Well, I started the gauge piece. I'm supposed to knit 30 rows, but I can already see I'm at least too wide. 22 stitchs of stocking stitch by 30 rows should equal 4 inches, but my 22 stitches by about 8 rows is 4.5" wide. So I'm going to move down to the next smaller sized needle.
I also totally forgot how to purl!! I went to try and find my favorite page on how to continental purl, but I cannot find it! It was on about.com but now it doesn't seem to be there anyplace. I searched and searched. Then I began searching for an illustrated or photo tutorial for continental purl, but had a hard time finding anything that was helpful. I finally found a site called knittinghelp.com which has a bunch of little movies to watch on how to do the stitches. I knew something was wrong with my technique because when I went back to the knit side, the stitches were twisted and tight. So I asked ds2 to help me make my very own photo tutorial. Okay, first photo. I'm holding the yarn on the front side of my needle.
I asked ds to stand behind me and take the pictures... um, that's not exactly what I meant... can you see the hay in my hair??
Okay, insert the needle through the front of the stitch.
I'm using my thumb to hold the stitch in place.
So as to not confuse myself, I took a picture of the yarn in the down position, so that I will hopefully remember that it has to go up and over the needle.
Okay, take the yarn up over the needle (or the needle under the yarn, whichever way you prefer to think of it). This part is very important. If you do this the wrong way, once you turn to the other side to do your knit stitches, it will be difficult to get your needle into the stitch. If you find it is difficult, if it seems like the stitch is just too tight, you have probably done this part wrong.
Now take your needle over the yarn, then through the stitch on the needle.
It's kind of hard to see in this photo, but the yarn is wrapped snug around the needle, ready to be pulled through.
Until next time.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Purl - Continental Style
Labels: knitting
Friday, February 23, 2007
Thank You Thirteen, We Love You
Labels: knitting, Ranch, Self-Sufficiency
I remember what beef tasted like years ago, when I was a child. In the past decade or so, it has started tasting really awful, a liver flavor. About a year ago, when dh and I were shopping we had a conversation with the meat guy and he said the reason why meat doesn't taste like it used to is because they don't dry age the beef anymore. They cut the meat and put it in plastic and send it to the store. It ages as it travels!
So on February 5th, we had one of our beef picked up... we called her "13" because her ear tag number was 5116. 
The butcher told us "13" was on the lean side. Her hanging weight was 320 pounds. He said as a result, of course we'd get less meat back. The cost for processing was $204.00. Having her delivered to the plant cost $100. We estimate the cost for hay to be at least $1200. At least $150 in milk. $20.00 in water.
I picked up our beef today. We added up all the cuts of meat, and the weight came to 226. So with those figures, the meat adds up to $7.40/pound.
We barbequed rib steaks, round steak and two t-bones.
OH.MY.GOSH. OH. The taste. Incredibly delicious. I have not tasted meat this good in such a long time. I made a real pig of myself tonight. I must have eaten close to a pound of meat. It was so tender and so tasty.
The only problem with having such a "lean" and small beef is the cuts are all miniature-sized. SIL and MIL helped with money toward this venture and SIL is going to be so excited to see the tiny cuts of meat, lol. The t-bones you see in the photo to the left are about 8 ounces each and are about the size of a deck of playing cards, LOL!!!
I talked with the butcher today and he says to me, "Next time you do this, you should try to grow them a little bigger." ROTFLOL. I chuckled and said, "Well, how do I do that?" He didn't really have an answer, but instead told me how much the steer in the back weighed, the ones he just had delivered from a feedlot. And he also told me about raising his own steer and how they weighed in at 1100 pounds live weight. I asked him how much he fed his steer and he tells me *two* flakes of hay a day. Our three were getting *eleven* a day for the past four months!!!
I bought some yarn today, with a pattern included. I'm going to knit a baby sweater! I can't wait to cast on. I bought the size needles I needed, plus a size smaller and a size larger.
I also had an idea of what I'd love to do. I'd love to open a yarn store. I would just love to do that. My town doesn't have one, but it is one of the fastest growing cities and we just got a Starbucks, and it is filled with yuppies. I am sure it would be a hit. I was thinking I should start writing up a business plan and just see if I could get a small business loan.
Until next time.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Maybe Dead Trees?
Labels: Gardening, geek-stuff
The only one that seems to be alive is the apple tree... the citrus trees have crispy yellow leaves... the peach tree is totally leafless... I do hope they come back to life as it grows warmer. The garden is still alive. I am hoping to find some time to work on it this weekend. I need to do some weeding, and those radishes need to be removed.
Until next time.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Milk Time
[Place your cursor on the bottom right corner of the right page to turn the pages of the book]
Once upon a time there were five puppies who loved their raw goat's milk. All five puppies were very good and anxious for their milk so they all learned to sit and stay seated until Mommy poured the milk. It sometimes took a minute or two for them all to get seated at once, but they were able to do it. Good puppies.
Mommy finally poured the milk for the good puppies. But now Mommy had to take a picture of all the good puppies, so they had to wait longer for their milk. Mouths were watering and one puppy, the only boy, gave Mommy a mournful look, begging with his eyes for Mommy to say, "OKAY!" so everyone could have the delicious milk.
Finally, Mommy said, "OKAY!"
All the puppies started lapping up their milk quickly, except for one little puppy who had learned many weeks ago that Mommy leaves some milk in the bucket. When Mommy saw that this little puppy had learned that, she began leaving this little puppy's share of milk in the bucket. None of the other puppies have figured this out, even the little boy puppy, who is very smart indeed.
The End.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
He's Got The Whole World In His Mouth
Last night, ds2 was bouncing an earth made of beach ball material in the air and LJ was bouncing all over my bed trying to get it from him. Ds2 bounced it into the living room and there went LJ, tromping off the bed to get it. We were not sure if the "world" would make it, due to LJ's teeth, but he very gently grasped it betwixt his canines and brought it right back to us.
I had a chance to take LJ with me in to work on Friday. I was only there for about a half an hour and I think I'm going to see if I can get permission to start bringing him to work with me on Mondays. I'm going to start working Mondays beginning the last Monday of this month.
Almost everyone who meets him gushes and exclaims at how beautiful, and how well behaved he is. I met a friend of dh's on Friday, and his wife was there, too. I was trying to get LJ back in the truck and so dh was on the passenger side calling to him, while I was on the driver's side. Dh's friend was on the driver's side and goes, "Awwwwwwww" looking at LJ. His wife came around and said, "What?" He pointed to LJ and the wife starting Awwwwing, too. LOL. They kept saying how beautiful he was and they asked what kind of dog was he. I told them he was a pitbull and that we had always said we would NEVER own a pitbull, but we were asked to foster him and we fell in love with him. They said their dog had just run away a couple weeks ago, I got the impression they had a pitbull, too. They asked how old he was and they commented on how well behaved he was. I told them we are pretty big Dog Whisperer fans and I attribute LJ's good behavior to him. They like Dog Whisperer, too, so they could relate.
The only problem that day was due to a mistake I made on Thursday. I hadn't thought that far ahead, about bringing LJ into town with me. So when the hens gave us 15 eggs, I gave each dog one egg. LJ must have gotten some of the other dogs' eggs, because boy did he have bad gas all day long on Friday.
It was so funny. I was in one coworker's office and LJ had gas. I told her and apologized and explained about the eggs. She was nonchalant and said, "Oh, that's what dogs do." Okay. Good. No fuss. But then by the third time and the smell was filling her entire office she said maybe we'd better get going now. LOL.
Until next time.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Happy Valentine's Day!
I went in to work today for a few minutes, and discovered that dh had conspired with his mother to have flowers delivered to my job. It was supposed to be a surprise, but of course I was at home sick. We don't usually celebrate holidays... but the past few weeks have made me realize how just much I love my dh and a couple of weeks ago I told him I wanted to celebrate Valentine's Day this year, and asked him if he could get something for me. I have learned that it is better to ask, than to have expectations, and end up feeling disappointed because my mind wasn't read.
The flowers are really beautiful. I changed the water tonight, and cut the stems diagonally.
Thank you dh and to my really sweet MIL.
Until next time.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Homemade Egg Noodles
Labels: chickens, recipes, Sick
I have been making homemade chicken soup since I got sick last Friday... well, three batches and I have one more chicken thawed out. I've been making chicken salad sandwiches with the extra chicken.
On the first night that I made chicken soup, I also made homemade egg noodles.
The recipe I followed was from my old La Leche League cookbook. Very simple and easy. I paid ds2 to milk, feed and water on Saturday night, while I stayed inside and made dinner. Chicken vegetable soup with egg noodles.
Especially since our hens are laying again. They were on strike again and didn't lay for about three weeks. We actually had to break down and buy eggs from the grocery store (four dozen).
Anyway, crack two eggs in a bowl, scramble well. Mix in 1 teaspoon salt. Now mix in some flour - between 1.5 to 2 cups until the dough is pliable. Don't knead, just mix it together well. Roll it out on a floured surface until the dough is about 1/8th of an inch thick (or thicker if you prefer a thicker, more dumpling-type noodle). Use a pizza slice cutter to cut the noodles to your preferred length and width.
I like to strain the broth from my soup temporarily, bringing the broth/stock to a boil to cook the noodles. They take seconds to cook. You can tell when they are done because they float. You can also remove a noodle from the pot and taste it for doneness.
Until next time.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
I Lost My Balloons!
Labels: Memory Lane, My Faith, Sick
Not today. When I was five years old.
My Grandpa brought some balloons over to our house for me. I don't remember if it was my birthday... it could have been my birthday as the weather was fair out. There were several and they were helium balloons.
I don't know what possessed me, but while my mom was napping on the couch, I took my balloons out in the front yard and let... them... go... Ohhhh!! I was very upset, I ran in to rouse my mom, and I remember crying and crying about my balloons. I seem to recall that she didn't get up, so I ran back outside and watched them float all the way up into the sun.
I had nightmares for YEARS and YEARS over my lost balloons. Even today, when I see balloons floating away, it conjures up feelings inside me. Feelings of great regret and angst from what I said to myself as a small child and for years during those nightmares, "How stupid could I have been? Why didn't I just reach out and grab them? Why didn't I just grab the string?!" I wonder if perhaps my mom said those very words to me? I seem to recall trying hard to wake her up and she wouldn't get up.
Anyway, so ds1 and ds2 are both sick with the cold that I had, except that theirs turned into really bad sore throats, with coughing. I decided to take them in to the doctor instead of wondering and hoping they were going to be okay. Ds1 had a rash on his face which really made me wonder what was going on with him. He wasn't quite as sick as ds2 yet. Ds2 was dying of the sore throat pain. We tried all kinds of over-the-counter meds, none seemed to do much for him.
While at the clinic, waiting to get my ds1 and ds2 signed in, a little boy was holding onto a Valentine's Day balloon... helium filled... he was moving his arm up and down, bobbing the balloon in the air, and suddenly... he let go of the balloon!! Oh no!!! The balloon floated up, way up high to a part of the clinic that had very high ceilings. The poor baby starting crying and his heart was just broken. His pregnant mother was talking to someone at the clinic and did not even notice the crying, sobbing, angry little boy at her feet. I couldn't stand to hear him crying, so I went over to the mother. I asked her first, "Do you speak English?" She said she spoke just a little bit of English. So I went on and asked her if she bought the balloon for her little boy and did she know how much they cost? The lady that she'd been talking to translated as I spoke to her. She said someone had given her little boy the balloon, so she didn't know how much they cost. So I offered her a five dollar bill and asked her if she would please buy him another balloon and I asked her to please tell him that she was going to buy him another one, so he wouldn't cry anymore. He seemed to cheer up after she told him she was going to get him a new balloon, and I patted him on the head and told him it would be okay now, mommy will get a new balloon for you.
Another lady who worked at the clinic saw him crying, and she tried to see if they had a ladder, but couldn't locate one. She ended up getting two books for him to take home with him.
The physician's assistant did a quick strep test and the results came back showing positive for ds1, of which they say his rash is a symptom. Both boys are now on antibiotics for the next ten days. The PA asked ds2 if his throat feels like he is swallowing glass and he said it did. She said she had this same cold just last week, so she was really empathetic to the pain they were in.
I have to give thanks to God for the fact that I didn't get as sick as the boys. I am sleep deprived due to them being sick, and being up during the night with them, but I did not get the sore throat and I am able to keep going and doing everything I have to get done. Like milking for example. It would be very difficult to be as sick as the boys are, and still get milking done every evening. I have taken the entire week off at work. I don't have the comp time to do this... but I will make it up. I am going to work for a few hours from home tomorrow to try to get some of the billing completed.
Until next time.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Sick Again Already
Labels: blah blah blah, FlyLady, My Faith, Sick
I normally don't get sick for a year or two at a time. I was sick with a head cold back in October and now here I am sick with a head cold again. I know why, because I haven't been taking care of myself properly. By that I mean I haven't been getting enough sleep, and have been drinking coffee just to stay awake.
My typical day for the past couple weeks has been getting up at 3:30am, I'm driving and away from home for 11.5 hours, coming home milking, then getting to bed at 9pm if I'm lucky. On Friday night I started feeling like my throat wasn't right. Just a bit scratchy. This has been my last 24 hours.
5am - 7am Cleaned kitchen, swept floor. The kitchen wasn't too bad, but it did take me 2 straight hours! I have not been able to "shine the sink" this entire past week. Daily upkeep makes a HUGE difference in weekend cleaning time.
7am - 7:15am Threw hay.
7:15am - 9:30am Sleeping.
9:30am - Noon Finished knitting the scarf I started on Friday. Don't remember what I was doing but I was up and awake and busy.
Noon - 3pm More Sleeping.
3pm - 8pm Awake. Helped ds2 clean coils on the outside part of the air conditioning unit. Cooked dinner (chicken soup with homemade egg noodles). Paid ds2 (who was not showing any signs of being sick yet) to milk. Watched a terrible Pay Per View movie called _Crank_. Yuck.
8pm - 2:30am Sleeping.
2:30am - 4:00 Hungry, warmed up some chicken soup. Computer time.
4:00am - 7:15am Asleep.
7:15am - 7:30am Threw hay.
7:30am - 8am Tidied up, vacuumed ds1's bedroom. Washed his bedding. He did very good this week. Not even *one* dish in his room! And he used his garbage can all week long. Very nice job.
8:00am - 11:00am Not sure what all I did... but do remember one outstanding thing. I sewed with my new machine. I made a cover for the top of the sewing machine cabinet, to keep it looking new. My new machine is incredible and amazing. I can only say the smoothness of it makes me think of cutting through butter. The motor is quiet and it is so smooth.
11:00am - 3:20pm Back in bed, more sleeping.
3:20pm to now Some computer time. Also dragged the old three story rat cage off the porch. Started my clothes in the washer. Heated up some cream of chicken soup for ds2 who is now sick and very thrilled about it. He's the weirdest person. He longs to be sick and looks forward to it. He got lucky this time. Normally he doesn't get sick. He's been sick maybe 8 times in his 17 years. I attribute his strong immune system to two things. Extended breastfeeding, and no vaccinations.
I was stressing because our air conditioner is not working. It is icing up on the coils. We cleaned the coils both inside and out. We were so excited to see how dirty the outside coils were, because we were sure that was causing the unit to ice up. But alas, once we got it all nice and clean, the unit still started icing up and is not cooling the house down. It just runs and runs and runs. I have learned more about air conditioning units in the last few weeks than I've ever known in my entire life. What with dh not being here, he is the one that usually keeps up with the maintenance on the a/c unit.
Speaking of another thing dh does, the oil changes on my vehicle. Now that ds2 is sick, he isn't going to be able to change the oil this weekend for me. I think I'm already past 5000 miles. Agh. Now is not the time to start falling down on oil changes - my odometer just turned over 200,000 a month or so ago, and now it's close to 204,000. We've been very faithful with oil changes at 3000 to 4000 miles for the entire time we've owned it. It has been a wonderful, reliable vehicle. I would always recommend Nissan Pathfinders. Mine is the 1996 model. Very lovely vehicle. The nicest I've owned in my entire life.
I just talked to ds2 and asked him how long he thinks we can go without the air conditioner. Reason being, it is stressing me out because I'm sick, he's sick and I don't want anyone coming into our home without a bit more work on our part. The boys' bathroom still needs some serious attention. It is a terrible mess. I wouldn't want to have someone come over and need to use the toilet and see that disaster area. Also, ds2 did some decluttering in the livingroom yesterday, cleaning out a shelving unit and threw away four bags of "stuff". It was really annoying as I was on the computer for the first time in days and he kept asking me if he could throw this or that away. He was behind me, so I had to keep turning all the way around to see what he was talking about. He did a great job decluttering though and even cleaned up and vacuumed the living room after he was done. So the living room is fairly clean. Except he put four bags of garbage on the back porch, which is the main entryway to our home. And the garbage can is already full. So I have nowhere to put that garbage. Plus 2-3 loads of bedding and clothing from last week's cleaning of ds1's room is still sitting on the porch.
See I was thinking I need to get someone out immediately, since it is already starting to heat up here. But ds2 said he didn't think we'd call anyone out for a couple of weeks at least. That really takes a big load off my mind. Because now I don't have to force myself to clean the boys' bathroom, the porch, etc.
It's time like these that I embrace my faith, refusing to let life get me down. This is all I need, is to be sick. I have always thought the reason I rarely get sick is because of my devotion to getting the proper hours of sleep for my body. I have been running myself ragged the past couple of weeks, and now it's time for me to cut way back on the things I'm doing. As much as I hate the thought of it, I am going to have to. There is also the worry of getting so very ill like I was back in the summer of 2002.
Did I mention here yet that my job finally approved my extra day each week? That's what you call cutting back, yessiree. ;-)
Seriously, we need the money. Speaking of money, I haven't had time to look at our money for weeks again. I have no idea how much we owe and to whom. I should get off this computer now.
One more thing. I'm doing all I can to keep this virus from getting any worse than it is now. It basically feels like a head cold and I'm just really tired. Every time I exert myself physically I start to sweat and then I get really worn out tired. Even sitting at the sewing machine made me really tired.
Until next time.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Room Makeover
Labels: FlyLady, Home Improvement
Yesterday ds2 and I tackled ds1's room. Dh and I removed the carpet several months ago, and we never got it replaced as planned. Yesterday, I couldn't take it another minute. I made up my mind I was getting flooring down for him one way or another. Initially I was thinking linoleum since carpet can so easily be dirtied, but since the subfloor was now dirty and stained, it wasn't going to be easy or cheap. I considered buying sheets of particle board and laying a new subfloor, but that would take more time and money. Then laying the linoleum tiles one at a time. I started thinking carpet, even without padding underneath would be better than just subflooring. Anyway, ds2 got that laid. It cost $75.00 from Home Depot. Not bad! I also bought ds1 a new set of bedding, and a new rat cage.
He always gets mad at whoever tries to clean his room - because he thinks he does an appropriate job. But he does not, so we have to help him stay on top of it. In the past few weeks I'd fallen short on that responsibility, so things had gotten a bit out of hand in his room.
But now it's all pretty and nice. He was very thrilled at his nice new room. His room is getting added to the FlyLady routine.
Until next time.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Leanin' Tree Cards
Labels: Bargain Hunting, Memory Lane
I went into a little shop (downtown in the big city) on Thursday just to see what they had in the store. When I got in there, I saw an elderly man and assumed him to be the owner. I have this thing about supporting small business owners, and immediately started wondering what little trinket I could buy that wouldn't damage my credit card too much. You know I have the same feeling at yard sales. This obligation to "buy something" and not just be a "Lookie Lou".
As I browsed, I came across these incredibly beautiful cards...
I have been dismayed at how expensive cards are starting to be, even from Walmart. You can get cheapie $0.99 cards, but if you want even a halfway decent nice one you're looking at three dollars and up. I bought a Hallmark Valentine's Day card for my dh there yesterday which cost $3.34.
I have found that you can get a fairly nice card from "dollar" stores, but they are mostly pastel and vanilla-type cards. Not bad for a dollar, but if you want something spectacular, try and find an outlet that sells Leanin' Tree.
While at the feedstore yesterday, I noticed they had the Leanin' Tree Valentine's Day cards for sale (the other little shop didn't have them in stock yet). Then I realized they always sell Leanin' Tree but I hadn't taken much notice of the cards on previous visits since they sell mostly the cowboy/cowgirl versions, which wouldn't be something I'd be interested in giving (the one I linked to is mild, some are rather risque or disgusting). I bought two of the Valentine's Day cards (which were not cowboy/cowgirl).
This morning I decided to go online to the Leanin' Tree site to check them out. The cards I saw in person retailed starting at $2.49, but online, they are all $1.85. Plus they have an offer if you buy 20 cards, you get 10 free. I'm seriously considering buying my cards here this year. I have always wanted to be organized with sending birthday cards to family, but I usually only get cards sent to my mom, and my three of my four sisters. I always send Mother's Day cards to my mom and all my sisters, my mother-in-law and my grandma. My MIL bought me a "card organizer" for Christmas. It has a folder for each month, with places to write birthdays on each folder. Anyway, I figure the cards would end up costing me $1.465 each ($1.85/each for first 20, plus you get 10 more free, $6.95 s/h). Maybe I could finally get it together this year! They do restrict the offer somewhat, you can't buy Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's Cards. But that leaves Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays, get well cards, anniversaries, etc.
Which reminds me. I made this really cool Christmas gift for my mom one year. I took photos of everyone in the family, or got photos from them to scan, and then I put together a calendar (found online from Microsoft Templates which uses Word) with photos for each person for that month, and their name on their birthdate. My mom LOVED that calendar and has since asked for another one each year. (I'm the bad daughter, I have never made her another one since). Okay, hold up. I just went to Microsoft Templates to see about downloading the 2007 photo calendar and they have two available - one Monday through Sunday (*WHO* uses a calendar that goes Mon-Sun?), but they BOTH require Word 2007. I barely got Word 2003 last year. Sheesh.
I was thinking about creating a calendar for my mom, for a late Christmas gift. I did recently order color cartridges for my printer... but now it would really become a labor of love since I'd have to use this 2005 template, and repopulate the dates... or maybe there is someplace else online to download a template similar to this one? I have downloaded this one, in case Microsoft Templates stops offering it.
I bought this card for a friend of mine who just got both her legs broken by a spooked horse bucking and kicking while she was removing the saddle from its back. :-(
The card in real life is just breathtakingly beautiful, and the envelope has the same colors and design in washed out colors. The picture you see at the site hardly gives the card justice. And I paid $2.79 (plus tax!) for it - which I still think is a great price compared to what I'm seeing at Walmart.
I only have 10 more minutes before it's time to feed.
I'm also doing this romantic Valentine's Day card thing this year. I did it once, years and years ago. You take your card to your sweetie, address it, put your stamp on the envelope and then insert it into a larger envelope. Put appropriate postage and address to (one of the places) Loveland, Colorado. Loveland will hand cancel your stamp, and send your card on its way. I think it's a cool idea. I emailed several friends about it, but there was no response. Oh well. Maybe it's just me that thinks it's cool. You can read more about it here: Get a Valentine Postmark.
I did tell three of my coworkers about it as well. One by email. She's new. She didn't respond at all. The other was a coworker who just turned 64. She said she would never bother to do something like that because her husband wouldn't appreciate it. The third person is one of my younger coworkers, I think he must be 25 now. He is newly married (about six months) and his wife is pregnant. I think he might do it, I told him his wife *would* appreciate it, since women tend to appreciate things like that.
Time to feed!!
Until next time.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Wow, This Might Actually Work
Labels: FlyLady
Gulp, I guess I'm talking about FlyLady. I've been doing better in the past week with keeping my kitchen sink clean, but I've also been on vacation from work. However... I have been driving into town every single day (about 3 hours round trip) and I'm not home until around 5pm.
After I posted my last entry, I had some more work to get done:
- I washed my SUV. Outside only, but I did wash the windows on the inside with the damp towel. Hopefully next week I will have the energy and desire to vacuum. It seriously needs a good vacuuming. I also need to scrub the plastic floor mats. Ds2 tosses out the driver's seat mat for some reason unknown to me. I have really nice ones that came with the vehicle, but I like to keep them covered with plastic floor mats to protect the carpeted ones.
- I washed the dinner dishes. Processed the milk.
- I did the house blessing by myself tonight. I didn't do the one that ds2 usually takes, the washing of the boys' bathroom mirror and doors. I did sweep and vacuum the kitchen floor, pick up the living room (it took a full 20 minutes to tidy up!) and vacuum, and I emptied the garbage cans. I also picked up a few pieces of debris from my bathroom floor (every little bit helps) and emptied the cat litter box.
I feel like I really accomplished a lot today.
Until next time.
Some Success At Cleaning
Labels: FlyLady
I had one of those days again. One of those days where I felt like getting something done. Here's what I did:
Cleaned the right side of the counter on the stove side. I didn't take *before* pictures, but trust me, it was covered to the edges with all kinds of things. Like jars with curdled milk waiting to go to the chickens for several days, some things that should have been thrown away in the first place. Now look at how beautiful it is. I even bleached the surface and scrubbed the rust rings (caused by laying cast iron skillets on the surface) with baking soda.- I decided to once and for all put my mind at rest as to whether I'd lost a check for $280.00 or not. :-P I asked my employer if the check had been cashed, but she had not gotten back to me. So I went on a search mission. I FOUND IT!! Stupid to lose that much money! You would think I was so rich I didn't have to worry about money at all. Sheesh! I had filed it away with some receipts.
- Signed the back of four checks and prepared the deposit slip so I can get that money deposited tomorrow.
- I went through 2 or 3 boxes of paperwork and threw most of it away.
- I'm currently washing my bedding.
- Disinfected all the milk jars. This means I washed them first, then soaked them in bleach water for 10 minutes. I must have done close to a dozen jars.
- Removed everything "dead" from the middle refrigerator. I ended up with a two gallon bucket of rotting food for the chickens. They LOVED it. I even wiped the shelves that were messy in that fridge. I had hoped to get to the other fridges, but I figured getting one done was good, too.
Until next time.
I Love Disco
Labels: blah blah blah
I know, I'm weird. At least, that's the impression I get from most people when I tell them that I love disco. Even people my age. They act like I'm saying I like liver or something, for heaven's sake.
Of course now disco is referred to as "oldies" from the 70s and 80s. I used to listen to a radio station in the morning and the DJ grew up in the big city in which I grew up and he'd reminisce about things that happened when he was a child and teen. He used to roller skate, he used to enter competitions even. He would be teased about wearing a scarf. I always laughed a lot in the mornings. The other DJ was about 15 years younger and he was always appalled by the dorky things the older DJ did. Anyway, the radio station changed their DJs around, and they put the older DJ's cousin in his slot. The whole atmosphere of the program changed, becoming more focused on partying and playing pranks on people. I stopped listening around the end of November. That's when I started listening to KLOVE. Ds2 had been listening to this station for at least six months, but I was really reluctant to give up my "oldies".
After listening for about two weeks, the music started to grow on me, and I started to find some favorite songs. My first favorite song was by TobyMac, Made To Love. Then the next favorite which quickly became my top favorite was Nichole Nordeman's What If.
Ds2 ordered some CDs last week, some of the Newsboys and TobyMac's Welcome to Diverse City. Track 7 on WTDC is TobyMac's son Truett aka Trudog. Oh my gosh. What an adorable song. Trudog is very young, maybe 3 or 4 years old. Adorable baby voice, just very cute.
I was reading TobyMac's bio, which mentions his "hip-hop roots". OH yeah. I love hip-hop as much as I love disco. I know, I'm weird! I just love the music, love dancing to it! I think my favorite track on WTDC is 11, Burn For You.
Until next time.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Face Cozy
Labels: crocheting, FlyLady
Ds2 thought I'd crocheted him a face cozy.
I am having the dickens of a time trying to do Fly Lady. I tried and tried yesterday to get the kitchen cleaned up. I just couldn't stay focused. I did declutter two drawers. The bottom drawer has been catching and sometimes you have to jerk real hard on it to get it out. Well, I took it out and discovered that each metal piece on the bottom only had one screw each left. So I put more screws in each side and put the drawer back in place and it works great. I also took the top drawer out and found that the metal piece with the roller just needs to be replaced altogether. The roller wheel is broken and the metal piece is bent. That's why that keeps messing up. I have one more drawer in the kitchen to investigate. It's the other bottom drawer, and it gets stuck like the one I just fixed. It just takes a few minutes to fix these things. And then the drawer doesn't end up getting demolished from being jerked open and closed. I also have new handles for all these drawers. The ones we have now get hung up on my clothes. I found some new handles last year in June... I am one major procrastinator! Actually, what ended up happening is my MIL found a box of 10 drawer pulls at Home Depot on clearance for around $3 and they are the kind without the edges that catch and I want to use those. Now. If I only knew where I stashed them...
Anyway, back to the decluttering of the two drawers. They both had a lot of lids in them, some of the containers we don't even own any longer. So I threw most of them away. I do have a container with miscellaneous sized lids in case I run across the jars somewhere. The bottom drawer holds plastic grocery bags and the kitchen dish towels and wash clothes. The drawer is almost full of the latter two items! I love have plenty of dish towels and wash clothes. Of course they are all ratty and old, but they still work great for pulling out a new, clean one to dry dishes. So we are really making some progress. Progress being that they are actually clean, folded and in the drawer instead of stashed in a pillowcase somewhere.
Now... I set my timer for 15 minutes yesterday to clean the kitchen, and I could not stay focused. I am wondering if I need to lower my expectations and just try FIVE minutes.
I also confessed to my dear sister (who has been FLYing for years) that I am doing FlyLady. But I told her, "Shhhh, don't tell anyone, not even yourself!" Because I have this stupid thing about if my sister is doing it,then I can't be a copycat and do it, too. And I don't want her to be right that it is helping her. And I don't want to end up failing while she's successful.
I also have to finish up the bookkeeping for the little company, I have to complete W-2's, W-3's, 1099-MISC and 1096 forms today. Then I'm finally done with that until February.
I'm scheduled to work tomorrow, I'm trading days this week. I might even take off a couple of days.
Until next time.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Baby Sweater Finally Finished!
Labels: Bargain Hunting, crocheting, goats
Ohhhhh... I haven't blogged since Monday... first an update to the freezing cold weather I complained about in my last blog entry. I mentioned the frozen water pipes on Sunday, and how cold it was on Monday, but never mentioned the fact that we still didn't have water by noon that day. As it turns out, our well pump froze and cracked. The cast iron part of it cracked.
My M&FIL showed up on Tuesday morning early with a new pump and helped us get it installed. We had water again by 4pm. What a blessing for them to help us out. No fun being without water. Their pump also went out on them, but they live about 100 miles north of us.
It's been a busy week. On Wednesday I bought another sewing machine. It's a Riccar and I found the original receipt in its wooden cabinet. It was purchased for $156 by one Margaret Edwards on March 19, 1966 in Torrance, California. Coincidentally, I paid $75 for the machine, the wooden cabinet it sits in, plus lots and lots of sewing items. I will definitely be photographing all those items for a blog entry one day soon. The machine is currently in a shop, waiting to be overhauled. It costs $79.95; the guy cleans and oils and go throughs the machine restoring it to brand new.
Riccar still sells sewing machines and vacuum cleaners. I found their website has manuals to their old sewing machines. I was really impressed by that (many companies seem to abandon their products within a few years and finding a manual can be impossible). The manual was included with this machine, so I wrote to Riccar to let them know I could scan this manual for their collection. I got an email back that said this, "We would really appreciate if you can forward that so we can place it on our website. Hope everything goes well with your tune up; unfortunately most parts are obsolete due to the age of the machine. Thanks so much."
AGH. Well, I haven't updated my friends, but one of them is sure to tell me, "Told you so!" if it turns out this machine has anything broken. I don't think it will though. I think it is going to be a fine machine and a great blessing. The Walmart special will need to go back. Plan B is to haul out the old Singer my mom gave me years ago and pay to have *it* rehauled. But I really don't think I'll have to resort to that, at least not now.
Thursday was a blur... Friday another blur... and now it's 9:30pm and I'm still up. I did manage between last night and tonight, to finish the baby sweater! I plan to have it packaged and ready to ship on Monday. My sister's baby is 10 months old, and they live in Texas. I hope she will be able to put him in it for a couple more months at least. I made it to fit a 12 month old infant. I was almost done with it by November 20th, but then we had a bit of a crisis situation, so I was unable to pick it up again until just last night. Between last night and tonight I crocheted the buttonhole band, and the collar. Sewed on the buttons, tucked in beginning and ending pieces, finished the toque, made the pom-pom, sewed the buttons on the toque and the chin strap. It's really quite a sweet looking little outfit. I started this little sweater on September 30th. Geez, almost four months. But I took a 8 week hiatus. Too bad, my sister could have gotten a lot more use out of it... maybe. I will ask her to photograph the baby in his new little sweater so I can post a picture here.
Note to self: Never attempt to crochet with this yarn - Bernat Baby Coordinates Sweet Stripes - again. It is horrible for crocheting. The little strand of shiny material around the yarn gets hung up in the crochet hook every single stitch. It might work okay with knitting.
I wish I could be as prolific and as good a knitter as these ladies over at the Sweater-A-Month KAL. I will definitely be visiting this blog over the next year!
OH, and ds2 and I FINALLY got hoof trims done today. One of my milker's front hooves were so long she was being forced to walk crooked. Poor dear. Oh my, oh geez. I think the last time I did hoof trims was on October 2nd! That is far too long to wait between hoof trims. I usually try to get them done every 6 to 8 weeks. It is much easier to trim and keep the hooves in nice condition doing them more often. It has been sprinkling a bit for the past couple days, so it was actually easier to work on their hooves since they were kind of damp from walking on damp ground.
Until next time.
Monday, January 15, 2007
4 Degrees or 16 Degrees?
Dh tells me I can't go only by that one thermometer hanging on the chinaberry tree, that I have to have a look at the other thermometer on the porch. Well I say the one on the porch is near the house, so it's of course going to read warmer temps than the one hanging on the tree. ;-) The one on the tree says it is FOUR degrees out. The one on the porch says 16°F. There's one more thermometer, the one on the milking shed, but it has the red line, mercury? And it is hard to tell what it says exactly because right where the red is risen to, there is a thick metal band right over it.
I went out to feed early. Usually I feed at 8am, but I fed at 7:15 because I was thinking about taking an early nap. Yes, I'm tired already and it's not even 8am. I figured I may as well feed early, then I could come in and take a nap. While I was out there I decided to bring in one of the toolboxes that has screws in it, so I can put in my shelf. Can't decide whether to nap... or caffeine myself. I should probably nap because there is this really NASTY sore throat/cold thing going around. I've been exposed to two people who have it really bad and I want to give my body all the help it can to stay well. That means I should also be taking my vitamins and cod liver oil, which I've forgotten to do for the last several days. I also meant to bring in a couple of bottles of water on my way in. Brrrr, it is SOOOOO cold out there, my fingers were aching (only on my left hand though, I had located a glove for the right hand), my face was stinging and my nose was beginning to run. Maybe I will go have a short nap.
Until next time.
Weather Report *8* degrees!
Yesterday morning our coldest temp was EIGHT degrees. We had frozen water pipes, but nothing burst. This morning I was up at 5am and the pipes are totally frozen this morning. Yesterday we had water trickling through, this morning, nothing. That has to be one bad thing about being so clean and tidy, no water in glasses sitting about for hand washing and face washing use when there is no water! I did find one jar with about an inch of water in it, next to the stove. Luckily someone had been cooking recently, probably last night and brought a jar of water to pour into whatever they were cooking... so I was able to wash the sleep from my eyes. It is currently 61°F in the house. Brrrrr. I'm sitting at my computer with a sweat jacket on, with the hood pulled tight around my neck.
So I've been kind of busy in the past week. Haven't had much to blog about. I usually try to think of something to blog about as a writing exercise, but didn't force myself last week.
I didn't shine my sink for several days. I remembered, thought about it... but didn't. Last night, ds2 and I did our "30 Minute House Blessing". We are seeing the results of spending just TEN minutes ONE TIME A WEEK, in the living room...
We found that last night, it only took eight minutes. So we are making progress, slowly but surely. Also, vacuuming took the full ten minutes previously, but last night took only eight. Next we shine mirrors and wash doors. I tackled the back porch door, the inside part of the door was really dirty. These pictures really don't do justice to the new sparkly clean look. Even if you click on them to see a larger image, you probably won't be too impressed. Trust me. When you turn the light on in the entryway now, you are nearly blinded by the shiny clean backside of that door.
While ds2 vacuumed, I swept and mopped the kitchen floor. Then we emptied trash cans (only three in the house - we need more!!). Since it doesn't take anywhere near 5 minutes to empty the trash cans, we're incorporating scooping the cat litter boxes. I finally got a cat litter box set up in my bathroom, and am making that part of my morning routine, to scoop that box every single morning. When I grabbed the trash from my bathroom can, I also picked up a few more pieces of trash off the floor. I need to start doing some 5 Minute Room Rescues around the house. And more decluttering. After we emptied trash, we brought all the laundry we'd washed into the living room and dumped them onto a sheet on the floor. Folded and put everything away. Ds2 says he understands why people fold clothes -- he says it's relaxing. Okay, never really thought of it that way. Actually folding clothes ALWAYS makes my back ache... but he's a great help with getting clothes put away. I still have a huge pile on the couch that need to be tended to.
I was awake early this morning. Before 5am. I decided to do some decluttering in the kitchen. There's this three basket hanging thing we keep over the sink for housing metal lids and the milk strainer. There are a lot more lids in there, than we have jars for. Plus, all the canning jar lids are in there, and we only have two or three canning jars out right now! I got these metal boxes with a plastic lid from Walmart and the larger one is going to house the canning jar lids. That will keep them clean, too. The smaller one is going to house the odd shaped jar lids that we seldom use, but sometimes need. I've also cleared out this one cupboard that is just a big mess all the time. I've been wanting to put up another shelf inside that cupboard because there is a lot of wasted space at the top of the shelf. We keep things in that cupboard like the long wooden spoons, long Kitchenaid spatula. So when those long things are on the floor of the cupboard, you can't put other things in there, because they topple over. It's awful. But I'm going to make it better. A few months ago I got this really nice piece of oak wood from Home Depot for only fifty-one cents in the cull lumber section. Would you believe it's EXACTLY the right size for the shelf in that cupboard? Wow. Thanks, God. That was a nice surprise. If it weren't so dark and freezing cold outside, I'd go find the screws for putting it up right now. I have the drill and four screws, but I'm going to need a few more screws. 8 more to be exact. I even have the shelving pieces to hang it. Then I'm going to put that shelf up in that cupboard with just enough room to slide cups in there, and the wooden spoons and long spatula can lay at the back. Ahhhhhhh... can't wait to make that shelf more usable.
I am very hungry. I must eat something. I am finishing up the bookkeeping for the small company. Just have to complete W-2's today. And prepare some reports for the guy that does the taxes. Then I'll be done. I have a website I need to update, and minutes for the board on which I serve. OH. And HOOF TRIMS. Which have still not been done!! And the baby sweater that is half sewn together. AGH.
Until next time.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Lemon Tree
Our lemon tree is producing this year! How exciting! We have about five lemons on the tree right now. The fire ants are busy eating the other blossoms though!! Stupid fire ants! I must remember to get out there with AMDRO and get rid of them.
Until next time.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
What Kind of Flower Are You?
Labels: blah blah blah
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I guess I do try to make people laugh. But I don't think of myself as a prankster.
Wait a minute. I took this quiz earlier this year. Back in September. I was a violet then: "You have a shy personality. You tend to hesitate before trying new things or meeting new people. But once people get to know you, you open up and show the world what you are really all about."
THAT is actually more like me. I don't think this quiz works very well.
Until next time.
My First Buttonhole!
Labels: Home Improvement
Okay, actually maybe this wasn't my very first buttonhole EVER, maybe my first buttonhole was for my very first sewing project, a skirt. There I am, 10 years old in 1973. Not sure what the goofy look on my face was all about.
ANYWAY... so I worked a bit more on the curtains this morning. Anything to procrastinate and keep from working on the bookkeeping. I really have to get to it this weekend... or... maybe only the 1 hour's worth of bookkeeping needs to be done. But I really need to stop procrastinating in case my job decides to allow me to work one more day a week. Really could use the money!
I decided I definitely needed sashes to be able to tie back the curtains. Also, the top valance bar was hung lopsided (I futzed with the picture so it wouldn't look crooked). Probably because the curtains aren't perfect is the reason I couldn't sleep last night. I finally slept until 8:30am. I think I'll make myself a kefir shake this morning for breakfast. I digress. I rehung the bar but now I see that my curtains are lopsided, too.
Back to the title: Buttonholes. I feel like I got a lot of machine for $65. There is a setting to make automatic buttonholes. I guess this is standard issue for sewing machines, but it sure wasn't back when I was in my twenties. It feels like a stretch to follow the sewing machine manual because they are using all these terms that don't mean anything to me like, "the front bar tack will be sewn first, " and "attach buttonhole foot and push the outside frame back until the sliding insert is in the front."
HUH?
But I muddled my way through and say, making buttonholes is pretty fun!!
So here are the sashes themselves. Pretty simple. I had two squares leftover after I cut the panels for the bottom of the curtains, so I cut the squares in half, sewed them together, folded them lengthwise and sewed down the edge. Reversed the sash, then sewed the end together. Then sewed in the buttonhole and I also don't have a seam ripper tool, so I used a box cutter to cut the material. Now I see that I forgot the last step. Reinforcing the buttonhole with a Straight Stitch. I'd better do that. We seem to be hard on things in this household.
I decided against those cup holder things to hold the sashes. As I just said, we seem to be hard on things in this house. They would be pulling out of the wall within weeks, so I just used a long drywall screw.
Here's another picture of the curtains now, complete with sashes. See how you can see under the sink area? That is what the other set of curtains is for. I'm also going to paint underneath the top cupboards - the area that is white will become turquoise, as will the white alongside the window. But not this weekend. 
And, I've decided! I want this to replace my old falling apart dish drainer (besides it is pine green and the drainer thing on the bottom is clear:
It sells for $29.99 from Target via Amazon.com. Amazon wants almost $40 after shipping and tax. I don't know if I want to spend THAT much, but I *do* have gift certificates worth that much left. Although I am tempted to buy a stainless steel dish drainer. They have one at Amazon also, for $50. Probably the shipping will be high. But it would last longer than these Rubbermaid ones seem to do. I have replaced mine twice since we've lived here, about four years.
Until next time.
Insomnia
Labels: FlyLady
I don't experience insomnia very often. I used to experience it a lot more in my "dieting" days, back in my thirties. But it is rare nowadays. I looked back through my blog to see if I'd blogged about having insomnia, and the last time I mentioned it was on July 28, 2006 Insomnia Strikes. It usually seems to be nutrition related. My stomach does feel funny. Not quite like I'm hungry, but kind of like something isn't right. Kind of like I feel hungry, but not. Hard to describe. I drank some kombucha, thinking maybe it was a bit of indigestion. My "diet" has been dismal lately. Why today I even ate a Twinkie and drank Dr. Pepper! I am not eating many traditional, whole foods, instead I'm relying on quick foods. Also, I sometimes wonder if it's not a low blood sugar thing going on.
I went to bed late as it was, 11pm. I slept until 12:30pmam. By 1am, I was up and on the computer for a while. I realized I was hungry and I ate a bagel with cream cheese. I drank some milk and went back to bed and just laid there. Finally at 2:45am, I decided to just get up for a while. I washed three loads of dishes and I shined the sink. Wiped off the stove and the counter to the left of the stove. Started to declutter it just a bit. Need to work on that area more tomorrow. It is definitely a "hotspot".Tomorrow Today is a big day for me. I can't just stay up, I'll be exhausted. I am finally starting to feel a bit tired, so maybe I can go back to bed and try to sleep again.
Ds2 is going to help me do hoof trims and we will hit the house quickly for half an hour, doing that Sunday house blessing thing. The house stayed pretty neat all week long. Usually when we clean up, we don't do another for like a month. I can already see, if we hit the house again today, we will get a little bit more cleaned up. I'm actually feeling kind of excited about it.
I have to remember to wash clothes tomorrow.
Until next time.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Ooooh, Lookee What I Made!!
Labels: Home Improvement
I'm so excited, I'm so happy with my results!! Look, here is the new aqua colored paint and the old curtain. Ick, nasty, ugly aqua, yes?
I got the paint from Home Depot. Five gallons of "OOPS" paint for $15. Someone's paint that got made into the wrong color. I actually bought it because my dh was building a new shed, so we could turn the "milking shed" and into an actual milking parlor. The paint looks like a very soft green color, like Crayola crayon seagreen. But once it dries, it becomes more of an aqua color. At any rate, how can I shine my sink every day, when the curtains are so ugly?
So today I became obsessed with replacing the curtains. I found out quickly that Walmart has about two choices for kitchen curtains, the one in the picture, and another one with other colors that don't match my paint...
I went to one Walmart and perused the one dollar per yard shelf. Like for an hour. I didn't have a paint chip, and was going by memory. I know what I envision the color to be, and what the color actually is when I see it again are not the same color. I asked ds2 to take a picture with his cell phone and send me a picture. Oh... he couldn't find his cell phone. Then he finally remembered it was in his pants and his pants were soaking in the washer!!! Agh!!! Hopefully his cell phone will dry out!!
Anyway, so I looked and looked and looked and looked. Nothing seemed like it would be the right color. Finally I made myself stop looking (and wasting time) and did the rest of my shopping. I had to go to the next small town to make a pickup, and there was a Walmart there. These are the only two stores with fabric in them unless I want to drive 50 miles, so that's why I went to Walmart instead of JoAnn's or Michael's.
At the next Walmart, the choices were even slimmer. Ugh. Nothing but ugly material for $1/yard. I couldn't even find anything that caught my eye for $2/yard.
By now, I'd asked ds2 to take a picture of the window sill with the digital camera and email it to my phone. It was a dismal picture, the green looked almost white, so it was absolutely no help at all.
On the way back to the first town, it struck me finally that I had my employer's digital camera in my purse, with pictures of the window sill!! When I got back to the first Walmart, I had a brainstorm. I went to the Kodak photomaker machine - which I've NEVER used before - inserted the SD card and within a minute I had a picture printed out of the window sill!! It took longer to pay for the photo, than it did to make the dang thing. The guy behind the counter said they have to scan the picture, put it into an envelope and then ring me up. Maybe they think people will try to print out pornographic photos or something and so they scan every photo that goes out so they can bust them? Or maybe they think the photo will be a professional one, with copyrights (again with more busting)?
Back to fabrics. I started looking again. By this time, I'd given up on the idea that I'd be making two sets of curtains for $4 (I'd figured I would need 4 yards and was trying to buy $1/yard material). I was ready to accept the fact that my material would cost no more than $2/yard. I found some material that I liked, but it was so pretty I figured it was in the wrong area. I was right. It was $3.96/yard. So I gave up on that one. I finally asked the ladies if they would help me find something. They were really trying to help me. One lady kept finding turquoise colors that I just didn't like. One material looked like something I'd make pajamas out of, not kitchen curtains. Another was too "sissy" - my guys would refuse to cook again if I put that in the kitchen. Another was turquoise camouflage, ugh. She found material after material, and I didn't like them. She was so cool, because I apologized for being so picky and she told me, "Oh no, you HAVE to like it. This is going to be in your kitchen, so you need to REALLY like it."
Finally I hit upon the idea of taking the first material I'd seen that I liked, and making a valance at top, just a straight piece, and then the bottom sections would be a matching cream color, with a straight panel across the bottom of the valance color.
Can you see the adorable nursing calf?
Now, remember the picture I had developed? The color in the photo matched the blue in this fabric PERFECTLY. I thought the contrast would be beautiful. I also love that I could bring some more colors into the kitchen, like granny apple green, and barn red, and maybe even some cow things.
My next problem was that I was planning to sew all this by hand. Yes, the whole time I was searching for material (at least THREE hours), in the back of my mind I was realizing that I probably wasn't going to have enough time this weekend to sew curtains by hand. I began entertaining the thought of buying a cheap sewing machine, even though money is *tight*, and can't afford to buy even a cheap sewing machine.
But by now, I'm committed to putting in these new curtains. And I have been wanting a sewing machine for YEARS. So, I bit the bullet and bought the cheapest Walmart special available. A Brother Machine, $65.00. Can you believe you can buy a sewing machine for only SIXTY-FIVE dollars?
Also, my fabric ended up costing SIXTEEN dollars, not FOUR, and not EIGHT. OUCH. BUT, I love it, and I've spent most of my life buying the cheapest thing possible, just to save a dollar and in the last few years I'm getting really sick of getting ugly stuff just 'cause it's cheap. I had a major fit of guilt once I left the parking lot, and called my mom. My dear mother, who enabled me by saying she wanted to buy me something nice for Christmas and could she give me the $65 to pay for the sewing machine? So I was able to get over the guilt fairly easily.
I had to feed the goats and milk once I got home. And then process the milk. I'm at a place in my cycle where I'm just in a mood, real cranky, alternating with feeling depressed. I was hungry, but wasn't about to take the time to cook. I had CURTAINS TO MAKE!!
So I had a plan formulated in my mind, and set about making it happen. But first, I had to figure out the sewing machine. THAT took me longer than making the curtains! When I finally got the bobbin filled, the thread threaded, and started sewing, it was 8:25. I was done with my curtains by 9:35pm! I made two valance pieces at the top, and two panels at the bottom.
I bought enough material to make an extra set of matching curtains for under the sink, where I removed the doors since the one had fallen off and the pressboard was damaged, making it impossible to put the one door back on. So I decided to just remove them altogether.
Now I MUST get into bed. I have a big day tomorrow. Two big things on my TODO list. Hoof trims and then end of year accounting for the little business for whom I bookkeep. (Will I ever figure out how to say that correctly?)
OH, did you want to see the finished product? By the way, the photo I had printed out does NOT match the window sill in person. But the fabric still works to make the paint color look nice, instead of ugly.
Until next time.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Hogging the Bed
Labels: LJ
I was reading one of my books on the American Pitbull Terrier a couple of nights ago and found that they can grow to weights of 75. LJ was 74 last time we weighed him, and he is not even one year old yet. He is one muscular little boy. He is long and lean. That is our bed he's lying on -- it is a queen-sized bed -- he dwarfs it! It looks like maybe a regular-sized bed.
He is not so happy when I come to bed, and make him move over. Sometimes he even grumbles at me. When he does that, he gets OFF the bed until I give him permission to get back up.
He continues to be THE BEST dog I've had in my entire life. He remains friendly and loving with people, even when the meter reading guy comes onto the property, he's right there nuzzling the guy's hand.
Until next time.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Coyotes Yipping
Labels: LJ, Things You Don't See In The City
I was awakened this morning before my alarm clock went off with the yip-yip-yip-yodeling of coyotes nearby. Times like these make me VERY, VERY happy for my pack of dogs. What you say? They cost a lot to feed? Pshaw! $40 a month is nothing compared to the nice feeling of knowing they aren't going to dig their way into my property and try to kill all my chickens or young goats.
LJ sleeps in bed with me and he also woke up, head alert, ears perked. I've trained him to not bark while in the house, so muffled sounds were coming from his throat. He kept jerking his head back and forth, trying to get a better listen.
The sounds the coyotes make is just freaky. Even worse when you are outside, it can make shivers run down your spine and raise the hair on the back of your neck.
Finally we both got up and I let LJ out the front door so he could investigate with the girls. Soon the coyotes left and LJ was at the front door ready to come in.
I feel tired already.
I did put a roast in the crockpot so that we have a headstart on today's dinner.
Until next time.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
FlyLady Entryway
Labels: FlyLady
I worked today so I didn't have much time to devote to FlyLady, although I did spend 15 minutes like she asked, in my entryway. It already felt difficult to get motivated, but after eating dinner and sitting down for thirty minutes, I felt I could get up and tackle it. I didn't get a lot accomplished, but I did *do* something in that area for 15 minutes. Then I set the timer for 15 minutes more and cleaned the dinner dishes, and shined the sink.
I'm very tired tonight. I was almost falling asleep while driving home. Our steer broke loose and were running around our entire property. Ds2 got them to go back to their corral and secured the area they broke through.
This was when I just got home. I drove my truck over to park it where I usually do, to see that our Nubian buck was loose! Weirdness!
Until next time.
Challah Bread Sandwiches
Until next time.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Front Porch FlyLadied
Labels: Burst of Energy, FlyLady
So FlyLady said to go spend 15 minutes on your front porch. PUH.
Since we enter our home via our back porch and don't really have a front porch to speak of (only steps leading out), ds2 and I decided to tackle the front porch.
We finally started working on it this morning about 10:00am. We set the timer for 15 minutes, and we hadn't even made a dent. But now we were on a roll. Set the timer for another 15 minutes. Uh, little dent. 15 minutes more.
We are finally done at 2:00pm. Here are some before and after pictures.
We are SO PROUD of ourselves!!!
I'm going to put some things on my "to do" list for the porch. It isn't 100% decluttered, and I never did get around to wiping down the door. There are several panels on the porch which need to be replaced. Ds2 says he will do that at some point in time. Then I want to scrub the porch and paint it to protect it.
Do you see those giant clodhopper shoes in the last image? I have tripped over those SO many times. I am so happy they have a home now!!!
Until next time.
Happy New Year!
Labels: Burst of Energy, FlyLady, goats
Oooooohhhh... ouch. My stomach is burning. I just had a bean and chili burrito with salsa that the neighbor brought over last night. The salsa has red chili peppers in it, the dried little ones that are whole. Green onions and purple onions. Tomatoes, of course. Good stuff.
So I was just about to blog about the "projects" I had planned for today. Continue the gravitation from the sink area. I was going to clean under the sink and maybe try to clean off the pipes which are so ugly and grungy looking. Then I was going to tackle the counter on the right side of the oven. I also promised myself I'd clean a path in my bedroom so I don't have to almost fall and break my neck when I get out of bed in the middle of night.
But then I got a FlyLady email and she says to clean my front porch. Only in our case, the entryway is our back porch. Boy, does it need some attention! I did pick up some clothes that were on the floor by the washing machine that were covered with dirt and sand and washed them last night. But the porch needs a LOT of attention. The email said to spend only 15 minutes. I'm hoping ds2 will help me tackle this, since we'll get 30 minutes worth of work done if we both work for 15 minutes on it. It would sure be nice to sit outside on the couch like we used to be able to (can't now, it's really bad off). I should take before and after pictures...
I also really, really need to get hoof trims done. At very least, for my milkers. Hopefully I can persuade ds2 to help me with that, too. I also need to do the finances and get the mortgage check written.
Until next time.
