Well, it will really start in earnest tomorrow...with the packing and making sure we have gotten everything.

What has been going on this week is sewing. Between Savannah, Mama, and Katherine (which later two are down from Indiana for an unspecified amount of time), my ball gown has been finished, minus the skirt hooks--which so far we haven't found any place. I did sew a snap on. 

I've been doing other things--of which I can't remember any at the moment...

Today I went to town twice--hay for the cows being the reason. That and something is whacky with my computer (so I'm writing on the old one) so that the monitor isn't working. I'm guessing (as Savannah surmised) that the port on the back of the computer is out. The only part of that that doesn't make sense is the fact that I have two ports and neither one appears to be working. 

Last night, Mama and Katherine got to meet our interesting Confederate friends at the joint SCV/OCR meeting. We got there late because I forgot the Cross Dedication Ceremony DVD and we had to go back and get it. I told Mr. A about the problems that I had...once it got compressed some of the audio got out of whack again! I was a bit irritated about that. 

We are looking forward to hauling Kt with us to the Brooksville Raid...even though we aren't quite sure how we are going to manage sleeping arrangements yet. She has her cot...but I'm not so sure how that'll go...I'll let you know once we figure it out! :D

Until then....

              Racheal

 
*snickers* 

Ahem, excuse me, I'm clucking like a chicken. Why? Simple...chicken coops are on my mind!

I spent a good hour in town getting stuff I need to build the chicken coops. Would you believe it, but none of the places I went had this particular type of PVC pipe fitting? I got the 't', 'x', and elbow connectors, but I couldn't find one of those that looks basically like an elbow with an opening on top. The closest anybody had was at 'Do it Best'--they had one, but the top hole was like half-inch rather than one inch. I went to Tractor Supply, Smith's, and Ace and none of them had even that!

Now that I've finished my lunch (I wasn't ready to eat at lunch time, so I only ate about half my food), I'm going to go out and at least get started on the hoop houses. Savannah and I are planning that next trip to P.C. (Monday), we'll go to Lowe's or Home Depot. Surely they will have what I need! I can get everything else pretty much done before then and all that will require is a few minutes for each corner.

I still need the chicken wire...I forgot that today. Oh well, I'll get it later.

I look forward to getting my chickens at the end of this month! 

        Racheal

 
I started the day with a jaunt across the creek to feed the cows. Once I came home, I finished up the rest of my normal morning routine.

After Savannah left with Granddaddy for his chiropractor appointment, I started busying myself in straightening out my ever-increasingly mounding desk and corner area. I'm pleased to say, you can actually see the desk and the floor now. Not only that, the remaining stacks are definitely neater than they were. From there I disappeared into my room to do the same to the foldout desk in there. Somehow, I found myself with the lemon oil in hand dusting the bookshelves. I migrated with that into the living room and did the wooden stuff in there. I hate dusting, so I impressed with myself. ;)

I also got all the ends woven into the latest pair of socks (rebelgraysocketeer), pictures taken and listed. I discovered that the clothes box someone gave me a beautiful jacket in is great for holding a limited number of socks. I started my fourth pair (in blue!) last night.
Picture
These are short--8 inches...so I listed them as boys socks. :D
I rode Snip this afternoon. It took long enough to get the bit in his mouth...but for all that, I had the sense of 'almost a break-through'. (I'm not putting to much stock in it...) What I mean by that is, I got the bit held up against his lips/teeth and he almost nibbled at it. I think that is a good sign. When I went to get the saddle, I collected a pocketful of feed and fed him that. I don't think bribery works too well with my horse, but it's worth a try.

I had the sensation while clamouring on that I was fixing to rip the seat out of my britches (as some of you might recall, I've done that once before!) I didn't, but when I got off and got back on later out in the pasture, I made sure I adjusted my pants better before getting on. (In other words, I pulled the legs up some--my knees always hit too high in pants so to get proper bending out of them I have to jerk them up.)

Anyway, I found a dead cow out back...I identified her by the white mark on her cheek. It was Gorilla cow. Turns out, as I got to thinking about it, she was in the exact same spot where I last saw her when I rode the last time. I was a tad surprised the other day that she didn't get up when I rode by, but just looked at us like we were bothering her. Oh well. Maybe she's been sick and that's why she was somewhat touchy all last summer.

I discovered that the runway is a great place to ride. I can get up to speed without worrying about fences and trees. Snip bucked on me once today...I promptly sat him down and backed him and shouted in his ear. Brat...

I also figured out that I can strap my pistol onto the saddle. It's a whole lot more practical than strapped to me, where it bounces around something crazy and I am always having to readjust it. My poor 'gun-belt' is looking sorrier than ever. I like that belt...but it's rather coming apart now from the extra weight.

While attempting to clean out his hooves this evening, Snip got the grand idea to scratch his head on my backside. I ended up having to whack him on the cheek will the butt end of my knife. He stopped rubbing on me. (It literally throws me off balance when he scrubs his head on me--no matter what my position happens to be; besides that, with all those stickers in his halter, it tends to be uncomfortable!)

So...the long and the short of it is: Snip behaved overall worse today than he has in a while--but better than he could have. I was so dehydrated by the time we got done, I didn't really care. I just wanted to get done so I could go wet my whistle.

I think I'm going to be stiff in the morning.

        Racheal

 
When I rolled out of bed this morning, I had yet to decide whether I was going to go to the feed stores or work on the fence first. Staring out the window at the overcast sky, I figured I had better go check the weather. I did so and after noting that it wasn't supposed to rain (even though it sure looked like it!), I figured I would go to the feed stores first. As it is, I think it was a wise choice.

I thereby finished my breakfast and headed out sometime around 9. I went to Bryan's first to get horse feed and a bale of horse hay. I wasn't backed up too close when the Mexican guy who works at Bryan's went to get the hay. I saw him size up the gap, then he tossed the bale of hay. It landed solidly in the middle of the bed! I was pretty impressed...I think he could tell because he smiled a bit bigger than usual when we vocalized our mutual 'thank-yous'. I wouldn't have been near as impressed if he were a 6' something with broad shoulders. But he's a little guy (most of the Mexican's are), not much taller than me. He certainly is a lot stronger.

From there I went over to Smith's. The rather large gentleman I've seen once before was running the register. We had a friendly little go-round before we got straight on which kind of pellets I wanted. In other words, I didn't know (remember from now on--it's 14%!), and neither did he...so he ended up calling over to the Mexican guy who works at Smith's  (I don't like him near as much as I do the one who works at Bryan's--he seems almost sullen half the time), who told him what I get. Having gotten that straightened out, I drove round to the back, where Drummer Dude was on his way with a slow stroll to the front of the barn. He seemed more tired that usual because he wasn't as perky as normal. Soon, he and "Frayed Hat" (who didn't have on a frayed hat today! Perhaps I ought to call him Redneck 3 instead), and a third guy--I forget who it was--had my 16 sacks of pellets and 4 mineral bag loaded. I had already hopped in and rearranged the horse feed before the got there with my stuff.

From there I went to our place, unloaded 4 of the bags of pellets, opened one and dumped half of it in a bucket. I then went and trolled that along the fence line for the cows (who weren't up). I'm sure they have eaten it by now.

I then came on back, unloaded the remaining 12 bags of pellets, and put the mineral out. Once finished with that, I backed up in front of the barn. I popped the hood on the pick-up because I was hearing something. You can just imagine my surprise when as soon as the hood was up, something small and gray streaked out of there like it was posessed! Of course, if I had been riding around in a hot engine all morning, I think too would have streaked out of there as fast as that poor little squirrel did!!  (By the way, the noise I was hearing had nothing to do with the squirrel--I suspect--but need to discuss it with Daddy--that it might need some power steering fluid. I have no idea how to check that or put any in.)

I came in and after a bit we had lunch. After lunch, I drank my coffee and put Episode 6 of James and Burke up. Then I washed the dishes. During lunch I was beginning to wonder if I was even going to bother working on the fence. I felt totally do-less. However, by the time I was finished with my normal after lunch activities, I felt like I could do something. So, I went out and headed down the pasture towards the road. I had determined that I was going to start work down at the corner by the road. After all, the corner post was broken off and some wire was down by the road--not particularly ideal--especially with Bad Child on the loose....

I think that corner took me longer than the rest of what I did combined. First I had to remove a total of eight wires. For most of these, that meant removing staples. Then I had to dig a post hole--over tree roots. Nae sae gran...

After that I put the post in and tried to do an extra good job of packing it in. Then I had to stretch those eight wires again...pound staples...twist wire...I managed to rip my pants twice. Oh well, better my britches than my legs! I stopped at least twice to get something to drink--even though it wasn't hot at all today. (I got my cardio for the day!)

Anyway, the end result is a corner that looks decent. I then went up the fence along the driveway and replaced a post, stretched a little more wire, and fixed a break. I suppose Bad Child will go through my repaired fence tomorrow...

I did not get the breaks around the yard mended. It was getting on towards five (feeding time for three species) and I knew I wouldn't get done, so I didn't even start. I'd rather do that all in one piece. I unloaded my tools and loaded two bags of feed, poked into the house--after chasing "Jabo" out of the yard (I yell at him like I'm going to eat him alive or something--no wonder he's so terrified of me!) Moon-bat gave me something of an interesting expression about the whole thing.

Anyhow, I poked into the house to ask Savannah to come drive for me. She was listening to a sermon and I don't think she realized that it was about five, because she asked kind of surprised like, "You are going to feed the cows already?" (Me: "Uh...yeah...It's almost five!")

I had the pleasure of wacking Moon-bat a-tween the eyes with a piece of PVC this evening. She was horning at both the truck and sack. You just have to dominate that animal and PLEASE don't ever let on you're afraid of her...I think critters have a way of knowing that.

Then--I got to come in and clean up. Then SUPPER!! Immediately followed by those ever present dirty dishes. I'm grateful that our dishes get dirty though--it means we have food to eat! Most important--particularly for this kiddo....I have to eat or I get completely stupid (some of ya'll know that from first hand exprience), the eyes glaze and I can't even talk straight. :D (At least I don't loose my temper quite as much as I used to...) 

Anyway, now that I have bored you with my overcast, yet seemingly but busy day, I'll bid ye all a fond "Good-night!"

        Racheal

P.S. That title doesn't exactly fit, does it?
 
That sounds almost gruesome...but it sums up New Years Eve and the beginning of New Years Day fairly well...

Yesterday, the last day of the Year of Our Lord Two-thousand Twelve, Savannah and I rose early. I woke up five minutes before my alarm was set to go off (5 am). This is not unusual, since I have trained myself to wake up like that. Anyway, I went to turn the alarm off before it started beeping (such an irritating--but effective--beep). I kept trying to push the switch down. It didn't work. I got out of bed and walked over to the light switch, banging into books and finally running into the door. (That woke Savannah across the hall.) The alarm was beeping by now and I had shoved it under my pillow. I flipped the light on, walked back to the bed (without stubbing my toes this time), pulled my clock out from under my pillow, turned it over, and groaned at myself. Here I had been trying to slide the switch vertically...and it goes horizontally!! (Come to think of it, I think I've done that before. I use an alarm so infrequently that I forget how it works!)

I got dressed, fed Snip and the cats in the dark (none were up--but this way they got their food), and then drove over to our place across the creek and put out the cow's pellets. My nose was like an ice-sickle by the time I got home. It was nice and chilly out....I enjoyed needing the jacket and my bandana tied over my ears.

After I ate breakfast (I hadn't had my coffee yet), we headed off. I waited until we were on the main road to pour my coffee from the thermos. Savannah also had a second cup at that point. We arrived at the S's trailer before they did--Savannah called Mr. Bill, who was picking up the U-haul truck (he got the biggest one he could and still have a regular driver's licence). Soon Mrs. Sandy showed up with grandkids, Sam and Lucy in tow. A few minutes later, we were all in Mrs. S's car headed just literally around the corner to the storage unit. Mr. Bill was right ahead of us opening the gate when we arrived. Shortly thereafter, the S's eldest son, Brian, along with four of his kids, and the S's youngest, Tom (accompanied by preganant wife and their three other children) arrived. Mr. Bill had an announcement like ceremony where he told everyone that Savannah was in charge of loading the truck. We don't call her the "Load Master", for no reason. No one argued about it...though Tom did crack a joke or two (aimed more at his Dad than anyone.)

Tom and Brian, along with Gavin (Brian's oldest son--14), did most of the heavy lifting, though I pitched in and helped Gavin with both a matress and a cabineted sewing machine. (It wasn't because I was trying to prove I was as strong as the guys, but simply because I can't just stand around while other people do something that I can help with!) I got the impression that Gavin had never wrestled with a matress before...it was something about the way he handled it... :)

Tom kept everyone in stitches...he is terrible. Really. Of course, I rather know where he gets his sense of humor from--but he's twice as bad as his dad!! :D

After we finished at the storage unit, we went back to the trailer to pick up the last few remaining pieces of furiture and boxes. There, we practically unloaded the truck to reload it. I know that Savannah is a tad worried that things are going to rattle around too much. The truck was too big. :D

I was Savannah's "PA" system a couple of times--I guess that just tends to happen when you have a good set of lungs and your sister can't talk very loud. Not that I mind, it's just a humorous way to think of oneself. :D

I almost learned how to throw a football correctly yesterday. The kids (including myself) wound up tossing a football back and forth in the street for quite a while before and after lunch which provided by Kerry (the S's daughter and Sam and Lucy's mother). But, back to the football. I've only ever played football once and that was last fall (okay two falls ago really) with the B. boys in Indiana. We really did more running with it than throwing it though (and I somehow managed to outrun Daniel and make two touchdowns! I still wonder how I did that...) Yesterday it was just throwing and catching practice. I was catching like a girl; I normally can catch better than I can throw. Anyway, I just laughed it off. I know how to do that.

Once we were done there, Mr. Bill went to pick up the car hauler and Mrs. Sandy to do something else. The younger S men and their family's returned to Brian's while Savannah and I followed Kerry home. We spent several hours there. I mostly played with Lucy--that is, after I washed Kerry's dishes. Since we are "family" of sorts, I offered and did it even though she basically told me I didn't have to. I didn't REALLY feel like washing a stack of dishes, but I did because it was something I could do to be helpful. Perhaps I am learning not to be so selfish...

The rest of the afternoon was spent talking and playing and taking pictures. I happen to know that both Mrs. Sandy and Kerry have some blackmail photos of me! *laughs gaily* I told them, "Yep...Mama always says I could ruin a good picture." It's true too...you look through the pictures we've taken over the years. Who is it who is distractedly staring behind her? Racheal. Who is it who is making a silly face? Racheal. Who is it...well, you get the idea. :)

I hope that they send us some of them because some of the pictures were actually good.

After a nice little supper, Savannah and I said our adieu's. Nobody cried on the way home even though we are going to miss the S's something dreadful.
Picture
My eyes are reflecting the sky...so they look almost blue--and I most certainly do not have blue eyes! I hear when I was born they were a muddy greenish color...

        Racheal

 
I don't normally do this, but I though that this article is worth the read. It isn't very long, but it sure is a nice smack in the face for our lazy "me" centered culture. It was brought to my attention this morning, during a conversation on stubborness, by a new aquaintance on Google+. 

    Read it...and pass it on if you like.

        Racheal

 
Howdy! I finally got the other garage done today. I didn't do it yesterday because of the rain...duh, right?

I didn't see an awful lot of spiders, and most of the ones I did see (and killed, of course) were fairly small or just those little specks running across the floor. Believe me, you learn to tell the difference between dirt and spiders pretty quick under the circumstances!

I was about a quarter of the way done when I look to the east and see the cows coming, Captain Abraham leading the charge. Literally. They were running. Then they stood there and mooed at me on and off for the rest of the afternoon. Sillys.

When I came back over here, I loaded two sacks of feed into the back of the truck and sprinted into the house to get Savannah to come drive for me--and to pick up the matches. I was going to burn the trash I'd brought over from our place. (Which included three cans of Grandma's that had spoiled--they blew up in the fire and scared the black bull pretty good.)

We headed out and on the way I thought I saw the water trough with water pouring out of it. (Again!) I decided I'd take care of that post feeding the cows. Once we had fed them, Savannah drove to the burn pit and turned the engine off, then went in to make our supper. I got the trash burning and moved the truck closer to the water tank, removed my boots and socks, and rolled up my pant legs. Then I got my feet wet looking at the tank. There was a proverbial hole in the dyke all right. About an inch, inch and half down from the lip of the tank was this 1/4 inch hole out of which the water was just pouring. Hmmm...I improvised by sticking a random piece of cloth (have no idea what it was doing in the pasture) into it with a stick.

I wandered off while the bull got a drink and talked to Savannah a bit--she'd come out of the house. I think she was worried that the bull was feeling aggressive. (He wasn't, he had just gotten scared by that exploding can and started dancing.) She asked if the hole would need welding...of the top of my head I said, "Yeah." (Neither one of us know how to weld.)

After the bull left the water trough I went back and gauged the hole. I had had a thought...what would Daddy do? The answer had come almost as soon as the vague thought. A bolt, of course!! (Right along with that goes a snort of disgust--"I don't suppose there will be the right sized bolt--if I can even find one!--in the barn.")

Well, turns out that there was the right sized bolt and washers in the barn. So, I cinched that down pretty tight. If I remember, I'll go check it tomorrow and see if it still seeping. If so, I 'll tighten it a bit more.

I love being practical! :D

        Racheal

 
I figure that's an okay title since it's where it all ended up.

This morning, after blogging, I played my guitar for little bit, put together a short video (which I haven't put up on YouTube yet), ate lunch and got ready to go to town.

My first stop was Bryan's. The plan was to get a roll of hay, take it over to our place, drop it off, and start working in the garage. Well, as is not totally uncommon when I have my day planned to a 'T', things didn't work out that way. Mr. Scott was out of cow hay!! He told me he'd have some more in, in about an hour. I told him I'd be back then and started to leave. About half way out of the building, I hit the breaks and swung around almost laughing. "Well, since I'm here, I'll go ahead and get a bale of horse hay!" I got the local stuff--$8. I think that's a pretty good deal.

I figured I might as well bound over to Smith's and get the pellets for the next week. I called Daddy once I was sitting in the parking lot (it would have been fool-hardy to call him on the road--there is no way I could have heard him. The wind was honking!!) and got a few things straight. Anyhow, I got 18 bags of feed. I drove around back and "Drummer Dude" come out along with another feller I've seen once before (as of today I think I'll dub him "Frayed Hat").

Drummer grins, "How ya doin'?" (By now most of the guys who work out there know me--as in facial recognition. As far as I know, none of them know my name--which is fine! :D) "Oh, pretty good." "You got 18 bags?" I nod. "That's an odd number," (said with another grin). [So, technically, it's actually an even number--but I knew what he meant!] Drummer Dude and Frayed Hat go to pitching the bags into the back of the truck. Ol' Freckle Face (the red-headed kid I haven't seen since mid-summer) strolls up and watches them, looking kind of bored in the process. Once there about 9 bags in the truck, I hop into the back and start hauling some of them further in. Then Drummer Dude starts pitching them back there, so I just stay out of the way.

It was kind of funny, but the last two bags landed almost simulaneously at the same spot--only Drummer's was first. He and Frayed Hat looked at each other and laughed and Frayed said, "You beat me to it!" I then jumped out of the truck and gave the boys a cheerful "Thank-you!" before climbing into the cab and driving away.

I came home, unloaded 14 bags and the bale of hay, and after a brief run into the house (during which Savannah and Granddaddy arrived home from his chiropractor appointment), I was off again--first to drop off the remaining 4 bags at our place, then to town!

First stop, Auto Zone. I've been needing new windshield wipers for a while now and as it looked like rain threatening, I went ahead and dropped in the auto parts store. I went in and looked at blades; standing next to a man doing the same thing. After a little bit, he wandered off and was just standing there, so I went up to him and asked, "Do you work here?" (I thought maybe he did.) He said, "No." We talked just a little bit. Seems he didn't know any better than I did which blades he needed! Anyway, it was a friendly exchange. I was going to wait and see if I could talk to a sales rep, but after the man went out, then came back in with one of his wipers in his hand, I laughed and said, "I think I'll do that too!"

I'm glad I had a flat-head screw-driver floating around in the truck because it helped me pop off the blade (my knife would have worked just as well though). I took it in and picked out the right kind of blade. As I was fixing to check out, the rep asked me about the vehicle in order to make sure I had the correct blades. Well, I did; only, I had the 24 mm (what was on it); but according to his database (he even went out and checked the truck to see what year it was and what attachment it had on the wiper arm), I needed the 18mm ones. I learned something; he said if you have blades that are too long for your vehicle it can cause them to not work sometimes! Which just might explain why I have had trouble with the wipers working in the past....

As I was putting the new windshield wipers on, I discovered that the right one was different from the left one (I replaced both, even though only the left one was stripped.) Anyhow, they match now. Due to my hight and the angle, I ended up crawling up and sitting on the hood (I did not bend it in!!) in order to change the right one. I was busy trying to remove it when a couple people walked by--they were black (I only tell you this so you can get the right voice in your head)--and the lady in the back was having fun. :) She called out to me, "Ride it, cowgirl!" (I had boots and spurs and hat on--the 'cowgirl' look.) I looked up at her and just grinned real big while laughing under my breath. A minute or so later, she called again, "I'm just having fun." I don't remember if I nodded back at her or not, but I was grinning and laughing, so I hope she knew I wasn't offended--it really did amuse me.

Anyway, once I was done replacing my windshield wipers I was ready to head back to Bryan's. I ended up going almost out of town before I got turned around. (The main reason being the semi that was behind me in the other lane.) I pulled into Bryan's--the hay was there, still on the truck (which was still running--diesel, you know). As I turned my engine off, the Hispanic guy who works there drove by on the fork-lift. He gave me something of a two-fingered wave and nod. I figured he was going for my roll of hay (he had been standing behind me leaning on a pallet of--dog food, I think--while the discussion about hay had been going on earlier in the day.) He was and I think it was already loaded by the time I had it paid for. I strapped it down (because I feel safer and more confident with it strapped down--even though it really isn't necessary) and headed off to dump it.

I am so glad I changed the windshield wipers, because I needed them! :D It didn't pour while I was driving, but I still needed them. I got to our place, set up to unload and it really started to rain. In between sitting in the cab and goofing off in the rain, I finally got the tailgate down (it sticks sometimes). Once the tailgate was down, I cut the netting on the roll and started pushing and heaving. Well, what with the wet hay, wet plastic bed liner, wet rubber boot soles (that have no tred indentation left), I almost didn't get it off. I think without the help of that short board I might not have gotten it.

I was soaked and covered in hay stubble. Oh well...wet kids can drive down the road as well as dry ones.  Just don't let the water dripping off the back of your hat onto you back bother you....

Needless to say, I didn't de-spider the garage today. Perhaps tomorrow. :)

        Racheal

 
Well, now that Christmas is over, (or at least the first half of it), it's time for me to dump the clutch and get to some serious work. I'll be starting that by getting a space cleared out in the barn for me to deposit the feed bags, getting hay for my itty-bitty herd, and de-spidering the garage across the creek. That is today's battle plan.

After that come booder building, coop building (I have to have this stuff ready by the last week in January), fence work, barn cleaning (I want to get the tack room cleaned out so I can use it as a tack room/feed room), and whatever else pops up maintenance-wise. I'd better have the mower fixed before spring, too. :)

When I putter through town to get hay, I think might stop at Tractor Supply and see what they charge for water troughs (or maybe I ought to just build some large wooden boxes for my brooders? I'll talk to Daddy about that later...) and compare with Byran's and Smith's. I much prefer giving my business to the feed stores because they are locally owned and operated rather than being a chain, but sometimes Tractor Supply might be cheaper. (Speaking of which...I wonder when they are going to put the Ariat boots on sale again...mine are getting plumb worn out. Even marked down though they still cost upwards of $50-$60...) Anyway, if I decide to build wooden boxes, I'll get my lumber at Do-it-Best. I will also need heat lamps (Do-it-Best), water tanks (those cost pretty much the same thing at all Bryan's, Smith's, and Tractor Supply--I've already looked), chick feeders, and of course feed.) And of course, I will need chicken wire.

Also on my list of things to do it oiling my saddle (and my boots). On top of that, Snip needs to be ridden. And that's just the outside stuff. Indoors I need to transfer video files and start working on my Cow Cavalry project again. I need to take this computer in and get the promised mega-hard-drive put in...

Oh, and let's not forget the usual suspects--the dirty dishes sitting on the counter right now screaming to be washed.

I'd better get to work...see ya later!

        Racheal

P.S. I wonder how much of this I can get done before Mama and Katherine get down... :D They are coming down for a couple weeks--once that big ol' snowstorm passes them! Yay!
 
Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas!! I'll hold off on the Happy New Years wishes until a bit later. ;)  This Christmas has turned out to be better than I expected.

Christmas or no Christmas, certain chores (for lack of a better word) must be taken care of. That is why 9 am found me in the Saturn heading across the creek to feed my cows. I had to holler a bit to let the three youngest cows know I was there. As soon as Prancy heard me, she started bellowing and running along the fence line. Soon, Snowflake and Strawberry arrived, tailed by little ol' crooked mouth. I really think there is nothing wrong with that calf other than her mouth is misshapen. Did you know, but cows are totally illogical? They must run the next animal off the feed piles, when, if they stayed put, they would get the same food...

I came home and fed myself; then of course, I washed the dishes. Dishes wait for no man...they must be done.

We 'did' Christmas with the family over Skype. I think Granddaddy found it somewhat amusing.
It didn't take overly long, but I think it was sufficent. Savannah got me several cross-stitch patterns--all lighthouses. I like lighthouses, do you? She also gave me a nice box (shaped like a book) that I can carry my hair-stuff and pins in when we reenact. She has one and I guess she heard me making some comment that I needed one, too. :D She also gave me a pretty ring and bracelet, as well as a little memo pad and a couple pens. (Uni-ball! My favorites!!)

I didn't get Savannah too much, but everything I did get her was practical or reenacting oriented. But you can see pictures here...

Up in Indiana, Katherine got her own camera...maybe that means she'll update her photo blog more frequently. ;D Daddy told me what they were 'getting' me. I'm supposed to take my computer in and get the biggest hard-drive that will fit put in it and have all my softwear 'migrated' onto it. Yay!! Now, I just have to do it. That's up to me.

We have a lovely lunch of salad and steak. (Rare--just the way I like it!) Granddaddy didn't have any salad, but he did have a potato and some avacado with his steak. :D

Now, I'm not sure what we are going to do with the rest of the day, but I hope we can pull out the ol' guitar and fiddle and play some of Andrew's music. (Google+ friend.) A couple months ago he asked if anybody was interested in getting copies of some of his tunes and I said yes (along with several other folks.) Later, his brother put the songs up and I printed them off and hid them to give to Savannah for Christmas! :D

Right now, we're on Skype again with Indiana where Grandpa and Grandma are opening their presents. Grandpa looks SO much better than he did! I popped in and asked, "How you doing, Grandpa?" and he looked over at the computer and retorted, "How do I look?" You don't know how that thrills me...he's his own sassy self again! :D
Picture
This isn't a great picture...but it'll work. ;)
Seeing as we thought he was fixing to die earlier in the year, it is good to see him sitting up and opening Christmas presents at the age of 90. :)

I guess I'll go ahead and say adios for now...I need to clean the wrapping paper up in the Florida room and wash the dishes...

Merry Christmas, folks!

        Racheal