To the Farm, I Say!!

I want to go back. My mom calls it her 'Happy Place.' To tell you, we've gone to the epic farm. My grandpa has a farm that my great-great-grandpa had built. So in other words, its really old.

We've been deciding that we need to fix it up a whole lot--as in, fix the mold and water damage in the house by ripping out the walls after the roof is fixed, pull up the linoleum because there's really pretty wood underneath--and pull up the carpet, where there's also wood, get new countertops, maybe new cabinets--wash the curtains. That sort of stuff. Paint the house, eventually. There's only a bit of white paint left on it.

So we're hoping to spend part of the summer there, even though its two and a half hours away. One of the reasons why we're going to go often is because we started a garden--a late garden. Since the soil in our backyard is no good, we're excited about this. There's peppers--jalapeños, banana peppers, sweet banana peppers, bell peppers--watermelon, big tomatoes, flowers (lots of marigolds around the edges because the fence is not so totally fixed, and rabbits hate marigolds) and a few other things that I can't list off the top of my head. It's a late garden, but its been doing well!
AND we found a snake. Haha. Pretty little snake--except Manny and mom were set on killing it. XD But I didn't want to (its not his fault we invaded the garden), so Manny used a shovel and I raked him on there. But unfortunately, he fell off after a few feet. Manny lost her cool and slammed the shovel down, and then the point, so I don't know if he survived. I think he did, because I didn't see him. :) We're not sure what kind of snake he was. He might've been a garter, but I'm not sure. He had an orange stripe down his back, and looked almost checkered. Here's a picture. :)

Unfortunately, mom didn't download all the pictures, so I don't have them all. There was a really cool one with the snake's tongue sticking out.

The first day we mowed down the whole lot of dead and green grassy stuff in the garden, and then raked it out. Took forever. And then we mowed again, and then raked it out. Most of the morning we did that.

^ Grandpa mowing. ^_^ Notice the really broken fence. We had to flatten it.

Lunchtime! We went to small town called Durham and ate at a Mennonite restaurant--very nice people. I got a cheeseburger (because it was cheap) and onion rings. The seasoning was REALLY good.
There was a picture that I would've taken a picture of to blog, but too bad, I gave it to the waitress. I have a good/bad habit of doing that. XD This is my mom's food.

After lunch we rented a rototiller and tilled the garden. Mom did it once, and then Jake and I had to rake it again--as fast as we could, so we could return the rototiller. We raked so hard, in fact, for ten minutes, that in the crook of my thumb it became a blister and ripped nearly right off. (TMI?) So, anyways, its a bit hard to draw. :P

Then we found a little lizard, around six inches long--shorter than it was supposed to be because it was missing half its tail and one of its front legs. We got not pictures of him, though.

So we planted while the whole time under a giant thunderstorm watch. We rushed inside while it rained, our dad texting us from home, telling us not to leave because of hail that may happen, storms and such. We finally left and went to grandpa's house and slept there.

And then we went back early the next morning! This time we went out and fixed fences. Fun but hard work. My grandpa took the four-wheeler with a small trailer attached, just in case we got stuck or something in the truck. Jake drove. :) The only time he gets to drive is at the farm, so it was fun for him to drive. :D

There were three ways to fix fences. One, if it was a metal stake, you'd take this loopy wire thingy and close one end around the barbed wire, and hook the other, longer loop, around the OTHER end--and then stick the end of the pliers in it and then push it over like a wheel to get the wire tight--if that makes any sense. :P

The second way to do it is when you have a wooden (just a thick stick or something, really) stake, you can use a little U-shaped nail and nail that into the wood with the barbed wire in it.

The third way was the one I did, because my mom did the nails and Jake did the other. You just cut a piece of wire and twist it tightly on one part of the barbed wire, take it around the wooden stake, pull it as tight as you can and twist it again around the barbed wire. Unfortunately, pliers are pretty useless in my hands unless I was doing the kind Jake was doing, and the gloves were way to big for me. So I was stuck with my fingers! It was rather hard on them, but I got through it just fine. It was Jake, Grandpa, mom and I out there.

The cows came up to us after awhile, all black, and we got to see their calves from about fifteen feet away. :) But I cannot post the pictures because both Jake and I are in them. :P Scratch that, I have one:

What's more fun is that my mom let me ride on the tailgate on the way back, even though Jake was driving. :) F. U. N. I had the thought, "I wish I could take a video from here."

We ate lunch when we got back, and then went back out again. This time Manny rode on the tailgate with me, but Jake started going fast and she was a bit... umm... scared. :) But it was quite fun for me.

We ended up doing three and a half lines of fences--almost the whole pasture. The cows came near us once, and we just walked right on, and they walked away. :) Manny drove the pickup while we were in the pasture, and she did rather well. :)

We came to a pond, and found this huge hole that looked like a den with two holes in it. One didn't lead anywhere much, but the other you could see go on under the ground. There was another entrance nearby. We told grandpa about it and he said that it was probably a badger's den, so that's fun. XD

It was getting really stormy by this time, and the wind was going  40 miles an hour. Kansas. Completely Kansas.

We weren't allowed to ride on the tailgate back, so we squeezed in the truck and went back to the farm, spread straw around the garden, and went inside for a bit. I found this really nice (slightly dented) box in the farmhouse with a key in the lock. Inside I found a bright red, woolen scarf that wasn't faded or eaten up at all! It was practically untouched by age. Right now I have the key around my neck, and the box has a bunch of papers concerning drawings and my novel in it. :)

We left and drove home... and I fell asleep. :)

We got home late and then went to bed.

But then we had to go somewhere again yesterday, about an hour from here, and went to my cousin's graduation. She went to a private school called Cair Paravel, and there was a huge ado about it. They came after these people wearing kilts and playing bagpipes, sang, and were 'knighted' by this man with a big sword in a huge church. Each of the boys got a sword (LUCKIES) and each of the girls got a circlet. (I'd rather have a sword.)

It ended where boys would take the arm of a girl and walk out. There were three boys at the end, because there weren't as many girls as boys. That made me glad that I wasn't *in* the graduation.

So then there was a whole dance and everything, even though this was only an eighth grade graduation.

I liked it all, it was really nice, but I couldn't help think of all the money it would cost for the graduation and for going to the school. I really am thankful that I get to be homeschooled.

Here are some pictures on the way back from my grandpa's farm:

                                                                          Wheat^


And is this the BEST PART???  YES!! Pictures up there mean pictures downloaded. I took pictures of my drawings.

This was done awhile ago. :)

And this is the Redeemer. :) I had done the people and the stones, but I didn't know what to put for the background. As I was sitting there, I kept seeing two, sad eyes. And so that's what I ended up doing.

I did this one in a church service. :)

This one I ended up only taking a picture of the person. It was supposed to be like a mirror image, except that the mirror was too sketchy, so I just did this part. :) I called this one 'The Reflection of Mankind' because a lot of times, the real reflection of mankind is dark and shadowy. 

This one was just sort of a doodle. It was fun to do. :)

I named this one "The Battle for the Ithullden Orb." I started with the shadowed girl, and then the orb, and then it looked as if she was hiding behind it. Just her posture suggested that. And then I did the dragon on the right, and then the second one beneath that. Then the cliffish thing that the other two black dragon figures are fighting on and then what was supposed to look sort of like a sea with a sword in it. :)

This is a semi-ok dress. Didn't take that long, so it isn't that good.

I really liked this dragon/creature. I did the body, but then I couldn't figure out what sort of head would match it. I eventually came out with this, and am quite happy with it. 

This... is a type of dragon. Obviously. I forgot what the name was, but its a pretty much 'normal' dragon, but a certain breed of it. Wait--was the main dragon a Myrr dragon? I'm not sure.

This was more of a doodle as well. The picture from a drawing book I used wasn't advanced, so I didn't put much detail in it because I didn't want to ruin it.

This is... a dragon. ;) Use your imagination for the rest.

This is Sinadarai, a Lightguard from my novel. I randomly did this, so I may not stick to this.

I found this in a 'Drawing Fantasy Landscapes an Cityscapes' book. Of course, the real drawing wasn't that modest. It was sleeveless and looked like a piece of cloth draped around her. Blah. So, I changed it. *MWAHAHA*

This is an unfinished picture that I began. I have go re-check the book out from the library because I had to return it. The book is called the 'Dracopedia.'

Ah, this is amateur. Blah. Not that good. 

I rather like this tunic, but she looks bigger on her lower half because I didn't photograph it from straight above. :P

This was a last-minute drawing, I had to do it for co-op. So its not that good.

This is Falon and the Wyrm Lord. I was focusing on the fight, so the background is rather sketchy.

Just a random helmet.

This is to show you what happened to that really good horse I drew--and it happened a second time. It looks like this.

This is definitely a work in progress. Scaled body and feathered wings.

*cringes* This was my second attempt at drawing a person. The first comes next.

This was my first attempt. Watch out, the drawings of people are horrible.

This one looks like a little girl.

This one's okay...

Eagle Sword Concept number one. Please tell me which you like better.

Eagle Sword Concept number two.

This was my attempt at drawing Moby. :P Except he kept moving and his head was in the wrong position, making his nose too short. :P

And this is an unfinished horse.

There was one other picture, but I didn't get a picture of it because I gave it away. I drew it on the way to the graduation, in the car. The shading turned out way better than usual!! It was really good--for me. :)

And unfortunately, I've just finished my sketchbook--*again.* So now I'll have to use my allowance for it. 

And to close all, here's an epic video. This guy heard the Narnia theme song and then played it by ear. Epic. Capitalized. ;)  Please tell me if it doesn't work.