There is a Time for Everything

I have been planning in my mind over these last few weeks about what topic my next post would be about and then I came across another bloggers post. I learned a new term after reading it: "farm widow." Farm widows are the wives of husbands who farm and are left alone most of the time during planting season because their husbands are busy getting crops in the ground. The particular blogger who wrote this post doesn't like the term (and either do I), but I'll get back to that in a minute.

A few weeks ago, the start of a week was particularly stressful for my husband - things just weren't working out as they should and he was trying so hard to organize everyone so he could get the seed drill and corn planter into the fields. And then I had a ton of yard work I needed him to help me with, and the kids weren't helping matters with the fighting and getting into all sorts of trouble. This was all happening after I had a previous rotten week (potty training spiraled downward, things broke, pets died and kids got into mischief).

So the beginning of that week we were texting back and forth. I think I had a question for him about an invoice or something. He told me how his day was going (which remember, was not good), and he asked how mine was going. I felt bad things weren't going good for him and replied that we were fine at home (but obviously I was pulling my hair out). I never bothered to ask him when he was going to get fertilizing the lawn (from the bags we bought two years ago - still sitting in the same spot), or that I needed a limb moved, or ask him I needed a garden tool rack built or that Jacob had 3 accidents already that day. It just didn't, and doesn't, seem right to bother him with these insignificant things. So maybe significant to me but on the grand scheme of things (ie. hundreds of acres of seed that needs to be planted), not at all important.

Now back to "farm widow." The obvious is that it's like saying your husband has died. I can't believe that some people use this term for that reason. It can also most definitely be interpreted the wrong way and it's so disrespectful to your husband. Besides, I am the one who married a farmer and I don't do the field work, so what else is to be expected when planting season is here? But hats off to all the women out there who help in the fields, plus look after the kids and paperwork, or even do all that and have off-farm employment. I guess my point is that the farm husband is out there working hard to support his family and it's never an easy or simple job. There is great passion, sweat, blood and perseverance put forth. How could I get in the way of that?

After being married to a farmer now for almost 10 years (on June 3rd!), I know that things get done all in good time. Usually things are timed in such a way that it all works out in the end. And if not, then it can always wait for another day, or even another year like those bags of lawn fertilizer. I think I pestered him about that on more than one occasion last year and I've only mentioned it once this year. I don't think he needs a reminder about that job because 1. the bags are sitting beside the back door where he can see them and 2. if it gets done, it just means the grass will grow much quicker and I'll have to cut it more often!

Always remember to love and support your husband through planting season. 

Jacob waving to one of our hired guys.

I'm reminded by this scripture verse:

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3: 9-13

Five Ways to Decorate with Antique Windows

I love old windows. There's so much history and character in them. Here's five ways I have decorated using antique windows in my home.

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#1

Any kind of decal can add so much to the glass of the window and can help incorporate your style to the decoration. You can use words or interesting designs. Decal found at RoomMates Peel and Stick Decor.

Side note: These decals are by far the best I've found. You can re-position as many times as you want until you get it right. They don't leave residue and don't peel paint off even after they have been there for a few years. I have found that if they are on the wall for a long time (I took one off that was there three years), and depending on the design of the decal, it's hard to not tear the decal itself while removing it. I had purchased this one for my son's bedroom three years ago and just removed "Baby." It was hard to save it (although I don't know why or if you would want to save them?)

#2

As a backdrop for a vignette. Use the window frame to hang decor off of or frame an image.

(Eventually I will pin the hats to the frame, rather than have them hanging on the wall, like pictured. Who else hates filling and re-touching holes in the wall?!)

#3

There's a lot going on in this picture, but the large window on the bottom right is one of the old storm windows from the farmhouse. The pieces at the top are old decorative fascia. Bring inside what was once outside to create a rustic gallery wall.

#4

Here's an example of how you can incorporate decals to fit a specific design and purpose. This one is over my washer and dryer. This window came from our barn and the decals have been applied directly to the wall.
Decal found at RoomMates Peel and Stick Decor.

#5

Here's my favourite way to use old screened windows. These are also from the farmhouse (I found these and the one from #3 idea in the basement.) The photos are Instagram prints from Social Print Studio. They are attached using Dollar Store or craft store flat base stud earring parts. I attached them using scrap-booking foam mounting squares, found in the same store you found the earring parts. Then just stick the stud through a hole in the screen (they just fit in these old screens), and attach in place with an earring stud back stopper. I can remove the mounting squares when I want to change the photos and reuse the earring parts, AND I can keep the photos.

What I Learned Last Week

What a crazy week. I wonder sometime how it's possible to get through a week where everything went wrong; one kid was sick, everything I tried to do around the house didn't work out, there was sometimes five things going on at once........... It's a lot to grasp. Sometimes just going through the motions and taking things slow is the only way to deal. And that's extremely difficult for me.

What I learned last week:

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Being Away: I got back home from a few days away last Sunday evening. I discovered that the dog had had many accidents in our mud room where she stays. Yay, extra clean up. My husband stayed home with her while I was away except for one night when he came to stay with me and the kids. She doesn't like it when I'm away. And I guess because we weren't around the house, a skunk decided to dig holes in the lawn and in my garden; I have yet to trap it and it has been around a few nights since then.

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Forgetfulness: I went away forgetting to leave some potted flowers sitting in water and my favourite one pretty much died. And it took my whole first day back to catch up on laundry. I was only away for 3 nights!

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I can still get some great pictures of the kids, even when one was overtired and one was sick.

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Anything can Grow: I threw rotten potatoes out to the compost pile and they have sprouted. Even if I don't get a crop of potatoes, it's still pretty neat.

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I Killed Something: I'm a frog and toad person and somehow I managed to squish a toad in our back door. I was devastated. I think it was the same one that likes to sit in our mud room in the evenings and "sing."

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Hide Keys: We now must take keys out of tractors and the lawnmower. A certain little boy likes to get in things and turn the key and leave it like that and the battery dies. I discovered our lawnmower was dead and it took me quite a while to get it boosted - time that I needed to spend cutting grass because said little boy was with his dad baling hay.

That same little boy can slide down our flight of stairs in his tummy (he didn't do it on purpose) and come out unscathed. He scares me.

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Old Things Still Work: I made an amazing find at an antique market. This kerosene lantern isn't extremely old, but it still does work!

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Time Goes Quick: Wanting things to grow a certain way in my garden seemed to happen quickly, but really it has taken almost 7 years.

There's a rock under that moss! (so the fuel guy doesn't step on anything when he fills the oil tanks)

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Some Things Aren't Worth It: This climbing rose (below) is a new addition to my garden this year. It had these wonderful full blooms, but only lasted a short time. And now it's become a buffet for earwigs. I should have known a rose would be so time consuming.

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And Some Things are Worth It: I waited two years for this orchid to re-bloom after almost killing it. I have been rewarded with it in bloom for three months now.

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Bubbles = the kids play really well together

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Get Creative with Cleaning: You can give a Christmas cactus a shower to wash the dust off. Click here for a how-to.

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Water drops are incredibly serene and fun to photograph.

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Our Ag Business is Forever Changing: Spraying crops with a helicopter causes quite a stir in the community. And for some reason people don't understand it's probably not ok to be outside and watch the helicopter fly around spraying a chemical near them. Either way, it's neat to see the helicopter whip over and around trees and buildings. The kids thought it was pretty neat too.

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Jenna is occasionally interested in farm things (she's become kind of a girly-girl).

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Something I Hate: I hate having a roof done. The kids can't really play outside because there's so much sharp metal and nails laying around. I also can't cut the grass around the house until the roofers are done. They started on it on Friday and quit for the weekend, so around the house has been looking like a disaster. Day two (and hopefully the final day), started at 9 a.m. today. I expect them to be all done by the end of the day and we can get the yard back to normal. But it looks like I'm inside with the kids again all day and they're driving me crazy.

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Mosquitoes Like Me, ALOT: I ventured into our bush a little way yesterday afternoon to pin up a vine that was starting to grow up a pole I have a bird feeder on. I was only 30 seconds stapling two vines on and I was already covered, and I mean covered, in mosquito bites. I cringe just thinking about it. Ever put sunscreen on, then sweat and then get bitten by mosquitoes? Impossible to itch. What a horrible feeling. I had to shower right away and covered myself with Afterbite. The itch is mostly gone today. Lesson learned. I'm never doing that again.

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I have no idea what this box was used for or what I can use it for. It was just so interesting looking, I couldn't pass it up. I would love to know if anyone knows what it once was used for. I'm also trying to figure out what I can use it for now. It would make a good mail sorter, but I don't really sort mail - it all gets put away immediately. It could be mounted on a wall? I would love to know your thoughts.

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