Just Another Monday...

Happy Monday!

Things have been moving along at a pretty steady pace here on the farm.
Seems like there's lots to do to get ready for fall and the impending winter and today brings a trip up the ladder to clean the gutters.
Or as I refer to them lately, the water bumpers on the house.
I have a few spots where water is coming in on the roof line, but that's on the south side of the house and the gutters are fine on that side, just the north side seems to be accumulating.
The up-side to this is that the north side is the low side so I won't have to repel from the roof top, I can just open a box of wine to repel my fear of ladders as opposed to two boxes and some xanex to repel my fear of heights.
See, there's usually a bright side if you can just lie to yourself enough...


Belle and her new baby boy are happy, healthy and well.
All the other sheep are patiently waiting outside the barn trying to stick their heads through the cracks to get a look at the little sheep that looks like a cow.
Between him and the four horned Jacob sheep in the roadside ram pasture I may end up having to stand out to direct traffic.
You wouldn't believe all the people who slow down or even stop to look at our funny looking menagerie as it is, so things should really pick up when we put the cowsheep out to pasture!


I'm still in a holding pattern on the job front.
I have to find something I can do sitting as my legs and hips won't stand for anything else.
Get it?
Stand?
Whatever I've done this time, combined with the arthritis and the scar tissue flaring I'm quite a sight.
I'm back on the steroids which means I sound like an old man with a crackly low sexy smokers voice, but avoiding the pain meds.
I would rather tough it out than end up in Betty Ford.


My Etsy shop is beginning to take shape so be sure to stop in and have a look.
These are the soaps I have listed right now, green apple, vanilla, juniper and Oregon rain.

My house smells good enough to take a bite out of which believe me is a welcome scent, compared to the new found fresh fall aroma of four wet dogs.

The other thing I have been tossing around my brains is a children's story.

I have it written and ready, but I'm trying to decide on a format.

It will be the first in a series, but from what I'm learning is it's very hard to get picked up by a children's publisher.

I guess that tells me that the competition is pretty tough, so I'm asking you, what do you think about eBooks for kids?

It seems like eBooks are no longer a passing fancy, and most kids can run an iPad better than they can a toothbrush, so maybe it's the way to go...

Tell me what you think.

My sister J. Carlson is on a school camping trip in the mountains this week so if you're a praying person please send up a heartfelt request that she isn't attacked by bears.

If you're not of the praying sort, just cross your fingers.

Wyatt is home from school today sneezing his smarts out and I think may be running a low fever.

Swell.

Peas.

iOS 7 Blues

I'm doing my iOS7 update this morning.
How dumb.
You have to have soo much space available and I have... Almost none.
I cleared all my apps.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Netflix and all, every single one of my photos.
I am just squeeeaking by.
And why does it tell me I still have photos in storage when I don't?
Not in stream or in the cloud...
Will I have enough room to reload my apps and take a photo when the update is complete?
This is really so dumb.
And it's taking foooooooorevvvvvvvvver.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Butch the farrier was here last night so all the donkey toes are in good shape for another few months.
We love seeing Butch and miss having him as our neighbor so it was super fun getting to spend time with him and having him stay for dinner.
I made the best fried chicken I have ever made in my whole life ever with mashed potatoes and gravy and corn and biscuits and a blueberry cobbler.
I told him from now on instead of giving him a tip I'll just make him dinner and for a young single guy that lives in a house with a bunch of other young single guys I think that works out to being better than a tip.

Do you want to know how I made my chicken?
Instead of dipping in milk/egg and rolling in flour, I mixed the milk, egg and flour together to make a batter and then dipped and fried!
I know, genius huh!!
Does everyone do that?
Maybe everyone does that, I'm not sure, but I thought it was genius.
I didn't take any pictures because I didn't know I was about to do something so mind blowing, but here's a picture of chicken that isn't mine just so you'll get hungry for chicken and try it.

Must See TV

Speaking of genius...
Have you seen Derek, Ricky Gervais' new series on Netflix?
In the words of Derek himself, it's brilliant.
It is so heartwarming, genuinely funny and kind.
You must see it. Trust me.

Peas.

Oh Baby!

The sheep stork finally came to the farm!
Belle delivered a spotted holstein cow lamb steer!

How cute is he!?

This lambing season has been such a mess, the rams and the ewes were all together because the rams were herd bound to the girls so even if I did separate them, the boys would push down stall walls and go through fences like they were incredible hulk sheep.

So, sadly, the incorrigible boys had to go.

If I'm going to incorporate any kind of breeding program, and I'm to the point where I have enough ewes now that I can, I have to have some kind of system.

It was a sad day when we said goodbye to Butch and his big brother Buck, and I still miss seeing them out in the pasture.

I'm going to use the Jacobs for breeding now.

I will put the girls in with them when it's time and then move them out when the job is done.

 And I'm still undecided rather or not to wether our new little cow sheep.

What do you think?

Should I put him out to pasture or give him a job?

Gratuitous Neighbor Photo

Fall Projects!

This is the first rug of the season.

It's a round 32 inch and weighs THREE pounds.

Super heavy duty and done in vintagey cream, blue and greens.

Here's another done in really bright fun colors...

And this is the one I'm working on now.

I love all the color!

And of course the batch of green apple soap, but I need to get with it and make some more.

Maybe that will be todays project.

Tomorrow is donkey pedicure day which is always one of our favorite days because we get to see our old neighbor Butch.

Of course the donkeys like it too.

This was last spring when the donkeys were hairy and the grass was green, but with all the rain and the weather starting to cool things will be looking like this again soon.

Ok, gotta go.

Peas.

Craftastic!

Fall is upon us, and you know what that means...
Craft Time!
I have soap made and ready to list, crochet hooks are turning out dishcloths and beanies, soy wax is waiting to make a candle or two, dog treats are ready to be baked and bagged and the dehydrator is set up and ready to do some organic treats for the more health conscious pooches and the sheets are all washed and stripped and ready to rug.
I think I have plenty to do to keep me busy.

What are your favorite scents this season?
My first batch of soap is like a tart green apple, but I'm thinking more along the lines of apple crisp and pumpkin pie for my next batches.
I also think I need to buy a new crock pot because mine took a dirt nap last year and I'm REALLY ready to have the smell of a crock pot roast or pear cherry buckle filling my house on a rainy afternoon.
Hey!
I know, I could do a pot roast scented soap!
Just kidding.
Kind of.

Wyatt is back to school and I'm having a hard time adjusting to high school homework.
His work has exceeded my intelligence.
Yesterday in marketing class he was assigned to do a timeline of an iconic toy and he chose to do a Furby so you can imagine the joy I felt as we went to the fabric store to buy fleece to cover the cardboard critter and fired up the hot glue gun.
I'm not sure if furbies had glitter, but I'm pretty sure it would of added an A+ flair.

Have you started your fall crafting or cooking?
Any Pinteresting ideas you want to share?

You can see some of the ideas I've been collecting on my Pinterest and be sure to check my Etsy every now again for new stuff...
There's nothing there yet though.
But there will be.
Soon.

Peas

Got Jobs?

To say this summer has been crazy would be an incredible understatement.
Since the split with Six the daunting task of self support has been nearly overwhelming.
Not only do I have the farm and all of it's players
(llamas, sheep, donkeys, peacocks, geese, turkeys, chickens, dogs, cats, and a neighbor kid)
to take care of, but the trailer park, my house, myself and my kids!

I was a manicurist for almost twenty years.
I worked for myself.
Independently.
It was fun.
I loved it.
But it ruined me for the level of workplace standards that I've come to expect
Not only do I know how to work with people, I go CRAZY when people aren't being treated well and when there is poor management and lack of support.
Being in a small business environment where your clients are the foundation of your life, your co-workers end up being your support beams.
Trust me, women working in a salon can be a recipe for near total destruction and disaster, but you learn to work through it.
I remember walking into work one day to find Helga (kind of her real name) with her desk turned away from me facing the back of the room.
I looked at her with a questioning look and she simply replied, "I'm angry at you and I don't want to talk to you today."
I could totally dig that. Straight and to the point.
I talked at her for the rest of the day as she looked away in non response, but the next day it was back to business as usual and the time out from the day before made for great salon fodder for the following months.
My point is, being self employed with people who are doing their best at something they love is most definitely where I shine.

So lets take a look back at the highlights from my summer spent seeking employment.

Safeway

Cheese Specialist
4 hours

I think my manager had just received his license to drive at night with passengers.
Seriously.
He was pretty young.
When I met him I assumed (and you know what happens when you ass u me) he was one of the gas station attendants.
He greeted me while he was sitting at the computer in the break room with a hands up "yo".
He. Did. Not. Turn. Around.
At the designated time, while he was still on the computer I asked him if I should clock in and he simply responded by asking what time I was supposed to start.
Not like a duh, yes, clock in now, but an honest, when are you supposed to be here.
I clocked in.
He asked me to meet him in the deli.
Where I stood and waited for fifteen minutes.
Finally one of the deli kids called him and asked where he was and I'm not sure of his location but his instruction was to have me prep some cheese for customers to sample.
Now I'm pretty sharp, I can cut cheese, I can display cheese and I can sample cheese.
Just show me to the kitchen and the box of hair nets.
It would also be nice to know what kind of cheese, how much cheese, and where the display plates and flaggy toothpicks are.
Anyway, he finally come in and give me a high speed go round of the kitchen and walk in cooler where we loaded up a wagon of cheese to leave in the middle of the walkway where the Asian Express people had to hokey pokey their way around it as he sent me to watch hours worth of video training on kitchen safety and how to wash your hands.
I'm not complaining mind you, I know this is relevant.
When I finished the videos he told me to go mark down the near pull date cheese and price and display all the new cheese.
I had been there three hours.
I watched movies for more than two hours.
My experience with cheese is mainly in sandwiches and crackers.
I don't even know how to use a pricing gun or the computer shooter thing and I didn't get the vibe that he was into showing me.
I went home and called HR and told them that due to lack of direction from management I felt unable to do the job to the best of my ability.
She said she hears that a lot.

Marquis

Hope Village Assisted Living
Dietary Aide
8 hours

My manager here was great.
A very nice man who appeared as though his rope was on fire.
I felt like he was absolutely working as hard as he could and doing everything he could to make his kitchen run smoothly.
I also felt like everyone in the kitchen was dedicated to doing their best.
The atmosphere was friendly and helpful.
The job...
Unbelievably hard.
The day started off great, I showed up in my kitchen pants and clogs and went straight for the hair nets.
I was shown how to do juices and milks and how to make coffee.
I helped prep vegetables.
Then it was time for dinner.
Two hundred and so many people would eat dinner through that kitchen.
Two hundred and so many trays would go out.
And then... Two hundred and so many trays would come back.
Do you have any idea how many dirty dishes are on two hundred and so many trays?
Do you know how many pots and pans it takes to serve two hundred and so many people?
Do you know how many times you have to empty the bucket under the non-working drain in the sink that is also being used in lieu of a garbage disposal in the course of washing those dishes?
I called the next day and and thanked the man for the opportunity and wished him well and explained how my body could not have done that work twenty years ago let alone now.
I checked yesterday and that position is still available.

Catherines

Plus Size Clothing Sales Associate
Three weeks

I loved this job.
I loved everything about this job, the people I worked with, the customers, the hours.
I quit the job because my body quit me.
Standing for extended hours is not an option for me because of my rotten back and since I no longer have insurance I can't risk doing more damage than I can recover from without medical assistance.

What I Have Learned

I should do some sort of reality show about the inter-workings of different jobs and the people who do them.
It has been a crazy eye opening experience about what goes on behind the scenes and overall what great people are out there doing these jobs for very little pay.

I'm glad I didn't have a third back surgery last winter because I think I would be worse off than I am now and I'm glad I lost the weight I have over the last year, but I'm also disappointed that my body still doesn't do what I want it to do.

I'm glad that I have the farm and a secure home for my family.

I'm glad that I have a 1997 Ford Escort and no car payment.

And I'm glad that I know a little enough about a lot of different things that I will be able to figure out a way to get by.

Peas