Life At Our Farmhouse (May 2019)

This month was ushered in by the worst smell in the world and ended with one of the sweetest.  Curious, yet?

We started the month by catching a skunk by our front porch.

The only problem with catching said skunk is that the trap was right next to our house.  And if you’ve ever been near the spray of a skunk you know the dilemma this posed.  I’m not talking about the drive-by smell when on the road – I’m talking about the in your face spray – it is BAD.

My husband having done research the last time we had this happen, (yes, this is the second time) concluded that you lay a blanket over the cage to calm the skunk and then calmly walk the cage away from the house.

It worked.

Of course, after the skunk was disposed of it sprayed and the wind blew it right into the house.  Sooooo, it was better than it could have been and we’ll just leave it at that.

Have you ever tried to host a garage sale?  They’re a lot of work but can reap a great reward.  For the last few years I’ve driven the 1.5 hours to my sister’s house where her little community has a garage sale with a large crowd.  This year we tried our hand at hosting our own, in the barn.  (Because, we have more barns around here than garages.)

It was a total bust.  Very little traffic despite our advertising and very clearly marked signs.  Lesson learned.  Don’t host a garage sale when you live out in the country.  Go to a someone’s house in a community.

Spring brought a lot of rain.  I mean, a lot.  My brother, as most farmers in our area, is very behind in planting.  We were grateful when a few weeks ago he was finally able to spray.  The weeds look pretty but I don’t have a soft place for them in my heart.

With the rain it also meant that I was mowing the lawn all. the. time.  Every time I mowed I felt like I needed a bailer.  The views were pretty though.

And like most May months, it was busy.  The boys had lots of school activities and baseball.  Lots of late nights at the ballpark when the rain didn’t cancel the game – it’s a lovely time of year.

I also had the chance one Saturday to visit an Amish auction.  I came home with some fun finds for the home.  And vintage cookbooks.  You know how I love those.

This fun find also was discovered this month.  My dad removed this old stove from our house during the renovation.  He shined it up and it’s back in the house.  It looks kind of sad in the corner so I need to figure how to decorate around it.  But nonetheless it’s back in the house where it most likely once kept one of the rooms warm.

And for the sweetest part of the month, the flowers were blooming.  It started with our lilacs.

But continued with peonies!  I chronicled their appearance on my instagram page.

It’s always an exciting time of year when they make their arrival.  Yet again, I have not been the generation to mess these things up…. yet.

My great-grandfather planting them in the 1940’s and they are huge.  Here’s a picture for frame of reference.

All 22 plants that line our driveway brought on beautiful blooms and I will be sad when they go… which is mostly likely in the next few days.  They’re practically leaning to one side because of the wind we’ve had.

Speaking of ancestors, here’s my grandpa in front of what we think might be our house.  We’re not sure, but it’s super interesting to see what the back porch might have looked like.  That back porch is now our kitchen.

All in all, it was a great month. We had our first campfire, I planted flowers and took lots of long walks.

But the highlight in May is always the Peonies.

June looks like it’s going to be busy as well, but a different pace since the boys will be out of school.   We’re planning on lots of pool time and adventures.