Thoughts from a Yodeling Goatherder

Exciting Book News!

2012-02-10T08:26:00.004-05:00

Howdy gang! I am all atwitter! I can now tell y`all that my rural romantic/comedy, 'Of Gods & Goats' will be available on April 6, 2012 in both print and ebook! No worries, before the release date I`ll link everyone up to where they can purchase thier chosen form of godly and goaty reading material.

I`ve also gotten two online interviews set up, which I`ll link here when they occur, as well as my author event planned at my beloved local indie bookstore. Once the date is locked in tight with the bookstore, I`ll pass that along as well.

To celebrate, I wanted to share the cover of the book as well as a snippet, just to whet your whistle! And really, who wants a dry whistler, right?

And now, that snippet from 'Of Gods & Goats' -

“Thank you,” I said again. His fingers were tugging at the cover as he balled his fingers into a fist that could drop Godzilla. “I have some questions,” I added and pulled slightly to keep my chest covered. Not that he hadn`t seen all I had to show already but, you know, a woman has to have some modesty, right?

“I would be surprised if you did not,” he responded tightly. “Ask and I shall attempt to answer your queries, but first you must eat. Would you wish for me to feed you?”

I blinked at him for a moment in surprise then shook my head.

”No, I think I can manage to chew but thanks,” I muttered then looked down at where his arm was stretched across my stomach. “If you move that I can sit up and eat,” I pointed while Argus rose up on his back feet to check out the milk pitcher with very greedy feline eyes. Ares and I both lunged for the glass container at the same time as my cat reached up to dunk his paw into it. Ares` hand slapped down over mine on the handle as I rolled into his side. And then we sat there like a couple of drunken toads on a log.

I could see so much in his eyes in that moment: Hope and despair and fear and strength, eons of misery and laughter, anger and pleasure. All of that was there, and yet something was missing. I felt my blanket slipping downward but I couldn`t do a damned thing to stop it. I was too wrapped up in those godly eyes of his to care.

“You are a very special woman, Libby Simons,” he grunted as if the admission had cost him dearly. I made some sort of goofy sound then leaned forward slightly. I will swear on a stack of the Iliad or whatever it is Greek gods swear on, that my gesture was to make sure the pitcher didn`t hit the floor. I would swear and then I would be tossed into the Olympic jail for perjury. The real reason I drifted closer to him was because he was moving towards me and I really, really, REALLY wanted to taste his lips.

What to Say, What to Say?

2012-02-06T09:23:00.004-05:00

Good morning gang! Come on in, shuck off your coat and I`ll grab a few mugs.

My header kind of speaks for me it seems. I`ve been sitting here, sipping java juice and pondering on what to post. Things here on the hillside farm are rather quiet. The weather has been pretty nice considering. No snow to speak of, rather warm days and chilly nights. It feels more like March or April than early February to be honest! I`ll take every one of these kinds of days old Mother Nature wants to give us!

I saw that the groundhog made his prediction. I knew we`d have six more weeks no matter what a sleepy woodchuck told us. If I were Phil I would be so out-of-sorts! Talk about rude! Being drug out of your nice warm burrow just to see if you cast a shadow! I don`t take kindly to being woken up for silliness, just ask Mister. Last night he and Tinker had a small kerfuffle in the middle of the night about leg room. I woke up like a grizzly, snapping and snarling at both the males. Tinker decided to go sleep with Miss Yodeling. Mister fell backwards and opted to remain quiet. Good thinking on both guys parts.

So, what else? Even though we don`t watch sports I saw this morning that the Giants won the Super Bowl. Congrats to the Giants and their fans! I had been hinting to Mister that I wouldn`t mind watching the game just to see the new commercial for ‘The Avengers’ movie due in May, but, alas, we don`t get network channels so I had to find it online. I did and now my inner comic geek is placated for awhile.

We`re looking at a big birthday coming up at the end of the month! Miss Yodeling will be sixteen. Where those years went I don`t have a damned clue. She`s been studying her drivers manual and is now in drivers education in school. I have mixed feelings. On one hand it will be so nice to simply hand her the keys when she wants to go hang out with her friends. On the other hand, it will be terrifying to hand her the keys when she wants to go hang out with her friends. I`m not sure which of her parents will be worrying the most. Perhaps we`ll both be fretting equally until she comes back home safe and sound.

Hmm, what other news is there to gossip about? *Raises cuppa and sips slowly* Mister and I had our movie and dinner date Saturday night. We have this wonderful restaurant in town, George`s, that serves great food that is reasonably priced. And, they have baklava!! I`ve recently discovered this mouth-watering Grecian dessert and I cannot get enough of it into me! I have to blame this new addiction on my editor. It was her that first placed a dish of baklava in front of me and encouraged me to try some. ‘It`s Greek,’ she cajoled. Well, given what my books are about dare I not try it?! Man alive, a slice of baklava and a fresh cup of coffee is like being upon Olympus I kid you not!

On the critter news…… there isn`t much news to report, everyone is just doing their thing. The goats are getting bigger and bigger. The geese are starting to get pushy with each other. Well, the ganders have broken into a few squabbles over the past week or two. Wheatley, the turkey poult, is doing well and getting bigger all the time. My chickens have started to develop a bad habit and I might have to do something about it. Someone in the henhouse is eating eggs. I am not pleased. I have to guess that they`re lacking in protein or perhaps calcium. I have started giving them oyster shells in case it’s the calcium they`re seeking. If that doesn`t stop their pilfering I may have to try something else. Not only is it a darn waste of eggs when I have people waiting for them, but the eggs left in the nest-box are a fright! Covered with dried yolk that is like concrete to try to wash off. Ugh. Some little henny is going to get a firm finger wag if I find out which one it is let me tell you!

Other than that, I don`t one darn thing exciting to relay. Winter is such a blasé time isn’t it? Methinks I`ll go freshen up me cup and see what everyone else in blog-land has been up to! Oh! Before I mosey off, a yodel of welcome to Hilary Lesch! Welcome to the wacky, and sometimes downright boring, hillside farm!

Man, wish I had some baklava to go with this coffee………..

One Liners - 1/30

2012-01-30T08:02:00.003-05:00

Lucius - 'I was just looking, honest!'

(And yes, that is the one lone poult that hatched from the turkey eggs we incubated.)

Y`all are encouraged to play along! Just put your one-liner for the above image down with your comments. Have fun!

Odds and Ends and Egg Shucks

2012-01-26T08:13:00.002-05:00

Howdy bloggers! Stomp the snow off your boots and let me put a fresh pot on!

Today`s post is a little bit of everything post, since the winter humdrums have moved in. You know? It`s too cold, too grey, too snowy, too icy or just too blah to do anything outside. So, I figured I`d try to catch up on the other stuff that keeps us chugging along.

First, I have to relay the egg shuck story. For those of you who don`t speak Pennsylvania mountain dialect, an egg shuck is the same as an egg shell piece. Egg shucks are a constant source of trouble for Mister. My husband is one of those people who, if something foreign or unknown is in cake, stew, kettle of soup or any other large serving of food, it will be him that finds the foreign matter. Now, generally, if I do happen to come upon something in my food that shouldn`t be there, I discreetly spit the unknown substance into my napkin and move on with my meal. Especially if I`m eating at someone else`s house.

Not my husband.

He must remove said offending matter and dissect it, muttering about it being in his food and then complain to the food preparer, which, nine out of ten times is me. Last week I cooked up a dozen eggs for egg salad. We had about ten dozen eggs in the fridge, so, yeah, time for egg salad. I did wash the eggs off after peeling them, cross my heart. Fresh eggs are notoriously difficult to peel as many of you who have chickens know. I thought they were clean. I guess I missed some. *Rolls eyes*

That night at dinner, of course, who finds the egg shuck in his sandwich? Yep. My hubby. After a performance that should have him in contention for a ‘Best Male Lead in a Dramatic Role’ Oscar, he looked across the table and grumbled about how I should be more careful about egg shucks. Since my daughter was at the table, I could not say what I wished to say about egg shucks and where he could place them.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon. Mister decides he wants to bake a cake. I don`t ask, I just gladly accept the offer and continue writing or editing or any of the countless other things I need to do to get my book closer to publication. (We`ll touch on the book news in just a minute) He gets his cake made and in the new oven Santa brought me.

Skip ahead a few more hours to dinner. Dessert time rolls around! Oh boy, what a fine looking cake he had made! Even the icing was nicely swirled. We dive in, and what happens when he places that first forkful into his mouth?? You got it! He spits out an egg shuck. At this juncture I merely lift my eyes from my square of yellow cake and stare at him, eyebrows raised. He sheepishly mumbles something under his breath while a smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. It`s amazing how after twenty years we don`t even need to speak to get our point across.

Now that the egg shuck story is done, onto other news! A month ago we set eight turkey eggs. You may recall I pooh-poohed the idea, saying they would never amount to anything and the tom could not be fertile, etc. and etc. After candling three times, we`ve removed six of the eight eggs. Two are now out of the turner, wiggling and giggling and peeping. I figured I`d be fair and say that Mister was right and I was mistaken. There. That should placate him about the egg shuck story when he reads it later.

Book news! I am very close to submission I`m thrilled to relay! I`m now waiting on some last minute cover tweaks to be completed and then off it goes to the printer. I must confess that my nerves are starting to jangle a bit. Placing your work out there for the world to read is a huge step. I know that some folks will love it and others will hate it. I understand that and accept it. I do hope most folks enjoy it when it`s available though.

I`m still working out the details on the print version of ‘Of Gods & Goats’ and where it will be available for purchase. As soon as the kinks are worked out, I`ll let y`all know. If anyone wishes a personalized autographed copy, contact me either here, on my Facebook author page or regular Facebook page. I will be happy to sign it to you and ship it. I have yet to do the e-book conversion, but that will come along soon. I`m hoping to make it available on SmashWords, and will, of course, let everyone here in blog-land know where and when they can upload or download (whichever one does for their e-reader) their copy. I also now have an author page on Facebook that I wanted to link you guys to.

V.L. Locey Facebook Author Page

We`re doing some fun things like trivia questions, images and chat about Greek gods and goats....and there is a rumor in the air that soon a contest will be held for a free, autographed copy of my book! Do stop in, give it a ‘like’ and say howdy!

I think that`s about if for news from here. Now, I`m off to catch up with what`s happening with my blogging buddies. Oh! Before I forget, a big yodel of welcome goes to Christie Martin! Welcome to the hillside farm, Christie!

Word of Mouth - One Woman`s Vengeance

2012-01-23T07:34:00.002-05:00

Howdy. *Leans against saloon post, lights cheroot and pushes cowboy hat from eyes*

Did I sound like Clint Eastwood?? No? Next time I`ll make sure I have some stubble and a poncho. It`s time for another book review, and as you can tell, I`m passing along some western-flavored Word of Mouth. This round we`ll be talking about ‘One Woman`s Vengeance’ by Dennis R. Miller.

I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Miller, and having his book signed, at an author event in early December at ‘From My Shelf Books’ in Wellsboro, PA. Now I`ll be honest and admit right up front that I can count on one hand how many western novels I`ve read in my life. On my other hand, I can count how many western movies I`ve watched. Sure, Mister Yodeling has every spaghetti western Clint ever made, and can repeat the lines verbatim, but generally I peek at the screen and then return to my romance novel. I am just not a fan of the genre. Or, maybe I just haven`t discovered the right protagonist? I think that`s changed since I met Nora Hawks.

This gritty, dark novel begins when retired bounty hunter, Peter Clawson, finds himself with a woman hell bent on revenge and seeking his tutelage. Nora Hawks is a beauty, no doubt, but there is a side to this woman that Peter has never seen in any other woman. She is possessed and driven to pay back the gang of men that killed her husband, brutally raped her and then left her for dead. And boy howdy, does Nora get her revenge! There is blood enough for any fan of the western genre, make no mistake.

There is also a very subtle love story that builds slowly amid all the gun-slinging and shoot-outs though, and for me, this was one of the reasons I kept turning pages. The pace of the romance is perfect for the story. It grows naturally and isn`t overstated. We watch both Peter and Nora get to know each other as she studies diligently, honing her killing skills, until she is ready to face down the men that destroyed her hopes, home and future. Nora Hawks hands out frontier justice as well as any man in any film I have ever peeked at! She is deadly as well as amazingly strong.

Each of the characters has real depth and personality, even the creeps in Butch Wheeler`s gang of thugs, drunks, murderers and rapists. I hated the dirt-bags for what they did to Nora and I was thrilled when they finally got their just desserts! The story moves along at a nice clip, never growing dull or lagging. Nora`s voice stays strong throughout, and that is what held me so tightly as I read over my coffee and bagel in the morning. If Hollywood would give me a heroine like Nora Hawks to cheer, I just may start laying aside my romance novel when Mister slips in a movie.

If you like a good western, this book is for you. If you enjoy a good romance, then this book is for you as well. And if you wish to see a woman move into the world of men, testosterone and guns and show the guys a thing or two, then this book is a must have!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

2012-01-19T07:47:00.002-05:00

Good morning all! Come on in and warm up with a fresh cuppa!

Boy, winter has come charging into the Laurel Highlands like a runaway steer! Rain and snow and wind and ice and BLECH! All this time indoors over the past few days has given me time to write (Which is good), read (Which is also good), clean (Which is an utter fabrication) and nose around on the internet reading what others have to say. This internet dallying when I should be dusting has led me to this pondering post. It started when I was on Facebook the other night and came across some comments among some of my daughter’s friends and herself.

Now I know it was all in good fun, and I`m usually one of those mom`s that all the kids think are pretty cool. At least, I try to be welcoming to my daughter`s friends both in my home and online. But this rash of comments between a couple of her male friends about her just struck me the wrong way. Don`t get me wrong, I`m no prude, but I am a mother. There are some things that gentlemen should not discuss about a young lady on a public forum, even if it is in jest. Well, long story short, I called her on it. I asked why she allowed such a conversation to be placed on Facebook. The conversation between her and I did not go well. She found my thinking rather archaic to say the least, and strongly rebelled against my saying that her male friends should treat her with more value.

“It all comes down to respect for a lady,” I informed her.

I guess being called a young lady in today`s society is a no-no. When did this occur?? When did it become acceptable for young men to discuss intimate details about a young woman where fifty million people can read it? Real gentlemen don`t kiss and tell, or not kiss and tell, whichever the case may be. I admit I was stumped by her reaction. When did respect become a bad word?

Things eventually calmed down between mother and daughter after I voiced my opinion, and life went on as it always does. A day or two later I stumbled across an article about how many young parents are teaching their kids to address adults by using their first names, as opposed to the antiquated terms of Mr., Mrs., etc. One young mother even went on to say that we, as adults, are not entitled to such titles just because we`re older.

Excuse me? Uhm, yes, I AM entitled to being addressed as Mrs. Locey, thank you very much. I am an adult. They are children. I earned that moniker of regard by living to be fifty, being married for over twenty years, learning about life and all the hard knocks it gives you, and being a mother for close to sixteen years.

I cannot imagine going into any home as a child and walking up to my friend`s parents and saying, ‘Hey, Tim! Howdy Greta!’ My mother would have flayed me alive for such disrespect of someone older than me when she heard about it. And make no mistake, she would have heard about it. What the heck is going on? Can someone please explain this trend to me? I am so lost I need a GPS and Les Stroud to get me back home. When did addressing your elders with the respect due to them because they have lived and learned for fifty, sixty, seventy or more years become old hat? When did treating a young woman like a lady become something to shudder or scoff at?

Maybe it`s just me. Maybe I really AM getting old and frumpy and grouchy. Well, I`ve always been frumpy and grouchy at times, but still, the point remains! Perhaps I AM out of touch with the times, but make no mistake, when a youngster calls my home or appears at my door, they had darn well call hubby and I Mister and Mrs. Locey. That`s just showing consideration for someone who knows a whole HELL of a lot more than the young teen speaking to us. So, now that I have that off my chest, I`m going to go listen to Aretha telling it like it is. Hmm, maybe some of these teens and young parents should listen to Ms. Franklin? It would be a HUGE step up from Justin Beiber and maybe, just maybe, they`d learn something.

One-Liners 1-15

2012-01-15T10:12:00.002-05:00

Calliope - "It`s so chilly even my wattles are frosty!"

As always, y`all are encouraged to play along. Just put your one-liner down in the comments box!

Word of Mouth - Blood Bound

2012-01-11T07:18:00.003-05:00

Hey there all! Time to nosh about another book! I sure am glad to be back in my reading groove. I really miss my books when I can`t get to them. This time around, we`ll be chatting about the first novel in a new series by Rachel Vincent titled ‘Blood Bound.’

I readily admit to being a big fan of Ms. Vincent`s ever since I picked up book one of her ‘Shifter’ series. So I was very excited to get my hands on this latest novel. ‘Blood Bound’ is a new heroine and hero in a new world. A world that is very different from most. In this world, there are people who are known as ‘Skilled’. They possess the power to track by the scent of blood, find you by your name, bind you to contracts or walk through the shadows from one place to another. You know that dark space under your bed? That creepy inkiness that scared you as a kid when you would peek downward? In the world of Olivia Warren, you make sure you have that space well lit or you just may find someone crawling out from under your mattress.

Liv Warren is another wonderful character brought to us by Ms. Vincent. She is tough, makes her own rules and has learned over the years not to trust anyone. Liv is a paranormal tracker. She can find you with just one drop of blood over great distances. Things get complicated quickly when the daughter of one of her childhood friends goes missing. Liv is compelled to help thanks to an oath made when she was young. She cannot rest until the child is found. And this throws her right into the path of her former lover Cam Caballero, a man who is forbidden to her for reasons even he isn`t aware of. Cam also is skilled. He is a name-tracker and in the employ of the underworld boss that is in competition with the man Liv is bound to. Yeah, star-crossed doesn`t even begin to describe these two!

The two find themselves racing to save the child from two warring syndicates that rule this dark world. Liv and Cam have to move through lies, secrets, danger, drama and traumas, hopefully figuring out what dark secrets surround this missing girl before more blood begins to flow.

As with the ‘Shifter’ series, I found myself growing attached to Liv and Cam rapidly. The action and suspense are top-notch. The pace is perfect throughout. It is really hard for an author to give us a new world, but Ms. Vincent does an excellent job of introducing us to the skilled people who move throughout the book. She doesn`t rush or push, she simply lets the story revolve around Liv and you soon find yourself cheering for this woman. And of course, let us not forget to touch upon the bed-play! It is hot, tender and well-suited for the tale. There isn`t a ton of sex, but what we get is superbly written.

The only thing I could find fault with in this novel is the switching between Liv and Cam. Most books that I`ve read that are in first-person stay with one character. This one goes back and forth. It was really confusing for me at first, and I had to stop reading and try to figure out what was happening. Once I got into the groove, then it was fine, and added a nice touch to be able to get inside Cam`s head as well as Liv`s.

If you`re a fan of the paranormal realm, then I recommend ‘Blood Bound’ by Rachel Vincent. And just to be certain, make sure you have the closet light on when you go to sleep.

Word of Mouth - Blood Bound

2012-01-11T07:18:00.000-05:00

Hey there all! Time to nosh about another book! I sure am glad to be back in my reading groove. I really miss my books when I can`t get to them. This time around, we`ll be chatting about the first novel in a new series by Rachel Vincent titled ‘Blood Bound.’

I readily admit to being a big fan of Ms. Vincent`s ever since I picked up book one of her ‘Shifter’ series. So I was very excited to get my hands on this latest novel. ‘Blood Bound’ is a new heroine and hero in a new world. A world that is very different from most. In this world, there are people who are known as ‘Skilled’. They possess the power to track by the scent of blood, find you by your name, bind you to contracts or walk through the shadows from one place to another. You know that dark space under your bed? That creepy inkiness that scared you as a kid when you would peek downward? In the world of Olivia Warren, you make sure you have that space well lit or you just may find someone crawling out from under your mattress.

Liv Warren is another wonderful character brought to us by Ms. Vincent. She is tough, makes her own rules and has learned over the years not to trust anyone. Liv is a paranormal tracker. She can find you with just one drop of blood over great distances. Things get complicated quickly when the daughter of one of her childhood friends goes missing. Liv is compelled to help thanks to an oath made when she was young. She cannot rest until the child is found. And this throws her right into the path of her former lover Cam Caballero, a man who is forbidden to her for reasons even he isn`t aware of. Cam also is skilled. He is a name-tracker and in the employ of the underworld boss that is in competition with the man Liv is bound to. Yeah, star-crossed doesn`t even begin to describe these two!

The two find themselves racing to save the child from two warring syndicates that rule this dark world. Liv and Cam have to move through lies, secrets, danger, drama and traumas, hopefully figuring out what dark secrets surround this missing girl before more blood begins to flow.

As with the ‘Shifter’ series, I found myself growing attached to Liv and Cam rapidly. The action and suspense are top-notch. The pace is perfect throughout. It is really hard for an author to give us a new world, but Ms. Vincent does an excellent job of introducing us to the skilled people who move throughout the book. She doesn`t rush or push, she simply lets the story revolve around Liv and you soon find yourself cheering for this woman. And of course, let us not forget to touch upon the bed-play! It is hot, tender and well-suited for the tale. There isn`t a ton of sex, but what we get is superbly written. The only thing I could find fault with in this novel is the switching between Liv and Cam. Most books that I`ve read that are in first-person stay with one character. This one goes back and forth. It was really confusing for me at first, and I had to stop reading and try to figure out what was happening. Once I got into the groove, then it was fine, and added a nice touch to be able to get inside Cam`s head as well as Liv`s.

If you`re a fan of the paranormal realm, then I recommend ‘Blood Bound’ by Rachel Vincent. And just to be certain, make sure you have the closet light on when you go to sleep.

A Fifty Degree Day in Early January?!

2012-01-07T13:19:00.005-05:00

I`ll take every single one of them I can get! Come on in gang, kick off your Muck boots and grab a mug!

What a glorious day it is here in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania! The sun is shining, the breeze is soft and I even have a few windows open. Thank you Mother Nature! After a couple days of brutal cold this respite is much appreciated. Aside from the weather, things here are running about as they usually do. We still have a turkey that thinks it`s April. Mister plans on candling his eggs in the incubator tonight, so I`ll let y`all know if any are fertile or not. The goats are just hanging out, gestating. We`re due to kid out in late March/early April so I have a long time to go until I get to hug and smooch new kids. I`m getting twitchy already!

Speaking of the goats, I went down with a baggie full of animal crackers the other day, in hopes of getting a good snapshot of myself for my author image. That little picture that appears on the back cover of a novel, sometimes with a short bio, was the last thing I had to get together before I submit my manuscript to the publisher. Mister came along as official photographer. Sure, I could have hired a professional, but I wanted the image to be homespun and natural, to reflect the books heroine, the cover art and its author. I just can`t picture me, on the back of my book, looking like a fashion model with poofed-up hair and clad in an evening gown, can you? Here are a few of the out-takes of the photo session. Those girls LOVE their animal
crackers and they don`t mind nipping fingers to get them!

So, what else? Last Sunday my beloved dryer moved to the appliance resting grounds. I cannot fault the old girl. She served me faithfully for over ten years, drying up to ten loads a week. We made a quick run to Beiter`s and carted home a new dryer. This one even has a light inside! Now, I am back in the game. Yippee she typed sarcastically. I swear if I had the money, I would pay someone to do my laundry for me and grocery shop. I hate grocery shopping! Put it in the cart, take it out of the cart to pay, bag it up and put it back in the cart. Take it out of the cart and put it in the truck, take it out of the truck and put it in the house. Take it out of the bags and put it in the cupboards, freezer, fridge or bathroom. Repeat next week! Blech I say!

Wow, I got off on a tangent there. I`ll try to stay on track. Since it was such a nice day today, Miss Yodeling and I went with my MIL over to Wally-World this morning. Mom-in-Law needed some stuff and I guess the money my child got for the holidays was burning a hole in her pocket, so we rode over. I didn`t need anything really, but as usual, I came home with some goodies. I found some new dishtowels with roosters on them, some batteries for Mister and a new green blanket for our bed. Last year Mister gifted me with a bedspread. It was white as fresh snow when I un-wrapped it. Yeah, a year later and you know what that white bedspread looks like now. With two cats and three dogs that have mud radar it wasn`t as white as it had been. I did look for different colors, such as Pennsylvania clay-mud brown, Poe the yellow Lab safflower or Trinity the black Lab ebony, but Wal-Mart doesn`t carry those hues. It was white, light blue or green. I picked green. Let`s hope that it stays neater than the white one did. I guess that`s about all the excitement here on the hillside farm!

Now, I suppose, I`ll go visit with my blogging buddies, finish my laundry and perhaps do a wee bit of writing on the second book in my ‘Gods & Goats’ series. Or maybe I`ll just slip on back and play some X-Box! Or read! Or nap! Or have another cuppa! The day is so full of possibilities!

Enjoy your weekend!

One Liners - 1/4

2012-01-04T07:38:00.002-05:00

Lucius - "The box really IS the best part of the gift!"

As always, y`all are encouraged to play along! Just leave your one-liner for the above photo in the comments section.

Word of Mouth - Gas Drilling and the Fracking of a Marriage

2012-01-01T05:32:00.003-05:00

Happy 2012! *Tosses confetti into air*

I thought the best way to start off a new year was with a book review. What better way to ring in 2012 than with a new book to chat about?! I`ve finally gotten back into my reading rhythm since all the edits I`m going to do for now on ‘Of Gods & Goats’ are done and the holidays are behind us. This time around we`ll be sipping coffee and noshing about ‘Gas Drilling and the Fracking of a Marriage’ by Stephanie C. Hamel.

I have two confessions to make pertaining to this book. One is that I am SO bummed that I missed my chance to meet and talk to the author when she was having a book-event at our local indie bookstore, From my Shelf Books. I was deeply into NaNoWriMo mode and totally missed her appearance. Shame on me. Secondly, I must confess to doing what no reader should do. I judged the book by the cover before I read it. Shame on me twice. When I stopped into Kasey`s bookstore to pick up my copy, I had this niggling thought that this book would be dry, and filled with geological terminology that I would never grasp. BUT, the inclusion of the word ‘marriage’ placated my doubting Thomas nature. I can now say that Ms. Hamel`s book is anything but dry and filled with scientific jargon that left me bored. Learn from my mistakes people.

Ms. Hamel`s accounting of her struggle with the temptation of leasing her land to the natural gas companies is compelling, brutally honest and moving. The story takes place right in my neck of the woods, where gas drilling and ‘fracking’ (which is fracturing the shale beneath the surface) is in full swing. You cannot go anywhere in North-central Pennsylvania without seeing signs of natural gas drilling. Our once quiet roads are now crammed with tanker trucks carrying ‘fracking liquids’ (whatever they are). The hotels and motels and any rental house in the area are filled with out-of-state gas workers, and the pastoral acres that once had cattle and sheep meandering peacefully now have brightly lit towers instead of farm animals. It has been an economic boon to our poor county, and to the folks who signed the gas leases, myself and my hubby included. But at what cost to the environment?

Those questions, and countless more, are looked at with an amazingly honest eye in Ms. Hamel`s book. She does not shy away from showing us just how this heated topic tore into her marriage. She was firmly against signing the gas lease; her husband was strongly for signing. She didn`t wish to see the idyllic farmland she had spent summers playing on as a child turned into a drilling site. Her husband was looking at their financial future, and the very shaky job he had. Both had very good points. There is no right or wrong in this I learned when my husband and I sat down and talked about signing that gas lease a few years ago.

Since Ms. Hamel has a PhD in environmental health sciences, she was even more torn by the quandary. She couldn`t ignore the possible effects of gas drilling, but, she also had two young boys at home. The signing bonuses and royalties began to really erode her strong convictions, as it would anyone. She takes us through the journey in a book that is laid out in a journal form, as she speaks with friends, neighbors, professors, officials and family. She explores how taxing she was on her husband, and he her, as they grappled with this tempting, and possibly ecologically damaging, situation.

I was compelled to read and witness this one family`s tussle with very tough questions. It is a heartfelt and honest book. It will make you think about our role as stewards of the earth. What we are handing to our children? How much do our ideals mean when faced with going up against a large industry that has state law giving them the right to collect gas from under our property via a neighbors well, even if we don`t sign the lease, which would leave us sitting there without a dime while our neighbors rake in cash hand over fist? Ms. Hamel doesn`t have all the answers but she does pose some very thought-provoking questions that anyone, be they surrounded by natural gas drilling or not, will ponder over for quite a long time.

Someone`s Biological Clock is Wound Too Tightly

2011-12-29T07:31:00.004-05:00

Morning all! I`m just pouring a fresh cuppa, so why don`t you join me? It`ll keep the frost from settling on your nose!

I just had to pass along this little surprise Miss Yodeling discovered yesterday afternoon. It seems that one of our broad-breasted hens, Bertha (She is indeed named after Bertha Butt from the song 'Troglodyte' by the Jimmy Castor Bunch. You all remember that song, don`t you?) has decided that the end of December is the perfect time to lay eggs!

Why Bertha has chosen the middle of winter to make a nest is FAR beyond me! Usually, turkeys are seasonal layers, starting when the amount of daylight is increasing nicely, like say, April. I can`t imagine that our BB tom, Andre, is fertile. I know that drakes and ganders don`t become potent until late spring, again directly related to the amount of light. She has been working on her little nest for awhile, since most hens lay an egg every other day and she had nine in her nest. One got broken, which is why most BB hens aren`t very successful brooders. A bird that weighs over thirty pounds is rough on eggs!

Of course, Mister`s eyes widened in glee when he saw the bounty! Now, the remaining eight eggs are in an incubator. We`ll candle them in a couple weeks and see if anything is growing. I have serious doubts but, hey, you never know, right?

I also wanted to give a warm yodel of welcome to Ann Thomas and drmomi! Howdy and welcome to the hillside farm, where the critters are nearly as goofy as the goatherders!

Radio Ga-Ga

2011-12-28T13:31:00.001-05:00

Yes, I stole that line from the awesomely fantastic group Queen, but it really fits this post. Come on in gang, drop down and I`ll pour you a fresh cuppa!

First, before I get going on the radio story, I hope everyone in blog-land had a great holiday season! Christmas on the hillside farm was a grand one. Seems we all must have been exceptionally good this year. Me in particular, but I`m always good so that`s no surprise. *Whistles innocently* Santa brought me a new range! Now I won`t have to lie on the floor to light the pilot for the stove anymore! That floor gets lower and lower every year for some odd reason. I also cleaned up in the Grecian department, with a new calendar all about ancient Greece and the movie ‘The Eagle’ which I saw in the theater and adored. Can a woman have too much Greek in her life? I think not.

Okay, so now, let`s get to the drama of my morning. Today was another physical therapy day for my mother-in-law, so down I go around 8:30 this morning to fix her coal stove and gather her up. I hadn`t warmed up my truck since I didn`t realize how cold it was. Yeah, I had been out to do chores earlier but that don`t count. I was still warmed internally by java juice.

We head down the road, chatting away about this and that, when I realize that my beloved classic rock radio station isn`t on. GASP! Has someone dared to touch the knob?! I couldn`t imagine it, since turning the radio knob is a crime punishable by several hours of harping. Not meaning to be rude, but now beginning to get twitchy, I reached over and cranked the volume up in the middle of what my mother-in-law was saying. I smiled at her and mumbled something about music. Nothing came from the speakers but static. I began to perspire.

“Oh, this is bad.” I said and fiddled with the knob, fine-tuning desperately. “The Met is off the air!”

“Guess you`ll have to listen to hillbilly music,” my mother-in-law commented.

My eyes widened. The truck weaved just slightly as I kept fiddling. Now don`t get me wrong country music fans, I sort-of enjoy country tunes if they`re the old performers. Conway Twitty, George Jones, Johnny Cash, Freddy Fender, you know? The stuff my mother listened to while I was growing up and trying to drown out her music with KISS and YES. It`s just, to me, all these new country singers sound the same. I`m sure folks that aren`t into rock or metal say the same thing about those genres too, though.

“Uhm,” I brilliantly replied and began searching for a rock station with desperation. “There`s got to be another classic rock station somewhere.”

Well, sadly, it seems there isn`t in this neck of the woods. There are a hundred and fifty-three country stations, one classical music station, and several stations that play rap/pop/dance or whatever the Sam Hill kids call their tunes nowadays. I flew past someone who sounded like that Beiber kid as if Satan himself was the disc jockey. As the panic set in I landed on a station that was playing something that sounded like a woman singing while mixing a cake with the blender set on warp nine. I think it might have been some new club song. Either that or she had her booby caught in that warp nine blender. I began to have mild palpitations and my mouth felt dry.

“Zeppelin,” I coughed weakly. “Must………..find……..Zeppelin.”

Fortunately, through all this gasping, wheezing and general hysteria (Ah Def Leppard, where were you when I needed you the most?) my mother-in-law was, as always, pleasant and non-judgmental. She simply watched me mumbling incoherently then smiled when I cussed out the truck driver behind me who was getting antsy as I drove and searched for some rock music. Finally, by the grace of the gods of rock and roll, I stumbled into a radio station that was playing The Monkees. Granted, that group isn`t The Who but it was much better than Justin Beiber. I sighed. Then the next song came on. It was Billy Joel. I began to weep silently and turned the damned radio off.

“We`ll just talk,” I muttered, to which, my mother-in-law smiled once more and nodded.

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T17:27:00.003-05:00

From all of us on the hillside farm!

Mister Makes Cookies

2011-12-23T13:09:00.001-05:00

Hey gang! Man, I`ve missed my blog and all my blogging` buddies! *Big hug*

Life here on the goat farm has just been coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs crazy over the past week. Between taking my MIL to her physical therapy appointments twice a week (She is doing great after her knee replacement surgery!), Christmas shopping, wrapping, school events, cookie making and now the last round of edits on ‘Of Gods & Goats’, I haven`t had time to wind my watch!

Speaking of cookies, we had a rather funny thing happen here the night before last. At least, I found it funny, Mister on the other hand…..

It started after dinner when Mister came back from tending to his mother`s coal stove for the night. He wanted to make cookies. Miss Yodeling had made a batch for her friends the previous night, and I guess he got in the mood for peanut butter No-Bakes. Since none came home from the high school, it was either make more or go without! So he opted to try his hand at cookie making.

I had already done the dinner dishes and informed him that I didn`t mind if he made cookies, as long as he cleaned up afterwards. I figure three sink-loads of dishes in one day is enough, right ladies? He agreed and so I tottered off and went back to play some X-Box. (That darn Skyrim is SO addictive!)

Mister turned the TV on, the hunting channel as usual. How many times can you watch a man shoot a deer before it becomes a tad repetitive? Must be a guy thing. Anydoodles, he could be heard out in the kitchen, gathering his ingredients of Quaker Minute Oats, vanilla, peanut butter, Crisco and milk. Out came the wax paper and several sheets were ripped off. After a small search for my measuring cups that I had to assist in, he was good to go!

Miss and I could hear him stirring and stirring, melting the Crisco and sugar and then adding his other ingredients. He was really enjoying himself! Those No-Bakes are a real breeze and within a couple of minutes, he had them all spooned out and cooling on his sheets of wax paper. He gave us a thumbs-up as he passed Miss and I in her room, then out he went to stoke up our wood stove for the night.

I returned to my game, and dragon killing, and Miss got back to her whatever it is she does on her laptop nightly. Chatting I`m sure. Mister came back inside and started up the hall. It was then that a bellow filled the house as he charged into the kitchen, madder than a wet hen. Two cats flew past the doorway to Miss Yodeling`s room like Lucifer himself were on their bushy tails.

I looked over at my daughter. She looked at me, and we exchanged a smile. Must be Lu-Lu and Lucius thought some peanut butter No-Bakes sounded really good too! The dogs got the cookies that the cats had nibbled on.

Hmmm, I wonder if the dogs didn`t put the cats up to it?!

Word of Mouth for Kids - It`s a Tie!

2011-12-15T04:22:00.004-05:00

Ho-Ho-Ho! I thought about trying to wriggle down the chimney for this final book review for kids, but given that I had three series stuffed into my bag, I figured I wouldn`t fit through the flue. That`s right, three series. It was a tie for the twelve and over age range. These three authors, and their books, made it down-right impossible for me to pick one favorite over another, so I stopped trying and simply decided to run with all three since each deserves a recommendation. If you have a young adult in the house, and they`ve never had the pleasure of reading the trio of book sets coming along, do order them for your soon-to-be or already is a teen, because each series has unforgettable characters and stories that will thrill older kids as well. Okay, let`s get this literary jingle-bell hop hopping!

The Harry Potter Series

What can I possibly say about Harry and his buddies that hasn`t been said already? This is one of the best series of books that I`ve ever read, period. Ms. Rowling spins a wonderful and dramatic story centered on the young wizard, Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The world of Hogwarts School, the inhabitants and the villains are forever etched into our world and conscious. There is everything a reader would want in the Potter books. Action, adventure, scary moments, love, loss, drama, humor, dragons, magic, Quidditch ( A game played on flying broomsticks) Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and one of the most memorable bad guys ever to slither across the earth – Lord Voldemort. I`m not scared to say his name. And, if I recall correctly, the Potter books are accepted in the Accelerated Reader (Or AR for short) program that many schools participate in. A win – win for kids and parents alike!

The Percy Jackson Series

Ah, Percy. I do adore your series so. As does my daughter and many of her friends. I know, this may sound a little biased coming from me, but this series of books about the young demigod son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, may just eek past Potter for me. And here is why, aside from my obvious love of all things Greek. This series teaches as it entertains. And the kids won`t even realize that they`re learning, but they are! Rick Riordan, who has inspired me more than I can say in my own upcoming series of Grecian-flavored books, does a tremendous job of taking those dusty old Gods we were forced to read about in high school and breathing new and hip life into them. Do they use the term hip anymore?? Well, whatever term the kids use, these books are it! Percy, Annabeth (The daughter of Athena and a mortal man) Grover the satyr and all the kids at Camp Half-Blood will take readers on a chariot ride jam-packed with gods, monsters, pens that become swords, laughter, sadness, close calls and first kisses. And just like Mister Potter, the Percy Jackson books are also in the Accelerated Reader program.

The Hunger Games Trilogy

The story of Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen year-old girl who lives in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem, where the countries of North America once were, will move your tween - or teen - or even you to tears. Then, before your cheeks are dry, you find yourself cheering Katniss on as she steps in for her younger sister to participate in the Hunger Games, a yearly televised event where participants aged twelve to eighteen, from every district of Panem, engage in a battle where only one can survive. These three books will have you gasping, laughing, weeping and, at times, sitting in stunned silence. Written by Suzanne Collins, the trilogy moves through the story of Katniss, but also addresses the unrest that is bubbling up in the Districts that surrounds the Capitol. Katniss, Peeta, Gayle and Haymitch will become beloved friends as you race, and I do mean race, to turn the pages. The books have an incredibly compelling life-or-death plot. They are wildly entertaining and at times disturbing. I do wish to point out that the books deal with a very violent premise - teens forced to fight each other to the death to survive using whatever means are necessary. There is very little physical romance. I have seen some comments about the violence, which would probably be rated PG-13 nowadays, but I did want to mention that in case any parent may have qualms. I myself had no problem letting my daughter read them, but others may. The Hunger Games are also included in the Accelerated Readers program.

For more information on the AR program.

To find which books are on the AR list.

*~*~*

And that wraps up my Word of Mouth for Kids reviews. I hope they`ve helped folks find a book, or two or even three, for their children or grandchildren for the upcoming holidays. As you can tell I am an avid voice for reading to your children and encouraging a love of reading early in their lives. In this day and age of text talk and Twitter, where the attention span of kids seems to get taxed if they go over a hundred and forty characters, reading is more important than ever. So I`ll leave you with a quote from Ronald Dahl`s book ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ that you may, or may not, agree with.

“So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray

Go throw your TV set away

And in its place you can install

A lovely bookshelf on the wall.”

Merry Christmas!

The Genetics of Peeking, Shaking & Poking

2011-12-12T13:15:00.002-05:00

I`ve been pondering on genetics lately. And no, not any in-depth pondering like the kind those scientists do in their sterile labs. They probably call their pondering ‘Theorizing’ but it all means the same thing, which is, someone standing around with a fresh cup of java and a blank look on their face as they meander mentally. If you live with me that airy expression is a familiar one. I drift off all the time. During dinner my husband or daughter will snap their fingers in front of me and I`ll jerk back to the meal, a sheepish smile on my face and mutter something about plotlines or dialog.

My latest drift-off from reality occurred this morning and is directly related to Alvin and the Chipmunks and new proof that present peeking is inherited. Okay, sure, it`s a leap from DNA to singing rodents, but stick with me, I`ll get things sorted out soon. What began this sojourn was a link a friend of mine posted on Facebook. It was that classic (We don`t use old in this house. Classic sounds so much more elegant, don`t you think?) Chipmunk`s tune ‘The Christmas Song’. Does anyone know if Alvin ever got his hula-hoop?

Seeing and hearing that song took me back in a flash to my childhood. I went back in time to when I was perhaps eight. All I wanted was ‘The Chipmunks’ album. For those of you who, like my fifteen year-old daughter, do not know what an album is, it is a record. A record is a round bit of hard vinyl that when the needle of a record player was placed upon it, music issued forth through some terrible speakers. Yes, the sound quality was abysmal and the records got scratched terribly and leaped about or stuck, but neither we kids nor the brontosaurus that grazed outside the windows of our cave seemed to mind.

So, there I was, the morning of Christmas. I was the only one awake and what to my wandering eyes did appear, but a package under the tree that resembled an album! I have to assume it was probably around three in the morning, or some hour equally as ghastly to adults. I crept closer, lifted the record-shaped package and peeled the paper from it as carefully as I could. There, smiling back at me were Alvin, Simon and Theodore. I was beyond delighted!

Then, I stuck the tape back down, stashed it back among the other gifts and high-tailed it back upstairs. As I waited for my mother to wake up, something weird started to happen. The high of knowing what I had gotten began to diminish. I had become a Peeker even though the name tag had stated strongly not to. I can`t recall what else I got that year, or if my mother knew I had peeked although I`m sure she did. We mom`s know all. I had learned a lesson that dark Christmas morn. I would never again allow my genetic disposition to ruin a surprise! We won`t dally discussing any other part of my disposition, but rest assured it`s always sunny.

A few years have passed since I learned my lesson about peeking, poking and prodding. I now do not want to know what I`m getting before I open the gift. I also do not want to know the ending of a movie or book ahead of time, so please friends, don`t tell me! My husband also suffers from this malady. According to my mother-in-law, he has always been this way. His skills are so advanced and honed over time that he can tell the material a garment is made out of without shaking or poking, or so he claims. Perhaps he is a mutant with an X-gene?? Since I haven`t seen any spandex stashed in our closet I have to assume not. Darn shame, that is. I could get into hanging out with Wolverine.

Now it seems my daughter has inherited this most dreaded of holiday genes. I cannot prove that she is wound up in clandestine holiday nosing around but I have some scientifically based suspicions. Last night I moseyed into her room, to play a bit of X-Box, and there on her desk was a big chocolate bar that we had bought for one of her friends. My right eyebrow rose. She had asked about it earlier in the day and at the time I was busy, so I told her I`d dig it out before bedtime, since it was in the bags that contained her and her father`s presents.

“I see you found that candy bar for Samantha,” I said with suspicion. She looked up from her Spanish worksheet and a halo popped up over her golden head. I was nearly blinded by her innocence.

“Oh yeah,” she commented nonchalantly, her eyes going from the candy bar to me then back to her Spanish homework.

“And what else did you find in the bag that was in?” I asked and folded my arms over my chest.

“Nothing,” she quickly replied. Perhaps TOO quickly I wondered? “I only looked for Sam`s gift.”

“Uh-huh,” I mumbled.

I sighed and sat down. Honestly, she was doomed from the start. Not only did she inherit poor eyesight, her grandmother`s toes, her mother`s love of pierogies and her father`s nose, it seems she also got the Peeker gene. I had been hoping it would skip a generation or at least be recessive. Oh well, it could be worse I suppose. She could have inherited my husband’s Must-Control-The-Remote gene. Or does that genome only get passed to male offspring?

Madame Poe`s Inspirational Rumble-belly

2011-12-06T07:45:00.002-05:00

Ah the joy of owing dogs. Sometimes our canine friends can give us inspiration even when they`re being as bad as a dog can be. Case in point - our thirteen year old yellow Lab, Poe, who suffers from hip dysplasia and yet can manage to find ways to get herself in trouble as if she were still a pup! Yesterday morning our Grand Dame went outside in the wee hours to heed Mother Nature`s call, along with our other two dogs, Trinity, our black Lab, and Tinker, our beagle. It was very early, perhaps ten after four, and I had yet to get my zombie cure into me. As I sipped on coffee the dogs were out doing what dogs do, which, in this instance, is climbing onto the picnic table and dumping a large tub containing deer scraps onto the ground.

It`s deer rifle season here in Pennsylvania, and my brother-in-law had bagged a doe on Saturday. Thankfully all the entrails had been left in the woods, but all the other assorted renderings from rib cages to fat, had been tossed into a large blue barrel by my husband and my brother-in-law. The hide would be sold for a few bucks (There`s a witty pun in there somewhere) and the rest were to be taken on the mountain for the skunks, opossums and raccoons to find. There is very little for the wildlife left now.

It seems our old, arthritic dog, the same one that needs help getting into our truck, found the fortitude to climb onto the picnic table and scatter a feast, not only for herself, but for the other dogs as well. Of course, while this was occurring, I was staring at the walls, hair askew, trying to get as much java into me as I could as quickly as I could. After realizing how long they had been gone, I started calling and finally the pack came back to the house, all licking their lips. When the sun rose, and my brain was filled with the rush of coffee, I saw the scattered offerings and sighed. I knew someone would pay the piper. When Mister got home, I showed him the carnage and he argued up and down that it must have been a bear. Poe was too old to climb up on the table as she had done many times in her younger days.

After careful crime scene investigation, the muddy dog prints on the top of the table showed my spouse inconclusively that it was a dog, and a large dog, that done did the deed!

Sure as shooting, Madame Poe has a terrible case of rumble-belly this morning. You know the sound of a gut churning and rolling over itself? It was that grumbling sound, accompanied by Madame Poe scrubbing on the hallway walls (Don`t ask, it`s something she has done for years when she wants out) that both my husband and I woke up to this morning. I have scolded the dog, myself and my husband soundly. But this morning, as I was drinking my zombie cure, I had a thought. Given the hour, I was impressed by having a thought at all, let alone a deep one! As Madame Poe`s belly gurgled and bubbled it came to me that even though the old girl had been very bad, she also has shown me something pretty important.

She has shown me that despite her age, her sore hips and arthritic joints that she is still willing to climb to reach her goals. She isn`t letting a little thing like old age stop her from getting what she wants, even if what she wants makes her suffer afterwards. This member of the silver-muzzle clan was determined not to let her age impede her. That`s a lesson I think many of us who are now over the fifty birthday candles milestone can take to heart. Just because it might take us longer to get to the top of the table then it used to doesn`t mean we shouldn`t try.

Thank you, Madame Poe, and your rumble-belly, for reminding me to never give up scaling the picnic tables of life.

Word of Mouth for Kids - Goddess Girls

2011-12-04T04:47:00.004-05:00

I hear jingle-bells! Must be the holiday season is coming on fast and furious, so I`ll leap into another seasonal recommendation for young readers! This time I`ll pass some word of mouth about a truly delightful series for girls in the eight to twelve year range called ‘Goddess Girls’, written by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams.

This series came to my attention, as so many books do, when my dear Indie bookstore owner, Kasey, showed them to me one night at a writers group at her store, which can be found here if you wish to stop in and visit From My Shelf Books.

She placed them on the table and said “Why didn`t we think of this?” and after reading six of the books so far, I`m asking myself the same question! The series is about the Greek gods, but they`ve been made over and now are young kids, most under the age of thirteen, who attend Mount Olympus Academy.

Principal Zeus oversees the academy with his staff, which include among other mythological creatures, a Cyclops that teaches Hero-ology! There are other classes of course, like Beauty-ology, Beast-ology and Revenge-ology, since we all know how well trained Greek goddess are in revenge spells! All the Gods are there, Athena, Ares, Apollo, Hephaestus, Dionysus and the list goes on and on!

Each book is aimed at young girls and delivers a strong message. In ‘Athena the Brain’ Athena, the smartest girl at MOA, has to learn how to deal with being the new GG (Goddess Girl) in school and how to handle the meanest girl in history – Medusa. In ‘Persephone the Phony’ Persephone learns that going along just to fit in isn`t always the best way to live one’s life. ‘Aphrodite the Beauty’ finds out that sometimes the godboy who`s the cutest and strongest (Ares) isn`t always better than the godboy who is gentle, fun and kind yet uses a cane (Hephaestus). ‘Artemis the Brave’ worries about living up to being called ‘The Brave One’ even though she feels fear when facing Minotaur’s and the smelly Geryon in Beast-ology class. Of course, Artemis discovers the bravery inside her at the end, and also figures out that some godboys, Orion in this case, are just a lot of flash and starry eyes!

I cannot speak highly enough of this series! They are clever and witty, fun and filled with adventure, and are chocked right full of Greek mythos! Anytime a writer (Or in this case, writers) can find a new way to bring the Greek pantheon to life and make it appealing to kids, I am the first to leap into my chariot and ride across the sky announcing it to the mortals below. Ms. Holub and Ms. Williams add a perfect touch to each Goddess Girl, making them relatable and likeable. They each have their own problems and are trying to come to grips with having funny and odd feelings about the godboys in their class, yet, the girls are their own Goddesses, and romance doesn`t overshadow the tone of the books. Well, aside from Aphrodite, but when she and Isis get into a contest to see who the real Goddess of Love is, romance will have to win out, right?

If you have a young lady between the ages of eight and twelve, I think she will love the Goddess Girls series as much as I do!

Confessions of a Gaming Mom

2011-11-30T09:46:00.004-05:00

Hello, my name is Vicki, and I`m a video game mom.

*Support group murmurs ‘Hello’*

I play video games, daily if possible. When I buy a game, nine times out of ten, I say it`s for my daughter but it`s for both of us. Add this to my comic book habit and you can plainly see where my mind is most days (Aside from burly Greek gods and winsome goatherders that share a bed with burly Greek gods.)

Sometimes, I play them when my daughter is at school just so I can get an extra hour in slaying dragons, or being slain by dragons, which is most generally what occurs. I know, it`s really an odd past-time for a mother who is up in the ‘Slap a Classic License Plate On Her Fanny’ age range. I blame my video game habit on my mother, who was a gaming mom as well.

Before my daughter was born I can recall spending hours, sitting with my mom playing games on an old Nintendo. She played about as well as I do, but that didn`t really matter. We laughed and laughed as we struggled to get through a level. I think it was the combination of enjoying game play as much as it was the time spent just sitting beside each other and chatting as we died, repeatedly and in very gory and glamorous ways!

Now, I have my daughter to play with, since my mother passed over several years ago. And, I can see the same bonds forming as we spend time with controller in hand. There are nights that she and I end up in tears as I bumble around, battle axe in hand, trying to take down giants and mammoths only to end up as paste. As we play, we`ll chat, much like my mother and I used to, about everything and nothing.

*Stops talking and ponders for a moment*

You know, I came to this group in hopes of maybe finding a way to curb my video game habit. I mean, is it wrong to want to get ‘Assassins Creed - Revelations’ for a Christmas present as much as my teenager does? I thought that it might have been, but after coming here and voicing my concerns, I see that it isn`t wrong, or odd, or even weird. There are good things to be said about gaming and I think I just stumbled upon one. The time spent with your child.

Sure, some folks allow the game system to replace interaction time with their kids, and that`s not good. But if you can share something, especially with a teen that is going through the turbulence of high school, and if you can spend an hour or two just sharing day to day stuff…..then it isn`t a problem at all, is it?

So, I guess I don`t need this support group. All I need is another box of rechargeable batteries, my Nord warrior and a few hours spent giggling with my daughter.

And that copy of ‘Assassins Creed - Revelations’, of course.

*~*~*

A big yodeling welcome to Jim! Thanks for coming up the hill, hope you enjoy your visit!

Word of Mouth for Kids - Hobo Finds A Home

2011-11-26T09:03:00.003-05:00

Ho-Ho-Ho! The holidays are upon us and it`s time for doing all that shopping that I`ve – I mean we`ve put off. I thought it would be fun to read and recommend some children`s books over the next few weeks, since there is no better gift for a child than a book and a love of literature. What I`ll do is review books in three different age ranges – four to eight, eight to twelve and twelve and over. That should cover every child, grandchild, nephew or niece anyone may have on their gift-list.

Our first Word of Mouth for Kids will be for the four to eight year old ranges, although even younger children will enjoy ‘Hobo Finds A Home’ written by Hobo, as told to Kevin Coolidge, read to them. Kevin and his lovely bride, Kasey, own our local independent bookstore ‘From My Shelf Books ‘in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. Hobo is a fixture in their bookstore and the official greeter, when he`s not napping.

I must say over the past year or two I`ve had the privilege of meeting with, chatting to and having various authors sign my copy of their books. But never have I had the honor of being able to give the writer a belly rub while having my elbow, or chin, head-bonked!

The story begins with Hobo, a lively kitten, who lives on Farmer Brown`s farm. Hobo isn`t like the other farm cats though, he doesn`t like sleeping in scratchy hay or getting stepped on by clumsy cows. One day the feisty feline decides he`s had enough and he leaves Farmer Brown`s farm. Off he goes into the world, and at first, he has grand adventures. He pretends he is a lion, he plays with sunbeams and butterflies and he sleeps under the stars. Hobo feels as if he were the king of the world!

But then he begins to feel lonely and hungry. He starts to miss Farmer Brown, the itchy hay and even those clumsy cows. He tries to make friends in the woods, but the opossum family he meets only wants to lie around and the black-and-white spice kitty makes him run away from its terrible stink.

One day, Hobo is walking down the road and begins to follow a man. The man notices that Hobo is hungry and when they get to the man’s house, he feeds him some tuna. But Gonzo, a big fat cat chases Hobo from his tuna dinner. The man takes Hobo inside, so he doesn`t have to fight with fat cats, opossums or spice kitty’s. Hobo moves in, gets the house suited to his liking, finds a lovely spot in front of the fire, gets his own bed and soft pillow, lots of food and most of all, Hobo finds a new friend and a home.

Hobo tells a wonderful tale. His story is warm and funny (I loved the term ‘spice kitty’ for a skunk!) and relays a very important message about friendship and family that even a non-reader can grasp with ease. The artwork is bright and friendly and colorful. It`s a perfectly paced story for a young child, not too long and not too short. If you are looking for a book to gift that special young child in your life with this holiday season, I highly recommend ‘Hobo Finds A Home’.

Oh, and as an extra incentive to purchase Hobo`s story (not that you`ll need one) a portion of the profits from the sale of the book are being donated to the Second Chance Animal Sanctuaries in North Central Pennsylvania. So not only will you be giving a beloved child a delightful book, you`ll also be helping unwanted pets to find new friends and homes.

Just like Hobo did.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T04:30:00.001-05:00

From our farm to yours!

Getting the Turkey to the Table

2011-11-20T17:23:00.018-05:00

Hello there gang, drop on down and let`s shoot the breeze!

Today Mister and I got our Thanksgiving turkeys done. It`s been a few years since we dressed a meat turkey but it`s kind of like riding a bike as they say. Since it`s that time of year and folks seem to be interested in home butchering more and more, I thought I would share with y`all how we did our bird for the big day this Thursday. We started out with two, one white and one bronze broad-breasted tom.

Mister has decided to keep two bronze hens and one tom for breeding. We`ll see how that goes since the only way these broad-breasted turkeys successfully reproduce is with human help. Due to humans breeding for huge breasts, the toms are now too large to allow them to copulate with the hens well. Mister and I are still going around about helping the turkeys. I won`t go into vivid detail, but I can think of better ways to spend my time then pleasuring a tom turkey, if you get my drift.

Anydoodles, the sex lives of our turkeys aside; this is a squiky post, so anyone who has a sensitive tummy about the butchering process may not wish to read any further. It`s also a pretty image heavy post but hopefully it will be informative.

Okay, onward we`ll go with how we yodeling goatherders butcher and dress a meat turkey. Let me apologize for the photo quality now. Some of the images are a tad blurry. I did ask Santa for a new camera this year, so we`ll see if I’ve been good enough!

First off, these are the butchering tools we used –

-A good sharpening stone for the knives, a lung scraper and a propane torch. Make sure your knives are as sharp as you can get them. The lung scraper is a handy gizmo that we bought for chickens but rarely use for turkeys, who have larger chest cavities, but they`re a nice little thing to have on hand. The torch is for singeing the hairs after plucking.

Also, we have this book (One of many on raising and butchering livestock) on our homesteading bookshelf.

It`s a very comprehensive book and one I recommend to anyone thinking of raising turkeys. The author`s name is Leonard S. Mercia, in case you can`t read his name well. As you can see, ours is pretty dog-eared from lots of use over the years.

The night before you butcher any bird, it`s recommended that you remove their feed. This will help make sure the bird’s crop is empty. I`ll not show the beheading process, that`s even a tad too ugly for me. We don`t use a chopping block for meat turkeys like we do for chickens. We`ve found over the years that too much damage is done when we use a block and axe. Plus, the meat turkeys are so large I can`t handle them while Mister chops.

How we begin things is by gathering the bird, arms around their wings please because they will flog you into a coma if a wing gets loose, and then hang them by their feet upside-down on our swing-set. Now it`s time for that very sharp knife. Mister quickly and cleanly cuts their heads off. Then we allow them to hang for a bit to bleed out and stop flapping. This system works well for us. The birds don`t do any damage to themselves in terms of bruising of the meat or possible broken wings from flopping around on the ground.

While the turkey is hanging we`re busy with getting things situated for scalding. This is our set-up -

-A twenty-five gallon galvanized trash can atop a propane turkey fryer base. The water has to be at 140 degrees. You don`t want a boil. We place a thermometer in the water and when it`s at temperature we then remove the turkey from its foot-holds and dunk.

You really want to work the bird up and down well in the scald water for thirty seconds. Make sure you get the legs and tail well immersed. If you go longer than thirty seconds you`ll begin to cook the skin. After the scald we begin plucking and picking! Ye-Haw!

The best suggestion I can give folks is to take your time with plucking. Don`t grab too big of a handful of feathers or you might rip the skin, which is what I did here on the bronze bird I was working on. Oops!

I have the most trouble with wing feathers which can be quite stubborn. Those I have to sometimes use pliers to remove one by one. Most generally we can get a bird pretty cleanly plucked in fifteen minutes.

Okay, so we`ll move along and now the turkey is feather-free.

We then singe the bird lightly, to remove hair-like feathers.

Don`t apply the torch to the carcass or the skin will get scorched. Once the singeing is complete we move onto cleaning the bird out. Mister removes the feet at the knee joint while they`re still hanging, so he doesn`t have to fight with the ropes. If you have really large bird, you may wish to get some help getting the turkey down from the ropes. Then he cuts out the oil gland found on the tail of the bird and tosses it into the scrap pile. Mister slits the skin on the back of the neck then cuts the neck off and places it aside for giblets.

Then he reaches into the cavity and removes the crop, which hopefully is empty. He carefully cuts below the crop to remove it and into the scrap pile it goes.

Then we flip the bird around and start at the rear. This is the vent (Anus) of the turkey.

Mister carefully cuts around the vent to loosen it, ties it closed to ensure no fecal matter escapes and then makes an incision about two inches above the vent.

With one hand he reaches inside and pushes the organs up and out of the cut above the vent.

Be careful while cutting not to slice the intestines. Then he lifts the viscera up and out of the slice and disposes of what he does not want to keep. I`m no fan of giblets but my husband is, so he always keeps the heart, liver, neck and gizzard. The gizzard is kind of tricky to cut, take care not to cut into the inner sac or lining of the gizzard.

This is the gizzard and how Mister begins his slice.

The gizzard contains grit that the bird picks up to grind up their food.

Turkeys do not have teeth, although, rumor has it that hens do but they are very rare. Sorry, I couldn`t resist. *Giggles like a loon*

After the bird is dressed out we then wash it thoroughly with cold water from a hose. Sometimes we truss them and sometimes we don`t. After we wash the carcass as well as we can, we then double bag it and place it in the fridge. I bought clear, unscented thirteen gallon trash bags but you can order specially made freezer bags online that work really well, but are pretty costly.

Also, the giblets are washed and bagged for someone (Not me) to eat.

Place the bird into the refrigerator as quickly as possible to get that body temperature as low as you can as fast as you can. Then you can freeze it, if you wish. We`re not freezing ours for Thanksgiving, but are simply refrigerating it until Thursday since we prefer them unfrozen if possible.

And there you have it! The Yodeling Goatherder way to have a farm-raised, free-range turkey for your Thanksgiving platter! The two toms we butchered today weighed in at thirty-five pounds for the white and forty for the bronze! I`m roasting the bronze for Thanksgiving and am seriously wondering if it will fit into the roasting bags I bought.

I foresee many hot turkey sandwiches and pots of turkey soup on the menu for a week or so after Thanksgiving!

Bear Necessities

2011-11-17T09:25:00.002-05:00

Howdy gang! Boy, it`s been awhile. Come on in and have a fresh cuppa!

Sorry I`ve been so sparse over the past week. Life has just been one big pain-in-the-rear, tossing one thing after another at me, but, onward we must climb, correct?!

I`ve always been a person that tries to not let life`s trials pull me down too low, so aside from a few illnesses (Miss over the weekend, Mother-In-Law having knee replacement surgery on Tuesday and Mister struggling with a staph infection in his leg) we do have some uplifting things to relay! Sometimes you have to shove the grey clouds aside to find the sunshine, but it`s always there!

First off is this!

Mister got this bruin on Tuesday morning before he left to go with his sister and mother to Williamsport for her surgery. (Ma is doing fine and will be moving to a nursing home nearby for a few weeks of rehab tomorrow!)

Now this girl isn`t the biggest bear in the woods I`m sure, but she sure was a trophy for hubby, since she was his first bear AND he took her with a bow. She weighed in around 150 live weight, which isn`t too shabby. We had a WCO come out and do what they do with bears when the stations are set up during rifle season. He pulled a tooth and measured her. We had a nice chat with the fellow when he was here. After letting her hang for a day yesterday we had the fun job of skinning her out for a rug.

Mister has lots of experience from his trapping days with raccoons and such, but he`s never done a bear for a rug. I`ll make sure to show you all how the rug looks when it comes back from the taxidermist. As for the skinless bear, you don`t want to see it. It looks like some sort of zombie dog from a horror movie! We did keep some of the tenderloins, so that will be a new taste experience!

What else is new? The writing for NaNoWriMo is coming along really well and I`m hoping to have reached my goal within the next few days. Then hopefully I can devote a bit more time to my poor dusty blog. Oh! This weekend we`re going to be butchering our meat turkeys for Thanksgiving, so I plan to take my camera along and show y`all how we dress out our holiday bird! I can already taste it….*Drifts off into carbohydrate overload fantasy*

So, that`s the news from the hillside farm, what`s new on your spread?

In Honor of Our Veterans

2011-11-11T07:34:00.002-05:00

Where The Wild Eyelashes Roam

2011-11-06T06:32:00.002-05:00

Howdy gang, drop on down and I`ll grab the pot. The coffee pot I mean, not the weed pot. Who the heck needs me being any dopier than I usually am?!

The other day I was pondering. I sometimes ponder in odd places, like the grocery store or the drug store or while driving. This time I was pondering while I was drying off after a nice hot bath one evening. It came to me as I was applying some moisturizer. I stood at the sink, in my Iron Man lounge pants and a red matching tank top, minus my glasses, so I was on tip-toe with my nose about an inch from the looking glass. I stopped applying face cream and gaped at my eyelashes. Now I know I`ve mentioned before how they seem to have disappeared. What perplexed me was where they could have gone. I don`t ever find any on my pillow case, although with all the dog and cat hair it might be hard to differentiate, but I don`t seem to have eyelashes stuck to my lips when I wake up.

Where could they be going, I`ve been wondering. Eyelashes just don`t one day decide to pack up and leave town, do they? Where would they go if they did? Would they hitchhike to someone else`s eyelids? That hardly seems feasible. Maybe they go to some exotic locale to lie in the sun and sip on drinks with paper umbrellas while they discuss the merits of different mascara manufacturers, or bemoan those dreaded eyelash curlers. That also, upon further reflection, didn`t seem to be a viable answer.

Then, as I was slowly rubbing moisturizer on my neck I discovered where my eyelashes have moved to. They didn`t go to the Florida Keys or Mexico or even Arizona where it’s hot but dry, nope! They had simply shifted to a new neighborhood under my chin. I have to assume that this new stomping ground is to their liking, since they seem to be growing like weeds down there, like they used to when they still resided on my upper eyelids. Sure, they did leave a forwarding address of short lashes but it would have been nice to have been notified of this odd move beforehand.

You know, just a small note saying something like-

Dear Vicki,

We are tired of hanging out over your eyes and wish to live under your chin. It`s less irritating down there, and shady as well! Please don`t buy any more mascara, unless you wish to darken us as we chill out under your chin. Oh, we have heard rumors that your leg hair is thinking of moving into our new neighborhood. We hate to be judgmental, but we feel your upper lip would be a much better place for those leg hairs that used to need shaving weekly but now only require a razor every two months. Thank you for your cooperation and years of lengthening and thickening. Tell the new hair on your upper lip we said hello! Enjoy your post-menopausal years!

Love,

Your Eyelashes

PS-Do keep in mind that we are not fond of razors or tweezers or wax. We do, though, think brightly colored beads braided into us would be most festive come the holiday season! Tatty bye!

Darn pity I thought as I reached for Mister`s razor in the medicine cabinet. They had written such a nice letter too.

Also, I`d like to give a big yodel of welcome to Kate Spencer! Welcome aboard, Kate!

The Great Milk-Bone Dilemma

2011-11-02T08:34:00.003-04:00

It had to happen eventually.

Yesterday morning, around four-fifteen A.M. (Way before I had enough java juice into me to make my brain function properly), we experienced ‘The Great Milk-Bone Dilemma’. Mister had just left for work and I had stumbled out into the living room muttering ‘Brains’, my left slipper missing and in the mouth of a certain Black Lab. All three dogs were doing the Pee-Pee dance at the door. I removed my slipper from the mouth of the black lab, so it didn`t end up lost in the weeds, shoved the soggy footgear onto my right foot, (It was early, don`t judge me) rearranged slipper to correct foot then pushed the door open. Out they went like they were holiday shoppers and it was Black Friday at Toys `R Us. Also one yellow cat snuck out, I assume hidden under the belly of one of the Labs, since he can`t hide successfully under the beagle. Too low of an undercarriage you see.

I made my way to the pot, poured, creamed and sugared and waited. As I waited I sipped and tried to understand why I had been dreaming about being on the Enterprise. It was a pretty good dream, what there was of it. Number One was showing me to the holo-deck for some reason. Maybe I was planning on reliving the battle of Troy? Who knows? Anydoodles, I stopped wondering why I dream the things I do and went to the door to let the three dogs back in. The foursome, me and the trio of eager canines, tripped to the cupboard and opened the door. Well, I tripped and opened the door. Stifling a yawn I reached into the box of Milk-Bones and found only one snack. Oh dear. I gave the three dogs a worried look as I pulled the lone doggie biscuit out. I had forgotten to buy dog snacks! That is nearly as bad as forgetting to buy cat nubbies!

“Uhm, guys, we have a problem,” I said, turning around to see three dogs waiting with expectant looks in their brown eyes. “We only have one bone and three dogs.”

I don`t think they saw the difficulty because math isn`t their strong suit.

“I can break it in half but that still leaves one dog out,” I told them. Poe shuffled a sneaky look down at Tinker. “Why shouldn`t Tinker get half?” I asked the aged yellow Lab. “Is it because he`s shorter than you two girls or because he`s a guy?”

She rolled her eyes as if the answer should be obvious.

“Okay, well we`re not discriminating against gender. So, which one of you three has misbehaved the worst in the past day?” I asked. Six eyes moved nervously around the room. They weren`t going to cop to anything it seemed. I frowned. They wagged their tails. This was too complicated a mental task with only four swigs of coffee in my bloodstream!

What to do, what to do I ruminated. As I stood there deliberating, the three dogs really turned on the charm. You all know that look. I was torn. Then I snapped the bone in half and their eyebrow whiskers rose in anticipation and their ears perked up. Except for Tinker. His ears are too long and droopy to perk up, although they do hang nicely in his gravy dog food every night.

“Tell you what I`m going to do,” I said and reached into the cupboard with my left hand, “Two of you get a biscuit and one of you will get a cookie!”

They looked unimpressed. “A human cookie,” I added with a smile. “Now, who wants the Milk-bone and who wants the human cookie?” I inquired, pleased as punch to have figured out a solution to the great dilemma. Poe shot Tinker another bad look. Tinker licked his chops. Trinity dropped the sneaker she had been holding.

Hmmm, guess this one was going to be tougher than I thought I sighed. I took the only available option my sleepy brain could come up with at four-fifteen in the morning. Each dog got a sugar cookie, the broken biscuit went back into the box and I made sure I stopped and bought another box of Milk-Bone`s before I went to my luncheon date with two of my fellow lady scribes.

Talk about a crisis neatly averted!

The Hobgoblin Goat Queen

2011-10-31T07:53:00.002-04:00

The Hobgoblin Goat Queen

*~*~*~*

It was Halloween eve down in the goat barn

And the old mama does had prepared quite a yarn

They`d made up a grand tale to make their kids scream

`Bout a spooky grim wraith called the Hobgoblin Goat Queen

As the moon fell behind the nude limbs of the trees

Their kids all came in and fell down to their knees

A cold chilly wind howled through the barn eaves

It rattled the doors and rustled dead leaves

Every kid in that barn Nubian, LaMancha and Sable

We`re hunkered down tight in their comfortable stable

Then out of the herd stepped great, great-grandma Fawn

Her brown fur was sparse and her front teeth long gone

She cleared her long throat and coughed up a cud

Her ancient old eyes chilled those wee kids goat blood

“This tale that we tell has been told `oft before

It`s considered quite factual in noble goat lore

On Halloween night when the human kids trick

For treats that would make any caprine kid quite sick

We goats stay inside safe and snug in our homes

This night is when the Hobgoblin Goat Queen roams

Now the humans don`t see her meandering near

They`re too busy with costumes and candy I fear

But we goats don`t care for such silly old things

Because only we goats can hear those bat wings

You`ll know when the Hobgoblin Goat Queen is quite near

You`re hooves will tingle and your ears will feel queer

You`ll inhale a smell that is rank and offensive

Then you`ll hear a deep blat that will leave you quite pensive

And just when you`re sure your heart can`t bear anymore

That Hobgoblin Goat Queen will leap over the door!”

At that very instant a most terrible sight

Jumped over the barn door and caused a great fright

Every kid in that barn let out a loud bray

And buried their heads deeply into the hay

The does then all laughed like some hens like to cluck

For the specter was none other than Auron the buck

He had gone to great lengths to add to the fright

His head was all cobwebbed, his beard painted white

The kids slowly peeked from amid the hay chaff

Then one kid by one they started to laugh

So be very careful when you leave your safe home

For the Hobgoblin Goat Queen may be ready to roam

Keep far from the goat barns that you may pass

Just to be safe and cover your *Insert word that rhymes with pass here*

Now of course I don`t know if old Fawn`s story`s true

But would this sweet goatherder ever fib to you?

*~*~*

Poetry by V.L. Locey

Happy Halloween!!!

First Snow & NaNoWriMo

2011-10-28T08:31:00.005-04:00

Good Friday morning gang, drop on down and I`ll grab some mugs.

I hope the past week has smiled down upon you and yours! It`s been a long, tiring week for Mister and I. He`s been on ten hour shifts and rolling out at four in the morning is starting to wear him down, and me as well. Thank goodness the weekend is coming, we can both use some rest! Not that there`ll be much resting, I`m sure. He`ll be up to go hunting and I`m already slated to run my child hither and yon (Which is just on the other side of the Marsh rumor has it) in order to help her with her chorus fundraising.

So this is a warning in advance for family members who read along. Be prepared for the puppy eyes from your niece when we show up! This fundraiser will pay for an overnight trip to Washington D.C. for the kids. Mister asked what going to D.C. had to do with chorus when he saw the booklets. We got the usual teenaged shrug from my child so I suggested that perhaps they would sing ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’?

What else? Well, as the header says NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is about to descend upon we writers.

NaNoWriMo

This event is run by the Office of Lights and Letters and encourages writers to pen a novel in thirty days, the goal being 50,000 words by the end of November. I have once again signed up to participate and plan to use this year’s event to get a large portion of the second novel in my ‘Gods & Goats’ series done. So, if anyone out there is also participating, give me a holler! I admit I`m really keyed up to start the second book, there`s just SO much to cover and so many fun things I have planned for y`all!

I will try my darnedest to keep my blog posts updated but if I slack off in both writing and reading other blogs, I apologize in advance. Since I`m chatting about my obsession with writing, the novel that’s done is coming along well. I now have the second round of edits back and am hoping to have that chore completed before NaNo kicks off on the first.*Crosses fingers* The artwork is coming along nicely and should be quite fun and quirky with a homespun feel, which is what I was hoping for.

That covers the book and NaNo news, so what else do I have to pass along? *Ponders and sips java*

Oh, there`s this that blew in yesterday.

Uh-huh, that`s snow. I was less than impressed to see this arrive so early. Along with lows in the twenties this is a taste of winter that I wasn`t particularly hungry for.

On the goat front all is settling down in the barn. Auron seems a tad weary though. The other day Mister and I had to laugh at the poor, bedraggled man. He had three does in heat at once. Talk about not knowing whether to poop or wind your watch! He literally didn`t know which way to turn with three lovely ladies all vying for his attention at the same time. We had to snicker at him and his predicament! The Sable and LaMancha does over at my buddy Marcia`s are doing good. Two have been romanced by their chosen fellows. We`re still waiting on Calliope but she had come into heat two days before they went over, so it will be another week or so until she and her beau meet. Then we`ll be able to bring them home and that will be that for this breeding season.

Well, guess I`ve bent your ears for long enough this morning. I had best get my rump in gear and head to the grocery store. Before I forget, which I do very easily, a big yodel of welcome to Bri Clark! Welcome to the hillside farm, Bri!

Have a great weekend gang!

My Nursing Home List

2011-10-25T07:58:00.003-04:00

Come on in and have a fresh cuppa gang!

The other day I was meandering about, reading my favorite blogs, when I came across a post by a good friend of mine, Michele Strangis Stefanides on her blog ‘Life is short - Write it all down.'Michele is a member of my two writing groups, a published children`s author and one heck of a great and funny lady! On this particular day she had posted a list of things that she wishes those who may be taking care of her in a nursing home to know. I roared with laughter at her list and thought to myself, ‘Vicki, you need to make one of those too!’

So I did. Below you will find my wishes for those who may be left with the pleasant chore of keeping me happy in my dotage. Please do note that I am already a particular woman and that, I`m sure, once I hit seventy I`ll be even more particular and far less subdued. I may, in fact, grow vocal and be willing to discuss personal things that would never have been discussed previously. Or, I may just be me with silver hair and an offbeat view of things, who knows?

Okay, here is my list for any future caregivers.

*~*~*

I like classic rock and metal. Do not EVER come into my room and turn on Billy Joel. I will grow angry and will commence to say bad words and wave my cane at you in a threatening manner. Metallica, KISS, Rob Zombie, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Peter Frampton, ZZ Top and Lynryd Skynyrd will be fine, thank you. Avenged Sevenfold, Nickelback, Godsmack and Led Zeppelin are also good musical choices. A poster of Sully Erna from Godsmack would not be looked upon unfavorably. If he is shirtless in this poster, so much the better!

I prefer to watch TV shows that do not deal with celebrities or reality. Do NOT turn on any television shows that deal with stars dancing, singing or other such nonsense unless it`s Simmons Family Jewels. Gene Simmons and his family are the only accepted people in the reality show genre. Do not allow any hunting shows to play either. I have watched over a billion hours of hunting shows and do not wish to see any more in my golden years. If my husband is in the same room with me, then slip him some sleeping powder in his Metamucil shake.

Also, cartoons are fine but they must be good cartoons. And by good cartoons I mean anything I watched when I was a kid. Scooby Doo, Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry will keep me merry and pleased and humming along. Any of the new stuff will make me cranky and may result in me chasing you down the hall using my walker as a weapon.

Movies are fine, I adore movies. Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Rocky Horror Picture Show and any film with Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and Robert Downey Jr. are guaranteed to keep me silent and placated in my lift chair for hours. If you place a spaghetti western in, I cannot say that you will not be hit upside the head with a bedpan.

I love to read. I`ll be a happy elderly camper if I am given access to books. These books must deal with hot and spicy bedroom antics, Greek gods, vampires with black daggers or werewolves that have wide and hairy chests. If you are a male attendant, using your powerful upper body to show me how the dark hero looks will be received most favorably. Again, if my husband is sharing my room, the Metamucil/sleeping powder trick can be used here as well.

I like my food to be simple food. I also like plenty of it. If you place a plate in front of me that has a sprig of parsley and some tiny little two ounce slab of meat, I will grow irritable. Do not serve me salad as a side dish. Give me potatoes in any form, pasta under any kind of sauce and a fresh glass of goat milk, not that watery skim stuff they sell in the grocery store. If necessary, I will bring a goat with me to supply my milk needs. She can stay in my room and Mister can milk her, if he`s not out cold from all the doctored shakes he may receive. I also adore Milano cookies, just in case you need to placate me at some time.

I will require my weekly comic books as well. Make mine Marvel, thank you. If you forget and buy some DC comics I may grow rather testy and tell you where you can cram Hal Jordan and/or Bruce Wayne. Indie comics are okay, although they must be either Hellboy or Darkness. Don`t think that I won`t know if you try to slide me Deathstroke as opposed to Deadpool. I will, trust me.

I will also require a laptop so that I can write. This is my last and most important stipulation. Do not even think of shirking on this one, or you will have an irate old woman on your hands.

Word of Mouth - Mermaid

2011-10-22T08:39:00.002-04:00

Hey there gang, come on in and we`ll pass along more word of mouth! This time around we`ll be chatting about the novel ‘Mermaid’ by Carolyn Turgeon. I had the pleasure of meeting, and having my copy of her book signed by Ms. Turgeon at a recent author event at my local indie bookstore ‘From My Shelf Books’ in Wellsboro. She is a warm and delightful woman and her fey spirit shows in this latest novel. Ms. Turgeon also has a book out titled ‘Godmother’ which deals with the true story of Cinderella`s fairy godmother. I plan to grab that one as well on my next trip to Kevin and Kasey`s shop. Let`s get into a little more about ‘Mermaid’ though, shall we?

I know most of us are familiar with the classic Hans Christian Andersen fable ‘The Little Mermaid’ and also, many of us have seen the Disney movie based on Mr. Andersen`s classic tale. ‘Mermaid’ is a retelling of this beloved story but it has a definite twist that is darn ingenious. In Ms. Turgeon`s telling we get the story from two sides, the mermaid Lenia and the princess Margrethe. As per the original story, Lenia dreams of the world above the sea and one day rescues a handsome man from a shipwreck. She falls for him instantly as she carries him to shore. Now, this is where we get a nice little twist, because it`s at this time that the Princess Margrethe is brought into the tale. While standing in a convent garden, where she is hiding from her father`s enemies in the South, she witnesses the mermaid coming to shore with a half-drowned man. By the time the princess reaches the shore, the mermaid is gone.

As Margrethe nurses the stranger back to health she discovers that she is falling in love with him, and that he is the son of her father`s Southern enemy. The princess feels that Lenia brought the prince to her for a reason so she devices a plan that will hopefully bring peace to her shattered land. Of course while all of this is occurring on land, beneath the waves Lenia has come to a decision about this prince that has stolen her heart. She decides to do whatever is needed to return to him, even if it means giving up her legs, her home and her voice.

Ms. Turgeon spins a clever and perfectly written love triangle that keeps you riveted until the end of the book. The characters are well crafted and I found myself torn between who should win the prince`s heart. I felt deeply for both young women as they experienced their first love. The plot moves along at a lovely clip, not too rushed or too slow and the details are glorious! I was especially drawn into the realm under the sea that was so artfully crafted by the author. This is a heartbreaking and dark story though, make no mistake about it. For anyone thinking this is a little child`s book think again! There is pain, suffering and sex. The love scenes are nicely done I`d like to add, since that is an important aspect for me, the steamy lover of spicy affairs that I am!

I found ‘Mermaid’ to be a joyful and at times tearful read. Anytime a book can take me to the summit and then pull me to the depths of emotion I have to applaud the author and make sure I pass along the good word. I highly recommend ‘Mermaid’ to anyone that is looking for a love story that is poignant and compelling and highly imaginative.

One Liners-10/19

2011-10-19T07:06:00.003-04:00

"Are you sure our Push-Me-Pull-You Halloween costume is on right?"

As always, everyone is invited to play along! Simply put your one-liner for the above photo in the comments section. Also a big yodel of welcome to MaSugar32! Welcome to the hillside farm!

Love Is In The Air

2011-10-17T08:22:00.009-04:00

And so was something else! Howdy gang, come on in and we`ll sit a spell!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend? Ours was damp but nice just the same. We seem to be stuck in this funky weather pattern here in the Laurel highlands. We get a couple nice days then we get a few days of rain. I hope this pattern changes before the really cold air arrives or we`ll be up to our keister`s in snow! But enough with the snow worries, right? This weekend marked the beginning of ‘The Love Fest’ for our goats. Yes indeed, this is the weekend that my buck Auron has patiently (If you call screaming in Nubian at the top of your lungs patient) for weeks – Nay, months – for.

First we did a clean-out of the goat barn because once the white stuff piles up, we can`t haul the manure. And secondly, everyone likes a nice clean place for romance, am I right?

Some of ladies were wondering why we were snazzing things up.

After the barn was clean and smelled of fresh bedding things were all in place for caprine lovey-dovey. Sunday morning we rounded up the two Sable`s and the LaMancha. Those three ladies had reservations at my friend’s farm with some handsome fellows of their own breed. The love train is pulling into the station!

Miss picked a fine looking guy for her beloved LaMancha Freya, and this strapping fellow will be the one to make whoopee with the Sable does. I gave Jennifer a firm speech about accepting the gentleman`s suit and waiting to come home and give her attentions to my Nubian buck. This is the strapping Sable buck that Jennifer is slated to romance.

The arrival of new girls really got this pen of bucks attention!

She has been known to do this in the past. If she listens to my words or not remains to be seen but she had better! Not that I don`t enjoy the love children as much as I do the papered ones, but for showing purposes, the truer the kids are to breed standards the better. And that last little Oopsie looks decidedly more like a Nubian than a Sable with his long ears.

While we were over at Marcia`s Miss took the time to cuddle with a new addition to Marcia`s barn.

Ain`t he just adorable?? She also had a litter of kittens that I was eying, and smooching, but I didn`t come home with one! It was tough though let me tell you. I can easily see myself being an old woman with sixteen cats inside the house and a herd of goats outside. Heck, I`m already half-way there!

When we returned home it was time to lead the big man and his half-Nubian/half-Sable sidekick down to the barn. Actually, it was more a case of Auron leading Mister! Ares followed along, wondering what all the fuss was about. Silly wethers I`m sure Auron was thinking. Well, maybe he wasn`t thinking about the wether that kept him company all summer. His mind was on something else I am sure.

Sadly, I didn`t get any pictures of Auron and the ladies. The darn batteries on my camera died. *Frowns* I`ll try to snap some over the next few days. There is nothing funnier than a buck with his tongue hanging out sideways! Or maybe it`s just me and my offbeat sense of humor? Also I really want to apologize about the quality of my pictures lately. My old, and beloved, digital camera got broken. *Gives icy look at Mister and Miss* during a round of rough-housing and I ran to buy another one. This camera I have now is a cheapy and it shows. I plan on asking Santa for a new one though, so hopefully those images will improve after the holidays.

So what did you guys and gals do over the weekend??

Word of Mouth-The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

2011-10-14T07:31:00.002-04:00

Time for a little Word of Mouth again my friends! It surely does seem that my mouth runs a lot, doesn`t it? This time around we`ll be chatting about the crime drama ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ written by the late Stieg Larsson.

Crime drama`s aren`t my usual genre. I`m more a Para/Rom kind of girl, but every so often I like to take a break from the vampires, werewolves and other assorted sexy type things. After hearing much praise about this book I picked it up one day when I was at my local indie bookstore. Now that I`ve torn through it I am very glad I did.

The story centers around the mystery of Harriet Vanger, a member of one of Sweden`s wealthiest families. Harriet disappeared over forty years ago. After all the those years, Harriet`s aged uncle seeks to finally try to discover exactly what happened to his niece. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist that has just been convicted in a libel suit, to investigate the now cold case. Mikael is aided by a young woman, Lisbeth Salander, a tattooed, pierced and very troubled computer prodigy. What they discover as they dig deeply into the past and the dark secrets of the Vanger family is truly frightening and mesmerizing.

I won`t go into detail about the mystery so I don`t spoil anything for anyone, but it is a shocker let me just say that. Mister Larsson has crafted a wickedly suspenseful book. It is wonderfully plotted and perfectly paced. It`s sexy, darker than hell, shocking, complex and engrossing. Once you pick it up you cannot put it back down.

The characters are fascinating and very human. They have huge foibles and yet I was drawn to them, especially Lisbeth, although Mikael is quite the investigative reporter. There was something so compelling about Lisbeth and her gritty world that hooked me immediately. The background setting of Sweden was chilling and fascinating and added just the right touch to the mood of this psychodrama. This may be the best crime drama I have ever read. Everything is just so tight I can`t find one bad thing to say about the book.

On my next sojourn to my indie bookstore I plan to grab the next novel ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’ so that I can see what happens next with Mikael and Lisbeth. If you like a book that keeps you up all night, then do pick up this debut novel from Mr. Larsson.

Ears, Artists and Fall Fun

2011-10-10T09:01:00.005-04:00

Good morning gang! The pots fresh and the sugar bowl and creamer are filled, come on in and have a sit-down!

I hope everyone had a good weekend? Ours here on the hillside farm was busier than usual but it was fun busy, which is quite a bit more fun than work busy. Friday afternoon my buddy from high school dropped in for a visit. It`s so much fun to catch up with Judi and George and spend time strolling down memory lane. Although, there are some memories that I wish my eager-eared child didn`t overhear. Why is it that when you`re calling teenagers to come do some work they can`t hear well, but when someone is telling tales about you when you were sixteen and chasing after that good-looking blond guy up the block, those teen ears pop open wide?

As I was gabbing away with George and Judi Mister and Miss ran over to the high school to cheer on our team for the homecoming game. They won!! Yippee!! Go CV!! Of course the homecoming game means that the semi-formal homecoming dance is the next night. We had done our shopping a few weeks ago and so that freed us up for a jaunt to Elmira Saturday to attend my first ever comic con!

Man howdy, was I excited! My comic man, Jared, had worked his butt off to set it up and it was a huge success! There were artists galore and writers selling their independent comics. Also I got to meet and chat with Khoi Pham, an artist from Marvel comics. He was a delightful man, witty and pleasant and signed one of the comics he had drawn for me. Well, not just for me, there was a long line to meet and greet a famous artist of course. Here is a sample of his work for you non-comic folks. This is actually the cover of the comic that he autographed for me -

I know, right? He is REALLY talented. I would have shown you pictures of Mr. Pham and me as we chatted but I gave my daughter the camera and asked her to snap a few shots. When I was skipping – I mean walking to the car where Mister was waiting (All that comic nerdiness is hard for him to handle at times) I asked her if she got some good shots. She blinked at me. What she was looking at through the viewfinder I cannot say, probably cute comic guy fans, but it was not me or that Marvel artist. Kids. Sheesh. Aside from the lack of pictures it was a great time. Thanks to Jared for giving us fans such a wonderful day!

After we got home from the comic con we got busy with chores and Miss then got herself all loverly for the homecoming dance. She had a good time we were told on the ride home.

I spent Sunday doing the housework I had tossed aside for important things, like comic cons. I got the bed stripped and then commenced to do five loads of wash, run the vacuum, clean the cat box and whittle down more of the edits on my book. I think after I post this I`ll get back to fixing my boo-boos and hopefully by the time Mister gets home today, the first round of corrections should be done! *Crosses fingers, toes and eyes* Damn….it`s hard to type when you`re all crossed up.

So, how was your weekend?

Word of Mouth - Rogue and Pride

2011-10-07T07:26:00.003-04:00

Morning gang, have a sit and we`ll pass along some word of mouth! This time around we`ll be chatting about two books both written by Rachel Vincent, ‘Rogue’ and ‘Pride’ which are books two and three in The Shifters series.

I decided to read them back to back and review them both as they flow wonderfully from book two, ‘Rogue’ into book three, ‘Pride’. I am ordering the fourth and fifth books, ‘Prey’ and ‘Shift’ as soon as possible because I literally am beside myself wondering what happens with Faythe Sanders next! You may recall from the previous review I did about ‘Stray’ that Faythe Sanders is one of a very few female werecats in the United States. Tabbies, as the female`s are called, are quite rare and highly cherished members of their pride. They are constantly guarded by their fathers, usually the Alpha of their pride, and other high ranking toms that are called enforcers.

Faythe is a different breed of cat than most tabbies. She is determined to maintain her independence in a society that has yet to step from the fifties in terms of how women are viewed. She left her pride, and the tom she loved Marc, to go to college in the first book. She ended up returning to her father`s ranch in Texas and now works for her father as the first female enforcer. Which means she has a lot to prove to not only her Alpha, but every other tom in the country, but Faythe can handle the job!

In book two, ‘Rogue’, she`s smack dab in the middle of a mystery that has dead strays (non-pride toms) turning up all over her pride`s territory. She comes to find out that one small indiscretion back in her college days will now return to literally bite her on her furry rump. Things begin to really tighten up when she begins to suspect that the dead strays are somehow connected to a rash of missing human women and that all the bodies can possibly be laid at her feet-paws-well, you get the gist!

In book three, ‘Pride’, we find out that not only has the indiscretion that occurred in Faythe`s past reared up and clawed her but she now is on trial for her life. During the trail, which takes place in Montana, Faythe discovers that a rogue stray is terrorizing the mountainside looking for a wild teenage tabby. That they discover this teen tabby unguarded and alone in the Rockies is shocking enough but then they have to try to work out what happened to two missing human hikers before the existence of werecats and their world are exposed. The tension is incredible as Faythe struggles to protect the vulnerable tabby, counteract the scheming territorial counsel that is trying to decide her fate and figure out what this ambitious stray is planning.

Miss Vincent has done a wonderful job with the series so far. Faythe is a sexy, sassy, strong young woman that instantly appeals to the reader. The plots are tighter than a banjo string; the tension builds and builds throughout the two books until you are hurrying to reach the tear-jerker of a conclusion on the last page of ‘Pride.’ I honestly wept when I read that last page. That is how deeply involved I became with Faythe and Marc`s rocky relationship. There are some hot bedroom encounters with Faythe and Marc that satisfied my need for spice very nicely. The sex is hot and honest but doesn`t overtake the storyline in any way, which is how it should be.

What I am enjoying most of all about the Shifter series though is watching Faythe grow up. With each book we witness this brash headstrong young woman mature bit by bit and if there is one thing I LOVE it`s character development. If you`re a fan of the shape-shifting genre please grab this series, you won`t be disappointed.

I`m a Day Late and a Dollar Short

2011-10-04T09:06:00.003-04:00

Morning all! Step carefully around the mud and come on in for a fresh cuppa!

I have to wonder where Monday went. Anyone see it? I know it was around here just yesterday but now it`s gone and this entry is late. I had all good intentions of sitting down yesterday to catch y`all up on the weekend happenings but somehow I lost Monday and now it`s Tuesday. Ah well, better late than never as my Granny used to say, right?

Let`s see, what kept us busy? *Sips java and tries to recall* Well first off it rained, which for us here in the highlands of PA, seems to be a daily and ongoing occurrence. Mister was stuck inside for most of the weekend. That`s usually not a good thing since that man being forced to sit and do nothing leads to various and sometimes snippy comments, most from me I admit it. I love the man dearly but a bored husband under foot is….. well…..a bored husband under foot. You ladies can relate I`m sure. Run the vacuum and there he is in the recliner giving you sour looks because he has to put the foot-rest up. Sit down to read and there he is asking you about something he saw on an old Al Pacino flick. (No, I don`t recall the name of that movie where Mr. Pacino was the devil.) Pull out the laptop to write and there he is, asking well meaning questions about what you`re working on and how it`s going and why are you cussing commas and what are all those red marks on the rough draft.

So, to give the poor man something to do we brewed up two huge kettles of stewed tomatoes.

These are for a buddy of Mister`s and are loaded with onions and hot peppers. Old Feral here with her ARD refused to even taste them but they sure did make the house smell good as they were cooking!

We did get a small amount of work done on the back porch. We`re closing it in for the winter in hopes that it will keep the snow and ice from blowing in and also to give us a sheltered place to butcher when it`s time to do that massive Hereford. Unfortunately we could only get a few boards in place due to the steady deluge. The turkeys came over to help and were booted as quickly as they were seen stepping foot on the newly washed flooring.

Honestly, they are worse than kids. One of the hens was caught trying to eat the screws in the drill box. Another was discovered attempting to peck through a trash-bag that had yet to be taken to the shed. I think they`re glowering at Mister in the picture since they would have rather been lounging where it was dry.

Sunday my editor and I had a nice meeting and I now have the first edited version of my rough draft for ‘Of Gods & Goats’ back home! *Breaks into happy goatherder clog dance* She was very impressed with the story and thankfully no major revisions are needed for flow or storyline. I was pretty nervous to be honest when I dropped it off. I know that we`re supposed to have faith in our ability but still, I was anxious about having an independent and highly skilled teacher (Over forty years she has under her belt) going over my book with her fine-toothed comb. It felt like when I was back in high school and turned in a paper that I had worked really hard on, you know that feeling I`m sure. Now I`m staring at a pile of paper with those dreaded red pen marks, showing me where those consabbit commas are supposed to be! Darn commas anyways. It`s a good thing I didn`t pay her by the missed comma or I`d be broke!

But this is part of the process. Once I get things tidied and tightened then it goes back to her for another round of editing then once we both are pleased with it, it will be time to send the book to the publisher. I`m still waiting for the artists that were interested to finish their work and show me their rough sketches for the cover as well but hopefully they should have something completed soon.

So that is why I`m a day late and a dollar short – it`s all the fault of those commas!

Thoughts from a Naked Goatherder??

2011-09-30T06:30:00.002-04:00

That`s it, I am done with clothes! From here on out I am going to be a nekkid goatherder!

Sure, that might be a rather dangerous decision given the amount of critters around here that have big peckers and-Oh behave yourselves! I was talking about the turkeys and their large beaks! Now where was I? The big peckers, right! (And there goes my PG-13 rating swirling down the gutter where it will snuggle up closely to my mind I`m sure.)

It might be a dangerous decision with those turkeys running around pecking at body parts. And lord knows if I got a boob closed in a gate or pen door that would smart but I am tossing aside my garments to be a nudist caprine raiser! The reason for all this nudity you ask? Oh yeah, a reason would help unless you know, I just decided to run around bare-arsed to help bolster egg sales. *Ponders* Nah, that wouldn`t work well I`m sure.

The reason I`m dropping my clothes-wearing habit is because I can`t seem to keep the rassafrassin` things clean! It is simply appalling how quickly I ruin clothes. I have no clue how I grew into such a slob but apparently I did. My drawers are overflowing with tank tops and tees that I can only wear around the house. Perfect case in point-

Sunday we went to my sister-in-laws for a birthday party for my nephew. She made the biggest dish of baked spaghetti I have ever seen! Boy howdy did it smell good with all that cheese and sauce bubbling up and down. Before we left I changed out of my ‘Only-Wore-Two-Times-Then-Gobbed-Mayo-On-The-Front’ purple tank top into a lovely white sleeveless top. I know, I know. You`re asking yourself why would Feral wear white when she knows spaghetti is on the menu. I honestly don`t know. I thought it would look nice with the dark green khaki shorts I had bought. And it did, until I sat down with my family and a mushroom rolled down my boobs to my plate. *sighs*

My daughter thought that was pretty funny. Mister simply rolled his eyes. He`s gotten used to seeing me perform like this whenever we eat. Last time he and I had our dinner and a movie night I slobbered turkey gravy from my French fries into the same purple top I had cast off on Sunday. Even now as I type I can`t keep my eyes from the toothpaste smear on my shirt. What do they put in toothpaste anyway that resists all cleansing attempts?! No matter how you scrub or soak that spot that darn white mess reappears magically like David Blaine. Sorry, I digressed.

Needless to say my white shirt is now ruined for out-of-home use. So I said the heck with it. I`m done buying clothes only to muck them up before the tag is even properly torn from under the armpit. From this day forth I shall be an unclothed yodeler! I shall scamper across the farm in only my Muck boots, trying to keep a wide berth between me and the meat turkeys who I know shall lumber after me trying to peck my rump thinking my cheeks are loaves of chubby bread. Chores should be much easier, and breezier. No hidden nooks to hold all that hay chaff. No bra to catch chicken feed when I fill the feeders. No pants for goats to chew upon and leave those lovely cud stains.

Heck, maybe this nude farming will catch on! Maybe someday all goatherder`s will be free of the confines of their clothes! Perhaps in the future all we rural critter keepers will be frolicking about with only an egg basket and a smile! It could happen! If we all lived in Texas I suppose. Hmm, maybe I`ll start being a nekkid goatherder after winter is done. Feral in nothing but her Muck boots come February might be a slightly blue Feral.

There are some peaks here in Pennsylvania that I really don`t want to see snow on in further reflection.

Word of Mouth-Moon Called

2011-09-27T07:47:00.003-04:00

Howdy gang, time for more word of mouth. My To-Read pile is dwindling, looks like another trip to my local indie bookstore is soon in order! Today we`ll be chatting about the first book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, ‘Moon Called.’

I found this series via Facebook when I spied a little advertisement along the right-hand side of my Farmville screen. Guess those ads really work. What else is there to do while you`re waiting for your virtual farm to load? Usually my reads come from friends, Kasey and Kevin my darling bookstore owner`s or reading other reviews so I was intrigued and yet rather skeptical about Moon Called. My skepticism has been laid to rest and I plan on picking up the rest of the series-Blood Bound, Iron Kissed and Bone Crossed.

Moon Called introduces us to Mercy Thompson, a mechanic that is also a shape-shifter. What I liked about Mercy is that she turns not into a wolf, although there are plenty of werewolves skipping about her town, but instead phases into a coyote. It`s something just a little different that grabbed me right off. But it`s the tight plot that kept me hooked and made me keep turning pages. Mercy ends up in all sorts of trouble with assorted witches, vampires, werewolves and other fey sorts when the young drifter who appeared in her shop one day seeking employment ends up dead on her front porch.

Things go from bad to worse when her neighbor, the Alpha of the local pack, has his home torn apart, is almost killed and his human daughter is kidnapped. Did the lone wolf on her porch have any connection to the attack on the Alpha? What do the vampires know about this? Can Mercy aid her handsome neighbor and get to the root of this problem before all hell breaks loose? And what about the man she was in love with back when she was younger and being raised by a differing wolf pack? Those questions move the book along with more and more speed, carrying us from a rather innocent beginning to the must-finish-this-even-if-it-is-midnight conclusion.

This paranormal thriller/mystery brings us a new world of vamps, wolves, witches and shape-shifting beings. There is very little romance in this first book of the series, which was a let-down for me but I`m hoping to see some as the series progresses. For those of you who aren`t into the tawdry bedroom scenes like I am but still love a good twisty book, then this will please wholeheartedly. There are tons of turns and tense moments. The protagonist is instantly likeable. The mystery is tight and compelling and this world that Mercy lives in is unique and rather fresh, even if we are dealing with the usual things that go bump in the night. It`s a very satisfying read (Aside from the lack of nookie) and will keep you spellbound and wishing you too could run free like the coyote.

Is It Safe??

2011-09-23T08:23:00.002-04:00

*Peeks around door cautiously*

Well it looks safe but I`ll be keeping an eye on the sky in case it falls. What a week it`s been. Y`all ever heard the saying that when it rains, it pours? It has been pouring on me for days and I`m hoping it`s time to dry off a little bit. My feathers are sodden to say the least.

It all started last Saturday evening when my beloved laptop decided to cough up a lung, or a byte or whatever it is computers cough up. As it ran slower and slower and even slower I rushed around like that proverbial headless chicken to ensure all my work, and my completed novel, were on my flash-drive. Sunday I ran it down to my nearby computer wizard. Monday he called back and said it was done. A hundred and fifty bucks for that visit….. I grimaced but bit the bullet and merrily skipped home with my Dell. Tuesday night my daughter got on (her laptop got broken recently when Mom dropped it. Yikes, I know) and she wasn`t on for an hour when she started having troubles. *Insert large maternal sigh here.* So we broke into another round of frenzied flash-drive copying. I am uber paranoid about losing my book as you can tell.

Wednesday morning I just got enough out of the old girl to post my book review then she gave up the ghost yet again. During all this I was feeling more and more rumpled and had a wee thought that I was catching my daughter`s nasty head cold. So I placed another call to my repair man, took another trip to his shop only to find that my child had picked up a Trojan, and a rather nasty one at that. It took the man eight hours and much hair pulling to finally get the thing out of my laptop. That ended up with another hundred dollar bill and a very stern discussion after my child got home from school about safe internet sites.

As I type my head feels like it`s stuffed with cotton, I sneeze roughly every fifteen seconds and the president of the Kleenex corporation just sent me a personal ‘Thank You’ e-mail. Now I have to set off for town to buy some food. Personally I`d rather stay in my safe little coop in case some malady befalls my truck. But I shall not be Chicken Little! Onward I shall go, tissue box in hand!

Maybe I`ll just take another peek before I set off though…..

Word of Mouth-Envy

2011-09-21T08:55:00.003-04:00

Seriously, my book habit is getting out of hand! I am either reading too much (Is there such a thing?) or the books on my shelf are just that darn good! Whatever the case may be I`ve wrapped up another one and am ready to pass along some word of mouth. This time around we`ll be talking about the latest book in the Fallen Angels series ‘Envy’ by the one and only goddess of paranormal romances J.R. Ward.

Now first off I do wish to say that I went into this third installment with one thing in mind. That was to not compare it to the Black Dagger Brotherhood series Ms. Ward pens. Obviously I am a HUGE fan of those sexy vampires as my little picture on the right there states. I settled things in my mind that I would approach this book as if the authoress had not penned those well-worn and dog-eared copies of the BDB that sit so erotically beside my pillow.

Envy is the tale of two men actually; one is Jim Heron, a fallen angel working to save the souls of seven people. This is a fight for the world, good vs. evil and only one side can emerge victorious. Jim and his two angelic helpers Eddie and Adrian have faced the demoness Devina in the two previous books and Devina really defines the term sadistic, heartless and cruel. There is also a B word that fits her quite well.

The other story deals Thomas DelVecchio, Jr., a homicide detective and an Internal Affairs officer Sophia Reilly. Officer Reilly is called to the scene when Detective DelVecchio is found standing above the badly mangled body of a serial killer that DelVecchio set out to capture. Sadly he can`t recall one blessed thing about what has transpired but he feels, deep down inside, that he is responsible for the grisly attack. Now DelVecchio has grown up in the shadow of a terrible evil and one has to wonder if ‘Like father-Like son’ is true. Seems the senior DelVecchio was a serial killer as well. Will DelVecchio be saved in time, or will he make the wrong choice at that crossroads?

The battle between Jim and Devina over Detective DelVecchio`s soul is tense, brutal and at times nerve wracking. Since the angels lost the last encounter this one is very important for them, lest the tide begin to turn too heavily in favor of the dark side. Heron is really starting to grow on me. I`ll be honest and say that the first two books in their series were rather luke-warm reads for me. They just seemed to be lacking something and I couldn`t put my finger on what it was. I thought it could be, as I said above, that I was comparing them to the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And while they do have some nice links and a Caldwell connection that is a joy to read, they are not the same books.

This novel really felt like Ms. Ward is getting into her stride with the characters involved. I grew to care about each one strongly (Something I couldn`t do no matter what in the first novel) and was literally brought to tears at one point. I won`t divulge any spoilers but the loss was terrible. Jim is growing into one hell of a savior! He is strong, soft, driven, flawed, rough and gentle.

And then there is DelVecchio. Wow. This man wrapped his fingers around my heart and tugged every string that needed tugged. The struggle of him fighting his inner demons was superbly penned. The romance that blooms between DelVecchio and Reilly is smoking hot. I mean, ‘Forget the extinguisher because this baby is fully engulfed’ hot! This couple had the pages igniting and I feared I might have to douse the book in a bucket of water. Then I opted to dump the water over my head.

‘Envy’ is J.R. Ward at her best. The dialog is snapping and bristles, the plots are neatly woven and tight, the action is crisp, bloody and realistic and the sex is driven, passionate, raw and steamy. It gave me blisters from holding the book. Just the way I like it! I don`t even mind typing with band-aids on my fingers, I really don`t. The pain was worth it. *Winks at Vishous*

By far this third book is the best of the series in my opinion. This book now has me gnawing at the bit for the next one to hit the stands, just as I do for any Black Dagger book. It is a page turner, a face fanner, a roller coaster and I devoured it in less than three days. That says something to me as I was wrapping up my own book and revising and editing. That I couldn`t put it down with all the work I had to do shows me that the WARDen was at top form.

If you are a fan of this genre do not walk to the nearest bookstore. Run. Or, if you are lucky enough to have wings as Mr. Heron does, fly to that bookstore and grab ‘Envy’. You will not be disappointed. Just be careful when reading and keep a bucket of water nearby. You`ll need it!

More Harvesting and Spooky Things Occuring

2011-09-17T08:38:00.006-04:00

Good morning gang, there`s a fresh pot perking so come on in and have a sit-down.

It`s a glorious day here in the hills of Pennsylvania. The sun is shining and it`s fall all over! Leaves are just beginning to tint and a crisp kiss of a chill is in the air. Actually yesterday I had to start the truck up a few minutes before we left for the school bus to get rid of the ice. Ah yes, that time of year is creeping up on us here in PA. Speaking of creeping, we`ve had a few odd things happen here the past few days. Creepy disappearances and odd destructive poltergeist type things…..

Miss Yodeling has been the target of this ghostly presence, having her MP3 charger come up missing and the charger for her cell phone mysteriously riddled into bits. Amazingly I have a photograph of the mischievous specter. Please don`t let her innocent appearance fool you; this little imp is pure devilment!

I know, it`s hard to imagine that Lu-Lu would do such things, but she was caught red-pawed yesterday on top of Miss Yodeling`s dresser, trying to swipe ponytail holders and/or the brand new cell phone charger I picked up just that morning in town! Thankfully the MP3 charger was found underneath Miss Yodeling`s desk. Needless to say both chargers are now in a drawer and hopefully the devilment will abate.

Other than the spooky feline stuff all has been pretty serene here. I`m thrilled to say I finished my book and it is now in the hands of my editor! *Does happy goatherder clog dance* I foresee many red marks and at least another revision or two before I submit it to the publishing company I`ve chosen. I`m hoping to see some preliminary sketches from the two artists that expressed an interest soon as well! I will keep you all up-to-date as this process moves along, since it`s all new to me and I`m finding it very exciting!

Last night Mister and I took to the garden for another round of harvesting. Miss stayed inside due to a nasty cold settling in. That`s pretty standard. Back to school one week and already sick. It was a beautiful evening with a rustling wind that made us both tug on a flannel shirt. We picked three fifty pound feedbags of silver queen for my sister-in-law to put into her freezer.

More corn stalks were needed and our pumpkins had to be picked as well.

We cut down enough corn stalks for a feeder full for the goats and a wagon load for Patty. They promptly dove in like hogs in a freshly filled trough!

Today looks like a laundry day for me after I visit with my blogging buddies. I may whittle a bit on some fan fiction then tonight we`re going to settle in and watch Thor on DVD. Yes, I made a trip to Wal-Mart earlier in the week just to pick it up. I am such a comic nerd!

So, how`s things in your neck of the woods?

Word of Mouth-The Throne of Fire

2011-09-15T07:20:00.002-04:00

Good golly another book read and looking to be reviewed! They sure are going fast and that is a pretty good sign that I`m enjoying the novel. This time around I`ll be passing along some word of mouth about the second book in ‘The Kane Chronicles’ series by my hero in all things mythological, Rick Riordan. We`ll be chatting about ‘The Throne of Fire.’

Now you all know I have a deep love of Greek mythos and that leads me into other realms of ancient gods as well. Norse deities are right up there with Egyptian in my number two ‘Gotta Get Me Some Gods’ love. Mister Riordan once more steps up to bat and smacks one out of the ballpark. On our second journey with Sadie and Carter Kane things don`t slow down one bit!

This time around our two intrepid heroes are out to try to bring Ra, the king of gods, back to life. Not a small trick for anyone, let alone two teens! Oh, did I mention they have a time table of perhaps three days to accomplish this feat and are constantly battling dark forces, Egyptian gods that don`t want Ra back and an evil magician that could give He Who Must Not Be Named a run for his wicked cash?! If they fail, the evil Chaos snake Apophis will arise and the world will cease to exist. Typical run of the mill adventure for any of Mister Riordan`s characters. Maybe if the two wise-cracking tellers of this tale knew where to look for Ra, it might make things easier! But first they have to find three scrolls and learn how to chant the spells correctly……Same old, same old for Carter and Sadie.

On this journey the brother and sister team are aided by the Egyptian god of dwarves, Bes. Oh but did I fall in love with Bes! He is funny, crass, witty, loyal and one heck of a BOO-er! Mister Riordan has a wonderful gift for taking these old gods and crafting them into characters anyone in this day and age can relate to. I know…..this series is aimed at young readers some of you may be saying. So what? Just because it is aimed at middle school kids does not mean adults can`t enjoy the work. Don`t let that YA heading make you miss this adventure gang! The plot is tight; the story flows gracefully and is filled with action, humor, sadness and wit. It keeps you turning page after page just to see how our duo of descendants from the House of Light will fare.

I recommend ‘The Throne of Fire’ to any reader, regardless of age, if they`re seeking a thrill ride of a book.

Also a big yodel of welcome to Days at Buttermilk Cottage! Knowing how to yodel is not required to stop in and visit, but if you know how to clog dance that`s always an asset! *Wink*

Veggie Tales

2011-09-12T07:53:00.005-04:00

Good morning gang! Drop on down and have a fresh cuppa while we jaw.

We goatherder`s have been keeping busy now that the garden is ready. Seems we no sooner get one batch of tomato`s stewed down and there are more waiting. That`s all for the good though, especially given what a crazy growing season we had. First it was so dry we feared everything would shrivel up, then the monsoons set in and we feared everything would drown! Over the past week we did get some of our silver queen in the freezer. Doesn`t that garden fresh corn always taste SO good in the dead of winter? Kind of like macaroni salad in January. You know, you eat salad all summer and get tired of it but by the time January comes you`re really hungry for macaroni salad!

Yesterday we trundled to the corn patch for another wagon-load.

Good thing we had gotten what we wanted because it looks like someone *Cough* Mister Black Bear *Cough* got into the patch.

As we were chopping and braiding corn leaves (Mister was chopping, Miss and I were braiding) this dark cloud rolled overhead and a clap of thunder that shook the hill rolled over us. Mister got to chopping a whole lot faster after that sound! We just got into the truck and were heading home and the sky opened up. It rained so hard we could barely see to drive.

Once we harvest the ears then we have all those stalks just standing there. Frugal goatherder`s that we are we hate to see anything go to waste, so we go up nightly, chop down a wagon load and bring them up for the critters. The goats love the leaves but not the stalks. Patty eats everything--Stalks, leaves and especially the ears that either were missed or are too small for the freezer. I wonder if he`s checking out Miss Yodeling to see if she`s as sweet as silver queen!

Aside from gardening chores we finally got all the wood that Mister had cut and split hauled. *Breaks into happy goatherder clog dance* Now we won`t freeze and Mister has a clean slate for fall hunting. Or at least he thinks he does. Mau-ha-ha-ha! Little does the poor man know, but I have some odd jobs that need his attention. Like that leaky bathroom ceiling for starters! Fall seems to bring its own load of labors doesn`t it?

What else is new and exciting here on the hillside farm? Let me take a sip and try to recollect. *Lifts mug to lips* Mmmm, what wondrous stuff! The book news is good. I`m working on the last chapter and have two artists that are interested in doing the jacket cover! I`m really excited to see their sketches. Once they have their drawings done I`ll choose which one gets their artwork on the cover.

We have our yearly monarch caterpillar in a jar. A couple of days ago we actually caught him or her (kind of hard to tell even when you do lift their tails) shedding his skin and forming his chrysalis. That was very cool to witness. We`re on our last week of drying down the milking does. I miss my goat milk terribly but I like to give the ladies a break while they`re gestating. Auron has become a sad sight, standing in his pasture and calling to the girls just across the driveway. So close and yet so far away……..

Other than that it`s pretty peaceful here at the moment. I finished one book and have started on the newest ‘Fallen Angel’ novel from my hero J.R. Ward, so a book review of the completed novel will be coming round the mountain soon. Funny thing, Miss came home on Friday with two books from the high school library. One was ‘The Iliad’, which yeah, Greek gods? Feral like! The other was ‘Beowulf’, also a spanking good read! I asked her if both were for her honors English class.

“The Iliad is,” she replied. “Beowulf is for fun.”

Give that kid a knuckle bump! Any teenager who will read ‘Beowulf’ for fun is okay in my book! Ha! I made a witty with Beowulf and book and….Ahem. Yes. Anydoodles she said while blushing, I hope y`all had a good weekend and that the rest of the week smiles upon you!

Off I go to clean. Or write. Or maybe read. Or brew a fresh pot and write and read! Yeah, that`s the ticket!!

We Will Never Forget

2011-09-11T05:07:00.001-04:00

Drip, Drip, Drip

2011-09-06T07:18:00.004-04:00

Come on in! Just drop your umbrellas on the back porch.

My header pretty accurately describes how the past twenty-four hours have been here in the hills. Rain, rain and oh look! More rain fell yesterday and is still falling as I type this. I hope all who celebrated Labor Day yesterday had a warm and wonderful time with their family and that extra day off!

Our three days were darn busy. Seems Mister has realized that hunting season begins in less than a month and that all the wood he had cut needs split and hauled. It`s amazing how fast a man can work when there is the faintest chance of having his hunting time interrupted. *Winks at the ladies* Saturday and Sunday we hauled and stacked. Of course no job is complete around here without some caprine encouragement and supervision.

Monday we had a family cookout planned up at my sister-in-laws. We oared up to her house and although the weather drove us inside that didn`t dampen our spirits!

We ate and chatted and ate and talked and ate some more. When the three of us drug ourselves through the front door last night I commented that as full as I was, I shouldn`t need to eat for two days. *quickly shoves empty paper plate with bagel crumbs behind laptop* you didn`t see that.

Oh! I woke up this morning after Mister had left for work and sluffed into the bathroom to find one of my dishpans sitting on the carpet beside the bathtub. Already knowing what was going on I still had to peek at the ceiling. Yep, we have a leak. I have to assume that we have a loose or broken shingle on the roof, and all the rain yesterday and last night found a way in. One more job to add to the ‘Before You Take Your Gun into the Woods’ list. I bet my husband was SO pleased to find THAT at three in the morning!

What else? Hmm, well Saturday night we went to the movies to see Ryan Reynolds latest film. Good thing our theater finally got it in or I might have gotten mad. I`m sure the manager of the Arcadia is trembling in fear. Not.

This week will see school starting for Miss Yodeling tomorrow. I shook off my lazy shell and trundled up the hill in the dark at six just to get reacquainted with doing chores with a headlight. The birds all blinked at me and glared. Oh yeah, chickens glare as do geese. The turkeys are too concerned with getting something to eat, no matter the time of day, to glare. They just leap down from the roost, all bright-eyed and bushy tailed, their forks and knives in wing, waiting. Okay, they don`t really have forks and knives but I think they may have been wearing bibs. It was dark, hard to tell. Also this week I`ll be going to the writers group at our local indie bookstore on Thursday evening. *Waves to all who will be in attendance*

Other than that I`ll probably be trying to whittle on the book, edit what I`ve written so that I can get some of it to the editor and do some housework…..Yeah, the housework is iffy I admit. A woman has to have her priorities right? Time spent mopping and dusting or time spent with a Greek god? Yup, I`ll chose that hunky god of warfare every time, as the dust bunnies under the couch can attest to! Oh before it slips my mind, which happens far too often anymore, a hearty yodel of welcome to Russ Stickacres! Welcome to the hillside farm!

So, what did you all do over the weekend?

A Special Treat

2011-09-04T07:37:00.004-04:00

Howdy all! Drop on down and have a fresh cup won`t you?

I know I`ve been prattling on about my novel-in-progress for awhile now. Y`all must be getting tired of hearing about it and not seeing a thing. Well, for my blogging buddies I have a special treat, and those who are friends with me on Facebook will get this as well via Networked Blogs.

On Facebook whenever I hit a ten thousand word peak I post a snippet, usually from where I ended when my fingers gave out. This is a fun way to keep folks updated but it also can be kind of confusing, coming into a novel without having any idea of whats come before. So in celebration of hitting 80,000 words yesterday I thought I would give you, my faithful friends and family, the first page of my rural romantic comedy 'Of Gods & Goats'to whet your whistle.

I hope you enjoy it and that it gives someone a smile. This image is of a couple of fine looking Saanan goats since I have yet to start looking for an artist for the book jacket. *Adds another note to the growing To-Do list* Saanan`s play a pretty big part in the book as this is the breed my lead character raises. Do keep in mind that this is the rough version. I`ve started compiling pages to take to my editor but her red pen hasn`t seen any of this yet.

So here is the first page, thank you all for your support, it really does mean a lot! *Hugs*

Libby`s Morning Trend

*~~~~*

Have you ever awoken in the morning and known that the day was going to be a life-changing one? That this day, this very wonderful sunny day, was the one? That special day that would see your hopes and dreams realized? That this vibrant day would lift you from loneliness and the unrealized? Where your fairy godmother would wave her sparkly little fairy wand over your rumpled head and you would blink and stare in wonderment at the new life spread out before you? Neither have I. I have though awoken to a cat`s ass in my face. If that doesn`t show you how the day, and perhaps your life is going, nothing will.

This morning was one of those feline kiss-my-rump kind of morning`s. Most of my mornings start off with at least one furry derriere in my face. It is not the finest sight first thing off but then again it does beat the heck out of the sight of the empty pillow resting beside you. This morning it was Argus who had his fluffy white can plastered across my forehead. Yeah, he`s named after that character in that famous book about wizards. You know the one that loved his cat and was crabby and not magically inclined in the least? I`m waving my hand mentally just so you see the similarities between me and that crotchety old cuss, although in my defense I am not wandering about some vast British castle trying to make trouble for young wizards. Also, at thirty-six I am not quite as old as he is despite what that wise-ass kid who carries groceries at the Stop & Shop may think!

I was in my bed with Argus` tail draped over my lips, cat fur on my tongue and sleepy dirt in my eyes as the sun flittered through my bedroom window. I tried to lift my head but Argus had it pinned to my pillow. I highly doubt there`s a fairy anywhere near this small farmstead anyway. If there were my steer Paddy would have chased her down the dirt lane I call a driveway. That is so how my life would run. Fairy godmother appears full of fairy goodness; fairy godmother gets run off by watch steer.

“You know,” I sputtered and coughed, “There is plenty of room down there by Hermione,” I told Argus after removing his tail from my face.

He padded down over my stomach and swatted Hermione my beagle soundly on her nose. Timid little thing that she is, she ran up and buried her face under that empty pillow to my left which put her brown and black rump in my face. There is a theme here I noted and rolled over to look through the sheers that rustled in front of the open window. Up here in the mountains of Pennsylvania we don`t close our windows at night. Nor do we lock our cars in our driveways. I inhaled the fresh smell of May and my heart tightened. Matt loved this time of year. When we were first married and moved to this little twelve acre parcel it was May then as well. The smell of leaves warming in the sun and grass kissing the robin`s feet made me yearn for him just as it always does.

Word of Mouth-Heartless

2011-09-02T07:28:00.002-04:00

Time again for some word of mouth! We`ll be chatting about the latest book in the Parasol Protectorate series by the delightfully wry Ms. Gail Carriger titled ‘Heartless’.

Honestly, I couldn`t wait to get this latest installment in the series for I feel madly in love with our heroine Lady Alexia Tarabotti Maccon in the three previous books. Sometimes as a series progresses though the author seems to drift. That is not the case with ‘Heartless’ let me assure you! Ms. Carriger returns, as does her VERY pregnant protagonist, with a vengeance and a parasol that would put James Bond`s gadget man Q to shame!

This time around Alexia finds herself embroiled in things and amazingly it isn`t her fault. A ghost has come to the soulless one with a threat against the queen. Alexia, being the woman that she is, dashes right into the thick of things. She has to deal with a possible link to her dashing and so very appealing werewolf husband`s past, a sister that has come to live with them that has joined, of all things, the suffragette movement ( Gasp!), a horde of zombie porcupines and a French inventor`s possibly dangerous mechanical invention. All this of course has to be dealt with while carrying about her ‘infant inconvenience’ and stopping for tea and treacle tarts whenever possible!

Will Alexia be able to work out who is plotting to kill Queen Victoria in time? Are those cagey vampires behind this plot again? Could there be a furry traitor in the Woolsey Pack? What is now residing in Lord Akeldama`s second best closet? And will her bustle survive intact when all is said and done?

This book will answer all the above queries and will do so with impeccable manners and a deftly tied cravat. Ms. Carriger delivers the goods and then some with her fourth outing into this engaging and steampunk rich world. The pace never stops to allow us, or poor waddling Alexia, time to catch a breath. The world that Ms. Carriger has created is superb and richly detailed and the characters…Oh the characters!! I will say it now Lord Akeldama, that foppish vampire with a monocle to match every waistcoat he owns, has completely stolen my heart! And he is a secondary character!

Alexia and Lord Maccon are a lovely and loving couple, the romance is light and fluffy and their banter is wickedly proper yet conveys how very much they adore each other. I cannot recommend this series enough to my friends! If you`re looking for a supernatural comedy with a dash of steampunk and a refreshing romance, look no further than ‘The Parasol Protectorate’!

Gosh Diggity Darn-it!

2011-08-30T08:09:00.002-04:00

Argh! Sometimes I make myself so darned mad!

*Flops down into kitchen chair and scowls at cup of coffee* Hey gang, come on in and rest for a spell. Don`t mind me, I`m just in a snit over the lack of memory my brain has. Wonder if I can upgrade it like a computer somehow. Jam a memory card in my ear or something along those lines?? Have my daughter upload important data into my head not unlike she does for my writing on my flash drive??

I had this wonderful, witty, clever idea for a blog post last night. These inspirations come to me at the most odd times and places. Last night it was as I was sitting in the tub trying to keep our black lab Trinity from dropping my slipper into my bath water. (Someday I`ll learn to close the door tightly) It was a boffo idea! I recall clearly thinking ‘Wow Feral that is such a darn humorous notion! You had best make sure you write it down!’

Well, life being what it is somehow I got diverted from the stellar witty thought. Probably it was either by the book I wanted to finish for a review later this week or by a video game. Or Toby Turner on YouTube, that guy cracks me up! Whatever the cause here it is morning and do you think I can remember what that great clever ideal was?!? Not even an extra cuppa has shaken it from my scattered mind. Where do these things go?? Is there some floating orb of random ideas somewhere in space that sucks up our brilliant notions? Is this the same place those missing socks in the dryer end up?

I don`t have one clue as to where all my witty ideas disappear to before I can locate a pen and paper but wherever they are they`re having one fine chuckle at me, I can just feel it. Cruel little taunting things that they are!

Aside from my lost blog entry idea things here are running pretty much as usual. I`m pleased to say that our battle with pinkeye and my sable doe Jennifer is about over. Her cloudy eyes are much improved! Now two others have it. *Sighs and takes a hearty swig of Folgers* So much for it being the non-contagious type. Ah well, such is the joy of being a goatherder I suppose. We`ve started drying down our milkers in preparation for breeding season in another 6-8 weeks. We`re still in the skip a day phase but soon we`ll notch it up to every third day for a few weeks. I`ll miss my goat milk. That store bought stuff just isn`t as good. I do like to give my girls a rest from milking though so I`ll suffer with that white water as I call the skim milk Mister grabs.

The birds are being birds. I`m down to one lone duck-my poor Qhuinn. He even looks blasé now since he molted his dashing drake feathers. He`ll grow them back, it`s normal for a Rouen drake to go through this girly phase, but I miss my handsome man duck. I`m currently looking for a friend for Qhuinn so if anyone nearby who reads this knows of anyone with some ducks to sell give me a holler.

What else? Miss is getting ready for school to start next week. Mister has been working overtime for a few weeks now, which is nice for the paycheck but makes him a darn worn-out goatherder. The book is going well I`m pleased to report! Got up over 76,000 words yesterday and the ending`s now in sight! When I hit 80,000 I`ll post a snippet here for y`all. Sunday I went to a marketing seminar at our local indie bookstore. Kasey did one heck of a job and passed along some great tips for selling and marketing our books before and after they`re published. Thanks Kasey and Kevin for doing these for us! Oh! I found an editor that will do mechanical, grammatical AND content editing all at once! That was a real boon and she`s local to boot!

Hurricane Irene didn`t hit us too soundly over the weekend. Just some rain on Sunday morning and a few gusts mostly. My thoughts do go to those who were hit hard.

Anything else I can think to pass along? *Ponders and sips* Not really I guess. Overall it`s been rather serene here on the hillside farm, well, aside from my missing thought bubble. If anyone finds that idea floating past them would you swat it back towards Pennsylvania?

So how are things going in your neck of the woods?

Word of Mouth-Miss Peregrine`s Home for Peculiar Children

2011-08-25T07:11:00.003-04:00

Howdy gang, I`m all set to spread some word of mouth about the latest book I read.

This time we`ll be chatting about ‘Miss Peregrine`s Home for Peculiar Children’ written by Ransom Riggs.

According to the inner jacket sleeve this is his first novel. I am stunned at the man`s writing ability and hope we see more from him. The book, a New York Times best seller was recommended to me by the delightful owner of my indie book store Kasey, and I thank her for the nudge. Normally this book wouldn`t have been in my ever-increasing pile but going with Kasey`s suggestion I grabbed it one day. You too will want to grab it on your next trip to the book store my friends! This novel that combines fiction with stunning photographs will grab you from the first chapter and not let go until you turn that last page!

It all begins with a terrible family tragedy for sixteen year old Jacob. This tragedy sends him on a journey with his father to a small island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine`s Home for Peculiar Children. Before the horrible upset that sent Jacob to this mysterious island his grandfather spoke of this Miss Peregrine and how she took him in during the nightmares of World War 2. Jacob`s grandfather also had photographs. Strange and very peculiar photographs of children appearing to be doing miraculous things but as Jacob grew older he began to cast off the stories his grandfather would tell.

Now though, as he begins to explore the abandoned bedrooms and eerie hallways of this wreck of a home on a remote island, he begins to wonder if Miss Peregrine and her children weren`t more than just the fanciful tales of an old man. He also begins to suspect that these kids may have been more than peculiar, they may have been dangerous! Why else would they be quarantined on this little speck of nothing in the ocean?? And could it be that they`re all still alive???

Mister Riggs spins an incredible tale of suspense, humor, light romance, action, shadows, evil villains, monsters and photographs that keeps you frantically turning page after page until you arrive at the end with a pout that the ride is over. His characters are skillfully crafted and very appealing, the pace is tight and never lags, the plot is inventive and touching and I found myself hoping that there will be another book to follow this one. I want to know what happens to Jacob! Heck I NEED to know what happens to this young man as he moves on with his new friends and one bird in a cage!

I highly recommend this book to readers of all genre`s, it has a touch of everything for everyone!

His Mind/My Mind

2011-08-22T07:23:00.002-04:00

Sometimes, over a cuppa, I like to reflect or ponder upon things.

Today over my mug of heaven I thought I would ruminate over the differences in the male and female mind. Now I don`t profess to be any kind of mental health professional, and I know this subject has been debated since time immortal but sometimes the wide gap in man-woman brains astounds me. And this from a woman that`s been married over twenty years to the same man. (Got to stick that same man nugget in there nowadays just for clarification) What set my mind to mulling was a discussion Mister and I had Saturday.

It was our monthly ‘Go to dinner, see a flick and leave the kid at Grandma`s night’. So I called our little local theater to get the times and find out what was playing. After listening to the choices and pitching a fit that the new Ryan Reynolds movie wasn`t playing, Mister and I had this conversation. I think the subtle nuance of the mind-sets comes out rather well.

“Well,” I said with a frown over not being able to see my Ryan,” Out of all of them I`d like to see Conan.”

“It won`t be good,” my mate muttered. (He`s a huge fan of the original Arnold movie. Me on the other hand can barely tolerate watching the original due to the-well, we`ll see why-)

“Now how can you know that?”

“It`s not Arnold.”

*Sighs*” Yes, I know it`s not. It`s Jason Momoa. Maybe we`ll be able to understand what Conan says this time and hey, maybe Momoa can act!”

*Raising a brow at my slice at The Terminator* “He`s not as big as Arnold was.”

“And your point is?”

“It won`t be as good.”

“So the merit of the movie isn`t based upon the actor, his speech or his acting ability, it`s based on the size of the man`s pectorals?”

“When you look like Arnold it doesn`t matter if you can act or not.”

*Falling down into a chair to gape at the man*

“What?”

“Nothing, I`m just trying to figure out what that even means,” I said dully.

“Look,” he said as if I were some silly woman,” If you look like Arnold it doesn`t matter if you can act. I mean, he was enormous! This guy isn`t nearly as-“

“But he couldn`t barely speak passable English when he made that!” I argued hoping my estrogen would wash over the testosterone words and somehow make them sensible to me.

“So? He was huge.”

“So`s an elephant but that doesn`t mean they can act!”

“What the hell does an elephant have to do with Conan?”

“What the hell does a man`s bicep girth have to do with good acting?” I inquired because I really wanted to know. A moment passed.

“It better have lots of blood,” Mister grunted.

I still don`t know what bearing a bigger chest has on a thespian`s ability to act. Nor shall I ever be able to figure out the discussion or the thought-process of the man I married. All I do know is that every male shall pale in comparison to Arnold I guess.

Oh, and the new Conan had enough blood to appease Mister.

Pickles and Pink Eye

2011-08-20T11:03:00.003-04:00

Morning all, or maybe I should say late morning? Whichever, the pots on so take a load off!

Things have been a bit frantic around here of late, busier than usual but it looks like the calm has set in finally. Fair week was a non-stop run but always a good time, but I`m glad it`s over too. This week just passed kept me hopping as well. Monday Miss had an appointment with the chiropractor, Tuesday she had to go to the optometrist for a before-school exam and new contacts and Wednesday she went over to friends for a day of video gaming.

Now the joy of rural living is that neighbors are few and far between. Also the downside of rural living is that neighbors are few and far between. So when your kid wants to spend the day with a buddy, they can`t just skip next door. Nope, we skip to the neighboring county! Or in this case the neighboring state, since the young fellow moved this summer. That’s a lot of skipping! But, she enjoyed herself and that`s all that matters.

We`ve been busy making pickles here on the hillside farm.

The cucumbers have gone insane and I fear have plans to take over the garden, if not the entire county! We kept the smaller ones for our batch and have been feeding hundred pound feed sacks of bigger ones to Patty and the geese and chickens. Hundred pound feed sacks! Patty will be a two thousand pound cucumber soon, which is a kind of funny image when I stop and think about it.

What else? *Sips java-juice and ponders* Well, the aroma of amore is in the air once more. Auron has been applying his manly love cologne with vigor. It`s a heck of a thing when you sit down for dinner and the aroma of buck wafts in over your plate of spaghetti and meatballs! Ah yes, and while we`re on the goat front my sable doe Jenny has come down with pink eye. *Sighs* I think it may be stress related from being at fair for a week. She disliked the whole thing greatly and spent seven days ramming heads with the boar goats in the next pen. We`re hoping (hoping being the really big word there) that this is the non-contagious strain but we`re still keeping a very close eye on the other girls. So it`s two trips to the barn every day with LA-200 for an eyewash, a rag with mouthwash to wash away the tears and a very disgruntled goat! Not to mention serious hand-washing when we come inside since humans can catch it.

This morning Mister and I set off for the feed mill to get our half ton of grain. We had a hitchhiker or two that wanted to ride along.

Turkeys are such goofs! Between you and me it`s going to be tough to butcher these fools when November rolls around. They are such friendly and humorous birds.

Not much exciting to relay besides what I already told you guys. My novel is coming along really well. At last peek I was up over 67,000 words! I`m very excited to get this book done and hopefully if all goes according to Hoyle (whoever the Sam Hill he is )perhaps next year I`ll have it ready for sale. I`m going to self-publish I think so there`s quite a bit to do. I do have an editor lined up for grammar and mechanical errors. Still have to locate a content editor yet and an artist for the cover but I have faith that I`ll find them as well. What`s that? I haven`t told y`all what the book is about? Okay, I`ll spill.

It`s a rural romantic comedy, called ‘Of Gods and Goats’. It`s about a widowed woman in her mid-thirties that raises goats in the hills of Pennsylvania that gets an unexpected guest in the form of a Greek god that is exiled from Olympus. This god turns her quiet life upside down in more ways than one and soon my protagonist is facing creatures from the Grecian mythological underworld, an amorous Greek god of war, nosy neighbors, pregnant goats, newspaper reporters and of course her own growing attraction to the leading man, Ares. I`ve been posting snippets on Facebook when I hit every 10,000 word hump, and if I may say so, the response from friends and in my two writers groups has been really favorable. If anyone is interested, I`d be more than happy to give you blogging buddies some sneak peeks as we roll along. Just shout out down in the comments section!

That`s pretty much what`s been keeping Feral busy over the past week or two. What`s been keeping y`all hopping?? Oh, before I forget which I do darned well, a big yodel of welcome to The Old Geezer Blog. Welcome to the hillside farm!

There is a Reason....

2011-08-17T07:12:00.004-04:00

To my lovely teenage daughter and perhaps other teenage girls who may read this. Hopefully this will help you get a glimmer of understanding when you are in a pique.

There is a reason---

*~*~*

There is a reason that we tell you constantly to pick up after yourself.

There is a reason that we won`t allow you to wear scarlet lipstick at fifteen.

There is a reason that we insist on speaking to so-and-so`s parents BEFORE you arrive on their doorstep.

There is a reason that we won`t allow you to ride alone in a car with a boy until you`re sixteen.

There is a reason that we bought you a cell phone, and pay the fifty dollar bill every month besides being able to send text messages to your friends and play Angry Birds.

There is a reason we harp on you about your chores.

There is a reason that we expect good grades and attendance at school.

There is a reason that when you are sixteen you are expected to get a summer job and help pay for gas and auto insurance.

There is a reason that we refuse to allow you to have piercings anyplace on your body besides your ears until you are eighteen.

There is a reason that we do not allow you to sleep ANYWHERE without proper parental supervision.

There is a reason that we insist on meeting your beau and his family.

There is a reason that we like to see you doing your own laundry, learning to cook and dust and vacuum.

There is a reason that we would rather see you reading than staring vacantly at the television.

There is a reason that we do not allow you to leave our home in clothing that your mother wouldn`t dare to wear.

There is a reason that you have a ten o’clock curfew even though many of your friends do not.

There is a reason that we have talked about sex and have made ourselves available to you for any questions.

There is a reason that we have encouraged you to be averse to censorship, hatred, homophobia and racial discrimination.

There is a reason we will not purchase black eyeliner for you.

There is a reason that we plead with you to not give your heart to a boy until you enter college.

There is a reason that we frown when you inform us you had cotton candy and Mountain Dew for lunch.

*~*~*

There is a reason we, your parents, do all of the above and many other things that you dislike greatly.

That reason is that we hope to see you grow and learn and become independent, attend college and find a career that you love.

That reason is that we live in fear of teenage pregnancy, alcohol and drug use, sexually transmitted diseases and drunk driving.

That reason is we want to see you find that one special man and experience love in a mature, caring relationship after you have discovered who you are.

That reason is that we want to see you become the very best woman you can become.

That reason is that we know in another ten or fifteen years you may finally come to understand our reasons.

That reason is that we love you above all else.

Word of Mouth-The Princess Series

2011-08-14T08:06:00.003-04:00

Yep, I know it`s been a long time since my last book review, and I am sorry about that. There is a reason though, I wanted to complete the trilogy and present them to y`all as a whole. (Actually I believe there is a fourth book due out sometime this year but we`ll work with these three)

This time around we`ll be passing some word of mouth about a delightful series of books written by Jim C. Hines called the Princess Series. The first of the series is called ‘The Stepsister Scheme’, the second ‘The Mermaid`s Madness’ and the third ‘Red Hood`s Revenge’. Now from the titles I`m sure you have worked out that these tales are based on some of the most popular fairy tales of our time. You`re right, they are, now here comes the but-BUT they are not the fairy tales, or heroines, that we grew up with! You will be hard pressed to find Cinderella, Snow White or Sleeping Beauty in these books sitting, or lying around waiting for a prince to come rescue them!

Oh no, not these ladies! Mister Hines does a wonderful job of recasting three of the most classic heroines of all time. He gives us a trio of women that are now action heroines and secret agents that move smoothly in a world filled with magic, treachery and high adventure! They`re like the Charlie`s Angels of the Hans Christian Anderson set!

In the first book, ‘The Stepsister Scheme’ we meet our new Cinderella after she returns from her honeymoon with her husband Armand, the prince of Lorindor. There were some glass slippers in her past, not to mention a wicked stepmother and as the title indicates, two very scheming stepsister`s! We find out after Prince Armand is kidnapped, that his mother, Queen Beatrice has two young women, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, who serve as her secret agents unbeknownst to anyone. Right off the bat Mister Hines gives us three women who go out, kick rump and save the prince this time!

The second book, ‘The Mermaid`s Madness’ will forever change how you view the tale of the Little Mermaid. We all know the old story, how a young mermaid princess meets a human prince and falls in love. Her love was so innocent and her devotion so pure that she would give up anything for her prince, even her voice or her life. Yeah, okay, toss that aside because this retelling gives us a dark world and a mermaid princess that is NOT swimming about singing lovely songs with a crab! Once more Danielle (Cinderella), Talia (Sleeping Beauty) and Snow are called upon to help save their beloved Queen Bea, the land of Lorindor and the merfolk themselves.

The third book, ‘Red Hood`s Revenge’ brings our action heroine trio back as they set out to the faraway desert land Arathea that Talia (Sleeping Beauty)once called home. This time there are numerous foes the threesome encounter, not the least of which is Roudette, an assassin sent after Talia who wears a red hooded cape. The Lady of the Red Hood, as she is known here, finds herself embroiled in a conflict between fairies and humans having to work with the only woman that has ever fought the wearer of the wolf cape and survived-Talia. We learn a great deal about this new dark Red Riding Hood, and about the cape, the wolf and the hunter, but they aren`t what I knew as a child!

Mister Hines does a grand job of keeping the action quick-paced and the landscapes vivid and engaging. The heroines sure do take those old princesses clichés and toss them out the castle window! His retellings are dark and sometimes gritty, yet his humor lightens some of the darker overtones very nicely. There is some romance, but it is glossed over. I myself wished for a little more spice when the prince and princess are alone in their royal suite, but even without heated bedplay this series is a very enjoyable one.

I would recommend it to anyone with a daughter old enough to read and grasp the feminist ideals Mister Hines serves us. This is one series that will help empower our girls and show them that the days of sitting meekly on a tuffet, or hiding in an attic while we wait for a man to come to our aid is long gone! You go girls!!

Fair Week-2011

2011-08-09T11:05:00.004-04:00

Morning all, drop on down and join me in a freshly brewed cup!

*Flops into kitchen chair* I am done in! You ever heard the saying ‘I feel like I was rode hard and put away wet?’ Well I sure feel-Oh now, just stop that snickering! I swear you all have dirty minds. Oh, no-one was thinking that but me? Tee-hee and ahem. Anydoodles, the reason I`m so wiped out is that yesterday was our dairy goat show up at the Tioga Co. fair. As anyone who has a kid knows, show days are long days. Nine hours we spent up at the fairgrounds yesterday, and I have the redneck to prove it! *Peeks over at Mister* And not that one either!

Miss Yodeling did very well, Mama Yodeling said proudly, bringing in a second place prize for showmanship first thing off. Then as we went through the paces of the dairy show she won five reserve and grand champion rosettes for her LaMancha yearling Freya, Sable yearling Calliope and 5 year old Sable doe Jennifer. Here`s a shot of her and Jenny waiting for their class to be called.

And one of her and Freya, her pride and joy, after getting the reserve champion rosette. That`s my mother-in-law seated next to them. Bless her she sat through the entire show, juggling collars, papers, ribbons and cans of pop like a goat show pro!

Miss also won this blanket for grabbing the Best Overall Doe in the junior show.

She also placed fairly well in her group classes of Best Three Females and Best Doe Bred by Exhibitor, although if my life depended on it I couldn`t tell you guys what placing she got. She was showing her group class at the same time a girlfriend of mine was showing her four Get of Sires ( Three does from the same sire for non-goatherders) so I was running around trying to tug goats in the ring to aid my buddy. It was pretty funny actually. She would run up and shove two or three goats and me and anyone else with a spare hand, and into the ring we would run! Then we`d all dash out and have more goats shoved at us!

That`s just one of the fun things about fair I enjoy, kids and adults alike chipping in to help each other if needed. Also fair week is just one of those staples of rural living you know? Most of the kids here show something and so we adults get to catch up with folks we haven`t seen in awhile. Although there is one thing at the fair that I don`t care for-the smell of all that fried food! Oh my gosh, I about went into a grease withdrawal smelling all those glorious aromas on the air. I tried to behave and only had a foot-long hot dog with cheese for lunch but even that slapped me pretty badly with reflux. It really stinks to have ARD at times. I miss being able to enjoy foods I used to love, but, I suppose skipping all that grease isn`t a bad thing, right? Danged French fries sure looked good though.

Now that our hard work is done all that remains is the running back and forth to feed, water and milk every day. I just got back from the morning trip and Mister will stop on the way home from work to milk and tug our daughter home for dinner and chores. Thankfully the fair grounds are only about fifteen minutes away from home and no bridges are closed! Woo-Hoo! Thanks PennDot! Guess since we have our cuppa drank and the fair chat done I had best slug my way back to the washer and toss in a load, then maybe take a nap! Or read a book and have another cuppa.

Heck, maybe I`ll do all three!!

The Proper Way to Crumble Crackers

2011-08-04T13:29:00.002-04:00

Howdy y`all, tug out a seat and have a fresh cup of coffee!

It`s funny how the most mundane things will trigger a memory isn`t it? The other night I was sitting over my bowl of chicken noodle soup (Canned since I had spent most of the day writing…I mean cleaning) and I began to crush a handful of round snack crackers into my Campbell`s. I had a sort of mental snort as I dusted off my hands as I recalled an episode from my past. This memory stars my mother and my grandmother and I think exemplifies that wonderful and absolutely crazy mother/daughter relationship. At least the wacky way it runs in my family. I come from a long line of rather intense and somewhat absurd women. I say that with great pride make no mistake. Many of you may not know this but we women of Slavic descent are a rugged, stubborn and rather humorous batch of females!

I`m a fourth generation gal of Huschuk descent and my daughter carries the feminine line onward. Now of course all that stubbornness and determination comes out in all aspects of life. My mother was about as rock-headed as a woman could be. If she said the sky was green then you had best peek out the window and agree or she would argue you up one side and down the other until, in exhaustion, you would weakly give it up and agree that the sky was indeed green.

That tenacity she got from my grand-mother. Both were Helen`s but my mother always went by her middle name of Francis, or just Fran. Every year my mom and my step-dad would make a trip out to Clairton, a small suburb of Pittsburgh, to visit my grand-mother. It was also known as ‘The Yearly Pilgrimage’ as my step-dad would call it or ‘The Trip to Hell’ as my mother would coin it. Uh-huh, you can see how things were. You put two bullheaded women in the same small row-house for three days and things are going to get interesting. In order to ensure that Clairton remained standing no visit was allowed to linger over three days. Some sort of city ordinance or something I think. Add into the mix a couple of great aunts that liked nothing better than to stick a branch into the buzzing bee`s nest that was my mom and grandma sharing an abode. There was never a dull visit in Clairton rest assured!

But for some reason that escapes me one summer my grandma decided she wanted to come out to my mother`s house. Mom was skeptical but accepting and within a week my step-dad (God bless his patient and weary soul) made the drive from Middlebury to Clairton to fetch my grandma. By this time I was married to Mister and had a wee one on the way so darn it, I missed quite a bit of the festivities. My mother though made sure I was well-informed with whispering calls made from the upstairs phone daily. They would go like this-

Me-*Picking up phone* Hello?

Mom-“Do you want to know what YOUR grandmother said today?!”

Me-“She`s related to you as well mom.”

Mom-“Don`t remind me! Can you believe she said my windowsills were tacky?!”

Me-“How can windowsills be tacky? Who even looks at windowsill that closely?

Mom-“Your grandmother!”

And so another salvo would be launched. Trying to be a good kid I went over one day for lunch, hoping that my presence would calm the snarling and snipping women. It worked for awhile. My grandmother fussed and frittered about me and my pregnant state. Then we sat down to eat. My step-dad was absent, smart man that he is, claiming he needed to get a haircut. That was the longest haircut in the history of known civilization but I digress….

So there we three sat, about to dig into a big pot of my mother`s home-made chicken noodle soup. Unfortunately my youngest brother decided to mosey in at this time, and not having the haircut excuse, was forced…I mean invited to share lunch with three women of the same bloodlines. No wonder the man has yet to marry.

We chatted amiably for a spell, and even though I could see my mother watching my grandmother running an assessing eye on the corners for cobwebs nothing erupted. Until my brother reached for a handful of saltines to crumble into his soup (Insert ominous music here)

“Amos,” my grandmother said as he ground the crackers between his two hands over his bowl. His lip wanted to climb up since he hated being called by his first name. We always called him Chuck, after his middle name of Charles. Fortunately for him his upper lip stayed in place and he only flinched slightly. “That is not the proper way to crumble crackers in your soup.”

“What do you mean?” my mother asked. I sipped at some broth and remained quiet as the war hounds brayed in the distance.”Is there a right and wrong way to crumble crackers in your soup?”

“Well of course there is Francis,” grandma replied. “You take one cracker and break it gently in half then get another one. Look at all the crumbs he made on the tablecloth.”

“Maybe he doesn`t want to sit here until the soup is cold breaking one cracker at a time into his soup,” my mother stated. Chuck and I began to wonder where the air-raid shelter would be in an old farmhouse.

“Well maybe if you had taught him to break his crackers the right way when he was a child he wouldn`t be such a messy cracker crumbler now.”

Where the hell were the Civil Defense helmets when a person really needed them I wondered? I readied myself to dive under the table to avoid the fallout. Chuck just sat there with cracker dust on his palms and a stupefied look on his face. Poor males, they don`t stand a chance do they?

“Maybe I don`t give a tinkers damn about a few cracker crumbs on the table MOTHER!”

At this moment in time my step-father sauntered in, his head freshly buzzed down to the wood as he likes to say, another innocent victim of the mother/daughter holocaust in the making.

“Well maybe if you did your windowsills wouldn`t be so tacky FRANCIS!”

Due to my trying to not describe anything overly violent or gruesome or over a PG-13 in this here blog I won`t go into any of the horrors that occurred that day. Suffice it to say that my step-dad learned to always peek through the window to see if there was a mushroom cloud visible before entering the house. My brother did not ever become a one cracker-crumbler and to this day I think he has nightmares about saltines and chicken noodle soup. And I had learned the most important lesson a woman can learn-Never get cracker crumbs on another woman`s tablecloth.

The South Shall Rise Again!

2011-08-01T09:13:00.005-04:00

And boy howdy this Yankee is sure glad it rose up with a rocking beat!

Morning all, come on in and take a load off. I`m sitting here sipping my umpteenth cup of java, trying to get my rump in gear after spending last night rocking my goatherding butt off at the long anticipated ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. Man, it was a lot easier to dance for four hours when I was sixteen I will admit, but even though my rump may be dragging due to boogie-woogie southern Rock fever and a severe lack of sleep, it was all worth it.

Last night turned out to be a gorgeous night after rain had come and gone during the morning and afternoon. We arrived at Tag`s, a huge outdoor concert arena in Big Flats New York, with our chairs and an umbrella and a great deal of anticipation and some slight concern. A couple people had told us that ZZ Top had been a pretty poor show when they had seen them previously.

The place was packed and it was announced right before Skynyrd took the stage that the crowd there was the largest gathering at Tag`s to date. I don`t know how many folks were there but it was mobbed, and yet, the atmosphere was light and filled with good nature. There were quite a few rockers of my generation in attendance, and I was very pleased to see, a good deal of younger fans as well. There is hope for the upcoming generations my friends, Justin Beiber be damned!

Skynyrd came out first and absolutely blew the roof off the stage! They ripped through every song any fan would want to hear, from ‘Simple Man’ which they dedicated to our troops to ‘Gimme Three Steps’ to the awe inspiring finale of ‘Free Bird.’ I can now die a happy woman having heard Free Bird being played live and witnessing that famous pair of fuzzy white guitars that came later.

ZZ stepped out on the stage and I whispered to Miss Yodeling, who was rocking herself into a frenzy, that I couldn`t imagine anyone could follow ‘Free Bird’. Well, those old beard-wearing sons-of-a-guns handled it with as much spit, polish and blues funk as any mortal could. They ripped through a couple of blues tunes, played as only ZZ could, then blasted the crowd with such famous hits as ‘Legs’, ‘Cheap Sunglasses’, ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ and my favorite ZZ tune ‘La Grange.’ I can say wholeheartedly that the threesome put on one hell of a show!

Of course by the time ZZ wrapped it was eleven o`clock and even Miss was feeling a bit tired. We rolled into the old homestead around midnight, still chatting about the show, and dropped into bed. Mister then had to get up at three and I can imagine he is one drag-ass puppy at work today. I myself am moving none too quickly to be honest. I think helping Miss with clipping the last goat for fair next week will wait until tomorrow. For today, I just might toss in a load of clothes, sit back and listen to a bit more southern rock, work on the book and try not to nod off in my cuppa!

How I Became Feral

2011-07-29T06:53:00.006-04:00

Morning y`all! Drop on down and we`ll share a pot.

It`s come to me that quite a few of my blogging buddies and friends have been wondering how I became Feral Female. Quite a few folks have asked me what my username means and how did it come about. Since we all know each other so well now I figured I`d pass along the particulars. It all started with this man-

Oh yeah, that`s Marvel Comics Wolverine, one of my top three favorite comic characters. The first comic I ever read was a Wolverine comic. I can`t recall which one it was now but I was immediately enthralled. And I wasn`t a child of seven or eight at the time either! I was a fully grown woman when I first read a comic book. I had just seen the first of the X-Men movies and after I picked my jaw up off the floor after viewing Hugh Jackman in the role I just had to have more! This was a world that I had never entered before. A world filled with mutants and heroes, villains and people that ran around in spandex and capes and actually looked good in their get-ups!

I did a fast search on local comic book stores and found my man Jared. Of course local up here in the mountains is not what local in the city is. Jared`s shop, Heroes Your Mom Threw Out, which is THE coolest name for a comic shop I`ve ever seen, was close to forty-five minutes away. Didn`t matter though, Mister and I and Miss made the trip one day and my life has never been the same since. I strolled into that cramped little store that was filled with shelves and boxes of comics and I was hooked. I came home that day with a bag full of Wolverine comics and a character I had never heard of before-Deadpool.

Of course those who know me now are fully aware of the love affair that grew between me and the Merc with the Mouth as Deadpool is sometimes referred to. But it didn`t stop with just Wolverine and Deadpool! Oh no, I found myself falling head over heels in love with Tony Stark as well as my love of Marvel comics began to grow. Iron Man quickly flew up to hold a firm spot for first place among my comic hero heartthrob list.

Once I found myself immersed in this realm of comic nerds I was kind of alone. No-one else I knew read comics in our little burg. Mister to this day will maybe pick up a Captain America or a Ghost Rider when they come from Jared in the mail but he`s not into the whole comic scene. Miss is somewhat but aside from my daughter there was not a soul to chat about comics with. So I went to the Marvel boards one day and gave them a quick peek. Lord alive but the place was packed with fellow comic aficionados! I hurried to register and then had to come up with a user name. Well fiddlesticks I thought staring at the registration page. What the heck kind of name can I come up with that would suit me? I thought back to what or who as the case may be, had brought me to this place, and decided to go with Feral Female since Wolverine is sometimes called ‘The Feral One’.

From that point on I`ve been Feral. I`ve had the pleasure of being made a moderator at the Marvel boards and I have to admit that it was writing fan fiction, which I still do heavily, that really opened up the world of writing to me. I`ll guess here and say I became Feral about five years ago. Now it is as much a part of me as my real name. I have friends on Facebook that never call me Vicki, it`s always Feral even though they know my real name! Heck, I answer to Feral just as quickly as I do my given name anymore!

I even went and had a tattoo done on my left bicep to honor the character that had brought so much joy into my life. Logan-James Howlett-Wolverine-Weapon X-Whatever moniker you are using my man, I thank you for not only showing me what a glorious world the world of comic books is but for opening up a whole new persona for me and for allowing me the joy of discovering the written word and all that being a scribe may bring me. Logan has also given me so many wonderful comic friends that I can chatter with daily, and do, about the world of Marvel comics and our regular lives as well. Wolverine, you rock!

So that`s how a farm wife from the hills of PA became a Feral Female. Now I must be off, I smell evil afoot! *Tugs on spandex costume and mask and flies to the door*

Before I take off to apprehend villains I`d like to give a big yodel of welcome to Charlotte Crowley! Thanks for stopping in to visit.

Sunday Morning at the Cow Barn

2011-07-25T08:06:00.007-04:00

Good morning everyone! C.B. the cow barn rooster here to tell you about the day we had yesterday. Before I get into the rather rowdy morning we chickens had over at the cow barn I`d like to take a moment to crow just a bit. This is a picture of part of my family.*Puffs up breast feathers* That is me in the background.

I`m very proud of my little chicks and my lovely brides are doing an excellent job of raising them up to be proper young chickens! I must admit being the only rooster in a cow barn filled with hens is a right dandy job!

Okay, now that I`ve boasted enough I`ll get on with the post. Gracious knows what would happen if that goofy goatherder came back from doing chores and found me here at the kitchen table pecking out my story! It wouldn`t be pretty and would involve dumplings I fear! *Shudders*

Sunday morn was a sticky one. Actually it was quite warm all night. I even had to skittle away from one of the wives during the night on the roost to try to cool down. The sun came up early yesterday and although it was quite toasty it wasn`t too terribly bad. I was stretching my wings and trying to decide which of my ladies to impress first when the Kubota tractor roared to life just outside the cow barn. I nearly lost a few tail feathers in fright let me tell you!

It seems that the goatherder and her husband had plans on hauling the large pile of cow bedding to the fields before the heat grew too oppressive. My wives were not impressed to have their beauty sleep interrupted again. Can I help it if I crow in my sleep?? We got down from the roost and hurried outside to see what was going on. The big orange tractor had been pulled right next to the cow barn. Then of course those silly turkeys showed up. One even had thoughts of trying to drive the tractor after eyeing it very closely! Can you imagine the bedlam on our hillside farm if a turkey were behind the wheel of that tractor?! They are very silly birds if I do say so.

The goatherder and her Mister worked very hard and very quickly to get their job done. I spent some time preening and crowing as they worked. I also tried to show the youngest of my peeps how to dig and peck in the fresh dirt under that pile of bedding and cow manure. The bugs are just glorious! You humans really should try them sometime. Fresh maggots and worms for breakfast, yummy!

As I was pecking about I was rudely shuffled aside when Mister Goatherder got off his tractor and opened the sliding door of Sir Patrick of Moo`s barn. Apparently he was giving my friend and sometime resting perch, some fresh hay. Sir Patrick loves hay.

I have tried it a few times, at my bovine friends’ insistence, but it gets caught in my crop so I stick to bugs and scratch grain now. After the manure spreader was filled and the cow barn cleaned and freshly bedded Mister Goatherder hurried to spread the fertilizer and Mrs. Goatherder skedaddled back to the house and the air conditioning.

Once all the hoopla was over with I spent the rest of the day helping to watch the many peeps as they did what young peeps do. I also spent some time wooing a few of my pretty hens. It is a busy life here in the cow barn but no worries, I am rooster enough to handle it all and still greet the day with a loud cock-a-doodle-doo!

Oh yes, before I dash back to the barn I`d like to give a hearty crow of welcome to LaFemme Roar! I hope you enjoy your visits here, even if it isn`t always a handsome rooster such as me posting.

Thoughts From a Yodeling Puddle

2011-07-23T07:39:00.002-04:00

Oh yes, this is me over the past few days-

Well mostly. My complexion isn`t quite that jade but my temperament has been identical. Seriously. You can ask Mister.

Dear Neptune it has been SO danged hot here I would actually enjoy getting doused with a bucket of cold water! Heck, I wouldn`t care if a certain farm girl with ruby slippers AND her little dog dumped it over my head. I have lived in these mountains for quite a spell and I cannot recall it ever being this hot so early in the summer. The past couple of days we`ve had over a hundred in the shade and the humidity….hell I don`t even want to talk about the humidity.

The goats won`t stick their noses out of the barn, can`t say as I blame them. The birds are wandering around panting and Sir Patrick of Moo stays hidden in the wooded lot of his pasture. As for Feral and her gang we`ve been trying to get done what needs done before eleven in the morning. Yesterday when I woke up at five it was eighty-two degrees. Eighty-two degrees at five in the morning! That is very, very rare up here in the hills. Usually we drop down into the sixties at night but not of late. I honestly don`t know how folks in the big city can stand these kinds of heat waves.

We three intrepid, or idiotic can`t decide which, goatherders have gotten a good chunk of our winter wood in and stacked over Mister`s vacation. And that is really about it. Trust me on this one after the last trip on Thursday no-one wanted mama outside anymore. If there is one thing I`m rather good at its bitching. Again, ask Mister. He will concur readily I`m sure.

We did venture out last night to go see Captain America but that was in an air conditioned car then sitting in a nice cool theater. The movie was a hoot. Being the Marvel comic nerd that I am of course I was thrilled to be seeing characters coming to life that I had only ever read about in my beloved comics. If anyone is looking for a great film to take the kids to see I highly recommend Cap. Although I may be just a bit biased. *Smiles sheepishly*

On another path we finally caught the rassafrassin` beast that`s been killing my ducks. I am now down to one drake thanks to a certain nasty varmint. In a last ditch effort to catch the blighter Mister placed leg-hold traps in the ducks pen. We herded my poor solo drake into his coop and locked him in tightly. Next morning when I let the dogs out I could hear Tinker braying and jogged back to wake Mister up. Right next to the duck coop he had caught a HUGE boar coon. Poor Qhuinn (That`s my drakes name) was huddled into the furthest corner of his coop when I let him out after the duck killer had been eradicated. I had to lure him out with some feed. Now he has to chum around with the geese who seem to tolerate him as long as he isn`t too close.

Darn but losing my birds, and especially my waterfowl, makes me SO mad! I know that the wild animals are only doing what they need to do to survive but still, why my ducks guys? Yeah I know, they`re easy pickings. Just like my buff silky hen Jo-Jo the Second was an easy mark for a red-tail the other day. Of course we can`t do a thing but watch the son-of-a-gun fly off but consabbit, I really liked that little golden Silky hen. That sadly is all part and parcel of having poultry I suppose. *Sighs*

So trying to end this on a more chipper note, I hope it`s been cooler where y`all are! Guess I had best get to the laundry that`s waiting so I`ll be flying off.

Now where did I put my broomstick?

One Liners-7/20

2011-07-20T07:04:00.002-04:00

'Accursed paparazzi!'

As always everyone is encouraged to play along. Just put your one-liner down in the comments section!

This Doctor Makes Housecalls!

2011-07-18T12:04:00.004-04:00

Hello and happy Monday gang!

Step inside out of the heat and we`ll have a fresh cup while we catch up. How was everyone`s weekend? Filled with fun and good times I hope. Ours was a pretty nice one despite the weather which is creeping up into the intolerable range once again. Friday night we three goatherders trundled into town to see the last of the Harry Potter movies. *Sniffles* What a grand and wonderful series of books and films those were. I`ll miss reading about Harry, Ron and Hermione. I can recall sitting down with my daughter and reading those novels together once upon a time.

The rest of the weekend raced by with cutting and hauling firewood, and man alive is my body telling me about it! This old gray mare ain`t what she used to be. I said to Mister as we were filling the stove room with last year’s leftovers to make room for the new wood something along these lines-

“You know snookie-pookie it is REALLY hot out here!”

To which he replied something akin to this-

“Yeah we`re getting warmed twice with this wood ain`t we?”

He`s such a wisenheimer at times.

Yesterday afternoon I went to a self-publishing seminar at our local indie bookstore. That was very informative and oodles of fun and really helped me a great deal. I also found an editor for my novel-in-progress! *Does happy goatherder dance*

Today is another sweltering one already and it`s only a little after ten as I`m typing this. Mister and Miss are off in the woods go fetch another wagon load of wood. I got to stay home and wait for our large animal vet Dr. Lisa to show up. The four ladies that are heading to fair in a couple of weeks need their health certificates. I mentioned to Dr. Lisa as we sauntered down to the goat barn that I only see her once a year. She commented that was a good thing and I guessed I have to agree!

Of course the girls were thrilled to have visitors and Dr. Lisa gave the fair going gals a good once-over. Now we need to get the tattooing and clipping done! I couldn`t tattoo since I didn`t get the papers from ADGA for Tali. Still don`t have them but I did manage to get a hold of the gal we bought her from last night, so Dr. Lisa at least had the tattoo numbers for the health certificate.

Clipping though…Ugh…tiny goat hairs stuck to every darn nook and crevasse (And yes I do have some crevasses) as sweat runs down through the buzzed goat hair plastered to your body. Did I say ugh yet? I did, okay, Blech! But that`s all part and parcel of showing animals. Itchy crevasses. That sounds risqué doesn`t it? Or it could be the name of a rock band! The Itchy Crevasses Live at Madison Square Garden. Gracious my mind goes off on the STRANGEST roads don`t it?

So what`s been keeping y`all busy since last we visited?

Sharing the Evening

2011-07-14T10:38:00.016-04:00

Yesterday the humidity finally broke and the temperature dropped thankfully! After dinner it was a perfect 70 degrees here with a lovely cool breeze. So I grabbed my camera and out we went for an evening drive and some garden duty. I thought you might want to share the evening with us, just to see what we yodeling goatherder`s do up here in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania on a lovely summer eve.

Some of that new hay Mister has been working on-

Spotted her alongside the road-

Some shots of our beautiful county and landscape-

The raspberries are ripe and oh so tasty-

A little garden tending for some very thirsty plants-

Some fruits or veggies I guess I should say of our labors. A big ole cucumber-

And a little bitty squash-

And of course some tom-foolery-

Hope your evening was as pleasant as ours was! And a big yodel of welcome to Lisa Sall! Howdy Lisa! Welcome to the hillside farm!

First Week of Mister`s Vacation

2011-07-13T07:24:00.004-04:00

Come on in if you can get around the dogs and have a cup of iced coffee gang!

Yup, I think I`m going to be serving my beloved brew over crushed ice for a spell. It`s been hotter than two rats making whoopee in a wool sock, as my dear hubby would say, here for days! Dry, hot and humid makes for one slightly cranky Feral. I don`t do heat well. Ever since I went through ‘The Change’ I tend to be particularly touchy about hot weather. So needless to say I`ve been spending most of my time indoors, trying to keep cool in the AC. Mister though has been busier than a three-legged beaver with an over-flowing river. Hot, dry and muggy in July can only mean one thing-It`s haying time.

Since he has this week and next off for vacation he figured the time was now to get our hay in. I don`t envy the man one blessed thing either. Putting in eight to ten hours on a tractor in this weather is enough to suck all the life juices from a soul. So far he`s gotten twenty round bales cut, raked and baled with more to come, IF the rain holds off! *Crosses fingers*

We have had a new visitor arrive though over the past few days. Madame Phoebe thought that our back-porch looked like a prime nesting place!

Mister and I had different thoughts since her new nesting spot location was directly over our grill.

She made quite a mess of things and try as we may whatever we tried didn`t dissuade her.

So, knowing that we had been handed a defeat we rolled the grill out of the way and allowed her to do her thing.

She has three little eggs that she`s sitting on. We`ve been peeking daily to see if they hatch and how many. If I can get a picture of them to share I will.

Other than hay and phoebe nesting things here are pretty quiet. We are starting to get ready for fair next month. Our large animal vet Dr. Lisa is coming out next Monday to inspect the goats that are going and give us our health certificates, so we have some tattooing to do over the weekend on our new little Sable doe Tali.

So how is this hump-day treating y`all?

One Liners-7/10

2011-07-10T06:55:00.004-04:00

'Hello Ma`am, we`re from the Turkey Scouts! Would you be interested in buying a box of Peanut Butter Gobbles?'

As always everyone is invited to play along! Just add your one-liner in with your comments.

Fun With Numbers

2011-07-08T06:49:00.007-04:00

Morning all, tug out a chair and have a fresh cuppa!

You know I adore numbers! And my favorite number is umpteen. It`s the most enjoyable number for a few reasons I reckon. First it`s just fun to say isn`t it? Secondly it fits so many different things in my day to day life! Seems at least once a day that silly number pops up in either mine or Mister`s conversation.

For example this is our umpteenth brood to hatch out in the cow barn.

Two mama hens did all the work, sitting side by side for three weeks. Then when the chicks began to hatch out Old Red Hen wiggled her plump little rump into things! Now those nine chicks have three mothers to fret about them. They should sure know how to be a chicken in no time flat with all that maternal attention!

Then there`s our yellow lab Poe who was first given the moniker Madame Umpteen.

You may be asking yourself’ Feral, how could such an adorable old woman like Poe have earned such an odd nickname?’ Well I`ll tell you how, after I get another swig of java juice. Ah that is good stuff! Okay, so Poe was bestowed that name way back when she was young simply because you have to tell her things umpteen times.

‘Poe, would you stop stomping on that bee`s nest?!’

‘Poe, didn`t I ask you to stop digging in the manure pile not three minutes ago?! Yes I know there are mice in there but seriously have you SEEN your paws?!’

‘Poe, are you deaf? I could have sworn I told you several times to NOT wallow in the goose pond and then come inside and leap on the couch!’

‘Poe! Poe! Poe! POE!’ (This is said umpteen times by me as I call her to the house)

Also aside from Madame Umpteen we have Lu-Lu, who I think is vying for the coveted title of Madame Umpteen-the Feline Edition. I swear on Ryan Reynolds rippled abs that I remove that cat from places she does not belong umpteen times in the course of the day. Such as-

In the base of the new turkey waterer-

In the dish drainer-

And knocking over my carefully arranged action figures! (Yes it IS important that Ironman be beside War Machine and that Nick Fury`s teeny little guns aren`t scattered hither and yon Lu-Lu! Another of my little foibles is now common knowledge.)

I could also list my dear husband in the above list of how often I use the number umpteen but we`ve already covered how many knots I`ve gotten on my head from open cupboard doors. I`ve told him about that more than umpteen times rest assured! Him and the animals listen about the same. Feral! Now that wasn`t nice at all! *Giggles impishly*Poor Mister Yodeling, he takes such abuse from me at times. Love you honey-buns! That should smooth things over don`t y`all think???

So due to the sheer number of times we use umpteen it is now our favorite number.

I ain`t really sure if that`s a good thing or not. *Scratches head and ponders*

Freedom, batteries and Fifties

2011-07-05T10:38:00.005-04:00

Hello all and happy day after the 4th!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday. Our three day weekend was a full one but a nice one! We goatherders weren`t the only ones to be feeling some independence either! Our meat turkeys are finally old enough to be let out and boy howdy are they enjoying themselves! We keep them inside until they`re feathered out, just in case a rain blows up.

I know some folks have heard that old saying that turkeys are so dumb they`ll look up into a rain and drown. From what I`ve read that isn`t true, what happens is that poults will get soaked and go into shock. One of the signs of shock is that their heads will tip back, so I can see how that saying got started. That`s not to say that domestic turkeys are Einstein`s by any means!

So far I`ve taken various bits of trash and plastic from their beaks, it`s like having six two year olds running through the yard! Although they did do Mister a favor! He was out front chatting with one of his buddies when he saw one of the turkeys running around with something. Over he went to take it from the bird and lo and behold that turkey had a fifty dollar bill in its beak!! True story I swear. The bill is kind of mildewed but that didn`t stop my husband from cramming it into his wallet so fast I barely saw the face of the president on it!

Sunday we went to my sister-in-laws for a family cookout. I was all sorts of set to snap some pictures, even making sure I took fresh batteries out of the charger before we left. I sat and waited for the rest of the kinfolk to arrive, since everyone just loves having their pictures in the blog she typed sardonically. I had a good one all lined up only to find out my camera wouldn`t work. I snapped and cussed and snapped and nothing! Then Mister took the camera and popped the batteries out. Oh the look he gave me then. You ladies know the look.

“What?” I asked.

“These batteries aren`t rechargeable,” he said and showed me the words LITHIUM clearly stamped on the sides of the AA`s. Well color me sheepish.

“Well they were in the charger!” I huffed as I crammed my camera into my front pocket.

So no pictures of the cookout due to poor battery labeling, the words were too small for my bifocals to read clearly. That’s my excuse and I`m sticking to it!

Yesterday we had a nice day at home and cooked some hot dogs on the grill for dinner. We had thoughts of going to the fireworks down at the lake, but Mister had to be up at three this morning to go back to work. I did get some housecleaning done yesterday so I figure today is a free day right? Miss Yodeling has one of her friends over today. She and he are back there in her room playing video games at the moment so Mama is going to sit back, sip some coffee and do some blog catching up!

How was your holiday weekend??

Happy 4th of July!!

2011-07-04T06:22:00.001-04:00

One Liners-7/1

2011-07-01T07:03:00.002-04:00

"Move over, the foam from the goat milk is mine!"

Feral Ponders-20 Years of Wedded Bliss

2011-06-29T06:54:00.005-04:00

What can a woman say about being married for twenty years? Well, I`ve been pondering….

When I first sat down to pen this entry I had a mixed bag of ideas. I thought about telling y`all how Mister and I first met, but didn`t know if he`d like the idea of me informing folks of how shy he was back then. Oops, well the cat`s out of that bag now isn`t it?! Sometimes I look at the man I`ve shared all those years with and can`t see that quiet man I first met. Other times I look at him and can see the silent guy very well. And sure, sometimes I wish that male that hardly said two words to me during that double-date with a couple friends were back!

I guess quite a bit of being married for so long is about just that. Still being able to enjoy the fellow you first met while watching him, and yourself, grow and change. And just as the people who are involved must change, so must your marriage. I can`t imagine a woman out there who`s been married for more than six months can honestly say their union is the same as when they were blushing newlyweds. If it is then the hubby and you are living in a vacuum of time and space. How can it remain the same?

We all know that the rosy blush of that first year fades over time. Now that`s not to say that the passion withers away, although of course the passion seems to take a backseat when the kids start to arrive. I can recall our first year of marriage. Living in a tiny trailer that shook when a mouse sneezed in the tin walls, although we didn`t seem to mind much. We had other things on our minds! *Waggles brows*

Funny how now Mister and I find ourselves growing back together now that our daughter is growing up. Seems so much of our time and energy was spent making sure she thrived and had the attention she needed that now that she`s almost old enough to drive we`re now looking at the fact that it`s just going to be us soon. Okay, soon is three more years but as fast as time goes that`ll be here before Mom and Dad is ready for it!

Over the past couple of years our marriage has gone through some changes and some hard times too. But we stuck it out, rode over those nasty lumps and emerged with a stronger union.

Again, if someone tells you they`ve been married for a long time and have never run over a few speed bumps they are lying. You cannot live with another human being and have it be all sunshine and unicorns! They will, on occasion, drive you nuts. And I`m pretty sure I`ve driven Mister Yodeling to Looney Town a few times over those twenty years! Word to the young girls sighing over wedding gowns-It`s the little things that will make you pull out and braid your hair.

Like never closing cabinet doors.*Sighs wearily* To this day I cannot grasp how a man can open a kitchen cabinet or drawer and not close it. How is that even possible?! Do you not see that cabinet door hanging open, waiting for your little Hobbit of a wife to run her head into it?? Does the male mind only work on the ‘Open’ synapse and not the ‘Close’ one as well? Don`t they go hand in hand?! Open-Close-Open-Close-Open-Close-See the rhythm there guys?

Also, if I may point this out purely for the young ladies who are staring at their fiancée with stars in their eyes-It takes years to train that male you`re so gaga over to rinse out their own pop cans. We won`t go into the carrying the empty ice cream bowl and spoon to the sink battle for that would only make you brides-to-be overly anxious and I don`t want to cause any wedding plans to go awry.

Just know that after many years of gentle persuasion which your husband will call harping, you will have him swishing water in his empty pop can and placing it into the dish drainer. If you`re really lucky you may have a Labrador retriever that will bring you the ice cream bowl and spoon upon request! (Your husband’s request that is, since he doesn`t wish to leave the recliner and the hunting show that’s on.)

But in all fairness I am not without my foibles. I, for example, am the one who doesn`t screw the cap back on the toothpaste tightly OR flatten out the tube. I am a squeezer. Mister is a flattener. That little fracas has been going back and forth for many years. I figure why screw tightly when you`re just going to be unscrewing again after your next meal?? My spouse on the other hand seems to get rather annoyed when he has to try to retrieve the cap from the teensy little drain in our bathroom sink.

I also tend to be rather pedantic about odd things such as folding the blanket on the back of the recliner a certain way. Really it shouldn`t matter to me if Mister folds it only four times as opposed to my six times should it? As long as he folds it and doesn`t toss it to the floor for me or the orally obsessed black lab to pick up that should be good right? So yeah, I`m no Snow White to live with either it seems upon reflection. Ha! See I used Snow White and reflection there with the whole mirror thing and-Ahem. Sorry, I amuse myself far too easily at times.

I guess what I`m pondering over is the fact that despite the little bumps-like open cabinets and toothpaste caps-and the really large gulley your marriage van of happiness may run over, or into, the key thing is to not give up too easily. If your man is a good one-One that works his ass off to provide for you and your kids-One that comes home and doesn`t leave his paycheck at the bar-One that never raises a hand to you or your children-One that treats you with respect and humor, then try your darnedest to ride along life`s rocky road together. If you find that you can`t live with each other after exhausting each and every auto repair manual then go your separate ways, but don`t go until you`ve tried everything to restart that marriage motor.

Oh sure, you may have to get out of that rackety old Studebaker of love on occasion and pump up a flat. And sometimes you might have to give an overheated radiator time to cool off before you dump water into it. Heck, you might even have to give the engine a shot of ether on cold mornings to get it to roll over! But those are the things we have to do to keep a classic vehicle purring along the roadway of wedded bliss. I had a thought about gas but opted to skip that since it would be in poor taste but yeah, you old married gals don`t need to be told about THAT now do you??

My mental meanderings have brought me around in a neat little circle, as they usually do, and this time I didn`t even end up with a moose in the passenger seat! This time I ended up with Mister there, and I really can`t imagine a better person to clutch the dashboard with as I go chugging down the road of life.

I love you honey…..Happy twentieth anniversary.

Shiver Me Timbers!

2011-06-26T08:01:00.018-04:00

Ahoy there me mateys! Gracious someone stop me before this whole post sounds like a bad snippet from Pirates of the Caribbean. I guess I was in a nautical mindset because yesterday Mister and I spent the day celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. Since he has to work on the 29th, which is the actual day, we decided to set sail yesterday! Leaving my child at home to supposedly do something productive we two young lovers *Snorts* went gallivanting off to Watkins Glen New York for the day. There be lots of pictures me hearties and-- Someone stop me!!

We had reservations for a luncheon aboard the Seneca Legacy-

While we waited to board the ship we dallied some along the marina.

Man I wish I had one of those in my yard sometimes!On second thought it`s probably best that I don`t or he`d be in there most of the time and who would kill the hornets that get inside?? This is a lovely hotel that sits beside Seneca Lake-

A shot of the marina-

This is the schooner 'True Love' that takes folks on a long sail around Seneca Lake-

And here be the young couple. I can`t even type that without snickering!

And some ducks! Yes, I know, I have ducks just like these I can see everyday but come on, Feral just loves ducks and they were so cute and web-footed-

Another picture of the Seneca Legacy as we were getting ready to board for the two hour luncheon and cruise-

Here`s my handsome hubby looking very spiffy in his nautical themed shirt as we wait for the meal to be served-

And me mumbling 'Feral need coffee'-

Coffee!!!!! It was so good it really deserved its own photograph. The meal was delicious as well! We had roast beef that melted in your mouth, mashed taters with gravy, corn and a tasty little slab of chocolate cake.

This is Seneca Lake, or what can be seen of it from the boat. Seneca Lake is thirty-five miles long and is five hundred feet deep at its deepest.

This is a picture of some of the vineyards that produce the fine Finger Lakes wines. Seneca Lake helps the wine-makers. Since the lake very rarely freezes in the winter due to it being spring fed, it helps shelter the vineyards.

Here is some of the bedrock that lines the lake-

And one last picture of that georgous schooner moving over the lake.

Mister and I had a really wonderful time and I highly recommend the cruise if anyone is ever near the Finger Lakes. I`ll have something special for Wednesday to touch on my thoughts about being married for twenty years...to the same man! Hope you enjoyed sailing along with Mister and me! Now I`m off to swab the poopdeck!

From Feral`s Front Porch

2011-06-25T06:37:00.003-04:00

Mister just had to capture this shot yesterday afternoon. We had showers on and off all day and then the sun suddenly broke out while it was still raining. Every time I see a rainbow it reminds me of this song--

'What`s so amazing

That it keeps us star-gazing

And what do they think we may see?

Oh, someday we`ll find it

The Rainbow Connection

The lovers, the dreamers, and me.'

What This Blog Means To Me

2011-06-23T08:40:00.002-04:00

Howdy all! *Drops into kitchen chair and takes a long loving gulp of java juice*

To quote one of my favorite X-Men Hank McCoy, ‘Oh my stars and garters!’

I have been trying to find time to sit down and pen a blog post for days!’ Well, Hank isn`t bemoaning his lack of blogging time I don`t think when he says that, but I just like the saying and figured Hank wouldn`t mind me borrowing it. Those comic guys are pretty good sorts most generally.

Life has just been crazy with a capitol K here on the hillside farm, and sadly my blog seems to get the brunt of my lack of writing time. For that I apologize. Mister had Tuesday off and we spent the day laying a drain pipe down at the goat barn. Not that a moat isn`t cool and radical or whatever the kids say nowadays but slurry is not cool or radical or even groovy. Our pretty Pennsylvania red clay sure stinks for drainage! But the problem is fixed now and we don`t have to wallow through that mess anymore! But there went my writing time for Tuesday.

Yesterday we had to have Miss Yodeling down to Danville to see the orthopedic surgeon to check her back. A few years ago the school nurse informed us Miss had scoliosis. We ended up seeing one of the surgeons down at Geisinger who, after some x-rays, told us that although she did have some curvature he thought it was coming from one leg being a tad longer than the other. Wednesday she went back for another check-up and more X-rays. Her spine hasn`t gotten any worse, thank heaven, so now we`re looking at getting a lift made for her right shoe.(See Miss, Grandma was right when she said all those years ago that running up and down these side hills would make one leg longer than the other! Grandma`s are ALWAYS right!)

After stopping for lunch and some odds and ends we came home, did chores and then Miss and I let out for Wellsboro.

There is a new writers group forming at the book store in town (One of my favorite haunts as y`all know) and I was pretty keen to be a part of the organizational meeting. I run a writers group that meets at our library in Wellsboro once a month and this new one sounds like it will really complement what we do at the library nicely! There really is nothing like interaction and feedback for a writer. I adore my writers group and have learned so much from it.

Anydoodles, during a break from the setting up and general discussions I spent a few minutes chatting with one of the ladies that is a regular at our library group. This is a link to her blog, she is a delightful person and a very skilled scribe that just recently self-published her first children`s novel.

Life is short-Write it all down

As we were talking amid the books I mentioned to Michele that I always feel so badly when I can`t find time to do my blog entries. She is a busy blogger and I really just stand in awe of folks who can update their blogs almost daily AND find time to write novels and just do the whole life thang. After the meeting I got to thinking about blogging and what it means to me.

I know many writers use their blog to get their name out there, because hey, a blog is a form of publishing right? So I suppose in a way I use this here blog for that, although my name isn`t listed but my username from a comic board is. That`s okay though, I`ve been Feral for so long I now answer to it as neatly as I do my real name! Sometimes better truth be told.

So yeah, while I do think that part of my blog is to help get my name out there, I don`t think that`s the real core reason I love to blog. I don`t use my blog to push my fiction work so I don`t suppose that really is aiding me any in that distant dream of someday seeing what I write published. I don`t use my blog to shout out my feelings on controversial subjects like politics, religion or any of the other things millions of bloggers blog about. I don`t stick to one subject-say writing or skiing or hunting-so this blog isn`t a venue for me to show how knowledgeable I am about things. Actually the thought of me on skis is pretty funny isn`t it?? Ah, sorry, I digressed there for a minute. I try not to prattle on about the novel I`m working on all the time so this blog isn`t meant to be a means to hype folks up about that either.

Why then do I blog? And why then do I feel so badly when I can`t get back here?

That was what had me ruminating all night after the meeting at Kasey`s bookstore. I think I`ve come up with the answer.

I feel badly about not having time to blog, and devoting the majority of my writing time to my book, because this blog is about friendship. Just like when you want to talk to that friend you haven`t talked to in SO long but you just can`t seem to find the time to call, and when you do get a breather it`s too late at night? That is why I get so guilty when other projects and life drag me away from this wonderful community. This blog has come to mean more to me than just a means to get my name ‘Out There.’

It`s grown to be a breather of sorts for me, a time to sit down, have a cuppa and just chat with friends about the day to day. To catch up with the friends I`ve made blogging and see what`s cooking on their farms and homesteads.

Over the past couple of years it seems my life has grown by leaps and bounds. For a woman who is fifty I`ll admit that I`m pretty tickled over that! When I was a pup I couldn`t imagine that I would be looking at a new love (Writing that is, Mister is my old love. *Waggles brows*) and thinking of stepping into the sometimes shark-filled world that is publishing. Heck I figured I would be sitting on the porch shucking beans and rocking in my creaky rocking chair at fifty! Goes to show what I knew at eighteen huh?

That I now have the fortitude to strike out, either by the traditional publishing route or self-publishing, I owe in large part to all of you. Yup, each one of you, be you new friends or old ones, have given me the encouragement I needed to do what I love to do. Knowing that y`all come here for a cup and a chuckle warms me like a fresh mug of Folgers on an icy winter day. With your support and kind words and the backing of my husband and daughter and family, I now stand here at fifty, proud to say that I`m a writer. Whether I`m a good writer or not isn`t for me to say but I think I`m fair to middlin` as my mother was known to state.

And this blog is a large part of that confidence. Even if we only chat about our goats or our dislike of a certain piano playing man on my classic rock station, the friendship that has blossomed from this blog is a large part of my life now and man do I miss it when I can`t get here to shoot the breeze!

That is what this blog means to me. Friendship and a hot cuppa, what more could anyone ask?

One Liners-6/21

2011-06-21T11:53:00.001-04:00

'A sun-hat is a must for the dog on the go!'

Happy Father`s Day

2011-06-19T05:01:00.001-04:00

There Must Be Something In The Water

2011-06-17T07:06:00.003-04:00

Hey all come on in and have a sit-down while I grab a couple of cups!

You know how sometimes you look at your pets and wonder what they`re thinking? Well over the past few days I`ve begun to look at my outdoor critters and wonder if someone spiked our well. I`m not sure who, or why, anyone would want to slip my farmyard beasts a Mickey Finn. Maybe it`s some odd microorganism that just suddenly decided to ferment in our well. If that`s the case when why the Sam Hill isn`t this fermentation effecting me and Mister? Hell we both could use a nice cool glass of fermentation daily. I digress, where was I? Oh right, the conspiracy theories about our tainted water supply.

Perhaps, and this is a long shot, but perhaps some fraction group of bio-terrorists thought it would be grand fun to put goofy-juice into our-Oops hold on----It has just come to my attention that it would be a FACTION and not a fraction group. *Sniffs* Well who knows right? It very well could have been a band of mathematical geniuses who got tired of dallying about with numbers all day and wanted to see some poor goatherder who stinks at algebra deal with doofy waterfowl.

Whatever or whoever it was I am left scratching my head daily at the goings-on`s around this here place. Now when the inside pets act scatterbrained I think nothing of it. I`m used to the black lab with the shoe fetish, the yellow lab that guards our home from anything in the yard that starts with the letters SQ and the beagle with the foot slurping while Feral is trying to drift off to La-La Land foible. Heck I don`t even cock a brow at the cat that likes to sit in my dish drainer or the other feline that comes in and then has to lick every dog in a five mile area. Old news! Been there and seen that!

It`s this new and odd behavior of my waterfowl that has me eying the well with trepidation. Last night it was discovered that all the young ducks and geese, instead of returning to their own coop for beddy-bye time had decided to bunk with the chickens. Okay, that`s a mistake that I can overlook mostly although the chickens were none too pleased! They`re young and they`re new to the whole ‘We Are Not Web-Footed So Stay out of Our Coop!’ ways of the chickens but uhm, what`s up with the older waterfowl??

My ducks have decided it`s time to stage a rebellion and flat-footedly out and out refuse to return to their pen at night. The geese then thought that since the ducks gave up their coop they would move in. Three squatters are now making the duck coop their home while two other geese are hogging the entire goose coop. Ducks are laying eggs hither and yon, geese are laying eggs in the duck coop! Dogs and cats living together!! It`s mass hysteria!!!!

Sorry, had a small moment of Ghostbusters there, it`s all good now. If anyone has any clues about the culprits please notify the FBI or me promptly! Until I know otherwise I`ll be sitting on my back porch keeping a very keen eye out for be-speckled young men with high waistbands and pocket protectors milling around suspiciously by my well cap.

*~*~*

I`m going to take a moment here to do some motherly bragging. Miss Yodeling and her team of land judgers nailed first place at the FFA State Activities Week down at Penn State and will now proceed to the FFA National`s in Oklahoma!! We`re so proud of all four of the kids that worked and studied thier butts off! Way to go CVHS FFA! Onto Oklahoma City you go!!

Look What the Postman Brought!

2011-06-15T06:47:00.003-04:00

Well he didn`t bring the stuffed duck, but he did bring that adorable goat kid coat from Texan.

All my kids are too big for it now and the cats seemed displeased when I tried to get them to model it so Mister Mallard got the honors! Thank you so much Texan for such a cool give-away! Rest assured come next spring we`ll see that coat on a goat and not on a duck!

From Feral`s Back Porch

2011-06-14T09:42:00.000-04:00

Peonies and a tin rooster.

What Does the Yellow Light Mean?

2011-06-12T19:52:00.006-04:00

Howdy all! *Collapses into chair with fresh cup of decaf*

Man alive it has been such a busy week I don`t know if I`m coming or going. I hope everyone had a nice weekend! I think we did. I`ve been doing so much running since school let out I`m now beginning to feel like Reverend Jim, played by the amazing Christopher Lloyd on Taxi.

Some of you may recall during that classic bit with him asking about what the yellow light means during his driving test and Jeff Conaway`s character Bobby Wheeler replies ‘Slow down’. With perfection of comedic timing Reverend Jim then whispers ‘What…..does……the……yellow……light………mean?’

I`ve been hustling my own taxi back and forth all week and tomorrow I`ll have another run. Miss Yodeling, we`re rather proud to say, has been chosen to attend FFA Activities Week at Penn State University from June 14-16 as part of our high schools land judging team. Since school is over for the summer she and her three other land judgers have been reporting to their Ag teachers home every other day, or there about, to study as hard as they can in preparation.

Of course a trip to Penn State for two days meant a clothes shopping run on Thursday to Wal-Mart for a new swimsuit and other last minute items. Friday I had to take my MIL to the eye doctor so she could have her eyes checked and pupils dilated. This trip to the optometrist ran into the trip to the Ag teachers house but thankfully Miss Yodeling`s friends, and fellow judger of land, mother picked the girls up and brought them home.

Also during this time of the yellow Mom taxi frenzy I`ve had an ad in the paper trying to sell goats, ducklings and goslings. So of course the phone has been ringing and I`ve been jogging down to the goat barn to talk to prospective new goat owners while arranging to have my buck Auron take a love trip to someone who has three does in heat and no mature buck! Oh, and of course there was the usual weekly grocery run and a not-so-quick trip to town to purchase Miss Yodeling her first cell phone so I could call down to Penn State and make sure all is well. Yeah but I`m a mom and that`s what we do so learn to live with it kids!

Friday night was a big event as well as my nephew Shane graduated high school. Today his folks threw him a party and we all had one heck of a good time. I ate WAY too much but the food was just too good to pass up, and yes Kelly, those were deviled duck eggs! I have a few snapshots of the get together to share, not too many, I promise!

A table filled with cousins-

Me and the graduate (Congratulations Shane!)-

And one of my niece just because she didn`t want anyone taking her picture!

Tomorrow is the last trip to the Ag teacher’s farm then Tuesday we have to be at our local fire hall by 8 AM for the pick-up for the FFA trip to Penn State. I`ll be back tomorrow morning to catch up on everyone`s blogs, I have to dash now and meet another person who wants to take a look at the goats I have for sale. No wonder Feral is slightly fried much like- And here he is now!

Phew, fast addition before I go collapse for the night. Sold all my buck kids! Yippee! Okay, now I`m going to go sit my butt down and relax for a spell!

Have a grand evening all!

Word of Mouth-The Lost Hero

2011-06-08T07:45:00.002-04:00

Hey there gang, time for some more Word of Mouth!

This time around we`ll be talking about the first novel ‘The Lost Hero’ in the new series ‘The Heroes of Olympus’ by the wonderfully talented Rick Riordan.

Some of you may be familiar with Mr. Riordan`s previous series of books about the demigod son of Poseidon Percy Jackson. A movie was made based on the first book of Percy`s five novel series-Percy Jackson and the Olympians-The Lightening Thief that perhaps many have seen. First off I will admit that I am a HUGE fan of the Greek pantheon of ancient gods. I`m no learned scholar mind you, but there is something about mythos that appeals to me on so many levels, and the Greek gods are my favorites bar none, with the Norse deities and Egyptian coming in a very close second.

Since I devoured all five of the Percy Jackson novels like they were Milano`s I was all aflutter to get my hands on this new book. Mr. Riordan did a wonderful job of taking the old mythos and gods and making them modern and relatable to young readers. Don`t let that fact, that these books are aimed at young readers, scare you off! Trust me they are appealing and entertaining for readers of all ages be you a fan of Greek legend or not!

This new book centers around three new demigods to grace Camp Half-Blood. (The summer camp where all half-mortal/half-god children learn to work with their powers and is run by a centaur named Chiron.)

Jason is the star of this new book and he has a slight problem. He doesn`t remember anything before he woke up on a bus filled with kids on a field trip. It seems he has a girlfriend named Piper and a best buddy named Leo. They all attend a boarding school called the Wilderness School, a school for ‘bad kids’ as Jason`s pal Leo calls it. What Jason did to end up here he can`t recall or does he know why he is there, all he knows is that things seem very wrong.

Piper has a very big secret, one that revolves around her father, a famous actor. Her dad has been missing for three days and she has been having some terrible nightmares about him and the trouble he`s in. She doesn`t understand her dreams or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn`t know who she is.

Leo has a knack for tools and he too seems to be hiding some secrets from his childhood.

The three kids, along with their gruff counselor Coach Hedge (Who I just adored!), end up being caught up in a freakish storm while on their field trip. The storm unleashes some very strange creatures that seem intent on wiping out our trio of new heroes. Help arrives and the threesome is then taken to the safety of Camp Half-Blood where at least two of our new heroes will find out who their godly parents are. Jason has a much harder time figuring out his parentage but eventually he also works out who is daddy is. I`m not telling, y`all will have to read to find out!

From that point on the three young heroes are sent on a quest to find and save Hera, the wife of Zeus. They encounter a wonderfully entertaining and sometimes very deadly bunch of gods and creatures as they battle onward to save Hera and stall a new and perhaps more deadly prophesy than the war against the Titan`s that Percy Jackson and his friends thwarted in the previous series. We see some old faces reappearing in this new series which is a nice bridge and keeps the reader appeased. I was especially glad to see Clarisse, the daughter of Ares, in this book as she is one of my favorites from Percy`s tales. (I have a weakness for Ares the god of war.) The plot is quick and clever, there is a ton of action, the mystery and suspense about Jason and who and what he is, and if these teen`s can aid Hera is woven well and of course the gods and beasts are presented with the touch only Rick Riordan has!

The only complaint I have about the book is the new characters themselves. They are very angst-ridden. Sometimes close to the point of me wanting to sigh out loud and beg them to just please stop. I realize that Mr. Riordan was trying to craft a new set of characters that were very different than the previous ones. As a writer I fully grasp that and understand his reasoning. New book, new series, new characters. That`s fine with me and I grew to really care about all three of the leads as I read along.

Perhaps it`s the fact that these kids are older than Percy was when he began his series, although he did grow up as his books progressed. Older kids mean different worries and troubles, and once more, I understand that. The humor though in this new book isn`t as rich as it was in the Percy Jackson`s series I feel. There are still funny moments of course but they tend to get over-shadowed by the angst at times. I bought this book for my daughter as a Christmas present and she read it first. Her words were’ It`s good and the gods are cool but the kids are too emo.’ That coming from a fifteen year old, the target audience for these books, but I wanted to read it and judge for myself. She was right, they are really far too emo, at least in my humble.

Aside from the teen angst I was once more swept up and carried away by the book and would recommend it to anyone who shares a love of mythos, action and adventure! I mean can anyone ever get too much Greek god?? I think not!

Patty`s New Friends

2011-06-05T17:40:00.006-04:00

Hello everyone, it`s me, Sir Patrick of Moo doing a blog post!

Actually I had to have C.B. the cow-barn rooster and my good buddy do the typing, my hooves and laptop`s aren`t a very good combination. That C.B. sure can hunt and peck though!! We had a really good weekend here on our hillside farm and got to welcome some new friends.

The first group of new buddies was born right in my own barn! The yodeling lady calls these hens the ‘Hole in the Wall Gang’ for some strange reason. She`s pretty strange anyway so whatever she says I take with a lick of salt. All those peeps were hatched under three mama hens, and the moms share the peep-raising responsibility! How cool is that? Three moms to fuss over you! I think those little chickens are darn lucky!

I also have more friends coming very soon! If you peek over the railing in my barn just so you`ll find another member of the ‘Hole in the Wall Gang’ sitting on eggs. Her eggs are peeping. I heard them just this morning!

Of course, once the peeps start arriving the humans put up some sort of Anti-Patty devise to keep me from eating the peep food and stepping on the peep water fount.

I have to say in my own bovine defense that peep food is really, really good! Can I help it I have a long tongue??

After the peep situation got settled I got a scoop of grain which I enjoy a great deal then I stood in my pasture to watch the two lady goatherders driving off. They said they were going to go pick up a new goat. Like they needed another one??? Who am I to say though? I asked if I could go but the young Miss said she didn`t think her lap would hold me like it would a goat kid.

I fear she may have meant my butt was fat but I am after all a beefer and beefers have beefy butts, am I right?! They came back in about an hour with this new doe kid, a Sable goat I heard, that they named Tali. She got to go with the other goats and hang out in the goat barn. She seems nice and really cute, for a goat you know.

It`s been a really busy and new friend filled Sunday! I think I hear a cud calling though so I`ll sign off with a hearty Moooooo!

Yours-

Sir Patrick of Moo

(Who has a big beefy butt that is really comfy to sleep on!-Addendum by C.B. the typing barn rooster)

Be Careful What You Wish For

2011-06-03T13:10:00.003-04:00

Okay, so, there I was this morning with my Nubian cup filled with nice hot coffee and topped with a dollop of fresh goat milk wishing I had something to write about for the blog.

The weather has settled down nicely so aside from it being absolutely glorious out that topic was done. Over the four day holiday weekend we got all the boy goats moved into another pasture and coop so nothing exciting on that front. Milking is going well and the girls took to the stand like the old troopers they are, so again, blah. I mulled and I sipped. There is a book review to do but I`d rather do that on the weekend when the house is full since those don`t seem to require as much attention as the fiction tales do. I contemplated doing the edits to my book-in-progress, taking the comments and suggestions from last night`s writers group and reworking a few things but Meh, didn`t want to do that either.

So there I sat cup in hand with nothing to write. Life has been very serene the past few days apparently. So giving it up for a lost cause I got Miss down to the bus for her next to last day of school and got around to go to town. There I was tootling along down Route 287 singing along with Queen (Thank the Gods not one Billy Joel song was played this morning!) and enjoying a lively rendition of Fat Bottom Girls when out from a field scuttled a woodchuck. He didn`t stop to look for traffic coming or even have his running shoes on, he just rumpled his big fat rump into the lane and Feral ran over him.

There was not a thing I could do to stop it. I was clocking along at fifty-five which is the speed limit for that stretch of road. I couldn`t slam on the breaks because someone was behind me. I couldn`t swerve because there was a convoy of water trucks ripping past in the opposite lane. All I could do was try to straddle the poor fat bugger. My straddling didn`t straddle and over him both tires went. Ugh.

I felt so bad. I have NEVER run over anything before. I once had a robin fly into the windshield but aside from that I`ve never hit anything. Mister Yodeling on the other hand has plowed into numerous deer and even a bear once. I`m always as careful as I can be going down these dirt roads just because you never know when a deer is going to leap out in front of you. But a woodchuck with a death wish never entered my mind!

I pulled over when I could and stepped from my truck to see if by some weird quirk of fate the woodchuck was alive. What I thought I was going to do with him if he were I haven`t the foggiest! Not like you can walk into the small animal hospital with a woodchuck wrapped in a blanket. Well maybe you can but who would or could afford such a thing for a woodchuck? The woodchuck was not among the living anymore so I slid back into my truck and sat there, feeling just terrible. I had committed vehicular herbivore-slaughter. Egad. Now who would tell us if there were going to be six more weeks of winter? I had just run over one of the natural world’s most famous weather prognosticators! Now we`ll never know how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.*Sighs*

Next time I`ll have to be more specific when I wish for something to write about for my blog I guess.

Searching for that Silver Lining

2011-06-01T10:42:00.003-04:00

Hey gang, tug out a chair and I`ll grab us some mugs!

I hope everyone had a safe and pleasant Memorial Day weekend. Things in my neck of the woods have been busy and pretty darn scary at times! Over the past week we`ve been caught in a terribly turbulent weather pattern. The temperature has climbed as has the humidity until we`ve been sweltering at around ninety degrees with bone-sapping moisture in the air. That kind of weather means thunderstorms for us in the spring. Now usually we get a few here and there and most don`t build into something worse. They just rumble past and douse the chickens with those gulley-washers we all are familiar with.

Since Thursday of last week our county has gotten its rural rump kicked by horrendously strong storms. A neighboring town of ours Mansfield got socked with a very strong line of storms that downed trees, cut out their power for at least two days and caused a few injuries when the storm system moved over the Coal Festival occurring in Blossburg, a small town beside Mansfield. It seems as if every day we had one of these nasty cells cranking overhead. Our power companies have been pulling triple-time to try to get everyone`s electricity back on. Then Sunday morning around 2 AM we were awoken with yet another nasty storm ripping through. Our farm didn`t get hit too badly, just some terrible wind and heavy, heavy rain but the small valley village of Knoxville about fifteen minutes from us got hit and hit hard. I have a link from our local news to share with y`all.

Tornado touchdown in PA

The NWS has said that our neighbors did get hit by an F1 tornado. It has been a very nerve-wracking time here and my wishes to go all those who suffered through that terrifying experience.

We here on the hillside farm had a night without electric Friday night, although there was no storm in the area at that moment. I almost had to think that perhaps the utility companies were tying into lines that had been taken out in other areas of our county. Thursday evening, the same night that Mansfield got nailed so badly we kept our power but did the Unplug! You know the Unplug, when you tug the cords from the sockets on your satellite dish and modems in a big ole` hurry?!

Since we were sitting here, surrounded by winds and lightening we decided to pop in some of our old home-made videos. Miss Yodeling chose one that covered easily a year from when she was four to her fifth birthday. Oh but did we laugh at some of the things she did back then! She was so precocious and so innocent. We watched her coloring eggs and talking about the Easter Bunny coming. We chuckled at some of her song and dance routines to Barney songs. Lord sakes but did that girl blush as we sat and enjoyed the younger version of our lovely young lady.

Our old yellow Lab Poe was just a youngster in that movie. Filled with enthusiasm and vinegar, all long legs and lolling tongue. Ready for any adventure she was. Her legs were strong and powerful and her fur just as yellow as liquid gold. Now I look at her and see more white than yellow fur, her hips are shot and her eyes are cloudy. As I said to Miss Yodeling, the only difference between the movie and now is that most of us are older and fatter.

Then the home movie moved past spring and glided through summer and slid into fall. There sat Miss Yodeling on the couch we used to have, dressed in an adorable dress my mother-in-law sewed for her playing with my mother after our Thanksgiving Day feast. Its been several years since my mother passed away, and in all honesty I thought I had gotten over her loss. Sitting there, with my family while the winds churned and the skies lit up I realized that you never get over losing your mother. It was wonderfully heartwarming to see Mom sitting there and playing with this tiny little horse stable with Miss Yodeling. How she adored her only grand-daughter! Yes, I ended up crying as did Miss Yodeling.

“Keep this in mind,” I said as she and I dabbed at our eyes with tissues,” You never really get over the loss of your mother.”

I`m not sure if she actually grasped what I said. Hell before my mother passed I would have of course understood that losing your mother is hard. After living through it though I have come to know that it is a hole in your soul that can never be filled. Our home video evening turned out to be very bittersweet and yet I`m glad I got to share those memories, and those tears, with my daughter.

I think that it`s really nice to tug those old tapes out from time to time. Just as it is to have a night with no power once in awhile to remind us of what being a family is all about. Seems today we all get wrapped up in our own worlds-Television and video games and the wonder of the internet. It`s a good thing to have those things taken away from time to time.

It makes us reconnect.

It makes us have to entertain ourselves, something the kids of today seem to have some trouble with in my humble. It forces us to sit down with only the light from a kerosene lamp and make up stories and laugh and sing theme songs from old sit-coms and cartoons. It reminds us of what is really important once all the games and TV shows and Facebook is gone.

It makes us a unit and it reminds us of how much we love each other. I guess even during the most trying and scary of times we can find something good amid the bad.

*~*~*

Just to let y`all know I am STILL not able to comment on this blog or any other Blogger blog. To say Feral is getting a wee bit tiffy with Blogger is being gracious. I am reading along with all my buddies who have Blogger accounts I just cannot comment. Any other blog I seem to have no trouble. I will keep reading everyone`s blogs while I continue to nip rather viciously at Blogger`s tech heels.

Memorial Day-2011

2011-05-30T04:48:00.004-04:00

May thier sacrifice never be forgotten.

A warm welcome and yodel to Negerigeletschtempoit!