HAPPY HALLOWEEN

We won't have many trick-or-treaters, but we'll have a few. The treat bags are all fixed up and the camera is ready to get their pics for scrapbooking!

Happy Halloween!

He's waited all summer long....

.....for the fireplace to be lit! We had some really cool temps over this past week so when I finally finished cleaning things up in and around it, we lit a fire Monday night and boy did Salem like that! He pretty much camps out on the hearth once we get a fire going! He's sitting there now as I type and we let it die out yesterday since it warmed a bit and he's looking in there like "where'd it go?"!
Notice the doors? How clear they are? We've lived here for nearlyl five years and I've tried and tried to clean them with no luck at all. Ely was visiting with an aunt last week and they got on the subject of fireplaces....well...long story short...she suggested going to Dollar General and buying their store brand of scrubbing bubbles....spray the doors then wipe off. Clean as a whistle! She wasn't kiddin'! Even tho' I let it sit for a bit, I could tell that it started to work instant! Now why doesn't it seem to work that fast when using it in the bath tub? Hmm.....
John's been home all week but going back out today...he will miss all the little trick or treaters tomorrow night...not that we have a great many come all the way down here, but we get a few...mostly nieces, nephews & cousins!
The friends from Goose Bay will be at his folks late Saturday or early Sunday, so we're having a little gathering Sunday afternoon. They'll be here a few days then head on out to make their way to Texas for the winter, as will Mom & Pops...they will follow a day or two after.
Hope you all are having a GREAT week!!

A good weekend...

Well here it is! The stew I mentioned in my previous post! While the stew simmered away, I made up some homemade rolls...it had been forever since I've made them....I eat too many when I do so I don't make them very often! And to top them off, I had just bought a jar of fresh local honey! Mmm...Mmm...YUMM-MEEE!!Thanks Lori, for that wonderful stew recipe! I will be putting it in my files as a keeper!
Not only did I get that made as planned, the fireplace pit got cleaned out as well! We didn't completely empty it out but it will be good for a couple years anyways. Briar is SO glad that job is done since he's the one who gets the job of climbing in to scoop the ashes into buckets! And surprisingly enough, there wasn't that much of a mess made in the process! I still need to do a little clean-up inside and the grate needs to be set back in, but we should be good to go when the temps really decide to drop!


That was Saturday!






**************************************


On Sunday, John and I took part in the annual Trustee's Cycle Shop Toy Run to benefit the Salvation Army and Community Care & Share..can't remember how many years they've been doing this now...but I know it's over 20! Riders bring in canned goods and toys. This year, there were 248 bikes...TWO HUNDRED FORTY EIGHT PLUS passengers! This was our 4th year to ride in this one and each year, the number has increased! More bikes and riders means more for the kids and for those in need!
It's almost time to put the bike away for the winter....one more benefit ride that we will participate in, and that's only if the loads fall to where John can come home at least for the day. Saturday, November 1st is the Shiloh Childrens Home benefit ride.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are off to a GREAT week!

Fall is SO here...

First of all, I want to say THANKS to Lori for this nice little blog award! And now I pass it along to six others I've recently discovered and have enjoyed reading....

1) http://frontporches-sweet-tea.blogspot.com/

2) http://cranberryflats.blogspot.com/

3) http://backdoorprimitives.blogspot.com/

4) http://barnhousebh.blogspot.com/

5) http://backwoodscountryprims.blogspot.com/

6) http://cranberrycrossings.blogspot.com/

*************************************************

It is cool, damp and windy here again today. Fall is definitely here!
We took a little drive over to the Amish community this morning....my mil, sil, niece and myself....I came home with a bag full of little gourds and some corn that I've put in an old egg basket for the front porch.


I picked up a few other things and I just had to stop by Lydia's....the lady I buy my rugs from, to see how her new house was coming along....WOW! That house is huge! Speaking of huge....look at these guys...

Then we had to stop in the driveway on our way out for the horse crossing..lol...
My sil said I looked like a Japanese tourist taking all these pics...LOL...and I suppose I probably do look like a tourist since I pack my camera in my purse no matter where I'm going....but I can't pass up good blogging material! I was SO surprised, that when the horse was up by the house when we got there, he was munching on a hedgeball! You know those green brainy-looking balls that fall from their trees in the fall....I never knew that horses ate them! He was munchin' away! Lydia's husband said yep they do...and cows eat them too but it can choke them.
I think I need to go for a walk in the woods....I've got an old iron kettle that needs something in it for this fall! I'm pretty sure we have a tree on this farm someplace!
Well, that's my day so far...came home, put things away and started on a couple loads of laundry that I didn't get to yesterday and as I type away here, I'm working on a pot of coffee and will work on some "homework" from the store...needed my home sewing maching for this job! I hope you all are having a great day!!

Thursday...

So what's going on in your world this week? Today is shopping day with Mom....I found a recipe for beef stew on Lori's blog http://farmhousenotforgotten.blogspot.com/ that sounds wonderful...a little different from what I usually make, so I think I'm going to pick things up for that to make this weekend.
It's definitely stew weather here in Missouri....damp, cool & windy....clearing off and cleaning out the fireplace is on the list of things to this week/weekend. Once the time changes, my runnin' really slows down.... once the sun goes down for the day, it's time to put on the robe and curl up in my chair in front of the fire with a good tv show and some stitchin'!
The boys have been out cuttin' firewood....they're off to a good start but it will take much more than this to get us thru the winter....










Even with using the fireplace, we will still use nearly 600 gal of propane....and that's just for heat!

*****************************************

John will be home this weekend....it turns out that there's only one toy run this weekend which is on Sunday afternoon. Looking forward to that!

*****************************************

This is Boots....I mentioned him in my last post. The cousin that bought him was gonna call him Spooks...(her other horse is Casper but he's a white horse)....so we've been callin' him boots since he's got four dark legs. I bring him out of the pasture to feed so the other horses won't bully him for the grain. I'm SO not a horseman but I know enough that if he doesn't get some weight on, he may not make it thru the winter. Any suggestions on takin' care of this little guy would be welcomed.

Hello again world...

I'm back to blogland! I was here before as Hess Homestead Happenings....but when I signed on with Facebook, I deleted the blog, thinking it would be easier to keep up with just the one site....well that site is slow as molasses and I'm sure my slow dial up doesn't help, so I'm back....this seems to be a little speedier!

I don't remember where I left off with my last posting but here's what's been going on in the past few weeks....

We just took a bike trip to the Bikes Blues & BBQ rally in Fayetteville Arkansas. We had a GREAT time! We have our hotel reservation for next years already! That's what ya gotta do to get a good room! There were SO MANY people and SO MANY bikes! So many that I didn't even get pics of some of the things that would of been nice to have. I did get some pics of our group!



We had talked ourselves out of trading bikes since we'd just gotten the Heritage all changed out how we wanted it. Then after our trip, John is browsing Ebay when he finds this Street Glide. Long story short...we ended up selling one to buy the other. I'll have to post a pic of the new one later! There are a few changes we need to make on it....like a bigger seat! We had just put a bigger one on the Heritage and it was SO comfortable!
We had our first toy run of the year this last Saturday in Columbia...to benefit the Salvation Army.


Besides that I've been servin' up chili at the church chili/soup dinner. A small group of us gals from church went to see 'Steel Magnolias' at the Maples Repertory theatre in Macon. A shopping day with my sister-in-law and already ready for another shopping day. Hmm....maybe instead of staying home tomorrow.....NO! I really must work at home tomorrow! And my sister hosted a family weiner roast/hayride last weekend.


So that's about it....besides the usual...cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and keeping up with all the animals around here. It is SO different walking outside and not having Bear there to greet us. We are down to just two cats outside...Belle, the ol' gray mama cat and one of her youngin's, Story....I know...strange name. John likes that for a girl but since I didn't see us havin' anymore, he had to settle with givin' that name to a cat! And here she is.....all curled up in a no longer used water pan...

We have a few new additions to the horse pasture too....a pair of mules and a colt. None of them are ours. John's dad and uncle bought the mules then a cousin bought the colt and brought him here to be with her other horse. We just take care of all of them. The colt is still quite young...my brother guessed around 5 months? We're tryin' to get some weight on him before winter comes...I'll have to post a pic of him later too! He's so sweet!
Oh...and look at this! I FINALLY got a fall wreath hung up out front and it took less than 24 hrs for this thing to plant itself there...can you see it? A big ol' walkin' stick...with a curled tail...which I've not ever seen on one before.....these things really creep me out....Does anyone know what the purpose of a walking stick is anyways?


So that's it! That's what's been going on in my world. This weekend brings a couple more toy runs and another weiner roast and hayride if time allows!
Hope you are having a great week!!