Fun times at October Afternoon

What a great bag of goodies!

Found a link about some times they were looking for packaging help on a blog - went on down with Scrapper Lady and we had fun! Yes, we did work, but look at the wonderful goody bag they sent us home with! Now to find some of these lines locally!

The Ducks are in the "House" :)

They're here

Jumbo Pekin Ducks, that is. Ds is pretty happy - he now has added some ducks to his menagerie. They will be sharing space with the chickens (boy are they looking cool these days) and bunnies until spring. It may seem a long way off, but it will take a while for him to determine exactly how he wants his animals to be kept. He is looking forward to adding his ewes soon.


The chickens are a type of bantam - not positive exactly what. They have downy type feathers and some regular ones - they are cool with their blue feet and feathers down their legs.





It will be interesting to see what types of eggs we end up with. The ducks are pretty young, but still bigger than the chickens!

Happy Hermit Day

First - something fun - some spooks from the haunted hayride - totally fun as always.

Now to regular stuff - Well - it is a day according to my web source! The internet allows anyone who truly wishes to live like a hermit to do so. Not my first choice, but hey - this is America, so if you want to - go ahead.

Speaking of America - yes, there is an election coming up (you would have to be a hermit with no internet access, tv or other media to not know this). I have some pretty strong opinions for McCain/Palin and will be voting their ticket. However, I also am publishing this here, on this seldom visited site as a kind of test. In our area, many Republican signs are destroyed on a routine basis. Why? We allow those not agreeing with us to put their signs up (though I think the maniquin representing the hanging of Sarah Palin is in extremely bad taste - wonder those same people would think if there was one of Barak Obama in the same manner?).

I don't like the thought of rebuilding this site, but figure I will if needed. Do I agree with McCain on everything - heck, no - (do I agree with dh on everything - heck no) but truthfully, the re-distribution of wealth scares me way more than McCain's policies. When did we stop being America? If anyone has read their history, they will know that this does not work. One of the best things about being an American is the right to try to succeed beyond our wildest dreams. We also have the right to fail. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are protected in our great Constitution, not guaranteed.

Who does the re-distribution hurt the most - the backbone of America - small businessmen and women. You know - those of us who still believe in the dream. We sink our blood, sweat, and tears into a new business - having several years of loosing money, now, as we turn the corner to become profitable, stable pillars in our communities, here comes a redistribution of wealth policy and all of our hard work will be destroyed by the government. The new policy - why work - let others do it for you? (note: latest I have heard/seen - looks like the redistribution/wealthy American level is decreasing - no longer 250K, now down to 150K. We all need to start seeing what is up - the economy is in tough shape and to put through all the new programs, the money will have to come from somewhere - even raising taxes on those "rich" - you know - the ones who worked hard for their funds - won't provide enough to cover proposed healthcare and education spending. The money will have to come from somewhere and it won't be from those who don't work for a living.)

I am just a regular mom out here - working hard with my husband to build a life for our family and maybe, just maybe, if we save and have a good year, we go out to dinner every so often and are able to take a nice vacation each year. These are some perks we enjoy by our labor. And our vacation (or camping trips) increase the bonds between family members, allow us to enjoy this great country, learn about different parts of the country and meet new people.

I will continue to enjoy this while I can (yes, I do know the economy is extremely tough right now, but the reasons all started before George Bush took over the White House and by the way - rather than rebates, gas prices dropping back down to around $2/gallon has helped our family budget more than anything else - hmm - which party is in the White House?), execute my voting rights, and continue to pray for our nation and its leaders.

Rambo is making friends

Well, no more escapades from Rambo - he really is a darling. My daughter has him running to the fence each time he sees her in order to get her to pick him some nice grass. Her dog Brigetta loves to help as well.

Rambo has arrived :)

In sheep form, that is. Ds brought a ram home last night. He is cute - 4 horns (Jacobs) and thinks he is all that. Our 2000# bull stood on one side of Rambo's pen and started bellering at the small ram (about 80#?). Well, Rambo wasn't standing for that, so he climbed up and over the pen, jumped towards the bull and started chasing him around the pasture! Oh boy - talk about a site! (No pics, were worried about animals getting hurt and all, but picture it in your mind - little brown ram - not even as high as the 2000+ pound bull's knees chasing him around a field - at this time -- absolutely hilarious!)

Well - we now have fencing that goes all the way to Rambo's pen ceiling - we don't want to chance him getting out again, not for the bull's protection, but for his own.

The story continues.

Rambo, noticing how much fun it was to chase this large bull, decided to go after the cows. This was still a lot of fun - now there are cows running, the ram following, and two teenage boys chasing the ram down, trying to catch him (dh and I had run errands). Plus our beagle decided that it would be fun to run after the group barking, so very helpful of him!

Well, Rambo then decided to chase calves. This was also fun until he decided to pick on Jerry (who, by the way, weighs in at about 450 pounds). Jerry was not amused, and Charolette, his mother, was even less amused. It was one thing for this little, pain of a ram to chase her, but going after her son was an entirely different matter. (Charolette is the cow at the top of the page)

Charolette immediately stops running, stands still, lowers her head, and Rambo attempts to run her down (yeah, right). He of course is stopped cold (even though the bull weighs more than Charolette, she goes around 1700 lbs). Rambo, with his never give up attitude, returns to his feet (Charolette hasn't moved at this point, just head down snorting at him - Jerry is in the rear looking like he is saying, "Go get 'im, Mom") puts his head down and takes off towards our dear Charolette.

Care to guess what happens next? Charolette, at the appropriate time, takes a single step forward, head down into the oncoming Rambo. Rambo, still thinking he is tough for about another second, butts heads with her as hard as he can, only now, 1700 pounds of force is returning towards him (slow, but nevertheless, on-coming). Rambo hits, goes flying head over heals backwards, rolling and bleating -- where did this vicious thing come from, finally rights himself, and runs to the side of his pen.

Oldest ds grabs one of Rambo's horns (Rambo still thinks he is being tough, but the boys are plenty able to control him at this point), and leads him back to his pen. Rambo did suffer a bloodied nose, but seems to be ok otherwise. No broken bones or anything, and Charolette, once the ram left her calf, returned to eating her hay. So ends another Saturday morning around our house.

Wonder what this afternoon will bring?

Using "Stuff"

Maybe I am the only one who does this (boy, I hope not); anyway, when you are done with a layout and everything has been put away, ever find a single brad or button or whatever?

I do - sometimes they get put away, other times they end up in this baby food jar I have on my table (I put some ribbon on to make it look more festive).

Well, I am hosting a grungeboard atc swap (2.5 x 3.5 artist trading cards). I listed on All Moments Remembered (site: http://allmomentsremembered.com/)as well as this new site I found (thanks jblaze!) called Swaps - I'm so addicted! (site: http://swaps.originalsbyoliveira.com/index.php).

Anyway - I was looking for a single way to do the ATC's, when I saw my little jar of "leftovers". My leftovers are taking almost the entire space in the jar these days, so I figured I would try some out (thinking I had more in my stash). Well, I played around with my first ATC - grungeboard base, alcohol inks, ribbons, staples, brads, etc., completed it and thought "Yeah, I figured out my swap!" No such luck :( I forgot that sometimes when I put things into my little leftover jar, that is what it actually is - leftover. Ok - so lets try some other ideas.

I tried the next atc - ok, but I knew I didn't have more of the same, so I made another - "you know what", I thought, I talk to myself a lot, "these look kind of fun, all being different." Sooooo, you guessed it, I am not making them all different. Some may be similar, but I was just having way too much fun making all of these unique ATC's. If you have joined my swaps - which one will you get? (pics coming soon to a blog near you :))