Friday, November 28, 2008

A day in the clouds


This is how it looked all day at our house today. It felt like the clouds literally sat on our shoulders all day long. Yet, though the clouds did not lift once, this didn't stop us from fully enjoying ourselves. It was, after all, a day off from work and school!

All in all, it was a simple day. We slept in late, ate leftover turkey (of course) for lunch, and then headed outside to have some fun:

We tried to light our (very wet) burn pile:

but my son, Aidan, was mostly just engulfed in smoke:

Aidan then pulled out his childhood tire swing and hung it up (even 16 year-olds can still enjoy a good swing):

And my sweet farmhusband pulled out this:

It makes him really happy to rev this baby up:

I overheard some teenage chainsaw wisdom being imparted from the tire swing (this is always popular with middle-aged men):

Meanwhile, I delighted in following my chickens around while they free-ranged (they didn't mind the fog one bit):

Aidan, by the way, loves to chop wood:

Seriously, he really does. He loves all sharp-tooled, loud-engined, potentially dangerous activities. (Now, carrying the chopped wood to the woodpile is a different story...):

It's getting dark so early now. We'd barely gotten outside and it was time to go back inside. That's ok, though: I built a deliciously warm and cozy fire:

and served up the red bean and sausage with rice dinner that had been simmering in the crockpot all day:


P.S.
I just took a look at my weather pixie and had to share this. Remember what I said at the beginning about how "the clouds literally sat on our shoulders all day" ? Well, take a look at my poor pixie!:

21 comments:

  1. You have wonderful farm-hand help there at Critter Farm, and your dinner looks delicious! Your chickens seemed to be having great fun wandering around in the fog. May I borrow Aiden to come and chop some wood for me sometime?

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  2. What a great way to kick back and enjoy a cloudy day. Some good exercise for the men in your life, some playing with the chickens and loving the day off for you . . . and dinner simmering away in the crock pot . . . topped off with a cozy fire. Life is good!

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  3. Tell Aidan that he inspired me to put up a tire swing for my kiddos. We have plenty of old tires kicking around here from the previous farmer.
    There is nothing like a day outside with your family with a fire pit, just how we like to spend our days!

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  4. Looks Like a Busy Day for All. Nice to see you included other family members.
    And dinner looks great, I can almost smell it.
    Hope you get some sunshine soon.
    ~Gergo~

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  5. All in all Danni you made the best of it!! Seriously...I'd rather have the clouds on my shoulders thatn shoulder height snow banks!!
    Hope it clears up soon!

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  6. Is this how it will be for most of your winter? Cause that would be a little depressing. Kind of reminds me of winters in central California. Be sure and pick up some fresh flowers at the store to lighten the days!

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  7. What a perfect day! I'll stop by this afternoon for leftovers.

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  8. Someone who loves to chop wood? Is that possible? Can he make stumps? That would be very nice. The goatmother wants to know if she can have that recipe?

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  9. OOooo, Red Beans and Rice are perfect for days such as those. Did you make some cornbread to go with it?

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  10. But, was that the Stihl hat that Mr Jim was wearing while he was using the great big chainsaw?

    Im loving Aidan in that tire swing...and it looks like he hung it at a pretty nice height...I may even be able to touch the ground when I swing on it.

    Ill be sure to send Grayson over to help you get that woodpile moved. Hes a really good helper.

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  11. First of all, you neglected to say where those leftovers came from! Seriously, though, Aidan has always liked loud and dangerous things, but he is getting more careful, isn't he? While Aidan enjoys those things, your nephew, Andrew, enjoyed a more peaceful afternoon; he loved cracking the walnuts you 'swiped' from your neighboring farm, spending almost three hours at the task. Some of those nuts made their way from Oregon to Germany where they were enjoyed by your aunt and uncle, fresh not dried.
    This is another cloudy day, and our fireplace will get a work-out as well today!

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  12. That fire looks wonderful! My husband hates wood fires so our fireplace is covered up with our TV. Oh well.

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  13. Looks like a great day, and topped off with red beans & sausage...I'm off now, to look up recipes. Yum!

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  14. We had mostly rain....I managed to get down and feed everyone without getting too wet. :) They said we were just supposed to have cloudy days this weekend, I SWEAR I could be a weather person around here...."chance of rain" and I'd be right on!

    Hopefully you husband doesn't start collecting chainsaws like mine...I think we have around 6 or 7 now...but each one has a special purpose, don't ya know....:)

    Thanks for sharing your day with us and that fire and red beans and rice sure look inviting!

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  15. That IS a sweet looking fire...and a wonderful stove! Your Friday looked more gray than black and I am sure is was much more pleasant than fighting the crowds of shoppers at some awful mall! Well done!

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  16. The more I read your blog the more I swear that in the near future I will change my life and become the King of New York Tractors. I want to chop some wood instead of buying a duraflame, but I digress.

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  17. It's a family affair! Sly and the family stone style, or buffy and jody?

    It looks like your family loves life and can't get enough!

    Way to go...

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  18. "loves all sharp-tooled, loud-engined, potentially dangerous activities. (Now, carrying the chopped wood to the woodpile is a different story...)"
    This sounds just like my son!!!!
    Thansk for visiting my blog!!
    Tracey

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  19. I just noticed you Donkey Hugs Award!! That is sooooo cute!!!!!

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  20. Danni isn't it funny how all men seem to love big and loud things like chainsaws. My husband will start up his chainsaw and walk around for an hour just knocking stuff off the trees and whatnot. Dinner looks great. Share the recipe?

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  21. Awwww....I loved this post Danni!! Nice to see a bit of "a day in the life."

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