Water Everywhere, Yet Not A Drop To Drink....

Well, that is a bit of an exaggeration. :) We have been under a boil order for several days now. We are lucky enough to still have running water...people to the south of us have no running water at all. We are to conserve what we do have though, which we have been. Today they were getting the water main break fixed...and then there was the report that yet another main broke! May be be a loooong waterless weekend. :)

Makes one think though. We are fortunate that we have a well at the bottom of our driveway. I planted a few more tomato plants today and watered them in with water from that well since we need to conserve the tower water. Put put up a 16ft pool over Memorial Day weekend...filled it with well water. Last year we only watered the garden with well water. If we loose water all together we'll still be able to flush the toilet easily. That thing comes in handy!

I have been boiling a big pot of tap water in the morning and then using it in the evening to wash dishes. Honestly, it is a little exciting, this water situation- finding alternate ways to do things. Hubby has been coming home from work and going for a swim instead of a shower. One thing though, tea made with bottled water is not nearly as good as tea made with tap water!

Our anniversary is Monday...we are thinking of escaping from the kids and taking a weekend trip in alone. Hubby's birthday is Monday as well. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!! I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING AND I AM HAPPY TO BE YOUR WIFE!! THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU ARE AND ALL THAT YOU DO. YOU ARE THE BEST! :)

We moved the 9 Guinea babies (3 weeks old now) to the little coop today. So far so good. I have about 34 eggs in the incubator. Wow. We may have Keets coming out of our ears!

Really, things are just very content around here right now. :)

Speaking of Herbs...Wish I Had Some Comfrey AKA Knitbone!

My youngest daughter broke her index finger Friday! She's almost 6, and a daredevil at that, but it wasn't anything dare-devilish that led to the break. She was running laps in gym class, lost control of her feet, and hit the wall. Truth be told, at the time I was more worried about the lump on her noodle than I was about the hurt finger. I was on duty at the school and I iced both. Her head was fine. The next morning though, her finger was very swollen, painful, and bruised. So off to the ER. The middle bone in her finger is broken clean through. She has a plastic splint for the broken finger and it gets "buddy" wrapped to her middle finger. She isn't thrilled about the wrapping, but she is tolerating it well. She took a nice bath today and got to take it off for a bit. Afterword, she sat and watched a movie and kept her wrapped fingers on ice and elevated. She's a trooper!! :)

I was just thinking it would be nice to have had some Comfrey on hand to make a poultice. So far in my research, it seems to have many uses - treating breaks by encouraging healing is only one of them - so I think I may be growing it this year.

And in my 16+ years of being a parent...this is our first broken bone!

What Are the Most Useful Medicinal Herbs and Home Remedies?

I have a fascination with medicinal herbs and "old fashioned" remedies. To me, they just make so much sense. I'm a nurse, and I am not knocking modern day medicine by any means - I just think so much can and should be treated at home as simply as possible.

One of the things I would like to do is to replace some of the OTC medicines in my arsenal with herbs. And I'd like to grow those herbs!

Now, taking into account my strengths and weaknesses, I need to decide on some basics, do some planning, and start small. If not, I'll plant a billion herbs that cover EVERYTHING and will be overwhelmed and confused. I need to keep it simple. Believe me, I started a "wish" list of herb seeds from my Richters catalog and it is a LONG list! I need to narrow it down. I have to narrow it down. I MUST NARROW IT DOWN!!! :)

So I'd like to start small find herbs to cover the things we use most.

1. An herbal pain reliever/fever reducer. I think this is the one thing we use the most around here.

2. Something for coughs/chest congestion. Because we always end up with a cold or two each year.

3. Something that has antibacterial and antiviral properties - that can be used internally or externally. Some thing to treat external wounds, or colds internally.

I need them to be kid friendly too. I also need them to be able to grow in zone 5. Am I asking for too much?

So any ideas? Do you use medicinal herbs? What do you think the most important or useful medicinal herbs are? I'd love to hear what you think!!

PS We have applied for new insurance! It is a process though...so no news yet! And more to come...we are building another seed starting light! And I am gearing up to start seeds - planning, plotting, purchasing, and day dreaming for Spring! More on that later.

$17,000 a Year for Health Insurance? Are You Kidding Me?

Yesterday Hubby had his annual work meeting to go over health insurance and stuff. Mind you, he is currently not even working due to the weather.

Now, in 2008 our family plan for health insurance was $10,000 for the year. That is strictly health...no dental or vision so we pay for those things out of pocket.

Last year it jumped up 34%. Last year we paid $13,000 for health insurance for our family.

This year? He came home to tell me that it is going up 34% AGAIN and that for 2010 it will be *gasp* $17,000! Seven-teen-thousand-dollars. SEVENTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS! That is a hell of a lot of money. That is about 1/3 of his income.

Now, another thing...there have been no raises to go along with these increases.

And...since the winter months are especially unpredictable for work, they take the entire insurance premium out of his check from spring through fall over a period of 28 weeks. I'm not even going to do the math on that one as to what that means weekly or monthly over those 28 weeks.

Needless to say, we are looking into alternative companies to find something cheaper. We thought about doing that last year, but in the grand scheme of things, I didn't think 13K was that horrible or outrageous. 17K is a different story. Going up 34% every year is a different story. Where does it stop?

In the insurance company's defense, I will say that they are insuring a group of construction workers in a small company. A lot of them are older. I know there is one with cancer, one who has had a massive heart attack and surgeries. A lot of them are heavy drinkers and smokers.

And as a society we are in a health care crisis. Though we are in crisis in a lot of ways if you ask me. I suppose no one ever said it would be easy. Or cheap. I know the impact this has on us...and we are getting by OK, debt free, emergency fund in place. And it makes me wonder how others, who don't have those things, manage. What a mess indeed.

And speaking of mess...here is a little paper-towel-free update. One of the outdoor cats was inside yesterday and poo'ed on the floor. Gross!! Hubby cleaned it up with...with......one of my newly knitted kitchen dishcloths! Yes, I was appalled. Come on...use toilet paper...it was closer to the mess than the dishcloth. Use an old rag, the bag of them was closer too. But, no, he used...the dishcloth. And it was a runny kind of poo too. Is this a male vs female thing? Because I am pretty sure there isn't a woman alive who would use a kitchen dishcloth to clean up cat poop. Especially one she knitted herself. I wouldn't think it would be a man thing either...but I obviously got proved wrong already on that one. There is at least one man on earth who would. And I married him!

Oh my.

It's Budget Time! Toilet Paper...I'll Miss You!

I love paper products. I do! I love them. I love using them. I love stocking up on them. But I've decided we are going to try giving up paper towels and Kleenex. I was just kidding about the toilet paper. I'm not even going to go there! :)

We spend A LOT of money on disposable paper products. A lot. I am in budgeting mode at the moment. We aren't broke, but we have been very lax with our budget lately and hubby is not working as much due to the weather. So I have been thinking about how we are spending our money. We were more diligent about our budget while we were getting out of debt and saving for an emergency fund. Once those things were done, it was really easy to slack off and just float along and live. We really need to follow a budget all the time, not just when things get snug.

Paper towels...well, the one thing I was thinking I would really miss these for would be to clean up cat poo or puke. Yuck. I had contemplated keeping a roll on hand for that purpose, but I have decided that I can have old rags for this purpose that can just be tossed or burned, or toilet paper will work just fine for the cleanup. I bought a yard of gorgeous kitcheny thicker cotton fabric a couple of weeks ago and yesterday I made it into 4 tea towels. I want to make some more, but will probably go through my fabric stash before I buy anymore fabric. There will be a nice stash of those as well as my dish towels in the kitchen. But even going through a lot of kitchen towels a week isn't going to affect my laundry enough to matter. Toilet paper will also be the replacement for Kleenex. Toilet paper is so much cheaper! Savings....I'd estimate between $15 - $30 a month. Since I haven't been paying much attention to the budget, I'm not sure what we have been spending. All I know is we are out of paper towels and Kleenex every time I turn around and adding them to the shopping list!

Another budget friendly change is that when school starts back next week, my kids are packing their lunches. We can save at least $40 a month doing that. Hubby already takes his lunch to work.

I am also going to shop the store ads on Wednesdays and do my grocery shopping first thing Thursday mornings. I always make a weekly menu, yet it is always what sounds good instead of what is on sale. I have set a dollar amount and I am planning on using the envelope system with cash instead of the bank/debit card. While I love the card's convenience dearly, I think using actual cash will help me to stay on budget! I also plan to give some extra though to our menu and make cheaper changes when I can...like using dried beans instead of canned. I think the savings in this category will probably be substantial. By setting a budget and shopping the ads...I am guessing we will probably save an additional $25 - $50 per week.

Hubby and I also talked about cutting out little things. For example, last night he ran to the store with out youngest to get night night pants for her. In all of the holiday happenings, she ran out. But they also came back with Skittles and Sprite for her! Didn't need those! He has a much harder time saying no to her than I do. And it would be nice to get her out of the night night pants too!

So, these are phase one of spiffing up our budget! This all goes along with my last post about focusing. Our budget and money definitely need our attention. If we don't tell it where to go, we'll wonder where it went! :) Yes, we got out of debt. Yes, we have an emergency fund. But I'd really like to have an emergency fund for our emergency fund! Is that silly? The thought of using it really freaks me out. Really, it is odd...I look back to the days when we were in debt and had ZERO saved and the thought of an "emergency" (or an emergency fund) wasn't even on my radar. Maybe I am getting old! :)

Light Bulb Moments....

I love light bulb moments! And I love my friends because that is where I learn so many great things!

Today I was speaking to a friend and she told me how she handles Christmas presents for her children....

Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read.

Wow. You would have thought she had just told me the secrets of the universe, I was that excited inside! As I was wrapping my children's Christmas presents just now, her method was on my mind and I felt the need to take a break and blog about it.

I have a hard time not going Christmas crazy. As much as I wanted this year to be different, I got caught up. Again. I love my kids and love making them happy and there are just so many neat things to buy for them! Yet I also want them to grow up balanced. Since I find it very challenging to myself to stay balanced, you can imagine my quandary. And understand my failure!

A guideline such as the one my friend told me about sounds like it could be a wonderful solution to both keep me in check and to teach my children. Knowing my boundaries would help me to stay on track. Setting a budget along with it would really help! And the lessons for my kidlets...some of which could be less materialism, more focus on what they really want and enjoy and with less to take care of perhaps that could also mean more appreciation and taking better care of what they do have?

I also thought it would be nice to add a fifth category...Something to give. We need to work more on that too.

So, it is pretty much too late this year (unless I wanted to do a LOT of returning, which I don't!) but I am definitely going to be promoting this for next year. And maybe over the next year I can convince my kids that this is a GOOD thing! :)

Do you have a method to your Christmas gift giving madness, especially when it comes to your children? What do you think of this method? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Those Naughty Dirty, Dirty, Divas.....And Everything You Wanted To Know About Duck Eggs...

Or you can call this post "Yes, we have NO bananas". (If you have read the book 'Eat, Pray, Love' it just made that banana reference even funnier. Sorry, I'm in a good mood and thus my warped sense of humor shines through)

There is not a drake one in our flock. That is, not unless he does a VERY good job of female impersonation. No one has a darker head. No one has any curved tail feathers. No one has anything characteristic of a boy duckie. They all look just alike, even the one that sounds a little different. I know what you are thinking...but the pool surfing and the weird egg thing.....Yes, let me tell you what I have learned!!!!!

Over at The New Agrarian under the section of Raising Ducks: 4 - 5 months They reported this from their female duck experience....."More new behavior: when the ducks get into the pool first thing each morning, they hump each other. It seems to be the same ducks every day, but it doesn’t correspond to what we thought was the pecking order. It began just after we found the first eggs, and the ducks we believed to be laying first were the ones being humped, so our best guess is that the ducks who were less sexually mature were a bit confused by the new hormones in the flock. But the morning ritual continues now that everyone is laying, and so we really have no idea what is going on."

Humping....surfing....po-ta-to...po-tat-o. :) Apparently this is something that girly ducks do. They are ornery like that, you know. Why do they do it? I have no clue. Maybe I'll become the Duck Whisperer and we'll find out. Or maybe you are a Duck Whisperer and you can tell me?!?!?!

Eggs....Consider this your crash course on duck eggs. While I didn't get to see the egg that my hubby's friend thought was fertilized, I have seen two from ours that I think may be what they saw. Mink Hollow Farm has a great page about duck eggs. There I learned about Meat Spots.....

This is a meat spot. (Photos courtesy of Mink Hollow Farm)

This is a Meat Spot visible through candling.

So what is a meat spot? Mink Hollow Farm says that "Meat spots, while unappetising, are generally considered to be harmless. They are thought to be what's left of some tissue that has been sloughed off during or shortly after the yolk was released into the oviduct. The most likely explanation is that the meat spot is a piece of the follicle that once held a yolk. Sometimes a bit tears off. Another possibility is that a follicle that is no longer functional breaks down and 'falls off' from the ovary.Eggs containing meat spots are generally considered unsuitable for hatching. The meat spot can usually be easily removed."

So the presence of a Meat Spot does not mean an egg is fertile. I have begun candling all of our eggs to spot anything unusual and I have had two that contained a meat spot. I suspect this is what hubby's friend saw too.

Next egg fact...the Chalazae. Go here to hear that word spoken. I did, but I still can't say it right! The Chalazae is the white cloudy looking stuff. See it? Bottom left? Sometimes it looks like a tiny squiggly pig tail or a teeny tiny umbilical cord, which it pretty much is, and anchors the yolk. It is a normal part of an INFERTILE egg. It is perfectly natural and normal. It's presence also means your eggs are FRESH. As the egg ages, the Chalazae shrinks and becomes less noticeable. So they are really noticible in our eggs!

And the next egg one...you can almost barely see it in the picture above (top center of the yolk, not the bright camera flash spot on the bottom right) but our duck eggs tend to have a tiny noticeable light dot on the yolk. This is called the True Egg. For an egg to become fertile, it must be present, but it's presence does not indicate an egg is fertile. It is just a normal part of an egg and means it is a good egg.

Last but not least, the shells are thicker than a chicken egg shell, so you have to make sure you give them a good hard bonk on the side of your cast iron skillet.

So, there you have it. No boy ducks and lots of crazy egg info! I'm sure I have left something out that you are dying to know, so any questions? Ask away! :)

Oh, The Busy Life and Being Sick Do Not Mesh Well!!

The sun is shining today! That is a good thing. I have been fighting off the crud and now I have some weird thing going that I initially thought was my gallbladder but now I am thinking it is Costochondritis - which is an inflammation of the rib cartilage, probably related to the crud and coughing.

Yes, I SHOULD go to the Dr but, argh, I just don't want to! Stubborn and silly, I know. My husband told me to quit acting like I am 10 years old. :) LOL And I am the QUEEN of self diagnosis. Not that I am always right, you remember the recent ER trip that I thought was a massive heart attack that ended up being anxiety? Other than THAT one, I am usually right. And God love the Internet for self diagnosing! :) And I am such a total 'wait and see' type too. And then there is the long sordid story of insurance and everything where we live being out of area, having to drive two hours to get anything covered, blah blah blah blah blah. I am just not in the mood! I have things to do!

Thursday my sister is being induced to have the twin babies. Hooray!! :) Thank goodness I am off Thursday!!!!

This week and weekend is booked up with school home coming festivities - the parade, the football game, every day is a different theme for spirit week, and the homecoming dance Saturday which my oldest daughter is going to. My youngest daughter is on the dance team for the half-time show so she has practice this week.

Then the next weekend is my oldest daughter's sweet 16 party which I am in the process of planning.

I am trying to keep up! :)

Today I have been taking the time to go sit in the sun for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. All the latest research is talking about vitamin D deficiency and the impact it can have. And really, I DO feel better! I think there is something to that. Most of my "spare" time lately has been spent napping since I have been sick...the sun is doing me some good.

Oh, and my hubby is laid off this week. He was off last week too, but will be back to work next week! :) But since he has been around he is a lot of help and has saved the day with me not feeling well. He's a wonderful man.

We have been getting between 10 - 14 duck eggs per day. I have been giving a lot away, and I think I am going to try selling them. The guineas are great too...they love life in their new coop and they are getting so big!!

Alrighty, I am signing off for now. Back to your own busy life you go now! :) Thanks for stopping in and I am wishing you peace and happiness and HEALTH! :)

Help!!! I Need Some Parenting Advice......

Kids quitting activities is the subject. When my daughter wanted to quit soccer a couple of years ago, which she thought she would love, I had her finish out the season because she had made a commitment to her team and she never had to play it again. My 7th grade son wanted to play football, so he is, but after loving it at first, now he says he hates it and wants to quit. When I ask him why, he throws out some reasons like his uniform pants are too big (I can alter them!) or he doesn't know the plays (So study them!). The thing is, he tends to want to quit things. He plays the sax and wanted to quit it this year. I didn't let him and he hasn't complained about it at all. I did let him quit summer school because it wasn't necessary, I signed him up to keep him busy and he hated it so after a lot of thought, because I did not want to give him the impression that quitting is taken lightly, he didn't have to be there so I let him quit. When he wanted to quit the sax, he told his sister that I would let him quit because I let him quit summer school. Ugh!

So my thinking is that they haven't even had their first game yet. I think he should finish the season, which isn't very long and the middle school team he is on only has like four games. If he still hates it, he never has to play again but at least he gave it a full chance since he wanted to play in the first place. Then again, I hate for him to be miserable and waste time that he could be using for something else more fulfilling. But perhaps the underlying message, which would be to follow through on commitments, is more important. Then again, maybe I am thinking too seriously about this and over thinking. :) I also think that maybe hubby or I should talk to the coach.

So what do you all think? How do you or did you handle your kids wanting to quit something? What would you do in my shoes? And where is that darn Child's Owner Manual when you need it? :) Parenting is definitely the toughest job in the world. Yet also the most rewarding! :)

Time Marches On....

Hello everyone! I have been reading and enjoying all of your blogs, but not posting many comments or on my blog lately. School started which means I started my part-time nurse job at the school and I absolutely love, love, love it! I haven't worked outside of the home for a good 5+ years, and I thought it might be more of an adjustment, but really it has been smooth sailing! Hooray! :)

My sister...she is home on bed rest now, no babies yet! Hopefully she can hold off on labor for another couple of weeks. Every extra day in there is a good thing for the babies! Yet if she were to deliver now, I am confident they would be ok, but spend more time in the hospital. I took her a big scrap booking kit and that has helped her occupy the time some.

The weather has been gorgeous and cooler so I have been able to have the house opened up, which I adore! But it is supposed to warm up for the next few days, so I'll probably turn the AC back on until later in the week when it is supposed to be back in the 70's.

The Dirty Diva's are still doing grand! No eggs, yet. My hubby tried an experiment...he left their gate open while he was relatively close by to see if they would go out. They didn't. He said they'd go check it out because it was something new, but they never went out. Suspicious they are! Curious they are! Brave and smart, they are not. :) LOL But we love them! No Guineas yet, still. I still go back and forth about getting them.

We did some outside work this weekend, got the pool drained and put away for the season. It was bittersweet, I'll miss summer, but I love Fall and I am so excited for this fall and winter! Round about January & February I will be drooling for Spring and Summer.

Hubby made some 'burn your taste buds off' hot salsa this evening. I didn't even try it! I plan to make some mild in the next couple of days. Thanks for the tomatoes Mom & Dad! And I am looking forward to some apples too! Mmmmm...apple butter! :)

Life is just clicking along and time's marching on. 123 days until Christmas! :) LOL I hope to get back into the blogging groove soon!

Requesting Prayers.....

My sister went in for her regular check up yesterday, she is at 31 weeks with boy/girl twins, and found out she was dilated to three. They put her in the hospital with drugs to stop any contractions and also did a series of steroid shots to help the babies lungs with the hopes that she would be in for 24 hours and then go home on bed rest. Today when the Doctor checked her she is dilated a little more so they are transferring her to a larger hospital, just in case. Hopefully the babies will stay put for a few more weeks, if not they will all be in excellent hands at the new hospital.

Please keep her and the babies in your prayers! Thank you. :)

The Shack....

My last Guidepost had an article about the author of the book The Shack. Yesterday at Wal-Mart I picked up a copy of the book and read it between yesterday evening and this morning. I don't read like"normal" people, as my husband would say. In fact, we tried reading a book together over the winter, both of us had our own copies of The Oath - a book that I felt had enough spiritual significance and relationship stuff to keep my interest and enough manly stuff and sci-fi to to keep hubby's attention. A balanced book we'd both enjoy. We were going to read a chapter and discuss it, and then read some more, etc. Except I couldn't stop myself from reading the whole thing in a day or so, which frustrated him because I was so far ahead of him....and I was frustrated because I was ready to discuss and he was barely into the first chapter! Needless to say, that effort failed and he still hasn't finished the book. But he wants to finish it. And since then I have read dozens of books. We just weren't meant to read together. Or maybe we are and we're supposed to learn a lot through the very challenging process! :) LOL

Anyway, if you are looking for a fabulous book...let me recommend The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. I have to say that I truly LOVE this book and am already looking forward to reading it again! It is just THAT good. But first...I MUST PICKLE! :) LOL I have cukes in brine in the basement that had to ferment for 2 - 3 weeks. Today is the day that they will be canned and hopefully we will also can some regular dills (using a packet of Mrs. Wages dill spice stuff that I have never tried before but have high hopes for!) and maybe some peppers too.

Have a great day! :)

To Guinea or Not To Guinea. That is the question...

So I have it in my head that I really want Guinea keets. They are supposed to be relatively easy to care for and are awesome at tick and insect control, which we could really use around here. I think I have it in my head that we'll train them to stay in boundaries, which I have read can be done, and we'll train the dogs to leave them be so they can live fairly freely, which I think is attainable too.

And the hatchery we got the ducks from has a Guinea special going on right now, which would make them a tad bit cheaper. I think I'd like to get them now so they could be in full swing in the spring.

But still, something holds me back from placing that order. Do any of you have Guineas? I'd love to hear about your experiences.

And what do you think...should we do it?

Now, I Am Far, Far, Far From An Expert Gardener.....

But even I know that this.....

Is NOT Rosemary! But that is what grew in the pot that I planted the Rosemary. What the....?!?!?!

FLASHBOOM!!....Guess What Happened?

No, it wasn't fireworks! It was LIGHTNING! And Sunday it hit the tree in our front yard, while I was standing under the carport a mere 100 feet from it! All at once there was a giant FLASH and BOOM and the house shook and it happened so fast that I didn't realize what had happened until bark flew off the tree! My heart pounded. I was shaking. Wow.

I bought some tree wound stuff to paint on so hopefully the tree won't die. It also blew our modem, so it got replaced today.

And just a friendly little PSA reminder...stay away from trees during a thunderstorm.

I can't see the garden through the weeds. There are just too many and it is too big. I have started a "weed directly around the plants only" protocol to keep up the best we can. I also did resort to Chemical Warfare in The War Against Squash Bugs. Sevin dust.

We pickled a whopping 24 pints of peppers over the weekend.

And I am sure there is a lot more to update but I have have HAVE to get the wood floors waxed!

The Squash Bugs Must Die!

Happy Belated Independence Day! I hope you had a safe and happy one.

We spent the weekend camping at a lake like we do just about every year, with a big group of friends. Despite rain on and off, we had an absolutely wonderful time.

However, when we got home, I did a garden walk through and found that in the two days we were gone, the squash bugs went wild! There are eggs everywhere. Ugh. I picked a lot off and squished them, and found several adults and they met their demise as well. I also found some nymphs, baby squash bugs, which means some eggs have hatched. Those are the first babies I have seen, so I think I had been doing a decent job of keeping up with them up until now. There are some on the pumpkin vines now too.

Tomorrow morning the kids and I are going to do some major garden work. We have got to get things down in the garden caught up. There are peas and peppers to pick, potatoes to dig, weeds to pull, and THE SQUASH BUGS MUST DIE!!!!!!

Oh, one more thing...my mother in law got me a dutch oven for my b-day! It is gorgeous, blue enamel cast iron and she also gave me a matching blue cast iron trivet with it. I fell in love with it. It is gorgeous and I am excited to use it! If I can force myself to...it really is THAT gorgeous! I just want to stare at it and take in its beauty. Silly, I know. :)

Feeling Out of Whack.....

Summer is a double edge sword. I enjoy the lack of routine, yet the lack of routine also drives me insane at times. :)

We had a death in the family, so have been busy and have had a lot of family in town. Rest in peace GG Pop. We will miss you! We have also had some other family members in town who stayed with us. Always fun, yet chaotic!

Garden is growing, most things are doing wonderful, but the tomatoes look terrible. We had a ton of rain and I don't think they liked having their feet wet for so long. Maybe they will snap out of it. I have picked a few yummy cherry tomatoes. And have eaten a few sugar snap peas off the vine. Oh yum! :)

I dug some red potatoes for dinner last night and they were so delicious!

I am about to pick our first Zuchinnis. I have also been hand picking and squishing squash bugs and searching the leaves for their eggs and smashing them too. Other than that, no major garden bugs yet.

The ducks are doing wonderfully. We need to get their nest boxes built sometime in the next month.

I have been knitting. I made a trip to a Hobby Lobby and drooled all over the yarn isle. I bought yarn for gifts I am making for Christmas. I got one of the newborn hats done for my sister's twins-to-be and have started on a pair of matching booties. It kind of amazes me that I have acquired the needle and yarn stash that I have already! And I have so many projects going on at once. I am a "bouncer" though...I work best when I have a lot of irons in the fire instead of just doing one thing to completion and starting another.

I have been working on some organizing and cleaning out and getting rid of stuff. Where does all of this stuff come from? I think the Stuff Fairy must sneak in at night. I am filling up the back of the van to make a trip to the Goodwill for a drop off.

We are all healthy and happy and life is good. How are you and yours?

Who Wants To Talk About Christmas?

Me either, but I have this Dave Ramsey saying stuck in my head...Christmas is a Craft. That is, until you are out of debt anyhow. We are close, but not quite, and some things have come up in life that are postponing our debt free scream. If you listen to Dave on AM radio then that will make sense. If not, go listen and then it will make sense. Due to the delay I have the urge to scream other not so nice things. However, I will refrain and instead will focus on things that move us toward our goal.

(This is not my house...it is last Christmas Eve at hubby's moms)


The whole Christmas is a Craft thing brings up a few thoughts. Do people think you are cheap for making instead of buying? Or do they realize the value in a homemade/handmade gift? I certainly see the value, so I guess while this worries me a bit, it wouldn't stop me because it is something I would like to get. And what if they hate what I have made? Ok, I don't plan to make any of my nephews pink bunny suits. I do know I would do my best to make things they would use and enjoy and to make them of good quality. Actually, I have had an easier time coming up with a list of ideas to make for my loved ones than I ever have when thinking of what to buy them and the store! And odd things come up that would make good gifts...did you know my 12 year old son was surfing my Ravelry account and wants me to knit him a stuffed Yoda? Who ever would have guessed THAT one? :) And there are several things that one just cannot go wrong with. Like food gifts! :)

(Kids had fun building it and we all had fun eating it!)

So why am I talking about this when it is barely June? Because I am sure that handmade/homemade means more planning and time for creating. To do it this way is going to be a bit more involved than a last minute dash to the stores two days before Christmas! And I could really use some good frugal ideas! I have started a list over on the right of some ideas I have had so far. I would love to hear about handmade/homemade gifts you have given or received and what you do for Christmas of gift giving in general!

Uhhh....There Are Fungus Mushroom Thingies Growing In the Basement....

Ok, first I borrowed this picture from the net when I did a search to identify what in the heck the mushroom fungus thingies growing in our basement are. That is what ours looks like. I have never seen such a thing in my life! I have to say, I am grossed out. I decided we should tackle the basement chaos. When I say chaos, I am not exaggerating. It is a disaster area. There are generations of crap down there. Not mass quantities of crap, but what is there is rotting and rusting away. Now I am wishing we had started with the attic instead. Alright, I am headed back down there....if you never hear from me again, know it was probably the fungusy mold that got me. Or a spider. Lots of them down there too. Or maybe it was just a spider's web that got me...plenty of them that I can see myself getting twisted and trapped in forever.

I may have to take a bath in bleach tonight.

Oh, one more gross thing while I am thinking about it. When I dumped the Dirty Diva's pool water yesterday to clean it and refill...there was a dead bird lurking in the water. Gaaaarrrrooooosssseeeee!

I guess no one ever said farm life was pretty. :)

The Suspicious Minds Of Ducks....

The Dirty Divas are suspicious by nature. It's a duck thing. Or maybe it's a Diva thing.

Anyway, they were VERY suspicious when I replaced their little cut off mineral tub spas with a kiddie pool. They wouldn't even come out of the coop. They would come up the ramp, see the pool, and then go right back in. And repeat. Finally, they got brave and came outside. They'd eyeball it, then forage, and move a little closer, and forage and eyeball it some more, and forage some more, and move a bit closer. And over and over and over until they FINALLY went to check it out and poke and peck at it.

Now, you know I had this little duck fairytale in my head that they were going to just love the pool, know exactly what to do, and jump right in. Uhhhh...yeah. Didn't happen. There was a lot of neck straining trying to reach the water for a drink. I felt terrible! Poor things straining to get a drink...what kind of duck momma am I? I told hubby that the ducks is dumb. I know! That was not a nice thing for a mother to say about her ducklings at all!

But then, then they FINALLY figured it out! I was so happy. They love it!

Like the ramp I built with a plank and some fire wood?

Hey kids, while were in the van want me to tell you a story? Great!

Once upon a time, there was a slightly odd woman who got 16 ducklings and named them The Dirty Divas.....

Oh, no. Please. Not THIS story again....... :)