The road to town takes us through a cotton field. After all of these years we’ve become quite the experts on how well the crop is doing at various times of the year. We note when it’s late being planted, anxiously await the first blossoms, and know fall has arrived when Mr. Cotton Farmer begins
I was about to tell a little story but instead I will start by saying, you have got to be kidding me. An old fashioned wooden ice cream maker is $85?!? And that’s the cheap one. Good grief. Story. When I was a little girl we lived for a while in central Pennsylvania (which is
This is a good one and worth a repost. Lots of good advice. A few days ago, I posed a question to SueK and JoBeth, both of whom are Country Mice. So Country Mice, if you had the opportunity to advise a City Mouse who is considering changing his ways, what would you say? The
Originally published May 2, 2019. Looks like that month was a pretty good one. As you know, this is not a political blog, though from time to time I do venture off the farm and comment on life. I’ll go look for a recipe to post to make up for this. I worry when the
From February 2019. Sadly, Bonnie is no longer with us. We have no idea what happened to her. Sometime in July 2020 we just realized she was gone. Clyde is still here. We don’t call Clyde ‘Clyde’ but we’re trying to get into the habit of doing so. We call him Dummy–because he’s dumb–but as
It’s Like Living in the Country! Published on August 17, 2021 by Marica So today, I saw two very odd birds. One perched on the fence, the other on the tree. They flew around. I quietly snuck back into house, got a camera… There were multiple text messages. We decided it was a Green Heron. And then, I
and then “pardon my French but…” words spontaneously flew out into the gunfire filled atmosphere. I do not remember the last time I heard a truck horn honk. And that’s it. My time is too valuable to waste. Title is: “7 Reasons to Avoid Going Rural to Work From Home” if you’re inclined to see
Had to call the Mayor of Town yesterday. Looong story beginning with muddy water coming out of the spigots, and going through several conversations with Peggy at the 911 call center. (Police who have one of the sections of Town Hall where the water people are located told me to call 911. Peggy is the
Smidgen more of the Balloon Festival yesterday. Quite interesting seeing them throw flame into the ballon as it lay on the ground and then finally rose into the air. Rides were supposed to start at 5pm, and the line was long, but they just couldn’t get it full enough. That’s it on the right as
If you’re lucky, you learn something every day! A few days ago I learned that DBA means Doing Business As. As of this morning, I am doing business as Old Schoolhouse Road Publishing. Cost $25 to file online. This process was not without incident which made me, once again, very glad I live in Mississippi.
A watershed is an interesting– what’s the technical word?– thing. This one runs through the (unmaintained) pine plantation. Pines do not like wet feet, but the oaks and gums and sycamores are fine with it, so the arial view clearly shows the swath of the watershed with the deciduous trees running down to the lake,
Don’t know why the video is so grainy but it doesn’t matter. It’s the audio I wanted to share. Potential for bad weather again early this weekend so I thought I’d take Missy & Rocky to the Hidden Pasture for a good run. Have a good one!
Would you look at that!?! Published on March 2, 2020 I was working on a long post and lost interest as things out there beyond the Farm whirled around. So I give you a few short takes. Hereabouts, there is no shortage of TP or bottled water. One explanation is that we Country Mice are woefully
Getting ice here on the Farm in 2020 is a struggle for us, too. We have very hard water but do not have a filter on the fridge in the kitchen, so we don’t use the ice maker. Instead, we buy bagged ice and keep it in my deep freezer. So when we need to
This is not possible in the world in which I live. By 2:15 the mail person will have just finished Sunday dinner with his/her family after having gone to church at 11:00. I mean, I suppose he still has time to get it to me before church starts but if he or she has kids,
Who knew? Everyone drives straight down the middle and if you do happen to meet another truck you both slow down, shimmy over to the side, and do the farmer’s wave when you pass. Unless it’s Pat or Doug. Then you pause when the driver’s side windows align and chat for a few minutes.
Had to go to town this morning– pleasant though not remarkable. We had to detour around Trade Day which I’d read about in our little weekly newspaper but had forgotten. Came home, picked up the Italian post-doc, and went to Trade Day. Trade Day is new– started last month without my knowledge. It takes its
{"id":null,"mode":"button","open_style":"in_modal","currency_code":"USD","currency_symbol":"$","currency_type":"decimal","blank_flag_url":"https:\/\/www.bigfoodetc.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/blank.gif","flag_sprite_url":"https:\/\/www.bigfoodetc.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/flags.png","default_amount":1000,"top_media_type":"featured_image","featured_image_url":"https:\/\/www.bigfoodetc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Whats-happening-copy-4-1.jpg","featured_embed":"","header_media":null,"file_download_attachment_data":null,"recurring_options_enabled":true,"recurring_options":{"never":{"selected":true,"after_output":"One time only"},"weekly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every week"},"monthly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every month"},"yearly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every year"}},"strings":{"current_user_email":"","current_user_name":"","link_text":"All current contributions go toward redesigning the cover, and publishing an eBook of Miss Missy's School.","complete_payment_button_error_text":"Check info and try again","payment_verb":"Tip!","payment_request_label":"Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life","form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","general_server_error":"Something isn't working right at the moment. Please try again.","form_title":"Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life","form_subtitle":"All contributions go toward cover redesign and eBook publication of Miss Missy's School: Book I A Pack of Farm Dogs Starts a School","currency_search_text":"Country or Currency here","other_payment_option":"Other payment option","manage_payments_button_text":"Manage your payments","thank_you_message":"Thank you for your help and encouragement!","payment_confirmation_title":"Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life","receipt_title":"Your Receipt","print_receipt":"Print Receipt","email_receipt":"Email Receipt","email_receipt_sending":"Sending receipt...","email_receipt_success":"Email receipt successfully sent","email_receipt_failed":"Email receipt failed to send. Please try again.","receipt_payee":"Paid to","receipt_statement_descriptor":"This will show up on your statement as","receipt_date":"Date","receipt_transaction_id":"Transaction ID","receipt_transaction_amount":"Amount","refund_payer":"Refund from","login":"Log in to manage your payments","manage_payments":"Manage Payments","transactions_title":"Your Transactions","transaction_title":"Transaction Receipt","transaction_period":"Plan Period","arrangements_title":"Your Plans","arrangement_title":"Manage Plan","arrangement_details":"Plan Details","arrangement_id_title":"Plan ID","arrangement_payment_method_title":"Payment Method","arrangement_amount_title":"Plan Amount","arrangement_renewal_title":"Next renewal date","arrangement_action_cancel":"Cancel Plan","arrangement_action_cant_cancel":"Cancelling is currently not available.","arrangement_action_cancel_double":"Are you sure you'd like to cancel?","arrangement_cancelling":"Cancelling Plan...","arrangement_cancelled":"Plan Cancelled","arrangement_failed_to_cancel":"Failed to cancel plan","back_to_plans":"\u2190 Back to Plans","update_payment_method_verb":"Update","sca_auth_description":"Your have a pending renewal payment which requires authorization.","sca_auth_verb":"Authorize renewal payment","sca_authing_verb":"Authorizing payment","sca_authed_verb":"Payment successfully authorized!","sca_auth_failed":"Unable to authorize! Please try again.","login_button_text":"Log in","login_form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","uppercase_search":"Search","lowercase_search":"search","uppercase_page":"Page","lowercase_page":"page","uppercase_items":"Items","lowercase_items":"items","uppercase_per":"Per","lowercase_per":"per","uppercase_of":"Of","lowercase_of":"of","back":"Back to plans","zip_code_placeholder":"Zip\/Postal Code","download_file_button_text":"Download File","input_field_instructions":{"tip_amount":{"placeholder_text":"How much would you like to tip?","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"invalid_curency":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please choose a valid currency."}},"recurring":{"placeholder_text":"Recurring","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"}},"name":{"placeholder_text":"Name on Credit Card","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please enter the name on your card."}},"privacy_policy":{"terms_title":"Terms and conditions","terms_body":null,"terms_show_text":"View Terms","terms_hide_text":"Hide Terms","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."},"unchecked":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please agree to the terms."},"checked":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."}},"email":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"not_an_email_address":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Make sure you have entered a valid email address"}},"note_with_tip":{"placeholder_text":"Your note here...","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"not_empty_initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"saving":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Saving note..."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Note successfully saved!"},"error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to save note note at this time. Please try again."}},"email_for_login_code":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."}},"login_code":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."}},"stripe_all_in_one":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"success":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"invalid_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is not a valid credit card number."},"invalid_expiry_month":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration month is invalid."},"invalid_expiry_year":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is invalid."},"invalid_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is invalid."},"incorrect_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incorrect."},"incomplete_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incomplete."},"incomplete_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incomplete."},"incomplete_expiry":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration date is incomplete."},"incomplete_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code is incomplete."},"expired_card":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card has expired."},"incorrect_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incorrect."},"incorrect_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code failed validation."},"invalid_expiry_year_past":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is in the past"},"card_declined":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card was declined."},"missing":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged."},"processing_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"An error occurred while processing the card."},"invalid_request_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method."},"invalid_sofort_country":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The billing country is not accepted by SOFORT. Please try another country."}}}},"fetched_oembed_html":false}