Tall Tractor Tale

My neighbor bought a big Farmall  tractor in Illinois.

He got it home and got it running, but it stalled several times. He drove home in the rain and water got in the gas tank. But he got it going enough to get it off his trailer.

He is sitting up high.

Big Red is home.

Narrow tires and high and wide wheel placement for going over crops.

 He sits higher than we do on our horses. We offered him some stirrups for mounting 

and dismounting his iron steed. He just jumps off the wheels instead.

Goat Flings

Here is my neighbors baby goats and their guard donkey.

Taking a nice warm sun nap.

Climbing the warm furry hill.

Avoiding the warm biting hill.

The Three Busketeers

Here is Moe who is not a doe but a buck. That means he is a boy bunny.

Moe is all about doing things all the time. Very active bunny.

To the left is Larry, a doe we guess and to the right is Curly, still not sure.

Larry is always spooked and afraid. But she is getting lots of hands on attention. 

She is very soft and the smallest of the trio. All these bunnies can fit in your hand.

Curly is very active and not as soft, feels like a poodle. Curly has curled ears and whiskers.

Curly, Larry and Moe

Winter Cat Nap

Snots and Daisy in front of the pellet stove. They are all tired after watching me put away decorations.

It is all about the warm wool quilt and the wool rug. Life is good.

Snow and Ice and Rain

Today is really rain then ice, but last week was about snow and ice. Lots of snow and snow drifts in the roads here in the Ozarks. Trips had to be planned ahead of time and sometimes no one left the house for days. Ice on country roads means some cars can't go there for miles unless they have 4 wheel drive. 

Only went out for farm animal feed runs. Cold cows.

Snow on top and ice underneath and very cold. Are we there yet?

Big drifts like sand dunes thanks to a lot of wind.

My truck hood and my road, they match!

Bumper-cicles

The good news is that it will be warming up during the coming days and all this will melt.

Then we will have flooding and high water on the country roads. So glad I have a truck with 4 wheel drive.

Silent Snowy Sunday

We got plenty of warning about the upcoming Sunday sleet, ice and snow. I spent all day Saturday stacking firewood, putting up straw for the poultry and putting away Christmas decorations. We also had our new hot water heater installed along with a water softener.It was a late night but Sunday morning it was worth it. All the animals were warm, we had hot water and we could watch the snow fall.

The roads were too dangerous to make it to church, so we watched our animals in the snow. 

Zilla loves napping in the snow. She is a winter dog.

Poppy taking a warm nap.

Not a single animal track nor human track on our road. All was silent and cold.

The sun setting this evening in a rich amber hue.

Koi Corners

Our dining room has the big tank with our koi and loaches. We have always had fish in our home. It is very relaxing to watch them. If we are watching a movie they also watch with us.

Our koi are growing very large in our tank.

This orange goldfish has changed colors several times.

Silver and gold scales

One of the loaches

Curly, Larry and Moe

 Our car broke down in Willow Springs yesterday and my husband and I had time to talk about rabbits. We were down to a single indoor bunny. And we knew our friends had a litter. The pros, bunnies make great poop for the plants. The cons, three bunnies get big and are more clean up inside the house. The biggest part of our choice was that sibling bunnies get along. These are a month old and are a bit wild. But the larger white one is outgoing. The other two are a brown curly and a grey blue. We are not sure of the sex, yet. So for now they are Curly, Larry and Moe. Moe is the white one and Curly is the brown curly and Larry is the grey.

Larry and Curly

Moe and her 2 litter makes. Moe looks just like her mother.

Here is the father rabbit of the litter.

Christmas Day After

For Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we have been a bit busy with church and visiting friends. So busy we forgot to get our propane tank filled for the house and it is very low. So it will be a challenging week for showers. I do not mind cold showers, but my husband cannot deal with that. Plus washing dishes in cold water not fun, but do-able. The biggest problem will be not using the stove/oven. We will have to cook outside on our smoker/BBQ. It can be done, hubby just not to happy about that. So it is going to be an interesting week.

One of my sweet Americana roosters, is used to being held.

Dog statues trying to catch a very smart squirrel.

My dogs never catch this guy. They have run over him and each other, to no avail he always escapes.

My ducklings new home.

This is a friends chicken coop and will be home for the 6 ducklings to grow up in. They will have the company of some hens and a bantam rooster. We went to their farm for Christmas dinner. They have built so many things themselves. It was amazing to see how other people get things accomplished. The night was filled a with ping pong contest with 4 players. It could have gone on all night but the ball was eventually lost behind some boxes. We finally got home at 10 pm. It was a wonderful but busy 2 days.

Snow Chickens

These are from a a few weeks ago when we had a lot of snow.

This is a Silver Phoenix rooster I was given. He is elegant and feral. But the ice finally drove him into our coop. Now he has 2 hens and is one of the flock. His tail gets about 3 feet long. He is a survivor.

My Ducks

I get asked what kind of duck do I raise. I raise meat and egg layers. Mostly Cayugas, Swedes, and two Khaki Campbell.  The Cayuga are solid black with green when the sun hits them. The Swedes are black with white chest and very large. They have been crossed with the very broody Khaki Campbell giving me the cross you see in the photo. 

These are large happy ducks that lay big eggs. The egg shell is black when they first begin to lay. As they get older the shells become white. They are great parents and always have healthy ducklings. I get about 4-5 clutches that hatch each year. I just put the last hatch outside, six very large black ducklings. They are doing very well with the adults and the chickens.

Christmas Piano Playing

Here is a 108 year old upright all dolled up for Christmas. She sounds so nice and rich. 

I do not have a piano bench so I use a tuffet I made years ago. 

LED lights and garland to make my spirits bright as I play holiday tunes.

Merry Making

I finally got my decorations up. After surgery last year I was in no condition to decorate. This year I decided to keep is simple and put up things we both enjoy. Snowy village, palm penguin, cabin and the tree.

A real Missouri grown tree from the tree farm on O hwy. 

For our new donkey, Shelby a vintage glowing donkey ornament. While it is all pretty and nice, the most important reason for the season is Jesus born to us. By keeping things simple we can keep our souls open for Him all year long. I count my many blessings and try to 

share my gifts as God intended.

Merry Christmas!