Week 52 - Wrapping Up the Year 2018

This past week we celebrated Christmas - just as so many other folks around the world did.  There were different traditions, different foods, different gifts....but mostly the same Christmas.  The joy and happiness of the season permeated the entire world - well most of it anyway.

While we didn't decorate as effusively as in years past (we have a new kitten and didn't want him climbing the tree and knocking it down and breaking ornaments), we did put up a tree - with lights and a topper - and stockings; couldn't NOT put up stockings.  

And while we were sleeping, Santa came!

And The Skipper cast himself as the Safekeeper of the Gifts! 

He abdicated his job once the gifts started to be unwrapped.

Gilligan, on the other hand, is an Old Hand at Christmas....he simply couldn't be bothered.

We invited our neighbor and another couple to Christmas dinner.  It was wonderful to spend a few hours with friends and catch up.  We got to talk to the Grands that evening and our son and his amazing wife, too.  Honestly, it doesn't get any better!

Well, 2018 is so close to being done that I'm going to call it a wrap!  We only have 3 more days left and I don't see anything crazy or noteworthy happening to make me want to add a post.  

We hope all of our family and friends (and anyone reading this is truly a friend!) have a safe and Happy New Year.  May 2019 be better and happier and more filled with love and joy that years before.

Thanks for stopping by.

Week 51 - All Things Considered, It's a Wrap!

This next to last week of the year was a bit unreal!  My Mr. Wonderful underwent a heart surgery earlier this week.  We really won't know for another 3 months if it was truly a success.  He spent the night in the hospital and came home the next day.  Gotta admit, he had a ton of bandages all over him and he looked like the little boy who found the band aids and put them all over himself!  Not really. That's just my dramatic side coming out!  He had 3 IV's and 5 lines for the surgery so there were a few bandages once they removed all the hardware.  With the amount of Heparin they needed to give him for the surgery, it was kinda dicey when the removed it all...took about 45 minutes of intense pressure by 3 different nurses (after about 15 minutes, each nurse lost feeling in her hands and wrists from the pressure they needed to use ) to stop the bleeding so they could put pressure bandages on the wounds.  Honestly, that was scarier than the surgery even though THAT involved lasers and cryosurgical techniques.  John took the rest of the week off (doctor's orders) and goes back tomorrow.  He is healing quite nicely.  

We decided not to decorate a tree this year.  Our newest kitten is just too young to know NOT to climb.  We just didn't want him to make the tree fall down and break ornaments.  So here is the sum total of our decorating for this year:

I couldn't NOT put out the stockings...The Skipper has already knocked down the stocking tree...so far, he hasn't shredded either the stockings or the tree skirt....

I've finished wrapping all the gifts so far...only stocking stuffers left to get.  We've settled on the menu for Christmas Day.  And we've invited some dear friends to share the meal with us.  Tri-Tip, mashed potatoes au gratin, roasted asparagus, and Pineapple Upside Down Bundt Cake for dessert. 

Thanks for stopping by....

Week 49 & 50 - The Holidays are Upon Us

I didn't post last week - I know, I'm a bad girl! No excuse so I won't insult you with a lame one I made up.  

The holidays are quickly approaching.  We are putting the tree up today - always the weekend nearest John's birthday (which is tomorrow).  Because of the Skipper, we aren't putting any ornaments on it, just the lights.  Hopefully, he will leave the tree alone and next year we might try ornaments.  He's still a kitten (8 months old tomorrow) and everything needs to be explored, don't ya know!

I finally finished the quilt for my friend in New York...he loved it.  He gave me permission to post pictures...

It's quite huge - 38 years in the making.  The earliest T-shirt is dated 1980 and I finished it this year.  I learned so much in the making of this quilt - and I hope I don't have to make one this big for another 38 years.  Gary said he was going to start a new collection so I could make him another - told him I might be too old in another 38 years!

Here is a little Advent Calendar that made me smile:

And this just made my day - for all you mommy's out there.

Make mine multi-colored, please, Santa!

Finally, I want to wish each of you a Merry and Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year...

Thanks for stopping by.

Week 48 - Thanksgiving

This past week was Thanksgiving.  A time for family, food, fun, and giving thanks for all we have and all we are.  We gathered several of our family members and sat down to a wonderful dinner of spatchcocked turkey grilled on the Big Green Egg, ham from the charcoal grill, dressing, green beans with ham and onions, butternut squash, rolls, cranberry relish and pies - pumpkin, mince, and pecan.  As usual, we had a wonderful time with family and tons of food.  

The next day several of us gathered to here for what has come to be known as Knotwell Girls Cookie Day.  Tradition says each of us makes a batch (or two) of Grandma's Sugar Cookie dough and we gather together to roll our dough, cut it out in numerous shapes, sprinkle the heck out of the dough and bake it to within an inch of its life....since the recipe makes upwards of 5 dozen cookies, there is potential for an unusually large number of holiday sweets!  This year, we had 5 families represented - that means 25 dozen cookies.  We decided - for time's sake - not to do my dough nor one sister's dough so during that marathon day of baking, we made 15 dozen cookies.  

We had 3 girls who had never come before.  What a gift to see them enjoying themselves.  We've already scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving next year.  

Mom and I made up my dough on Sunday and we decorated with sprinkles and frosting.  They sure aren't pretty but they do taste quite nice.  Especially with a hot cup of tea. I learned something new - don't buy frosting for sugar cookies on the off chance you might need it someday....instead, but frosting when you are sure you are going to make sugar cookies. That way the frosting isn't hard or gloppy when you want to use it.  Lesson learned!  

Thank you all for stopping by.  

Week 46 & 47 - Ugly Achieved aka Mischief Managed

I love my daughter-in-law.  That has never been disputed.  She is the daughter of my heart!  My son may have chosen her but I would have picked her without his help.  For the last 15 years, she will periodically call or text with a simple request....would you make this quilt if I buy the kit?  Would you fix this zipper on Charlotte's hoodie?  Would you pick up these pictures at your Walmart because they somehow got sent to yours in Missouri instead of ours here in Utah.  She is smart, funny, creative, an amazing mother and the wife my son can cherish for the rest of his life.  So when she asked me recently to knit her a bikini top and make it ugly - for their annual Ugly Sweater Party - I immediately said yes.   So, I'm knitting away on the bikini top (that she is going to wear over a neutral T-Shirt) and deciding what embellishments to use to make it ugly, and I suddenly had a thought.  Why did she think of me when she needed something Ugly?  Does she sit there thinking...hmmmm, I need an ugly bikini top - Hey, my mother-in-law can do ugly!  Well, Beansie, I got your Ugly right here. Complete with 3 sizes of purple jingle bells so they hear ya comin'. 

She's told me she already notified the powers-that-be to get the trophy engraved with her name on it.  She has commissioned her entry and it's gonna win!   I'm mailing it tomorrow!

We got out first snow of the winter this past week.  It's the earliest measurable snowfall since 1951!  Not a lot, just under an inch... but it counts!  Then on Wednesdnay nite, we got another inch or so...it didn't stop me from driving to work (you all know I'm such a weenie when there's snow).  It was mostly melted by the time I got home from work on Thursday afternoon.  

Now for some great news, but no photos yet.  Around 4 years ago, I met a young man who had been a student of one of my former schoolmates.  Jane and I went to elementary school together but were in different school districts for high school.  We kept in not-so-close touch for a number of years after we parted but I totally lost touch after about age 35 or so.  We re-connected about 7 years ago on Facebook.  I knew she'd gone on to become a drama teacher at Thunderbird High School in Phoenix and at the time we met up again on FB, she was retired.  Well, about 4 years ago, Jane (or Mac, as her students called her), passed away.  I made a comment on her FB page and it garnered a response from this student, Gary, who then began a correspondence with me.  He has been performing all around the world, including Broadway, ever since he graduated from school.  He was performing close to here (well, actually in Bartlesville, OK) and I made the trip there to see him.  We had dinner after the concert and, in the course of the evening, I volunteered to make a T-shirt Quilt for him - to commemorate all the places he's performed in the last 38 years.  What I thought was going to be a simple 12-20 t-shirt quilt turned out to be over 50 t-shirts and ended up being quite involved.  I've had those t-shirts for just shy of 3 years and today I put the finished project into a box to be mailed to him tomorrow.  He might even get it in time for Thanksgiving!  I am not going to post a picture of this massive project until he receives it...so you are going to have to wait...but it's huge!  And I'm quite proud of it. 

Those of you readers who celebrate Thanksiving, have a most Happy holiday filled with fun, food, and family and friends.  Not necessarily in that order.  We have several of John's relatives coming and then, the next day is Knotwell Girls Cookie Day!  Pictures to follow next week (if I get to the blog).  

Thanks for stopping by. 

Week 44 & 45 - I lost a week somewhere!

I dont' know where the last 10 days have gone!  I was pretty sure I only missed this past Sunday and in checking the calendar, it appears I missed a whole week!  Darnit anyway!  So, let's get caught up, shall we?

Halloween came and went and, as usual, we had no ghosts or goblins ringing the doorbell...that's what comes from living out in the country.  And it saves us getting a bunch of candy just in case and then eating it all ourselves - candy comas are avoided!

This past weekend I attended a much-anticipated machine embroidery workshop.  Oh, golly, was that fun!  One of the projects was a Christmas pillow made in the hoop....here it is finished.

It's only about 6" by 9" but it sure is cute and really quite brainless to stitch all in the hoop.

We also did a couple of small embroidered tree ornaments and a watercolor card...all done on the embroidery machine.

Our autumn colors are really vibrant this year.  The last few years the colors have been quite dull and not at all pretty. But this year?  This year we have some great colors!  Here is a view while sitting in the bank drive thru lane last week.

Isn't that a stunning sight?  Mom and I are going down to Branson later today to see the show "Samson" at the Sight and Sound Theater.  The colors in Branson are even more spectacular so we are looking forward to being cheered by autumn's glory!

The Skipper is growing like a weed.  He is already almost 7 months old...He tears around the house like he's on fire.  Makes us old folks tired just to watch him.  Gilligan tolerates him...barely.  But they need to figure out how to co-exist cause they live in the same house and that's not going to change.  The Skipper tries to emulate Gilligan a lot - sleeps in the chair with Gilligan, plays mouth-wrestling with him, even gets up on the top of the cabinets in the laundry room.  See?

He spent over an hour up there and then we heard a 'thunk' onto the dryer...then onto the floor.  He's quite the stinker - and then he come up to you and purrs and sits in your lap and goes to sleep, sweet at you please.  

Well, time to get ready for our trip to Branson and the play...thanks for stopping by. And thanks for waiting for me to get off my hiney and post new happenings here at Pieceful Harbor.  

Week 43 - Make Hay While the Sun Shines and Get off My Chickens!

Got your attention, didn't I?  This is mostly about weather here in southwest Missouri.  As a lot of folks know, we have been in a drought for a while...so much so that we were fearful of finding enough hay at a reasonable price to feed the cows thru the winter.  By reasonable, I mean less than $50.00 a roll....most of the hay we were seeing was close to 100;00 per roll and that just isn't in the cards for us...we needed at least 15 rolls to get thru the winter....do the math, folks!

John had to get chicken feed the other day and asked the shop if they knew of anyone who was selling hay....turns out they did.  And the folks who were selling hay are friends of ours!  So I got hold of the wife and she asked the husband and this past weekend, they brought over 15 rolls of hay!  John and another friend used their tractors to offload the hat and placed it wherever they could.  John will formally store it this weekend.  In the meantime, here is my side yard.

As to the second heading in this blog entry....John is so tired of using a trap to get rid of the predators to his chickens...he finally talked me into letting him get a gun.  He has waiting patiently for 4 months to get an HR 001V rifle to shoot foxes and raccoons and other predators. Interestingly enough, the V in the rifle designator stands for Varmint.  So John now owns a Varmint Rifle.  He still needs to get a scope for it but that won't take as long as getting the actual rifle did.   He's recently lost 2 more of his egg-layers...sigh.  

He is hoping he can get rid of the creatures who are attacking his chickens.  More on that later, I'm sure.

Hey, thanks for stopping by.  

Week 41 & 42 - Outage and Recovery

This past week has been - well - a long week!  It started last Saturday with the internet going out and we didn't get it back till yesterday. It's easy to access at work and I took advantage of it daily. I'm so used to being able to just go on the internet whenever I think of something that I want to look at.  It honestly was a pain in the you know what NOT to have internet access.  Yes, I am so used to having instant internet.  I'm spoiled...so sue me.  Anyway, Mr. Wonderful talked to the internet provider every day starting Sunday....they FINALLY got it fixed yesterday....Whew!  

Yesterday was Knit-a-Tit day at One City Market, my favorite yarn shop.  It's an annual event where knitters from all over the area come together to knit prosthetic breasts for cancer survivors.  We knitters make boobs all year long because there is, sadly, a huge need.  But the event that the shop puts on is something that we all look forward to.  Held in October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month - Lisa puts on a wonderful 'festival'!  This year, there was a cover fee - hygiene products to donate to local schools (evidently, those products are not covered by food stamps - who knew - and lots of youngsters don't have simple items like deodorant or tampons).  As usual, the knitters came thru with a huge amount of products for List to take to several schools in the area.  There were also over 600 boobs brought and made at the event that will go the the Hulston Cancer Center in Springfield.  I think about 50 people showed up to knit, and there were several folks who don't knit that stuffed boobs alongside the Firefighters and Police who showed up.  In spite of the bitter cold and the beginning rain, it was a fun day dedicated to helping folks who can't afford the traditional high cost of prosthetics following mastectomy surgery.  

Thanks to Lisa at One City Market, thanks to the Logan-Rogersville Fire District and thanks to the Rogersville PD.....And a gargantuan thanks to all the knitters and crocheters and significant others who braved the weather to help others.  

Today is cold and rainy again.  I'm not complaining - we are finally up to normal measurements for rain for the month AND for the year!  Barely, but we'll take all we can get.  It's a fine day for hot chocolate or tea and sitting with a throw over your lap and knitting needles in your hands.

Happy Fall, Ya'll.  Thanks for stopping by.

Week 40 - Hot Poppy in the House!

So, for the last 5 weeks, I've been driving a rental car. You might recall that faulty Takata Air Bags resulted in over 13 MILLION cars being recalled.  Well, my 2008 Ford Edge was one of those recalled.  We have known about the possibility of the passenger front airbag deploying and possibly killing the passenger since July of 2016.  Yep, you read that right.  Takata filed for bankruptcy and Ford has been trying to come up with a replacement air bag since then.  We would periodically get a letter from Ford telling us that they were working on it, but that didn't take away the fear that the airbag would deploy and kill my mother - she's the one who mostly sits in that seat.  

Well, this past June we got a letter from Ford. They said they are still working to get airbags for all the recalled cars.  They made the following offer to   everyone who owned a recalled vehicle and hadn't gotten the airbag replaced yet.  Ford would pay the cost of a rental vehicle comparable to my own until they had an airbag to replace my possibly faulty one.  Yes, possibly faulty. It seems they had no idea which airbags would end up being faulty and which ones were perfectly fine.  They need to replace every single front passenger airbag in every single 2008 Edge they made.  Plus other vehicles but I don't recall all the years and models...and that's just Fords....they are other makes, models and years that are part of this massive recall.  

We talked to our service guy at the Ford dealership and he strongly advised us to take the offer.  So we told them to hook us up with a rental car.  5 weeks ago, I parked my own Hot Poppy and started driving a 2018 Toyota 4Runner...a backup camera (I love it!) and it sits higher so I can see around a lot more vehicles on the road.  Mom is so short that she has a bit of trouble getting up into the passenger seat but the running boards and a handhold help.  I was told that Ford is willing to pay for the rental car as long as it takes - one month to as long as a year or more!  Well, it's been just 5 weeks and I got a call from the dealer that they have a replacement airbag for my car and I took it in on Thursday nite...they brought her back to me at work on Friday morning.....Hot Poppy is home!  And she's no longer a threat to my mom's safety!  I will take the 4Runner back to the rental place tomorrow after work.  Yeah!

In other news, I've finished another pair of vanilla socks...this time using  a self-striping yarn from A Whimsical Wood Yarn Co., Pixie Toes Sock, in the colorway "Scary Ass".  I love using the Ass yarns....they just make me smile to say them!  Here is Scary Ass.

The colors are eye-searing neon yellow, orange, a tiny bit of pinkish-purple, and black.  A treat to knit...the yarn is yummy soft!  

I'm now in the very beginning of a sock pattern that I've wanted to knit for a long time - Fiesta Feet.  I'm using another of the Whimsical Wood Yarn Co. yarns...this time the color way is "F**k Cancer"...I didn't type the entire name to protect some of my more genteel readers.  I've wanted to use this yarn for a couple of years and this pattern just screams for it!   Will see how it goes....progress report soon.

Well, laundry is calling......thanks for stopping by. 

Week 38 & 39 - Catching Up

It seems as the year continues on towards its natural ending on December 31st, I am having more and more difficulties getting the blog done.  I start out the year with such good intentions - once a week is not too much to ask, right?  Once the summer begins to wane, I seem to run out of steam on the blogging front.  That being said, I am going to try again to get back to once a week till the end of the year.

My absolute favorite time of year is finally here!  I love Fall!  I mean I really love Fall!  The temperatures are in the mid-60's to high 70's.  The light in the sky - well, there's just something about that that makes me happy.  Yes, the day gets dark earlier - that's not one of my favorites.  And Fall means that winter can't be far behind - again, not a favorite of mine.  But only because of the snow and ice!

If I could spend the winter inside not contending with the hazards of snow and ice, I would like winter more.  But I digress from my Ode to Fall.  The trees are beginning to change their clothes to fall colors - Remember when we all had our colors done, back in the 80's?  My colors were Autumn - I look best dressed in all the colors of Fall - rust, gold, orange (even though I'm a redhead), yellow, yellow-green, brown, khaki.  Yep, even my own color palette is Fall.  I like decorating our front porch - but usually only get excited and actually do it for Fall.  In fact, we have some plans for the front of the house for this year - just no time to actually do it.  Hopefully soon I can show you pictures of our Porch Panorama for this year.  

Here is a Fall Bucket List that I found on the internet.  Now, we don't have children living at home anymore so actually DOING a Fall Bucket List is pretty far down on our list of things to do.  But it's fun to look at them.

We won't be Camping or running a 5K, And I certainly won't be watching football.  But we already do a lot of those - Use Cinnamon, make chili, Soup, watch sunsets.  And my favorite on that whole list - can you guess?  Yes, KNIT!  Doncha just love that knitting got onto that list?  I sure do.

I finished all the socks that were on the needles earlier this past week.  These eye-searing ones made me happy to knit.  

The yarn color is one of the Ass yarns - Scary Ass.  Seems to fit, right?  I'm getting ready to cast on an entirely new pattern for socks.  One that I've wanted to knit for a very long time.  The pattern is Fiesta Feet by Lucy Neatby.

It's kinda scary to look at, but if you take that elephant and cut it down to bitesize, you can get it done, right?  That's what I intend to do with the Fiesta Feet pattern; cut it down to bitesize and knit away till it's finished.  The picture really doesn't do it justice.  I saw a pair knit up at the yarn shop last week and it was stunning.  I'll post, of course, when mine are done - don't hold your breath.  I am NOT a monogamous knitter!  So these may take a while.

Here's a cute emoji that I found on the internet....it, too, makes me happy.

That's me, all year long!

Thanks for stopping by. 

Week 36 & 37 - Kittens and Stuff

So, we've had the kitten for 2 weeks now..we've settled on a name - The Skipper.  I took him and Gilligan to the vet yesterday and it was perfectly normal to say I had the Skipper and Gilligan to see the doctor.  One other lady in there giggled when I said it.  

Here he is....a bit less camera shy.

He really IS a goof - full of spunk and so much energy.  Makes us all tired just to watch him run around the house.  We all, including him, sleep really well at night.

And some of the occupants of the house sleep well during the day as well.

          

Gilligan is slowly getting used to having the little guy in the house...there's a whole lot less hissing and growling coming out of the Old Grump these days.  

John and our son met up in Little Rock, Arkansas this past week for a Father/Son Getaway.  Big John drove to Little Rock early Thursday and Young John flew in from Utah.  They toured the State Capitol of Arkansas, meeting up with the State Treasurer and getting to hold about 1/2 million dolalrs in federal money!  From there, they went on down to Jackson, Mississippi to tour the State Capitol and then to Vicksburg to see the Civil War Site.  Then on to Baton Rouge, Louisiana - again to tour the Capitol and on up to Hot Springs, Arkansas for the night.  They toured the Hot Springs Park, had some lunch, and went on to the airport so Young John could catch his flight home and Big John could pick up his car and drive home.  Big John got home about 7 o'clock last night - tired but exhilarated.  The three days went fast but they got to spend time together and that's always a gift.  

And lots of good food doesn't hurt, either.

Hurricane (or is it Tropical Storm) Gordon pretty much fizzled out by the time it got to land in Louisiana and Mississippi.  At least the damaging wind fizzled out.  We got tons of clouds and rain from Thursday through today.  Not as much rain as we were told to expect but enough to make us all breath a small sigh of relief.  And we got some pretty spectacular skies near sunset, too.

I took this facing East the other night....gorgeous, isn't it.  

Well, that's about all for today.  Until next time, Thanks for stopping by.

Week 35 Chickens and Cats

Well, it's been over a week since Briscoe crossed the Rainbow Bridge.  I am still listening for his drunken gait to tell me he needs to go outside....Mom said she heard his bark to wake her up this morning.  He was definitely a part of this household, in more ways than we thought.  

I had told John that his sister mentioned they had a lot of cats at the Humane Society available for adoption....I said jokingly that maybe Gilligan needed a friend since he'd never lived in the house without another animal.  John jumped on that and said, "Well, you remember, I lived in a house with 11 inside cats growing up."  No, I did not recall that....so on Sunday, Mom and I made a trip to the Southwest Humane Society adoption center and played with a few kittens.  I didn't want a full grown cat since Gilligan is full grown and I didn't want issues....I figured a kitten might be better.  And I always wanted a black cat - no clue why this is so, but it's true - so I kind of gravitated to the black ones, or the mostly black ones.  Came across a small black and white kitten, Saturn was his name.  He was sound asleep in his enclosure and meowed at me when I went to pick him up.  So sweet and very small.  He was 4 months old and had been made a gentleman already so no issues male superiority or spraying.  I was kinda enthralled by his 'tuxedo' markings.  He came home with us and there the adventure began.  I wasn't really enthused with the name 'Saturn' - it doesn't connect to him at all....we toyed with a couple of names like Socks, or Spats, or Patches, or even Buddy.  I post a picture on Facebook and one of our friends from California mentioned he could be The Skipper, the Professor, or Mr. Howell from Gilligan's Island, in keeping with the theme.  John jumped at The Skipper. So, I give you, The Skipper - I can't get a decent picture cause he is a super busy kitten right now...maybe once he settles in I can get a better one.

As i said....busy!  

More later, I'm sure.

On another note, mom and I were getting ready to set the table the other night and I heard a strange noise...it sounded as though there was someone or something along the side of the house, or near the back.  I couldn't tell if I heard talking or maybe muttering....finally I looked out the back window, near the staircase that goes down into the dog run...and saw this:

Yep, those are the newest chickens, led by the lone rooster!  It had rained and John had left the gate to the dog run open and the chickens run around on the property pretty much wherever they want...and they wanted to go up the stairs and find out what's up there.

We are getting a tiny bit of rain these days.  I came home from work the other day and it was sprinkling...a nice, gentle sprinkle that was enough to make me use my window wipers but not enough to leave puddle yet.  I looked over into the north field, saw the cows grazing, and then, to the right, I saw this! 

Yes, there were 4 deer lazing in the field under the trees, just getting sprinkled on and so content.  They must have stayed there for an hour...very unusual but I stopped trying to explain nature a long time ago.

Hey, thanks for stopping by.  More next time.

Week 33 & 34 - Catching Up

It's been 2 weeks since my last posting. Let me catch you up.

One, we got rain!  Not a lot, but enough to make us breathe a sigh of relief for a while.  

The deer usually come out right at dusk and right at dawn to eat.  They don't usually come out during the day.  But the drought has made it necessary for them to forage at all times of the day.  

Here is part of the herd that lives in our woods.

(Click to embiggen)

Sadly, we lost a member of our family this past week.  Briscoe crossed over the Rainbow Bridge on Friday.  He was a Golden Retriver that we adopted at 5 months old in 2004.  Now, most Goldens live around 10 years, but Briscoe defied the odds and lived just short of 15 years.  He had some physical challenges that never seemed to stop him or even slow him down.  He had the most amazing smile.  The last few years, he's been declining - don't we all as we get older?  It finally came time to bid him farewell.  When I went to find pictures of him, I realized I'd not taken an recent ones....that makes me sad.  Here are ones taken really early in his life with us.

At 6 months old.

With his favorite human - John was his 'lobster' (reference from the TV show "Friends") 

Farewell, Furry Friend.  We gave you the best life we could and you gave us all your love.  

The young chickens have definitely learned to come out of the barn and forage...it's so fun to look out the window on the barn side of the house and see the entire group of them skittering around.  

We think one of the Black Asutralorps is a rooster.  He is learning to crow. He sounds like a teenage boy with his voice changing...makes us chuckle to hear him.  

I hear thunder beginning and John says the rain has started.  Time for me to turn off and unplug the computer so if we get hit with lightning, we don't lose electronics. 

Thanks for stopping by.