I love old, vintage and shabby. Give me a white picket fence & farmhouse with chickens, horses and grandchildren any day. I love to garden and watch things blossom. Nature is amazing all by itself. I love "old souls" who know the meaning of life and are willing to share it with you. Watching the waves crash against the beach is better than therapy. I wish I learned how to surf. But I will teach my grandchild. PS. I have integrated my etsy shop into this blog.
It's a cloudy day as you can see from these pics. I always tell my husband that I think Florida has the best clouds I have ever seen. The bright blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds. When my children were little we would lay on the ground and try to find animals that were hiding in them.
The cows and a horse or two are hanging out in a shady spot. They do like having their pictures taken. But I think they see the carrots and apples in my basket.
They don't usually pose for me but again they have seen their treats.
It is a quiet afternoon on the farm.
The 2 youngsters are fitting right in and growing into healthy milking cows.
I know that once they get their treats they will go back to what they were doing. Eating grass, and hay, then a drink from the buckets I just filled. I guess it is time to check the hen house and collect fresh eggs. Then to weed the garden and see what veggies are ready to be harvested for dinner.
I have always heard the saying "The Dog Days of Summer", but I never knew what it meant. According to the Farmers Almanac, it is the 40 days from July 3 to Aug 11th. This coincides with the morning rise of the Dog Star, Sirius. I'm not an astronomer so check out this link https://www.almanac.com/content/what-are-dog-days-summer. I do know that it is some of the hottest days around.
Yes, it is that time of year again. Fall, autumn, whatever you want to call it. This is my favorite time of year. There are leaves of ever color in God's crayon box. Even the naked trees are a beautiful backdrop for your photos. Apple's red, green, yellow, great for cooking and eating.
Well, let's start by saying the kids are out of school for the summer. That is always a sure sign that summer is here. But, even so, there are still chores to do on the farm. Milking the cows, feeding the chickens, slopping the pigs. You get my point. Early to rise with mom's hardy breakfast, chores and then maybe some fun things to do with the other neighbors. Down to the swimming pond, riding bikes, picking strawberries then helping mom bake a pie. Fresh cream from this mornings milking the cows. Mom will pick then dry her herbs from her garden. Summer is a busy time on the farm. The haying needs to be done, canning our harvested veggies and fruits. Yes, life on the farm is very rewarding.
Wow, it is already April. What happened to Jan, Feb and March? It really has been a quite winter this year, not to much snow. Besides the fact that I live in Florida helps. But I did get to visit family in CT and it did snow there. My granddaughter just turned 1 year old so we had a celebration. And as all good things happen some of us got some kind of flu and just can't shake it. Needless to say it was grandma that got sick. But it was all worth it to see her smiling face again.
What can you do on a cold winter's afternoon when it is snowing and the kids have come in and the fireplace is roaring? S'mores is the answer. You can just sit around and reminisce about the day with everyone and tell silly jokes just like a camp fire.
Ingredients 32 miniature graham crackers or 8 regular size graham crackers, broken in 1/2 2 milk chocolate bars, the kind that can be broken into squares 8 marshmallows
Directions Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Lay 1/2 of the graham crackers on a cookie sheet. Top with chocolate pieces to cover. Use kitchen scissors to snip the marshmallows in 1/2 horizontally if using miniature crackers and place 1/2 a marshmallow on top of each graham cracker. If using regular size crackers use a whole marshmallow.
Bake until the marshmallows are puffed and golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with the remaining graham crackers, pressing down slightly to make a sandwich. Serve immediately, while still warm.
I just wanted to say Happy New Year to y'all. It has been a really busy time of year for us. My son and his wife visited us from CT, with them they bought our adorable granddaughter. She is 9 months old, full of joy and love. Our other son and his wife, who live nearby showed us how to make tamales for Christmas dinner. But we also had a ham with all the fixins. Gingerbread cookies, pumpkins pie and banana bread. It has been a warm winter so far, just a few flurries here and there. I am sure Mother Nature will not disappoint us. So enjoy your holidays and be safe. 2015 is going going gone. Be happy with the joys that you have and this year let's be kinder to one and all.
Please don't judge me...the kids love it. Happy New Year.
You may ask what "prim" means. Actually it is short for primitive. Some people love the glitz of fancy ornaments. Silver or pink trees. Me, I like mine the "old fashion" way. Lots of red gingham, plaids, cloth ornaments, greens from outside, homemade gingerbread ornaments, stringing popcorn for garland on the tree. I love the smells of cinnamon and apple slices cooking on the stove. Fresh baked muffins in the oven. Oranges that the kids and I have stuck with pointed clove bits. Putting together the nativity set making sure Baby Jesus is all nestled in his swaddling blanket. I think it is a state of mind.... The holidays can be so stressful. We need to put away the video games and expensive "things" that we really don't need. Enjoy what we have. Help out others who need so much more. Call your elderly neighbor to see how they are. Check up on your parents, we tend to forget they still need us too. It is the "simple" things that can fill our days with joy and happiness. So take it easy on yourself and others, we are all we have. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Oh, it is that time of year again. The leaves have fallen. We can have frost at night. It may be time to turn the heat on....even here in Florida. We actually turned the heat on because I was chilly. And believe me when I say that I am cold it is cold out. Being from CT I should be used to the colder weather. But I guess my blood is getting thinner. Oh but enough of me. Let's talk "turkey". Thanksgiving is on the 4th Thursday in Nov. I never realized there were so many varieties of these gobblers. Some are very colorful. They kinda remind me of peacocks well maybe not. But they do have feathers and make a lot of noise. The President will pardon 2 of them from getting their heads chopped off. How big of him to do that. Anyway, here are some pics of these wobbly birds. Enjoy.
First, let me say that I never knew that turkey's slept in trees. I thought they would fell off the the branches because they were heavy. Silly me. Till you realize they are actually a bird then it makes sense. Oh well what do I know I am from the city. The first time I saw this was while I was visiting a friend's farm in Missouri. I was sleeping peacefully it was early morning. I hear something falling loudly on the roof and the pitter patter of feet. Not once, not twice but several times. I thought it can't be Santa's reindeer, so I went out to look. And what do I see, but a tree full of wild turkeys. Yeah, these big old gobblers jumping from the over hang on to the roof then running to the edge and jumping off. Once on the ground they would gobble and run around just having a grand old time.
Life on the farm starts pretty early. The cows have to be milked, the chickens, pigs, horses and cattle have to be fed. Then after that is done there is a hot meal waiting back in the kitchen. Enjoy the pics, some are very cute.
The kids love helping feed the calves.
Some find breakfast on their own.
We are sticking close to mom.
Yes, even horses know what they want.
Nothing like a hearty breakfast for the farm hands.
