That’s right. I’m joining up with all you instagram folks.
This is what farmers do on their Sunday afternoons ‘off.’ They drive around and scout their fields. (And look hot doing so.)
I really have no idea what I am doing, so please advise me. What happens next? How and why would I ‘follow’ others? Are there things I should be sure NOT to miss? Comment away, friends.
There is no such thing as a perfect fit. How often do we find ourselves saying, “Well, in a perfect world…” but the ellipsis itself answers the question. Here are some reasons I’m not the world’s best homeschooling mother.
1) I have too much to do.
We run a large (comparing acres to number of employees) family farm. I do a large chunk of the office work, along with being ‘on call’ to run parts, people or vehicles at any time. I’m not sure it adds up to 40 a week, but it’s not too far from that. I volunteer in our Parish. I run (almost) every day. I blog (albeit inconsistently). I am obsessed with nutrition and want to make everything from scratch and have sliced, fresh, *living* food every day. I’m sure I don’t’ have to explain to you that there just aren’t THAT many hours in a single day. So I’m constantly juggling what needs to be done RIGHT NOW and what can wait a few days. Which brings us quickly to number two:
2) What can “wait a few days” is typically housework.
I have an entire category named “our house and the drudgery that is cleaning it.” Seriously, need I say much more? I try to stay on a schedule but honestly, it is never going to be as important to me as the items I just listed in my first reason. Which is such poor way of managing life because the secret here is that I absolutely HATE when the house gets away from me. It makes me crazy. And depressed. And I’m mortified when someone drops by, which is always (literally, without fail) one of the two weeks of the year I’ve literally let everything go.
3) Lack of patience.
Many of you who read this are going to laugh. How could a person who homeschools be impatient? Many of my friends will protest, “You are SO patient! I’ve seen you! You handle your children so well!” And to you my dear friend I say, could you please-please-pretty-pretty-please-with-sugar-on-top come and hang out at my house all the time? Because I am ever so much more patient with an audience.
4) I am overconfident.
I tend to be like this in every aspect of my life until reality (or having a baby) knocks me back with a hard punch of humility. I have an “everything is going to work out just perfectly” attitude about most everything, most of the time. It’s unrealistic and unfair. It sets me up for disappointment, and worse for disappointing.
5) Can anyone say scatterbrain?
My mother is still horrified because I admitted to her that (already) once this year I forgot to take my sixth grader to band. I mean it – completely forgot. Didn’t even realize it until the next day. I’ve done the same thing with tutoring. And playdates. And a dentist appointment. Once, at the end of a school year, I found an entire piece of curriculum I’d purchased and totally forgotten to use at any point. It wasn’t written on my schedule, so I never thought of it again (even though it was sitting right there on the school shelf alongside everything we were applying each day). Honestly, that’s quite ridiculous.
So there you have it. The top five items that create a poor fit between myself and our lifestyle. Yet I’m doing it, and it is going really well. Proof, once again, that if I can homeschool, anyone can.
Predictably, you can look for a post about why I’m great at homeschooling coming soon.
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We were all the way in the middle of Iowa, so who says it’s too far to hop over to Moline, Illinois?
What’s in Moline, you ask?
Moline, Illinois, is basically the capitol city of John Deere.
Our favorite place was the corporate headquarters. Not only was it beautiful, but there were combines and tractors to climb on and an entire wall filled with an amazing display of history.
Another stop was the John Deere Harvester Works – the factory where all the combines are built.
They gave everyone a free hat, and Shooter purchased a magnetic John Deere chess set (the pawns are JD symbols). They also had a fun combine simulator and My Farmer had an amazing factory tour (13 and older only).
We also visited the John Deere Pavilion, a children’s activity center and museum of sorts. Here Shooter is attempting to run a virtual excavator.
The Pavilion was cute and kind of fun, but if we could have skipped one of the three things we saw in Moline this would have been it. The gift shop (billed as amazing online) was pretty disappointing. If you want some cool JD gear, buy at the Harvester Works gift shop instead.
Most importantly, we were all together. And I’m *certain* that visiting Moline was one of Farmer Boy’s greatest ambitions.
If I were to go back and do this vacation again, I don’t think we would have stopped in Moline. We would have gone back another time when the children were older, perhaps, and could participate in some of the more interesting tours. If you are ALREADY in Moline for some reason or another, I recommend all of these activities.
I do not, however, recommend that you drive all the way from Boone, Iowa in order to see them.
A hint about the next leg of the trip: The John Deere Corporate Headquarters was designed by the architect Eero Saarinen. Any guesses? (No googling!)
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Our corn harvest was ridiculously early this year (due to the hot, extremely dry summer that killed it – boo). We are always busiest at the end of August. Except this year. And then it rained two inches.
So we drove to Boone Iowa for the Farm Progress Show. My Farmer calls this the “Grandaddy of all regional farm shows.” A farm show is a trade show – about farm stuff (duh). It took two days of constant walking to cover it all, and we still had to rush by several things.
We spent a lot of time learning how things worked thanks to the different displays companies used to show their product lines.
We looked inside all sorts of giant equipment (See the two green bags? Those are mine).
We learned about hybridization of seed varieties.
Little Cowgirl decided there were some things that really needed to be written down.
Sometimes we needed a break. Or a sucker. Or both.
The kids really liked the side-by-side comparison of the efficiency of different planter components.
One of my favorite parts was the cultivation demonstration, where different tractors pulling all sorts of different tillage tools lined up and each made a single pass in a field.
Once the tractor passed, the crowd would move forward to examine the results of each tractor and implement. I learned that Iowa soil is un-freaking-believable.
We saw all sorts of fun and amazing things.
We had many first-time treats (yes, this is the first time my children have ever had snocones, don’t judge me).
Most importantly, we spent all our time together.
Although it could be considered a working vacation, we are generally a multi-tasking sort of family. We all had fun, learned a lot, and now My Farmer can say he has been to the Farm Progress Show (I am suspicious that if he had a bucket list, that would have been on it.)
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, the second leg of our journey through the midwest.
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Here you have it folks, Grain Cart 101. Please excuse the fact that I didn’t put any fancy music or exciting cuts in this one. I just wanted my city friends (Christine at Quasi Agitato and Alison at Writing, Wishing) to get the gist of harvest in my neck of the woods.
Also, please excuse the worked-out-only-washed-skin-in-the-shower hairdo. And I think sometimes there is a finger or hair or part of a backpack in the frame – it’s a crowded cab with a thirty-five, eleven and six (and three-quarter) year old.
Let me know if you love this and I’ll try to do some more. Or at least until I start running out of iMovie templates on my Macbook for the trailers. xo
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Corn Harvest 2012 continues to roll along – The kids and I have been in the field so I have no time to write, but here are some fun photos.
This was the view from my front porch last week.
Here is a picture from one of the days we ran grain cart. So fun!
Shooter took this picture while I was driving the tractor along side the combine as it unloaded grain into our cart.
Watching Dad and Brother go by...
I was busy watching the watchers (Dr. Seuss reference).
Everybody took turns riding with Mom or Dad.
Here is grain cart duty round two.
<3
A look down the cutout...
This picture is for the benefit of our farming readers; can you believe the traffic? And I didn't wait to time this picture, there are always that many vehicles zooming down this road.
We have also started school (more to come on this) and have been so happy for a few cooler days (less than triple digits for the first time in weeks). What is happening in your neck of the woods?
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The promised photos have been delivered:
I love seeing those pink boots and that Dora lunchbox out with the men.
This picture was taken during the cutting of a test plot. In order to test new varieties of seed, we plant several new types of corn side-by-side. This ensures that they are receiving the same weather, the same fertilizer, and are growing in the same environment. Farmers do this all over the country. It takes extra time to do a test plot – the planter is filled only a bit at a time and then different seed is loaded into it after each pass up and down the field. (A test plot is not an entire field. This test plot was just three passes.)
The same process is followed when it is time to harvest the new varieties of corn. The combine cuts a single pass at a time and augers it into the special cart pictured here, referred to as a ‘weigh wagon.’ It is a grain cart with it’s own scale, so our seed representative can record exactly how much that variety produced. At the end of the year, they will publish all their test plot results in order to help producers select which varieties they want to plant next spring. The weigh wagon then augers the corn into our truck (which will deliver it to the elevator we have sold it to) and the combine cuts the next variety.
Isn’t science grand?
Also, aren’t we cute?
Awwwwww. I heart him so much. I don't get to ride in the combine very often, so it's picture-worthy when I do.
It has been a while since we have had a Fast, Fun Friday Mission! How about today? This week, despite the fact that we are *literally* swamped, I have had two good friends reach out to me to see if we could get together. I couldn’t, but it sure made me feel great. Is there someone you know who is hanging by the skin of their teeth? Give them a call or send them a quick text or email just to say hi and ask how they are. It means a ton! OR, if you have a big change or a happy secret, share it with someone. I was told a happy secret this week and I’ve been on cloud nine for a friend of mine ever since then. Happiness is contagious, let’s spread some.
Email me at closeenoughblog@gmail.com or leave a comment letting us all know that you completed the mission. This message will self-destruct in ten seconds.
Okay, just kidding. Have a fabulous weekend! I also absolve myself of responsibility if you choose to share your happy secret with your friend who can’t keep any single thing to herself. I am an excellent secret keeper, in case you need a volunteer. xo
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I apologize for not having harvest pictures ready for you – I have taken the photos, but haven’t moved them to my Macbook or edited them yet. SOON!
In the mean time, mostly we are crippled by the Olympics. I know I mentioned this when I first started blogging, but at that time my mom and sister where my audience. So I’m telling you again: I LOVE THE OLYMPICS. Yes, I’m yelling. My Farmer actually told me this week that he thinks it might be better for my mental health if I *didn’t* watch the Olympics.
He was joking, of course.
Or that’s what I’m going with, anyway.
Several of my children share my Olympic obsession. Little Cowgirl must be repeatedly told to get OFF the back of the couch, to stop cartwheeling during the competition (do that during the commercials, for heaven’s sake! I can’t see the TV!) and yes I will sign her up for gymnastics as soon as humanly possible. When Farmer Boy asked me why they were lighting the copper petals, I was ecstatic to explain the symbolism of the gift the olympics gives to each country represented there, and how they all come together in their passion and humanity to burn as a bright symbol of hope and togetherness. I had tears running down my face and Shooter was even choked up. I had to stop speaking to get ahold of myself.
Farmer Boy took the opportunity to interject, “So, in other words, it’s because the copper won’t melt.”
I manage to get everyone fed (because I get hungry as well), reasonably clean (because bad smells are distracting) and a portion of my jobs finished (the most noticeable ones, anyway) so that I can spend as much time as possible in front of the television yelling “GOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooOOOOOOOOO!” and doing the ugly cry every time someone wins/loses.
I have somehow also been able to continue the children’s most recent activity, horseback riding lessons. They are actually Farmer Boy’s lessons, but the teacher is allowing the other children to ‘sit in’ and also have some participation in the class.
This is not their usual horse. It's just so stinking cute that I had to take a picture.
It is, of course, all a part of his master plan to one day own a horse of his own. I told you about his request for money rather than birthday gifts toward this same scheme. I am shocked at the amount the boys have scraped together and they will be owning livestock whenever Dad and I go to the sale barn to procure some more calves to raise for our own meat.
But that is not going to be happening soon, of course, seeing as it’s corn harvest (oh yeah, and some of the milo is ready) and OF COURSE the Olympics are on. So we are busy.
I’m only posting today because I remembered to bring the computer along with me to Farmer Boy’s tutoring. In fact, I should probably be napping in preparation for women’s gymnastics tonight…
What is your favorite part of the summer Olympics?
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This past week there was not a lot that happened around here. And yet I was swamped.
Lots of things are *getting ready* to happen around here, so I’ve been knee-deep in preparation.
We rolled the combines into a corn field for the first test cut on Wednesday (the moisture content was still too high – a farmer would say “It’s too wet.”) and are now rolling full-bore. This lands me back in the camp of spending most of my time in the kitchen prepping harvest suppers, in the fields driving a tractor to pull the grain cart, on the road helping move people from place to place, or at the computer tallying results and tracking inventory. While I’m at the computer I promise to do my best to upload some pictures from the time I spend in the field.
I’m also ready to begin school again. The kids are excited too, but they are making sure to enjoy their last un-scheduled days as we count down to changing our routine back to active homeschooling. In preparation, everyone will spend the weekend cleaning their rooms and building as much lego as they can.
I have used this past week to put the finishing touches on my lesson plans and preparing materials for the first few weeks. I have also been cooking like mad. Last year, I made several meals I could freeze and just pop in the oven on school mornings so we could have a hot lunch with no effort on my part. It worked so well I’m repeating it this year. I have some spaghetti casseroles, rice/mushroom/broccoli bakes, salmon and noodle dishes, and creamy mac and cheese waiting patiently in my deep freeze.
I made meatloaf, except it was meatsheet. I mixed up our favorite meatloaf recipe, but instead of cooking it in a loaf pan, I spread it out on a cookie sheet with edges as if it were a sheet cake. It cooks much faster (around 30 mins) and is easy to cut into bread-sized pieces. I freeze those pieces between sheets of wax paper so I can pull out one at a time for a meatloaf sandwich or a single hot serving. I also made my mother-in-law’s famous sloppy joe meat and froze it in serving-sized balls (in a muffin tin). They are so simple to pop out of a bag and zap in a dish for a fast, hot sandwich.
I also made our version of granola, which my children love to have with plain, non-fat yogurt and honey…or all by itself. Here is the recipe:
3 cups rolled oats,
3/4 cup EACH: sunflower seeds, walnut pieces, sliced almonds, macadamia nuts,
Mix dry ingredients.
Stir together 1/2 cup oil (I used organic olive oil from Azure Standard) and 2/3 cup maple syrup.
Poor over the dry mix and stir with a spatula until incorporated.
Spread into a large, oven safe dish or sheet. Bake at 250 degrees F (I used my convection setting at 225) for around an hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until crunchy.
Store in an air-tight container.
What is your favorite make-ahead meal?
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