A MEME, and a Winner!

Before I announce the winner of my apron/bonnet, (or as ChickieMomma so wonderfully named it "Apronnet") I want to say thanks to everybody that entered and left such sweet comments about my (ugh) recent reptile experience! I also have been tagged by Country Girl Kim from Achorn Farm, Debra from Sparrowgrass, and Don from A View from the Green Barn to tell 6 random things about myself. (Sorry Don, I know you tagged me about... ohh... 4 years ago.) I'll do the meme in a minute, but first...

All the names went into my little egg basket, and the winner of my apron bonnet is.....

"Anonymous" Linda!

Congratulations to you, and as soon as you email me with your address, it will be on it's way!


Now for 6 random things about me-
1. I make lists constantly. I make lists for everything from daily chores to bills, birthdays, and groceries. And I hate a messy grocery list, so I usually make 2 or 3 rough drafts before I make one neat enough. (I know, I'm a freak.)

2. I love the sky... I'm all the time looking at cloud formations, sunrises, sunsets..... there is something about sky-gazing that makes me feel so.... small.

3. I love to fish, even though Hubby doesn't take me that often. (Ahem... hint hint)

4. I'm a big fan of the old "Andy Griffith Show" and have lots of favorite episodes, but my all time favorite is the "Convicts at Large" where Barney and Floyd are held hostage in a cabin by three escaped women convicts.

5. In high school I recieved a "D-" once in Home Ec.... during a cooking lab, my omelet caught on fire. (My poor mother was horrified when she heard about it.) I did get an "A" in sewing, though! Yay!

6. If I was stranded on a deserted island and could pick one thing to eat every day, it would be a grilled cheese sandwich. I never get tired of those. In fact, I think I'll go fix one right now.

Well there you have it... six random things about one crazy Farm Chick!
Instead of tagging just 6 more people, you can leave a "random" about yourself (if you want to) in the comments for me. I would love to hear one from everybody!!

Oh, and Cora... this is for you! Especially the "article" on Canning without fear!!! LOL

Go to Big Huge Labs to make your own Magazine cover!

I am Woman, hear me roar.

Yesterday turned out to be really.... uhhh.... exciting, to say the least. It's not every day I get to be FarmChick the Fearless Superhero, so I will bask in the glory for a while, anyway.

I usually go up to the barn after lunch to check on all the animals, especially in hot weather to make sure they have enough water. As soon as I stepped outside to make my rounds, I heard a commotion coming from the chicken coop. I ran up the hill and from a distance I could see that one of my Silkies was lying in a little heap on the ground. I frantically threw open the door to the coop and saw... (ugh)....a large black snake wrapped around my precious Beau. Wrapped around him several times, if you get my drift. I knocked the large ball of fluff and snake out the door of the coop, fearing that Beau was already dead. When I did this, the snake began to uncoil from around him and I immediately put my boot on top of its head while I thought about what to do next. I had nothing within arms reach to kill it with, but I knew if I let my foot up, it would disappear into the woods only to return to kill again another day. At the same time, I could see Beau was still breathing, although just barely. I picked him up and held him for a few minutes, and the whole time the snake was trying to wrap around my ankle. When Beau finally started coming to and I was satisfied he would be alright, I swallowed hard, picked up the snake from both ends, and proceeded to carry it down to the pout house to get my hoe and finish it off. And boy, did I finish it off. Roar. However, after all the Superhero adrenaline left my body, I felt a rather strong urge to pass out. I would prefer my life to be very uneventful for the next few days. Hubby, who was not at home when all this happened, told me how proud he was of me, and that made me feel good.

I decided to be kind and spare you the pictures of the 5+ foot long snake, so here instead is a picture of sweet little Beau this morning, doing just fine after his close call.

In honor of Beau's swift recovery, I feel like having a give-away!

The winner will receive this "Apron-Bonnet" I made from an old pattern Hubby's grandmother used. I had a couple of these in my ETSY shop a few months ago, and they both sold very quickly. With 2 handy pockets in the front, you can wear it as an apron, like this.... or, just button up a couple of buttons and cinch the tie in the back....

and it turns into a sun bonnet!
Just leave a comment on this post to enter. Even if you've never left a comment before, please do so because I would love to hear from everybody! I will draw a name on Sunday, July 27th, and announce the winner on Monday, July 28th. Good Luck!

Summer surprises

I love surprises. I think it's wonderful when it seems like just an ordinary day and you stumble upon something really special by accident, or you get an unexpected phone call from a friend or a special package in the mail.
That being said, I'll share with you some of my recent Summer surprises....

Last October, Hubby put out a wonderful Fall decoration in our front yard complete with pumpkins, straw, and mums. When it was time to move this out of the way for Christmas decorations, I threw the straw in the woods behind the barn and disposed of the pumpkins at the edge of the garden.
Last week, while weed-eating around the garden, I found this....

Apparently, the seeds from the old pumpkins replanted themselves!




Last Saturday, our sweet little mail lady came up the driveway with a special delivery for me, so I ran inside to open it.... and found a boxful of wonderful goodies from my lovely and dear friend Linda. Thanks, sweetie- this unexpected little surprise made my week!





Remember the Little Terrorist and how she held the Fraker Farm hostage for 3 weeks back in April? (and March... lets not forget the first fiasco.) Hubby and I hadn't seen much of her lately... in fact we saw her chicks on several occasions, (which are not chicks anymore) but she was never with them. I told Hubby I was afraid something had gotten her. We have an abundance of hawks, and lately there has been a fox and her pups in the woods behind the barn at night. We were thinking the worst. Well, last Friday night, I was locking up all the hens at the barn, and there she was, sitting on the ground! I walked over to check and see if she was hurt or something, and when I picked her up, this was what she was sitting on.....

9 babies. Yes NINE of them. This little gal is a lean, mean, hatching machine!

One of our other Banty hens has gone missing now.

Uh-oh.....wait a minute.....


You have got to be kidding me.

SURPRISE!

Oh Farmchick, where art thou?

Sorry to go missing again, but my life for the last couple of weeks can be summed up like this....
pick beans, break beans, can beans, repeat.

However, on a happy note, I have not blown up the Fraker Farm (yet) with my new canner, so everything is o-kay! (Unlike poor Cora's experience..... mine has been all good so far!)

The rain is falling steady today, and I need to run some errands, but for now I'm going to catch up on my blogging- I've missed you! I'll be dropping in for a visit on everyone today to see what's been going on, so this post will be short.

I do want to share a little something funny with you- this was an e-mail a friend of mine sent yesterday. Enjoy!

It's so hot right now in Tennessee- (or you can insert where you live)

.....the birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.

.....the trees are whistling for the dogs.

.....the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance

......you learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron

......you discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car

.......the potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter

......the cows are giving evaporated milk

......farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.


And the best one-
.....your biggest bicycle wreck fear is,"What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"


STAY COOL, everybody!

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everybody has a wonderful weekend!!

Christmas in July

If you've ever seen my Amazon Wish List at the bottom right corner of my blog then you know the Presto 23 quart canner is one item I've wanted for quite some time. Well, the wait is over! I finally got the canner of my dreams; however, I opted for the 16 quart instead of the massive 23 quart, because 1) I really didn't need one that does 9 quart jars at a time, and 2) I don't have a space that big to store it when I'm not using it. The one I bought will also serve as a hot water-bath canner and will replace my old pressure-cooker that bit the dust a few months ago. I'm a little nervous about canning.... I'm not scared of the canner, because I'm very familiar with one of those, but I want to get it right so my precious veggies don't spoil. I remember my mother canning all summer when I was younger, but in later years she and I started freezing all our vegetables. At the same time, I'm really excited about the whole process.... I can't wait to get started!! Now I can mark this off my Wish List! (squeal)

Isn't she a beauty? Thank you, Hubby.

By the way... we finally got rain!!! Praise the Lord! Friday, Saturday and Sunday we got some really good soaking rains... everything is green again!

Here's what else has been going on around here lately:

Some updated photos of the "Pouthouse Takeover"- (click to enlarge these... her expression almost looks like the "Little Terrorist"! Yeek!)

Blackberries are almost ready! Doesn't this picture make your mouth water?

This is one row of peanut beans, ready to be canned! Only 3 more rows to go....

Did I mention each row is about 100 feet long? So... that means 300 more feet of beans to pick....

If you need me, I'll be in the garden.