Happy 4th of July and Happy 4th Birthday!
HAPPY JULY 4th!!!
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Yes, it’s Independence Day here in the United States. I can still hear fireworks going off all around us. A lot of people have a lot of money going up in smoke right now ha!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
This cardinal couple and everyone else on the farm wishes you…
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!
On the twelfth day of Christmas . . .
Here we are, on Epiphany and the 12th day of Christmas.
What did our true love out here in the country send to us today?
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me . . .
- The Twelfth Day of Christmas
.Twelve peacocks prancing. . .
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- The Eleventh Day of Christmas
Eleven roosters crowing,
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- The Tenth Day of Christmas
Ten squirrels leaping,
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The Ninth Day of Christmas
Nine grandkids dancing,
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- The Eighth Day of Christmas
Eight maids a-cleaning,
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- The Seventh Day of Christmas
Seven EELS a-peeking,
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- The Sixth Day of Christmas.
Six Guineas Preening,
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- The Fifth Day of Christmas
Five canning rings!
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- The Fourth Day of Christmas
Four Calling Birds,
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- The Third Day of Christmas
Three Fat Sheep,
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- The Second Day of Christmas
Two Spitting Llamas,
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- The first day of Christmas!
… And a Parrot on a Fairrryyyyy!.
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New (Country) Style, cost of 12 peacocks prancing: $1,500.00
Old (Classic) Style, cost of 12 drummers drumming: $4,800.00
Here on the farm we enjoy watching our peacocks dance and drum on the ground for the lady peahens. And they rattle their feathers until it sounds like maracas. You can hear it in this video right at the beginning, and again towards the middle:
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It takes a couple of years before a peacock has big enough tailfeathers to make much of an impression on the ladies. So for our prancing peacocks, we need to buy adults, not chicks. I found some for sale at Legg’s Peafowl Farm for $125 each. We need 12, so that’s 12 x $125 = $1,500.00 total.
As for the drummers, once again I went to Gigmasters.com and looked for the appropriate performer. The drummers are listed under “Percussionists” and I was surprised to see how many there are. I was afraid it would be difficult to find solo drummers, but there are many Caribbean Steel Drummers.
Checking prices, I found to hire a steel drummer for a Christmas party costs $400, so for 12 of them it’s 12 x $400 = $4,800.00 total.
Here’s a rundown of the costs for the entire 12 days:
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| Day | Old Song Style | Cost | New Country Style | Cost |
| 1 | partridge in pear tree | $ 53.00 | Parrot on a fairy | $ 820.00 |
| 2 | 2 turtle doves | $380.00 | 2 spitting llamas | $400.00 |
| 3 | 3 French hens | $ 30.00 | 3 fat sheep | $750.00 |
| 4 | 4 calling birds | $ 0.00 | 4 calling birds | $ 0.00 |
| 5 | 5 gold rings | $1,070.00 | 5 canning rings | $ 1.70 |
| 6 | 6 geese a-laying | $ 52.74 | 6 guineas preening | $ 28.20 |
| 7 | 7 swans a-swimming | $7,000.00 | 7 eels a-peeking | $ 49.99 |
| 8 | 8 maids a-milking | $2,240.00 | 8 maids a-cleaning | $600.00 |
| 9 | 9 ladies dancing | $1,800.00 | 9 grandkids dancing | $3,996.00 |
| 10 | 10 lords a-leaping | $ 98.00 | 10 squirrels leaping | $ 0.00 |
| 11 | 11 pipers piping | $3,300.00 | 11 roosters crowing | $ 55.00 |
| 12 | 12 drummers drumming | $4,800.00 | 12 peacocks prancing | $1,500.00 |
| GRAND TOTAL OLD STYLE = | $20,823.74 | GRAND TOTAL NEW STYLE = | $8,200.89 |
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No doubt about it, the old style of doing things spoken of in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” song is much more expensive than my new country style of things my true love has actually bought me here on the farm (just not so many of each item!).
So next year at Christmas time, you can tell your true love if you want the classic or the new country style gifts for 12 days!
I think I’ll stick with a country Christmas.
On the eleventh day of Christmas. . .
Here we are at the eleventh day of Christmas, and according to the church calendar, this actually *is* the eleventh day. So, where are we in the song?
On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me. . .
The Eleventh Day of Christmas
Eleven roosters crowing!
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- The Tenth Day of Christmas
Ten squirrels leaping,
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The Ninth Day of Christmas
Nine grandkids dancing,
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- The Eighth Day of Christmas
Eight maids a-cleaning,
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- The Seventh Day of Christmas
Seven EELS a-peeking,
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- The Sixth Day of Christmas.
Six Guineas Preening,
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- The Fifth Day of Christmas
Five canning rings!
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- The Fourth Day of Christmas
Four Calling Birds,
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- The Third Day of Christmas
Three Fat Sheep,
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- The Second Day of Christmas
Two Spitting Llamas,
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- The first day of Christmas!
… And a Parrot on a Fairrryyyyy!.
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New (Country) Style, cost of 11 roosters crowing: $55.00
Old (Classic) Style, cost of 11 pipers piping: $3,300.00
.Well, what’s a farm and a new country Christmas without roosters crowing?
I’ve seen roosters for sale in our local paper for $5 each. I don’t know if anyone actually BUYS them at that price, but we’ll use it anyway. So for 11 roosters at $5 each, that’s $55 for the bunch.
Now eleven pipers piping. What else are you going to pipe but the bagpipes?
And if I’m listening to bagpipes, my absolute favorite is a good rendition of “Amazing Grace.”
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That’ll bring a tear to my eye every time.
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Once again I checked on Gigmasters.com, and it was $300 to have a champion piper play the bagpipes for a wedding or other event.
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Well, we need eleven of them, so guess that’s $3,300.00 for the pipers.
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Total to date:
New Style – $6,700.89
Classic Style – $16,023.74
The old way of doing things is still more expensive than the new country Christmas. Tomorrow is the last day, so we’ll see how it all ends up!
On the tenth day of Christmas . . .
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me . . .
Ten squirrels leaping,
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The Ninth Day of Christmas
Nine grandkids dancing,
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- The Eighth Day of Christmas
Eight maids a-cleaning,
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- The Seventh Day of Christmas
Seven EELS a-peeking,
..
- The Sixth Day of Christmas.
Six Guineas Preening,
.
- The Fifth Day of Christmas
Five canning rings!
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- The Fourth Day of Christmas
Four Calling Birds,
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- The Third Day of Christmas
Three Fat Sheep,
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- The Second Day of Christmas
Two Spitting Llamas,
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- The first day of Christmas!
… And a Parrot on a Fairrryyyyy!.
New Style, cost of 10 squirrels leaping: $0.00
Old (Classic) Style, cost of 10 Lords a-leaping: $98.00
.Squirrels. We have lots of them. They are leaping all over the yard. Off the fences. Through the trees. On the roof.
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Squirrels are abundant. No cost there.
However, the ten lords a-leaping is another matter. Where would you see lords a-leaping…. I thought about it a while. Where to see lords a-leaping??
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Aha! Riverdance!
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Well, there are TEN lords a-leaping. (Hey, besides a lot of tapping, they did some leaping there at the end!)
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So that takes care of the 10 Lords a-leaping!
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Well, there are TEN lords a-leaping. (Hey, besides a lot of tapping, they did some leaping there at the end!)
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So that takes care of the 10 Lords a-leaping!
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Total to date:
New Style – $6,645.89
Classic Style – $12,723.74
Classic Style is still almost twice what it is for the Country Style, or new way of doing “The Twelve Days of Christmas”.