Winter is a wonderful time to kick back and catch up on your reading list. For me, that means herb books, health books, books on inflammation and allergies, some chewing gum (did anyone say, 'Silmarillion?' I'm on a Middle Earth spree right now), and a general assortment of mish-mash from the library. Here's a sampling of my library book basket conveniently placed next to my chair.
If you've met my little brother, you'll know what sort of non-stop character he is. Anything can spark his imagination or pique his interest. We were at the county fair one summer meandering through the master gardener section, and someone was there with a booth about worms. No, not parasites... earth worms. The wriggling kind that aerate your soil, help eat the compost pile down, and become chicken fodder. Nothing exciting there. But he thought the idea of having a bin full of worms as pets was the coolest thing ever. We already had the tiered worm bin from our previous attempt at keeping worms, Dad ordered some worm bedding (I think we ended up with some coconut shell stuffs), and Eli was all set to welcome his worms home. He had studied the handout from the worm booth and some books that we had on the shelf. I think he memorized them actually... He saved up his tooth fairy money to buy himself some new pets. His box of worms finally arrived via mail carrier. Actually, there were some worms that worked their way out of the box and into the mail truck. I feel sorry the the mail lady. I'm sure we have developed a reputation at the local post office... He came running up yelling, "I've got more pets than you! Do we have anything we can feed them?Look at them! Aren't they cute?"
Fast-forward about a year. My dad's aunt is visiting (we hadn't seen her since... well... I think I was but a wee tot); she hadn't met the charismatic storm that is Eli. Immediately following introductions and welcomes, Eli comes bursting in saying proudly, "I've got worms."
...
The look on my poor aunt's face. You could tell that she was thinking the problematic kind of worms. The kind that plagues carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores alike. The symbiotic relationship that is rather one-sided. We couldn't fill her in immediately. We had to relish the moment. The thought of having parasites is not exactly pretty. Let alone being that enthusiastic to inform others to your, umm, plight. We all had a really good laugh after explaining that it wasn't what she thought it was.
Anways.
Sorry, random story. That memory came flooding back after watching The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
My parents said that I was being hard to shop for. Having a birthday close to Christmas has its pros and cons. What? I gave them a list with Hobbit Lego on it. There's nothing wrong with that - an adult wanting legos... Just as we were finishing that conversation, Jake brought in the mail with the local gun club newsletter with a little blip about an upcoming archery class. Dad didn't believe that anyone would want to go. :raises hand sheepishly: I would. :) So we went to the now not-so-little archery shop to get a certain someone's (ahem - your's truly's) birthday present. We got the wrist brace, arrows, finger tabs, targets... the bow. ^_^
A gorgeous 62-inch, 35 lb pull Samick Sage.
[Gollum voice]My precious[/Gollum voice]
It's really easy to do a Gollum imitation when a frog has taken up residence in your throat. Anyways...
Dad told the guy at the shop that I had farm arm... Thanks... So the employee strung the bow (with great ease) and handed it to me to test. Then he had me string and unstring it myself. Oof... Yoga is not my thing. I'm going to have to do some bowflex to be able to really enjoy playing with this thing. But a little muscle building wouldn't hurt. ;)
But lo - with all this cold weather, we've been using up straw like no other. So I don't have anything to shoot into.
Yet.
We will change that tomorrow.
The cat on my bed is obviously completely unawares of what he decided to sit next to. He isn't worried at all.
This year's Christmas decorating ideas are brought to you by Pinterest.
This was the tree that was on the front porch. But come the first strong gust... well, let's just say that it was quickly brought into the house. ;) Perfect size for the porch, a bit big for the living room.
Our solution for displaying Christmas cards. :)
We even got a hand-signed by all the employees Christmas card from our local farm store. Does that tell you how often we go there? :D
Our neighbor brought over arm-loads of holly. It ended up in just about every corner we could cram it in. ;) Then we shared the rest with some friends. There was that much holly.
If you go through the pinterest board, you'll see inspiration for this. ;)
And the cat helped too. He supervised.
That tree. I want to climb it.
"My brother is guessing his presents." -Eli's self-caption.
Why did we do it? Because we could. And since we didn't get to dress up to see the Hobbit... ;) But my poor hobbit feet! They're most grateful to be back in their slippers again. We would have taken more had my camera's batteries not been dying.
Trying not to look cold.
(In a Gollum voice) I stoled it! I stoled the precious.
Actually, I don't think that the white stuff if going to stick around that long, but hey!
We have snow. :-}
Our Christmas porch just got Christmas-y-er
It's a Dr. Seuss tree!
And the chickens were not excited about their new environment. One of the girls flew out of the door only to have a bouncy landing when she found out that the ground was, indeed, very cold.
What do we do now?
Mowing season is long past. Time to hibernate.
The one time that the geese have some sort of a camouflage.
He looks cold.
I wonder what it would look like if I turned the lights on. Hmm...
The goats don't take 'snow days' like the rest of us. ;)
'Olo llama.
And he drew a smiley face on my car. :)
You will not get me out of bed this morning.
Pre-flocked Christmas trees.
"The snow needs some salt. And maybe some Montreal seasoning. It doesn't have much flavor."
I don't know why, but I'm excited for Christmas this year. I was rip-roaring ready to go before Thanksgiving, but Mom wouldn't let us play any Christmas music before the grand turkey day. Needless to say, we played it anyway to irk her. We're such loving children. Maybe it was all the nostalgic Christmas pictures starting to make the rounds on Pinterest. Maybe it's because we didn't really get to decorate for the season last year (we had some good friends with their many minions staying with us - I'll take them over decorations any day). Maybe it's because I actually feel like I have energy to do Christmas-y stuff; last year all I wanted for Christmas was a chance to hibernate.
Needless to say, we've started to decorate.
And what a better place to start than the front porch!
Yes, there's a tree on the porch.
With lots of bells.
And berry garland
The decorative bird house even got trimmed.
I found this little beauty at the same antique store that I got the dulcimer.
Does somebody want in? You're quite subtle. I must be cold out.
This wreath is what started it all. Once we set it on the front door, we knew what sort of 'feel' we wanted to have.
On a random side note...
Do you know how hard it is to find Christmas decorations without glitter plastered all over?
