February, in like a lion....

.........out like a lamb. At least that's the old saying any way. I just hope it ends that way. I hate to fly and travel when the weather is bad but will if I have too. February started out for us with cold, wind, and now snow. Not just flurries. We actually had a lil snow on the ground this morning. But as the day wore on the snow melted and it seemed to warm up during the day. Not hot mind you but warmer than it was. We are supposed to get snow all weekend. We shall see how much we get. Kinda like sex, never know how much ya gonna get or how long it will last.

We got our new fan assembly that we ordered for the furnace. That was fast too. I ordered it on Wednesday and it came in yesterday. I was impressed. If we need anything else electrical I will for sure order from the same place. This is the place we ordered from. The website was kinda messed up when I placed the order and I could not get it to take my cc info. I was gonna call later in the day and make sure they didn't bill and ship me for 3 blower assemblies but before I could do that THEY called me to assure me they would only send 1 and I would only be billed for 1. That is good customer service and I guess I am a lil old fashioned in the fact that I still appreciate good customer service and human contact. They have replace parts for things mobile home related and sometimes parts can be hard to find for those.

We have not done anything here today other than eat, sleep and watch TV and surf the Internet. Talk about lazy. I have pondered my quilt today and trying to figure out how I can cut the fabric straight and keep it all even without having to buy one of those neat cutting mats and rotary cutter. I finally decided if I want to do it right I may as well suck it up and purchase one. I will need it later to finish the full size quilt from the top my aunt Connie made. So now I am cutting strips from old jeans that Rodger had to make some simple braided rugs to toss outside near the doors to catch some of the crap to keep it out of the house. I could just go buy some cheap rugs and save a ton of time and energy but ya know, I actually enjoy making things to "make do". Not only that I can actually hose the homemade ones off and let em dry and toss em back down. Easy and I am sure they will last much longer than the store bought ones. I have had those in the past and they soon fall apart. When they get too bad to wash and re-use I can toss em and make more. Easy and fast. I will cut the fabric in strips and then twist and braid it, sew the strips together with light weight fishing line and once I get the size I need stop and put em to use. Now if I was going to use them inside and wanted them to look nice I would fold the strips in half kinda like bias tape and sew them down, braid and then sew the braids. But for outside serviceable rugs that will not be necessary. OK I will go back to my strip cutting and let ya know what happens. Maybe I take some pictures along the way.

Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Quilting and sewing

For a hillbilly that is one thing I have not done, make a quilt from start to finish. But some online friends are getting out their sewing stuff so am thinking that might motivate me to work on Liam's baby quilt. As far as needing quilts for use, I don't NEED more per se. I have lots of quilts, some new, some old and some even older. I thought I would share some pics of those with you all.

 

This is the quilt squares that my grandmother embroidered and the fabric that I am using to make the baby quilt for Liam. IF I ever get started on it. 

 

The quilt above was made and finished by my mom and her sister Connie, that is now deceased. Some too pretty to just store away.

 

This quilt is another one that mom and Aunt Connie made when Connie was sick and mom stayed with her.

 

This is a quilt top that Aunt Connie made given to me a few months ago by Aunt Ann. After I get the baby quilt finished I am going to try to finish this quilt. Maybe by then I will have enough knowledge to do it. 

 This is an applique quilt that mom made before dad passed away. She made quilts for a couple years when dad was not doing well and didn't get out much.

This is Rob's baby quilt that Rodgers mom made for him when he was born. I am taking it to them when Liam is born so he can use his daddy's quilt too.

 

 This is some pillow case sets that my maternal grandmother made. I am going to use them. I think these kinds of nice things last just as long being used as they do being stored. I gave Jason and Mary Kay a set to have and will give Rob and Amoy a set too. Just so they can have something made my a great grandmother.

This is an antique quilt that I have, not sure who made this one but it is in excellent shape.

This is a silhouette of Rob that mom used as a pattern to make a quilt for him. Pretty neat eh?

 

This is a neat farm quilt with the tractor and corn applique. Mom also did this one. This is in the master bedroom and the headboard that you see is one that Rodger built several years ago. He does some really nice wood work when he is in the mood. He has to get in the mood soon to build a toy box for a lil boy. 

Not much else happening here on the farm, so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Its cold, I dont like it, I stay in here

Our weather has went from nice spring like temps to severe thunderstorms to lots of rain to below freezing and snow now this evening. We are now supposed to get up to 2 inches of snow tonight. And highs tomorrow in the 20's. The old saying is "if you don't like Kentucky weather hang around a day or so and it will change". I think this is true. It is tough in this kind of weather to keep water out for all the critters. The chickens especially drink far more than I could imagine. Not to mention what Luna and the cats consume. Even in this cold weather the hens seem to be laying better. I have more young pullets that are starting to lay now as well. The older hens are laying about every other day as best I can tell from the egg colors I get. I still need to thin the flock out a bit. I don't have a need for 20 laying hens on the place. We use eggs but not THAT many. I did go out long enough to let the chickens out for the afternoon and get things from the cellar for supper. If we get snow over night I plan to stay in here all day tomorrow and not get out at all. Might be a good day to sew. Or not. If its cold outdoors it just seems to drain my energy. All I want to do is curl up on the couch with a magazine or read books on my Kindle for PC. On the farm that has always been what winter is about. It was a time to rest and plan for the following season of work. Kinda nice, almost like a mental vacation. It also gives me time to explore websites on the computer and learn new things. Some good, some not so much. Sometimes you learn stuff you really may be better off not knowing. Like some studies now hint that the sudden surge of children with ADHD and hyperactivity may be connected to the mercury used as a preservative in childhood vaccines. One in particular is the injection given to infants at birth. It is a Hepatitis shot that according to some doctors (including one doc at UK college of medicine) says that the single injection contains the amount of mercury allowed for a 275 lb adult and it is given to an infant. Mercury kills neurons so directly effects nerves. No wonder so many children are hyper. See I should not have read or known about that. Well yes I do need to be aware of that fact as I will have a new grand baby this year. Anyway there are tons of info on all subjects out there to read about and learn. So I google and read and learn things pertinent to my life here on the farm. I don't always remember everything I read but its in my head somewhere. I just cant recall all of it at one time.

I am kinda looking forward to spring and flowers blooming, being able to work in the yard, clean my herb bed up, witness the new growth and Gods promise of another season. To plant a garden is to have hope in tomorrow.

Not much else happening here on the farm, so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Where the hell have I been?

That is a good question. I have links here to many blogs that I love to read and keep up with. Duh! thas why they are here. But I have fallen short on reading and keeping up with these wonderful folks. I noticed a snippet of one of my faves that they have bought a new house. How wonderful for them. I have never met them in person but from her writing you can just tell they are good honest hard working folks. ALL the blogs I follow see to be the same kind of people. How did I get so far behind reading their writings and keeping up with them? IDONTKNOW!! And thas my best answer. I feel like I have been in a fog for the past couple months. I guess maybe I got weighed down with all the family sickness and tragedies that started a few months ago. From my sweet aunt being diagnosed with cancer , losing a brother in law and that still seems so unreal, to losing a cousin by marriage to my uncle not doing well, and another cousin finding he has a tumor. Yeah I guess all this took a tole on me and my body and mind to an extent. Especially with fibro a body does not tolerate stress well. It will send you into a deep depression and fibro fog. But I am aware that this is what I am dealing with and just cope as best I can till it passes. And it will pass. I think at this point I am on the uphill swing. You know you are in a hole when you really don't want to interact with other human beings and lose your train of thought in the middle of a conversation. That is kinda em- bare -assing to say the least so you tend to avoid situations that cause you to bare your ass. And to think I used to blame this stuff on my pain meds till I learned more about fibromyalga. If you think I am crazy just google fibro and read the symptoms and I have all of them. Yep thas why I am up and nearly 4 in the morning doing a blog post, insomnia. Now when the insomnia passes I will sleep too much. Its a vicious cycle. But I am OK. Right?

Along with all the bad stuff has been some wonderful stuff too. I am really looking forward to flying to Las Vegas next month to Rob and Amoy's wedding. Yep they are finally getting married. Amoy sent me the link to the local newspaper where they applied for their marriage license. If you would like, you can see it HERE.Gosh this makes it so real that my lil boy is really getting married. Even tho they have been together for ever seems like and we claimed her as a daughter in law all along. But I am looking forward to having a fun few days celebrating the marriage with them in Vegas.

Meanwhile back at the farm, life goes on. Well not much life out there really. Too muddy to get in any of the beds. Oh gosh and the weather today was just like spring. It was 68 here today and by Thursday it is pose to be back down in the 30's for a high during the day. AND the damn furnace fan has died totally. Well don't ya jus know it will get colder than a well diggers azz in Utah. The fan was making a loud rubbing noise last week and then the noise went away. I was afraid to say anything to Rodger but he woke me from my nap this evening looking for the parts list again that HE had left in the floor in the utility floor from the last repair. So I guess now we will need to order a fan motor for the dang thing. I vote we order the whole fan assembly for just $65 more. I guess I will see tomorrow when he orders it online. But everything else here on the farm is OK. At least from where I sit. Even with all the added expense we didn't expect I am so thankful Rodger still has a job to pay the bills. Jason is still working and is happy in a relationship now. Not to mention I got a lil granddaughter in the deal. Love that youngin to pieces. We are blessed to still have a roof over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our backs and each other. I shouldn't complain about anything. If we have a house we are better off than most, and if we have food we are better off than most, if we can pay our bills and still have a job to do so, we are far better of than most. So I guess really God has spoiled us with allowing us all these creature comforts that many don't have. And we have the nerve to allow ourselves (me) to get down in the dumps when we have so much more than many others. Our health is a blessing that matters most cause without that the other stuff matters not.

Over the weekend Rodger and I went out of town to let me go "shopping". If you know me at all, you can guess how long that took. It took 2 stores, I am done , we are goin home now. I had my gift card for TJ Maxx that I wanted to find something to take to Vegas to wear. Guess I just wanted to dress up a bit. Anywho I found 2 sweaters that I liked and found a more comfortable pair of shoes to wear with that "dress" to the wedding. I was happy. And we ran into Tammy, Tara and Zoe at the Maxx too and got to chat and hang out with them for a few minutes. They went to eat and we went on to Wally world to get dog food and a few other things, crap cant remember what else we got. But then it was on to the house. Good grief that short trip wore me out. Imagine me flying all day to get to Vegas. But we had a nice day and I got out of the house for a while. Oh yeah, I got fabric to work on Liam's lil quilt. Maybe, just maybe I will get motivated to get it done before he gets here. Hell it maybe be his high school graduation gift at this rate. I will work on it, I promise. Unless I keep finding stuff to keep me sidetracked. Yeah and I will take pictures too, IF  I can remember. Give me a break, at least I did get the curtains done for my new bedroom windows so its not like I am sleeping out in the open. I really felt like I was sleeping beside the sidewalk. And really I am. So now there is some privacy in there. We still don't have a door installed on the room yet but I had some curtains that I put on a tension rod and put up to give some more visual privacy in the bedroom. Even tho its only Rodger and me here at the house. Heaven forbid someone show up the day I sleep in and he invites them into the house and there I am just off the dining room, sleepin in my drawers on top of the cover. Most husbands would at least throw some covers on the half nude sleeping body, NO buddy not mine. And there I would be. So at least now no one can "look" straight in the room. To look now they have to move the curtain and if they do, they ain't welcome here. And I would sure tell em that. I can be an ass like that.

With all the nice warm weather today, sure as anything we will get some storms. We are getting the wind now and the forecast is for possible severe thunderstorms today. And of all things Luna had a big tick on her leg today. One of them that is all swollen up full of blood. She has scratched it off and broke it and had blood on her and when I got to checking her leg that is what it had been. Good grief its January. No tick in its right mind needs to be out right now. Or maybe they all need to come out so they can freeze to death Thursday when the temps drop down again.

The other day in a phone conversation with an online friend she was telling me that she had dehydrated some of her country eggs for later use as scrambled eggs while she had plenty. I would for sure trust her advice on doing this and I WILL do some like this soon. Thursday will be a good day while its colder and I can appreciate the added heat in the house. But she told me she whips them up like she is gonna make scrambled eggs to get a lil air in the mixture and then spreads it on the trays and puts in the dehydrator at 145 degrees till they are dry. Then she breaks them into chunks and puts em in the food processor of blender to make em finer. Then back on the trays till they are 100% dried. Then she pulverizes them and she stores hers in a jar in the freezer, which I what I would do also. But if you are fortunate enough to have tons of fresh eggs from your own hens then this might be an idea so you can at least have eggs to use when you don't have fresh ones. She said she uses about a tablespoon of powdered egg to 2 tablespoons of water and let them sit in the fridge all night and whip and use as you would fresh eggs. She said them make great scrambled eggs, and if she tells me that, I believe it. My hens work so hard to make good eggs for us and it almost seems unappreciative of me to not us them to the best of my ability. So I am gonna dry some in case the hens decide to take a break. So far they have laid great thru this winter. Even on the coldest days they still laid.

I enjoy doing this lil blog, for what lil its worth. I guess it does bring some enjoyment to some people around the world. But I got in a bad habit of not responding to the nice comments folks leave on the blog. I really do read them all and do appreciate you taking the time to post your comment, that takes your time and effort and for this I thank you from the bottom of my lil hillbilly heart. And I will do my best to get better and responding to the comments you. Sorry I guess this depression and brain fog has been worse than I was aware of till now.

Well it is almost time for Rodger to get up for work, so I thinks I will drink my coffee with him and maybe go on to bed a lil later this morning. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

I dont do nasty weather

Our weather turned to shit last evening and has been crappy all day today. We got rain, sleet and freezing rain all night and some today. Some parts of our state got snow. At this point I think I rather have the snow that this ice stuff we have. It was too slick to walk outside today. I went out earlier today to let the chickens out. That was a feat in itself. I opened the door on their building and they flew out the door and hit the ice coated slope in front of their building and slide down the lil bank. Really took them by surprise. Was funny to watch them stop dead in their tracks and then try to make it back to the building. Some not as smart as others stayed out in the icy stuff all day. I think they were glad to go back to roost this evening as they did go inside earlier than normal. You can say it is slick when the cats and Luna cant walk in the yard. I got a good laugh this afternoon. I went out on the front porch and as usual the lil possum that Rodger has named Weasel now got startled and took off. She was tryin to run down the sidewalk to go out back. Luna was running full speed from outback meeting Weasel head on. Weasel lost her traction and fell and Luna attempted to jump over her and lost her footing and fell on poor lil Weasel. You had to be there. The cat jumped up and hissed at Luna and Luna tucked her head and tail as if to say "sorry bout that" and made her way on the porch. The critters finally decided it was time to stay put somewhere and not try to walk or escape danger in this weather. I had to take it really easy as to not fall and kill me when I was out feeding the critters too. It would have been a good day to have ice cleats on ya shoes here.

I made chili for us for supper and made potato soup for Jason. Good hot food for a cold nasty day.He and Miranda ate with us after Jason came back from taking Mary Kay to work. It was far to slick for her to attempt to driver her lil car out of here. But he made it there and back and is going back to pick her up when she is off work tonight. Miranda stayed with us here at the house so she is not out in a vehicle on the road in case they should get stranded or God forbid have an accident. No matter how old my kids are I guess I still worry about them being out in bad weather. Guess once a mother always a mother.

I accidentally found a blog online that I love. The lady that does the blog I think is in Kentucky somewhere and she posts tons of great recipes on her blog. I guess what grabbed me was she cooks like we do. We don't dodge fat or count calories. We don't eat low fat or processed food. All and all we eat pretty healthy stuff. After all now they have decided that real butter is better for ya than margarine, and if you eat a really low fat diet most times you do miss out on the good fats that keep your cholesterol in balance. But THIS is her blog site. Have a look and enjoy her recipes. If you post a comment let her know how you found her blog. Anyway I made the brownie recipe she posted HERE. In the process of making the brownies I found out I needed to fill my sugar canister. So off to the summer kitchen I go, on the ice to get sugar. I made it there and back and got the brownies done. They turned out really good. And that is the first time I have made brownies from scratch in years, well since my kids were little. I guess just with Miranda being here today motivated me to think back on my boys being little and so I made the dessert. Funny how having young kids can bring back happy memories and for some reason it just gives me energy when she is here. She is a sweet child, very pleasant to be with. Now dang it I ain't goin out there no mo tonight or tomorrow IF it is still coated in ice.

For all my friends out there with animals of any kind outside. Whether it be just your dogs, cats, or what ever, make sure to keep some water out for them. I became well aware of that today when I let the chickens out this morning and their water container was frozen. I filled some old bowls for them and found Luna drinking one of them dry. So I refilled it again for her and the cats. This is something I have to do twice a day or more. Even your barn cats and working farm dogs cant find drinking water with things freezing up in this weather. So please be sure to give them a drink as they need water even if the weather is bitterly cold. OK just my gentle reminder for today. I guess I thought of this when I realized today that all the outdoor water sources the critters here usually use were all frozen.

Not much else happening on this frozen cold homestead, so till next time, blessings and warmth from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Ok enough of this winter stuff

I have had enough of winter now, its time for spring so I can get my hands in dirt. It is too cold to be outside very long for me. And we are supposed to get rain, snow and sleet the next couple days. Dang I never get bored. I can always find something to do with myself during the day and evenings. Not so for the past few days. I have been restless and got all kinds of ideas and no energy. I wanted to work on Liam's baby quilt but don't have the fabric purchased yet to set it up with. So can do much with that. Wanted to make more lotion and I have all the stuff to do it, but dang I don't know what happened to that idea. Somehow I wanted to do something else instead. I bought some pretty yarn a couple years ago to make a scarf to wear with sweaters. So late last night as I was not feeling good at all I decided to get started on the scarf. I knew it would not take long to do. Not really a scarf for warmth but more of an accessory. I finished it at about 3 am this morning. OK got that out of my system. I got lots of the same yarn left so now am thinkin I might make something for that lil baby. But then again if I do he will be old enough to not need it by time winter gets here again. (sigh) So what to make? Any ideas? I really need to make the cafe curtains to back the sheers in my bedroom. Even though we are in a private place, if someone visits and I am still in bed, the sidewalk is right beside my new bedroom window. Not good!! I guess I just get fidgety when I have been inside too long.

Yesterday at school Miranda said she needed to wear something with 100 on it or 100 of something on it. So when she was getting ready for school she told her momma and momma came up with an ingenious idea. How about 100 lil hair clips in your hair? Miranda agreed and I think it was so cute. Don't you agree?

This lil girl was ready to get home and get all those clips out. She said they made her itch. Love that cute lil face. And her momma..

There is something in here that does not belong. Can you spot the odd critter? Well its a no-brainer, its the Possum that wants to sleep with his foster family tonight as usual. The poor guy wants so bad to live in the chicken house that he just goes in at night  with the chickens and picks his bed and gets comfy. I would let him stay in there but he has a warm spot on the front porch with the momma cat and his lil niece, Possumette. I am worried if I leave him in here that he will want out in the middle of the night and try to climb out thru the top ventilation vents and get stuck and I cant hear him from in the house. So I have to break his lil heart every night and make him get out of his warm straw bed with family and got stay with his grammy and niece. It would upset me greatly if something happens to my Possum. We have never had Siamese cats here but he sure looks like one. He is the baby whose momma got killed and he got orphaned. He is a big fat boy gets his share of the food, as you can tell. 

Not much else happening here, so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Beautiful weather and piddling inside

Our weather this weekend has been beautiful for January weather. Warm and sunny, a little breeze blowing. Nice weather to be out. On Saturday Rodger went to the crib and shelled some corn for the chickens. They do love their corn in cooler weather. He had picked up a bale of straw to put in their building for bedding on Friday. He brought the corn up and put it in the feed barrel and told me he was going to clean out the chicken house before spreading the straw. I went out to help out a lil bit. Dang I had a lot of chickens in there that did a lot of poopin. We took out 3 tractor buckets full to the garden to compost. Thas a lot of poop. I spread the new straw in the building and in the nest boxes. I had one lil hen that sat on a nest in one of the nest boxes and watched us clean all around her. I got straw put in the rest of the boxes and picked her up and set her in a new clean box that I had just fixed. She seemed happy for a minute. Then she got mad and raised a big fuss. The big rooster came to check on her and when he went in the building she calmed down. I guess she was wanting his attention. None the less he alerted all the hens to come check out their new digs. And dig they did in the new straw. They seem to be happy campers for now. I do feel better with them having plenty of straw to keep warm in the cold weather that is coming our way the first part of the coming week. Most nights are supposed to be in the teens and low 20's. Highs in the day around 30. A bit nippy. Tonight when I went to close up the chickens Possum (the cat) was in the building with the chickens. He was sleeping good in the straw beside the big rooster. It is funny to see. Not a likely pair.
We didn't do much today other than eat and nap. Rodger did get some of our tax stuff ready to take to the lady that does our taxes. I tinkered with making shampoo and played with some melt and pour soap that I had won on this site. I love reading the blog on this site too. And when I make soap I use the lye calculator on here as well. If you comment on their blog post they put your name in a drawing on Friday for a goody pack. It can contain samples and partial used products that they have made practice batches with in their lab. So I won a huge chunk of melt and pour soap (white), and a mold, a baggie of rose buds, and calendula petals. I was tickled to death. So I got the soap out today and the mold and decided to make some of the soap and scent it with the lavender essential oil  and some coconut fragrance oil that I had. I think they turned out kinda neat. And they do smell heavenly.

My new fangled soap on an antique doily on an antique dish. I like the simple look of this. Well I guess I am just a simple country girl. By the way this is the same shape as the lotion bars that I made this past week too. They turned out wonderful. I love the moisturizing layer they leave on the skin.
While I was in the piddling mood today I made the shampoo that hopefully will help Rodger's dry hair. I was a little leery of this recipe when it said to mix oil into water and soap mixture. But it did emulsify just fine and stayed emulsified. So when he showered this evening he used the shampoo and so far so good. So here is the simple recipe for shampoo. I know ya have to buy some of the products but you can make your own castile bars and use those I am sure. But this time I bought and used the liquid castile soap.

Shampoo for long dry hair

1/4 cup distilled water
1/4 cup Dr Bonner's castile liquid soap
2 Tablespoons of sweet almond oil
1/4 teaspoon essential oil of choice ( I used orange)

Mix the water and liquid soap in small bowl and stir in oils till well mixed. It will have a milky color. Put in old shampoo bottle and shake before using. Use as you would any other shampoo.

Now what to make next. I think maybe some homemade toothpaste. I am thinkin simple coconut oil and baking soda. Both are good for the teeth and antibacterial. Maybe I make a small amount and try it myself and see how I like it. As of right now we are using Tom's propolis and myrrh toothpaste. I like it really well, no fluoride, cinnamon flavor. Nice!!

Not much else happening around here, so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella