Ode to a Chicken

Tribute to a Chicken.  Ahem....

You showed up from nowhere one cold winter's day,

I knew not if a pet or a stray.

Bedding down in my rosebush bed you did lay

A big round green egg nearly every single day.

It seemed that you quickly decided to stay

So I made you a nest in a box with some hay.

Some scratch, lay pellets and fruit everyday

Made you happy and cluck in your own special way.

The time, it surely did go quite fast

And you followed me closely as I randomly cast

Handfuls of scratch - today was the last.

When I came to feed you I stood there aghast.

For what I beheld in my front yard, O so sad,

But tufts of brown feathers - no chicken to be had.

Something had taken you - and I felt so bad,

A hawk? An owl? A coyote? But I was glad

That altho you were with me for just a little bit,

You made my heart happy and I never wanna quit

Having more like you, little chicken.  I'm SO bit

By the bug. And of Ode to a Chicken, this is IT!

Chicken of mine, may you rest in peace.

HOORAY for my little kitchen!

Hooray for me!  Rhonda Hetzel of Down to Earth blog in Australia was featuring a series of posts about "you, me, and the kitchen sink" over the last few months.  She selected MY little farmhouse kitchen at Sand Flat Farm to be featured today!  I sent some pictures in of mine not knowing if they'd ever have a chance at getting noticed - She's got thousands of readers.  I'm so excited!  You'll have to go see her post HERE!

I didn't know about it being featured until Becky at Hospitality Lane let me know! Thank you Becky!

Rhonda has such a neat blog - it's all about being self-sufficient and making do and gardening and thrifting and it's always so informative!  She is a wonderful resource for cooking, mending, green cleaning, slowing down, keeping poultry, and just plain ole being mindful and thankful. I've been keeping up with her blog for quite awhile now and she is my GO-TO blog when there's something I need to find out - anywhere from soap-making to composting & worms!

I have been thinking lately about doing another post about my little farmhouse and kitchen because when I first posted pictures, it was way back at the beginning of my blog over 2 years ago and only 1 or 2 people read it.

Here's the main farmhouse and I've used this pic for my banner photo several times. Will probably go back to this picture at some point.  The farm was handed down to us through my husband's family and we've had it for about 3 years now. It was in complete disrepair. Here's a picture of the farmhouse after we refinished

everything. This farm is about 78 acres. It used to have Indians here, then it became a rose field, next it grew crops, then the last few years, its been raising cattle as well as growing hay for sale.  The house is about 75 years old which is not ancient, but it was all hand- built, as well as a couple of the pieces of furniture - my pie safe and another little cabinet.

It's still needing the porch rails painted and some landscaping done. We had to get the house leveled, took out the gas and put in central AC/heat, re-wired and re-plumbed most of the house, had new floors put in, new appliances (all others were gas), pulled walls down and floors down completely due to some rot, I personally caulked, sanded, Kilz-ed, and painted the entire house with some help from my daughter especially, and my husband. Oh yeah, we had siding & new windows put on the house, too.

Couple more shots of the kitchen which I love so much and feel so old-fashioned cooking in. No dishwasher - just washing up (like Rhonda says)  I guess the microwave is not old-fashioned, but just play like you don't see that. Most of my dishes came from hand-me-downs from grandmothers and mom, and the other stuff came from garage sales, etc.

A little bit of the laundry room (which is quite large) and the back door in the pic above.

Here's my living room. Sorry about the lace curtains in the window - makes it hard to see. I've done alot more in the house since these pics were taken. Will have to update you sometime!

Here's mine and Tony's room. My dad welded two pieces of iron fence together to make the headboard, and I found that neat white floor lamp in the dumpster at my office!

This is the pink room - my daughter's. She did most of this room. We only have two bedrooms, so if you stay as a guest, you'll be surrounded by PINK!

Last shot for today. This was in the fall of '07. This little farm has been such a blessing directly from the Lord to my husband and myself. It just fell into our laps. We've tried buying 2-3 other places during the course of our marriage but they just didn't work out. Now I know why - the Lord had something even BETTER for us!  Just being there and working in the garden, spending time with family and friends cooking out or hanging out, whatever we're doing is relaxing and has de-stressed us so much. It's our little get-away! Our great plan is to move out there one of these days soon. We're just biding our time until our last kid is out of college. 

Again, Rhonda, thanks for the feature, and thank you all my bloggie friends for looking at my house again!  I'll have to show you a few more pics next time!  Hugs and kisses to you all!

Summertime Fishin' with Pop

Howdy-doody, cold people! Howsa 'about a little hot summertime fishin'?  That oughta get you all nice and toasty!  Just think, settin' there in the sunshine in the boat or on the pier, whether at a lake or on the oceanside... Cain't ya just hear the water lappin' against the pier, maybe swattin' red wasps that like to get up under the eaves of the pier?  Sippin' a cold one (Coke, I mean) and the sun fryin' the tops of your thighs and anything else it can reach? Sweat runnin' down into every crevice and crack on your body? You set there long enough, the sweat and fish stink and dirt makes granny beads on yer neck and inside your elbows. Doncha just love it???  Here's my firstborn on his first fishin' trip 25 years ago with his Pop (my daddy).  Look that proud accomplishment on his little face! He's as proud of that little perch as any trophy bass fisherman, and Pop is just as proud, too! My dad was a trophy/tournament fisherman in his day... I still go fishin' with him... I love it!

And ya know what? Adam and Daddy are still at it 25 years later!

You know what?  Guys can do alot of talkin' and solvin' the problems of the world and life settin' on the lake. It takes alot of patience to fish, lots of analogies about life and fishin' that Daddy taught us kids and now my kids, and there's alot of other things to talk about, too. It's a great "male bonding" thing. But what about when Dad takes ME?  Lotsa good daddy/daughter time, too.  I catch up on what my daddy's into. He's always puttering around doing something. Fishing, huntin', buildin' stuff, fixin' stuf'f, oh yeah, now he's into surfin' the net and whatever the latest techno-gadget is.  He's got a game camera on some of his deerfeeders and it takes night pictures of deer, hogs, whatever comes to eat the corn. It's pretty cool.  I think my daddy still looks pretty good to be in his 70's. He hasn't slowed down much.

And here's yours truly! Today we're catchin' crappie, right off the pier. We like to bass-fish out on the lake, but this is crappie season, and we're pullin' em in right and left. As I recall, we had a big ole fish fry at the farm that night. This was back in the summer of 09.  They were practially jumpin' up on the pier for us.  It was so hot even in the shade, I didn't have a dry thread on me when we got ready to leave. Daddy didn't either.  You know that time in the mid to late summer when the lake water is tepid- feels like bathwater almost - and it's not even refreshin' anymore?  Well, that was this time of summer! We drank several bottles of Gatorade between us and our fishbait (shrimp) was stinkin' to high heaven. I'm sure we smelled lovely when we got back to Mom's. And she WILL shoo you outside if you're too stinky or have dirt or mud on your shoes. And you cain't set down on her furniture without a towel under ya.

Wish there'd been a 3rd person with us so we could have our picture taken together... If there's anything that was any funner (is that a word?) in this world, then the Good Lord saved it for Himself! That's what my Nanny always used to say.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed fishin' hot summertime lakes today in Texas. We can batter up them fish and throw 'em out on the pavement and watch 'em fry if you'd like to. It'd be better than gettin' all that fish grease out and heatin' up and stinkin' up the kitchen. We'll just get out the big propane fryer & cook 'em in there.  Cut ya up some sweet onion slices, fix some coleslaw, fries and some jalapeno hushpuppies and some fish grease cream gravy!  Mmmmmm - it just don't get any better than that!  I can't wait!

TEXAS HEAT - from us to YOU!!!

In the hopes of bringing a little warmth and sunshine to all you snowed-in folks north of the Mason-Dixon line (and maybe even a little bit south of that). We Texas Gals have banded together this week!  Even tho most of us are feeling a little chilly, too, we thought a searing blast of heat from the Lone Star State might warm up your toes, your buns AND your hearts.  Here for your cozy enjoyment are a few scenes from summers past and those coming up in a few months! hang in there people - we're on the upswing now!

Greetings from Sand Flat Farm!  See how the sun shines golden on the side of the house! It's a hot sultry afternoon here at the farm. We're sitting on the deck in the back, I would imagine. Sitting in our metal lawn chairs that'll burn your booty and backs of your thighs if you sit on 'em midday. Sitting & sipping some sweet iced tea and letting the sweat from the glass drip on the tops of our legs just cuz it feels so good.  Probably got some burgers on the grill, a big bowl of homemade salsa and chips on the outside table and we're laughing and visiting with all the family. Can't you just smell those burgers already?

 

After a night of burgers, watching fireflies from the deck and swatting mosquitos we'll have a good night's sleep & then we're out early in the morning to work in the garden. Here's some of the hay bales from the first cutting  in the pasture behind the garden. I love how they cast long shadows in the early morning. Morning is my favorite time at the farm. I like to sit out on the deck and drink coffee in the just-up-sunny morn. Our big oak and sycamore trees offer shade over the deck and keep it nice and comfortable for an hour or so before the temps get too hot.

Good morning cheery sunflowers!  I LOVE sunflowers!!! They did really well this year and I love how they turn their faces to the sun everyday!

Hello there bumblebee! We've got lots of you guys zipping around the garden this time of year. Thanks for staying so still so I can get a picture of you!

Periwinkles loving their little spot by my refurbished old garden shed. I love them, too. They always grow well for me. Even I can't kill them! I hope they like their iron-ore rock edging - just trying to use what we've got here on Sand Flat Farm! 

July 4th is getting closer. I put red and dark purple petunias here in my old wagon. I think I need to add some white ones, too - then it'll look RED, WHITE & BLUE!  I love July 4th!  A chance to celebrate our country's independence and have a big blow-out party with friends and family and have lots of beautiful fireworks! Gotta be careful, tho - don't want to set the pasture on fire!

My hydrangeas are blooming well. I set 'em out last year and they're still small but so beautiful! They bloomed all summer long. Now, I want them to turn blue, so I'll have to find out how to supplement the soil. I may wind up having to move them. The summer sun has been so hot on them, they almost croaked last year. They drank lots and lots of water!  Aren't they supposed to do best on the north side of the house? I think that's what I heard...

My husband is riding his trusty steed here and killing the never-ending weeds that spring up all summer long. This little trailer sprayer has come in so handy!  Good investment!  Just another day at the farm. I've gotta go - I will be pulling weeds today from the garden!  Yesterday I turned on the sprinkler at the vegetable garden and I was so hot & sweaty from working that I just kept right on working in the sprinkler!  It was wonderful!  I looked like a drowned rat, but it sure felt good!

Bye for now!  I'll be back tomorrow with more hot stuff from Texas!!!

Stretch Marks

You simply HAVE to go to visit Stretch Marks this morning and read her post. This young mother had one of the best posts I've read in a long time... Tell her Vickie sent you!  You won't be sorry!