I have found that I have large chunks of time lately and decided I should find a hobby or two. I suppose this is "my blog". Here are my findings...
Knitting- I learned to knit at a young age. The only stiches I know are knitting and pearling. Which means I'm really great at making scarves and baby blankets. Since these are the only stiches I know it makes it very difficult to make anything else. My extended family is great at knitting almost anything: sweaters, mittens, slippers ets. One of my cousins even takes knitting lessons, every week. Hmm, there's a more to knitting than I realized if you can take classes every week and still learn something new. I do not know how to drop a stich or pick one up. Trying to decode the instructions for learning a new stich is like trying to break a code the secret service set up. I don't know that I'm willing to continue down this path.
Sewing- I picked up sewing while in high school. A friend of mine sewed most of her own clothes and they looked great. It's a wonderful skill to learn for those of us who have a difficult time finding clothes that fit just right. Adult clothes are too long, and kids clothes are too short, and don't have enough room in the hips. Wow, now you know my whole life! Anyway, she and I made several dresses together. After I graduated she moved out of state. There goes my sewing buddy :( I continued in the effort to make my own clothes, but I didn't understand the lingo... what does bias, basting and backstiching mean? I knew what to do after watching her, but we had only made a few dresses and I lacked the higher eduction. As I progressed I learned I could piece the clothes together, but they never turned out quite right. I didn't know how to insert zippers, so I used buttons, or squeezed myself in. I would take the fabric and a pattern that was several sizes too large and make it into a dress, or what looked somewhat like a dress, without a zipper, and take it to my seamstress. She would insert a zipper and tailor the dress which was 1 foot too long, and make it fit. I felt like I was admitting defeat when I visited the seamstress. I now skip a step- I buy something that is too large and then take it to the seamstress!
Gardening- I started a garden when I moved into our first house. The plot was only 5X12, not very large at all. I planted a row or two of corn, and some green beans. I will admit I SEVERLY neglected my garden. I watered it, but didn't touch the weeds because the ground was so tough to work. After planting it I realized I had started my garden on top of an old gravel driveway- not the best ground for producing plants. After that experience my husband and mom were suspicious of my enthusiam towards starting a garden this year. To their suprise and my own the garden has produced many different crops. My favorite parts are planting, watching the first plants break the surface of the ground, and when each individual crop is ready to harvest. The weeding becomes tedious, and once the plants have been producing for a period of time I'm ready for the next crop to come in. I've started planning my garden for next year and with my recent findings about myself, I'll have to plant things so a new crop is ready to harvest every other week. I will be making Jelly with my mom tonight and have asked her to help me in canning once my tomatoes are ready. I have always been an advocate for "living off the land" and strive towards that goal. Maybe livestock is next.
Games/Puzzles- Games are really difficult to play by yourself, so I tried thinking of other "solitare" ideas. I purchased a puzzle a year or so ago at a garage sale, so who knows if all the pieces are there. I started the puzzle 2 years ago and got sick of it sitting on the table in my living room so I put it away, but I put it away very carefully. When I got it out last night, 1/3 of the puzzle is already put together. James was entertained last night when I was debating myself about whether I was cheating, or not. After15 minutes I came to the conclusion that I did the work before, so it's not like I had someone else to my work. I also gave some thought to my tendency to quit something if I don't see some progress being made, I made a lot of progress last night! I quit working on it at 11pm and have the frame done (except for a few missing pieces) and most of the area where the moutain meets the water. I've found some games in the internet, but it seems to be a waste of time to play games on the internet for hours at a time.
Cooking/Baking- I have to laugh every time I think about cooking. My version of cooking is to find a recipe I like, take out the ingredients I don't like, and add a few things I do. I get upset when the final product tastes like the things I make on a daily basis. If I could follow a receipe and not worry about the ingredients I don't like, I may find a great dish that I love. I can't relinquish the control!! If I eat a dish that I enjoy, my sister-in-laws peanut chicken stir fry for example, then I have no problem following the directions, knowing I'll enjoy the dish upon completion. Baking is another story, you have to be more disciplined and follow the directions or it doesn't turn out. I enjoy getting the final product of baking, but find I usually bake the same things: banana bread & brownies. However, I did make biscuits for strawberry short cake last night- those were wonderful, a little sweet, but wonderful!
Reading- I love reading. I have found my tastes for reading have changed over the years from romance novels, to the classics. I read the romance novels before I was married, and now I read the classics, and some other forms of fiction. I am in the middle of 3 or 4 books at the moment. Because James doesn't share my enthusiasm for reading I don't seem to make the time for reading that I once did. I could lay in bed all weekend when I was younger to finish a book. Don't bother trying to carry a conversation with me if I am within 50 pages of the end. I finished "The Grapes of Wrath" (a 800-900 page book) within a week after just getting married. James didn't appreciate me being pre-occupied for that long of a time period, so I now try and limit my reading for our marriage's sake. Reading now takes place when he not home, or when he is already asleep.
Exercise- I have been trying to take walks with James recently. This has been very good for us seeing as his work load his significantally increased over the past month. The time carved out for this has been very nice. Our usual route takes us to the gravel road and back to our house, we clocked it at 40 minutes the other day. My normal walk is fairly brisk, so when we walk for exercise we're moving at a fairly rapid pace. I enjoy cardio exercise and don't particularly care for strength exercise. I would rather be moving at a rapid pace instead of sitting in on spot and feeling my "abs burn". We try to play tennis, go swimming, go for a bike ride or take a walk at least 1-2 times a week.
Photography- I try to make it to James' games (he loves softball, soccer and basketball). I believe the psychology world calls this "recreational companionship". Since we purchased a new camera within the past year I've been taking lots of pictures. Example, I turned in 200 photos of the softball team to the church office recently, that was after I deleted many of them. They posted all 200 of them on the church website. If I would have known their intention I would have gone through and deleted more of them. Oh well. We (James and I) have found I don't take photos of people as well as "stuff". To help with this epidemic I have been taking photos of James' sporting events. This has proven to be a definate challenge for me. Learning to anticipate movement, & look for facial expressions. One of the most important things I've learned is... if you can't see the persons face the photos is useless. You need to be able to see their expression, anticipation, agony, and sheer joy. This has been a worthwhile endevor.
Writing/Journaling- I've kept a journal since 3rd grade. As the years have come and gone the depth of the entries into the journal has deepened. It's amazing how the suject of "my cat scratched me" doesn't really apply today. The journal I keep today is written in when things are extremely stressful, or joyous, but not much inbetween. My sister-in-law keeps a blog which is very interesting and insightful. I thought about writing my own blog, but I couldn't think of what I would say every week, and wouldn't be boring to the readers. So here I am writing "notes" on facebook instead. I'll try this for now- how am I doing? Are you bored?
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Old Posts- Hobby- Gardening, Canning & Freezing 09/04/08
So the canning experience went well. We (my mom and I) made rasberry jelly & spagetti sauce.
Spagetti Sauce- After reducing down 10-15 tomatoes (1 gallon of juice) to spagetti sauce we ended up with 3 pints. I knew we wouldn't end up with much, but that was intentional on my part. I would rather make a little, taste it, and make changes if it didn't taste good instead of making a batch that produced a dozen or so pints that we would have to throw out.
James and I had some of the sauce for dinner last night. The crowning moment was when James said "I think you did a good job, maybe a few less spices, but it tastes good!" He got a kiss for that remark! You may think it tastes good, but it's always nice for someone else to say it's good.
Rasberry Jelly- Not much to say here... my dad said it's the best Jelly my mom has ever made (She usually makes several batches a year!) We really tried to reduce the amount of seeds in the jelly, but I started to get impatient. The results were, 1st batch- hardly any seeds, 2nd batch- some seeds, 3rd batch- way more seeds than we would have liked. Live and learn.
The next item on the list to-do is freezing. I have already frozen several bags of green beans, but the corn is ready now. I've been waiting for a break in my schedule to work on that. I'll start tonight. I'm still debating if I want to leave the corn on the cob, or take it off. I think I'll end up taking it off the cob... it will take up less room in the freezer, and I think I'm out of gallon zip lock bags.
Spagetti Sauce- After reducing down 10-15 tomatoes (1 gallon of juice) to spagetti sauce we ended up with 3 pints. I knew we wouldn't end up with much, but that was intentional on my part. I would rather make a little, taste it, and make changes if it didn't taste good instead of making a batch that produced a dozen or so pints that we would have to throw out.
James and I had some of the sauce for dinner last night. The crowning moment was when James said "I think you did a good job, maybe a few less spices, but it tastes good!" He got a kiss for that remark! You may think it tastes good, but it's always nice for someone else to say it's good.
Rasberry Jelly- Not much to say here... my dad said it's the best Jelly my mom has ever made (She usually makes several batches a year!) We really tried to reduce the amount of seeds in the jelly, but I started to get impatient. The results were, 1st batch- hardly any seeds, 2nd batch- some seeds, 3rd batch- way more seeds than we would have liked. Live and learn.
The next item on the list to-do is freezing. I have already frozen several bags of green beans, but the corn is ready now. I've been waiting for a break in my schedule to work on that. I'll start tonight. I'm still debating if I want to leave the corn on the cob, or take it off. I think I'll end up taking it off the cob... it will take up less room in the freezer, and I think I'm out of gallon zip lock bags.
Old Posts- Trees & Furniture 09/11/08
Well we've been talking about planting some trees in our yard (aka- a field) for some time now. James had the day off on Tuesday and went to a few places where people have told us we could dig up some trees. He came home with 3 maples (my favorites), 2 cotton woods (we think- they look somewhat like a poplar, but the bark isn't white, and has triangular leaves but they flutter the same as a poplar), 2 wild cherry, and 1 oak tree. I was pleasantly suprised when he came home with this many trees! I was expecting 1 or 2. The wild cherry trees are the smallest, about 4 feet tall, and the oak is the tallest at about 10-15 feet tall. The bigger trees look somewhat like Charlie Brown Trees, but beggers can't be choosers and I'm estatic! If you want to hear a good story you'll have to ask him how he fit them in the Jeep. It was defintately a chore getting them out of the cramped quarters. It must have been hilarious to see him driving down the road with the tops of the trees hanging out the back.
We've planted trees in the yard before (about 60 pine trees) but most of them bit the dust, or were mowed over (I'll admit it was mostly my fault). They were very small, about 1 foot at the tallest, and didn't care for our soil. I don't blame them I can't stand the clay we have either!
Last night after getting home I worked on putting our "office" together. We recently acquired a commercial quality desk, credenza, and filing cabinet. We're using the credenza as an entertainment center. The desk and filing cabinet have gone upstairs (I was sore for 3 days after moving all the furniture with James). I took the piles of paid bills that we've had laying around and started filing, I stopped for dinner, and finished around 9:30. I was filing stuff from 2006! I think we had a good excuse that year for neglecting our filing system, we were building a house for goodness sake. I can't believe I just admitted to how unorganized I can be. I can be a control freak (it will be interesting to see how that plays out when we have kids!). Even the file tabs are organized- monthly bills at the front and quarterly bills at the rear, with the file tabs in an organized fashion. So I'm crazy, everyone has their own quirks and faults.
We've planted trees in the yard before (about 60 pine trees) but most of them bit the dust, or were mowed over (I'll admit it was mostly my fault). They were very small, about 1 foot at the tallest, and didn't care for our soil. I don't blame them I can't stand the clay we have either!
Last night after getting home I worked on putting our "office" together. We recently acquired a commercial quality desk, credenza, and filing cabinet. We're using the credenza as an entertainment center. The desk and filing cabinet have gone upstairs (I was sore for 3 days after moving all the furniture with James). I took the piles of paid bills that we've had laying around and started filing, I stopped for dinner, and finished around 9:30. I was filing stuff from 2006! I think we had a good excuse that year for neglecting our filing system, we were building a house for goodness sake. I can't believe I just admitted to how unorganized I can be. I can be a control freak (it will be interesting to see how that plays out when we have kids!). Even the file tabs are organized- monthly bills at the front and quarterly bills at the rear, with the file tabs in an organized fashion. So I'm crazy, everyone has their own quirks and faults.
Old Posts- What have we been up to?? 09/18/08
Well... for the last couple of days James has been hand splitting the pile of wood we have in the back yard (thank you Micheal for the splitting ax). The cold weather is coming and that means we have work ahead of us. For those of you who don't know... we heat with wood. Our heating bills last year didn't go over $50, and we love it! The goal this year is not to go over $55, yes an increase, but the cost of fuel went up. Chances are we won't turn the furnace on until late November early December, and it will be set at 65. Last year we "turned on" the woodstove in October. I've wanted to start a fire at least twice already this year, but James says I'm jumping the gun.
Last night we loaded up the split wood onto our trailer and brought it over to the wood pile so I can start stacking. I'll admit it's mostly "dozy" wood (James calls it "punky" wood) and doesn't produce very much heat when it burns, but it will work great to take the chill out of the air over the next month and a half.
We have a group of neighbors (4-5 other households) and we all heat with wood. We get together on the weekends and start cutting. If we have a larger group of people we can fell 8-10 trees, have them all cut, split, delivered, stacked, and the cutting site cleaned up by the end of a weekend. Some of the neighbors who don't heat with wood make lunch over the fire. We call it the "cookout".
We sacrifice our weekends and energy by heating with wood, but I love sitting in front of the woodstove after a long day, proping up my feet and soaking in the heat.
Last night we loaded up the split wood onto our trailer and brought it over to the wood pile so I can start stacking. I'll admit it's mostly "dozy" wood (James calls it "punky" wood) and doesn't produce very much heat when it burns, but it will work great to take the chill out of the air over the next month and a half.
We have a group of neighbors (4-5 other households) and we all heat with wood. We get together on the weekends and start cutting. If we have a larger group of people we can fell 8-10 trees, have them all cut, split, delivered, stacked, and the cutting site cleaned up by the end of a weekend. Some of the neighbors who don't heat with wood make lunch over the fire. We call it the "cookout".
We sacrifice our weekends and energy by heating with wood, but I love sitting in front of the woodstove after a long day, proping up my feet and soaking in the heat.
Old Posts- The Economy 10/9/08
I usually don't watch the news because it is so depressing- murders, homocides, job losses ect... The other day I turned on the morning news because I had a few minutes before I headed out the door. HUGE MISTAKE!! It sounded as if the world was coming to an end. The bailout package is going to take too long, so they're going to try and devise a way to get money into the economy sooner. The foreign markets are just a volitale as ours. The Europeans are working on getting money into their economy to boost consumer confidence. It just went on and on.
After turning off the television I realized I was extremely depressed, anxious, worried, and a host of other negative emotions. I started to chant a "mantra": Who's in charge? God's in charge. What has he promised? To take care of me. What does he want for me? The best. I repeated it over and over and over. The devil is definately inundating our society right now with a spirit of fear and worry.
A portion of a verse came to mind later that day, I later found out it was Psalm 50:10 "For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills." Everything is HIS. There are times we have to go through trials to strengthen us, but He's promised to take care of us.
After turning off the television I realized I was extremely depressed, anxious, worried, and a host of other negative emotions. I started to chant a "mantra": Who's in charge? God's in charge. What has he promised? To take care of me. What does he want for me? The best. I repeated it over and over and over. The devil is definately inundating our society right now with a spirit of fear and worry.
A portion of a verse came to mind later that day, I later found out it was Psalm 50:10 "For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills." Everything is HIS. There are times we have to go through trials to strengthen us, but He's promised to take care of us.
Old Posts- Things you may not know about me 10/9/08
1. I have to sleep with the blankets over my ears, and my feet off the end of the bed. This bothers James to no end since I usually pull the blankets off of him attempting this feat.
2. It wasn't until recently that I was able to fall asleep to a movie, even if I had watched it a dozen times.
3. I rarely wear shorts, and in the winter wear several layers of clothing. It's just too cold!
4. If there's a baby with a dirty diaper I'll say "You need your brouks (sp?) changed", and since most people don't know Dutch they have no idea what I'm saying.
5. I have kept a diary since third grade.
6. I have not had internet in any of the places I've lived, and still do not.
7. I embarass people I go to the movies with because I laugh long after everyone else.
8. When my kitchen sink is dirty it bothers me to no end.
9. I make my bed most mornings, unless there's still someone in it.
10. I have an extreme feddish for lists, and charts for my daily activities. Microsoft Excel is my friend.
11. I usually can't remember something I just said.
12. When sitting I prefer my feet to be curled underneath me. Yes, I still sit on my knees at the dinner table.
13. Line dried clothes are one of my favorite smells.
14. I enjoy wearing make-up, but seldom do, and very rarely wear lipstick.
15. Sleeping is best when the room is very cold & you have layers and layers of blankets. I've been known to have 10 blankets on my bed before.
16. I have been known to quote my favorite movie too much, and since no one else has seen it they have no idea how funny it is. "Left or right? Which way do you want to go?" "Come on, come on. We haven't got all day!" -Labrynth
17. If my desk isn't clean when I get into work, it's not going to be a good day.
18. I live for free stuff.
19. When getting anxious or worried, I usually will start singing a kids Bible song.
20. I can usually sing the chorus of song I like, and have no idea what the verses are.
21. When doing a craft I usually finish about 95-98% of it, and then it sits for a few years.
2. It wasn't until recently that I was able to fall asleep to a movie, even if I had watched it a dozen times.
3. I rarely wear shorts, and in the winter wear several layers of clothing. It's just too cold!
4. If there's a baby with a dirty diaper I'll say "You need your brouks (sp?) changed", and since most people don't know Dutch they have no idea what I'm saying.
5. I have kept a diary since third grade.
6. I have not had internet in any of the places I've lived, and still do not.
7. I embarass people I go to the movies with because I laugh long after everyone else.
8. When my kitchen sink is dirty it bothers me to no end.
9. I make my bed most mornings, unless there's still someone in it.
10. I have an extreme feddish for lists, and charts for my daily activities. Microsoft Excel is my friend.
11. I usually can't remember something I just said.
12. When sitting I prefer my feet to be curled underneath me. Yes, I still sit on my knees at the dinner table.
13. Line dried clothes are one of my favorite smells.
14. I enjoy wearing make-up, but seldom do, and very rarely wear lipstick.
15. Sleeping is best when the room is very cold & you have layers and layers of blankets. I've been known to have 10 blankets on my bed before.
16. I have been known to quote my favorite movie too much, and since no one else has seen it they have no idea how funny it is. "Left or right? Which way do you want to go?" "Come on, come on. We haven't got all day!" -Labrynth
17. If my desk isn't clean when I get into work, it's not going to be a good day.
18. I live for free stuff.
19. When getting anxious or worried, I usually will start singing a kids Bible song.
20. I can usually sing the chorus of song I like, and have no idea what the verses are.
21. When doing a craft I usually finish about 95-98% of it, and then it sits for a few years.
Old Posts- Our families and the holidays 12/15/08
So as you can see by my "relatives" box, I have a HUGE family. My mom was one of nine kids, my dad was one of seven kids, my mother-in-law's family had twelve (?), my father-in-law's fam was a bit smaller with only 2. My husband is one of five boys, and for me, it was just my little bro and I.
So with all those people it makes for some crazy fun holidays. On my mom's side we usually rent out my Grandparents church. We pack 60-70 people into the church basement for lunch and then take over the youth center and various classrooms for games and such. After we've digested our food it's time for presents. White elephant with a large family can get very dangerous, and then we sit down for the feast. James and I like to take the little ones (not little anymore) sledding on the big hill every year. The big hill is very big, and we've seen some injuries before. You can't really expect to stand at the bottom of the hill with a tobbogan with 5 grown kids (emphasis on kids) coming at you and not expect to get run over.
On my dad's side the holiday's aren't quite as crazy. The only reason I can think of... there isn't as many people. I'd say we're still around 40-50 strong. Christmas is usually at G&G's house, with all the leaves in the dining room table, as well as the table on in the sunroom. We've run out of chairs, so we resort to the piano bench, and step stools. Afterwards all the kids (mid 20's and under) pack into the hall and play the quarter game with Uncle Marve (my dad). The quarter game consits of several items- lots of people (even number is a must) divided into two teams, holding hands with eyes closed sitting across from one another in the cramped hallway. My dad sits at one end with a quarter, the first person in line has their eyes open, if the quarter lands on heads- you squeeze the person's hand next to you and so on down the line, the first line to grab the quarter wins that round. If you win the person grabbing the quarter then moves to the head of the line & the whole line moves down "spot". The goal is to get every person at the head of the line. If perhaps you squeeze when it lands on tales, and you "win" the round you have to reverse the line!! It becomes very challenging, but it's an absolute riot.
We don't get together with James' extended family, because they're everywhere, and there's too many, even for a church basement. We reserve getting together with them for the summer, we have a reunion ever year at Mom & Dad's. It consists of camping out in their yard, pancake breakfast, fun & games for the rest of the day. Getting together in the summer helps because we can spread out more.
Christmas Eve or Day we usually get together with James' immediate family. This has become increasingly difficult as we're spread all over the Western Hemisphere. There's one in Costa Rica, Florida, Kentucky & two in Michigan. We're doing pretty good if 3 of the boys are home for Christmas at once. We've started a tradition of spending a few nights at Mom & Dad's over the holiday. Thanksgiving was a riot- 3 of the boys and their families (12 total) were all able to be home and stay over night. The next morning Grandma (who lives next door) came to visit, and some other cousins showed up as well. We played Dutch Blitz with 8 people, don't try this at home!!
Christmas with my immediate family usually occurs sometime after things have settled down a bit. New Years Day was common for a few years, but had to be changed this year because work schedules changed. My little bro (little... yeah right) or I usually act as Santa and distribute presents. Stockings are filled with the receivers favorite candy, chapstick, and other little trinkets. Dinner consists of appetizers & fondue. You can't go wrong with chocolate & cheese!
Our Christmas... I usually can't wait to give James his presents so we usually open them before Christmas Eve. Traditionally James gets me an entirely new outfit for church & work (including shoes & purse). I've had many compliments on the outfits he purchases for me over the years.
I'd love to hear your traditions for the holidays!
So with all those people it makes for some crazy fun holidays. On my mom's side we usually rent out my Grandparents church. We pack 60-70 people into the church basement for lunch and then take over the youth center and various classrooms for games and such. After we've digested our food it's time for presents. White elephant with a large family can get very dangerous, and then we sit down for the feast. James and I like to take the little ones (not little anymore) sledding on the big hill every year. The big hill is very big, and we've seen some injuries before. You can't really expect to stand at the bottom of the hill with a tobbogan with 5 grown kids (emphasis on kids) coming at you and not expect to get run over.
On my dad's side the holiday's aren't quite as crazy. The only reason I can think of... there isn't as many people. I'd say we're still around 40-50 strong. Christmas is usually at G&G's house, with all the leaves in the dining room table, as well as the table on in the sunroom. We've run out of chairs, so we resort to the piano bench, and step stools. Afterwards all the kids (mid 20's and under) pack into the hall and play the quarter game with Uncle Marve (my dad). The quarter game consits of several items- lots of people (even number is a must) divided into two teams, holding hands with eyes closed sitting across from one another in the cramped hallway. My dad sits at one end with a quarter, the first person in line has their eyes open, if the quarter lands on heads- you squeeze the person's hand next to you and so on down the line, the first line to grab the quarter wins that round. If you win the person grabbing the quarter then moves to the head of the line & the whole line moves down "spot". The goal is to get every person at the head of the line. If perhaps you squeeze when it lands on tales, and you "win" the round you have to reverse the line!! It becomes very challenging, but it's an absolute riot.
We don't get together with James' extended family, because they're everywhere, and there's too many, even for a church basement. We reserve getting together with them for the summer, we have a reunion ever year at Mom & Dad's. It consists of camping out in their yard, pancake breakfast, fun & games for the rest of the day. Getting together in the summer helps because we can spread out more.
Christmas Eve or Day we usually get together with James' immediate family. This has become increasingly difficult as we're spread all over the Western Hemisphere. There's one in Costa Rica, Florida, Kentucky & two in Michigan. We're doing pretty good if 3 of the boys are home for Christmas at once. We've started a tradition of spending a few nights at Mom & Dad's over the holiday. Thanksgiving was a riot- 3 of the boys and their families (12 total) were all able to be home and stay over night. The next morning Grandma (who lives next door) came to visit, and some other cousins showed up as well. We played Dutch Blitz with 8 people, don't try this at home!!
Christmas with my immediate family usually occurs sometime after things have settled down a bit. New Years Day was common for a few years, but had to be changed this year because work schedules changed. My little bro (little... yeah right) or I usually act as Santa and distribute presents. Stockings are filled with the receivers favorite candy, chapstick, and other little trinkets. Dinner consists of appetizers & fondue. You can't go wrong with chocolate & cheese!
Our Christmas... I usually can't wait to give James his presents so we usually open them before Christmas Eve. Traditionally James gets me an entirely new outfit for church & work (including shoes & purse). I've had many compliments on the outfits he purchases for me over the years.
I'd love to hear your traditions for the holidays!
Old Posts- No Electricity for the Long Haul 12/29/08
12/29 Well we have no electricity (and haven't since 5am Sunday), and I'm surprisingly thankful. An interesting word to use when things are so inconvenient. Well... I'm thankful for the woodstove, it was 52 in our house when we got home. We closed all the bedroom doors and slept upstairs in the loft last night. It was a toasty 70 degrees last night after the woodstove warmed up. Although going downstairs (without the fans to circulate the warm air) it was a cool 60 degrees, and then into the master bath to get clothes for the day (a very chilly 47 degrees).
The camp stove was brought upstairs last night & James popped some microwave popcorn over the open flame. The lantern provided some much needed light. It's amazing how a little light can help everything feel better, warmer & more homey. I got the emergency water out & the igloos. Each sink is now equipped with "running" water. Additional water was put in each bathroom to flush the toilets. We blew up the air mattress (thanks to mom & dad for providing a battery operated pump), dragged our blankets upstairs and settled in for the night. We watched last part of The Sound of Music on our 3 inch battery operated television (we're thankful the digital switch hasn't happend yet) & ate our popcorn.
Getting ready this morning was far quicker than it normally is (too cold to stand around). No shower (a quick sponge bath instead), no blowdryer, no curling iron, no tv or radio to distract me. I got ready in 45 minutes this moring & that includes the time it took me to clean out the fridg & freezer. The fridg & freezer stuff got packed into our coolers and put out on the front porch, and put some baking soda in the fridg. I'm thankful it's the middle of the winter and we can utilize the outdoor freezer. Watch out the coolers aren't on the dogs rope (the electric fence doesn't work during a power outage). Make sure the lighters, flashlights, radio & tv are easily accesible in case we get home after dark, and off for the day. The car was parked outside, the garage door doesn't work without power. James had manually opened the door last night and removed my vehicle, he'll remove his when it's needed. We'll have grilled cheese & soup for dinner tonight. If I get real ambitious I can pick up some propane for the grill on the way home & we can have some grilled chicken. Maybe we can get out monopoly tonight & start a marathaon. Why not, they're anticipating we'll be out of power for 4-5 days. You have to do something from 6-10ish to occupy your time.
Update 12/30 We'll we're still without power (as of this morning). I brought home McDonalds for dinner, it's extremely rare we "bring home dinner" instead of making it ourselves. I came home to James & one of the neighbors trying to get our well running off the generator. They were unable to get it going, something was wrong with the 220 side of the generator. We were however able to watch some TV, turn on the fans & enjoy some of the lights being on.
The local news last night said early Monday morning 16,000 people in Livingston County were without power. Because of help from neighboring states that number was down to 8,000 at the end of the day. They anticipate they'll be able to restore most of the power outages today, with the last of them being restored early tomorrow. James and I were pretty excited when we saw 10 DTE trucks driving down the road this morning.
Update 12/31 It was a nice surprise to get home and all the neighbors had their outdoor lights & Christmas lights on. My thoughts "They wouldn't have their Christmas lights on if they were being powered by a generator!!" It was so nice to go home, flip the breaker box on and hear the whir of electricity enter the house. The well kicking on was music to my ears. But... low and behold the furnace wasn't turning on?? Quick, run upstairs and turn the heat up... it's cold in here. Fill the woodstove, check the electric fence for the dog, and off he goes. He ran around the yard for 45 minutes straight after I let him off his rope. He came inside to eat and wanted back outside to run around some more. I could just hear him singing "Free, Free as a bird..." The furnace still wasn't working, huh?? Oh well, a quick shower will warm me up. After the shower I remembered the switch on the side of the furnace. A quick jog downstairs, and a flip of a swith later the furnace was humming along. A quick set of fresh sheets on the bed, the blankets from upstairs were brought downstairs, turn on the electric blanket, brushed my teeth, hop into bed, turn on the tv and wait for James to get home. It was a wonderful day yesterday. It makes me thankful for a number of different things I take for granted every day.
The camp stove was brought upstairs last night & James popped some microwave popcorn over the open flame. The lantern provided some much needed light. It's amazing how a little light can help everything feel better, warmer & more homey. I got the emergency water out & the igloos. Each sink is now equipped with "running" water. Additional water was put in each bathroom to flush the toilets. We blew up the air mattress (thanks to mom & dad for providing a battery operated pump), dragged our blankets upstairs and settled in for the night. We watched last part of The Sound of Music on our 3 inch battery operated television (we're thankful the digital switch hasn't happend yet) & ate our popcorn.
Getting ready this morning was far quicker than it normally is (too cold to stand around). No shower (a quick sponge bath instead), no blowdryer, no curling iron, no tv or radio to distract me. I got ready in 45 minutes this moring & that includes the time it took me to clean out the fridg & freezer. The fridg & freezer stuff got packed into our coolers and put out on the front porch, and put some baking soda in the fridg. I'm thankful it's the middle of the winter and we can utilize the outdoor freezer. Watch out the coolers aren't on the dogs rope (the electric fence doesn't work during a power outage). Make sure the lighters, flashlights, radio & tv are easily accesible in case we get home after dark, and off for the day. The car was parked outside, the garage door doesn't work without power. James had manually opened the door last night and removed my vehicle, he'll remove his when it's needed. We'll have grilled cheese & soup for dinner tonight. If I get real ambitious I can pick up some propane for the grill on the way home & we can have some grilled chicken. Maybe we can get out monopoly tonight & start a marathaon. Why not, they're anticipating we'll be out of power for 4-5 days. You have to do something from 6-10ish to occupy your time.
Update 12/30 We'll we're still without power (as of this morning). I brought home McDonalds for dinner, it's extremely rare we "bring home dinner" instead of making it ourselves. I came home to James & one of the neighbors trying to get our well running off the generator. They were unable to get it going, something was wrong with the 220 side of the generator. We were however able to watch some TV, turn on the fans & enjoy some of the lights being on.
The local news last night said early Monday morning 16,000 people in Livingston County were without power. Because of help from neighboring states that number was down to 8,000 at the end of the day. They anticipate they'll be able to restore most of the power outages today, with the last of them being restored early tomorrow. James and I were pretty excited when we saw 10 DTE trucks driving down the road this morning.
Update 12/31 It was a nice surprise to get home and all the neighbors had their outdoor lights & Christmas lights on. My thoughts "They wouldn't have their Christmas lights on if they were being powered by a generator!!" It was so nice to go home, flip the breaker box on and hear the whir of electricity enter the house. The well kicking on was music to my ears. But... low and behold the furnace wasn't turning on?? Quick, run upstairs and turn the heat up... it's cold in here. Fill the woodstove, check the electric fence for the dog, and off he goes. He ran around the yard for 45 minutes straight after I let him off his rope. He came inside to eat and wanted back outside to run around some more. I could just hear him singing "Free, Free as a bird..." The furnace still wasn't working, huh?? Oh well, a quick shower will warm me up. After the shower I remembered the switch on the side of the furnace. A quick jog downstairs, and a flip of a swith later the furnace was humming along. A quick set of fresh sheets on the bed, the blankets from upstairs were brought downstairs, turn on the electric blanket, brushed my teeth, hop into bed, turn on the tv and wait for James to get home. It was a wonderful day yesterday. It makes me thankful for a number of different things I take for granted every day.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Our World
James has been working on stocking up our wood pile for the winter, with the hopes of setting some aside for next years cold season as well. With the help of my brother they were able to cut & split 1 cord of wood a few weeks ago & another trailer waiting to be split. Last night James and I spent the evening stacking the wood in our basement. Yes, our basement. The wood that we're cutting has a very minimal amount of insects in it, so we stack it in the basement. This keeps it out of the elements and allows it to dry out quite a bit as well.
All signs point to teething. We're almost postive Dexter is cutting some teeth, although several people have said that is is too early. The reasearch I've been doing say that sometimes teething pain can begin up to 2 months before the tooth actually breaks the surface. The past couple of days have been fully of crying & fussing, and an all around unhappy kid.
Monday night was an unusual night. The carbon monoxide detector decided the battery was low and began to chirp in the middle of the night. After James took out the battery and came back to bed Dexter woke up and was hungry. While James was getting him up the smoke alarms went off causing Dexter to scream & Dakota to plaster himself to the nearest human & start shaking like a leaf. Dakota does best in these kind of circumstances to be let ouside until things settle down. I took Dexter while James toured the house to see what set off the smoke alarms. The smoke alarms tripping is a normal occurance in our home, when we get a power surge, or a power failure it sets off all the alarms in the house. James came back to check on Dexter & I- no need to worry all is well. As long as we were all up James put a new battery in the carbon monoxide detector & I finished feeding Dexter. We then went to bed. About an hour later I woke up to hear a strange dog bark, it sounded like a larger dog, but was annoying like a little one (also referred to as "yippy" dogs). We called Dakota to come in and he was glad to do so. Upon further inspection the next day we found Dakota had a few spots that were bleeding, teeth marks. After a little more thought we have come to the conclusion that Dakota decided he wanted to play with some coyotes. We've told him before they don't play fair, but I guess he needed to figure that out himself.
That's the latest & greatest in our family. Hope all is well with you!
All signs point to teething. We're almost postive Dexter is cutting some teeth, although several people have said that is is too early. The reasearch I've been doing say that sometimes teething pain can begin up to 2 months before the tooth actually breaks the surface. The past couple of days have been fully of crying & fussing, and an all around unhappy kid.
Monday night was an unusual night. The carbon monoxide detector decided the battery was low and began to chirp in the middle of the night. After James took out the battery and came back to bed Dexter woke up and was hungry. While James was getting him up the smoke alarms went off causing Dexter to scream & Dakota to plaster himself to the nearest human & start shaking like a leaf. Dakota does best in these kind of circumstances to be let ouside until things settle down. I took Dexter while James toured the house to see what set off the smoke alarms. The smoke alarms tripping is a normal occurance in our home, when we get a power surge, or a power failure it sets off all the alarms in the house. James came back to check on Dexter & I- no need to worry all is well. As long as we were all up James put a new battery in the carbon monoxide detector & I finished feeding Dexter. We then went to bed. About an hour later I woke up to hear a strange dog bark, it sounded like a larger dog, but was annoying like a little one (also referred to as "yippy" dogs). We called Dakota to come in and he was glad to do so. Upon further inspection the next day we found Dakota had a few spots that were bleeding, teeth marks. After a little more thought we have come to the conclusion that Dakota decided he wanted to play with some coyotes. We've told him before they don't play fair, but I guess he needed to figure that out himself.
That's the latest & greatest in our family. Hope all is well with you!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
