Category Archives: Pets I love

An Old Picture

Here I am sitting here in my girly room in my pajamas which I have worn all day because it has been too icy to get outside and I decided why get dressed today? I am watching the snow blowing off the garage roof. There has been very little traffic by our house today. I’m not going anywhere and no one is certainly going to get out in this weather to come see me. It’s been an odd sort of day. Missed church and now it looks like the roads are getting worse as the evening progresses so I know we won’t get out. David went out long enough to check food and water for the chooks and the dogs. Everyone is in snug for the night.

I decided to dust the hallway upstairs that gets neglected most of the time and as I was cleaning out a corner I found this painting. I knew I had it, but had not seen it for a long time and really hadn’t paid much attention to it when I did. It belonged to my parents and I ended up with it for some reason and now that I see what is on it, I am very happy I have it. I have no idea how old it is nor can I see the painter’s name on it. It has a very elaborate frame around it and I would imagine it is at least seventy-five to one hundred years old. I brought it downstairs to take pictures of it, but the pictures really do not do it justice.

Now do you see why I love this painting? The mother hen is guarding her nest from the little dog. The colors are rich and the detail is amazing.

There are two or three places that have been damaged through the years. I have no idea where my parents kept this painting as I don’t remember ever seeing it hanging in our house. It must have been kept in the attic which makes it even more amazing that it is in as good a shape as it is. The little dog has a collar with a bell on it. He seems as startled to see the chicken as the chicken is to see him. That chicken means business!

These flowers and leaves are all around the frame. It almost looks like gold leaf, but don’t believe it is.

This is definitely a brooding hen as she has four eggs underneath her. I wonder whose blue shoe that could be and how was it lost in the barn? Perhaps it is something the dog brought out from the house. I really wish I knew who the painter was. Maybe it’s a long lost painting by a famous painter. There were no artists in our family’s history that I know of although some of my children and grandchildren have shown an artistic bent.

I just love all the detail, the shadows and all. If anyone recognizes this artist’s work, please let me know.

And in other news:

Glad we have Netflix as there is not much I want to watch on regular television. I do like to watch ID with all the investigating of murders and other crimes. I think I would have been a good detective because I always figure out who the murderer is before they tell us. Jack Frost, a BBC series is fast becoming one of my favorites. David and I also watch All Creatures Great and Small. It’s about a small village veterinarian in England, James Herriot. He also wrote books about his adventures taking care of animals and dealing with their strange owners. We are really enjoying it.

I’ve been making ironing board covers. I hand quilted this one one evening. Now I am making one to fit my old wood ironing board. I just finished piecing a small one for this:

My little ironing board I had as a child. I am so glad I saved it. My daddy made it for me many, many years ago. I use to stand beside my mother while she ironed and did my ironing with this little iron.

I could actually plug it in and it would warm up. It never got very hot, but I thought I was really ironing just like mother. Can you imagine children getting an iron that you could plug in now? Way too dangerous! Ha.

The hens saw their shadows last week which evidently meant six more weeks of winter. Ouch. It seems Old Man Winter is enjoying staying around. Spring will be so loved this year. Come, Miss Spring, Come. Kick Old Man Winter away. Bye.

A Short, But Busy Month

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February, the month of love. It’s a short month, but so much seems to be packed into each and every day. The days are getting longer. Thoughts of gardening and flowers and the warm sun on my back as I work outside are on my mind.

I planted some tomato seeds this week. Each day I check on them to see if the seedlings are coming up. The promise of juicy, red tomatoes in our future makes me happy.

The chooks are laying fewer eggs right now, but we still cannot keep up with them. Egg salad sandwiches have become a staple at our table. I never tire of egg salad and it’s so easy to make and almost free.

We have had some crazy weather this month. We have had so much snow this year.

We go from this and then a few days of sun and then snow again. It is suppose to snow tomorrow again.

We have frosted dogs looking in our windows. Doesn’t Belle look like she has been sprinkled with powdered sugar? She is telling me here that it is time for her to go into my warm shop. I think the dogs have forgotten they have an insulated dog house in the back yard. They refuse to go back there. But that’s okay. I like them in the shop with me while I sew and craft.

Speaking of crafting, I have made several needle cases in the past few weeks and this in one I made this week.

I liked making it so much, I made two.

You see, I have this bag of luscious wool felts that are calling to me to make something. I have it in my head that I would like to try hat making. Wouldn’t any of these felts make a pretty hat? I watch Downton Abbey and see the beautiful hats the ladies wear and I wish women would wear hats like that again. I wore a hat to church a few weeks ago and then I saw another woman wearing a hat the next week. We women need to start a revolution and start wearing hats again and getting dressed up when we go out in public. I am so tired of seeing people in their pajamas when I go shopping.

My mother always wanted us to look our best when we went out in public. In those days, girls would wear those huge rollers in their hair and go out in public and my mother thought it was TERRIBLE. My mother taught me to take pride in myself when I went out. If I don’t have nice clothes and lipstick on, I don’t think I should be seen by anyone. I like to dress up. Always have.

Anyway, I would like to make a hat or two or three if I can find out how to make them. I’ll look online where I find out how to do everything else.

I have been knitting like crazy. In the past few weeks I have made three hats, one turban and a scarf. I am working on another turban and another hat. I had forgotten how much I love to knit. Only problem is, when I am knitting, I am not quilting.

I am training for a 5K race/walk in May. Actually I walk a 5K several times a week when the weather is nice. I walked one day before yesterday. There use to be Volksmarches here in our city and my daughter or my husband and I would walk them and get medals when we were through. I am really looking forward to the walk in May. It sounds like it will be fun. It’s called Color Blaze and they tell you to wear white. I don’t know if they spray you with color or what, but they do something to make everyone colorful. We shall see.

We celebrated the Beatles’ fifty year reunion. Well, Paul and Ringo. The show was kind of sad for me as I remember how it was when they first came on the scene.

Here they all are with Ed Sullivan. We need another Ed Sullivan to find good talent again. He brought the Beatles to the United States.

Now I have to say something about Shirley Temple who passed away this week. When I was growing up, her movies were on television all the time. Wee Willie Winkie, The Little Colonel(one of my favorites) Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Heidi. Who can forget when Heidi was being taken to the gypsies by her evil aunt and her grandfather running through the snowy streets trying to find her? Who can forget Shirley’s sweet voice singing “Animal Crackers in My Soup,” “When I Grow Up,” “Try a Little Happiness?” Her movies just made you happy. They were wholesome and fun. And her dancing. When she danced up and down the staircase with Bill “Bojangles” tapping each step. Captain January where she lived in the lighthouse with two old codgers. I could go on and on.

Shirley was a big part of my life. I still watch her movies when they are on, but sadly, they aren’t on very often. I know I can watch them on the computer, but it’s not the same. I wish some movie theater would show them on the big screen. I would pay to go see them.

Thank you, Shirley, for making us so happy. For being a lady at all times. For having class in a sometimes classless society. For bringing joy to so many around the world. We love you and you will be missed, but I am sure you are exactly where you should be now. God Bless. Bye.

Juggling

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Right now I feel like a juggler, juggling several different things at once. And it’s all my fault. No one makes me do these things.

I am a creative person loving to sew, quilt, knit, embroider and do just about any handwork. My problem is I love to start something, but I don’t always get it done. Right now I can say I have at least ten quilts that need to be completed. Probably more. One I just have a very little bit of quilting to do and it just sits there waiting on me. Making me feel guilty.

Then there is the knitting. I just started knitting after years of not knitting a thing. Suddenly I am in love with yarn and the working with the two needles row upon row as a hat or a scarf takes shape. This week I have made three children’s hats and a scarf. I want to start another hat. I’m thinking these hats would be nice to put in Christmas boxes for Samaritan’s Purse. I only knit at night right before I go to bed, but the problem is I don’t want to go to bed until I get a hat done. I can knit one in an evening. They’re small.

Then I decided I needed to make a couple of new ironing board covers. That entails making almost a twin size quilt and cutting it down to size to fit the ironing board. I almost have one done. I don’t waste any time when I get an idea in my head.

Then I went to a fabric store last week with some friends and got an armload of felts and decided I needed to make needle holders right away. Today I cut out two, plus a scissor holder. They will be so cute, I think, if I get them done. Lots of handwork on these. I will show them to you when I get them finished. They are not the hand needle holders I made last week and showed you. I bet you are wondering what I am going to do with all these needle holders. I have a plan.

Now I am on a roll and want to get a Christmas quilt completed before gardening time gets here. I almost have the quilt top finished.

Today it suddenly hit me I have way too many things going at once and need to finish a few and tidy things up a bit before Spring. Plus I have been neglecting the pups and the chicks. They demand my attention and I have given them very little in the past couple of weeks. And I need to get to the beauty shop and get my hair cut or it is going to be to my waist before I know it. Plus my “true” color is showing and I can’t have that. But every time I think I will make an appointment, we get another big snow and I don’t want to get out in it.

I need to plant tomatoes now. Before we know it, we will be in garden planting season and last year my tomatoes were late getting out. I had cherry tomatoes clear up to frost last year, but so many of them were wasted that way so this year I hope to get them out earlier. The chooks really cleaned out the old garden and even flattened the compost pile so I won’t have much cleaning up of the garden before we till it. I am amazed what good little dirt turners they are. They have scratched up every inch of the garden area. That is why you don’t let chickens into your garden when something is growing there.

I am sounding rather hyper here, aren’t I? I said a while ago I have never been bored. Now I see why. I am where I think a boring day might be nice. A long day of nothing. Maybe just me, a hot bath and a good book. Sounds pretty wonderful. But that isn’t going to happen for a while. Next week I start a new Bible study for six weeks. Since it is going to be at my house this time I am going to have to do some cleaning. And some baking.

Our Sunday school class is going to a dinner theater and I am so excited about that. I love plays and musicals and things like that. This is a special one for Valentine’s Day.

My chooks are doing well in this bitter, cold weather. It doesn’t seem to affect them much. We do have a heat lamp on in the sub zero temps. They are still laying from three to five eggs a day. I still have to give eggs away because we cannot eat them fast enough. I notice someone is molting because I see a lot of loose feathers when I clean their coop. And it sure isn’t me!

Finished my granddaughter’s book. I find myself excited about reading the next one to see what is going to happen next to her main characters. She is a really good writer. As she matures I see her writing more and more and getting the public’s attention. Her book is geared toward middle school aged children, but she used some big words I had to look up.

Another snow is expected this weekend. Feed the birds. They can’t find food under the snow. I have the fattest birds and squirrels around because they are always feasting. The squirrels just look at me when I go out to fill the feeder and just keep on munching. I guess by now they know I don’t eat squirrel.

Here’s to sewing, quilting, knitting, reading and never being bored. Bye.

Am I Obsessive?

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Obsess: to dominate or excessively preoccupy the thoughts, feelings or desires.

I believe I am rather obsessive. I obsess about my grandchildren. I obsess about my children. I obsess about quilting. I obsess about my chickens. I obsess about my two dogs. I get on something and gnaw it like a bone.

Right now I am obsessed with knitting. Years ago and I do mean years, I knit a lot. I knit a little sailor suit for my oldest son and even changed colors and everything. I knit a sweater with cables. I knit baby caps and booties. I knit sweaters. This was when I had three children and not nearly as much time as I do now. You see, I was obsessed with it and nothing could stop me. But now, I am taking up knitting again and have found I have forgotten most of what I knew. I have been watching internet knitting lessons. Today I actually watched a woman knit a scarf on her arms. Her arms! She used really bulky yarn and the loops in the scarf were large and loose, but it was rather pretty. Then I thought about trying it and wondered what would happen if right in the middle of the project I would get tired of it. How would I save my work. It’s on my arms! What do I do with my arms. Do I just keep the yarn on them as I go about my daily chores. Yarn hanging down off my arms as I clean the chicken house or take a walk. Yarn dangling in the dish water as I do dishes. If I do decide to try this one day, I will be sure I have plenty of time to finish it. The video says it is a thirty minute scarf. Okay. Right. It took the woman about ten minutes to show how to cast on the yarn onto her arm.

Anyway, today I went to Hobby Lobby. I always ask myself every time I go there why I don’t go there more often and why I keep trying to find craft items at Wal-mart when just down the street is a store that has everything for crafts. Why, why,why? I don’t know. I just know that every time I go into Hobby Lobby I get this whole crafty feeling and I think I could make anything. Today I was in the yarn aisle. Omigosh, the beauty. I started to grab skeins of yarn. I had told David we didn’t need a cart and he went off to look at other things and there I was with an armload of yarn and knitting needles and I had to go to the bathroom! So I began to race down the aisles to find David to hold my yarn, but I couldn’t find him so I finally had to just lay it all down on a shelf and hope it would still be there when I got back. It was and as soon as I came out the restroom, David was standing right there. And he wanted to show me all the wonderful things he had found.

He had been looking at the stained glass making aisle. There were all colors of glass and all the tools needed to make a stained glass project. I said, “you need a hobby,” and he said it was too expensive and I said, “how much do you think we spend on my hobbies?” Whoops, shouldn’t have reminded him. I think making stained glass would be a great hobby for him. We bought a stained glass picture of birds to put in our new window that is going to be put in this Spring and it was not cheap. I told David about all the money he would have saved if he could have made it.

Then he showed me the aisle where they sold all kinds of door knobs and handles. We have looked and looked at Lowes for a certain handle we wanted for our kitchen window and could never find one. We believe we have found one at Hobby Lobby, but we will have to do some measuring.

When we got home I could not wait to try knitting one particular yarn I got and I love how it is turning out. It’s got a wonderful texture and is knitting up nicely into a scarf which will be a gift one day. I will have to show you the yarn I got on my next post.

Here in our neck of the woods it is cold. A real frigid weather system is locked on us right now. The chickens have heat in their house and the dogs sleep in my heated shop at night. They are beginning to feel spoiled as this is the first winter they have had the luxury of sleeping inside. Now they feel entitled and look at me funny when I don’t let them in. I am not use to dog hair in my shop and as soon as it warms up, out they go. And don’t feel sorry for them. They have a nice, warm doghouse and have a double layer of fur, so unless it is really cold like it is now, they are perfectly comfortable.

I have about five or six projects now that I am juggling. In a couple of weeks I am starting a Bible study in my home so I will have to do some extra cleaning which is probably a good thing because when I am working on projects I have a one track mind. Obsessive, don’t you know.

Obsessive. Don’t act as if it’s a bad thing. Bye.

All This and Heaven Too

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Some days are better than others and today was a good day. I was glad to get up and get going and decided to make soup beans for supper. I had seen a good bread recipe on several different blogs and wanted to try it. It seemed so easy. No kneading, no waiting for it to rise two or three times and only dirtied one bowl in the process of making it.

I was pretty happy how it turned out.

It was crispy and crunchy on the outside and soft and yummy on the inside. Plus it makes a pretty loaf.

David and I almost devoured the loaf in one sitting. Can’t make it too often then.

A nice pot of soup beans rounded out the meal. Wonderful for a cold winter’s day.

The wolf moon was a couple of nights ago. It looks like it is shining on a field of snow, but those are clouds.

Speaking of wolves…..

Bonnie and Belle don’t think much of this cold weather. I have been letting them into my shop at night and now they think they are indoor dogs. They gaze at me forlornly at the back door. Belle has her very own real bed to sleep on in my shop and Bonnie gets the recliner. We never had dogs in the house when I was growing up, but we always had dogs. They slept out in the barn in the hay with the other animals. I can’t remember a time I haven’t had a dog around me. And I hope I always will have.

I’ve started reading my granddaughter’s book and I may be grandma, but this girl can write. I am amazed and cannot wait to read more.

There is another book by this name written several years ago, so don’t get them confused.

This is my granddaughter’s pen name. I still cannot believe she wrote this. I will be snuggling down into bed tonight to read “Beyond the Open Door.” It’s for sale on Amazon right now. Buy. Bye.

Brrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!

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Here in the midwest and in other parts of our country, we are suffering sub zero temperatures right now. Well, I won’t say suffering exactly if you have a nice warm home and food to eat. But, anyway, it’s darn cold. I mean go outside for one minute to run back to check on eggs at the coop without a coat on and coming back almost frostbitten cold. Why did I do that?

I worry about our eggs freezing. We have had a few freeze before we could get out to gather them. Those we feed to the dogs. Sometimes one hen will sit out there for an hour or two on three eggs and I will have to reach under her to get the eggs and she says a few bad clucks to me, but I am not leaving those eggs out there in this freezing weather.

Our outside dogs are staying in my shop during this weather. Normally, I don’t worry about them getting too cold because they have an insulated doghouse with several inches of cedar on the floor. One winter when it got really cold I was worried that they were not warm enough in their doghouse so I crawled inside and they came in too and believe me, it got hot in there. But with these temperatures and the wind that is blowing I just feel so much more comfortable knowing they are in my warm shop. I don’t think Bonnie has left the recliner I have out there once except when we take her outside to go. She’s getting old and her old bones are enjoying the comfort and warmth.

We took the Christmas tree down today. I decided to leave our decorations up for the twelve days of Christmas. Did you know there were twelve days of Christmas? You probably know the song and it has a Christian meaning. My girly room looks kind of empty now without the tree, but I have a wonderful view outside and can see the birds eating at the bird feeder. Oh, be sure to put out some food for the birds right now as the snow has covered much of their natural food. There were about thirty out there at once eating. Several cardinals which brighten up the landscape. I am so glad we have cardinals in the winter because everything else is grey and brown and white.

As I told you my last blog I am working on Christmas gifts for 2014 already. I have so many ideas in my head and cannot wait to try them all. I have butterflies flittering around in my girly room right now and that is all I am going to say about that.

David was coming home from work last week and the brakes went out on his truck. Thankfully, he made it home okay. He called AAA and a tow truck driver came out. Our plan only paid to tow the truck for three miles and it was one-tenth of a mile over the limit to the repair shop. But the truck driver was nice and said he would just put down three miles and didn’t charge us the extra. There are good people in this world despite the fact the news tells us differently.

David is lost without his truck and feels it is beneath him to drive the Pt Cruiser to work. I don’t know why. He drives it every place else. Funny guy, my husband. But he is my hero. I opened the door to the basement this morning to go downstairs to get some canned goods and a freezing wind came up the stairs. David went down and saw a window had blown open and broke the glass when the window struck the wall. So he got some cardboard and taped it and sealed it so the wind couldn’t get in. It will have to stay that way until Spring because we are not having a window out to repair during the winter. I wonder sometimes what I would do without him. A somber thought. I guess I could have repaired the window myself, but it is nice to have a man around to do those kind of things.

How is your new year coming? I have friends who have already lost loved ones so it isn’t so nice for them right now. Hope it will get better for them as the year progresses. We never know what each year will bring. Joy, sorrow. new jobs, travel, getting new family members, losing others. It’s all part of life. Have to take the good with the bad which is why when things are good we should rejoice in that and savor every minute. May you all be blessed this year. Keep warm. Bye.

End of Year Frivolities

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Well, it’s the end of 2013 except for the celebrating. My idea of celebrating this year will be to go out to the chicken coop at midnight and throw the girls some chicken scratch like confetti and yell, “Happy New Year!” which will cause them all to lay an egg because they will have all been asleep.

I will also give Belle and Bonnie some bones and give David a great big kiss and go upstairs and snuggle down into my bed and read a good book.

I’m done with all the partying and trying to pretend to have fun on New Year’s Eve when really, I would rather be home with the one I love or if any of my other loved ones wanted to join us that would be okay, but don’t expect me to be the life of the party.

I use to think we needed to be out doing something on New Year’s Eve and every year I never felt like it was all it was cracked up to be. David and I dressed up one year and went to a big party at a hotel in Indianapolis. There were bands and lots of food and even a casino. I don’t gamble but this was not gambling for money. We were the oldest ones there and everyone treated us so nicely and we had a good time. At the end of the evening there was a balloon drop and it was amazing there were so many balloons. We had masks and hats and noise makers. It really was fun. We stayed all night at the hotel and the next morning they served a huge breakfast buffet with everything you could think of, even sushi, which I tried and decided I didn’t like it much, but everything else was so good. We planned to do it again the next year, but David had back surgery right after Christmas that year, so we couldn’t go and for some reason, we have never done it again

We have several birthdays in December. Our youngest grandson was born three days after Christmas and this year he had his very own party instead of sharing a party with his older brother who was born in November. It was like Christmas all over again for him.

He was one happy kid.

He licked his fork clean of all the icing.

He opened lots of presents. He does that tongue thing that seems to run in our family. My mother use to stick out her tongue when she was concentrating.

We had a nice evening visiting with my son-in-law’s family and enjoying the children. When we were driving home we passed this amazing, Christmas lighted house. We pulled off the road to take pictures.

A beautiful Nativity.

Polar bears around a tree.

This house had everything lit. It was beautiful.

Santa and his sleigh.

It was a lovely ending to a very nice day.

Now that 2013 is being put to sleep and a brand spanking new year is upon us, I want to wish you all a very blessed new year. May your year be one of health, joy and love. I’ll be writing about my plans for the new year next time. Happy New Year! Bye.

Predator Alert!

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I love my chickens. Anyone who knows me knows I love my chickens. I have nursed one chicken back from death’s door and seen her go from a crippled, barely able to feed herself chicken, to a fully recovered, scratching, pecking, running, happy chicken.

Each of my chickens has a name and her own personality. I can’t imagine anything happening to any of them.

Today I saw a striped cat on our front porch. The dogs have been having fits the past few days and I thought it was just the squirrels that were driving them crazy. One night last week I was outside at night and saw something slink away by our driveway. I wasn’t sure what it was at the time, but now I know.

I heard Freedom throwing a fuss in the garden this evening. Yes, I know it was Freedom. I recognize each chicken’s clucking. I thought maybe she had laid an egg, but when I went out to look, Freedom was gathering all the hens in one place chuttering up a storm. Freedom has designated herself as the watch chicken. I know that because she does a walk about the chicken yard each night to be sure everyone is in the coop. She had all the chickens gathered together and was squawking. Then I saw it. The cat. Sitting on the fence overlooking the garden. Watching my hens. Tail switching. I ran over and yelled at it and banged on the fence. I have a feeling it will be back.

Later, I took a flashlight out and scoured the area. The girls were already shut up tight and safely in their coop. They have no idea what is out there waiting to tear them limb from limb. I will have to keep vigilant. I am telling the dogs to “sic” the bad cat. All you cat lovers, I love cats too, but not when they are stalking my chickens. Bonnie and Belle have been put on cat watch. I will have to check the chooks more often now.

Maybe I will have to fit the chickens with vests and helmets to protect them from predators. This will not end well for the cat should it kill one of my girls. I’m thinking a trap set up to catch it might be on my list of things to buy.

If you have any suggestions about how to keep cats away from chickens, I would love to hear them. Bye.

Finishing Some Odds and Ends

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David had the last two weeks off for vacation. The weeks went by way too quickly and Monday he will be back at work. We spent some time traveling as you know, but we are glad to be back to home sweet home.

Here is what has been going on the last couple of weeks:

We got to spend some time with David’s brother and sister-in-law, Bill and Terry. We had so much fun with them and they taught us how to play Dominoes. I intend to learn to play it better and challenge them next time we see them. Hope it won’t be so many years before we see them again. They talked about bringing their four grandchildren to visit us next summer to meet our grandchildren. Hope it will happen.

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We walked the beach. Oh, how I love the beach and the wildness of the ocean. This particular beach was almost deserted except for a very few people. Met a girl walking her lab puppy and I had to pet it. Guess we will be getting that new puppy next year.

We took a ferry ride. It was windy. Can’t you tell?

We stayed in motels where the maids folded the towels in decorative ways like these. They looked like little shirts.

I really loved this carpet in one of the motels.

We saw several barn quilts that weren’t on barns. They are really popular in the south.

We passed this truck carrying all these chickens that were probably heading toward an untimely end. I felt really badly seeing them all packed in like that when I know how wonderful my girls have it. I told my girls when we got home they should be very happy that I am their owner. They live a very spoiled life. If they could only see how the other half lives.

We drove very curvy mountain roads. This is really one road that met itself. The little car on Garmin was spinning out of control on the curves.

We saw so much beauty in the North Carolina mountains.

We walked through a really old cemetery. I’ll have to tell you about that some time.

We passed cotton fields. One time in Texas we passed a cotton field and I got out of the car and went and picked a few bolls that I brought home and put in a quart jar that I labeled “quilt starter.” I am sorry I stole those cotton bolls. I still have them if the farmer wants them back.

We ate at several hometown restaurants. This one was in Tennessee. They served the most decadent desserts here that we had to eat ice cream with them to cut the sweetness!

We kept finding these little soaps in antique stores and by the end of the trip I had collected quite a few. They all smell so good. I like using homemade soap as I think it is better for your skin.

Of course I bought some fabric. I really didn’t plan to, but some of it just jumped into my hands. In one antique store they were selling rolls of fabric for a quarter. A QUARTER. Well, I would have been crazy not to have bought some. We also bought a few other things in the antique stores, but we were really trying not to overspend as we really don’t need anything more in our house. Really.

I bought this batik fabric to make a skirt but I evidently didn’t look at it closely in the store because when I got home I noticed it had snails on it. Do I really want to wear a skirt with snails on it? We shall see.

When we finally arrived home David and I hurried and made some soup because we had starved ourselves on our trip. Ahem. Actually, I just found this recipe for soup like the Zuppa Tuscana we love at Olive Garden and wanted to try it. It was better, I think, and made a huge amount. Enough for several meals. David and I laugh and say I make better coffee, bisquits and now soup than any we had in all the restaurants. Why do we need to travel?

I was so glad to see Phoebe, Freedom, Pininnah, Jemima, Dorcas and Beatrice. I think they were glad to see me as they rushed to the gate to meet me. They now have free range in the garden area and have really been scratching up a storm.

Bonnie still sits watch. One day before we left for our trip we were sitting by

the firepit and I saw movement in the chicken pen and it was Bonnie in there. I had forgotten to close the gate!

Bonnie wasn’t interested in the chickens, however, she was looking at what they were eating. She knows the hens get scraps every once in while and was looking for something good to eat. I was so surprised that she didn’t even try to catch a chicken, thank heaven. I still won’t let her have free run of the coop, though.

All in all, it has been a wonderful two weeks. We reconnected with some family we don’t see very often and had a great time together. We got to relax some and slow down and isn’t that what vacations are for? Now to start planning our next vacation.

Whoops, I must go get David out of the stocks. Bye.

Fluffy Bottoms

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When God created the heavens and the earth, he decided to put animals and birds on the earth to inhabit it. I have always thought God has to have a great sense of humor because of some of the creatures he created.

Who but God would think up a duck-billed platypus? I did a report on them in elementary school. I was so interested in them and have always wanted to see one in real life. A creature with the bill of a duck, webbed feet, fur, a paddle tail like a beaver and it lives in the water.

How about the octopus? A bulbous body with eight long legs and the legs have suction cups. Suction cups!!!

Then there is the ostrich. A gangly bird with a long neck like a giraffe and it hides its head in the dirt when it is scared. It lays the biggest egg of any bird except maybe the emu. I’m not sure about that.

How about a zebra? Looks just like a horse, but is striped and acts more like a mule. Yes, God has a sense of humor. Looking at some of mankind I have to believe it also. He has made us all different for a reason.

When God created chickens, and by the way, the chicken came first, not the egg, He really used His creative juices to make a wonderful bird. Here is a bird with eyes kind of like a dinosaur’s. Remember when the t-rex first appeared in Jurassic Park and looked in the car at the two children sitting there cringing in fear? Well, I think a chicken’s eyes sort of look like that.

Picture this head a hundred times bigger than it is peering at you through a window. Don’t you think it would freak you out??? Since chickens are so small, they are not scary at all, but they do have kind of scary eyes. And they don’t miss a thing.

Penninah can out stare me. She doesn’t blink.

When I sit down, these two begin to sneak around me, pecking me when I least expect it. Doesn’t hurt.

They try to get behind me and before I know it, I feel a peck on my back. Therefore, I don’t turn my back on these girls.

These Barred Rocks are beautiful. If you could get close enough to them, you would see teal colored feathers under all the black and white. I was surprised when I first saw it. God surprises us even in the little things.

But besides the beautiful feathers and strange eyes, chickens have fluffy bottoms. They look like little powder puffs.

The Buff Orpingtons have especially puffy, fluffy bottoms. The better to keep their eggs warm if they were to set on fertilized eggs to hatch them.

It’s hard to snap a picture of Freedom’s fluffy bottom. As soon as I get my camera ready, she runs. But she, too, has a fluffy bottom.

I guess because chickens spend so much time with their bottoms up in the air pecking at anything they can find, it’s nice their bottoms are cute to look at. Next to a baby’s bottom, I think chicken bottoms are the cutest.

Look! This one is even in the shape of a heart.

I really don’t spend all the time looking at chickens’ bottoms. There are other things in my garden to catch my attention. The morning glories are at their peak right now.

I will leave you with one especially pretty bloom. Bye.

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Snicklefritz

So glad you came. Come sit a spell and read about the tale of my life.

Category Archives: Pets I love

An Old Picture

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Am I Obsessive?

All This and Heaven Too

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End of Year Frivolities

Predator Alert!

Finishing Some Odds and Ends

Fluffy Bottoms