Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

 

1. Tell us about a time you found yourself 'in the middle of nowhere'. Was this deliberate?  Where we live is kinda in the middle of nowhere, really.  I wish we lived further away from our neighbors.  Our home was built around the 1850's.  When it was first built the only people who lived here were in the family.  There are 4 homes that I can see from our property and only two are still family owned.  The one home was built within the last 50 years and it was sold to folks who aren't family but are real decent people.  The neighbors beside us bought a home that was owned by a cousin to my descendants.  She recently passed away.  Ryder really liked to visit with her. Moving here was deliberate.

2. What's something you're 'in the middle of' today or this week? Laundry!  We went away over the weekend and I need to catch up on that laundry plus some here have a stomach virus that is making for extra laundry.  We are almost through that too.

3. At what age do you think 'middle age' begins? What does it mean to be 'middle aged'? I don't know the answer to this question.  I would guess somewhere around 35-40, maybe?  I think middle-aged is more of a mind set. Hopefully you enter this stage of life with some wisdom.

4. Ravioli, stuffed peppers, samosas, deviled eggs, steamed dumplings, pierogis, or a jelly donut...your favorite food (from this list!) with something yummy in the middle. Your favorite not on the list? Honestly, I don't care much for any of these foods.  Ravioli is ok, I used to love deviled eggs but I have a hard time digesting them now and pierogis are edible.  I like donuts but not the jelly filled kind.  I much prefer the donuts with pudding or custard in them.  Cheese sticks are good along with jalapeño wontons!

5. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying ''In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.' Would you agree? Have you found this to be true in your own life? Feel free to elaborate. I agree with this statement.  I think when you are in the middle of difficulty you sink or swim.  Most of us would swim and grow in opportunity.  I believe this to be a true statement in my life.

6. What's a song you remember loving from your middle school years? Do you love it still? Here is something, I can't remember much musically about my middle school years. I am sure there was a song in there somewhere but what it would have been...couldn't tell ya!

7. May 18th is National Visit Your Relatives Day. Will you celebrate? Which relative would you visit if time, distance, and expense were not considered.  I will not be going anywhere to celebrate but since we live so close to family someone is bound to stop in.  If I could go visit any distant relative it would be to see my brother.  After all this rain and dreary weather a visit to the beach would be lovely!

8. Insert your own random thought here.   Rainy days have really been making me appreciate the sunny times that pop out.  Rain makes for good sleeping though and with this stomach bug, sleep is a good thing!

Talking Laundry...

   Laundry. Laundry. Laundry.

 

 

Those are Christmas lights hanging in the picture....  :-)

 

Some love it, some hate it. I fall somewhere in between. I don't hate to do laundry but I am not placing it on the list of favorite household chores either. I just do it...everyday (except Sunday). Yep, I do a load (sometimes two) of laundry daily.  If I don't do a load a day my laundry turns into Mt. Laundry. The kids don't bother me while I do laundry either.  I make them help if they are there so it gives me some peace and quiet!  ~smile~

 

I have tried several different systems to tackle our laundry but I found that a load daily is what works best for us.  I have several close friends that have all found systems that work for them.

 

   Friend 1: She does laundry on her days off and on her shorter work days. She doesn't have a dryer.  She only line dries. 

   Friend 2: Does all her laundry on one day.

   Friend 3: Has a day assigned to each member of the family.  They do their own laundry on their day. 

   Friend 4: Touches laundry only when necessary! ;-)

   Friend 5: Never touches laundry as her teens do all the laundry. They enjoy doing it. Imagine that! 

 

We have a spring so water consumption is something that I have to consider when washing our laundry.  I hang dry all our laundry so I need to take that into consideration also.  I only have so much line space.

 

I was talking to my cousin yesterday.  She is 25 years old and has a 4 1/2 year old.  She was amazed that hang dry all the laundry.  She asked if I ever use my dryer! Yes, I use my dryer to fluff the clothes on the cool air setting after they are dry.  It is so much easier on the clothes and the electric bill.  On average, I may actually use the dryer for one or two loads per year.

  



 

My one issue I had for years was the clothespin mark that remained on my shirts.  Several years ago my mom told me about hanging my shirts by the material at the armpit. This has revolutionized my laundry!! Yes, I did just say that about laundry!  I love that I don't have to fight those crumpled marks or misshaped clothes anymore. 

 

I have three clotheslines.  One in the basement that I use all winter long. A retractable one in the playroom that I use regularly in the spring and summer and one outside line.  I only use the outside one for white and light colored clothes, sheets and towels because the sun bleaches out the dark clothes pretty fast.  I love the sun though- it really helps to bleach out those hard to get rid of stains.  It also makes the whites whiter!  There is also something so nice about the smell of fresh line dried laundry. The pictured laundry is from my lines in the playroom. 

 

Do you enjoy doing laundry?  What is your favorite household chore?

 

 

 





Catching a Breath!

   After a whirlwind week, I am happy to catch my breath today.  I was able to stay home all day and not have any running to do.  I enjoy days when I can just be home and not have places to be at a certain time.  Do you enjoy those kind of days too?

   Our homeschool group has finished for the year. We had a Variety Show to celebrate.  This showcases our kids talents.  I am an advisor for a group of kids who enjoy doing black light. We put many hours into an 18 minute program! If you aren't familiar with black light there are many videos on YouTube, just type in black light and you will see some examples of what we do.  This is probably our 5th or 6th year of doing it but I honestly can't remember when we started.

   Saturday we celebrated Madilynne's birthday.  It was a lovely party and I had a hard time holding back tears as I held my 2 1/2 month old nephew while watching her open gifts.  It doesn't seem that long ago I was holding her at that age. I wonder where all the time went?

   I remember my grandma telling me that the days flew by.  She would chuckle and say how when your a child the days are so long, as teens they go by quicker but then when you become an adult the day just seems to fly.  I used to joke with her and ask if it felt like she just got out of bed to go right back to bed since she was in her 70's!

   The lilac bush is blooming beautifully.  I picked a small bouquet to bring into the house.  I put them in the living room and the whole room smells wonderful.  Lilacs are one of my most favorite flowers.  I wish they bloomed longer!  I made a bouquet to give to my mom for Mother's Day.  Her bush has been crowed out by trees and doesn't give many blossoms anymore.

   The cows have returned.  I don't have a picture to share yet.  It hasn't been very nice weather and I really didn't want to go out in rainy, cool weather to get one.  I think there are 18 cows here at the moment.  My dad said he believes more are coming at a later date.

   Well that is what's been happening around here lately.  Hope all has been well in your area. 

Lavender Roses

 

Roses anyone?

 

 

Madilynne found these beautiful lavender roses at Aldi's for $3.99 yesterday. I didn't think that was a bad price for 6 roses.

 

 

I couldn't pass them by(buy)! I placed them on the kitchen table and the room has filled with the scent of roses. I am waiting for our lilacs to bloom so I can put some of them on the table and in our living room!  I enjoy having fresh flowers.

Do you enjoy fresh flowers?  Do you keep flowers on display in your home?

Rainy Skies~Sunny Skies and the Farm

   Today is one of those days were the skies are busy.  I love to watch the clouds move across the wide expanse of sky. It has transitioned several times from rainy to sunny- very unsettled weather today.  The sky is a brilliant blue when the clouds go away.  I love to look at the sky when those gray clouds move out.  Spring brings these kinds of days frequently.  I took these pictures from my driveway this morning.  I just turned and snapped a picture. 

  
   On Sunday evening, Jeremiah and I were going to pick the kids up from a church activity and the sky was phenomenal!  We live on a mountain and as we were heading down the hill we could see a huge amount of the sky.  The colors were vibrant.  Yellows, blues, purples and pinks filled the sky.  We were able to see a storm front coming in and the sunset where the storm had yet to arrive.

   All this rain has been great for our yard and the fields.  We are anticipating the return of the cows from a local farmer.  He keeps them here on pasture for summer while they are growing up and getting old enough to milk. It is peaceful to watch them grazing across the fields.  We use an intensive grazing system.  They are moved through the fields instead of just turning them loose to roam the entire paddock.  This year we also plan on having some chickens follow to help with bug and fly control. Here are two photos of the cows we had last year.  I may have posted them before...

   Speaking of chickens...our little ones are growing healthy and strong.  They are getting bigger and feathering out.  They are adorable!  They are also messy!  Madilynne just cleaned their temporary home yesterday morning!  I will be so happy when they are old enough to be able to be outside in the movable kennel.

 

   This fellow has still been coming around the house.  His colorings are beautiful.  He has been staying off the porch though and that is a good thing.

Bits and Pieces- Madilynne

   Madilynne is having a birthday soon.  Several of her aunts and her grandma has been asking what to get her for her special day.  I wrote up a short email and sent it to them.  Madilynne saw the email and said it would be a fun blog post!  Here it is and I didn't even change the mistakes!

Ok, Madilynne is hard to buy for! Really hard! K already asked about gifts and I had no idea what to tell her. After pondering it some more since WE have to get something for her I have some thoughts. These are not actual gift suggestions but something to look for if you so desire. I mentioned gift card or money to K and that is still a strong suggestion but some things she likes are:

 Anything Vintage/vintage looking

Anything chicken related- she loves her chicks. I found a pair of rubber boots with chickens on them and she went crazy over them.

Anything recycled, environmentally friendly... She found a rug made of recycled material and just had to have it!

Anything vegetarian themed. She is loving finding pro vegetarian stuff!

If it's different, she will most likely love it

Amazon! She finds a lot on Amazon so gift cards to there is good!

Anything music themed

Cats! She still loves her kitties!

Again, don't worry if you can't find anything like this- it's hard. Go with money or gift cards. I just thought that since some of you like to shop, you may want to know some likes. She truly likes the odd stuff. If you see it and think "why would anyone want?" it's a Madilynne gift! LOL

And just to be clear- in our family it is perfectly ok to ask for money or gift cards.  No one will take offense at that suggestion. 

What Was I Thinking? 10 Chicks!

  

 

 We decided to get several chicks.  My thought was 4-5 chicks. I figured we didn't need anymore hens than that until we saw them!!  These chicks will grow up and lay eggs (usually around 18-20 weeks old) and I didn't think we needed more eggs than that per day but....the cute factor outweighed need!  LOL

 

   As all things go, we arrived at the feed store and looked at those cute, adorable little peeps and Madilynne fell in chicky love!  She picked out 6, Ryder (who didn't want any) picked out 2 and I got 2 for Pappy B.  They are so sweet! 

 

        The totals are:

        4 Buff Orpingtons

         2 Barred Rock

         2 Cuckoo Marans

         1 Red Sex Link

         1 Rhode Island Red

 

  These little chicks are adored already.  Watching the chicks grow is fun and they really are cute. We are enjoying our little additions!

 

 

 

This chick is Madilynne's favorite.  Her name is Egythba.  Don't ask for a pronunciation because I can't say it!  LOL  She will be known as "G"! 

She will fall asleep in your hands. 

 

Here G is almost asleep!



 

Now this picture was on the "I'm not sure I should post this but...." list.  I decided to post it anyhow.  If you look closely behind her little leg.... she left a gift on the car hood!