Last Farm Photo of 2009: Lamb Pacifier?

While sucking on a wire fence may not keep him occupied for very long, I'm sure Baby and her udder are glad to have a little relief from nursing for a few minutes. (Click on the picture to enlarge- it is hysterical.) I was going to have a "Name that Lamb" contest for everyone to have fun with, but Hubby beat me to it and has already christened him "Rowdy". And believe me, he is living up to his name! (Sorry, Linda- I tried "Sweet Baby James" and that didn't go over too well... *LOL*)

Here are some more pictures of Rowdy and his momma enjoying being outside...

Toasting the New Year With a slurp from a bucket!

Happy New Year, dear bloggy friends!

Merry Christmas to all....

A Christmas Eve sunrise finds the animals well-fed and snug......

A pot of stew to warm our insides......

The flicker of a fire just started that will soon warm our outsides.....

The table spread for a meal we are so grateful for, because we know somewhere someone will go hungry today....

The soft glow of a little tree's lights, decorated with reminders of the Greatest Gift... a baby born so many years ago to bring hope and joy to a world that had none....

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."     Luke 2:8-14

Merry Christmas, dear Bloggy friends!!

Fraker Farm's first lamb

I have a lovely head cold right now and it's 30 degrees and sleeting so I have no earthly business being outside.... but I cannot stay out of the barn and away from this little fellow....

Baby had him sometime during the night and we arrived at the barn to find him peeking at us from the corner of the lambing pen. He is the first lamb born here on the farm.

Thank goodness the temperature didn't drop as cold as it did the night before...

Momma and baby are doing fine.... Christmas came early for me this year!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Ode to Hamburger

Cecil enjoys the sunshine while watching Gertie and Sadie fight over a worm.

I was in my favorite Wal-Mart last week (the one that still has the fabric department) looking for some homespun material to make a Christmas tree skirt when I found this fabric....

I couldn't believe my eyes! It's Hamburger! Right down to the spots.... and look at the eggs on each side! *squeal*

Of course I had to buy some and now I've been looking at it all week, trying to decide what to do with it. I've narrowed it down to 2 choices... place mats for my table, or a tote bag and book cover. What do you think? I'm leaning more toward the place mats right now, but I don't know. 

Either way, I'm sure Hamburger would be pleased that I'm honoring his memory.

(Maybe not... he's probably too busy courting the hens in Chicken Heaven to care.)

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Christmas time's a comin'

Just a little "rerun" from a year ago today.... my camera's compact flash card bit the dust and haven't had the chance to get a new one, so I thought I would re-post some pictures from Christmas 2009.
We had quite a bit of snow when I took these pictures, and although it has been snowing here on and off for the past three days, we haven't had enough to measure. (Yet...)
Just seeing these again helped me get into the Christmas Spirit a little more - hope you enjoy them the second time around too!

Rainy day bakin'

Smokey warms his bones (and dries his paws) in front of the wood stove.

After making my afternoon rounds to the barn and the chicken coops, I came inside to try and get the wood stove going again. Today would have been a good day for my sewing machine to have been humming away, but once I came inside and warmed up I decided to bake instead. I found a wonderful recipe for some molasses cookies a few weeks ago and ever since then, Hubby has been eating them as fast as I can make them. How about we make some together!

Start off by preheating the oven to 350 degrees, then get 1/2 cup of butter, 1 cup of sugar, and 1/4 cup of shortening ready.

Cream the butter, sugar, and shortening, and add 1 large egg and 1/4 cup molasses to the mixture and mix well.

Meanwhile, in another bowl I've put the dry ingredients:

2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour, 1tsp each of cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and salt.

Add dry ingredients slowly to the batter and mix well. Batter should be sticky, but stiff enough to not stick to your fingers.

On the cookie sheets, sprinkle a small amount of sugar...

Then scoop out a walnut-sized ball of batter and roll in the sugar.

Once they're on the cookie sheet, sometimes I feel wild and sprinkle a little more sugar on the cookie dough. (*snicker* Our little secret, okay?)

Then, into the oven they go for 10-12 minutes...

And....

Ta-da!

Thanks for baking with me on a rainy day!