Merry Christ-mas!!

From all of us at the "Farm Follies", to all of you who check with us...We wish You a very Merry Christmas! Please take the time to reflect on the real reason we celebrate Christmas and say a prayer of thanks for all we have been blessed with! I look forward to sharing more follies with you in 2011!!

Blend in!

Snow...we got lots!! Around 2 feet and it's still snowing!! Crazy!

Not many days left in this hunting season, so, if you haven't got your deer yet, you gotta hunt, even in the deep snow! So hubby went out, all done up in his snow-camo. It is the coolest camo! I had to take pictures. And no, he didn't see any deer:(

It "Snow" wonder it's cold!

Oh my goodness!! There's allot of Snow out there!! Right now we have over 14 inches, and that's after a couple of days of packing down! And now, we are due to get another possible 10 inches! Oh no!!

I have never figured out how the critters survive the winters! The chickens and duck follow me around as I shovel so they have a place to walk...I think about closing their coop gate, but have you ever tried to keep Banties from flying the coop? Impossible!

The dogs do well in the snow...they love it...it's like God does it so they have a personal winter wonderland playground...I think my dogs feel like God does it just for them!! The cats seem OK with the snow also...of course, they have a second story shelter with feeding area, and that's only if they choose to stay outside!

Now the horses, they are a real hoot in the snow! At least ours are! They run and buck and put their noses in it like the dogs. It is quite the sight seeing the horses play in the snow! We have trees all around us and occasionally a branch will break off from the wind or heavy snow. Well, one broke off...about a 5 foot long one...in the pasture! We recently bought a 4th horse and I think he is going to fit in just fine! I prefer my horses (well, all my critters really!) have personality! Well, Banjo does!

My hubby was driving down the easement road and he sees Banjo flipping this big ol tree branch around and running thorough the pasture with it. Then he would stop and mess with it and then flip his head around and run some more. Well, upon further investigation, it seems the branch was stuck in the mane of the horse! My hubby went in to rescue the horse from this killer branch, but the horse decided it was more fun to play! Finally, the horse let the branch be separated from his mane! I now have a few twists and knots to comb out! I wish I would have gotten pictures! -- The horses in the photo here are Banjo and Brio!

Thanksgiving Day!

To Garfield we went! Weather was horrific...really didn't want to go...but always glad we did after the day is over and the memories are made and the pictures are taken to preserve for generations to come! I love my family, oh, I can complain and find fault in them all...me included, but I do love them! My sister's oldest and his family were there. Because of their jobs and hours, they don't often make it to family functions. It was so good to see them!

I have 5 siblings, all showed up with their Sig Other, except my bro from MT. He was greatly missed, as he is the Knight in shining armor who rides in and brings the sunshine and smiles! Everyone loves him! And yet, he disappoints us...what's up with that!!! Maybe Christmas!!

20 of us did show! Dinner was great, fun was had by all! A little sledding, a little story telling, lots of hugging, visiting and reminiscing. But sadly, after all the fun is had and we head home, my dad is left behind, failing fast. He doesn't look well. He has pneumonia for the 7th time this year. Very thin and frail. We are all very worried about him. If you happen to read this blog...please include my dad (and my mom) in your prayers.

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving and your families are well!!

horse of a different color!

Have had issues with Bombay's feet since December 2009. My hubby has went the distance to get this horse sound. Now he is ready to ride...but boots will be an added protection. -- Bought the boots, now, to try them on for the first time! Bombay has to be in the thick of things...everything! So he starts pulling stuff from the box, then picking the box up and flipping it here and there. He apparently didn't think I was doing a good job of relaying the instructions to my hubby, so he took the instructions from me! He is one funny horse!!

Can you see the yellow sticker on his nose? Well, I figured if he was ok with me putting this sticker on him, my horse Dali should be ok with it, right? NOT! Joe was under Dali, working on his feet, so I took one of the yellow stickers and put on his nose. Have you ever seen a horse look cross-eyed? Me neither! Dali looked down at his nose with both eyes and blew up! I was rolling on the ground with laughter...but hubby didn't find much humor in it...rightfully so, he could have gotten hurt, I should have thought it through a little better, but all is well, no one was hurt and Dali calmed down and his eyes are back in the proper position!!

The "Twin Towers"

Not those Twin Towers, "our" Twin Towers!

Do "you" have a church? "We" have a church! --Is it weird how we all take possession of "our" churches? We say things to our friends like, "hey, you should come to "my" church?" Or, "My" church is in Spokane." --You get it!

Well, "I" have a church! And, at "my" church, we sing old hymns. Leading us in those old hymns are 3 very dear ladies...2 of which are a mere 80 years young, or so. These 2 wonderful women are our equivalent of today's church bands! Stop laughing, I'm serious! One plays the organ and the other plays the piano. Also, both of these young ladies stand only about 4'6" tall, if, so my hubby refers to them lovingly as "our Twin Towers", aka "the band"! The 3rd is a young lady, and she leads us in singing...if that's what you can call the noise that the rest of us make! Some times, more often than not, the "Twin Towers" band loose their place! Sometimes just one or the other, often both at the same time! The song leader is very professional and is usually pretty good about keeping her composure...unless, she and my hubby meet eyes! You see, my hubby finds it rather comical that our little church of 20 or less sing so totally out of sync. He has actually shed tears from quietly laughing so hard!

The last few Sundays we have had a guest minister and his family sit in the pews with us during the first part of the church service. This last Sunday, it seemed extremely hard for our "Twin Towers" to get the timing, the key or the page number together! I, like most of the other parishioners, try to ignore the bumblings and play along...but not my hubby! He can't take it, it's like someone is tickling the bottom of his feet!! And then, the guest minister, who is sitting directly in front of my hubby, turns to look at my hubby...ok, that's all she wrote! The lead singing lady now looses it also, as do the other 5 people sitting in front of me and then my 17 year old brother in law sitting next to me...me, I'm silently saying a prayer that we can all recover and get this song done! And we do!

GOD bless our "Twin Towers"...as the one tiny little lady steps off the stage and goes to the other tiny little lady sitting at the piano, pats her on the back and hugs her as though they, together, just won the Super Bowl!

There will never be another church like "my" church!

The Chase!

I originally posted this in November, 2007. Seems mornings never change. Things are still the same...except...a few of the critters has changed. "Issac" the sheep found a new home with a vet assistant, "Snoop Dog" and "Little Kim" the 2 black "quiet" ducks found a new home with a family that deals with just fowls...that is a strange word! We have a bunch of new chickens, of unintended sorts...that is another post in it's self! And, of course, we now have "Noodle" the poodle! Anyway...let me tell you how my day starts!

Mornings! I drag myself out of bed…down the stairs…all I want to do is throw myself on the chair and sip coffee…but noooo! I have animals! The “mouse” (Mickey the wiener dog) is scratching at his bedroom door to go out. I open his door and he does about 20 3-foot verticals while waiting for me to get my shoes and coat on--now Noodle joins in...she can get some air! I take a deep breath and giggle out loud as I open the door. I take off running and scream as I look behind me…pretending to be in a horror movie. I am being chased by 24 chickens 2 ducks 4 dogs and 3 cats, at the same time the horses are running, bucking, snorting and farting in the pasture. Sometimes I intentionally fall on the ground…they all stop…stare at me, except those who pounce on me…I get up, start running again and they all chase me! I feed them, they forget I exist. I go back inside to drink my coffee. Now I’m awake!

Oh, I've gotta get this on film!