One of the treasures left behind in the barn was a bicycle-built-for-two. It's so dang cute. But, it's even cuter with two big boys riding it.
This slimy, alien-shaped, orbish-thingy resembling the globe with one hemisphere being basked in light and the other shadowed in black, is a walnut. A black walnut (Juglans nigra L.). This is what they look like after removing the husk. What's a husk you say?
It's the green spongy outer layer that surrounds the shell. This is a small bucket that I picked up on our southern drive. We have a glorious row of these beautiful hardwood trees lining both lanes coming up to the house.
Problem is, they drop a lot of nuts. All over. They have no discretion, they plop down whenever and wherever they darn well please, kinda like my kids with their socks and shoes and books and toys and oh cripes, I have trees that act like my children, why does everything around me have to make a mess? Ya-know, this year it's okay, because nothing this land throws at me can deter my happiness of being in this little spot of Heaven. So, nuts!
The reaction might be the same as people are giving me with my stained fingers. Black walnuts will turn your skin the color of a tanning cream gone bad. Hey, if you think my fingers are dirty, you should see my kids' feet! That's what I plan on saying to the next cashier that tells me my hands are dirty.
What are my kids doing while I'm shucking maggot filled walnuts? Why, getting an education of course. Seth sat beside me and read aloud a little Kipling while holding one of our bazillion kittens on his lap and Levi, well I think he was digging in the dirt or climbing in the fort or swinging on the tire swing or chasing his tail, I don't know, he's still alive that's all that matters.
After I shucked and shucked and shucked then I washed the nuts under our hydrant. The brackish water contains the toxic chemical from the walnuts called juglone and it prevents many plants from growing or thriving and it will kill earthworms so I made sure I poured it back on our drive to save the worms.
It's very messy and brackish so of course my two little boys had to splash around in it.
Did I say it's wise to where rubber gloves? I learned that only after wearing my cloth garden gloves the first go around. I also learned it's hard for me to stand up after I've stayed in a bent over position washing walnuts for more than a few minutes. Oh, look! There's Levi, he's still alive and obviously preparing to stick his head in the bucket of water, which he did.
Freshly washed and maggot free walnuts.
I put them in another box, because you know I collect them, to dry in the sun. It should only take a few hours in the sun to dry and then several days or weeks to cure. But, of course it rained about twenty minutes after I set them in the sun, so now I have no clue how long to leave them out there and they will surely mold just like my children's notebooks and socks that I find left in the yard after a good rain or two.
I'm working on a post about walnuts, cuz I got a lot of them growing on my land. My fingers are stained a nice shade of brown from shucking walnuts today. I'm not sure that all the work is really worth the two pounds of nuts I'm getting, but ya know what? They were on the ground and needed to be picked up, so heck, might as well shuck 'em and then I might even eat 'em.
But, it may take a day or two for me to walk into the kitchen, pick up my camera, walk back to my computer and download the pictures.....it's hard work you know? So, I decided to take the lazy way out and show you some other pictures of walnuts. Well, maybe there not really walnuts.....maybe there pictures of something that looks like a walnut. Ready?
Prepare yourself......
I warned you.......
Yes, this is my husband, he is a nut. A big freakin' nut job. Nut, nut, nut.
moving day remembered cont....
This is the father that just dropped his daughter off at school for the first day. It doesn't matter how old she is, he can't take it. He wanted to run back in the building, scoop her up and swaddle her in a blanket. He hates the first day of school, he doesn't like to say goodbye to his kids. He finds no joy in letting them go and that's pretty darn sweet if you ask me. I can't imagine what he's going to be like on her wedding day...geesh, we're going to need a good therapist.
Then we headed to the house to unload the trucks. Just when I started to get something done, I had to head out the door to deliver Ike to afternoon Kindergarten. Here he is on his first day. He was so excited and so was Levi, he really thought he'd get to stay right there by his brother, but was sorely disappointed when I told him we had to leave, it wasn't pretty. Oh, by the way Ike's teacher, the one doing the arabesque in the background, she's really sweet and stands about a foot taller than Ike, she's little. Also, the class in made up entirely of blond headed boys.
That week Barbie Doll and Deborah came to visit. We took the kids out back and made them climb over a barbed wire fence onto this old Chevy that sits on Ramone's property to take photos. Who doesn't love an old Chevy truck? Especially with cute kids as hood ornaments?
And a pretty teenager, who would rather be getting a pedicure than touch a rusty object.
I want that Chevy. I want to fix it up, paint it red and make it my vehicle. I'll fill it with pumpkins in the fall and a big Christmas tree in winter.
Good buddies arm wrestlin' on the rusty Chevy. When's the last time your child had a tetanus shot? That question keeps coming to my mind, maybe I ought to get the kids up to date, eh?
Deborah, exhausted after staying up until 2:00 in the morning doing a sewing project. But, she still manages to look beautiful, twit.
Barbie Doll, she had decided my house will be her new vacation spot. She's coming again in November, I can't wait.
This is the view from my back porch. Do you think the farmer will notice I snatched a dozen stalks? Should I put them back? The previous owners left behind a world of treasures in the barn and the lean-to. See the back-pitch? Seth pulled that out of the lean-to. 
Here's what you all have been waiting to see. The porch furniture. This is what Barbie and Deborah helped me do. We stayed up until 2:00am two nights in a row sewing, drinking, laughing, complaining and ultimately deciding we are not professional seamstresses, but we do know how to create "cute".
Deborah and I no longer have any feeling left in our right hands due to emptying twenty odd spray cans of black paint onto this wicker furniture. Look at Ramone's cattle in the background, they like the furniture too...I mean they like it moooooo.
Dang, it turned out so CUTE! Okay, the boy and kitten are pretty cute too.
Did I mention we came with two cats and now have six? Yeah, six. I'm the cat lady, with cute porch furniture.
It's been two weeks since we packed up the U-Haul, but it feels like months. I can't believe it, I'm in some sort of weird weird time suspension.
It's time to share some stories, tell some folks thanks and show some pictures, doncha think?
This is my oldest son and his best bud, which just so happens to be my dear friend Deborah's little boy. They came over to help us before the big moving day. I caught the boys outside taking apart shelving and talking just like they were a couple of old men. I watched them for awhile and then snuck a few photos. These two boys were so sweet together and so much alike it's frightening.
We can't move from a place unless it's icy or rainy. Moving day was rainy. We backed the truck up as close to the garage as possible and then rigged a tarp between the roof and the truck. Look at the crew that showed up to help us. They were such a blessing and they're smiling....because they were happy to help, not because we were leaving...I think.
These are my peeps, my girls, my entourage. The brunette, let's just call her "Barbie Doll" is about 10 years younger than me, she's the little sister I never had. I can boss her around and tell her not to do stuff and she actually listens to me and then does back flips, cartwheels and a few yoga poses to help me and she still comes out looking like Julia Roberts with a perfect complexion, skinny legs and enough voluminous hair for ten people...twit. She's also the mother of Ike's future wife. Then there's Deborah, the blond in the middle. She's my older (yes she is older, 5 whole years older...shut-up, she does to look older than me!) anyway, she's my wiser, older, calmer, friend. She's the mother of my older kids' buddies. I learned so much from her, like how to communicate better with my kids and to open my home to others no matter what. She was always up for any project, craft or party, she kept me going during some really yucky times and I don't think I ever told her how much I respected her, but maybe she'll start reading my blog and then she'll know. She looks beautiful all day everyday no matter what...twit.
Here's one of Deborah's girls with Ellen. This one gave me a big hard hug and then we both just sobbed the day we loaded the U-haul. She is such a sweet girl, Ellen adores her.
This is Deborah's wonderful husband. Do you see a theme here? Yeah, they're all very photogenic and beautiful....jerks. After a long day of loading the truck and cleaning the house, Deborah had "Barbie Doll's" family and my family over for dinner. 
When I say my family I mean my family and my parents. Here's Deborah in her kitchen doing what she does best, serving. That's my mom getting the pleasure of Deborah's fine home cookin'. And that cute little girl is Deborah's youngest and she absolutely idolized my Ellen.
We went home and slept on the floor that night. Sunday morning we woke to finish the last bit of packing and scrub the house. My parents were a whirlwind of energy and I was so glad they were there. Dad wrestled on the floor with the little's and Mom told the older two stories and kept them laughing instead of crying, cause Clay and I were pretty sad and I don't think we had much left in us to keep the kids morale up.
We took our two cast with us despite their protests and they are adjusting fairly well here.
The trucks and vans were loaded. The last thing we did before leaving TBLDBT was gather in a circle and pray. We thanked God for the time we had in Missouri and for all the wonderful people that had crossed our paths, we asked Him to bless all those who had helped us on our journey and we asked for His hand to be with us as we traveled and settled in our new home.
Thank you to all who came to help us, you were such a blessing that day.
I can't find my blinkin' battery charger for my camera, so I can't show you all the ridiculous amount of energy I've put into decorating my porch....it's just too fun to leave alone. But, my sistorian has documented some of my craziness....so go check it out.
This little post is for Clay. I copied and pasted our most recent IM conversation. We are very brilliant and exciting folk.
Clay: are you there?
april: yessss
Clay: are you posting?
april: noooo
Clay: doh
april: reading all the stupid emails I have.
I'm a very important person you know.
Clay: I know
what is seth doing
april: digging to China
Clay: If he has some time, send him out to mow some of the yard
april: okay boss
Clay: I don't want him to do the edges, but he can mow a big square around the septic field
or a big circle
april: how bout an octagon?
Clay: you're funny
now use that funny to write a pot
post, i mean
april: maybe I'll just sit on the pot
Clay: (blink, blink)
It's been the longest weeks of my life. We arrived here Sunday evening and spent the night in a hotel. Monday morning we took Ellen to school and showed Isaac his classroom then we headed to the house.
These are the parts I remember;
We pulled into the drive, lots of unpacking, lots of driving back and forth to school and volleyball practice.
My parents stayed until Wednesday morning and they worked their little hineys off.
My dearest girlfriends came on Thursday and we did a very sweet project that I'll show you pictures of....real soon. They left this morning.
We drove over to my sisters to get the last load of boxes that we had stored at her place and we brought back my four nephews to spend the night.
Everyone is happy, healthy (if you don't count a couple runny noses and the adjusting to the drier climate...lotion is constantly being applied) and eager to get settled.
That's all I've got in me for now.....goodnight.
April wanted me to post and let everyone know that we are currently without Internet access.
The technician that is required to set it up is "busy" until next Thursday. So, hopefully everyone will be hearing from her anytime between 1:00p and 5:00p Thursday afternoon.
Clay
One more thing before I go. Could you all keep these two in your prayers? They are having an especially hard time with the move. I have two very sweet and sentimental boys and I wouldn't have it any other way.
My sister is giving away three incredibly adorable bags on her sight. Rechelle gave me an Annie Wolf bag for Christmas and I love it. I'm sad that Annie won't be making purses for global consumption anymore, so those that are sporting one are very lucky to say the least.
I'm still packing.
"It's Tuesday, Grommit."
I read in National Geographic that natural redheads may be extinct by the year 2100. Apparently, both parents need to carry the gene to create a redhead. Only 3% of the population is redheaded.
I think I'm going to start a group for parents of redheaded children. It will be called NAFSR, the National Association for Saving Redheads. We can then introduce our children to each other, force them to get married and start mass producing redheads.
Long live the redhead....and freckles.
