This 'N That...

Oh JOY!  We've been having scattered showers for the last few days, and let me tell you - right here near the middle of July, it's been WONDERFUL!!!  Thank you, Lord!  After last year's drought conditions and 100+ temps for 2 months, it's been such a blessing!  It's been a bit cooler the last few days, too...

I love in the afternoons and evenings to see these big thunderheads building up - they are so beautiful!

The evening sky last night was so pretty after the rain!

This was our sunset!

Boy howdy, are y'all in for a real treat.  Not only do I have a video of my chickens but you get to hear my East Texas accent!  You think Arkansans are bad, just wait til you hear this (sorry, Arkansas)!  We had divested the tomato plants of some horn-worms awhile back and one of my Black Stars had swindled it away from the other chickens...  (besides, everybody else does little videos of their chickens so why can't I?)  Just a little over a minute - that's all, can you stand it for a little over a minute?  I watched this first and though, "eh, it's not so interesting," til I got to nearly the end and heard myself talking.  Then I thought, "WHOA - my peeps might like a good laugh!"

Ooooweeee!  Is that accent bad or what!  I hate to hear myself on audio!  (scratching my foot - fire ant bites...)  Don't these chicks have a nice place to live?  Dad did such a good job on my coop and run!

Josh has missed his chihuahua, Bug!  He loves this little pooch.  Lindsey just shakes her head.  But she's got a kitty-cat, Alice, that she is crazy about so I guess they're even (remember Alice? She used to live here with me...).  Bug was so glad to see Josh, too!  I was really hoping that nothing would happen to her before they got home from New Zealand.  She's about 13 now and is having problems getting around.  

Bug was so excited to see Josh, too!

Well, y'all have a great Thursday - I've got some more tomatoes to process into spaghetti sauce today, and a few more pickles to make before the cucumbers turn to mush.  Take it easy on yourself!  Sending you all a BIG HUG from BUG!

What Should I Name This Post?

WE INTERRUPT THIS BROADCAST TO BRING YOU THE FOLLOWING: 

(caution - not for the faint of heart or those prone to losing the contents of one's stomach... cover your children's eyes...)

If the guys on the movie "The Great Escape" had had a few of these guys, they would've made it out of the stalag with bells on.  This'un here is one of the biggest I've caught yet.  You could almost made a nice size coin purse out of him.... hmmmm....

SHOUT OUT to Kathy at Spot on Cedar Pond - Kathy, I've killed 4 gophers in the last two weeks.  When it rains (as it did a couple of weeks ago) the gophers have to do major renovations and excavations to their burrows.  It's been a long time since our last rain last spring.  It's been a long dry spell for gopher huntin'.

SOOOO,  check on my sidebar for my gopher count.  End of the year we'll tally up and see who wins our contest for this year!  No matter who wins I've got something up  my sleeve to send to Kathy!!!  Thanks Kathy, for joining in this fun game!

My daughter sent me a picture of her and her mutt.  Remi was a rescue from the Animal Shelter and he's been THE BEST DOG she could ask for.  He is so protective of her, he's sweet, and he stands guard over his owner without fail.  Half/Lab and half/birddog.  She lets him sleep on her bed, and I think I don't have to worry about somebody trying to slip in.  He uses his big dog bad bark when he hears something strange outside, but he's not a yapper.

Below is what's left of our pond.  Sad.  It was full up to the rim early this year.  If there were any fishies in it, they've been toast for awhile.  I don't know where all the turtles went.  There were tons of turtles in there.... All the brown you see are dead trees... It's a good thing we didn't have any livestock this year.  We'd be out looking for old bathtubs or stock tanks to pump water to them.

For comparison, here's a photo of what it normally looks like...

That's old Jake out there swimming... may he rest in peace.  My husband bought him a granite headstone to put over Jake's gravesite.  Wasn't that sweet?   He was a great dog...

What's going on in  YOUR neck ' o ' the woods?

Of NOTE

Last night we were so very blessed to receive around an inch of rain, PURE BLISS FROM HEAVEN ABOVE!!!  We knew a little something was brewing for awhile when it started rumbling and we could see some far-off lightening.  What a wonderful thing is RAIN!  Nowhere near our deficit for this year, but it felt so good to even get wet last night after leaving some friends' home and drive home slowly and carefully with the wet stuff  making it hard to see.  Thank you Lord!!!

In other news, Southern Farm is having a give-away - one of their super-duper three hole nest boxes. I'm entering, AGAIN, so I'm letting you all know about it, too!  They have the best-looking nest boxes and since I am officially getting hens in the spring, I think I deserve one, don't you???   ;)   I'm getting serious about wanting to win one of these dudes now.  I'm already making plans for what my coop will be like and what kinds of hens I want.  So, you are officially informed, and you can hop on over and say hi if you want! Their address is    http://georgiafarmwoman.blogspot.com/  . 
Y'all have a good day - and keep your dress down!

We're Finally Home at the FARM!

Taking a break from moving to say hi and check in on all my lovely blog buddies.  I'm trying to cram 2600 sq ft of stuff into a 1200 sqft farmhouse. It's unreal.  I fear that another garage sale is in order here at the farm. I cannot keep all this junk.  But don't you think I should wait til it cools off a bit?  Just shove it all in the barn and do it in maybe October?  Thank you, I think so, too.

OK, we're gettin' real here, people.  The farmhouse was my "playhouse" and I foo-foo-ed it up big time - now it's time for a clean sweep.  Git rid of everything that we don't need - including all the pink - in time.  This is going to be a working farmhouse - we need space, minimum foo-foo, minimum doilies, flowers and cutesy wall art.  This is a time to be practical.  Why don't you all come to my house and see what you want?  I've got to streamline - playtime is OVER. 

I'm leaning more "farm-style" now.  Pink foo-foo is over.  It'll take time to make the changes. Plus - do you know how quickly pink and light colors get dirty and stained with my guys (and gal) doing the farm thing and bringing loads of dirt into the house?  Granted, they're not all here all the time, but me and hubby are, and I must confess that I bring in dirt, too.  All the stained light blue towels and cloths are going to the rag bin.  In with the dark blue and brown.

First change I've made.  You remember my cute little glass-topped garden table and chairs in the dining area?  Well, they're OUT.  I ran across an old, old handmade farm table, bench and some odd chairs that I'm going to use in the kitchen. I was always afraid that the glass was going to get broken and it only held 4 people.  The farm table will hold 8.  It's rough cut, but smoothed by the ages and use, and I think it'll be perfect. Won't have to worry about breaking it or scratching it.  It's a work table. Only one thing ---

I sat down on the end of the bench and guess what happened???  Just like a cartoon!  Up went the other end and I landed on the floor!!!!   Stop laughing!  At least it didn't hit me in the head.  It WAS pretty funny!  We'll have to get used to doing a balancing act when using the bench!  (sorry for picture quality - phone...)

Princess wanted me to show this picture of some chairs she bought for her little apartment at college.  They were covered with burlap potato sacks!  How cute is that!

In other news, WE GOT HALF AN INCH OF RAIN!  Woo-hoo!  It's not much, but we'll take all we can get!  The ground was cracked and sandy, grassburrs were sprouting up everywhere, the garden was about gone even with watering from the water hose, the grass is all crackly and brown.  There's nothing like the Lord's natural rain to bring life back in all things growing!  And nothing like His grace and love to bring life back into our souls!

Back to unpacking, friends - take care - don't forget me!  I'll be back! Hugs to all!!!!!

RAIN!

IT'S RAINING TODAY!!!

It's come a gully-washer!  A Frog-strangler!  The 8-10 inches that we were behind this year so far is ALL COMING DOWN TODAY!    My garden may float away, but I won't have to water for 3 hours this afternoon!  It's coming down so hard I cain't even see my car from my office!!!

Lotsa farmers 'round here needed it alot worse than me, but I'm so thankful!

Cain't nobody water a garden like the Lord!!!   THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Lord!