Slaters' Funny Farm

  The Boxcar Children (The Boxcar Children, #1) by   Gertrude Chandler Warner ,   L. Kate Deal   (Illustrator) Carol Slater 's review Jan 31, 2024   ·    edit it was amazing A Classic! I read this as part of a challenge to read classical books and this month was to reread a classic. As a child and a teen, I loved the Boxcar Children series written by Gertrude Chandler Warner and could not wait to read this book again. I decided to start with the first book in the series and I will read the entire series again this month as long as time allows. The Boxcar Children is about a group of 4 orphans that are siblings. They feel that they have to make it on their own to stay together. One day while walking in the woods, they discover an abandoned boxcar and decide that they will make it into their home. The children use items that the find at the local dump and in the woods to make items that they need for the home. The oldest brother does odd jobs to fe...

Network Marketing Read Do It Anyway, Girl: A Playful, Simple, Unique Guide To Achieving Success In Network Marketing by   Michelle Cunningham Carol Slater 's review Jan 31, 2024   ·    edit liked it Michelle Cunningham has created a life for herself by using the skills that she learned to be profitable in the direct sales industry. This book is a guide for anyone that is struggling with getting their business off the ground and running. Many of the ideas she offers can be used in just about any direct sales or any type of sales job. Well written and full of advice for those that want to take their business to the next level. For myself, I found the book to be the same information that I have been given over the multiple years that I have sold for direct sales. Many of her ideas seem to fit companies like Mary Kay and other make up or skin care companies than other direct sales companies, but you could use her ideas to create your own plan and ideas to do somethi...

 I always like to share a smile on Sunday and remind you that you are loved and cared for. Each Week, it might be one of my photos or a Google Image but it usually is a smile and a meme or quote about a smile.  Doesn't this just make your heart smile? A little girl with such a happy smile and enjoying a special time with her parents, grandparents?  It does make me smile.  Enjoy your Sunday!

  Good morning readers! Welcome to my Friday post where I link with Gilion at  Rose City Reader  to share in the Book Beginnings challenge. To go along with this, I also link with Anne over at  My Head Is Full Of Books  to participate in the Friday 56 Challenge.  For the book beginnings challenge, readers e to put the first sentence or two of a book that they are reading or one that has caught their eye. This week, my book is Love Finds You in Maiden, North Carolina  by Tamela Hancock Murray. "Hestia Myatt paused before knocking on the door of her aunt's Victorian home situated in the foothills of the Appalachians in Maiden, North Carolina." 💟 For the Friday 56 challenge, readers share a snippet of page 56 or 56% of the book. I always choose page 56 if at all possible.  "It just means copacetic, Auntie,"  Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I had no idea as to what copacetic meant. This book is set in the 20's and I am not sure if t...

 After the weatherman predicted us to have a bit of ice this morning, we woke to warmer temperatures and plenty of rain, which equals plenty of mud! The farm is completely a muddy, wet mess! With the snow that we had, which is now melted and the rain we are having, everywhere you step is mud. I am thankful for the warmer weather, and we are supposed to see a break in the rain later today, which I am thankful for as well. I am sure that the animals will be more than glad to see their water bowls unfrozen and not waiting for me to bring fresh water out again. The cold caused us to lose a duck and a quail, but overall, I am impressed with the livestock. Truthfully, we are not sure what caused either one to pass, but we did lose them.  This is a Google image, but it is how our yard looks. This is how the pastures, and the uncovered chicken runs look. We only have one uncovered, so that is something to be thankful for.  I am glad that our Muscovy ducks are doing well. I really...

 It's Monday again and it is still cold here, but a warmup is coming. We are to be above freezing this week most of the week. Lots of rain predicted, which we don't need. I will take it over the bitter cold though. I think it is predicted to be almost 50 degrees F this week for a day or two.  Each Monday, I link up with Sandra at  Diary of a Stay at Home Mom  to participate with other bloggers in her Happy Homemaker Monday. It is a place to share our week with other bloggers that are happy to be homemakers and enjoying the time they can care for the home and make it nice for their families. There is a stigma associated sometimes with women who choose to care for the home instead of working a job, but I am here to say it is one of the best choices anyone could make. It is a chance to care for your family and show your love for them in a way that many children know nothing about these days.  The Weather... Like I said, it is getting warmer, and rain is predicted m...

 What brings a genuine smile to your face? The sight of your loved ones, a newborn baby, a friend, a special food? Many things bring smiles to different people. A certain picture might bring fond memories to you that make you smile, but not make the person next to you smile. That is just the way that we feel about things. I always like to share a smile on Sunday and remind you that you are loved and cared for.  Have a blessed Sunday and keep smiling!!!

HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN   As I was looking for Keto recipes, I came across one on Pinterest for Honey Garlic Chicken. I read the recipe and decided to try it, but to adjust the recipe a bit to make it more to our liking. I will say it was good, but not my favorite meal. My husband loved it though and it is going into our recipe collection of foods to work into our menu when we need something easy and a little different. Most of the ingredients are items that most cooks will have in the kitchen pantry and so there is no real need to go to the store. I try to limit my trips to the grocery since we live farther away from the store. I try to limit recipes that involves ingredients that we would not normally have on hand as well. If those ingredients are items that are specialty for just one recipe, I will generally try to exchange them for something else or find a way to use them in more than one recipe. PREP TIME:  10 minutes COOK TIME:  30 MINUTES INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2 pounds cub...

 Good morning readers! Welcome to my Friday post where I link with Gilion at  Rose City Reader  to share in the Book Beginnings challenge. To go along with this, I also link with Anne over at  My Head Is Full Of Books  to participate in the Friday 56 Challenge.  This week I am reading Lonestar Secrets by Colleen Coble. You can purchase the book  here , if you would like to read it. ( I use the money I make from the Amazon affiliate program to purchase feed and other supplies for the animals we raise here. Any small purchase is a help.) " Miles of empty road stretched ahead of her." This opening line could lead the story anywhere I guess, but Colleen does a great job with working it into a magnificent story.  Friday 56 RULES: * Grab a book, any book * Turn to page 56 or 56% in your e-reader (If you want to improvise, go ahead!) * Find a snippet, but no spoilers! " She cringed at the thought of telling Jack about Tucker. There were enough wrinkles...

  Beacon of Light: An Amish Romance (The Long Road Home) by   Linda Byler Carol Slater 's review Jan 15, 2024   ·    edit it was amazing Well written story. The story switches between the life that May has found back in the Amish community that her and her brother knew well before their parents' death and the life that Oba is struggling with in thinking he is not good enough to be loved and longs to know what happened to May. After being sent to live with their aunt and uncle following their parents' death, this brother and sister have lived through things that no one understands and truly wants to believe. May finds herself shuffled around until she meets Clara, an Amish woman that truly does not care if the community agrees with her or not. Clara helps May and her child, whom May is certain will never be accepted, and expects nothing in return. When May meets Andy, she does not think that she could ever love anyone like she did Clinton. Will she discover ...

 Good Monday morning ladies, how are you? It is super cold here, but I am thankful for our wood stove and plenty of good heat. I am joining Sandra over at  Diary of a Stay At Home Mom  for the Happy Homemaker Monday link up party. She is so kind to host this weekly and there are many of us bloggers that enjoy this weekly post.  The Weather: Cold, snowy, below zero wind chills and temperatures of a night. I believe our high for the day is to be 7 degrees F. BRR!!!!!! I hate winter when it is like this. I don't mind cold, but I don't like Artic cold. I am not a fan of the ice that occurs when we have temperatures like this.  Right Now, I Am: Sitting at my desk drinking coffee. As I look out the window, I see a bit of snow and maybe a bit of a sunrise. It is about -18 degrees with the windchill and so it looks cold! I am listening to the news that my husband left on when he went out. It is not something I care to do, but I just haven't gotten up yet, to change...

  Is there anything sweeter than a baby's smile? I don't think so! I know that when my grandchildren were babies, I loved to see them smile. Enjoy today's smile! 

 Whew! It is a cold, windy morning on the farm. With a bit of snow on the ground, and winds of 30+ mph it is certainly cold. Many parts of the United States have more snow and cold than we do, but it is brutal when you have to be out for any length of time. Tomorrow is supposed to be worse as wind chills are to be -20 to -30 F.  I am thankful that we did not lose power, due to the winds, as our heat lamp stayed on in the chicken coop. Not all of our chickens have heat lamps, but the main coop does. The chickens in the barn and other coops are protected the best we can against the wind and cold. Each coop has straw in them in order to allow the chickens to stay a bit warmer. Each coop has an area that they are able to get into that is similar to a house that will block the wind and snow. I spent one whole day preparing coops for the cold weather and I am thankful that I did.  I put plenty of hay in for the goat and she has a warm bed area that will help her as well. She ca...

 Book Beginnings hosted by  Rose City Reader  is a Friday link up party where you post the first line of a book that you are reading or that has interested you if you aren't currently reading something.  To approach the home of her childhood after all these years was no small thing.  I have read books by Linda Byler before. This is book two of a trilogy and although I have not read book one, I am enjoying this book so far. May has suffered much of her life since her parents were killed in an accident and now, she is returning to a society that is much different from the life she has been living. Will she be accepted? Will she be reunited with her brother?  Here is a  link  if you happen to want to purchase a copy or read on your kindle.  I also have joined Anne over at  Head Full Of Books  to participate in the Friday 56. Here are the rules for it.  RULES: * Grab a book, any book * Turn to page 56 or 56% in your e-reader (If yo...

  Frontier Follies: Adventures in Marriage & Motherhood in the Middle of Nowhere by   Ree Drummond Carol Slater 's review Jan 10, 2024   ·    edit it was amazing Ree Drummond, known to most of us as The Pioneer Woman offers a look into her family and life on the ranch. Born and raised in the city, life is now much different than it was as she was growing up. She lives about an hour drive from any major store and has raised children as her husband, Ladd, raised cattle. Ree offers a rather humor filled look into her life as a young wife, an older wife, and a mom as well all while talking about her life on a ranch with cowboys and cattle. She shares some embarrassing moments as well as just a look into exactly how she lives her life outside of filming her TV cooking show, writing cookbooks, and all the other projects she has in the works. She talks about kids, her husband, animals, cowboys, food, and many other subjects that many of us women deal with in o...