Queenbuffness' Regal Rants

OH, The weather outside is frightful.

2010-01-07T08:44:00.000-05:00

Here's how it looks outside my back door today.

Here's how that first picture makes me feel.

Here's how I WISH it looked out my back door.

Here's how THAT pic makes me feel.

So I'll just pout.

Monday Weigh (WAY) In

2010-01-04T09:56:00.001-05:00

I know. I know.
I already posted that I was up a pound on Saturday.

I had a severe case of the Holidays-all-mixed-up-about-what-day-it-is's.

But it's all good. It gave me another 2 days to SNAP OUT OF IT! and get back to healthy thinking.

So the result was...the extra 1# left again.

Holding steady at @ 2 pounds down. Pretty good for Fat Food Week. Now I have to hold it steady during Family Vacation in French Lick. Oy. It's usually a week of 5 squares a day.

I'm up to the challenge. Maybe I'll take THE Green Jacket with me. Maybe hang it in the hallway by the kitchen. Brilliant idea, Your Majesty! Thankyou, Buffness!

Her Majesty's Darlingest sister is going to be along (and their skinny Mom and maybe even a surprise chicken kinda guest) and we're cooking up a self and sister healthy challenge. More on that next week when I weigh-in. Onward!

Slow and steady wins the race.....

2010-01-02T12:20:00.000-05:00

I'm back UP 1# on the scale today.

I'm not really surprised. Not really too disappointed either.
Why did I start this challenge the week before the Christmas food hits the table? ! ! ?

I didn't choose. It chose me...
My FAT pants didn't fit!!

I had to start somewhere. And if I hadn't started then I would've been even wider by the time the cookie fest is over. Although MY cookie fest is over. In the freezer! Where the fat pants are hanging.

I have another don't eat the 10# of fudge challenge starting this Friday...Family Vacation.

Every year my darlingestparents give my sister's family and my family each a week at any of their time shares. We've chosen to go to French Lick, IN every year now for about 10 years. We could choose Mexico....

or North Carolina or the mountains of TN or Florida....

But we love French Lick.

The deer come right up to our unit

We eat cookies and read good books.

We hang at the pool and look stunning in our designer towels.

We NEVER wear makeup.

All our kids play nice.

We are party animals.

I'm so excited!! My goal is to swim. Work at their gym. Sleep whenever I want. Laugh way too much. Whoop my sister and mother and friend at cards. Make good food for everyone. And then to laugh some more!!

First Weigh-In

2009-12-28T08:06:00.000-05:00

Drum roll please.....

Down 2 pounds!!!

Amazing! Astounding! CARRAAAZZY! Almost impossible.

I did great all week till yesterday. Whu? Hu? Not on Christmas Eve? Day? While baking my favorite cookies? While pouring my darling, wonderful, scrumptious dark chocolate fudge into the pan?? Nope. I did excellent those days. It was yesterday. Too much of that stuff was sitting out, calling my name, singing the siren song of fat. I need a plan....

The freezer! Yup. It's all going in the freezer. OUTSIDE in the cold and dank garage. So if I am going to mess up I first have to put on a coat, gloves and hat. Then defrost the evil demon sugar. Chances are likely I won't get that far. I need to hang the fat jeans that don't fit on the freezer handle. Yeah! That's the ticket!! Or -insert lovely heaven-ish music here- my green jacket!!!

Oh, the jacket. The sweet jacket that may be totally too hot to wear by the time I can get in it. Doesn't matter...I'll wear it 4th of July if I can.

2 lbs gone.

Spend Christmas Eve LAUGHING

2009-12-24T08:10:00.003-05:00

I have the day off! In fact, I have till Monday off! But my inside alarm clock woke me at 6 anyway. What's a girl to do? I know, LAUGH!!

I'm sitting at the computer with my coffee, it's still HOT-thankyou Aunt Leann!!, and I hear a bump, scratch, thump come from the laundry room where sweet Sally lives. Eventually I get up to get more coffee, here's what I found.

Again I say, What's a girl to do?

Is that the most hilarious thing you've ever seen?

Don't you just want to squish her?

I finally quit laughing, didn't quit grinning YET, I checked my FaceBook. Found this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCFCeJTEzNU

STILL LAUGHING.

OK. Thats it. I'm done.

2009-12-21T11:54:00.001-05:00

I'm over being fat. Done. FINIS.

MY FAT JEANS ARE TOO TIGHT.

I've had my head going towards this day. But still kept eating. And eating.
Then I looked for a snack.

My darlingfriend, Jayme at Tales from the Coop Keeper posted a wonderful blog about fighting the fat and winning. And she IS winning!! Go Girl. It pushed me closer but not until this morning's pants episode did I realize how much I must must must accept the challenge.

I accept! I will succeed. I am worth it.

I can't wait to look better. I can't wait to feel happier about myself, the inside part. I can't wait to wear the pants. I have two pair.The first pair is the "fat jeans". Then on to my brown cords. And my green jacket. I love my green jacket. I will kiss my green jacket on the arm when I have it on. I love it that much.

I've fought this battle before. I've won before. I was most successful with Weight Watchers. I was even a WW Leader for pitysakes. I have the tools in my head and now I'm willing to tap into them and hug em around the neck. And this time I have my Daughterunit in the house to be my cheerleader and confidant and shoulder to cry on. She's good at it. Real good. And I can call my Darlingestsister. And CoopdePoop. And GrumpyUnk. I'm so blessed, I'm surrounded.

I promise not to talk obsessively about this journey. I promise to hold myself accountable with my daily journal of what I put in the piehole.

I promise to weigh in every Monday and be honest about how my week went. I promise not to whine too much.

Ian Erich, 23 years today!!

2009-12-18T08:31:00.000-05:00

This beautiful young man is MINE! My kid! My 3rd baby! My favorite 23 year old on this earth.

He works selling cell phones and plans to unsuspecting people. Ones who don't know they don't stand a chance at "just looking". He's a total salesman. He can make you fall in love with him no matter your current outlook or mood. He's THE funniest man I've ever met. And I really, really like to laugh so that's saying a bunch.
And a top notch dresser.
He does clean up well tho. Like at his best friend's wedding.

Or for a photo Op w/sister

Or with his brother. (He's cute too, aint?)

And he has hot hair styles.

And he has his serious moments....

And I love him more than breathing.

The Queen's Royal Christmas Wish List. not to be confused with reality.

2009-12-08T09:48:00.005-05:00

Here's us girls in our Christmas Jammies.

This year for Christmas I have a dream type wish list. No,that should be WISH LIST. All things on it should be in CAPS cause they are so special in my heart.

The Queen would like a CAMERA. A real CAMERA. A CAMERA with different lenses and night vision goggles and various doo-dads I don't know how to work. I can't paint. I have a Mama who's a phenomenal artist so I know what's good and what I can do-ain't. I see so much beauty in my world that I want to save it and savor it forever, a CAMERA would do that!! I want to take pictures like Ree. The Pioneer Woman. If you don't go to her blog, shame on you. Here's a link. Just go there. Now. No, wait till I'm done ranting.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/

This is a remarkable sample of her work. And since we're looking at em, I want HORSES. Regal Request #2 is a HORSE or 2. GrumpyCrazy Uncle was saying this morning that alot of folks around us are giving away horses. GIVING away! They can't afford to feed/shelter/vet/farrier them properly. We can't either but this is a "wish" list after all. I've wanted a HORSE since I was 7. Living in town in Kansas City put the kabosh on the desire. I remember crying my heart out when my parents explained why a horse couldn't live in the garage.. So, I'd fake myself out and pretend my bike was my HORSE. sigh, poor delusional little girl.

#3 on the Wish List is more CHILDREN. Yup, 53 years old, no girlie parts left and she still wishes she had more kids. Like, oh, 6 or 7 of em. I stopped too soon. Above is a platefull that I love as much as my own, the only difference is these didn't give me stretch marks. Thankfully I have these two precious souls to care for and love on.

#4 on the Royal Wish Not to be Confused With What Can Really Happen List is a WOOD BURNING STOVE. Installed. With Wish #5, TILE for the whole house, under it. Installed.With heat under it.

OH yeah! Just like that!

I hope I haven't given the impression that I'm not grateful for all I've been allowed to have in this life. I SO am! But, isn't this the season for wishing and dreaming and miracles?

And JAMMIES

Click a pic. Cause I Can.

2009-12-04T09:46:00.013-05:00

Home Town Visit!

2009-11-24T09:10:00.002-05:00

This weekend I drove "home" to visit my Darlingest Sister and her punks. I took our boxer, Pete, with me to stay for his vacation. Pete and Ty (darlingestyoungest nephew punk) have this boy-n-his-dog thing going on. Wither thou goest...
The drive itself is only 3 hours and 15 minutes, usually. Ummm not so much this time. It took me almost 5 stinkin hours to get there. 2 awful wrecks had traffic tied up for a full hour for the first accident and about 45 for the second. Don't know if there were injuries but I sure hope not. Luckily, I am highway potty smart and was ok for the sitting time. It coulda been really ugly as there are no trees or bushes at these stretches of road.

The secondary reason I went up this weekend was to get my hairs did. My dear friend's lovely daughter did MY lovely daughter's hairs recently and she looks beautiful so it was my turn. She's cute, eh?

The sis and I were supposed to sit around and play cards and eat too much but we got sidetracked, happily, at a couple basketball games. I LOVE basketball. Especially played by little boys with pink cheeks and sweaty hair.

I also LOVE sitting with other punks while watching the game and eating peanut M&M's.

These were all the brats except for Dale who was home resting up from the dreaded pig eppizoodies. He wanted to be healthy enough to play his own game the following day.

Ty had torn off a major chunk of flesh from his knee recently and the mean ole Mom cleaned it up for him and put on a new bandage. It was NOT fun, but made for a purty durn cute photo op.

This is what happens to my DarlingestSisters face if you tell her NO about something fun she thought we should do.

Luckily she snaps right out of it when we find a new friend!!! We met up with Jayme!!! Of Tales of the Coop Keeper fame!! If you haven't found her web home, you must.. Simply must. http://talefromthecoopkeeper.blogspot.com/

Jayme has this RocketDog fettish. Can't say as I blame her. What apron fabric did you buy US, Jams???

I thought the pic needed a touch of skin, rated G of course.

This is Dale boy when he finally felt better and was able to play ball. I hope you can see his big ole grin. He does care about rebounds and shooting arc's and zones but FUN is the #1 goal of the whole day.

This is how we spent Sunday morning. Everybody there was still medium plus sick. Hope I dodged the bullet. If not, the trip was soooo worth the exposure.
Note how happy Pete looks with his girls. Also note DarlingestSisters groovy jammies and pose. LOL LOL

P.S. Happy Birthday Abby!!!

Wednesdays are for rambling.

2009-11-18T10:09:00.002-05:00

It's cool and grey and yugly (yes, that's a real word) outside today. So, what to do?

For sure Kaia Stinkypantswhineyfacewaterhead Baby's coming over. But then...

Do I make cookies? Ok. Oatmeal for GrumpycrazyUncle? Pudding Choc.Chip for moi? Both?!

Should I go through my Christmas gift box and delegate what goes to who?

Should I clean my nasty bathroom?

Should I sew up some torn uniforms for Grumpy?

Sew up those sleep pants for Kaia's mommy I've been meaning to do since last MAY?

Should I just play on the computer all day? Ebay? Blogs? Here's my fav.

http://talefromthecoopkeeper.blogspot.com/

Maybe I could paint the wall in daughterunit's room to surprise her?

Should put together my holiday recipe book as seen on

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/blog/?p=2317

Or should I finish that book I'm loving? The Long Walk Home. By Will North.

lhttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/516026.The_Long_Walk_Home_A_Novel

Or should I finish poor Hank's much needed hair cut?

Or should I put out the word about darling niece, Faith's, Christmas Extraveganza?

http://www.towletheater.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=212467

I love love love being the Queen of the Known Universe.
I get to pick the Royal Agenda.

Krazy Kitten

2009-11-16T07:58:00.001-05:00

Presenting....Kitty!
This is one strange "duck"

He likes baskets and washing machines.

and dogs

and looking reeeeally scarey

Who invented Headaches?

2009-11-05T08:09:00.001-05:00

I think that's a pretty valid question. Did God figure we needed a little one-two punch to slow us down so we'd appreciate our lives? Did he pick up Eve, give her a good solid shake, thus rattling her noodle when she ate that fruit? Then Eve, being the lovely sharing girl that she was, passed that noodle-rattle on to all us girls? She messed things up for us, ladies. Before she made that fateful faux pas we didn't have to bother with bra's that feel like giant rubber bands, no laundry, no ironing, no cooking, no housecleaning (gardens in paradise are notoriously self cleaning) and our Adam's weren't always mad at us for talking them into being stupid too. I think God musta given Adam a faulty backbone. Come to think of it, only way I can talk MY Adam into doing anything is to bribe him with biscuits. Hmmm. I digress (enrich your wordpower).

I've had stinkin' Migrain's for 10+ years. Some are just nagging. "Hello. I've come to worry you into thinking I'm gonna get out of hand. Does this bug you? Does this bug you? Does this bug you?". Others are Show Stoppers. "I'm gonna slap you silly and make you wish you were born a worm (no heads). Don't even THINK of enjoying anything ." Then there's the fateful Stompers. "You, my dear witless victim, are going to sleep for days. Fall off toilets. Throw up and smack your head on the toilet rim (bwaahaha, double whammy!) Live in a dark cave with sunglasses on and disappear from life for days on end."

This week I've been visited by the Show Stopper variety. Daytime is pretty slow. Gotta keep my movements to the turtle speed. But nights have been cooking up closer to the Stomper show. Sunglasses in the dark. TV on low. Ice packs. And my second best friend-Phenargen. I reserve the first best friend spot for, insert heavenly music here, Percocet.

Even feeling crummy I'm thankful. I'm thankful it's not worse. I've had some doozies. But I'm also thankful for those doozies.! 5 years ago this month I was in the hospital cause one was being so hateful to me. The powers that be did an MRI to be sure I didn't have a bleed. No bleed but it showed a small anyrism. (spell check doesn't work here). Went to some specialist high mucky muck doc in Indy and voila! it had gotten bigger. Bigger ain't better in all circles. So a couple weeks later he warmed up his chainsaw and stapled that sucker. Done! Whew.

Thus the best headache story ever....After surgery I'm still fairly wobbly, using a walker and I had a Stomper. I toddled off the the bathroom to kneel before the porcelain alter. I'm in there yacking up from deep down in the toe area and whacked my "dent" on the edge of the alter, hard enough to throw me backwards into the wall, thumped the BACK of my head against the wall, thumped my behind to the floor and promptly wet myself. All I could think was Moe, Larry and Curly got nothin' on me. I'm laughing so hard my poor, worried Mom comes flyin in. She finds me, Frankenstein face, sitting on the floor, in a puddle, the walker on top of me (knocked it over in the melee) laughing like the village idiot. Oh, sweet dignity, forever lost.

Like Ian says, "Everything's fun!".

Sample of life w/Ian

2009-11-04T07:42:00.002-05:00

We had a lovely, but too short, visit w/Ian Erich last night. Thought you'd like to see how he likes to dress on his day off. All he did was get out of his car and I started giggling. GrumpyUnk did the same.

And this is what he did to Hank. Doesn't he look embarrassed???

Note the diabolical eyeball behind him...

Ian Erich

2009-11-03T07:36:00.002-05:00

These handsome men are our little boys. Ian Erich is the blonde and Clinton Joel is the handsome older

on the right (he'd lost his hair in a bet).

Ian and Joel share an apartment in Indy w/their sister, Rachel Brie. Poor Brie, she's the neat one and suffers now from nasty-brothers-who-can't-throw-garbage-out-or pick-up-or-wash-dishes syndrome.

Ian is coming home for a visit sometime today! I realize he's only an hour away but he leads a full and busy life so we don't see him as often as would be MOMoptimal. I have to book him far in advance. You see, he's one of the funniest men I've ever known. He just opens his mouth and great lines spill out. He's not working at it, or thinking ahead to try to crack me up. It just happens. He doesn't even really care if I laugh or not, HE knows it's funny.

This is Ian's Rabbit Helmut(size 4T sweatapnts) His 4 y/o cousin gave it to him. He wore it w/pride.

When he was about 7 I gave him a can of Comet and sent him to scrub the bathtub. About an hour later I realized I hadn't seen him since. I went in to the bathroom. He had emptied half the can into the tub, was on all fours in there with rags in his hands and on his knees swishing from front of tub to back, grinning like a monkey. "Are you having fun?", I asked? "EVERYTHING'S fun", he sweetly replied. Duhhh.

This is the same kid who at age 2 was sitting on the front porch with his Dad and Dad's Army buddy. The water sprinkler was going. Dad would throw a can onto the lawn under the water spray and when the shower was pointed the opposite direction he'd say, "Ian, go get that for me". Off the boy would run to help his Pop. Of course, by the time he'd get to it the sprinkler had oscillated back to where the can and now Ian were. Face full of cold water-freak out-grab the can and run to Dad. The "grown ups" would laugh hillariously and repeat. I came out on the porch to check things out and put the Kabosh on the plan (after I watched a couple of times). GrumpyUnk then asked me "Why is it we thought 2 kids was enough??"

It wasn't.

All the babies I've loved....

2009-10-30T10:15:00.000-04:00

Alyssa and I were sitting at the computer, reading all the blogs this morning and having our girl-chat. Alyssa is 4 months old but holds a good solid intellectual conversation. She does her best analytical thinking after a change of undies and a slurp of formula or pureed mystery fruit. She's quite advanced for her age. We took a break from reading to have just a little more slurp. I was telling her how much I enjoyed her company and her smile and her LOUD conversations (had to turn up the radio yesterday as she was drowning out CCR). Then I got to thinking about all the babies God's put in my life over the years. There's been lots. Not only my 3 biological blessings. Cute, ain't?

When GrumpyCrazyUnk and I were starting out, a long long time ago in a world far far away, he was a carpenter. And in that universe, circa 1983, nobody had money to build or remodel or build add-on, thus the work was slim pickens and in turn, so was the money. I started adding children to the mix to be able to eat. My first additions were a pair of brothers, Adam and Mark aged 2 and 6 months. They were alot of work as I also had my oldest two biological babies aged 2 and 3 to chase. "Chase" being the operative word. I then added my darling bestest friend's 2 girls, Amy and Corey, aged 2 and 2 months. Now we're talkin CHASE.That makes 6 kids under the age of 4. I've never slept so good as I did at the end of those days. But we ate! Amy and Corey are beeeuuutiful women now living in NYC and Chicago and setting the world on fire.

After Army life came and went Unk went on to nursing school. Again, no moola and now 3 offspring. I needed me some babies. There came, duhn duhn duhnnnnn, MEGAN. Afraid of everyone and everything. Cried at everyone and everything. Dared not look at her, speak to her or heaven forbid! touch her! oyy.
In there somewhere was Kyle a 2 y/o crrraaazy boy. I found him on top of the fridge one day if that tells you anything. Only time I've ever told the mom that I just can't watch him anymore.

That's about when we got our Sam arama Ding dong. This darling little 1 y/o with black, black curly hair, big blue eyes, with his beloved blanket in tow. He stayed ours for 3 years, even though I fed him pepper on his doughnuts and kept him in a closet "for no apparent reason", so he told his Daddy. When we moved to beautiful south central Indiana he went on to stay at my sister's house and is still our family.

Then came Alicia. Our darling friend's 2 y/o daughter. Mommy worked at the hospital w/Unk and needed me. Needed me, that's all I needed to hear. She joined our family and blended like nobody's buisness. Unk taught her good wholesome words like moron and numbskull. She's all grown up and taller than me and durn it, lives in far away Canada.

Our neighbor had a beautiful little 4 y/o redhead ,Ralphie (our name), Rachel (real) who needed someone to play with her before and after school. How fun was she?!! She'd lip sync and gyrate around on the back porch to Spice Girls tapes and just couldn't figure out what we were laughing at. She's a senior now. sigh...

We moved to the country. The biobabies grew up and moved out. I needed me some babies. Daughterunit's best friend was kind enough to have one for me. Aren't friend's the best? Our darling dearest sweetie pie, insert ahhh-music here, Kaia. Sadly her Unk named her Poopypantswhineyfacewaterhead girl. Don't ask.

Kaia joined our life when she was just 8 weeks old. Unk bought me the Happy Chair so I could rock her properly. And nothings been the same...for Hank either. From day one they've been best of pals. He'd gently take her socks off, share his food, his crate, toys and has spent countless smiling hours chasing her and vice

versa.
Mama isn't working right now which is good news for Kaia and Mommy. Baaad news for Unk and the Queen. She comes to play as often as possible now. I talk to her on the phone, she knows speed dial. I can see years and years of Kaia blogs ahead.

When Kaia had to go home we got Beanie Boy aka Corban. I dunno why they all have regular names. Mom and Dad should just wait to fill out the birth certificate till Unk or I dub them w/something much more fun. Poor lil Beaniboy was a preemie. He had some tummy issues and spent most of his days hurting and crying. Never held it against him. He'd smile when he felt good. Mommy got to quit her job she hated anyway and now they are sooo happy together.

Baby George moved in for a short while this summer. Mommy and Dad thought we lived too far to treck. Even though we buy only the best baby equipment for them to play in. hmmm?..

Now we have our sweet lil Tator. Her family calls her Alyssa but, what can ya do? She is one of the easiest and happiest babies since my own 3 happy campers. Just a pleasure. She's rarely unhappy and when she is it's a blowout fit. Gonna do, do it right! She loves her some Unk and he feels the same way. She's darling, darling.

Our lives have been enriched beyond measure by these little souls. The money was a bonus, not the goal. I can't wait to see if God has more for me!

Moments of Grace

2009-10-21T08:50:00.002-04:00

When a day starts off looking like this!

When a baby laughs AT you.

When your kids like each other.

When your little sister is still your bestest friend.
When even making bacon is an adventure.

When hangin w/the boys is the best thing ever!

When you get a new "do".

When babies and dog's collide.

When the nephew gets a new "do".

When they make you laugh more than anybody you've ever met.

ditto

When you remember, again, that he's the best.

Ain't???

And now for something completly different...

2009-10-16T15:19:00.000-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhUeAy35qc&feature=player_embedded

Hank the Cow Dog

2009-10-16T10:59:00.001-04:00

Hank the Cow Dog is a marvelous little creature. He got his name from a really fun series of kid's books. Find 'em. Even if you don't have kids around they will make you laugh!! Here's his official site http://www.hankthecowdog.com/

When Hank came into our lives GrumpyCrazyUncle wasn't so keen on having a poodle. I think it was a "manly" issue and Grump encouraged me to name him something tough and macho. Spike just didn't cut it. Once you read one of the books, you'll see why HANK had to be this guy's name. Both Hank's are full of fun and attitude. Grump says he's more like Hank the Woosdog but that's just cause Grump's jealous.

I chose the poodle breed because of their intelligence, sweet temper and lack of major health issues. I'd just lost my best friend Boxer of 10 years, Magie, to cancer and didn't think I could do that again anytime soon. I struggled with grief over Magie's death but really wasn't thinking I'd get another dog for quite awhile. Afterall, we did have Pete (another wonderful boxer) and Egar (a goofy little terrier) for me to love on. After about 2 weeks, Grump said, "don't fight the funk, Queen. Just go find yourself another friend". Bless him.

The Daughterunit and I went to go see some puppies advertised in the paper. No fancy papers, no champion bloodlines and no big moola either. I don't care about all that stuff. I just wanted a friend. We drove waaay out into the boonies, always a good sign in my book, and finally found the place. The folks were very friendly and when they opened the house's back door all these little white fuzz balls literally came falling out onto the lawn. Remember that Pepsi commercial with the puppies jumping all over the little kid on the ground? The one that made you laugh no matter how many times you'd seen it? Yeah, it was just like that! There were 4 or 5 little ones and a couple grown dogs. We sat on the ground and loved on all of them. But one, a little boy with a peach colored spot on his back and peach ears, wouldn't leave me. I'd get up and run around with the others but he'd always be right on my heels till I sat down again, then phloomp, into my lap and stretched out like he'd been waiting for me to show up so he could take his nap. We stayed for about an hour and I never could shake him. We left puppy-less because I promised myself to take my time. Pick just the right one or wait till the next litter I saw in the paper, take my time. I took a whole 12 hours.

I went back the next day to see if the same little guy would attach himself to me again. There was zero doubt. The other pups ran around like puppies do but this spotty boy was superglue. Hank spent his first 2 days here in bed with me. I get monster migraines and had one that knocked me out. He didn't seem to mind. We just cuddled and slept. sigh. When I told the oldest Sonunit that I'd gotten a poodle he channeled his Dad's sentiment re:poodles. When he came over later that day and saw Hank sprawled out on my bed, he said, "Oh, I get it now".

Every single day I'm grateful my superglued, Siamese twin came to live on my farm. More Hank posts to follow cause he's too fun to ignore.

Sickness in the Bunker

2009-10-14T08:01:00.000-04:00

GrumpyCrazyUncle's fallen under the Zombie bus. Sore throat, coughing and general malaise (great word, ain't?)

He's staying in bed as long as possible this morning. Babysitting baby isn't coming cause mom and pop are skeert of us. Is it the-dun dun duuuuunnnn-H1N1? Could be. He does work in an ER in southern IN, one of the first places in the country to get the "shot". He got the regular flu shot already but it only covers specific varieties, not all. His hospital didn't offer the H1N1 shot to it's employees. strange. Or should I say, cheap. Am I worried about getting it too? Nah. If I do, I do. I HATE the hype over this flu. Yes, we should be aware. Yes, we should be good stewarts of our bodies and health. NO! We shouldn't panic, hide, run, talk incessantly and freak about ANYTHING!! Life's too short. Take care. Be smart. Eat right. And change your underwear before you leave the house.

Why?

2009-10-12T10:56:00.000-04:00

Why does the 30th chocolate chip cookie tast so bad when the first was soooo wonderful?

Why do dogs have to wander around for 30 minutes to find "just the right spot" to poo if it's raining?

Why do 2 year olds ask so many questions and then when they're 15 know ALL the answers to any question ever asked.

Why does it rain on John's day off?

Why don't my loaves of bread turn brown when all I forgot was the sugar?

Why do only 2 people STILL generate so much laundry?

Why do dogs choose the carpet and not the tile to puke on?

Why don't people use their turn signals?

Why do vacations go by so fast and work days drrraaaggggg?

Why do washing machines "eat" new socks and not the old holey ones?

Why do sermons last so long if you're reallllly hungry?

Why are there infomercials?

Why can't summer be 9 months and cold be three??

Why do WalMart shoppers think that wearing pj's that are 2 sizes too small to shop is sexy?

Why do friends have to live so far away??

Junkaholics meeting at 7p in the church basement

2009-10-06T08:49:00.000-04:00

I'm an addict. I admit it. I'm going to be on one of those shows..."My Mom was last seen in her house in 1982 near the pile of old Christmas ornaments that she hasn't used in 30 years. We haven't seen her since."

These pics are what happened to my house when I emptied ONE room and closet. ONE.

The Daughterunit is moving home to go back to school full time in November. There was no room at the Inn for her. We talked about buying a camper and hooking up water and electric for her out the back door. But I buckled down and moved crap out and around. There's probably 4 trunkloads for Goodwill. 1 load for my friend's antique shop and about that many for Freecycle. WHAT WAS I THINKING???

I babysit and have lots of toys, playpens, tables, highchairs, clothes, diapers ad nauseum that I actively use but just as many that I don't. OY.

And the closet pic, with clothes and clothes...no excuse. I have a heaven-made closet and thought my mission in life was to fill it to the overflowing stage. I have succeeded. Plus, I'm too fat for half of them. sigh

Night before last I couldn't sleep because of all this weighing on my mind. I've been given this wonderful home to share with friends and to keep my family safe and secure and loved. I've filled it up with junk that was a "great bargain" or "too cute" or "I might use that someday" or "I had one of those when I was a kid" instead of focusing on making the place clean, organized and peaceful. I'm ashamed. I truly am.

I shared what was on my heart with dear GrumpyUnk and he said, "I'm behind you all the way, Just don't touch my stuff".

Nice nice weekend

2009-10-05T09:01:00.000-04:00

This was Oktoberfest weekend in our little town. This is a very large German community and tradition runs deep. There are about 40billion people, 30billion food booths, a sweet parade complete with horses and dancing children and 1 little old man on his 3 wheel bike with flags attached, the gratuitous lovely waving girls in convertibles and about 100 booths of lace-glued-on-wood "art". This year the weather held up, no rain, but it was cool and windy. LOTS of whining heard from teens. I'm betting it because they had to cover up their new clothes with jackets and that meant less to show off.

The main reason I love this weekend is because I usually get to see my kids. They try to come home to see old friends. This year I was only a 1 in 3 year. The boys had to work. The daughter unit came for a whole week though!! She seemed to have a good time at the fest. She had to buy hat/gloves and scarf cause she was freezing!

I took my Kaia to her first Oktoberfest! She seemed overwhelmed. I loaded her in the stroller and wrapped her in a blanket and away we went. She LOVED the parade. Waved only at the horses and was truly puzzled by the dancing little girls. She would look at them with a wrinkled brow then back at me and said, "What?". I shared her opinion. Her big thrill though was touching. Touching the pumpkins, the fire hydrants, the signs, the flags, Oh, and touching people's behinds walking if front of her. LOL. I figured I'd load her up on junk food and take her back to Mommy to run it off but she didn't like anything I bought her. Poor me, had to eat it all myself. Don't want to be wasteful, ya know.

Her Ninja is strong tho. We're standing in line to get a soft pretzel, I looked away and I heard a man say,"My! You're starting a life of crime kinda early!" I turned back around and she had apparently pulled his wallet out of his pocket by the attached chain! We had a good laugh then he picked up his food at the window, turned around and Kaia opened her mouth super wide waiting for him to shovel it in there!! He laughed and said, "She'll get my money one way or another, eh?" Taught her everything she knows.

Finer n Frog hair

2009-10-01T09:48:00.000-04:00

Major and "Puppy"

What was I THINKING??? I have had children in my life for a hundred years. Daycare, babysitting, my own homeschooling of 3 beautiful kids, over 20 nieces and nephews and the list goes on...but what did I do this morning? I traumatized my favorite 20 month old. I washed her Puppy. As I type she's standing and at the laundry room pointing at the dryer, reaching for the door and soooobbbbing , PUPPY! Oh I've lost it.

My precious Kaia spent the night last night and slept with me. sigh. My back will never be the same. She used to sleep in her own bed but for some reason she freaks out lately. We tried to sleep with her in our bed, 2 adults, one 2y/o, one Puppy and one real live poodle. Not cool. Thinking King size bed in the future...........

Throughout the night I kept waking to an awful, sour, stinky, rotten egg smell-Puppy! She loves this big stuffed dog like only a 2 y/o can. Holding poor Puppy's nose and ear while she sucks her thumb, falls asleep, drinks her milk, juice and sneaks him bites of yogurt and oatmeal. Needless to say the bath was called for!

He's almost dry. I figure another 15 minutes and voila! new Puppy. She keeps pulling my sleeve and crying, "done? done?" Oy.

Carpet woes...

2009-09-29T07:58:00.001-04:00

ICK!!!
With all the rain last week this is what's happened to my carpeting. Eewww. I scrub them with my favorite, vinegar, and they all come back with a vengance anyway. I am spending hard earned savings, earmarked for NEW flooring, on professional cleaning this Sat. The owner of the company swears he can fix this. Uhh huhh. I know I've posted rants about this creepy floor before but it daily makes me nutso. I have babies on the carpet and I cringe when their parents come in. My silent mantra is.."Please don't look down, please don't look down". These aren't new stains from dogs with bad manners. They are old once removed and were all gone stains from kids, spills and Sally being Sally stains. arrrgggg.

When we get rich and famous I want porcelin (SP?) tile throughout all but the living room and bedrooms. Then my only battles will be with killer dust bunnies.

Take da bunny out back n let 'im have it.

Sally May

2009-09-27T19:40:00.001-04:00

Presenting....Sally!

What a character this girl is! Our son adopted her for his birthday present to himself. Then he moved to Indy to share a place with his brother and sister and there's no room for poor lil Sal. So we have her till the daughter unit moves home in November (can't wait to get my girl back home!)and the boys can share Sally duty.

Sally had a rough first half of her life. She was a breeder at a puppy mill. She lived 24/7 in a small cage. Subsequently she never learned any indoor manners. So, after trying and trying she must stay in the laundry room. Its right in the middle of all our action here so she's not alone, just safe on a scrubbable floor! In spite of her limited socialization she's overcome it all and is good with everybody and every critter. When she first moved in she tried to be the boss but that took too much effort and now she just sniffs a hello and goes back to sleep. She's just excellent with my babies I watch too. My 2 year old holds her face, scrubs nose to nose and murmurs, "Oh Sahdee". Darling Sally snuffles her love right back in her face. sigh. And speaking of her going back to sleep, the old girl snores like a freight train. LOL

We have kittens in the garage and when one attacks her, Sally puts on her tolerant Mom face, pushes it out of her way with the smooshed face and walks on. The dog's a champ.

And she's deaf as a post. Also a drawback in trying to teach her house type manners. Because she can't hear you call her, taking her out to do her stuff where she's supposed to is quite an adventure. She's never had a collar or been leash trained. I put her on a retractable soft cloth leash, let her out the door and let the door hold the handle of the leash. She wouldn't 'run' off, as she won't run, but she will slowly amble away. She gets herself stuck on the back steps as she hasn't figured out that if she sits in front of the screen it can't open without knocking her off on her kiester. She'll bark, more of a "doof" and sit there while you try to pry the door open and her back out of the way. I've been working with her to learn the technique for about 2 months now and she just can't grasp the concept. She's so surprised when the door opens into her. AGAIN.

When I get rich and famous and have a place to keep all the dogs I want, I'll get my very own English Bulldog. I can just imagine how great it is to have one as a puppy. All that extra skin and MAYBE just maybe a little more energy.Maybe. She's a hoot.

Que Pasta! via Rachel Ray

2009-09-25T08:25:00.000-04:00

I made this yummy dish last night and it was good enough to share with you! I didn't take pics cause, well just cause we were too anxious to dig in...

3-4 Dried Ancho Chilies
can chicken broth

1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb Chorizo
onion diced
garlic smooshed
bay leaf
1/4 tomato paste
bottle of beer (Grumpy like this part!)
pinch of cinnamon

cooked spagetti pasta
chopped cilantro
Queso cheese, grated

De-seed and stem chiles. Boil in broth till all soft. This smells heavenly! Then pour into food processor and blend. While it cooks...

Brown and drain beef and Chorizo, onion and garlic. The chorizo is pretty greasy, I like to blot it after draining. You do whatever suits.

Add chiles and rest of ingredients and simmer to reduce.
Pour over cooked spagetti pasta and mix.
Top with cheese and scallions and cilantro.

I served this with cornbread cause that's "his" favorite. Would be good with tortillas too! We also liked it better with some hot sauce added!

Busy, busy, busy...

2009-09-24T08:46:00.001-04:00

Is this a beautiful sunrise, or what?! This is my favorite time of year! The sunrises and sunsets are spectacular. The air is clear. The barometric pressure is low (I think that helps with my brain doo-dads). And the temps are perfect, perfect! And when the leaves start changing, just a couple of weeks, I will be even more thankful we moved to beautiful southern Indiana. It's the best kept secret in America!

On the garden front-all done! Grumpy/crazy uncle picked and cleaned up the beans last week. Most of them were dry enough for storage but there were a few we had to sit in the sun and the dehydrator. These are cranberry beans and black beans. I see black bean burritos in our future... I do want to get some apples and can/freeze them and make some pies. I've got a killer apple crumb pie recipe. And Grumpy loves my applesauce.

On the critter front-Our Mama kitty just quietly wandered off to leave this earth 2 weeks ago. I knew she wasn't going to be here much longer the night before she disappeared. When I looked in her eyes she just wasn't in there anymore. She was a loyal friend and true. We got 3 kittens, named #1, #2 and #3, to guard the garage and barn. They are precious. Sadly #2 passed away 2 nights ago. They all have roundworms but were just too young to worm yet. #2 kept getting thinner and thinner so I figured if I didn't do something we'd lose her no matter what. Poor little thing was just to sick to handle the harsh meds. #1 and #3 act healthy and hardy and funny as only kittens can be! The pic is #1 in a brake lite housing from youngest son's motorcycle. 3 days ago the Poultry Massacre of 09 occured. Eldest son was home to help out with chores and when he went to feed the chickens he discovered a bloody mess. Something got all but 2 of our kids and also spared the guineas. And earlier this month we lost the rooster. Truth be told his loss didn't upset me all that much as he was one MEEEEAN fella. I always had to arm myself before feeding. Ingrate.

As for our Prepping-we've had to slow down purchasing supplies because of $cash$ flow issues. Oh well, life marches on with or without moola. We went on a WONDERFUL date last night. We drove to Bloomington and saw the 70th Anniversary release of The Wizard of Oz. It was sooo fun! It's my tied for first place favorite movie. Gone with the Wind is the other. This release was done in Hi-Def and I was pleasantly surprised to see there really is a difference. Such detail! The Munchkin costumes were very clearly beautifully intricate. I spotted so many little things I'd never seen before. Cool things like the witch has curly hair tucked in a spooky big pointed bun. EEewww. We were going to go out to eat afterwards but we messed up and spent our cash on gold popcorn. It must have been cooked in liquid gold as it and drinks cost more than I spend on new cars.

In the cooking dept-I've flubbed more loaves of W/W bread lately than ever. sigh. My cousin was on Rachel Ray yesterday! He is a exotic animal handler and breeder. That was fun, but the tie in to this is that I also got recipes for today's meals. lol. Que Pasta (mexican spagetti) and Armadillo potatos (stuffed baked potatos). How fun is that?

Nuff said for today. Think I'll go change a baby's poopie pants. Livin' the dream...

Chicken N Dumplins

2009-09-11T09:50:00.001-04:00

I found some ancient chicken in the freezer this week and here's what I made with it. 2 chicken thighs and drumsticks. Place in crock pot. Cover with water. Cook on high till starting to smell really good. 1 sliced onion 2 plops of minced garlic 2 T chicken base (from Sam's) Pepper Cook on low till falling off bone. De bone. Break up chicken into smaller bites. Place in fridge overnight (skip if you can't wait till tomorrow) Next day, scoop fat off. Reheat in POT to boiling. Add more broth if needed. Thicken w/cornstarch if you want it thicker. Add some frozen peas. Stir up enough Bisquick mix to make a small batch. Add milk to mix till pretty gooey, not thick enough to hold up as buiscuts. Add lots of fresh ground pepper. Drop carefully onto boiling soup. Boil uncovered for 10 minutes. Cover. Boil another 10 minutes. Dish up and eat like royalty! Wish I'd taken a picture but we were starving and couldn't wait! P.S. Your house will smell like Grandma'a.

R.I..P. Mama Kitty

2009-09-10T09:04:00.001-04:00

On to new shtuff...

2009-09-10T08:04:00.001-04:00

We refinanced our lovely country mansion this summer. I was all brilliant and smart and edyoukated about what is best, which loan to choose, how we can pay it off even faster etc...Dear GumpyCrazyUncle trusted me and my banking type advisor boyfriend. Silly Unk. Enter, The real world...we're doing some pretty fast dancing to keep up with everything now. The loan is for 15 years. If we pay twice monthly instead of just once it will be paid off in 12. If I put half of my babysitting moola on the principle it will be paid in 7 years! Unk wants to retire in 12 (he'll be a young 67)and won't that be nice to have 0 house pymt and hopefully some moola saved for the next adventure??!!Well, we'll see as it looks like I lose one of my babies soon. OY I am scouting around and working my dented cranium to come up with ways to save on the spending end. So far I've found a few small ones and am on the lookout for more. If you know of any (even little ways, comment to me here!! I am trying out the make-your-own genre. I already make my own mixes, flour, cornmeal etc. This week I tried the homemade laundry soap. So far, so good! Next is the softner, stain remover and automatic dishwasher goo. Figure we can save literally hundreds of $$ per year this way. I have D/C'd the garbage pick up. Oooo this kills me. When I pitch something I have this need for it to be totally outta here. But I'm workin out my inner conversations with myself. I need to find bins or tubs or cans or something to keep glass, metal, paper and plastic.And we need a burn can. Our county accepts recycles for free and charges only $1 per bag for refuse. It will mean that when I go to town (on my few consolidated trips)I must drop things off before I pick things up. Big deal. I can do that. That will make a savings of just under $300 per year. Yup, I can do that. If we win the lotto or something we will get a wood burner. I use the clothes line sporadically (it's that whole crunchy towels thing). I don't buy name brand anything except for Unk's Zesta Saltines. I DO go on mini trips too often. sigh. Gonna have to learn the word NO in my travel-loving heart. I FINALLY found someone who really cuts my hair cute and wouldn't you know, she's in Indy, and charges a bloody fortune. So, the hunt is on for someone local who doesn't insist on perms and a blue rinse. The self-pamper thing I do (nails) is gonna be a pretty memory. Chiro visits are down to twice a month instead of weekly-we'll see how that works out later! I don't do magazines and only "shop" the library for reading material. We signed up with a new phone company and have a contract for TV, Net and home phone. Could've done without the TV part but it was only about $13 less w/o it. That's my current list of findings and financial roundabouts. Guess we'll see what we see...

Garden gets an A+

2009-09-08T14:14:00.001-04:00

From meager beginnings came plentiful harvest! GrumpyCrazyUncle done did good! Here's a guy who's not supposed to hang out in the sun, has Arthur waaay worse than alot of zombie ER whiners, broke his neck in younger years, had eye surgery in the spring and got stuck with a wife who would rather lick a toilet than mess around in the garden.(not me-the other wife)...and yet his labors yielded this almost final tally. 63 qts green bean 3+ qts dried peas 22 pts corn 7 qts corn 4 pts boring salsa 5 qts spagetti sauce 97+pts tomato sauce +all the goodies we've eaten so far. We are blessed! I read so many bloggers who's gardens were a near or total flop this year. We've had weird weather too but ours so much prospered anyway! He only planted 1 cucumber and we had to pitch a good portion as we couldn't eat em all. Most of his regular table tomatos were a flop. He learned alot about what he'll do next year for them. And that greenhouse? All put together by hisownself with mostly stuff scrounged from other projects. He's really clever. Me? I get messed up with detailed printed directions.

Anniversary Yurt

2009-09-06T14:25:00.000-04:00

Years ago dear GrumpyCrazy Uncle teased me mercilessly about building us a Yurt to live in. I went along with it. Yuk yuk yuk. Arent you just so funny...This past Thursday was our 31st anniversary. Unk never said he was planning anything so I took the initiative to set up our little day trip. I told him to be sure he had the day off, packed the car and drove south. He was all cool with just following directions. We did get truned around once but it wasn't our fault, the road sign was turned catywhampus. We figured out the way to go and came around a bend in the road and he hollars, "A F*&^ing YURT!??!? A F-ing YURT?!" The look on his face, one of amazement and slight disapproval, was totally worth the wait. I found this websight somehow and kept it for a few years. Tried to get us in last year for the big 3-0 but being a holiday weekend, was all full up. The couple that owns and runs the place were an excellent bonus surprise! They were a true oximoron. Conservaqtive Old Hippies! We fit right in! We have many matching life-views and enjoyed their company. YUMMY breakfast is included and is delivered to yur yurt. We chose to eat outside and enjoy the beautiful countryside. Southern Indiana. America's best kept secret!! Prices are comparable to the plastic generic motels but this is much much more restful. A romantic soaking tub is on the deck and you can bubble away an evening watching the fire under the full moon. sigh

What time is it????

2009-08-23T09:15:00.001-04:00

That's the buzz line in High School Musical 2. They only say it about 40x during the show! My darling niece, Faith, was in the show in Merrillville,IN this weekend! She played the hot composer chick, Kelsi!! She sang and danced and played piano for all us screaming fans. SO FUN! She grinned nonstop. So excellent! Back to the real world. The one filled with dogs who poo and wet on carpets if you dare go out of town. The world filled with tons and tons of tomatos and beans to be processed. The one with floors so gross the little dog got stuck in place. The one with Mt Never-rest in the laundry room. Yup, that one. Last week Hillbilly Housewife posted my favorite blog of all times. Something along the lines of "Why every homeowner needs a professional to clean their home at least 2x a year". She's my hero. I sent the link to Grumpy Uncle to memorize... http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/blog/?p=1658

And the beat goes on....

2009-08-19T10:41:00.000-04:00

Here's a picture of just what we picked yesterday. Well, Crazy Uncle did most of the picking...but I was there too. I put up some lame salsa from some of those Romas. SOMEBODY send me a good recipe!! We love fresh but it loses so much when it gets cooked. Oy. I have much to do today but here I sit, writing about it instead. I have 0 daycare babies today and I'm really enjoying the little break. No babies the rest of the week, in fact! We are driving tomorrow up north to see my darling niece in a professional production of High School Musical 2. She's the second female lead!! How way cool is that anyway! She's living my dream. I suppose it would help if I had talent. But dreams are not about reality. Here's how helpful son dried the chair he was sanding and washed.

Big clean up/Organize/pitch it/ sell it/goodwill it weekend!!!

2009-08-17T08:31:00.000-04:00

My dear oldest son is here on the farm helping me get my act together. He also helps grumpy Dad do heavy work. Son is looking for a job in Indianapolis but in this "downturn" it's not going so well. So, we help him with a little $$ and meals while he's here helping us. The Dad got going on a beautiful and bountiful garden this year and now I'm canning and cooking all the good stuff! Trouble was, where to store it all? Grumpy Dad wants to build a storage room in our garage but re:the downturn, who's got extra funds?? God has given me the BEST kitchen ever and I knew I could store alot more than I was if I'd just get it more organized. My sister was going to help me (she's the organizing Diva and I suck at it) but her life is so crammed full of kid stuff right now she just can't swing a trip down south for any length of time. So, I'm workin the kid! Kid worked in the garage, emptying the storage shelves out there while I rounded up everything I'd canned so far in my beautiful kitchen. I have a 13ft countertop island area and it was FULL!! What a blessing. Then I emptied a couple of cabinets that had my "pretties" I've collected over the years. I put most of them in a Goodwill box, some in a box for my friend who has an antique shop (bless her heart, she's selling them for me!) and pitched the dross. GOSH I had alot of junk. And there's more in my closet! I moved some shelves around to acommodate jars more efficiently and went to work putting them away. I learned this year to leave the rings on if you are going to move jars around much so they don't get bumped open. If it looks like I'm running short later on in the season I'll steal some back off of these. I have one cabinet for tomatos (probably won't be big enough soon), one cabinet for fruit and jam, one for corn, and one BIG one for green beans. I plan on sharing with sister and my kids. This feels GOOD! I've been up since 4:45a and am stewing pears for jam and have FINALLY mopped the horrible, sticky kitchen floor. My feet are sooo beat up at the end of the day I just haven't had the ooomph to keep up. I want to replace the flooring in kitchen and family and computer rooms but can't work up to $pending the moola. I also got my laundry caught up and sorta organized this weekend. I hit the motherloads of Garage Sales too! Son has big ole honkin feet (just like ma n pa) and I found a GS that had bunches of good brand shoes for him! What a blessing! I couldn't wait to show him! And I got a double stroller for my babysitting kidlets, two carseats, a few little toys and outfits, an electric knife for canning corn, a spare BUNN coffeemaker for $5 for when our current one goes to coffemaker heaven, a couple of clothing stuffs and a feather mattress pad! I'm still on the hunt for a pack n play or the likes for my new baby. And will eventually need another high chair. Maybe I can find one of those little ones that attach to the table and don't take up so much space. Today I need to run to town and get our plates renewd. If I get stopped before then I'll get a ticket. Have to hurry before Grumpy gets stopped then becomes SuperGrumpy. I don't need that noise. I think I'd just have to shoot him rather than listen. Also gotta finish the pear jam, babysit and work on the budget...eewwwww. Dear son plans to help me clean the carpet and paint some outside chairs and help his GrumpyDad. Gonna feed this kid GOOOD tonight!

OYYYY!! This is alot like work!!!

2009-08-16T06:46:00.000-04:00

Crazy Uncle has outdone himself in the garden this year. He worked nonstop all spring and early summer prepping for our stock up project! And now it's MY turn. Don't get me wrong, he helps some too. But my feet are KILLING me! The estimated totals so far are: 30 pts corn (from friends corn) 10 qts corn 20 pts "just ok" tomato sauce 30 pts "kick butt THICK" tomato sauce 18 pts pears (ours!!!) 7 qts green beans 4 qts dried peas 10 pts blackberry jam 5 pts pear jam and some frozen blackberries I should spend today making more pear jam. But I think I've really messed up my feet and will take today off to do "brain work" while sitting. Did you know you can save all those peels and cores from apples/pears and make jam or jelly? I just learned that! How cool is that? I got almost as much jam from a batch of pears as I did actual fruit!! The chickens get enough leftovers from the other stuff we can. I've found the best way to make Tomato Sauce ever. Run whole, washed Roma's through a food processor. Then through the tomato press 2 or 3 times (takes out skins and seeds). Pour into large old fashioned electric roaster. Leave lid off and cook overnight on 150. The next day, Voila! Tomato sauce! I'm glad I bought the roaster cause I can use it for Turkey Day and have the oven free for other goodies. Also anxious to make stuffed cabbage in it!

2009-08-07T17:21:00.000-04:00

Beautiful whole wheat bread!! Recipe from mmpaints at Self Sustained Living. THANKS! I need to make some tonight as our baby ate half the loaf last night. My kinda girl. It was good cold but GREAT while still warm from the oven. And this time we made a big ole mess and ground some of our wheat for it. We didn't grow it ourselves but bought about 40 billion pounds from locals. Unk also ground some corn we bought the same way for co We need to order some more buckets and some mylar bags to store it properly. Fun learning new ways to eat right and save money and be less dependant on the world. I have to put up tomatos and corn sometime very, very soon. I had a house full of babies today and just ran out of time. I think I can skin and cut up and slow cook the tomatos tonight tho. sigh...I need more energy!! I wanna do it all but, sheesh, I'm just not full of zip like I'd love to be. I did get a few pints of pretty good Italian sauce canned. I haven't found a recipe that the flavor of the tomatos is mellow like other sauces. I don't want store bought flavor but good homemade sauce. Any body have a good recipe?? I've Google'd the snots out of it, no luck. It's just so zingy. Don't know how to describe it well. Poor Unk broke his fan$y lawn mower. Plus its stuck in the field. I'd better go make him some supper to keep him from slitting his wrists or at least from crying buckets into his beer.

Loooong Coupla Weeks...

2009-08-02T06:33:00.000-04:00

Stress laiden too. My new kitty friend (see earlier post) died Friday morning. This is a pic of her on Thursday am. She was helping me surf the net. She showed up 2 weeks ago, after a short vanishing act, with a badly broken back leg. I took her to our most special vet in beautiful downtown Beanblossom, Indiana. He first set and splinted her leg but it got horribly infected due to an open wound. I took her back after a week, the leg had to come off. I brought her home and dropper fed her gruel and water and antibiotics but...she was very dehydrated and thin and just couldn't make it through all the trauma. She was such a sweet spirit. She let our little baby carry her by the neck without a complaint. While in the waiting room of the vet she kissed a HUGE pitbull who was curious about her. And even right after surgery she was purring. And on the drive home she pulled herself out of her box and rested her head on my leg. sigh. This was a tough one. Seems not fair since she worked so hard and with such a good attitude at living. R.I.P. Mama 2.0

Gotta Dance...

2009-07-26T14:17:00.000-04:00

Ever had a day that is just so beautiful that you just HAVE to dance?? Not a dancer? Ok, sing? That's what today is here in lovely south central IN. Windy, 7 puffy clouds and the thermometer by the creek says it's 81. Poifect! I just got done doing a mama-shuffle in the back yard. We've been busy, busy, busy gearing up to start canning in earnest. I've put up a little tomato sauce and blackberry jam so far. The big stuff, tomatos by the dozen and green beans and corn, will be ready before ya know it. Crazy Uncle and Therapy Boy (oldest son unit) took time away from their chores to wash billions of jars for me! I do mean billions! I got the bulk of them from Freecycle. Hope you've discovered that service! Here's a link www.freecycle.org The boys washed the biggest gunk off outside as they'd been stored in the barn. Won't do that again! Then I ran them thru the dishwasher and scrubbed some stubborn gunk off. Now I put rings on them and have them stored in big tubs by size. Now I can just grab what I need and they're ready to go. And what doesn't get used this year will stay clean till next summer. Yay! And just in case you've forgotten, here's a gentle reminder!

sigh...

2009-07-17T06:25:00.000-04:00

When you have forty billion things you'd like to accomplish and not enough energy and time to do em all...how do YOU choose what to do? Here's my list....Help me pick. Figure a new budget as we just refinanced the house (7 years to go!!) Reorganize the kitchen to be more efficient Clean and reorganize the outside (garage) food storage area Pitch all the old useless papers from the file cabinet Paint 3 rooms Organize the closet thats full to overflowing Organize the bathroom so you can find something, anything! Get skinny Quit smoking Get nicer Get cuter I'm sure I could come up with lots more but these came to mind first this morning. I need to get all these done plus keep up with cleaning and cooking and canning and yard work. I read Self Sustained Living's Blog and think, "How in the wild west does she do it all??" I have some health issues so can't always do everything that needs to be done on a daily basis. It gets discouraging. If anybody out there has a way to prioritize that works for them, lemme know. Or I would gladly feed you if you want to volunteer to come help!!!

Back Home Again in Indiana

2009-07-13T11:08:00.000-04:00

We had a lovely weekend in Pennsyltucky at our family reunion. Crazy Uncle drove the big blue plastic motorcycle and met oldest son and I there. Now G.U. is off visiting his brother in Ohio. I'm home guarding the chickens and the waaay stinky dogs. Goofy Sally just can't get the hang of waiting till some dumb human takes her outside. I shampoo'd the carpet spot this am but am about to choke on the left over fumes. I'm heading to the Big W to buy that carpet deodorizer schtuff that really works. Even my favorite cleaning tool, vinegar, isn't cutting it! OY! Next major project on the budget is to de-carpet the entire house. Later on today I'll pick some more blackberries and see if I have enough to make some jam. My first shot at real jam instead of freezer type. Will post result later-umm, if it worked and I'm not embarrassed by results. Sorta like the blackberry cobbler I took to the reunion that was inedible! No clue what happened. I've made 4 so far this summer but of course the one that flubbed was the one for others. sheesh. Even my major body builder, 2x Iron Man contestant cousin couldn't cut it. LOL. I did see some kids scraping the berries off the top to eat. It is so lovely outside I hate to spend the day in the house doing domestic goddess type things. Maybe I'll play hookey and hang out at the pool in town. Wanna find a cheap/free small pool for the backyard. I dread paying the water bill to fill it tho.

Planning ahead...

2009-07-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

Our garden and fruit crops are growing and are not in need of my efforts in the kitchen as of yet. Finishing up the very last of the peas drying process today. We ate some with dinner last night. Yummy. Next year we'll know to start picking earlier so they won't be quite so dry and more sweet. It's amazing to think that I touched each and every pea in the jars and in the bags in the freezer at least twice. sheesh! This week I will be checking and washing jars. We got a literal truck load from freecycle! www.freecycle.org Then I plan on going over my recipes again to refresh my memory (constant battle!) on how everything goes this time of year. Plan to try real jelly/jam instead of freezer type. Blackberries are about ready!!

I gotta Peas!

2009-06-25T10:43:00.000-04:00

HOLY LEGUMES, BATMAN! This is about 2/3 of our harvest so far. Part is in the freezer already. Another part in the dehydrator. And MORE drying out on the fence! Guess we'll have peas with supper tonight, eh? So glad for Crazy Uncle that his first big jump back into farmer mode is going so well! Already had too much spinich and lettuce. Multiple beautiful cabbage, the cabbage worms thought so too. And the tomatos will keep me busy for days and days and days.....when canning time starts! He's a happy camper! Cheap therapy. Super hot here again. Hmm, must be summer or sumthin'. Kinda feel bad for our Mama Kat tho. She's getting up there in age, app. 15 as she adopted us one day 14 years ago. Don't know how old she was when she arrived. CU isn't a big cat fan but she appeared in our driveway super skinny and VERY pregnant. She brought CU a mouse the next day so she made his top 10 list and has been with us ever since. She's kind of a dog-cat. She follows him wherever he goes on the farm and hangs out like his big ole boxer dog does. She's going downhill tho, healthwise. She has a tumor on the back of her neck and doesn't keep food down well and is very skinny again. Vet said not much he can do. So we feed her, love on her and enjoy her while we can. Funny thing happened 3 weeks ago. We were feeling bad 'bout Mama Kat and decided to find a kitten to help us with the mice and mole population. I went outside to smoke, yes, I'm one of "those" people. I heard a meow from under the car, bent over to peek and a lovely little orange striped cat peeked back at me. She came out for attention and of course she was PG. What? Is there a human-invisible sign out front that says, "suckers live here, all wayward PG cats will be fed"??? She thought so. I fed her and she stuck around. Couple days later CU was working on the gutters and he hollered for me to come quick! I had visions of him bouncing off the ladder and splayed on the front porch concrete. He's the nurse, I just apply bandages and kisses. But when I got there he's up on the ladder and new Mama Kat is on it too, next to his foot, watching the show. Now she follows us every where outside too! We make quite a parade to the garden, 2 peoples, 2 cats and 4 dogs. Just thought it was kinda cool that God cares about such mundane issues like sorrow about out Mama and sent us another! Yup, He's cool like that, just gotta pay attention.

Ain't no Cure for the Summertime Blues

2009-06-24T08:50:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about blogging for quite awhile now and finally realized, duh, ya gotta write to actually blog. amazing. I won't pretend to be a pro author or even a good speller but if you want to join in our lives, come on in. CU (crazy uncle) and I share a 5 acre domain in beautiful south/central IN. I rule the castle, he holds court over the turfdom and fowl. CU excels at soilRX, motorcycle minutia, and useless trivia. The Queen rocks at cookery, canning, and canines and Clearwater. I'm interested in multiple diverse areas of living this life to it's fullest. The most important things I've learned throughout the journey is to enjoy each minute, don't sweat the small stuff (98% of all squabbles), do what you can to make each relationship the best you possibly can, and remember I'm not in charge of my life-just my attitude. Today is a good day to freeze CU's fresh peas from the garden. Love 'em. We're gonna dry the bulk of what's left and going to research re:freezing young peas still in pods for stir fry. Also an excellent day for pulling out good recipes for the blackberries soon to be ripe. We'll have a major boatload! CU found a yummy sounding recipe for apple/blackberry pie in the current Backwoods Home mag. I highly recommend this helpful and entertaining publication. Jackie Clay is a solid gold mine of food prep/storage ideas. I tried a new whole wheat bread yesterday from my King Arthur Flour Recipes book (also highly recommended reading). Smelled good but alas, still a short, heavy result. CU will gobble it up anyway via PB&J. There must be a secret trick I haven't discovered yet to making a whole wheat bread, w/o adding any refined white flour, to producing a tall, light and pretty loaf!! The search continues... I have my Beanie Boy here to babysit today. He's 4 months old and shares the castle with us M-F while Mama works. When he needs to be held and smooched I'll be reading book 2, The Hollow, in the Seven Signs trilogy by Nora Roberts. So I'll be away in New England somewhere if you call and I don't answer. Peace out.

Spring 2009

2009-05-04T07:34:00.000-04:00

Hmmm, Clueless in Southern Indiana. Will work on this puppy!