Are things looking up?

Well, it has been a few months since my last blog.  Just haven't been in the mood to type anything.  Since February, we did take a cheap vacation that didn't turn out so well.  My husband did get a job - that he absolutely hates - they treat him like poop.  He's been in the hospital with a serious bacterial infection.  We adopted 3 horses.  I had a job interview on June 10th and made it to the 2nd round.  That round won't happen until a certain person gets back from vacation on Monday.  I am so hoping I get this job.  It is only 6 miles from my house and it's 8-5 most of the time instead of 10-7 with an hour commute each way.  This company also offers full benefits - which means hubby could quit his job and go into the hay cutting business that he wants to do.  I know - a lot of risk, but it could be worth it.  He and a neighbor are working on the detail.  We took our 12 acre field out of the CRP program - wasn't happy with the requirement to spray Monsanto's Round-up products - they make enough money poisoning our food supply and I'm not going to help them.

We are currently babysitting a friend's puppy while they are vacation for the 2nd time this year.  He's a sweet puppy, but he keeps pooping in my bedroom - even after we take him outside.  Frustrating - thought I was past the puppy phase of having dogs!

I am currently bottle feeding 2 orphan rabbits.  Their mama is a Red San Juan mix, but refused to care for her litter of 8.  These 2 are the only ones left - they are almost 4 weeks old now.  Starting to reject the formula because they are eating grass, pellets and carrots.  I have installed a water bottle for them, too.  I guess I am adding 2 more pets to the herd as I told my hubby that they were not getting sold and they were not going in the freezer.  He just frowned. I've worked way too hard to keep them alive thus far. Going to try to figure out to build a hutch for them with scraps and a little farmgirl ingenuity.  We'll see what happens.

I failed miserably with my seed starting this year.  Oh - it started out great, until I put them outside to harden off and I forgot about them until about 2 weeks later.  They were certainly crispy.  Oh well.  We have direct sowed many other seeds and things are growing.  We have some volunteer pumpkins coming up in some very strange places, too.

Hubby built 4 raised beds for me.  He also built 2 stalls in the barn and we are going to start on a 3rd one this weekend.  My 2 year old horse is at the trainers for the month and so we have put off building it.  We put the 10 year old in his stall and the 15 year old in her own custom built stall.  She's only 28 inches tall so everything had to be built to scale for her.  Seems to working.

That's it for today - getting ready to head home from work.  Yes - I did this while at work.  I can do things like this while at work because we are a very slow store.  As long as we help customers when they walk in, the boss doesn't really care what we do.  That's one thing I will miss.  See ya' next time.

Still deciding

I have been looking through all of my seed catalogs and even looking online, but I have such a hard time deciding what to grow. I plan on growing all the usual things like green beans, corn, onion, beets, carrots and tomatoes, but I can't decide which kind to plant. I love trying new things, but I like the old standbys too. AND my time is going to be severely limited this year due to already discussed issues.

I had saved a bunch of seeds from last years harvest, but they were lost. I found a few still in the jars, but I have no idea if they will grow or not. I am going to plant a tray with a few to see if they will even germinate. Hoping to do that this Saturday in the basement. Still trying to figure out a way to keep the felines out of the mix. I have one kitty, Albert, who is especially nosy. He's a handful that's for sure.

I was talking to my husband last night after watching part of a show on Nat Geo about "preppers". I told him we needed to at least think about a disaster plan. And since everything we did have stored was lost - we have to start all over. Here's what we came up with. We are planning on putting metal trash cans inside plastic trash cans to store some things like matches, candles, lamp oil, you know the basics. Why the two different cans? Well the plastic ones will keep out water, but since they can be chewed thru - the metal will keep out the critters. The plastic one will keep the metal can from being exposed to water and thus rust. I want to have a supply can in every building on the farm. That way if one is compromised, we have a back up. Always good to have a plan b. I am hoping that I can get a few extra seeds this year to start a survival garden if needed. It wouldn't have done us any good to store the seeds in the freezer like the guy on t.v. last night because of the fire. We will keep on researching and learning about storing viable seeds. Water would be our main concern. We have a well, but the only way to get the water out is with an electric pump. We are going to look at installing a hand pump for emergencies. Rain water is currently an option, however, if there should ever be nuclear fall out - it would make the rain toxic. It's scary to think of all the things that could happen!

Let the Demolition Begin - Well not so fast!

Well the insurance company finally sent the first of 2 checks for the rebuild of our home. After some banking issues are cleared(we have to set up a separate account), we will begin.

Hopefully in the next week or so, the contractor can start tearing down whats left of our burned out house. He is optimistic that we will be able to use the existing foundation. He'll know more once the old structure is removed. He said he will have the building inspector out there to look a the foundation and make sure it is sound.

After the debris is removed, they are going to dig out the crawl space a little more. That way we have more room to move around if work needs to be done under the house in later years. As it sits, it is extremely tight. I went under there a couple of years ago to try to find a leak and ended up in a panic attack because I thought the house was going to fall on me. Claustrophobia sucks!

The contractor was trying to decide on the best place to put the circuit box. It has to be 3 feet away from any water source. I suggested putting it in the guest room closet. We don't have many guests and it would be out of the way, yet easy to get too. It would also be on the same side of the house as the main line from the road. He's considering that. He wanted to put it with the furnace, but the water heater and water softener are going to be in there and its not a huge closet area.

We know we are going to have a least 2 pocket doors. They are kinda cool and don't take up any room like a swinging door. Don't have to worry about punching a hole in the wall with a door knob either. Yay!

I can hardly wait to have a real pantry. I was looking at doors that say pantry on them last night in some catalogs we picked up at the home improvement store. I know that custom doors can be pricey, so I suggested we get a plain glass door and etch it ourselves. Then we can put whatever design and graphic we want to on it. There are so many cool door designs. We can't decide on a front door. Wood, fiberglass, steel, stained, painted - what color.... so many choices!

The kitchen cabinets are going to be a tough choice too. Of course we have to stay well within the budget, but there are so many styles, colors and finishes to choose from. It's overwhelming to say the least. Laminate counter tops to allow for a granite (or other similar type) island top. What color? NOT WOOD GRAINED! Had that in the last house - looked terrible! Hubby was even picking out the appliances he wanted for "his" kitchen - whatever! He's lucky I liked what he was looking at.

Then we went and looked at lighting. Indoor, outdoor, ambient, task, ceiling mounts, drops, wall mounts, yard lights, porch lights, OMG!

Move on to kitchen faucets - narrowed it down to brushed nickel or oiled bronze - ok that wasn't too hard. What style? Definitely goose neck. Not too fond of the pull down sprayer type - all the displays seemed to be broken - is that a sign? Looked at sinks as well. Looked at one type that said "Heat, crack and chip proof" Looked up at the display model - cracked in two places! Really? Not very good for advertising. Might want to take a look at that again - sink people!

Moving on - what about the 3 toilets we have to pick. Are they all going to be the same? Oooo that one is neat - easy to clean base - no nooks and crannies - hey that one has a slam proof lid! Cool! Dual flush? Supposedly saves water by using less to flush liquid and a little more for solids. Can't they say poop? Everybody still poops right?

What about flooring? Absolutely No Carpet! How about laminate for the living room, kitchen and bedrooms and tile or slate for the bathrooms and laundry room.......

Buying in the USA...

As we get ready to start building our new home, we were talking about all the problems with imported building materials. Things like drywall imported from China is substandard to that manufactured in the US. Ours might be just a bit more pricey, but I would rather pay a little more and know it's going to last. The same goes for steel. I keep reading articles about low quality steel used in buildings that have since collapsed. When the steel's path was retraced it came directly from China. I understand that builders are trying to save a buck to make more profit, but is it really worth loosing integrity and respect and money if everything you build falls down?

Our builder said he would evaluate our budget and do his very best to by US products. He did say however, that it would be nearly impossible for him build our house with 100% US made due to costs. He has agreed to consult with us on what would be acceptable and what would not. Here are a few things that we know are going to be Made in the USA: the bricks for the exterior, the lumber, the drywall, the paint, and the windows. We are currently looking into bath fixtures, kitchen fixtures, appliances, local cabinet makers, furniture, and flooring. Also checking out light fixtures, outlet covers and wiring.

We have also adjusted the size of the house to try to allow for more USA made materials. I am going to do my best to purchase accessories and such at local flea markets, garage sales and auctions. There's still a lot of really neat things out there that were made in the USA a long time ago.

I challenge you to buy American next time you go out shopping!

I've been away.

Wow, it has really been a long, long time since I posted anything. I guess I kinda got lost in life. Its been a rough couple of years. I am hoping the last major snafu will be the last for a good long time. We lost our house in a fire in October. Undetermined electrical was the cause. What a nighmare. Thankfully we are all ok. We did lose a much loved kitty named Zeke though. He was about 11 I think. An adoptee from the Anderson animal shelter, he was a good kitty. We'd had him since 2004. My husband said as he was running out of the burning house calling "kitty, kitty, kitty" he thought he saw Zeke run back in. Poor critter was confused. Our other 2 kitties were secured after the fire in the garage. They lived in there for 5 weeks while we lived in a hotel room with the 2 dogs. We are all now living in a rental home until ours is rebuilt.

This has been a long process and won't be over for months. I never ever thought in a million years that I would have to actually list every single item in my home. I'm not kidding. Insurance wants to know how many rolls of toilet paper we had to how many magnets were on the fridge. Really? I don't know! My husband and I have spent hours trying to remember. Why is it so hard you may ask. Well you have to understand that I am a collector. (hubbs calls it borderline hoarder) Without looking - can you say how many pairs of socks, undies, bras, purses, jeans, pants, shorts, shoes, belts, bags, makeup brushes, q-tips, bandaids, tea bags, spices, plates, cups, forks, spoons, knives, pens, pencils, buttons, spools of thread, kitchen gadgets, utensils, cleaners, rags, towels, sheets, blankets, pillowcases, movies, cd's, notebooks, stamps, pins, scissors, quilt fabrics, paints, brushes, earrings, necklaces, etc. You get my point. Its not easy.

Did you notice how scattered the list is? Well that is what happens in my head when I am trying to list stuff. I will try to focus on one room - say the kitchen- when all of the sudden something will pop in my head and off my mind goes to that room, then on to the next room. Before I know it, my brain is ready to explode and I have to walk away. Been at this for 3 months.

Insurance also wants to know when we bought/aquired it, how much we paid, and current replacement cost including tax. OMG! Some stuff will never be able to be replaced. I had a lot of discontinued quilt fabrics, antiques and pictures. HELLO!!!!!!!

I had a bunch of vintage trade blankets from the 1930's and 1940's. I've been collecting them for years. I recently checked an online auction site - WOW! I didn't pay anywhere near those prices!

Oh and my pink leather jacket. I found what was left of that in the rubble. I haven't found another one yet.

Why am I not thinking of things right now instead of posting? Well, it's time for one of those breaks. Thankfully I have the kind of job allows me to do this kind of thing. After all, there's not much I can do until a customer actually walks through the door.

Stay tuned.