4...3...2...1....................ETA 8:00am CST

That's all we have left of the countdown to the arrival of Mom, Neccy, Jack, Kain, Jarrett and Rebecca. The pantry is stocked, the bedding is ready, the 4 wheelers have been fueled up and firewood has been stacked.

What more could we ask for? Well, a white Christmas would be nice but we don't want to be greedy. It's enough to know that we'll spend this, my first Christmas in my new home, with family.

The weather is supposed to be rainy tomorrow, clearing on Wednesday, partly cloudy on Thursday and a 20% chance of snow for Friday evening. Of course, there are no guarantees but we can hope for the snow to come overnight and into Christmas morning.

I think everyone has seen snow except Jarrett. He's 13 years old and never been on an airplane (not that he will be on one for this trip either) and he's never seen snow but he does have a girlfriend. Her name is Haleigh and she's the granddaughter of our good friends Dennis and Debbie Hall. What a small world. Haleigh won't be coming up with everyone but maybe next time...

We took the frozen 30-something pound smoked ham from the freezer yesterday. For now it's sitting on the bar. When I felt of it this morning, it was still hard as a rock. I'm hoping it will thaw before Saturday! lol Otherwise, well, there is no otherwise - we'll have to heat it up as it is and dig in when it's hot! I can't wait and I know Kain can't wait either. He's the ham eater of the family - next to me, of course. He'll even give hugs for hunks of ham :) lol!

We have firewood stacked up and ready to burn should we decide to build a fire - that will be weather dependent as we would prefer to have the fire outside as opposed to inside. We can have one inside but it's more fun to be outside, there's just something about it.

There was a full moon shining brightly as I left the warmth of the cabin this morning. It sure was hard to leave I'll tell you that much. The tree lights were on, the heater was warming the living room and it smelled like brownies in the kitchen. No, I didn't make brownies but I did make another sugar-free chocolate cake and it was sitting there on the cutting board just waiting for someone to slice into it. That someone was me :)  I packed a piece for my lunch while Wally had some for breakfast. It is so delicious with a moist, almost gooey center and those brownie-like crunchy edges, my oh my you just want to eat the whole thing!! ha ha ha indeed that would be too much but you know what I'm talking about when you can smell cake through the whole house? If not, you should really go ahead and bake one just to see what I'm talking about.

Friday we chilled at the cabin. Neither of us felt much like venturing out so I added to and heated up the left-over whatchamacallit for dinner and after that, we sat in our chairs in the living room, watching tv and talking about our plans for Saturday and Sunday. I suggested we go see The Grinder Switch Hour on Saturday because they aren't likely to have it over the holidays. That was the only thing I really had in mind.

It was an overcast night and chilly outside. It was warmly lit by the tree and heated inside. We turned on the light for the dogs to be warm overnight and it wasn't long before we hit the hay ourselves. Saturday dawned with a light dusting of snow on the ground which we marred with footprints in going to feed the horses.

Smokey has done a turn-around of sorts. For the last couple of weeks he has stayed far from the feeding area and only comes close once we walk away. This Saturday, he was all Mr. Nice Guy for some reason. I walked over to give him some sweet feed out of the bucket and he came right up and helped himself to a mouthful. He even leaned inward so that I could scratch up under his halter and down his black, furry neck. He actually seemed to enjoy it and I know I did. It's probably been at least two weeks since he came close enough for me to touch him without him shying away.

There's no guarantee this pattern will continue but it would be nice for him to act decent when our company arrives. I know Mom will enjoy petting him and Rebel both. It was cold enough that his whiskers had ice on them... in a big show of affection, he let me rub it off for him. lol!

We had boneless pork chops with gravy, scrambled eggs and orange slices for breakfast and then we were off to see The Grinders Switch Hour in Centerville. I wish they would be playing when Mom is here but as it turns out, they won't be on stage again until January 8th. Oh well. The show was just incredible this week as they had a band called Double Down who made a guest appearance. These guys do a little bit of everything from old country western to Allman Brothers to more current country... they were really good considering they had played until wee hours of the morning the night before and they were back on stage at 10:00am.

The building was decorated for Christmas with a tree and mechanical Santa and Mrs. Claus. There were lights strung around the windows and garland around the stage. The band members were in red sweaters and some sported Santa hats on top of their cowboy hats :) Very festive!

For New Years Eve, the Double Down Band invited everyone to a restaurant/bar called the River Rat in Howenwald, TN. It's not too far from Centerville if you look on the map. The band will be playing and they're having a champagne toast at midnight. Afterwards they'll be serving a breakfast buffet for all patrons to enjoy. I forget what the whole thing costs but it wasn't much as I recall. Well, we're not going but it wasn't a bad deal considering it will be New Year's Eve and all.  

The regular band played some Christmas songs and did a couple of tributes and then the owner of the radio station that hosts the show got up and played his guitar and sang Jambalaya and Culiga, both old Hank songs... He really got the place hopping with those two oldies but goodies. We tapped and sang and clapped our hands with the best of them and in no time, the show was over.  They did say that they were taping the shows for the next two Saturdays if we all wanted to hang around and listen to them but I thought I would rather wait and listen to them on the radio at home while everyone is here. We put our donation in the bucket, donated another .50 for a newspaper and we left.

Besides, they have a Snappy's Pizza in Centerville and we were ready for some of that action as soon as we could get our hands on it. We ordered one for us and another for Darryl and hit the highway for Pee Wee's Place. By now it was just after 11am so we knew they would be open. It was cold enough outside for me to wear my gray jacket with a scarf around my neck and a turtle-neck sweater underneath. The guys were all in T-shirts and jeans, mostly without a jacket of any sort... I'm not that tough yet lol!! Don't know that I'll ever be...ha ha ha

We shared our pizza with Darryl's son Dwayne and Darryl ate what he could of his. I'm sure the rest was planned for dinner :), we had a few beers and chatted up the news from the paper - the big newsworthy item of the day is that the judge's son was arrested for taking pictures of female inmates in various stages of undress. From what I gathered, he thought he would just get a slap on the wrist, pay a fine and be done with it. Much to his surprise, he's in big, big trouble and will likely see some jail time. Apparently, forcing inmates to do things like that is a felony and he gets a felony count for each instance. It's not looking good for him. Poor little rich guy, right? At least it's nice to know that there is justice in the world... sometimes.

After Pee Wee's we stopped and got beer at the Right-Aid store. Believe it or not, it's cheaper than the grocery store or the gas station...lol! We meandered along the back roads enjoying the sunshine and the lack of traffic, just laughing and commenting on the scenery. We saw where they're doing some logging along the way to Washer Road (the road to PeeWee's) and because of the recent rain and snow they now have a big old mess down on the side of the road. The logging truck can't get in there so the other machinery has to bring the logs out of the woods and get them on the truck - they make deep ruts in the mud and tear up the little shrub trees all along the way. It's a mess and a shame but we see it all the time. The big trees are slowly being logged to the point where only pulp wood trees are left. There's no stopping progress even way out here in the country. :(

Saturday afternoon we settled in quick after feeding the dogs and roosters and ourselves. I made us tuna sandwiches with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese and regular old Fritos on the side. mmm mmm good - we haven't had tuna sandwiches in forever and they were perfect for finishing off the day. I cleaned up the kitchen like you would for spring cleaning. I scrubbed the cabinets and the range hood (ew what a dirty, greasy mess that was) and bleached the counter tops with Clorox Clean-Up. I'm pretty sure that range hood hadn't been cleaned in, well, probably forever...lol just kidding! I'm sure it was cleaned as the years have gone by but it had been a long time since the last good cleaning. I hung my trivets on the wall and started up the dish-washer... you know it's bad when I resort to using that thing. I was hoping it would cut the grease on the few things that were above and beside the stove. What the dish-washer didn't get, the Greased Lightning sure did a number on! That is a truly amazing product and one I don't plan to ever be without.

The night came quickly with an overcast sky and a forecast calling for more snow. We sat in the living room watching tv as the sun set down off the back side of the cabin. It's not long after this happens that we find ourselves feeling relaxed and sleepy having spent most of the day away from home. After a couple episodes of Criminal Minds, it was off to bed for us.

Little did I know we were going to be on the hunt for puppies come Sunday morning. We talked about getting a pair of brothers so they can begin their young lives with the two older dogs around to teach them. We set off for the Country Kitchen for breakfast and picked up a newspaper at the gas station next door. While we awaited our order, Wally looked through the "Pets For Sale" section. Before breakfast was even served, he had found an ad for Great White Pyrenees puppies. The guy had 5 left; 3 males, 2 females. Sounded good to us.

We ate our breakfast, all the while I was wishing I had copied Wally's order, and then tried the number. The guy gave us directions and we told him we would be there to take a look at them. I'll step back to the breakfast thing for a minute just in case you were wondering...he ordered a whole slice of country ham, eggs over medium, biscuits and gravy and fried potatoes. I ordered whole wheat toast, eggs over medium and the tenderloin. My tenderloin was tough and my toast was cold. My eggs were over-cooked and barely had enough runny yellow stuff to even dip my toast in. Wally gave me his potatoes. In all, that was a disappointing breakfast and it reminded me of why I prefer to make breakfast at home. So there.

We took my car home, found a box big enough for puppies to be transported in, loaded the cooler into the black truck, I put on a heavier coat and we were headed back out towards Dickson. Wally pretty much knew where the guy lived and I had just been down this road not too long ago so I was somewhat familiar with it myself. I couldn't have gotten us there by any means but at least things are starting to look familiar. We found the house, met the guy (Norm) and he showed us around. He raises TN Walking horses and has 4 or 5 in the pasture, another three in the stables, 4 barn cats, 2 pit bulls that stay penned up, the mom to the puppies and then finally - the puppies!!

They were all very shy and didn't want to come to us. Wally picked up a couple of them by the scruff of their necks and eliminated the two females. We ended up with the biggest two out of three and he handed one off to me. Okay, it's been a while since I held a nervous little pup and my guess was it had been a while since he had been held by a nervous new owner. He didn't pee on me (thank goodness) but he sure was shaking like a leaf on a tree. I was petting him and trying to talk in a calm voice but he just kept shaking... once Wally had his brother in hand, he seemed to calm down.

We carried them outside and stood holding them and talking to Norm. He's a talker that Norm... him and Wally talked about engines and numbers of engines and all the rest of that engine talk that might as well be Spanish for all I understand of it...before long my arm was getting sore from holding the pup but there was nothing I could do. The box was in the back of the truck where I couldn't reach and there didn't seem to be a break in the car talk action so I just stood there holding my new little guy, rubbing his head and hoping he didn't have to "go." I was so happy to hear Wally say it was nice to meet Norm - I knew we would soon be on the road to home with our new bundles in tow.

We put them in the box on the front seat between us and they both stopped shaking...hmmm? The one I was holding stuck is nose up under my arm pit and didn't come out the whole trip home. The other little guy was looking all around, watching Wally and snuggling into this brother. Neither of them cried, they didn't pee in the box, they just sat there. Just before we got back home it looked like they were relaxed enough to go to sleep. We got them from the box and put them on the ramp up to the dog house (it's on the backside and you can't see it in the pictures) so they could learn to get in and out. Ha! They just sat there on the ramp. Wally nudged the first one up and he did finally go then we did the same with the second one. Puppies don't understand English apparently. I kept saying, get up in there, and they just kept sitting there. Finally they were both in the house and getting to know their new surroundings.

Once in the house they thought they were king of the hill. They were barking and growling in their little puppy way and when they were introduced to Smith and Wesson, they were ready to play!! Too bad Smith and Wesson wanted nothing to do with them. They wouldn't go back in the dog house the rest of the night. They slept under the porch instead. Poor old guys. We're not having that again tonight. Hopefully, by the time I get home Wally will have had them around each other enough so that the big dogs can tolerate the little ones at least through the nighttime hours when it's colder outside.

The puppies are hot-blooded and prefer cooler temperatures. They are also nocturnal - true to their breed, as they grow older, they will stay awake nights and patrol the property protecting our other animals from predators and protecting us from would-be intruders. Not that we've ever had an intruder but regardless. They will do the majority of their sleeping during the day when we will be in charge of protecting the place. I like the little puppies but I'm anxious to see them do their job as the Great White Pyrenees are supposed to do. I'll let you know what their names are as soon as we have names picked out for them :)

Dinner on Sunday was Dirty Rice made with not just ground beef but also some cubed venison tenderloin pieces thrown in with it. I made a double batch and there was just enough left over for Wally to have for lunch today. I had the left over tuna. That Dirty Rice is something else... another one you should try if you haven't already. I'm not sure it makes a difference what brand you get but I always pick up Zatarran's when it's on sale. Sometimes they have it 10 for $10.00 (what a deal!!). We rarely have white rice in the house so this was a big treat for us both. The pot was full of rice just simmering away with all that beef, the venison and the Cajun seasonings. It was hard to say which was the stronger scent - the Dirty Rice or the Chocolate cake... :)  Both were equally enticing...

So our weekend came to a close with two new additions to the farm, two old dogs that weren't so happy, roosters roosting back up in the trees after sleeping under the porch during the colder nights, and our bellies warmed by steaming rice and red meat cooked to seasoned perfection...ahhhhhh wouldn't you like to come visit sometime? 

I hope you had fun at the Christmas party/Birthday Bash at the Oriole's and I'm sure you passed on all my hugs and greetings to everyone! If you're not an Oriole, well, you probably really should be but I still hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as we did ours. I'll be here for just a half day tomorrow so the blog posting is iffy....if I don't get back on tomorrow, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!

I have two quotes for you today... they both seemed appropriate;

"I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2000 of something."

Mitch Hedberg

"Even as an adult I find it difficult to sleep on Christmas Eve.  Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age."  ~Carrie Latet