Hello y'all! We are now venturing into the 2nd month of becoming Tennessean. It is an adventure to say the least. ;-P However we have also enjoyed some peace and quiet, which there is a whole lot of around here, well that is if crickets, bullfrogs, cicadas, buzzing beetles, and cows don't figure into the silent equation. Here are some of our latest adventures:
I had an interesting experience at the library. First of all I had to try to obtain library cards. I showed the lady at the desk our postal change of address confirmation letter. She told me that it just showed I changed my address but didn't prove I lived in Greene County. I then gave her a handwritten addressed envelope and she accepted that. :-) After providing references and agreeing to take good care of the books I loaned, I was told that I would receive the card in the mail. I had to be sure I did not sign it until I brought it back in and signed it in front of a librarian. A few days later the librarian called me to remind me to not sign the card until she could watch me sign it. I promised to do so and waited for "MY CARD". I received it, drove to the library, and signed the card in a notarized fashion, librarian watching keenly. I then began to select books to check out. I noticed a sign that said: "You may not check out all of our books on a particular subject. For example if we have 15 horse books, you may check out 4. If we have 10--3, and 5--1. Please check with librarian to see how many you may take." Funny, I had chosen 7 horse books (yes, mom, I still read mostly horse books). So, sheepishly I went up to the librarian and asked, "These are the books I would like to check out. How many may I take?" The librarian sighed heavily and said, "Honey, you can not wipe us out of all our books! What if someone needed to do a school project on horses?" I felt about two years old. I politely asked, "I understand your concern, so how many may I take?" She heaved a big sigh, and said in an exasperated voice, "oh, Four!". I thanked her and sat down at a nearby table to try and decide which books to take and which to leave. Jordin snuck up beside me and said, "Mom, just give me some of your books and I'll check them out on my card!" I "snuck" one to her and she mixed it with her book load and checked them out chattily with the librarian. So 3 weeks here, and I am already on the librarian's "watch list!"
This morning I heard the dog bark and went out to check and saw this large black cow in my garden....and then it took off into our very large hay field....one of my older neighbors came huffing up apologizing for the cow and set off to round him up....i asked if i could help and he politely said not to worry about it. As i turned around to go back home, i felt, "Stefani go get that cow!" So i ran to meet the neighbor and began talking to him and thanking him for his help the other day....he was having a hard time breathing and i noticed the cow bolt for the long end of the field....i said, "I'll go get that cow" and took off running....you can see me running and hooting and hollering through this huge hay field, over the hill, stepping high through acres of wet clover, dashing down by the barn, and then finally i came head to head with this male "calf" who is 3 times my size....he stopped and faced me and i had the thought....okay, look big!....the old man was out of sight....after we (the cow and I) had this conversation, he finally decided i wasn't worth fighting and turned and bolted the way i needed him to go. I got him across the street and into a penned area....a while later the old man came and thanked me for helping him and apologizing for the hassle....of course it was no problem.....anyway as i walked back through the hay field I laughed at my "country" morning and thanked Heavenly Father for the beauty, the fresh air, and cows! :-) Okay so the rest of the story of the "cow"....another neighbor came over to visit (its funny that here in the country where it takes more effort to visit neighbors that I am visited more often than i ever was in the city!)....they told me, "did you see that bull that was in our front yard yesterday?" they then proceeded to tell me how this older man had to chase him for about 2 miles because someone hit the fence with their car and left the scene....so I am SO grateful i heeded the prompting and turned around and helped that man....no wonder he was breathing so hard!!! And as she described the size of the bull and her fear he was going to damage her car, i thought....'good thing i didn't notice his size before i took after him, or I may have had second thoughts!' and thomas says, "Oh stefani, its not a bull until it weighs 1500lbs!" and I replied, "well then this one was 1499!' ;-) Funny story!
We have an interesting garbage system. We save up our garbage, put it in the back of the pick-up and then drive to the "convenience center" to dump it into various dumpsters. Well, we had way too much garbage the first couple of weeks and Thomas was at the hospital too often, so it stacked up and up and up. Finally, I traded vehicles with him one day and drove his monster truck to the dump, full to the brim with garbage. Jordin helped me open the garbage cans and she had a in your face homeschool lesson about the propagation of maggots and such. Needless to say we rolled the windows way down on the way back and laughed at the hair in our face blowing with the clean smelling fresh air.
The girls and I have started horse riding lessons--English dressage to be exact. The Equine Center is just up the road from our farm. The girls rode on Monday and were so superb that the instructor asked if they'd had a lot of experience. Kenedi told her, "yeah, my grandma taught me how to ride" (she's ridden twice in her life). Today I had my first lesson and I actually did okay. I even learned to "post" while my mount is trotting. Now least y'all think I am something else, busting with courage on this huge appaloosa and a teeny-tiny English saddle (no horn! ;-< ), I must confess that "Tuffy" is 25 and asleep most of the time....but when he trots he can trot!! So I am busting with confidence and a very sore behind.
This past week our dear friends, the Rowe Family, visited us. They have 6 children and so with our 4 kids our small home was busting at its seams with 10 active children. It was funny watching the locals' faces as all of these kids piled out of the van. It was like a scene from "Cheaper by the Dozen". When we got into the store, Tressa's 2nd to youngest daughter was screaming as she was aroused too early from her nap. Tressa divided the shopping list and we went our seperate ways. As I grabbed a box of diapers from the back of the store this lady approached me. She asked hesitantly, "Is your friend's child okay? She appeared very upset and is screaming." I wasn't sure if she was referring to Tressa or her daughter. ;-) After loading up the kids and LOTS of groceries we headed out of town. It was a real treat looking in my rear view mirror to see 10 happy faces chomping on granola bars and capri suns. Well that's enough for now. We miss you, love you, and can't wait for you to visit! I'll leave you with a few photos of the country sunsett and rainbow over our farm....who says there is not "gold" at the end of the rainbow! Luv ya!
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