Happy New Year!

Look what showed up today! A new Kubota M8540 tractor, yay! Hydraulic shuttle shift transmission, 4wd, power steering, canopy, rollbar, seatbelt (nice and safe), front end loader and 72" bucket (hydraulic self-leveling, shockless accumulator, quick attach hydraulics), grill guard, three rear hydraulic remotes, rear worklight, and a heavy duty 7 foot rear box blade. They even gave us two Kubota hats, what a deal!

We plan to further stimulate the economy by purchasing a mower/bush hog and a harrow in the near future so we can take good care of the pastures.

A special thanks to Mamaw for helping with the down payment for the tractor and to Nanny for helping with the box blade implement.

Hay you!

We just sold 50 bales of hay to a man from Spring City who is raising miniature Hereford cattle. The man responded to a post I put on craigslist a couple of weeks ago. Usually when we sell hay I am climbing ladders and lifting and stacking bales but due to my recent accident I won't be able to do any of that for a while. The man and a friend loaded up the hay, John was our bale counter, Mary was in charge of Pup control. Being in the hay business has been fun because we have met a lot of nice people.

More Critters

John and Mary each got a Budgie for Christmas.

A Christmas to Remember

For Christmas dinner we had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. It was very good but not quite the feast we had planned.

Me, SuperDad, the Chipster decided to ride the new horse with the new tack (saddle/bit/etc) for the first time. Debby warned me that it might not be a good idea. All went well at the beginning of the ride. I was riding Morgan in the field and our young stallion Spirit was galloping nearby in the pasture, envious of the attention that Morgan was receiving. Morgan decided to go fast, the saddle was not cinched on properly and began to slip (wardrobe malfunction), and SuperDad hit the ground hard. SuperDad did not bounce up like those rodeo guys on TV. SuperDad remembers hitting hard on his left side and saying "Ouch, Owwww". Debby said that SuperDad passed out for about 45 seconds. While unconscious SuperDad apparently made some gurgling sounds, had his eyes open wide, even stopped breathing at one point. Not good. SuperDad woke up, Debby was on the phone with 911, help was on the way.

I hurt pretty bad, my left thigh, left hip, and all the ribs on the left side. I laid on the ground, fortunately it was a beautiful day. Emergency personnel arrived and strapped me to a board (not comfortable) and took me to the hospital which is five miles from the farm. I spent about two and a half hours at the hospital. I received excellent care, X-rays, Cat scan, etc. The doctor said he did not think anything was broken, perhaps there was a displace rib fracture, that the radiologist would review the X-rays the next day. They gave me a prescription for vicodin, and sent us on our way.

I was and am in a lot of pain. I was worried that I might have messed up my left hip. My ribs hurt if I move or breathe. Seriously. Debby and the kids will be doing my farm chores for a little while.

If you remember, Debby visited the same ER less than two months ago on Halloween. We're not doing too well with holidays lately.

In spite of it all, we truly feel that we are very fortunate and very blessed.

Christmas dinner will be postponed this year to the 26th.

Christmas Morning

Upon waking on Christmas we found that Santa had visited, leaving presents and drinking some milk and eating two homemade cookies that were left for him.

Christmas Eve Children's Mass

We stayed at home in Tennessee for Christmas this year. We went to the 5:00 pm children's mass on Christmas Eve, it was very nice. As we entered the church all the children were given bells for them to ring during the service. The picture shows father Sweeney and the children during the homily. We learned about Christmas trees among other things. Christmas trees are green, the color of life, sometimes one sees the priest wearing green vestments (sp?). Christmas trees also represent the cross, being wood. Father made sure that all were aware of the gift of Love that God sent to the world.

Brrr, then warm again.

On Monday it was 10 degrees F in the morning and the temperature did not go above freezing all day. We've got icicles all over the place where water drips/falls over rocks (next to roads, etc.) Following the cold front was warmer air and rain.

Meet Morgan

Last weekend we went to see a horse for sale st the riding stables in Sevierville. He's a 6 year old blue roan quarter horse gelding, 14.2 hands, named Morgan. Here's a picture of John riding him. We decided to buy him, he was delivered to our farm on Monday December 22.

Nature

This morning the sun came out and it was a beautiful day so I decided to let some pigeons out to fly. This afternoon I found a bloody pile of feathers on the ground near my young bird loft where a bird of prey had killed one of my birds.

It's very interesting, doves and hawks. The doves /pigeons are the symbol of love and peace, and they are basically defenseless. The hawks are efficient killing machines.

Four Six!

Yes, I had a birthday on Wednesday, December 10. Turned the big four six. Debby said that sounds pretty close to fifty. Thanks Dear.

John and Debby baked a home made chocolate cake for the occasion. John and I went on a long hike on the farm and worked up a good appetite. Mmmmm good!

Big Water

We had about 5 or 6 inches of rain here earlier this week. Our ponds are overflowing, the springs are flowing, and the creek is roaring. From the house we can hear White Oak creek, if we walk towards the pond we can hear the water spilling over the dam, and if we walk near the well house we can hear our waterfall in the hollow. I took a picture down at the road close to our driveway, it shows a natural waterfall there at the entrance to our property which winds down through some hemlock trees.

Chinese Dinner puzzle for readers

Tonight John had a karate class and Debby needed to run some errands so we (Chip, Debby, John, and Mary) met up and had dinner together at the China Buffet restaurant in Oak Ridge.

At the end of the meal our check was presented along with four fortune cookies. We each selected a cookie and opened them to discover our fortune. The fortunes were:

1. You always bring others happiness.
2. You will have a bright future.
3. Life to you is a dashing and bold adventure.
4. You look pretty.

We were surprised at how well the fortunes seemed to fit each of us. So, what's your guess? Leave a comment, send an email or call us and let us know who received which fortune.

It's like summer for your ears Mommy!

Just a few minutes ago Mary came into the kitchen with a pair of pink ear muffs and handed them to Debby and said "Here Mommy, it's like summer for your ears".

We had a very busy day here at the farm. Renee and Chris and their three boys came over to help us to connect Spirit's pasture to the barn/paddock area. We also installed some windproofing at the barn stall. We ended up installing about 820 feet of new fence line. Spirit now has free range of his pasture and the barn stall/paddock area.

Cheers!

On Tuesday of this week Debby and the kids went for a cruise on the Watts Bar Bell paddle boat with friends on a home school field trip. John said the outing was "awesome".

Picture to share

I was just searching for a computer file and came across this picture, thought I'd share it. This picture was taken in April 2007 for John's first holy communion at St. Mary's church.