VISITORS ON THE FARM

If only I could capture a bark on film. When Bulls buddies Pete and Lucy came this weekend to visit, there was sooooo much to bark at. Kitties, humming birds, wind blowing, Bull, leaves blowing in the wind, and oh my goodness, the pièce de ré·sis·tance. HUGE WHITE BIRDS IN A CAGE!!! Yes these birds are bigger than Lucy so she kept a safe distance.....and stayed in the shade because barking is hot work....and did what every smart doggie would do when confronted with a giant dog eating bird. Barked her head off.

Lucy went hunting all by herself! She loves Aunt T but sometimes a girl just has to get alone.

NIGHT OF THE BOYZ+ME

Savage warriors...until they get a boo boo. Makers of fire....with Neena's help. Lovers of turkeys...so at Thanksgiving the bird on the table is a really big chicken. Conquerers of mighty mountains...that have swings hanging off of them. Finders of exotic birds nests....until Bull eats it. What a night. I left work early....racing out the door at work and down the road to sure adventure. I first picked up Jayden and Dakota. The evening would not be complete without Lane. It will be his last time for a long time to spend the night with his cousins. He will be going home soon to North Carolina. A hurried trip to Walmart for t-shirts, boxers and flip flops...along with the agreed upon dinner. Not something cooked on the fire outside but....Neena's home made pancakes...the dinner of champions. Jayden is butter and syrup. Dakota is butter and jelly. Lane is peanut butter and jelly. Cold fresh bubbly milk tops off the meal and off they go to the living room to play while I finished the dishes. While I was cooking dinner, Jayden being the oldest, and with the strongest love of fire, gathered sticks, logs and pine cones and filled the fire pit brimming and ready for the bon fire. Soon we were sitting around the blazing fire telling scary stories and waiting for the fire to die a little so that we could roast chocolate marshmallows. Bull was sad when we went inside but we had to build the best tent of all time. It had to include the TV or it would not have been perfect. As I sit in the dark and I hear silence from inside the tent I realize that here they find peace....if only in their hearts.

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Thank you Ian for gathering up all of the wonderful farm blogs in one place.

10 MINUTES OF HEAVEN

Well I just got home, fixed a little dinner, changed into the work clothes and started to put my work shoes on when I heard a strange noise. An unfamiliar noise. One I could hardly remember hearing before. I heard my poor Flash crying as if acid were being poured on him....outside I ran with my trusty mop in hand...what I use to fend off all man eating lions and raccoons. And when I opened the door this is what I was confronted with....

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From Night to Day

100 upon leaving work...1 hour drive home....80 when I got home! Thank you tropical storm Eduardo! 1 hour! Why do I do this? Every day on the way home I ask myself the same question. Every day I am given a slightly different answer. Today, not only was it 80 degrees outside, but the sky had a magical quality to it. The wind was whipping about, 2 doves sat on the picnic table bird baths still as statues. My wind chime sang non stop. Clouds looked like pink cotton candy. Hummingbirds were having a hard time balancing in the high wind. All this I saw in a glance as I pulled into the driveway. But as I got out of the car, I was confronted with a sight that took my breath away. Pictures will never do a rainbow justice, but this rainbow absolutely took my breath away. Against a gray back drop, with the sun setting behind me, I was awe struck. All thoughts of piddling around the yard, trying to paint a little, moving the rabbit poo out back simply left my mind. All I could do was look at this and wonder at it. In the background I heard the sounds of a rooster crowing in defiance of the setting sun, the sounds of cattle lowing readying for the long night, and the soft talk of the mourning doves and eastern blue birds....and still all I could do was stare in awe.

Then reality set in.....found the water was turned off......guess I will have to pee in the yard!

PEACEFUL HEAT

My daughter asked me why I can't just sit all day on my "day off" and why I have a need to do something all the time. She said she guesses that when she owns a home of her own she will feel like doing something on her days off. So on my day off, I set the clock for 7am since I was up until almost 2am chatting and talking with Heather and playing on the computer. Inside me is a "buzz" that wants to do something. Rake the pine needles and move them into a pile and cover until Feb for the blueberry bushes, move the 5 new bags of rabbit poo out by the garden, rake the first of 100's of loads of dead leaves and take them to the garden, layer the leaves and the rabbit poo with water in a compost pile where I told my grandkids, God makes magic happen....and finally start painting the house. Well the boys and I got some of this list done. The pine needles are in piles ready to be moved, haven't raked the leaves, the rabbit poo did get to the garden and we did start painting on sealer over the hot pink paint. It's a start but by 10am it was way too hot for anything put water play and sitting in the shade watching the hummer battles. Peaceful day off.

PFC BRURING

My boy is now a Private First Class. The army is getting him ready for me to put him to work on the farm!