Sunday, September 25, 2011

finally.....a finished knitting project!




my oh my

but this project has been a long time coming!


not that it was a difficult project or pattern

but....

(here come the excuses)

we had a horribly hot summer

and i just was not in the mood to knit

however

with that being said

i finally got these off the needles

the details can be found at these links

the farm what?

we aren't farmers
but for one day
we were wanna be farmers


we put on our boots
and headed to the farm science review

"where farmers go to dream"

it's a small city of all things farming


this kid loved it!
we spent the entire day
looking at all things farming

tractors

planters

plows

and lots of other equipment
that i have no idea what it's used for

and golf carts.......so many golf carts
i didn't realize farmers were so big on golf carts

we didn't know until we were leaving
that you can rent golf carts
to tour this farming city

we certainly got our exercise for the day
but next year
we'll be one of the golf cart farmer wanna be's

~*~



Monday, September 19, 2011

all things family, fall & fun~

i love when a plan comes together
and everyone has a great time
and that's just what happened this past sunday

we agreed to meet at youngs dairy in yellow springs
to attend the wool gathering
well....i wanted to go to the wool gathering,
everyone else wanted to have lunch, eat ice cream and see the animals


what's not to love about this guy

a little picking & playing

and of course, lunch!
where our family is gathered, food is ALWAYS involved

gigi, ashlie, iris & douglas

abbey, grayson, adelyn, adam & shelden

gigi, doug, and moi 

the glass says it all
it was family fun!

the littles were so good

perhaps the biggest drumstick ever
and yes, he ate it all

a ride in the barrels for mama & adelyn

grayson loved the goats

he giggled the entire time!

say cheese!

what day is complete on the farm without driving a tractor

thanks guys for meeting up with us
maybe it should be an annual trip?
~*~

Monday, September 12, 2011

laundry soap...the homemade kind

i've used this detergent for about 2 years
and i really like it
it's not overloaded by scent
just a fresh, clean smell
and it's safe for our septic
i use vinegar for fabric softener

the grinder belonged to my dad
its perfect for grinding the bars of fels naptha
you can also use a food processor
or
a hand grater

if you want more scent to your laundry
you can add essential oil
i can't tell you
the amount you would add

i like that my clothes don't have a scent other than
clean
so i've never added scent

i would like to give credit to the website that i got this from
but
i can't find the original source

i make a double batch
store it in this container
with the recipe taped to it
so i don't forget

recipe~

2 cups grated fels naptha (i am told you can also use castile)
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda (not baking soda)
mix together and add 2 tablespoons per load

you will not get bubbles from this product

enjoy!




~*~

Sunday, September 11, 2011

a rant and rave about blogger and my original post.......... cleaning & cookie baking with the pixie~

blogger.....it's a love hate relationship between me and them

i spent over an hour this morning getting a blog ready to post

only to find that

1. while working on said blog, tried to preview my work
nope....won't let me
honestly...why does blogger have to be so difficult
and inconsistent?????

2.  went back to grab another picture,
yep, you guessed it,
won't let me
had to close and re-open
(happens all the time)

3. grabbed my picture
returned to "draft"
and
even though i pressed
"save now"
it did not
it said "draft saved"
but.......
well you know the rest of the story

so........

here we go again

~*~


the pixie was driving her mama a bit crazy

i was doing some cleaning & cookie baking

and i can always use some extra hands

even if they are little ones

so mama dropped her off and took the boys to a fishing derby

we did lots of cleaning

we ran the sweeper

washed a window or two

fed lucy & jesse

made the bed

and then we whipped up the best cookies

they are my new favorite

you can find the recipe at sugarcooking



there was some mixing


a little whisking


and what is cookie baking without a little tasting

and last but not least...pretzel smashing

i believe this was her favorite part

then there was an hour of waiting as the dough had to chill

in that time we

sat on the porch swing

read a few books

waited on grampy to come out of the barn

had a few snacks
(all that baking & cleaning makes a girl hungry ya know)

and watched the hummers at the feeders


the final product

oh my....these are the best combination of

crunchy

chewy

chocolate

peanut butter

&

salty goodness

give em' a try

~*~





Saturday, September 10, 2011

a sunny fall day + 2 little cuties = photo shoot


the pixie

i'm not sure why i thought she would be excited about
her nana taking a hundred pictures

even with a pocket full of candies i
didn't get much cooperation from her

she looked at her mother and i like well,
like we were a  little on the silly side
what with all the
"cheese"
"smile"
"aaaaachooooo"
nonsense
we probably did look silly


but this one...
baby boy grayson
ate it up
he thought his mama & i were hysterical

he always has a giggle & a smile
no candy needed
sit him on a log
stand him on a chair
put him in the grass
he didn't care
&
he smiled

for
   
every
   
picture



baby g
aka
 chunky monkey



adelyn the pixie

the idea of taking lots & lots of pictures
of the grandkidlets all began
because i couldn't resist the purchase of clearence sunflowers
from andersons

i went after dog food and came out with flowers
go figure

i've been wanting to do some pics of the grand kidlets
and a bunch of sunflowers seemed reason enough
that and a pretty fall day
seemed to be the only motivation i needed


she likes her boots
and
she wants to wear her boots
but
she walks as though they aren't very comfortable
and they probably aren't





he seemed to love the day nana had in store for him

she tolerated the day nana had in store for her



but
it ended with a kiss

thank you
grayson thomas & adelyn laine
for allowing your nana
to pretend as though she knows what she's doing
for an afternoon

~*~





Friday, September 2, 2011

beans, beans & more beans~


our garden was a good producer this year
despite the heat
we still have some tomatoes
a few eggplants
peppers
and the brussel sprouts are starting to form
the end of canning, freezing & pickling is upon us
the empty jars once shelved in the garage
have been filled with goodness and moved
to the pantry shelves & the freezer

today....

i am attempting fruit leather!