Other Farm Day Activities

Now we're getting into a mishmash of the entire Farm Day in Michigan, while this, that and the other was happening besides the deadheading, jamming and word-processing (see posts below). This post is mostly from the adult perspective.

First of all, this is Don and Ruth's farm in Michigan, and here's the Chief Farmer, Don!

He does all the farmerly things, of course.

As does Ruth, who takes time out for Bishop, their farm cat, before the family arrives.

Ruth, my sister, is #8 of the 8 Sibs. I'm #3, with 11 years between us. She and I are the only faithful bloggers of the 8, so she and I are blogger buddies, big time. For her, this farm has been a form of therapeutic, inspirational, creative heaven.

Donica and I picked up Don and Ruth's daughter, Lesley, from the Detroit airport when we arrived. Lesley lives in NYC and hadn't seen her mom since April (when we 4 girls were all there together). So they had time for some tender moments before the festivities began.

Lesley and her cousin, Manda (Paul's wife, from the Jammers' session), share some catch-up time. We all had just recently found out that Manda has #4 child in her oven!

Now see Don, Ruth and Lesley sharing family time while the rest of us butt in. Actually, their son, Peter, was also there, with his girlfriend, Caitlin, but where are the pics?? Alas, none are to be found. So sorry, Peter and Caitlin. We ALL know you are definitely part of the family.

Paul (from the Jammers, and Manda's husband) is Mr. Photographer, big time. I've been told that he makes $300-400/month from his iStock photos. Ahem. That's why I'm buying a new dSLR camera. Maybe I can follow in his footsteps, now that I'm retired??

He also plays, with his cousin, Todd (son of my sister Nancy, from the Word Processors, and older brother of Eric from the Jammers). Are you keeping up with me?

Remember my sister Susan, the deadheader? This is her husband, Rodger, doing what he needed to do after a hard week's work...and just driving 5 hours from Chicago to be with us. A few hours later, he drove the 5 hours back, so no one begrudged him his hard-earned sleep.

Wilma (Paul's mom) is my brother Jim's wife. Big time boogie-woogie lady. Trust me. And she's DUTCH! She was in her mom's oven, so to speak, when they came over on the boat to America many eons ago. She'll try just about anything once and end up doing it well. She's also our chief buyer for cottage paraphernalia! Couldn't do it without her.

The big evening meal of the day was the event, of course, since we all like to eat. There's Donica, with her back to you. And Ruth on the right, of course. Sandy, in the middle, is my brother John's wife. John, the singer from the Jammers.

Here's Lesley again, getting the fixin's ready.

And of course, the chief cook, Don, with my brother, Jim, looking on. Yup, so that's how he does it!
And do you see Wilma and Donica shooting baskets in the background? Both of them were guards in high school basketball. But there was a difference in what that meant back then in the Middle Ages (I know, speak for myself), when Wilma played defensive guard with 6 players on the team and Donica played the entire floor with 5 players on the team. Hmm.

But as you see, there really was a lot going on that one day on the world's map in that one tiny speck in time. I guess we can call it an eternalized moment!

Next I'll do the same thing from the kids' perspective, when they weren't driving the tractor!