Sunday, November 29, 2015
Friday, November 20, 2015
Christmas is coming up
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http://homeschoolwwh.blogspot.com/p/go-shopping.html
The proceeds from these affiliate links and commission from Lilla Rose will help my family pay for Christmas.
Sunday, November 08, 2015
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
The New American Dream | The Minimalists
The New American Dream | The Minimalists
This is the first time in 2 weeks I've had to time to read the blogs I'm following, so I'm doing some catching up.
This is the first time in 2 weeks I've had to time to read the blogs I'm following, so I'm doing some catching up.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
My Month of October
This month (so far) has contained:
Anyway, Christmas is coming up. So is a family reunion. (Any ideas on how to make some Christmas money quickly but while still teaching school and keeping house full time?)
And the first holidays without my Mom.
Sigh. I see a couple of long months ahead of me.
- A bad cold going through nearly the whole family. Sore throats. Headaches. Fevers. Etc.
- Dental surgery for my four year old. His teeth were so bad they simply couldn't wait until he was older, but at his age he couldn't sit still. So they put him under. He handled it fine and was up playing by that evening, but I was wiped out :-P
- A tummy flu very slowing hitting one person at a time. I prefer everyone getting sick at once.
- My dad deciding he needed my mom's desk cleaned out so he could use it.
- My dad deciding to move Mom's toolbox to his garage. This meant working in her craft room, which I have been avoiding.
- My dad coming home from his vacation with the decision he wanted the kids to resume spending the night once a week. (This means my total weekly schedule changed again just as we got in the rhythm of the old/new one).
- My dad preformed his first wedding since Mom's death. Guess who the church's wedding coordinator used to be? Guess who her assistant was? Guess who gets the whole job now? Guess who has done the whole job before EXCEPT filling out the official paperwork? Guess who didn't know how to do it? Guess who is waiting for Dad to file the paperwork so she can find out what all she did wrong? (It was a very beautiful little wedding by the way. It was almost rained out, but the the rain quit just in time and the sun came out just as Dad pronounced them "man and wife." The best man cried at the timing :-) And the people were very nice, no fighting or anything that is normal with weddings.)
- My birthday:-) Took the day off, except for taking care of Hubby who had the tummy bug.
Anyway, Christmas is coming up. So is a family reunion. (Any ideas on how to make some Christmas money quickly but while still teaching school and keeping house full time?)
And the first holidays without my Mom.
Sigh. I see a couple of long months ahead of me.
Thursday, October 01, 2015
Evacuation, sort of
We have had some problems with our septic system (old, cheap, small, lots of people in the house....) and came to the point we couldn't use the toilets until the septic company came to look at it.
11 people with no toilets for an estimated 3+ days.
Yeah, not gonna happen.
A couple of quick phone calls and we, for all intents and purposes, bugged out- we threw everything we could think of possibly needing into the car and left for my dad's house (it was almost supper time and I needed to get there to cook). He's out of state visiting relatives, but has his phone so we didn't just move in. We had his permission. ("Borrow my what? House? Of course." (In the tone of voice that says "Why are bothering to ask? You know I don't care."))
It was like a vacation in a way;
My oldest son got the system fixed today (what the company said needed doing) so we are back home now.
We left Dad's house very clean which was fun.
But walking into ours we left so fast...
Sigh.
Though I should spend a couple of hours cleaning here, I think I'll take a nap.
11 people with no toilets for an estimated 3+ days.
Yeah, not gonna happen.
A couple of quick phone calls and we, for all intents and purposes, bugged out- we threw everything we could think of possibly needing into the car and left for my dad's house (it was almost supper time and I needed to get there to cook). He's out of state visiting relatives, but has his phone so we didn't just move in. We had his permission. ("Borrow my what? House? Of course." (In the tone of voice that says "Why are bothering to ask? You know I don't care."))
It was like a vacation in a way;
- Different environment
- Different schedule
- Different food (cause we missed some things when we left our hose and had to improvise :-)
My oldest son got the system fixed today (what the company said needed doing) so we are back home now.
We left Dad's house very clean which was fun.
But walking into ours we left so fast...
Sigh.
Though I should spend a couple of hours cleaning here, I think I'll take a nap.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
All the pro-life facts about hormonal contraception (that you probably don’t want to hear) - Part I | Blogs | LifeSite
All the pro-life facts about hormonal contraception (that you probably don’t want to hear) - Part I | Blogs | LifeSite:
"I’m just going to go ahead and let you know that this article is going to probably anger a lot of people. But I am a truth teller, and sometimes truth hurts. And as pro-lifers, this is information that we simply can’t ignore…no matter how much it affects our current lifestyle...
...
Well, then here’s the kicker. If you believe that life begins at
conception, then you MUST unequivocally oppose hormonal contraception.
Here’s why. Hormonal contraception does not always prevent ovulation. In
fact, many studies done by the birth control manufacturers themselves
state that only about half of women using their methods actually cease
ovulating.
Hmm. So how do these methods work if you are still ovulating at least
half the time? Simple. These methods have a backup plan. Hormonal
methods also work to thin the lining of the endometrium (uterine wall)
so that a newly conceived human being (life begins at conception,
right?) cannot implant on the uterine wall. Because the baby has nowhere
to implant, they are spontaneously aborted."
I was not told this in my high school health class, nor the "life skills" class I took. I was not told this by any of the doctors that prescribed birth control to me 30 years ago. Nor was I told by ANY of these sources the true numbers of side affects (i.e. cancer risk increases by 30%)
This is the REAL war against all things "woman."
(part 2) Ladies: we deserve better than hormonal birth control
"This is what women have done to our bodies. By “fixing” something that
isn’t broken, we have created even more problems for ourselves. We take
birth control to “fix” our fully functioning fertility, and by doing
that have seen a dramatic increase in breast and reproductive cancers.
That doesn’t even make sense when you think about it...
...She also talks about the well-known fact that the World Health
Organization classified hormonal birth control as a Class One
Carcinogen. What else is a Class One Carcinogen? Here are a few:
arsenic, asbestos, ionizing radiation, formaldehyde, and tobacco. So,
all of these things are admittedly as dangerous as hormonal birth
control, yet birth control is widely accepted. Look at all of the “quit
smoking” campaigns that are out there. Yet, birth control is just
as dangerous as tobacco and the only thing you see about birth control
on television are the ads encouraging women to take it. Why the
discrepancy?"
(part 3) How my life changed forever after I got the Depo Provera birth control injection
And a different article:
"But according to RPHR, none of these catastrophic risk factors has
deterred groups like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID), Columbia
University and others from aggressively pushing this horrific jab on
unsuspecting women both domestically and abroad. The group's report
draws attention to the fact that these organizations have committed
medical violence against women, particularly in third-world countries,
by administering the shot time and time again without informed consent."
Oh, I know! When "The War on Poverty" was introduced, we all thought they meant "bring everyone up to a descent standard of living" when what they really meant was "Kill all the poor."
Do you know what women in third world countries really want (according to midwives from the US that go there to work as well as native midwives)?
"I’m just going to go ahead and let you know that this article is going to probably anger a lot of people. But I am a truth teller, and sometimes truth hurts. And as pro-lifers, this is information that we simply can’t ignore…no matter how much it affects our current lifestyle...
...
Well, then here’s the kicker. If you believe that life begins at
conception, then you MUST unequivocally oppose hormonal contraception.
Here’s why. Hormonal contraception does not always prevent ovulation. In
fact, many studies done by the birth control manufacturers themselves
state that only about half of women using their methods actually cease
ovulating.
Hmm. So how do these methods work if you are still ovulating at least
half the time? Simple. These methods have a backup plan. Hormonal
methods also work to thin the lining of the endometrium (uterine wall)
so that a newly conceived human being (life begins at conception,
right?) cannot implant on the uterine wall. Because the baby has nowhere
to implant, they are spontaneously aborted."
I was not told this in my high school health class, nor the "life skills" class I took. I was not told this by any of the doctors that prescribed birth control to me 30 years ago. Nor was I told by ANY of these sources the true numbers of side affects (i.e. cancer risk increases by 30%)
This is the REAL war against all things "woman."
(part 2) Ladies: we deserve better than hormonal birth control
"This is what women have done to our bodies. By “fixing” something that
isn’t broken, we have created even more problems for ourselves. We take
birth control to “fix” our fully functioning fertility, and by doing
that have seen a dramatic increase in breast and reproductive cancers.
That doesn’t even make sense when you think about it...
...She also talks about the well-known fact that the World Health
Organization classified hormonal birth control as a Class One
Carcinogen. What else is a Class One Carcinogen? Here are a few:
arsenic, asbestos, ionizing radiation, formaldehyde, and tobacco. So,
all of these things are admittedly as dangerous as hormonal birth
control, yet birth control is widely accepted. Look at all of the “quit
smoking” campaigns that are out there. Yet, birth control is just
as dangerous as tobacco and the only thing you see about birth control
on television are the ads encouraging women to take it. Why the
discrepancy?"
(part 3) How my life changed forever after I got the Depo Provera birth control injection
And a different article:
"But according to RPHR, none of these catastrophic risk factors has
deterred groups like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID), Columbia
University and others from aggressively pushing this horrific jab on
unsuspecting women both domestically and abroad. The group's report
draws attention to the fact that these organizations have committed
medical violence against women, particularly in third-world countries,
by administering the shot time and time again without informed consent."
Oh, I know! When "The War on Poverty" was introduced, we all thought they meant "bring everyone up to a descent standard of living" when what they really meant was "Kill all the poor."
Do you know what women in third world countries really want (according to midwives from the US that go there to work as well as native midwives)?
- Clean water
- Reliable, nutritious food
- Antibiotics
- Flush toilets
Monday, September 14, 2015
Smoking is bad for your Health.
You know, I'm tired of being California's smoking section.
All those fires you all have, the wind from the ocean blows that smoke here. So every year our valley turns into Southern California Air Quality. Goodness, we left there for a reason! At the moment, we can't even see across our valley and it's a small one.
I also have an e-friend who has friends who have had to evacuate because of this fire. They are staying with the e-friend, but weren't able to get all their animals out. Please keep them in your prayers.
So, plans for this first official day of vacation, the day we were going to leave for our annual week long camping trip: Hubby and the older boys (20, 17, 16 and all 5'10" or taller) are going over to my dad's to work on Brownie (our brown, 12 passenger that broke down a couple of weeks ago.) The girls (and 3yo boy) and I will stay home and try not to breath in too much smoke. We can't go with the guys and work on Dad's house because his 8 passenger mini van we were borrowing broke down on the way to church yesterday. It won't go faster than 40 mph. This is a problem since we have to go on a highway where the speed limit is 60 in order to just get out of our neighborhood.
So,
What is it with us and trannies?!
Oh, and Hubby's radiator went out last week and had to be replaced.
And our water storage tank in the house began to leak in three places and had to be replaced (Yeah Hubby! He did the whole thing himself:-)
Been a long couple of weeks and we won't be going anywhere for vacation, but maybe we'll get our Brownie back. I do feel sorry for the guys. This isn't how they wanted to spend their time off.
But, to get all religious on you all now, God does have a plan. He knows what we need. I see some things going on....
Maybe the biggest need right now is for my boys to have this time with the two men in their lives. Maybe that's more important than family time.
Maybe there are things going on I can't quite see.
God knows what we really need and I trust Him to provide.
Even to provide broken cars when we need them.
I'm not upset. A bit amused, maybe, even.
It's all good.
All those fires you all have, the wind from the ocean blows that smoke here. So every year our valley turns into Southern California Air Quality. Goodness, we left there for a reason! At the moment, we can't even see across our valley and it's a small one.
I also have an e-friend who has friends who have had to evacuate because of this fire. They are staying with the e-friend, but weren't able to get all their animals out. Please keep them in your prayers.
So, plans for this first official day of vacation, the day we were going to leave for our annual week long camping trip: Hubby and the older boys (20, 17, 16 and all 5'10" or taller) are going over to my dad's to work on Brownie (our brown, 12 passenger that broke down a couple of weeks ago.) The girls (and 3yo boy) and I will stay home and try not to breath in too much smoke. We can't go with the guys and work on Dad's house because his 8 passenger mini van we were borrowing broke down on the way to church yesterday. It won't go faster than 40 mph. This is a problem since we have to go on a highway where the speed limit is 60 in order to just get out of our neighborhood.
So,
- 2 years ago the tranny blew in Whitey, our 15 passenger, and we simply haven't had the money to fix it since.
- 2 weeks ago the tranny blew in Brownie, our 12 passenger, and the guys will work on it today.
- Yesterday the tranny blew in Mini, Dad's 8 passenger. Don't have a clue what will happen to it.
- The tranny in Bluey, our old 12 passenger we parked when we were given Whitey, was beginning to show signs of problems.
What is it with us and trannies?!
Oh, and Hubby's radiator went out last week and had to be replaced.
And our water storage tank in the house began to leak in three places and had to be replaced (Yeah Hubby! He did the whole thing himself:-)
Been a long couple of weeks and we won't be going anywhere for vacation, but maybe we'll get our Brownie back. I do feel sorry for the guys. This isn't how they wanted to spend their time off.
But, to get all religious on you all now, God does have a plan. He knows what we need. I see some things going on....
Maybe the biggest need right now is for my boys to have this time with the two men in their lives. Maybe that's more important than family time.
Maybe there are things going on I can't quite see.
God knows what we really need and I trust Him to provide.
Even to provide broken cars when we need them.
I'm not upset. A bit amused, maybe, even.
It's all good.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
To Laugh or To Cry
I will pick laughing, of course.
As I posted last time, we have had two cars break down in the last week-ish. One is fixed, the other waiting until the guys have the time to go over to work on it.
Hubby had sceduled his big annual vacation for next week.
Guess what.
We are supposed to meet my dad for lunch today, but I'm not sure how we'll work that out since his mini van we are borrowing only holds 8 and there are 10 of us (since Hubby's at work). Dad really needs this and I really enjoy it, so we'll do something. Just not sure yet what.
Anyway, this morning when I went to get supper out of the freezer I heard a loud hissing noise, and the floor in the storeroom (which we call "the well house" since our water tanks- one to store water from our well, the other a hot water heater- are in there) is covered in water. I checked the freezer and it is functioning fine. The water is nowhere near the hot water heater. No one has been using water on the outside wall (which has never leaked to the inside anyway).
So by process of elimination, our water tank is bad and needs replacing. That's the only other place the water could be coming from. I will look into it after breakfast.
So, I either sit down and cry out of frustration...
or I laugh at Satan's attempt to get us down.
Well, I choose to be amused.
Not quite sure how we are going to pay for the new tank, nor how we will deal with the water until we can replace it (the sinks all seem to still have normal water pressure. That's good. But all that water on that plywood floor isn't good.)
But God always supplies. He will work something out.
As I posted last time, we have had two cars break down in the last week-ish. One is fixed, the other waiting until the guys have the time to go over to work on it.
Hubby had sceduled his big annual vacation for next week.
Guess what.
We are supposed to meet my dad for lunch today, but I'm not sure how we'll work that out since his mini van we are borrowing only holds 8 and there are 10 of us (since Hubby's at work). Dad really needs this and I really enjoy it, so we'll do something. Just not sure yet what.
Anyway, this morning when I went to get supper out of the freezer I heard a loud hissing noise, and the floor in the storeroom (which we call "the well house" since our water tanks- one to store water from our well, the other a hot water heater- are in there) is covered in water. I checked the freezer and it is functioning fine. The water is nowhere near the hot water heater. No one has been using water on the outside wall (which has never leaked to the inside anyway).
So by process of elimination, our water tank is bad and needs replacing. That's the only other place the water could be coming from. I will look into it after breakfast.
So, I either sit down and cry out of frustration...
or I laugh at Satan's attempt to get us down.
Well, I choose to be amused.
Not quite sure how we are going to pay for the new tank, nor how we will deal with the water until we can replace it (the sinks all seem to still have normal water pressure. That's good. But all that water on that plywood floor isn't good.)
But God always supplies. He will work something out.
Tuesday, September 08, 2015
Labor Day Weekend
We began this weekend by planning a trip to a local swim center (not enough water in the river to swim anymore:-(
Hubby took off alone in his sedan to do some chores, and the kids an I left in our 12 passenger to do some other chores ($5 a basket day at the local thrift store! for one:-)
We got about 1 1/2 miles from our house when it felt like the entire back end fell off. I man-handled the van to the side of the highway, turned the engine off, and chuckled a bit. You see, we have known for a while our tranny was going out. So I assumed that is what happened...
...In the best place short of our or my Dad's driveway (close enough the kids could walk home, big shoulder to pull off on)
And it couldn't have been a better day:
So I sent the kids walking home, texted Hubby, and called AAA. Have talked about AAA? We've been their customer for more than 2 decades and couldn't be happier. They always do their best to take care of us.
Had the van towed to Dad's house and borrowed his Mini van. He was out of town at a conference, but called me after I texted him.
He and my boys will be working on fixing the thing soon.
And what was wrong? Well, I'm pretty sure the back end of the drive-line isn't supposed to be laying on the ground. This means the U pin broke. Unfortunately, what broke it was probably the Tranny freezing up. So new tranny it is.
This, of course, limited our activities for the weekend. The biggest fun of going anywhere together is the drive...TOGETHER. Mini only holds 8 people. There are 11 of us. Sigh. So it takes two vehicles now to go anywhere, spoiling a lot of the fun.
I don't supposed I mentioned that this is the second vehical in a week to break. Hubby's commuter has had a bad radiator for some time. Teh day he had to stop 3 times to put a gallon of water in it he decided to take it to the mechanic. Thankfully that is now taken care of and working fine.
And with all this breaking down, there is a good thing. After some research I have begun to take Magnesium supplements. I have been sleeping in every morning since! I am feeling more rested, so Maybe that is what I have been looking for:-)
Oh, and I'm typing this while on hold due to my daughter receiving the Blue Screen of Death on her 6 month old computer last week :-(
Hubby took off alone in his sedan to do some chores, and the kids an I left in our 12 passenger to do some other chores ($5 a basket day at the local thrift store! for one:-)
We got about 1 1/2 miles from our house when it felt like the entire back end fell off. I man-handled the van to the side of the highway, turned the engine off, and chuckled a bit. You see, we have known for a while our tranny was going out. So I assumed that is what happened...
...In the best place short of our or my Dad's driveway (close enough the kids could walk home, big shoulder to pull off on)
And it couldn't have been a better day:
- mid 70's
- no rain
- light breeze
So I sent the kids walking home, texted Hubby, and called AAA. Have talked about AAA? We've been their customer for more than 2 decades and couldn't be happier. They always do their best to take care of us.
Had the van towed to Dad's house and borrowed his Mini van. He was out of town at a conference, but called me after I texted him.
He and my boys will be working on fixing the thing soon.
And what was wrong? Well, I'm pretty sure the back end of the drive-line isn't supposed to be laying on the ground. This means the U pin broke. Unfortunately, what broke it was probably the Tranny freezing up. So new tranny it is.
This, of course, limited our activities for the weekend. The biggest fun of going anywhere together is the drive...TOGETHER. Mini only holds 8 people. There are 11 of us. Sigh. So it takes two vehicles now to go anywhere, spoiling a lot of the fun.
I don't supposed I mentioned that this is the second vehical in a week to break. Hubby's commuter has had a bad radiator for some time. Teh day he had to stop 3 times to put a gallon of water in it he decided to take it to the mechanic. Thankfully that is now taken care of and working fine.
And with all this breaking down, there is a good thing. After some research I have begun to take Magnesium supplements. I have been sleeping in every morning since! I am feeling more rested, so Maybe that is what I have been looking for:-)
Oh, and I'm typing this while on hold due to my daughter receiving the Blue Screen of Death on her 6 month old computer last week :-(
Monday, September 07, 2015
Mark Meadows Launches Mission to Fix Broken Congress
Mark Meadows Launches Mission to Fix Broken Congress
If I were starting from scratch:
Since only the most narcissistic (mentally ill?) would run for office, we would eliminate all elections Federal level. States can do what they want).
We would keep our current structure, but the offices would be filled by lottery. A computer would randomly pull up SS numbers. The person would be required to have had a household income of at least 1/3 average (proving at least a minimum level of responsibility and sanity) and be registered to vote. Maybe they would be required to pass a test proving a high school equivalent education. They would receive a salary (200% of average for the country?), computer and free high speed internet for the duration of their term. Like with jury duty, they would not be able to refuse service except for cases of extreme duress (and for the majority of Americans, why would they want to refuse?).
All business would be conducted through the internet. No more going off to Lala Land (DC) where they are isolated from the real world. We have the technology so there is absolutely no reason to not make them stay in their home district. In fact, a lot of business could be conducted in such a way that if they wanted to they could keep their old job, too (such as in the case of farmers who couldn't just ignore their land for 2 years without major repercussions)
Who ever won the lottery for president would get a higher salary and would have to move to DC for the duration of service. So lets offer them 4x average for their salary.
The Senate would be filled as originally intended by our founding fathers through appointment by the state governments.
No one would be allowed to serve for more than one term in each office (they could do president and rep, but not either one twice).
There would be problems, of course, but less, I think, than we have now.
If I were starting from scratch:
Since only the most narcissistic (mentally ill?) would run for office, we would eliminate all elections Federal level. States can do what they want).
We would keep our current structure, but the offices would be filled by lottery. A computer would randomly pull up SS numbers. The person would be required to have had a household income of at least 1/3 average (proving at least a minimum level of responsibility and sanity) and be registered to vote. Maybe they would be required to pass a test proving a high school equivalent education. They would receive a salary (200% of average for the country?), computer and free high speed internet for the duration of their term. Like with jury duty, they would not be able to refuse service except for cases of extreme duress (and for the majority of Americans, why would they want to refuse?).
All business would be conducted through the internet. No more going off to Lala Land (DC) where they are isolated from the real world. We have the technology so there is absolutely no reason to not make them stay in their home district. In fact, a lot of business could be conducted in such a way that if they wanted to they could keep their old job, too (such as in the case of farmers who couldn't just ignore their land for 2 years without major repercussions)
Who ever won the lottery for president would get a higher salary and would have to move to DC for the duration of service. So lets offer them 4x average for their salary.
The Senate would be filled as originally intended by our founding fathers through appointment by the state governments.
No one would be allowed to serve for more than one term in each office (they could do president and rep, but not either one twice).
There would be problems, of course, but less, I think, than we have now.
A Step Back. - The Elliott Homestead
This family just lost a dear member" their milk cow.
A Step Back. - The Elliott Homestead
First of all, this farm is beautiful. The kind of thing I dream of.
Unfortunately, at this point in our lives we only own 1 1/3 acres of rocks, clay and sagebrush. We simply can't afford to buy 100% of our animals feed and our land simply won't produce enough to make even a tiny dint in the feed bill. So at the moment we only have rabbits (and a dog, cat, gecko, finches, beta fish).
Honestly, I love the rabbits, but we don't really like the meat all that well and they are a lot of work for what they produce, especially since we don't do our own butchering (too many coyotes. I send them away from the property to keep the smell of blood away), so we only get half of it. They just aren't financially productive and aren't worth the work:enjoyment. (of course, I'm not the one taking care of them. My adult daughter might disagree with me:-)
If given a choice, I would have bovines and chickens again. Haven't tried sheep since the FFA in high school, so don't know about them, but the cows and chickens "speak" to me, as she worded it.
I'm a bit of a collector and would take some of each species, including goats, but when push comes to shove, the cow would be first priority.That is the lifestyle I have always dreamed of. Hubby, however, not so much. He enjoys the uniqueness and the fresh food, but he isn't so sure they are worth all the extra work, especially since he doesn't like animals that much.
And they do make vacation and holidays problematic. These are more Hubby's priority.
We will get chickens again in the spring. We really miss them, though being without has reduced the attention of the coyotes to our property and made me aware of just how many leftovers I was feeding them instead of people. People food is expensive chicken feed! We are making adujestments accordingly.
I think it is helping the mouse problem too. Chickens=mice. Just a fact of life. Removing the chickens has, I think, slowed the migration of the mice into the house. We'll have to address that before getting chicks.
A Step Back. - The Elliott Homestead
First of all, this farm is beautiful. The kind of thing I dream of.
Unfortunately, at this point in our lives we only own 1 1/3 acres of rocks, clay and sagebrush. We simply can't afford to buy 100% of our animals feed and our land simply won't produce enough to make even a tiny dint in the feed bill. So at the moment we only have rabbits (and a dog, cat, gecko, finches, beta fish).
Honestly, I love the rabbits, but we don't really like the meat all that well and they are a lot of work for what they produce, especially since we don't do our own butchering (too many coyotes. I send them away from the property to keep the smell of blood away), so we only get half of it. They just aren't financially productive and aren't worth the work:enjoyment. (of course, I'm not the one taking care of them. My adult daughter might disagree with me:-)
If given a choice, I would have bovines and chickens again. Haven't tried sheep since the FFA in high school, so don't know about them, but the cows and chickens "speak" to me, as she worded it.
I'm a bit of a collector and would take some of each species, including goats, but when push comes to shove, the cow would be first priority.That is the lifestyle I have always dreamed of. Hubby, however, not so much. He enjoys the uniqueness and the fresh food, but he isn't so sure they are worth all the extra work, especially since he doesn't like animals that much.
And they do make vacation and holidays problematic. These are more Hubby's priority.
We will get chickens again in the spring. We really miss them, though being without has reduced the attention of the coyotes to our property and made me aware of just how many leftovers I was feeding them instead of people. People food is expensive chicken feed! We are making adujestments accordingly.
I think it is helping the mouse problem too. Chickens=mice. Just a fact of life. Removing the chickens has, I think, slowed the migration of the mice into the house. We'll have to address that before getting chicks.
Saturday, September 05, 2015
Forcing Girls To Share A Bathroom With A Gender Confused Boy Is Abuse - The Matt Walsh Blog
Forcing Girls To Share A Bathroom With A Gender Confused Boy Is Abuse - The Matt Walsh Blog
Yep. How could it be otherwise?
And lets ask the question few are willing to ask:
Would a hormonal 17 year old boy be willing to pretend to be gender confused in order to get an eyeful of naked young women?
How do you prove someone is really gender confused and not faking it?
Fact is, wishful thinking aside, if you are born with XY chromosomes you will die with XY chromosomes. There is no way to change that.
And really? We are not calling it a mental illness for someone to deny the obvious facts of their true self that are birth gender? To the point we are willing to pay for surgery to mutialte them into resembling their fantasy?
This isn't good for anyone.
We are a sick society indeed.
(Of course, to the parents of these girls, since you live in the richest, freest country in the world, the best way for you to deal with this is to pull your girls out of school. There are many good homeschool curriculums. Some are even free if you have a computer (or smart phone) or even a close library. This will cost the schools an average of $10,000 per year. You can bet your sweet bippy the schools will reconsider their stand if every girl and all the sympathetic-to-the-girls boys leave. And meanwhile, your precious daughters won't be exposed to the dangers of a boy in their bathroom.)
Yep. How could it be otherwise?
And lets ask the question few are willing to ask:
Would a hormonal 17 year old boy be willing to pretend to be gender confused in order to get an eyeful of naked young women?
How do you prove someone is really gender confused and not faking it?
Fact is, wishful thinking aside, if you are born with XY chromosomes you will die with XY chromosomes. There is no way to change that.
And really? We are not calling it a mental illness for someone to deny the obvious facts of their true self that are birth gender? To the point we are willing to pay for surgery to mutialte them into resembling their fantasy?
This isn't good for anyone.
We are a sick society indeed.
(Of course, to the parents of these girls, since you live in the richest, freest country in the world, the best way for you to deal with this is to pull your girls out of school. There are many good homeschool curriculums. Some are even free if you have a computer (or smart phone) or even a close library. This will cost the schools an average of $10,000 per year. You can bet your sweet bippy the schools will reconsider their stand if every girl and all the sympathetic-to-the-girls boys leave. And meanwhile, your precious daughters won't be exposed to the dangers of a boy in their bathroom.)
Thursday, September 03, 2015
A Reoccurring Idea
Something that has been going around and around in my head for some time is to simplify our diet. This functions on the same idea as simplifying your wardrobe
(http://theproject333.com/
http://homeschoolwwh.blogspot.com/2015/04/uniforms-and-peace.html
http://homeschoolwwh.blogspot.com/2015/04/why-i-wear-exact-same-thing-to-work.html)
It simply reduces the stress of decision making.
Now, I'm a pretty boring person when it comes to food. I like the comfort of the same thing all the time. Hubby, not so much, and most the kids take after him.
But today, on this lazy-I-should-be-working-but-don't-feel-like-it day I have been researching the idea.
Seems a lot of others have the same idea and have discovered that they save money as well as time, lose weight (if it's needed), and actually often have a more balanced diet.
Hmmmmm
Hmmmmm
Hmmmmm
So here is what I am toying with;
(http://theproject333.com/
http://homeschoolwwh.blogspot.com/2015/04/uniforms-and-peace.html
http://homeschoolwwh.blogspot.com/2015/04/why-i-wear-exact-same-thing-to-work.html)
It simply reduces the stress of decision making.
Now, I'm a pretty boring person when it comes to food. I like the comfort of the same thing all the time. Hubby, not so much, and most the kids take after him.
But today, on this lazy-I-should-be-working-but-don't-feel-like-it day I have been researching the idea.
Seems a lot of others have the same idea and have discovered that they save money as well as time, lose weight (if it's needed), and actually often have a more balanced diet.
Hmmmmm
Hmmmmm
Hmmmmm
So here is what I am toying with;
Breakfast
- Eggs (maybe cooked in the crockpot the night before if I can develop a recipe that doesn't taste weird. The key might be cooking on warm instead of low...)
- Hash browns (not frozen. We shred them at home from real potatoes using my kitchen aid mixer and attachment).
- Various veggies added to either (whatever is in season).
- Cheese; optional according to mood
- Juice (oj?) or milk
Morning Snack
(I have some blood-sugar issues and do much better having something small ever couple hours instead of three big meals).
- Hunk of cheese
- Piece of fruit
Lunch
- Salad (made with whatever veggies are available at the store)
- Nuts
- Grilled meat or tuna
- Veggie Juice (Ok, I don't like veggie juice. I'm dreaming here...)
Afternoon snack
- Hunk of cheese
- Piece of fruit (OK, this much fruit would make me sick from the sugar honestly. Should substitute celery or carrots)
Supper
- Soup (made with homemade bone broth and veggies)
- Veggies in season lightly stir fried.
- Meat or fish
- Whole grain sourdough Rolls, biscuits or muffins or taters (I'm tempted to limit this to just taters cooked in a variety of ways. Hubby likes them and they are kinder to my blood-sugar than grains tend to be)
- Milk or Keifr
Desert
- Yogurt
- Nuts
- and/or popcorn (whole grain you know)
What this Eliminates
Bacon, sausage, Polska Keilbasa, pancakes, biscuits, waffles, breakfast bread, or popcorn for breakfast.
Biscuits, homemade pizza, mac and cheese (from scratch), baked taters with chili, cornbread, "hash" (diced taters cooked with leftover meat and/or eggs and cheese and/or sausage, plus veggies of some sort.) for lunch.
Supper, well, ours is pretty much already like this about half the time and our meals are pretty dependable (chicken with some sort of bread or pasta on Monday, roast with mashed potatoes and gravy on Tuesday, Indian Tacos on Wednesday, Spaghetti on Thursday, Hubby takes me out for date night on Friday and the kids fend for themselves.) Each of these includes a salad and side veggie plus, most of the time a fruit. Saturday and Sunday are when I switch it up.
Wieners, Lil' Smokies, Chicken nuggets, cheese, yogurt, leftovers, milk for snacks. My biggest objections to these is the cost, with a bit of a cringe when I think of the ingredients lists on the processed meats.
And desert? Hubby already eats popcorn about half the time but getting him to give up his ice cream the rest of the time isn't going to happen. But I might could convince myself to exchange the ice cream for pre-made, pre-sweetened yogurt (not the stuff I make, though its tasty. It's just not the same thing. Baby steps here.)
At the moment, it just sounds so much easier to limit the choice even further.
Well, Hector has been spotted.
"Who is Hector?" you may ask.
Hector is the garter snake that comes into our house every fall, evidently looking for tasty treats to stock up for the winter. Last year he ate my youngest daughter's Zebra Finches :-(
That's really something they should cover in Parenting 101; how to tell you 6 year old that her pet birds, including the new baby, were eaten by a snake.
Anyway, we are sealing up what we can and working hard to desperately reduce the mouse population in order to discourage Hector (well, and get rid of the mice themselves, of course).
Yes, we have mice.
"Who is Hector?" you may ask.
Hector is the garter snake that comes into our house every fall, evidently looking for tasty treats to stock up for the winter. Last year he ate my youngest daughter's Zebra Finches :-(
That's really something they should cover in Parenting 101; how to tell you 6 year old that her pet birds, including the new baby, were eaten by a snake.
Anyway, we are sealing up what we can and working hard to desperately reduce the mouse population in order to discourage Hector (well, and get rid of the mice themselves, of course).
Yes, we have mice.
- We live in the country.
- Neighbors are building, disturbing nesting places.
- We have had chickens (chickens= mice since they eat the same food and there is no way to let the chickens eat but not the mice. We only fed them in the daytime and only what they could clean up within a few minutes, and away from the coop, but there were still many many mice in the coop. This is one reason I sold the chickens last spring).
- Our house is a cheap, 25 year old mobile. Which means it has settled. Which means access points for things like mice that can make themselves ridiculously small. You would be surprised at how tiny of an opening a mouse can get through. And evidently a snake.
- We have a cat that is a mouser. Her favorite thing to do is catch them at 2am and bring them to my 14 year old to play with. For some reason Jessie doesn't appreciate this.
- We have a dog that is a mouser. Now, since he is 85lbs, when he hunts he tends to destroy anything in his path. I have seen him shred plywood to get at a mouse. So we don't let him do a lot of hunting inside. But he patrols the yard all day long and catches a lot of them out there, before they have a chance to get in the house. He also protects us from Jack Rabbits, quail, and sparrows.
- We use the old-fashioned type of mouse trap. They just, flat work better than anything else we have tried. My absolutely wonderful sons who are taller than me empty them (we don't let the 3yo, my only son shorter than me, empty them:-).
- We try to keep all crumbs and anything else they could eat picked up.
- We store everything in thick plastic or glass with lids.
Using these methods, we catch 3-15 mice a week, with the higher number coming when the weather changes (obviously, they are taking refuge from the weather in the house). We usually just get them all caught when the weather changes again and a new batch move in.
I have had the suggestion that we put mothballs all around the house. We may just try that. Certainly nothing else has kept them out.
I have had the suggestion that we put mothballs all around the house. We may just try that. Certainly nothing else has kept them out.
Wednesday, September 02, 2015
Isaiah
Chapter 53
1Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed?
Who will choose to believe the prophets of God?
2 For he shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out
of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him,
there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
People did not flock to Jesus because of His good looks. In
fact, it appears He was very average (He managed to disappear in crowds, and
the Jewish leadership needed Judas to show them which one was Jesus in order to
arrest Him).
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we
esteemed Him not.
Crucifixion was the cruelest form of execution ever invented
by man. By the time the ordeal was done the person did not even look much like
a person.
Evidently Jesus suffered loss in His walk on earth. Since
Joseph is not mentioned again after Jesus’ birth story, we can assume that at
some time He went through the loss of a dear parent-figure. We don’t know what
else.
4 Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did
esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Jesus took the punishment for each one of our sins. He
carried our griefs and pains to the Cross. Can you imagine the weight of it
all?
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we
are healed.
The entire purpose of the Cross, in fact, of Jesus’ whole
life, was to pay the price for our sins. That is why He was whipped with 39
stripes. That is why He had a crown of thorns mashed into His scalp. That is
why He suffered the humiliation of the walk to Calvary. That is why He had nails
driven into His hands and feet. That is why He had a spear driven through His
side…
To pay the price for my sin.
All this punishment is what I deserved for my disobedience
to God. But Jesus took my punishment for me.
And in taking that punishment, I was healed from my
transgressions and iniquities.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his
own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
There is no human that has not rebelled against God. Every
single one of us deserves the death that Jesus suffered.
But God placed all that punishment on His shoulders and took
it for us.
7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not his mouth:
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is
dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.
Jesus Himself said He could call an army of angels to rescue
Him from the ordeal of the Cross. In fact He could have blinked an eye and
everyone around Him would have fallen down dead.
But He chose to go to the Cross willingly for our benefit.
He did not want to die, to go through all that. In the
Garden of Gethsemane He begged for a way out. But He submitted Himself to that
ordeal because it was the only way to provide for our payment, the only way to
get us to Heaven.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His
generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression
of My people was He stricken.
Remember, Isaiah is writing this a good 500 years before it
happens.
9 And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His
death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.
Jesus was executed alongside common thieves and then buried
in the grave of a rich man (Joseph of Armethia).
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief:
when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He
shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
Even though Jesus died, He will live forever.
11 He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by
His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their
iniquities.
This payment of Jesus was sufficient. That price for sin has
been paid for all who will accept that payment.
12 Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall
divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto
death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Because of Jesus’ choice to obey, to fulfill His calling in
life, He is the greatest man in all of history.
Of course, He is also God Himself.
Tuesday, September 01, 2015
A Day's Work
It might be difficult at first to see much difference, but look at the wall on either side of the door. The old wall was tan, the original color from the factory. The new wall is Buttercup Yellow.
This job, painting 1/5 of the living room took one day:-)
It came to a critical point, I'm afraid, when I realized a mouse had moved in under the desk. So I had to move everything to clean it out and reorganize a bit so I can get to the corner under the desk to keep the booger gone.
And since all the furniture was pulled out in the middle of the room anyway, why not paint?
This process included moving and cleaning everything, applying primer (because paint simply will NOT stick to these walls. The wallpaper-covered wall-boards the factory put in are just too slippery.) , and then 1-2 coats of paint (some spots needed more than others.) and putting everything back where it belonged.
Should I be concerned that there were cords left over after my boys reassembled the electronics?
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Of Vacations Lost
We had scheduled to go camping this week. In fact, we packed, drove, and found a beautiful campsite. The kids were having a great time.
Most of the kids.
Joshua (4) complained of a toothache. I gave him some Tylonol and that seemed to take the edge off, but it didn't take it away. By the evening it was obvious he was hurting worse. There was no way I could take care of him or do anything more for him there in the campground.
Our choice was to spend the night holding him while he cried or pack up and go home.
Of course, we went home.
(I've always wondered how fast we could pack it all up if we had to. Seems it takes us about half an hour to get three tents worth of campsite ready to go).
At home I was able to put Bugs Bunny on which distracted him enough to calm his pain. Did you know studies have shown that watching TV produces endorphins equivalent to those you get when eating candy or a big steak? Laughter also will produce pain-killing endorphins. So that Waskely Wabbit is the ideal choice for a small child in pain. That plus the Tylonol and he did ok.
Thursday, instead of swimming in a mountain lake, I took him to a dentist. This was a new one quite a distance from our home, but I couldn't find one closer that I liked, AND who took our insurance, AND who could get him in immediately.
I must say, I really like these people. They were very patient with him, talked TO him, and treated him with cheerfulness and respect. And they didn't diss me or act like they thought I was a bad mom. Even when he threw up all over their floor :-P
(Best I can tell, he had car sickness because he was fine within an hour of getting home.)
So now we are scheduled to see a more specific dentist who will take care of Josh's problem, though he has complained of very little pain since and is acting perfectly normal.
Oh, and this dentist said, "No one believes me but study after study has shown that the most effective pain treatment is to alternate Tylenol with Ibuprofen." Thought you all would like to know.
Most of the kids.
Joshua (4) complained of a toothache. I gave him some Tylonol and that seemed to take the edge off, but it didn't take it away. By the evening it was obvious he was hurting worse. There was no way I could take care of him or do anything more for him there in the campground.
Our choice was to spend the night holding him while he cried or pack up and go home.
Of course, we went home.
(I've always wondered how fast we could pack it all up if we had to. Seems it takes us about half an hour to get three tents worth of campsite ready to go).
At home I was able to put Bugs Bunny on which distracted him enough to calm his pain. Did you know studies have shown that watching TV produces endorphins equivalent to those you get when eating candy or a big steak? Laughter also will produce pain-killing endorphins. So that Waskely Wabbit is the ideal choice for a small child in pain. That plus the Tylonol and he did ok.
Thursday, instead of swimming in a mountain lake, I took him to a dentist. This was a new one quite a distance from our home, but I couldn't find one closer that I liked, AND who took our insurance, AND who could get him in immediately.
I must say, I really like these people. They were very patient with him, talked TO him, and treated him with cheerfulness and respect. And they didn't diss me or act like they thought I was a bad mom. Even when he threw up all over their floor :-P
(Best I can tell, he had car sickness because he was fine within an hour of getting home.)
So now we are scheduled to see a more specific dentist who will take care of Josh's problem, though he has complained of very little pain since and is acting perfectly normal.
Oh, and this dentist said, "No one believes me but study after study has shown that the most effective pain treatment is to alternate Tylenol with Ibuprofen." Thought you all would like to know.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Screwtape's take on current events... | BaylyBlog
Screwtape's take on current events... | BaylyBlog
Screwtape is CS Lewis' senior devil who writes letters of advise and explanation to a subordinate devil, Wormwood. When Screwtape references "our lord," by the way, he is referring to Satan, not God.
Screwtape is CS Lewis' senior devil who writes letters of advise and explanation to a subordinate devil, Wormwood. When Screwtape references "our lord," by the way, he is referring to Satan, not God.
Monday, August 24, 2015
Newest from Tracy Enterprises
(warning: blatant commercial:-)
I have dealt with CafePress for years, starting when our church wanted matching t-shirts for an event. CP turned out to be too much for the volume we needed (and we're a bit of a poor church anyway), but I created a number of products with the church's symbol (which I drew by the way) on them.
I have played around at CP with some of my book covers over the years, too.
Sometimes I really think I'm a bit stupid, though. It honestly never occured to me to set up a CP store selling my own art work for the sake of just my own art work.
Can we all say "Duhhh."
I intend to add other Ponies from my head (those that have been galloping around in there since I was little, with the occasional appearance on school work, letters, doodles, etc) over the next few months, as time allows me to put them on paper (uhh, again). Might add some of my paintings, too.
And Hubby's photos.
And sons' cartoons.
And my oldest daughter's stick figures (you have never seen such expressive stick figures!)
(Hmmm. More things to waste my time on instead of what I should be doing. Sigh. Oh Well.)
I have dealt with CafePress for years, starting when our church wanted matching t-shirts for an event. CP turned out to be too much for the volume we needed (and we're a bit of a poor church anyway), but I created a number of products with the church's symbol (which I drew by the way) on them.
I have played around at CP with some of my book covers over the years, too.
Sometimes I really think I'm a bit stupid, though. It honestly never occured to me to set up a CP store selling my own art work for the sake of just my own art work.
Can we all say "Duhhh."
So announcing the Grand Opening of Tracy Enterprise's new venture:
The Dream Pony Line!
 |
| Fantum the Dream Pony |
I intend to add other Ponies from my head (those that have been galloping around in there since I was little, with the occasional appearance on school work, letters, doodles, etc) over the next few months, as time allows me to put them on paper (uhh, again). Might add some of my paintings, too.
And Hubby's photos.
And sons' cartoons.
And my oldest daughter's stick figures (you have never seen such expressive stick figures!)
(Hmmm. More things to waste my time on instead of what I should be doing. Sigh. Oh Well.)
Saturday, August 22, 2015
The Child and the Lady
(Written by my 17yo 2 weeks before my mom's death)
The Child
and the Lady
By
Jonathan Tracy
The child and the lady sat at the
table. The little boy, barely six, was absolutely refusing to sit still. The
paper and pencils lay before him, seemingly forgotten (Although the lady saw
right through this supposed loss of memory) while he twisted and turned in his
seat.
He pointed at toys and furniture,
asking every question that came to mind.
She calmly smiled and answered every inquiry, while gently
guiding him back to the picture in process. By the end of there session, the
child was in tears and the Lady was reconsidering his future as a world famous
artist. Minutes later, he had forgotten her ultimate sin of making him draw and
was joyously running circles outside, while she proudly hung his picture of a
green cow on her fridge for the world to see.
The boy and the lady sat at the
piano. His head was in his hands and her hands were on his back. The ten year
old had tried, really he had. But he was convinced she was asking the
impossible. It just didn't make sense to him. “It's alright” she said soothingly
“You'll get it”. He took a deep sigh, dried his eyes, and stared with fierce
determination at the evil piece of sheet music.
The Lady guided his hands to the keys and slowly talked him
all the way through. And he did it! The everlasting wisdom of the Lady had
brought him victory over that which would bore him! He happily hugged her and
gave her a kiss on the check before running outside to boost to his brother.
She decided she would tell him later he had played the wrong song.
The young man sat at his desk.
Like so many times before, he was finding it nearly impossible to make any
headway. His mind was determined to go elsewhere, to once more ride the waves
of fancy to the far off shores of his imagination. But art required
concentration and he was determined to get it right this time. He had all the
drawing prowess of a blind donkey and his music was a soothing as a herd of
water buffaloes. But there are more than two kinds of art, and he enjoyed this.
Those lessons, from so long ago, had helped him. Taught him. Shaped him. Now,
with steady mind and graceful hand, he picked up his pen and set it to writing,
letting his mind and heart paint HIS picture. Write HIS music. When he was
finished, he turned the page and carefully poured out his heart in as beautiful
way he knew how:
To
Grandmother.
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