Rain ~ Feverfew

I got a start on one of the bracelets.  Each one takes 196 beads and it does take 45 minutes to an hour to string them.

Crazier things could happen, but after I crocheted the "trial" bracelet and to check size, I had 7 orders for them by the next morning (thanks to my daughter showing it off on social media). Woohoo, but now I got work to do ha ha!


I was back online doing some "unsupervised" shopping!  I'll have supplies soon, but I wish Aunt Lydia's yarn sold #3 cotton thread in a variegated color too.

We got rain yesterday.  So thankful for that, but the weeding needs to resume again. I managed to get one bag of mulch in the flower beds and of course weeded that area prior to that.

Our 17 year-old had a headache all day, so I cut some fresh feverfew and brewed a tea for her.  The main reason to plant it was for this purpose (migraines, headaches).  Over the counter meds would not work for her, so I brewed the tea, although the feverfew was fresh, not dried.  One cup of brewed tea relieved her headache.  

I don't have enough growing to dry for tea as well as make a fresh tincture, so next year I'll plant two pots of it.  

Rain, here is a photo of the box the steps came in.  I am assuming he bought them online.  There is a material cover for them so Jesse won't slip either.

Puppy nap time is so adorable.

Tuesday Tidbits

We had another gorgeous sunrise this morning, but we'll get more heat and hopefully rain.  Most of the area got rain, but not us, so I'll need to water some things this morning.

I had good intentions on going to look at possibly adopting a 2 year dog, but talked myself out of it.  I think we need a puppy to train alongside the chickens, cats and the other puppy.

Looked around for a pool for the pup.  So far, they are sold out.  Imagine that.  It's so hot that I'm not surprised.

Reclaimed the kitchen table yesterday, and tried to put some order into the kitchen itself.  It was hot and the puppy was hating it, so he'll get a cool bathtub soak quite often this week.

My beads are starting to arrive, but my crochet thread hasn't.  It would be great if it came today.  I'll be indoors this entire week, aside from watering.

I'm on "puppy" duty today, as our youngest is interning at the salon, and has customers coming in today.  She will miss her baby for sure, so we'll see how this goes today.  I plan on doing inside cleaning, but possible flower bed weeding (unless it gets too hot).

I need to start a tincture today, but just have enough for making one.  I am trying to decide on a sage one or mullein.  We use both. 

Sort of a boring post today, but like I said the heat is sucking the life out of all of us.  Even the chickens were panting yesterday.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Good Morning Monday!

I'm joining up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

Lots to do today.

We literally went "off grid" over the weekend. We stole away to the island and took two of the girls.  Oh my gosh they loved it. Their first time there.  There is no cell service there on most of the island and it's spotty in one area.   By the way, we have to go back since we didn't get our traditional margaritas this trip.  They now have a hippie store there, and the girls fell in love.  One came home with tye-dye crocs and pink heart shaped sunglasses, ha ha!

We got a flat tire on our golf cart, so we were sitting at an outside bar/restaurant. Oh darn, had to order a long island iced tea.

We got help, but had to wait about an hour.  In that time I got a text message.  Had we not gotten the flat tire, I would not have gotten the text that said if someone didn't pick him up on Friday (we had already left), that the person was taking him to the Humane Society that day).  Our daughter got someone to go get him via social media.

Guess what we picked up when we got home?  Yep.  Our youngest daughter now has her own dog.  His name is Romeo. He's a pitt-mix.  He is the most adorable puppy you could have too.  So loving.  By the way Romeo LOVES Jesse, but Jesse is scared of him, and avoids all contact, ha ha ha!  Oh my gosh, he tries to play with Jesse all the time.

Speaking of Jesse, thanks to our son, he now has steps that go up to our bed.  Poor ol' guy just can't jump up anymore.  He also has a step stool to get into our son's car when we need him to watch him. 

We came home to a fully mowed lawn, weed whacked and some of the trees cut down!  So, so, so thankful for that.  I'll be heading to the bank for some cash for our biker friend.  So thankful for the help.  His lack of presence was simply lack of communication.  He'll be back to finish the trees, but not until this heat wave ends.


On the breakfast plate . . .
Have no clue.  Daughter ate all the eggs but one, and didn't bring in any of the ones from the coop over the weekend (double grr).  Gonna hire someone else next time.


The weather outside . . .
Woke up to 67°F, high of 90 and a good chance of rain.  They are predicting a high of 113° later this week.  Yeah, not looking forward to that at all.  I will have to ice the chickens several times.


Right now I am . . . 
Procrastinating.


On my bedside table . . .
The same.  Never cleaned it off.


On my reading pile . . .

Movies I watched . . .
The Holy Grail, Indiana Jones - only thing we could get on the island, lol!


On the TV . . .
Whatever service we could get on the island.


On the menu . . .
Have no clue.  Just getting adjusted to being back out of our "island" mode.


On my to-do list . . .
Dishes
Laundry
Floors
Trash and clean out fridge
Pick radishes
Weed
Run to town for errands
Water everything
Go thru mail that came while gone
Order more beads for bracelets - got more orders
Clean up computer desk area
Take a trip unsupervised somewhere (oh yeah)



What I am creating . . . 

I spent a short bit of quiet time at the island, crocheting a kitchen hand towel.  I was an island hooker, ha ha!


Looking forward to . . .
Our first camping trip, and we are in the midst of planning our next island trip (most likely our last for the year).


Looking around the house . . .
It's a total mess.  We had our 21 year-old here while gone, and she didn't clean anything, not even the dishes (Grrr!).  I'm not happy with her right now.  She has been late getting her dog his meds and hasn't made effort to see her own dog. He may be staying.  We'll be seeing about that. If she is that busy, he deserves to be here with us.


From the camera  . . .
I didn't take my camera to the island, but I took my cell phone.  I'll be honest I didn't take many, and it was the most and best way to retreat - no connection, no service, just us and the peace and quiet and relaxation.


What I am wearing today . . .
My new silky summer robe that says "Wifey" on the back.  I finally replaced it. Summer PJ's and my Harley Davidison slippers.  I'm just not ready to start this day and I am finally, finally back on my normal sleep schedule.  No more 4am mornings.  Hubby is back on days and 8 hours.  Woohoo!


One of my simple pleasures . . .
Unsupervised shopping.  He he!


Praying . . .
No special requests right now

It's Rolling In ~ Last Night

New Projects.

New project.  Already started on it too.

...and finished one.  I will be making more in the near future.  Just have to get more supplies.  Boho beaded bracelets.

A few of my "unsupervised" online shopping is starting to arrive.  Top photo wasn't the actual color online, but I'll work with it.  Who knows when I'll get to these either.  I'm back to weeding and it's a constant, daily thing right now.

Today, I'm expecting another shipment, and feeling all giddy.  Somehow it's more fun than shopping in the stores.  I better not get used to that, ha ha!

I cheated making dinner the other night, but it was so good.  I bought organic jarred Alfredo sauce and made an easy crock pot chicken Alfredo.  Next time, I'll try it with homemade Alfredo in the crock pot.  If you want the recipe, it's online with Eating on a Dime (Easy Crock pot Chicken Alfredo Casserole).  The noodles are tossed in dry and they were not mushy when I served it either.  I used all organic ingredients of course, but like I said, I cheated.  What can I say, I am downright tired and worn out.

So tired, that when Hubby handed me his coffee cup, and asked me to refill it, I literally put it in the sink and left it there.  Minutes later he asked about his coffee.  Gulp.  Yep.  We are so ready for this night shift 12 hour shift to be over with.

Last night was Hubby's last night for the night shift.  He's home and off work for a few days, so if you don't see a post too soon, you know we are enjoying our time together.  Possible motorcycle rides and the list is endless.

Yesterday, I was up and at-um with the bold intention to weed a flower bed and toss down another bag of mulch.  It literally lasted a second.  The minute I stepped to the edge to kneel down, a big snake slithered into it right where I wanted to weed.  Nope.  Nope and nope.  I'll wait for the mower to send them elsewhere before I return.  Weeds prevail.

He may be mowing today when he wakes up though.  Sadly, our biker friend we hired to mow, hasn't been back for over a week.  He was also hired to do some work on one daughter's car, and cut down trees. No sign of him, and the grass is growing tall.  Car still broke down, and trees growing too quickly.

On a good note, we'll be celebrating one way or another this weekend.

Rare Sight ~ Sunrise

Saw this guy a few times the other day.  A very rare sight.

Trying to take photos is almost impossible.  Traffic will be heavy on our country highway until October.  Ugh.

Saw these guys out yesterday morning.  Three bucks enjoying their breakfast.

Well, I went out and watered everything.  It's gonna be in the 90's today, and I just shook my head the entire time.  Weeds so high and thick I can't see where the plants are or the flowers.  Only where I managed to weed tomatoes.  Oh, tomatoes are on, and so are jalapenos, and I picked a handful of red raspberries.

Daughter is not interning today.  We'll see if I can snag some help weeding and get the flower beds caught up.  Hm.  She'll probably ditch me and go swimming, but I don't blame her today.

I'll be a bit slower at getting around to everyone's blogs, but will be on indoor cooling down breaks, in between weeding.  I was up at 4:44am this morning. Oh yay......

Tuesday Tidbits

Yesterday's sunrise.

Not really liking porch time right now.  Another highway is closed for construction, so the detour goes by our place.  Too many semi-trailers for sure.

Got the car into the shop at 11:30am yesterday, and had it done by 1:30pm.  There was literally no weeding time after all that running around.  Just glad it's done.

Short post today.  We are dragging our feet with the night shift business.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Anyone else up at 4:57am?  Just to wash the bedding, dry it and remake the bed before your night shift working husband gets off work, and because you can't remember where the second set of sheets are and you are too tired to look for them?  Now that's one long run-on question.

Once again, a wren (at first I thought he was a chickadee) is building a nest in the same flower pot as last year.  They don't even care that I'm on the porch either.  They have their babies and they are gone instantly after the kids can fly.  He landed right on the chair next to me yesterday morning.

Sunday was the looooongest, most boring, dreary day for me.  Although it was much cooler, it was too wet to weed just yet.  Maybe I'll get some done later today.  Depends on the amount of time it'll take to get new tires on the car. Another day interrupted, but it needs done ASAP.

Today I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. Enjoy!   I gotta get things done around here and it's a busy day today.

If you are wanting the Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing recipe, go to this post to get the link.  


On the breakfast plate . . . 

..along with some much needed black organic coffee.


The weather outside is . . . 
Cooler - woke up to a 64°F, with a high of 81° and no chance of rain.


Right now I am . . .
Writing this post as the dryer (gulp! have no time to dry them outside until I find the second set of sheets) hums away, and getting ready to make a second pot of coffee.


On my bedside table . . .
A total mess - ruler, cup, notepad, pen, reading glasses, homemade lip balm.  Need to tidy it up after Hubby is off nights.


On my reading pile . . .

Movies I watched . . .
Sahara, Law Abiding Citizen


On my TV . . .
Mostly Hulu or Amazon movies


On the menu . . .
-Grilled burgers, corn on the cob, leftover bruschetta salad and melting potatoes (maybe)
-Apple/chicken/Pecan/Cranberry salads with homemade pomegranate vinaigrette
-Grilled chicken pesto/tomato kabobs or possibly Drunken Chicken with garlic mashed potatoes or crock pot chicken alfredo
-leftovers hopefully


On the to-do list . . .
Everything ha ha ha!  Can't do much until Hubby is off of night shift.
-wash bedding
-take car in for new tires
-sweep and mop kitchen
-tidy up kitchen
-tidy up front room
-dust


What I am creating . . .

A set of pot holders in this color.

Looking forward to . . .
Hubby off of night shift, no long 12 hour shifts for him, and an overdue and much needed trip to the island.  I have to remember not to bring up subjects like building a new chicken coop during this work schedule.  Hubby is a bit on the grumpy side, as well as me.  No need to poke the bear right now.  Conversations are kept to a light topic for now.  


Looking around the house . . .
Another total mess.  Brand new sweeper and haven't used it since I'm too tired to do it when Hubby gets up (and too tired to use it before he gets home).  I have to open the new shampooer and put it together too.  Papers need filed, office area is in disarray, and so on.  Not to mention recycling needs dropped off (we are too far out in the country for any sort of "pick up").


From the camera . . .

One of my simple pleasures . . .

An afternoon cold coffee with a splash of Bailey's and Kahlua (homemade is the best) in it.  I little adult afternoon pick me up.  Don't worry folks, this is a very rare occasion.  It just may have happened on Sunday.  I may very well happen again today. 

Prayers . . .
Our weather, farmers, Hubby and his long hours, my sanity