Oh Christmas Tree...

As I decorate our home for the holidays I am reminded of Christmases of the past. One year we were feeling the pinch of an economic downturn and salaries that weren't anywhere near the top of any ladder... not even a step stool! Christmas was coming and we decided to save some money by chopping down our own Christmas tree.

A friend of ours was a timber cruiser for a large paper company that had many acres in pulp wood forests in our area. There were parts of the property where the trees had been harvested and the torn up land lay fallow, waiting to be prepared for planting a new crop of trees. There were quite a few small trees that weren't worth harvesting for pulp wood that escaped the ravages of the large equipment. Our friend knew where to take us to find a suitable Christmas tree. After surveying the trees and weighing the options we picked a tree, cut it and dragged it to the truck. We brought it home and set it up in the corner of the living room and planned to decorate it the next day.

Imagine our surprise horror when we walked into the living room the next morning. Our tree had been a haven to dozens hundreds of hibernating stink bugs. Bugs that were basically in comas, waiting for a warm day to bring them some energy. That warm day had come.... in our living room! We had big stink bugs and little stink bugs. We had brown stink bugs and green stink bugs. We had stink bugs walking happily across the ceiling. We had stink bugs scaling the walls. We had stink bugs wading through the jungle of carpet. In response to my screams (well, OK, maybe I didn't scream... I know that eventually I started to laugh...hysterically!) hubby went and got the shop vac. Do you know why stink bugs acquired that name? When they are disturbed they give off an offensive smelling liquid to deter predators. As the vacuum sucked up the victims, they emitted their foul smelling liquid and the odor quickly permeated the house. It was enough to make a person gag!

Over the ensuing weeks the odor diminished and was replaced with the sweet smells of Christmas; the pine scent of the tree, gingerbread cookies and a roast beef sizzling in the oven. Our home grown tree looked stunning bedecked with colored glass ornaments and lights, some tinsel and....the occasional confused stink bug!

New Followers and Wacky Weather

I have two new followers. Thank you for reading my blog and coming along on my journey!

Stella is from Italy. I am so thankful that Google has translation tools that are at my fingertips! Stella writes several blogs. One is on alternative medicine. Another is new, and will explore visitors from space. Stella's third blog is about our Mysterious World and the last in about Nature Around Us.  All of Stella's blogs are written in Italian, but you can translate each blog by going to Google. If "Translate" isn't showing at the top of the Google page, click on "More" on the right side of the menu and select "Translate". Copy and paste the URL into the box and Stella's pages will pop up in English!

My other new follower is Callie. Callie writes Chickens on the Porch. I enjoy reading Callie's posts which discuss gardening, crafts and taking care of chickens. I've already learned a lot by reading Callie's blog posts.

What else did I say I was going to write about? 

Oh, yeah....wacky weather! That's next!

So, we had snow on Thursday. We had snow on Saturday. We had snow on Sunday evening. And then... the temperatures dropped! We are below zero. The horses are craving extra food. I am bundling up. Last night I went to look at what the weather station had to say about our weather:

So.... just what does it feel like when it is 164 degrees? 

If it gets really, really cold... does your body perceive it as really, really hot?
Or vice versa?

I suppose I could throw some biscuits outside or maybe a soufflé!

I like the weather station's comment on the bottom:
"Dangerously High Heat Index!"

So, maybe what I'm experiencing isn't a hot flash?

I think there is something wrong with our weather station!

That's the Drill

I'm not a shy person... generally. Oh, OK, sometimes I'm a bit reserved. But, have you ever noticed that when you get with a friend, a really good friend, you gain strength and sometimes do things you might not have done by yourself? That's what happened in this instance.

Many years ago I read about a very small town that had a very small Christmas parade. It was so small that the parade marched up the main street and then came back again. One of the entries in this town's parade was a drill team. It was comprised of a bunch of ladies that carried drills. How funny! How perfectly it fit our own quirky little town that prided itself in being different! For a while we even had a newspaper called  "The Bluffton Eccentric". But, back to the story...

I just never got the drill team off the ground until I met that special friend who was willing to stand by my side and do something silly in front of half the people in the town. The other half of the population was in the parade! Remember, I said it was a small town! So, the Bluffton Ladies Drill Team was born.

I found a few friends who were willing to be a little bit kooky. We borrowed drills from our boyfriends or hubbies. One lady even bought one just for herself! I had T-shirts made, and my best friend and I worked up a routine; oh... and it was fine if you weren't in step. After all, it was hard enough to walk, kinda do the steps, throw candy.... and laugh!

Our silly routine became a town favorite. We were often pictured in local papers, like the photo below. There I am, in the front and my best friend, my courage, is behind me on my left. I now have some insight into how celebs feel with paparazzi's lenses in their faces. I became used to ignoring a few photographers trying to capture the story as they marched backwards, trying to nab the perfect shot of the team in action!

We marched in the parade for 17 years, and even did a guest appearance at a nearby St. Patrick's Day Parade. We developed our own rules and procedures, with the first rule being that we must have fun! One year, in the spirit of fun, we jumped in the back of hubby's truck and were chauffeured back to the beginning of the parade, and marched the route again!

I moved away from Bluffton just over four years ago. Before leaving I officially passed the drill to another leader, and the Drill Team marches on. It's fun to know that I left a legacy in our former home town.

Deck the Stalls

Deck the stalls with gorgeous horses.

Fa-la-la-la-lah La-la-la-la!

Trotting over jumps and courses.

Fa-la-la-la-lah La-la-la-la!

We will ride in wind and weather.

Fa-la-la-la-la-la-lah La-la-la!

Love the smell of horses and leather.

Fa-la-la-la-lah La-la-la-la!

The barn, paddocks, and the indoor arena at Saddle Up! Foundation therapeutic riding center (where I volunteer) have all been decorated for the holidays. It is truly a wonderland where magic happens year round!

Pssst....Over Here!

Tucker, would you please tell our Mrs. Owner 

that we are STARVING down here?

Maybe if I stare at the house she'll 

get the message and come out.

Mrs. Owner.... come feeeeeed us!

Doesn't she know how cold it is out here?

My hooves feel like blocks of ice.

Yeah, she sits inside that house where 

it's all nice and warm... 

and we're stuck out here.

Come feeeeeeed us!

We're hungreeeee.....neeeeed feeeeed!

On a Clear Day

Not only can you see through our lovely windows on a clear day... but you can feel the cold blow through them as well.

We really need to replace them, but that project will have to wait for a bit. For now we'll see how a layer of plastic works. I spent the afternoon putting shrink plastic on the windows in the kitchen and powder room. Four windows completed....twelve more to go. I think old fashioned storm windows would be easier!!

I hope you are warm and happy and that the winds of winter stay outside your house!

Meri-Go-Round

My Haffies are such easy keepers,
They even exercise themselves!

This is the second afternoon that the horses have chosen to play this way. Pippin gets in the round pen and Doc (Meriadoc) stays outside. They bite each other over the round pen panels,  then run around inside and outside the pen a few times, before they start the process over.