HELP!.....

Yesterday we had an unannounced visitor. He came running up the driveway with all kinds of stickery things on him. Now, he's camped out on our front porch. Wouldn't you or someone you know like to give this little guy a home? He's friendly, not puppy-puppy but not a year old yet (my best guess), medium size. Did I say friendly? Yep, he's friendly.
We've got to find this little guy a home because he can't stay here. There is positively no room in this Inn. I'd be willing to train him for indoors and basic obedience. He already knows not to jump up on me :) so he's smart, and did I say he's friendly? JP, did I leave anything out? Help.....there are too many dogs in the holler.....as always blessings to you and yours.

The Fair is coming to town...

As a kid here in this farming community I always got excited this time of year. Next week is the County Fair! The schools even take next Friday off for kids day. How cool is that? Not only is the fair in town but school is closed too. Is it any wonder every kid in this county loves the fair? I've never entered anything in the fair but I think this year I will. I've got peach jam, blackberry jelly, elderberry jelly, and rose petal jelly. The elderberry and rose petal jelly would be in the same category (misc.) so I have to choose which one! Yikes. They are both really good in taste and quality. Which one should we enter?
There is a dog and pet show on Saturday morning. We have dogs. I could enter Charlie as most goofy, Violet as most shy and best stretcher, and Scrappy as best sleeper and fastest flight risk!

Besides rides and fair food there are the exhibits: photography, honey making, quilting, canning, baking, sheep, poultry, cattle, rabbits, and the hog-a-rama just to name a few. The grand finale is the Mule Race with it's different classes:

Coon Jump—One person, one mule. The person guides the mule over a stick. The mule that jumps over the highest stick wins.

Mule Race—One person, one mule. The riders will race three laps around the ring.

Rescue Race—Two people, one mule. One person stands at the end of the show ring. The second person rides the mule to the first person who then jumps on the mule and they race back.

Three Legged Race—Two people, one mule. One person goes to the end of the show ring with a potato sack. The other person rides the mule to the end of the show ring and gets down. The two people put one leg each into the sack and lead the mule back to the starting point.

Fan Belt Race—Two people, two mules. Each person holds one end of the fan belt and sits on their mule. The pair tries to go around the show ring without letting go or breaking the fan belt.

Back to Back Race—Two people, one mule. Two people start the race sitting on the mule back to back. While riding around the show ring the two people must exchange places.

Bat in Bucket Race—One person, one mule. A bat is placed in a bucket half-way around the track. The rider rides to the bucket, gets off mule, places his head on the end of bat and goes around the bucket ten times. He returns to mule and rides to the finish line.

Musical Chairs—One person, one mule. When music is playing, all mules must be moving. When music stops, participant must have hold of mule’s reins while sitting in chair.

Now that's entertainment folks! Who makes up these races? Where did they get their ideas? I don't know but I bet it's as funny as it sounds. We'll keep you posted on our County Fair adventures. JP is such a great hubby, patient and kind, would do anything for me. I've got to start buttering him up so he'll tromp along with me. As always, blessings from the holler to you all.

There's someone in my bed!....

It all started last year when JP's mom came to visit us and Violet decided that she would sleep in her room. This led to Violet getting a dog bed which she loves to curl up in. None of the other dogs seemed to even notice this new deal until a few weeks ago. Corrie decided she wanted to sleep in Violet's bed and since they're sisters you know that didn't go well. Violet went to JP to tell on Corrie and plead her case. I thought, we'll buy another bed and problem solved, right? Well for night time sleeping it's still a race to see who gets to Violet's bed but we usually make Corrie get in her bed. Whew,,,are you keeping up? So, last week I watched as Charlie decided that he wanted to get in Corries bed! Remember how big our Charlie is? I watched as he did a walk by the bed sizing it up, then he walked up to it and tried to sit, that didn't work, next he walked around it and tried get all four huge paws in it and somehow shrink into it, that didn't work either!! He circled once more, stopped short of the bed and laid down with his head and paws in the bed.
He's been working on his technique each day and it's so funny.
Other happenings in the holler are, the turkey's are coming through the yard each day to visit
and I've made my first ever elderberry jelly which turned out really good.
Well, I'm off to the kitchen to process some more tomatoes. We have a least one more picking later on this week and that should do it. We have had a really good year in the garden. We are blessed and send...Blessings from the holler.