Year 2010 - The Mobile Home Woman

From Blog to Book.
’http://www.themobilehomewoman.com’
2
Contents
1 2010
1.1
11
January . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11
1.1.1
I Love this House! (2010-01-01 09:09) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11
1.1.2
Welcome 2010! (2010-01-01 09:43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
1.1.3
Do as I want, not as I do.... (2010-01-08 20:53) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16
1.1.4
Bluegrass in Super Class... 2010 (2010-01-11 07:19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
1.1.5
My Dream Shelf! (2010-01-11 16:29)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20
1.1.6
I Love Little Tins (2010-01-11 17:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
24
1.1.7
Cute Kitty Photos (2010-01-11 20:45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
25
1.1.8
Goodbye Lumi (2010-01-13 20:07) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
26
1.1.9
Lemon Pound Cake Recipe (2010-01-13 20:22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
30
1.1.10
Karma Decided for Me (2010-01-13 20:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
31
1.1.11
Crochet Fever (2010-01-14 19:00) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
33
1.1.12
Yarn Balls of Light (2010-01-17 08:52) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
35
1.1.13
Settlers of Catan (2010-01-17 09:01) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
37
1.1.14
Green Soda Machine (2010-01-17 19:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
39
1.1.15
Everybody’s doing it.... (2010-01-18 22:07) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44
1.1.16
Pickle Day (2010-01-18 22:34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
48
1.1.17
Making Crumbs (2010-01-18 22:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
49
1.1.18
My Reading List (2010-01-20 00:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
50
1.1.19
Miss Bella Approves (2010-01-20 23:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
51
1.1.20
First Hat Blues (2010-01-20 23:21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
51
1.1.21
Finished another knitted thing.... (2010-01-20 23:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
54
1.1.22
Little Nina MeMe (2010-01-21 22:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
55
1.1.23
Our Forever Home... (2010-01-22 10:42) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
56
1.1.24
Decks and Porches (2010-01-25 01:04) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
57
1.1.25
Soda Update (2010-01-29 08:07) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
61
3
1.2
4
1.1.26
New Water Bottles (2010-01-29 08:31) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
63
1.1.27
A little remodeling... (2010-01-30 21:32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
64
1.1.28
Welcome my new grandson!!! (2010-01-30 21:52) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
69
1.1.29
Ikea Pantry Jars (2010-01-31 08:28) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
72
1.1.30
Banana Crack Bread (2010-01-31 08:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
74
1.1.31
Frozen Pipes (2010-01-31 09:22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75
February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
77
1.2.1
Jessy’s Photo Shoot (2010-02-03 10:26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
77
1.2.2
Deepwater at the Glass City Opry (2010-02-03 22:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
83
1.2.3
You Can Farm (2010-02-05 22:46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
83
1.2.4
Cute Jack Photos (2010-02-06 06:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
85
1.2.5
Edward demands equal cute time (2010-02-06 07:23)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
87
1.2.6
Vision & Goal Binder (2010-02-06 08:24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
90
1.2.7
Winter Storm (2010-02-06 13:43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
92
1.2.8
Jack & Yarn (2010-02-06 20:39) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
94
1.2.9
Perfect Soda Recipe! (2010-02-06 20:54)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
97
1.2.10
Thar’s a Storm Brewing... (2010-02-08 22:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
100
1.2.11
11:00 AM Report (2010-02-09 10:18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
102
1.2.12
Through Wind and Sleet and Cold of Night.... (2010-02-09 11:27) . . . . . . . . .
102
1.2.13
We interrupt your winter storm with a public summer announcement...
(2010-02-09 11:49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
105
1.2.14
The 2:30 report (2010-02-09 14:11)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
108
1.2.15
5:00 update.... (2010-02-09 18:07) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
111
1.2.16
10:00 update and ramblings... (2010-02-09 20:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
111
1.2.17
Wednesday Morning Report (2010-02-10 07:14)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
113
1.2.18
Snow Plow Man Cometh! (2010-02-10 09:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
113
1.2.19
Which would you prefer? (2010-02-10 12:50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
113
1.2.20
It’s Official.... (2010-02-10 19:33)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
114
1.2.21
A few last bits of the storm (2010-02-11 10:13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
118
1.2.22
Garden Update (2010-02-11 10:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
122
1.2.23
Chocolate Chip Cookie Winner (2010-02-11 10:45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
123
1.2.24
Best Heirloom Tomatoes (2010-02-12 09:30) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
125
1.2.25
Gypsy to the Rescue! (2010-02-13 12:24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
126
1.2.26
2 New Books (2010-02-13 12:33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
126
1.2.27
Friday Night at the Coonhunters (2010-02-13 13:00) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
127
1.2.28
They are sprouting!!! (2010-02-13 14:33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
128
1.3
1.2.29
It’s that time of the year.... (2010-02-13 15:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
129
1.2.30
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Order (2010-02-13 20:45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
131
1.2.31
Love that Ebay... (2010-02-14 18:02)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
138
1.2.32
Beautiful Eggs from Francine’s Girls... (2010-02-14 18:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
144
1.2.33
Garden Report (2010-02-14 18:16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
145
1.2.34
Valentine’s Day at the Moby Homestead (2010-02-14 19:29)
. . . . . . . . . . . .
148
1.2.35
500 Posts and a look at the Snow... (2010-02-15 09:18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
163
1.2.36
We’re Taking Music Lessons! (2010-02-16 19:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
166
1.2.37
I finished a SOCK!!!! (2010-02-16 19:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
166
1.2.38
Rare Kitty Observation (2010-02-17 19:59) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
169
1.2.39
Visiting the Chickens... (2010-02-19 23:19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
170
1.2.40
Visit to the Used Furniture Place (2010-02-19 23:33)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
173
1.2.41
The Chicken Ladder & Tunnel (2010-02-21 19:46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
174
1.2.42
Road Trip!!! (2010-02-21 22:02) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
174
1.2.43
Goose Cups! (2010-02-22 14:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
177
1.2.44
Compost Pile Update (2010-02-22 15:03) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
177
1.2.45
Funny Cartoon (2010-02-22 19:14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
178
1.2.46
Amazing..... Music Heals (2010-02-22 19:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
179
1.2.47
One more bluegrass video.... (2010-02-22 21:14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
179
1.2.48
Two New Food Toys (2010-02-22 21:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
179
1.2.49
Footprints in the Snow (2010-02-22 22:26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
180
1.2.50
Having Ferrets is a HOOT! (2010-02-23 09:33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
181
1.2.51
Kitty Phone Guard (2010-02-23 17:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
182
1.2.52
SOCKS ARE DONE! (2010-02-24 10:29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
182
1.2.53
Seeds and Seed Starters Arrived! (2010-02-24 14:57) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
182
1.2.54
Dixie’s Emergency Vet Visit (2010-02-24 22:16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
184
1.2.55
Cool Pictures (2010-02-25 21:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
187
1.2.56
Kitty Dixie Update (2010-02-27 21:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
188
1.2.57
After the Opry (2010-02-27 21:23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
188
1.2.58
Hoofed Critter Love (2010-02-28 11:50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
189
1.2.59
Painfully Honest Mobile Home Commerical (2010-02-28 14:16) . . . . . . . . . . .
190
1.2.60
Last Day of February (2010-02-28 14:39) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
190
March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
191
1.3.1
Oh my goodness (2010-03-01 10:58) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
191
1.3.2
Easter Piggy is Coming to Town (2010-03-03 18:33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
191
5
6
1.3.3
Second Pair - First Sock Done (2010-03-04 09:26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
191
1.3.4
Plant ID Tag Score (2010-03-04 11:01) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
192
1.3.5
Edward- Month 2 (2010-03-04 11:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
192
1.3.6
Hash Brown Bake (2010-03-04 16:50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
192
1.3.7
Guess what came today.... (2010-03-04 20:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
194
1.3.8
Saturday Ramblings (2010-03-06 18:50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
195
1.3.9
Moby Dog Camp (2010-03-09 10:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
199
1.3.10
Jars are Great (2010-03-10 15:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
199
1.3.11
Dave’s Guacamole (2010-03-10 18:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
200
1.3.12
Guess what came in the mail today? (2010-03-10 19:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
201
1.3.13
A Special Day (2010-03-11 21:43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
203
1.3.14
Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore (2010-03-12 18:06) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
203
1.3.15
Picking Saturday Night (2010-03-15 00:39) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
205
1.3.16
Fiddlin’ Around (2010-03-15 23:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
207
1.3.17
Okay, one more.... (2010-03-17 07:21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
208
1.3.18
Foggy Morning (2010-03-19 10:25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
208
1.3.19
Cute Jack Pictures (2010-03-19 10:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
209
1.3.20
Our Buddy Tom picking with the Expedition Show (2010-03-19 21:37) . . . . . .
209
1.3.21
The St. Patrick’s Day Opry (2010-03-21 17:02) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
209
1.3.22
Baby Blanket Done (2010-03-21 17:18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
210
1.3.23
Visit to our Pretend Chickens (2010-03-21 17:41)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
210
1.3.24
Cheese Cake Wars (2010-03-21 19:47) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
212
1.3.25
Spring around the Moby (2010-03-21 20:21)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
214
1.3.26
Saturday Music Fun (2010-03-22 19:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
215
1.3.27
Goodwill Haul (2010-03-23 09:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
216
1.3.28
What do you get for woozel pelts? (2010-03-23 09:29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
217
1.3.29
Belgian Waffle Eater (2010-03-23 21:33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
217
1.3.30
Toilet Paper Tube Seed Starters (2010-03-23 21:45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
218
1.3.31
Drinking Fountain in the Yard (2010-03-24 21:09) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
219
1.3.32
Jessy Kitty Pictures (2010-03-24 21:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
220
1.3.33
Beautiful Cold Frames are Here! (2010-03-25 07:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
220
1.3.34
Lovely Gypsy (2010-03-25 07:45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
221
1.3.35
Never tired of them... (2010-03-25 21:03) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
222
1.3.36
Mrs. Earline’s Sausage and Noodles Casserole (2010-03-27 21:42) . . . . . . . . .
223
1.3.37
First Major Spring Chore (2010-03-28 06:50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
224
1.3.38
1.4
1.5
A wonderful view... (2010-03-31 19:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
225
April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
225
1.4.1
We made the paper! Yah! (2010-04-02 10:35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
225
1.4.2
Self Simplicity (2010-04-02 23:31) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
225
1.4.3
Goodbye my Friend... (2010-04-04 23:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
227
1.4.4
Great Old Film Clip (2010-04-05 19:28) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
228
1.4.5
Signs of Spring (2010-04-05 20:38) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
228
1.4.6
Seedlings ready... (2010-04-05 22:59) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
228
1.4.7
Awesome Article... (2010-04-07 07:24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
230
1.4.8
Redneck Rocket Stove (2010-04-10 18:50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
233
1.4.9
Working round the Moby (2010-04-12 23:23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
233
1.4.10
The Black Swamp Opry (2010-04-13 21:25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
239
1.4.11
April’s Glass City Opry (2010-04-16 23:31) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
242
1.4.12
My new desk buddies (2010-04-17 00:14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
247
1.4.13
High cell phone bills? (2010-04-17 00:23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
251
1.4.14
EASY Pulled Pork BBQ (2010-04-17 09:56) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
252
1.4.15
South Side Raised Beds (2010-04-17 15:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
255
1.4.16
Proud of my big kid... (2010-04-19 09:18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
262
1.4.17
My Lemon Trees Arrived! (2010-04-19 12:32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
266
1.4.18
Weekend Moby Garden Report (2010-04-19 13:42) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
267
1.4.19
Working on the Moby Farm... (2010-04-21 21:14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
274
1.4.20
Hooking Wool Rugs (2010-04-22 22:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
280
1.4.21
Playing Hooky... (2010-04-23 23:16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
283
1.4.22
Critter Cookies! (2010-04-24 21:03) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
287
1.4.23
Neat Article... Urban Homesteading in SF (2010-04-25 13:26) . . . . . . . . . . .
292
1.4.24
No More Grocery Shopping for Me (2010-04-25 14:28) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
293
1.4.25
Mobile Homes and Solar Power? (2010-04-28 20:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
297
1.4.26
Frost.... again... (2010-04-28 21:34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
299
1.4.27
Transformer Small House (2010-04-30 07:25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
300
May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
300
1.5.1
Water Woes.... (2010-05-02 10:35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
300
1.5.2
Bluegrass Saturday Night... (2010-05-02 11:18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
301
1.5.3
Maggie’s Birthday (2010-05-02 22:43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
302
1.5.4
A sign for Fran (2010-05-03 14:01) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
306
1.5.5
Bad Bottled Water (2010-05-03 18:25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
312
7
8
1.5.6
Puppy Love (2010-05-06 22:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
313
1.5.7
Day One.... Puppy Video! (2010-05-07 15:07)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
314
1.5.8
101 Things to Do in 1001 Days (2010-05-08 13:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
314
1.5.9
101 Things about Me (2010-05-08 18:35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
319
1.5.10
Monday Morning Cute (2010-05-10 12:10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
321
1.5.11
Weekend Recap... (2010-05-10 21:04) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
323
1.5.12
Rough Dog Days... (2010-05-13 00:01) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
332
1.5.13
Sick Puppy (2010-05-13 14:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
337
1.5.14
Puppy Update (2010-05-13 21:23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
338
1.5.15
Puppy is home... (2010-05-16 21:30) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
338
1.5.16
Well... all is well... (2010-05-19 07:03) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
339
1.5.17
Hanging out at the Puppy Corral (2010-05-19 20:24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
343
1.5.18
A few garden shots... (2010-05-19 21:14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
350
1.5.19
Playing Puppy... (2010-05-22 08:24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
356
1.5.20
Another Puppy Video (2010-05-24 19:45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
356
1.5.21
A day at the Moby Dog Spa (2010-05-24 20:34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
356
1.5.22
Cheap New Desktop (2010-05-25 19:35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
364
1.5.23
Garden Update (2010-05-25 20:42) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
367
1.5.24
Puppy Videos for the Day! (2010-05-26 18:57) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
374
1.5.25
Happy Homecoming (2010-05-26 19:02) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
374
1.5.26
New Book... Basic Country Skills (2010-05-28 09:13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
375
1.5.27
Making Sausage! (2010-05-28 18:49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
376
1.5.28
Sweet Deal Alert (2010-05-28 19:19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
379
1.5.29
Bark in the Park 2010 (2010-05-29 20:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
379
1.5.30
Garden Update for Saturday (2010-05-29 20:39) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
380
1.5.31
Lovely Iris (2010-05-29 20:53) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
382
1.5.32
Home Farming Site (2010-05-30 09:25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
382
1.5.33
New Induction Burner (2010-05-30 10:32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
382
1.5.34
Tea Syrup (2010-05-31 04:24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
385
1.5.35
Making Hamburger (2010-05-31 04:35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
386
1.5.36
Problem Solved (2010-05-31 04:46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
387
1.5.37
A beautiful morning... (2010-05-31 06:44) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
387
1.5.38
Final Winner... Best Chocolate Chip Cookies (2010-05-31 11:05) . . . . . . . . . .
389
1.5.39
Puppy Video of the Week (2010-05-31 18:07) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
390
1.5.40
Bandana Bag (2010-05-31 18:29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
390
1.6
June . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
392
1.6.1
Iris Morning (2010-06-01 10:10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
392
1.6.2
Mending Clothes (2010-06-01 10:25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
392
1.6.3
Great for barfights... (2010-06-01 22:07) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
393
1.6.4
Bandana Quilts - Part 1 (2010-06-02 13:54) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
395
1.6.5
First Harvest (2010-06-02 14:07) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
396
1.6.6
Broke Down Bus... (2010-06-03 21:32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
397
1.6.7
Vitamins and Such (2010-06-05 13:09) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
397
1.6.8
Jack and Evee (2010-06-05 13:15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
398
1.6.9
Love a Great Deal... (2010-06-05 13:23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
398
1.6.10
Finally Planting my Garden! (2010-06-05 13:52) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
398
1.6.11
Green Recycling Pets (2010-06-05 19:58) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
400
1.6.12
Guinea Pig and Puppy Video (2010-06-05 22:26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
400
1.6.13
Midnight Storms (2010-06-05 23:51) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
401
1.6.14
Tolerant Sisters (2010-06-06 20:26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
401
1.6.15
Maggie’s Carrot Napkins (2010-06-06 20:33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
401
1.6.16
Blessed... (2010-06-07 20:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
401
1.6.17
Edward Gets Green (2010-06-09 17:50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
402
1.6.18
Sunday Afternoon at the Old West End Festival (2010-06-09 18:05) . . . . . . . .
402
1.6.19
Gerbil TV (2010-06-09 18:07)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
403
1.6.20
If You Were Wondering... (2010-06-09 18:12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
404
1.6.21
Puppy Videos... (2010-06-09 21:12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
404
1.6.22
Garden Update... 6-10-10 (2010-06-09 22:22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
404
1.6.23
2nd Year Anniversary (2010-06-10 21:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
407
1.6.24
Laundry Line Rebel (2010-06-11 21:59) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
408
1.6.25
I knew you were coming... (2010-06-19 14:26)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
409
1.6.26
Spoiled Pooch (2010-06-19 15:43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
410
1.6.27
Lemony Slushy Ice (2010-06-19 15:51) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
410
1.6.28
This is divorce... (2010-06-19 19:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
411
1.6.29
I love my work... (2010-06-19 21:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
411
1.6.30
Just Pretty... (2010-06-20 16:12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
411
1.6.31
Handmaking Rock Kit Bags (2010-06-20 16:23)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
412
1.6.32
Happy Father’s Day (2010-06-20 22:22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
412
1.6.33
New Pet Pictures from Jessy (2010-06-21 21:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
413
1.6.34
Puppy Love (2010-06-22 07:45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
413
9
1.7
10
1.6.35
Tornado Damage and Benefit Show (2010-06-26 20:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
413
1.6.36
Garden Update... Last Week! (2010-06-26 21:00) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
413
1.6.37
Mondays.... (2010-06-28 21:34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
416
1.6.38
Garden Update 6-28-10 (2010-06-28 22:15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
416
July . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
418
1.7.1
Working Hard... (2010-07-02 00:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
418
1.7.2
Doggie Girls (2010-07-02 23:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
420
1.7.3
Last Sunday’s Bluegrass Events (2010-07-03 00:03) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
420
1.7.4
Happy 4th of July (2010-07-04 07:24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
421
1.7.5
Finished a new blog for some friends.... (2010-07-06 22:50) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
422
1.7.6
Boy, is it dry.... (2010-07-06 23:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
422
1.7.7
Puppy Update (2010-07-07 21:46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
424
1.7.8
It’s Saturday! (2010-07-10 10:36)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
425
1.7.9
A little bluegrass (2010-07-12 19:33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
428
1.7.10
Not the best of times... (2010-07-13 22:33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
428
1.7.11
Jack Update (2010-07-14 17:50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
430
1.7.12
Wordless Wednesday (2010-07-14 17:50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
431
1.7.13
Pickle Time! (2010-07-15 23:47) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
432
1.7.14
Top 10 Solo-Business Blunders that Sabotage Success (2010-07-21 09:18) . . . . .
434
1.7.15
Those Feelings Again... (2010-07-25 20:24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
437
1.7.16
Jammin’ Tonight (2010-07-26 22:18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
440
1.7.17
Snuggle Puppy (2010-07-26 22:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
443
1.7.18
11 Ways to be Unremarkably Average (2010-07-27 12:03) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
446
1.7.19
Blueberry Butter... (2010-07-29 21:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
448
1.7.20
The Doggie Girls (2010-07-29 21:49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
453
1.7.21
Tomorrow Morning... (2010-07-31 21:46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
455
Chapter 1
2010
1.1
1.1.1
January
I Love this House! (2010-01-01 09:09)
Even if you’re not a Lord of the Rings fan... which I am... you have to appreciate just how lovely this
little home is! Oh my gosh! I could so live in that home... It’s adorable!!! And the fact that they built the
thing practically out of everything they found, oh my, that is so appealing. I just love the wood beams and
the branches and the free form nature of the building, it’s delightful.
Here’s the link to go and learn MUCH MORE!
[1]http://www.simondale.net/house/index.htm
Stuff like this makes me want to get hopping on my plans to move the Moby to her own land.
1. http://www.simondale.net/house/index.htm
11
Kerry (2010-01-03 20:36:24)
I love it too!! wow!!
1.1.2
Welcome 2010! (2010-01-01 09:43)
Wow, well 2010 came into the world here with fireworks, pots and pans and of course, gunfire. After all, this is America and we love any chance to shoot off a little firepower! It doesn’t bother me much
here, it’s not nearly as bad as when we lived in Detroit!!! That was bad. My doggie girl was a little unsettled
as she’s not a fan of loud boomy noises for no good doggie reason, but thankfully, it didn’t last too long.
Been checking out my fav blogs and of course, everyone is out there writing about the new year and
plans and goals and all those fresh tidy brand spanking new year aspirations! Yeah, I’ll admit, I’ve been
looking forward to the new year, but really, I’ve gotten past those lists and goal charts and such in my life.
I had a couple little goals that I wanted to reach and I did it! Mostly getting my to-do card pack down to
under 10 cards... (I’m officially at 9 right now!) and I wanted to get me a newer car... well, it’s still being
worked on, but I do have picture of it and it’s coming... really...
12
My daughter got her car and though she still has yet to get her own license, she is driving much
more confidently and I can even carry on a conversation on the phone or just enjoy the ride now with her
and we are arriving to our destinations safely and without blood pressure issues! At one point I was worried
that perhaps I wasn’t pushing her hard enough and all, and then after she failed the first attempt, I had
that ”get back on the horse” attitude and plans, but then I thought, why am I forcing and pushing her to do
this? Will the world suddenly rear back and clap most heartedly that finally this kid has her license? Will
there be parades? Will my life change drastically? No. Not really. She was faced with her hardest semester
yet in school, was working hard, 15 credit hours and she came out with honors, all A’s... and that added
stress of getting her driving would not have helped. As it was, she was pretty stressed and why in the world
would I need to add to the pile? No, this next semester is a piece of cake, only 6 credits and all evening
classes, just twice a week. It will be a perfect time for her to get her confidence and get that license and be
safe.
I think the reason that I’m mentioning this, is that there is a time for all things. Just like the
Bible tells us.. a season to grow, a season to cut down, and well, we all know the verses. There is a timing
to life and sometimes all the pushing and shoving that we want to do, won’t make a hill of difference. Like
my car. Sure, I could have been pushing and shoving and calling and all, but in the end, it would have
made things harder, and would have made it surely more expensive. My friends are working on it in their
spare time and it is saving me a ton of money. I’m happy that they are blessed with so much work that my
little project is not a priority. And I currently still have the old van and well, it’s hardly getting driven, so I
obviously don’t need another car. Especially now, as I teach and help Jessy gain her independence with her
car. It’s clearly a season for me to be a passenger in cars!!!
So, I’ve been thinking about a lot of things the last week or two. Facing the new year and wonder13
ing what should be my goals for 2010... this new decade! It would be easy to start making all these usual
claims of happiness and health and getting better at this and spending more time at that, but I’ve done
those things year after year and well, they never seem to really get done.
Nope, this year my goals are simple. I’m going to use the advice of a great wise business mentor of
mine, my SCORE counsler Mike and that’s going to be my goal for 2010.
Find what works and do more of it.
That’s it. Simply put. I think that pretty much wraps up all the ideas and goals and dreams I
have at the moment. Figure out what works in my life and do more of it!!! More gardens, more rehab, more
writing, more music, more friends, more family, more products, more business.
It works for me, and I think I’ll keep at it and do more of it!!!
Heck, it even works towards simple and green living. I’m going to make 2010 my NO PLASTIC
BAG year! I am close, about 75 % of the time, but now, I’m going to make it 100 %. Yep. If I walk into
a store without a bag, I’m going to walk right back out and get my dang bag outta the car. If they didn’t
have bags and I HAD to bring my own, I would. So I’m just going to have to break my habit of forgetting
and start remembering! If the 75 % of the time feels good then 100 % is gonna feel great!!!
If thinking positively and keeping a good and light heart and spirit has done wonders for me this
past year, then doing more is going to really make things pop! Can’t wait!!!
And making things homemade and doing with our own hands and our own resources was good...
more of it will be grand! I really want to make this year a year that I teach my daughters a lot more about
cooking and baking, and making and sewing and all that. We love to do these things, so I am going to make
much more time in our schedule to do these things.
Well, I hope that you are busy contemplating the new year and all the wonderful blessings and opportunities that will come to you as well as a little rain that must fall on our lives. I hope that you’ll stick
around for this year and join myself and my family and friends as we take on the new year. I hope to bring
you more and more interesting tidbits of our lives as well as some of the ideas and philosophy that I can
sneak in here and there! It’s primarily my own clarification that I seek, but I figure with all the readers out
there, it must be hitting a chord with others. I think that’s wonderful. I’ll make sure to do more of it this
year!
I’ll leave you with this fun little list of farmer quotes... I love this email posting... there is a lot of
good wisdom in these silly country quotes. I like the one about ”Life is simpler when you plow around the
stump” HAHAHA.... yep. I can think of a lot of stumps in my life that I spent way too much time and
energy trying to get rid of and it would have been a much nicer ride if I would have just plowed around
them!!! Enjoy!!!
By the way... this old farmer guy looks a LOT like my Grandpa Carl!!!
love the fact that my Dad reads my blog... hahaha.... delightful!)
14
Whaddya think Dad?
(I
Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.
Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight.
Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
You cannot unsay a cruel word.
Every path has a few puddles.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.
15
Don’t judge folks by their relatives.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.
Don’t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t bothering you none.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain Dance.
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with,
watches you from the mirror every mornin’.
Always drink upstream from the herd.
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.
If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.
If you catch yourself thinkin that you ve got the world by the tail, you re in pretty good standing with God
and that people ought to be paying more attention to you&&
try goin down to the creek and walkin on water.
Live simply, Love generously, Care deeply, Speak kindly, and Leave the rest to God.
Rachel (2010-01-01 16:11:36)
Happy New Year Sherri!
Pat/Texas (2010-01-02 10:42:46)
Would have wished you Happy New Year yesterday, but was foundered on blackeyed peas & fried cabbage!! LOL It
was so much fun and informative reading your blog in ’09...Keep up the good work! P
1.1.3
Do as I want, not as I do.... (2010-01-08 20:53)
HAHAHA...
Yes, I’ve been busy...
16
and I got to thinking as I was getting ready to go to bed after a very very
very busy 4 or 5 days, I better check my blogs I read.
And I did and I get upset when they don’t post every day. I want them to. I want to hear what is
going on at Cold Antler Farm and on the Bluegrass Blog and of course Sugar Mountain Fair and the Pioneer
Woman.
And then I go and not blog for a week and my readers start to EMAIL me and say, hey, are you
alive, we miss you, post something!!!
Clearly a case of Do as I want, not as I do!
Well, just to set the record straight, no, I did not fly off to Vegas to marry a red-headed Eskimo
harmonica and washboard player who does Elvis imitations. And I was not involved in any play-for-payola
banjo picking schemes for the reality star directors for MTV. Nor was I elected Queen of the Gypsies and
recruited to create new literature for their annual costume ball in Botswanna.
Nope. Just had to get ready for the BIG 20th ANNUAL BLUEGRASS IN SUPERCLASS WINTERFEST right here in Perrysburg Ohio!!!! OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!
Yep, been working my rear off making flyers and post cards and working newsletters and getting our
act together so that the Glass City Opry would have a presence there to hand out flyers and all that jazz.
Meet and greet, shake and howdy, hand out $ $ $ off coupons and listen to some serious top act bluegrass.
Dailey and Vincent are gonna be there tomorrow and Audie Blaylock and Gold Wing Express and just a
host of other bands... fun stuff.
I’ll post some pictures and such tomorrow, nothing big deal picture wize, but a few shots to explain
my disappearance!!
On Sunday I’ll be done and I’m driving up to Canton, Michigan to get a big wall unit shelf thingy
from Ikea (Expedit series if you’re wondering... walnut wood tone) I’ve been wanting one of these dang
things for now three years and I finally can go and get one. Stage 2 of my evil living room remodel plans is
swinging into action next week.... can’t wait!
But I promise... no more bluegrass till the 28th and we’ll be opening for the Bartley Brothers at
the Glass CIty Opry... We ah, know the people that run it... they like to let us play there now and then!
Take care and don’t worry... I’ll be posting on Sunday!!!
Sherri
Rachel (2010-01-09 05:36:29)
My asumotions where none of the above. It was the strange mail carrying men that I was worrying about. I thought
you ran off and married one of them. That, or you finally wear crowned Moby Home Queen and were out having your
subjects promise loyalty to you and to up hold the moby home law. and that your livestock are really musketeers in
disguise.
Nita in South Carolina (2010-01-09 08:45:35)
I must say, I am pretty disappointed that you did not fly off to Vegas and marry a red-headed Eskimo harmonica and
washboard player who does Elvis imitations. Because that would have meant some pretty interesting blog posts for
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the next year or so. Oh well. :)
1.1.4
Bluegrass in Super Class... 2010 (2010-01-11 07:19)
We were invited to come to the Bluegrass in SuperClass event here in town at the Perrysburg Holiday
Inn-French Quarters to show off the Glass City Opry to the folks in attendance. It was really a nice thing
and we really appreciated Larry Efaw and his whole family and their efforts in bringing some serious national
bluegrass music to town once a year.
Jeff and I manned the table all day and evening Friday and Saturday and it was fun to hang out with
him and our volunteers Rob and Tim over that time, just visiting with folks, talking about the Opry, handing out tickets and newsletters and flyers.
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Got to see some great acts inbetween ”working” like Dailey and Vincent, The Larkins, Remington Ryde,
Audie Blaklock and Redline, Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road and many others. Dailey and Vincent were
definately the crowning glory of the show, everyone was waiting for them and they didn’t disappoint. Holy
cow... their harmonies are just amazing!
[EMBED] This is an old Statler Brothers song.... Lovin’ You.... wow. My little camera doesn’t do them
justice. One of the highlights of the day was some of the jamming going on. I actually got to pick banjo with
some of my favorite band members... the guys from Blue Storm and another band, New Outlook. Everyone
was so nice and it was such a hoot. I don’t get to pick with these higher level bands, so when I can and
hold my own, it’s pretty much a big boost of confidence in my own playing and singing! Jerry, our sound
guy, he recorded one of the jam songs I sang and he promised to send it along! I was so nervous, I messed
up the kickoff, but got ’er back on track pretty quick. I did get a video of my band guys Tim and Rob
picking with the jam... and you can hear, it was kicking!!! [EMBED] Great stuff OH MY! My head is still
swimming in the music. Just love this stuff. I’m a bluegrass fool! Well, its good to be home and done and all
that jazz. And the best thing? We’re playing there next year!!!! Such an amazing honor.. we were selected
from the local bands to play at the 2011 Winterfest. We’ve got a year to get ourselves totally ready to lay
it down. And we’ll be playing alongside some of the best of bluegrass.... Rhonda Vincent and the Rage....
Goldwing Express, The Lewis Family, The Larkins, Wildwood Valley Boys, and of course... DEEPWATER
BLUEGRASS!!! We’re one of the first local bands to be picked in years!!! HOW COOL IS THAT??? Well,
today will be a day of putting stuff away and getting back on track with life and all it’s normal routines.
But you can bet yer bottom dollar.... I’ll be humming and singing some great grass all day long. It’s soaked
into me into the cellular level at this point!!! Here’s a little bit more of Dailey and Vincent’s set.... boy oh
boy..... I love these acapella harmonies in bluegrass... so pretty. [EMBED]
Pat/Texas (2010-01-11 08:14:31)
Haven’t listened to the videos yet but will when I get my work done. Sooo glad to have you back (lol), but so glad
you are loving what you’re doing P
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1.1.5
My Dream Shelf ! (2010-01-11 16:29)
Ever since I saw this moby, I knew that one day I wanted two large wall shelves from Ikea on either side of
the door. My room door. I loved the Expedit model shelf, and I loved that you can get boxes and baskets
to fit into the openings all neat and tidy like. I just have been waiting and waiting... for what, I’m not sure,
but it was finally time.
Even though I was fighting a bad bad toothache, I loaded up on some painkillers and decided that I would
keep my date with Ikea and off I went Sunday noon to go and get the beast. I had the cash, I had saved it
up. The drive kept me occupied so I would worry over my stupid mouth. (It’s better now, thanks...) And
I didn’t spend a whole lot of time there... it was super busy anyway, and I looked, I got, I paid and I left.
And when I got home I took a bunch of Tylenol PM and slept for like 7 hours and woke feeling a lot better.
20
Besides, I had already made a date with Tim to come out and assemble the beast and help me move
the freezer from the living room to the dining room area and some other minor things around the homestead.
So I got all my stuff all over the place, much to poor Jessy’s dismay as she tried to work around it all.... and
Tim got to unpacking all the boxes and such and we got out the instructions. I got to be the instruction
reader, though in the end, it was really very easy. I love Ikea... they are awesome about stuff like that.
Took up most of the living room but that’s because it’s pretty big.
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To be honest, it didn’t take too long at all! He had it all nice and tidy within an hour. And then a
little more to attach it to the wall in the back, so it won’t tip or anything.
Dressed up, the thing holds a TON.... everything I thought would probably fill it up, only took about
half of the space. It’s going to be awesome. I would like to get a couple of the wicker baskets that go in the
little sections to really store odds and ends and a couple more CD boxes, that sort of thing. But all in the
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right time... The other wall one, I’ll just save up for that one next... and since our sewing machine cabinet is
over there now instead of the freezer, I’d like to put our crafts ands scrapbooking stuff, etc over there. That
would be cool.
Right now, I just like the way it looks... I’ve been waiting to get that thing for almost 2 years! Well,
1 3/4 years! Pretty cool. I like waiting on things and taking my time. Obviously, it’s good to not by on
credit or over extend yourself. And it feels cool to save up the cash and then finally go and get something
neat and useful. I love how it anchors that end of the moby with something big and solid. Nice... I love it!
Pat/Texas (2010-01-11 16:46:16)
Oh my, the shelves look beautiful and the storage space is great. Lookie here, scroll down and see what this lady did
when she had a toothache. Isn’t this gross. LOL LOL http://selfsustainedliving.blogspot.com/ P
Kerry (2010-01-11 18:11:34)
I LOVE those shelves. I have been wanting the same style shelves for my room. I am going to go with white though,
since it matches my decor. But how funny that you got the same ones. I also love those little by little touches. You
get to appreciate your space all over again and the anticipation goes a long way. As they say, getting there is half the
fun. :)
Nita in SC (2010-01-12 07:05:07)
That looks REALLY nice! It’s the perfect size for that space. I can’t believe it holds so much but doesn’t look
overwhelmingly huge.
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Rachel (2010-01-12 07:18:48)
You could fool anyone if you said this wasn’t a moby home. The place is looking great! The shelf looks great as well.
You have very good taste.
Sharon (2010-01-12 17:47:56)
Oh wow, that looks perfect there. If you would have had it custom made it couldn’t have been any better. Love it!
1.1.6
I Love Little Tins (2010-01-11 17:55)
Just one of those little Sherri quirks... I love little square and rectangle tins. Not round ones or tall or
big really, or odd shapes... just little rectangled and square ones. Love to put stuff in them. I love that lots
of mints are coming in little tin shapes. I use them to hold my beads for making little bits of earrings and
jewelry. Just for fun.
Tins are great.
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1.1.7
Cute Kitty Photos (2010-01-11 20:45)
Luna, taking a break from being a little grumpy britches about the weather. She just SO hates the cold and
snow, so she takes it out on whomever happens to be near her when she decides to be ornery.
Could be Nina... or Dixie.... or Jack (often Jack, she LOVES to torment Jack) or even the dog, Gypsy.
Sometimes it’s the carpet or a chair. She watches the dog and other kitties go outside and then starts to
25
follow them and stops at the door and just peers out at the white nasty stuff and puts her mule-butt stance
on and will not take another step. FInally I have to either boot her little ticked off behind out the door to
blow off a little grumpy stink, or I have to push her back so I can close the door.
Either way, she’s not pleased.
So it’s nice to see her all curled up and cute, snoozing by a vent and looking sweet, because she’s not.
Ask Jack. He’ll tell you. She’s insane. And Evil too. Did we mention Grumpy????
Sharon (2010-01-12 17:51:41)
I love when you post pics of Luna. I still laugh at the window box one!
Rachel B. (2010-01-12 22:49:00)
Can I give her tummy a raspberry? It’s that cute.
1.1.8
Goodbye Lumi (2010-01-13 20:07)
Well, I sold the Lumina.
And nope, I still don’t have my car yet.
Bill and Joe are almost done, they got the transmission rebuilt, and had to take out the engine to
26
get to the air conditioning pump and replace it, but now they just gotta get it all put back together and they
have been super busy with the full paying customers! HAHA... which is fine. I’m grateful for everything
they are doing. And I am patient. But I will admit.. I’m getting a little heartsick over waiting these three
months. Patience is a virtue, so they say.
Well, I was in a dilemma... I was going to have to get plates for the Lumi and then I let them expire, since we weren’t using it and I thought, well, they would have my new baby done any day now... but
then the park said, oh, you need to either plate it or remove it. I like that they are concerned about dead
cars and such, but I wish I could have had a little longer to try and sell it.
I had it on Craig’s list over the holidays, but no one was interested. It was pretty rough, no doubt.
So finally a week ago I got the TWO DAYS notice to do something, so I did something. I lowered the price
and said any good decent offer and story would get the car.
And I got a okay offer and decent story. Seems this fellow had a daughter, not too much older than
my own, and this daughter had two sets of little boys, and was recently divorced and her car had died on
Friday. This was Sunday and they still hadn’t found a van for her and it was a real problem, since she had
to get to work and all to take care of her youngin’s and not slip further down the slope of problems. He
came, he liked, he offered and I took it. ABout $200 less than my idea rate, but I factored in having to
plate the thing ( $80 at least) and that it felt good to give the beast to someone that would really use it and
need it.
He was so happy, and so nice, and you could tell it was a huge weight off his shoulders. He was
just a working class kind of Dad, and doing what he could to help his little girl. (They are always little
girls you know... to Dads.... can’t help it I think...) He didn’t mind that one door latch was broke and the
window on the driver side didn’t go down... it ran and it was solid and he had solved the problem, at least
one of them for awhile. It felt good to see the old beast going to someone that could really use her right.
What’s a hundred bucks when you’re helping to give some positive karma out in the world? I’m
hoping that by lightening my auto load here at the Moby... I’m making space in my universe for the new
car to fit in.
And it just means more driving lessons for Jessy, because I made a pact that whenever she’s in the
car with me, she drives. So that’s good. And working at home and all, I can get by without much driving.
It does feel weird though to be without a car of my own and having to ask my teenager if I can
borrow her car to go to band practice... hahaha.
It’s been a week and a few days since the Lumi left us and I have to say, I kinda miss her sitting
out there just waiting to be taken out for a trot. I do attach to my cars, I’m a little weird like that. I
remember every car I ever owned. I do. Ever since I was 17, I had a car of my own.
I’ve owned a lot of cars...
78 Volkswagen Scirocco (For a week)
79 Dodge Aspen
79 Ford Fiesta (tin can car!!!)
81 Honda Civic
Chevy Malibu Station Wagon (can’t remember the year....)
80 Toyota Pickup Truck (Best $200 deal I ever made!)
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79
86
01
92
94
86
03
05
85
98
White Buick Century (Second best $200 deal I ever made!)
Chevy Celebrity Eurosport (This car was stolen twice! )
Dodge Neon (This was the first car we bought brand new)
Dodge Caravan (Gave it to some friends in need)
Mercury Sable Station Wagon (LOVED that car!)
Chrysler Concorde (I technically owned this car twice... bought it married, and got it back later on)
Chrysler Town and Country Van (Sweet ride.... $30 grand worth of fancy van...)
Chrysler Pacifica (not bad, but a little boxy and weird....)
Chevy Lumina (Good old Lumi)
Mercury Sable Wagon (Jessy’s Car... awesome vehicle)
And my 2002 Ford Taurus wagon will be car #17. Eventually. Maybe. Technically it’s 16, but
since I’m on the title with the Sable, and I’m paying for insurance and gas and oil changes and gas filters....
hahaha... I think it counts in my car total. So Gunnar is going to be #17.
Did I mention I’ve already named the black beast? Hee hee hee.... Yeah... Gunnar. Gunnar is a
Norse old name meaning Warrior of Strife or Bold Warrior, Strong Warrior.... When I was younger, I wrote
stories of a fantasy nature and there was a particularly wonderful old war horse in the stories named Gunnar
and he was crafty, smart and stubborn at times, but always brave and true. I’m hoping that my new car
will possess these qualities... it’s certainly being stubborn at the moment and enjoying it’s time of leisure
sitting in a shop garage all safe and snuggly from the cold and snow and ice and salt. But eventually, as all
good warhorses must do, he has to come to my aid and do his duty as my new warsteed in this battle called
Life.
And it’s just fun to name your autobeasts. Why not?
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Bill said this week..... I hope he meant THIS week... not like next this week... (hee hee)
Sigh... good things are worth waiting for.
Sharon (2010-01-14 11:12:28)
OMG you’ve had alot of cars! I remember the Ford Fiesta, my sister and I played in one at the dealership when my
parents were buying a 78 Granada which later became my first car. My favorite car of all time is a third generation
Camaro, I’ve had four of them, 84,90,91 & 92. Oh that was love at first sight!
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1.1.9
Lemon Pound Cake Recipe (2010-01-13 20:22)
Jessy made this pound cake that we had a recipe from some old magazine and found it and wanted
to try it. Let me tell you, it’s a keeper. Very gooooood!
Lemon Pound Cake
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of lemon extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
Heat up oven to 350 F - butter up a loaf pan and set aside.
Combine butter and sugar, beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly.
Add vanilla and lemon extract. Sift together flour, salt and baking powder, add slowly to the creamy
mixture a 1/2 cup or so at a time until all nice and mixed. Pour in your loaf pan and bake for about 75
minutes.
Lemon Syrup Drizzle
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1 large lemon, juiced (about a half a cup of juice)
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Mix this all together and then either cook on the stove top till it reducing down some (a simple
syrup) or you can microwave on high about 2-3 minutes, stirring often. (We did it on the stove... better to
watch over it, if you ask me.... )
When the cake is done, take knife or wooden chopstick or skewer and poke a bunch of holes in the
top and drizzle the Lemon Syrup all over the thing... slow and let it soak into the cake. Let the cake rest in
the pan. After 5 or 10 minutes, you can remove it and drizzle with any left over lemon syrup. Enjoy!!!!
I think you could use any sort of extract with this cake... orange would be good... or just use it as
a butter cake and serve with fresh fruit drizzle or rum or whatever!!! It was absolutely divine and really
pretty easy to make!
1.1.10
Karma Decided for Me (2010-01-13 20:37)
Well... I got my cable bill and I was looking at it and said, this is crazy. We’re paying an extra $25
for cable that no one is watching. We haven’t watched the TV in the living room now since we were bagging
rocks. And that was only for something mindless to do. So we haven’t turned it on even for the last 3 weeks.
I had signed up for the thing in a moment of weakness. I thought, well, maybe with winter here, we
would like to watch a little tv. And with that whole change over to digital TV, we lost our 3 stations that we
could pick up. And we were getting a little extra $10 from the state for Maggie’s online school ( $10 was for
internet for her classes online) so I thought, well, that kind of makes cable available for us for $15 a month.
Not too bad. We’ll give it a whirl.
31
Well, no one is watching it. We all have our own computers and we prefer to surf and use them instead. The
girls have an older TV in their room that they play video games and watch DVDs on. But it’s not digital
ready either, so it doesn’t pick up anything other than what it is directly fed. And they didn’t want a cable
hookup for it. Weird kids.
So, I was thinking that I should probably ditch the cable. And the thought of ditching the old big TV
crossed my mind as well... because I kind of hate looking at the big black void in my living room. But then I
thought, what if I missed it, or like, for some reason the government insisted we watch tv for some important
announcement or something. What would I do?
I went to turn it on and it wouldn’t turn on.
Oh... it was unplugged, because when we built the shelf on Monday, we had to move the tv and all,
plus we put plastic up on the last window in that room and had to move stuff around.
Maggie plugged it in for me and we turned it on. Static.
She poked around, she’s my resident IT/AV guru and she says, Mom, you guys pulled the coax connector out of the back of the TV!!! HAHAHA! Oops. Not just the cable, mind you, the whole connection was
broken off and alas, that I find is a $70 fix! Considering that the TV is very old... 15 years or more... and
HUGE and bulky... I really don’t want to invest $70 into something we don’t want or watch or need. So...
it’s going to the Goodwill tomorrow. It will still work if you attach a DVD or VCR to, which I have neither,
and someone might like the parts and such. And now I have a HUGE big open area in my living room!!!!!
YEAH!!!
I love it when things are decided for you, and you don’t have to labor over the decision for very long.
Jessica (2010-01-14 18:10:31)
It sounds like your TV knew it was no longer wanted. :)
Mobymom (2010-01-14 18:18:56)
HAHAHA... Yeah, I think you’re right. As I took it to the Goodwill, it kept bumping the back window glass like it
was trying to get away! And then the guy was like, oh, another TV. Apparently, he said, people are dumping them
like crazy, it was the third one he’d gotten today! I think too, it’s people buying those nice flat screens and all that
too... those big huge hulking things are just like the old Model T’s of the TV world! Poor baby!!!
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1.1.11
Crochet Fever (2010-01-14 19:00)
Okay, I can’t help it.
I like to mindlessly crochet in the wintertime. I can’t do anything more than a double crochet and I
usually just make big squares and crochet them together, or I just make big single color afghans. I like to
buy yarn, but just one skein at a time because the color or texture appeals to the mynah bird in me. I just
can’t help it. It’s in my genes. My mom is a crazed knitter and crochet-er and I guess some of that has
oozed into my chromosomes and come winter, I must do something with yarn. I’m pretty sure as I get older,
it will become more and more an addiction and I won’t be able to stop.
I actually brought some with me to the bluegrass festival last weekend!!!!!
Oh gosh, is there a 12 step program for this affliction?????
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I’m actually making a mini-afghan for Jeff’s dog Bella!!!! Oh gosh, what is next? Cat Aghans? Toaster
Cozies? TOLIET PAPER COVERS!!!!! OH NOOOOOO!!!!
Ambar (2010-01-15 06:39:20)
No, ANYthing but toilet paper covers! haha! Thanks for sharing your crochet and your sense of humor with the rest
of the world. :) God’s best, Ambar
Pat/Texas (2010-01-15 07:49:16)
I tried a couple dish cloths and they looked pretty good but I had trouble getting them clean. They were pretty
funky and took awhile to dry. Your yarn is beautiful. It looks sooo soft. Did you get my email about the recent
down–to–earth posts?? I think you throw me into the junk mail since I have a new email address. LOL P
Mobymom (2010-01-15 07:56:25)
Hiyah! Yeah I’ve been writing back... do you think I might be in your spam filter? Go and take a look for me! I did!
I wrote ya back! (gg) Sherri
Rachel (2010-01-15 11:25:57)
Ha! That’s really nifty. I can crochet okay but have trouble with making my rows even. With knitting I seem to be
better at.
Pat/Texas (2010-01-17 08:22:03)
okay, okay...everytime I check for an update (hint, hint), I keep admiring the yarn. What exact color is it? I MIGHT
be able to make an afghan but it might take me awhile. ha! P
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Mobymom (2010-01-17 08:44:55)
Okay, well, it’s this weird variegated stuff I got at a garage sale. It’s Lion Brand Yarn, color Sorbet... the type of yarn
is called Lion Boucle. I will admit, it’s fun and colorful but it’s a real pain to crochet. The yarn is like a string with
this fuzzy stuff embedded in it and it gets snagged all the time when you are working with it. I definitely would not
buy the stuff again! HAHA.... It’s nice and soft though.... fuzzy! Bella will love it.
1.1.12
Yarn Balls of Light (2010-01-17 08:52)
Okay, a little late, but some of you might be taking down lights from the holidays... and here’s a little
trick we learned and LOVE.
Take each strand of lights and roll gently into a ball. They stay together pretty nice and roll right off
the ball next year when you need them. And they are fun to turn on and look at, in a ball! (I wouldn’t leave
them on for any length of time unless they are those nice LED cool bulb ones... the old ones do get a little
hot and might melt the plastic around them or something like that.... )
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Then pop each ball into a plastic bag and tie up! Viola! Perfect storage for these little nasty strings of
lights! Has worked well for us and we’ve tried all kinds of other ways....
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1.1.13
Settlers of Catan (2010-01-17 09:01)
We LOVE to play games... and the girls and I will often get out our very favorite game... Settlers of
Catan.
If you haven’t heard of this game, it is the coolest thing... and oddly addictive and fun. You set up
this board with these little hexagon pieces and make a fantasy country or contenient. And then everyone
is a settler and tries to make towns and cities and get resources from the hex you’re sitting on with a dice
throw each turn. It’s simple, yet, complex. And fun. Even my little one was playing with us when she was
about 10 or so. And there are expansive packs for it, so you can add ships and sailing, as well as knights
and cities and all this stuff.
They have a website that explains it much better... but we just love to get a bowl or two of snacks,
some pops and just play and laugh and trade resources and build little medieval cities and see who’s gonna
win! When they play with their Dad, he usually wins because he’s a really smarty pants about strategy and
all that. When we play, we’re a little more into the building and not that worried over who wins! But it’s
always fun and better than mindlessly watching the tube.
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[1]www.catan.com
1. http://www.catan.com/
Carla (2010-01-17 10:28:19)
my husband loves this game and plays it online often because he has a hard time finding anyone around here to play.
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1.1.14
Green Soda Machine (2010-01-17 19:27)
Okay, I did it. I bought a Soda Stream machine!!!
I did it for two reasons. One... we love soda and well, I’m really torn about the plastic bottles and
the cans. Two... I don’t like all the high frutose corn syrup and all you have to have for soda. I’d like it to
be a little healthier and simpler and all that jazz.
I have hunted high and low to find a good decent reason to collect 2 liter bottles. And aside from
MAKE A BIRD FEEDER (good for oh, one or two of them?) or CUT AND MAKE A FUNNEL (for gosh
sakes... how many funnels do you need? 2, 3 8?) And use for a YARN CADDY (again, how many yarn
caddies do you need? 2? 3?) there just doesn’t seem to be a good REUSE function for these things.
39
Heres a great idea... I’m sure that the park wouldn’t mind if I made one of these and kept it in the yard for
those times I wanna go fishing nearby...
Aside from that crazy dude in the south Pacific with his trash island made out of the things... there just
isn’t a good reason to keep them and then you have to trot them in and clean them and trot them out to
recycle and all that. Just didn’t seem green and sustainable to me. And it seemed that we drank a TON
more of the stuff and it’s just making us more and more pudgy. We’re pudgy enough, thanks.
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So then we tried cans. Yeah, they seem a little better to recycle... sorta. I learned that though
they might be recycled more, they are more energy draining to make in the first place, so that’s not that
good. And you still have to save them and trot them out to the recycling place. And again, aside from like
making some weird adobe mud house in the desert with no zoning/building laws, most the ”reuse” crafts use
like one or two cans. I mean how many beer can hats does a gal need????
Of course, I’ve tried like umpteen hundred times to kick the habit and well, I just can’t. If I say no
pop in the house, then we just start going to fast food more and that is expensive and worse... so I was in a
real quandry... what to do! Then I stumbled onto this machine!!!! It’s SO COOL....
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Sure, there is a little investment to it. The thing cost like $79. And then if you’re a smart cookie,
you’ll get a starter kit, and find a coupon on line and get free shipping, etc etc.... I ended up spending about
$90. Here is our first video with it... and it’s really the very first time we used it... warts and all! HAHA...
I couldn’t get the bottle in there to begin with and of course, didn’t push the button down firmly enough,
but still, the learning curve was not that hard.
[EMBED] And let me tell you... it’s good. Real good. Very bubbly and fresh, and most of all, fun!
And no more cans and bottles! It comes with two little bottles for you to get started with. One liter sized.
Perfect for the three of us. We can keep one as pop and the other as cold water ready to be pop-i-fied. Cold
cold water works best... the Co2 is more readily absorbed in cold water for some reason. [EMBED] We
liked the lemon-lime and rootbeer flavors.... orange is okay too, but the cola... BLAH.... we threw it out!!!
Honest! It was dreadful. We’re Pepsi-holics, so it would take a lot for us to accept that as a reasonable
substitute. I will admit, the thing I don’t like about the Soda Stream machine is that ALL of their mixes
are Splenda and Sugar based. It’s like half and half. But to me and the girls, there is still that weird
diet soda aftertaste, that well, is hard to get past. But hey, no problem! Make your own HOMEMADE
syrups!!!! We’ve been trying all sorts of things. Believe it or not... two spoons of homemade jam in a glass of
carbonated water and a little swish of your spoon and you have a REALLY good flavored sweet homemade
soda and the little bits of berry are fun to eat at the end!!! We tried a fresh squeezed lemon and some simple
syrup and MAN.... that was delish!!!! I found a place online that sells JUST the soda flavors.. you can add
any sweetener you want.... sugar, Splenda, whatever. So I ordered their 6 pack of popular flavors... cola,
lemonline, grape, orange, rootbeer, and cream soda... each flavor bottle will make a GALLON of syrup,
which would make like umpteen hundred liters of pop. It was $18 for the 6 pack. I think it will last us a
year easy. The C02 cartridges are proprietary, but they are not that expensive. LIke $30 a cartridge. Many
people online say that one will last a normal daily use family of 4 about 3 - 4 months. That’s not bad at all.
I’ll probably order one at the end of the month to have ready. They say, when the tank is done, it’s done.
Not a lot of warning. That’s cool. I can just get into a cycle of having one in reserve, and order another
when the first runs out. And it was cool... the packaging was super simple, mostly cardboard and none of
the little peanuts and excessive plastic. Nice. And it was delivered by a local guy who has a distributorship!
Kinda neat. And he was very nice and said that I can just set the empty tank out on the porch and he’ll
deliver the replacement just like the old milk man of old! The pop man! I love it. My Grandpa Roy was a
milkman for the Meadowgold dairies in Fort Wayne, Indiana and I remember that he was very proud of it.
I wish they had home milk delivery still... they don’t around here, but that would be sweet. Anyway.... I
digress. It was super simple to set up, and doesn’t need electricity or batteries or anything. The unit is a
little tall, but it does fit nicely on the counter. It’s footprint is not huge, so you can tuck it in a corner or
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something.
They sent us
a little sampler pack, that was nice. And we’ve tried a few of them so far. Half are diet drinks and well,
we might save those for friends that want to try them. I might try the pink grapefruit one... cuz I think
it might taste like Squirt! I love Squirt, but never really get it. I’ve noticed too, that we’re not drinking
it in huge glasses, but more as a treat and all. So that’s nice. It’s SOOOOOO bubbly... just wonderful. I
want to try making a sweet tea syrup for it... that would be fun... or how about fresh squeezed lemons and
simple syrup!!! We tried it with just lemon syrup and that was pretty good. I got a little bottle of fancy
coffee raspberry syrup and it was good too. Not as sweet, so more like a flavored seltzer water. WARNING
WARNING WARNING > Do NOT add sugar to the carbonated water!!!! IT WILL FOUNTAIN UP AND
EXPLODE ALL OVER YOUR COUNTER and make you a sticky mess. Don’t ask me how I know this....
just trust me... you don’t want to do it. HAHAHAHA Well, silliness aside.... we are LOVING this little
beast. In fact, I’ve even learned that you can go to restaurant supply places and get PEPSI SYRUP!!!!!
OH MY GOSH!!! I’m gonna hunt that out this week. Apparently you can get it in gallon containers and
in boxes as well. I read online that a 2.5 gallon box will set you back $25. But that it will make something
like 250 12 oz glasses of pop or more??? Shesh. That’s sweet. I’m going to wait for the cola flavor to show
up first and see if it tastes better than the Soda Stream stuff. If not... I’m finding the REAL THING....
and then we’ll be ready for anything that comes down the pike. [1]www.sodastream.com (Use the code
BESTFRIENDS and you’ll get like $10 off the thing...) [2]www.prairiemoon.biz
1. http://www.sodastream.com/
2. http://prairiemoon.biz/homsodflav6p1.html
Rachel (2010-01-18 07:07:00)
Mmmm....Now you’re pushing me to make my own soda. I’ve been meaning to but just have been to cheap to buy
the syrup.
itsthejourney (2010-01-18 20:31:40)
I think the soad machine is a great idea. Making just a glass at a time as wanted and as a treat. I think it would be
fun to make homemade syrups. And always pour into a real glass... and drink with a glass straw.... definitly better
for the environment! Bravo on your purchase. Enjoy :)
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1.1.15
Everybody’s doing it.... (2010-01-18 22:07)
Why knitting, of course!!!
I can’t believe how much knitting has come back! Oh my gosh, it’s like COOL to knit now. I just was
starting to feel left out of all the other bloggers who are knitting stuff and I don’t know how! That is until
Jasmine came into my life.
[EMBED]
Jasmine
taught
me HOW TO KNIT!!! I love her! She’s sooooo sweeet! I want to be friends with Jasmine. She taught
me everything I know about knitting. All in like a couple days!!!! Here’s Nina looking at my first 6 hours
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accomplishment!!!
Kitty
girl Me Me loves it... and she can’t wait for me to make her a kitty afghan!!! She’s getting in line with the
other kitties. They are jealous that I finished Bella’s afghan that I crocheted... Luna took over this fun rect-
angle that I did last week...
And I finished Bella’s fuzzy comfy doggie afghan today after I got done making pickles... (YUM!)
and Jack came in from the cold and hijacked it! He was playing in it and loved the fuzzy thing.
I’m glad it’s done though, that weird yarn was kinda hard to crochet with! I hope Bella likes it.
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Well after three long days
of working on my little knitted washcloth, I FINALLY got it done! It was so cool to cast off the thing,
boo boo stitches and all! And it works so nice. I never thought a knitted washcloth would work so
nicely in the kitchen, but it does! The weave is a good scrubber and the yarn holds a lot of hot water, so you can wipe down a countertop in no time flat. And you can clean up red raspberry homemade soda that you ah, spilled all over the place in a horrid sugar explosion accident... hmmmm....
I even put a little purl border on both ends!!!! I was so proud of myself! And thanks to my new BFF Jasmine, she taught me how to
do it all! Gosh, isn’t she just the sweetest thing? Sigh. Okay, Im kinda scaring myself here. HAHAHA....
I’m just so excited to learn how to knit!!! I want to learn how to make hats... that’s next. And of course, I
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already am almost done with Son of Washcloth.... I just had to start another knitted project after I finished
the doggy blanket! I need to get a set of those circular knitting needles though, to be able to do bigger
knitted projects like kitty hoodies and hats. (Maggie wants me to make a kitty hoodie for the kitties...
I dunno.... I’m not toooo talented at this stuff. I am pretty much a square and rectangle kind of gal.
Pat/Texas (2010-01-18 22:33:01)
Oh my, guess I’ll have to start now. Where and who is Jasmine. Can you share her with anyone - I mean is she
a blogger or a personal friend? Someone who can teach me how to knit. Oh well, I guess I can google knitting
instructions. LOL I love the cat photos! P
Rachel (2010-01-19 06:10:55)
Oh no! You’re going to start wanting needles now! Thift stores are like gold mines when it comes to
that. Then, after words, you might need to stop over at my blog for directions on a roll up case for them!
http://ecosmartteen.blogspot.com/2009/12/nifty-knitting-needle-roll- up-case.html
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1.1.16
Pickle Day (2010-01-18 22:34)
Boy, I wish I had made a LOT more jars of garlic dill new pickles last summer when I had the chance.
I was so new to canning and pickling and all that... I only made two small batches. And they were gone in
no time flat. And then, of course, it’s not quite the season to get little pickle cukes at most of the supermarkets and such. Until this weekend. I actually found that Meijers had them on sale! Of course, they came
from California, and I know... you’re thinking... ”What was she doing in Meijers!” I have pledged to stay
out of the big box places! And I have been... really. But it was super duper cold and snowing a few days
past and I needed this weird variety of things and didn’t want to try and go all over the place to get it all.
Yeah, so I went into the big box place. And I was rewarded with pickle cucumbers!!!!! I was so happy. I
bought like 5 pounds of them. And I was very good there, I had a list and I was in and out with just only
only the things on the list. Okay, yeah a few extra things creeped into the cart, that is part of the reason
that I normally stay clear of these places!!! Its not just because of their labor practices, or the imported junk
and all that... it’s because they are SOOOO good at getting you to buy stuff you didn’t think or know you
needed!!!!
But in this case, I was happy. I got pickles.
And today I had a little time, so I cut them up and boiled the brine and then once cool, I packed the
big pickle jar with all my little pickles to be and set them to fixing on the counter. I snuck one late tonight
and they are already tasty!!! Of course, they have a good week or so to brine and fix, but they will be
wonderful. I know Tim is going to be excited... he’s a big fan of my garlic new pickles. I hope he can wait
till next week when I bring him a jar to practice. I hope I can wait till then!!!
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Rachel (2010-01-19 06:14:19)
Yum. I still have tons of pickles left.
1.1.17
Making Crumbs (2010-01-18 22:55)
Sunday was a quiet day for me. The girls were at their Dads and I was working on some new products,
formating them and getting them ready for sale. It was pretty cold out, January can be that way. I decided
that it would be good to make homemade bread crumbs out of all the left over bread bits that I’ve been
saving in my freezer. We make most of our bread, but still, I watch the local market and they have their
fancy breads occasionally in the discount bin and I will grab a few loafs when they are super cheap. They
are great toasted, or saved up for bread crumbs.
I just lay the slices on a cookie pan, and turn my little toaster oven on about 250 or so. It doesn’t take too
long for the bread to dry out, especially if it’s already kind of stale. When Maggie got home, I had a nice
bit pile of bread for her to crumblize in the food processer. She loves doing that. She is the kind of kid that
love those Magic Bullet videos on YouTube.... the will it blend ones! HAHA... So she blended up all the
various breads I had dried over the afternoon and we have now a full jar of gourmet and homemade bread
crumbs! Ready for meatloaf or meatballs or whatever you need some good bread crumbs for.
I’m thinking meatballs this week.... with our own garden tomato sauce from the deep freeze... maybe
even homemade pasta!!! Hmmmm.... Wednesday is Moby Spaghetti Day....
Rachel (2010-01-19 06:04:42)
Can I come over? It sounds wonderful!
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Kerry (2010-01-23 00:07:21)
yay! I never thought of the crumbs idea. I just replaced my old food processor yesterday. Now I can take the 3 bags
of apples I have and make my own applesauce, that I will then turn into my own apple butter. canning is so addictive
:)
1.1.18
My Reading List (2010-01-20 00:27)
Rachel (2010-01-20 16:33:30)
You don’t want to know what my reading list looks like.
Jessica (2010-01-20 18:47:08)
Yes! Those top three books are on my list! Any good? I’m working my way through ”Wuthering Heights”...hard to
get around the old grammar and words no one uses any more. :)
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1.1.19
Miss Bella Approves (2010-01-20 23:08)
1.1.20
First Hat Blues (2010-01-20 23:21)
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Well, I broke down and bought me a set of those connected knitting needles and a pair of chunky wool
skiens to try and make my dear daughters a nice wool warm hat! I thought it was cool that the ”green” thing
had even permeated into the crafts and knitting world! The ones I picked were actually from a hardwood
bamboo, and were 2 dollars more than the cheapy metal and nylon ones. I’ll be honest, I didn’t set out to
try and find something sustainable in the knitting world, but was oddly pleased to see that. Kinda cool.
So I got my trust YouTube education library scanned and found a neat little video on making a simple
hat! Yah! And it seemed pretty good. And I started to learn how to knit in the round.
[EMBED] Let me tell you, it’s actually kinda fun, because there’s no end or anything, you just knit. And
knit and knit. For a good long time. And then you start to decrease your stitches and POOF! You get
a little comfy knit hat!!!
But, I did something wrong along the way... (didn’t calculate my gauge properly and ended up with
a big flat saucer hat!! HAHA! Jessy is modeling our new design. I left a long end on the thing so
that you can tie it around your chin! She thought I was pretty goofy. Instead of a hat, I succeeded in
making a giant round kitty doily!!! Yep, a perfect place for a feline to perch on your side table by a
52
lamp.
So I unraveled the
beastly thing and started over. I decreased my starting cast on stitches by like 25 and then did more
rows and watched the video and actually did what they SAID, not my own weird ideas. And thankfully, Jessy has a cute little warm floppy brim hat and she loves it! Maggie’s is already on the needles and I figger I’ll have it in a day or two. YEAH! Something actually functional!!! And I made it!!!
Pat/Texas (2010-01-20 23:39:16)
I love your saucer hat!! Still laughing!!
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Pat/Texas (2010-01-21 06:35:01)
I think I’ll get some knitting needles this weekend but I’d better try something flat first. I forgot to say last night the hat Jessy has on is adorable! P
1.1.21
Finished another knitted thing.... (2010-01-20 23:27)
I’m just cooking with gas here! HAHA.... I finished my little experimental washcloth #2. I made it
too wide, so instead of making it a HUGE square, I just made it like a half of a square, or a long rectangle.
It actually is just fine and works pretty well, all things considered.
After a make a couple hats, I think I’m going to back to a crochet project I have half baked. I am trying not to have like 6 projects in yard going at once. So it’s Maggie’s hat and then this crazy crocheted
afghan for my bed. Using just yarns I like and find colorful and all that. No real rhyme or reason. Just what
I like. It’s fun to create like that. Very freeing from that whole worry of what to make and how to make it
and how will it look. I’m just doing it for fun.
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1.1.22
Little Nina MeMe (2010-01-21 22:48)
Well, we haven’t found a home for our little munchkin house guest yet, but we’re finding that she’s a
sweet little kitty and no problem at all. She is fitting in nicely and she’s staying out of the way of the other
kitties and all. She’s found her little spots in the moby to snooze and she’s starting to be very friendly to us
and is such a pretty little girl. We started to call her ”MeMe” because she is always posing and so pretty and
just seems to say ”look at ME” all the times. She purrs ALL the time and is gaining a little weight. She’s
just such a nice little kitty.
Kerry (2010-01-23 00:08:05)
awww she is precious. Guess what, she adopted you.
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1.1.23
Our Forever Home... (2010-01-22 10:42)
I was cruising around our local Craig’s List as I am oft to do and I stumbled on a lady selling eggs
that was about a block away from me! Wow! How cool... and we needed eggs, so I emailed her and Maggie
and I that afternoon went out to meet her.
Francine and her hubby Wes live on a couple acres in a neat little homestead that they are working
on! Some folks might think, wow, a lot of projects going on, but Maggie and I were in heaven! We
TOTALLY get it... they have chickens and gardens and little baby fruit trees and a home business and
equipment waiting to be used and an older house that is being rehabbed! They showed us their beautiful
new roof that they put on and talked of new gutters and siding all in time. We got to talk about the chickens
and a couple roosters that might be ending up in the stew pot sooner than later. And we talked about baby
fruit trees and how they had lived in a mobile home for many years until they got their homestead! Oh my!
How neat.
I love meeting people with like minds and thoughts. It lets me know that it can be done, is being
done and it’s not that silly to think this would be an awesome way to live. Made me start to think about
seriously getting our own dreams into high gear. I saw a fellow selling 10 acres of half wood, half farm land
for $30 grand. Maybe a bit more than we want, but heck, new cars cost more! Granted, there was not
house, but there were old outbuildings that could be rehabbed and if I could bring my beloved Moby and
hook her up, that would solve that issue.
3-5 acres would be fabulous. Some woods, some flat land... gardens, chickens, maybe a goat or two,
a gentle sheep. Some good old dogs. Working at home, living simple. It’s my calling, it’s my dream...
someday.
And I got to thinking, I have to stop thinking it’s a someday, or a dream. If I want it to happen, I
have to make it happen. We have to work towards it. Hard. When you want something so badly, it can
56
happen if you start to really work towards it. It’s time for us. It’s time to start learning which cities and
counties allow mobies on rough land. How much does it really cost to get electric, and sewer or whatever.
Start looking at properties. Start looking into saving like old Scottswomen and making it happen. I started
my first emergency fund in like forever years. And it’s going to be fed FIRST every bit of money that comes
in. We have to start learning as much as we can from books and magazines and friends and the internet.
Keep learning on our gardens and cooking simple and canning and preserving.
Other people do it. We can too.
I’m sure that God puts good people in your pathway to show you that your dreams can be reality.
They are there as guideposts along the journey, a sign that you’re on the right road. You can learn from
theses folks, even if it’s just to say, wow, they’re doing just what we want to do.
$30 grand sounds like a fortune. Yet people get into new cars all the time and they are just that
much. $25- $30 grand is not that out of whack for a new car!!! I can’t imagine that for 15-20 grand you can
get a piece of land, maybe 4 or 5 acres and LIVE ON IT... and call it your own and develop it for your
children and your grandchildren.
I have lived all over the country. North and South, East and West. I moved here to northwestern
Ohio once and thought it was not for me and moved away. Two years later, I came back. I had found my
final resting place. I am an Ohioian now. My life is here. My close friends are here, my kids have been
raised here. It suits me. I like the seasons, the winters are not too harsh, but still let you know it’s winter.
Not much in the way of tornados or other natural disasters. Really decent people, honest and hardworking.
It’s a big town with a small town feeling. The music is good.
So I think over the next couple weeks we’re going to be seriously working on our plans and goals for
our Moby Homestead. Instead of SOMEDAY... hopefully it will be in 2 years. Or 4 years. Someday just
never seems to come if you don’t put serious effort and action into getting there!
And it starts with local fresh eggs and nice folks to point the way!
Rachel (2010-01-23 21:32:53)
I’m lucky to have a neighbor who will give us eggs now and then. Glad you found a supplier!
Francine (2010-01-25 11:58:08)
Anything is possible, You just have to find the way. It’s work but it pays off. Stick with it GirlFriend and know We
are just down the road if You need Us.
1.1.24
Decks and Porches (2010-01-25 01:04)
Just in the dreaming stage, but I figure that maybe this year if I can swing it, I’d like to add a little
deck/porch to the moby... something nice as a overhang for the front door, and covered so I could sit out
and enjoy the rain and enjoy a little porch area.
Of course, we’d build it ourselves, with the help of talented friends, but still, I got to thinking that I
really had no idea of what I really want. I’ll know it when I see it, and so far some of my searches seem
57
close, but not quite right yet....
Here are some of the near misses... Some are a little too big and some are a little too small, but they
sort of have a similar look and idea with them. I definately want a roof over it. Something that you can
hang shades on or even bug netting in a nice simple manner. A railing, that would be nice. And of course,
elevated to the level of the Moby floor. Mostly because my front steps are a real doosy of a first step, without
a railing, and all that. And a covered porch would give us a nice clean area without snow and ice and such,
and could even be blocked in a bit in the winter to make a sort of draft stopper from the front door and all.
What do you all think? Am I heading in the right way? Anyone have any cool pictures to share of their
moby deck/porch? Please let me know!
[1]Email here if you wish!
Thanks!
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59
1. mailto:[email protected]
Pat/Texas (2010-01-25 06:06:42)
You won’t believe it, but I just had a porch built onto my moby. It has been finished for about a week. We are going
to put the skirting around the bottom of the porch ourselves. If I can figure out how to send you pictures via email,
I will. It is very simple but just what I wanted. I had a longer one on my old moby and it was space we never used.
Nita in SC (2010-01-25 06:39:16)
What a good idea. You should consider making it a little bit bigger than the first picture, and make a place to hang
coats and umbrellas, and put wet shoes.
Arlo (2010-02-15 01:29:52)
I can’t believe I found your blog! I’ve been following your reno on Youtube since you began. I did want to implore you
not to ATTACH the porch to the moby. You have to build it independently very close to the moby and use flashing
between moby’s roof and porch’s. If you attach you will invite leaks. I especially like the porch with trellis above.
You could use those clear corrugated panels on it. Your landscaping in spring is so pretty. Good job.
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1.1.25
Soda Update (2010-01-29 08:07)
Wow! It’s been a super crazy week and I’ll try and get to most of it and post things over the next
couple days as it has finally calmed around here! All good stuff for the most part, just a crazy busy week
for sure!
The cool thing is our soda flavors came in and we’ve been playing mad scientist all week long, perfecting our mixtures.
The flavoring needed for a batch of pop is really quite small... only 1/8 ounce of flavoring! The 6
bottles we got are each 4 ounces total. So that is 24 liters of pop for each bottle! Not too bad at all. 144
liters of pop. 17 cents a liter.
We’ve perfected our simple syrup recipe as well... it’s a trick to get it as thick as you can, but still
thin enough to get it to pour into the carbonated water. We take 20 ounces of water and heat it in a pan
and then add one cup of sugar at a time. We can get to 3 cups of sugar before the water starts getting a
little thick. Once it’s cooled down a bit, we divide it into 4 jars of 8 ounces each. Each jar gets 1/4 ounce
of flavor and it will make 2 liters of pop.
So for 3 cups of sugar we get 8 liters of pop. I’m not sure how much sugar is in a bag of sugar,
but it’s at least 8 or 10 cups I would think. Still, I think it’s cheaper than buying the soda, and it tastes
fantastic! It tastes that like that fancy Jones soda. Which around here is not cheap, close to like $1.50 a
bottle. 12 ounces.
The biggest surprise was the cola flavor. We are very much Pepsi snobs and I had in my mind that
we were not going to approve of the homemade cola. The first sip you are thinking, well, this is not Pepsi.
But it’s not like OH MY GOSH THIS IS AWEFUL.... rather it’s the second sip that you say, Hmmm....
this is not bad. It’s like BETTER Walmart Soda. (haha) And it grows on you very quickly and is pretty
61
good. I still like the rootbeer best, and the grape is good, so it the cherry and orange. We haven’t tried the
cream soda yet... I’m not really sure if I like that flavor or not. But I figure we’ll give it a try at some point.
Now that we’ve gotten away from the artifically flavored Sodaclub mixes (which are not too bad and
grow on you as well....) I really LOVE the Soda machine!! I am so hooked. We even ordered a couple extra
bottles so that we can have cold water waiting to make pop when we need it. I find that we are drinking
less, because we still treat it like a special treat. I LOVE the fact that we are not generating a ton of those
cans and bottles. No more lugging home a bunch of heavy 2-liters. And I like that we know EXACTLY
what is in our own pop. No more corn syrup! Yah!
Having watched a couple shows and read a couple great books, I am trying hard to eliminate all the
corn sweetened products from our diet. Corn everything! We already do eat pretty simply, that is, whole
foods, not packaged this or that. I’m convinced that it’s not the greatest thing for us. We’re slowly loosing
weight and that is just from the shedding of fast foods, corn-sweetened pops and convience foods, and
anything in a box. More fruits and veggies, less meat, and just simple eating, homemade and slow.
Sure, we get out of synch a day or two, or if we’re super busy or out and there just isn’t time for a
sit down eat-out meal, yes, we’ll grab MickyDs... or a pizza, but it’s getting now to be less and less during
the month and I’m totally sure that’s a good thing.
And now we have great tasting pop at home without all the cans and bottles for about the same
cost and we love it!!! I highly recommend the Soda Stream machine!! FUN!!!!
[1]www.sodastream.com
1. http://www.sodastream.com/
Rachel (2010-01-29 15:49:35)
That’s it! I’m ordering the soda extract! Birch and Cola but meanwhile I’ll do some ginger ale.
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1.1.26
New Water Bottles (2010-01-29 08:31)
I scored a great deal on Ebay this past week! Really nice stainless steel bottles for only $6.88 with NO
SHIPPING.... I ordered 3 of them, one for each of us and they are really nice. We’ve been using them all
week and it’s nice to fill them up at night and then in the morning you have a ready to go bottle of very
cold water for the day. And they are great to take with you in the car so the urge to stop can get a pop is
gone. And of course, being steel instead of plastic is nice and tougher. All good.
Check it out!!!
[1]EBAY WATER BOTTLES
1.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Stainless-Steel-Water-Bottles-20oz-600ml-by-Aquasteel_
W0QQitemZ170405590137QQihZ007QQcategoryZ159913QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ht_2100wt_1013
Rachel (2010-01-29 20:04:10)
I have an aluminum water bottle. I don’t know why but it has a metalic taste to it. I think I’m going to get a better
brand next time like Sigg. i’ve also saw this water bottle with a filter in it. I thought it was way too bulky.
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1.1.27
A little remodeling... (2010-01-30 21:32)
Well after a very very busy week, the girls and I decided to run away to Michigan and visit the
Ikea store. I had saved up enough moola for my last wall shelf and today was the day! And it was so nice
to have the afternoon to hang with my peeps and enjoy a good long browse through Ikea! I wish there was
one of these a little closer, but it’s probably a good thing that it’s not too close. I mean an hour away is
good actually. Good for my budget and bank account!
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I paid attention when Tim put the first one together and to be honest, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it
would be. It did take me twice as long as Tim, but well, I’m not that great with these things, so I thought
I better take my time and do it right. After all, I’d been thinking about these pair of shelves for almost 2
years now!
The spot was all empty and ready for the beast to be installed.
Gypsy hung with me through the
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whole process, watching from her perch on the couch and encouraging me on. She’s a great companion for
anything that involves thinking, effort and tools!
Of course, at the very end, Jessy and Maggie lent a hand to make it all final!
I spent all morning and afternoon on Saturday hunting down all my crafts and art stuff and media
and books and all that jazz and installing it in the cubbies and I still HAVE MORE ROOM! They are SO
perfect! Just what I wanted! I love having all these fun things in one place, all the colors and textures in
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the little dark cubbies, with some of the knick knacks and such I love. Photos of my dear ones and good
friends. Just a nice display of all the important things to me. And what I love? Is that now, the rest of the
house, especially my room can be clear of a lot of boxes and clutter stashed here and there, and it has made
my room feel SO calm and clear. It will be a great place to work, and relax and all my stuff will now have a
”place” so that I can find it and use it! All my stuff is now neatly contained and ready for use. Can’t wait!
I just LOVE the way it looks and how it completes the Moby’s main room. It’s nice and slightly
contemporary, yet it’s woodgrain and all the golds and jewel tones and browns work nicely together. I love
the way it all looks now. I don’t even miss the TV in there!
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We’ve got a little more to do in the work area, mostly just putting away stuff and all from redoing
the main room and also moving my own room around a little to accommodate the lack of stuff all over!
Yah! I’m tired now... sleep is going to feel wonderful!!!
Rachel (2010-01-30 22:06:22)
Where’s the fireplace? It looks VERY cozy!
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1.1.28
Welcome my new grandson!!! (2010-01-30 21:52)
Yes, Maggie made me a grandma today. A guinea pig grandma. His name is Edward and he’s as cute
as the dickens. I love piggies! When we ran the rescue, the piggies were my favorite! I love their little faces.
Maggie’s been lonely for a little pocket pet critter for a long time. She’s got her fiesty pair of ferrets
and they are a ball of fun, but they don’t like to be cuddled and held much. Guinea pigs are great for
watching movies with. And they are great at composting leftover veggies and apple cores! Yah! A green pet!
Of course, their litter can go into the compost pile as well, shavings are great for helping your gardens out.
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Edward (no relation to the vampire people at all, Maggie just wanted a nice formal name that she could
also use shortened... like Eddy or Ed) has been settling in just perfect! He’s so sweet and calm and is being
spoiled to heck. Maggie has already made an extra trip to the store for apples, carrots, a new food dish,
hay and a new water bottle for him from her savings. She’s definitely in love. Edward has met all the other
critters at the moby zoo, though we can’t trust the ferrets with the new baby... they are a little hard on
piggies!
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Gypsy, of course, just counts Edward as another livestock duty for her to keep an eye on. She likes all
little critters and is very gentle around them. Luna was fascinated for about 20 minutes but then decided
he didn’t move enough for her to bother hunting him and went off to find Jack and torture him. We found
little Nina a home so that was kinda sad and happy at the same time during this busy week. I hope she is
doing good... I’m sure she is. She was sure a cutie, but 4 cats was just too much. The kitties were having a
little war over the pecking order and it was getting a little too stressful.
Edward likes to cuddle in a blanket and I got to hold him for a good long time and knit and watch a
little Desperate Housewives on Hulu.com... it was so nice to have a little buddy to hang with. I’m sure
Maggie and Jessy will spoil the boy, but I kinda think he’s going to be super spoiled by me when they are
gone!
After all, what are grandmas for?
Rachel (2010-01-30 22:09:06)
Kisses for the new fur baby! <3
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1.1.29
Ikea Pantry Jars (2010-01-31 08:28)
I just love the look of my pantry and baking staples in glass jars. I love the colors and textures and I like
that they work so much nicer than plastic stuff everywhere. I’ve been making a serious effort to cut my
plastic use down considerably. I don’t think I could go completely free of plastic, but I think that it is fairly
easy to reduce a good deal of it in the way of food storage and preparation.
Ikea has a line of food storage jars that I adore. They look like those fancy expensive French canning
jars however they are not that expensive. Even the largest one is only $4.99. The easier to use smaller and
middle sizes are like $2.99 and $3.99, respectively. Every time I go, I pick up a couple more and add them
to my collection. This time I wanted to get jars for our chips... chocolate, white chocolate, peanut butter,
mint and for chopped nuts. Over the holidays, almost every store had these bags of chips on sale for great
prices, so I stocked up on them for the year, for our own homemade treats. I also got one small one for cocoa
powder and for mini marshmallows, which the girls love this time of the year for hot chocolate but always
dry out in the little bags. A good rubber seal jar should stop that from happening.
I’ve also been saving old canning jars and even good, unique food jars that our food comes in. I have
noticed that in the grocery store, I am looking for products in glass or metal over plastic. It’s hard, practically the whole world now wants to go to plastic everything! I’m surprised they don’t have plastic coffins
for us to lay down for eternal sleep! I will admit, I’m not a super freak about the whole peak oil and green
living, but I find more and more of the ideas and principles just making good sense and I am starting to
practice them in my life, one step at a time. All that plastic needs oil to be produced. Most tin cans and
steel cans are from recycled materials. Glass is made from sand, which from my rock and mineral processing
I know is about 90 % of the world’s mineral structure. (Quartz that is) Cloth is a sustainable product if it
is cotton or flax or linen. And best of all, is NO wrapping. I often will bring in my own bags for all sorts of
thick skinned produce, like potatoes, onions, carrots, and apples, and other fruits and won’t take those little
plastic sleeve bags. I am going to sew up some very lightweight mesh bags for other produce to start taking
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in as well.
Okay, yeah, I’m slowly becoming one of those hip and trendy, green chicks that is trying to save the planet
one person at a time. I do play in a band you know. I’m one of those sensitive creative types that is easily
disturbed by deep thoughts on my life and how I’m living it.
But I’ve also been noticing one thing. One Big Thing. Since I started on this trip? I’m much more flush in
the moola department. Green living = savings. Flat out. My company sales have increased a bit, but not as
much as my overall personal funds have. And the only reason? Being a more careful and watchful consumer.
Or better yet? Being a more careful and watchful NON-consumer. I’ve really been watching WHAT I buy.
And going very simple with the majority of my day to day needs. We reuse, recycle, repurpose and in the
end, it’s saving us a good deal of money that we used to waste. I really like that.
So when I look upon my beautiful pantry jars of goodies and my nice and full freezer and second pantry
and frig and know that we’ve easily got at least a month’s reserve of food ready, maybe even more, that
feels good. It keeps me out of the stores and not spending more on less. When we are sewing our own bags
and curtains and other furnishings instead of paying full price for store things, it feels great. Having ditched
the TV and cable and other ”extras” and playing board games and reading and crafting instead, that feels
wonderful.
Those jars bring me a reminder of the good life that we are finally living and loving.
You can do it too... just start taking those baby steps. Just pick one thing a month to change. That’s
how we did it. Just one new habit at a time. It works. It’s awesome!
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1.1.30
Banana Crack Bread (2010-01-31 08:40)
I have to stop searching now. I have found the most perfect banana bread recipe. No more trying or
wondering, this is it. We adore it. I’ve made it for a couple gifts and it’s just out of this world. Sandhill Sis
and her family call it Crack Bread, because it’s SO DARN GOOD you will go and sell your mama’s good
china just to get a hit of this stuff. I usually have to make at least 2 loaves or else everyone is mad. Its good
with or without nuts.
Thank you God for blogs and bloggers and awesome recipes that can now surface and spread and change
the world of banana bread and other gooooooodies from the kitchen!!!
[1]CLICK HERE to go and learn about this AWESOME BANANA BREAD RECIPE!!!
And of course, to visit one of my fav blogs!!!
Now if I could only find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. We’re weirdos and like our chocolate
chip cookies to be thicker and cakelike, instead of flat and lumpy. More like the fancy cookie stores. And
I’m having trouble finding a really perfect one for us. Anyone have any ideas???
1. http://reclaimsimplicity.com/2009/12/banana-bread-a-k-a-crack-bread/
Jessica (2010-01-31 09:48:51)
I’ve got a crock pot chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve been meaning to try. The cookie is supposed to come out like a
giant cake that you then cut up into pieces to eat. If it works out, I’ll share it with you. Do you have a crock pot? I
love mine! Glad you got your water back on and running without any pipes exploding. We worry about our pipes in
the winter too- slab foundation and old pipes.
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Rachel (2010-01-31 10:43:51)
I use the recipe off the pack of chocolate chips for my chocolate chip cookies but replace most of the butter with
shortening. Also, make sure your baking soda is fresh!
Mobymom (2010-01-31 11:00:40)
Oh my, crock pot cookies? Well, I suppose that would work! HAHA Its a heating source and all! I’ve heard of breads
and quick breads in the crock pot, so I guess cookies would not be that much of a reach!!! Please share if they work
out! Yes, we’ll be taking a little further steps to protect the crock and water intake under there tomorrow. I got an
idea to make some movable thick insulated fak strawbales! We’re not allowed to put real straw under there, but how
about a fake bale/block out of insulating foam??? Hmmmmm..... I might be on to something!
Mobymom (2010-01-31 11:05:28)
Oh you know, that’s a great suggestion.... my baking soda is like OLD and ah, well, it’s OLD.... I should get a new
box just for baking!!! I’ll bet that would help things a bit.
Rachel (2010-01-31 15:21:43)
We try to change ours every few months. And put it in one of those jars. If you’re worried about waste sprinkle the
old stuff on your rugs and vacuum it to freshen your place.
1.1.31
Frozen Pipes (2010-01-31 09:22)
Came home from the Opry on Thursday night to find that we had no water. Our pipes had frozen. Durn.
This happened last year about this time as well. It just gets so so cold that there is one little vulnerable place in our plumbing under the Moby belly that just freezes up. It’s where the main line comes in from
the crock, underneath. Since the water level adjusts and fluctuates, you can’t heat tape wrap it too far
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down. You can usually keep it open for most of the winter, but when the winds start to blow hard against
that southern side of the Moby, and the temps dip down to zero and below, it just doesn’t have a chance.
I’m thinking about trying to build a little insulated house to go around the whole crock. Something that
Tim can help with for sure. I’m picturing a little cage, movable, but like a little cage frame with insulation
in it, that will make a little cocoon for the area. He said he’d be able to come out and we’ll cook something
up.
In the meanwhile, we stockpiled some gallons of water at the store, went and got 10 gallons to start out
with. In our park, we have numerous times when the water has been shut off for a few hours, even up to 24
hours. There is a bad main line into the park and they have been working to replace it for the last couple
months, but the cold weather is not helping. And when someone’s moby busts pipes around us, the water
gets turned off as they fix it.
That happened to our neighbor in front just last week. And he had a real mess, had to have a plumber out
for TWO DAYS!!! Wow. That had to be expensive.
But we’re good and calm Moby girls... we knew just what was up. Maggie got a little space heater under
there to warm up the area that we knew was frozen. And we waited and we watched, to make sure nothing
caught on fire. We kept turns going out and checking on it and turned on a faucet so that we would know
when it loosened up. It took about 6 hours to warm up that area. But finally we got our water running
again. The girls learned how to make a toliet flush, by pouring water into the tank and they learned not to
panic.
Last year, we paniced... this year we were calm. And soon, hopefully Tim can help and we won’t have
this problem ever again!!! We’ll brainstorm and figure out something that will help. I love how he listens
to my ideas and doesn’t treat them as stupid or anything. And he has great ideas as well, and with a
little discussion we can usually come to a good middle ground that makes sense and solves the problem.
Goooooood stuff!
I’ll try and brave the weather to document what we’re going to attempt. Because I know that frozen
pipes and mobile homes are a very very common problem and if I can help out in any way, that’s good
neighborly advice.
In the meanwhile? I do believe I’m going to make a habit of the next couple weeks of picking up an
extra gallon or two of spring water to stash in our little pantry floor. With people, pets and potties, I believe
you need about 5 gallons a day, to live comfortably. You could probably get away with 3 if you were careful.
It’s the toilet that is the worse, really. It needs about 2 gallons to flush properly. Even if you waited and no
one flushed until it was really necessary, you’ll need at least one flush a day and then add some for cooking,
drinking, washing... I’m thinking 5 gallons a day would be a good idea. So, for a week of water, we will need
about 30-35 gallons of water stored. I do want to get a rainbarrel for outside, and that would easily supply
some water for the toilet if we had that established. I might get a few of the larger water containers as well,
but for the most part, I think the 1 gallon jugs are perfect. You can throw a bunch in the car and go and fill
them at a friends house or some other water source in an emergency. The are pretty easy to handle. And
easy to store here and there in a small place.
It’s funny how just a little thing like a piece of 2 inch pipe frozen will make you understand just how
vulnerable you are in this world. How it take just one snapped power line in an icy winter storm to send you
into darkness and cold for days on end. Without water, food and power, we’re pretty helpless! I hate that
feeling and would like to think that we are taking a few steps to be a little more self sufficient rather than
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helpless in those often occurring situations!
1.2
1.2.1
February
Jessy’s Photo Shoot (2010-02-03 10:26)
Having a photographer daughter means doing things that you’re not always comfortable with, but
finding out that she’s really good at what she is doing and in the end, you are so pleased with the results.
Yes, I had to go and be shot.
She needed a photography model and the little twerp picked her mom. ME!!! Oh my gosh... a
photo model in a college with a bunch of beautiful young people? Oh, let me tell you, kinda a challenge to
one with some self esteem issues at times... (don’t we all?) But it was really nice of her to ask and I think
she did a really nice job. (Considering her subject model! HAHAHA)
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We arrived on Tuesday afternoon and after a bit while the class set up three different studio areas
in the big room, I was pleased that I was not the ONLY model! I was a little afraid that I would be the
test guinea pig for the whole class! Yikes! As it was, I was just Jessy and her team’s model, so that was a
little better. She had a couple fellow students that were her assistants for the shoot, helping with all the
fancy lighting and posing me and helping to meter the light and all that stuff. The instructor is a very nice
gentleman and his easy going demeanor helped to make me feel a little more at ease. It’s cool how much
she’s learning and all. She’s got it, there is no doubt in my mind that she has picked something that can be
a lifetime of enjoyment, employment and contentment!
My first, ready to go pose. There is a title for this pose, but I forgot.
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Another slightly serious, but still a little smiley....
This is my bluegrass empress pose, you know looking down on the little people, in a HAHA I’m the
queen sort of pose! Hardly me, if ya knew me, but well, you do what the photographer and her team tell
you to do!
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Being shot from above is a little intimidating, but I think she did a nice job! The lighting is nice.
This one, I think is really cool. They had me playing with some props and such, and I can’t believe
she caught the my camera bouncing it’s meter off her camera!! Pretty cool!
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Here’s my moody brooding tortured bluegrass musician pose.
HAHA...
Can’t you feel the angst in my soul?
Ah, another looking down shot. Hmmm.... I would have been kinda worried about these poses in
the past, but she’s done a nice job of making it comfortable and nice. I think...
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Here’s my new MySpace and Facebook shot! HAHAHA! You know, the goofy one with hands and
half a face or whatever that people seem to favor. Actually, I kinda like this one, it’s fun. And you get
to see my pretty ring that I love. I bought it shortly after my divorce because I felt very uncomfortable
without a ring. So it’s been with me through some tough times and means a lot to me. Plus it’s celtic and
silver and pretty.
And after an hour of studio shooting, and the burned in flash of powerful lights in my retinas, I was getting
ready to be done! I can see how models need to be paid good money, this is harder work than you think.
Move here, stand there, do this, chin up, back straight, twist slightly, tilt here, do that, hold that, hold still,
don’t move, come here, go there! HAHAHA.... it was tough work! But in the end, it was a hoot and I’m
glad to have some nice shots that I can use in my business and social life that I’m not ashamed of. She did
a very nice job and I can’t wait to see what she’s shooting next! I believe it’s product photography! So
cool.... what fun!
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Sharon (2010-02-06 16:14:47)
I have to go with the bluegrass empress pose, it’s got that cool factor. I like the one with the camera too, neat!
Rachel (2010-02-03 11:27:20)
You look good! Love the second to last one.
Nita in SC (2010-02-03 12:11:04)
I think you look so lovely in the first shot! I HATE HATE HATE having my picture taken. I have a round face and
the camera makes it so much worse!
Pat/Texas (2010-02-03 12:52:17)
The first is my favorite! P
1.2.2
Deepwater at the Glass City Opry (2010-02-03 22:37)
[EMBED] Aren’t we all just funny? Jeff was certainly enjoying himself up there... I love singing this song,
it’s just a fun little ditty.
1.2.3
You Can Farm (2010-02-05 22:46)
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I’m reading the most fabulous book. It’s called ”You Can Farm” by Joel Salatin. And it’s super
fascinating reading. And you know, silly me, I thought it was all about small scale farming. But it’s not.
It’s about life.
It’s actually a book packed with some of the best wisdom about life in general I’ve ever read. I
know that sounds like a bit much, but it’s true. It’s the first book I’ve ever read about a subject that pretty
much tells you the truth and kind of tries to sway your dreams and ideas. It tells you the gritty facts about
success and failure. And it has such good advice that you are foolish not to give it a try. Like here’s one on
for size... volunteer at a farm. Wow. You mean, like go and TRY IT OUT and see if you like it before you
totally rearrange your life and goals and suddenly realize it’s hard work?
Oh, here’s another one. Rent a couple acres and try it out. Try a big huge garden and see if you
can handle it. Or maybe ask to put a little coop on some retired farmers land and share the eggs and a
little cash. How about taking the time to REALLY REALLY learn about how to make money on your little
farm dream?
But wait, there’s more. The advice and wisdom that Salatin dishes out applies to any venture you
want to undertake. Business? Hobby? Career? I just finished a section that just floored me. It’s Chapter
8... Recipes for Failure. Ten things that will doom you. But here’s the catch, it’s not just about farming. It
applies to all sorts of things.
#10 Being too independent and self-suffcient.
#9 Impatience
#8 Not enough ”WHY” and too much ”HOW”
#7 Production before marketing
#6 Lack of Capital
#5 Too much time spent in non-farm offices
#4 Spending ahead of management
#3 Inability to view the farm as a business
#2 Spending too much money on things that do not create income
#1 Disagreement over vision between husband and wife
(Ok, the last one is not necessarily me, but it applies to business partners and those helping you,
family and such...)
Of course, I can’t just go on and on about what he has written, but you know, the way that he
lays this one chapter out, alone, is great wisdom for any venture.
Like Jenna tells us and explains... My name is Sherri and I have [1]Barnheart. [2]You can click
HERE and go and learn about this affliction. But ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to live on a few
acres and grow stuff and make things and raise animals and all that. And I’m getting old. It slaps me in
the face when I feel the aches of a super cold night, or realize that things like falling down really hurt, for
days. Or that I’m totally out of shape to really be able to do hard labor and enjoy it. And that the days
are slipping away into years faster than I would like some times.
This book, however, has been wonderful and even though he’s trying to stop those tht haven’t really
thought it all out well, he’s also giving the others more reason to really get serious about planning and
learning and setting goals, good realistic goals that just might work. And in the meanwhile, they might
not get us to that perfect little farm in my dreams, but they might get us closer to a comfortable middle
ground. Who knows? Renting a couple acres might be the perfect solution! Or partnering up with someone
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that needs a couple hands. Or just making our moby land super productive and finding other avenues for
our ideas and dreams!
You Can Farm was not a cheap book... $35! And it was impossible to find a used copy! Imagine
that. Because I know that it was probably the best $35 a ever spent to help me realistically look at making
a dream come true. And I don’t think I’ll ever want to part with this book, ever. Even if I never get that
little farm. Doesn’t matter, this book is perfect wisdom for helping to make the right decision when the
time comes!
Visit Joel and his family’s wonderful farm...
[3]www.polyfacefarms.com
Oh, and if you have [4]Barnheart... buy the book. It’s awesome.
1. http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/2010/01/barnheart.html
2. http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/2010/01/barnheart.html
3. http://www.polyfacefarms.com/
4. http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/2010/01/barnheart.html
1.2.4
Cute Jack Photos (2010-02-06 06:55)
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It’s been a while since I wrote anything about Jack, so I thought I’d share my recent Jack adventure.
Yesterday evening, we got hit with the front end of a fairly nasty winter storm that is moving through
the middle of the states. Super cold temperatures, blowing winds, snow, not much fun. Well about 8 PM
I let Gypsy out for a quick doggie trip around the pine tree and Jack slipped out the door! He’s normally
an indoor/outdoor kinda kitty boy, but I don’t think he really understood that it was nasty outside. But
he trotted down the sidewalk, up to his elbows in snow and looked back once as I called him to return and
forget this folly that was unfolding. Then he went on his rounds of his kitty ranch.
Well, Gypsy was ready to come in after about 3 seconds and she normally loves snow and winter. But
this was cold and biting and just unpleasant. Since I was loosing ALL the heat in my moby standing there,
calling for the dumb kitty, I decided, he would be done within 5 minutes so I closed up the door and went
back to watching Netflix on the computer. (Great deal by the way.... downloadable tv episodes and movies
and documentaries and such.... cheap!)
I digress. So I checked at about 5 minutes. No Jack. 15 minutes. No Jack. 25 minutes. No Jack. 26
minutes. No Jack. At about 27 minutes I was ready to don my gear and go tromping out in the storm for
my boy. But then I got a snoot full of the cold and winds and said, naa.... he’s probably already hunkered
down somewhere to wait it out. Or he’s next door at Miss B’s house, a kindly elderly lady that lives south
of us and has about 15 kitty friends that she feeds and has a little outside shelter set up for. He hangs out
there and pretends he’s homeless, even though he’s sporting a lovely nice collar and tag. Oh and he’s all
beautiful and clean and fat and sassy. We laugh about it, and she welcomes him with open arms even though
she knows better.
Well, three hours pass! And just before midnight I hear him padding on my window with this pitiful
meoooow through the howling winds. I guess passing the time at the kitty shelter was not his cup of tea. I
rushed to the door and called him and he bounded through the drifts on the sidewalk like a jackrabbit! I’ve
never seen him more eager to come inside. He was all lovey and rubbing against my leg and purring like a
freight train. Within 2 minutes he was in my room, making a nest and settling in with a warm happy kitty
smile on his lips. He knows where it’s good.
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1.2.5
Edward demands equal cute time (2010-02-06 07:23)
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Edward G. Pigg demanded equal cute time on the blog. Afterall, he’s the newest cutie of the bunch and he
feels that he deserves at least some of the time allotted to cute moby farm livestock. After all, he’s a pig.
And we all know that pigs belong on a farm, even if it is a urban homestead farm. He’s the closest thing we
have to actual livestock. Cats and dogs don’t count, apparently, according to Edward.
Edward is quite vocal for only being 6 weeks old. He’s quite the little man. He’s helping to balance
out the female factor here. Him and Jack have a lot of work ahead of them in the boy department. Actually,
Edward is settled in very nicely. Maggie bought him a brand new aquarium and a nice screen lid with some
Christmas money. And she already made him a hut out of wood and he is quite spoiled already. Apples and
broccolli and carrots and lovely timothy hay, let me tell you, Ed’s got it made in the shade. And he gets
to come out and run around a good deal on her bed and in the living room. He gets lots of snuggle time
watching movies with Grandma and Auntie Jessy. Yes, he’s a spoiled little guinea pig. We all love him a
good deal already. It’s going to be cute to see him grow up into a big old boar. Right now, he’s just tiny.
Really, a handful. So cute.
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Rachel (2010-02-06 17:07:22)
Oh...my...goodess! Lots of kisses your way, Eddie G. Pigg.
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1.2.6
Vision & Goal Binder (2010-02-06 08:24)
Okay, I’m going to do it. I’m going to make a vision and goal binder for me and my family. If
you’re not familiar with this, it’s a sort of visual guide to help you think and visualize your goals in life and
what you want. Yeah, it is along the lines of positive thinking and the Secret and all that self affirming
sorts of mantra, but I do believe there is something to that all. Having a cheerful and positive demeanor is
definitely a plus in life. If nothing else, most people would rather be around a happy positive person than
someone who is all doom and gloom. And let’s face it, more good things happen when you’re part of the
team, rather than part of the problem.
Well, a vision book is a great way to really solidify some of the things that you are aiming for in
your life. It’s too easy to say, oh, for example, I’d like a farm. And then not really think and visiualize
just what sort of farm. I mean, there are probably a hundred thousand variations on that vague theme. If
pressed, you would find that my ”farm” is really more like 3 to 5 acres, half wooded, with a little pasture
area and a big garden and a place for the moby with a big old wrap around porch. Nice chicken coop and
a place for my hammock. A few livestock animals, maybe a pony or two. Some goats. A mini cow. This
would be heaven to me.
So, this is where the binder comes in. I want to divide it into various areas of my life. Here are my
areas so far...
Moby Plans
Family Plans
Business Plans
Faith & Friendship
Emergency Preparedness
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Livestock Plans
Gardening Plans
Crafting Plans
Kitchen/Cooking Plans
Green Ideas
The first page is going to be a collage of the things/goals I want to focus on. Something that sums
up my ideas and plans quickly, so I can glance on it and see it in my mind and focus on these things. This
”pie in the sky” sort of dreamy thing.
But after that visual page, I want to write some some goals, like now and soon and later and all
that. Maybe like NOW and the next 6 months, a year, two years. I’ve never really done that before. I think
about goals and things I’d like to do, but it’s always just in my head or maybe a little note in a journal.
Nothing really concrete. No wonder it takes me a while to realize things that I want and need and all.
After some decent written plans for each area, I’m going to start ”scrapbooking” some of the parts
and pieces that go into making these goals a reality. It might be a printout of something important, or a
business card of a wood burning stove company I like, or maybe a recipe for pickles or maybe the name of a
local rain barrel maker. I want to start collecting these bits and pieces in one logical place. Something that
when I need that bit of info, it’s there waiting for me.
It will definately take me a while and hopefully the binder is never finished. It should be something
that takes a good long time. And one that will probably have some give and take in it. But I think it’s an
exciting step forward to making some dreams come true. I know the garden section is going to be huge!
I have so many ideas floating around in my head! I can not wait for it get a little warmer. It’s coming...
soooooon..... spring will be here soon!
Here are some good links to people doing vision boards and books and binders! A lot of people talk
about a vision board, like a poster that they can hang on their wall, etc., but I prefer the idea of a book,
or a binder that can not only provide you with a visual representation of some of your ideas and goals, but
also can storehouse the extras! But these links are some great ideas of people doing this and sharing what
worked for them! Fun stuff!
[1]http://www.43things.com/things/view/1145904/create-a-vision-b oard
[2]http://christinekane.com/blog/how-to-make-a-vision-board/
[3]http://www.squidoo.com/what-is-a-vision-board
[4]http://www.oprah.com/community/message/110548
1. http://www.43things.com/things/view/1145904/create-a-vision-board
2. http://christinekane.com/blog/how-to-make-a-vision-board/
3. http://www.squidoo.com/what-is-a-vision-board
4. http://www.oprah.com/community/message/110548
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1.2.7
Winter Storm (2010-02-06 13:43)
Woke this morning to some snow and wind and just kinda no fun weather. Cold. Very cold.
The storm that is hitting the eastern coast of the US glanced by us last night and dropped a nice
little load of drifting snow and frigid temps on us for a few days. I’ve definitely seen more snow in the past,
but combined with the wind and cold, even a couple inches is enough to make it EASY to stay inside and
enjoy a little down time.
Before this came in, we didn’t have any on the ground, really, just a little patchy bit here and there
in the shadow of houses or big trees. Or like Mt. Walmart, in their parking lot where they have been
plowing all the parking lot snow into one gigantic mound of dirty yucky ice and snow. It’s kind of funny to
drive by and see.
Of course, I had to go and eat something that didn’t agree much with me and so most of the day
I’ve been laying about, nursing a sick tummy and to top it off, a headache as well. So laying in a nice warm
soft, comfy bed and reading and snoozing has been the order of business for the last couple hours.
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But I do have some website edits for clients to get done before Monday, so I think I’m going to
start tackling some of those cards for awhile. Even if I can get 2 or 3 done, that will be a crawl in the right
direction.
The snow plow guy just went and missed my courtyard. Great. Honestly. He does this at least every other time. I guess he thinks we’re self sufficient and don’t need the help. Well, a call down to the office
will probably help with that. Of course, that might not be the best thing, because when he’s mad, he does
a very terrible job. Maybe we’ll just ignore it for a few days and see if it melts a bit or something. Probably
not, but it’s a thought.
Wow, I hear that my old homeplace, Washington DC is getting dumped on. Many inches of snow.
I was born in Alexandria, Virginia, and though I don’t really remember much about it, just the brief visions
I have from photos and snapshots of the time, I still am kinda proud to be able say I’m a born in the flesh
Southerner. HAHA... It’s important in bluegrass you know. It’s obviously where I get my need for the
music.
Well, time to get to a few things, take care of what helps to pay the bills. A good storm is a good
reason to get a little leg up on your to-do cards. The girls are making potato salad with some of the eggs I
got from Fran yesterday. And I think they are going to make some pound cake as well. Sounds delightful.
They are happy to be home and storm-bound. They spent most of the week at their Dad’s, and although
they enjoy it, it’s still not quite the same as being in their own room and in their own beds with their
critters and such. They have a room there, but it’s a little more utilitarian really, not quite the same. We’ll
probably play a game tonight, maybe Triominos, or if I’m feeling up to it, Settlers of Catan.
I hope everyone is settled in and avoiding too much crazy activity with this big storm. I know not
everyone is affected by it, but we do have a large percentage of readers in the middle eastern section of the
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country, so I know some of you are definitely getting a bit of a rough time. So snuggle up with a good book
and some kitties if you have them, light a fire, or a couple candles and just relax and enjoy the cold winds
outside your little homestead. No matter where you are!
Rachel (2010-02-06 17:02:42)
The storm hit us totaling about 10 inches. It’s nice though. I couldn’t go to work which sucks.
Sharon (2010-02-06 16:07:18)
You read my mind! When I read your post about Jack earlier I was going to ask you to post some pics of what in
looks like outside your door. In all my years I’ve never seen snow except on tv and pictures. To me these pics are
beautiful and scary at the same time, especially after reading the post the other day about frozen pipes. I’d need
some ”winter living” lessons if I lived there for sure. I know all about heat, humidity and hurricanes though!
1.2.8
Jack & Yarn (2010-02-06 20:39)
[EMBED] It’s very hard to crochet with Jack around. He insists on playing with the yarn no matter how many
times you shoo him away. Even when I’m all bundled up in my comfy chair and hide the yarn skien, he will
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find it. He’s a goof.
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How can you not love
such a face? Ah, he’s definitely after my heart, and has stolen it. What a little goof ball.
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1.2.9
Perfect Soda Recipe! (2010-02-06 20:54)
Okay, after about oh 70 or 80 liters of pop with the Soda Stream machine... we have finally perfect
the recipe for make your own syrup and flavoring!!!
First, you have to make a simple syrup.
cocktails. 2:1 at least.
And for pop, it needs to be a little stronger than say for
We use 4 cups of water and 8 cups of sugar. Use a low to medium heat, not too hot, because you
don’t want to boil it and make a heavy thick syrup. Just a little heat to make it dissolve nice without grainy
crystals of sugar forming.
Once it’s all nice and dissolved, lots of stirring, just set the pot aside to cool for a while. A good
hour or so. Clean up and ready some good glass quart size canning jars. We ladled in 42 ounces of syrup
into each jar and it makes 3 quarts. To each quart we add 1.5 ounces of flavoring. Gentle rocking and
turning will mix the flavoring and you’re ready to make a LOT of pop.
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Make sure your bottle of water is exactly at the level they say on the bottle.
And go ahead and make it bubbly.
No more, no less.
Once done, pour just enough syrup in to fill up the bottle, just a little below the cap line. It’s
about 4 ounces of syrup. A little less. It’s just perfect. Easy, no need to measure out the stuff into another
container, just pour until full.
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Give it a gentle roll to mix and you’ve got sugar sweetened pop that you made from home, pretty
darn easy. We went and got a couple more bottles from a lady on ebay, and that makes it easy to always
have cold water ready for pop. With all the goofing around and taste testing and all, we’re almost out of
our first canister. But we estimate that we’ve made at least 60 liters of pop! Or about 30 2-liters. It’s about
what they said it would make. We have found that two good shots of CO2 is fine if you’re going to drink
the pop right away. LIke within the day or so. With 3 people drinking it, a one liter doesn’t last that long.
So I suspect that our second canister will last longer.
All in all, we’re super pleased with the thing. And the very best part? No more cans and bottles
to recycle. And you don’t run out. And it’s SO bubbly and fun. I ordered three more flavors from the
Prairie Moon Company... Lemon-lime, maraschino cherry and strawberry. They have a huge selection, and
it’s fun to try some the new ones. We love the root beer and orange, and the grape. Cola is pretty good.
The only thing about the cola, is no caffeine. So you kind of miss that little kick to the real stuff. Still, we
have just resigned ourselves to getting caffiene pop when the rare occasion of eating out comes along and so
far, we’ve been cool with it. I would like to try and find some Pepsi syrup though, somewhere... somehow....
Rachel (2010-02-08 21:45:17)
I followed your lead and starting making soda only no soda stream. My soda extracts came today and I made a bottle
right away. Since I’m doing the CO2 by yeast it’ll be ready by Friday. I can’t wait. No more buying soda for me! I
just need to figure out how much I drink then find 2 liter bottles to make it in so I’ll never run out.
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1.2.10
Thar’s a Storm Brewing... (2010-02-08 22:27)
Every school kid’s dream come true...
A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM TUESDAY TO 7 PM EST
WEDNESDAY.
LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN OHIO TUESDAY NIGHT. SNOW ASSOCIATED
WITH THIS LOW WILL SPREAD INTO NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL OHIO JUST BEFORE
DAYBREAK TUESDAY MORNING. PERIODS OF SNOW WILL THEN CONTINUE THROUGH LATE
WEDNESDAY. ACCUMULATIONS THROUGH SUNSET ON TUESDAY WILL GENERALLY BE BETWEEN 2 AND 4 INCHES. ANOTHER 3 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED TUESDAY NIGHT
WITH ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL ON WEDNESDAY. TOTAL STORM ACCUMULATIONS THROUGH
EARLY WEDNESDAY EVENING WILL RANGE FROM 8 TO 12 INCHES. THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS
ARE EXPECTED TO BE WEST AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM FINDLAY TO SANDUSKY.
IN ADDITION... WINDY CONDITIONS WILL DEVELOP TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY
CAUSING CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW AND NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH TUESDAY EVENING WILL BECOME
NORTHWEST EARLY WEDNESDAY AND INCREASE TO 15 TO 25 MPH WITH OCCASIONAL
HIGHER GUSTS.
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Wish us luck! Looks like we’re in for a doooozy!
Don’t worry about us though... we stopped at the grocery and got tortilla chips, mayo, TP and a cheap
snow shovel. We’re ready for anything!!!!
HAHAHA.....
Tell me.... where the heck do these gents think they’re going?
I mean, even if they dig out the car, like ah, the road is covered in 28 inches of snow...
is like Macy’s having a sale?
Rachel (2010-02-09 07:29:00)
Great, more snow heading my way. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to snow here at all. The sun it out and is a nice 30
degrees. According to the weather channel it’s suppose to start around 1 pm. But we’ll see.
Pat/Texas (2010-02-09 08:03:23)
You can always send some my way if/when you get tired of it. Stay safe and warm and watch Jack - I bet he’ll stay
close to home this time! LOL P
Sharon (2010-02-09 08:54:59)
Blizzard conditions - holy crap!! Please post again when this passes so we know everything and everyone is ok.
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1.2.11
11:00 AM Report (2010-02-09 10:18)
[EMBED] I’ll try and add some video reports through the day. It’s really coming down pretty consistently.
College has been cancelled, Harmony singing practice has been cancelled and we’re kinda waiting to call
band practice. We do have a gig on Friday, so we’d really like the get together time, but I’ve got the furthest
to drive and it’s supposed to keep getting worse and worse. I dunno.
1.2.12
Through Wind and Sleet and Cold of Night.... (2010-02-09 11:27)
I kind of think that my Mail Man hates me. We always seem to get rock deliveries when it’s yucky out, or
really cold or ah, like snowing like crazy! I hoped it would have come yesterday, but it didn’t. It came today.
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We sure were needing it... Jessy is going to be making deluxe kits all afternoon since her studio class
was cancelled. I’m working on a website for a client and Maggie is doing school. She needs to catch up some
because it took almost 6 months to get her right books and all. I’ll have another video report in a little bit.
It’s definitely coming down.
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Kind of funny... 60 pounds of rocks from California delivered in a snow storm in Ohio.
Rachel (2010-02-09 19:26:38)
Poor mail man!
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1.2.13
We interrupt your winter storm with a public summer announcement...
(2010-02-09 11:49)
Do not adjust your monitors....
This is ONLY a test....
Of the Public Emergency Summer Wishing System....
This is ONLY a test...
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Prolonged exposure to beautiful summer garden pictures has been proven to help pass the time during difficult winter storms.
Do not operate heavy machinery under the influence of summer garden photos.
Do not forget to wear multiple layers and warm snuggy mittens when going outside, thinking that
these photos represent the current storm conditions.
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Be sure to gaze upon these photos and forget that it’s like 20 degrees and blowing snow and windy
and all outside.
Green time is coming. Soon. SOOOOOooooooon.... Only like 3 more months!
This concludes our test of the Emergency Summer Wishing System.
ously scheduled storm.
You may return to your previ107
[EMBED]
Sharon (2010-02-09 13:19:40)
Wow! I hate severe weather and that looks miserable. I can’t even imagine what temps that low feel like. Your pets
are really brave too, they went right out!
Hot Belly Mama (2010-02-09 17:38:57)
Ha ha ha ha! I love it! I am still reeling from the slight blindness that it gave me.
1.2.14
The 2:30 report (2010-02-09 14:11)
[EMBED] Well... this is how it looked around 2:30... Maggie went out to shovel a bit and let
Gypsy have a little silly time. That dog LOVES SNOW.... It’s almost 4 and all that she shoveled, is already covered in snow again. Not as deep, but probably another inch at least. We’ve
been working on stuff, Jessy on her rocks, me on a website, and Maggie school. I just stopped
for a bit to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. That just sounded good. Actually, a nap
sounds delicious! HAHA... but I have to finish this site. It’s almost done. Nappy time will have
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to wait.
We officially called band practice. It’s just going to keep up and be no fun at 10:30 this evening when
we’re all done. Rob and Tim don’t have as far to go, but Jeff and I have a good deal further
and I just really don’t want to test the wagon out in this yucky stuff. The blue wagon is a little low slung, her belly scraps the speed bumps in the park if we’re not careful. I really don’t want
to get stuck somewhere dumb, in the dark, in the cold. Yuck. Practice can wait till Thursday.
Jack’s in the house, and
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even the birds are done at the feeders. All morning and afternoon they have been eating at the feeders like crazy. But now, it’s quiet. No more birds. I can see a couple cardinals all tucked into the
big pine tree, I believe they are settling in for the night a bit early. They know better. I was washing
dishes for a bit and it’s pretty cool to watch out the kitchen window at the snow falling and swirling
and you can hear it lightly blowing and roaring at times. Mobile homes are awesome for hearing the
sounds outside very clearly. The pounding rainstorms, the howling winds, and of course, blizzardy gusts of
snow. The wind is definintely let up some, but the snow is steadily falling. It’s not wet or heavy, but it’s
steady. Weather.com says we’re not even to the middle of the system yet. Chicago’s getting slammed still.
It’s a little weird, the
snow. Around the big pine tree, it’s pretty shallow. But go out a foot or two in the yard and it’s much
deeper. You can see the dunes of snow forming here and there. All because the wind is pushing the stuff
around. It’s coating parts of my shed, and has buried the strawberry and raspberry bed and is almost buried
the fence as well. We’ll probably go out in an hour or two and shovel again, seems a lot easier to keep up on
the little patio and walk, rather than let it all pile up. Our really nice snow shovel is buried in our cluttered
shed and we can’t seem to find it!! (Note to self... spring cleaning, really thin out the shed clutter....) So
we have this little plastic cheapy, so it seems prudent to use it a little more often for less snow, then to wait
for 10 inches and try and clear it all off. Well, back to work. I need to finish this site for my buddy Scott.
It’s my last client site for awhile, I’m swearing off them! HAHA... I need to work on personal publishing
projects and all for awhile. We’ve got 4 new Hot Licks Bluegrass Music projects ready to be formatted and
finished up, and a few more homeschooling projects and then I can get into some brand new stuff, so I’m
getting excited about that. So I need to finish this site up and I’ll admit, I’m kinda victim to that school
kid thing of wanting a SNOW DAY!!!!
Sharon (2010-02-09 18:10:25)
Thanks for posting all of this, I keep coming back for more. Facinating stuff for us southerners, but it doesn’t look
like alot of fun for you guys, except for Gypsy! Most of us are familiar with your yard from all the gardening posts
last year so it’s interesting to see the ”before and after” with all the snow falling. It’s an entirely different perspective
then what I see on the news.
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1.2.15
5:00 update.... (2010-02-09 18:07)
[EMBED] [EMBED]
1.2.16
10:00 update and ramblings... (2010-02-09 20:37)
IN ADDITION TO THE 5 TO 7 INCHES OF SNOW THAT FELL TUESDAY... ADDITIONAL
ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT. ANOTHER 1 TO 3 INCHES
OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE DURING THE DAY WEDNESDAY. A FEW LOCATIONS COULD
SEE STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF UP TO 12 INCHES.
IN ADDITION... WINDY CONDITIONS WILL DEVELOP WEDNESDAY CAUSING CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. NORTHWEST WINDS WEDNESDAY MORNING WILL
INCREASE TO 15 TO 25 MPH WITH OCCASIONAL HIGHER GUSTS. NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE AT TIMES WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON... ESPECIALLY IN OPEN
AREAS.
Well... so far, so good. There’s at least 8 inches on the ground now. It’s still snowing. It’s cool to
look at the park lights up on their big poles and there is a steady falling of snow. It’s kind of pretty.
All the areas that Maggie shoveled are covered up again. Tim’s bringing his show blower over tomorrow to try and dig out more of the courtyard. I’m pretty certain they won’t plow us again. Haven’t
yet once. Not sure what I did to warrant not getting plowed... hmmm.... I’ll probably have to complain at
some point. Part of me is not that worried, because the guy normally does a pretty awful job when he does
remember. He kind of forgets that I have a whole courtyard and just plows one strip back and blocks in the
car with a mound of like 24 inches of snow. Lovely.
Not that I have any where to be for the next two days. We’re having practice on Thursday night,
and I’ll have to get Jessy to college on Thursday, if they have classes. We’ll just have to wait and see I guess.
Thankfully it’s not heavy wet snow and I haven’t heard of any power outages so that’s good. It’s a
kind of light powdery stuff. Which is great, because that means tomorrow with all the gusting and blowing,
it will gather in weird places and drift. I like when snow does that. It’s really kind of pretty. Of course, if it
drifts against your car or house, you might not agree with me.
Still struggling with this website. Not sure why. I’m at the last quarter mile stretch and for the life
of me I can’t get my pony to cross the line. It’s been one of those days. Too many odd things going on. I
probably should have just given up and called it a snow day instead of struggling with it all. Well, tomorrow
is another day.
I did get diverted and planted my little indoor garden. I have a whole bunch of seeds that I got
last fall for like 10 cents a pack. I figure why not give them a try inside and see if I can get some stuff
growing. I plants 3 different kinds of leaf lettuce, some spinach, peas, carrots and green onions. Just little
batches of them. We’ll see how it goes. I’m so desperate to grow ANYTHING and houseplants are just not
cutting it.
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Been watching some back episodes of Jon and Kate Plus 8. Of course, now, knowing that they are
divorced and all, 20/20 hindsight, it is still hard to watch that show. I’m sorry, but Kate is just a mess and
a pain in the rear end. I know she’s got 6 little ones all at the same time, but she’s not the first. She’s
just too much for me to watch much of. And the way she treats her husband, my goodness. It’s painful
to watch their body language and how he rolls his eyes at her imperial commands and the whole thing is
just so out of whack. The kids are cute, but they are all destined for some serious therapy as they age it
seems to me. Of course, that’s my opinion, but everything in that show seems to revolve around chaos and
nasty attitudes and little snippy fusses over stuff that doesn’t matter. And a lot of crying. Wow. I mean,
how do kindergarten teachers handle 20 or 30 little people? Maybe they need to go and spend a little time
observing some well run classrooms or visit other families with large children quotas. Just a thought.
Oh, just got an email.... this has never happened before. Apparently UPS was due to visit us, but
they didn’t make it.
MAUMEE, OH, US 02/09/2010 10:15 P.M. EMERGENCY CONDITIONS BEYOND UPS’ CONTROL / DELIVERY RESCHEDULED
02/09/2010 7:51 P.M. EMERGENCY CONDITIONS BEYOND UPS’ CONTROL
02/09/2010 5:36 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
02/09/2010 1:13 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
Wow. Emergency conditions beyond control. Pretty interesting.
I’m thinking about a friend of mine, his name is Matt. He’s a young man that lives up in Michigan
and is a phenomenal fiddler. I just learned a few days ago that he had a brain aneurism and is in serious
condition. I have heard that he’s doing a little better but that they are going to have to operate. Scary
stuff. I am sure that his family is really upset and worried and my thoughts are with them. He can’t be
much older than 25 or so. Seems like only yesterday he was just into college.
I just heard a recording that I did about 3 summers ago, back with my buddy Dave and some other
bluegrass guys. I was SO nervous... I was singing with some of my childhood idols and some of the best of
the Detroit bluegrass scene. In fact, Freddy was there, and he just died last year due to a brain aneurism!
Seems so unreal. Two of them, Freddy was an older man, but still, just about to retire and in seemingly
great health. It’s sad to remember these greats that leave us.
Here’s the recording.... I hope that you can laugh at my silly nervousness and my buddies giving
me a little time to regroup. Now, heck, I’m only nervous in front of big crowds or with songs that I’m not
super sure on all the words... hahah... but this is a nice little humble moment in the bluegrass memories of
me...
[audio:http://www.themobilehomewoman.com/audio/Stayaround.mp3]
Okay... well, if you have a stray little prayer or two tonight... will you send one to my buddy
Matt? I want him around a long time more. The world needs good fiddlers.
I’m going to sign off for the night. Gotta get this website done.
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Freddie.... Dave.... and Matt playing guitar. (He’s a good guitar player too!)
I took this picture at a benefit show a few years ago...
1.2.17
Wednesday Morning Report (2010-02-10 07:14)
[EMBED]
1.2.18
Snow Plow Man Cometh! (2010-02-10 09:41)
[EMBED]
Rachel (2010-02-10 10:25:18)
Well, it’s still snowing here. Our road was clear but now it’s buried. My neighbor put out her trash yesterday thinking
that they would still come. Let’s just say you can only see the red drawstring tie in the snow. I did want to paint my
ceiling today but my lights aren’t that bright. So instead, I’m making pretzels!
1.2.19
Which would you prefer? (2010-02-10 12:50)
[EMBED] [EMBED] This is a video of Joel Salatin and his Polyface Farms. How cool is that?
Rachel (2010-02-10 14:53:51)
I love Joel Satain. I picked up his Holy Cows and Hog Heaven book from the library the other day.
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1.2.20
It’s Official.... (2010-02-10 19:33)
I am the MOBILE HOME WOMAN OF THE WORLD!!!!
According to Google.
Yep. I am top of the search engine heap when you type in mobile home woman. And who did I
beat out? About 27,000 news articles mostly about misforunate accidents in mobile homes regard women
whom live in them. Kind of freaked me out. Just a teeny bit.
Yep. And when Google says it’s true, I believe them. Afterall, search engine optimization is a very
big and cool thing and I think I do a pretty good job of it. I do run about 60 websites, ya know. I have
learned a few things about the internet and all that.
But you know what I think is so super cool and better than all that? (Although being the mobile
home empress of the world is pretty cool.... ) I just love that there are over 72 of you that stop in EVERY
DAY!!! How neat is that? And you apparently find something of interest that keeps you coming back! Now
I can understand my Dad reading it... (Hi Dad!!!!) and a few of my friends.... (hee hee hee....) but 72? And
somedays it’s even up near 150 a day!!! Wow.
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Of course, then I worry, well, those 78 that don’t come back, did I say something that offended
them? I hope not!)
But it’s pretty swell too, to see that people come from all over the world to visit!!! That is so neat.
I mean, sometimes when my girls are gone and it’s a weekend and my friends are busy with their families
and such, it can get a little quiet and sometimes a little lonely here at the Moby. But I feel oddly comfortable
that 72 people on average will drop in, check on me and the kitties and of course Gypsy and Edward and
make sure we’re alive. Sometimes they leave a little comment on the stoop... a little hi! How are ya! But
most the time, they are just peeking in the window and seeing what I’m up to and then wandering off,
hopefully with a little smile on their face and a reminder to check in tomorrow. That’s so sweet.
I hope that I can continue to give you something to look forward to each day, and maybe a little
wisdom or something neat, or at least, a funny picture of the livestock or some cool homesteading link. I’ve
met some wonderful folk here already and I’m really excited that I’m heading around the corner to post
500. Wow... that’s a lot of posts!!!
Well, thanks again for making me the Google Queen of the World. HAHA... I promise not to let it
go to my head. Of course, it might, just a teeny bit. Just a little.
Heres a few interesting facts about the Mobile Home Woman Blog....
Last year... I had 12,152 unique visitors to the blog. About a thousand a month.
This year so far, 2,538... which is actually more per month, since it’s only the 10th of February!
92 % of you all live in the US... followed by Canada, Australia and United Kingdom.
22 % of you stay longer than an hour when you visit! Another 43 % of you visit for at least 5 minutes or more.
The top US states are....
Ohio
Florida
Pennsylvania
Texas
Georgia
Michigan
Virginia
Alaska
Unknown
(haha... Unknown? It made the top of the list!)
Apparently though, I need to do a little PR work in Delaware and Wyoming. They are at the bottom of the list. Of course, Wyoming I understand because I don’t think a ton of people live there and
problably even less have computers and internet in remote locals... and of course, Delaware is prettttttty
durn small, so they get the tail end of a lot of statistics.... but still... I think we’ll have to work hard to
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spread the word out there about the Mobile Home Woman. I’m sure it will brighten their day, don’t you
think?
And here are the top searches that brought new readers to me!!!
how they came to me. Some are kind of funny, I think.
This is what they Googled and
mobilehomewoman
Space Heater (twerp)
emergency conditions beyond ups’ control
computer site:themobilehomewoman.com
the old mobile home woman
EMERGENCY CONDITIONS BEYOND UPS’ CONTROL Feb 10, 2010
i bought a new used computer site:themobilehomewoman.com
”late bloomer driver”
pioneers
mobile home blog
i went and bought myself a new used computer themobilehomewoman
mobile homes and homesteading
home made candles -how to make
pictures of decks and portches on mobile homes
Storing tin cans in the frig
mac mini site:themobilehomewoman.com
”connected knitting needles”
frozen pipes
yarn balls
i would like to rent my land for a couple mobile homes but, I dont want to start a park
mobile home blogs
add a porch to a mobile home
mobile home covered porches
mobile home frozen pipes
mobile home woman
Yeah... the UPS weather thing is kind of funny. Yarn Balls is another one. Hmmm.
Well, thought that was a little insight into the world of search engine optimization and how it relates to my little old moby home blog! Cool!
Thanks to you all for stopping by! Why don’t you leave a comment and let me meet some of you
lurker folk! Tell me what you’d like me to write more about and I’ll give it a shot!
And in the meanwhile.... thanks!!! You all make my day, every day!!!!
Sherri
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(Yeah, I actually painted my living room in my old house purple after I was divorced.
cheap therapy and kinda fun. I like purple.)
Heck it was
Nita in SC (2010-02-11 06:20:04)
That is hilarious and creepy all at the same time! I love your blog, I check in every day!!
Mobymom (2010-02-11 06:39:36)
Yes, you’re right.... just a teeny bit creepy... I think it’s the whole thing that after my listing on google... every
listing is like Mobile home woman burned to death in a fire, or woman found dead in a mobile home or woman barely
escaped from mobile home fire or so on and so on. You mean I’m the only postive role model for mobile home women?
Hmmm.... I should start a magazine or something... Mobile Home Living... hahaha Thanks you all for checking in
and saying hi!!!! It means so much for me! And yeah, Pat, that would be cool... it would have to be tea though, or
those Cafe Mochas from McDs... they are the only coffees that I like so far. Dreaming of Chickens!!!!! -sherri
Toria (2010-02-10 20:08:33)
I wonder if I count on your stats as stopping by? I have your blog as a feed on google reader, I only come to your
blog if something inspires me to write a comment. And I can’t remember what I was googling when I first found your
blog, none of the ones you’ve listed sound like anything I’ve ever googled. It might have been a link from another
blog, not a search.
Pat/Texas (2010-02-10 20:25:50)
That is so cool. When my computer crashed and I was trying to find you, I think I might have typed in a few myself.
haha Sometimes I will hit your blog several times/day just to see if you have posted anything. I love your blog - it
always puts a smile on my face. I even had my husband come in and watch the snow plow man today. Like I think I
said once before, I wish I could run across the street to have a cup of coffee with you. Thanks for making me smile.
P
Sarah (2010-02-10 21:23:02)
I’m the Texas...it’s me, me!!!! I come by a few times every day to check for new posts. I love your blog, it’s great!
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1.2.21
A few last bits of the storm (2010-02-11 10:13)
Well, the storm is over and gone and on to our friends to the east! Sorry!
It’s going to be cold, though, the next 10 days. Hardly gets above 30 degrees at the highest projected point! Yikes! Lows down to the single digits. Well, that’s to be expected this time of the year. We’ll
be fine as long as the pipes stay warm. So far, so good... Tim’s fix seems to be holding strong. I do still
turn on the hot water a bit when I’m up late... just a little to warm up the run and all. Don’t want it to
freeze up. I also run the cold a bit, I’ve been told you need to keep both running clear and non-frozen!
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The view out the kitchen window has been fun... the window box is collecting a little snowscape of
drifted snow on my little dead flower clumps! Ah... so pretty! I’m not sure that Martha would approve, but
hey, this is Moby Home living, not the rich and the fancy!
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The birds are a little on the thin side... that is, visitor-wise. I know when it’s really cold and bitter
out, they tend to stay snuggled up in their bushes and trees, waiting it out. But their little metabolisms
can’t wait too long, they need a lot of food to keep their body heat and all. Maggie filled up the bird feeders
and I think tomorrow we’re going to make bacon grease seed cakes for them and lay them out on the water
try. We’ve been saving up the grease from a month of breakfasts in the frig and we’re going to make a
yummy high protein mess with peanut butter and fat and seeds and such. Maybe even some peanuts and
raisins. They will be lovely. And I’m sure our little friends will be delighted!
We managed to unbury Jessy’s wagon... it was really covered in it for a good long time!
Oh, just a little whisper of a rumor that my car MIGHT finally be coming home... I talked with
Bill on Monday and he was going to try and get her ready for me by Friday. Now, I am hoping that he
meant, tomorrow.... but to be fair I didn’t clarify WHICH Friday he was talking about! HAHA. Seems
he’s had a little trouble with his partner and getting to it because I have been so laid back and nice about
waiting and all. Being nice gets you in trouble a lot of the time, let me tell you. But he said they were going
to focus on it and get him done. The storm might have put him off his schedule a bit, and I understand.
I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t mind if Gunnar had to wait just a little longer... just my luck I’d get him here
and then some slippery slidy accident would mess him up!!! My poor Gunnar baby... But I will admit... it’s
been a long time. 3 major holidays have slipped by and another is creeping up around the corner!!! Well,
when you’re bartering and getting a sweet cheap deal, you just gotta be patient sometimes. Sigh.
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Aah..... just waiting for the spring, you know. Waiting... Waiting..... and more Waiting....
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1.2.22
Garden Update (2010-02-11 10:27)
Okay, I couldn’t stand it. I had to start gardening.
I got a couple little window boxes on sale last month and a bag of dirt. I dug into my seed stash and
grabbed some of the cheapo 10 cents a pack seeds and got them ready. I watered my dirt for a day, letting it
get good and soaked. Then Tuesday, I planted them. So far, nothing has sprouted. But then, it’s only been
two days. I am a little anxious though.
I planted... Lettuce. Several varieties. Salad Bowl, Red Salad Bowl, Simpson’s Curled, Royal Oak Leaf,
Prizeleaf and Ashley. I planted a pot with Little Marvel Peas. One with a few Danver’s #126 carrots and
another with Evergreen Bunching Onions. And some Bloomsdale long-standing spinach.
My window gets a LOT of sun, so I hope that will help to warm them and get the little dudes rolling.
I had some left over window covering film, so I lightly laid that over them to make a little greenhouse
effect for a while. I thought about setting them on my heating pad, but I don’t know that might be a little
dangerous as well as not necessary. It’s at least in the high 60’s in my house, really closer to 68 - 70. If
nothing else, it will be a learning experience. I’ve done some early seedlings in the house before, but not
to a very large scale at all. I’ve been saving up toilet tissue tubes to make some cool seed starters in a few
weeks... I need to just settle on the heirloom seed catalogs and pick what I want! Problem is, I want like
toooo many for my needs. I need to narrow it down some and ORDER!
At least now, though, I’ll have something green to report on!!! Yah!
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1.2.23
Chocolate Chip Cookie Winner (2010-02-11 10:45)
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Okay, it was a grueling task, and one that everyone was so loth to participate in... HAHA... NOT! We
enjoyed each and every test run. However, it didn’t take too long to find a goooood one! And I think it will
be our new family recipe!
Moby Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 sticks butter
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon FRESH baking soda
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups chips of your choice (more or less depending on your preferences!)
Melt butter, and let cool. Add sugars and cream. Add salt, soda, eggs, milk and vanilla and mix good.
Then slowly add your flour until nice and stiff. Add chips. And then... CHILL.... FREEZE if you can stand
it. It really helps to make a good cookie. Scoop onto a lightly sprayed cookie sheet with a small scoop and
flash freeze for an hour or so. You can store the cookie balls in the freezer and just make a pan at a time...
wonderful treat. Bake in a hot oven, 375 degrees for about 14 minutes if using frozen dough, or about 11-12
for chilled dough.
I have to say, three things work good for these cookies. 1.) FRESH BAKING SODA.... Yes, I have
learned my lesson. A 4 year old box of soda is probably not the freshest ingrediant and it seems to loose a
little of it’s cooking punch. Take the old box and pop in your fridge or use for cleaning! Add to dish water,
pop a little in your washing machine too! Baking soda has a bazillion great uses and a new box every month
or three is CHEAP. My box was 47 cents. Yeah. If you’re going to spend money on flour and sugar and
chips and then your time... make sure you use fresh baking soda!!!
2.) More brown sugar to white sugar. This does seem to be the earmark of a good cookie recipe that
you want to stand up a little better, rather than to spread. That and a little more flour seems to help bind
the cookie a bit longer in the oven and that helps to prevent it from spreading tooooo fast.
3.) The Chill Factor. Chilling or freezing the dough really seems to help as well. I never would do this
and as a result, my cookies were always like thin and wide. Chilling seems to help set up the butter and the
other ingrediants a bit, and they hold together a bit longer in the oven, allowing the cookie to form a bit
of a shell and then stay in place. It has no place to go but up, and that makes for the perfect cookie. Just
yummy.
Now we did try this recipe with all butter, and one with all shortening and then one with half and half. Our
results? Butter was the best tasting and actually the best looking. The half and half was a close second, but
we all concluded that the shortening seemed to make them a little less homemade tasting and little more,
well, factory tasting. Now to be fair, we didn’t try the butter flavored shortening, but to be honest, we don’t
use a lot of shortening anyway, so I doubt we’ll give it a try. I am trying to develop a stable of family favorite
based on a small category of staple products. Butter we always have, so I think we’ll stick with that.
All in all... a fun taste test!!! Hope you give our final winner a chance in your own family taste kitchen.
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Rachel (2010-02-11 11:15:36)
Yay! I love using dark chocolate chips! Glad it finally worked!
1.2.24
Best Heirloom Tomatoes (2010-02-12 09:30)
Well Mother Earth News just ran a great little article on their website... the top varieties of heirloom
tomatoes! How neat! Just in time for me to make some seed choices for my garden. I want to plant a bunch
of unusual varieties of several plants, to see what work nicely and tastes awesome!
[1]You can view the list BY CLICKING HERE....
I know that I want to plant several tomato varieties... and sweet peppers for sure... and beans and peas.
Carrots, they get one more year to produce better for me. (a threat you know) As do potatoes. I know that
sounds harsh, but I was so disappointed in both last year... they are what my kids love and eat best and
they did so poorly. I think location had a LOT to do with it.
Broccolli is going to be another favorite as well as lettuce and spinach and herbs. Okay, I’m going to
have a ton of stuff growing for sure. As much as I can cram in every little place in my joint. Tim’s already
been warned... he’s going to have a lot of raised bed boxes to make for me!!!! I want to get to at least 1000
square feet of garden space. Considering I’m near to 660 already, I don’t think that will be too hard.
Everyone needs a GOAL! Yah!!!!
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(Oh... my lettuce seeds are sprouting... and a few already have the teeeeeeeniest little leaves poking up!!!!
How exciting!!!!)
1.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Grow-It/56-Heirloom-Tomatoes-Rated-Excellent-For-Flavor.aspx?utm_content=
02.12.10+FG&utm_campaign=FG&utm_source=iPost&utm_medium=email
1.2.25
Gypsy to the Rescue! (2010-02-13 12:24)
[EMBED] Gypsy is very fire truck oriented. It’s so funny... If she hears a siren anywhere near, she lets me
know. She howls like a wolf when she hears one. I’ve tried hard to capture her actually howling on video,
but she’s very conscious of the video camera, so I’ve never had any luck. This is the closest I’ve come. But
it’s cool to hear her wail away!
1.2.26
2 New Books (2010-02-13 12:33)
Counldn’t help myself... books are good. Especially ones that help to feed a little need and some desire for self improvement. I consider those tools in life and worth a little spurge now and then. The wisdom,
knowledge and enjoyment that you get from good, good books are worth the cost. And these are both
keepers... no doubt. I could hardly wait, so I’m reading both at the same time!!!
Well, read one for awhile, then read the other, that kind of thing.
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One is called Coop. And it’s about this fellow and his family and their move to a little hobby farm homestead
and all. Very entertaining and not just about chickens! Although, they do figure prominently in there. So
far, very good. Written by Michael Perry.
The second is called The Success Principles by Jack Canfield. He’s the fellow that wrote all those Chicken
Soup for the Soul books and he’s also a prominent postive thinking kind of guy, and was featured in the
Secret and other good books. This is a book all about the principles of successful people and how to adapt
these things into your own life. Yes, I am pretty interested and working on some of the positive thinking
aspects of life... I’m not so caught up in the wishing makes it so, sort of visualization is the only way, but I
do see that positive thinking is the way to go. I have been seriously reading, learning and applying a lot of
the principles in my life this last year and I had the best year I’ve had in MANY years. Unbelievable. And
I very much believe that it was a total rehash of my thinking and actions that creating this new paradigm
in my life. So, yes, I am really enjoying this book. I plan to follow and attempt the exercises in the book as
well as enjoy the stories and examples of others who have found success.
Just a little update on a couple great new reads!
1.2.27
Friday Night at the Coonhunters (2010-02-13 13:00)
[EMBED] Here’s Rob playing with his new friends that he met at the club when we were playing. We never
really make much cash at the Coonhunters, but for some reason, we like playing there and all the people
and such, so we go often enough. Seems every other month or so we play there. They’d have us more, but
well, it’s a little too much to drive up there, spend the whole night playing and get like 15 or 20 dollars.
And we start to feel like we’re just playing the same old things because we won’t have much time between
to work on new matieral. I didn’t even record it or anything, because, well, we already have a lot of video
of us there. But the sweet thing was that it was our hostess’s 85th surprise birthday party!!! Virgie is such
a sweety and we love her, so it was an honor to be the band playing for her. The place was hopping with
a lot of her family and friends. We had a good time. There were two other bands there so we didn’t have
to play the whole night through, so that was kinda nice. Got a great meal out of the deal, because Virgie
knows that I love her chicken and dumplins, so she always makes it for us when we come. (I hope the boys
like it too, because she ain’t never gonna change that I think! She’s so funny.) The Moonshine Monsters
were there and missing a guy or two so they asked if Rob could play a few with them. He was game and got
up there to go at it with them. They are more of a rockabilly band, but it was fun to listen to them. Marion
Blue was there too, they are a solid old traditional bluegrass band that has been together for a long time
in the Detroit area. I know that Jeff asked them to come and open at the Opry soon, not sure when, but
soon. That will be a nice treat for everyone. All in all, a really fun evening. It’s nice to get out and enjoy
folks and play music for them. I was getting ready to go and trying to decide if I should wear my cowboy
boots or not and just getting fussied up a bit and for some reason it hit me. I can NOT believe that I am
actually a paid entertainer. That people PAY money to come and hear me and the boys sing and play. That
is a hoot. I mean, I started in my first band only about 5 years ago... I was 41. 41 years young... and all
the sudden I’m out at clubs and festivals and halls playing the banjo and earning living money off it. In fact
more than once my banjo playing has helped to pay the rent!!! That’s crazy! And I hate to admit this.. but
the most expensive thing I own, is my banjo. Nothing else even comes close. Not even my Moby!!! My top
things are... banjo, Moby, computer and then it muddles in stuff that is not very valuable. I can’t count my
car since I really don’t own it yet and Jessys’ car, well, it’s still less than the banjo and it’s hers. Even when
I get my own car, it is less than the old banjo!!! hahaha... I am a real urban hillbilly I guess. My banjo is
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my most expensive possession! Well... that was the night and by the time I rolled into bed, I was tired but
happy. Got to pick and laugh with my bandmates, visit with all the nice people and just had a nice time
out AND made a little cash! How can that be bad?
1.2.28
They are sprouting!!! (2010-02-13 14:33)
They are sprouting! My lettuce! It’s already sprouting! How cool is that? My other things are just
starting to send out their little root fingers, all teeny weeny.... but the lettuce is already opening up little
first leaf sets! Neat.
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1.2.29
It’s that time of the year.... (2010-02-13 15:27)
Yes, it’s garden catalog order time!
All week long I’ve been reading through my catalogs and pondering and guessing and thinking and
plotting and planning. I think I’ve FINALLY narrowed it down.
And I placed my first two orders online now, to take advantage of 2 - $25 off coupons before they
expire on the 15th. Hey, saving $50 on plants and garden needs, that’s pretty good and I’ll take it.
Actually, what was cool, is that I actually ordered my two little dwarf Meyer lemon trees! I can’t
wait! I have wanted a Meyer lemon tree for ages! Ever since I learned that you can successfully grow REAL
lemons, in your house on a little tree, I’ve wanted one. And most of them are pretty expensive. LIke $30$40 a tree from most mail order places and all. And I just have not seen them here in our nurseries or
anything. So when I saw young Meyer lemons for sale in the Gurney’s catalog for $12.95 each, I said, hey,
there’s my nearly $25 order and then I’ll get another $25 worth of stuff for free! So I got the two trees and
then 2 bunches of the candy apple red sweet onion sets and 2 pounds of good old Yukon Gold potato sets.
Nice deal.
And then I had a Henry Fields catalog with a coupon... so I decided it would be best to get some
peat pots and other seed starting supplies with that coupon, since I am going to try and start all my veggies
this year from seed!!! Yeah, a big undertaking, no doubt, but I’m going to give it a good try. Especially
since two of my new raised bed plans are for cold frame beds... where I can start to harden my seedlings off
under the protection of some pretty cold frames.
So I got some of those little peat pellets that expand in water, and some little square peat pots and
a pair of seed starting trays with the little greenhouse covers. I am going to use those as well as my toilet
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paper homemade starters as well. I might even do a test of it all, and see what works better and all that.
Maybe. We’ll see. In the meanwhile, it’s kinda neat to have all my materials ordered and ready to go. I’m
hoping it all arrives in time for my intended seed starting operation.
I think I am going to start my seeds the day after St. Patrick’s day. I would have started them
ON St. Patrick’s day, but we have an Opry that day and it would be too hectic. So the day after is nice, it
will be a calm relaxing day and one ready to start the spring garden season! That puts us about 2 months
till the ALL SAFE date around here of May 15th. But to be honest, we were already planting around the
first of May, that is usually fine and safe for most plants around here.
The 18th will give me a good 3 weeks of inside starting time and then perhaps first of May, I’ll
start to set them outside more and more as the weather permits. I’m sure that as soon as the ground is
snowless and warming up, we’ll be starting to put together the new raised beds and to get dirt down and
mulch and all that fun fun stuff. And then once that’s all done and ready, then we’ll start to plant seed in
the boxes as well, and to transplant the successful seedlings that we’ve grown.
So my plan is to get all my ”pay the bills” work done in the next 3-4 weeks. Winter ain’t long for
this place, I tell ya... and I can’t wait for a little spring time flush and those sweet spring breezes to dust
out the house and my spirits! Soon.... sooooon.....
I’ll post soon all the cool heirloom seeds that I’m ordering next week.
down!!!
I FINALLY narrowed it all
It was very tough, but I think I did it.
Great article.... [1]100 things to do with Meyer Lemons...
1. http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-meyerlemons16jan16,0,6127318.story
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Rachel (2010-02-13 20:15:25)
Oh yeah! Seed porn! Woohoo! Ha, I was caught looking at the Baker’s Creek cataloge at work. Everyone was like
’What are you doing?’ I’d just grin and walk away. I still have a few more seeds to get; carrots, beets, green beans, and
cucumbers (for slicing, I already have a cheap source for pickling); and I’ll being buying caggage and sweet peppers
already started since I have no where to put the seed starter where I can easily get to it.
1.2.30
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Order (2010-02-13 20:45)
As promised... here is the list of the heirloom seeds that I will be ordering next week. I want to get my order
in soon, as already 2 varieties I had picked are out of stock! They only have so many seeds, so I don’t want
to wait toooo long and miss out on some neat and rare seeds!
Here is the list.... it took me a MONTH to go over the catalogs and ponder and circle and consider and all
that. I know that I want to try a bunch of different sweet peppers and tomatos for sure! So they make up
the bulk of my order. But I also got a couple other fun and unique plants to give a try! Why grow the same
old same old things that everyone else grows! Live a little! Enjoy the ride!!!
Thai Suranaree Bush Long Bean
A great bush variety of long bean from Thailand, it is easier to grow in small gardens than the pole types.
This variety produces 12” long green pods that are perfect for stir-frying. Dark reddish-maroon seeds.
(Doesn’t that look kinda neat? 12 inch long beans! I will admit, I am not a huge pole type bean eater, but
I love green beans, that sort of bean. Although I think it’s neat to harvest the dried bean pods and all. I
think I’ll have to ease into the world of dried beans, perhaps in chilis and such...)
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Little Finger Carrot
A superb baby-type carrot with deep orange color; developed in France for canning and pickling. Sweet
3” carrots are great for snacks.
Parisienne Carrot
Small, round carrots that are so popular in France. Tender, orange globes are superb lightly steamed. Easy
to grow even in heavy soils. This little carrot is great for home and market gardens, as this variety is fairly
uniform.
(These look almost like carrot colored radish! Really cute looking... round little globe carrots...)
Strawberry Popcorn
The popular, cute, little ears look just like big strawberries, just 2 -3 long. The 4 plants produce 2-4 ears
each, great for fall decorations or making delicious popcorn.
(The idea of growing cute popcorn sounds like a lot of fun. I wonder if the stuff will work if you just
pop a ear in the microwave! Hmmm....)
Chires Baby Corn
They have been looking for a good baby corn ever since they traveled to Southeast Asia and tasted the tiny
ears almost daily, picked fresh and put into stir-fries and soups. This variety produces up to 20 tiny ears on
its multi-stalked plants; pick just after the silk shows at the tips of ears, or let mature for popcorn!
(20 ears on a plant??? Wow... I love stirfrys and this sounds like a fun plant to grow.)
Parisian Pickling Cucumber
60 days. The old French gherkin or cornichon pickler. Listed in America in 1892 by Gregory. Great for
making tiny sweet pickles. Rare.
(I love making pickles and these sound like the perfect variety to make little garlic dills. Can’t wait to
see how they turn out...)
Far North Melon
One of the best melons to grow in short season areas, with melons maturing in as little as 65 days. Onepound fruit are filled with sweet, orange flesh. Said to be introduced by Ukrainian settlers in the southern
prairies of Canada, it was improved at Morden Experiment Farm and Minnesota Horticulture Department.
Introduced commercially in 1950.
(These are for Maggie. She loves cantalope and we just don’t seem to have good luck. I thought this
sounded great, a shorter season, colder weather melon and they are only about a pound each in size, more
like a softball! Perfect for just one person at a time!)
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Chinese 5 Color Pepper
Screaming hot little peppers turn a rainbow of vibrant colors; from purple, cream, yellow, orange to red as
they ripen. Need I say ornamental? The plants are great for containers inside. Just pick a few any time to
liven up your salsa.
(I am not a hot pepper fan, but I know lots of friends that are. So I thought it would be fun to pick
two varieties and see if I could make them cry!!! HAHAHA... we’ll see!)
Chocolate Habanero Pepper
So beautiful. The chocolate-brown, lantern shaped fruit are about 2” long, and so ornamental! But don t
let the color fool you; these are not candy, but rather flaming-hot fruit that carry a massive 300,000 Scoville
units of heat! Hot pepper enthusiasts love the heat and flavor that these chocolate fruit are packed with, but
be careful and use in moderation.
Corbaci Pepper
A unique and wonderful sweet pepper. Very long, 10 fruit are curved and twisted, very slender, like a
Turkish scimitar. This rare heirloom from Turkey has a very rich flavor, perfect for pickling or frying. One
of the most productive of all peppers, out-yielding all others in tests by the U. of CA.
(Now sweet peppers... oh mamma... I love sweet peppers. I make a sweet pepper salsa that is quite
beloved. And I love them in pasta and with chicken and with onions and all that. Oh my....these Corbaci
peppers just look so cool. I could see them canned and ready for pasta or on hoagies with thin sliced beef
and onions... mmmmm.... all the following peppers are just fun and different...)
Jimmy Nardello Italian Pepper
This fine Italian pepper was grown each year by Giuseppe and Angella Nardiello, at their garden in the
village of Ruoti, in Southern Italy. In 1887 they set sail with their one-year-old daughter Anna for a new
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life in the USA. When they reached these shores, they settled and gardened in Naugatuck, Connecticut, and
grew this same pepper that was named for their fourth son Jimmy. This long, thin-skinned frying pepper
dries easily and has such a rich flavor that this variety has been placed in ”The Ark of Taste” by the Slow
Food organization. Ripens a deep red, is very prolific, and does well in most areas.
Sweet Yellow Stuffing Pepper
This amazing little pepper comes to us from Amish grower Ester Smucker of Indiana. The seed was passed
down to her from her Grandmother, whom she fondly remembers growing these peppers in the 1950s in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The very productive plants produce the cutest little mini bell-shaped peppers,
only 1”-2” across! Ester uses these to make wonderful stuffed and pickled peppers!
Red Cheese Pepper
80 days. Candy-sweet, round, flat, 3”, pimento-type peppers that have thick, red flesh, great for stuffing or
fresh eating. So good, they are almost addictive. Very productive plants. Once used to color cheese.
(Oh oh oh... I want to learn to make soft cheese and this would be wonderful to flavor it with!!! )
Golden Marconi Pepper
80 days. A late, Italian pepper with beautiful, big, yellow, 7”, tapering fruit, very sweet, great for frying or
fresh. This wonderful heirloom is delicious and mild. A great variety for market.
Red Marconi Pepper
80 days. A late Italian pepper that yields big 7” long tapering fruit, very sweet, great for frying or fresh
(Oh Marconi peppers... oh how I love thee!!! I accidentally stumbled upon a six pack of Marconi pep134
pers at a fancy greenhouse in town. I’ve never seen them before. So I got them and oh boy, were they
wonderful. nice big long bull’s horn shaped peppers, and just very very tasty. Great grilled like a hot
pablano pepper, but sweet and savory. Very good. I’m looking forward to these already. )
Barnes Mountain Yellow Tomato
85-90 days 1-2 lb beefsteak type fruit. Meaty orange fruit are produced in abundance on these very tall
vines. Rich old-time tomato taste; grown at Barnes Mountain, Kentucky.
(Hmmm... tall vines, big fat old tomatoes... sounds good to me.)
Mortgage Lifter Tomato
85 days. Large, smooth, 1 lb. pink fruit have a delicious, rich, sweet taste. This variety has become very
popular in recent years, and was developed by M.C. Byles of Logan, West Virginia. After crossing varieties
for 6 years and selecting the best he introduced this beauty that he named Mortgage Lifter in the 1940 s
after he sold plants for $1 each and paid off the $6,000 mortgage on his house. See the Article in the Spring
2003 issue of ”The Heirloom Gardener” magazine!
(I have heard about these tomatoes through the years and just love the story and thought, I want to
try these. I think it’s cool that he paid off his house!!! Wonderful!)
Royal Hillbilly Tomato
80-90 days. Introduced by our friend, Darrell Merrell, in 1997; at last we have this popular tomato back!
Very large fruit are exquisitely flavored, being sweet with just enough tang to make them perfect; purplishpink in color. Darrell selected this type from a patch of Hillbilly tomatoes in the 1990s, and it has become
a favorite among seed collectors.
(Well, gosh. I don’t think I need to explain myself here. I mean.... banjos, bluegrass, mobile homes,
farming on a 1/10th acre lot... hmmmmm all I need is a old car up on blocks and a couch out in the yard.
This one was a given! The empress needs her Royal Hillbilly Tomatoes!)
Black Krim Tomato
80 days. Dark red-purple fruit, rich sweet flavor. One of the best. It always places high in tomato taste trials.
It s very juicy. An heirloom from Russia with very unique looking, large fruit. I really like the wonderful
flavor. It s popular at many markets on the West Coast; also a favorite of many fine chefs.
(I have heard a lot about these tomatoes... decided to give them a try. A Russian heirloom! How cool
is that?)
Carbon Tomato
90 days. Winner of the 2005 ”Heirloom Garden Show” best-tasting tomato award. This variety has won
taste awards from coast to coast in the last few years, so we were proud to locate a small supply of the seed.
The fruit are smooth, large, and beautiful, being one of the darkest and prettiest of the purple types we have
ever seen. They also seem to have an extra dose of the complex flavor dark tomatoes are famous for.
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(Okay, award winning... best tasting tomato... purple. Sounds good to me! )
Amish Paste Tomato
80 days. Many seeds savers believe this is the ultimate paste tomato. Giant, blocky Roma-type tomatoes
have delicious red flesh that is perfect for paste and canning. World class flavor and comes from an Amish
community in Wisconsin.
(Always heard these are awesome for making spaghetti sauce. Sounds good to me. After last year, I
don’t want any grape and cherry tomatoes for the most part. I had SO many and just not enough people to
eat them. This year I want utility tomatoes... for the most part, eating ones, stewing ones, salsa ones and
saucing ones.)
Delicious Tomato
90 days. This tomato was developed many years ago by Burpee’s from ”Beefsteak” tomato, after 13 years of
selection for smoother fruit. This really big tomato produces huge 1-to 3-lb fruit that are fairly smooth for a
giant tomato, and, as the name implies, these are delicious! In 1986 it set the world record for weight, with
a giant 7 lb 12 oz fruit!
(World record? How cool is that!)
Gajo De Melon Tomato
Imagine melons, imagine sugar, mix in some tomato, and you describe the delicious taste of this lovely cherry
tomato. They are pink and yellow, blended and marbled together, in lovely melon tones. Plants produce
these gourmet fruit well.
(These are the only cherry tomatoes that I want to try this year. And probably only a few plants, like
maybe two? We’ll see. These sound lovely in taste. Maybe I’ll even get my children to try them fresh and
raw!)
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Striped Roman Tomato
80-90 days. Stunning and unique. These long, pointed red fruit have wavy orange stripes! People were really
excited about this one at our last Heirloom Garden Show. It s a specialty grower s dream; just what chefs
and today s buyers are looking for; a perfect midsized beauty with brilliant color, meaty flesh and excellent
flavor. This variety was developed by John Swenson.
(Another paste type... and just so pretty! Can’t wait to see them growing!)
Well, its almost midnight and I need to hit the sack, but as you can see, I’ve whipped myself up into a
gardening frenzy. Shesh... how will I be able to sleep! I can’t wait to place the order. And I can’t wait for
all the little seed pots and all that to come in so I can get started on my 2010 garden. It’s going to be a
whopper!!!
Rachel (2010-02-14 06:35:15)
Wow...I’m only concentrating on a few crops. Blue Lake pole beans Detroit Dark Red beet Red Cored Chantenay
Carrot, Triple Treat Pumpkin. I want slicing cumcumber, sweet peppers, and cabbage as well but need to figure out
what type.
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1.2.31
Love that Ebay... (2010-02-14 18:02)
Got THREE cool things in the mail on Saturday... from my browsing on Ebay. Just love Ebay. I
like getting out and looking around, but nothing beats looking for cool old things in the middle of the night
when you can’t sleep. And the prices are usually WAY cheaper than say an Antique Mall or something like
that. Maybe not as cheap as a garage sale, but around here, it’s too cold for garage sales, so Ebay fits the
bill. And you can be a little more selective. Save a little coin by not getting sidetracked by goodies!
The first package that arrived was our little hand mixer. We were looking at the different appliances and such that we use and Maggie brought up our electric power mixer. We do like to use that for
baking. So I got to thinking it would be cool if we had a crank operated one. Just partially for fun and also
because it would be useful. I found this old Ecko brand from the 50’s and it works great! And it was only
$6.00. Can’t wait to give it a whirl soon!
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Second was a quart-sized milk bottle from the Meadow Gold Dairy in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. That’s
the dairy that my grandfather Roy was a milkman for and then worked as an adult. He was very proud of
that place and I remember him talking about it fondly. He passed away last year and I was just looking
around at glass milk bottles and found this! How neat was that. I’m not sure if we’ll use it or not, I’m
searching around for a cork to cap it off. If I find one, I just might put it back into service! I’ve been buying
my milk in the cardboard cartons to avoid the plastic and it would be really nifty to be able to use this old
milk bottle. I have been saving the cartons for seed starting.
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Last little treasure was a pair of bamboo connected knitting needles. They are short, only 12” long,
and I’m going to use them to knit soft wool footie tube socks! And maybe ferret sweaters.
I got a little bit of yarn on Thursday, because I actually ran out! I made myself a promise, no more
yarn until I use what I have. I will admit, I have a very bad habit of gearing up for a hobby and then not
doing the hobby in question. So I said, no more. I only get supplies for something I am actively working
on. So I finally got through my stash and it was time to go and pick out a few yarns for the last of the
cold winter nights. I put a figure on my needs and said, no more than $20. I went and had a lovely time
snooping around and I found a lot of discounted and low priced, very nice yarns!
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I got enough for two pairs of long fuzzy wool socks... a couple skeins for a baby blanket that I’m
making for my buddy Rob and his wife (gotta getter done in about 4 months or so...) and then some to
finish this crazy crocheted lap throw afghan I started a awhile back. It’s about 65 % done. When I get
those projects done and run out of wool, then I can go and get more. Until then, I think I have enough for
a good month or two of knitting.
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The green is a little brighter on the computer than in person. It’s a nice cheery green, and I hope
it’s good for girl or boy! It’s super duper soft and all. Should be just a sweet little snuggly blanket for little
baby!
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I had to get started on a pair of socks, especially because I got the softest alpaca yarn I’ve felt in a
long time. And a nice dark charcoal grey color... nifty! And I started knitting while watch the dvd 3:10 to
Yuma. Not a bad cowboy flick. A lot of folk died in the end, but well, that happens in those things now
and then. I enjoyed the film though, and by the time I was done, I had knitted a beer cozy!!!
Of course, this was not quite the look I was trying to make, but it did kind of look like a can
holder! HAHA... Those are going to be some strong socks when they are done. Actually now, they are a
little longer and won’t do that anymore. I’m about half way done with the first sock!
Well that is the story of the Ebay packages and my little yarn gathering adventure!
Rachel (2010-02-14 19:23:07)
I love the milk bottle! I went to the thrift store the other day and my mom and I found a gold mine of stuff. A Revere
Ware pot for $5!!! I so wanted the grater. It was nice and strudy. They had a handful of hand beaters as well. It’s a
really nice place. Two magazines, a book,and a water bottle (plastic) cost me a little over $2. I think as soon as my
farmers’ market opens up I’m going to buy nice wool and knit a hat. I made hats witht the Lion Brand Jiffy and it
really itches!
Pat/Texas (2010-02-14 22:26:57)
Someone has a post on the old hand mixers. I want you to read it and will search tomorrow and send it to you. P
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1.2.32
Beautiful Eggs from Francine’s Girls... (2010-02-14 18:08)
There is something about fresh eggs that just look so, well, warm and inviting. I love the colors. I like
that some are white and some a lovely dark brown and then there are shades all in between. And they taste
so good. Sunday morning breakfast is great with a couple of these beuaties scrambled up, a little hashbrowns
on the side and a bit of homemade toast and jam. How can life get any better?
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1.2.33
Garden Report (2010-02-14 18:16)
Everything is sprouted now! The lettuce is already starting the first set of leaves but everything is poking up from the soil now. Spinach, carrots, onions and peas! It’s so lovely to watch. I removed the plastic
because the lettuce was actually touching the top and making the little babies lay over funny! I mostly did
that just to give them some nice warm moist air to get started with. My goal is not to baby these things too
much. They either have to deal with the house how it is, or die. I’m a tough moby mom gardener. Plants
do my bidding, not the other way around! Well, I do baby them a teeny bit. Just a bit.
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One little spinach plant has baby leaves, but most are still in that very beginning sprout look. Still, there
are always over achievers in this life, aren’t there?
But look at the peas! Wow.., they are so strong and ready to go to town! I’m hoping that they do
okay, I was thinking of making them a little trellis cage out of thin bamboo or something. I have some little
bamboo stakes in the shed and I might cut and lash them together to give the plants something to crawl on.
I suspect that they will need it soon at this rate!!!
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1.2.34
Valentine’s Day at the Moby Homestead (2010-02-14 19:29)
My ”dream” handsome man around the farm... Oh I wish!!!
This lovely roo is from Carole and her website... [1]www.foulvisions.com
Well, being that this chick is flying solo these days, Valentine’s Day doesn’t quite have the same meanings
to me as it might have in years past. But that’s okay. I decided early on to just have a great day and enjoy
a little time out running around and doing what I liked. Sounded like fun.
I’ve been wanting to build a couple cold frames in the garden this year and so while haunting Craig’s List I
found a fellow selling old farm house windows and I was excited! And he said, come on out! So I loaded up
the dog and we headed out.
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Gypsy loves to go on adventures. She’s a good companion and is comfortable with riding in the car.
We traveled to Whitehouse, which is only about 10 minutes from my house and in such lovely countryside
and little farm homesteads all over. Each from maybe an acre or two to 5 or 10. Lots of variations on the
theme as well. Not all just perfect little fancy houses, there were well kept ones and those that were a little
less than perfect, but all happy and looking like nice places to live.
It’s something I love about this area of the Toledo metroplitan areas. You don’t have to go too far to get to
some pretty rural areas. That’s good. Keeps the prices of land affordable, yet you’re not so far out in the
boonies that you’ll never see any friends!
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The minute I drove up, I knew that I just loved Todd and Sandy’s lovely home! It’s all finished in stained
natural wood and is just decorated enough to be cute yet not overpowering you with the cute country thing
going on. It’s lovely and classy. And there’s an old tractor and a big old tree with a swing!!! Oh how that
brought back memories...
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Our house in Perrysburg that we lost had a old wooden swing board out in the front yard. I suspect our
slightly well to do neighbors didn’t like the swing, but we loved it and the kids loved it. There was always
someone out there just swinging and dangling and spinning on the tree swing. I think sometimes I miss that
most of all!
Well Todd met me at the barn and we got to work and of course, a lot of talking! I knew right away that
he was my kind of person! Loved old things and antiques, but also liked his land and yard and making old
things into new things. He told me that the windows came out of the original house and that there was a
log cabin buried in the house!!! When he offered a tour when we were done, how could I refuse! I would love
a log cabin!!! The chance to see and touch some ancient hewn wood, well, a girl can not pass that up, now
can she?
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Todd is redoing this old Farm-All tractor and looks like he’s on the right track. It’s a snow plow now and
by the looks of it, does a good job of it. He also had some great old farm attachments to show me... a corn
husker and mill grinder for corn to make meal! They would attach to the tractor. It’s clear to me that the
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tractor really opened up a lot of opportunity for the farmer back in the old days. No wonder folks are very
attached to their rigs!
In his garage, he had a whole lovely little mancave worked out, complete with a wood burner and lots of
lovely found items like his coffee grinder collection and neat things found around the farm and even an old
Hoosier kitchen cabinet that he’s refinishing! Those are SO COOL.. google them if you’re not sure what a
Hoosier Kitchen is!
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Well, it was time to go and meet Sandy and their cool dogs and her son too! And see the house... at the
front door I knew it was going to be lovely... the door was an old craftsman door with multi-panes and a
beautiful old wood patenia. Todd said he got it a sale and stripped all the many layers of paint down to
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the beautiful natural wood! Just lovely. And then right inside the door... this lovely little shelf unit that fit
perfect! Looked like hen nest boxes to me, but it’s perfect for shoes now!
And you could see the old square hewn timbers of the original cabin on the back porch!
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Well, I’ll let you just see some of the pictures I snapped... I didn’t want to hang around and waste their day
too much, but I just loved the whole 50 cent tour! Just lovely. And I love all the touches of old without
being totally overwhelming! Oh and the dog boys were just big and goofy and lovable. I just the old gate
that serves as their doggie gate... just the perfect bit of whimsy with a totally practical side!!!
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Well after the lovely visit, we got the windows in the wagon and Gypsy and I said farewell! I thought it was
such a lovely bright day in the sunshine so we went for a little drive and looked at the lands and the little
cute town of Whitehouse and then ended up over in Maumee. I have a post office box there, so I dropped
in, grabbed the mail and then thought, let’s go over to the Maumee Antique Mall! Yah!
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It’s this HUGE store, probably was a department store or something at one point or another and it’s been
sectioned off and people buy little sections and display all their goodies. Some are reasonably priced, others
are a tad high and some are down right cheap! I love the cheap ones... why not! But looking at everything,
it’s hard not to come home with a few treats and treasures.
I’m in love with the blue Ball jars, especially the bigger ones and the old wire clasp ones. And of course, I
found a few and most were only 2 or 3 dollars each! In fact the large one was only $4! Those are usually
in the 8-10 dollar range so I made sure to grab a couple. I love storing bits and pieces in these old jars.
Buttons, ribbon, whatever, it always looks nice in them.
And another weakness of mine is old square or rectangle pyrex baking dishes! The ones with lids are especially my favorites. However, this cute little round casserole in a very neat coloring got into my bag! I
wonder how that happened?
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Found a couple old forks for a quarter a piece that I want to use to make some cute little garden markers for
plants... but that’s another post sometime. I did see a vintage 4 piece Fireking refrigerator set that I would
have LOVED to get but it was $32 and that just didn’t seem right. Considering that I got all my goodies
for under $30.
I also found an old bluegrass LP of a band that is local!!! I know these guys! They have been guests at the
Opry before... I had to get this, if nothing else to have them autograph it sometime! It’s got to be worth
more than the $4 it was marked! It is to me! Isn’t that the lovely charm of these things... one man’s trash is
another man’s treasure, so they always seem! I also got this sweet tall tin for Edward’s guinea pig munchies.
It’s nice that it’s tall and yet it’s not got a huge footprint in size, so Maggie can fill ’er up and still not loose
too much space.
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We were getting a little tuckered and tired and I remembered that it was Shamrock Shake time at the old
McD’s and so we dashed in, got a shake and a burger, Gypsy too and then called it a day. And a lovely day it
was. Came home, unpacked the treasures and got in a little knitting time watching a cool movie about how
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they sought out a reincarnated Buddist Lama in Nepal. I’m not sure I could deal with someone knocking
on my door and questioning my little 2 year old and then deciding he was the next version of some old dead
religious guy. You could see the poor mom’s troubled eyes as she tried hard to swallow back tears and give
her son up to the monks and the world! It was a great honor and would transport him from their life in very
very rural Nepal, but yet, he was her little boy and they struggled with it. Wow. Different cultures.
Well, I’ve already warned Tim about my cold frame plans... these old windows have a lot of charm and dust!
HAHA... but they will work awesome and the price was perfect, just $5 a window. They will look great once
they great a good cleaning and maybe a little wire brushing to knock off a couple layers of paint. If you’re
not sure what a cold frame is, it’s basically a little raised bed that is more like a greenhouse than a simple
bed. You can extend your growing in the fall and basically get plants out much earilier in the spring as well.
A great place to harden off your house started seedlings too! And I think they will look awesome next to my
shed!
Mine are going to be 8 feet long by 2 feet wide and have double windows to lift and all. And Todd gave me
two extras that I might see about making a real deep one as well. Something that I might be able to put
a couple tomatoes in and keep getting vine ripened tomatoes even into October and November with! That
would be sweet! We’ll have to wait and see how it all takes place!
It might not have been a super romatic day, but I sure did love the adventure. My kids will be home in a
hour or so and that will be nice. Ready to get started on a nice and busy work week!!!
Hope you all had fantastic days too!!!!
1. http://www.foulvisions.com/
Rachel (2010-02-14 19:58:41)
What a nice day. I cleaned, and went out to get my mom’s birthday present. I remember seeing the movie that you
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watched, a few years ago. It was good.
Pat/Texas (2010-02-14 22:25:37)
Awesome post! Your pictures are beautiful. P
Neigon Togoan (2010-04-09 07:04:43)
I love your rooster. May I use the picture for my project involving feeding chickens. Thanks God bless you. Neigon
Togoan
Carole (2010-07-27 15:56:07)
The rooster in the photo is actually one of my flock. The original picture has been all over the web and has found its
home in many places. I’m sure you didn’t realize who owned it since many people have copied the image. Glad you
liked it!
Tracey Dylan (2010-05-23 02:45:25)
Hi, Love your site. Good on you what a wonderful life and your handsome man around the farm! What type of
rooster is he? Lots of Love Tracey
1.2.35
500 Posts and a look at the Snow... (2010-02-15 09:18)
Well, that’s what the old homestead looks like in the deep of winter. The snow is starting to pack
down and melt a little bit, you can see puddles here and there in the sunshine. I think it will slowly decrease
over the next week or two and we’ll be looking at bare dead grass in no time flat! First of March is always
starting to look better around here.
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Well, we have officially hit 500 posts here at the Mobile Home Woman blog! YAH!!!! Can’t hardly
believe it! 500 posts if a pretty good milestone! I was thinking of having a sort of contest or something. I
dunno.... hmmm.... Maybe a surprise pack of goodies from me to some lucky reader!
Yeah... that sounds good. Take a moment to post a comment today for the 500th post posting and
middle of the week or so, I’ll randomly pick someone to get a goodie box of random sweet things from me
to you!!!! (I’m pretty sure it will include a SUPER COOL Deepwater Bluegrass Tshirt along with other
goodies!)
Post a comment, win some stuff!
Probably some rocks too. (haha)
I took a couple pictures of all the ice on part of our roof. I know it’s from a spot that is leaking
warm air and melting part of the snow and thus making icicles but I love it!!! Looks so, well, old fashioned
and all.
And I thought this was funny too.... Gypsy’s snow patterns in the deep drifty snow. Looks like a
big cloverleaf to me! She likes to circle around till she finds the perfect spot to deposit her doggie bits in the
deep snow. Looks like crop circles in the white stuff to me!
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Well happy President’s Day to everyone.... we’ll be celebrating with the normal, work as usual Monday! I hear it’s Family Day in Canada... neat idea. After all, we have Mother’s Day and Grandparent’s Day
and Father’s Day and all that. Of course, every day is Children’s Day.... I’m waiting for the official Banjo
Player Day to be established. Gifts and fancy dinners and of course the bluegrass tree all decorated and all.
Yeah. Cool.
Of course, that might be a long wait, so for now I’ll had to be content with waiting for directions
to go and get my new 7 tray dehydrator from a nice lady off Craig’s List. $10. How can you pass that up?
She says it’s almost new, that they used it twice and just haven’t really gotten into it. I’m excited. I’m
thinking, fruit, veggies, herbs, maybe even a run at some jerky! For $10, why not?
Thanks again to everyone for checking in and putting up with 500 posts from me!!!
Rachel (2010-02-15 10:24:54)
Woohoo! 500! I hope you love your dehydrator. We have a few ourselves but for some reason we do not use them
anymore. I made a batch of ginger ale today that will be ready on Friday. I can’t wait to try it.
Carla (2010-02-15 12:06:32)
I would love some rocks! :)
Pat/Texas (2010-02-15 12:12:03)
I must be one of your biggest fans....I get up in the middle of the night just to see if you have a new post. I discovered
early on that we both must be night owls. I love your photos, your music, your girls, your pets and most of all your
positive attitude. Keep up the good work and here is hoping for 500 more great posts full of as much information and
fun as the last 500 have been. P
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Sharon (2010-02-15 12:37:04)
Congratulations on 500 posts! I know this has been quite a journey for you even before May of 2008 when the ”Moby
Years” began. Thank you so much for making me see things differently and giving me so much to think about. Here’s
to 500 more!
Nita in South Carolina (2010-02-15 13:45:39)
YAY 500! I look forward to 500 more! We had snow!! THREE INCHES! Before you laugh at me, I have to tell you
that the last time there was measurable snow in our town was the year 2000. You can’t imagine how hysterically
excited everyone has been!
1.2.36
We’re Taking Music Lessons! (2010-02-16 19:37)
[EMBED] We decided that it would be cool to take some lessons in harmony to help us out a bit... we’re
just learning and need a little help and confidence... so we knew right to go! An amazing family of southern
gospel singers lives right here in Toledo... the LaFontaine Family!!! We had our first group lesson today and
it was fun to meet everyone. We’re going to be teaching some of their children bluegrass and they are going
to help us with harmony!!! Love that... bartering is great for everyone! Here they are at the Opry last year!!!
Wonderful people and a real blessing to know! [EMBED]
1.2.37
I finished a SOCK!!!! (2010-02-16 19:55)
Yes... my FIRST SOCK I EVER DID KNIT!
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I’m so proud of myself. A real honest to gosh sock. I have to do the other one, but still, getting one
done and it fits and is wearable and all that, pretty cool.
It’s a little long... but it’s so warm and comfy cozy... just love it. Been walking around with it on and
yes, I can tell you with a doubt that it’s much warmer than a normal old sock. Can’t wait to finish the other
one.
I have some purple wool that I want to make another pair, but just refine the pattern a teeny bit. Not
quite as long and a little snugger. This one was a total of 35 stitches on a # 8 circular bamboo needle. WIth
a alpaca blend wool. I think 30 stitches or maybe even 25 would have been just fine. I’m still learning how
to gauge your stitching and all, it’s kinda new and experimental to me still. But I love it. I know I don’t
have the patience to do really complicated patterns but yet, this is simple and fun. I really like the calming
effect that just sitting and knitting produces. It’s hard to explain. You don’t have to think too hard, you
can just kind of enjoy the process. And then you get a warm snuggly thing for your foot or head or weasel.
Yes, even ferrets love stuff you knit.
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Sharon (2010-02-17 07:56:02)
Very nice! It’s amazing to me how you find the time to do all that you do.
Rachel (2010-02-17 08:41:08)
I’ve been trying to knit socks using double pointed needles, it’s just not working for me. I’ll have to try it with circular
needles and see how that turns out. I have the most wonderful pair of alpaca socks. They’re amazingly warm and
localy made. The best $20 that I spent. My farmer’s market investment for this year will be some wool to make a
nice hair. By the way, the socks where itchy at first but I think my skin has grown accustomed to them.
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1.2.38
Rare Kitty Observation (2010-02-17 19:59)
Yes, this is Luna and Jack, sitting together and not hissing and bothering each other. Pretty rare.
It’s not Luna, it’s Jack. He thinks Luna is out to get him. She probably is, she’s a little terror. But
she’s queen of the roost and subtle about it and has basically got Jack scared silly that she’s going to hurt
him. He’s such a powder puff for the most part. I caught him getting the fluffing kicked out of him yesterday
by one of the meanie stray cats and my goodness, he was really in some trouble. I had to break it up, but I
suspect he resented his Mom coming to his rescue.
So, normally, he avoids Luna at all costs, and will get nervous when she comes a sniffing and gets too
close to him. But every so often, he chills out and I just happened to catch it as they were sitting on the
desk watching me for some reason.
Rachel (2010-02-19 05:36:57)
I have a feeling that Jack was a model in his former life. Look at him work it!
Sharon (2010-02-18 07:20:33)
I love when you post pictures of Luna! Maybe after his experience yesterday Jack has decided Luna’s not so bad after
all?
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1.2.39
Visiting the Chickens... (2010-02-19 23:19)
[EMBED] Maggie and I went to get some more eggs from our nearby homesteading neighbor Francine.
She and her hubby have a great little homestead they are working on, with gardens and chickens
and woods and dogs! It was neat to hear that they are thinking about a cow and a pig! That
would be so fun to watch and experience some while they learn and grow into their space! Hopefully we’ll be able to follow someday. Probably not for a while, but you just never know how things
will turn out.
We
brought a bag of goodies for the girls... cantelope rinds and innards and some wilty greens and some
stale buns and cornbread! The girls were very happy to enjoy these treats! Maggie made a lot of
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friends of them all.
roosters,
They have several
but one Buff Orphington roo is definitely the king of the coop!
He’s so cool.
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Maggie found an egg
that someone had laid, that was so cool. I’m so jealous! HAHA... Maybe next time. It’s just so cool to visit
and see the chickens. I’m really not sure why I want them so much, but I really do. I just love watching
them, and enjoy their goofy bird antics. Can’t wait till the time comes that we can have a few girls of our
own. Someday!
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Sharon (2010-02-20 17:43:27)
Thanks for posting the video, I watched it about 4 times. This is something most people don’t see everyday, especially
in real life. It’s fun to watch the chickens wandering around, but the gold colored rooster was the best!
1.2.40
Visit to the Used Furniture Place (2010-02-19 23:33)
There’s a great used furniture place right around the corner and we’re looking for a group of kitchen chairs...
so the girls and I stopped in to see what they had! Of course, we didn’t find the right set, actually most of
the groups were all connected to a table as well, so that kind of made it tricky to buy a set. So instead, we
just looked around and shopped.
The fellow that owns the place is always bringing in new stuff and it’s not just furniture. He’s got knickknacks
and other goodies, so it was fun to wander around and see what we found! And of course, the price is right.
I got a cool little green oil lantern...
And this neat medieval arch candle holder thing. Not sure if it’s going to hold candles indoors or if it’s
going to go in a garden bed for maybe peas or morning glories! You never can tell.
Jessy found a few cute props for her animal photography... a cute little wicker basket, like a small picnic basket and this neat little plant stand, that already she’s been testing with Luna and the ferrets. The
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ferrets LOVE the thing, it’s like a little lookout tower for them to hide in. Jessy has been formulating some
ideas for her photography business and one great way to get good pictures of critters is to sort of corral them
a bit. So she’s looking for neat ”pet” containers that have interesting textures and colors that she can pose
her little clients in.
I also found this WAY cool little rooster wind direction thingy. Weather vane. It is SO cool in my yard, I
had to install it immediately! It’s not working great, I believe it needs a little greasing to make it move a
bit more freely, but I’ll get to it this spring. In the meanwhile, it’s great and it makes me smile.
And the best part, it’s a cash and carry sort of deal and we are in there periodically, so we got everything for a big whopping $30. Pretty fun day with the girls. We stopped and grabbed some coney dogs for
lunch. I’m so blessed that my girls love to hang out with me and we enjoy doing treasure hunts for little
things that make our days.
Rachel (2010-02-20 15:44:03)
I LOVE that lantern!
Sharon (2010-02-20 17:49:47)
That place is jam packed with goodies! I would have grabbed that weather vane too. It’s very nice the way you three
love hanging out together and have so many common interests. All to often with mothers and teenage daughters
that’s not the case.
1.2.41
The Chicken Ladder & Tunnel (2010-02-21 19:46)
[EMBED] Isn’t that funny! How cool.... I can’t wait to play around with our own chickens. Some day....
Sharon (2010-02-23 19:54:42)
Haha...this is too much!!
1.2.42
Road Trip!!! (2010-02-21 22:02)
Well, woke up early on Saturday and got some chores and errands done because I had to be ready to roll
by 3 PM because Deepwater Bluegrass was going on a ROAD TRIP!!! YAH!!! We actually had a gig that
was a WHOLE STATE away from us! It was still in Ohio, but as we are almost at the western corner of the
state, this was almost to Pennsylvania at the eastern part of the state!
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I packed up all my gear... banjo, and tshirts and CDs and the play list and my audio and video equipment and of course my knitting. (I HAD to finish my other sock you know....) and I was on the road in
plenty of time to stop and wash the car! Poor Jessy’s wagon was getting really wintery and yucky with all
the salt and such, so I ran it through a fancy car wash and boy, did it look purdy! Can’t wait for my own
wagon to be done... sooooon.... soooooooon....
What a good car this has been, let me tell you. We’re in love with her, Jessy calls her Dragon, as in Dragon
Wagon. She likes dragons. Old Draggy has been a gem of a car since she came to live with us last summer.
Not a lick of trouble at all. Wonderful car.
Well Rob and Clint had just arrived and were sitting in his van listening to bluegrass CDs... imagine
that. I had to get out and take a few pictures because I was determined to document this trip. We don’t
take that many trips that mean a couple hours in the van and a new place to pick, so I thought I would take
you all on the ride with me! The boys don’t mind.
Of course, our tour bus arrived within minutes... HAHAHA
Actually it was kind of funny... I came back over to talk to Clint and Rob and all the sudden the bus driver
came over to ask me why I was taking photos. He was very nervous about it, thought I might be reporting
him or something. When I just explained I was a goofy scrapbooker and we were in a band and all, he
relaxed. We all stood around and talked about his fine ride... it has wi-fi and satellite TV and all on it! I
wish we could afford a bus, but this is probably more like a normal bluegrass band bus....
Well, Jeff and Tim arrived and we packed up Jeff’s Journey and off we went down the turnpike! We had a
hoot the whole way there as the guys decided to form a fantasy bluegrass band from all the players in the
area. That was a good 2 hour discussion with many laughing moments and lots of debate. Apparently we
could not decide and then moved on to the national bands. Needless to say, that was even trickier to try
and decide among the best of the best. It certainly passed the time.
We made good time and arrived with some to spare so we headed back into town to grab some sandwiches at a local Subway shop. Bluegrass food is so often hot dogs or maybe sloppy joes and such and well,
we just not in the mood for that. Plus there wasn’t anyone there yet, so we decided it was a good idea to
just get dinner done and out of the way.
It’s pretty amazing that we get 5 adults and 5 instruments and other band gear into Jeff’s SUV. And that
include a FULL SIZE DOG HOUSE BASS. Which is really like added another person to the mix, it’s big.
But we get it done, which is good because a road trip can quickly eat up the night’s pay with gas and toll
fees and such.
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The community center was nice, clean and ready to put on a show. Nice big stage, sound was decent,
and the people really nice. Too bad there weren’t a lot of them, but that seems to be a norm for bluegrass
a lot. It’s sad... these community shows are a lot of fun and good entertainment value. Fun for kids and all
ages. Economy seems to be hitting them a bit hard, people are just not spending and going out as much.
They had a nice place for the bands to practice and mingle, and there were a lot of great folks around.
Debbie was one of the show promoters and a very nice lady, and of course, Charlie Lape was there and he’s
quite the showman and did all the MC work. Nice man. Nice place! We felt right at home and visited with
everyone. I even got to meet and hang out with one of my dear bluegrass friends, Jimmie Skinner and his
wife Fonda. They’ve been going through some rough times and can see the light at the end of the tunnel, so
that was just wonderful to see them both and visit in real time! We talk on the phone and all, email a bit,
but being face to face is just wonderful!
Jimmie and the guys got a lot of bluegrass talking in, that’s what we musicians do at these shows. Talk
about other bands and other venues and then of course, discuss the sound and the setup and the band’s
performances and our instruments and who we say last time and who we’ve seen lately and of course, the
latest band gossip and all that. It’s very important you know. Very.
Well, we had a nice two sets and were offered two more gigs from two different promoters there! Wow...
never had that happen before. And a third festival is interested in us for 2011. Lots of nice compliments and
hardy handshakes. It was really a nice time. We sold the most CDs and shirts that we ever have at a show,
which helped, because our cut of the door was slim pickings. Especially after it cost us $18 in toll fees and
$30 in gas to get there. The CD sales helped greatly and made up for the book shortcomings. Three bands
had to get paid out of the pool, so that’s tough. All in all, we had a great time and that’s what matters
most. It’s hard to make a full time living at bluegrass, that’s for sure. I wish more people would come out
to support these community shows. It’s such a shame to look out and see only 40 or 50 people at the most.
I remember these shows to be packed to the hilt, standing room only, but that just doesn’t seem to be the
case anymore. It’s sad.
Well, of course, I have a little video to share of the show and a fun treat... an audio recording of our
second set, complete and non-altered. It’s got all the MC fun and chat and all the songs and singing. Something to get a bit of the whole experience of a small show like that.
[audio:http://www.themobilehomewoman.com/audio/DW-newtonfalls2010. mp3]
We got done around 10:30 or so and packed up and were back on the road by 11:30 or so. Another fun car
trip home and we arrived around 2:00 in the morning or so at our rondevues spot. Another half hour and
I was home to a eagerly awaiting Gypsy. The girls are with their dad, so it was just me and the livestock.
It was a fun night, but something we won’t do all the time. We try to stay within 200 miles of home and 2
hours driving if we can help it. This was 151 miles, so that was not too bad. Too much traveling makes it
hard to get paid. But yet, it’s a good fun and bonding time for us as well. Normally when we get together,
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we’re playing or we’re at a show, etc. So to get 5 hours of chat time in, that’s not usual and it’s fun. I had
a nice day and evening and I think the guys did too. It was all good.
[EMBED]
[EMBED] [EMBED] [EMBED]
I love this last one because I got the kick off right!!! Yah!!! It’s a hard banjo kickoff and well, I’ve been
practicing it over and over until everyone on in my house hates me. Even the kitties look at me with a little
grump when I sit and do that hard slide over and over. But I just hate doing it badly because then the
whole song looses something... it’s so tough being a bluegrass banjo player!!! (hahahaha)
1.2.43
Goose Cups! (2010-02-22 14:40)
Are these the cutest little measuring cups? Gotta love eBay!
Actually I wanted them to put into my containers of rice and sugars and such. It’s so handy to have
dedicated scoops in your staples, so you don’t have to keep using a cup or risk contaminating one stock or
another by changing scoops or cups. I was poking around one night and thought these were so much fun...
and of course, at the right eBay price!
1.2.44
Compost Pile Update (2010-02-22 15:03)
A couple days ago, Jack and I were wandering around the snowy Moby fields of the farm...
1/10th acre that we have... and we decided to go and check out the compost pile.
all
Little dead stubs of broccoli are trying to poke out of the beds with all the snow. I was really surprised at how long the broccoli grew into the fall. This year I’ll have two lovely cold frames and I’m
definitely going to set some late seed in them and grow fresh broccoli through the winter.
Well, the top of the pile has definitly gone down, and though we haven’t been adding as much to it
now that the snow was deep, I can feel the heat off it. It’s not been turned or churned at all, and to be
honest I think I have too many sticks in there, but it’s still working.
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Well, after undoing the bottom flap, which works perfectly, we assessed the compost condition. Jack
was quite interested, and we found that it was not quite rich humus as we might have liked, but it was a
good rotty looking start. I am pretty sure that I need to mix it up a bit better and to make sure it’s not all
leggy and sticky. I put too many sunflower stalks in there, and they are not breaking down very quickly.
I should have known better and well, to be honest, I think I did, but I was hoping that maybe it
would work out good. It’s pretty matted and thick, and starting. Most likely I’m going to bury some of
this material in my new beds that I’ll be starting in a month or two. Clean out the pile and be a little
more careful about what I put in there. Make sure it’s not all leggy and gangly. I mean, nature is good at
composting, but it would probably help matters a bit if I didn’t expect her to do miracles overnight. We
have a nice woody section a bit down from us, and I think we can find a good resting spot in the fall for
our sunflower stalks. And sticks, well, I’d like to stash them somewhere for our fire pit. They make good
kindling for camping and such.
Then I’m going to get a package of compost starter and make sure I only put in good kitchen veggie scraps and grass clippings and garden waste that I chop up a bit. I have a neat little ax somewhere in
the shed. I might get a little stump from somewhere and use it to chop up a little frustration before through
the plant material to the compost gods.
Looks like we’ve had a few little bunnies visiting the garden in the snow. That’s okay, I don’t mind.
They were really good last year and didn’t bother the gardens at all. I think with the kitties roaming about
and then Gypsy, they are not too interested in the raised beds. Of course, that can always change but so
far, I’m not worrying about it.
Can’t wait to get through this last month of snow and slush. It’s raining right now, and it was that
crunchy half snow, half ice for awhile. Not fun. The roads look super slushy and yucky. No fun.
Toria (2010-02-23 02:26:47)
Don’t forget that you need some carbon in the compost as well as nitrogen. I’m no where near as exact as this site
(http://www.composting101.com/c-n-ratio.html) but it will give you an idea of what I’m talking about. I usually add
my shredded paper to the compost to get my carbon ratio up.
1.2.45
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Funny Cartoon (2010-02-22 19:14)
1.2.46
Amazing..... Music Heals (2010-02-22 19:40)
[EMBED]
1.2.47
One more bluegrass video.... (2010-02-22 21:14)
Just one more video from our Saturday road trip. I love singing this song... it’s my therapy song! (gg) Just
kidding... but it is a fun song to dig into. And this was fun how Jeff got a little sidetracked and thought we
wrote this one. We didn’t. I wish we had though... because the 12 time grammy winning bluegrass band
Union Station with Alison Krauss had this on a huge album and we would have been rich!
[EMBED]
Sharon (2010-02-23 19:53:15)
You were all over this one! You have a beautiful singing voice and the banjo really seemed to stand out on this one
too. It was almost like a solo at times. It would be nice if you could record yourself practicing one day so we could
really hear the banjo alone, sort of like the video’s you put up during the Cold Antler fiddle challenge. Just a thought,
no pressure.
Mobymom (2010-02-24 15:14:18)
Thanks... I sure love playing in the band with the men. (I try to remember not to call them boys, cuz they are not...
hahaha) I’ll have to try and get a little solo banjo video for you all. Part of the reason that video stands out a bit is
because the sound set up was rough. For some reason they only had vocal mics.. if you look at the video you will see
that the only instruments with mics at the proper levels are on either side. And the fiddle only got the mic if I wasn’t
singing. The middle mics were all for vocals. That’s rough on an acoustic band. Since none of us ”plug in” you have
to allow the sound system to pick up the music. Vocal mics don’t pick up much except for about 6-10 inches in front
of the head of the mic. A real challenge actually and something that we are always struggling with at various places.
That’s your band dynamics lesson for the day! (gg)
1.2.48
Two New Food Toys (2010-02-22 21:20)
Well, thanks to Craig’s List and Ebay... I have two new food storage toys to learn and fool with. One
is this Ronco 7 tray dehydrator. I did a bunch of research and there are mixed reviews about this beast.
Apparently some people LOVE it and some people don’t. There are some middle of the road fans, but pretty
much it’s either one or the other extreme. I have to find a manual online, but apparently it can be done.
As I look at it, I spent $10 from a local guy. That’s not bad at all. And as I read most of the reviews, the
biggest issue is that this does not have a fan, so you have to be very careful not to overload it, and it helps
greatly to move the trays throughout the day. Since I’m home and all, I don’t that will make it too hard for
me. I can just rotate the trays as I move in and out of my day.
I’m excited for a couple reasons to try this thing. The biggest one is to make dog treats. Yep. Dog
Treats. I was looking at doggy goodies and I have always bought them for my girl, Gypsy. And I was
standing there at the pet store and I realized that I am paying about $12- $15 a pound for junk. Haha....
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yep, corn byproduct and junk mostly. Filler. A 5 ounce bag of bacon byproduct strips was $3.99. And mind
you, this was MOSTLY bacon flavored wheat and corn junk. Heck, I can get a pound of good thick strip
bacon for $4 a pound at the butcher! And she would go nuts for it. Somewhere in my research I found people
taking beef liver and dehydrating it as good healthy dog treats and it was less than $5 a pound. Heck, at
that price you could get a good beef roast when they have them on sale, $4- $5 dollars a pound, slice it thin
and dehydrate it for a BUNCH of bite side snacks for Fido.
And I would love to dehydrate my own onions, green onion, garlic and maybe like carrots and potato
bits. Something that you could then store and shake into rice and noodle single servings when you are
boiling them up. And try to make some of our own meat jerky. That sounds kind of good, and fun in a
weird way. So I hope that my $10 cheapie find will help to introduce us to the world of dehydration as a
means of food storage.
And then, I went and scored on eBay, a Foodsaver vacuum food bag sealer that is like BRAND NEW...
it still had all the stickers, parts, warrenty and a bunch of bags and a whole new roll of adjustable size bags
as well. What a deal. Oh, did I mention... it was only $14! (Plus shipping, but that was only $10) This
model retails for like $80. I’m tell you, if you don’t shop eBay and watch your local Craig’s list, you are
missing out on some great deals on things that can really help you as you simply and try to live lighter on
the land. Don’t pay full price for anything... get yourself free of the whole commercial need cycle. Besides,
it’s a fun way to meet you UPS and mail man during the week!
Sharon (2010-02-23 18:24:30)
That Foodsaver should be great for storing things in the freezer. Please let us know how you like it after you’ve used
it awhile.
Toria (2010-02-23 02:37:54)
Good buys, they should come in handy. Another blog I read had a post today on dehydrating food, with some tips
(http://nonsuchkitchengardens.com/wordpress/?p=565). And another blog I read frequently talks about using her
dehydrator (http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/)
Rachel (2010-02-23 06:42:11)
I swear, my mailman hates me when I order big things as if my house is 20000 miles away from the road. Having a
dehydator will be fun! P.S. My ginger ale was a sucess but I didn’t like it. Way too strong.
1.2.49
Footprints in the Snow (2010-02-22 22:26)
There’s a great old bluegrass song called ”Footprints in the Snow”.
”I traced her little footprints in the snow....
I found her little footprints in the snow....
bless that happy day, when Nelly lost her way,
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for I found her as the snow lay on the ground....”
When I looked outside this morning, I was reminded of the song when I saw the cut little footprints in
the new fallen snow of the night before. I love how they are so evenly paced with each set of tracks. Of
course, they are kitty tracks... mostly Jack and Luna I believe.
And then I was sure about it. Jack emerged from under the snowy car where he was hanging out and
watching the rainy ice fall.
We’ve had a dark and gloomy day, with a little icy rain falling on top of a little bit of snow. I wish it
was more rain than cold, but soon. It’s going to be March in just a week, so it won’t be long. Just another
few weeks to get all my projects finished up and ready for the sunshine.
Of course, I’m a little bummed that I spent $6 getting Jessy’s wagon washed for her! But, it did look
nicer and it really needed it. A good sunny day and it will all melt away.
I was looking back through photos and this was the second week of April... and we were already getting our raised beds in order and the world was green and getting ready. Thats about 6 weeks from now.
I better get busy on some work projects and get it all done and ready so that come first of April, I can be
ready to really start being an outside gal again. I can’t wait to spend a whole spring and summer with our
little moby farm and the hammock and all that. Just can’t wait. I need some sunshine!!!
Sharon (2010-02-23 18:25:46)
So Luna finally ventured out in the snow, huh?
1.2.50
Having Ferrets is a HOOT! (2010-02-23 09:33)
[EMBED] This is the best video I’ve found that shows you how much fun a pair of ferrets can be. They are
so funny, running and jumping, playing and just crazy all the time. And the best part? You let them out
to play for a while and then they sleep for like 17 hours straight!!! They are like ever-young kittens. I just
love letting them play and run around. Of course, as little insane weasels, they can get into trouble, so you
have to watch them. But it’s so funny to watch them play with EVERYTHING... including the dog, kitties,
plastic, your foot, yarn, trash, anything they can get. Each other! HAHA... they wrestle and tug on each
other and it’s just so funny.
Sharon (2010-02-23 18:16:53)
Wow, those two are wild!
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1.2.51
Kitty Phone Guard (2010-02-23 17:55)
Introducing the new Kitty Phone Guard. No longer do you have to worry about spending too much time on
your cell phone, the Kitty Phone Guard will stop you in your tracks. Kitty Phone Guard will screen your
calls and help you text when you’re busy! Get a Kitty Phone Guard today!
Sharon (2010-02-23 18:08:31)
Aww...you know I love this!
Mobymom (2010-02-24 08:33:38)
HAHAHA... yeah they are our tiger version and weight 600 pounds. They are VERY efficient in preventing teens
from doing just anything with the phone! hahaha
Nita in South Carolina (2010-02-24 08:21:34)
Can I get a special-order model that will prevent teenagers from texting while they’re supposed to be doing homework??
1.2.52
SOCKS ARE DONE! (2010-02-24 10:29)
I finally finished my first set of socks! Yah! They are super warm and yummy to wear. Soft and cuddly. My footies have been very snuggy warm every night since I finished them on Monday.
The only issue? I made them a little tooooo long. I didn’t need to make them knee-highs... but I did.
Well, it was one of those, ”don’t have a clue what I’m doing” sort of projects that I just kept knitting away
like a goof. And then once I made one that long, I had to make the other the same.
I already started on a new pair, and these will be my wiser socks. Wiser because I know now how many
stitches to cast on for a nice pair with normalish thick yarn (30) and I hope that I will stop before they go
to my knee this time. (I will) and I will be wise enough to use ONE skien of yarn instead of 2, barely. And
they should knit up a little faster that way as well.
But I still will love and cherish my goofy fuzzy alpaca wool socks for years to come. I’m wearing them
now and my toes are singing with warm happiness!
1.2.53
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Seeds and Seed Starters Arrived! (2010-02-24 14:57)
Yippee! My package of heirloom seeds came from Baker Creek seeds and also my order from Henry Fields
came with all my little peat pots and two of the little seed tray starters! I’m so excited! Of course, I’m
going to wait a few weeks because I am seeing already with my lettuce and peas that I started two weeks
ago, they are already getting a little weird and leggy. They are just not getting enough good sunlight and
I’m not ready to invest in grow lights and all that jazz. I just don’t have the space really.
Around here, we’ve had the gloomiest stretch of days I’ve seen in a while. It all started with the big
storm and to be honest, only Saturday past was a good sunny day. The rest have been dark and overcast
and downright unpleasant. It’s got me feeling less than perky, that’s for sure. Naps seem to be the favorite
sport around here. Crawling into bed with a good book to read for hours. It’s wrecking havoc on my to-do
cards, but at least I had knocked them down to a tidy number right after the holidays.
Still, a couple good days in a row of nice sunshine would really do wonders for my spirits and my little
indoor garden!
My plan still stands, I’m going to resist starting my slightly pricey fancy seeds until March 18th. Tim
is building me my coldframes perhaps next week or so, and I plan to start my plants in them if the weather
is slightly pleasant. I have too many issues indoors... primarily lack of good space and these little indoor
weasels....
I love these fuzzy woozels but they LOVE to dig in plants!!!! We have to watch my indoor garden like
prison guards! They have a way of figuring out how to get to them no matter where we park them. Last
year I tried to grow pumpkin seeds and some lavender inside and they must have roughed those seedlings
up 3 times before I gave up. And then, just a day ago, I found Luna grazing on my little lettuce sprouts! A
loosing battle indoors if you ask me.
Well once I get my cold frames installed, that is going to help matters greatly! I spent a great deal of
time handcrafting these beautiful plans for Tim...
HAHA! Okay, well, maybe not hours. Poor Tim! At least he knows that whatever he makes, I’ll love!
I’m not picky at all. As long as it will help hold in some warmth and sunshine, and extend my gardens a
few months either way, I’m going to love them!
Looking over the seed packs is just so exciting. I ordered a pack of little glassine envelopes so that I
can share a few of the fancy heirlooms with a couple gardening friends. I think that will be cool for us all to
try these different and unusual varieties of garden favorites. Since I ordered 9 different types of tomato alone,
I think I’ll have plenty of seed to share! Each pack has about 25-50 seeds, so that works for me. I’m hoping
to have at least 3 or 4 of each variety scattered through the moby farm. That way if something gets to them,
I will have backups. And I’d like to keep the varieties together so that I won’t make my own weird varieties.
I’d like to try and save some seeds for next year. I’ve been reading about that and it seems interesting.
I’m trying to figure out how best to do this all. I have been saving my toilet paper tubes and want to
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try that, and also I ordered 100 nice sized peat pots as well as about 100 little teeny pots. Some seeds I
want to just start out in the teeny and transplant the best ones. Others I know would work best in their
own decent sized pots from the beginning. I think I might use my toilet tubes for corn. I know corn is not
the best thing to start inside, but I think they might do well in their own little tubes. I have 4 different
varieties that I want to grow... one is a strawberry popcorn, another is golden bantam, and one is a baby
corn and another is a sweet corn. Can’t remember the name. I want to start about 5 or 6 of each variety
in my tubes, and then also sow directly and do a little experiment. I am curious as to if the head start will
help or hinder my little pals.
I’m excited to be trying this all on my own this year. I’ve always been a garden store starts kind of
gal. Even when I had my house, I would usually plant mostly from starters that I bought at the local big
box place. So of course, all were hybrids and they were the same thing that everyone else was growing. Nice,
safe and normal varieties. Nothing too fancy. Well, I want to step outside that ring of comfort and give this
a try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I’m excited about the prospects. It’s going to be fun!
I do have these slightly wacky ideas in my head of turning part of my shed into a sort of greenhouse
with some grow lights and such maybe next year. But primarily that means I need to really get it cleaned
out and sorted because right now it’s packed to the hilt with junk. One of my early spring jobs is going
to be to totally empty the thing and super organize it. And pitch a lot of the odds and ends that are just
cluttering it up. SInce Maggie is not that keen on her little fort that she built on the side of the shed, I
believe we are going to make it a bike shed. That will really help out a lot. We have three full size bikes in
the main shed and it is hard to get in and out of there. If we convert the leanto to a nice little bike shed,
that will give us a lot more room to work with in the shed. But that’s something we’ll consider in the fall....
making a green house out of part of it.
As much as I am super excited to get back into gardening and all, I believe that the time off for winter
is not a bad thing. I know myself... about the last couple weeks of the gardening season, I was getting done
with it. And I was looking forward to the break. I let some of the weeding go, and a few veggies lingered in
the frost and died with half finished fruits. I want to remember that and see how I do with my late season
cold frames. It’s easy to be all excited right now, after a couple months off, I’m raring to go! I think that
God gives us these breaks in life to be able to contemplate and grow excited again for the journey to begin
again. A little break from labor and a chance to recharge and dream about new possibilities is good. So that
shed might just stay a shed for a good long time.
Of course, it would make a GREAT chicken coop.... If I could ONLY convince the park to let me have
a few girls... oh, how happy I would be!
Jessica (2010-02-24 18:04:45)
So glad to hear you got your seeds! I’ve got all of mine ready to go too. Your cold frame plans look great! Here’s a
picture of the cold frame I built last year. If you’d like more pictures or the plans I drew up, I’d be glad to share!
http://twentyonetomatoes.blogspot.com/2009/09/fall-has-come-its-actu ally-my-favorite.html
1.2.54
Dixie’s Emergency Vet Visit (2010-02-24 22:16)
I know I don’t write a lot about Dixie Chickey... mostly because she is very shy and hides out most
of the time in the girl’s room. She’s entirely a one-gal cat and she and Jessy have the lovely kitty-girl bond
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that people adore. Dixie lives for the time she spends with Jessy. And when Jessy is gone for a day or two,
Dixie just waits patiently for her return, sitting on her bed and watching out the window. Dixie does not
like to play with Luna or Jack, and for the most part, she stays to her own.
Well, when Jessy came home yesterday, of course, the first thing she does is go and hang out with
her cat. And she thought that Dixie was acting, well, a little odd, but still nothing really bad. But first
thing this morning, she knew something was up. Poor Dixie’s right ear was all swollen big and red. Not
inside, but the other part. It looked so swollen and painful, I knew that it had to be seen right away. Cats
are so good at getting bad infections and I suspected that the poor little gal had gotten scratched in a
tussle with Luna. Of course, it’s easy to blame rough and tumble queen of the moby, Luna, as Luna is good
at trying hard to roughhouse with poor quiet, simple Dixie. But unfortunately, it could have been Dixie
herself, who might have scratched her ear with one of her 7 toes! Yes, she’s a polydactyl cat and his 6 toes
on one foot and 7 on the other! Crazy!
We knew about this vet around the corner that is only a cat vet, so I called right away and they
could get us in very quickly. So we dug around for our carrier, and could not find it. We believe it’s buried
in the shed. Well, in a pinch, we grabbed a little plastic tote that doesn’t seal tightly and got it ready to
go. Of course, Luna decided it was for her.
Anything we humans do in the moby, Luna thinks is for her, concerning her, or about her in some
manner. So of course, she got right in. And we pretty quickly ignored her and found our patient, instead.
Dixie is pretty calm as long as Jessy is around her, so that was a good thing. She was fairly calm in the car,
even though she’s not fond of it. But with Jessy holding her and talking with the cat, and just being there
for her, Dixie was ready for just about anything.
Got to Cat Tails... the name of the clinic and got started on our forms and all that registration
stuff. The place was so nice and the staff very friendly. I loved all the cute cat figurines and pictures on the
walls... it was apparent that they really liked cats.
While we were waiting, all the sudden, this lovely little cat comes sauntering out from the back and
I immediately thought... ”Escapee!” and asked the receptionist if she was missing a patient. She laughed
and we were introduced to Mama Cat. The Resident Kitty. Apparently Mama Cat came to live there after
being brought in and she just found a home after her kittens were homed. She just took well to be the
resident kitty inspector and has a lovely calm personality. The lady told me that often she just has a nice
way about her when someone is sad and grieving or when a kitty has to go over the Rainbow Bridge, that
Mama Cat will respond and help to ease that sadness in the owners. That’s sweet. Makes me love the place
even more.
Mama Cat surely rules the roost and she walked us through the whole process. Dixie was not pleased
however and growled at Mama Cat to which M.C. just shrugged and walked off. Obviously, very comfortable
in her position as the queen of the place. Within a few minutes of finishing our forms, they called Dixie
back for her exam.
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Well, yep... a bad infection in her ear and some other little issues that we could take care of. She
has very bad dermatitis after a bout with fleas over the summer. She went and licked off a lot of her hair
and then scratched a lot of hot spots. Funny thing, is that we took care of the fleas long ago and are very
agressive about maintaining no flea situations, but Dixie still itches and licks, partially we believe, out of
habit and neurosis. But this vet seemed to think that he had an idea that would help both the ear issue
and the itching as well as calm down the hot spots. Sounds good to us. They had to lance her ear, which
was probably one of those hurts now, but feels a ton better after, sorts of procedures for Dixie. She was not
happy to be taken in the back, but as soon as they were done, and they were very quick, Dixie was very
relieved to go back in the box.
Even looking at the cat medical charts did nothing to change her mind.
Well, we got our instructions, as well as some oral meds and our bill and we were done. I was so
pleased. It wasn’t dirt cheap, but it was $80 and I really expected more. A procedure, shots, exam and
meds? I am sure that we have found our kitty vet! And they were so nice. She has to go back in 2 weeks to
check the infection and also to see if her dermatitis has calmed down. He said he had one other idea if this
shot didn’t help to get her back on track. How nice.
Well Mama Cat said farewell and off we went. Dixie was very content to get out of that place. She
spoke nary a word the whole way home. Once we got home, she hid for a hour or so and then decided to
take Jessy up on her offer to snuggle in bed and read with her. This evening, her ear looks much better, the
swelling is down and the whole ear is not quite so red. It is sure tender still, and red, and we have to see
how the meds go down in the morning! They told us to wrapped her in a towel in a manuever they call
Kitty Burrito. HAHAHA... yep, that should help. Dixie is not going to enjoy it, but hopefully we can get
this stuff in her to help out.
Defintely threw a wrench in the day’s plans, but that’s okay. We’re not ones to rush off at the
slightest cough, but after having animals around for most of my life, you just know when you should react
and when you can take a wait and see attitude. Massive local infections are just not good and very painful.
They just have a way of getting out of hand fast and taking down animals. And I just can’t bare to see our
little friends suffer. She’ll be feeling better in a day or two for sure. And it’s great knowing that we now
have a great new vet for our 3 feline pals.
Poor Gypsy’s on her own unless we can convince them she is a rare Belgian ah, cat.
Yeah. 40 pounds of black catdog.
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Sharon (2010-02-25 09:10:56)
Oh no, I’m sorry to hear this, but at least the worst is over and now she’s feeling better. She really is a pretty cat, I
wondered why we never saw too many pictures of her, alot of cats are shy though. I had to laugh at Luna sitting in
the box, is she ever not funny?
Jessica (2010-02-25 17:32:24)
Dixie is a beautiful kitty! So glad to hear she is feeling better. How nice to have a great vet who doesn’t charge a lot!
1.2.55
Cool Pictures (2010-02-25 21:48)
I don’t know about you, but when I’m out surfing the web and I see something neat or something that I
want to keep for possible future crafts or something around the moby, I just left click and save it to a file
on my desktop. It’s a great way to keep ”eyecandy” around for when you need a little lift in the creativity
department.
Here are few goodies that I’ve been saving up!!! Enjoy!
Adorable! Do you know how many times I’ve passed up cute cowboy boots at garage sales? I’ve got a
plan to make at least a couple cute little birdhouses for the moby estate.
Again... garage sales = clothing for a quarter! I’ve passed by lovely nice sweaters and I could have been
gathering some to make a nifty and warm little snuggle throw for the couch or my reading chair. A knitted
blanket without all the knitting! It would make cute pillows as well!
A PVC recycle center!!! PVC pipe is really easy to work with and you can build a very sturdy little
frame out of it, relatively inexpensively. I have this little odd nook in my kitchen/furnace area and I would
love to have something that would go from floor to ceiling and hold, say paper sacks or maybe dedicated
tubes for our recycling, making it easy to grab a tub and drop it off at the recycling place. Sadly, our park
does not get city service, they have an independent service and they don’t recycle... so we take ours over to
a drop off point at a local grocer.
Right now we use our dwindling supply of plastic bags to stash our cans, bottles and cardboard in, but soon,
we’ll run out. I’d love something a little more permanent, that we can stack tall and hold everything for us...
I think something out of PVC would work great.
Sometimes I see a nice piece of graphic art and I stash it in my little gallery. I just liked how the fiddle framed this CD case and really make the whole thing look nice. I can sort of adapt this for some client
in the future.
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Sometimes things just make me laugh. LIke a cheese map of Canada!
So do you keep a image stash on your computer? Its a lot of fun... and I love taking a moment now
and then to browse through it and giggle some and go.. Oooooh! when I see a graphic bit that inspires me...
It’s a fun thing, you should try it sometime!!!
Oh and yes, Dixie is doing lovely after her little vet adventure yesterday. Of course, since I am the one
giving her meds, she REALLY hates me at the moment, so I doubt you’ll see very many photos of her at
any time soon.
Tomorrow is Opry day!! Can’t wait!!!!! BLUEGRASS ALL DAY LONG!!!!!
Toria (2010-02-26 00:46:17)
I used to do that, but I’ve recently discovered Evernote, so now I use that. I’m finding it easier to refind things now
that it’s all stored with tags & stuff for me. https://www.evernote.com/Home.action
1.2.56
Kitty Dixie Update (2010-02-27 21:08)
Dixie is doing better, but is not a happy kitty.
She detests the whole kitty meds manuaever... where we lure her in with a bit of food and then wrap
her quickly into a towel in the kitty burrito trap. Thanks to the kitty vets for suggesting it!!! It works
wonderfully.
And as you can see, she LOVES to get her yummy banana scented antibiotics!
Why in the world would you have pet meds that smelled of banana? We decided that tuna or chicken
or liver would be much more palatable to kitties and doggies... don’t you think?
Well, the swelling is almost down, and she’s definitely a little more chipper, other than twice a day for
medicine time. And she has not been itching, so that is a good thing as well. I believe in a few more days,
she’ll be back to her normal self! I know people have been emailing about her, and thank you so much! She’s
doing well.
1.2.57
After the Opry (2010-02-27 21:23)
Well the Opry went pretty well, considering that by noonish on Friday, the blizzard of 2010 hit! Oh my...
it was so worrisome at first. We just went about our efforts, trying not to pay much attention to the snow
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that was falling in buckets. People started to call about 4 or so, and into the evening, but our policy is, if
the bands and the sound make it in, we’re having a show. It might end up as an intimate concert setting
with not too many guests, but if you ask, the musicians would rather play, then to just sit in a hotel room
or worse, turn around and go home.
Okay, this isn’t exactly what it looked like, but it was close. It was pretty nasty out. We got easily 4-5 inches
in a very short amount of time and it was drifty and blowing and cold. Not exactly the kind of weather to
encourage a largely elderly crowd to venture out in. (Yeah, bluegrass is not exactly a music of the masses...
it’s a shame.) But we waited... set up, did sound check and all that. When the doors opened, there wasn’t
a single guest there.
That was scarey. Normally at opening, there are at least a handful of people... but there was none. By 6:15,
there were maybe 20 people. We were doing all we could to thank folks for braving the weather and many
were very happy to be there. Excited to see the show. By the time the show started, it wasn’t bad. About
60 paid guests and 17 band member guests, and of course the bands and our staff... we were just under
100 people total, quite a low number for sure. But the show must go on! And it did. And they were both
fantastic and in fact, I think the crowd purposely went nuts and cheered and really let them know that they
loved every minute. It was really overwhelming to see our faithful fans really helping to make the bands feel
like it was a full house.
I’ll have some video and audio from the show ready in a few days. My day after an Opry is usually a day
to just chill our and relax. It’s a little tough on me the day of the show, I’ve usually got running around to
do, getting all the printing finished, picking up this or that, and just generally being on my feet most of the
day. There’s a bit of stress, and a lot of adrenaline and fun, and just by the time we’re done around 11 or
so in the evening, it’s one long, wonderful and fun day. It’s so nice when I can just take it easy the next day
and sleep in and just relax. The Opry is so much fun, but it’s a busy day for sure. I’m not sure I could do
it weekly, that would really be more like a full time job! It’s delightful as an once a month event! And there
are so many wonderful memories that come from the show! I just love it... and so do the girls. We really
enjoy it.
1.2.58
Hoofed Critter Love (2010-02-28 11:50)
This is Chico the sheep and Dorothy the goat and they are in love.
They live in a herd of 100 or so animals at a farm sanctuary, but apparently, they have found each other and
are good pals. The seek each other and hang and cuddle and are just always together. Isn’t that cool?
You can tell they like each other just by this wonderful photo.
Awwwww....
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[1]www.farmsanctuary.org
1. http://www.farmsanctuary.org/
1.2.59
Painfully Honest Mobile Home Commerical (2010-02-28 14:16)
[EMBED] I love it! hahaha.... They’re mobile homes, they aren’t mansions.
1.2.60
Last Day of February (2010-02-28 14:39)
[EMBED] Well, it’s the last day of February and it’s finally sunny out. Not constant, but enough that I
bundled up and went out to shovel and chip at the yucky icy snow. Of course, Gypsy came with me and
Jack, too. Gypsy is such a goof in the snow, and hard to shovel with because she has to catch every shovelful
and often gets conked in the head if you’re not careful. She loves the snow, it’s her favorite thing in the
world. I think she was a husky in a past life. Still cold, but the sunshine did me good. The last couple weeks
it’s been so dark and overcast most of the time, we have all been in hibernation mode it seems. Just wanting
to hang out, sleep in, read books and knit. Stay warm. Just do as little as possible to get by in life. I hate
that, but yet, I think I know why it happens. It is a sort of build up time, a time to relax and get good and
rested for the spring. It’s right around the corner. Soon, we’ll be building and toting dirt and compost and
cleaning up the yard and just generally being outside a good deal. If we lived in a moderate climate all year
round, I don’t think we’d appreciate the calendar seasons as much. I normally don’t mind winter, but this
time around, it just seems like it’s been really long. I think that’s because I’ve found my joy in gardening
again and this year I plan to really enjoy it. Can’t wait to get the hammock out and ready. You know that’s
going to be my first yard installation as soon as it’s just barely warm enough out!
Heck, we couldn’t
even get the car in the parking spot because when we were at the Opry, the snow plow guy came and plowed
in the spot! But since we don’t share with anyone, it’s fine, we can wait till some of it melts off. I know
that we can use the extra water in the ground water system, that is certain. Toledo has been a bit on the
dry side, like many places and extra snow will contribute to raising some of the ground water levels and get
ponds and streams up a bit. That’s good. And it will be nice to have our baby orchard all flush with water
and ready to really go to town this year. My indoor garden is about a 50-50 success. The peas are doing
great. Spinach, hanging in there. Lettuce and other stuff, doing poorly. I was able to transplant two corn
seedlings and four Boston picklers to larger containers... we’ll see how they fare. It’s definitely a light issue,
we just had no sun for weeks! I won’t be starting any of my good seed for another 3 weeks, because I want
to be able to set the plants out in the cold frames during the day and well, it just needs to be a little warmer
for that. Oh yeah, and I need cold frames first! haha... We’re working on it. Well, my goal is to keep busy
and get some graphic arts projects done in the next month, clean up my to-do cards so that I have as little
to interfere with taking some down time to enjoy the spring when it rolls around, eventually. I know I have
a good 30 days or so, and I have 15 cards in my deck. So I have to get one every two days finished. I’m
going to shoot for one a day, because knowing me, I’ll have to add a few through the month. Just happens,
you know. One a day, that should be something I can accomplish. Especially when I know the payoff will
be a vacation springtime!!!
Rachel (2010-02-28 19:54:39)
I want a hammock!
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1.3
1.3.1
March
Oh my goodness (2010-03-01 10:58)
[EMBED]
Sharon (2010-03-01 11:16:28)
Wow...this is one of those things that’s funny at first but would drive me crazy if I had to listen to it everyday.
Search Lost Relatives | Search Lost Relatives.com (2010-03-03 07:00:18)
[...] The Mobile Home Woman » Blog Archive » Oh my goodness [...]
People Search | Search Social Networks Online.com (2010-03-03 07:13:14)
[...] The Mobile Home Woman » Blog Archive » Oh my goodness [...]
1.3.2
Easter Piggy is Coming to Town (2010-03-03 18:33)
Sharon (2010-03-04 09:57:10)
So cute! We need a video of Edward, I want to see him in action.
1.3.3
Second Pair - First Sock Done (2010-03-04 09:26)
Okay... my second pair of socks to knit and I’m done with the first one and it fits wonderfully!!! I have
perfected my pattern for me. I cast on 30 stitches on my 12” circular needles. I’m using a slightly chunky
wool, soft and snuggly. Oh, my needles are number 8s. I just knit until the tube equals 12 inches long and
then I cast off. I take a crochet hook and seal up one end with a simple binding stitch. Turn inside out and
poof! You have a warm fuzzy slip on sock that is simply wonderful.
I don’t do anything fancy with the heel or anything. The wool is so nice and giving, it just stretches a
bit and works lovely. They are little tooo thick to wear with regular shoes, but around the house, they are
wonderful. And they work with my snow boots, though, and boy, did they keep my feet warm.
The second sock is at about 8 inches, so it won’t be long. And the nice thing? You can get one pair
out of a normal 5-6 ounce skien. So it’s not a huge expense, heck, I see nice wools on sale all the time at like
Michael’s for 1 or 2 dollars. What a lovely gift it would be! My daughters both want a pair and so they are
next!
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1.3.4
Plant ID Tag Score (2010-03-04 11:01)
I had to stop in at Michael’s craft store to get these plastic boxes that we use for rocks.... anyway, I
was just poking around in their cheap-o sale bins and I found the last 4 packages of these nice metal plant
tags in there!!! Only 70 cents a package! You write on them with a Sharpie pen. I think I’ll use these for
some of my nice fancy irises and maybe some herbs that I’m going to try and grow this year. Just thought
I would share that with you all! I’m actually considering checking out the other one across town... these
things are usually fairly expensive.
1.3.5
Edward- Month 2 (2010-03-04 11:08)
Well, this is Edward’s second month with us! We figure he’s about 3-4 months old, and now half of that has
been with us. Awwww.
He’s just as cute as the dickens and is growing bigger. At first he was barely a handful and now he needs
two hands to hold him safely. He’s a very good boy, but still prone to nibbling, like all babies are. I think
it’s just an exploring thing, he never draws blood or make pinch marks, it’s more of a soft toothy nibble and
then he usually sets back and makes a funny sourpuss piggy face.
He loves carrots and apples and will try just about anything. Maggie made him this cute little wooden
stable/house and the little squirt can jump on the top of it! She puts his hay up there and it’s awful cute.
He has wormed his little way into our hearts, he’s such a good natured little guy. We may not have
real pigs, but we do have at least ONE pig on our little homestead. Edward G. Pig.
I’ll have to try and get some video of him this weekend. He’s not really much to watch because he’s
not super active, but I’ll give it a try. He’s such a good cuddler though and loves to watch sappy chick flicks
with me when the girls are gone. But don’t tell his guy piggie friends.
Sharon (2010-03-05 07:31:34)
Oh, can we see his house too? I can’t speak for everybody but I’d like to see him wander around a bit.
1.3.6
Hash Brown Bake (2010-03-04 16:50)
I haven’t posted a recipe in a long time, so I thought I would do up this fun little easy cook casserole.
We just call it Hash Brown Bake... it’s one of those made up at home easy throw together things that
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really tastes good alone or as a side dish. We vary it a little bit here and there, but it’s always good.
We like to get the dry hash browns in bulk from the restaurant supply place. They keep great and are
always ready to use. Just a few minutes in some hot water and they are hydrated and ready to go. We like
the potato slices as well, and they are great for scalloped potatoes and such.
Okay... You need the following...
2 cups of hash browns
1 can of cream of onion soup
1/4 can of milk
one diced onion
6-8 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
a cup of cheese, colby-jack or cheddar, whatever you like.
Just fill up a baking dish with your hashbrowns. You can use them out of the bag/freezer or re-hydrate them
like we do.
Throw in the chopped onion.... I just layer it nice and evenly over the hash browns.
Layer on your cream soup. We like cream of onion, but celery will work, or I suppose cream of mushroom, whatever you have handy I say! And then we add a little bit of milk, about 1/4 of the can. It’s
probably about 1/4 of a cup, just enough to help make the soup a little saucy.
Add your crumbled bacon and then top with the shredded cheese. I suppose you could use sausage of ground
beef, or even chicken or whatever you have. Heck, you could even forgo the meat and make it a side dish.
That’s the wonderfulness of this dish, you can easily add or subtract from it.
I like to sprinkle a little garlic salt or season salt over it all, not too much, just to your taste and all.
It can be a little bland if you don’t season it a bit. Just a little salt and pepper works too.
I put a little bit of foil on the top for most of the time, just to really keep the cheese from burning. Pop it
in a oven at 400 degrees for about 40-50 minutes. You’ll know when it’s done with your dish depth... the
whole thing will be good and bubbly hot. Remove the foil and give it another 5 or 10 minutes to get the
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cheese all pretty and with a little bubbly crust. Serve and you’ve got an easy dish. It’s almost like potato
skins and you can serve it with a dollop of sour cream and some chives to make it over the top.
Sharon (2010-03-05 07:26:46)
This looks really good, I’m going to make it next week. I’ve made every receipe you’ve put up and loved them all, we
have very similar taste.
Amy (2010-03-16 08:42:25)
I’m from the Toledo area - where do you purchase the hash brown potatoes?
1.3.7
Guess what came today.... (2010-03-04 20:41)
It’s sleek, black and beautiful. It runs like a hoss, it’s powerful and smooth and I’m in love.
Only 6 months in the waiting, it was worth every moment.
Now we have two beautiful station wagons. Here at the moby. It’s a little hard to believe. Last
year I set a goal that I wanted to replace my old broken down van. And I decided that I wanted a specific
car. A model that I had several cars past and enjoyed. A Ford Taurus station wagon. As new as I could get
it and well, hopefully at least a 1998 or so. I liked the model change at 97. I loved the change over at 2000,
but I didn’t think that would be in my range.
Then when Jessy decided that she liked those cars as well, and well, we found her a perfectly wonderful wagon, that was just icing on the cake, if you ask me. Her car has been absolutely wonderful. It
hasn’t been a lick of trouble at all. It drives like a dream and is just a perfect first car for my eldest daughter
to learn to drive with. I’m sure it will serve her well for many years.
My sweet ride is a 2002, and I can afford it. I can’t tell you how neat it is to have such nice people
in my life that see a chance to help me out and reach a goal and give me a little boost to make it happen.
Bill and Joe are so swell, you just can’t know. They will be my car guys as long as they’ll have me!
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I drove Jessy to school for her studio class and then Maggie and I went to the auto parts store and
got a second set of license plate screws, and some oil and washer fluid (it was a little low) and I had to get
a new steering wheel cover for it, just because I wanted the car to know that I loved it. (g) Also got a little
bit of touch up paint for those little dings of his past life. His name is Gunnar, after a fictional warhorse in
some stories I used to write when I was a young woman. It just fits so well.
And after the girls left for a few days with their Dad, Gunnar and I went for a drive to pick up a
sweet little wrought iron and wood bench that I found on Craig’s List. And then we drove around, and
stopped for some fruit and veggies and grabbed some Olive Garden take out for a celebration! A wild day
and night!
Well for now, I am one of the happiest women on the WHOLE planet! (g) Yeah, a great car, a
wonderful home, beautiful daughters, true friends, delightful pets, work I love, gardens that keep me in
touch with the dirt, and music that charms my heart.
What more can a gal ask for?
Sharon (2010-03-05 07:22:15)
Yeah!! Great news! I can hear the excitement in your post and I’m so happy for you! I really like the black color,
nice looking car.
1.3.8
Saturday Ramblings (2010-03-06 18:50)
Well, I tried to kill my new car today. Yeah, I filled it with love (and oil) too much and it started to leak oil
and smell funny so I took it immediately to my corner oil change guys whom I love and trust and they told
me I was an dork and put in too much oil because I checked the oil when it was hot.
I nearly cried! I felt so bad. You see, I’m not normally a car dork, but well, it’s a new car to me and
in my defense, I was driving it yesterday and the oil light came on. Well, since I wasn’t sure about the car,
having had it only a day, I stopped immediately at a gas station and checked it and it said it was low. So, I
didn’t want to risk driving it back home and all to my guys, so I put oil in it. Well, turns out, too much. I
put in 2 quarts, and it was about 1 3/4 quarts too much. Rats!
Well, all is well with the fine beast. Roman and his gang at the Quickie Lube know me and they did
not rub it in, just nicely reminded me that they will always top off the fluids and check any of my cars
and that I’m a good customer and they will take care of me. Roman used to work at a Ford dealer so he
was very fluent in Fords. And he gave it a total check up! Everything. We talked about all the things he
noticed, which were not much... gave me a little shopping list of things that might need attention. I trust
them because they don’t do any of those types of repairs. And they are right on the money. He checked
all the lights and such, but also checked the front end and the struts and tie-rods (I am cursed with cars
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with these issues!) and Gunny is all sound. He checked the exhaust and underneath, everything was a-ok.
My transmission pan was dented so they pulled it and pounded it out with a rubber mallet and got it good
and sealed tight. It was little low on transmission fluid, which I understand can be very common when it is
replaced, as the tranny gets running, it can need a little topping off.
I told him that it was idling a little rough and he said immediately, has it been sitting? And yeah, it
sat in the yard for 6 months before Bill bought it and then another 6 months while it was being fixed. So
Roman suggested some fuel cleaner for the injectors and all, because gas over time can varnish and get kinda
nasty. He suggested running a tank of mid grade or premium fuel through it and a bottle of cleaner. He was
right on the money, by the time I got home, Gunnar was idling like a panther, all smooth and happy.
Oh, I’m so happy, I’m such a car dork at the moment. Sorry ladies! I’ll be back to eggs and cooking
and home stuff, but right now, I’m in love and I’m just not seeing much of the world at the moment, save
this beautiful black car that I have waited 6 months for!!! It’s the car of my dreams. I never thought I would
have one and I do.
Funny, I’ve been surfing the web a bit about them, mostly due to not having a manual with him, and
wondering what this one little icon on the dash meant (transaxle alert for possible trans fluid low! I thought
so...) and I found so many people that were online gushing about their own Ford Taurus SHOs... Listen to
this one review...
This is what this car was all about: performance. While it was no Corvette or Porsche, it was
and still is a force to be reckoned with. At the time of its release, no other mainstream sedan
could touch it. Now, only the best can surpass it in numbers, and arguably there is still nothing
like it in terms of pure driving exhilaration. Piloting the SHO conveyed a soul factor of 10.
HAHA! Soul factor of 10! I say about 14 or so. It drives SOOOOO smooth and so fast, I’m still not used
to the thing and sometimes I hit the gas a bit too much at a light and that baby lunges forwards without
hardly a bit of hesitation. It’s like driving a hot rod! I remember as a kid driving my stepdad’s 79 Trans
Am, you know, the Smokey and the Bandit car? This baby was midnight blue and had a Hurst flop over
stick and that thing was a beast. This SHO wagon reminds me of that thing!!! Same kind of power without
hesitation and just smooth to drive, like a jet plane... not that I know what that feels like, but hey, I can
only imagine.
And Taurus People LOVE their cars.... they even have a Facebook page for them!
[1]http://www.facebook.com/fordtaurus
Okay, okay... I’ll stop talking about my car. Ahem. It’s only because I had to wait sooooo long to get
him in my life!!! I’ll try to refrain myself.
Well, here’s my new bench... it’s a little beat up, well, the wood is good and sturdy, but it needs a
light sanding and new coat of varnish/sealer to really be nice. But that’s an easy job! Heck, Maggie would
probably like to do it. And once we do that and tighten up a few screws, it will be good as new. Great
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Craig’s List find, if I don’t say so myself.
I was outside today in the sunshine, it was glorious. Walking around and looking at the flower beds as they
emerged from the snow drifts. And LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!!!!
We’re saved! We’re saved!!! Spring is coming!!! A lone hardy daffidil tip emerging from the warm, sunny
front flower beds! YAHOOO!!!! I was so busy admiring it, and Jack came over to look carefully upon it until
Gypsy barged through and nearly trampled the little thing! Dogs! Shesh. This year I want to try and get
some nice rocks to border around the front bed at least, to keep my beasts from running roughshod through
them.
Kitty Island is getting bigger and bigger. It’s that green area around the big pine tree. That pine sheltered
that area a bit so the drifts were not very deep with snow there during the winter. So it was like a little
yucky green island of dead grass that everyone gravitated to. Mostly the kitties because they don’t like the
snow. But the dogs as well. They all rush out to Kitty Island and nose around and of course, water Kitty
Island and add their other deposits. Kitty Island is slowly turning into Nasty Island and I see that I’ll have
to get out there with the scooper pretty soon! Ha ha. But it’s so funny to see everyone walking around
on the island, sniffing and wandering, rolling in the dried grass and soaking up the sun. Now it’s reached
the shed and that means that the kitties can climb up in the fort and use the lookout port to survey their
kingdom. Jack demonstrates for us now.
I dashed over to one of my favorite thrift stores, mostly so I had somewhere to drive to, and well, because I hadn’t been for awhile. Found this cute little shallow oval pottery dishes for a dollar! Just perfect for
my desk to hold all those little bits and pieces you end up with. Pens and stuff. I like the colors on it, that
sort of rustic drippy glaze technique. I really want to consider taking a pottery class over at the Botanical
Gardens... they have a potters guild and I hear that if you take their introduction class and join the guild
for a modest price, you can then go in at open pottery times and use their kiln for your own projects! Oh,
that sounds like fun. Perhaps in the later summer months after I get all the gardens and building done for
the spring and early summer.
But the delightful thing, is that this Thrift Store is run by some lovely church ladies and they were giving
out one pound bags of crushed walnuts to everyone! I tried to refuse but they insisted. Okay. I took one
and now I’m thinking that a crusty sweet walnut breakfast cake sounds like a perfect dish for some of those
free nuts.
Well, the last couple days have been a total vacation from any serious work! What with the car and
all, I’ve just been having a blast. Errands now take me at least 3 times as long because I am driving all over
the place and NEVER in a straight line or shortest path. I know I’ll calm down in a while, heck with gas
about $3 a gallon again, I can’t keep at it forever. But well, it’s such a wonderful joy to get something nice
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that you have waited for and dreamed about and longed for. It’s finally here and I’m just so happy, I can’t
stop grinning. I probably look like a big dork. But that’s okay, it’s a great feeling. Reaching major goals in
your life really feel good.
Thank goodness my next goal is really fairly tame in comparison, but I would really like to get a nice
DSLR camera for work and well, for blogging and for writing and all that. As a graphic artist, I use my
cameras a lot, and the last year since my last nice camera died, it’s been rough on me! I have a little point
and shoot and it’s nice, and actually, now and then it takes some nice photos. But it’s having issues with it’s
memory card reader and I have to take two pictures of everything because one often won’t save and such.
Just little things like that. And the DPI is not too high, so I can’t use it for work in many applications. I
have my mind set on a nice used Nikon D40. I’ve read TONS of reviews and everyone seems to agree, that
the D40 is a very nice mid level prosumer grade camera that has a lot of options and features I need, but
it is also very user friendly and available as people upgrade to nicer DSLRs. I hope that I can save my gig
money and such in time to get one before all the spring flowers start to pop!!! I think I have about two to
three weeks max. Time to get cracking on saving for that next goal.
Oh yes, and I signed up for Twitter... although I suspect that it was being bad today and I’m sorry! I
think I have it all fixed now. I’m not totally sure that anyone would be interested in my little twits... ha
ha... ”Oh, I finished a sock!” Oh! Jack is so funny!” ”Oh, I love my car, I love my car, I love my car....” But it
might be fun because I can text from my phone, so you guys can see what I’m up to when we’re out playing
or whenever. Part of me thinks it’s rather foolish, but well, my daughters think it’s cool. So I will try it out
and see what comes of it all.
I had to let the weasels loose for a little bit... they love to sleep and lounge in their three story cage for
easily most of the day and night, but if you don’t let them have a little time to romp and play each day,
they get cranky and start rubbing their little tin cups on the cage bars and otherwise become annoying. Of
course, when they are out and romping around, they are fairly annoying, but in a kitten sort of way. Or like
an repeat offender. They steal things if they can find them! And here is Loki stealing some of my little dark
chocolate bars! Little fuzzy woozel thief! They are a hoot though, so I don’t mind. Of course, she didn’t get
her loot, as I stopped her in mid-grab. But she did managed to find a cat toy and drag it under my bed in
retaliation. Crazy little things!
Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday as well!
1. http://www.facebook.com/fordtaurus
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1.3.9
Moby Dog Camp (2010-03-09 10:40)
My pal Jeff’s in Florida for a week so I have Bella, the Italian Greyhound, here visiting with us. She’s
quite a little sweetie, and takes the title as companion dog very seriously. She follows you around the house
constantly. Every time you get up, she’s right there following you.
And now for a few days we have Dingo with us. Dingo is our other family dog that now lives with my
ex-husband and his wife, in town. Well Heather is out of town and Steve works a lot, so he asked if Dingo
could come to Camp-Moby-Dog and hang out. Sure.
It’s making for a slightly crazy situation though, everyone is in pack mode and responds to each other,
so when one wants out, they all want out and when one eats, they all gotta eat. And my little 800 square
foot abode is a little cramped with all this livestock in here! 3 dogs, 3 cats, 2 ferrets and one pig. hahaha.
Well, it’s only for another day or two. We’re having fun with everyone and that is what counts. It’s nice to
have Dingy around, he’s a good boy. I used to call him ”the son I never wanted”! And I suppose it’s true,
as if I wanted a son, I would probably want a real human son, not a furry grumpy old cattle dog mix. But
still, Dingo has a place in my heart and he’s always happy to see me and get some good scratching behind
the ears and all.
And he really likes Bella. He’s most’y puzzled by her, but he knows he likes her. He stands in the middle of
the room, as she zooms around him playing, and he just turns in one spot and wags his tail like crazy, barking
at her. He’s fast, but she’s WAY faster. He got up on the bed and took a little nap with her yesterday and
you could tell he was so happy.
He tried to get up on the couch with Gypsy and Bella as they were napping this morning and the girls
would have no part of it. He would come and sit by the side of the couch and wag his tail and then slowly
put a foot on the edge of the couch as if to ask, ”Hey ladies, can I join you?” with an ever hopeful smile on
his doggy face. To which Gypsy would simply give him a soft snarl without lifting her head and he would
back off real fast. She does not like sharing her BFF Bella. A few minutes later, he would be back and give
it another whirl and well, same response. This went on for almost an hour!!! It was funny, I should have
taped it, but my camera battery was dead.
That’s life on the Moby Dog Camp! We’re going to try and get a picture of the three of them... maybe.
1.3.10
Jars are Great (2010-03-10 15:20)
Lately, I’ve really been into saving jars. And buying things in jars, when I need to buy things. I’m trying
to avoid plastic, if I can. I’m not crazy against plastic, it’s just, well, there is a LOT of plastic around and
frankly, it’s got to go somewhere and usually that place is a dump or landfill. People just don’t recycle
plastic to the degree that it comes into our lives.
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Jars, and glass, on the other hand, have a very high reuse and recycle quota. And they just seem to
be better at storing and keeping things in the pantry and all through your home. A glass jar filled with
buttons or paints or candies just seems to look much more appealing than a plastic one.
If you don’t reuse glass jars, you should give it a try. We reuse them for many things in the kitchen,
including saving leftovers and other things such as chopped onions or cheese. We use them for our soda
syrups for the SodaStream machine. And you can freeze in them as well. Be sure to leave a little top space
when freezing liquids. Of course, canning with jars is delightful, but even commercial jars and bottles can
be very useful in the home.
When I shop, I do try and pay attention to things that come in green friendly packaging. I avoid those
things that are overly packaged, or that have a lot of plastic and all wrapping them. I like cardboard things
and glass jars best. And I do my best to not use even the produce bags if I can avoid it. If I want a pair
of peppers, I’ll just pick them up and put them in the cart. I’m going to wash them before using anyway. I
hope to sew up some lightweight mesh bags soon to bring for loose produce. Of course, soon, the Farmer’s
Markets will start up and that will be wonderful. Farmer’s Markets always love it when you bring your own
bags and containers. I love how that works.
Rachel (2010-03-10 17:38:01)
I’m beginning to love glass jars as well. They make great mugs in the winter. Just pop them into the freezer and use
as needed. There’s also, of coard, Mason-ade and Mason-tea. I can’t waiting until ruhbarb and strawberries are in
season so I can start canning again!
1.3.11
Dave’s Guacamole (2010-03-10 18:55)
My buddy Dave used to make the best guacamole for us, sitting around watching like a bunch of 24 episodes
in a row after we were done working. He’s gone off to Georgia, and I miss him. So I thought, why not try
and make it myself. I will admit, it’s was pretty good, but companionship flavors a dish sometimes and it’s
hard to recreate. But this is pretty darn close...
Take a couple nice ripe, but not tooooo ripe avocados. Three works nicely.
After you cut and scoop out the green goodness, you take an add 2 or 3 whole cloves of fresh garlic. I
like to use the press like he did, and don’t loose out on the pressed juice too! Mash it in with a fork and
get the avacado nice and mushy. I suppose you can use a food processer, but it’s really not needed. Don’t
overly process the avocado, or it will taste a little, well, weird.
I happen to like onion a good deal, so I had a little sweet onion to chop and add to the mix. Only about half
a small onion. A lot of recipes have onion in them, so I added it. Dave normally didn’t, but hey, why not?
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Last, a good hardy pinch of Kosher salt. I suppose you could use regular salt, but the coarse salt really tastes good in this. Stir it all up good and grab a bag of chips, a friend, and hit the couch for a
marathon of a good tv series on DVD... that’s what life is all about...
Add it all at one setting because it will get dark and kind icky looking in the frig. I guess you can add
a teaspoon of lemon juice to stop this, but why would you want to save it when you can eat it all up? It’s
just so good.
Sharon (2010-03-11 17:33:00)
I love guacamole, I’m going to try this too! I tried the hash brown bake Tuesday night; I used frozen hash browns
and ham instead of bacon and it turned out great.
Meyser (2010-03-11 00:05:10)
Not really on the subject, but still: I see pealed fresh garlic in large quantities in a jar... does it keep long, stored like
that? (I loved the idea of glass jars in your last post...)
1.3.12
Guess what came in the mail today? (2010-03-10 19:20)
I’ve been wanting one now for at least a good year or more.
I’ve been saving up gig money and windfall cash for it.
I finally got to order one off eBay over the weekend...
And it’s here.
Can you guess?
It’s going to make my blogs and websites look simply smashing...
Yes! My new (display model used) Nikon d40 DSLR camera!!!!
All I can say is watch out Pioneer Woman... Mobile Home Woman has finally got her fancy schamcy
camera!!! And I just can’t wait to get shooting!!!!
Good bye little funky Sony camera!!! Sorry, you get sent off to the old equipment drawer for when I
need a cheapy little camera and don’t want to risk the new fancy one!!!
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How exciting! Jessy, of course, has been telling me all about it, and showing me this and that and
turning this feature on and testing that out and all. At first I couldn’t get it to auto-focus and of course,
she figured out that it was on manual focus for me from the box.
Now that we are sisters in the Nikon camerawomanhood, she’s very excited to go on a shoot with
Maggie and I. So hopefully, tomorrow, we’re going on our first big outing to Deshler, Ohio and watch trains.
We’ll pack a picnic lunch, enjoy some sunshine and watch trains. Deshler is supposed to be one of the
heaviest intersections of cargo trains in Ohio and it’s only about an hour from here. We’ve wanted to go for
the longest time!
But in the meanwhile... I had to start playing around with the new camera! It’s soooo nice. It’s
not as fancy as Jessy’s as she has a pro D80 and all, but this is one super nice camera. We realized that our
lenses are interchangeable, that is good. Now we can get a stable of extra lenses together and share them.
(Those things are expensive!) I do need to get a UV filter for mine to protect the lens from any damage and
I need to scrounge up a suitable little carry bag. I might have something that would work nicely, and that
would be good.
Well, sit back and enjoy a few shots off the new camera! Mind you, the operator still has a little
learning curve and I’m definitely going to have to get used to the weight and heft of the camera. But I was
getting better as the afternoon went on!
Rachel (2010-03-11 16:07:19)
For a second I thought you sent Jack to someone by accident and they were sending him back. Haha. I love the
camera! And the egg picture. It’s beautiful. How much was it?
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Sharon (2010-03-11 17:26:08)
Wow, this has been your week for getting things that have been on your wish list for a long time. Congrats! The pics
of the dog are amazing. By the way, I have that same Sony camera!!
1.3.13
A Special Day (2010-03-11 21:43)
We packed a lunch.
Grabbed our cameras and got in the car and drove off for a fun afternoon away from the Moby.
We went to Deshler, Ohio. Home of a bunch of train traffic. We like trains.
It was cheap and fun. And I got to play with my new camera, and that was a blast. And to be outside in the near-spring air and overcast, almost sunny, nearly springlike outdoors was wonderful.
Deshler, as it is told, has some of the highest concentrations of train traffic in one little area. It’s a big
CSX line crossroads and there are tracks all over the place. In Deshler, I believe that telling your boss you
were late in the morning because of a train, is something that they believe. I think it’s a way of life there.
I’ve never seen so many crossing gates and those big flashing lights and all that.
I read on the internet that at some point, a train jumped the tracks there and slammed into the side of
the old depot. Right into the wall! That must have been a bit of a fright. Apparently they never fixed it,
just boarded it up. Apparently it happened in 2002 and the train derailed, and some of the cars slammed
into the old depot.
That fresh in my mind of course, we had to get some video of a train going by us very close. We were
sitting on a big pile of rocks about 10 feet from the tracks. I have to tell you, it was a little frightening at
first, but then it was thrilling. The wind from the cars was blowing us around and Jessy said our hair was all
silly. I could hardly hear, Maggie and I just sat together and watched the big beast go by. Thank goodness,
that was a short one.
[EMBED] Well, enjoy a few pictures that I snapped with the new camera... it’s just a bunch of trains
and various shots at the Crossroads Park, while waiting for more trains!
1.3.14
Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore (2010-03-12 18:06)
I had heard about Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore... it’s a community shop where builders and remodelers and stores will donate perfectly useful extras and overstocks of building materials for people to use.
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It’s a fabulous way to find building materials on the ”cheap” and it’s awesome because it keeps unwanted
material out of the landfill. Many larger communities have one, check with your local HfH and see if there
is one in your area.
I’ve never been and I wish I had gone there a lot sooner, I would have definately saved a ton of
cash. But now that I know about it, I’m sure to make it a destination often as I continue to improve and
upgrade my little Moby.
Jessy and I went over to look for a couple old windows for my two cold frames that Tim is building
for me!!! (I got to see them today and they look fantastic, but I’m jumping ahead a bit.) I needed the glass
to cover the tops of the frames and we had checked with new glass and other options and they just weren’t
working out. I had gotten some very old glass windows from a neat guy here in town, but the frames were
a little too rough to use. They were just too brittle and old and we broke a couple trying to get it to work.
When we first walked in, I just knew we were in a wonderful place. It was like the ultimate builders thrift
store!
Tons of windows, doors, tiles, sinks, cabinets, appliances, furniture, hardware, and just whatever
else.
Beautiful left over tiles in all sorts of sizes! I bought six big 13 x 13 inch wide tiles to glue on the
top of this old desk that I’m making into a garden table! 70 cents each. Just for fun, I checked at Lowes
later on and they were selling the same tiles for over $8 each!!! I need a few more to finish the table, and I
know where I’m going to get them!
SHUTTERS!!!! Oh my! TONS OF SHUTTERS! I couldn’t believe it. I wish I had known, I would have
saved at LEAST $100 on shutters! I do know where I’m going to get the shutters for the last windows in
the Moby! I have four more windows to shutter, and they had lots of the same green shutters that I am
using!!! WOW!
Just oodles of windows. And resonably priced. These are decent double hung, energy saving windows. Most with screens and all. They don’t take in the old single pane windows anymore, because of how
awful they are with heat loss and all that. I think when the time comes to upgrade some of the windows in
my Moby, I will be going there to snoop around with my measurements!
They had a whole bunch of these thin, bi-fold doors. And I believe they would make awesome
raised beds! Some have neat raised panel details! They have to be at least 6 feet tall, and I would suspect
they are closer to 7 or 8 feet. Some were composite plastic, but many were good old wood. I am definitely
going to revisit that idea when we get to making some more of the raised beds.
But this find was so exciting I almost couldn’t breath! Whole cabinets for $10! Nice solid cabinet
frames. Some even had the doors to all the cupboards! And drawers! Since I only need 110 inches of
counters for the bottom of my kitchen row, I could EASILY make do nicely with some of these cabinets.
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When the time comes to redo my kitchen, I am SO going to be coming here first. They had quite a few.
The fellow there said they get a lot of kitchen cabinets from remodels. People with too much money and all,
go and get these $10,000+ kitchen remodels and very often ditch perfectly nice cabinets in the reworking.
Since I don’t need a lot of cabinets, I just might be able to really save a TON of money.
In the end, I was a good girl and only got the windows I needed for the cold frames and 6 of the
big pretty tiles. I have a ton of other ideas that I can’t wait to try out and get parts and pieces from the
ReStore! We are absolutely going to try using some of those closet doors if the price is right. I’m going to
price out lumber and then check the ReStore for doors. But if it’s close, I’m still going to consider ReStore
because I love that it’s good materials being reused as well as helping out a great charity!
Oh, it’s going to be a FUN spring here at the Moby!!! So many plans!!! Just have to remember to
do them one at a time!
Sharon (2010-03-12 19:47:08)
We recently bought hurricane shutters at the ReStore. At Home Depot $800+, ReStore $340. Like you said, it’s for
a great cause too.
1.3.15
Picking Saturday Night (2010-03-15 00:39)
[audio:http://www.themobilehomewoman.com/audio/bluenosemule.mp3]
Here’s a little audio cut from last night. We picked at a place called the Cardington American Legions hall in Cardington, Ohio and had a nice time. A bit of a road trip for us, about an hour and half, and
not to hard a trip. This is a song that Jeff and I wrote, an instrumental called Blue Nose Mule. If you’re
unfamiliar with the term, it’s an old Southern term for a special mule. Apparently those with a blue-grey
muzzle or nose were lucky and good hard workers and all that. I get ribbed all the time about this song
because the boys in the band don’t have a clue what it means and they always like to ask the crowd and
rarely will anyone know what that means!! HAHA... But oh well, I do and now you do.
I took my camera with me, but dang, if I didn’t remember to get the thing out. We just need to
travel with a full time press team to detail our adventures in media. Video, Audio and Visual. I’m sure we
have that in our budget. Yeah, no problem.
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Well, suffice to say, it was a good time, and we always have fun on road trips. I think sometimes,
half the fun is the drive there and back as we get to spend time as a band, but not playing and singing. We
talk and laugh the whole way there and back. Its a good thing. We tried to work on some harmony practice
in the car but well, we’ll try harder next trip.
The Cardington folk were very nice and friendly for the most part. We did have one disgruntled individual in the other band that felt it necessary to inform us that they like LOCAL bands around there.
But in the end, apparently it was more that HE liked local bands because we got an encore and almost
needed security to keep the fans off of Tim after his rousing rendition of ”Free Born Man” at the end. And
the people that ran the event were SUPER nice and wanted us back next year for sure. They were very
friendly and the gals at D-Squared Sound did a very nice job for us as well. It was a great evening.
One of the sweetest moments came when the banjo player from the other band offered me to pick
his banjo. Now, normally, I’m a one-banjo gal and I don’t feel comfortable playing other people’s banjos.
I don’t know why, I’m just weird that way. But how could I refuse... he was offering me a 1934 pre-war
Gibson and oh my goodness, gentle readers, I was in love with the first roll. That thing was a hoss... it was
so loud, and so clear and so easy to play, oh my. Tim and Rob knew I was playing it, but Jeff came over
after the hand-off and didn’t realize at first that I had a different banjo. We played a song or two and the
guys were laughing at the volume I was getting and Jeff was like wow, could you be ANY louder? And then
I turned to show him that it wasn’t my banjo but an old Gibson! He laughed and then knew what was up!
The other banjo player said I could play it on stage and I thought about it hard for a few minutes, but then,
I thought, no, I can’t. Nice as it was, I’m used to my beautiful Stelling, and the sound and feel of the neck,
everything. And it wouldn’t be fair to my guys, because I might not sound or be in the right groove for our
material and such, no, I thanked the fellow profusely and declined politely. As we were getting ready to go
back up on stage, another fellow in the band told me that he NEVER lets anyone else play his banjo. Wow!
But Tim said it was because I was a girl. HAHA... well, I don’t care why... now I know that I need to start
saving my pennies.
No, dollars.
A reasonable pre-war Gibson costs oh, about $20 grand on a good day.
just recently went for about $72,000. Yeah. $72 GRAND!
There’s one on Ebay that
Here’s a great deal on one... if anyone really wants to be my VERY BEST friend in the WHOLE
WORLD > (gg) You can always get me this one for my birthday or something.
[1]Gibson MasterTone Banjo
But until then, I’ll just have to hope that I find one at a garage sale or something for $100.... or
maybe $150. Yeah, wouldn’t that be sweet? True enough, it has happened, and more than once! But I
don’t think I’ve ever even seen a banjo at a local sale, let alone a Gibson. But I will keep hoping.
Well, that was definately a memory for the whole bluegrass scrapbook for me. I’ve never really had
the time to sit and play an old one like that. I played a 1960’s Gibson Granada for a while, but that was
kind of old and all.. but this one was just the bee’s knees... let me tell you.
There is one company out now that makes something super close to a old pre-war Gibson... it’s
called the Huber Banjo Company and they are more reasonable. If I ever think to get another banjo, then
it would be a Huber. Here’s one that is a lot more reasonable....
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[2]Huber Roanoke Banjo
Well, this conclude’s the Mobile Home Woman’s Guide to Her Dream Banjos! I know now that you
know a lot more about banjos then well, just about anyone else in your world, I’ll bet.
(Of course, this excludes our blogging friend Sandhill Sis.
and her pre-wars!)
I KNOW she knows all about banjo envy
1. http://elderly.com/vintage/items/70U-3318.htm
2. http://elderly.com/vintage/items/70U-3350.htm
Mobymom (2010-03-15 22:56:33)
Thanks! Hey Bluegrass has lots of roots in celtic music. I’m a big Clannad fan and all... music is good all sorts of
stuff! We probably play several things that you would like.
Rachel (2010-03-16 17:36:56)
You should watch Songcatcher. I love that movie.
Rachel (2010-03-15 05:43:12)
For a girl who usually taps her toes to Gaelic Storm rather than bluegrass, I really do like your music. My favorite
being the West Virginia Song. It’s so haunting. Blue Nose Mule is now a favorite too.
1.3.16
Fiddlin’ Around (2010-03-15 23:08)
Just couldn’t get to sleep on time tonight, had this little fiddle tune stuck in my craw and I couldn’t
get it gone until I recorded it. With guitar, banjo and fiddle! I love fooling around with recording software,
and I’ve been practicing this beautiful little thing called the Tennessee Waltz...
[audio:http://www.themobilehomewoman.com/audio/tennwaltz.mp3]
It’s so cool to hear my great grandfather’s fiddle playing, even with me playing it. I love when I hear
someone who really knows how to play, play the old thing. It’s so sweet and has a nice dark tone to it. Most
fiddlers love the thing. I’m getting a little better at getting it to sing instead of squawking like a cat in a
lawnmower. Beginning fiddlers can sound that way. Honest.
The Opry is Wednesday, yes, St. Patrick’s Day and we are hoping that our bluegrass fans will love a
good reason to get out and listen to our celtic-variation on the theme.... Bluegrass has a lot of roots in
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Appalachian mountain music and celtic music. All good stuff!
Rachel (2010-03-16 17:41:09)
I love have loved to learn to play the fiddle but when I rented one I quickly learn I really wasn’t made to play string
instuments. I felt to awkward. I come from a family that plays woodwinds. In high school my mom played the flute
and picolo, my sister the flute, and I the clarinet. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Clarie but she’s a little too classy
for some situations. What I need is an irish whistle. That’ll be my next project.
1.3.17
Okay, one more.... (2010-03-17 07:21)
Here’s the last fiddle tune I recorded... it’s a haunting beautiful tune called Ashokan Farewell. You might
remember it from the Ken Burn’s Civil War series on PBS. Believe it or not, it was actually written recently,
though it sounds like something you would have heard 150 years ago.
I just love this tune and it makes my heart so happy to have learned it.
[audio:http://www.themobilehomewoman.com/audio/ashokan.mp3]
The Opry is tonight... yes, bluegrass on St. Patrick’s day! I can think of nothing better!!!
Rachel (2010-03-17 14:20:41)
Beautiful! I’m a tad bit jealous of your stringed intrument skills. I talked to my mom last night and she agreed that
we weren’t made for stringed intruments or pianos (I can play yankee doodle on it and use to know joy to the world).
It seems like I’m bent on the irish whistle. Youtube has great tutorials for it. Again, wonderful fiddle tune! And I
wish I could be at the Opry!
Mrs. D. (2010-03-18 05:38:29)
I ***love*** Ashokan Farewell, it is my favorite song! I stumbled across is a couple years ago. I never get tired of
listening to it.
1.3.18
Foggy Morning (2010-03-19 10:25)
Yesterday morning was really cool. As the spring like weather is coming, it’s warming up the ground
and it’s a little rainy and all, and I just love the look. I had to take some pictures of the early morning fog
and ground cover with the new camera. Just cool looking.... Enjoy....
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1.3.19
Cute Jack Pictures (2010-03-19 10:27)
Rachel (2010-03-19 11:49:24)
Jack is so cute! He reminds me of one of my past kitties Valentine. http://tinyurl.com/yeayqk3
1.3.20
Our Buddy Tom picking with the Expedition Show (2010-03-19 21:37)
[EMBED] Our buddy Tom Richardson from the North End String Band got a chance to play with one of
his banjo picking heros at the last Opry! HOW COOL and he just totally laid it down!!!!
1.3.21
The St. Patrick’s Day Opry (2010-03-21 17:02)
Going to have to work and catch up with the activities of the last week, it’s been crazy! We had an
opry on St. Patrick’s Day, featuring the Expedition Show and the Hand Hewn String Band. We weren’t
sure if the holiday would affect the show, and it might have, but then being a Wednesday and church night
probably didn’t help either, now in hind sight. Our crowd is very much an older crowd and many are very
avid church folk on Wednesday nights. And to top it off, it was like the very first SUPER nice day outside
and I fear that many people were out and about and working in their yards and gardens and just might have
worn themselves out for evening’s entertainment. Of course, it might have been planet alignment issues or I
wore the wrong perfume... you never can tell.
But, needless to say, it was an AWESOME evening of entertainment... starting off the Hand Hewn String
Band, one of Toledo’s favorite bands and led by our own sound guys Jerry and Randy. Great music as always
and it was a treat to have Jimmy belt out Ruby as the encore!
The Expedition Show is a great band outta Nashville, formally known as the Williams and Clark Expedition. Everyone there was super duper nice and we just had a wonderful show. We hope that we can have
them back sometime and make sure we get a decent crowd for them!
And look! We actually got a picture of Jeff as the MC and he’s not blurry!!! It’s been almost 33 shows now
and almost every picture we take of him... three different photographers... is blurry! He has a very super
special power to blue cameras as he works, so this one was surprising to see. Everyone else is kind blurry
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though.. hahaha....
1.3.22
Baby Blanket Done (2010-03-21 17:18)
It’s the largest thing I’ve EVER knitted! A pretty green knitted blankie that is about 24” x 30” in this
super soft baby yarn. It was fun to do, took a while... almost 2 months of evening knitting for me, but still,
it’s cute as heck. I was thinking it would be a nice little stroller blanket for chilly evenings or fall, or maybe
a comfy little car seat tuck-in for cool weather. Something that isn’t huge, but a nice size. I hope! It’s a gift
for a friend and his wife and their soon to arrive this summer baby!
I’m just getting much better at this whole knitting thing! First washcloths, then socks and now, my first
blanket! How cool! I was looking at sweaters but they scare me a whole lot. I’m not sure that I can accomplish something like that. Following a pattern is not my forte. I have a pair of socks that I’m working on in
a thin weight yarn, those are next and I’ve had a few requests from the girls for socks as well. I’ll probably
stick to that for awhile. I do have a crazy square crocheted afghan I’m about half done with... I believe I’ll
finish that after this pair of socks. I like to have something easy and relaxing to work on in the evenings,
watching a little netflix on the computer. (Love that! What a deal.....)
Rachel (2010-03-21 17:30:39)
That’s a very nice blanket! I’m going to be moving onto socks as well. I was thinking about taking a knitting class
that is making socks. It’s two hours long with eight classes. I don’t think I’ll be able to knit for two hours straight.
Besides other people in the class will be finishing up their sweaters that they made in the fall knitting class. Seems
like the teacher bit of more than she could chew.
Sharon (2010-03-21 18:59:28)
Great job, what a nice gift, I love the color too.
Mobymom (2010-03-21 20:07:05)
Since we don’t know if it’s going to be a girl or a boy, I thought a nice fun trendy green would be nice. Kind of gender
neutral! I hope they like it. I have a little yarn left and I might make a little hat too!
1.3.23
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Visit to our Pretend Chickens (2010-03-21 17:41)
Step Chickens?
Surrogate Chickens?
Substitute Chickens?
Make Believe Chickens?
Ha ha! I’m not sure what to call them but when I need a chicken fix, I’m down to Fran and Wes’s to
visit with their flock of gals... and a couple boys in the mix for fun. I’m just not sure how I can wrangle
hens at my moby, so the next best thing is to take a trip down the road a mile to visit Fran and Wes on
their nice little homestead! We go out and visit and I bring them some treats and all. It’s so nice to just
hang out and watch them... I’ve warned Fran, come a little warmer weather, I’m bringing a lawn chair and
a cold ice tea so I can just sit and watch them for a good long time. Chicken TV you know.
We had some left over salad and a few breadsticks from the opry backstage and rather than toss them,
I knew some ladies that would not mind at all! By the time we are done with the show and home, salad
just doesn’t quite look real appetizing the next day. But the chickens thought it was WONDERFUL and
when I scattered those greens, it was like Christmas morning at the Goeslins house!!! hahaha! Everyone was
grabbing and hoarding every little thing they could!
I also got 5 dozen eggs for cooking, eating and all that. We love fresh eggs, they are the best thing going.
Great for stretching a food budget for sure! We’ve been testing cheesecake recipes so that has helped us
to go through them pretty quick too! I have a dozen set back to age a little bit... if you want boiled eggs
for deviled eggs or for salads and such, super fresh eggs are hard to peel. So I’m getting used to marking a
carton and letting them age a week or two in the frig. That works much better!
Had a couple breadsticks left and the girls enjoyed them as well! Not many, because they are SUPER good
and don’t last long at the Opry. It was super funny to see one little Rhode Island Red reach in and grab one
WHOLE big piece and take off running in the yard. Of course, everyone else was curious, so the poor thing
could not find a safe spot to peck at it. She would get off by herself, set it down and then out of nowhere
someone would try and snatch it! But she was quick and would grab it and run to some other spot. By the
time I left, she was STILL running around with her prize and hadn’t had a moment alone with it! It was
funny to watch.
One of the leghorn roosters came and tried his best to get me. I felt a little tap and turned to see him miss
a good strike. Then I was ready for him. Fran got spurred a couple weeks ago by one of the leghorn roos!
She had a good mark and bruise from him! I suspect that a little roo-thinning might be happening sooner
than later... there’s a good 4 or 5 of them and they are all picking on the hens and each other a good deal.
The one pretty Buff is the king of the roos, and he’s pretty nice to those that bring him treats for his harem!
Fran and Wes are starting to clean up their gardens and flowerbeds and you can see all the lillies and
other flowers working hard to make an appearance! I love hearing all the things they have planned because
it lets me know that someday, I’ll be able to talk the same way about my own little acreage. They installed
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a little gate on their big kitchen garden and Wes hopes to trot the hens over there soon to do a little weeding
and fertilizing and some hen-o-tilling for them! You know they will love that! I hope I can come visit when
they do that. It will be fun to watch them all running about in there. It’s a nice big space, and Fran was
telling me all the goodies they are going to be planting in there! Can’t wait to see it all growing!
Well, I know where to go when I need a chicken fix! I want to get out to see Jen and her flock too! I
wish she lived a little closer!!! I love her little Bantams. Soon I need to give her a call and go out and get
some eggs from her too and visit some! I just know we’ll have lots to talk about!
Oh I just love the warm weather that is just around the bend!!!!
Sharon (2010-03-21 18:55:15)
Chicken TV, I love that! We have some ducks that live in our yard and I love to throw a piece of bagel or something
out the door just to watch one grab it and all the others run around after it. Duck TV you know. Ha ha!
1.3.24
Cheese Cake Wars (2010-03-21 19:47)
I’ve been a little afraid to try and make a REAL baked cheesecake. I’m not sure why, but they just seemed,
well, intimidating. I mean, cheese and eggs and springform pans and all that. But I know they are a great
use of eggs and really not that bad for my diet, believe it or not. (I’m trying to diet... yeah... staying
away from carbs and sugar mostly. Lots of veggies, dairy, meat, protein... light fruit, very little bread and
processed stuff and of course, sugar.) In most of the recipes, they are mostly cheese, eggs and sour cream,
with a little bit of sugar. A cup and a half for a HUGE cake is not bad. I think that whittles down to a
tablespoon or so a slice. The homemade ones are so rich, that a little bit goes a long way!
Anyway, I digress. We decided to try and back a few recipes and see which we liked best. It’s a tie
between these two finalists!
First off... for those of you who are scared, like me, to even try... it’s really very easy! I was very
surprised! I expected a lot of work but in reality, it’s not that much different than just a regular cake or
brownies. Actually, pretty easy.
First off, you mush up some graham crackers. I used a potato masher for this one, but the second
time around, we liked the food processor better. I suspect it might even be easier to get a bag of crumbs at
a restaurant supply place.
Then you line your bottom of your springform pan.
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By the way, I looked locally for a pan and
most were slightly expensive. $15 to $20 a pan. So I dashed to Ebay and of course... set of three different
sizes, NEW was $13 with free shipping! How can you beat that? So these are my new set of pans. I used
the middle for this recipe, I believe it is the 9 inch pan.
Several places I looked at online said to line the bottom with a piece of foil or baking parchment.
The last cake we did, we didn’t line it and it turned out just fine. I guess in the future, I’ll not waste the
foil if it really wasn’t needed.
You mix up your crust, which is usually just graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and a little bit
of sugar. I’ll post the recipe at the bottom of this post. Then press into the bottom of the pan. It’s best if
it goes up the edge on the bottom a bit. I suppose that is to help seal the bottom nice and tight. One we
did that and one we didn’t, and to be honest, it was fine both times. I think for presentation, it’s a little
nicer with the crust coming up the side a bit.
Your hand works best really. We tried a spoon and all, but the hand was the best.
The cheese used is cream cheese and when it’s room temperature, you mix in cheese and a cup of
sweetened condenser milk with your eggs. And you just follow the recipe. It’s really easy.
And then you squeeze out a little lemon juice. We just happened to have a lemon, so we did it
fresh, but it’s a small amount, so I would think that just bottled lemon juice is fine.
Once the 4 items are put in and mixed good, you just pour it in the pan and bake! Honest, that’s
it. Really very easy.
Easy Baked Cheese Cake
Crust
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 1/4 cups graham wafer crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
Filling
2 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk (300 ml)
3 eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
Crust Directions
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Combine butter, graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Press into the bottom of a 9” springform pan.
Filling Directions
In a large bow, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add sweetened condensed milk and beat until smooth.
Add eggs one at a time and mix. Add lemon juice and vanillia and mix well. Pour over crust.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes at 300 degrees F. Cake is done when it springs back when lightly touched. Cool
to room temperature and then chill until serving.
(Note... we ended up with like an hour and 15 minutes in our small oven....)
And it was best to let it set nice over night. It was definitely better the next day.
We really liked this cake the best. However, second place was Bakerella’s Simple Cheese Cake... It
is a nice and simple cheesecake and it is better after a day or two of setting and with some sort of dressing,
like raspberry jam or a little chocolate drizzle...
[1]Bakerella’s Simple Cheese Cake
And a picture of our Bakerella’s example...
1. http://www.bakerella.com/cheesecake/
Rachel (2010-03-21 19:52:14)
I’ve been wanting cheese cake of a while now. I’ll just have to find a spring form pan and make it.
1.3.25
Spring around the Moby (2010-03-21 20:21)
It’s starting... it’s coming.... Spring is officially here!!!
We have some blooming crocus.... and quite a few of our tulips and daffodils are about an inch or two
high now....
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Rachel (2010-03-22 05:31:35)
Our daffodils bloomed yesterday! I’m happy that spring’s finally here but I’m not happy about all the work my garden
will be taking up this year due to things that didn’t get finished last year, like picking up litter and we fell a tree into
the garden.
1.3.26
Saturday Music Fun (2010-03-22 19:40)
I got to help a friend video record a DVD concert for three Southern Gospel bands and boy, was that pretty
neat. Started pretty early in the morning, 10 AM and what they did, was set up and basically run two
concerts. One without an audience and one with an audience. 6 video cameras were recording the event, as
well as audio recording for a live cd and I was doing still photography with my new camera! (See, I told ya
it was a professional tool! )
One of the cameras was mounted on an overhead boom. Now that was pretty neat. It would hover over the
audience and take nice sweeping video of the stage and the audience. More than once it felt like a dinosaur
overhead, it’s head dipping and moving so fluidly and slow. I would see it’s shadow pass over me and it just
felt weird.
We used an auditorium of a Christian radio station in town, WPOS FM and that was very nice. Those that
ran the facility were very nice people. In fact, I met so many nice people that was almost worth the whole
long day! I love meeting music people, it feels so good. It’s definately a group of people that I identify with
and enjoy being around so much. Hard to explain, but even the standing around and waiting (which there is
a lot of in performance music) was enjoyable, talking and chatting with the various people all there to help
out.
I am weird, I love seeing the big tour buses. It’s so cool. One of these days, I’d like to have one of my own!
Ha... well, maybe not to tour in but hey, it would be fun. I would rent it out to local bands and drive them
around in style. That would be a hoot.
One of the bands had driven all the way from Oklahoma that night before the concert and had to be
back in Oklahoma on Sunday evening! Needless to say, the fellows were absolutely ready to catnap wherever
they could.
My goodness, can those folks sing and harmonize! My goodness. Amazing talent, awesome gifts from God,
no doubt. The Homesteaders, the Singing Weavers and the Master’s Voice were in presence. Three awesome
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groups and everyone of them amazing.
I’ve been dabbling in video myself and thought it would be neat to learn more. I’d like to get a nicer prosumer
video camera at some point, but that’s after more raised beds, a bathtub and maybe even a few other little
projects. Still, it’s great to experience such a thing and learn. Perhaps next time they do something like
this, I might even be brave enough to run a camera!
You just never know.
1.3.27
Goodwill Haul (2010-03-23 09:20)
Sunday afternoon, I was feeling like I needed to get out a bit and wander and well, Gypsy and I hit the thrift
stores and then went to Swan Creek Metropark and walked 2 miles on the trails! It was a nice afternoon.
Oh, I got my hair cut too. It was getting a little too long and shaggy, and well, since I hadn’t had one since
last August, I figured it was worth a quick-cut splurge.
But the best deal of the day, had to be my Goodwill haul! I got a nice little Belgian waffle maker (
$5!) and some cute little jars that I want to craft with, 3 neat books, a pair of mismatched candles for my
wax stash, and a nice little rectangular Pyrex pan and two little loaf pans! $13 total.
What I thought was interesting was that the store was packed! There were all sorts of people there, the
parking lot was full. I think people are starting to get a clue... random spending and shopping is best done
by thrify means. I know, I know.. the economy. Yep, I tell you, it’s going to be a hot year for garage sales!
Everyone and their brother is going to be having good sales as they try and make a little extra cash to get
by. You are going to see lots of luxury type items in people’s yards, I suspect. Okay, maybe not like 84 inch
plasma TVs, but still, I suspect a lot of gadgets and fancy cookware and clothing, shoes, purses, and such
will be ending up in the garage sale piles.
I got a couple good reading books for my stash and more glassware. I believe I might need a 12 step
program, I am getting a little bit out of control with my glass addiction. I’m going to use the little ones to
make wire and glass hanging candle burners for the yard this summer. That will be cool.
Rachel (2010-03-23 12:49:38)
Ha! I could have scored good good with getting mason jars but we have plenty. I am keeping my eyes out for 1/4 pint
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jars for fidt giving.
1.3.28
What do you get for woozel pelts? (2010-03-23 09:29)
Well, I was taking a picture of my stash and all the sudden, I hear a weird noise. A digging noise. A
ferrets into dirt and digging noise and I freak out.
MY SEEDLINGS!!!!
Yep. My little peas and spinach and lettuce crops.... gone. Dug up by a pair of little fuzzy woozel ferret rototillers.
I thought, well, I could blow a gasket and squeeze the little varmits and yell and all that, but it’s useless. Ferrets have ignoring down to a science. You think a cat can ignore you, ha! Ferrets are basically
uninterested in anything vaguely rule related, they just wanna have fun.
So, camera in hand, I just shot a few pictures, then gathered up the little heathens and popped them
back in their cage. They had fineagled themselves out of their cage like the little hardened criminals that
they are. We do let them free range at times, but under supervision.
Or else you end up with dirt all over the place!!!
Oh well, my indoor plants were not doing well anyway. I am just giving up on the whole ”start seeds
inside early” thought process. I just don’t have the room, and I have kitties and ferrets that are just dying
to mess with them.
It’s why I’m having two beautiful cold frames made and they are gonna be delivered this week!!! Yah!!!
Can’t wait!
Sharon (2010-03-23 13:54:27)
Ugh, what a mess! The last picture of you holding up the ferret is cute though.
Jessica (2010-03-23 17:01:59)
Oh NO! I’d be so upset! I start seeds indoors too- I got plexiglass cut to fit to enclose a shelf, so that kitty can’t get
to the plants.
1.3.29
Belgian Waffle Eater (2010-03-23 21:33)
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When you get a Belgian Waffler Maker.... you should let a Belgian Sheepdog test them.
It’s only right, you know.
Sharon (2010-03-26 12:45:20)
Wait...you didn’t tell us how the waffles turned out!
Rachel (2010-03-24 06:53:15)
I’ll have to remind myself about this when I get a waffle maker. Now, if Belgian Sheepdogs want Belgian waffles what
do Shetland Sheepdogs want?
Mobymom (2010-03-24 07:07:21)
Shepard’s Pie! HAHAHA
Rachel (2010-03-24 14:51:33)
LOL!
1.3.30
Toilet Paper Tube Seed Starters (2010-03-23 21:45)
We’ve been saving toilet paper tubes for a good long time and now, we’re ready to make a bunch of seed
starting tubes.
Since the woozels destroyed my pathetic little boxes of lettuce and peas and such, we decided to try another
batch.
First you cut up the side of the tubes a bit, an even amount. We made a little mark on our scissors so
it would be even, kind of.
It’s really quite easy, you just want to fold in the bottom a bit so that the dirt stays in place until the plant
starts growing nicely and the roots hold in the dirt.
It didn’t take long to do quite a few tubes. Maggie did most of them while she was watching a movie
on her computer.
Then we just snuggled them into a container, tight enough so that they would stay standing.
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Then fill with a good seed starter dirt. We filled them all the way to the top.
After that, we watered them good, because the soil is so light and fluffy, it just seemed like they needed a
good solid drenching before we plant seeds in them.
The cold frames are coming tomorrow, so exciting! It’s pretty cold this week, so I doubt that I will be
putting anything out there right away. I have to play an afternoon show on Sunday, so I might use Saturday
as a day to start labeling my little sticks and consider planting up these tubes first and see how that goes. I
have some neat seed starter trays that I got from Guerneys, and if I get a lot of my work down the next few
days, I just might putz around on Saturday and start some seeds. Hopefully Monday or Tuesday, they can
spend a little time out in the cold frames during the day for the sunshine!
1.3.31
Drinking Fountain in the Yard (2010-03-24 21:09)
The livestock around here seem to think that the birdbath is a drinking fountain. Gypsy finds it to be the
perfect level for her to grab a little lick when she needs it.
So of course, Luna must join in.
Only she is much more dainty and refined a kitty lady to just slurp it up. No... she dips her paw into
the water, back and forth.
Goofy animals. I guess I need to get the water pail out for them. They love to drink water outside for some
reason. It’s like a big thrill to be able to belly up to the water pail and suck down some cold outside water.
I believe they feel just a touch wild when they get to use the big water pail. Even the kitties love it.
It’s that time.... SPRING IS HERE!!!!
Sharon (2010-03-26 12:26:20)
How adorable does Luna look doing this?! I think you caught Gypsy on video last year drinking out of the birdbath,
it was so funny. Love this!
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” (2010-03-29 18:08:34)
That’s not water - it’s ”bird tea!” Yum.
1.3.32
Jessy Kitty Pictures (2010-03-24 21:20)
MOM BRAG ALERT!
Caution!!! This post contains wonderful cat photos and some bragging from a super duper proud Mom!
If this is not the kind of thing you want to see or read about, please advert your attention else wise! Thank
you!
My kid has SO picked the right profession... pet and animal photographer. She goes out and within
minutes has some of the best pet photos I’ve ever seen! She just gets shots that are so... so.... CAT! (and
dog... don’t forget dog.)
These are some shots that she did today. Wow. I love them all!
I like this one.... Jack and Luna just sitting together and chilling out. They really do like each other, even
though they pretend to annoy each other often. You always see them hanging out together in the yard. It’s
very cute.
Sharon (2010-03-26 12:42:28)
It’s great when you can earn a living doing something you love to do. I like the one of Luna and Jack too - is that a
bus back there? The one with Jack in the bag is a cool shot also.
1.3.33
Beautiful Cold Frames are Here! (2010-03-25 07:27)
The last month or so, Tim’s been building me a pair of cold frames to go on the flanks of my little shed. I
wanted a pair to be able to set out seedlings a month early or so, and then to use as raised beds during the
summer and then to start cold weather stuff like lettuce, spinach, broccoli and the sorts in the last summer
to see how long we could be eating our own through the winter months.
And they arrived today!!! Thanks to Ryan and his Sprinter van!!!
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They are just beautiful. Tim really outdid himself! They are all nice and just perfectly custom. They fit the
space perfectly. And they are simple and elegant, and will really extend my growing season considerably.
Just enough tilt in them to grab a ton of sunlight. Just in a few hours they had warmed up the air inside
them considerably. It was nice and toasty. I’m going to have to get a pair of thermometers to watch and see
how hot it gets in there. I know that plants love it warm but I don’t want to scorch the little dudes either!
I’m not sure if I want to paint them the color of the shed, or stain and seal them with a wood color like the
beds and compost bin. I am leaning towards the stain and seal to be honest. It’s very pretty on the compost
bin and all. And I have two cans of it! That would be cheaper, and actually would bring out the nice wood
look of them. They are just beautiful!!
The four windows that I got at the ReStore place are great. They can slide up a bit to let a little of the heat
out if it’s too hot in there and I can just remove them completely when we’re doing with the need for a hot
space and store them in the shed to keep them safer. Totally adjustable for whatever I need.
Of course, Jack and Luna were VERY interested in the cold frames and it wasn’t long before I had to shoo
them away. I believe Luna was considering it a perfect feline sun porch on those chilly days that she’d like
to lay in the sun but the ground is a little too cold. I could probably lock them both inside and add a little
food and water and they would just lay in them for hours soaking up the warmth! HAHA... goof balls.
Well, I put a couple little window boxes of dirt in one, and I’m thinking some lettuce seeds would be
fun to grow in them right away. This weekend I am going to get my real seed trays going, and hopefully
keep them away from any woozels. Not sure if I’m going to leave them in the cold frames over night yet. I’ll
probably bring them in at night for another week or so. But daytime in the frames will really give them a
nice start to lift, I’m sure!
THANK YOU TIM!!!! Can’t wait for the next building phase to really get into full steam ahead here
at the Moby Farm!!!! I got such plans!
Sharon (2010-03-26 10:13:27)
I have to tell you when the pictures came up I thought ”WOW”! These look like furniture quality, it’s almost a shame
to leave them outside. Tim REALLY outdid himself - amazing! I hope they work out great for you.
1.3.34
Lovely Gypsy (2010-03-25 07:45)
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Jessy caught this beautiful shot of Gypsy in the afternoon sun. She looks so pretty to me. Just the
perfect dog in my life.
Even if she gets into the trash now and then when we all leave her home.
Sharon (2010-03-26 12:35:45)
Gypsy is a great looking dog for sure.
1.3.35
Never tired of them... (2010-03-25 21:03)
I never tire of seeing beautiful crocus.
I love to see them live, and I love to see beautiful photographs of them. Especially ones in my yard.
This year, they have been simply stunning.
Dark purple stripes and such vibrant yellows. And they are popping up all over the little yard, from
our two years of plantings. Last fall we planted about 200 more bulbs all over the yard. Maybe 300. I can’t
remember now. It was a lot. Making the total at least 600 or more. Just all over the place.
I know some didn’t make it, because a few pesky squirrels figured out what we were doing and dug a few
little holes here and there to raid our little sleeping beauties. But I figure that with mere numbers, we are
overwhelming the little critters and it’s apparent. There are tips and sprouts ALL over the place! It’s like an
Easter egg hunt for the girls and I. We take long routes to the cars to go anywhere... just walking around and
looking for the little tips poking out of the beds and the various spots we parked these little spring heralds.
We just love spring flowers.
Now, don’t get me wrong... I’m very excited to see a lot of my 75 % off perennials starting to grow! That
delights me to know end, because they are bought for next to nothing AND they will give me color and joy
for years to come! But it’s the spring flowers and the lilacs that really get me going. I just love them.
I imagine we’ll be planting more and more for the coming years. I want to plant a bunch this year under our lilac bushes in the back. And over in the side lots in various places. I want Miss Bea to get a rush
of color next spring on the south side of the moby. And I want Rachel and Brian to have something pretty
to look out their south side windows.
My three new little lilacs are all budding super nice and full. I think I’ll have some nice blooms this
year for sure. And all the apples are budding well, except one. It’s budding, but it’s very light. It was the
smallest tree and just didn’t thrive last year. It’s not dead though, so with a little extra TLC this year, I
think it will do well. I have three little shrubs in the front that are going to be moving somewhere else...
they have various dead spots and are well, just kind of ugly. I’m not sure what happened to them, but they
are going to replaced with small redbud trees because I just love redbuds. Perhaps even next week as I saw
some lovely ones at the Lowes around the corner on sale.
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Oh, it’s so nice... spring!!! I’ve been waiting a long time this year. Usually, I don’t mind winter, in
fact, I like the break and the good excuse to stay home and cuddle up with knitting and books, but this
year, I have been super ready to get going on the growing and all the new Moby plans! Hope you all will
enjoy the ride!
Sharon (2010-03-26 12:29:58)
The new flowers are beautiful. The second picture could be a greeting card or a framed picture.
Nita in SC (2010-03-27 09:49:11)
How pretty! We are having a very, VERY late spring here in the deep south! Normally by now, all the azaleas and
dogwoods have already bloomed, but - nothing yet, just a few buds. And normally I’ve stopped wearing pantyhose to
the office by now, but it’s not warm enough yet :(
1.3.36
Mrs. Earline’s Sausage and Noodles Casserole (2010-03-27 21:42)
We have a favorite casserole dish around here, at the Moby farm. It’s my friend Jeff’s mom’s creation
and it’s just wonderful. We love it. Simple and adaptable, it’s served here at least once or twice a month. If
you let us know, we’ll set a plate for you when it comes around!
It’s super simple. You take a pound of sausage, like in a roll or just some ground sausage and fry it
up. Not super fine, in small chunks is just fine. Bite sized. Drain it.
Boil up a small box of spaghetti or angel hair pasta, or really whatever pasta you have on hand. Wavy
noodles, rotini, whatever is in the pantry.
Drain and toss in the pan with the sausage. Then add either... one can of cream of mushroom soup
and a can of milk, OR some sort of white sauce... like an Alfredo? Or even a southern gravy? We’ve done
all and they are super good.
Now you can stop there if you want and it’s super good. Just warm it all up together and serve with a
salad or some bread.
If we have them, we add some veggies like peas or carrots, onions, broccoli or cauliflower. It’s all good.
Fresh peppers and onions diced and sliced and sauteed with the sausage is really good, too.
It’s just one of those dishes that you can make any ol’ way you want from your pantry stash and it’s
always good. I think it’s the noodles and sausage that really make it good. It’s better than say, hamburger
or whatever else. And it’s not pricey at all. You can whip up a batch for under $5 and that is good savings
for a family. Give it a try, you’ll love it.
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1.3.37
First Major Spring Chore (2010-03-28 06:50)
CLEAN OUT THE SHED!!!
Yes, Tim and Ryan helped us to clean out the shed and get it in better shape and organization. It was
a chore. Unfortunately, it was raining the day that we moved in the shed stuff and so we pretty much just
stashed it all in there quickly, without any real thought. And over the last two years, it’s gotten much worse,
than better. It was on my list as a kickoff to the spring cleaning season!
It took a better part of two hours to empty it all out and start sorting. It’s always amazing just how
much junk you can shove into a contained space! Amazing. When it was all dragged out and looked over,
we started to make some distinct piles. Pure junk, stuff to recycle, stuff to gift, and stuff to keep.
We decided it was okay to set up the hammock. We might have a few cold days left, and some that
are going to be rainy, but I think the hammock can deal with it. Besides, we’ve all been out there enjoying
a swing and some hammock meditation time already, so it’s good for the soul.
Tim and Ryan scrap so they sorted out a few good choice items that would help their cause. Like an
extra van seat that I forgot to put in the van when I sold it. (Sorry! It was nasty, that’s why we removed
it....) And a aluminum screen door that I thought might fit my other door, but doesn’t. I got it last one
night by the side of a dumpster. It was from a remodel and was in ok shape. And a few odds and ends.
The rest of the trash and junk we took down to our park’s big dumpsters. I really appreciate that they
have these pair of large dumpsters. So many people remodel and change over their mobies that they decided
it was better than having piles in their yards and such. It’s a nice perk to living here. When you have a
project or just too much trash for the week, you can drive it down there and be done with it.
In the end, we got a nice and neatly organized shed. Found all the tools and got them into the tool boxes.
Used some extra wood to make a nice little garden bench/work bench in there. Stashed the holiday stuff in
the loft and added some shelving that we had saved from the old stock shelf inside the moby.
It just looks SO lovely! It needed a man touch, that is for sure. We ladies had sorely ignored the shed
and it was such a problem. Now it’s all neat and tidy and everything has a place. I’m sure we’ll do well with
keeping it that way, we’re so pleased with it now. Maggie is pretty much our Trash Captain in the house, she
doesn’t mind being in charge of it and she was quick to take procession of the shed and declare that Jessy
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and I were not to mess it up. HAHA.... well, sounds good to me.
I felt so good after the shed cleanup, that I grabbed an empty trash can (one that we discovered hiding in
the back space of the shed) and I filled it up with leaves and dead stalks of flowers and such! Flower beds
look all nice and tidy now! Ready for some nice mulch and all the spring bulbs to bloom up and around the
Moby! Another week or two and we’re going to have some super nice photos of the place!
Rachel B. (2010-03-29 12:05:38)
Nice! I did some of my own spring cleaning yesterday. I was a nice productive garden this year so that means all the
junk needs to get kicked out of the garden.
1.3.38
A wonderful view... (2010-03-31 19:48)
Rachel B. (2010-04-01 16:55:49)
I’m buying a hammock this year. I want one so bad!
1.4
1.4.1
April
We made the paper! Yah! (2010-04-02 10:35)
The Toledo Blade just ran a nice article about Ralph Stanley II. He will be appearing at our Glass City
Opry in Maumee, Ohio this Saturday, April 3rd, 2010.
You can read the article here online: [1]BLADE ARTICLE
1. http://toledoblade.com/article/20100401/ART10/4010318
1.4.2
Self Simplicity (2010-04-02 23:31)
Just a little late night ponderings...
I read quite a few blogs and books and websites and many of them talk about simplicity and simple
living. I’m very interested in it all, especially some of these people that limit their worldly processions
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down to 100 or 75 or 50 items. I admire them but also I am a bit concerned that some are just loosing
sight though, of what is a life. A life accumluates things. Personal things and just things. How am I to
decide with family thing to be rid of. My great grandfather’s fiddle? The old drippy painted tiger from
my childhood living room wall? How about the numerous journals and scrapbooks and pictures? It always
surprises me when I look at the lists of these 100 item people... they contain very few family momentos. In
fact, they always look rather bland and grey and boring. It’s so utilitarian. Lacking in the color of life.
At one point, I sat down and started to make a list of the things that I would NEED to live. And
of course, it had things like the old banjo, and of course, my computer. I suppose a car doesn’t count, nor
your home, but everything else, well, that all counts. Of course, at first, my list was all nice and neat, like
a Bible and hygiene items... But even with my clothes, there was way more than 100 items. Easily. Even
when I grouped things, like oh, CDS or craft things or even canning jars... that seemed to sound like it was
cheating in a way. After all, you vaguely group all sorts of things together. Clothes, crafts, music, kitchen,
hygiene, books, shoes, outer gear, yard tools, hardware and oh, personal items. There, 11 vague groupings
that could easily be thousands of items! See what I mean?
So I gave up on that. Not that I wanted to turn back into the pack rat that I was at one point in
my life, but forget this obsessive need to be so simple that life is a bit, well, boring. I would hate to have to
cut back on my friends and family pictures on my dresser, or say, all the CDs that local bands have given
me. I’ll admit, some of those I would listen to once or twice and then stash away. Nation acts they are
not, but they are my friends and they mean a lot to me. Someday, I’d like to look back at those CDs and
remember fondly the times and memories connected to them. I might not cherish that off note or slightly
well, homemade recording, but I will remember the friendship and the effort and I don’t see how cutting
these things out of my life will improve it.
Now, when it comes to drinking glasses, or pots and pans and odd leftover crafts and those clothes
I’ll never wear even if I do get skinny? Those things DO need to be managed in one’s life. Those are the
weeds of life that can strangle you. I believe that you need to weed those things often and without mercy.
But the personal things that make a life and come into our lives, those should be like the blooming
flowers of your reason for being here. They are the beautiful and wonderful bits that are memories of your
life. Sure, when you’re gone, they might not mean anything to your loved ones left behind. But they might,
if you let them know why and what they mean.
And they might be some of your children’s most treasured items in their own life story.
Just a few thoughts....
By the way... that acorn is one that I picked up on a long quiet walk with my dog and I just
thought it was delightful with it’s little cap intact and all. It makes me smile when I look at it and pick it
up. I remember the nice spring day and the elder days of my old dog.
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1.4.3
Goodbye my Friend... (2010-04-04 23:48)
One of my most favorite bluegrass buddies passed away today, this morning at 7 am.
I found out this afternoon, and I didn’t even know he was ill. It’s so dreadfully sad. I can’t believe
it.
I just saw him a few weeks ago, at an Opry, he was having some troubles, said it was his diabetes acting up, but it was cancer. Now, I’m wishing we had more time. I wish I had known. It was shock and
surprise to many of us.
He was one of the nicest fellers you could ever meet. Always had a smile on his face and I never once
heard a sour word from him, or gossip, and he always had a hug for me and bought me beers. We spent
many an evening watching a bluegrass show at the Eagles or at a Marvfest, or any local show. He got to the
Opry often and always made it if our band was playing.
Last time we played, in January, he was there and he was so proud of us. Told me half a dozen times
how good we sounded and how he enjoyed my singing. Him and his buddy Irv drove 60 miles one way to see
us the very first time that Jeff and I played with our first band, at the Coonhunters up in Michigan. And
he told us that we were ”barely tolerable!” HAHA.... after a few months of hard work and practice, he came
back and said that he believed we had improved to ”more than tolerable” and we have laughed about that
for years. I wanted to write that on our website... Bluegrass music that was more than tolerable!
Davy Crockett was his name and he came from the south, and loved bluegrass, picked his old guitar, and
was at every jam he could make and every show he could afford. He was a gentleman, and a real sweetie and
I just can’t believe that he’s gone and I’ll never see him again. At least not here. It’s going to be a tough
week.
Meyser (2010-04-05 00:50:42)
I’m sorry to hear about your loss. May you remember him in every note you sing.
Rachel B. (2010-04-05 19:01:16)
I’m sorry about your loss. The world needs more people like him. He’ll be in my thoughts and in your songs.
Mobymom (2010-04-05 20:00:57)
Thanks guys... today’s a little better but it was rough last night, just the whole suddenness of it all. It has filled me
with a lot of what ifs and regrets! But I really want to focus on the good memories. He wouldn’t want me all sad and
fussing over him, he always wanted to hear about all the good things and the music. I just remembered today, that
when I was searching for my moby, I had told him about it. And the next time I saw him, Davey had clipped out
several little teeny classifieds of mobys for sale in his neighborhood and had saved them in his wallet for me! It was
so sweet. I wish I had been his neighbor. I had already bought my moby here or I would have! I am going to miss
him so much.
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1.4.4
Great Old Film Clip (2010-04-05 19:28)
[EMBED]
1.4.5
Signs of Spring (2010-04-05 20:38)
Seems like every gardner/homesteader/farming blogger out there is showing off their buds and blooms around
their own place. So I wanted to add a few shots of around the little Moby homestead.
A lot of our spring flowers are popping up all over the place. And the apple trees are finally starting to bud
and little leaves are forming all over.
And look what is coming up from last season... garlic is coming up and it’s going to have to be transplanted
to a sunnier place this year. It hung in there last year, but really didn’t thrive. This year, I’m going to move
all the sprouts to a better bed.
And I have some spinach that actually made it through the winter and is growing again. I’m thinking I’ll
let it grow a little more and then harvest a bit of baby greens... yum!
1.4.6
228
Seedlings ready... (2010-04-05 22:59)
Last Friday, I finished up my work and then got started on something that I was waiting a month
for... starting my heirloom garden seeds! I am trying something different this year, starting everything from
seed! Overall, I think it’s going to be much cheaper and the variety will be very unique and different. I’m
really looking forward to the neat varieties of peppers, beans, tomatoes and carrots and such.
I started up 6 flats of seedlings... several different ways. Some with our little homemade toilet paper tube starters and some with the little Jiffy expando pellets. Some in our little peat pots in trays.
I got some little popsicle sticks to write all the names of the seedlings on because I have so many
varieties! I want to make sure that when I plant them in the garden, I’ll know what everything is. I probably
will narrow down the selections next year to the things that really perform well and we like.
I actually tallied up the seedlings...
72 pepper plants
14 cabbage
40 pickle cukes
30 brocolli
12 northern melons
92 tomatoes
21 zinnias and 21 marigolds to plant here and there
Ended up with 302 seedlings. I’m not expecting to have them all make it, or to plant them all if
they do well or else I’ll have SO many tomatoes and peppers that I’m going to be canning all summer long!
If they do all make it, I’ll probably share with my friends and neighbors a few fun things here and there.
Saturday morning, I popped all the flats into one of the cold frames that gets a lot more sun then
the other. I bought two little cheap thermomiters and have been watching the temperatures in them both
and I was very surprised to find the south one reaching temperatures over 100 degrees. At mid-day sun, it
hit 115 in there. I think that is probably a little too hot, so I’ve been venting them a little inch crack and
that keeps it down around 85 degrees.
The northern one only reaches temps about 15-20 degrees more than the outside temperature. Since
I don’t have anything else to plant as seedling starts, I think I’ll be filling that one with dirt and get
something like peas or bush beans growing in there. Something that likes a little cooler temperature.
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I also started 5 small window boxes of leaf lettuce in there too. See how that grows in the lovely
hothouse environment. Soon as I have a little time to rub together, I want to get the cold frames stained
and sealed. They will look beautiful. And give all the other beds a roller coating on the outside as well.
Got strawberries to plant, to fill in my bed. My initial 25 plants from last year, they did okay, but
not great. I lost about 10 plants, yet I’ve seen some runner plants starting up. I bought 25 more starters
from Guernys and they were delivered late last week. Gave them a good drench of water and set them out
in the coldframe to get a little sunshine and acclimate. I hope this is the last that I need to buy of the
berries because I am hoping that they thrive this year and fill up the bed a bit more.
I lost a couple raspberries, they rotted at the dirt level. I think our cold and yet dry summer last
year really did a number on the starts. I got a few berries, though, even though I wasn’t supposed to. These
are 2 year old canes now, and I should get a nicer crop. I really like the idea of permaculture plants, and
hope to really nurture some of my fruits this year. Apples, strawberries, grapes, blueberry and raspberries.
One blueberry is thriving and all over buds, the other two are kind of looking a little pale. One that we
bought late in the season and discounted, it’s doing the worse. I thought it was dead and clipped a branch
and was surprised to find green wood, so I’m not giving up hope. The middle one is budding, a but, but it’s
a little less vigorous as the first one.
Well, that’s the story of the moby farm so far. I think I’ll be harvesting my first 2010 crop tomorrow. The chives have gone insane. I think I’m going to chop them all back hard, and then dice up all the
herbs and dehydrate them! I might flash freeze a tray as well, and just see what I like better. Pretty cool!
1.4.7
Awesome Article... (2010-04-07 07:24)
7 Creativity Lessons I Learned from Basketball
by Christine Kane
Okay. I know.
I’m not supposed to do sports. After all, we creative types are more about reveling in the smell of
crayons, the angle of moonlight on the river, and the beauty of the ocean at sunrise.
Not the obnoxious sound of the buzzer, or screaming at the coach to use a time-out, or shouting in
glee as a three-pointer swishes through the hoop.
And yet, I’m in love with the Carolina Tarheels. And it’s not because I know basketball or what a
screen is. It’s because I love the process, the stories, the passion - and yes, the similarities between
basketball and being creative.
Here are seven unexpected Creativity lessons I’ve Learned from Basketball...
1 - Systems and Habits. Not Feelings and Reactions.
In his book Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made , David Halberstam devotes
two chapters to Dean Smith’s Carolina basketball program. He describes the team’s daily practices with
pure awe.
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First because of how quiet they are. And he writes, ”The next thing was how brilliantly and carefully organized it was, with a schedule posted each day that outlined how each minute of practice would be
used.”
In other words, no one is waiting to decide whether or not they ”feel like it.” The system was in
place before the practice began. There was a schedule.
The creative-types I coach are always amazed at their productivity levels when we create a schedule
for their weekly practices. They no longer spend their time reacting to their days with emotion and drama.
2 - Get a Coach.
Here’s where athletes get it right. They get coaches. From the start, they have coaches and mentors. Lots of them. No athlete in his right mind doesn’t have a coach.
Yes, it’d be nice if the coaching model were built into the creative life. But this is where we can
BE the change we’re looking for. For now, we’ll have to learn to invest in ourselves enough to hire coaches,
ask for mentors and create a support system that doesn’t turn us into strung-out loners.
3 - Success Brings Critics .
You can search the web and find all kinds of nasty articles, blogs, and television snippets whose sole
purpose is to trash teams, players, coaches, and fans.
Creative types sometimes try to play a game of ”not making people upset.” They contort themselves
into limiting boxes in hopes that no one will notice them shine.
It’s pointless. Snarky people are everywhere. They pick apart successful people because they don’t
know how to do it themselves. Keep your focus on your work in the world, and let the snarky people ruin
their own lives with their negative vibes.
4 - Have fun with ALL of it.
Michael Jordan tells a story of Coach Dean Smith in the final seconds of the championship game
against Georgetown. Carolina was down by one point. During his time out, Smith outlined the play, and
then paused and looked up at his players and asked, ”Isn’t this fun?”
I remember this when I’m frustrated at my writing, when I’m overwhelmed with ideas, when I begin
to think I should’ve gone to law school. Creativity is all about loving the unknown , being able to look at
it, and then ask yourself, ”Isn’t this fun?” Because you KNOW it is!
5 - Three-Pointers Can’t Make Up for Steady Performance.
There are times when one team makes a run and suddenly leads by 9 points. The other team, in
total panic, will try to make a quick come-back by rushing down the court and randomly shooting
three-pointers.
That’s because three-pointers are a seemingly quick way to get back on track. If they’re doing it
from desperation, it rarely works. That’s because they’ve stopped playing to win - and now they’re playing
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not to lose.
Creative types are often holding out for the ”big thing.” The Record Deal. The Gallery Opening.
Being on Oprah. Something - anything - to rescue them. They’re running around trying to get the
three-pointers. But it rarely works.
Nothing works like consistent, solid, steady forward movement.
happen, they’re just icing on the cake.
That way, when the three-pointers
6 - Passion is passion. (Swear words and all.)
I always crack up when the camera hits a coach after a bad call just as he’s belting out a stream of
profanity so articulate that even the blind can read his lips.
It’s a part of the passion. Don’t be afraid of yours!
7 - Keep Shooting.
In the last weeks of the 2009 tournament, Tarheel player Danny Green missed some baskets.
Well, no, that’s not true. He missed every basket he shot. Three pointers, two pointers, lay-ups.
The media went nuts.
tion.
Everyone was wondering what was wrong.
All kinds of drama and specula-
Coach Roy Williams’ advice to Danny?
”Keep shooting.”
And he did.
Within a few games, he was back on track.
Sometimes we’re off our game. The words don’t come. The passion is gone. We’re tired. Life bums
us out.
In those times, you can decide it’s all over, you’re washed up, nothing is worth doing anymore.
you can take Roy’s advice and keep shooting.
Or
—————————————-——————
Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her ’LiveCreative’ weekly ezine
with more than 11,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting
success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative at [1]http://www.christinekane.com/ .
1. http://www.christinekane.com/
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1.4.8
Redneck Rocket Stove (2010-04-10 18:50)
I’ve been interested in both solar cooking and the rocket stove, just to see how it would work and to have
something that we could use in the case of an emergency. The rocket stove is a small compact burning stove
that uses very little tinder and kindling wood. In fact you can cook and boil water in about 15 minutes or so
with just twigs, if you had to. In fact you could even used cardboard and other flammable bits if seasoned
twigs, sticks or cord wood was not available. They are in use all over the world as a great economical way
for poor and remote people to have a safe way to cook.
Well, this fellow, has come up with the Technical Redneck version and it’s SO SIMPLE!!! I think this
is what we’re going to try.
[EMBED] Maggie and I are going to make a solar oven this spring as well as a school project. After
seeing just how hot the cold frames get on a sunny day, I’m sure that with a bit more reflective effort, we
could do some cooking in the sunshine! How fun!
Rachel B. (2010-04-11 05:03:45)
I made a solar oven last year as a school project. It was fun and easy, but I never got to use it.
Toria (2010-04-10 20:56:51)
I’ve been fascinated by rocket stoves recently as well, since reading this blog entry on them:
http://huntergathercook.typepad.com/huntergathering wild fres/2010/03/rocket-stoves-keen-and-cunning.html I’ll
look forward to seeing how you guys go with yours.
1.4.9
Working round the Moby (2010-04-12 23:23)
Meet Ying and Yang. They are Japanese flowering Yashinto cherry trees. I think they will adore being in
these gigantic pots next to my front door. At least I hope they will. We gave them a good mix of compost
and soil, and got them situated and they look lovely there. I’ll be planting mint and a few little annuals in
the pot at their feet for a little variety, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do since I moved in!
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Speaking of flowering trees... the little Alberta peach tree is really growing nicely and has blooms all over
it. It’s so pretty. It’s sitting in the middle of our little rock and spring flower garden at the front of the
property. All around the bunny rock, the tulips and little hyacinths and daffs are blooming. They are really
so pretty.
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This morning, Jessy and I did a couple hours in the yard... mostly mowing and trimming for the first
time this spring. We also spread 6 large bags of mulch in the front flower beds and around the little apple
trees and brought in 5 big bags of composted cow manure for one of the raised beds on the south side. I plan
to get a couple yards of compost for all of the beds, but I had gotten 10 bags to dress up the big pots and
had 5 left to use up. Also did a little dog pickup... (eeeewwwww) but, hey, with a little space and a good
sized dog, it’s just something that has to happen pretty much every day or so or else we suffer!
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Tim’s coming over Wednesday to build the last three big beds for us! Yahoo! So exciting. And hopefully he’ll bring his little open trailer so we can go and get a couple yards of composted soil mix from the
local lawn place. I found a place right around the corner that has good quality compost mix for $14 a yard!
That’s a great price and I don’t have to deal with umpteen hundred plastic bags! Sweet!
I’ve got seedlings doing great in the cold frames!!!
The zinnias, marigolds, cabbage and broccoli are all doing great! They were up in no time flat.
The lettuce is sprouting fairly well, two boxes are doing great and the other three are just starting to
get their act together.
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FINALLY.... a have actually seen a tomato sprout... but still no peppers. The tomatoes are SO little
and delicate. I hope they do well enough, I’m so excited about all my heirloom and unusual tomatoes and
peppers! I hope I have several successful seedlings from each group. I planted 9 of each variety in the Jiffy
trays. I read in my book that they are both slow to get going, so hopefully we’re doing okay. It’s been about
10 days. But we had a couple really cold nights, three in a row actually and that might have delayed them
a bit.
Can you see the teeeny little sprout? It’s very small.
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The cold frames are really working nicely. The temps are pretty warm in the day and then it holds in
the heat way into the late evening. Even tonight, I went out to peek and the outside was very nippy, cold
enough for the furnace to kick on and inside the sunny south frame it was still 65 degrees in there. By
morning, it will be down around 50, but will warm up fast as soon as the sun hits it. I mostly worry about
the rainy days, when there is not a lot of sunshine to warm up the insides. But it has never gotten down
below 40 or so, not that I’ve seen it.
The seedlings can call the cold frame home until they reach about oh, 14-16 inches tall, so they can stay
in there a good long time to be honest. I’m in no rush to get them into the big raised beds. I’m hoping
tomorrow to get my strawberry bed in good shape and to plant the 25 new plants I have in the cold frame
hanging out. I’ve got a big of a weed issue in that bed, so I hope to take a good bit of time and really weed
it and then replant some of the big spots that I lost plants last year.
Well, I have a master plan and of course, I hope to spread it out and enjoy the work. I’ve noticed that
I’m still pretty tuckered from an hour or two in the yard, so I’m trying to make sure I do some work every
day to build up a little more endurance after the cold winter! My shoulders ache from the 40 pound bags
and my back is a little tense from weed whacking and of course, the back of my legs are all throbby and sore
from bending over and spreading mulch and tucking it in and around all the little plants and flowers coming
up. We raked up some dead grass spots and spread a bit of topsoil in preparation of a bit of grass patch to
go down. Feels good to lay down at night and feel your body complaining a bit and then relaxing in the nice
soft bed. Feels good. Good honest work. I love it.
Well... more to come!!! We’re just getting started!!!
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Rachel B. (2010-04-13 05:15:39)
My pepper seedlings are doing great and so are my lettuce. Your lettuce box seems a little crowded. When I did mine
I used the seed mat method were you mark a napkin with dots a certain space a part, dab a little bit a glue and place
your seed. Here’s the link http://www.agrowingtradition.com/2009/12/construct-your-own-seed-mat s.html
1.4.10
The Black Swamp Opry (2010-04-13 21:25)
Last Friday night we had a wonderful opportunity to be the very first band to play at the new Black
Swamp Opry in Defiance, Ohio. It’s held in a beautiful old church that is now owned by the community.
Great acoustics and nice people.
There were some beautiful stained glass windows in the church. Apparently the story goes that once the
church was no longer needed as a church, some fellow from town wanted the old windows and planned to
strip them and leave the building to be torn down. The town people said NO WAY... and went to getting
petitions and such to save the old building. Now the community owns it and they use it as a meeting place
and for concerts and music.
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Inside the building, it’s simply beautiful. And a great place to hear music. And a great place to play
music too!
We had a good show and the music sounded great. The people were super responsive and we are booked
back to play there in June. Can’t wait. Hopefully too, there will be more people, as this was the very first
evening concert and we know, with running our own Opry, that it takes a little time to get everything going
and for word of mouth to spread the news.
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You can visit their website... which of course, I manage! (haha)
[1]www.blackswampopry.com
And here are a couple videos of the gang as we had a great show there!
[EMBED] [EMBED] I played this song for my friend Davey... he loved when we played this song and
we dedicated it to him. He is missed...
Rob and Tim hanging out downstairs and watching the country karaoke music... fun stuff. I hope they get it all going on down
there. Should be fun!
1. http://www.blackswampopry.com/
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1.4.11
April’s Glass City Opry (2010-04-16 23:31)
It’s hard to explain just how neat it is to be a partner in such a cool thing... The Glass City Opry is
a premiere Bluegrass concert series that my partner and I run, here in Maumee, Ohio. We have national
acts come once a month and it’s really cool. I love it. It’s tough, but it’s a personal milestone in my life.
At the intermission, I was up on stage with Jeff, talking about the next shows and doing our drawing
for goodies from sponsors and I remember looking out into the lights and the dark theater from the big stage
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and thinking... oh my gosh... I can’t believe we’re making this work. 35 shows under our belts. Three years
in August. Wow.
I’ve gotten to meet some of the best and the brightest stars of bluegrass music... here... on stage, backstage
at our own place!!! Unbelievable. IIIrd Tyme Out, Michael Cleveland, New Found Road, David Davis, Ralph
Stanley II, and more. And this year is just going to be more and more stars... one of my favorite banjo
players of all time, Bill Emerson, a foundational member of the music, is coming in November! Can’t believe
it.
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It’s just unbelievable at times. Try not to get caught up in the sparkle of it all, but it’s really fun. I
wish I could explain how cool it is to be back stage and watching what is going on, to be onstage and hearing
the applause when people talk about the Opry and they love it, and all the hard work that goes into the
show. It’s neat. Enjoyable. I hope we can keep it going and hit 60 shows in a while...maybe even 100!
Sometimes it feels like one of those reality shows, and I can picture how it might play out as we’re all
rushing about and getting ready, some of the tense moments, like when a band member is flying in and late
for the show and we’re sending runners to get them, or when something goes awry, but thankfully, that is
really pretty few and far between... the show runs very smoothly. We’ve got super volunteers that help out
show day and make it all happen.
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And during the month, Jeff and I are pretty comfortable with running the day to day stuff, it’s really
gotten pretty routine by now. Press releases go out, newsletters, website changes, bookings, and that kind
of thing. I think we’ve finally gotten to a point that I rarely have worries or butterflies of nervousness over
show day.
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I’m just thankful for the experience and something to sit back when I’m a old bluegrass gal and smile
about the memories! Hopefully it will be on the way to see the 150th show at the Glass City Opry! That
would be a hoot!!!
Goofy... we’re drawing tickets for the prize and just kind of being silly onstage. The crowd loves that.
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1.4.12
My new desk buddies (2010-04-17 00:14)
Meet Lester. And he has a brother named Earl. Yeah, Flatt and Scruggs in gerbil form.
I got them about a week ago. I know, it might seem a little odd for a grown woman to want a pair of
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gerbils for her office, but to be honest, I’m a little odd and I just love gerbils. They are SO dang cute. And
I love how they work all the time when they are awake, they are an inspiration to me. I just love to watch
how focused they are on destroying cardboard. And moving litter about and searching for seeds and such.
Earl’s a little camera shy. I haven’t gotten a good shot of him yet.
I had an extra aquarium when Edward got his new deluxe large home and well, I was thinking... I would
love a pair of gerbs. I had gerbils when I was young and then when we ran our pocket pet rescue with my
daughter Maggie, I adored them then as well. They are SUPER easy to keep, just a little food now and then,
enough cardboard to chew up and make nests in and water. Being desert animals, they don’t create much
waste and you can let their litter go for weeks without a faintest hint of aroma. Super easy to take care of.
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Since I’m often up quite late in the evening, working on my empire, it’s cool to have them awake and
working on their own little bit of heaven. And it’s super cute to see them playing with each other and
running about the place. I can hold them, they are really pretty tame and comfortable with humans, but
I tend to leave them be for the most part. I just like to watch them while I’m working and they keep me
company.
Of course, the kitties are very interested and will stop by often for a little gerbil TV. But even Jack has given
up on watching them too much. He boinked his head a few times on the glass and now has given up on any
paws on interaction time.
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I guess if I can’t have hens or goats and all that right now, I’ll have to settle with a pair of gerbils, a
guinea pig, two ferrets, 3 cats and a big old loafing dog. Works for me!
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1.4.13
High cell phone bills? (2010-04-17 00:23)
Could it be that Jack has a girlfriend in Norway?
Hmmm......
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1.4.14
EASY Pulled Pork BBQ (2010-04-17 09:56)
We love BBQ and when the mood hits us, we love this SIMPLE and EASY pulled pork recipe that I
just made up awhile back and seems to please!
I get a nice sized pork sirloin roast. They are usually pretty reasonable in price. I actually look for one that
is a little more on the fatty side because it really seems to add tenderness to the pork. Pop it in a crockpot
with a little bit of water, and 2 cups of apple juice and a little bit of garlic powder and onion flakes. Cook
on slow for as long as you can stand it. I usually let mine go ALL day long, a good 10-12 hours and then
turn it off and let it cool.
Save the liquid, you’ll need a little bit later on.
Pull the roast when it’s cool enough to cut and pull. And it should just fall apart in your hands nearly.
Resist the urge to nibble because it’s that good. I chop and pull the pieces off and sort out any fatty bits
for Gypsy. She loves this step. Some folks just pull it apart, but I do a little of both. Chop and pull. You
want the pork meat to be bite sized and ready for the saucing.
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Throw it all back in the crock pot and then add a WHOLE smallish bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce.
We like a sweeter taste, so tend to use a honey BBQ sauce. Mix that in. I usually add a little honey as well,
and will use a bit of the cooking juices to thin it out a bit. Since you’re going to reheat it all in the crock
pot you don’t want to start out tooooo dry or it will burn. You want it to be a little bit sloppy, like a thick
cream soup.
Put the crock pot on low and simmer another 5 or 6 hours. I usually will make this in a two day stretch.
Cook the roast one day, let it chill in the frig and then get it going again in the morning on the second day.
Stir every so often to make sure it doesn’t get too dry, burning off the liquid. When it’s all done, you’ll
know. Serve on buns and you have some BBQ heaven right there in your own little kitchen.
I usually will put a little apple juice in my BBQ bottle and swish it around good to add every little delicious
drop of the stuff to the mix... just a little tip I suppose. Enjoy!!!
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Sharon Romine (2010-04-25 22:06:45)
Love your website, although I haven’t had time to go through much of it. My personal one is above, but probably learn
more about me from: www.sitkatravel.com, my business www.sitkagardening.com, my fun www.bonairejournal.com,
me sharing our diving.. anyway, looking forward to having more time on your site! Sharon
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1.4.15
South Side Raised Beds (2010-04-17 15:48)
Wednesday was the day, and of course, Tim was the one to get her done for me!
We got started early enough, went to the lumber yard and got the necessary materials. We are ultimately
going to put in 4 beds, but got the lumber for 3. The last one is going to be two probably, deep beds for
potatoes I think.
Tim brought his truck load of tools and such, because he never knows for sure what we’re going to be up
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for, so he’s ready for just about anything. He brought the trailer as well, since I was going to make sure we
got dirt and compost for the beds today, so that we wouldn’t have to make a two day event out of it. I’ve
been waiting a good long time for these beauties...
Decided that they would be 6 x 8 beds. Yes, 6 foot is a little deep, but I plan to plant the back half of the
bed with sunflowers and pop corn! So they will end up being more like 4 x 8 if you subtract that row of
plant life.
The day before I had a monster of a migrane and just could hardly function. Thankfully, those only come
around now and then and it seemed like almost a year since the last one. I actually didn’t make it to practice
and that was some serious headache. I’ve NEVER missed a practice or a gig, EVER! So you know, that was
one mean headache. Sitting outside the next day in the bright sunshine was still a little iffy for me, so I got
my shades and a lawn chair to chat and watch. Oh yeah, and some motrin. Ha ha....
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It didn’t take Tim long to screw together the beds. He did a lovely job, drilling pilot holes first then sturdy
screws... didn’t want to split the wood and all that. And then off we went to the mulch and dirt place. It’s
called Future Lawn and they do recycling for the county and have some very good prices on compost, top
soil and several kinds of mulch.
There were MOUNTAINS of mulch there, kind of neat to look out at the whole yard and see them. We
wanted compost and it was lovely! A rich dark mulchy compost of leaf litter and dirt and good stuff. Nice
and steamy.
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The first load we got was about 3/4 of a yard. That was what the little trailer could handle. We knew then
that we would be making several trips. Thank goodness it was only three miles from the moby, as we ended
up with 5 trips! 3 full yards of compost.
It took about a whole trailer load to fill one bed. We used some old leaf piles and other yard waste in the
bottoms of the beds and then filled them with the compost. They looked beautiful. I put my shoulder into
the job as well, and between Tim and I we actually unloaded 3,600 pounds of dirt!!! Oh boy, did I ache that
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night, but at least it was a good solid work-related ache!
I’d love to branch out into the neighboring empty lots but alas, it can not be unless I wanted to pay the lot
rent for them! We just got a letter throughout the park that people were not allowed to park cars or put
stuff on the empty lots. Which was a bit of a bummer as we were parking Jessy’s wagon over on the next
lot’s space. Now I had to move hers over to our first spot and part Gunnar in front of our moby, as that is
apparently our second spot. So I have decided that these side beds are fine, since everyone has at least a car
driveway width on either side of their moby lot and my beds only stick out 6 feet from the concrete slab.
I’ve noticed that in a park, the best thing you can be is quiet, tidy and keep to yourself and all is good with
the world. Being in the back of the park is nice too, and with empty lots on either side, it’s really pretty
dreamy for me.
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The last two loads of compost went to dressing up the existing beds. I got only topsoil for the first year’s
construction and I wish I had thought to get compost and soil mixed. It would have done better I think. SO
this year my plan was to get a good top layer of compost on all the beds. 2-3 inches at least. And we did.
Had plenty of the stuff left over after filling the three new beds. Enriching the soil is one the best ways to
help increase yield.
All is good with the world... the beds are ready, just really need to get by another week or two by the
weather reports. I thought about planting my onion sets today, but it’s really windy and blustery outside
today. And we might dip down to 36 degrees tonight. Last frost date here in Toledo is May 15th. I think
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I’m going to wait two more weeks before starting to plant some of the hardy seeds like peas and beans and
such. Just to be safe. My cold frames are doing great, nearly everything is up and growing. Just not the
peppers. Not a single one has broke the surface. I have read that peppers really like consistant heat, so I’m
just going to be patient. I can’t imagine that with 9 different varieties of seed, that all failed to germinate.
It’s got to be just a little too cold for them.
I’m definitely going to plant my strawberries in a few days and probably the new blueberry bush and grape
vines that I got. They are outside already and seem pretty hardy and ready to get started. Have it in my
mind to grab a few more raspberry canes because out of 9, 6 made it through the first winter and that part of
the fruit bed is looking a little thin. I’ll probably wait till the Mother’s Day sale at the Botanical Gardens...
it’s one of my favorite times of the year and for a good cause. Can’t wait! This year it’s going to be herbs
and raspberries that I favor and of course, perhaps another few iris plants because you can never have too
many iris. Just my opinion.
Rachel B. (2010-04-17 18:40:43)
Great! I wonder what the neighbors think. Haha.
Mobymom (2010-04-17 20:43:53)
My neighbors love it because I give them goodies from my gardens! :-)
Jessica (2010-04-18 10:42:11)
Don’t give up on the peppers- mine took about three weeks to sprout!
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1.4.16
Proud of my big kid... (2010-04-19 09:18)
My eldest daughter won an award for this photo, she calls ”Out Back” since it’s, ah, Out Back of our
Moby home, looking at our neighbors estate. It won the Owens Colleges Purchase Award, where the college
purchases one piece out of 200 in the student art show to keep in it’s permanent art collection!!!! HOW
STINKING COOL IS THAT?
Everyone else just got these little laser printed certificates and a handshake, just Jessy got MOOLA! (haha)
Kidding aside, it was a very nice compliment and now her beautiful photograph will be hanging somewhere
in the college buildings decorating a space and hopefully inspiring others. It’s such a cool picture, I’m not
surprised!
Here’s a few others she sent me of the pets and a few other shots that she’s taken and I just love. I
hope you enjoy them as well!
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1.4.17
My Lemon Trees Arrived! (2010-04-19 12:32)
FInally! My little Meyer lemon trees arrived! They are little for sure, but the large ones are very expensive and I think it’s probably better on them to grow up in the environment that they will live in. They
will be hardier and I will be more patient for the wait!
I’ve had two beautiful little pots waiting for them and as soon as the mailman dropped them off I had
them potted up. I hope they do well. The idea of growing these sweet little lemons in my own home sounds
really cool. If I can only keep them safe from the weezel duo of little evil diggers!
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1.4.18
Weekend Moby Garden Report (2010-04-19 13:42)
I think it’s time to start my weekend Moby garden reports! Things are finally started to bloom and grown
nicely... it was always fun last year to report on how things are going. All the spring flowers are starting to
bloom and that really makes my heart sing! I read about this lovely lady in California who started planting
daffodil bulbs at Lake Arrowhead in 1958 and now there are thousands and thousands of them blooming
each spring. It’s amazing what you can do if you just keep at it year and year.
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We’re up to about 400 planted bulbs so far, though I’m pretty sure that our little local squirrel friends
helped themselves to a few that were out a bit further from the moby. Of course, being a lover of purple, I
like the little hyicinths, they’re beautiful. But these multi-bloom daffodils are beautiful.
I really like when these red ones start to bloom. They are so beautiful when you look down in them.
The black is very impressive at the center of the bloom. I’ve got some purple tulips that are coming up this
year and they are very pretty as well.
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The apple trees are all blooming, and there are bees a plenty pollinating them! Yahoo! We might actually get more than just one apple this year! The blooms are all so pretty. Of the five trees, four are doing
wonderfully, but one is not thriving as well. We call it Little Sister because she’s the small little dainty one.
She’s got a little green growth and budding flowers but not many. If she pulls through this year, it will be a
miracle.
A lot of the 75 % off perennials are coming up strong! Yah! Around the big pine that we call the kitty
garden because of the little ring of vegetation that all the kitties like to hang out under. Even my lavendar
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plant is coming back up! I’ve never had success with lavendar before. It will be the first time I’ve ever had
the stuff come back after the first year! How cool is that?
Luna has been loving the thick mulch in the raised beds. I catch her in there digging and rolling a lot. Been
shooing her out because I really don’t want her in there when I get them all planted. But it’s funny to watch
her play in it.
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FINALLY!!!! A pepper plant has germinated!!! Just one. But that makes me thrilled... the others are
probably just getting ready to come out. The rest of the little cold frame babies are doing well. Lots of them
are good and strong.
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But the best report of the weekend has to be how well the wisteria is doing. Back in the old days, when I lived
in the big house, one of the first things I planted was a beautiful wisteria wine right up on the front porch.
We added some poles for the vines to climb up on and for the first couple years, it was doing wonderfully.
But then we lost the home and along with it a lot of the dreams and all the plantings and such. So
when I saw this wisteria last year in the discount pile, I was ready to start again. Planted it and hoped it
would make it through the winter and it did! It’s doing wonderfully. This year is going to be good for it.
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Best part of it, is that the vine has several pick clumps of flower buds on it! How neat! I can’t wait to see
how it blooms off. I’m sure it will look beautiful crawling over the little shed.
It’s been a little too cold to plant much outside but hopefully the next week or so will prove a little better
for planting. I have strawberries, grapes and onion sets to get into the ground soon. That’s the report for
the past week! Hope everyone’s week ahead is full of blooming springtime delights!!!
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1.4.19
Working on the Moby Farm... (2010-04-21 21:14)
My plan is to spend some serious time in the gardens a couple times a week. Really putting my back into
it, so to speak and really get something accomplished. Great exercise and I want to prove to myself that I
can keep everything running good and tidy. One of these days I’d like to consider a larger bit of ground and
such and if I can’t keep the little moby estate nice, how could I ever do it with a larger piece of land?
It’s easy to get yourself a little overwhelmed with commitments and day to day life. Next thing you know,
you’re letting little things slide. So it feels good to get out and mow, weed and water. And then stand back
and admire the handiwork.
We took the afternoon and got started on a few tasks. I wanted to spend a good amount of time digging through the strawberry patch. It had gotten very weedy over the fall and early spring. I got it all
weeded after a good hour or so. Once done, I planted the new strawberry plants and I hope they take.
The ones from last year they are doing pretty good. I was surprised to see how many baby plants that the
mothers had sent out. Hopefully these new ones will help to fill out the bed nicely.
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Got some good compost and mulch around them to help cut down on the weed hopefully. I’d really like to
see that bed all filled in good in the next couple months. Going to really work at keeping the weeds down
this year.
Jessy’s blueberries faired not as well. One plant is doing well, but the other two are really fighting to
survive. We cut back the dead wood and hopefully that will help them to devote more energy to the greenwood that is left. We got one new one to add to the bed, and hope that we can nurture that one a little
more this year.
Got two more grape vines to join our little french girls along the shed. Marie and Louise also look like
they didn’t fare too well, but when I clipped back some of the deadwood, I found green and little teeny buds
around the root. I think like many of the ’dead’ perennials, some of these perennial fruits need a year or two
to really set in and start to flourish!
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Maggie mowed the lawn for me, and it was funny because she was mowing I heard her singing at the top
of her lungs quite happily. It was funny because she thought no one could hear her! She’s such a fun kid
sometimes, when she’s happy, the whole world knows it, but when she’s not, well, the world knows as well!
Thankfully, she’s usually fair to middlin’ as they say and happy most the time. Still got to do a little weed
whacking... when you go and make a land maze of a small plot of land with beds and trees and all, it make
it a little tricky to mow in a nice even way! The little electric trimmer I got last year works like a CHARM...
and helps to keep things looking nice.
Jessy finished up packing orders and loaded up the car, and then came to join us. She was in charge of
planting onions in one of the south side beds. It’s the first official planting in the beds... everything else is
nesseled in the cold frames. But I think it’s safe to plant the first 100 sets of the candy red sweet onions we
got to try out! They looked super good in the catalog, and we’ll find out if they like the new sunny spot this
year. Last year our onions were planting in just a little too shady spot and just really did not flourish.
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The garlic is doing well, looks pretty cool. I’m thinking about digging it up and moving it to a sunnier spot.
Not sure yet where. But I’ll find a good spot. We set up the last 100 onion sets in a little basket of compost
and popped them into a cold frame to hang out for a bit until I have a good spot for them.
I’m totally surprised about the spinach that survived the winter! Some tough stuff for sure. I think I’m
going to harvest a few leaves for a salad sometime next week because that sounds delightful. A fresh salad,
with some fresh eggs and local bacon! How great that will be.
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Well, everything got a good watering in, all the new trees and plants. Everything in the cold frames is doing
well. Saw a couple new little pepper seedlings trying to get going. Thanks to everyone that has been writing
to me and letting me know that they had the same experiences with starting peppers from seeds. Sometimes
it takes even a month for them to actually sprout!
When we were all done, we took the orders to the post office for the day and the girls got ice cream at the
local Mr. Freeze and then we came back and just hung out in the nice little yard. It was a perfect end to
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the afternoon. Luna posed for me while I was out back looking at all the lilac bushes on our border with the
neighbors behind us. They are just about to start blooming like crazy! Can’t wait... Love lilacs!
Our own three little lilacs are doing pretty good and are heavy with blooms. They are only about 3 feet tall,
but they’ll do well this year, I’m sure of it. In a couple years, this place is really going to be nice. Can’t
wait.
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1.4.20
Hooking Wool Rugs (2010-04-22 22:40)
Well, yesterday, while I was working hard in the yard, just about the last few minutes of my work, I
himed when I should have hawed and pulled a wing muscle in my back! OUCH! Getting old is just no fun
sometimes. Well, I finished up and didn’t think a whole lot of it, until later in the evening when everything
stiffed up on me! A hot shower and some motrin did the trick and in the morning I was feeling a little more
chipper. So when the mail came and in it was the wool rag rug kit I ordered off of Ebay, to say the least, I
was eager for something to do that didn’t include digging and weeding for a bit!
I just love some of these primative looking wool rag rugs that I’ve seen throughout the years. And though
I have done my share of latch hooking, the wool strip rag rugs were also so, well different to me and more
intriquing. But looking around online and such, the kits were always SO expensive, like $50 to $100 just to
get the basics started. But I found this little starter kit with a pattern on burlap with a hooking tool, and
instructions and all the cut strips you need to make a little 8” x 8” sampler of sorts. It was reasonable, $25
and I thought it would be a good way to give it a try without gearing up and spending a small fortune.
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Well, the instructions were not bad, but they were just lacking a bit in detailed information to really get
going. I didn’t have a hoop or frame to keep it tight on, and I considered just waiting until tomorrow when
I could get to a craft store and pick one up. I have a few in my stash in the storage unit but it just seems a
little easier to grab a basic one at the craft store. (Storage units can swallow you WHOLE! Not to mention
drag you kicking and screaming down memory lane and when you’re all done, you have to bring home a
whole wagon load of stuff, wasted $5 in gas and a whole afternoon! HA HA)
I had a little picture frame and I gave that a try, trying to stretch it over and staple to the wood, but
my stapler did not have the guts to get it into the wood well, and so that was kind of a struggle. Since the
piece is not huge, I just resorted to doing it without and it didn’t take too long to get the hang of it. I will
admit, I dialed up YouTube.com and did watch a few videos online! I tell you, Youtube and the gang of
helpful strangers that are passionate about their crafts and hobbies... they all deserve some special spot in
heaven! It’s delightful to watch first hand, instantly how to turn a nice corner or how to keep your stitches
nice and even!
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Well, I had finished my goals for the day and had the evening free, so I dialed up Netflix to watch a couple
episodes of McLeod’s Daughters (WAY addictive homesteading/ranching soap opera from Australia... highly
recommended...) and in no time flat I was hooking along like a fumbling beginner but still, making some
inroads! I can’t wait to get a little frame or hoop that really works better! I’m going to go and dig up some
lillies from a friend’s overloaded beds tomorrow morning and will stop to get a hoop. I promise to go lightly
on the old back... I’ll bring my sharpest little garden digger and a big old bucket. Still pondering where to
pop these little lillies, but I’ll figure out a spot, maybe around the kitty garden.
In the meanwhile? I’m thinking that this rug hooking in my new knitting for the spring and summer!
I’m kind of funny about my crafts... I’m not much of a warm weather knitter or crochet freak. That is
definately winter crafting for me. I like sewing and fiber stuff for the warmer months, so this has been a fun
little diversion and something that I’ve been dying to try out! Can’t wait to do up a banjo rug!
Don’t laugh, you know I will! And chickens too! Sunflowers, banjos, chickens and gardens. I feel a super
unique design coming together sooooooon!
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1.4.21
Playing Hooky... (2010-04-23 23:16)
Yeah, yeah... I had to finish it! I think I need a 12 step program for crafting. I just love making stuff.
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Honestly. I actually got up early this morning and planned to run a CD of photos to a client and then dash
over to the craft store and see about getting a little needlework scroll frame. I had my trusty 40 % coupon
in hand and had searched all over the internet and had found frame for way too much money. I got a simple
laptop one that started out at $14 an ended up about $8. Not too shabby. And of course, when I got home,
I started to hook that little sampler rug. Thank goodness it wasn’t like some 50” by 28” rug or something!
I would be hooking for a week.
Nah... I have a bunch of stuff to do this weekend, some moby stuff, some work stuff, and some fun stuff. I
just couldn’t be sitting around hooking little primitive rugs! I do think I’m going to enjoy this though... and
I just adore the little sunflower, it’s so cute. I think it deserves a little pillow or something... wall hanging?
I’m not quite sure yet, but it will be finished into some cute for sure. Sunflowers are some of my favorite
images! And lilacs of course.
And the best thing? (Aside from Luna approving) I had some left over strips to start my own wool stash!!!
How cool!
Of course, while I was there, I had to look around some. I got a little bit of brown and black leather
cord for stringing up a few bead necklaces, and a little piece of doggy print fabric that will suit one of our
projects for tomorrow. I love looking in the descount aisle and seeing that is there. I got a cute little wire
and bead wreath in spring colors for $3.99. Looks just like my fall color one, but with greens and creams
and yellow. It’s just perfect for the moby door.
But the very best find had to be these crazy light up knitting needles!!! How crazy! Called the Knit
Lite and they say ” Knit Anywhere... even in the dark! Honest! They were originally $10 and marked down
to 99 cents!!! Oh my gosh, I think I have to go back and get a couple more because they are the FUNNIEST
things... the girls and I were laughing our butts off, playing with them. They look like weird little light
sabers! And they actually have a battery in them so they would last and last and you can change the battery
for years of fun!
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They look like little magic wands or something, they are just so silly. And actually? I think they would work.
For knitting. The light is pretty bright! They are fun to torture the kitties with, and of course befuddle
the dog. Part of the reason I think I’ll go and get a couple more is that Jessy learned this light painting
technique with her camera and these would be SO useful for them!
This is a random picture I found, but you can get the idea. These needles would be fantastic for it! Easy to
wave around and make a long exposure light painting.
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Jessy has made some really cool shots using little flash lights and glow sticks, but I think these needles
will be REALLY neat. Can’t wait to try them out!
As you can see... pretty bright. I might have to whip these bad boys out on a band trip late some night
coming home. It would be fun to see the guys expressions! HAHA... they will tease me for sure and of
course, I’ll be laughing as well because they are just so silly.
Well, unless it rains tomorrow, I think we’re back to some yard work and a little kitchen fun!!!! Stay
tuned for more wacky moby gal fun!
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1.4.22
Critter Cookies! (2010-04-24 21:03)
We’ve been planning on trying out a few homemade dog and kitty cookies and this rainy afternoon was
purrrfect to give them a try! It was so much fun to watch the livestock all the sudden realize that the cookies
were for them!
What could be more fun then making cookies with a whole can of tuna? You just have to remember not to
steal a bit of dough! haha... Yuck!
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Luna and Dixie suddenly got very interested and we let them watch. It was so funny to let them all be
involved in tasting bits of dough and smelling it and just watching carefully the whole process.
The kitties really liked the tuna cookies. We cut them in little 1/2 inch squares. I thought it would be fun
to have little fish cookie cutters! I wonder if they have them somewhere... that would be fun. And maybe
little bones or other fun little nibble sizes!
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Jack even came in to help test the recipes. He’s got a very discriminating taste, you know.
And the best part? Gypsy can tell you... she got to lick the bowl!
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Some of them even look good enough to eat! Of course, having mostly stuff like powdered milk, corn meal
and tuna in them, and not much on the sweet side, I’m not sure you’d really want to, but the livestock
around here is pretty darn thrilled about them!
We made up some little gift jars for all of our doggie and kitty friends! Of course, Bella has to get some and
our neighbor doggies Zena and Zoey have a jar too!
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Wheat-Free Tuna Cookies
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup oatmeal
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 small 6 oz. can of tuna in oil - undrained
1/3 cup water
Grind oatmeal in processor to make a coarse flour. Set aside. In the food processor, mix tuna and oil,
water then add the rest of the ingredients including oatmeal. Pulse to a ball, then knead for 2 -3 minutes.
Roll out to 1/8” and 1/4” thickness and cut into little nibbles/squares or shapes. Bake on a lightly greased
sheet at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes and let cool completely. Store in the frig because of the meat products
in it.
Crunchy Meat Treats
1/2 cup non-fat powdered milk
1 egg, beaten
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp honey
1/4 cup water
1 jar baby food meat (any flavor)
Combine all ingrediants. Will form a slighty sticky ball. You can roll out on a lightly floured board.
Cut out shapes or roll into little balls or drop small spoonfuls on a lightly greased pan. Cook at 350 degree
oven for 25-30 minutes. The treats should be hard on the surface and soft in the middle.
Woofys
1/2 cup of milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons of peanut butter
1 1/4 cup corn meal or whole wheat flour
Mix together in a bowl and stir well. Make into balls or logs or little shapes. Put in a 350 degree oven
and cook for for 20-25 minutes or until crunchy
Peanut Butter Dingos
1 egg
a cup of oats
3 tablespoons of peanutbutter
Mix together until all are coated and form a dough. If you need too, add a little more oats to make it
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nice and cookie dough like. Use your fingers and form little small balls, and then flatten. If you want, use a
fork and make those little cross marks. Cook at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Till crunchy and your
pooch can’t wait any longer!
Rachel B. (2010-04-25 10:43:59)
Every now and then I make my dogs pumpkin cookies and they love them! I also use to make them for my pet rats.
Here’s the recipe http://tinyurl.com/2dz5v5m
1.4.23
Neat Article... Urban Homesteading in SF (2010-04-25 13:26)
Haha... I”m cutting edge! Now everyone is doing it!
[1]http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/dining/23sfdine.html
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/dining/23sfdine.html
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1.4.24
No More Grocery Shopping for Me (2010-04-25 14:28)
It’s been almost a year since I stopped going weekly grocery shopping. And I’m so happy!
I’ve saved a ton of money and I know we’re eating better for it.
Before you all think I’ve totally gone off the rocker, let me explain. I have been to a grocery store here
and there and we are still eating regular food and such. But what I have done is to give up the notion that
I need to go to the grocery store once a week and get all the stuff we need to survive. We don’t do that
anymore. I have not gone to a store without a specific list or item needed at all in the last year. I have saved
us a ton of money, I’m certain. Our food bill for the month is less than $50 a week, sometimes it’s around
$30!
Here’s what we do and why it works so nicely.
Step One... Simplify. We ditched all the convenience food from our menu. No more tv dinners or pizza
pockets or premade cookies or anything like that. We try and cook from scratch almost all the time. I say
almost because there are a few items we had trouble giving up. Like crescent rolls! We like them with dinner
at times, and they are good for some fun recipes like our homemade baklava or fake chicken pie. So we do
use those. But that’s about it. Everything else, we either make or we go without. That was one of our
biggest savings in food. When a box of potato skins costs $9, or a package of cookies is $4, that can add up
FAST! And it’s so loaded with all this junk, it’s just dreadful. Who in their right mind would take a hard,
store-bought cookie over a fresh, homemade, chocolate chip one?
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It was rare to get out of the grocery store for under $100. Especially if I went to China-Mart or any
chain grocery store. And without a list or a menu plan, it was just a random weekly drain on us of things
that well, we just picked out with a vague idea of what we liked but not really of what we needed. And it
always seemed to include things that we may or may not actually eat before it would go bad. Every week I
was adding wilted salad and weird leftovers to the compost pile and that is just money lost.
Step Two... Make a dinner menu for the month. We sat down and came up with all the meals we like for
dinner. There were roughly about 13 things that came up over and over. They could have slight variations,
so we doubled them to 26 meals. We added a couple takeout nights (2) and came up with a couple special
meals/leftover meals and had 31 meals.
Then I made a simple form that has 1 through 31 on it. Each number/day got a meal, and it was posted
on the frig. It’s very simple. You see what day it is and that is the meal you cook. If everyone is gone, or
say the kids are at their dads for a specific day, then you get to freeform, which usually means leftovers or
maybe a treat dinner out with friends. If for some reason a meal can not be done (say the meat is still frozen
or you don’t have it) you can switch a day ahead and swap, but we rarely do that. Occasionally if we have
a meal that is just not going to work with our schedule, we might ditch it for leftovers or sandwiches. Very
flexible. But the best part is that I can look at it and set out the next day or two’s meat need in the frig to
thaw. Or make sure I get it from the local butcher we shop from.
Step 3 - Make a store shopping list.
I took all the stores that I want to shop from. Most are local, a few are chains and also the Farmer’s
Market in season and my garden when it gets going. I ended up with about 5 spots. And then I wrote down
the things that I get from each store. SPecific things. So that I know when I need lunch meat, it’s Monette’s
Market and when I need flour it’s GFS Restaurant Supply. And then I made a printable list for the frig of
all these staple, basic items by store.
Here’s my list to explain.
Monette’s Fruit Market
Fruit
Veggies
Deli Meats
Bulk Candies/Snacks (They sell bulk goodies like yogurt coated raisins and chocolate pretzels and other
goodies so we can get a 1/4 pound of this and that and feel like we’re getting a treat instead of buying a
high priced pre-packed bag of name brand stuff)
House of Meats
All dinner meats
Bulk Sausage
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GFS Restaurant Supply
Dehydrated Potatoes ( Hash Browns & Scalloped)
Flour
Sugar
Brown Sugar
Spices
Chocolate Chips
Soup Base
Gravy Mix
Pancake Mix
Bagels
Bulk Butter / Cream
Noodles
Foil Sheets
Aldis
Bag Snacks/Chips
Butter
Cheeses
Canned Goods
Boxed Goods (Crackers etc)
Condiments
Sauces
Paper Products
Rice
Crescent Rolls
Oils
Locally/Farmers Market/Fran
Eggs
In Season Fruits & Veggies
Now you will notice that stuff like cleaning products, personal hygiene, and paper products are not included
in this list. Like our food choices, we have simplified greatly these areas and also done away with the need
for like cling wrap and paper napkins, etc. But we still use toilet paper, shampoos and that sort of thing.
Once a month I head to our local owned Dollar Store and stock up on deals for that sort of thing. And
we really watch that we’re not overdoing it with too many lotions and potions and such. We are exploring
some new options for some of these things, like organic toothpaste and using way less foil and fancy cleaning
products.
When something runs out, say, flour. It gets marked on the list. When I notice it, I will do two things. One,
consider my schedule to see when I can stop at the store on a errand run and then I check the levels of all
the other things on that store’s list. If I’m low on brown sugar and also bagels, then I check those as well.
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When my errand matches that store, then I stop in. I don’t get anything but what’s on the list. And
I get the most I can afford and reasonably store. I’ll get the big 10 pound bag of flour and the 3 pound bag
of brown sugar and 6 packages of bagels (they keep great in the freezer) and I’ll walk out of there with a bill
for less than $20.
What I’ve noticed right away is that buying like this really bulks up the pantry fast. At first I was making a
few stops a week at the various stores. Now, I go to maybe one store a week, if that. Generally it’s the fresh
fruit/veggie store. And that is usually only because we like salads and fruit and they don’t last as long. I’ve
noticed that I’ve saved a ton, because these small pantry filling missions don’t allow me to wander about
and find stuff that we really don’t need or want.
Now every so often, a store will have a sale that is too hard to pass up. Like our butcher shop always
has one or two items that are dirt cheap to draw people in. It might be steaks or marinated chicken breasts
and the price will be super low. When that happens I really stock up. I’ll spend $50 or more and get
many packages of whatever is really good priced. And into the freezer they go. Of course, I try not to go
overboard because they tend to have something on sale every week and it rotates around. But by doing this
and stockpiling sales of products specifically on my store lists, we save even more.
And we take advantage of seasonal deals. LIke strawberries and blueberries for example. When our upick-it places are in the height of their season, I’ll go and get a good amount of that produce. Strawberries
for example, become a year of jam and also several big quart bags of frozen berries for one low price. We
still have blueberries for pancakes and muffins from last year! Just about the time they are available again,
we’ll be out.
I plan to learn to freeze and can more this year. Last year was my first try and I did the simple things, a
couple jams and a jelly cooking, frozen veggies, tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes and garlic new pickles.
(The pickles did not last long at all, they were gone in oh, a month or two! I definitely need to make more
pickles this year!)
I’m hoping to freeze green beans, carrots and peas this year, as well as can peppers and tomatoes in various
ways. I want to make sure that I do things that I know we’ll eat through the year. Sweet corn... I’m thinking
that in the height of summer when it’s like 10 ears for a dollar and super yummy, I’m going to give corn a
try at both canning and freezing.
Of course, if I don’t put up enough to make it through the year, I won’t fret. It’s not like we live in the
middle of nowhere and will die if we run out of food. But I like that we’re saving money, eating better, and
have a pantry that’s full in case of any dire situations that arise. If we had some bad weather, or a slow
couple weeks of sales, or even some political or social situation, we’d be in better shape then most of the
country, I figure. We’ve got about 3 days worth of water stored, and I’d like that to be a bit more. But food,
I’m sure that we’ve got a month or so on very careful rationing. That feels good. And it’s great too because
we don’t have to go on some weekly task of drudgery, slogging through the food store and having sticker
shock at the end. Usually, I can be in and out of a store within 15 or 20 minutes and with a bill that’s very
reasonable.
I hope this system of food acquisition makes sense and I’ve laid out my plan well enough to adapt for
your own family. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line!
[1][email protected]
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1. mailto:[email protected]
Rachel B. (2010-04-25 16:18:03)
You can probably cross off hash browns off your list. They’re super easy to make! I would suggest making your own
bagels as well, but I doubt your kitchen would let you. Homemade bagels are irresitable and the only ones I eat. You
could probably cross of pancake mix too. Just a few ideas. Two weeks ago I took over dinner two nights a week. It’s
nice cooking a meal. My mom usually just throws something together. Last week I made pizza with homemade sauce,
and chicken gyros. So good! I usually shoot for totally from scratch meals. This week will be Jamie Oliver’s Crunchy
Garlic chicken fingers, and probably a stir fry.
Rachel B. (2010-04-25 16:20:23)
P.S. I love Aldis
1.4.25
Mobile Homes and Solar Power? (2010-04-28 20:37)
Well, I’ve got it in my mind that a mobile home roof would be a perfect place for a couple of solar panels!
And I can’t find anyone talking about it anywhere. What is the deal with people and the stigma of mobile
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homes? Like no one would ever think of investing the money into a simple solar system to say, maybe power
lights, some appliances? Computer? TV?
Our electric bill is super cheap. About oh, $50 a month. But what that tells me is that we don’t draw
that much electricity and it would be easy to replace it or cut it back with just a few panels. Besides, I think
it’s super fascinating in a geeky way.
I understand how it works, sort of. Sun hits the panel, it’s converted to energy that is stored into a battery,
which is then used from the battery through some sort of inverter that makes it clean to use for some sort
of device.
Sounds pretty simple.
Seems like it gets a little more complicated when you start to tie into the grid and all that stuff.
I think I’m going to keep doing a little research and learn more. I ordered a little solar bug kit for me
and Maggie to play with. She’s my mechanically inclined kid and into science and such. I think it might
be a cool summer project for us to mess around. For some reason, we can’t get electricity to work in our
bathroom. I think it might be cool to figure out how to rig up a solar light for in there, at night time.
Something simple, with a darkness meter like those little garden lights, and powerful enough to run a decent
little light at night.
Well, always learning... it’s actually pretty nifty to try and learn a little something new and then apply
it realistically. And in the end, it might even save a little cash!
Anyone have any suggestions for cheap DIY solar?
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1.4.26
Frost.... again... (2010-04-28 21:34)
Issued by The National Weather Service
Cleveland, OH
10:56 pm EDT, Wed., Apr. 28, 2010
... FROST ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM EDT THURSDAY...
A FROST ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM EDT THURSDAY.
SKIES WILL BE CLEAR OVERNIGHT AND WINDS WILL BE LIGHT. BY DAYBREAK TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE IN THE MID 30S... WITH WIDESPREAD AREAS OF FROST.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A FROST ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN FROST IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP DURING THE GROWING SEASON. THOSE WITH AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS IN THE WARNED AREA ARE ADVISED
TO HARVEST OR PROTECT TENDER VEGETATION. ALSO... POTTED PLANTS NORMALLY
LEFT OUTDOORS SHOULD BE COVERED OR BROUGHT INSIDE AWAY FROM THE COLD.
Everything in the coldframe is doing pretty well, even the peppers are finally starting to sprout. And the
days have been pretty nice and tempting... making me think, maybe I could start planting beans and peas,
maybe a few other things, but tonight is a warning. Last night was cold as well.
No... just have to wait another week or so. The tulips are just starting to really bloom nicely and the
big mature lilacs are just starting to bloom. My new lilacs close to the moby are still not blooming. It’s just
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a little early to really start planting outdoors still.
That’s fine... Maggie’s birthday is tomorrow and we’ve got a few projects still on the books to finish
up. Jessy is done with her classes tomorrow and that will be lovely! Summer break for her. Maggie will be
done in one more month with her K12 experience and then we’ll be going back to traditional homeschooling.
(Long story... but it’s the right move for us!) A nice settled life is coming back for a few months and we’re
really looking forward to a few less schedules to have to jog about. Our business slows down a bit in the
summer, at least for May and June, and that’s nice really. Gives us time to work on the garden and to get
some fun in. Work on a few new products for sale in the late summer and to get things nice and caught up.
In Toledo here... last known frost date is May 15th. But most folks feel safe around that first full week of
May. For me, I know as soon as the Mother’s Day sale at the Botanical Gardens is here.. it’s time to start
planting! May 6-8th... This year I’m going to be looking at more iris and herbs! That’s my plan. So frost
away Mother Nature! Your days of cold are limited...
April Taylor (2010-04-29 19:45:56)
I love reading your blog !! We are also remodeling a mobile home. Your looks alot better. WE still have to put siding
on ours. Your yard is beautiful !!! Come visit me.. [email protected]
1.4.27
Transformer Small House (2010-04-30 07:25)
[EMBED]
Rachel B. (2010-04-30 11:56:53)
I could never live in that small of a space.
1.5
1.5.1
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May
Water Woes.... (2010-05-02 10:35)
This is why having a week or two of water in your pantry will make you a happy person.
Boston declares water unsafe for 2 million people...
[1]READ THE ARTICLE HERE...
I’m not worried so much about the end of the world and some sort of dire nuclear twilight civilization
because I know that I’m not that kind of Mad Max individual that would function well as a member of that
club! But, stuff like this, where you’re really inconvienced over a weather situation or perhaps a mechanical
failure like this water main, or even a war or a terrorist act, then I am a bit more content that we’ve got a
nice little stash in the works. I know I need more water, we’ve only got about 3 days worth. After waking
up and see this article, I think I’m going to make it 5 or 6 now. Just cuz....
1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_water_main_break
1.5.2
Bluegrass Saturday Night... (2010-05-02 11:18)
[EMBED]
Last night I got to go and see Don Rigsby and the Midnight Call, one of my favorite bands, play at
a little old barn in the middle of nowhere, Ohio. It’s the best way to experience bluegrass if you ask
me. Surrounded by lots of awesome folks, hugging and talking and eating good homemade chicken and
dumplins and being close up and friendly with the band. I almost didn’t go... I will admit it. I thought
about just staying home and all that stuff. I do that sometimes, because I’m not one to go to these
things by myself. Yeah, I’m weird like that. It’s not that I won’t, it’s just that if I gotta drive an
hour or so and all, to get there, I would rather go with a friend and enjoy the whole evening together.
So when Tim was
over Friday helping us with rocks and CDs for the business, and he said he wanted to go... well, I had my
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companion for the evening! Yah! And I’m so glad that I went! This video here is from my request!!! He
said, sure and kicked it off. Working on a building is one of my favorite songs he does... I’m going to make
sure I get to more bluegrass events that I’m not playing at, more often... because this was a fun evening and
I really enjoyed myself....
And just to prove that I LOVE this song.... here we are doing it.... can you tell which national artist
influenced our version???? Of course, I’d love to be able to hold the high notes like Don does, but hey, I’m
working on it.... It’s hard!
[EMBED]
1.5.3
Maggie’s Birthday (2010-05-02 22:43)
Hard to believe but my baby is now 16.
for no one.
Yeah, not sure how that happened...
but well, time waits
We surprised her though, and had our long time friends come over for cake and ice cream, games
and Chinese food! She had no idea. Maggie is not big on parties, so she had said she wasn’t looking at some
big party so Jess and I just played along and told her we’d just do a nice dinner and maybe a little cake or
go out for ice cream and she was happy with that. She was sure surprised when everyone came over. Even
her Dad was in the ruse, and was there at the first and she was super pleased and excited. It was delightful.
For as long as we’ve been Toledoeans... (is that a word?) my kids and our friend’s kids have celebrated birthdays together, at least some little get together. Because the younger ones, Maggie and JB are
in the month of April and the old ones, Sarah and Jessy are in the month of June. So it works out nice, we
find some point between the two and just have a little get together. Dinner, cake and usually some games...
like Mah Jong or Settlers of Cataan.
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Right now, we’ve found a new game... it’s like Settlers, only a bit less demanding and quicker to
play rounds. We’re sold... it’s called Carcassone and it’s named after a French town. It’s a tile game that
you draw land tiles and place them to get points by building little Medieval cities and monasteries and the
likes. It’s very addictive and fun.
Maggie got a lot of nice things from all around, a new spooky story telling game, some books, a few
checks, some new jammies, a lovely birdfeeder, a neat book about making sock animals and more. She got
a whole bunch of 50 cent pieces from her old mom here... because the kid loves coins and is saving up a
whole giant glass pig of coins for some special plans.
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One of her birthday books intranced her so much that she read the whole thing in a good long day
and night... a first for Maggie and I was so proud of her! She is my daughter after all! (ha ha ha) Honestly,
it was a wonderful thing to see her finally getting into books and getting lost in them. She’s had a lot of
difficulties and this is a major plateau for her! One of many great ones to come!
Maggie’s birthday was Thursday and then all weekend she was working on the sock animal book...
and I just have to show off some of her first attempts! She gathered up some of Jessy’s old silly socks and
then spent a little birthday cash at the dollar store to get a few more to play with. She’s trying some of the
patterns out with older socks and then plans to make some others with the new socks.
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She worked all weekend long and this is her first little collection! They are SOOOOO cute! She got
a little grab bag of buttons at the craft store today and they are going into the projects to make them just
adorable! It’s a great book and she’s teaching herself to sew with it!
Aren’t they silly and cute??? I love the little piggy!!!
Maggie’s doing great and she’s just going to keep doing better and better. It’s tough on kids when
they fight autism but it’s just something that makes little milestones like reading a whole book through and
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teaching herself to sew that just really make my heart sing. I don’t care if she ever makes it through college
or if she wins the Nobel Peace prize or if she gets a high paying exec job. I know that she will keep learning
and growing and reaching those milestones, maybe not as fast as some, but trust me, she doesn’t give up
and she’ll make it there eventually.
She told me later that evening, that it was the best birthday ever!
And i believe her.
1.5.4
A sign for Fran (2010-05-03 14:01)
Fran and Wes live around the corner and down the street from me.
They bought a lovely little 5 acre homestead and I’m so jealous.
I have Barnheart very bad and I so want my own little homestead with chickens and an orchard
and woods and a big garden and flower beds and just room to do whatever we want. Shade trees and just a
cute little house, room for a few sheep and a goat or two, and maybe even a steer and pig to fatten up each
year. Lawn for the dogs and a place for my work yurt.
Yeah... perfection.
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Well last time I was there, Fran had hung out her egg biz sign and well, it was a good sign, but a
little on the small size. I thought as I pulled away, content from visiting the hens and our order of eggs safe
in the back seat, that she needed a nice big old colorful sign. And well, if I can’t hang out my own shingle...
I might as well paint up one for Fran and Wes!
I had in my mind’s eye the perfect sign... something bright but not tooooo crazy, but something
that might catch the eye of the passerby. Yellow... and purple and maybe some white and red... yeah....
and I could see the type across the top, I’m into type.
So piece of board in hand and some paints ready, I started it last week. Probably should have
painted the background first, but I wasn’t quite into my sign groove until I had already done up the
lettering, so I just painted around it all.
I debated with myself for a few hours over what kind of hen to adorn the sign, but in the end, I
decide that a good old white hen would stand out best and folks from the road would quickly see it was a
chicken. If I had spent all that type working on some fancy or rare breed, it would be lost on about 95 % of
those seeing it anyway. So a happy dancing white hen it was!
Even sprayed it with a couple coats of gloss finish to help keep it around for awhile. I know it will
eventually fade away and all, but it might last a while. I hope so, everyone that’s seen it thinks it’s cute.
Fran liked it too!
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Well, we gave a call and she was home so off we dashed to get some eggs, visit some chicks and
spend a little visiting time. Jessy and Maggie came along and Jessy took over the photography for me...
even with my camera she can capture stuff that I just don’t get. She took some cool pictures!!! We ended
up walking around the place and went way in the back and it was just lovely... checking out the plants and
trees and just enjoying the first sunshine of a good few days!!!
We brought our bag of bread rinds for them and a few odds and ends that the girls just love. And it was a
lovely visit... Fran had some little butterfly weed plants in a little pot for me! How cool... can’t wait to find
a sweet little place for them.
It’s sure nice to have someone so close that we can go and visit and get a little taste of what we’d
like someday! They lived in a moby like us for 14 years before going to the 5 acres... we can do it too! So
many opportunities and everything in due time!
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By the way.... does anyone know what kind of bush this is? We think it’s some sort of honeysuckle... as
there are wild honeysuckle on the land but they are all purple and look a bit different. There are three large
bushes like this and they look a bit different.... anyone know? Fran would love to know what they are!
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Carla (2010-05-05 08:42:41)
What a nice thing to do for Fran and her egg layers! :) The sign is lovely.
Toria (2010-05-04 03:22:19)
That’s a lovely looking sign. What’s the scale of the flowers? If you were thinking honeysuckle, I’m guessing it has
a scent. Maybe a jasmine? We have a night scented jasmine that has yellow flowers shaped like those, but they are
very small flowers. Do you have a very good garden centre nearby? One that has horticulturists on staff? Take some
of the plant to them - flower & leaf - they might be able to id it for you.
ohiofarmgirl (2010-05-04 06:36:03)
WOW! what a beautiful sign! and lovely pix... lemme know if you ID that honeysuckle.. we have a ton of it. Happy
Tuesday!
Crazy in Alaska (2010-05-10 11:21:21)
Love the sign! I want! Great pics as well!
1.5.5
Bad Bottled Water (2010-05-03 18:25)
[EMBED] I must say... our tap water here at the Moby is truely fine. It’s the best tasting water I’ve had at
a home in many years. Not sure why, but we find it to be perfectly fine. We fill our own alumium bottles for
taking on the road, and we have a jug in the frig that gets emptied nearly every day. And we use our own
water in our own pop from Soda Stream! Now, I have noticed that places we go to play music at, they often
give bottled water to the performers. I’m going to try and remember to bring my own aluminum bottle and
refill it. But that’s just me.... I know we do at the Opry. But there is always a bunch of them left behind, a
sip or two from them, etc. I wonder what would happen if I set out a big glass pitcher of water and smaller
cups for those that just want a sip, not a whole bottled water. Hmmmm..... I just might try that! We can
do both and see what people choose. I wonder....
Rachel B. (2010-05-03 19:44:12)
I need to start filling my aluminum bottle again. I’ve been using a pastic on that I found for 50 cents at the thift
store. My tap water tastes just fine. At work we have the 5 gallon bottled water but the bottles are recycled and I
believe the water is local but I’m not sure.
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1.5.6
Puppy Love (2010-05-06 22:48)
Guess what we have at our house.
It’s about 5 pounds of love.
Yep... Jessy got a new little cutie pie puppy.
Her name is Eevee and she is a Red Tricolor Australian Shepherd. She is stinking cute.
We’ll see how cute she is at 5 o’clock when she wants to go out!
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1.5.7
Day One.... Puppy Video! (2010-05-07 15:07)
[EMBED]
1.5.8
101 Things to Do in 1001 Days (2010-05-08 13:17)
I found this cool project online... it’s called the ZeroDayProject and basically it’s a goal tool to help you
achieve your dreams and goals. It’s free and pretty cool. It’s hard to sit down and make the list, but I
managed to. You log in and check stuff off as you finish and achieve it. The idea is that you’ll do better
with a bit more time than a year. Kind of like a bucket list. I’m always a goal oriented list maker so this
appealed to me.
You can visit the site at: [1]www.dayzeroproject.com
MOBYMOM’S LIST
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This list of 101 goals was started May 08, 2010 and is scheduled to finish Feb 02, 2013.
1 Become debt free
2 Raise Chickens
3 Pay off my Car
4 Finish my 101 List
5 Get my house super organized
6 Learn 50 new licks on the banjo
7 Learn to play in D better on the banjo
8 Record a CD of all our own Songs
9 Finish our music publishing website
10 Start promoting our own music/songwriting
11 Plant my gardens for this Spring
12 Teach my wisteria to climb up the shed
13 Get my car back
14 Organize my kitchen clutter better
15 Install a real bathtub in my Moby
16 Put up molding in the living room
17 Put up molding in my bedroom
18 Sell my extra guitar
19 Get better on the fiddle and play with my band
20 Visit my Dad in Florida
21 Take my girls to Herkimer New York
22 Go on a circle trip around the Great Lakes
23 Replace Girls Carpeting
24 Camp at Milan Bluegrass Festival this Year
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25 Have Hot Licks wholesaling everywhere
26 FInish Fiddle Licks - Volume 1
27 Finish Mandolin 1 and 2 Licks
28 FInish Banjo key of C licks
29 Create Timeline Download Product
30 Update Master Planner
31 Revamp Master Planner Website
32 Revamp Bluegrass Kids Website
33 Revamp BuckeyeBluegrass website
34 Revamp Michigan Bluegrass website
35 Revamp Indiana Bluegrass Website
36 Finish Creative Writing for Kids project
37 Create 5 more Journaling Habit Books
38 Finish Canada History Scribe Product
39 Finish Canada History Handwriting Product
40 Add mulch to last two flower beds
41 Get Taxes all tidy and resolved
42 Have a Emergency fund of $1000
43 Get 200 to the Opry every time
44 Go to Kendallville
45 Go to Grey Fox
46 Put weed block fabric in all raised beds
47 Stain and Seal all the raised beds
48 Create Old Hippy Website
49 Add shutters to last south window
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50 Make cool poster for the opry
51 Make national sponsor package for the Opry
52 Outline my moby homestead book
53 finish deepwater recordings for demo
54 get zebra printer to work with computer
55 sew bandana quilts with girls
56 get zen cart running
57 make Toledo PR email list
58 venue meeting start up
59 clean and backup my computer
60 write a letter to k100 about bluegrass radio show
61 help Jessy set up her photo business
62 make rock and mineral catalog
63 update all the Pennyroyal photo albums
64 catch up photo albums for opry
65 make garden signs
66 make poly clay garden tags
67 get flea prevention stuff from the vets
68 make photo dvd for opry
69 get 2 rainbarrels
70 add a gutter to moby for rainbarrels
71 rock birthday party book
72 banners and page for screen printing
73 get Hot Licks newsletter going strong
74 learn to sew jammy pants
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75 make a rug strip stash holder
76 get all song bits off my phone
77 plant my new Mother’s Day plants
78 sign up for a pottery class
79 Find someone close
80 Learn more about kid’s trust
81 Buy land
82 Move Moby to Land
83 Fix my Bike
84 Get nicer lens for camera
85 Get a Canon GL1 or XL1 video camera
86 Figure out my mom
87 Write out a family history book
88 Write a moby homesteading book
89 Go to IBMA this year 2010
90 Visit Lynda
91 Go visit Donna at the Farm
92 Swim in Lake Michigan on holiday
93 Scrapbook regularly
94 Graduate Maggie
95 Get a Huber banjo
96 Gross $100,000 in a year with company
97 Publish article in Mother Earth News
98 Add a deck to my Moby
99 Install new kitchen cabinets and counter to Moby
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100 Actually grow Meyer Lemons on my trees
101 Loose 100 pounds
1. http://www.dayzeroproject.com/
Toria (2010-05-08 15:02:45)
Good list, nice mix of easily achievable & ambitious.
1.5.9
101 Things about Me (2010-05-08 18:35)
Well, it’s been a 101 day. HA HA HA... So I decided to complete the 101 things about me list as well. I’ve
seen it on blogs and such and actually, it was really fun to think about and write. Now you can know some
of my inner most secrets in life. Like # 21 and of course.... # 28 and don’t forget.... #30!
I didn’t want to make it a post, so it’s in the About Me page of the blog...
[1]You can click here and go read all about it! Or about me... really...
I tried to be honest, and those of you who know me most, well, don’t get ticked off at anything I wrote. I
don’t think you will be, but hey, well, you never know. I didn’t name names... so I suspect I’m safe there.
If you have a blog or just want a little self visualization experience... I highly suggest doing a 101 About Me
list... it’s fun!
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1. http://themobilehomewoman.com/?page_id=2
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1.5.10
Monday Morning Cute (2010-05-10 12:10)
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Of course, for a night person... getting the 7 am puppy shift is hard on grandma. So I laid back down
when the puppy batteries ran down. When baby sleeps, everyone sleeps!!!
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1.5.11
Weekend Recap... (2010-05-10 21:04)
Every Mother’s Day Weekend, the Toledo Botanical Garden has it’s Plant Sale.
And every year I love to go.
It’s not that big of a deal, really, I mean, as shows go, it’s not huge. But I just love the tradition and
I really like that the plants are all good and strong plants from the various members yards and such, so they
are well suited for our area. And it’s fun to wander through and look at the beautiful plants and pottery as
well, from the local potter’s guild.
The girls always like to give me a little Mom’s day gift of some spending money and I just love that.
Gives me a reason to splurge a little more than I might. Right now our flower garden space is getting a little
packed, so I’m more picky and careful to find really nice specimens!
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It started out all dark and rainy and I was afraid that we might be rained out. We had a special guest with
us, Miss Earline, and we met her there to go through the offerings together. Jessy and Maggie came along,
as is tradition, and we brought little Evee with us.
We didn’t know that doggies were not allowed and about half way through our visit, Jessy got banned
to the car. But I think she didn’t mind too much because she was still super excited about her little baby
and this gave them a little alone time.
This is my haul from the show... just a few beautiful specimens!
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I had to get a lilly, so I got a lovely purple one called Purple Mountain Lily... I suspect it will bloom
much like a D’Oro lily, but, well, not yellow and purple. Thus I hope! And I got a really neat hosta... it’s
quite tall and smaller leaved. Really neat. I’m not sure of the name, but I’ll find out. And I got a nice
little Huechera, as well as a hardly little lavender plant as well. I’m so happy, my lavender from last year
is actually growing again!!!! I’ve never been able to get lavender to regrow! I always kill it. And it’s so sad
because I love it so!
I’m very excited about this hosta. Perhaps more than anyone should be... haha... but still, hostas are really
neat plants. There are so many varieties and most of the ones I have so far are big leaf specimens, one or
two are striped. So this fancy one really will stand out. It’s a bit too cold to go outside and get the tag...
but I’ll try and remember to post it’s name when I get around to planting it this week.
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This huechera is suppose to have little soft purple flowers, which I thought was a bit odd, since most I’ve
seen have been white. We’ll have to wait and see. I love the play of darker colored plants in among all the
vivid greens. It’s neat to see the different palate.
We had to wander through the pottery offerings and normally things are a bit out of my comfort zone, but
this year they had a table of just odds and ends... mostly things that the potters were playing with and
testing new glazes and such. This little dish really caught my eye and then I saw that it was only $2! How
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neat! So it had to come home with me as a little stuff collector on my desk. I really love these natural and
free form glazed pottery pieces. I would dearly love to get back into the whole art of pottery and I hope that
this summer I might be able to. The gardens are only a few miles from my home and they offer classes and
open studio time if you join, so I just might do that!
We had a lovely little visit and walk and then we headed home to grill some hot dogs on the grill before it got toooo rainy again. I had a bluegrass event to attend that evening and sure enough, it really
poured and thundered just about a half hour after I got there! Thank goodness... it was so strong that here
at the Moby, it blew the screen door out and into one of the little cherry trees so hard that it broke the
bottom of the door! We can fix it and the tree seems to have survived, but it was a heck of a thunderstorm!
Of course, this weekend was filled with our new little puppy, Evee. Jessy has been wanting her own little
pup for a long time, a dog that she could use with agility competition, since that is something she loved
doing with Dingo, but unfortunately, he has too many issues to really compete ever moderately seriously.
(He was a pound puppy that was abused and he is not good around other dogs... he’s just very scared and
then acts on his fear-agression and is just not a real team player. He’s quite happy being a single dog with
Jessy’s father.)
Speaking of Dingo... he came over to spend the night because his Dad was going out of town. And he
was fairly well behaved. He wasn’t quite sure about Evee, but he was pretty sure that she was quite beneath
him on the whole temporary pack pecking order thing.
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He was even caught setting next to her when she slept. But not for very long.
He was pretty good at trying his best to intimidate her and solidify his place in the middle of the pack.
Of course, Queen Gypsy is the supreme ruler of our little pack of 3. Well, 2 and a half. Dingo rarely stays
longer than a bit. Dingo was puffing himself up and pretty much being self-important and Evee was pretty
much ignoring him. It was pretty funny. She very much respects Gypsy and stays clear of her, but Dingo,
she started to chase his tail and grabbed his leg at one point and that was just about enough for him to
endure. He snapped at her and really scared the little dickens. He was sent to his crate, further making
him disfunction I’m certain, but he does need to understand that it’s one thing to do a little lip service or a
warning growl, but snapping is bad, especially a little pup. But, then, that is one of his problems.
Evee recovered pretty quickly and stayed clear of him the rest of the evening. I thought it was pretty
funny though, that in the morning, when every beast was eating (spread out a good deal of course) he left
his bowl to slaunter near to Evee’s and check out her food... and she didn’t even look up from her little bowl
of puppy chow and gave him the fiercest little puppy growl I’ve ever heard! It was good to see her stand up
to his bully ways. He backed right off and stayed clear of her as well for the rest of his visit. He was very
very happy to leave the two evil little bitches and go back to his bachelor pad!
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On Sunday, we had a nice relaxing day, made a nice brunch and just hung out... later in the afternoon our
friends came over and we all played our new tile game and just had a healthy snack adventure. We decided
to try and eat good, and had some veggies and dip as well as a few chips and such, and of course, had to get
a little Mom Day special brownie treats in the mix! All fun stuff!
We’ve all had a run for our money with the little Aussie princess... she’s only 6 weeks old and really needs
pretty much constant attention and watching over. Of course, she’s not potty trained yet, so we are working
diligently to make sure that she has a good solid routine in place and that we are trained at the very least!
She’s not perfect, but luckily, she’s not bad. We’re setting her up with gooood behaviors and patterns and
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we hope that in a couple weeks she’ll really get set in her ways. It’s great to be here most of the time,
working from home and all, makes it a lot easier.
Right now, as I write, she’s zonked out in my comfy chair in my room. She has had a lot of excitement the
last couple days, meeting all her new doggie friends and our friends, and just learning the lay of the land.
Gypsy is comfortable with her, but not super ready to be best pals yet. It’s funny, she’s really happy to see
Bella, her little Italian greyhound friend, but the puppy, well, she’s a bit more reserved about her. I think
it’s her age. Bella is small, but mature. Evee is small and goofy, bumbly and not really advanced in dog
social life yet. In the house, Gypsy would rather not be around her as much. She will remove herself from
the room if she seems Evee getting toooooo goofy and playful. And if she’s laying down and Evee comes
bumbling and bounding over too close, she will give her a low little rumbly growl. But then she does that
to the ferrets and the kitty if they get too close when she’s napping. She takes her napping very seriously.
Now outside? Different story. She doesn’t mind at all that Evee bumbles after her and will try and get
her tail and all those cute things. In fact, Gypsy was on the other side of the yard and the goofy pup
stumbled funny and yipped that puppy panic sound and boom.... right away Gypsy was around the bush
and right over to see what had happened. I think perhaps outside is different and she’s happy to be out and
in a better state of mind to accept the playful antics of her little pal. I suspect as well that as Evee gets a
little older and a little more mindful of her place in the pack and such, Gypsy and she will become better
friends. It’s only been a few days, so I don’t expect super bonding and over bounding friendship from the
two. Not yet.
But it’s good to see that Gypsy is protective of her, and has not snapped or been harsh on her. She’s
more like an elder aunt that never had kids... she likes the idea, but she’s not quite sure how to deal with
them day to day. She just has to be eased into the whole situation a bit.
Of course, Gypsy is getting lots of love and attention and treats. She’s not being replaced in any manner! She is an old lady and time is catching up with her, but she’s hardly ready for a hole in the yard and
goodbyes! We really hope that her having a companion in her twilight years will help give her something
to do and will help to teach the pup some of her calmness and wonderful good old dog ways. I think it’s
already working, because they trot out the door together and piddle together and of course, each expect a
treat at the same time. It’s cute to watch them figure things out.
Well, that was my wild weekend! I’ve got a wilder week ahead... three gigs! Shesh! Tomorrow is the
first one... an outdoor concert at the Otterbien Senior Community. And then Coonhunters on the Friday
and the Toledo Humane Society on Sunday! Crazy bluegrass week!!!
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Just a litte update.. Dixie Kitty is doing fine! I had a friend ask about her and I know I’ve had a email or
two about her. She’s finally growing back her hair and no longer needs a collar or anything like that. She’s
very susceptible to fleas and we’re very diligent on that front. In fact I just ordered some of these newer
pills called CapStar... they apparently are wonderful at ridding your critter of any of the little nasties and
then you can break the cycle in your home with conventional methods of vacuuming and using some sort of
preventative care. Can’t wait to see how it works, I really checked it out and it seems to be a great addition
to our arsenal. I hope this year is not nearly as bad as last. Last year was dreadful, it was the first time I
ever had such a problem here in Michigan and Ohio. Now I remember issues a long time ago in San Diego,
as nothing really kills the little dudes off, but here, in Ohio, I’ve never had problems before! I don’t want to
have any more problems again!
Dixie and Luna are sunbathing here... staying away from the little Aussie terror that seems to think they
need to be herded!!! She’s definitely got the herding genes... she LOVES to chase and push back the ferrets
and it’s amazing how well she can do it in her little pudgy puppy foots!
Hope you all had a lovely Mother’s Day and a nice weekend!!!
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1.5.12
Rough Dog Days... (2010-05-13 00:01)
Well, today was not a good dog day. First thing this morning, I noticed that Gypsy did not want to get up
and go outside. Highly unusual for her. I had to coax her up off her couch and then I noticed that she was
super stiff and sore, and was limping on her right foreleg. When I started to check her out, I noticed that
some sores that she had gotten on her snout and head were much worse and not healing. She had taken off
on me about a week before and wandered about for a good hour till we found our wandering Gypsy. Then a
day later I noticed that she had a couple scrapes on her and assumed that she might have gotten into a fight
with another dog or something. It’s not like her at all, and I was very surprised to see these wounds. But
there didn’t seem to be any other reasonable explanation, so I cleaned them and watched them for a day to
see how they would heal up.
But they were getting worse and now she had them on her legs as well, so it was getting obvious that
something else was up, so I called and made an appointment right away for her.
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Gypsy and her brother take Best of Breed in Cleveland, Ohio, 2000
Well, got there, had to wait a bit for an emergency, and we settled in and waited our turn. Got to see our
nice vet and had a very through checkup and exam. Did the black light test and it seems that my dear old
lady has gotten some sort of fungal skin infection! Not sure just what, but apparently it glowed slightly and
that means something bacterial and so they took some samples to culture it and see just what might the
culprit. Now it could also be something internal, as in an auto-immune situation, but we’re hoping that it’s
more outside related, ie., an infection of some sort.
Now, the lameness... the vet checked her hips and found them to be in great shape for a 13 year old
dog. No signs that she could detect of displasia or anything like that. I’m very glad for that. Her breeder,
Pat Johnson, was a wonderful lady and her dogs were all simply stunning examples of the breed. Gypsy
could have been a contender, I tell ya... she could have made the big time if I had been a better handler...
but she did pretty darn good, and had 7 or 8 points to her credit towards championship.
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More old show photos and ribbons from her show days...
She had her hips x-rayed and tested back when she was a young lady and she was fine, so it was great to
hear that she wasn’t showing any signs of displasia. However, she has arthritis in her knees and elbows.
And that is what is throwing her off and bringing her up lame. There are some options, and first of all, our
vet wants to do some glucosamine supplements for larger dogs and sent us home with an expensive bottle
of those. Which of course, Gypsy will not take. I’ll be grinding the tabs up in her food to get them in her!
Doctor said it was fine. Just gotta get them in her. If that doesn’t help out, then we’ll be looking at some
steriod shots and other things to ease her pain and help with the lameness.
Poor old lady. She’s really looking a little ragged, limping and all scabby. Poor thing. Her spirits are
high and she was happy to go in the car. I got her a cheeseburger for her good behavior! It’s a huge reward
and something she really enjoys. Yeah, perhaps not the best for her, but she really needed a very special
treat. Not feeling good and having a bumbling puppy around as well that wants to play and sleep with
her and be around her constantly. Having to endure the testing and poking and prodding of the vets. She
enjoyed her burger with great delight and got some good one and one time with me while we waited for the
vet.
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Gypsy’s first best of breed win in Saginaw, Michigan, 1999.
Well, got home, got Gypsy settled and started her on her meds. $172! Yikes! Thank goodness she’s not had
to go to the vets for anything much more than shots for years, she’s been in good health. Brought home
some puppy wormer as well... because guess who also wasn’t feeling good. Yes, Princess Evee is definately
got a bit of puppy worm problems. Sounds yuckier than it really is, but I have read that 95 % of all puppies
have worms and you just treat them for a few weeks and all is well. Okay. So we get the medicine and she
won’t take it. Mix it with some food and she won’t take it. So we get out the little med syringe and get a
dose in her. She’s not happy, but seems okay. I had to go the post office and drop off some newsletters for
the Opry and when I get back, Jessy is upset, because Evee is puking and had passed a nasty bit of evil from
her little puppy backside. Check online and it’s a common reaction so we make her comfy, clean up after
her and she gets babied to the max from Jessy. All evening long the poor little thing has the dry heaves and
won’t eat or drink anything. Finally get her to sleep and then Gypsy retches up her meds. It is just a fun
fun day at the moby farm.
Shesh.... call the vet, everything is fine, split the dose on Gypsy to help her keep it down, watch the
pup for violent vomiting or a few other signs and make an appointment in the morning for the pup. Princess
Evee seems a bit calmer this evening late, but won’t drink or eat. Gypsy got her half dose down and kept it
fine. Of course, a bit of hot dog to get it down helped a great deal with the antibiotics. Hopefully I can get
a half dose in her breakfast of the joint aid.
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They were so cute this morning, before all the medical chaos began... sitting on the couch together while I
washed up the dishes. Evee was being careful and not her normal crazy goofy self and Gypsy was fine to
share her couch with a calm pup. They are actually getting a lot more comfortable with each other, which
is good. Hopefully, in a few days everyone will start feeling better and that will help as well. We’ll know
in 3 to 5 days what the next steps are in Gypsy skin issue, and most likely a medicated shampoo will help
with the oral medicines. In the meanwhile, some good thoughts for my old lady and her new little sidekick
will be much appreciated!
Geriatric pets are hard on a person... I was sitting there waiting and thinking, I just don’t have that
much more time with this beautiful soul of a dog. Her breed just really doesn’t go much past 13 at all. The
average is 12.8 years... and the longest lived on record is 18 years. She’s 13 and has been doing pretty well,
but some of these issues are just a precursor to the enviable. But right now, things are going to be fine when
we know what is up and get it treated. And in the meanwhile, we’ll just love her up and treat her like the
queen, and enjoy the time left.
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In the meanwhile, Evee is learning that living here at the Moby farm means learning to pose and get your
picture taken. A lot. Often. All the time. And its good that she’s so adorably cute right now. She really
knows how to work the camera!!!
1.5.13
Sick Puppy (2010-05-13 14:55)
Evee’s at the doggie hospital and has to stay overnight.
Jessy is really worried and sad, and we’re trying to stay busy tonight.
The little pup started to just crash, she’s not eating or drinking, and she’s just having a rough time. Thank
goodness the parvo test came back negative, so hopefully she’s clear of that, but in the meanwhile, she’s got
to stay and get IV fluids and a very strong worming med. She has round worm and hook worm. It’s very
apparent that the folks that sold her to us had not done anything in the worming schedule for pups and
most likely, the rest of the litter is sick now. Not pleasant.
If you have a little room in your thoughts and prayers, would you send a few along for Jess and her little rug rat? We’re gonna need them, to get her feeling better and to pay the bill! And after just spending a
good deal on Gypsy the day before, this is really hit us hard. We’ll make it, no worry, but still, just tough.
We were leaving the vets and both of us were a little teary... told Jessy that it’s both scarey and wonderful
how much you can love a little cutie pie of an animal in a heartbeat. She’s in very good care and our vet
even happens to be on call tonight so she can check on her and stay with the whole night through. We’ll call
in a few hours and see how the first round of fluids did to help her out. They’re doing some blood work as
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well to make sure she doesn’t have any sort of infection or that sort of thing.
Poor little Evee baby.... and Jess too!
1.5.14
Puppy Update (2010-05-13 21:23)
Jessy just called and checked on the pup... she’s gotten two pouches of puppy juice (fluids) and they
just got her to take a few tablespoons of puppy chow mush. They said she was getting loved on by everyone
and that she was being a little more alert and responding well to the treatments. We’ll be calling in the
morning to see how she is, but I hope that she’ll be coming home with us soon. They want to make sure
that she gets back to eating a little more regularly, and drinking on her own.
Sound good and we’re waiting on some bloodwork as well to rule out any sort of infection that might
need some antibiotics or other treatment. They just wanted to make sure that her white blood count was
normal, not low or elevated abnormally, to indicate something else was wrong.
It’s good, but cautious news and hopefully in the morning we’ll know a little more. The super kind folks at
Sylvania Vet are really doing a wonderful job of taking care of little princess Evee.
1.5.15
Puppy is home... (2010-05-16 21:30)
Just a quick update... Evee is home, but she’s very weak and sick. She spent three days at the hospital and
started to turn a corner towards the positive responding to some of the care. But as little pup, she needed
a lot more touching and holding and comfort so that she wouldn’t just kind of waste away or give up. She’s
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still not eating a lot on her own, we need to feed her, but she’s drinking on her own and sleeping better now.
Someone has her all the time and she is very content to snooooze a good time and heal up. Jessy is very
happy to have her home and in her care.
It’s been a hard week, and also thrown in the mix I had three gigs this week and we’ve got an Opry
tomorrow. Got another gig on Saturday coming up, so it’s been a wild month. I’m hoping that Wednesday
and Thursday will be nice days and I’ll be able to get a little time off and do a bit of gardening and yard
work. We’ve got rain coming Monday and Tuesday and then again on the weekend, so that’s about all the
time I’ll have. It’s been still a bit cold and so rainy, so I’m not too worried about getting the garden in full
tilt. The stuff in the cold frames is getting really big and doing nicely. I’ll shoot some photos real soon!
1.5.16
Well... all is well... (2010-05-19 07:03)
Nope, we weren’t invaded by revolutationaries, nor did indians attack our living room.
We have a perky puppy that is feeling better after almost a week of being very sick and is making
up for lost time.
We finally had to set up a barricade in the living room to have a little safe spot for the little rug
rag to wreck havoc on her own!!!
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Hard to believe that a 4 pound puppy can cause this much craziness! I haven’t had a pup around
since Gypsy was a little rugrat 13 years ago! I forgot that puppies are like little spastic wind up toys that
go and go and go and then conk out for a half hour to recharge and then are up and at em again. And little
Evee is SO feeling better now.
I’m glad to report that she is FINALLY eating on her own. Consistantly. Last couple meals, no
hesitation. That is a HUGE corner to turn on getting her back to normal. She’s still skinny, and we’re
working on that, meals every 4 hours and kibble snacks available all the time. She’s drinking much better
as well, more then just a little half hearted lick or two that she was doing before.
And she’s playing hard, and chasing the kitties and the ferrets and bothering Gypsy and chewing on
stuff, anything, and just playing hardy with her toys and with us at any chance. She’s braving my super tall
grass, and loves to go outside and wander about. She’s really getting better all the way around. Another
few days and I suspect she’ll even be off the last of her meds to keep her system doing well. I am so relieved.
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We had a little sale through our customer base, a sort of emergency fund for us and a great discount for our customers. We mentioned WHY we were doing this, not to whine or place any guilt, but
to just share that it was a bit of a hardship we were dealing with. The vet bill was... well, you can only
imagine. Suffice it to say, it was my lot rent... times 2! And we still have another visit and Gypsy’s issues
to deal with.
But what I so cherished was all the nice and supportive notes that folks sent to us, just sweet thoughts
and positive thinking, it was overwhelming at times. I wrote back and thanked folks and sent out pictures
of Evee... and people are checking back in. I love dealing with all the people that come and buy our
homeschool products and rocks and the music things. They are all SUPER special in our hearts and I really
thank you all for helping us get through this little tough bit. And I know folks really loved that 30 % off
everything, really makes for a win win situation. I hope I don’t have to have such a thing again, but it’s
very comforting to know that people love to help and care enough to not be upset or feel pressured at all.
It was never our intent, and we didn’t receive a single email that was upset or felt awkward.
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Puppy batteries running down...
Well, today is going to be yard day, so I should have some lovely shots and some updates on the
newly emerging moby farm gardens! Can’t wait! It’s FINALLY not raining.. we’ve had SO MUCH rain!!!!
My grass is like 12 inches tall! I need a cow or a sheep or something to crop it down. We’re going to bag it
and compost the stuff, it’s so high. WIll be a good addition to the compost pile. Gonna weed and get down
the last of my raised bed fabric as well.
I decided that I was going to put down some 5 year fabric. It’s the cheapest and lightest of the fabrics and I hope that it will give me a little time to get the dirt in the beds really good and weed free.
Because I used screened topsoil last year (kind of a mistake) I have super weedy beds. We weeded and
weeded and weeded, but still, it would get away from us and robbed some of the enjoyment factor.
I read a lot of folks that said it was a good idea for the first couple years to use the fabric and basically kill of the stray weeds and such, while adding good compost and building up your soil. The stuff will
biodegrade, I made sure of that, so I think that it will be a good thing. I wanted to doing everything super
simple, but weeding is just not a fun chore and I want to enjoy my beds, not feel that I’m loosing the battle.
So.... anyway... I’m almost done with my crazy week plus of bluegrass and sick dogs and the Opry
and rain, rain, rain. Got one more gig on Saturday and then it’s a little time off from music... for a week
or so. The weather is FINALLY starting to warm up enough that I can maybe get some more plants in the
beds. Right now I only have onions and garlic and some cabbage seedlings that a rabbit has been working
on. I may need to put up a little fence to stop him from killing them all.
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1.5.17
Hanging out at the Puppy Corral (2010-05-19 20:24)
Take one goofy pup that is feeling her oats finally and is ready to be a little terror and decide after several
run-offs that you need a little safe spot in the yard for her.
Go and get a bit of garden green wire, oh, 15 feet or so, and make a little shaped pen and pop her down in it
and sit nearby with a camera and a cool drink after working on the yard and enjoy her playful puppy antics.
Oh yeah, add Luna.
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And Gypsy. Because as much as she doesn’t like to bothered with the pup, she is very protective of all the
moby livestock.
Oh yeah, and she’s there because she heard there was going to be food. Puppy food. Which she has
learned that messy puppies rarely eat all their chow and big black protecting aunts get to eat up quick when
no one is looking.
Luna has figured this out as well.
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Have a nice time, hanging out, playing with toys, and being a little more safe. Evee is quick, and if you turn
your back and do a little gardening or just walk here or there, she’s liable to decide she wants to check out
the neighbors or look at the cars or play with tulips in the front. It’s a big new world and she’s gotta check
it all out.
Luna decided it was time to leave when she found out all the puppy chow was gone.
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Doesn’t she have nice jumping form? I wonder if there is a cat show jumping competition... she’d really do
well. I caught her in mid flight!
Then Edward has to come and join the party. He likes to be out in the grass and sunshine. He doesn’t mind
dogs at all. Gypsy just figgers he’s another of the livestock responsibilities that she has.
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Evee has never met Edward yet. They are being formally introduced here.
”Evee, Edward. Edward, Evee”
Evee is not sure what to think of this latest varmit in the collection here at the Moby. She LOVES the
ferrets and will herd them around and tussle with them. The ferrets are surprised that anything would
actually tussle with them and are a bit repulsed by the idea. But with that strong herding instinct in her,
Evee is fairly gentle, but persistant and likes to follow those fuzzy ferrets around in the living room.
And it seems that she’s figured out guinea pig herding as well.
Much to Edward’s annoyance.
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Edward sought the protection of his mom and they sat and had a nice time, nibbling clover and keeping a
goofy pup from invading his space.
We thought about getting a big puppy corral and all, but at $75 to $100 or more, it just seemed like
overkill. Once she gets a little bigger, it will be easier to have her out and on a leash, or hanging with us.
Aussies are very good at heeling and following and already she’s good at it. But she’s also very interested in
the whole new world, and at 3 AM and it’s raining, it’s a lot easier to have a safe place for her to go and do
her duty, then to be trying to find her in the dark.
Don’t ask me how I know that.
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1.5.18
A few garden shots... (2010-05-19 21:14)
The pair of cherry trees in my huge pots are doing great! They are filling out nicely and don’t seem to mind
being in the pots at all. I had to move some flowering plants at their bases because a certain annoying cat
thought they would make perfect scratching posts! She has been banned from hanging out near the trees.
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My hostas are going nuts with all this rain, they love it. They are HUGE! Way bigger than your hand.
Can’t wait to get in there and mulch and pull a few weeds and make that bed look tidy. Have to plant my
Mother’s Day sale plants too, somewhere! Not sure yet where, but I’ll figure that out tomorrow.
My three lilacs, close to the moby, are blooming nicely, one a light violet color and the other two are much
deeper in color. They have really filled out nicely and I’m sure they will keep growing nicely this year. The
butterfly bushes are doing well, too! I’m sure they will be loaded with blooms.
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Chives are setting flowers and I’m going to harvest them tomorrow for my first Moby garden haul. I’m
going to chop them up and freeze half and dehydrate the other half with some other herbs that I’m trying
to grow this year.
I decided that I wanted to try a few herbs this year. I’ve done chives in the past, they’re easy, and a
box of oregano, but that’s about it. I’m not a big herb user in my cooking, but I’d like to change that. So I
have made a list of a few herbs I’m going to try this year.
Sweet basil, rosemary, lavender, catnip, oregano, chives and mint.
I know there are a million others out there, but those are it for this year. I plan to gather the flowers
of lavender for a little wreath and perhaps as inclusions for my soap. And the catnip, well, that is for our
various felines this year. Basil and oregano I want to use in my tomato sauces and as a pasta addition. Mint
for my tea and I’m going to use the chives on potatoes and in soups and such. Rosemary, also for soap
inclusions as well as for baking chicken or grilling. I might even try and do a little olive oil infusions with
the rosemary, I’ve heard that’s a great way to use the dried herb.
In the cold frames, I’ve had some successes and some failures. Tomatoes and peppers are doing pretty good.
The best and most advanced tomatoes are Pink Ponderosa ( a gift packet of seed!) and Delicious. Most of
the peppers are doing fairly well, however there is one variety that I think I only have one plant, so I need
to go out and see which one it is and perhaps start a few more of that variety.
My broccoli seedings are really puny and not too exciting. I think I’ll have to go with sets from the
nursery store and then in summer I’ll sow straight seed and see how that goes in the cold frames to extend
into winter.
Cantaloupes are hanging in there and I have some cukes that are giving it a good try, but I let them
get a little water when it was raining on Tuesday and forgot that a lot of my trays have no drainage holes
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in the bottom and they were very waterlogged when I checked them this morning. I remedied the situation
and hopefully they will recover. I think so.
Ready to start harvesting some leaf salad real soon! Edward has been getting a few leaves of our salad boxes
and he is VERY fond of it. I’m waiting to make a little spinach and leaf lettuce salads with some hardboiled
eggs from Fran’s hens and some local bacon and a little homemade dressing on it... that is going to be a
WONDERFUL first meal off the Moby farm!!!
I”m so excited! Both of our grape vines survived and are putting out leaves. I thought they were pretty dead
looking at the end of the winter and a clipped them back to see what would happen. I almost forgot about
them since they were mixed in with some tall grass, but today after I weed whacked and Maggie mowed and
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Jessy stripped out the dead tulip stalks, I found these two growing happily along! I might go and get one
more to fill up the area between them, and to see if maybe we’ll get some more grapes this year!!! Our grape
jelly was a big hit and it’s all gone. I definitely want to make more this year and I believe we are going to go
to a local pick your own place that has Concord vines! I might even try and make a couple bottles of home
brewed sweet wine but we’ll see... might just make grape juice!
I’m really using great restraint when I go to the hardware joint. I really am. I only came home with a 9 pack
of broccoli starts and a sweet basil plant and a nice full rosemary. These and a few flowers for my window
box, and those few Mother’s day plants, that’s been it. I am trying to do my whole garden from heirloom
seeds this year and I think I’ll be about 95 % successful. A few broccoli and a couple herbs to get me started,
that’s about all.
Now, I did see that they had all their remaining fruit trees on sale for only $6 each! I thought about it
all afternoon and I just couldn’t stand it. I’m going to go and get a pair of pear trees for the south side of
the moby. And a replacement apple for the little one that didn’t really make it. I wish I could get a pair of
fruit cherries, because my front door trees are only flowering. But the fruit cherries are $29 bucks each and
you need two... That’s a bit much. I think I might plan instead a picking trip up into Michigan, since it is
the cherry capital of the world! I love cherries, but my kids are not that keen. That’s fine with me, because
I plan on canning at least a half dozen jars of cherry pie filling and freezing a bunch as well this year.
But those pears are calling me.... and they even where LOADED with fruit! So was the apple! Of our
4 remaining apples, 2 are loaded with apples this year, easily over 20 apples on each tree. The other two are
doing okay, but they just didn’t bloom as much and I don’t see but one or two budding babies on them. But
that’s okay, they are doing well. I don’t expect to see the fruit around the Moby mature for another year
or two. Strawberries are setting nice fruit but there are only about 30 plants or so out there. Raspberries
are the same way. Growing, but certainly not overwhelming their beds at all. I might plant a few more
raspberry canes to fill in where a few died, but we’ll see.
I was talking with Maggie and we might add a second pair of fruit trees right at the ends of her bird
feeder bar. I think they would look lovely there, especially blooming in the spring, ad the birds would love
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the additional perches and such. We would loose some fruit, granted, but not that much. Besides, we can
share. And it would probably attract some neat birds that like fruit too! We had a couple orioles last year...
they might like fruit trees near the feeders this year!
I’m very interested in creating a sort of permaculture of fruits and perennial herbs and flowers. I’ve already noticed that we have quite a few toads, snakes, squirrels, birds and bunnies visiting our little moby
lot! Way more visitors than when we first moved in. And I like the idea of having fruits and such that bloom
every year without a yearly investment. It’s a good thing.
Well, that is the state of the Moby gardens at the moment. Not super exciting. My onions and garlic
are doing nicely, they are planted and doing their thing on the southside. I forgot to take a picture of them,
but to be honest, they are not that exciting looking yet. They kind of look like weeds, just a little bit. Once
I pop a few tomatoes in the bed with them, it won’t look so, well, weedy. Or raddish and carrots... not sure
yet. I might just make that bed all root veggies. But then, I might not. Not sure yet.
Tomorrow I plan to get all the fabric in place and plant some beans and peas and maybe transplant a
couple of the bigger tomatoes and see how they fair. It’s not been below 32 degrees and frosting for about a
week now. But it’s been a little chilly. I could stand to loose a few pink Ponderosa and Delicious as I think
I have about 12 plants each easily! I have a baggie of Hyacinth beans and I’d love to plant them somewhere
cool. Still pondering where they might really enjoy growing. I might plant some near the shed. And a few
on the southside as well. We’ll see!
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1.5.19
Playing Puppy... (2010-05-22 08:24)
[EMBED]
1.5.20
Another Puppy Video (2010-05-24 19:45)
[EMBED] Okay, okay... I just can’t help myself! As a new grandma, I just have to post videos of my little
grandbaby! HAHAHA.... She’s doing SO well now, she’s gaining weight and growing and playing hard, just
so much fun. Okay maybe not at 3 AM, but hey she’ll be out of this stage in now time, so I intend to enjoy
it!
1.5.21
A day at the Moby Dog Spa (2010-05-24 20:34)
Today was spa day here at the Moby... for our livestock. Mostly Gypsy. You see, a week ago, I noticed that
she was having a skin issue, and at first, I thought she might have gotten into a tussle with another dog as
she had escaped a day or two before that. Her snout and top of her head had some scabby wounds on her.
When I noticed the next day that her legs and paw pads were affected as well, I took her in to the vets.
They did a skin culture and put her on some short term antibiotics just in case it was an infection, or
they suspected ringworm! Highly contagious! Oh my! I’ve never seen that before, nor had a pet with
anything nasty like that.
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If you are not one to like icky pictures, scroll down a few shots.... it’s not pretty.
Well to make a long story short... she has something called sebaceous adenitis (sometimes called granulometous sebaceous). Okay. It’s something akin to seborrhea in humans, but this is a dog thing. I was worried
it might even be mange, but it’s not, thank goodness! Apparently young dogs and elderly dogs tend to be
more at risk of it, but there are even some breeds that are more prone to it.
The vet wanted to start a fairly expensive sounding treatment and to be honest, I’m just about tapped
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out of vet money, so I started to poke around on the web. The one thing that I read over and over was
that it was mainly a cosmetic condition, that generally it was not painful or itchy, just kind of vaguely
uncomfortable. It can get bad, but generally at this stage it’s not tooo bad. She just looks ucky.
Well I kept noticing that folks were treating this condition with over the counter Selsun Blue shampoo,
then a rinse of hydrogen peroxide and then.... Bag Balm. Yep, that medicated cow udder cream. And most
said that within a treatment or two, there was major results. I knew I would have to clip her down, because
Belgians have this super thick undercoat that makes it hard to even get down to the skin! At the vets, that
clip down alone was expensive.
Since it looked like the vet solution was going to be expensive with a lot of medications, I thought, I
would give this internet cure a chance and see how it worked. I certainly wouldn’t want to compromise her
health or put her through any discomfort or pain, but this seemed to be fairly straight forward. So I went
to the store, got a $10 basic clipper, some shampoo, peroxide and the Bag Balm. $30 bucks.
And we got started. I never thought there would be SO much hair on a dog!
This was only one of four different clippings! Honest! It took almost four hours with a few breaks to clip
her down! And even then, her coat was not super short, but definitely much much shorter. She looks like
a weird black wolf with like mange. Okay, hardly a flattering picture. More like a weird black shortcoated
German Shepherd. Yeah. We told her that going into the dog witness protection program was the only way
for her to be safe. She just looked at us with this pathetic look saying, I’m covered in scabs, you just cut off
my coat and I think if I have a chance, I’m going to go in the woods and crawl in a hole for a month. My
beautiful show dog of years gone by... a victim of my own weird coat shaving.
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In my defence, I must say that the second side of the dog looks MUCH better after I got my mojo on with
the clippers. I think if I shaved a couple more dogs I might actually get the hang of it! HAHAH... Sorry
Gypsy!
Once outside, she was pretty happy and ran around a bit and did some good rolling in the grass. I brushed
out some of the thick coat areas and the girls got the bath spa ready to go.
I left her tail intact and I think it sort of looks like a pony tail. I always wanted a pony!
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Evee was following around and watching the whole thing with great fascination. She’s not too keen with the
hose yet, but Gypsy loves to play in the water. Jessy gave them both a good play time before bath time.
Evee was so busy watching Gypsy get washed that she didn’t notice that the little tub was ready for her!
So pathetic looking, isn’t she? She’s not too thrilled with being wet yet. But she’ll get there. With all the
gardens and Gypsy around, she will learn that hose play in the summer is a lot of fun.
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Gypsy loves to use the hose waterpik for keeping her teeth nice and tidy!
Since we have bad fleas in our area and thankfully, so far, we’re not infested, we decided that the kitties needed a quick dunk for the start of the season. We have some of that CapStar treatment as well, so
we gave them a quick dunk and they’ll get the CapStar tomorrow and then a bit of Frontline afterwards. I
do not want to recreate the efforts of last year. I wish there was a better way, but around here there are
so many half-feral cats and other critters that it’s really tough to stay flea free with dogs and cats that are
outside critters. I’ve read that aggressive vacuuming is a very good way to keep the population down. It
breaks the cycle by sucking up the critters and their eggs. Also we don’t have a lot of carpeting, and I think
soon we’ll be pulling up the girls carpeting soon and laying down a wood floor as they would like. That will
help as well.
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Luna may LOOK like she’s sitting and enjoying the tub of suddsy water, but to be honest, she’s about 2
seconds away from launching herself from the side and disappearing for several hours to make little kitty
voodoo human dolls to torture us with. She wasn’t too thrilled.
Gypsy and Evee hanging out afterwards and comparing notes on their experiences. Afterwards, we hung
outside in the nice hot near 90 degree sunshine and played toss the stick and such with the canines. It was
important that Gypsy skin get a chance to dry up nicely, to help dry up some of the scabs and such. She did
some good grass rolling and running about. She looks so odd to me! She looks like a weird black Malinois,
the short haired breed of Belgians! Or like a weird buffalo dog. I know her coat will never really grow back as
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nicely, and I wish that I didn’t have to clip her down, but to be honest, she had some matted areas that we
clipped clear and boy did she like that. I itched her real good and she was thrilled. As she’s been aging, her
hair has become more difficult to keep nice. She has arthritis in her knees and she doesn’t like you grooming
around her back legs much. This was a nice clean cut to get that area nice and in better grooming. In a day
or two, I’ll probably do a little more clean up trimming, but Jessy, I and Gypsy were getting very weary of
the clip down, so it is what it is for today.
Once she was good and dry, a few hours after her bath, we got out some treats and some towels and the
can of Bag Balm. All we needed was a few candles and some New Age music in the background and our
girl would have gone to sleep she was so relaxed. Instead she just laid there as we rubbed and massaged
all her ucky spots, groaning and moaning like only a shepherd can do when they are happily in a blissful
moment. When we were done, she got some treats and she laid there in the middle of the room for a good
hour or so, snoring and happy. She’s a little greasy looking as we really slaghtered that stuff on, but I think
we accomplished something good today at the very least. I’ve seen that ointment do some great stuff on skin
issues, both man and beast. And there are thousands and thousands of people singing it’s praises. We’ll
report on the condition in a few days when we repeat the shampoo and slather her up again with another
dose!
Tomorrow, Tim’s coming over and we’re building the last raised bed, and doing a bunch of this and that and
I HOPE to get some of my plants into the ground!!! It’s supposed to FINALLY be hot, sunny, and NOT
RAINING for a week. I feel so far behind, it’s almost JUNE!
Actually, I’m about 10 days past the official start of the season. So I think we’ll be okay.
April Taylor (2010-05-25 19:24:20)
Gyspy looks so happy after her spa treatment. Our rebel has skin conditions. She has them her 15 years. She loves to
be clipped. Luna looks great!!! Evie is so cute. we are getting 2 kittens in a couple of weeks. Brother & sister. The
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girl was born with only 1 eye. I can’t wait to get them home and love on them. I am enjoying your blog !!!
Mobymom (2010-05-25 19:51:37)
Thanks for dropping by! She looks a little weird with the ointment in her hair and all, but even this evening, I noticed
that a lot of the scabs were all dropping off and nothing new is forming. Tomorrow she gets another medicated bath
and I suspect she’ll look a lot better. I might try and clean up my awful clipping job a bit, she looks like a mangey
old wolf! She has the hugest ears! I never knew her ears were so big! HAHA.... Luna has finally started to talk to us
again. She was not too pleased with us for most of the evening and even today. But a little bit of dinner treat and
she’s decided we are okay again.
1.5.22
Cheap New Desktop (2010-05-25 19:35)
As you might know, I make my living as a graphic designer with a small publishing company making homeschool products as well as music related products and my daughter sells rock and mineral kits for kids as
well. So I spend a good deal of my day here at my desk, working at my computer and running the family
business.
I absolutely love my desk. It’s an old drafting table from the 1930’s and it’s a perfect size for me. I
like the deepness of the table top, so that I can have my pair of gerbils, Lester and Earl on my desk to keep
me company and still have room to work. And with my large monitor, it keeps all the cords and external
drives and other computer stuff tucked behind it and out of sight in the back corner of the desk. The drawers
are super long and deep as well and can hold everything I need for day to day work close, but out of sight.
I like a uncluttered area to work in. I just want a few of my ”things” around me so that I can focus on what
needs to be done.
However... what I do not like is the top!
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It’s this white, nasty plastic stuff that is often on drafting tables. This stuff is old, probably close to
the age of the table! It’s ripply and cut up and has marker stains on it and all, yes, character but it’s just
getting to me. Partially because it’s not very nice to write on. Your pen tends to smoosh through the paper
and all. And I can’t use a mouse properly because the pad is too ripply. I actually had to keep a little
journal book under the mouse pad!
Well, I got to thinking... why am I putting up with this? It’s been years! Don’t ask me why we get
into these situations where we really should have adjusted something that was a burr under our saddle, and
we don’t! I suppose this is why some people stay married and perhaps shouldn’t be! Haha...
This burr has been rubbing me the wrong way for way too long and I decided that today was the day.
Tim was due in a bit and we were heading to Lowes for a few things and I planned to find me a new surface
and fix this situation.
I had pulled off the ucky white drafting surface and found a wood board underneath. Of course covered in
years of this sticky gooey stuff. For a few seconds I considered stripping and staining it, but then I realized
it was a very thin plywood veneer and to be honest, all chipped, cut and gouged. No thanks. I have time
but not that much time. And even if I did strip and sand it, the cuts and gouges would be a problem in the
thin veneer. Now if it had been the same old oak that the rest of the table is made of, I might have given it
a few more minutes thought.
I had in my mind to get a piece of countertop laminate. But when I realized that it was $48 a sheet,
well, that changed my mind pretty quick. $48 bucks was a little pricy. Just seemed overkill. I thought about
wood Pergo flooring and then Tim said why not floor tiles and we were off. It’s so good to have a like-minded
partner in crime with these Moby upgrades! Very often we ping off each other and he can balance off my
quirky ideas and make them actually work.
I was going to go with a wood grain, but the grain was a little deep in the tile. I wanted something a
little smoother. And to be honest, it would be hard to match the table legs and all, with the floor tile and
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I already have two colors of wood in my room. My bedroom furniture is all a sort of pecan-cherry, reddish
color and the table is more oak. Adding a third possible color seemed that it might clash a bit. So then I
saw this dark brown and reddish brown fake stone tile and it just shouted out ”take me” and I got my 12
tiles and we were off to the garden department for other needs.
Since the top was already sticky, I just left it be. It was smooth, nothing funky stuck to it or anything
like that. Simple, just peel, line up with the edge and press down.
My goodness, I love it! It’s nice and a hard surface, no more squishy plastic! I believe I might get a little
dark brown poly-caulk sealer for the little cracks so they are less noticeable. The edges are a little grey and
divot in a bit. I’ve seen small amounts at the craft store before, for mosaic projects. I think that would work
perfect and give me years of work. And I love how it works in my room/office. It blends in so much nicer
than the dirty white huge surface of before. Almost reduces the ”size” of the desk a bit. What a great fix for
less than $10! It’s so nice to see that these floor tiles are really getting very nice and realistic. The detail of
the imprinted surface is so high resolution that you really have to stare close to see any dotted images. And
the variation between the tiles is awesome, of the 12 tiles I got, only two match! So you are able to mix and
turn them for a very unique and natural look.
We have an old big work table in our living room as our dining room/kitchen/shipping table and it’s pretty
rough. I’m thinking that a piece of solid hard vinyl flooring might really give that a new life! It take a lot
of abuse and it’s no antique worth refinishing... actually it’s two old bank desks that we screwed together to
make this huge big work surface. If I catch site of a remnant that looks nice and fits some day... it might
just come home!!
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1.5.23
Garden Update (2010-05-25 20:42)
The last of the raised beds in now in place! I have no more reasonable area left to put any large beds in. I’m
done. Yes, there is land around me, but it ”technically” belongs to the empty lots on either side of me and
I’m not supposed to expand over there unless I want to fork over the lot rent! (Ha Ha ha... ahem. No.)
I think 600 square feet will do just fine for a family a three. And a guinea pig that LOVES fresh produce.
It’s a little hard to see, but it’s at the end of the line of boxes, next to the utility hookup and all. Tim
stained it before he put this one together this time, so it’s all stained and pretty and the others are still raw
wood. I think tomorrow I’m going to see if Maggie will stain the others for me. She likes to paint. And stain
and seal.
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My Lowes has fruit trees on sale for $7 each. That’s a steal for bulking up your own permaculture in your
homestead! I now have 10 semi-dwarf fruit trees. Apples, peach, pears and cherry. Four of them are heavy
with fruit this year and they are not that old. Last year I got one apple... this year the apple trees alone
have at least 20-25 apples on them each! I plan to watch and possibly thin some them so that it’s not too
hard on these young trees this year. One or two have already dropped, so I’m going to let Nature work for
a bit, see how it goes.
Tim planted an apple and a red pear on either side of Maggie’s bird feeder poles. We are hoping that
they will grow up and provide a little cover for our bird friends as well as perches in the winter for them to
wait their turns. And we don’t mind sharing the fruits with them either. It’s really neat to landscape with
edible fruits. The trees are very pretty when they flower and are just as nice looking as any other ornamental
tree. I plan to start adding more herbs and edibles into my flower beds. It just makes sense.
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Look at all these little apples! How cool is that?
And the coolest thing? My little peach tree has a bunch of little peaches on it! I didn’t see them at
first but Jessy found them and it was so cool. I’ll admit, the peach tree was a last minute purchase the very
first year we were here. It was planted near the back door and it was getting bashed by the door and it was
just too shady for it. So I moved it last year. And it really loves being out at the front to welcome folks, but
I never thought it would fruit since we only have one.
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Well, apparently with the serious increase in bees we’ve had this year, our little peach has found a mate!
I’ve looked around and I have not seen any peach trees around with my neighbors, so I don’t know! Maybe
it didn’t need a friend to pollinate, but well, I thought most peaches needed a friend to make fruit magic.
I can’t wait, I absolutely LOVE peach jam. I hope that enough make it to full size that I can can a
couple jars of my own peach jam for the winter months! That will be a real treat.
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The two potted cherries are doing wonderful by the doorway! They are bushing out nicely and are in full leaf.
Luna was using the left one as a scratching post and I about clobbered her when I caught her. I promptly
planted some little daisies around it so that she is now uninterested in dealing with them to get to the little
trunks. I’m going to get a little tree wrap and give them both a little extra protection from feline attack.
I got a pair of pots to put some herbs in, sweet basil and catnips and catmints. I’m not ready to introduce some of these slightly evasive herbs into the beds yet. My chives and oregano are filling out their
boxes very completely and I think if given the chance they would take over! Tomorrow, I need to harvest
the chives and let them regrow. My first harvest!
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My purple iris are blooming, the big ones. The SIberian and Japanese iris are getting close, reaching
tall and beautiful. Those are SO beautiful when they bloom, just can’t wait. Yep, my yard is a lot of purple
plants. I just luvs purple!
My elephant garlic is coming up and the red candy onions are doing great. They are the only things
that I’ve actually got actively growing at the moment in the raised beds. I have another basket of candy
onions to plant, but I think I’m going to put them in another area and see how they do there. I like doing
a few little tests to see where some veggies like being. I’m pretty sure that the south side of the Moby is
definitely my ”money” side of the gardens but the north has done nicely in the past as well.
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The front looks a little different without the half dead pines. Tim dug in two little Bartlett pears and then a
deep purple lilac in the middle. The pines were just not happy. Two of them I pulled right out of the ground
by hand! Easily, I might add. After two years they still hadn’t even gotten much in the way of roots out
into the ground. The underneath was all brown and dead and they just were kinda hanging on, waiting for
a mercy killing. They just did not like being there. It’s hard to cull something, but well, it was the front of
my little Moby and every time I drove up, I was not happy. They were contractor’s specials for $8 each, and
I got them too late in the season. I think they were already shocked and unhappy when I bought them. I
might actually have the receipt somewhere and I suppose that I could bring them back and get three more,
but I’m not sure that I want three more! I wonder if you can get credit towards something else. Hmmm. I
might give them a call. After all, I have been a very loyal customer and get all my stock from there. Most
everything has been wonderful. Good reason to save receipts!!!
For the last raised bed, Tim dug out the compost from the pile to line the bottom of the bed and he
said it was nice and rich dirt! Yeah! It works! (ha ha) Of course, the top was still cooking, but the bottom
was perfect. But we did make some compost mistakes that I won’t do again. We added intact cornstalks and
sunflower stalks to the mix. They were still pretty intact. And made it hard to get some of the compost out.
I think that super hard fibrous stuff might not be the best for a small pile. I read somewhere about running
a lawnmower over it, or taking a little hatchet to the stuff, but that seems a little rough. I might bundle
that stuff up next year and take it to our community composting facility. It’s just a mile from my house.
And keep our pile for weeds and clippings and house veggie scraps and such. I might stop at the Circle K
and ask if they would save coffee grounds for a day for me now and then to add some yummy browns to the
pile. All a learning curve you know. But it’s wonderful to see that you can make big mistakes and still get
good end product! And nope, I never turned or stirred the stuff. Just piled and let it work. Super easy.
Well, it’s getting late and time for bed, another day is already on my mind. I’ve got a little client work to
finish up, but this whole week is going to be a home week, without a lot of outside commitments. The last
couple weeks have been pretty hectic, hence the lack of daily postings, but this is a good solid week without
too much going on. And no rain!!! Maggie is finishing her last bit of school and all the heavy lifting and
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building outside is done. Heck, even the puppy is settling in to our routine and Gypsy is already showing
improvement with our Bag Balm treatment! All is good with the world. And tomorrow... finish fabric in
the beds and we WILL PLANT!!!
All is good with the world!
Rachel (2010-06-20 08:34:42)
I love your blog– especially the stuff about your gardens and your efforts about becoming more ”green.” Funnily
enough, I came across your blog when I was searching for chicken photos for a project at work. I have been working
on changing my home into a sustainable living environment as well, with gardens and orchards and a little touch of
livestock. I love seeing what you’ve done to your home and I can’t wait to share what I’ve been doing to mine!
Rachel (2010-06-20 08:36:10)
Woops, my website link didn’t work on the last post? I hope you’ll look at my blog. We can compare notes ;)
1.5.24
Puppy Videos for the Day! (2010-05-26 18:57)
[EMBED] [EMBED]
1.5.25
Happy Homecoming (2010-05-26 19:02)
[EMBED] This is such a great video! How neat!!!
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1.5.26
New Book... Basic Country Skills (2010-05-28 09:13)
Got a new book off Ebay over the last day or two and boy, it’s a whopper. It’s Storey’s Basic Country
Skills book. It’s HUGE and it is so detailed and good and just a page turner if you’re into all this self
reliance and homesteading craft and livestock information and all that. Shesh... it kept me up last night
reading about hog slaughtering. I really don’t think I can EVER say that happened before, but it’s that
good.
The last couple weeks have been crazy, with a lot of music this month, and the new puppy and all, and
for whatever reason, a lot of clients have been feeling the fresh new spring rebirth and need edits on their
sites and graphics done. I’ve been super busy and just haven’t had as much time to just tinker about the
Moby and do some fun stuff. My garden is only about half where I want it to be.
But thankfully, the holiday weekend is here. My in-box is empty and cleaned up. I worked super hard all week
to take care of the clients and it’s all done. Just finished a MAJOR MAJOR new product design/creation
and website implimation and it’s all done. (www.HotMandolinLicks.com if you’re wondering...) The puppy
is behaving and settling in to a routine. Even Gypsy is feeling a bit better and her skin is slowly improving.
It’s Miller time.
Okay, well, I’m not a big beer fan, so I think it’s better to say, it’s HOMESTEADING time!!! YAH! We’ve
got a bunch of fun planned for the next couple days. We’re going to experiment with making sausage... and
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we’ve got some sewing we want to do... and we have some organizing and such to do. I want to have our
Goodwill bucket filled and ready to go out and do good. (And give us a little more room!) Maggie’s last
day of K-12 is today we we’re so happy! We’ll be packing up some of that stuff too and getting a little more
elbow room for everyone!
And you can bet... this book is going to be out on the table and having some fun with us!!! I’ll try
and take pictures and post about our fun filled holiday homesteading at the Moby weekend for you!
1.5.27
Making Sausage! (2010-05-28 18:49)
I had a dream. A dream to try and make homemade sausage. Sausage a’la Moby. Yes, our own taste, our
own recipies. Hand ground and flavored with care and careful consideration.
And then I saw it. On Ebay. A cast iron, old fashioned, brand new, hand crank tabletop meat grinder. And
it was $11.
So it came home to live at the Moby. And today, we made sausage!!!
First thing... you get some meat. And some education. Apparently some of the best pork for sausage is
what they call the shoulder butt, or a Boston Butt pork roast. It’s not really the hind end of the beast, it’s
the upper shoulder area before the arm hams and roasts and such like that. And guess what? It’s really not
very expensive! I’ve heard it called a 7 bone roast too, I believe because there is a blade bone that looks like
the number 7 in it. Beef have the same 7 bone roast, too.
I got two big butt roasts for only $1.69 a pound. Almost 7 pounds of meat.
Found out the hard way that if you cut the meat up in chunks that are a little too big, it’s harder to crank
and slows you down. Of course, you don’t have to make it into 1/4 inch cubes or anything, but the smaller
the chunk, the faster you’ll be making sausage.
You include all the fat! Yes, you do. If you don’t include at least 10 % fat, your sausage will be, well,
kind of dry and crumbly and well, not sausage. 30 % is good! I’m not sure where we fell, but it turned out
fine, so I suspect we were right in the money. All the recipes I looked at seemed to imply that the butt roast
was a nature’s perfect mix of meat and fat, so I went with that. SImpler, the better.
Don’t include the silver or tendons, sometimes called gristle? You’ll see it.. a silvery sort of thin membrane. Our roasts didn’t have much and it was easy to just sliver slice it away. And of course, don’t include
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the bone. Save those for roasting and throwing in a stock pot with some veggies for stock perhaps? Or a
dog you know might love you even more for a bit of a chew on one.
Jessy set off at peeling a couple apples and mushing up some fresh garlic. We had in our mind to make three
kinds of sausage. A maple sugar breakfast patty, an apple and honey link and a savory bulk onion and garlic
sausage.
Maggie cleaned and assembled the machine, because she loves machines. Of course, she spend most of
the time trying to figure out how to make a motor attachment and all that for it. She is my little inventor machine geek!
It was pretty cool to see the first batch get ready to go... we started with the apple honey links. We
like a sweeter sausage over a spicy sausage, so that was our plan.
First thing, first... you grind the meat. We started out with the finer plate that grates the meat after it is
ground and sliced and that was kind of a mistake. We switched half way through to the larger plate and
that was MUCH easier. It was still perfectly ground and all chewed up by the internal auger. I think the
finer plate would be good for chicken or perhaps veal or something like that.
Everything we read about said that you need to keep your work area clean and tidy, which we did. And to
wash hands often, avoid contacting other surfaces and such, your nose, etc. Expect to get a little icky. We
wanted to wash off frequently. Hands were really the easiest way to load the grinder and things like that.
I think I might order the little hopper attachment for the grinder, because the opening is a little small. It
would be a bit easier to be able to load up the hopper and then speed grind away. We used two people, one
to grind, one to load. It was still fun.
Not like ”I want to do this every day fun”, but you know, fun to give it a try.
Okay, now comes the recipe part. Oh, by the way... grinding meat produces heat and you want to keep your
ground meat chilling. So grind some, pop in a bowl and put in the frig... grind some more, add to the bowl,
etc. Just a word of advice. Nothing scary, just good for the meat and all. Seems to grind a little better
colder anyway. You want to keep your sausage making as clean and sanitary as possible because nothing
ruins a good day of sausage making like food poisoning the next day!
We looked at recipes online and such, and found this basic plan.
For every pound of meat you want:
1/2 tablespoon of coarse salt
and 2-3 tablespoons of various spice
That’s how we started.
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For our apple sausage we used 2 pounds of pork, 2 small chopped apples, 1 tablespoon of honey, 1/2
teaspoon of dried garlic, 1 tablespoon of coarse salt and 1/2 teaspoon of oregano.
Mixed it up good and then fed it through the grinder again, only we added the link tube.
Now, we didn’t use a casing because I noticed that a lot of people didn’t use the casings, they just made
link and fried them up like a tube burger. I want to try links at some point, but I figgered that I would try
links, patties and bulk and didn’t really want to buy a huge box of casings and all that stuff too. One step
at a time.
It was really easy to make them skinless. I just got a cookie pan and laid a piece of wax paper in there and
away we went. Maggie is the best sausage cranker in the house, and in fact, she cranked almost all of it!
Strong girl!
We used our postage scale under the bowl to measure out the meats. Once we added the apple, it was about
2 and a half pounds. We made about 24 links from that. Kind of long, longer than a store link I think. I
used my hand to catch it as it came out and would measure a hand span for a link. Like they measure the
height of horses. I would just tear it off with my pinky and lay carefully on the pan. Into the freezer for an
hour or so and they flash froze nicely and we could lay them in a bag or a container easily. You can then
just get out a couple or a whole family load as you need them.
Next up was a maple sugar flavored breakfast patty. We have a little slider press and we cut up wax paper
squares to make the process easier. Just tube out a little bit into a little swirl and then put it in the press
between two piece of wax paper. Press, remove and freeze. Pretty easy.
The last grind was a savory onion and fresh garlic mix. We just took off the tube and grind straight out.
Made 1/2 pound portions and bagged them up.
We took a couple of each type out and grilled it up for dinner. Pretty darn cool...
Jessy made us some cheesy scalloped potatoes and carrots and she grilled up the sasusage. We were ready
to feast!
It was fantastic good... but we noticed right away that our spice mixes were pretty bland. Well, perhaps not bland, they tasted good, but just not enough of the spices. I think we’re so used to very highly
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spiced sausage and our mix was a little light. But tasty, hard to explain. I think the next time we make
sausage, which won’t be long, we will double the spices. Not the additives, like the onion or apple, just the
spices. In hind sight, as we had doubled the poundage of meat, we were a bit short on reaching the higher
end of 3 tablespoons of spice TIMES 2, we were more like at the low end. And I think we need to add a bit
of sage. Hence the name, sau-sage.... it’s like you expect it. We didn’t add it to any of our mixes. I think
it would be good in them all. And I was thinking a hint of cinnamon and even a bit of brown sugar to the
apple links would really be a good taste sensation.
All in all... it was really cool and now we have a bunch of sausage for the freezer! And at $1.69 a pound...
and just a few extra ingrediants and spices, it was much cheaper than the fancy handmade sausages at the
meat store ( $6.99 a pound) and we can make it to our own likes!
Tomorrow we are grinding our own hamburger and we’re going to try two different tastes... one a cheeseburger and bacon grind, the other a BBQ onion and garlic grind. Stay tuned!!!
1.5.28
Sweet Deal Alert (2010-05-28 19:19)
Don’t know if this is every Kroger but my local Kroger supermarket has these fancy little McCormick
spice blends on sale right now for $1.00 each. Normally like $4 a bottle! I got 10 when I had to stop in for
some pork and some puppy chow. I just might go back. Spices do keep and I really like the combinations.
We have used them in a couple things, great on a steak or in a crockpot, or... with homemade sausage!!!
1.5.29
Bark in the Park 2010 (2010-05-29 20:17)
I forgot to write about a fun event we played at. Last couple years, we have been asked to play some bluegrass
music at the ”Bark in the Park” fun walk at the Toledo Humane Society in Maumee, Ohio. It’s always a
blast and we usually end up getting sunburned, but we have a good time.
It’s a little hard to pay attention to picking on stage because of all the beautiful dogs all over the place!
But we’re trained professionals and the show must go on.
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Even when I see a pair of lovely Aussies and try and picture what my grandbaby will look like when she
grows up.
It wasn’t as hot and sunny as it was last year, but there was a good stiff wind in my face and it was hard
to sing sometimes. It was weird. I’d go to sing and a big puff of wind would sort of take my breath away,
or block it, very weird feeling. I think I was just standing in the wrong place or something! The stage was
pretty teeny. Good thing we all like each other and shower often. (Ha ha ha....) They said next year they
would get one more section for the platform and that will really be lovely! Such nice folks there at the THS...
just love playing there.
Doggies LOVE bluegrass you know.
Jessy had fun shooting pictures all over the place. So many cute puppies and doggies everywhere!
Can’t wait to play next year! Should be a fun time for all!
1.5.30
Garden Update for Saturday (2010-05-29 20:39)
Been fighting a bit of a flu bug for a couple days and just feeling a little whipped. But I’ve been worrying
about getting my garden in better... and the weeds and such in my beds where we just dumped all that
good compost and such and let it set for two weeks while it rained like crazy!
Problem is, it’s been pretty darn hot out too, and with feeling a bit gimpy and the heat, just wasn’t
working out to getting this chore done!
So I asked my dear daughters if they would help me out this Saturday morning, early, before the heat
rises and of course, they said sure.
Basically, my goal was to get the new raised beds weeded and then lay down a biodegradable weed block to
knock out the crazy amount of weeds they seem to have. I don’t mind pulling weeds but this was getting
out of hand last year. I got the 5 year fabric and I think that it will held to get the beds a little more easier
to manage.
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With all hands on deck, we actually made pretty short order of the whole process. Only about an hour
and we had 6 beds weeded and fabric installed. That felt good.
And we decided to plant our carrot tapes and see how that went.
If you’re not familiar with carrot tapes... I think you might be in for a pleasant surprise. Carrot seeds
are so small, that one tends to just broadcast them and then after they start to sprout you thin them out.
That is always kind of tedious and seems a huge waste of plants to me. I have seen in the seed catalogs, a
tissue paper tape that has been embedded with the seeds at nice little intervals. I know you can make your
own too and we are going to do that with some other heirloom varieties this week too, but for now, we are
talking about the seed tapes.
They were not that expensive... I think only a buck or two more than the regular seeds. Each packet had
two thin strips and over 100 seeds. I got these from Guerny’s. I believe about $4 a pack. You did a little
trench and then lay the tape in it. Cover it back up and you’re done.
Pretty darn easy if you ask me and no waste. We planted two packs in about 15 minutes. The tissue is very
light and I can see that in no time it will just degrade and the little seeds will spring forth! Can’t wait to
see our little carrots in pretty little rows!
As you can see our onions and garlic are doing wonderfully! The elephant garlic is coming up and strongly
and the red candy onions are all doing nicely. We have another 100 onion sets to plant and a pack of radish
tape to try out as well. Just not sure where I want to plant them yet. I want to get all my tomatoes and
peppers in the beds first and then see how it all looks. I believe I might have overdone the whole tomato
adventure this year. I might be giving some gift of heirloom ’maters to a few friends... Hmmmmm....
Started to feel a little puny as the heat was rising, so we called it quits for the gardening day. They
offered to help the next couple days and we’ll just tackle things as I feel better. Took a nice long nap today
and did a little reading and I admit, I’m feeling a little better this evening. Maggie had it the first of the
week and now I have it end of the week. But it’s a nice long weekend and I have most of my client work all
done and tidy, so it’s not a bad thing to have to lay low and do a little reading and watch some DVDs and
chill out.
Tomorrow I want to plant my beans and peas, and maybe sunflowers and corn. I think it’s warm enough
for the corn, it’s been in the high 80’s all week long. I’m going to soak it first though, because I got MUCH
better results from soaking the seed in a little warm water for a few hours before I planted it last year. That’s
the goal for tomorrow’s yard work!
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1.5.31
Lovely Iris (2010-05-29 20:53)
My Japanese and SIberian iris are blooming. They just started. Jessy shot me a couple shots of them. I
plan to get out tomorrow and really enjoy them. They are simply beautiful. This year they grew so tall and
lovely, they must adore their spots in the Moby homestead gardens.
1.5.32
Home Farming Site (2010-05-30 09:25)
Hey, check out this nifty site... sponsored by the Triscuit cracker folks, this is a kinda cool thing. I added
my home farm to the map, why don’t you? Lots of good stuff from my favorite Paul the Garden Guy... good
resources.
[1]http://www.kraftbrands.com/homefarming
1. file://localhost/mnt/ext/blogbooker/tmp/0rzxqdwp/www.kraftbrands.com/homefarming
1.5.33
New Induction Burner (2010-05-30 10:32)
As you may or may not know, when I moved into the Moby, the oven range/stove top was not working.
Well, one burner did, but the rest was dead. Way too expensive to fix at the time and I just didn’t have
the money to buy a nice replacement. So, I thought, I can make do while we rehab with a toaster oven,
crockpot and a hot plate.
And we did.
Actually, we got to liking it and I never bought a range!
Our little $18 extra burner was fine and we used it nearly every day.
And then it died. Apparently it’s more for those times when you just need an extra burner for a
big dinner or like in a college dorm or something. Well, I think we got our $18 dollars out of in in two years
for sure. So I thought, I’ll just get another.
But then I thought, no, there are some things about it, I didn’t like. Like, for example, it was not
very hot. Took forever to boil, and it couldn’t get hot enough to fry an egg or do very good with a grilled
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burger or cheese sandwich. I wanted something that I could actually use for canning, or for larger pots of
stock or whatever. More power.
And I think I would like something with a longer warranty, and the chance to live at the Moby for
a bit longer. Yeah, that would be nice.
And price would have to be a consideration... but I didn’t want to go toooo cheap. Fairly complicated electronic stuff that costs too little means sweat shops in China and terrible economic complications.
It’s just the only way they can actually make something, ship it half way around the world, sell it for $18
and still make a profit!!!
And since I am dreaming... it would be nice if it came in an eco-friendly packing and even better if
it was a low draw on electrical power or something magical like that.
So, I started to do some research.
And very quickly I came across something that I had never heard about before. Induction heat
cooking. Huh? Apparently, cooking has always involved the transfer of heat from one source to another
source, like wood or gas then heating up a pot full of water, food or whatever.
Well, it’s fairly inefficient to do this, a lot of energy is wasted. And it’s slow, and difficult to regulate quickly, without say, lifting a pot off the fire, or turning off a burner to cool and dissipate it’s stored
energy.
Induction is a third method, completely different from all other cooking technologies– it does not involve generating heat which is then transferred to the cooking vessel, it makes the cooking vessel itself the
original generator of the cooking heat.
What???
How does an induction cooker do that?
Put simply, an induction-cooker element (what on a gas stove would be called a ”burner”) is
a powerful, high-frequency electromagnet, with the electromagnetism generated by sophisticated
electronics in the ”element” under the unit’s ceramic surface. When a good-sized piece of magnetic
material–such as, for example, a cast-iron skillet–is placed in the magnetic field that the element is
generating, the field transfers (”induces”) energy into that metal. That transferred energy causes
the metal–the cooking vessel–to become hot. By controlling the strength of the electromagnetic
field, we can control the amount of heat being generated in the cooking vessel–and we can change
that amount instantaneously.
Hmmm. Interesting. And the more I read the more I learned that you get power, or well, hotter heating
temps that you can even stir fry with easily. ANd you get speed in which the vessel gets super hot fast so
you’re using less time and electricity. And I liked that the pad itself didn’t get that hot, it was just the pot.
And then I found that most of them were fairly expensive! Darn.
But I kept looking. And then I found a group that were very reasonable. Starting around $50 each
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to $100. Hot diggity!
I found that I liked the features of the TRU Eco Induction Heater.
to my budget.
And at $69.00 it was a match
Fresh design meets brilliant functionality with the TRU Eco induction cooker. This appliance uses
90 % less energy and has more even heat distribution than tradition cooking methods. With 10 power level
settings and adjustable temperature control, this cooker is a must-have for today’s busy cooks.
Energy efficient induction cooker
90 % energy efficiency and more even heat distribution over traditional cooking methods
Over 50 % faster boiling times than gas or electric ranges
1400 watts
Adjustable temperature control from 160F to 430F
120 minute timer
10 power level settings
Automatic cookware detection system
Safely shifts to stand-by mode when cookware is removed or cooking cycle ends
Easy-clean glass ceramic cooking surface
Non-skid feet
Model # TE-121
Now, I did order it online from Walmart. Yeah, Walmart. But I have been impressed by a lot of
the things that Walmart is trying to do to help bring some of their evil practices in line. And after watching
Food Inc., the DVD and hearing this fellow say that ”me and you shopping at the mom and pop local place
is all good, but when Walmart starts to seek out and demand organic and humane meats and foods, that
is a HUGE major shift in the way the industry has to react and behave...” that really made me think. Not
much is going to change in the world if me and my daughters make an effort to buy local and fresh eggs and
such, but if the bazillion shoppers at all the Walmart start to demand local and organic, that is HUGE.
Anyway... back to induction heating. Well it arrived and it was even packaged in 100 % recycled
materials! Cool. And we got it out and found that all our pots and saucepans worked with it just fine. (You
need stainless steel or iron pots/cookware to work) However my two nasty fry pans did not. Of course, they
are nasty and cheap and well, probably poisoning us with the disintegrating Teflon coating and all. They
hit the trash.
Oh my gosh... is it so neat. You turn it on, and it won’t heat until the pot is in place. You set a
pot of water on and within NO TIME it’s bubbling and then boiling. You can actually watch a pot to boil
now! How cool is that. We found that it was quiet, there’s a little fan that runs but it’s not loud at all.
And it was fast and when you were done, it was cool to the touch in seconds.
And one of the best features is a timer. So you can set the timer and then go and do whatever.
No more burned food. It even has a sensor that if the pan gets too hot, it shuts down. Just neat.
And it works great with cast iron, so I read online. Actually anything that a magnet will clip to.
So you can take a little magnet with you to the thrift stores and test out the pots and pans to find the right
kind. I started to look online after a trip to our grocery store limited pot and pan selection turned up no
fry pan safe induction cookware. A good deal of the ”induction” cookware is expensive. At least what I saw.
But of course, on ebay I started to find stuff that was more reasonable.
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Since I have a Foreman grill that I like, and a nice electric skillet, I’m really only looking for a
small to medium sized fry pan. Something for eggs or a grilled cheese sandwich, perhaps to saute a few
veggies for a light meal. Often it’s just me to cook my dinner and I don’t want to use the big skillet or
whatever for a bit of this or that. I found a nice looking pan for $22 and I think that will work nicely.
More of a saute pan, but that will be nice to saute up veggies and that kind of thing. Still make eggs or an
omelet, that’s perfect.
Well, that’s our little review and excitement of the week in the cooking department.
learn the new and exciting things that people keep inventing!
Interesting to
glenda (2010-05-31 11:28:47)
started reading this blog and it was amazing how great minds think alike we too have been for the longest time without
a working stove. i got us a 2 burner hot plate a toaster oven we have 3 crock pots that get used at least once a week.
we also live in a moby and love it
Mobymom (2010-05-31 11:52:57)
Cool! Another Moby Gal! Yeah, we love not having a stove. I know it sounds weird, but I think it saves money as
well as time. It’s so much quicker to heat up a little space and we’ve done all sorts of things in our little oven, even
turkey! One of these days I’ll write about all our little appliances. And the best part, most have come from thrift
stores and cost less than $5 each! Amazing. And they work great. I love being able to move them and set them up
where ever needed. No more being chained to the kitchen counter. Welcome to the blog! Thanks for writing! - Sherri
1.5.34
Tea Syrup (2010-05-31 04:24)
If you are a iced tea drinker, like I am, you loved fresh brewed ice tea but you can go through a pitcher in a
day! And then you forget to make more and end up drinking pop instead!
Well my friend Tim reminded me about making tea syrup! I used to do this and then got away from
it. It’s a great way to extend your tea and not have to make it every single day.
Just warm up a pot of water, I used my 3 quart saucepan, filled with about 2 quarts or a bit more of
water. Add three large teabags to the boiling water and turn off the heat and let steep for a good hour or
so.
Remove the bags, warm up the water a bit and add sugar. I add about a cup to a cup and half of sugar,
stirring and incorporating the sugar into the warm water. I don’t actually boil, just warm it a bit to make
sure the sugar dissolves good. Let cool. Pop in a a pitcher or a couple quart jars and chill in the frig.
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When you want a nice iced tea, fill a big glass with ice, add about 1/3 a glass with your tea syrup and
top off with cold water. Give a little stir and enjoy!
1.5.35
Making Hamburger (2010-05-31 04:35)
When you bring a new toy into the kitchen, you must play with it for a few days and really enjoy it’s
addition to your stockpile of gadgets.
So, we had to make and grill burgers!
Figgered it was going to be easy just grind up some good beef, add some flavorings and additions and
grill!
We had 5 pounds of good mid grade beef, some stew beef and a small round roast as well as a couple cubed
steaks. It was one of those combo packs that had been marked down on the last day. Still looked great, and
it was half price, so we went with it. Jessy chopped it all up, and Maggie cranked.
We added Mexican shreded cheese to the mix, about 2 cups... and 8 slices of cooked and crumbled bacon... 4 tablespoons of fresh ground garlic and some season salt and BBQ sauce! Ground it again with the
mix and made burgers!
I meant to take a lovely picture of the grilling burgers, or maybe one all dressed up and ready to devour, but we were hungry and I forgot! They were tasty!
However... they could have been better and after a bit of reading I found that our choice of beef to grind
was probably the worse possible... very very very little fat. The burgers were tasty, but they lacked a certain
well, taste or texture, not quite sure what. I’m sure, it was the fat content, it was too low. It made the meat
almost crumbly, not as moist as you would think a burger should be. Taste was great, just texture and such
was not quite right.
I did some reading afterwards and yep, just like the sausage, you need a heavily marbled piece of beef
for really juicy ground beef. LIke a shoulder or butt roast, rump roast, something with a high content of
marbling fat. I suppose in hind sight, we could have added some fat, but who just has fat laying around? I
wondered if you could just add a couple spoons of lard, but I think it would be better to just start with the
right kind of beef to begin with!
Next time... we’ll get it perfect! That’s the fun of learning to do stuff yourself, you tweak with it and
make it work. And the flunked tests always still taste pretty good!
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1.5.36
Problem Solved (2010-05-31 04:46)
I started to learn how to hook rugs. And I really like it.
And so I bought a couple stash starters of the wool strips to give me a nice range of colors to play with.
Bought a nice piece of monk’s cloth and want to start a few pattern ideas that I have.
Problem is, it was all just a jumbled mess of strips. I was keeping them in an old paper bag and it was just
not appealing to design with. What to do!
I was starting to think about a plastic box, or maybe envelopes or something and they just didn’t appeal to me. I am trying to stay away from plastic as the solve-all to any organizational project. But popping
them all in glass jars, not very efficient or usable. I knew that I wanted them all laid out so that I could pick
and choose from the strips and also, that I would know if I had enough for an area in the design or not.
And then it came to me! How about something like a knitting needle holder, or a paint brush holder!
Yah! So I dug in my fabric pile and had a nice half yard of pretty swirly purple cotton and a matching half
yard of some old curtains gone bad and I got busy.
And hour later... poof! Problem solved...
Actually, the case was done in about an hour, and then later on in the evening, I sat down to a netflix
movie online about a hippy commune (very interesting, but too much nakedness running around for me to
want that sort of lifestyle... I don’t do naked good! hahaha) and I sorted all the strips and put them in color
groups and such.
How lovely! Now I suppose that once you really get into rug hooking, this is not a very large stash of strips!
But it’s definately enough for me to get started and I just love how they are all laid out and ready for the
picking. And when I’m done, I just roll it up and tie it shut with the little fabric ties. I think it’s just
adorable. Makes me want to start designing and hooking something tonight!!!
1.5.37
A beautiful morning... (2010-05-31 06:44)
This was a particularly beautiful morning there today. The sun was just shining in a way that made to stop
and take notice. It was about 8:30 and the dew was on the grass and the pale sunshine was coming through
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the trees like golden streams of drifty water. Just pretty.
Everything was just perfect looking. This is truely the golden hour of the morning that photographers and
artists adore. I can understand why.
I’m not normally a morning person. I really am not. I can stay up to 2 or 3 with the best of them.
As a part time musician, we often play late into the night, or at the least, drive home late. As a work at
home graphic artist, same thing, a client needs something and I’m up all night getting it done. I don’t mind
it, but yet sometimes I think it’s a weird schedule to live. It messes up my clock a bit, so I try and stay on
some sort of schedule, when I can.
But then this little critter came into our lives.
And now I’m up about 6 or 7 every morning with my puppy shift. Jessy takes care of the little rug rat all
day and into the evening until she puts her to bed in her comfy doggie crate. (All decked out, I might add
and quite the little palace...) But being a little nipper still, she can only go about 5 or 6 hours MAX before
the puppy alarm goes off and she’s just gotttttttttta GOooooooooooo!
So, I’m becoming more of a morning person.
It’s okay, I get to leisurely go through my email and read my blogs I love... and I usually make a nice
breakfast and sit down to enjoy it. Sometimes, I’m outside to check the farm and to just do some work that
is much easier in the cool morning time than in the heat of the afternoon. I’m not a heat person. Sorry, try,
but I’m not.
Just about ready to transplant some of my seedlings to the big beds. I think they’re ready. I thought about
trying to push it and do it today, but I had a plan already. I have had six bags of mulch and two flower beds
that really needed a little dressing up. I had let them get a little too weedy and they had dead tulips and
such all over, I will admit, they were not looking too good.
Didn’t want to get a little red notice on my door about unruley garden beds, so my goal today was to
get them weeded, cleaned up and mulched.
Besides, all the mulch was making it hard to get to the grill! Priorities you know.
Here’s the before shot. Yes, to the untrained eye, it was looking a little rough. Sure you can see a few things
in there, but it mostly looks like a bit of a tangle.
So I corralled the pup in her little outdoor playpen, which she thinks is something close to torture, and
set at pulling and clipping. I’d like to be able to leave her loose, like Gypsy, but she has been running off
the moment you let her go, so that’s no fun. Jessy is working hard to get Evee comfortable with the leash,
but she’s still a little rough on that and ends up pulling and straining if you leave her on it for more than a
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few minutes.
But I can handle a little bit of whining puppy so I got to work.
240 pounds of mulch and a couple bucket loads of grass and weeds and I think it looks a good deal more
presentable. Don’t you think? I’ll never be a super prim and proper flower gardener, but I do like the look
of a fairly orderly bed with a good thick layer of mulch. Yeah, I do have a mulch habit, I will admit. But
this year, I’ve really cut back. Yes, I have. I think I’m only up to about 20-22 bags of mulch this year. 800
pounds or so?
Well, mulch really helps to improve your soil. My super happy plants are a testimonial to that. All my
perennials this year are just doing wonderfully. Nice and thick, good solid growth. I might even be able to
divide a few clumps soon, maybe next year. I really don’t think I have much more space for anything new,
so I might just let it all be and fill in the areas they already inhabit. Not sure yet.
Fruit permaculture is doing well. Peaches are growing nicely, apples too! I think tomorrow I’ll actually have
a harvest of strawberries for my cereal! Blueberry bushes are growing nicely, but I don’t see much budded
fruit. It’s cool, they had a rough winter and one had to be cut back pretty far. It’s bushing out nicely now,
so I’m not too worried. We still have blueberries in the freezer from last year!
Well, it’s due to rain here, all afternoon and evening, so I’m glad to have finally gotten my last two beds
mulched and cleaned up a bit. The raised beds are all ready to go, and I think tomorrow I’ll start setting out
some of my tomatoes and peppers and plant beans and peas. Yep. A little every day makes it a delightful
time in the morning gardens.
1.5.38
Final Winner... Best Chocolate Chip Cookies (2010-05-31 11:05)
After a great deal of looking, testing, sampling and cooking... we have found our favorite recipe for chocolate
chip cookies. Or any kind of chip cookies, to be honest!
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The are puffy and thicker than the flat and spread out ones that most people make. I don’t know why,
we just like them more, well, cookie-cakey like. If you like them that way too, then this is the recipe for you!
Puffy Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon slat
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1-2 cups of chips (your choice)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly spray or line pan with parchment.
Mix melted butter, brown and white sugar until blended. Beat in vanilla, and eggs until creamy. Add
baking soda and salt, mix throughly. Add flour a cup at a time until dough is thick and doughlike. Add
chips.
Use a scoop or a spoon to add small drops of dough on the pans. Leave a bit of room as the cookies
will spread a bit. Bake 15-17 minutes in the preheated oven or until lightly browned. Cool on a baking rack
a few minutes to let finish and then eat up! YUM!
1.5.39
Puppy Video of the Week (2010-05-31 18:07)
[EMBED] Little Evee is now 9 weeks old! She’s doing wonderfully! Learning tricks and getting used to the
Moby routines. She and Gypsy are having a little trouble as to WHOM owns the couch. Gypsy, of course,
feels it’s HERS. They get into these little nits about it and I believe that they are antagonizing each other
with delight. Here Evee is showing off her three tricks! Sit, Down and Fetch!
Jessica (2010-06-02 17:17:55)
Aussie shepherds are VERY smart dogs- my parents have one. They can learn all sorts of tricks/commands that other
breeds will never master. Great breed, great choice for a dog! (Doesn’t hurt that she’s so darn cute, either!)
1.5.40
Bandana Bag (2010-05-31 18:29)
The girls are each making a bandana quilt for their beds and so we had ordered a batch of bandanas on eBay
a while back. Well, they picked out the ones that they wanted to use and I even got 8 to make a little lap
blanket one, but we still had a handful of them left. I decided to try and make a little easy tote bag from a
bandana.
I will admit, this pale yellow bandana pair is not my favorite color or look. But I was experiementing,
so it was the first to go under the needle!
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First thing, I cut a strip off the top of each of the two bandanas. I used the outside edge of the design
in the square as a guide.
Then I hemmed that cut edge, folding it over a 1/4 of an inch, top stitching that, and then folding it
over another 1/4 inch to make a nice simple sealed hem.
Then putting the nicer sides together, I just stitched around the other 3 edges, leaving the hemmed edges
open. Now it’s a bag!
I just folded the two strips, good sides together and stitched to make a tube. Turned it right side out
and then stitched it to the bag, on the hemmed sides. I made the area that I attached the handle to the bag
about an inch or so and stitched the whole square area to make sure it was sturdy.
Now, you don’t have to do this, because it’s a bag and ready to go, but I like to stitch a little corner gusset
in my totes, to make them stand up a bit. It’s really simple.
Just turn the back inside out, and then grab the bottom corner and flatten out a bit. Sew across that
corner and double stitch for strength. I clip the excess off, but you don’t have to.
And then... Poof! You have a cool, hip bandana bag! Only takes two bandanas!
I was thinking that you could make a tall one if you used only one bandana and folded it sideways. It
would be great for toting a bottle of wine or pop or just a tall skinny smaller bag for just about anything!
One bandana is cheap, you can get them for a dollar just about anywhere! And it’s just a fun little project.
I’ll bet it would be a great first sewing project for kids!
By the way.. we got package of 16 bandanas of all colors on ebay... it was like $22 bucks total, including shipping. Lots of fun bandanas! We’re working on quilts... but they are great for pillows and other fun
projects!
E[1]bay Bandana Collection....
1.
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-18-MIXED-COLORS-PAISLEY-BANDANAS-BIKER-SCARF-/270576164347?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_
DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3eff989dfb#ht_3455wt_913
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1.6
1.6.1
June
Iris Morning (2010-06-01 10:10)
Just a few more snapshots of my beautiful delicate Siberian and Japanese iris before they finish up for another year. They are so beautiful and so thin and delicate, just stunning. I know why they decorate so many
important and cherished things in Japanese culture.
1.6.2
Mending Clothes (2010-06-01 10:25)
You know, I almost threw out these jeans. Perfectly good, nicely worn, feeling great and then I went
and caught them on a board and ripped them. Last summer. I almost pitched them but somehow they
ended up in my drawer and then forgotten.
I was cleaning out stuff, a little spring cleaning and I found them, and thought, again, I should pitch
these. Or cut them up for rags or something. But then something said, no, it’s just a rip, MEND IT.
Mend it? Huh? I mean, we hardly ever do that anymore, MEND clothes? I mean... huh? It really
got me thinking. And I’m sad to report that generally speaking, when something needs to be mended, I
usually get rid of it, either Goodwill or the trash. I do it with ”things” too, electronics, equipment and those
kinds of things. Wow, I never thought about how wasteful that was.
I’m very handy with a sewing machine... (when I get it out) and I know how to fix most things... but
I just don’t.
I think, in part, it’s due to how CHEAP clothing is really. A decent new pair of jeans can be gotten at
any discount giant for $10 - $12 dollars if you’re not looking for super fancy ones. A t-shirt, $5. Button
up shirts, $10. Unfortunately, the cost of cloth is going up, not down. Seems that a yard of fabric is easily
3-6 dollars and you usually need two yards or more to make most things, including a pattern (outrageously
priced!) and then notions, thread, buttons and such, and time, well, I can see that sewing your own clothes
is not that much of a time or money savers.
And then you add garage sales and thrift stores... you can get super nice, hardly worn clothing for next to
nothing! Sometimes its nice things from people like me, that just need to be mended a bit....
Well, I decided that I’m going to put a spending closure on clothing for at least myself for 6 months.
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No more new clothes. I’m going to work with what I have. June 1st to December 31st. I will allow for a
garage sale find or thrift store find here and there. But nothing new. Brand new. I don’t go nuts on new
stuff, but I will admit, I do buy a couple new tops a month if the mood hits me, or jeans, etc. But from
today onward, no new stuff. I’ll ask my girls if they like the idea and wish to play along, and I’ll bet they
will.
Oh, by the way.. took me all of fifteen minutes to patch up those jeans and man, they fit so nice and
comfy, like an old comfy pair of jeans should. And you know, you can’t hardly tell that I fixed that rip.
Okay, I might not wear them out to a gig, or something nice, (gosh forbid someone actually ask me out on
a date or something!) but for most of the time, they are perfect and lovely and they give my good jeans a
break to be, ah, good jeans!
1.6.3
Great for barfights... (2010-06-01 22:07)
Well, Maggie and I are disappointed.
We got a bottle cutting gadget off Ebay and thought we would make some really cool candles in our cut off
wine bottles and such.
BUT IT’S HARD TO DO!!!
All we succeeded in doing was making homemade weapons for bar fights.
BAD BAD BAD BAD Nasty broken bottles.
Here’s what they SAY it will do.
The perfect way to put the fun back into recycling all those glass bottles and jars that seem
to accumulate around the house, while transforming them into useful items such as hanging
planters, terrariums, bowls, and candle holders. The Armour Bottle and Jar Cutter features an
exclusive floating head design that allows you to cut bottles and jars of various shapes and sizes.
Kit Contains: Adjustable Bottle Cutter, two cutting wheels, glass taper, adjustment wedge, five
glass sanding sheets for finishing the cut edges, and a twenty-four page, full color bottle cutting
reference guide.
Guess what? It is not that easy.
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And I really should have looked around on the web for reviews... cuz this is what I found AFTER the
fact...
This item is made of very cheap plastic. There were no written instructions for assembly, only
a picture of the parts and of the completed item. I generally don’t have difficulty assembling
things, but this was just... weird. When I finally got it figured out, I ended up having to wait to
use it until I could locate some ”household oil”. Apparently it’s poor form not to lube the cutter
each and every time one uses it. I finally get some 3-In-1 oil, lubricate the cutting wheel, and
prepare to cut a thin bottle. The cutting wheel doesn’t even scratch the glass. I tried over and
over but it didn’t even leave a mark, much less score the glass. Further investigation showed the
cutting wheel is not even sharp enough to nick skin. The enclosed booklet shows some ideas for
projects that are so hideous I have not the words to describe them. Just absolutely tacky, terrible
”crafts” that may drive sensitive people mad, and all others merely blind. Run. Save yourself.
It’s too late for me...
The manual was vague and non-descriptive. There are 5 pieces sitting here which I have no
idea what to do with as the manual does not even give an assembly diagram. The cutting wheel
is worthless and barely makes a score. What a piece of garbage. I have been cutting glass and
doing stained glass for years and thought I’d try my hand at recycling my bottles this way. This
isn’t worth 10 cents let alone $[...].
I saw commercials for a bottle cutter when I was a kid in the 1970’s ,long before the internet
existed. I always wanted one. I envisioned recycling old bottles for glassware and for other
decorative and functional items. Then the product disappeared from tv commercials. I was so
happy to find that bottle and glass cutters were still around so I purchased what i thought was
a good one from amazon. FIRST, the product is difficult to position, the arm with the cutter is
hard to get in exactly the right place and if it is not tight enough it slips when one goes to use
it. The product is made of BRITTLE plastic that would in all probability crack if the wing is
turned too tightly in an attempt to secure the cutter blade into position. SECOND, it is hard to
hold the bottle in place because it slips and slides on the smooth plastic base. THIRD, it does
NOT cut as easily or as cleanly as one would expect. FOURTH, it is extremely time consuming
to tap, tap, tap on the inside of the bottle. FIFTH, if there is the SLIGHTEST flaw in the jar
or bottle to be cut then there will be an uneven chunk to fall out of the side far below the taped
line.
SORRY to be the author of such a negative review but this item is a complete waste of money.
Maggie and I are sad.
Perhaps we need to do it the You Tube way.... Yeah....
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This guy seems to know what he’s talking about. I wonder if it will work for us... HMMMMM.....
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1.6.4
Bandana Quilts - Part 1 (2010-06-02 13:54)
I’m trying to be a good homesteading mom and that means teaching my girl children how to sew. Not just
a bit of mending with a needle and thread into something that ”works” and will do, but to really sew things
that are fun and useful. Like quilts and bags and other neat things. We’re working up to clothes!
But this past weekend we started on a fun beginning quilt idea that I saw somewhere and they loved.
Bandana quilts! They love to wear bandanas on their heads, real little hippy chicks, and they also like the
colors and all that of this assortment that we got online. So I had them each pick out 8 for the top and play
with the patterns and combinations. We worked a bit on design theory and the color wheel of complimentary
color matching and such. (I’m a homeschooling mama, I gotta teach!) And after a bit, we had the two tops
ready to go.
There were only so many colors available, yet it was nice to see that neither was disappointed and got to
grab up the colors that appealed to them right away. I’m blessed, my daughters and I all are great friends
and get along famously. I just can’t even remember the last time we squabbled over anything. It’s a delight,
let me tell you.
Maggie got started first, mainly because Jessy was still hmming and hwwwwing over the patterns and
such. Maggie is a pretty straight forward, get ’er done kind of kid and once she has her mind made up,
she’s off and running. She’s actually my more experienced machine sewing gal, and has actually made a few
things, including a cool pillow case and some jammy pants along with a lot of these cool little sock creatures.
Ah, a word of wisdom if you choose to do the same thing. All bandanas are not created equal. Or are the
patterns printed the same on each one. Unfortunately we found this out after we got working on things.
Still, it’s part of the quaintness of the project. Jessy was a little more careful about matching the sides up
a little better than Maggie, but then Maggie wasn’t that worried about it. She likes a little imperfection in
her world.
Evee liked to watch what we were doing. And yes, the little wort is sitting on an end table. She was sitting
on the couch as nice as could be and we got sidetracked and I turned around from taking a picture of the
stitched top and she was sitting just as nice as could be, on the side table, where she could get a better view
of the goings-on. Silly little puppy. She’s learning good dog behaviors, but every so often she does what she
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pleases!
8 bandanas will make a nice topper for a single bed. We intend on adding a nice boarder strip and then
adding a cotton bat and backing fabric, and then quilting the top. That is part 2 of the post. I know they
want to have them done before my Dad comes to visit!
You may be thinking... WOW... those girls have a lot of colors and patterns and such going on in their
rooms. Ah, yeah. But you know, teenagers need a bit of room to express themselves. I figure eventually
they might settle down a bit, but right now, they love their wild circus room. Right down to the night sky
ceiling with glow in the dark stars and such all over. Hey, they’re the ones living in it. (haha) And paint
is cheap, in the whole scheme of things. Some day they will want to change it. Until then, I embrace their
originality and let them have fun with it. So the bandana quilts will fit right in!
Rachel B. (2010-06-02 16:44:59)
Great idea! As soon as my sewing machine gets up and running again I’ll have to do this. I would probably back
it with a solid color and perhaps add a column and a row in. Thanks for the great idea! I’ve been lacking in self
sufficiantcy lately. e
1.6.5
First Harvest (2010-06-02 14:07)
Fresh picked and gloriously red, sweet and ready to go so nicely with a bowl of my favorite simple oatey
circles... I announce our first Moby farm harvest of the year!!!
Half a pound of lovely little sweet strawberries!!!
Also picked a half pound of leaf lettuce and some chives and other herb goodies. The lettuce went into
a salad, but I think I let it go a little too long as it was a bit sour tasting. The herbs are going to be drying
for service later on this year.
Still have to get most of my garden planted, just been fighting a flu bug and the weather has not been
cooperating. But that which is actually in the beds is doing nicely. Onions, garlic, and carrots. And of
course all the seedlings in the cold frame are doing wonderfully. Soon... sooon......
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Rachel B. (2010-06-02 16:41:34)
No worries! I have yet to plant my garden yet. This week it needs to get done! I have carrots, string beans, beets,
and green peppers that have to go in still.
1.6.6
Broke Down Bus... (2010-06-03 21:32)
Well, it was bound to happen. Tomorrow is our June Opry... and tonight, I just got a late late night call
from a North Carolina number and it’s our main band and they’re broke down outside of Circleville, Ohio,
which is about 3 hours or so from here.
We’ve had 38 shows... not a single problem of the bands not being able to make it! That’s pretty amazing
actually. We had one problem once, where a single musician from a band had a flight canceled and then was
almost late, but he actually made it. So, nope, always had our bands in place.
The band is awesome and they are trying everything they can to get here, and we might actually be going
to get them if we have to. Going to be a crazy day tomorrow! I need a little good thoughts that they can
get to Columbus where they might have parts for the thing... Always something!!!
Thank goodness I have everything ready to go but the food. And the food is planned, just have to pick up
the stuff, etc., so it’s all good. You know... the show must go on!
1.6.7
Vitamins and Such (2010-06-05 13:09)
Better living through chemistry, they used to say... I guess it’s true. Been feeling a little puny of late,
just tired and well, not that ”right”. Kind of a gradual thing really, just noticing that I’m slowing down a
bit. Sure some of it is age, but I’m not THAT old yet... pushing 47 actually if anyone wonders.
But I got to reading and I know it’s very alarming how little actual nutrients and such we are getting
from food these days. We’re depleting the soils and our foods are just, well, lacking a bit. So I was talking
with my friend Lynda and she mentioned that she wanted to start treating her own body better and to take
some suppliments and such and I decided that would probably not be a bad thing for myself as well. So we
decided to partner up and encourage each other in health as well as in business and friendship. It’s always
fun to have someone to be accountable to! Helps to have Big Sister watching over your shoulder.
Well, it’s been a week and I must admit, I do feel a little more perky. We got about half of the garden
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planted finally this morning and I didn’t feel as run down as I thought I would. And I’ve noticed I’m sleeping
a little better, and just, well, feeling a little better. Might be a placebo effect, sure, but then, it could be as
well that I’m feeding my engine just a little higher grade and it’s pleased with it.
I’m not going nuts... just a decent women’s one a day, some Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplement for
my crappy old knees, and iron pill because I’m just running low on energy and such, a potassium pill because
I’m really intolerant of the heat and it does help me to have a boost of potassium each day, and a omega oil
pill thing that I got a while back and is suppose to do wonders!
We’ll see how I feel in a month or so, and whether or not I can stay consistent at this task. That seems to
be the biggest issue. Consistency.
1.6.8
Jack and Evee (2010-06-05 13:15)
1.6.9
Love a Great Deal... (2010-06-05 13:23)
Was shopping for the food for the Opry backstage and with all the excitement of the broken bus and
such I didn’t have as much time, so I dashed into the local Kroger’s to get a few deli items. And lo and
behold... outside in their odd little assortment of plants and such was some wilty and dry fruit bushes!
Raspberry, blackberry and blueberries! Normally priced at $12.99... marked down to...... $2.00 each!
Wow. Well, I picked out 4 of the best ones... two blueberry and two raspberry. I considered the blackberries, but to be honest, I hate the thorns on blackberry bushes. They can be quite evil. Back in the old
days, I had a patch and they just got out of hand. So I just stuck with the blueberry and raspberry.
Brought them home, got them in the shade and Jessy gave them a LONG cool soak of water, and within a
few hours they were bright and perky. I just love getting perennials when the stores don’t want to take care
of them anymore. It’s such a stinkin’ good deal.
1.6.10
Finally Planting my Garden! (2010-06-05 13:52)
After rain, sickness, cold, heat and Opry, we finally had time this morning to start actually planting in the
raised beds! I can’t believe it took this long, but in reality, it’s only two weeks from the all safe time in our
region. Just seems like it took forever this time. The first week it was rain rain rain and more rain. And
then the second week, I was feeling puny for 5 days and then it was really hot and we had an Opry and well,
excuses, excuses!
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That picture above is a fully planted bed of bush beans and sugar snap peas! Beautiful!
We got up and at ’em pretty early for us... 9 am... (hey after an Opry, that’s doing pretty good!) and dug
up the bean and pea beds and loosened the dirt a bit and planted all the seeds. And then we began to sort
out all our seedlings in the cold frames. We planted 10 tomatoes in the one crib bed, and then also planted
all our pickle seedlings... three varieties! They filled up another bed nicely.
Oh we also planted two rows of radish tape as well. We got out our tomato cages and I find that I need a
few more. Oh, we also planted four squash seedings that were getting pretty crazy! We sorted out all our
pepper and remaining tomato seedlings... and straightened out the wires of the cages we have, too.
The cold frame is now empty and I plan to get a couple bags of compost and fill it up for some more
plants to live in during the season. And I need to get broccoli starts because ours didn’t make it. They got
tooo waterlogged and then just drown. I didn’t realize they were in standing water, they were packed so
tightly in their box! I have learned some seed starting wisdom from this year and that mainly is... start in
large enough peat pots and make sure EVERYTHING has drainage holes!!!
You live, you learn!
We still have a bunch of tomatoes to plant, and peppers too. And some sunflowers, corn and more onions.
Another full day and we’ll be ready and done. It feels good to get it almost done. It started to rain and we
were getting tuckered out, so we came in and had lunch and started working on Maggie’s homeschool plan
for her next year, starting in July. We usually take a month off for summer and then start back up at a nice
comfortable climb. That way when we want a day off, we can take it, as we’ll already have 60 days in before
most the kids even start.
Gave the hounds a good bath as well... Gypsy is hanging in there, her skin issues are really giving her
a run for her money. Poor thing looks dreadful and without her thick coat, she’s just having a rough time
keeping herself warm. She loves to be covered up and babied over...
Well, that’s the report for the weekend... the band did arrive in the nick of time and we had a great show,
enjoyed the folks from Carolina Road greatly and Copus Hill did an awesome job as well. I’ll have a little
video and such later on. Got a gig tomorrow, and that will be fun. Plan to just take the rest of the weekend
easy and enjoy it!!! Hope everyone is doing the same!!!
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1.6.11
Green Recycling Pets (2010-06-05 19:58)
Some people may use worms or chickens to help with composting and reducing waste.
We use gerbils.
Lester and Earl are getting really efficient at chewing up thin cardboard boxes and turning them into a
nice easy to compost paper product that is very green and makes lovely compost!
It’s quite amazing to see how fast they go through the stuff. I put in 7 boxes on Wednesday and today, on
Saturday they have totally reduced 3 of them. 4 left to go!
Earl, the black one, he’s very busy, but very unfocused. He works on this corner and that corner and digs
a while in the fluff and then tries to move this box here and that box there and then goes back to chewing.
He’s funny to watch, tons of energy, but very little focus on his effort. Still, he does manage to get things
done.
Lester, on the other hand, the grey one, he’s focused and will sit and chew for hours on one area, slowly and
carefully... stopping every few moments to look it over and then chew some more. He doesn’t care to move
fluff, in fact, I don’t see him as much as he hides away and just stays his course... working dilligently. He
can chew up a whole paper tube in like 10 minutes!
They are great little pets, don’t need litter or much at all. No toys, etc., just thin carboard boxes and
a paper towel or tissue or two. (They love to shred those and make the cutest little snuggly nests for nap
time.) They don’t even eat much, a bag of gerbil food will last a good long time. I give them a handful of
the stuff every couple days. They bury most of it, and delight in digging around and finding a good seed or
little hard chewy thing and running back to their nest to sit and eat it. Being desert critters, I only have to
fill their water bottle once a week or so. Easy-peasy little pets. I give them each a peanut in a shell a week
and they live for those bonus times. Pretty neat little desk buddies.
1.6.12
Guinea Pig and Puppy Video (2010-06-05 22:26)
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any cuter....
We had to get Edward into the mix!!!
[EMBED]
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1.6.13
Midnight Storms (2010-06-05 23:51)
[EMBED] Issued by The National Weather Service Cleveland, OH 2:26 am EDT, Sun., Jun. 6, 2010 THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR...
LUCAS COUNTY IN NORTHWEST OHIO NORTHERN WOOD COUNTY IN NORTHWEST OHIO
* UNTIL 330 AM EDT * AT 224 AM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS DANGEROUS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR HOLLAND... OR 7 MILES NORTH OF WATERVILLE...
AND MOVING EAST AT 70 MPH.
1.6.14
Tolerant Sisters (2010-06-06 20:26)
I can’t say that Gypsy is super happy with her new little sister, but every day, they get more tolerant
and I think a bit closer.
Today was a very special day. Old lady dog and little goofy pup were playing for quite a long time in
the yard, chasing a stick and just hanging out with each other. It was neat to see. Gypsy is the queen of
playing stick, but she was content to let Evee chase behind and even would drop the stick a time or two and
temp her with it. Of course, she would delight to snatch it away quickly and trot off. Evee might not get it
yet, but there will be a day that she’ll be as fast and then Gypsy will have met her match.
But it was cute to see them playing together.
1.6.15
Maggie’s Carrot Napkins (2010-06-06 20:33)
I told Maggie about these seed napkins and she decided it would be good to try and make some. All
you do is take a real small seed and a little bit of white glue and a fast food napkin. Open it all the way up.
And then mark out your lines, and place a teeny dot of glue where you want a seed. Then drop a little seed
in place. Let dry and then you just plant in your bed and lay a little dirt over the whole napkin. The white
glue will dissolve with a little watering. And so will the napkin.
We’re trying it out with some heirloom carrot seeds this year.
1.6.16
Blessed... (2010-06-07 20:17)
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The tornado that ripped through the city of Milbury, was just south of Toledo and east of Perrysburg, where
we used to live. Our storage unit was about a mile from where the tornado started on it’s 8 mile path of
grief. It’s only about 15 miles at the most from my moby home. I’m not one to worry over bad weather,
but I am a bit more concerned about it now, then I ever have been. It’s dreadful the grief and loss of my
neighbors to the east. Seven people died, 50 homes destroyed and another 50 or more significantly damaged.
It’s very hard to see the pictures and see the destruction that weather can level on the things in our lives
that seem so solid, our very homes.
And then to see the path and the miracles in the total illogical descruction... the roof of a school ripped
clean off and yet the case of trophies in glass are perfectly fine and standing like nothing happened. The
library destroyed, yet a whole shelf of books are still waiting to be checked out. A house destroyed and it’s
neighboring homes completely normal looking and safe.
That just amazes me. I makes me understand what it is to be blessed. To have the hand of God protect and keep you safe. Yet, I wonder why bad has to happen right aside the good. It’s a mystery.
I am so sorry for those people who have lost loved ones... and have lost all that was their lives, their homes.
I’m sure that the communities around the area will rally and they will count themselves as blessed, even
those who lost everything but their loved ones. They will survive. But I wish it were easier on them. So sad.
1.6.17
Edward Gets Green (2010-06-09 17:50)
Well, Edward gets... greens!
We planted Edward a whole pot full of flat leaf and curly leaf parsley and he’s one happy piggy boy!
As you can see, it doesn’t take him long to clean up his greens. Rain soaked and fresh from his pot of
greens. He’s spoiled as all super cute little piggies should be. He’s getting pretty big. He’s almost 6 months
old. Well, actually I guess he is just 6 months old soon. He was born around Christmas of 2009. He’s gotten
considerably bigger. He’s always a hoot and I love his attitude. He’s feisty, but he loves Maggie.
1.6.18
Sunday Afternoon at the Old West End Festival (2010-06-09 18:05)
We were invited to come and play at the Old West End Festival in Toledo’s Old West End. (Hence the
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name....) It’s a beautiful old neighborhood with super old homes that used to be one of the fanciest places in
town to live. Unfortunately, the area hit some hard times and became a little run down and dangerous. But
thankfully, a group of people decided that the beautiful old mansions and homes needed to be saved and they
set about making a little oasis in the area and it has blossomed into a beautiful and desirable neighborhood
again.
So when we were asked to donate our time to their fundraising efforts, we said sure! We love having an
opportunity to get bluegrass music out to the masses. We call it a PDB. (Public Display of Bluegrass!) And
I think all bluegrass bands need to do as much PDBs as they can. To help grow and encourage the love of
this music.
But aside from that, it was a fun afternoon! A bit hot towards the end, in the tent, but it’s always that
way I think... summer, hot music, and a long set and you’ve got hot and red faced musicians! But we loved
playing for the groups that were passing through, as we were the food tent entertainment! Many bands
and musical influences were spotlighted in the music tent throughout the weekend. It was neat to hear the
different musical styles coming together to help raise funds for the neighborhood efforts.
This was on of the first times that Jeff, Tim and Rob were all ”plugged” in... using pickups instead of mics.
It’s slightly controversial in the music, but after encountering sound system after sound system where things
are so rough, it’s nice to be able to have a little more musician control over your sound. And I don’t think it
sounded any different, than say a good sound system would be. Just the banjo and Wilson’s rhythm guitar
were not direct. We used mics. I’m not sure how a banjo would sound with a pickup... might be interesting!
Who knows?
Jeff is giving me the ”Oh my gosh, we’re gonna need a new banjo player soon” look after I really flubbed up
two whole lines on this song that I sing all the time! HAHAHA.... Don’t know what happened... my brain
was not ready and it just didn’t come out. Oh well... it happens. Sometimes more often than others... I used
to think I would NEVER be able to remember songs and play the banjo. You don’t see too many singing
banjo players for some reason. I think it’s partially because of the three finger style of playing, it’s a busy
thing. You’re picking much more than the others are, to get that banjo style sound of Scruggs bluegrass.
And as a result, a lot of banjo players will stop playing to sing, or go into a backup style of sorts. I decided
5 years ago when I first joined a band that I was going to learn to play and sing at the same time. And I
can. But every so often, the words come out a little funny and I stumble. I guess we all do. One of my goals
this year is to really work on memorizing all my songs well. We’ll see how that goes!
Well, it was a lovely day and we really enjoyed it and hope that we can help out again some time!
1.6.19
Gerbil TV (2010-06-09 18:07)
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1.6.20
If You Were Wondering... (2010-06-09 18:12)
They made it! The bus was jury-rigged and they limped up to Toledo and made it just as the doors were
opening at 6 PM!!! YEAH!!! We were just not sure what was going to be the case, out of 39 shows, we’d
never had a main band not make it, so it was just so sweet as we heard that old Provost bus brakes fire off
as she eased in behind the theater!!
The Glass City Opry goes on! We had a great show... lots of great music... Here’s a little shot of the
opening band, some good friends of ours... Copus Hill out of Mansfield, Ohio... GREAT Band! Look them
up if you need some middle of Ohio bluegrass!!!
1.6.21
Puppy Videos... (2010-06-09 21:12)
We just can’t help ourselves. We need a 12 step program for puppy addiction! Puppies are so fun, and yet so
annoying at the very same time! How can that be? Naw, she’s pretty good. She can be a handful at times,
but that’s the fun part of puppyhood!
Here’s a couple fun videos we shot this evening. I love watching Gypsy and Evee play stick. (And yes,
Gypsy looks dreadful, but that’ because of my terrible haircutting ability. Her skin issue is actually kind of
clearing up. It’s not gone, but it’s looking a little better. Poor thing...
[EMBED]
[EMBED]
1.6.22
Garden Update... 6-10-10 (2010-06-09 22:22)
Well, it’s that time of the week... my late Sunday Garden Update!
Actually, there wasn’t much going on last Sunday, so I decided to hold off. Now, there’s much more to
report, so here we go!
Today was a good work day because Tim came over to keep us moving along. I’m super excited, my
Dad is coming up to visit and it’s been a super long time since I’ve seen him last. The girls are really looking
forward to this all, and of course, we’ve got a list as long as our arm of things we want to get done and
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spruced up here at the old Moby!
Onions and garlic are doing super well! They apparently really like the south side of the Moby better
than the east side. I think it’s just a little more sunnier over there. That side of the Moby farm is definitely
going to be my money maker. I’m so glad we added the four large beds.
And the carrot tape is coming up!! Yah! Of course, the little carrot babies are teeny-tiny. But they are in a
lovely little row. I hope they continue to do nicely over there.
My herb experiement is doing pretty nicely. I’ve got this lovely oregnano that’s getting a little wild... my
mint is doing lovely... sweet basil and rosemary and chives. I plan to do a little herb harvest this weekend
and try out my dehydrator for them. Should be interesting.
I planted mint under the little cherry trees. It’s a lovely green cover and growing nicely. I am hoping that
it will be a nice ”mulch” so to speak, for the large pots, and cover up the dirt look without having to plant
a bunch of flowering things and such underneath the cherry trees.
Jessy shot a lovely picture of my plant that is called Goat’s Beard. I believe. It’s a neat plant, in a dark
purple stem and such, with these delicate little cream flowers. I thought I had killed it, but it’s doing really
well. All my perennials are really kicking it into high gear this year. Here’s another shot I took a few days
after hers.
Well, Jessy and I planted over 42 tomato plants in the beds. I’m kind of wondering what the heck I’m going
to do with all the tomatoes. I’m really the only fresh tomato eater... and the girls will eat them in stewed
tomatoes, some sauces and of course ketchup, as long as I keep it simple. They do not like salsa. I have a bad
feeling that people are going to be running in terror from me when I have pound after pound of tomatoes
to give away. I might have to start leaving them on doorsteps and running. Well, I had 10 varieties that I
wanted to try and I planted pretty much 4 each, and had two extras that the seed company sent me! (Pink
Ponderosa) Should be an interesting tomato year!
I hate to admit it, but I have another 20 plants still in the cold frame! I put them into 3 large pots and I
will let them keep growing there, but I’m hoping that I can find a home for them. Hate to just let them die
off. They are all great heirloom tomatoes. I might see if my neighbors would like some. Or my buddy Jeff.
He said he wanted to grow a couple tomato plants this year. Hmmmm....
I have this lovely milkweed plant that is growing at the corner of my front flower bed. Some might think
it’s a weed, but in reality, I’m excited about it. It started last year and we actually had a few monarch
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caterpillars find it! They love milkweed. And it’s a native species here in our Oak Openings wildlife region.
I was so excited to find that it’s sprouted out another plant and it’s growing up nicely. I wouldn’t mind if I
had a little milkweed patch there! I can’t wait to show the girls the pods and all.
My two little Meyer lemon trees were not doing well in the house. They just seemed to be, well, dormant.
I know I can’t leave them out all year long, but I am hoping that if they get a good 4 months of sunshine
and rain, that they will be a little more content to be in the house come fall and winter. And then back out
in the springtime. I just would love to have a little lemon tree in the house! I’ve seen pictures of the Meyers
inside and I just think it’s marvelous! I do have a few very sunny spots and I’ll be sure to make sure they
get a better spot than my desk. Much too dark in there.
Now outside? They are doing really well. One of them must have like 8 to 10 new leaves on it and it’s
growing nicely. It’s neat to see how well they are doing outside.
This is my little rag-tag flat of peppers that I’m going to plant either tomorrow or maybe Friday. There are
about 16 or 18 of them. Different varieties. Some are doing better than others. I think peppers are a bit
hard to start by seed. They just seemed touchy. I suppose I should have started them way earilier! They
don’t look like a whole lot. But hopefully once I get them into the raised beds, they will get perking. They
are almost all sweet peppers, not hot. But I did get two hot varieties to see how that goes. I can’t eat them
but I have friends that love hot stuff, so we’ll see if I can scorch them with some fancy heirloom oddities of
the pepper world!
Last but not least... we created the Puppy Containment Force Field 5000. We were having an issue of little
Evee outside and her need to just run around like a gumby! She’s a bit too little to be tied to a leash and
all, especially for play time. Yet, she hasn’t learned her ”yard” yet. After a few too many late nights chasing
the little runt all over the place in the dark... and being afraid of loosing her, we opted to put up a little
bit of temporary fencing to slow her down a bit. And give her the freedom to race around and grow strong
puppy legs and just have fun. And the PCFF5000 is good for old dogs too, that think wandering is quite
ok. We fenced in around the apple trees, along the strawberry patch and then across to the Moby in front of
the eastern raised beds. It’s only 3 feet tall and easy enough to walk over. We just used some little electric
fence posts that are pointed and easy to drive in the ground and move around. To be honest, it’s hard to
see from a distance so I don’t think anyone is going to complain. We’re not suppose to build permanent
enclosing fences, but I see plenty of folks with decorative and privacy type fences, so I think it will be fine
for a while, until the puppy gets a little older. Like I said, it is just temporary until she learns a little better
leash behavior and to not take off running all willy nilly whenever she wants to.
Well, we were all so busy this afternoon, I didn’t take any pictures... but Tim helped out so much. He hung
the last pair of shutters on the south side windows. I stumbled upon a pair at the discount table at Lowes!
$12! Cheaper than even the ReStore store! (Which I looked at first, but none in the right color and size!
And they wanted $15 a pair!) Those last pair completes the Shutter of the Month club!! He fixed the screen
door where the storm had broke the bottom of the frame and a couple BAD KITTIES had clawed up the
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screening. (To be honest, it was Nina Kitty that got it all started. Luna and Dixie are not screen clawers
by nature, but once it was bad, they just helped a bit.) He added a screen to the bathroom window... yeah!
No more moths and buggies in the house! And he planted some plants in my window box... (I’m not very
good on ladders!) And cut a board to lay in my frig, because we accidentally broke the glass shelf and it’s
$60 to fix! This nice white melanie board was almost perfect to fit in there and didn’t cost nuthin’ cuz I had
it laying about from some project. It came from the Ikea discount area and I think it was like 50 cents. He
even added some hooks to the shed to help train the wisteria on! All good stuff! With some of those little
naggy problems done, we’re ready for our visit! We love the old Moby and we want to show her off to my
Dad in all her glory.
Well, that’s the update so far! Maggie harvested another pound of strawberries from the patch... we’re
up to 2 pounds of harvest from the farm! I know it’s not a ton, but it feels so great, it’s hard to explain.
Gonna be another Cherrios breakfast with those little sweet strawberries all over!
Speaking of strawberries... our local u-pick-it place just opened and I believe next week on a slightly cooler,
overcast day (so we don’t get SUNBURNT) we’re going to go and pick at least 20 pounds of the little critters.
Going to freeze some whole, and maybe some sliced and then make up some jam! I love strawberries and my
girls are kind of okay with them. Maggie’s a bit better... Jessy is still kind of learning to appreciate berries!
I still have some blueberries left from last year, but this year we’re going to have plenty of local, delicious
strawberries in our freezer and pantry! Can’t wait!!!
Well, off to bed... just wanted to update a few posts that I had rattling around. And the lovely pictures to share with them! Hope everyone just about has all their gardens in place!!!
1.6.23
2nd Year Anniversary (2010-06-10 21:27)
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been two years since I paid $800 bucks and bought my little dream hut. Of
course, by now, I think I’ve probably put about $5,000 into it, but still, that’s not that bad. Six grand for
a paid off home that we love? It’s very cosy and livable and we love it very much. I still would like to redo
the kitchen and I need to add a real tub and tub enclosure and well, would like new windows at some point
too, but hey, that’s all in due time. Right now, I just love the way the yard and gardens look and I’d like to
share that with you...
[EMBED]
[EMBED]
Now just in case you’d like to see how it looked two years ago when I bought it??? Here you go. Moby done
come a LONG way, baby... hahaha
[EMBED] [EMBED]
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April Taylor (2010-06-14 19:01:08)
Looks great !!! We finally have some siding up. Picture on blog. [email protected]
1.6.24
Laundry Line Rebel (2010-06-11 21:59)
I’m secretly planning to become a rebel in my moby home park. Yes, I’m going to install a retractable
clothes line and I’m going to use it. Just for a few things, mind you, towels and jeans mostly. And I’ll use
the hammock as well, it’s great for little hand towels and such.
And I’m going to buy one of those little portable hand washers too. To use here to extend our time
between visits to the Laundromat. It will be for undies and kitchen towels and maybe even a shirt or two
now and then.
Which we will hang dry in the sunshine. The FREE SUNSHINE.... which makes clothes smell wonderful and helps save tons of electricity and carbon and all that jazz.
I think it’s dreadful that in this fine country, hanging out a load of wash is something akin to leaving a
car up on blocks and a old sofa on your porch. I mean, honestly... hanging clothes in the sweet sunshine
and breeze is something that is so nostalgic and memory driven, as children running through the sheets and
playing in the clean laundry... to the puppy that drags it off the line and has to be scolded! Yet all across
the nation, it’s frowned upon in SO many areas as being ”unsightly”. That’s dreadful. It’s dumb.
So I’m going to start. Of course, we don’t do tons of laundry, but still, once a week or so I will be putting
out my wet things and letting the sun do it’s job.
So visit this site and learn more and become a Laundry LIne Rebel with me!
[1]www.LaundryList.org
1. http://www.laundrylist.org/
Jessica (2010-06-18 16:37:57)
Hope you’re okay, you went quiet there on us! (I need my Mobile Home Woman Fix!) :) your faithful reader Jessica
Hélène (2010-07-01 16:02:35)
whoops; that comment above went w/ur every 3wks laundromat-run article...don’t know how it ended up here that i
wrote it –sorry!
Hélène (2010-07-01 12:31:09)
only thing is, if u have smaller children it’s very difficult to drag all 15 laods in and out URSELF *while* chasing
kids out of the cars’ ways and keeping them out of other customers’ ways. and then those 2 or more hours is spent
entertaining kids who want to RUN and be loud. i won’t talk about trying to fold 15 loads w/even just 1 toddler in
a laundromat. LOL someday maybe ur method would work, but not for fams w/kids under say 10 or 12 who aren’t
able to entertain themselves. :)
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1.6.25
I knew you were coming... (2010-06-19 14:26)
And baked a pie?
Well, we made a cheese cake too, I guess that counts.
You all might be wondering where I’ve been for a little while, but to tell you, my Dad came to
visit. I haven’t seen him in a very long time so it was a visit that we were all looking forward to for some
time. Had lots to do, stuff to get tidyed up and all, and just excited about it all. The girls were excited as
well, and we had a lot of things planned.
Like fishing...
Maggie has been wanting to go fishing for ages! And my Dad is quite the fishing man, and she was
very excited to be able to go and spend some time fishing with her Grandpa. She caught 2 nice sized
bluegills out at our local park, Mallard Lake. Jessy was catching photos and I caught quite a few mosquito
bites! (g) It was a nice afternoon.
That evening we had a good meal of homemade chicken and dumplins with salad and apple pie and
ice cream as well as a game of Cassaronne. It was nice to just have some homey time to visit and just get
back in touch. All the varmits at the Moby enjoyed my Dad very much, but especially a certain little puppy
girl... she really latched ahold of him and was at his side nearly anytime possible.
Gypsy was swept off her paws as well, as my Dad has a way with his doggie pals. One evening,
they were outside in our little temporary yard and when they saw my Dad come up the walkway, both
doggie girls were just whinning and wagging tails happy to see him.
Next day we had a little more visiting time, and I learned that my Dad is a banjo technician as
well! (haha) He helped me change out the tuners on my old banjo, as I was not really confident that I could
do it right. Turns out it was pretty easy and now, they are holding true to tune so much better! I’ve been
struggling with the thing for five years and finally it seems to be behaving much better.
Good thing because that evening after going out to dinner at a nice local restaurent, we went to a
band practice and to meet all my bandmates there. I really wanted my Dad to get a little taste of what is
so important to me, aside from my darling daughters, the moby and my gardening and all. Let’s face it,
bluegrass is a very very big part of my life. We had a little visit and did some picking and talking and all
was nice. Jessy shot a few pictures of the event as well as some of the whole visit.
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In the end, it was too short, but it didn’t matter, it was a great chance to reconnect and get back
on track with staying closer in touch. It’s funny how time can pass by and you never know until you step
back and realize that it’s been a good long while. Life has a way of doing that to you.
Aside from the visit and the memories, it was so sweet for him to bring us up two lovely gifts... my
grandmother’s china and a beautiful old marble top table that was hers. He wanted me to have these things
and I’m so pleased to become their caretaker. We’ll take good care of them, and they already have found
a place in our home. We’re waiting for a nice Sunday dinner to try out the china. We intend to use them
because I think my Grandma would like that better than just having them set away. The girls are looking
forward to having dinner on them tomorrow.
I’m hoping that perhaps in the winter, we’ll try and get ourselves down there for a visit. I would
love to see the ocean again, and to see all that is Florida! And what’s nice is that my Dad lives not very far
from where some good friends winter and play music down there! That will be nice to be able to go and
visit a few hours and play a little music in the warm winter sunshine of Florida, especially when the snows
are blowing and cold!
1.6.26
Spoiled Pooch (2010-06-19 15:43)
We spoil our lovely old Gypsy lady.
Here she gets to lick a pot clean while laying on the couch!
Hahaha... what a life, eh?
1.6.27
Lemony Slushy Ice (2010-06-19 15:51)
We love this stuff! And it’s sooooo easy to make.
Take 3 lemons and juice them, pulp and all. Zest one of them so that you have a couple spoons of zest, finely
grated. And pop it all in a little saucepan with 3/4 a cup of white sugar. Heat it to a boil, then turn off the
heat and stir for about 5 minutes, so that you make a slightly thick sugar syrup. Add 3 cups of cold water,
stir and put into the freezer in a shallow pan or food storage thingy. After about an hour or two, take a
fork and stir up the slightly frozen ice and make slush out of it. You may have to put it back in the freezer
for a while if your pan is not real shallow. You can simply pour the mixture into ice cube trays too, for a
WONDERFUL drop in to your sweet ice tea! Or lemonade!
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And here’s the best part. You can use any kind of juice or fruit or even jam! If you don’t use lemons,
you can change out the lemons for a cup of any kind of fresh smooshed fruit. Just make sure you add some
water to the cooking syrup. It’s easy to adjust the recipe!
Nothing is better on a super hot day then some lemon slushy ice!!!
1.6.28
This is divorce... (2010-06-19 19:27)
I just read this and you know what?
It is the best statement I’ve ever read about what divorce is.
When there s a divorce, there s still the horrific pain of loss, coupled with grief and mourning,
but there s also rejection, humiliation, and a severance of family ties. Each and every happy
memory of the past is tainted and poisoned by the angry ex-spouse s ugly words, coupled with
your own self-doubt and self-recrimination. Divorce has all the sadness and loss that comes with
the death of a partner, but with an extra heaping helping of rejection. When there s a divorce in
the family, there s a conspicuous absence of supportive souls coming by to sit on your couch and
hold your hand and wipe your tears. There are no thoughtful neighbors dropping by with their
warm casseroles.
[1]You can visit this remarkable writer’s blog... HERE
1. http://www.uglywomansguide.com/index.php/blog/
1.6.29
I love my work... (2010-06-19 21:27)
We just got a batch of AWESOME instructional DVDS in all about BLUEGRASS MUSIC!!!! We get
to watch them and learn from them and then review them for all our bluegrass websites.... Rob and Jeff
and I are going to be doing it and it’s just SO COOL.... They are from this awesome bluegrass instructional
company.... [1]Acutab! Gonna be fun.... Bass, Banjo, Fiddle, Mandolin....
Oh how I love what I do!!!
1. http://www.acutab.com/
1.6.30
Just Pretty... (2010-06-20 16:12)
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1.6.31
Handmaking Rock Kit Bags (2010-06-20 16:23)
We have been buying these little drawstring bags from a wholesale source in China. And we ran out. Problem
is, we thought we had more tucked away and we didn’t. And it takes at LEAST a month to get them from
this supplier. We looked all over in the US for them, but the only ones were at least 3 times as much as the
Chinese source, including shipping. Very disappointing.
Until I thought... heck, I can make a drawstring bag. And probably just as nice as the ones we were
using. They weren’t that fantastic. Certainly usable and they worked fine, they just were not super fancy
or anything.
So, last week one of my projects was to give it a try. I got 2 yards of nice velvety cloth and a bit of
drawstring and got started. Turns out, I can actually make them for 25 cents less than the Chinese! Imagine
that. And it took me about an hour to cut and then make 10 bags. I have enough cut to make 30 more, but
we only needed 5 at the time, and I had some other things on my to-do plate.
Nice thing about working at the Moby Mine, are all the critter inspectors. Loki, the ferret was out on play
furlough and decided to climb up my leg and come and inspect my work. She promptly decided to try and
steal the roll of drawstring, of course, so I think that means she approved.
Sure felt rewarding to find that we could actually make our own product even better. Completely made in
the USA. And all by our little hands. I think I’ll take a little time this week and sew up the rest so they are
all done. Shouldn’t take me more than an couple hours at the most. Now that I’ve got the swing of it. And
I’ll bet the girls could do it as well, they are becoming great seamstresses!
1.6.32
Happy Father’s Day (2010-06-20 22:22)
Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads and Wanna-Be Dads and Gonna-Be Dads and Someday Dads....
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1.6.33
New Pet Pictures from Jessy (2010-06-21 21:55)
April Taylor (2010-06-22 23:09:39)
She takes great pictures !!!
Nita in South Carolina (2010-06-24 09:47:25)
My favorite is the orange & white cat sitting in the driveway. The light is beautiful! She is very talented.
1.6.34
Puppy Love (2010-06-22 07:45)
1.6.35
Tornado Damage and Benefit Show (2010-06-26 20:20)
I believe these photos that we took last week pretty much show the kind of damage that even a modest
tornado can do.
It was hard to look upon and not think... this was only 10 miles from us.
I’ll let the photos do the talking.
We’re playing tomorrow at the benefit concert for some of the folks that lost their homes that night. FEMA
has decided that 100 families being left homeless is fine for the community to take care of and so they are
not going to help. Insurance will help many, certainly, but it’s not going to cover everything. And it’s taking
time to get those kinds of things wrapped up and may take some family months and months to rebuild or
move. It’s very sad. I hope that we have hundreds at the benefit tomorrow. If you’re in the area of Toledo,
Ohio... please consider coming out.
1.6.36
Garden Update... Last Week! (2010-06-26 21:00)
Well I meant to get this post up last week... but the week got away from me!
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I’m trying to get a bunch of stuff done before July, when I had several intensive projects that are going
to need my complete focus and attention. So, I decided that I needed to get my to-do cards down to under
20. Considering that a week ago I was at like 36 or 37 cards, this was going to be a busy week.
However, at least a couple cards were concerning my garden and getting it all in place and growing where it
belonged! (Not safe in the cold frames!)
The beans and peas are doing wonderful. Much better than last year. I had almost 100 % germination and
they are all nice and strong and growing thickly. The peas are close to getting near the trellis and once that
gets going it won’t be long before they start flowering. Can’t wait. Sweet peas off the vine in the summer
are a wonderful treat. And I just love green beans all fresh and ready for a little quick cook and some butter
and a bit garlic salt. Just good stuff.
What a difference a year of mulch ad compost added to the beds. Everything is growing nice and happy.
We finally got all the corn planted! Yeah, a little on the late side, but at least I planted lots of early corn,
so I think the 3 months of growing we have left will produce some sweet corn for the table. I planted four
different types... two that are full sized garden sweet corn and then a strawberry Amish popcorn and for fun,
an Asian baby corn variety that produces up to 20 little ears per stalk! Can’t wait to see how that works.
And with our new induction heat hot plate we’ll be able to do a decent stir fry! I’ll keep everyone updated
on these fun varieties.
Absolutely love these seed tapes for radish and carrot this year. No thinning needed. And super easy to
plant. For the extra dollar a package, this is the way I’m going all the time. Even if we have to make our
own napkin tapes, this really beats thinning. And I believe they are growing faster and healthier, not having
to compete from the start.
The last of my iris bloomed last week. I’m sad to see them go. But the daisies and black eyed Susans are
getting ready to start blooming, so that will distract me I’m sure. We even have a few Tiger lilies finally
blooming! I transplanted these fellows and last year they didn’t bloom. But they’re getting the hang of it
now.
The apples have self-thinned their own ranks. This tree had 19 little apples in the beginning and now it has
9 nice sized little apples left. I think I’ll get a few more than last year’s total of one. (haha) The peaches are
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going to be plentiful if they make it to maturity. But they sure look like they’re going to give it a heck of a
try. They are huge already!
My mint is really doing well. I am going to have to read on how best to use and preserve it. I wonder how
many leaves you need to make mint extract? I love mint candy patties and I have seen some recipes before
for homemade ones... I’ll have to give that a try!
I’ve got to add a cute puppy picture in here you know.
Funny little thing happened last week and it was pretty upsetting.
I had just seen my Dad off on his way and came back in the house, was putzing around. I laid back
down for a bit and went about my day afterwards. Around 2 I had to meet a client about some printing and
I go out and our car is gone. Old Blue is GONE!
At first, I am standing there in disbelief. Did I park it somewhere else? Was it stolen? What gives...
it is a weird feeling. I mean who would steal an old station wagon? I mean, we love the old lady, but still...
weird. I call the police and find it has been towed. Apparently, the place that I have been parking in for two
years is not a parking space. Yeah, that cut out and the parking block are just ah, a decoy or something.
No one has ever told me that it’s not. Our new management thinks that having a rough hand is the only
way to treat people. $135 bucks and a stressful afternoon and the old lady was home. I guess it was a good
thing that Gunnar was at the shop (long story... the transmission that they put in didn’t take. Thankfully
it’s not costing me anything, but still, he’s gone and has been for a while now... soon... soooooon.)
So, as you look at the above picture... you see Blue where we are SUPPOSED to park her. Not in the
parking space to the right, no, that is a turn around for me and my non-exisistant neighbor to the north.
He’s probably the one that complained, don’t you think? My imaginary neighbor. Or maybe his imaginary
wife. She can be difficult at times you know.
Well, you know, my girls were upset and the neighbors were all fuming and we had a little pow wow
and lots of mean things were said and suggested, but you know, in the end, I think the worse part was the
feeling of harshness that it presented. When I was getting the car out of hock, I noticed a tote board and
nearly $1300 in tows came out of our park that day. And we have a lot of low income and elderly folk...
$135 is a lot of money. The management could have handled it in a much more friendly way and lef their
little red ”love” tags on the cars that were parked wrong, especially residents cars. If they continued, then
sure, tow. But not even a warning. Manager said it was in the newsletter that illegally parked cars would
be towed, so I should have known.
But I would have NEVER suspected in a million years that I was illegally parked. I mean, the other
places don’t have parking blocks or anything.
Oh well. Lesson learned. Just makes my goal of moving the Moby to her own plot of land something
I’ll work even harder for.
Well, that was last week! I promise that I’ll update the blog more often and get a few more good shots
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of the corn growing and all that stuff!!! Busy day tomorrow... two gigs in one day! Shooooot! Busy bluegrass girl!
1.6.37
Mondays.... (2010-06-28 21:34)
Can really get you down....
1.6.38
Garden Update 6-28-10 (2010-06-28 22:15)
My daisies are just about to bloom.... so are my Black Eyed Susans... that will be nice. And my purple
coneflowers are coming right up the alley. All the flowers are doing very nicely this year. Can’t wait to start
buying up a few more 75 % off end of season perennials this year. I believe I need some more springtime
flowering ones. Most of what I have tends to bloom more towards middle to late summer.
Marie and Louise, our grape vines, are doing nicely as well. I’m wondering if I need to train them horizontally
soon, or if they can continue up to the roof of the shed. Not sure about that. I think I might need to do a
little more reading about grape vines.
My crookneck yellow squash plants are flowering nicely, though they don’t seem that large. I am not a big
fan of squash, but I thought it would be fun to give them a whirl. My neighbor behind me likes them so he
might get a big bundle of them sooner than later!
My oinions are looking weird. At first I thought it was kitty damage or something, but then I started to
learn online that it’s just a sign that they’re getting close to being done for awhile. And in fact, a lot of
gardeners will go out and step on the greens to force the bulbs to get bigger! Hmmm. I must admit, they
are doing nicely, those little sets are about the size of big golfballs. (haha) I suppose there are only one size
of golfballs out there. I guess I mean to say, they are a bit bigger than a golfball, but like not baseball sized
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yet. Apparently, I should encourage this greens flop thing and let the bulbs grow bigger for another month
or so. And then harvest and dry them for storage. Guess we’ll see, eh?
Pickles!!! We have pickles!!! We love to make pickles and I planted a whole bed full of Miss Pickler and
Boston Pickling and some fancy French pickles, too! I was so busy looking at the little one in this picture
that I didn’t notice the monster one behind it!! They were looking a little wilty in the heat today, but last
night they got drenched! I wonder if I need to make a little sun shade for them. I always thought pickles
liked a sunny spot. Hmmm.... more reading!
Carrot tapes are doing nicely, though I don’t have anything close to complete germination. I believe that
I’m going to make up some new tapes, using the napkins technique tomorrow and plant them up, in the
open areas where I didn’t get good germination. Hopefully that will make good use of my beds.
Corn is up in the three beds along the south side and doing fine. It’s the popcorn and the oriental corn that
is doing gangbusters. However, the cheap corn in the 8 foot by 8 foot bed in the back is spotty at best. Very
low germination. That is the field I tried to grow wheat in last year. I think that the dirt in that bed is
just not very good and not very healthy. I need to get another load of compost from the place around the
corner. That is what we put in the first three beds and you can sure see a difference in the corn, sunflowers
and tomatoes in those beds. Big and strong, healthy stuff. Got to get past the end of the month costs and
all, and first of July or so, do a little ammending to our beds. I know it’s going to take a couple years to
make super nice soil in our growing beds. But I sure want to keep at it, see if I can boost this year a bit
more with a bit of help.
My dear daughters managed to get 3 of the 4 new beds stained and sealed. I kind of like the dark wood look
of these beds... I just buy the combination stain and poly seal quarts that are on sale, so I’m not too picky.
By next year they will be faded no matter what, but now they look very elegant, all dark walnuty stained
and sealed. I need to make a run to the hardware store soon, and get a bit more since all the other beds
could use a quick coat as well. All this rain we’ve been getting, it’s really rough on the wood.
Some of the zinnias we planted in the early spring are starting to bloom and they are so pretty! I had no
idea... I had kind of forgotten about seed flowers and when I got a big lot of them for 25 cents a pack last
year, I figured, why not. And they are blooming in little sweet tucked in places all over. Beautiful little
flowers with dainty flowers!
And the peaches are doing lovely... the whole tree is still very populated in the little gems! I hope we get at
least enough for some peach jam! Or maybe a marmalade. That would be lovely.
Just a nice shot of my living room, before my Dad visited. Of course, we really did a number on cleaning
up and getting everything tidy! When you have 3 pretty much grown people, living in 800 square feet and
WORKING there too, schooling, living and all, it can get a little cluttered at times. So it’s nice to have
a great reason to hunker down and tidy up nice. We’re pretty good about keeping the middle room fairly
orderly... it’s hard to work in too much chaos! But when we have a busy weekend, it can get a little messy.
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We did go on Saturday to our storage unit and totally took it apart! We sorted out the boxes and totes,
pitched about 3 or 4, and then packed up old Blue with a load to bring back. And then we re-stacked the
whole thing based on frequency of need... all the heirloom and long storage stuff way to the back and nicely
stacked, and then more frequent stuff like camping gear and holiday stuff, that kind of thing. And lo and
behold... we have about half the unit available to us again! Wow!
Now I love my storage unit. It only costs me $30 a month. And it’s nice and strong and safe and all
that. I know that maybe I could try and sort it all, and try somehow to get it into my shed here and all
that. Save that $30. I doubt it. We save on so many other things, that having the unit there, safe and
sound, full of things that I don’t really need but don’t want to depart with, it’s well worth that cost. And
the best part? Since we have nearly a half of it available to us now, I plan to go through the Moby here, and
take another load back to longer term storage and lighten the load here! The girls are going to be getting
new flooring soon, and they are working to put some of thier stuff into storage. That is really going to help
them a lot. Like a lot of teenagers, they have a pretty full room of their beloved things. However, they are
finding it a little cramped and like the idea of a bit of rotational storage. I think we’ll be going back to the
unit sooooon!
Had a very full weekend of bluegrass... not a lot of pictures of us to share, but I did take a few. 3 gigs in
3 days is a lot of picking, but it was fun work! I’ll write more about that soon. I do have to say though,
that my lovely neighbors are all up in arms about the car towing/parking business. Apparently a few others
in our little area were affected as well, and everyone is up in arms and gathering with their neighbors and
getting pretty angry. There’s talk of organizing... I don’t blame them. Every day, early in the morning, you
can hear the tow trucks creeping down the street, looking for victims. It’s ridiculous. We are starting to feel
like criminals in our own sweet little park. Of course, the rumor mill says the lands going to be sold and all
that. I sure hope not. I’m not ready to relocate my old Moby! Not yet anyway. But something like that, it
would take months, if not years to accomplish. We have leases and rights. I’m not that worried about that.
I just would like to see the management treat it’s residents with a bit of understanding and kindness, rather
than this harsh, iron fist approach.
It’s not working.
Hélène (2010-07-01 10:05:44)
WOW! watta site here! i live in a trailer w/my lil girls and disabled husband (translate: no moolah). we bot it
outright also and it needed quite a bit but we have very, very slowly been doing things as very little income makes
anything just undoable. (we had to tear up gross carpeting & have been walking on subfloor for almost 3yrs now) i
tear down stuff alot as that is free LOL. just wanted to say BRAVO on ur job on ur Moby–its great!
1.7
1.7.1
July
Working Hard... (2010-07-02 00:20)
[1]
As you might see by the time of this post, I’m up burning the midnight oil, again.
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I made a goal to get super caught up by the first of July. I wanted to have my slate clean for some
summer projects for the girls and I as well as some work related projects that I really wanted to focus on.
Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of client work, and it’s really been consuming a good deal of my available time.
Now, it’s nice, and I love helping out, but to be honest, it’s just a sort of trading hours for dollars and
doesn’t have a lot of income stream potential. Once it’s done, it’s done. I really need to be focusing more on
building products that I can then sell over and over, such as over 200 of our publications and products that
we offer. In fact, one product alone, the homeschooling Master Planner has actually grossed over $24,000 in
it’s lifetime. I created it almost 7 years ago in about a month of dedicated focused work and effort. And it’s
certainly paid off, and continues to do so. I am planning to revamp and add to the product, but basically
for the last 7 years I haven’t done a single thing to it, and it continues to sell and help families all over the
world! That is really cool.
I’m proud to report that I am down to only 20 to-do cards in my pack and that feels good. (If you’re
curious on my system, you can learn more [2]HERE... click this link to see the post) Two years ago I had
over 160 cards. And I have added tons to the pack and finished tons of cards. But now, I’m trying hard to
not add things to the pack and trying to learn to say no. For awhile. I really need to.
One of the best things, though, that we have been working hard to do, is upgrade some of our processes and
equipment. The new computer is working great and I hope to be adding a new one to the herd for Jessy
soon. She really needs a higher powered desktop machine for her photography work and a larger viewing
monitor.
However, this week, we FINALLY got our little thermal postage printer to work and let me tell you, boy,
oh boy, is that wonderful. We use a shipping service called Endicia, and we love it, but we’ve been printing
the labels on paper and cutting them (as the program will only print on half a piece of paper through a
regular ink jet printer and then we have to tape the heck out of it. A waste of paper and tape and time. We
bought the printer a few months ago, but we accidently bought the wrong model for our Macs. And it took
us a while to sort it all out, because, well, we thought it was us, just not understanding the whole process
of connection, when in reality we had the wrong printer. The folks we bought it from were super helpful in
making all the connections finally work and this past week, we got it going!
[3]
Printing postage is now a dream! And it’s fun. The thermal printer uses heat and a special label to burn the
image into the sticker. No more wasted ink and paper. And it’s sticky, so we just peel and stick. The labels
are actually very reasonable, we got 250 for $4 on eBay. When you consider that we were burning through
those nasty little expensive ink cartridges like water... this is a great deal for us and a huge labor saver.
I’ve been looking hard at many of the things we’re doing to make them easier and smoother. And to
waste less time and resources. We already recycle packing material, but I am looking into a little decent
strip shredder to begin making our own packing shred. Since we ship rocks, it’s a perfect way to recycle
office paper and keep the kits nice and comfy on their ride.
Well, tomorrow is my last day of working hard on the cards... And then I want to enjoy the weekend
with my daughters and relax. Come Monday, we’re going to hit the ground running on our own stuff for
awhile and be a little selfish of my time and skills. We just have to. We need to replenish our product offerings, bring out some great new stuff that has been in the wings and help our family out a bit. I just can’t
wait! We’re just getting the finishing touches on our very first ROCK AND MINERAL KIT CATALOG!!!
It’s so pretty. I can’t believe we’ve taken so long to get one done. Jessy just got the last few photos shot
and I can’t wait to see how it all looks. All in a busy busy week’s work!!!
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1.7.2
Doggie Girls (2010-07-02 23:48)
[1]
Well, the doggy girls are FINALLY starting to like each other.
I’m pretty sure that Gypsy is not that interested in the crazy all-day long puppy energy antics, but when
she does wind down, she likes her a lot more then.
They eat nicely together and hang out in the yard nice as well.
They do, however, play a game called Queen of the Couch and generally speaking Gypsy is the winner
of this game.
However, this afternoon? Evee learned how to jump on the couch with a good running start. And once
she figured it out, she did it about 4 times in a row to make sure. She’s a real goof ball.
So Gypsy might have a little more competition in the next few days!
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1.7.3
Last Sunday’s Bluegrass Events (2010-07-03 00:03)
[1]
Last weekend, we actually had 3 gigs and a lot of bluegrass was going on. Got a chance to play at the Black
Swamp Opry on Friday, a bit disappointing as the crowd was super low. And then, on Sunday, we played
at the Ayersville Methodist Church annual picnic and fair and that was nice. Very nice group of people, we
really enjoyed it. It was super hot, but thankfully there was a storm blowing in, so we had a very strong
breeze to keep us cool.
And after that, we packed up and headed to Delta, Ohio for the tornado benefit. Busy busy day.
[2]
Got to see a lot of people that I just love... all my bluegrass buddies. It’s always so nice to see the music
community come together and help out, pick some good music and raise some funds. The benefit raised
$5,000 for the community and it’s all going to help out the families. Not a dime for anything else.
[3]
Curtis and Brian added their comedic two cents with a funny rendition of Dueling Banjos... complete with
a Jew’s Harp in the rumble!
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[4]
Our Opry sound guys did the sound for the benefit and their band, the Hand Hewn String Band, also played.
Love hearing them, they are always lively and entertaining!
[5]
Bridge County played as well as All About HIM and the Malcomus Rock Band. And of course... Deepwater!!!
[6]
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Good time was had by all...
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1.7.4
Happy 4th of July (2010-07-04 07:24)
[1]
We had our firework extravaganza last night because the girls are going to their Dad’s today, but that’s
okay... it was ALMOST the 4th! And let me tell you, it was a fine display of mobile home excellence in
pyrotechnics! And we celebrated in the parking... er... turn around space to honor it’s useless presence!!!
Now it has a name! The firework spot!
Enjoy our little fun from last night and I hope you have a wonderful 4th of July at your little homestead in
the city... or wherever you call home!
[2]
[3]
[4]
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[7]
[8]
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1.7.5
Finished a new blog for some friends.... (2010-07-06 22:50)
[1]
Well, today I finished up a blog site for some musical friends of mine... the All About HIM gospel band.
These are some super nice folks, 3 ladies and a gentleman, and they make some mighty fine music unto the
Lord. They had a nice website, but it was hard to use and didn’t really suit their needs well enough, and
so they contacted me and I said, sure... I really thought that they needed more of a informational blog,
something that could easily work with their band information as well as their ministry to help distribute
bibles to the elderly in need of the Word of God.
So after a bit of back and forth, some informational meetings and content gathering and a bunch of emails,
their new WordPress site is all ready to receive visitors! I think it’s going to do very nicely for them. We’ll
be having a training session for it soon, and I think they are going to be much happier now!
[2]www.AllAboutHimMinistry.com
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1.7.6
Boy, is it dry.... (2010-07-06 23:27)
[1]
Well, it’s not quite this bad, but we are seeing some serious plant wilt. Last two days, the girls and I
have been watering in the evening, trying to keep the trees alive and the garden beds. The grass is a lost
cause for right now. It will bounce back quick, so I’m not too worried about it. But I would hate to loose
the new trees we planted. 8 in total. And 2 lilac bushes. It’s been a week since our last rainfall. Actually,
it’s been 9 days! That’s a bit long for growing plants that are just getting started.
We actually harvested about 10 medium sized red candy onions and 6 or 7 pickles from the garden! It’s
really our first major harvest. Another two or three weeks and I think we’ll have beans and peas ready to
go. Maybe some radish too. I need to go and pick the last of the strawberries and we have some raspberries
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that are ready to be picked as well. The tomato plants are all good and strong and most of the popcorn
and oriental small corn are doing well. For some reason all my normal old fashion sweet corn has been a
germination disaster. Out of three packs of seed, I only have about 15 plants that came up. I know it’s
getting late, but I might plant another pack or two that is brand new and see what happens.
It’s really been hot as well. We hit 97 degrees today. It’s baking the Moby and we’ve had our little air
conditioners running pretty hard. We have three air conditioners, one for each bedroom and then a big one
in the middle area. Normally they do a great job and we don’t have to run them very cold, and the bill is
very reasonable. We’ve never gone over $150 for even the hottest month. Normally our bill is around $50$60, so I don’t think that’s too bad to stay comfortable. Since we work here as well, it’s just not comfortable
in the heat and our window situation is still not great. We really need to replace several of the windows and
well, that’s just going to have to wait for next year I think. I hope!
We really have to watch both the puppy and Gypsy, our elderly dog. She’s not handling the heat very
well and the pup, well, she goes out and is just crazy running around and all, and twice she’s flopped over
in the yard and looks dead! We make sure that they both have plenty of water and have been limiting their
time outside in the dead heat of the afternoon.
I’d like to report more, but right now, I’m just hustling my butt and working hard. We had a VERY
slow sales month, and a very tight budget for the last couple weeks. My car FINALLY came home... yes,
it was gone for two months having the transmission redone again. Thankfully, it was covered from the first
time it was done, but I still had to take care of some other issues, mainly the front right strut was bad and
had to be replaced. It’s running fine now, and thankfully, I got a freon charge for the air conditioner since
it had been drained when they put on a new air compressor, so Gunnar runs nice and cool. It drives like a
dream and I am a happy gal... but the extra costs are really making things tight. I’m very glad that we have
a nice stocked panty and freezer, we haven’t been to the grocery store for major shopping now all month
long. Just a couple times to get some basics like butter and milk, and that kind of thing. We’ve finally run
out of chicken, so I might have to go and get a bit of that. We have hamburger, sausage and pork steaks
left. Don’t mind pork, but we are getting a little weary of it. I’d like a little chicken pot pie or some chicken
stir fry... maybe grilled chicken? I’ll have to go and check what sort of chicken is on sale at the butcher shop
and go from there!
I’ve been thinking a lot and I think dry times and tight money times, they are a real test of how you’re doing.
If you treat them in a panic and with fear, they will get the best of you. If you tighten up the belt, pull
in the spending and work hard, you can weather the tough times. I think about how my grandparents and
others survived the depression of the 1930’s and it’s just nothing like now. We still have high speed internet,
two cars, toys and crafts and a nice full garden. If it keeps up for another month, well, we’ll inch by. We
might have to do a little more belt tightening and get a bit more creative with the noodles, rice and beans,
but we’ll do fine. Thankfully, our water is not expensive, and we have the time to make sure our garden
stays watered and tended. We’ll have a lot more produce in the coming weeks and the farmer’s markets are
coming into their flush time and we’ll have plenty of local, fresh and abundant goodies to get through this
tough time.
I hope you’re all hanging in there and making do in this heat wave! Stay cool!
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April Taylor (2010-07-07 21:03:17)
It is hot here in Alabama Too ! We are to reach 101 tomorrow. Glad your garden is weathering this hot spell. I know
about tighting those belts. We are a one (low) income couple. I have not worked in over a year. I sell soem things on
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ebay. But no one is buying.... That care and stay cool.
1.7.7
Puppy Update (2010-07-07 21:46)
[1]
Well, little Evee is growing big. She’s going to be 15 weeks old on Saturday. Almost 4 months old
now! She’s really getting tall. She has these long gangly legs right now and the rest of her doesn’t quite
match.
She’s a smart little cookie, and relentless! She doesn’t give up without a fight for the most part and
is getting good at spreading mayham and terror through the house. (haha) She’s a wild lass, there’s no
doubt. It’s become apparent that we need to step up some training with her. Some of her cute ”puppy”
behaviors and becoming more annoying young adult behaviors!
I have to say, though, the biggest issue at hand is her total lack of an outside recall. Once she’s
out, it’s forget about you and she’s off for big adventure. And if you chase after her? She is very fast and
thinks it’s a game and trust me, very annoying.
We put up a little temporary fence to help with potty training, so that we could get her out the
door quickly and regularly to help establish a good routine. Well, that worked for a while, but in the last
day or two, she’s figgered out at least 3 different ways to get out! (Hence the need to chase her!) We
reenforced the fence a bit, and she’s never left out alone at all, but I don’t think the fence is going to work
for much longer. I hate to immediately have to put her on a leash or line out in the yard, she needs time to
run free and have puppy time. I think we’ll be readjusting our fence a bit and see if we can’t gain another
few weeks of a safe spot for her.
We’re not allowed to have ”real fences” so that’s not an option at the moment. Maybe some day if
we ever get the chance to move the moby to a bit of land, that won’t be a problem, but that’s not going to
be any time soon. So, we have to work on some alternatives.
I think that readjusting the fence to a long narrow run and making it a little sturdier will help for
awhile. In the meanwhile, we’re going to be working on outside recall on a leash line. If Jessy wants to
compete with Evee in agility, then she has to have a decent recall. There’s nothing worse in a competition
than a dog that can’t be trusted off leash to stay focused and with her companion. Granted, she’s a pup
and pup’s are great for being all willy nilly and excited about the world, but still, she’s a herd dog breed
and they are also known for their focus and attention to their owner.
We’ve also noticed that she’s entering a bit of stranger fear, which is very common at this age. So
we’re going to have to up the ”out in public” time, to get her a little more comfortable with lots of people
and situations. We have several nice dog parks around, and some nice community parks that we can start
to practice walking on the lead (which she’s still not too great at) Lots of training to do!
But she’s got such a fun personality and she’s eager and willing to learn tricks and other little behaviors so I know that she’ll be great with stepping up things a bit. I really want her to be a great
companion to Jessy, and for them to have years of fun and wonderful times together. An out of control
crazy dog is no fun. It’s best for both of them to start having these times to learn and train each other.
Everyone wins!
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[2]
As you can see, she is getting bigger! Evee and Luna are becoming buddies. Evee would really like
to play a lot more with the cat, but Luna only plays with her outside in the yard. It’s pretty funny to
watch. Luna pretty much stays in one place and the pup races around and around her, trying to herd her
this way or that. Luna will walk a few steps and stop, and spin to try and get the pup with a slap paw
shot, but Evee is fast. Especially after feeling the sting of a kitty claw a time or two! Great encouragement
to stay clear of the sharp kitty!
Funny thing though, this morning... Evee had escaped and I was in hot pursuit. I was doing my
very best moves, like ”I’m not chasing you, I’m going this way and it’s more fun” and ”Oh look at this stick
I have FUN FUN FUN” and of course the favorite... ”hurt puppy noise and crouch down” which normally
works but she’s getting wise to that one... I hate to yell at her and act like an insane woman and make it
worse... but I was getting pretty annoyed. All the while, Luna is trotting after us, meowing pitifully. A
couple times the puppy dashed over to check on the kitty and I was ALMOST fast enough to grab her, but
missed. When I finally got the little wort, she did get a paddling and a stern scoulding and Luna about went
nuts! She was meowing so loudly and was jumping at my leg as if to save her little crazy dog friend from
a beating! Made me laugh, and of course, how could you be mad at a goofball puppy. As we were walking
back, Luna was trotting along perfectly at my heel. If we could only train the dog to act like the cat!!!
Well, I fixed the problem with an old training trick a friend taught me. She was a great dog trainer, had her
own place and did some wonderful stuff with really hard luck cases. She would take a short piece of leash,
about 3 to 4 feet long. Cut off the handle part and knot it a time or two. Nothing heavy, but dangly. Now,
when Evee is out in the yard, she has this leash clipped on her. Doesn’t interfere with playing and running
for the most part, but it gives us something longer to grab if she gets away, or to step on if she’s running
off. And you can use it as a short lead when you first go out in the yard, to reinforce the whole stick around
me thing. We’ll see if it helps.
Wow, well, it’s getting late and didn’t mean to start a whole dog training post. Just tired and rambling on a bit! Been working hard and then went to practice at 8 PM! We’ve got a little festival this weekend
and we had to run through a few things. Didn’t get home till almost 11 and then had emails to get through
and of course, had to check my facebook thingy and of course, my Mafia wars game! (yeah, I’m hooked...
always did like the Godfather movies... )
Oh, by the way, if you want to be my friend on Facebook... look me up. Sherri Chekal is my
name... and when you see a banjo picking gal, it’s me. I think I’m probably the only Sherri Chekal on there.
Chekal’s not that common a last name!!!
Well off to bed! Hope all is well with you all!
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1.7.8
It’s Saturday! (2010-07-10 10:36)
[1]
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Oh, boy, it’s been a week. Not even worth going into, trying to be positive and moving forward
into good vibes, happy times and good projects to come... but it’s been a doozy.
But look how Saturday has started!!!! I found a super nice fellow on Craig’s List with a couple hundred of those interlocking paver stones that he wanted to get rid of! So we made the connection and he
dropped them off this morning for us! I just got 100, but now I’m thinking I want more!!! I’ll probably give
him a call this week and see if we can get the rest. He has 100 more left. I would like to finish ringing in
the peach tree and maybe even do the kitty garden area.
Didn’t take us long to stack them nicely. There are a few we probably should move and level a bit
more, but it was starting to get hot and I figure they might settle a bit. I think they look lovely! How nice!
I need to get a bag or two of mulch and fill in a bit right behind the wall but still... I love the look!
[2]
[3]
I wish more people would come to understand that a mobile home is a good place to live when you
go into the idea of fixing it up and treating it like a real home and not just some sort of half way house in
life. I am constantly getting compliments on really, the simplest things... decent sized plants and trees and
just nice touches like the pavers or pots of nice plants. These are not expensive things. And the mere fact
that I OWN my home. Free and clear... to me that’s wonderful. Now I can afford to spend money on doing
upgrades to the place. And if I’m not too flush, well, I can wait a while. Anything I do to the place, makes
it nicer and nicer to live in.
And my lot rent is CHEAP when compared to real estate taxes or renting a home or apartment and
I have so many more freedoms.. to have a dog, a garden, outdoor space, and all that. Sure, I have to deal
with management and right now, we’re all in a battle over parking and harsh behavior, but in reality, as
long as you keep the place tidy and follow some basic rules, it’s not that hard to be a good resident. Pay
your rent on time and keep the grass mowed and pretty much, you’re good as gold.
[4]
I love having my gardens and my little bit of lawn. It’s just enough. I can grow a LOT of veggies,
still have room for my dogs and a hammock, feed birds, sit on my patio and not be chained to hours and
hours of yard work. It’s a JOY to spend an hour outside working, not drugery. When I remember how long
it took to mow and edge and weedwack and blow my big house in the swanky suburbs, no wonder we finally
got a lawn crew to do it. It was EASILY a 3-4 hour ordeal, nearly every week. Here at the Moby? An hour
will get you done with all that plus some puppy pickup, a little weeding, some lemonade in the hammock
and throwing the stick for the dog and maybe even harvesting veggies from the raised beds for dinner!
[5]
Look how lovely the garden beds are looking! Corn is coming up great, sunflowers are making some
serious strides and I am going to have SO many tomatoes, I think I will be making about 250 jars of sauce
and salsa and who knows what else this fall! I still have a few open spots for growing and I think I’m going
to hit the local places and scoop up some herbs on sale. Most are perrienials and I think it would be great
to have a bed devoted to perrienial herbs! Rosemary, thymes, dill, and a few others. I have a couple lovely
mint plants that are doing fantastic, but I might consider some spearmint.
[6]
Purple coneflower is starting to bloom as are the Black-Eyed Susies. They will really be all out in a
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week or so. We FINALLY got a day of rain on Thursday, and are due to get another day on Monday, so
hopefully we will be okay. That 9 days without rain really shocked some of the new plants and trees, but
we worked hard to keep them flush with water throughout.
[7]
Pickles are doing pretty good. We’ve already had about 2 or 3 pounds out of the patch, and there are a lot
more forming. The plants are really starting to grow and settle in and there is no doubt that putting them
RIGHT next to the spickot was a good decision. Last year my pickles were too far from the water and we
would often not get to them. The resulting on and off of water really didn’t do the plants any good. From
all I read, pickles love a nice constant watering. And it’s easy to give them a drink often right next to the
source.
[8]
Beans are doing great! They love being in the slightly shady area on the east side of the Moby. My peas
definately got hot shocked, they are pretty wilty and some are even dead. But some are hanging in there. I
think I’ll probably let these go and plant again in late August or so for a late fall harvest. I LOVE sweet
peas from the garden, so this is a bit of a disappointment to me. However, the beans are doing great and
have beautiful purple blooms, so it might be okay after all... if I get lots of beans, I’ll be happy!
Well, I think I’m due for a little nap, and then I have to get up and on my way to a gig in Michigan! We’re playing at the Wayne County Raccoon Hunters Festival today... fun, friends and music!
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Sharon (2010-07-12 17:14:10)
Hi Sherry! Everything really does look great, especially when you consider where you started. I’m sorry to hear about
the parking problems and the selling the park rumors you mentioned in a previous post. I know it doesn’t seem like
it, but this could be a good thing. When they stop enforcing rules and let the place go that’s when you have to start
worrying about them selling. At least that’s been my experience.
April Taylor (2010-07-11 17:55:08)
Your Home looks so pretty ! I know you are so proud. Ya’ll have worked so hard! Just wanted to tell you, It Looks
wonderful !!! Going out to mow my grass... Your place is putting my to shame. LOL
louis vuitton (2010-07-17 22:44:43)
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1.7.9
A little bluegrass (2010-07-12 19:33)
[EMBED]
Lexus GS (2010-07-24 23:48:20)
To be incredible is to be misunderstood.
1.7.10
Not the best of times... (2010-07-13 22:33)
[1]
Well, been hiding a bit, hoping the world would leave me alone for a bit.
Sorry about that. It’s just been a kind of rough couple weeks.
Started out with a bit on unpleasant towing and mobile home park experiences, feeling a little bummed
about the strict harshness of management towards the residents that pay the bills and generate the income
in the first place for the park. Had a super slow business month and had to really tighten the budget belt.
Got my car back but it died about a week after, leaving me stranded in another state. Lost my camera at
a gig... made me pretty sick to my stomach for a day or so until I found that someone had turned it in.
Got ripped off to the tune of $422 dollars by some dorky Asian con artist stealing jams from iTunes in my
name. (Got the receipt too... they didn’t even have the courtesy of stealing like good music... not a lick of
bluegrass on the playlists....) Old Blue, our other car croaked, 45 minutes after I started driving it... (talk
about some bad karma) Couldn’t pay my gas bill in time and had to make the decision to have it shut off
for a bit... (Cold water showers are a WHOLE lot of fun, let me tell you) and to top it all off, my dog is not
doing very well at all, and our time is very limited.
So... perhaps you can understand why I haven’t been posting a whole lot. Just been trying to keep
from curling up in a fetal position and sobbing uncontrolablly.
Well, not really. Just a little, maybe. Had a few moments, here and there.
I’m a big fan of positive thinking and that there are reactions for actions or well, that our decisions
leave us with consequences, good and bad. SOme call it karma, others call it the Secret, some just call it
positive thinking. I’m not sure what I think I’d like to call it, but I will admit, that thinking positively, even
in pretty rough situations, does seem to work better than just laying there in a pool of failure, grief and
frustration. A bit of panic, maybe some tears or angry words will help to diffuse the initial situation, sure,
but in the end, it really only makes you a mess and then, you still have the same problem you had before.
Slowly, these issues are resolving. I’ve learned my parking lesson, painfully and expensively. Gunnar
was been successfully retrieved from Michigan and is currently at the transmission shop and they think it’s
something simple. Not the whole trans, which was replaced not once, but twice in the last 6 months. Blue is
home, she got a new starter and the cable to her alternator was replaced since it had frayed badly and was
burning a spot in the engine blanket on the underpart of the hood... (not a good safe thing) Unfortunately,
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she needs tires all the way around and some front end suspension work, but it can be dealt with in due
time. Jessy’s Dad was gracious to come to her aid and help out with the repair, because even though he’s
an ex, he really is a good guy. (Afterall, I did think he was a good guy about 20 years ago...)
PayPal is on the trail of the bad guys that ripped me off... they are still investigating it, but something about the fact that I’ve never been overseas and well, I don’t use computers over there, nor do I listen
to anything like what they ordered, seems to point to fraud. I’ll probably get the money returned, but it’s
likely to take 7 to 10 days.
Gas, well, I’ve had to deal with that before, back when I was loosing my house and my world was
crashing around me. Since we don’t have a dishwasher, or washing machine and use the Laundromat, the
only REAL inconvenience is hot showers and washing dishes. The girls make sure to visit their Dads shower
and well, I like to think of cold showers as an incentive to work harder and smarter soon. Dishwashing,
well, for the hopefully BREIF bit of time till I raise the cash for the bill and turning it back on, we’ll heat
washing water in a hot pot and use paper plates for a bit. Recycled ones, for sure, but well, paper... just to
help offset the extra work for heating hot water.
My dog? Well, there’s not much you can do for a very elderly old lady. My vet is wonderful and
we’ve been phone consulting for free, and trying a few meds to make her comfortable and try and ease some
of the skin issues. She gets a lot of nice shampoos and brushing, massage, and special food. We’re trying to
get her off wheat and yeast products because it is very related to making her skin condition worse. So I’m
cooking chicken breasts and rice in broth for her and she’s also getting some raw bones and some cooked
beef roast. She’s loving it. Did I mention that she also gets wrapped in a fleece blanket and lays on the
couch where everytime we walk by, she gets loving and liver treats from her little dish? She may be elderly
and dying, but she’s pretty happy about it, it seems. We have to help her down the stairs for potty time
and give her a boost back to the couch, but she’s still bright eyed and tail thumpy and sighs contentedly
when she gets her body massage and snuggy blankets. I hope when my time comes, I can get that kind of
treatment.
Sales are perking up a bit. Got a couple nice purchase orders from wholesales, bulking up on ”back
to homeschool” supplies and we’ve seen a little rise in orders. June is ALWAYS super slow for us, and I
checked, this last month was right in line with the last five years. Just have to weather the storm for a little
more. July is better, but August is more normal. We’ll make it. We always do. The road is rough and
rocky, though, but we’ll make it.
Sorry to be a bit of a downer, but hey, not every day is perfect here at the Moby and I think
maybe you’ll see that I’m just a person too, and it’s super easy to only pick the great and fun things that
happen around the homestead. But that’s not the whole story. There are car problems, money problems,
bills, stupid outside forces, and even illness and death. I thank God that we have so much, and that so many
things are perfect and wonderful, and that with His hand in the mix, we’ll be guided through the rough
patches. He never promised a rose garden. Didn’t even promise a perfect life without strife or hardship.
But He did promise to be there through it all, and I believe that. This too, shall pass. I’m just thankful
that we have our health and our well being both mentally and physically.
When I look around at my gardens and see that they are thriving, especially now that they had
weathered the mini-drought and scourching hot temperatures of last week and with a few good days of
storms and rains, they are FLOURISHING, I know that we too will make it through these rough days and
come out even stronger. Hope everyone else is making it through their own rough patches of their journey,
too!
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Sharon (2010-07-14 15:45:06)
Sorry to hear things are a little rough right now. I’m having some similar problems myself. I know what you mean
about wanting to shut the world out for awhile. We just have to remember that this is only temporary and we’ll come
out on the other side eventually.
Jessica (2010-07-14 07:37:26)
You are so right, things will get better, and God will help you through. I hate to hear that times are hard for you
and your family. You are an inspiration to me, and I love reading about your family and how you’re managing to live
a more independent lifestyle through homesteading.
1.7.11
Jack Update (2010-07-14 17:50)
[1]
You might be wondering.... where’s Jack?
He’s around, it’s just that with it being nice out, he’d rather stay outside most the time.
Only time he comes in for a little break is when it’s raining out. And he’ll come in, get loved and ba430
bied, sleep for about 34 hours, eat some fancy food and then finally want to go back outside. It’s kinda
funny, we’re like his safehouse.
He hangs around the Moby outside all the time and our neighbor Miss B, she feeds him with all her other
feral kitties. I tell her not to, because we set out food for him, but the little gumby goes and gets in the food
chow line anyway. I think he just likes how Miss B gives him chin tickles and tells him how handsome he is.
Little two-timer. Shesh.
Whenever we’re outside, working on the yard or garden, he’s right there, hanging out, checking on his
women. And he plays with Luna and Dixie a good deal as well. He does not like Evee much. But is learning
to tolerate her.
So, in a nutshell, he’s fine.
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1.7.12
Wordless Wednesday (2010-07-14 17:50)
[1]
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Rachel B. (2010-07-15 04:29:56)
My goodness! It looks like she loves getting her picture taken. I have a dog that poses for his pictures as well.
1.7.13
Pickle Time! (2010-07-15 23:47)
[1]
Aren’t they beautiful?
Why is it that when I see a counter with 10 beautiful jars of homemade garlic dill pickles that I just
sigh and have to take a picture, they are so pretty? Is that weird? I dunno.
I think it’s because we took $10 worth of cukes, and 2 bucks worth of vinegar, garlic and spices and we
made 10 quarts of pickles, that would have cost at least $30 to $40 dollars in the store. But it’s not just the
money. We used all local cukes and garlic... and water too! (g) The vodka and the vinegar were from around
here... Actually, both from Pennsylvania. (Weird) Still, it’s not even the local thing, it’s just knowing how
to do it and knowing that they will taste fantastic in a week, hopefully. And that WE MADE THEM... I
think that’s really the kicker there. They are handmade and watched over. Very very cool.
We even added about 10 cukes from our OWN garden... yes, hand grown by US. I wish there were more,
but we have a lot on the vine, just not ready yet. But don’t worry, we’ll be making MORE pickles soon
because we love to share and I have a few friends hooked on them already. It’s so much fun to make and
share goodies like this.
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Next week we are doing jams and fruit butters... can’t wait. I hope we can actually go picking our own as
well. That would be even cooler.
[2]
Here is the recipe that we tried today. We’ll know in a week how they took.
Vodka Pickles
About 10 small pickles or 5 larger cukes
2 cups of water
1/8 cup of salt
1/4 cup vodka
1/2 cup white vinegar
6-10 cloves of fresh garlic
3-6 tablespoons of pickling spice mix
Sterilize your jar and lids in boiling water, set aside to cool slightly. Wash and cut cukes how you wish...
slices, chunks, halves or wholes. Pack in the hot jars being careful not to handle them too much. Use a
sterilized fork or tongs to pack the jars. Smash or press garlic into each jar, your choice. (We did two cloves
per jar) and add pickling spice as well, a heaping tablespoon for smaller jars, two for quart jars. Boil together
the liquids, bring to a boil and then take off the heat and allow to cool. It’s best if you allow it to cool
enough that it’s still hot, but not so hot that you can’t touch it. Pour warm brine into each jar, covering
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the cukes and allowing 1/2 headspace in each jar. Seal up tight, give a little shake to mix up the garlic and
spices and then allow to cool completely. Store in the frig, one week and test. Should be READY TO EAT!!!
Yum!
Part of the fun of canning is trying different old family recipes and then making our own favorites out
of these treasures. You can dink with the recipes a bit, alter them to become your own! Since this is only
our second year experimenting with canning and all, it’s still a lot of fun to test things out. After we do jams
and butters next week, we want to try and make good old bread and butter pickles and actually can/process
them! Got a recipe to try out.
And considering my 41 tomato plants are growing like beasts outside... I think we are going to be putting
up a LOT of tomato sauce, my sweet pepper salsa and ketchup as well as stewed tomatoes too!!! Going to
be a fun summer of canning!
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Amy (2010-07-16 02:20:58)
Sherri - I’m a fellow NW Ohio gal and I’m planning to make pickles for the first time this year. Where did you
purchase your cucumbers for your pickles? Do you have a favorite Farm Market? I’ve been checking the grocery stores
and the produce departments have been bare so far. Thanks!
1.7.14
Top 10 Solo-Business Blunders that Sabotage Success (2010-07-21 09:18)
by Christine Kane
Whether graphic designer, author, or coach - there’s NOTHING better than having a business that provides
freedom and an unlimited potential for income!
However, many solo-business owners get quickly burnt-out and disillusioned on this path. If that
sounds like you, don’t feel bad! It’s probably because no one ever taught you how to run a business AND
be creative all at once.
But it IS possible! (I am living proof! So are my clients!) It’s just that you might have to let go
of a few old habits that are holding you back and blocking your success.
Here are the Top 10 Solo-Business Blunders that Sabotage Success:
1 - Not scheduling Vision-Time.
If you don’t take time away from your business for visioning and thinking, it’s easy to become a reactor, not a creator.
A business is dynamic and organic. (So are you!) Shape and create your business by taking time
out for planning and visioning your desires and new directions.
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2 - Too much Vision Time!
Some people are forever analyzing and planning, afraid of doing the wrong thing or of failure.
some point, you must take action. Just know that failure is only failure if you give up!
At
3 - Waiting for rescue.
Book deals. Hit records. Getting on Oprah. A huge IPO.
Hey, great things can and DO happen all the time in life. However, waiting for something to ”sweep
you away” is a surefire path to frustration.
Having a business is an on-going relationship. It can be remarkable! But like any relationship, it
requires attention and action. Hoping for rescue is a sign that you’re afraid of the potential of your own
power!
4 - Living in the ”Field of Dreams.”
Remember these amazing words?
”If you build it, they will come.”
Really? I can do that, and everything else will be taken care of?
Well, sort of. There IS truth in that famous line.
But too often, people think it means, ”All I have to do is hang my sign - and the world will rush to
my door.”
This can lead to disillusionment. That’s because ”building it” is not a one-time thing!
Here’s another way to look at it:
”If you build it they will come. But if you build it and market it, they’ll pay you!”
5 - Making problems a problem.
Donald Trump advises something that contradicts every positive thinking tenet out there.
to expect problems.
He says
Yes, even if you’re a mindset junkie!
Glitches, hiccups, snafus. Hey, they happen. Too often, we let problems paralyze us, and steal our
time and emotions. Successful people expect ”problems,” and always put their focus on finding the solution!
6 - Taking numbers personally.
Much of business is a numbers game. Sometimes the numbers are low. Sometimes they’re high!
Numbers are just numbers.
(They’re not the Universe’s way of telling you that you should give up
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and get a job at The Gap!)
7 - Waiting to ”feel like it.”
Creative types often don’t market themselves until they ”feel like it.” Which - let’s face it - is never!
Marketing works best as a system. Robert Middleton says, ”Marketing is not only about being known, it’s
about not being forgotten.” In other words, learn how to market so you won’t have to dread it!
8 - The Cycle of Reactivity And Panic
Is this you?
Every now and then, you realize you have no clients. You react. You go on a marketing/cold-calling binge.
You fill your schedule. And for months, you panic - you can barely breathe, let alone hire someone or
continue marketing.
Sure enough, it shifts.
The cycle begins again.
The projects end.
The clients are gone.
Suddenly, your calendar is empty.
I call this the Cycle of Reactivity And Panic. (C.R.A.P.) It is one of the unhealthiest habits out
there. You must set your business up so that the flow is constant and automated! (And yes, this IS
possible!)
9 - Status-before-Spotlight Thinking.
All too often, we wait to ”deserve” the spotlight. We hope for enough status, letters after our names, or
training before we’ll make the slightest move toward a bigger opportunity.
News Flash: No amount of outside status can create worthiness.
chances and play bigger, regardless of outside status.
Success happens when we take
10 - Not investing in yourself.
Every successful entrepreneur invests time and money in herself and her business. She attends workshops and teleseminars. She hires coaches.
Too many of us go it alone. This leads to limited thinking, isolation, and burn out.
When an opportunity arrives, don’t ask: ”How much does it cost to do this?” Ask instead: ”How
much will it cost me NOT to do this?” This simple question has changed my life!
Christine Kane is the Mentor to Women Who are Changing the World. She helps women uplevel
their lives, their businesses and their success. Her weekly LiveCreative eZine goes out to over 12,000
subscribers. If you are ready to take your life and your world to the next level, you can sign up for a
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F.R.E.E. subscription at [1]http://christinekane.com.
I absolutely love this woman and her writings and inspiration. Every time I’m feeling a little down
and out about my business, life, etc., she seems to have a post at her blog that so directly speaks to me.
Very bright and wise lady, she is... And this article really spoke to me... been thinking that I’m doing a
few things wrong, or well, not right about my own business, and I’ll admit... I’ve done all these blunders!!!!
Now to stop doing them!
-Sherri
1. http://www.christinekane.com/
1.7.15
Those Feelings Again... (2010-07-25 20:24)
[1]
I can’t help it.
Every so often I get those feelings again.
Those, I want to live in the woods and super simple and just live feelings. With a garden, and big
simple open living space, with woods around me and big full pantry of whole simple foods and just live.
Simple. Without all the stuff that seems to be cluttering up life.
I think it happens when I start to feel like all I do is work to sustain all the stuff in my life. Even
down to utilities and internet and fixing cars and fixing homes and buying all the stuff that makes up life.
The stuff you get used to having around and then you have to keep buying, because, you’re used to having
it around.
Maybe I’m not making much sense, but then, well, I dunno, maybe I am.
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I read about people who just ditch everything, leave behind maybe a little storage unit of super personal things, or maybe leave a dozen boxes in a friend’s basement and then hit the road in a van or maybe a
little trailer, and live free. Free to just eat snacks for dinner or to bum food off friends as they travel around
and visit. Just take them where the wind blows them. FInd internet hot spots here and there in the world.
Park in Wal-Mart parking lots or stealth park behind truck stops or in alleys. Free to just take naps when
they want to, or to wander the back roads and just explore.
I would love to do that but I’m too afraid to even try it. I mean, what about my girls? Take them
with me? What about the pets and the garden? What about work? It just seems that you can’t really live
in both worlds very well. You either have to take the plunge or not... there is no in between. At least as I
see it.
But still, I plot and plan, and I feed though feelings through all the blogs that I read... I live vicariously through these kind souls on their journey. Like the gypsy artists in an old horse van in the UK, or
the crazy hippy kids in their VW bus wandering about. Even the couple that just gave it all up and got a
nice little RV and just travel around. Shesh, I would love that. I think I would.
But I would hate to give up my gardens and my little moby... and not to mention my band and
the commitments of that, as well as my involvement in the Opry, and other things, like I can’t see taking
my girls away from their Dad and friends for long periods of time. And of course, there is the expense as
well, driving around aimlessly is kind of expensive and I doubt that I could carry both a vagabond spirit as
well as a stable homestead.
So. Where does that leave me?
I don’t know.
If I try to make my business more successful, as to create more income, to then allow me to wander, that seems to be a problem, because then I have more work to do, and thus can’t leave to wander!
If I cut back on my expenses and live super meagerly in my moby life, then maybe I could save up
enough to be able to wander here and there for part of the time, and then come back to moby life and stash
up a little more cash... kind of rotate through the two lifestyles.
And what if I don’t like it, this gypsy lifestyle? Then what?
Sigh.
I hate when those feelings come along.
Well, I think that after all day of pondering this whole situation, again and again... the fact remains that at this point of my life, I can’t just ditch it all. And I don’t want to. I can recognize that I’m
at the 2 year point of living in my Moby and to be honest, in the last 20+ years of my life, every 2 years
seems to either mean moving or changing something drastic in my life. At least the last 10 years have been
true to that. So I want to ride out the itch and stay put. At least a couple more years.
And I do want to keep striving for a simpler and simpler lifestyle. Green, sure, but mostly simple
and content. Keep thinning down possessions so that I am the person in charge of my possessions, not the
other way around. I have a few more plans... I want to get personal things cut back. Just go through all
my collections of this and that, and whittle it down to what I really need, love and want.
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I spent a day last week going through my books. Really weeding them out. I am not a big rereader of books. Never have been. Yet I will read a book, find it fairly entertaining and then think I must
now forever keep it near and dear to me. No... I’m changing my mind about that. I’ll write a big post
about my feelings on books and such soon, but basically, I think you need to keep a decent library of how to
books, because if for some reason you lose electricity or the internet, you’ll need to know how to do things.
Grow things, make things, preserve things, cook things. Reference books are a good thing. And a few of
your very favorite reading books, yes, those are important. And of course, a few that are gifts, or that have
some special meaning, yes, those get kept. But just all these one time fluffy reads, they need to go. I got
all my books down to a nice cabinet with glass doors to keep them safe and not all dusty and all. (Added
savings of no extra housework!) And I feel super good about it. I really do.
Next stop is my crafts and then all my audio/media junk and lastly, the kitchen and it’s trove of
stuff that I hardly ever use. I’m going to be brutal. If it’s not being used or cherished for some reason, it’s
going to be boxed and labeled and taken to the storage unit with a date on it. If it doesn’t get recalled and
opened within a year, it’s going away for good. I’ll pretend that I’m going to become a gypsy soon, and
that I’m starting the procedure of limited and scaling down my ”stuff” and that will feel good. Maybe even
start to make some of those ”feelings” calm down a bit.
And I’ll work hard to get my finances back in order. The last month has been a doozy on me and
wrecked most of my pantry stash and my cash stash. It’s starting to rebound a teeny bit, and that has
lifted a bit of my stress of late, but still, it’s not where we were two months ago. Some hard work, continued
tight budgeting and a few extra jobs on the side, I think I can build the ”kitty” back up and feel a little
more content. If anything, it’s shown me that even my nice content life can get shaken up a bit without
toooo much to get it shaking. That’s scary. I want to fix that.
I think these steps will help a bit, and in the meanwhile, I think I’m going to try and start planning a few little trips... like packup the girls and the dogs and head out for a few days and just wander a
bit. See how we like it. We can use hotels instead of our camper, if we stay cheap, it’s probably about the
same cost as dragging a big old trailer around in gas! I’ve seen $35 at Red Roof Inns, that’s not too bad
for a bed and hot shower. Sure we have a tent, but after a day of traveling and wandering, and a campsite
that will cost you $20 and then having to set it all up and tear it all down, I think a little cheapo hotel is
EASY. (at least for now!) The point will be, can we actually do it? Can we actually just say, we’re going
to be gone for 4 days and we’re just heading that way, and just go. Without hyper planning and all that
”vacation” stuff. Can we just cut loose and wander? I don’t know. I guess we need to find that out.
Well, ”those feelings” are not going away, I know.
ground for awhile, because it’s just not time.
But for now, they have to just lay in the back-
But it’s sure time to plan and to make a few preparations and ”train” for it. Why not? Sounds
good to me. I think that come September or October, we need to have a bit of time set out for a rambling
wander. And I know where I want to go. Up the western coast of Michigan. See the colors change, the fall
roll in on the waters, ride a ferry, fish, gather rocks, take pictures and just sit and watch the world go by.
And I think every month or two, we need to do that. Pack a bunch of sandwiches and cookies, and
minimal gear, cameras and maybe a laptop for check ins and just go. Where ever we want. North, south,
east, west. I hope it will help to quench some of those feelings for a while, keep them alive until maybe it is
time to act on them completely.
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Rachel B. (2010-07-26 06:49:31)
I know how you feel! I’ve been getting those feelings but I’m only 19! I guess it’s considered normal for my age. As
for the weeding of books. I weeded about 50 plus out a little while ago but I didn’t take them to the thrift store I
posted them on paperbackswap.com and bookmooch.com. Now, I have enough points to get a book whenever I want
one. I still use the library of course for books I want to try but don’t want to keep. Now I have a bunch of new books
to read.
donna (2010-07-26 07:00:04)
oh sherrie, im right there with you. but now that i have fibromyalgia so bad, and other maladies, it would be so hard
to do, but all my life ive wanted to do just that, first i was working and raising kids, now i dont even have a vehicle
thanks to my one son totalling my suv, and now due to bankruptcy no credit to buy a new one. life is so funny the
twists and turns it takes. i agree with you, go on your short trips, then maybe one day you will be able to make that
dream come true.
Amy (2010-07-26 11:26:19)
Simplify, simplify, simplify - it seems the older I get the more the ”stuff” becomes so unimportant. I’ve donated
hundreds of books to Goodwill and I’ve bought a Kindle. I find most of my recipes on the internet so other than a
few specialty or favorite cookbooks, I don’t really need many books anymore. You are an inspiration to me and I
appreciate your blog.
1.7.16
Jammin’ Tonight (2010-07-26 22:18)
[1]
It was a Monday.... which in Mobyland means customer service problems, orders that have to make it to
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here and there for birthday parties and the occasional fire here and there that needs to be put out. I try not
to plan a whole lot for Mondays because in truth, just making it through the day is enough of a problem
without compounding it by trying to to be an over-achiever.
So, once the day had calmed down and we had dinner, I decided it was time to process all the strawberries I had gotten on Sunday from the local fruit market. I watched an episode of Dead Like Me on Netflix
and cut up 10 quarts of strawberries! And with super red fingers when I was finished up, I got to work,
processing them and chopping them up into a nice rough mush. I like my jam to be chunky and full of little
fruit explosions on your breakfast toast.
[2]
I had a whole case of brand new canning pint jars, the wide mouth ones. I’m trying to slowly build up my
stash of canning jars by buying a pack or two each year as I learn to do more canning. I had also gotten a
box of wide mouth and normal lids to use my jars from last year. Going to make blueberry butter tomorrow
in the crock pot. I know that I might have to buy one more dozen jar because of all the tomatoes I’m going
to be processing in a few months. (there are TONS of little greenies on my plants... tons!!!)
This year was so much easier than last year... it was almost a breeze. You just worry so much about
canning, but in reality, as long as you take your time and follow the directions, it’s really easy and safe. Like
I learned before, illness from canning mishaps is like so puny... like 160? Whereas illness from eating in a
restaurant? Oh, it’s unbelievably high... 87 million cases in 2008. It’s far more dangerous to eat out then to
eat your own home canned jam! Unbelievable...
Besides, if you think it’s bad, trust me, you’ll know. Crack open a bad jar after a few months and I’ve
been told, you will know IMMEDIATELY... Any weird smell or mold or yucky scum, and just pitch it. I
have never had that problem. In fact, I’ve found it so easy, I want to try more things this year. Bread and
butter pickles are high on the list!
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Anyway... it is so easy. You boil the mashed fruit until it’s a good rolling boil, with a box of pectin
added. Then you add the sugar needed, bring to strong rolling boil and stir stir stir for a minute on high,
then ladle into hot sterilized jars. Add the lids and the bands. Then pop into a hot boiling water bath for
10 minutes. Well, that’s for jam. I think jelly tends to need less of a bath, like 5 minutes. Take them out,
set on the counter on a towel (so they don’t shock hitting the cold counter) and let them cool for 24 hours
or so. I find them usually cool in about 12 - 15 hours. When totally cool you just test them... push in the
top. If it pings back, then they’re not sealed and into the frig they go. If they are good and sealed, then
tighen up the bands and label, and pop in the pantry!!! YUMMMY JAM for a year!
[3]
Okay, you might be wondering... isn’t it expensive? I don’t think so. I got my 10 pints of strawberries for
$10. Sugar was $4 a bag. I bought two boxes of Sure Jell... they were like $2.30 each I believe. And I bought
a 12 pack of wide mouth pint jars for $9.99.
That’s it So, I figure that’s about $30 for 12 pints of jam. In my grocery, decent high quality jam runs
about $3- $4 a jar. 12 ounce jars. The pints are 16 ounces. Even at $3 for 12 ounces, that is 25 cents an
ounce. For my homemade stash it would have cost $48 dollars on the low end and $63 on the higher end.
My jam cost only 15.5 cents an ounce. And next year it will be even cheaper since I’ll have plenty of jars for
the jam.
Well, I didn’t do it for the money, I did it because I know everything that went into my jam. Fruit,
sugar and natural pectin. That’s it. Nothing more. And it’s local and I made it. That is WAY cool. It’s fun
to gift a few jars and it’s even more delightful to open a jar when it’s cold and snowing in January and have
a big slab of toast with wonderful jam and rejoice in the fact that we made it. Tastes absolutely wonderful.
So don’t be scared... MAKE JAM!!!! It’s so much fun.
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GrannyPam (2010-07-30 04:06:14)
When I saw the title I though you had the ole’ banjo on your knee. Surprise, Surprise. Looks yummy, real good. One
hint: ask around a lot of people have canning jars they aren’t using. We recently traded something we didn’t need
for some pint cans, so I got about 3 dozen ”new” ones for almost nothing. Or, check out a few garage and/or estate
sales, but not in the ritzy neighborhoods. Just check the rims for nicks.
1.7.17
Snuggle Puppy (2010-07-26 22:40)
[1]
Evee wants to be able to sleep on the bed with me. But it’s not happening. She will sit quietly for about
2.7 seconds and then turns into goofy, silly puppy! I just had to document the various levels of puppy chaos
that happens in about 3 minutes.
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[2]
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[4]
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[6]
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Alas, Evee does not last long on the bed. Maybe some day. But until then... she’s no fun to snuggle
with.... unless you like puppy nom, nom, nom.....
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1.7.18
11 Ways to be Unremarkably Average (2010-07-27 12:03)
1. Accept what people tell you at face value
2. Don t question authority
3. Go to college because you re supposed to, not because you want to learn something
4. Go overseas once or twice in your life, to somewhere safe like England
5. Don t try to learn another language; every- one else will eventually learn English
6. Think about starting your own business, but never do it
7. Think about writing a book, but never do it
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8. Get the largest mortgage you qualify for and spend 30 years paying for it
9. Sit at a desk 40 hours a week for an average of 10 hours of productive work
10. Don t stand out or draw attention to yourself
11. Jump through hoops. Check off boxes.
You like this? Visit it’s AMAZING unaverage author here...
[1]www.chrisgullebeau.com
1. http://www.chrisguillebeau.com/
Rachel B. (2010-07-28 07:05:30)
Let’s see at 19 I’ve.... Learned another language (okay it was required but I like German) I’ve nearly finished writing
a book I’ve started my own business in order to earn some income during my year without a job. My pet rats needed
food too! Damn straight I question authority. Mostly at work. ”Why don’t we have a seperate break room?” Okay, I
want to go to England but for a historical view then to Germany for the culture.
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1.7.19
Blueberry Butter... (2010-07-29 21:41)
[1]
Oh boy... its that time of the year... time to start canning and preserving some of the awesome local goodies. I wish I could say that these were all blueberries from our plants but in reality, there are about
20 token Moby berries in the mix only! Our bushes are growing pretty good, but still not too heavy in the
fruit production stages. Maybe next year! But they are local berries from a place apparently just over the
Michigan border.
We took our 6 pints and the first step is to puree them in a blender or food processor. That’s always fun to use the food processor. We got it on Craig’s List for $10 and it’s pretty cool. It’s not the latest
and greatest, but that little dude works good!
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[2]
Next step is to pop them into your crock pot and cook on high for one hour. Then give a good
stir, lower to low heat and cook for a good 6 to 8 hours. Use a butter knife or a spoon across the lip of your
crock pot to vent the lid a bit. This allows the steam to come off the blueberry mush and render down. I
did stir it a time or two when I thought of it. The recipe said you could just let it go, but well, I just had
to peek and stir! Didn’t want to burn the bottom at all.
When it was all done and quite reduced, we transferred the stuff to our little Presto Pot. I like the
Presto Pot for making jams and jellies and such. The heat control on it is wonderful and it’s quite deep and
all. I use it for my water baths as well. It can get very hot, very fast and 3 jars will fit in it nicely to water
bath and all. But since I needed to get the blueberry puree good and hot again, I scooped it out, measured
it and got it warming up. It was 5 cups full of puree.
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[3]
I got it to boiling, just like you would a jam or jelly. Then added 1 1/2 cups of sugar and got it
hot and boiling for a good minute and a half or so. Then turn off the heat, stirring constantly so the mixture
doesn’t burn. I knew it was already thick enough and didn’t need any pectin or anything like that. I had
clean, hot sterilized jars waiting, 6 of them, but in the end I only needed 3 pint jars. I had a big dollop left
so I put it in a little dish and cooled it in the frig so that I could sample the butter quicker!
After I jarred it, I did a boiling water bath for 10 minutes for each jar. Popped it on a thick towel
to let it cool overnight. You test the seal by pressing in the middle of the lid. If it pings, then it’s not
canned properly and needs to go in the frig. These were perfect and ready for the pantry!
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[4]
My goodness, this is going to be so perfect on hot toasted bagels! Or on a stack of pancakes in the
winter... or just on toast... I had to get some of Grandma Mildred’s pretty bread and butter plates out for
a test piece of toast with the dollop from the frig and oh, boy, was that good. Like a super thick jelly, not
quite a jam, not quite a jelly... but a fruit butter! We are definitely going to try apple butter this year, just
as soon as our apples ripen up! (we have 9 on the tree this year!!! So much better than our first year...
where we got ONE... but boy, was that a beautiful first apple!!!)
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Rachel B. (2010-07-30 05:35:59)
Mmm...I need to get raspberries still which I’ll freeze to make jam later. My idea this year is to just do a day of
making/canning jam and another doing pickles. Speaking of produce, my green beans are in!
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1.7.20
The Doggie Girls (2010-07-29 21:49)
[1]
Gypsy and Evee are getting a little more comfortable with each other. Every day, it’s a little better.
It doesn’t help that when Evee first came on the scene, Gypsy was really starting to hurt from her bad
arthritic knees and that creepy skin problem. Just made for a grumpy old lady.
But I’m so happy to report that she’s doing a bit better. The glucosemine is really helping her overall
joint issues, you can tell. She’s moving a little better now. Still like a 98 year old gal, but hey, she can still
get on the couch and up and down the stairs, so that’s something.
And it took a while but we have found a shampoo and a spray that is working on her skin issue and
I’m glad to report she is growing back her hair in the bad spots!!! Yeah! Her face and ears and feet are still
a little scabby, but every day is better. Most of the areas on her body are now clean skin and growing hair.
Took her to the vet last week and we got the good news that we think we’re turning a corner on the
skin issues. Still a little concerned as to WHY they are issues in the first place, and unfortunately, it’s
probably systemic, meaning that her systems are weakening and well, with her advanced age, that is just
something we have to deal with. She’s already 3 years, almost 4 years now, past her breed’s average of 10
years! She’ll be 14 in February. She’s a credit to her fine breeder and she’s been a super healthy girl up until
the last 6 months or so.
I’m just glad that she’s around to train Evee how to be even half as great a dog as Gypsy is. And I
love to see them bonding and trusting each other. It’s so cute to hear them when we leave the house, they
both start howling this sad and mournful wolf dog howl... first it’s Gypsy and then a moment later you hear
little Evee strike up the chorus! It’s rare that we all leave at the same time, so it’s always cute to hear them
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protest being left behind!!!
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Jessica (2010-07-30 13:31:11)
Did you know that mixed breeds of dogs are more likely to be healthy dogs? Dog breeders will often times overbreed
their dogs to the the detriment of the puppies’ health, although it does not sound as this is the case. Also, about 25
% of dogs in shelters are purebreds. It is also usually less expensive than buying a dog and is better for the shelter
dogs-just a frugal tip for anyone else looking for a dog! I spend most of my free time volunteering for a low-cost
spay/neuter clinic, and it just pains me to hear about purchased dogs!
Mobymom (2010-07-30 13:56:32)
I certainly feel for all of the pets that need homes, but I don’t believe that just because there are stray animals that
responsible people can not breed, show and raise purebred dogs. I’ve had dogs all my life, both mixed breed and
mutts and also purebreds and frankly, they’ve all lead good healthy lives. I have enjoyed showing Gypsy when she
was young and chose her breeder very carefully. Pat Johnson was one of the finest Belgian breeders around, and it
shows, all her dogs are in fine health and have very long lives. I had a pound puppy that cost me a ton of money
because he was sick and ill cared for, abused and has had life long issues. I spent far far more money on him then I
ever did with my purebred dog. And around here, a dog from the shelter is expensive, at least $200 or more. (Which
I can never understand, if they want to find good solid homes for them, then it should be more reasonable, to help
place more animals.) I know that people get all whacked on both sides of the fence over this whole issue, but well, I
feel that people should have the choice, to choose their animal stock and pets without guilt and shame. And we’ve
done our share as well of volunteer work as well as ran a very successful shelter for homeless pocket pets... in fact
my daughter won the U.S. Humane Society’s 2002 Kid of the Year award for her work and was featured in National
Geographic Kids magazine and on Paul Harvey’s radio show as well as all sorts of great attention for the lack of good
care for mistreated critters. Overall, our whole society needs a lesson in how to treat pets well... mixed or purebred...
and I refuse to believe that there is only one answer to the problem of overbreeding and other issues. Choose your
breeder with the upmost care, I did. And I was rewarded with a simply wonderful friend and adored member of our
family. Our new pup is purebred as well, and because my daughter wanted a certain type of dog and she wants to do
agility and obedience with her pup, and is considering therapy dog work with her. She’s a pet photographer and loves
animals. All dogs end up being purchased for the most part, unless you get one from a neighbor who’s got mistake
puppies. And of course, is making the problem worse. Of course, this is just opinion and I’m glad to hear yours, too.
Just wanted to explain my thoughts on the matter. :-)
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1.7.21
Tomorrow Morning... (2010-07-31 21:46)
[1]
That’s it.
I’m learning how to make good biscuits tomorrow if it kills me.
I want sausage and gravy and scrambled fresh eggs for breakfast and it’s going to be homemade the
whole way.
I’ve searched through a bunch of recipes and I have two versions... I think I like the one with the
honey, and the foldover dough a bit more... but I’m tempted to try both, maybe half the recipe and do a
taste test. Hmmmm...
I’m going in. I’m going to learn biscuitry. Wish me luck.
Biscuit Recipe
2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup All-Vegetable Shortening, butter or lard
1 cup buttermilk, or you can use whole milk
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, cut the shortening into the Self-Rising Flour with
a pastry blender or fork or your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs.
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Blend in buttermilk with fork just until the dough comes together. The dough will be sticky.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently by folding the dough 8 to 10 times.
Press into a circle that’s 1 inch thick.
Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Do not
twist the cutter until the dough has been cut all the way through (twisting the cutter will cause the biscuits
not to rise straight up.
Place the biscuits on baking sheet so that they barely touch. Gather up the scrap dough, press it
into a circle, working it as little as possible and continue cutting until all dough has been used.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
( I think I’ll dot the top with a little melted butter, just to be safe. )
Deliciously Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour (9 ounces)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup fat-free buttermilk (hahaha.... fat free buttermilk? This is kind of funny... that ain’t like Granny
made them, eh?)
3 tablespoons honey
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder,
and salt in a large bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Chill 10 minutes.
3. Combine buttermilk and honey, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Add buttermilk mixture to flour
mixture; stir just until moist.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 times. Roll dough into a (1/2-inch-thick) 9
x 5 inch rectangle; dust top of dough with flour. Fold dough crosswise into thirds (as if folding a piece of
paper to fit into an envelope). Reroll dough into a (1/2-inch-thick) 9 x 5 inch rectangle; dust top of dough
with flour. Fold dough crosswise into thirds; gently roll or pat to a 3/4-inch thickness. Cut dough with a 1
3/4-inch biscuit cutter to form 14 dough rounds. Place dough rounds, 1 inch apart, on a baking sheet lined
with parchment paper. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan; cool 2 minutes on
wire racks. Serve warm.
(This recipe is a little more well, fancy... but I like the sound of the ingredients and such. Hmmm456
mmm....)
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Edited: August 1, 2010