I am nearly convinced that the barter system is still the greatest way to do business...it's very face to face... you stand by your goods...others stand by theirs... conversation ensues... what's not to love?

Do you ever....

do you ever want something....

but tell yourself that it doesn't exist....

so that if you actually look for it....

and find it's not there.....

you won't get disappointed?

These Pictures Make Me Smile..... :)

Enjoy the gift that is life!!

Reading Material

The current reads of my 10 and 12 year old boys...  LOVE that they are sinking themselves into books...   they are gaining an amazing sense of accomplishment and increasing their vocabularies...  and getting a little enjoyment in the process.... <3 it......

Conversations with a Rockhound

I contacted Mike Streeter after visiting his site here http://www.mcrocks.com/ .  He wrote the book "A Rockhounding Guide to North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains" and resides relatively close by....so, I was hoping either he could offer us some knowledge about rocks and minerals, or could suggest someone who would.  He put me in touch with his friend, Harry Polly, who is a fellow rockhound and member of the Catawba Gem and Mineral Club.  I contacted Harry and he offered to let the kids and I come view his rock and mineral collection. The day arrived...met by us all with great anticipation.  Harry turned out to be a very informative, most patient man :)  When we stepped into his basement, I was pleasantly surprised.  He had various rocks and minerals books laid out on a table...and on a bench, he had all of his rockhounding gear spread out.   I love preparedness.....

He explained what you needed to get started...mainly, a masonry hammer...which can be found at any Lowe's Hardware. 
He showed us the equipment that he uses to cut and polish the stones .... explained the abrasiveness of each wheel ...and showed some stones that had been polished ...

He continued on and showed us his extensive collection.  Wow....  it was very impressive.  I'm not even going to pretend that I grasped and remember everything Harry said.  I thoroughly enjoyed viewing what has taken him a lifetime to collect and learn about.  He had everything from geodes...

to turtle dung....  no kidding... this is turtle dung.  How cool is that?  Definitely a conversation piece... :)

to a rose rock...  absolutely beautiful... this is what it looks like naturally....

one of my favorites was the azurite-malachite....this picture doesn't do it justice.....it was a beautiful blue and green combo... 

he shared how pieces of quartz are either banded or spotted.... I hope I have that correct...  it really shows up when you wet thin pieces of it and hold it up to the sunlight.  One piece looks like bacon....

He had a really cool piece of flourite....

I was so very pleased to make Harry Polly's acquaintance.  He proved to be extremely knowledgeable and a most patient individual....very good with children...even my three year old who wanted to run and play.  He answered every one of our questions, sent the kids (and me too!) home with samples, and offered further assistance and help should we need it.  It was definitely one of the highlights of our school year.  Thank you so much, Harry Polly!  :)

So Frustrated....

My eyes have been itching since I came in from bottle feeding the baby around 6 pm....  *sigh*
And it's only gotten worse... my left eye is swelling... my eyes are itching so bad I can't even wear my contacts.  My chest feels like an anvil is sitting on it.  My legs are itching...(I've decided those are bug bites... that's what I'm calling it anyway.)  Why in the hades did I have to develop a *goat* allergy....of all the dang things... I am so very frustrated..... 

Wallpapering the Dollhouse...

I was so excited to be finished with the tapewire and get started on some "prettying up"....
We bought a pack of wallpaper at Hobby Lobby that included 8 or 9 different prints...  Sarah picked out what she wanted in each room and we got to work....

I started on the bathroom because it was the smallest...  I covered the divider first, before installing it, because I knew I wouldn't have much room to work once it was in.  I didn't use the suggested wallpaper paste...I used mod podge and figured out through trial and error that it worked best using a foam brush and putting in on the paper...not the wall.

The paper went onto the divider smoothly...
When it dried alittle, I cut through the door opening with a razor knife...

I then glued the divider in place, and put the wallpaper on the wall...  the instructions said to put the wallpaper up about 1/4" (or some small fractional increment)..  (so that you don't have wallpaper crinkling against the floor) and then just add baseboards for a finished look.

The bathroom wallpapered!!  woo!!  I can do this... five more rooms....

The downstairs living room on the left....and kitchen on the right (with a border...)
Second floor bathroom and parents' room (with border)

Top floor...on the left is the childrens' shared bedroom ....on the right is the schoolroom :)

Ok...I found this humorous...  for her birthday, Sarah got some furniture...  when I walked by, I saw how she had set it up and decided to take a picture....

notice the family placement.....  LOL..  I won't say anything more...  :D

Wiring a Dollhouse: A Hair-Raising Experience

this was the first admonition that I bypassed...   only the first of many, mind you....
this is what my tapewire looked like

yes...out of control.  all I did was pick it up....I don't understand....

so, anyway, to wire a dollhouse, you run tapewire 3/4" from the floor, on the wall, along every room.  where ever you want to install a sconce, you run tapewire 5 3/4" from the floor horizontally.  so, obviously, you must run tapewire betwixt the two, vertically, to connect them.  also, if you want lights on the ceiling, you have to run tapewire up and across the ceiling, as well. that's an awful lot of measuring if you ask me.  {{{shiver}}}  especially to those of us (there *are* more than me, right??) who have trouble using a ruler...
the first thing I did was measure and draw my lines.

do you see that???  seriously....   I had to draw lines to mark where the room dividers would go.  did I mention that I have issues with a ruler?  it ended up being, "Does that look right?  No.....  Lemme try again.... No... and again... ok....that looks pretty straight"  yeah.    ...moving along....

this is the bottom floor base run, up and around the door...  so far, so good.....

the run straight up the side....now that's a funny story.  I couldn't figure out how I was going to run the tape up the side of the house and into the attic to light it.  I knew I could get from the bottom floor to the second floor through the stair opening, but I figured I have to run it up the front side of the attic floor to get it up there.  But, whatever it took...  so, I measured and figured and had it all ready for the tape.  And then I saw something about "electrification slots"...  hmmmm.....so, *that's* what those little slits are ....dang.  I didn't have to measure after all.  So, I started threading it through the slots...  I must have got some paint in those when I painted the walls because the tape did NOT want to go down through the hole.   I nearly pulled my hair out till 2 am one morning working on the tapewire till I ran out....and then I got some more....and started again...  here's what it looked like when I got finished just putting the tape in...

Next was the fun part.  At every connection, two eyelets have to be installed to ensure complete circuit.  Hmmm...  *that* was interesting.  I mean, I know eyelets....I scrapbook.  I just don't know tapewire + eyelets.  I broke out the pilot punch pen.  (I didn't make that up....that's what the paper said.)  I attached what I thought was the correct tool to poke holes in the walls to insert the eyelets.... I poked the wall, and .....

it was straight before....  I think I bent it.  Pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen.  So, I inserted the next tool...the No. 55 bit....now, why didn't I know that?

Ahhh...there we go.  I started drilling through the first area and I really wasn't sure if the pen was turning or the drill bit...  and then I figured out it must have been the drill bit...

It came off and stuck in the wall.  Hmmmm...try again..

Worked out better this time.....there were a bunch (because I can't remember the exact number) of overlaps that needed two eyelets each....

I ended up wrapping the daggum thing with masking tape because my fingers were getting raw.  When I was on the fourth from the last one, my husband said, "you know, you could put that drill bit in the drill and it'd be a lot easier..."

*me sitting in stunned silence*


gee...sure would've been nice to know that about 1.2359 thousand eyelets ago....

So, anyway....I got all the eyelets in, gave it a test run, and .....

Look at that!!  Light!!!  I was stoked!
Admission:  after getting all the eyelets in....putting in the junction splice, hooking it up, and getting all excited, it was made horribly evident that something had gone wrong...I has somehow managed to short the tapewire.  *sigh*  I mean a hugely big *sigh*   Come to find out, I had accidentally, ON ONE CONNECTION, put an eyelet touching both pink and purple.  Which is a no no.  Because, well....you know...  they are two different colors......  So, Darren fixed it for me and VOILA!!!  There was light!

The Spy/Secret Agent Birthday Cake

Sarah is all into the spy thing..disguises... files... covert operations...  so, of course, she had to have a spy birthday party.  I was originally thinking that I wanted to make an open briefcase and put some "agent" paraphernalia inside.  Her birthday was Sunday, so I decided to get started on the extra stuff Saturday night.  I started out by making some rice krispie treats to use as the basis for the gun, camera, and iphone.  I shaped the treats, colored some fondant black, and got started.

For the gun, I covered the treat, pulled up a Walther PPK online, and etched the details in with a toothpick.  The iphone was covered in black fondant, I added little white squares, and wrote on them with food pens.  The camera was easy...cover with black fondant and add circles to build up the zoom lens...

The case files were simple....  tint some fondant yellow for the folder and of course, write "eat after reading"..you know... to avoid compromised intelligence.  :)  I cut two pieces of white fondant to fit inside the folder and wrote notes on them with a food pen so she'd have files.... 

Sunday, I had to reschedule the party from 3 to 1 pm so I didn't have as much time to work on the cake as I thought I would.  With that in mind, I opted for just making a briefcase and putting the spy stuff on top.  Sarah was pleased with it  :)

Happy Birthday to my Princess!!  er, Secret Agent!!  :D

Allergies: Part Quatre... Things Are/Were Looking Up

If you would have asked me Sunday, I would have said, Dang!  My allergies are actually doing better!  I think the allergy medicine they have me on right now is working!  Gone is the constant sneezing, coughing, throat clearing, hoarseness...
Well, it was until Monday and the birth of Confetti...and my subsequent spike in exposure to the goats.  Now, it's all back...plus hives and a tight chest. But, I'm thinking it will calm back down....once I quit bottle feeding the baby and cooing over her... and bottle feeding will last maybe 6-8 weeks...and the cooing will last.... ummm...will that ever end?  Yeah...  hmmmm.....  dang.

Confetti! You Expect it with a Surprise!

Sunday, we were walking around the farm with my mom and dad, who were over for a visit.  I happened to look over at our younger doe and OMGosh!  She had developed a milk bag!  I didn't even know she was pregnant.  So, it was like, dang....she's going to have a baby.
Monday, the kids were out playing and they came running in the house yelling, "Mom!  Raven had a baby!"  What?!?!  Wow.  Ok.  Grab the camera and let's go have a look-see....
When we got up to the fence, I noticed the baby lying off to the side and the mom at a distance.  The baby was sneezing, coughing, etc and mom was looking at it like it was a foreign object.  I was so distracted by this behavior that I LAID THE CAMERA DOWN.  yeah...I was *that* distracted.  Any time I've been around our goats giving birth, they are all over the baby....licking it, messing with it, whatever.  Not this poor little momma.  She looked as perplexed as a goat can get.  So, I got a towel and started drying the baby off and cleaning the goop off it's nose and mouth.

I took it and laid it near the mom who shied away from me even as I did it...  Hmmmm.... not working. So, after reading a website that suggested this, I put some of the goop on the baby's nose and put it near the mom.....because apparently that will make her smell the goop, lick it off, and bond with the baby.  Nothing.  Eventually, the baby slung it off.  Hmmmmm...  What to do, what to do??  The kids and I continued to try and place the baby near the mom.  Every time, she would maybe take a quick peek at it... and walk away.

I knew the baby needed something to eat..heck, it had been almost an hour....  so, I was thinking we could catch the mom and put her on the milk stand and get some colostrum.  Dang.  Have you ever tried to catch a goat that isn't the most friendly little thing, to start with?  I feel bad saying that.  She's a good little goat...she's just shy....and skittish...and I really don't think she enjoys being petted.  But anyway, so, we were going to catch her so I could get some colostrum for the baby.  The boys and I must have cornered her fifty times..and she managed to slip away EVERY daggum time.  And I seriously felt bad about it...  I mean, she JUST had a baby and here we are chasing her...  terrorizing her... but, the baby needed colostrum, so we persevered.  It was insane....  the milk goat decided she wanted in on the corralling, or maybe she was just jealous that the new momma was getting all the attention so she started trying to butt her while we were trying to catch her... which didn't help all that much.  Actually, it didn't help at all.  Especially when I finally got the leash on her neck and Annie (milk goat) was still trying to butt her which ticked me off...I mean, c'mon...she JUST gave birth....easy!! Plus, they were catching me inbetween...I have a goat allergy, for crying out loud!!  Which means, everywhere the goats were coming into contact with my skin, I was breaking out in hives...and my chest was getting slightly tight...  so, Sarah says, "somebody run to the house and get the epi pen!"....I just knew at any moment, one of my kids was going to go ramming that thing into my thigh....funny stuff....

We got her on the milk stand and I was able to milk a bowl full of colostrum ...which lasted until Tuesday morning....which made me feel much better about the health of the baby.  I read that the first day, they need to be fed every four hours...  I didn't have a bottle or anything handy....  so, I used a medicine dropper to feed the baby....

 Monday night, I got up and fed her every four hours...  (I guess night time feedings are never really over....heck, sometimes I find myself getting up at 2 am and 4 am and 6 am with the munchies... :) )  So, anyway, Tuesday, I ran out of the colostrum I had milked from the mom on Monday....and the kids had dentist appointments  before lunch.  I wanted the baby to have one more good dose of the antibodies so I got the kids (my two legged ones) and headed out to the goat pen.  Now, the goat may be shy, but she's not forgetful.  She saw me approaching with the lease and had flashbacks of the day before...and she was a little more steady on her feet..can't say the same for myself.  :)  It took quite a while, a couple (human) injuries, and some very unsavory thoughts, but we finally managed to get the little momma up on the milk stand.  I hooked baby up to her - hoping to get some bonding going on...to no avail.  I then tried putting them both in the pen together..  there is an open doorway for them, so I thought I'd nail some tin across it...just to confine them with each other and maybe make her reflect and accept the baby... sooo, I found a piece of tin and started nailing...SINCE I was in a hurry...and SINCE Sarah kept saying, "Mom....it's 10:00 ...Mom....it's 10:05 ...Mom...it's 10:10"... and SINCE I'm not all that great at hammering nails...  I decided to just nail down three corners and get a move on...   and all that work was totally worth it!  Not 5 minutes later, momma goat got fed up pacing, showing no interest in baby, and found her way past my tin door....through the end without a nail, of course.  Sheesh...  so, I pulled the nails back out... (ok...I'm lying, I couldn't work that end of the hammer... I ended up just hammering them over in a bent position so the goats wouldn't get hurt on them)  and putting the baby in the barn.  And I went to the dentist smelling like goat and broke out in hives.  And we were late. Which isn't unusual for me.  But we were later than usual.  And I was going to explain it to the nice little manicured girl behind the window..."I apologize for our lateness ...we had a baby goat the mom rejected and had to catch her..and...."...but, I took another look at her and decided, eh, nevermind...
So, now, day three, the baby...we named her Confetti....she's black with white splotches all over...like...well, confetti...  :)  anyway...she's doing great!  She follows us around like a little puppy..wagging her tail...  we are all in love...  :)  Oh, and I'm feeding her some of what I milk from my milk goat every day...