Kumar

This is Kumar. He is our dairy steer. My son raised 2 dairy beef feeders for 4-H this year and could only take 1 to the fair. So now we have this one to finish raising. Can you guess what Cody named his other dairy beef feeder?? Harold. As in 'Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.' Well, I guess eventually they could go there....at least he has a sense of humor about it! He gave them their names thanks to our ag agent who always called the two from the previous year, Ham and Burger. So then Cody thought Hamburger... White Castle....Harold and Kumar!!! The down side to that....when we went to Florida last spring, we passed a White Castle. Of course my hubby & kids were JUST tickled....I was ready to barf! And so we HAD to stop. I'm sorry for those of you that like WC, but I think the burgers are like little pieces of bland cardboard stuck in a mushy bun! PUKE PUKE!
So anyway, we have Kumar. He LOVES to eat the tails off my mother-in-law's horses! Poor horses! Well actually they love it!! She had chicken fence installed around the pen so he could not get to their tails....now they back up to the gate-- ON PURPOSE!! They love it! I feel terrible, they have stubby, scrappy looking things hanging behind them! Hopefully one day soon our own barn will be done and he can come next door to our house!

Oh The First Snowfall of the Season...

What a change from the fall photo above! We had our first major snowfall on Monday, November 10! We woke up to this beautiful white stuff! There is nothing more exciting than the first snowfall! And as a tradition for the last 10 years, I ALWAYS ALWAYS call my good friend Beth and play Karen Carpenter singing "The First Snowfall of the Season!" It's tradition! I started doing it 10 years ago when we moved out here. She moved to North Carolina 3 years ago and I still do it! I love snow when I can stay home and watch it out the window! Living out in the country makes it even more beautiful! Looking over to the woods and seeing it accumulate on the branches....the bright red cardinals coming to the feeder....the wind creating snow ponies out in the fields....

Although I must say...when we lived in the city, we would bundle up and put our daughter on a sled and pull her around the neighborhood with the big fluffy flakes falling around us. That was fun too! But I still think winter out here in the country is unforgettable! I am sure the kids will grow up with many great memories to share!

All the snow really put me in the mood for Christmas! And I was excited to see that XM Radio started playing their holiday music 24/7 on Channel 34! You can guess where I have my dial set! I am hoping to start decorating any day now! I'll keep you all posted!

Whoa!

Oh what fun!! I did something unexpected today! I rode a horse!! I dropped my son Cody off at a friend's house and his friend's mom had her two horses saddled up! She asked Cody if he wanted to ride but he said no. So she asked me!! It has been a year and a half since I have been on a horse. We rode around their property. Oh how relaxing! There is nothing better than to be able to leisurely ride around and enjoy the scenery on a horse!

That leads me to a story...I have always been afraid of horses! Why, you ask? Well....you ever notice how they kind of have that Orca eye? You know the eye I am talking about! That movie Orca where the whale just stares at the people on the boat before attacking them!! YIKES!! Whenever I see a horse's eye--I immediately think ORCA!! Well....when my daughter Tori was little, she wanted to take horse riding lessons. Okay. So I signed her up and took her to the stable. We walk to the door and Oh Holy Crud, the lady we are supposed to see is ALL THE WAY DOWN AT THE OTHER END OF THE STABLE! And all I could see were ORCA eyes EVERYWHERE! All the horses (and all the kings men...just kidding) had their heads hanging out the stalls looking at us! And I had to walk the entire length to get to that lady. Take a deep breath, I kept telling myself! I have to do this for my daughter! So I stayed right in the middle of the aisle and tried not to look at those darn Orca eyes! Tori is in her glory--"Look mom! Look at this one...Look at that one!" God, please get me to the other end of this stable! Well lo and behold, Tori decided she wasn't taking lessons unless I was taking them! So...needless to say, I ended up taking riding lessons! And I really enjoyed it! Now that Orca eye doesn't bother me! As a matter of fact, last year we went to Mohican Wilderness for vacation and our package deal included trail riding. My daughter and I went EVERYDAY! We had a blast!

Meet Zoe & Blue!

This is our Blue Heeler named..what else....Blue!! She is about 4 years old and sleeps with her tire! And yes---she sleeps with it in her mouth! She is goofy! We got her through a local benefit auction. She was so ugly that she was cute! I fell in love with her instantly!

Blue also has a "suckle binky"! She carries this blanket around like Linus! She doesn't chew it, but she will suckle it. She will not go to bed unless she has suckle binky! If we go up to bed, we have to open the bedroom door and tell her to go get suckle binky or she will whine all night! Blue is my shadow! I can not do ANYTHING without her! They say that blue heelers develop a strong bond with 1 person in the family...I am that 1 person! She is great with all of us, but she has to be touching me at all times. If I sit on the couch, she has to lay on my feet...as I am typing this blog, she is under the table on my feet. When I sleep at night, she curls up against me and if I move...she moves with me!

This is Zoe! She is our 11 year old black lab. What a sweetheart she is! My husband was working second shift when we first moved out into the country. At the time we had a dalmation named Siren. Well, I'm driving down the road and just a couple of miles from our house there is a sign..."Black Lab Puppies for Sale!" Oh---I just had to stop...and you know once you see a puppy there is NO TURNING BACK! The kids were in love with her too! They were 3 and 1 at the time. Zoe just caught our eye out of the whole litter! Well, you know what happened next! We bought her! Tori held her in her lap...oh the look on her face on the short ride home! Siren was not too happy with us...but they became great friends! At about midnight, Bart comes home from work...as he walked in the door, this little pudgy black ball of fur runs to greet him and attack his feet! "What is this??!!" he exclaimed....I said, "Duhhhhh, it's a puppy!" He named her Zoe. She still gets all excited when she hears his truck pull in after work!

Oh Christmas Tree!!

Can you believe it??? 50 days until Christmas!! I am soooooo excited! Many thanks to Beth for helping me get that adorable count down tree on my page! For those of you that do not know me...I LOVE CHRISTMAS! I have a full size Christmas tree in EVERY room! Each one has a theme! And now let me tell you a story....

I had to promise my husband that I would not bring home ANY more Christmas trees. (sob sob sob)....but I promised.....(sob sob sob). Well....one year, I went out on New Year's Day morning after gettin' my ol' crown roast & sauerkraut in the oven....I was in Walmart and there was this cart full of Christmas trees. I must have had "I LOVE CHRISTMAS TREES" written on my forehead because the Walmart worker just had to mention to me that these tress were being taken up front and marked $5.00.....YES--- FIVE DOLLARS!! (They were $180.00 trees). Well, now you have to remember that I made my loving husband a promise... NO MORE CHRISTMAS TREES! Darn it, darn it, darn it....what WAS I thinking when I made that promise...so I said, "no thanks." Well I started walking around....and started thinking....I go back to the lady with the trees and said, "DID YOU SAY $5.00??" Because maybe I misunderstood her and then I would not feel bad if they were $50.00! She said, "Yep--$5.00, we want to get rid of them!" Oh Gosh-----"Alright, I'll take one...." She takes it up front for me. Well---I am not one to pass up a good deal....so when I get up front...I tell her, "I'll take another one!!" (HOLY CRAP---what am I thinking???? Now I have not one but TWO new Christmas trees!) So I pay for them....I am trying to get these huge things in my vehicle and guess what happens??? Then local newspaper is taking MY picture! The photographer comes over to get my name so I ask him to help me get these huge things in my vehicle. Now I proceed to go home. Well---knowing I am going to be busted when my picture is in the paper, I have to tell my husband. So when he asks what I bought...I start out by telling him about the $180.00 trees for $5.00. You know you have to tell the original price first because they can not hear once you say "I BOUGHT..." So he says, "Well for that price, did you buy one?" I was honest and said, "no........I bought TWO!" (My plan was to get them home and unload my car the next day after he went to work...by the following year, he would not even notice the extra trees!) So he helped me unload them. Thank goodness, because there was no way I was going to move those boxes! We did end up donating one of the trees to our local playschool. We decorated it and then raffled off a fully decorated tree. So in the end, it all worked out!

So as I begin to start decorating all my trees, I'll keep you all posted! I may even start next week! I love to have it all done before Thanksgiving!

Meet Brutus!

This is our newest addition! He is my daughter's 4-H market steer. Isn't he just the cutest darn thing you've ever laid eyes on?? She just got him a week and a half ago. He was born in March. And boy does he talk! Just ask Beth (Olde Tyme Marketplace)! I bring my phone out to the barn and call her so that Brutus can talk to her! She could not believe her ears! And he is such a sweetheart! My daughter is going to have alot of fun raising him! It is always hard to see them go at the end of fair week! I'll post photos of him as he grows to be about 1100 lbs! I'll post more animals too! You have to meet Kumar, our dairy steer and our dogs and cats! I have lots to share! I also love to do punchneedle and am in the process of getting some patterns copyrighted....so if you love to punchneedle----stay tuned! I'll be sharing those soon too! You never know whatcha'll find here!

Welcome!!

Hi!! I hope you enjoy my blog! I just want to share with all of you all the great experiences I have here in the country! I have so much to share and hope that you stop by often! I grew up in a small city in Northeastern Ohio. Keep stopping by and I will tell you all kinds of stories! After my husband and I got married, we bought a cute little house 5 doors down from where I grew up. (Actually it was about all we could afford!) Anyway-he was raised in the country and always said we would live out in the country some day. Well about 7 years after we were married, we built a house in the country....well actually it was in BFE!! After we moved out there and my city friends started driving out to see me, they all thought I was CRAZY! I do not think any of them had ever seen an Amish buggy before because that was all they kept talking about! Everyone kept asking my husband how I liked being out in the middle of nowhere. Everyone was worried that I would not adjust. Well let me tell you....if they could see me now! They would not believe their eyes. They should have been here the day the vet came out to castrate and dehorn the calves! Oh---I have soooo many stories to tell you all! Keep stopping by and I'll start tellin' stories!

I am all new to this...so I will try my best to add photos and all that good stuff!