RiverBend Farm

Introducing...

2011-09-12T19:34:00.005-05:00

Our new rooster. His name? I think it's going to be Big Easy. I've never seen such an easy introduction of a rooster to hens. I wanted to name him Fabian because the girls love him but when I told Buddy how easy he is with the hens, he said we should call him Big Easy.

He's a Faverolle X Ameracauna but I don't see any Ameracauna in him.

Happy Trails...
Berte

Snow?

2011-09-05T08:21:00.005-05:00

Do you see it? It looks like snow in the field behind us. No, of course, it's not snow. It's just plowed up cotton. This farmer, like most around here, are collecting on the insurance because of the drought and having to plow it up. So sad.

Did ya hear? We're supposed to have a cold front coming in. It's supposed to be in the mid 90's instead of 113-117. I'll take it! It's been too hot to do anything! Still no rain...

Farm news update -

flies - the jar helped but we still had flies. Hopefully, the change in the weather will keep them down. They're everywhere we go.

Pong and his mama didn't make it. That coyote's hunger was stronger than his fear and he came right up to the house. I watched for him a few evenings since. He came up a couple times and just stared at us. Buddy shot over him both times and we've not seen him again. Plus the field behind us is now plowed up. I hope he's gone.

Happy Trails...

Berte

Flies, Flies and More Flies

2011-08-20T16:15:00.003-05:00

I don't know what it is but we've been invaded by flies. Not sure if it's the heat or what but they are coming in droves to this area. We've got dogs and critters but these flies are everywhere around us. It's disgusting. It seems I'm not the only one with this complaint. Even when I hang clothes out on the line, they are all over them....yuck! For some strange reason, they are also very attracted to the concrete outside. I have put out Sevin Dust and they seem to love it. I have googled and searched for some type of fly control. I then try this ->

I read the instructions...simple enough. You can see in the bottle it has a tube of liquid in there..you snip off the end, pour it in and fill half full of water. NO WHERE does it say to wear a gas mask or use gloves....this stuff is repulsive! I would closely compare it to the smell of dead fish and bad urine. I think that's what it is....old urine! Oh...my....gosh!!! It's attracting some flies but not near enough. I also think it must have attracted every wild animal we have left around here.. the dogs barked all night.

I'm also saving 2-liter bottles to make my own concoction. First you remove the cap. Then cut the top part of the bottle off about an inch below where it stops curving. Invert the top into the bottom so the mouth of the bottle is about an inch or so above the bottom so it does not touch any liquid when filled. Then pour in vinegar...or, if you're so inclined...you can pee in it. Slap a label on it and we'll all be rich! ha...just kidding but it's the same thing as the Captivator. But somebody did it and I'm crazy enough to buy it.

If anyone out there in blogland has any suggestions on how to get rid of flies and still keep the dogs safe, I would greatly appreciate it.

Happy Trails...

Berte

Cotton Prices and the Texas Drought

2011-08-09T08:39:00.012-05:00

This is the irrigation canal across the road from us that supplies the cotton crop next to it. It's looking pretty good.

And then this is the cotton crop behind us that is not irrigated. This year it costs $100 just in seed to plant 100 acres and, with no rain, if it's not irrigated, there is little yield. And we can only guess that cotton prices are going to skyrocket. Hay is like gold around here...hard to find..

This is looking out across my front yard. Just across from our brown grass is the road, then the canal and then the irrigated crops.

Well, it does provide a nice swimmin' hole for the dogs. It's pretty deep out in the middle.

Sarah's fitting in real good with the "crew"..you can see she's the first one headed back to the house! Maybe someday she'll feel comfortable enough to jump in the canal with everyone else.

Happy Trails...

Berte

A Promise to the Dying

2011-08-07T16:38:00.006-05:00

This one might be long so bear with me. Last year, a church member and dear friend of my husband's became ill. He was the same age as my husband. One day he passed out while driving and wrecked his beautiful vintage turquoise truck. Ray was okay but the truck was no longer driveable besides the fact that Ray didn't need to be driving anymore. Because Ray was no longer driving, it ended up that it was either me or Buddy toting him back and forth to the doctor and various appointments. His cigarette smoke about knocked me over but Ray was, of course, very respectful of not smoking in my truck so I never pushed the issue of suggesting quitting to him. And at the point, why would I? Shortly, after the first of the year, Ray was diagnosed as terminal and died in April. Now, after all that, comes my story. Ray had one stone deaf little dog, a wild dog that no one could get near and was elusive because the entire time Ray was alive, I never saw her, and four cats as old as dirt. Ray found Jesus as his Savior the last year or so of his life and never doubted for once where he was going after death. He had time to make arrangements for the deaf dog but was worried sick about Sarah because no one could get near her. Of course, in the last few weeks of Ray's life, Buddy promised Ray he would take care of Sarah and to quit worrying. Shortly thereafter, Ray died. Ray's family all lives out of town so now we (get the "we" part?) were committed to taking care of this dog. To say the very least, I have been after Buddy to do something about that dog! We tried finding her a home but we didn't know a thing about her except that Ray had all his pets neutered and immunized.
We did know that Ray had her and her littermate since puppies and Sarah saw her littermate mauled by another dog and has been shy ever since...well, duh...I think I would be too.

Once I did spy Sarah, I saw that she had on a tag but getting close to her was another thing. Four months later...yes, I said four months, I told Buddy I was going to sit and wait it out in the heat and get Sarah. Ray's neice had provided us (way back at the time of the funeral) with sedatives to use for her. Now was the time. Mind you, everything has been shut off over at this house since Ray's death so we've been toting water over there...and it was hot! To shorten this story, the sedative never took affect but I finally got her....yes! The dog tag was from a clinic in a nearby town. It was Monday and they didn't open til Wednesday. Since it's been 110 here, my dogs have been coming in and so did Sarah...and always on a long leash while outside. She's been with me constantly. Wednesday comes and I call the clinic..wouldn't you know it? The tag on Sarah belongs to one of the cats! What?! I still know nothing about this dog except that she is one of the sweetest dogs I've ever been around in my life...and I've been around a few...ha! This dogs does not want me out of her sight! And I need to add, she is no longer on a leash. Of all the dogs that I have had to be "compadres", this one has chosen me. All because of granting a dear, sweet man a dying wish and letting him go in peace. Now, why is that? Neither Buddy or I can take Ray's phone number out of our cell phones. Maybe one day but for right now... we have Sarah Ray.
Happy Trails,

Berte

Just How Hot is It?

2011-08-03T06:09:00.008-05:00

It's hot enough to start cooking an egg before it ever makes it into the house! Now that's hot! And if the heat is starting to cook eggs, what is it doing to my animals? I'm getting only two eggs a day so I'm gonna have to start catching them when layed to have any eggs! The forecasted temp for today is 107. This is dangerously hot to do anything outside.

Buddy had a big job scheduled for the next four days and it fell through..I'm almost glad he's not going. I know that God is watching over us and will provide. Times are tough for everyone.

Want some good news? This is too cute! When I went to close up my chickens last night, I noticed that one of my first batch hens (Dec '09) has adopted Pong. I've never seen that in chickens but I'm thankful. Not that he needs the heat from the underside of a mama but just that he has that sense of protection.

Happy Trails...
Berte

Cold Watermelon on a Hot Day

2011-08-02T14:13:00.003-05:00

They come scrambling for some cold watermelon.
Even little Pong is getting in on it. He's a survivor....no more Ping or Mama hen but he's making it.

Stay cool and Happy Trails...

Berte

The Texas Drought - Before and Now

2011-08-01T12:51:00.005-05:00

Look at the difference between my header and this one now during the drought. Nothing but dry, dusty dirt and no pecans forming on the trees. Ugh.. It's 104 with an expected heat index of 110. I think I'll do some more praying and get out my umbrella.
Happy Trails...
Berte

The Sandwich Poll continues

2011-07-28T18:29:00.002-05:00

Thanks for all the comments on the sandwich poll - they're great! Of course these sandwiches are going to be made fresh and will "packed" so I'm looking for something that is easily transported yet appealing. I would like to offer 3-4 choices so keep the ideas and the comments coming! Ya'll are great!
Happy Trails...
Berte

I'm taking a poll and need your help

2011-07-27T15:25:00.001-05:00

This question is directed more to the men so, ladies, please ask your guys this question. If you were given a choice of sandwiches for lunch, what would you choose: chicken salad, ham & cheese, roast beef, tuna or other?
Thanks,

Happy Trails...

Berte

Too cute!

2011-07-26T20:44:00.009-05:00

I know I just posted but I had to post this...this is too cute. When I went out to close up the chicken house, Pong had made it all the way to the highest roost with the big girls. He's (remember I call him a "he") moved from a corner on the floor, up to a stick, up to the middle roost and now to the top. Gee, I hope this little guy makes it.

Goodnight all,

Happy Trails...

Berte

Chicken Attack

2011-07-26T19:08:00.006-05:00

Okay, I know..it's been awhile since I posted anything..no excuses. Just no motivation. I think it's the heat. The heat and drought is bringing up coyotes into the yard (or near the yard). My 20+ hens, one rooster and two clutches have been reduced to 8 hens and one chick. Talk about sickening!! And they are quick! Each day when I was on the lookout for the coyotes, it seemed they came up an hour earlier each day. I would glance out the window and see one trotting off with a chicken and before I could get out the door, they were gone. The only thing that saved them several times was the field fence between me and my neighbors'. They would just stand over there and watch me.

So now my chickens have been moved closer to the house. They are actually in their own yard in my yard. I love having them close. I love my chickens!

It's been 100-107 degrees here for weeks. There is no grass left. I'm now making mud puddles for my chickens to keep them cool. And I'm getting only two eggs a day...if I'm lucky.

I guess this is one way to keep a fuzzy butt cool...lay the egg in the mud!

This is my one little chick that's left. His name is Pong because when he (I call him a "he" in hopes he's a rooster) and the other little chick hatched, they looked like ping pong balls. Ping didn't make it.

Since I've moved the chickens, I haven't seen any more coyotes. I'm sure they're out there looking for something to eat and trying to find water.

Hope everyone out there is staying cool..

Happy Trails...

Berte

New Life on the Farm

2011-05-15T17:17:00.003-05:00

Finally! I've had chicks hatch out. This mama hen persevered through extreme heat, cold and even a possom curled up for a nap two "doors" down to hatch out these six little chicks. This is sooo much fun! Now I can share in the excitement that others of you post about when you have little ones.. chicks, goats, lambs, etc. I have chicks!!!

As far as the possum, I went out one day in the morning to all the ruckus and another hen was on this mama's nest. I got her off and the mama got back on her nest. When I went back out in the evening to gather eggs, I lifted the lid on the nest box and thought there was a snake in one of the nest boxes. Yep, I 'bout wet my pants right there! But it was a possum curled up taking a nap. And there was mama hen sitting two boxes down on her nest. My generous BIL gathered up his gun and came over to take care of the possum. That mama hen didnt' budge.

Happy Trails,

Berte

Happy Easter

2011-04-25T06:21:00.008-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter yesterday and got to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. With both our trucks loaded up and ready to pull out, our alarms went off yesterday morning at 4am to head out for sunrise service. And it was beautiful. Unfortunately, the morning was so busy, I forgot to take pictures of the first service. Buddy brought a wonderful message and it was a great service out at the rodeo arena. Then we loaded it all up and went down the road to the auction barn where we had a chuckwagon breakfast and 10:30 service. Oh my goodness...there's nothing like coffee cooked over a fire. With all the burn bans and area fires, the fire department allowed us to go ahead with the cookout as long as we had barriers put up. It worked. And the food... there aren't words to describe...we had breakfast tacos and sausage gravy over biscuits. yum, yum....

Check out the size of that skillet! When it's empty, I can't pick it up!

Our dear friends came and cooked for us. Don't ya love it?

We had a great time and lots of new folks came out for both services. God has blessed our church richly!

After second service, it was home again and, I have to admit, I came home and crawled in bed for a couple hours of z's. Then it was cookout time again at home ..homemade elk sausage and potato salad. What a great day!

Happy Trails...

Berte

Cool Water

2011-04-18T06:31:00.002-05:00

It has been extremely dry here in Texas with lots of wildfires out in west Texas. We've had no rain to speak of and no rain in the forecast. Besides that, the humidity has been down to 9% which is unheard of around here. What green grass we have around here crunches under you feet as you walk on it.

I have noticed more and more folks putting out water for animals that can't find any water source. Most of the ponds and tanks have dried up. Here, at a lot next to the convenient store, is a sign posted that says "no pets allowed" but there is also a plastic pan set out for the birds. Only one bird stayed at the "watering hole" for the picture.

What month is it anyway?

2011-04-12T07:17:00.002-05:00

Why are June bugs called June bugs when they show up in April?

Happy Trails,

Berte

Still hangin' in here

2011-04-11T19:45:00.007-05:00

I honestly try and post on this blog but I find myself coming and going. I know, I know... I need to slow down and smell the roses. As a matter of fact, that is just about the only thing that is green and growing around here. We have not had rain in months and everything is dust around here. It's horrible! And the wind will almost blow me to Kansas! We live in the middle of farmland and it's nothing but a cloud of dust. If ya'll think things are getting pricy now, just wait...several of these farmers are considering not even planting their cotton crops this year. That's bad news for us. Cotton prices are going to skyrocket. Okay, enough of that...

The black calf is gone...hallelujah! He never would get big so off to the sale he went. I'm jumping for joy! Now, to figure out what to do with the Longhorn... those horns are dangerous. If only I had a hotshot...

Between the etsy shop, the farm and working on church stuff, my plate has been full. I'm not complaining. I'm so blessed. Buddy worked hard to make a cross for our church. We started a cowboy church the first of the year and we meet in an auction barn so this helped. You might be able to see it in the picture. I wrapped the bottom with a burlap bag since the entire cross is stuck in a Christmas tree stand. What do ya call it?...ambiance? Whatever..it helped. See the podium? One of the guys at church made it for Buddy. It's so cool..it folds up and it goes wherever. It's got a barbed wire cross on the front.

We have another new addition to our menagerie...Meet Jethro. He's three months old and will be Buddy's compadre. Gussie, the red heeler is mine. All the merrier!

To everyone..

Happy Trails,

Berte

A WishOut

2011-03-22T20:14:00.003-05:00

My posts are most likely terribly boring to anyone and everyone that comes across them. I initially started blogging to keep a journal and let everyone (friends and family) know what's going on in my life especially when we moved out to the farm. I would like to spend more time on blogging but am pretty certain my days are pretty boring.

This past week I kept three of my granddaughters while their mom went on a scrapbook retreat. Oh my gosh, there were some tough moments but I wouldn't trade them for the world. I truly wish all my grandkids lived closer to me so I could love on them all the time.

Anyway, since last Thursday was St. Patrick's Day, I decided we would bake a cake and make it green. The two older ones (ages 5 and 3) were so excited. The youngest (age 1) could have cared less. And then this Nana had to try and find all the ingredients.. a little of this, a little of that and none of that. Ohwell.. we had fun making it. I knew when I put it in the oven, it wasn't going to turn out. So..it came out of the oven and, for sure, it was not going to be the best in the west. But it was green and it turned out edible. It got covered with a towel and left on the counter. I discovered a while later that the 3 yr old had pushed a chair up and had been eating on it. She is so precious. There is no way this nana could be upset.

I had her in my lap talking about what she had done and she looked up at me and asked if would make her a cake for next birthday. Well, of course! I asked her what kind of cake she wanted and she replied, "A wishout".

I finally figured out she wanted a birthday cake with candles on it to blow out and make a wish.

This is one of those posts that only a nana could love.

Happy Trails,

Berte

The New Arrival

2011-03-16T09:35:00.005-05:00

Welcome Bronson Herminio

7 lbs 7 ozs

March 16 in West Virginia

Congratulations to Brett and Claudia!

Grandbaby #9!

Happy Trails,
Berte

Another Disappointing Nest

2011-03-06T16:54:00.009-06:00

Last May I bought another batch of hatchlings and this darling is one of the Buff Orphingtons that I had big hopes of hatching out a nest...I'm not giving up yet. I bought 6 pullet chicks and one rooster. I think I have 3 hens left and this one has been sitting on a nest for quite a while. I went out today and, apparently, one hatched out, fell to the floor (or she tossed it out) and left it and moved over to the adjoining nest to work on it. I have no idea how many eggs are under her but it can't too many. That's so disappointing. I want some of my own hatchlings on the farm.

Then there is this one that the rooster literally attacks (you can see the back of her scarred head --and that's not love pecks either) and she has chosen a life of solitary away from the rooster. She stays away from the other hens. Lately, she's been taking solace in the chicken house during the day so I carried her out yesterday to the barn to live with a couple other hens. I thought she would love it away from the rooster but she was back in the chicken yard today. Go figure...

Here's Food On The Table...I thought for sure I'd be rid of him last Saturday but the brakes went out on the truck so we couldn't haul him..now it has to wait another week.. All he does is eat and eat and eat some more....

Oh..and tear up the shed...

I'll be soooo glad when he's gone...

And Button is still acting like a dog and growing those horns longer every day. I wish I could get a good picture of how they are starting to turn at the tips.

If anyone has any great suggestions on what I can do to successfully hatch out a nest, I will welcome them. The only thing I can come up with is to put in a nest box closer to the ground. But I've got friends that have their nest boxes up higher and they don't have a problem.
Help!...

Happy Trails,

Where do we park?

2011-03-03T06:57:00.003-06:00

With gas prices going up the way they are, it brings much thought to mind... where do ya park the horse while in the store? At what point do we stop paying these ridiculously high prices for gas? The prices are jumping up right before our eyes and not just by a few cents...we saw it go up 14cents before we could round the corner!

(I had to borrow this pic from the internet because, no, I have not yet taken the horse to town) ...but I'm seriously considering it...

Happy Trails,

Busy in the Sewing Room

2011-03-02T12:05:00.003-06:00

I'm trying real hard to get back to bloggin' but between being sick, helping kids and trying to get lots of sewing done, I'm not doing too well with the blogging. But I have been busy trying to get lots of items ready to launch my Etsy shop. This gorgeous weather is helping since my sewing machine is facing the window.

It seems like every piece of fabric that I pick up is screaming "spring!" Maybe that's what's wrong with me...I've got a little spring fever. I've got so many things that I want to make, I don't know where to begin. I've helped a friend work on her first quilt so now I've got the quilting bug again. It's been over a year since I've quilted!! What?! The wheels are turning upstairs on what I can make...

I figure with the launch of the Etsy shop, I will work in a giveaway... (my daughter agrees). She thinks it should a Spring/Easter table runner. What d'ya think? And since I'll be trying to promote the shop, I'll need to figure out how to do that and tie it in with the blog. Any ideas? Maybe I should have a little giveaway for the one that can come up with some clever idea for that! I'll be back soon with details.

Happy Trails,

Do I Dare?

2011-02-06T15:46:00.003-06:00

Do I even let the words slip through my mouth? Should I even be thinking it? Okay...I'm already sick of Super Bowl Sunday. There..I said it.. We had a wonderful church service this morning, then home for a great meal shared with friends, fed all the critters and then the tv came on. Ugh... I guess I'm going to be chastized but I just can't get all that excited about a football game. Now, of all things, the President is on tv during all this Super Bowl audience. What is going on?
I am thankful that the sun is shining and it's a beautiful day for a football game in Arlington. I do hope everyone has a safe and fun Super Bowl Day!

Gettin' Ready for the Next Wave of Cold

2011-02-03T09:05:00.010-06:00

Thought I'd grab my camera this morning when I went out to feed. With the cold, it brings more than just putting out feed. I'm having to go out every few hours and break up the ice so these animals will have something to drink. I also fish out the ice so it doesn't freeze back so quick.

I am thankful that the wind has died down today. The past couple of days the north wind has sent hay out all over the place. Anyone have any desire for a worthless Longhorn? She is nothing more than an oversized dog with horns!

Here's my Jess..doesn't she have the sweetest eyes?

And Buddy's Cinch...he's just an all-aroung sweetheart.

Most of the chickens were in their house or huddled up in the shed. Some of them did come out and get their pot of hot oatmeal....yummm, they love it.

But it's pretty much very quiet and desolate out here...waiting for another round of cold to come in this afternoon. We're forecasted to have 80% of snow starting this afternoon ... 1-3 inches of it. This is not supposed to be happening in Texas!

Right now, all I hear is the clanking of the chains against the metal panels of the round pen. So I'll sit and wait by the fire...inside...

Stay warm and Happy Trails...

Berte

Too Cold!

2011-02-02T08:43:00.003-06:00

Okay, as far as I'm concerned, Old Man Winter can go back out on the same iceberg he rode in on. I don't do cold. Of course, we woke up to no water. At least we had electricity until the rolling blackouts started. I am so thankful for our wood stove. It is toasty warm in here. Buddy had it down to where it kept the whole house warm all night. The only bad thing is that he left his little plastic wisk broom on the stove yesterday when he lit it and it melted it all over the top and stunk up the house for hours. What a mess.

My poor chickens.. this is what was in the nest boxes...

All their eggs were frozen. Poor things..that must have been like sitting on ice cubes! Brrrr!

Hope everyone stays warm in all this. I hope it holds true about that fat groundhog not seeing his shadow and spring is around the corner.

Happy Trails...

It's Not BlueBell

2011-01-14T12:07:00.005-06:00

Did they really think they could put Mint Chocolate Chip in a gum?! It tasted like that for about a minute and then tastes just like mint gum. Ha! The imagery isn't even working for me...it's still gum. Good try though.

Happy Trails...

How are those New Year Resolutions Working for Ya'll?

2011-01-12T21:43:00.006-06:00

What is today..oh yeah, the 12th. Already the 12th! And, the answer for me is "no". My same resolution that I've had for the past 15 years is apparently going to be the same one for next year! Every night I pray that I'll be strong the next day to stick with eating smart and the very next day, I find some reason to indulge to get me off track. Why? Grhhhh! How frustrating!

But...let me tell you folks up north of here that don't get this...

Meet Blue Bell.. a little bit of Heaven. This is my indulgence. Once upon a time in a not too far away town called Brenham, Texas, there was once a little creamery started in 1907. They make the best ice cream on this planet! And any and every flavor you could imagine.

You can't imagine how this stuff helps my indigestion! Really!...

Well, tonight at Bible Study (by the way, we had a great study...again!) we were reading in Ephesians and verse 10 in Chapter 2 gives me great comfort. "For we are His workmanship". I am God's work of art. Now, to me, I am a work in progress but this verse is giving me new hope. I have got to have more respect for myself to keep on trying. Tomorrow is the 13th. A good day to start eating smart.
Happy Trails...

What? Is this January?

2011-01-09T06:07:00.013-06:00

I thought after Christmas things were supposed to slow down. I've still been busy as can be and have gifts to still be delivered! Everyone is so spread out! I remember (way back) when families used to live pretty close together and everyone would get together on Sunday afternoons. Now, it's difficult trying to coordinate with everyone's schedules.

I have been tucked away in the sewing room finishing up some projects. Gifts for two of the granddaughters were dress-up clothes. I have to admit..I had a blast making these. Ashlyn had a movie date with her Pawpaw last month to see Tangled so she got a Rapunzel dress with loooong hair.

Then, Kenley is all about Super Why (PBS Kids) so she got Super Why and Wonder Red.

I still have three more little girls to grow up into this costume stage and this Nana can't wait! What are their little personalities going to be? I'm being encouraged to make costumes and matching girl and doll clothes so get ready...they're coming soon to my Etsy shop.

Happy Trails...

Still Alive Here

2010-12-24T05:59:00.006-06:00

Here I sit on Christmas Eve morning, having coffee and reading other's blogs. Yes, it's been awhile. One of my friends told me to just check in and let everyone know that I'm still alive so here I am. I just don't find what I have to say very interesting but here's the latest since forever. Wow, how God has been working in our lives! Here's a quick review.

My sweet little Gretchen is not with us anymore. She was extremely blind with cataracts and 9 days shy of her 11th birthday when yours truly ran over her out in the orchard. It will be a day and feeling I will never forget. We still miss her running this orchard.

On a good note, Button did come to live with us on the farm. What a hoot! This bottle baby was raised with the grandkids and the dogs and she still loves to run and play like she's a dog. Unfortunately for the dogs, Button's longhorns are growing and she doesn't realize how they hurt. We had to pen her up with the feeder calf for months because she was too friendly. It's pretty freaky to be walking the orchard and have a longhorn calf come running up behind you. She's better now about rubbing up against my leg. She'll come running and stop about 2 feet from me.

You can see our latest addition to the family in this picture with Button and Jasper. Gussie is a red heeler or Cattle dog. She is now 5 months old is my compadre.

Shortly after my last post, through a lot of prayer, Buddy started his own dozer business. God has blessed us richly. Looking back over the year, God has put in black and white our direction. In the past, I would wonder if we're making the right decisions but not now. God has been closing doors and slamming wide open others for His direction. With the dozer business, it has allowed Buddy the freedom to do God's ministry and, without a long drawn out story, Buddy is a cowboy church planter and is pastoring the start-up of a cowboy church in Navasota. It is amazing to see God's work being done. Buddy's old rodeo and roping buddies are pretty much taken aback when they find out he's a pastor. How often we hear "You're a...pastor?!" God works in mysterious ways. He's the potter and we're the clay! This is certainly not something we set out to do.. it is definitely a calling.

This is a pretty quick post to cover several months but I have a dirty house calling my name. Ugh.. I will try and keep up with this.

Happy Trails...

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

2010-02-28T06:38:00.017-06:00

In the last month, Buddy has changed jobs... hallelujah! He is no longer working an hour and half from the house (weather permitting) but now working on a 500+ acre Longhorn ranch that's only 20 minutes from home. It's certainly a change from running heavy equipment all day but I'm loving having him so close to home. Yesterday morning I went with him to go feed so I grabbed my camera...

Meet Hank... a wild turkey hen that came up to the ranch last summer and decided to stay. She is Buddy's compadre. She rides around in the Mule with him, sitting right next to him on the seat. She's not stupid..she knows to stay in the Mule or she'd be attacked by the donkeys. Each pasture has their own set of donkeys. Their job is to keep predators away...and they do their job well.

You will notice that when it came time for me to leave..there was Hank..in the back of my truck.

Now this precious little girl is Latte Frosty's Star..otherwise known as Button, which is the name Buddy has also given our newest granddaughter. She has a calf named after her. She is one of twins which the mother abandoned. The other twin is a bull calf who is much larger. The little heifer calf is a free martin, meaning she is sterile because in utero, all the hormones or testosterone go to the bull calf. She will still grow big and get the traditional Longhorns but she will be sterile. Once she's weaned from the bottle, RiverBend Farm will be her new home.

Here's the bull calf...he's much bigger.

These next few pictures are taken as we went through and fed. Once I get off into the back pastures, I'll take pictures of the others.

Check this guy out..he's only 18 months old!...the horse, not the bull. The bull in the above picture is two years old.

Here's the colt's guard donkey...isn't he cute?

There are about 250+ head of cattle, horses and donkeys and it's in Buddy's job description to learn all their names. Yep, that's right...they ALL have names.

Happy Trails...

2010-02-26T07:55:00.009-06:00

Yes, I'm back from a long blogging break..nothing wrong, just been in a slump dealing with everyday life consuming my days. Since I've been away, I guess I could make this post very long and winded but will spare everyone.

Now..what's wrong with this picture? This is Texas! It's not suppose to snow like that here. I will say that it was a sight to behold though.

Even the horses were wondering what all this white stuff was...

Big Hilda kept following me around as if she was saying "please take me back up to the house with you!"

Okay, I've got to get on my soapbox so bear with me...remember our precious Jasper, the golden retriever that someone dumped out here a year ago? Well.. making a very long story very short, the boyfriend of a renter down the road reported us and my next door neighbor for animal abuse/neglect because he felt like our dogs are too skinny! OH MY GOSH! He should have seen this dog when we rescued him out of the bar ditch. We have since learned that when others saw this dog in the ditch, they wanted to shoot him and put him out of his misery. This idiot should see all my other animals and their living conditions! The charges were finally dropped only after a vet submitted a letter of perfect health and the frivilous charge. People like this are dangerous. If they want to report someone for neglect/abuse, they need to sit out on the road and catch all the folks dumping their animals out here for us to fall in love with and add to our ongoing vet and feed bills. It is a sad day in our country when we have to take the time and money to defend ourselves from some idiot people who have nothing better to do. Okay...I'm done.

In the meantime, we are staying in and enjoying the wood stove and I can't wait for spring to get here!!

Happy Trails...

Hot Dog Man

2010-01-31T12:16:00.006-06:00

Ya'll are just gonna have to deal with my posts about my granddaughters because they are keeping me in stitches with their shannanigans. Nana might be a little slow and behind the times, but I'm learning. When I asked Ashlyn if she wanted her hot dog cut up or in a bun, she squealed "Hot Dog Man!" Here enters Hot Dog Man.

Yesterday while I slipped away to get a shower, Kenley decided to work on some personal artwork.

But this precious angel is always eager to help..

Happy Trails...

Texas women

2010-01-28T06:23:00.005-06:00

I hope I don't offend any fellow Texans but I've just got to post about this. I come from a long line of family born and raised in Texas. Call it whatever, but when I was a kid growing up, I really thought Dolly Parton on the cover of True Confessions was to die for. She was always a lady..always had hair and makeup perfect. Now, as an older adult, I've learned she has gone off the deep end and looks purely plastic. Where did my idol go? But back to the point of this post.
Yesterday, while still in Dallas, I slipped out of the hospital and went down the road to pick up lunch for Theresa and her husband. They wanted Pei Wei, so off I went. Now, mind you, I live in a small town near a college town, home of Texas A&M, where it is not uncommon to see a lot of "kids" wearing flip-flops and pajamas pants or sweats. And, when I go out, I always have on makeup and clean hair, 99% of the time in jeans and a tshirt. But as I was sitting in Pei Wei, waiting for my take-out, I was blown away with the women coming in. The majority of them had something done to their hair...I've never seen such streaks and 'do's. And their makeup looked like war paint. And I don't know how they held themselves up with all that jewelry. Oh, and the Barbie heels...c'mon, do women really work in those? I've got to know... was this a freak sighting? I forgot about their purses..I guess you call that a purse..they were the size of an envelope. (Where do they put their gun? It couldn't be under that bodysuit...maybe it was hiding under all that necklace or tucked into all that cleavage...hopefully not there because if they needed it in a hurry, it would take them awhile to find it). I applaud women for getting up and dressing and looking professional but this was almost a joke.. when you got that many women together, it looked comical. Each one that came in looked just like the one before them. I do not consider myself to be leading a sheltered life. I know that not all Texas women look like that. I hope that folks outside of Texas do not think that is a true reflection of Texas women because it's not.
Happy Trails...

Leighton Anne

2010-01-27T14:07:00.004-06:00

I have been given permission to post her picture, so here is my newest blessing.

Dear Journal...

2010-01-27T05:46:00.003-06:00

Where do I begin? I traveled to Dallas on Monday to be here for the birth of my seventh grandchild. Words cannot express how God has blessed me. We were patiently but anxiously waiting the arrival of Theresa's third daughter. Theresa's actual due date was Jan 31 but for reasons I won't go into, it was decided for her to be induced. Theresa picked the 29th to be the day. Her doctor thought otherwise and asked if the 26th would be a good day. Theresa mulled it over in her head and decided the 26th would be a great day to have her baby. You see, Jan 26th marked the 20th anniversary of her father's murder. That is a whole 'nother story that does not need detail. It has just been a sad day remembered in my children's lives.
Anyway, Theresa has been having some hard regular contractions for several weeks at night and has considered heading to the hospital on different occasions but they soon subside. All preparations have been made and everything is ready. I, for one, did not think she would make it to the 26th. But the night of the 25th arrives and no typical 11 o'clock hour contractions...hhhmmm... She gets up the morning of the 26th with cramping and some regular contractions. Off to the hospital we go...it seems that scheduled induction or not, God has chosen January 26 to be the birthday of Baby Leighton. You cannot imagine how it made my heart sing when Theresa held her baby, crying and repeating "this is now a good day".
To God alone be all the glory...

It's Working

2010-01-23T06:42:00.001-06:00

No pictures on this post..just a quick note to say that all my efforts on cutting back are paying off. I was anxiously waiting for the electric bill to come in to see if there was any difference. Buddy told me not to be too disappointed because the heater ran almost constantly when the temperature outside never got aboving freezing for three days. But the bill came in and I was pleasantly shocked...we REDUCED our bill by 27%! It does work! I used to go in a room and flip on the light (in the bathroom we have two fixtures with three lights each) ...don't do that anymore. I have learned to function in low light or when I do turn on lights, it's only a few with those corkscrew looking bulbs. At night, we cut down the heater and put more blankets on the beds. During the day, just layered on more clothes. It's the little things adding up.
No, we haven't cranked up the wood stove yet..it's been in the mid 70's here lately. What happened to winter? We got our winter bunched up into a week!
Happy Trails...

Porch Garden

2010-01-20T16:11:00.004-06:00

My porch garden is finally coming together. Awhile back we found the antique fence and put it up. Then Buddy found an antique gate on one of his job sites and the owner told him he could have it so it got hung today. Yipee! With the weather we've been having, it won't be long before I can go out there and start planting. Come on spring! I pulled the Carolina jasmine out of the barn and put it back. It's been living in the barn with the recent ice storm. Can you believe it? One day it's 16 and now today it's 76. I figured as much... we get the wood stove put in and we have a Texas heat wave...in January.

The chickens are loving this weather. I've got 20 chickens and I'm getting 15 eggs a day. I love my chickens. They are mixed sex links and 5 Ameracaunas. I get 4-5 green eggs a day so I know the schedule of the Ameracaunas but I don't know which, if all, of the sex links are laying.

In the meantime, I've got lots of eggs.

I've been out of it lately...I just got word from Mandi over at Herban Homestead that I need to get my seed potatoes in the ground. Yikes! We just need to put the tractor back together. We've had the starter in the shop. Thanks, Mandi, for keeping me on my toes!

Happy Trails...

An Egg or a Fart?

2010-01-17T18:00:00.004-06:00

Can you see it? What would you call it? I don't think it's an egg. Probably just a hard shell fart.

And what's with the little outy belly button on the end? That's just nasty.

Calling all meat rabbit raisers. I need some help. We're working on getting some meat rabbits and I'm trying to decide on cages or hutches or whatever you want to call them. We had them when I was a kid and we had wooden hutches. I know that's not the preferred hutch due to sanitary conditions. So, do I get wire cages and hang them or put them in a wooden frame? I've also heard that stacking is not the preferred way. I will have these cages under a shed with access to fans for summer heat. I'm tossing around which is the best way to go so any and all comments and suggestions are welcome.

Happy Trails...

Our Latest Addition

2010-01-13T10:07:00.009-06:00

Remember a few days ago I was moving around the furniture? Well, now I will tell you why...

When we built our home, we put in vinyl flooring throughout the house because here it's either mud or dust. Some of that had to come up this week..

To put down tile...

To cut a hole in the ceiling...

(you can't imagine how this hurt..I thought I was going to be sick!)

To add our new Jotul 500 wood stove. This was the designated spot for it when we drew up the house plans but just now got around to putting it in. We missed getting it in before this record cold snap but feel fortunate to have found one. After doing all the reviews and deciding on this one, we learned that the middle man distributor will no longer be carrying them and it was going to be difficult to get one in..they are built in Norway. This is all in our big scheme of becoming sustainable. With our luck, now that we have the stove, we're probably going to get a Texas Heat Wave. I'm still waiting on the back heat shield to come in.. should be today. Coming out of Maine, we checked the other day and it was in Illinois with the temperature there at 0. Then we'll be able to crank up this lil' puppy and stay snuggly warm.

Happy Trails...

Escape the Cold for a few minutes

2010-01-12T05:52:00.007-06:00

Climb aboard and let's continue soaking in the warmth of the sun and viewing the countryside.

Don't you just love old barns?

Oh, give me a home...

of blue skies and sunshine...

Happy Trails...

Sending Warm Wishes Your Way

2010-01-11T09:20:00.009-06:00

A few of us Texas gals got together and wanted to send some warm Texas thoughts and wishes to all you battling snow and below freezing temperatures. It's been cold here but nothing like what y'all are having to deal with up north.

So we're collecting a few of our pictures from the past in hopes of bringing you a little sunshine and hope that warmer days are ahead.

Take off your coat and take a walk through our orchard and feel the warmth of the sun on your arms and the sun glaring in your eyes as you walk through the field of flowers. Can you hear the birds singing as the fly from tree to tree chattering about their newly built nests full of anticipated little chirps?

Oops, watch out..don't run over the new litter of baby armadillos. Don't worry, they can't see you but they can smell you.

Keep on walkin'..the heat is turning up..can you feel the crunch of the drying grass under your feet?

And Jess no longer has her winter coat but a slick warm coat shining in the sun.

Don't go far...I'll be back with some more warm thoughts coming your way.

Warm and Happy Trails...

How to NOT do something

2010-01-08T10:10:00.015-06:00

This is way too cold for Texas..and this is mid-morning after the temperature has gone up a few degrees. I went out this morning to feed and break up ice for the critters and had a pot full of hot oatmeal for the chickens and my camera in hand. Okay, I forgot my hammer to break up the ice. When all else fails, you use your trusty booted foot to break it up. I got the chicken's water broken and they were so cute..they had their fuzzy butts showing and one was even standing on the ice.

I've got Rooster Cogburn confined to a cage because he's always bothering Big Hilda. I don't know why but he picks on her and then the other girls start being mean to her and she gets isolated and won't come out of the chicken house or is off by herself to avoid Rooster. So, since Big Hilda is a favorite (yes, we play favorites), Rooster gets penned up. Maybe that's why we're getting so many eggs every day in the bitter cold. But I caught of picture of Big Hilda parading in front of the rooster as if to say "Na, na-na, na, na--na!"

Anyway, so I get the chickens taken care of and get the horses some hay...

Now, I need to go break up the ice in the horses' water trough...with oatmeal pot and camera in hand, I need to do this and not get my camera wet...hmmm, no hammer. Okay...I'll use my foot again. It works..but only a small hole. Mind you, this is a good size water trough. I really need to get my foot up and over and slam it in... yep, I did just that and ended up practically falling in! Wow! Ice shock! That's cold!

I've got on two thick layers of clothes and my boot is sloshing full of ice water. This is NOT the correct way to break up ice.

I can only imagine what these animals are thinking.....
Bridget seems to think it's funny...

and Cinch turns around to say "you stupid klutz!"

Happy Trails...

What d'ya think?

2010-01-05T08:36:00.007-06:00

Do ya think I need a hat rack or what? Buddy comes in the door and this is where the hats go..even the nasty, stinky hats that he will not part with. And to think he just brought home a box, yes, a box of 20 new caps from our son's business.

Most of the furniture is getting moved around this week (for reasons I will disclose later) so something's gonna have to give. Aha!..stay tuned.

I don't know what's going on with the girls but we're getting about 16-18 eggs a day. For 20 chickens, that's a lot. I guess it's been because the sun is out. It's supposed to get down into the teen's here the end of the week. That's just not right for Texas!

I'm working on my frugal living..still baby steps. I went to the store the other day for a few things and ended up stockpiling on paper goods. I have concluded that I don't need a whole Kleenex to wipe off my face at night.. I tear off and use only half. Now, that brings up another subject...why do we use the universal term "kleenex" when they are clearly marked "facial tissue"? I could go on but won't bore you.

For several days now, Buddy and I have been smelling something like cooked cabbage every time we walk in the door. We have searched everywhere. My nose led me to the stove. I'm thinking.."what in the world could have slid down the side in the cracks?" I found my answer this morning. The temp was down to 25 so a bowl of hot oatmeal sounded good. I grab some water to put on to boil...aha! out of propane! How'd that happen? I didn't even think about the propane being low but that was the smell. When we moved in last May, we put a minimal amount in the tank thinking we would not use much in the stove and hot water heater. That's what we get for thinking! I did get a dual stove/oven...the range is gas and the double oven is electric. I figured that even if the power goes out, I can always cook...there I go thinking again...Well, better head out and prepare for this cold we're fixin' to get.

Happy Trails...

Now Comes the Hard Part

2010-01-02T07:36:00.004-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe New Year celebration. We welcomed it in quietly with just the two of us and, yes, early to bed as usual. Buddy set the alarm for 12:01 to wish me a Happy New Year. I returned the gesture and then we rolled back over to sleep. Typically, I make the usual New Year's resolution of losing weight. Of course, it's the same one every year...ha! I'm still my own fat self. This year I had a list of resolutions..
This is where the hard part starts....I resolved to become frugal. I can't say more frugal because when I read the definition, I have been no part of frugal.

Frugal is defined: to be economical in use or expenditure, prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful; entailing little expense; requiring few resources.

This is going to be baby steps for me as I "prepare". I can't do this overnight. I was trying so hard yesterday to not be flipping on lights out of habit and functioning in low light. I made deviled eggs last night by the light of an oil lamp (and of course Buddy had on the tv). I said this was my resolution, not his. He thought I had gone nuts yesterday and just kept shaking his head. So, can you see how hard this is going to be? I think he will put in an honest effort eventually. But, anyway, back to the deviled eggs...I managed but it was sure different. How do folks to it? How did the pioneers of our past do it? I am so spoiled!
We built our home to be efficient but this is going to be a challenge. I read other's blogs about frugal living but most live up north. I am in Texas. I have no cellar or no ice house. We deal with humidity here.
So, please join me on my 2010 journey of learning frugal living in Texas. As I take this journey, I will share my trials and successes with you. I welcome any advice or suggestions. This should prove to be an interesting and educational year at RiverBend Farm.
Happy Trails...

Always something

2009-12-27T18:44:00.004-06:00

Yesterday Buddy and I went into town to get in on some after Christmas sales at Tractor Supply and something to eat other than ham. We've eaten so much ham in the past couple days, I think we could puke. But, alas, guess what's for supper tonight? Anyway, we got into town and noticed cop cars at every light with their lights flashing. Keep in mind we have only 4 traffic lights in town. Of all things, the power was out in all of town. We could see that stores were clearing out all customers. Phooey, so much for hitting Tractor Supply. We did manage to get some barbecue on a cold bun and speaking of cold buns, my butt was freezing on their metal booths..no electricity, no heat. So, back home we went.

When we got home 13 miles away, the power was off at the house. Lovely! So, we'll sit it out for a while. A couple hours pass and Buddy calls the neighbor. What's up? She's got electricity. Buddy grabs a flashlight and heads outside to check the breaker box. Everything looks good but absolutely no juice. I call the power company and they have somebody out here in a matter of minutes. But, in the meantime, Buddy found the culprit...

Can you see him up there? A squirrel is up there to the right of the pole. Unfortunately, he was fried. I will save my readers from seeing what he looked like. Anyway, we quickly got our power back on. We still don't know what caused the power outage in town.

Today, we traveled up towards Dallas to visit some of the kids and grandkids and have our Christmas with them. Was fun but way too quick. We hit the traffic coming home...not's so good.

This past week, we're dog sitting for my niece while she and her family traveled out of town. We love to have Simon come over and stay with his cousin wienies. It's a zoo! But he fell into the routine quickly. He usually stays outside during the day unless I leave.. he follows me out the gate so then he has to stay in the utility room. Too long today so...he went with us... even to church...Okay, he did have to stay in the parking lot during the service. And then we had to hit Sonic on the way home...

We'll never tell....

Happy Trails..

Merry Christmas from RiverBend Farm

2009-12-25T05:36:00.004-06:00

Thanks so much to all my blogger friends for this past year of sharing your stories...the highs and lows..the joys and heartaches..the births and deaths. Whether your posts were merely meant as a personal journal or inspirational or informative, I thank you for sharing and opening your hearts to strangers. Several of you have no idea what your stories have meant to me. I know in my heart that God has purposely placed you on this earth at a very particular time in your life to post your thoughts that were meant to reach me at a precise time in my life. God is the source of love in all of us. On this Christmas day, I wish to share with all you the love that God has shown. He loves all of us so much that he sent His Son to be born on this earth for a redeeming sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10). Jesus is truly the reason for this season of love and giving.
I pray that all you have a safe and very Merry Christmas,

An Eagle Sighting

2009-12-22T13:05:00.005-06:00

I know, I know..this is my second post today but I just had to share this. I saw an eagle this morning! Buddy told me he's seen him before and then a friend from church said she's spotted it the last four years but I got to see it for myself! It was awesome! I had to turn around and go back to the house (about 2 minutes away) and get my camera. I do not have one of those up-close-and-personal lens so I magnified the best I could. No, this is not one of those ugly buzzards...this was a true eagle..absolutely magnificent!!!

Maybe if you click on the picture once I have it posted, it might come up bigger and better. This was a highlight in my year!

Happy Trails...

Holiday Baking

2009-12-22T06:10:00.006-06:00

Ahhh, the smell of something delicious cooking in the oven permeates the house with the aroma of holiday baking. I thought I would share with everyone a recipe that is so easy and most everyone enjoys.

Monkey Bread

18 frozen white dinner rolls (I use Rhodes)

1 pkg instant butterscotch pudding

1/2 c brown sugar

3/4 c butter

cinnamon, pecans

Slightly thaw the dinner rolls just enough to cut in half with kitchen scissors. Roll dinner roll in softened butter and then pudding mix. Place in greased bundt pan and layer with streusel mixture of remaining butter, pudding mix, brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Cover and let rise overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Happy Trails...

Red Tail Hawk in Texas

2009-12-12T07:06:00.003-06:00

First of all, I want to thank everyone for their concerned comments about my post on finding the red tail hawk in my chicken house. I truly appreciate them. I will be honest. I had every intention on killing this menace to my farm. No, I would not go out and just start shooting hawks up in the trees but this hawk was caught in my chicken house and was not leaving. I am not some big hunter that shoots for sport but I do live out in the country and carry a gun to protect myself and my farm animals.
About my post on catching the hawk...this hawk was not hunted. He went through a small trap door to my chicken house and was found in the chicken house. By no means was this bird caught and taken home as a pet. These birds are not anything to mess with. A red tail hawk needs to be respected as a raptor. This hawk was caught and taken to show some kids the "up close and personal" look at a hawk, it's sharp claws and beak and it's majesty of God's work in all it's detail. He was then relocated away from the farm.
According the Texas Parks and Wildlife, a red tail hawk is a nongame specie and is not on the endangered or threatened specie list. In specific, a landowner or landowner's agent may kill any nongame wildlife other than protected birds and threatened or endangered species at any time in any number, provided the wildlife is not used in a commercial activity. Another interesting note, these birds may not be kept in captivity nor their feathers kept.
Thank you,

A Most Unwelcome Visitor

2009-12-11T17:16:00.019-06:00

A few weeks ago as I was sitting looking out the window, I saw a red tail hawk fly down out of
the trees and catch what was probably a mouse. But, why should he bother with a little ol' mouse when he can dine on a big fat hen? And that's exactly what he did. When we found the dead chicken, that was the only thing we could attribute it to...a hawk. So today I'm out feeding and I hear a chicken squawking like it had laid an egg...but then I see two chickens come out of their little trap door of the chicken house just carrying on about something. So, in I go to feed and gather eggs. But I notice that the count is not what it's supposed to be and there sure are a lot of feathers around. I open the door and see a dead chicken on the floor of the house and then look up to see this huge hawk with wings spread and mouth open like I dare to disturb his meal.

Well, now I'm mad. This is two chickens he's killed and one chicken that is still unaccounted for. I call my brother-in-law...he's not home but says to use rat-shot. Great...Buddy's got the gun with him that holds the rat-shot and my little gun would blow a hole through the side of the chicken coop. Buddy's an hour and a half away so I call my good preacher man.. wonderful...he's on his way and he'll have something to get rid of him and keep my hen house intact.

So, preacher man gets here and comes out of the truck with a small piece of rope...okay...what are ya gonna do...rope him? No..he just grabs his legs and then he's ties them with the rope. He wanted to take this hawk home to show his kids. Apparently, he has taken quite a menagerie home to show the family. Whatever...I just want him gone.

So I'm going to share some of the pictures I got. As mad as I was at this bird, he was very majestic.

I've come back and added this last picture of the hawk trying to grab at my camera before preacher man tied up his legs.

Happy Trails...

Cold and Frisky

2009-12-11T10:29:00.005-06:00

The morning ritual...the dogs and horses kicking up and playing the cold.

Ahhh...all settled in. Jasper has them right where he wants them. Out in the far corner off his porch.

Happy Trails...

Yummmm...What's for lunch?

2009-12-06T14:44:00.006-06:00

Campfire cooking on a cold, rainy day.

Cowboy stew and cornbread...

Hot, bubbly cherry, apple, blueberry and peach cobblers...

Happy Trails...

Yes, we had snow

2009-12-04T17:46:00.005-06:00

I did see some real pretty flurries today...more in Bryan/College Station than out here at the farm. And, no, I did not take pictures..I seriously doubt they would show up on the camera. But we did get all the critters tucked in and blanketed. I'll try and get out tomorrow and take some pictures.

Okay..so here's a picture of our lovely Christmas tree..it actually looks a lot better in the picture than in person. One of our friends came over today and was standing there looking at it and finally decided to ask... "Did you just run out of ornaments or are you not finished?" Ha! Ha! Truth is I had it all decorated and here comes Dottie, the cat, and shinnies up the middle of the tree. Great... and, at night, as soon as we turn off the lights, we can hear the ornaments falling and hitting the floor. Forget a tree skirt..all I'm doing is sweeping up broken glass. Yep, I've learned my lesson this year..no more breakable ornaments...I just gave up! Since we just moved into the house, I can't find our traditional ornaments I usually put up...the unbreakable ones. So.. this year we live with lights and redoing garland every morning.

Happy Trails...

Git On Outta Here!

2009-11-29T06:34:00.006-06:00

Ever since we got Cinch, Buddy's horse (on the left), he and my mare, Jess, have become best buds. Yes, they leave out poor Bridget. The only good thing about this new relationship is that Bridget's mane is finally growing back from the other horses chewing it. This is the most common sight now..the two of them standing at the back gate waiting to come into the yard to eat what grass is left. So, big-hearted Buddy has been letting them in the yard for a few hours a day this past week while he's been off. But then they get full and here's where they end up....

Right on the back porch in the smack dab middle of all the pecans I've just picked up and trying to crack.

Not only did they spill them everywhere, they had to smash them up. And, if you can tell in the picture, Cinch got into a bag of bird seed and destroyed it. So I say...

Git on outta here!

Happy Trails...

A Little Catching Up To Do

2009-11-24T06:50:00.014-06:00

As you can see by how high the river is, we've had quite a bit of rain here lately. Can't complain but we're pretty wet right now.

As I promised a long time ago, here are some pics of the WRCA ranch rodeo our church put on back in September.

This is one where we were setting up for the church service and all the broncs were so nosy..they were turned out in the arena and coming up to find out what was going on.

Then we tone it down a bit for our Fall PlayDay we had a couple weeks ago. This was a blast! We had events from Lil' Britches on up to adults.

Here's a string of horses tied up waiting for the stickhorse race... this little buckaroo had to be real careful not to get too close for fear of getting kicked...

Dear sweet Bridget was a champ. I think she ended up with eight kids riding her....that's eight kids going through all the various events! But that's okay...she finally got to go to an arena other than riding the kids around on the farm. She's usually the one that gets left at home but this was her day.

This is the goat ribbon pulling where the little ones had to run and pull the ribbon off the goats tail. This was so much fun!

Yep, Cinch and Jess got to hang out at home...

Happy Trails...

The Three R's

2009-09-29T13:10:00.008-05:00

Not to be confused with Reading, 'Riting and 'Rithmatic. But rodeo, rain and recuperation. Everyone at church put so much into our ranch rodeo for the church kick-off and now we're all pooped! I didn't explain in my last post about the WRCA..my sister called and asked me what that meant. It is Working Ranch Cowboy Association. The events in the rodeo are similar to what a working cowboy would typically do on a ranch..bronc riding, team sorting, branding, cow doctoring and wild cow milking. Each team is made up of 4-6 members and these teams came from all over..some from Nebraska and Kansas. They were qualifying for the world this past weekend. As soon as I get some pictures, I'll be posting. Should have some pretty good ones.

With all the rain we've been having lately, which by the way is wonderful, it has made the grass just start popping up. It's not so good for Bridget, the little horse we have for the grandkids, because she founders so easily. That's a term for laminitis, which is really too much blood flow going to the horses feet and it's very painful for them. So we have her put up in the round pen to keep her off the grass and out of the mud, which irritated them more but with the rain this morning, she was in more mud than the others. Poor Bridget, she's such a sweet little horse.

Then there's Jess and Cinch...see how clean they are? They are two compadres and are always leaving out Bridget. It's funny to watch the hierarchy with these animals.

Speaking of animals, have you ever seen such an ugly dog? He's got eyes like a mule.. very sad eyes. I hate to admit it, but he's so ugly, he's kinda cute. Gosh, did I just say he was kinda cute?! Living in the country near a college town, we are the ones that end up with the critters that someone has no use for anymore and they dump them. This is some kind of chow mix..not quite sure what he's mixed with though! Haven't had the time lately, but this guy has to find a new home. He's on the unpredictable side. We've had three dumped out here this year.

Remember when this one was dumped last year? Yep, this is Jasper. We ended up keeping him. The second dog dumped out here, my neighbor ended up keeping. So this new dog will have to go somewhere. I'm not trying to be cruel but we are not a rescue and cannot keep taking in these animals. It makes me angry when people dump them out here to let us deal with the guilt and the feed and vet bills. If I could, I would keep them all but that's hard to do.

Now that the rodeo is over, I'm looking forward to getting back to normal around here. As soon as I get the pictures, I'll be posting again.

Happy Trails...

This old gray mare is still pluggin' along

2009-09-15T05:48:00.003-05:00

I have no pictures to share but only an update. First of all, thanks to those blogger friends for emailing and checking in on me. It really means a lot to know that so many of you truly care. Yes, it's been a long while since I posted. My reason? don't know...no umph to blog. Most of the time, I feel like what I do is not so interesting to others.
I have been busy working because there are some things that we want and, I figure, the only way to get them is with cash in hand...duh!..amazing how that works. Buddy and I are also involved in a new church. It seems like a year now that we've felt in limbo with a church and have prayed for direction. I think the path God led us on gave us a clear picture as to the end of our search. Let me tell you... we tossed around the idea of visiting a newly planted Cowboy Church in our area and decided it was time to visit. The preacher and his wife just moved from Alpine in west Texas where they had started a church and were there for 6 years. They were then sent to our area to start another. They moved here with all their struggles and a huge pile of faith. The church had only been meeting a few months and still in the baby stages of getting started. Let me tell you how God works... we walked up one Sunday morning and the preacher's wife saw me, reached out for me and gave me a big hug and said "You're here. I've been praying for you". She and her husband had been praying for us specifically to come. At that moment, I knew the reason God led us there. Wow, what a ride!
Let me tell you... even for those of you that might not know Christ, someone is out there praying for you right now just waiting for you to open your heart and accept the Holy Spirit and share in the peace and joy of salvation.
Our church is getting ready to have it's big launch the weekend of the 26th and 27th so we've been hustling to get ready. We're having a two day ranch rodeo with a sanctioned WRCA on Saturday and Sunday with breakfast, church service and then an open ranch rodeo.
We know now that God is using us to minister with what we know - our horses. Buddy will be roping with several of the youth on Wed nights after Bible study. I don't rope so I'm just along for the ride on that one. As a side-note, I wonder if I'm along for the "ride" because the other night I took a tumble off my horse and landed right on my tailbone..yep, I do believe it's cracked or broken. My git-up and git-down is a bit on the slow side but I am still gittin' it! YeeHaw! Praise God is wasn't worse!
Anyway...that's pretty much what's been going on. Whether I've been at work or busy with church activities, I've been on the go. I will try and stay motivated to blog and, hopefully, add some pictures in my next post.
Happy Trails...

End of July Update

2009-07-30T11:06:00.013-05:00

I'm still here but been terribly busy. Let's see...the grandkids have gone home. They were so homesick to see their mom and dad and little sister. I know they are so happy to be waking up in their own beds.

Since they've been gone, I've been working a few more days trying to catch up. Where does it go? It seems like everything is getting more and more expensive each day. I've got to make time to work on things for the store. Buddy and I have so many ideas that we've got to get busy and get them listed. And Christmas is around the corner, so will be getting things ready for that.

We did finally get some welcomed rain here. We've had a couple good showers since I last posted. As a matter of fact, it's getting nice and dreary here now with expected showers. We got a little bit this morning to settle the dust. Last Sunday a twister came through my cousin's place over towards Madisonville along I45 and took out this wonderful old barn. Remember when I posted pictures of it last October? Well, it's gone.

It also took shingles off the roof of his house, ripped two holes in the roof and did damage to his new barn/hanger. He has his office in there along with his plane. The building used to have two 40' doors on it, one of which is gone and they can't find and the other door was sucked in. Now get this...the plane was turned around in the hanger but no damage. The news reported cars being spun around on the highway which runs alongside his place. It was fast and furious. Fortunately, no one was injured.

Dottie went and had her surgery yesterday-thank goodness! I've never heard of a female cat coming into heat as much as she did. It's awful! Anyway, there is this wonderful low cost spay and neuter clinic in a neighboring town...very affordable! So, off she went to her appt yesterday. And look what she got...a tattoo! Okay..I'm a nurse and do not promote tattoos on humans but on animals..it's okay. I won't even get on my soapbox about tattoos and subject ya'll to that. I'll save that for another post.

Last weekend we hiked (drove) up to Vernon, TX, for a wedding. It took us 5 1/2 hours but was great to see a change of scenery. We drove through the very edge of the Waggoner Ranch...550,000 acres! It would take a lifetime to cover all that! As we were driving up there, I pointed out to Buddy to look over at these trees that looked like something out of Africa. All the trees were eaten off to high level...perfectly even. I tried to get a picture.. There wasn't a high game fence so we were puzzled.

As we drove a little further, Buddy saw what was eating the trees like this....

It was camels! Hopefully, you can click on the picture to enlarge it.. I haven't mastered how to do that yet. There were about 20 of them that we saw. What? In Texas, you're supposed to have horses or buffalo or Longhorns..but camels? I guess if you have 550,000 acres, you have to find something to put on there!

Happy Trails...

Did I Mention We Live in a Barn?

2009-07-20T10:12:00.006-05:00

I was trying to be nice to the girls this weekend and let them come in the yard since there's no grass in the orchard and this is where they end up...right on the back porch.

I looked out my kitchen sink window this morning and Jess was standing there like she was walking through a drive-thru ... I'll have an oat burger, hold the onions, with a barley wheat slurpie...make it snappy...

I hear her out on the front porch...caught you! Poor Eve.... the evidence is in your mouth!

Then she turns to me as if to ask..

"Wha-at?"

Happy Trails..

Outside Heat Brings Indoor Projects

2009-07-17T05:56:00.006-05:00

It's been so hot here that the only time to get anything done outside is at sun-up or near dark. The ground is so dry is cracks under your feet. It seems that even the dirt is brittle. Since there's no grass left out in the back for the horses, I decided to turn them out in the yard yesterday since I was home. As you can see, there's not much grass in the yard but they loved what was there.

Ahhh, yes, a day to stay home and get some things done. I didn't have to go anywhere and it was wonderful. I got a chance to get some more things done in the house. Buddy and I have been going out to the storage container early on Saturday mornings when it's cool enough to even attempt to go in the container to get more boxes to unpack. No, we're still not completely unpacked but getting there. Buddy is so anxious to get things up on the walls. Since this house is much smaller than our last one, it's deciding what goes up and what gets kept in boxes. When Buddy and I go antiquing, I'm always on the lookout for good old linens. I recently acquired a bunch so dug through them and found that some of them go perfectly in my house. The kitchen valance are vintage napkins draped across a tension rod. Maybe you can click on the picture to see that there are red embroidered strawberries on the points.

These old lace tablecloths worked great for the bedroom. I still have two more windows off to the right side that I will have to find something for. I'm one of those folks that nothing has to match...the more mixed up it is, the better.

In the next few days, I'll be going through all these linens and adding to our store so stay tuned...

Happy Trails...

Do You Ever Wonder?

2009-07-10T10:17:00.009-05:00

Is it just me or do any of you ever wonder what your day or week would be like if something that took place didn't happen? I'll come back to that. As I sit here thinking about all that has gone on in the last two weeks, nothing just real exciting comes to mind. I wonder how so many of you find such interesting things to blog about. This blog initially started out for a way for my friends and family to keep up with what's happening with life on the orchard. So, here's my past two weeks...

It's been hotter than blue blazes here..everything is pretty much fried...except for anything that I've been eating. Excuse me, my mind is wandering.. my thoughts are on a big chicken fried steak right now and mashed potatoes covered with thick cream gravy....okay, I'm back.

Did I say it's been hot here? We have not had any significant rain in the past several months. Last week we got an inch one day...Thank the Lord for that! The pecan trees are producing pecans but a lot of them have fallen to the ground prematurely because it's so dry. Wednesday we had a wonderful little stormy shower come through that settled the dust on the ground and, yes, more winds that blew more pecans off the trees.

We're also getting a lot of fallen branches. They are so dry and brittle, they are snapping off and hanging there. That is an ongoing chore here of cleaning up limbs and branches. Check out the ground in this picture..there is NO grass!

There is no grass in the chicken pen either so to keep the girls happy, they are still getting their treats of carrots and a few potatoes.

Can you see that they love it?

Okay, now back to back my question... I'm sure everyone has had some of those days that nothing seems to go right or you sit and ask yourself "why me?" or "what else can happen?". I've had several of those days this week. As this 'ol grandma still has two of the grandsons for the summer and dealing with their antics, it's given me times to reflect on the raising of my own kids. Do I have regrets? Would I have done things differently? As I look back I would say that I definitely would but you know what? At that time with all that was put on my plate and not knowing what the future held, I would probably do exactly what I did. And as it is, I'm pretty darn proud of the way my kids turned out. I am a firm believer in Jesus Christ and read in Eccleciastes that there is a season and place for everything. Why things happen when they do, we will never understand but I know that there is a reason for it. I know that I am blessed with this parched orchard and fallen branches. I truly know that I am blessed to have my children and my grandchildren.

Alright, readers, ya'll are just gonna have to deal with me on this blog.. it's all bumbled jumbled and I rambling but, like I said earlier..this blog was initially started as a journal and it's a huge blurb of my thoughts. It's just been one of those weeks for me..well, truthfully, a couple weeks and I know in my heart some things have happened for a reason.

Okay, now I'm still trying to figure out why this had to happen..other than the fact it lets me show you how pretty and orange those carrots make the yolks...

Or why stepping in dog poop as I'm getting to get in the truck to leave for work had to happen...I'll save ya'll from being subjected to that lovely sight.

Well, I'll sign off for now. Thanks for hanging in there with me on this one.

Happy Trails...

Winged Creatures

2009-06-29T05:46:00.007-05:00

I've enjoyed several of your blogs with a weekly challenge of particular pictures. This past Sunday was "things with wings". It's funny how a couple of my pictures for today ended up being with wings. The boys happened across this gorgeous moth last night - it's probably about four inches across. I'm hoping you can click on the picture and get a better close up of all the turquoise colors in this moth.

I know now that I'm asking Santa for a zoom lens for my camera.

My next winged creature is my broody hen. Why in the world she wants to get broody in triple digit temperatures, I have no idea. I'm all for letting her sit on a batch of eggs and see if they hatch out but this hen can't decide which nest box she wants! Seems every time she gets out to eat and drink, she returns to another box. I'd let her keep some of the eggs she was sitting on but then she changes her mind. Too heck with that...I just gathered up all the eggs last night. She seemed content to be left on a nest.

I'm open for suggestions on how to keep her on one nest to let her hatch some out.

I've given up on the back garden except for the watermelons and I think I'm gonna have to let the chickens have them too. I have watered and watered and it is so blasted hot here, the heat has literally sucked out all the moisture from the plants. And whatever is produced seems to turn bad in a day. Even the watermelons are splitting. So it's back to the drawing board on how to improve the garden for the next go-round.

Dottie doesn't have wings but she sure can fly up to some high places. There have been days when I have searched and searched for her and she eventually shows up. I think her favorite spot is back in this far corner above my kitchen cabinets.

If she's not up high, she's learned to open drawers and cabinets and get in there. I had no idea I was going to have to "child" proof my home for a cat.

Happy Trails...

A Week in Review

2009-06-25T06:51:00.003-05:00

Well, what a week this has been. Hopefully, this is not a picture of what is to come with weekly posts. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I've gone back to work a couple days a week. No, I don't much like it but it'll keep my mind sharp...what? Who am I kidding? I don't need to get up and drag my big butt out in the wee hours of the dark morning to go tend to critters to keep my mind sharp! Okay, so I don't much like it but it helps pay the bills..now, that sounds better.

Let's see, I went to Farmers Market last Saturday and did pretty good selling eggs but Buddy called me while I was there to inform me that the dogs got one of the chickens. This is the one that kept flying over the fence to trek to the barn to lay her egg. A few days I would catch her and put her in the dog kennel with a nest in there, hoping she would like that. Nope, she'd lay her egg in there but as soon as I let her out during the day, there she would go to the barn. Well, Saturday she didn't quite make it to the barn...all we saw was feathers everywhere. My neighbor came over Sunday night to tell me the chicken was in her yard. Lovely.. So, one of the grandboys helped me wrangle as many chickens as I could and start clipping wings. Just to add this tidbit, after I get home from work yesterday, this grandson decides he's going to go finish the job so he goes out there and starts clipping wings with some little tiny folding scissors that he has had tucked away in his pocket. Holy Toledo!

I don't know what to do about the "guess the eggs" contest. If I were a chicken, I wouldn't want to be sitting in some hot nest box trying to lay an egg! Yesterday it was 104 here and predicted again for today. I have actually turned on the sprinkler for my chickens and they love it...they go run into it and do their chicken dance, run out and then run back in again. I never knew chickens loved water so much but when it's so dang hot outside, who wouldn't love running through the sprinkler?

Speaking of hot, here's another product review at the request of my husband..

Buddy works out in this blasted heat on a dozer and yes, his butt gets pretty raw. He came across this Anti Monkey Butt with calamine powder in it at Tractor Supply and says it's wonderful.. So, here's something for all the guys out there that work outside or anyone in the saddle all day...it's Monkey Butt to the rescue! I have to confess, I used this stuff under the boobies and it's pretty good stuff. Especially for us old gray mares that have boobies that you can tuck into your pants.

So, for now I will close and hopefully be back before another week. I've got plenty on my to-do list today to keep me busy.

Happy Trails...

Summer Boredom set in with the Grandkids?

2009-06-18T20:19:00.005-05:00

Please tell me someone remembers this game. My husband thinks I'm crazy. One of the grandkids came and told me earlier that he was bored and there was nothing to do by himself since his brother is totally absorbed in a book. And it's too blasted hot to go out and play so I pulled out a plastic gallon jug and some clothespins. Yes, when I was a kid we used to play drop the clothespin in the bucket. Well, you woulda thought this was a new invention! Grandma's pretty smart! He's been playing this now for about two hours and so proud of himself for getting the clothespins in. Truthfully, I had no idea he would enjoy it this much! Maybe you've got little ones around that might be entertained with it too.

Happy Trails..

I love GiveAways!

2009-06-18T17:44:00.002-05:00

Don't you just love give-aways? I have been drooling over the nest boxes at Life on a Southern Farm made by her husband. They have now sold over 100 boxes and to celebrate, so they are giving one away...and I want to win! What chicken wouldn't want one of these? I think some of my girls would really like this because they keep flying out of their pens and wanting to find another place to lay their eggs other than the nest boxes they have in their house. Now what's up with that? My grandson even found an egg on the ground right outside the pen. I guess when we're finding about 6-7 eggs in one box, maybe they are getting a little over crowded in there. But some boxes only have two eggs...choosy chickens!

Trying to Keep Up

2009-06-18T09:13:00.010-05:00

Wanted to share the morning view out my bedroom window...am I blessed or what?

I have been trying to keep up with everyone's blogs but it's been a busy week. I've still got this cough hanging on that I can't seem to shake. Everyone keeps telling me I need to go to the doctor but, being a nurse, I seem to put that on the back burner. The sour economy is hitting us so I've resorted to going back to work a couple days a week. I have plenty to keep me busy here at the farm but it's not paying the bills. Last Saturday Buddy and I spent a long 4 hours out in the hot sun selling eggs and pecan wood. We had a little luck.

If you're keeping up with the egg count, you'll see that there's no consistency. It's been so blasted hot here, even the chickens have been standing in their water buckets trying to cool off. I've opened the door to the chicken house where their nest boxes are, thinking that it might cool it off in there a little bit.

I was working about an hour north of here this past week and it was 106 degrees. That's hot! And there is no rain in our forecast. Looks like we're going to have another year of no pecan harvest. We're having to give the chickens and the horses alfalfa because all the grass has dried up.

One thing that we do have around here on the farm is this sticky sap on everything. It's looks like dew but it's sticky. One picture is this yuk on the gate and the other is a picture of the window on my truck. It washes off with water but it's a nuisance! And it's not a good thing..it's actually aphids feeding on the pecan trees.

I hate to even post this picture but I will..you can see how I've even neglected the garden. I'm ready to mow it down. We're still waiting on watermelons and corn but I'm plowing under all the rest...the beans never produced...lots of blooms but no beans. Too late and too hot. Same with tomatoes.. I'll go out there later and try to get some pics.

I'll still try and keep up with all your blogs.. there are some great posts out there.

Happy Trails...

Are We Having Fun Yet?

2009-06-12T07:31:00.005-05:00

So...this is pretty much the way I've been feeling this past week..about the way that Eve looks... a little week in the knees, leaned back and just plain "give 0ut". Last Saturday I started feeling bad and to add to it, it's been blazing hot here. I'm keeping a couple of the grandboys with me this summer so Grandma is trying to keep up with their energy too. I went to Farmers Market last Saturday to try and sell some eggs...okay, so I didn't grab a tent (and I don't have a huge umbrella) so I go attempt to sell eggs out of the tailgate of my truck. If I heard it once, I heard it 25 times "Girl, you need ya an umbrella." "Those sure are small eggs "(I'm selling them for 50c less than everyone else's because there are some that are smaller!)"What are those green eggs?" "You need to get out of this sun", "what are those? guinea eggs?", "You need to get you some shade". After two hours and selling only two dozen eggs, I called it quits. Plus I wasn't feeling great..sore throat and scratchy throat. So I loaded up my table and my boys and headed home to put my eggs back up and head back to the grocery store. When Grandmas are not used to shopping with two boys, it's a real experience. We quickly went through HEB and then home again.. And my throat is really starting to hurt... We get home and I go unlock the door, throw my purse on the table and am leaving out when one of the boys brings in two sacks of cold/frozen foods and puts them on the kitchen table.. great! What help! I've actually got some help to bring in groceries! So as I'm turning to go back in the house with another load the younger of the boys turns and giggles and tells his brother he has locked the door! NO WAY! Oh, yes way! We are now locked out of the house with two sacks of cold groceries along with my purse and phone sitting on the inside of the house while I'm on the outside of the house with the rest of the groceries. This was not funny! Fortunately, the RV was still parked next to the house with the fridge plugged in so the cold stuff went in there. So all of you are thinking..why don't you just go get the hidden key...well, we recently moved in and quite frankly, I haven't given any thought to needing to hide a key just yet... but now I do! I try and find things that need to be done outside but there is always something that is needed from inside to complete the task. We sit and wait...I don't even my phone to call anyone. At least the boys have their bikes to ride..so where do they go? I look up and they're gone...here comes the younger one to tell on his brother...yep, they've been to the river. Now figure this... when I was kid I used to cover some territory on my horse... why is it that this grandma freaks out when the grandkids go to the river? How could I call anyone if something were to happen? I can't even yell my throat hurts so bad. What did our parents used to do? They didn't have cell phones.. heck, my mother never knew where I was most of the time. (hmmm.. maybe my mother didn't want to know where I was...) Anyway, we were finally rescued when Buddy came in from work five hours later. I was never so glad to see my shower.

The days pass and I'm still dealing with my throat and now a deep chest congestion cough but I'm the secretary (how I got roped into this duty, I'll never know..) for our family reunion of about 200 folks. It's my job to get the invitations sent out. We have a perforated postcard type invitation that tears off and you mail in your response. This same card has been sent out for umpteen dozen years. So I get them all done and to the post office only to hear that the post office will now not accept them because they are too small. Back to the table...to address and stuff them in envelopes to get out to folks. Trust me, after all this, I'm passing the torch to someone else to be secretary!

My daughter came in from out of town to my rescue to help me while I was feeling so puny. This cough and congestion took it's toll on me this year. Theresa was a tremendous help with the kids and even helped give Harley her summer haircut. She feels so much better.

I hated to see Theresa leave after a couple days. She's missed out on being the recipient of daily treasures..

Yep, it was the younger one of the boys that came running into my bedroom the other morning to show me this dead rat he found.
Are we having fun yet?

Happy Trails...

Just a story

2009-06-05T06:53:00.002-05:00

In the early hours of the morning while it's still dark and the sun just has it on it's mind about coming up, I grab a cup of coffee and sit at my computer. It's my time to catch up on other's blogs and try and post comments. I have learned so much from others. Lisa over at Laughing Orca Ranch has been taking me on road trips through New Mexico...places that I know I will never actually get to visit in person. So I'm sitting here trying to post a comment on Lisa's blog and I look up and out the window to catch a glimpse of a beautiful coyote as it's cutting through the orchard. As the early light catches it, I can see it's grace as it moves with purpose towards the road in front of the house. As I'm watching it move, I'm thinking "where are my dogs? and why aren't they barking and alarmed that something has entered their territory?" It continues to move through the orchard and around the front of the house and hits the road, running along it's path between our house and the huge open cotton field out front. I get up from my desk and move out on the front porch to watch it continue it's journey. "Where are my dogs?" About this time, Harley is out front and catches a glimpse of it (remember a past post about her vigil watching the sun come up) and she's up on all fours now. With lightning speed she leaps out towards the coyote and the chase is on. She doesn't even waste precious breath to bark. The dust is flying. They are both running for their lives at top rates of speed. "What's going to happen if Harley catches up with it? Where are all the other dogs? I've never seen Harley run so fast!" ...then they both stop. The coyote turns and they face each other. "Oh, my gosh, they're going to fight!" The coyote runs towards Harley and they meet and greet each other with an affectionate show of play and then the coyote turns and trots off leaving Harley standing there wagging her tail. "What just happened?" Harley watches it as it disappears against the horizon of the cotton field and then goes about sniffing the trail left behind. About this time, here come all the other dogs barking and carrying on as if to proclaim they just chased away a monster.
Happy Trails..

Round Pen Work

2009-06-04T07:30:00.007-05:00

I go out every night and put up my chickens...well, they put themselves up and I go out and lock up their little trap door so they can't get out and nothing can get in. Wednesday night is Bible Study night here and a couple ended up staying afterwards and visiting. It was great. We sat out on the front porch with a night's breeze. So it was late that I ventured to the back of the property to go lock up the chickens. I had my little trustworthy flashlight but still too dark to count fuzzy butts up on perches. I go out this morning and there's one out running around. Now why wasn't she in the house at dark? There's no telling where she was..maybe she has discovered she can get up in the tree. If you can see in the picture, our property backs up to farmland...this year being corn. So after thinking that I might be able to get away without locking up the girls, I figured I better not press my luck. I will continue to go out and lock them up every night. With days staying lighter later, I usually have to stand there waiting for all the girls to go up.

Several times a day I pass what used to be my round pen. I don't think I can really call it round when half of it isn't there. Last winter we didn't get finished closing in the hay and feed area of the barn so when the cold and rain hit, we hurriedly grabbed the panels to the round pen and put them temporarily up to enclose the hay and feed so the horses can come and go to their stalls. I think it's high time that temporary is about to come to an end. I need to ride. Last summer I had carpal tunnel surgery on my right hand and then broke my left hand after a fall while building the house. I'm longing to go ride. You can even see that the sand is missing out of the pen. When the guys were building the house foundation they needed a little bit more sand, so where did they go get it? Yep, out of the round pen. I have yet to replace it. So my project is to get my round pen back to being functional.

Girl, do something with that hair!!

Yes, I'm bad. Jess has been neglected. Look at her mane! She had such beautiful long mane and the other horses have just chewed it off. Now I need to go spruce it up.

I've got plenty to keep me busy with everything else I've got going on so better get to it.. hopefully soon, I can post "after" shots.

Happy Trails...

And the Winner of the May GiveAway is..

2009-06-01T06:16:00.002-05:00

Thanks to everyone that stopped by and left such nice comments for the May GiveAway hosted by Sew, Mama, Sew. Several of you asked if I have an Etsy shop. I do not but we are opening an online store for the Farm which will include handmade items, collectibles and farm products. So all of you that visited the blog this week will get a sneek peek at the Farm Store. Be sure to come back and visit because we are getting ready to open and continually adding products.
The winners, chosen by a random number generator are
Affectioknit and Sarah (e4e8231) Congrats to both of you!

Sunday Solitude as the Sun Goes Down

2009-05-31T19:25:00.008-05:00

A cool drink of water left over from the sprinkler...

Hope everyone had a very blessed weekend,

Happy Trails...

Oops!

2009-05-28T19:02:00.006-05:00

I went out this evening to gather eggs..

Oops, excuse you, did someone have a little touch of gas?

Do you see it?

As my darling husband would say "That's about as big as a popcorn fart!"

Happy Trails...

A Break from My Computer

2009-05-28T15:19:00.011-05:00

I have been at it nonstop this morning working on the webstore trying to get it up and running. Hopefully, it will be open by the end of the week. I had to take a break and go walk to the mailbox..the sun's warmth felt so good on me.

I guess if you're plastic, it's okay to be left out in the hot sun all day...

But if you're not, the shade sure feels good..

The cotton across the road seems to like the hot dry weather.

The farmer way over there is stirring up even more dust...hahuh, huhhh, it's coming my way..time to go back in..

Happy Trails..

GiveAway Day and 100th Post!

2009-05-27T07:42:00.005-05:00

Today is the huge GiveAway Day hosted by Sew, Mama, Sew and I decided to participate once again. In celebration of my 100th post and with Father's Day right around the corner, I'll be giving away two armchair caddies. These are great on an armchair or side of the bed tucked in a mattress. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment why you think someone might enjoy having one. Two winners will be picked at random on June 1st. You have til midnight May 31st to enter your comments. Please make sure I have a way to contact you if chosen. And, sorry, I will not be shipping internationally.

Good Luck and

Happy Trails.....

99 and 1 To Go

2009-05-26T18:47:00.007-05:00

Tomorrow is going to be my 100th post. Be sure to stop by as I'm participating in the huge giveaway day in blogland hosted by the folks over at Sew, Mama, Sew. They hosted one last December that was a huge success and this one's going to be even better and more fun because it's open for several days giving everyone a chance to browse the giveaways on participating blogs.

This is what I got to wake up to this morning. Everything was a pink haze. Am I blessed or what?

Do you think we could use a little rain?

Even the fireants have left...

Aha, here they are...they just relocated.

Don't forget to get in on guessing the day I'm going to get 23 eggs.

Happy Trails...

Guess the Eggs Contest

2009-05-25T18:33:00.004-05:00

Everyday I walk out to gather eggs, it's always interesting trying to guess how many I'm going to have waiting for me. So I thought what fun it would be to have a contest.

Let me start at the beginning...

Dec 17 I started with 24 pullet (a young female chicken) hatchlings; 6 Ameracaunas, 6 black sex links, 6 red sex links and 6 gold sex links. If you look back at one of my posts, it was confirmed that Rooster Cogburn was a rooster which means I have 23 chickens that will lay eggs. Chickens will generally start laying eggs around 20-24 weeks and they will lay one egg a day. When they first start laying, they might skip a day or two before getting into a regular pattern of laying. On May 6, at 20 weeks old, I was presented with the first egg. For several days after that, I would get 1-3 eggs and then a couple days of nothing. On May 20th (22 weeks old) I got 9 eggs, then 11, then 13 and now for the past couple days, I've been getting anywhere from 9-13. The Ameracaunas lay the green eggs so the most I can get of those a day is 5.

Today I got 16 eggs!!! They have a chicken house with their nest boxes and are turned out in a huge pen during the day and put up at night.

This Wednesday, May 27, they will be 23 weeks old. So, I thought I'd have a contest on who could guess the first day I get 23 eggs. Your guess is as good as mine but I will send out a special gift to whoever can guess the day. I'll post at the end of the day how many eggs I've collected. First right guess get the prize.

Good Luck and

Happy Trails...

A Quiet Morning

2009-05-22T07:16:00.007-05:00

Yesterday morning Harley and I were out taking one of our many walks around the place, enjoying the cool crisp start to the day. Of course, she had to stop along the way and chew on a pecan wood stick while I snapped a few pictures.

The dill in the garden is blooming and smells wonderful..

The quiet was interrupted by the cropduster spraying the cotton field out front.

Such is my morning...

Happy Trails..

Another Day, Another Year

2009-05-20T05:39:00.010-05:00

Yesterday, God allowed me to wake up to see this gorgeous sunrise and celebrate another year since my birth day. I will never understand why I've been chosen to be so blessed.

My cup truly runneth over...

Here's the overgrown garden out back. I've got to get out there and weed!

Check out this tiny little cucumber...it's about 3/4 inch long right now.

I've read in some of your blogs that you have trouble with moles. I wanted to share with you a picture of our mole chaser in the front garden. It's basically a windmill that has a little bead up in the crossbar pipe that, when turning, sends down a vibration through the pipe and chases away the moles. My neighbor just asked that we not send them her way because she has enough already.

Eve is out front watching over the front garden. It was so cute last evening..I looked out and Harley was lying at her feet. I tried to get a picture but when I walked out, she saw me and realized that was not me out there and came running.

I'm going to move Eve to the back garden out by the chickens. Maybe she can pull out some of those weeds while I'm in here on the computer...

Happy Trails...

The Party's Over

2009-05-16T07:43:00.007-05:00

Graduation Day has come and gone...yipee! The party's over and now real life begins...get a job!

Here's Buck on the left with his compadre and life long friend since kindergarten in the green shirt who graduated yesterday too. They have no clue what lies ahead...only when they are 40 yrs older and blogging about their own children will they realize what has hit them.

On another note, I got my first green egg yesterday...and the first day I got a total of five eggs. There are still 18 more chickens that need to be getting it on their little pea brain minds. I think I know which Ameracauna this is.. she was at the door this morning waiting for me to finish putting fresh hay in the nest boxes so she could get in there.

Happy Trails...

Busy Thursday

2009-05-14T08:04:00.013-05:00

There's a lot going on today. We've got one graduating from Texas A&M University tomorrow so we're planning a big hoorah. He was on the 5 yr program so we're most happy to see this come to an end. So today is cooking and cleaning day.

I'd tried to get a good night's sleep so I can get crackin' early. Dottie crawled up in bed with me early this morning and curled up right under my chins...no, that's not a typo. My cup runneth over and so do my chins...

Anyway, today is also the day for the aerial spray for the orchard so had to get horses in the barn and prepare for the spray. Hopefully, this will be a good year and we'll have a great harvest.

So while I'm in the kitchen with eggs cooking on the stove, I thought I'd snap a few pictures of the kitchen and family room...it's all one big room. There's nothing yet on the walls...just haven't had time to get to that yet.

Yes, I took the easy way out and bought canned foods. Trust me, I'm still cooking a lot. Here in Texas we eat big.

Happy Trails...

Good Kitty!

2009-05-12T08:52:00.004-05:00

Welcome? I don't think so! I'm sitting here at my computer and Dottie is in her usual spot on the window sill and she starts going nuts! I look out and this huge snake was slithering across my back doorway. I know it's just a chicken snake but I don't do snakes...especially at my back door!

Good Kitty! You're a keeper!

Meet Dottie

2009-05-12T07:52:00.006-05:00

Meet the newest addition to our farm. Buddy and I agreed that when we got our house finished we would get a housecat. We have been looking and found exactly what we were looking for. She is a year old and strictly an inside cat. She is so sweet and loves Buddy. We live very close to Texas A&M University - hence, lots of college students...and I mean a lot! This time of year, the students are vacating the campus and leaving behind their unwanted belongings. Apparently, one particular student moved out and left her roommates with this gorgeous cat which they could not keep or take home themselves. So, that's how Dottie entered our lives.

This is a favorite spot in the house..in the window sill watching the dogs and the hummingbirds zipping to and from the feeder.

Happy Trails...

A Happy Mother's Day Story

2009-05-10T07:40:00.005-05:00

I recall my first real Mother's Day. It was not a day set aside to honor Mother's everywhere. It was the day I became a mother when my first child was born. God said "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children." Gen 3: 16. Yet God makes it a labor of love.
While in the hospital, my mother brought me a florist's arrangment that had an assortment of small green plants. One of those little plants survived it's way for 35 years through countless moves and numerous window sills. It has multiplied, been repotted and multiplied again. A friend of mine asked me just this week if she could have a start for herself and her mother. Oh, yes, this little plant somehow keeps on giving to mothers. Thanks, Mom, for this special plant from my very first Mother's Day.

Mother's Day Gift Idea

2009-05-08T08:01:00.002-05:00

Take something old and make it new.

Find a pretty coffee cup and saucer and glue them together as shown and you've got a perfect little tray for Mom's or Grandma's keepsakes.

Hope every Mother has a very Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Trails...

Narcistic Cardinal

2009-05-07T14:33:00.006-05:00

The first time we saw this bird sitting on the mirror on Buddy's truck, we thought he might be "fighting" the bird in the mirror but this bird now finds my truck mirror to adore himself while Buddy's truck is gone.

Can you see him behind the mirror? He sits there admiring himself and poops all over our trucks. I've seen parakeets do this but never a wild bird.

The Incredible Egg

2009-05-07T06:29:00.010-05:00

Twenty weeks ago yesterday, I brought home 24 day old hatchlings and placed those little puff balls in a brooder box in our RV with Buddy and me. Yes, we lived with those in the house and talked to them like little babies (which they were), coddled them until it was time to move to the barn and then the big move to the outside world and the day finally arrived when I found the long awaited prize of a little brown egg. Unless you have chickens that you've raised from hatchlings, you can't begin to understand the joy it brings to find your first egg. It's like a precious ball of gold.

Happy Trails...

A Whole Lot of Preachin' Going On

2009-05-03T18:56:00.009-05:00

I have to share with everyone pictures of this great little church we've been trying to attend on the first Sunday of every month. It's way off the beaten path to say the least. The building itself is not quite finished..the steeple needs to be finished and there's plans for an arena where kids can come hear the Word and then learn to rope and ride after Sunday dinner.

And this man can preach the Word! What a great way to start your Sunday and then meet afterwards for some good eating and visiting.

Then it was back home for a quick nap and then to work in the garden. We've been blessed with some great rain here lately. Way back I posted about the fact that we had so much rain, it was like a lake out in the orchard. Well, last Sunday it looked like that again and the winds were blowing a current out on the water. I woke up and looked out and saw that a pair of wild ducks had flown in and were swimming out there! That's a lot of rain water!

And the rains bring lots of weeds in the garden so off to work we go... here's a few shots of the back garden.

Already a bell pepper..this is encouraging.

Buddy's watermelons..

corn and beans...

Buddy and I have decided that after doing all the weeding, that we have a new appreciation for homegrown foods. We both worked gardens as kids but decided it's different when you're older and you start it and work it together. I will admit, I do have some very fond memories of running barefoot through the garden when I was a kid...oh, those were the days...

Happy Trails...

Moving In..

2009-05-02T19:19:00.010-05:00

We're in but we're not unpacked. I'm anxious to get y'all some pictures, but I'll bet y'all have all seen pictures of boxes. We got moved out of both storage units and got the furniture moved in and those boxes unpacked. Then Buddy and I ventured out to the storage container and brought up yet another truck load..I'm slowly but surely getting those things unpacked and put away and will soon take some pictures so you can see the house.

As I was walking out the door last Monday to the doctor, they were calling to reschedule due to the doctor being out...so I rescheduled for yesterday...although I called the day before and cancelled it. Being the good nurse that I am (ha!), I decided to take off my cast and start some physical therapy. All is going well and I can see that it's going to take to pain to make some gains getting this hand to working again. In due time...

Here's Buddy working on my kitchen garden. I put herbs down at one end and then planted tomatoes, lettuce and carrots.

And then Harley got to it with her digging holes. All she got was the mint and I think even a little bit of it is trying to come back up.

Here's the back garden before everything was planted and we turned out the chickens. Let's see.. now there's watermelons, corn, purple hull peas, Kentucky Wonder beans, cucumber, okra, squash and potatoes.

Speaking of chickens, they are now 19 1/2 weeks old and have not yet started laying. The nest boxes are ready and I talked to them everyday telling them that they better start getting it on their minds. As a matter of fact, it's time for me to go put them up for the night.

Happy Trails...

Oh My, Oh My

2009-04-26T19:26:00.004-05:00

Oh, how I've missed being able to blog and comment on so many of your blogs..but I have enjoyed reading and keeping up with everyone. As you can see from the picture, I've been in a bind..literally. Over a month ago after a torrential downpour, I slopped through the mud to go pick up a chair that had blown off the back porch of the house and I danced all the way to the concrete with the chair. After many tears and much moaning, Buddy talked me into going to urgent care the next day....ah yes, I broke a bone in my hand. My first broken bone...So now I've been adorning this lovely half cast. I go back to the doctor tomorrow for more xrays and will find out if I can get rid of this nasty thing. I must admit, I've taken this off this weekend to do some physical therapy on my hand. My wrist and three fingers are frozen. I figured trying to type would be good therapy. Do you know how often you use the letter "a" and the shift key? Way too many times! Weeks ago I tried pecking out some words but it took me forever and was extremely frustrating so I gave it up.

I am happy to announce that our house is finished and we started sleeping in here three days ago. Yippee! That's another thing that I've just been able to master...holding the camera.

Right now the house is full of boxes to be unpacked. Now, that's a sight! I have to take out one thing at a time with my good hand (which, thank God, I'm right-handed) and put that one thing in it's place...it takes forever.

Anyway, I'm back and will be posting once again and will get lots of pictures. By the way, I'm telling my doctor tomorrow that this cast stays off! I cannot stand it anymore!

It's a Good Day!

2009-03-05T07:49:00.005-06:00

Happy Anniversary to Buddy and me! It's been 15 years. I'll admit it hasn't all been wedded bliss because we've had some tough times to get through in the beginning. But I will say that our love has continued to grow every day. This man still makes me laugh and I love spending my days with him. I am so blessed to have a husband like him. We both know that it takes having Christ in our marriage to make it work. Both of us have our faults so we rely on our perfect Lord for strength to continually bind our love for each other. How blessed I am to know a love like this!

So what's with the juicer? Buddy has been wanting one of these for a long time so it's a happy anniversary gift for both of us. Maybe it'll make us a little healthier so we can have another 15 years. I gag at the thought of V8 juice but Buddy loves it. I can handle fruit juice so this'll be interesting. I'll let you know how it works and if anyone out there has one, I'd love some tips.

It's official! Rooster Cogburn is a rooster. He found his voice this morning and was crowing up a storm. Now he holds his head up a little higher and struts his stuff!

I had to snap this picture of Jess and Bridget. It's like they were saying "thanks for the hay" since, as you can see, there is absolutely no grass here. We're still praying for rain.

I want to say a big thank you to my blogger friends who have sent such comforting words about me wrecking the truck and being so stressed. I really appreciate you.

Happy Trails...

A Sense of Calm

2009-02-18T05:53:00.008-06:00

Yesterday was foggy with a lot of drizzle......not so much rain but heavy drizzle. We'll take it. We haven't had measurable rainfall since last September.

There was a sense of peace and calm yesterday..no workers, no hammers, no skill saws...just quiet.

I'm Back

2009-02-16T08:06:00.009-06:00

Did you think I'd fallen off the planet? Nope, just been super busy and ended up taking a little hiatus from the blogging. Buddy took off a few days to help get some stuff done around here because it's getting down to the nut-cuttin'. Speaking of... earlier this week it was another one of those days where there were just too many entities here at once...electricians, framers and, of course, my cute little plumber kid. Well, I was gathered with several of them in the house, including my plumber kid, having a meeting of the minds while Buddy was chasing Jasper, the golden retriever, out of the house. After mission accomplished, Buddy walks over to us talking and mumbles, yet still loud enough for all to hear, "you need to have his nuts cut out!" The plumber kid quietly responds "I'm just trying to help...". I about busted a gut! What next?!

I leave out of town for a couple days, leaving hubby to watch over things. I come back and find this huge honkin' breaker box on the end of the house!! My gosh, this thing could service an industrial park! And my house is only 1600 sq ft!

What the heck?

If you can't make it out, yes, that is one of the workers on the scaffolding "catching a few rays"...

A couple of days we spent putting in over 500 ft of water line from the well to the house and the barn. I don't think we've been that tired in a long time. But it does give you a good feeling when you do something yourself.

Miss Monroe, Miss Taylor, Miss Berte..where are you?

2009-02-05T06:25:00.006-06:00

Yesterday was crazy around here to say the least. Plumbers and framers here together. Where's the electrician that was supposed to be here?

My morning started off with a phone call before 8am from the plumber asking if I was going to be here because he had some questions. Yes, I was planning on being here all day. The plumber gets here first with his crew. There is still no wall between the shower and the toilet. So the framers arrive and are putting in the wall. In the meantime, I am being called out of the trailer about every 20-30 minutes.

I have to admit, I felt like a movie star being called out of her trailer, keeping the crew waiting with baited breath to catch yet another glimpse of me. And here I come, one more time, being so sure to hang on to the rail so I don't bust my butt as I saunter down the steps, thinking

"makeup! Where's makeup?"

So I go into the maze of framework and head over to the men standing once again with hats off, scratching their heads... what is with that? And then I glance over to see that they are looking at the narrow little space for the toilet... and I tell them right off without discussion "if you think I'm giving up buttermilk pie for the rest of my life so I can sit my butt in there, you are clearly mistaken...move that wall!"

The plumber kid...yes, I'll call him a kid..he could be my son.. quits coming to the door of the trailer to get me and, I kid you not, starts calling me on his cell phone! I'm thinking, "no, this can't be". About that time, I hear a big truck coming in...

What the heck?

Oh my goodness, it's a bathtub!

So I turn and walk away with a chuckle.. I don't even want to know...

Tuggin' At My Heartstrings

2009-02-03T20:32:00.008-06:00

Look at this little cutie pie..she just turned three months old and her mama doesn't want anything more to do with her. Her mama was one of many horses turned out to pasture...she cut her foot and never quite recovered leaving this darling baby. A friend brought these two fillies over for me to look at. This little one kept tugging at my heartstrings but I didn't keep her. It would have been soooo easy to take that lead rope in my hand and walk her out to the barn. Trust me, I was tempted.

This red and white paint is six months old. She's a sweetheart too but lil' squirt stole my heart.

Buddy gets home from work after dark and I showed him these pictures. As he looked at the pictures, he glanced out towards the barn and said he's not convinced she's not out there in the barn...hhmmm...

The metal is on the front of the house. The electrician and the plumber are due here tomorrow. It's moving along.

When You Get Lemons

2009-02-02T09:34:00.004-06:00

My neighbor has a lemon tree and brought me a bag of fresh lemons yesterday. I wish I could share the smell with you. There is no comparison to the ones you get in the grocery store.
Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to make with them. When you get lemons you make.....?

Remember me telling you about my new friend for my dry chapped hands? Udder Delight? I've got to fess up and tell you what I did last night. Well, my lips have been extremely dry and chapped too....yes, I did. When I went to bed last night I thought "what can it hurt?" The best thing that could happen is that I'll wake up with no wrinkles and beautiful pouty movie star lips... and the worst...I'd wake up with lips looking like cow udders!! Ha! Neither, I woke up with lips that just felt good.

Happy Trails...

Update on the House

2009-01-31T19:35:00.004-06:00

It's finally starting to look like it might be a house. The windows and exterior doors are in. The roof is on each of the porches and the carport. This next week the guys will be putting on the rest of the metal and putting up the interior walls. Then the electrician and the plumber come in and do their thing.

Back porch view.

What's In Your Forecast?

2009-01-30T06:46:00.003-06:00

Thanks for everyone's comments about the weather. This is just too funny to let rest. Have ya'll been reading everyone's posts lately? It's all about this crazy extreme weather we've been having. But what's so stinkin' comical is listening to the weathermen.

First, let me say a big thanks to Tammy for enlightening me on the difference between freezing rain and sleet. I truly did not know there was a difference. We just always called it sleet. Yesterday, I kid you not, we were forecasted "abundant sunshine". It's not percentages any more..it's forecasted in amounts!! But get this... Kathleen was forecasted frozen fog...what the heck is frozen fog?! Where do these guys come up with this stuff? Remember the old Parkay commercial "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature" and it lightnings when she snaps her fingers?

I would love to keep hearing from everyone what's in your forecast? What do you expect to see when you open your door in the morning...a slathering of freezing rain, two scoops of frozen fog, sprinkled with a few cats and dogs? Curious minds want to know...

Well, Blow Me Away!

2009-01-28T13:03:00.003-06:00

This is the way I've been feeling the last couple days. One day the wind is blowing like crazy from the South and the next day it's blowing like crazy from the North. When I was trying to either open or close the door to the RV, I felt like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz trying to get into the storm shelter but the wind was so strong she couldn't get it open. Where are my red slippers when I need them!?
We still haven't gotten any rain. I think we're now 12 inches below normal. This morning we were predicted to have freezing rain. Call me stupid but I thought freezing rain was called sleet. Are we in a new era where it's not politically correct to say "sleet"?

My New Friend

2009-01-26T06:57:00.002-06:00

Meet my new friend....Udder Delight.

Even though I wear good leather gloves outside to work in, my fingertips have been so dry and cracked, they are bleeding. So here lately, every time I go to the co-op, there has been a jar of this at the checkout so I, like a good customer, indulge. It makes my hands feel so good. Saturday, I finally bought my own jar. My gosh, this stuff is wonderful. In two days, my hands have improved. I've used the hoof treatment and Bag Balm but this stuff is great. I just need to take the time to put some in a small container instead of carrying this huge jar in my purse!

Happy Trails...

Is It That Time Already?

2009-01-23T11:04:00.008-06:00

We've got another beautiful day..a bit windy, but I'm not complaining. The farms around us have been plowed and it's already time for the cropduster to start spraying the dirt getting ready for the new crops to be planted. Does that mean spring is around the corner?

With all his acrobatics, he really has the horses stirred up this morning.