Playing in the North country!

Have you ever tried to type with a cats leg hanging over your keyboard? Noodles, my BFF is always wanting to be close by which is fine with me but this keyboard thing is taxing! The other thing he has a penchant for is chasing the cursor while I type which I'm sure isn't good for my screen........ I do shoo him away when he does that. (Dad, BFF means Best Friend Forever in teen lingo)

We have been back on the trails this weekend. With plenty of sunshine and snow it makes for a fabulous time in the outdoors. Each winter I check on the nest that is growing bigger each year on the power line. These birds sure know how to construct, nothing blows these things down!

The grand kids and Cousin K like doing the hand signals when we ride. The front sled person signals how many sleds are behind him and the last sled person holds up a fist meaning there are no more sleds in the party. These are safety measures for all concerned.

We stop on occasion to stretch our legs and the kids have a juice box. I always have my camera ready of course.

We were on top of a big hill and it was so pretty looking down in the valley.

We went through several huge corn fields. Don't know why they weren't cut down in the fall????? Maybe they are rotating the crop and this field will have a few years off.

There were lots of people out on the trails as it was such a nice day. We arrived at the little mom and pop store, put gas in the machines, had a soda and a snack, took advantage of the indoor plumbing and were on our way again headed home. D was riding with me and started falling asleep so I put him in front of me instead of the back so that he could put his head down and snooze and I could have my legs and arms around him. I am not comfortable with them asleep on the back, it makes me nervous even though I know they can't fall off as there are armrests and a back surrounding them. Just a grammie thing I guess.

Don't you just love this picture? I've got to try to find out where to order a print of it. Anyone know???

My brother and SIL like to ice fish so they went down to the cottage this weekend. The ice on the lake is about a foot thick due to all our frigid weather. They had pretty good luck and caught several salmon.

One really exciting thing happened that SIL caught on camera. A HUGE bald eagle was circling over looking for food so my brother threw him a fish which he promptly swooped down and took! These birds can have an eight foot wing span and are gorgeous. We don't often see them at the lake but do here at home as we live right on the river and it never ceases to amaze me as to how beautiful they are!

This was the sunset that evening that they watched as they baked the catch of the day for dinner. Now that is fresh fish! :o)

Next week we head for the sunny south for a few days to attend a convention. I will be hooking up with my dear friend and buddy Needled Mom as she and her hubby are always at this convention. Incidentally this is where we met quite a number of years ago over breakfast one morning while the men were in their class. Someone said the word quilt and we immediately bonded! lol! I am about as far north as you can get and she is on the sunny coast of California but we always keep in touch and look forward to this time together each year. See you there NM, I will be the one with the mayonaise white legs!! :o)

Random Friday

It's 1:45 AM. Why is it sometimes when you need sleep the most it isn't there? Of course sleeping in the chair in front of the fireplace for four hours should count for something.......I missed the programs I wanted to watch tonight but can always pick them up on the computer. Funsize told me how to do that yesterday. I did get caught up on quite a few posts so that was time well spent. A few more to go but I think that will have to wait till morning. Oh, it is morning. Well later in the morning.

Barn kitty has a new name. Nancy over at Nancy's Nonsense who BTW is a cat lover, gave me the best suggestion today. Barnie. Barnie the barn cat. I love it! He's doing well and happy to be home in his hayloft away from needles and people and noise at the vets office! Munchie and Noodles go down to visit with him and keep him company. Lots of times when I take his canned food and his water down to the barn they are in there with him.

Today I spent the afternoon at the humane society. I needed to take the Have A Heart trap back so went over. We have 14 dogs and probably the same amount of cats and kittens. I have to go see each and every one of them every time I go over. Also have beautiful doves that look like mourning doves with the rings around their necks. One of them has two babies that hardly have any feathers yet. So cute!

One of the dogs got adopted while I was there and quite a few of the cats have been also and are waiting to be picked up. They have little red collars on if they have been adopted. Also have bunnies, rats, mice and hamsters. What a great job the staff does there, they put their heart and soul right into making a better life for these pets that don't have a home yet.

Got the pictures downloaded from last weeks excursion on the snowmobiles. This is my son and that is D walking ahead.

This is me and T. The kids switch off between their Dad and me. I think they are much safer with him! Don't ask me why I have my scarf hanging out, very dangerous! DUH!

This tree will have to be cut down before it falls down and blocks the trail. This is a new trail that the kids have been working on this fall. It's just beautiful through there!

I love the way the barn looks with the snow coming down.

Sledding over at FIL's house. D had gone in the house as he was cold from the ride.

It's a long way back up the hill!

I got this in an e-mail the other day. It pretty much sums it all up....... Does anyone else continually hunt for things or is it just me????

Well it's 2:30 AM so guess I will go back to bed. Have a wonderful weekend everyone and stay warm!

Barn kitty captured!

I don't know how far I will get with this as I am on Hubby's computer and his keyboard is much smaller then mine so I keep making mistakes. I'll go until I get fed up with myself for not being able to adapt. Funny how we get stuck in our own ways and don't like changes. Am I the only one who drags their heels at change? Of course I am not only speaking of computers but of things in life in general. I know there are people out there that are always looking ahead to the next adventure but I am not one of them. I am so happy in my present circumstances and would really hate for anything to change. I do like to see new things though and anytime we travel to some place new I always like to soak in every little thing to be seen. We would like to go to England in the not too distant future and that sounds very exciting to me.

Anywho, back here on the farm we have had some changes in the last couple of days. We acquired about a foot and a half of new fluffy snow! If it's going to be winter and cold let's have some snow to play so I always look forward to the storms that heap a nice big helping of the white stuff on us, especially if it is light and fluffy which makes for great snowmobiling.

Church was canceled Sunday due to the poor road conditions so we bundled up and went out for a nice snowmobile ride. Son had been over the trails with the groomer that his grandfather made for him this past summer and it did a great job. The snow was still coming down but not in a biting way so it was beautiful to be out in the woods and along the carriage trails.

After snowmobiling we went sledding over behind FIL's house and had a great time. He has the best hill in the neighborhood so all the kids make good use of it. I took lots of pictures but am not on my own computer so those will have to wait till next time.

I captured little barn kitty this morning! Yea! I was a bit concerned that she might have some kittens in the hay loft so I told the vet to call me if there was an indication that that might be the case and I would come back and get her and we would do the spaying another time. I got a phone call and they said, "guess what, she's a HE"! Guess I didn't have to worry about kittens. He had his operation, shots, check up and was treated for ear mites and will come home tomorrow. I will keep him inside for a couple of days, even though they said it's not necessary, just to keep an eye on things. My vet said that he is perfectly happy living in the barn and would probably warm up to us after a while. He had a barn cat for 19 years and she got along fine. I keep dry food down there all the time and take canned food down each day plus some warm water to drink.

I am relieved to have caught him as it has been so cold here. I had him checked for frostbite but he was perfectly fine and has a beautiful coat of hair. I knew it would be nice and cozy in the hay but I feel better knowing that he has been checked and all. They named him Thomas after one of the vets there. I don't know if I will keep that or not, may toss the idea of picking a name out to the grand kids and see what they come up with.

I got lots of comments on my Turkey Whisperer post. Aren't they a hoot?! Some days they will talk to me a lot and some days won't say a word. The older mature ones are the most likely to talk to me, the immatures are still quite skittish. Did you know turkeys can fly really well? They fly way up in the high branches of the pine trees at night to roost or if they sense danger around. Anyway I find them amusing, guess it doesn't take much eh? lol!

I am going through withdrawal not having my own computer and being able to access my graphics and pictures but guess I should be thankful for this computer to get me by till mine comes home. I can't tell you the number of times I have gone to my desk to do something and think oh yeah my computers not here. Oh well this too shall pass. :o)

The cold is headed our way!!!!!

My dear friend Pea over at Pea's Corner has awarded me this lovely award! Thank you so much Pea, it always makes my day and makes me smile to get an award. I am always so touched when someone bestows an award on me and I would like to pass it along to:

Donna at Just Me-Donna

Mikael at Rising Rainbow

Dawn at Call Me Grandma Dawn (private blog)

Mrs. Mom at Horse Feathers Daily Journal

Needled Mom at Needled Mom

There are so many more that I could pass this along to. All of my blogging friends inspire me in different ways and make me smile. I have made some amazing friendships over the past couple of years here in Bloggityville! :o)

The Blogger manifests exemplary attitude, respecting the nuances that pervades amongst different cultures and beliefs.
The Blog contents inspire; strives to encourage and offers solutions.
There is a clear purpose at the Blog; one that fosters a better understanding on Social,
Political, Economic, the Arts, Culture and Sciences and Beliefs.
The Blog is refreshing and creative.
The Blogger promotes friendship and positive thinking.The Blogger who receives this award will need to perform the following steps:

1. Create a Post with a mention and link to the person who presented the Noblesse Oblige Award.

2. The Award Conditions must be displayed at the Post.

3. Write a short article about what the Blog has thus far achieved – preferably citing one or older Post to support.

4. The Blogger must present the Noblesse Oblige Award in concurrence with the Award conditions.

5. The Blogger must display the Award at any location at the Blog.I've chosen to pass this award on to the following 5 people. All of them have a delightful way of blogging and truly do represent all the fun that blogging has to offer:-)

I got a call from a friend that had been left numerous quilts by a relative. She asked me to come over and take a look and see what I thought. It was so much fun. The relative did meticulous work, most of the quilts were all done by hand with tiny, even stitches. Some were finished except for the binding, some were just tops, some weren't quite finished but all were beautiful. I wish I had taken my camera so that you could see them. One of the quilts took her two years to finish with all the applique that is on it. I need to call the quilt shop and see about getting some appraisals done as some of the quilts are very old, early 1900's.

Funsize sent me this list this morning and I can relate to almost every single one of these statements!

Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about New Englanders...

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in New England .

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in New England .

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in New England .

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England .

If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend, you live in New England .

If you measure distance in hours, you live in New England . (hahaha! always do this!)

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in New England .

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England .

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you live in New England .

If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in New England .

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in New England. (have done this many times!)

If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you, you live in New England .

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in New England .

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in New England .

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England .

If you find 10 degrees 'a little chilly', you live in New England .

If there's a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, you live in New England . (Yummy, slurp, drool, burp! Sorry Mrs. Mom!)

We are bracing for the coldest weather that we have had in 13 years. I have watched the temperature drop steadily and it is only 9:30 in the morning. I have filled all my bird feeders, taken extra food out to barn kitty, put out extra food for the turkeys as they will all need more energy to keep warm in the extremely cold weather.

This is a day in the life of Munchie: Sit outside in the bird feeder hoping that a bird will fly into her mouth.

Come inside and sleep on D's pillow pal.

If that gets boring sleep under the pillow pal. Life is rough.

Keep warm everyone! :o)

Snow, Turkeys and Dogs.

It's still snowing here in central Maine. It's so beautiful out there with the large flakes drifting down. The roads were a bit slippery this morning when we went to church but we have 4 wheel drive so didn't have any problem. I have tons and tons of birds out back at the feeders! The storm must have blown them in. Also tons of turkeys have found their way back from the summer months when they moved into the forest where food was abundant. There must be between 30 and 40 this year. It's hard to count them as they keep moving around. When I went out this morning with their grain I called "here chick chick chick" and they gobbled back at me three times! It was a hoot! (No wait a minute, owls hoot so I guess that doesn't apply here....)

Our church service was done backwards this morning. Our pastors son is leaving to go back to Alaska and then on to Afghanistan in a month. He wanted to preach his sermon first so that he could leave to see his son off at the airport. We have so many young men from our church that are in the war. I hate to see them go but know in my heart that God is able to take care of them there just as well as He can here so that is a comfort. I came onto this poem this morning by Gertrude B. McClain and thought it was nice.

Dear Lord, I know this narrow road

Just isn't very wide,

But there is room enough for You,

To walk here by my side.

There may be rocks along the way,

But every step You guide,

I must not get ahead of You,

But stay close to Your side.

The world beyond this narrow road

is pleasing to the sight

And sometimes I may wander off

The way of truth and light.

But then somehow I realize

that I walk there alone,

Without your tender, gentle hand,

I face the dark unknown,

Dear Lord, I need You every day

Upon this path I trod,

For on this road of life I need

The loving hand of God.

So when I feel this narrow road

Just isn't very wide,

I know so well there's room for you

To walk here at my side.

This is Amelia. She is the little girl that I support through Compassion International. Isn't she cute?! She calls me Grandma Louise! I have been supporting her for over a year now and enjoy getting her letters. She is only 6 so has someone do the writing for her so I will be glad when she can write them herself. She lives in a very poor area but goes to school and is learning to write, count, draw and color. She got her rank card and did very well. I look forward to each letter and have fun thinking up things to put into the letters I send her. It has to be something flat like stickers and pages out of coloring books. If anyone has other ideas I would love to hear them.

Just a couple cute pictures to leave you with:

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

We are into day two of snow. There really hasn't been as much accumulation as one would think, maybe 4 or 5 inches. Really was hoping for a foot so that I could get out on my snowmobile, which is still on the trailer, but that is not the case. It is very rocky here and we need a really good base of snow to keep us from hitting them. Possibly more on Saturday, there's always hope! :o)

Have been thinking about how much we loved the snow when we were kids. Poor Dad was out working in it every day so didn't share our sentiments I'm sure but we loved it. It seemed like we got more snow back then or maybe it was just that I was much shorter. :o) We loved to ice skate and had several places that we cleaned off, made a bonfire and skated for hours or until our toes were frozen. I tried ice skating again a few years ago and it was a disaster. My ankles were screaming what is going on here!!!! I wish I had stuck to it and built up strength in my ankles again but I didn't. :o(

We used to go to a HUGE hill called Townhouse Hill to slide. It was about a mile or so from our house and we thought nothing of walking there, sledding all afternoon and walking home. It was a quite steep but an open field so there was nothing to slam into. We had a toboggan that would fit four and we would pile on and go down over that hill just flying! I don't remember all the times we walked back up the hill, now that would seem daunting!

Our sleds were the ones with the metal runners and you could steer them with the hand grips. Now I can't remember what I did yesterday but I vividly remember the day I stuck my tongue on the metal on top of the sled as I was going down over the hill! DUH!!! Oh my was that scary, I thought I would never get my tongue dislodged but finally bit the bullet and just ripped it off. Never did that again, quick learner you know......ahem......

We also used to ride our horses and ponies all winter. Now I'm too wimpy to ride when it's freezing out but back then thought nothing of it. One thing we LOVED doing was to take the flying saucer on a long rope and tie it to the saddle horn and give rides in the fields. We would canter through the snow with the person on the saucer just hanging on for dear life! When we made a turn the saucer would almost pass us. The horses didn't seem to mind at all.

In 1962 we had the storm of the century. The snow was up over some of the windows of the house and the roads weren't cleared for several days. Dad shoveled a path to the street and it was over my head as I was only 10. They finally used heavy equipment to get through all the snow to open all the roads. Now you have to realize we lived WAY out in the country in a little town of about 400 people so we didn't have the latest in road equipment.



Came across this picture while hunting for the snow picture. This was me in my early days. Didn't my mother dress me up cute?! Notice the vintage cars in the background.......they weren't vintage then.....ahem....



My two little gal pals Izzy and Emmy have given me an award! They are the cutest little sweeties and their Mom has a great blog for them. Their button is on my sidebar and you can click on it and it will take you right to their site!


This award comes with a meme that is really fun. List five things that you are addicted to! Only five?!!! I could make a longer list but will stick to the five!
1. Chocolate, of course, who isn't?!
2. Diet Coke in a big glass with lots of ice.
3. My horses and ponies.
4. HGTV Especially House Hunters, I almost always choose the right house. :o)
5. Blogging, go through withdrawal when I am away on a trip!

Now I would like to pass this award on to all my regular readers, I would love to hear about all your addictions!

Please keep the Travolta family in your prayers. I can't imagine what they are going through right now losing their son. Let's just hope that the media gives them their privacy and allows them to grieve without cameras in their faces. Some say that it goes with the territory but I think some things should be just off limits. Here in Maine where they have a summer home the people of the little village where they live give them space and actually protect them which I find admirable.

Remembering Buddy

Make a Smilebox greeting

I've been experimenting with Smile Box tonight as you can see. Let me know if this works for you or not. I picked this as I thought the dogs were going to sing Home On The Range but I guess it's a little different version! lol! Seeing as I don't own a dog I decided to put some pictures of Buddy in there. Would be real cute for those of you that have a dog or multiple dogs, let me see, Mikey comes to mind! :o)

Random Friday

We're having a heat wave today! It's about 25* out compared to the -40* wind chill factor that we had yesterday! I think I might even venture out to spend some of the gifts cards that I got for Christmas. They are kind of burning a hole in my pocketbook. Not that I need a thing mind you but you know how it is.......Jo Ann Fabric is calling my name.......

It sounds like you all had a nice New Year's Eve. We were in bed by 9:30 so didn't get to see the ball drop in Times Square. The kids came over early for steak and lobster. We couldn't cook the steak on the grill as the cover on it was frozen and it would have torn it all apart to try to get it off. I usually can grill outside most of the winter but with the cold temps we have been having that was out of the question this time.

The turkeys have arrived back on the scene, about 30 of them so far. During the summer they go off in the woods where there is plenty to eat so we don't see much of them but once there is a lot of snow they are back hungry as can be. I enjoy watching them although they do fertilize the back lawn quite a bit......ahem.....if you know what I mean.

This morning Noodles wanted to go outside so I let him out. A few minutes later he came back with a sparrow in his mouth. :o( He had the whole head in his mouth so that the poor thing was bottoms up! I didn't want him to bring it into the house so I opened the door a crack and told him to put it down, which he did, and the poor thing flew off! Yea! One for the sparrow! I hope it is all right, it didn't even seem to be dazed or anything so there is hope. I know he was just being a cat but I hate it when they catch the birds!

Went up to see the boys at the stable. They are sure fuzzy!!!! Kipper looks like he was put in the dryer on air fluff as his hair sticks right out straight! Lil' Bud has so much hair around his feet it makes them look so small. They had gotten into some burrs so we spent a good amount of time getting all of those out. Nick is snug and warm in his blanket. Okay horse people tell me this, will he ever get enough hair for these Maine winters???? He is the first horse that I have owned that just doesn't get enough to stay warm and has to be blanketed from late November on. I have tried letting him go without one to see if his hair would thicken up but he gets cold and then colics so I can't have that. What do you think????? He's half Thoroughbred and half Welsh pony and he sure didn't get the Welsh pony hair.

D spent the night last night. He beat me at Sorry numerous times and thought that was just the best thing ever. He's such a good little guy and so easy to have. He loves drawing so we did a lot of that last night. When his Mom came to pick him up a while ago he was trying to talk her into going to Walmart for a toy. She reminded him that he had Christmas toys that he hadn't even tried out yet. He said lets take one back and I can pick out something else! The kid is always thinking......

Just found a pair of winter Ariat boots in one of my horse catalogs. I think I am going to order them as they are tall. I wear my short ones and my legs get cold. We don't ride much in the winter, even in the indoor arena, but we groom and do other stuff and I hate being cold. I don't like to ride them and get them sweaty with all the long hair as it takes forever to cool them out. Have got to call the vet today and talk with him about Lil' Bud as he just seems to be getting so fat especially in the neck and that scares me. He's only on a handful of grain twice a day plus his hay. I'm wondering if he needs to go on Thyro like Buddy was on. That sure helped keep his weight in check. Last summer with three of us riding him it didn't even get his weight down much. He's in his early 20's now and old Morgans can tend to get cresty.

Guess that's about it for today. Must go down to the barn and feed little stray barn kitty. Wouldn't you think I would come up with a name for her? Next week is the week to trap her again and take her to the vet for the works. I hate trapping her but it has to be done and the Have A Heart Trap doesn't hurt her at all. This time I will put a blanket over it as my friend Nancy at Nancy's Nonsense says that calms them right down. Wish me luck!