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Outpost:  Sleeping Outside  |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 26 2009 : 09:14:24 AM
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Oakley and I have been planning on sleeping up in the tree house ever since Lovin’ Man put a roof on the thing, but it was MaryJane’s Outpost book that gave me the idea of furnishing it with a real bed. Thankfully, Lovin’ Man left one of the walls open with a rail and installed a pulley system for bringing things up and down. I spent an hour or so climbing up and down the ladder, first tying mattresses and headboards and things, hauling them up and assembling them in the tree house.
I envisioned a turn-of-the-century scene with us brushing our hair out by candlelight and reading Little House on the Prairie. When it finally got dark, we put on our prairie girl under things, climbed up the ladder, and took a bunch of photos of brushing hair, smelling roses, and reading books.
First, Oakley wanted to read Grover’s The Monster at the End of This Book. That was a favorite when I was a child. Then we read a chapter from The Little House on the Prairie and by that time we were both yawning. Oakley got the bed and I slept on another mattress by the door.
The street light was shining straight into the tree house. It seemed to be as bright as day in there! We used the bright light to have a little shadow puppet theater. Oakley was a bunny and a butterfly. I was an alligator, a dog and a snake. The story lines mostly had to do with who was going to eat who or who was in love with whom, so they either ended with a kiss or with the disappearance of the weaker animal.
We snuggled down and listened to the night sounds that we always miss while sleeping inside. The frogs and crickets were making such a racket it felt as if the very air around us was vibrating. The geese couldn’t decide which lake to settle into so they kept flying over honking loudly as they went. The dogs were excited that we were outside and kept milling about under the tree, barking and growling at every little thing. The teenagers next door had visitors coming and going late into the night. It was not as peaceful as I had imagined it would be!
Finally, around one o’clock all the creatures began to wind down, even the crickets and frogs seemed to have brought the noise down a notch. I slept and woke, slept and woke. It didn’t get cold but it felt a little damp, so I put another blanket on Oakley and wrapped up myself in the mattress pad.
The roosters began to crow around three o’clock in the morning. I didn’t even know that roosters lived around here!
Oakley got a great night’s sleep and I, well, I’m getting old. I like my own bed, but we will probably do it again when some of Oakley’s friends come over. If only I could haul my own bed up there and wear earplugs and an eye mask, then I am sure that I could get a good night’s sleep up in the tree house.
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
Edited by - NikkiBeaumont on Apr 27 2009 11:08:43 AM |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Apr 26 2009 : 10:44:20 AM
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I love it Nikki - can I come over?
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Apr 26 2009 : 11:02:41 AM
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How neat is that? I bet it looks pretty from the outside with the candles burning. Dogs are very annoying to me at night. I have to put my lab, Bubba, in at night or he'd bark all night.
How high up is the tree house? And I love the real bed idea. Nice and comfy cozy for sure. It would be a great place for sleep-overs, too.
Kris
Life is what you make it. Always has been. Always will be. |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Apr 26 2009 : 12:29:09 PM
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Mary Beth - Thanks! I checked out your smallcityscenes blog and love your photographs! Those tulip photos just pop with color. I saved your blog in my favorites. Wow on getting those barrel racing photos. Loved that all was there was the hat. Funny!
Amy Grace - I'm puttin' clean sheets on the bed today. We'll put another steak on the barby for ya!
Kris - That tree house is about 20 feet off the ground. Kind of high for my taste. I don't mind climbing up. I could do that forever, but I DO NOT like going down!
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
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jenbove
Moderator
320 Posts
Jennifer
Calico Rock
AR
USA
320 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2009 : 10:38:53 AM
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I'm SO glad I caught your pics before they disappeared, Nikki. They were absolutely idyllic!! What a wonderful experience, and what an inspiration you are to the rest of us outpost mamas. Can you re-post them?
Jen
GOT A "WILD HAIR"?
COME VISIT MARYJANE'S OUTPOST! 
www.maryjanesoutpost.com
Farmgirl Sisterhood Member # 9
My Blog: The View From My Boots
www.bovesboots.blogspot.com |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2009 : 11:14:43 AM
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Oops! You know what I did! I moved my photos at photobucket into album for each subject and that changed the url or address or whatever.
I am so glad that y'all enjoyed those photos! We had so much fun doing it! What I love about MaryJane is that she makes everything seem so possible that you just want to jump out there and do stuff. She is a great motivator!
I did edit my story because I forgot to put in the part about our shadow puppet show. I have been arranging my stories and photos and printing them for our scrapbook and now I have to reprint that, too.
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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jenbove
Moderator
320 Posts
Jennifer
Calico Rock
AR
USA
320 Posts |
Posted - Apr 28 2009 : 11:28:53 AM
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Yea, Nikki! So glad your lovely pics are back, and thanks for visiting my blog! Your photos remind me so much of MJ's Outpost book. My girls and I had so much fun taking photos for the book because we got to DO so much fun stuff in the process. We're still loving our tree swing. Unfortunately, our little lean-to got washed away in a flood, but we're planning to rebuild this summer. Yes, MJ is such a great motivator, helping us to slow down and soak up these moments that make up our lives.
Jen
GOT A "WILD HAIR"?
COME VISIT MARYJANE'S OUTPOST!
www.maryjanesoutpost.com
Farmgirl Sisterhood Member # 9
My Blog: The View From My Boots
www.bovesboots.blogspot.com |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Apr 28 2009 : 5:09:40 PM
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Now that is way cool! Thank you for sharing the story and the photos with us! How pretty! How special! I love your vintage clothing!
Farmgirl Sister # 31
www.blueskyjeannie.blogspot.com
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2009 : 03:03:02 AM
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Hey, Jen! Oh my gosh, your girls are so adorable. I love that photo of them in MaryJane's Outpost book where they are sitting in front of the lean-to with tea and cookies spread out before them. They look so proud and their little faces are so angelic. You know, it must be that blond, curly hair because your son looks like a little cherub in the carrier on your back, too. It is going to sound like I am fixated on hair, I guess I must be, because yours looks so gorgeous and shiny and healthy. I am thinking that I am going to have to try some of that bar shampoo! (BTW, I am ordering your book. I can't wait to read about the woman who had to land a helicopter in an alligator infested swamp!)
Hey, Karin! I have many vivid memories of the special things that my parents did with us when we were growing up but very few photographs. That is why I take so many photos now. It helps me savor the good times! Oakley has commented more than once about how much she enjoyed that night. We can't wait to do it again!
Hey, Shirley Jean! Thanks about the clothes! I am on the lookout for more eyelet shirts and skirts that resemble prairie underthings since Oakley has pretty much grown out of hers. I had to dig those clothes out of the Goodwill bag that I was about to donate!
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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C.W.
True Blue Farmgirl
101 Posts
Chelsea
Prosser
WA
USA
101 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2009 : 10:03:12 AM
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Nikki, that is so cool!!! Beautiful pictures! I loved monster at the end of this book! My dad use to read it and act like the pages were really stuck by holding them with his thumb. He would also be really conserned an insist we should put the book down for our own safety.
Thank you so much for sharing |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2009 : 11:11:24 AM
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Chelsea, HOW CUTE about your dad! Parents who read to their kids are the BEST! Do you still have that book? We consider it to be an absolute classic. Ha! I found our copy at the thrift store and couldn't believe that someone actually parted with it. I was holding it and thinking, "This is gold, baby. Pure gold!"
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2009 : 4:48:55 PM
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Those photos are great! When I read "sleeping outside" I figured it would be like my forays to my front porch. But you ladies are stylin!
I've always liked sleeping outdoors. In the summer, sometimes I just drag my sleeping bag to the front porch. I need a hammock or something though. That concrete porch is hard!
Once when I came back from a summer experience outdoors for 3 months...I just couldn't get used to sleeping in the house. I felt so trapped. I moved to a couch in the boat house. A while later, I heard what I thought were kids across the lake but then it became more clear to me that someone was out on the lake and in trouble. This was late Sept/early Oct and a tad chilly. I ran in the house for my friend and we got the pontoon boat out on the water. It was really late and dark. We found a girl in a canoe well off shore. She had swamped her canoe and then had been calling for help. She was hypothermic and had fainted so I jumped in to get her. (stupid me...in sweats) I got to her and managed to keep her head out of the water till my friend came and we got her into the boat... By that time another neighbor was out in his pontoon and we transferred her to that one (faster) and got her to shore and an ambulance. We got that canoe back finally. I had shimmied out of my sweat pants to avoid sinking at some point, and boy was I COLD! -- If I hadn't been sleeping outside, no one would have ever found her till the next day. She may very well have drowned or died from hypothermia. -- Never underestimate a nice quiet night under the stars outside! You never know what can happen.... |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2009 : 7:28:07 PM
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Oh, wow, StarMeadow! I just read a pamphlet about hypothermia and I didn't realize how fast things could go from bad to dead. It is amazing that you happened to be out there to save that girl. God was watching over y'all! That story reminds me of the football players who were recently lost on a fishing trip. So sad. You never expect something awful like that to happen. I couldn't understand why they didn't just hang onto the boat and wait for help to arrive until I read about hypothermia. You are a real hero!
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - May 26 2009 : 11:00:10 AM
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Nikki, I just came across this post of yours and absolutely, positively love, love, love everything about it! Oh, how I wish I'd thought to do something like that with La at that age! Beautiful, gorgeous pictures! Precious, precious memories!
We, too, enjoyed the monster at the end of the book!
~~Cherry~~
http://cherrymedarlin.blogspot.com
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - May 26 2009 : 5:33:28 PM
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Thank you! We had a super, duper fun time! But, oh, Cherry! You and La can still sleep outside! I bet you have lots of awesome places to camp out on your mountain! You could even read "The Monster at the End of This Book". She'll never be too old for that one. I know that I'm not! HA!
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - May 26 2009 : 9:52:42 PM
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When you wrote "camp out on your mountain" I immediately thought of the first time Brian and I actually spent the night up here. It was right after we bought the property and before he'd done any clearing. His forever-friend and his girlfriend and Brian and I decided to camp out one night. If you can imagine our property, from the road, you go up a hill to a flat-spot (where we built our house), then it runs back down into a hollow and up the other side to the next ridge. There's a creek that runs through the hollow. Now picture a baseball diamond, and our house would sit on the pitcher's mound and the creek would run from 1st to 3rd base. It would not do for Brian and his bud, Glenn, except for us to camp at that creek! We had to get to it with machetes! We got down there in the afternoon and set-up camp. Had us a nice fire going, roasted some hotdogs, drank some beer and before you knew it, it was dark. Then Kelli and I were faced with the prospect of needing to go pee. The boys told us that they'd forgot to pack flashlights. Um-hum.... What to do? What to do?! In the pitch-black, can't-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face-10'-from-the-fire DARK!! We were tittering over this when Glenn announced that, oh, yeah, he'd brought something just for that very thing for us! He'd brought us those snap-and-shake glow sticks! Can you imagine? Those silly things didn't illuminate anything further than three inches out! Kelli and I snapped and shook, draped them around our necks, then headed out to find an appropriate tree. (Always, always locate your pee-tree before the sun goes down!) And of course, Brian and Glenn suddenly had absolutely nothing to talk about while the crickets and katydids sang along, which wasn't near enough to mask the sound of taking care of your business! I could see Kelli's little glow stick bobbing around at the appropriate height, then saw it suddenly drop down. I found my spot and dropped down myself. And of course you want to keep your backside away from the light of the fire. Well, as it turns out, those stupid little glow sticks illuminated just enough, thank you very much, in that squatting position that a person 100' out could see just what you were about. All of a sudden this loud male laughter joined the crickets and katydids. It was ONE of the most humiliating moments of my life! Why, oh why, do men have it so much easier when it comes to that kind of thing?
The closest I can get her to camp out now is to lay on the deck with me ever so often and look for constellations. Then before you know, she's having technology withdrawals and absolutely must get back to either her cell or laptop! One day, though, I know she'll understand why I beg her to do at least that with me and then she'll be begging her own baby!
~~Cherry~~
http://cherrymedarlin.blogspot.com
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - May 27 2009 : 04:39:10 AM
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Oh, funny! They really set y'all up, didn't they! No, it isn't fair that they have it so easy in the urinating department!
Having to pee outside used to be one of my greatest fears about going into the wilderness. I was so afraid that I would end up with it all over me. But I've had a lot of practice in the past few years! I don't know if I could manage as well in the pitch black dark, though!
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - May 27 2009 : 07:24:28 AM
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Do ya'll not have the pee cup yet? It looks like it's something I would use. Very handy to have out there and you can stand up and not have to pull your pants down. Just like the men folks! I think you can just google pee cup or diva cup. They also have reusable menstual cups. I don't think I could go there, but the pee cup I would definitely use.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - May 27 2009 : 08:42:40 AM
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Hey, Kris! I saw the diva cup at the back of MaryJanesFarm magazine and I had just recently seen it when I was looking at REI. That sounds like an awesome device. I've talked to several girls about it and read reviews of it and opinions and experiences have been mixed. I know that I am going to get one before I go dove hunting next year because I do suffer on that day when there is no where to go without being seen, especially if you have to pull your pants all the way down. The other way I can just turn away from everyone, slip that little thing in and pee like a man. Oh, THE FREEDOM!
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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Bellepepper
True Blue Farmgirl
1207 Posts
Belle
Coffeyville
KS
USA
1207 Posts |
Posted - May 27 2009 : 09:10:15 AM
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| Cherry, Ole Ron and I did the same thing when we bought our place 39 years ago. We had a station wagon and he and I and the 3 kids would come out here and cook supper and spend the night. Funny, don't remember where we peed. I do know that I didn't squat very low. Did that once when I was a kid. We always played in the woods. So when it was time to "go", we went behind a tree. I made the mistake of picking the tree with the poison Ivy around it. Won't do that again. |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - May 27 2009 : 2:39:42 PM
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And kids are the worst for getting it all over them. I have to make the grandkids take everything off. And of course as soon as we get somewhere where there is no bathroom ( and there usually isn't a bathroom) they have to go. Never fails. Even after they all use the bathroom before leaving. Well, I do, too. So I don't go too far away from a bathroom. So I think those little devices would be a great thing to carry along on a camping trip or a hike. I hope you get one, Nikki.
I know about the poison ivy. And ants. Ouch!
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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kpaints
True Blue Farmgirl
1564 Posts
karen
cheney
wa
1564 Posts |
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Outpost: Sleeping Outside |
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Sleeping Outside
