Slaters' Funny Farm

Well, it is Christmas Eve here on the farm and I must say that we are certainly enjoying the warm weather that we are having. It was a very brisk morning at 29 degrees but the high today is to be in the lower 40's and for this time of year in Indiana - that is fabulous! It is supposed to be almost 50 degrees tomorrow and although, I love a nice light snowfall for Christmas, I must say that I am thankful that we won't have one tomorrow. It really just doesn't seem like Christmas here for some reason. I have my tree up and I have done the cards and cookies, but for some reason I just am not in the Christmas mood. I was thinking yesterday that I will be glad to have the tree down, but I was so excited when I put it up. I am not sure of what is going on, but I just can't seem to find the spirit that I normally have. However, I know that we all need to remember the real reason for the excitment and that is Christ! I actually wrote an article on Triond this morning about the ...

Well, it's beginning to look like Christmas on the farm here. The lights, tree, and snowmen decorations are up. With a touch of snow a week ago, it made it seem more like Christmas instead of the 60 degree temperatures that we had been having. My daughter and I attended a workshop at the local library last week to make ornaments and handmade cards, which we really enjoyed! We have decided that next year all of our cards will be handmade. If you don't currently go to your local library, I would suggest that you go and take advantage of all the programs and interesting things that they offer. We really enjoy the programs that ours offer. Homeschooling always seems to lack during the month of December due to the business of the month, but so far we are on track well. I have planned more fun lessons and things that do not take as much time. Today we made paper snowflakes, looked at what happened today in history, took an evaluation test for math and word building, wrote our Christm...

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All Americans know that Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks, but just what should we be thankful for. First, we need to be thankful that we have the freedom of religion in our country. We are free to worship where, when and how we want. Many countries do not have this same freedom. Secondly, we need to be thankful that we live in a country that is ran as a democracy. We may not always agree with the way that it is being ran, but we also need to remember that as voters we put the lawmakers into place. We should be thankful in the fact that we know that our leadership can change within a few years. We need to be thankful for the education system that we have in our country. It may not be the best and many may see many problems with it, but we should still be thankful that we have one. Our education is an important step in our lives. We are free to continue our education above what the public standard is if we feel the need to. We should be thankful for the friends and families that we h...

Dr. Conrad Murray, doctor to pop king Michael Jackson, has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael. Unfortunately, this does not bring the star back, but it does give his family some closure in his death and some justice for Michael. Doctors of these stars need to realize that drugs are drugs and can cause death and that they are going to be held liable for their decisions in writing and administering drugs to their patients. Another news event happening right now that seems to be talked about on every news report that I see is the Penn State sex abuse case. It seems that there might have been a coverup going on within the ranks of the football coaching staff while young boys were being abused by one of the members of the coaching staff. How sad it is that adults might have known that these boys were being molested and no one reported it. The Today Show on NBC is now airing the 10th anniversary of "Where in the World is Matt Laurer?" This mini pa...

Fall is upon us and the beautiful Autumn leaves are so pretty to look at but it also reminds me that winter is not far away. It seems as Denver is getting snow today and weather forecasters are saying a winter storm. I do not look forward to those days and I do not look forward to cold, snowy days except for the opportunity to build a fire in the new wood stove that we purchased last week to replace the one that we had. The stove that we had done a wonderful job of heating the front of the home and it was such a blessing last winter in helping to keep the heat bills under control. However, it was not big enough to heat the entire home and we knew that it would be nicer to have a larger one that would heat the entire house. The new one will do just that. We live in a wooded area and so we do not have to buy wood, which is an added blessing for us. I am thankful that God gives us the natural resources to heat our home without having to pay the outrageous prices that the electric and gas ...

About 50 exotic animals were apparently turned loose last night in rural Eastern Ohio by their owner who subsequently shot himself. Owner, Terry Thompson, was found dead in his home and the animal cages were opened and fences around the property left open for these animals to roam free. Unfortunately, officials are saying that about 30-35 of these animals have been killed due to their danger to the public. It seems so unfair to these animals after being held in cages by this gentleman that they are suffering for doing nothing wrong except roaming as their natural instinct guides them to do. Yes, I realize that lions, tigers, grizzly bears, and black bears are a risk to the public, but I also think that there could be ways to subdue these animals other than killing them and relocating them to zoos or other nature preserves to be cared for. I am not sure of how long these animals have been in the possession of this gentleman, but they are scared and unsure of what is happening. Residents...

Living here on the funny farm, you just never know what the day will bring. As a home school family, I believe that every day can be a learning experience and kids do not just learn by studying a book. I believe that every day experiences can teach them more than most books can. If they are seeing it in person, then they know it is factual because they are living it. I also believe that learning things as a family can be more rewarding than just two of us sitting in a classroom type setting and studying it. Friday was one of those days that we took our learning outside for a little while and although we were sidetracked from our book work, we learned something together. We have been losing chickens and ducks and thought that coyotes were the culprits. However, my husband thought that he would set some smaller animal non kill traps that might allow us to find out if the issue was something else. After catching three cats and one of the puppies and a chicken, he finally caught a culprit....

Last Friday when we left for our Labor Day camping trip it was 100 degrees and we were all wondering if the heat was ever going to end as it has been such a hot summer with very little rain most of the months of July and August. We do not like to ride the horses when it is so hot as it is hard on them and not the most favorable conditions for us either. Knowing that fall is around the corner is always a wonderful way to think of the trails taking a beautiful turn as the leaves begin to change into rustic, bright colors before they fall from the trees. Saturday was yet another day that the temperature climbed to around 100 degrees and we debated on even lighting a camp fire, but who wants to cook at camp without a fire. The evening brought some rain and cooler temperatures. Sunday was cooler as was Monday and it seemed as though there might be a cooler air moving in and settling upon us. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday have reminded us that we really do not mind the warm air and sunshin...

Well, the last holiday weekend of summer is upon us and with that brings thoughts of winter, snow and cold but as I am typing this it is currently almost 100 degrees in Indiana with high humidity. It seems as though this summer has plagued us with high temps and no rain. Many places in the midwest and southwest have suffered with the same problems during the summer so we can only hope that the winter brings the same above normal temperatures as well. We will be spending the weekend with friends at the Double Y Saddle Club this weekend while my mother and my in-laws are here at home caring for the hobby farm. We will be doing some horseback riding and some buggy driving over the weekend. I am looking forward to do some cooking outside and just relaxing. Although, I am taking the laptop as I plan to do some work as well. I will be traveling a little too as my daughter has two birthday parties to go to as well this weekend. It seems as though the work and the running errands never e...

This week the weather seems to be really chaotic and many places are being effected and no one truly knows why the weather is as crazy as it has been all year. Extreme heat has been an issue in many states this year and while some states are doing fine with precipitaion and others are seemingly facing a drought. Hurricane Irene is beginning to hit the islands of the Bahamas and as a category three hurricane, is set to hit the United States eastern coast tomorrow. The United States Navy is even beginning to require some of their ships to leave port so that they are not there if the storm hits. This storm could hit North Carolina as a category 4 hurricane, which could really do some great damage if it hits that hard. Residents in those areas should take precautions to protect their homes, but after seeing the damage that New Orleans suffered a few years ago, they should not try to ride this storm out. The East Coast of the United States was hit earlier this week with a 5.9 magnitud...

I have been writing for Associated Content, which is now owned by Yahoo, for a couple of years now and I would like to begin sharing some of my writings with all of you. Please look at this article to read about birthday party options for kids. http://www.associatedcontent.com/rss/custom_514550_Birthday+Party+Options+for+Kids+In+Indianapolis%2C+Indiana__article_7_.xml Thanks for your time in taking a look at this article!

Last night tragedy struck the Indiana State Fair and the country duo, Sugarland as a huge gust of wind collapsed the stage onto fans awaiting the appearance of Sugarland. 46 injured and 5 killed are the latest statistics that I have heard. It is a sad day for many families and they need our prayers. Luckily, Sugarland was not on stage as it would have been a much sadder day for country music if they had been. Sara Bareilles had just left the stage and Sugarland had not taken the stage yet, when this happened. Meterologists are saying that the National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm warning just a few minutes before and announcements had been made to tell concert goers where to go if there was an evacuation put into place. In just a matter of minutes, the stage collapsed on to the group of fans in an area closest to the stage known as "the sugar pit". Many fans were taken to local area hospitals to be treated for a variety of injuries. Please pray fo...

My husband done some trading and got a new pony this week. He is an 8 or 9 year old paint horse and has flaxen on his mane and tail. He is such a gorgeous pony and I was thrilled when I seen him even though I do not like paint horses normally. He looks like he has had highlights in his hair. He is just a really neat color with a beautiful mane and tail. I decided that I wanted him to have a really neat and cool name and "Sir Fancy Pants" came to mind. My family thinks I am crazy to name him that. He rides fairly well, but he is a little stubborn and he is a follower. He will ride well if there is a horse in front of him or if he has someone walking beside him. However, he is scared of eveything it seems and he seems very nervous. I hope to break him a little more and teach him to ride better. I want to take him when we go to the park and ride. If anyone has any suggestions on things that I can do to help him learn to trust me a little more, I would certainly appreciate ...

It has been a few days since I wrote on here and I must say that is not from lack of things to talk about, but just lack of time. I have not even had time to do the writing that pays me fairly well so this has certainly been on the back burner. Our new puppies are doing well and have began to open their eyes. If anyone is looking for a new puppy and doesn't mind having a mixed breed puppy, I will be giving some away soon. I may keep one of them so that it can grow with Bridget, but for the most part, they will be given to good homes. I also hope to start training the colt this week to learn to walk on a lead rope. It should have already been done but I just haven't had the time. I will try to get better at finding a schedule and keeping it. We made some new friends at the fair and we are looking forward to continuing some of those friendships into the new year and hopefully, we will be at many future shows with them.

As the fair has wound down and is now over, we are rested and ready for a new week of activities to begin. Bridget done well in her first year of 4-H and I am proud of the young lady that she was during all of the competitions, even when showing in temperatures over 100 degrees with a heat index of 120. She won 6th place in her sloppy showmanship competition and she won a hoof pick for that class. For the week, she ended up with 1 blue ribbon, 4 red ribbons, 2 white ribbons and the hoof pick as well as many new friends and a lot of experience. She also ended the week with many hours of fun behind her and many learning experiences. It was fun but hot! With Indiana seeing some of the hottest weather in several years, we were troopers for being in the heat and humidity all day long. However, it was time to sit and enjoy time together and I actually miss going each day. We worked on our tans or burns, whichever the case might be. We met new people and learned a lot about showing that we di...

Bridget didn't place in the costume contest last night at the fair, but she had fun! It was absolutely amazing to see the imagination that these kids had with their costumes! If anyone ever has a chance to see one of these shows, it is certainly a beautiful competition and these kids pour their hearts into the competition. In her class, the winner had her horse dressed as a rocking horse. The second place winner was a John Deere Tractor and farmer and third place went to a beautiful horse that was dressed as a poodle and the girl riding had a poodle skirt on. Other honorable mentions were Fred Flintstone and Dino, an elf in the forest, and a convict who had her horse shackled. Bridget had dressed as Lady Liberty and the horse was patriotic, but she really didn't deserve to place as the others were a lot better thought out and planned. It was fun and we learned that we really need to step up the game when we enter this competition next year. It has been a hot week with heat inde...

Yesterday was an absolutely toasty day! As we stood in the sun to watch the horse show at the fair, we realized just how hot it truly was. I felt cooked inside by the time I left the fairgrounds yesterday evening. My daughter was in her first show a little after 10 a.m. and it was a halter class. She knew what she needed to do and she done it for the most part. She missed turning for the judge one time, but she done well. As names were called, I was in tears after she wasn't called by fourth place as I knew she was going to get higher than that. She got third and I was thrilled with her!! Her next class was novice showmanship and she was a little nervous about it as she had a pattern that she had to remember but it was easy. After what seemed like hours of keeping her as cool as we could considering she was in a jacket and a long sleeve shirt, she entered the arena and walked to the judge, after inspection she was supposed to do a complete circle andtro to her next marker , but she...

Bridget got a blue ribbon on her rabbit last night! I am so proud of her!! She has a beautiful blue registered English Spot rabbit named Dorthea. She shows her chicken today. It is going to be a busy day as we have the poultry show, the horse to be hauled to the fair, stall to decorate, and the parade today. Plus feeding the rabbit and cleaning the cage. Hope you all have a great day!

Well, fair time is upon us and all the 4-H projects are going full force at the moment. Yesterday, Bridget turned in a dog poster and a horse poster and won red ribbons on both of them. She was very excited as this is her first year in 4-H and so she was not expecting to do as well as others. Today we have her Creating With A Mix project due. It has been an early morning for us as we got up at 5:30 so that we could make her cake fresh today. I am hoping that it brings a blue ribbon home, but if not we will be happy with what she does get. I will try to give a daily update here for the next few days, but not sure how next week will be as we will be at the fair most days. If you are near the area, stop by the Johnson County Fairgrounds and look for us at or near the horse barns.

Yesterday, God got my attention. I have been so overwhelmed with all the work that we have to do this week to get ready for the fair and how we are so short of time before projects are due. Plus, my husband is working out of town and may be gone longer than we thought so he won't be here to help and I was complaining that I could not find time to get here and update my blog. Suddenly, the phone rang which I grumbled about. It was my daughter's best friend, who I just adore like she was my own. She was crying and I could not imagine what she was going to say next. Her grandmother , who lived with her family, had passed away in her sleep. What? She had just driven her to the library the day before! What? She had just talked to me about going to the horse show next Sunday to watch the girls. How could it be? Her husband was in worse shape healthwise than she was- was it true? Then I thought of the verse in the Bible that states that man knows not the day or hour that he will be ch...

Well, there is a lot of camping preparations going on in our household right now. We have borrowed a new horse trailer from a friend to see if we like it better than ours and so it was delivered here yesterday. He mentioned that it might need a little cleaning and how right he was. I guess it is not really dirty, but it has been sitting all winter and it is in need of a spring clean. I will be washing down walls and counter tops as well as cleaning the floor and vacumming the bench seat covers today. I hope to mop the floor as well as it is a tile floor in the living quarters of it. I also have to pack the food that we will be taking and I will also have to be packing clothes that we intend to wear. I normally have all our stuff as far as cooking supplies and other needed items in our trailer as we use it often in the summer. I keep a lot of ours in totes so it should be easy to move over into this one once it is cleaned. I think that since the inside of this one is much larger than ou...

As many of you know, my youngest daughter is signed up for several 4-H projects this year and one of them is a foods project. She had to take cake mix or some kind of mix and make something else out of it. She decided upon advice from her sister's boyfriend to make a Mountain Dew cake. This was the first time she had ever made this type of cake as well as the first bundt cake that she had ever made. For the most part, I will say she did well. It is a little darker on top than I would prefer and it is not quite even on the top,but for her first time I am quite proud of her. The other projects are going well and we do have ideas for how the posters will look when we are finished with them. For the most part she is doing all of the work on her own as I will just be doing a few photos of her and her dog. She is a busy girl as she is doing 6 projects for her first year. I am anxious to share with all of you how she does. We hope for at least one blue ribbon!

As I was writing on another site today, I wrote something without giving much thought to what i was saying and then proofreading it, I realize how important what I had said was. It was a discussion about television remotes and how no one gets up to change the channels anymore and yet, we can get irritated if we have to change the channel with the remote to see something else. I had commented that I grew up without a remote television and that I get irritated as my husband is constantly changing the channels or going to the guide to see what else is on as it is so convient with that remote. I also noted that I grew up without a washer and dryer so that I knew the hardship of doing laundry by hand and that I tried to always be thankful that I no longer have to do that and try not to complain about the laundry. Wow! Being thankful for laundry, I would never have thought that I would say that. I personally really do not like doing the laundry as it is one of those chores that is required t...

Another week has whizzed by on the farm and I really do not know where so many hours go. Although, I know that we do a lot in the time we are awake, it seems that there are just not enough hours in the day. We have gotten many things accomplished this week that really needed to be done. The barn that we have on a friends' property really needed to be cleaned up after we moved several horses from there this week and I am proud to say that Bridget and I have managed to get one stall cleaned out. We have put lime down and we will finish working in there this next week. That was a feat all on it's own. Plus, we cleaned all of the water troughs this week as well. Vanilla, our colt from last spring, is learning quickly that we expect certain behavior out of her and she is slowly beginning to respect us and trust us. I believe that we will be putting a blanket on her several times next week and then I will be putting a saddle on her before much longer to see how she is going to act wi...

My husband loves french onion soup, which amazes me as he is a very picky eater. He also loves french onion dip with his Ruffles. Recently, we were at a small Amish grocery store and found a powdered french onion dip mix that you add to one 8 ounce container of sour cream to make chip dip with. On the front of the package, was a suggestion to add 1/2 cup of the powder to meatloaf. Deciding that I would try it, I mixed up my meatloaf with 1 1/2 pounds of ground round with 3 eggs, some breadcrumbs, and about 1/2 cup of chopped onions along with my tomato sauce. Once this was mixed together, I decided to add the french onion powder to the mix as it suggested. The result was a very moist and tasty meatloaf. The French Onion meatloaf was an excellent new recipe for us and something we will certainly be eating more of. It adds so much flavoring to the meatloaf and my husband said that it was like eating a bowl of soup. I was also thinking that I might try the Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix next...

I have been thinking about the writing that I do online and I have decided that I need to make some new changes and set some new goals for myself. It seems as though I neglect this blog and so I am going to add it to my list of everyday goals. It is not hard to come on here and at least post something to this blog and I am hoping to add some recipes, like I suggested several times. My new goal for here is to be here daily and to add at least two recipes a week. I must say that the farm is doing well and we enjoy the time with the animals. We have been downsizing horses as it seemed that we were ending up with too many. We now have two colts and although one is almost a year old, it is still taking up time to train. I hope that all of you who read this will leave me a comment as to what I can do to stay motivated and how you motivate yourself to meet goals.

Just an update on the Lauren Spierer case in Bloomington, Indiana. friends and family are still concerned about the whereabouts of this special young lady. She has been missing since early the morning of June 3,2011 and someone needs to come forward and tell where she is. Her family, friends, and multitudes of searchers have combed the streets, woods, and places throughout the town that she could be,but to no avail. Her mother and father are heartbroken and deserve to know where their daughter is. Police have video surveilllance now of a vehicle that they are considering could have something to do with the case, whether the person was involved or just thought that they seen something. They announced today that they were enhancing the video in hopes that someone might recognize the car or cars. It is sad to think that in a college town students are not safe to walk alone, but with the way the world is these days, it is not ever safe to be alone. I would recommend that any parent that ha...

For a week now, many people have been searching the town of Bloomington, Indiana for missing Indiana University student , Lauren Spierer. Spierer was last seen early on the morning of June 3 with a male acquaintance near her apartment near the IU campus. Lauren is a fashion design student who was fun and full of life according to family and friends. She is from New York and just completed her sophomore year at the college. Her parents arrived in Indiana on Saturday June 4, 2011 to search for their daughter. Friends, college students, police, and volunteers from all over have been searching the Bloomington area as well as expanding searches out into other parts of the state near the IU campus for any signs of Lauren. Lauren is 4'11" tall and weighs about 90 pounds. She is blonde haired as well. She was last seen wearing black leggings and a white top. Anyone with any information should contant America's Most Wanted or the Bloomington Police Department. Searches are being do...

Well, I have neglected my blog recently. I really had not forgotten that I had it but I have just been busy with many other sites and projects and just have been neglecting it. However, after a week of many ups and downs, I have decided that I just need to set myself a new goal to be here each day and work on it. I have decided that I want to make some changes or even begin a new blog so I am going to ask for some opinions. I am thinking about starting a blog on country cooking and was wondering if I should use this blog or start a new one. What do you think? Also, was wondering how I can drive more traffic to my blog? If you have any ideas, please tell me. I am needing to find ways to drive more traffic to many of the articles that I write online and am hoping that somone here in cyber world can aid me in what I need to do.

As many of you know, I am a homeschool mom that is very busy due to the caring of the home and many of the animals that we have here on the farm. I have homeschooled for 7 years and there are days that I throughly enjoy it and there are other days that I find that it is one of the most challenging things that I have ever done in my life. Recently I decided that I would try a website that I had many other parents talk about helping their children. Time4Learning.com The site is a really bright and inteactive site and does have age appropriate lessons for the child. Being that my daughter struggles with math and reading, I was hoping that the site would be exactly what she needed to help her with learning the things that I am struggling with teaching her. I signed her up at grade level though and was surprised at some of the work that she was given. She had many activities to choose from in basic subjects such as math, language arts, science and social studies. However, I really felt that...

Mad! Still mad! Even madder! Those are the feelings that I have had since Saturday evening when we were headed to another town to a benefit for a young family with some very large medical bills and an ill child, when some young girl decided to make a left turn in front of us when we were literally less than two car lengths from her. I drove a large car -1995 Buick Roadmaster and we had our head lights on as it had rained some and was cloudy but she didn't see us according to what she told the officer taking the report. I was mad at the scene and I was not a pleasant person to either her or the poor man who tried to help me because I was limping. I was too mad and was concentrated on getting my daughter and her friend taken care of before anyone worried about me. I was mad when I seen how damaged my car was and I was mad that she had been so careless. She could have literally told what color our jackets were we were so close to her. After being checked by the paramedics and being ...

We have some new animals here on the farm. We purchased some guineas and baby turkeys last week. The turkeys are just babies and were just a few days old when we got them, but the guineas are older. The guineas are going to make good "watch dogs" as they like to make a lot of noise. Everytime we walk out into the yard they tend to make noise and let us know that they are watching. I have heard that they keep the prey animals away from the chickens and stuff and that is why I decided we needed them. Living with woods surrounding the property makes the farm a nearby meal for coyotes. The turkeys are going to be a 4-H project for Bridget. She will also be showing a pony or horse as well as rabbits, chickens, and possibly her dog. She is going to be very active when fair season arrives and I am sure we will spend a lot of time there. Wishing everyone a good week.

It has been a couple of weeks since I have written this regular report, but with the cold and the ice that we have been having there just hasn't been a lot going on. The weather has finally broke and it has been nice here the past few days, except for the mud! It seems that everywhere is mud and the soft mud that allows you to sink. Both my husband and I have had a mud experience this week that ended up with so not terrific results and I feel that I need to share them. First, I drive a rear-wheel drive car, which is not good on any kind of wet, snow-covered, icy road or in the mud. I really need a 4 wheel drive before next winter if I intend to remain in the country as we live on a non-maintained county road which can be snow covered or ice covered for many days until the weather breaks and it melts. Anyway, this week I went to the barn (about 3 miles away where we keep some of our horses) and fed for the first time in awhile as my husband usually does the feeding in the winter th...

Well, my schedule is always changing it seems. I had many plans for today, but that has all changed as my husband has to take a quick trip to a factory in KY to work on a machine and pick up 2 pieces of a steel, so I am taking a road trip with him. My daughter is not feeling well so she misses the home school skate that we planned to go to and she will be home. She will be doing some school work and then we will finish when I get home or we will do some tomorrow. Thank God for allowing us to home school as our schedule can be so hectic. Hope everyone has a great day!

BRR! It is cold outside. Our temperature this morning is in the single digits with close to double digits below zero windchills. I believe I just heard that it is -9 degrees F outside right now with the wind chill. Dangerous weather for adults, kids, and animals. I am thankful that they are saying warmer weather is headed our way and I am sure that the animals are as well. I am headed to work today. I have taken a part time job at a local restaurant and I will be doing some kitchen prep work today. I really don't want to do it, but I will take what I can right now. I guess I better get off of here and get some work done before I go and go start the car so it can heat up before I have to leave. Hope everyone has a good day! May God Bless you and yours!

It looks as though today is going to be another very busy day in my house. As I was making out the to-do list yesterday, I realized that there are just not enough hours in the day to do the things that I plan. I have to cut back, but where I can make those cuts I really don't know. Today's list looks like this: School ( usually takes about 4 hours) Fix Lunch ( 1 hour with cleanup) Vacuum and dust living room File papers for new sales booth Find some books for next weeks school lessons Pick up clutter from dining room Pay bills Cook dinner and do cleanup 4-H meeting Write blog entry Write articles for Triond Write articles for Associated Content Redesign school area a little bit Plus the daily chores of feeding animals and all the farm life. UGH! I guess I will keep my head up and go back into a prayer that God gets me through the day. Until tomorrow!

Well, the big game is over and although the weather wreaked havoc on the state of Texas earlier in the week, the game proceed and the Green Bay Packers hold the football title, Super Bowl Champions. Now we look forward to Indianapolis hosting this fabulous event and we will wait to see how the Colts home state handles the weather and the preparations that go into such a big event. Onto other things, the weather forecast is beginning to improve maybe for us. It seems that the next few days will be extremely cold with highs in the teens, but I see forecasts that are showing that it could be 42 degrees by Sunday. That will be a tropical heatwave compared to what the weather has been. My daughter made it home safely from the youth convention, Dare 2 Share, in Columbus, Ohio this weekend. The group ended up staying an extra night so that they could travel home safely. I am thankful for adult chaperones who realize that traveling in snow after dark is not the wisest thing to do with a group ...

Well, as yet another winter storm has hit the central Indiana area, I am happy to say that we have survived the worst of the storm and we are out of the danger for a few days. Making preparations for these types of storms when you live in an area that you know road crews won't reach for a few days is always a challenge and I did not do as well this time. Being that we have dealt with so much snow this winter, I went out with preparing for a snow storm, although we were predicted to get an ice storm. I got supplies but I didn't get Ice Melt or batteries. These would be important items to have in the midst of a major ice storm, but I didn't think of either of them. Luckily, we have a generator and we didn't need the flashlights as we were fortunate enough to not lose power throughout the storm. As many of our county residents are without power and could be until tomorrow resulting in 3-4 days of no electricity. Weather forecasters are saying that we will see more snow on ...

Well, another winter storm has hit central Indiana and this one maybe the worst that we have seen this year. Many parts of central Indiana are under travel advisories are being issued and even one county, Shelby, has issued a travel emergency. Travel conditions are hazardous and are not expected to get better for a few days as they weather is to worsen throughout the day. It seems that much of the state is under a layer of ice and that effects travel and the power throughout the state. Many power outages are being reported this morning and news casters are saying that we could see greater outages and that some electric customers could be without power for several days. Making preparations for that kind of an outage can be difficult. Weather is a big concern when colleges and universities are cancelling classes and the many central Indiana government agencies are closing as well. A funeral procession for a fallen officer, David Moore, has also been cancelled today due to the weather con...

Life on the farm has been so blessed the past few weeks. We have received so many unexpected surprises and blessings and this is my chance to say that I praise God for the way that He is working in my life. I am so thankful that next week at this time Bridget will be with the youth group at the Dare 2 Share un tour convention and I pray that the blessings that she brings back will be able to be shared with all of you here. She is extemely excited about going and she seems to be sure that she will continue to work on getting friends to chuch as well. I pray that God shows her just what he is wanting from her life. The animals are doing fine surviving the crazy and cold weather that we have been having. It seems that we may be in the path for another major winter storm this coming week, but prayers are going up that it misses us and the people on the eastern coast of the United States who have already seen a lot of snow this season. Thinking of spring, which is only a little over 50 days...

Well, my morning started out completely different today than I had expected. Knowing that there is yet another winter storm headed our way, I had planned to make a quick trip to the store today as well as to make a stop at the post office to change my brother's address and make a stop at the library so that books would not be late. Plus, we needed to get wood stacked onto the porch so we don't have to trod through the snow in order to bring it in tomorrow. However, a ringing phone changed my entire day. My oldest daughter works in a restaurant and at 6:45 this morning to ask me to come to work as no one showed up in either the kitchen or the dishroom. Well, I am not an employee there, but I can always use the extra money so I told her that I would be there shortly. I hurried to get ready and to line things out at home as my youngest daughter goes to youth group on Wednesday nights with a friend and they pick her up around 1:30 p.m. and I needed to make sure that her school wor...

My daughter wants to go with the church on a mission field trip to Cincinnati, Ohio in a couple of weeks and the convention is called the Dare2Share. It is geared towards teens and young adults and the youth group is going. She had told me about it and said that if she could not afford to go they would get her a sponsor, so I had her ask for a sponsor as the trip was going to be over $100 and I was not sure that we could do that. Last night I found out that the church didn't find a sponsor and that she has to pay for it tomorrow night. Well, I am disappointed to say that I do not think that she is going to be able to go as I don't think that we will have the money for it. I feel sad for her as I would have worked harder to try to get the money had she not been told that she would have a sponsor. She was really excited about the trip and wanted to go and now feels that she is less than the other kids who are going to have the opportunity to go. For a young person to want to do...

Today as we honor one of the most influential men in American History, I am made even more aware of the huge strides we have made in equality since MLK's famous speech. HOwever, I am well aware that the blacks in this country suffered for a great many years. My daughter and I are studying the Civil War right now and we recently studied slavery in the United States. She asked how people thought that it was right to own another human being- that comes from a 14 year old and yet, there are still many men and women who believe that slavery should not have been abolished. Makes me wonder how some people see things so clearly and others are so naive. Today is a good day of reflection for our history and for our country. Imagine someone telling Martin Luther King that we would have a black President in 2011, he would have been so pleased and yet, he would have never said that he was sure it would be. Yet, here we are with history being made by yet another black man _ President Barack Ob...

As I sit here this morning enjoying my tea and thinking about the day ahead, I realize just how important my quiet time is to me. It seems that the day begins with hustle and bustle as I attempt to get things prepared for meals, teach my daughter, aid my husband in chores around here, clean the house, and try to find time to write online which is currently my job. From the time it starts till the end of the day, it is hard to find time to sit and just think. We are dealing with a situation right now with a friend being wrongly accused of animal cruelty and it seems to be taking a lot of our time. He is a wonderful horseman and is currently fighting charges that the county brought on him several years ago and is winning and now they have charged him with 9 new counts. He is an middle aged man who has dealt with horses all of his life and he is not in the best of health, but he makes do and he lives for horses. No one should have the right to take that away from him. I know nothing abo...

Just watched the weather so I must be a glutten for punishment. With at least four or five inches of snow already on the ground and cold temperatures all around, it seems that I would not want to hear any more. I was hoping for some warmer temperatures in the near future and instead I hear of another winter storm moving in for the weekend. Central Indiana is being forecast to have a rain snow mix on Friday night and Saturday morning and then snow on Sunday. Will the winter weather ever end this year? We are above average in our snowfall by about double. It would not be as bad if we were to have a week or two between snowstorms, but it seems that they are coming back to back. Plus, I just seen another large area of precipitation moving into the West Coast and that is sure to make its way here just as we are cleaning up for the one that is predicted for the weekend. The horses here look beautiful when covered with a slight layer of snow, but it would be nice if it were warm enough and ...

Yes, I know I live in the Midwestern United States and I know that I chose one of the worst months to get married, but it would be nice to have one year of decent weather for out anniversary. My husband and I were married 16 years ago last night and if weather for the future could have been predicted by the weather we had at that time. I remember that it was slick, icy, snowy, and cold the night we were married. We had been planning to get married at a different time, but I decided that I was tired of waiting and made a last minute decision that we would get married then. We got ready and where married two hours later surrounded by family and the residents of the nursing home where my grandmother was. We wanted her to see the wedding and we decided that it was too slick to bring her home, so we went there. Very slippery and cold trip, but well worth it! Now 16 years later, we are under a winter storm advisory and it is cold, snowy and we have slick roads. Being that we live in rural a...

Waking up this morning to a white blanket of newly fallen snow, I realize that it is once again Mother Nature exerting her power over the country. It seems that the weather has gone completely overboard everywhere. Places like Atlanta, Georgia are seeing snow a few times this year which is not a normal situation. There are winter weather advisories all over the country and snow falling it seems in most of North America. There were over 2000 flights cancelled or delayed yesterday and I am sure that many will follow today with the Midwest being under a weather advisory with the potential for 3-6 inches in most of this area. Omaha, Nebraska was blanketed with snow overnight and now snow is falling in the Ohio River Valley area. The snow hitting the midwest and the snow hitting the southeast will combine later today to deliver a serious amount of snow into the northeastern United States over the next couple of days with places like New York City possibly getting 12-14 inches of snow and ...

I am beginning the week on an organized note and hopefully, I can keep things going in that direction. I am hoping that this year is one that will allow me to be even more organized than I have been and that will start with organizing my own stuff before I try to do the whole house. I rearranged the kitchen some yesterday and I am hoping that it makes a difference. We are starting home school back today after a long break for the holiday season. I made lesson plans out a week ago or so and we are going to stay on track as much as we can. I believe that we allow life to interfere some times with things that we know we need to do. Of course, I am changing our schedule around today as we were to do a field trip on Wednesday, but we are predicted to get more snow tonight and tomorrow, so I will do the field trip today and do the work on Wednesday that I intended to do today. That is the beautiful thing about home schooling, we can make adjustments and work around things that come up as lon...

Today, Indianapolis Colts fans are recovering from a heartbreaking loss to the New York Jets. Struggling with injuries all season long, Peyton Manning and the Colts seemed to have a good chance at making it to round two of the playoffs after Adam Vinatari scored with a field goal kick with about 53 seconds on the clock to give the Colts a 2 point lead. However, Mark Sanchez and the Jets would work their way into field goal range to with a remarkable pass with two seconds on the clock, giving the Jets a chance to win the game. With a field goal of 34 yards, the Jets won the game by 1 point putting an end to the season that Colts fans have seen plenty of losses in. It has seemed that with many key players out for some or most of the season, even Manning has been off and out of sync. Manning has been plagued with several interception passes this year, which is something you rarely see from him. He has been pressured to pass the ball and it has shown with his stats this season. Maybe with ...

Well, the weatherman is predicting snow to fall here today. I am thankful that it has given us a break from the crzy weather we had in December. I hope that they are wrong about snow. I would not care if it did not snow any more here this year as it seems that we have had enough. For some reason, I feel that January makes me think of spring. I was thinking yesterday about what crops we will plant this year and how I want to do some new things to the yard in order to add some beauty to it. I am really not a flower person, but if I could plant some annuals that would just return each year that are as easy as mums, I might be willing to do more. However, I am also anxious to see the birds return to the yard. I have several bird feeders and each spring the ones outside the dining room window bring beautiful birds into our view each morning. Today is library day at the farm. My daughter and I attend a home school class each Thursday morning and we enjoy the time as it allows us to visit w...

Another day is upon us and it seems to filled with plenty to do so I am sure that this will be a short post. As we are winding down our Christmas break from school, I find that it is once again time to start making lesson plans for the upcoming six weeks. Being a home school family, our lessons have to be planned ahead in order to not get too far away from the book learning by lifes ' own learning experiences. Also, we have been given a washer and dryer by what I am calling my own personal angel for the day. As my washer has been going out and I knew that the budget didn't allow for one anytime soon, I was worried about how I could get one. Recently, talked with a stranger who is moving across country and heard of my situation and is willing to give us a set that they were intending to sell. I praise God for someone who is willing to do such a wonderful thing. It is such a blessing to my family and we will be sure to pass the blessing forward when we can. Isn't God great? A...

Today is a sad day on our farm as I have learned that my pet pot-bellied pig Arnold passed away yesterday. I had raised him from a young pig and had only had him a couple of years, but had grown to love him very much. We aren't sure of what killed him or caused his death, but it is a sad day for me on the farm. Arnold was named after the pig on Green Acres as that is one of my favorite shows. He had been scared of people when I first got him, but now was accustomed to my daughter and I getting in his pen with him and he had learned to allow me to hold him. He had been handfed when he was younger to allow me to be able to interact with him at the time. Today is my memorial to Arnold and I hope to add a photo of him to this blog today.

My favorite football team has advanced into the playoffs following a slim win over the Tennessee Titans yesterday at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts have a rough season plagued with injuries and so I decided that I would write about them and he is the article that I had published on Triond. http://sportales.com/football/indianapolis-colts-advance/

Happy New Year to all of you! We spent a wonderful evening with friends last night and played games and ate and just had a lot of fun. We spent the evening with our children and families and it was a nice relaxing entrance into the new year. I wish everyone a year of peace and prosperity!