Farewell to 2013. Hello to 2014. Thanks for staying with us this year – it’s been a lean year where blog posts are concerned! And guess what? Tomorrow is our 5 year Blogiversary here at Flat Creek Farm. We will come up with a proper celebration in the near future.
We hope that 2014 is kind to each of you, our friends! Happy New Year!
p.s. we have some happy news to share. The Fiddler is engaged! We will have a daughter-in-law in the Fall of 2014. More to come….
O Sister Where Art Thou? And Where Hast Thy Been?
Uninspired, indecisive. Those are my top two reasons for not blogging the past few months. Life is good though! There have been many things I could have/should have blogged. Such as this…
This girl and I took a wonderful, fun class a couple of weeks ago and we learned some really cool things! Can you believe we (two bloggers!) were at said class for several hours and took no pictures? I do think soon we’ll both have some new projects to share.
Today I’m just jumping right back in with a couple of random pictures.
We had gorgeous Fall color here, but now most of the leaves are gone. In fact, it’s darn cold today! The guys are out with the tractor and trailer, bringing in more firewood. This afternoon I will make a huge apple pie for the Blacksmith’s upcoming birthday (he’d rather have apple pie than cake any day).
We are very grateful for our blessings. A very Happy Thanksgiving to all from us!
I am going to show off because we usually have a really sad garden. This year, we have a newer – bigger - better garden plot. Bonus: it’s close to the Bee Yard. I think they helped make a huge difference. It’s been fun to work in the gardens with the bees during the early morning hours.
We had plentiful rain early in the season, but we began slow-soaking this garden with the water tank once a week when the hot, dry weather set in over a month ago.
It’s a blessing to have these “pickins” every other day or so.
Currently, the temperature here in mid-Missouri is 96. Summer’s been fun, but I’m ready for cooler temps and all things Fall.. how about you?
We have our own little sunflower field on one side of the new garden plot. The honeybees and bumblebees adore it, and I’m certain the birds will enjoy the seeds soon. I’ll be a little sad when they’re gone. I planted this little sunflower field with only black oil sunflower seed from my bird-feeding stash! Soak the seeds overnight just prior to planting and keep the newly planted seeds watered daily. Pretty cheap seed - it worked great!
The Fiddler learned a new tune after work yesterday (Aunt Mary’s Hornpipe) and we recorded a Fiddle & Pump Organ duet with the “Relic” aka Crown. Follow the link below to give it a listen. If you listen closely you can hear the pedaling. One interesting discovery (and one thing that is easy to fix, but we just haven’t yet) is that one of the pedal straps (canvas/burlap) was replaced with an old leather belt. Therefore the pedal on that side is particularly noisy!
I wasn’t able to link only to Aunt Mary’s Hornpipe, but it is the first tune in the list of the Fiddler’s tunes (after a while, you’ll have to scroll down for this tune.. with SoundCloud the latest tune appears first in list). There will be other fiddle/pump organ duets in the list and they were recorded using my mother’s pump organ. Also appearing in the line-up -- a couple of fiddle-piano duets by us. If you keep listening, you’ll hear some front porch tunes, square dance tunes, jam session bits, and much more from the Fiddler and his friends.. Hope you enjoy!
The link above also now appears as a widget in the sidebar. Happy Labor Day Weekend.. be safe!
Today I picked through my camera’s memory card to try and recall a few things from this Summer. It’s gone by so fast! All I will say is it’s been a very eventful Spring-Summer 2013.
Some good, some bad. Some happy, some sad. That is life, as everyone knows.
And I have blogged so little…
For sure, there will be some randomness thrown in.
I couldn’t leave this one out. This Red-Bellied Woodpecker crashed into a window in early June. He was rescued and safely put into the little chicken coop (aka hospital) for a few hours until he could fly again. He could have nailed me with that long beak, but he was very polite and (I believe) appreciative for the save from a certain death by barn kitties. He took a strong flight out of my hands into the woods.
We’ve attended a few Square Dances over the past few months. What better way to spend a Saturday night?
Of course, the Fiddler is an active participant. The Blacksmith and I just enjoy listening to the music.. maybe we’ll join in with the dancers soon.
I adore this accordion. This gal is my hero – what a phenomenal musician!
For a short while this summer, I thought I needed one like this. But, I decided on a different instrument (more on that below).
My coordination couldn’t have handled this anyway!
Most of June and July was gorgeous – with pleasant temps and plentiful rain. The grass was nice and lush.
{If you look closely, you’ll see our bent windmill.. so sad.. but fixable when we get around to it. We think it was straight line winds}
August hasn’t been so kind. We’ve had hot temps and dry weather the past couple of weeks with no end (or rain) in sight. So, we water.. and water, trying to keep things alive.
Our new garden plot, complete with “Olivia Walton,” the scarecrow.. has done pretty well – all things considered. I have SO enjoyed our sunflowers this year! And so have the birds and bees.
We’ve gone on a few road trips. One was to pick up my old Relic. Had to admire this owl sign along the way.
Can you guess what old Relic is on our trailer?
A gorgeous antique Pump Organ! I hope to do a video or audio soon to share.
It works pretty well, but needs a few minor repairs. I love the old-timey sound of a pump organ. Bonus – you get a workout in too!
She is a beauty, huh? (Photo courtesy of the Seller.. I need to take some of her in her new home).
Back out to the heat we go to check on critters. We’ll see you soon!
Miracles and Angels. I believe they’re a daily part of our lives. We just need to open our hearts. If you haven’t heard this wonderful news story, which took place not too far from our neck of the woods on Sunday morning of this week.. then I invite you to watch and enjoy. I can watch this over and over.
What a refreshing news story. More like this, please! Here is a link to KHQA’s original news story. It’s also made national news via Huffington Post, MSN, USA Today, and others.
Popping in for a quick blog post to announce the opening of my sister’s Etsy shop! She has some gorgeous and happy sheep in many varieties. Currently, you can find some beautiful roving and washed wool fleeces in her shop.
I blogged about her farm and critters on a Father’s Day visit a couple years ago. You can see some of her happy sheep on that post.
She has Blue Faced Leicester, Border Leicester, Shetland, Cheviot crosses and purebred, Angora goats, and a few Angora rabbits. She knits, spins her own fleeces and sells washed fleeces. She also does some beautiful Scherenschnitte (papercutting). Not to brag, but I have been the lucky recipient of some of those lovely knitted items and scherenschnitte through the years (maybe she will add some of those items in the future to the shop!).
So, if you or anyone that you know is in the market for some lovely and unique roving and washed wool fleeces.. check out Little Flower Farm on Etsy!
Silver Border Leicester Roving from Little Flower Farm
Be sure to give her blog a look, and meet the new cutie -- Rudy!
Little Flower Farm blog
Cheers to all… Back soon.. I hope!
Well, that was a long, unplanned blogging hiatus. I’ve missed blogging, as well as my visits to my bloggie buddies!
Speaking of blogging buddies, a HUGE THANKS to my friend Patti for this beautiful tote, made with an antique hanky and custom embroidered. That girl is seriously talented!
I had so many things I was going to blog, once I finally got back on the blogging wagon.. but for today I’ll just add this slow-motion hummingbird video I took yesterday through our old screen window at the kitchen sink. I have to say these little guys and gals are one of my most favorite parts of Summer. I heart them, completely!
Till next time (which I hope is not so doggone long)..
Here, Ruby shows off the smart and useful trick that she taught herself, while Gracie tries to help.
Happy World Donkey Day to all!
I wish that I had everything looking great for a Garden Party! So much to be done in the perennial gardens, and the yard. The vegetable garden won’t be dry for quite awhile, although we do have some lettuce varieties, onions and kale up and growing slowly. The good news is we have plenty of moisture.
Plenty. Of moisture. What an odd sight we saw on our Friday, May 3rd trip to Sedalia, MO – snow in May! And enough for a snow plow…
So this week we are re-welcoming Spring with open arms. It’s back in the 70’s today with sunshine.. perfection. It’s back to our regularly scheduled yard and garden work, and of course.. birdwatching.
Here’s a 30 second or so glimpse of some of our regular Spring visitors.
Loving the Baltimore Orioles! Their happy calls, the brilliant color, and their sweet addiction to grape jelly.
Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak (new – recycled feeder made by Mr. W – it’s a big hit!)
What birds can you spot in this two-minute slow motion video?
Off to accomplish some mundane chores, then I’m having my own garden (clean-up) party! What’s everyone up to today?
Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday: Check out Wild Bird Wednesday for beautiful wild birds around the world!
25-30 years ago I spied my first Indigo Bunting. Since then, I watch for them every Spring. We are sometimes fortunate enough to have them as visitors to the feeder. This year, we’re really blessed by this guy who’s a daily guest here. He’s become a little obsession of mine.. lol.
Ground feeding near a Rose-breasted Grosbeak (another of my favorites, although I DO hate to play favorites).
Cowbirds – for some reason I find them funny!
A pair of our beloved Purple Martin guests.
White-Crowned Sparrow (I think?)
I’m also smitten with the Bluebells in my Mother’s perennial garden. They do grow in the wild in Missouri as well. {We were visiting for her birthday weekend.. Happy Birthday, Mom!}
A video of some of today’s birds, including the Indigo Bunting (don’t blink or you’ll miss him in the beginning).
Have a lovely week, Friends!
Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday: Check out Wild Bird Wednesday for beautiful wild birds around the world!
Happy Friday! Has Spring arrived for you yet? We actually had a light snow earlier this week, and freezing temps again. Today it’s April Showers, but we’re expecting a warmer and mostly sunshiny weekend. Yay!
I’ve meant to blog about this beloved tree for a very long time. This very old oak resides near the fence on the back side of our farm. Last year our neighbors upgraded – took out the old fence row, put in brand new. There was one stipulation: save this tree! I so hope it continues to thrive. Before it was pruned, it had many large branches that dipped to the ground. 
I miss the other trees that were sacrificed, but the positives are – new fence (!), and we have a better view of some things across the way. For example…
The old “Gaines Place” barn ---- (I fancied it up w/ some textures).
And this barn across from the Gaines barn…the superzoom created a nice painterly quality straight out of camera. Accidental art?
You know that I can’t go too long without some bird-blogging, right?
Is this a Chipping Sparrow?
Yes, Dude, we know.. time to mow the lawn again already <sigh>
Show Me some Blue! Love our state bird, and so grateful to my dear dad who keeps us well supplied with bluebird boxes. Thanks, Dad!
Finally, a Purple Martin telling a Sparrow to “Get Out!”
Have a great weekend, Friends!
