A Donkey Named Zorro

Yesterday was the Annual Amish Auction to raise money for their community's medical expenses. It just so happens that it is held at the farm that is neighboring ours. Over 3000 people attended and it was a fun day of eating, auctioneering, people-watching, and lots of sunshine.

I don't know how many plants were sold, but from 8:30am until after 4:00pm, shrubs, roses, perennials, annuals, and trees were sold. Here's what I brought home:

There were six auctioneers going at the same time in various tents and fields. Not only did they sell plants, but machinery, furniture, quilts (lots of quilts), miscellaneous items, chickens, goats, pigs, horses, and miniature donkeys.

That's were Zorro came from. He is the newest member of the Maust herd.

Meet Zorro:



And his friend Merrylegs: 

 And yet another friend, Cocoa: 

Perhaps it's not a match made in Heaven, but it is a match nonetheless. Welcome to the family Zorro. 

Love,
Dianne

Hey, it's Hay Making Weather!

"Jolly boating weather,

And a hay harvest breeze,

Blade on the feather,

Shade off the trees."

-William Johnson Cory (English Poet 1823-1892)

This morning I awoke, early by my standards, to the sound of a John Deere tractor out by the barn silo. The low rumble is pleasant to my senses and not at all annoying. I can picture Leo out there, sitting behind the wheel, wearing well-worn jeans and a flannel shirt to keep off the morning chill. He will be watching the final three loads of grass silage being blown up to the top of the silo.

The final three loads. Sounds good doesn't it?

The last two days were spent mowing the tall grass in the fields, made up of various grasses like alfalfa, clover and orchard grass. (Our grass just happens to have an abundance of dandelions too.) The smell of the cut grass, starting to dry in the sun, is one of the best scents there is, at least to this country girl.

Dusty and sweet, earthy and raw.
Drying hay is the smell of June, the scent of summer. It is. . .
        . . . the feeling of finding new kittens hidden by their mothers in the barn,
        . . . the memory of unloading hay and getting all scratchy,
        . . . the sound of the hay elevator clanking as it carries each bale to it's destination,
        . . . the joy of making hay houses,
        . . . the thrill of climbing up the tall stacks of hay, all the way to the barn rafters
        . . . the taste of cold lemonade.

I have a memory of being a little girl, maybe about 5 or 6 years old, and going to the top of a long sloping field where my dad, my uncle, and my grandpa were making hay. The picnic baskets were brought, the blankets were laid out on the prickly hay stubble, and we gathered together to celebrate family and the hay harvest.

I remember running and jumping over the windrows, the long lines of hay made to dry in the wind and the warm sunshine, having races with my sisters and cousins. That's me with the long ponytails with my Aunt Laverna and my little sister Roxie. I thought Laverna looked like Elizabeth on The Waltons. 

As you can see, I was the quiet one. . .

It looks like we are getting ready for a game of . . . 

. . . Red Rover, Red Rover, I dare you to come over. . . 

Doesn't my mother look sweet in her apron and pink dress?

I remember playing "balance beam" on the wagon tongues. 

Really, does it get any better than this?

"The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.” Proverbs 27:25

Love,

Dianne

You don't need the boots!

At 2:13pm today, I realized that this evening I need to be in three different places almost simultaneously. I am not sure how it happened, but happen it did.

At 5:30pm, I am to meet someone to pick up some papers that I need.
At 6:00pm, I plan to attend a 31 Party.
I also said I would take a meal in for a family with a new baby; it suits them at 6:30pm.

I joke around sometimes about not having my Wonder Woman cape and boots on, but today I could really use them. To top it all off, I have a nightshift/not enough coffee kind of a headache and I'd like to take a nap.

I did this to myself. Sometimes I forget that I am not Wonder Woman. In fact, I am not even close. Instead, I am Dianne, a pretty normal human being with an overbooked evening that I need to manage.

First things first. I am writing this because it helps me get my focus refocused. And because I believe in multi-tasking, I am drinking a cup of strong coffee with homemade vanilla nut creamer while I type. I think I know what I am going to make for supper (chicken breasts, au gratin potatoes and some kind of vegetable) and I am going to enlist Heather to help me. If I plan it right, and get Adrienne to deliver the food, I can still make the rendezvous (which sounds so much more exciting than meeting) at 5:30 and get to the party at 6:00.

I think I have a plan.

Except for dessert. Hmmmm. That's what Springs Store bakery is for, right? Because, even if I had on the Wonder Woman suit, I still couldn't do it all and sometimes it's okay to take a few shortcuts along the way. Accepting my limitations actually gives me more freedom because I don't get so hung up on being all, and doing all.

It is now 2:33pm and I need to get moving. I'd say moving and grooving but I can't groove without the Wonder Woman boots and I seem to have misplaced them, again.

But then again, who needs them?

Love,
Dianne

An Adventure Awaits

After we straighten up the house and pick strawberries, Ryan, Amy, Heather and I are off on an adventure. We are prepared for anything, whether it is The Great Depression, hobbits, elves and dragons, the mysteries of Alzheimer's, traveling in time, or the next great art project.

We, my dear friends, are heading for the library.

When my sisters and I were young, we would frequent the Accident Branch of the Ruth Enlow Library. Set on a side street in Accident, MD, it was a place that we loved to visit. All of us liked to read, especially in the summer. There was always a summer reading program and we eagerly participated. I don't think we ever left there without at least a few stacks of books. Each.

The Boxcar Children,
Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web;
Trixie Belden books and Nancy Drew,
Any new mystery or a series set in history.
They all came home with us and as we read, we were taken to places far removed from our house on Cove Road.






Today, we are going to get Ryan a library card. He is so excited and so am I. He didn't always like to read, but thanks to some really great teachers, he has learned to love it. I may need another library card too; I seem to have lost mine. Again. I shouldn't even need a card, really, since I have paid enough in overdue fines to add a new wing to the library. . .

I know that many people like their Kindle's, Nook's, iBook's, and Sony Reader's, but I haven't converted yet. I would feel like I was betraying old friends. I like how it feels to turn a page. I like the smell of books (old and new). I like seeing stacks of books on a shelf or in a pile by my side of the bed.

I could sleep there:

 I love books and all the variety. I like being taken somewhere that I may never go otherwise. I like learning about new ideas or old concepts not yet grasped.

A world without books would be a sad world indeed.

And I would be a sad Dianne.

But not today, for it is off to the library we go!

Love,
Dianne

Speaking Another "Language"

I have flowers to finish planting.
I could be mowing yard.
There is a load of laundry waiting to be put in the wash.
There is a load of laundry waiting to be folded and put away.
What should I start for supper?

But I am tired.
Three night shifts, 12 hours each, plus an hour or so of driving each way have done me in.
I want to curl up with a book or a good movie.
I want a cup of hot tea.
A long soak in the tub would be welcome, if we had a tub.
Alas, just a shower.

But, I want to thank Amy, Heather, and Ryan.
No, I need to thank them.
The dishes were done and the floor was swept when I came home this morning.
The clutter was cleared when I ventured in the front door.
Ahhh, this was so sweet to a tired mama's physical and emotional being.

So, kiddos, thank you! I mean it, THANK YOU!
We all speak a "love language" in some form or another and this morning, you spoke mine.
Some people love to hear words of encouragement.
Others need a hug, or some other physical touch.
Then there are those who like to get a gift.
As for me, I respond best to an act of service.

You see, you can say "I love you" a million times, but if your dirty clothes are flung on the floor, the garbage is piling up, and the dishes haven't been done for two days, the "I love you" falls flat for me. Walking in the door this morning, knowing that you all cared enough to make the house look inviting when I walked in, said "I love you" so much louder, than mere words.

You spoke my love language and my heart melted. Now, that doesn't mean I don't like to hear the words, and I love the hugs and back rubs I receive, and yes, I like to get gifts too (Thanks for the Starbucks card, Adrienne! I love it!), but when you all pick up the pieces of our very lived-in home, without being nagged at to do it, well, that says "love" to me.

So, I'll say it again. Thank you.  Gracias.  Merci.  Moran tang.  Danke. Go raibh math agaibh.  Arigato.

My today resolution: Find out someone else's love language and speak it to them. 

Love,
Dianne

15,347 Days

Yesterday was my birthday.
I have lived for 15,347 days.
In the big scheme of things, that doesn't seem like much does it?
It's got me thinking though.

Am I where I thought I'd be twenty years ago?
What do I plan to do with the next twenty years of my life?
That's 7,300 days by the way.

I know that twenty years ago, I had one child and had been married for 3 1/2 years. I planned to be a wife and mother and had no plans of college. I wanted to take care of my family and write a book.

Fast-forward twenty years. I have five children, some of who are now more adult than child, I have been married 23 1/2 years, and I have a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing. Still, no book. Not exactly where I thought I'd be now is it?

My life has taken me to Louisville KY doing mission work, a farm in PA milking cows, and a nursing school in MD. I have learned to play a little piano, and I have learned to love gardening. I have read many books and listened to more music than I ever dreamed of. I can ballroom dance, even if only just a little. Life has been busy and full of, well, life. 


Like each of us, I only have one life. What am I going to do with it? I can't go back and change what I have already done, not that I would really want to. Of course, there are moments and times in my life, I wish I could do again, or respond to differently than I did, but I can't, so why dwell there?

I have today, tomorrow, and the next twenty, thirty, or even sixty years ahead of me. I can learn from my mistakes, I can build on the foundations already established, I can grow and learn every single day. If I have dreams and goals, what's stopping me?

I want to be the woman that God created me to be.
I desire to be where God wants me to be.
I will continue to seek out His ways, His Word, His plans for me.
Because. . .


"...I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11


I love that God loves me, whether I am 20 years old and just getting my life started, or 42 years old and just getting my life started.

Love,
Dianne

Quilts and Dresses

I had some mending to do today and in digging through my sewing stuff, I came across some old quilt blocks. Originally, these were to be for Adrienne's bed. Her colors and tastes have changed through the years though, and country pinks and blues aren't really her thing anymore.

As a matter of fact, they aren't really mine either. But back in the early to mid 1990's, they were.

Not only did I find the finished blocks, but I found a lot more individual squares ready to be pieced into the 9-square block. A lot. So I decided to sew what I had done already, together. I plan to finish it 15 years or so after starting it. I seem to have a lot of projects that are that old. Hmmmmm.

Back to the pink and blue quilt. . .

As I looked at all the fabrics, I realized that some where from dresses that I'd made myself back in the 80ies and into the 90ies. I have decided that I wore way too much pink and blue. I don't even really like to   wear pink now, unless it is in a work uniform.

I think the one above was from a maternity dress/tent.
The two below were definitely both from dresses I wore. Really, what was I thinking. I must've looked like either a flower garden or a quilt.

I am sure that for "back then", I was a stylin' Mennonite chick who had it going.  I'd post a picture of myself in one of the afore mentioned dresses, but that would mean scanning it into the computer and I am lazy.




















Oh, okay already. Here's a picture of me in one of the dresses. Puffy sleeves and all.

Love,
Dianne