I meant to post this before Thanksgiving but since Christmas is coming, I think it still fits the season.
1. My faith
2. My family
3. My friends
4. A working vehicle
5. A roof over my head
6. Food to feed my hunger
7. Books to feed my imagination
8. Fellowship to feed my soul
9. My commitment to my health
10. The scale (FINALLY) going down.
11. Heat
12. Chocolate
13. Pasty
14. 'I Love You, Mommy.'
15. 'Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Mmmm.' (R speak for Love You Mommy)
16. 'I Love You, Hon.'
17. My wonderful pooches
18. Christmas carols
19. Holiday greetings
20. Pretty the Elf (on the shelf)
21. A fresh new snow
22. An empty sink
23. An empty dishwasher
24. A full cupboard of dishes
25. No laundry pile
26. A clean floor
27. Bedroom walls being constructed
28. Christmas stockings
29. Running water
30. Homemade Lasagna
31. Being the first one to open a jar of peanut butter
32. Friendly cows
33. Friendly calves
34. Homemade raspberry jam
35. Fresh bread
36. Art on the walls
37. A full bookshelf
38. Blueberry muffins
39. Chocolate cake
40. Cross-country skiing
41. Snowshoes
42. Sunny summer days
43. Misty Spring rains
44. Crisp Autumn afternoons
45. Sparkling Winter evenings
46. Christmas trees
47. Decking the halls
48. Christmas programs
49. The joy in a child's eyes as they take in all the seasonal festivities
50. The magic of the season
Friday, December 5, 2014
Friday, November 21, 2014
What's THAT noise?
'Slosh' goes the milk into the bucket.
'Ooof' goes the chore hand as she hefts 8 gallons of milk.
'Thunk' goes the door as it's opened.
'Brrr' goes the chore hand as she walks toward the barn through the chilly morning air.
'BAAAAAAAAA!' go the hungry hungry calves as they see their breakfast arriving.
'Vrrrrmmmmm' goes the skidsteer as another bale is unrolled for those hungry babies equally hungry mommas.
'Clank' go the headlocks as the cows reach for a tantalizing mouthful of hay.
'cluck buck buck' goes the lone barnyard hen as she scrabbles for a kernel or two of corn.
'peep' goes something nearby as the chore hand walks back for the remaining buckets of milk.
Wait....Peep? What goes PEEP in the middle of winter?
'Hon, come listen' says the chore hand.
'Where's a ladder' asks the farmer.
'What's making that noise' asks the chore hand.
'Two chicks. And there's 9 more eggs' says the farmer.
'Buck Buck Buck' says the now flustered momma hen as she shoos us away from her little family and nestles them back under her warm cozy feathers in her oh so cozy nest in a little hidden nook of the wall.
And so ends this morning's excitement at the barn.
(Whoever heard of a hen hatching chicks this time of year?)
'Ooof' goes the chore hand as she hefts 8 gallons of milk.
'Thunk' goes the door as it's opened.
'Brrr' goes the chore hand as she walks toward the barn through the chilly morning air.
'BAAAAAAAAA!' go the hungry hungry calves as they see their breakfast arriving.
'Vrrrrmmmmm' goes the skidsteer as another bale is unrolled for those hungry babies equally hungry mommas.
'Clank' go the headlocks as the cows reach for a tantalizing mouthful of hay.
'cluck buck buck' goes the lone barnyard hen as she scrabbles for a kernel or two of corn.
'peep' goes something nearby as the chore hand walks back for the remaining buckets of milk.
Wait....Peep? What goes PEEP in the middle of winter?
'Hon, come listen' says the chore hand.
'Where's a ladder' asks the farmer.
'What's making that noise' asks the chore hand.
'Two chicks. And there's 9 more eggs' says the farmer.
'Buck Buck Buck' says the now flustered momma hen as she shoos us away from her little family and nestles them back under her warm cozy feathers in her oh so cozy nest in a little hidden nook of the wall.
And so ends this morning's excitement at the barn.
(Whoever heard of a hen hatching chicks this time of year?)
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Kids at Play
I hear the rumbly Brrrrrrrruuuuummmm. Brrrrruuuuuuummmmm of a large piece of farm machinery starting up.
I hear a myriad of Moos, Honks, Baas, Neighs, Clucks, Meows coming from the barnyard.
I hear the farmer holler Who's hungry? as he heads out to the barn.
Tractors busily plowing, digging, spreading, combining, chopping, baling, or mowing fields.
Assorted barnyard animals live in a rather interestingly shaped barn.
A farmer busily feeds a bale to the small herd hungrily awaiting their morning grub.
To the two blond kids playing Barnyard, it doesn't matter that their animals are plastic and stand no higher than a few inches. It doesn't matter that their tractors are miniscule compared to the real deal and need 'hand power' to move. It doesn't matter that their fields are floors, chairs, couches and bales are blocks. It doesn't matter that their barns are made of Lincoln Logs.
In their imagination, their pint-sized living room farm is every bit as big and real as the one they really live on and they are farming just like their daddy.
I hear a myriad of Moos, Honks, Baas, Neighs, Clucks, Meows coming from the barnyard.
I hear the farmer holler Who's hungry? as he heads out to the barn.
Tractors busily plowing, digging, spreading, combining, chopping, baling, or mowing fields.
Assorted barnyard animals live in a rather interestingly shaped barn.
A farmer busily feeds a bale to the small herd hungrily awaiting their morning grub.
To the two blond kids playing Barnyard, it doesn't matter that their animals are plastic and stand no higher than a few inches. It doesn't matter that their tractors are miniscule compared to the real deal and need 'hand power' to move. It doesn't matter that their fields are floors, chairs, couches and bales are blocks. It doesn't matter that their barns are made of Lincoln Logs.
In their imagination, their pint-sized living room farm is every bit as big and real as the one they really live on and they are farming just like their daddy.
Friday, November 14, 2014
Morning Drive
Since we've moved the cows to their winter abode, I now have a commute longer than the 25 steps from my back door to the barn door. (Now, I take 5 steps to the van door and drive for 10 minutes.) Here's today's 'word picture' of that drive.
Crisp shivery air. Jack Frost has left his sparkly signature on everything in sight. Trees are wreathed in silver, the air is full of crystal haze, a dusting of snow shimmers the ground. There is a crunching underfoot as I scamper to my vehicle. Icicles tinkle as they snap loose from the van door and shatter on the ground. I noticed that all the nature sounds are clear and cold this morning while all the man-made sounds are low and grumbly. Like the van as it growls it's 'why are you starting me up on such a cooooooolllldddd morning?' rumble. (Also like the children of mine as they grudgingly roll out of their cozy warm beds, dress, and bundle for the chilly weather.)
Driving to the barn, you see signs of winter's arrival everywhere. The van thermometer showing a 'balmy' 4 degrees. Snow in the ditches, frost on the trees, ice on the ponds. The prickle in your nose as you breathe a bit too deeply of the brisk morning air.
At the barn, there's signs of Old Man Winter settling in as well. Snow dusted cows come walking in the barn, water tanks have frozen, calves bellow their disagreement at finding their feeders are cold (until warmed by the milk, that is), chore hands find chapped hands and cold toes a normal thing.
Yes, winter is here.
Crisp shivery air. Jack Frost has left his sparkly signature on everything in sight. Trees are wreathed in silver, the air is full of crystal haze, a dusting of snow shimmers the ground. There is a crunching underfoot as I scamper to my vehicle. Icicles tinkle as they snap loose from the van door and shatter on the ground. I noticed that all the nature sounds are clear and cold this morning while all the man-made sounds are low and grumbly. Like the van as it growls it's 'why are you starting me up on such a cooooooolllldddd morning?' rumble. (Also like the children of mine as they grudgingly roll out of their cozy warm beds, dress, and bundle for the chilly weather.)
Driving to the barn, you see signs of winter's arrival everywhere. The van thermometer showing a 'balmy' 4 degrees. Snow in the ditches, frost on the trees, ice on the ponds. The prickle in your nose as you breathe a bit too deeply of the brisk morning air.
At the barn, there's signs of Old Man Winter settling in as well. Snow dusted cows come walking in the barn, water tanks have frozen, calves bellow their disagreement at finding their feeders are cold (until warmed by the milk, that is), chore hands find chapped hands and cold toes a normal thing.
Yes, winter is here.
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