Today I drove 7 1/2 hours round trip to go to a friend's birthday party at Lake Norman, NC. Nancy turns 60 this week. She and I have been friends for around 12 years, give or take. She's part of my dinner group (10 women) in NC for which I drive to every other month or 2 or 3.
We surprised her and she was so happy. It's fun seeing someone enjoy their birthday so much. I don't understand people who hate birthdays. Anyway, her happiness was contagious and we all had a wonderful time laughing and talking. We talked about how long we'd be doing this together. I can definitely see the affects age is having on all of us in this group and I wonder when a serious illness will change the tone of our group. It will be tough. In 12 years it's been pretty smooth sailing for most of us.
After brunch I went to visit some other long-time friends who also live on the lake. We've been friends for at least 14 years, a treasured friendship, for sure. They were just here a week ago but we will never run out of things to say. I visited with them for a few hours then drove home feeling very relaxed and happy.
I don't have any friends from childhood that I keep in touch with regularly anymore which is kind of sad. Facebook has put me back in touch with some of them but it's not the same as visiting in person. Age, or I'd like to call it maturity, has changed my view of friendships, new and old, but especially the old. My one friend who I visited with today once said, while the olympics were being aired on TV, that we have 3 kinds of friends, gold, silver and bronze ones. All are important, but a person can only have a few gold medal friends and I need to hold mine dear and be proud of those friendships like a medal, because being a gold medal friend is worth the hard work of staying in touch and not taking them for granted.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Hi, my name is Karen Pannabecker and I'm an Apple Cider Vinegar and Honey Addict
There, I've admitted it. I have to have a glass of very warm water with 1 Tbl. of undistilled vinegar and 1Tbl. of honey twice a day. I forget exactly how this all came about but I googled the health benefits of apple cider vinegar and read all kinds of fascinating things. Here's a website I found full of all kinds of neat stuff http://www.buzzle.com/articles/health-benefits-apple-cider-vinegar.html
I've been drinking this concoction for 3 or 4 months and have lost 8 or 9 pounds. I don't really think I've changed my diet all that much and I haven't been walking or doing any aerobic exercise. I do get lots of other exercise but that's not anything really new so I can only chalk it up to the ACV and honey. In addition to enjoying my loose waistbands, I'm actually enjoying the drink itself. I think I'm addicted.
I'll let you know if I've experienced any other benefits as time goes on. James is hoping it lowers his cholesterol. Maybe he'll have it tested again soon and see if it has helped.
Cheers
I just came back to edit this post because I remembered something else that I think my new favorite drink (one of my favorite drinks) has helped. I used to get terrible stomach pains often when I ate red meat. Not anymore. I've had red meat several times in the past 4 months and have felt just fine afterwards. The real test will be if I can eat broccoli. Haven't tried that yet.
I've been drinking this concoction for 3 or 4 months and have lost 8 or 9 pounds. I don't really think I've changed my diet all that much and I haven't been walking or doing any aerobic exercise. I do get lots of other exercise but that's not anything really new so I can only chalk it up to the ACV and honey. In addition to enjoying my loose waistbands, I'm actually enjoying the drink itself. I think I'm addicted.
I'll let you know if I've experienced any other benefits as time goes on. James is hoping it lowers his cholesterol. Maybe he'll have it tested again soon and see if it has helped.
Cheers
I just came back to edit this post because I remembered something else that I think my new favorite drink (one of my favorite drinks) has helped. I used to get terrible stomach pains often when I ate red meat. Not anymore. I've had red meat several times in the past 4 months and have felt just fine afterwards. The real test will be if I can eat broccoli. Haven't tried that yet.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Update on the chickens
Before I got my chickens I studied up on the internet. I read all kinds of information on the Backyard Chicken forum website. It was important to me that the chickens stay in their fence so my dogs or other predators wouldn't get them. I read that a foot feet high fence usually does the trick but some people's chickens escaped. I thought 4 feet would be fine. I was wrong. I didn't have just a few of them escaping. They all did. At first it wasn't a big problem because their smaller fence is within a larger fence and often they'd just be wandering around the goat's fence. It wasn't long though till they flew out of the bigger one too. One night we didn't get home till after dark and when I went to close up their pen and make sure they were in bed, I found 4 of them perched on the goat's gate and one missing altogether. We looked around with a flashlight but couldn't find her. I got up early the next morning and found her perched on a 2X4 of the new barn. She flew down and I had to catch her and put her back in the fence because she couldn't find her way back in.
We decided it was time to clip one of their wings. We had friends visiting this weekend so they helped. James and Mike chased and caught the chickens and I did the clipping. I wish I thought earlier to get the camera because watching them catch 11 chickens would have been a great video. I've told you my chickens aren't too smart but they outsmarted James and Mike several times. It was a sight to be seen. Four hours later there were 5 chickens walking in our driveway. Ugh! We cut their wings shorter. As of yesterday there have been no more escapees but I'm not holding my breath.
We'll have to do this regularly because they molt and grow back their flight feathers. We're still having fun with them.
I'm downloading a video right now of James catching one of the chickens and me clipping it's wings. It's not near as funny as when they caught the chickens the first time but you'll get a picture of how hard it is to catch a chicken. It takes about an hour to download so if the video isn't on here check back later.
We decided it was time to clip one of their wings. We had friends visiting this weekend so they helped. James and Mike chased and caught the chickens and I did the clipping. I wish I thought earlier to get the camera because watching them catch 11 chickens would have been a great video. I've told you my chickens aren't too smart but they outsmarted James and Mike several times. It was a sight to be seen. Four hours later there were 5 chickens walking in our driveway. Ugh! We cut their wings shorter. As of yesterday there have been no more escapees but I'm not holding my breath.
We'll have to do this regularly because they molt and grow back their flight feathers. We're still having fun with them.
I'm downloading a video right now of James catching one of the chickens and me clipping it's wings. It's not near as funny as when they caught the chickens the first time but you'll get a picture of how hard it is to catch a chicken. It takes about an hour to download so if the video isn't on here check back later.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Spouses working together
People always tell you you shouldn't work with your spouse. You know, things like painting or building, etc. I understand why they say that because we're usually less patient with the ones we love. Fortunately for me, James and I work pretty well together. Don't get me wrong, we have our moments, but on the whole things go pretty smoothly. For instance, building this barn has presented some pretty stressful moments, but we both know when to shut our mouths and move on, knowing that we both need each other's help and we both have about the same amount of building experience. Also, we've built so many things together that we know how the other one works to some extent. It's really good to have 2 brains working on the same project.
Last week we spent 3 days building the rafters. This was new to both of us. We both had our jobs and let the other do theirs. I can't remember how many rafters there are but somewhere around 12. You would have thought that by the time we reached number 6 we'd have it down pat. Well, on our last day I was working on rafter number 9 or 10 and I completely forgot how to draw the angles for the birdsmouth cut. I stood there for probably 5 or 10 minutes staring and my carpenter's square and 2X6, moving things this way and that. Finally James brought me my coffee and after a few swallows I figured it out again. It was a little crazy.
Today we got the last of the hard stuff done I think. Maybe the metal roof will be difficult, I don't know. I'm looking forward to laying the floor, hanging siding and building doors and windows. The most fun, I think, will be designing the floor plan for the goats, ie. pens, milking and feeding stations. There's no way I could have done this by myself.
Last week we spent 3 days building the rafters. This was new to both of us. We both had our jobs and let the other do theirs. I can't remember how many rafters there are but somewhere around 12. You would have thought that by the time we reached number 6 we'd have it down pat. Well, on our last day I was working on rafter number 9 or 10 and I completely forgot how to draw the angles for the birdsmouth cut. I stood there for probably 5 or 10 minutes staring and my carpenter's square and 2X6, moving things this way and that. Finally James brought me my coffee and after a few swallows I figured it out again. It was a little crazy.
Today we got the last of the hard stuff done I think. Maybe the metal roof will be difficult, I don't know. I'm looking forward to laying the floor, hanging siding and building doors and windows. The most fun, I think, will be designing the floor plan for the goats, ie. pens, milking and feeding stations. There's no way I could have done this by myself.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Blog Page- Rooster
I've been awake since 3AM and finally I decided to get up a little before 5:00 instead of lying there watching the clock. What else is there to do at 5AM when it's raining out but get on my computer? I discovered new ways to add more gadgets to my blog so that's what I did. You can now see what time it is (EST, of course), listen to Regina Spector sing, search youtube, and check the weather, all from my blog. There were thousands of gadgets I could add. Very cool. They appear on the right side of the page under the picture of holey jeans.
It's pouring right now and over the sound of the rain I can hear my rooster crowing. He just found his vocal chords 3 days ago and it's hillarious. He's getting so much better at cockadoodledooing. At first it wasn't quite right but we knew what he was trying to do. I just love hearing him. I don't have to worry about neighbors complaining of the noise since 2 other neighbors already have roosters. I need to post a picture of him on here soon because he's getting really pretty. Maybe I can video him crowing so you can enjoy it too. I'm thinking I should name him. Right now we call him Rooster. Does anyone have any suggestions for a name? He's an Australorp, black in color with hints of shiny blue and green.
It's pouring right now and over the sound of the rain I can hear my rooster crowing. He just found his vocal chords 3 days ago and it's hillarious. He's getting so much better at cockadoodledooing. At first it wasn't quite right but we knew what he was trying to do. I just love hearing him. I don't have to worry about neighbors complaining of the noise since 2 other neighbors already have roosters. I need to post a picture of him on here soon because he's getting really pretty. Maybe I can video him crowing so you can enjoy it too. I'm thinking I should name him. Right now we call him Rooster. Does anyone have any suggestions for a name? He's an Australorp, black in color with hints of shiny blue and green.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Proud of us
I really stink at math. When I build I kind of make up a plan in my head and make things up as I go. I'd make a horrible architect or engineer. James likes to draw things out and make a plan. I understand that but it never really goes exactly as you plan anyway so I don't waste my time.
Today we began building rafters for the barn. It didn't seem like it should be all that hard. We picked a height for the front of it and then chose a pitch that would shed snow and rain pretty easily. The thing I didn't know was how to figure out what the pitch was. It turned out being 2;9, or however you write that. It means it has a 2 foot rise for every 9 feet in length. James figured that out by adding this and that and taking the square root of something. I didn't take the time to ask how he came up with it because I didn't need to know since he did. It was something having to do with the height and length of the barn, I think.
Okay, so we had our pitch. Now, how to attach the rafters to the front and back girters (that's a new word we're using now also)? The way the rafters are notched out on the girters are called bird's mouth cuts. It was another thing we had to figure out with numbers and a carpenter's square. Well, neither of us had ever used a carpenter's square in this way. We'd only used it to mark boards and make sure things were, well, square. Of course, there's no better way for me to learn something than by seeing someone else do it. Reading about it doesn't cut it for me unless there are lots of very clear drawings. Since there wasn't a carpenter here to teach us I went to the obvious source, YOUTUBE.COM. I typed in "building rafters" and, TA DA! Just what I needed. I watched Robert Markee, from Expertvillage explain how to measure and cut angles and bird'smouths on a rafter. I watched it maybe 6 or 7 times and finally I thought I got it. I went back outside and tried out what I learned. Well, shut-my-mouth, if it didn't work. I made all the measurements and James trusted me for some reason. Maybe because I pretended to look like I knew what I was doing. I made the cuts, we took it up the ladders and I didn't yell WooHoo, but I wanted to. It all fit perfectly. The two of us weren't fit to be around for a while, we thought we were so good.
We spent a good part of our day thinking and figuring so we didn't get done as much as I thought we would but now that we know what we're doing the rafters should move along a lot quicker. It really takes time because the 2x6's are only 16 feet long and the roof is longer than that so we have to piece together a few boards to make one. It's pretty cumbersome but it works. When I bought lumber I hadn't figured on needing 2 boards per rafter, plus I forgot to buy floor joists, so now we need to go back to Lowes and get more.
We're pretty pleased with how things are going. It's not perfect by any means, but I don't think the goats will notice any mistakes we've made. We may want to spend a few nights in it ourselves before we hand it over to them.
Today we began building rafters for the barn. It didn't seem like it should be all that hard. We picked a height for the front of it and then chose a pitch that would shed snow and rain pretty easily. The thing I didn't know was how to figure out what the pitch was. It turned out being 2;9, or however you write that. It means it has a 2 foot rise for every 9 feet in length. James figured that out by adding this and that and taking the square root of something. I didn't take the time to ask how he came up with it because I didn't need to know since he did. It was something having to do with the height and length of the barn, I think.
Okay, so we had our pitch. Now, how to attach the rafters to the front and back girters (that's a new word we're using now also)? The way the rafters are notched out on the girters are called bird's mouth cuts. It was another thing we had to figure out with numbers and a carpenter's square. Well, neither of us had ever used a carpenter's square in this way. We'd only used it to mark boards and make sure things were, well, square. Of course, there's no better way for me to learn something than by seeing someone else do it. Reading about it doesn't cut it for me unless there are lots of very clear drawings. Since there wasn't a carpenter here to teach us I went to the obvious source, YOUTUBE.COM. I typed in "building rafters" and, TA DA! Just what I needed. I watched Robert Markee, from Expertvillage explain how to measure and cut angles and bird'smouths on a rafter. I watched it maybe 6 or 7 times and finally I thought I got it. I went back outside and tried out what I learned. Well, shut-my-mouth, if it didn't work. I made all the measurements and James trusted me for some reason. Maybe because I pretended to look like I knew what I was doing. I made the cuts, we took it up the ladders and I didn't yell WooHoo, but I wanted to. It all fit perfectly. The two of us weren't fit to be around for a while, we thought we were so good.
We spent a good part of our day thinking and figuring so we didn't get done as much as I thought we would but now that we know what we're doing the rafters should move along a lot quicker. It really takes time because the 2x6's are only 16 feet long and the roof is longer than that so we have to piece together a few boards to make one. It's pretty cumbersome but it works. When I bought lumber I hadn't figured on needing 2 boards per rafter, plus I forgot to buy floor joists, so now we need to go back to Lowes and get more.
We're pretty pleased with how things are going. It's not perfect by any means, but I don't think the goats will notice any mistakes we've made. We may want to spend a few nights in it ourselves before we hand it over to them.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Leaving a comment on my blog
I've been told that people haven't been able to leave a comment on my blog. I just figured out why. The problem is fixed now (I hope). Please comment away.
Re-visiting the gender being kind to the opposite gender idea
I thought I'd comment some more on what I said 2 posts previous about how men are usually more helpful to me and women more helpful to James. My sister-in-law, Jan, emailed after reading that post and told me this is what happened when she took her car in to be serviced. I hope you don't mind me using you in my blog, Jan. She said:
I told Phil I wanted him to go along as I was tired of having to deal with the service people there. I had pulled in to the service area and Phil parked his car and walked up to the van. I was explaining what service was needed and the service guy checking me in was giving me the usual patronizing condescending attitude they all seemed so good at. He saw Phil, stopped talking to me, and told Phil he would be right with him. I wished I had brought a tape recorder. He immediately ignored me, talked directly to Phil, who told him exactly what I had about the service needed. His whole tone of voice, body language, was different when he talked to Phil.
I've heard this kind of story many times and I can't believe it still happens. What difference does it make who tells what's wrong with a car? My guess is that the majority of men who take their car in to be serviced don't know a whole lot about the car either. We all just like them to run well, right?
I've had similar experiences with my building projects. There are some men who question me about how I did something, almost challenging me. They refuse to say I did a good job. I doubt they would even if they thought I did do a great job. Then there are other men who are generous with their praise and have asked my opinion about how to do something. They've even asked for my help. Some even brag about my work which is an ego builder, of course, and always welcome.
I like the idea of reversing roles. James does all our canning and freezing. He's gentler and sweeter than I. I do more building and repairs than James. An old woman once remarked that we had things backwards. I thought that was funny. Maybe I should gather some stories from people, like the one Jan told, and write about them. And maybe some about nice ways they were treated even though they were the opposite sex. I bet I could come up with some good ones. Anyone care to share?
I told Phil I wanted him to go along as I was tired of having to deal with the service people there. I had pulled in to the service area and Phil parked his car and walked up to the van. I was explaining what service was needed and the service guy checking me in was giving me the usual patronizing condescending attitude they all seemed so good at. He saw Phil, stopped talking to me, and told Phil he would be right with him. I wished I had brought a tape recorder. He immediately ignored me, talked directly to Phil, who told him exactly what I had about the service needed. His whole tone of voice, body language, was different when he talked to Phil.
I've heard this kind of story many times and I can't believe it still happens. What difference does it make who tells what's wrong with a car? My guess is that the majority of men who take their car in to be serviced don't know a whole lot about the car either. We all just like them to run well, right?
I've had similar experiences with my building projects. There are some men who question me about how I did something, almost challenging me. They refuse to say I did a good job. I doubt they would even if they thought I did do a great job. Then there are other men who are generous with their praise and have asked my opinion about how to do something. They've even asked for my help. Some even brag about my work which is an ego builder, of course, and always welcome.
I like the idea of reversing roles. James does all our canning and freezing. He's gentler and sweeter than I. I do more building and repairs than James. An old woman once remarked that we had things backwards. I thought that was funny. Maybe I should gather some stories from people, like the one Jan told, and write about them. And maybe some about nice ways they were treated even though they were the opposite sex. I bet I could come up with some good ones. Anyone care to share?
James' garden
Even though I don't help much with the garden I thought I should put a few pictures on my blog of James' garden. In one of the pictures you'll see a garden packed with potatoes. We need to start eating some of them while they're still young. Sometimes we forget about those root vegetables. Unfortunately the carrots and beets didn't do too well this year. The beets that did grow look ready to eat. Right now our bumper crops are peas and lettuce. The green beans are tiny but on their way.
James spends many hours out there. I don't know how a person can hoe or weed for 7 hours straight and say they enjoy it. He told me last night he's writing something, Conversations with a garden (I think that's right). Maybe he'll start a blog and post what he's written on it.
Now, while I may not really like helping in the garden, I sure enjoy cooking it and eating it. I don't thank James enough for doing this so here it is, thank you.
James spends many hours out there. I don't know how a person can hoe or weed for 7 hours straight and say they enjoy it. He told me last night he's writing something, Conversations with a garden (I think that's right). Maybe he'll start a blog and post what he's written on it.
Now, while I may not really like helping in the garden, I sure enjoy cooking it and eating it. I don't thank James enough for doing this so here it is, thank you.
Friday, June 12, 2009
A Perfect Day
All went as planned with a few nice surprises thrown in today. My lawnmower part came in so I picked that up but didn't put it on the tractor yet. I had too many other things I wanted to do. I got the rest of my lumber and concrete at Lowes and once again had some very nice men help me load up. While I was standing in line a woman came up and told me she had a $15.00 coupon that expired today and she couldn't use it and wanted to know if I could. You had to spend over $150.00 that's why she asked. She gave it to me and walked away. What a nice person.
I came home and started work on the goat shed. I was able to get the 16 feet long posts in the ground and plumb all by myself by using 2x4's screwed to them to hold them in place. I've posted a picture of this down below. I got about half of them done but not concreted in and then 2 men drove up our driveway. James was working in the garden and walked over to see who they were. They were relatives of the Cashes, the people who owned this house before us. Blain Barney (James thought he said Bonnie. He still has a hard time with accents.) who was 88 years old, and Frank Cash, who was 91 years old. I bet they stayed for and hour or hour and a half talking about the good old days, how they missed their deceased wives, RV's, and on and on while we listened. They were really sweet men. I exchanged address and phone numbers with Frank who lives about 2 hours away. He wants us to come stay with him sometime. When he left he said he'd be waiting to hear a ding-a-ling and held his hand to his ear. Their visit got me behind schedule but I enjoyed them both and was glad they stopped by.
I concreted in the 4 posts and then it started raining so I came in to make dinner. If it hadn't rained who knows when we would have had dinner because I was feeling driven to finish these posts so the concrete would be hard by tomorrow and I could do a lot more building. After dinner I got the other 4 posts in. Hooray! Tomorrow will be fun, hammers, nails and saws, my favorite.
I called a sawmill to order the siding and flooring and he said it would be done very soon. That was a surprise too. The only thing I have left to buy is the metal roofing. I could get this built in less than a week if all goes like it did today. Cool.
Oh yeah, sing it, sing it, sing it, yeah yeah, oh happy day, oh oh oh, oh happy day.
I came home and started work on the goat shed. I was able to get the 16 feet long posts in the ground and plumb all by myself by using 2x4's screwed to them to hold them in place. I've posted a picture of this down below. I got about half of them done but not concreted in and then 2 men drove up our driveway. James was working in the garden and walked over to see who they were. They were relatives of the Cashes, the people who owned this house before us. Blain Barney (James thought he said Bonnie. He still has a hard time with accents.) who was 88 years old, and Frank Cash, who was 91 years old. I bet they stayed for and hour or hour and a half talking about the good old days, how they missed their deceased wives, RV's, and on and on while we listened. They were really sweet men. I exchanged address and phone numbers with Frank who lives about 2 hours away. He wants us to come stay with him sometime. When he left he said he'd be waiting to hear a ding-a-ling and held his hand to his ear. Their visit got me behind schedule but I enjoyed them both and was glad they stopped by.
I concreted in the 4 posts and then it started raining so I came in to make dinner. If it hadn't rained who knows when we would have had dinner because I was feeling driven to finish these posts so the concrete would be hard by tomorrow and I could do a lot more building. After dinner I got the other 4 posts in. Hooray! Tomorrow will be fun, hammers, nails and saws, my favorite.
I called a sawmill to order the siding and flooring and he said it would be done very soon. That was a surprise too. The only thing I have left to buy is the metal roofing. I could get this built in less than a week if all goes like it did today. Cool.
Oh yeah, sing it, sing it, sing it, yeah yeah, oh happy day, oh oh oh, oh happy day.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Dancing, Frisbee, Learning, Rudeness and Gender.
Gosh, those dancers are so talented on So You Think You Can Dance. I wish I could do that.
We played Ultimate Frisbee tonight with 6 other friends. It took me forever to learn the rules and even when we were done I still wasn't sure I understood it all. I guess I'd never be able to follow the choreography on So You think You Can Dance. I can be a slow learner sometimes.
I wasn't a slow learner this morning though when it came to understanding that the waitress at breakfast didn't want to be there. She was about as rude as she could be. I met a friend for breakfast and we were just happy to get together and didn't let the waitress spoil our fun.
I was treated much different at Lowes afterwards. I bought some of the lumber and concrete I needed for the goat barn. Three men helped me get what I needed and loaded it in my truck too. James and I decided that some jobs (the ones dealing with men) are best done by me and the ones where women are involved may be better done by James. Funny how that works, huh? I feel quite certain that waitress would have been nicer to James.
We played Ultimate Frisbee tonight with 6 other friends. It took me forever to learn the rules and even when we were done I still wasn't sure I understood it all. I guess I'd never be able to follow the choreography on So You think You Can Dance. I can be a slow learner sometimes.
I wasn't a slow learner this morning though when it came to understanding that the waitress at breakfast didn't want to be there. She was about as rude as she could be. I met a friend for breakfast and we were just happy to get together and didn't let the waitress spoil our fun.
I was treated much different at Lowes afterwards. I bought some of the lumber and concrete I needed for the goat barn. Three men helped me get what I needed and loaded it in my truck too. James and I decided that some jobs (the ones dealing with men) are best done by me and the ones where women are involved may be better done by James. Funny how that works, huh? I feel quite certain that waitress would have been nicer to James.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Working the polls
I told a guy friend I was working the polls on Tuesday and he wondered if I meant pole dancing. Yeah, that's so like me. No, yesterday was the democratic primary here. Most of the people in our precinct voted only for governor and had no idea who the people running for lieutenant governor were. When I say "all the people" that was only speaking for the 69 people who voted. Pretty pitiful. For the presidential election we had over 600 vote in our precinct.
Needless to say, it was a long day working the polls. Actually, I like the people I work with and they make the day go a little faster so it's less painful. Also, it's fun to see some of my "neighbors" who I don't see on a regular basis. We get some real characters in who keep things interesting too. Some people get irritated over the slightest things or even throw a tantrum. God forbid, their name doesn't appear in our poll book and we have to make make a phone call to be sure they can vote in our precinct. Some storm out the door like they think they're punishing us. One man was so patient with us yesterday. His name didn't appear in the book even though his wife's name was there and he had just voted in the November election. We called the board of elections to see why he wasn't in the book and found that someone else had the same name, Regis Bowman, but it was a woman with the middle name Geraldine. She had moved out of state so they removed her name. Unfortunately for our Regis, the man, they got them mixed up and his name, too, was removed. He was such a good sport even though he had to hang out with us for 15 more minutes. His wife was a trooper too.
An 82 year old woman came in a half hour before we were to close, dressed in a very flowery blouse and a big straw hat. She's very loud and her speach is slurred like she's had too much to drink. She demands you pay attention to her and she's extremely bossy. One of my co-workers, Richard, was really reamed out by her. He asked which booth she wanted to use. She couldn't hear or understand him and said, "I can't understand you. You speak right to me. I'm an old lady". He told her he was an old man too. He's 70 and not in good health. She then went on to tell him all her ailments. Every now and then she'd start to cry for no more than 5 seconds and then it would disappear and she'd rant about something else. I'd never seen anything like it. As mean as she was to Richard, when she was done voting he gave her her "thank you for voting" sticker and said, "and I thank you too". I think he may have softened her a little. She must have stayed for half an hour and only left because 2 other people came in to vote and she was in their way. I wish I could remember more of what she had to say because it was so outrageous. To her credit, she often brings us brownies on election day. We could've used them yesterday. Why is it that when you sit around doing nothing all you want to do is eat?
I always dread working the polls the day before and it always turns out to be better than I expected, well worth the $100.00 or so that I earn for the day. I bet pole dancers earn a lot more and meet some pretty interesting characters too but I guess I'm too old for that.
Needless to say, it was a long day working the polls. Actually, I like the people I work with and they make the day go a little faster so it's less painful. Also, it's fun to see some of my "neighbors" who I don't see on a regular basis. We get some real characters in who keep things interesting too. Some people get irritated over the slightest things or even throw a tantrum. God forbid, their name doesn't appear in our poll book and we have to make make a phone call to be sure they can vote in our precinct. Some storm out the door like they think they're punishing us. One man was so patient with us yesterday. His name didn't appear in the book even though his wife's name was there and he had just voted in the November election. We called the board of elections to see why he wasn't in the book and found that someone else had the same name, Regis Bowman, but it was a woman with the middle name Geraldine. She had moved out of state so they removed her name. Unfortunately for our Regis, the man, they got them mixed up and his name, too, was removed. He was such a good sport even though he had to hang out with us for 15 more minutes. His wife was a trooper too.
An 82 year old woman came in a half hour before we were to close, dressed in a very flowery blouse and a big straw hat. She's very loud and her speach is slurred like she's had too much to drink. She demands you pay attention to her and she's extremely bossy. One of my co-workers, Richard, was really reamed out by her. He asked which booth she wanted to use. She couldn't hear or understand him and said, "I can't understand you. You speak right to me. I'm an old lady". He told her he was an old man too. He's 70 and not in good health. She then went on to tell him all her ailments. Every now and then she'd start to cry for no more than 5 seconds and then it would disappear and she'd rant about something else. I'd never seen anything like it. As mean as she was to Richard, when she was done voting he gave her her "thank you for voting" sticker and said, "and I thank you too". I think he may have softened her a little. She must have stayed for half an hour and only left because 2 other people came in to vote and she was in their way. I wish I could remember more of what she had to say because it was so outrageous. To her credit, she often brings us brownies on election day. We could've used them yesterday. Why is it that when you sit around doing nothing all you want to do is eat?
I always dread working the polls the day before and it always turns out to be better than I expected, well worth the $100.00 or so that I earn for the day. I bet pole dancers earn a lot more and meet some pretty interesting characters too but I guess I'm too old for that.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Will I be able to eat my chickens?
Hmmm, that's a good question. I have 11 chickens, 1 of them is a rooster so we'll eventually have more chickens. One of the reasons we got them is so we could eat their meat. We eat more chicken than any other meat and like the idea of knowing where our food comes from. Now, this whole idea of killing them, well, I don't know how we're going to do it, but we plan to. I haven't named any of them and really can't even tell them apart except for the rooster, so I can't say that one of them is my favorite or anything. I have 3 different varieties, Buff Orpington, Barred Rock and Australorp, which is what my rooster is. I'm learning how dumb chickens are. Okay, they're smart enough to come running when I bring them their food in the morning or when I bring them a special treat like watermelon rinds. They also know to go in their pen at night when the sun sets. Aside from that I'm not sure there's much going on inside those funny little chicken heads. Sometimes they get out of their fence or I let them out to explore. Unlike goats or dogs, who know exactly how to get back to where they came from, chickens can't figure out how to go around a gate that's open and find the entrance again. They'll walk up and down, up and down a fenceline trying to get in instead of walking all the way back around the way they came. I have to go catch them and throw them over their fence or have them follow me. Today I felt like the pied piper when I went to rescue one wayward chicken and the goats and all my feathered friends followed me to go get her. I have to wonder if they'll even know if one of them is missing the night I'm serving her for dinner. Harsh, I know.
We still have another month and a half till they'll be ready to eat anyway so I guess there's time to think more on it. If they're smart, which isn't very likely, they'll lay lots of eggs and save themselves from the knife. Why are eggs high in cholesterol and chicken isn't?
A friend asked me last night if we'll be selling the baby goats for meat. I can tell you right now there's no way I can eat one of my goats. If the chickens showed me some affection I might say the same about them.
We still have another month and a half till they'll be ready to eat anyway so I guess there's time to think more on it. If they're smart, which isn't very likely, they'll lay lots of eggs and save themselves from the knife. Why are eggs high in cholesterol and chicken isn't?
A friend asked me last night if we'll be selling the baby goats for meat. I can tell you right now there's no way I can eat one of my goats. If the chickens showed me some affection I might say the same about them.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Habitat For Humantiy
I've changed my tune since my post of a few days ago labled Whine Festival. Last night James and I went to a dinner to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of our area Habitat For Humanity. We knew just a small handful of people there. We sat at a table with a nice older couple and found lots to talk about. Somehow we got on the subject of Italy. I forget how it came up. We told them we were there last September. They had been there just four months earlier. They asked where we stayed and we told them one of our favorite places was this small midieval village called Scanno. Wouldn't you know it, that's where his father grew up and that's where they went too. What are the chances you go to a function of maybe 75 people and have that in common? This village is pretty far from the big cities and touristy places and up a windy 1 1/2 lane road on the top of a mountain. It's not even in the vacation guidebooks that we bought. I thought that was pretty great.
Anyway, that has nothing to do with why I changed my tune about giving to people and them not appreciating it. The director of Habitat thanked everyone for coming and for whatever support they've given to the organization. He invited some of the recipients of Habitat homes up to the front and asked if they wanted to say anything. Four of them did. These people were so thankful, couldn't say enough about how they appreciated all Habitat has done for them and how when they wake up in the morning or put their key in their front door every day they feel so blessed. One or 2 of them even had tears in their eyes. Talk about making you feel good.....
I came home feeling good.
Anyway, that has nothing to do with why I changed my tune about giving to people and them not appreciating it. The director of Habitat thanked everyone for coming and for whatever support they've given to the organization. He invited some of the recipients of Habitat homes up to the front and asked if they wanted to say anything. Four of them did. These people were so thankful, couldn't say enough about how they appreciated all Habitat has done for them and how when they wake up in the morning or put their key in their front door every day they feel so blessed. One or 2 of them even had tears in their eyes. Talk about making you feel good.....
I came home feeling good.
Friday, June 5, 2009
What memories are made of
James and I woke up at 9:45 this morning. We couldn't believe it. I thought the older you got, the earlier you got up. I imagine it has something to do with all the fresh air and exercise we've been getting. We did get to sleep a little later but still not past midnight. Adam came home around 11:30 and told us there was a car with a camper pulled off the road with a flat tire just over the bridge. He wanted to know if he should go see if he could help them. We said yes, but be careful, as we laid there all cozy in bed. He came back 5 minutes later telling us that their wheel had come off so they'd been there an hour fixing it and now their car wouldn't start. Adam got some jumper cables and drove back. They had gotten the car started right after he had left them but they waited for him to get back to leave. They were heading to the campground where he works and said they'd tell the owners how helpful he was. It's always good to earn brownie points at work. Those poor campers. First they lose a wheel less than a mile and a half from where they're headed. It was late at night. They had children in the car and now it's their first day of camping and it's pouring rain. This will be a vacation they will remember.
I once asked my sister, Elaine, if she had as fond memories of camping as a kid as I did. She said she hated it. It's funny how our memories of it were so different. We talked more about why each of us liked or disliked camping. She told us a story of going camping with friends and getting lost when she came out of the bathroom and couldn't find the campsite. I pointed out that while she didn't have all that much fun, she was still telling the story and laughing about it. Some of my favorite memories are of trips we've taken where things got really tense but in the end it all came out fine. Lots of rainy weather, scary canoe and kayaking and getting lost stories. As a matter-of-fact, it seems like I remember more about the trips where something went wrong than ones that flowed smoothly. I also have very clear memories of getting in trouble and crazy things I did as a teenager and hope my teenager doesn't do but I won't elaborate on those. Of course I have good memories of some magical times too. Meeting amazing people on vacations, perfect strangers who have invited us into their homes or invited us to eat with them. Seeing Adam play with kids who didn't speak much English. Exchanging addresses with people from other countries who we'd only known for a day. Gathering green-lipped muscles off the rocks just outside our shack and eating just them and broccoli for dinner. Running up and jumping down huge sand dunes on a secluded beach in New Zealand on Christmas day. Watching James get chased by a seal because he got too close trying to take a picture. Getting attacked by a bird when I got too close trying to take a picture. Walking on hardened lava above a hot lava tunnel and later watching a film that told us how dangerous that was. Fishing from rowboats. Meeting James in the Poconos. The night my water broke and a million memories that began with that night. Even learning there wasn't a Santa Clause was kind of a fond memory (okay, a little disappointing) because Debbie and I learned that together. And on and on and on.........
A few years ago my family came here for my parents 50th anniversary. It was a great 3 or 4 days. It would be fun to do that again but this time talk about what it is we remember about different things from our childhood. What makes some of us store away some occasion while the others have no recollection of that time at all?
I wonder if those children in the car with the camper will have any memory of this weekend 10 years from now and what will their memories be?
I once asked my sister, Elaine, if she had as fond memories of camping as a kid as I did. She said she hated it. It's funny how our memories of it were so different. We talked more about why each of us liked or disliked camping. She told us a story of going camping with friends and getting lost when she came out of the bathroom and couldn't find the campsite. I pointed out that while she didn't have all that much fun, she was still telling the story and laughing about it. Some of my favorite memories are of trips we've taken where things got really tense but in the end it all came out fine. Lots of rainy weather, scary canoe and kayaking and getting lost stories. As a matter-of-fact, it seems like I remember more about the trips where something went wrong than ones that flowed smoothly. I also have very clear memories of getting in trouble and crazy things I did as a teenager and hope my teenager doesn't do but I won't elaborate on those. Of course I have good memories of some magical times too. Meeting amazing people on vacations, perfect strangers who have invited us into their homes or invited us to eat with them. Seeing Adam play with kids who didn't speak much English. Exchanging addresses with people from other countries who we'd only known for a day. Gathering green-lipped muscles off the rocks just outside our shack and eating just them and broccoli for dinner. Running up and jumping down huge sand dunes on a secluded beach in New Zealand on Christmas day. Watching James get chased by a seal because he got too close trying to take a picture. Getting attacked by a bird when I got too close trying to take a picture. Walking on hardened lava above a hot lava tunnel and later watching a film that told us how dangerous that was. Fishing from rowboats. Meeting James in the Poconos. The night my water broke and a million memories that began with that night. Even learning there wasn't a Santa Clause was kind of a fond memory (okay, a little disappointing) because Debbie and I learned that together. And on and on and on.........
A few years ago my family came here for my parents 50th anniversary. It was a great 3 or 4 days. It would be fun to do that again but this time talk about what it is we remember about different things from our childhood. What makes some of us store away some occasion while the others have no recollection of that time at all?
I wonder if those children in the car with the camper will have any memory of this weekend 10 years from now and what will their memories be?
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Whine festival
Dear Holesinmyjeans,
I try not to whine more than 4 days a week. Today is one of those days and since you're such a good listener I thought I'd whine to you.
Yesterday I watched one of the Oprahs I recorded with my DVR. I love Oprah and my DVR (no whining there). The show was about people who did nice things for others. One fellow took donated cars, fixed them up and gave or sold them to less fortunate people, often single moms, for very little money. Another person collected pillows and bedding from hotels who were just going to throw them away, and gave them to shelters. Another retired couple opened a free health clinic and had many other volunteers from their community helping. It was a feel-good show. Made me want to do something for people who don't have all that we do.
Ok, here I go. James and I own a small house that we used to live in. We call it the cottage. It's a rustic home but cozy. When we moved to the house we're living in now we weren't ready to sell the cottage. A friend/acquaintance of ours was going through a divorce and was struggling and needed a place to live. We offered her the cottage. We didn't want to heat it and take care of it so we let her live there rent free. She's been there 2 1/2 years and it has worked out really well. She keeps the place up nicer than we did and the only thing we've had to do to it in the last 2 1/2 years is put a roof on it. Recently she told us she was getting married and they wanted to stay in the house. We told her we were going to start collecting rent in June. We told her this a few months in advance. That was fine with them. Yesterday, June 3rd, I told her we'd like the check by June 7th. She emailed me this morning and said they were strapped for money and would pay us the 21st. I was really disappointed. The rent is not high, they both work full-time and they knew a few months in advance this was coming. I'm feeling a lot different than I was yesterday after watching Oprah.
Okay, here's another one. A group of teenagers (mostly 19 year olds) camped down at the river over Memorial Day weekend. They were friends of Adams. Most of them had camped down there before and cleaned up after themselves. Today James came back from the field carrying one of our blankets that was left on the picnic table. There were bottles, cans, cups and plates left down there too. He said it was the messiest anyone's ever left it down there. I wonder if I was that inconsiderate at that age. Probably, but that's neither here nor there, is it?
On Saturday a young man knocked on my door. He opened the door without waiting for me to do it, which I thought was a little weird. He asked if he could fish from our property. I asked him, "who are you?" Most people introduce themselves first, especially if they want to ask a favor, don't they? He told me his name, where he lived and who he lived with. I didn't know them even though they live just across the creek. I told him of course he could fish and to have fun. He then added, "oh, by the way, Melinda (his mom? aunt? whoever he lives with) says the weeds are high outside our fence at the corner and it makes it hard for her to see." I told him if she wanted them cut she was welcome to come do it. I wanted to say something else but I controlled myself. There's lots of poison ivy there and I'm not getting into that. Wouldn't you know it, the county came by that same day and cut the banks along the road. I hope she doesn't think I did it for her.
So you see, Holesinmyjeans, I'm not the generous person you might think I am. It's not always easy to give freely without expecting a little thanks or appreciation. I'll never be a Mother Theresa.
I may re-read this post later and delete it because I feel bad talking about these people. We'll see.
I try not to whine more than 4 days a week. Today is one of those days and since you're such a good listener I thought I'd whine to you.
Yesterday I watched one of the Oprahs I recorded with my DVR. I love Oprah and my DVR (no whining there). The show was about people who did nice things for others. One fellow took donated cars, fixed them up and gave or sold them to less fortunate people, often single moms, for very little money. Another person collected pillows and bedding from hotels who were just going to throw them away, and gave them to shelters. Another retired couple opened a free health clinic and had many other volunteers from their community helping. It was a feel-good show. Made me want to do something for people who don't have all that we do.
Ok, here I go. James and I own a small house that we used to live in. We call it the cottage. It's a rustic home but cozy. When we moved to the house we're living in now we weren't ready to sell the cottage. A friend/acquaintance of ours was going through a divorce and was struggling and needed a place to live. We offered her the cottage. We didn't want to heat it and take care of it so we let her live there rent free. She's been there 2 1/2 years and it has worked out really well. She keeps the place up nicer than we did and the only thing we've had to do to it in the last 2 1/2 years is put a roof on it. Recently she told us she was getting married and they wanted to stay in the house. We told her we were going to start collecting rent in June. We told her this a few months in advance. That was fine with them. Yesterday, June 3rd, I told her we'd like the check by June 7th. She emailed me this morning and said they were strapped for money and would pay us the 21st. I was really disappointed. The rent is not high, they both work full-time and they knew a few months in advance this was coming. I'm feeling a lot different than I was yesterday after watching Oprah.
Okay, here's another one. A group of teenagers (mostly 19 year olds) camped down at the river over Memorial Day weekend. They were friends of Adams. Most of them had camped down there before and cleaned up after themselves. Today James came back from the field carrying one of our blankets that was left on the picnic table. There were bottles, cans, cups and plates left down there too. He said it was the messiest anyone's ever left it down there. I wonder if I was that inconsiderate at that age. Probably, but that's neither here nor there, is it?
On Saturday a young man knocked on my door. He opened the door without waiting for me to do it, which I thought was a little weird. He asked if he could fish from our property. I asked him, "who are you?" Most people introduce themselves first, especially if they want to ask a favor, don't they? He told me his name, where he lived and who he lived with. I didn't know them even though they live just across the creek. I told him of course he could fish and to have fun. He then added, "oh, by the way, Melinda (his mom? aunt? whoever he lives with) says the weeds are high outside our fence at the corner and it makes it hard for her to see." I told him if she wanted them cut she was welcome to come do it. I wanted to say something else but I controlled myself. There's lots of poison ivy there and I'm not getting into that. Wouldn't you know it, the county came by that same day and cut the banks along the road. I hope she doesn't think I did it for her.
So you see, Holesinmyjeans, I'm not the generous person you might think I am. It's not always easy to give freely without expecting a little thanks or appreciation. I'll never be a Mother Theresa.
I may re-read this post later and delete it because I feel bad talking about these people. We'll see.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Vintage Virginia Wine Festival
Yesterday my friend, Colleen, and I drove 2 1/2 hours to Northern VA to meet up with her sisters and nieces in Haymarket to go to a wine festival. There were 6 of us. The festival was outdoors at Bull Run Park. It was a beautiful day but had rained the night before and the ground was very muddy so they had straw down everywhere.
I have no idea how many wineries were represented but there were many tents set up with someone ready to let you taste 6 to 8 (or more) of their wines. You really couldn't move from one tent to the next and start all over because it was just too much wine. I know, you can't believe I just said, "too much wine", but it's true. You really don't get much wine at each tasting but it still gets to be too much for your mouth to handle and I felt full even though I hadn't had much. Maybe it was all the tiny crackers I ate in between. There were other vendors there selling their wares too and it was nice to browse through their stuff while taking a break from the wine. Colleen and I bought cool earrings and a few others bought hats and other clothing.
I have to say that, besides being with fun people, the most fun was people watching. I would guess the average age there was 40's and under. I think maybe 50% of them had at least one tattoo. Of the 6 of us I saw at least 3 of us did. For an outdoor event on a hot day I was amazed that most of the clothing people were wearing was tasteful. Usually when it's hot you see more skin than should probably be exposed on people who shouldn't be exposing it.
Another fun thing to watch was the way people tasted the wine. You can bet that most of us there probably drink the same wines at home time and again, and cheap wines at that. But yesterday we were all connoisseurs, smelling, sipping and rolling the wine around in our mouths as if we could taste the fruit, the wood of the barrel and experience every other nuance of the wine. We were much classier for just a few hours
I came home with only 2 bottles of wine, neither of which I'd drink a whole glass of. They were more just for fun. One was a strawberry wine I got for James because I think it's something he may actually drink. It really tastes like strawberries, unlike most wines that taste very little like the fruit it was made from. It's too sweet for me and tastes a little like strawberry jam. The other bottle was called Hot Jazz. It had less than 1% jalapeno peppers in it. It definitely had a kick. I thought it would be kind of fun to have others taste so that's why I bought that one. Colleen and I agreed I should make Mexican pizzas one night and serve this wine.
Before I left that morning I was wishing I wasn't going so I could stay home and work on the fence that I'm so excited to get up. I'm glad though that I went. It was a wonderful day and the fence is still waiting for me just like James told me it would be.
I have no idea how many wineries were represented but there were many tents set up with someone ready to let you taste 6 to 8 (or more) of their wines. You really couldn't move from one tent to the next and start all over because it was just too much wine. I know, you can't believe I just said, "too much wine", but it's true. You really don't get much wine at each tasting but it still gets to be too much for your mouth to handle and I felt full even though I hadn't had much. Maybe it was all the tiny crackers I ate in between. There were other vendors there selling their wares too and it was nice to browse through their stuff while taking a break from the wine. Colleen and I bought cool earrings and a few others bought hats and other clothing.
I have to say that, besides being with fun people, the most fun was people watching. I would guess the average age there was 40's and under. I think maybe 50% of them had at least one tattoo. Of the 6 of us I saw at least 3 of us did. For an outdoor event on a hot day I was amazed that most of the clothing people were wearing was tasteful. Usually when it's hot you see more skin than should probably be exposed on people who shouldn't be exposing it.
Another fun thing to watch was the way people tasted the wine. You can bet that most of us there probably drink the same wines at home time and again, and cheap wines at that. But yesterday we were all connoisseurs, smelling, sipping and rolling the wine around in our mouths as if we could taste the fruit, the wood of the barrel and experience every other nuance of the wine. We were much classier for just a few hours
I came home with only 2 bottles of wine, neither of which I'd drink a whole glass of. They were more just for fun. One was a strawberry wine I got for James because I think it's something he may actually drink. It really tastes like strawberries, unlike most wines that taste very little like the fruit it was made from. It's too sweet for me and tastes a little like strawberry jam. The other bottle was called Hot Jazz. It had less than 1% jalapeno peppers in it. It definitely had a kick. I thought it would be kind of fun to have others taste so that's why I bought that one. Colleen and I agreed I should make Mexican pizzas one night and serve this wine.
Before I left that morning I was wishing I wasn't going so I could stay home and work on the fence that I'm so excited to get up. I'm glad though that I went. It was a wonderful day and the fence is still waiting for me just like James told me it would be.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Teamwork
I posted another video on my blog today so you can see what it was the 3 of us did the past 2 days. I'm fencing in another 2 to 3 acres of pasture for the goats and chickens to graze in. There was already fencing on 2 sides of the field. Some of it needed to be repaired where posts had broken and fence had sagged or broken. We had another 36 posts to put in before we could put the fence up. Remember Adam was digging holes for me a week or 2 ago. That was taking too long for me and I decided I wanted them deeper because I bought 8 feet long posts instead of the 6 1/2 feet long ones. The 8 feet ones were on sale at Lowes and we can add wire on top if we ever need to. I decided to rent an auger from our local rental place, Green Valley rental. The owner, Dave, is a real character and I really like him. He wears long shorts with tall socks but is always so nice and remembers my name and what I've done, like building a pizza oven. He gives us discounts most of the time. He's even loaned us a book on tape he thought we'd like. Good guy.
So, about the holes. Adam and I picked up the auger, 36 posts, fencing and some concrete and headed back home to experience what Adam says, "was the hardest work he's ever done in his life". I'll have to agree it came pretty close for me too. I think it's right up there with giving birth. The 3 of us are very tired, sore and a little bruised here and there. It was soooo much fun. Seriously. I can't think of anything the 3 of us have done together in a long time that was as much fun. When we first started we had no idea what we were doing. It was just Adam and me. We let the auger go down too deep without bringing it out to remove the dirt. It got stuck in the ground and probably took at least 45 minutes to get it back out. I think that's why I couldn't sleep last night because of my aching back. Once we got the hang of it it moved along much better. It was really hard to start back this morning because I was so sore and weak from yesterday. James joined us and that made things go much faster. He and Adam did most of the augering while I used the post hole digger and tamper to get more dirt out.
I got the gate posts concreted in now and tomorrow I'll finish digging and putting the other posts in. I can't wait.
We worked so well as a team and all 3 of us were in good moods (always a good thing). We only heard a little cursing early on today and I won't comment on who's mouth it came out of. After the fence is up, which I'll probably do alone, we'll begin the barn. I'm hoping that's another project the 3 of us can do together. It'll be a breeze after digging holes. I think it'll be even more fun.
Enough bloggering about my augering.
As Tigger would say, "TTFN"
So, about the holes. Adam and I picked up the auger, 36 posts, fencing and some concrete and headed back home to experience what Adam says, "was the hardest work he's ever done in his life". I'll have to agree it came pretty close for me too. I think it's right up there with giving birth. The 3 of us are very tired, sore and a little bruised here and there. It was soooo much fun. Seriously. I can't think of anything the 3 of us have done together in a long time that was as much fun. When we first started we had no idea what we were doing. It was just Adam and me. We let the auger go down too deep without bringing it out to remove the dirt. It got stuck in the ground and probably took at least 45 minutes to get it back out. I think that's why I couldn't sleep last night because of my aching back. Once we got the hang of it it moved along much better. It was really hard to start back this morning because I was so sore and weak from yesterday. James joined us and that made things go much faster. He and Adam did most of the augering while I used the post hole digger and tamper to get more dirt out.
I got the gate posts concreted in now and tomorrow I'll finish digging and putting the other posts in. I can't wait.
We worked so well as a team and all 3 of us were in good moods (always a good thing). We only heard a little cursing early on today and I won't comment on who's mouth it came out of. After the fence is up, which I'll probably do alone, we'll begin the barn. I'm hoping that's another project the 3 of us can do together. It'll be a breeze after digging holes. I think it'll be even more fun.
Enough bloggering about my augering.
As Tigger would say, "TTFN"
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder
Someone sent me this email today. I had to use it in my blog because it fits me so well and it made me snicker. I don't know if this applies to men as much as women but if a man reads this and identifies with it let me know, ok?
AAADD
KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ! Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder. Somehow I feel better, even though I have it!!
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.
As I start toward the garage,
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back
On the table and take out the garbage first.
But then I think,
since I'm going to be near the mailbox
When I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study,
so I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks,
but first I need to push the Coke aside
So that I don't accidentally knock it over.
The Coke is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke,
a vase of flowers on the counter
Catches my eye--they need water.
I put the Coke on the counter and
discover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,
I'll be looking for the remote,
but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,
so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
But first I'll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to
Remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
the car isn't washed
the bills aren't paid
there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter
the flowers don't have enough water,
there is still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,
And I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail...
Do me a favor.
Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember who the heck I've sent it to.
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Worry warts
Where did that expression come from anyway, worry wart? Is that even how you spell it? Well, whatever, I am one. I come by it naturally though. My mom and sisters are worry warts too. I even think my grandmother was.
What do I worry about? Oh, all kinds of things that aren't important and just a few that are. Since I got my buck, Witty, he's had diarrhea most of that 2 and a 1/2 weeks. The second or third day he was here he ate all the chicken feed and had terrible poops. It got a little better but then came back with a vengeance. Finally I took a fecal sample to the vet to find out he had worms, which is what I suspected. Because I suspected it of course I did all kinds of searches on the internet and read about goats and scours. Turns out they can die very quickly if the parasite problem gets out of hand. To make a long story a little shorter, I worried he was going to die and would get up in the mornings and look out in their fence and when I'd see his little white face, usually grazing somewhere, I'd breathe a sigh of relief. I've been deworming him for the past 3 days so hopefully he'll be better soon.
Being a mother, I spend LOTS of time worrying about my child. I can't even begin to tell you all the things I worry about when it comes to him. I'd be embarassed to type most of it on this blog. Once again, most of it is unwarranted and a waste of energy. The funny thing is, a friend of mine has a son the same age as Adam and when she tells me things she worries about I can't figure out why she frets so about them. I'm sure it's the same with her and my worries. It always looks different from someone else's point of view, I guess.
I'm not alone in this house when it comes to worrying. James comes in a close second, though I doubt he'd admit that. Recently he had his cholesterol checked. It went up since last time he had blood work done. He says he's no longer eating red meat and he turned down ice cream a few nights ago. It's really bothering him. Thank goodness my cholesterol is in good shape. One less thing to worry about.
James and I walk 6 laps around our field (4 miles) several days a week. Usually we do lots of talking. A few days ago on our first lap we saw 2 crows eating the corn out of the garden that James had spent many hours preparing and planting. He was pretty upset about it and worried they'd eat all he'd planted. We walked the next few laps sharing very few words, he worrying about the corn and me about Witty dying. What a pair we are.
We both read a book last year by Eckhart Tolley, A New Earth. Great book. It's a shame I haven't learned to take what he wrote and apply it. He talks about "living in the now" and not worrying about what's happened in the past or what might happen in the future. It makes so much sense. Maybe I should read it again.
What do I worry about? Oh, all kinds of things that aren't important and just a few that are. Since I got my buck, Witty, he's had diarrhea most of that 2 and a 1/2 weeks. The second or third day he was here he ate all the chicken feed and had terrible poops. It got a little better but then came back with a vengeance. Finally I took a fecal sample to the vet to find out he had worms, which is what I suspected. Because I suspected it of course I did all kinds of searches on the internet and read about goats and scours. Turns out they can die very quickly if the parasite problem gets out of hand. To make a long story a little shorter, I worried he was going to die and would get up in the mornings and look out in their fence and when I'd see his little white face, usually grazing somewhere, I'd breathe a sigh of relief. I've been deworming him for the past 3 days so hopefully he'll be better soon.
Being a mother, I spend LOTS of time worrying about my child. I can't even begin to tell you all the things I worry about when it comes to him. I'd be embarassed to type most of it on this blog. Once again, most of it is unwarranted and a waste of energy. The funny thing is, a friend of mine has a son the same age as Adam and when she tells me things she worries about I can't figure out why she frets so about them. I'm sure it's the same with her and my worries. It always looks different from someone else's point of view, I guess.
I'm not alone in this house when it comes to worrying. James comes in a close second, though I doubt he'd admit that. Recently he had his cholesterol checked. It went up since last time he had blood work done. He says he's no longer eating red meat and he turned down ice cream a few nights ago. It's really bothering him. Thank goodness my cholesterol is in good shape. One less thing to worry about.
James and I walk 6 laps around our field (4 miles) several days a week. Usually we do lots of talking. A few days ago on our first lap we saw 2 crows eating the corn out of the garden that James had spent many hours preparing and planting. He was pretty upset about it and worried they'd eat all he'd planted. We walked the next few laps sharing very few words, he worrying about the corn and me about Witty dying. What a pair we are.
We both read a book last year by Eckhart Tolley, A New Earth. Great book. It's a shame I haven't learned to take what he wrote and apply it. He talks about "living in the now" and not worrying about what's happened in the past or what might happen in the future. It makes so much sense. Maybe I should read it again.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Front Porch Sittin'
We've had front porches before but we didn't use them as much as we do at this house. Yesterday a neighbor stopped by while James was sitting on the porch with his laptop in his lap. He came by to return some tiny pots that James gave him vegetable plants in. I joined the 2 of them after finishing up what I was doing. I love that neighbors stop by to visit us here and I love sitting on our front porch. Another friend had stopped by earlier in the day on his motorcycle because he was in the area.
Oooh, I just got creeped out. I stopped writing this post to go feed the goats and chickens because I could see the chickens were growing impatient. When I went back to the barn to put stuff away I saw a small patterned snake with it's little head coming out the crack below the door hinge. I looked at it's back to see if I could tell what kind of snake it was. I then went to the outside of the door to see it's head. It looked very triangular to me so I quickly decided it was a young copperhead and just as quickly closed the door so it's neck (if a snake has a neck) got squeezed in the tight crack of the door. I'm sure it's dead by now and if you go out to my garage you'll see just a tiny head sticking out the front. Gives me the chills just thinking about it. I hope I didn't kill a harmless snake but if it is a copperhead I don't feel too bad about it.
James and I went to an auction yesterday and spent a big $1.05 on some bushel baskets and a few bent up thin wooden crates, all stuff for our veggies this year. It was fun. This auction is 2 days long, yesterday and Monday. Yesterday was all outside stuff, tools and such. Monday is the household items, 2 outbuildings and a pickup truck. I'd love one of the outbuildings but I don't know how we'd move it and we're also hoping we can get the truck cheap since ours is now kaput. They also have milk cans and a butter churn that might be kind of fun to have too. So that's how we'll spend our Memorial day, at an auction. Today we're going on the river with some friends and then to some other friends for dinner. It's turning out to be a really nice weekend.
Oooh, I just got creeped out. I stopped writing this post to go feed the goats and chickens because I could see the chickens were growing impatient. When I went back to the barn to put stuff away I saw a small patterned snake with it's little head coming out the crack below the door hinge. I looked at it's back to see if I could tell what kind of snake it was. I then went to the outside of the door to see it's head. It looked very triangular to me so I quickly decided it was a young copperhead and just as quickly closed the door so it's neck (if a snake has a neck) got squeezed in the tight crack of the door. I'm sure it's dead by now and if you go out to my garage you'll see just a tiny head sticking out the front. Gives me the chills just thinking about it. I hope I didn't kill a harmless snake but if it is a copperhead I don't feel too bad about it.
James and I went to an auction yesterday and spent a big $1.05 on some bushel baskets and a few bent up thin wooden crates, all stuff for our veggies this year. It was fun. This auction is 2 days long, yesterday and Monday. Yesterday was all outside stuff, tools and such. Monday is the household items, 2 outbuildings and a pickup truck. I'd love one of the outbuildings but I don't know how we'd move it and we're also hoping we can get the truck cheap since ours is now kaput. They also have milk cans and a butter churn that might be kind of fun to have too. So that's how we'll spend our Memorial day, at an auction. Today we're going on the river with some friends and then to some other friends for dinner. It's turning out to be a really nice weekend.
Thoughtful Appalachian Thru Hikers
Last year my women's hiking group met a young guy, Jon Schwenk, aka Don Juan, on the AT. We shared some of our lunches with him and asked how his thru hike (hiking the Appalachian Trail from GA to Maine) was going. We were a gabby group and he probably was being very patient answering all our questions. That's the price he had to pay for free food. I gave him my phone number and told him he could come stay with us if he wanted a soft bed and shower. He called that night and hitched a ride here. To make a long story short, he turned out to be a great guy and 5 months later came to stay with our pets and house sit while we were in Italy.
This past April Jon told us a friend of his was hiking the AT and might be calling us to stay here. Cody, aka C-zur, called 2 days later and brought along another hiker, Dustin, aka Myko. Again, really nice guys. They stayed 2 nights at the cabin, did their laundry, ate lots of food and caught up on the internet. Today I read C-Zur's blog and this is what he wrote about us.
C-Zur
PS I'm dreaming of your pizzas Karen and James...
Reading stuff like this makes me feel good about helping out young people. I wonder if anyone will call next year.
This past April Jon told us a friend of his was hiking the AT and might be calling us to stay here. Cody, aka C-zur, called 2 days later and brought along another hiker, Dustin, aka Myko. Again, really nice guys. They stayed 2 nights at the cabin, did their laundry, ate lots of food and caught up on the internet. Today I read C-Zur's blog and this is what he wrote about us.
C-Zur
PS I'm dreaming of your pizzas Karen and James...
Thursday, May 21, 2009
April 19
Pannabecker's Cabin 0 miles
I got probably the best night's rest (that I've had since my own bed) last night. The Pannabeckers are 2 of the kindest, most giving people I've ever met. It is going to be very hard to leave this place tomorrow, hopefully I will be able to come back and visit for longer though. We had a nice lazy day today, however I did help James with his garden some this morning...it was nice to do some physical labor that wasn't hiking (don't get any ideas Dad!) I found a fellow thru-hiker's wallet and phone a few days ago and today he and his parents drove down from Waynesboro to pick them up...his Dad brought me a six-pack, cookies, and oranges for a reward (Crazy Awesome!). Glad to hlep you out, Splinter. Well I'm off to have another wonderful night's sleep. Thank you, James and Karen, for all of your wonderful hospitality...I hope to see you again when I have more time to hang out.
C-Zur
I got probably the best night's rest (that I've had since my own bed) last night. The Pannabeckers are 2 of the kindest, most giving people I've ever met. It is going to be very hard to leave this place tomorrow, hopefully I will be able to come back and visit for longer though. We had a nice lazy day today, however I did help James with his garden some this morning...it was nice to do some physical labor that wasn't hiking (don't get any ideas Dad!) I found a fellow thru-hiker's wallet and phone a few days ago and today he and his parents drove down from Waynesboro to pick them up...his Dad brought me a six-pack, cookies, and oranges for a reward (Crazy Awesome!). Glad to hlep you out, Splinter. Well I'm off to have another wonderful night's sleep. Thank you, James and Karen, for all of your wonderful hospitality...I hope to see you again when I have more time to hang out.
C-Zur
April 18
PANNABECKERS!!! 14.4 miles
James picked me and Myco up at the Foot Bridge @ 3:00...took us back to his house and his wife Karen gave us all sorts of junkfood. Then he took us kayaking for a couple hours and we had freshly baked pizza when we got back. Sweetness! These are hands down the nicest (I can't think of a better adjective to describe them.) people I've met. I don't think this can be topped. These people are the Houdinis of Trail Magic! We are staying in a cabin they own near their house and it just made the stay here even better. There aren't even words to describe how great this is...Zero day tomorrow!
C-Zur
James picked me and Myco up at the Foot Bridge @ 3:00...took us back to his house and his wife Karen gave us all sorts of junkfood. Then he took us kayaking for a couple hours and we had freshly baked pizza when we got back. Sweetness! These are hands down the nicest (I can't think of a better adjective to describe them.) people I've met. I don't think this can be topped. These people are the Houdinis of Trail Magic! We are staying in a cabin they own near their house and it just made the stay here even better. There aren't even words to describe how great this is...Zero day tomorrow!
C-Zur
Reading stuff like this makes me feel good about helping out young people. I wonder if anyone will call next year.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Youtube - too much fun
I can waste all kinds of time watching videos on youtube. I always thought that videos on there were put there because people made videos intending to put them on youtube for a reason so I wondered why there were so many lame movies on there. Well now I know why. To post a video on my blog I have to download it on the internet to add as a link. The easiest way to do that is to put it on youtube, lame or not. So today I added 2 more videos to my blog, one of the chickens and another one of the goats on their daily stroll. This time I added music. Youtube provides you with a whole menu of music you can add to your video but it takes forever to find something that suits what you've filmed. After listening to way too many tracks I just picked two. One day I'll be more creative. As you can see I have lots of free time to do this very important work.
Loss for words
Most people who know me know that it's rare that I'm at a loss for words. Some days I don't feel like talking but for the most part I've been a chatterbox since I was little. At least that's what I've been told. That's why it's funny that I can't really think of anything I feel like writing about today. I could write about how I'm going to take inventory of the lumber in our garage today so I can do some real planning for the next goat shelter, or how I'm not very good at drawing out plans on paper. I could tell you my parrot is getting on my nerves right now doing the chicken scratch and throwing his food all over the place after I just vacuumed this room. I could ramble on about how I'm worried Strawberry won't go in heat this month but will get pregnant a few months from now and will have babies in the dead and cold of winter. I could mention that I'm kind of tired this morning because Adam didn't get home till after 1:00 this morning then woke us and told us he brought 4 other kids here to sleep too. Or maybe I could write about how James and I are going to some auctions this weekend and how much I like auctions and I'm wondering if they'll have a truck we can get cheap to replace our dead pickup which is just taking up space in our yard now. All this seems too trivial to write about in a blog but it's my life, maybe trivial but full..... full and fulfilling.
I'll try to do better next post.
I'll try to do better next post.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Holes
This time I'm not talking about holes in my jeans. I'm talking fencepost holes. This morning I gave my almost-19 year old son, Adam, the choice of cutting grass or digging fencepost holes. Digging the holes pays much more than riding a lawnmower around. He chose the holes. I was sure he had no idea what hard work it was going to be. I was also pretty sure he was going to dig one hole and quit because he was frustrated. I went out after an hour and told him I would pay him either $15.00 and hour or $4.00 a hole. Before he knew how long he'd been working he looked at me with a big ???? on his face. He didn't know which to choose. When he learned he'd been working an hour it was an easy choice since he had already dug 5 holes. His whole attitude changed when he realized he'd already earned $20.00. Even though I know it's all about the money, I'm glad he chose the hard work.
I think it took owning my own house to want to choose hard work, and that was more for the satisfaction of doing it myself than it was about saving money. The older I get the more gratification I get with each job I do, usually wanting to prove to myself I'm capable of doing just about anything I set my mind to. One of my most rewarding projects yet was building our outdoor kitchen, complete with wood-fired brick oven, barbecue pit, cupboards with a concrete countertop and a pergola above. I've posted a picture below, though it's not complete in the photo. It looks better now with vines growing up the columns. I couldn't have done it without James' help and faith in my work. He's the other reason I choose hard work today. James works twice as hard as I do. Anyway, I think the reason I enjoyed building this was because it wasn't necessary to the livablity of our house, like a bathroom or kitchen is. It was all about creativity, fun and solving the puzzle of each next step. I love puzzles.
My least favorite job in my house was gutting and rebuilding our upstairs bathroom, but I have to admit that it was almost as rewarding as the outdoor kitchen. It's a tiny room but created a huge amount of frustration and many hours lying in bed wondering if I was qualified to be doing this and wondering how I was going to do it. Much to my delight I still love that bathroom after 3 years. As Adam's tattoo says, no regrets.
My wish is that one day Adam takes pride in his hard work, not because it brings him more money but because it brings him joy and a sense of satisfaction. For now I'm just happy he's digging those holes and that I don't have to. Did I say I like to do all the hard work? Maybe I'll go ride the lawnmower.
I think it took owning my own house to want to choose hard work, and that was more for the satisfaction of doing it myself than it was about saving money. The older I get the more gratification I get with each job I do, usually wanting to prove to myself I'm capable of doing just about anything I set my mind to. One of my most rewarding projects yet was building our outdoor kitchen, complete with wood-fired brick oven, barbecue pit, cupboards with a concrete countertop and a pergola above. I've posted a picture below, though it's not complete in the photo. It looks better now with vines growing up the columns. I couldn't have done it without James' help and faith in my work. He's the other reason I choose hard work today. James works twice as hard as I do. Anyway, I think the reason I enjoyed building this was because it wasn't necessary to the livablity of our house, like a bathroom or kitchen is. It was all about creativity, fun and solving the puzzle of each next step. I love puzzles.
My least favorite job in my house was gutting and rebuilding our upstairs bathroom, but I have to admit that it was almost as rewarding as the outdoor kitchen. It's a tiny room but created a huge amount of frustration and many hours lying in bed wondering if I was qualified to be doing this and wondering how I was going to do it. Much to my delight I still love that bathroom after 3 years. As Adam's tattoo says, no regrets.
My wish is that one day Adam takes pride in his hard work, not because it brings him more money but because it brings him joy and a sense of satisfaction. For now I'm just happy he's digging those holes and that I don't have to. Did I say I like to do all the hard work? Maybe I'll go ride the lawnmower.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
And on the 7th day she rested
It was such a dreary morning I thought I'd get nothing done, at least nothing fun. Of course I wasted lots of time on the computer reading goat forums, craigslist, updating my blog, reading and sending emails. I made a trip to the cabin to get a hole punch so I can work on my notebook to keep records on all the goats, which I did when I got home. I went upstairs in the cabin to use the bathroom and for some reason looked in the shower. As I looked up I saw what looked like a tube, like a water line, hanging from one wall to the other. I thought that was strange so looked closer. It was a 3 to 4 feet long snake skin. We rarely see snakes that long in the cabin, usually just small ones. Must have been a black snake. I'm sure he's long gone by now.
The sun came out in the afternoon so I went out to play with the goats. I had these large, thick cardboard hollow cylinders that our roofing copper came on. I put them in the goats pen for them to play in and on. They were so funny inspecting them. I wish I could have videoed them trying to help me put things where I wanted. They made the job challenging. After they settled down I was petting Witty. He was being so sweet just staring at me when I felt my leg get warm and realized he was peeing on me, his way of showing affection if you want to call it that. I just realized I still have those jeans and shoes on. Oh well, I can't smell it. Maybe I should call this blog filthy jeans instead of holes in my jeans.
I love freecycle.org but there's never enough stuff listed on our local freecycle so I signed up for the Roanoke one hoping they get more listings. They have to approve me first. I wonder what would make them turn a person down. I've gotten a few things already from freecycle, canning jars, gigantic free-standing peg boards for my tools, large plastic water jugs, horse manure and a small (cheaply made) medicine cabinet. The only thing I've given away on there so far was fresh basil from our garden.
I cleaned up most of the branches I had trimmed yesterday and then cut some more paths through the tall grass in the lawn field for us to walk through on our evening strolls with the goats.
Not an exciting day but a good one. My day of rest.
The sun came out in the afternoon so I went out to play with the goats. I had these large, thick cardboard hollow cylinders that our roofing copper came on. I put them in the goats pen for them to play in and on. They were so funny inspecting them. I wish I could have videoed them trying to help me put things where I wanted. They made the job challenging. After they settled down I was petting Witty. He was being so sweet just staring at me when I felt my leg get warm and realized he was peeing on me, his way of showing affection if you want to call it that. I just realized I still have those jeans and shoes on. Oh well, I can't smell it. Maybe I should call this blog filthy jeans instead of holes in my jeans.
I love freecycle.org but there's never enough stuff listed on our local freecycle so I signed up for the Roanoke one hoping they get more listings. They have to approve me first. I wonder what would make them turn a person down. I've gotten a few things already from freecycle, canning jars, gigantic free-standing peg boards for my tools, large plastic water jugs, horse manure and a small (cheaply made) medicine cabinet. The only thing I've given away on there so far was fresh basil from our garden.
I cleaned up most of the branches I had trimmed yesterday and then cut some more paths through the tall grass in the lawn field for us to walk through on our evening strolls with the goats.
Not an exciting day but a good one. My day of rest.
Thoughts on the recession and our spending
I know, I'm not usually one to talk about things like this but I just read an article about how the recession is affecting the spending habits of Americans and I thought it was really interesting. It seems that, while retail is down, some manufacturers sales are increasing, companies like Burpee Seeds. Maybe we're finally learning what's good for us and what saves us money. The number of vegetable gardens is predicted to jump 40% this year compared to 2 yrs ago. That's pretty amazing. As I look around our yard it looks like James has increased his garden size about 40% in the past 2 years. I'm guessing that canning supplies will be selling off the shelves this summer.
James and I don't go out to eat very often but we know a lot of people who did. Now it appears that folks are scaling down in the food department too. Where someone may normally choose to go out to a high end restaurant they now have chosen to buy a good steak and prepare it at home. If someone typically bought name brand groceries at the store, they might now be buying the store-named brands. Maybe not a healthier option, but sales are also up on the cheaper foods like Spam, Dinty Moore items and Mac n Cheese. Comfort foods maybe?
Do-it-yourself auto supply store sales are also up. People can't afford a new car and paying to have a car repaired is so expensive. If only James and I knew more about auto mechanics. Our cars are so old and it seems like there's always something wrong with at least one of them.
Condom sales, up. I guess people don't want another mouth to feed? Hmmmm.
Fishing supplies and firearm sales have increased quite a bit too. We rarely eat the fish we catch from the river but maybe we could eat the trout from the creek beside the house. It seems like they should be healthier than the ones in the muddy river. Neither of us thinks we could hunt but we sure appreciate the venison in our freezer given to us by friends.
Sales at Saks 5th Ave. are down 32% but Goodwill sales are up 7%. That's pretty cool. We have many clothes in our closet that came from Goodwill and none that came from Saks. Any clothes we own that came from a high-end store are probably many years old. Okay, I confess, I did buy 2 outfits at a nice dress shop last year before we went to Italy. I will still have these in 10 years though. I can't remember the last time James bought nice clothes. Our family doctor told me last week that, "James is the most normal guy I know". He commented on how James doesn't care how he dresses etc. That made me laugh. It made me wonder what James wore to the doctor a week earlier. Sales at WalMart and Dollar Tree have also gone up.
Most of the stuff mentioned in the article made sense but I guess we still need our special treats because sales of chocolate and wine are still strong, a comfort in hard times, though we're buying cheaper vintages of wine.
Two products and services that are up aren't on the positive side though. Pepto Bismal and visits to the dentist. Money and employment stresses may be causing upset stomachs and grinding of the teeth. James and I have both worn bruxing guards to bed, me for several years, James for 7 years. I've been grinding my teeth since I was a little kid but I'm not sure it has to do with stress more than it's a bad habit.
James and I have definitely changed our spending habits and love the idea of homesteading and self-sufficient living but I don't know how attainable that really is. Others do it so I guess we just have to do it with baby steps as it appears America is doing. Hopefully
James and I don't go out to eat very often but we know a lot of people who did. Now it appears that folks are scaling down in the food department too. Where someone may normally choose to go out to a high end restaurant they now have chosen to buy a good steak and prepare it at home. If someone typically bought name brand groceries at the store, they might now be buying the store-named brands. Maybe not a healthier option, but sales are also up on the cheaper foods like Spam, Dinty Moore items and Mac n Cheese. Comfort foods maybe?
Do-it-yourself auto supply store sales are also up. People can't afford a new car and paying to have a car repaired is so expensive. If only James and I knew more about auto mechanics. Our cars are so old and it seems like there's always something wrong with at least one of them.
Condom sales, up. I guess people don't want another mouth to feed? Hmmmm.
Fishing supplies and firearm sales have increased quite a bit too. We rarely eat the fish we catch from the river but maybe we could eat the trout from the creek beside the house. It seems like they should be healthier than the ones in the muddy river. Neither of us thinks we could hunt but we sure appreciate the venison in our freezer given to us by friends.
Sales at Saks 5th Ave. are down 32% but Goodwill sales are up 7%. That's pretty cool. We have many clothes in our closet that came from Goodwill and none that came from Saks. Any clothes we own that came from a high-end store are probably many years old. Okay, I confess, I did buy 2 outfits at a nice dress shop last year before we went to Italy. I will still have these in 10 years though. I can't remember the last time James bought nice clothes. Our family doctor told me last week that, "James is the most normal guy I know". He commented on how James doesn't care how he dresses etc. That made me laugh. It made me wonder what James wore to the doctor a week earlier. Sales at WalMart and Dollar Tree have also gone up.
Most of the stuff mentioned in the article made sense but I guess we still need our special treats because sales of chocolate and wine are still strong, a comfort in hard times, though we're buying cheaper vintages of wine.
Two products and services that are up aren't on the positive side though. Pepto Bismal and visits to the dentist. Money and employment stresses may be causing upset stomachs and grinding of the teeth. James and I have both worn bruxing guards to bed, me for several years, James for 7 years. I've been grinding my teeth since I was a little kid but I'm not sure it has to do with stress more than it's a bad habit.
James and I have definitely changed our spending habits and love the idea of homesteading and self-sufficient living but I don't know how attainable that really is. Others do it so I guess we just have to do it with baby steps as it appears America is doing. Hopefully
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Video of Goats
I decided to try my hand out on using the video feature on my camera. I didn't realize it could take such long videos. We took the goats on a walk last night and I decided I'd take the camera with us. Okay, it's not a very thrilling movie but you can see how they follow us around. You can find the link on the right side of the blog in the blue. I always enjoy this stroll with them. I plan to fence this whole area in so they can have more grazing space. I'll keep the other fences up though so I can separate them when they need to be. I also want to build a larger goat shed. The design is in the works (in my head).
Friday, May 15, 2009
Saving money and recycling
One of the reasons I started doing this blog is because James and Jan told me I should. James thought I should put things in here like my soap saving tip. To be honest, I hadn't given it much thought until a friend of mine (and James) were so impressed with my discovery. I bought a dispenser of that foaming hand soap to use at the bathroom sink. When it was gone I put maybe 20% of regular liquid soap and watered it down to fill it the rest of the way. It foams just like the foaming soap you pay much more for. My friend told me little kids wash their hands better when you have foaming soap. Since I don't have little kids I didn't know that.
Let's see, what else? My neighbor and friend, Feenie, is forever bringing me gifts he found in his garage or at the dumpster telling me he knows I can find a use for it. Once he brought me one of those old tables they used to have outside McDonalds and other places. The ones with the swivel seats attached to them. It had no table top, just the metal frame and seats. After looking for barstools for my outdoor kitchen and seeing how expensive they were I decided to make my own using the old seats from Feenie. I bought cheap wooden stools from Lowes ($15.00), stained and sealed them. Next I cut the seats off the metal frame of the table with my Dremel and attached them to the stools. They swivel and everything. The total project probably cost me no more than $25.00 per stool instead of the $200.00+ pricetag I saw on other barstools. I'll post a picture below.
The field toilet that is also pictured below was built from stuff I had in my garage already. We're lucky to have a 4 stall garage/barn with an attic above so we collect all kinds of stuff and store leftover building material. Even the toilet seat was in the attic of the barn. The toilet is in our field down by the river for the use of campers and us since we spend so much time down there. My chicken tractor was also built from leftovers. The majority of it is built from old screens that used to be in this house but were removed years ago and left in the barn attic.
This year I've been lucky enough to have friends let me dig up plants and flowers from their yards to transplant in mine. I'm not planning to buy many flowers from Lowes this year in hopes of saving a little money. I usually buy flowers for my pots on the patio. This year I'm going to plant some of the artichokes and eggplants that James started from seed. They're just as pretty as flowers. I may also put some zinnia seeds in there that James had saved from last year's flowers. Last year I got moss from the woods and put it in my rock/flower garden and it has done as well as the stuff I bought at WalMart.
We had some leftover copper from when our roof was put on a few years back and I've found some uses for it too. I've done a few peices of "art" (and I use the term loosely) for our house and made some earings using a propane torch, old bed springs and other tools.
I'll try to keep thinking of other ways I recycle what I think are interesting things.
Let's see, what else? My neighbor and friend, Feenie, is forever bringing me gifts he found in his garage or at the dumpster telling me he knows I can find a use for it. Once he brought me one of those old tables they used to have outside McDonalds and other places. The ones with the swivel seats attached to them. It had no table top, just the metal frame and seats. After looking for barstools for my outdoor kitchen and seeing how expensive they were I decided to make my own using the old seats from Feenie. I bought cheap wooden stools from Lowes ($15.00), stained and sealed them. Next I cut the seats off the metal frame of the table with my Dremel and attached them to the stools. They swivel and everything. The total project probably cost me no more than $25.00 per stool instead of the $200.00+ pricetag I saw on other barstools. I'll post a picture below.
The field toilet that is also pictured below was built from stuff I had in my garage already. We're lucky to have a 4 stall garage/barn with an attic above so we collect all kinds of stuff and store leftover building material. Even the toilet seat was in the attic of the barn. The toilet is in our field down by the river for the use of campers and us since we spend so much time down there. My chicken tractor was also built from leftovers. The majority of it is built from old screens that used to be in this house but were removed years ago and left in the barn attic.
This year I've been lucky enough to have friends let me dig up plants and flowers from their yards to transplant in mine. I'm not planning to buy many flowers from Lowes this year in hopes of saving a little money. I usually buy flowers for my pots on the patio. This year I'm going to plant some of the artichokes and eggplants that James started from seed. They're just as pretty as flowers. I may also put some zinnia seeds in there that James had saved from last year's flowers. Last year I got moss from the woods and put it in my rock/flower garden and it has done as well as the stuff I bought at WalMart.
We had some leftover copper from when our roof was put on a few years back and I've found some uses for it too. I've done a few peices of "art" (and I use the term loosely) for our house and made some earings using a propane torch, old bed springs and other tools.
I'll try to keep thinking of other ways I recycle what I think are interesting things.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Girl Talk
Today was hiking day with my women's hiking group. We hiked about 6 miles, most of it along a fantastic stream with many small musical falls. As great as the sound from the running water was, we probably didn't hear it most of the time because of all the yapping going on. There were 8 of us today, the largest group ever on one of our hikes. I love this group. Our ages range from 43 to 57, conservative, liberal, religious, not so religious and everything in between. The conversation runs the gammut. There's no telling what the subject will jump from from one minute to the next. With a larger group like today's though, you miss out on so much because you can't listen to everyone at once. I wonder what a group of 8 men would sound like doing the same.
During our lunch, sitting on rocks along the stream, we planned many of the next year's hikes. We've been doing this for 3 years now and I hope we continue for many years to come. I sure am thankful for my girlfriends.
During our lunch, sitting on rocks along the stream, we planned many of the next year's hikes. We've been doing this for 3 years now and I hope we continue for many years to come. I sure am thankful for my girlfriends.
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