Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Wedding


A couple at our church had asked me if I could help decorate for their outdoor wedding. The day after Family Day, I began planning. I had one week to come up with something. I had some ideas previously, but nothing concrete.

While washing dishes, and gazing out the window wondering what I was going to do, I noticed my white picket fences that border my herb garden. Mike made them, and they are so pretty. When he made them, he put tubing on the back of them with a steel rod supporting them so they could easily be removed for mowing (or in this case transported to another yard). So that sparked the idea for a garden theme.

The bride's family had a friend that decorates for weddings. This lady very generously allowed me to use all of her materials. She had arches, bows, and tons of tulle.

Needing a space to work (and make a mess), I decided to turn part of the garage into my workshop for the week. In an effort to keep the cost down, I tried to be creative with things I had on my own property. I decide to make bouquets to hang from my white fences. I gathered herbs (yarrow, chive flowers, and sage), hydrangeas, cedar branches, maple leaves, and even asparagus leaves from my garden. I sprayed some of the flowers white, and some with a clear gloss to preserve them. Once the bouquets were put together, I hung them in my garage upside down so they would dry straight and then stand erect when upright. Then I added a tulle and lace bow to each bouquet. You can see from the pictures how I added tulle to the fences and hung the bouquets from the fences. I put cedar branches and yarrow over the arches.

Brandon agreed to spray paint my rusting rod iron tea table white so I could use it for the unity candle. I placed this under the arch, between the fences.
The couple was able to get 25 church pews from a church that was getting torn down. They also rented white chairs. (The guest count was over 600 people!) I wanted to make it feel like a church, even though it was in a big beautiful yard in the country, on a lake.

Graciously some friends that own a nursery allowed Mike and I to load up our 16 ft. enclosed trailer with whatever we wanted to use for the wedding. This gave me so much material to work with -beautiful planters, shrubs, and small trees.

In the front yard, I put a set of fences with an arch and plants to make it feel like you were entering the church. Then I did the same thing at the back of the chairs, so it felt like you were entering the sanctuary.

There were several tents, to which we added tulle and bows. Then planters were placed all over the yard. I am so thankful for all the help I had putting everything up.

The day was perfect -sunny and gorgeous! It was tons of fun....but not something I will be able to do very often! :)

Friday, September 25, 2009

Family Day on the Farm

What a fun day! Sunshine, good food, good music, family, friends, and lots of good laughs....what more could you ask for? I really feel bad though.....it is terrible to have so much fun at the expense of your guests! :) But I know others had just as much fun! :)

We sure enjoyed having the Mahlstedt family play again this year. They even surprised us with a little singing, which was great! They are a very talented family!




After music we ate lunch and then started the games. My favorite game, by far, is the Barnyard game. First the players draw an animal name (there are two of each kind), then they put on a blindfold and make the sound of their animal. For example, if they picked "cow" they have to walk around blindfolded calling "moo moo" listening for the other cow. For some reason I find it hilarious to watch. I actually had pains in my stomach from laughing so hard! The noise is deafening, and to see people wandering around so helplessly making animal calls is hysterical!


After the Barnyard game, we played "Grain Race". Here the couples had to race to see who could eat their "grain" the fastest. Al made this game extra funny with his chicken antics! :)


Then came the Egg Toss Game. The partners toss the egg back and forth, taking a step back with each toss until one egg is left unbroken. Emily and Kaylin won this one!


Next we had couples line up to give their best Rooster and Hen calls. Some roosters sounded like they were dying, and some hens sounded like an animal I am not familiar with. :) Jay and Janell took home the prize for this game - a fat juicy chicken (from our freezer). :)

We had a lot of prizes, all from our farm. Apple pie made with apples from our apple trees, Emily's crab apple jelly, canned beans, eggs, homemade bread, cookies, cinnamon rolls, watermelon, crab apple juice, crab apple syrup, Boxelder syrup, barbecue sauce, and dill relish. So even though our guest did suffer some embarrassment during the games, they were rewarded with yummy prizes. :)





Name that Vine Crop was the next game. We weren't going to play this game, but it was put back on the schedule by popular demand (Grandma wanted to play it again! Sorry Al!). Here the contestants guessed the name of the crop as fast as they could with a little surprise at the end. Watch the video and enjoy! :)










After that game we all headed out to the sheep pasture for sheep herding. In this game a team of two had to herd the sheep between two posts. The pair with the fastest time won. Uncle Kevin and Isaiah Mahlstedt took home the prize. Uncle Kevin lucked out on this one, being teamed up with a country boy, whose family also raises sheep! :)

Then it was on to Mutton Busting. While this game was fun to watch, it was also somewhat of a flop. Mike wanted to use the lambs because they were much smaller than the ewes, and that way there was less chance of someone getting hurt. But the problem was that when Mike finally got a child on a lamb, the lamb could only go so far before it buckled under the weight.




Here Ben is attempting to bust a lamb. The last game was a fun one to watch. It was called "Pa and Ma Do Chores". The couples raced the clock in this game; the couple with the fastest time won. First they had to get dressed, then collect two eggs, milk the goat, fill the water pails, and lastly carry a sack of grain, the milk, and the eggs across the finish line. Steve and Cindy Kerzman, two bona fide city slickers won this game (to much surprise)! :) They took home a loaf of whole wheat bread, a dozen eggs, and an apple pie. Good job guys! :)




These pictures are of my parents playing the game.

We planned to have more games, but the time got away from us. For the rest of the afternoon people visited, some rode four wheelers on the trails, and some played Redneck soccer (no rules). Then Emily organized some games for the children. We finished off the evening with a campfire and s'mores.

At the campfire, Emily enjoyed "getting" people with her whoopie cushion. It was pretty funny! One of our guest said, "How many indignities do I have to suffer from this family!" We all laughed hysterically! ;)

What a day!! Thank you to everyone that helped clean up, and to everyone that brought food. 'Til next year.........




Posted by the Family Day on the Farm Director :)




P.S. Also, we were so thankful to have our friend Myrtle at our family day this year. She will be 101 this month. Amazingly she stayed most of the day. She enjoyed watching the games and seeing the farm animals.


This is a picture of Myrtle, our oldest guest, with my niece, Isabella, our youngest guest (two months).

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Update on Kittens

All the kittens have been sold except two male kittens (Cinnamon & Peanut). So if you are interested in purchasing a cute cuddly friendly kitten give Emily a call or leave a comment. She is selling them for $10.00.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Coming soon to a farm near you.....



Our annual "Family Day on the Farm" family reunion is upon us again! We have many fun events planned. The Mahlstedt family will be providing Bluegrass music, along with some music from our children. We will spend the afternoon playing games. I hope we laugh as much playing them as we did planning them. The games are all farm related, and sure to stump the average city slicker! :) Our guests will be enjoying some organic pastured poultry, along with a slough of potluck dishes. Last year it poured rain all day, and we still had a blast! If you got an invitation (Berry/Housman families and close family friends), you don't want to miss this event!

Hope to see you!

Looking forward to Saturday............. :)
Here is the schedule for the day.

Schedule:
11:00
– Guests arrive (set up food & drinks)
11:30 – Music starts
12:00 – Eat
1:00 – Games start


Indoor Games: (in garage)
How many “sheep marbles” in the jar
Human Scrabble
Grain Race
Hen & Rooster call
Barnyard Animals
Name those Farm Supplies


Outdoor Games: (barn area)
Egg toss
Mutton busting
Sheep herding
Pa & Ma Do Chores


4:00 Food, hay rides, four wheeler rides, children's games
5:00 Men’s clay pigeon shoot-off (soccer field)
6:00 Evening games (soccer field)
Tug of War
Redneck Soccer


8:00 Campfire, roast marshmallows (behind barn)
10:00 Fall into bed after a fun day in the country! :)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Friday, September 4, 2009

Getting to posting on the blog is just way too difficult right now. :) We are canning just about every day. The days we don't can we are preparing things for canning. Not to mention trying to get ready for school, butchering chickens, preparing for a family reunion at our house, and helping a family at church decorate for their daughters wedding. I am excited about everything I have to do. I love putting away food for the winter, planning for school, having social events, and of course decorating, but I just don't have any slack time right now. So here I am posting...in between customers (today is "Friday on the Farm").
So I hope that explains why we have not posted lately....and what we've been up to.
Here are some fun pictures of Jonny working on a shop project. The boys all have workshops in the garage.
Got to go..........a customer is here! :)



























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