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.