NANA NOTES

THE GREAT PEACOCK RELOCATION...

QUESTION:  How many people does it take to move four peacocks from one location to the other?  ANSWER:  Four boys, three men and a Nana!!

Ed issued me an ultimatum--get rid of the peacocks or else!  I started to call Melanie and ask her who would take them but then I had this GREAT idea.  And you know I'm known for my GREAT ideas!! :0)  We could catch the peacocks and take them to the back barn where they could live in the catch pens and roost in the pecan trees.  They could wander around the pasture with the goats and the donkey and live a wonderful life--and my deck and driveway and porch wouldn't have peacock poop on it any more!  Sounds easy enough.  Well, I told Ed about it and he commented that they should be put in the big barn for a few days to "acclimate" and then they could be turned loose.  Exal put feed and water in there and all the boys showed up this morning for a "peacock roping".  That's when I had to explain that these "delicate" birds could not be roped but had to be caught and transported carefully all at one time so as not to be traumatized. Let the fun begin.  They seem to

have no trouble catching the peacocks or holding on to them.  Shelly did have one land on his head.  What a funny sight as they drove off up to the back barn.  Sam was protected with a football helmet and nobody listened to the "instructions" of how to carry a peacock!

BTW:  My part in this was to give instructions and take pictures and LAUGH till my sides hurt!

I pray that these beautiful birds will like their new home and be safe.

EXPERIENCES...

For the past two days I've been busy doing a project for Ed.  This afternoon was to be a long hot bath and time for me.  Ryan came in after school and asked me to help "run the cameras" with him.  I couldn't say no.  He's fun to go off with--always an adventure.  LITTLE DID I KNOW TODAY!!!  We left the house and he smelled smoke.  He immediately said we had to go over to the South Side to check on the timber and see where the smoke was coming from.  We found it and and weren't sure whose property it was so we called the sheriff's office to report the fire.  They called the fire department and the MS Forestry Service and off we went.  We were asked to wait by the highway to show the fire department where to go in.  In the meantime we're sitting on the side of the road watching traffic like the rednecks we seemed to be!! :)  One of our neighbors came flying by and asked where the firetruck was--she said the fire was in her pines.  We helped the guy with the dozer get there and stayed until they needed to get to our property.  Ryan took the guys over there and I left.  Ryan is so grown up and I was so proud of him.  He was insistent about checking on the fire (I wanted to go on about our camera check).  The fire department even let him use the hose and put out water.  He probably saved a lot of timber by being insistent.  He loves the farm and the work he does out here.

In the meantime--I came to the house and picked up Ben and Graham and we finished the cameras.  We worked out a system and finished for the day.  Graham drove and put out the corn; Ben did the paperwork and I changed the film.  Both boys did an outstanding job.  We had fun and saw a rabbit--the same rabbit we see almost every time we go to this certain spot.  We always yell out "rabbit-rabbit-rabbit"!!

Life experiences--memory making experiences--that's the best part of living out on the farm.  I just wished I had taken my camera today.  The "Fire Parade" was a trip!

BUSY OR BORED???

Sam and I certainly stay busy and we're hardly ever bored!  Today when I was walking back from the barn I discovered a turtle on the driveway.  Being the curious person that I am I picked it up.  My first thought was of Sam and what he would think.  I carried it into the house to show him (and scared "Yay Yay" to death because I beat on the door because my hands were full!).  Sam wouldn't touch it but was fascinated by it.  We painted Sam's name on the turtle's back and put the "07" and took him outside to release him.  We didn't want his family to be upset that he was missing. We've heard stories about turtles that were painted that showed up years later and you could still see some of the paint.  We're hoping that happens here.  And now we're off to another project.  See ya soon.

FEBRUARY BIRTHDAY GIRL??

Our Tomboy Shelby had her birthday lunch today!  About three weeks ago she got a dirt bike.  Her NayNay and I have been doing a lot of praying since then.  She wants to be a carbon copy of Chase Freeman! Don't you just love the way she's sitting on the cabinet on her new "sleeping thing"!  She was so excited about that--It's Spiderman!!  Papa and I gave her a gift certificate to the Honda Shop (?) so she could get herself something she wants for riding her dirt bike.   

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRETTY GIRL!!

SISSY'S BEAUTIFUL BABY...

This is my third attempt to get this post down.  Maybe this will be the lucky one.  Sissy had her baby girl on Monday of this week.  She is a beauty!  She's dark and BIG!  Stout, Shelly would say.  I think she's one of the prettiest babies born this year.  Sissy isn't my favorite mare, but she belongs to Papa so I can't say much.  I was thinking about her and realized she is a good mother, she has a quiet, gentle spirit and she is excellent around the boys.  Those are qualities that make her a good mare.  Maybe for horses it's not all on the outside either.  Don't judge a book by it's cover I was always taught.     These are exciting days around Cotton Branch.  We get up every morning wondering who has delivered.  I can't wait until BEBE has her baby.  Bebe's Happy and Bebe's Honey are waiting on their sibling---AND SO AM I.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY FOR ME!

Since I owned a flower shop Valentine's Day has NOT been my favorite holiday.  I get physically ill whenever I see all the red stuff coming out in the windows.  I just remember the 36 to 48 hours of straight work with no breaks and all the rude people.  That was enough for me to sell my shop and go home for good.  I miss my shop--all but Valentine's Day!!  Sweet Ed finally braved up and sent roses--because he brought home seven (7) people for lunch yesterday. We did a special lunch and fed them in the dining room.  VIP's got special treatment.  What I enjoyed most was going to the Mexican restaurant and then to Lowe's and Walmart.  That's really a stretch for Ed.  It was fun and we had a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY after all.

PAPA GLEN RETIRES. . .

When Jody was a toddler, Papa Glen used to come get him (and his car seat) and take him on gas calls in the gas truck.  Whenever he got calls on weekends he would call Ed and Ed would ride with him.  When Josh came along he didn't ride in the car seat but waited until he got older to ride in the truck with Glen.  Jody's 35 years old and that's a lot of riding around hauling gas!  The wisdom passed around among these four guys would fill a book and now those days are over.  Papa Glen retired on Friday.  He'll be missed at Herring Gas but I stand to gain from this.  He told me the first thing he's going to do is plant potatoes!  He's given me fresh dug red potatoes for Mother's Day since I can remember. He always shares his garden and we can't wait. Here he is with Jessica (his granddaughter) and Ms Peggy.  They'll keep him in tow and he'll be around to see us I'm sure.

CONGRATULATIONS, PAPA GLEN!

UPDATE----NANA WON!!

I don't know if you'd really say I won or if Shelly just realized that Dr. Pepper needed nourishment BUT guess what I did this afternoon?  I bottle fed the baby!!!  Of course, that means I have to keep it up, but that's ok.  I know now that she's not going to be hungry.  The Cotton Branch Theory will be applied---If a little is good, a lot is better!

BTW:  Ryan let me ride with him this afternoon to move some sites and guess what I found?  A deer shed--horns that have fallen off--and Ryan thinks it's from the infamous "Kicker Buck".  We'll see.  I'm sure he and Papa will check out the pictures later and make that ruling.  I'm good; I'm good--Woohoo, I'm good!!

10--2--4; SEWING SOME; AND A RIDE WITH RYAN...

Meet the newest member of the Cotton Branch Family.

I call her "Dr. Pepper" because she has to be penned up and her mother haltered and watched to make sure she eats at 10, 2, and 4 each day.  This is the filly that Jennifer wrote about in her blog a few days ago.  I think she needs to be bottle fed because she is so skinny and the mare has no patience with her.  Shelly and Ed on the other hand tell me she will be fine.  Is that my "mothering" instinct coming out--just wanting to bottle feed so I can get some pet loving time in? 

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Being closed up in the house has not been a fun thing. I haven't felt like doing anything but I haven't wanted to NOT do something. ?? :) I decided to knock out a project that I had promised Ryan I would do ages ago.  Here are the John Deere pajama pants I made for his friend Elaine... CUTE, FUN AND OH, SO EASY... I am thinking church bazaar here!!

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Tuesday afternoon was sunny and pretty-not too cold.  Ryan LET me ride with him to put out corn for the camera survey.  He's a pretty cool guy to hang out with sometimes. We rode around the farm and enjoyed the time together.  All we saw was a rabbit.

That was one lucky rabbit!!

CRUD! KRUD! . . .

Any way you spell it--that's what we have!  Ed and I both have been sick all week.  The only place I've been this week is to see the doctor for meds and shots!  When I am on the bed in the daytime I AM SICK!!  Ed seemed to be feeling ok until yesterday when he began to get worse.  We think he's just a couple of days behind me in the process.  We've done our best not to pass it along.  YOU don't want it.  It's a lousy feeling and I want to be over it.  I'm hoping for a better week next week.

FOR CHARLIE, BRITT AND KENLEY...

Look guys, the peacocks are in full bloom!  The guys are chasing the girls all around the farm and they look beautiful.  Their tails are over five feet wide when they spread out.  So much fun to watch!  Come to see us!