Give Me Candy!

This little Dracula didn't like to pose for pictures!

But he had a great time going around his neighborhood and getting candy. He said, "trick or treat" at all the houses and thanked everyone politely. He even told one nice lady who offered him crayons, "No, thank you." She gave him candy instead!

He loves the candy!

Sunday's Blast from the Past Photo

This week's Blast from the Past is all about me! Every time I give my students a writing assignment, I try to model it for them. Right now in eighth grade we are working on writing Where I'm From poems based on a poem by George Ella Lyon. I actually met George Ella at the KY book fair last November. We had a nice chat and I told her about my students using her poem for a pattern. She also autographed a copy of her children's book Trucks Roll for Parker. Her grandparents once lived in an area of Fentress County which is now part of the Big South Fork, so she was familiar with Byrdstown, TN . Here's my version of her poem and and a picture of my little five or six year old self!

Where I’m From

I’m from patent leather shoes with white socks trimmed in lace,
I’m from sitting on the front steps eating ice cream sandwiches,
I’m from hopscotch boards and bikes and baseball games with the neighborhood bunch,
I’m from lightning bugs in a jar.

I’m from an independent , stubborn bunch
The first granddaughter of a farmer and a trader
I’m from “Don’t dispute my word” and “You, young’uns get out of that creek.”
I’m from great grandparents who taught in one room schools
Their school bells sit on the shelf in my home.

I’m from Vacation Bible School and kool-aid and cookies
From macaroni glued on cigar boxes and painted gold to hold all our treasures.
I’m from waffles every Sunday morning,
From the cabin on the lake where family and friends gathered.
I’m from parents who gave us the most important gift--their time.

On the pages of family Bibles my name joins all those carefully written
by mothers and grandmothers
Forever in ink on the pages of my family's history.

Wordless Wednesday

Sunday's Blast from the Past Photo

I chose this photo, because Peanut recently had a birthday. On the back of this photo the date is October 1978. It was his 27th birthday and he had lots of hair and was skinny! And it looks like he was about to eat chocolate cake.

Herding Horses

If you saw my post yesterday, you know we had a herd of horses run through our yard about middle of the day. Peanut herded them out of the yard with the golf cart, but we looked out the window a short time later and saw they were in the road and somehow crossed the fence into another neighbor's field. This was causing great distress to the donkey and horse who live in the field! It was also making the herd of horses nervous.
Since part of them were in the road, we were afraid they would cause an accident, so we took the truck and tried to herd them.

They just didn't know what to do. The free horses would run down the road,

then turn around and run back the same way they came.

They talked it over with their trapped friends, but no one had good horse sense.

So, Peanut opened the gate for them.

Then we followed them back to their own pasture and shut that gate.
But about dark we saw them in our yard again. We called their owner and tried to herd them away from the yard. They again went back toward their home, but at one o'clock this morning I was awakened by some people herding them again!
We haven't seen them today, so we hope they have decided that the grass is not greener on the Ponderosa.

You Never Know

Just when you think you are having a nice quiet afternoon on the Ponderosa, you look outside only to see a herd of horses in your yard! Peanut herded them away with his golf cart.

All is Well on the Ponderosa

It was another rainy soggy day on the Ponderosa, so when the sun broke through this afternoon, we decided to go out and take a little stroll around the Ponderosa. We do this from time to time just to survey the situation.
Here's what we saw today. . . .

A little bit of red. . .


A whole bunch of yellow

Some pretty purple berries which we can't identify (we'll have to look them up)

Some fluffy and fast moving clouds

And this ginormas tulip popular leaf.

How to Lose a Golf Ball

Find golf ball in the field and head to the pond. Run, don't walk--there is no time to waste.

Place it in the edge of the water.

If you can still see it, it is too close--get it out and find a better spot.

It might be a good idea to put your foot in the water, too.
This is just for testing purposes to see how deep it is!

Go ahead and throw it out toward the mud. This will get rid of it for sure.

When you can't get it back put in a call for P-Pa and a pole.

When he is no help take matters into your own hands and push the pole yourself.

If pushing doesn't work, try a little pulling!

Well, that takes care of that, what else to you need me to do?

What's ON your fridge Friday

On top of our fridge is breakfast. The Cheerios belong to Peanut and the Fruit Loops belong to me. I don't like the way Honey Nut Cheerios smell--I think they smell like silage. Sometimes the Fruit Loops will be replaced with Frosted Flakes. I know that's not very healthy, but I am going for great taste! You would also find pop tarts and crackers and vanilla wafers along with a little dust on our fridge this Friday!

A warm and filling dish

On this cool and soggy day on the Ponderosa, I tried a new recipe. For lunch we had mini-meat loaves. The directions can be found here. They are made in a muffin tin, so you have you own little meat loaf. I added some cheddar cheese to the meat mixture and I left out the onion. They were very filling and warm and mashed potatoes are a good side dish. Just a word of warning, be sure to coat the muffin tin completely with cooking spray or you will have a big mess to clean up! Since there are only two of us and I had one pound of hamburger in the fridge, I cut the recipe in half.

Evil Plot?

It's beginning to get creepy. They're everywhere! On the furniture, running through the woods, I even saw one fall out of a tree. Every time you look out a window here on the Ponderosa there is a gang of them! (What is a group of squirrels--gang? pack? bevy?)
But now they've moved onto the deck, and this week I found an acorn in the drawer below my oven! I hope that was caused by a little boy not these fuzzy rodents.
Look at this one, does it look like it could be hatching an evil plot against us?

Wordless Wednesday