Wednesday, May 23, 2007

I've been "Tagged"

I've been tagged by my friend Betsy, so I'm supposed to write 5 things about myself.
Here goes!

#1. I love the sun, but I am afraid to suntan! I am a maniac for wearing sunscreen. My regular moisturizer has a SPF15 in it, so I wear that everyday....Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall! I put sunscreen on my hands everyday in the summer, too. Whenever I figure I will be out in the sun for more that 20 minutes....SUNSCREEN!!!!
My kids get annoyed with me. I am always asking, did you put on sunscreen? They call it sun scream...because when they don't have it on....I yell at them to apply it!

#2. My favorite television shows right now are "Brothers & Sisters" and "Ugly Betty". I cry almost every time I watch "Brothers & Sisters" and laugh out loud every time I watch "Ugly Betty". I can't stand reality tv. I never watch those kinds of programs. I don't watch "American Idol", "The Amazing Race", "Survivor", "The Bachelor", or any of those other reality shows! I can watch "Seinfeld" over and over again and still think it's funny after seeing the same show 40 times!

#3. My husband doesn't know about my blog. I've only told my daughter Shauna about it. I know she's read it once, but I don't know if she goes back to see if I've updated it! My friend Betsy, who inspired me to write my own blog, is the only other person I have shared my secret with. But if you're reading this, you know too!

#4. I never like any picture of myself. Even the ones where other people say they think it's a nice picture. Of all my Wedding pictures, I only like ONE!

#5. I am really a frugal shopper. I think in the last two years, I can count on one hand the things I've bought for myself that were not on sale! I never buy any clothing for myself unless it's on sale. I will redeem coupons, stock up on sale items, and travel to two or three grocery stores to get specials! I LOVE a bargain!

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Spring's Work has Begun!

Well, the nice weather has arrived and along with that comes the work of Spring! Monday we spread the liquid manure on the corn fields. Oh, the smell of liquid manure! There is really no way to describe this smell other than STRONG! Imagine the mild smell of composted manure that you may buy at the garden centre for your plants, well...liquid manure is essentially "fresh". No fermentation has occurred and the manure is extremely high in nitrogen. Just what a growing corn plant needs. Unfortunately, the smell is strong too. I went to town on Tuesday evening for a meeting and when I got out of my car, I smelled the faint scent of the manure, probably from my car's tires.
My 13 year old daughter came home from school on Monday to see the tractors and tanks thundering through the yard as the manure was carried from our pit, down the road to the unplanted corn fields. Although we live in a rural area, there are not that many working farms anymore. Much fewer now, than when my husband was her age. So for the younger boys on the bus to see, close up, the huge machinery is a thrill. For my daughter, it's horrifying! When she came in the house she was mortified that I hadn't warned her that we were spreading manure that day! My husband and I were unsympathetic and just laughed! It's what we do, we told her. I can't imagine the other kids are horrified at what their fathers and mothers do for a living! But then again, their jobs probably don't require them to stink up the neighbourhood!
The guy we hired to spread the manure left his equipment at our farm that night and came in the morning to pick it up and move on to the next farm a few kilometres away to stink up that neighbourhood. Just as they were leaving the school bus was arriving to pick up my daughter, "They're STILL at it!!!!" she cried, absolutely horrified, once again. I told them they were just leaving and boy did she let out a sigh of relief!
Now the race has begun with the weather to get the manure worked into the soil and plant the corn before it rains! Oh let's pray for sun, then later we'll be praying for rain!
Happy Planting to All!