Glad it's Friday?

Boy, everyone I've talked to sure is (Glad it's Friday, that is). And it is HOT here - not that I'm complaining - we still have power and all our frozen food is still frozen - here I am, on the computer - my heart goes out to the people in Missouri & the eastern seaboard who have gone/are going through horrific storms and have no electrical power.

Just as a matter of self preservation, I try not to be a very "political" person. It can cause rifts in families and between friends, but I am so frustrated with what is going on in the world recently - bombings in Mumbai (aka Bombay), the Israelies are pounding the snot out of Lebanon, and the whole thing in Iraq is going to heck in a handbasket (do you suppose we will have lost all those American lives just so the Iraquis can start a civil war?). Just the thought makes my blood pressure go up, so I thought we'd take a little walk around the farm instead...

Just inside the gate we have two Jacquemontii Birches (also know as Himalayan Birch) They have the whitest bark of the birch family and are just spectacular in the winter when you can see their "white skeletons" - especially with all the evergreens planted around them. But they are lovely at all times of the year - lush and green in the summer and when fall comes, their leaves turn bright yellow! Generally our big cat, Neelix is waiting on one of the rocks for us to get home. It's a good feeling.









The view from "my" chair on the front porch doesn't quite include the pond, but you can hear the waterfall and it's lovely to listen to anytime, day or night.


I am discovering that bloggers have quite a wonderful community. I feel like I have made some new and very interesting friends. Take Susan at Farmgirl Fare, for instance - Susan lives in Missouri - she was a "victim" of the storm that hit the area night before last. Her blog is great mix of food and farm with beautiful pictures of the area and with funny & often touching stories about her critters. One of her chickens (whose name is Lindy) went AWOL during the storm, and people all over the planet were sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to find out if Lindy came home safely - the good news is Sheeeeeeee's SAFE! (read about it here) http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2006/07/daily-farm-photo-72106.html

Oh, and those are not eggs from Susan's chickens, they are eggs from OUR chickens - Americauna breed - pretty eggs and very tasty to boot! (the eggs, NOT the chickens - NO, NO, NO, we don't eat our chickens!)


And out by the barn is our handsome ram Thorson. He's playing with his "play station" He'll start running from the other corner of the pasture and whack that blue ball into the post that is to his right. See how it is getting worn away? One of these days he's gonna hit that thing and land on his butt because it will snap in two.


Well, thanks for taking a walk around with me - I'm a little calmer now, but very sad - so many lives lost or ruined - to what end? (Trust me, Condoleezza, a "false promise" is better than none at all.)

When you all go to bed tonight - please say a prayer for PEACE in the world and for the victims of the tsunami in Indonesia - (over six hundred dead and 20,000 people are homeless ) - I will.