Summer Chores

Apparently Boyd and I are able to disagree on the most ridiculous of things.

Case in point: who is going to mow the lawn?

Mowing the lawn has long been a part of my existence. I used to get paid to mow my Grandma’s lawn in high school and I loved it. It was four hours of tanning and singing and cash at the end. Yes!

Fast forward to marriage. Boyd is very good at construction. So early on we decided that we would do fixer-uppers which meant I was incapable of many tasks EXCEPT for such delights as mowing the lawn.

Fast forward 12 years. I am still mowing the lawn.

But here is the thing: Boyd would LIKE to mow the lawn but I don’t let him. How backwards is that?

So basically it goes like this:

Me: (surveying the wild lawn that is now waist high due to us not having a mower)

*sigh*

I guess I will figure this out today.

Boyd: (starting up my parents’ mower) Here! Let me get it started for you! You go and pick up the large tree branches that have fallen in the yard and drag them to the driveway and I will start mowing.

(30 minutes later I’m bleeding from tree scratches and sweating like a complete girl)

S: Get off the mower. Its my turn.

B: Just a little longer.

S: No.

B: Yes.

S: Go build the porch roof like you have been meaning to for the past 30 days!!!

B: I don’t want to today. I want to help you with yard work.

I persisted and got my way.

And then I promptly drove over the electric fence wire (Lou’s boundary) that he had pointed out to me and said: "Don’t drive over this".

So. I walked back to the house and told on myself.

And then I went back to mowing only to get stuck.

So. I walked back to the house and told on myself again.

And then I went back to mowing only to have my dad show up and tell me that I’m running his mower to hard and it's an $80 belt.

So now I am push mowing the rest of the lawn which means . . . . . .

½ is tall grass. ½ is cut grass. And we still do not have a porch roof.

P.S. We have running water again. But then we got our test results back and apparently it is extra special with high Nitrates. *sigh* So. On to rural water hook up. No more fancy dreams of our very own well.

P.P.S. The Farmers Market got cancelled.  Go complain to someone else.  I'm booked.

****
Update:  We now have our very own riding mower!  It was a throwaway of my parents but it only took Boyd 60 hrs to get it working.

Party On.

I'm getting lazier about writing about the "goings-on" at the Knudsen House.   So here is a half-a*s attempt:

We have a resident deer on our property and the other day I saw her with 2 fawns. They were beautiful - I was thoroughly delighted by this discovery and the very next day I went to buy a salt lick to keep them around. I asked where I would find one and they told me with admiration in their eyes: "over in the hunting section". 
My intentions are often misunderstood.

I found out that the cats at the farm are slowly dwindling.  Apparently "Lucky" has not been seen for quite awhile (obviously did not live up to his namesake unless he is shacking up with a lovely feral female somewhere) and "Oreo" is also now missing.  This leaves "Leo".  Mom told me that Leo has been mean to the other cats (who are now missing) and so she took Leo "for a drive".  

What does that even mean?!

Other than that: We are looking into moving a barn onto the property.  We still do not have a porch roof.  Our lawn still looks like crap.  And the other day Lou, my beagle, finally found his life's goal:  his very own bunny nest.  This was extremely traumatic for all involved and led to much research on "how to save wild bunnies".
The research was all for nought.

The 4th of July celebrations were intense.  Boating, fireworks, reunions, etc.   Without further ado, the rest of this post will be in pictures . . . . because . . . lazy . . . .

Skoglund Reunion:  We like to celebrate family by splitting up into 4 teams and then pitting everyone against each other.

Wheelbarrow portion of the "amazing race".  Brian and Owen won this event for their team.  Owen was extremely proud of himself.

I love reunion food.  Like. Really. Love. Food.

My team won the tug-o-war.  Obviously.  Look at my beefy arms.
(d*mn reunion food!)

mmmmmuscles . . . . . 

paintball target shooting

There was also trap shooting, racing thru the trees, leap frog, knock-out, football toss, and speed-matching-nuts-and-bolts together.  The only thing I am good at is spelling and for some reason, they never include this in the "amazing race".

I learned 2 things.  (1) Boyd's team always wins; and (2) Should the Zombie Apocalypse ever happen . . . I'm in good hands with the Skoglund Sharpshooters.

In other news:

My friend Wendi is having a baby!!! (she's the 2nd from left)
Cute as a button preggers lady.

The 4th of July was WINDY.  So we flew some kites.  The novelty lasted about 5 minutes.

Miss Ellie in all her gangsta glory

Enjoying the Farkleberry Parade with friends and Oli. :)

Oli won the 4 year old division in the pedal pull.  He totally kicked the other kid's butt.
Scholarships here we come.

Brother2, Cooper and Jake. 
Fishing Fishing Fishing

I took G and Oli to the Bryant Pool.  Brought back so many memories.  
Most prominent:  My fear of the high dive.  

Max, Lou and Mel.  Max is Wendi and Tony's dog.
Mel and Lou love having friends over. :)

A truck full of nephews.

More goodness from Farkleberry.  G exclaimed: We never get candy at our parades!"
Take notes Lame-Watertown-Parades.

4th of July Tradition: Lake Norden ball game with fireworks following

Boyd and Lance - 5th place!
Dad actually got 1st place but I need to make a note that his teammate did the running AND the biking.
Apparently he wanted to win and thus just had dad help with the canoeing. 
Sorry Dad! :)

I cannot get enough of Caters and her cats. :)

Brother2 just turned 15!!  WHAT IN THE WORLD?! Boyd and I started dating when Brother2 was 2 months old so he's kind of our indicator of how long we have been together.  He's by far the best 2nd-youngest-brother a girl could ask for. Mom knew what she was doing by making me babysit as an 18 year old.  The. Best. Birth. Control. Ever.

It must still be working. :)

Guns are great at any age.

 Party On Y'all.  Hope your July has treated you wonderfully.

For the love . . . I don't even like this pic of me but frankly it is all I have to work with.

  Fail.

The Warrior.

A friend recently sent me a quote that she had gotten from a client:

"Wake up your d*mn warrior spirit, because its in the there, strap your balls back on and go take charge of your life!"

Completely inspirational. It quite possibly might get taped to my bathroom mirror.

The water pump went out again last night and what I kept telling myself was: "You are a warrior. Do not give in to your pansy-self and take it out on Boyd."

And I didn’t. He dodged a bullet because of that quote. I can’t promise it will work the next time around though so . . . . Honey. For the love of God. GET THE FREAKING WATER ISSUE FIGURED OUT.

However, he did not dodge a paintball bullet that hit him straight in the throat last Sunday. Yes. Hit in the throat - by a 7^th grader. :)

*****

We went to Minneapolis last weekend to visit friends and for me to put some items on Natalie and Becca’s sale. It was so great to see some of my Minnesota friends AND to sell some stuff! And the best news yet: One of our neighbors in White Bear Lake has a retro van that she is willing to sell to us! Its in great condition and has 70's goodness throughout. It is so ugly that it is beautiful. Honestly . . it’s the storage space that has me drooling. ALL THAT ROOM and it is protected! No tarps or straps needed! Must. Buy. Now. Hopefully this lovely beast will be sitting in our yard soon with all of our other crap. If she is lucky, she will be placed by one of the bathtubs that are still in the yard. Boyd!!!!!!!!

Me and Natalie. 
She is the one who jumped in with me for Front Porch Finds back in 2005. 
We've been furniture-crazed ever since.

Natalie and Becca setting up for their "Roots of Wings" Boutique Sale.

*****

Guess who got a job?! Boyd will be the Ag Instructor at Hamlin this fall. Granted, its only 1/8 time of a full teaching job but its perfect while he continues with his classes. He’s excited. I’m excited. Ra Ra Ra.

******

Speaking of jobs. I am now a trunk keeper for Matilda Jane Clothing. I’m nervous. Overwhelmed. Excited. Check them out at: www.matildajaneclothing.com

. If anyone ever wants to do a show, shoot me a message. Its actually not that bad. No weird guilt trips or peer pressure or awkward demonstrations. I just set up the clothes, you and your friends and their little girls try stuff on, chat and eat snacks. What’s not to love? I can do this. I am a warrior. :)

***********

A big storm came thru the area last weekend. So many trees uprooted, a few buildings are down, etc. We are so thankful that our house was still standing when we got back from Minnesota. 80-100 mph winds are no joke. Boyd and Dad have been cutting wood like crazy in the area. It puts a halt on the porch roof but I know its just a matter of time until we need wood for the furnace. (I know. Debbie Downer. No talk of winter during the summer!)

My friend Stacey and I drove around Lake Norden and surveyed the damage.  And then we made her children take pictures.

Boys checking out what is underneath a tree

Gah.  Such cute cowboy boots!

*******

Independence Day is just around the corner. I won’t mention that this means the summer is ½ over because that is just mean. :) I hope you all have a wonderful time with friends and family or by yourself if that is what you prefer. No judging from Ms. Introvert over here!

Here are a few pics of June:

Book Club on the Lake.

Caters LOVES my cats

Betsy and Lucy are getting bigger.  And Lazier.

One Handsome Chunk of Love and 3 great nephews out fishing.

Randy took Dad and Brother 2 out fishing. 
Boyd was extremely jealous. 

Yes.  We put them to work.
But G is learning a valuable lesson in the proper way to carry unwieldy large beams.

Gads. I love this kid.  I might not have many toys but I have an awesome supply of spray paint.

The porch!  Some day this will be done!

Sister2 and Baby Ellie!  First boat ride!

Sometimes I need a reminder that God is here.  Right here.

I love my home.  I love South Dakota. And I can't get enough of the sunsets.

Have a great week!

Sabrina

Guess Who Was in the Paper?!

I have been asked several times about the water situation and so I thought I should let everyone know via the internet: It is fixed!!!

Thank you all for your concern about our personal hygiene.

Gosh. That seems so long ago that I didn’t have water.

My new complaint (because it wouldn’t be MY blog without a complaint) is that I have a bird family living in my attic. My first thought when I heard the little chirps was: "Ahhh . .that is so sweet." But now it sounds like the Mama Bird quite possibly hatched 20 Baby Birds and they do not sound quite so sweet at 5:30 a.m. when apparently they are excited to have breakfast.

*sigh* 

Boyd and I took a quick impromptu trip to Rapid City last weekend. It was nice to see the sunshine. And I also got to say hi to the one person I know who keeps up on my blog- Hi Bob! :)

Lake Norden is getting a farmer’s market starting in late July! Originally, I had just ran the idea by the city via email only to find out later that it was printed in the paper that I was organizing said event. So . . . I am now in charge of the farmer’s market. ;)

One must love small town newspapers. It brought back my horrified memory of when I had my first "boyfriend" and all of the sudden I was in the paper for "visiting his grandmother in Hazel"

Fortunately for the too-soon-approaching-farmers-market, I have tricked my friend Audrey into helping me. Whew! I can now forge ahead with confidence.

Do you bake, make or grow anything? Let me know if you want to participate.

No marijuana plants allowed. I know, I know. Rules Schmules.

We have our front porch moving along and our our boat lift in. But no dock. NOT THAT I’m complaining about that. After all - we have a boat! And its in the water! And it works!

Praiseallujiah!

Day 3

We are on Day 3 of no running water.

I wish I could report that I’m finding this challenge stimulating and character building.

The only thing I DO know is that I am losing my mind.
And the dirty dishes keep piling up.

This morning I got all the way to the McD’s drive-thru to order my iced coffee only to realize I forgot my purse at home.
Fortunately its another cloudy chilly day to help boost my spirits since my coffee apparently isn't going to show.

*** The photographer just walked in the office. Apparently I forgot about the firm pictures being taken today.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

Auctions and Water

Boyd and I went to a huge auction this weekend. WIN.

It was exhausting. We filled a truck, the Jeep and a flatbed trailer. AND I still have to go back and get the rest of the stuff. So great for future sales but hard to figure out where to put it all. Fortunately a friend is letting us use his semi trailer to store things in (thanks Randy!). And fortunately mom and dad were okay with letting it sit in their yard (thanks mom and dad!).

Trust me.  It looks very classy in their yard . . . just doesn't look the greatest in mine. :)

This was the first time I had Boyd along the entire day. And since the auction was huge they had 3 different auctioneers going so I sent him with his very own number to find some great buys.

He bought . . . an overpriced trunk. FAIL.

And most everything else I threw in the dumpster.

But I really appreciated his enthusiasm. And his muscles. :)

I ran into Audrey (high school friend) at the auction. We had a blast.

In other news:

We currently do not have running water. FAIL.

We keep a 5 gallon bucket full of lake water in the bathroom to fill the toilet up every time we need to flush.

Sister2 texted me this weekend about coming over with Baby Ellie. She asked if we now have drinkable water (this has been an ongoing issue and the answer is NO.) from the tap. I texted back with: "Ironically . . we have NO water at the moment."

And now I just got a text from Boyd saying the pump will not be fixed for 1-2 days.

Bring it on.

May May May.

I can’t even begin to explain how busy the month of May has been! It has been a whirlwind of insanity.

The sale went awesome. Cora Prouty had contacted me about using their new empty building on their property and I said . .. "Um YES!" We had our largest sale total ever which was encouraging. It never fails that the week of the sale I start to have doubts and worries of: "This is dumb. What if no one shows? Why do I do this to myself? You can’t pull this off" And to be honest . . . I don’t think I could pull it off by myself. I made a few frantic phone calls to some friends who had offered to help me out should I ever need them - they arrived and after they left I could breathe again. 

Thank you Stacey and Kim!

My friend Natalie from the Cities was a vendor and she would remark on how helpful all the men were . . and they all have trucks! And why is no one bothering you about delivering their purchases?! Because dear friend. . . . you can’t live in Dakota without your very own truck. 

(Although to be fair . . . we don’t have a pick-up anymore but nearly every single person in my family has one so we still fit in . . right?)

So thank you South Dakota. I felt the love and it was nice.

Boyd has started his classes. I find it disconcerting when he is doing "homework". It looks so . . . . . lazy and I want to kick him out of the house to fix something. But I KNOW he has to do his reading and reports and blah blah blah. I have told him he will have to be patient with me. :) 

And it might help if he washed the dishes every once in awhile.

He did start working on the front porch. Yes!

It has been a rainy month. The silver lining is that our new grass is really coming along. But I’d really like some consistent sunshine soon. I’m a difficult woman to please. 

I think God has just thrown up his hands in frustration.

I turned 33 this month (uffda). I normally make a big to-do about my birthday but I was just too busy and tired to even care this year. I pretty much told my family to LEAVE ME ALONE. If you want to do something nice just drop off a cake and leave - assuming it is a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting - otherwise don’t even bother. I may have been a teensy bit hormonal on birthday week. 

Poor me. Poor Family. Poor Boyd.

One gift I got that was extra special was 2 kittens from Sister2! I named them Lucy and Betsy although I almost switched it to Stinky and Squeaky. They are wild women but I love them so. And then they peed on my curtains. *sigh*

Lucy and Betsy.

We headed to Sioux Falls for Nephew Cooper’s birthday party. The big man turned 4. He is so full of energy that I have no idea how Brother1 and Erin keep up with him. He’s into super heros right now (and so am I) and beat us all in the game of "save the presents".

Super Cooper turned 4!

We managed to get a flat tire on the way to Sioux Falls but fortunately I travel with my very own superhero: Iron Man (i.e. Boyd). Had he not been along, I would have had to use my superhero power which is: Damsel in Distress. This is not always a useful power - especially in the hardy Midwest.

We got our boat out for its maiden voyage. It has a grill which is a fun addition. We had a few glitches but all-in-all worked great. Hotdogs and smores on the water are tough to beat. 

Now to get a dock in . . . .

If only Boyd would stop messing around with homework . . . .

Owen and Boyd having smores on the boat.

Last night Boyd wanted to go kayaking.  I thought that was sweet until we put the boats in the crick and I realized that I was now being hunted by overly huge carp.  It felt like a really bad movie.  And I screamed a lot and felt like a dumb girl.

Not a fan.

This picture looks peaceful.  It is deceiving.

I’m not sure what this summer holds. I plan on doing a sale with my friend Natalie in Minnesota. I imagine we will head to the Black Hills at some point. Other than that . . . hoping to spend a lot of time outdoors enjoying the Midwest summer. This will also include pulling ticks and spraying myself in mosquito spray all summer long . . .but . . . who’s complaining?!

I hope you all have a lovely summer.