Thanks so much, Blogger Friends, for your kind words and prayers. My beloved Grandma Annie Mae left this world yesterday morning, peacefully, and in the company of loved ones. This short video was made at her 97th birthday party last October (by cousin Susan). I think at that time we knew that we wouldn’t have her long, but she remained strong in her faith and mind right up to the end.
Grandma’s Advice for a Long Life
Who knew? I looked up and tried to identify this puzzling shape every time I’ve gone out to fill the front yard bird feeders. Could it be? Another hummingbird nest?
Upon closer examination, it turns out to be an Oriole nest (I’m 99% sure anyway. If you think it’s something else, please let me know!)
I know we have Orioles around the yard every Spring, and they surely do love the grape jelly I offer them. But who knew they were nesting just a few feet away from the house?
So now to the catch-up part…. I have been in a blogging slump, therefore this is my first post of 2011. We have had lots of this:
And more Snow is on the way. And it’s so very cold. Again.
On a sadder note, my Grandma is in the hospital again. By the way, the last prayers were answered and she enjoyed several weeks of fairly good health. Thank you, Dear Blogger Friends! It doesn’t look good this time for her, bless her dear heart. So glad we had a nice visit yesterday. My cousin Susan snapped some “hand” pictures of various family members with Grandma while we were waiting at the hospital. Notice we both had our nails painted? I will cherish this forever.
Mr. W will have back surgery in less than two weeks, so we are preparing for that also. Hopefully he will be able to walk upright again and can be relatively pain-free after surgery.
So, that’s what we’ve been up to. How about all of you? Take care, and hope 2011 has gotten off to a good start for you!
Till next time….
Happy New Year
to All of our Dear Friends.
May 2011 be a Blessed and Healthy Year for You and Yours!
It’s a tradition. Friends now ask in advance if we’re doing a Ruby-Gracie card each year. Monday was our chosen day for the photo shoot, and was only slightly warmer than the Arctic weekend we had just survived. Earlier that day I was very inspired when I saw Fergus of Morning Bray Farm peering up and over the gate, looking dapper and handsome in his reindeer antlers. (If you haven’t visited, please visit the darling donkey bros over at Morning Bray!). So, back to Fergus… I thought, hey… this pose could be doable on a cold day. After only a mild little rodeo session, and Santa hats thrown off once or twice, we ended up with this.
We didn’t quite accomplish Fergus’ adorable flaring nostril look… but it will work.
{The girls send hugs and kisses to Fergus and all of his darling burro bros}
xxoo
Happy Hee Haw Christmas to all!
It takes five minutes or less. Head on over, right this moment, to Xerox’s Let's Say Thanks site to choose from several child-designed postcards to send to our troops. You can choose a message to go with, or customize your own message. Xerox will print them out and send them to our troops. I missed the snail mail call this year for sending Christmas cards to our troops, so I was delighted to find this way to send some thank-you sentiments to those who serve our country.
Take a moment to read some of the feedback from the troops as well. They really do appreciate it!
“Thank you so much for the post card. It is so nice to receive things in the mail here. Some would not believe it but the simple good feeling of going to the company mail room and the clerk saying "Yes, you have mail" is an uplifting experience. Even if it’s just a letter saying "hi" makes our day! Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers.”
- An Army Sergeant
Thank you, Troops, for serving our country and keeping us free. And thank you Xerox for providing this service. Xerox says it will continue this “Let’s Say Thanks” program as long as there is a need.
Well, you are ALL winners to me, and of course I wish I had one of these gift certificates to give to each and every one. I numbered each entry in order received, and headed over to random.org to choose the winner.
Lucky number 13!
Without further delay, the winner of the $50 CSN Stores gift certificate is…
Tonia of The Simple Life. Per her description, Tonia is a “Stay-at-homeschooling goat/chicken farming Mom of 3 Wife to 1.” I enjoy Tonia’s blog so much. Please give her a visit and congratulate her! And, I assure you I am not being partial to Missouri bloggers-- the last winner was a Missouri blogger! Maybe it’s because I have several MO blogger/followers, therefore increasing their odds? Tonia was lucky #13 and commented the following--
“I am a follower and fellow MO Blogger.. I am Thankful for my new stove I was blessed with 4 Days Before Thanksgiving!!”
Congratulations, Tonia!! I am sending you an email right now, and also alerting my contact person with CSN who to email the prize to. Happy Shopping!!
Thanks for all of your entries, and wonderful “thankfulness” comments. We all have a lot to be thankful for. Hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving. Today is the hubby’s birthday, and since he now works in retail, he had to be to work at 4 a.m. for Black Friday. Poor guy!
Happy Birthday to the Blacksmith… Love you!!
I want to add in a special prayer request here for my Grandma, if I may please. She was hospitalized earlier this week with chest pain. At any age, we never really know what each day will bring, but at age 97, life becomes more frail and even more uncertain from day to day. We would appreciate your prayers! I am headed over to visit her this afternoon.
Blessings to all, embrace your family, and enjoy the remainder of the holiday weekend!
Finally, a day last week Mr. W and I had a day off together and spent an afternoon winterizing the inside of the coop. I had insulation duty and Hubs worked on cutting and installing the poly board panels. All insulation and panels were ‘slightly imperfects’ and therefore FREE (my favorite!). He also had to cut down the vintage nest boxes ever so slightly due to a slight measuring error in the coop building process (oops). This proved to be a huge pain in his backside {So Sorry!}… but everything worked out fine in the end.
Here are a few of the beautiful occupants to help show you around their newly finished and decorated coop interior. You’ll have to work your way through a few too many chicken pictures in order to see the coop. Everybody wants to be a superstar rock star, ya know!
Opal BusyBody says, “Come on in.. don’t be shy!”
Sweet Chica…
Loretta ~
Sappo ~ I may be biased, but he sure is a gorgeous boy.
Bella
Shotgun, the resident comic ~
Now for the Coop Reveal ~
First up, accessories that I’ve been collecting for a while now.
Special thanks goes to Linda of Prairie Flower Farm for the fabulous Farmers Market curtains. They are perfect! And see that “notes” holder? She made that too! Now I can keep track of the daily egg count and much more. Did you also know that the very talented Linda designs her own line of fabric? Farmers Market is just one of those designs. Thank you again, Linda! My little chicken coop dream has finally come true :)
The girls caught on to the Nest Box idea the first day. That doesn’t mean we still don’t have the occasional stray egg in the Run (used for a game of chicken soccer) . But, for the most part, the little eggs are laid where they are meant to be laid.
Ruby, observing the activity at the coop, was again totally unimpressed by all this chicken business.
That’s our tour for today! Thanks for stopping by!
{Haven’t forgotten the Farmgirl Wedding Shower post. Coming soon!}
