I really am still here...

Despite the fact that I haven't posted in a long time, I am still here. This month has been a blur of school activities, lessons after school and preparation for a craft show. Happy hosted it's first annual Cowboy Christmas Roundup. I chose to be a vendor at the show. I spent two weeks prior to it making bottle cap pendants, jewelry frames and decorating clip boards. Originally I had planned to include a few more items in my inventory, but time was not on my side--maybe next year.

The craft show was a huge success for me. I'm very grateful for all of the people who purchased from me since I was able to pay for most of Christmas (and purchase a few things for myself)with my proceeds. I still have several orders to fill, and there is quite a bit of interest in my bottle cap pendants. I haven't been able to photograph them well, but when I do I will post them.

We are all busy, the kids are good, the show animals are thriving. We are definitely looking forward to the Thanksgiving break. I keep thinking I'll get a better handle on balancing work, family and blogging, but it hasn't happened, yet. I've nearly got the work, family thing figured out--blogging will eventually come.

A Farm Tale...

I was in charge of feeding Sadie's show lambs today. As I was about to leave the pen, I noticed one of our bottle calves (now 1 1/2 years old and way passed time to be sold) had come up into the pens to see if I had a treat for him. Not wanting to be licked and head-butted (He has a huge head and horns and likes to "nudge" you from behind.), I chose to climb over the fences to get out.

Fast forward to 20 minutes ago...
Robby jumped up, got a gun out and ask if someone was supposed to be here. I responded, "no," grabbed the phone and followed him out. Stripes and Tiger were right by our bedroom window. The "brilliant" puppy we got this summer hadn't barked at all.

I had forgotten to close the big gate to the pens when I chose to climb out.

I'm sure the two of us were a site trying to persuade the calves back in. Thankfully, they respond well to feed being shaken in a bucket. Hopefully the black heifer that is in the pasture with them is still in the pasture--hard to find a black calf at night.

Just another day/night on the farm...

Why I Love Trick-Or-Treating in Happy...

Last night I was again reminded of how blessed we are to live in our little community. Here are a few reasons why:

• You don't have to get out at every house with your kids for two reasons. 1. Everyone knows them. 2. You'd never finish trick-or-treating because you'd visit too much.
• My kids received candy from some of the same people that used to hand it out to me.
• If you do get out with your kids, you can almost bet you'll walk away with a piece of candy, too.
• When someone opens the door, you hear, "Come on in here."
• The first year T.S. went trick-or-treating, a friend of ours opened both hands and gave T.S. a choice--candy or a golf ball. T.S. chose the golf ball. He's gotten a golf ball from him every year since.
• I came away from one house with new crocheted pot holders.
• Sadie was sad that we, "couldn't stop by Roberta's this year." How often does a 9 year old remember that a 90+ year old passed away since last Halloween? You could never leave Roberta's house without a sack of candy and a hug/kiss. She always wore bright lipstick, too.

Christmas Shopping

As much as I hate to admit it, it is that time of year--time to get out the Christmas list and get busy shopping. This year, a new event is happening that should solve some of your gift dilemmas. You can go to the Cowboy Christmas Roundup right here in Happy. Think about how cool it will be to shop locally. You'll save gas and support local businesses and crafters.

There's a link on my sidebar for more information.

Hope to see you on November 14-15!

Craft Project

Since the house is a wreck, laundry is overtaking us and I have two meetings tonight, I thought today would be a perfect day to tackle a project I'd had in my mind for a while. I painted a wooden frame, stapled some screen on the back, screwed in some mug hooks, attached a ribbon and I now have a new jewelry holder. My fishhook earrings fit perfectly in the screen. My necklaces are organized and it doubles as "art." I'm not wild about the hot-pink ribbon, but it is what I had on hand. That can easily be changed.

I already have several orders for Christmas. I've found different sizes of the frames. I plan on embellishing some of them and using a variety of paint colors on others. I left mine plain. Not bad for an hour's work.

Chicken Update

The white Leghorn is Teagen's rooster. The small brown one is T.S.'s hen, Bob. She's been sneaking into the garage to lay her eggs. The black Polish rooster in the background seems to take great delight in terrorizing T.S.

Drill Carrier

Here are the pictures of the drill carrier. Mom finished cleaning the wheat out of the drills. Robby was helping her hook back up to them so they could be parked out of the way until it is time to plant again.

The carrier is backed over the drills, and chains are hooked to them. Once everything is secure, the carrier lifts up with the help of hydraulics and it is ready to move. Pretty cool, except the last time I helped I hooked the chains wrong and we had to unhook and rehook. I tend to make tasks take longer than normal around here, which is why we have Robby.

The wheat is up, a nice rain would be great.