Rabbits and Mud Fights

February 28, 2016February 28, 2016 | Allison

It was gorgeous this afternoon! Even though it’s February, it’s 63 degrees Fahrenheit out there, and boy it feels nice! Isn’t it so funny how 60 degrees feels steaming in winter and freezing in summer? 😀 Anyway, my cousin, my siblings, and I took the bunnies down to our creek (more of a trickle, really) to play with them… and also the mud. My brother Jefferson wheeled some of the bunnies down in a wheelbarrow. XD

-Allison(at the creek with bunnies, clay table) 006 (1280x960) — Willow wants a ride!

It was wondrous to lay in the grass and soak up the sun with a couple of warm fluffy bunnies beside you. Ahhhhh! When the bunnies started to get adventurous, we made a little “house” for them from umbrellas and a big bucket. It was so cute to watch them poke their little noses out from under the umbrellas, and hop around in the grass. 🙂

My sister Megan was trying to keep up with her bunny, Clementine. Clemmy sure had a lot of energy, and she wasn’t going to let a puny ol’ leash stop her from exploring! Doesn’t Clemmy look hilariously smug in the first picture? XD XD XD

-Allison(at the creek with bunnies, clay table) 007 (1280x960)

-Allison(at the creek with bunnies, clay table) 013 (1280x960)

We dipped Olaf in the creek to cool him off, and he looked so funny when he shook the water off! (Well, at least in a stop-motion picture.)

Lily is still her fat, squishable self. 😀

-Allison(at the creek with bunnies, clay table) 012 (1280x960) — A Lily sniff captured. While her nose is really blurry, her dewlap is very clear! 😀

But we didn’t only play with the bunnies – it would be an awful waste if we didn’t play with any of that good mud beside the creek. XD (Sorry, but I only have videos of us playing – no pictures. 😦 ) The mud play ranged from building a waterfall/dam in the creek to having a mud fight. Well, it wasn’t actually a mud fight, it was more like an orderly mud throw. We stood in a pentagon and threw carefully crafted mudballs in unison in a clockwise direction. Orderly, right? Orderly, but not tidy. I am sitting here in rather mud-splattered clothing. XD Not to mention the mud I already washed off…

So yeah, it was fun. But I think a few showers might be in order… 😀

***Allison***

P. S. My mom just said “Those dog treats are really good, Megan! I keep eating them for a snack.” XD XD XD Don’t worry; it’s not as bad as it sounds. My sister Megan made dog treats from a recipe K. A. gave her (it’s basically flour, peanut butter, and water), and they taste like nice crunchy crackers. So we’re eating dog treats at our house. XD XD XD

Photos from of Old: Entry #2

February 16, 2016February 16, 2016 | Allison

(See entry #1 here.) I know I was going to wait until spring to post the next entry for this series, but (heh heh) here it is! I didn’t want to wait that long. 🙂 The pictures are rather spring-y, but maybe they will warm you up. 😀 I am about to take you back in time to the spring of 2013…

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I absolutely LOVE these next three photos. They are pictures of cherry blossoms from trees at my grandma’s house. They are like ballerina’s tutus: pink, delicate, and fluffy. But I think cherry blossoms are much prettier than tutus. 🙂 I will try to get some more cherry blossom pictures this year, if I can.

The brilliant green grass of spring: (This was also taken at my grandma’s house. Way up in the top right corner, you can sort of see a blurry pink cherry tree. 😀 )

I believe my grandaddy caught this lil’ guy in a trap. You can’t tell from this picture, but he was fierce. XD

These cute calves are actually triplets! They were our pets for a long time. (There will be more pictures of them to come in later PFO posts.)

And last but not least, gorgeous fiery tulips! (If I remember right, I was very proud of this picture. XD)

*Sigh* Are you pining away for spring, yet? Spring is my favorite month, by the way. What’s yours?

***Allison***

More Snow Pictures!

February 9, 2016February 15, 2016 | Allison

It snowed again! It was only a tiny bit, and it’s pretty much all melted now, but I got some really pretty pictures that I wanted to show you. So it didn’t snow in vain. XD Get ready for a bunch more snow pictures! (And an extra-special one at the end!)

{Click on any individual photo in a collage or column to enlarge. I mean to enlarge the photo, not you. XD}

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We have a Nandina bush in our yard that is sprinkled with clusters of bright red berries. The red berries looked gorgeous against the white snow!

(I edited this image. ↓)

Snow on our clothesline…

Pigeons on the silo…

Dogwood branches…

Just snow…

Excuse Maggie in the background. 🙂

And now we come to my pride and joy: a picture of an actual, single snowflake! I know it’s not the best quality, but I was very happy that I could get a picture like this! Isn’t it beautiful? God made sure to put beauty in even the smallest snowflakes – tiny pieces of ice that melt at the slightest breath of warm air. What delicate pieces of art!

*Sigh.* Snow is so beautiful. But then again, it is also cold, wet, and slushy when it melts. So I’m glad we don’t have snow year round. 🙂 Which picture was your favorite?

Thanks for reading!

***Allison***

YES YES YES – SNOW!

January 24, 2016February 14, 2016 | Allison

YES YES YES YES YES YES! It finally snowed here! 😀 And it snowed like two feet – which is pretty much for us. The snow is so pretty and white and smooth and sparkling and clean and cold and bright and icy and beautiful and… okay, I’ve run out of adjectives. XD

What’s that you say? Oh. Of course I took pictures – how else would I survive looking at all of that pretty snow? XD What? You’d like to see them? Perfect! I was just getting ready to show you… (I took so many pictures I wanted to show you that I had to make a bunch of them into collages. 🙂 )

First, some pictures of just snow.

Now, onto snowy birds! A lovely cardinal pair came to our birdfeeder in the snow, and I took some pretty pictures of them. I especially like the first collage. The female:

And the male: (Along with a picture of several fellow birdseed eaters)

And some miscellaneous landscape, house, and deck snow pictures…

Look how much snow we got – this is a beforeish and after picture of a little picnic table we got.

I did a really fun mini photoshoot with my sister. (For this collage and the next, you can click on a photo to enlarge it.)

I also built a snow cave. (Well, I actually built two, but this is the only one I took a picture of.) I love building snow caves!

Straight, stately, snowy silos. 😀

Ahhh! Snow looks so pretty on evergreens and rose bushes, doesn’t it?

My dad just got a snow-blower recently, and he actually got to use it! It wouldn’t have been too surprising if he didn’t get to use it this winter, but he did!

Phew! Last collage. Another rare thing that happened is that our pond froze over! We slid around on it a little bit before it snowed, and then shoveled paths through the snow.

Wow – that was a LOT of snowy pictures! I think somewhere around a gajillion – does that sound right? Are you frozen yet? Tired of snow? What were a few of your favorite pictures or collages – if you aren’t too tired of this post yet. 😀

***Allison***

A Farm Kitten’s Life

January 21, 2016February 14, 2016 | Allison

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Sitting by tractors,

Pouncing on mice,

Playing with feathers,

A farm kitten’s life.

Roaming the barns,

Sleeping on hay,

Cuddles with cows,

A farm kitten’s day.

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I hope you liked this random little poem! I made it up using that picture which I took a while ago. Isn’t it adorable? The lil’ kitten looks so tiny by the tractor! (That is not a tractor we use very often, by the way. It’s rather old and rusty, but makes for a great silhouette.)

Be watching for a mystery picture post soon!

***Allison***

A Winter Walk (Without Snow)

January 6, 2016February 14, 2016 | Allison

Yep, we went on a walk around our farm the other day with our friends, and sadly enough, there was no snow. 😦 The last couple of years we’ve had really early snow (at least for us), like in October and November, but this winter there has been nothing but a puny little flurry. 😦 Anyway, I still got some pretty pictures, whether there was snow or not, so here goes!

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Some of the trees on our farm have huge bracket fungi on them.

These are dried Jimson-weed pods. They have quite the thorny complexion, don’t they? In summer, Jimson-weed has a sort of morning glory like flower. A note here: Jimson weed is actually poisonous, so don’t go around stuffing it into your mouths – not that anyone would want to. XD

A simple twig looks pretty up close.

This is a very tiny, shriveled persimmon. We have a little persimmon tree on our farm that annually gives about four dried up fruits which are almost always to high to reach. Once we actually got to taste one, and it must not have been ripe because, boy was that bitter! It made your mouth dry up like a cotton ball. Blech! But then for Christmas Eve supper we found two “real” persimmons at the grocery store, and those were actually pretty good! They tasted kind of like a mild, sweet melon or something. Plus they were about ten times bigger and plumper than any of our persimmons. XD Have you ever had a persimmon?

One of our friends. 🙂

Group picture!

I took a picture of Maggie running and it turned out really funny!

We walked up a wet gravel road, and Maggie left cute pawprints behind her. I edited this picture on my camera so you can see them better.

We went into a woods, and Maggie must have sniffed out some creature or other, because she started furiously digging under a rotting stump. She dug a hole so big that her whole head went practically underground! It was really funny, and we stayed there watching her for a long time. But she never caught anything. XP

And last but not least, we took this walk when my sister Megan (center)first got her new camera, and my little sister (left) and my friend (right)were watching her work it. I edited this picture (as you can see!) on my camera with the “Painting” setting. Doesn’t it look neat?

I hope you enjoyed my ramblings and picture from a winter walk! Which picture was your favorite?

***Allison***

P. S. Don’t worry, I will do more Photos from of Old posts, but I’m saving them for a little later because the next ones are from springtime.

P. P. S. Wow! I seem to be doing a lot of P. S.’s on my posts lately, don’t I? 😀

Mission Christmas Tree

December 6, 2015February 14, 2016 | Allison

We got our Christmas tree yesterday! We always go to a Christmas tree farm and cut our Christmas tree down with a saw, so this post is for you poor unfortunates who don’t or can’t have that experience. *Wink* @ Loren and Mallory. 🙂 (Oh, by the way, I was going to tell you before. Mallory is my friend, and she just recently started a blog where her bunny, Snickers, “posts” about his life. It’s very cute – you should check it out! Just click Mallory’s name above.) OK, down to business!

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We don’t always go to the same tree farm every year, but this year we went to a big Christmas tree place called “Evergreen Christmas Tree Farm.” (I know, very original name, right? ☺) They have quite a large amount of space to wander through, and several different varieties of trees to choose from, including Colorado Spruce, White Pine, and Concolor Fir.

-Allison(Christmas tree and bunnies) 011 (1280x960)

-Allison(Christmas tree and bunnies) 026 (1280x960)

I think we got a Colorado Spruce (though I’m not sure), but the Concolor Firs are really neat because if you rub their needles between your fingers, they smell like citrus!

First, my brother picked up a handsaw from one of the saw-poles scattered around the farm. Then we began the search for the perfect Christmas tree! We trekked all over the farm, winding in and out of big trees and small trees; young trees and old trees; trees with long, soft needles, and trees with short, prickly ones. We went up and down the hills and along lots of paths. Finally, we ended up where we had started. At last, in a corner of the tree farm, we found our tree!

The tree was a little too tall, so we cut part of the bottom off. The nice thing is, my mom and dad can kind of measure how tall the tree should be – if it reaches the top of their hands when they stretch their arms out, it’s a good size. (My parents are both pretty tall.) The kids like to yell “TIMBER!” when we cut down the tree.

And now we had to drag the tree all the way down the hill to the “packaging” center. The kids started by taking turns, and my dad finished when we got tired. 😀

The people at the bottom of the farm set your tree in a stand and turn on a machine that vibrates the tree to shake all of the dirt and dust on it. As you can see, our tree was pretty dusty from dragging it down the hill!

The next part is really fun to watch. The people working at the farm take the freshly-cleaned tree and set it on a sort of conveyor belt thingy. They attach some sort of hook to the trunk, and p – u – l – l the tree through a hoop with net in it. The tree gets all wrapped up in the net. It looks like a cocoon or something!

The purpose of wrapping the Christmas tree is to make it easier to carry on your car or truck. Dad strapped the tree to the top of our car, and off we drove!

At home we set the Christmas tree in it’s stand, watered it (with just plain water), and adjusted the screws in the stand so that the tree stood up as straight as possible. Then came another fun part that all of us kids love – cutting off the netting! We each took a pair of scissors and snipped off every last bit. It’s fun to watch the tree unfold from its bonds. 🙂

Then we put on Christmas music and started decorating! I love the decorating part. (As you have probably noticed, I love pretty much everything about getting a Christmas tree!)

First we put the lights and star on, then my mom carefully put the glass balls on, then everyone could help with the rest of the ornaments. Finally the tree was chock full of decorations, and we could sit back and look at our work. So pretty!

Here are some more pictures of the ornaments that I took in the dark. They remind me of a Christmas I Spy Book.

And here is one where I moved my camera around while holding down the shutter button.

Did you get your Christmas tree yet? When? Do you get artificial or real trees? Have you ever gone to a Christmas tree farm?

***Allison***

Furry Things in a Field

November 16, 2015February 14, 2016 | Allison

It was a gorgeous Sunday yesterday! My brother, sister, and I took Yoshi (our new bunny) out to the field. I took pictures of various things – bunnies, kittens, plants… you name it! Oh look!, here are the pictures right now…

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We covered Yoshi in a refreshing bunch of radish leaves from the field. He seemed to enjoy resting under them.

How do you like his green ‘do?

Coffee Bean the kitten wanted to join the fun.

Cuddle time!

Curly vetch tendrils

And a few pretty weeds. 🙂

Which picture was your favorite? And how is the weather where you live?

***Allison***

Crystal Pond, and Treasures Found There

November 13, 2015February 14, 2016 | Allison

Somewhere on a farm, hidden away in its own little secret world of trees and brush, there is a pond whose shores are littered with millions of sparkling quartz crystals… Well, OK, Crystal Pond isn’t quite as romantic and fairy-tale-like as all that, but it is still one of my favorite places on our farm.

Don’t get confused by the name – the water in the pond isn’t crystal clear, but rather the land around the pond has pretty quartz crystals scattered on it. Sometimes there are a bunch of crystals, sometimes… not so much, especially when the pond is high. The bad thing is, the pond is kind of surrounded by a defense wall of thorns, prickly evergreens, and brush. Yeah, it’s just a tad hard to get to. But once you get inside, it’s nice and quiet and peaceful. There is always some treasure waiting to be found along the shores or in the scrubby woods beside the pond. Crystal Pond has several of my favorite things around it: water, moss, rocks, and mushrooms!

Here are, um… a LOT of photos.

Moss: