I went to bed Monday night, sore from that silly caterpillar sting. Yesterday morning, the redness was all gone, and finally the burning sensation was gone as well. I was still a bit tender, but tolerable. Today, I'm good as new! No pain, no redness. And Mom, I think my brain is OK, too! *grin*
Last night when I went out to the barn to lock up the goats for the night, I saw the BIGGEST skunk at the barn! Here's hoping it moves on and finds a new home, soon!
I got stung on the neck today by a Puss Moth (ASP) caterpillar.
All I can say is, OUCH OUCH OUCH!
It feels like I've been hit in the neck and lower jaw with a fast moving softball...and the pain just continues to linger.
I'd volunteer for a wasp sting over this nonsence ANYDAY!
Update: It's nearly midnight, and it still hurts! Not as bad as earlier today, but jeez, enough already! Benedryl spray seems to provide the most relief (it's not itchy, but rather a deep ache and burning sensation), and an Excedrine took away the aching pain in my lower jaw. I tried to take a photo -- most of the photo is out of focus, but you get the idea. Gross.
I thought I'd better get a post up before I get a call from my Dad telling me that people in 'blogland' are going through withdrawals from lack of information! *grin*
Yesterday, we took Stewie, Runner, and Baron to their new home. The same woman who bought Chuck last year bought this year's three boys. Her and her husband own a large Tennesee Walking Horse facility, and the boys will live out their life on the horse ranch. (In Texas, horses do not count towards a land owner's agriculture exemption, but cattle do. And since we raise Dexter [the smallest breed of cattle], our little fellas are ideal for providing an agriculture exemption for a horse ranch owner.) Not to mention, they're just the cutest things!
After we unloaded the little guys, the owners of the horse ranch took Alan and I out to the far corner of the pasture (on golf carts - cool!) so we could see how Chuck was doing. He looked wonderful! I wish I'd had my camera with me, but I didn't think to take it along.
Stewie, Runner, and Baron are going to be so happy on the ranch! After they get settled, they'll be put out in the same pasture with Chuck, and they'll be belly deep in the best coastal pasture grass we've seen in a long time! Happy cows = Happy farmers!
Today, I'll problably do a little work around the farm, and then, time for more illustrating and painting - what FUN!
Hope you have a wonderful day!!
I'm sorry I haven't had much in the way of paper craft projects to share lately. ...but, like I always say, that doesn't mean I haven't been busy! I've just been busy on SECRET stuff! *grin*
Monday, November 16th, two new Whipper Snapper cling mount sets release, and I get to introduce you to five new Featured Designers. You know how much I love doing that! So, I've been busy making samples with the new sets, AND I've been busy with Summer 2010 images. Can you believe it! It's no wonder I always feel like I've been left in the dust with each holiday that passes.
I thought I'd share a little sneaky peeky of one of the new single images being released later this month, with Whipper Snapper. I really do love snowmen, and what's not to love about a group of snowman pals!?
Hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday...we're one day closer to the weekend!
...and in a flash, the weekend was over.
We did have a busy weekend, and that makes the time pass quickly.
On Saturday, I drove Alan's dad to the airport in Dallas, and then made a side trip on the way home by a new Sprouts market and Costco. We were dangerously low on TP and paper towels, neither of which you want to run out of when you live on a farm! I picked up lots of fresh produce at Sprouts (which is not always easy to get at the regular grocery store we go to), and was able to get yummy Greek yogurt, too!
On Sunday morning, Alan and I took a short road trip and stopped in at a farm supply store (chicken food was on the shopping list). Sunday afternoon, we loaded Truman (our youngest donkey) onto the stock trailer and moved him to his new home. A family not too far from us wanted him as a companion to their little jenny. The short drive, and the relocation process went perfectly! We know he'll be very happy with his new friends and family.
Last night I got a call from someone interested in Zip, my fancy frizzled rooster. So, we loaded him up and met the gal in town. It was, of course, love at first sight. So, Zip has a new home too! Good for Zip! (I can only have so many roosters on the farm...)
PS: Happy November! What's on your menu for Thanksgiving? And have you started your shopping lists for the Christmas holiday yet? Time to get busy!
Dee-lish Split Pea Soup
from the kitchen of Anna Wight
2 Cups Split Peas
5-6 Cups Water
½ tsp Onion Powder
½ tsp Garlic Powder
½ tsp Paprika
¼ tsp Dried Basil
¼-½ tsp Chipolte Chile Pepper
¼ tsp Celery Seed
¼ tsp Dried Rosemary
Bring to boil and let simmer 45-50 minutes
Blend ½, or all, of soup in blender (depending on how smooth you like your soup)
Every now and then, one of the hens will lay a large egg. Sometimes the large eggs have two yolks in them, and they're called "double-yolkers". Yesterday, I found the mother of all eggs in the nest box. This is an egg of GIANT proportions! The shell was quite frail, and I was amazed that it wasn't completely broken, with the size of the cracked area on the end. But, Curly Que was sitting on it, keeping it nice and safe for me. (It's not Curly Que's egg, though... she was just "egg sitting" for the hen that laid it.)
I immediately took the egg to the house. I got out my trusty digital scale and carefully weighed the egg. 137 grams! I couldn't believe it!
Here is the GIANT egg on a plate next to a NORMAL sized egg. Holay MOLAY!
Here is a "normal" sized egg in my hand...
Here is the GIANT egg in my hand.
I wanted to see just how many yolks were in the GIANT egg. I cracked it open on the plate, and was AMAZED to find another egg of normal size, shell and all, inside, along with a big beautiful yolk!
I then decided to crack open the egg within the egg to see what I could see... Lots of egg white, but not so much yolk.
Hopefully, the hen that laid this egg takes a few days off to recoup. Maybe a little Preparation H is in order... *grin*
As promised, here are a few snapshots from around the farm today.
This is Curly Que sitting in one of the nest baskets. Curly Que is a cross between a frizzle bantam and a Golden Laced Polish. Her feathers really do curl forward like you see them. She is quite protective of her little nest basket, and screeches at me every time I go in to gather eggs. She has been "broody" for well over a month. When a hen goes "broody", all she wants to do is sit on her nest and incubate her eggs so chicks hatch. She gets up just long enough to snatch a bite to eat and drink, and then she's back in the nest basket. Trouble is, since she's in with all of the laying hens and I collect eggs several times a day, she's not actually sitting on any eggs. Silly bird.
Only a few minutes after I finished cleaning out the coop today, I was left with three tidy eggs in one of the nest baskets. Thanks ladies!
These two little hens are two of my smallest hens. They lay pretty little white eggs smaller in diameter than a quarter. They're so little, they can perch on my finger! They like to sit on top of the partial wall in between the chicken side of the coop and the feed side of the coop. The gold colored one behind tugs on my pant legs every time I go in the coop. When I pick her up and hold her, she snuggles in and coo's. Quite cute! They were supervising me as I gathered eggs and took photos.
This is Poof. She is the ONLY Silkie hen I got this year from the farm supply store. All of the others were roosters, which I sold about a month ago to a nice lady near here. I kept Poof for myself though. She's just too funny!
This is Zip. He's a really beautiful frizzle, and quite the ladies man. I'm thinking of selling him... any offers?
Truman, Baron, and Runner were catching a bite to eat this afternoon while I was out and about with the camera. Truman is quickly outgrowing his baby halter ... just in time to go to his new home!
That's about it for today ... time for some hot tea, and a blanket on the couch!
Sorry for my absence lately -- I've been BUSY, and haven't had any extra time for crafting. It also doesn't help that my craft table is in SERIOUS need of attention. It's piled HIGH with bits and pieces of projects, magazines, books, and a few things I've started collecting for the holidays. I'm sure my stamp table is under there somewhere, but it's going to be a chore finding it. It is, however, on my list of things to do this weekend! I've also been busy illustrating, and you know when I'm in illustration mode, there's little time for anything else. *grin*
I'm also up to my ears with farm chores. With all the rain we've had, things are needing a bit more attention. Today, Alan is picking up a few bales of hay for the little bull calves we've isolated from their mamas. The plan is for them to go to their new home next weekend. Truman (our little donkey) might get to go to his new home next weekend, too! Hopefully the weather cooperates (and the mud dries up) so we can actually move the critters! The boys are LOVING their off-mama feed and getting so big! I'll try and get some photos today...the sun is shining, so it will be a good day for some snapshots. The to-do list just keeps getting longer and longer, doesn't it?
Alan is picking up a few bales of wood chips for the chicken house as well! It's time to clean out the coop, switch out their chip litter, and spruce up the nest boxes with fresh chips. The rain creates so much sticky mud that gets tracked into the coop, and I like to keep things nice and tidy! The girls are also tipping over two of the nest boxes (I use apple picking baskets), so I've got to do a little rearranging to help keep things in place.
As if that isn't enough to do in a weekend, I'm also having a 25% off sale in the shop this weekend -- time to make room for new goodies!
Hope you're all having a fine and dandy day!
Toodles!
It must have been about a year ago when I received an invitation to be a contributing artist for the Cornish Heritage Farms Thomas Kinkade How To Guide Book. I was (and still am) thrilled to have been part of this project!
The book features many of the Thomas Kinkade images and a variety of techniques using the stamps. I was asked to demonstrate a coloring technique. Being such a sucker for watercolor painting, I chose to demonstrate watercolor painting with liquid inks. For my project, I chose one of my favorite images, The Light of Peace.
The book is a wonderful mix of techniques including chalks, markers, pencils, and even some embossing techniques. You can read more here.
When I received my complimentary copy of the book, I was even MORE excited when I saw that one of my images made the cover! How exciting!
Thank you, Cornish Heritage Farms, for the wonderful opportunity!
Last week was a long week away from home. I was in the San Jose, California area on business, so I got to experience the monster rain storm that hit northern California early last week. I also heard that there was a small earthquake near San Jose while I was there, too!
The weather was no better for Alan at home ... about 6 inches of rain fell, making conditions on the farm quite wet and muddy. Things on the farm are starting to dry out now, but we're expecting more rain later this week. Thank goodness for muck boots!
Halloween is just around the corner...are you planning on doing anything fun? I need to put out some jack-o-lanterns!
