Our Thanksgiving Table

Warmth, love, laughter, family, food....

That is what is going to be around our home tomorrow.

Today, I am a busy little bee getting ready for the 20 feasters that will be around our dinner table!

I still like to do a centerpiece for our table, but keeping it low will allow for better conversation.

And believe me....us 4 SISTERS and our mama will sit there for about 5 hours telling stories, laughing, catching up, and planning our next holiday get-together...Christmas! (and the shopping trip we take together the day after this great meal we are sharing.)

Our kitchen island is ready for it's BIG JOB of being the "Dessert Station".

My mama is bringing all the pies....so I have left room for all her beautiful goodness.

The backdrop of our dessert station is the Turkey Platter that is a family heirloom. 

Technically, it should probably be used for serving our turkey on...but since it is so sentimental, I just can't bear to actually use it. :)

I am now working on the "Beverage Station", followed by hor d'oeurves appetizers munchies, and of course the main course and side dishes. I am clearing my counters of EVERYTHING so we have plenty of room for all this Thanksgiving food. 

The Beverage Station

For 20 people ranging in ALL ages....I like to have a variety of drinks for the meal and dessert. 

We are planning on serving tea (2 flavors), ice cold WATER....which is better for filling your tummy with actual food instead of drink....and hot tea, cocoa, and coffee for dessert. 

Planning it all ahead of time makes for a more relaxing holiday for this hostess. We serve the food buffet style...and have tables set up all over our great room so we can all be together.

Now if only this were the end of getting ready for guests....

Off to clean toilets! :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND FOOD- FILLED Thanksgiving!

~Kim

Turkey Time! And no more POO.

I bet most people don't have to shoo pesky little turkeys off of their back deck!

Now I love living on a farm as much as the next girl.....but these creatures (as funny as they are) were not very well-liked by me! If they just would have stayed down by the barnyard where they belonged!!!

But, instead, this BaileyWife had to be scooping poo off of her deck, her front porch, and her patio.....

ALL.THE.TIME.

I was a little embarrassed when company would come over and I had to explain the poo.

The only thing that I enjoyed was the COMIC RELIEF that we had watching our daughter, Sierra, run from the turkeys. Here she is scaling a gate to get away from the monsters that "Are going to EAT ME!!"

Sending Sierra down to do chores was an adventure when these lil guys were around...

her FEAR of birds is actually a real phobia....and even though it is probably a cruel thing to do....a person just cannot help but laugh! 

But THIS WAS THE LAST STRAW! This is why the turkeys no longer live at Irishman Acres:

My water fountain became a daily ritual for them....kind of like "Morning Coffee". After the poo clogged  it a couple times.....and my flowers were trampled on.....this mama had enough......

They went to live at another farm down the road.....and I hope they don't find their way back here anytime soon! 

My fountain and I are keeping our eyes out! :)

I will just stick to chickens and guineas and peacocks THANK YOU!

Happy Turkey Time to All my blogger Friends!!

~Kim

Trail OPEN, and some not so weekly quotes!

Last June I wrote about a bike trail that we live by, you can see the post here: 

Trail Closed

The trail has been closed since it was damaged by a flood over 2 years ago!

We usually spend a lot of time on this trail, and it has been very hard not having it usable. We don't have a neighborhood sidewalk or park we can ride our bike on....this biketrail is used by so many in our entire community and is so very beautiful all 4 seasons of the year.

Well, finally it is DONE....FIXED.....USABLE....OPEN.... YEAH!!!!

The large gaping hole that was once here...is now filled in with RipRap.

We still have yet to go the whole length of the trail, there were several dangerous areas ....but now, 2 1/2 years later, we can spend time on it safely!

Emma was on a visit home from college....and we spent a beautiful afternoon exploring our newly fixed trail.

We have not a good year for rain....and this creek is normally flowing...hopefully next spring it will again!

"The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination."   Carl Rogers 

"Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility. "  Oprah Winfrey 

This is a nice short work week thanks to our Thanksgiving holiday. 

And the weatherman has announced that it is going to be BEAUTIFUL outside for us Thanksgiving feasters.....hopefully a walk down this path will be obtainable after we fill our bellies!! 

~Kim

The Water Trough "Fountain" and our curious girls!

Ahhh, the sound of running water!

Makes everyone a little curious!

And one at a time....they all came a running to see what that blond woman was doing!

Claire-A-Belle just didn't want to seem too curious.....

She got a little sidetracked.....

but not Clover....

this water was just a little too tempting.....

What else is a girl to do?

And this went on for a long time!

Until that blond woman shut the water off and ruined all the fun!

Sorry, Clover! I will be back with some more in a few days....I'm sure you will be first in line this time!!

~Kim

Daddy's Little Helper

While I was stuck inside...literally (see this post), the men in my life were outside working 

on our Fall 2012 To-Do List!

Nothing more precious to me than watching our baby be "Daddy's Little Helper".

Our barn is getting a concrete wash and dry bay. Will be so nice to have an area to tie the cows up (out of the mud). 

This is not the finished product....BaileyHusband will get it all pretty-fied....

....but I doubt these guys care...

One thing down...about 20 more to go on our To-Do list. Hope the weather holds out!

~Kim

Country ART

It's no surprise that I LOVE COWS.  Growing up, I was not around cows.....never knowing that when we bought some land in the country, built our home, and then several years later brought home our very first little calf Carly , that I would fall head -over -heels IN LOVE with cows!

I mean, come on...do you see that little face? And we bottle-fed her, and she would suck MY thumb! To this day she is still my favorite! And she has an automatic ticket to live out her entire life on this farm...and then she will have a HUGE beautiful gravesite when her time comes! :(

Until recently, I thought my love was just for Miniature Herefords...then came Clover....

Clover is black angus and semmental mix, resulting in pure perfection (in my humble opinion).

She is Sierra's "baby"...and has the cutest personality! (And YES, we did a photoshoot of Sierra and her lovely 4H cow this past summer, we are lucky to be related to an awesome photographer, Amy)

Which comes to the topic of this post....I love country art...specifically, Cow Art! 

via

via

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via House Beautiful

I am OBSESSED with their little faces...some people are 'horse people', some are 'dog people', I guess you could call me a 'cow person'.

So if I am on anyone's Christmas List that is reading this post.....FYI, you could never go wrong with buying me some Cow Art! (haha) 

~Kim