Reality. Or, the post wherein I dispense with smoke and mirrors and just tell it like it really is...

I was sitting here at the computer about 45 minutes ago, with Beau dog sleeping at my feet, listening to the sound of Canadian geese coming softly through the open window and thought... now THAT would be a great way to start a post.  But, I realized what time it was and that I had forgotten to do the dishes so got up and did them.  While working my way through mugs, plates, silverware, dog bowls, etc. I really thought about what I wanted to write.  I know some people will be distressed that I have decided to just lay it all out there but it's more like me to do that than not, and I have been thinking a lot about how lame these posts have been.  "OOh, the sprouts are up!", "wow, we planted a gazillion seeds".... jeez.   I am embarrassed.  If you are taking the time to read this blog then you deserve to hear about the nitty gritty of the situation.  So, here we go:
Beau dog was peacefully laying at my feet because Marcie and Jessica (the two puppies) got dropped off at the vet this evening to get fixed tomorrow.  He had lost his playmates and just didn't know what to do with himself.  He performed valiantly last night though, when someone tried to steal my car right out of the dooryard.  Yup, no kidding.  I bet they could've been identified by a distinctive brown stripe down the back of their pants and a tell-tale aroma because as soon as he barked (the raise-the-hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck kind of bark...) they took off.  They didn't even close the car door, which is how we figured out what had happened.  We looked out and saw the interior light of my car on and knew right away something wasn't right so we called the police.  I won't bore you with the rest of the mundane details but will tell you that we were up very late and got very little sleep before having to start our day today.  This is not the "royal we" but a reference to myself and the Country Boy.  There are two of us starting this farm.  The rest of the reality is that we are also building a house (log home, to be exact) while we are attempting to start this farm.  Oh, yeah, and he works full time and I go to school full time.  So, for the time being we live in a thirty foot RV.  Gettin' less romantic by the minute, isn't it folks?   And, after our nocturnal visitor last night I am stressing that someone is going to steal the pile of scrap metal where the old house was (we burned it down last December.... on purpose... that's a story for another time) or the pile of lumber that will become the first floor sub-flooring (and other things I'm not sure of yet) that is waiting for the excavator and concrete guys to get here and do their things.  Really, though, all in all we are pretty happy.  Oh, and I forgot to tell you that I had an allergic reaction to something I ate at a restaurant last night and broke out in hives worse than ever before.  It's been getting progressively worse when it does happen for the past year or so and last night was pretty bad ~ back, face, and neck area involved where before it had just been one spot on my back.  It's starting to look like I really shouldn't eat out any more...
So, Country Boy just got home from his twice-a-month meeting with the volunteer fire department and is now out in what I have started calling "the seed room" in the garage watering all our precious little sprouts.  He told me this morning that the Charentais melons had started to come up ~ I was very happy to hear that because it seemed to me like they should have already sprouted.  I am really looking forward to eating one of these.  Seed Savers Exchange, where we got our seed, says this on the website about them: 

"(Cucumis melo) A true French cantaloupe that originated in the Poitou-Charentes region circa 1920. Considered by many to be the most divine and flavorful melon in the world. Smooth round melons mature to a creamy gray with faint ribs. Sweet, juicy, orange flesh with a heavenly fragrance. Typically the size of a grapefruit and weighing 2 pounds—perfect for two people."

How can you NOT be intrigued by something that is supposed to be "the most divine and flavorful melon in the world"??!?!   This is some of ours, so far...

and, in case you were wondering, those are leeks just poking up in the pots behind the melons.  :)   There is a beautiful, bright half-moon out tonight ~ I just saw it when I went out to take that picture of our melons for you.  They say it's supposed to get down to the low 30's tonight and it's already pretty chilly out there.  Good thing we have a heater under the plants.   Good night, folks.... after last night I'm pretty tired.  I hope we all sleep well tonight.