Blah and Blue

Today was actually kind of a blah day.  We woke up with puffy eyes from all the crying we did the night before. We all looked pretty horrible. The very first thought I had when I woke up this morning, was that Paul was gone. I think just about every minute of the whole day that thought never left my mind.  My kids are just devastated. This is the first true loss they have ever known. They are having a hard time saying good-bye to their adopted grandpa. It has been a long emotionally sad day for all of us. I have a list of "must do" things a mile long and after today, I have a list of "must do" things a mile long.  Not much got accomplished today.  Today was a day spent in mourning. I imagine the whole week will be very tough.  My older daughter is trying to get an emergency leave granted so that she can come home this weekend to pay her respects. I hope that she can come home.  I think it will help with the healing process. Despite the shadow of sadness hanging over us today, some good things did happen.  My younger daughter actually ate her very first meal since getting so sick last Monday.  For her dinner, I made a 2 egg omelet with just a little bit of diced fresh yellow tomato and she ate the entire thing.  I know her body is desperately needing nourishment and I was SO happy to see her plate empty! I think this will really help her feel better.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I also got our beets cooked, peeled, sliced and put away for the winter. Just slicing the beets and getting that done actually felt really good.  Beets were Paul's absolute favorite vegetable and it felt fitting to get our beets done today.  I could feel Paul smiling down on me as I peeled each beet.  I also spent a little time today playing outside with the puppies.  I can tell you that there is no greater comfort that a lap full of happy, kissing, tail-wagging, little puppies to make you feel better. They seem to intuitively know when you need an extra hug.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres spent the entire day caring for our doggies. I think he needed some extra doggie hugs and our dogs were only too obliging to deliver all the extra TLC he needed.  I caught him a couple of times just sitting down on the ground surrounded with love by his doggies. They say time heals all wounds, and I suppose that is true, but I am quite certain that unconditional puppy and doggie love coupled with the deep devotion and support of a loving family help the most. We are lucky to have each other and lots of furry bundles of love to help heal ours.

A Real Life Living Angel was Lost Today

My dearest friend, wonderful neighbor, and loving adopted grandpa to my children died today. If I were to write all the words that I possess in my heart to describe how truly special and kind he was, I would write until the end of time. My dearest friend Paul was the most optimistic, friendly, hardworking , grateful, honest, happy person.  No matter where he went, or what he did, he did it with a smile. Paul leaves behind his loving wife, Wilma, and they were married for over 65 years.  They did everything together and always were so sweet to one another. You just never saw a kinder couple. We were garden buddies:  Paul, Wilma, Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I.  We shared our fresh vegetables with one another and spent many hours talking about our harvest and the number of quart jars of veggies we put up for the winter.  Sometimes we would race to see who would get the peaches done first or who got the very first red ripe tomato of the season. Paul loved my family and we loved Paul.  He and my son would do tractor things together and Paul said out of everyone he knows - and that included adults - he would trust my son with any of his tractors, wagons or equipment.  At our parties, Paul would always give the best tractor/wagon rides.  Everyone loved them.  He would take them all over our property and his property and there wasn't a finer hay ride to be found in all the world. We shared dinners together and if you ask my younger daughter, spending the night at Paul and Wilmas was the very best place to be in all the world.  Paul was a true believer in ice cream after dinner.  He would say, "there is always room for ice cream.....it just fills in all the cracks and spaces."  Paul served in the Army and was a confidante to my older daughter.  They shared a bond that will never be broken.  He once told her, "Never let them know where you keep your goat" and he always made sure to ask her if she was holding up.  My daughter always told Paul that she hadn't let anyone know where she kept her goat.  That always made him proud.  Every single morning Paul made his wife a cup of hot chocolate.  Every single morning.  When we were out of electricity for a week one Christmas, he had tried to heat up her milk with a torch just to be sure she got her hot chocolate.  We helped them out that winter and made sure the hot chocolate would be made.  To say they were important to us, is a huge understatement.  They enriched our lives in so many ways.  Paul was truly one of the best men I have ever known. If it were possible to capture the essence of kindness, the essence of all that was good and loving in this world and put that inside of one heart, he had that heart. He loved God, his wife, his farm, his garden, his family, his neighbors and his life. He blessed this earth with 83 years of true goodness.  To say goodbye to someone that special is like saying goodbye to a piece of your heart. He was an Angel on this earth. My children will forever miss him.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres will forever miss him and I will miss him with all my heart. Kahlil Gibran so eloquently writes what I so deeply feel, " When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight."  Thank you Paul for bringing so much delight into our lives. Our memories of you will fill our hearts and we will never forget your smile, your laughter or your love.

A Handful of Cheerios and Happiness Reigns

When my daughter woke up this morning, she asked for a little cup of dry Cheerios.  I don't think giving someone a handful of Cheerios has ever brought me so much joy. She hasn't eaten anything since Monday evening and to hear her actually ask for some food was music to my ears.  She is definitely on the road to feeling better! YEA!  With my daughter feeling stronger today, I felt comfortable spending some time outside with the puppies.  They were so happy to have a long fun recess playdate today.  I was even able to get new pictures taken of all of Lola's puppies. I have felt so horrible about being unable to get the updated pictures done.  I know how much the weekly pictures mean to my puppy families and I hate to let them down. I have the joy of seeing my sweet puppies each and every day and I make it a huge priority to get my puppy picture updates done each week.  I just was so busy caring for my daughter and getting the vegetables put away, I never had a free moment all week long.  Luckily today my daughter was comfortable enough to take a nap and while she was napping, I hung outside with the puppies and brought my camera along. I think I got some really good shots especially considering I didn't have an assistant. Believe it or not, puppies do not just sit in one spot and look right at the camera and smile.  Puppies run all over the place, stopping just to look at you long enough so that you THINK you have the shot, only to find that yet again you have captured your 400th picture of an ear or tail.  I ended up getting really good pictures of every one of Lola's puppies all by myself.  That alone is reason to smile!  Tomorrow I will try and get all of Belle's puppy pictures done.  She has the biggest litter so it will take creativity to get all those puppy pictures done.  They are all doing really well and are growing like weeds.  Belle is such a good mommy to care for all those sweet puppies.  We have been extra careful to make sure she is eating like a queen.  She needs plenty of calories to make sure she continues to have a plentiful milk supply. 14 puppies is a lot of work - for humans and doggy mommies. Thankfully Belle is AWESOME and is really doing an amazing job. I am so happy that things feel back on track here at home. Time to start crossing things off the ole list once again!

So Grateful for Good Doctors

Things are finally looking up in "The House of Sickness".  Last night was a particularly rough one.  I stayed up until 2am with my daughter and then was up again with her just after 4am when she started feeling even worse. I knew that she was suffering from something more serious than the stomach flu and we headed off to the Emergency Room. It was a really good thing that we went.  It turns out that she has Salmonella Poisoning and a bacterial intestinal infection.  She has been placed on very strong antibiotics along with other medications so hopefully she will be feeling better very soon.  We have NO idea how in the world she came down with Salmonella.  We never eat out. She packs her lunch for school and doesn't eat other people's food.  We eat really healthy foods and all of us have eaten the exact same things. Where in the world she could have possibly contracted Salmonella is a mystery. Nonetheless, she has it and now thankfully is being treated for her illness.  My older daughter also received excellent medical care today and she should be back on the road to better health as well. I am so relieved.  Even though both my daughters are the exact same sick as they were this time yesterday - they have been cared for by good doctors and my girls should be feeling better in no time. My world seems a lot brighter today!  The puppies also had excellent medical care today as well.  Roxy's puppies got very good check ups and received their first booster shots.  They were good little troopers and their tails never stopped wagging.  They will be ready for their new homes starting next week.  I feel badly that I didn't get their picture updates this week for their families.  They are just so cute and I wanted to share their cuteness with everyone.  The really good thing is that they are even more adorable than last week so they are sure to bring a lot of smiles when their new families come to pick them up. Hopefully with everyone on the road to better health, we can go back to the normal crazy busy schedule. You know the one that has me canning, and making sundried tomatoes, taking puppy pictures, making delicious meals, playing with puppies, laughing with my kids, running to sporting events, sitting on my dock and all that other fun activities that I love so very dearly.

Well....At least the Salsa is done

Total count of sick children.....THREE!  Yes, it is true - all 3 of my children are sick.  My oldest is sick at the Naval Academy.  She went to medical this morning only to be told she has allergies. Allergies? That is so odd - because she does NOT have allergies. In fact she is not allergic to anything.  And since when does allergies cause fevers? And a very productive cough? And deep chest congestion? ACK!  How frustrating! This is one of those times where I wish parents of Naval Academy midshipmen were allowed to be parents.  It is hard knowing your child is sick and you absolutely cannot do one thing about it. To make matters worse, my younger daughter is not any better.  Our physician is on call tonight and she said if she isn't improving or gets any worse, I have to take her to the Emergency room tonight.  If we make it through the night here at home, we need to go back to the doctor again tomorrow morning to see how she is doing. She is that sick. The only bright spot in the house of WHY IS EVERYONE SICK is that my son is starting to feel better.  I think he will make it to school tomorrow.  I am grateful that he got over his bug so quickly. Tonight we are all going to just hunker down and ride out the storms. Luckily I picked up some more yogurt for our puppies at the store this afternoon before the storms rolled in. I had to be sure my little puppies had their "parfait" dinner tonight.  They just love that. Right now, we are being hammered by quite a display of Mother Nature's awesome power.  We have high winds, drenching downpours, hail and tornado warnings until late evening. I am so glad we have worked so hard all week long getting our veggies in.  I am not sure how our plants will survive this storm.  It was so lucky that we got all our tomatoes picked before this hit. I know for sure this amount of rain coupled with the high winds would have pretty much wiped out all the ripe tomatoes. Thank you Mr. Yesteryear Acres for picking the tomatoes yesterday. We turned yesterday's tomato picking into salsa and finished right before midnight. Last night's total count of salsa....36 quarts!!!!!  How awesome is that?!  I am completely done with the salsa for the year! Yea!!! And for those wondering about my crushed tomato haul.....Total count of canned crushed tomatoes....129 quarts!  Now that is a serious pantry stockpile. I still have a few things left to process before the end of the season but most of the hard work is behind me.  I think the only things left are picadilly green beans and then several days working to make dehydrated tomato quarters. I make my own sundried tomatoes and they are really yummy. It is a pain to do as each batch takes about 12-24 hours and the end result is SO much smaller than what I started with.  It is amazing just how much room water takes up inside a tomato.  Once the liquid is gone - just a little sliver of tomato remains, but the flavor is intensely delicious. I might not get to the last of the garden projects until next week.  I need to get my little babies all feeling better first.  It doesn't matter whether your baby is 6 feet tall or 17 years old or a Navy midshipman - in a mother's eyes, they are still that sweet little helpless baby you brought home from the hospital.  When your babies hurt - you hurt.  Plain as that. My only thoughts this evening are filled with the hope that mine get better soon.

Red Polka Dotted Monster

I know that the very first thing you thought of this morning when you woke up was, "I wonder just how many cups of tomatoes Renee peeled and chopped today?" I bet it was difficult to concentrate on your own work as the suspense was killing you.  Wondering all day long about the sheer volume of tomatoes that I painstakingly diced for SALSA day must have driven you almost mad. Well - I will put an end to your misery right now and share with you the number....126 cups. That is right. I peeled and then chopped 126 cups of tomatoes today. Doesn't that sound like fun? I made salsa all day long and I believe the nose hairs inside my nostrils have completely disintegrated.  Every last one has been eroded by the spicy salsa cooking on the stovetop all day.  I look like a red polka dotted monster. I think I have splashes of tomato juice everywhere! My fingernails have turned an odd yellow orange color that may never go away. In short, I AM a walking tomato! And just in case your second thought this morning was, "I wonder how many sick kids Renee has at home today?" The answer to that question is two. I got the other dreaded "MOM, I am SICK" call this morning at 11am from my son. Yes, I had to go to school to pick him up and he is down for the count as well.  He even missed his cross country meet this afternoon which made him really sad.  My daughter is not any better at all and if she is still the same tomorrow, we are definitely headed straight to the doctor first thing in the morning.  Her fever has been around 103* or higher all day.  She is really sick and I feel awful for her.  I ran back and forth from the living room to the kitchen at least 1,000 times today.  I have filled about 100 glasses with just the right amount of crushed ice and gatorade/water/ginger ale. It can't be too much - or it is too watery. It can't be too little or else - it is not cold enough. Ahh the joys of a house full of sick kids! And please do not forget the STRAWS! I hope tomorrow they are better. I think I might have to declare tomorrow a canning FREE day.  I don't think I can stand to think about cleaning one more stock pot, peeling one more tomato or looking at one more kettle of boiling water. I realize I will still have to fetch 100 glasses of gatorade/water/ginger ale but maybe not have the torture of doing that with another canning day.  I am pretty sure Picadilly day can wait until Friday. Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I hope to be done canning our salsa tonight by midnight which would be awesome as it is a whole hour earlier than the previous evenings. I haven't been to bed before 1:30 am all week long. I think once I get today's mess all cleaned up - it will have to stay clean for at least 24 hours. I have some other things to do - like...laundry! ... and grocery shopping! ...and cleaning up puppy poo! ... and going to the doctor's office to sit for hours!  I mean doesn't that sound AMAZING?!!!  I am sure you are so jealous right now and wish you were right here with me to join in on all the fun.  I am going to have to insist that I do this alone. I know you are feeling the tears welling up in your eyes and are moments away from crying, but alas, I must insist that I do all of tomorrow's fun filled activities without you.  I sure hope you can get over your deep sorrow.  Please go out and enjoy some sunshine for me. Tell Mr. Sunshine and Fresh Air that I said Hi!  I hope to see them both soon!

Harvesting and more Harvesting

Last night I was totally right on my estimated time when I would finish canning my tomatoes.  The last timer went off at 12:55am. Sadly, I was off on my total quart count and only amassed 38 quarts for a full day spent elbow deep in tomatoes. *sigh*  That means I need just about 15-20 more quarts before I call this year's crushed tomato canning officially over.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I were totally swamped all day. Our day started much as it does every day with.....yes you guessed it....PUPPY POOP!  I was up early and got all the puppies cleaned and fed and watered and then cleaned up the kitchen from last night's canning mess.  I had HUGE stockpots soaking overnight and can you believe it?????  They were still there this morning! And still dirty!!! Honestly!  You would think that I would have earned a little magic last night! I had planned on getting the rest of my tomatoes canned this morning but as always here at Yesteryear Acres - plans change in an instant.  I got the dreaded "MOM I am SICK" call around 9:30 and had to go to the school to pick up my daughter.  She has a high fever and hurts everywhere and is beyond miserable.  Poor thing!  She is really sick.  She couldn't even drive home from school so Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I went to get her and her car.  She has been miserable all day long with no signs of improvement.  I might have to run her to the doctor tomorrow if she still looks as bad.  She has some wicked virus that is for sure!  In between caring for her and the puppies, I did manage to slice and chop fresh picked veggies and they are now roasting in the oven.  We had beautiful zucchini, eggplant, onions and tomatoes just begging to be roasted. I think I made about 2 full gallons of roasted vegetables. I also had the (notice the sarcastic font coming up) COMPLETE JOY of doing my quarterly taxes today and take them to the post office.  Ahhhhh. So much fun. I am fairly certain that whilst paying my taxes - that was the only moment I actually sat down today. I still have tomatoes to do this evening. It is almost 7pm and Mr. Yesteryear Acres is just now getting to the garden to pick the tomatoes for tonight's canning festivities.  It will definitely be a late one. Tomorrow we hope to start bright and early and it will actually be Picadilly Day!  I totally forgot about getting my green beans pickled.  They are REALLY good!  Nice crisp fresh green beans that taste like pickles. Mmmmmmm. After that - ALL I have left to can will be my famous delicious Salsa! MAYBE just MAYBE by the end of the weekend the constant harvesting and canning will come to a close.  This week will be non-stop work as the vegetables all need picked and my pantry needs stocked for the winter.  Reminds me of the Aesop's fable, "The Ant and the Grasshopper" and I hope being the busy little ant will bring much appreciation this winter. As the fable goes, "To work today is to eat tomorrow".

What? My work is still waiting for me?

I can not believe it. Evidently - magical fairies do not exist.  No magical fairy came to my house to answer all my emails. No magical fairy came to my house to do all my laundry. No magical fairy came to take new puppy pictures for the website or update my website or vacuum my house or pick the veggies in the garden or grocery shop for me. I double checked and everything but alas - all my work was still waiting for me! I have to admit, I feel a little disappointed.  I definitely saw a shooting star the other night and I definitely made a wish on the falling star and I definitely wished for a magical fairy to come to my house and do all my work while I was busy having fun in Annapolis.  I didn't even tell ONE soul about my wish so I didn't violate the "FALLING STAR LAW" where you can't tell anyone what you wished for or it won't come true.  How does this happen? Where did I go wrong?  This morning I awoke to 100 hours of work for my 24 hour day. I am not even close to being done despite the fact that I have worked nonstop all day. Mr. Yesteryear Acres picked an entire trailer load of tomatoes and I have thus far peeled 4 bushels of tomato and will be canning and canning and canning all night long. Tomorrow another trailer load of tomatoes will await me and it will be SALSA day!  The house will smell VERY SPICY all day long!  After 6-7 hours of making salsa - every one's eyes in the house start to burn and noses start running. It is quite potent! I can't wait to chop 3- 4 CUPS of minced garlic.  I hope you noticed my sarcasm font on the previous sentence. There is just not enough soap in the world to rid one's hands of that much garlic odor! In between the salsa festival happening in the kitchen, I hope to get all new pictures of the puppies tomorrow. They all look SO cute and really grew over the weekend. They are so cute.  I had a lap full of puppies today and just loved them all.  I missed them when I was gone!  I guess I better get back to my fun filled activity of filling quart jars with tomatoes.  By the sheer volume of tomatoes cooking on the stove - I am guessing that by 1:00am this morning I might have an additional 50 quarts to add to my count.  Yea!!!  Well back to alllll my fun!!!!!!

A Little Crabby

One of Scarlet's double doodle puppies is now happily living by the seashore. His name is Skipper and he has a wonderful sea loving family. When we brought Skipper to his new family they greeted us with the most fantastic feast imaginable! Earlier that day they threw out their own crab pots and caught 2 dozen fresh crabs for us! They then cooked them and seasoned them with the husband's top secret spice rub. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the 24 beautiful delicious mouthwatering crabs - all for us! They even brought crab hammer/crackers for us. When my husband and I sat down for our fantastic crab feast, we were all smiles! Oh my goodness they were so good and were without a doubt the very best crabs ever! The crabmeat was so sweet and the seasonings were perfect. It was so deeply appreciated and we loved every single bite. After we had happily consumed our feast, Mr. Yesteryear Acres said that I looked a little crabby. I assured him that I was beyond happy, but he said not my MOOD but that I was ACTUALLY crabby. Evidently all that crab cracking and hammering had resulted in little flecks of crab everywhere. I was pretty much covered and as he kept laughing, I let him know that he was crabby too! We thoroughly and completely enjoyed our crabs! Skipper's family was so thoughtful that they even brought us homemade delicious fudge and some really special fresh salt water taffy. They said we had to try all their specialties. WOW! I am so glad they shared their favorite things with us! To thank them for their kind thoughtfulness, I shared one of my specialties and brought them fresh homemade tomato corn tortilla soup. It was so fun to exchange something that I love with something someone else loves. I hope they loved their little slice of midwest garden yumminess as much as I loved my slice of seaside yumminess! Thank you Skipper!!!! Your family's gourmet talents were much appreciated and that wonderful crab feast will never be forgotten!

And my world got just a little bit bigger this weekend

The internet is a miraculous thing.  You can instantly look up the lyrics to a song, find out the name of an actor in a movie, find a recipe for dinner and keep in touch with friends no matter how far away they are.  One thing I never expected from the internet was how wonderful it would be for meeting new lifelong friends. This weekend I got to hang out with the nicest group of Naval Academy moms - who without the internet...I never would have known. A mom of a midshipman from the class of 2012 started a facebook group for the mom's of 2012 midshipmen.  We all post on our group page from time to time and are an awesome support system as we all know how it feels to deeply miss our children.  We understand the demands of the Naval Academy and are there for one another to laugh and sometimes even cry.  Until this weekend, we were all just "facebook" friends.  We had never met but appreciated our connection. This weekend we ALL got together.

 We went to dinner together when we arrived in Annapolis and this afternoon we all sat together in a huge group at the Naval Academy football game. It was awesome. There were over 70 of us! It was so fun to meet everyone and actually shake hands and give hugs. At the tailgate party we got to meet each other's children and it was just the best time.  We all marveled at how through something as simple as a social network - we all found each other and now will be "facebook" friends AND real life friends too.  So hello to my new friends! It was so nice to share my weekend with you.  I can't think of anything better than sitting with friends that have the same deep passion for their sons and daughters that I feel for mine. USNA class of 2012.....Two down.....Two to go!!!!!

Back to School

Today was absolutely the best day at school EVER!!!!  Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I left the hotel at 6:30am this morning and headed to the Naval Academy for a full day of classes.  Our daughter was there to greet us as soon as we got there and we spent the whole day together. First up was Physical Chemistry.  Now I don't profess to be a chemist at all but I think I might have just grasped the lesson details today and felt ultra smart.  The professor was amazing and so engaging.  It was really interesting.  Her next class was biochemistry and again - it was a great class. There is something to going to a place where everybody says "Afternoon Ma'am" and the students are really there to learn.  The hallways were so respectfully quiet, it was an honor to be among such dedicated students.  You could really tell the professors liked teaching. They have an audience of attentive, polite, thoughtful students that show up to class on time and have insightful questions and contributions. I had an awesome college experience and went to The Ohio State University. I love love love the Buckeyes! I loved going to school but I can tell you that my college experience in no way mirrors the college experience of my daughter. It was incredibly fulfilling. I am grateful the Naval Academy opened their doors and allowed us to shadow our daughter for the day. We got to eat in King Hall along with the other 4400 midshipman.  That is quite an accomplishment to feed that many students all at once!  The food was really good.  We were told many times that the meal at lunch was an exception to the rule - but honestly, it was a great meal and I had one of the best cupcakes of my entire life for dessert.  After lunch we got to go with our daughter to her 3 hour integrated chemistry lab and that was a lot of fun.  I can see why she likes chemistry.  There is so much to do and learn.  It is a very hands on major and it was easy to become immersed in the classes and labs. After her classes were done we got to go to her room. Ahhhhh. FINALLY!!!!  I was sooo happy to finally have the opportunity to see her room and meet her roommates and many of her company mates.  We ended the day by going to dinner with her entire class of 2012 company mates and their parents.  There were more than 100 of us for dinner and the stories and company couldn't be better.  We were laughing and well entertained all evening.  I have to say Best Day Back to School ever!  Thank you Naval Academy!!!

Country Roads......

The puppy mobile is in full swing and we are on the road to Annapolis. Mr. Yesteryear Acres is our pilot and so far the trip has been nothing but smooth sailing. The puppies love their living room on wheels. They have been happily playing and have been the best passengers. We stopped at the 3 hour mark and met our first puppy family on our journey. They were both so nice and fell instantly in love with their new sweet puppy. They had a big thick monogrammed leash and the puppy looked sooo cute with such a big leash for such a little puppy. I told them they should get a picture so that in 6 months they can compare how much the puppy has grown since that very first time wearing the leash. Remarkably, all the puppies pooped at our stop! I got all the lovely "presents" cleaned up, said our goodbyes and we were once again on the road. Now as for Mr. Yesteryear Acres taste in music...... Gordon Lightfoot? Bread? America? Honestly. He is stuck in the early 70's. We have had the station stuck on "The Bridge" and I have relived all the old songs from way back when. I have to say....I am impressed with my lyrics recall ability. Man I was on it! Best music moment....John Denver comes on the radio singing, "Country roads take me home", and I kid you not, right as he sings, "West Virginia" we crossed the West Virginia Border! Now that is a classic moment! I am sure that Mr. Yesteryear Acres wont admit this but....he totally missed the I-79 South exit!! I mean totally. We (really I) didnt notice that he was going the wrong way for 4 miles. After we turned around and finally got on the right freeway there was the most massive accident. A huge fuel tanker truck crossed the median, hit a big portable construction zone sign and then ended up on the other side of the road up in the woods! It was unbelievable! Cars were everywhere on both sides of the road. We literally had to have missed it by a mere 5 minutes or less. People were just starting to get out of their cars. Mr. Yesteryear Acres said that is why he took the 4 mile scenic detour on the wrong road. Had he gotten off on the right road we could have been in the accident instead of driving right by it unharmed. Good ole Mr. Yesteryear Acres. Always thinking!!!! We still have 2.5 hours of driving to go which gets us to our destination about 30 minutes later than planned. I guess the adage "Better late than Never" is particularly appropriate today! Puppies and all passengeers safe and accounted for....even if we are stuck listening to Dan Fogleberg and Jim Croce LOL.

The Puppy Mobile hits the road again

Tomorrow morning bright and early the Puppy Mobile will be hitting the road.  I am heading east to go to the Naval Academy Class of 2012 Parent's weekend and I will of course be bringing furry friends along with me. Mr. Yesteryear Acres is getting the mobile Puppy Living Room all ready for the trip tomorrow.  It is the nicest travel box and makes driving all day with a car full of puppies SO easy.  The puppies like it too!  I will be making one stop for a delivery about 3 hours away and the other puppies are going all the way to Annapolis. It should be a great trip and the weather is supposed to be terrific.  The Parent's weekend at the Naval Academy is a big deal and I cannot wait!!!  I am sooooo excited!!!!  My daughter started her junior year at the Academy in August.  As in she has been there 2 whole years already and THIS weekend will be the first and only time I will get to see her room!!!!  My daughter keeps telling me it is just a plain dorm room but she doesn't understand that I don't care what it looks like or if it is plain or ugly or boring or beautiful and amazing - I just want to see it!!! That way when she tells me about her day or what she is doing I can visualize just where she is and just what it looks like.  I also get to meet a lot of her midshipman friends and that will be awesome!  Friday I will be going to all her classes with her including her Chemistry labs.  We get to eat lunch in King Hall with all the other midshipman at the Naval Academy which is a real treat! I am sure I won't sleep a wink all night!!!  I have "met" a lot of really nice moms of other 2012 midshipman on facebook and we are meeting for dinner in Annapolis tomorrow evening so we can actually MEET each other.  I think there is something like 50 of us!!!  That will be the biggest dinner outing I will have ever been to.  We have a football game on Saturday, tailgate parties, lunches, dinners, friends, food, classes, shopping - I mean this is going to be one full and very busy weekend.  I have some baking/cooking to get done this evening along with getting all the puppy care packets ready and make sure the puppies are all ready for their big adventure.  My music list is updated and ready to play!  USNA Parent's Weekend...... here I come!!!!!

Chicken and Dumplings

Did you know that if you make homemade chicken and dumplings from scratch that you will instantly become the most interesting person in your entire house? Last night I slowly cooked chicken broth overnight from a leftover roasted chicken I had made over the weekend. I thought a good batch of homemade chicken soup would make my daughter feel much better. The house smelled heavenly when we woke up.  I noticed that I had quite an entourage follow me to the kitchen as I went to get my morning cup of coffee. My furry friends were quite interested in every move I made.  Despite the fact that I told the doodle doggies and puppies many times that the soup was in fact for the human residents of this house, they refused to believe me. If I raised my arm, they raised their heads with intense longing. Every move I made was instantly mirrored by the dogs. Straining the soup almost made for audible "mmmmmmmms" coming from my furry companions.  From time to time I will make homemade stock for the doggies so the dogs continued to be convinced that I was making a birthday dinner for them. I have not been left alone the entire day.  Trips to the basement....doggy companions. Trips to the garden....doggy companions.  Trips to the bathroom....yes you guessed it... a bathroom full of four legged friends.  My chicken stock perfume must be heavenly. I even had company when I took my son to cross country practice.  And if the furry gratitude wasn't praise enough - the human members of my family were also following me around wondering when the soup would be ready. I think the longest 20 minutes of the day came after I rolled out the dumplings and added them to the pot.  No sneaking a peek. No lifting the lid. Just plain waiting. The end result.....mmmmmmm. It made everyone's tummy happy and even made my daughter feel tons better. Sadly for the doggies, the chicken and dumplings were so delicious that not one drop remained for them.  I guess next time I will have to make the doggy version.  From the looks I have been getting this evening, I think I better make a batch soon!

LABOR Day

I am sure this comes as no surprise but today in honor of Labor Day we here at Yesteryear Acres.....worked. I know, I know - you are shocked. This morning, my son was quite thorough in providing Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I with the definition of the Labor Day Holiday.  He gave us a nice explanation as to the reason the holiday was created and suggested we all celebrate. I loved his enthusiasm but alas there was just too much work to do, so on this Labor day - we labored. The puppies all had lots of attention today as the weather was fantastic.  We took tons of pictures of the puppies and I got everything posted to the website this evening.  I think they turned out really well.  Roxy's puppies are now eating all their breakfast and dinner and have started to fill out and grow.  They are so cute.  I love the shiny black satin beauties.  I secretly want to keep one but I am well aware that we have enough puppies and just can't do that right now.  I really really really want to though!!! They are so snuggly and so cute.  My son worked all day long today and was so helpful.  He is a great helper and I don't know what we would do without him. He did the work of at least 2 people today and even helped with the vegetable processing. Sadly my younger daughter has the stomach flu and was flat out sick today.  Poor thing.  She couldn't even move from the couch for the whole day and was just miserably sick.  I was so busy that I didn't even get to sit with her.  I felt bad because when you are really sick it is nice to have someone nearby.  I hope she feels better by tomorrow morning. Along with the garden work and puppy care, Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my son worked on installing new waterlines in the barn.  We had hoped to have dinner before 7pm so we could sit and relax tonight but everything took too long and we didn't get to sit down for dinner until 8:30pm tonight. Mr. Yesteryear Acres grilled delicious pork chops so the wait was worth it.  We had a pretty awesome feast of pork chops, fresh sweet corn and a roasted sweet potato/baby new potato medley.  I have to say - they were awesome!  I am hoping that if we get everything cleaned up from our Labor Day we might, just might make it to the couch by 10:00pm.  That way Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I can finally sit down to watch TV.....with our eyes closed. Happy Labor Day!

You Can't "Beet" This

Today was a busy productive day with an awesome end. Of course the day started with.....MORE tomatoes!  I know you have to be SO jealous that the very first thing I did when I woke up this morning was to start peeling 3 sinks full of tomatoes. I mean can there be anything better than waking up to a couple of bushels of tomatoes to peel?  Once all the tomatoes were peeled and cooking away on the stove we had some really nice families come and visit their puppies.  Roxy's puppies are just old enough for their very first visitors and I have to say the puppies did really well.  They were super happy to meet new friends and had a lot of fun romping around the yard.  They just get cuter every day.  Scarlet's puppies had lots of time to play outside today as the weather couldn't be any nicer.  The day was just perfect for puppies and tomato canning.  The puppies got their little nails trimmed today and they all were very cooperative and the job was done in no time.  We finally got all the tomatoes for this round done by 6:00pm this evening.  Total count so far = 68 quarts. That means just ONE more big long day of tomato work and I should have my 104 quarts for the year.  I think the next tomato day will be Wednesday.  We should have enough ripe tomatoes to pick by then to get the job finished.  You would think that after doing the tomatoes and puppies and all of our work, we would take the evening off......HA!  Mr. Yesteryear Acres went out to the garden and pulled up some beets so tonight became Beet night.  I ended up getting 4 gallons of beets processed this evening.  Just as I thought I would collapse and never stand up again, Mr. Yesteryear Acres had a lovely campfire going back at our pond.  He had smore fixings ready and off we all went.  It was a perfect night.  The stars were amazing and the night air was so cool that the fire felt wonderful.  My ever so thoughtful sister (who always gives the most perfect presents in all the world) sent us "magic" pinecones and sticks for our anniversary.  This is the first chance that we have had time to use them. Oh my goodness! They are amazing!  The treated pinecones and sticks turn the fire all sorts of incredibly vibrant colors. We had flames that were the greenest of greens and neon blues, purples, raspberry blue, seagreen and a whole palette of amazingly vivid colors. It was really fun.  We stayed out for hours gazing at the aurora borealis in our firepit and catching an occasional falling star light up the sky.  It was a perfect end to a really busy day.

53 Quart Jars per Dishwasher Load

Yes, it is true, TOMATO FEST 2010 has begun.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres went to the garden early this morning and picked an entire trailer load of fresh beautiful tomatoes.  We have Golden and Red tomatoes, Early Girl, Better Boy, Roma, Beefsteak, Celebrity, and Sungold.  There is hardly a blemish on any of them. I can't remember the last time we had so many beauties!  While Mr. Yesteryear Acres picked the tomatoes, I started washing all the empty quart jars from last year.  I got a few cleaned and ready and then I thought how brilliant it would be to use the dishwasher. If you take out all the baskets for silverware....53 Quart Jars fit into each load!  How awesome is that?! Then the fun really began. Sink load after sink load of tomatoes to peel and cook down.For those who aren't aware of all the ins and outs and of course endless joys of tomato preparation, first you fill the sink up with tomatoes.  Then you pour gallons of hot boiling water over the tomatoes and let it sit for about 30-45 seconds. The fun really begins then with the peeling off of all the tomato skins.  I have a 5 gallon bucket that I use just for the skins and empty it often.  This part of the processing is where a good movie is essential!  After all the tomatoes are peeled, I squish them down into a huge pot and cook down the liquid by almost half.  That usually takes a good hour or more.  After the tomatoes have reduced it is time to fill up all the quart jars. You need hot jars, heated lids, rings, lifters - just put it this way - tons of dishes - tons of work. The canner only holds 7 quart jars at a time and each batch of 7 jars takes 45 minutes to process.  I am not even halfway done with today's load and it is already after 9pm. It will be a long evening but with any luck at all....I might maybe perhaps get around 28 quarts done. A little over 1/4 of the way towards my end goal of 104 quarts. And for all those who have been anxiously wondering who kept me company during my day of tomato fun - why John Travolta himself.  He along with the puppies made for awesome tomato companions. Back to the grind!

Man's Best Friend

Mr. Yesteryear Acres stood in the driveway this morning at 11:12am and sadly waved good-bye as he watched his best friend head down the road. Now before you become overwrought with worry and think that you are going to need a box of tissues to read today's blog, please know that in this situation, man's best friend is not a dog. Man's best friend is not his wife.  Man's best friend is in fact not human or canine or even breathing for that matter. The best friend that Mr. Yesteryear Acres said good-bye too, as he wiped away the tears of sorrow, is.....his tractor. Yes, sadly our faithful companion, our reliable friend, our trusty hard-working tractor would not start this morning. There seems to be something amiss with a gear or shaft or  differential blah blah blah that even Mr. Yesteryear Acres himself cannot repair. Our good ole tractor had to be picked up and taken to "GASP" a repair shop!!! Never in the history of owning a engine type piece of machinery has Mr. Yesteryear Acres had to use a repair shop because Mr. Yesteryear Acres can fix everything.  Seriously - he can fix anything.  Dishwashers, refrigerators, cars, houses, wiring, plumbing, fencing, tractors - you name it and Mr. Yesteryear Acres has fixed it.  Not only fixed it but fixed it to perfection.  He is a master. But today, was not one of those days and Mr. Yesteryear Acres most trusted companion went away to the repair shop.  It might be WEEKS before it returns.  If you have ever seen the look on a little kid's face when they didn't get what they truly and really wanted for Christmas, you might begin to imagine what poor Mr. Yesteryear Acres looked like as his tractor was hauled down the driveway. I don't believe he has ever spent one solitary day without spending time on his beloved tractor. We bought the tractor back when our kids were still really young and my now 6ft son was then just a little toddler.

The tractor has brought us through many summers and winters. It has plowed our garden,

raked our hay, snow plowed our driveway, mowed our grass, given snowboard rides,

 and hayrides, dug holes, planted trees, helped build fences, water our garden, hauled wood for our wood burner and has even been decked out in full Christmas lights pulling a wagon fully lit with the magic of Christmas to give us a ride over freshly fallen snow on Christmas Eve. Everyone saw Santa that evening. Our tractor has been reliable day after day, year after year and has never faltered until this morning. It was a sad day but I reassured Mr. Yesteryear Acres that his tractor will be back.  The tractor people will fix our good ole tractor and it will be ready to go back to work in no time.  Don't fret Mr. Yesteryear Acres - your best friend will be home soon.

Endless Childhood

Today after school my daughter and I had what could only be considered a cry fest.  My daughter is busy sending in her college applications and with each essay, comes the realization that her childhood is almost over.  My daughter doesn't want to leave home and go away to college any more than I want her to go. We talked about how we wish we could stop time and forever be in this moment and cook together and work together and have fun together for always. We wanted so much to wave a magic wand so that she could just be the age she is right now and we could have a lifetime of moments together that never ended. We talked about how no one told me that my children would eventually grow up and leave and how no one told her that she would have to grow up and leave and that wasn't quite fair.  When you are little, it seems that you will always live with your mommy and daddy and dinner will be ready at 7pm, and laundry will be clean and ready for school, and your bed will always be waiting in your room, and that whenever you need your parents - there they are.  When you are a mommy of young children, it seems that your children will always live in your house, you will always get to make dinners for them and do their laundry, and hear about their day, and kiss them good night. It never occurs to either the child or the mommy - that all of that will end. So we cried.  Then we cried some more. Then somewhere in the middle of all that crying we talked about hopes and dreams and aspirations. I said that no good mommy really wants her child to stay home and not follow her hopes and dreams. No good mommy would want to keep her child home and keep her from being all she could be.  And then I said that no smart and talented child would really want to stay home forever and forget about all her wishes and aspirations and dream for an amazing future. That isn't how growing up works. I asked her if all those hopes and dreams were still inside her and of course they are.  I asked her if she thought she could be all she was destined to be by staying with me and of course she can't. She wants to be a marine biologist and an environmental scientist and she wants to serve our country and attend the Coast Guard Academy and spend her life protecting our Coast from all that threatens it. And so my daughter with half of a full and loving heart so rooted in home and half of a full and loving heart rooted in becoming something wonderful.....put the stamps on the envelopes. We both silently acknowledge that things will never be quite the same. The tears freely flow but inside each tear is the knowledge that the future is bound to be amazingly bright and beautiful.

Happy September 1st!!!

Way back when Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I first started dating we began what has now become an epic battle of timing and wits. Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I met on July 31, 1984. I believe it was Mr. Yesteryear Acres who then called me the very next day to wish me Happy August 1st. Being the ultra competitive person I am, I was of course first to wish him Happy September 1st the following month. It was all very sweet and mostly innocent back then because we were celebrating the fact that we had been together another month. We couldn't wait to wish one another Happy October 1st - because that again was another small milestone as we celebrated our 3rd month being together. By November 1st it was a race to see who would be the first to wish the other "Happy 1st" and thus the "Happy _____ 1st" battle began. You would think in the 26 years to follow, our "Happy _____1st" contest would lose some steam. Au contraire!  In the entire 313 months that have passed since we first met, we have never missed a month, nor have we weakened our resolve to be the very first one to wish the other one Happy first day of the month. We have called each other on the phone at wee hours in the morning to leave voice mail messages that say "HAPPY _____ 1st.......HA HA HA I WIN!"  We have taped notes to gallons of milk, boxes of cereal, toothbrushes etc.  One of us will often wait on the last day of the month and act as if we have NO idea that it is 11:59pm and that in ONE short minute VICTORY will be HERE.  I often will win that one because Mr. Yesteryear Acres almost always falls sound asleep sitting on the couch waiting for midnight. He then likes to pretend the next morning that he doesn't remember me winning. He is sooooo funny.  If I don't make it until midnight, you can be sure Mr. Yesteryear Acres will most likely win the month.  He likes to wake me up around 6am just to say "Sweetie,...... HAPPY ______ 1st! HA HA HA HA! Ahhhh so lovely to wake up to LOSING the game!!! Grrrrr. Often on the last day of the month you can catch us watching the second hands on our watch just to be sure we are FIRST to bring in the wishes for the new month. Mr. Yesteryear Acres will go to the trouble of syncing his watch exactly to the official atomic clock located in Boulder, Colorado so that his "Happy ____ 1st" will be the most accurate. You see? It is a full on war.  When our kids got a little older, they joined in the contest.  We didn't invite them to our game and secretly we both get really mad when they win. I mean who said they could play?  This morning right on the glass door to the back porch was a little purple sticky note written by our younger daughter.  It said (of course) "Happy September 1st".  As soon as she came home from school she asked if she had won. Well NO she didn't win.  Last night was actually...a TIE!  Both Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I waited until exactly 12:00:00 and said "Happy September 1st" at the same time.  It was pretty funny because I thought I had it WON as Mr. Yesteryear Acres looked as though he were sleeping.  He was just lying in wait. I think it was our first tie in years!  So to all my dear readers....HAPPY SEPTEMBER 1st!!!!  I hope the month of September brings happiness to all!