Busy, Busy

Here’s a glimpse of what we’ve been up to lately around the farm:

Moo's colorful shed out

My brother's visit- he drove 3000 miles to cut up some trees for us.

More of my brother's handy work. It's so much easier to see off the deck without that silly, overgrown arborvitae in the way! As you can see, it was also in an obnoxious place at the bottom of the stairs.

Peeps! Some for eating, some for laying.

More peeps! These are Black Jersey Giants. They remind me of pandas when they're little with their coloring, but will turn all black as grown ups. They are slower to mature and will be HUGE chickens, weighing on average as much as a small turkey. These are to be layers for now.

Birthday present for Bad Pants. 🙂

Some of BP's handy work (and a Roxanne) to protect new grill from a certain nutty Aussie (coughCOPPERcough). The gate matches the decorative fanning on the deck. The carabiner clip is to keep Rox and Bear from opening the gate. It's located safely away from anywhere Bear could get his jaw stuck on it.

Hay net frustration and suspicion. Mwhahahahahaha! It took them a good 30 minutes to get over it the first time, 15 the second, and were old pros the third time.

In fact, Sugar had to show the other horses how it was done. Here, she pauses from eating to pose for her photo op.

Rox has a new playmate!

Her very own, wiggly, mini-me! That's right! We adopted a new pup from a kill shelter on Saturday. Lyra (puppy) is a Mastiff/Lab x pup, 4 mo old, very shy and under-socialized, with feet larger than Roxanne's, but very quickly coming out of her shell. She's not up for holding still for photo ops now that she realizes we won't eat her.

Beyond this, we’ve just been working on getting stuff done around here.  You know, mowing our 2 acre lawn with a push mower because the riding mower that came with the house is really, actually broken.  Rolling hay rounds, fixing things, etc.

That’s all that’s new here.  How about with you?  What’ve you been up to?

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Hi! How was your day?

Well, mine was…

 

 

 

 

Mine was just ducky!  Thanks for asking!

 

*Note: They are all named “Delicious”, so don’t get too attached.  Noisy and messy little buggers will be going to freezer camp in a few months after they help keep the garden slug-free.

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Catching Up

It’s bee a while since I’ve been here.  Lots of happenings have kept me away.  Let’s see…  Illness, unpacking, more fencing, bad weather, more bad weather, great weather, gardening, colic, tornado, injury, new family member…  I think that’s about right.

I never did find my battery charger for my camera, so I bought a new one.  Bad Pants finally unpacked the card reader.  So, this is mostly a picture post catching up on things.

Roxanne's attempt to "unzip" herself, mostly healed.

Wearing Daddy's t-shirt to keep her stitches and my floor clean- this was earlier than the first pic, as she still had her drain tubes in.

New living room set we purchased right before Rox unzipped herself.

Dude's dye-free, completely from scratch gingerbread house.

another view

Pasture space upon move in, and garden.

Pasture space, run-in and ponies March 2012. Note the front paddock and run-in were all the builder provided for 4 horses.

One of the cleared piles ready to burn on move in.

Builder's version of "burned" burn piles.

Shingle damage to the cottage from the storms.

This guy showed up on Feb 29 while Sugar was colicking. We've had no luck locating his owners.

He's a redtick coonhound, which are apparently a dime a dozen here in the South. No microchip, no response to my ads, no lost reports with AC. It was suggested by the vet that he was probably dumped, as that's not uncommon in our area.

He's about 18 months old, really well-behaved, clearly has had some training, doesn't dig or jump fences, is good with other dogs, and mostly good with the cats. He's very friendly and housebroken too.

So, we're keeping him. He's adopted Dude as his person. We've named him "Bob" or "Bobby", depending on the day. Soon he will be scheduled for a neuter, microchip and vaccs. He'll never be a stray again!

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Questions for my Horse Friends

Do you use Triple Crown feeds?  If so or have in the past, please tell me of your experiences.  Do/did your horse(s) consume more salt while on them?  Did it take more feed to keep their weight steady?  If you have switched off, to what feed and why?  If you don’t feed Triple Crown feeds, what is it you are currently feeding whom, how much, and do you like it?  Why or why not?

Thank you!

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Best.Line.Ever!

In reference to a horse abuse case showing on Judge Judy tomorrow, I read this following quote online today:

“If it had been my horse…I would have been all over that women like a monkey on a cupcake. She wouldn’t have been mentally or physically available to make it to court or any other appearance. lol.”

I was laughing so hard tears were streaming down my face!

Monkey on a cupcake…

Only in the South!

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Question

So, this year, we will be hosting the company Christmas get together for Bad Pants’ work group.  Now, this doesn’t mean the entire company, but rather those he works closely with here in Atlanta.  We have a large, lovely home designed for entertaining.  I love to cook and I think it would be a lot of fun!

I expect approximately 20 people, 10 guys and their wives.  And apparently wives are kinda optional.

I know this is way in advance, but I want time to try out lots of different recipes on family and any unsuspecting visitors.  🙂

So…

My question is this:

What are some of your favorite appetizers and hors d’oeuvres?  Care to share the recipe?

Thanks!

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Weekend Funny

It’s raining cats and dogs here.  I think I might have seen a few monkeys and other exotics as well.  At least we’re getting some much needed rain!  We had 3″ yesterday and they’re calling for 3″ more today.  Supposed to rain all day tomorrow too with tornado warnings on Sunday.  Yay for us!  Ok, that was heavy sarcasm.  I’m under tornado watch now, so I’d best make this short and sweet.  

Enjoy!

————-

Men’s Age, as determined by a trip to Home Depot

You are in the middle of some kind of project around the house -mowing the lawn, putting in a new fence, painting the living room or whatever. You are hot and sweaty, covered in dust, lawn clippings, dirt or paint. You have your old work clothes on. You know the outfit — shorts with the hole in the crotch, old T-shirt with a stain from who-knows-what and an old pair of tennis shoes.Right in the middle of this great home improvement project you realize you need to run to Home Depot to get something to help complete the job.

Depending on your age you might do the following:

In your 20’s:
Stop what you are doing. Shave, take a shower, blow dry your hair, brush your teeth, floss and put on clean clothes. Check yourself in the mirror and flex. Add a dab of your favorite cologne because you never know, you just might meet some hot chick while standing in the checkout lane. And you went to school with the pretty girl running the register.

In your 30’s:
Stop what you are doing, put on clean shorts and shirt. Change shoes. You married the hot chick so no need for much else. Wash your hands and comb your hair. Check yourself in the mirror. Still got it. Add a shot of your favorite cologne to cover the smell. The cute girl running the register is the kid sister to someone you went to school with.

In your 40’s:
Stop what you are doing. Put on a sweatshirt that is long enough to cover the hole in the crotch of your shorts. Put on different shoes and a hat. Wash your hands. Your bottle of Brut cologne is almost empty so you don’t want to waste any of it on a trip to Home Depot. Check yourself in the mirror and do more sucking in than flexing. The hot young thing running the register is your daughter’s age and you feel weird thinking she is spicy.

In your 50’s:
Stop what you are doing. Put on a hat, wipe the dirt off your hands onto your shirt. Change shoes because you don’t want to get dog doo-doo in your new sports car. Check yourself in the mirror and you swear not to wear that shirt anymore because it makes you look fat. The Cutie running the register smiles when she sees you coming and you think you still have it. Then you remember the hat you have on is from Bubba’s Bait & Beer Bar and it says, ‘I Got Worms .’

In your 60’s:
Stop what you are doing. No need for a hat anymore. Hose the dog doo-doo off your shoes. The mirror was shattered when you were in your 50’s. You hope you have underwear on so nothing hangs out the hole in your pants. The girl running the register may be cute, but you don’t have your glasses on so you are not sure.

In your 70’s:
Stop what you are doing. Wait to go to Home Depot until the drug store has your prescriptions ready to. Don’t even notice the dog doo-doo on your shoes. The young thing at the register stares at you and you realize you’re hanging out the hole in your crotch.

In your 80’s:
Stop what you are doing. Start again. Then stop again. Now you remember you need to go to Home Depot. Go to Wal-Mart instead and wander around trying to think what it is you are looking for. Fart out loud and you think someone called out your name. You went to school with the old lady who greeted you at the front door.

In your 90’s & beyond:
What’s a home deep hoe? Something for my garden? Where am I? Who am I? Why am I reading this? Did I send it? Did you? Who farted?

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Rant

I’m going to be up front and say that I AM PISSED OFF!  If that offends you, go away and come back some other day.  Please.  Go now.  I don’t have much patience to wait.

Ok, well, hopefully the easily offended are gone now.  I’ve been in a bitch ass mood all day and it’s not getting any better.  Not at all.  It’s been the kind of day that Mrs. Mom says makes Satan quake in his boots and say, “Oh Shit!  She’s UP!”  Yeah, that kind of day…

And just as I thought it was getting better, I went on Facebook.  Oh, I can hear it now!  Y’all are wondering why the hell I went and did something like that when I’m already in a rank mood.  Because, apparently, I can’t decide if I’m sadistic or masochistic today.

Tosca Reno, a woman I admire, who has really caught the media’s eye with her Eat Clean lifestyle, has pushed me over the edge.  What is it she said, you wonder?  Here, I’ll directly copy and paste her quote from Facebook for you:

“I have opened a can of worms but not with ill will.

I want us to think about what we are eating. It may not be popular for me to express my opinion but if it isn’t food that is making us sick then what is? Miss Deen is in a position through her TV and books to teach people how to eat therefore she has a responsibility to the public to include some awareness about what is healthy to consume daily or not. 

It makes me upset that so many of us are fooled about food. There has never before a crisis of health in our nation as there is right now regarding diabetes, particularly diabetes Type 2, a totally unnecessary disease. We can’t be casual about our approach to food. 

Do you think for one second I don’t enjoy birthday cake with my kids or a glass of wine? I have even tried some of Miss Deen’s recipes. What is missing from this whole situation is the plea for common sense. This means limiting those foods that act like poisons to our body and make us sick. I’m not on a high horse about this. I just think it is a terribly sad situation that people would rather defend the delicious taste of a cookie than their own health. My compassion for people is not to profit from books or seminars but out of a genuine concern for what is happening to us. Look at us. Just look at us. I’m frightened by what I see happening. 

So let me keep hearing from you because I need to know your thoughts on this whole issue. It is very important to me.”

– Tosca Reno, Facebook, 1/17/2012 @ 10:30 pm EST

And this was my response to her comment:

 “I’m sick of this ‘blame someone else for our problems / let’s all find a scapegoat garbage’ going around. Look, Paula Deen never made anyone eat her cooking, or cook her recipes, or buy her books or even watch her on TV. Trust me, I’ve turned her off plenty of times. Enthusiastic southern women just kind hit a nerve (and I live in the South). Has nothing to do with them, that’s MY deal.

You want someone to blame, let’s blame the fact that we’ve had 100 years of corporate interests advertising worse and worse things for us to eat. Blame a goverment system that has completely failed the greater good of it’s citizens. Want to blame someone? Blame Monsanto. Blame General Mills. Blame everybody who voted in a politician that appointed a bureaucrat who sold out our children for the expediency of corporate funded health studies paid for by the people trying to sell Americans the crap they claim is healthy.

WE did this. Our Parents did this. Their Parents did this. Paula Deen did not do this! She is not shoving food in OUR faces making little airplane noises or loading OUR grocery carts! She does not force us to buy her cookbooks, eat at her restaurant, cook the things she makes, or force us to watch her shows.

We don’t fix this by blaming a woman who has books and a tv show about regional cooking…we fix this by addressing the REAL problem. WE need to take responsibility for OURSELVES.

-This comment brought to you by Americans sick of everybody finding a new horse to beat to death and then try to ride.”

Now, to be fair and give credit where credit is due, Bad Pants listened to my inarticulate rage and watched me storm around his office absolutely fuming, then took what I said and put it together for me.  Which I deeply appreciate, because, we all know Satan and His minions were cowering in some far corner of Hades, trembling in fear of my wrath.

So, Paula Deen is a spokesman for the Danish diabetes medication company, Novo Nordisk, and apparently that also has Tosca Reno upset.  Well, she’s no more directly responsible for the diabetes of America than Nell Carter or Wilfred Brimley, and they were also spokespeople for diabetes medications!  Or, Patti LaBelle, because she has diabetes and wrote a cookbook for diabetics!  I know!  How about holding any famous person responsible that represented Firestone responsible for the death and accidents that happened before and during Firestorm?  Doesn’t that make as much sense?   The whole thing is utterly ridiculous!

WE are each individually responsible for what we put in our bodies and allow our children to put into their bodies.  No one is forcing us to eat crap!  It’s time people took responsibility for THEIR OWN ACTIONS!  Quit blaming everyone else, America!  It’s each our very own individual fucking fault if what we’re eating is making us unhealthy!  Not some celebrity!

WAKE UP!  We all have free will!  We get to choose what we eat or don’t eat, what we do or don’t do!  BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF!

Oh, and Ms. Reno, that agave nectar you’re so fond of in your cookbooks?  Yeah, it’s about as natural and “clean” as margarine.  It’s also “processed” and animals won’t touch it in the wild.  What makes YOU think it’s so great for the rest of us to consume?  Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?

(see here, here, and here.  Oh, and here.)

</rant>

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Carlile’s Got Talent?

Had no idea my former Yard Guys had talent beyond tying down loads!  Great job, guys!

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Struggling

If I have been quiet recently, forgive me.  It’s been a tough time with my typical anti-holidays sentiments, my family visiting from out of state, work around here trying to get all set up for ponies home, etc, etc, etc.

However, I’m struggling most with knowing I’ll be saying goodbye to a dear, dear friend of mine sooner rather than later.  She has been diagnosed with a terminal illness.  At best, I will be saying goodbye for the last time about five years from now.  At worst, it could be tomorrow.  She will leave behind two severely special needs children, who she will never see grow up to become adults, and who will always, always need their mama.

My heart is breaking for her children, for her family, for myself, but mostly for her, as God has tested her more than Jobe her whole life.

Life is never fair.  But sometimes, life really deals a rough hand to wonderful people.

 

*There’s a point at which I don’t know what to say to my beautiful friend.  I mourn the loss of my friend, am in shock at the impending loss, but yet she is not gone.  I want to mourn for ME, for MY LOSS, but yet she is here still and faces Death with such a positive attitude and outlook.  No self-pity, no fear…  Just a beautiful, serene, loving outlook on life and an ability to treasure every moment, every breath she has left.  I cry for the shadow looming over her life, yet here she is, celebrating what she has, and what she has been given.  She is one of the bravest and strongest women I know, an inspiration and example to so many people for how to live.  Yet, I wallow in my own selfishness and cry for my impending loss…

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