Three little pigs

Really it's more like one big pig and 2 little pigs.  We sold all but 2 of the piglets, Calvin and Hobbes.  Calvin is the friendlier of the two but they're both really nice looking pigs, I think.  I've always thought Hobbes was the best looking of all of them but no one bought him.  He's red in the front and back and has a white belt around his middle.  He's also quite husky.

Keri is fascinated with the little guys and they seem equally as infatuated with her, Calvin in particular.  Any time (really, every time) Keri sniffs him he rolls onto his back for her to sniff his tummy.  She never does it long enough for him because she wants him to play.  Sometimes he even has his eyes closed.  It's adorable.  See for yourself.

Music to my (long)ears

Photo ops

Remember how our parents made us pose for pictures when we were kids?  We have many slides of me and my two sisters dressed in our Easter finery in front of Mom's flower bed holding our Easter baskets just so.  Three adorable little girls smiling at the camera.  I can almost smell the hyacinths as I type.  This tradition of posing our children while we get just the right shot is passed from generation to generation.  I love the photo of Adam after getting off  the schoolbus on his first day of kindergarten.

The tables turned this weekend.  My parents came to visit.  As my folks watched me sit at my computer (I really know how to entertain) I stumbled upon a person planking on their horse.  Had my dad known what was to come next he might have left a day sooner.  Mom, being the good sport she is (Read: gullable) was all about it.

"Hey Mom, I know it might hurt a little but will you lie across the arms of this chair so I can take your picture?"

She was a real pro.  I feel I need to mention here my mom is 74 years old and had not touched my homemade wine.  I think she may have even fallen asleep like this. 

"How 'bout this, Mom?  Could you lie between these ottomans so I can get another picture for my blog?  Yes, I know it's hard to breathe but stay still and stop laughing."

At this point my dad was shaking his head.  He went to bed before I got him to pose.

We went out to dinner last night and on the way home James and I decided we should get some more planking shots.   Yes, James was in on it too.  It was raining and getting dark so we had to be quick about it.   I'm pretty sure we were making Dad nervous because:
A.  He thought we were going to be arrested.
B.  He was worried we were going to run out of gas and have to walk home in the pouring rain (our gas light was on and James and I weren't concerned.
C.   We might embarrass him.

Unfortunately these pictures are blurry because they were taken with my cell phone and some were taken with headlights shining so we could get the picture.   This is me at the feet of King Kong taken outside the Pink Cadillac restaurant.  You can make your comments below about the handicapped sign beneath me.

Not far away is a road named very appropriately for our outing last night.

How could we NOT take a picture of James planking underneath this sign?

Our final picture for the night (only because it was getting too dark) was taken outside the Natural Bridge Zoo.  Remember, it was raining so my mom had to lie in a puddle beneath this elephant's feet.  And yes, she HAD to.  Actually, she may have volunteered.

Today before ma and pa headed back to Pennsylvania my good ol' dad gave in, even though I put him in a very uncomfortable place.

Thanks, Mom and Dad.  I'm sure one day Adam will get back at me too.

Feeling Nostalgic

One of my friends recently found out she's going to be a grandmother for the first time.  She said she looks forward to all the good books she will get to read her grandbaby.   Oh yeah, I can appreciate her enthusiasm.  I loved reading children's books to Adam. 

Today I listened to a cd James made 13 years ago and the last song on it was Wynken, Blynken and Nod.  It was a book we read Adam when he was little and he put it to music and sang.  It's been many years since he sang this to us and I loved hearing it today as I milked.  Adam is 22 and this week said two things to me that make me realize how long ago it was since we held him in our laps as we read to him.  "Time really flies", and "it's a small world".  It makes me laugh that he's old enough to say these things but it also makes me nostalgic for those early days of our young family.

We no longer have the book so I had to find it on the internet and I did a voice-over with James' song.  I hope you like it.

They're everywhere

I wish I knew Spanish

Yesterday I was out strolling in the pasture with Keri, our goats, turkeys and chickens.  It's not uncommon for cars to slow down to look at the animals so I waved to the SUV which almost stopped as it approached the pigs and goats.  Most folks become self-conscious when they see me watching them watch our animals, but today's group didn't care I was watching them watch.  I hollered, "do you want to buy a pig?"  The driver waved to someone in the back who leaned out the window.  "We don't have a farm, ha ha ha".  I assumed they were staying at the campground up the road but I was wrong.  I invited them to pull in our driveway if they wanted a closer look at the animals.  They seemed excited to be asked.

They were originally from El Salvador but have lived in the US for 13 years.  It was 2 brothers and their wives and one young child.  Only one of the brothers spoke fluent English.  One lived in VA and the other in MD.  They grew up on a farm in El Salvador and were enchanted with our place for some reason.  Rubin was full of smiles and appreciation.  His wife and brother had very little to say unless they were speaking in Spanish.  They weren't being rude, they just didn't understand me and my rambling.  They took lots of pictures or videos of themselves with turkeys and goats and laughed a lot.  They were a friendly group and it was fun visiting with them even though I doubt they understood much of what I was saying, which didn't stop me.  The one from VA lives about 45 minutes from us and they were out taking a drive and that's how they ended up here. 

I tried learning a little Italian when we went to Italy 5 years ago but I've forgotten most of what I learned.  I'm thinking maybe I should begin trying to learn Spanish now so when we visit a Spanish speaking country we can communicate a little better than we did in Italy.  It would have been fun to be able to switch back and forth between English and Spanish yesterday. 

Feeling lighter already

Last week we sold our cottage.  This week I gave away some things on Freecycle.org.  I still felt overwhelmed with stuff so today I decided it was time to clean out the garage attic.  When I went up there a few days ago there were 5 cats (I have no idea where they came from) and a snake who appeared to have taken up residence.  There's lots of evidence of mice up there too.  Here's what it looked like before I started.  This is just a small section of the attic.  There was lots more.

Here's the after.

We can actually walk up there now.  There's still more that can go but I filled an 8 foot pickup bed to overflowing and couldn't fit anymore.  I found a few things I couldn't let go of that I probably should have.  Next I need to work on cleaning out the cabin.   Usually a good way to get rid of stuff is to move but we have no plans to do that.   I hope this attic isn't full again in 5 years.