Spotlight on Hubby

Since tomorrow is our wedding anniversary, I thought I would do a little post about my Hubby..... 

I feel so blessed to be married to my best friend- who also just happens to be the sweetest person I know-but even better for me, he's hardworking and pretty talented as well. One thing that impresses me about him is that he always puts his best into every project, and if he doesn't know how to do something, he is always willing to learn or try something new.

Among other things, he built the sheep barn, chicken coop, and his tractor shed all by himself (well, I rendered as much help as I could...) along with some beautiful things for inside the house,

like my kitchen island-

  

Last summer, he dug an old hay wagon out of the weeds and restored it... I really wish I had taken some "before" pictures because it was literally nothing but a rusted hunk of metal but he turned it into a beautiful working piece of equipment-

After his surgery last month, he was pretty much out of commission as far as doing anything around here.... he was getting restless just sitting in the house so he started passing the days 

cleaning and organizing his little workshop.

Here he is in his shop, along with one very nosy bulldog.

 I have a special place in my heart for beautiful woodwork because my Daddy was a master carpenter... 

as a little girl I can remember seeing all the gorgeous cabinets, tables, bookcases that came out of his little shop, as well as two of my most prized possessions-

when I was a teenager he made Mother and I matching jewelry boxes out of walnut wood,

a little one for me and a big one for her.

In the last few years Hubby has tried to learn as much as he could about woodworking from Dad,

and all of a sudden, it must be sinking in because he has really gotten into working in his little shop.

I think he's been bitten by the creative bug.....

He's spent the last couple of weeks working on some really neat little projects,

like this box for Lily's toys-

Look at these gorgeous box joints that Hubby cut on his router- and they fit together perfectly!

This was his very first attempt at making these....I'm so proud of him.

Lily is checking to make sure it's big enough to hold all of her toys.

(And probably making sure there's room for more if need be...)

The box isn't finished yet- it still needs to be sanded and stained... but once it's done I'll post some more pictures of it, and maybe by then he'll be working on his next masterpiece. *grin*

 Happy Anniversary, Sweetie... and Happy Tuesday, everyone!

We're home!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Hubby came through his surgery just fine, 

and now we're home resting and recuperating.

And there was one mighty sad little bulldog who had to stay home all alone that was really happy to see us when we got back. In fact, she hasn't let hubby out of her sight all day today....

Thanks for all your prayers and well-wishes, dear blog friends.... they mean so much to me.

Be back next week- Merry Christmas, everyone!

Friday Farm Photos: A good day for plowing

This week's edition of Friday Farm Fotos was taken last Saturday at the annual Spring Plow Day in Crossville, TN.... Hubby's favorite day of the year.

(With the exception of the Fall Plow Day, his other favorite day of the year.)

They had a wonderful turnout this time with over 20 antique tractors and plows. The horse and mule teams were a bit of a disappointment with only 3 teams showing up.
However, the weather was nice and cool,  the fields were rolling and beautiful, and the homemade country ham biscuits from Mr. Kirtley's Chuck Wagon were out of this world. (Sorry there is no picture of the biscuits in this post- Hubby and I ate them so fast, we nearly chewed our fingers off trying to eat them they were so good.)

"Someone better have saved me a country ham biscuit...."

You know it's going to be a good day when the heavens open up with rays of light when you start to plow.

That's a pretty good omen, I think.

Mr. Booker checks to see how deep he's plowing.

Beautiful mule team, ready to work.

Mr. Rowell, who runs his family's apple orchard not too far from here, takes a laid-back approach to plowing.

Okay, how many of them does it take to figure things out?

Another red tractor! Yay!

I love this old plow... look at those neat steel wheels.

Hmmm... this next guy's kinda cute.....

*swooooon*

Purty hosses. (Purty BIG hosses.)

Another neat old plow. Sometimes rusty stuff is cool.

A nice man who stopped to chat on a nicely restored tractor.

Sometimes new paint is cool, too.

 Across the field and out of sight....

And back around they come.

When you get to the end of a row, you pull the rope to "trip" the plow, pulling it out of the ground until you're ready to start the next row.

Sometimes, this takes teamwork.

At the end of the day, we were all pretty much worn out

 from all the excitement.

(Some of us more than others....)

Another plow day in the memory books.

Goodbye, Crossville..... see you again in the fall!

Friday Farm Fotos: Bovine Barrier

This edition of FFF is a little later in the day than I usually post, but Friday is errand day around here and *gracious* did I have a bunch of them this time.

Hubby took off yesterday and today to start building a fence.

Not just any fence, but a Bovine Barrier.

(I came up with that catchy name all by myself. *tiny squeal*) 

 After the rather disappointing meeting with Cow Man we decided to take care of business the best way we knew how- by putting up an obstacle that a herd of wayward heifers cannot cross. We've wanted to put a wood fence up in front of the house for a while now to match the one on the other side of the driveway where the sheep pasture is located, so we figured there was no better time than now, since you never know when you'll have... ahem... unexpected visitors. Plus, I'll be able to let the chickens out to roam more freely without worrying about stray dogs coming through the yard.

An auger makes easy work of digging holes.

The fencepost process goes like this:

Dig, tamp, fill.

Aaaand... repeat. Many times.

I'm off to help Hubby get as many posts in the ground as possible before the rain comes tonight...

Thanks for dropping by for a visit today.
Happy weekend, everybody!

Okay, so I have some catching up to do....

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted... where has the time gone?
Last week was very busy.... I had a large embroidery job to finish up and other things around the house that needed some attention and before I knew it, the week was gone!

I had a wonderful Birthday- thanks so much for all your sweet words. Hubby and I didn't actually "celebrate" until the Friday after my birthday.... we drove to Pigeon Forge, TN and ate lunch at Red Lobster.
(Crab legs! Oh boy!)
Then we went to the Bass Pro Shop (I was looking for some warm boots for the winter) and then back home so Hubby could get his tractor loaded for the Plow Day the next morning. It was a wonderful day.... so good in fact I forgot to take a single picture! *DOH!*



I did take lots of pictures of the Plow Day.... here are some you might enjoy. (You can click on them to enlarge if you'd like, I kept them small so the page would load quicker.)

Heading down Interstate 40 around 8:30 a.m.- what a gorgeous morning!

 My Sweetie, playing in the dirt.

Playing in the dirt.....

Playing in the dirt.

Hosses.

Mr. Bailey and the little Farmall Cub that belonged to his Daddy...

Mr. Bailey lovingly restored it a few years ago and decided he would get it dirty today.

Green and Yellow.

Black Beauties!

 Mr. Booker came all the way from Tater Valley, which is not far from where we live.

These two pullers were ginormous... but sooo beautiful.

Red and gold.

 You're never too young for a Plow Day.

I'm off to get caught up with all my bloggy friends... Happy Monday, everybody!

Farm Happenings: Shoes, Sheep, and Hay

My Sweetie, in front of his dream machine at a recent tractor show.

(And no, it's not his tractor..... yet, he says.)

It's been wet, hot, humid, and busy around the farm lately.... veggies are growing fast (thanks to some sheep poop fertilizer) and the weather has been very summer-like which is also making the grass grow like crazy. My main chore around here lately is fly control in the barns and chicken coops... it's been a full-time job just trying to keep everything sprayed daily and I've already gone through 5 different fly traps in the last couple of weeks. The flies seem to be worse than usual this year... maybe because of the damp ground and humidity.

It was a sad day last week when my favorite barn shoes, my Muck boots, finally gave out and left me with wet feet one soggy morning... I knew this day would come, but had been trying to make them last as long as I could. These were my mud and poop resistant, toe protectors against sheep hoof tramplings, and all around great chore shoe, so I was really lost for a few days. I even wore an old pair of hiking boots until they wore a lovely blister on my heel, then they too went the way of the buffalo. (In the garbage can with the muck boots.)

On a trip to Tractor Supply this past weekend, I've found some summer replacements until I can save up enough money to buy some more Mucksters for winter.

What do ya think?

They are waterproof and really comfortable and cool, even though they're lined inside... and best of all, they're covered in cute little Ladybugs! *squeal*

This picture was taken before their inaugural trip to the barn... needless to say they are not this clean anymore. But a good spraying with the water hose and they'll be good as new!

Update on Miss Lucy: she is doing very well and is ready to be put back in the big lot with the rest of the woolies! *Yay!*

She has put on some weight, gained most of her strength back, and it seems we have finally cleared her hoof problems up. Thanks for all your concern and well wishes over the past few months.

By the way, here are her twins, Pepper and Polly, who are now 4 months old... can you believe it? (That's Polly with the grass hanging out of her mouth.)

Hubby started playing with his new equipment cutting the first field of hay last week and barely got it up before the rains came Friday.... he still has more that needed to be cut already but the weather has just not cooperated. I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked to, but I will next time for sure. Here he is using the square baler....

All the equipment worked great and Hubby did an excellent job for a first-timer! It's lots of hard work putting up hay but it will be so great to not have to worry about buying any or running out this winter. Even better, Hubby has already sold most of this cutting, so the extra money was an added bonus!

I'm off to visit with all my bloggy friends now- Happy Friday, everybody!