Life At Our Farmhouse (July 2018)

“I’m going to live where the green grass grows.  Watch my corn pop up in rows…”

Name that song. 😀

I remember vividly singing the tune at my best friend’s house my Senior year of high school.  And here I am watching the corn pop up in rows all around us.  And there’s nowhere else I would rather be.

I was reminded today when I went into the mall to return a few items how grateful I am for the peace and the quiet our home gives to us. My boys commented, “It’s so busy!”.  And I had to agree with them.  There’s a slower pace that takes over when you live surrounded by the cornfields and not the parking lots.

I know the life we’ve chosen for our family isn’t for everyone.  And there are moments when I wish the grocery store was just a little bit closer to our home.  But walking up our long lane after getting the mail today after a full day of running errands in the chaos that was the mall, I was again reminded of the peace that living far away from it all provides.

Anyways, July was a peaceful and a more quiet month.  We really didn’t accomplish any big projects.  We relaxed and enjoyed the summer.

We’ve spent many afternoons at the pool.  My boys are spoiled that many of their friends are usually there when we arrive.  The little town about 10 minutes from us is very Mayberry-ish. The bikes are piled up outside the pool fence with no locks to be found.  One afternoon my kids commented that none of their friends were in attendance to swim with.  “Do you know how lucky you are?!” I reminded them.  We used to live where you went to the pool and they never expected that the majority of people there were from their small school.  How lucky they are!

We did take a day trip up to Put-In-Bay and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  It was a rare cool day for summer, and we lived it up.  I wrote all about our trip here.

A little after July 4th my brother and mom posed in front of the field corn my brother had planted around our home.  It was tall this year as we were blessed with rain at all the right times (so far.)

They were taking the picture to recreate the picture that my mom has of her and her father that was dated July 7, 1987.   How special it is to be reminded of the many family members who have farmed the same soil.  This iconic photo has been in my mom and dad’s kitchen for decades and I get all the feelings when I think about how proud my grandpa would be to see his grandson farming the fields that surround our home.  It’s just so dang awesome.

As the evenings are cooler lately, I’ve taken advantage of taking a nice long walk each evening.  Our little road doesn’t see much traffic (until harvest season) and I enjoy having a bit of time to myself late in the day after being with my boys all day.  I do feel like I’m going nowhere though.  Anyone live on country roads where they are surrounded by corn or soybeans? It feels like you’re walking and the view never changes.  Maybe that’s why I don’t run.  I look to my left and my right and think beans.  beans.  more beans.  beans.  Ha!

We did have one scary evening last week as a Tornado Warning came across our phone screens about 10pm at night.  We had to wake the boys up to take them to the basement.  They were not too happy about it.  Unfortunately for them, an old house like ours has a cellar and not really the finished basement that would have made this more comfortable for them.

To add to that, water pours through little holes in the rock foundation in a few places.  Wasn’t there a children’s book about sticking your fingers into the walls to stop the water?  We have no sump pump out of no need for it and while water does come in, it leaves as fast as it starts.  I was kind of concerned as I’d never actually watched the water come in like we did during the storm.  My mom’s response…”Oh, it’s been doing that for 100 years.”  I guess we’re good?

This coming month the boys start school and I’m hoping to get back to more of routine of accomplishing tasks around house.  I’ll keep you posted!