The hurricane is on it's way!

Every so often I get a forward that really makes me smile. My Dad sent me this one and I think you will get a smile out of it too.

A baby moose was in distress in a creek. A man got him out of the creek; tried to find the mother & send him on his way,
but eventually the moose stumbled back into the creek & was rescued again. The baby moose followed the man home.
The man has only a small cabin so he took the moose to another neighbor, who took these photos.
They took the moose the next day to a woman who looks after wild animals & she put it in a pen with a rescued fawn.

Don't you just love happy endings?! This little guy would surely have died out there alone and now he will grow up and be released back into the wild! :o)

We have been having rain, rain and more rain this weekend. I don't know how many inches so far but the ground is saturated and there are puddles everywhere. It's a good thing we postponed our Paws On Parade fundraiser until October 11th. Of course for me that day was already booked with three other functions. We were going to have the GMC's, God's Mature Children, our senior citizens group at our church down to our cottage for a cookout, a dinner to attend that evening and a function in the afternoon. Yikes! We will have the GMC's down another time and the other two things I will have to just play it by ear but I will be at our fundraiser!

Just got the weather report and they are telling us that a hurricane is on its way here to Maine. The coastal regions are going to get hit the worst and we are about 25-30 miles inland so maybe we will be spared the worst. We are going to take in all the porch cushions, make sure the barn windows are tight and put the cars in the garage in case any trees fall. I'll go out after church tonight and pick up some more bottled water to have on hand. We have a generator that will take care of the house and Mom and Dad's apartment so we should be all set.

We went to Ground Round after church this morning. The kids like it and it's a bit more low key then the Rudder. Have you ever had deep fried cheese cake? All my intentions of watching what I eat went out the window when they brought that out. Also the mini doughboys with chocolate sauce, strawberry sauce and ice cream to dip them in.........sigh......there's always another day to diet I guess.........

In keeping it real here on the ole' hobby farm I have a question for you. Do you ever walk into your house and smell a stink? Now don't say that you haven't because I won't believe you. Anywho, I had been smelling something a bit suspect and couldn't figure out what it was. I thoroughly washed out the refrigerator, taking out anything that was outdated or had fuzzy mold on it. I won't believe you if you say you've never found something in the back of your refrigerator in Tupperware that had fuzzed out either. Well all was clean and fresh but I still could smell something in the kitchen. I started cleaning cupboards, sink, garbage disposal, you name it and STILL could smell something unsavory. This was getting on my nerves. Big time. Finally I thought I would clean out the cupboard under the sink so I took everything out and there in the back corner was this:

Any ideas what it might be? No it's not anything that comes out of a horse. It's a petrified potato! I keep a bin for my potatoes under the sink and evidently one got knocked out and fell behind everything and obviously had been 'ripening' for some time...........GAG! Now I don't claim to be Mar#tha Ste#wart with everything in it's place and a place for everything but I do try to keep a clean home. I was so glad when I finally found where the offensive odor was coming from! Like I said, just keeping it real, I've already lost all self respect on this blog from some of the things I have talked about (remember the spray on tan debacle or the one piece girdle thingy?) so what more is a petrified potato going to add to the mix? :o)

Please keep my Mom in prayer tomorrow as she goes in for her surgery. Her name is Ginny.

Early Random Friday

Okay, I know it's Thursday but I need to start my Random Friday post early as I have a busy few days coming up. We are counting down to our big fundraiser for the Humane Society which is going to be held on Saturday. Now we haven't had a lick of rain in two or three weeks but it's supposed to rain on Saturday........Sigh....... Guess I'd better find my big golf umbrella and some waterproof boots!

We are meeting today to put together the bags that we are giving out to all of the participants. Each business that sponsored us will have their brochure advertising their business put in there along with magnets, their PAWS t-shirt and other goodies. We have 300 to put together. Yoshi, the resident mascot cat will be there helping us. She always attends all of the board meetings going from person to person to be petted and loved. She is an honorary board member.

Jo-Lynne, my niece that did my new design has made a button to put on my blog sidebar and I would like to give it to all of my readers to put on their sidebar if you would like. I think it is adorable and it will remind you all to come visit me often! :o) If you are in the market for a new design hop on over to Jo-Lynne's site DCR Design and take a look at what she does. She really works hard at getting just the right design for her clients.

Have any of you made the Amish Friendship bread from the starter? My neighbor gave me a cup of starter and today is the day that I mix it all up and bake it off. Each day you have to mush the bag of starter and on day 5 you add a cup and a half of oil, milk and flour. Today is day 10 so I am anxious to see how it comes out. My neighbor says it is just absolutely delicious so I will let you know!

At this point you add all the rest of the ingredients and put it in two loaf pans. It is cooking and my kitchen smells heavenly! Update: It is just scrumptious!

The oldest horse at the stable who belongs to my friend Ellie foundered yesterday. He is a 33 year old Morgan and and can still do most of his dressage moves. We think he got into a wasps nest as he has trauma to his neck with lots of swelling which the vet thinks went to his feet. He hasn't had any rotation in his feet so that is very positive and we are hopeful that he will come out of this.

My blogging buddy Nancy at Nancy's Nonsense bought a pie plate a while back that I just loved. She offered to pick one up for me and mail it and I got it yesterday. It is so NICE! It is deep and has the fluted edges which I love, plus it is red! I just put together an apple pie in it for it's maiden voyage! Thank you Nancy!

Noodles loves it when the grand kids are here. Munchkin, notsomuch! I was getting things washed and packed up the day they were to go home and I think Noodles knew something was up. He climbed into their suitcase and stayed there all morning. I don't think their kitty would appreciate it if Noodles came home with them!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Remember my Mom in prayer on Monday as she goes in to have her knee replacement surgery! Thanks!

Update: Just got home from our PAWS meeting and our fundraiser has been postponed until October 11th due to the threat of heavy rain on Saturday. :o(

Tuesday Talk

It's very foggy today. I am hoping it will burn off before I have to go out to do errands and go to the church to do some fall decorating. I have been listening for the school bus so that I can wave to T and D when they go by but with all the trucks bringing gravel in here for our carriage roads out back I think I missed the bus. Guess we've all missed the bus in one way or another in our lives at one time or another haven't we?! Wait a minute, isn't that missed the boat rather then missed the bus? Sigh.....a mind is a terrible thing to lose......

We had a wonderful time this past weekend visiting Hubby's sister and family in Boston. Actually they live about a half hour outside of Boston in a beautiful rural community that has horse farms everywhere! We got to see some of my niece's riding lesson which I always LOVE TO WATCH! She is doing so well with her lessons and jumping things that I would never dare to!

Anyhow it is a lovely area where Hubby's sister and family live. It is steeped in history with Revolutionary battles being fought there. We ate dinner at an old inn where the food was delicious. They had things like Yankee pot roast, chicken pot pie and prime rib. I wanted to take some pictures but it just wasn't the kind of place where you could haul your camera out of your purse like I usually do and start snapping photos! lol! I think I would have gotten some looks.....

I have been getting my fall decorations out. I love fall, it's my favorite time of year and I love the decorations. I picked up a few new things while away this weekend and am so happy with them. One thing is this three candle arrangement for my dining room table. I think it goes well with my place mats.

Also have my hutch decorated although I might change things around a bit. You all know how that is. I'm not really happy the way it is right now.


I always enjoy decorating my fireplace in the living room for all the different seasons.

This is one of the wall hangings that I haven't finished yet so I'm using it for a table runner on my kitchen table. The punch bowl I picked up at Home Goods store in Massachusetts this weekend. I love it!

This is an old harvest table that I bought years ago and had refinished. It's in my foyer. I want to put some of my gourds on there once I get a finish on them.

That's about it so far on my decorating. Outside I have some mums on my front porch and once October is here I have lots of Halloween stuff to put out.

Just got home from my decorating at church and of course we had to go have pizza at our favorite pizza place. Funny how that always happens! :0)

Random Friday

There was frost on the pumpkin last night. It got down to about 27* and the ground is white this morning. My hanging plants on the front porch look okay, I guess the roof overhang protected them just enough. I accidentally left a big spider plant out but even that looks okay. I brought it in this morning though to warm it up a bit and now it will stay inside.

I closed the windows in the barn for the first night last night. Nick just doesn't get much of a coat so I always worry about him being cold. I guess it's the Thoroughbred half of him as the Welsh part should be giving him a nice winter coat but it just doesn't happen. He's the only one that I blanket in the winter, the rest get real heavy, thick coats of hair.

We are anxiously awaiting the pictures that were taken this week of the horses to be up on the photographers website so that we can order what we want. He's going to come back and get some of them running through the pasture. Just give T a lunge whip and they will run just fine!

Sure is quiet around here without T and D! We miss them! Son and DIL had a great time at the convention, lots of golf for Son and a day at the spa for DIL plus shopping. The ride in that small plane was fine except the potty was right there beside everyone and you just pulled a curtain around you.........needless to say no one 'went' until they got home........ahem........

We are headed out tomorrow to Massachusetts to visit Hubby's sister and family. We always enjoy going there and spending time with the triplets who BTW are getting drivers licenses now! Yikes! When did they get old enough for that?!

Anni over at Hootin Anni's has asked for prayer for this family who was affected by Hurricane Ike. Pea posted this and as of her posting they still didn't know if they had a house left or not. Update: I just went over to check Anni's site and she says their house is still standing but has lots of damage including mold which has already started growing! Power won't be restored for about three weeks and water/sewer for two months. This family is very upbeat and has a place to live for now but still needs our prayers along with so many other folks that have lost so much due to this storm. Anni also has a Halloween craft posted today that is so cute! Go on over a take a looksy! :0)

Mary at Mary's Writing Nook has passed this lovely award on to all of her regular readers. Thank you Mary! Mary has a wonderful blog that I enjoy so much. Now I would like to pass it on to my readers as you all are an inspiration to me and bring joy to my life. As I have said before the outpouring of kindness and love sent my way when we lost Buddy was amazing!

Pea at Pea's Corner is passing this Best Friend Forever card on to her readers. Thank you Miss Pea! You truly have become one of my best friends! I would like to pass this one on too as I have made so many wonderful friends in Bloggsville!

If you want a REALLY good belly laugh go over to In The Midst Of This Season and read Toni's post on Lucille Ball Lives On. It is one of the funniest posts I have read in a long time and if you are drinking soda at the time of reading, it will most likely come out your nose so be forewarned!! I am not kidding. Donna over at Just Me sent us over to this site and it is hilarious!

This is a shot of Lil' Bud's eye. I love horses eyes, they are so soulful. You can tell a lot about a horse if he/she has a kind eye. Funsize is going to be busy this weekend as she is staying here taking care of our horses plus taking care of all of the horses at the stable!

I guess it was a slow news day:

Man charged with pooper-scooper assault
By Kim Lincoln The Courier-Gazette Reporter

WARREN (Sep 15): A Warren man was taken to Knox County Jail on Sunday after he assaulted another man with a pooper-scooper, according to police.

Deputy Danielle Welch responded to an assault at -- Tolman Road in Warren on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
Perry A. , 53, was arrested after he allegedly hit a man in the head with a small metal shovel used to scoop dog waste. He was having an argument with the other man, police said.
He was charged with aggravated assault, said Chief Deputy Ernie McIntosh of the Knox County Sheriff's Office.
The alleged victim was treated at the scene by Warren Rescue but refused transportation to a hospital, McIntosh said.

Welcome to my world! lol!

One last random item. I have grown gourds in my veggie garden this year. I have quite a few different shapes and sizes. What I want to know is do any of you know what to put on them after picking so that they won't rot? I have some spray polyurethane, does that work? Let me know if you know. Thanks!

Have a good weekend everyone!!!

Pumpkin Picking Time

The moon was just going down when I went out to the barn this morning at 5 a.m. It is almost a full moon and looked so pretty through the trees. I had heard some noise coming from the barn so went out to investigate. Don't usually hear a peep from the boys but I guess they were squabbling like little boys do and some one let out a squeal. All was well and they got their breakfast a bit earlier then usual so they were happy.

Saturday we went on our annual pumpkin picking excursion. The grand kids look forward to this each year and so do I! It was pretty picked over as we were a week or so later then usual so we didn't get any huge ones but there was still enough for the kids to hunt for and carry back to the truck.

Funsize, are your clippers big enough? heehee!

Grammie and D.

Funsize met a new friend!

This year some neighborhood friends went along. Look at D on the left, he was tired of having his pictures taken!

This week is busy as Son and DIL are headed to a convention today. They are being picked up at the airport by the company that is putting on the convention in an eight passenger plane! Yikes! I'm glad it isn't as windy today as it was yesterday or they would be bouncing all over the place! Where's the Dramamine?!!!! Instead of a six and a half hour drive it will be an hour and a half flight. :o)

T and D are staying here with us so we will be having fun and this house will have a lot more activity then usual. After school today the photographer is coming to take pictures of Kipper, Skippy and Nick plus I'm going to have some done of T and D with the ponies. Tomorrow afternoon he will be going to the stable to take some of Lil' bud and Funsize plus some of the other horses stabled there.

If you want a wonderful devotional on Disappointment hop on over to Nancy's at Olive Leaf Ministries. Nancy has had her share of disappointments in life being the loving Mom to an autistic daughter. Through God's grace she deals with this with love and peace. It's a short little video and well worth your time to listen! :o)

T had her stitches out yesterday. Once again she was very brave and didn't shed a tear! Her eye looks good and I don't think there is going to be much of a scar. As far as I know they still have the dog but only because they were told they had to keep him for 10 days to make sure he doesn't have rabies. T made a nice card for her little friend that the dog belongs to. She says she feels worse for the little girl then for herself as she knows how much the little girl loves her dog. T has a kind heart, this makes a grammie smile!

Random Friday

It's raining cats and dogs here today. I don't know if it is from one of the hurricanes or not but it sure is coming down. Hubby, T and I just got back from taking Kipper, her pony, to the vets office for his yearly Cushings test. He has had Cushings for several years now and is on a medication for it and we have to have his blood levels checked each year. He whinnied for his stable mates most of the way down but was a good boy getting his blood drawn even though they had to do it twice as they didn't take enough the first time.

When I walked in they all greeted me with condolences on the loss of Buddy. They all loved him there, he was such a big ole teddy bear to work on and they knew he had been through a lot over the last couple of years. One of the gals handed me a card that they all had signed which was so nice and also an angel that one of them had made out of a piece of his mane. I was so touched! Have you ever seen this done before?

T went with us as she has had a couple of rough days. She was bitten by one of their neighbors dogs right above her eye. A quarter inch closer and he would've gotten the eye and it could have been very bad. She had five stitches and was very brave and didn't even cry while getting them. They are getting rid of the dog, this isn't the first time he has bitten someone. Why they would keep a dog that bites is beyond me! I hope this doesn't make her scared of dogs as she loves animals.

Mom and I went in for her pre op testing for her knee replacement. Dad met us there after his appointment. She goes in the 29th for the surgery, will be in the hospital three days and then in a rehab facility for two weeks. I told her I was going to say that she was in rehab for her alcohol consumption like the movie stars! Seeings as she doesn't drink at all kind of makes that a stretch! I know she will be like a new woman to get that arthritic knee replaced with a new one. Being in constant pain is very hard and she has had it for months and months.

I have been working each day on our Humane Society Paws On Parade fund raiser. Besides monetary contributions I have gotten things from different places like restaurants have given gift certificates for meals, a photographer is giving a free pet sitting appointment, a $ 100 gift card from Toys R Us for the child that raises the most money, that sort of thing. Most people have been so good and really supportive. The event is September 27th and I am so hoping for a nice sunny fall day and NO RAIN!

I'm having portraits done of all my horses next week. I wish I had done this before Buddy passed away but I didn't. Don't we all have things we wish we had done? So, the photographer is coming here to our place on Wednesday and to the stable on Tuesday as along with Lil' Bud and Funsize there are two of my friends that are going to have their horses done as well. They are starting to get their winter hair so they won't be slick and shiny but at least it will be done.

Tomorrow if it has stopped raining we are going pumpkin picking as we do every fall. The grand kids love it and I love the photo ops! This year some of their friends are going with us so it should be a great time.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! :o)