Memorial Day!

Whatever you do, wherever you are, spending time with your family, working, vacationing...

Remember today especially those men and women who've given ALL for you and me and all of us, who've protected us, who've defended our borders and tried to help make our world safe.  Thank you is just not adequate.  But thank you anyway...

MEMORIAL DAY

I'm Still Alive Here at Sand Flat Farm!

Ummmm, okay ..... let's see, where were we?  .......

Oh yes, before I get any further, let me share this lovely giveaway with you from Christy at Artisan Farmstead Living!  She's having a giveaway of a lb. of her luscious laundry soap that she makes herself with goat milk soap and I'm REALLLLLY hoping to win!  If not, guess I'll have to buy some...  Pop over there and see her neat blog where she makes all things homestead-style!  Tell her I sent you!  I just found her today doing some blog-hopping!

Thanksgiving?  Check!  Had a great time with all the family? Check!  Ate WAY too much?  Check!  Talked to our Kiwi Kids?  Check!  Did some skyping, too!  Made plans for Christmas holidays?  Check!  Family agreed to draw names for gifts?  Check!  Been trying to get everybody to agree on that for years!  Did some target practice with the kids?  Check!  Even my mama got in on that!  Pictures to follow...

And my mama is serious - don't mess with mama! My brother is lookin' on and Daddy is coverin' up his ears...

My brother discussing the merits of his arsenal...

Anybody around my area need a purty calico kitty?  Lucy is staying with us until I find her another home.  She belonged to Josh and Lindsey, and since they couldn't take her to NZ, I'm looking for a new home.  I already have a sinus infection and severe allergies due to her being at my house.  She's always been an inside cat, so I hate to just put her outside.  She'd freak.  It's taken her two weeks to settle down and feel comfortable here.  She's already spayed and had shots.  Got any takers?  She's free to a good home!  WITH all her stuff!  I'll even bring her to you if don't live too far away! 

Thought I'd show you a fine specimen of canine-ity - our farmdog, Gypsy, is surveying the grounds (actually she is sitting on top of the berm that the boys shoved up with the tractor to use as a backdrop to shoot against).  Little did Gypsy know that soon,  gunfire would commence and she'd be hightailin' it back to the barn...  But I'll swan! - lawsy-mercy... she  did look mighty fine settin' up there for a few short minutes...

She's turning out to be a great dog so far - she's been here about a month now.  She's very smart - I can show her how to do something once or twice and she's got it!  We're thinking mostly Aussie with some border collie in her, too, for good measure.  She loves to play with the young tan outside cat - he who hath no name yet.  Young Tan Outside Cat, herein after referred to as YTOC either is stupid and has no escape skills, or he truly likes being played with by Gyp.  I've seen several times Gyp carrying him around the yard like a ragdoll and she traps him with her front paws.  I thought that she might bite him too hard, but I guess she's being very careful and hopefully has a very soft mouth.  He seems healthy and active and playful, and I let him in ONLY to eat so Gyp won't bug him. He comes in, eats, and then warts the tar out of Lucy. They fight and squall and chase each other all over the house.   I sure hope he makes it.  YTOC's been here two months and is getting big.  I don't know why he doesn't just take a whack at Gypsy's nose with his paw and set her straight...  I told him to many times, but as of yet, he hasn't done anything about it.

And Gypsy loves me.  I'm her person.  Makes me feel good.  She whines for me to hold her and pet her and scratch her.  She just wants me to love on her.  And I do.  What is it about dogs that we love them and they love us so unconditionally?  Why does their love make us feel so good?  Where is this post going?

Hope to get my Christmas tree up this week.  I have no earthly idea as to the whereabouts of my Christmas decorations.  I sold a bunch of them that were getting dog-eared when we moved, threw another bunch away and packed up the rest, and I don't know where it is.  Good excuse to get a few new things, eh? Only thing is, with one cat and sometimes two in the house, how in tarnation am I going to keep my Christmas tree and decorations intact?  Can you tell me that?  I think this year I'm going to go down to the woods and cut some evergreen limbs and such and do some natural decorating. I'm still thinking on that wreath that Vee did that I love SO much - the square one. So simple, yet so natural and I just LOVE natural!

Anyway, I'm really tightening my purse strings this year and am looking to find ways to decorate on the cheap, and natural elements are to be had everywhere.

We've covered lotsa territory this evenin', so I guess I'm outa here til next time.  Will try to post more often - Holidays are so busy!

Keep yore dress down!

Thanksgiving 2010 at Momma's House

Ok, let's just admit it. I did BAD on posting my thanksgivings every day.  I had high hopes, but life was just too busy.  Oh, I have counted them and recounted them in my head, but they never made it to cyberspace. I'll try again next year.  We DID have a fabulous Thanksgiving. My brother drove here all the way from North Carolina - alone - his MIL is in bad health, and my brother's wife had to stay home and care for her. My sister came with her family, and all my kids were here. We had Thanksgiving at my folk's house.  As long as Mom wants to do it, that's what we'll do. Of course we all help her out with the food, etc., but the big get-togethers are at her house.

I have a few pics I'll show you...

above

My niece Jaci, me, Hayley, mom, my sis Lisa, and niece Taylor...

My sister Lisa, Me, and Mom

My oldest, Adam, and Dan, my brother.

 This is my brother, Dan!  He drove down to Texas straight thru so he could be with us!  I miss him so much!

Hayley and her Mema ...(My mom & dad always have invited Tony's folks over...)

Around the table, dad, mom, Lisa, Jaci, Tony, Adam (Taylor's boyfriend hiding), Taylor and her Dad & my BIL Wayne (Lisa's husband)

My Adam, Mema (Tony's mom), Tony and Hayley

Daddy attacking that Ham!  He had already done the turkey by the time I got my camera out.

 Hayley made the coconut pie this year - we burned one crust (cuz I wasn't watching it...) Grreat pie, honey!

Chickenfoot, anyone???  We had a tournament - I did win, once! That's all!  And you see my glass of tea sitting there?  Welp, I gave it a good wallop and sent it flying all over the table and my Mom!  Now, we would have all reckoned that it'd be my sister that would do that, but this time, it was ME!  Lisa, if you're reading, I love you, you graceful gazelle!!!  tee-hee!

And lastly, but certainly not leastly - Josh and Bug.

We had so much fun!  I can't wait for Christmas now - but I really think Thanksgiving and Christmas should be about 6 months apart so we can rest up in between holiday times!!!  Hope YOURS was a great as mine!  See you soon!

Keep your dress down!

Sam is Missing....

With a heavy heart, I am sad to report that Sam, one of our farm cats, has gone missing.  He was there Thursday, and Friday, we could find not a trace of him.  Don't know what happened. 

We have two kitties with very distinct personalities.  Alice is cautious, flighty at loud noises and runs at the sight of a new person or animal.  She's always on guard.  Sam, on the other hand, is very laid back almost to the point of appearing to be lazy.  He loves new people, is curious about new animals, lolls about in the yard and on the porch, and runs to the front gate when he sees people approaching.  They are both almost grown...

I'm trying to believe that perhaps Sam decided to follow one of the  "walkers" that stroll by our place at any given time of day.  I'd like to think he decided to take up with somebody like that.  Perhaps someone decided they needed this friendly kitty at their house and let him come with them.  Perhaps he decided to go hunt for a girlfriend (he was scheduled to be 'fixed' in a couple of weeks) but I don't know why since he's got lovely Alice right there with him.

I don't wanna think the worst.  I refuse to think the worst.  So, what do I do?  Take a chance and get me another kitty to keep Alice company?  I'd like to, but at the same time, we'd already had all their shots and vet visits and all that was left was the neutering.  It does get expensive.  I really need another skittish kitty like Alice. My Mamaw's barn cats were almost feral.  Of course, you couldn't catch them for any kind of health care and there were always kittens, but they kind of fended for themselves and did their own hunting even tho Mamaw threw out scraps for them every day..  I did not want to get too attached to my cats cuz I knew that living on the farm can be perilous at times for the animals.  But I guess it's almost impossible NOT to get somewhat attached.

On a lighter note, my future daughter in law, Lindsey, and her mom and Josh invited me to go with them Friday evening and all day Saturday to look at possible wedding venues.  They want an outdoor wedding and we looked at four different settings in our area.  A ranch wedding, a lakeside wedding, a beautiful estate wedding and a wedding at an Arabian horse farm.  All very different, all beautiful.  I'm curious to see what they will choose.  They have a couple more they are going to look at, but they need to decide probably THIS week what they'll do.  Dates are filling up fast!  Lindsey and Josh are wanting their fairy tale wedding!  I know it'll be wonderful!



I was SO touched that they invited me.  Usually, the wedding is mostly planned by the bride and her mother.  But Lindsey and her mom want me to be involved in the process - I think that is so special!  Her mother is an absolute jewel and I know from whom Lindsey gets her sweet nature.  This photo of the "kids" was taken after Josh had taken Lindsey fishing. He proposed on the lake after they got through fishing. Lindsey was wanting to go cuz she'd never been before!  It was sweet, and my family and Lindsey's family were all at the farm to greet them after the big event for their party!  (they DID catch some fish, too!)

Well, I gotta get busy here at work.  I'm sorry I'm not able to post more right now.  It's been SO hectic with the ... well.... you know.... you're all busy, too.  I think we have something going nearly every single weekend this fall - ALREADY - My calendar is FULL!  It's that time of year, and the holidays will be here before we know it.  Oh PLEEEEAAAZZZEEE, can we skip Christmas this year??????  I just want Autumn and Thanksgiving to last and last!  I love Thanksgiving!  Autumn kinda gets skipped over here in Texas cuz it's so blasted HOT til right before Thanksgiving. I want a looooooonnnnngggg  Autumn this year! Christmas is too much pressure - it all falls on ME.  Whine, whine, whine!!!  And we still are having near record high temps in the mid-90's and TOMORROW'S THE FIRST DAY OF FALL, FOR PETE'S SAKE!

source - (http://dclips.fundraw.com/pngmax/ciuccio.png)

Ya'll have a great week, 'n Keep your dress down!

He Thinks His Tractor's Sexy!

Handsome Hubby got himself a new toy!

Finally did it this weekend on Saturday.  He's been wantin' one for two years now and finally decided to take the leap and bite the bullet.  We needed it here on the farm.  Ya just gotta have a tractor if you got land.  There's always so much mowing/ shredding, movin' dirt, leveling, and stuff that a farmer/rancher's gotta get done.  We all got to drive it.  It's not a huge tractor.  When/if  Tony takes over the hay production one of these old days, he'll have to get bigger equipment but this'n 'll do just fine for now.

Princess and her dad were doing some cleaning up around the barn area and some burning.  She's mastered that "flipping the bucket" up full of dirt.  Takes some coordination to the the "flip" just right and not lose all your dirt...

Daddy had his turn - I think he was more excited about the getting the tractor than Tony!  He did some mowing and grating... stayed over at our place ALL DAY... 

Mom of course had to have her picture made looking all farmer's wife-y... very cute, mom!

And last but not least,  me , myself, and I  --- I did drive it around and piddle a bit with it....

A good July 4th holiday was had by all.  We stayed out at the farm all weekend, and ate way too much. I don't have internet out there, so no July 4th post.  But you can bet that we were thinking about all that it meant.   And we're out in the country, so there were fireworks going off all around us - we didn't have to buy - just sat outside and enjoyed....

I was in the house watching the (Macy's) fireworks display at some point and the great music numbers on TV.  It would be so neat to be there on the Hudson River for a display like that and hear all the old patriotic songs and sing along.  My heart swelled with pride just listening on TV.  At the end, when they played the Star-Spangled Banner I did have to stand up and put my hand over my heart and sing this moving song with the band & the rest of the nation.  It still brings a tear to my eye...  We flew our flag...

We cooked out a couple of times, spent special times with family members and beloved friends, ate WAY too much.  I finished canning a dozen jars of peach preserves - YUM.  Also, put up another dozen pints of hot sauce... did some yard work, went to church, and we just had a wonderful 3 day weekend all the way around.

An aside... you see how low my flag is to the ground?  Well, Sam and Alice have noticed.  They love to run and jump up and hang on the flag with their little toenails!  They think it's great fun when they're out wrestling in the front yard and attacking each other to include my nice flag in their antics.  They look like little mini-Tarzans as they go leaping through the air and swinging around on my flag.  Note to self:  PUT FLAG AWAY TIL NEXT HOLIDAY...

We move Princess back to school this weekend... if...
                                                                                       if...
                                                                                                  if...

IF we can git her off the tractor!!!  There she goes again!  Mowing the fence rows!  Princess, wait! Come back!  You have to go back to college!!!!

We Serve A Risen Saviour!!!

Happy Easter Sunday to you all. I hope that you are all celebrating the resurrection of Christ our Saviour, and spending time with loved ones today.

Keep us in your prayers - we went to my mother-in-law's this morning to get her ready for Easter Sunday services, and we found her on the floor in her room.  She had fallen and broken her hip.  We had to cancel all plans for Easter with the family and kids and call an ambulance to take her to the hospital.  Xrays confirmed a broken hip, and she will be having surgery later on this evening.  She will then probably go to a rehab facility, and if she heals well, will return to her Alz. care home.  If not, then I guess we'll be looking for a nursing home.  Tough times ahead.  I'm so glad that God is in charge of our lives and that we have a Spirit who intercedes for us when times get hard.  Blessings to you all dear friends...

Perspective for the Holiday Season

If you haven't already been there, you must go to Southern Inspiration and read Suzanne's post on November 12. It's about putting everything in perspective for the season, and not only that, but for every day of our lives.  It's a Gift that you can give yourself.  I get SO overwhelmed at Christmas feeling like that everything's left up to me.  I have way too many things on my list to do.  I plan all sorts of neato things I'd like to accomplish for decor & food and parties and family gatherings.  And while they're all wonderful ideas, I wind up getting myself over-extended and worn out, and sometimes it's almost impossible to enjoy the season and I get frustrated with myself & everybody else cuz they're not helping.  I feel like I let myself and everybody else down because I'm not Martha Stewart and everything's not just perfect.  Suzanne really put into words what I feel each year, AND what we need to do to keep ourselves from getting frazzled and disappointed.  We should keep this mindset ALL YEAR LONG!

I don't want to dread Christmas and the holidays, and I find myself feeling that way nearly every year.  I'm going to try to take her words to heart and pare down if need be. I want to enjoy the holidays, my family and loved ones, and if things are not decorated like the pages in a magazine, so what?  Being together and spending time with the ones you love are the most important things besides celebrating the birth of Christ. Won't you all join me in my endeavor?

photo courtesy - http://www.yowzers.com/thanksmp.jpg