Chirstmas Eve

I saw this idea on pinterest last year and had to give it a try.  So after Christmas last year I hit the store on their 80% off day and gathered my supplies.

 It took me longer them it said it would but the result was fantastic!

It also made a mess. There was fake snow everywhere.

 Everywhere!!!

 But don't they just look great as a centerpiece? Christmas is almost here and thanks to a two day snowstorm its going to be white!

Christmas Tree

The Tree is up.

Everything went smoothly, nothing fell over.

We went with a simple tree of red and silver.

All my shopping is done and the gifts are wrapped and under the tree.

 And yesterday I made five different kinds of cookies!

Upcoming Joy

I can't believe Christmas is almost here. With the lack of snow outside and cookies in the freezer it just doesn't feel very christmasy. I have been working like crazy and haven't had much time to do anything else. I miss my blog. And i miss telling you all about the things i have done to get ready for Christmas. Tonight, i have finished my painting list. Tomorrow, I will think Christmas! And I will tell you all about it.

Nip it in the Bud

Apparently I have been saying it wrong for years 'Nip it in the butt' is not the right way to say it. Tonight was just another one of those time when I felt a little bit dumb.

Meaning

Put a stop to something while it is still in its early development.

Origin

This phrase derives from the de-budding of plants. The earlier form of the phrase was 'nip in the bloom' and this is cited in Henry Chettle's romance Piers Plainnes Seaven Yeres Prentiship, 1595

To Bigger Pond

After his wife died, Pong went into a kinda ducky depression. I felt bad for him but there was nothing that I could do. He came out of it after some time but he had grown mean. As mean as a bean. He would chase people (not me of course) all around the yard. This prohibited me from letting him out of his pen and the lack of activity made him bored. And his boredom made him meaner.

I love my ducky but I knew he had to go. It was a sad thought, see as how I raised him from a baby and he use to ride around on my lap. But he bites. And with all the little kids we have in and out of here, its not safe to have a biting duck.

So we found him a pond. It is a nice pond owned by a very nice man from our church. He has four ducks of his own and needed a friend for Daisy who was not accepted by the other three. And I can visit him when ever I want.

He and Daisy (the black one) hit it off right from the start. Pong is doing what he is supposed to do, he protects Daisy from the other ducks and follows her around the pond.

At first the whole pond thing was new to him (we don't have a pond). His swimming skills were lacking and he tried to swim with his feet sticking out the side of his body. Which didn't work very well. He caught on quickly but he's still a little awkward in the dunking compartment. The move was what was best for him and I know he will be well taken care of.  And when I was there today he didn't chase a single person or try to bite anyone!!! Success!  

Over all he is blending in quite nicely!

Foxy Lady

 Coming home on a rainy Sunday afternoon a beautiful orange caught my eye. It was none other than a fox. One of my favorites

I always assume that all foxes are girls and that their names should be, and is, Fern.

Isn't Fern cute? I think so.

Never Too Old

 I will never be too old to get my face painted. Yes, that will be me when I am 80 years old with my face painted like a cat.  I'm in a wheelchair...I can do these things.

In other butterfly related news. My caterpillars are huge and eating things they shouldn't be. I should be seeing chrysalises any day now.

Caterpillar Mail

 

 Several weeks ago mom bought me a butterfly habitat. Isn't she the greatest!  Well, it gave a website (www.ribbitsgalore.com) where you could order live caterpillars. I then spent seven dollars to have painted lady caterpillars shipped to me from across the country. 

 They were delayed due to the extreme heat parts of our country are experiencing. But they arrived today! The mailman was kind enough to bring them right to the door.

There are four of them and they have to stay in their little plastic cup for two weeks before I can move them to their lovely new home.

Bound for the Kingdom

We went to kingdom bound again this year. Sometimes its sad to be a grown-up with grown-up friend that have to work ...all the time. I am blessed to have a wonderful job that alows me to work whenever I want to or whenever I don't what to. So considering our work schedules our little entourage consisted of Samantha and I with Spencer joining us in the evenings.The music, of course, was great. It always is. Some of the highlights were:
                                 

 Switchfoot- Good show, I liked their lighting.

 Nick Vujicic- Amazing Speaker! If you haven't heard him, you need too!

TobyMac- I dont really like his music but his show was entertaining.

Family Force Five- You could always hear the tambourine...always.

Tenth Avenue North- Always fantastic!

For King and Counrty- They didn't have a base player. But you could hear the base. Weird.

And more. Much, much more. Hopefully next year more of us can make it.

Amid the Crazy

 Two of the latest tattoo designs I have done. 

And I have decided to do pants. Send me your pants and I will draw on them for $20 a leg.

Bear Scare

This has been sightings of a bear in town. It was said to to have been seen on the porch of the funeral home and then running across the street. And it had been suspected to be in our yard! One of our bird feeders was broken in little pieces and dragged through the yard. Samantha swears she heard it running around the other night. Precautionary measures are being taken to protect the animals and cans of feed in our barn.

In The Garden

I have recently built a fairy house I my garden. I had seen several very cool little houses on Pinterest which I used as my inspiration. But I have been building fairy houses for years. There is something about little houses that I can't resist. Here is mine.

Can you find the frog?

I do believe in fairies I do, I do.

Vacation Recap

Thirty nine uncles, aunts, and cousins. Two big houses. One week on fun and laughs.

Pretty Big Janga was a pretty big hit! (Super Aunt Brenda really out did herself on this one!) We played almost every day. It falls pretty hard so watch out.

 The horses were a lovely addition. I love horses so being able to see them everyday was perfect.

 This was my first attempt at mini golf. I lost pitifully. Golfing was harder than I thought it would be but I still had a lot of fun. I think I may even try this again, so long as no one laughs at me for putting left handed and backwards.

 A trip to the zoo/animal park/petting zoo is were the non zip-liners hung out. I got to hand feed a kangaroo and pet a large cow ox thing ( he was my favorite).

 Just a few of us visited the local covered bridges. We also had a large family bike ride (which I have no pictures of). I biked 21 miles. They only had to tow me five of those miles. I believe it goes without saying that my arms hurt. My cusain Amanda covered our ride on her blog. http://amidawn.blogspot.com/2012/07/tour-de-savage-cannibals.html
A day at the Spa was just what I needed to recuperate.

 I also did a bit of painting. This was the view off the back of the Sundance house.

 There was a Kan-Jam tournament. I can tell you nothing about it because I don't know who played or who won.

 A night of Bananagrams showed me that I need to work on my spelling. Shame on you, you silly game.

And I painted a rock for my grandma. She like it.

There we all are. All 39 of us. I love them all more than anything.

Is It Time Yet

I really need a vacation!

My Ducky Darling

 My darling Ping was horribly killed by a raccoon. It was awful. I wont go into the details, but it was bad. I don't think I will ever be a very good farmer if every time I lose an animal I spend the day crying.  Her ducky personality will be missed.

Her attacker was captured, and even though he is cute (ok, who an I kidding, this thing is evil) , this evil creature had to go. We were so afraid that he would come back for Pong that we barricaded his pen with 40 pound bags of dirt. It work and he was unharmed. The coon was caught the first night we set the trap. We are continuing to set the trap to make sure there isn't another one. Hopefully there will be no more dead animals that I will cry about.

What has been eating your bird food?

 A Deer perhaps. On the subject of deer, we have spotted a doe and her twin fawns. They haven't come very far into the yard yet, but when they find out about the bird food I hope they come closer.

 Maybe a Baltimore Oriel. We have seen both male and female for the first time since we moved here...eleven years ago.

 Or if you are lucky, this rare creature. The Red Headed Boy.

 Blue Jays are common to the feeders this year. And every other year before and most likely every year after this.

 And the ever peasant Squirrel. See how he makes good time consuming the seeds in the squirrel proof feeder.

Then there is moms favorite. The Rose Breasted Grosbeak. The picture is of a female, only the males have the rose breast.
We have seen more species like and not limited to, goldfinches, tufted tit mouse, junco, woodpeckers, chipmunks, sparrows...etc.

So what is eating your bird food?