DivaHick

Dress Dare Day 1

2011-05-01T20:17:00.000-04:00

The ladies at Defining Beauty Blog have challenged us to what is becoming an annual Dress Dare. Now, this is particularly easy for me since my daughters wear dresses on a pretty regular basis for two reasons.

1) They grow so fast we'd be buying shorts or pants every month. No really, I know every parent complains about how fast their kids grow, but ours is crazy. And they don't get any bigger in the waist. Dell, being a young woman, quickly spits out some crazy curves. (No kidding, if her bra size was only a bit larger she'd have the same measurements as Barbie. We're looking into convents now.) As for Sparrow, she just grows like a bean shoot, always taller, no wider. So really, pants aren't practical at all.

2) They like them. No really. I got the story that they weren't allowed to wear them in the foster home. Now I take that with a grain of salt. It could be that someone was trying to wear a particularly bad skirt or was being inappropriate in one and they had to say no. Or it could have been completely made up to get what we want. I don't know. But there's fewer things that make them happier than getting to spend 10 bucks on new skirts and dresses at Goodwill.

As for me, I'm kind of riding the fence. But there's one thing I do know. FarmerGeek really likes it when I wear skirts. And for him I would do pretty much anything.

My heart is completely crushed...

2011-01-10T09:08:00.000-05:00

For the tradgedy in Arizona... What hurts worst is that the man who could so carelessly snuff out those lives won. He did. Here we are driving a wedge to further and further rend apart the two factions of our country. You know who I heard was to blame for the tradgedy? Sarah Palin. That's right Sarah Palin who went home that night and hugged her babies and cried because underneath it all- it could have been her. Because she's a woman in politics who's had as many death threats- if not more!

Right now everyone is blaming the Tea Party for inspiring hatred towards the government. But here's the fallacy of that. We won. We have no reason to hate the government. (And seriously, there was no anti-government hatred when Bush was prez?) Quite honestly we didn't like Gifford's policies but we like the way she did her job. I apologize, she DOES her job, I don't mean to speak past tense- I believe she WILL be back doing what she loves as soon as her heart heals- which I daresay may take longer than her brain. We believe in a two party system, and welcome opposing viewpoints as long as they are in keeping with American principles. We believe that a political candidate has every right and in fact SHOULD be able to speak publicly.

But what hurts the worst for me is that people keep speaking to me as though I wouldn't understand, all because I don't agree with her political agenda. I don't belong to her party. But I'm a woman. And the judge standing next to her who lost his life and the little nine year old girl who was gunned down were both Catholic. I'm Catholic. Most importantly, I'm an American. I'm a human being. I don't need any more than that to be profoundly affected by this.

Yet we are using this to drive ourselves further apart.

So I challenge you to go beyond the moment of silence today. I say it is time to start flying our flags again in honor of a little girl, born on the day of our worst moment in American history and her life snuffed out in a cruel and brutal attempt to recreate it. Remember the day Christina Taylor Green was born? Remember 9/11/2001? She was in the book Faces of Hope, featuring babies born on that dark day.

Perhaps the Lord is using her to remind us all that it's time to hope again.

The School Room

2011-01-04T12:31:00.000-05:00

As anyone who homeschools knows, it's always nice to have a schoolroom to work in. Ok, nice being a very weak word. Very weak. Actually if my teenager wrote that down I'd correct her and make her write a more descriptive word. How about moral imperative? Now I'm being hyperbolic I know and it's just as bad.

ANYWAY

We have been working on our school room for three major reasons.
1) The teenager refuses to do anything independently and if I have to sit with her all freaking day I might as well enjoy the room.

2) After watching the absolute joy (not) of Sparrow returning to school after break, I'm fairly certain they will both end up being homeschooled. I simply cannot tolerate watching a 7 year old that depressed. Even though she swears she's not.

3) My in laws gave us a new computer for Christmas.

It's in the process of being cleaned out and reorganized. Actually, it'll take a while, since right now the toys are also being stored in here and are moving once the tax return comes in. Then we'll be able to buy a split box spring for the master bedroom and switch everything around.

And so the new year begins...

2011-01-02T09:20:00.000-05:00

Our new year began with a brand new kitchen table and chairs, the loss of some baby teeth, and a brand new cat mysteriously appearing in the barn.

I'm thinking our year's going to end with orthodontia and kittens. (Is that how you spell orthodontia?)

Low-Fat Potato Soup

2010-12-31T10:14:00.000-05:00

I found a recipe for Low-fat Potato Soup. You know- I just had to mess with it. And guess what- it worked. And I measured ALMOST everything! Yay me! (You do know however, I never measure spices and herbs- I just don't see the point.)

4-5 medium potatoes, smal diced
2 cans of chicken broth
Fresh Chives, chopped
1/2 cup of white wine (I used an open chablis)
2 Tbsp. Minced Garlic (I have to measure this- we're at the bottom of the jar.)
Paprika
Salt, Pepper, paprika, dill
1% milk (What I didn't measure- but I think it's to taste really. It was probably 3 cups.)

Finely dice the potatoes and cook in large pot with chicken broth, spices, garlic, and wine until tender. Now you can either keep the potatoes whole, mash some, or mash all. I have a feeling the amount of milk you use is dependent on if you mash up the potatoes- I left them whole and it was amazing. Now add the milk and make sure your burner is on low so the milk doesn't scald. (If you're feeling crazy- throw in some shredded cheddar here- it's allowed, really.) Heat until warm but don't boil and don't over heat! Serve with some extra chives on top.

And see the pretty Fiestaware I got from my mother-in-law for Christmas?

Breath of Heaven

2010-12-25T22:30:00.000-05:00

This was a hard Christmas, but I have to remember I'm not the first mother to have a tough Christmas, but I have to remember I'm not the first mother to have one- and I won't be the last. And I have the breath of heaven to hold me together.

On a side note, I really feel that the this is the most beautiful Christmas song ever...

How Time Errodes Everything

2010-12-07T10:45:00.000-05:00

Now seriously, I look back 69 years ago (not that I was born) and think about the men and women who rallied around our country when attacked. The years that followed plunged our entire country into hardships. Families were torn apart, women had to assume new roles in the workplace- not for personal fulfilment or money (although I'm sure many did need the money) but to keep our country going, producing food and goods and a stable economy. Everyone's life was touched that day by an attack on a base in Hawaii.

Look at us today. Not to many years ago we were attacked, out of the blue, and for a time we rallied together. But then it got too hard. Public sentiment shifted to blame our leader and question the policies of retaliation and war. Days go by where we don't think about our men and women serving. We certainly don't sit down and knit socks for the boys overseas. In fact, we aren't even allowed to say anything disparaging about the people who are prisoners of war. They should be given the same rights as those fighting to protect ours. We forget to put our flag out.

Sixty nine years ago, we, as a country, put everything on hold to defend the best country in the world. We were outraged that Japan bombed us. We didn't couch it as "Japanese extremists". Yes we screwed up royal by interning our Americans of Japanese descent. But how many of them put up with it because they wanted to prove they were good Americans? Now if our government doesn't provide us with a job, health care, food, income, etc... we're pissed. Those men and women who were taken from their homes and businesses and interred had a right to complain.

Sixty nine years ago we were a country who knew that there was something worse than death.

St. Nicholas Night

2010-12-05T21:24:00.000-05:00

It's St. Nicholas night and a very cozy little home in rural Ohio. My minions have put out their plates, because that's what we do. In fact they were allowed to use my very very new Fiestaware (in Scarlet). Actually Sparrow looked at me when I said they could use it and said, "You mean I get to touch it?" Hey- I only have two settings at this moment in time! What do you do? Do you celebrate? Set out shoes? What?

In other news, I'm not that nice of a mom since I sent Del to bed because she was making the Steelers lose.

Having a bad day?

2010-12-02T12:03:00.000-05:00

Try this...

step 1: go to google translator

step 2: set direction of translation from German to German

step 3: copy paste this into box:

pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk bschk pv bschk bschk pv kkkkkkkkkk bschk

step 4: translate, and hit listen

edit* try this one too

bgg bschk bgg pv bgg bschk bgg zk bgg bschk bgg pv bgg bschk bgg zk bgg bschk bgg pv bgg bschk

Merry Christmas

2010-11-30T10:27:00.000-05:00

Here's the story of what happened to us. We walked into Tractor Supply, where there is a Salvation Army guy ringing the bell and with a kettle. We nodded and said, "Merry Christmas" and he answered, "Happy Holidays." I got torqued off because well, the Salvation Army is a FREAKING CHRISTIAN CHURCH! It's not like he didn't know to say Merry Christmas to us, we said it first! Then to make matters worse, we came out and put our change in and he said, "Happy Holidays" and I responded with "Merry Christmas." Then so did FarmerGeek. Finally, very begrudgingly, he said, "Merry Christmas."

Here's the thing, if I know you are Jewish, I will wish you well on the Jewish holidays. If you are Wiccan, I try to wish you well on those days as well. I respect the same. When you are saying "Happy holidays" you are wishing me a Merry Christmas, Kwanza, Channukah, Yule, and New Years (Did I miss anything?). I don't celebrate all of those. You can't say Merry Christmas to someone because they might celebrate one of the other holidays instead?

Why is it less offensive to say Happy Holidays to me?

Chicken Scampi= Epic Fail

2010-11-23T10:58:00.000-05:00

No seriously, this time I made the Chicken Scampi it was a completely EPIC fail. It was horrible. I mean it tasted WONDERFUL but it looked AWFUL. (Goodness gracious I'm writing like a Victorian schoolgirl.) Here's what I've learned.

1) This is definitely a two skillet meal. Do not cook the chicken in the same pot as the sauce. The chicken will burn.

2) Before you do anything, put water on to boil. The sauce does not wait for pasta.

3) Do not put the cream in until the wine is reduced.

4) Above all else- NEVER let the butter burn.

OK so the recipe that works... :D

1) Cut the top off of a head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and place in a small roasting pan. Place in oven at 475.
2) Cut a large onion, red pepper, green pepper, orange or yellow pepper into large chunks. Drizzle a shallow cookie sheet (or 2 depending on size) with olive oil. Spread veggies on cookie sheet in a single layer. Drizzle with more olive oil over top. Salt and pepper. Place in oven about 10 minutes after it comes to temp. (It'll take about 30-40 minutes, but keep an eye on it. It should blacken the tops, but not burn to a crisp.)

3) Now you have about 20 minutes here. Either pound some chicken flat, dredge in flour, salt and pepper mix and brown, or get out some left over chicken and dice or chop as you see fit. Or leave vegetarian. I don't actually get a vote here.

4) When your 20 minutes are up, melt about 3-4 tablespoons of butter in a skillet along with about an 1/8th cup of olive oil. When it's melted, add about 5 shakes of red pepper flakes, minced garlic (this is not the garlic from the oven) and 1 cup of dry white wine. I also threw in some basil. I don't know why.

5) Reduce wine mixture down for about 5 minutes. (This is when I put the ravioli in.) Put in about a 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. (If you are using fresh grated, don't put in yet.)

6) Add a 1/2 cup of cream or half and half. If you use skim milk it will be awful and I will hunt you down.

7) Reduce heat to low. (If you are using fresh grated parm, grate into cream now.)

8) At this point the veggies should be done. Scrape them into the serving bowl (except garlic, set that aside.) Ladle some of the scampi into the roasting pan and use it to kind of deglaze bottom. Pour the ladled sauce with all the frondsy bits back into the sauce skillet. Salt and pepper sauce now if it needs it.

9) Pour the sauce in with the veggies and give a quick stir. Take the garlic out of the head and stir in.

10) Add pasta and chicken. Enjoy!

Holding off on the Chicken Scampi Recipe

2010-11-19T08:55:00.000-05:00

Only because I forgot to you know- MEASURE- the ingredients. Sigh. I'll try it again tomorrow...

Send my your preferences for a new recipe. Del's ultimate pecan pie (which is hotly debated in our house as to whether it's PEE-can or puh-CAHN pie.) -OR- a brand new dressing recipe?

The Royal Wedding

2010-11-18T10:39:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry, I'm not a huge fan of anything British. Really kinda makes me squick. HOWEVER, this royal engagement has captured my imagination. I mean, I really believe the story of their love- they met in college and fell in love, took time to grow up- split up- realized their love and are about to live happily ever after. What gets me is the concept of a regular girl growing up to become queen. I mean, can it get any more fairy tale than this? I know they say Princess Di and Prince Charles had the "fairy tale" wedding, but really, this to me is way more fairy tale. (No testing her virginity here- they lived together in college.) Her parents were a pilot and a flight attendant who started a mail order business that made them millionaires. They work hard. (Or at least did- I'm sure they have minons now.)

Now I'm a realist, chances are she did angle to meet him because he's the Prince. But really, watching them together, they're so fluid together. They took EIGHT YEARS to come to this point. I think they trust the relationship and love. It just blows my mind- I mean, his proposing wasn't even the life changing "will you marry me?" it was also a "Hey wanna be the Queen of England someday?" How weird is that? That's what captures my interest, probably everyone else too... but can you seriously imagine meeting a cute guy at college and falling in love and becoming the FREAKING QUEEN OF ENGLAND? It's crazy!

Sonlight

2010-11-17T09:47:00.000-05:00

Let's just say, we've got several strikes going against us in the schooling area.
1) We're the first family Del's had that actually valued school for education's sake.
2) We're the first people that taught Del to actually enjoy reading.
3) We're the first people that refuse to read FOR her.
4) We're still working on the whole trust issue.
5) We have attachment problems.
6) We have special needs.

This is why I LOVE LOVE LOVE Sonlight. You get to choose which core you want based on your child's interest and reading level. We chose the Core 3/4 which is a little bit young for her, but good for the reading part and she loves American History. Our box came and we opened it and started sorting out dozens of books.

My child who hated to read, will be one of the best read kids I know. Without being forced to do it. Not only that, she's being opened up to the world around her. One thing kids from foster care struggle with is throwing off that "victim" mentality. When you start reading true stories about people who settled our land- starving, homeless, enslaved, it puts your life into perspective. (The whole- "your life DID suck, it DOES NOT suck NOW" concept...) Not only that, it came with the Oxford Book of American Children's Poems that she reads aloud everyday. And a Scripture passage she has to memorize and recite. (It takes about 6 weeks.) She read her first poem for everyone last night and got a round of applause.

I love that this curriculum comes with an Instructor's Guide that puts it all together for me. I don't have to teach her during the day and spend my nights coming up with lesson plans. Although, I could if I wanted to. The idea did occur to me though- I'm not married to it. I could skip a book or have her push ahead a bit.

But the best part comes at night. You know, Sparrow still goes to Catholic school while Del does homeschool. Of course, FarmerGeek still goes to work everyday- although he does teach Math after school. But part of our curriculum includes reading out-loud parent and child. Well, we upped it a bit. We all pile on the couch and read together. This is so good for our bonding as a family and working through the reactive attachment disorder. We chose holding therapy at the get go and this is fabulous for promoting it. Even if we didn't have these issues, we would still HAVE to spend time together. We'd have to MAKE the time to spend together!

So here's the deal. Maybe you want to check out Sonlight, maybe you want to order a book or the entire curriculum. Just click on the button to the right of the screen and they'll give you $5 off your order. It doesn't matter how big your order is. (Her one book, "Om-kas-toe" came signed by the way...)

In the matter of disclosure and honesty, yes I do get rewards points toward future purchases is you buy through my blog. But honestly- if I wasn't telling the absolute truth about how much I love Sonlight and weren't committed to the program- those reward points wouldn't do me a dang bit of good! And you still get $5 off-no matter what!

Just take a look, homeschooler or not...

Best. Ad. EVER...

2010-11-16T10:13:00.000-05:00

Best moment is about one minute in with the tractor.

Country Block Party.

2010-11-16T09:08:00.000-05:00

Let's just start with, I'm freaking exhausted... If I start to ramble- well- you'll just have to forgive me (or deal) as well as for any typos. I'm so tired, I had to stop and get gas to take Sparrow to school, pumped the gas, got in the Jeep, and started to drive home- totally forgetting to that she had yet to arrive at the school!

It all started with a loud BOOM! I kinda thought it was the Transformer blowing AGAIN! (The one in the cow field across the road blows all the freaking time. All. The. Freaking. Time. Like for a while we lost power once a week. We're up to once every two weeks or so.) So I push the speed dial for the Emergency Electric Outage line (yes that's how bad it is, I have them on speed dial) and get snarky with a poor woman named LaDonna. (To whom I am exponentially sorry.) My kids are pissed because they really wanted to watch Avalon High, which we were DVR'ing and were just getting to the main action. So we call. I got off the phone and hear the neighbors yelling back and forth across the road. Well we can't tell from inside if it's a "Hey what's going on?" or a "I need help" type of thing so FarmerGeek goes running out there. It's our next door neighbors yelling to the guy across the street to see if it was just her house or all the houses.

Then the sirens started.

And they kept coming.

And coming.

And coming.

Now we don't keep it a secret that we adopted from foster care and kids who have been in foster care have some issues. Our kids have some nice issues about sirens, police officers, flashing lights, and- you guessed it- being without power. So what's a mom to do? Well I know my kids, sitting inside helpless ain't gonna help no way no how. So my kids throw their robes on and slippers and start walking down the road. (With us and the neighbors.)

We did realize by now that there were definitely enough First Responders there and they probably wouldn't need our help. But you never know- last year during an ice storm the ambulance slid off the road and we were able to run back home for salt. And the one other storm where the girl drove into the cow pasture fence, we were able to make some coffee for the First Responders. Then there was the time the kid swerved to "miss" hitting a duck and crashed into a mailbox and the sheep fencing. I got to give a statement that time. Or the really scary time the guy lost consciousness and hit the electric pole in front of our house on the other side of the street. That was the time FarmerGeek actually had to call the guy's family.

I guess what I'm saying is if you come to our place- be careful. Our road is a jinx.

ANYWAYS....

We let the neighbor walk ahead in case there was anything bad for little eyes. He came back and said that some guy went up over the hill and into an electric pole knocked that one completely over into the field, and knocked the second one mostly over. I think he said the car ended up in the ravine. By now all the neighbors have checked in, hung out, etc.. We found out exactly which house belongs to the guy that works at the electric company. I believe we even found out when the next 4-H meeting is. We stood around watching the pretty lights. And then walked home. We made a fire and lit candles and oil lamps. Oh and read another chapter of "Little House in the Big Woods". The girls went to bed and a little while later the lights (and subsequently heat and water) came back on.

Which should have been the end.

Really.

But no.

Every once in a while if I'm under a bunch of stress or having trauma based issues myself, I wake up in the middle of the night feeling like there are little bugs crawling all over my legs. Weird I know, but true. Then I look and see that there aren't which leaves me feeling so itchy I can't stand it. There is only one thing to do then- I have to get up and take a shower. By then, everything's back in perspective and I feel clean again and the itching goes away. So naturally, in the middle of the night this kicks in.

I am now exhausted, crying, whining, and generally not happy. But FarmerGeek convinces me to get up and shower. No lie, I go down and sit on the pot to prepare to shower. And the power goes out again. Which means no well. Which means no shower. Which means no end in sight to my itchiness. And goodness knows I tried. I reminded myself it wasn't real. I tried to treat it like it was real with anti-itch cream. I took Benadryll. Then it did something it never did before. It spread. By 3:45AM my entire body was itching like mad. I'm trying not to scratch or cry because I don't want to wake FarmerGeek up and it's too cold to leave the bed (no heat remember?). I'm about to wake him up anyway and ask him for the directions to the generator when...

The power finally comes back on.

So at about 3:45 AM I take a shower and go back to bed. Until the alarm goes off. At 6. That's about 2 hours sleep after the itchiness and 2 hours before. I am an 8.5 hours girl. I do not do well with no sleep. It's a lot of the reason why we adopted older kids.

I'm going to take a nap.

2010-11-14T21:09:00.001-05:00

Big doings. Two poles down and no power. Country block party!

You Like Me- you really LIKE Me!

2010-11-12T20:41:00.000-05:00

No seriously, head on over to Facebook and search for me, The DivaHick, and Like my fanpage. I'm having a giveaway when I reach 100 fans... I'm thinking something cute... Hmmm.... More details announced on the Fan page!

Cooking With Sparrow

2010-11-12T09:49:00.001-05:00

Today I bring to you a semi-regular segment entitled, "Cooking with Sparrow".

Actually, truth is, this was a school assignment and took pictures because it was so stinking cute.

The name of the recipe is: Bananas with Wheat Germ

STEP 1: Peel the Banana

STEP 2: Chop the Banana

STEP 3: Roll Banana in Wheat Germ

That's the finished project in the Rubbermaid container there!

And in case you need a recipe to print... check this one out!

All the sweetness and all the crunch. There you have it, Cooking with Sparrow!

Happy Veteran's Day

2010-11-11T09:12:00.000-05:00

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

John 15:13

I know that Veteran's Day is a celebration of those who bravely fought, and returned. (Pardon me I've already started tearing up.) I still use this Scripture to describe them, because it's still true. All of our military families are laying down their lives for us. Gather round kids, it's story time.

This is a true story of someone I knew on the Internet. For privacy and practical purposes, I'll call her MilitaryMamaWanna. She had problems getting pregnant and was on a long term course of fertility drugs that they had saved up a couple years to be able to afford. They were about 3/4 of the way through the treatment when her husband was called up. She, seemingly without much complaint, gave up those months of injections and raging hormones because well, contrary to popular opinion, you do actually need a man to make a baby. This was something they should be doing together. A little while after he was shipped out, he got to come home on leave. After he returned to duty, his wife e-mailed him some amazing news. During that short visit, they created the baby they had been trying so hard for. Now this man is overseas receiving this by e-mail, unable to hold his wife and cry tears of joy with her. He was not there to help her prepare for the baby, take her to the doctor, hear the heartbeat. For whatever reason, he was not able to receive calls or e-mails for a couple weeks. When he got back, he found the two e-mails from his wife- one dated a week or so before the other. The first one bore that horrible news that the baby they had hoped for would not be, she had miscarried. I can't imagine the grief, and yes guilt, the poor man felt. It was followed by a second e-mail that the woman had gone to her usual Sunday church service, seeking comfort and solace. She had forgotten it was Mother's Day. At the door there were kids handing out flowers to all the ladies who were mothers. She accepted it with tears in her eyes and sat down, thanking the Lord for recognizing what was going on. As she sat there, another woman (ok soul-sucking bitch) came up to her and had the nerve to ask for the flower back because she "wasn't a mother yet." (And yes, the woman knew about the recent miscarriage.) Subsequently, she sank into a deep depression.

What would your husband do? I know what FarmerGeek would have done. Let's just say that lady would be taken to task and the pastor spoken to. FarmerGeek would have demanded something to be done and at the very least an apology issued. He would have gone to battle for me. The problem was, her husband couldn't do that.

Because he was already going to battle for the rest of us.

Martha frickin Stewart

2010-11-10T08:23:00.002-05:00

Let me just tell you right off that I can't friggin stand Martha frickin Stewart! I hate the commercial placement and the constant name dropping. I was devastated when the Hallmark Channel pretty much turned into the Martha Stewart Channel. I don't hold the whole jail thing against her, I mean, she's paid her debt to society so now it's between her and God. However after the things she said in my hometown I swear I would never watch her. Ever. EVER.

And yet I watched it...

You are now shaking your head and wondering about the DivaHick now aren't you? Well here's my thoughts on the matter, as politically incorrect as they are. Women turn houses into homes. It doesn't matter if you are married, single, have kids, have pets, or it's just someplace you fall into at night after working a 20 hour day. We crave comfort. We crave coherency and balance. I mean, you can watch Clean House and Hoarders where the rooms are piled full of cr@p, but underneath all those layers- you can find a decorating scheme.

Not to many years ago though, we made the decision that women were trapped into wanting to do that. We were being wasted by turning our attentions to home and hearth. Women should be doctors and lawyers and accountants and company presidents! And of course, we should. IF WE WANT TO! Martha Stewart's success lies in the fact that the schools pushed out Home Ec because CEO's don't need to learn it. The truth is, we do NEED to know home ec and even if we didn't there are so many, many women who WANT to learn it. We want to take care of our homes, even if we are also working 10 hours a day. (Although truth be told, no woman only works 10 hours a day.)

Don't believe me? Been to a Jo-Ann's lately? They're stuffed to the brim and doing an insane amount of business. Ask yourself why...

Homeschooling Mama

2010-11-09T08:38:00.005-05:00

So last week I, quite snarkily, posted something on Facebook. It went something like this, "Now that I'm a conservative, Christian, Homeschooling mom, am I required to wear denim jumpers- or is that optional...?" I mean, come on people, I am the DIVAHick right? I actually went out and bought pink and brown work boots to match a pink and brown baseball hat (with rhinestones). I wear fashionably, yet functionally, cut jeans and an ultra-cute apron. (And I wear shirts to- this ain't that kind of farm kiddies!)

I am the very portrait of farmgirl chic. :P

So seriously, I started looking up denim jumpers to laugh at all those other moms. I mean go to Vermont Country Store and take a gander. All those dorky outfits...
But then I saw this...

Hey that actually looks comfy... I could work with that... a scarf, some awesome dangly earrings, kick a$$ boots...

Not to bad either... it's a good throw on to go out and about. Again, I'm seeing a scarf and some funky bangles. Maybe some hair chopsticks. Then again this might be all about the purse.

Ok this one is desperately, impossibly dorky. But it's a flannel dress. I mean, really, blessed warmth in the middle of January. I think we can work it. I think with some of the perfect accessories we can get it to the hot librarian look. High heel black boots? Long ropes of glittery black beads? I don't know, I can't get past the thought of black hornrimmed glasses with rhinestones and a messy upsweep though.

And don't worry. Even I'm not finding an excuse for this.

Somebody save me.

(For the record, I'm still in my pajamas... one kid homeschooling, the other one home sick.)

*As far as I know, Vermont Country Store has no knowledge of me or my blog. I am not being endorsed or compensated in any way

I know I keep saying it...

2010-11-04T10:19:00.002-04:00

But I really oought to get back to blogging...

Here's our newest update- Our adoption finalized in September and we are the forever, permanent parents of Del (13) and Sparrow (who's now 7). FarmerGeek turned 30. We decided that public school simply wasn't working for our girls and put them in Catholic school, which in turn ended up not working for one Miss Del who will start homeschooling next week. For those of you who are interested in this sort of thing, we're using the Sonlight Curriculum. She really wants to learn more about American History, so we went with Core 3/4 which in some ways will be too young for her, but we can supplement with older books. I went with a younger curriculum because they have read a-louds which will promote our holding therapy.

Our garden did end up being a bust. The worst part is that the things that DID grow- certain minions would go out to play, pick them and leave them strewn about the yard.

By the way, I may be a Conservative, Christian, Homeschooling Mom- but I don't wear denim jumpers...

Oh and PS- Chuck Norris homeschools his kids- don't make fun of it...

It's that time of the year again...

2010-07-15T07:04:00.002-04:00

When I totally give up on the garden. I have fought a valiant fight, honest... we spread 50 POUNDS of milky spore to kill the Japanese beetles, I sprayed, He plucked, and yet they are here. Which is extra creepy when I hang out laundry. We never had to worry before about the evil little bastards also known as woodchucks, groundhogs, whistle pigs... Yet twice I've had to release the minions to chase them out of the garden- and that's the only the times I saw them. Then during a storm half a crabapple tree fell on our fence and took it out so our poultry is running free through ours and the neighbors yard and into my garden. The cukes are destroyed, the strawberries ravished, and the melons- Dear Lord, let's not even talk about the fate of the melons! Not only that- a piece of personal advice from the Diva Hick. NEVER PLANT A GARDEN WHERE SHEEP USED TO GRAZE! The stuff they eat (they poop out and it) spreads and is horribly pervasive, no matter what you do! Of course if certain chicken would stop making dust baths in the mulch I'd have a shot, but.....

Add to all of this 90+ days, shitty air quality, allergies, and asthma and I don't want to spend hours and hours repairing the damage.

Sigh, it's a good thing we have a farmer's market...

Oh if I had three wishes...

2010-07-11T12:16:00.003-04:00

I do, I really really do wish I had three wishes. You know the Genie style-rub a lamp-catch a leprechaun-pot of gold wishes? (OK maybe not the leprechaun thing, them buggers are NASTY.)

1) I'd like three more rooms added to our house. (Actually, I would have to wish it "I wish I had three more rooms added to my house at no additional cost to myself, my family, my friends, my acquaintances, my enemies, or those I have yet to meet without structurally or aestically impairing my house and that the rooms were located in well-appointed and servicable places to make them usuable and that no ill effects come from addition of aforementioned rooms. I could totally take on those pesky lawyer-esque Genies.)

2) I wish that Del would make a healthy attachment to us in the form of real parental bonding without adversely affecting her future or other relationships or forever alerting the future in a negative fashion.

3) I wish I had a magic wand that came with an alarm system that would warn me about bad wish choices before I made them. That way I could wave my magic wand and *poof* no more weed or *poof* new clothes/jewelry/hairstyle.. or best yet *poof* the living room is rearranged and redecorated!!!

2010-06-10T16:02:00.001-04:00

The summer has landed.

Storms Ahead

2010-06-03T14:16:00.004-04:00

So I managed to get the garden in yesterday morning (OK there are still a few things left) right before the severe weather rolled though. But you want to know a secret? Come closer, a little more. OK- here goes.

I feel guilty.

No really- we spent the money to have the two plots tilled in and then we never got around to planting them. Then we rented a tiller and I re-tilled the smaller patch. But one night, after yet another impromptu therapy session around the kitchen table, I walked outside with FarmerGeek and nearly lost it. I was so overwhelmed with the kids, the new barn, the laundry, the dishes, the cooking, the housework, the garden, the 4-H project, the fact summer is coming and I will be the sole caregiver for two very needy girls for 3 months, trying to plan an adoption day party when we still don't know when exactly adoption day will be, that I just couldn't take anymore. So the result was- scale back on the garden. Which made my work incredibly less, and will make canning time easier (you just can't plan anything right now, we could get the canner going and have to stop everything to deal with Dell's issues du jour) but at the same time I feel so guilty about it.

And I'm mad because there are things I'd like to plant and can't.

Then the thunderstorms rolled in and are planning on sticking around for a while.

But then again, I already knew that.

The Right Girl

2010-06-02T16:00:00.003-04:00

I am totally enamored with the Right Girl's blog and she's having a giveaway. Now you know me- if there's a giveaway I'm entering! But I really want this pitcher since I'm obsessed with them... So here's my Catch-22, I post it here to enter, but if I post it you people might enter and thus destroy my chances- what's a girl to do? LOL

OK people...

2010-06-02T15:58:00.000-04:00

I have to get back to blogging- but I have a feeling that this blog, much like my life, will be taking on a new focus.

It could only happen to me...

2010-03-01T10:50:00.000-05:00

So we went to our favorite store and took the girls for the first time. I don't want to mention the name because I'm worried you might think badly of them and it's really not their fault. Let's just say it was a famous store in Amish Country Ohio and known for having all the the non-electric things we love, ok?

It's still my favorite place ever!

Here's the thing though, we sat down at the little cafe in the store to have some lunch, FarmerGeek, Del, Sparrow, and I. Del's favorite thing in the world is root beer I swear. As a treat we got them a glass bottle to split, a bottle for me, and FarmerGeek got a Cherry flavor I think. I don't know, it was red though. Note how I was the only one with an opaque bottle and no glass? Yeah I took a sip and thought it was a bit frozen. Yeah no, it was a bee. A yellowjacket in the bottle. Even thinking about it now makes be queasy. The problem?

I'm allergic to bees.

Not Epipen allergic, I don't go into anaphaltic shock, just regular, ordinary shock. In the store. And in the van. I hope no one noticed.

So the cafe manager type person came right over and was trying to maintain a calm presence, but you could see as she was filling out the accident report and opening the first aid kit, her hands were shaking worse than mine. I don't think she was thinking straight because she didn't offer me a refund or any type of compensation- not that I wanted any. But I think it would have been nice to offer my money back on the bottle of soda with a bee in it.

Although she did give me a glass to pour the next bottle of root beer in.

This is a true story. And yes, it could only happen to me.

A New Post

2010-02-22T09:23:00.004-05:00

Well... everyone keeps saying that I should post again so I think I will! I mean I've got a lot to say! The big news is that I'm a Mommy! We are in the process of adopting two new family members.

Our older girl, Delphinium- Del for short, is 13 and has just joined 4-H. She will be raising ducks this year, Cayuga Ducks to be exact. She loves to cook and bake, just made her first skirt on a sewing machine yesterday, and is a crocheter (is that a word?) She is also Dante's new owner.

Our younger girl, Sparrow, is 6. She is as wacky as they come. Good thing we like wacky around here! She doesn't have much to do outside right now, but we're going to get her a chicken or two for the summer and her own plot of land to grow some things. She is also learning to quilt. Her real passion is music and we'll be getting her lessons next year.

So our family is DivaHick, FarmerGeek, Delphinium, Sparrow, and Dante. Which reminds me, I need to go get some bread rising, we need at least three loaves a week now...

But I'm not complaining!

Well Done Thou Good And Faithful Servant.

2009-05-22T16:33:00.003-04:00

We lost our beloved Faust this morning. No one's exactly sure what happened, but he fell gravely ill yesterday and was definitely in Septic Shock. We suspect he may have been suffering from ulcers, but the only way to know for sure, we'd have to do surgery and quite honestly, it was already too late. When we got to the animal hospital this morning, he'd given up and was no longer responding to anyone. So we made that tough decision and had him put down and he'll be cremated along with his "baby" (a stuffed dog that looked just like him that his Grammy gave him. He loved it and he loved her.) As I'm writing this, there are tears just pouring down my face. There was no one that ever met that dog that didn't think he was the most wonderful dog in the world. Even my grandma, who lived her 90 years around dogs, thought he was the most special dog she'd ever met.

Part of the reason, I think, that I fell in love with my husband originally was because he was the type of man who would adopt a dog because the shelter was about to put him down. And he loved that dog. In fact, on our first date he showed me the picture of Faust he keeps in his wallet. Faust was also in our engagement pictures.

There will never be another dog like Faust. And a light's gone out in this world.

Things that REALLY Bug Me.

2009-05-18T11:11:00.003-04:00

Maybe it's just because parenthood is looming on the horizon or something, but I've pretty much had it with Burger King. I don't eat fast food that often, but I do enjoy the Burger King sandwiches and I love me some Mocha Joe. However, here's the thing- their marketing director should be drawn and quartered for the sake of society's children. (I'm not actually advocating physically harming the person.)

First came the incredibly inappropriate SpongeBob Squarepants commercial which parodied the 80's song, "Baby got back" which prominently featured young "ladies" with what appeared to be phonebooks in their skin tight pants shaking it for all their worth. Way to promote a kid's meal guys.

I promptly decided to boycott Burger King until the ad was removed. This morning, on the way back from my MRI, I had to grab something to eat quick so I could take my medicine. I hadn't seen the ad in a while, so I declared the boycott over and stopped at Burger King. Lo and behold, they are no longer featuring SpongeBob, they are now giving away Star Trek toys. Now on the surface I don't have a problem with that- I watched Star Trek as a kid- but then I started thinking. Generally speaking, the Kid's Meals are eaten by kid's about 10 and under. Star Trek was rated PG-13. Do we see the problem there?

In fact Common Sense Media ran an article on it.

But my question is this, are they marketing to young, or are they taking things they know kids'll enjoy and making them to sexual and/or violent so they get the higher ratings? And do parents ignore the ratings and let their kids watch? Or are the marketing campaigns not working on the kids?

Just curious.

Saturday Morning Cartoon.

2009-05-16T08:30:00.002-04:00

Whatever happened to cartoons like this and Tom and Jerry and Woody the Woodpecker and all the classics? You could watch a normal TV station, without cable, on Saturday mornings with your parents and neither one of you would be bored. And your parents didn't have to worry about what you were watching.

Paid Programming killed the cartoon star.

Today is a bad day.

2009-05-14T08:06:00.003-04:00

Oh it's 8AM and I want to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head. Yesterday I managed to get into the ortho's in the city and found out I most likely tore the cartilage in my knee. I have an MRI scheduled for Monday and then it's probably surgery time. I asked about a brace and crutches and the doctor told me that I should just stay in bed until then. Yeah, like that's gonna happen.

Then there's my poor husband. Since I can barely hobble he's had to cook, clean, do the laundry, fix the tractors, do the grocery shopping, fetch me things, get the ground ready for planting, take care of the dogs and the chickens, shuttle me to the doctor's, deal with a drugged up wife, and all sorts of other things I forgot to mention. Plus go to work everyday. And he's done it without complaining.

Until this morning when he got up to find our new coop had flipped over in the night and is lying on its roof about 50 ft from where it's supposed to be. It's supposed to storm all day and he had no choice but to throw up some temporary fencing and go to work, hoping for the best.

Now there's no way I can just sit in the house knowing that the animals in our care are in danger. For those of you who don't know- a wet chicken is a dead chicken. I foolishly tried to flip the coop back over or push it closer or something. It didn't work. (Are you surprised?) I tried to coax them to the old coop. That didn't work. Meanwhile there's a nice big hawk circling overhead. The only thing I could thing of to do was walk down to the road and grab the garbage can (thank God it was garbage night) and drag the big garbage can up the hill into the back pasture. I put it down on the ground and threw some food in. Hopefully, the stupid chickens will think to get into the garbage when the storms hit. It's not really big enough but it's the best I can do.

It's survival of the fittest at our farm today.

Ugh!

2009-05-11T07:18:00.002-04:00

So this is the story of my knee.

We think we know what happened. We think I dislocated it when I was walking last Saturday, but it didn't hurt at all right then. But it might have hurt before that, I can't remember. Basically I didn't think much of it at the time because well- I'm used to knees hurting and stuff. I wasn't concerned until my knee felt like it wasn't going to support me anymore. So I called the doctor.

I go to the doctor and without even looking at my knee the doctor came in and said, "Well you need to lose weight." I said, "Yeah I know- you told me that last time and I'm working on it." I tried to explain that for 5 days we'd been eating out and not excersizing cause, well, I can't stand long enough to cook and there's to much that needs to be done outside for FarmerGeek to be taking the time. Then we spend time discussing my weight and what I'm doing. We puts me on a diet pill, which turned out to be an amphetamine- but not an amphetamine. Finally he starts asking about my knee. Basically I spent money to go in to have my weight checked and referred to an orthopedic surgeon. He couldn't prescribe Ibuprofen because it interacts with the medicne I'm on for the insulin resistance. So he prescribes prednisone. Now in case you don't know that's a steroid. So now I'm on a steroid and amphetamines. Yeah. Think that through. Not to mention the three pages of drug interactions the pharmacist gave me- after I asked of course.

So I call the ortho and guess what? They can't get me in until the 27th. Are we in Canada? Seriously, not one appointment until then? Not only that but they want me to call the GP and have him order X-rays to be sent to the ortho. Fine whatever.

Now Saturday comes around. My butt has not moved out of the chair for a couple days. My knee is killing me, I'm in tears, and my baby toe is all pins and needles. I figure the least that will happen is they will give me an MRI, brace it, give me crutches, and tell me to call the ortho. Yeah no.

I walk into the hospital to be greeted with a "Swine Flu Alert" they suspect there was a case of the swine flu there. (Unfortunately, it was a 4-month-old little boy who passed away.) OK it's not like I care about swine flu. I come in, give my name and problem, and go sit down. The triage nurse called for me and watches me limp on my cane and FarmerGeek's arm all the way from the waiting room to triage before going, "Oh did you want a wheelchair?" Uh DUH?!?! So this is the upside of what happened. I got an X-ray which didn't show anything, aced bandaged completely wrong that made my leg hurt so much worse I'm just bawling, and a prescription for Ultram which "works like a narcotic- but is not a narcotic." And sent home. Not even a "call the Ortho and see if they can take you."

So I left in more pain than I showed up in.

Now, for those of you who are keeping score- I'm on an amphetamine that's not an amphetamine, a steroid, my regular insulin medicne, and a narcotic that's not a narcotic. Supposedly the amphetamine and the narcotic like drugs are supposed to do the same thing as the actual amphetamines and narcotic but are non-addictive. My only thought here is, isn't part of the reason why those are addictive is because they work? I mean, I took the Ultram (narcotic) and was out of pain and loopy and feeling happy and silly. Isn't that part of the problem? And if weight starts pouring off of me after all these years of trying, do you think I'm going to want to stop taking the medicne? (Well actually yes I would, but I'm terrifed to take it in the first place.)

I have a whole point here, but my brain's a little foggy. Did I mention I'm on drugs?

The Return of Saturday Morning Cartooms

2009-05-09T04:35:00.000-04:00

I was just talking about them this week on Facebook.

People, People....

2009-05-07T07:54:00.001-04:00

So basically, even though I have an organic farm, belong to the Arbor Day foundation, am finding alternative fuel sources for my home, and raise chickens, because I don't agree with your version of global warming, I'm destroying the environment?

Ok fine, now get in your H3 and drive away....

In other news... my favorite band is going to have a song called Yarmouth Town on Ugly Betty tonight. Check them out at www.greatbigsea.com

Back from Blog-cation!

2009-05-06T08:33:00.002-04:00

Hey all, sorry my blog-cation took so long, but there's been so many things going on that I haven't had time. Of course, none of these things were earth-shattering, or really that interesting, so I didn't think to post them anyways...

Since I blew out my knee, I have plenty of time sitting here with it elevated until my doctor's appointment. So here's a synopsis of what's going on.

1) We are in the waiting period of the homestudy. Everything's completed, our worker just needs to write it up and have it approved.

2) Our duck's gone broody. Two of our homesteading buddies were nice enough to donate nearly a dozen eggs, since Muscovies are supposed to be able to sit on 15 or so. Well, we looked under her and there was only two left? We can't figure out exactly what's going on. Anyways, that'll lead to number three...

3) We put up a new chicken coop/shed. We bought a metal shed kit and moved them over for now. The only bird in the old one is Duckster and her eggs. Does anyone know if we put chicks under her, will she think they hatched?

4) We sold our pick up to buy a mini-van. I drive a mini-van. Sigh.

5) You have no idea how filthy a country home can get in the spring. Even if you clean it twice a week.

Anyways, I'm back- I've missed you all. Are you still out there? Leave me a comment so I know. (And you shouldn't need a blogger account to do that.)

Saturday Morning Cartoon.

2009-04-11T15:14:00.000-04:00

Since I'm busy cooking and getting ready for Easter dinner tomorrow, I hope you don't mind that I wrote this earlier in the week.

Because of the importance of tomorrow- a day that changed history for the entire world, believers or no- I am breaking with my usual flashback cartoon and going with a new cartoon that means so much more.

God bless.

What the heck?

2009-04-06T13:16:00.000-04:00

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

The first person that can accurately guess what is going on in each picture wins the honor of being right and I'll mention you and promote your blog/website right here on DivaHick's blog! (I know, I know- but it's all I can do this week.)

Spring and Fall

2009-04-05T21:22:00.000-04:00

If you know me, and you know what's happened this year, you'll understand why I've posted this this week. Forgive me if you don't hear from me this week. But you understand.

Spring and Fall
by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you will weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow's springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What héart héard of, ghóst guéssed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.

Happy Palm Sunday

2009-04-05T12:25:00.002-04:00

So a few years ago, I took FarmerGeek to his first Palm Sunday mass at a Catholic Church. This was after we were engaged and after we found out that we needed to ask for a special dispensation from the diocese to get married since FarmerGeek, although Christian, was never formally baptized. (If you have questions go to his blog ask him because I never explain it right. Then ask him why Fr. Al offered to set him on fire. It's a great story.) ANYWAYS, part of Palm Sunday mass is a renewal of your baptismal vows and the priest will sprinkle holy water on the congregation as part of the blessing of the Palms.

Now my fiancee (now my husband) was not knowledgeable of the ways of the Catholic Church and I have a wicked sense of humor. He responded with an "I do" doing the renewal of the vows (for those that he did believe). As soon as Fr. Al started to come around with the holy water, I told him he had to duck, because if he got hit by the holy water after saying the vows, he'd be baptized Catholic. (Which is patently not true, but really funny.) You should have seen the look on his face. You should have heard the horror in my grandmother's voice when I told her what I did. You also should have heard Fr. Al laughing when I told him during our Pre-Cana.

Well I thought about it this morning, and whispered to him he'd really better duck since he was on the end. After Fr. Tom (we moved) came by with the holy water, I looked at Farmer Geek at said, "You didn't duck?" with wide-eyed surprise. He informed me that he'd actually gotten hit twice.

After Mass we went to grab a bite to eat and I noticed on his neck and chest there was a rash starting.

Obviously welts from where the holy water hit...

Happy Holy Week.

Saturday Morning Cartoon.

2009-04-04T05:45:00.000-04:00

I love this one...

And I really do love cartoons. Innocent happy cartoons. I wish that Saturday morning cartoon would come back. Who's with me?

Friday Free For All

2009-04-03T11:17:00.003-04:00

Oh yes people, there will be rambling, there will be incoherence, there will be run on sentences, there will be a Friday Free For All!!!!

So here's what I hate about spring. It seems that every year something bad happens to my family in the spring. Every year. I'm just waiting for the shoe to drop this year. It could be some many different things. Then I hate the allergies. And I hate that this part of spring is always like a holding pattern to me. I want to plant, but it's to early there's still frost. I want to hatch chickens but as we recently found out the county can't license our home for foster to adopt if the chicks are inside and Marc and I can't agree on whether we should buy eggs and try to hatch them in the coop. Also there's so many things I want around my home but since we didn't live here last spring and last fall was so horrible we didn't get them planted. Things like a lilac bush and strawberries. I really miss lilacs. Although I'm allergic to them.

Things I like about spring. There's crocuses (or is it croci?) in the yard. And some sprigs that look suspiciously like asparagus, but aren't in a spot that make any sense for someone to plant asparagus. I like the clothing I get to wear. And I can walk around and dream and plan. And the chickens are laying again. And I get to plan out the garden etc...

Btw I'm watching reruns of 90210 (the original) and Dylan is supposed to have cracked ribs. Do you think you could yell if you had cracked ribs? Or make out?

Just curious.

And do you think getting a wringer washer's a good idea if it's electric? A hand cranked one could be mighty useful, but...

And I'm getting my hair done at the fancy salon tomorrow!!! I'm driving into the city to do it!!! (I've decided we now have a "town" a "city" and "a big city". What used to be the big city is now the the city and the place we went shopping is now the big city.)

March Went Out Like a Lamb

2009-04-01T08:06:00.004-04:00

This is an expose of the local politician eating the brains of his candidate.

April Fool's!

Anyways, if you are addicted to blogs, you've probably seen this, if not- it'sreally funny.

Now I'm going to take a nap. Why does 5AM insist on coming so darn early?

Happy Happy Shopping Day

2009-03-30T22:36:00.005-04:00

If you can jump in the car and be at a nice mall in less than half an hour, then this story will make no sense to you. However, if you are like us and the two hottest clothes store in your area are Wal-Mart and Goodwill, you can probably feel my pain here.

Don't get me wrong, I love Wal-Mart and FarmerGeek has developed an obsession for Goodwill "finds". But occasionally, I feel the need to indulge in retail therapy. Since our tax return came in, we were able to do our part to stimulate the economy. We decided not to go into our nearest big city, we would drive an extra half hour to go to the bigger city that actually has a Barnes and Noble, JoAnn's Super Store, Berean Christian Store, Bed Bath and Beyond, Body Shop, and Michael's. (No half of these stores are not in our closest big city and NONE of them are in our town. Our anchor stores at the mall nearest us are Elder-Beerman, J.C. Penney's and a scrapbooking store!)

The day was dubbed "Happy Happy Shopping Day" and I had looked forward to it for weeks.

I woke up in the morning with a mild migraine. Now "mild" with "migraine" is an oxymoron. A mild migraine for me means that I have blinding, agonizing pain shooting through my brain, am completely unable to tolerate light and sound, but I'm not nauseous. I knew the right cocktail of OTC meds and it subsided. Then I just felt wrung out and used up. But I resolved I would go.

The choring was done, the house ready, and I only felt like ass instead of honey bunches of ass, so I went to get ready. The bathroom door hadn't been closed even 5 minutes when I heard the noise. BBBRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPTTTTTTTTTTTT squirt. Now I knew FarmerGeek was sleeping upstairs, so it wasn't him. (Is it bad that I automatically thought it was him? Or is it conditioning?) Then before I could figure it out, the stench- oh the stench!- wafted out to me. GAG! Sure enough, the older dog caught what the puppy had and it was everywhere. Luckily we hadn't put the rug shampooer away yet.

Well all was said and done, we didn't get out of the house until nearly 2:30- only 2 and a half hours late! We plugged in Carmen the Garmin and set out for the big city. One of the places we really wanted to go was Barnes and Noble. Sure enough we found one in the Garmin, and as we followed directions we realized it was indeed taking us to a Barnes and Noble- only the Barnes and Noble was the local college's bookstore!!!! Sigh. So we put in Lane Bryant. I had coupons and a merchandise credit! Oh joy! Oh bliss! Oh wait- there's a mall over there... I had to stop. I just had to. (Even though "in point one miles, arrive at Lane Bryant, on right".) So we pulled into the mall parking lot (recalculating) and I took a deep breath.

Ah the smell of gratuitous commerce.

There we found a Body Shop, and spent money. (YAY!) We spent enough to get the free shower gel. Then we decided to stroll around and look for the Lane Bryant (which we found out was in the mall). Unfortunately, it was kids' and families' day at the mall. I think there's a video game in this- dodging strollers while trying to get to something. Anyways, we find the Lane Bryant. I don't know what happened, but suddenly their clothes don't fit right. The shoulders are too big, the waists are too high, and my absolute pet peeve is the horrible cut of every skirt they make. They're all the same mermaid cut no matter how long it is. Ugh. Finally I bought a ridiculously expensive shirt and some Cacique stuff. The lady said they were "throwing in a Figure magazine today". I'm thinking BONUS- free stuff total, one shower gel and a magazine. Yesterday I looked at the receipt and I got charged for it. Note she never said FREE magazine. We strolled around some more, and didn't find anything else at the mall. So we left and went to find a Borders. We had to get the rest of the Twilight series. So we dropped the $35 for the last two books. (Ugh!) AND there was a Michael's across the street!!!! I didn't even know that there was one, I couldn't find it! Only, I couldn't find anything I wanted there. So we went to JoAnn's. Which was good enough. I FINALLY found the yarn I wanted, in the color I wanted. So it started to look up. As we were leaving, I spotted-was it- it was! A BARNES AND NOBLE!!!!!! Oh joy, oh bliss! We walked through the doors and I saw the escalators. I'm afraid to say, I drooled a little bit. Although I was in shock over the prices, it was still nirvana.

On the way home we decided to stop for dinner at a major chain that boasted southwestern grille and has a phallic symbol for a mascot. (You know who it is...) It was disgusting. The soda/pop was off, my plate got put to close to the heat lamp and my mashed potatoes were actually burned. I was eating the chicken and it had that gross hard mystery piece in it. Gag. Not to mention that the service sucked. It pretty much capped off my day. By the time we got home the dog had been sick again. He managed to get sick on the power strip that the router and modem were plugged into so no internet until we got it cleaned up.

I guess I just shouldn't spend money on myself.

Dog Poop and Other Liquids

2009-03-30T12:29:00.002-04:00

I was going to post about our disastrous shopping trip, however, instead I am searching the house for dog diarrhea. I guess during the night Faust got sick in the upstairs hallway. I found it this morning. He hid it. It's disgusting.

So I went to the vet to pick up some medicine for him, and while I was gone, he or Dante pushed into the boys room and Faust got sick on the hardwood floor.

And like all little brothers, Dante has decided he's the only one in the house that gets my attention and I'm not even allowed to pet Faust (much less take care of the poor thing) without Dante jumping on his head, lunging at my face, or generally being an a$$hole.

And I felt awful yesterday, so now I have a pile of laundry, dishes stacked up, and the usually Monday chores on top of the fifteen million trips to the door, locating that smell that is permeating our house from another mystery spot in the house somewhere.

Shopping trip from hell story late tonight or tomorrow...

Saturday Morning Cartoon.

2009-03-28T05:41:00.001-04:00

This one's for Farmer Geek

Heroes and other Regular People

2009-03-26T08:41:00.004-04:00

Every morning I get up, get going and read my blog list. This morning, one of the blogs had me in tears. I'm not sure why, it's a happy post. Yet here I sit, bawling my eyes out.

I never met the person who write the blog, never talked to her in real life. I'm not sure, but I don't think I've even exchanged e-mails with her. Yet the fact her "baby" girl made it home safely from her tour of duty in Iraq has me tearing up again as I type this. (If you'd like to read her blog it's www.dylnz.com)

For those of you who don't know, there's a group I found through facebook called "Hats 4 Heroes". They make hats, scarves, slippers, and other homemade items to send to our troops overseas. There are guidelines of course. I support them, and when (if) I ever learn to knit well enough I'll be sending stuff over there. www.hats4heroes.org Take a look at their website. Perhaps you can't knit or crochet or anything, but they could also use help with postage etc....

As a last thought, I leave you with John 15:13;
"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."

One TRILLION Dollars!!!!

2009-03-24T20:21:00.000-04:00

What does one TRILLION dollars look like?

All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts"...

A billion dollars...

A hundred billion dollars...

Eight hundred billion dollars...

One TRILLION dollars...

What does that look like? I mean, these various numbers are tossed around like so many doggie treats, so I thought I'd take Google Sketchup out for a test drive and try to get a sense of what exactly a trillion dollars looks like.

We'll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slighty fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.

A packet of one hundred $100 bills is less than 1/2" thick and contains $10,000. Fits in your pocket easily and is more than enough for week or two of shamefully decadent fun.

Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 million dollars (100 packets of $10,000). You could stuff that into a grocery bag and walk around with it.

While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet...

And $1 BILLION dollars... now we're really getting somewhere...

Next we'll look at ONE TRILLION dollars. This is that number we've been hearing so much about. What is a trillion dollars? Well, it's a million million. It's a thousand billion. It's a one followed by 12 zeros.

You ready for this?

It's pretty surprising.

Go ahead...

Scroll down...

Ladies and gentlemen... I give you $1 trillion dollars...

Notice those pallets are double stacked.
...and remember those are $100 bills.

So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"... that's what they're talking about.

From: http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html

"I is a lap dog..."

2009-03-24T11:35:00.001-04:00

... says the 70 pound dog....

Saturday Morning Cartoon.

2009-03-21T09:33:00.001-04:00

I decided that on Saturdays mornings I'd post a Saturday morning cartoon (or kid's show) that I miss and hope you all enjoy it!

Happy Spring!

2009-03-20T07:44:00.000-04:00

I decided to post this this morning instead of yesterday. As of the moment this is posted, it's officially SPRING! We made it through the winter! And this is what we get for it.

It's been a hard year with a lot of loss for us. This little bloom reminded me that there's always a spring after a winter. Always.

For those of you who don't know, FarmerGeek and I moved into this house at the end of last summer. By then, of course, all the spring blooms had wilted and were gone. So finding the little sprouts popping up through the dirt was doubly amazing. Finding flowers that had been planted by someone else last year (or even years before) was like a... like a...

Miracle.

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-19T10:02:00.002-04:00

I have another post coming later, but I'm feeling pretty off today. For some reason the death of Natasha Richardson hit me pretty hard. I mean it's just horrible. All she was doing was learning to ski with her kids. Anyways, I thought I'd post this to cheer us up...

Announcement!

2009-03-17T10:07:00.003-04:00

Even though we haven't finished up our official site (it's coming soon) our business venture has it's own blog. Hop on over to cadwellgardens.blogspot.com and see what we are up to!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T07:51:00.002-04:00

Here's some pictures of my trip to Ireland a few years ago. One misty, foggy morning, I found myself in a field in Galway with a camera. If you look really closely you may even be able to spot a pooka or two. Actually, you can't see it in the pictures but there's a fairy mound right near my feet.

Just kidding, it's not from my trip to Ireland. Our backyard is just really foggy this morning!

Brewing Up a Little Pot of Passion

2009-03-15T20:16:00.002-04:00

I like the Tazo Passion tea. That and their Refresh are my favorite.

I don't know about where you live, but out here in the sticks it was a gorgeious (I had to add the i for emphasis, it was a moral imperative) day. I would guess it was low 60's, high 50's today and bright and sunny and gorgeous. My friend and her man came out to help us do stuff to get ready for the increasingly looming homestudy. I turned the inside of her nose blue. Don't ask.

Where was I going with this?

Oh yes, it was such a beautiful day I thought I'd brew up a pot of passion and walk around in the gloaming.

I love that word. Gloaming. Gloaming. Gloaming. It's so.... Scottish...

I hope wherever you are, or whatever you did, tonight you are sitting with someone you love and thinking, "This was a good day."

GiveAway Winner!!!

2009-03-14T17:03:00.002-04:00

I used www.random.org to get my winner (it wasn't hard at all). And the winner is....

CELESTE of etsyitup.blogspot.com/

Celeste, I'm going to be e-mailing tonight or early tomorrow morning to get arrange a mailing date. (BTW I like the song on your blog, who is that?)

There will be another giveaway coming soon soon! With more than one winner!

Big things are happening at the farm, stay tuned to our blogs for updates.... and giveaways...

Thanks everyone for playing!

Contest Closed

2009-03-14T08:52:00.002-04:00

My contest is now closed. Winner will announced at 5:00 tonight (EST) so I have time to figure out randomizer (and when I can't, I'll have enough left over time to pull a number out of a hat.)

Thanks all- and good luck!!!

Thanks for trying.

2009-03-12T19:28:00.002-04:00

Well all, thanks to those of you who tried to support my blog through looking at the advertisements on the sides. However, just as they were supposed to send our first check, Adsense decided to disable our account and thereby not pay us. There was no reason given except that we were "detrimental to the finances of their advertisers". Which basically, to me since there was no explanation, means that their advertisers would have to aqctually pay for the advertising we gave them. I have appealed their decision and assured them that we had not violated any of their terms of service. Again we were denied.

So thank you all for trying.

It must be nice to be able to get something for nothing.

And if Google doesn't like this post and decides to shut my blog down, wait a few days and check www.divahick.com or . If I have to, I'll pay for the domain name and blog there. Otherwise keep checking here to see who wins my giveaway Saturday morning.

75th Post! (And giveaway)

2009-03-10T12:48:00.003-04:00

Hello all! This is my 75th post. And I've just come back from the dentist (which has nothing to do with anything, but I thought I would mention it). And I saw a bunch of robins. Which means only one thing....

SPRING!!!

And because of it, I thought I would have a giveaway. The gift is going to be something to get you ready for spring, but a surprise. All you need to do is leave a comment on my blog with your name or screenname or something to identify you as well as whether you'd want a male or female gift and you'll get entered once. If you forward this on to your friends, and they drop by and mention your name, I'll enter you again (and I'll enter them too!)

All entries must be posted by 11:59 PM (EST) Friday night.

Good luck and happy entering!!!

New Pringles Flavor

2009-03-09T10:34:00.003-04:00

OK, if you are like me, you saw this can of Screamin' Dill Pickle Pringles and said "Ew..." We were standing in Wal-Mart and FarmerGeek showed me these and said they were really good. I think I made vomitting noises.

But he bought them anyways.

And we brought it home

And we opened it up...

And you eat one. And gag cause it's a ridiculous horrible dill pickle flavor coated in salt.

But there it is, just sitting on the table saying, "This time it'll be better. C'mon you know you want me." And of course it's salty goodness, so you do...

And you do...

Maybe you'll try another one...

And another....

Cause after all, they really are good... if you can get past the first one...

(By the way, that's not me in the pictures, my beard isn't that thick.)

Hey

2009-03-07T21:52:00.003-05:00

Does anybody know where the camera cable is? I thought I left on this shelf, because it doesn't really have a home, but know it's just gone.

Could someone please return it so I can blog with pictures again?

Thank you,
Management

Friday Free For All

2009-03-06T19:07:00.003-05:00

My brain is going through random stages today, so I thought I'd share with you all about the nonsense that is going on in my head. Be prepared...

I really like Country Sampler magazine. I wonder how my splurge went from high end cosmetics to a home decor magazine. And for that matter I love shoes. I miss buying shoes. My new hot pair of shoes is going to be a pair of Wellies to slog through the mud. Speaking of mud, it can't be spring yet, I haven't finished the fall cleaning. And my mother-in-law (God bless her) is coming on Sunday to help with the house. I'd love to take her to our favorite Chinese place. They make everything extra spicy for Marc. You can actually see the difference when they bring his dinner. The movie that's on Hallmark just said that they need a permit for anything over $300 in the house. I wonder if we need to file permits for anything we're doing at our house. I doubt it. I have to shovel the dirt back on top of the septic and I think it would be neat to plant our spring bulbs over it for next year. I read somewhere that it'll warm up sooner and they'll pop up sooner. That makes sense. I need to reorganize my kitchen this spring and put in the dishwasher. I want to brighten up the place for spring. I love spring colors but I hate spring. I can never breathe in the spring. Do you think I should replace the curtain on the front door? I was trying to figure out how and finally I thought that putting in a Roman shade would brighten up the place. Maybe a yellow flowery one. You know, the last time we went to Lehman's they were out of lamb butter molds. (There really is a logical jump here, we always have butter lambs for Easter, which is in the spring. Yellow flowers=spring.) HEY did I tell you my peas are sprouting up pretty good? I have to start my tomatoes tomorrow night. And we have lettuce and spinach growing in the basement. I really hope that the homestudy doesn't think we're growing pot, I really worry about it. I love the wind and I wish I could rip off all the storm windows and open the house wide to the wind and let it blow my bad mood away.... and maybe my thoughts will blow around in a mini tornado of leaves blowing against the corner of the house. And they'll collect in to coherent thought.

Thanks for reading this far, if you've made it to here... You win a cookie! (Not really, cause that wouldn't mail well.)

Compassion

2009-03-03T10:56:00.003-05:00

Compassion: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it. -Webster's Dictionary

I don't know how many of you read The Pioneer Woman's blog, but she is constantly giving away things on her blog. Gift cards to Lowe's, Amazon.com, Kitchen Aid stand mixes, knives.... you name it, but it always has to do with something in her life. A couple months ago, her husband and two older children took a trip to the Dominican Republic to visit the children that they sponsor. Everyone in her family sponsors a child, but it's so much more than writing a check. You write letters to your child and pray for them and their families. It's a responsibility. P-Dub (as she refers to herself) didn't feel her family could take on any more children when it came to that responsibility, but they are fortunate enough to have more to be able to give. That is why she chose to give away 10 sponsorships to her blog readers. Now for those of you who need me to do the math, that's about $4000 a year.

Well, I was lucky enough to be one of the people who got to be a sponsor.

After I submitted our names, I started to panic. Mostly, what were we going to do next year? I can't imagine committing to someone and letting them fall by the wayside. I should have known the people at Compassion International had thought of that. They partnered us with a girl, excuse me, young lady who is turning 18 this year.

I only got my packet a few days ago, and I've written her once. Already it's changed me for the better. There's someone on the other side of the world who's waiting to hear from me, who is happy that I'm part of their life. I've never met her, but I worry about her and wonder about what the future brings. I'm already figuring out how we can pay for a sponsorship for next year. If we just skip one dinner out a month, it'll more than pay to help change this child's life.

Today on the radio, they said it was The Day of Compassion. I invite you to stop over to their site and learn as much about them as you can. http://www.compassion.com/

I've never won a stand mixer or a gift card, but I think I won the best thing she ever offered.

WARNING: RANT AHEAD

2009-02-19T10:20:00.003-05:00

OK, I had this awesome blog planned about the new Pringles flavor, but that's going to have to wait because something torqued me off.

You know this "octo-mom"? I don't really care that she has so many kids or how she got them (since when is her medical record public knowledge? I thought there were HIPPA laws?) Anyways... everyone and there brother has an opinion about it, and well... I'm here to tell you mine....

1. No one should be able to regulate the size of your family except you and the father of your child(ren). So all these people who say that the doctor should be brought up on charges for doing this when she doesn't have money are wrong. Who's to say how much money is required to raise a child? Now if you say that the doctor should have seen to her other medical needs (including mental health) and that possibly the procedure itself was unethical, that's fine. But coming from someone who's done the whole infertility treatment herself, let me just say it's a business more than health care.

2. I should have the choice as to whether or not to donate money. I'm not saying we don't have a Christian duty to help mothers like her, or even a responsiblity as Americans. In fact I emphatically believe that we do have a responsibilty. But I can't say that anyone else has a right to take my money and decide who is the recipient of that charity. People do realize that the government doesn't actually have money right? It's yours and mine and everybody else's. If you think what this women did was wrong, don't give her money for it. If you think the doctor was wrong, well, don't vote for universal health care so he gets your money. But we aren't given the choice.

3. And once again, universal health care. Sigh. You realize we will be setting up this situation over and over again with that? How many other women would put themselves into the same position if they had the money. Don't worry, we'll pay for it for you! Then we'll give you money to raise the kids. Don't mind the fact that we can't afford to grow our own families because of the amount of money taken out of our checks in taxes....

4. If one more person tells me that it's not right for her to be living in a house with three bedrooms, I'll scream. OK, I'll grant you with her parents there it probably isn't unless the mom is sleeping on the couch. That's a bedroom for the grandparents, the mom, and only one for the kids. But guess what? Each child doesn't need their own bedroom, or heck, even their own bed. They don't need a ton of clothes, just clean clothing. They don't need name brand sneakers, just something to put on their feet that's in good condition. It's also not the parent's responsibility to provide their college education, it's a gift you can chose to give your kids. It's not easy to earn your way, but it can be done. As long as they have a roof over their heads, clean clothing on their back, food on the table, a chance at the basic educational requirements, and live in hygenic conditions, that's all the parent is required to do. (There's that whole love thing too...)

5. Imagine you (if you are male) or your significant other (if you are not) get a knock on the door and someone hands you a letter stating that you (or your SO) is the father of a child you didn't know about. And suppose the judge states that as the father you are required to pay child support and it's being garnished from your paycheck. Oh and btw you have no say over your child or their upbringing. (Granted this does actually happen...) Now the mother of that child decides to clone the child. Repeatedly. They decide you have to support all those children because a DNA test revealed you are the father. Now money is automatically being taken out of your paycheck to pay for children you didn't try to have, have no say over, and you can't control how many children there will be. But at least you got the fun part with the mother at the beginning. The rest of us are getting screwed in a different way, because money is being taken out of our paychecks and given to people to raise children and we have no say in how their raised or how many children they have.

6. Have you heard of Catholic Charities? Their purpose (among many) is to help out families in this exact situation. People CHOOSE to give their money to Catholic Charities. Families in need recieve services from Catholic Charities. It works. (There are others, I just can't think of any names...) The question was brought to me in argument, "Well they only have just so much money, what happens to families when they run out?" I responded, "Well the government only has so much money, what happens when they run out?" Oh the answer to that is simple, they'll take more from people who may or may not be able to afford it. Then those that couldn't afford it will be asking for help and drawing from that resource pool and the government will need more money and take more from people who may or may not be able to afford it.... Do you see?

I guess it all boils down to this. It's none of our business how many children she has, or how she got them because it's not our responsibility to raise them. But if it becomes my responsibilty to help her financially, then I want a say in the matter.

Sorry I'm in a cranky mood and this set me off... Pringles post coming tomorrow....

First Blog Award

2009-02-18T08:20:00.005-05:00

Hey I won an award!

HermitJim gave me an "Excellence in Blogcasting Award"! I don't know why, it must have been my titillating story of a faux romance between ducks? Or the fact I feed my family Rubber Chicken?

Now it's my turn to pass it on. That's the rules, once you win you have to pass it on. Here's my list.

1. FarmerGeek (cause he's my husband- and he's really cute.)

2. ColdAntlerFarm (cause I'm addicted...)

3. Dlyn cause she's way better at taking food pics than I am

4. Just Trying to Survive (cause she almost always makes me smile)

5. American Way Farm (cause I like her videos)

6. A Homesteading Neophyte (cause the pic on the front page is classic)

7. Muddy Boot Dreams (cause I can't wait to get mine dirty too)

So now you may take this award and award it to other blogs you like (up to 15).

Rubber Chicken

2009-02-16T14:20:00.003-05:00

I know we are all trying to save money. Even though most of us aren't directly affected by the economy, we've all seen what could be coming in our future. This is why I'm sharing the story of a rubber chicken.

I got the idea from Leanne Ely at Saving Dinner and if I remember correctly, she used a rotessarie chicken from the deli? I thought about it and thought about it and well, I'm a little scared of those chickens. Who knows how long they've been there and what chemicals they've been juiced up with? Giant Eagle had whole chickens on sale buy one get one free, so we stocked up.

Right this second I have a 6.56 lb chicken getting ready for tonight. It is labeled 12.36, but remember I got one free with it! Tonight we roast the chicken whole. Then after dinner, we'll take the meat off the bones and portion out enough for stir-fry tomorrow night. I think I'm going to throw it into a marinade. Then there's enough left for one more meal, you could make pizza or casserole or an omlet. Whatever floats your boat. We are supposed to cut out certain foods right now for health reasons, mostly refined carbs. So we're having a stir fry and omlette.

But wait-there's more!

Then I take the carcass and whatever veggies are leftover from last week and put it in my biggest stockpot to simmer for a few hours. I strain it (twice because I'm obsessive) and start making soups for FarmerGeek to take to work.

Today was salsa soup
Sautee carrots and celery and rosemary in olive oil. Add in stock and some salsa. All amounts to taste.

Tomorrow is Oriental Soup
I happened to have dried mushrooms but whatever... had I had fresh I would have chopped and sauteed in sesame oil, added tarragon, stock and frozen peas. (Note: Next time I would use onion, minced, chopped, or even those little baby onions...)

Wednesday Italian
Stock, basil, diced tomatoes, and a can of cannellini beans

Thursday Southwest
Stock, black beans, corn, shot of tabasco, can of green chiles, cumin

Now for the record, one $12.36 chicken will make us three dinners and four different soups for lunches. Or heck, for dinner. All low carb yumminess....

As you can see the possibilities are endless!!! Did an idea for soup just pop into your head? If so, feel free to share it here!

A New Little Video

2009-02-15T16:41:00.003-05:00

OK, this video isn't exactly in my normal vein, but hey! I just learned how to embed videos and this is my favorite one cause I've been there- who hasn't at some point or another? Take the time to watch it then read the note at the bottom.

Now whether you share my faith or not, just know, believing what I believe, I cared enough to share this with you. Reflect on that, and appreciate the choreography as an art form and move on. It's like the whole "God Bless You" thing. You might not believe, but I do and I care enough about your sneeze to ask God to bless you when you do. Say, "Thanks you very much" and move on...

Duckster: A Love Story Part 3

2009-02-14T00:03:00.001-05:00

As soon as Duckster's poor little webbed feet hit the ground, she got away from us as fast as she could and waddled her fluffy feathery butt into the coop. (Another way I knew she was definitely Duckster, she knew right where the door was and how to get in and no one was afraid of her--- well no more than normal.) From the other side of the fence we could hear her swearing at us in there.

Duckster: "You stupid sons of a (female dog who's had puppies) I was getting my groove on with Horace across the street and you (plural version of a part of the body that allows excrement out) come and drag me home. I swear to God when I turn 18 I'm out of here. And then you CLIP MY WING!?!?!?!?! I mean SERIOUSLY what if I WANTED it to look like that? And what do you mean I'm grounded???

DivaHick: Now Duckster, you may not speak to me that way. And you are far to young for that kind of language.

Duckster: #*($@ OFF!!!! ::Duckster angrily storms out of the coop::

DivaHick: Ok that's enough, you may not see that duck again, he's from the wrong side of the road.

Duckster: I do what I want! I LOVE HIM....

(I apologize to all my readers, I've been watching Maury again... well not really.... ok just the once.)

At this venture, Clyde comes over to see Duckster. He rushes over to her when suddenly the entire world slows down and they begin to waddle toward each other...

Clyde: Oh Duckster, I'm sorry it took me so long to get over the death of Bonnie. But time has healed my wounds, and I realize now that I love you. Please, please forgive me and give me another chance...

Duckster: Oh I do forgive you my feathered friend, and I love you... but... I may be carrying Horace's child.

At this precise moment she squatted and laid an egg...

Clyde: Is it... his?

Duckster: What does it matter, I'm not feeling broody anyways.

Clyde: Do you think, could you...?

Duckster: Oh Clyde, I do. I do love you!!! I'm so sorry about my fling with Horace and I promise to stay home where I belong from now on (at least until I molt).

Then Clyde embraced her, and did that thing male ducks have been doing to female ducks since time immemorial...

Happy Valentine's Day

The End

So basically, our duck flew away, we got her back, clipped her wings and mated her to our male Muscovy and I made a three part story out of it... and you read it all... suckers...

Duckster: A Love Story- Part 2

2009-02-13T10:42:00.005-05:00

I know you've been waiting with baited breath for the continuation of the scintillating love story between Duckster and the Duck From the Wrong Side of the Road. And I shall bring it to you.

There the devastatingly beautiful DivaHick (hey throwing myself a bone here...) peered out the kitchen window, straining to see beyond the yard through the swiftly swirling snow. (OK- TOTALLY busted out the English degree there...) Alas, looking for a white duck in the snow was like, well, looking for a white duck in the snow. When, oh when, would the FarmerGeek return to the homestead full of wit and wisdom and an answer on how to rectify this situation. She wrung her hands and fretted. She paced the length of her immaculate kitchen whilst something yummy simmered on the stove and she twisted her apron in her perfectly manicured hands. (Can't you just give me this one please?)

Finally, FarmerGeek returned to the completely paid off homestead (I just had to get one more in, I'm sorry) and announced that there was nothing they could do, the search would have to be called off due to weather. Of course, they tossed and turned in the warm bed worried over the fate of the beloved duck. What if she didn't go across the road? What if a mink or fox got her? Oh no OH NO! Finally the alarm went off and it was still snowing. Not only that, but the farmers across the street would be gone for the day. Dare we risk the wrath of Sam the llama in our search? No we decided to wait another day before raiding the farm. We did however, go into the back sixty and comb for any suspicious patch of white feathers with our stealth bloodhounds. To our great relief, nothing was turned up.

Finally, the next day, the DivaHick caught a glimpse out her window of a group of ducks and there was just something about the one... Could it be? FarmerGeek donned hat and coat and gloves (remember the teeth and nails thing) and headed over. He found the duck in question, but really how does one tell one white Muscovy duck from the other? FarmerBrother1 from across the street answered that quickly- they clip their ducks' wings, if the duck doesn't have a clipped wing... (ouch- OK I know I know...) So they wrangled the duck into the position and clipped one of her wings. Now before PETA starts flaming my blog, they trim some of the feathers on one wing to throw off their balance. It doesn't hurt and will have to be redone when she molts.

So our prodigal duck had returned, older, wiser, yet discontented with her celibate life. As she was put back into the run she hissed angrily "Let go of me you bastards, there's no way in hell that I'm getting back into Castle Anthrax" to which we responded "There are men in there you silly goose..." And Duckster furiously hissed back, "Watch it bea-atch I'm a duck not a goose."

How will Duckster cope being separated from her lover? How will the other hens handle a more experienced bird in the house? Will more birds escape? Will Hermione and Harry ever cheat on Ron and Ginny? Will I ever stop asking stupid questions? Find out tomorrow on "As the Coop Turns" (or should it be "Eggs of our Lives" or "General Homestead"?)

Storm Damage

2009-02-12T20:30:00.003-05:00

So we had an amazingly bad storm last night. Unfortunately for the very beginning of it, FarmerGeek and I were outside trying to batten down the hatches. And a very good thing that we did too, because the one side of the chicken coop's roof isn't attached anymore (the screws ripped out) and it would have been GONE!

Also since the winds were blowing at a sustained rate of 50-70mph (and our hill is usually the windyest place in the world) the puppy couldn't sleep all night because of the noise.

Luckily we didn't completely lose power. You know the guy at the electric company that's in charge of getting power back on when an outage is reported? Yeah he lives in the "big house down the road".

Anyways, here a pic of the tree from the yard next door.

To quote Walter, "We love it here!"

PS- Oh Mom- Go Steelers!!! Happy?

Let It Rain

2009-02-11T10:39:00.000-05:00

It ain't the "the good ole days" but for today... it's enough...

HELP WITH BLOG

2009-02-11T08:48:00.002-05:00

Can anyone tell me, how on earth do you upload video from youtube onto blogger?!?

There's something I want to share with you...

PLEASE leave me a comment with instructions if you know!

Some Homesteading Medicne

2009-02-10T12:52:00.001-05:00

This is the story of an asthmatic woman who is allergic to everything. This is also the story of a woman who's goal is to grow her own food, raise her own chickens, and make her property pretty. Year after year, she would medicate herself with pill after pill like Benadryl and Claritin. This cost roughly $1-2 a DAY! That was roughly 210 bucks a year! That doesn't take into account the emergency inhaler she would also have to carry with her everyday just in case.

There has to be a better way!!!

So last year, this woman read a couple articles. One was about milk allergies and asthma. She stopped drinking milk and guess what- the asthma attacks dropped to basically non-existent. Then she read in several places that eating a tablespoon of honey (preferably comb in honey- or even just the comb) everyday would help alleviate allergies. This made a lot of sense for people who had pollen allergies. I mean, what is honey made out of? So if you can eat honey without a problem, there's a good chance your body might be able to build up a tolerance for pollen and alleviate the symptoms. It seemed to work! She only used Claritin some days, not everyday.

Isn't it amazing how when the Lord said He'd provide, He provides?

By the way, it goes without saying that the FDA didn't approve any of these treatments (not that I bothered to ask them), and you should consult a doctor before trying them, and this website isn't intended to diagnose, treat, or provide medical advice. Did I cover it all?

Duckster: A love story

2009-02-09T12:19:00.004-05:00

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd tell you about barnyard romance...

In our coop, we have two Muscovy Ducks- Clyde and Duckster. They came to us earlier in the winter from a friend who found herself having to move far away and not wanting to worry about moving her livestock AND children. So she had to get rid of one or the other. Although her kids are stinking cute, and we would have kept them, she decided to give us the ducks and roosters instead. Luckily, her circumstances seemed to have changed so that she may soon be able to take back her ducks (don't worry, she still has her kids too!).

Meanwhile, we have Clyde and Duckster. Who may or may not be father and daughter or brother and sister, I have no idea. I probably should have asked. But I had this hippie idea that we shouldn't clip their wings because it's cruel. Let them FLY! We have land and a creek.... The only problem there is well....

Our neighbors definitely have "free-ranging" poultry. In fact, they are so free-ranging that they have a tendency to waddle over and visit our place. On one such visit, Duckster fell in love with a Muscovy from across the street. Yes he waddled over to the fence, and she came out of the coop into the run and their eyes turned into the cartoon hearts. So she flew over the fence to be with him... Clyde couldn't bear to see his love go, so he flew the coop to retrieve her. At this auspicious moment, a well-meaning, innocent (yet striking beautiful) DivaHick wanders into the yard with a puppy. Lo and behold there are now four Muscovy ducks to the side of the house and three very hennish hens gaggling in the front of the house.

I- I mean she- very quickly dumps the poor puppy in the house and goes after the hens who are trying to cross the street. None of them got hit by a car. (Hey this is Ohio- people AIM for livestock.) She sprints over to the side yard where two Muscovy males lit out for home. Now wandering around our yard are the lovebirds. (Get it? Lovebirds?) Have you ever tried to separate two Muscovies in love? It's a lot easier than you think. Run full tilt at them and the male runs home (ok waddles quickly) and the female will try to get through the fence by running at it as hard as she can like it's Platform 9 3/4.

But no amount of chicken wire could stop their love.

It's true, just a few days from then I see Clyde waddling around the coop. He does not want to get back in the coop. Now for those of you who don't know Muscovy ducks or Clyde, well he's probably 8-12 pounds and has teeth and nails. This is not for the weak of heart friends. Luckily I had the puppy out and this time on a leash. Now here's how this would go peoples... I run one way around the coop chasing Clyde, and Clyde would naturally run away. Then guess what? Our little puppy would keep him from going to far. But I- I mean she, this is all in 3rd party voice right? Yeah, yeah SHE would chicken out and fail to grab the duck with teeth and nails. (Like how I remembered what voice it should be right then?) Finally she gets the $%(*#$& duck in the coop and return to the house. Yet something haunts her...

Trepidaciously, she returns to the coop and lifts the lid. One, two, three, four.......ten, eleven, twelve. TWELVE? Who's missing? OH NO DUCKSTER!!! There's only one place she could be, and that's across the street with Romeo. But, building on the dramatic nature of story, snow begins to fall. Soon it begins to swirl around and around. The entire area has been socked in by a snowstorm and the search for Duckster has been called off due to inclement weather.

Coming soon... Part II...

A Simple Woman's Day Book

2009-02-08T20:48:00.003-05:00

For today

Outside my window it is... beautiful with a cool night, a sky full of stars and a (nearly?) full moon.
I am thinking about... adopting children.
I am thankful for... our quiet life.
From the kitchen... I am getting ready to make oatmeal butterscotch cookies even though roasted chicken is still in the air.
I can hear... the dog chewing on his leg. Weird dog.
I am wearing... beat up jeans, a black SHORT sleeved tee and the gray fleece hoodie. With obligatory LL Bean mocs.
I am reading... a Tracie Petersen book- lost track of which one.
I am hoping... that when I call the case worker tomorrow, she says we have a shot at getting those kids.
I am creating... two bedrooms and scarves.
Around the house... it's too quiet.
One of my favorite things... is a clean kitchen.
A few plans for the rest of the week are... to finish up the kids rooms.

You are invited to participate in The Simple Woman's Daybook where you will get to meet many others doing just as you are, sharing little aspects of their day.

Springtime!

2009-02-05T16:27:00.002-05:00

OK, the temps are supposed to rise above forty tomorrow!!!!! Woo HOOOOOO!!!!!! And I'm feeling spring, we're going to start some seeds this week and Jenna over at Cold Antler Farm is holding the Great Pea Off (wait that doesn't sound right...) anyways, the deal is that you plant a pea seed on your windowsill on Feb 15. Peas can climb the window panes and you'll have a yummy indoor treat long before the ground is ready to plant. (OK, hopefully not LONG before, but still...)

Meanwhile, we're also itching to get planting. This weekend we are going to be starting some spinach, salad mix, and starting some tomato plants in the basement.

FarmerGeek has also been working on a website for our farm and we're thinking about selling some tomato starts. Anyone interested?

Winter Blues

2009-02-04T10:08:00.002-05:00

I hate feeling sick... I spent much of last year feeling that way until I found an endocrinologist who finally figured out what was wrong.

Unfortunately, with our temps bouncing around, and being around paint fumes and all, I'm having a bit of a problem with a chest cold. I hate it. HATE IT.

But still, life has to go on. Chickens and puppies need to be let out. Paperwork must get done, and training classes have to be attended.

I'd rather crawl into bed and sleep.

Sleep...

Sleeeeeeeepppppp zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....................

2009-01-31T07:03:00.000-05:00

My New Year's resolution was to learn a new old timey skill a month. This month I was determined after many years of trying, that this time I WAS going to learn to knit. These are pictures of my first completed project. I used size 50 needles which are essentially vampire slaying needles, and Lion Brand's Thick and Quick Yarn. This took me about two hours to do the actual knitting and the rest of the day for FarmerGeek to get home and show me how to bind off.

(Doesn't he have such pretty hands?)

Anyways, on to February's skill!

Superbowl Sunday

2009-01-30T12:38:00.003-05:00

It wouldn't be right to endorse one football team on my blog. (Cough: STEELERS!) I mean, that would be wrong to use my blog to support one team over the other. (STEELERS- YAY!) And I plan on knitting our way to a ring. (If I knit we win... go figure, last time we won a Superbowl, it was cooking.)

But if you are going to watch the Superbowl, you MUST eat! It's true. It's just anti-American to not pig out while watching the pigskin fly. (Go STEELERS!) But my question is, what on earth should I cook?

FarmerGeek has requested edamame- which sounds weird, but that's what they do in Japan.

I was thinking about Pioneer Woman's Steak Bites. Because, well, look at them. (HERE WE GO! STEELERS! HERE WE GO!)

Maybe I'll bust out the indoor grill and grill up some shrimp? Or just shrimp cocktail?

Maybe I'll make my baked potato chips with curried mayonnaise? Or balsamic sweet potato chips? (PITTSBURGH'S GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL...)

I mean, there's only two of us. (HERE WE GO.) But when I get nervous I eat. And I tend to get nervous during football. Especially the Superbowl! (STEELERS) I can't help it, I grew up in Buffalo- Superbowls weren't exactly our strong point. (STEELER SIX-PACK, HERE WE COME!)

Leave me a note, and tell me what you're doing on Sunday!

(GO STEELERS!)

Aren't you glad I stayed impartial? (WOO HOO STEELERS!)

*No Cardinals were harmed in the writing of this blog

He Ain't Heavy...

2009-01-29T10:09:00.000-05:00

...he's my brother!

A GiveAway!

2009-01-28T11:31:00.002-05:00

Hey all I came across this giveaway on the Fabric, Family, Fun blog by way of Chronicle of a Country Girl's blog. I thought I would pass it on to you. She's been in business for a year and that deserves celebration, consideration, and contribution.

I was thinking we should have a giveaway here, but I might need some convincing. Leave me comments and if we get enough DIFFERENT people commenting, I might have an awesome giveaway to pass along to you!

By the way, it's a crappy day out here, and you know that it's true when a snow plow is off the road with flares....

Healthy vs. Healthful

2009-01-28T04:27:00.002-05:00

Healthy or Healthful?

This is the eternal debate in our family. Well that and the words to Finnegan's Wake. I swear to all that is holy and on Tommy Makem's grave that the words are, "To rise in the world he carried a HOD" not HAT! But I digress...

ANYWHOO....

FarmerGeek contends that healthy is not correct when referring to food because well, the food (hopefully) is dead and therefore it is no longer healthy, being dead. It is healthful, being full of health for your body.

I, however, busted out my English degree to state that healthful means "full of health" and the food is no longer full of health being (hopefully) dead. It is in fact healthy meaning carrying the properties of or pertaining to health. Since it carries nutrients to your body it is healthy not healthful.

What say you?

Two- Day Shredded Beef

2009-01-27T12:35:00.006-05:00

Do not let the name fool you, this is not complicated at all. The only reason this is a two day recipe is because slow cooking is key. Make sure you make more than you think you'll need, because leftovers are versatile. It'll be good in omelets or lunchboxes. But your co-workers will hate you because it smells so good!

Dry Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

Mix the dry ingredients together in proportions according to your taste, but don't skimp on the salt! It's really important! Now rub all over the roast.

Next bust out the slow cooker. Drizzle the olive oil to coat the bottom. Next pour in about a 1/4 cup of vinegar, soy sauce, and Worchestire (or however you spell it). (Depending on the size of the roast, if it's a HUGE roast or you like a lot of sauce, add more!) Add about a tablespoon or two of liquid smoke and a teaspoon of smoked chipotle Tabasco sauce.

Chop up an onion and mince three cloves of garlic. Turn slow cooker on high. Add roast and carefully turn to coat without washing off the rub. Cook on high for about an hour. Then turn to low and leave it until tomorrow.

In the morning, take the roast out carefully, it should be almost falling apart by now. Your roast should look sorta like this:

and the slow cooker should look like this:

(Try not to taste it... but if you have to I can't really stop you...)

Now to all that drippy goodness, add a cup of ketchup, 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar, and this much dry mustard. The proportions here are 4 parts ketchup, 2 parts brown sugar to 1 part soy sauce.

Add in another splash of apple cider vinegar.

and about an 1/8 cup of molasses. (Don't get to hung up on measuring here...)

(Behold, this is how fast molasses is in January...)

Stir. Add the roast back into the sauce and set slow cooker to the lowest setting possible. Go about your day, and at some point make some rolls and a salad.

About half an hour or so before you plan to eat, uncover the slow cooker and shred the meat. Here's how I do it. The two-fork method:

(Pay no attention to the bottle of whiskey on the counter, it was nothing at all to do with this. Nothing I tell you!)

Put the lid back on and keep warm while you set the table, toss the salad (no dirty minds here), and slice the rolls (if there's a dirty connotation to that I don't want to know what it is...).

Once you've finished that, and there's drool pooling in the corner of your hubby's mouth, spoon some on a roll and eat.

If you rushed and forgot to say grace, that's not my fault...

Our dumb puppy...

2009-01-27T08:02:00.000-05:00

Poor Faust, he has to put up with this...

Flurries

2009-01-26T15:13:00.002-05:00

I bet you thought I was going to talk about snow, but I'm actually not... I'm referring to the flurry of activity that's been going on at our house. If I've never mentioned it before, FarmerGeek and I are going through the licensing process to become foster-to-adopt parents. (This means we'll be foster parents, but if the children become available for adoption, we're able to adopt them.)

Now you know how it is when you move, you it takes a long time to get things just so. Well- that's definitely been our problem. The three main rooms of our house are fine. The kitchen, the living room, and our bedroom are in good shape. They aren't finished by any means, but they are clean and safe. Then there's the bathroom, which we thought was just fine for now, but in reality has slowly disintegrated over the past few months. For some unknown reason (we suspect condensation) the ceiling paint started peeling. Then we find out that all the plugs need to be GFI's in the bathroom and kitchen. (I guess the kitchens not perfect after all.) Then I need to reorganize our linen cabinet in the bathroom so it's easier to childproof. I also looked at our bathtub and thought that if I were a kid, there's no way I'd want to take a bath in that. In fact, I don't want to take a bath in there now. So what to do?

Right now, the biggest things are the kids rooms! When we first moved in we had a vague notion about "someday" having foster kids in there. And what they would need. Now the room that was my sewing room needed to be primed, sanded, painted (ceiling, walls, and trim/doors) and the rug pulled up and hardwood restored. Then the dressers (each child needs their own bed and dresser) need to be painted. And the light needs to get switched to a ceiling fan. Not to mention bedding and curtains. The boys room... ugh... that'll be a chore. We need to pack the hundreds of books we have, the numerous musical instruments, and all the other *ahem* stuff *ahem* that we have dumped in there for lack of other places. Then prime, paint, sand, and pull up rugs. Same thing goes with dressers and bedding.

Right now we're working on the girl's room. We have the walls done (including a chalkboard wall) one coat of paint on the ceiling, trim primed and painted, except the baseboard- we can't reach all of it with the rug still down. Basically, all we need to do is finish the ceiling, baseboards and floor. Oh and of course all the fun fussy stuff like curtains, bedspreads, and the like.

Then there's the miscellaneous stuff. The GFI's, we have to move the washer and dryer because it's against code to have it where it is, the front porch railing needs to be fixed. The entire house needs to be childproofed. The basement needs to be clean and organized. We have to come up with some way to lock up our guns and bows in one spot, and ammo and arrows in another spot. And lock up the alcohol. Oh and the light in the hallway needs to be replaced because it doesn't work right. That's on top of all the usual farm stuff like planting the garden, raising chickens, etc...

The worst part is that we just realized January snuck by us. This weekend is the Superbowl (GO STEELERS!) then the next weekend we have a training, the weekend after is my father-in-laws birthday, the weekend after is another training, and pretty soon it's March! Our training classes go to the end of March and then we should be able to complete our homestudy... should be being the operative word. If these things are finished we can't do it.

Oh just pray for us.... we'll need it...

2009-01-21T08:04:00.000-05:00

From our Front Yard!

37 Random Things.

2009-01-21T07:20:00.003-05:00

37 Random Things About Me
1. Do you like blue cheese? Aw yeah...
2. Have you ever smoked? Unfortunately, now I have asthma.
3. Do you own a gun? 1 gun and 1 compound bow
4. What flavor Kool Aid is your favorite? I refuse to drink the Kool-Aid
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Aw heck yeah!
6. What do you think of hot dogs? TED'S hot dogs!!!!
7. Favorite Christmas movie? Little Women, which is technically not a Christmas movie, but it is for me.
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Pepsi
9. Can you do push-ups? I can do push-up?
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding and engagement rings
11. Favorite hobby? Currently, knitting. We'll see next month....
12. Do you have A.D.D? Not technically
13. Do you wear glasses/contacts? Reading glasses
14. Middle name? Ann
15. Name thoughts at this moment? Should I color my hair this AM?
16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Cola, milk, tea
17. Current worry? Impending doom
18. Current hate right now? Uninformed people who think they know what they are talking about.
19. Favorite place to be? In the back forty.
20. How did you bring in the New Year? Kissing my hubby then singing (badly) a jug of punch outside with Snappy Fluffandfold
21. Where would you like to go? Alaska, Montana, Ireland, Isle of Skye
22. Name three people who will complete this? I have no idea.
23. Do you own slippers? CUrrently wearing them
24 What color shirt are you wearing? White
25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Nope
26. Can you whistle? Yeppers
27. Favorite Color? Plaid
28. What songs do you sing in the shower? Irish Rebel Songs
29. Would you be a pirate? No I'd rather be a ninja
30. Favorite Girl's Name? Sparrow
31. Favorite boy's name? Owen
32. What's in your pocket right now? Tissues
33. Last thing that made you laugh? My hubby
34. What vehicle do you drive? Either a Kia Sportage or Ford Ranger
35. Worst injury you've ever had? One of the many times I broke my wrist was really bad... resetting it and all...
36. Do you love where you live? Yes
37. How many TVs do you have in your house? Two.

OK, blog readers, here's an easy and fun way to share information that we probably don't usually reveal, so feel free to copy these 37 random facts into your next blog post and share your answers with the rest of us. (it was fun--really!) Then comment on here so I can read yours!

Putting the Diva back in DivaHick

2009-01-16T11:37:00.002-05:00

So I was absoltuely horrified yesterday when I found out I broke my first rule of the DivaHick. By the time FarmerGeek came home, I was unshowered, sweatpants, sweatshirts, frizzy, faded hair, pale as a ghost, bags under my eyes, and not even a pair of earrings.

I have lost the divaness...

See it's very easy to do, when it's -15 outside, and the only one to see you all day will be your dogs, chickens, and your husband. But I got to say, it doesn't make me feel good. I felt yucky and it was hard for me to get going and do anything.

ANd not that I'm one of those women who vacuum in pearls and heels (although I have, but that's a whole other story.) and feel the need to change my clothes and redo my makeup because my husband is coming home (which would totally backfire since he won't kiss me if I'm wearing lipstick), I just don't think wearing scrubby clothes everyday is a good thing romantically. But not because I think FarmerGeek won't find me pretty anymore, but I won't find myself attractive...

Now before you come up with all the situations as to why it's necessary, I completely realize that there are going to be days where you don't have a choice. It's -15 and you have to milk the cow/ fix the roof on the barn/ woke up to late and had to get the kids to.... But if you find it stretching past a week, you might be in a slump.

OK, I admit it. I'M in a slump.

So I think once a week, I'm going to post babysteps on how to become the Diva Hick you really are. (Sorry guys! You can ignore that one.) Give a shot, see if you like it, and go from there.

Poll Results

2009-01-15T20:18:00.003-05:00

So it appears running water has won!

(I'm a little concerned about the people who voted for internet, I'm REALLY hoping you also voted for electricity...)

I personally voted for both running water or electricity. OK, technically I don't NEED either one. Like when the revolution comes and we are left with nothing and having to live underground to avoid taking the mark of the beast... (I've been reading the Left Behind series again...)

Anywhoo...

And for the record, I'm not talking about being on the grid. I want indoor plumbing, but ours comes from a well- a stinky smelly yucky well... And I'm seriously considering looking into a wind turbine for the backyard. I saw a neat one the next town over. Of course, since we are fostering, we'll have to keep all our utilities for now anyways.

Thanks for voting, and feel free to leave a comment about why you voted the way you did! (But don't worry, this is still America and you don't have to tell anyone what you voted!)

Conglomorative Blog

2009-01-14T11:22:00.002-05:00

This is my conglomorative blog. Meaning I have a few things to say, but they are completely unrealted.

1) I made the world's best bread Monday. I mean, I cut into this sucked and thought, "Damn, I made that?" I plan on sharing the recipe, but I want to include pictures, so you'll have to wait until the kitchen's clean.

2) It's freaking cold out there.

3) I have no idea what to make for dinner.

4) What jumps in your head when you hear the words, "Plum Simple"?

My Interview

2009-01-14T08:54:00.003-05:00

dlyn had a blog about her interview with Country Girl Kate who did an interview meme/project with Daryl, who had done it with Willow Manor. It goes back from there too. If you want to be interviewed, read on and find out how you can be interviewed too!

1. What inspired you to move to where you live now and seek a simpler way of life than a lot of people have?

Well that's a multiple part question. How did we end up in NorthEast Ohio? FarmerGeek got an awesome job out here. How did we end up on this particular homestead? Due in large part to an awesome real estate agent named Connie Cochran. As for the simple life, I've always been obsessed with growning things in the backyard. When FarmerGeek and I were dating, I used to pull out weeds in his front yard to relieve stress. That lead me to an issue of Mother Earth News about gardening, which lead me to want chickens, which lead us (eventually) to where we are now. Pretty much, we don't want to be beholden to anybody for anything. We don't want to have to trust a bank for our home, a company for our heat, or water, or anything. Our money isn't just to buy things, it's what my husbands earns for working hard. No one else has a right to our money- they didn't work for it, they didn't earn it.

2. Where did you and your husband meet?

It's true, we also met in a bar while handing out religious tracts to sinners. (Hey at least the bar part is true.) He was wearing my shoes at one point. And we weren't drunk.

3. In your seven things post you mention wanting to write a book - what genre/subject and have you started it yet?

I have three books going on right now. One's a little booklet that I'm hoping Storey will pick up all about cooking with eggs and recipes that include many eggs. The second is a humorous look about a suburban family moving to the country that's hesitantly entitled "How To Move To the Country Without Pissing Your Neighbors Off". The third book I'm writing is inspirational fiction about a woman who's going through the journey of infertility and how it's affecting her relationship with God.

4. What inspired you to begin blogging and what plans do you have for your blog?

Umm... this may sound weird, but I'm home alone during the day and I get these thoughts (or rants) in my head and I have to tell someone... ergo the blog. I used to keep a journal, but in my mind, I always edited things before I wrote them down, in case someone else would read it. I don't really have any plans for my blog, so I guess we'll see where it's heading

5. Describe a perfect day in your life.

The house would be clean. Laundry put away. There are definatley animals and kids running around. I would make a huge breakfast for everyone, and then we'd go play in the back forty- sledding or whatever- and then hang out watching movies at night. So Saturday was pretty close.

Here are the directions:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions

Thanks dlyn for interviewing me!!!

This one's for HermitJim

2009-01-13T19:42:00.002-05:00

I got this in a forward today and it made literally LOL.

Once upon a time a man appeared in a village and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each. The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around,
went out to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10, and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He next announced that he would now buy monkeys at $20 each. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so scarce it was an effort to even find a monkey, let alone catch it!

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 each! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would buy on his behalf. In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers:
"Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the
man has already collected.
I will sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city,
you can sell them to him for $50 each."

The villagers rounded up ALL their savings and bought all the monkeys for 700 billion dollars.
They never saw the man or his assistant again, only lots and lots of monkeys!
Now you have a better understanding of how the
WALL STREET BAILOUT PLAN WILL WORK !

It doesn't get much clearer than this.

Story Behind the New Poll

2009-01-12T07:33:00.002-05:00

Since it snowed here, pretty much all weekend, and since ODOT still has to learn how to use a plow correctly, we were stuck inside most of the weekend. So for a lot of the time the TV was on, just as something to do. Sometimes it was the playstation, sometimes it was the dvd, but a lot of the time it was cable. Sometime after the twenty-third time I saw the same commercial, it finally dawned on me.

There is no way we're keeping cable after we have kids.

I mean seriously, in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday, I heard a commercial that included the words "Abortion Pill". (In their defense, in the context of "This is not the abortion pill") And a commercial that added "If you experience an erection lasting more than four hours..." I just have no desire to explain to my kids what those are.

(Now, on a side political note. Many people have heard me say this, and usually their response is "They should make it illegal to put those ads on TV." I don't believe this. I believe if you feel the way I do, the only option is to stop watching channels and shows that include these commercials and not to buy the things that are being advertised.)

Now what will I miss? I admit it, I've become a Secret Life of the American Teenager Junkie. And of course the Steeler games that we can't get on the basic channels. Did you know in February of 2009 TV stations will be changing over to digital? :D

SO now the question becomes: What Utility Could You Not Live Without?

Perfectionism

2009-01-09T13:48:00.002-05:00

Perfectionism sucks. Seriously, when you think of perfectionist, you automatically think of those women (or men) who are impeccably groomed, houses immaculate, elegantly coiffed, with lists and schedules, and who are quite frankly- well- perfect.

If only that were always true.

See, dear readers, the reason why I haven't posted since last week, is in fact the direct result of my perfectionism. Yes, I'm a perfectionist, it's true. I don't have an immaculate house, although I try, I'm not perfectly coiffed or very groomed, although I do usually make the effort. I have lists and schedules though... But I'm not what you would normally think of as a perfectionist. See the thing you don't know is that when a perfectionist can't perfectly do what they plan to do, mostly they give up. I just haven't been able to post because I had this perfect Happy New Year's post. All I had to do was take the camera upstairs and take a picture. Of course, the upstairs is off limits to the puppy unless is crate time, so.... Anyways, it never got done. And because I never made that post, I never posted at all.

The same thing went for my Christmas decorations, since I couldn't get it all done at once, I didn't start. In my mind it had to be done perfectly and since I couldn't- well- then why bother?

Perfectionism sucks.

2008-12-31T14:01:00.002-05:00

Supposed President Elect Obama is seeking our input on NAIS. I figured it can't hurt, even if he doesn't listen, some journalist will get ahold of the numbers on the poll...

Anyways, from A Homesteading Neophyte's blog.

Obama is taking input and NAIS has made it onto the board. They're asking all of us to write in and comment on both the official web site and their personal one (addresses below with directions). I am cut/pasting the email:Change.Org - Voting Ends Today for this one!The private website, www.change.org, will present the "Top 10 Ideasfor America" to the Obama Adminsitration on Inauguration Day. The first phase of the voting ends today, and the top 3 ideas in eachcategory will be selected for the second round of voting. "Stop NAIS"is currently in third place in Agriculture, and the voting is very close! A few votes may make the difference between the Stop NAIS message making it to the next round, or not!Step 1: If you are not already signed up for the site, register at: https://www.change.org/admin/sign_upStep 2: Go to http://www.change.org/ideas/view/stop_nais Be sure to click the box labeled "vote!" to the left of the Stop NAIS! Simply leaving a comment does not count as a vote.and also:Change.GovThe Obama Transition Team has set up a section calld "Open for Questions" on the official website. They have not specified the deadline for submitting or voting on questions, but said they willrespond to the top issues "in the new year."Step 1: Go to http://change.gov/page/content/openforquestions20081229/Step 2: Type "animal identification" into the box next to "Search Questions" There are currently 8 questions that involve NAIS that can be found by searching those terms.Step 3: Click on the checkmark by the question to vote "yes". If you are not already signed in, you will be asked to, with a link at the top of the box.Please help us stop NAIS. Feel free to copy and past for your own blog. Thanks to Small Meadow Farms for the heads up.

Our puppy's FAMOUS!

2008-12-30T09:59:00.001-05:00

Check him out at coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com

Already thinking spring!

2008-12-30T06:28:00.000-05:00

OK all, since Christmas has passed, it's time to figure out what to plant for next year. Don't get me wrong, I'm still praying for a snowstorm so I can try out our sledding hill! Of course, the new Johnny's Seeds catalog is coming out this week, but before I get seduced by glossy bushes full of beans and vines dripping with juicy, meaty tomatoes, I thought I should make a preliminary list of what we wanted to plant. Now, asparagus is out for this year because we are going to be building a barn and asparagus needs so much room, I thought I'd plant it around the outside of the barn (maybe). We already have garlic and horseradish (thanks again Chris!) planted. So tell me, what's the one (or two) food you couldn't live without?

This is what I'm thinking.

This list is subject to change without warning.

Or much thought.

Aw heck, on a whim.

We must plant several varieties of Corn for us and the chickens. I'm also planting popcorn. With corn goes sunflowers, they are very good together.

Several lettuce varieties, spinach, swiss chard, kale?, and lots of cabbage. (See FarmerGeek's post on Sauerkraut.)

We'll need cucumbers and pickling cukes.
Green, red, yellow peppers.
Potatoes
Onions
Hot peppers
Celery
Carrots
Numerous varieties of tomatoes
Squash
Pumpkins (cooking)
Beets
Raspberries
Strawberries
Cherries (Maybe or maybe next year, we'll see.)
Apples (Again we'll see)
Elderberries
Grapes
Various Herbs

Heck we might even try our hand at growing wheat or oats! FarmerGeek was talking about growing his own tobacco and coffee.

I also have some grand delusions of getting a beehive for FarmerGeek to take care of so we have honey. Then we'll have to decide between goats or a cow.

And you all thought that winter was a slow time on a farm!

But let me know, what do you think we can't live without?