Spindle Cottage

While I'm taking my "Blogging Break"

I thought you might enjoy 

watching this video of a sweet couple

from Somerset England

who LOVE to build garden sheds.

 

Talk about creative!

 

Don't forget to enlarge the video

and enjoy. 

 

:)

Taking A Break

The hot weather is here

so I'm taking a 

"Blogging break" 

to catch up on things

around the farm & in

the old farmhouse.

I hope the weather is

cooler where you are.

 :)

Early Morning

It was a beautiful sunny morning

so I grabbed my camera

and snapped a few

pictures.

 

 

Starting on the back porch.

 

I'm still patiently waiting

for the screened porch

to be built.

 

It will happen one day...

too many other things

need tending too

before the porch reaches

the top of the priority list.

:)

 

 

Now on around the corner

to the Annabelle hydrangeas

along the front of the house.

They're struggling where they are

but I'll keep working on them

and hopefully one day they'll

be happy there. 

 

The wagon is near the arbor

and front gate. 

We have to do a bit of work 

in that area yet but it will

get done when the porch 

and new sidewalk go in.

One day 

;)

 

 

Now we're over to the veggie

garden. I've been waiting

for free mulch for a couple

of months but I got an email

this morning that they have some

...now they just need to let me

know where it is!! 

 

One day I hope to have most 

of the garden area covered with mulch

to help keep the grass and 

weeds out.

Right beside the veggie garden

 is the chicken coop/garden shed.

My favorite building

here on the farm.

 

It's a neat old building.

 

 

Now we're over to the little 

orchard. We have two pear trees

an apple a cherry and two 

plums. We had two peach

tree's and another cherry 

but they died. All the 

fruit trees are old.

I don't know what I was doing

when I took this top photo...

I sure wasn't thinking of focusing!

 

This is the other pear tree above,

it's a different kind of pear.

These get a brownish

skin on them. 

We've never been able to enjoy

our fruit trees 

because the trees were let

to grow too tall over the years

(not by us)

and just when the fruit is

ripening...the birds come!

They seem to know when 

we're not home because we've

never seen them do it

but we know it's them

because before the fruit is ripe

they'll come in flocks as if to 

test how ripe the fruit is.

Then I think they send out scouts

to see when we leave the farm

for the day.

Then they fly in for the 'kill'.

I'm sure of it.

 

More shots of the coop/garden shed

along with one of our other 

old buildings.

 

Finally we're back to the porch

and the Trumpet Vine

that you just can't kill.

This old vine was growing up a

dead tree right in that spot

when we moved here 3

years ago.

We cut the tree down

(it had termites)

and dug up the vine....or

so we thought.

Now it grows up 

the eagle weather vane

and is taking over the 

old porch.

 

I don't really mind...

I may just let it grow along the

new porch...one day.

I hope your week is a good one

so far.

Amish Barns & Changing Times

This past weekend

hubby and I

took a little trip to

Amish country to have supper

at the 

 Carriage Crossing Restaurant

in Yoder Kansas. 

It's not far...only about

20 miles away

and it's a pretty drive with 

a few rolling hills.

Most trips we are 

rewarded by seeing Amish 

buggies traveling down the road

but on this day sadly there were none.

We thought we'd do a bit of shopping

in the little town before we ate but

by the time we got there

the stores were closing.

It was 4:30 on a Saturday!

It's a sleepy little town

but the restaurant stays open

until 9pm.

 

The only two buggies we saw were

tied up to hitching posts but 

there were a lot of tractors in town

with trailers attached

and a large group of Amish enjoying

a meal under the roof behind

the post office.

 

See the tractor with the home made trailer

behind it in the picture above? 

 The Amish seem to be using this mode

of transportation more and more in this area.

Inside you will find chairs benches or

automobile seats that can be removed.

We even saw a child's car seat

in the back of a horse trailer pulled by 

a tractor. 

This day we saw a tractor

with no trailer

carrying an Amish family consisting of

mom dad and at least 4 children

driving down the road.

They were all hanging on to something

and to each other.

I felt a little sad to see them

traveling this way instead of in their

buggy but it was about 94 that day

so maybe it was their way of 

saving the horse from the heat. 

We enjoyed our supper and 

headed home.

 

Along they way we pass a tiny

Amish church and graveyard.

I was told by a sweet Amish lady

one day that this was a 

church that was holding to the old

ways. They were not allowing

rubber tires on their tractors or

any farm wagons...they must be

metal. She said the congregation

was declining. 

There is a larger Amish church

closer to town and I suppose

this is where those that 

want to 'modernize'

attend.

 

The old church

I realize that certain things make

life easier for all of us including

the Amish...

but to me it would be a sad day

if we no longer saw

these sweet people traveling the

roads with their beautiful 

horse and buggies.

It's nice to know that there are

those out there who still

live that simple old fashioned

way of life.

I'm linking to 

Barn Charm

Meet Playboy

 

Meet Playboy.

Isn't he gorgeous!

He came to stay on our farm

last Thursday night.

I wish I could say he was ours

but he is not...he belongs to a

young woman who is a friend of ours.

 

 

Playboy had been staying

with a family where unfortunately

there was a sudden divorce

and our young friend found 

herself without a place

for her horse. 

 

 

Hubby after spraying Playboy with fly spray

 

So for a time this beautiful

boy will stay with us.

He is such a sweet horse

HUGE at 16 hh

and is blind in one eye.

But he 

BARREL RACES!

 

The girls think he's handsome.

 

 

So do I!