A Mountain Spirit

Back?

2011-04-28T17:53:00.002-04:00

Hey! I remembered my password! And how to reset everything!! Thinking about getting back into blogging - anyone interested in seeing what we are up to? Just curious :)

A Horse (or Two) of a Different Color

2009-11-21T19:42:00.005-05:00

I have been meaning to post this for some time now but you know how things are! We have 2 new members of the furry variety to the family. Logan had been wanting a colt to train for a long time and the opportunity came up for that to happen. We had known of a woman close that bred Appaloosas. Logan's horse growing up was an App and this woman had happened to have bought the daughter of Logan's horse. Well turns out that she had used that horse to breed and so the horses she had now were the great grandchildren of Logan's horse Chinook.

So we went out and were looking at the colts to see if any caught our eye and one did. While we were looking at them in the field another older 3 year old kept following us around being curious. Well, when Logan went to talk to her about the cold, the woman basically said she would give us the other 3 year old because no one seemed interested in her because she didn't have a lot of color (that's the main reason a lot of people would want an Appaloosa would be for their spots and coloring). Well, of course Logan jumped at the opportunity and well, now we have 4 horses.

This is Lace - the 3 year old. She was as wild as a mustang when we brought her home (which is a whole story in itself trying to get her loaded onto a trailer). She had pretty much been left to her own out in a field with the brood mares and colts and yearlings and like I mentioned before, no one was really interested because she didn't have loud coloring. Well Logan worked with her and she was as easy as pie to train. In only a few weeks she was leading and even riding like she had done it for years! She is such a good girl - I have even ridden her several times and she is just a wonderful horse!

And this little guy is Co - short for Cochise. He was just a weanling when we got him and is such a funny boy! He definitely has a lot of color as you can see and it will be interesting to see if he keeps the coloring he has now or lightens up - a lot of time Appaloosas will change their coloring as they get older, often lightening up some.

It will be some time before he will be ready to ride - horses aren't ready to ride until they are 2 and he will be a year old in the Spring. He can be taught the basics and already knows how to be lead with a halter on.

So there are the 2 newest Morrisons - yep, we are crazy but at least not boring!!

Here We Sit...

2009-11-09T19:40:00.005-05:00

Look who's sitting up like a big girl! Still slightly wobbly but I can't believe it!

June's First Halloween

2009-10-31T20:15:00.002-04:00

It might look like June went as a Ladybug but she was really a 'June' Bug :)

Thank you for those of you who still check back from time to time on the blog! I honestly haven't forgotten - work + baby = exhaustion as I am sure most of you know! I do have a big up-date post that I have been trying to work on. All sorts of things going on on Rancho Morrison! Keep checking back on me!

Fun and Farm Update

2009-08-07T13:47:00.006-04:00

A quick post - that seems like that's all they are anymore! I am scrambling around getting things ready to go to the beach (yeah, you heard me - I am going to the beach with a 12 week old - ack!). I am very excited to go but sad a little too because it's my last week before going back to work. Ugh. That's a touchy subject that I don't even want to think about right now. Not just the going back to work part but the leaving June with a babysitter part - many emotional meltdowns have occurred so far... I am positive it will be harder for me that it is for her though!

So, to tide everyone over, Mom came to visit us yesterday and here are some cute pics captured during the visit -

Just so it's not a complete baby-centered blog, here's a little farm update - garden veggies are cranking out! I found time to freeze about 4 gallons of corn with tons more waiting to be picked. Tomatoes will be ready probably by the time we get back from the beach. On a sad note, my guinea hen is no longer with us - not sure what happened to her. Her and her guinea hubby had been going out for long strolls and I had suspected that she had a nest somewhere across the road. They always came home at night but one night she didn't come home - I think it was 4th of July weekend. Sadly she never turned back up - I am pretending in my mind that she just found another place to live. Our male guinea is still here though and doesn't travel much anymore :( I am trying to talk Logan in to getting another hen or two.

Well hold on to your hats for baby beach pictures once we get back! I hope this week lasts a LONG time!!

Knit Chick

2009-07-17T17:34:00.003-04:00

June finally got to wear her lone 'summer' knit that I made while I was pregnant - she really loved it too!! She got to wear it for her first trip to the yarn shop and was a hit! She seems very pleased with herself.

Cloth Diaper Success

2009-07-10T16:06:00.004-04:00

Finding time to go to the bathroom or take a shower is hard enough with a 7 week old baby, much less daily postings to my blog. To everyone that checks back daily I apologize. There is a lot I would like to write about but honestly, I would much rather spend my time watching June be June - cute and funny (and fussy some of the time). She has become very alert which has it's ups and downs - ups because she interacts with us and it's fun. Downs because she always demands my attention when she is awake and doesn't like 'alone' time quite yet (Mommy on the other hand LIKES alone time and ISN'T GETTING IT!).

Ok, so this post is about our use of cloth diapers. I wanted to start using them from the beginning but the covers we have wouldn't fit her tiny petite little body so I had to wait (she wasn't a fan of them up under her arm pits). With a steady weight gain, we started using cloth during the day about 3 weeks ago. I use cloth diapers during the day because I am home with her and am able to check and change her more often and I am using disposable at night because they are more absorbent and changing June's diaper is such a circus act anyway that I don't want to wake her up or disturb her at night any more than needs be!

Here is June with one of her Bum Genius wraps - I am also using the Bummies Super Whisper Wraps which I like a lot too. I am still getting the hang of folding the pre-folds and getting them situated so she doesn't have a blowout (happens more than I would like).

Right now I have a total of 5 diaper wraps - I am in the process of knitting a felted wool wrap which will be done in the next week or so (a minor set back this morning when Moses decided to drag it across the house and I lost about a row of stitches - just not in the mood to pick them back up yet!). I wish I had more wraps but these will do for now - the only down-side is I have to do laundry about every other day to every 3 days due to leakage into the wrap (it does stay well contained IN the wrap though - I think it's also a bit of user-error as I am still learning placement of the folds).

Washing them is amazingly easy - since June is nursing, her poos are not solid so no 'emptying' the diapers - just chuck them into the pail to await washing. I am using a Tidy Cats litter pail for her cloth diaper pail and it works great! Keeps the animals out and the little bit of odor in - no big deal. I wash them on the longest cycle and then at the end I add an extra rinse cycle to make sure the detergent is out. I use a half of a cap of detergent and a scoop of Oxy Clean - no fabric softener (it can mess with absorbency). I then hang them out to dry on the line and any stains that are left MIRACULOUSLY disappear in the sun. I can't believe it either - it's amazing. I meant to take a 'before' and 'after' picture of a stained diaper but never got around to it - I will try to remember for a future post.

So, that's the progress here. June is growing like a weed - I can't believe she is almost 2 months old! Wow!!! Time flies and fortunately I have a whole month more with her - it will be so hard going back to work and I wish I didn't have to but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it! Not thinking about it for now! Soon I will post the wool diaper cover pics and pattern and may even get some garden pics in :)

Smiley Happy Babies

2009-06-21T10:45:00.006-04:00

As if I needed any more reason to believe June is going to be a Daddy's girl!

Happy first Father's Day to my husband and Happy Father's Day to my dad!! :)

Daddy's Girl

2009-05-29T12:48:00.004-04:00

June Claire Morrison

2009-05-26T12:29:00.006-04:00

Everyone that has ever had a newborn knows why I haven't posted yet! Even though they say newborns sleep around 18 hours a day - you still can't find time to do what you need to do or want to do for that matter :) So the moment you have all been waiting for - let me introduce Miss June Claire Morrison - born Monday, May 18th...

All of the Gory Details:
If you remember I was supposed to be induced on Wednesday and I REALLY didn't want to be induced so Sunday night we started the 'natural induction' experiments. We had tried all of the typical ones - long walks, rides on bumpy roads, etc. None of them even came close to working! I had a lot of people keep telling me to take Castor oil but I was very leery about that due to having a VERY touchy stomach! Well, Sunday night I said forget it and took about 2 tablespoons!

Nothing happened except frequent bathroom trips for a LONG time and I was really regretting having tried it at that point! Around 2:30 in the morning I started having pretty serious what I thought were stomach cramps. I tried to ignore it as long as possible but finally had to wake Logan up to see what he thought. He started timing when I had the cramps and we realized they were coming regularly and lasting about the same time - gosh, they must be contractions!!

Around 4:00 a.m. we headed to the hospital - by then they had moved to my back and I was having back labor - NOT FUN! I got hooked up to all of the machines and was checked and was 1 cm dilated! Woo hoo! Finally getting somewhere! About an hour later I was 3-4 cm! I figured things would go quick but they really didn't - I am telling you, this baby did not want to come out!! She was determined to stay for a little while longer :)

Skipping all of the technicals, June was born at 3:59 p.m. on Monday, May 18th! I did it WITHOUT an epidural - yea me! I did however have to have an episiotomy plus I did some pretty major tearing so I have a billion stitches - I am just now getting to the point where I can get around easily. Logan was great and was a wonderful coach and June is already a daddy's girl! Here are the rest of the stats:

Weight - 7 pounds, 15.9 ounces
Length - 19.25 inches

She really is a very good baby! She was VERY cranky in the hospital and the first night we had her home (Tuesday - they only made us stay 24 hours which was very nice!) but has since settled in and adjusted very well. She is sleeping well and eating well and everyone - especially mommy and daddy - are very pleased!

So, be prepared for a barrage of baby pictures to come - I will try not to overload everyone - we still have other things going on in our lives, just nothing as cute or as important :)

Going Insane

2009-05-15T15:18:00.005-04:00

Attention Baby - it is time for you to come out! You have been in there plenty long enough now and all you are doing now is getting uncomfortably large. Do you want to be in there forever? I am thinking so! There are a LOT of nice people that really want to meet you and will not leave your mommy alone until you come out! I am beginning to feel like a telephone operator answering the phone all day long only to tell people - no, you are not here yet and no I don't feel any different. It's getting old...Please come out!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can you tell I am done with all of this? Yep - still pregnant - officially now a week overdue. My doctor's appointment on Wednesday told me the same thing I have been hearing for weeks now - I am effaced but not dilated. I was sent up to the hospital after my appointment to have some tests run to make sure we are both doing fine (I am pretty sure the baby is doing better than I am at this point!). I had an ultrasound first - which was exciting since I hadn't had one since week 20. They were checking to make sure fluid levels were still good - they were. I got to KIND of see the baby - she is so smushed in there it was hard to make things out! The technician tried to get a picture of her face for me but she was so far down in my pelvis it was impossible. She kept saying - I just can't believe you haven't gone into labor yet with as far down as she is! Um...yeah...ME TOO! Oh - and her guess was that the baby is 8 pounds, 10 ounces - I really hope that's high!!

My second stop at the hospital was for a non-stress test to make sure the baby's heart rate is doing what it should be doing and that her moving or contractions were not putting too much stress on her. Oh - guess what? I am having contractions - or so the monitor told me!! I swear I either don't feel them or didn't know that's what was going on but the nurse said I had about 10 contractions while I was there. Ok - so why aren't they doing anything??? The test went great and she responded exactly how she should be so all in all - good news all around. Except that I don't have a baby yet!!

So, that's what's new so far in baby-birthing news. You can be assured that this time if she hasn't come by Wednesday I will NOT be postponing the induction since I will be inching closer to 42 weeks at that point. Who would have guessed that I would still be pregnant at this point? Unless something dramatic happens between now and Wednesday I probably won't post again until after the little one is here. Maybe this weekend? I am not holding my breath...

Induction-junction

2009-05-12T15:46:00.003-04:00

Oh - I should have written yesterday! I changed my induction date to NEXT Wednesday in the hopes that things would happen on their own. I will be 41 weeks on Friday so it isn't going way, way over but seriously people, I figured I would have a baby by now! I go to the doctor's tomorrow to see if anything has changed (fingers crossed!) and then they want me to go have a non stress test at the hospital to make sure baby is still A-OK in there. Fun fun! Looks like we are going to make it past the 13th - this baby must be extra comfy in there! More updates tomorrow if things don't happen sooner :)

Still Hanging in There!

2009-05-10T11:38:00.001-04:00

I made Logan take my 'last' pregnant picture last night and thought I would share against my better judgement. Remember, my due date was FRIDAY...

I have thought a lot this weekend about being induced on Wednesday and I think I may have jumped the gun a little. I am going to try to go in on Monday and talk to my doctor and see if we can't move the induction to the NEXT week if I unfortunately make it that long. I won't be 41 weeks until Friday the 15th so I am really not pushing it very far along - plus unless she comes on her own, I didn't really like choosing the 13th to be her birthday - haha. Dorky - yes, I know, but what can I say? I will try to update the 'new' date and see what the doc has to say about it all. Send me labor vibes (please!!).

Last Trip to the Doctor

2009-05-07T18:21:00.004-04:00

Well, today was my last 'official' trip to the doctor and unfortunately there isn't a lot of news to share. I have been effaced for going on several weeks now with the baby's head engaged (in 'position') - my doctor said today she things I am about 80-90% effaced (thinned out). However, the same story I have been hearing for weeks is I am still not even the tiniest bit dilated. How disappointing! This baby has decided she does not want to come out!!

So I had to make a tough decision today - to induce or not to induce. I wanted to be 100% natural about how things went but I am to the 'I don't want to be pregnant anymore' phase so we (Logan, myself, and the Dr.) decided that if I haven't gone into labor by next Wednesday (the 13th) I was going to be induced. Not exactly the plan I was hoping for but I still have plenty of time to go into labor naturally. Personally, I really don't want a 10 pound baby and at this point she is just hanging out in there getting bigger (and bigger, and bigger!). I was a little anxious about all of this but like I said before, I still have about a week to get the ball rolling. My 'official' due date is tomorrow, Logan's grandmother's birthday is Saturday, and his sister Kelsey's birthday is Sunday! We'll see if we hit one of those dates!!

Send me dilating thoughts! And soon!!

Heaps of Handmades!

2009-05-05T20:04:00.019-04:00

Yep - still just me here. No baby yet and I am starting to have the sinking feeling I am going to have a late baby instead of an early/on-time one. I have tried to tell her it's much more fun on the outside but she insists on staying put for now. I am 'officially' on maternity leave as of yesterday so I guess it could be worse but the sitting around is maybe harder than the working!

In the mean time, I thought I would show off some of the neat gifts she has gotten already before even being born! I must say, I know a lot of crafty people and I feel so fortunate that they have showed off their talents and skills by making the baby some neat gifts! I will let the pictures speak for themselves!

My grandmother crocheted this and set it to us as a surprise the other day in the mail!

My mother's friend Pam knitted a beautiful blanket and matching hat.

Peggy, the best camp cook ever from HPC (where Logan and I met), quilted this blanket - it is pink fleece on the back and very soft!

This wonderful Fair-Isle sweater was knitted by a lady we go to church with. It will be perfect when she is older! It makes me want to improve my knitting skills for sure!

Last but certainly not least, my mother knitted some super cute things for the baby!

Adorable knit bibs and a close up of the buttons attached.

Baby's first 'Easter' bunny!

It's a little hard to see the pictures but on the left washcloth, there are two cute little baby feet and the one on the right has a 'B'

I was hoping to have some more knitted stuff to show off myself but with working I was worn out at the end of the day. I might try to wrap up some unfinished things this week but the lure of being lazy for one last week. Hopefully the ball will get rolling soon but I am not holding my breath! Maybe the next time I post it will be to introduce the brand new Morrison? Let's hope so!

Update

2009-04-29T18:15:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update for anyone who is wondering! Yes, I am S-T-I-L-L pregnant and the heat we have been experiencing is making it very difficult! Since last Thursday I have had tremendous (literally!) swelling in my feet, ankles, legs, and hands BUT luckily Friday is my last day of work!!! I WILL be celebrating!

I had a doctor's appointment just today and while I am very much effaced, still no dilation. I have the added pressure that my doctor is going out of town for the weekend so I had better wait until at least Monday! I have a feeling I am going to make it well into my due date (next Friday) and then some maybe!

Until then, I will be at home resting with my feet propped up and hopefully get some things done that have been on the back burner for awhile now. I have a book I am trying to finish and some knitting that has been seriously neglected - I can't remember the last time I sat down to knit - just from being tired and emotionally drained (oh yeah - and swollen!).

Wish me luck and I will try to post if anything MAJOR happens :) Maybe I can alert everyone when labor begins ;)

Baby's First Concert

2009-04-18T10:28:00.005-04:00

I learned a hard lesson this week.
1. I am not 20 years old anymore
2. I can not stay out super late on a 'work' night and expect to be good to go the next morning
3. Pregnancy amplifies #1 and #2 - especially at 37 weeks

On Thursday evening, Logan and I plus a few of our friends went to go see the band Old Crow Medicine Show - a bluegrass/folk/country band that we all really like. They came to Radford University which is only about 30 minutes away and the tickets were relatively cheap compared for what they usually are for the band so we all said - hey why not? I had a doctor's appointment right after school (everything still a-ok - the head is RIGHTthere according to dr. but not dilated yet) then we ran home and changed clothes and headed out.

We had a lot of fun and it was an amazingly good concert - it was in a small auditorium so luckily there were seats I could sit down in when I got tired (which was pretty often). All in all we survived but I was so wiped out when I got up on Friday (I won't even say what time we got home - let's just say it was LATE) and my feet were about as swollen as loaves of bread. Logan suggested going out to eat yesterday evening and I couldn't even stand the thought of being out - we came home from work and I immediately laid down and we had leftovers for dinner! I learned my lesson!!

So, things are progressing nicely - I told Logan if I could make it through one more week of school I would be happy (even though my 'technical' start of maternity leave is May 1st I don't care at this point). It's hard to believe my due date is only 3 weeks away and my doctor pretty much told me it could be any time now - I don't like the part of not knowing but I guess all I can do is be as prepared as I can - bags are packed, car seat is installed, crib is set up - we're good to go!

On that note, it's time to go get the house in somewhat of a decent shape. Here's a picture of the baby's first concert she ever attended:

I 'secretly' shot a short video of the concert with my camera but unfortunately it is just a hair too big to upload straight to here so instead, here is the music video for probably the band's most popular song 'Wagon Wheel'

Enjoy!

In Search of the Holy Grail

2009-04-11T13:07:00.003-04:00

Logan and I have decided to do something that is virtually unheard of - at least around here it is. We have decided to use mostly cloth diapers for the baby. I can hear people 'ewwwwing' as I type because it's just not something most people would consider anymore. Our reasons are simple enough -

- It's a lot cheaper - think of how many packs of diapers you have to buy A WEEK compared to something that you reuse over and over
- Better for the environment - it takes disposable diapers approximately 550 years to decompose in a landfill!!! Ack! That times x number of diapers I will be using a day - hmmm - as a part of our trying to live as 'green' as possible that just doesn't sit will with me.
- Healthier for baby - babies get far less diaper rashes when using cloth diapers plus I can't even imagine what kind of stuff is IN a diaper that makes it suck up all of the moisture.

Of course we got some disposable diapers for baby showers and free samples and such AND I will probably use what we have - especially for the first week or so and also on trips and heaven forbid I ask a babysitter to use cloth diapers. If it was up to me and my budget the baby wouldn't have to go to a babysitter but I am pretty sure we aren't going to be living off of Logan's salary any time soon (maybe I should start playing the lottery).

The only problem I am running into is availability. It is close to impossible to find cloth diaper-related supplies around here. I have aquired a lot of 'prefolded' type of diapers and have about 3 AIO (all-in-ones - they are the diaper and cover all together). I don't mind using the pre-folds except I am having a HARD time finding diaper covers to put over them. I have 2 of the Bum Genius AIO's and as I was searching online they had a wonderful idea of folding the pre-folds into the AIO's so you don't have to wash everything, just the prefold. I am still searching for some covers and am going to bring it up to my sewing-Queen mother-in-law to see if maybe we can make some.

I don't know why this is harder that it should be for me wanting to so something productive but I guess it has to do with living where we do (in the south) and the mindset of most people of not even wanting to give it a try. I have always thought Logan and I really aren't like 'most people' and it becomes evident when we try to do something like this!

Mine!

2009-04-06T19:02:00.004-04:00

Cleo is pretty sure all of the new baby stuff is for her. Especially the bouncy-seat...
She especially likes the vibrating feature.
By some miracle, none of the kitties have bothered the pack-n-play we have set up in the office/bedroom area! I am already weaning them off of sleeping in the bedroom with us and it seems to be going well - even little Moses is semi-OK with the arrangement although I do let them in first thing in the morning for a cuddle before I get in the shower. The count-down is on - 4 1/2 more weeks (give or take) to go! Any bets for birthday yet?

Partying Baby-Shower-Style

2009-03-28T10:06:00.007-04:00

I swear I have not dropped off the face of the Earth! This past week has worn me out completely but was fun! Last weekend my 'City Mouse' friend Becca came up and gave me a WONDERFUL baby shower along with friends and our church family. I can't believe how many people showed up and all of the great things we got! I am still overwhelmed (and still sorting and washing and putting away!). Here are a few pics of the fun (but exhausting) day!

Becca 'holding' the baby (this is after the shower and you can tell how tired I am!)

Both my and Logan's family

I just love this picture because I actually DON'T look pregnant from behind! I have definitely carried all of my weight up front.

After the shower it's assembly time!

There are, of course, a ton more - I will try to figure out doing a slideshow and add them on at another time so you can get the whole 'feel' of the shower! It has definitely made everything more real now having baby stuff everywhere and a stroller and a car seat in the car. It's hard to believe that I'm down to the final countdown - 6 more weeks!! I am starting to check things off of my list and be ready. The crib is ordered so that will REALLY make a difference getting that set up. I told Logan last night that every time I walk into the baby's room it starts looking more and more like a bedroom. Furniture is set up, we bought new knobs for the dressers (which by the way were my dressers growing up) and I moved the rocking chair in there. A few more finishing touches like curtains and pictures should definitely do it!

Hopefully this week will be a little calmer. I don't have a million appointments and to-do's scheduled except for our very last baby class! Next week starts Spring break where I'll get a little bit of a rest in my final stretch of work. It's becoming very real, very fast that's for sure!!

Is That Normal?

2009-03-14T17:21:00.004-04:00

I can tell my body is going through a major hormone overload as of late just by the way I have been feeling - and acting! I have been very weepy lately, it hasn't taken much to set me off into a fit of tears which I really don't like. I think it kind of freaks Logan out too because I am not really a habitual cryer - normally just when I am mad and frustrated (the DMV tends to make me cry...).

I can also tell big changes in my body. I have trouble bending down to pick something up or tie my shoe or whatever - it never fails I drop a marker or paper or something in class and hope that one of my kids will pick it up for me because it takes an act of God for me to get down and up again without making grunting noises. Pleasant...My ankles and feet have taken on a very Fred Flintstone-esque shape to them - fat and flat. The warm weather at the beginning of the week was AWESOME because I could wear sandals that let them 'spread out' a little but it is just one of those things I have to cope with. Oh - and my bellybutton 'timer' is nearing it's popping point. Gross.

I can tell I am slowing down a LOT - I am tired and achy (good excuse for a bath in the evenings but since when I have I needed an excuse?). So how many more weeks? Haha - 8 as of now...I am REALLY hoping I make it to at least week 39 - that is my 'planned' last day at school and I am such a planner it's going to push me over the edge to not be ready if I do go earlier. I am hoping that I will enjoy that last week to myself and I can actually get something done to prepare for the baby instead of being antsy and impatient. I am currently having a hard time with focusing - I haven't knit in awhile because I just can't see to get my head into it and have a paper due for a class I took that I REALLY need to sit down and write but curling up in bed or watching tv always sounds so much more inviting. Any suggestions for a motivation surge?

Belly pictures will be coming soon - I am beginning to feel like a blimp but from what everyone tells me I am all belly so I hope they are not just being nice! :)

I Miss...

2009-02-23T21:09:00.003-05:00

Wow - 40 weeks is LONG. They say it flies by and I guess to some aspects it does, but seriously, after it's all said and done with I will have been pregnant for close to a YEAR. As I am 29 weeks, going on 30 now, I have been thinking about some things I won't miss about being pregnant...

I miss...
-Wearing my wedding rings. I had to take them off about 3-4 weeks ago or they wouldn't be coming off...
-Bending over.
-Laying on the floor to watch TV without having assistance getting up.
-Sleeping on my stomach. Unfortunately I am a stomach sleeper and I have had a mega-hard time getting used to sleeping ONLY on my side per every pregnancy book I have read. Say what you want but a pillow under my stomach and knees does NOT equal a good night's sleep!
-Wearing normal clothes - particularly t-shirts. Although the stretchy pants ARE quite nice...
-Walking up stairs without getting out of breath.
-A good margarita.
-Seeing various parts of my body.
-Not having to use the bathroom every 2.3 seconds
-Never having experienced heartburn ever before.
-Having ankles.
-Having a memory.

I know it sounds like I am awfully complain-y but really I am not very often. I have had a relatively easy pregnancy so far and have feel generally great - I am ready for there to be a baby now and hope the next 11 weeks go quick - I am sure when it is here I will look back and realize how easy I had it for now!! Next week we start..."Preparation for Parenthood" classes. WOO! This will be EXCITING! (anybody have any tips to make Logan a little more enthusiastic? I might have to drug him.

New Shoes

2009-02-16T19:32:00.008-05:00

On Sunday, Logan learned the fine art of shoeing a horse from his dad. His dad had learned years back from a friend of the family that is a farrier and they would ride with on a regular basis. We still use the same farrier for our horses but at $80 a horse, it gets pricey real quick - especially when you have 2 horses and they have to be replaced x number of times throughout the year.

Poor Daisy got to be the test subject. She is an old pro at having shoes and stands really well. Plus Jetta has never had shoes put on her before and is still young so we probably will have a farrier do her shoes the first time or two.

Logan did a really good job as far as we can tell. All of the nails came out the other side and the shoes are still on a day later :) It's hard work and takes a lot of practice that is for sure! You have to have the strength to squat down holding the horse's leg plus file, nail, clip and adjust all at the same time!

So here are some pics of the learning process...

Daisy was a pretty good sport about it all and as patient as could be expected!

Oh - by the way...I found my old digital camera...What did I say? As soon as I bought a new one the other would show up. Well it did show up - almost 3 months later. I found it in all places but the drawer of my night stand. Now - what it was doing there I will NEVER know and why I didn't see it the million times I open that drawer to get chapstick or tweezers or whatever who knows. Chalk it up to pregnancy brain then. I love, love, love my new camera though so I don't regret buying it - anyone want to buy a very nice Kodak EasyShare camera? :)

Smuggling Basketballs?

2009-02-08T14:54:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's been almost 10 weeks since I had last taken a picture of my 'baby belly'. Like all good intentions, I had planned on taking a picture once a week to compare the changes - hmm, wouldn't that have been cool? Well my first trimester I felt all bloated/sick/gross, the beginning of the second trimester I just felt fat - not really pregnant. Now however, we've rounded out to a nice pregnant belly!! Oh - then of course there was the case of the missing camera...Still looking for that darn thing. It's probably in a landfill somewhere...

So - here are the pictures at 27 weeks because I know that's what you have been waiting for, then we'll meet back up at the bottom...

Here's the front shot. I think I have been pretty lucky to just 'gain' all in the front. Now I could be wrong - if I look fat somewhere else, just don't tell me. I HAVE been extremely lucky so far (knock on wood) to not have any stretch marks - I have been very diligent about lotioning up every day - even though all of the books say that doesn't help at all...It could also be the 3 gallons of water I drink daily.

And of course here is a 'side shot'. Does it look like I am smuggling basketballs yet?

So there they are. Please ignore the dirty bathroom mirror in the pictures - that part of nesting hasn't kicked in yet. However, the urge to declutter EVERYTHING and vacuum every other day sure has. We were out of school for most of this past week due to snow and I broke down eventually and shampooed the living room carpet. I fought the urge to shampoo the carpet in the whole house since I wouldn't really have anywhere to go that wasn't wet carpet and it was WAY too cold to open windows to air everything out!

Exciting exciting. I can tell baby is starting to run out of room in there because every movement feels amplified and she has been kicking me in the ribs hard enough to about cripple me. I can't believe how fast it's moving now - I was told this would happen. After next week, my doctor's visits will be every 2 weeks (and I thought monthly was a pain!). I am starting to run out of steam too. Oh - and let's not forget the labor dreams that I have been having - last night it was that Logan forgot the camera and I made him go home from the hospital mid-labor to get it. I am sure pictures will be the last thing on my mind!

Cute Overload

2009-02-03T09:43:00.007-05:00

Cleo and Gabby were both off napping in the sun and Moses needed someone to play with. What a better target than a huge dog that could eat you in one bite? (Of course Appy would never do that - she loves her kitties!!)

Hmm, this ankle looks awfully tasty!
**By the way - Moses also likes to drag trash from the cans around the house along with socks and undies - I haven't take to throwing granola bar wrappers on the floor quite yet!**

Oh yeah - the foot is even better - much more tender!

Umm...Excuse me...that's my foot!

There's nothing better than a good snuggle after wrestling with an animal 100 times your size :)

Crazy Cat Lady

2009-01-31T13:38:00.007-05:00

Whew - two posts in two days - what is going on??? I am telling you, I love the new camera!

So, remember back to before Christmas to the cute kittens we were fostering. Right before Christmas they went off to be fixed and went to the shelter to be adopted. It was with strong hopes that they would be adopted together since they were so close with each other. Alas, that didn't happen. The cute gray girl got adopted by a nice family that already had another kitten and wanted a playmate for it and the little black boy kitten didn't get adopted.

Talk about tearing at my already pregnancy-hormone-filled heart strings. Logan was the one to save the day when he asked me if I wanted him. Um, yeah I do! I tamed that kitten while they were at the house - the gray one was very snuggly but the little black one was as wild as a squirrel! Lots of evenings spent cuddling and brushing finally made a very happy and loving kitten!

So two weeks ago he came back from the shelter to live with us. I was very concerned of how Cleo would take it since when we had the kittens the first time she hid under the bed most of the time and took to peeing in Logan's sink out of spite. Imagine my surprise when she took right to him and they were chasing each other around the house days later and actually PLAYING! I know - I was shocked! Cleo rarely plays with us, let alone another cat! Gabby is as mothering as usual and tolerates him clinging to her whenever she meows. She even makes sure he is always squeaky clean :)

We decided to name him Moses after one of my favorite children's books of all times - Moses the Kitten by James Herriot. He has made himself right at home and is my constant shadow if he's not curled up with Gabby. I am so glad we made the decision to bring him home although we seem crazy since we already have a house full of animals and a baby on the way! Cats don't take up much space though ;) He definitely belongs here and I don't regret it for a minute!

Cute little Moses on the couch

Napping with his best buddy and surrogate mommy Gabby

Even Cleo tolerates him (although he she won't let him snuggle up to her quite yet)

I couldn't resist posting such a pretty picture of a pretty kitty - look at those pretty blue eyes!

Handsome little Moses!

Finally!

2009-01-30T19:01:00.006-05:00

I figured out the camera and software and we are in business! I am still majorly peeved that I "can't find" my old digital camera but I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new one. I got a Cannon PowerShot A1000 IS after playing with all of the cameras in the store. It has a HUGE viewing screen plus it also has a viewfinder as well. I debated getting a fancy-smancy srs-type camera, namely a Cannon Rebel digi since I have a 35mm Rebel and my lenses would all fit it but I just couldn't get past the convenience of a small 'pocket' camera. I can stick it in my purse or jacket pocket or whatever instead of having to lug around a ginormous camera bag. It is a 10 megapixal and does videos and all that jazz so hopefully it will have a nice, long productive life!

So, now that I have a camera, let me share some knit projects I have finished since the camera went on vacation. Of course it's all baby stuff since we now know it's a little Miss :)

I have very strong ambitions that we will still go to the beach this year and thought Miss Baby should have some nice little beach wear. This is the cutest little halter top and the picture really doesn't do it justice. I left the back unseamed so I can measure her once it comes beach time and either seam it then or my other idea was to add snaps so it can be adjusted width wise...

This was knit with Reynolds Saucy cotton in the prettiest sea-foam-green-color I could imagine!

The second project was just something fun and cute I couldn't pass up - it is a 'Tomato Beanie' :) She will DEFINITELY have to wear it if I go to the cannery this summer!

I used the green Reynolds from the halter top for the stem and leaves on top and "I Love this Cotton!" from Hobby Lobby which is absolutely the softest nicest cotton I have worked with, however it's a little shed-y. My nice green stem has a bit of red fuzz clinging to it but maybe it will help to wash it. We'll see.

Not much exciting baby news since I last wrote - I will work on getting a 'belly shot' over the weekend because I feel absolutely huge right now. My belly definitely 'popped' out all at once, even since Christmas there has been a huge change. I go Monday for my glucose screening - oh the joy! I am about to start every 2-week visits too which mean that it's getting closer! Time flies when you are having fun I guess :)

Bare With Me

2009-01-28T17:43:00.002-05:00

My new camera came in yesterday...As soon as I upload the new software and figure everything out, I will be back to blog world again. I have several knitting projects that need sharing plus my big ole pregnant belly! Come back soon (like maybe over the weekend...)

Big Adventures in Wytheville

2009-01-16T19:04:00.003-05:00

I am definitely ready for the weekend - in fact, I couldn't be more ready. I was really hoping to have the day off from school since apparently I live at the North Pole now. It was -2 at our house this morning when I got out of bed and had only warmed up to 7 by the time I left for school at 9:30. Luckily we were on a two-hour delay so that made my morning slightly more tolerable! Now, don't get me wrong - I know that people in Michigan and other places are and have experienced MUCH colder weather but gosh - I haven't experienced this since probably my Banner Elk days and rarely even then!! We brought the bunnies in last night and they are 'house rabbits' until it warms up enough to put them back outside. The horses don't seem to be minding the cold though - they are woolly by this time of the year!

Ok, so now let me tell my exciting news-worthy story for the evening. I stayed at school a little longer than normal this afternoon trying to get things semi-ready for Monday morning and had to swing by the bank and then to get groceries. I always just go through the drive-thru and ESPECIALLY in the cold today. While I was sitting waiting for my checks to be cashed, I notice a police officer standing at the corner of the back and oh-my-God-what-is-he-holding? HIS GUN! I sit slightly puzzled at this for awhile, still waiting for my cash, wondering why there is an armed officer at the corner of the bank. So I get my money and of course, like every other curious person would have done, I decide to check out what is going on at the front of the bank since that is the way he 'edged' himself.

Well - enter a scene of chaos! There are cop cars pulled up every-which-way at the front with lights going and right as I am sitting at the traffic light in front of the bank another officer walks out of the bank carrying a SHOT GUN! Yipes!! Of course the light changes to green at this time and I dumbfoundly drive off to the grocery store thinking the ONLY possible thing that could be going on is there was a robbery WHILE I WAS RIGHT THERE!

Sure enough, that's what was going on. You can keep up with the story at our newspaper website as I have been - www.wythenews.com Apparently they didn't catch the guy that did it even though they got there 'supposedly' one minute after the alarm was tripped. Wytheville has been the source for several robberies in the past few months - I guess attributed to the economy and it doesn't hurt that we are at the direct intersection of two interstates and tend to attract the crazies I guess.

So, the moral of this story is, I think we'll stay in tonight...Tomorrow and Sunday we are going to try to be adventurous and register for baby supplies - oh yeah, that should be interesting! There is nothing more enjoyable than trying to convince my husband what baby gadgets we will need :)

Reorganization

2009-01-10T09:49:00.003-05:00

I've been in a mild blogging-funk lately in case you haven't noticed. This is partly due to the absence of my digital camera that mysteriously 'disappeared' shortly before Christmas. One day it was here, the next day - no where to be found. Now, I am not claiming to be the most organized person by far - but my camera is one of those things that I ALWAYS know where it is, no matter what! I have dug through trash cans, reorganized rooms, opened up the bottom of couches - no luck. So now I have a very important decision to make - do I keep looking for my camera or do I break down and buy a new one? I KNOW that as soon as I drop money on a new camera (and if I do get one - it will be a NICE one) that the other one will show up! I am really frustrated about it all and it's trickled down into blogging because there are actually a lot of things I would like to take pictures and post about. I guess I will just describe them and let your imagination do the work -

1. We (and by we, I mean Logan and his father) were very handy over our Christmas break. We finally got the storage building built outside that had been talked about since we moved in over 2 years ago and well needed with the upcoming addition to our family so the baby will have a room of her own! It does need to be painted but that sounds like a spring break project for me instead of a freezing-cold-it's-snowing-again-winter project.

2. I actually WAS helpful in the second Christmas break project. We decided to rip up the nasty laminate flooring from the mud room since it was peeling up around the door and in other places and replace it with tile. We chose a dark stone tile that came in a variety of colors. Logan and his dad cut and mortared them down and it was my job (oh joy) to grout. It wasn't TOO bad as long as I did a little at a time but it got finished and our mud room and the adjoining bathroom look great! Yea for home improvement!

3. I have been in a major reorganization mood with the completion of the storage building. I started with my closet and wiped out everything pre-pregnancy that didn't fit or was dangerously close to not fitting (which was most of everything now). I tupperwared it up and hung up everything maternity. I am glad I have LOTS of GREAT friends that loaned me clothes and I have gotten a few pieces of my own because I can't imagine having to buy a whole wardrobe for this. I have discovered the best store in the universe - Once Upon a Child. We have a store about 45 minutes away in Christiansburg so whenever we go shop I have to swing by. They have tons and tons and tons of used (and VERY nice - not at all Goodwill-ish) baby and kid's clothes, toys, strollers, equipment, and also - my current favorite - maternity clothes. I have gotten several pair of pants that were desperately needed! I can't wait to go and look at little girl clothes now!!

4. And finally...I have started on the nursery. The nursery used to be the 'storage' room in the house but now with the storage building it was finally able to be cleaned out, sorted through, and transformed. I am still getting ideas and trying to figure everything out but it's nice to know it's a blank slate now (and not a pile of crap). I like to go in and just stand sometimes to get ideas. It becomes a little more real every day - unbelievable!

So, there you have my past few weeks in review. Hopefully I will make a decision on cameras soon - I can't handle this! Little baby girl Morrison is growing like a weed - my belly is sure proof of it. I am still feeling really good other than she has taken up residence on my back again but it's manageable! Oh - and if anyone has psychic powers out there, please tell me where my camera is! Thanks :)

It's A....

2008-12-22T10:52:00.003-05:00

Picture Updates at the bottom!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GIRL!! (See, I knew it!) I will post ultrasound pictures later this afternoon once I can scan them and upload them - that is, after I finish grouting the mud room. We laid stone tile in the mud room this past weekend and it's my job today (since I am off and everything...) to grout. I WOULD post pictures however my camera has sprouted legs and run away so whenever it returns from it's vacation I will post pictures of the mud room and also our new out building the 'men folk' built over the weekend.

Pictures will follow of Little Miss Morrison later :)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok - some of the pictures that I uploaded :) - I left out her 'private parts' because, well, the girl has to have SOME modesty and there were a lot that looked very similar. I didn't add any arrows but I will explain what you are looking at!

Here she is facing down and you can see her spine perfectly and the outline of her body. Also, if you look closely, her mouth is open - we swear she was sucking her thumb during part of the ultrasound.

Curled up in classic 'fetal position' - this is a side shot and you can see her back and bottom and her leg and foot from this angle.

By far my favorite picture - she is giving us the 'thumbs up' that everything is A-OK in there!

The jury is still out whether I will do the 3D/4D ultrasound. They seem a little creepy to me and if I can wait this long I can wait a few more months to see her!

Merry Christmas by the way if I don't get around to posting again!!

Wedding Bells

2008-12-19T16:44:00.005-05:00

Today, I am 20 weeks pregnant so, 5 months if you want to count like that. Tomorrow, I will have been married for 5 years! I uploaded some pictures from our album and thought I would share just a little bit about our wedding day.

We did NOT have a big wedding, that's for sure! Both of us were no where even remotely interested in having a large, extravagant event where half the world was invited. No offense to those of you who had that kind of wedding - they are very fun to go to, just not for me to be in!

We got married on December 20, 2003 - a Saturday. All in that same week, I had graduated from college, moved all of my belongings out of my apartment in Banner Elk to the house we had found here in Wytheville, and then got married on Saturday. It all looked perfectly acceptable on paper - it was a little more tiring than I had expected though! Luckily, there wasn't much planning on my part or anyone's part for that matter. We decided to get married at a wedding chapel in Gatlinburg, TN. Now, that sounds tacky, like going to Las Vegas, but I had done a lot of searching for 'the place' and found a chapel that was NOT on the main strip (haha) and was very elegant in my view.

The chapel did everything for us - they set us up with flowers, a photographer, music, even a video tape of the wedding! All I had to do was show up and get dressed! Easy!! It had snowed the night before so everything was coated in just the 'right' amount of snow (pretty in pictures but not panic mode to drive in!). It all worked out wonderfully and I have never regretted doing it that way for a moment.

Here are a few pictures I scanned that were some of my favorites from 'the day'. This will be our last anniversary with just the two of us but we are both so excited about what is to come :) Don't forget, we find out Monday whether it's a boy or a girl! I will try my best to post that afternoon so I don't have a disappointed crowd waiting for me. We'll see if our poll turned out correctly!

My gracious we both look so young!

Bread Baking

2008-12-09T18:36:00.004-05:00

I got real domestic over the weekend and tried my hand at making bread. I just got a WONDERFUL Kitchenaide mixer and have used every possible excuse to use it (I almost used it to make meatballs last night to mix the ingredients but felt like that was going a little too far).

So anyway, I made Honey Oatmeal Bread and it turned out FABULOUS! I have never, ever made bread before - not yeast bread anyway, but figured - hey, how hard can it possibly be? Not very is the answer! It was so easy with the help from the mixer. It has a bread hook so I virtually had to just pour in the ingredients in the correct order and it did the rest - mixing, kneading, etc. I couldn't believe it! After mixing it had to rise for an hour then divide into loaves and pans and rise for another hour (actually it rose for about 2 hours the second time because we snuck off to the antique mall for a little bit) and pop it in the oven!

Vola! We have bread - isn't it pretty? A good job for my first loaf of bread if I do say so (actually there are two loaves and the other one didn't come out of it's pan...at all...so it got a little butchered. Live and learn)

By the way, it was sooo good! It's very dense and sweet because of the honey. I will definitely make this again!

Baby Bump

2008-12-06T15:57:00.002-05:00

Not the best picture but it will have to do with Mrs. Un-photogenic here!

Baby Bump at 18 weeks pregnant :)

I still feel like I am at that awkward stage where people can't tell that I am pregnant that don't know me and it just looks like I like to eat! I can no longer 'suck in' my belly and it's definitely firm - so it will start to round out soon! More updates to come!

Speculations

2008-12-05T21:09:00.003-05:00

Just a quick post to let everyone know my ultrasound is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 22nd! Logan's and my anniversary is the 20th and then of course Christmas is just around the corner so this will definitely be a double present! I am eager to find out if it is a little miss or mister Morrison in there although I have had a hunch since the beginning! No telling right now though - I don't want to 'influence' the poll although boy is clearly winning. I WILL get a 'baby bump' shot up over the weekend - I tried to get one with the camera's self timer and that did NOT go well - belly angles are hard to get by yourself without the rest of you looking like a swollen hippo. I am curious why so many people think that it's a boy though - I enjoy hearing all of the speculation!
To influence the speculation here is my short list of my pregnancy so far -

- very little morning sickness in the first trimester, more mild nausea than anything
- I have had about every illness to go around school though - crappy immune system
- The weight I am gaining seems to be all in my stomach area. I haven't gained THAT much yet and hope it stays that way!
- My face went through an awkward teenage stage where it decided to break out like crazy but is clearing up nicely now
- Acid reflux has now set in some evenings which is SUPER since I have never in my life had this or heart burn or anything of that sort
- I started feeling the baby move around 16 weeks and it is definitely 'spunky' now at 18 weeks - last night it kicked so hard I felt it on the outside of my stomach with my hand - I wish Logan could have felt it but it decided to go to sleep when he came over!

So, short list but interesting - maybe it will help with the voting :) I am not going to tell what I think Baby M is until I find out (I would hate to be wrong)! Baby bump pic will follow soon :) Have a great chilly weekend!!

Updates

2008-12-02T19:32:00.006-05:00

Here are some updates on what's been going on since I wrote last:

I am a little concerned (but not really!) at the amount of snow we have gotten so far this year and it's not even Christmas yet! We were out of school 2 days before Thanksgiving. We were supposed to go back to school Monday (yesterday) but have had 2 snow days so far. Not that I am complaining! I have gotten all sorts of things taken care of and semi-cleaned around the house (I shampooed carpets today!). The bad news is I think this means we are in for a nasty winter. The good news is that any days that are tacked on to the end of the school year - I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT! Not that I am rubbing it in anyone's face and not that I am going to have it so much easier with a baby instead of a classroom full of 4th graders...I'm just saying :)

We still have the kittens that we are fostering and I can't believe the change in them in the few weeks we've had them. The black kitten that was so timid and shy is now the first one to come out and jump on my lap to snuggle. They both run around the house at a million miles an hour to play and are an endless source of entertainment. We are currently looking for an indoor home for them (hopefully before the holidays) and I would really like them to stay together since they are so close with each other. Four cats sleeping on the bed is just a little too much for me - especially since I am starting to get to the uncomfortable sleeping stage where I can't seem to get myself settled...

Although I haven't showed anything in awhile I have several knitting projects going on. I am finishing up a pair of mittens and a matching hat for my sister-in-law for Christmas. These are my first mittens I have done. I am about halfway done with the second one - the snow days have helped keep me knitting-motivated. I have decided though I don't like knitting things that come in twos - like socks and mittens, etc...I think it gets monotonous after awhile because I already know how it's going to turn out. Here is a picture of the first finished mitten -

The yarn is a little darker than the picture leads on but it is beautiful. It's purple with mixed in pinks and blues which you can see up close. I hope she likes them (and hope she doesn't read this! If so - act surprised!!). I don't know why the picture is blurry there - it's not blurry on my camera or computer - I will look into that and get a better picture...

So that's about it that's exciting in the Morrison house. I have a Dr. appointment on Friday and am supposed to be getting scheduled for my ultrasound to figure out if it is a boy or girl baby Morrison. I really need to have Logan take a picture to show my 'baby bump' - it's getting there! I will be 18 weeks this Friday! Can you believe it? I will try to get a belly picture on sometime this week to help with my 'boy or girl poll' up in the corner - if you haven't make sure you vote! Hopefully next week the ACTUAL results will be revealed!!

Cute Kittens and Crazy Hormones

2008-11-14T17:22:00.004-05:00

The pregnancy hormones that wreck my emotional stability have definitely kicked in this week - I think everything under the sun has put me in a state close to breaking down in tears - and over nothing really.

My week started off terrible just to let you know. The stomach flu is going around school like wildfire and guess who happens to get it? Of course. It started Monday morning before I left for school and I honestly thought it was just 'pregnancy' related even though I hadn't had morning sickness in over 3 weeks. I figured - ah, maybe it comes and goes. The problem was I didn't feel better afterwards like I normally do. By the time my 10:30 Reading Class rolled around it was all I could do to listen to one more kid read aloud and finally threw their quiz in the front of the room, told them to read the next 2 chapters and take a quiz and I would be back soon. I spent the next 10-15 minutes in the bathroom/nurse's office. It definitely went downhill after I was able to get a sub in and went home and crawled into bed. I ended up taking Monday off too and wasn't really able to eat a full meal or feel hungry until just yesterday (Thursday!!). Ooh - I feel bad for anyone else that is unfortunate enough to get this!

So, like I said the tearing up has increased. We read Stone Fox in one of my Reading classes and let's just say it's a good thing they finished the book while I was out sick because I read the rest on my own and was glad no one was around to see it. Why oh why to people write children's' books where the heroic pet DIES at the end? Not good in my case - we DEFINITELY won't be reading 'Where the Red Fern Grows' this year! Everything on tv and the news has made me about have a breakdown too - it's driving me crazy and I can see Logan look at me like he's ready to have me committed!

Another fun hormone-related 'perk' is that my face has recently started breaking out like I was in high school again. I THOUGHT I WAS OVER THIS! I read somewhere that says bad skin is associated with a certain gender of baby but can't remember off the top of my head now. We'll see if that is indeed the case!

Now for some cuter news :)

We are kitten-sitting for the weekend while our friends Billy and Rita are out of town. Logan and Billy work together and are notorious for finding stray animals while they are out surveying. I guess it's their rural locations but a couple of weeks ago they stumbled across these two babies while out. They were as wild as a kitten you could find and Billy and Rita are fostering them and taming them until they can get adopted from the shelter.

The gray one has really come around and is very friendly and playful and likes being held and petted. The grumpy-faced black one is still a major scardy cat and has hidden every chance he gets. He is my project for the night and is sitting nervously on my lap while I type so he can try to get used to being a pet instead of a wild beast :)

The only thing else I can say is I am so glad it's the weekend and I think tomorrow we are going to appease the pregnancy hormones and go see the mighty easy-on-the-eyes Daniel Craig in the new James Bond movie. Fun times! Have a good weekend and hope it's not to cold and rainy your way!!

Not for the Soft Hearted

2008-11-08T11:20:00.003-05:00

Logan has been talking for months now that he is going to be a big hunter this year so we can save money on meat (goes along with our canning I guess?) and get a deer. He went out in the woods for the very first time ever hunting on Wednesday. This is what happened....

Yep. That's a 9 point buck. He was out in the woods for oh...about maybe an hour? And note the clothing - yep, that's what he wore hunting. I think he did have on a green fleece over the shirt. No camo for this hunter. Now, many years ago this might have bothered me but not so much anymore. I see it as the good of the cause and we will be eating it and there are only about 50 billion more back there without any natural predators so I am feeling ok about this.

He spent about 4 hours doing all of the dirty work and getting the meat packaged the other night so we have a freezer full of deer. I think tomorrow I am going to make some deer stew and can it at my in-laws house. My canning book has a very yummy looking recipe for beef stew so I don't see why I can't substitute. We'll see how that goes! Just wanted to share Logan's big moment of his very first hunting trip. Beginner's luck!!

Don't Be A Chicken!

2008-11-04T17:34:00.004-05:00

This poor girl has been on the fence about who she is voting for...hopefully you weren't and went out and voted today! We got up early at went before there was a crowd (although I doubt at our rural voting location there would be much of a crowd ever). Now the waiting begins of finding out who will become our new Prez during this very historical election!

**Note - there have been about 2 hens and both of the guineas who have discovered this new trick of jumping onto the roof of the coop then jumping on to the fence. They have been doing it for about a month now and they just sit up on the fence (or like this one who walked ALL the way around the fence) and then just jump back into the pen. They have never once tried to escape - just wanted to look around I guess! I don't think they will jump out because they don't want to be separated from the rest of the flock. It's funny watching them waddle around the top of the fence though and just look around and be curious!

Shadow Cats

2008-10-29T17:17:00.005-04:00

On any given sunny day, you will find the cats behind the curtain in the master bathroom basking in the sun. Normally they just lay there (one at a time of course - Cleo doesn't like her space invaded!). On this particular day, I was lucky enough to have my camera close by to catch the shadow puppet play the cats were acting out!

Cleo is blissfully unaware of the danger lurking in every corner as she basks in the sun.

Suddenly out of nowhere, Gabby prepares a sneak-attack that sends Cleo scrambling for safer territory.

Gabby is overwhelmed by the beauty of the setting sun and takes a minute to soak it all in.

After staring at the sun for a little too long, Gabby carefully feels her way out of the mysterious secret kitty hiding place.

Oh, hey you guys, I was just...cleaning behind the curtains...

Ida

2008-10-21T19:37:00.005-04:00

I have had Ida since I was in probably 4th or 5th grade. "She" was a science fair project although I can't even remember what the project was. She survived it though whatever it was.

Meet Ida:

Yep, Ida is a plant. I am pretty sure she is Swedish Ivy but I might be mistaken as I have never seen another one in a store. Ida is definitely one of the most resilient plants I have ever owned - she has managed to survive with less than perfect light conditions, lazy watering, and a year in a sweltering germ-infested 3rd grade classroom. A pretty tough cookie if you do ask me!

So, the reason I am writing about Ida is because for only the 2nd time since I have owned her (that I know of!) she has bloomed! The first time it happened was not long after I had been married and had her in my classroom. The second time was just last week. I have never seen flowers like this - they are very dainty white flowers with small purple dots on them. Very, very pretty.

I must be doing something right because she must be happy. Hopefully she will be with me for many years to come (already made it through 17!)

Getting Bigger!

2008-10-19T18:21:00.004-04:00

I am talking about the chickens' eggs, not my waistline if you were wondering! Up until now our eggs have just been 'medium' sized. Last night, we got a whopper!

In case you are wondering, that is an 'antique' Jiffy Way egg scale. Very accurate too - we have tried many store bought eggs on it and they always register with their boxed promise of 'large' or 'extra-large', etc. My father gave that to me after knowing I was always fascinated with it and was searching for one of my own. These babies go for about $40-50 for the old ones. Not even sure if you can buy new ones although I am sure you can some where!

Hanging in There

2008-10-16T19:03:00.004-04:00

I know I know I KNOW! I have been so lame lately - not been a good friend at all with writing. Every afternoon I have the best intentions of sitting down and writing - I swear I even have ideas. But then I get home, change into some less binding clothes (all clothes are becoming binding nowadays!) and boy....that bed looks so comfortable....and I am so sleepy....just for a few minutes....and BAM - it's 6:00 and time to make dinner! So goes just about every one of my afternoons as of late.

I am finally better after last week - I was pretty sure I was going to die! As I said before, I started off the week with a super bad cold and wasn't sleeping very well because of it. Last Monday, after waking up several times to blow my nose, I was awakened by a searing pain in my back. Not to be gross but it hurt so bad I got physically sick. I managed to tough it out until morning when I could call my dr. and they had me come in and found out I had a kidney stone! Yikes! I got sent up to the hospital to get an ultrasound done on my kidneys and bladder (they didn't find anything unusual so I guess it was a small 'un). The only good thing I got out of it was the u/s tech let me see the baby and even let me hear the heartbeat - the first time! It was so neat but I was kind of sad Logan wasn't there to see it (he went to work before I went to the dr. and neither one of us thought I would have to go to the hospital!).

So that was my wild ride last week. I felt better by the weekend and ended up going to Rogersville for the weekend to Heritage Days - a neat but VERY crowded festival celebrating Rogersville's past complete with food, crafts, and Civil War reenactments. I hadn't been in awhile so thought I would go before I had a little one to tote around.

Not much other new news - the chickens are still laying their 1-2 eggs a day. Who would have thought we would get so excited about eggs! Unfortunately eating eggs isn't on the top of my list in the mornings - the smell of cooking eggs makes me queasy - not the taste, just the smell...Hopefully I am on the upswing with all of the yucky feelings and tiredness - can you believe that next Friday I will be 3 months preggo already? 1st trimester is almost mastered! Woo! Bare with me until my energy returns and I will get back into the swing of things - and hopefully I will have a cute baby belly (not just chubby belly) to show off! Have a good Friday and weekend!!

Earning Their Keep

2008-10-06T18:29:00.004-04:00

I meant to blog all weekend. I had really good intentions. Logan was gone to a horse training clinic in North Carolina and I had a huge list of things I wanted to get done - clean the house, rent some chick-flick movies, make pepper jelly, get some Christmas presents knitted...Unfortunately I learned a hard lesson this weekend - being pregnant and sick are not good combinations - especially on the weekend when you can't call your doctor to get medicine recommendations!

I developed a very nasty head cold over the weekend which cut many of my plans short. I cleaned on Saturday and that was about the extent of my productivity - the rest was spent sleeping and blowing my nose - not fun. I even did something I never do today - take a half a day off! Gasp!! I am starting to feel slightly better though and hope I have dealt with the worst of it!

Logan came home today and made a wonderful discovery since I haven't gotten down to the chicken coop since Sunday morning -

One of our girls laid her first eggs! Now, of course there is NO telling which one it is - we figure it is probably our 'little red hen' but unless we see one setting, it's hard to tell with all of those girls running around down there! Hopefully the others will follow in her footsteps and we'll have an egg business up and running!!

Hopefully I will be back in the blogging swing of things VERY shortly - I have several neat things I am eager to share as well as some cute knitting projects I have wrapped up! I am venturing into mittens as we speak - yikes! As for now, I think it's time to go crawl into bed (so much for the papers I brought home to grade on my 'half a day off'). HA!

Daisy Sweater - Finished!

2008-09-27T16:26:00.005-04:00

What to do on a rainy, nasty Saturday? Finish my Baby Daisy Sweater of course! It's about time too! I have been working on this since summer and I feel like it has taken me forever! Mostly because I started back to school then of course there is the all-the-time tiredness so that hasn't been helpful. I finished knitting it at the beginning of the week and finished sewing the sleeves up and sewing in all of the loose ends and putting it's buttons on this afternoon. I still need to wash and block it to make the border lay down but I am very pleased with my work!

If you are a knitter and interested in the pattern, you can find it here.

I knitted it on size 6 needles with Paton's Shetland Chunky Tweed in Earthy Brown. I loved the colors for either a boy or a girl so it was perfect! The yarn is so thick and soft and will be a great winter sweater. I plan on making a hat to match it but that might wait for a couple of Christmas presents to be finished (oh yeah, and my Brea Bag that STILL needs to be sewn - will do before casting on anything else!).

So, here are pics of my days hard work. I am not 100% happy with the quality of the pictures, I think it makes the yarn look too shiny - which it's not - and you can't see as much detail but you get the idea :)

Can You See It Now?

2008-09-23T19:18:00.005-04:00

I promise I am not going to be one of those crazy ladies that forces her ultra sound pictures in your face and swears that it's smiling at you or there's it's little hand/foot/privates. I just thought you might want to see my first pics of 'baby Morrison'.

I went yesterday after school for my first sonogram and was surprised of how quick it was. After sitting in the doctor's office for around 45 minutes (30 minutes past my appt. time!) I went in, was gelled up, and as quick as that the technician found little baby in there! It was a very unreal experience I think. I mean, I saw the little baby (sea monkey?) and even saw it's little beating heart but I still don't "feel" like something is growing inside of me or has a heart beat! Yikes!! BUT it was very cool to see. So, here are baby's first pics -

Picture number 1 - the line running through the baby (sea monkey) is actually it's length. The number 1 is at the top of it's 'head' and the line extends down to it's bottom. The bump opposite of it is the 'egg sack'. Weird.

I added a green (gender neutral) arrow to show where little Morrison is in this one - it's unzoomed so it's not as grainy but it's also a little harder to point out.

So, first of many baby pictures to come. At this point, I really don't think I will be interested in the 4-D ultrasounds. They kind of creep me out and I have heard of more people being disappointed with them then I have of people really loving them. Plus I already have to wait 9 (10!) months to see the baby - why rush it? Plus it's expensive and insurance definitely won't be covering that!

To complete my Journey to Doctors, tomorrow I get to spend my wonderful after school hours at the dentist for a check up. Hopefully the baby hasn't ruined my perfect cavity-free teeth!

Bump Watch

2008-09-18T18:55:00.006-04:00

I have discovered something I find really strange lately - I guess it's not that strange, just more uncomfortable. Most people at school at this point know I am pregnant and are very happy to give me all sorts of advice and hints and ask how I am doing. I love that part - I am so glad I work with so many nice, wonderful people. The weird thing is now when most people pass me in the hallway, they smile and say hi then look at my stomach. Not just glance but stare my tummy down.

At first I thought it was just me being psycho but I am noticing it more and more. I guess they are on 'bump watch' (some swear I am already getting a little baby belly, I think it's more of a junk food belly but who am I to argue?). I feel like I am way too early to start to get a little bump but I think a lot of it is I feel really bloated and retaining water so maybe that's it. I have already had to resort to the Bella Band on several pair of pants so I don't have the sensation of being cut in two! Anything tight around my stomach right now is NOT a pleasant feeling.

Oh - and the morning sickness has kicked in. yea. That's not even justified to be capitalized! I thought it was all in my head at first and I was just 'making' myself sick by expecting it. This morning at school I almost yakked though :( I walked around the halls slowly before school started and that seemed to help and slow deep breathing helped it pass. I am not really a thrower-upper so maybe all I will get is the nausea? Please? I can't be leaving my class to go ralph every morning. I am trying a lot of remedies but let me tell you - it is awfully hard to put something in your mouth when you feel like everything is going to be coming out!

So that's the latest news in the big exciting new drama. My weekend (which can't get here soon enough!) is going to be filled with more tomato canning (tomato sauce this time!) and then a trip to Roanoke on Sunday for a soccer game. Logan is coaching traveling soccer and well, we'll be traveling. I won't always be able to 'travel' with him so I am going when I can and it will be a fun little trip up the road!

Cold Weather Wishing

2008-09-15T17:05:00.002-04:00

I am so ready for fall that I can barely stand myself. Around the middle of September I feel like it should be fall now - not blazing hot summer still. Over the weekend it got near the 90's here. Um, so that would be all well and good if I lived AT THE BEACH but I live in the mountains where it's not supposed to get that hot even in August in summer! By the time school starts back I am longing for long sleeve shirts, sweaters, and pants - I am so sick of it being unbearably hot outside.

Today was a slight relief with 77 degrees but I am ready for the crisp, cool 'football' weather and ready to bundle up...Not to mention I have some nice knitted stuff that is aching to be worn :) Luckily I didn't knit any sweaters or anything 'form fitting' because with fall and winter will come a bigger waistline - not because of all of the yummy 'comfort' foods though!

Sea Monkey

2008-09-11T18:56:00.004-04:00

I know the added widget to the right is slightly creepy right now but won't it be cool to see how much the baby changes from week to week? Right now Logan and I are jokingly calling it the 'sea monkey' because - come on, it really doesn't look like a human baby yet huh? I have a hard time visualizing this growing into a baby but maybe all new overly obsessive overly researching mothers feel this way? I have already read so many books and articles and websites that I feel qualified to deliver a baby by myself!

I am kind of looking forward to feeling 'more pregnant' - right now there isn't much changes other than what I mentioned before of the extreme exhaustion - I went to bed at a scary 9:30 last night and didn't MOVE until the alarm went off! Logan said Cleo the cat crawled under the covers with us last night but I had no clue - that's about the only major thing is that I used to be such a light sleeper and now not much (other than my bladder) wakes me up at night! Oh - an increased bra size is another change but I am not sure you wanted to know that!

So, enjoy watching Baby Sea Monkey grow for now - MAYBE I will get to bring home an exciting picture after my first ultra-sound on the 22nd? Will I become one of those crazy moms that frames the picture? Will it hang on the fridge? Only time will tell! For now, I need to go finish the LAST FLIPPIN' SLEEVE of the baby Daisy sweater - it's taking for-ev-er!

Surprise!

2008-09-10T16:36:00.004-04:00

So my mom kind of spilled the beans first if you read her blog too.

If you haven't, let me be the first to share with you my new and exciting news - there will be a brand new Morrison come May! Yep, I am pregnant!

Now don't think I lied to you with me swearing that knitting the baby stuff was just for fun and for a while in the future. Honestly, I didn't think it would happen as quick as it did :)

Logan and I are both very excited though - I had my first doctors appointment today and I am 6 weeks along. Yes - VERY early (some people shudder at telling people so early, but I really can't keep it to my self much longer :))

I don't plan on my blog becoming SOLELY a pregnancy blog but it will keep everybody updated on what's going on and how I am doing and what's new and hopefully all of you 'already mothers' will give me lots and lots of advice.

So far, I am feeling really good except for being insanely tired in the evenings! I do the sleep of the dead at night and now even that is interrupted with a trip to the bathroom once (or twice like last night). Some of my jeans are getting snug with bloat - not baby yet but I am sure I won't be in them for much longer!

So........I will keep a constant update - I go the 22nd for my first ultra sound which I already can't wait! Yea!

Cow Horse Challenge

2008-09-07T09:21:00.006-04:00

At this time of year, Logan and I tend to go to a lot of horse events - a lot of fairs, rodeo-type events and others. Last night we went to something we had never been to before - cattle sorting at the Abingdon Cow Horse Challenge.

Let me try my best to explain cattle sorting. My favorite way to explain it is it's like playing pool with horses and cows. There are two pens set up and they are attached by a small passage-way (they kind of look like an '8'). There are 10 young cows with numbers 0-9 and one 'spare cow' without a number. There are two riders on horseback and the object is to get the cows into the other pen in numerical order without letting the spare cow go through. It's different every time because the announcer gives the riders a number to start with - they might have to start with number 4, then go 5,6,7,8,9,0,1,2 and 3. It is WAY harder than it sounds because those cows want to bust through to the other side or not go through at all. The riders have 90 seconds to get the cattle through and if one goes in out of order or the spare cow goes through, they are disqualified.

Now, I can hear my mother now saying 'that's cruel for the cows'. Other than the numerical thing which just makes it more challenging, there is a lot of history in ranch work in competitions like this. Say there is a sick or injured cow or one that just needs to be checked on, riders would have to separate the herd to get to that particular cow or maybe they are selling some of the cows and not the others, they would have to separate them into two herds. If you are familiar with any of these events, team roping and cutting are other 'practical' competitions. I am very sure you can find all of these events if you did a search on youtube!

I couldn't believe the amount of people there last night - it started around 6:30-7:00 (it was supposed to start at 6!) and we left at 9:30 and it was still in full swing going on! I think they said they had around 350 teams there competing (teams could consist of some of the same people - just switched up) - at the rate they were going, they might still be out there this morning! Logan and I both said they should have started it WAY earlier in the day but I don't think they were expecting the turn out that showed up. All in all, it was a lot of fun to watch and while we were there, only 1 team (an all girl team!) got all of the cattle through! Oh - another highlight of my night? Deep-fried Oreos. A funnel-cake-like batter on the outside and on the inside they were warm and soft. YUM! You GOTTA love fair food :)

The horses and riders warm up before the competition.

Trying to pick out the first cow

The first one gets through!

Blocking the entrance so the others don't go through.

Spectators

Homemade

2008-09-04T18:15:00.005-04:00

Recipe for Ashley's Famous Homemade Tomato Soup (not that famous - it's from a recipe book and tweaked by my mother-in-law):

Ingredients:
15 gallons of tomatoes (I use just a mixture of tomatoes - no one type particularly - this batch had Big Boys, Romas, and heirlooms)
10 onions
1 stalk celery (I like celery so I add more - for 15 gallons I would add 6 stalks)
fresh basil and parsley to taste
1/2 c. butter
6 tbs. salt
16 tbs. sugar
4 tsp. pepper (less if you don't like it spicy)

Wash and cut up tomatoes - no need to peel. Chop onion, celery, parsley, and basil and add to tomatoes. Cook until celery is tender. Put through sieve and put back on the stove. Add butter to soup and stir. Add sugar, salt, and pepper. Run through sieve again if desired (I never do this a second time - I like it thick).

Fill jars within 1 inch of top and process in boiling bath for 45 minutes.

*I usually just do 5 gallons of tomatoes at a time since I really don't have pots big enough to fill with 15 gallons of chopped tomatoes! Everything measures down very easily and this is really hard to mess up if you have a little more or a little less of something! I am sure you could even cut it way down so you are just making a batch or two for eating as long as you have a food mill or strainer. Enjoy (or just come visit us on soup and grilled cheese night!

Conspiracy

2008-09-03T19:44:00.007-04:00

I am pretty sure the tomatoes are plotting against me in their hopes they will live their whole lives in the garden without being consumed. All summer they didn't do anything - we were afraid we were hardly going to get any tomatoes off of them despite it being a nice semi-cool semi-wet summer. All of a sudden, I start back to work and the tomatoes are cranking out at a dizzying speed! Just what I want to do on my precious weekend is can a million tomatoes.

Last weekend we got a whole 5 gallon bucket full. Tonight I went out and picked and got another bucket full!!

These might be destine for soup also - I only had 7 quarts and I know we will use much more than that over the winter through next summer. It's not like we won't get more! The NEXT batch will probably be just Romas for tomato sauce.

I thought I would add some pics of our pretty chickens now that they are mostly grown up. The still have some filling out to do but it's neat to see how they turned out - especially the mixed batch we got at first. Most of those were roosters (of course). The black and white striped one is still to be determined whether it is a he or a she (right now we are calling it Pat - hahaha). The roosters have started crowing with their awkward teenage-rooster voices. Pretty amusing if you ask me!

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-01T19:35:00.009-04:00

What is it about a long weekend that makes me not want to sit still and burn it up as fast as it can go? This weekend, Logan and I traveled to Banner Elk for the Holston Camp staff reunion which is held every 3 years on Labor Day weekend.

We didn't leave until Saturday morning and stayed until around lunch on Sunday - not long but a lot of activity packed into 2 days! We saw a lot of good friends and did some shopping in Valle Crucis and Boone! If you remember, camp is where Logan and I met so it holds a very near and dear place in our hearts as well as being a very spiritual place for the both of us.

We saw the brand new Lake Lyons, stayed and slept out in Rustic (cabins without electricity!) and ate a lot of GOOD camp food! Yum! Here are a few pics from the weekend:

Logan and I with Lake Lyons in the background - there's a super cool zip line that goes across the lake that made me wish I brought my bathing suit!

Logan takes a rest in our cabin at Hill Top in rustic.

Becca and Blake make their beds in the cabin.

Can you believe that all behind Logan used to be a lake? There were problems with the dam and about 3 years ago they drained the whole thing and have yet to refill it. Supposedly in a few months it will be refilled! Poor Wildcat Lake!

Wonderful Camp girl friends! From left to right - Garrett, Jessica and her super cute baby Finley, me, Becca, and Valerie.

So that basically was my weekend. Today I tried to rest but ended up canning tomato soup (the tomatoes are finally pouring in from the garden) and then going to the river to swim and cook out and rest. Now it's time to start thinking about this week and school and get everything planned and caught up on laundry. No wonder I have been so tired at night!

Starting Over

2008-08-23T17:01:00.006-04:00

I got my computer back this week and I would have posted sooner BUT all of the programs had been wiped off my computer. Ahhhh! In order to get rid of the particularly nasty virus that was on my computer, Windows had to be completely wiped out and started over. I did save my files but all of my programs like my Kodak camera picture software and iTunes and everything else I had on here at one point were wiped away. I think after several days of working with it, I finally have everything back to almost normal....Which means I have pictures again!

Here is the Yoda Baby sweater I finished and got all stitched up before it was time for me to go back to school. It was such an easy pattern but the worst part was stitching up all it's little seams. I am really pleased with how it turned out! Now hopefully it will fit a baby!!

The sweater wraps kimono-style around the baby so you don't have to deal with trying to fit it over a wiggly baby's head - a neat concept!

I am about 70% finished with the next sweater of my new favorite yarn - Paton's Chunky Tweed in Earthy Brown. It is so soft and snuggly. I made this in a bigger size and all I have left to do is the raglan sleeves. The yarn isn't nearly as shiny as the picture shows it to be.

Other than knitting, school is back to being my life! I miss summer already but I do have a FUN weekend ahead of me next weekend when I get to meet up with old camp buddies at the Holston Camp Staff reunion! Now THAT I will take pictures of :) If you recall, that is the camp where Logan and I met and a lot of my best friends were made (City Mouse!). I can not wait and hopefully this week will fly by with students starting back on Wednesday.

Oh - one more fun thought - we have a ton of drawings for things at our Countywide Conference for school starting back and I won a $25 gift card to Starbucks! Now THAT will help me start back to school!!!!

Last Day of Freedom

2008-08-19T10:40:00.005-04:00

Before I get on with what I was originally going to post I just saw something intriguing on tv - a woman that 'sleep ate' and gained 60 pounds - I swear I think I have the same problem!! That could explain a LOT of why I can't seem to lose any weight despite strong (could be a lot stronger!) efforts. I need to watch that tonight - haha

Today is my last day of summer break freedom. If I got as much done this summer as I have in the past 2 days, Logan might let me stay home permanently (if we won the lotto of course). I have peeled, cut, and cored a jillion apples, made apple pie filling for this winter and canned that, got up way earlier than I should have and went to the cannery this morning and made and canned a jillion cans of applesauce, cleaned out my closet and made a 'skinny clothes' box that will sit in a corner until I shed some pounds, and would really like to finish stitching up the Brea Bag and Yoda sweater today. Whew - I should sleep good tonight although the looming thoughts of going to back to work tomorrow will keep me up!

Our pantry that we usually keep our canned goods in is busting its seems this year! It has been such a good growing and canning season and we'll definitely eat good this winter (the skinny clothes box might not see the light of day for a long while). We have green beans, cherries, peaches, applesauce, and hopefully soon my garden full of tomatoes will start to ripen. We have been getting a few red ones to eat on in the mean time. I am not a HUGE fan of raw tomatoes and never have been BUT I ate a tomato sandwich last night for dinner with a slice of cheese and a sprinkle of Greek seasoning and I could have eaten 5 more! It was sooooooo good!!! That might be what I have for lunch today - yum!

I still have a full list of things I want to accomplish today including getting caught up laundry, making an apple pie (because I am not TOTALLY sick of apples yet and only have 2 blisters from peeling and slicing and coring) and maybe shampoo the carpet. Yes I am going to need some more caffeine before this day is over. Whew - should sleep good tonight!

(I promise I will have my computer back soon and pictures to complement - I am still on Logan's computer)

Lazy Friday

2008-08-15T10:48:00.003-04:00

This is my last Friday to myself. Next Friday at this time I will be sitting in our County-wide conference to 'open up' the new school year. hooray. I still have next Monday and Tuesday too BUT this is my last FRIDAY. So....I have declared this my 'Lazy Friday'

On Lazy Friday I WILL:
-Stay in my pajamas as long as possible
-Watch Olympic games, no matter how trivial (table tennis anyone?)
-Knit, knit, and knit
-Only leave the couch to get something to eat, go to the bathroom, or let the dogs out
-Possibly take a nap (even though I slept in)

On Lazy Friday I WILL NOT:
-Feel guilty about anything on the above list
-Do any amount of housework that can't be put off until Monday
-Get mad at my husband when he asks 'didn't you do anything today?'
-Think about school, lesson plans, students or anything education related

So, there it is. Lazy Friday A new national holiday - in my house anyway. I still have Logan's laptop - which drives me crazy blogging (it has a weird 'tic' where I will be typing and all of a sudden it skips up lines so I am typing in the middle of a random word. I then have to stop, erase, and find my spot again - annoying)

Tomorrow I am off for a girls-day adventure in Winston-Salem with my 'City Mouse' friend! I am REQUIRED to rest up today to be ready for a FULL DAY of shopping, talking, and having general fun! Hopefully by next week I will have my computer back and we'll be back with pictures!

Bare With Me

2008-08-14T15:15:00.002-04:00

It almost always happens this way - one thing goes wrong and a million other things follow. I have been blogging-absent due to my lack of a computer. My computer succumbed to viruses-galore and had to be taken to the computer ER. Hopefully it will be back soon. I just don't understand how I can be so good about where I go online, what I open e-mail-wise, and keep my virus protector updated and I still get slammed with memory-erasing viruses.

Let me take a second to discuss viruses. They honestly tick me off more than anything about computers. Why? Because people are the ones that create them and send them out. These aren't like viruses that we humans get and can't help it - we can help these!! How sad is your life if you want to intentionally destroy people's computers and might not have a lot of SPARE MONEY to get them fixed. Let me warn everyone now - if I ever find out you create and distribute viruses, I will PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE!

Ok, I honestly feel better. I have been working at school all week and I am at a comfortable spot in my classroom where I won't have to go back until we actually start back next Wednesday. That gives me 5 whole days to my self to enjoy the last bit of my summer. I really need to start playing the lottery because I would not complain about being a stay-at-home wife, that's for sure!

Hopefully the next time I post, I will have my computer back - I am on Logan's laptop now and don't have my camera hook up - I guess I could try to figure it out if I don't get mine back soon! In the meantime, I am going to get back to knitting and obsessively watching any Olympic sports that are on TV!

Mystery Project

2008-08-09T11:54:00.006-04:00

So did anyone figure out what the knitted pieces went to? If you guessed baby sweater you are right!

I know what 99.9% of you are thinking right now and NO I am not pregnant - haha. I knew that was going to be the response to knitting this but I have an explanation. Because I am not a speed knitter and I want our future children to have some cute knitted goods before they turn 18, I am starting a 'knit-baby hope chest' of sorts. Huge projects tend to bog me down and cause me to start forty-trillion other little projects while I am working on the big project because I like instant gratification with knitting. Baby clothes are a good solution to this problem! If I have to knit for 30 hours straight before I see any progress I tend to get bored.

This pattern is called the 'Baby Yoda Sweater' and it was so easy - it took me just a little over a week to finish! I still need to finish the seaming and then blocking which I should be able to do this afternoon. It also has ties that you wrap kind of kimono-style and I think I am going to buy ribbon for that instead of doing the suggested I-cord. Of course it is in as 'gender neutral' colors as possible. If you are a member of Ravelry, you can find the pattern there for free - I am sure you might be able to find it somewhere else online but I didn't check. My luck I am going to have a behemoth baby that won't be able to fit it this even though it is up to 6 months on the pattern.

My next baby project will likely be another sweater - maybe in a little bigger size - because I just got some yummy brown 'tweed' yarn that is so soft and I love it so much - it is Patons Shetland Chunky Tweeds in Earthy Brown. I have a few possible choices that I like that I just need to narrow down. First thought I REALLY need to seam together the Brea bag and line it before I cast on anything else!

That was about my week - knitting, working in my new classroom, and oh yeah - canning! I canned 6 quarts of peaches by myself on Wednesday then went over to my mother-in-law's house and canned 7 more quarts of peaches and made 9 pints of sweet pickle relish. Busy! I got the peaches from my parents when they came down to visit this past Monday from their fruit tree! I hope our fruit trees produce as much as theirs one day!

Have a good weekend - I have chores awaiting me since Logan will tell you all I did this week was knit :)

Oh Please Not Yet!

2008-08-06T09:01:00.005-04:00

I know I have been awful about blogging the past couple of weeks. It's all in a desperate attempt for me to hang on to the little bit left of my summer that is quickly coming to an end. Teachers report back to school the 20th so I have 2 weeks as of today. Depressing. What did I do with the last 2 months of my life? Ack! Not enough! I get this way every single year. I could have run marathons and cured diseases all summer and I would still feel this way! It really hit yesterday when I was able to (finally) get into my new classroom (I am changing grades) and start adjusting. I will be headed there shortly whenever my coffee kicks in and I feel ready to start new projects there.

In knitting news, I have everything I need to complete my Brea bag! I made a trip to Joanne's Fabrics yesterday and came out with a cream and brown patterned fabric for my lining and a unique bone button for my closure. I have to sit down and take the time to piece everything together now. In the mean time, I have started a new 'secret' project. Ok it's not really a secret but I will write about it tomorrow. Here are the current pieces for it - I still have 2 more pieces to make and piece it together before it's finished. Anyone have any guesses about what it is? (Mom you don't get a guess since you already know what it is!)

I wish you all could see our cats playing right now - hysterical! Cleo is rarely in the mood to tolerate playing with poor little Gabby but right now she is initiating it and then teasing her by hiding in the dining room chairs and swatting out the back like it's a jail cell. Too cute. I had better be off to school now :( Can't I have just 1 more month? (Maybe we'll get some snow ;) )

Really Corny

2008-07-31T19:07:00.008-04:00

No seriously - this post is all about corn! When Logan got home this afternoon we picked as much corn that was ready from the garden. There are still some ears that aren't ready yet but we had a ton that we picked!

After picking, we went ahead and sat down to shuck it all - if I don't do stuff when I am thinking about it, I tend to forget to do it - or I have to be on a roll and want to do a lot at once.

Doesn't Logan look like a regular farmer in this picture?

The horses love when we shuck corn because they get all of the shucks and silks and will about eat until they are sick! By the way - those are fly masks on their faces and yes they can see through them - we laugh that they look like Robo-horses.

Logan found this 'double ear' while shucking.

We ended up getting 35 ears this go-around and there is still some on the stalks! Now comes the fun part (not really) of cutting it off the ears to freeze. We have found that it freezes better than it cans - it stays crisp. Speaking of, I am being summoned to help wash and cut!

"V" for Victory!

2008-07-29T18:09:00.003-04:00

Finally, today I finished all of the knitting on the Brea Bag! I am getting to the point where I am exhausted with it and just want it to be a purse already, dang it! I finished the gusset earlier - that piece took the longest by far - not because it was difficult - it was just moss stitch - but because it was so repetitive and ended up being over 2 feet long all measured out! Yikes! I then tackled the awful task of the reverse-single crochet along the top which I have ripped out and done over and over and over - never to my liking. Finally instead of using the recommended 2 strands of yarn held together, I used one and ended up being semi-satisfied with it - enough to LET IT GO anyway! All that I have left to do is (1) sew pieces together, (2) wait for handle to come in the mail* and attach (3) find a button and fabric for the lining (4) attach said lining and button

*Sidenote on the handle - I am not usually one to follow a pattern exactly but this one just seemed right. The pattern gave the website for the handle they used and I ended up ordering the same one. I couldn't find anything I liked around here or in fabric/craft stores so I went for this one - I neat braided leather. I can't wait for it to come in!

Oh - another side note on fabric. I probably would have picked out fabric by now but WALMART STOPPED SELLING FABRIC! I knew a lot of them were stopping a year or so ago and I figured ours was safe because it was still there. Low-and-behold I came back from the beach last week and they were WIPED OUT. I am majorly miffed about this - now I have to drive about 30 minutes to find fabric. Not saying I am a hardcore sewer but some of my projects need fabric. Grr!

Enough ranting - it's dinner time and I am hungry, so here's a sneak-peak at the finished pieces of the Brea.

Monday Already?

2008-07-28T11:22:00.003-04:00

Wow - where did my weekend go? It flies when you stay busy I guess! My weekend was packed full but I had so much fun! My high school friend Kim came up from Tennessee to visit (you might remember her from my visit to R-ville and the knitting class) and we definitely didn't sit still very long!

She got here Friday afternoon and when Logan got home from work, we all packed up our things and went camping at Comer's Rock/Hale Lake campground not too far from us in the Jefferson Nat'l Forest. It was soooo nice and peaceful until a group of I would say about 15 people all stuffed themselves into one campground above us and decided that the whole campground wanted to listen to them blare country music from their mini-van and listen to their psycho kids scream all night. You could definitely tell the next morning it was a campground full of grumpy campers...all except for the rowdy group of course who woke up at about 6:00 with their howler-monkey-sounding kid. Can you tell I am still a bit grumpy about the whole situation? A rant for a minute - people that are totally oblivious to other people around them.

Saturday after hiking around that morning and then coming home, we ate lunch and changed into bathing suits and headed down to the river. Our goal was for Logan to drop us off and Kim and I float down the river in our inner-tubes and Logan and his dad were going to canoe up the river and meet us then float back down to where they started with the canoe...Let's just say it didn't exactly work out that way. First, our drop off was way farther away from the canoe put-in than we though. Second, the river was NOT moving - we floated and floated and didn't get very far! After 3 hour of floating Logan finally tracked us down and helped us out about 5 minutes before it started to storm! What luck!

Our goal after that was to head to the New River Valley Fair and watch the bull riding and barrel racing but it didn't work out that way. Kim and I were exhausted from paddling down the river and being out in the sun so long plus it was raining pretty hard so we stayed in and Kim and I knit and watched movies.

It was a super fun visit and I wish I had pictures but we were so busy I didn't have any time to take any!!

Catching up to today, I got to wake up early this morning to meet our farrier to have Daisy reshod. While we were at the beach, she threw a shoe so it was time to get her a new set! Other than that, I have been working on laundry and searching for new knitting patterns to start on after I finish my Brea Bag - which I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! The gusset is over halfway done and hopefully will be finished this week!

To leave everyone today, I was searching online for knitting patterns and can't believe how many *weird* things there are to knit out there! I found most of these on www.knittingpatterncentral.com. Let's just say some people have WAY too much time on their hands and must really be hard up for knitting! Here are just a few that I found that made me laugh -

A knit digestive track

A fu-Manchu mustache

And knit toilet paper - hope it doesn't get confused with the regular t.p.!

Too Funny!

2008-07-24T19:05:00.001-04:00

I have laughed over this literally all day. I LOVE the Muppets and hope you enjoy this as much as I have. Tomorrow's Friday!

Cookin' with Cables!

2008-07-23T15:35:00.004-04:00

I had all of the intentions of finishing my Brea Bag I had started knitting. I finished the front (back?) while at the beach and started on the gusset that connects the 2 parts together. The front and back went really fast but now the gusset is pretty repetitive which after all of the fun cables, has become a little boring. Hopefully I will finish most of it tonight - I am getting together with a friend to do a little knitting and chatting. After I finish that, all I have to do is trim the top with crochet (blech!) and add a button, handle, and lining. HOPEFULLY that will go fast once I get to that point!

So just for fun yesterday, I cast on a neat coffee mug cozie/hand warmer (I think it looks like a coffee mug sweater) and it was such a fun knit that I just about finished it all yesterday and did finish it this morning! I have fallen in love with knitting cables! I used to think they were really difficult and too much trouble but I can't explain enough how easy it is once you figure out which stitches to slip and hold them - not at all hard!

Anyway, here's the mug cozie - the first picture is darker - doesn't show the yarn colors accurately - to show the cabling. The last 2 are the cozie on the mug. The only hard part about it was finding a mug to fit it - it takes a pretty big and tall mug to make it fit right and the handle has to be wide enough for your had to fit due to it being the handwarmer part. If I make any of these for gifts, I will definitely take them to the store to fit them on mugs!

If you are interested in the pattern, it's free and you can find it here:
http://aproudusafwife.blogspot.com/2007/11/cabled-coffee-and-hand-warmer.html

Hopefully tomorrow I will be a little closer to finishing my handbag!

Waiting

2008-07-22T19:32:00.004-04:00

I took this picture about an hour ago while the first storm was blowing in. It's a bit hard to see but if you look carefully in the sky, you can see the rainbow. That storm missed us - went completely around. I am listening to the rumbling thunder right now with a very heavy Cleo sitting on my lap (wondering if I should even BE on the computer) waiting to see if this storm hits us. As much as I would really like to be outside and had planned on going for a quick ride on the horses, it looks like we are finally going to get some rain. Although not as bad as last summer, our fields are in desperate need of rain. The horses are eating the grass down faster than it can grow! We have been keeping them down at the barn about every other week and supplementing grain but it sure would be nice to have the horses do what horses do best and eat grass all summer. We had our fields sprayed at the beginning of summer to rid it of the over-taking weeds and fertilized after that. In the fall we are - money willing - reseed so maybe, just maybe the horses can have a grass-filled summer!

So, ok, I just saw a bolt of lightning out of the window - that's my cue that I am done with this post although I have quite a few knitting notes to add - that will give me something to do tomorrow! I'm off to do a rain dance!

Back to the Mountains

2008-07-21T11:06:00.010-04:00

We had a wonderful but FAST trip to the beach and I am sad to be home - but happy to be home at the same time. For me being a fair-skinned mountain girl, I LOVE the beach. I spend a majority of my time huddled under a beach umbrella but I so enjoy digging my toes into the sand, playing in the waves of the ocean, and everything 'beachy'. A week never feels like enough! I definitely could have spent another week there but Logan would have left with or without me to come home. He is definitely the mountain man!

Instead of rambling on and on about how much I miss being there, I will share some good pics of my week!

Logan and I on our first night there - out to eat at The Giggling Mackerel

My favorite picture from the whole week! That is Logan fishing at the point where the sound and ocean meet at sunset. He caught a sheephead (a fish - hahaha - not an actual sheep's head!)

Logan and I had a 'date night' by ourselves at Medieval Times in Myrtle Beach. It was so much fun and really neat to see the horses and work the horsemen did!

We rented a sea kayak midway through the week. Here are Logan and his dad paddling around the sound. I did go out later - still need to get pics from Logan's parents. Maybe there will be a Beach Post part 2? Logan and his dad got brave and took the kayak out to the ocean and paddled all the way around to our house in the sound.

My flounder! I caught this!! We ended up eating Mr. Flounder and he was YUMMY! (Note: we were honestly going to let him go but he swallowed the hook and died by the time we got everything situated although he wasn't out of the water for very long. We ate him instead of wasting him by throwing him back)

Playing in the ocean. I think I could have spent all day out there if I didn't have to eat!

All in all we had a wonderful time although the week flew by way too fast! The dogs and kitties are all glad we're home! Hope everyone had a great week last week and now I have to get back into a routine and do a million loads of beach laundry!

Beach Bound

2008-07-11T21:54:00.002-04:00

We are headed to the beach tomorrow - hope everyone has a great week! Hopefully I will have an almost complete knitted purse with 'car knitting time'. See you next Saturday with lots of stories to tell!!

Feelin' Domestic

2008-07-10T10:31:00.003-04:00

Gabby decided she was going to replace the vacuum and do the cleaning herself. Didn't work QUITE as well as really vacuuming though - haha. Yesterday I had a DELIGHTFUL day of cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. For anyone who is wondering - which I doubt but you never know - that is from a Rainbow vacuum from maybe the 80's? "Borrowed" from my mother-in-law (holding it hostage, she might not get it back) since ours is currently out of commission for a bit - I am in LOVE with the vacuum! Look them up! I mean, any vacuum that has lasted more than 20 years has gotta say something!

I am trying to get the house in an acceptable state for us to leave for the beach on Saturday. It is soooooo much nicer coming home to a squeaky-clean house after being gone for a long period of time! Today I am tackling the bedroom and trying to pack and scrub down the bathrooms so tomorrow I can focus on getting everything laid out, packed, ready and some pre-beach shopping also (sunblock-spf 50, junk food galore, etc...) I am so glad we got all of the chicks outside now so our house-sitter doesn't have to deal with indoor-chickens. Yuck!

On a couple of garden/canning notes - all of the 'jam' I canned didn't set up that well...Could have been my AWESOME estimating skills (have NONE) instead of going back to measuring out fruit vs. sugar & pectin...We had some with dinner last night however and it tastes AMAZING! It turned out to be more of a compote than jam which was super yummy on biscuits last night. I will make some *small* batches after we get back from the beach to make sure it sets up properly so we will have some thicker jam - heck we still have 4 gallons left so it's not like I don't have enough!

After dinner Logan and I spent some time finally shelling peas (which we will get to do again today or tomorrow because the plants are STILL cranking them out. They love all of this rain and not-so-hot summer weather). Thanks to the 'Mr. Pea Sheller' borrowed from the in-laws, we shelled a whole quart of peas in about 30 minutes. Not so bad. And YES that is a drill attached - the directions actually encourage you to use a drill or hand-mixer instead of the hand-crank.

See - who said farm-life isn't exciting. That's bonding right there - shelling peas with your husband. We get work done, have non-canned organic peas for the winter AND spend quality time together - and he gets to use power-tools at the same time!

Well, it's time to start on cup of coffee #2 (yes Mom - a rarity!), do some pre-beach laundry, clean, and possibly head to town in a bit to give blood at the Red Cross blood drive. (I have B- blood which is the 2nd rarest type so I always try to give when I can) Whew - exciting day!

No More!!

2008-07-08T18:53:00.003-04:00

Six gallons of cherries was very high expectations...Way too high...I got 2 gallons done and made jam and canned this afternoon. That was a lot. 3 hours all told and I still have to clean up. I could crawl into bed right now. Logan and I were talking about what the pressure must have been like if this was the ONLY way you were going to have fresh food in the winter. I can't even imagine - picking, processing, canning, cleaning - and most people had a mess of kids to deal with too! I just have myself and Logan! I could not do this all day long like some people do - maybe with help I could but not by myself as it so often is!

I got 13 pints of jam out of the 2 gallons of cherries I pitted (hmm...my math skills are failing - last time I checked there were 8 pints in a gallon, so what happened to those other 3 pints? I guess I should have 3 pints of pits in my garbage?)

I am not 100% sure what I am going to do with the remaining 4 gallons of cherries...I might make one more small batch of jam to give away to friends (and family!) but the other might just be pitted and put away for pies, cobblers, etc? The jury is still out on that. For now, I am soooooooo looking forward to going to the beach on Saturday! I need it!

Kicked Out

2008-07-07T19:43:00.008-04:00

Finally! All of the chicks are out of the house and living like REAL chickens instead of house pets! Don't get me wrong, I really like the chicks, however I really don't like them as 'indoor chickens'. The guineas have had to be relocated in a sense also. The guineas were in the pen first so I think they were kind of 'defending' their territory but they were also terrorizing the chicks. They weren't attacking them or anything, just kind of chasing them from place to place, herding them, and scaring the bejeebus out of them. So, until the chicks get 'chicken sized' they are living in their own little guinea cottage with-in the chicken coop. It is only temporary but it has really helped make everyone a little happier and easier to adjust.

Some of the girls are exploring and the guinea cottage is in the background

Checking out their new digs

These little girls were brave - they moseyed right up to me when I was in the pen taking pictures.

I still think the white chicks look like 'peeps' but the older chicks - who are 2 weeks older than the Brahmas, actually look like real chickens - just mini versions - but getting bigger each day. Here are some pics of the 'older' chicks -

This one - which if you remember, was the little yellow chick from the original 5 - is definitely the ring-leader of the older ones (who by the way, hang out in their little group of 4 and the others hang out in their group. Remember, we had to put one of the originals in with the younger ones because he (she?) was a 'late bloomer'.) She is probably the smartest of the older ones and the most friendly. She lets Logan pick her up and carry her around!

Strutting their stuff!

Now I must move on to my task of the night - pitting 6 gallons of cherries. I got my fancy-smancy pitter in today so hopefully that will make my life easier! Updates tomorrow!

The Pits!

2008-07-06T17:11:00.011-04:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July and hopefully you got to have a long weekend to go along with it! As for us, it has rained nearly every day BUT I am not complaining after the desert-like conditions we had last year! Our garden is definitely in over-drive because of all of the rain. We have 2 more huge bowls of peas that are waiting to be shelled and I am sure there are wax beans up there waiting for us also.

Today, however, was dedicated to cherries. Not the 6 gallons I brought home from my parents' house - these are black cherries we found while we were riding the horses in our favorite field. We picked close to a gallon of cherries so today I made jam! Yum! Unfortunately it was quite an ordeal and this had BETTER be good jam!! The cherries were most likely wild cherries so they were a lot smaller than the other cherries we pick. They were too small for my hand-held pitter which works like a syringe - they would poke all the way through the bottom. My super-de-duper cherry pitter hasn't come in yet that I ordered last week so we resorted to some interesting methods today to de-pit these suckers!

Here is my canning day in pictures and captions:

Aren't they pretty? Here are the cherries after picking.

Since we didn't have the pitter, we had to figure out a way to get the pits out before I could do anything. I simmered them for a little while to cook them down just a bit thinking that would be easier to squeeze the pits out. We tried putting them through the Squeezo - NOPE - very bad idea...Next we got a strainer and stirred and stirred and stirred trying to break them down through the strainer. That worked some but the 'meat' of the cherries wasn't going through much. Finally in a last desperate attempt to finish them (and NOT kill my husband who wanted to bore bigger holes into my strainer) I broke out the salad spinner hoping to 'spin' the cherries off of the pits. YES! It worked - mostly. Better than the other methods and we were able to get most of the good part of the cherries off and into the pot to cook! I don't have any pictures of those steps because my nerves were becoming a little shot at this point and if I was holding a heavy object in my hand it might have been heaved at a certain someone...

Here we're cooking the jam down and adding all of it's jam-stuff...It smelled soooooo good!

The jars are waiting ever-so-patiently to be filled. We ended up getting 4 pints of jam out of the cherries.

After filling, they process for 10 minutes. This time is used to clean the 3/4 of my kitchen that is covered in cherry juice, skins, and pits including myself...

And last but not least (eating would technically be last though I guess) WE...HAVE...JAM! My favorite part is hovering near the kitchen to hear them 'pop' to make sure they seal. I always count my 'pops' to make sure they all sealed and they did! I am not sure I have ever NOT had something seal - knock on wood. Now they are sitting and cooling until tomorrow and will be stored in the pantry until it's cherry time!

Whew - I am exhausted! So that was my day. OH - before I forget, Logan and I had a wonderful lunch with my 'City Mouse' friend Becca and her husband Blake and little boy Trent. They were on their way back home and stopped by for an awesome lunch. I miss you guys and wish you were closer!!

Have a good Monday and 'Farm Girl Fun' will no doubt continue all of this week while we work to get everything put away before we head to the beach on Saturday! I'll keep everyone updated...hopefully I can sneak some knitting in while I am at it!

Little Bit O' This, Little Bit O' That

2008-07-03T10:11:00.007-04:00

I have a lot to make up for from a week of not blogging! Last week, I was in Rogersville, TN visiting with my parents, brother, and friends. It's nice to go home from time to time but it's really nice coming back home too! I went by myself without Logan so I would like to imagine it made him appreciate when I came home on Tuesday!

One of the first things I did was go to knitting class that my mom helps organize and teach. I knew a lot of people there, met some new ones, and even encouraged my friend Kim to come along and learn to knit! She did really well and I was really glad to get to spend some time with her - she is one of my best friends from high school and we don't get a lot of chances to hang out much anymore! Here are some pics "borrowed" from the knitting group's website - http://knittingsoulstogether.blogspot.com/

We are happily knitting away (actually I think I talked more than I knit!)

Here I am helping Kim get started with my Mom peeking in on us in the background.

I was even put on the spot at the knitting group - I got to 'teach' how to cable. It's hard to convince beginning knitters that it's not hard and actually really easy! Speaking of, I finished side 1 of my Brea Bag and am totally in LOVE with the way it turned out. I am having a slight difficulty figuring out the crochet around the top but I can wait and figure it out once I have both pieces finished. So, here is side 1 of the bag -

I am so impressed with how easy it knit up (once I decided on color/yarn!). I was even impressed with my cables! (BTW - Becca this is for you - and anyone else who isn't knitting term familiar - cables are the parts of this that look like they twist around each other)

I have started side 2 and hopefully it won't take too long once I have a bit of time to sit and knit!

Why haven't I had time you ask? Well I get home on Tuesday and our garden has exploded!! I have spent the past 2 days picking, shelling, and freezing peas and picking and snapping wax beans. So far I have frozen 5 cups of peas (which let me tell you is a LOT of peas!) and don't even know about the wax beans yet...

I also came home with 6 gallons (!!) of cherries and our neighbors have invited us to pick more so soon it's going to be cherry canning time. I just ordered a cherry stoner that's more effective than the ones that work like a syringe and it will hopefully make my life much easier. Once that comes in, my life will be pit, cook, can for awhile until I get those done. Mmmmm - I can't wait to have cherry preserves!

Like I said, this was a little bit of everything to catch me back up! Depending on when the stoner comes in next week's posts will probably revolve around canning! Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July tomorrow! (Where did June go??)

Ah Ha!

2008-06-25T10:30:00.004-04:00

For weeks I have been trying to figure out why the horse trough was getting so muddy in the bottom. I would clean it out daily and think 'surely the horses aren't this filthy that when they get water they make it muddy'.

Yesterday I discovered the answer to my question....

Oh - and I did get new yarn for the purse yesterday. Unfortunately the yarn store was closed (they are only open Wed-Sat) and - refer back to Aries and first born - I had to have something THEN so I got some Caron Simply Soft in 'Country Blue' from Wally-World. I love the color - not 100% thrilled about the quality of yarn - but it does show the pattern much better. I MIGHT swing by the yarn store today to make sure there is nothing else I like better (Logan is going to smother me with yarn one night). We'll see how that goes.

Tomorrow I am off to Rogersville for a week of fun with the family! See you next week!

A Difficult Decision

2008-06-24T10:11:00.005-04:00

I have started working on a REALLY cute knit purse this week. I LOVE the pattern and it's a really easy knit, despite there being cables knit into it. If any of you are knitters out there and have been afraid to knit cables into your patterns - DON'T BE! There have been so many patterns that I have avoided because there were cables in them. I found this purse pattern and fell in love with it BUT it had cables. So this week I sat down and MADE myself learn how to do cables. Guess what? It's soooo easy!

However, now comes the reason for my title. I love the pattern. I hate my yarn choice that I chose. This pattern is knit with two strands held together of yarn and because I am an Aries and a first born child, when I found the pattern I had to start it RIGHT THEN! I dug through my yarn stash and found some really pretty wool I had bought back a few months ago on a shopping trip with my mom. I didn't have two skeins of the same color but I had two that I thought would look really nice together - a heathered purple and rose colors. Well, now 11 rows into this thing - I HATE it. Don't get me wrong, I love the colors on their own and I think I will save them for something like wool socks or a neat hat, but they just don't do this purse justice. I think it's the mixture of a light and dark color that I am not crazy for (and the fact that Logan keeps reminding me that I looks like an old lady purse :( ) and it's kind of hard to see the really neat pattern (which by the way, when it's finished it will look like a lotus flower - COOOOOOL!) so I made a difficult decision. It's going to have to be ripped out and restarted....

As soon as I finish posting, I am going to throw on some clothes and go see if the yarn shop is open (please please please) and pick out something that I know I will LOVE. I thought about finishing the purse with the yarn I already had and then giving it to someone I thought would like it but that's just not what I want to do with this one...Wish me good yarn luck - I will try to update later this evening if I find something I like!

If you look closely you can see my super-awesome cable - it's to the right of the middle. You can also see the gross granny-colors...

Guinea Attack!

2008-06-23T16:12:00.003-04:00

Holy Cow it worked! As promised, here is the short video of our guineas on 'alert' call - this is right after we put the baby chicks in the pen and they were freakin' out! Normally both of them are squawking at the same time but this time only one decided it was an emergency - imagine this going on with both of them! It is LOUD!

By the way, that is Logan saying that the chicks aren't very exciting - they wouldn't come out of the chicken coop and still, 3 days later, won't really come out willingly. Gives a new meaning to 'chickens'!

I'm off to Chautauqua tonight to work the t-shirt booth until 9. I worked last night for the school for an hour and tonight I am doing a 3 hour shift for the church. The best part of all of this is the combination of 'fair food' and live music all going on while I am working. Hmm, what to eat tonight? Last night it was a chicken giro (which I proceeded to get half of it on my nice linen jacket - go me. I got it clean though!). Will tonight be Chinese, BBQ, another giro, or a bloomin' onion? Only time will tell!

Busy Days!

2008-06-21T18:32:00.011-04:00

This is turning out to be a very busy and exciting weekend even though I'm just on Saturday evening! Yesterday we kicked off Wytheville's Chautauqua Festival, a week-long festival in the park in the middle of town filled with food, arts and crafts, and live music every evening. We went to the starting festivities last night with the hot air balloon lighting after dusk. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me (it was a last minute decision to go) but it was really neat to see 7 of the hot air balloons up close and the flames lighting the whole balloon like a light bulb at night. The balloons then proceed to further kick of the festival by taking off early Saturday morning and can be seen all over Wytheville.

Today, instead of spending the day at Chautauqua, we had another more important task at hand. We finally sold poor ole Brisco and he went to what I feel is going to be an amazing home for him. He will belong to a teenage girl who fell just head-over-heals for him and will spoil him rotten! She kept saying how much personality he has (oh, that he has!) and how beautiful he was. He went to live in North Carolina so we took him down to his new home today. It was about a 2 hour trip there and then 2 hours back so it wasn't too bad of a trip. So, good luck ole boy! I know you'll enjoy your new girl! (I was very proud of myself - no tears)

After we got home, it was decided that the 'old' chicks were ready to move outside. They are a little over 5 weeks old now and it's been very warm so they are finally 'outside' chickens instead of 'inside' chickens (personally, I love the chicks but I am SO ready for them to be outside! I feel like my house has turned into a barn). We are going to hang the heat lamp in the coop for awhile to make sure they stay warm at night and are comfortable. The 'young' chicks will be ready to go outside right before we go to the beach in July.

They didn't quite know what to do when we first introduced them to the coop. Little 'Brownie' took the lead for adventure Eventually they got brave and peered outside via the coop-window. The little yellow/orange chick even decided he was going to try out the grass. It didn't last long however and soon ran back inside.

The guineas didn't quite know what to think - I took a short video of the guineas on 'alert' call - but can't get it loaded - I might try again later in the week.

So, there's all of the latest news on the farm. This week I will probably be picking peas until I am sick of them - there are close to a million on the plants and then Thursday I am off to good ole Rogersville for a week of fun. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

A Message from Gabby

2008-06-18T18:33:00.003-04:00

Dear Readers,

Sorry my owner hasn't written in awhile - she 'claims' to have been busy this week with cleaning out those yummy-looking chicks' boxes and then taking all of us animals today to get something horrible called a 'rabies shot'. She even had enough time to sell a horse today (Brisco) and make sure he got a lot of those 'shots' too. But does she have time to sit down and write about all of this? Noooo. I'll make sure to nibble on her later and tell her she had BETTER write on this blog thing or there will be consequences...Back to my nap now.

Sincerely,
Gabby

Sick Knits

2008-06-14T13:57:00.006-04:00

Fever...chills...headache...sounds like a miserable winter illness huh? Nope - that was my week this week. I don't know what I caught but it knocked me out flat for most of the week - Tuesday night through Friday my day was spent either curled in a miserable ball in bed or curled out on the couch when I could stand light and noise. I have the feeling I caught something at the pool but there is really no telling. So that is why I have been M.I.A. for most of the week with posts.

While I was sick I did a little bit of knitting when I could stand to do something. Since I didn't have a lot of energy I needed something easy and taking a pointer from my mom and her new knitting class, I did a few dishcloths - just something kind of mindless that would help me pass the time on the couch (while my house WASN'T getting cleaned)

The first is a cute little watermelon dishcloth - I plan on going back and sewing on 'seeds' and I still need to weave in my ends on this one

The next is the 'classic' knit dishcloth and I added a little crocheted loop on the end so I can hang it up to dry.

So nothing exciting, but what can I say? I was near death. I am in search of something new to start. I have a sock pattern I am toying with but I don't know if I feel like starting a sock quite yet after the last 'sock'. So I am off to search patterns and watch the rain moving in - thank goodness. Our garden needs it!

Sock-tastrophy

2008-06-10T09:31:00.009-04:00

Ok, it's really not that bad. The sock looks REALLY good - one done...But I don't know if I will be doing it's mate. I learned a difficult knitting lesson this week. If a pattern calls for size 3 needles and worsted weight wool, you can't use size 2 needles and sock yarn and expect it to turn out the same size. DUH! I don't know what in my brain made me think it would. The yarn-shop-lady assured me that everyone uses size 2 needles when knitting socks so I believed her...and the yarn was on a good buy (bargain bin!) and I didn't have enough wool at the time (do now). Let's just say this sock won't be fitting my size 9 boat...

I will do this pattern again - it was so easy and the sock turned out beautifully. It has an after-thought heel which means you knit the whole sock without the heal and then go back and 'unzip' the yarn where the heel will go and knit in the heel just like you knit the toe.

I will see if my sister-in-law can wear it and if so I will finish the other. Otherwise, I have a good test sock!

This is the sock before I put the heel in - the white yarn is where I 'unzipped' it and added on the heel.

Appy inspects my finished work and ponders if it's for her.

Tah-Dah! Finished and not bad for my first sock if I do say so myself.

Green Thumb

2008-06-09T16:05:00.013-04:00

Even though it is hotter than blue-blazes outside, surprisingly our crops are growing their little hearts out! Here is a little 'taste' of what we've got going on right now -

Cherries! These are the only cherries we'll get this year but I think for that tree's first year producing it's super! Hmm...now what to do with a handful of cherries? Not enough to make a pie or jam - I am thinking mixed in with vanilla ice cream! Yum!

The other trees are doing very well also except my peach tree has 'peach leaf curl' which I can't do anything about this year - I'll spray in the winter and I think the spots on the apple trees are 'rust' spots which will also have to be sprayed when the trees are dormant. Live and learn - especially on a farm - but the fruit is still doing well despite the afflictions!

Perky Peaches!

Awesome Apples!

And one little pear!

The garden is soaring along - in the picture you can see -from left to right- black beans and bush wax beans, onions, peas, and corn. Tomatoes are behind everything and despite getting off to a pitiful start, are starting to take off (finally!). Hidden in the rows I have green onions, radishes, collard greens (for Logan - yuck), and spaghetti squash and watermelon. The peas are flowering and we should have peas before too long!

And finally in the green-grows section is my herb garden - yes MY herb garden. This is my garden project and has been every year since I have been married. This year I have basil, both purple and sweet green, chives, thyme, rosemary, catnip, lavender, and oregano. The chives and rosemary are having a hard time taking off and might need a second seeding (or the easy way and go to Lowe's and get already established plants - shhh - don't tell anyone!).

In other 'Morrison Farm' news, it's been a rough week with the chicks. A handful have caught a respiratory infection and thanks to my wonderful husband are now on antibiotics. Sadly, we lost 3 of the new chicks - hopefully, fingers crossed, no more. I am not good at being a farm girl when it comes to animals. Trust me - these are not going to be eatin' chickens - haha.

And last but not least...Happy birthday today to my wonderful, hardworking husband who even though it's his birthday will still be out working in the garden, with the horses, tractor, or whatever else he can get his hands on after he gets home from work.

Adjusting

2008-06-05T08:38:00.007-04:00

Summer has officially hit Southwestern Virginia. Hot...and more hot...but not as hot as some places for sure and at least we don't have to deal with the humidity (side note to my Maryland Cousin - do you not feel it anymore? We about died in BA last weekend and that was in the evening! The mountains have soften us I believe!).

Along with summer comes adjustments for me. Being a teacher, I WELCOME having almost 3 months off and it is for sure one of the highlights of my job (yes, of course, the main highlight being educating the youth of America but come on - snow days AND summer? hello?). Anyone who has ever worked for an extended period of time and the all of a sudden NOT worked knows this feeling, whether it be a teacher in the summer or someone with an injury or retirement. It takes some major getting used to suddenly not having a schedule anymore.

So, here are some ways I try to keep myself busy until I fall into my summer routine. First I know there is the chore of cleaning the house and I take more on in the summer because yes I am home and I can do it so I don't expect Logan to pitch in AS MUCH as non-summer months. Of course he still has his tasks that I 'don't do' like taking out trash and recycling and cleaning the mudroom usually falls to him since 99.9% of dirt and mud in the mudroom has come from either him or the dogs. I figured out last summer that if I make myself a schedule, I am much better at doing what I am supposed to be in the house -

Monday - laundry and folding and putting away laundry (I love doing laundry and hanging it and even don't mind folding - BUT I HATE HATE HATE putting up clothes)

Tuesday - Kitchen cleanup and mop kitchen floors

Wednesday - Clean bathrooms and floors

Thursday - Dusting and windows

Friday - Vacuum and general picking up of 'junk'

Now, does it always work out this way - no, not always. I try to stick to my schedule pretty close and try to get my tasks out of the way first thing to make room for 'fun' stuff but it doesn't always happen that way. This really helps though so we are ready to do things on the weekend and I don't have to worry about ending the weekend with a messy house like it so often is during the school year. I will never win prizes for Good Housekeeping and Martha (Stewart) would often be disappointed with me but there is more to life than living in a 'model house'.

On a few last notes, let me say a big CONGRATULATIONS to my good friend Rita who graduated yesterday from police academy! I drove up to Salem to watch her graduate and am very impressed :) She graduated at the top of her class with a lot of recognition of her very hard work. Now, don't pull me over when I am flying up the interstate (Mom and Dad - I would NEVER do that - ignore that comment).

And finally, I forgot to post about the new, NEW baby chicks - we got the last batch in last Thursday right before we headed up to Maryland for the weekend - they are my little light Brahmas - they all look the same so I just grabbed one for the picture.

And a look at the 'big chicks' who are going on 3 weeks old now and have been moved to a smaller box since there is only 5 of them and so they wouldn't bother the babies!

Cleo says 'Don't worry, be happy - and have a wonderful almost-Friday'!

Dear Orioles,

2008-06-02T22:00:00.010-04:00

We need to have a talk. For years I have been there for you. Years and years and years. I have stuck by in the good times and through tough times. I watched milestone moments happen with Cal, and embarrassing moments as of recently with steroid allegations, but Orioles, we're becoming a laughing-stock. I have tried to overlook it and pretend it wasn't happening. Gladly I would wear my O's hat with pride and when asked what team I was pulling for never did I hesitate to mention your name. But this weekend might have pushed just a little too far.

I had strong hopes for you this past weekend - especially with the amount of money I laid down to see you play at beautiful Camden Yards. Yes I know you were playing the Red Sox - suddenly every one's favorite team now that they won a World Series (hey - where were you fans 5 years ago?) and they were expected to win, even at an away game. I still stood up for you. But Orioles, did you notice the amount of fans at your stadium on Saturday? Let's say, 75% BoSox fans, 25% Orioles fans. I was beginning to wonder if I made a wrong turn and ended up at the wrong stadium. It was humiliating! Yet there I sat, your faithful...

You started off strong and even held a lead for most of the game but, Orioles, you got lazy - especially when the other team was playing even more lazy you didn't take the opportunity. You let 2 home runs go in a row! You made history by letting Mr. Ramirez hit his 500th home run in your stadium - could it not have waited? At least it wasn't a slaughter game, ending with a simple 6-3 loss.

Orioles, something's got to give. I can't keep living in a take-take relationship. Every now and then you need a little give. Regroup boys - you can do better...

Sincerely,

A Desperate Fan

What a beautiful park! Camden Yards with Charm City in the background.

Me and my sister-in-law Kelsey at our seats - awesome seats at that! Notice she is pulling for the evil Red Sox - this trip was actually for her birthday so she could see them play (and unfortunately win).

The Oriole Bird makes some friends.

Hmm...I still look happy at this point...

Logan was such a trooper for not being a baseball fan - 4 hours of baseball was about his limit!

The Home Stretch

2008-05-28T22:00:00.004-04:00

Bare with me for not posting this week - this is the last week of school - tomorrow is the LAST DAY! I have a work day Friday and then that's it until the end of August. I get to be 'Summer Ashley' - which is a lot more fun than 'School Ashley'.

Speaking of fun, this weekend we'll be going to see a Baltimore Oriole's game in MD! Yea! It was for my sister-in-law's birthday that we got the tickets. She is a Boston Red Sox fan (blech) and I was sure not going to drive all the way to Boston and I grew up an Oriole's fan so I figured it would be fun for all of us all the way around! We are going to stay with Logan's grandparents in Front Royal which is about an hour outside of Baltimore and then go to the game Saturday evening. If it's on TV be sure to watch and see if you can spot us! We are sitting right above the press box behind home plate. I am not sure who is more excited - me or her! Pictures WILL follow!

To leave, here is my 'sock progress'. Kind of slow going but I have been drained both physically and mentally this week so I haven't much felt like working. However, I have a 4 hour car ride to look forward to on Friday so I am sure I will have plenty of knit time!

Gabby checks out my work to make sure the stitches are lined up...and the bamboo is flavored to her liking.

Run for the Wall and a New Knit

2008-05-22T20:04:00.009-04:00

Today was a very busy, hectic, stressful yet fun day at school. Wytheville is the second to last stop on the Run for the Wall motorcycle trip and is a huge event with our school. Our elementary school sort of 'hosts' the bikers as they come through and present the bikers with a program before they depart.

First, for everyone who isn't familiar with Run for the Wall, here is a brief description from their website: www.rftw.org:

Run For The Wall (RFTW) was started in 1989 as an effort by James Gregory and Bill Evans. They were a couple of Vietnam Veterans who traveled across the heartland of America on motorcycles, talking to local radio, TV, and newspapers about the fact that we had thousands of men and women still unaccounted for from all of our wars. The need for this awareness continues today and we continue this tradition every May.

We don't give political speeches or stage demonstrations. Run For The Wall gets its message to the public across by riding through the United States. We obey traffic laws and treat all citizens with dignity and respect.

But the issue of public awareness is only part of the benefit of Run For The Wall. We also give Vietnam Veterans and all Veterans the opportunity to get their own welcome home and start their healing process...

The trip takes ten days to reach the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where our Run officially ends on Sunday evening before Memorial Day. Additionally, we have things scheduled for the weekend, ending with participation in the Rolling Thunder Parade in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. It is quite a sight to behold, 350,000 plus motorcycles all starting from the Pentagon parking lots, parading through downtown Washington, and ending at the Wall.

Along the way across the U.S. we make stops at Memorials, Veteran's Hospitals, and schools. We enjoy parades, escorts, and welcome-home receptions from many of the patriotic towns.

Our whole school (grades preK-5 with one preK and 6 classes of every other grade) all go over for the ceremony and program. I always feel super stressed trying to keep up with 20+ kids with hundreds of other students, bikers, and other spectators down there. It always works out though and these are honestly some of the nicest men and women I have ever come across. Many of them will walk up and hug you just to be friendly and appreciative of us as teachers and Americans. Here are some pictures I took in between wrangling students and praying they didn't touch a bike and knock them over like dominoes:

The Motorcycles were lined up all the way around the park on the walking track

One of the trailers that ride along with the bikers

Just a little taste of HOW CROWDED it is! Ahh! Luckily I didn't lose a kid!

Afterwards we all sent them on their way - they rode through the town before making their way back on the interstate headed to Roanoke before ended at D.C.

After that morning and then trying to keep the peace through the rest of the day, I needed a little retail therapy and headed over to the yarn shop which is almost right next to the school (very convenient!). I got brave and decided I was bound and determined to try to knit a sock (or 2!). I have thought about starting several different patterns this week but nothing appealed to me that I already had so I picked up a cute 'footie' sock pattern. I ended up getting 2 skeins of sock yarn - one neat orange and yellow color and the other a self-striping yarn as well as a partial skein in the 'bargain bin' of another self-striping sock yarn. Yea! I also picked up a set of size 2 dpn which should cover basic sock-ery. While waiting for Logan to get off of work, I cast on and started the first row. After dinner I sat and finished the cuff - moving very quickly and after learning how to juggle the dpn I have hit it off. I *heart* socks!

Hopefully I will still love them after this one is finished!! I had better with what I paid for yarn today ;)

A Quick Knit and Growing Peeps

2008-05-20T19:46:00.007-04:00

After the marathon knit of the draft-stopper, I needed something I could whip out and have immediate satisfaction before starting another longer knit. I am not the fastest knitter by far - I get easily distracted, spacey, and sometimes sleepy when I knit - I can't knit for hours on end unless a good girl friend and a lot of coffee is involved and around here, there are always a million other things to be done. Yet I love to sit down in the evenings, sometimes in front of the TV, other times by myself, and knit my troubles and stresses away.

So, I did a super-quick seed-stitch headband. I started it on Sunday and thought I would finish it that day but, refer back to paragraph 1. I ended up going to the tack shop in search of a bridle for Jetta, grocery shopping, buying new chairs for the deck, putting together said chairs...Get the point? The knitting didn't get done. Yesterday, I worked a little but was just wiped out after a school Monday. Today it got finished rather quickly. So, here is the cutesy little headband - knit on size 8 needles with nothing-too-special acrylic yarn - Caron's Simply Soft in Autumn Red.

I am a big fan of the seed-stitch pattern - I like the pattern of the little 'seeds'

Watch out! Professional headband model in the makings!

In 'farm news' the chicks are growing like crazy. Most of them have their little wing feathers in but are still fluffy every where else. They are getting fast too! It's a 2-man operation to catch one for a health check-up. We should get the other batch next week. We'll probably put the first 5 in a separate box and let the 15 new ones have the big box to themselves.

Check out my new fancy feathers!

Adventures in Felting

2008-05-17T22:36:00.008-04:00

I finally finished the knit draft-stopper I have been working on (and off) for it feels like forever this weekend. I started it in the winter when our house was like an ice box and the door to our mud room has a 2 inch gap under it (why?). There isn't any heat in the mud room so the heat from the living room got sucked out. Enter: draft-stopper.

It was a fairly brainless knit - nothing fancy, just stockinette stitch and all I had to do was count rows to know when to start my next color. I used 100% wool (Lopi by Reynolds) because it would need to be felted. It was easy but it felt like it went on and on forever! So, here is the draft-blocker in pictures and explanations!

This is the draft-blocker pre-felting. I felt like it was miles long and it was difficult knitting near the end because it was so long and heavy and it took more than just a second to get everything adjusted to knit a new row.

A close-up of the pretty stitches pre-felting to show you the difference with the next picture...

A close-up after felting. Felting 101: Felting is a blending together of wool yarn to make it into more of a fabric than a knit. I placed the draft-stopper in the washing machine on a hot/cold cycle (it's the hot water that does the felting) with several towels to help it along. After washing I popped it in the dryer for just 5-10 minutes to get a majority of the 'wet' out and then stretched it into shape and let it dry the rest of the day.

Here's another shot of the whole thing laid out after felting and drying - notice that it shrunk (it was supposed to) and isn't rolled anymore. The miracle of wool + water!

AND the final product - sewn and filled with kitty litter. Tah-dah! It's not a sweater but I am still pretty impressed with it. On to the next project...

PEEPS!

2008-05-15T16:59:00.003-04:00

They came they came! We got the chicks today. Well, that's only partially true - we got 5 chicks today. Our Brahmas had a late hatching so they didn't come in with the rest of the order today - we'll get those in 2 weeks. So, these are the 'test' chicks - hehe. We got these free with the bag of chick starter. They are settling in nicely and the cats swear we are teasing them like the lobsters in the tanks at restaurants. I don't know what kind of chickens they are - I have guesses on some but Logan threw away my Murray McMurray Hatchary catalog and my ADD is getting the best of me on the computer so they will have to stay 'mystery chicks' for awhile longer.

So, here is introducing the Morrison Flock: (sorry some pics are blurry - it's hard to keep a chick from running off and take it's picture with 2 hungry cats lurking at the same time!)

The yellowish one might be either a Rhode Island Red or a New Hampshire Red and the brown one that looks like a little mink might be a Partridge Rock. The black one maybe a Black Star? I guess only time will tell as will it tell whether I have little girls or little boys!

Either way the cats said they didn't care as long as they got the first taste test!

Prep Work

2008-05-14T20:23:00.007-04:00

First...The irises bloomed today! Sorry the pic is dark but this is the first chance I have gotten today to do much of anything. Also, here is a kind of blurry pic of the neat 'ruffly' daffodils I have coming up by my steps I planted a few months ago.

So, why have I been so busy? Because tomorrow the baby chicks arrive!!! Hooray! I have spent my time since I got home from school preparing their brooder - where they will spend the next 6-8 weeks of their lives. They have to stay warm before their adult feathers come in which is the purpose of the brooder (a fancy term for a big box with a heat light).

I have had a hard time getting the temperature adjusted correctly. For the first week, the temp has to stay at 95 degrees and then every week after that it lowers 5 degrees until you meet the temperature it is outside. First I bought a heat lamp - wayyy too hot - even raising it as high as it would go it was 112 degrees in there! Yikes! So then I bought a 'brooder light' from Lowe's - still too hot. So Logan and I went back in this evening and got just a plain flood lamp in 2 different wattages and I am having much, much better luck with this. I want it at a stable temp tonight so it will be ready for the chicks tomorrow. I am so excited! They will be spending the first few weeks inside the house so this is going to be REAL interesting!

We got 15 'light Brahma' chicks and then we got 5 free from the feed store - who knows what those will be. Here is what our Brahma girls will look like when they are all grown up -

Beautiful huh? I promise to have lots of pictures tomorrow of chicks and getting settled! Should be interesting to say the least!

Mother Earth Monday - Clean Green

2008-05-12T19:47:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the brain slip last Monday - it's the end-of-the-school-year brain scramble and I am lucky to remember where I live, let alone a blog schedule!

Tonight I am doing an easy one - "green" cleaning products. I have currently switched almost all of my cleaning supplies over to eco-friendly products. This one was a huge no-brainer for me for several reasons. Here's just a few off of the top of my head-

1. I hate the 'chemically' smell of cleaning products
2. We have a septic tank and well water so whatever I put down my drain goes immediately into the ground
3. My body touches a lot of what I am cleaning and whatever is leftover from cleaning is going to make its way into and on my body

My favorite products are the Method line, found at Target, and the new Clorox Green Works line that I now use for all of my household cleaning. Method has a great cleaning 'soft scrub' that I use for both my bathroom and kitchen sinks plus a tub and tile cleaner spray - both of them come in a eucalyptus scent that smells very minty and clean. I use the Green Works toilet bowl cleaner which has a great lemon scent as well as their surface and glass cleaner. I also like Method's all-purpose cleaner for the kitchen - I have it in grapefruit scent. The great thing about all of these are they don't smell chemically - I hate the bleachy-disinfecting smell.

All of these cleaners are biodegradable - which I feel is very important going into my septic system and there for into my field where my horses feed. They are made of natural ingredients - not petroleum based as many cleaning products are. They are proven to clean the same as 'chemically' stuff and are not tested on animals (another plus - read some time about why animal testing makes no sense for humans - I won't get into that rant).

I also have switched my laundry detergents over to biodegradable, phosphate-free detergent. Right now I am using Simplicity (sold at Wal-mart) in both laundry detergent and fabric softener. Why are phosphates bad? Essentially they cause algae growth in places where algae wouldn't normally grow and excessive growth at that - remembering back to elementary school science, this throws off the food chains and ecosystems and pretty much sends everything out of balance.

I still have a way to go as far as switching things over. I am using the rest of what I have of other supplies and when I run out I will switch those over to 'green' products. I would like to find better dish washing powder for the dishwasher that meets these criteria and I will eventually switch all of our hand soap to non-antibacterial. I have several bottles of 'gifted' soap so I am working on using that before going out to buy new stuff. I also want to have this stuff under way by the time we are ready to have children. I have read some very disturbing studies where some of these cleaning chemicals (as well as chemicals used in plastics) are found in new-born babies bloodstreams. Yikes! No thank you sir!

Of course, alternatives to buying 'green' products are making your own. I do like to use as much kitchen-cabinet cleaning supplies when I can. Clogged drain? Use baking soda and vinegar - yes like a science-fair volcano! Flush with hot water! Vinegar makes awesome window cleaner too! Oh -and of course, don't forget to use your reusable microfiber cloth - no paper towels mind you!! Be good to your Mother!

Method Cleaning Products

Simplicity

Clorox Green Works

Growing...Growing...Green!!

2008-05-10T11:34:00.004-04:00

It seems like everything is finally starting to take off around here growing-wise. Being higher up in the mountains, we are a ways behind all of the 'low-landers' with blooming and growing. Case in point - my irises that were planted last year around this time haven't bloomed quite yet - the flowers are there and they are getting ready to! Logan got those for me for my birthday last year and they were planted late so they didn't bloom -this will be the first year I get to see what color they turned out! Fun!

This morning was so nice and sunny, we started hardening off the tomato and pepper plants that have been repotted from the greenhouse. They have been repotted for some time but we have avoided putting them out because the wind is terrible a lot of days and unpredictable. We are starting just putting them out for a few hours today and will gradually build up to having them out all the time and some are ready to go in the ground once they adjust to being 'outside plants'.

I found this super neat strawberry pot at Joanne's Fabrics last weekend and debated whether to use it as a strawberry pot or pot neat flowers in it but Lowe's was having such a good deal on strawberries that I got a pot of them and divided them up - three on the bottom and - look! I already have 'future' strawberries coming! It isn't going to be a ton but Logan isn't a big strawberry person so they will be fine for me! I did put a marigold in the top - hopefully to ward off some of the strawberry-loving buggies!

Even Jetta is getting in on the greenery action! She is adjusting much better finally and Logan has been riding her around about every other night and working on her manners the other nights. She might even be able to go for an 'outside' ride soon - gee, I would love to ride my horse - very convenient that Logan bought another horse for him to ride - haha. Daisy will have to be my trail buddy for awhile I suppose until Jetta is 'wife ready' :)

Note - SOL from the previous post stands for 'Standards of Learning' - not the other s.o.l. - although for some that is a more appropriate acronym.

How Many?

2008-05-07T20:33:00.003-04:00

Ok, so goes my day. I just typed a whole post and with one fell swoop, erased it all who knows how and of course it decided to save the post immediately after all was erased...The story of my life this week. I am so ready for school to be out - it's 'end-of-the-year-burnout' that all teachers know quite well - where the students are filled with all of the information their little brains can handle and try to test you in every way humanly possible. Top that with pretty weather and the dreaded SOLs looming around the corner and it's a recipe for disaster.

So, with that said, I am going to leave with my 'serenity now' picture (tell me you've seen that Seinfeld episode - Logan looked at me like I was crazy the last time I said that out loud). This picture was taken at our little Cove House one morning before I left for work. SERENITY NOW!

Only 15 1/2 more days of school.

Feeling Fruity!

2008-05-05T17:48:00.002-04:00

Hold on to your seats - we have fruit! While making my fruit tree rounds -I like to check them out to make sure everything is going well and everyone is healthy - I discovered ACTUAL FRUIT! No way, you say! It's true! My baby trees are producing their first fruits - hopefully barring major disaster and plague (such as birds and insects!) we might have some fruit this year! So far it's just the cherries and peaches - no apples (I have Winesap and Granny Smith) or pears yet - this may not be their year - but they bloomed later than the others so I'm still holding my breath!

Peachy Peaches!

Choice Cherries!

In other 'farm news' our garden is coming in strong! We early-planted a row of corn, black beans, peas, black-eyed peas, and onions of all shapes and sizes and so far everyone is coming in nice and strong! I planted my herb garden over the weekend and getting ready to go in soon will be spaghetti squash and other assorted veggies along with my thriving tomato plants and various peppers! Hooray Spring! Now, I might not be saying this come picking and canning season since that's when I am off in the summer and according to Logan I have 'nothing better to do' (um, do my 1 billion knitting projects count?).

Don't mind the crooked rows - everything grows the same, straight or not!

Famous Daisy

2008-04-30T17:43:00.005-04:00

I told you I was going to tell you about Daisy's big day and I promise I didn't forget. On Friday, Daisy became a local school celebrity! Our school holds a big fundraiser for Relay for Life. Our school team promotes a big event that whichever teacher raises the most money will earn something or have to do something in front of the school. I haven't been on the team in the past - mostly because our church has a team also and I would feel guilty picking one over the other so I support both and do what I can.

Well we always seem to be the 'givers' of the school event team - in the past the 'money winner' has had to kiss a frog (gotten from the pond beside our little Cove House) and one teacher got to hang out in our VW Bus for the afternoon. This year, they had a western theme and the 'winning teacher' was going to have to ride a bucking bronco. Well, that quickly got downgraded to 'ride a horse' (for obvious reasons!). While trying to find said horse to ride, I was asked if we had a 'tame horse' that could be used. Um, of course we do! Daisy was chosen because she does very well in front of people (although never in front of that big of a crowd of crazy elementary school children). So Logan took off and brought her to school on Friday for the event.

She was a hit! Although the winning teachers (and principal and vice principal) only got led around by Logan (definitely for the best!) the kids loved seeing them up there and I was even (conned) into getting up there and seeing one of their teachers really ride. By then Daisy was VERY grumpy and threw a little fit in front of everyone with me on her but that was even better for the kids and I was able to trot her around a bit and show her off.

All in all it was a very successful event and Daisy made it to the front page of the paper! To see the article, go to : http://www.swvatoday.com/comments/relay_coming_around_again/news/2359/

Meet the Newest Morrison

2008-04-29T19:39:00.006-04:00

Meet Miss 'Splendid Jetta Bar' - aka Jetta. It was all I could do not to write about her yesterday but heaven knows I have to keep to a schedule - haha. We bought Jetta because sadly, we are going to sell Brisco. If we had enough land to keep him we would in a heartbeat because he is honestly such a smart, sweet horse but we decided just spooks way too easily for him to be a good trail horse. Just like some people aren't cut out to be baseball players or doctors, some horses aren't cut out to be trail horses or race horses or cutting horses. Just one of those facts that I am trying to come to terms with - Logan assures me that this is part of owning a horse - finding the 'right one' - some people go through tons of horses before they find the right one. I hope I don't have to. So, if you know of anyone that would be interested in a very sweet gelding Thoroughbred - you know where to come. I am pretty positive he would make an excellent English rider or even a jumper or sport horse.

So, about Jetta...She is half Quarter Horse, half Paint and she is registered as a paint - hence the complicated 'fancy' name. She is a bay with tobiano paint markings and she is only 2 years old so she is still kind of a baby - this was Logan's big great idea. He has been wanting to train a horse for awhile - mostly so he knows their background and can stop any bad habits (like Brisco's scared of cows) before they begin. He knows the girl that owned him - she breeds and trains/starts paints - so she's from a very good background. Right now she is busy getting used to her knew home. Her and Daisy were instant best friends and she is getting used to Logan and me slowly but surely. She's got a ways to go but hopefully will make a very good horse - right now Logan is kind of in charge of her - I will ride both Brisco and Daisy until she is 'ready' for me :) So now, let's meet Jetta - I will get better pictures soon! The first day she was kind of jumpy and then it has rained, rained, rained so these will do for now!

Jetta comes up to say hi!

The girls munch on some hay.

Here you can see her really pretty paint markings - and a lot of mud - it poured BUCKETS! (yes that is the body of a Beetle - anyone want it? You come get it you can have it!)

A view from behind - I love how her tail starts out white and fades to black - the brown tips are just 'split ends' that need to be trimmed - in summer her main and tail - other than the paint markings - will be black from her bay coloring.

This is the first time anyone has gotten on her bareback - she did very well! No riding was done - just sitting - a good start!

Mother Earth Monday - Plastic Panic

2008-04-28T20:29:00.003-04:00

It was a wild and busy weekend which I have a LOT to blog about, but today is of course Monday which means we have to talk about Enviro-mente today. I wish I could say I thought up this idea but I credit this one to Becca. I think it was as we were eating pancakes Sunday morning and recycling plastic was brought up - I think it was because the margarine tub was a '5' and the lid was a '2' which I thought was weird. She asked what was the difference and what the numbers meant so I thought I would give everyone a little Plastic 101 today. I wish I knew the difference...I have pulled most of today's info from National Geographic's new magazine "Green Guide". So here we go!

All plastic is made out of chemicals (duh, no plastic trees around here I guess). Some chemicals are safe, some are not. Some can be recycled and broken down, some can't. Some are ok to have your food and water in contact with...some scarily aren't. Here's a breakdown of the different numbers...

"1" - PET or PETE (polyethylene terephthalate) - This is safe plastic and is recyclable. We most commonly see this in water and soda bottles. It is safe but you shouldn't be washing and reusing these - they chemicals eventually start breaking down (and getting into your stuff - yuck!) so these are a 1-use-only-please plastic. Make sure to recycle!

"2" - HDPE (high-density polyethylene) - Another safe and recyclable plastic. Some examples are milk jugs (and apparently the tops of Country Crock margarine?)

"3" - Vinyl or PVC (polyvinyl chloride) - Ok, so anything with 'chloride' in it I am not too fond of putting near my mouth...This should be avoided and is not recyclable. Some products can leak dangerous hormone-messing-with junk into foods. Um, so the example that they give in the magazine are the little vinyl lunch bags - I am going to throw mine away this second...yuck...

"4" - LDPE (low-density polyethylene) - safe and recyclable at places that accept it. Places that accept plastic bags will accept this - this will include plastic shopping bags and even plastic food wrap.

"5" - PP (polypropylene) - You see this a lot with food storage - especially yogurt and margarine containers. This is safe but beware - not all places (like Wytheville for one) accept this type of plastic so find creative ways to reuse this - cat food scoops, paint containers, seedling pots, etc. Be creative!

"6" - PS (polystyrene) - This one should be avoided - think Styrofoam picnic-ware - this can leak styrene - a possible carcinogen - into things. This can be recycled though if your program offers it but I for one wouldn't be using this one!

"7" -

PC (polycarbonate) - For all of you Nalgene-aholics like myself this one you should know is now considered possibly hazardous - it is made of 'bisphenol A' - a hormone-disrupting (what exactly does that mean? I am going to have to do some more research on that!) agent. I still don't know what I am going to do with my 5 Nalgenes - they are like souvenirs I have collected throughout the years! These are not recyclable. Maybe I can plant something in them? Anyone know a cool Nalgene art project?

PLA (polylactide - made from renewable plant resources - I guess there are 'plastic trees' after all!) - These are safe to use unlike the PC #7s but they are not recyclable - they can be composted however.

So, there is your intro to plastics. Be aware the next time you go shopping to make sure your food or whatever might come in contact with your mouth is something safe. A few more tips to remember is that microwaving plastic and dishwashing them eventually breaks them down. I am trying to wean myself off of them and use more dishes but I am always afraid of breaking them or carrying them back and forth to work. Also, look for the 'Preserve' line of reusable plastic picnic-ware - (they also make awesome toothbrushes) - the stuff is made from recycled plastic and is recyclable again. Neat! I haven't been able to find it around except for the toothbrushes but I am still on the look out. Hope this has been informative! Beware the Plastic!

To Brighten Your Day!

2008-04-24T19:35:00.004-04:00

Just a little something cute to get you through the weekend! They were caught in a very rare 'kitty friendship' moment. Cleo looks like she is in trouble - hehe.

My friend Becca (my 'City Mouse' friend) is coming to visit this weekend so I will be off and about having a fun girls' weekend! If you remember, the last time we hung out we had our Barnes and Nobel 'knit fest'! I think it's supposed to be rainy this weekend but we always find something crafty to do (please don't make me tile tables again though! just kidding - I still love my table :) ) Have a good weekend and see y'all back here on Monday for another dose of Mother Earth Mondays!

P.S. I might try to post some pics over the weekend - Daisy the horse gets to be famous tomorrow. The teachers always do a contest for Relay for Life and whoever wins usually has to do something rather outrageous in front of the whole school. This year they chose a 'western' theme and originally started by saying that whoever won would have to ride a bucking bronco - well Daisy isn't a bucking bronco but they have downsized to just 'ride a horse' and the kids are still pretty psyched. Logan took off tomorrow and is bringing her down - this should be a hoot!

Thank You Earth!

2008-04-22T17:44:00.007-04:00

First, before I say anything, this is what I woke up to this morning (sorry for the poor picture quality - this was at 6:30 this morning and not a lot of light to help it out!) Apparently our neighbor's cows escaped and decided they wanted to come live with us...Maybe someone told them I wouldn't eat them?
Ok, now for the real post. As promised I am taking a 'Earth Day' turn - not like I don't anyway. I thought and thought about what I was going to talk about and what helpful hint I was going to give but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to make this like my typical M.E.M.'s - I wanted to do something special. That's when it occurred to me to just celebrate Earth Day by celebrating the Earth. What better way to do that then to enjoy what the Earth has given to us? I dedicate today's post to all of my 'city' friends who don't get this kind of scenery very often and to everyone who just needs a little bit of time outdoors!

We own a little more than 12 1/2 acres and the whole back half is untouched woods - well, mostly untouched - more on that later! So I decided to do some exploring this afternoon all by myself. No husband, no dogs to worry about keeping with me, just me and nature (don't worry Mom - I took my cell phone with me just in case!).

To get to the back of the property you have to go up the huge hill behind our house that is pasture for the horses. This is the view from the top looking back toward our house:

We installed gates to keep the horses out of the back so I had to go through the gates to start my journey - there is a nice wide path at the beginning that I am sure was once maybe a tractor or 4-wheeler path down to the back but is now very grown up and has fallen trees over it -

The walk down to the back isn't very exciting - in fact it still looks like autumn back there with all of the fallen leaves that haven't been broken down yet. It gets pretty steep and like I said there are a lot of fallen trees so it was hard to take pictures on the way down - plus it's pretty boring picture-wise -

I did find this very tiny pretty white flower poking out of all of the leaves. I looked and looked to try to find out what kind of flower it was but couldn't find it - even in my wildflower guide. I will keep searching though and if anyone has any clue please let me know!

After walking downhill for what feels like forever, the forest opens up to a beautiful meadow in the back. I want to build a log cabin back there with no electricity and use it to escape life. Logan would want to live back there forever!

At first I thought this was a small bird sitting on the branch. I got curious when it didn't fly away. It is a very strange growth on the branch - I wonder what caused that? A fungus maybe?

There is a ginormous tree back there and I couldn't resist a self-portrait! Not the best picture in the world - I had to balance the camera on a rock on the ground and hope I was lined up and made it over there before the timer went off! I made it!

When we first bought our property, we explored the back to see what was back there before we bought it. We saw a stream bank that we thought was dried up. I found out today it wasn't dried up and had a pretty good flow to it even though it's small. You don't know how excited I was to find this! Playing in creeks is one of my most favorite things to do - I love lifting up rocks to see what is under them!

Speaking of lifting up rocks - look what I found! Under almost every rock I lifted, I found salamanders! They were everywhere! This tells me it stays pretty damp down there and it's not just a run-off stream that happens when it rains. This was a tiny baby salamander I found.

Then I got real brave and wrangled one myself! Sorry for the sonic glow of my hand - pasty here hasn't gotten much sun yet...And yes Mom, I washed my hands when I came back!

I followed the stream from the bottom back up the hill (mountain!) just to see how far I could go. I thought this might be the end of the road but I squeezed under- yes under - around was not possible - and continued on...

There wasn't a whole lot more exciting parts. I found some very pretty 'flora' -

And fuzzy flora (maybe fern? - I'm not doing very good with my species identification tonight - I will work on it I promise)

Finally I came to the end of the 'road' - this is the hill I hiked up and out back up to the top field. I am definitely going to feel this hike tomorrow but it was fun and very peaceful - not to mention a very good workout!

Happy Earth Day!

Mother Earth Monday

2008-04-21T21:59:00.005-04:00

Due to an unfortunate laundry disaster involving a whole pot of Carmex, I am going to have to put off M.E.M. until tomorrow - which is very appropriate considering tomorrow is

EARTH DAY!

Do something good for your "Mother" tomorrow and I will be back (barring any more disasters - keep me in mind, I am taking the 'class' on a field trip tomorrow - I might sleep through Earth Day!).

Until later.....

Back on Track!

2008-04-20T10:56:00.009-04:00

Sorry for the short blogging hiatus! It's been a long week and if you read my mother's blog you know that I was a few days without Internet too! That's my first story...

We are installing a water line to the barn and up to the garden to make things a million times easier for us and also running electricity down to the barn. On Thursday, Logan rented a 'ditch witch' so he could dig out for the lines. He thought it would take him longer but he was able to do it all in one evening so on Friday he could work on putting in the lines. Easy enough right? Yes, until I go to hook up to the Internet and there is nothing there. At first I thought it was our lines in the house - they have a tendency to go out and you have to unplug all of the phones, wait about 5 minutes and then plug them up again. After doing that, still nothing. Then it occurred to me...Logan had to go across the driveway with the ditch witch - I would have bet money that he plowed right through the lines. Sure enough....that's what happened. "Someone" is too impatient to check for these things before he dives into a project...Here's what I discovered -

He's lucky that he didn't plow through an electric line but he assured me those don't run underground here...But phone lines do! To his credit, he did call the phone company that night and they came out the very next morning to fix it. Good thing too...

So, here's the ditch-witch digging project underway -

That last picture cracks me up because it looks like it's getting away from him but it's really not - under complete control....I hope!

Last but not least, after coming home from the movies last night on our 'date night' we had a very neat surprise. Check out the picture before I explain farther -

It's our first guinea eggs! Yea!!! Logan went down to check on everyone last night and feed the horses. He poked his head in the coop to check on the guineas and saw these two babies sitting in the corner! Yea! I think it's very interesting that they are 2 different colors. They are much smaller than a chicken egg - here is a size comparison - the chicken egg is on the left - it is an average 'large' egg from the grocery store - the two on the right are the guinea eggs.

Logan had them for breakfast this morning :) I didn't have the heart to eat them - haha. The yokes in them are HUGE compared to their size - the yoke is about the same size as a chicken egg and there is very little 'white'. He said they tasted just like regular chicken eggs. Neat! So ends our farm life weekend...