Saturday, October 31, 2009
Wow! Where did the time go! This October just flew by! After Matt got in on October 3, I got busy preparing for the bridal shower on October 10. It turned out to be a gorgeous fall day, which was a real blessing considering all the rain that we’ve had this fall. We made a bride and groom scarecrow couple for the shower. My sister Bev carved out pumpkins to use as containers to put flower arrangements in and Lisa helped to bake 8 pumpkin pies. We had family coming in from all directions and so it was a fun family reunion as well as a shower. We had the shower under the tent at the farm, surrounded by lots of pumpkin patch customers. It was a regular three-ring circus with a clown wandering around, a dulcimer player and llamas in the lower yard. Paul ran hayrides and kids played in the cornbox, but it never really interfered with the shower. I think Lisa and Matt really enjoyed themselves and were showered with many very nice gifts. It will be remembered as a one-of-a-kind event.
There was no break after the bridal shower to catch our breath. Paul started two solid weeks of school field trips. He talked to the kids about the farm animals and what is involved in raising them. Patty Anderson, our local cooperative extension agent, came down and helped with the really large groups. She taught an activity where the kids used math to weigh and measure pumpkins and then count the pumpkin seeds. All the kids went home with a pumpkin from the patch. During this time, we had a hard frost. With the leaves wilted down, we were surpised at all the pumpkins we really had. Paul kept saying all summer that he thought the crop was small. Was he ever wrong!
The next weekend, Oct0ber 17, was to be our Flinger Festival. Unfortunately, the weather was very bad (even had snow) on Saturday and the other guys backed out. Our son Ryan and Somayeh, his wife, came in and so did Jon, our youngest son. They were hoping to see some friendly pumpkin flinging competition, but still had a good time flinging their own pumpkins. On Sunday, the sun did come out and I was happy because I had scheduled a flight over the farm to take pictures. It was wonderful to see the fall foliage and pumpkin fields from the air. Paul even had a wagonload of customers up at the trebuchet and they waved vigorously for the camera. It was great to have the whole family together and it allowed Mike to get a family portrait for our Farm and Ranch Living diary that we’re keeping for next October.
Afer Jon and Ryan left, we were still busy picking pumpkins and taking care of our customers. This is a business driven by the weather. When the sun was out, the customers came out in droves. When it rained, we sat around twiddling our thumbs. Paul got some wholesale orders which helped a lot.
We finally got our Slinger in action. We tried once and it didn’t work out. But the second time, it was finally ready for heavy duty action. And it got some in these last two weeks. The kids are launching small gourds and small white pumpkins. They can really sail a long distance.
Our final fling this weekend was Not-So-Scary Night Hayrides. We decided to do them Oct 29-31. Matt was a big help in creating pumpkin people for the route. We sure missed him after he headed for home on Thursday morning. He was a huge help this October. We’ll even miss his dog Micah, who endeared herself to us. Anyway, the hayrides were fun even though we didn’t get huge crowds out. The weather was cold but dry. Jill, our elementary librarian, is an excellent storyteller and she came out to tell stories on the wagon. We also had our boogey man out haunting the wagon as it rolled along. Friday evening was our best night with three trips through the haunted woods and fields. I rode on the trip this evening and enjoyed it so much.
It’s nice to be finished. We’ve had a lot of good times and made many new friends this past six weeks or so. Now we can sit and plan for next fall as the weather gets colder and colder and the snow begins to fly. Who knows what crazy ideas we’ll come up with for 2010.
Yours until the pumpkins turn orange again.
Linda