Calligraphy in the Sky

Somehow "Take Car in for Service" got put on my to-do list.  If one were to research the historical data at Yesteryear Acres, it is clear, that this particular chore is not supposed to be on my to-do list.  This clearly falls under Mr. Yesteryear Acres chore list. Given the option of "Weld Tractor Blades" or "Take Car in for Service" - I chose the latter.  I begrudgingly left this morning to take the car to the service place and as I was driving down the highway, I saw a staggering amount of bird flocks.  I am talking hundreds of birds.  The birds were all coming together, and then separating back out and then weaving in and out.  I have never seen so many flocks of birds all at once.  At one point it looked like calligraphy in the sky. It reminded me of this Magic Paint app where you constantly draw designs while they slowly fade off the screen. It was simply beautiful.  I wish I could have taken a video or picture of the sky but I am fairly certain that stopping on the highway to take bird photos is not the best safety option.  Instead I mostly kept my eye on the road while I enjoyed the bird ballet in the sky as I drove down the highway.  It was a sight to treasure and definitely my reward for getting the car serviced all by myself.

True Java Love

Every single morning Mr. Yesteryear Acres is the first to get out of bed. He heads downstairs to grind our coffee beans and make a fresh brewed carafe full of heavenly goodness. I usually linger in bed a good 20 minutes before I head downstairs.  I want to be sure to give Mr.  Yesteryear Acres time to get our perfect cups of coffee ready.  I usually snuggle with a few kittens and doggies as we lay in bed under the covers waiting for the official start of morning. When I make my way downstairs, surrounded by lots of four-legged friends, I can smell the coffee aroma before I hit the first floor.  Every morning my coffee cup is full of the perfect amount of demerara sugar, cream and fresh brewed dark roasted coffee.  This morning was no exception.  My cup was waiting for me........but it was all alone.  I asked Mr. Yesteryear Acres where his cup of coffee had gone and he said he made the coffee just for me. Mr. Yesteryear Acres started a new medication that calls for non-caffeinated beverages so he was skipping his morning coffee.  ACK!  No coffee?!!  Thank goodness he will only be on the new medication for 10 days! In honor of National Coffee Day, I would like to thank Mr. Yesteryear Acres for always being my true java love. I am lucky to wake up to my mug of Good Morning Happiness.

Happy Coffee Day!

Extra Love

With a house full of family love this weekend, the puppies got tons of extra attention.  The first thing my children do the second they come home is -- run to see the doggies and puppies!  Sure they miss Mr. Yesteryear Acres and me but nothing compares to missing the doggies and puppies.  Missing their furry best friends is the hardest part of being away from home. This weekend the puppies got lots of extra love!

I am not sure who was more excited to see the puppies - my son or Bri

I think we can call it a tie

The puppies were really glad to see them too!

Bri always wants to keep one!

Because the puppies are sooooooo cute!

No better way to spend a day

surrounded by sweet puppies!

Always the best part of our job!

We love them all

"Today was so much fun!" 

"Does this hat make my butt look big?"

"We all want a picture with the hat"

"Ahhhh the perfect pillow!"

Happy Monday!

Impromptu Family Cookout

Mr. Yesteryear Acres brother decided to fly home to Ohio for the weekend so of course we had to have a big cookout for the family! It was awesome to have an impromptu family gathering.

Mr. Yesteryear Acres was the grill master

Our younger daughter was given a rare treat - the day off from work!!!!!

We were all so happy she could join us.

Especially my son and Bri.....they did straw bales yesterday so guess who gets the dishes tonight?

Hey Mr. Yesteryear Acres - wanna make dinner for lots of hungry people?

The steaks were DELICIOUS!

So was my daughter's apple crisp.

Thank goodness she made a second one!

One last chore before my son heads back to college

You aren't going to shave it all off are you?????

Happy Family.

Happy Weekend.

Happy Life.

Straw Day

Oh boy!  Look what kind of "exercise" we get today......

It is Straw Day!

Time to load up the barn

I think this will qualify as today's workout

Backing it up

Excellent Driving!

Mr. Yesteryear Acres is thinking........

I wonder who we could get to help us unload

Yay!  My son and Bri to the rescue!

Many hands make light work!

Thanks for the help!

We did have salad!

Last night Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I decided we really wanted a big wedge salad with fresh crumbled blue cheese.  Did we have the ingredients? No.  Were we able to settle on something else for dinner? No.  We had to have salad for dinner, so even though the sun had already set and even though we were starving, we ran to the store for exactly five things.  That's right. Five.  As in - we don't even need a basket, our list is so small. Well we haven't been to a grocery store in weeks and weeks and oh my.....SO many choices!  Everything looked delicious!  Our five things became ten things which became 20 things which became an overflowing cart full of deliciousness.  We jokingly went to the 20 items or less aisle and asked if we qualified.... The checkout person said, "NO".  Really?  We returned home a mere 90 minutes after we departed for our small five item shopping trip and unloaded the SUV.  After everything was finally put away - we did have our salad for dinner! And it was GREAT!

Racing the Sun

With the long dry spell we have had here at Yesteryear Acres, our pond level has really dropped.  Our dock has a bad support post and we have been needing to repair it all summer long. Today is finally the day to hopefully cross that one off the list.  The water level at the dock is usually way over Mr. Yesteryear Acres head so repairing the support beam before today has been nearly impossible. For some odd reason, Mr. Yesteryear Acres does not wish to tread water while operating power tools. With the new low water level in the pond, Mr. Yesteryear Acres now gets to stand in chest high cold water to repair the dock.  Isn't he lucky?  I went out tonight to check on him and he was still busy at work.

Almost done

I let Mr. Yesteryear Acres know he had 22 minutes left of daylight.

Time to race the sun.

This is when my expertise was required.  I was in charge of aligning the pipes. 

Gosh!  I am an expert dock builder!

Hurry Mr. Yesteryear Acres.......the sun is setting!!!!!

Just a few more boards to go!

Happy Autumn!

Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I got the last of the apple picking done today. Melrose apples are Mr. Yesteryear Acres absolute favorite so he was ready to hit the orchard first thing this morning.  We were only going to pick one bushel this morning but the apples were so perfect, we ended up picking two full bushels of apples.

Somebody is thinking about Apple Crisp tonight!

The day couldn't be more beautiful

"My lunch is ready!"

Time to get baking!

Happy First Day of Autumn!

Meals AND Wheels

My son's job at college is a good 5 miles from his dorm.  He works until 11pm at night and then has to make it back to his dorm and then hopefully over to the dining hall before they close at midnight.  He has a very late dinner (if any).  He also has most of his classes on the Agricultural campus with a few general classes over on main campus.  Having a 15 minute break between classes makes it almost impossible for him to get to class on time.  Never fear.....bike delivery is here!

Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I left early this morning to deliver a bike to our son.  Now he can make quick work of his 5 mile journey back to the dorm at night.

He was super glad to see us. We may have had some homemade tapioca pudding, rabbit stew, homemade rolls and a few other things he loves.

Dear son, Hope your trip back to the dorm after work tonight is a quick one! Maybe you will have time to eat dinner too!

Time for Food!

Maple's Double Doodle puppies will get their first taste of real food this week.  They will really start to grow and fill out with the new tasty meal additions.  Mommy Maple will still continue nursing but by the end of the week, her little babies will be licking the bowls clean!

"I don't know if I will like this new thing called "food" but I will try it"

"Maybe our Mommy will try it first"

"Looks like she likes it!"

"Alright, we can give it a try"

"But let's do Monday puppy pictures first!"

"Like this?"

The boys all say "cheese!"

 

"That was a good one!"

"I like to be snuggled in the middle!"

"All together now"

A big bundle of love!!!!

HAPPY MONDAY!