I've Been Nominated!

Rae at WeatherVane has nominated my 'blahwg' blog for the 2009 Blogger's Choice Award for best blog about animals and countrylife! I am so very flattered. But now I am, according to Rae, supposed to shamelessly solicit votes from you guys! So here it is: PLEASE, PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP follow the link and vote for me... or not. But thank you Rae for including me in a list of some very fine blogs.

http://bloggerchoiceawards.com/

Rub-a-dub-dub...

Three girls in a tub!

Since Mommy is away celebrating her anniversary in a cabin at Hocking Hills, I get the joy of having her four daughters here with me. Lots of fun was had today and they had the grime to prove it! So it's in the tub they go. Fortunately, my tub is big enough for three...

Melody loves the tub, the bubbles and being in there with her sisters. However, she's scared to death of the 'bubble machine'! She climbs up on the corner seat when I go to push the button.

Lexi is still young enough to want to hop in with the babies. She is my princess that enjoys pampering like having her back washed and her hair dried by Nana. I know it won't be long though...

What can I say about Gracie? Here she stopped bouncing off the walls long enough to smile for the camera. What a ham!

chick, chick, chicken....

This dude thinks he runs the place! Not really a rooster yet, more like a chickster. But they are pecking and fighting already! Hubby is regretting his decision to take the 'freebies'. We were going to raise those 25 for the freezer, but I'm not sure he can hold out that long.

This gorgeous gal is one of our silver-laced Wyandottes. Not exactly a great shot, but seeing how I was all alone, I think I did pretty good with a camera in one hand! They're getting pretty hard to catch. Their feet are huge! It's going to be fun clipping the wings - NOT! When you spread out the wings, the feathers in the section farthest away from their bodies gets clipped... Just the ends and only one side. This keeps them from flying off. When they molt and get new feathers, guess what? Yep, all over again!

In case you don't remember, scroll down... There is a short video of me spreading the wings on this beauty. I called them angel wings. The light from the window made the feathers glow. In the video, you could see my hands. Yes, they've grown! A few more months and we'll have plenty of eggs to sell.

Life is a Meme-ingful Experience!

I have been MEME tagged by squirrelqueen2 of the meme. Respond and rework. Answer questions on your own blog. Replace one question. Add one question. Tag 6 people, more or less. And here we go . . .

What are your current obsessions? blogging, decorating & landscaping
Which item from your wardrobe do you wear most often?Jeans
Last dream you had? It was too weird to mention... they always are!
Last thing you bought? 80 lbs of horse feed
What are you listening to? the rain and Hubby moaning
Favorite holiday spots?home! I love it here!
Reading right now? this... duh!
Four words to describe yourself. creative, laid-back, smart, over-weight
Guilty pleasure? Frappucino
Who or what makes you laugh until you’re weak? my best friend Kim
Best spring thing to do? work on landscaping
Favorite drink? strong tea
Dream vacation? One Horse Gap - maybe next year...
Favorite ever film? Gosh, too many good ones - see my profile
Care to share some wisdom? use the stemware!
Song you can't get out of your head? nothing right now
Something you are looking forward to? getting Nekoda back in shape
What is the strangest thing you have ever eaten? mountain oysters
One wish? to be a published author, no wait! A best-selling published author!

And I am tagging ... Drum roll please!!!
Jessica at http://countryfamilyrobinson.blogspot.com/
Nina at http://newagegrandma.blogspot.com/
Charmine at http://charmine-myfavorites.blogspot.com/
and anyone else that cares for this kind of stuff.

I know some folk aren't into this sort of game so it's up to you to pass it on or not.

Election Day

I've had a little anxiety over this election. It's typical to have school levies on the ballot, and today was no exception. The local school district has been pushing to move the high school out of town and to combine it with the local YMCA... Yeah, no kidding! Seems the trend is to move everything out of town. Stores and restaurants have been relocating just a couple of miles away to bigger buildings. But you see, there is a large population of poorer families and senior citizens that live downtown and used to walk to these stores. Pretty soon it will be an all-day hike to get their errands ran. The YMCA is also smack-dab downtown. Lots of older folks frequent it.

And what ever happened to remodeling? They keep pushing for new buildings because the others need repair. The high school I went to for two years was falling apart. That was in 1970! Guess what? They remodeled. It's still there serving as the junior high. They did have to expand and built a new school in 1972.

The biggest news story for a while now has been the economy. Everyone is struggling. It's got the attention of the federal government. But what about the local government? If they raise our taxes much more, we will be forced to sell and move. And the more people they drive out, the more the remaining few will have stacked on their backs! When will it end?

OK, here's my pet peeve: We get to vote on levies for schools, hospitals, police & fire departments, the local library... you get the picture. But when did I vote for spending so much of my tax money on landscaping the downtown every year? It's beautiful sure, but in this economic downturn shouldn't we think about leaving last year's plants alone?

I just watched the local news and the levy failed by a significant margin AGAIN! Another pet peeve of mine... They keep putting the levy back on the ballot until the people opposed don't have a big enough turnout to defeat it. Shouldn't we only have to vote on a single issue one time? If we say we don't want it, why should they be allowed to keep bringing it up?

When I retired, I was forced to make some changes in my budget. When my benefits were slashed, I had to tighten the belt a bit more. Shouldn't our local government and school districts be forced to do the same? There are plenty of ways they could cut costs.

Sorry about the late-night ranting of an old lady. There is a funny side to this whole thing... I forgot to go vote!

a perfect fit

Never in the history of furniture has a chair had such a perfect fit. Let me introduce you to Mickey. She looked like a tiny mouse when she was born, hence the name. She is the only barn cat that comes inside. Being the runt, she was always picked on, so her place is in the woods and not the fields. She has a nice home there. She doesn't get wet or muddy. But when she gets hungry, she comes up to the door of my bedroom. She disappears, sometimes for days on end. She went out one day last week and didn't come back until yesterday. Hubby had given her up for dead. (He worries a lot!) But, as usual, she came back to catch up on her lovin'. I missed sleeping with her. So that's Mickey. I caught her sleeping today in one of the bedroom chairs. It seemed to be just the right size...