My Crazy Life as a Farmers Wife

Farewell to Summer

We've recently had our first frost...and our annual potato harvest is just around the corner. School is back in session, and it's hard for me to figure out what on earth happened to the summer. It went by so fast as usual. It's been a hard summer...farming has been frustrating with bad weather ruining crops, and bad prices as well...it feels like we have worked so hard this summer, and it's frustrating when hard work doesn't always pay off. Looking back at the thousands of photos I took, I realize that despite what felt like a lot of work, we indeed had so many fun times, and that my kids are incredibly blessed to grow up in the country. We didn't have time visit amusement parks, zoos, or take many special trips, but let me tell you, the simple joys of life in the country can beat any form of entertainment out there! In honor of fall coming, I thought I would share some of our favorite summer fun photos. We are so busy with farming, yard work, gardening, canning, and just trying to keep up with everything around here, it's nice to look back and realize all of the fun we had as well! We are so blessed to have such a beautiful place to call home, and even luckier to have so many family and friends to share it with!

 

 

phew...that was a lot of photos! I guess that's what I get for trying to fit the whole summer into one post!

Shelby Rae Russell: Little Red CD

My talented little sis, Shelby, has released her first fiddle CD. I had the pleasure to play my upright bass with her on the recording, and she was accompanied by the talented Matthew Hartz on the guitar. You can purchase and listen to the album on itunes or you can do a digital download or buy an actual CD (I was lucky enought to be able to do her photos and album design) over at CD Baby.I am so proud of my sister and all of her accomplishments...I love you Bee!!!

I'm a little behind, but I also wanted to share her graduation announcements that I photographed and designed:

Idaho Open & National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest 2013

June is almost gone, and it has been a whirlwind. Grace, my sister Shelby, and my niece Lindsey have prepared all year for these two main contests. We traveled to the Idaho Open contest on our way to Nationals and then spent the week at the National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest in Weiser. I am still hearing fiddle tunes in my head! It was a fun week watching so many talented musicians share all of their hard work and talent. I was so proud of my sister Shelby for making the top 8 at Nationals, and Lindsey for making the top twenty in the Junior division. Grace had set a goal for herself to make the top five in the Junior Junior division, and she surpased that goal, taking 3rd place. I'm so proud of these girls and their hard work. The second the contest was over, Grace told me it was time for her to get working for next year ;) (videos of the girls playing are below)

Just in case you're wondering how these contests work: in the regular divisions, the contestants each get to play a round. The round consists of a Hoedown, Waltz, and a Tune of Choice. The judges are sequestered in a different room...they can't see who is playing, they can only hear the contestant through a sound system. The judges usually cut after each round until they get the final five who will play the last round. The points from all rounds are added together to come up with a total score. The contestants are judged on rythym, intonation (playing in tune), feel, difficulty etc. You'll notice that the girls are typically very serious when playing their rounds, because they have taken extra care to work on playing their very best so that it sounds good to the judges in another room. The last video is of Grace playing a fun tune in the certified division. In order to enter this division, you must win a certified contest in your state to compete. In this division, the judges can actually watch the contestants, and it is based more on showmanship. If you watch Grace's certified division (the video at the very bottom of this post), you'll see that she plays a lot differently than she does in the regular divisions.