Celebrating National Picnic Day

Picnicking farm style with my two favorite goobers

We have spent the past three days working outside. Finally, we got a much-needed break from the rain, so we took advantage of the sunshine and dry skies. I was excited at the prospect of working outside, cleaning up the lawn, and clearing fallen trees from the property. I enjoy manual labor, in theory. I like the idea of sunshine, fresh air, getting a nontraditional workout, and making progress on a few projects...in theory. In reality, by the time five o'clock rolled around on day three, I told my husband I didn't like his projects. This was not fun anymore, and I declared he was trying to kill me. His response was, "Just give me a few more hours." Sigh.

Wood is heavy, and I don't like hauling wood. I was excited about using the chainsaw, but The Bibbed Wonder shut that down before I completed the demand: "Oh, let me run the...." "NO!" was his response. No explanation was given to my request, not even an iota of thought. He simply shut it down and refused to entertain my one-shot at fun. I was too tired to pout or argue, so I just kept picking up pieces of wood scattered everywhere. Meanwhile, I was thinking what a dictator I married. How he thrives on taking away fun, and what a power trip he is on all the time. Seriously, he has cool toys and refuses to share.

Actually, it wasn't all bad. For the first two days, I genuinely enjoyed being outside and working alongside The Bibbed Wonder. He is the epitome of patience. Not once did he roll his eyes, act annoyed, or become exasperated at my lack of muscle and skill. The extent of my workload was jumping off and on the tractor to run the gates so he could move the wood to the burn pile created in the center of the upper pasture. This site was chosen because a large oak tree came down a few years ago and was a convenient spot to clean it up. We cleaned up a total of four downed trees, and we have three more to go. Thankfully, it rained today, and we are excused from tree duty.

We built the most enormous bonfire I have ever seen. This fire is going to burn for days. The Bean is home from school with a viral infection. The poor kid has the "Slap Cheek" virus. Her little face is red, lumpy, and swollen. Her skin is hot to the touch. She is running a low-grade fever, and she is tired. Yesterday afternoon, even her little ears were hot, lumpy, red, and swollen. I asked The Bean if she would like to get some fresh air and cook hot dogs over the world's most enormous bonfire. She readily agreed, and we began preparations for an impromptu picnic. We pulled hotdogs out of the freezer, gathered buns and condiments, chips, Oreos, and Mason jars of water, and ran everything out to the field on the Ranger.

The Bibbed Wonder lowered the tractor bucket, and we used that as a table and seat. The Bibbed Wonder and The Bean cooked hotdogs over the fire, and we chatted about this and that. It was by far the best part of the day. Eric claimed it was National Picnic Day and said we picked the perfect day for a picnic. The Bean and I never believe anything he says, so we had to Google National Picnic Day. For once, my darling husband wasn't pulling our legs, and I decided National Picnic Day would be my blog topic.

As we sat listening to the fire crackle, watching the goats mill about, and laughing over Eric's stories of his youth, I felt very grateful for our life. Yes, this farm is a lot of hard work; it's exhausting, and we ride a roller coaster of emotions on any given day, but the opportunities we are afforded and the happiness it brings us are priceless. And just like that, lunch was over; it was time to haul more wood, climb up and down from that God-forsaken tractor, and the feeling of being blessed was over. Insert a giggle and a wink.

At the end of the day, The Bean and The Bibbed Wonder decided it was a brilliant idea to cook mountain pies over the world's biggest bonfire. I declared I was out. I was tired of being outdoors, fresh air, fire, and hard surfaces. They stated I am a boob. I accepted this wholeheartedly; I ate pickles with peanut butter for dinner, drank a big glass of water, and went to bed at 7:30. Incidentally, I slept better than I had in a long time. There are benefits to manual labor. Today, I am grateful for the rain. I don't believe I could handle one more day riding around on that tractor and lifting large logs. I also believe that once a week during the summer, we will have a picnic for lunch and break up the week's monotony. Picnics make me smile.

On this blessedly rainy day, stay safe, be smart, enjoy the simple pleasures in life, like picnics, and keep washing your hands.

Tuesday Spotlight: Rose

This week, the spotlight is shining on our classic rose-scented soap and moisturizer. Rose is the epitome of classic floral scents. We use a beautiful rose oil that smells like the old-fashioned roses that grow along fence rows and hedges of abandoned farms. These roses grow on the neighbor's property just up the road from us. Every summer, I cut a few to put in a jelly jar on my counter. The heady, old-fashioned scent wafts through the kitchen for days. I would plant these roses along my fence row if I had a green thumb.

We are happy to bring this scent to you with our Rose soap and moisturizer. Not only does the soap smell lovely, but it is also beautiful. The white and rose pink swirled soap, topped with pink hearts and a white glitter dusting, looks as pretty as it smells. Little girls of all ages love this soap for its purely feminine appearance.

This week, exclusively on the website, save on Rose soap and moisturizer. It is the perfect time to begin thinking about a special Mother's Day gift, try something new, or stock up on a favorite. No promo code is needed to save; the savings will be applied at checkout. Stay safe, be smart, enjoy the savings, and keep washing your hands on this sunny spring day.

Click To Save On Rose Soap And Moisturizer

April Showers, Indeed

April has certainly been the month for showers. Here on the farm, the ground is saturated with water from all the rain we have experienced over the past several weeks. When I walk my friend, The Heavy-B, I hear the ground burble with oversaturation. The many springs on the farm are flowing steadily, and water pools in low-lying areas. There is a divot in our front lawn that resembles a small pond. This divot is large enough that my gaggle of grumpy geese has been hanging around, splashing and preening in it. Getting any yard work done, let alone mowing the grass, has been impossible.

Nature is fickle. Too much water causes flooding, mud and muck, and fast grass growth, which is almost impossible to keep abreast of. Too little rain, and we worry about drought, failed crops, and slow-growing pastures. I try to look at the rainy season in a positive light. My thought is that we won't have to worry about drought because the water table is high. We had very little snow this year, so Mother Nature is compensating. There is a downside to too much rain, though. We have not been able to mow the grass, clean out the barn, or begin our landscaping project. Running equipment to do any of these things is out of the question. The large tractor will create ruts and mud so deep a baby goat could get lost in them. That, in turn, leads to more work because then, said ruts will have to be filled in, smoothed over, and replanted. I have said before that farming is a balancing act.

Yesterday, we spent the day outside picking up sticks from the oak trees that line the driveway. The Bibbed Wonder's back is giving him issues, so The Bean and I were on stick-picking duty. Although my bib overall-wearing buddy declared he would not mow until later in the week to give the ground time to dry up a bit, his grass-mowing OCD got the better of him, and he mowed the front yard, my walking path, and the right side of the driveway. He claimed if he had not mowed yesterday, the mower would not have been able to cut the grass without stalling. I'm not sure what a few more days would have hurt, but at this stage in our marriage, I understand that sometimes it's better not to ask too many questions. My husband has to stay busy. He has a running to-do list in his head. If he does not meet his self-imposed quota, he gets twitchy. I prefer a non-twitchy bibbed wonder.

I can't mock Eric for his need to accomplish tasks. I, too, have things I deem important and need to do. I would rather do these things sooner than later, so I act, sometimes impulsively. For example, I have looked at a non-functioning outdoor lamppost for almost a decade. As the years pass, this lamppost falls deeper into disrepair. The electricity to it was cut before we moved in, so I knew I was in no danger of being shocked. I finally took it upon myself to dismantle this lamppost. As I asked The Bibbed Wonder to give me the tools, I would need to take it down. He sighed and said he was sure it was a job that would turn into his job, but he humored me and gave me three wrenches. None of the wrenches fit. Being the responsible adult I am, I placed his wrenches in the correct order, back on the holding rack he created to house them. I got three larger wrenches and tried my best to unscrew the bolts holding the lamppost onto the cement pad. After four unsuccessful attempts to get the bolts to move, I lost my grip and whacked my knuckles on the metal post. Only slightly discouraged by the blood running down my hand, I decided I needed to take a less refined approach. I, again, placed my bib overall wearing buddies wrenches in their rightful home and grabbed an ax. I looked for a sledgehammer, but the ax was conveniently placed inside the garage door.

With three good whacks from the ax and a hefty push, the lamppost was down and lying in bits and pieces. I gave the long wires that remained a few good cracks with the ax, and the removal was complete. I triumphantly carried the fragments of the lamppost to the trash bin. The Bean stood watching me, giggling at my ingenuity. I told her if I couldn't take it down with finesse, I would take it down with brute force. She made fists and punched the air, yelling, "Tina Smash!" in her best Wreck It Ralph voice. Sigh, she acts a lot like her father.

We then drove the Ranger down the lane and commenced picking up fallen sticks and branches. We gathered four loads of sticks and burned them in our fire pit. Eric passed us on the mower, throwing his version of gang signs and gesturing to us. Overall, it was a productive day. Our yard resembles a mown hay field, but the chickens and geese enjoy grazing on the grass clippings. There are indeed small ruts in the yard, but nothing is to be done about it. Hopefully, the ground will dry, and we will have time to clean the barn before Wednesday's next round of rain.

This week, we will take a break from the studio other than to pack orders and give some much-needed attention to completing outdoor tasks. Today, we plan to clear fallen trees from the fields. A dead tree at the end of the lane also needs to be cut up and turned into firewood. There are so many things to do before our event on May 4th. We are hoping the weather cooperates and we can get everything done. Unfortunately, the flower planting and landscaping will not be done in time. As always, we will roll with the punches and adjust our schedules accordingly.

On this lovely, sunny day, stay safe, be smart, enjoy the sunshine while it lasts, and keep washing your hands.