Tall Maples

Honest sweat, good rest

2011-11-13T06:54:00.001-08:00

Now Chris joins me to enjoy a good fire and land cleared by helpful sons. Titus inspects the area as usual. Not sure what he's looking for; but probably something nasty to roll in.

Lumberjacks: Chris and Jon

2011-11-13T06:50:00.000-08:00

Jon and Chris carry a good-sized cedar trunk to the fire. I'm grateful for their assistance...as you can see I can only do so much before I need to "supervise operations".

More Clearing near the Bridge

2011-11-13T06:46:00.001-08:00

Chris tries his hand at chainsawing a cedar tree to free up a larger cherry tree. Jon taught Chris the chainsaw basics and let him at it. Jon and Chris worked hard to clear about a dozen trees near the bridge. We're slowly making the road safe to travel in case of a forest fire.

2011-08-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known, 

And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne; 

While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care; 

And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God art present there. (Isaac Watts)

Once again, Sarah's photography of God's wonderful creation...in things small, but beautiful in design. So much surrounds us, if we only take the time to think on God's amazing worksmanship!

2011-08-06T06:40:00.000-07:00

Sarah captured this photo of a few wild flowers in the fields near the house. There is SO MUCH beauty in God's creation...if we would only take some time to see it! Thanks, Sarah, for taking time to capture this for us!

2011-08-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

Sarah made this pretty flower arrangement (from Jane's garden and the field) and has some nice composition in this simple photograph on our side porch. We don't sit out there very often...due to the less than comfortable metal chairs. This is close to the door we use most often when coming and going from the house (the kitchen door). Jane's flowers have been beautiful this spring and summer!

2011-08-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

Sarah snapped this shot near one of our old Maple trees in a late May evening. She loves photography and (I believe) has a "good eye" for capturing the beauty of God's creation.

2011-08-06T04:22:00.000-07:00

We had a full moon on a nice evening this summer. The moon was much bigger than it seems in this picture. The summer has been unusually hot and we have had the A/C on more than I would like. The lack of rain has made the yard and field brown vs. it's typical green.

2011-08-06T04:19:00.000-07:00

Our one peach tree brought some good fruit this year, but the squirrels and deer raided the tree after this photo and took it ALL! We had to cut down the other peach tree this year, so we're now left with one peach and one pear tree. Here's a picture of this beautiful fruit...prior to the raid.

2011-05-22T18:24:00.000-07:00

Our only siting of a Black Snake on the property this summer (thus far). This is unusual for our years here to date. We generally see black snakes several times during the summer. Perhaps there leaving because the mouse population has just about disappeared. Here you can see Dufus (Titus) getting close to another nip on his nose....which was avoided with a few stern warnings. The snake was about 4 feet long and soon disappeared into the woods.

2011-04-23T07:55:00.000-07:00

Easter dinner on the front porch with Jon and Ana. They came to help on the farm; and we ended up breaking up the remainder of the concrete foundation in the back yard. There's always something going on!

2011-04-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

Went to the symphony with my love...and Sarah, Jon and Ana at JMU. It was a GREAT time; despite having to get picked up on I 64 (the bridge was washed out). Later we came home late and braved crossing the stream. Then we got Ana's car stuck on the house side...trapped! It was an "interesting" few days:)

2011-03-12T07:40:00.000-08:00

Sarah poses for a quick picture as we are soon to leave the wedding of Matthew Davis in Chattanooga, TN. We enjoyed a nice trip to the big celebration with "Uncle Chris" coming along for some GREAT fellowship.

2011-03-11T07:32:00.000-08:00

Titus watches the creek rising above our bridge. This water would later rise to wipe out our bridge and cause us a significant set back (financially) to get things corrected. Such are the "joys" of living in the country and having only ONE way to get in and out of the farm.

2011-02-14T19:28:00.000-08:00

Here we all show our cards so nicely written by a loving mother and wife! Jane's poetry is not always comparable to the great poets, but she has an ability to communicate her love and appreciation. I wish we could only express it back to her in the same way!

2011-02-14T19:24:00.000-08:00

Jane set a beautiful table and I set a good warm fire for a nice family gathering to celebrate Valetine's Day. Jane loves preparing and expressing her love for our family on occassions like this. She has a "gift" of blessing others when she prepares food, and writes letters of love to each of us.

2010-09-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

Cutting down and cutting up the big Walnut trees close to the house in our back yard. These beautiful trees dropped splines, leaves, and walnuts into our gutters all year. Now gutter clearing will take much less time and effort!

Plum Pickers....(in Sarah's point of view)

2010-08-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

So plums actually produce every other year. I know there's a name for that, but it's escaped me at the moment. This year we were lucky to have them produce some of the loveliest fruits we've had, even though they are quite sour at times (that's the way Marmie likes 'em) We were also lucky enough to get a lot off before the squirrels and deer got to them. They're not the type of plum that you might be thinking of since they're only the size ofa cherry; but they taste about the same. Here are a few:

This Spring.

2010-08-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

A few snapshots we pulled out to show you a glimpse of our lovely spring on the farm. Bleeding Hearts below, along with Iris'.

Easter this year consisted of easter egg dying (of course). This year we enjoyed the company of the Jona (Jon and Ana), Chris, Elana, Mumsie, Pappie, and myself. Aren't we a creative bunch? Mmm....then we ate them all up.
I know we have these every year, but for some reason Redbuds always surprise my family with their beauty. At first it's only a gray/pink, then a dusty/purple that transforms itself into a brilliant light cherry color. It's almost like every year they become more beautiful. We're so blessed to have them in the Shenandoah Valley!

This Winter... (from Sarah)

2010-08-07T18:58:00.000-07:00

Hey all, it's Sarah. Dad's been a bit busy (being the dedicated worker that he is), so he hasn't had time to update the blog. I'm sure most of you know about the rather odd winter we had this year( hallelujah we actually got snow!) I took this as a sign to take as many pictures as possible...which actually led to so many that we had to get a back up hard-drive because the computer couldn't handle all the photos....whoops. Here are two:

This past winter our family also found a facination with the movie Julie & Julia. I found myself making Julia Child's 'Boeuf Bourguignon' the day of my birthday....longest day I've ever spent in the kitchen; but it was worth it. Of course, Titus didn't mind being in the kitchen all day waiting for scraps, it was his absolute pleasure and delight helping me 'clean up'.

2010-07-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

Three July birthdays...me, Mark Iverson and Dan Iverson; celebrated with our favorite cakes; which everyone enjoyed!

A Snowy Walk at Dusk

2010-02-05T15:11:00.001-08:00

I enjoyed a nice walk with Titus down to the creek and along the edge of the field. Took a picture looking back to the house and Hogback Mountain behind it. At this point the snow is about 6-8 inches deep and crackling like a wintry mix.

Eva Karunakaran's Birthday

2010-01-17T06:04:00.001-08:00

Our dear friends, the Karunakarans, came to visit to celebrate Eva's birthday. We enjoyed quite a few laughs and some delicious food. Isn't this a beautiful group of women....and one handsome guy?

2009-12-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

Jane, Jonathan, and I ran into town to do some shopping and left Chris and Sarah to do the cooking. When we returned, the house smelled of a wonderful italian smell!! They made brushchettas for dinner and they were absolutely delicious. Here are the famous chefs just prior to the "feast".

2009-12-28T10:50:00.000-08:00

We had quite a fog Christmas morning and Sarah snapped this picture of our most photographed Maple tree in the side yard.

2009-12-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

A new member joined our family. His name is Oliver (after Oliver Twist). Jane picked him up as an abandoned cat near a gas station in Lexington. He's warmed up to the family..and the family has warmed up to Oliver. I just hope he's another good mouser!

2009-12-22T04:14:00.000-08:00

Sarah (the hardworking chef of the day) was exhausted after baking dozens of cinnamon buns late into the night. Her boyfriend stood anxiously by to see if any scraps would fall to the floor. He looks exhausted too!

2009-12-22T04:00:00.000-08:00

I woke up today and the house smelled wonderfully like cinnamon buns!! That means we're getting close to Christmas! Of course we'll need to deliver dozens of cinnamon buns to family and friends before we come home to enjoy a few ourselves:)

2009-12-22T03:58:00.000-08:00

The happy chef! Doesn't she look happy?!

2009-12-22T03:55:00.000-08:00

Sarah and Jane baked dozens of cinnamon buns for the holidays. I helped...just a little.

2009-12-20T10:24:00.000-08:00

The front porch was not too hospitable during the storm:)

2009-12-19T10:57:00.000-08:00

Froppy's bird bath won't be bathing birds anytime soon. Yes, that's close to 2 feet deep of snow!

2009-12-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

Two feet of snow and it's a winter wonderland. Sarah, Titus and I took a walk to enjoy the beauty of it...and get a little exercise. This is taken while crossing our little creek.

2009-12-05T16:44:00.000-08:00

We really enjoyed our visit with Lowell and Sharon Swartley, just hanging out on the front porch and enjoying some rich deserts.

Troop 72 Visit

2009-12-05T07:57:00.000-08:00

Troop 72 (Matthew, Jonathan, and Christopher's old troop) came to visit our property and helped with clearing a number of trees on the north hill. Quite a few boys got the Paul Bunyan award as a result. We sure enjoyed the visit...and the super chili and venison stew they left!

2009-11-30T08:11:00.000-08:00

We had the family here to visit for Thanksgiving and we gave thanks for Mom and Dad's lives and faithful years of marriage. What a blessing to have them as our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. We love you two!

2009-10-27T16:44:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful fall day with a nice visit from Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop, so we decided to gather on the front lawn and snap a picture. This was not long before Matthew and Carly left for Japan

2009-10-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Family photo. There are some beautiful women in this family!

Fun with Chris and Ned

2009-10-06T16:44:00.001-07:00

Long time friends Chris Breslin and Ned Davis came to visit with their lovely wives (Laurie and Janet) for the weekend. We simply enjoyed their warm company and lots of laughs. The weather was perfect clear and cool fall weather.

2009-09-14T14:58:00.000-07:00

Here you can see a picture from the downstairs bathroom. When we pulled up the floor to replace with new, we found rotted boards. We later peeled back the walls to find more rotted boards. They have now been removed and replaces, but much work will follow to finish the bathrooms. Stay tuned!

2009-09-05T15:15:00.000-07:00

Jane and Liam found a few pumpkins in the garden. Not too big, but a good sign of the season!

2009-09-04T15:12:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Jonathan (September 2nd) and Anastasia's (September 4th) birthdays together. Notice she got the big bear and he got the small one:)

2009-08-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Matthew's birthday of August 7th with a GI Joe cake. We later took the guys to see the movie!

2009-07-31T06:06:00.000-07:00

We had a few peaches this year. Sarah took this picture with her new Canon camera.

2009-07-31T06:05:00.000-07:00

Alan Weekly bricked in the outside of our old dining room doorway. He did a wonderful job of "toothing" in the bricks to the existing wall. He also closed in the big opening where we had pipes freeze the last few winters in the cellar.

2009-07-31T06:03:00.000-07:00

We removed the old door from the dining room and have bricked in the area. We will soon insulate it and add dry wall inside.

2009-07-31T06:01:00.000-07:00

A beautiful sunny day at the "farm".

2009-02-03T15:20:00.000-08:00

Looking to the north mountains from the back porch

2009-02-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

House mountains from the front porch.

2009-02-03T15:09:00.000-08:00

Looking south from the side yard to the House mountains.

Christmas Day Family Time

2009-01-08T03:28:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Christmas day with family and took this picture toward the end of the day. Liam got lots of new toys and had a ball playing with them for all to see.

Jane fixed a fantastic meal and everyone enjoyed cinnamon buns made by Jane, Trudy and Sarah!

Sarah had a Christmas Party!

2008-12-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

Sarah, Joni, Jack and Jane were among the first to arrive at her Christmas party! It was a "ton of fun" for everyone with a delicious meal, fun games, and dancing till very late!

A Little Brick Work

2008-12-19T12:02:00.001-08:00

Allen Weekly (weeklymasonry.com) came to improve our bedroom fireplaces this week and did a wonderful job! We now have a concrete wall near the cellar to protect our underground water lines, and...we have nice finished fireplaces in our upstairs bedrooms. The brick had been loose and uneven and now things are much improved!

Thanks for all the hard work Allen and Brandon!

Thanksgiving with the family

2008-11-30T14:32:00.000-08:00

We had a nice time of giving thanks to our God! Grandpa gave a great message!

2008-08-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

Matthew, Carly and Liam came on August 8th to celebrate Matthew's birthday. It was GREAT to have them here! We went for a short walk after dinner.

2008-08-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful August morning with cool temperatures on my week off. Jane, Sarah and I went for a walk and enjoyed one of the nicest mornings this summer! We're grateful that August has been relatively nice this year with temperatures ranging in the low 60's at night to the mid 80's during the day.

2008-07-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

Matthew and Carly relax a little in the hammock this summer. We love having them here and enjoying the warm weather!

Fixing the Pole Barn

2008-06-28T06:36:00.000-07:00

Coleman Zwanzig and Sarah take some time to remove old boards from the back of the pole barn.

Proud Titus

2008-06-28T06:07:00.000-07:00

Titus loves playing with plastic water bottles, old milk containers and anything plastic when he gets the chance. Here he proudly displays his capture of the water bottle Sarah tossed out. If you'd like to get his attention, just show him your used water bottle and he'll have the time of his life! He cracks us up!

2008-06-27T03:54:00.000-07:00

Here's one limb of our plum tree. We're still researching to see what type of plum tree it is. When the deer eat the plums they also eat the leaves and ends of the branches off. Not sure how to remedy the situation, but will take all suggestions.

2008-06-27T03:50:00.000-07:00

Our peach tree is bearing some nice fruit...the only problem is that the squirrels and deer enjoy eating it as much as we do. We also have nice plums on our plum tree, but the deer love them too!

Uncle Chris and Liam

2008-06-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

Liam enjoys time with his Uncle Chris on the front porch. It was a nice relaxing Sunday with great weather!

2008-06-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

Titus (our 2 year old Lab) and Liam (our grandson) take a moment for a hug on Father's Day weekend. We love having Matthew, Carly and Liam down for visits. Liam turns one on June 27th!

2008-06-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

Our cats have proven to be GREAT mousers, but they do need their beauty rest too! Dixie is taking a well deserved nap after guarding the home front from smaller critters.

A great place for coffee in the morning

2008-06-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

This is our front porch which received a bit of attention in preparing for Katy Robb and Tristan Napotnik's wedding a few weeks ago. Preparations for the wedding seemed endless, but were a pure pleasure for such wonderful people. You can see many pictures of the wedding on Shay Cochrane's website to the right.

Easter Weekend 2008

2008-03-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

This was a beautiful day on Easter weekend with the Fraker and Hill families visiting. We had an Easter egg hunt, great food and a lot of fun fellowship. Matthew took this photograph with his new camera. What a beautiful day!

First Snow for 2008

2008-01-17T18:02:00.000-08:00

We had our first good snow on January 17th. We enjoyed some nice fires inside after running around in the snow.

Fall Colors in Cass, WV

2007-10-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

On a cool fall day we decided to visit Cass, West Virginia to ride the old steam train to the top of Bald Knob. It was peak color season and a wonderful day with Jonathan, Ana, Sarah and Jane! Anyone up for going this fall?