HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN!!

Today is Brian's Birthday!! Happy Birthday Brian! Granny Nancy (Brian's mom) came over and brought his birthday cake... it's JD!

Nancy got ordered this cake from Publix.

She brought a picture of JD in and they made it from that.

Nancy bought the feathers to add to the top of JD's cake head. They even added the tail feathers!!

It was a awesome surprise!! The cake and spending the day with Granny Nancy was great too! We love you!! Thank you for the FABULOUS JD CAKE!!

Bird Watching

KC at the lake on a Sunday afternoon.

Big Black Bear Spotted In Old Hickory Tennessee!

You won't believe what I spotted outside our kitchen window this morning! I had to be very quiet, sneak up and open the window without any noise. It was difficult but I finally made it into the clearing to get photo shot of this... it was a BIG BLACK BEAR... ok, maybe not so big but it was a BEAR!

Just look at those teeth...

and that bear paw grip!

He's just huge!!

Oh no, he just spotted me!

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!

WAIT A MINUTE! Would you look at that... it's only KC... good bear, I mean puppy!

In the Kitchen Window

Yellow Carnations

Thrift Stores

It's been forever since I've done some "thrifting!" Chef Clay... Clay shops at the local thrift stores, Salvation Army and Goodwill... that's what reminded me to go. He had in his truck some wonderful finds! So last night on the way home from work, I stopped by The Salvation Army Store and found these...

two wooden produce baskets... love those!

a tin canister... that looks like a milk container... thought some pretty spring flower would look great in it

wonderful metal bugs and hummingbird... great for putting in potted plants for decoration... I'm thinking about painting them

PLUS, I found four plates and two coffee cups/saucers of the set I have at home!! Can't ever have to many plates, just incase. They are Pfaltzgraff Plates. My dearest friend Corinne got me hooked on them. Most of what I collect seem to be started by Corinne... thanks Rinni!! Got all of the plates, cups and saucers for only $5.00!! Great deal!

Good Sources

A couple of weeks ago I was talking about some books and magazines for a good source of knowledge for farming life. Here are several more... MOTHER EARTH and GRIT are great magazines for farming wisdom. These two are full of wonderful information from planting organic, care of livestock and becoming self sustainable . Brian reads these as soon as he can get them away from me!

HOBBY FARM HOME and HOBBY FARMS are two of my favorites... stocked full of information and ideas!

HERB COMPANION is the newest one we've got. I love growing herbs and this is right about being a companion for them!

Check out their websites:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/
http://www.grit.com/
http://www.hobbyfarms.com/
http://www.herbcompanion.com/

"Thanks DG!"

I worked on a video shoot this past weekend for Dollar General. It's for a possible new program that will play in the Dollar General Stores and on their website. The concept is cooking with what you have at home and saving money with Dollar General. It's called "Cooking with Chef Clay"...

and this is Chef Clay! Clay was awesome and working with the crew was great! We worked hard but had lots of laughs!

"Thanks Dollar General!" Chef Clay's got my vote!

Signs of Life?!?!?

After all our bad winter weather here in Tennessee, I see signs of life.

This is the oregano in the herb garden...

and I do believe this is the catnip in my clay pot... William Jake will be happy about that!

Best Buds

"The Wonderful Thing About Pets" segment is brought to you by Volkswagen, the only automaker not in some kind of trouble... just joking!

This is Katie. Her very best friend is Brian. They are inseparable. Whereever Brian goes, Katie goes.

When it's nap time, they are together. That's Katie with her head stuck in Brian's arm pit... those two are kooky!

Katie sticks by her best friend no matter what he does to her... no matter what. Glad Katie can't see behind her right now.

Now that's love.

Morning Sun

This morning's sun...

Brian's Pear Trees...

William Jake in the driveway... (following me around taking pictures)

Icicles on the girls roost...

Mornings are our favorite time.

"The Soul of a Tree"

"I want to preserve the soul of the tree... I start with a hydraulic chainsaw and a spontaneous creative spirit, and much like jazz improvisation, the cut evolves." - Brad Sells

Brad Sells is an artist who's media is wood. So, here's how the story goes...

My friend William and his dad commissioned Brad to do a piece for them. They bought a house in Sylvan Park area in Nashville Tennessee many years ago in 1966. This tree is one they planted in their back yard when they first moved in.

It grew strong through the years but towards it's end, it became diseased and had to come down.

The base of the tree went to Brad for him to start the process of the piece.

From his website..."Each sculpture or vessel begins as a carefully selected hardwood bole, which I shape into flowing, organic forms with hydraulic chainsaws. Through the arduous use of a variety of customized grinders, the vessel is gradually reduced and thinned to a consistent wall thickness, refined by exhaustive sanding, and hand rubbed to a lustrous, almost translucent finish."

Here is the piece of art that came from William and his dad's tree in that back yard in Sylan Park... all for a love of a tree.

"In carving I strive to embrace each tree's response to its surrounding environment. I think of the evolving form of each vessel as if it were the tree's high lonesome song in 3D, with me harmonizing with Mother Nature. My work is an attempt to show the surviving spirit of one of Earth's greatest living organisms… Life forms flux in the passing of time."

All of Brad's pieces are just incredibly beautiful and different. Please visit Brad's website at:
http://www.bradsells.com/

Thank you William for the pictures!

The View is better from the Inside

William Jake (our outside cat) has now made it a morning routine to sit and wait by the front window. Either Brian or I open the window and William Jake comes right in. Here's the end of his trail!

He makes himself right at home with the prime spot right on the end of the sofa looking out.

It's the best spot in the house! You can see the world go by...

and stay warm at the same time.

It's good to be warm.

Love Makes Sense Now!

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."
~Author Unknown

Everyone have a wonderful Valentine's Day on Sunday! Spread the love!

Funny Valentine's Day Thought

"I don't understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine's Day.  When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon."
~Author Unknown

Sweet Husband Brian

Brian got these sweet beautiful tulips for Valentine's Day gifts for his mom (Nancy), sister-in-law (Glenda) and me.

They're just perfect.

Josie had to see what the big deal was all about. She agrees, they are pretty.

Thank you Brian for being a thoughtful husband.

Let's Talk Chicken

Since we're on the subject, I pulled out my 2009 McMurray Hatchery Catalog. I got this catalog to dream about the "someday" I'll get them. With the great generosity of a good friend and also a chicken lover, Stasia give me the girls last May.

The girls are Light Brahma Chickens and a great "starter" chicken for beginners, which we are. Their temperament is sweet, plus they are hardy chickens.

With the love of chickens growing for us, we got JD at the 2009 Wilson County Fair in August. For the big purchase price of $4.00! This is JD, short for Josephine Dirt... Brian named her... she's his girl.

This is JD in the catalog, a Sultan chicken. They are more of an ornamental chicken but she does lay some pretty cute small eggs. We feel in love with her hairdo!

The next kind of chicken that I'd love to invest in is the Rhode Island Reds. They are great egg producing chickens. Next to our girls, they are very beautiful looking chickens.

Well class, that's it for today on the types of chickens. We'll explore more on this at a later date.

Class dismissed!

Saturday Rainy Day Reading

Brian and I were stuck in the house all day because of cold rain/snow. It was a great day to sit down with my pile of books! These books are great if you're learning how to start a small farm... someday we will! Meanwhile, Brian and I are practicing by growing organic fruits and vegetables. We're starting off small with the girls/chickens and it's been wonderful having them. They are so entertaining to watch... yes, we live a simple life.

The must have books for when you start with chickens is "The Chicken Health Handbook" and "Storey's Guide To Raising Chickens." We ALWAYS go to these two books when we have ANY questions about the girls.

Here are some great magazines we get too!

Also there are some great websites for "Chickens" owners...
http://www.backyardchickens.com/
http://atlantachickenwhisperer.blogspot.com/

If we take care of our girls...

they take care of us...