Quickish Takes

1.  All the boxes in the house are unpacked.  I would say something like "Wahoo!" except for the fact that I still have a whole barn of boxes and bins yet to go through.  I had planned to do a thorough weeding out, paring down, and all-'round simplifying excursion through our stuff before we moved. But that was when I thought it would take forever to sell our house. Since it took only about a month, listing to signing, to turn over the old place, we had barely time to get it all boxed and out in time, much less sifted through and organized. 

And so I'm turning up boxes that have just plain old trash in them; boxes with a jumble of items from spoons to laundry detergent to cleats packed up together; overpacked boxes bursting at the seams; and boxes with hardly anything in them.   After we finished canning all the apricots, I found my cuisinart packed up with sewing notions, and a couple days ago my camera charger showed up in in a box of miscellaneous that included all the dishes we almost forgot to get out of the dishwasher the day we moved... 

And then there was this:

Maybe we'd better not open this one.

2.  Check out the neat 3-D crucifix Anna made for me.  She conceived, figured it out, and made it all by herself...

3.  "William, are you eating on the sofa?"

"Um.  No?"

4.  Now that we're kinda settled in -- I know where the toenail clippers are now and the coffee pot and beans are all set up and easy to access on a bleary-eyed morning -- I've had a little time to reflect on how I feel about moving away from the old farm, and I've gotta say that the first word that comes to mind is relieved.  We worked long and hard, in two attempts over five years' time, to finally sell the place -- and it was a determined effort.  I'm glad to finally be done with the whole process.  Selling a house is nerve wracking, and there are so many reasons it was time for us to move on.  It was too much for us to care for anymore, for one thing; with Dan away and no big boys around anymore, the girls and I were not up to the task of  the multi-faceted production our old farm was. And, we felt that if we were ever going to sell it, it had to be soon because later could stretch a long ways down the road and we're not getting any younger or more energetic. 

 

 

But, that said, there are things I miss about the old place.  I miss my perennial beds, my heirloom roses, my established garden area.  I miss being an easy drive away from my extended family.  And I miss the way it used to be: when the old cottonwoods and lilac hedge were so thick and healthy that they hid the house from the road; I miss when the boys were all home and got up at the crack of dawn to milk the goats and tend the chickens and mend the fences; I miss the front porch visits of our neighbor who boarded her horses with us...  

 

But, many of my favorite things are history now:  my neighbor  moved to North Dakota and took her last horse with her; the lilacs are still blooming in the back of the old house, but the old trees are dying and will soon be gone; and my big boys have grown up and moved on to their own good, productive lives.  My memories of the farm are sweet-- sometimes sun-baked and sweaty -- but sweet, and I cherish them.  But, I'm excited about planning out my new garden beds; the trees here at our new house are young and healthy and the hay fields are green and sweet smelling; we're close enough to see my family several times a year; we're a short drive to some of the most beautiful highlands in the world; and we can walk across the hayfields to visit with Jesus.  It's all good.  We're keeping the old memories and making new ones, too.

5. Speaking of the new house, tho'...  (and I hope it's not getting tiresome, this one-track mind of mine, but if I don't unload and share it my head just might explode.)  We entertained our first guests yesterday.  Our friends, Cheryl and Jess and family, came over to this side of the mountains for a camping trip (which, unfortunately got rained on, daggone it...), and stopped by for a visit before they headed back home. 
(Smiling and waving, Cheryle!)

 I've been feeling sensitive about dragging out the ole camera to document everything, though, so I didn't take pictures of the evening.   I'm feeling the need to be more focused on the present; I want to enjoy events first-person and not through the eyes of my blog -- something that has been a temptation for me in the past....

But, anyway,  it was so much fun seeing our old friends and the kids just had a blast as Cheryle and Jess's kidlets are all around the same ages as ours and equally energetic and imaginitive! It was such a good time. We had corn roasted in the fire pit, BBQ beef and pork, made in my big roaster, salad, orange slices, and ice cream Sundae fixins brought by our guests. Plus plenty of swinging and sliding on the jungle gym, playing with kitties, catching up with the grown-ups and even some games of chess.

 Here are some shots of the day after the night before.

6.  And here's me having a piece of Olathe Sweet Sweet for Nicole and Baby Gavin, as requested:

Here ya go, Nicole.  Can't you just taste it??

(Heads Up:  Watch for a Fed-Ex box middle of next week...)

7.  Finally, I have to share  this insightful post  from  City Wife Country Life .  If you're at all like me and have a tendency to occasionally relapse into "needy wife-ness," go have a read!   It's good medicine.  H/T: Nadja at  Patch O'Dirt Farm

Lots of Good Stuff over at Jennifer's, including lists and lists of more Quick Takes posts!