Merry Christmas to All My Blog Buddies!!!

We'll be Christmasing for the next few days at least, but I wanted to check in and wish you all a wonderful season of home, family, friends, giving, peace, joy and love for the Savior as we remember His Holy Birth. God gave us the best gift of all - His precious Son, and this gift was totally free - just because of His great love while we were still sinners!  It's almost too much to comprehend!  Rejoice, Rejoice and praise His Holy Name!!!  Sending my love and best wishes to you all for a spectacular Christmas and a Happy New Year!

And Merry Christmas from Alice, the washing machine cat!!!

And it's a chilly 78 degrees here today!!!

PS - Edited to add - NOPE IT'S 81 DEGREES HERE!!!

Cats, Christmas and Tractor Girl

Guess what I did Saturday afternoon?  You'll never guess.  It won't be that exciting to you, but I had fun.  We had cleared some big piles of old rusted hay rings, old fencing and aluminum gates, etc., hauled all that off to the bulk metal place and gotten our little pile of money.  Then what was left was a jagged, holey and hilly landscape behind the barn - not huge, but unsightly and you couldn't drive on it easily.  So, hubby was manning the burning pile, and me?  Well, ME was manning the tractor and doing some leveling.  Moving dirt from here to there - there's a trick to handling the bucket and I think I've got it!  It's sorta fun!

None of my friends know how to run a tractor and bucket and brush hog and box blade but I do. I'm sure alot of you people do, too, especially those of you that have a farm or ranch. Imagine this - It was 65 degrees and the wind was blowing. The husband was cleaning up and piling up stuff for the burning pile (and there was alot of stuff), loading metal onto the big trailer, and here I am in my capris and flip-flops and a cap driving the tractor around dragging the bucket across big mounds of dirt to level it, picking up big loads of dirt and dropping it in the gulleys. Husband said I did a good job. Sorry I don't have a picture.

Guess I'm a farm girl now - cuz I can man the tractor  AND  I can operate that tractor in capris and flip-flops! Now how's that!  Actually, I think probably some of my friends and family think I've absolutely lost my mind, but that's okay - I'm doing exactly what I've wanted to do since I was a small kid. I'm still plotting when I'm gonna get my chickens.  I'm determined to have chickens in the spring. I'm gonna get my dad and me and him are going to get my coop built. I think I've about worn the husband down into letting me get some.

Went to the Farm/Ranch/Feed store Saturday, too, to pick up some more gopher traps. It was customer appreciation day, and Joe Bob had cooked two huge cauldrons of beef stew! Hot and mild - with big man-sized chunks of beef and vegetables, and a good seasoned broth with jalapenos and a touch of chili pepper.  MMMMMAAAAAANNNNN!  I think Joe Bob makes the best stew I've ever eaten!  I ate two bowls full! With crackers and cookies and soft drinks!  I love customer appreciation day at the Feed Store! And Joe Bob's stew!

Wanna see sumpin' purdy?

My roses are popping! They look great right now.  Thought you folks in the blizzard zone might like to see some flowers right about now...  It's just now starting to get cold. We've had only a couple of freezing nights or just below and the flowers are still thriving.  Here's another...

The window box is full of petunias.  The flower beds could use some attention, and the yard actually needs mowing one more time before real winter sets in.  Cain't even see the edge of the bed right now! The dadgum clover junk starts growing when it gets cool and tries to take over.  Gotta squash that quick!

I've done a good raking once already, but will have to do it again. The catawba trees are dropping their foot long bean pods and they ARE messy.  And they'll keep adroppin' 'em til spring.

Not much Christmasing going on yet.  We are having some renovations done at our house and so it puts a damper on trying to decorate - we're getting a new roof and gutters due to hail damage.  We had the outside painted, and next is the inside... May be putting the tree up on Christmas eve!!!

New topic - I'm looking for a new home for my kitty, Alice.  I've tried every way I can think of to keep her. She's having to stay in the house all the time now due to Jasper.  He beats her up if she steps one little toe out of the door.  He's been neutered, and Alice spayed, but we think he's just being territorial and agressive towards her.  He beats her up and he's so mean to her.  Otherwise, he is the sweetest and nicest cat you'd ever meet.  The other reason is that my allergies to Alice are making me sick.  I thought I was gonna have two nice outside cats, but I can't let her out or...

THIS is where she stays!  Up on the roof!  And in this weather, I just can't let her up there.  Jasper can't follow her up the big oak tree - he's too heavy, but he CAN get on the roof and chase her.  I'm scared she's gonna fall off.  AND she's not being a mouser/gopherer.  Jasper catches mice and gophers all the time! He's such a great farm cat - and HE is what I was looking for.  He eats his kills - all except the heads - he leaves them around for us to find them.  Ugh.  I've contacted family and friends and hopefully I'll be able to find a good home for Alice.

Hope your holiday busy-ness is fun and Christmasy and cozy! I appreciate you all more than you know!

A Christmas Meme

A meme found at *Chocolatechic's:*  I'm joining in the fun - found this meme at Vee's place.  Should be fun to see what everyone's answers will be!  Be sure and go by their places and see their answers, too!

articlesbase.com

1. Hot Chocolate or apple cider?
        Apple Cider!
2. Turkey or Ham?
        Greenberg's Hickory Smoked Turkey  (and ham, too)
3. Do you get a fake or real-you-cut-it-yourself Christmas tree?
         We go back and forth actually...
4. Decorations on the outside of your house?
          You Bet!  Lights, vintage sled, ribbon - we have to, we never have Christmas snow!
5. Snowball fights or sleddin’?
           Snowball fights IF we had snow...  altho sleddin' would be so fun, too!
6. Do you enjoy going downtown shopping?
           Sorry, not much - unless I can get the family to go and we all just hang out, walk around & window shop and piddle during the  holidays & stop for coffee and dessert or something! Sometimes we go and look at Christmas lights together!          
7. Favorite Christmas song?
           "O Holy Night" - strikes absolute AWE in me and makes me weep  at the miracle of Jesus' birth and His holiness come down to man....  I can't even come up with a worth description of the image in my head. I only want to fall down before Him.  I'm utterly speechless....
8. How do you feel about Christmas movies?
            Mostly they're silly, except for the classics like "It's a Wonderful Life", the Bing movies, altho I do love both versions of "Miracle on 34th Street",
9. When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music?
             Wait til after Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving has it's own special blessings to be enjoyed - don't rush through it.
10. Stockings before or after presents?
             After - that's when all the goodies and gags send us into fits of laughter!
11. Go to someone else’s house or they come to you?
             Go to mom & dad's house (same town) until they're ready to let somebody else host it!
12. Do you read the Christmas Story? If so when?
             Christmas Eve - by candlelight and twinkle lights
13. What do you do after presents and dinner?
              Sack out on the couches, watch Christmas movies, reminisce with loved ones, visit friends, call loved ones that couldn't come that year.  Have another dessert!
14. What is your favorite holiday smell?
               Pies cooking, leaves and wood burning, the fresh cut evergreens, spice candles, my mama's perfume...
15. Ice skating or walking around the mall?
              Would rather be ice skating, but we have no ice and no skating rink...  ;(
16. Do you open a present or presents on Christmas Eve, or wait until Christmas day?
               Christmas day!  Maybe just oonnnnneeee little bitty one Christmas Eve! Just cuz we can't stand it!
17. Favorite Christmas memory?
               From my childhood - the year I got my new 'big-girl' bike!  More recently - My first Christmas with my new husband (we didn't have any money and we gave each other one small gift) and the early years of my babies' faces on Christmas morning!
18. Favorite Part about winter?
               Snuggling in and being with family & friends in a warm cozy house, having all my kids home
19. Ever been kissed under mistletoe?
               Of course, haven't you???

(It's an easy copy and paste.)  Be sure and let ChocolateChic and Vee know you participated!  And me, too! I wanna see your answers, too!  Have fun!!!

Life on a Southern Farm's Giveaway!!!

Hey, people - quick post here til tomorrow maybe.  Just wanted to let you chicken people know about Georgia Farm Woman Pam's giveaway on her blog, Life on a Southern Farm.  Her husband makes the most fabulous chicken nesting boxes I've ever seen and she's giving away one of 'em for free!  Cluck on over there and check 'em out!  She has a very cool blog, too, by the way.  And you really should do some reading over at her place - they have the neatest farm and some very cute critters!  OH, AND TELL HER I SENT YOU!

Walk in the Woods...

Like to take a little walk with me?  I  usually walk around the farm through the woods for exercise most days when the weather is nice.  The trees are just about peak right now in color altho the leaves are falling fast and the wind is blowing.  Just grab a little jacket and come along with me on my walk...

Not sure what kind of tree this is along the fence line but it always turns this brilliant orange color. Let's turn along the woodline now. Okay?

I love how the leaves are strewn across our path...Look at the colors...  I wonder what's just around that bend in the path up there???

Up a little hill we must go.  Are you out of breath yet?  Let's keep going!

Oh lookie here!  Here's the turtle pond!  The pond is down - it's been so hot and dry this summer and we haven't caught up on our rainfall this year yet... Keep an eye out along the bank for snakes!

There's some kind of marker there on that tree - this must be the way!  Thank goodness!  I sure don't wanna get lost in the woods!

Deer antlers on this tree!  Wow.  Do you think maybe the Indians that used to inhabit this area put them there for some kind of marker???  Maybe!

The woods smell dark and dank and earthy and moist.  Let's keep going...

Oooo - I don't guess these are edible at all but they're kind of interesting-looking, aren't they?

Don't go through this way! There's an old gulch and creek down there over that little ridge.  Might be dangerous, might be snakes!  Sometimes the water's runnin' high!

But it looks like today it's running dry but you can see the water line on the trees.  There are lots of animal tracks in that sand there.

Here's a hickory nut tree that we moved from the deeps woods to this area.  I sure hope it makes it.  It was being swallowed up by all the trees and couldn't get any sun at all.

Looks like we're getting to end of our walk and we gotta kinda go around this big ole sweetgum tree.  It has a big hole in the front here that's sometimes full of water.

Look at this gorgeous, huge Hickory Nut Tree!  We've got several and they turn the most beautiful golden color in the fall!



Who's that there lurking in the woods with his chainsaw!  Hope there's not gonna be any funny business going on with that saw!

And here we are back at the farm house and the barn.  Thanks for going on my walk with me! Come back any time!!!