The Lucky G

It's been a while

2008-02-11T12:22:00.000-06:00

I know I haven't posted in a little while, and I decided that I should take a break from life and update my blog. Things have been a bit crazy around here the last couple of weeks.

The first thing is that my friend and I decided to go into business together. We've started making diaper cakes, towel cakes, and hair bows. We've already had some interest, and we have a big baby shower to do at the end of this month. We're also doing a craft fair the first weekend in March, so wish us luck!

My seedlings are still doing well, and the pepper seeds have tiny little fuzzy things coming out of them. I'm assuming those are eventually going to be pepper plants. ;o) I should've read the seed package and I would have know that the peppers take longer to germinate than the tomato plants. Naahh...who needs instructions.

The hubby decided to fix the PTO in our tractor that my mom gave me. The PTO has been broken since the 80's. So, my poor tractor has a "split personality". It's literally sitting in 3 huge pieces in our driveway. The back wheels are in one place, and the front is in another, and the middle is in still another. The good news is that it's all fixable. YAY!

We bought some new "peepers", as my girls call them. I bought 12 new baby chicks, but I haven't had much luck with them. 6 of the 12 died. I don't know if it's the breed, as I've had that problem with other breeds before, or if it's because of how early in the season we bought them. I'm thinking the breed, because the ones who've died are all the same breed. We've had unseasonably warm weather since I bought them, but I still have a light on them. The good news is that my other girls started laying again, so I'm finally getting a decent amount of eggs everyday.

Well, those are the major highlights. I'll have to do better at posting more often. But, I better go for now. I have crafts to do.

chicken chores

2008-02-01T11:38:00.000-06:00

It never seems to fail. I go for a week and can't think of a single thing to say, then all of the sudden the damn breaks and I'll post 3 or 4 posts in a single day.

I went out this morning to gather the eggs. While I was out there, I decided that the nests needed fresh hay, at least some of them did. So, I put fresh hay out, then I decided that the duck tubs (they're not big enough to be called ponds and the ducks refuse to swim in the kiddie pool) needed cleaned out. So, I did that, but while I was at the faucet I discovered that the horse trough needed filled. After my unfortunate water hose/ tractor incident, the auto waterer is temporarily out of order. So, after I filled the ducks up, I filled the horses' trough up.
While I was standing there waiting on the water, I thought of some frugal homesteading tips.....

Instead of buying ceramic eggs, Granny used to use Carmex jars. She turned the white part up instead of the yellow lid. The snakes seemed to prefer them because they were the ones that disappeared out of the nest first.
If you have ducks, but you or your customers don't like duck eggs, you can boil the the duck eggs, cut them up and feed the eggs, shells and all, back to your chickens and ducks. It increases their protein, but the cooking part doesn't promote egg breaking. I feed ours leftover scrambled eggs too.
Mom uses duck eggs for baking. She says it doesn't affect the flavor. I haven't tried them yet because I can't get past the smell of the egg. YUCK!
A little honey on the bit will get the most stubborn horse to take a bit easier.

That's all I can think of for the moment. I'm also thinking about reprinting some of the tips I've picked up out of some old Organic Gardening magazines that my Mom gave me. The first tip I'm going to try this year is to plant Cosmos flowers with my tomatoes and corn plants. Apparently the ear worm that attacks corn is the same as a tomato worm and neither like the Cosmos flower. I saw that tip a couple of times in that magazine, so I'm going to try it because I lost quite a few ears of corn last year to worms.

This and That

2008-02-01T10:30:00.000-06:00

Woo Hoo! The high speed internet was installed and we're finally blazing along at lightning speeds. So, if you see something speeding across your screen, it's just me bouncing from site to site. I keep imagining scenes like Yosemite Sam skidding down a dirt road with his britches on fire, yelling "My buns are burning! My buns are burning!" ;0)

The tomato seedlings are doing fine. My walking garden encyclopedia (A.K.A Mom) told me to keep the light down close to the plant to make sturdier seedlings. If you move the light too far away then they can become spindly. My pepper plants haven't sprouted yet, but I'm keeping them moist, so hopefully they'll come up.

I'm hoping that the sun stays out for a few days to dry up our ground. Right now it's too wet to take the tractor out in the pasture to keep bringing up my "horse fertilizer". I need to get the ground ready for my potatoes, but more rain is forcasted.

I've been thinking about starting a home business, but I'm not sure what actually works. I've thought about making things to sell, but I would like to here from other people to see if they're actually selling enough to make it worth my while. So, if you have any ideas, please let me know.

Going High Tech

2008-01-28T13:54:00.000-06:00

Yep, the Lucky G is going high tech. We are actually getting high speed satellite internet. After much begging and pleading by the hubby and the girls, I finally gave in. I must admit though, since I've started doing more and more on the internet I'm really excited about getting it too. We've been using plain old country dial-up which means that we've been "zipping" along at 24.4k. Most webpages won't completely load because the computer gives up and says "It's just not going to happen!"

The installer is coming tomorrow morning. And after the initial panic attack when the hubby told me that he (the installer) has to hook the computer up, which means he has to be able to actually get to the computer, I've been getting more and more excited by the whole thing. So, my task for today is to clean off the desk, clean out from under the desk, and finish cleaning up our room. I'm taking a bit of a break right now because TAH DAH! the desk is clean, except dusting. That's a huge accomplishment. ;o)

The hubby said once that he's going to get me a sign that says "A clean house is a sign of a broken computer." I guess I need to add "...and tractor."

It's all worth it, though. Tomorrow I'll be racing along the internet at the speed of light, or at least at the speed of satellite.

Pepper Seeds

2008-01-27T00:30:00.000-06:00

I planted my pepper seeds today. I planted 36 bell peppers and 6 jalapeno peppers. Some of the tomato plants have their second sets of leaves coming in.

The hubby went and got hay today, also. He bought a round bale and 13 square bales, so I helped him put the square bales away in the barn, after he fixed a water pipe that froze a couple of days ago.

Here's a picture of our "chicken tree". Some of our chickens insist on roosting in a tree we have in our yard. It was a funny sight last winter when we had an ice storm and the branches were iced over. The chickens flew up there, but couldn't get any traction on the ice.

the weather

2008-01-25T12:32:00.000-06:00

Even the horses think it's a good day to lay around. I did manage to move some of the "horse fertilizer" yesterday during a break in the weather. It's going to make awesome soil for the garden. The chickens are already scratching through it to see if there are any tasty bits in it that they might enjoy. I bought my potatoes to plant, but we're only going to plant russets because the red potatoes were just so expensive. I also bought my sweet potato to try and get slips off of.

Also, I mentioned in a previous post about the online photography course. I found out later that it's not a current course, but the information is still online. I'm still going to post the "assignments" here just to have someplace to chronicle my progress. So, the first assignment was "Assignment 1: Take at least one abstract photo based entirely on some of the compositional rules we talked about. Subjects should not be recognizable."

Ok, in this photo I used the Rule of Thirds and the Golden Mean. I also used the Triangle concept and negative space. The eye is in the center third of the photo, and also centered within the center third. The sky and the bridle create the triangles. The sky is also the negative space.

Little Sprouts

2008-01-23T17:58:00.000-06:00

I finally braved the elements to get the camera out of the car. Supposedly it's going to clear off this weekend, but right now it's just nasty outside.

So as promised, here are the pictures of the tomato sprouts.

The spaces in the back are reserved for peppers.

They're about 3 days old here.

Feeling Out of Sorts

2008-01-22T20:26:00.000-06:00

I haven't really posted in a few days because when I started this, I decided that if I couldn't post something positive, or put a positive spin on things, then I wouldn't post at all. I can be very negative at times and I don't know what's wrong lately, but I just don't feel positive.

Maybe it's the weather. We've had more of a winter this year than we have in a long time. It's already dropped into the 20's here which is rather unusual for us until February, which is usually our worst month. The weather has been especially yucky the past few days. Rain and mist, mist and rain. I know it's good for the ground and eventually the plants, but it sure makes for a yucky, muddy mess.

Maybe it's the finances. They're really off-kilter. The upside is that we don't have credit debt, so it's not like someone's knocking on our door to take our stuff. The positive thing about our personal situation is that we own our own home, even if it's a little old and needs some repairs (sorry, there's that negative again.) so we don't have to worry about losing our home. As the hubby said this weekend, we do great for a while, then we get into this sense of entitlement and we fall off the spending wagon. It's like "I've been so good for so long that I deserve this." We don't make huge purchases, but $50 here and there adds up very quickly.

At any rate, at least I'm able to recognize that I'm out of sorts and I don't poison other people with my bad moods. I could rant and rave here and people years from now could read it and say, "voluntary simplicity, BAH! Look how much she hates her situation." It's not that way at all, it's just that this is a hard life to choose. Life is never always easy and we're going through a rough patch. This is usually the time that I give to a deserving charity just to remind myself that there is always a WORSE. Maybe the girls and I will do that Friday. We could take some things that they had picked out, toys and clothes and such to a local assistance ministry.

Ok, on to something more productive. My tomato plants are up, as I mentioned. We are so lucky to live in an area that we can start planting outside in about April, although we have to watch out for late frosts. It looks as if every seed that I put in there, including the ones that my youngest and I dropped down past the little dirt pods, came up. I should have plenty of plants to share with my friends here in the neighborhood. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I see it, it just amazes me how there's nothing, nothing, then WHAMO! All of these little green things are poking their little heads above the soil. I promise to take a picture, but my camera is in the car and it's cold out there. ;o)

The youngest and I went on a little walk today, even though the weather is so yucky. OHHHH...I have wonderful news. I stepped on the scale today and I've lost at least 5 lbs. I guess all of the walks that the girls and I have been taking, plus the hiking I've done in the last couple of weeks are starting to pay off. I've also given up soft drinks, for the most part, and am drinking more water and tea.

Taking a Break

2008-01-21T22:07:00.000-06:00

We decided to take a bit of break this weekend. (Well, part of the weekend anyway.) A neighbor came and wanted to know if we wanted to go horseback riding. Never passing up a chance to saddle up, the hubby quickly agreed.

My tomatoes seeds have sprouted. I'll have to take a picture of them tomorrow. I'm really excited because this is the first time that I've sprouted them from seed.

Photography

2008-01-18T15:01:00.000-06:00

It's a really yucky day again today. Uckier (as my daughter says) today than yesterday. It's rainy and cold. Why can't we live where it snows instead of just cold, yucky rain? Oh well, no point in wishing for what isn't meant to be. I'd probably get tired of being snowed in all of the time and we do have some beautiful days that farm work can get accomplished. (See I am trying to be more positive about things?)

Anyway, since it's such a yucky day and I'm perched in front of the computer in my jammies again with a space heater at my feet, I decided to look up a free, online photography course. I found one I really like so far, not too technical but more than just the basics. It inspired me to play around with some of the photos I've already taken. You'll be seeing and hearing more about this course because we're supposed to post our photos online for the instructor to see. I've you're interested in taking the course too, it's at http://www.morguefile.com/archive/classroom.php and it's free.

So, here's the first installment.

This is the photo as I took it. It's a photo of my daughter riding at some friends' house. It's a good photo, and I like it.

But, I like it better after I did some cropping. I think this version is more interesting.

Here's another example.

This one is good.

This one is better.

So, I've done some editing and I've changed things on my Etsy shop.

Our Love Story part 2...

2008-01-17T21:28:00.001-06:00

Also referred to as "You're Getting Married When?"

We left our young heroine as she was freaking out about meeting the Future Hubby and his girls the next weekend. So, I swallowed my panic and took the plunge. (I knew my friend would hunt me down and hurt me, literally, if I left her hanging.) His girls were absolutely adorable. The oldest was 8 and SOOO grown up. The youngest was 5 and had such big blue eyes....you just wanted to pinch her cheeks. The girls fell in love with my bundle of joy immediately.

We were inseperable from that night on. Either I was at his house or he was at mine. I said the big L word first. It was about a month or so into our relationship and it just slipped out. He said nothing. He still said nothing. Finally, I asked him if he heard me. He said yes, but he just wasn't sure, he'd been through so much already, this was a bit sudden. Instead of being the grown up mature woman that I am now, I cried. Yep, started bawling. Part of it was that I didn't intend to say it. Part of it was that I knew what he said was true. Part of it was, I don't know, things just didn't happen the way I had dreamed about.

Things continued the way they had for a couple more weeks. Things were good, but it seemed like the L word just hung between us like an unseen barrier. It was out there and I couldn't draw it back. One day, I was at work and it was a hectic day. Things weren't going right and I was a bit frazzled. He called me, the way he usually does, but I told him that things were crazy and I'd see him when I got off work. He said ok and hung up. A minute later the phone rings again and it's him. In my mind I was a bit put out with him. Didn't he hear me say that I was busy? He says I know I just hung up but I wanted to tell you that I love you. Time stood still. My heart stopped. My mouth hit the floor. He said I know you're busy, but I just thought you needed to hear that. I stammered something, not sure what exactly, and hung up the phone. It was incredible! He actually loved me!

Very shortly after that (less than 2 months into our relationship) I quit my job. He gave up the lease on his apartment and he moved in with me until our new house was ready. My friends (not the one who introduced us) thought I had lost my mind. His family was ready to commit him. Luckily, my family knew me well enough to know that when I make up my mind, that's it. I've thought everything through. When I say he's the one, he's the one.

Our new house was about 100 miles away from friends and family. This was big for me. I had never lived away from my family, but this felt so right. Again his family is ready to have him committed.

A month later, Thanksgiving weekend, he asks me to marry him. (Remember that I just met him 2 1/2 months earlier.) I said yes. He said ok, we'll go Monday and do it. I said wait a minute. Monday? He says yes, I don't want to wait another minute. My head was spinning. This wasn't going according to plan. (I'm a very plan oriented girl. You have to have a plan. The plan can change, but there still must be a plan.) I told him that I wanted a "real" wedding. My mom has had all of her girls get married at her house except me. I wanted to get married at her house. I wanted the dress and the flowers and the angels singing, the whole she-bang.

Remember that my friend wanted to wear red at the wedding? Remember she had suggested Christmas? Remember that I said Christmas was a bit rushed? Well, we actually considered Christmas. The only reason that we waited was that his girls were going to be with their mom at Christmas. We chose the first Saturday after the first of the year that he would have his girls. We were determined that they were going to be there too. In my mind, I wasn't just marrying him, I was marrying them too.

His family was ready to kidnap him and do an intervention. Looking back now, I can understand their point of view. What were we thinking? We got married barely 5 months after we met. We were living together after only 2 weeks, despite what the hubby said at the time. (His reasoning was that since we both still had our own houses, even though we didn't sleep in them regularly, we weren't living together.) I'd like to say that we just got lucky. Reality was that we were determined that this was going to work. We worked like the Dickens to keep everything together and all that hard work has paid off. We are more in love today than we were 12 years ago. He is my best friend, my soul mate, the love of my life.... I could go on and on forever and never be able to put the feelings into proper words.

Oh, and my friend, she didn't wear red. We chose blue instead. ;o)

Our Love Story

2008-01-17T16:40:00.000-06:00

It's a cold, blustery day today, and while we got quite a bit done yesterday, today has turned into a "sit in front of the computer" day. I did get our taxes done and filed this morning. I also paid the light bill online and updated my Etsy page. I let the horses out, but haven't checked to see if we've gotten eggs yet. The dogs have come and gone. I washed a load of clothes and am fixing to load the dishwasher. But, I said this was a love story, so forget the chores Cinderella and remember the ball. ;o)

This story begins about 12 years ago. I was a single mom who was alone, but secure in her loneliness. Basically, I had decided that men were too much trouble and I had a little bundle of joy to focus on. My friend, who was happily married, wasn't so convinced. She had tried to set me up with a few different male friends, but nothing had clicked. She had even tried to introduce me to my future hubby, but things didn't work out as planned. (He didn't know about the trap, and hadn't shown up as planned, anticipated, expected.) He still kicks himself for not coming that night. Instead I met a jerk, which just further turned me off men and dating, much less relationships.

Lots of months went by. Many things happened in that time, both for me and for him, but those are stories for another time. One day I'm sitting at my friend's house, as I usually did, and she decides one more time to give the Cupid gig a try. She digs out the photos of a company Christmas party to show me how cute Future Hubby was. Actually, that plan rather backfired, because a "bit" of alcohol had been consumed and he wasn't his most attractive at the time. What she didn't tell me was that her husband and Future Hubby were hunting at that very moment, and despite all her denials later, a trap had been laid for the both of us.

We're innocently watching TV or gossiping, or whatever the chosen activity was at the time, when the phone rings. It was her husband and he wanted to know if I was still at their house. When she informed him that I was, he told her to keep me there at all costs, that Future Hubby was coming to meet me. I bolted. She literally had to restrain me to keep me from going out the door. All the protests in the world about not liking men, not having time for a relationship, he's a drunk for Heaven's Sake, fell on deaf ears. So, there I sat, like a condemned woman awaiting her sentence. (Ok that's a bit melodramatic, but I really didn't want to meet anyone new.)

Finally the wait was over. Guess what? He was rather cute and charming and not a drunk at all. We all played cards, laughed, and joked. Things were going good and then my friend gets me rip roaring drunk. Oops. She said later that she figured that he might as well see us in action from the beginning to make sure that he could cope. At the end of the night, I was convinced that I had messed up big time and he'd never want to see me again. I gave him a peck on the cheek (I think... that parts a bit fuzzy) and told him not to be a stranger, or something equally dumb.

The next day, I slept the hangover off. I didn't see my friend again until the day after that, which happened to be Labor Day. She was determined that he was perfect for me, and tried calling him to invite him over, so that we both could see that she was right. He never answered the phone. Told you that I messed up big time, or at least so I thought. ;o)

She, not to be deterred by a little thing like him not answering the phone, proceeds to plan our wedding. She's picking out the colors that she wants to wear (red) which to her means that we get married Christmas Day. I told her that Christmas was a bit rushed, could we possibly wait until Valentine's Day? I was joking, but her husband didn't think so. He told Future Hubby to watch out because we had plans for him. Future Hubby still jokes about his only involvement in our wedding was showing up when he was told.

As it turned out, he did finally answer the phone, but it was a day or two later. She invited him to come over the following weekend. He asks her if he could bring his kids because he'd really like for them to meet me. Gulp! Meet the kids? What if I was wrong and he wasn't so charming? I know he'd met my little one, but she wouldn't have remembered one way or the other. Finally after much foot tapping on her part, I agreed to meet him and his kids at her house the next weekend.

Tune in tomorrow for Part Two of Our Love Story...or You're Getting Married When?

New Yard For the Chickens

2008-01-17T10:17:00.000-06:00

I guess I should've kept my big mouth shut when I said there aren't many chores to do this time of year. ;o) Right after I said that, the hubby came along with a list.

fix the water trough---done

take down the old fence behind the house so we can brush hog this weekend--done

brush hog this weekend (including the path to the back)

start the new chicken fence--done

start the tomato seeds (Ok I added that one.)--done

So, he welded the water trough up. We took down the old fence, and I 'm going to put it around my small beds in the front to keep the dogs out of my lettuce seeds. We started the new chicken fence, well, it's partly finished. We used wire and posts that we already had. We were so close to having enough hardware cloth, but we didn't want to buy anything we didn't have to so we used what we had. We're going to put sturdier wire on the "patch" when we take another part of the old fence down. That's the barn in the background. I'd like to paint it, but paint is kinda frivolous, so it stays how it is for now. The open part of the barn in the chicken fence is actually the chicken house (Its the black hole the other side of that tree.) It's where I have their laying boxes which is actually a set of old gym lockers that my dad gave me.

We're going to top the whole thing so the chickens can't get out as much. They are something else on my tomatoes! ;o) If you were standing at the fence looking at the chickens, my garden would be behind you. We are moving the chickens to a whole new spot, so the old spot is going to be part of my garden. Can we say wonderful fertilizer? ;o) Part of this whole plan is to cultivate as much grass in the front as possible for the horses to mow. I had part of my garden up there last year, but it doesn't get as much sun and it cuts into the grazing.

Part of what I'm doing for Mother Earth is that I don't have a lawnmower, not even a push mower, or weed eater. We have 3 ecological friendly ones who take turn mowing and weeding. We don't have to buy gas for them, and their "emissions" fertilize the grass they're mowing.

I put the tomato seeds under the grow light last night. It doesn't look like much now, but I planted three varieties of tomatoes. I planted Ace (a large tomato), cherry tomatoes and Roma tomatoes. I've never tried them from seeds before, and I've never tried the Ace or Roma varieties, even from a plant. There is a lady who lives in our neighborhood who is having some hard times. I planted enough seed to share plants with her. (Remember when I said that I was living my grandmother's life? ;o) That's exactly something that she would (and has) do.) I'm going to add pepper seeds, also but I still have to get them.

Planning the Garden

2008-01-16T11:22:00.000-06:00

Last year was the first time for us to plant a garden. Some things did ok, others were a total flop. My mom said not to get discouraged or to give up on any one thing yet because the weather here was unusual. Besides all that, our soil is really awful! Here is what we planted last year:

red potatoes
russet potatoes
zucchini squash
yellow squash
green beans
foot long green beans
sweet corn (different varieties)
tomato plants
bell pepper plants
green onions
carrots
radishes
okra
pumpkins
watermelons
cantaloupe
lettuce
broccoli
cucumbers
a few varieties of flowers

This is what I want to plant this year. I'm pretty proud of my plans this year because most of the seeds that I'm planting are either seed I saved from last year or seed that I bought on clearance for 6 cents a pack.

a lot more russets than I did last year
a lot more red potatoes than I did last year
zucchini
yellow squash
green beans
field corn
3 varieties of tomatoes from seed
bell peppers from seed
jalapeno from seed
onions
carrots
okra from seed I saved from my plants last year
pumpkins
watermelons
cantaloupe
garlic
lettuce
broccoli
cucumbers
sweet potatoes
peach tree (from peach pits)
pecan tree (from pecans I picked up)

I've never done garlic, tomatoes or peppers from seed, or field corn. I'm interested to see what new things they have in the store also. The only thing that did well last year were the potatoes and zucchini, so I can't wait to see what happens this year. The lettuce did ok, but I waited too long to plant it and it turned bitter before we really were able to enjoy much of it. Nothing went to waste though, because I fed the flops to the chickens. (At least the flops the chickens didn't help themselves to first.) ;o)

Living My Grandmother's Life

2008-01-16T10:09:00.000-06:00

This thought has been occuring to me over and over. It's amazing how closely my life resembles my grandmother's. There are some major differences too, but even the man I married is very close to my grandfather. This isn't a bad thing, not at all! They were amazing people, the down-to-earth type who would give you the shirt off their back.

She loved my grandfather fiercely, and they clung to each other through good times and bad. I always said that I wanted a marriage like that. My sister said they didn't make them that way any more, but I think I got lucky and found just one more guy like Pops. His life was his wife, and even on his death bed, he sent my aunt to buy Granny flowers on their anniversary. He said he hadn't missed a year, and wasn't going to let a little thing like cancer change that.

My grandparents didn't have or want a lot of money. Their basic needs were covered, with a luxury every now and then. They raised a huge garden (probably 2 to 3 acres at any given time) plus they raised cows, hogs, and chickens. They were professionals at "making do". And she was the only person I knew who could have 6-8 people show up at dinner time, add a few things to the table, and everyone walk away thinking it was the best meal they ever had.

Most of what I learned about relationships, hospitality, patience, and simple living I learned from her. I think I like living Granny's life. ;o)

Today's Chores

2008-01-15T22:00:00.000-06:00

Today we had to do some minor maintenance on the farm. The hubby welded up our metal stock tank. While he had it empty, he went ahead and cleaned all the gunk out, moved it to another spot, and hooked up an automatic waterer.
While he was doing that, I gathered up a bunch of loose hay to put in the chicken nests and to scatter on the ground for the chickens and ducks to eat. The ducks always crack me up because they get so excited about anything new added to the yard. I also cleaned out the duck and chickens' water tubs and refilled them.

Tonight I joined my first blog challenge. Melinda over at Elements in Time has challenged us to grow one new thing this year from seed. (Follow the link over there on the side.) Then we have to write about it on our blog. I'm really looking forward to the garden this year, as we have added a lot of organic material to our garden spaces. I'm hoping to get a better crop this year than last.

Today on the Farm

2008-01-14T16:57:00.000-06:00

During the winter, there usually isn't much to do around here on the farm. It's too early to work the garden, at least for another month when I plant my potatoes. The chickens aren't laying, so we just have to throw them some feed everyday. Chores are just the basic day-to-day maintenance, for the most part.
Today is the day the farrier comes. We only have the horses trimmed. It won't be a while yet before we put shoes back on them. For the most part, the horses are only ridden around the farm, and we're lucky enough to not have too many rocks or other things that would hurt the horses' hooves.
So, since things are so slow, the hubby and I decided to do a little weekend getaway for our 12 th anniversary. We went to a really nice state park a few hours away and did some hiking and sightseeing. We has some beautiful weather, so we took advantage of that and got some much needed exercise, am I sore today, though. I have muscles that hurt that I was unaware that I even had! It was a wonderful weekend and we've decided that we need to get out more often and to take the girls when we go. I need to get into better hiking shape before my mother-in-law and I go to see the rock art in west Texas.
Well, I better go, the hubbs and the farrier should be here any time.

A Bit of a Break

2008-01-09T20:22:00.000-06:00

I took some time off this weekend. The hubby was going to be gone this week, so I wanted to spend some time with him before he left. Then, after he left, I went to go a visit a dear friend and distant cousin who will be 95 this year. All I can say is that I hope I'm half as sharp and spry as she is if I live that long. She lives about 3 hours away, so I spent the night. At my cousin's house, the neighborhood feeds the deer, mostly to keep them from eating all of their flowers. I had this amazing experience of being about 3 feet from about 5 or 6 deer.

My cousin lives on a lake that is absolutely incredible! Her house is on a pretty steep hill, so they use this trolley system to go down to the water.

I saw this the next morning as I was leaving. There was this fog rolling across the lake and it was so beautiful that I had to stop and take a picture.

On the way back, I stopped at an incredible state park. I only spent an hour there, but I took some great shots.

So, back to the farm. Not much happens around here this time of year. Seed catalogs have started to arrive in the mail, but, my favorite catalog is the chicken catalog. (My nickname from the kids is the Chicken Lady.) The hubs and I want to update the flock this spring. We never seem to have enough eggs to meet demand, so we're going to go with some production reds this year. I also need to start getting my potato bed ready. My pops always said that bare root roses and potatoes need to be in the ground by Valentine's Day (at least in our area). The few potatoes I planted last year did so well, the hubs and I want to plant a lot more.

This spring I also want to plant some fruit trees and pecan trees. I might buy a couple of trees, to get a head start on the fruit, but I want to plant some from seed to see if I can do it.

So, the final thing is that I've opened a site on Etsy. I was trying to think of crafts to sell, and I might do that eventually, but something that I have now is photos. So, I'm going to see how that does. The address is http://www.shutterbugs.etsy.com/ I'd really appreciate you looking at it and telling me what you think.

More Pictures from my Wanderings

2008-01-05T16:41:00.000-06:00

It was such a grey day yesterday, that I decided to play around with the black and white setting on the camera. It was interesting how it gave ordinary things (and not so ordinary) a different perspective.

A fairy gate? I'm not sure what this is supposed to be. It wasn't there, then all of the sudden it was. It's about 1 1/2 feet tall in the middle of a field, in the middle of nowhere.

I was driving along and saw all of these birds in a field. Since we have sandhill cranes who nest around here, I decided to stop and see what kind of birds they were. As it turns out, they were pigeons, which isn't what you expect to see in an empty corn field out in the middle of no where. This actually was only about a third of the birds in the flock. It just made for an interesting photo.

Most of the farmers around here started baling hay is big huge round bales instead of the smaller square bales. It's better for the cattle farmers because they can just put the huge round bales out in the pasture with a tractor and not have to haul hay every day. I saw this stack of round bales on the side of the road and thought it would make for an interesting photo.

What I See

2008-01-04T16:30:00.000-06:00

I was reading some blogs from people from other countries. The authors had posted pictures of things they saw everyday. My first thought was "How lucky they are to live in such an exotic place!" My next thought was "I wonder if they get tired of looking at that every day?" So, it got me thinking. I know, that's a dangerous thing! ;o)

Maybe someone from Siberia or Zimbabwe will be reading my blog and see my pictures and think "I wish I saw those exotic things every day. " So, here are some things I see everyday (or at least pretty often because I don't go out every day.)

Our State Flag

Texas Longhorns

A pump jack

A white tailed deer

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

2008-01-04T06:40:00.001-06:00

It's another cold morning. Not cold as in snow on the ground, or beautiful images of winter's wonder, but cold as in my joints ache...Why is it so darned cold? Weird me, one hand is freezing, the other is fine. And I guess it's one more sign that I'm getting old...my feet are always cold. I need multiple climate controls just for my body. ;o)

I should crawl back in bed, but I have so many thoughts racing in my head here lately, I thought that I'd try to make sense of them all.

The first is that I feel so blessed. I would say that it's the New Year or the holidays that brings on these thoughts, but I know that's not right. I lie awake at night sometimes thinking how very lucky I was to find the man sleeping next to me. I'm almost afraid to voice it, afraid it will break the spell and he'll disappear, but every morning I wake and there he is. I think I'll live the feeling for now and worry about tomorrow when it gets here.

He bought me the very best gift this year for Christmas. Sometimes for holidays, I wish that he would just pay attention to what I ask for through out the year instead of asking for a list and then buying only the things on the list. It's kinda like shopping for myself and him wrapping the gifts. I'm not really complaining, I know it could be worse, just expressing a desire. Sometimes I wonder if I expect too much from him, expecting him to know my inner most wants and desires. More the desire that he knows my inner wishes, than the actual physical thing he bought. (Does that make sense?) And then, he goes and does something wonderful!

This year he bought me one of those metal fire ring thingys. You know the kind with grate and looks like a big bowl on legs? It wasn't on the list. With money being the way it has been, I would never have asked for such an expensive gift. I wouldn't want to hurt him by making him think he couldn't provide for me. But, there under the tree was one of my heart's desires. When I opened it, he said "I know it wasn't on your list. But, every time we walk past them, I notice that your eyes stray right to them." Is he not the best, most observant sweetie ever? :o)

I was reading a blog post the other day about happiness and how sometimes TV and glossy magazines can undermine our simple lives and happiness. In a way, I agree, but I also feel that if you're basically happy with your lifestyle, it doesn't matter what temptation you're presented with. I love my little house with the big goofy dog, who has such an adoring look that you can't help but feel worshipped. I love my crazy children who leave creative messes for me to clean up. Other people have asked "You're going to LET them do that?" And my response is "Yes, as a matter of fact I am!"

Perfect example....the 11 year old wanted to have her friend over for New Year's Eve. We had decided to pass on the neighborhood party, and she was feeling a bit left out since the 13 year old was going to the party with some friends of ours. She asked her friend over to spend the night and bring the new year in with a creative bang. She had attended a gingerbread making party a couple of years ago, and thought that would be fun. We (me, my daughter and her friend) stopped at a dollar store on the way back to buy stuff for their party. I told the girls to buy anything that they found interesting for the house. My daughter leaned over to her friend and said "I bet you never heard that before, huh?" I wanted to stop and hug her right there in the store. I have officially earned the cool mom status!

I watch the home improvement show, and I hear about people chasing happiness one dollar at a time. If I were given the chance today to trade my life for all the money in the world, "I'd say nahhh, no thanks. I'm good."

I've just noticed that the big goofy dog snores just like the hubs. I guess that's part of the reason I like him sleeping in my room. It sounds like the hubby is still at home tucked away in bed. Funny, the comforting sounds you get used to hearing. We only let the "outside" dogs in when it's really cold outside. Ok, really cold by Texas standards. ;o) Lucky, the big goofy dog, seems to understand that this is the only time he's allowed in. He won't push past you to sneak in, and on cold days he stands at the door with this look, as if he's asking to be allowed in. He also seems to know that he's only allowed in our room when the hubs is gone, otherwise he's content to sleep in his usual spot, right outside our door. I would let him in all of the time, but the hubs thinks he's too much to walk around in our little house. He is a BIG dog!

Well, I do think that I will head to back to bed now. The kids are going to their adopted grandparents' house to finish Christmas, and I'm off on a creative mission. I need to figure out how to bind the youngest's quilt. Any excuse to go to Joann Fabrics. ;o) I'll post about the quilt and what I've learned about making it later. I also think I'll dig back through some of my old photos I've taken and post some of them also.

A Pattern I Can Live With

2008-01-03T16:52:00.000-06:00

I finally took the plunge. I started the lap quilt. I got the top pieced together. I didn't have the right number of squares to do a pattern that I loved, so I settled on one that I liked.

This is the top and middle section of the quilt. It has six different 9 piece blocks. It's two blocks across and three blocks down. I couldn't get a picture of the whole thing at once.

This is the middle and bottom section of the quilt.

I started by sewing the pieces into long strips. Then I sewed the long strips together. I think I'm just going to use binding tape to finish the edges.

True Confessions of a Self-Proclaimed Pack Rat...

2008-01-02T15:47:00.000-06:00

...otherwise known as, Oh My Gosh, Where Did All Of These Pens Come From? ; )

Ok, I promised the hubby that now that the holidays are over, I would clean our room up. So, since the kiddos are staying at a friend's house, I decided that I would plunge in and get it done.

I have to say that I am truly embarrassed by the state of this room. I won't go into all of the gory details, but you would not believe the junk that I've pulled out of the little nooks and crannies. Old sale papers, pens, junk mail, toys and nick-nacks that need repaired. I feel my room letting out this huge sigh of relief as I unburden it with the clutter.

He asked me last night what I want for my birthday. I wonder if he'd think I'm weird if I asked for shelves? Strike that..he knows I'm weird. ;) Do I want shelves more or goats....hmmmm.

Ok, I'm diving back in!

How We Got Started...part 2

2008-01-02T11:05:00.001-06:00

Sorry that things got rushed towards the end of part 1. It was actually close to 11 pm when I crawled in bed, and the hubby was getting rather impatient. ; ) That is one thing that we agreed on when we got married, that we would go to bed at the same time, at least as close as possible.

Anyway, I was talking about the animals... At the time, the house was our major "homesteading" thing we did. We gave up a "big fancy house" to move into the neighborhood "crack house". After we moved it to the 15 acres, we added a hallway and a portable building that my dad bought for $50. The portable building became our bedroom. People still had comments to make about how we lived, but for the most part, we ignored them.

There were times that we both got so frustrated what the amount of things that needed to be done that we almost gave up and went and bought a new house. Luckily for us, I'd get frustrated at different times than he did, so we'd be able to talk the other one out of rushing out and signing our lives away.

New people who met us and came to our house commented on how much love was here and how comfortable they felt in our home. Those were the kind of people that we wanted to be friends with, not the ones thinking that we needed a big, fancy home.

I had never even heard of "homesteading" until we went to visit a Haflinger ranch that was owned by a husband and wife. We stayed for the day, thoroughly enjoying ourselves with these neat people we had just met. Their ranch was run on horse power. The horses were their tractors, they tilled their garden, pulled logs, etc. We had been having a wonderful day, when the wife asked me if I had heard about the Homesteading Movement. Of course, I thought about "homesteading" your house to lower your property taxes. She kinda laughed, then explained what it was about. Hmmm...could it be that we had been homesteading all this time and didn't even know it? I thought we were just living like my grandparents and parents.

We came home, and I did a web search on homesteading. The hubby walked past me, saw what I was looking at and said, "you're not serious, right? I like air conditioning and TV." You see, he's been married to me long enough to know that when I'm interested, I tend to jump in with both feet. I assured him that I wasn't going to take away all of his toys, that I was just looking for ideas to lower our grocery bill, maybe raise a garden, and farm fresh eggs are much better! He gave me a half hearted "ok" but he was still suspicious. The poor dear, he knows me too well for his own good. ; )

Well, after a while, even he was interested in some of the topics I was reading up on. He hates writing that check out to the light company every month, and it seems to get higher and higher, but when we got serious about looking about going off grid...well, lets just say that it's not in the budget. Shoot! I have managed to ease him into a few other things. He loves fresh homemade bread and the fresh veggies from the garden cut our grocery bill quite a bit. We discussed raising animals for meat for the freezer, but neither of us have the stomach for butchering and butcher shops around here charge so much just to butcher the animal, that it's cheaper to buy meat on sale in the store. And he certainly doesn't mind me cleaning the barn out to put in the garden!

So, I say all of this, and I've probably forgotten a few things, because the thing about homesteading is that you can pick and choose the aspects that work for you. You don't have to jump in with both feet, like I would have, at least until the 100+ temps of August. You can pick and choose things that work for you in your current circumstances. The things we have accomplished have been over years, and things that we want to accomplish will take even more years. Our farm has a life of it's own, and sometimes it's just like watching a child grow and develop.

The Beginning of How We Started Homesteading

2008-01-01T17:07:00.000-06:00

The hubby's parents and grandparents bought the land we're living on in the 70's. The grandparents changed their minds before the first payment was made, and his parents took over the notes. His parents got a divorce when he was a teen, but kept the place. His dad decided he wanted out, so his mom bought out his share.

Despite the fact that the hubby grew up in a big city, he knew that the country was where he belonged. He desperately wanted horses, but having less noise and being able to see the stars were an added bonus.

We put in a well and septic, then had our first mobile home delivered in 1995. Despite the fact that there's 15 acres here, we lived on about 1/2 acre because that was all that was cleared. We gradually cleared a path to the well, then expanded a bit more. We lived here for a couple of years when he was transfered to another town. We sold the house, bought another one in another town. We lived there for a couple of years when the hubby was transferred back. This time, we decided that we didn't want a house note.

We made a deal with my parents to "buy" a 1980 single-wide mobile home for what they had in it....about $400. The house was in deplorable condition, and we took quite a bit of ribbing from neighbors about moving into the "crack house". Some of them changed their tunes when we tore all of the old siding off and put up new vinyl siding. Then we weren't so crazy, but they started to see what we had seen all along. I say "buy" because we ended up taking it out in trade. My parents decided after an unexpected medical retirement, to follow our lead and build their own and get rid of their housenote. The hubby helped and my parents canceled our debt. Thanks Mom and Dad! The hubby's mom helped us out with more than just the land, she wrote us a check to help buy building materials. We are truly blessed with wonderful parents on both sides!

We moved the house to the 15 acres, after clearing more land. The hubby wanted the house further off the road. We didn't get it where we wanted because we were trying to clear land in 100+ degree weather. We cleared just enough to get it in, the back yard came later. ; ) We still didn't have horses, at least not for a few more years.

The first horse we got was also our first rescue. This poor old starved horse showed up in our front yard, eating the dog food. Come to find out, this horse was about 30 years old and belonged to a lady who didn't know what she was doing. We stabled him at a friend's house who had pasture. Our 13 year old (who wasn't 13 at the time) was down there every day, brushing him, talking to him, and just generally taking care of him. He only lived 6 months, but it was probably the best 6 months he'd had in a very long time!

This earned the 13 year old the right to own a horse of her own. We decided that if took that good of care for a horse she'd never be able to ride, then she'd do a good job for one she could. We found an ad in the newspaper for a Haflinger. We had no idea what a Haflinger was, so we did some research and fell in love with the breed.

The hubby's horse came next. He was a surprise for his birthday. A neighbor was in serious danger of losing his job and was worried about feeding 2 horses. He decided to sell Buck, as he was just a pasture mate. I worked out a deal with the neighbor and surprised the hubby with the for sale sign. I marked in big red letters "SOLD". It's the first time that I've brought tears to his eyes with a gift. Most of the riding that Buck had done was with the hubby in his saddle.

The third horse (technically 4th) was another rescue. I found out about 2 horses in the neighborhood that weren't being taken care of. I basically informed the owner that he could either give me the horses or I could kick his rear-end and then he could give me the horses. (The hubby says that I'm a rather fiesty little German woman, especially when animals or children are involved.) He finally agreed to give me one of the horses and he would take the other to someone else. Dollar is a thoroughbred/quarter horse mix, and now that he's put on some weight, he's quite a looker.

We also have chickens, and we sell the eggs at the hubby's work. We never seem to have enough eggs for the demand, so this spring we're getting more chickens.

I'll finish this story tomorrow....the hubby keeps looking my way, sending a silent message that it's bedtime. ;)

Happy 2008

2008-01-01T10:37:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Now that Christmas is over with, I'm already thinking about what I want to plant in my spring garden. I bought a bunch of seeds on clearance at the end of the season last year. I think I paid about six cents a package for most of them. We had a lot of luck with squash, potatoes, green beans, and okra. This year I'm going to try and raise my own tomato seedlings, as my mom gave me my grandma's grow light. I'm also going to try to raise some fruit trees from seeds. A friend gave me a huge lemon off of her tree, and I read an article about how to start your own. My other grandmother had a lot of luck planting peach pits from peaches that she bought in the produce section.

The hubby and I were walking around outside this morning and we've decided to try and get some goats. We have 15 acres, but about 12 of them are heavily, heavily wooded. I eventually want to get some of the Spanish goats, because from what I've read, they make good pets. I want to be able to milk them to make soap. But, for now, we're going with miniature goats because they'll be easier to contain.

While we were walking around, checking things out, we discovered that our water trough has a hole in the bottom. He's going to fix that today. He wants to move it so that our Haflinger can't chase the other horses and knock the auto waterer off.

I've added some new things on the side under my profile. I finally was able to post some pictures that are permanent. I also joined a homesteading blogger group, and the link for that is a little further down.

Well, that's about it for now. It's a beautiful day outside and I really want to get some things done today. I may fire up the old tractor and start hauling "horse compost" into the gardens. Yep, I compost the easy way....let the horses do it ; ) !

Everyone have a blessed New Year! As my middle daughter said at 12:03 am last night, it's going to be a much better year this year, I promise! ;)

Lots On My Mind

2007-12-31T12:31:00.001-06:00

First, I have decided to take the plunge and tackle one of the things on my "bucket list" now...well, not now, as in right this minute but now as in sometime this week. I went and bought a book on how to quilt and since I already had some squares that I bought on Ebay, I think I'm going to make a throw for my youngest. She's pretty forgiving if things don't turn out perfect, and she's kinda outgrown her "barney".

Her "barney" is a toddler sized comforter with Barney on it that is well-worn and well-loved. When she was very little, "My barney" referred to the actual blanket, not who was on it. The color purple was also "barney", as were purple paint chips in the store. We used to find them everywhere in our house because every time we went to a store that had paint, she wanted some "barneys".

The youngest loves the size of her "barney", but has outgrown the material. Barney just isn't cool for an 11 year old. So, I think it's time for something new and comfy and definitely more cool. ;) The squares that I have are bright oranges and pinks and greens, very girly and very cute! Nothing fancy for the first one, despite the wild ideas I got from going through the book, a simple square pattern. I will post a pic when I get it done.

My other endeavor this next week is to paint my living room and dining room. I'm going to try doing something with texture to cover the major imperfections, and try to save some money. I'll definitely post pics of the progress on this huge project! My mom gave me 5 gallons of a tan-beige-sandy type color, which will really brighten up the room. It's a dark wood paneling now, and since we keep the curtains drawn to cut down on the heating/cooling bill, it can use some lightening up! The hubby will be gone, so it's the perfect time to do this.

Now something fun....tea. I forgot how much I love tea. Here in the South we usually have our tea iced and in a glass, but I like mine hot and in a mug also. My mother-in-law and I had tea over the Christmas holidays and it was a wonderful experience. I got my grandmother's tea pot out of the china hutch and we had "High Tea" even though with all of the events of the day it was almost supper time. We had Biscotti that Mom brought to share and discussed all kinds of topics like faith, family, and travel. It was a great way to unwind from the activities of the day/season and really made me appreciate our relationship again.

I gave my youngest a porcelain tea set that I found on sale at a local book store. It came with rhymes and poems about tea. One in particular I really enjoyed.

A Cup of Tea

When the world is all at odds

And the mind is all at sea

Then cease the useless tedium

And brew a cup of tea.

There is magic in its fragrance,

There is solace in its taste;

And the laden moments vanish

Somehow into space.

And the world becomes a lovely thing!

There's beauty as you'll see;

All because you briefly stopped

To brew a cup of tea.

-Traditional

Isn't that a lovely sentiment that there is peace and solace lying at the bottom of a tea cup?

The final topic for now is how blessed I feel in my life. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. We have our problems just like any normal family. Money is always a concern, but we always manage to find a way through to the tunnel, and so far the light wasn't attached to a train. ;) I have a wonderful loving husband, and the fact that he loves me so much makes up for the little things that tend to get under my skin. I have great children. We have a small place out in the country, where we can find peace and quiet. Through it all, I have been truly blessed!

Happy New Year, everyone! May you all find your own kind of peace this year!

Free

2007-12-30T18:41:00.000-06:00

Free...it's one of my favorite words. We have received quite a few things recently "free". Basically, we let our friends and family know that if anything is going to be given away, we might be interested.

In the last couple of weeks, we've gotten a 11 foot x 14 foot rug. The people who originally bought it paid about $2200 for it on sale. The best part about it is that the rug actually matches the colors that I'm doing in the livingroom.

I also got several loads of mulch for the flower bed free, courtesy of our county. It was a great early Christmas gift, especially since part of it was ground up cedar and it just made everything smell wonderfully! I'm thinking about calling them and letting them know that if they ever need to dump more, I'd be willing to take it!

Our barn was basically free. We had to buy a few 2x4's, some screws, and a couple of other odds and ends, but other than that it was all donated material.

Yes, free is one of my favorite words!

My Bucket List

2007-12-29T11:36:00.000-06:00

I've seen the previews for a movie called "The Bucket List" (I think) with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. The basic concept is these two old guys have a list of things they want to do before they kick the bucket. It got me to thinking, even though I'm still young what is my bucket list?
So, here goes....in no particular order

Travel outside of the US (anywhere as long as it's not here!)
Travel to Ireland
travel to Australia
see the Great Wall of China
Go to Germany on a genealogy trip
go fossil hunting
go on an archaeological dig
go to the grand canyon
go to Washington DC
go back to Disney World
go to Montana
have a white Christmas in a cabin in the mountains
go scuba diving in the ocean
swim with dolphins, preferably in the wild
see a bear and elk in the wild...not up close mind you! Thru binoculars would be fine.
learn to quilt
learn to fly a plane
see California
see cave writings/ rock art
volunteer at a living history farm

That's all I can think of for now. What's your bucket list?

Adrenaline Crash

2007-12-29T10:44:00.000-06:00

I have been running on pure adrenaline the last couple of weeks, trying to make Christmas perfect for everyone, that the last couple of days I can barely move. I've slept late, stayed in my robe all day, and haven't done much more than keeping the kitchen straightened up.

The youngest has a head cold, so that's been a good excuse not to have to go anywhere.

I've been debating about something. I put an application for a job, and ever since then, I've been wondering if it's the right thing to do. I'm not sure if my debating is me trying to let myself down easy in case I don't get it or if I'm really torn about the whole thing. The money would be nice, and the benefits are good. The kids are going back to public school next year, so we'd only have a few more months of worrying about that. I'm just not sure if I want it or not. I do but I don't...does that make sense? It is going to be a huge inconvenience for the family in the beginning, because I'll be gone a lot for training. I may be worrying for nothing, because they're supposedly going to have the position filled by Jan. 15th and I haven't been called for an interview yet.

All God's Creatures, Great and Small

2007-12-28T11:31:00.000-06:00

Our latest adventure on the farm is a sick chicken. My youngest and my mother-in-law discovered her lying in the chicken pen. The other chickens were attacking her. My mother-in-law (the self-professed "city girl") rushes in to protect her until I can get there. It didn't look good for the poor soul, but the looks on the two hero's faces sets me to action. I ask Mom if she can hand her out to me, as the poor hen was in a difficult spot. Mom gives me this "you've got to be kidding" look, but with sheer determination, picks her up and hands her to me over the fence.

I took the poor thing into the kitchen where I mix up some antibiotic water and literally spoon feed the mixture to the hen. I've never force fed a chicken before, nor have I seen it done, but we managed just the same. I added a little sugar to the mixture, and in short time she's a little perkier. My youngest heats some left-over mashed potatoes in the microwave and the hen really perks up. She manages to stand and eat most of the potatoes. Mom and the youngest were on chicken guard duty while I went and prepared a cage.

We set her up in isolation in our mud room in a wire cage with table scraps and medicated water. She did ok for a couple of days, when back down she goes. By this time all of the extended family had gone back home. I sit most of the day yesterday with her wrapped in a towel in my lap, spoon feeding her sugar/ medicated water. She is now living in the kitchen in our make-shift brooder with a small space heater, table scraps and medicated sugar water. She's standing on her own two feet, has managed to eat a bit and is very interested in the water.

I'll keep you updated on her progress.

Christmas is over....

2007-12-27T11:06:00.000-06:00

...and we survived! The kids woke up about 5:30. The got all the grandparents up before they came to knock on our door. The hubby put them off to about 6 a.m., but then we went ahead and got up. The hubby wanted to slow the present opening down just a bit, so that we could get pictures of everyone, so it was a good thing we got up that early. We just finished breakfast and got the turkey on when more family started to arrive. All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas, as I knew it would be.
The homemade gifts were a big hit. I don't think my daughter has put the doll down since she opened it. The ponchos were oohed and ahhed over as well. My mother-in-law got me a box of horseshoes for the hubby to make things out of. One of the things she put on the card was a beautiful cross, so I think that's the first one I'm going to ask for.
The family has now all left, most of the mess is cleaned up. And there's now time to breathe again! I hope everyone else's Christmas was just as wonderful as ours!

Look at my dolly

2007-12-20T11:29:00.001-06:00

This is going to be a quick post. I still have a lot of little things to get done today before family gets here.

I wanted to post a picture of the doll that I crocheted for my youngest.

I haven't given her a name yet. I thought I'd leave that to her new mommy. ; )

The hubby just called, asking if I've started on my list of to-do's. He said that he saw the cutest sign. A clean house is a sign of a broken computer. Ain't it so, ain't it so! ; )

I think I might start making dolls. I've seen some of the cutest little things, and apparently there is a book available. Too bad my girls are outgrowing toys. I could still make one or two for them to put on their shelves. My youngest and my mother-in-law collect dolls. After Christmas, I may just have to check out that book!

Well, I really need to go get things done! It would be a shame for all that work over the last couple of weeks go to waste just because I can't get motivated today!

Merry Christmas everyone!

They're coming!

2007-12-19T11:43:00.000-06:00

Just one more day before family descends upon us. We're ready...mostly. I still have to clean the frig out, do laundry (I've always got to do laundry!!!) and go to the grocery store. Not bad for a list that started as a full page long. I've even got 98% of the presents wrapped.

We watched A Christmas Carol last night. It kinda reminds you of what's important in life....friends, family, etc.

Well, today is going to be a short post. Here's another picture from our trip to the Dickens festival.

Merry Christmas to all, if I don't get a chance to post again!

2007-12-18T12:11:00.000-06:00

Nothing too heavy today. I'm in a light-hearted mood. My shopping is done, most of the presents are wrapped, and there are just a few more things on my to do list. I feel good about the gift choices I made this year. I love the Ebay commercial that says don't just give a gift, give a gift that says "I get you." I think I accomplished that this year. ; )

Here are some of my favorite photos from a trip we took to a Dickens era holiday festival.

I just thought this was such an interesting picture. They were taking wreaths made from rope to a stall to sell.

This one I call "Playing for the Crowd." The two older boys in the background had been playing all morning. It was finally the little one's turn. He was quite good, by the way.

And here they were tying off the rigging. They started at the very top and climbed their way down. It made my stomach do flip-flops just watching them!

We had a great day and are already looking forward to going back next year. We've also planned some camping trips for this spring. I forgot how much I love the coast!

Some ideas to make it go further

2007-12-17T11:14:00.000-06:00

We've all had those years where for some reason or another funds were tight. Maybe there was illness, or an unexpected loss of a job, or more recently the price of gas. Here are some things that I've done in the past to make my dollar go further.

1. Dollar Stores - We've bought some really good things at the dollar store (the ones where everything's a dollar or less). I've even found some good items for the adults on my list. My mother-in-law loves classical music and I've found her some CDs there. Journals, calendars, pens, jewelry, books, candles, etc. all make good "filler" gifts. I also buy my wrapping paper and gift bags there.

2. We don't put out any gifts until Santa comes. That way the kids don't have time to count how many things there are. They go from nothing under the tree to BOOM! The surprise factor really helps.

3. I make as many gifts as possible. Crafts aren't always cheap, but a little creativity can go a long way. My mom collects oil lamps. One year I found some at the dollar store. I put beads inside and tied raffia around the necks. It really dressed them up, especially since she wasn't going to burn them anyway. We've also made decorative stepping stones. I type "cheap crafts" or "cheap gift ideas" in a search engine and then choose the best gift for the person I'm making it for.

4. Have Christmas with someone else. We've done Christmas morning with grandparents or aunts and uncles. Then there's gifts from you, from Santa, and from the grandparents, etc. all under the tree at once.

5. My hubby and I have waited to exchange gifts after the first of the year when we get our income tax refund. We still have stuff to open because our parents give us gifts.

6. Clearance shopping. I've hit the mother lode this year with things on clearance. The hubby and my dad are both hunters. Stores have started marking things down because deer season is almost over. The other thing is my middle daughter like camo.....BINGO!

7. Here's one of my favorites. Once the kids got a little older, we included them in the gift giving tradition. We make a list of who's going to be at our house on Christmas morning. Then we give them the money and everyone piles into the van to go shopping at the Dollar Store. Adults are available to help, but the kids choose the gifts, pay for the gifts and then wrap the gifts. My kids don't get an allowance throughout the year, even though they are expected to do chores, so this is another way of rewarding them. They do a pretty good job at picking out things they know the recipient will love. It's more gifts under the tree, and it allows them to focus more on giving than receiving.

8. My mom used to (and probably still does) buy things all year. If she finds a good price on something she picks it up and puts it away for Christmas. I'm not that disciplined, but it might work for someone else. ; )

9. I always try to buy at least one thing on the kids' lists that they really want. Then they're so excited about that that they forget about the other things. Make sure to collect the lists so they can't go back and compare! ; )

10. More is better. We buy one big gift and bunch of little gifts. By big, I don't mean expensive, I mean size. The more they have to open the bigger they remember Christmas being. Again...Dollar stores! Also, something I learned from my mom, I wrap everything individually. Instead of a box of makeup, I wrap the eyeshadow, the blush, etc.

God answered our prayers and Christmas worked itself out this year. I hope he answers yours too!

It's not all about me

2007-12-13T11:13:00.000-06:00

I've been watching Joyce Meyers and the last couple of teachings that she's done is entitled "It's Not All About Me". Her basic message is that God has His own timetable and His own plan, and that us worry worts need to sit back more and enjoy the ride. HMMMM.... that one really hits home. She talks about selfish people, but she also talks about people who love to give...well, that really got me to thinking.

I consider myself a giving person. I pattern (as best I can) my life after my grandfather who I really admired. My grandparents didn't have much, but whatever they had they were willing to give away. All you had to do was mention that you needed something and it was going home with you. This is a good trait, but what got me thinking is that sometimes I give so much it takes away from others trying to give to me.

Let me explain. Money has been really tight the last couple of years. Not as tight as in the past, but there's not a lot for extras. This year, I'm so worried about the hubby and kids and extended family, and their happiness, that I told the hubby not to worry too much about spending money on me. I wasn't trying to be a martyr, I just worry about other people's happiness first. But, what got me thinking is that I'm taking away his joy because he loves giving too. I had good intentions but was just a bit misguided.

So, my early New Year's resolution is to put more in God's hands. I worry so much, and it's really starting to show on my health, and worrying doesn't change much anyway. It's hard, but I'm working on it.

Now my next promise to myself is to try to enjoy the season more. I just haven't been able to get in the mood, between money and cleaning for company to come and...don't laugh... the cats. Yes, I said the cats. They are DESTROYING my Christmas tree. Right now we have 4 cats. The kitten goes to her new home this weekend. Another cat goes to her new home Christmas day. One more cat goes as soon as we find her a good home. And one stays here. I finally compromised with the cats and took all of the breakable ornaments off of the tree. Me, getting old and set in my ways, I'm not really happy about the situation. Of course, the breakable ornaments are my favorites, so the tree doesn't look the same. I keep telling myself to get over it, that I'm a creative person who'll come up with something just as good, but I'm not really convinced. Isn't it funny that the kitten sleeping in the tree is cute, but the cat sleeping in the tree is infuriating? ; )

We get paid tomorrow, so I'm going to go finish the Christmas shopping. I've done quite a bit of dollar store shopping and I've picked up some deals on clearance. I got some really cute purses on clearance for a $1. I even got a matching hat for one of the girls off of the same clearance rack. We try to make the kids each a homemade gift each year. My youngest is still clinging to childhood desperately, and she asked for a doll. I found the cutest doll crochet pattern that I was able to make for $2 for the fiberfill. I used yarn that I had from previous projects. The doll turned out beautifully. I know she'll love it, even just as an addition to her doll collection, whether she plays with it or not. For the older two, I making ponchos. The oldest one's was free (saving yarn pays off), which is good because I have to buy all of the yarn for the middle one's.

This weekend we're going to a local park that decorates for Christmas, and it's all free to the public. On the weekends they have hot cocoa and cookies, hayrides, and entertainment. We're all really looking forward to it!

Well, I guess I better get started if I want to get finished with the heavy cleaning by this weekend. I want to spend next week wrapping gifts so that can be done before my parents get here Thursday. (Yep, she's moved the time table up.) I usually spend most of my time wrapping while they're here and this year I want to focus more on the holiday.

Christmas Present

2007-12-12T11:36:00.000-06:00

Our kitten taking a nap in our tree.

Are you as tired of all the commercials for the "perfect" Christmas gifts as I am? You can't escape them! Retailers want us to believe that the only way to show our love is to go into quadruple digit debt for each member of your family. The ads really bother me the years that money is extremely tight and I'm already on edge about the family's happiness.

I wish I could be more secure about the whole thing. I know I have wonderful children and they're going to love whatever we give them. I know that our children's love isn't attached to a price tag. Things always work out...so why do I have this knot in my stomach? I think i'm going to make that a New Year's resolution, worry less and leave more in God's hands.

We only have about a week before the family starts flocking to our house. I have sooooo much to do before they get here. Isn't it funny how we try to go out of our way to make your house perfect for people you see every day just because it's the holidays? I haven't decorated as much this year as I usually do. I love Christmas and decorating, but hate taking it all down! This year we decided to make things a little more simple and decorate less.

Christmas Past

2007-12-08T15:12:00.000-06:00

I've been scanning photos to share our collection with our oldest, who's moved away from home. I came across these old photos of past Christmas seasons.

Things have changed quite a bit in the past 30 something years!