Slaters' Funny Farm

Dec. 31, 2019 - the last day of the year and the last of the decade! This has been a fascinating year on the farm with many changes happening around us. It has been a year of many happy and sad occasions. I don't want to focus on all of that, but I want to focus on what has happened within the last month. Of course, there were plenty of Christmas celebrations as the older kids now have other places to be on the holidays as well. Our son and his girlfriend, came on Monday before Christmas as she was headed to spend Christmas day with her family. It was a nice visit with them although, she was tired from working all night the night before. This is her and my father in law having a nice chat.  Here is our son opening his gift while dad watches. (For those that want to know, my husband's shirt says " I can get you on the naughty list". He loves it!) My husband and his dad got matching hoodie jackets with their names on them. Very special gift! Chris

Happy Monday! Lots of news from here on the farm that I can share, but I want to hop right into this post so I know it gets written before the grand doll bops in and starts her daily talking. LOL! My how a 4 year old can have so much to talk about! Please join me as I link up with  Sandra  of   Diary of a Stay At Home Mom   and all the other  lovely ladies that gather there on this week's  Happy Homemaker Monday!  💗 RIGHT NOW I AM: Writing this post and listening to the new coffeepot heat up. I wanted a red Keurig to go with the new Pioneer Woman coffee pod holder that I received from my daughter and her boyfriend for Christmas. I am also watching a car that is at the end of our county road that has a trailer with it that is unfamiliar to me. I can't see a lot of it due to the darkness, but enough to know that I do not recognize it. OUTSIDE MY WINDOW: Well, I guess I answered this with my previous writings in what I am doing now. A strange car or SUV pulling a trai

Can you believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve? I sure can't! The holiday season has flown by and I have not been to see a light display or anything yet and it deeply upsets me! I am so disappointed that no one seems to care that this is a tradition that I done with my grandparents and want my grand doll to share with me. My husband seems to always have someplace we need to go of an evening. It really just makes me wish for more time for things that I enjoy. Presents are wrapped and other than a few things to finish up, we are done with all of the shopping. I need to go to the grocery store tonight to buy a few things. We are having lunch with my son and his future wife today and exchanging gifts. Since I wanted a simple day, I made broccoli cheese soup! I will make my husband venison steaks as he does not like the soup. The Weather Outside Is:  Sunny and nice. We still have some snow on the ground, but I am sure it will all be melted by Wednesday as we are to be at record tem

This was my first year in hosting an online gift exchange, but I have taken part in one or two in the past. I am thankful to say that it was a success and that we were able to all get our gifts in the mail by the deadline and all gifts arrived before Christmas. My gifts came from Linda Chapman at  Lindas Life Journal . Linda and I have been friends on blogger for a couple of years now and although, we have never met, I am sure we would have plenty to talk about if we did. I was impressed with the theme that she went with as it was all about Texas. ( A great idea to share some of what is special about your home state.) As cold weather approaches us here in Indiana, I was thankful for the selection of orange spice hot tea and the three Texas coffees. She also included a jar of Texas Steak seasoning, which my husband has asked for tonight. I was happy that she also included a nice insulated cup to use with my warm drinks. I have taken hot tea with me to town now twice and drank whi

Have you ever made a gingerbread house? I can't say that I have, but I have always wanted too. I believe my daughter's and I tried once and never succeeded in making one, so we probably never tried again. This year, I wanted to be sure the grand doll got to enjoy the fun of making one so I bought a small kit that wasn't actually gingerbread, but chocolate cookie. What I realized is that I am not good at piping icing and the grand doll did not want to let it set for the icing to "glue" the house together. However, after a little coaching, we agreed to let it sit for about 2 hours while we done something else.   She was so proud of her accomplishment that she had to show mommy as soon as she could. Mommy was proud of her as well. I think she is happy that I attempt these things so that she does not have too.  The finished project has to include a snail on the sidewalk . I love the little lights on the top of it, but our windows are awful! Mom an

Happy Holidays! Welcome to Saturday: 9 . If you are interested in joining many other bloggers writing Saturday 9, feel free to stop by Sam's blog  here and see what this is all about. We would love to have you join us!  Saturday 9: Happy Holidays! (from the archives) 1. As you can see, Sam loved giving her annual wish list to Santa. Yet some children are reluctant to climb into Jolly Old St. Nick's lap. Did you enjoy the tradition or were you shy? Or did you by pass it altogether -- either because you wrote him a letter or because your family didn't celebrate Christmas?   A. I was shy as a child, but I never remember being afraid of Santa. I am sure I gave him a list.  2. Are you currently on the Naughty or Nice list? How did you get there?   A. I hope I am on the Nice list! 3. Did you ship any gifts to friends and family this year? If so, which one traveled the farthest?   A. I shipped a gift exchange gift to a friend in Ida

Well I am missed writing this one since it is getting late and I have been busy! I really don't know where the day has gone, but I will attempt to get this written today and I will hopefully, be able to do another post tomorrow. I have a lot to share, but I will just get to the post now.  Please join me as I link up with  Sandra  of   Diary of a Stay At Home Mom   and all the other  lovely ladies that gather there on this week's  Happy Homemaker Monday!  💗 Right Now I Am .... Writing this post and listening to my husband's stupid YouTube videos that he is watching. I have the television on a Hallmark movie, but can't hear it because of his phone. I hate my computer being in the dining room, when he is home at least.  On The Breakfast Plate ... Today was smoked sausage and French toast. It was quite delicious!  The Weather _ Outside My Window ... Nasty! It snowed last night and then we had freezing rain and more snow today. It is dark so I

The Christmas Song Saturday 9: The Christmas Song (1961) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here . 1) The lyrics mention "chestnuts roasting on an open fire." Do you often eat chestnuts?  A. I have not eaten many chestnuts, but I love Chestnut Praline latte from Starbucks. 2) There's a reference to Jack Frost, too. Does cold weather help you get into the holiday spirit?   A. Not really as I am not a fan of cold weather, but I do like a little snow! 3) Nat sings that turkey helps to make the season bright. We just had it last month for Thanksgiving. Do you enjoy turkey all year around? Or do you consider it primarily a holiday dish? A. Primarily a holiday dish as my husband is not a fan. 4) This song was published as "The Christmas Song," but people often refer to it as "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or "Merry Christmas to You." When you think of this song, whi

Welcome to Happy Homemaker Monday! If you are not aware of what this is, feel free to stop by and visit Sandra at  Diary of A Stay at Home Mom to learn more. I am honored to take part in this and visit with other bloggers who write this as well on Monday.  Right Now I Am ..... I am sitting here writing this post, drinking a cup of Cranberry Vanilla hot tea, and fighting a cold. I have decorated the tree today and I am pretty tired from the cold. A farmhouse wife never seems to have the time to take care of herself, but I have had quite a few colds in the past year and I have learned that I must rest.  The Weather- Outside My Window ... Dark and rainy. It has rained all day here, but the temperatures are in the 50's. We have an artic front that is moving in and we are expecting temperatures in the lower thirty's by Wednesday. I will gladly keep these 50's, but I want the rain to stop. I am just thankful that it is not snow! On The Reading Pile ...

Hello friends! My plan to publish here everyday has gone by the wayside this week as I have been sick. My last Monday was Monday and I was gone on Tuesday most of the day visiting with a dear friend that has really had a rough year with illnesses and I enjoyed a nice day, but then Wednesday came and I intended to write on Wednesday evening, but I was unable to and that lasted until today. Although, I am not completely feeling well, I am a little better. Wednesday during the day, I played with the grand doll and had a good day with her. Once she left, I went for orientation at the new job. While there, I began to notice my stomach hurting really bad. By the time, that two hours was over and I made the thirty minute drive home, I was miserable with a stomach ache that felt like my stomach was in knots and it stayed that way for many hours. I was also hit with chills and nausea, but no fever. It was awful! I remained that way through the time I went to bed last nigh, but I woke up a bit

If you are not aware of what Happy Homemaker Monday is you can read about it here  with Sandra . Right Now I Am... Attempting to write this post, but for some reason, the stupid computer seems to not want it to be written. I am on my fourth attempt. I am also watching The Pioneer Woman! Outside My Window... It is cloudy and cold! I can see my daughter's house and the wood pile that we have for heat.  On My Reading Pile... I am going to start reading Christmas in Harmony by Philip Gulley. He is a new author to me, but I enjoy reading Christmas stories at this time of the year.  On The Menu This Week... I truly do not have a plan. I am making sausage gravy and biscuits tonight with eggs. My father in law is eating dinner with us. The rest of the week, I am not sure since I am starting a new job.  On My To Do List... I have Christmas decorating to do, bills to pay, grocery shopping for my father in law, Christmas cards to do, a

The day of giving thanks is upon us and for those that are traveling I bid you safe travels to and from your destination. For those that are home, I bid you a blessed day full of love and family. We will be home today celebrating with family and then we will travel to my daughter's new house on Saturday for a celebration there as well. Our son will be here today with his girlfriend, (that is going to be fiancé soon- SHH!) as well as our youngest daughter, her boyfriend, the grand doll, and my father in law and my mom. I will be cooking dinner today and then Saturday, I simply get to enjoy the day! I am thrilled about that! My Thanksgiving wish is that one day I am able to sit and watch the Macy's parade thru it's entirety without cooking. I think I may be dreaming that will ever happen. For those that are cooking, I pray that everything turns out perfect. I have my turkey on and I am getting ready to start the ham. I have potatoes almost ready to go in the pan and I have

Good Tuesday Morning from my house to yours! Since I totally missed blogging yesterday and had the grand doll due to her mommy working on a normal day off due to the holiday, I thought I would take a chance to catch you all up on what is going on at the farm. ( Sorry the photo is blurry. I thought a nice warm fire would be cozy for our chat.) When the grand doll is here, we like to bake. Since I was not in a mood to bake, we found a simple recipe and we made our Christmas Almond Cookies.  Adding the candy sprinkles was one of her favorite activities. You can't see it in this picture, but she always wears an apron when we cook.  Before the oven.    The finished project. Just enough for a taste for everyone.  The chore of cleaning up. She loves water so dishes were her responsibility.  Next, we moved to lunch. She asked for pigs in a blanket, so that was what we made.  Dinner was a big pot of chili. Then the grinding of 4 pounds of venison to make

No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) Saturday 9: No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) 1979 Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here . 1) This lyrics use weather as metaphor for romance. Here at Saturday 9, we're more literal. How do the skies look where you are this morning? A. Since it is 6:30 in the evening, it is dark. The sky is dark because it is rainy and there are no stars to be seen.  2) According to Merriam-Webster, "enough is enough" is what you say when you want something to stop because you "can no longer accept or deal with it." When did you recently say -- out loud or to yourself -- "enough is enough." A. Just this past Thursday when we had another horrible day with my mother in law. 3) Grammy winner Luther Vandross began his career as a background singer and performed on "No More Tears." Tell us about one of your early jobs. A. I worked at the local public library