January Country Giveaway Winner to Be Announced

Just wanted to update y'all.....  I've worked every.single.day in the month of January, and have no relief in sight until Feb 6.  Oh I know, boo-hoo, let's have a pity party for me, huh?

Honestly, I'm doing it for a reason, but in the meantime, everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, at home is suffering, including my poor lil blog.  :-(

I promise to aggregate all the Zazzle giveaway entries this week and get a winner posted THIS WEEK.  I apologize for my tardiness in this regard, and I know how unfair it is to all the entrants.

MY SINCEREST APOLOGIES!!

Also, the beginning of February is just around the corner, so I'll be sure to get the newest Country Giveaway posted by the end of this week!!

In the meantime, for your viewing pleasure, here are two blogs I'd like to introduce you to....

Leah, See the World
The newest blog from my daughter-in-law.  I read her home page entry last night and I thought, what an awesome idea!  Skip and jump over to see what she's started for my granddaughter...

Urban Gardening 101
You might live in the city, but that doesn't mean you still can't have a garden that produces more than you can eat all by your little self.  Check out this new blog offering with some great tips, hints and ideas for inner city eats you grow yourself!

Last Chance to Enter January's Country Giveaway!!

The clock is ticking... we are fast approaching the deadline to enter January's Country Giveaway!!  You have until this Friday, January 27, at midnight PST, to leave a comment indicating the 3 items you would pick from my team's Zazzle stores if you're the winner.

Just to let you know, the winner will be able to change their mind and pick other items, if they so choose to do so.  We just want you to take a peek at our stores beforehand and see all the wonderful things that are available, especially if you've never visited Zazzle's galleries before.

So, right now, before you forget, click on the link below, and head on over to my January 4th post so you can enter before it's too late!!  The winner will get  $25 worth of products from our Zazzle stores.

A New Year, A New Country Giveaway

P.S.  The rooster still crows.  For now.

The Angry Rooster

He's even bigger than this now - this is an older pic.

Yesterday morning I donned my riot gear before I let the chickens out of the coop.  Our rooster has been on the attack for several months now, and he's getting worse.

Methinks he's not long for this world... and frankly, I'd be happy with just the five hens.

At any rate, since the hubby was sick yesterday and he is the one who has been dealing with the chickens, the task fell to me to let them out for the day.

I won't lie.  I was nervous.  I had been attacked by the rooster several months ago, and several kicks to him did not deter him one iota.  He had it in for me!

So I prepared for the mass exit from the henhouse by building a wall between me and the hatch door.  I built my wall with a large piece of cardboard, some 2x4s, and some particleboard.  Then, to lengthen my wall a tad, I stacked two 5-gallon buckets next to the cardboard.

For defense, I took the herding stick we use for the guineas, a very long 2x2 piece of wood, maybe 10 - 12 ft long?

One more thing... I decided I needed a shield, like the knights of old.  I found the perfect shield - the removable top from our chick brooder - it's square, has handles on two sides, and a tight wire mesh screen.

My shield was one-half of the top you see here, with a 2nd handle added.
(The top of the brooder has been modified since this photo was taken.)


PERFECT.  I was ready for battle with the roo.

I got myself in position, took a very deep breath, and opened the hatch door.  Before I could get it lifted and latched to the building, I quickly put my wire-mesh shield in front of the opening, to slow down the chickens' exodus from the coop.

I'm not sure what happened in the coop, but I heard claws screeching to a dead-stop on the concrete floor, a very loud raucous clucking from everyone, and feathers a-flapping.... I bent down to peer into the coop, and did not see one chicken in sight!

The sight of the wire-mesh shield in front of their door must have sent them into a panic, and instead of attacking the shield, even the rooster must have flown up onto their roost!

I clipped the hatch door to the building, and began to methodically remove my riot gear from their pen.  As I exited their pen, I decided to watch and see if they would finally come out of the coop?

It was really quite funny....  a few of the hens finally peeked their heads out the door.  They saw the 5-gallon buckets stacked nearby, and tilted their heads, wondering why they were there?

Finally, everyone came out.

Let's just say I had no battles with the rooster all day.  And I was in and out of the coop quite a bit.  Twice I retrieved eggs.  For safety's sake, I took my human shield with me, and propped it in front of their hatch door, just in case the rooster would come running into the coop to attack me .... yes, he always runs into the coop whenever we go inside.

He didn't come into the coop even once yesterday when I was inside.

All of this preparation on my part may sound pretty funny to those who aren't familiar with roosters, but for those who know roosters, then you know how mean they can be when they put their mind to it!

Even my husband was amazed at how well the rooster can launch his attacks and hit you mid-air!  He curls his body into a U-shape, and both his beak and his claws are hitting you at the same time.  It would be stunning to get video and then play it in slo-mo.

If he continues to behave, then he gets a free pass and gets to live.  Time will tell.

If he decides to attack again, he may become "Angry Rooster Soup".    Jes' sayin.

Don't forget to enter January's country giveaway here.  You've got until January 27th to enter.  :-)

A New Year, A New Country Giveaway

I'm hoping for some big changes in 2012.  I'll bet y'all are too!  :-)  At any rate, all we can hope is it's a good year for all of us, right?

For those who've had an extended winter break from work, my hat's off to you ~ I hope you've enjoyed your break, and I hope it helped get those creative juices flowing, if that's what you wanted.

Alas, I have worked the whole month of December except for two days off?!  Mind you, I'm not really complaining... ok, maybe just a wee bit... but the extra hours and the extra holiday pay will help in the bill department.

Now, let's get on with our newest Country Giveaway!

I've decided to feature three Zazzle stores ~ ahem, yes, one of them is mine ~ but the other two stores are two of my bestest bloggy friends, Cindy from Write Up My Alley and Misty Dawn from My Dogs Keep Me Sane.

Here's how the giveaway will work:  You visit each Zazzle store (links below), find one item you like from each store, and mention it here in a comment.

If you want extra entries, you are more than welcome to Tweet out this giveaway or mention it on Facebook, just let me know in an extra comment that you've done so.

The winner will get their pick of any item up to $25 from one of our three Zazzle stores!

Note: This giveaway will end on January 27th at midnight, PST.  

The winner will be announced between January 28th and 29th.  I will advise the winner of any current Zazzle promotions so that they can maximize the $25 they have to spend!

Here are the links to our Zazzle stores:
Misty Dawn's Photography
By The Becks
Wheatgrass Designs Photography

I would also like to introduce a new blog
by myself, Misty and Cindy.

It's called Cool-Findz and our goal with this new blog is to introduce our readers to the best of Zazzle.  Throughout the year, we'll post our favs from all the Zazzle stores we find in the Zazzle universe.  There's some seriously awesome stuff on Zazzle, folks!

So, please, gander over to Cool-Findz and take a peek, sign up to follow... there might not be a whole lot there yet, but the new year holds a lot of promise!   :-)

Tell you what, I'll make the pot a lil sweeter -- become a follower of Cool-Findz, add a comment here letting me know, and you'll get a bonus TWO entries into this month's country giveaway!!

So get visiting, post your comments about what you'd like to win from each store, and good luck to every one of you!

My best wishes to all of my readers for a fabulous 2012!!!