My Son’s Mark On My Life.

My Son

Of course, the marks your children make when they are babies and children then teenagers and finally adults are too many to mention. They truly have a huge impact on the person you become.

My son motivated me to go further and learn more with computers. I have learned more about computers from him than I did during my 3 year study in Microcomputer Specialist at our technical school. I received a foundation there, but I have learned so much more from my son. We work well together when we work on a project such as a website. We compliment each other with our abilities. He does all technical stuff. Most of that is over my head. I’m more a creative person and enjoy that side, though my son is good on the creative side too. My son has been there for me with my work. With websites we have built for past employers and churches. I would get myself into it and many times he has come to my rescue in the development of the site and getting the sites back up after hacker attacks. He, also, has given me confidence in what I am capable of. Be sure not to overlook the resources you have in your children.

Our Rain Shed Project

We have seen progress on the Rain Shed at our farm. It is slow going but making progress. The shed is built from lumber made from pines cut from our farm property.

On this 25th day of March 2013, the Rain Shed progress has halted. A couple of other projects came up on the priority list. We had our farmhouse leveled which brought us to rebuilding the front porch. Not the roof but the support post, frame and floor boards. The porch has come to a stop due to rain and standing water. The support post are up and all floor boards are done less one. The one needs to be cut to fit.

 We also picked up a large load of pine cones from our front yard. By hand.

In My Daughter’s Footsteps

My Daughter

As mothers, we hope our children will find something, good, in us that they will want to follow. It may be a successful career, a loving mother and wife, a homemaker, to name a few. Their version of following in our footsteps may be  different than the order in which we took those steps, but we can see their steps in ours. Recently, I’ve realized there is another direction those footsteps can take. When this happens, as relating to my revelation, we find that our footsteps can be seen in their footsteps. I have found this to be true with my daughter.

My daughter and her husband blessed us with a grandson nearly six months ago. I was privileged to share in the doctor visits, sonograms, and delivery. I have watched my daughter transform into a wonderful loving mother. I watched the development of our grandson, through the wonder of sonogram, from the first sonogram to the last and finally his birth. What a gift and privilege it has been.

My daughter inspires me, and I have found I often walk in her footsteps. She inspired me to continue my education when I was thirty-eight and she was eighteen. At eighteen she was able to see that going to school would help to boost my self-esteem, which I needed at the time. It was a gamble. I mean what if I had failed? She didn’t consider that possibility. I don’t know if she had that much confidence in me or if it was her youth. Whichever, her encouragement somehow made me not consider that possibility, and almost immediately I felt my self-esteem begin to grow.

Recently, she has inspired me to try my hand at baking bread. I have been cooking for forty-one years and I have never tried baking bread. Seemingly, the thought came to her that she wanted to bake bread and so she did. I have enjoyed watching her cook and bake via blog and Facebook. It is so inspiring and what is more comforting than the aroma of fresh bread baking in the oven or a loaf of fresh baked bread you may receive, from a friend, as a gift. Mine is in the oven now. It’s my first try so we’ll see how it goes.

Over the past six months I have watched my daughter come to know the joy of being a mother and the delight of discovering her kitchen. The two are definitely connected. A child in your life makes the nurturing instinct come alive and in my daughter’s case, over the top. You can see her experiences on her blog at: http://unbindthemind.wordpress.com/ and  https://www.facebook.com/mycottagekitchen

O.K. here is a picture of my first homemade, not from the freezer, bread. It didn’t rise like it should have. I think I should have added more yeast. It is a little on the heavy side and could use more salt, but it has a good flavor and I believe the heavier texture will make some awesome french toast and garlic bread. It’s white bread.

After the bread was baked I decided to bake my Over The Cliff Oatmeal Walnut Raisin Cookies. Comfort food.

Project Re-Put-UP The Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree has been up since Friday after Thanksgiving and yesterday morning, while enjoying a cup of coffee with my husband, the Christmas Tree came tumbling down. The stand buckled on one side and timberrrr. We set the tree erect again and tied it off to the curtain rod. Today I bought another stand, switched it out, and redecorated the tree.

Twenty years ago that would have freaked me out. I would have cried and had a major pity party. Yeah, it was disgusting but nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a little cash and patience.

Back in the late seventies I had made Christmas ornaments that were very unique. I was proud of them and felt good about my ability to make them. When I boxed up my decorations that year I put them in a black garbage bag. Well, you may know where I am going with this, my husband mistakenly thought the bag was trash and put the bag out for trash pickup. When I realized what had happened I was “devastated”.  After several days of being depressed over my loss, reality set in. At the time of my “devastation” there were Americans being held hostage in Iran. Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981. I remember it being such a sad time. Then, God helped me to see how foolish I was being. How could I be crying over such a silly thing when people didn’t know if they would see their loved ones, alive, again. From that day til today I have not let material things hold a place in my heart. I may feel disgusted, but that is as far as I let it go.  Thank you Lord for maturity and for pointing it out to me when my priorities get out of whack.

Project Doll Restoration

We became the proud owners of several dolls over the past month. I’ve taken them on as my project. All dolls are available to anyone interested in purchasing one or more at a very reasonable price. Leave a comment if you are interested.

My Lumber Jack Husband

When we bought our farm, January 22, 2010, it came with a lot of very tall pines. We have ten acres and maybe four acres is wooded.

My husband hasn’t ventured into the wooded area yet. He has cut pines, from the six acres that is cleared, and milled it into rough cut lumber. Notice the woods in the back of this picture. So many trees, so little time.

The lumber will be used to build a barn. It is nice to be able to build buildings from trees on your property. A lot of work, but my husband would say well worth it.

 

The rain shed. There is metal on the roof now and a few boards are in place to form the walls.

Planes created art on the beautiful blue canvas. The towering pines, still standing, look beautiful against the blue background created by God.

We have a pond with five Koi and two very large Carp who share the space with catfish & brim.

Two pair of Canadian Geese visited this year. Both pair had two the other had  pairs hatched out a family. One three. They stayed at our farm near our pond until the babies were old enough to fly. At least that is what think. I will share pictures here of our farm, pond, fish, and lumber. We have a work, what my husband calls the rain shed, in progress right now. Now that I am, also, retired I hope to help him finish the shed.

 

 

Monday, Monday

Today I am enjoying not going to work! I am working on my Christmas decorating and enjoying simple things. I went out to check on my herbs. The temperature dipped to 30 degrees last night with a light frost this morning. Of course, my herbs were happy in their greenhouse. I cut fresh cilantro for a salsa I will make today. Now I’m enjoying a cup of coffee, freshly baked biscuits and honey I bought from a friend whose husband helps to work the hives. The eggs were gathered from our chickens. The dark eggs are from our Copper Marans the lighter eggs are from our Rhode Island Reds.  Nice…

Herb Garden

My herbs are coming along nicely. My husband and I constructed the raised bed in early October. The plants have taken off. This weekend we made wooden frames for the back and ends and stapled heavy gauge plastic to one side. These can be removed when the temp goes up. We don’t want steamed herbs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Day After Thanksgiving

Today is the day after Thanksgiving and I am still thankful. Thanksgiving Day was a great success. What would you consider success as relating to a special day? Through the years I have come to realize that it means I was able to be with those I love. Everything doesn’t have to be perfect to make the day perfect. It is more about the feeling you are left with.

I cleared my table of the craft and financial stuff that had accumulated over the weeks. Those things were replaced with a tablecloth my son gave me many years ago. I thought of him as I placed it on my table. My husband set the table with Chinet, heavy duty, platters, a neatly folded paper towel, and our mixed stainless ware. A table perfectly set.

Our menu: rib eye steaks grilled by my husband, potatoes, pea salad, broccoli casserole, deviled eggs topped with fresh dill from my herb garden, fresh bread & chocolate chip cookies baked by my daughter, chocolate delight & sweet tea. Our grandson, Elliot (Eli) was at the table with us for his first Thanksgiving. He sat so sweetly in his highchair through the entire meal. The one thing that could have made it a more perfect day would have been our son and his girlfriend sharing this meal and day with us.

 

 

SUCCESS! No stress!

Now ready to prepare for Christmas. Weeks of fun and enjoyment or weeks of “I wish Christmas was over”. It’s our choice on how we approach it. Making It Happen. If You Don’t, It Won’t.

A Sweet Story

A couple of months ago I was searching the internet for a recipe for Old Fashion Chicken & Dumplings. I found many recipes, of course, but I chose one that came with a very sweet story. I thought I would pass the story along.

In 2004 I had posted this recipe http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/chicken/great-old-fashioned-chicken-and-dumplings-2.html in honor and memory of my wonderful mother-in-law. She was the most wonderful mother-in-law I could have ever hoped to have. We loved each other so much and we were best friends.

In 2001 she passed away quickly, at home. Our last words on the phone the day before were “I Love You…I Love You Too”. The food she had cooked that morning was still warm on the stove. One more time her children sat at her table and ate her wonderful Sunday dinner. She was 89 years old. I sang at her funeral knowing heaven had just gotten sweeter. Recently, I looked back at the website and there the recipe remains. So many fantastic reviews and “Thank Yous”. I was simply over come with joy. She would have been so happy to have shared this with so many grateful cooks. She took her dumplings to so many family reunions to have them quickly disappear. I continue to make them and I hope you will make them and think of her. -Jewel