Christmas 2013 and News Years 2014

Today is New Years day and the holidays are over but we had a nice and quiet holiday period. We long ago gave up the commercialized aspects of Christmas and instead we use the time to get together with family and friends, we cook good foods, and we have some family traditions that are meaningful to us and we have continued them even though the kids are all long since grown and moved away.

My Christmas sweetie Holly in the Christmas headband I got her several years ago and the light up Christmas necklace our neighbor Roger's mother got her.

Each year we make Christmas decorations and ornaments and make and decorate Christmas cookies. This year we had Holly, Judy and I along with our neighbor Roger, Chris who was home from truck driving, and his friend Nick who is moving out here and getting an apartment with Chris. We had made and decorated the cookies a week or so before this and Holly had done up boxes of cookies for several local bachelors and delivered them. It doesn't take a lot of effort to make someone feel special and thought of and we always remember that the holidays can be a lonely time for many.

It may seem corny but everyone seems to enjoy it and when we hadn't mentioned the ornament decorating this year because we got a little behind our neighbor Roger came right out and asked "aren't we going to make ornaments this year?" but of course Holly and Judy already had everything ready to go.

Nick lost his mother recently and has had a rough go of it lately but he liked being part of the family activities and really its the little things that matter. I sometimes have to be reminded what the real meaning of Christmas is and slow down. I have always been a type A+ personality and goal oriented to the point where I overlook the simple things ...

None of us are artists but everyone gives it a go and its fun to look at some of the decorations from years past and remember those times.

Judy is the creative one in the family and usually has the ideas for what to make because she also does this for the kids at church.

Roger made these ornaments for his mother...your never too old to make mom happy with a hand made ornament.

Holly is actually fairly artistic and made these for our tree. I can make a lot of functional things but I got kicked out of art class in 6th grade for being artistically talentless (can you imagine telling a kid that now days?) so my meager efforts are not going to grace this blog!

For our New Years Eve, Holly and I had a nice steak and shrimp dinner, we were alone (yay!), and we spent a very enjoyable evening with no TV just drinking tea and putting together this puzzle and playing a dice game called 10,000. We had a great evening, it was a simple reflection of our life together, and to us it was better than any party or shindig could ever be. Happy New Year to everyone.

 

And finally I had to throw this in here. I have class tomorrow night but we will have an early meal of braised trotters and I think its interesting to see what people eat regionally. In our freezer we have a nice fresh beef tongue, chicken livers, lamb, deer meat, rabbit, fish and these trotters among other more mainstream fare. We are also getting ready for a get together with the Fire department and we are all busy hunting rabbit, squirrel, (we already have deer meat) and some of us are going to go catch a mess of crappie and bass for the big feast. I may even get Holly to try some scrambled eggs and squirrel brains...just life in the Ozarks!

A Quiet Christmas of Reflection

Its been a quiet Christmas at the farm with lots of good food, good friends and reflection on how lucky we are. We started the holidays with our little community Christmas parade and chili cook off sponsored by the Lions Club that I am privileged to be president of. This was my first as the President and a lot goes into even this small of an event but luckily we have some hardworking members who made sure I didn't make too big of a a hash of it. We also had a dinner with the Fire Department and families, we had our neighbor Roger over to help make Christmas cookies and decorations, Chris came home for a couple weeks, and even our shopping experience was relaxed and enjoyable.

I got asked by a friends wife if I would be willing to play Santa for a Christmas party they were having for a bunch of 4-6 year old kids. I told here I saw myself as more of a Charles Bronson/Lee Marvin type but she said nope...your more of a softy Santa. Soooo I did my first gig as a Santa and actually enjoyed it.

Every family develops holiday traditions and one of ours has been to decorate cookies and make decorations and we treasure those decorations from Christmas' past on our tree. This year we invited our bachelor neighbor Roger who has dinner with us every Sunday to join us in making cookies and decorations. Just a laid back easy going evening with family and friends. Holly makes up plates of Christmas cookies and makes sure a couple bachelor neighbor farmers get some cookies and we always leave a small box of chocolates from a local chocolatier for the mail lady and our trash man who is one of the hardest working guys in the county. We just appreciate the extra mile they go to be friendly and provide such fine service.

Since making decorations always works up an appetite, we smoked some Cornish game hens over apple wood and they were juicy and full of smokey goodness.

 

We did have one disaster. Judy's cat Piglet came over for a visit and ran into the living room and launched herself in an effort to "climb" the tree and it broke the stand, fell over and scattered ornaments all over the floor. We have had this tree for about 10 years so it was getting old anyway but when I came into the house poor Holly was in tears, so we hugged and my first thought was...road trip. "But its getting late and its a 45 minute drive to town" said she...."yes but Lowes is open til midnight" says I and "get your coat".

So we got an even nicer tree, and we decorated it together and had it up that very evening and all was well and I only wish everything else was so easy to fix.

 

Yes that is a pillow strapped to my belly under the suit. One of the kids let out a yell when I approached the door and I heard her say "its the real Santa..look mommy its the real Santa!". They all gave me a hug before I left and to be honest it was a lot of fun.

We long ago gave up on the commercialization that accompanies Christmas for some and instead focus on family, the spirit of the holiday and we  enjoy giving meaningful and sometimes fun gifts. Holly got this one from Jenny and Steve and she got some gardening stuff, some practical clothes, and a new gold chain for her Alaskan gold nugget cross.

 

While I got a new welding helmet and gloves, some tools, and some cooking stuff...

Chris the wandering trucker who is home for the holidays for a couple of weeks is hard to buy for because he stays on the road but he got some clothes and some kind of gaming gizmo headphones..

And finally Judy got....well Judy stuff. We also got some canned salmon from my parents and a couple sides of alder smoked Copper River salmon from Jay and Stephanie....and its unbelievably good.

We even have snow, not the blizzard predicted but its been in the teens at night and a touch of snow has highlighted the season.

We put out decorations and lights and at least for this one lonely stretch of highway there was a bit of cheer.

 

 It was so quiet this night with the snow falling (except for a pack of coyotes howling in the distance) and with the wood smoke smell of the wood fired boiler and our knowledge of the warmth and good cooking smells that awaited in the farmhouse we truly felt at peace.

Even the animals had a good Christmas. The cattle got an extra hay ration, the chickens got all kinds of scraps from the holiday cooking and of course Bandit, Boo Boo, Willow, Rosie, Whiskers, Piglet (despite her Christmas tree misadventure), Jake, Eve, and President Grant were spoiled rotten (those are the combined cats and dogs between our farmhouse, Judy's place, and the barn).

 

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention the tragedy that happened in Newton Connecticut and we were not unaffected....how could anyone not be? Sadly, rather than a rational national discourse that could have at least brought honor to their sacrifice and at least some comfort to their families the whole issue has been co-opted by extremists on both sides and the partisan divide that monopolises our society today just continues unabated. It saddens me. Solving complex societal issues takes courage and a selfless maturity that is lacking in our government and fed by a morally bankrupt mass media and we are all the poorer for it. May those who perished rest in peace.

 

 

Christmas Prep and Winter on the Homestead

We are now having our 17th Christmas as a family and like most families we have established some traditions to go along with this great holiday period. We long ago moved away from the commercialism that defines Christmas for so many people and we concentrate on meaningful gifts that dont have to cost a lot of money, we always pay cash for what we buy, and we have kept a spirit of fun in our gifts with a heavy focus on fun things in the stockings. In years past with the kids and grandkids close we made home made decorations, we made cookies with the kids and the smell of mulled cider often permeates our humble home. This is a season for thankfullness of family, it is a season of great cooking endeavors, and communing with our many friends.

Each year we vow to make sure we are ahead of the holiday rush and like every other year, we fell woefully short this year. With family on both coasts, we always strive to get things mailed in time so we dont have to pay priority mail rates and like the last 16 Christmas' we didnt get it done this year but as of yesterday everyone finally received their gifts (at great cost to us!). We have enjoyed shopping this season and I think everyone will be pleased with the gifts we chose. Yet again, I will be working this year on Christmas Eve and on Christmas (you have to do what you have to do) but we will adapt and plan on opening gifts Christmas Eve night and I will get off work early enough on Christmas to still fix a great dinner of Venison and sides. Even when I was deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom during the Surge we spent Christmas together through Skype and that Christmas which could have been a sad and stressful occasion is very meaningful to us. I even found a couple Christmas ornaments hand made by Iraqi Christians that I brought back and are hanging on our tree. Our memories of Christmas' past are pleasant and full of love which may be corney but we treasure them.

This year, my beloved wife wrote a nice missive to me today but made a spelling error and Christmas came out Christas.....so for Christmas 2011 we will always remember the spirit of "Christas" and she will never live it down. The weather is moderate getting down into the 20s at night but in the low 40s today and expected to get into the 50s during the day for the next week with little precipitation expected. After this last year of extreme weather we are enjoying a period of mild seasonal weather and we spent the day outside checking our fence lines and property and making plans for the new year. Here are a few pictures of winter on the homestead and some of our old fashioned Christmas.

Our great state has many agencies that do a commendable job not the least of which is the Missouri Dept of Transportation. Despite severe budget cut and layoffs these guys are outstanding. Yesterday we woke to the sound of heavy equipment laying Chat in our drive to smooth out the transition from our driveway to the highway. They did it for everyone so it wasnt directed to us specifically but it was sure appreciated.

This year we put the tree in the living room where the tree and lights can be seen through the picture window. It just seems right.

While Holly wrapped, Bandit and I supervised.

It sure looks better at night but we are happy to share our Christmas (Christas?) cheer with everyone.

You cant see it here but the porch columns are wrapped in lights as well.

Just to show it was actuyally cold today...ice and frost.,

We feed the birds daily as usual and have hundreds flocking to our many feeders.

We ended up with an imersion feeder for the stock tank that fits through the drain plug. It plugs in to an outside outlet and keep the stock tank ice free and the water a little warmer for our cattle.

The oak grove behind the barn is such a peaceful spot even in winter. Maybelle still likes to hang out here under the trees.

This time of year is mudville. This section of our increasingly diverse farm roads is still awaitinf a layer of base rock and chat all the way up to the new shop.

Just a view from the back side of the main pond.

The girls like to lay in a swale in the middle pasture by the back wood lot.

And in the middle of the back wood lot is another swale that we often see Wild Turkeys, rabbits and deer hanging out in. I am thinking its depression keeps the wind off them and they feel secure there.

The back pasture/feed plot is isolated and peaceful and we walk back here almost daily.

We are amazed walking through our wood lots as it seems so open in winter. During summer this is so thick and over grown we cant get through here.

In the back corner of our back woodlot we can see to the neighbors spread and its another peaceful scene. This was taken with a telephoto lense so its not really that close but we enjoy their serenity from afar.

Just another view of the girls from the other side of the swale in a previous picture.

Next year we are going to try and see if the neighbor would be willing to sell us 2 - 4 more acres for a pasture. This is taken directly in back of our back pasture looking north and we are seeking to that far windbreak...

Out to that patch of trees and brush...

And to the south to that windbreak...

Out to about the middle of this windbreak in the picture and then across. 2- 4 more acres of pasture would really increase our ability to practise rotational grazing and we are hopeful they would be interested in selling a few acres or holding a long term lease.

We actually have plenty of pasture for our cattle now but...we could use and desire a little more.

This is a view to the north of our property so you can see we are pretty isolated...we like all of our neighbors but we all value our privacy and its nice not having anyone in eye shot or ear shot.

Next year we will put up the windmill to keep the pond aerated.

Some of our wood lots still have old fencing we need to take out. This used to fence off an old chicken house.

It was a beautiful day today, two days before Christmas.

And everywhere we went we have a following..

This is the remains of the old chicken house and we are still in the process of reclaiming the old barn tin for future use on ...a new chicken house.

No one behind the pole barn shop either...just pasture, more trees and a few cows.

If you cant tell we like seclusion and not having neighbors close by.

The falls and winters here are glorious.

Lots to do here in the spring...future site of the goat pen.

Maybelle is getting big as you can see but she doesnt understand she isnt a dog.

While Boo Boo isnt intimidated by the cattle trough or the cattle at all. We often find them nosing each other.

This is another road I am slowly improving...gotta get a blade on the back of the new tractor which will help a lot.

We never finished fencing this pasture because of the back surgery but will start after the first of the year. We are going to plant an experimental hay crop here to see if we can establish an alfalfa/clover crop.

Lots of work in the spring for the front wood lot too.

You can see the orchard in this picture but it will eventually be extended all the way down the slope.

Believe it or not this road was clear early last year but I let it go and it got over grown again. Its chainsaw and brush hog time.

The enire length in this picture still needs to be fenced...another spring project.

Peaceful ne?

The greenhouse is full of tomatoes..

And various herbs and salad fixins......winter in the Ozarks...cant beat it.