With yet another winter storm headed for Minnesota, I thought I’d share two photos. The first is from April 15, 2012. The second photo is from April 14, 2013. These are both taken from my front yard.
Wordless Wednesday…Sigh…
Category: family
Patiently Waiting
Over the last 72 hours, we have received between 15 to 18 inches of snow. We’ve had snow in 6 of the last 12 months here. Sigh. Typically we are getting the spring farm equipment out of the machine shed, and making sure everything is ready to go once the fields are dry.
Not this year! Instead of spending time in the tractor we use for preparing the seed bed, Jonathan spent time in the tractor used for clearing snow.
While he was busy clearing snow, I was getting ready to make some of these delicious little treats. Jonathan brought back this box of Beignet Mix from New Orleans when he was there with our youth group last summer.
I made a few, and decided I needed to practice my food photography a little bit. You know, things that help you stay sane on yet another snow day.
The good thing about spring snow storms is the fact that the snow will melt into the thawed ground instead of just running over the top. We can really use the moisture here, so we’re trying to be thankful. To be perfectly honest, though, I can’t wait until I see this out my window:
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Wordless Wednesday – Favorite Places
I love this little slice of heaven. In Minnesota, we just call it “the lake”.
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Every Camera Has a Story
I’ve been learning new camera techniques during our extended winter. I am loving Digital Photography School right now. The bonus – it’s free! Anyway, I was looking for something inside to try out a few new settings on, since the weather is rainy and cold. Not to mention the blah brown landscape we still have.
I have a camera collection that I display above my built in buffet. There are some really special ones in my collection that I love looking at. They are not special because of their monetary value, but for their stories.
This camera came from my father-in-law. He was drafted into the United States Army during peacetime in the 1950’s for two years. One year was spent in Germany. He had many entertaining stories about his time there, and about the ship ride home. It was on the ship that he came into possession of this camera. According to FIL, there were a few guys gambling to pass the time. One of the guys offered to sell his camera for $30 so he could pay his debt. My FIL agreed, and bought the camera. He used it for a while before updating to a newer Argus camera. He was a pretty good hobby photographer, but mostly used his cameras to take photos at family gatherings.
In this photo, I used natural light from our large east facing windows, and had black velvet behind and under the AGFA. Other settings: Canon 60D, Av mode, ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/125, 34mm focal length. The technique I was playing with was using Av mode to achieve a shallow DOF. I also used the manual focal point setting aimed at the lettering on the top ring of the lens.
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Throwback Thursday
Can you guess the era?
Avocado green kitchen with dark woodwork (and a dishwasher that melted all Tupperware so we still had to hand wash a lot of dishes), an awesome mullet, cropped shirt (that I sewed in home-ec), high waist jeans… I loved those Levi’s!
If you guessed the 1980’s, you would be correct! This would have been around 1985 or 1986.
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Is It Possible…Truth
Is it possible that we can all have a different truth?
The definition of truth at Dictionary.com lists 5 different meanings. In those different definitions, there is room for truth to be personal. What is true for you may not be true for me.
My Facebook and Twitter feeds have been filled with people or organizations wanting to tell you the truth about GMO’s…or about organic farming…or the causes of cholesterol…or the cure for baldness and cancer. All the posts floating out there have made me question the Truth about Agriculture message.
You all know by now that Jonathan and I are organic crop farmers, and conventional pig farmers. What we consider the truth about agriculture is different that what other farmers consider the truth. So, who is right? Well, we both are.
When I tell my farm story to groups like the Lions or Rotary, I tell my farm story. I don’t mention anything about how my neighbors farm other than the fact that we do things differently. I don’t know the first thing about raising almonds, or milking cows, or cutting alfalfa, or growing cotton. Why would I even try to speculate on what those farmers might be doing? I don’t want to be the one spreading internet generated half truths about my neighbor’s farm. I eat at the same restaurants, worship at the same church, and attend family reunions with some of them. I respect my neighbors and my farmer friends too much to want to condemn their methods of farming just to make me look or feel good. I am sensitive to the power of words, and hate when I say something that would hurt someone. It’s just part of my DNA. I’m definitely not trying to make myself sound like I’m perfect. Jonathan and the girls will tell you differently.
My hope is that more farmers will be willing to get out there and tell their stories. Start your own blog, attend a training session to become part of a speakers corp, or use other social media platforms where consumers will be able to hear your truth. I’d rather hear about your farm from you, not from some group with an agenda.
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Wordless Wednesday – Cool find!
Some of the cool things I was able to get my hands on yesterday while researching our farm’s history…abstracts that were over 125 years old. Land sold for $5.50/acre
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Wordless Wednesday: Revisiting Spring 2012
Barley and field peas growing together
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R-E-S-P-E-C-T….
When I first thought about using this song in a blog, I was pretty bummed about the nasties that get thrown around on the internet. It is way too easy to post something negative or mean when you are not saying it to a person’s face. I was dismayed at some of the horrible things being said of my friends in response to agriculture issues, simply because they disagreed with their methods of farming.
Recently, I had an incident happen that was really unfortunate. It really hurt to be treated in a mean girls fashion, like I didn’t have any feelings, or like I didn’t exist in their world. I don’t usually let that kind of crap bother me, but this time, it did. Maybe it was because I thought these people were my friends, and I trusted them too much. Or maybe I just wasn’t in a good place mentally.
I did a lot of thinking after that incident, about why this one bothered me, when others just make me shake my head. One thing I have noted, is the amount of time I spend putting myself down. Yeah, I’ve gained all the weight back that I lost a few years ago, and the reasons are many. But, instead of picking myself up, dusting off, and getting back on the road to a healthier body, I have wallowed. When I wallow, I become unhappy with me, and basically, I don’t respect myself. If I don’t show me respect, than when others hit a nerve, it all seems so much worse. I have troubles answering in a respectful manner, which never helps a situation.
I was explaining my issues to Jonathan, and he very gently reminded me that I need to stop being so hard on myself. He is such a great encourager. Just what I needed. There were a few other friends that I shared with, who also were full of positive words. What a difference it made when words were positive, rather than the negative. I typically try to be careful about my words, especially on social media sites, but because I was having issues with me, I didn’t censor my words. Some of you would think what I said was no big deal…and no, I am not going to go into detail…but to me it was a big deal. I felt horrible for letting my negative attitude get the best of me.
One of the great things about life, is if you don’t like what your attitude is, you can change it. And that is my plan. To start respecting myself…showing me some love…and in turn, respect others that I communicate with, both in real life, and online. Hopefully, we all can make the effort to show a little respect…to others as well as ourselves.
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Wordless Wednesday
I can’t wait for this…
