The View

Let's go back a couple of months for a moment...

That there is our house/yard. We're looking at our lot from the side, looking east. The house faces north, so our road is actually on the left of this photo. The front of our yard is the left 3/4 of the wooded plot you see there and the backyard is that 1/4 on the right. When you're at our house, you don't realize how far back on the lot the house sits. Our house sits on a 2-acre 'yard' which includes the woods you see here and then we have just over 300 acres of farm land that we farm with Cliff's parents. The tall thing in the photo above is an old cement silo and our house (it's red) sits next to and in front of the silo. The house is built where the old barn used to sit. In the photo above, you can just see the house to the left of the silo.

The photo above is "the farm" as Cliff refers to it. This is where he grew up and it's about 2/3 mile up the road from us (or down the road, depending on your perspective). This is where Cliff's parents live and where all of our farm machinery is stored. This used to be a dairy farm and they were still milking cows when Cliff and I were dating, but sold them some time around the time we got married and there is now no livestock on the farm. For the first five years that we were married, we lived in a 600 sq. ft. house up on "the farm" next to my in-laws' house.

The farm again:



and again...

This is also the farm, in the winter time. Actually...  this was May of this year. Yes, May. May as in, when we're supposed to be planning and readying our gardens and watching for the May flowers... not storm showers. Anyway, on the right half of this photo, there are three houses, barely visible. The one closest the the center of this photo is Cliff's parents' house. The one next to it, to the right, was our old house. Then the one on the end (on the right) was the farm's hired-man's house. When we moved out of our old house, it became a rental property. Here's a photo of our old house in the summer time.



then we have the barn down the road...

This barn is on the opposite side of our road from our house, between our house (on one end of our dead end road) and Cliff's folks' house (on the other end of our dead end road). There used to be a farm here, but the house has been gone since before I ever knew Cliff. The land is rented to another farmer. The barn has been one of my favorite things to photograph for years and makes for a stunning silhouette in sunset photos.

The barn is currently being dismantled. The two other small old outbuildings were removed earlier this summer. The barn is taking a little longer. It makes me sad. I love the memory of it. I'm so glad I have so many photos!

These are all of the sites we see when we go for a walk or bike ride up our road... which we do A LOT. I love the mud on Gavin's back in this picture of him on his bike. He had been riding through mud puddles, clearly! It also cracks me up that he's wearing his swim suit - trunks and rash-guard shirt. A swim suit and a bike helmet. These pictures are old now. The corn is way taller than me. In many of these pictures it's only a few inches tall! It was the middle of June.

We have quite a view... whether we're looking out across the fields or right down in front of us. A beautiful, amazing, God-given view.

Time for Ourselves

The Swinging Bridge at Glen Park.

As much as Cliff and I adore spending time with Gavin and miss him when we're not with him, we sometimes feel like we're always racing home after work to be with Gavin. We occasionally miss the freedom to take our time coming home from work, stopping to run errands, meeting a friend for a walk or a quick bit to eat, etc. To keep ourselves from feeling like we're so short on time, Cliff and I have each chosen an evening a week that is our night to come home late... and by late, I mean 8:00. We can do what we want that night and don't need to pick up Gavin from daycare, make dinner, or rush home for anything else.

I have chosen Monday nights and Cliff has chosen Tuesday nights. On Tuesday nights, Cliff is shooting on a clay pigeon shooting league with some friends, which goes on for about another two months. Currently, Monday isn't a great choice for me because I work until 5:30 or 6:00 that day, so I only end up having an extra hour to hour and a half, but it works for now. I haven't committed to any particular activity for my evening, but admit that I've chosen to spend my hour at Wal-mart or the grocery store once or twice since sometimes it seems like that's the only time I can get there!

A friend suggested going walking now that the weather is so nice outside. There is a small group of us interested in walking and whoever is free that night will go. I think it will work for me most nights, and when there is something else I need to do, that's okay too. No commitment needed.

Erin and Stacy out for a walk through Glen Park.

Last week Stacy and I went walking. We walked about 3 miles, from her house near West Side Elementary School to Glen Park where we crossed the Swinging Bridge over the river and then we continued down to Main Street for a beer and a bite to eat at the Main Streeter. When we left the Main Streeter it was starting to get a little darker and the air was cooling down quickly. By the time we got back to her house, we were chilled, but enjoyed the cool night and the chance to get out of the house!

As always, here are a few pictures! (this one on the left is not actually from our walk, but I thought it was a good picture of the swinging bridge so I'm including it here)

The View from the the Swinging Bridge.

Maybe I can get Cliff to take some pictures of his shooting adventures!