I'm no quitter!

I haven't posted in almost 3 months!

Mainly because I felt a lot of things I was doing around here, I had already posted about many times before. You know gardening, chickens, thrifty stuff.

Not that we didn't have a great, interesting summer. Cabin trip, we went to the Maker Faire (saw the coke zero and mentos guys (( my girl shot the video)), WE SAW GREEN DAY IN CONCERT! They were incredible. And last but not least... we have a third driver in the family. Yep, my giant little boy is 16 AND DRIVING!

This not blogging thing has been bugging me so I plan on doing something about it.

Since I am no longer doing the craft/art shows (unless through my art group), I need to stay motivated to create some bags, quilts and new things swirling in my head.

(this used to be my sewing area)

During the summer I rearranged my basement. Mainly to contain my work space explosion and also to unearth the pinball machine, Foosball and boccer ball tables from under piles of fabric.

We can actually use these things now. I am the foosball champ of the family btw.

I moved my space behind our wonderful 70's sectional couch to help contain my mess, but it also gave me a great window to look out. (See out the window, it's the little blue coop)

I have shelf space behind me that I have to share with a doll house, and behind that is a dusty treadmill. I haven't organized the space yet but I have worked there and think it will be great.

So my plan from here on out is to show what I have been working on and to get my "studio" in order. I hope to show pics of my progress. I will also be adding a gratuitous chicken photo every now and then.
So of you are an old blogging friend, thanks for hanging around so patiently. If you are new, HI! and welcome.

i'm happy, i'm bummed

Our Detroit Lions won their first game since December 07 (not counting pre season games), I'm happy. Since the seats werent sold out the game wasn't televised and we didn't see it, I'm bummed.

finding balance

I have tried to post pics now several times and it just isn't letting me.

So no pictures to share today.

You all know I do art/craft shows and have a little shop online. You all also know that this economy has been affecting people everywhere. I have been looking for part-time work for quite a few months now. The starving part of starving artist gets old after awhile. So here's the news, I found a job!

Since I kind of keep my personal info out of this blog, i will just say that i am into my second week and it seems to be a great fit. I deal with customers, answer phones and in the future may do a little sewing. The gals i work with couldn't be nicer or funnier. It seems we laugh half the day away.

It is also great that because it's part-time, I can still run my little sewing business, do the shows and still have time for family and farm. I am counting on my kids to help out around here more, but I think that's a good thing for them.

So if you don't see me much around here, its all good. I'm trying my best to figure out this new schedule and fitting everything important in.

I just hit spell check and got a no misspellings found. A first for me!

I'm back.

The Art Fair was fun, long, tiring.
I sold quite a bit of everything which is good.
I missed my family. They missed me but held the fort down.
I met nice people. Compliments keep me going.


Getting back to normal around here.
Garden is thriving. A new lone chick hatched.
I have 11 bag orders to make.
Raspberries to pick.
2 1/2 weeks till my next show.
Lots more sewing to do. Good thing I love sewing.
Kids need hugging, I love that too.
Life is good.

I need a break!

I have had the respiratory bug that has been going around for the past week. Sore throat, nasty cough, off and on fever.

Yesterday our furnace went out. We are out of firewood. Luckily the weather isn't so bad and I have a little space heater that has been keeping us close to 60*. I also have a man, you know I married him for his looks, but he is handy too and thinks he can fix it with a $56 part. I love him! We just have to wait it out for the part to arrive. A good excuse to bake and keep that oven on.

Speaking of baking, I usually bake bread with the easy bread recipe, but today I figured I could use a hand and got out the old bread machine.

So after hours of hearing it whirring, then smelling fresh bread baking, it beeped!

This is what it looks like when you forget to add the yeast.

This is what it looks like after you spend 10 minutes scraping it out of the pan.

Oh what the hell, I spread on the butter and ate some anyway.

*

Oh and my helpful farm dog rolled in something. Nice.

I have been in a sewing funk lately, but have been plugging away. Last week I finished the other slipcover for the chairs in my den.

Yesterday I made some more dog food bag bags.

In different sizes.

Today I was feeling slightly better or less puny so I whipped on my garden gloves...

...and got sewing.

(when you free motion quilt, they help make guiding the fabric easier)

I made these two little pillows. Can you tell which one doesn't have the bottom stitched up yet?



Of all the pillows I've made and sold guess how many I have? ZERO. I am keeping one of these, they are just making me so happy!

*

Last week I went on a road trip with my Mom, Step dad and Sister down to Toledo. On the way back, my sis and I were in the back of their little PT Cruiser, my Step dad makes a U-Turn to show us this sign he caught out of the corner of his eye.

What the???

I have nothing more to say.

"I am wearing shorts!"

I repeat, "I am wearing shorts!"

Help

I am trying to buy my seeds for this years veggie garden. Our Michigan economy is so awful, 10.6% unemployment, so I wanted to buy my seed from a local business instead of mail order. My problem is I don't want to buy from a Monsanto owned seed company. Most clerks give me the crazy lady look when I have inquired about what company their seed comes from.

Can any of you that are way smarter than me, point me in the right direction?

I thank you in advance for any help on the matter.

It's late,

kids are tucked in, hubby is at school, the house it warm and quiet. I should do something, brain doesn't want to. Brain wins. I'm tired from the Superbowl and The Office last night, even after my hour and a half nap after dinner, maybe thats why I'm in a fog.

I'm looking at my yummy yarn I got from frolic 'n fibers.

This picture doesn't do it justice. You can go to her etsy shop and see her yarn under good lighting. Now I'm torn between making something from it or just letting it sit and be admired. I never had real homespun yarn from real animals before. It's so beautiful.

*

We had a warm, upper 30's weekend, well just Sunday actually but it was a welcome change to the teens and the constant snow fall.

Dad called from Florida and after I told him about our day, he mentioned the fact that he is enjoying weather in the 70's. It didn't make me feel less about my day, I love winter days like these.

The Great Barrel Reef.

Hubby started a new project. I love the fact that he gets itchin for projects and wont let winter stop his plans. Floating dock for the pond, working on the ice means no need to move it when spring comes.

*

Remember my little chick Uno?

She has this habit of flying onto me when I walk in the coop. I tuck my hair up under my hat. I call it my sh*ty hat. She isn't polite enough to always have clean feet. Makes me worried if I will have constant sh*t in my hair this summer.

Being loved makes sh*t in your hair worth while.

I should go clean lunchboxes so I wont have to do it in the morning.

Goodnight.

I feel better now

I was going to have a post (rant) about how negative this whole election had become.

I was going to say how sick of the bashing I am. Lets try to dig up as much crap on the other guy we can and use that as a way to make me look better.

I was going to say how sick of the phone calls reminding me that Tuesday is election day and to get out and vote. "Really? Tuesday? Well thanks for calling me during dinner for the bazillionth time, I just crawled out from under a rock and wasn't aware! Thank you so much."

I was going to say how awful I have been made to feel by some family members because if I am voting the way I am I must be uninformed so they try to enlighten me with more negative crap that they think I must not have heard before. My views and reasons mean nothing even to the point that I was crying over how sad it was that they have no respect for MY opinion unless it is the same as theirs.

I changed my mind about the rant post and here is why.

Today I got up, volunteered to drive two family members, who aren't voting the same as me and I love them anyway, and I voted.

And it felt good.

Lets go to the mall...

Today!

The kids needed new shirts for their orchestra concert that happens to be tomorrow, queen of the last minute, my son also needed a black bow tie. Luckily he fit perfectly into Grandpas black suit that was only worn to my wedding and never again.

So after school I picked up the kids and we went to the mall.

We go to the dollar theater on a semi regular basis that happens to be at the mall, but we only go into that entrance and never beyond.

I did work at Parklane Hosiery at this particular mall in the early 80's, we used to see Santa once a year there too, that ended quite some time ago, but we haven't actually been IN the mall for YEARS.

Searching for shirts, we found one pretty easy for the boy at Penny's. I had to remove pins and cardboard to give it a test drive. The girl not so easy. She doesn't like see through, who does? She doesn't like low cut and looking like Hooty McBoobie, I can't blame her, so we ended up at Macy's. A very nice gal helped us and as she was looking through a rack, I realized the shirt my girl was trying on was $75!! Dear lord in heaven, $75! Did it have solid gold buttons? Nope.

Luckily the gal found one that was $39 that fit the bill.

I'd like to say here that never in my life did I ever think I would be shelling out over $40 with tax for a white shirt for my girl, but after seeing the $75 one, I was a bit woozy and did I mention it was Hubbies birthday today and it was getting to be a time crunch. I did also realize the good fortune on not needing to buy a black suit.

We hit the tuxedo place, got the bow tie and went home.

I realized a few of things today.

I DON"T like shopping at the mall, I DID like spending time with my kids on our quest for just the right items. I HATED shelling out over $80 for 3 items they will probably out grow and we'll have to do this again in a year. And when you make a deal with your man for no birthday gifts for each other this year (mine is in eleven days), that morning nookie, a BLT pizza and a Brownie, topped with ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream, makes for a happy hubbie.

Type B+ ,that's me

Twinville @ http://laughingorcaranch.blogspot.com/ had this personality quiz at her site. Since i likey the quiz, I played along. I think it is pretty acurate.

You Have A Type B+ Personality

You're a pro at going with the flow You love to kick back and take in everything life has to offer A total joy to be around, people crave your stability. While you're totally laid back, you can have bouts of hyperactivity. Get into a project you love, and you won't stop until it's done You're passionate - just selective about your passions

Do You Have a Type A Personality?

Although I'm not sure about the TOTAL JOY TO BE AROUND, my family may laugh at that one, I know I did.

1 year

I have had my blog for one year today. Little did I know what I was getting into. I started reading other peoples crafty blogs and thought what a fun thing to do. A journal for myself but also to show others the little things I am doing in my day to day. The fact that any of you find it interesting is just a bonus!

I still read and love the crafty blogs but I have evolved into the farm type blogs too. Now mind you, I barely qualify in the farm department. I have 4 acres but no farmhouse. I have chickens but no livestock. I have a tractor but use it for hayrides and plowing snow. I have a nice size garden but it doesn't feed us for the year, not even close.

The thing that I love most about this blog world is the women I've "met". Sharing ideas and our lives with each other. What a funny, talented, interesting bunch you all are.

Countless times my hubbie will come in the den to see what is so funny.

Today I want to talk about food preservation.

As I stated above my garden isn't a huge one. When you toss in a few rabbits who wipe out over half of your bean crop, red worms in your potatoes, a month of drought does the cukes in, you are only left with so much to eat fresh and a bit left over to put away.

We have been eating fresh pretty much the whole summer, first asparagus and peas, then peas and lettuce, then lettuce and cucumbers, cucumbers and beans, now beans and tomatoes. We will eat as much fresh as we can and if there is extra, that is when I start canning.

I had about 25 tomatoes, not enough for a huge batch of sauce but still a good amount.

I quartered them, put them in a pot and set it in the fridge overnight. In the morning I poured a considerable amount of water out (less to boil down). Then put it on the stove warm up and poured more tomato water out.

I save the water, label and freeze for winter soups.

I then pureed the thick tomatoes, add the spices, sauteed the onions an garlic in a separate pan.

I ended up with only 2 quarts worth of sauce, not worth canning right? WRONG!

I just use a smaller enamel pot lined with old canning rings twist tied together to keep the jars off the bottom.

I went back out to the garden, picked the beans and made a 2 pint batch of dilly beans with what i had.

I got water boiling, put the 4 jars in, took the dilly beans out after 10 minutes, got the sauce out after 40.

This is what the pot looks like with a steamy camera lens.

Who says pints and quarts cant get along.

It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

Last evening while watching mindless TV, I sliced more apples and got out the dehydrator.

I woke to a quart of apple chips.

I put some in the kids lunchboxes and snacked on some myself.

With rising food costs, every little bit will help this winter.

I want to thank you for the wonderful year of sharing ideas, your funny, kind and thoughtful comments and new friendships!

Hi there!

Hi, my name is Sweet Little Mama. It used to be Bratty, I was hard to get along with in my teen years, but the nice lady who cares for me changed my name to fit my new personality.

(She says I'm her favorite)

You have heard of the problems we have been having around here and I wanted to let you know we are feeling much better mostly because of your kind words and friendship.

You got a problem with that!

Just kidding, I'm sweet now.

What can I say...

Do you have those times when you think something is going to turn out one way and it turns out way different than you hoped?

I'm not quite ready to share all that happened this week but I found something on utube that sums it up quite well.

The Cat represents the Art Fair and the Dramatic Prairie Dog represents me.


http://www.livevideo.com/video/F793FFF784D2482282A3BA4A41270D52/cat-vs-dramatic-prairie-dog.aspx


I need to go unload my car.

It could have been worse.

I hate to listen to myself complaining, so I wont. I'll just tell you of the comical bordering on give me a break evening I had.

Yesterdays weather was beautiful, early bike ride, gardening, got some major sewing in, nice. My Sister had invited my kids to spend the eve at her house so around 3:00 I dropped them off. This is great, I don't have to fight the kids for the use of the computer. Came home started dinner, finished a bag, started tagging more bags and logging them on the computer so I know just what I'm taking to the show.

Hubby came home, we ate, sky's getting darker, he goes out to mow before the storm. I go and gather the grass clippings to give to the meat chickens because they are penned in a woodsy run.

"Thank you nice lady who is eventually going to eat us!"

Thunder is rolling in, we start getting a torrential downpour.

Quite a few chickens are on the porch. The dog who HATES thunder had just hopped into the pond a few minutes earlier and wants in, not just in sitting by the door to dry off, but in under my feet. Big annoying baby.

Well it was staying pretty dark, so in between downpours (is that a word?), I run out and have the girls on the porch follow me to the coop. The girls apparently don't know what to do other than stand by the door in the rain. So I'm grabbing them one by one, while I'm in my bathrobe, and put them on some roosts. Two decide they don't want to come in and I had left the big baby chicken herder dog in the house. I then see at least half of the meat chickens are out in the rain and thunder with no idea what to do.

Now as a side note, I had just seen the man who was struck by lightning on TV and the little metal doohickey on his baseball hat was where the lightning struck and i am standing there with one of those giant metal flashlights that the police carry in the middle of a storm.

So it is really booming and cracking all around me so I decide saving some chickens isn't worth dying over so I set down the flashlight and close the coop windows and hang with the ladies for awhile.

So when I deem it safe to make a break for the house, I run with a bathrobe pocket full of eggs because i am a multi tasker ya know.

My concerned for me Husband, NOT, hadn't even got out of his chair to see if my charred body was out in the yard.

So while inside looking for a smaller flashlight, I notice that the power isn't quite out but so low that the only thing working is a couple of dimmed lights and the TV. At least I could watch So You Think You Can Dance. Yea! Bad news is the computer went out and all the new items i listed for the show are gone! Now I can't even get the computer kid free time in that I was planning.

I shove the bread i was about to bake into the not working fridge to hopefully slow down the rising process.

So the thunder had eased a bit so I take a tiny but powerful flashlight and big baby dog out to track down the rest of the chickens. We get the 2 missing hens in, my big baby dog is scared but still is helpful bless his heart.

Those meat chickens just do not want to cooperate. I had to pin them into a corner and shove them in. It is pouring, my legs and shoes are muddy, but finally we get everyone in.

Whew!

I dry off a bit, watch my show, start getting ready for bed and the phone rings.

Apparently one of my nieces was having a meltdown, my girls feelings were hurt and begged me to come and get her between sobs. Still storming, I throw raincoat over pj's and hop in my "new" car. Luckily I had the little flashlight in hand because never having driven this car at night, I couldn't find where the light nob was. Finally find it and what is that strange sound? It sounds like rain coming in the car? What?

Well those handle type things are what make the windows go up and down and one of the backseat ones was left open for the 3 1/2 hours of torrential down pour. So nice.

I get the girl, she isn't ready to talk about what happened, I tuck her in and snuggle a bit.

In the morning before work, Hubby gets the generator going so we don't lose our 1/2 hog in the freezer.

I go on a walkabout to see if all is well.

There was about 5 inches of water in this tub that had no water yesterday.

Luckily the garden did well and we only had a leaning tower of peas aah.

We had a bass swimming between rocks we usually walk on.

All the meat chickens survived the trauma. I'm still mad at them though.

The power came back on around 10:00. I turned off the generator, flipped some switches and my deflated bread is about to go in the oven.

So other than some questionable bread, a very soaked robe and car, having to re-list some bags on the computer, all is well.

I hope you are all weathering your storms.

Great Weekend

We had a wonderful family weekend. Before i get to the details i just want to say that this morning we went to our towns Memorial Day Parade, every time those Veterans walk by and we all stand clapping and cheering, I cant help getting choked up and a little teary just thinking what those brave men and women have gone through and what the new enlistees (they walk too) may go through as well. God bless them all.

I planted peppers, hot and sweet.

Zucchini.

The girl planted beans.

We teamed up for the cucumbers.

The tomato seedlings we started were more than ready to go outside.

The boy and i planted those, we put them under milk jug greenhouses because of the wind. We also made mini compost bins to give the tomatoes a boost during the growing season. We planted one big tomato plant I had bought at the market so we wont have to wait till the end of July for our first tomato.

T-Bone turned 6 on Saturday so the girl made and hung a banner, baked and decorated a cake (we forgot to take a pic). She also made T-bone a dog friendly "cake", a dog biscuit with peanut butter "frosting". We cooked out on the fire pit and the dog was oblivious about the "party" but we sure enjoyed it.

I have heard, from the egg council, that there is no difference between free range eggs and store bought.

SAY WHAT?

Well we chicken people know better and I have the proof.

These eggs I boiled for deviled eggs tell a different story.

Notice the halos.

The boy built obstacle course type things for his rumble robot.

Pretty slick.

Remember my old freebie shelf....

....i got around to painting it and will be a great display shelf in my shows, light weight and painted white.

It was hot today so the girls were just hangin out.

The six week old partridge rocks and the 4 week old dark cornish.

Awkward looking stage.

I think I guessed right on my free exotic when I thought it was a Silver Spangled Hamburg.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21218499@N08/2338487631/

What do you think?

I just don't know if it is a roo or a pullet.

Thoughts and prayers go to the people hit by this weekends tornadoes.