Saturday, December 17, 2011

Holiday Open House at the Winter Farmers' Market

For those of you who are not on Facebook and are Scottsbluff Winter Farmers' Market goers, I wanted you to know about the special farmers' market coming up on December 23rd from 4-7 pm at Aulick's TLC in Scottsbluff.

You should be able to click on the link below and go to the event page on Facebook that gives you the details.

If you hit the link, it'll take you there.  To get back to the blog, hit your browser's back button.

Holiday Open House at the Scottsbluff Winter Farmers' Market



But in case that is not working and you just don't want to go to Facebook, here is the 4-1-1 (information) on the shindig.

Who:  Scottsbluff Winter Farmers' Market

What:  Holiday Open House

When:  December 23, 4-7 pm

Where:  Aulick's TLC, 3109 Avenue B, Scottsbluff, NE

Why:  Why not? or because I said so!  hee, hee!

The Scottsbluff Winter Farmers' Market will be hosting a special holiday open house at the market on December 23 from 4-7pm. There will be live music provided by the Green Valley Homesteaders along with refreshments!

This week's non-profit will be the Lakota Lutheran Center. We are asking that market goers bring mittens, hats, gloves and scarves to donate to the Center. The Center will distribute all donations to children in the community who are in need. A special "mitten tree" will be set-up at the market and we will decorate the tree with the donations.

At 5:00 pm Mrs. Santa Claus will be reading the book "The Mitten Tree" by Candace Christiansen to all children who come to the market. The book tells the story of an elderly lady who notices a young boy at the bus stop without mittens, so she knits him a pair and leaves them on a tree where he'll find them. She continues to knit (anonymously) and leaves mittens for the children who need them. One day, a large basket of yarn is left on her doorstep, enabling her to continue her work.


All children present for the reading will get their name entered into a drawing for the book after Mrs. Santa is done reading it!



 We are hoping to start the tradition of our own community "mitten tree."

 





If Santa Claus can fit it into his schedule, he will also be in attendance.
So mark your calendars and bring the kids (and a donation to the mitten tree) to the market.

Hope to see you there.


Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5...



Back to my little project of "Operation Napping Picture of the Day." Don't know what I am talking about? Go back a couple of post and you'll catch on.

So, as you can see by the below pictures...

This is indeed what a Farmer/Rancher Does in the Winter.

But since this project is starting to get extremely boring, I will be discontinuing it effective immediately.

I do want you to take note of Dan the Man's fashion sense... This is all he wears in the winter, except on church day or if we have a meeting to go to. Turtleneck (dark colored), Carhartt outer shirt (dark color) and blue jeans. Every day... I didn't want you to think he was wearing the same dirty clothes for three days straight. It's just that all of his clothes are the same.


Oh and an update on the last Scottsbluff Winter Farmers' Market. I am so excited to let you know that we collected $439.66 and numerous donations of pet food, toys, cleaning supplies, etc. for the Panhandle Humane Society! Thank you to every one who donated!




Tuesday, December 6, 2011 2:45 pm

 



Wednesday, December 7, 2011 3:39 pm





Thursday, December 8, 2011 12:27 pm



I will try to get back into some interesting posts.  Thank you.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Scottsbluff Winter Farmer' Market to Collect Donations for Humane Society

Some of you know that I organize and manage the Scottsbluff Winter Farmers' Market.  And some of you know that we feature a non-profit organization at each one of our markets.  We collect donations for these worthy organizations at each market and those who donate get their names entered into a drawing for a gift basket full of goodies from all the vendors.  The gift baskets usually contain anywhere from $100-$200 worth of goods!!

I wanted to bring extra attention to this week's non-profit, the Panhandle Humane Society of Scottsbluff.

Last week the Star-Herald published this story concerning the Humane Society.

The article said:
The Panhandle Humane Society in Scottsbluff has 12 more mouths to feed and is hoping the community will lend a hand.
Earlier this week the society accepted 12 border collie dogs, including seven puppies, said Assistant Director Heidi Anderson. She said the dogs came to the shelter as part of an animal-hoarding investigation in the northern Panhandle by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. Officials with the ag department contacted the shelter and asked if it could take some of the dogs.
Anderson said 50 to 60 dogs were found on the property and that the other dogs are still with the owner. The dogs brought to Scottsbluff are under quarantine right now, but Anderson said they all appear to be healthy and are available for adoption.
However, with adding 12 more mouths to feed when the shelter is at capacity, it has caused a financial strain.
“We are asking for help from the community to donate dog food and cleaning supplies. Cash donations are always appreciated as well,” she said.
People interested in helping can drop off donations at the shelter. For more information, contact the shelter at 308-635-0922.



Since I hadn't confirmed a non-profit for the December 10th market, I thought what a perfect opportunity for the Humane Society to be our non-profit, especially when they just took on these 12 dogs.

On Monday, Dan the Man and I went to the Humane Society to drop off some donations and to see the dogs. While we were there I took some pictures of a few of the Border Collies that are available for adoption.


 Josh with Diane.
Diane is 3-5 months old and very sweet.


 Darla, also 3-5 months old.
Darla was a little shy and very quite.
I think she'll need a very loving  and patient family
to shower her with lots of hugs and kisses!


And here is Drake!
2-3 months old and with a belly as soft and round as Santa's!
Drake would make a great Christmas Puppy
for a forever home!


I urge you to come to the Scottsbluff Winter Farmers' Market on Saturday, December 10th from 1-4pm at Aulick's TLC (3109 Avenue B) and make a donation to this worthy organization.

For donation ideas, the Panhandle Humane Society has a "wish list" which includes:

Shelter Items
  • Laundry Soap
  • Dish Soap
  • Paper Towels
  • Hand Sanitizers
  • Lint Rollers
  • Duck Tape
  • 6 X 9 Envelopes
Animal Items
  • Puppy Food
  • Kitten Food
  • Large Knotted Rawhides
  • Kongs (Toys)
  • Cat Toys
  • Kitten & Puppy Milk Replacer

If you have more questions about these dogs, call the Panhandle Humane Society at
 308-635-0922


Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Day Two... What a Farmer/Rancher Does...

I am so totally bummed out that my little escapade concerning the "Dan the Man and Squeakers daily napping episode" has already come to a screeching halt.

Due to our work schedule yesterday, the second day into the "napping project," I did not catch Dan the Man and his beloved Squeakers napping together. Dagnabbit!! I was most certain that I would get a daily picture for several days in a row... not just one.

Oh well... I have not given up though. This is just a freakish interruption, I am sure.

If you have no idea what I am talking about, you need to back-track and read my previous post.

Well, since there is no picture from yesterday... I can at least tell you how we acquired Squeakers and her three other sisters, Bridgette, Camille and Sammi.

Some of you already know this story, I know. But many of you don't so here you go.

In 2006 we had a massive hail storm that lasted for close to an hour. (That ain't normal folks! Hail storms normally don't last that long.) Anyway, after the hail storm, Dan the Man found a stray cat dead in one of the alfalfa fields, presumably she met her demise in the hail storm. Poor kitty, I know.

A couple of days later, the boys then discovered a batch of kittens in one of the haystacks. You guessed it, the dead stray was the kittens' mother.

When the boys told me about the kittens, I just had to go have a look see for myself. Sure enough, 5 cute, cuddly, abandoned kittens. What ever were we going to do? We couldn't let them fend for themselves... they were much too young to survive on their own.

So I took food out to them, thinking that they probably weren't old enough for solid food, but I thought I would try anyway. It took a while to coax them to all come out of the haystack, but eventually, day by day, they came to trust me and more importantly, wanted what I had to offer. I mixed a little milk with the dry food and they all were able to eat it without any problems.



This became a daily activity that I looked forward to. I eventually moved a couple of lawn chairs out to the haystack so I could enjoy the kittens in my free time. Dan the Man would even join us on occasion. I was getting extremely attached to the little bundles of joy and I believe they were starting to enjoy my company as well. Soon they all had names, all five of them, and all girls: Bridgette, Leona, Camille, Chloe and Sammi. I use to joke that these were the daughters that we never had. (For those of you who don't know... we have four boys!)

As the weeks went on, our bond grew stronger.  Soon the kittens were not content to spend all their time at the haystack. When it was time for me to go back to the house, Bridgette was the first one to follow me home and soon the other four were trailing behind. We already had two "house" cats at the time and really did not intend to add more. But our house has a "dog door" which allows the two house cats to come and go as they please.

Bridgette was also the first kitten to learn how to use the dog door and before I knew it, the others soon followed suit. Dan the Man would yell at them when he would catch them in the house and they would scurry as fast as their little feet would take them and run back outside through the dog door.  It was a fantastically fun game for the kittens.  All the while Dan the Man would grumble about not needing any more cats in the house!

As the months went on, it became apparent that we now had 5 more cats in the family.  And as our affections grew stronger for these five little girls, it also became apparent that they would be allowed into the house, besides winter was fast approaching and where were they going to stay outside and remain warm?

One stipulation that we had, if we were going to keep all five was that we would have to spay all five of them.  Thankfully my vet gave me a "volume discount!"  There is nothing more that we despise than cats who are allowed to have kittens batch after batch after batch.  The world has enough feral cats and we didn't intend to add more.  I'd better not get started on this topic...

Anyway, so that is how we came upon the girls.  Unfortunately we did lose one about 6 months later.  Dan the Man found his favorite (at the time) Leona dead one morning by the drive.  It appeared as if a predator had gotten her in the night.  We were all very sad about losing Leona and I often think about her, wondering what she would be like as a full grown cat, now 5 years later.

Here's a couple of pictures of them when they were still kittens.  I have this first one framed and hanging in our living room.


Starting on the left side is Bridgette, Squeakers (aka Chloe), Sammi with the white on her face,
Leona with her head down and Camille (aka Millie) in the middle.

 
Sammi and Bridgette are both short-haired while the other three are long-haired.

Can you see the "M's" that are on their foreheads?
"M" for Manville!  LOL!

 
Sammi and Squeakers lounging on the bed a few months later.

Monday, December 5, 2011

What a Farmer/Rancher Does in the Winter

Yesterday, Sunday, we were enjoying a lazy afternoon, relaxing and napping on the couch.  I woke from my nap and looked over at the other end of the couch to see if Dan the Man was still there.  He was there when I fell asleep and I was wondering if he too decided to take an afternoon siesta and yes, he had.

He was in his usual napping position with his faithful napping partner, Chloe, more lovingly known as Squeakers.

I thought to my self, so this is why we farm/ranch.  So in the winter time, we can work only 30-40 hours a week, instead of 70-80 hours a week like we do during the spring, summer and fall months.

Then I thought...  Squeakers sure loves her man Dan.  I bet they nap like this everyday.

Actually, I bet you I could get a picture of them napping in this exact position every day.

ACTUALLY...  I wonder how many days straight I can get a picture of these two in this exact position without Dan the Man knowing...  hee, hee.

And so the "Operation Napping Picture of the Day" begins.

DAY ONE: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4TH, 2:40 PM