Family Mow Down

This past weekend, the family, armed with our fancy new brush hog for the new MF, set out to mow down the Farm. With Dad and Joshua managing the MF, Mom, Emily, and I waged war with the riding lawn mower, the gas-powered and electric weed eater, the edger, and the blower (Joshua calls it the “Yuppy Broom”). With five helping hands, our beautiful yard revealed itself in very little time. If our other respective professions fizzle out, I believe I can confidently say we may have found a family calling in landscaping.

We finished the day with a little trespassing. We fished in Aunt June and Uncle Gary’s pond, albeit with fake worms, and discovered that the Farm fish are apparently a little snobby. The girls picked wild flowers and made a pretty floral centerpiece for the dinner table. While Joshua grilled hamburgers, Mom and Emily kicked up their feet in the front yard while Dad and I worked on our jump shots. As simple as it sounds, these family farm days warm my heart and refresh my spirit for the week of work. This fellowship improves my outlook about my job and the thousands of trivial things that clutter my calendar. At the end of the day, I always feel the absence, standing under the stars in the driveway in my socks and watching the tail lights disappear down the hill in front of our house.

Hamburgers!

Look at the pretty flowers we pilfered from Aunt June's property....Come on, Aunt June, don't they make you want to come back to Oklahoma?!?

Notice the covered parking now available for Dad's new Ford Taurus...We are still taking applications for a name for his new car. In honor of one of my favorite TV shows, I think we should call it "Dwight."

Notice Mom's John Deere T-Shirt. The guy at the Massey-Ferguson dealership told us he could get us some red t-shirts with "MF" on them. I am somewhat uneasy about this....MF? Really? It just seems moderately profane.

Emily posed for this action shot because, clearly, we did not catch any fish on plastic worms. Even if we had used live bait, Emily spent more time casting than actually fishing.

This was Mom's view from the pond while we were fishing....

My boys...in their straw hats and work boots.

Emliy and Joshua grin for the camera. My cue was "Act Like You Like Each Other." So natural.

Emily took this picture because I think she was afraid to pick up the turtle. Very National Geographic.

We found several budding fruit trees and vines on the property after we cut the grass around them. We think this one is a plum tree, and it has some fruit on it. Next year, we will need to do some spraying and fertilizing to ensure a better crop!

Our peach tree!

Our apple tree!

We trimmed back the vines, and we already have grapes growing. We plan on making some delicious grape jelly.

The girls pull off dead grape vines from the fence.

Dad using his gas-powered weed eater. Notice the grape vines along the fence. Many of the vines around the corner are coming back with full leaves and baby grapes...

Joshua doing his very favorite Farm thing....