A Bit of Nostalgia.. with a side of Freaky

We had some business to take care of today.. up the road, a few miles from home. The Blacksmith decided we’d take the scenic route home.

Cute little gas station, right? Hey, since I’m a Blogger again.. I must stop and take some pics, right?!

Seems legit.. so cute and nostalgic.

Dig these prices..

Now, fair warning, things start to get creepy.

(oops, unplanned selfie below.. can you see it?!)

Let’s not EVEN talk about the neighborhood…

… or this guy.

Yikes!! It IS a pretty cool historic display.. albeit kind of spooky!

This old advertising wall in town caught our attention.

That’s our tour of neighborhood oddities for the day ;) What interesting displays do you have in your neck of the woods?

Life as We Know It

… has been busy! Let me just get my shaming out of the way first. Just look at the dates, people. My last post was September 16. Today is November 17th. Really??  I think I’ve hit a new blogging low. Must.Do.Better. (if you don’t believe me, I understand!).  Also, I’ve become terrible at blog visiting. I’d love to spend an entire lazy day just catching up on blogs! One can hope.

What are your favorite type of posts? Random posts are mine. I believe it is because my brain works that way. So random! That’s why I feel like I’m spinning in circles half the time – not getting any real stuff done (or at least not fast enough to suit me). The older I get, the worse it gets. Anyone with me on this?

Oh yah.

Where was I?

Here is one thing I accomplished over the long, dry, hot summer -- a re-do of an old ice box we’ve had in the barn for 25 years or more. Sorry, no ‘before’ pictures. It wasn’t in horrible shape, but did take some time (especially since at one point I painted it white.. what was I thinking? Covering up that cool old galvanized finish??). I dressed it up with old coke signs (the wire is now gone - Earth magnets worked the best for holding them in place). This way, I can change it up super quick if I want to. Hmmmm.. thinking some Christmas Coca Cola signs might be nice...

We also harvested honey. Amazingly, for a drought year we had several pounds and it increased from last year. Not enough to sell yet, but enough to keep us stocked until next year. The bad news is we lost our two new hives that we purchased. The good news is the “swarm” hive and original hive both seem to be doing great (at last check).

This little honeybee visited us inside. She wanted a drink of honey.

We have a new resident at the farm and I am in love. There is a story to go with this new resident, but that’s another blog post.

Gracie and Ruby are famous!! Well, sort of? They have a little space in the current (Nov/Dec 2012) Hobby Farms issue.

Chloe and Banjo say “They’re just donkeys… what’s the big deal?”

In August we were blessed with a visit from the Blacksmith’s oldest sibling – his one and only brother. Jerry visited from the far away and beautiful state of New Mexico, and stayed with a sister locally. We had not seen him in 12 plus years, but he and the Blacksmith always kept in touch. Sadly, it was their last visit as Jerry passed away peacefully in his sleep soon after he returned home to New Mexico.

I am so thankful they had that last visit, and also that we took several pictures. I loved this one with the good-natured sibling “fussing” going on (cute). These four were the only surviving of their mother’s six children. Now we have only three.

On this Thanksgiving we are reminded to count our blessings each and every day. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!! For this and every single day, we are truly grateful ♥

Donkey Roping–Again?

UPDATE on 9-17-12: “Open burro roping” has been removed from the description on Facebook Sept 29 event page and from Eden, Tx website event page.
Thanks so much everyone who helped.. big hugs from the Donks!! ♥♥
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And this one is sponsored by a church.
Yes, really. It’s true. And we are very sad to learn of this ;(

Reposted from For the Love of Donkeys Facebook page:

Just as we did in Van Horn, let's come together to tell Eden, Texas that the donkey roping competition scheduled for Saturday, September 29 at Rodeo Arena is not acceptable. Ask them to please cancel this inhumane event.
Please contact:
Celina Hemmeter
Eden, Texas City Secretary/Administrator
(325) 869-2211
cityadmin@edentexas.com
...

The individuals from Hallelujah Trail Cowboy Church who are planning the competition:
BUZZY BIERSCHWALE 830-459-7958
STEVE BELOTE 325-245-3425 (“Pastor Steve”)
DAN TOMLINSON 325-869-5206

This morning we also noted that Hallelujah Trail Cowboy Church is already planning another burro event in October.
Here is another helpful note if you’d like to help by emailing a letter to the editor:
The Eden Echo is a newspaper in Eden, Texas and is published once a week on Thursday. This newspaper is owned by A.J. Dolle and Lillian Dolle.
Email: edenecho@wcc.net

source: For the Love of Donkeys facebook page

Wonder why we think this is a big deal? And needs to stop? For more details on donkey roping, go here. (Warning: explicit photos and info)

There is also a petition specific to the September 29th Eden, Texas event – please sign if you so choose.

While you’re at it, you may want to LIKE For the Love of Donkeys on Facebook ♥

Thank you for caring ♥

Much Love,
Ruby and Gracie

Legend of the Donkey's Cross
by Mary Singer

“Bring me the colt of a donkey,”
was the Master's request.

A young donkey was brought to Jesus
to carry Him into Jerusalem.

A week later Jesus was ordered
to be crucified.

The little donkey so loved the Lord
that he wanted to help Him carry the cross.

But, alas, he was pushed away.

The sad little donkey waited to say
goodbye until nearly all had left.

As he turned to leave, the shadow of
the cross fell upon the
back and shoulders of
the little donkey.

And there it has remained,
a tribute to the loyalty
and love of the humblest of
Gods creatures.

Purple Martins 2012

We had no tenants last year, but this year.. YES! The young ‘uns have been flying for a few days now. Another amazing thing about the 100+ temps is that it seems they have all survived and thrived through this. Earlier this week I hung out with them awhile (they fussed a little.. but not too much).

Love them!

P.S. The answer to yesterday’s Crusty Rusty Mystery Item: Sorghum Mill or Sorghum Mill Press… depending on which side of the river you were born ;)

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

I hope. Sorry for the unplanned blogging hiatus. I don’t know even know where to begin, so I’ll just jump right in and see where I land…
Drought and Heat 2012: We are still suffering in our neck of the woods. Grass, crops, gardens.. all are dying. Even the trees are in danger at this point. I’ve been watering to try to save what I can. The good news is we’re now into the “cool 90’s” this week after two weeks of upper 90’s to (as much as) 107 here. Please tell me what’s going on where you are. The rains have been so spotty. I know some have received showers of blessing.
In spite of everything, we still have a few blooms and tiny bit of garden left. Amazing, I say.


Bees: We are picking up another hive of bees this week from a relative who is a beekeeper and does his own splits each year. This will be Hive #4. Yay! On one of our hottest days last week (107), I captured these honeybees soaking up the moisture at the bird bath. It was really interesting to watch! Maybe because I’m a Bee Nerd? At any point during those warmest days you could see several bees at a time cooling off here.

Do you ever have a list of “things I should have blogged, but never did?” Here’s one of my many. This handmade mosaic stepping stone was given to me by my parents on my 50th b-day (gulp) 2 years ago. I sooo love it! The gentleman who creates these is wheelchair-bound in a local nursing home (about my age), and donates the proceeds to our county’s Relay for Life.

Now, here is something that Mr. W is quite proud of. One of his newest projects. Still doesn’t seem real to us sometimes, but his dear blacksmithing friend Ed passed away suddenly a couple of months ago. Slowly but surely I think some of  Ed’s “best of the best” rust pile has somehow found its way to Flat Creek Farm :)
Just for fun, can anyone guess what this lovely crusty rusty item is?

One more random catch-up item.. and I’m outa here for now (hopefully not so long this time). Remember Goldie? Wow, she grew up! She’ll be one year old at the end of this month. Notice the post-critter-chasing tongue?

Hope everyone is doing well. I’m trying to slowly catch up on blog visits too. Where does the time go??
Till next time…

Road Trip ~ Re-routed

This wasn’t the trip we originally planned for today, but we always enjoy a trip up the road to Amish Country.

Bantams.. need some bantams…

 

It’s official – I really want some guineas too! Beautiful feathers, interesting faces…

Lots of fun and games at recess. Seems it was recess at each of the schools we passed. Such a cold day, but they didn’t seem to mind.

Scenic views on the way home…

 

All in all, a very good day, enjoying peace and quiet.
Sending all of you lots of peaceful, quiet, uninterrupted moments. Priceless!

General Stores: Hays Ten Mile Store

I have a soft spot in my heart for general stores. Anyone else with me on this? Last weekend we visited the cutest li’l general store.. lovingly preserved in its near-original state. Hays Ten Mile Store is near Ten Mile, MO (tiny spot in the road) in Macon County.

The store was built in 1902.

Mr. Hays, shown in the photo below, owned the store for fifty years – from 1946 until the late 90’s.

Back in the day when Mr. Hays owned the store, you could buy dry goods and porta-huts (for livestock). Today, the store has a good selection of antiques and a few odds and ends such as dog food for sale…

And about a million bucks (or more) worth of pure vintage charm. You just can’t put a price tag on something like that.

The pink stove followed me home (I’m not quite sure how these things happen).

The present owner, Wade King, talking business with a customer.

Here is a nice video put together by our rural electric cooperative’s magazine, Rural Missouri, which interviews some of the regular card players at this history-rich store.

If you’re ever in Macon County, Missouri (northeast portion of the state), take a trip just a little off the beaten path to visit this charming piece of history.. frozen in time. From Macon, travel north on highway 63 (3-4 miles), take blacktop DD east about 4.5 miles and you are there! The store is on the northeast side of the crossroads, and is open Saturdays only from 10-5.

winter wonderful-land

This morning we awoke to a beautiful frozen fog. Is it just me, or does this seem to happen a lot more the past couple of winters? Okay by me… it’s lovely to look at. 

After morning chores and a quick photo session around the yard, I headed to my hair artiste, who also happens to have a wonderful talent for decorating and all things creative. She had recently acquired this cabinet. Love! She and her dad had also cut it down slightly to better fit in her kitchen. I want one! I couldn’t resist a quick phone pic. I always enjoy my hairdo days, and our visits in her adorable country beauty salon.

Thanks again, dear friends, for your wonderful, sweet, healing words of comfort. I appreciate them more than you will know. Big hugs to all!