Slaters' Funny Farm

As the calendar pages flip from the exciting month of Christmas parties, gift wrapping, gift exchanges and all the other extras that December brings, farmers face the cold winter months of January and February. With the colder temps and the chances of snow, ice and bitter temperatures, most hobby farmers face a new set of challenges. Hobby farming can mean most mornings you are up at daylight, but for a few winter months it may mean starting your morning and even evening feedings before it is daylight. Feeding in the dark can be a struggle. I highly recommend that you have a good flashlight to carry during those times that a trip to the barn can be a struggle due to the changing of daylight. Whether you could encounter a wild animal on your trip there or mice in the barn, a light is needed. flashlight Preventing hypothermia is another step that farmers must take in the winter for themselves. A trip to the barn could be a life or death situation in the winter when accidentally slip...

My family here on the farm wants to wish each of you the happiest of holidays. Today as most are busy preparing for the big day tomorrow, I am actually taking it easy and being thankful for the ones that I have near me and sending prayers for those that can not be a part of our celebration. This is an older picture of our Elf on A Shelf, but Jolly Jingles wanted to say "Bye" to everyone and wish them a Merry Christmas as well.  Here are a couple of the kids and their significant others. These girls have no idea how much they mean to me.   These two men are a huge part of my life as well. The one on the left has been around over 25 years now and I must say that I still enjoy every Christmas that we have together. I can't locate a photo of my mother in law or son and girlfriend at the moment.  Speaking of my son and his girlfriend, we had a nice visit with them yesterday and she bought me a nice bottle of blueberry Moscato wine and some wine glasses. I am ple...

Hello all of my friends in blog world. How are you all? I'm good, I guess. I know that I have been busy planning and preparing for the holidays and realized yesterday just how close we are to it all being over. I hate the thought of that! I love the music, cheer, and excitement that comes along with the holiday season. I also realized just how far behind I am! I only have a couple of the gifts that I intended to buy and I have not one thing made that I intended to make. UGH! I will do better next year! I promise I will. I have so many ideas and yet they seem to slip away and I am left with having to purchase items that I did not want too. This weekend will be spent looking for the items to replace those I intended to make. I also have a friend picking up a gift for the hubby today and that should finalize his shopping once I pick up his scope at Walmart tonight. I know what I am looking for so that helps. No aimless wandering for me. LOL!! That is what he does when he shops and...

The granddoll and I have been quite busy today. She has her Christmas party after her gymnastics practice tonight and so I suggested that we make cupcakes. I cheated made things easier for myself by purchasing boxed cake mixes and I am glad that I did. After finishing our first batch, my husband went to his mom's to see if she had the cupcake carrier and mentioned that we were making cupcakes so she wanted some along with his dad and the caregiver that was with them. After that he asked if I would make another batch since he was only getting one and it left nothing for the granddolls' parents. I agree since I had the cake mix. We could easily whip up a new batch and bake them and no real hurry to decorate them. My grand doll loves to bake! She is good when she is baking and I believe Aunt Megan is buying her an Easy Bake oven for Christmas!! She likes to add the ingredients and to stir the mix. She tries to help put the batter into the cupcake liners or muffin tins, but s...

Making Christmas cookies is a tradition around here but I am looking to change the tradition just a bit. Usually, I am making them and everyone else is eating them. This year I wanted to include the grand doll in the tradition of making them. At such a young age, I know her attention span does not allow her to be involved in the whole process but it actually went quite well. She was thrilled to be doing some of the mixing and was super excited to decorate them, but waiting for them to bake and cool was another story. She loves to learn new things though so she was listening intently while I explained different things in the recipe to her. We made sure that it was a day that Mom was off as well so that she could help. We did not truly plan ahead or we would have done more baking, but it was still a fun day and time spent together means a lot at this time of the year especially. More candy sprinkles on the mat means more for me to eat at the end, right? I will make these tw...

A few weeks ago I signed up to take part in an ornament swap with  The Enchanting Rose and was anxiously looking forward to this. I personally have never participated in anything like this but was willing to step outside my comfort zone a little and participate. I am so glad that I did. On Friday, I came home to a box sitting on my porch addressed to me. I could hardly get my grand doll in the house and settled so that I could open it! It was from Angela Specht of Pennsylvania who writes  here . She had enclosed a few very nice ornaments and some comforting items like tea and chocolate. This is a cute picture of everything together . However, with the excitement that came with this I had to get individual pictures of the items that she was so very kind to send. Everything was so nicely tucked into this adorable stocking! I love the design!! These three ornaments were tucked into the stocking. The jingle bell looks western and I love that! Being that my favorite a...

Saturday 9 : I may be a day late but it is here.  Saturday 9: Call Me (1966) Unfamiliar with this week's song. Hear it here . 1) Chris Montez sings that you can always call him, regardless of the hour. Do you believe that it's ever too late to phone someone? A. It truly depends on the situation. If it is an emergency, then no. I do not think you should call before 8 am or after 9 pm though just to chat with someone.  2) He insists that you can depend on him, even when your friends desert you. Who is someone you can trust to have your back, no matter what? A. My husband and my kids. I also have 5 friends that I can count on for anything! 3) Billy Crystal serenades Meg Ryan -- via answering machine -- with "Call Me" in When Harry Met Sally. Answering machines have been replaced by voice mail. Who most recently left you a voice mail? A. My daughter asking me about something she was to pick up at the store.  4) Chris Montez is a graduate of El Ca...

My house doesn't really qualify as a farmhouse but it is the house here so I call it my farmhouse. When I think of a farmhouse, I think of a beautiful two story home with a large front porch with a swing and this is certainly not that. I have grown to love the place though and if I continue to do some of the plans that I have it will be my farmhouse minus the second story and the huge porch. Anyway, after Thanksgiving it was time to begin to decorate it for the holidays. Christmas has always held a magic about it and the mood makes me happy. Sitting around the fireplace listening to Christmas music with my family or friends and a cup of hot tea or with a good book is about the best life anyone could live. I enjoy the tree in the wee hours of the morning when the house it silent except for the clicking of these computer keys as my fingers happily type my next blog post here. I have never been much for decorating the outside of the home but I have done a few things in the past. T...