Chick, chick everywhere a chick!

The maternity ward is hopping today. I woke up to 3 guinea babies. I now have 10 on the ground and many many more popping open as we speak. The chickens and turkeys are opening too. I guess I make a good ole setting hen afterall!!

I'll keep ya posted!

It's just a labor of love!

OK Folks. This all got started 8 years ago, when I/we were much younger and had lots of energy! I thought I should explain that right up front because you should be able to tell that we have ran out of steam now. This remodel has been an adventure that's for sure. I have been aiming for a long time to try and post the before and after's and I kept putting it off til today. I guess I had blogger's block and couldn't think of anything interesting going on around here except the enormous buckets of ran that has been coming down til this morning when I hopped over to see Shandra at http://www.frontporches-sweet-tea.blogspot.com/ and saw her for & aft pics of her landscaping. OMG!!! They should have a hottub sitting on that deck to crawl in at night after all that hard work they have done too!!!!!!! Just take a peek at her yummy yummy veggie garden. I have veggie garden envy now!!!

May 2008 after.
May 2008 after with the new addition of my master suite that I love! Should be called "Queen's Suite"!!

This one was Mother's Day 2009 We are getting there!
(sorry but the pics below were scanned and I hope that you can click to enlarge them but if not please get a magnifying glass so you get the gist of the before's)

July 2001 I had some better before pics but I can't find them now. We had already started painting the window trim here, it was brown like the rest of the house. Notice all the trees!

Sept 2001 we were painting the navy blue with white trim that I loved until the navy paint started peeling in a couple years. Yuck!

Sept 2001's garden was the best ever, not planted til middle of June either. Guess it was all that shade ;-)

While I was gone to the grocery store my big timberjack decided that all my rotton-at-the-trunk-pine shade trees had to go.

What a pile of firewood we had that winter!

And this is what I came home to! A 45 foot pine thru the garage that ripped the deck down! (don't tell anyone but the deck/stairs haven't been replaced yet!!!!) honey where are you?

July 4th 2002

July 4th 2002. This is my precious grandson Colton standing in my GORGEOUS FLOWER GARDEN!!! I had a HUGE cookout that evening and my flowers have never looked better than they did that very day. Actually half of the flower bed got trashed when we put the foundation under the house, the rock on the foundation, the patios, the roof and the vinyl siding. I guess it was a good trade!

June 1978 (I think) before!

Nov 2006 after! I guess that happens when we eat like we did tonight. I made "The pot of chicken and dumplings that tasted just like his mother's" ........Yes that was in his own words!!! It only took 32 years of trial and error. Not bad for a beginner huh?

So now you understand why I am wore out all the time, why we are broke and why we never go anywhere fun. We have only spent time at Lowe's and Home Depot for the past 8 years. That's OK we always eat good!!!!!

I hope I haven't bored you guys to pieces with this incredibly long post!!

Becky

Great new old dishes!

Well he never ceases to surprise me! No not the way some men surprise their wives by bringing home gifts of great vintage items! But he surprises me often by the crazy things I can talk him into, such as yardsales even though he loathes yardsales. He is such a pushover sometimes.

Yes he did surprise me by stopping at this one but what really surprised me even more was the fact that "this" yardsale had such good stuff! You see I guess I just needed a Memorial Day yardsale fix and this was the only sale that I spotted and he was driving which it is remarkable that the truck had brakes at that time. This yard however was SO JUNKY/CREEPY but there was a slew of stuff sitting there and no other shoppers. I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted these. A great set of Pyrex Refridgerater Dishes that appear to be new. I also found 2 Princess House Fantasia Mugs to go with my 1000 +/- pieces for $0.50 each. The Pyrex set was $15.

I have already enjoyed using these for a variety of things. My mom had a set of red ones way back and I always thought they were really neat too. Why can't they make great items like these now a days? Well I guess it wouldn't be any fun to just go to the store and buy them brand new now would it?

just some of my new favorite things

This beautiful (picture doesn't do it justice) begonia from my dear daughter Leslie and her family for Mother's Day! Colton picked it out. He thought I would like it, does he know me or what???? I love it, Colton!!

Oh Baby Baby!! I have been on a search for months now for the perfect napkin rings to go with my new white ironstone.......that's right you all didn't know about my new white ironstone did ya?......anyway I found these cuties where else but ebay. Get this........$0.50 for all 6 of them! Yes that's fifty cents for all of them.........OMG HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!!!! They still had the tags on them but no price. I am sure they were more than the $0.08 that I paid for them! I just need 6 more!

Wel Deb at homespunliving had a new rosemary that she picked up for $2 at her grocery store and I just knew that I had to have one. I have been looking and looking and there it was yesterday at the produce stand where I got the Tenderette beans and new red bliss potatoes which by the way are the YUMMIEST EVER!!!!! It was $2.99. That's not bad for around here!!

*****

The cleaner isn't just for props.....hahaha.......it too is part of this post. You see I am not a good housekeeper.....understatement.....and I have a ton of allergies to lots of cleaners and detergents and other crazy things so I have been on a cleaner free kick for several years now......hence the dirty house!!! LOL!! No really I have been using my homemade cleaners, white vinegar, homemade laundry detergent and such for a long time and I am very very happy with them. I love the low cost, low odor and low stress of these products.

I am totally unsure how the Scrubbing Bubbles made it's way into my house but OMG THAT IS GOOD STUFF!!!! I can use it sparingly and I have no problem with allergies. My favorite thing that I use it for is around the toilets and shower next to the floor where all the grimmie yuckies are that usually involves dh's toothbrush to scrub it clean....hahaha.... jus kiddin' bought his toothbrush. The scrubbing action of those tiny little bubbles is great and all I have to do is wipe it clean with a damp cloth. I may not be as green as I thought I was because this is a keeper around here.

I will never give up my homemade washing detergent. I love it and LOVE making it. It smells up the whole house with that Ivory Soap smell and the house smells clean whether it is or not. I better get back to my CLEANING now. I just had to take a break and share these new faves with you. Maybe I am a very uninteresting person and need a life if all I have to blog about is Scrubbing Bubbles!!!! That's OK I love my life! I may have a very interesting birthday present/trip to be blogging about soon. All the details aren't worked out yet but if this works out it is surely going to be great!!!!

This has consumed an awful large amount of my time

Turning eggs!!! OMG how does a hen do it? I guess she gets a lot of rest in between turns! Note to self get an egg turner for the next batch!! I have 38 guinea eggs, 4 turkey eggs and the rest are chicken eggs for a total of 60. Hatch day should really be fun. The guinea eggs are to be turned 5 times a day and that keeps ya hopping!! They will be hatching at the end of the month.
This vintage glider was given to me a couple years ago and was in good shape but COVERED and I mean covered in rust. I worked so many hours on it last year with different techniques and lots of elbow grease to remove the rust and layers of old paint but I finally gave up on it. I decided that it was close enough, albeit still rough, for a coat of primer and then paint. So I did that this week. I am happy with the results and I hope it holds up rust free for a long long time.

I made the cushion today!

Oops a duplicate!! Good thing I like gliders! I have always" loved " gliders. I can't wait to have enough time to sit on the porch and relax. I did sit long enough today to break a mess of green beans that I got at the produce stand today. My neighbor saw me out there and stopped for a visit. Would you even believe me when I tell you that she had one just like it, only black , on the back of her truck today!!!! LOL!! She had just picked it up at an antique store. Guess she was envious of mine ;0)

*****

Like I said I made the cushion today. However my mind was not on sewing but on my friend Laura who was in surgery this afternoon. I could barely concentrate and had a total mind block trying to figure out how to cover this foam. I felt for a while like I had never sewn a stitch. I never really figured it out but it works. I am sure there is an easier way!!!!

*****

Laura made it thru her surgery OK and is back in her room. She was diagnosed with Stage III Ovarian Cancer and she will be starting chemo in a couple weeks. My heart goes out to her and her family.

Prayers needed

As you all know by now I just quit work. I worked for a nurse practitioner, Laura. She and I became very close friends and she is the one who hooked me up with the sewing of the dance dresses back in the winter.

Laura called me today and informed me that she just found out this morning that she has an ovarian tumor. She has an appointment with the gyn oncologist tomorrow. Please say a prayer for her. She is a wonderful person and she is a great NP and her patients love her so much as do I.

Thanks,

Becky

As promised - a look see around my garden!

Don't ya just love Snowballs!
My first water lily bloom of the year and it opened on Mother's Day!!

Looks pretty good from a distance. Don't get real close cause it's a jungle and something could come out and grab you! No really it could!

This is what we worked on yesterday. The pics don't do it justice. My dh is so good to me. It only took him about 3 or 4 years now to finish it.

Mother's Day gift about 10 or 11 years ago. The pergola that is. I have a New Dawn rose on either end and it looks lovely when they are in bloom. The pergola however is crumbling down now and the rose on left has completely died. There is a clematis on the left that is thriving well but the dead rose looks horrible. I am afraid to cut the dead one down because the rickety pergola will fall down. I am waiting until after the rose blooms to tear it down and let dh rebuild me another one ;-)

******

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Happy Mother's Day to me!!

I have to share a little about my day. You see dh was off today and he and Colton went turkey hunting early this morning. I got started in the garden cleaning around the garden pond which was looooooong overdue. When he came home he hit the sofa for a reaaaaaaly looooong nap!! OMG!!! I wanted help. I slammed the doors and made all the noise that I could and he wouldn't budge off the sofa except to roll his eyes at me. I finally just came inside and fell across the bed myself......if you can't beat em join em right?

In about 15 minutes he came looking for me and told me he finally got his nap out!!! Then he helped me in the garden. He finally, after 3 or 4 years, finished hauling the rocks to go around the water garden......YES...YES!!!! then we trimmed dead stuff and hauled several loads of mulch on the trailer behind the mower and placed it around my plants. The plants are looking great due to all the rain we have had. It looks so much better now!!! This however is only about 1/10th of the garden area. I am now inspired to hurry and get the rest of it done!!!

I did not get any pics today but I will surely get some tomorrow and post them. I have been sitting on my sofa and stareing out the window at the pond for almost an hour now. I love it!! That was a great Mother's Day present!

Better go now and turn my eggs in the incubater!! Story to come tomorrow!!

Now I really feel like a country girl!

I have had the most farmgirl morning today! I have been frugal and thrifty and I guess you could call it down right smart. Some folks would call it down right cheap or crazy I am sure.....hahaha!! What I am talking about is my "puttin' up" food today.

You see we have this fabulous grocery store with a really great meat dept. I am litterally in "hog heaven" in there!! I went yesterday and boy were they having a sale on most all of their meats which are priced well all the time. I bought a slew of family packs of chicken and pork chops and a whole pork shoulder to make my own sausage...tehhetehhe. Well I spent the morning puttering around my kitchen divideing the family packs out into servings for 2 and vacuum packing them with my Foodsaver. Let me tell you the Foodsavers are well worth the money! We are still eating corn from last year that tastes just like fresh from the garden....yummy.

I purchased a meat grinder attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer a while back to grind a meat goat for the freezer. Which by the way is DELICIOUS. I thought it would be great and frugal to make my own sausage because we were both raised on hogs that we butchered ourselves and we really miss it. (I have been trying to talk dh into letting me get a pig and he won't hear of it cause of his high cholesterol. oops! I forgot about that honey....)

So any way I cut up the shoulder and made 6 pounds of fresh homemade sausage!!! Wow that was fun! I felt so country girlish doing all this womans work and saving money! I figured it out that I had about 16 meals for around $1.25 each for the 2 of us. That's pretty frugal huh? And to have so much fun doing it. The whole time I was thinking about how fortunate I am to have such a sustainable setup here on our little ponderosa. Strawberries are about to come in, if we can keep the goats out of them. The said goat above that is in the freezer got them last year!! We have a wonderful blueberry crop that I was pondering over too!!!

..........

Just as I was sealing the last of the packs of meat a glanced out of the kitchen window to see some action in the blueberry patch.......all I saw were ears 4 really long ears. What? What? What is it? OMG the 2 dairy goats= 4 big ears!!! They were happier doing this than I was in the kitchen for sure. I went outside and they came running as if they were hungry hahaha they were stuffed to the brim. They are both very pregnant and getting huge anyway but the probably have another 20 lbs on them now. I really hope they didn't get into anything that will hurt them.

...........

Did I mention that a goat got in the strawberries last year? Well I did not check the strawberries yet. OMG I will be freezing goat this afternoon if the berries are gone!!!!!!! They apparently had been out all morning because there are little nanny berries everywhere but I forgot about the strawberries........I gotta go now and check the patch.........

Update: 5:38 PM -- The goats are safe in their pasture because the strawberries went untouched!!! The goats however really made their rounds this morning whilst I was oblivious to their little romp. I saw foot prints and droppings everywhere except the garden, well a few in the edge of the garden. I guess they turned around and started munching on the blueberry bushes and I spotted them soon enough that no damage was done there either! WHEW!!!

DH and I mowed our hayfield looking yard this afternoon. It was knee high because of all the rain we have been getting. It really needed to be baled afterwards!! No wonder the goats were so happy today, they had plenty to eat!!!!

What to do? What to do?

I am spinning my wheels it seems. I have all this time on my hands and it doesn't seem like I am getting anything done. I get up in the morning, early, and I don't even know which way to go because there is sooooooo much to be done. WHEW!! What a dilema right?

My last day at work was Thursday and Friday I tried to kill myself!! I mean I really did! I got up at 6:30 and didn't turn on the computer or TV, only the radio and I started cleaning my kitchen. I cleaned it from head to toe. It was truely sanitized when I was finished. I had been at work in the Dr's office with the first week of the swine flu scare and we had a really nasty virus going around so I guess I had that in mind when I cleaned so darned good. No cooties in my kitchen or my bathrooms or laundry room by nightime!!!! I thought I would just kill over with the pain of true fatigue and muscle aches. Couldn't do another darned thing all weekend long!!! LOL!

Maybe I am too old to be a stay at homer anymore. Yesterday I had a semi-dry day and I painted the inside of the barn white. Yes the dairy barn is mine and the dairy goat girlies like shabby chic too!!! It is so bright and fresh looking now. It however wore me out again. I could hardly sleep last night. It rained all night and day today and I thought it was the damp weather working my old tired muscles but as of around 6 pm it hit me that I am coming down with something......probably the horrible virus that was at the office last week. Bummer!! Maybe it will be over before the weekend when the sun is supposed to shine again. I have a hayfield to mow and bale in my yard and lots more garden to get planted and many more projects to get to.

I know we need the rain but boy are we getting it this spring!!!