In honor of Festivus (for the rest of us), go air your grievances in MaryBeth’s comments. If she hits 2,000 unique hits and/ or 150 comments by midnight Christmas night, she’ll recreate the George Costanza chaise lounge portrait. Personally, I’d like to see that! Go, read, comment!
I have things to do – vacuum the house, take out the trash, make up the guest bedroom bed, make a Poppy Seed cake for Fred to take to his father and stepmother’s tonight – so it’s going to be a short entry.
My sister and nephew are coming to visit, they’ll be here this evening and staying through ’til late Tuesday. We have a jam-packed schedule (okay, maybe not JAM-packed. But we have a few things planned!) and I’m really looking forward to their visit.
Since they’re going to be arriving this evening, Fred’s going to the Christmas gathering at his father’s house without me. It’s okay – I saw his parents at Thanksgiving, so I think they’ll survive the pain of not seeing me.
I spent a lot of time baking yesterday, made Crunchy Fudge Sandwiches, Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bark, Holiday Pretzel Treats, and then was going to make a batch of Rolo Cookies (only with mini Snickers instead of Rolos) when I thought “Jesus, there’s only four of us, and we’re going to be gone half the time. How much stuff do I think I need to bake anyway?!” So I didn’t make the cookies.
(But I’ve got all the ingredients if we need to do some emergency baking!)
We’re not having a big fancy dinner on Christmas day – we’re having a big breakfast in the morning consisting of Crooked Acres-grown food – sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, the like – and then in the afternoon we’ll have chicken and rice casserole, sweet potato casserole, and a few side dishes – deviled eggs! cranberry sauce! (the jellied stuff from the can, shaddup, I love that stuff) cheese-stuffed celery! – that we usually only have around holidays.
Then, of course, the aforementioned baked goods. I think we’ll have enough food so that we can do the usual holiday rolling around, groaning about how full we are before we head off to the movies.
Since I’ve got stuff to do, how about some chicken pictures? You know you wanna see ’em!
Michelle sure does remind me a LOT of his father. Good ol’ McLovin’.
Michelle and his wimmin.
Featherhead keeps an eye on you.
This Buff is one of the original twelve. Remember back when we got our first twelve chicks? It seems like forever ago! (As an aside, I canNOT believe we’ve gone from 12 to 90 in a year and nine months. We are NUTS.)
I was checking for eggs, and George got all bitchy with me. She doesn’t like it when I go poking around under her.
“Do you believe this shit?”
The little ones have hit their gawky stage.
This one’s my favorite. She’s a Partridge Rock, I think.
We grew a few pumpkins in the garden this Fall. When we were supposed to get our first frost, we pulled them up and put them on the front porch (they weren’t yet ripe). They ripened, but rather than make a pumpkin pie from them, I opted to split them and give them to the chickens. Who apparently approved.
I think the Rhode Island Reds are so pretty.
The Silkie, perched on the side of the feeder, back before the hawk got her (obviously).
The chicks we got from the flea market are turning out to be rather pretty.
Since she needs to turn her report into Santa by noon, Kara’s keeping a specially-close eye on YOU.
Previously
2007: I had no idea 11 years ago that Fred was going to turn into a Handyman.
2006: What a difference a year makes.
2005: No entry.
2004: Fred thought it was funny that his sister had to explain to her boyfriend, who is from France, what “French toast” is.
2003: THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS AND I WAS IN TARGET! HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
1999: No entry.
Question: I went to take a look at the Crunchy Fudge Sandwiches recipe (which looks really good, by the way), and noticed it says to use an 8 inch pan and then cut the sandwiches into 11 2-inch pieces. By my (admittedly math-impaired) calculations, there should be 16 2-inch pieces (4 x 4, right?). My question is, should I eat the other 5 pieces as I’m cutting in order to keep my strength up? Please advise.
Elizabeth – I think it’s supposed to be 1 1/2 inch squares (1.5 inches). Just my guess.
When did the hawk strike!?! Honest to God, I haven’t been skimming. I must have tuned out any bad news. Poor pretty chickie.
All right Sheriff Upstairs Momma, I been good girl. Please tell Santa I would like a puppy and I totally deserve it!
Thanks for the card. Loved the picture. Wishing you a lovely time there on Crooked Acres. All the best for a great 2009.
Elizabeth, I think Elaine is right, and I’m a dumbass for not realizing that. Ignore my dumbass email response. 😀
Dez: It was at the beginning of December. You were probably distracted by the BQQBS. 🙂
Teresa: You’re entirely welcome. Happy holidays! 🙂
NINETY?! I told someone the other day that you had 45 chickens. Are you sure they’re not rabbits that just LOOK like chickens?
If you get tired of eating all those treats, just throw the rest in a box and send ’em on to MAH HOUSE. That stuff looks fantastic. (I have ingredients to make magic bars, and I bought semi-sweet and butterscotch chips, so when I get around to it, they’ll be good.)
Hi Robyn,
Thanks for the rain! We got it freezing yesterday afternoon just to shake things up a bit and then it warmed all the way up to freezing and has not stopped raining since. Beats the 1 degree day we had Sunday I guess.
I love the photo of Kara. She is such a pretty girl.
Since I have one of the ingredients, water, I think I will make those crunchy fudge sandwich thingies and take them over to the fire house tomorrow. It is a family tradition to take cookies to the firehouse on Christmas.
By the way, the Tim Tam shelf was empty at Target the other day. I called Homeland Security to report a serious security issue. I consider a Tim Tam shortage to be of highest priority. How am I to shore up the economy without my beloved Tim Tam to fuel me????
Dave, Pete and Charlotte and I wish you and Fred and all the critters at Crooked Acres a wonderful Holiday.
I still haven’t tried or seen Tim Tams. I looked them up on google and it said that they include malted bisquits. Does that mean malted like “Whoppers” candies are malted? Just curious! Happy Holidays!!
Hi Elissa,
Not sure about the malted biscuit part but if you like a crunchy chocolate cookie, chocolate soft frosting and chocolate coating on your tongue, then these cookies or biscuits (if you are British or Austratlian) are worth a try. Of course, I would check on the availability of rehab before you try them. There is no going back.
Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a great blogging year ahead!
Thanks so much for the card! It was so funny. Wishing you, Fred and all the lucky critters at Crooked Acres a wonderful Christmas and the best New Year ever. Looking forward to another year of laughter and cute animal pics!
Oh, me loves that Featherhead – I want to put her (him?) up on a shelf in my living room to look at. Not dead and stuffed of course. Very much alive. But that would make a mess. You know what I mean 🙂
Have a great Christmas with your family!
Merry Christmas to you and your family of humans and animals, Robyn! Have a good one.
Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you Robyn. As I told Fred, I can’t wait to see what 2009 will bring to Crooked Acres. The journey with you two is such a hoot. I truly appreciate Bitchypoo and Vituperation, and they are the first things I read when I log on each weekday.
Merry Christmas Robyn! I’ve had a wonderful year visiting Crooked Acres and I love the calendar and card. I saw your twitters so I really hope your family does make it in time! Have a great one.