Snake Bites

When I went digging through my external hard-drive to find this picture, I had no idea how much I missed Buddy. I just loved this big ol dog. He had met with a water moccasin and earned a beauty of a swollen lip. I wish I knew how many snakes he killed in his life. The ones I know about were ones that he was saving me from, and for this, I always loved him. Once, I stepped right over one in the control room at the chicken house and didn't even know it until the fight started. The way he went about killing them was nothing short of heroic and quite ferocious. When he was done with the initial massacre, he would stand there over his kill and stare at it, sometimes with wounds on his feet and mouth, and if the snake even flinched from nerves, he would kill it again.  

This was Eddie a few days ago. We weren't sure what caused his muzzle to become so swollen but assumed it was a wasp or bee. Already, I was proud of him...kind of like when your kid gets a scrape on their knee riding their bike. You hate that they got hurt but you're so proud that they were brave enough to get out there and risk injury. It is just one of those rights of passage to scrape your knee in a bike wreck. And if your a dog, getting bitten by bees and snakes is just as vital to a complete and well-rounded puppyhood. (I hope I'm not the only mother that feels that way)

Then yesterday, there was no denying what happened here. The image of Buddy came flooding back and I knew for sure that this was a water moccasin. The lip was enough to convince me, but given that he was wet and had duck-weed and moss on his belly (looking a bit like the creature from the black lagoon) , it was clear he had been to the pond. I was so darn proud of him!! Another snake killing dog! Don't get me wrong, he got the "oh poor baby" treatment and I even made a call to the vet since he is still such a puppy, but I was having to fight back the urge to lavishly praise him. 

He took a long nap and woke up with most of the swelling gone. I was even proud of the fact that he must have a really good immunity to snakes. It's Eddie, the wonder dog!!  

Beth Moore's Esther, Web Promo from LifeWay on Vimeo.

I am so excited to announce that, beginning Tuesday September 8th, I will be bringing Beth Moore's study on Esther to anyone who wishes to come. The classes will be held at the Wickes Church of Christ from 6:30 - 8:00 pm every Tuesday evening for 10 weeks. The cost is $35 dollars which includes all 10 weeks of classes and a workbook. If you need assistance in paying for your tuition or book, help will be available, so please don't let this hinder you from attending. 

This is something that I have wanted to do for some time now. I have done many of Beth's bible studies and have grown so much spiritually. This particular bible study is geared strictly towards women and the challenges we face and gives us power to claim our destiny. 

If you have any questions you can contact me by e mail barrettfarm@gmail.com or you can call me 870-557-1142. I am already beginning registration so please reserve your place soon. This study is open to all women and I encourage you to invite friends. 

I can't wait to see what God is going to do through this series. 

Much love,

Jennifer

It Stinks

This will make sense in a minute...

When we bought our quaint little double-wide cottage almost 9 years ago, one of my favorite features was that the master suite had his-and-her bathrooms. That's right, Rodney has his own bathroom and I have mine. I also feel that it is only fair if a person has their own bathroom that they should be responsible for keeping it clean. 

Rodney is one of the tidiest people I know...much more than I. We share a closet and his side is always so much neater and kept than mine. However, he isn't as worried about smell as I am. My house could be, and a lot of times is, in complete disorder...but it smells really good. 

Last year, we had a leak in Rodney's bathroom behind the shower. This caused some of the sheetrock and one of the floor boards to get pretty wet. When I got the leak fixed (yes, I fixed the leak) I removed the obviously damaged sheetrock and cleaned up every drop of water and even sprayed bleach on the wet wood hoping that mildew and mold wouldn't develop. This worked out well until just a couple of weeks ago when it started getting really hot outside. Now there is this stale, moldy, funk of a smell lurking in Rodney's bathroom. Sometimes I can smell it when I walk in the bedroom and I can't even explain the torment that this puts me through. 

I've been explaining this to Rodney for days now, and he always says the same thing "what smell?" I'm not really sure what the solution is to the problem, but I guess I figured that he could fix it.

Last night, I left him a note on his mirror, the one you see in the pictures. I figured that a visual reminder might help him take a hint. Of course, I did this in jest and was only expecting a good laugh out of him. 

I ended up being the one that got the good laugh. Not just a good laugh, a rolling-in-the-floor-can't catch my breath-laugh. See, when I went to get myself ready for bed last night in MY bathroom, I lifted the lid on the potty and guess what I found??

I love that man. 

Torture

Do you guys know Gilad? He has been on TV since 1824, so I can't imagine that you've missed him. I used to do his Bodies in Motion series when the kids were little. He now has a fairly new show called Ultimate Body Sculpt, although I think a more appropriate name would be Total Body Torture. 

He's mean. 

He say's things like tighten your buttocks, squeeze and give me 5 more. 

down and up, and down and up. 

Even with all of this torture, I love him. First of all, he is really nice to look at. Secondly, he has a Greek accent so when he tells me to squeeze my buttocks, it sounds sexy. He also tells me that I am going to feel better about myself if I do what he is telling me to do. I'm not sure if I believe him because every time I do what he says, I can't walk normally for days. 

And then there are the girls in the background. They never stop smiling. . .SMILING! While I am sweating, screaming, bleeding, vomiting, and crying, they are doing lunges and smiling. 

I really hate those girls. 

 

Then there is this lady, Cathe. She is the biggest B*@%! there is. 

She smiles too!! I don't get it. I assume in order to inspire people to take part in such a primitive self-mutilating ritual, it is important to smile. 

Both of these exercise guru's are what helped me to loose weight a few years ago. Right now they are sitting idle in my dvr and they are beckoning to me. 

I know they are there, just shaking their heads in disappointment that I have so neglected my body. Can I cry now? 

I have to do it, I have to start, but it feels like I'm trying to muster up the courage to pound on my toes with a hammer. The one thing that is giving me strength and inspiration is remembering how good I felt during the time I was regularly strength training. Man did that feel good. 

My journey is far from over and now I must start down a new path, a hard path, a path that will test my body and mind. 

I'm frightened, Auntie Em, I'm frightened. 

An Official Farm Dog

Up to this point, Eddie has been staying pretty close to the house. I've been playing the over-protective mother and babying him. Once I felt he was big enough, he started walking the loop with me and even then, I would occasionally give him a little lift when he seemed to be lagging or getting tired. It's ridiculous, I know.

Today, Eddie got to go with Momma to the chicken house! I never knew the chicken house could be so much fun. I never knew mud puddles could be so much fun either. Eddie played in both. 

When you splash around in a mud puddle and then run through chicken litter, this is what you will look like...unless you happen to be human, then you would look like this, only not as cute. 

After your momma gives you a bath and wraps you in a blanket, you would look like this

. . . only not as cute!

It's a goat's life

Farm living can be oh so educational. You never really have a lot of questions about the birds and the bees when you get to witness it all first hand. I have always attempted the "progressive" route when teaching my kids about sex. We are pretty open about it and even now that they are teenagers, it occasionally comes up and it is a relief that we can speak freely. 

A few days ago, our friendly little buck, Mo, got to go on a trip. A friend of ours asked to borrow him to service his herd of does. I've always hated that term, service. It just seems so cold and impersonal but, to date, I haven't been able to insert another word that is appropriate. 

Mo has his two girls here on the farm. I don't know what the ratio of bucks to does is or can be...but I am certain that two does to one buck is not nearly enough. This may be one of the reasons why he is so darn cantankerous. Anyway, the farm he went to has around 20 does, ready for breeding. I worried that I may have made such a pet out of him that he may just freak out and want to come home and not be able to do his, eh hem...duties. All my worries were laid to rest this morning when I got to talk to Mark, the guy who borrowed him. He told me that Mo is as happy as a lark. He hadn't been there ten minutes and was already getting down to business. The picture in my head is that of my sweet old buck skipping through the meadows in slow motion, a grin on his face, eyes shaped like hearts and harps playing in the background. Sort of like Peppi le Pew. My husband asks me frequently "do you live in a fricken fairy land?". 

I'm sure he will be exhausted when he returns, bless his heart. When we were watching him leave, the kids and I stood on the porch and waved. Kyle said, "have fun." I think it is safe to say that I've done my duty as mom to keep the whole sex thing pretty light and sunny. 

A Coffee Conflict

Once in a while my eyes become awakened to how charmed a life I lead. Sometimes it is through things people tell me, other times it is through events or even just happenstances, and I take in a deep breath and sit back and wonder how I ever became so blessed. 

Recently, I've had a dilemma of sorts that made me stop and thank God for the life I lead. I don't know that I've ever blogged about my love of coffee. If your a coffee lover yourself, I need not explain this to you. There is something about that indelible aroma and the feel of a warm mug in your hand. Even the sound of coffee being poured is one that is comforting and nostalgic. Rodney and I are very spoiled when it comes to our coffee. We started becoming coffee connoisseurs around my 30th birthday, the year I got a coffee bean grinder. Before this, we were barely even interested in what brand of coffee we drank, just whatever was on sale. The first morning we woke up and ground fresh beans and brewed a glorious pot of oh-so-delicious coffee didn't seems to be life changing at the time, but we would soon become spoiled to the routine of grinding beans. After we ran out of our first bag of beans, we didn't think a thing in the world about buying a can of ground coffee on sale and brewing as normal, but when we took the first sip, almost in unison, we looked at one another in disgust and tried to figure out what the heck was wrong with the coffee??!! Now living a modest, country life affords very few material luxuries, so my dear husband and I decided that we would allow ourselves to be spoiled when it comes to our coffee. Not only am I spoiled about what is in my cup but I'm a little spoiled about how it gets there. Rodney, somehow, inherited the duty of coffee brewer and even if I happen to be the first one out of bed, I will patiently wait for him to rise and get the coffee going...I've even been known to go and wake him with a pitiful "I neeeeeddddd cooofffeeee".  If you want to smack me at this point, I'll understand. 

The latest chapter in our coffee evolution is that our bean supplier has been out of stock for months. Usually we make a trip to Texarkana once every batch of chickens to stock up on supplies at Sam's, coffee beans included. You can get a 2.5 lb bag for about 14 dollars and this lasts us for about 6 weeks. The last time we went to Sam's, no beans!! Well, this just confused us so and was so completely upsetting we weren't even sure what to do, how will life go on? So, we have been buying sad little 12 oz bags of beans from different places, spending way too much and all the while, researching places to buy coffee beans. It was at this point, sitting at my computer, seriously discussing all the different options out there with Rodney (over coffee in the morning) that I thought "gee, I've really got it rough!" I mean if my big concern is that I'm paying a little too much for coffee beans...I am seriously leading a way too contented life. I am happy to announce that I found a 5 lb bag of beans through Amazon that was reasonably priced. They are on the way now which is something else that thrills me. They've left Kentucky and will soon be in my kitchen awaiting their glorious destiny. My mornings with Rodney are precious and sweet and sharing a cup of coffee with him every morning is truly, one of life's little luxuries.