Vacation day 2: Cumberland falls, KY

Did I mention that this is not the way our vacation was supposed to be?  Ok let me rephrase, this is exactly what our vacation was supposed to be but it is not what I had planned.  Sometimes I wonder if God just chuckles while He watches me working on all of these plans that He knows are not going to work out.  Day 1 we were supposed to be at the Kentucky Derby but it was rainy and cool.  We were also suppose to be camping but again it was raining.  Day 2 we were supposed to be in Chattanooga.  Haha like I said not what I had planned.

Also though I was away and not able to post.  Blogging was not far from my mind and with my handy dandy notebook (hahaha..if you have toddlers you know where that saying is from).  But my notebook is not a blue paper one shaped like a dog paw.  Mine is new and red and my Ryan bought for me a couple weeks ago.  So I keeped it close by and wrote about each day on our vacay.

So now on to day 2

We stopped for the night at the Cumberland Inn. It is a beautiful hotel at a very reasonable price.

 We woke up and the Boss took the kiddos to the pool for about 3 hours. Which meant peace and quiet for me, now that is what I call vacation! Then we packed up and made the decision against the weather mans advice to head back to the waterfall that we found in the rain on day 1. The rain was supposed to start by 1 pm and we reached the falls about 12:45. What the weather man did not foresee was that on the way we asked Macy (5) to pray that God would keep the rain away so we could see the waterfall.

 We not only saw the falls but we got to explore the trails for about 2 hours.

Why we all should think a little more about reducing, reusing and recycling.  Such gorgeous beauty God has created that man has tainted.

My wonderful husband and my sweet Macy.

The sights we saw were just overwhelming with the awesomeness of God.

I loved this tree

If you have ever had a shoe come up missing you really need to go look at the Cumberland river.  I think this must be where they all end up.

We drove lots of these winding roads.

 

 And guess what? On our way back to the car the rain started. Macy asked us why we always ask her to pray, I think it is pretty obvious why. The beauty we saw in this entire area is some of God’s greatest handiwork. It was just amazingly beautiful. This rain that I speak of some of you may have heard about on the T.V. We were driving right through the heart of these flood causing rains. God has His hand over us though and brought us through safely.

Then we were on the road headed to Chattanooga.

Our trip: day 1 Kentucky back roads.

We started out on I-75 blazing down the road and making great time.  Which is all fine and good but have you ever seen the movie "Cars"?  Yes, I am talking about the one with all the talking cartoon cars.  Well in that movie it talks about the old forgotten almost ghost towns that are off the beat path but were once pretty happening places.  In my opinion the best way to travel is to get off the interstate and go the road less traveled. (Come to think of it that is kind of the way I live my life).  Anyways, so part way into Kentucky I convinced the Boss to forgo speeds pushing 80 and take the next exit to nowhere. 

I will not lie it does take some adjusting of the mindset from the modern, get where you are going as fast as you can attitude.  To life is more about the trip than the destination!  But when we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of Daniel Boone national forest.  Somewhere amongst the winding roads, rocky cliffs and waterfalls we lost any sense of where we were going and were loving right where we were.  I think there is a life lesson somewhere in here.  Oh it was beautiful!  We were exploring and discovering something new with each bend in the road.  Maybe not JUST like Daniel Boone but cool none the less.  And I am sure you can imagine  what the kids were feeling looking out into these forests with trees and rocks everywhere you turn and very little evidence of human presence anywhere.  We talked about bears and mountains, waterfalls and trees.  If it hadn't been pouring down rain we would have pitched our tent and slept amongst the bears.  Unfortunately, we risked the chance of floating away if we would have done that.

So this was day one of the 7 day trip through 9 states.  The best part is the adventures have just begun!

I promise there will be pictures to come.  I guess I got so caught up in the moment taking a picture didn't cross my mind.  I will do better, promise!

Some bonding, a tackroom, a coldframe. aspargus, fruiit trees, looking forward to rain!

I have to appologize in advance for the lack of photographic input.  I have been so overwhelmed with all the work around here that I have neglected to have my camera at arm reach at all times.  So if you can bear to read with no visual stimulation then kudos to you  ;).


First, bonding

The honeymoon phase with my new horse was nearly jeopordized by his pushy antics.  He for no other reason than ,he can, thought it a good idea to see how much he could get away with, with me.  The last straw was when I tied him and he threw his head and snapped the clip on the lead line.  So after some wonderful advice I decided to settle this matter.  But I knew that would take time.  Time has been in very short supply around here lately.  Wednesday I had a couple hours so I decided to take on this battle of the wills.  I was a bit skeptical that it was gonna work quickly but here we go.  I took him to his stall and attempted to tie him.  He acted like his normal self ancy and pushy self.  So immediatly took him out to lunge him and worked him until he was ready to listen.  Only about 15 minutes. Then back to the stall.  It took 3 times of this and it was like magic.  His attitude was 100% different.  He stood quietly while I groomed him and it was wonderful and encouraging that we were getting along.  I did the same thing on Friday and it only took lunging once!  Then we had a fantastic ride!!!  Oh it was glorious!  He was really listening to me and I even had the chance to figure out some of his cues.  Oh I cannot explain how wonderful our ride was.

Second, a tackroom.

My hardworking farmboy (AKA my husband) went out to the barn and built me racks for my saddles and saddle pads.  So now I have a bonafide tackroom!

Third, a coldframe.

We have this pile of wood that we salvaged from a platform we tore down in our barn.  Farmboy has been busy repurposing this wood into garden boxes.  Well we have two windows that are hanging around our barn from some reason or another.  Today he made me a small coldframe with some of the wood and windows!  I am so blessed to have such a willing handy man that is always up for yet another project at my request.

Fouth, asparagus.

Recieved my 25, 1 year old aspargus roots in the mail this week.  We finally got them into two garden boxes (made out of repurposed wood) on Friday.  Just before the rain was supposed to arrive.

Fifth, fruit trees.

We also recieved one rainier cherry, one stella cherry and one contender peach tree this week.  We got them planted too.  We put all this into the same area of our property.  I decided to put all of my "permanent" fruits and veggies in one area.  OCD much ;).  So the fruit trees, aspargus, blueberry and raspberry plants will make up the area.

Last, looking forward to rain.

And can you see why?  All of this has been wearing me to the bone.  I have more than once this week considered getting on my horse and keep on riding....  But I am still here.  Me and my neglected housework and laundry pile.  Rain, God's way of making people like me take a break.

What farm life means to me part 2

It is spending the day cooking and chatting it up with good friends.  It is the kids outside climbing trees and chasing goats.  It is planting fruit trees until 9:30pm.  It is feeling like you want  to throw in the towel on a weekly basis.  It is remembering that there is no other life more satisfying so you may as well keep on going.

What farm life means to me.

It means waking up in the morning with a list of to do's a mile long.  To go into the kitchen to get breakfast ready and looking out my kitchen window to see acres of space and horses in my back yard.  It means chores are plentiful.  It means gathering my kids to head outside to do those chores.  Sometimes it means being dressed in my nice cloths ready to leave and having to  milk an obstinent goat and getting milk on my pants.  It is letting go of the"image" that I should uphold and not being afraid to walk in somewhere with milk on my clothes.

Sometimes it is picking up a chainsaw and getting down to it because it just needs to get done.  It is carrying wood to the wood pile until my arms hurt.  It is knowing how to make due with what you have.  It is understanding that this life isn't all about having everything you want but about appreciating what you have and who you get to share it with.

It means that summertime brings fingernails stained brown because you spend so much time with your hands in the dirt.  It means that your kids at the age of 5 know more about planting a garden than most adults.  It means going to bed with a to do list that seemed to grow instead of shrink.  It means bruises, aches and pain.  It means iced tea in the hammock with my husband.  And kids digging for worms.  It means farmers tans that are evidence of  alot of hard work.

It means long chats with friends sitting in the barn solving all the problems of the world.  It means horseback riding through the woods and the kids laughter echoing in the trees.  It means not complaining when the rain comes because you know first hand what happens if it doesn't.   It means animal poo and lots of it.  It means satisfaction that cannot be measured knowing you provided your family with the best, healthiest and most inexpensive food this world has to offer.

It means fixing fences until 10 pm and chasing turkeys at 8am.  It means worrying about your animals and sometimes watching them die.  It means experiencing first hand the miracle of new life entering into the world to replace the ones we lost.  It means my kids knowing where their food comes from and it is not just a package we buy at the grocery store.  They understand a life was taken so  they could eat.  It means appreciation for that life.

It means being resourcful and creative.  It means I must always be ready to learn!  It means lifting 40 lb bags of feed and 50 lb bales of hay everyday.  It means family time often means doing work around the farm as a family.  It is working outside and knowing you are exactly where God wants you to be.

This life I live is sometimes hard, well alot of times it's hard.  It is exhausting.  It is frustrating.  It is overwhelming.  It is amazing,  It is rewarding,  It is peaceful.  There just doesn't seem any better way to spend this life.

Our fence is done!

This is my new veiw from my back yard!  It is gorgeous!  I now need to take a new picture for my blog of the hammock since the veiw is so dramatically changed.  We had about 2 1/2 acres fenced in.  Our sad excuse for a pature is the reason that I have not owned a horse up until the point.  It could barely keep in my miniatures.  My new horsey could step over it.  So we have been saving and waiting for 6 years to be able to put this up.  So my dream could finally come to fruition.  So here it is.  Most of it is high tensile except the section that runs along our back yard.  The reason we did that are those 3 little ones that will spend part of every day doing just what they are doing here.  Hanging over the fence loving them some horsey.

Me and two of my girlies.  The other one is taking the picture.

Our first ride together!

Here he is!  He has been here since Tuesday morning.  I lunged him Wednesday to see how he would do.  He did well.  He is VERY alert which made me nervous.  I have ridden thouroughbreds, specifically race horses that have been very alert which in turn made them incredibly spooky.  So I wasn't sure about getting on him.  Riding used to be the thing I did most in my life.  What I lived to do.  But life has taken me on a differnt path.  A path that didn't allow me to do this thing that I loved for many many years.  So I am very out of practice and very out of shape.  So the idea of getting up on a 17 hand race horse was a bit unnerving. 

This is Steady checking out the cows across the street.  Like I said he is alert.

What I quickly found out was that he is a dream to ride!!!  Not spooky and totally safe.  Nothing to fear...well expect my ability to stay on :)  He did what I asked.  Moved forward when I wanted him to stopped when I wanted him to.  And he didn't mistake my arena for a race track!!

We had a wonderful ride!

He is such a good boy.

HEAVEN!