February 15, 2016 ~ My 77th and Big Snow #2

In past years, Eloise’s family, a friend of ours, and Bud and I have gone out to Dothan State Park and rented a big cabin for my birthday weekend. Well, this year for #77, we decided to stay here at the Homeplace, and what a fine decision that was considering the frigid weather we had. It was way too cold and windy to do any hiking or anything else outside. Here are some the posters Eloise has made for me thru the years. You can tell the first was quite a while ago. Also, she has changed my name several time... from Baga, to Lady Baga, to Bags. The Lady Baga is the one that really cracks me up.

The girls created the table. Eloise made the napkin holders from toilet paper rollers I cut into sections several years back painting them and then giving them a good dose of Modge Podge, and, and she made the name place “creations” from foam pieces you can get at Wally World. Take note of the HOT sauce. Both of my sons cannot eat anything with HOT sauce...and Mom cannot even take spices that are the least bit warm. 

 As all of you know, I am not afraid to poke fun at myself .

I thought this was a pretty funny one.

 The girls are sketching and watching/listening to the TV.

 Those poor girls. A love three day weekend,

 and then there comes the homework. UGH!

 Finally, we have the fearsome threesome in our hats. 

This has to be my favorite picture of the weekend even if I did not clean it up in Photoshop. Other than cropping, it is truly SOC!

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Then the snow started, and there was a mad departure for Richmond a day early. Going over the mountain at Afton, VA, is not something anyone in their right mind wants to do in snow, sleet, ice, or high winds. They made it back uneventfully, thank goodness.Here are the pictures I tool today after it snowing all night and day, We got 9 inches and now it i all crunchy and icy.


I only left the house long enough to get these photos.
It was way too cold and snowy to be outside for more than five minutes.

The barn and outbuilding are still standing.
Each time we get a heavy snow, I fear a roof falling in.

These tracks are from Buddy with his two sticks 
hobbling across to get up hill to his car.
He had to go to work today... before they scraped the road.

This is when the creek looks the prettiest.
It’s a shame it’s too cold to sit down there and enjoy it.

This post is inked with Our World Tuesday.

#27 ~ Jack in His Maze and Other Snow Scenes

Our World Tuesday at Home

Just a little while ago I walked into the living room, and this poor baby is what I found.

What in the world happened to it?

Maybe it hit the door and then Jack messed with it outside. and brought inside. 

The cat does not ever go out.

I tried to get a picture of the yellow on the head so it would help you all to identify it for me.

This always makes me so sad...but NEVER, has one been brought into the house...

that is saved for the mice that the cat catches at night in the lower cabinets.

Yes....We live in a very OLD farmhouse, and you cannot kill all the mice.

 My Favorite Tree in the Snow

 Hay Bales on the Way Home

Whenever we have a large snow, we build Jack a little maze.

I pretend is the one at Hampton Court.

I have never seen a little dog have such a good time...and his Mommy.

 Oops...Buddy, You dead ended me into a big tree. You need to be more careful. 

I could get hurt.

Get out here, please, and fix it for me. This is my peeing tree, duffus.

 The VA Dep’t of Transportation's big gravel pile.

 You can see that they have been moving up and down.

This is our front yard off to the left f the house. I thought the shadows were so cool.

The big field in front of the house with its shadows.

This post is linked with Our World Tuesday 
and

Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

#23 ~ Our Barn and Homeplace in the Snow of January 2016

Yep...This is our old barn.

The front of it.

I have told Tom many times how much I like the editing he does with his barn pictures. well, today we emailed me with 2 edits he had done for me. I asked if it would be OK with him if I posted him, and he said it was fine, I think they turned out so pretty. The other one is further down the page with the picture of our house.

The back of it.

The Chicken House Door

We are getting ready to put up a new fence and get us some chickens.

We have missed our fresh eggs so much over the years. They have a happy nice sized home inside the barn and are not cramped at all.

These are “horse” stalls, but our pony, Pretzil lived out in one of our fenced in cow fields. Somehow he got the gate open or something because our baby decided after a bad ice and snow storm to wander into the creek we guess to get a drink of water. This happened around 35 years ago, so I do not remember all the details. Well, that was the end of our pet. When we got up the next morning Pretzel was upside down stiff as a board, and we had to call a farmer neighbor a with one of those pusher thingies - I think it is called a back hoe - to pick it up and take it to the happy hunting ground for ponies. It was so sad we have never gotten another one.The children were devastated.


This was the goat house for Rosebud and Sagebrush. They were very naught goats and would devour our garden. We finally gave them away to some neighbors. This is now used for extra building materials left over from the two bathrooms.

 This is the garage for the old Model A or T or whatever car that came after the horse and buggy we have pictures of out in front of the house.
It is my favorite thing on the property.

This side view of the barn had a tree growing out of this window.

We did cut it down years ago :-)

Our one outbuilding....our only storage. No usable attic and no basement...and one closet.We have got to do some work on that roof over the shed part. It does not look this bad when it is not covered in heavy snow, but it is need of some serious work.

Bud and Jack shoveling the Bridge to Somewhere.

A Snow covered Bridge to Somewhere
Yes, we lost a tree. 

Our neighbor from across the road plowing us out. 

He does this every time we get a bad storm and refuses to take a dime. 

We have begged him to take something, but he always says “NO! 

He is also the mailman and a very good neighbor and friend.

Our creek as pretty as it gets.


The Homeplace
It does look pretty in the snow.
The addition there on the left is a handicapped bathroom just in case I need it.
My son, Gene...Eloise’s daddy...designed it for us.

Here is the other picture that Tom edited for me. It looks SO good.

Icicles on the bay window in our living room.

This post is liked with Tom’s Barn Collective. 
Please consider participating in this meme. 
It is full of wonderful new barns each Sunday.

#3 ~ Water Glistening in the Sunlight

Light Hitting Water Is So Pretty

The creek in front of our house on a very sunny day.

Picture taken December 22, 2015 with iPhone 5C

End of Fall at the Homeplace

Happiness Is Living in the Country

Today was so beautiful. The temperature was perfect. There was no wind, and the sky was bright blue with some scattered clouds to add a bit of fluffy white. I took all of these pictures in front of the house and out in our front field. The BIG hill you see is our land. We have 7 acres up there filled with timber which we will not touch.

 

Yes, here is our "Bridge to Somewhere".

The creek our "Bridge to Somewhere" crosses.
Its name is Kerrs creek and the area 
where we live is know as Kerrs Creek.



 Our front yard just above the creek.


 
And, here is another of the front yard.


Here’s our little outbuilding where I keep everything
 I cannot fit into a house without any storage. 

This is our front field where we used to have cows. No more! No more goats and ponies. Just Jack, the dogs and Trouble, Bud’s cat.

That’s the BIG hill behind. As children, the kids loved to climb up it and then slide down. Then when they all came home a few years ago for my birthday, they FORCED me to do it, too. Well, that was

the last time. Thought I was going to have a heart attack going up it is so slick and steep, and then coming down was worse. The clincher is and was that day...when we got down we had to walk across the darn creek with lots of water in it. No fun for this old gal.

They can beg until the cows come home, but I will NEVER do it again unless they can find me another easier way to get up and down. 

Jack couldn’t stand it. He just had to get in the picture. If you look down the center and then to the right,you can seethe mountain we see from the house in the winter. 

I was looking for a quote to go with this post, and I came across this sometimes hilarious and other times poignant bit of farmer’s advice. Hope you like it as much as I did. There are some good lessons to be learned from it.

An Old Farmer's Advice

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong. *

* Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.*

* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.*

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.*

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.*

* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.*

* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.*

* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.*

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.*

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.*

* Every path has a few puddles.*

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.*

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.*

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.*

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.*

* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.*

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't bothering you none.*

* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain dance.*

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.*

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.*

* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.*

* Always drink upstream from the herd.*

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.*

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.*

* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.*

* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.*

* Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.*

~Unknown

This post is linked with:

 Our World Tuesday

 Outdoor Wednesday

Skywatch Friday

October Skies

October Skies in Our Neck of the Woods

 View from North Mt. This Week

 Sunrise over Field Next to the Dumpsters

 Sunrise over Our Front Field

“There was never a night or a problem that could
defeat sunrise or hope."
~Bernard Williams

This post is linked with Skywatch Friday.