The Talens' Tales

Joash Harrie Talen. He entered the world Monday evening at 8:56PM AST weighing 3.67KG (8lb 1oz) and measuring 49.5cm (19.5in) long. Mom and Baby are doing well. We made it home from Hospital this afternoon. I (Wilbert) will fill you in on his story later. God is good!

I know that this blog is on the internet for anyone to see. That creeps some people out, but I find it interesting to think that a lot of different people could read my blog. Since we are living in the farm house right now, we are answering the phone and listening to messages, since they could be something farm related. And the other day, we had the strangest message I had ever heard. It was a little hard to hear at times, but what we could make out from it was that someone in Ontario had been reading my blog and was trying to connect with me for some reason and wondered if the people at this number were related. This person would try again later and did not leave a number for me to get back. I was scared at first. Of course, it would be easy to get the farms phone number it is the only number listed under "Talen." But why would someone who has read my blog want to talk to me? What did I do wrong? Who did I offend? Or was it something good, like an offer to write or to make c...

I have heard that one of the reasons Wal-mart is so successful is that they take good care of their employees, strive to have a family like atmosphere between employees, and make sure that all of the employees take pride in their store. I had a glimpse of the Wal-mart pride yesterday morning. Taking care of the farm also means taking care of my husband's sister, who is Grade 11. Basically this means riding around with her, since she has lots of places she needs to be before and after school and she has her learner's permit, but not her full driver's license yet. So, yesterday she had band before school and I had Coffee Break at 9. So, she drove to school and then I did some errands in town before going to church for Coffee Break. I was glad that Wal-mart was open already, since most of what I needed to get, I could get there. I was wandering around, when an announcement came over the intercom that all the employees need to meet up front for a meeting. After a while, I was n...

When we told everyone we were moving, and where we were moving too, we had a lot of people who were very excited and said they wanted to come and visit us sometime. That is great with us. We love visitors and we love showing off the Island and where we are at. On Sunday, we had our first visitors from the States, so sorry if you thought you would get that honor. (They even beat my parents who are coming in December). Our first visitors where a pastor and his wife of a church that several of our students came from while we taught in Edgerton. They already had this trip planned in the spring, and so when they heard we were moving, they added visiting us to their agenda. They joined us for church and Sunday lunch. It was a very nice afternoon and really fun to see a familiar face, even though we really did not know them all that well. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. I have now vowed to make sure I get a pictures of our visitors from the States. I think that will make a nice...

We are in charge of the farm this week. It has been a good plunge into what life is really like when have a farm to care for all of the time. There are lots of things to think about and keep track of. We have also gotten a feel for how sometimes the farm determines what you schedule will be and when you will arrive at things. As you know, farmers are often late because things always go wrong when you have somewhere you need to be. (As one of my professors in college said, "The cows always get out when there is a wedding or a funeral or on Sunday). Yesterday was Sunday and things took a little longer in the barn that morning than usual. So, my husband came in about 15 minutes before church starts. A quick shower and we were off, trying to make it on and we were pretty sure we could, but we knew we would be cutting it close. But, we forgot about the marathon. One street away from church and there are runners everywhere, police directing traffic, which was pretty much at a stand sti...

Apples. My favorite apple in the world is Cortland, which I discovered in college at this great orchard that let you sample apples in their barn before you went and picked. And my friends and I sampled all of them and nothing beat the Cortland. It is slightly tart, very crisp and a good ripe one has the most pure white inner fruit I have ever seen. And they are good for everything. Eating, baking, pies and sauce. So imagine my delight when the orchard that is just down the road from us put "Cortland" on their sign of what is available. So, I went apple picking and came home with probably way to many apples. But, they are so tasty. So far I am made some apple sauce, an apple pie and an apple crisp. ( You also get to see the lovely shade of our counter tops in our house. It boarders some where between pink, coral and rust, I think.) Thanksgiving makes me think of pumpkin too, so I also made a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and a Pumpkin Roll. However, we finished the pie before I...

We are quite settled into our house now. I thought I would quick post some updated pictures of the rooms that were not quite put together the last time I posted. First, the living room. The baby things are starting to accumulate in the corner. A family from church gave us a bouncy seat and swing that they are finished with. We left this corner open for baby stuff and I think it will work out well since the corner is visible from the kitchen. Looking the other way into the living room. The fire place is on the wall to the left, so the couch is facing it. And the one you all have been waiting for, I am sure. The baby's room. This is a view from the back corner. The crib is ready to go and we were able to fit the changing table that Wilbert's dad made before he was born. I made the curtains and the crib skirt. There is a drawer that is on wheels under the crib, so it is a nice storage space. I also made the wall hanging from a mobile that I had as a baby. So there is a little bit...

I am Dutch. I like a good deal. And today I came across two that I simply could not pass up. At Coffee Break today, I was sitting at a table with mostly young moms, the league I will soon be joining. Two of the moms were nursing their little babies and the discussion came to nursing covers, which they were both using. Everyone agreed one of the mom's had a really nice one. After she was done, we were all looking at it, seeing how hard it would be to make one. It was made by Udder Covers . When I got home, I decided to see just how much they ran to buy one, and I found this. Even thought it is dated back in February, I decided to give a try, and the code still worked! Why try to make one when you can get one for only the cost of shipping? So, I ordered one and then got another code to get the same deal on a pocket sling from Seven Everyday Slings ! Amazing! It almost seems to good to be true, but I did my research and I am pretty convinced it is all for real. So, I ordered one of th...

The nice thing about being married to someone from another country is that you get double the holidays. Today, for example, is Canadian Thanksgiving. How nice to have another day to focus on being thankful and getting to eat some wonderful food. Yesterday we got together with some new friends from church for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. And it was wonderful. Today we will be spending time with family. I have been baking up a storm and will probably blog more about that later this week, depending on what it left over. I truly have many things to be thankful for and lots of them I have already shared on this blog. I think one of the great things about blogging is being able to look back and see all that God has done in our lives and how much we really have to be thankful for. So, even if you aren't Canadian, I hope that you take time to reflect on all that you have to be thankful for.

PEI is known as the potato capital of Canada. Our house happens to be very near one of the larger potato farms on the Island and we have several potato fields around us, so I have been able to witness what it means to harvest potatoes. In some ways, it reminds me a lot of a typical Midwest grain harvest. There are huge pieces of equipment moving down the roads and through the fields. There are lots of trucks driving back to the farm with full loads and then back out to the field. They work until crazy hours of the night, especially when rain is on the way. And yet it is very different. The equipment is completely different. The overturned soil is red, not the rich black top soil I am used to. I find it amazing to see how many potatoes they get out of the fields. It seems like the trucks come almost non-stop. Even though it is a different kind of harvest, it is clear to see that the seasons change, even though the evidence may look a little different. It is a testimony to me of God'...

Yep. We are getting ever closer to the arrival of Baby T. My mom asked on Sunday if I was getting bigger, so I thought I better post the latest picture. And I think the answer is pretty obvious. Yes. And we are getting ready. I bought fabric today to make some curtains for the baby's room, so once those are up and finished, I will post a new picture of the room, since it is pretty much set up. Things are going very well. I feel great, but I can tell I am getting bigger. Bending is getting tough and there are shoes that just do not fit right now. I am getting up a couple times a night to use the bathroom, which I guess it is good training for when the baby actually arrives.

I married a man who likes his pie. It is good thing I come from a family of pie makers. I learned from my mom, who learned from hers, who learned from hers and who knows how far back this really all goes. My grandma really has the art of pie making down. She made two pies every Saturday for many, many years. One time when we were all together and I was getting another lesson in pie making, my mom asked grandma why she made two pies every Saturday while my mom was growing up. My grandma laughed and said she wanted a new oven early on in her marriage, so she promised my grandpa that if she got a new oven, she would make two pies every week. So, the new oven soon arrived and my grandma made pies every week for years. I will confess that we cheat on the crust. My mom uses Jiffy pie crust mix and the pies turn out perfect every single time. I never made a pie crust from scratch, so I was thrown for a loop when I discovered that neither of the grocery stores in Edgerton sold Jiffy pie crust ...

I don't know why, but amphibians seem to like us and our basements. Before we left the States, we found a little frog in our basement. It was pretty cute, but we wondered why he thought our basement would be a good home. Then last night we found this little guy in our basement: He is a cute little salamander. After taking his picture, we moved him outside to our lawn. We thought that would be a better home for him. I don't mind these amphibians in our basements. It is much better than rodents or reptiles if you ask me.