearly four days to assemble--Justin prefers his made-up hideaway.
So don't feel sorry for the farm kids. Even though they don't have neighbor kids to run around with, or sidewalks for their bikes, they have developed the ability to explore and use their imaginations. And let's face it, they've long ago finished laughing about the poop.
Speaking of poop (we were?) and farm kids having fun, see below, by popular demand, more photos from our fun-filled exhausting week at the 2009 Montgomery County Fair. Enjoy.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Our Favorite Week of Filth and Exhaustion
The preparation for the fair is work and the being at the fair is draining. And the dirt, good God, the dirt. Greasy asphalt, bleacher dust mixed with poop and shavings, random blackness--all coating the knees of my children and streaking down their faces like they had sh!t for dinner. (Pre-fair, fairly clean photo of Justin above with his soon-to-be 1st place owl cupcakes.)
But for every moment spent vacuuming straw out of the carpet or every load of laundry, there are great moments like these: Ryan winning first place in pee-wee swine showmanship (above), Morgan winning third in the kiddie tractor-pull, Justin collecting a ribbon in the pig show.
We know why we spend a week at the fair filthy and exhausted--it's the best place in the world we could be.
Appointment Pooping
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