Our New Vocation

So, Faith, Josiah and I have found our calling.  We have been doing this particular work for 4 years or more without realizing it, and now have only begun to comprehend the magnitude of our vocation.

What is it?  Farm sitting, house sitting, animal watching, just all around take-care-of-your-place-while-you're-gone.  That's us!

Over the years we have watched around 6-8 different farms/houses, multiple times, and have had to take care of everything from cows to fish, and everything inbetween.  One of our latest jobs was staying at a farm north of us that had a dog, ferret, one cow, one steer, uncountable cats, and most importantly.....

Six horses!!!

And even more to the point, horses that we were allowed to ride.

So we did, we rode as much as we could.

Josiah who has only been on a horse once before (and that when he was 7 or 8) rode Freckles the retired barrel racer, like a pro.  Farmer turned Cowboy :)

Reno, the other horse we could ride was a beautiful mustang from out west.  Gorgeous horse.

Whoops, Someone shrank the horse! :) Actually this is Misty the pony, and we only rode her once.  We were just a mite too big, don't you think?

The other four we admired, petted, fed, and played with.

The last day of our farm sitting we were happy to have Josh and Theresa join us and enjoy some riding as well.

"Cowgirl"

Like I said, there were many barn cats around, and like any self respecting cat, their favorite time of day was....

Milking time:)

 We had a lovely time farm sitting. Each job is different and enjoyable in its own way.  So now that we realized we have a business if you need any animals watched, give us a call!  But make sure you do it in advance; somehow without knowing it, we have become quite popular farm sitters.  

~Chs

Sunday Thoughts

"Come, and let us return to the LORD;

For He has torn, but He will heal us;

He has stricken, but He will bind us up."

Hosea 6:1

85!!

 For the past 2 and 1/2 years we have been very blessed to be able to have our Grandpa Learned live with us.  The end of July marked Grandpa's 85th birthday!

Grandpa is such an example to us in his love for Christ, and his desire to serve Him.  We are so grateful for God blessing Grandpa with these 85 years of good health.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

~Chs 

Dad's Birthday Picnic and Adventures.

August first marked the 62 anniversary of Dad's birth.  So, to celebrate we decided to pack a picnic and set off to a nature center that we had heard about multiple times, but had never been able to visit.

The fare was anything but scanty, we had Scotch eggs, raw green bean Salad, cheese and crackers, fresh carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes from our garden, veggie straws, organic peaches, and watermelon and cherries compliments of Mr. Reiche.

The peaches were mouth watering, delicious, juice dripping, and just down right tasty.

Instead of cake, Dad requested pie, so a frozen peanut butter pie with chocolate on the bottom was forth coming.

Delicious!

Josh entertained us with juggling peaches (he is rather good thankfully :) while we finished dessert.

Then we handed out cards and presents.  Laughter abounded, memories overflowed, stories grew, bellies were filled and a wonderful time was had by all.

When we all had finally licked the last bit of goodness from our taste buds, we entered the visitor center to take a look around before beginning on our hike.  Well, we found out once you enter you never want to exit, at least not to soon.

There were animal skins that transformed you into an Indian chieftain, 

Ducks flying along the wall,

Conversing Ospreys, and so much more.  Mounted animals lined the walls, as well as a few lives ones in tanks, and aquariums, and there was educational information everywhere.

After exhausting our interests in the "animal room" we walked towards the exit and were distracted by this measure your wingspan board.  Of course everyone had to try it out :)

Smaller wildlife was abundant; we saw a swallowtail butterfly, a flock of wood ducks, catfish etc. and lots of painted turtles.

We went up their observation tower, and "observed" the landscape, then climbed down and continued our walk.

Our next stop was a small dock, where we observed all the fish, and one absolutely huge, enormously gargantuon, Snapping Turtle!  He looked liked a dinosaur (not that I have ever seen a dinosaur)!! 

The painted turtles were more of a tame size, and much more to our liking, cute little fellows.

One of the highlights of the hike was a swinging bridge. Not as long as the one in Croswell, but fun none the less.

It was such a lovely day, and an enjoyable time.  We are planning on returning some day, as we really only covered maybe a 10th (or less) of the trails systems.

Happy Birthday Daddy Dear!!  

~Chs

Makers Faire

It was a beautiful sunny Saturday morning and I found myself down by Henry Ford Mueseum where Theresa and her family were participating in the Makers Faire as vendors, and had asked Mr. Reiche and I to tag along!  I was super excited to be down by the Henry Ford again as I hadn't been there for a couple years, and aboslutely love all the history and displays.  Almost all the workers were riding bikes of some sort, most old fashion in one way or another, and I had a hard time not being jealous, especially of this darling yellow bike with both front and back baskets!

They actually used these Antique trucks to drive around and help set stuff up.  Theresa and I were very tempted to go for a spin when we saw that one of the workers had left the keys in the ignition :)

When we walked back to the table where Mr. and Mrs. Eddy were setting up, we saw this fine gentleman with his stupendous bike.

  He stayed for quite some time chatting, and telling us about his collection of bikes, and all his adventures with them.

Soon we had all the spices set up, and we hurried to finish the last minute details so we could look around before the faire officially opened.

Mr. Reiche was a big help, moving the laundry soap tubs here and there and in general helping with any heavy lifting.

Theresa was very creative in her setup, and when we had adjusted the last soap bar, tipped up that troublesome sign, and given a parting tweak to the quilt/table cloth we were off.

There was everything from antique machines from the musesum brought out for demonstration,

to odd scientific constructions, and bikes of every sort, size, shape and color.

Then we discovered that we could get inside the museum!!  Well the rest was history!  We had a lovely conversation with a lady and her son who were watching stunt flyers.

Then we hopped on the front of a train for a little ride (not the best place to ride a train I guess :).

We watched some interesting invention that played basketball.

And finally dropped by McDonald's for a 15 cent hamburger on our horse and buggy, before heading back outside to man the tent.

The rest of the day was filled with soap and spice sales, sitting under the tent (grateful for the shade), standing out in the burning sun in line for Ice cream, wearing geeky glasses (that one was done only by Theresa :) getting stung by a wasp (again, just a Theresa event) selling more soap, looking at all the crazy inventions, and hopping into the Museum a couple more times to look around.

One of the last activities of the day, before packing up and heading home, was Theresa getting a ride in a Quadricycle (or something like that, I cannot quite remember the name).  All in all it was a wonderfully exhausting, overwhelmingly exciting day.

~Chs

Blueberries by the Bucketfull

 So, the Apple crop is non existent, the Peaches are not much better, the Sweet Cherries are few and far between, and the Tart Cherries are none whatsoever.  A person could just about sit down and cry.  Almost.  But...... 

.... The Blueberries!!!  Oh those wonderful blue spheres of antioxidental goodness.  Those lovely luscious berries have come on in force.  As if to make up for the misfortunes of the fruit bearing trees, the Blueberries came on early, heavy, and long.

 And we are very blessed to have some wonderful friends who just happen to own a Blueberry farm, which makes picking berries twice as fun!!

 I never realized that Blueberries are just about as photogenic as they are delicious, but let me tell you that they sure are!

 Mr. Reiche (who about lives down at the Blueberry patch during this season) loves to find the biggest bunches he can.  Blueberry bouquets.  :)

 Anyone know of the book "Blueberries for Sal"?  Yes, well, I think we found a modern Michigan dwelling version of the famous Blueberry eating Sal.  If anyone ever wants to re-illustrate the book I have a perfect candidate for the pictures.

So like Sal's mother we are now diligently canning, freezing and like the bears, digesting the berries to last through winter.

~Chs