Many Asked If I Got Even...

with my hubby.  No, never did but I keep trying.  Our second night out was on a creepy slough off the river in a boat that leaked.  What made me think this was the man I wanted to marry?

Our other house had many apple trees and we would place rubber snakes in them to scare the birds.  After the crops, we would bring the snakes in for the winter.  Unknown to my husband, he laid his pants on one that night.  The next morning when he picked up his pants, he saw the head of the snake and had a runaway.

He accused me of doing it on purpose...not me.  The next day at work, I was getting something out of my brief case for a woman and surprise, surprise, there was the snake.  The woman was scared.  I just said that is how my husband shows me he loves me.

Well, the battle is on and I can win this one!  I placed it in his boat seat with the seat folded down, you can finish that one.  The snake disappeared but I was not through and I had more snakes.

A black snake had been spotted in the shop around the welding truck.  In fact, hubby popped the hood one day and there laid the big, long, black, real snake.  This caused an idea to blossom within my evil mind.

First I have to say, when hubby is doing mechanic work, sometimes he loses his cool and jerks open the truck door.  When things are normal, he just opens the door.  I had to consider all these scenarios in my plan.

I got me some fishing line (almost invisible) and I tied it on that snake and laid him on the arm rest.  I had to practice by jerking the door open and opening it gently.  I wanted it tied just right.  I finally succeeded in the perfect position.  If he jerked the door open, it would jump and strike at him.  If he opened it gently, the snake would just be on the arm rest.

Then I waited.

Wasn't long 'til we had a lawnmower problem.  He had worked on it until he was steaming.  Had to get the tools out of the truck.  I am washing dishes and laughing as I see him stomp to the welding truck.  I knew this was going to be good!  He was mad so he jerked the door open and the snake jumped at him like a real snake striking....I am rolling by this time,  hidden in the house. 

I think he jumped back three feet and up about two feet.  It was great, worth all the time I had spent.  Great revenge.

I hear my name yelled with other words that I shall not write here and I could barely stand, I was laughing so hard.

When he came to the house, I said, Don't you know you can't win?

All the snakes disappeared until apple time the next year.

The Things I Hope To Do

My resolutions

I shall be myself.

I will love the land and treat her kindly.

I will enjoy each day as if it were my last.

I will surround myself with people I love.

I will vote for someone else next time.

I will place my faith where it belongs.

I will wash fewer dishes and take more walks.

I will ride!

To all my blogger friends, I hope this is the best year ever.  I wish you happiness and health.  I thank you for sharing your life and helping me realize, however it may seem sometimes, that I am not alone...in my thoughts, in my actions, in this life.

Thank you for being there for me and with me.  Thank you for laughing and making me think I wrote something worth reading.  Thank you for giving me courage to post pictures of myself, giving me freedom to speak, and the confidence that I can do any thing.

Happy, happy New Year to you all!!!!!!!!!

I Should Have Known...

When I was dating hubby, he was showing me his stomping grounds which consisted of bluffs, a river, rail roads and bridges and sand. 

We were enjoying a nice walk along the rail road tracks, something I had never been around.  We crossed the train bridge, I was reluctant because my feet were shorter than the distance between the bridge ties.  Hubby had done this all his life and had no trouble with the height, the spaces in the tracks or my fear. 

We talked of train schedules and that trains did not run on Sundays.  He told me horrow stories of trains coming while someone was on the bridge and they had to jump off. 

Now, please remember, I am a gullible seventeen year old.  As we recrossed the bridge, hubby broke into a run and yelled "Train!"  He said run and I am hitting every tie while he is clearing three at a time.  I am terrified and when I finally get off the train bridge and turn to see the train, I see future hubby laughing his ass off!

Quoting the famous Bill Ingvall, "Here's your sign", I married him anyway.  This was just the beginning.

Sunrise Silhouette

And the rush of energy continues!  I can not believe I still have it.  I have vacuumed, done laundry, dishes, sorted through some clothes and put a few Christmas things away.  And this is on top of working away from home! I have even done the floors at work and went grocery shopping.  Do I have some illness????  If so, I hope I suffer from this symptom from now on.

Remember me talking about the dead frige.  I have been working on that empty space.  It is in my work/sewing/art/computer/crafty room.

I like to repurpose things.  I needed a table in that corner barstool height.  Found one in the barn from the fifties.  The legs were detached so...got me thinking.  I also saved some shelves out of the old frige.   So here is the beginning of my new "do something" corner.  To the right is a hanging light I made out of an old pan I found.  The shelves are the frige shelves and the table is from the barn, cabinet height, legless and secured to the wall and the counterline.  Painting not completely done but not bad for a free corner to pile more stuff.

The old table has a rust stain but  I am working on that.  Cabinets above me, cabinets below me.  I am in creative heaven!!!

I Worked...

My walk from Sunday was not just for pleasure. 

I began in the barn...shoveling that wonderful black gold for the garden called horse manure.  I restacked several rolls of Goucho wire.  I never touch Goucho without bleeding but they are all safely stacked to the side instead of in the barn isle where hubby so thoughtfully left them.

I stacked my square bales in a stall because they had been unloaded on top of the Goucho in the dark one night.  Raked the loose hay and fed a bale since the horses had heard me and returned to the barn.

I am on a roll!  Getting some work done!  Who is this lady in my body???  I surely don't know but she is almost like I used to be.

This is before my walk so I do not know where the energy came from but I sure hope it stays.

Squiggy and Seymour are busy at the barn hunting for moles.

Yoda was with me every step of the way.

Gentry, Maggie and Lil enjoyed our outing.

I would say this day was just what the doctor ordered.

I've Discovered My Problem Sunday

I have not been taking my walks of exploration.  I had just returned and although frozen, I felt refreshed and alive.  My life blood must be in the land.  I am always renewed.  I must not forget this again.  So please remind me when I am complaining to take my walk with God in His country.

This is a "dry" creek that carries our run off from the new pond.  Although the pond is forty years old, it was the last one built by Daddy and will forever be called the "new pond".  We do fish in this deep hole and have caught perch that washed into this spot.

The waterfall into the fishing hole and Diamond Lil with her eternal stick.  When she is not working stock, stick is the only word in her vocabulary.

A close up of the same fall where the spray has frozen on the plants.

The branch of the second spring.  We still have green in many spots. The high waters have washed many things out.

My first surprise was a hidden violet, protected by a leaf.

My most wonderful surprise for the day was found along the creek.  Can you see it to the left?  I almost missed it.  The find made my walk complete!

Ice Art By Marcy

Marcy always beats me to the draw, she is out way earlier than I am.  I have missed my Sunday walks so I am bundling up to face the cold air and sunshine.  Hoping I find treasures, I know I will find peace and beauty.

Join me later for the farm through my lens.

The Sunrise

The sun rose beautifully this morning but the air had a chill to it that kept you from swimming.  Ice formed on still water and this person was smart enough not to stay outside.  I did not want to do anything so I pestered my dog.

Yoda, smile for the camera.

Will you leave me alone?  I am trying to sleep!

I Don't Know Why...

this subject came into my head.  A strange one, to say the least.  Maybe it's a sign and I shall talk as if I were a professional but this is taken purely from personal experience.

No longer are we allowed to "punish" the children, every child knows the rules of child welfare and some use it to their advantage.

I was not raised in that time.  When I was a child, there were three things that could happen.  You could get a spanking, a talkin' to, or whuppin'.  Some people may call this a whipping but believe me, it was a whuppin'.

A spanking is the use of hands to leave red finger prints upon the bare legs.  Stings a little but not really the worst that could be had.  This was for minor infractions, such as not asking to be excused from the dinner table, not listening in the store, or forgetting your manners.

A talkin' to was very scary.  There were two kinds of them.  One was a serious talk about how your misbehavior could cause the world to come to an end as you know it.  The second was a much stronger, louder one that left you shaking and crying and wondering if a whuppin' was coming next.

I can think of a few things I did to get a whuppin' but the worst whuppins in our house were brought about by dishonesty.  I was told there was nothing worse than a liar.  Sometimes there is a reason to steal, but NEVER is there a reason the lie.

The instrument for a whuppin' can be anything handy.  A belt, an extension cord, a brush, a keen switch, a wooden spoon, a shoe...ah, the list goes on.  The worse instrument for this was "pick your own".  I have had many trips to the garden to pick out a switch.  This is very difficult and makes you think hard. Crying all the time, trying to find something that would not hurt. I have tried the tiny switches or limbs from the peach tree...they can make you bleed if used properly and they make you dance.  I have retrieved sticks thinking they would not sting as much as a switch but I only did that once. If the stick broke, you had to choose another one.  You did not bleed but you had bruises.

Funny that I do not remember the reasons but I do remember the whuppins. 

One time Mom was looking for me.  I was sitting on the front porch in tears, wondering what I had done now.  Beverly was playing the  piano and knew I was in for a whuppin'.  My legs were shaking, tears were rolling and I waited in dread for Mom to discover me on the porch. Beverly pretended to faint and fell  off the piano bench.  It distracted Mom long enough to forget about me so I didn't get one that time.

Mom always kept a round extension cord by the china cabinet, handy for use.  It was black and at least six feet long, the heavy duty kind.  You considered yourself lucky if she grabbed the plugs because the middle wasn't too bad but the plugs really hurt when that end was used.

I guess I have said all that to say this.  It did not hurt me, it made me think, it molded me into a responsible adult.  It made me know there were consequences to my actions.  It made me excel at every thing I have tried to do, because I felt Mom was there ready to give me a whuppin' if the result did not please her.

It also made me not spank my children, it has made me spoil my grandchildren, it has made me unsatisfied with any end product no matter how good it is and has made me feel that I am never quite good enough.

It has made me strong, flexible, creative, and it has given me a never give up attitude.  Thanks, Mom, for the mixed blessing.

Social Unrest

Sometimes we do act up a little.

We have to reenforce boundries.

We have to test the waters.  It is just natural.

The majority of the time, we just get along.

Other times it is heck around here.  I have turned over a new leaf, and shall tell tall tales I think you may want to hear.  Comments are open so please feel free...

I seem to have created a picture where this is a perfect little place and nothing ever goes wrong.  So wrong...like the day the goat was after Gentry and would not leave her alone.  Princess, hooking those horns sideways when she tries to intimidate something or someone and poor Gentry constantly trying to get away from her.  I would have laughed if I had not felt so sorry for Gen.

Maggie Mae, the house Border Collie and Queen of the pack, just has to look at one of the others and they know to toe that line.  Lil has to shake someone every now and then.  No damage but I guess she is second in charge.  We do try to avoid these but sometimes shit happens and life is not so rosy At The Farm.

This Was Our White Christmas

Just a dusting of snow

Just enough to see

Covering the logs lightly

More than enough for me!

Christmas Eve...

And the rains came

and I was glad it wasn't snow.

The Christmas Spirit, a loving giving spirit, should be in us all the year. 

Thanks for reading my words,

thanks for laughing with me,

picking up my spirits,

and giving me your support in every thing I do.

I sometime forget to thank you,

each and every one of you,

you are now part of who I am.

Merry Christmas!

How Many Cats...

Fit in a basket?

Depends on the size of the cats and the basket.

May your holiday be filled with joy.

May you be surrounded by those you love.

May be the spirit of giving follow you through the year.

Merry Christmas from all of us AT THE FARM.

God bless you everyone!

My Horoscope...Is Rick Trying To Tell Me Something??

Scorpio By Rick Levine
"Your creative process is anything but normal now. Your usual ways of expressing yourself don't bring the desired results. A lack of productivity might trigger feelings of frustration or angst, which just adds to your malaise. Instead of doing things the same way as before, try a radical new approach. Keep in mind that it's not business-as-usual any longer, so thinking outside of the box is essential today."

Disclaimer:  I use this completely for entertainment, I do believe nor disbelieve it.

It is strange how it hits the nail on the head, but I supposed one, sooner or later, will do that. 

I agree my "creative process is anything but normal now".  I feel about as creative as a rock.

My "usual ways of expressing myself" are darned sure not working!  I may try screaming but I don't think that is ever a good way to express one's self.

"A lack of productivity might trigger feelings of frustration or angst"(Excuse me, but no shit!  What the heck is angst...have to look that up and malaise).  I don't know about you but this is my normal lack of productivity this time of year.  I bog down in my job and take it home.  And, no, if you mail something tomorrow, it will not get there by Christmas!

"Think outside the box", how many times have we heard this in relationship to everything under the sun?  I shall think "outside the box" because I have no presents wrapped, therefore no boxes.  I shall think "outside the box" because I am about to break down the walls of my box.  I shall think "outside the box" because this boxed-in lady is about worn out and I DON"T HAVE THE CHRISTMAS TREE UP!

HELLLLLPPP!

Merry Christmas!

Enemies

They don't see the difference.

They don't know the friendship they show is not "natural".

We won't tell them and maybe the world will catch on.

Happy Day to everyone!

Foggy Sunrise And The Winners!

You thought I forgot because it is late in the day, I did not.  I am just running late, miles to go before I sleep.

Here is the hat with all the wonderful names of people who entered this giveaway.

Winner of the first set, drum roll please is

Greener Pastures A City Girl Goes Country

The second winner is, drum roll again, is

The Empty Nester

I had so much fun listing these I decided to let hubby draw another name.  He did not cheat because he cannot see without his glasses.

The winner of the unplanned third set, just because I can break my own rules and change it from two winners to three winners, is....

Spring Lake Farm

and once again,

I change the rules,

maybe it is the spirit of Christmas...

A Knitting Nurse

and because I like odd numbers...

Cow Patty Surprise

Congratulations to y'all,  Email me and I shall ship your cards.  Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!

Have You Ever Lost A Pet...

Not to death but just misplaced it?  Now this could indicate I have a little stress to deal with here.

Cleaning the inside of the frige AGAIN.  Taking things out to the compost, feeding the chickens, carrying dishes back to wash. 

Somewhere during this, I have misplaced Yoda. Remember, he was foster dog #2 that I could not live without.  Usually he is with me every step of the way.  I asked hubby, seen Yoda.  No, I was just playing with him and Gen, he was right here.

So I begin the search, every room, feeling all the unmade beds to see if he crawled under the covers, I even checked the dish washer that was operating.  What can I be thinking, that I would put a dog in the dishwasher and not notice?  I even said a prayer as I unlocked the dishwasher that Yoda was okay.  He wasn't in there!

I am calling and hubby is looking.  I confess and said I looked in the dishwasher and he confessed to checking the refrigerator.  He knows me well!

I started to retrace my steps, those I could remember, I went outside but Yoda did not go...or did he?

Stupid dog!  Stupid me! Outside all the time, enjoying the compost pile.  Why didn't I look there first?

Merry Christmas...

Is my spirit showing?

I have unintentionally hid my true self for many posts.  For that I apologize I seem to be posting mechanically with no thought of real writing, just commentary on pictures.  That is over, watch out!  Last Horse Standing made me realize the old and true saying, write what you know.  So I shall and hope you welcome me back.

Ripples on a pond...that is what I've been dealing with today.  It started with the death of one refrigerator.

We do not live in a mansion.  It is Mom and Dad's old farmhouse added onto "the lodge".  Lots of square footage and lots of problems.  We lived in the lodge when we first moved here and then added it onto the main house.  Anyway, I said all that to say this; we had one fridge in the lodge and one in the main house kitchen.  The one in the main died and I saw no reason to buy another.  Simply, that's right, I said SIMPLY, move the old one out and the working one into its place.

This is when the Ripple effect moves in!

We have no dolly to load things so we pushed the old one out the front door and down the steps.  It sat there upside down and naked for all the world to see for two weeks.  I finally told hubby what I wanted for Christmas was to make the old frige disappear.  He did so this Friday.  Best Christmas present I ever had!

Today, while hubby was napping in his recliner, I ask Andrew to assist in moving the working fridge into the kitchen so we don't have to run to the lodge for a cold drink.

First I pulled the fridge away from the wall...now you who clean all the time, I am sure have a spotless under the fridge environment.  Not me, no, never me.  It was not dust bunnies but dust dinosaurs who lurked under and behind my fridge.  Still working on them.  Some of the deceased ones have to be soaked.

So I am cleaning the fridge and reloading everything, cleaning the floor and Pine Sol starts my nose running so much I had to take a break and tell you how the real Gail gets things done.

Back to the Ripple thingy, I have to clean, I have to paint, I have to vacuum where we moved the rugs while pushing the fridge from one part to another.  I have to wash the socks I found under the chair I moved.  I have to wash dishes taken out of the fridge....it goes on and on.

Next time I have a rock to move, I will gently place it in the water where there will be no ripples.

Last Horse Standing

The title has nothing to do with this post, except the horse part, well, and it was standing.  I just like the way the line sounded.

Broken Arrow shows the reason for his name in this shot.

Time to go to Trainer Sam's where she can work her magic.  We started almost too late in the afternoon, because unlike our Magic Man, Arrow was not interested in loading.  He was interested in nothing but Mama.

Sam tried food, loving, leading but Arrow was not going in that trailer.  She ground worked him, led in in the field, still no prize.

If you remember, Arrow is the son of Knot and Charme, an Arabian and a Haflinger.  He is beautiful but just a tad stubborn.

Sam thought maybe if Mom loads, son will load.  Well Mom loaded and that is as far as that went.  Then tying them together to load was an idea, still no luck.

The sun was setting so we had to rely on the old standby, chute loading.  It worked.  As the sun dipped below the horizon, the trailer drove out of sight.

Soon I will have four horses trained to be ridden and I am not trained to ride.  I have ordered "Riding Horses For Dummies", hope that will help.

Frozen Drops

Change the light and it's a different picture.

Wouldn't it be simple if changing our light could change our life?

It could be a different picture.

Things Are Cold

But we are very lucky.  We do not have feet of snow or lots of rain.  The ice has formed on the water garden.  The animals come through to drink and I must remember to break the ice.  They are spoiled to the water garden since I made them a path to the water.

The fires are going and they feel good.

My latest foster dog is doing well.  Here Gentry is looking for the laser light that she chases.  Gen sits and is house trained and leash trained.  We have an application...hoping Gen gets a forever home soon.

Promises

The sky promised snow today but the clouds cleared.  We had a beautiful day.  People were out in force although this past Monday was supposed to be our busiest day.  They keep coming!

This was my table by midmorning.

I promise they will all by there by Christmas.