Ruple Farms - where a full-time working mom of two manages her mini farm: June 2019

We've been busy! Some Updates!

And now I'm sick with bronchitis. On day 2 of antibiotics and still feeling like garbage.

Honestly, I thought it was just me losing my voice after screaming at the NKOTB concert.

But by Sunday...no voice led to sore throat.

I made it through Monday decently.

Tuesday was my company's off site retreat (we got a sweet suite at Frontier Field) with food, drinks, snacks, it was amazing.

And I was too sick to enjoy it and left after an hour.

It was a perfect day and I'm sad I couldn't spend the entire time with my team.

The weather has FINALLY turned and we're having more nice days than not. We have some really rainy days, but a few sunny ones too!

Bella girl enjoying the sun!

He spends most of his time outside now.

My morning glories! I have them on 3 of the 4 posts of my pergola.

The Garden! (The plants have grown since this pic was taken! this was about a week ago)

The baby birds in the girls' playhouse - getting their feathers!

Nothing better than grilling! (and smoking!) I do ~~most~~ all of the grilling and smoking. Even though I bought the smoker for Steve. He's never (NEVER) used it.

I don't think he knows how to use it, either.

And finally hot enough to swim!

Mila had her last day of First Grade! I can't believe she's a Second Grader!

Cement in the holes

I lived my 12-year-old self's fantasy

Last Friday night (6/14), I was sitting in bed, around 9:30. Yes, I realize I go to bed early. Yes, even on weekends.

ANYWAY.

I was enjoying a mango popsicle in the quiet (Steve was out in the garage working on a car) and a friend I've known for about 15 years texts me.

"NKOTB is in Buffalo next weekend"

5 minutes after that first text, tickets were purchased.

We got really, really great seats.

My friend is someone who when I met, right off the bat, I felt comfortable with. Like really comfortable with.

We worked together 15 years ago, but barely knew each other.

Then when we both moved back to the area, we were both interviewing for the SAME JOB!

She had a few more years experience than I did, and I remember even saying "they should hire us both and I'll work for you!"

And, they did.

For 4 glorious years, I got to work with my friend. We grew very close and went through a lot together. Babies, marriages, job changes, etc.

There's literally no one else I'd rather go to this concert with than her.

And it was amazing.

Before she made me take a shot (ok, half a shot). I haven't had hard liquor in maybe 10 years?

Loving life!

us and all the other 40 year old moms. This is half a shot and 2 drinks.

Sooooo good!

Hi Donnie

omg

Tiffany rocked it!

Getting nostalgic when "Please don't go girl" came on

Joey singing "Please don't go girl"

Salt N Peppa fucking killed it. So amazing.

Donnie <3

Omg Donnie <3

Debbie Gibson!

They ended the night with all of them on stage.

We got a hotel room and made a night out of it. It was such a great mini-trip. I got out of work early and we enjoyed a beautiful drive to Buffalo. Enjoyed a gorgeous night and slept comfortably in our own beds with no kids around!

We each woke up on our own (around 9am!!!) and had breakfast and then hit the road. We were home in time for her to catch her kids' baseball game.

I was able to enjoy the rest of the SUNNY/PERFECT weekend with my babies on the farm!

Babies everywhere!

Springtime means new life, right?

Over the weekend, we saw so much proof of that, right in our own yard.

I didn't get a chance to capture pictures of each, but if I can, I will, as we watch these babies grow.

I was inside when Steve and the girls ran into the house super-excited about their find.

Baby birds!

they found a cozy spot in the girls' play structure

Underneath their plastic playhouse that's on the ground, I found a mama mouse and her babies. SO FREAKING CUTE.

I had a feeling to look underneath for some reason, lifted it up and in a cute little nest was a mama and maybe 4 babies. ADORABLE.

The girls have checked on them once or twice, and I keep reminding them to LEAVE THEM ALONE or they'll move.

Then, when we were riding the 4 wheeler over to Farmer Matt's house/farm, we saw a fawn frolicking in our tall grass in front of our house.

It's not always sunshine and teddy bears though, over at Ruple Farms.

I also found this.

IN MY BASEMENT.

AS IN,

IN MY HOUSE.

WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK IS THIS THING.

It's so fucking big, that when I got close, it turned, looked up at me and opened its mouth.

FUCKING HUGE

Turns out, it's a Limax Maximus - which literally means "biggest slug".

These fuckers can be 4in - 8in as adults.

EIGHT FUCKING INCHES, PEOPLE.

I scooped it up and put it outside.

And now I want to burn my house down.

Top of The Hill Farm

We've been getting friendlier and friendlier with our across-the-street-neighbors.

Steve has met Farmer Matt with the girls before. I hadn't.

Still haven't met him.

I have met his wife, Heidi and their son, Brent (Brett?) and his wife, Brittany(?).

They sell flowers at the end of their super long driveway, and I stopped and bought some and chatted with Heidi.

I also met another lady who was at the farmhouse next to Heidi and Matt's and that's grandpa (Matt's dad) house. They own a bunch of land near our house and theirs.

Anyway, Farmer Matt invited us over to see some baby cows.

Um. I'm in LOVE.

Baby Jersey Cow

Baby Holstein Cow

This particular baby was hilarious! Jumping and kicking all over the place.

So cute! So much personality!

One of the mamas came down to check us out.

So cute.

I didn't know they had pigs! These guys were HUGE.

And my all time favorite. I drive by Spotlight the mini pony almost everyday and I always love watching his blonde hair blow in the wind! There are two ponies - this one is about 30 and the other one, name Fizz is about 28.

They were nice enough to invite us over "anytime!" and we may just take them up on that offer. Farms are so much fun to walk around.

Father's Day Weekend

We had a lovely, low-key Father's Day weekend. Steve was supposed to go 4 wheeling with his buddies...

I'm not sure why that plan didn't pan out, but instead, the poor guy spent his Father's Day like this:

Ruple Farms - digging holes for the deck

It doesn't look like it, but it's raining here

Finally cleared up around 7pm!

We couldn't rent the auger Saturday when the weather was decent, because no one had any in stock. The weather was supposed to clear around mid-afternoon, so we risked it and said what the hell. We have to get these holes dug.

18 of them.

45" deep.

At least the rain kept the ground soft?

It didn't stop raining/misting, so Steve headed out around 2pm.

I joined him maybe half an hour later.

And in the rain, we dug some holes.

The hardest ones were near the pool - just no room to maneuver.

And the rocks.

For FUCK'S SAKE. THE ROCKS.

The first 2 feet or so were pretty easy.

But then we got hung up on some pretty big rocks.

Not to mention that the auger only goes down so deep, so we have to add an extension to it. But you can't just start out with the extension attached because the engine doesn't sit far enough off the ground so it's pointing straight down.

Excellent engineering folks.

So each and every time we had to dig, then add extension, dig again, remove extension.

These parts and pieces are heavy and caked in mud.

And the mud caked so much on to our boots that it felt like we were walking on stilts. It was awful.

Steve's back was barely hanging on.

We took a break to do dinner and give the girls a bath (we had a rough weekend with them, too - I don't think they are sleeping enough at night lately).

ANYWAY.

He went back out at 7pm and it was gorgeous out, finally!

I did bedtime and such with the girls and met up with him around 8:45 and helped him until we finished, around 9:30.

18 holes.

Most of which are 45" deep.

ALL of them are at least 42" deep.

FUCK.

He has a week off coming up. Hoping to get a good start on the deck. Will report back later.

Pool Deck updates

Here's the last update on the pool deck.

We've been getting the run around lately and it's so aggravating.

We have used both decks.com and Lowes.com for deck plans.

We started with decks.com and started with a plan, then headed over to Lowe's to get things priced out. When we did that, we realized that Lowe's has their own deck planning software that would give you everything you'd need - exact lumber, hardware, cuts, etc.

We thought we were golden.

We priced it out at home, multiple times.

We priced it out with Lowes, multiple times.

When it came time to pull the trigger though, something happened and the price sky-rocketed. It was so bizarre. The price almost DOUBLED.

Um, what?

So Steve went back to Lowe's, with the plan(s) and priced it out again. Still super high - about $3,000 higher than what we were wanting to pay.

Remember the contractor guy Steve met while at work? Well, instead of going back and forth with Lowe's (who supply list was waaaay overkill, we find out later), he opted to meet with this guy and see what he thought.

He came home with a more simplified plan, and when priced out, with TREX material, it came in just under our budget. With hardware and incidentals, it's much more palatable.

We're going to place the order in the next day or so.

They have most of the materials in stock, so it'll just be transporting the materials to our house.

The decking will be a gray-ish color, called "Clamshell" and the railing, which will be pressure-treated wood, will be painted white next year.

Apologies for the glare, Steve took a pic of his computer screen. The difference with our deck, is that we'll have a bump out directly across the narrowest part of the deck (see white outline), so that it will be extended by about 3 feet. This will allow the girls to run and jump into the pool. And it just feels like we'll need that extra space and not be all jammed up over there.

I'm on the hunt for furniture. I want something comfortable and cute. I'm NOT about those ugly ass folding chairs.

I would like a set of lounge chairs with a small table in between and an umbrella.

I would also like something like this:

I want the area to feel breezy and fun. I want to be able to relax out there for hours, while the girls play.

Hopefully the weather cooperates and allows us to get moving on this ASAP!

Pool's open, folks!

A little late, but better than never!

To be fair, the weather has been shit lately, except with a couple of nice days.

Since the weather would be gorgeous, we took the opportunity to open the pool. I was busy with the garden and didn't get any pictures.

We opted to transport the water ourselves.

Down in the hamlet near where we live, is a fire station. They have a public water spicket and we can get 75 gallons for a quarter. We spent $5 and got about 1,500 gallons to fill the pool.

It's COLD!

But it beats paying someone, like we did last year. We didn't have our huge water tank last year either though.

Steve and his BFF (and Best Man at our wedding) and his daughter.

Now we just need the weather to cooperate so we can actually go swimming! Can't wait till our deck is up. When it is, COME OVER!!!

a beautiful and productive weekend!

It finally happened.

The sun finally came out and get this - it stayed out for THREE. WHOLE. DAYS.

It was glorious.

I had an eye appt Friday afternoon, so I was able to feel it around 3pm.

It was wall to wall sunshine from Friday to Sunday.

We got a LOT done.

I felt very, very productive!