As with every year, we watched the ball drop at Times Square. This has been a tradition of mine since I was a child. I believe I have only missed it once or twice in my life. It is always so exciting to see the crystal ball start to drop and then counting down…5, 4, 3, 2, 1…Happy New Year! The kids and I always thought it would be cool to actually be there instead of watching it on T.V. Now, I am not sure I would want to be in that big a crowd.
With 2009 now here, one has to think of resolutions for the New Year. I have six this year, and I believe I can do all of them.
1. Lose the last 10 lbs by March 13
2. Exercise daily
3. Eat healthy
4. Find an upright piano and finally learn to play
5. Be more patient
6. Market my Victorian clothes
Of all the dogs we have, Sir Robin (Robin for short) seems to have more of an issue with the cats than any other dog. He is 14, and has never had to share his space until we adopted the other 3 dogs. I think he is still waiting for them to leave. He and Kodie (age 11) have become good buddies, while Chakra (age 7) has a bit too much energy for him. He does tolerate him well. He likes Effie (age 7), but she has no room in her life for him.
Yesterday while sitting on the couch, we noticed Puca in the downstairs hallway. This was quite rare for him as he hardly ever ventures past the stair case. Robin saw him, and immediately started the “stare down”. Puca just watched him carefully. Robin crept closer and closer until he couldn’t take it anymore, and actually charged. After much hissing, spitting, and clawing, Puca ran back up the stairs and assumably under the bed. Robin just walked away with a smug look on his face, as if he was still the king of the castle.
Christmas is much like every other day. We still have to get up, feed and water all the animals and then we get to go on with opening gifts. Being that the kids are all older, Christmas is a much quieter day than at homes with small children. I do remember those days very well. I myself like the quiet Christmas.
After the gifts were opened I had my son try on his vest I made him. Would you believe I put the buttons on the wrong side? I couldn’t believe it.
We then ate a wonderful lunch. Everything we served, we had grown right here on the farm. It was such a delight.
Then, as is the usual ritual, we all took a nap. Even the dogs were tired out from all the festivities. You see, they too get a gift bag to open. One biscuit is placed in side the bag, and they have to open it and take it out. What a sight to see.
Christmas at Cloverleaf Farm….was wonderful.
Never looking a gift horse in the mouth, we happily received a Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthday, Anniversary, etc. gift. And a great gift at that. A compact tractor with snow blower, mowing deck and roto-tiller (plus a few other odds and ends). Of course waiting for the first substantial snow fall to try it out was similar to waiting to open Christmas presents. Receiving 18 inches of the stuff wasn’t exactly what we had in mind of course, but it did give us the opportunity to learn that it does indeed work. Now we just need to add some weight to the back to stop getting stuck while backing up hills.
I have worked hard on our Victorian Christmas outfits. From my bonnet to the bustle, everything (including the bloomers) was truly authentic late Victorian (1880’s). His outfit was made from Simplicity pattern (#2895). The only thing I didn’t have the time to make was the frock coat. I will make that for his birthday in January.
Tonight was the FEL (Friends of the Effingham Library) and Trustees Christmas party, and we got to debut the outfits. Everyone loved them. They all thought we looked as if we should be out caroling the neighbors. The party was fun, the food was great and we a good time with our friends.
Each year, our porch has a different theme. Last year the theme was a Victorian living room, and this year the theme is a Victorian childs bedroom. As you can see, we go all out.
We had our annual open house along with the Effingham official tree lighting ceremony. During the open house, we allowed children of many ages to unleash their artistic skills by coloring with chalk on the floors. Pictured is Megan’s rendition of a lion. (She is a future budding artist for certain.)
The tree lighting just outside our little hamlet of shops, is a town wide event where residents gather in the historic church, sing carols, listen to a concert and then walk down the street to an unbelievably huge tree. After singing a few carols and generally blocking all hopes of traffic passing by, a count down begins to the tree lighting. This huge monster of a tree can be seen in two states. (Of course it helps that it’s right on the state line.) It’s a great community event with a spirit that you just don’t find in too many towns.
Pyewacket and Puca had their first vet check today. They got their shots, and she cleaned out their ears. I guess they had ear mites. Something not uncommon in small kittens. They usually get it from their mother. They also had flea dirt. Something mom passes on as well. I have a feeling that their mother wasn’t as well taken care of as she should have been. Sad. I do hope the other adopted kitten gets to get a vet check. Otherwise, that home will be infested with fleas in a short time.
We picked up Puca (pronounced pooka) this morning. He is so cute, but not as friendly as his sister. When I picked him up at the store, he hissed, bit, and scratched at me. He ran off and hid behind the the stack of trellis’. Fiesty little fur ball he is. I got him settled into my jacket, and he calmed down. After a couple errands we came home and put him up with Pyewacket. It was as if she said, “hey I know you, you are my family”. they tucked away under the bed together and there they were for a good part of the day.
While in the big city of Conway today for Derek’s birthday, we went into the feed store to pick up some chicken food. I sat in the car. When Michael came back to the car he said, “they are giving away kittens in there.” Of course, I had to go see for my self.
The lady let me hold one, and I knew she was going to be perfect. She is a gray tiger, with white paws, and we were originally going to call her Mittens, but thought that was just too common. We remembered seeing the Jimmy Stewart movie Bell, Book & Candle. The cat in that movie was Pyewacket. Kim Novak’s character used Pyewacket to put spells on people. It was a great movie.
We decided that Pyewacket would need a friend. We knew that one her siblings would be the best fit. We called them back and she was willing to hold the last one. Great!
The only thing…I forgot to ask if it was a boy or a girl.
