Knitted Babe, Tree Frog, Pickle Jars, Sun Tea, (and a Picture of Me!)...

This is the first tree frog I have seen this year! And he was hanging out on our picture window which made for an interesting picture...can you see him? If you click on the pictures they will enlarge.

I saw sun tea jars at the store the other day. I was tempted to buy a couple because we LOVE making sun tea! But really, we are pinching pennies and squeezing George til he screams (don't we sound mean? LOL) and on top of that, I have never had good luck with them because the spicket part always ends up leaking. And they do require more cleaning to keep the spicket and lid crevices clean. So I thought I'd come up with something at home and "make do". Let me tell you, it was fun to be creative and the pride for my accomplishment was much more satisfying! Not to mention money saved. I remembered I had saved these giant pickle jars, which turned out to be the perfect size for sun tea jars. The only problem was that I haven't found an effective way to get the lids to stop smelling like pickles, so using them was out. I didn't want to use plastic wrap because of the chemicals and waste. So I thought 'reusable' and sewed the edges of two small squares out of left over material scraps. I tied them up with some cotton yarn to keep them in place while outside and ta da! They work wonderfully! They are easy to pour from and are easy to clean. And they are pretty to look at sitting on the deck too - bright, cheap, and cheery.

I got my first knitted babe done and my daughter loves her! She named her Cassi after one of her sister's friends. I have three more to make at least...one for my other daughter and for two of my nieces for their b-days. I will probably make a couple for Christmas gifts too, I know a couple of more girls who would love them. I sewed her a little pair of undies and a quick dress out of fabric scraps. I still want to add more hair underneath the hair that is there, but my little one was anxious to love on her so she is good enough for now. And she drags her EVERYWHERE! And she buckles her in when she goes in the van with us. I just realized something so I have edited this to add that if you click on the picture of the doll sitting on the shelf, to her left is a picture of me with my husband! Since I have never posted a picture of myself, I thought that might get you all excited. ;) LOL The picture frame says "It's not the destination, it's the journey." I love that frame.

The Dirty Divas are doing great! The are growing fast and are loving their new home and yard. Herding ducks is not an easy task but it is funny....it took three of us forever to get them to go up their ramp! They are so neat because they move as a flock - so they'd go back and forth past the ramp then under it, and repeat. A time or two we have just give up and caught them and put them in...it was easier that way! Last night we went out late to put them to bed and they were already inside on their own. The nights we herded them it was earlier in the evening and we wanted to get them put up. I think we'll just let them put themselves to bed and then go close them in. We have been getting a lot of rain and they enjoy it. I am ready for things to dry out so I can get in the garden. And I am ready for some sunshine! These grey rainy days make me tired.

The Duck House is Done and The Dirty Diva's Have Moved In! (lots of pics)

This is the duck house and the junk out front on the left is the stuff I cleaned out of the two rooms we are using for now.





















This is my little helper dragging the hoe for me so that I could dig a little trench by the water pump to put rocks in to hopefully minimize a huge water mess.

This is the water pump. Thank goodness it is there! It would be a major pain to water the ducks if it wasn't! I didn't take a picture of the finished room, but I dug the hole, put the rock in, and laid straw over the rest of the floor. It looks great!

Uhhh...where did my helper go? Oh! There she is!



Can you see her now?




How about now?

We all love that creek.


Ok, so while she played, I worked. This is the cement pad in the area where the duck yard will be. I was thrilled it was there, it is a great place to put the swimming water to help keep down the mess they will make.





And the finished product. This is the yard area from a distance. BEFORE....

And AFTER....

Didn't my totally awesome and talented husband do a fantastic job? Thank you honey!! I love you!

We decided to fence and then electric fence around the fence. Can't be too safe with dogs, cats and coyotes around. The fencing and electric fence were all things that were already around so we didn't have to spend any money. Hooray for that because we have none to spend! :) LOL

The Dirty Diva's enjoying their new yard....

If you look very very close you will see that they are getting their tail feathers!!
And their new ramp to go in and out....

Wait a second...something is just not quite right about this duck....

(That there is farm fasion at its finest! :) LOL)

And here they are enjoying their swimming water. We'll probably give them an old kiddie pool that we have stashed when they get bigger. For now they are happy with these.

A view in their kitchen/living room/bedroom inside the house....

In other news, we have been having severe thunderstorms. Right now we are in a tornado watch. Since it was time for the seedlings to be out of the greenhouse, we moved them to boxes and put them on the deck so we could keep them outside until we plant, but that would also make it easy for us to bring them in when it storms. We put the greenhouse under the carport to keep it from getting torn up. It'll get stored until we need it again. Here are the seedlings earlier this evening.....

And as I was typing this the wind kicked up something fierce so they are in for the night. They'll be pleanty of time for them to get pounded by storms once they arein the garden. ;)

Ok, I have got to get some sleep! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

What Do I Know About Ducklings? What Should I Name My Flock?

Well, I am learning fast, that is for sure! We have had them for a full week now and this is what I know....

1. They poop A LOT!

2. They drink A LOT of water!

3. Between the pooping A LOT and A LOT of water mess they stink A LOT!

4. They grow FAST!

5. They are very sweet.

6. If you hold them near your ear they will nibble your earrings.

7. They have toe nails. Uhhh...flipper nails? Paddle nails? They don't really scratch but you can see and feel them. I had no clue!

8. If you have them in a cardboard box, their water mess will soak through it no matter how much bedding you use or what you do.

9. They enjoy field trips to visit preschool classes.

10. They are tolorant of being held, squeezed, poked, prodded, and dropped by thirteen 4 & 5 year olds. Well, at least 4 of them are anyway because that was all I could fit in the "nest box" that all 16 of them were mailed to us in. See #4 above.

11. If you brood them in the house to start, you will very soon be begging your husband to get the coop ready to get them out of the house!

12. They are really fun to watch.

13. If you stick them in the bathtub, the first thing they do is poop. Then they bathe themselves and they then get really daring and swim all around and dive under the water and swim!

14. When you reach into the box to get one, they all run to the other side of the box. When you go to the other side, they all run back. And repeat.

15. If you don't mind the poop and water mess, I think they are one of the neatest farm animals around.

16. We have NOT been pooped on. That is a plus!

17. Did I mention they poop...A LOT?

18. And did I mention they poop A WHOLE LOT? ;)

I am looking forward to getting their permanant home finished up in the next few days and getting them settled in and out of the house. And I am looking forward to seeing them continue to grow and hopefully begin laying eggs this fall.

So, what to name this flock of ladies? I am open to suggestions! So far I refer to them as either The Girls or The Dirty Girls. :) Mostly the latter. Then I thought about The Dirty Dozen Plus Four. Or The Dirty Duckie Divas. I am pretty sure whatever they are named the word dirty just has to be in the title. Maybe I should do a poll.

I am by no means a duck expert, but if you have any questions about how we are doing things, ask! :)

*Updated* Introducing Our (Unexpected) Bottle Calf.....

Darn it. I am updating to add that when I went out to check on the little guy just a bit ago, he had passed away. :( Such is life...but it sure sucks.

His momma is old and my FIL didn't even think she had been bred. Surprise! She's not doing so well and she had no milk. My hubby decided we should give it a go with this baby. He's small. He's weak. He's not a very good eater, but he is eating. So send him some prayers, if you are the praying type! If you're not, just wish him luck! We haven't named him yet.

In other news, the ducklings are doing excellent and they are growing so fast! I will post pictures again soon andf all of the things I have learned about ducks so far.

I am now on Ravelry and I am knitting these....

Thanks to Mrs. S for loaning me this book! :) My 15 year old daughter wants one of these dolls too. Actually, she wants hers first, before my 5 year old. :) LOL Sibling rivalry or something? I am having an absolutely terrible time trying to figure out how to Increase. Other than that, I am enjoying working on them.

We got our potatoes in the ground Friday. Yippie!

Anyway, it is a busy Monday, so I am outta here. :) I hope you have a Happy Monday!!

Might As Well Face It...She's Addicted To Mud.....

Ummm. Yeah. I think the pictures say it all.

The Greenhouse....

I have been hardening off the seedlings from the house to the greenhouse. The Captain added some shelves - he is da bomb you know. ;) The only thing better than this greenhouse would be a BIGGER one! :) LOL Oh dear, we have actually talked about turning the old hog barn into a greenhouse...it would be HUGE!!!! Anyway, I plan to leave them in there until it is time to harden them to outdoors. I keep the door propped open to vent. So far it is working out really well. I would like to eventually add some type of a small light to leave on at night to provide some warmth...it has been cold enough at night that I was afraid to risk it. But it is supposed to be in the 40's for the overnight lows, so I think they'll be just fine now. I also plan to go ahead and start a few more things in the greenhouse. I hope it all works! The trial and error part is exciting to an extent....I really don't want to kill my plants! :) Oh, also, when they are in the house I have been putting a fan on them on oscillate in hopes that it is toughening them up.

And a funny... Hubby had forgot to close the wood stove door all the way (it was vented to get the fire going) and it got really hot in that room. The Moon Flower got hot and started wilting! I moved it to another room and watered it well. I came to check on it and it was all perked up again so I was talking to the plant. I commented to hubby that plants like it when you talk to them. He tells me it is because they like the carbon dioxide in my breath. Why does he have to be so darn technical all the time and burst my love bubble? I thought they liked the sweet nothings and encouragement I whispered into their little leaf ears. Humph. (Honey, since I know you read this, I wouldn't change your technical thinking one bit. I have learned a lot from you! Ok, so maybe they like the carbon dioxide too, but I am convinced that they also like the sound of my voice and the sweet nothings and encouraging words the most! LOL :)

What do you have started and how is it doing? Any greenhouse wisdom to share?

The Ducklings Are Here!!!

We got the call this morning from the post office....come pick up your box of peeps! :)

Andy puppy was excited to eat....I mean MEET them....

And just like any newborn when they get tired, they pass out! I thought we killed them because they would just kind of drop! Nope, they are ok. Just tired babies. Now I will be doing middle of the night "breathing checks" on 16 tiny ducklings....

And like other newborns, they love food! They caught right on to eating and drinking. And they LOVE water!

My youngest daughter has already named three of them. I have no clue how she will ever tell them apart....

But one thing is for sure....it is DEFINITELY love.....

Wishing You a Happy Easter!

Not much time to post right now. I hope for things to settle down a bit next week and play "catch up". I have so many exciting things to share! Until then...

May you and yours have a Blessed Easter! :)

What's in Your Crockpot?

This week my crockpots are my absolute most bestest wonderful friends! I have a deadline to meet which means I am spending a lot of time working toward that goal. However, life must go on, and my family must eat! :)

I discovered this wonderful blog not too long ago, A Year of Crockpotting , so in preparation for this week I researched recipes and made sure the ingredients were bought and ready. It has made life a whole lot easier this week for me, and the hubby and kids are loving the new recipes!

I don't have time right now to tell you the ones I have tried, deadline and all, but I wanted to do a quick check in and tell you that if you are in need of some time saving yummy recipes to use in that magical kitchen tool the crockpot, check out that blog!

And have a great day! :)

Extra! Extra! Read All About It! STEVIA SPROUTED!!!

Oh my gosh, I am so excited! This morning hubby and I were talking and he asked me how long it takes the Stevia to sprout. I told him I was not really sure and then I went to check on it. THERE ARE TEENY TINY SPROUTS!!! Too small for my crappy camera to capture, but man, are they cuties! That means so far my Stevia set up is a success! Hooray!!! And today is Monday...I just planted them Saturday afternoon....that was fast!

How I did it so far, if you are wanting to try it....

Soaked the seed starting mix really good with water. Laid seeds on top, did not cover them with mix at all. Did not water from top at all after seeds were laid, only from bottom. Sat container on heat pad. Covered container with plastic (actually press n seal because I was out of saran wrap). Used a small lamp with a CFL bulb to provide light non-stop, 24 hours a day.

That is it so far. I am just thrilled it worked! My packet was only 10 seeds and I sprinkled them all in this one container. I will wait and see how many sprout and when they are bigger move to other containers. I think I will also pick up another packet to start. Stevia can be grown as a house plant, so I want some to keep indoors too. For now I plan on leaving the cover and heat on for a couple more days, but I will monitor them and play it by ear. I'll post pictures when they get a little bigger.

Happy Monday! :)

I'll Be Drooling in My Sleep.....

because I have both crock pots going and my house is going to smell so nummy! One crockpot has quartered potatoes and onions topped with cooked breakfast sausage for the kids for breakfast in the morning. Yummy! The other has a big pork roast in it to make pulled BBQ pork for dinner tomorrow night. I made four loaves of homemade bread today, but I am thinking I will make some homemade onion rolls tomorrow afternoon to eat it on.

Oh man, I will surely have sweet dreams! :) And a wet pillow from the drool! haha

We had homemade cheesy potato bacon soup for dinner tonight. Not my favorite only because it is so rich flavored, but the family absolutely loves it.

It was a rainy cold day today. We are supposed to have a hard freeze tonight and tomorrow night. I was reading online to figure out if I need to cover anything up. I came across an article that says if you have rain before the freeze that is a GOOD thing because a freeze pulls water from the plants and damages them. It said if you haven't had rain then to water before the freeze and it will protect the plants. For siome reason that seems so counter-intuitive. We had rain all day, so if all that is true then I think we'll be ok. The only things I am worried about are the strawberry plants and the raspberries. I may run out and cover the raspberries. Maybe the strawberries too, just in case. Ok, honestly I won't run out there, I'll ask my hubby to do it. :) He gets the crappy jobs...like running out in the rain to cover plants, de-skunking the dog.....you get the idea...but he LIKES those jobs! And thank God for that! He called me today while he was cutting fire wood and said "If you want a good manly picture of me, come down here because the splitter isn't working so I am splitting wood by hand." :) LOL

Laundry and housework are all caught up for the week, which is why I LOVE Sunday nights....I feel so on top of things.

Have a goodnight!

Seedling Update and Stevia Starting....

Seedlingville....has spread to several rooms now because I am running out of window space. We were going to get the greenhouse put where we want it and move things in today, but we are in for a hard freeze over the next few days, so they will be living inside a while longer. And let me ask you this, because hardening off really scares me! I am thinking that they will need to be hardened to even get use to the greenhouse. What do you think? A few hours a day in the greenhouse and build up to fulltime until planting? Or would they be ok to just leave in there fulltime straight from the house and then hardened off from the greenhouse? Do they even have to be hardened from the greenhouse? Help! I have no clue!

Tomatoes and onions...


More Tomatoes and Peppers...

Another of Tomatoes and Peppers....Plus the tall things with sticks are Moon Flowers - they are vining up the sticks already!

The cut off milk jugs each have 4 plants in them.

I started the Stevia seeds today. And this is my set up...

They seem to be a pain to start - packet said keep them warm, moist and watered from the bottom, covered, and under light for 24 hours a day until they sprout! Once they sprout the cover can come off, the heat pad can go bye-bye, and the light can be reduced to 14 hours per day.

What do you think? Will it work? Stay tuned......