Farm Party

This past weekend was our annual summer party at the farm.

It takes a real genius to book a party on the hottest weekend of the year. Every year.

Two geniuses, actually. I'm not taking all of the blame for this, I'm bringing my husband down with me.

The heat was in the triple digits and the heat index was well beyond that.

 

Even the hardcore beer drinkers switched over to sucking down bottles of water.

But we survived, and stuffed our faces with a feast in the process.

A caterer friend of ours made the most amazing seafood boil I've ever had.

Make that the only seafood boil I've ever had.

As a matter of fact, I think I just started eating seafood this past weekend.

So all you haters of us beef-eating inlanders can shut your faces about my unsophisticated palate.

I've added seafood to my food repertoire.

Steak, potatoes, all things fast food, and now seafood.

It sure doesn't suck when one of the region's best caterers just happens to be a friend who is ready and willing to hall his mobile kitchen to your farm -- all the way from Virginia Beach.

And here is where I shamelessly promote said friend.

Call Corey at The Catering Place for all of your catering needs.

757-923 ... okay, I'll shut up. You get the point.

The newlyweds came all the way from Kansas City.

I wasn't sure what my new sister-in-law would think.

She's a city girl and there is nothing city about where we live, other than the fact that there is a big city an hour away. 

But she's survived a couple of our Griswold family Christmases in Colorado, so hopefully a weekend with the Clampetts wasn't all that bad. 

We got a really cool local band to come out and play for the night.

And of course my husband just had to go up on stage and sing.

For an hour.

But that's okay because I found a pretty cute little dance partner to take his place.

And just when I'd go to sit down, she was back for more.

My dance card was full all night long.

This little cutie is her big brother.

He's got some moves like I've never seen before.

Ever seen the Armless Vertical Worm? I hadn't either until Cooper hit the dance floor.

I seriously think he needs to go on the road and dance backup for Lady Gaga.

And it wouldn't be a party if our friend Lyle didn't come up and do his spot-on version of Labamba.

Once the sun started to go down the heat let up a little bit ...

...and the men gathered around the food table and started round two.

Or five, or six.

The diehard cornhole players rounded up spotlights so they could play well into the night. 

   

Christiansburg (Virginia) High School Class of 1997.

It's a mini-reunion every year.

The guy on the left is Corey, Mr. Caterer Extraordinaire.

And the girls on each side of my husband are the two girls he said he would have married had I not come along.

I can't decide who should be thanking who that things turned out the way they did.

The Year of the Weddings

We have been on pace for about one wedding every other weekend this summer. And my social butterfly husband's career as a professional groomsman continues.

My mom asked him a while back how many weddings he had been in. He said it is definitely in the teens. He couldn't even name them all.

This past weekend he was a groomsman in one of the coolest weddings I've been to.

But don't think that I just sat in the crowd alone. Heck no. With my husband up front, I took it upon myself to line up another date to keep me company.

Good ol' cousin Eddie.

He is a also a friend of the groom and was attending anyway. He graciously escorted me through the crowd of strangers. And thanks to his introductions, I ended the night with a lot of great new friends.

Our friend Craig married a sweet, sweet girl named Toria.

Her parents hosted the wedding at their beautiful farm in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.

The view from their front yard is priceless.

The perfect backdrop for a summer wedding.

And you certainly can't complain when you are greeted at the ceremony by a bartender.

The bride was escorted down the aisle to music from a local bluegrass band.

It was all so beautiful.

I'm biased, but I think I snagged myself a pretty handsome husband.

He didn't wear his hat last week so his forehead could get a little sun.

He was spared from the wrath of my spray tan this time. 

After the ceremony, I walked around to the other side of the house.

I wanted to get a good picture of it.

I feel like I walked half a mile back and I still couldn't get the whole thing into frame.

Needless to say, it's beautiful and enormous.

The bride's family cleared out one of their barns for the wedding reception.

The atmosphere was perfect for a night of fun.

Craig and Toria are such a gorgeous couple.

And so in love.

Champagne fountains are over-rated.

That's why they opted for a bourbon fountain.

We'll just say it was a hit.

With a lot of people.

All night long.

The bride and groom flew in one of their favorite red dirt bands from Texas, the Rich O'Toole Band.

Their performance was awesome and they were cool guys. They had my husband come up on stage and play for a while. Hands down, the highlight of his night. Or probably life.



Towards the end of the night Cousin Eddie, a cattle auctioneer by trade, auctioned off the garter.

Some perv paid $195 for it.

Okay it was the best man.

And he's not a perv.

That I know of.

Summer Snapshots

It's been a busy spring and summer here at the farm this year. I'm actually proving to be slightly useful on occasion.

But not enough to get on payroll.

That will never happen.

Ever. According to my husband.

Way to rain on a girl's parade.

Speaking of the boss man...

He is willing to squeeze me in his schedule if I bring him food.

But if I don't lose him back to the tractor, I lose him to his cell phone.

I swear, that man talks on the phone as much as a teenage girl.

Hay making is in full swing.

Just as wheat harvest is gearing up.

We definitely don't do wheat on the same scale here as my friends and family back in Kansas.

But just enough to make me miss home.

The wild berries are back.

I get a phone call last night from my husband...

"In back of the shop, behind those tractors, you'll find a sh*t ton of wild berries.

I need you to pick those.

And can them.

And then can store-bought berries.

Some with more sugar. Some with less.

I need to know the difference."

Okay, nerd. I'll get right on that.

He has been oddly obsessed with the fact that I can sew and can jams and jellies since I met him.

His friends said when he first met me and would tell them about me he didn't give the usual guy-meets-a-girl description of  "I met a girl. She's hot."

Nope, it was more like. "I met a girl. She's from Kansas. She can sew and can preserves."

I'm pretty sure that's guy code for she's ugly.

Speaking of sewing. I made this mommy & me apron set for a friend the other day.

She and her husband have orchards. I got the aprons to them just in time for cherry pie making.

A nice night out that turned into the usual I-married-a-5-year-old picture taking session.

Never fails. I always have to take two.

Love his white forehead?

I don't.

That's why I spray-tanned it that night after seeing this picture.

Who's manly now?

And it wouldn't be an official blog post if I didn't mention one of the dogs.

So here's Woodrow the Weirdo:



Such a little drama king.