Harvest and Moving

-Two words that accurately describe the chaos of the last couple of months. 

Writing? Who has time for that? 

On the closing date in August we marched into our newly acquired home and were welcomed by a strong smoke odor. After all the carpets were out, curtains taken down, and fresh paint throughout, my sister walked in and said "Huh, you can still smell smoke can't you?" 

So encouraging.

I'm hoping that once we stain the hardwood floors and get our furniture in, it will no longer have a hint of smoke... We'll see.

It's been an adventure trying to fit a house renovation into our lives. We had lots of help with the painting process. The things that are left to do are small and time consuming. Painting closets, removing wallpaper from the stairway, touching up the sanding on the floors, to name a few. 

Our children have been taking it all in stride. We purchased two more little balance bikes and now all three toddlers are cruising the farm. Gracia likes to keep up the best she can. Usually this involves toddling to the edge of the steps to scare me, or else plopping down in the mulch pile to have a snack. She rarely sits still for long though. With her new walking skills to work on, she is almost always up and moving. Wait, that means we have four toddlers! Or are the three older ones preschoolers now?

In the middle of all this, when we find ourselves at home, we have apples and tomatoes and corn to can or put in the freezer. Does anyone have a need for apples? I remember with distaste the apple sauce I bought for my children last winter... It had been a bad apple year, barely any apples showed their faces last fall. To make up for their lack, they are profusely producing this year. My parents' trees are loaded to the max. So, apple day after apple day it is. Hopefully this means no more watery and tasteless store bought apple sauce for years to come.

On a chilly night this week, the children played on Allen's trailer while we husked corn. I feel guilty saying "we" because Allen and Deanne did the bulk of it while I helped by running errands to the house, taking pictures of the work crew, cutting watermelon for the children, and fetching boots, worms and jackets for various members of the party. The worms were A's idea. Anytime we found one in the corn, she would cradle it, run around holding it and showing it to anyone who wanted to see, and then tossing it into the grass only to want it back again several seconds later. This repeated itself many times and kept her quite entertained. Jasper and N were pleased as punch with their watermelon and they marched about, chomping on their giant slices. Gracia decided that corn of any kind would do so she was nibbling on the fresh and clean cobs in the totes and when those were taken away, the small dirty ends that had been chopped off. Eventually, we all loaded up and went inside to thaw out. Allen and Jasper stayed to finish husking the corn under the yard light while Deanne and I put tired girlies to bed. 

The next day was a thorough corn day complete with children splashing water on each other and ladies in the house wondering if there would ever be an end in sight. I marvel at the different ways people do things. I love the way working together in community gets a job done. I am beyond grateful for that community and the joy they bring into our lives in so many ways.

I can't promise that I will be writing again anytime soon. Or maybe I will. You never can tell!