Merry Christmas

Christmas time here has been a simple one this year.  This is the first year we have not had to go to a thousand places and it has been nice.  We had a simple Christmas here, just us and the kids.  We didn't do Santa this year and that seemed to have made the difference too.  JC told us he knew daddy ate the cookies and put out the presents so we decided to make things simple and just give each of the kidos just a couple of gifts.  I cooked some goodies and we had a really good supper.  The kids spent the day playing and just having a free day.  This time of year seems to bring on a roller coaster of emotions for me.  I miss family that could not be here and remember Christmas's of days past.  Sometimes I would give anything to just go back in time to see my pappaw again. This year has been kinda crazy for us.  The birth of a new baby can bring on so many emotions.  You are excited yet new worries arise.  We also have had a bunch of other crazy stuff go on that we have just had to hand over to the Good Lord.  I don't know why it has taken so many years to learn this but roots are important and so is having a home, a place to call your own and a place you can go to when the world seems to be after you.  We focused on those things this year more than anything.  We realized the blessings that we have and even though we didn't have the finances to have a big Christmas like we normally do we had a Christmas of simplicity, love, and blessings.

 Sweet Cora Mae's first Christmas!

 These reindeer are a hand me down from my mom and I love them.

 We made salt dough ornaments and they turned out great~

~ Look at those little toe prints~

 ~These are my toilet paper snow flakes, can't get much cheaper than these~

It's amazing what some glue, paint and glitter can do!

 The old wood stove has been cranking the last few weeks!

 Some of the goodies I made!

 This is my apple nut cake, it just would not be Christmas if we didn't have it.  This

is my pappaw's recipe.  I even still have the pan he used and that is what I use to make it.

 Sweet cheeks Cora Mae in her Christmas pj's!

 This is a tree skirt that I made.  I still have a few things I want to add, but I thought it turned out great. 

I made it out of felt scraps and of course some hot glue!

IN farm news everyone is doing well, we are just putting hay out and trying to keep everyone warm.  We did discover something that we have never seen before though.  Josh caught this years show heifers nursing on our Mary Moo Cow.  I could not believe it.  I kept wondering why the jersey was loosing weight and heifers were still holding onto some of their show fatness.  Josh said his heifer had milk all over her face and running out of her mouth.  I still can't believe it.   We had two bull calves born and they are doing well.  Now since Christmas is over, I am ready for the garden!LOL... I did not get to can alot of stuff this year and am looking forward to stocking the canning closet this year. 

God Bless,
Tara

Homestead happenings

It has been some kinda crazy the last couple of weeks,  Where shall I begin hummmm....lets see... Well JC and I both have gotten wonked in the head lately.  Josh's heifer he showed last year has never liked JC, even when she was little she would jump a foot off of the ground when he would walk in the barn, there were lots of times she just snorted at him and pawed the ground.  Well good ole Gum Drop had a calf this month, and one day JC went to the barn to help Josh with the fence. He  was no where near her and she charged him and threw him about 20 feet, Josh came running and kept her from getting him again.  I was in the house getting school stuff together and the next thing I heard was Josh calling for help and running to the house with JC in his arms and blood all over his face.  It scared this momma to death for sure.  We got the blood all cleaned up  and seen that he was going to be alright, but boy did it make my heart stop.   Joshua was up there when it happened, I am to scared to think of what might have happened if he hadn't been there.  It was the Good Lord that kept him from getting hurt any worse.  His mouth and round his eyes swelled for a few days, but he is all good now.  He has a good story to tell for sure.
Who needs to go to a rodeo when we can have one at home....  Then a few days later I was trying to check on something at the well and forgot that the panel around the well would spring back and lets just say my glasses went flying and I saw stars for a while.

Lets see what else, the next day we had another heifer calve and she wouldn't get rid of all the afterbirth and we had to deal with that.  I ended up giving her 3 rounds of antibiotics and two other kinds of hormonal shots to get her to shed it.  I hope it didn't affect her too bad, she has got to have many more babies to pay for herself.

Elizabeth's heifer, California Queen "Cali" .She had a beautiful little bull calf!

Ok, the day after that is the really big one!  We had to take a calf somewhere one day.  The kids and I got her up and in the barn and loaded with out any trouble at all, no yelling, cussing or trying to kill each other or the animal LOL... But I knew that ended up being to easy.  When we got where we were going we realized that she was NOT in the trailer, we realized that somehow the sliding door had come open and it had gotten out somewhere, we just didn't know where.  So we immediately turned around and went back the same way we came and did not see any sign of it.  I called the police and reported it, but still heard nothing for several days, After a few days my daughter and her boyfriend where going to eat out and they called and said they had found it.  It was in a near by little community that I had went right through that day.  It was grazing in some peoples yard.  We chased it for several hours until we lost it, it was late at night and the calf is black, so go figure.  Well it finally made its way down the road to a little farm that has  a few cows and it is still there.  We are still having a terrible time catching the thing.  My dear hubby is not going to forget this anytime soon, he said this was one of those things that he will make sure to remind me of when we get older, as if I could forget it.....

Little gal who is still roaming the countryside.

 These were just some of the bigger things that happened there were lots of little things that went along with those.  I hope and pray that I will not have another week like that for a long time if never!

The last couple of days has been pretty good though.  It hasn't be too terrible.  The kids dog died while we were gone to the state fair and they got a new puppy this week, Cora didn't quiet know what to think about it.

Boys and their beloved Cody  He will be missed!

 The new puppy is Gus, JC is already in love with him.  All little boys need to have a dog.  It just wouldn't be right not to have one around.  Besides I like to have one to let us know when someone drives up or there is a cow out or something.

Cora just didn't know what to think of him.

 ~Sleeping beauty~

This is what I came home to one day...... I left JC in charge of Cora while I went to the barn to give that heifer her shots and when I came back in this is what I found.  I could not resist taking the picture.  Gotta love um!

 We also made a trip to a local state park for a Civil War day weekend.  We enjoyed watching the battles, and taking tours of all the homes.  This particular home was of the local doctor and she was explaining to them how they treated the wounded and what types of medicines they used.  Thank the Good Lord for modern medicine is all I had to say!

 Good ole homemade wheat bread rising!

 Josh got a little buck, he was very proud, not the biggest in the world, but sure tasted good.  Josh feels mighty proud to be able to contribute food to the family.  Hunting is a wonderful thing for young boys to be involved in.  Josh has been hunting since he could walk.  

 It was a cold dreary morning and the best thing to do was snuggle up with little sister and watch a movie! 

Last but not least, fall on the farm.  Home sweet home!

God bless till next time,

Tara

Homestead Happenings for October

Well things have been hopping around here.  This is the month of State Fair.
I am glad to have seen it come and go this year.  For some reason we all are just pooped.  We had a great season and are glad for a few weeks of rest.  My month has been busy with other stuff than fairs also.  I was able to do a little catering this month and I also hosted a tea party for some sweet friends.  There were 4 other moms that attended and between us we had 16 children present and that wasn't all of them.  We had a great time.  My sweet Cora did so well during the shows, I couldn't have asked for a better baby, she just  watched what all was going on and loved everyone that held her.  I think she is going to be a little showman some day for sure.  Around the farm, we are waiting on a few cows to calve and just trying to get ready for winter.  Here are a few pics of the month.

 Elizabeth and Miss. Angel!

Hard to believe this is Elizabeth's last year.  Where has the time gone.

It's tea party time.

I used my grandmothers china, I hope she would approve!

Sweet friends and great memories!

 ~It's fair time~

Nothing like sweet friendships.  The people you come to know and

love at these shows are priceless.

A little heifer that we have right now.

Pork, Chop and Bacon waiting to get fed!

Nothing like sweet calves nursing in the field!

This is Cora and her great grandmother.  I hope Cora can be as

wonderful a woman as she is.

Cora had her 4 month check up, well almost 5 month really, she weighed 20lbs even.

  It is hard to believe that all my kidos are growing so fast.  God has truly blessed me in more ways than one.  I may not have the nicest home or the fanciest clothes, or all the newest gadgets out there, but I can say that I have and am blessed with more than money can buy. We have had some things happen this year to really open my eyes and appreciate what He has given us.  He can take it away as quick as He has given it to us, that is one reason I decided to have the tea party. The tea party was a kind of celebration of sorts. I am going to be opening up my home more often and concentrate on the friendships and fellowship and not my cracked floors and old furniture. Until next time.

God Bless,

Tara