The quilts are done and now the pillows are done and ready for wrapping. I was planning on using travel pillows but at 10 dollars a pillow I changed my mind. Instead I bought a 3.99 firm bed pillow and cut it in half. I just sewed the 2 halves closed and they were as good as new for much less money :) TA DA!
Isn't he cute! This was at my b-day luncheon last January.
Since the boys are only a year apart they got matching but different colors. Once I give them I'll never see them again and especially since I put blood (needle incident) sweat (hard work cutting everything out) and tears (stupid broken machine half way thru got to me) into these I wanted pics of them. Matching travel pillow cases made cute little personal sets. 5'x3.5' total finished blanket :) They'll last for a few years...
I used printable fabric in my standard printer and made the blocks.
All about the baby :) Now to finish the other 3....
I have been pouring over blogs and cook books and the net to find easy to do recipes that my family will love. As part of my growing I am trying to be a better cook. I still can't make a pie crust worth shit but the kids are loving the mistakes. I have just about decided that I will remake any pie recipe into a bar recipe. I make a GREAT bar cookie crust :) but since it's thanksgiving I'm going to cheat with the refrigerated rolled pie crusts because I'm making a chocolate, apple, pumpkin and banana pie. I have a 24 pound turkey that took forever to find because the only bird I cook is a Norbest. I have had fantastic luck every year for over 20 with this bird. I have my russet and yukon gold potatoes for mashing, a fantastic mandarin orange creamed salad. We frosted sugar cookies. I have my home-canned green beans for green beans, cream of mushroom, onion pearls and bacon pieces. My home-canned carrots for glazed carrots, stuff for stuffing, a ton of vegies for a vegie and dip tray. I have finally found the perfect bread machine dough recipe for dinner rolls, cranberries, chips, pop, and more. I did my shopping early so I could have the pick of the crop.
Those who have smoked regularly for a few weeks or longer(or 30 years), and suddenly stop using tobacco or greatly reduce the amount smoked, will have withdrawal symptoms. Symptoms usually start within a few hours of the last cigarette and peak about 2 to 3 days later when most of the nicotine and its by-products are out of the body. Withdrawal symptoms can last for a few days to up to several weeks. They will get better every day that you stay smoke-free.
Withdrawal symptoms can include any of the following:
Smokeout - 19 November 2009 - Quit tobacco. Make every one proud. ucanquit2.org" border="0">
I saw them and knew right where I wanted them. My bedroom. My unstylish 18x20 giant sized closet and storage room. I set a budget amount and started bidding. Unfortunately another woman had a similar idea and wouldn't keep her damn paddle down, but I was on a mission. I finally outbid her at 110 dollars :) Yep, they were mine!
They replaced 2 bulky dressers that never held all my clothes (on the few times that all the laundry was done) and allowed me to empty 5 totes buried at the bottom of my closet as well. For the first time since my first child I have a bedroom with a little style that's well organized. It actually LOOKS like a place to get some rest instead of a reminder of all things unfinished.
The really nice thing about getting rid of the totes is that I have easier access to my hobbys. These are some of my great great grandma's (and her mothers) photo albums that I'm in the process of documenting. Since I don't have to empty my closet every time I have some free time it should go much quicker. They now have their own spot in my wall unit. I swear this unit is like magic. I keep filling it up and later there's more room in it! Try THAT with a dresser.
I just wanted to share this picture. It's of my great grandmother taken in 1900. Isn't it amazing that something over a hundred years ago still looks this good? I can't wait to finish documenting and getting it all into a book to share with family, but that's another blog :)
Today is that day. High winds and lots of rain. All the leaves that yesterday were on the tree.
Soon the drive will be a river with the rain rushing down the hill. Probable power outages, so I am off to make a stew for dinner in my trusty woodstove safe bean pot and then I am crawling into bed. I HAVE THE FLU! I am absolutely miserable. My head, my chest, my throat, every muscle and joint in my body. God I hope nobody else gets it before I recover.
I knew it was coming but still...are you ever really ready? Summer is gone and the colors that make up that season will be gone too.
My last rose to bloom. The other buds will die off. The pool is cleaned and covered. Grumpy re caulked the south east windows because that seems to be out hardest hit when it storms. The last of the produce is out of the garden. Now it just needs to be plowed. (hehehe..men's work around here) I need to go get some red lights for the chicken coop later today, but first I must attend a family function. Notice how formal that sounded? :) Command performance by the mom. She's flying the coop next week for 6 months and wants all of her children and grandchildren for a gathering.
My son who can walk into the kitchen, pull out a few items and make incredible dinners. He's the one that taught me how to make chicken fettuccine alfredo using cheeses I had never heard of. Here he's making pepper and beef stir fry. I love the fact that he makes dinner. I even love the fact that he makes a great dinner. I really hate the fact that somehow he is a natural born cook. He did NOT get those genes from me (brat)
According to Kaiser, a family of four headed by a 45-year-old making $63,000 a year is in the middle of the middle class. But that family would pay $7,110 to buy its own health insurance under the plan from the committee chairman.
The family would get a tax credit of $3,970 to help pay for a policy worth $11,080. But the balance due — $7,110 — is real money. Without some serious changes that would add over 1.83 million the the deficit per person per year. damn.
Kaiser's calculator doesn't take into account co-payments, prescriptions, and deductibles that could add hundreds of dollars, even several thousand, to a family's total medical expenses. A Congressional Budget Office analysis estimates total expenses could average 20 percent of income for some families by 2016.
I'm already on a tight budget. My local power company just voted to raise our rates 6%. My phone went up. My groceries are up. Obama wants to raise my power bill 1000% next year for green power. Everything is going up except Grumpy's paycheck. I can't afford to be sick...but I can't afford free medical care even more.
The view from my back porch was awesome with the fall fog coming in. The weather is changing to my favorite time of year. The hot sun is finally gone, the holidays are coming fast, I get to have a fire all day, it rains and the wind blows like crazy...what's not to love?
I was playing with my view finder taking pics of random things in the back yard before everything dies again for the year.
Evidently I woke the cat up earlier than she wanted :D pissy pissy kitty! Have a great day everyone!!
Our local fabric shop had a labor day special so I bought the material for the grandson's quilts for Christmas. Monkeys for gkid-2 and trucks for gkid-1
They had a special half price for the picture transfers so I was able to pick up 2 packages for the price of one. I hope this brand washes well because the last brand faded. Now I have to hunt for the pictures I want to personalize them and start. :)
The awesome lightening storm last night. Amazing what nature can produce.
The driveway to my home. My oasis from the outside world and when the kids are all here it's my heaven and my haven.
The sunlight through the trees can look mystical sometimes.
The sunlight peeking through the morning clouds after a stormy night.
The moon rising tonight. It's a blurry pic but was such an amazing sight I kept it any way. These things are all free. So I guess this would be my cheap list of happy thoughts :D
I love moments like this. Father instructing son. I have a lot of snapshots stored in the back of my mind, but when I can take a picture I know it will out live me. I haven't talked much about my son. At 22 he's starting to show signs of the man he will become. He's someone that I enjoy being around. He's a deep thinker and a limited talker. He reminds me of my dad at times :) He became a father at 17. He was allowed to be the daddy at 21. Some boys never do. Especially when the parents are helicopter parents and don't let them grow up, even to the point of taking over their child's parenting duties. How hard would it be if you are a full time 17 year old parent and YOUR parents are doing everything? Another thing I would have done different with hindsight, although she is truly the apple of our eye. He always puts family first, even before himself. He's the only kid who will surprise me with a clean kitchen after I have destroyed it cooking dinner just because I looked like I needed help. I guess I'm saying that I LIKE my son and am truly proud of him and that's something to enjoy.
They are waiting for the rain to stop and so am I :D
1958 - Vice principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car, and gets his own shotgun to show Jack.
2008 - School goes into lockdown, the FBI is called, Jack is hauled off to jail, and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors are called in to assist traumatized students and teachers.
Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.
1958 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2008 - Police are called, SWAT team arrives, and arrests Johnny and Mark. They are charged with assault and both are expelled even though Johnny started it.
Scenario: Jeffrey won't sit still in class, disrupts other students.
1958 - Jeffrey is sent to the principal's office and given a good paddling. Returns to class, sits still, and does not disrupt class again.
2008 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra state funding because Jeffrey has a disability.
Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1958 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2008 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.
Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.
1958 - Mark shares aspirin with the school principal out on the smoking dock.
2008 - Police are called and Mark is expelled from school for drug violations. His car is searched for drugs and weapons.
Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.
1958 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2008 - Pedro's cause is taken up by local human rights group. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that making English a requirement for graduation is racist. U.S. Civil Liberties Association files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English is banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.
Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover Independence Day firecrackers, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, and blows up an anthill.
1958 - Ants die.
2008 - Homeland Security and the FBI are called and Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. Teams investigate parents, siblings are removed from the home, computers are confiscated, and Johnny's dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.
Scenario: Johnny falls during recess and scrapes his knee. His teacher, Mary, finds him crying, and gives him a hug to comfort him.
1958 - Johnny soon feels better and goes back to playing.
2008 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces three years in federal prison. Johnny undergoes five years of therapy.
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
What's all about;
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Proud American, Proud Patriot.
Maybe it's because I have researched my family tree. I have an idea of what was lost in the fight for our independence by reading firsthand accounts from family back in the day. I had ancestors in all of the wars since they landed at Plymouth Rock. I have personally witnessed the changes of fighting for our country that can change a man or woman forever. My dad served 2 tours in Vietnam. Right now I have a niece in Afghanistan and a b-i-l in Iraq.
Remember today, Honour today, Celebrate today. If you see a service man..go up to him and shake his hand. Tell him you appreciate what he has sacrificed! It doesn't matter if you support the war or not, you can support the man willing to give up his life so that you didn't have to. Be a proud American!
First, assemble your ingredients. I gave the kids the options of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. You can also add crumble cookies, candy bits, pretty much anything you want.
Per serving, you need a pint freezer bag. Place into baggie 1 cup of half & half, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of flavoring. You really don't need want more than that, it gets very strong.
Seal baggie. You don't need to mix it, but you want to be sure it's sealed VERY well.
Place sealed baggie into a gallon sized freezer bag with 1/2 cup of rock salt and about 4 cups of ice, enough ice to fill about 1/2 way. You can use table salt in a pinch, but it takes longer to process. Again, seal well.
At this point you simply shake it for about 10 minutes. The bag gets very, VERY cold, so we ad libbed with oven mitts.
At this point the ice cream is very hard and ready to eat. Open the big bag, rinse off the smaller bag quickly. Use a pair of scissors to snip off a corner of the bag and squeeze into a bowl. You want to be careful not to get any of the salt from the outside of the bag into the ice cream. ick.
It tastes really rich and creamy, but doesn't freeze well. It gets extremely hard, too hard to enjoy so only make what you will eat. This worked so well and tasted great, even the adults enjoyed it. Next time I will use a food saver instead of the pint bags. I can make an assortment of the mixes ahead of time and store them in the fridge. If I use the make-your-own-size bags I can shape the ice cream into tubes. I will just cut off the end and have them eat it like a pop-ice or a squeeze pop. Less dishes to wash, and easier to place more than 1 tube per gallon bag. I had to do a couple for the little ones. With the tube shaped bags I could have done them at the same time. A standard bag of ice was enough to make 6 servings without reusing, which I could have done if necessary. Enjoy!
The story goes, Lewis and Clarke kept the coordinates from his journey. He noted in his book that he carved his name into a tree at that spot and someone decided to do a 'recreation.' Would have been nice to know that before the hike :)
The hotel was incredible, the view wonderful, the sunset much improved with my favorite Baileys and butterscotch liquor. It was a very relaxing anniversary, and unusual for us. I think I said before, this was our first since the kids aged out. It's a little odd not putting others ahead of yourself. I had to catch myself and decide if the ideas of what to do was something I wanted to do, or just leftover habits from what the kids thought was fun. We ate our meals out and walked the boardwalk. We spent hours walking the beach and remembering why we clicked the first time we met. He's Grumpy, but he's my Grumpy.
(Click on the picture for the full effect)
| This article is a little long, but very informative Published: Thursday, 1-Sep-2005 | ||
|
Happy Easter.
WEEDING ick. So not my favorite
My first Tulip ready to pop :) Last year the rabbits ate most of them
Odd view of Trouble, but she's cute anyway. My chickens want to stay out all night and stay in all day. At least they don't run from me when I pick them up.
My orchard is waking up. All except my Red Jonagold. I discovered it was Buddy's pee station. No more Red Jonagold
My strawberries survived that last frost. More weeding.
My peppermint and spearmint plants are peeking out. Very invasive plants, but doing ok in the pot. Still trying to get rid of it in the flower beds :)
Slugs are attacking my plants already. A little white fireplace ash will fix that.
Potato seeds getting ready to go in the buckets Russets and golds
The Mr and Mrs. She is much darker, smaller and more timid than he is. They are SO sweet and social. My favs
Not a leaf in sight but my Magnolia tree is ready for Easter
My hens and chicks survived the winter with just a little burn
My moms bank went belly up and was taken over by a bank (umpqua) with incredibly rude tellers. She lost a bundle and closed her account ..but hey, they gave her 2 trees (sigh) stupid greedy bank execs
Every year at this time I tell myself that I'm going to dig up all the free range bulbs on the property and put them in a bed. Every year I procrastinate until I can't find them. I doubt this year will be any different.
Ever have a day like this? Up a tree without a ladder :) My dog Lexie chased Tabitha across the yard and the cat happened to pick a tree without large branches.
The more she tried to get secure the more the the branch drooped.
I brought her a ladder. There was NO WAY I was going to climb a ladder 20 feet up a tree and try to convince an 18 lb cat that it was ok to be picked up. She's pissy on a good day!
Her dignity was sorely hurt :) I haven't seen her since she climbed down. No dead mices for me for a couple days :)
is parents and raised their 3 children until his parents died of old age. Their children stayed home until college/marriage/army. It's just how things worked, multi-generational (yes, made up word but it fits) farm and canning. Her parents lived on the farm next door and everyone worked the garden, the butchering, falling trees (ggrandpa's favorite chore was blowing up the tree roots with dynamite in the fall after clearing more farm land) and helping with whatever was needed. As fewer people lived off the land or sold the land more kids left home for work. With times like they are again we might find more families moving in with each other. My parents didn't move in but they did move about 4 miles away. We are putting up enough food to get both homes through the next year, but not just because of the times. It was something my mom and I have been talking about for a couple years. Doing things a little 'old school'. (but keeping all the modern conveniences). I like to say 'I'm not lazy, just busy' :D And now getting busier.
RIP Buddy
o the vole happy dance. I reeeally do. So off to micheals craft shop I flew in my pj top and jeans. I used an old butter tub to hold the mix. I used the new press and seal cling wrap to make little water-proof packets of my mix. I just put spoonfuls on the bottom sheet, added a top sheet, pressed and trimmed. Just in case it had no odor I put a little smear of peanut butter on the center of each '
pocket'. I dropped one down a dozen holes and covered them with a little dirt. I didn't put any in the dogs yard, just the fence beside it. Not to worried about the cats because 1, they don't eat the guts and 2, once the plaster of paris gets wet in the stomach it hardens to a rock and cats won't eat rocks. For those of you offended about killing gods creatures, you obviously never had the pleasure of seeing a destructive rodent dead and dancing gleefully around like an idiot knowing that there will be one less breeder running around. I'm going to be checking tomorrow and I hope all I see is little shreds of cling wrap.
east 2 gkids each night. The 4 year old isn't too bad, but the 9 month old still gets up every couple hours. No wonder Dd1 offered us the master w/crib:) My younger 2 found their own fun in the rain, but the gkids only got to hit the beach the first day :/ A lot of laughter, a lot of grumpy, but we all agreed we'd do it again. Next time though, we get the single level. I fell down the stupid steps and have various colors of red and purple and black in places
I can't see without a mirror (owie) and I am way too old to get up so often at night. Babies are for the young, not young at heart. The animals survived their extended time alone (thank god) and didn't seem to have suffered, but Trouble was a little distant. A couple days of treats and she'll remember me (or fake it for the yummys).
ns going and then oh so innocently Grumpy walks by and says something smart and WHAM! OFF WITH HIS HEAD! Not so nice, I know, I'm working on it. He spent all day working on the coop in the freezing rain. I'm not sure why, so he doesn't get the points he could be earning. The outside is finished, we just need to lay the linoleum and install the milk boxes, perches and metal screen. I wanted linoleum for easier cleanup time, the same reason we went with plastic milk crates instead of built in boxes. I understand you need to bleach water everything inside once or twice a year so I went user friendly. A roll of linoleum at Lowes...20.00, 4 milk boxes...free (had used canning jars in them), the 8 x 6 shed Grumpy needed from Lowes... 650
.00 (that one shot my budget to hell) Tomorrow we start with their yard. That one we'll have to be creative with because we put the coop next to and under the apple tree. Good thing they love apples! My seeds are doing well, but are not going into the green house yet. Temps are in the low 20's at night this week. The green house is warm enough, I just want them a little hardier first (like the chickies). I'm excited for spring, but do I really want to do all that weeding? I haven't accomplished much work on my hobbies this week. After I got sick the rest of the group fell like dominoes. Now that I feel better we spend our time getting ready for our trip. I asked Grumpy to take the quad in and have it looked at. It runs when it wants to and I want to use it this weekend at the sand dunes. He said no. OK. I talked to my Dd1's husband and he picked it up for me and took it in. So much easier :) So for 125.00 we'll have the dirtbike and the quad for fun. I have said for years that Grumpy would sleep in a broken bed rather than change to a new one. Lucky for him I do the shopping :D Menu planning for me and Grumpy, 4 kids, 2 spouses, 4 grandkids. I checked on-line for fun this weekend and there is NOTHING. All these personalities in one house. Scary stuff :) While the guys spend their time at the dunes and the babies are sleeping I want to take the girls and do something called trashed pics. They'll wear their wedding and/or formal outfit and we'll take pics on the dunes, on the beach, in the water, in a ditch, wherever. The dress is no longer wearable when you're done but the pics are great! Something different to do. Another thing that needs to be done is a system that takes care of the animals while we are gone. 2 dogs, Buddy and Lexie..2 cats Tabitha and Sassy..2 goldfish, Nemo and Nemo..8 chickens, 1 rooster, and Trouble plus my garden. We'll leave on Thurs, Fri, Sat, and back on Sunday. The chickies go through 32 ounces of water a day, the cats will need the food and water server, but they eat mice and voles all day. The dogs will need a food server, the goldfish have already survived without longer (oops). The only one to worry about are the chickies. I'll 
have to practice this week. Snow on the ground this morning so I'm not going anywhere :/ Kitties are SO not happy with the snow. You wouldn't know it to look at them, but they are very pissy kittys anyway :)
