Hectic Heaven

Whats going on around here

On the 16th of June I started working at the high school cleaning and quite frankly its kicking my hehind... I'm so tired all the time.  

We went to our club rendezvous and had a nice time.. I took my spinning wheel with me and have some nice singles I am working on... might even enter them in the fair this year....

we are having a problem with something getting in the chicken pen... not sure what it is... whatever it is, it killed the rooster yesterday while we were gone.... its coming in during the day.....the 4 hens that are left seem to be at a loss what to do:<  I will miss hearing his crowing.. he took good care of his girls...

The garden seems to be going good... we have had some problems with Cucumbers.. they just seem to die,  the squash and tomatoes are doing well though... I need to water them some this morning as its supposed to be REALLY HOT today... we are getting some lettuce now as well..

Yesterday DH and I took half the day off of work and went fishing..we only caught 2 fish but had a really nice time just lazing around and visiting.

We are having a family get together tonight.. as my foster sister is coming into town... so I need to go make some tater salad and deviled eggs.... hope you all have a great weekend...

Scooter

Scooter my buddy of sixteen years, had to be put to sleep this morning... I will miss him so much!

update on Scooter

Scooter seemed better on Sunday, but then on monday he was getting sick again... so I took him back to the vet and they kept him for two days... he came home last night...his eyes are brighter but he still isnt eating well... but they say as long as he is eating something and he is on antibiotics..so its pretty much a wait and see game now....he was pretty sick so it may take some time for him to pop back...I am hoping for the best.. he is such a good friend...

the countdown has started

Our kids get of out school June 10th so things are winding down and winding up.. the excitement level is thru the roof.  The youngster I have worked with this year will be moving into a new district next year... so unfortunatley I am not sure I will have a job next year... I did find out today that I will have a job for the summer...

News on the homestead... I got 7 new chicks.. well they are about 5 weeks old now... so hopefully they will be laying by summers end... the old hens are not doing so well now.. they seemed to be doing great for a bit.. I even got 5 eggs one day but now we are back down to 2 a day...we have 7 hens that should be laying... but they are kind of old now.. so I guess at summers end.. maybe before they will end up in the freezer. 

The garden is planted and many things are starting to pop thru the dirt now... its always fun to go out and search and see what new seeds are coming up.... we did have a couple of casualties already.. for some reason two of the cucumbers we planted flat died.. and a few of the other plants looked rather sickly for awhile but seem to be coming out of it. now... we have some corn up, some beans, the beets, lettuce, radishes,  we planted  summer squash, tomatoes, a cantaloupe  and some water melon.  

I took my old dog to the vet on saturday and found out he is having an attack of the pancreas... so  he is on bland food... turkey noodle soup,  rice and egg... and so on.. his  appetite isnt very good... I dont know if he will pull thru it.. but Im hoping so... he is 16 now... he is and awesome dog.. he knows no strangers...and his favorite place to lay is on my feet  and if he cant have that.. on something else of mine. 

I haven't done much fiber wise... the spinning wheel sits silent, the wool is in bags on the floor because I used the container it was  in to put the chicks in when I first got them home well it was that or the tub in my bathroom ,but DH was givng me strange looks about that one... He doesnt know it but that bathtub has started many critters out... turkeys, chickens, goats:>   the goats didnt last long.. I went in one morning to find 4 of them teetering on the edge crying for their bottles...

hope fully it will not take me so long to update next time....

Lots accomplished this last weekend

DH and I spend all day saturday working on the place... we mowed and weed eated, and turned the raised bed over with a shovel... We have a friend that is going to lend us his rototiller this next weekend and we will go over the raised bed again... I would  like to add a couple of wheelbarrow fulls of good stuff from the goat pen.. and then I think we will be pretty much ready to plant..   We are going to do a small plot out of the raised bed for corn and green beans.... We have a few more hours of mowing and weedeating to get the yard in good order...

On Sunday DH went fishing and I plied 300 yards of bulky yarn...I still have a bit more to do... I am also in the process of building a triangle loom to make it into a shawl...

Work is going somewhat better, at least I am able to do more then sit in a chair when I get home...I am waiting not so patienly for my new glasses to get here.... I guess they are going to take the full 10 days:< It will be nice to not have to put them on and take them off constantly like I am doing right now...

Has anyone grafted day old chicks onto a broody hen?  I was wondering if that might work.. I have a couple of hens that always go broody but never hatch anything out because of the other hens bothering them.. well and me to...rather then trying grafting maybe I should just try to get some fertile eggs and place under them... I have 7 hens but they are getting up there in age...seems like maybe I ought to think about replacking them... I don t really want to mess with the  heat lamps and all that....it would be better to let the mamma's do it..  I have buff orphingtons.. I picked them because they are a good dual purpose breed... lay brown eggs and are good meat as well.. well enough thinking.. time to go feed...

Mother nature still has not decided to bring spring on in full yet...

The other day we had a front roll thru and the snow level was 1500 feet... but on sunday its supposed to be 75  lol I think we will go from winter to summer.. one day it will be 45 and the next day it will be 95 and only go up from there  :> 

I have been just surviving work so I have not done much., other then go to work and come home and sit in a chair.

  The first grade teachers at the school where DH works did a farm section... so I sent some raw wool, some clean wool, some spun wool, some hand carders  a felted had and one of the bags I made... I guess the kids really enjoyed it...they did NOT like the raw wool it felt funny and stunk  lol... I also sent some angora rabbit, some icelandic for them to run there little fingers thru..I really enjoy sharing my fiber hobby with kids... I have kids from last year that still like come up and talk about when I brought my spinning wheel to school and they got a chance to try it out.   I cant beleive that school is almost out... my goodness this year went by fast... I am hoping to be back at the school I am at now... Im not sure what will happen.. the young man i have been working with will probably be moving to a new district...  I will miss him... he wants to get together for lunch during the summer.. just me, him and his mom.... I think it would be nice to do that....

I probably should go get busy I just wanted to pop in and say hi... I pop in often just dont always have the energy to write...  Have a great weekend..

felted bags

These bags I made, using homespun yarn,  they are crochet and then felted... the lighter one is very pretty it has alot of different colors that dont really show up in the picture....

What a day

This is going to be hard to explain somewhat.... Today the sun was shining outside , but the sun was shining inside me, for the first time in awhile...I felt so good, so alive, so happy, so content. .I have been doing some things to hopefully improve my health and keep me healthier,maybe they are beginning to work. 

I started making a soy shake for breakfast awhile back, and I felt good.. but I have read so many nasty things about soy I quite using it... I have thyroid issues and one of the things they say soy does is mess with your thyroid...

anyway I was reading about flaxseeds and what they will do for you... one of the things they have in them is phyto  estrogens.. like soy.... so I have been working on adding ground flaxseed meal to my diet... because when I was on the soy it seemed to help the hormonal stuff... like not being able to sleep all night..  I am hoping the flax seeds will do the same... as well as other benefits.

I also am taking magnesium and calcium  together  they work as a relaxant... I slept so good last night...

Today at work I felt good ALL day.. I still feel good and have energy... My friend at school had a wonderful day today as well... I love it when he is in a happy mood...it makes everyones day better...

I have fed the critters and we got 4 eggs today... Jesse the lab was having fun aggravating the squirrels out under the wood on the ground..... the pear trees are starting to bloom now... oh and the bestest.. is I dont have to go to work tomorrow.. a 3 day weekend.. YIPPEEEE!!!  hope everyone has a GREAT weekend.  Isnt it funny how the sun shining makes things seem good...

Simple Pleasures...

I love:

watching the chickens joyfully go after the corn I throw to them.

hearing the canaries sing first thing in the morning and last thing as the sun goes down

feeling the wool slide thru my fingers as I  spin or crochet

Hearing the hum of my spinning wheel

the sound of frogs announcing spring has sprung

sitting on the front porch with one of my four legged friend leaning against me...

I am very blessed:

I have a wonderful Husband  5 years on saturday

I have a sweetheart for a daughter

I have a job I love

I have a great set of parents 

Having the most supportive family, they support me in whatever I choose to do

I have a little piece of this earth that is beautiful and is home.

I am so very blessed.

whats up around here...

I wrote in one of my previous posts about our plum tree blossoming out.   It froze the first night it really bloomed and the little blossoms didnt look so great.. the next night it froze HARD, and the little blossoms turned brown... so I guess we will get no plums this year.....

The hens are up to 4-5 eggs a day now... not to bad since I only have 6.   The snow level got low last night but not down to where I am... although is was pretty cool out....

I have been doing some crocheting and then fulling the bags..they are turning out great.... I found a recipe online for making  a bag out of  a couple of batts (spinning batts) and since I have LOTs of roving I have been giving that a try.... I found a used drum carder and I am hoping it gets mailed soon... The first check I wrote I was in such a hurry that I wrote it wrong... I am hoping the corrected check gets there today and if it by some miracle is sent out tomorrow I will have it in my hot little hands by friday...which is a day off...

I have some lovely gray singles on the wheel right now.. I need to finish plying.... I would like to weave it into a shawl, I might try to rent/borrow a triangle loom and give that a shot... would make a beautiful shawl.   Not much else going on around here.... just working and playing in the fiber...

I think its winter

I think the trees are just confused...  right now I am watching the most beautiful snowflakes falling.   but if I scan just a bit to the left I can see my plum tree full of white blossoms.. although, they are getting a bit wilted now.. the frost got them the other night...

I went yesterday to the local farmers market.  There were quite a few booths there.. the thing that was really  that in the 16-20 booths that were there 2 of them were Katrina's  something.. one was a card maker and the other was a  tamale/salsa maker.    Katrina which is my full name is pretty uncommon but to see it there twice  surprised me a bit.   There were bread makers, folks that were selling garden plant starts, wood workers,  I even saw some hand spun yarns and bought a bag of icelandic wool.  It is so soft and it is supposed to felt well... I will give it a try soon... Lots of eggs, a worm saleman, a pasta saleman.  lots of neat things... I always love to go look at farmers markets, in fact would love to take my soap to them but unfortunatly they are always during the day, during the week... :<

Its the end of the week already, I can't beleive it flew by so fast.. and I really didnt get much accomplished.. although I do not feel quite so worn out ... I am NOT ready to go back to work yet  lol

I guess I ought to get busy  have a wonderful day.

Is it winter or spring?

My plum tree says its spring, it covered with beautiful bright white blooms.  The weatherman says its winter, we have a snow advisory in effect and the level is supposed to get down to just about the valley floor.  Cold weather is always a good excuse to make a nice batch of soup.  Dad called me yesterday and asked If I wanted the ham bone from Easter dinner, they had so much going on they were'nt going to mess with it... so I picked it up last night on our way back from town, and our hens are laying pretty good, so I will make  ham and homemade egg noodle soup  for dinner tonight.

I had a great day yesterday, my DD and I spent most of the day together... we went to the wool store where I bought the newest spin-off magazin, an indulgence for me, and also a bottle of oil for my spinning wheel.   We picked up a bus schedule for DD, on school days she will drive in part way and catch the bus the rest of they way.. it will save her quite a bit in gas, since the shcool makes buss passes available to students for 15 dollars a term... Then we went to Wal-Mart to get some plastic shoe boxes, I put my soap in them and it keeps them nice until they are sold... I need about 5 more they were out:<  We also went by the music section:> I LOVE celtic music, to spin to or pretty much just listen to... I have been looking at one that is hymms and decided to treat myselt to it... I also found another set of music... so I go an extra treat....  I will listen to them today while working on the house.... DH took me out for dinner last night, it was a nice dinner...

Hope you all have a great day...

Spring break

Its spring break here this week, so I have a whole extra 5 days to do something with.... well really just 4 because tomorrow I will be turning 47 Every since I turned 40 these birthdays are getting harder and harder to see coming around... so tomorrow I will change my way of thinking and try to "celebrate" the fact that I still am here to enjoy the day.. even if it means turning 47 lol  Im not sure what I will do tomorrow I will think about that today while I am going thru stuff....

I would really like to get a drum carder.. but the money just isnt adding up...so this week I am going to work on two things.... decluttering my house and trying to make a bit of money from what needs to go out the door... bigger things I will put on ebay or craigslist and some things I will put in the spare room and have a garage sale here in a couple of weeks... we have a 4 day weekend around the middle of April.  I think I should be able to about get my carder.   My house should also look much better as well.

I have been doing some spinning, not much else fiber wise going on here... at the moment... I did felt a couple of little neck/medicine bags.. a week or so ago, they turned out pretty good..

Yesterday we had a nice day... spent most of the day with family, and had a most yummy dinner...

This week will be kind of quiet because my daughter, is housesitting for my sister until tomorrow then for my brother from thursday on..  She is getting excited her new terms starts Mar. 31.. she is taking speach, Biology and math..  She just finished up a math class  this last term.  If her tests scores are any idication she did well.   She has to take a total of 5 math classes... I think up to trig. 

On the farm... there seem to be babies being born all around our place but we     wont have any this year...  the chickens are up to 3-4 eggs a day... we have 7 hens.. so I think most of them are laying now..  I think they are about 5 years old now.. so they are getting up there....I dont know how long hens lay for...

TIme to get going... hope you all have a super wonderful day!

Springing forward uggg

I dont mind falling back in the fall, but this time change always throws me for a loop. 

We had beautiful weather this weekend... I didnt do much this saturday, DH and I went out to dinner, then on sunday we went to a challenge shoot at the range..DH did pretty good, I did not shoot this weekend.. I need to get some new glasses.. those open iron sites are not friendly to old eyes... I had a wonderful time visiting with folks.. the neat thing about this shoot is we have several neighboring clubs come over and of course these are folks we have gotten to know when we go to rendezvous.  Then after we got home  DH thought it was such a good day we ought to go fishing.. so I trapsed along behind him.  We had a nice visit as he fiished...

I am counting down to spring break... about 2 more weeks.. YIPPEEEE! I think these vacations are for the folks that work with the kids more then the kids..  hahaha...

We are getting a couple eggs a day now... hopefully soon we will get 7....since that is all the hens I have... but I doubt they will ever lay that good.. they are about 5 years old now I think...

well hope every ones week started out good and that you had a great weekend...

first eggs of the season

We have gotten two beautiful brown eggs now... the ole girls are starting to go again... I dont use a light to force them to lay all winter... If I were smart I would cull a few old hens out every year and bring a few new pullets in.. then I would have eggs year around....but I dont so we have eggs from  march untill  octoberish..

I did some felting this weekend.. and some spinning and made some lotion bars and soap.... the flavors  were  Yuzu  a new one.. kind of citrusy, Blackberry sage, cucumber melon, Apple harvest and  a couple of logs of just plain old oatmeal.. I cannot seem to keep it on the shelf.... I tried something new with the lotion bar... shea, and hemp... ought to be good...  and since I had the  castor oil and beeswax out I made some "moose snot" for my brother, its a lube he likes to use for his blackpowder rifle. 

The felting I have been doing is mostly wet felting,  what you do is lay out a bat of about 3-5 layers of wool each layer going in opposite directions.. to make the bag I use a piece of plastick in the middle and fold the wool around it... getting it wet with hot soapy water... I work it with my fingers until I make a soft felt and as it gets tougher I rub it harder and  then I am able to open it up some and rub the insides... I use a rough mat to finish felting it... http://www.gfwsheep.com/flatfelt/flatfelt1.html  This is for a flat sheet of felt but it gives the general idea...I made a  wet felted sheet and  did some needle felting on it.. I had thought to use it as a throw rug but dont think its quite big enough.   The hearts in the corners were needled felted onto the background, the hearts in the center of the piece i lightly needle felted on a piece of foam then wet felted them into the background. 

I'm so glad the weekend is here...

Its been a long week and I am very tired for some reason, I think I am fighting off some bug ,and did'nt sleep well to boot,  I seem to have a hitch in my git a long... now I know why shcools have all the vacations they do, its so the teachers can rest! 

My weekend got off to a rocky start. I headed out the door shortly after putting my young friend on the bus,  jammed my hands into my pockets to dig out my keys, and they only thing in there was my cell phone:<  I really need to get an extra key ,and give to my SIL (she works at the same school I do) It would save me from having to call DH to my rescue... not that I mind him rescuing me, but I know I will never hear the end of it... and he laughs a full five minutes before he says... he will come bail me out.   I'm just not cut out for this damsel in distress stuff.

I got my soap supplies in and also some more wool, I have been making felted bags, although, it has been a few days since I did anything fiber oriented.. I am hoping to push the walls up this weekend and  do a  bit of felting and a bit of spinning... My wheel is giving me some problems right now... the nut on the wheel keeps loosening up and then the belt jumps the wheeel... can you say FRUSTRATING! ugg... it never used to do that so I am not sure whats going on... Here is a picture of some of my felted bags using different techniques, and also a hat I made

We have had a couple of  GEORGOUS days this week. its raining now, but the frogs are still croaking.. springs a commin..    I think its supposed to be nice again on sunday... Hope you all have a super wonderful weekend...

All is well

today has been one of those days that makes a person feel like they are being watched over.  I went in this morning and was getting ready to take the test for work,  I asked the lady that was going to give me the test if  they did things different then other districts, because most districts if you have enough college credit hours you dont have to take these tests.   I asked her the last time and she said I had to take it... well anyway to make a long story short, I had to have 72 hours to avoid taking the test and I had 108.  I got on the community college site and downloaded an unofficial transcript.  I am now officially a employee with benefits.. and the icing on the cake is that I am able to put my daughter on until she is 26, so we have a year before we need to worry about insurance again for her..

I went to the next town over to the  local fiber place and got some roving in bright colors to  needle felt onto the bags I am working on...

My GYN appointment went well also.. he said the cells were atypical but not dylasic,  and was to be expected.. I go back in 4 months..

Met DD at the store to get her B-day present, some new jeans...

It was another beautiful day here... I think we might be able to see the lunar ecplipse here tonight...looks like its starting already...

this n that

We had the most beautiful spring type weather the last 3 or 4 days... The clouds are rolling back in tonight though, and we are due for rain for the next  week .   This area always has a false spring, sometimes its a couple of weeks and sometimes just a few days....

Yesterday my DD turned 25 she is such a special spirit... I am so proud of the woman she is becoming.   She is taking a math class this term and then going back to school full time next term...She will go to the local community college for about  6 terms then  tranfer to the college over the hill, for the next 2 years.. and then has 1 year of an externship... she is going to study sonography.  

Tomorrow is a busy day for me... I have to take a test for the school district so I can be hired on as an aide.  I have to take a math, reading and writing test... I am not to worried about the reading and math tests but the writing test has me concerned.. I have become a rather sloppy writer the last few years.   After I pass these tests I will be hired on in the district full time with benefits...YIPPEE!!  its only taken about 3 years of subbing..

Then after the tests I have to go to my GYN and see whats going on.  Apparently the bad cells are growing back again... I am about ready to think about the H word.. and get it taken care of once and for all..

I have spun some this last weekend..  and felted a couple of bags.  DH and I went to a car show this weekend.. Hot rods  lol... there were alot of OLD people looking at OLD cars.   I have always loved the 67-69 camaro's from the time I was in high school.  I should have bought one back then... they were 3 or 4 thousand then... now they are 30-40K. 

I don't know what was going on at school today but it was crazy there... the kids were on the edge of being in trouble all day long... my sis says its the full moon..  maybe so...  well its time to head for bed... gotta get a good nights sleep.   

The goats got out

We had an absolutley gorgeous day today, 54 degrees, it is supposed to be up to the 60's this weekend...

I had to go to the store and get chicken food and when I got back I noticed that , Jr., Penelope, and Amore were out in the front yard..they were enjoying themselves so much I turned the other 4 out as well...Have you ever listened to goats when they are happy and content.  They make the nicest sounds... I just sat on the feeder and watched them go....they'd eat a bite here and then move somewhere else... as it started to get dusky I went and got a few flakes of Alfalfa and they very obediently followed me back into the field. 

Its amazing to me how much happier folks seem to be when the sun shines... I know we have replaced alot of our light bulbs with full spectrum bulbs and it has helped DD depression quite a bit...

Oh! and I always know spring is getting closer when the frogs start croaking..and I have heard them several times this week...

I have had a fiber ful weekend..

It started early when I found a package of wool in my mailbox, sent by a dear friend from this board,  Thank You Rhonda.  I like to spin when I am alone, so I will be trying it out tomorrow after work.  Its sooo soft I just love to plunge my fingers into the bag  lol

I also spent some time this weekend needle felting...

This is my first attempt at a Teddy bear  lol a cross between tigger and a mouse fits this little fella

my second bear turned into a puppy

I had a good time doing these and cant help but smile when I look at their goofy faces...