Our Garden

More like 4 pots but hey, you take what you can get. Millie's flowers are coming up, we will need to thin them out eventually but until then, she is excited to see them all growing.


Reed and my mom were trying to find some carrots but unfortunately, none were found. Reed wasn't sure what we were looking for but he decided there was nothing to look at. I did look really close later in the day and found 4 TINY little green things poking out. I hope they are carrots and not some kind of weed but I will be able to tell in a few more days.


After Reed was finished gardening, he went to show Mammy his skills on the slide. He is a pro going up and down all by himself.

My First Photography Assignment

Nothing too earth shattering but I thought I would share some of my photography class with you. Some of you had been asking about it so here you go.

1)Shoot a series of 5 photos using whole stops of light (this was the tricky part, no half stops allowed) to create the same image that has 5 different exposures ranging from -2 to +2.

+2 Over Exposed

+1 Still Over Exposed but better

0 - Null = Good Exposure

-1 Slightly Under Exposed

-2 Under Exposed even more


2) Shoot an object in motion and show the motion of the moving subject and then freeze the motion so that the subject looks...well...frozen. This may sound easy but trying to get a picture of Millie while she is flying down the hill on her bike was NOT easy. She kept asking "Did you get it that time...I'm getting tired?"

Millie in motion

Millie frozen


3) Shoot an image showing Shallow Depth of Field (small area in focus) and one showing Great Depth of Field (everything in focus)

Shallow Depth of Field


Great Depth of Field


4) Last was just any photo that is properly exposed

Tennis Time

Millie has truly been lighting up the tennis courts. She is REALLY good. I don't know what I am going to do with this girl. How do I start to narrow down her activities when she seems to enjoy them all so much and she learns them all very quickly as well.


The main thing she needs practice with is her serve. She does pretty well but if she would throw the ball up a little higher, she wouldn't have too scrunch so much to hit it.


Reed enjoys watching through the window while the kids practice. He has his own tennis ball we play with while we wait.

$80 Carrots

After helping my dad plant some of his garden a few weeks ago, he had some carrot seed left over. I decided to bring it back and plant some at our house in pots. I am not sure if you can grow a carrot in a pot but we bought some big ones at Home Depot along with some potting soil.



We put Reed down for a nap in his new Fire Truck bed and then headed to the deck to plant the seeds. Millie also got some flower seeds from church that morning so we planted them too.

Millie went to work carrying bags of potting soil and getting things ready.


Well, we thought Reed was asleep. We noticed him peeking at us through his window. I told him to go back to bed and after a few minutes, he went back to bed.



Millie really enjoyed planting the seeds and was proud of her dirty hands.



I really hope these carrots and flowers grow because even though the seeds were free, we spent $80 buying the pots and soil. I hope they taste good too because I could have bought a lot of carrots at Kroger for that price.


This was Reed at Home Depot. We had a lot of people ask what aisle we found him...

My Little Boy Is Not A Baby Any More

Reed slept all night last night in his 'new to him' toddler bed. It is a Step 2 Fire Truck Bed. Very cool! I bought it from a friend and apparently many little boys have loved and enjoyed this bed. I was a little nervous to change his sleeping routine because he sleeps so darn good, why mess with a good thing...right? But it was a good chance to get a neat bed at a great price and I kind of liked the idea of getting rid of the crib. I feel like it is a move toward independence and freedom to get rid of baby things, especially big baby things. Granted, I replaced it with a different big baby thing but change is good either way.


Millie approved of it as well and they enjoyed playing in it and snuggling.


He woke up once through the night and started crying. I thought, oh no, he is going to come out of his room...NO!!! But I waited, didn't get up and he eventually went back to sleep. Ahhh, sweet victory. My next concern was going to be at what hour he was going to get up in the morning. I usually get him up at 8am. He is usually awake and just playing in his crib so I figured that if he woke up sooner and could get out of his bed, I may see him around 7am. I know this is still good compared to most kids but I was used to 8 and I would kind of like to keep that schedule. Well, 8am rolled around this morning and I went in his room and he was awake in his bed, as usual, just laying there. Yes!

Maybe he just hasn't put 2 and 2 together yet and figured out that getting up and leaving his room is an option but I sure hope he doesn't figure it out anytime soon.

Also, in Reed news, he has now started peeing standing up. For those of you who have only had girls, this is kind of important. I never thought about it before I started potty training Reed but a boy can not sit on a potty or even a travel potty seat and pee. It takes a very special kind of seat that they don't make a lot of for a boy to sit and pee so that it does not just spray straight out all over the place. And parents of baby boys, don't be fooled by a seat that looks like it has a little raise to the front of it and think it will work. It takes a much taller guard than you think. That or my boy just has an unusually high set of business. Well, I tried to get him to go outside standing up so that we could complete this last phase of potty training but he would NOT do it for me. I told Rick this was now his job to figure out. Rick got him to do it twice so I tried and he went for me this morning. Hooray! Now today we have been going about every hour and he has been dry. My concern now is I am afraid he will poop when he is standing there...how do I handle that? Guess I should have a plan in place just in case...

There's Always Something To Do

Even if every single bit of work on the farm is done, there is always wood to make. Yes, I know that sounds strange but on our farm we make wood, not cut it. That is just want we have always said. Usually this is only a winter time job because there isn't much to do during the winter and it is more enjoyable to do it in the winter when it isn't hot. However, this past winter there was so much snow that dad couldn't get up on The Hill to finish it up so we had to finish up this spring.

This is just 2 loads of wood, there were 13 loads all together in just this field that had to be hauled back to the house. If I had to guess, there are probably about 200 loads of fire wood in piles around the farm and stacked neatly in one of the buildings. Before any of you tree huggers get upset, we have NEVER cut down a tree for the sole purpose of fire wood. They have either fallen down on their own (remember Indiana had a huge ice storm and hurricane that helped with this) or they were shading one of dad's fields and needed to be removed.


This is my dad, he loves to make fire wood. So did my grandpa. They also stress about it when they know it needs to be done and can't find help to do it. So, I do my best to help when I am there. Yes, I did help, I didn't just take pictures :-) I kind of like doing it too but I do agree it is a job better suited to the winter even if you do stand a chance of loosing a toe to frost bite.

We Will Miss You Mamo

Clara Mae Weisenbach Buechler (We all called her Mamo)

A funeral Mass for Clara Mae Weisenbach Buechler, 86, of Floyds Knobs, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 10, at St. Mary of the Knobs Catholic Church, Floyd Knobs, with burial in St. Mary of the Knobs Church Cemetery. She died Tuesday, April 6, 2010, at Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services in New Albany.
She was born July 11, 1923, to the late Frank and Catherine Graf Weisenbach. She was a member of St. Mary of the Knobs Catholic Church in Floyds Knobs.
Survivors include her son, Larry Buechler and his wife, Bette, of Floyds Knobs; daughter, Sharon Draughn, of Floyds Knobs; sister, Frances Beckham, of Sellersburg; grandchildren, Michael Draughn, Laura Young, Brian Draughn, and Paula Meunier; and seven great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Albert "Bud" Buechler, and brother, Edwin Weisenbach.
Visitation will be at Kraft Funeral Services, Spring Street Chapel, New Albany, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday.

Mamo and Papo (my grandpa) lived next to my parents. She cooked lunch for all 4 grandkids, her and papo and my dad everyday during the week that we were not in school. If we did not like what she was cooking, she would make us a cheeseburger. She made the BEST cheeseburgers! She also made us all breakfast and got us on the school bus when we were in grade school. I was probably at their house more than I was at my own.

Thursdays were her day to go to 'town' and get groceries. I always wanted to go with her but now that I have my own kids, I don't blame her one bit for not taking me! She would go to about 4 different grocery stores and only get what was on sale. And believe me, if it were on sale, she would buy all they had. When she got home, she put a date on every single thing she bought. When I was older, I tried to explain that she was probably spending more money on gas than the 10 cents she saved on that gallon of milk she went to another store for. Oh well! The best part about Thursdays were she would bring home lunch because she was gone all morning shopping at 5 different grocery stores :-) Lunch was always White Castle and they are still my favorite comfort food to this day. Along with the White Castles were a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Ahhhh...still love them!

I will miss Mamo, not only because of what a wonderful grandma she was and how well she took care of all of us but also that she was my last living grandparent. I am glad she had a chance to spend time with Millie and Reed. Although they may not remember her, there are many of us who will never forget her.

They Fooled Me

I have said before in other posts that when the kids are too quiet for too long, somethings up. I had been working and the kids were playing in Millie's room down the hall. I realized that I had not heard a sound for about 10 minutes so I figured I needed to check on them. I went in Millie's room and didn't see anyone. I called out "Where are you all?" Millie's response came from her closet. I asked where Reed was and she said he was sleeping in her bed. I looked at her bed and sure enough, he was snuggled in her bed and almost asleep. Saying this boy likes to sleep is an understatement. The main reason I have not moved him yet to a big boy bed is for this very reason. I am afraid that if he can get himself in his bed by himself, I will never be able to keep him out of it.


When Millie appeared from her closet, she looked like this. Notice the tap shoes...no Iron Man costume is complete without tap shoes.


So I guess just because they are quiet, it doesn't mean they are being bad. It could mean they are just asleep and saving the world.

Millie's Flowers

I signed Millie up for Kindergarten today. She now wants to be called Amelia.

The Hill, The Point and The Cut Through

Reasons number 538, 539 and 540 that I want to move back to Floyd Knobs. Up on The Hill is The Point. The Point is a place on our farm where you can see forever. We have bottom ground and hill ground and The Point is up on The Hill and juts out in front of the rest of the hill and you have a million dollar view. Although it is further east than mom and dad's house you can still see their house well when there are no leaves on the trees.




The Point also contains a Pet Cemetery. Although it is not officially sacred ground, we tend to think of it that way ;-) The graves usually don't last but a few years before they are covered with leaves and the stones become buried but our most recent deceased is still visible. This is Max, he was my aunt's dog. There are a few more dogs up there, along with cats and a few fish. As far as I know there are no people but if I have my way, my ashes will be there. I may request a more permanent marker though, maybe a headstone instead of a pile of creek rock and a stick.


Up on The Hill there is a little place called The Cut Through. This used to divide 2 separate farms but my grandpa bought the other ground about 20 years ago. I am not sure when, but at some point, grandpa hauled part of a concrete storm drain up there. He put it in The Cut Through so that if he were up on The Hill when it started raining, he would have a place to get out of the rain. Reed thought this was the best thing ever and he didn't want to get out of it. He just kept saying "nunnel" (tunnel) over and over and laughing.



Here is a view of mom and dad's house about halfway back down the road that comes off The Hill. We had to stop to fix an angel that mom has watching over things and I figured it was a good place for a picture.


I truly feel like my kids need to grow up with this. They need to be able to play in the creek, climb the hills, get dirty and get to enjoy being country kids. I am convinced I am robbing them of a birth right that should be fulfilled.

Happy Easter

I have never been as home sick before as I have been this past week at my parent's house.


Being Spring and seeing all of my great grandparent's Easter flowers blooming didn't help matters. These flowers are close to 100 years old.


Even this crazy dog of my sister's wouldn't stop me from moving back home.

Seriously, I need to stop going home for Easter. I have never wanted to move home more than I do right now.

Taters Please

Farmers have all kinds of rules. The one I heard the most growing up was "You have to make hay when the sun shines". And boy did we cut and bale lots of hay when I was growing up. The next rule was you have 2 days you can plant potatoes. They either have to be planted on St. Patrick's Day or on Good Friday. Dad missed St. Patrick's Day so on Good Friday, we were planting potatoes. I guess if it would have been raining we would have either planted in the rain or not had potatoes this year. The rules are the rules, you can't mess with them.

Dad got the ground ready with the disc (I have never written or typed that word, is that how you spell it??) Anyway, he disced (sp?) the garden and then rounded up the slave labor to help. We work for food around here :-)


Millie and Jacob loaded their basket with potatoes that Dad had already sliced. We figured they didn't need to help with that part and lose a finger.


After Dad opened a row, he showed Millie and Jacob how to drop the potatoes and how far apart to put them.


Millie was doing a fine job. Dad said he would hire her but I warned her that he doesn't pay his help.


Reed, however, was not offered a job. Maybe a few years buddy.


A fine row of potatoes waiting to be covered.



After the potatoes I set a half row of onions and Dad sowed some spinach. My photos stop here though because after my hands were covered in dirt, I didn't feel it was worth ruining my camera over. This was just the first of the veggies to go in the garden. I can not wait for the tomatoes, peppers, corn, sweet potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, beans, cucumbers, squash, zucchini...ahhh, I really want to move back to Floyd Knobs...