This must be a sign of our world – the radio was playing only Christmas pop songs, no hymns or carols. Just didn’t seem right on Christmas Eve. I even went to the barn twice thinking 9 pm might be too early but 11:30 was the same selections of songs. I’m sorry. Too bad I don’t know how to edit in music. That’s way above my pay grade.
So Merry Christmas to you from Rick and I, Hazel and Keeper, 10 cats, 5 geese, 2 goats and one parakeet!
I also noticed that there were NO Christmas Carols being played on the TV channels, only pop songs. What’s more, my husband says nowadays new cars don’t have cd players!! We just got a new car!! I guess I’ll have to resort to my record player/radio/cd player/aux-which is a space for internet plug ins. Thank you for the barn pictures, Mary. Merry Christmas everyone!!
merry Christmas to mary, rick, all your animals, becky and her family, connie and her family and to all the blog readers near and far. mary, you grace all of us with your blog about anything and everything. thank you for all the work you put in to do this. praying for a marvelous 2025 for all of us after we have enjoyed this blessed Christmas. patti in florida
Mary, Merry Christmas to you, Rick, and all the “children.” One of my friend Kristin’s goats had a baby girl yesterday. Her name is Evie, since dhe was born on Christmas eve. Thought you and the teaders might enjoy this poem she shared from a facebook group called Goat Crazy.
‘Twas the night before Christmas;
the fields were slim pickins.
The goats were all stirring,
and so were the chickens.
With nothing to do,
they were all getting restive,
I had an idea,
“Let’s make this barn festive!”
We put up a tree,
a fine Fraser Fir.
The goats wouldn’t touch it
I was totally sure.
They had eaten their hay,
so I thought they were sated,
Turned my back for a sec,
and the goats promptly ate it.
The garland was hung
round the stable with care,
The goats ate that, too,
with their usual flair.
The stalls had been decked
with big boughs of holly,
Gone in two bites,
maybe three, oh the folly!
The wreath on the door –
gobbled up in an instant.
(When goats want to eat,
they can be quite persistent.)
Now all the goats’ tummies
were getting quite big,
But there was still room
for the mistletoe sprig.
I tried to gain order,
put an end to this game,
So I whistled, and shouted,
and called them by name:
No Barbie, No Tina,
No Cora, No Bunny!
You’re all being bad,
and it’s really not funny!
But the damage was done,
the goats had their fill,
Daylight was waning,
the night had grown still.
They were all in the barn,
nestled snug in the straw,
They looked like such angels,
all I could do was say, “Awww.”
Peace & Joy,
Lynne, Will and the herd of Amazing Acres Goat Dairy
Merry Christmas everyone!
Barbara
got a good laugh out of your poem. thank you. merry Christmas to you. patti in florida
Thank you Barbara. We had goats many years ago, and I know they are likely to do exactly what the poem said. I got a good laugh out of it as well. Have a Merry Christmas!
That was wonderful!!!
Merry Christmas, thanks for all the hard work you put into the blog to enlighten our day. We need that on the gloomy days in Iowa!
Merry Christmas to you and all of your critters!
Merry Christmas to you Mary…and all of your followers also! If you have an Alexa…ask her to play Michael W Smith Christmas music…my favorite to listen to, as well as on a local Christian station. I also have lots of CD’s I play during the month of December.
Thank you for all you share throughout the year!
🎵🎵May there be Peace on Earth🎵🎵
Merry Christmas!
The goats were not what I was expecting but I must say they are such handsome goats.
As for Christmas music, which I so often play this time of yr. thru Alexa or iHeart radio, the content can be censored by a click of a button! I have been enjoying the peace. It’s very quiet around my neighborhood. But we have had clouds and dense fog. Kind of sets the mood.
Merry Christmas Mary, Rick and the whole menagerie there on the farm.
You are living the dream. It reminds me of growing up in SD. I was born in Iowa though.
I love your barn scene. May Gods blessings shine brightly down on you and your idyllic farm in 2025.
Shirley from Central Oregon
May you have the very best Christmas ever Mary, it’s going to be hard to top the gift of good health you received after your surgery. But I wish you a New Year of continued health and happiness.
The picture of the goats laying peacefully in the straw makes a beautiful Christmas card, it reminds me of love and kindness and the gentle peace of animals.
Merry Christmas to all, may God’s light shine on you and yours.
Merry Christmas, Mary. This is one of my favorite posts each year. What a wonderful tradition! Thank you! ❤️🌲💚
Merry Christmas, Mary!!!
Merry Christmas Mary to you and your clan!
So sad that Christmas music is pop on your radio – I’m blessed to have a decent Christian station near me and they intersperse modern Christmas and some secular Christmas but no hymns which I miss!!!
Merry Christmas Mary to you & yours and all the Blog readers!
Thank you for sharing your Barn picture…..
Have a wonderful Christmas Day!
Sandy in Indiana
Our small church usually hosts about 60 people. Last night we were packed into the loft (about 150). We have a wonderful but small musical group who perform outstanding music for us to enjoy. It ended with lighting candles and singing silent night. Absolutely beautiful and so meaningful.
We celebrated with some of our grandchildren last weekend and will have another get together today with the rest of our family. It’s been a challenge, but we are so grateful for being able to see all our loved ones.
Near the twin cities, 107.9 plays 24 hours of Christmas music from Christmas eve through Christmas day. Some other channels do this also, but I don’t know which ones.
As everyone else has said, here’s wishing everyone a blessed Christmas and praying for peace this coming year.
I agree that it’s hard finding Christmas carols on the radio or even Christmas programs on TV the week of Christmas.
Thank you for the Christmas Eve picture in your barn.
Merry Christmas to everyone.
The goats look so peaceful. I, along with Debra, wondered about your chickens. Do you know how many you have? I think you have mentioned it to us before.
Merry Christmas to all, and have a wonderful day with family if you have some to be with. We will be with my husband’s sister and her husband for dinner today. Our kids will not be home, but that is okay. They need to have their own Christmas traditions now and they are far away.
Merry Christmas Mary to you, Rick, your critters, to Connie and Becky and their families and to all your wonderful viewers who care so much about you! Love your barn pictures but on Christmas Eve they are the best, Thank You!
Christmas Wishes for peace, health and happiness to Rick, Becky and all the friends there who help you with the farm of friendly pets. We’re a long ways from you to thank you and hug you for all you do to keep us connected through comments, cards, pictures and most important support we draw from each other. Merry Christmas everyone.
Such a sweet photo of the goats 😻. My daughter and hubby are coming over Friday for our get together, they’re still in Houston at her Dad’s place today. I made cracker candy and microwave peanut brittle for the first time to give to our neighbors. The brittle was chewy so I baked it a little more in the oven from my google answers. Well, one pan dripped over the pan and onto bottom of oven which then was burning. Set off the smoke alarms and then ADT was calling to see if we were ok and were going to call the fire department. 😬 Awful. Reminded me of my friend and all the smoke that killed her before the flames before thanksgiving. It’s still hard dealing with she is gone. The family still arguing about her funeral service so we are not sure there will be one. They want our sewing group to come over New Year’s Eve and work on rummaging through her sewing room and taking what we want. It’s smoke and water damaged and I don’t think salvageable from Google search. Just don’t want to be there.
I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas 🎄 time and peace every day 🙏
Pamela, that is so sad the family can’t come together to agree on a decent burial for your family. It’s tragic enough they’ve lost her as you have and then to not honor her life is heart breaking. Find peace in the memories you had with your friend and hope the new year shows them some compassion tn their choices. I would hope with enough washing’s in a strong detergent the smoke smell could be eliminated so it might be worth a try to salvage some things.
Pam so sorry for the loss of your friend 💔
pam i’m so sorry for the loss of your friend. tis sad that the family can’t come together to honor her one last time. i hope your good memories will help get your through and you can remember your fun times. take care and God bless. patti in florida
Thank you Kathy, Kelly and Patti! Diana was such a sweet, vibrant and so generous woman. Always ready to help everyone, I miss her so much.
Merry Christmas, everyone! I enjoyed seeing the calm crew in the barn last night. As a child we could go to Grandpa’s barn and see the milk cows. The animals we were seeking were the kitties and little calves.
Mary, don’t you have chickens, too?
May there be Peace on Earth in the new year…
Merry Christmas Mary and everyone! We’ve had fog for the last two days so the trees are very frosty. That’s our white Christmas. I’ll take it. Hope the new year is good to us all.
Merry Christmas Mary, Rick and furry & feathered family. Have a wonderful day celebrating the birth of Jesus!
Merry Christmas to you, Rick, Connie, your blog family around the world. We went to a beautiful Christmas Eve Mass, then a small get-together with friends. Thankful for all the entertainment you provide us, Mary. Hope your day is full of quiet happiness.
Merry Christmas, Mary! Thank you for including us in your daily life, I look forward to reading your blog every day. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2035.
Merry Christmas and Good Morning – new subscriber here.
We listen to K-Love – I have the app on my phone. Their Christmas music is a mixture of older classics like Perry Como and Andy Williams, plus contemporary Christian Christmas with hymns here and there. K-love has about 6 stations to their site to chose from.
Blessings to you and yours
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all at the Etherington farm! I always love the Christmas Eve barn pic.🎄
Merry Christmas Mary and Rick and to all the other chicken scratch readers around the world.
Merry Christmas to all of you, especially to you, dear Mary and the entire cast at Country Threads.
Merry Christmas to everyone. We use Spotify (my daughter set it up), so then I can use my phone and take music with me, it has every kind of music. My headphones can sync to it also. I can use my speaker with it too. Hanging on by my fingernails to keep up with technology. My children and grands are all in Minnesota. Only me and my hubby now. We have no one here close to help us. My husband got me a Cuisinart food processor for Xmas by my request. Hope I can remember how to use it as I used to have one long ago. I use it for grating cheese and pie crusts. Boy I have missed the pie crusts. Hope to make a chicken pot pie.
Mary, your blog is the only Christmas gift I need. I know all of your fans agree.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Merry Christmas, sleepy world! I awoke to make the typical night time trip to the bathroom. Ha! Realized I needed to make clue notes for the 10 year old grand daughter to follow to find her gift. Also, added a few items to our daughter’s stocking.
It’s sad when there’s no Christmas music on the radio. When we were driving, I was lucky to tune in one station now and again. Thank goodness I can play my cds in my car! I remember when after December first almost every radio station played Christmas music until after Christmas Day. Sad, sad, sad.
The service at my daughter’s church was lovely and such a good message.
Merry Christmas
We had Christmas last night with family.
.The animals are just as exhausted as we are.
Joyeux noël à vous aussi et votre belle ménagerie. Amicalement, Fabie
Try an FM station. Here in W WA I listen to KING-FM 98.1 It’s a classical station–operas, Bach, Beethoven, etc., you get the drift. My favorite is when they play the Messiah–brings tears and goosebumps.
This station is available worldwide some how. It’s WAY beyond my pay grade to understand how that works.
A very Happy, Blessed Christmas to you and Rick, and of course all the animals too.
Thank you so much for the “blog about nothing”, which is really the “family” blog
I asked Alexa to to tune me in to King Fm 98.1 and she did! It’s wonderful!
Merry Christmas to the Etherington‘s and everyone that follows her blog. Mary, I wish you much health and continued happiness in the new year. I always enjoy your picture from the barn on Christmas Eve. It reiminds us the reason for the season.
Mary, I stayed up waiting for your pictures in the barn and you didn’t disappoint me. Now I can go to bed and dream of Iowa Christmases on the farm. Wishing a blessed Christmas to you and Rick, all your animals and all of your wonderful bloggers. Our Christmas Eve service had all of the traditional Christmas hymns, played not on the piano or organ, but on the guitar. The service ended with everyone holding lighted candles (real ones for adults and battery ones for the children) and all singing “Silent Night”.
Balmy weather here in Colo., no Christmas Eve snowfall as we had when I was a child back in Iowa, but we can celebrate the birth of Jesus no matter what the weather. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Christmas Day almost over here in Aust. Hope you all have a wonderful festive season and the coming year brings good health and happiness to all.
I agree with you Mary….no Christmas carols or hymns on our radios in the South…… mostly pop / rock music!🤔😢
Merry Christmas to You and Yours! Just barn kitties who are sleeping, and I will be soon also. My sister texted a Thank You for the needlepoint Santa I sent her and one to each of her kids. Talked about big family celebrations that her kids will never have. We both married into families that Grandma was the Christmas Eve place to be for Everyone. No more. Grandmas are gone, families are smaller. My daughter has a crowd, but they live hours away. They need their own celebration. I’ll see them on the weekend.