Entries from September 2010

Arts and Crafts after Dark

Date September 21, 2010

A week or so ago, the weather was gorgeous, and there was a small group from the ‘hood hanging out on our back patio. Alana and the Yapp girls were doing some coloring at the picnic table…and it started to get dark. Julie hooked them up with headlamps so that the fun wouldn’t have to […]

What’re the Chances We’ll Be a One Dog Family Again…?

Date September 19, 2010

“What?” you say. “You’re already a one dog family. Aren’t you?” Well…we were. And then Julie’s Uncle Ray called from West Virginia this morning to report that a lab mix had been hanging out on Bob’s farm all weekend, she had a collar (but no tags), and she was exceedingly pleasant. Seeing as how his […]

Visiting the Farm: Part 7 (Final) — The Dogs

Date September 19, 2010

Molly’s actually slowing down to the point that she stays close to the farmhouse — peps up long enough to go find a smelly mess to roll in somewhere, and then she’s pretty much done for. Holly and Sophie, though, are still spry enough to roam around. Holly Sophie

Visiting the Farm: Part 6 — The Laborers

Date September 18, 2010

Julie has to give Bob a direct order to take a break from back-to-back tasks to spend time with his kids/grandkids… She was successful — once — during our visit, convincing him to take a break for a family walk: Pam vacillates between pushing Bob to slow down…and enabling him. She has been brainwashed, we […]

Visiting the Farm: Part 5 — Flora and Fauna

Date September 17, 2010

There were several species of butterflies flitting around during our visit to West Virginia. Maybe, some day, I’ll actually learn the species! Carson actually found this fella’ on an apple tree near The High Point: Some Flowers

Visiting the Farm: Part 4 — The Views

Date September 16, 2010

I did a fair amount of walking and riding around the farm during our visit, which meant I spent a lot of time trying to capture the different aspects of the setting. The View The River The Woods The Grass Looking up from the pond to the red cabin: …and down from the hill to […]

Visiting the Farm: Part 3 — The Kids

Date September 15, 2010

Alana Carson Carson actually got to go solo on the 4-wheeler (with an adult following and with strict rules), which made the weekend all on its own for him. He loved driving over to The High Point (which he’s making the final ascent to below): We don’t actually require that he wear a helmet while […]

Visiting the Farm: Part 2 — Deer

Date September 14, 2010

There are a lot of deer in West Virginia, and Bob works to make sure they’re regularly visible. He spreads corn in the yard in front of the farmhouse — a task that Alana gets quite upset about if she finds out that he has tackled it without her: Bob took me along with him […]

Visiting the Farm: Part 1 — Cousins

Date September 13, 2010

Over Labor Day Weekend, we headed to Julie’s dad’s farm in West Virginia. In addition to Bob and Pam, our nephew and niece, Tyler and Meg, came down for the weekend. It’s a highly compatible group of cousins. When we we arrived, Alana immediately raced in and flung herself on her 15-year-old cousin with a […]

Fall Soccer Starts

Date September 12, 2010

Saturday marked the beginning of the fall soccer season for both Benton and Alana. Benton got back into soccer last fall and played again in the spring, and he was almost giddy about getting back on the field (ahem…back on the pitch). This is Alana’s first time to play, though. As Julie tweeted, Benton’s game […]