Happy New Year 2011

Wow, another year gone by!

Gotta say good riddance to 2010. Not a very good year at all.

Lost the last of our two Boxers in the beginning of the year.
Lost my house.
Came within a hair of becoming homeless.
Financial struggles.
The entire economy was, well, you know.
So many people losing their homes.
Well, it was just not a good year.

However there are some things that were great.

Found a wonderful place to rent that accepted all the animals.
Health wise everyone came through pretty darned good.
The unbelievable support throughout the year from friends ( which includes all of you) and family.
Found out what depression is and chose to overcome it.

So long 2010!

Welcome 2011!!

Wishing everyone a very safe and Happy New Year!

Looking forward to the new adventures that lay ahead for everyone.

See ya all next year!!! :)

Seriously?

Okay, get a load of this. The mail lady here at the new house is truly something else. On the 28th she left this notice stating there is a package for me. As you can see her note says package too big for tote I leave at the mailbox.
I call the post office and yup, the package is there. I tell them I will pick it up the 29th. Fine.
Well, on the 29th the mail lady leaves the package wrapped in a plastic bag next to the mailbox. Really? I called and said I would pick it up at the post office!  Okay. Whatever.

This is the note she left in the mailbox today.
Seriously? She wants her plastic garbage bag back so she can reuse it? Really? 
Um, not going to happen because the plastic bag got ripped while taking the package out. 
Really? She wants the bag back?! 
After shaking my head in disbelief then laughing hysterically about it how ridiculous her request is an idea came to mind.  



Fine. She wants her plastic bag back, well, then she should be thrilled with two boxes of unopened plastic bags!
Now I am sure you are asking yourself why I am going to leave both boxes of plastic bags in the mailbox tomorrow.
This is why.
I am leaving her a note to take one plastic bag to replace the one she wants back. The others are for her to keep in her vehicle so she has my plastic bags on hand whenever a package is delivered to my address and requires a plastic bag.
There have already been problems with this mail carrier. If I have outgoing mail that needs to be picked up, and no incoming mail, she does not stop to get the outgoing mail. I contacted the postmaster and was told that picking up outgoing mail is a courtesy. Really? Since when!
No wonder so many people are unhappy with the post office.
Until next time............................



Thinking of getting more chickens

For several days I have been giving thought to getting more chickens. Well, not thinking about just chickens because my mind has been full of ideas lately.

After doing a bit of research I do believe the Buff Orpington would make a good choice. The pic above is one from the Internet.

According to what I have read, they make excellent layers, are friendly, get kind of big and if it came down to it, well, they are good meat birds. Not that I would eat them.

Little Inger ( White Silky Bantam) , my absolute fave chicken, is being broody yet once again. Each day when I collect eggs, there she is sitting on eggs she has stolen from the other chickens. And again I must tell her that it is too cold for her to be raising babies. She gives me 'sad' face, which makes me feel bad, but having babies in winter is just not an option. 

Come March I plan on purchasing some Buff chicks.  Well, that is if I decide for sure they will be Buffs. I wonder if placing the Buff chicks with Little Inger and have her raise them is a good idea. That way she has instant babies! Does anyone know if placing already hatched chicks with a broody hen will work? 

And I have already begun to plan the garden! This will be the first real garden I will be planting in 6 years. But there is something I am wondering about. And that is what seeds to plant. Well, what I mean is, purchase the seeds available in just about any store, or plant some heirloom seeds. With all this genetically altered stuff going on, I  question the safety of those seeds. What I understand is the heirloom seeds are not messed with and will produce what used to be in years long gone. Any thoughts on seed choices?

Seems these past few days my mind is filling up with all kinds of projects. Me thinks I am getting back to 'normal'. The other day I was chopping wood and there was one piece that was pretty much getting the better of me. After a few minutes I decided that there was no way that piece of wood was going to win. So, with determination, I finally got it to split. Once it was in pieces I stood back, looked at it, then started doing a 'I won' dance around the pieces! I'm sure the cars driving by think a crazy lady lives here!

Oh, speaking of crazy. Haven't seen Creepy guy for awhile now.

I would love to hear your thoughts on what breed you like for chickens. I am looking for good egg layers. Also your thoughts on the difference between heirloom or regular seeds.

Until next time......................

Helping one another

When we rented the house we live in now, there are two heat alternatives. One is the oil furnace, but at over three dollars a gallon, well, not an option. The second is the fireplace. Naturally the fireplace was chosen for the only heat source.
Just before we moved in we found a wood stove listed on Craigslist for fifty dollars. Definitely in the price range that was affordable. Come to find out the folks we bought the wood stove from were in the process of being foreclosed on, so they had to get rid of as much stuff as possible. Having just gone through it, words of advice were given as well as advice on how to sell on EBay. They knocked off ten dollars from the price of the stove. And they gave us a pile of seasoned wood! Sweet!   

The little wood stove has been heating the house fairly okay.



Now that the colder temps are here, the little wood stove isn't able to keep the house warm enough. So it was time to search for another one. On Craigslist there was an ad that had been on for about a week. After crunching numbers, doing without a few things, the phone call was made to go look at it.
When we arrived we knew right away it would be perfect. The question was asked if the price was firm. The guy said it depends. He wanted to know if it was going to be resold at a profit. After a quick laugh we told him no. Briefly explained the losing of the house, trying to find a place that would rent that would accept animals, etc..
He laughed and told us that a year ago he and his family lost their house. They had to be out on December 24th! As we stood there talking, he asked if we could afford half the asking  price of the stove. With our jaws hanging, we said yes and a huge thank you. I came within in a millisecond of crying.
Then we got to talking about now is the time to start helping one another. If one person helps someone, and that person helps someone and so on, we as a community can and will get through these tough times.




As we were about to leave, he said he had something else for us. He walked away and came back with an entire set of fireplace tools! We told him that if he ever needed help with anything, to please call.


Christmas Eve morning we pulled out the little wood stove, installed the 'new' one, lit the fire and the house has been actually warm now! Let me say, the new stove is three times as heavy as the little one!

It was decided that if someone is in need of a wood stove, then the little stove will be given to them at no cost.

Oh, and get this. The guy we bought the stove from had put the wrong phone number on the ad and had just changed it to the correct number that day!

We, meaning all of us, can and will get through this, well, as I refer to it now, " The 2nd Great Depression". The folks who made it through the first one are among those whom I have great admiration and respect.

Don't ever doubt what gesture of kindness from the heart can do for someone!

Until next time.......................



Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU.

WISHING YOU ALL A DAY FILLED WITH LAUGHTER, FULL TUMMIES, LOVE, AND GOOD TIMES!

HUGS.

Hmmmm. Very interesting.

The dogs started growling and barking which of course caught my attention. They were staring at the front door, so we went out the side door to come around the house to the front door. By this time they had calmed down. Hmmmm. Nothing to be seen or heard.

But wait!!

Across the road is a red light. What the heck is that? Back into the house for the binoculars. At first it looked like a motorcycle tail light. Nope. Maybe the neighbor put a red light for Christmas decoration. Nope. Hmmmm.

Ha, I know what it is. It's a road flare. Right smack in the middle of the neighbors driveway.

Okay, why? Don't know.

Then I started noticing the cars slowing way down when the flare was noticed.

Nothing going on except the flare, well, flaring.

Now I am curious as to why there is a flare in the middle of the neighbors driveway.

Maybe the neighbor put it there to slow the traffic down.

Maybe it is there to guide out of town guests where they are suppose to turn.

Don't have a clue and don't know the neighbors as of yet, so, I suppose this will remain a mystery for who knows how long.

Until next time.................


PS-- Thank you all for your words of encouragement and support and experiences. It truly is amazing how words alone can do wondrous things. Hugs.

The Christmas Holiday

John over at Going Gently http://disasterfilm.blogspot.com/ left a comment the other day on one of my posts. His words touched my heart and also made me do some serious thinking about Christmas.

As most of you know this year was not a good year. From losing the last of my Boxers to losing my beloved house, almost becoming homeless, having to move, well, just not a good year.

Over these past few months I have been battling I suppose a bit of depression. Only thing is, I didn't realize it until John left a comment. Thankfully this is the only time in my life the word depression has come on to the scene.

Being in a new house ( which is not mine and yes that bothers me), and it being winter, and not having my stall barn to put the horses and donkeys in on cold nights and icky days has played a pretty big part in this whole depression thing. I worry about them being out in the pasture with just some redneck tarp shelters to try to protect them from the elements. My sister Connie told me yesterday that it probably doesn't bother them as much as it does me. And she is right. Thanks Sis.

The picture is of the entry to my beloved lost house during Christmas time last year. I made myself look at all the pictures of my beloved house to help deal with the loss of it.



Now that I realize what has been going on  with my 'blue moods', I can do something about it. And that is to accept what has happened. Nothing is going to change the past. So it is time for me to follow my own advice and "Buck the 'F' up". 

Yes, there have been a lot of positives. Especially with finding this place that allowed all the animals.

I seriously need to reconnect with my wacky sense of humor. Somewhere along the way it got lost.

Thank you John. Thank you.

Until next time.................

ps--I still believe that the Christmas holiday is too commercialized!