snow for my princess

So, guess who's not going any where? LOL Yep, that would be me. Snow in Arkansas is usually limited to a dozen flakes or so. This year, I think we're making up for all those years of no snow.

I'm not sure who likes it more....the Huskey's or the twins. You should have seen Bob. He tried so hard to find his ball buried under all of it. He still hasn't...and both he and the girls have dug all over the circle yard trying to locate it.

I love how this old cedar trees weighed down with snow always shelters the rabbits. It makes such a great wind break that they're nice and warm....as much so as if i had a heater in there.

Wally and his ladies were not as fortunate this storm. The wind direction must have changed during the night and caused the drifts. In any case, he's not letting his girls far from his sight. They are still laying...ten eggs today from 7 layers. I got 6 yesterday.

The poor guineas and wyandottes...They're my free range birds. Guineas, for those of you that don't know; are an African bird. They do not know what to think of this snow. They wouldn't walk out of thier coop....more to follow.

Mr. Wyandotte. It's a good thing he doesn't weigh much and can pratically stand on top of the snow. Otherwise, it would be past his belly.

Mrs. Wyandotte...and the Guinea is "Miss Ginny". I laugh when I see these two. The only thing missing in the photo is a fence that they can gossip over.

Looking out at the woods from the back yard.

more back yard...

Camalinda rode around on Rachel's arm until I made her put him down. The snow is deeper than he is and he does not wish to try and tunnel through it.

From the edge of the woods looking out over the house towards Uncle Tim's mountain. If the sun were shining, it would be blinding. The twins wanted to know if this was a blizzard. They were both sure that it had to be. Nope. just a heavy snow......The stinkers had to get confirmation from grandma that it was not a blizzard. They've come to the conclusion that this is more snow in one day than they've had in their entire lives.

The road to the pond....

and the pond...completely frozon over, but not thick enough for skating. No animal tracks either so the bear and deer are not moving out of their dens yet.

They're ready for snow ice cream. Good thing about country snow is it's pretty clean.

Rach, trying to get even, caught in the act of shaking the tree so that it would dump snow on Emily.

How come grown up's don't appreciate snow the way kids do?

I guess I'm more of a chicken.....I'd just as soon not be in the snow.

Miss Ginny has decided to roost in a tree. Mrs. Wyandotte was under her on the ground and not at all happy that she couldn't quite get high enough to join her.

All of the schools are closed, a good number of the businesses, church has been cancelled, some of the towns are even keeping their officers home unless called out for an emergency. We ended up with a total of one inch ice buried under 6 inches of very wet heavy snow. The kind that is perfect for making snow forts and snow balls and snow angels.... It seems like much more trying to walk through it. I do wish I had a 400 mm lens for my camera. I'd love to photograph some of the song birds. They are most lovely against all the white.

QT Posters

Here's one for ya! Every year in Scouts, I have 'my' girls make body posters. This year the twins helped and made some too. After they finished them, we cut them out and taped them to their bedroom doors. Just another fun thing to keep us busy.

Snow!

The new year brought snow. Anyone care to have it? I've seen enough of the white stuff to last me the rest of my life. Chickies weren't to excited about it either. They wouldn't come out of thier coop for days. They acted like they were afraid to step on it. As you can see in the photo, the girls tried to 'encourage' them by putting Carmalinda outside.......first chance he got, he flew straight back into the coop.

I should also mention that the bantams started laying. Surprised all of us because of the extreme cold and lack of sunlight.

no news is good news?

Just in case any one is looking for me...I thought I'd let you know that I can't get my home computer to go online. It makes for difficult communication...such is life.
I've got some neat photos to post when I get it figured out.
We woke up to snow..about 2 inches...on Christmas morn. No big deal if we didn't live in a southern state. The girls, of course, are thrilled. It took them all of 3 seconds I think to start throwing snowballs. After the second one hit grandma's window..if figured we might best put a halt to their exerberance.
The poor chickens and guineas!!! They are afraid of the white stuff and will NOT come out of their coops. Rachel tried to put her banty rooster out and oh how beautiful his red feathers look again the pure white...but the little guy just stood there trying to find a way back in to the nesting boxes. Today, a few patches have melted here and there and when we opened the doors to the coops, they all flew out in one big cloud of feathers. Straight into the trees and what ever clear ground they could find. They are not happy.
I leave you with prayers and best wishes. Ya'll stay warm and safe.

12 Days to Christmas

I don't see how we're going to shop for any gifts this year, but that doesn't mean we can't still celebrate Christmas. What are we celebrating anyway. Surely, it's not financial viability.

We started out by attending a 4-H Knitting workshop. I think we all learned a bit. I still can't knit, but I did pick up some information that helps. The girls got it and that's what counts most.

At home, we made a Pineapple Upside Down cake for the pot luck that evening. I'm including the recipe here. It's from my grandmother's cookbook...can't tell you which one, cause it's so old that it's fallen apart and the title/cover is missing. I think it might have been one of the first Betty Crocker's---but I'm really not sure. All I know is this is the one I use. It's quick, easy, and always good.

 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

 

1 8 1/2 ounce can sliced pineapple

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 maraschino cherries, halved

***

1/3 cup shortening

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Drain Pineapple, reserving syrup. Halve Pineapple slices.

Melt butter in 8x8x2 inch baking pan. Add brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of the reserved pineapple syrup.

Add water to the remaining syrup to make 1/2 cup.

Arrange Pineapple in bottom of pan. Place a cherry half in center of each slice.

 

Cream together shortening and granulated sugar till light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla: beat till fluffy. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt: add to creamed mixture alternately with the 1/2 cup reserved pineapple syrup, beating after each addition. Spread over pineapple.

Bake in moderate oven (350 F) for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool 5 minutes; invert on plate. Serve warm.

 

Later, we attended a "Girls Night Out" with Girl Scouts. Especially for mom's and thier daughters. The food was great! There wasn't even a single crumb left from our cake. The twins and I did a couple crafts together, and they both loved being able to play the Wii. That's something they seldom have the opportunity to do since we don't own one.

Announcing!!!!!

This year's Book Arts Bash is now underway. (http://www.bookartsbash.com/ )

The Bash is an amazing opportunity for budding homeschool novelists to showcase their writing. Last year, over 300 homeschoolers entered their writing. Judges like Lois Lowry (The Giver)and Robert Pinsky (former US Poet Laureate) judged and critiqued these homeschooled writers.
This year the Bash organizers have made it even easier to enter the Bash. Entrants simply send a .txt file to the Bash. Because all entries are digital, entrants will have the opportunity to share excerpts of their entries online.

All judges will all be best-selling novelists, such as Holly Black (Spiderwick Chronicles) and Sara Gruen (Water for Elephants).

The top three entries in each age group will then be sent to leading literary agents in New York and Los Angeles for constructive critiques. The top entry in each category will also win $100.

The Bash starts accepting entries on November 1.
The deadline for novels is January 1.

This is a great opportunity for homeschooling parents to help their children find relevance in their writing curriculum. Your children have a chance to win cold, hard cash and more importantly, they have a chance to have a top notch, industry professional critique their work.

For more information go to: http://www.bookartsbash.com/

October Surprise

There's always beauty after a storm if you look for it. Friday night we had close to 7 inches of rain and even though I am on top of the mountain, every thing is soggy, swampy, and flooded. Walking across our squisy yard I found this lovely iris. Guess she doesn't care that she's blooming out of season. She's put on her best dress anyway.

NOARK Carvival

Today, we were back at NOARK. This time for an outdoor sports carnival.

Our activities included BB Shooting, Baitcasting, critter ID, Search and Rescue information and demonstration, Archery, Outdoor Cooking, Tomahawks, Hides and Tanning, Can you believe it? I got sunburned. Not bad...but bad enough that my face hurts.

Girl Scout Service

The last weekend in September is our Troops first camp out of the year. This year we went to NOARK, hiked the trails so we could learn how to use a compass and map out points, learn some new cooking skills, and just have fun.

The girls made me a birthday cake while I was busy outside setting up our night time activities but I didn't get a picture of it. We were so hungry, that by the time I remembered...it was all gone. Good job girls. The frosting was perfect!

Following our camp out, we went over to War Eagle and studied the water. We have added it as a monitoring site on a service project we are doing. Our main site is the White River close to where we meet. Anyway, we are recording water temperature, phosphorus, and animal content. War Eagle, for all it's traffic and usage....and close proximity to a major highway....showed no signs of 'bad' or poor water quality. We found every water critter that good water is supposed to have, no bad ones. Yeah!!!! And along the bank, we found tracks of humans, dogs, raccoons, birds, squirrels, and an unknown (bobcat?) track in the mud. We picked up the litter on the way out just cause we'd rather come back and find no 'human' tracks....

nature hunt

A few photos from our recent trip to the woods. I was trying to find mushrooms in every color of the rainbow....never did find a green one. found a few surprises though. I should note, that the photo titles are not the technical names of the mushroom itself. I can accurately identify very few of them and do not eat any of them unless they come out of a can. Better safe than sorry.

"Gopher Guts"

"Oyster Shells"

"Blackheart"

"Bronze"

"Lilac"

"Fan"

"Red Flag"

"Yellow Glow"

"Chocolate Truffle"

"Twin Towers"

"White Cap"

"Buttons"

"Sprinkled"

"Flower"

"Parasol"

"Ice"

This one was a BIG surprise. It was very cold to touch. And....by the time I found this last one, we were all starving and the girls thought it looked like a snickerdoodle cookie. Hence, it's name.

"Snickerdoodle"