I did it!! I installed memory in my computer and it actually worked! This is a HUGE deal for me. Yay. :) I spent yesterday cleaning up the hard drive and all that. I cannot believe how much better it's running! Good gravy, it needed a serious tuneup. Seriously.

Today is money day. I need to figure the checkbook, pay bills, run the banking errands and the local bills that don't have online pay - all that kind of stuff. The weather is cool in the mornings and it's getting me energized, ready for fall outdoor activities.

I have the list ready for the Wichita errands tomorrow and it will be nice to stop at Jenn's for a catch up visit. Is that still OK Jenn? Is your number still the same? I'll give you a call when I get near you. I'm starting up north and will work my way down to you. :) The pantry is getting low on staples so I'm going to venture out to Aldi's and see what's up about this place. So many people have told me what great deals they get there and I'm anxious to find out for myself. I know I need a quarter for the cart and my own supply of bags, but does anyone have any other tips for me? Please pass them on!

Withe the cool weather this morning, I couldn't resist it..... I just made the first fall batch of vegetable soup. We usually have this soup twice a month starting in the fall through late spring. It just never tastes as good during the summer. LOL When you add a salad and fresh homemade bread, it's just the best dinner.

We had my chainsaw lesson yesterday - I learned how to attempt avoidance of the 1" long thorns on the branches, how to cut the smaller branches with the tip, how to work through the larger ones with the base of the saw and use my body to help, and the mechanics of fuel, lubrication, and fixing a jumped chain. I was sore just from the end of one small tree and while I wasn't bleeding in five places like Ed was, I was quite nervous about avoiding those thorns. I prepared this morning by loading all sorts of equipment into the mower trailer and layer on clothing to help with thorn sticks. This morning was a beautiful cool one with a nice breeze and with Darren home sick he could keep an eye on Vincent for me. I needed to start taking phone calls in an hour and a half so that's all the time I would have. I set my goal on the largest thicket that had about six trees - four of which needed to come down completely and the others could just be trimmed back from the fenceline. I grabbed necessities (extra coffee, water, coke, gloves, etc.) and off I went. I finished the entire north line! I was so dang proud of myself! Ed sharpened the blade last night for me and it cut so much better than yesterday it was amazing. I organized all the trimmings into piles that we can bring back for the goats to munch on and then a pile of wood that's thick enough to trim for burning in the woodstove this winter. Yay me!

Last night Ed and I talked about the fall chores needing done and how I can work to free him up for the things I'm unable to do. I can do nearly all the work to the chicken coop for winter preparation and I'll get the shop barn cleaned up enough to hold the boat and van for the winter. I can also move the junk that's been sitting around for a couple years (ours and the previous owners) into organized sections in the back half and clean out the tackroom. This yellow shed will be the workshop area and hold all the major project tools. Doing this will help clean out our garage and leave house project tools and car working stuff only. With me completing these tasks Ed is freed up to run electric out to the livestock barn and finish building stalls inside. I think he's also going to show me how to run electric fencing out through the pasture we're clearing now. And we came up with two different proposals for the farmer who maintains the 14 acres in crop. It was a productive evening. :)

I'm learning to appreciate the things I've never paid much attention to. I've learned the value of good leather gloves, good heavy workboots, waterproof knee high boots, flannel shirts, heavy denim jeans, and hats. Having only one pair of jeans suitable for farmwork left me in a quandry last week because I was washing them every day after coming in covered head to toe with dirt, mud, weeds, goat poop, and who knows what else. When I ran to Wichita last week I stopped by a thrift store hoping to get some $6 out-of-style jeans to wear in the fields. Holy great-buys! I was able to get six pairs of jeans, two flannel shirts, three heavy t-shirts, and several flannel baby blankets (another project I've got in mind) for $29! I was so excited about finding these deals! And these are all good quality thick clothing that will be great for field work this fall. I'm set for the winter.

I spent some time this morning organizing the calendar for the week and planning my errands as efficiently as possible. I need to pick up more memory for the computer (hey, if I can run a chainsaw surely I can insert a memory stick) and I would like to do that Tuesday I think to coincide with the Target (I boycott WM as much as possible) and Dillons shopping and the coupon pickup. I need to give Jenn a call and see if that's too short of notice to pop in.

I saw this morning that Peggy at Hidden Haven has put up several auctions for our family. I'm still amazed at this and so very grateful. Thank you to everyone who donates and bids and especially to Peggy. Thank you all so much!

I've been trying to create a post for two days now but blogger has been acting up on me.

I started the west pasture the other day and have made good progress so far. The trees and grass have grown up through the fenceline so I've got to mow and nice working strip around the five acre fenceline, use the trimmer to get under the fence and through to the other side, then go back and begin removing trees. Ed's going to take me out this afternoon and show me the easiest way to get the trees down. Naturally, all the ones growing needing removed are hedge - a solid thorn thicket and tough wood to cut. Oh well, I look at this as a workout and saving the cost of a gym membership. :) At least I'm comfortable starting and operating the chainsaw. Now I just have to learn how to cut the tree down. All the limbs will be tossed in the goat pen and they'll have a nice treat. I learned that last week when I cut the fence out of the treeline next to the new garden space. They loved the limbs!

Moo did not cooperate this week at the vet and didn't come in to heat/season (whatever it is for a cow) this week so he kept her for another week. Is it strange that I miss my cow? I'm just used to seeing her in the front pasture and hearing her moo out a welcome to me whenever I come in the drive. It's odd not having her here.

I made the best dinner yesterday and can't believe how easy it was. I took a smoked sausage, peeled potatoes, onions, and green beans, tossed them in the crockpot and cooked them all day. It was absolutely delicious! We had a fresh salad and homemade bread with it. :)

Sending thanks to Peggy at Hidden Haven Homestead and her friends. I'm humbled and thankful beyond words. The kindess of people amazes me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I just won the coolest mom award! I mixed up a batch of pantry chocolate shakes, filled two frozen mugs, stuck them in a small cooler, hooked up the trailer to the mower, and met the bus at the end of the driveway. The boys got off the bus and I took them for a leisurely ride through the back pasture while they cooled off with their mugs then dropped them at the door. I love doing stuff like that for them. :)

Ed's had two shots so far of the Enbril and will get his third tonight. Reaction is mixed -- not good and not bad. He was having another outbreak come on and the Enbril appears to have stopped it from getting worse, but it's not going away either. The documentation says it can take up to three weeks to begin working. Let's hope it's not quite that long before we start seeing results.

I forgot to take the camera with me, but Moo did in fact hop right up into the trailer. Well, she did some thorough sniffing, mooing, and stopping on the ground while I was in the trailer with her breakfast. She clearly wanted me to get out and bring it to her. I bent down to pick up a handful for her to get a closer view, and naturally that's the exact moment she chose to hope in with one big thud. So I'm bending over and then... WHAM! There's a 600 lb. cow about 2" from running me over. I hopped out pretty dang quick.

We have the new stall in the barn and set up a wonderful feeding system for the goats. They each have their own bucket tied to the fence and Ed built a great trough that perfectly holds a bale of hay. The first day we opened the new stall they were all on good behavior and filed in to enjoy the new setup. The next morning when I went out every bucket had been pulled off the fence and the two nanny boer goats were laying in the trough lazily eating and allowing no one else a share. Not only are they ungrateful, they appear to be quite spoiled.

I spent yesterday cutting a 50 year old fence out of a treeline that's in the way of my new garden site. After spending about five hours cutting the fence (the trees had literally grown up *through* the fence) on one side of the tree and then the other, I finally finished it. I was able to get all of it out except the top heavy wire and then the barbed wire running across the top length. I was so excited to show Ed when he got home from work. His only question was why did I have the trouble getting the top wire off and I explained that the tin snips I was using were starting to hurt my hand and I was simply out of strength. So he went and got me the wire cutters. Hrmph! Note to self: learn what tools do what job. I finished pulling the wires out this morning and the wire cutters worked a whole lot better that the tin snips.

I had some energy yesterday since I didn't work last night and wanted to see if I could get the chainsaw running since I've conquered the huge weed eater. I got the thing started but didn't make much headway on the dead trees in the line that need to come out. I'm going to have to do that first thing in a cool morning because that is going to be some major work. After mowing, moving a load of rocks from the pasture north of the barn, and then raking out the old stall, I was already beat. But I'll figure it out. I want to spend the cool fall days thinning out the trees around here and getting the firewood ready. Even these cool mornings have made me keenly aware that winter's coming and we're not ready. The chicken coopy needs patched, wood needs cut, garden needs built, and the ever-present fence for the east pasture needs run. I need to learn how to set the electric wire around the two sides that are already there and that would probably save Ed a lot of time when he gets ready. He'll be setting about 40 posts and each one will take about an hour or two by hand without a tractor - that's a lot of time.

I joined TheGroceryGame.com last week and tried it this week. At first I was impressed, but now.... not so much. The "list" supplies you with all the current sales at your local participating grocery store and it's also supposed to include those unadvertised sales as well. It tracks available coupons and then figures out if the sale is "rock bottom" enough to purchase and stock up. The problem is the list didn't match my store. At all. I'm not sure that the list is supplying me with information that I couldn't get on my own, but I'll give it the four weeks since it was just $1.00. I did stock up on coupons and printed tons of them from Target.com then hit my local SuperTarget where I saved $79.00 with them - getting Ragu for $.17/jar and over 25 Goldfish bags for free. Sweet!

I'm mentally preparing the garden bed and envisioning the planting come spring. The bed will be over the old brick patio area that still have a fence around two sides. The other two sides will be fenced in with livestock fencing just to keep the dogs and chickens out. It's 19' x 18' and will make a very nice plot. Ed and I only turned dirt one time in our two years of gardening and that was the worst garden we ever had. We prefer to build up the bed with fresh custom-mixed soil and use the raised bed method. So by the time I get my mixture in the area it will be about 8" deep with the finest of soils. I'll add the ash pit from where we've burned off our fallen limbs that are too small for the stove, the rye I'll plant for the winter cover, the rotted straw and manure from the cow pen, and the shavings from the chicken coop. It will be fantastic!

Random pics of the farm.....



This is a crooked cottonwood on the fenceline between the house and pasture. Last year those branches up top sprouted, but they didn't come back this year. Not sure if they ever will again. That metal building is an old ice cream truck and is shaped really odd inside. It was the cathouse, but they moved into the barn when Jack started taking their food bowls out into the yard. The chicks play in there now.




We need rain! This pond was overflowing the first year we were here but dried up this spring. Oh, there's the outdoor Tonka truck.




This is the east pasture looking out to the road and towards our nearest neighbor. The milo is looking pretty good.




This is the north side of the house that I planted yesterday. You can't really tell there's 5 inches of dressing put in there but there is. This is where I removed all the trailers full of rocks. They were just piled out here willy-nilly.




This is the stone path I kind of discovered as I removed all the other rock. I wasn't going to do anything else but then decided to do this little area next to the "original porch" and that motivated me to continue on around. I figure I'll pick up two or three plants every week and keep adding.




This is the little step that..........



....... this cow is just going to hop right up. Uh huh. We'll see how that goes.

On Making An Ass Of Oneself

I'm not sure oneself is a word, but too bad. The daily adventures of Loopy will amaze and astound you, or at the very least, bore you to tears.

It began innocently enough. Being the super-organized Martha-in-Training Goddess I called the vet in Hillsboro to remind him that Moo will have her season next week and I was planning to head over and borrow his trailer this afternoon. Ed will be taking the little gal over there tomorrow morning. As I'm heading to town I notice that the soybeans in this field have pretty little flowers on the tops. Wow! I've never seen that before so I pull over to get a closer look at this amazing new hybrid. And then I notice it. They were sunflowers. Well they were short and bushy and didn't look like the sunflowers you normally see! It was an easy mistake. I looked around to make sure no one had seen me and continued into town.

We ran in to the health food store and I noticed a new little shop had opened next door called The Breadery. As I was checking out with my package of yeast and bulk oats I mentioned that I was going to go next door and see what kinds of breads were available. Visions of artisan sourdoughs were dancing in my head. I thought the young man looked at me strangely, but I get that sometimes so I ignored it. I wandered in and tried to keep my mouth from watering. I looked around and saw no bread. None! Worse, there were bins and bins and shelves and shelves of ........ beads. I could feel the words bubbling up and nearly exploding from my mouth, "Where's the bread?" But I kept them in. I didn't do it. As I left I noticed the sign was The Beadery. Thankfully, only the young man at the counter witnessed it firsthand.

I finish at the bank and head over to the vet. While I'm giving him my information and questioning him thoroughly about the process and treatment of Moo, my cell phone rings. When I answered I realized it was a telemarketer and I said the first thing that popped in my head, "I'm sorry, I really can't take your call right now because I'm in the middle of choosing sperm for my cow." Well now really, think about it. How many times am I going to be able to use a line like that? If anyone uses it, I expect a residual fee - I could have retired from the income off of "Apples and swingsets" kwim?

The amazing thing is that the vet looked shocked and then cracked up, but the woman on the phone didn't miss a beat and kept asking me if I wanted this insurance protection on my credit card purchases. I implore her, "Do you not understand the importance of choosing the right sperm? I'm sorry but it takes all of my focus and I'm hanging up now." Really. The nerve. The vet said I made a wise choice and I delicately asked about the procedure. I wondered if I was being too forward but when a man's going to impregnate your cow, really, what are the social graces and the extent of the relationship? Semi-formal? Slightly intimate? I don't know and without Martha there to guide me, I was totally winging it. Hopefully I handled it with dignity and charm and all the qualities of a future cow-grandma or stout farmwife, whichever way one sees it. I didn't ask (and I'm sure you're wondering as well - or not) just how are we going to know if this, ummm, takes? If you think I'm taking a little tiny stick out there and trying to convince her to pee on it in a few weeks you are SADLY mistaken! Uh uh. No way. I'm sure there's a way but I managed to hold my tongue and not ask that question. I was trying to maintain, you know, the whole dignity thing.

I mosied out to the field with him to pick up the trailer and realized that a recent rain had flooded it. I graciously offered to let him back the van in, but he confidently said, "Oh hell no, you can handle it!" Obviously the man has never seen me drive. The only accidents I've ever had involved one moving vehicle and one parked vehicle. I was moving, in case you didn't get that. So I floated into the field and began backing over ruts the size of cinder blocks as he's waving me in. "I'm gonna need to back up about one and a half inches hon." Uh, sure. "No go forward about a half inch." Right. Not a problem at all. I did a lot of turning the wheel and gently tapping the pedal - apparently I nailed it dead on. He waved me off and down the road I went. I used hand signals because the trailer lights male/female things were incompatible. I came down the highway to turn in to my little town (we drive through town to get to our road) and there was one-lane construction with one of those lead vehicles you have to follow. The lady that stopped me with her bright yellow airplane-lander thingy tapped on the window and let me know, "When he comes back now, you need to not drive on that fresh tar we just laid." Right. Cause that's just what I planned on doing. Not! Even I could figure that out!

I finally arrived home and pulled the trailer over to Moo's pen. She ran through the field to meet me, probably hoping I had a handsome bull in the back of the trailer. I got out to have a heart to heart discussion with her. Well, really now, I'm sending her off to get pregnant tomorrow, shouldn't she be prepared? Anyway, as I'm describing future events I notice, there's no ramp. This trailer is about a foot and a half off the ground with a sliding door, not a ramp door. When I mentioned this to Ed he just said that Moo will step right up there. Right. I think I'll be taking pictures of this "simple process" tomorrow.

To switch gears, Ed's showing no signs of a reaction at the injection site and noticed a decrease in itching from the amount of break-out that had come up earlier in the week. When he has a flare-up with comes on quickly and covers his body in about 3-4 days so for it to be about the same strength and level it's been all week, I think is a good sign. He's due for another dose on Sunday afternoon. Hopefully by next week we'll have an idea if it's working.

Thank you Peggy and her friends that have come over and commented below. Such kind words from strangers is so wonderful and appreciated!

Ever stuck your husband with a needle? I did it last night and I was so nervous my hands shook.

Ed's been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and, if left unchecked, it will kill him within the next 18-24 months. We found this out late last week. No, check that. Ed found out late last week but he finally told me Monday or Tuesday evening. It's not that I didn't *know* it, I did, in the back of my mind. He's been deteriorating since January (we thought he got into the poison ivy near the cow barn) and logically I knew that he was only going to get worse and eventually be crippled. His skin (every single inch of it) was covered with large welt-ish weeping scales/sores and he was literally swollen to twice his size. He couldn't wear socks, damn near couldn't get his shoes on, his wedding ring was cutting his skin, and his shirts were stretched tight. His back was hurting, knees and hips were aching so badly he couldn't lay down. And he was starting to have trouble breathing. I mean, really having trouble. Then finally, his skin starting falling off in chunks. I vacuumed the living room every morning because he was sleeping on the living room floor.

He was diagnosed with rhuematoid arthritis about 15 years ago and then psoriasis about 13 years ago. Both were treated independently of one another. Throw in knee surgeries, back issues, and foot problems, and he's been in significant pain 90% of the time during our span of marriage. He made an appointment with yet another dermatologist and went to work (this was several weeks ago) but one look from his boss during her visit and she sent him home telling him she couldn't bear to watch him try to work on cars while collapsing in chairs and hobbling around dragging the worst foot. She said it looked like shingles. He called me on the way home freaking out because his appointment wasn't for another week - he has no sick leave. I called the local family practice office and looked at pictures of shingles on the 'net. It did look similar to that. The dr. worked him in and told him he had psoriatic arthritis - it's a different form that must be treated specifically. The type of psoriasis he has causes this arthritic reaction and you cannot treat for *just* psoriasis or *just* arthritis, it has to be treated properly - for the disease, not for the two independently. Which is what he's done for over a decade. This type of arthritis attacks the bones, not joints (although they do swell and become painful), and makes the bone "fluffy". It also constricts breathing, that's why he couldn't breathe. His blood pressure is now sky-high and won't come down despite trying several different meds.

She told him this was the worst case she'd ever seen, drew blood to confirm it, and gave him a "super shot" of steroids to get it uncle control pdq then told him to go to the specialist in town who can treat it. That shot was a miracle! Within two days you could see the bones of his ankle again and by the end of the week he could bend over and touch his toes or sit cross-legged on the floor. I've NEVER seen him do either of those things! He went the following week to the specialist and he confirmed that he does have the disease. He explained that long-term steroid use is not advisable and he recommended Enbril, a twice a week injection taken at home. Just one catch - it's $2400.00 each month for 8 shots. Yes, you read that right..... twenty-four hundred dollars every four weeks. Naturally, most insurance companies deny it. My wonderful Wal-Mart insurance approved it because there's no way we could actually *get* it... our deductible at 20% would be nearly $500 each month. So they approved *that* but denied the $250 cream - I'm sure because we'd be able to actually get that one.

But Wal-Mart has yet to fully understand the determination of 'ole Loopy. You'd think they would have learned by now.

I contacted the Pharmacare office and they have a program for people needing access to Enbril who are advanced enough that the disease will kill them if they don't get the opportunity to get it under control. There are 68 people in the country they have allowed to be on this program and, get this, they will eat all but $75 of our deductible and they'll do this for two years - while Wal-Mart picks up nearly $2,000.00 each month. Hopefully that will be enough time to get it under control and perhaps have some other options. They are hoping that will buy him another 10-15 years.

I can't believe I just typed that. We are hoping to prolong my husband's life for 10-15 years. It is devastating to read that and accept it. Yes, I'm crying.

We have talked at length this week and will continue to make plans. How do you plan for this? When do we tell the boys? He's worried about getting the farm in working condition with an income from the animals and boarding so that I can have something to either continue or sell. Naturally, we are ineligible to purchase more life insurance, or it will be priced out of our hands from this point forward. I can feel the urgency in him as he talks of what needs to be done yet this year - the fences he needs to put up, the shelter in the back pasture, the stalls in the barn, the additional pens to separate animals as needed. And then he really laid it on me. "I won't stay around and live like I have the past six months." I know what he means and I understand it. I wouldn't want him to. The pain he's been in the past six months has left him contemplating the unthinkable on many occasions. I do understand choice and I respect that. He'll stay as long as there's hope and as long as it's under control. Once the doctor's tell him it's beyond the point of reversing or managing.... well. And then even more heartwrenching, "You'll still be young enough, you'll find someone else." My heart lurched and jumped in my throat. It's still there. Stuck.

It's like a hallway you walk down and there are doors that are locked and you can't open, doors that open freely, and ones you just know you shouldn't open. I don't want to open the door to really *know* all of this. I don't want to. I've spent the week immersing myself in project after project and exhausting myself physically so that I don't have time to think about it. I can't. I can't open the door. If I open it, I'll break.

I don't know what we'll do. I'm not sure what to do anyway. He seems determined to continue with our farm plans because anything we do here increases the value dollar wise as well as our quality of life. It will keep us busy. And it's always been his desire, to have a working farm. We just need to speed up the process. At the point we're at, all the upcoming major projects will require a tractor so I'm going to re-figure our budget and call the bank to see about a loan. We had not wanted to take on any further debt but our rate of saving and plan was to have a tractor in the next few years and that's too long.

Pharmacare agreed to send an emergency shipment off the normal delivery route and we ordered it Monday. It came last night after the dr. office had closed so I called the 800 number to find out how to inject him. I'd done insulin shots before for a friend but that was years ago and I was holding $400 in my hand so I didn't want to make any mistakes kwim? She talked me through it, there are several things to remember about choosing sites and then.... we did it. I was shaking from nervousness but I did it. I think next time will be easier. We're watching him for reactions and will take note of anything. We're also watching to see if it appears to start helping him. See, that's the rub. It only works in 50% of the patients who've taken it. Another door I can't open.

I bought 40 bags of topsoil, compost, and peat this morning and two flats of plants. A new shade garden has been planted. Another two trailers full of rocks have joined the rock pit. The field north of the barn has been mowed, trimmed, and picked up. I've made a path out to the West pastures to start working out there next week. Tomorrow I'll take calls all day and then again over the weekend, working at Wal-Mart during the evening. Next week, when the boys are at school, I'll need to make soap and come up with other projects. I just can't open the door. I can't let the boys or anyone see what will happen to me if I do. I can't lose him. I can't. I lived for him and he has to live for me.

Just had to come back and post some pics of the hens and chicks. The babies have gotten brave enough to fly up and over two straw bales so we went ahead and let them out of their pen and the coop. We put Jack (the dog) in the house to give them a day or so of getting used to free ranging. You can see them coming to the back door covered with chicken wire to get a look at me.

Then a couple of them were brave enough to venture out of the coop.




I took lots more and then snapped some of the hens resting under a tree while the rooster guarded them but I need to get dinner started and get ready for work. I'll post those tomorrow on the gallery page of the site.

I'm just NEVER happy!

OK, over 100' for weeks on end and we haven't had rain since before I had kids. We *need* rain here. So it rained last night. It wasn't really a rain, it was a torential (yes, I'm quite sure that's spelled wrong and I don't even care) downpour that was so thick you couldn't see the barn and it preceded a day of mid-80' temps. You'd think I'd be happy. You'd think I'd be working on the front of the house project right now wouldn't you? You'd think I'd have moved a veritible (probably another misspelled word) mountain of rock and totally cleaned out the goat pen. Well I haven't. Why? IT'S MUDDY!!!!!! I feel like Rosanne Rosanna Danna you know, "If it's not one thing it's another." I did open the house up in order to allow the cool breeze to waft through. Naturally it brings wet, heavy humidity with it. Argh!

I kept stretching my neck to see if the UPS man is pulling up the road bringing my oils for soapmaking. I have everything laid out and ready to go except the scent. I can't decide. I will only get to make one or two batches a week so I must choose my scents carefully. (Actually it will be determined but the fullest bottle, but I'm trying to build suspense and make it seem like a huge decision. Work with me.) Not lucky enough. I have Tuesday and Wednesday off both jobs and I'm quite confident he will be here Thursday or Friday then. I'm working both jobs Friday so I'm betting he'll be here that day. That's my luck. Oh well, maybe I'll try to make it over the weekend.

Yesterday I taught Kenny to use the tree trimmer thingy and he proceeded to do all my work for me. Sometimes I am so smart! The little guy was thinking this was all so much fun going to the trees around the patio, then the side of the house, then the front of the house, and so on and so on. While he cut off all the bush growth around the bottoms of the trees I picked up three full lawmower trailer loads of rock from around the front porch - and I barely made a dent! Good gravy there's alot of rocks out there! These were, I'm sure, intended to be a rock path or borders at some point but just never evolved and were instead just.. well, a pile of rocks around the front of the house. I worked on that until my back gave out and arms were shaking then Kenny and I relaxed in the shade for a while sipping ice water and admiring our work. He was so good and helped so much! He even helped me unload the branches on the burn pile and the rocks into the rock pit. I think he finally realized it was work when we got inside and for the first time in weeks he napped. Awwwww.

I grabbed paper and pen to head outside again and get a plan together. I think over the next week I can get all the rock moved, the winter insulation moved (read, straw bales) since it's laying willy nilly out there, and get the area cleaned up for fall planting. While this area isn't 100% it's mostly shaded all day and I think I'd like to get some ground cover in there like ivy or something. Grass just doesn't grow out here because we don't water so over-seeding will be done with bermuda, but I think this area is too shady for grass. I also figured out where to plant the 10 or 12 willows we've got started in buckets. There's an area that doesn't get shade in the morning on the east side of the house and they'll be perfect there. I've decided we need shrubs all around the house so I'll be getting that ground ready for the fall as well. I'd like to go with something green like boxwoods but I think they're pretty slow growers. I'll keep checking on this.

Naturally, all this information is in the handy dandy new farm binder. It's a pink and green design with matching tabs. Ahhhhh, life is good. :)

Wow!

Ed and I just went over the bills vs. income and found several things which we weren't even counting related to me working full time. Holy crap, I'm actually making $100 MORE every two weeks by picking up some commits at the telephone center (which I do at home in my pj's LOL). And that's just for starters! I've only scheduled myself for roughly four hours a day on the weekends up to this point but this morning I picked up another hour and a half and made $15. If I do this just twice a week I will make $150 each paycheck more than when I was full time at Wal-Mart. Good gravy, and to think what I've been through the past year for that company and sacrificed. It almost makes me want to cry. Cry all the way to the bank that is! :)

I spent the past couple of days working on the library which has now become my soapmaking supply room. Everything is organized, inventoried, and ready for action. I also created my list of things I need to order to begin soaping and I gotta say.... I'm so ready! I haven't made a batch in sooooo long it will be so much fun. As soon as I get several batches cured I'll be able to list them on the site for sale. I also need to go through some things around here to get onto eBay - although I haven't done that in so longer either that I think I've probably forgotten how, especially when I hear people talk about the continual changes over there.

All in all, I think I'm adjusting nicely to being home again. I still haven't organized the freezer and it's driving me crazy so I'll probably get to it in the next week or so. I went into Wichita yesterday, first time since I left the Wichita store I was in. I forgot Jenn's number because I had some extra time and thought about stopping by, but I didn't want to show up unannounced. Although, knowing Jenn, unless she was involved in something she probably wouldn't have minded. :) I plan to go in every two weeks so I'll remember to set that up for next time.

I also realized this morning that I hadn't enrolled the boys in school. Yes, I know, kind of an important thing eh? I drove by the high school and wondered why all the parents were going in and then it suddenly hit me.... DUH! It's enrollment day! Oh well, got that done.

Today is going to be 103' and it already feels it! OMG you could lose children in the cracks in the ground around here. Luckily we have no neighbors to impress and no fescue growing because I wouldn't want to use water right now, even our well water. Save every bit of electricity for running the a/c! I put a sticky chicken in the crockpot and have a mess of beans cooking along side it for everyone to eat while I'm at work this evening.

Enough playing, I've got a freezer calling me!

What a wonderful weekend!

We went to Marion Lake on Saturday to take the boat out and meet and friend with her daughter. It was a perfect day for boating, if just a tad windy for my taste. The boys are over their fear of swimming in the middle of the lake so several times we just turned the boat off to drift and all jumped in. Darren practiced his diving, well really it's still in the knee first stage but getting better! We tubed for just a little bit and only sat on shore long enough to make some sandwiches. It was just a perfect lazy Saturday.

Ed did manage to get another panel of the large double stall in the barn set. The dirt is so dry and rock-hard that he actually broke a post hole digger! He kept adding water to the hole and letting it soak in, finally getting it soft enough to dig down. I didn't want him out there too much as it was 102'for most of the afternoons and that's really really hot inside of a barn!

I've been trying to get up earlier in order to appreciate doing chores in the 70' weather rather than the 90's as it is around 10:00. I've gotten my duties down as efficiently as possible and can be completely finished within an hour. Naturally, if I didn't spend as much time talking and playing with the animals if would take even less time, but what fun would that be? How often can one enjoy conversing with a crazy cow in the middle of a pasture? Sometimes, she's the best listener around. And I can't forget feeding the goats hedge leaves. They just worship me when I head out the to tree and will knock down any child with feet not firmly planted on the ground as they run out to greet me.

I'm feeling a little girlie today and will either unpack soap-making supplies or paint my nails. It's a toss-up.

Poor Carmel

Here's our first experience with a sick animal (other than the chicken with the crossover beak, but then she's not really sick per se), poor carmel has pink eye. :( She's the cutest little thing and I feel so bad for her - while worried about the rest of the herd at the same time. I got some salve for her eye, an antibiotic for the water supply to treat the whole herd and then I wormed them all this morning. Nothing like catching goats that don't want to be caught in 100' weather to make you appreciate some air conditioning! We'll treat her twice a day and hopefully it will clear up. Other than that, they seem to be doing really well and are living up to the reputation of goats as testing every inch of fence. Every. Freaking. Day. They rub against the fence pretending to be scratching themselves but I know, I just know they are doing this just to test the darn thing. In breaking news, Fifteen is pregnant! She is a beautiful white and brown boer goat and I haven't a clue how far along she is. All I know is that aint just a little blat because her tummy is definitely taking on the pointed oval shape of a mama. Looks like Ed has his motivation to get the stalls built in the next month or so which will allow us to separate her alone as she comes due.

I've been making a mud pit for Moo each morning and she seems pretty thankful. In the early afternoon she'll start laying in the mud, making sure to coat both her sides and her legs with it. I think we missed her season this time so I will check the calendar again because it will be another three weeks before we can take her to the vet.

I ran all the weekly errands this morning and have yet to pay the bills for week. Somehow I keep finding excuses to put it off. Bad me. Making salsa or a nice dinner just sounds so much better. :P And then I haven't yet practiced adding soap to the cart on the site page. Hmmmm, I may get out of paying bills today after all.