Home for a while

Home for a while. While it seems to be shifting from location to location as we try to connect with folks in various places, home for now is western Pennsylvania near the town where Mike grew up. Nearly his entire family in the area which has given us a rare time to connect with them and for me to get to know them. For the time being we're staying on the farm where his grandmother Miller was raised. It's no longer a working farm, though some of the neighbors still have livestock and fields around it. For someone who has been shifting from major population center to major population center for a long time, it's been an adjustment, but I have come to cherish the quiet of the land, the personality of the woods, and the freedom to roam trails for without interruption.

So when I returned to the farmhouse on Friday after three weeks in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia I have to say, I had that satisfied feeling of coming home. It was nice to be out of the congestion, the noise, and the constant rushing of people. There is something about walking into a house and feeling home again. I'll head back out again for another month of duty with the Reserves on Thursday and I'll miss the farmhouse. Here's a few pictures of where we're staying:

Farmhouse

The Barn. Originally built in 1900, it has since been restored and is now used regularly for family gatherings.

We're trying to keep the grass mowed while we're here; the task is made pretty easy with the Kubota lawn tractor. The bright double peonies behind the house; this is one of my favorite flowers!
About ten years ago Mike with his father, Brad, and brother, Dan, planted a couple dozen blueberry bushes behind the farmhouse and its become a fairly productive patch. So productive that our resident families of wild turkeys have tried to claim squatters' rights. I walked out one morning and found 18 turkeys eating their way through the bushes. Mike decided to take matters into his own hands and played scarecrow for a bit. It didn't help. We ended up with one mighty pint of berries.

Jess