Sick Again

I don't know what is with us this year but we have been sick much more often and with worse colds. Like I don't usually get a fever with my head cold but this time I did and so did everyone else but Doc says it's still just a bad cold. Lasting much longer these days too. At least we made it through Christmas in good health and spirits. I'm going to try a little herbal steam and a coat over my head like The Deliberate Agrarian suggests on his blog and maybe a whole lot more sleep.

Merry Christmas

It's officially Christmas! Yay! Christmas Eve was wonderful. We had a dinner with my fathers side of the family. A quite affair until the food was gone. I tell you what Grandma can cook! Her turkey was moist and gravy covered and her stuffing was awesome. We made a pecan pie, banana pudding (with cookies and all) and some deviled eggs to take to the shindig. I don't personally eat pecan pie but I hear it was pretty good. Then we had my brothers and their girlfriends over for a while and decided to go out to see the lights at our usual holiday spot. At the end we made some delicious cookies for Santa and left out some carrots for the reindeer. A reading of our Christmas tradition books and to bed for Midget. I hope everyone else in the whole world has had such a lovely day. I know it probably won't ever happen till we're all in Heaven but it's my Hope all the same. Merry Christmas and I won't be posting tomorrow because we still have a few more dinners to frequent and the whole early rise thing with the presents. Plus I know you'll all be just as busy.

It's The Eve

Ok. So I haven't slept yet so it's not really Christmas Eve yet but I am excited here! There are two things I love to do on during this holiday. The first is to tell the story or baby Jesus and Mary. Recently I have found a movie I truely like that helps Midget understand the truth of baby Jesus' story and that is "The Nativity". I thought it was too advanced for her 7 years but she seems to get it if we talk about it and I let her interupt the movie whenever she wants with whatever question she has. Plus I just love that movie. The second is to real aloud "T'was the Night Before Christmas". Santa isn't a big part of anything but just like the toothfairy he has his purpose here for a little while in her childhood. I know some people wont agree with that but it's just the way it is with us. My family always read the story and it just seems natural to sit all cuddled up and read about our imaginary friend Santa. Love opinions if you have time go ahead and tell me all about your traditions.

Birthday Boy?

Or is it man? He is 49 after all. Yesterday was my fathers birthday. The only thing bad about a christmas b-day is deciding what to give him twice this month. He is difficult to buy for. He has all kinds of tools and coffee mugs and cigars and thats all he really likes right now. I think we figured him out for this year though. We went and bought him DVDs. He loves certain movies and has a few from each series he likes. We (mom, Midget and I) decided to help him by getting whatever he was missing. Example: he had Aliens 1-3 but not #4 so that's what we bought for him. I made a cake and we had tons of family come over for his party (mostly to fill out our happy birthday singing group). I taught a little about knitting and chatted a lot. Dad said he had a wonderful time so we were all happy. I don't know what we will do next year but it's a whole year away so I've plenty of time to think.

Guests

We have had a lovely day today. I hope everyone else has had a wonderful holiday so far as well. Waking up without an alarm clock, a little shopping, a little family time and a play at the church. Like I said Lovely! I gat a good deal on a present at "Michael's" craft store 50% off any one item. I picked a complete set of circular needles, which is usually $70.00. Then when I got home my brother and his girlfriend came over for dinner and stayed for the whole "Santa Clause" trilogy. My nephew was in the church play. He did a wonderful job. My best wishes for your holiday celebrations.

So close

Christmas is getting close enough to smell! No, really I smell pine all the time :) . This is the last weekend before Christmas and some family wanted Midget for a few nights so I said OK. (I really said Yay!, but who is telling this story anyway). Last minute prep is never my favorite thing but without Midget it will be a bit easier this year. I usually have everything I plan to give for Christmas at least a few months ahead. I shop at sales and use my discounts and whatever else I find help with the cost so that in the end everyone gets something they want but I don't have to skimp on Christmas Dinner either. This will be my last chance to get everything wrapped and under the tree because Midget doesn't have much school till after the holidays. Here's to the rush and the relief when it's all done! Plus if i'm quick I can have some time to knit and read before my time is up.

A good note

My last post ended on a bad note. This time I promise things will end better. Church has a program where families in need can have a secret santa. I got to help out with a little girls christmas. It was awsome! The whole time I was picking clothes and toys for this child I was also remembering Midget at that age. If i had to do it again I would. Though if they had given me a little boy to shop for I don't know what I would have done since I've never had to shop for a boy before. It made me feel good to help out and plus I love to shop! An all around feel good experience.

Earlier Woes

This year has felt so short now that I think about it.I mean I can't believe 2010 is almost gone. So many things happened that i never even posted about. There was a fire, a car accident and lots of things both bad and good. I'll start with the fire. My Grandpa had a place he was renting out, usually to family, and the guy (not family) who was renting it was a drinker. Well he was hungry at 4 am and decided to have some Fried Green Tomatoes! He fell asleep at the table while cooking and when he woke up there was a fire at the stove. The guy couldn't get it to go out with the extinguisher so he grabbed the pan (with a mitt, I'm sure) and tossed into the dish water in the sink. He said that it sort of exploded a little and woosh! 2 hours later no more house. I am glad that the man got out. Really I am! This all happened in late Summer. Now ever since the Family has been trying to figure out what Grandpa and Grandma are going to do. The rent from the place was giving them a kind of income and they had just put in a new furnace so they are out that expence too. With the new building codes there isn't an easy way to get a new place put in and if they did there are a few utilities that they would have to pay to get repaired. It's a beautiful piece of an acre and if I had the resorces I would have just bought the land but I don't know anyone with money right now and it dosen't seem to be going to get better anytime soon. So my main concern here is, What Are They Going To Do? Hope is strong though and so is the willingness to try and thet is going to have to get everybody through for a little while longer.

giveaway again!

Another one! lol! This one is for a beautiful knife set with block and its at Happily Domestic again. It ends soon so hurry on over.http://happilydomestic.blogspot.com

I want to win

There is another giveaway! This time at a blog titled Happily Domestic. A Nutrimill is at stake here people. I'm so excited about this and there are so many ways to enter. http://happilydomestic.blogspot.com

Crazy

This thing is driving me crazy. It won't let me post a single pic and I really wanted to show off my little fettish. So I'll just tell you about it and before you get too excited it's not kinky. I love Victorian things and my christmas stocking shows it. I also went to a dancing at my local Art History Museum. Old timey dances in old timey clothes with old timey manners. Bows, curtsies, and gentlemen everywhere. It was so soothing to show that world to my kid. She didn't understand most of the language but she loved the clothes. I hope to fix this pic thing soon and show you a few of my favorites.

Aaachooo!

Coughing, sneezing, achy... Hey isn't that a commercial! I have been sick lately. No energy for anything. I almost didn't even have the oomph to sit and knit and watch my holiday movies. I am getting a bit better slowly and surely mostly i think because I've slept alot. once almost till noon. I'll be more entertainment later I'm sure.

No Pictures

I wish I had taken a picture of the table setting we had today. Maybe it could have sustained us in the coming year when they print more money and pass that food safety bill that keeps people like me from having my garden and my hens. But on a lighter note today was wonderful! The meal was delicious and the company was delightful and fun. Every family got to take home one of my Pumpkin Pies. Everyone invited showed up! Last year one of my brothers and his family couldn't come and canceled last minute. I don't usually complain about leftovers but I had made a massive turkey and there was just too much. I could not even think of enough things to make it into after soup and potpie and sandwiches I started just winging it. I hope all of you out there have had and continue to have a lovely holiday and life!

Cooking Dinner

We have an extended kind of family here. My brothers want to bring there girlfriends and my kid wants her other uncle plus my parents. The timing is rough to say the least! We have decided to have our Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow instead of Thursday. Tonight I spent 5 hours cooking and otherwise preparing the house for our party with help from my mother. Turkey, seven pies, stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, candied yams, deviled eggs, green beans and new potatoes, rolls, and probably at least one thing I have forgotten to list. :) Theres so very much to be thankful for not the least of which is that we could afford to have a big family dinner at all this year.

Another Giveaway!

There is another giveaway! This time at Sharri's Snapzshotz blog. It's for a $25 gift certificate to Amazing Graze Farm General Store at Down On The Farm Blog. They have so many kitchen things and I love cooking and especially having just the right tool for any job.http://sharrissnapzshotz.blogspot.com/2010/11/thanksgiving-giveaway.html

Giveaway!

There is a giveaway at StoneGable Blogspot for this beautiful set of Christmas Dishes. There are so many ways to enter this giveaway. Please check it out!!!

Aarggg!

Still no pics. I don't know what is going on with this thing! When I figure this out we can get back to our program.

A Good Book

So apparently my blogger is having some problems. It wont let me post any pictures tonight. I am reading this book and I love it! I was going to post a pic of the book and it's library friend (Which I hope to get to read next) but instead I shall just tell you about it. The first is titled Cherries In Winter and I just got it from the library yesterday so all you library patrons IT'S THERE! Anyway it is a story of this recession only I find that even though this **** ain't funny this book is halfway to lightening it up for me. It has recipes and the main story. The next book I haven't read yet but the title drew me in Budget Dinners! 100 Recipes Your Family Will Love. I hope it's good.

Birthday Party

Today we had my brothers birthday party. He is the middle child and he is exactly 9 months and 11 days younger than I am. My youngest brother is exactly 9 months and 10 days younger than my middle brother. I like to think of it as bad planning sometimes but today it was just funny.

Strep

We've been stretching out the sickness here at home. First Midget brought strep throat home from school (I learned last year that certain moms brought their kids in sick on purpose so they could get the perfect attendance award), then she gave it to me right near the end when I thought I had escaped. I of course gave it to her grandma and grandpa because I didn't even realize I was sick until too late. In the end I just hope we don't have to go through this routine all over again. At least not this year!

Chasing Chickens

We don't let the chickens loose often but when we do it's great fun. The white hen is our Aricauna. Shes the most docile when cornered. She lets up pet her if we press down slightly on her head she squats and spreads her wings for a good wing scratch and after we pet her she just has to fix all those feathers with a good shake or two.

My dad helped me put in a better gate for the chicken yard last weekend. It was kind of half finished before but we had the gate fencing hooked to the stable fencing with the c clips. now I can get in there much easier and hopefully the racoons and such can't.

5 Days

Thats how long it took to get our phone fixed. For 5 days calls showed up on our ID without us being able to answer them. The answering machine was no help all the people who tried to leave a message got nothing but a grinding sound. But the guy came today!! He fixed it in 2 hours or less. I'm so happy. I did have to clean out the inbox and everything but all in all Yay!

My First

Isn't it cute? It's my first tiny orchard. I ordered all dwarf trees because we don't have alot of space here that isn't all downhill. Our yard has one high corner and the rest just slopes all the way down to the creek. Anyway back to the little trees. I have 1 each of red delicious and golden delicious apples, 1 necterine, 1 peach, 1 sweet cherry, 1 pie cherry and 1 pear tree. I really wanted to grow our own fruit here and this seemed the best way for us right now. Not only did I learn lots about planting and care of the trees but I will also find out what grows best in out yard. I also got a tree for my Great Grandfather. This tree was special to us all because he used to tell us stories about a tree he and my Great Grandmother (deceased) had when they were newly married. It was called a Fruit Coctail(?) tree. He said they used to walk outside and pick 5 different kinds of fruit off of one tree. Well I was a total non-believer until I found one in the catalogue I chose my trees from. I can't wait until I see it give fruit!

More Sad News

This year has felt very long for us. This lovely couple (above) have recently passed away. My aunt died just after we had visited one day. She had been telling us about her legs going numb and that she would be going to the doctor soon if it did not stop by Sunday night but she simply stopped breathing and never woke up. Midget was very sad because she loved to spend the night over there. About 4-6 weeks later my uncle was in a car wreck and died as well. Now I'm not much for fate but this couple was together for many years and if it were me and my children were grown I think I would want to go with my wife. If there had been a choice I don't know what he would have chosen but they said that he did not suffer. Though it was very hard for my cousins to deal with both losses so close to each other and Midget sometimes remembers that things are different not when she spends the night with my cousins children I think it mostly gets to her when she sees pictures and things. She has coped very well with loss this year but the healing is not so quick for the older generation I'm sure.

Puppies!

I am still quite behind in my posting. We have almost resolved our $ woes so I get to use our computer again yay! Anyhow our dog D.O.G. had puppies and I kept one and then we had her "fixed". Then D.O.G.'s baby had 2 puppies and we had her "fixed" but they died and then one cold morning I went outside and found the new puppies mom dead out side our chainlink fence. This was at least a year ago and we have all moved on but when I asked Midget what I should post about tonight she chose the puppy picture. We had been wanting to keep a pup just for her because all the dogs are older than she is. I wanted a pet she could grow up with. I think this kind of friend is important to have because I hoped Midget would learn how to love and care for someone who could not tell her what they needed or wanted with words. There will be times in her life when she will need to know how to read a persons actions instead of their words.

Celebrations

It's Halloween soon and the parties have already begun. Yesterday at our favorite museum thay had a historic themed party and today the school had its trunk-or-treat party. It always seems to creep up a little sooner each year. Midget was going to be the witch (same as last year). I always try to buy her costumes a little big so she can use them for dress up all year long and since this year has been a bit hard a new costume is out of the question. But 3 days before the first party she tells me " I want to be Wednesday Addams" (from the movies). I guess it's my fault anyway because we had already started our family tradition of holiday movies. 2 weeks before a major holiday we begin watching a movie per night as long as it is somehow related to the holiday. Anyway with this new costume I was thrilled. Mostly because Midget knew who she wanted to be and decided this on her own. In previous years I always had to say "Oooh this one is pretty/scary/funny etc. and then she would nod or shake her head at me. Also I already had the right dress for this! Yay! All we needed was a shirt with a collar and we were done. On a side note I have chosen today to post because I had a little time and access to a computer hope to post again soon. Probably Monday afternoon.

Library

Well here I am at the library and I have figured this thing out I think. I still don't know how to check my e-mail and I can't get a picture off of my own computer from here but I can blog! If you've ever used a library computer you know that time is of the essence. Essence being 30 minute incriments and mine happens to be an afterschool visit so I cannot run over my time or I put someone else behind and so on and so on. For now I can say that it is hard being willingly without power during sunlight hours. We have decided to keep our power on because we have a well and the well pump needs power. However we are keeping all the lights off and not watching TV or anything except for 2 hours after dark falls. Perfect for movie time (just ask Midget). I may have to cut this post short because it took me a few minutes to get to this point and will take all the rest of my time to figure the E-mail thing out but next week I should be able to breach more subjects.

Our Future

So now it is time to say goodbye but only for a while. I will be able to post ocasionally from my local library. Our (mine and Midgets) official library day is Mondays but I sometimes stop in at the end of the week as well. I don't know how it works but I'm going to try it out this Monday and see how it goes. If this doesn't work then it really will be goodbye for a while and since I've only just begun to catch-up and get into recent happenings that would be a real shame.

Bad News

We just got some of the most discouraging news in ages today. My mother was in an accident 3 years ago. It was not her fault. Some Boy ran into her from behind (he didn't even try to stop) which smashed her into the car in front of her. She was injured, I would call it a serious injury, and had to have several parts popped back into place. She has nerve damage and crippling pain in her back+ribs, legs, neck and shoulders. She can no longer sit or stand for more than 20 minutes at a time nor lift. Walking is so hard that I have to push her in a wheelchair in the stores. 3 times she had been denied for disability and so we still have to fight for that. Now when we thought this case would all be settled we find out the boy is claiming that all these injuries cannot have been his fault and they are not going to pay the doctors bills. I can't even really allow myself to think about what this is going to do to our family. All these bills must be payed by someone not to mention that none of the injuries will ever get any better which means that more doctor bills are forthcoming well into the foreseeable future and beyond. Now add in that she is only in her mid fourties and you begin to see the new doctor bills for the depression all of us will be facing soon. Life around here is about to get so much harder. I may be disconnecting our home from telephone service soon as well as many other things that will have to go. Maybe we will find a windfall under some rock I haven't found yet. Maybe not. I will try to remain hopeful.

Pullets

They grew so fast. We almost didn't get their outside home finished before they were ready. This is one of the only pictures I could find of their first real coop. I must have misplaced an album somewhere because I was so proud of this coop design. It was never supposed to be a forever home but only until they were big enough to survive on the ground. Plus our dogs needed to get to know the girls so they wouldn't eat them!

My Style

I decorated this kitchen when I was about 17. It was the first house I lived in alone and I wanted it to be mine. In retrospect the colors are a little odd but I loved the colors together and I worked hard on all the stenciling. I also did my hutch in these colors but with white being the main color and the trim in green and the inside in purple. Well my Father just let it slip that when I moved out and he sold the house the new owners repainted right away! I know that not everyone likes the same things and that if I were painting it again now I would not choose that color scheme but it still hurt. Especially when I think of all the days I worked on that project (moving after all that was hard enough) but that they repainted so soon after I had finished. Plus the fact that daddy said he hated the room the whole time. I nearly cried! I have pictures of baby Midget in that room. Anyway I have almost gotten over it now and I probably would have repainted myself after a few years. Chat Later!

Intro's

Time to introduce myself. I am on the right. Not particularly thin or tall but me all the same. I've always liked the way black and white photos feel. Ancient and sort of delicate. I found a b&w disposable camera once at a CVS I think. I just had to buy it! Then of course we got our digital camera and I found out it did B&W too! I was thrilled.

Fall Trip

Went on a road trip about an hour away to pick apples and on the way home we saw a sign for a pumpkin farm. We decided the we could use a stretch break. We fed the animals which included this cute Alpaca and some goats. Picked out some pumpkins and ran around taking pictures at the kids area. Our trip was beautiful with the trees beginning to change and the breeze flowing through the car.

I Loves

I love this picture! I found it at the local thrift store. Its not even all about the subject either though I do love the periodness of it. Mostly its because it isn't some mass produced printed thing. This picture was created by the hand of the artist. That is pretty important to me. Someone made this, and now it's hanging on my livingroom wall. Here is something else I love, Reading Blogs. I have been passively seeking a little piece of land for my family. I don't know where I want to live yet but by reading farming blogs from all over the US I can see some of the goods and bads from someone elses experience and read of droughts and floods and everything in between. I have found this very helpful in narrowing down my dream farm of 5+ acres preferably more with a bit of forest. Right now I'm following several blogs and one of them is hosting an AWSOME giveaway. Jenna at Cold Antler Farm is giving away a drop spindle and some roving from her OWN sheep Maude. I am so excited!

Down Boy

The police dogs are awesome! We learned about them, at the library, of course. The poor dog was so excited he could hardly sit still like he was supposed to (frozen on comand) but the children couldn't either so maybe they're squirminess was catchy. They all wanted to touch him of course(the dog not the cop) though they did want to feel the shiny badge. The officer explained the rules about getting to close or sneeking up on a police dog. I had mixed feelings about this visit because I know what the dogs are trained for and how fast things can go wrong but it was important for Midget to know how these dogs help and to meet a real polieceman. She has always known she is supposed to ask them for help but she was afraid of the police. I guess all strangers are scary but at least now she might find the courage to get help if she has to.

Sad News

Little Midgets Grandpa died. She didn't get to spend much time with him because he's been in the hospital/nursing home since shortly after she was born. We did visit but not as often as we should have. My only excuse is that it was over an hour from our house to his Home. Midget has never been good with long rides, she gets carsick. Grandpa gave her a music box for christmas just that year and she cried over it for a whole day almost. She still cries for grandpa sometimes and I just play the musicbox about 6 times, each time moving it about 3 feet away from her and by the time I get to the livingroom shes usually asleep. I guess it doesn't matter that they hardly got to see each other she loves him just because he was her grandpa.

The Library

We are not rich people and I don't buy many books but I do know all the Librarians' Names and so does Midget. We have a standing date for Mondays after school and check out so many books per week the Librarians have told me that it has helped the small town district stay open. Mostly I get childrens books and read a few every morning. I do love to get a little something for myself every week. We buy most of our books from the Library Sale in April every year. I save all year and spent about 100 dollars on books and movies. They sell all kinds of things including old records and we hit the jackpot when they phased out all the childrens books on tape (with the books) we spent almost all our sale money buying them all. Now we are reading one each day and then sending it to her school because once she can read it to me we don't need it anymore. Next time I'll try to put up a reading list of some of the things I'll be reading this winter.

She's Good

Midget is learning how to aim and shoot a pellet gun. She's pretty good so far, hiting the cans and bottles 3 out of 5 times. Which I think is good considering she needs glasses for far away. Next we get to play with our bow and arrow set but that is after a few weeks of this kind of aiming. She's so excited to get to learn from our Eddie. He is the one who taught me to shoot as well.

Chores

Even little girls must take care of what belongs to them. Midget is good at keeping her room clean and tidy. With all her toys and books neatly arranged on her shelves. Me I'm not quite so tidy! I do know where everything is I just couldn't tell anyone how to get it. Something about being in the place where it should be reminds my hands to reach a certain drawer or shelf.

Cheap Redo's

I wanted to redecorate my bedroom but I didnt have a lot of cash. Luckily I heard of a guy who had either collected or had leftover paint from jobs. He had so many colors it was hard to choose but I am a fan of the color green. Almost all greens. I had the guy mix 2 greens to get this color and I love it. I also looked in the already cut and rolled linoleum at Lowes and found this lovely floor with green hints. The art is from a yard sale there were two one was a morest/mountain oil painting, it's on the opposite wall. The last thing I bought was a few base board trim and some stain. All in all only about $175.oo was spent and I am pleased with it all.

Feathering Out

The chicks grew so mush faster than I thought they would. This was our first experience with chickens. I honestly cannot remember having ever seen a live chicken before I chose and ordered these chicks. Thats not something I want Midget to ever have to think. I want her to know where her food comes from and how to get it without a store. Just in case there is ever a time when she has to have this knowledge. I chose to keep only 6 of our 29 chicks. None of the keepers were roosters so I have already resigned myself to having to buy chicks from the feed store but at least my hens have lasted these 2 1/2 years and are still producing enough to have a dozen to give away every week. Little Midget enjoyed loving the chicks and letting them hop all over her legs but I had to keep the chicks safe so this picture was taken when both her and the chicks were small enough to fit in a storage container. I let her play with them like this until they started fly/hopping out then it was time for the outside coop to be built. I've designed 3 coops only the last as a permanent home. If I find pics I'll post them.

Posting Often To Catch Up

All those apples went to a good cause of course. Homemade Apple Jelly. My first sucess. I did try one set before this, a low sugar recipe, but it never setand was instead used for apple juice concentrate. Just open a small jar and add it to a jug. Then add 5 jars of cold water and stir well!

I gave away a few and we are currently eating the rest. We bought some cider. I had wanted to make our own but we decided I wasn't ready yet. About a third of the apples got eaten sliced or in a lunchbag. A third got made into apple sauce I even let midget take a few jars to school for snack time. The rest are jelly.

Family Trip

I've never been patient enough to homeschool but I do try to supplement Midget's education with frequent field trips. Lately the cheaper the trip the more likely we'll be able to go but once a year we go big ($300-400.00). This was a not so expensive trip to Coston Farm (costonfarm.com) to pick apples. Pick apples we did! LOTS! She got to see over a dozen different kinds of apples. I chose this trip to show her what I hoped our mini orchard would look like later but more about that later. They have a small store where they sell things they have made from there apples and some related knick-knacks. We pulled a wagon all around that orchard exploring the trees, bugs, and the texture of different fruits. We also stopped at whatever looked interesting on the way home so the day was full and happy.

I Found It!

Snake!

The dogs had an exciting day. Snakes come up from the creek on a semi-regular basis. Freaks me out of course. I'm not into snakes at all, in fact you could say I hate them. In the spring and summer they infest our creek and the surrounding area. They slither up the trees and hang there. Ocasionally drop unexpectedly right beside you while your clearing out the underbrush. Which is a definite ocasion for screams all around : ) .

The dogs nipped at this one until the killed it, then played tug-of-war three way with it. It was funny to watch after all the panicing was done with. To be fair though I do sometimes rescue the bigger snakes (so they wont eat my smaller dog) by curling the snake around a rakes tines and throwing it back into the creek.

Hang in there people this thing wont let me add more than 1 picture per post so here I am again. Midgets 6th birthday went great we had only family this time so it was all conversation and giggles from everyone and no shyness. Princesses are in right now so I baked a cake in the round pans and stacked and cut and frosted my butt off trying to make a princess dress for her barbie to stand in. I know most of you have see these things in the baking department of your local grocery store. They have the top half of a barbie on top of a bell shaped cake. Well I said "what fun is half a barbie?" and made a bunt cake for the dress. It was hard to find a medium sized bunt pan. I looked everywhere and finally gave up and cut a hole in a round cake. It wasn't perfect by any standards (if I can find a picture I'll post it too) but midget was thrilled and so I was too. The lady in the picture is my late Aunt Shelia and this is sadly one of the last pictures we have of her. We miss you and remember always!

Field Trip!

This is our trip to the Biltmore Estates. I let midget use her dress up princess clothes and walk the whole tour while pretending she lived there during it's beginning. I asked her all kinds of questions about how it felt to eat at such a big table and things like that. We even took her to the wine tasting with us. She had grape juice while we sipped and savored.

I had a wonderful time of course : ) . I love the look and feel of history. The guides loved our pretend play and even played with us a little. We spent most of the day there and then drove about an hour and a half to get home again. Anyway more of our history later!

Sunflowers

Our first successful garden was Midgets' (nickname for my only baby) sunflower garden. I didn't think they would grow at all because that spot used to be where the drive- thru gravel driveway was in the old picture we have of this land. I should have known that the "good" spot was going to bomb! Anyway, the hens enjoyed the bounty of sunflower seeds and I did boil some in salty water and then bake them so we could enjoy some too.

Chick Days

So here we are again. Let's go back a couple of years. The first thing we did to begin our self-reliance was get day-old chicks. We ordered 25 chicks. I chose Buff Orpingtons, Black Austrolorps, and a few Americuanas. Let me tell you 25 is too many!!!

I raised them anyway. Then gave them away, all but 6 hens. I've learned my lesson. Next time I'll just get the chicks at the feed store : ).

This catching up is going to take a while folks because I'm a seek and peck typer. I'll post again soon.

It's been so long!!

It has been 2 years! I could hardly believe it. I had completely forgotten about blogging until I read a book called Homemade From Scratch which lead me to a blog about a FARM called ColdAntlerFarm which reminded me about my own planned blog. Well I will try to catch up soon. First though I read a couple of other blogs because I love Farm Blogs. I found Below The Plateau and this little Quiz so I thought I would post my answers here to give a better picture of who I am. 1. Ring! Ring! You receive a phone call from a national sweepstakes organization saying that you have won a life-time supply of your favorite beverage!! What would that drink be? I think I would choose Sundrop. though I don't drink soda often. 2. If you could live in a Jane Austen novel, which book would you pick? What character would you be? I love historic novels and would choose to live in Pride and Prejudice probably as Jane because she is so quite, shy and homish. 3. What is your theme song, that favorite song that absolutely matches you? Poem by Taproot 4. You are trapped on a deserted island. Your only supplies are the clothes you have on, and a box with five things in it. What are those five things? I would want to be left with a big knife, rope, matches, a pot, and a shovel (A cell phone is cheating right?). 5. Chocolate or Caramel? Chocolate of course!!! 6. Vacation! If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Well I've always wanted to see Scotland and Ireland. 7. If forced to do one of the two, which would you do: sky diving or scuba diving? Why? Skydiving, because if something happens at least it's beautiful and over quickly. 8. Favorite TV show, and why? Monk, I mean he is sooo neurotic and funny/cute. 9. Are you a coffee and donuts sorta lady, or a tea and scones type of gal? Tea and scones but not hot tea, iced tea. 10.The time machine has finally been created, and you are the first to be able to use it! What era would you travel too? I love the clothes and hairstyles of the ages gone by but I would most like to be in the colonial era newly in America and just starting this thing. 11. What is the last movie you watched? Wuthering Heights 12. Ding-dong!!! Your favorite actor/singer/celebrity is at your front door! Who would it be? Audrey Hepburn no question! 13. What was your absolute favorite toy as a baby? Mostly instead of a certain toy I liked to play find the different thing. My mother would move something and I would find this difference and laugh forever. 14. What types of blogs do your like best? (examples: DIY, cooking, journal, ect.) Farms, DIY, and crafty blogs are my fav. 15. What is your favorite Bible verse, your "life verse?" I don't have a fav bible verse. Instead when I hear a verse or quote from the bible that strikes me I just try to think about it for a while. Great fun right! It made me think about somethings and laugh at others. Later I'll chat more. Bye!