I have sensed a cut back in my blogging activity since mid August, both in the amount of time I have to write and the time I have to post comments on other blogs, in large measure due to my work situation.
To make it up to you, if you’re a regular reader, I thought it would be fun to share some of our pictorial highlights of this past Fall.
Here’s a picture of Kristina The Home Engineer ( fellow blogger) and her son Jesse meeting Winston our pig for the first time.
This is Jesse getting some tips on how to drive our 6 foot John Deere Diesel mower
Kristina, Rodney (my neighbor) and I auctioneering off some knitted items during Applejam
This is a picture of myself, Wendy Jans and my wife @ Applejam 2008
This is me doing a live TV appearance after my “walkabout” this Fall. (My mind went blank during the live interview…I mean completely blank ) 
This is a picture of Elaine West (age 98) and myself the day we did an oral history taping
Jesse and myself making some fresh apple cider for Applejam
For our daugher’s birthday she rented a charcoal hog roaster. This was a first for me. This is a picture of me firing it up
Picture of my friend Larry and I right before we put these kayaks into the river for the first time
Larry and I just shoving off
I’ll close with this truth Shalene shared with me recently :
“I’m learning …
I can’t make anyone love me.
Either they do, or they don’t.”
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I want to thank those of you that do
take the time to stay
involved in my life.
I don’t take you for granted. DM
November 9, 2008 at 8:50 am |
Thanks for sharing this photo-post with us. I really enjoy getting glimpses into your (plural) life. I’m glad you can let writing and blogging be something that is a help and joy to you, and let it happen when it does, rather than having it hang as a burden over your head. I feel that way, too.
I had to laugh at all the shortsleeves in your photos. I wonder if I’d ever wear shortsleeves if I lived that far north
. Today, in my part of Florida, it is 67 outside and 70 in my house, and I’m in a turtleneck and a (lightweight) sweater.
By the way, I love the “feel” of your new template.
November 9, 2008 at 9:02 am |
Eclexia, thanks for stopping by. Amber and Sanityfound put together the new look for me. I like it too.
November 9, 2008 at 9:45 am |
DM – I think these last quotes show how much you have grown in the past few months….
November 9, 2008 at 11:06 am |
nice post, DM!!
EXCEPT the hog roaster, i bet Winston was terrified!!!!
yeah, i see a theme of yellow t-shirts
i can NOT wait to come back next year, are we still invited?
kristina
November 9, 2008 at 11:31 am |
OK, DM, you just made me realize that my summer/fall totally SUCKED!
It looks like you guys had a Norman Rockwellian summer/fall, and it’s so great to see the pictures! Thanks for sharing them with the rest of us.
November 9, 2008 at 2:12 pm |
I, too, thank you for sharing these photo’s. I love looking at the “real lives” of people. I thought of Winston too with that roaster krislinatin. LOL!!! They probably didn’t show it to her.
You know, you can only do what you can do. Some days I have time to go from blog to blog and then other days, I really only put in the time to those who came to mine that day. I at least try to do that. I feel if someone takes the time to come visit me, I should show the same courtesy. But I know there are times you just can’t. Your never far from my thoughts.
Did you guys get any snow? We still have some left on the ground from Fri.
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the snow has left us for the time being..but it was coming down pretty good on Friday. I don’t know how you guys do it North of us.
November 9, 2008 at 7:38 pm |
I love all the photos. How was the kayak ride? Bet it was cold. Did you flip? (and where are your life vests?)
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You are SO observant…must be that lawyer in you….water in that river is only about 2 to 3 ft high…I CAN”T swim so you better believe I will wear a life vest any other time…wasn’t too cold that day, nope, didn’t flip ..these are a wider/ more stable kayak model, not to say they wouldn’t tip, just that these are harder….and I think legally, we were supposed to be wearing life jackets regardless…what’s that saying about ignorance of the law as being a valid excuse
November 9, 2008 at 7:49 pm |
Thanks for sharing all the great pics. I feel like I’m living vicariously through you.
Enola brings up a good point….where are your life vests?
November 10, 2008 at 11:34 am |
I’m with Angie … hello? You tryna live dangerously now huh? Lol looks like you have had an incredible time, happy memories, those that will last a life time!
November 10, 2008 at 5:58 pm |
OMG, OMG, OMG!!!
I didn’t see any pictures of Winston after the hog roaster pictures!
November 10, 2008 at 7:09 pm |
you ARE right, mike, OMG!!!
November 10, 2008 at 8:55 pm |
OK, so you caught me,….but she WAS tender…
November 10, 2008 at 9:26 pm |
OH NO YOU DID NOT!?!?!?!?!
November 10, 2008 at 9:31 pm |
naw…just thought I’d get a reaction from you
She (Winston) is snug as a bug in her new insulated area of the barn…gave her her first batch of corn this morning compliments of you.. (she said to tell you thank you by the way)
I need to take some new photos of her…shes taken to laying her head on my lap and closing her eyes when I rub her head….you’ve got to see it to believe it….and when she hears my truck come into the drive way, she runs over to the fence, pacing back and forth…so she’s alive and well.
November 11, 2008 at 8:29 am |
DM….that was really bad!!!!
November 11, 2008 at 8:52 am |
DM – now you’re going to HAVE to provide pictorial evidence that Winston a) is still alive and well, and b) isn’t just some substitute pig!
I had just assumed that she was possibly traumatized by the roaster, but ….
November 11, 2008 at 9:03 am |
This almost has the feel of a cover-up doesn’t it?
See what happens when we watch too much of the news..we don’t know who to believe anymore…tell you what I can do…if you all send me $20 in unmarked bills I will take a picture of Winston standing next to a Newspaper with the date clearly visible. Since Kristina has met Winston in the flesh, she will have to be the one to verify that the pig in the picture is in fact the same Winston she met in September…sound good?
November 11, 2008 at 12:03 pm |
ROFL DM;
I did get a good laugh at your playing along.
And since today is Veterans Day…. if you don’t mind.
http://mssc54.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/veterans-day-2008/
Enjoy your day.
November 11, 2008 at 12:58 pm |
DM: Thank you so much for sharing the pictures….. a peek inside your life is a joy. Time gets away from us, doesn’t it? but so nice to come back around, when we can, and the connection still feels strong and true…… I also love the new look, and I have a new one also, compliments of our two favorite women, Amber and SF!!!!! Awesome…….
November 11, 2008 at 5:23 pm |
i agree with lawyerchick. i want pictures…….
i think she needs to come live with me….
November 11, 2008 at 9:51 pm |
Amazingly beautiful post! I’ll leave it at that! Hope life is treating you VERY well!
November 12, 2008 at 3:00 pm |
i think we might have to send the PPS to the farm.
….I have “Take a current recognizable photo of Winston @ the TOP of my to-do list…I left home this AM just as it turned light and didn’t walk in the door until 9:40 PM my time (long day) so…photo may have to wait until Saturday…her hair (yes pigs do have hair)…is getting long….must mean it’s going to be a cold winter…BTW, she loves the corn you got for her….the apples are almost gone, and the grass is pretty much done too.I’ll mention to Winston your offer to have her stay w/ you, I”m guessing she’d jump at the chance.
[pig protection services]
just teasing
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Not to worry
November 14, 2008 at 9:58 pm |
Is yellow your favorite color?
I like to wear bright cheerful colors when I think there might be some pictures taken.
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Des,
You are SO observant
November 15, 2008 at 1:03 pm |
[...] There has been considerable concern in the blog community regarding the well being of Winston the pig. This morning in order to put some of those [...]
November 15, 2008 at 7:59 pm |
Since I’m new here, I have to ask…Is Applefest an event in your town, or something you put together? It looks so fun.
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Grace, you asked about Applejam…it’s an annual event we host, the first Saturday after Labor day. We’ve hosted 9 or 10 of them now I think. Starts out w/ an open mike, and finishes up w/ someone (or someones) we hire. We don’t charge but do have a donation jar. We have a pot luck so there’s lots of good food. This past one was our biggest in attendance yet…I’m guessing 175 people though I never officially counted. BTW, you guys are invited…does anyone in your family sing, play an instrument, have any talents you’d be willing to share? I’m still looking for a story teller or something along that line. We had a cowboy poet a couple of years in a row, that was kind of neat.