SQUIRREL HUNT

We got Abe just about one year ago off Craig's List, from a kind

family in McKinney, TX who just didn't have room for their two

big dogs and their seven (yes SEVEN) children under five years old.

They were foster parents and had just gotten three more at

once. This was such a blessing to us, because Abe is just, well,

he's just perfect. We can't imagine our lives without him now.

Abe's favorite thing in the whole world is to hunt for squirrels in our woods.

It's his passion. It's the best part of his day. It's his reason for waking up

in the morning.

ABE: Look, a squirrel!!! DAVID: Where?

ABE: There he is!! See him?

And yee-haw, the chase is on. No one is hurt in these hunting

expeditions. Ever since I discovered the frozen body of a little headless

squirrel in my freezer (screaming sounds, sound of freezer door slamming

shut and running feet), David does not hunt squirrel with guns.

Here's what happens when Abe and David (and yes, I admit that I

participate in this sport too) spot a squirrel. The squirrel usually sits very, very

still. David then begins harassing the squirrel by pulling on grapevines attached

to the tree, or tossing sticks up at the squirrel, anything to get him to move. Once

he starts jumping from tree to tree, that's the fun part. Abe and David (and yes,

I admit even me) go crashing through the woods, hollering "Git him Abe, git the squirrel!"

Of course the squirrel never touches the ground and probably enjoys this

as much as us. Probably.

Country life, you gotta love it.

RETIRED

I keep getting all these AARP things in the mail.

It started happening I think when I turned 50. I threw the

offensive envelopes immediately in the trash with a huff.

What are they sending this to ME for?? I'll soon

be 56. The creepy thing is that I actually read one of them

the other day. (I know-I couldn't believe it either)

Thing is, I don't believe in retirement. I mean not for me. Not for David.

What does that even look like? We will never retire. We don't have a retirement

fund (GASP).

These tires are retired...or are they? Around here things are

brought out of retirement all the time to begin a brand new life.

Here's David pulling something out of retirement now.

What could it be?
David: Now see this? This would make a perfect large
aquarium stand for mom. (David's mom is starting to raise different
types of fish - more on that later, oh and she's 80 yrs old, by the way.)




And these, look at these! These would make great...like ears for a big
iron sculpture! Hey, that's right!

So next time you look in the mirror and you are looking a

little old and rusty, just remember, it ain't over til it's over!

Remember what Caleb said:

"And now behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses...and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. Yet I am as strong this day as I was on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in." (Joshua 14:10-11)

WITHOUT EXCUSE

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what
may be known of God is evident among them, for God has shown it to
them.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power and Godhead, so they are without
excuse." (Romans 1:20-21)

GO FOR IT!!!!

My, my....what to do? Ever been in that situation?

Ever heard the expression 'Calculated Risk'.?

"Well, yes, I know I could lose everything, but this is a calculated risk. (Not to be confused with an idiotiotic, WHAT WAS I THINKING???? idea.

There are times when as Christians we are asked to go against impossible looking odds. Think of David and Goliath, Gideon and his tiny army against unbelievable odds...the Bible is full of these stories. So when do we know if it's just another one of our cockamamie (cock-uh-may-mee) ideas, or it's the Lord's direction? That's a hard one. However, I do have a scripture:

"If any anyone lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all men liberally."

(James 1:5)

And if you go ahead with what you think the Lord is leading you to do and something like this happens....

(pretend you are the donkey, not the guy)

Try to remain calm at all times and remember that God is in charge, no matter how things look at the moment.

(What the heck were those guys thinking???)

P.S. I just had to tell you a couple of things. First of all, I didn't take these pictures (I KNOW! shocking, right?) I got them from my favorite sister-in-law, BFF, Bettye, who lives in Alabama, because my brother took her away from me years ago and we never get to see each other and I am still mad at him about that. So, thank you Bettye. I LOVED these pics.

AND....what really got me thinking about this whole risk taking thing is because a little mouse who was eating our dogfood unfortunately did not consider the risk that carefully when he saw a piece tied to a tiny, little mousetrap. Scurry, rattle. SNAP....silence........

Bye.

O.D. THE DUCK

We have a few ponds on the farm. On one of the ponds we can usually see a black and white duck tooling around. He's a domestic duck and he pays us no mind. He's not our duck, mind you. He's our neighbor, Oscar's, duck. So we decided to call him O.D.

The other day David decided it would be a good idea to feed O.D.

when we go on our morning walks. I took a piece of bread and here's how it went:

Well first off, you can see that Abe figures any treats being handed out, must be for him, right?

After a lot of calling and quacking,

just in case O.D. couldn't understand English, he ventures over.

I toss my bread upon the waters. Abe: Over here, mom! Where's your glasses?

O.D.: YUMMMMMM. This stuff is really great!

Okay Abe, can you shake hands? Abe: What do you think?

Abe: At last!!!! (stupid duck)

HEAVENLY MELODY

"Praise the Lord!

Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty firmament!..."

(Psalm 150:1)

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JOANN'S PLACE

I know this is not part of the petting zoo, etc - but

this bottle tree of Joann's says a lot about her.

She's creative, whimsical and colorful.

I love my mother-in-law, Joann.

Here's the outside animals, the petting zoo.

The geese make great watch dogs.

Such honking they make whenever anyone approaches!

Then there's Joann's favorite,

precious Ben, her miniature, white donkey.

Here is Tag (named because of the tag

that was in his ear when he was purchased),

and goat and other goat respectively.

See why I love living here?

SPRING, ALREADY???

It's not officially Spring for

22 more days. But things around here

are definitely getting an early start.

• the geese have flown North (see earlier Geese Watching post)
• There are tons of tadpoles in our back lake (we put out a minnow trap and when we hauled it up, there were like 10 big tadpoles in it!
• I found a ladybug on the edge of Abe's water bowl yesterday
• the fruit trees are budding
• and tiny little flowers are appearing everywhere!

So we decided we better get some stuff planted in the garden. We put the little plants in the trooper, and Abe of course, and off we went. Abe was so embarrassed that I was taking his picture. He refused to make eye contact.

On the way, we stopped by to see my sister-in-law, Donna.

It appears that David was sitting on Purdy's sofa. (Purdy is the big, white english setter next to David) Bonnie, the chihuahua needed to sniff David's collar.

Here's a picture of some cabbage plants about

to go in the ground. We love cabbage.

Yep, there it goes. Grow little cabbage grow!!!

And let's hear it for the onions that have survived the

single digit temperatures earlier this month and are

still thriving.

Everyone appreciates a pat on the back for a job

well done, even onions.

ABRAHAM

Here's Abe, in his favorite place, as close as he can get

to us at any given moment.

(There's something so endearing about that.)

What a face! Who could say no to such a face!!

Abe: Are we going for a walk?????

Abe: Daddy, excuse me. Are we going for a walk??

David: What did you say? Did you say you

want to go for a walk?

Abe: I really do, really.

HURRAH!!!! Snow is my favorite thing ever!!!

Abe after an hour walk in the snow. Yes,

He's lying in the snow, brrrrrr.

Abe: Okay, I'm ready to go in now.

Oh Abe, Abraham, Abra-hambone-areena, Abey-Baby.

GEESE WATCHING

This is one of the grandest sights in the world to David, geese flying, on their way North in the spring and South in the winter. Doesn't matter. He just wants to watch them.

And He wants me to watch them. I can be in the middle of the most interesting story.

Me: And then Carol said....

David: LOOK! GEESE!!!

Me: Is that a shotgun shell?

I do occasionally glance up at the geese. I mean, I don't want

to be rude. And sometimes they are pretty magnificent.

But to David they are a wonder.

They are a miracle!

They are fascinating beyond belief!!

He just has to look.

He has to.

Wow.

(Yeah - more geese, I know David - good, wonderful)

You just keep watching them sweetie.

I'm going inside to watch Nate Berkus. It's 2 o'clock.

RE-PURPOSING (AFTER)

This is a classic country style carport, made of 100% re-cycled materials. It's not quite finished yet, as you can see. We need 8 more 2 x 4's and David is loathe to actually buy new ones.

This tin on the roof (don't you loved the rust and blue color of it?) came from our friend, Bill Klein, who invited us to come over and glean building materials as he was demolishing a house and some outbuildings on his mother's property. Yeah!!! And thank you Bill!!!!

Ah, and do you recognize those telephone poles??? This is going to be our little horse barn.

And then there's this wonderful old screen door from the aluminum section

of one of Harold's categorized dumping areas. Thanks Harold. You did know what you were doing after all. Sorry I never got to tell you that.

RE-PURPOSED (BEFORE)

When I was a young bride, I used to think my father-in-law was nuts to always be saving things. Endless coffee cans of nuts and bolts, old screen doors, old posts, bits of iron, string, etc., etc. Back in the 70's no one ever heard of 'going green' or 're-purposing'.

Since moving to the farm, I have a whole new respect for Harold. Anytime we need to build something or repair something or even create something artistic, we visit Harold's categorized dumping areas on our property we inherited from him and David's mom.

David doesn't remember exactly where his dad got several old telephone posts, but they have been back here in front of our woods for literally decades now. We are quickly using them up.

Then there's these wonderful old railroad cross ties. They have a variety of uses, mainly to do with landscaping.

And here is a stack of steel fence posts left over from my brother and sister-in-law's emu farming days. Aren't they are tempting little pile?