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

Oh the weather outside is frightful! Can't remember the next line, sigh....... Anyway, it's been snowing to beat the band today. It started about 11 this morning and it's almost 9 PM and it's still going strong. We'll probably have about 14 inches before all is said and done. :o)

Now you know I am not unhappy about this. I love the snow and all the fun that goes with it. My snowmobile is calling my name from the barn and the sleds are itching to take us for a good slide down Grampa's hill! Tonight I can hear the neighborhood children laughing and talking over there as they slide. The snow is very soft and fluffy so it wouldn't be good for making a snowman but great for sliding down the hill.

The birds were out in great numbers today too looking for a free lunch. I had woodpeckers, chickadees, finches, mourning doves and juncos. I got a few pictures but I didn't want to get my camera too wet as the snow was really coming down hard when I was out shooting. I think chickadees are just the cutest thing! :o)

D and T were here with me this morning as DIL had a gym appointment. We had fun playing games and painting, two of their favorite things to do at Grammies.




It was so pretty with the snow coming down. I always have to take a few shots of the barn and trees.

There was no school today and most of the businesses closed early. The schools have already used up their snow days and here we are only in January. The poor kids will be going to school till July if this keeps up!

Noodles and Munchie were out in the sun room with us after dinner watching the snow and Noodles decided to play a game.

This looks interesting.

I think I will be blue.


I think you need two to play this game.

HEY Munchie come on in and play!!!!

Someone asked me how Buddy has been doing this winter (thank you so much for asking!) and I am glad to report that he is doing very well. I rode him on Saturday in the inside arena for a while and he was going great. We only did walk/trot as there were two others in there working and it gets a bit crowded plus I didn't want to get him sweating at all as his hair is so long and thick it would take forever to cool him out.

Also someone asked me if we raise the turkeys here on the farm or are they wild and yes they are wild. They are very well fed with the grain we give them so they might be pretty good to eat but I won't let anyone hunt on my property so they are pretty safe from the roasting pan! If they keep producing like they have been we may have to open it up to the hunters to keep them under control.

Another thing someone asked me was if I still had the sleigh that was in a picture a couple posts back with Smokey Jack. No we don't, it actually belonged to my aunt and she sold it. At the time we didn't have any other horses that drove and Smokey was living with her so we didn't buy it. Bad decision, sure could use it now!!!

I am still going through old pictures and found a few REALLY old ones of moi! This one was probably taken in 1953.

This one was taken in 1952.

This last one was my high school graduation photo in 1969. I worked soooooo hard to get my hair somewhat straight. It was VERY curly back then right in the middle of when long stick straight hair was in style!

Guess that's it for tonight. Got to go watch the snow some more. There is just something mesmerizing about the flakes drifting down, it's so beautiful! :o) Sigh........

Saturday Ramblings

I have been working with my computer man for the past 4 or 5 weeks. He comes to the house and we work on things that I want to learn how to do and he fixes anything that I have messed up in the previous week......... My son is probably thanking his stars above that I have this guy so that he doesn't have to get me out of a mess every time he comes over to visit. :o)

I get a kick out of Steve as I doubt he works on things anywhere else like he works on here but he takes it in good stride. He is very patient with my fascination of Hug Bug graphics and has worked hard to get them to work in my blogs. I know nothing about JPEG, PGN or any of the other ways graphics are made but I am slowly learning. Blogger only accepts JPEG so next week we are going to work on changing some of the others over to that format.

Can't you just hear the other computer guys when Steve goes back to the office..........."hey Steve did you make some cute little cows, bunnies or kitties today???? WE set up a whole new computer system for the bank down the street and you are working with cutesy graphics??????" Steve is a good sport!

Our turkey flock has grown considerably this year. For several years we had 5 turkeys that came to the house regularly for their grain. Evidently they hooked up with another flock and I counted close to 40 yesterday! This spring we had about 15 or 20 chicks hatch and almost all of them have survived and are now teenagers. I'm just hoping the flock doesn't double in size in the next year or so!!

Last evening we were sitting out in the sun room and looked up and there was a doe with her twin fawns out back eating some of the wildlife grain that I throw out for the turkeys. The fawns are really good size now and in people years the would be preteens. I have been trying to get a good picture of them but they hear me open any window or door and they are GONE! I will keep trying though because they are just adorable.

I have several favorite pictures that I would like to post. The first one is of me and Hubby on the John Deere. It was taken a couple years ago when we were having a hay ride for the neighborhood children.

Another favorite is this one that Son took of some animals at a farm that belongs to one of his clients. I just love the shot with the cows and horses eating together and the foal getting up after probably rolling in the snow. I think I will print one of these off on my big printer that Hubby got me for Christmas. It will print up to 19X13 pictures and they are just like a poster.

This is D and T in my kitchen sink when they were just little. They sure wouldn't fit in there now!

What is this? A new toy!

Am I supposed to wear it on my head?

What's that a ball going around and around?

Hey, I'm getting dizzy!

Stop watching me and taking all those pictures!

Friday Rantings

Remember last week I was ranting (and rightly so) that someone had published my personal tax information on their blog. Well my son tracked down the blogger and I went on the site to see it for myself. Now we live in a small town of about 8500 people and aren't afforded the luxury of the anonymity of a larger city. Everyone pretty much knows or has a pretty good idea who everyone else is but for the most part minds their own business. There is always an exception to that rule.

The person that posted our information unfortunately is that exception. He's on the city counsel no less! We've known him for years, not as a friend but as one knows others in a small town. He loves being on the counsel so that he knows everything that is going on in town. Why he keeps getting re-elected is beyond me. :o(

Thankfully his blog is rather confusing with time lines, links, plots and subplots. I had trouble finding the list, it took me three different tries to finally get it. Hopefully other people will overlook it in all the jumble of things on his site. To add further insult to injury beside the list of us unsuspecting citizens he had written: Enjoy!

Now usually I have a pretty decent sense of humor, remember the baked beans debacle, but I think this is terribly unprofessional for someone on the city council. I would like to make a formal complaint but this would draw even more attention to the situation and some things are best left to die a natural death. So, I will just sputter and rant to you my faithful readers, and now I feel better! :o)

Tina, my buddy over at Palm Tree Fanatic has tagged me for a meme. I have to make a list of 8 weird things about myself. Hummmmmm....this should be easy, just ask my family!

1. I wash my hands a lot. My friends make fun of me as I look like I am getting ready to do surgery when I come out of the ladies room at a restaurant before I eat. I don't want to touch the door to open it with my bare hands so I use my coat sleeve or some paper towels. BUT on the other hand I can eat anything at the barn after brushing my horses and not even care if I wash my hands. Go figure.

2. I don't like my toenails unpainted. They just make my feet look like I have been dead for three days and it grosses me out. Even if I am way overdue for a pedi I am okay as long as there is a shred of polish left.

3. I don't like other peoples noise. If I am in a hotel I don't want to hear my neighbors television, their mumbled talking or their dog barking (remember also the dog wing debacle at Hard Rock Hotel last year).

4. I HATE static cling. I will go to great lengths NOT to have any static cling. It feels weird and looks worse. I carry a can of Static Guard in my car.

5. I have claustrophobia. Even putting my snowmobile helmet on each time takes me a few minutes to adjust. If I leave the face mask open a tiny bit so some air comes in on my face it helps.

6. I like my hangers all going in the same direction in all of my closets and even if I am in a store shopping I will occasionally stop and adjust the hanger on a rack if I notice one. Little OCD maybe????

7. I hate perfume. It stuffs me up, makes my nose run and gives me a headache. I can't sit beside anyone at church with heavy perfume on, I have to move. As a teenager I always wore copious amounts of Ambush but if I did that now I would be 'sicker then a dog'.

8. I don't like rattles in my car or any car that I am riding in. I have been known to stand on my head to get under the dashboard to find a rattle!

Guess that's it. I'm sure there are many more weird things but those are the first to come to mind. Now I want to know some of your weirdness! I tag Pea, NeedledMom and MeowMommy! :0)

Tuesday Talk

Tuesday already. Seems like it still should be the weekend. Funny how that works.

Saturday evening Hubby and I decided we would go to the local truck stop (nothing red neck about us!) and have some of their home cooked style food. They really do have good food especially their yeast rolls that just melt in your mouth and their baked beans. FIL won't go with us when we go there as it's about a quarter mile from the local landfill which I'm sure glows in the dark from all the stuff they've brought in from out of state. Why can't states keep their own toxic waste in their own landfills instead of sending it to other states, but I digress, that's another whole story.

Anyway, we had a nice gal waiting on us and the food was good. I had a turkey & stuffing sandwich and Hubby had the baked beans and franks, or hotdogs, what ever you choose to call them. We had just ordered our grapenut custard for dessert and our gal was clearing the table. We happened to be in the booth right by the door that goes into the kitchen with my back to the door. This is all leading up to something.

Crash! A tray loaded with dirty dishes hit the floor and jumped me right out of my seat as it was right behind me. I hear our waitress saying OH NO! and feel something dripping down the back of my head. Beans.

It couldn't have been a better shot if she had tried. Poor girl was horrified to see my white shirt and hair covered with beans and bean juice! She starts picking the beans out of my hair. I started to laugh, it was so funny but I felt badly for her as she was so upset over it. I told her not to worry it was no big deal and it wasn't. There are bigger things in life to worry about then getting baptized with baked beans!

We finished our grapenut custard and she came back with the bill and I could see she was still upset so I looked her in the eye and told her I DID NOT want her to give it another thought! She looked a bit relieved and we paid the check and came home. When I changed my shirt I could see why she was so upset, it was covered with splatters. But like I said, there are bigger things to worry about plus it makes for good blogging material! :o)

Sunday after church we came home and decided to go snowmobiling for a while. It was warm and the trails were still good so we headed out. T and D like to ride in the sled behind Daddy's machine.

I think they look like little creatures from out of space.

It was beautful out and I love seeing the old barns.

Destination!

D was sad about something for a couple of minutes till I gave him my camera to shoot some pictues.

Yikes! Who's that crazy woman????

We headed home as the kids had Awana and we had evening service. T actually rode with me part of the way home AFTER we went across the hill that we tipped over on last time we were out riding!

Today we are in the middle of a heat wave. It has been 50* today and the snow is melting like mad. It's good as far as the streets are concerned but not the snowmobile trails and with rain predicted for tomorrow it's going to make them even worse. Great for the oil bill though! :o)

Well for some reason my spell check won't work so I will not be held ressponcible fer miscspelled worrds!

Saturday Ramblings

It's Saturday again already. It's a bit warmer then it has been the last few days and they are telling us that we are going to be having temps up in the 40's so it must be our January thaw! Just saw Son go by on his snowmobile pulling the three munchkins on a big plastic sled. Cousin K spent the night last night with them so there was an extra head bobbing away as they went by.

Funsize and I met my friend Ann at the stable this morning as we always do on Saturday mornings year round. It was very cold so we just groomed the guys, visited with them and came home. Just too cold to ride. All of them are doing well. Buddy has been fine without his shoes on and now with all of the snow his feet are well padded.

There was a major scare yesterday though. Jean, the owner of the stable told us about it this morning. Ann's horse Bucky is 27 years old. He has some respiratory problems or heaves as we used to call it but otherwise is in good shape for an old boy.

Jean walked out by the pasture yesterday and Bucky was in the deep snow on his back with his feet right up straight! His head was lolled over to one side and he wasn't moving. She thought he was dead as she hurried out towards him. Well he wasn't dead but he got stuck on his back while rolling in the snow!

Now we have a serious amount of snow here at present but Jean keeps an area plowed out for the horses to roam around in but wouldn't you know the grass is always greener on the other side and Bucky ventured out into the deep snow. She thought she was going to have to shovel out around him to get him back up on his feet. It's very dangerous for horses to be down like that and especially with advanced age it can be a precarious situation.

The good news is she got him out and back up on his feet and he is no worse the wear. If she hadn't noticed him till feeding time it could have been a very different outcome so we are all thankful she saw him.

Is this a pretty butt or what??? This is Justin one of the other boarders. He is the one I rode this summer while Buddy was out of commission.

I enjoy blogging. I have met some wonderful people and enjoy so much learning about them, their families and lifestyles. I know if I could meet some of them in person we would just click as if we had been friends for years. Blogging can be a wonderful way to make these new acquaintances, have fun and as in my case be putting a journal in place for my grandchildren to read when they get older and want to read about what we did when they were 'little'.

With all that said I must say that some people use the blogosphere for some rather rude purposes. It was brought to our attention this week that someone took it upon themselves, theirself, themself, herself, oh you know what I mean, to post some of our private business. Now I know that it is perfectly legal to go to your city hall and look up what other people pay for taxes (but who in their right mind would care) but why in the world would they want to put it in their blog???????

I am trying to find out who it was so that I can see if they wrote why they would want to do this. It wasn't just us but a number of people in our town that they singled out. To be continued.........

Judy over at judyhartman.blogspot.com is having a give away to celebrate her one year blog anniversary so stop by and leave a comment! This is what she had to say:

I'm announcing a give away in honor of my one year blog anniversary!! In a lovely Anna Griffin folder I have packed three red blank cards and envelopes and a selection of black, white and red beads, buttons, ribbons and trims. As I go through my private stash of embellishments, I keep adding more goodies, so it should provide a good start for the winners' valentine card or collage making experience!!
There will be two winners. You can enter by leaving a comment on this entry and, if you refer someone else to this giveaway, I'll put your name in twice!! I will pick a winner Wednesday night at midnight. There should be a nice package of creative materials to give away by then, as I am cleaning my studio this week!!!!

I've been going through old pictures and found this one of dear Smokey Jack our wonderful old appy that we had for many years. He is shaggy as it is in the middle of the winter. Can't remember if we had sleigh bells or not.

Just to prove to you all that I really did have a waist once! This was my junior banquet at boarding school, I was 16. Those were the days! :o)

Oh, BTW the pot roast was yummy! :o)