Magnolia Hill Farm

Good Morning,it was a busy, busy weekend always lots to do here. Celebrate with our friends, Bill and Pam their 29th wedding anniversary! It was a great party given by their two lovely daughters. We love Bill & Pam and wish them many more years of happiness!  Enjoyed Bill and Pam’s family and friends as we always do!

Been working in the yards and fields here at the farm, mulching, weeding and cleaningup. Our barn is really shaping up too, with water and electric installed now. Good bye hoses and electriccords! Sara and Matt have been helping out here at the farm this weekend. We tease Sara about not liking to work on the farm, but she pitches right in and gets dirty and dusty like the rest of us! She went outside last night because our dog was barking like crazy, only to discover it was because our rooster was out there trying to crow! He’s a young guy and hadn’t started yet so he was practicing. It was pretty funny like a boy going through change of voice stage. So this morning he was out there with his faint little crow. Makes you feel like your living on a farm!  Our mini donkey, Fancy still hasn’t delivered and I just know it will be while the vet is away here for the next week or so, that’s always the way isn’t it. Or she’ll have our baby during our 4th of July party! Fancy Face is a first time Mom and we are praying for an easy delivery for her. We are getting ready for our 4th of July cookout with a gathering of family and friends. Hope the weather gives us a break or it will be a cookin! Well I’m going out to work in the yard before that humidity gets up there. So stay cool and Happy Monday!

That’s what I am! In 85 days, Tracy and John will be getting married! Before you know it the day will be here. Tracy and John have done a wonderful job so far planning, everything despite some changes at the wedding and reception venue. Tracy has inherited my party planning skills and wants everyone coming to the wedding to enjoy the day as much as she and John do. I am sure they will with all they have planned. We have lots of rooms already reserved for those spending the weekend on the shore. We have always loved the eastern shore of Maryland and the kids have some great memories of our house on Cox Creek. It may have been a little waterfront, but it was always filled with love and came with a wonderful set of extra grandparents next door. God love Miss Doris and Mr. George, they were wonderful. We have fun memories of crabbing and swimming off the pier. So now you know why Tracy loves the shore so much! We are still working on some last minute details for the wedding.. Tonight was the last night of Tracy’s summer classes, so she can have a much needed break and relax a little.  I am looking forward to all of the rest of the plans for the wedding. I am so happy that Tracy found John. He is a wonderful young man and together they will have a wonderful future. They are truly a match made in heaven! Well that’s all for now it’s been a very long day for this MOB! Catch you later!

And electric too at least by tonight it will be! Finally, it will make our lives so much easier. We’ve been using hoses and extension cords to the barn for awhile now and believe me it was no fun last winter. Progress here at the farm. Sometimes you take a few steps back and a few steps forward. Life has so many unexpected twists and turns.  Take Tracy’s friends, Amy & Craig, absolutely sweet and wonderful young couple. They were expecting their first baby, Kira when Amy found out she had lymphoma. After delivering their beautiful baby girl ( and boy do I mean beautiful). Amy got her biopsy back two days later. I have to tell you my heart broke when I heard the news. Amy may look small and petite but only in size, she is a Tigger, no not tiger, Tigger! She is not just going to let this bring her down, she is keeping the posative TIGGER attitude. You Mom’s know what I mean, we have watched enough Winnie the Pooh to know that if you need a friend Tigger is the one to have for his strength and courage! I am keep Amy, Craig and Kira in my prayers. I have one of their newest pictures from Heather Owens website set as the background on my computer, so each time I look at it I say a prayer. To see Kira and the new family pictures, check out Heather’s site here http://photosbyheatherowens.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/kiras-here/  or stop by Amy’s blog! http://babybabst2008.wordpress.com/  Please keep their family in your prayers! I can’t wait to see Kira she is so sweet. Hang in there Amy, you know that a lot of people are praying and love you!

ALright, it’s 6:30 pm here and the heat index is 106 degrees. My animals are saying, come on September! The fans are running in the barn and the llamas love being hosed off, they turn around in circle while I’m hosing them down! Believe it or not, hubby worked outside most of the day stacking timber and raking the pastures on his tractor. I worked on the yard then visited the Chesapeake Auction House for the tail end of their Saturday auction. It is one of our favorite place to go here in Calvert County! We enjoy the wonderful bargins and have gotten some really nice pieces of estate furniture for the farm. I’m currently collecting tea cups for my upcoming spinners tea! If you haven’t checked them out visit their website: http://www.chesapeakemarketplace.com/auction.htm   Make sure you go hungry, because Nicole in the kitchen is a great cook and her cafe is always open offering great food! (I have been known to go off my diet for her fried shrimp and fries, just ask Sara! )The auction is owned by a lovely family and we always have a great time, so be sure and check them out! Our yard had never looked so good thanks to their nursery auction. We are kicking everything in to high gear getting ready for open house here at the farm and for Tracy’s wedding.

Matt comes back from the beach this week and Sara is still making plans for Wesley in August. So much to do and so little time!  We meet with the folks at the River Plantation / Hunters Oak to go over wedding details this weekend, I can’t believe it’s only three months! Tracy is taking summer classes, working and working on their new home. It is a killer schedule for those two!  Hang in there Tracy and John, the last months can be sooooooo stressful! You WILL make it through all these details! Well, stay cool for now…Darlene

Today Sara and I went back to Dover, Delaware to Wesley to tour the campus and meet with her counselor. We were surprised when we got to the admissions office to see a welcome sign for Sara! We met with a nice young lady by the name of Aubrey, who was celebrating her 21st birthday today! We enjoyed our tour of the lovely Wesley campus. Sara loves the campus and the town! Then we spent some time driving around looking at houses and apartments. Off to Olive Garden for lunch and then we drove to Ocean City to celebrate! We walked on the boardwalk for awhile and enjoyed the ocean views. We hooked up with Matt and his girlfriend so they could give Sara some congratulatoryhugs! We didn’t spend much time in OC just enough to pick up our Thrashers fries, Fishers popcorn and Candy Kitchen Fudge, all the necessities for the ride home! We have a few more trips planned for later on this month to get things lined up for Sara for August. Dover is very well suited for Sara who has always been and ” old soul” and likes old houses and small town settings. Sara will do well at Wesley, they appear to be a small, friendly campus community and they pride themselves in knowing each student as more than a number. Once Sara saw the Target and Sonic she was sold, LOL It is a small town atmosphere with all the conveniences close by. We drove home at sunset over the Bay Bridge exhausted but happy! Thanks for driving home Wesley Girl!

By now everyone knows that Sara is going to Wesley University in Delaware. She is ssssssssoooooooooooooo excited. Yesterday Sara and I headed to Dover to check out the campus and scope out apartments It took about 2 hours to get there , not bad for my visits later, just kidding Sara! We had a nice ride there and enjoyed the trip. When we got to Dover we rode around the campus, it is a lovely campus in a quaint old town setting. Sara loved it! I think she will be very happy here it is close enough to home for her and there is lots to do in Delaware. It is close to everything!  We went to a couple of apartment complexes to check them out too. We walked around for awhile, enjoying the town ( sorry for the blisters Sara). We had lunch at a place called 33 West that was near the campus, they had great food! I’m sure it will be one of Sara’s fav spots! We stopped and saw a friend of Sara’s from school, Steve. Steve was in some of my Sunday school classes many moons ago. He is a wonderful young man and we got to see the lovely home he bought in Dover. I still saw the little boy from CCD class when I saw him. Sorry Steve! We enjoyed our visit and headed home by way of checking out Dover Downs. Nascar races were there last weekend, and even though Sara wasn’t old enough to get in and gamble we took a picture. We headed home stopping for ice cream on our favorite island, Kent Island. We were tired when we got home and our making plans for our return to Dover on Thursday. Well, back out to cut some more grass before the rain starts again. Check out Wesley College here: http://www.wesley.edu/ Well that’s all for now folks!

Our internet has been down for so long, we are finally up and running again. We have been so busy here at the farm! Thanks to a lovely lady by the name of Anne at Stargazer Farm our animals are cool and comfortable. Anne did a wonderful job shearing and was so patient and kind to our animals! The llamas loved her! There were a few that were a little rowdy but no where near like they have been in the past. Jim and I think it was because she treated them so well and talked to them so gently. Check out Anne’s farm at http://www.stargazingfarm.org/about/ Shw was a lovely person and truly has a great love for animals. Our kind of person!