Happy Halloween!

Oops I certainly didn't do a very good job of blogging more often this month did I? Don't have a good excuse either, just haven't had a whole lot to say I guess, which if you know me that is not like me, I usually have something to say...
Well let see our new chickens have fit in very well, (we added 6 hens a couple weeks ago) and they are doing good, Mr. Buff (rooster) is very happy since we added to his harem,  6 eggs yesterday, a couple of the hens we bought were going through molt, plus with the weather cooling off, I am happy with 4-6 new eggs a day, and we did get a couple of leghorns which lay white eggs, so we have white,brown, and blue pretty combo actually. 
It's halloween, we had our annual harvest party at church on saturday night, and it went very well, we had 441 people come through the doors which was the best turn out yet, and it sure was fun, I usually help in the kitchen and Steve works one of the games, the kids just have a riot!  It's safe and fun and they walk out with tons of candy.
Where we live we don't have any trick or treaters, which actually is ok with me.
I have been busy making soaps and lotions, sales are good and hoping that they will even get better as we get closer to Christmas, yikes Christmas already, the older I get the faster it goes for sure, I'm sure God has a very good reason for that :) 
My girlfriend and I are planning a road trip this saturday, goin to the bitchen kitchen, can't wait!!
Well I will leave you with some new pictures and I won't promise to blog more often as that doesn't seem to happen. 

Mr. Mac and Sylvester sunning 

My first boy doll

tote I made for my niece

Sylvester thinking he is a dog.

Mr. Mac   aka   punkin boy 

A day off?

So I took today as a vacation day, just because the weather has been sooo nice, and I figured hey why not?  ok it's 1:30 in the afternoon, I haven't been outside yet and just now sat down, hmmm gonna have to rethink vacation days I'm thinking.. 
Well it's been a while since I have had the time to sit down and catch up on my blogging, and now that I'm here not all that much to report I quess, either I lead a really boring life, or just a busy dull one?  lol  We did have a not so nice incident last week we lost Mrs. Buff  (Buff our only rooster, favorite hen) his name is Buff so it was only appropriate to name her Mrs. Buff.  We lost her to prolapse and unless you have ever raised chickens you might not now what that really means, it's not very pretty nor very nice to really talk about, we really tried to save her, but just wasn't going to be. It is truly one of the grossest things I have ever had to deal with I think.  So we are down to two hens and one rooster, just praying God will bless us with chicks, it's possible :)
Went to a women's retreat last weekend, oh had such a wonderful time, truly a blessing and relaxing time, so fun to spend time like that with other christian women I don't think we realize how important community is with other believers, lately God has really been pointing that out to me in many different ways, love when He shows you things like that in different ways but with the same meaning, know what I mean?  Our retreat was held at http://www.graceadventures.org/ we went a couple of years ago too it is a really nice place to spend time at. We are planning on going again next year, we stayed at a friends cabin about 1/2hr from the camp, (it was cheaper that way) or you can stay at the camp itself, but staying at the cabin was really nice!  Saturday afternoon we had time to run into Pentwater and shop the shops (a few of them) stumbled upon http://www.youtube.com/watch?  v=zR7AMQy3o6s&noredirect=1 the bitchen kitchen it was the neatest kitchen store I have ever been in, we are going to do a road trip before the snow flies up there, I think you could spend all day and not see the whole store, very very cool!  
Had to make a few orders of lotion today, was going to try and get a few batches of soap in too, but I guess that waits for a few days, I kind of ran out of day. My display is almost done for my soaps to put in my friends office, kind of nervous yet excited for that.  The soap is so nice though I guess you don't realize the difference between home made and store bought until you start using it, but what a huge difference it is.
Finished my little lamb, and am now working on a boy doll, he's turning out really pretty cute, anxious to get him done. I thought that would make a unique baby gift, to go along with my blanket I'm making and also some homemade baby soap., we shall see :) 
Sarah came out for the girls yesterday, haven't been seeing them as often as in the summer, but we all get busy don't we?  Now that Kamilah is in school I know time is even more precious to Sarah. They are two sweet little girls.  Well I will leave you with a couple of pictures and hopefully I won't wait so long to blog again.

our two kids - Mr Mac (black) and Allie 

my little lamb

Kamilah and Jazzy

Kamilah (left) has a ladybug on her hand

and of course Jazzy wants to hold it.

Happy Fall

Well it's officially fall, and I must say I'm rather glad it is!  Fall is my favorite time of year, I love the warm windy days, just that smell of fall in the air, leaves burning, leaves falling to the ground, all the weeds dying off, I do realize what comes after fall, but I wouldn't want to live anyplace that didn't have such a nice change of seasons.  We got the garden pulled last weekend, it was a really nice windy afternoon, and it was time for it to go, we weren't going to be getting anything more out of it.  Steve picked all the pumpkins, our largest one weighed in at 107#, our pumpkins did better this year than they have in the past, we also had quite a few watermelons but even though they looked good so far the insides haven't been quite ripe I guess.  Made applesauce last night, oh did it ever turn out yummy!! I ended up with 17 pints plenty for us, and I actually put the pressure canner away today, glad to get that out of the way, it's been out since green beans and it takes up so much room on the stove, but yet it's a hassle to put away and take out everytime you need it to, know what I mean? If you can I'm sure you do. I didn't do any tomatoes this year, I still have salsa, and stewed tomatoes and bbq sauce from last year, and we lost most of our tomatoes to those big ugly greenworms,  maybe next year....
Going to a women's retreat with women from church next weekend, looking forward to that, it's always so nice to spend a weekend with sisters in Christ, such good fellowship, and I'm sure we will be blessed!
Tomorrow we are going to have a spagetti dinner fundraiser for our retreat to help deter some of the cost, we also sold cookbooks and did pretty good with that too, we have 13 women going,  yep I'm looking forward to it!
Finally figured out some packaging for my soaps, and they are selling pretty well, I don't know if you have ever used homemade soaps, but there is just no comparison between homemade and store bought, what a difference, like everything else homemade, you just can't buy it in the store! 
Had my two granddaughters here for the day, what a treat, they haven't been coming out much lately, don't want to leave their mom, which I feel bad that she doesn't get any time away, and I don't get to see them as often as I would like either. 
Well I will leave you with some pictures and hopefully blog at you before too terribly long.
Enjoy your fall!

some of my soaps

Steve with one of the bigger pumpkins

nice little loot

this is the 107# one

and more soap

Val

A successful saturday

Why is it saturdays have to just go so fast? I sure don't pack into a saturday what I used to be able to pack into a saturday, seems as though the older I get the shorter the days, good thing I have tomorrow afternoon, cuz I'm making soap!!  I have another 1/2 bushel of corn on the cob to can, but that is going to wait until monday after work I guess, did get 1/2 done today though, and we also squeezed a gallon worth of our concord grapes, Steve is making wine out of that, I am going to try my hand at making grape juice, trust me we have plenty of grapes, I am just amazed how well our grapes did this year, not sure if it's a bumper crop year for grapes or what, but out of a 5 gallon bucket we got about 1 gallon of juice. Used my new sauce master, stopped yesterday and got the spiral attachment for grapes, and that thing works really slick!  I can hardly wait to do apples this year, mmmm homemade applesauce is just my favorite!
The kids came out today, it was nice to send them home with a dozen eggs and Sarah loaded up on bar soap, what an awesome feeling to know I will never buy store bought bar soap again and I think I'm safe to say she won't either. 
I made my own dishsoap this evening, it made about 10 dawn bottles worth, so about $20 worth, and I think I'm really gonna like it, I used tea tree and eucalyptus essential oils I got the recipe here :http://lizzylanefarm.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/homemade-liquid-dish-soap/  I did use white vinegar instead of lemon juice though thought that might cut grease better, and I had a bar of zest to get rid of and used that for the bar soap worked perfect grated to just 2 cups.
I will say I am pretty tired tonight, got up about 7ish this morning and trust me thats sleeping in for me, when you are used to getting up at 4:30 every morning 7 has a really nice ring to it and NO ALARM CLOCK! 
and have been going pretty much ever since, my legs hurt today and I know why, cuz I was on them ALL day. 
Well I will leave you with some random pictures, check out the garden pictures and the knitting section my finished baby blanket is there.
Well hope you all have a very blessed Sunday, I am so looking forward to going to praise and worship my Heavenly Father tomorrow,  we missed last week as we were up north really miss it when I don't go to church.  
Blog at you soon!

the girls on grandpa's tractor

some awesome clouds this past week.

Val

LOOK WHAT I GOT!

This was my handmade surprise from my Heart Swap partner in South Africa, It's so pretty actually this picture doesn't do it justice,  it sure was fun, I think everyone likes surprises no matter how old we get right?  Thanks Marie!!
Well I'll be back later I have house work to do :(  where is that maid?

FRIDAY EVE......

Well it won't be long now and it will be FRIDAY!!!!  This time tomorrow night we will be on the road to the cottage! It is so hot here today and tomorrow I honestly can't wait til fall,  this 90 stuff can go away for the year, not a big 90's fan anyways. 
Not much is new since monday though, almost have my baby blanket done, I'll post pictures after it's all washed and blocked, I really like the pattern even though it does get kinda boring after a while :) 
Still working on the packaging for my soaps and going to have a friends hubby quote me a price to make me a display stand. I have an idea what I want to do with the soaps and she has all sorts of papers etc that she is selling so next week I will go over and check it all out.  Bought the yarn for the second baby blanket today, same blanket different colors, this one is for a boy so I bought a couple shades of blue, the other is for either. 
Steve picked radishes today holy toledo are they big and HOT! He also took a stroll out back and came back with a great big watermelon, we have never been able to grow them before I couldn't believe it, that and more yellow squash wasn't that excited to see that though... lol
Well I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, enjoy family and friends!!
Blog at ya soon!

now is that a nice watermelon or what?

Val

Well Monday is out of the way!!

Well we have monday down, only 4 days to go until a 3 day weekend, I don't know why I am looking so forward to it, maybe just the fact of going and doing only what I want to do at the lake has something to do with it. 

It was a busy weekend, made my bread and butter pickles, a small batch of soap I didn't have too many supplies left, waiting for my shipment to come in should be here thursday but won't have time to play with it until next week sometime, I really feel the need to get more  soap going as the more people who try it really like it, had to laugh at one of the ladies that works out in our warehouse, I gave her a sample last week, and then asked if she had liked it, she said she didn't use it yet, I kept telling her your gonna like it.....  today she says to me I used your soap and boy is it ever nice , had all I could do to not say  "I told ya so"  lol  so guess who wants to order some?  I just feel with Christmas coming on and people wanting lotion and soaps I am going to get behind as the soaps have to sit for 4-6 weeks before I can sell them. 

Oh I am so ready for fall,  I just love that you can just smell that faint hint of it in the air, it is by far my favorite season, I know I know after that comes "shhhhh  winter"  but that doesn't stop me from having it be my favorite time of year. 

Thought I would share a few pictures and then I need to go do something constructive,  why is it when you are work, all you think about is what you are going to do when you get home, and then you get home and find out your "got up and go got up and went?"  well I did cut my flowers down to the dirt in most of my pots outside,  and I did cut a batch of soap, and I am going to go knit,  I so want to get this baby blanket done!! just to start another one, but the sooner they are done I can go on to some fun things!

Well I hope everyone has a fabulous week!!!  

Blog at ya later

Ok I have to tell you the story behind the stainless steel mixing bowl, this is my new best friend I kid you not, I ordered it on ebay for soap making thought it would be nice to have a "handle" on things when making my soap, well it arrived and I can't part with it, I could seriously get rid of every other bowl in my kitchen, I LOVE IT!!  I actually found another one on ebay and bought that one too, not sure which one will be for soap making this is a 6 quart, and not sure I think the new one is a 5 quart but we will see, so if you don't happen to have one of these...... well your missing out!!

This is my second gallon jug of bread-n-butter pickles, they are pretty tasty  :)  

my new best friend

don't let the name fool ya! 

these are still my bread-n-butter pickles

soaps doing their thing can't wait til their cured. 

my coconut/vanilla small batch cut today.

Val

FINALLY!! We have blue eggs!

Well we finally have our blue egger laying so all three of the hens are laying for us! I was really excited when I saw the blue one on wed.
Got my package off to South Africa today, joined the sending love heart swap this past week, and you get teamed up with someone else and send them a home made gift,  I am not going to say what just in case Marie happens to check my blog I don't want to ruin her surprise.  The person I got teamed up with lives in Capetown  South Africa I was so excited about that, I don't know anyone who lives there.  I wasn't sure about sending something over there but it was really easy the lady at the post office was so helpful and all I had to fill out was a little white form with my name and their name and what was in the package, and it didn't cost me too much either, I used the if it fits it ships box, trust me duct tape was my best friend there!!  lol 
Not much else going on, just taking a break from vacuuming, laundry, the normal weekend stuff,  I have the grand daughters for the day tomorrow so when they come I like to be able to just spend the time with them and not have to clean etc.  
Making a baby blanket and it's coming down to the end (thank goodness)  I forgot how boring stuff like that is, but I do have another one I have to make too, want to get them out of the way and maybe make a few more dolls, and I got a really cute lamb pattern I want to make., I am surprised I really kinda like making that stuff,  instant gratification :)  
My soap making is going pretty well, had to rebatch a couple batches I did over the weekend because of the oils I used they didn't play nice together, but it was a good experience for me and I think both batches are going to survive! Not real found of the smells but I think after smelling them in the crock pot that might have something to do with it.. lol 
Really looking forward to going to the cottage next weekend, Steve's mom and sister are going and his oldest brother,  just go up and relax and talk, knit, read all those things you just don't get to do enough of at home. His moms health is failing pretty quickly she is 85 years old, lots of health issues, always had a pretty good mind but that seems to be failing pretty quickly just don't know how much more time we will have with her ya know?  Both of my parents are gone, and she is the only parent left for us, I think it will be kinda weird with no parents left.
Made some zuchinni bread yesterday, mmmm it turned out really good, I used pistachio pudding mix too, pretty yummy if I must say so myself, I like using pudding mixes in recipes like that it seems to give them a moisture you don't normally get, I use pudding in my amish breads too, I think I might make another and try banana pudding next time. 
Well I suppose I should sign off for now, Steve is out mowing the lawn and I should be doing something...... 

aren't they pretty?

pansies always remind me of my grandma

our Mr. Mac

honeysuckle in full bloom can't you just smell it?

just some old boots

my energy bar soap it turned out so pretty

top view before I cut it.

Thanks so much for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment. 


Well I'll blog at ya later!  Enjoy your weekend!
Val

Woot Woot or should it be Bawk Bawk?

 Well we finally have two hens a-layin!  Went out on monday after work and too my surprise  AN EGG!!  I was pretty excited to say the least and of course ran in to get my camera, by thursday we had two, and we know whose isn't laying because these were both brown.  Mr. Buff (rooster) is taking his job very seriously and talking to all the roosters in the area, this morning I was outside enjoying my morning tea and he was holding a conversation with a rooster that was WAY down the road, too funny! 
 I have been busy with canning, and lotion making, and today I finished up my dill relish and have two batches of lye cooling off to make some soap. The soap has been a big hit, my only problem is I didn't have a batch for backup and gave my first batch away as samples, so now everyone buying my lotion, that want my soap have to wait,  DUH!!  oh well live and learn right?  Got a couple new scents kinda anxious to do them :) 
Summer is winding down and ya know what, I'm good with that, I am anxious to see all the dumb weeds that are small trees DIE!!  this time of year stuff just kinda starts to take a dive, like flowers etc. and I don't know about you but this time of year I get really sick of taking care of all those flowers, sick of watering them all the time, so yep bring on fall!
Fall is my favorite time of year, I know winter comes next but I still like fall.
Yesterday my son Jason would have been 36 years old, I can hardly believe I would have a child 36 years old, we lost him in a horrible car accident 14years ago this October 12th, he was my naughty kid, you know anyone who has more than one child knows what I'm talking about, the good kid, and the "challenge" he was my challenge but boy I would never have believed how much I miss him!!  I miss so many things about him but I also miss him not being able to see his nieces oh he would have loved them!! I miss him not being able to have children, just lots of things you take for granted, but I do believe I will see him again some day, he did accept Christ a few years before he was killed, my mom always reassured me when I would doubt (he wasn't living for the Lord) I might not see him again, and like my mom would always say to me  "that is satan making you doubt".  So someday I will see him again, and my dad and my mom, but until then I have many many memories of all of them.
Ok didn't mean to go mushy there, but it happens this time of year for me, with Jason's birthday yesterday and the anniversary of his death not far away it just happens.
Looks like it's gonna storm here today, and I'm thinking so because our dear Mr. Mac is under the computer desk at my feet and that is a sure sign something is brewing. (he isn't really fond of storms) he has a couple issues but we love him to pieces anyways!  Don't we ALL have a few issues? I mean really? 

some dill pickles

up close 

our very first egg!

the chickens

my butterfly bush / tree 

I think hybiscus

THE sauce master

the lastest edition to the family

Our grapes this year are awesome, last year in the spring we had a ton of them, and then they just all withered and died, this year I honestly can't believe how many there are and they are all good and turning purple, I think I will be making grape juice this year, might try my hand at some grape jelly too,  Steve likes to make wine but I think we will have enough to do it all.. I bought an awesome tool for just that too it's called the sauce master and you can buy a special attachment for grapes, so this should be fun! 
I forget about the new lawn mower we had to go buy I got sick and tired of used, used, used, and said that's it we are buying NEW! so we did :) 

Good News!

I have good news to report, my biopsy came back negative, praise the Lord!!, it was quite a week for me this past week for sure and it just amazes me how I could literally feel the prayer I had behind me!! I felt God's presence in everything that I faced. I also had a bad molar that I was putting off having anything done with because I didn't want to have the breast biopsy and a surgically removed molar in the same week, but had the biopsy on friday the 29th and then the tooth kicked in on Monday the 1st, so at least I split it up a little right?  and I got the message about the biopsy sitting in my car with a mouth full of gauze, they had called and left me a message while I was having the tooth removed, what a feeling to look down at my phone and know who had left me a voicemail, just kind of a this phone call is THE phone call I have been waiting for! So I called as soon as I got to my car, the poor nurse could hardly understand me, but when she came back on the phone she told me that she had something that would make my tooth feel better, needless to say I had to sit and cry, and thank my wonderful Savior for all He had gotten me through and for the good news!  I must stress how important it is to have a yearly mammogram if your of age, I seriously had thought about not having one this year as I have had them for 20 years with no problems, I do not have any breast cancer on either side of my parents families etc, and then last year they came out with it's not necessary to have them every year, but I am just so thankful I decided to still go, I will say having your boob numb is the best way to have a mammogram though!  lol 

Well it's pickle time around here, I did 29pints of dill pickles in the past few days and have more to do, I think I am going to make more dill relish, ya know once you can it and have your own, the store kind just doesn't cut it!!

We had to go out and buy a new riding lawn mower today, I wish I was happier about it, but it just adds to the debt, we had two of them, one burned up a few months ago, and the second one burned up yesterday, get sick and tired fooling around with used crap so we went out and bought new period!

Didn't want to but hey you have to mow your lawn and we have about 2 acres we mow so it's not like an option.

Been busy making lotion too, I would like to do a few more soaps also so maybe in the next week or so, the first batch I did should be ready in a couple weeks, even though I cheated and tried some it's AWESOME! if I must say so myself :)   no more store bought soap for this chick!  Also want to be able to offer people soap to go with the lotion they buy.  

Not a whole lot new other than that, been hot still, but they are promising us a real cool down this coming week, like high's in the 70's low 80's how nice is that going to be.

Vacation Bible school was really fun, I am so glad that I volunteered I knew that I would be blessed but just didn't realize how much, like I said I am not much of a "kid" person, I have low tolerance I think but all in all I really enjoyed myself and it went very well. 

Well Steve is off to go pick up the new mower, so I'll try and post a picture of the new family edition in the next few days.

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing my blog with me!

Have a wonderful week!

Val

Now the wait.

Well yesterday was the big day for me, I had my biopsy done, and it went very very well, I didn't even feel the needle going in to numb my breast, and that was all the prayer that I had behind me, I literally felt God in that room with me yesterday holding my right hand as He promised that He would. ‎"For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear: I will help you." Isiah 41:13 this was my verse I took with me yesterday, and the really other cool thing was my nurse (who is with you from the beginning and walks you out at the end) was a born again christian how cool was that?  All a God thing, I serve such an awesome God!  So today I am just taking it easy kinda restricted to what I can do so going to knit, read, watch some tv, maybe a nap is on my list today... 
I will get the results on tuesday as to what they have found the calcification is from, apparently they can tell what actually causes it, be it pre-cancerous cells, or calcium etc. so now we wait, and I am literally waiting on the Lord for the answer, I am ok with whatever it may be as I know nothing happens to me that isn't ok'd by Him. 
I started a new baby blanket yesterday, couple of people I know having babies in the next few months, I like to have spares on hand but hey the baby boom has been happening lately at least with people I know, so I'm fresh out.
Gonna be another warm day here in michigan but thats ok it's summertime right? Come January we are gonna miss this weather.
We have vacation Bible school at our church this coming week, we have it an night time so I have volunteered to help out with that, I'm not normally a "kid" person so to speak, but felt God asking me to volunteer so I'm sure I'll be blessed because I am obeying :)  I go to an awesome church, it's not a big church, been there done that, I love the accountability of a smaller church and the community that we have, the Bible tells us how important it is to be 
in a community of believers and be held accountable by them.
Well I will let you all know how the biopsy results come back. Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to go to church tomorrow.
Blog at ya soon
Val

Going on the end of July ALREADY!

Wow, can you believe how fast this summer is just flying by? I can't believe it's been almost 3 weeks since I blogged, just been busy I guess lots going on, I actually have 7 quarts of green beans in the canner as I type, did 14 yesterday and another 14 today, and why is it they come into season at the very hottest time of the year, but I must say using a canner (which I just got last year) cuts down on a LOT of the heat., you don't have to water bath for 3 hours and steam up your kitchen, at least with the canner it's a lot quicker. I was so deathly afraid of pressure cookers until last year I was reading online really how not wise it is to process it in the water bath, so I thought I would be brave and try the pressure cooker, I love it, wish I would have done it years ago, but I guess you need to be older and wiser to understand these things..  lol  
Just finished a baby sweater and now only have two afghans to go, haven't even started on them but I still have a little time for those, I like to have backups of stuff like that, but too many people I know having babies I guess.
Our garden is going very well, Steve said he saw some tomatoes beginning to ripen, really ?  already?  but it has been really hot here and I know that everything kicks in with heat.
Well the chickens are doing good, after our loss :(  just waiting for them to start laying.... should be anytime now, and I am really hoping that at least one of them goes broody for me (motherly) if that happens I am going to leave the eggs, I can continue to buy eggs from the family down the road, but it will be nice to have my own. 
I have made two batches of soap, feeling much better and much less intimated by it :)  just needed to get a couple under my belt I guess. Looking forward to doing a few more but needed to get the green beans done this weekend. 
Went for my annual mammogram a couple weeks ago, had to go back and have a diagnostic mammogram done this past friday,  as they found some calcification in my left breast, and now I have to have a stereotactic needle core biopsy done hopefully this week, waiting on the dr. office to call me tomorrow, I just found out friday afternoon at 3:30, a little nervous just the not knowing, I have read and heard from so many women that this is very common, but just the not knowing for sure, this could be a life changing thing ya know? I am at peace though, I know that nothing can happen to me unless it goes through God's hands first, and if I can be a witness or testimony to even one person I will, puts a whole new meaning to  James 1: 2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
So I do consider it pure joy, least I can do for a God that sent His one and only Son to die on a cross for me for my sins. I serve an awesome God!! 

my unicorn finally finished.

first batch of soap curing. 

6 of the 24 quarts of green beans 

baby sweater done.

on my way to work, but it never captures the true beauty.

Well I hope it's not so long before I blog again, sorry about that nothing more frustrating than following someones blog and they haven't updated it in weeks, makes you want to not follow it anymore.