The Biggest Blessing

I guess you could say that the biggest blessing in my life currently which has blessed me in years past, but most especially this year has been the concepts I've learned on FLYlady.  Oh!  You don't know about her?  Well let me back up to when I was introduced to her.

With 3 little ones, books, magazines, junk mail, papers, dishes, laundry, cleaning and simply time with my husband was an overwhelming struggle for me.  I'd look at things that needed to be done, start trying to get it done, but quickly became overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it all.  I'd be full of anxiety and I'd shut down.

I was a part of an email group by the name of "Skinny Moms" when we were talking about organization among one of the many times we talked.  One dear lady mentioned FLYlady and I disregarded her suggestion for a couple months.  I thought to myself, "Just going to a website isn't going to help me."  I continued in the state where things were just overwhelming and tried my best to keep things moving.  I got so overwhelmed and just sat in the middle of the laundry room with piles 3+ feet deep around me, and I cried out to God for help.  After a few minutes of wallowing in self pitty, I got the laundry moving and went to tend to my kids.  I sat down at the computer and my friend who had suggested FLYlady before had sent an email about it (God's timing!).  I finally went to the website and started reading the first page.  My interest was piqued and I kept reading about this timer thing.

Do all that you can in one area in 15 minutes, then move on to the next area.  Do that 

for 3  separate 15 minute intervals, then set the timer one last time for 15 minutes,

 get a drink, put your feet up and relax.  Love yourself enough to bless yourself with

this time.  You've earned it!  Once the timer goes off again, start back at your 

beginning point, then do the rotation again until you've got everything 

done--dishes, cleaning and etc.  

Where to begin, though?  Well, since the kitchen is the heart of the home, she suggested starting by emptying the sink and shining it.  Not just a quick "swish" of everything, but getting the scrubbie, gel bleach scrub and going to town on every nook, crack, and cranny.  She told me/us that we needed to make sure our sinks were shined before going to bed every night.  This is such a simple beginning!  It was so silly and didn't make sense, but I did it anyway.  I did it for 3 days, adding to it each day.

then the towers fell....

Everything stood still.  We were fixated on the news for 2 months, doing just the barest of essentials just in case we heard anything else.

one day in November...

I slowly began shining my sink and doing things 15 minutes at a time.  I knew I needed to gain a semblance of control in our house with 3 young children and a husband to care for.  As the days went by, I was able to branch out because things got a little easier with cleaning and keeping things cared for.  

I started getting my Control Journal together and to this day it has gone through many changes, but the basics remain the same.  I stumbled upon an email in those couple of weeks about a Holiday Planning Journal.  It intrigued me, so I started it.  I planned weeks in advance to buy staples so I could bake cookies with my kids.  I planned for the menus for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, but forgot New Years.  The food was purchased way in advance for everything, except for the fresh veggies I needed that I planned to buy a couple days in advance.  I planned gifts to give to my children and family, started writing out Christmas cards mid-November and I've never looked back.  I've changed how I do things over the years, but essentially things are the same.

I begin planning on October 1st now.  I have a grocery list that I add the non-perishable things to each pay period so I'm not inundated with the massive amount of food to buy.  I pick out recipes and do shopping for those items weeks in advance.  I've also set aside one day each week for baking Christmas cookies.  I have in years past, set aside time each night to fill out 5 Christmas cards each night to make sure I have them done by December 1st.  I haven't done this in the past 5 or so years, though.  We've resorted to getting special cards for parents, uncles/aunts, brothers/sisters, nieces/nephews along with gift cards.

What about my plans for 2015?

I am already looking for patterns that I hope to get to make for everyone for Christmas 2015.  I would like to get started in January purchasing things, then in February and March during my recoup time, knitting on those things.  I have grandiose plans, but honestly, those plans could be changed by life happening. (holding my plans loosely)   Between March and the end of September, I plan to pack up everything to be ready to move.  I've already decluttered some of our books to sell and I'm packing up other books that I'd like to keep.  Amazingly, I have 6 boxes set aside to sell and half a box packed.

Once we're settled, I plan to get my Holiday Planning Journal back out, making adjustments as needed, and making different plans for being with family over the holidays--hosting and visiting.

Life's changes are always coming along, throwing us a curve ball, but the biggest blessing has been the daily routines.  I can always tell what throws my day off when the routines are not followed and it makes everything a chaos.  Then when I step back, look around, and realize I need to shine my sink, grab my timer and go, knowing that just 15 minutes will make a big difference.

On a side note, when my daily Bible reading and prayer time has been neglected, I can tell too.  When chaos reins, important things go by the wayside.

As we are an hour from 2015, I'm ringing in the new year watching Duck Dynasty with my family.  Tomorrow morning we'll get up and sand the plaster filled holes in the kitchen, wipe and reapply as needed.  I hope to be able to paint by Saturday.  Needless to say, we've discovered more that needs filled in and we're just taking care of it.  Once this is all done, we'll move on to the next room.  I'm hoping to have all this needful stuff done by the time my surgery comes along.  I'm hoping....  ;)

Have a lovely New Year!

God Bless,

Preparing for Our Move to Georgia

The interesting part of contemplating a move is looking at all the houses to consider, that fit the needs of your family, present and future.  Right now, we're looking for houses with property.  With our budget, we need to find fixer-upper houses because with houses that need nothing done to fix them up AND property, they're astronomically priced outside of our price range.  So we need to be willing to work to fix things up.

The difficult part of seeing all these houses online is not being able to go see them "right now" because we're almost 1000 miles away.  We've been in contact with a realtor and we're gearing up for that trip here soon, but until that time, we work on our house.  I am certain that when we return from that trip, we will be putting our house on the market.

One of the things we've done in the past when we had sold our old house, is that we prayed for the new owner of our house.  We prayed that they would come along in God's timing, that our house would completely fit their needs, and that they would be blessed by our house.  Our house fire in 2005 REALLY blessed the new owner of our house with a completely new heating system, hot water system, new basement and many other things.  The lady who eventually bought our house was single and I'm sure the peace of mind in having a new furnace and hot water heater was a good thing for her.   So, we pray for the people who will buy our house.

We are gradually decluttering things here in our house.  With everything that has transpired here this year, the paperwork and filing needs have mushroomed.  I have been overwhelmed and have not kept up with all of it.  I have put myself on "autopilot" more often to just be able to deal with the needful things in our lives.  I knew that eventually the paperwork would get filed.  Right now, we deal with catching up and staying caught up with all of it.  Then beginning to weed through curriculum that we no longer need, books we no longer need, and clothes we no longer want to wear or are too small.  It is a welcome thing to see all the "give away" items to go to the Goodwill or to folks who might need them.  I have a box sitting not far from my front door to hold decor, household and kitchen give away items and when it gets full, I'll close it up and take it to Goodwill.

We will be meeting with the retirement system folks soon to get a final tally on what Mr. G's income will be and we can get our budget set up and get prepared for that.  We have found a couple churches to visit while we're down there in a couple months, and a Civil Air Patrol Squadron that the kids are excited to visit.  We're also going to join a homeschool group *before* moving.  Yes, here in about 2 weeks we'll join the Southwest Georgia Homeschoolers Association to get a feel for what activities they offer through their newsletter and groups.  I can't find that information out unless we join.  I'm not too worried about it though.  They have a very similar set up to the current homeschool group we are members of currently.

We're getting excited, even moreso as time goes on.

Have a wonderful Christmas.

God Bless,

Accepting the Next Season in My Life

After having an ultrasound done last Monday, it was found that I have numerous fibroid tumors growing in my uterus.  The lining is thickened and my uterus is understandably enlarged.  The option of an ablation was given to me, but the thought of them scraping a potentially cancerous fibroid tumor does not appeal to me.  I've chosen a hysterectomy for that reason.  It still doesn't make the acceptance any easier.

I absolutely love being pregnant, having my babies, raising them (regardless of the head aches and heart aches), and I love doing all of it with my husband.  He's amazing!

That's why moving on to this next season of my life is so very difficult to accept.

The positive side of all of this is that through the course of a series of events, my husband has had a softened heart toward adopting a family group.  I am elated and it gives me quite a bit to look forward to, to prepare for, to pray for, to enjoy the journey.

This next door, though, is going to be the roughest part.  I still hold on to the lovely memories of having my babies.

When I Can Work

I have grandiose plans to declutter, paint and pack away bunches of books, decorations and just generally get much more organized than I am now after Christmas.  My own grandiose plans have come to a roadblock of sorts.  I have entered pre-menopause and my menses are changing, lengthening up to 14 days causing a drastic lowering of my iron levels.  When that happens, nothing can stop me from taking a nap, out of sheer exhaustion.  I can sit in my chair to rest from my work and in 5 minutes be sleeping.

I have increased iron rich foods to be best of my ability.  I cannot, however, ingest sardines or organ meat.  I have been in contact with my doctor as well as an OB/GYN to pursue the next step which right now is an ultrasound.  We need to find out if there are any fibroid tumors growing inside my uterus or any abnormalities.  If there are, then we'll likely go in for a hysterectomy.  If there are no abnormalities, I'll likely go in for an ablation.  In the mean time, I do what is needful, then rest.  I need to accept this season of my life for what it is--a chance to grow the response of my kids, growing them to understand what it means to be an adult--to take the responsibility for getting things done without being asked; to step up and just get things done.

As my dear friend, Cheryl at copperswife.com says, we must "hold our plans loosely."  And so, as I release the expectations I have for myself, the plans I have for my time after Christmas is over, and simply rest, I know that I can rest in the knowledge that this is His plan for me just for now.

God Bless,

Accepting the Need for Rest

One of those ways that the Lord uses to get my attention is making me rest.  I absolutely unequivocally can tell, after time and experience, that the Lord is calling me to rest.

In the past 4 or so days my right knee has been a bit swollen.  When I get in to my bed and put weight in that knee I can tell it is swollen.  It hurts.  I walk up and down steps throughout the day, multiple times a day.  It hurts.  So here I sit in my chair with my 1 liter bottle of water and my salad filled with iron rich foods.

Another reason I need to rest is because, plainly speaking, I'm anemic.  It takes me off my feet and I get exhausted easily.  If only I had a hem to touch from the Master's garment, then I wouldn't be so tired.  Rest assured, I am under my Dr's care.  I am going to a specialist next week to see what the next step will be.  I will update as soon as I know.

What do I do when I need to rest?  I ask for the kids to help me more.  I'll ask my husband for grace and he grants it.  I feel guilty for needing to rest, but this is only for a season.

I had my 2 youngest do some cleaning in the basement today and they found a bit of mold, so they took it upon themselves to take care of things there.  The bookshelves have been burned because they were old and needed to be replaced anyway.  They had to get rid of some of our books too, but it's all ok.  It was a good learning experience for them to know that they need to help me keep the dehumidifier running.

Needless to say, there are books everywhere in the basement now.  So, we will be packing up books, setting some aside to sell and keeping others out for use until we move. These kinds of things invariably happen when we're going to have company.  My daughter is having a friend stay the weekend and some other friends are coming for pizza on Saturday.  LOL  As you can surmise, I'm getting a little more than desirous to get moving on my own preparations, but if I'm needing to rest, then the chair is where I'll need to be.

God's timing is always the best.  His ways are not our ways, so I have to trust that He has all this under control knowing that we have hearts in the right place.

Leaning on Him,

Getting Back to a "New" Normal

As it is with change in any home, there is an adjustment period.  We  have definitely felt the need for adjustments!  We've had quite a few changes in our home with more appointments to go to, people coming in to our house for a variety of therapies, and also the addition of 2 new pets.  With the pets, they stay with us all day, every day and night, so we've needed to adjust how we do things and get use to a new normalcy for our home.   I guess we just want to invite change in to our lives even more, so why not?  Right?

Enter Gus.  Right now we've had him for 9 weeks--over half of his life!  He is growing by leaps and bounds.  He can sit and lay down.  He can go to the door and bark when he needs to go out.  He can scratch at the bathroom door when he needs to get his food.  He goes to his kennel and lays down at night time to go to sleep.  He loves one of the lids to my canning pots, so we put ice cubes in it for him to lay down in the living room to eat, lick, and play with.  He loves all of his toys, most of all Pickles the cat!  LOL  I think Gus thinks that Pickles was placed here in our house for the sole purpose of him to play with.

So far Biscuit is still having a difficult time playing with Gus, but last night I think we had a "break through" for him.  He was actually chasing Gus and my youngest son as they ran "around the loop" on our main floor.  It is a good thing!  He hasn't done it today though.  We'll see if it is a behavior that Biscuit repeats.  It is certainly funny, though, how this little dog loves to play with Rustie, but with Rustie getting older, he doesn't want to play so much any more.  When we got a puppy, Biscuit didn't take too kindly to him and still doesn't want to have anything to do with him at times.  LOL  We call him "Napoleon Jr."

Our "New Normal" looks so much different than our life did before this year's occurrences.  I am certain that when we lay our lives down for God to "use me as You wish," that He definitely has something in mind for us (anyone, really) that is far beyond anyone would ever be able to comprehend or imagine.  We have been introduced to people only God could have place in our lives to express our concerns to, cry with, talk with, celebrate with, and to pray for.  So many times as homeschoolers, we've been ingrained with the fear, of sorts, of having someone knock on our door for an inspection due to a report from CYS.  I can honestly say that we've had interactions with therapists, social workers, rehabilitation folks and case workers INSIDE our home.  We've welcomed them in to our home and we have had ALL of our concerns dispelled about anyone reporting us due to their presence here.  That being said, we're still a bit guarded with our lives because many times these folks have not had any exposure to homeschooling and how we do school.  Their misconceptions and limited understanding is being clarified and they're being exposed to Christianity.  While many folks can bring their beliefs with them, others are not so comfortable sharing that with us.  Needless to say, the Lord has opened up an area to share and "go deeper" with some of these folks and it is blessing us in return.  We are growing more too.  

If you are one of our local friends (ie: within 2 hours drive of us), and you'd like to get together, we'd love that!  We are, however, very schedule bound now.  Planning ahead, thinking ahead is one of those things that are paramount.  Please let us know when a good day and time is for you and we'll see if we can work things out so we can visit.

Once Upon a Time, I use to say, "I can't wait until........"  Now, not so much.  The Lord has brought me many new lessons over this season of life.  I needed to simplify things, rearrange my thinking, my teaching, and challenged my menu planning (yes, even THAT has changed!)  I needed a swift "kick in the pants" at times, and the Lord saw fit to do that.  As it turns out, it was for the better.  I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination.  I am still in need of God's saving grace and forgiveness, moment-by-moment.  But, He has given me a deeper insight, albeit through a very small keyhole,  in to the needs of my son.  We've adapted and are on the other side of the huge chasm we've had to climb as a family.  We're not finished with needing the rehab, therapies, counseling, group therapies, or anything else by any stretch of the imagination.  But, we're closer as a family than we ever thought.  We know one another more than we knew.  We are stronger now than we were before.  We still have some issues, major ones at that, that we need to work through, but it is progressing.  When you go through something like this, you don't heal over night.  

By God's grace, we're healing.  It is a process that will take some time.

Reorganizing Things

We have so much to be thankful for.  We have seen the Lord work in the smallest of areas.  We have witnessed what some would call "growing pains" of our family and have come to the conclusion that it is time for some reorganization.

So, here goes...

I had things organized where everything was washed in a timely manner, 2 or more times per week.  We use to do 3 loads of laundry daily for all of us.  Once a week we would do bedding, whites and reds.  Now, we're doing something a little different.

Mondays--Oldest son's laundry day.
Tuesdays--Daughter's laundry day.
Wednesdays--Youngest son's laundry day.
Thursdays--Towel washing day.
Fridays--Momma and Daddy's Blues
Saturdays--Bedding, Reds & Whites

We're trying this way out for a few weeks to see how things go.  The kids are getting older and they should be doing their own laundry, taking responsibility for their own clothes.

So far the kids have done well with all their clothes.  My own personal responsibility has waned, however.  The truth is, my hubby and I just don't dirty the amount of clothes the kids do on a weekly basis.  I have yet to figure out why they dirty so many clothes, but I'm pretty certain they will get that taken care of soon by cleaning their own clothes.

Another organizational project that has been a thorn in my side has been my daughter's bedroom.  I admit that I should have been more vigilant with regards to her with her bedroom, good gracious with the whole house.  This year has been one of learning experiences, this one will soon not be forgotten.  However, I will pride myself in the fact that I have put people before things.  It took my daughter a full week to finish her bedroom, working hard at purging and organizing things, switching dressers and cleaning.  We're also getting rid of an old dresser of my husband's that the drawer broke.  We need to take care of that to help with our own bedroom's organization.  Since my husband has a couple different types of clothes, he needed a bigger dresser.  One area is for professional work clothes, one for grungy work outside, one for going out, one for staying in, and one for church. Some of those areas overlap (like socks and underwear), but it's all good.

While I take back control of my home from the clutter monster, rest assured I will, by God's grace, not allow this to occur again.  Fortunately, it is a good thing for us to purge these things to get ready for our move.  We have a lot to get rid of.  My boys have helped me tote boxes from the attic, gone through them with me and burned the extra papers that we didn't need outside in the fire ring.  Anything that we need to keep, we'll repack in a newer box or a bin specifically earmarked for those things.  Honestly I'd like to get everything decluttered by Christmas so I can go back through everything to organize like things together and get it all packed away neatly.  We have boxes in the attic from when we moved in here 9 years ago, so it's going to take some time.  Praise God, we're getting it done!

Have a wonderful evening!

God Bless,

Right now three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

(1 Corinthians 13:13)

In Which We Have Family & Pets

Earlier this month my brother, his spouse and their children came to visit from Vermont.  We took them to our favorite places, climbed rocks and visited for a long time.  The older cousins had a sleep over and what sleep over isn't complete with ice cream, mint oreos, and all kinds of potato chips?!

My daughter and my niece forged a wonderful new friendship.  What loveliness to behold!  The last time they saw one another, my niece held my daughter who was 5 weeks old!   They've changed just a little bit!

Snuggling with my 2 little nieces and Biscuit.  They absolutely loved him!

My brother and his spouse just trying to find someplace to sit after the cousins' sleep over.

While they were here, I finished the toe of my 2nd sock (just 20 stitches) while listening to the glorious hustle and bustle of little ones in my house again.

Finished in about 10 minutes!  I love the colors.  I have some from each of the 2 skeins leftover and I was thinking of making a small wrap, so we'll see.  If anyone has a suggestion for one, I'd love it! 

And, after the family left, our newest family member, Gus, needed a bath.  He was shivering after his bath, so my daughter wrapped him in a fleece blanket and took a couple pictures of his cute-ness.  :D

And another one...

And my youngest, who is over 6'2" tall, with our kitty whose name is Pickles.  :D

Playing around in the living room. 

Doggie nap time...life must be "ruff."  Whew!

As you can see, we've been busy with family, school (although I didn't mention school above), and pet training.  I love seeing the progress of my kids with their schooling, understanding achieved and them working diligently with the animals to get them trained.  Just today my youngest son make a "Kitty Hotel" underneath my buffet table.  He has put Biscuit and Pickles in there together to sit and "make friends" but I heard some funny kitty and doggie noises of protest in there earlier.  LOL

What a funny boy!

Disjointed Catch-Up Post

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." 

(Rom 8:26-28)

When young folks are not feeling well, we can do all we can, holding them, nurturing them, to help them feel better.  When they have concerns, we need to talk them out, showing them their options, helping them choose their words wisely in a variety of situations.  When it comes to the ultimate Healer, there is a time to give Him the concerns by praying with them through each of their concerns.   

Sometimes their concerns are far beyond anything we can fix.  Sometimes we have to lay down our own pridefulness and give our children to God in unfathomable ways.  

We have done just that in this past year.  The gut wrenching experience is one that I do not care to repeat.

Now, we've established a new normalcy, complete with different expectations, different day to day activities, and lots of appointments for all of us.

My day to day activities remain the same, but I struggle to gain a semblance of order.  Without getting enough sunlight, and beginning the cloudy time of year, I know my Sensory Affective Disorder is going to kick in soon.  I work to try to find a way around the symptoms by exercising, going on walks--even on cloudy days--getting enough nutritious foods, but I struggle to get enough sleep each night without waking through the night for whatever reason.  Keeping things in check depends greatly on getting enough sleep.  Six hours, sometimes less, of sleep each night isn't enough though.  It is work to get enough sleep.  (Go figure!)

Through all of this, we are beginning to thrust ourselves in to getting ready to move to Georgia.  I would love for all the work to be done when I snap my fingers, but it won't.  We will be downsizing, purging, decluttering, pitching, selling, and eventually giving thing away so we don't have to move them.  We only keep things that we absolutely treasure and things that are absolutely necessary.  We will definitely have many yard sales beginning in May.  To begin, though, I am selling some of our home school books.  I am taking them to our local home school group meetings to sell a little at a time.  

It is amazing how much junk one accumulates! 

We've added a puppy to our home recently.  His name is Gus.  Before Gus, by about a month, we added an adult cat whose name is Pickles.  He's a good kitty who will make sure to take care of our mice problem.  We got him because the mice were getting smarter.  Now we have 4 critters to keep each of us (almost) company.  Biscuit has enjoyed sitting on my lap while Pickles goes with my husband, Gus has taken a very strong liking to JL and Rustie enjoys getting attention from anyone.  He is getting older and will probably be facing his final time through this winter.  That's why we have Gus now.

We've canned quite a bit more this year than we have last year and the year before.  This year we've made 2 batches of salsa--over 20 quarts--sauce, stewed tomatoes, and hot peppers.  We are looking at pumpkin next and whatever else we can preserve.  If we haven't eaten all of it by the time we move then we'll take it with us.  We plan to put in a garden next year just in case our house doesn't sell.  

Last week our kids participated in the Clarion Autumn Leaf Festival with the Civil Air Patrol.  JL is holding the rifle in the left front, HJ is right behind him holding the banner, and DA is right over her shoulder in the back.  They did a phenomenal job!

Now we concentrate on schooling.  I struggle with getting much in, so I'm working on that as well as the many other things mentioned above right now.  If you don't see me around for a while, that is why.  I may document my purging journey in all its glory--messes and everything.  In order to purge, you need to make a mess, right?  We've lived in this house for 9 years, so I'm sure the mess will be huge!

~Until next time~

God Bless,

Our Changing Life

I absolutely love spending time with my family.  I love going for walks, hiking, swimming, playing games and just having fun.  This year has been precariously balanced for us, where we've held our breath, cried oceans of tears, screaming out to God "Why?!", and working so very hard to help our kids.  

To be certain, this year has caused both Mr. G and I to not just cherish our family, but willfully and deliberately work to spend time with each of our children.  

Yes, changes are certain.  We've gone through the wringer this year and it has hurt our hearts and spirits beyond what we knew we could handle.  We've functioned purely from our knees because that's the only place we could function from.  God gave us more than we knew we could handle because He wanted us to move closer to Him.  He needed our humility.  

For those of you who know more of the details and have been praying for our family, thank you!  For those of you who do not know what's gone on, rest assured, God has taken care of us.  Please continue to keep us in prayer as we work on repairing the hurt, forgiving, and  moving forward.  

God Bless,

Regina

In Which Life Changes

We've added  quite a plethora of "staff" to our home and daily workings.  We have therapists, a case manager, rehabilitation folks, and Lord only knows who else will join our plethora of folks giving our family aid.

We are on the road to recovery and acceptance of the changes in our lives.  Please, if we come to your mind, keep us in your prayers.  This is hard as we muddle our way through, finding healing. Forgive me for being less than "chatty."  I apologize that I cannot give more details.

God Bless,

Regina

When Dark Times Come

I would love to share with everyone about our lives right now, the underlying difficulties, struggles and gut wrenchingly tumultuous situations that have been thrust upon us.  I am not able to currently, however.  I don't have permission to share publicly the details.

I would like to share how we are moving on.

Today I have hit the depression stage although I have a mixture of other stages in there, but I can feel the depression slipping in.  I know these stages have to be gone through to get to the other side, but I am doing some things today to help it along.  I'm going outside to work on my flower beds.  I'm doing this because I need to get the work done, but also because the fresh air, digging in the dirt, progress, and sunshine will help me.

This morning when I let Rustie outside, I went out to look at my clematises.  I straightened the vines, the trellises and just took stock of what stage they were in.  I realized that I needed to get out there and just do something.

I have been so overwhelmed with paperwork and arranging everything known to mankind that I've reached a point where I can't do any more, but surrender.  Now I need to make peace and allow myself to grieve and let God handle the situation.  

Dreaming of...

It is no secret that I've been dreaming of when my hubby is able to retire, moving to some (more) property out where we can have animals.  Why?  I know many who read my blog would wonder why.

I love animals.  I've loved them for a very long time.

Horses~

Sheep~

Cows~

Pigs~

Chickens~

Goats for milk~

I love the thought of keeping animals.  The thought of knowing where my food comes from is ever present, but not obsessing-out-of-control-needing-to-know-every-single-ioda, kind of thought that affects my life in many ways.  My husband has stomach sensitivities when it comes to dairy-sitting-out-too-long and so he cannot enjoy any kind of dressing, eggs, meats, etc sitting out on a salad bar when we go out to eat kind of thing.  We have to be careful to make sure he eats a french or vinegar and oil based dressing at those times.  There are also issues of food poisoning that we've had to deal with, not because the restaurant is not "up to par", but just because something sat out too long for my hubby's sensitive tummy.  Seriously folks, this just simply means an extra 5 minutes in most cases.  This is how sensitive he is.  And I, not wanting to put a damper on a nice evening out, try everything within my power to make sure he has good food when we go out that I know doesn't matter if it sits out--like a baked potato--past 5 minutes.  

We have canned food for years, as did our parents before us.  The tradition continues every year with a variety of plans to make more spaghetti/pizza sauce, stewed tomatoes, salsa, jams and jellies, beans, pickles, and other items to save the harvest for the winter.  I've planned and planned for all sorts of things only to come up short due to this or that blight.  My salsa has been something that has been greatly missed due to the blights from the past couple of years as well as omnivorous critters invading our garden.  

This year, we plan to put up a fence shortly after tilling the ground to keep the critters out.  We also plan to do our normal crop rotation making sure to put the beans and peas where they haven't been yet.  We try very hard to companion plant, but sometimes it just doesn't work.  This year I've purchased a book to pour over about--don't laugh--The Complete Compost Gardening Guide: Banner batches, grow heaps, comforter compost, and other amazing techniques for saving time and money, and ... most flavorful, nutritious vegetables ever.!  Hooray!  Yes, you can laugh...go ahead.  LOL  Rest assured, I will not be delving in to humanure!  Yuck!

My composting quest has been ongoing for years now.  The only problem with it is that it isn't in a container of sorts where it is easily spreadable after it's decomposed.  I'd like to purchase a compost bin like this one: Good Ideas 7-Cubic-Foot Compost Wizard Jr. and get it producing good soil for our gardens, herb, and flower beds.  I'm one who tries to work with the Lord and His creation to grow things.

My Plans

Ha! Ha! Haaaaaaaa!  Isn't it laughable!

I have a daily planner that I love.  My husband bought it for me for Christmas this past year.

So far, I write my daily exercise in each day because it changes daily.  The other items I write in are breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Those are non-negotiable for us, whether we're on the road or at home.

The next things that get written in are Home School Group, Civil Air Patrol, Bible Study, Church Activities and Youth Group functions.  Those are things that are important.  The next items that get written in are doctor's appointments because they change and they vary by day and by person.  Then we add in Civil Air Patrol activities.  I don't plan my days, my days plan for me.  

I know I can plan to stay home on this day or that day, but whether that happens or not is another story.  I planned to stay home today, but we needed eggs and cheese at the store.  Then my Mr. G forgot his work boots, so I had to run them to his work for him.  When I arrived back at home, Daniel was making pizza dough and needed sugar.  I haven't had white sugar in the house for months.  I asked him to find the honey, but there was none.  Then I gave him a choice between raw sugar or Stevia to use.  He detests the taste of Stevia, so the only other logical choice was raw sugar.  Yes folks, that is how badly I really wanted to stay home!  

Needless to say, the pizzas were made from the kids' pizza dough, and I tried a new to us cauliflower pizza crust that turned out so very yummy!  It is from the Trim Healthy Mama book and I am so very glad that I made it!  It is so very filling, healthy and yummy!  

I have to look at our week and plan what to make when so that we have plenty of items on hand for my hubby to have his favorite PB&J.  He needs a little more help in the diet department because his fasting sugar numbers are not getting better.  

Tomorrow my plans are to follow what the Lord has for me.  I hope to get some pan bread made for my hubby in the afternoon, but that is up to God to decide if I'll do that.  

I have lots of crocheting to do too, so my days are filled with lots to do.  

My plans?  Ha!  No, I don't have any plans.  The Lord gives me my daily plans sometimes a day or so ahead, others it is moment by moment where I can only see what is right in front of me right now.  Regardless, the Lord is in charge.  Yes, as I write that, I need to tell it to myself because I have a rebellious/selfish "I want to do this" streak about me....but don't we all?  

God Bless,

Surrendering

In the past 9 years, the Lord has been teaching me more and more about surrendering.  Many times the song "I Surrender All" has been sung or played in a variety of ways during times when I have felt helpless and alone.  The Lord is like that.

Now, with the new "semester" of Bible study classes resuming, I'm finding the course is hinging upon not only "Surrender", but obedience as well.  Both of those go hand in hand I think.  I'm pretty sure I'm entering a growing season.  It is time, once again, to surrender to the potter's hands even more, and obey.

In Him,

Our Valentine's Day

Such an "original" title, huh?!  LOL  Well, our day was anything but ordinary.

In the morning, I dropped my daughter, HJ off at our dear friends' house to babysit her 2 youngest while she ran some errands.  I ran errands and grocery shopped to my heart's content before the snow got worse.  While I was gone, I looked for Valentine's Day gifts that were not pink, lace or polka dots--just to make sure my guys didn't get a girly gift.  Heaven forbid!  I usually get my hubby a pair of silk-y boxers, but this year they didn't have his size, unfortunately.  So I did the next best thing!  I bought him a warm fuzzy hoodie!  As I looked around, I found 3 more hoodies that were wonderfully warm too!  I decided to go practical and unconventional for Valentine's day and get everyone clearance hoodies.  LOL

I arrived home and everyone hustled and bustled getting the groceries unloaded, put away, and all the bags & boxes in their rightful place.  Everyone loved the practical hoodies, red velvet cupcakes (which I had only one bite of), and chocolate.  I love lavishing practical love on my family!

Later, a friend of mine came to pick up the kids for a night of "hanging out" at her house with her kids while my Mr. G and I went out and had the house to ourselves upon our return.  I grabbed a quick snooze, then changed into some nicer clothes to go out to a local winery.

 [Now, just to help you understand, I'm not a wino! (no judgment, please!)  I like sipping a glass of good wine about 4 times a year.  And I can only sip one glass, not two because my stomach gets sour at that point.  I don't have any problem whatsoever with moderation.  Besides, wine is a wonderful drink from the Bible, so I have no guilt in consuming a glass of wine 4 times a year.]  

The local winery did not have a restaurant, so they had dinner catered just for Valentine's day.  What a wonderful prime rib dinner it was!  My husband made reservations for this place in advance--when our original plans were derailed by a snow storm--and it was just what I needed!  It had a rustic-outdoorsy-bistro feel to it.  I loved not only the decor, but the owners were absolutely lovely and the LIVE music was wonderful!  The older gentleman played early 70's-ish music from John Denver, The Eagles, Bobby Goldsboro and other similar tunes.  We both loved it!  What a lovely idea this was that my husband had!  We had our dinner out on their back deck--yes, outside--where they had a huge torch heater and the entire porch was encased in plastic, white Christmas lights, and burlap curtains where you could see all the snow and the woods!  The atmosphere was friendly and inviting!  We'll definitely go back!

We enjoyed our time away from the hustle and bustle of responsibility with the kids, but they were just 5 minutes down the road.  LOL  Yes, a good friend who takes my kids even when they have the sniffles and they're coughing up icky stuff!  =0D  We don't go out as often as we should, so this was quite a wonderful treat for us.

What's next?  Planning for our 24th Anniversary!  


God Bless,
Regina

My New Felted Lined Purse

Beginning with leftover variegated wool that I already had on hand.

Almost finished on 11-23-13

What did I do?  How did I do it?

I formulated this purse in my mind before I began casting on stitches for the bottom.  I thought about it for 2 weeks or so, tossing ideas and how I wanted it to be over and over in my mind.  I love my current purse.  It's nice and roomy, holds all the things I need to carry, and it is functional.  So what's wrong with it?  I'm glad you asked!  It's made from plastic and it is starting to crack and peel in places.  I figured I'd better take action and get another one made before this one fell apart.  

Why not buy a 31 or a Miche purse?  I'm beginning to "shy away" from automated manufacturing types of things.  I'm finding that things that are hand made withstand the test of time much better than one made by mechanical methods.  Yes, the store bought purses and things are wonderful and functional for a little while.  But, I've found that felted bags withstand much further wear and tear due to the durability and strength of the materials.

What did I do?  First of all, I made a rectangle of garter stitch for the bottom.  Garter stitch is just knitting, turning, then knitting again.  Very easy, very straight forward.  

Once I made the rectangle big enough for my own liking, I picked up stitches along the sides and joined all of it "in the round" with these needles:

The ones in the packages with the metal ends attach to the cable in the package to the far left.  The larger free standing needles are straight needles.

Once I joined everything, I counted stitches on the long ends and made sure the  numbers matched, then did the same thing with the shorter ends.  If they didn't match, I increased stitches in appropriate places so that it would be even while I knitted those areas.

Once I had everything knitted and all the stitches even on each side, I knitted a couple rows and began increasing every 10 stitches so that the purse would be fuller.  I did this twice with 4 rows of straight knitting between them.  

Once I made it to the end of my variegated yarn, I had to put it down for a couple of days until my new wool order came.  I wanted the yellow to be the more predominate color in the bag, so I striped the bag with that in mind, simply taking artistic license--just because I can.  LOL  

After doing a couple sets of stripes, it was time to drastically decrease and make the top of the bag smaller.  I began by decreasing where the sides of the bag would be and decreased evenly every other row.  

Once I finished the last row of yellow, I decided that I would use dark burgundy and do a ribbing stitch all the way around, binding off and keeping the handle stitches on my cables to work those in a stockinette stitch until the length reached what seemed to be a good amount.  I didn't predetermine this length.  

[Note:  At the time of writing this post, the length of the handles are not completed.  I currently have them almost half way done.  From this point on, the plans for the bag are as follows.]

After casting off, the tails still need to be woven, then the bag felted, and blocked.  11-27-13

After joining the handle with the other side of the bag, I plan to make a flap by picking up stitches along one side and knitting those with a stockinette stitch.  I plan to add a couple cable stitches when I do the flap just to add some interest and artistic flare.  [As you can see in the above picture, I didn't do the cables.  I figured they wouldn't show up very well and I was right.  I decided to continue with a regular stockinette stitch and it worked well.]

Once the bag is done, I'll put it inside a pillow case and wash it with some jeans or heavy bath towels until it reaches the felted stage that I'm looking for.  The more you wash it and agitate the wool, the more the stitches disappear and the material becomes one piece of felted fabric.  At that time, it will be about 1/4"-1/2" thick and very durable.

After the bag reaches that point, I'll lay it on a box the same size as the felted bag.  Not the same size as the prefelted bag because the size will decrease as it felts.  I let it dry for a couple of days in this fashion so that it will take on the shape of the box.

[In this case, because I increased at the bottom to make room for the things I need to carry in my purse, I had to use rubbermaid dishes to push the sides out because I couldn't get a box inside.  The top is more slender so as to keep "prying eyes" out of my purse (in theory).]

A close up of the felting.  The pins that you see sticking up are holding the flap in place after it has been stretched and "blocked" to dry.  

Once the bag is dried, I'm going to take it to Joann Fabrics and try to match material to the colors of the bag as well as get 2 zippers and some thread to make the pockets for the inside.  I'll also pick up some invisible thread for adhering the liner to the felted bag.

This should take another 2 days or so to finish knitting, but it will be 2 weeks before I had to Joann's (planning trips to do more shopping where that store is to save in gas usage.)  with the sewing taking only an afternoon.  I hope to have it done by the 7th of December.  I'll post updated pictures after I'm finished.

In the mean time, here are some other crocheted felted bags I've made:

This one was crocheted with Icelandic Wool.

This one had some Icelandic Wool in it as well.  

  

I'm finding that crocheting wool bags is just as sturdy as knitting, but the stitches are still visible.  The differences between the two are amazing!

The finished product. :)