2010: The Year in Pictures

Happy New Year
to All of our Dear Friends.
May 2011 be a Blessed and Healthy Year for You and Yours!

A Merry Little Christmas

We’ve had a beautiful White Christmas this year.

*“Peace” Scherenschnitte is my talented sister’s handiwork. She doesn’t need a Cricut like I do ;)
We have enjoyed a wonderful and very blessed Christmas, and hope you have as well. May we truly keep Christmas in our hearts all year long.
See you soon!

Merry Christmas from Gracie & Ruby

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!

Send Some Love to our Troops

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.

The Winner is…

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!

It’s all gone to the Chickens ~ Coop Tour

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!}

Halloween Wishes & Treats

My celebration was baking a little bit today. One of our neighbor girls showed up on her bike about the time I was ready to begin (she was fundraising for her 5th grade basketball team). She offered to help bake as she loves to cook. We had fun!

Neighbor Girl helped me with the layers for these Candy Corn cookies, and pretty much made the Halloween Turtles all by herself. I paid her with candy and jewelry, and a jolly ball for her horses that my donkey girls just never really felt the love for.

These treats could also be made allll the way up to Thanksgiving (or beyond) if you like, of course! You can find the recipe for the Candy Corn cookies here. Thanks to a co-worker for finding these cute cookies!

For the Halloween Turtles, I modified another recipe found somewhere (sorry can’t remember!). Pretzels are the bottom layer, then place a Rolo’s or Great Value Creamy Caramel Milk Chocolate Cup (which is what I used), and bake at 350 for about 2 or 3 minutes. Just enough to soften the chocolate a bit. Lastly, press a candy corn in on top of the softened caramel/chocolate to complete the “turtle”.

Here are but a few completed Turtles and Candy Corn Cookies (the cookies are tiny & bite-sized & pretty yummy). A tip: watch the youtube video mentioned in the comments for the cookie recipe. It’s not that difficult, but hard to explain.

Hope to be back later this week with a post about a darling wedding shower I attended this weekend. It was Farm Girl themed, and, why yes… I do have pics :)  Hope everyone has, or is still enjoying, a fun-filled Halloween!

Grandmothers are…

just antique little girls, aren’t they? And what a blessing they are. We recently celebrated my Grandma’s 97th birthday. It was truly a joyous day for all, but this photo by my cousin Susan captured the joy oh-so-perfectly.

Grandma on her 97th birthday this month, with great-great granddaughter.

What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies. ~Rudolph Giuliani

Here is what it looked like in our neck of the woods one year ago today.

 

Things aren’t so colorful here this year, or at least not yet! How is Fall where you are?

Upcoming CSN Stores Review

Back in the Summer, I was offered a chance to do a review for CSN Stores. In my usual procrastination mode (even for the fun and positive things – silly me!), I am just now getting around to starting this.

As you may know, CSN is an online retailer with over 200 stores, selling everything from dining room chairs to chicken coops (yes, really).

I’m not sure what the review will be on – still working on that. Hmmmm, could be cooking related, Christmas related… the list is endless with all those stores to peruse! Please stay tuned for the review.

I also want to let Patti know that this pretty sedum is doing well, and it’s such a lovely shade of pink. Very different from the other, darker blooming “Live Forever” that I have. Patti so kindly sent me this and some other starts in the Spring while my Blacksmith was in their neck of the woods. Love it!

 

On another note - we will attend a local Fiddle Contest tonight. There just are not many of these old-timey events around anymore, so it’s good to see one small town trying to renew this tradition. Of course the Fiddler is involved! Lots of good, toe-tapping music to be had.  Tomorrow we celebrate my Grandma’s 97th birthday at my uncle’s farm. Yes, she will be there with bells on. She only recently moved to a nursing home, but still is in reasonably good health for her age. She always knows and recognizes her grandkids, great & great-great also… and loves each and every one! I am continually blessed and inspired by this wonderful, faithful, dear lady.

What’s going on in your neck of the woods? Hope your weekend is off to a great start!

Reminders everywhere ~ if we only look UP

Sometimes I’m too busy to look UP… how about you?

An early morning view over our barn.

Psalm 121 2-8

A song of ascents (NIV)

² My help comes from the LORD,
       the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
       he who watches over you will not slumber;

⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
       will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD watches over you—
       the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
       nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
       he will watch over your life;

⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
       both now and forevermore.

So glad I looked UP this morning! Have a wonderful & blessed Wednesday!

Exciting News x 3

First exciting thing…

I won, I won!! I am a whole lot late on announcing that I won (ummm… about 2 months ago) a wonderful giveaway hosted by Vickie at My Red Truck blog.

Look at these adorable Bottle Cap magnets she made!! They make me smile every time I see them on the fridge. Didn’t she use the cutest images? Thank you again, Vickie!! Please visit her to see some other wonderful things she has created. This girl has a knack for the crafty! (Photo courtesy of My Red Truck).

And, I won, I won… again!! Yesterday, after a fun day at the Craft Festival with my sister (and having this unexplained “lucky” feeling all afternoon), upon return home I found out I had won a $35 gift certificate to CSN Stores from Rural Revival. How fun this will be! If you aren’t familiar with Andrea @ Rural Revival, then you’re really missing out!! I just adore Andrea and her blog. From the renovation of their beautiful 1860 Ontario Gothic Revival farmhouse, the day-to-day adventures with Andrea and The Artist and the Glimmer Twins, to the storybook beautiful Rural Revival Wedding last year… you’ll be hooked too!! Don’t miss their beautiful wedding photo or the priceless American Gothic version of Andrea and The Artist (on her sidebar).  Just go read. Now. You’ll be captivated for hours :)

Thank you again, dear Andrea!!

My final reveal of exciting news for today involves this --

The first egg laid by one of my little Ameraucana girls!! Trust me, the egg is not nearly as large as it appears here. It’s so tiny and cute ♥ Nope, I wasn’t there when it arrived, but I did notice Peaches sitting nearby. I don’t know if she deserves the credit for this first little gem, or if she was just waiting to lay one of her own.

Oh, by the way, did I mention I still don’t have the nest boxes installed in the coop?!

I hope everyone is enjoying a fabulous Sunday!!

Artichoke Annie’s

Sunday afternoon found us at a wonderful Antique Mall -- Artichoke Annie’s near Columbia, Missouri. If you’re in the area and have never visited, may I just say…

By all means… GO!!!

I don’t know why it took us so long to finally get there. I was in awe of all the wonderful items. This mosaic is compliments of the cell phone camera.

They are open 8AM to 8PM every day. We were also told that they are hosting a HUGE flea market this coming Saturday, October 2nd.

And, after looking around for a couple of hours there, what did I buy? (Willpower is my middle name – sometimes…)

A burlap potato sack for an upcoming project -- $6.00. More to come on that endeavor later (if successful).

Hope your week is off to a great start!

“Whatever” Wednesday

In an attempt to blog something today,
whatever is on my camera card from the last few days is getting posted. Well, at least a few. Here goes!

Coop Update – Exterior. (Interior is coming up soon. In fact, I should be working on cleaning up those nest boxes right now!). It’s all about the decor, right?

 

A tree frog (found by Mr. W on the porch swing).
“Lord, please help me outa this tight spot. Amen.”
(Froggy is fine, by the way).

Henry, looking dapper.

I apologize in advance for the next two, that is if you don’t care for creepy crawlies.

Porch Spider.

Praying Mantis.

Finally, a sign I made for my sister. The old board was actually excavated courtesy of Ruby and Gracie. You never know what those two will dig up in the donkey pen!

One more thing -- Happy Fall, Y’all!!! The sun is threatening to come out here, and things are lookin’ up!

A Baby Shower for a Dandy of a Girl

[Join the Party if you’d like!! - click above]

Today is a special day in which we celebrate the upcoming birth of Peanut, the little boy baby of Dandy and B. (Just 41 days to go per her baby countdown!)

Dandy (Dawn), of Spontaneous Clapping fame is a beautiful person, inside and out, a true Survivor, a fan of my Ruby and Gracie (which is a hint as to my shower gift), and someone I consider a dear blogger friend.

True, this is a virtual Shower, so we have no real goodies to eat, or presents to pass around. But we can offer advice, celebrate life, and send our love… which is exactly what we’re doing today.

Dawn has a beautiful blog, and she is a regular blogger (unlike me). She’s just so darned good at it too!! If you visit, you will see one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever seen, gorgeous New Zealand photos from their honeymoon, the very cool-est engagement photo shoot ever, and highlights from her day-to-day life. Dandy is a breast cancer survivor, and I believe she lives every day to the fullest. Something we could probably all take a lesson from. This girl is Pure Joy.

A Baby Shower includes gifts of course. That being said, I planned to make something to send for little Peanut. I always have such good intentions. But, the next best thing was to send something someone else had made. Sorry, Dawn, I couldn’t resist sending this Wonky Donkey shirt for Peanut. I wanted the next best thing to you and Peanut visiting Ruby and Gracie live and in person, so please think of us when this tee arrives at your doorstep in a few days.

My only advice is
love, love, love.
Let love be your guide and that’s really all you need.

So, we here at Flat Creek Farm send love and blessings your way.
Here’s to Dawn and B and Peanut in beautiful, sunny CA!