Monday Chatter.

I hope your Monday is off to a good week. We have a really
pretty day today. Lots of clear, blue sky.
We had a busy weekend. I watched my grand children.
They make me laugh, but boy am I tired after they go
home and then there is the struggle of the quiet house.
The quiet threatens to crush me after they are gone.
I love the sound of the voices and the sound of laughter.



I don't ever watch television when I am here during the day.
I don't watch it at night very much either. When we do watch it
I am not the one in control with the remote.

It was cold on wet on Saturday morning and I broke out
the Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers. The last time the kids
were here, I had the hardest time finding how to get the DVD off
of the menu screen. My grandson after he has sat quietly and patiently
waiting for Gama to get to the movie. He looked at me and said, " What the
heck, Gama?" So this time, when I picked up the remote, " He gave me this
stare like, is she going to do that again. He even told me that I needed to show
him, he thought he could learn the remote. He is four. I bet he could.



My house right now is really Grand Central Station.
I think I should just put on revolving doors. My older
kids??? Young adults?? Had their friends over for
game night. The yelling going on is so funny to hear.
I have learned to sleep through it.

I am still being very thankful though. I am thankful that
my house is not quiet all of the time. I am glad that there are
little kids who treat you like you are the most special person
in the world when you come in the door.

I will close with this verse that says it best I think.

"What You give them they gather in;
You open Your hand, they are filled with good."
(Psalm 104:28)

It is a good day.

~Kim~

Just a short post today. I have been browsing my photos again. I was going

to enter into a photo contest and then I chickened out. Maybe another time. 

I went out to check my chickens and make sure they had enough food and water

before the rain comes. 

We have had lots of wind. I noticed that I had a hen who was just sitting in

the yard. I thought that was odd so when I went over to look at her and picked

her up, I noticed that a string from a feed bag was wrapped around and around

her feet and toes. It had been pulled really tight so I was afraid it might have

cut off the circulation in her feet. 

It took me ten minutes to unwind it and then I rubbed and rubbed her feet.

I don't keep my feed close to the chicken pen but somehow the string

got in the yard. I imagine from the wind. As I was thinking how 

little things like a string could have maimed my hen. It made me think

of other things that I have laying around my animals that could be 

dangerous.

I hope you all have a very nice weekend. I will be away from the computer

this weekend. See you next week.

~Kim~

Thoughts on Thursday

I have been looking through magazines this week, trying to find
ideas of craft projects for December. I like making new things
for my house in December and I have been looking at things
a person like me who is challenged and who knows
I am no Martha Stewart.



Every Christmas since I can remember I have tried to make things.
Even the first year we married I made the ornaments for the tree
and tied them with red ribbon.

One year on the cover of a magazine was this beautiful wreath. It was
one of the most incredible things I had ever seen before. I stared and stared
and read the directions over and over.
Finally I thought I can do this. Now I call having toddlers, life in reality.
I knew I couldn't make this beautiful wreath until they were all in bed.
When the babies were little they were not good sleepers.

I put all of the things I needed in a bag and then planned where my workspace
was going to be. I got the babies in bed and asleep and I was so tired by then,
but I was excited too.
This wreath used a Styrofoam base and fresh cranberries. Each cranberry was
individually pinned with small pins to the Styrofoam. Until the whole thing was
filled and then you took a great big satin ribbon and used that to hang it on your
door.

I worked and the cranberries were sticky, and juicy. Every time I stuck a pin
in juice went every where. The pins would stick to my fingers and juice
was running down my elbows. It was taking so long that the smell
of warm cranberries was starting to smell too ripe. Then the gnats started
arriving.
I was not going to be defeated, but the baby was waking up every hour
and it was very late so I thought, " I would go to bed and get up early in
the morning and finish and clean up the mess. I turned off the light
and went to bed.

I over slept the next morning and when my husband went in to where I had
been working he yelled (he never yells, ever) "What the heck is that
horrible smell!!!! "
I jumped out of bed, bleary eyed and ran in the laundry room where everything
had been, there was the smell of rotting fruit, molded cranberries and a room full
of gnats.

I just picked up the whole thing and took it to the trash. Even today I do not decorate
with real fruit, ever, well pumpkins but that is it.

Later I picked up the magazine and stared at the photograph. Then it dawned on
me, this wreath is somewhere it snows. Where it is cold. That was why it looks so
pretty the red against the white of the snow.

A very smart blogger has the directions over at her place and good instructions
if you want to try it. http://themagiconions.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-to-make-cranberry-wreath.html

I was thinking about it as I was planning my decorating this year. I still love
that wreath but I ain't gonna make it.

Have a wonderful Thursday,
~Kim~

Chats on the Farmhouse Porch

It is that time to visit with Patrice again. It is fun learning things
about all of the people who play along. Not to mention making new friends.
I enjoyed this weeks questions. I hope you do too.

Questions

1. Dreaming asks: What accomplishments make you the most proud?

Two I suppose, One that I am amazed is that I have been married for 31 years. When we got married, the people who worked with me placed bets that I would not stay married after the first week. They only told me this after we had made it to a year. The next thing I am very proud of was that I home schooled six children. From Kindergarten through high school 5 of them. There now are 3 of them are in college and two have graduated and are married with children. When my last son graduates in 2013 I will have home schooled 25 years. Not bad for someone who the school counselor said to me my senior year, I was too dumb for college. All of them function in society. I did not destroy them as my extended family predicted.



2. Suzanne asks: When did your family first come to the country which you now live?

They were already here. My family part of them traveled the Trail of Tears when the federal government wanted their land in Kentucky.
Some of them came from England and one of my greats was born on the hold of a ship when her family fled Scotland. Some of them were from Spain and went to Mexico. So I am really just a mutt.


3. Wendell asks: What's your favorite way to serve carrots?

Well, in soups I guess Wendell.

4. Do you decorate with anything that has Santa or Father Christmas when you prepare for Christmas?

You know I thought about this question, I don't have a single Santa or Father Christmas. We used to attend a pretty legalistic church and I had made a very cute Santa wreath for my front door and the pastor called me to take it down because some of the ladies that attended a Bible Study at my house were offended. I guess I never got any more.



5. Do you prefer big dogs or small dogs? Something in between, maybe?

I like all kinds of dogs, Big or small. I think I prefer dogs the size of Sasha though. I like the working kind of dogs. I have had Queensland Heelers and Shetland Sheepdogs but my favorite has been Border Collies. I think I will always have this kind until the end of my days.

I will be around to visit on your porch too. Have a great Wednesday!

~Kim~