It is summertime and the living is HOT!!! The past four days it has been over 103 degrees and there is a hot wind blowing in from the west and it has been 21 days since we have had rain {at least from my record}and everything is so very dry!! So we spend the days eating watermelon, swimming in the creek and watering the garden and corn patch twice a day and canning green beans, tomatoes and corn. Oh, and getting ready for our trip to Texas. The annual wagon train came through last weekend, but we had company for dinner {which was,lamb-burgers,grilled corn and watermelon} and Hannah and I were not able to ride in it like we usually do. Oh, well- maybe next year. :} The sweet corn is in full harvest now and canning season is at it's high with tomatoes coming in too. We had a great season for the first cutting of hay and were able to put up 150 bales so far. Hopefully we'll get some rain before too long so the second cutting will be good. We'll need to put up at least another 150 bales before winter. Well, I better go. Looks like supper is almost ready- chicken salad and root beer floats for tonight. It's too hot to cook!! Maybe after dinner we'll jump in the swimming hole and then watch a little of "The Alamo" and then maybe the air will cool down a bit by the time the moon comes up over the hill... Praying for rain, Cecilia PS: As a great Southerner,Tennessean, Patriot and buckskin clothed,politician-turned-hero once said "Y'all can go to... I'm going to Texas!"

April 9th 2012 “ Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God… thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. …thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers; thou blessest the springing thereof.” Psalm 65:9&10 Well, spring has definitely made it’s very green arrival here among our little hills and hollers. We have planted most of our garden, well, the early spring one anyway- and I have planted some cucumbers, sweet corn and green beans too. This week we are hoping to get the rest of the corn, beans, cukes and some okra in the ground. We have had a bit of a cold snap these past few days, nothing too bad to complain about. I love this time of year-but then again, who doesn’t love springtime? I was reading in my “Farmer’s Wife Harvest Cookbook” {excellent cookbooks, the “Farmer’s Wife” series} the other day and came across an article that was originally printed in the Farmer’s Wife Magazine in May of 1936. I thought I would share it with y’all… “Dear Editor: A friend from the city spent the holidays with us, and upon leaving remarked how wonderful it was to have a few days’ vacation in the country, but how very monotonous to live there-no amusements, no broadening influences, no access to art or literature. Humph! She need not patronize me! Summer- alfalfa curing; the first rooster big enough for the frying pan; jelly glasses cooling in the north window; warm afternoons when the cattle drowse in the willow shade; the men grateful for cold buttermilk and ginger cookies after a turn in the grain field; the young folks coming home from a dip in the creek, their voices sweet in the moonlight.” I am sure I could make my very own list of the wonders and beauties of farm living, but I am afraid the list would be too long to put here. Well, I best be signing off right here, it’s Monday morning laundry day and there’s plenty of work to be done on the farm! As my favorite cowgirl would say, Happy Trail's to you! Cecilia

Okay,I know this is a really outdated blog... But better now than never!

Christmas Eve 2011
“ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17

“Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift.” 2 Corinthians 9:5

This morning the sun has decided to shine upon us after three days of dark clouds and rain. Our home is warm and cozy with the woodstove cooking up dinner and our warmth. There is clean laundry hanging in the kitchen drying over the fire and the smell of cinnamon and cloves is in the air. I can hear the strains of “Christmas Cannon” drifting through the house making everyone want to hum along.
In the barn the horses are enjoying their mangers full of hay and the chickens are cackling happily in the sunlight by the woodshed. There is also new life on the farm. My ewe, Lassie, is the proud mama of two pure, white lambs! They were born yesterday afternoon, a little ewe and a little ram. They are so cute and adorable!! I am excited about it. I was just able to buy Lassie and another ewe, Starr, just right after Thanksgiving. They were both pregnant and due in January or February. But I guess Lassie was due sooner than that, and what a Christmas surprise we got! Starr will be next to lamb, but probably not till January. Some of these lambs will be sold in the spring and some we will keep to expand our new little herd. So that is some of the happenings on the farm. A few weeks back Hannah and I skinned and butchered a deer in the freezing rain and snow. It was very cold! But we got the job done and we canned up the venison too. Last weekend we were woken up around mid-night by a neighbor who had seen our horses running up and down the road. So we had a nice moonlit walk in the fresh cold air bringing the horses home. Now we have about 20 or 30 acres of fencing to fix and put up. Hopefully we will get it done before maple syrup season.
Well, I better be signing off. Today is full of celebrating, fellowship, food and music. I need to get the herb rolls started and rising, and there are a few pumpkin pies to bake…
Happy Trails…
Cecilia

PS. On Christmas night, not long after I wrote this post, Starr gave birth to a chocolate brown ewe. We call her Cocoa.