Tidbit

It's homecoming week at Bug's school, which in and of itself is very odd to me.  I come from a football school, and football schools do homecoming in fall.  We have parades through town and a big homecoming football game.  As it should be. 

But now we reside in a non-football school and homecoming week coincides with basketball season.  Oh, the humanity.  So anyhoo, as part of homecoming week, the students dress in a different theme each day and today's theme was "Nerd Day".  As a huge fan of "The Big Bang Theory", Bug has been looking forward to this day for the past week.

She wore her favorite "Sheldon" comic book t-shirt, too short pants, and the requisite black glasses with tape in the middle of the frames.  It was really the whole package.

So Bug gets home from school and is having a snack in the kitchen, still wearing her glasses:

Me: "You know, you can take the glasses off now."

Bug: "I like wearing them."

MiMe: "It's okay, you'll still look like a nerd without them."

(Need I remind you, MiMe is only four.  The force is strong with this one.)

Boys Are Different

Here is a clip for those of you who have missed me posting here...





You're welcome.

New Pecking Order

So I just took Savvy out with me to do the evening chores, which consists of bringing in the sheep from their daily grazing paddock, and then putting away the poultry.  We were putting the ducks and chickens away when the nasty-assed rooster decided that Savvy looked to be the size of a suitable opponent and he started posturing towards her. 

Now, I'm more than tired of this rooster and have recently put him on Craigslist for FREE (no takers yet, of course), because he's gone after the kids on a few occasions and I don't tolerate that so well.  I've taken on the task of punting him around the barn lot to keep him in line when I'm around.  So, when he went after my favorite little blue dog, I wasn't going to have it.  So I simply told Savvy, "You get that rooster."

Boy, oh boy, she got that rooster!  Miss Savvy got right in behind that rooster, grabbed him tightly by his tail feathers, and started spinning him around in circles!  He flapped and squawked, she pulled harder and turned faster.  After several revolutions, I hollered at her, "That'll do!".  She promptly released the rooster and he scurried into the poultry barn.

I laughed all the way back up to the house.

Kitties

Last winter our barn cat, Beaners, died and left us without a resident mouser.  I promised the girls that we would get a couple of kittens in the spring to replace her.  I kept my eyes out for free kittens and lo and behold, I saw on Facebook one day that one of our friends had a litter of kittens born on their daughter's bed!  I let her know that we would be interested in a couple of boys when they were old enough and after nine weeks passed, she brought all of the boys out to the farm so that the girls could pick out their new kittens.

MiMe picked out a little tabby and white boy that she named Gumball:

Bug picked out an orange and white one that she named Darwin:

Biggin' made fast friends with Darwin:

This might just be my favorite picture of all time.

They have made themselves at home in and around the barns.  Here is a shot of them lounging and generally teasing the dogs that come to the farm for herding lessons:

They've even gotten brave and decided to be the meet and greet team to the herding dogs:

We'll see how long their bravery lasts...

Goings On

Hello there, dear, neglected HB readers!  I wish I could tell you I've been stuck under a rock, but I haven't.  I think the closest I can muster is "covered up like cat poo".

I had too much to say to post on Facebook, realized it was just too much and that I should post it here.  I've been wanting to post here forever.  I compose posts in my head when I'm out in the pasture, or doing things with the kids, and thinking "that needs to go on the blog".  Then time gets away from me.

So, no time like the present, and even though my posts might seem strange and disjointed, I really want to start posting here more often!

We're heading head long into 4-H fair season, which starts today.  Bug has to finish her electric project (a shake flashlight) and her food project (biscuits) today.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute!  That is every 4-Her's motto!

I have to teach a few more hours of 4-H Dog Obedience this morning to get the kids ready for our show on the last day of the fair, then I have a personal coaching session, then I have to hit the grocery to stock up.  I just realized while making the weekly shopping list that I also need to stock up the camper for the fair.  Ugh!  Too much thinking ahead to do and not enough time to do it in!

It's always a bit of a challenge because I want to have healthy food on hand for the family so that we're not spending $$ on fair food that is clearly not healthy for us!  So I have to rack my brain for healthy snacks and meals that we can have at the fair grounds and can be cooked and stored in the camper.  Hmmmm, guess I better wrap this up and get back to that list then, huh?

See y'all soon with fair updates!

Soggy Bottoms

Well, it's been a full month since I last posted, so I guess it's high time I post something, anything, so y'all don't think I've given up and quit.  Me?  A quitter?  Never!

I've been meaning to post something, but to be honest, there just hasn't been a whole lot to post about!  It's wet here.  Real wet.  The sheep aren't grazing yet, we're still three weeks away from lambing season, and there is a lot to do outside that can't be done because everything is under a foot of water or mud.

I've been busy working on getting my new side business off the ground, and trying to strike the balance between it, the farm, the dogs, the kids, the husband, and the housework.  Oh, yeah, and 4-H.  Forgot that one.  Sigh.  I've had to work on improving myself and keeping the channels of communication open with Mark so that we're all on the same page with our hectic schedules.  It's not worth having a new business and extra money to spend if I can't enjoy time with my family.

One new agreement is that I will be off of the computer and in the living room by 8pm each evening.  Of course, all agreements have two sides, so the other part of the deal is that Mark and the kids will help out more to make sure the house is straightened up by 8pm so that we can all sit down and enjoy our evening in a (somewhat) clean house.

Another thing that I'm trying to do around here, as we slip into the busy season, is to get a tad bit more creative in my meal planning for the week.  When the busy season hits, we have a lot of quick dinners, grilled items, and crockpot meals.  All of that is fine and well, but it sometimes becomes routine.  So my new goal is to plan at least one meatless meal a week, as well as one meal featuring seafood once a week.

The meatless meal is for our health, just a lower calorie option (because I love my meat and since we have a freezer full at all times, it's not really about saving $$ for us).  The seafood is also for our health, but also because I've yet to find a seafood recipe that wasn't quick and easy.  It takes no time to cook and it's good for us, so it's just a habit that I'd like to try to set.

Of course, I still have a TON of beef, pork, and lamb in the freezer that needs to be used, so there will be plenty of that to go around as well.  That's the perfect fare for the grill and the crockpot.  Oh, and speaking of meat, I finally tried a roast chicken this past week!  Why have I not done this sooner?  I just seasoned up that bird, threw her in my Pampered Chef roaster, and tossed her happy ass in the oven for a few hours.  Oh my stars and garters, that was delicious!  And plenty left over to throw in a soup or pot pie later this week.  I'm sold.

Okay, so that's it for now.  Hopefully this rain will quit and I can get back out and have stuff to report on.  Over and out!

Willie & Friends

Last night I went with Bug, my mother, and my sister, to see Willie Nelson in concert.  It was the second time that I've seen Willie play live, but it was Bug's first time and she's been wanting to go for a long time now.  What can I say?  I've raised the child right.

Before we went in, I took a peek at the t-shirt table to see if there were any shirts that I couldn't live without.  Usually I try to skip the t-shirts because for a long time I had way too many, but now that I've lost so much weight, I'm actually running low on t-shirts that fit.  Or something like that.  That's what I told myself to rationalize a purchase. 

Wonder of wonders, there was a shirt with rhinestones on it.  Score!

We made it inside to our seats, and all I can say is that my little sister did a good job getting seats!  We were in row R, so not too far back, and smack dab in the center.  I forgot to bring my "good" camera, so I was left with trying to get a good photo with my cell phone:

It was a really fun show and if you've ever seen Willie live, you know that you never see the same show twice.  He changes up the songs and plays them different every time, which is fun in my opinion.  It was cool to see how interactive and loose the show was.  Like the couple that got up and slow danced in the aisle to "Ain't It Funny How Time Slips Away". 

Willie threw so many bandanas into the crowd that I lost track.  He would toss one out, then put on another, wear it for a bit, then toss it out.  So much fun.  I don't know how badly I would fight over a bandana with old man sweat on it, but you know, to each their own.

Willie's band hasn't changed much over the years.  His little sister, Bobbie, still plays piano for him and I was so taken with her rhinestone hat band that I leaned over to my mom and swore that I needed one.  Yep, I'm already looking at where to buy one or how I'll make one.  Must appease the inner raccoon.

Paul English is still playing drums for Willie, and when Willie sang "Me and Paul", I was torn between thinking of all of my dog buddies and I traveling all over the country and wanting to name a dog Paul.  I've just always loved that song.  Oh, and the harmonica player - he is sooooo good.  You never realize how much he contributes to Willie's sound, but it just wouldn't be a show without the harmonica.

My favorite part was just how inspiring Willie is.  For Pete's sake, the man is 77 years old, he still maintains a rigorous tour schedule, plays that guitar (Trigger!) like the devil, and is still so young at heart.  I'm always saying that I want to be working dogs and trialing when I'm in my seventies and eighties, and with Willie as an example, I know I can!