It doesn't seem possible that it's been almost a month since my last entry. Life here has been busy, but I didn't thing it was that busy. So much for my time management skills. LOL

DH has been doing job searches, but hasn't come up with anything that he really wants to do. He's trying to match a job and a location, and at times it seems to really frustrate him. I wish I could make things easier, but I know that this is something he really needs to do on his own. One thing I know for sure, is he's concerned he may make a mistake with his choice. He's stated that this is such a change and it worries him some. I guess all will come together when it's supposed to.

My youngest brother has been bugging us about selling our house to him for years. He claims he adores it and really, really wants it. Finally we all got together and sat down to talk - seriously about him buying it. It sure would have made things easier for us. DH & I had talked about selling it to him under market value, and was ready to offer a good deal. He informed us he would pay us X amount - and no more. We were stunned, as it was below the amount the house was worth more than 20 years ago! He got really snotty when we said no - that we needed more. He basically told us it was a crap hole and that there was no way we'd get anything more from him. HUH? Well, he got up and left and we haven't heard anything from him since. I'm sorry - family or not, I'm not going to give it away. We've done up-grades on the electric, put in 2 types of heat - indoor oil and an outdoor wood boiler. Then we've done over a couple of rooms, new plumbing, new roof, painted the house, some new appliances. I mean - I know it's not as much as it could have been, but we were concentrating on paying off the place and getting out of debt. But honestly - did he really think we would "give" it to him? Brother or not, we have to get at least our investment back out of the place. I really believe that he thought we were going to be stupid and sell it to him at an unheard of price, then he was going to put a couple of thousand into it and turn a nice profit on it. Well, when we didn't appear to be as stupid as he thought, he got angry. Sigh.....

Oh well. On to more interesting things... I've been working on my Bent Creek Monthly Snappers and am almost caught up. I'm working on June, and have almost 1/4 of the border done. Sadly I ran out of some thread, so I hurried and placed an order at Needlecraft Corner. It should be here in a few days. Darn it - I really thought I had all the threads I needed. I must have miscounted them somehow.

We have been in need of a new bath mat, but I haven't wanted to pay what the stores are asking. I pulled out my leftovers from dishcloth and washcloth knitting, and made a "rag rug" looking type of bath mat. DS says it's ugly, but I told him it will work - and that's all that matters :)

I finally finished up part 4 of the Marquoir's Story Sampler. It has gone back in the box for next time it comes up in my rotation. It is going to be a gorgeous sampler when it's done!

I also finished up my Moonlight Slipper Socks and am looking forward to picking out another pattern to knit soon. I scanned them - but the scan just doesn't do them justice.



I also have put a couple more "bars" on my Log Cabin Afghan. It's quite bright and a great way to use up scraps. It's been really too warm to work on it though. The temps have been in the 90's and humid. That makes it just unbearable to knit a blanket.

Well, that's all for now. I'm off to make dinner....

I'll post pictures of the other projects soon. The camera batteries are charging, so no photos to post today.

Standing At the Crossroads

For a long time, we've prayed about leaving this home for a new one. We've been searching for more than 10 years for the "right" home that has never come along. We have made offers, but for one reason or another, they fell through. I guess that it wasn't the right time, and looking back now, I see that it all leads up to we weren't meant to stay here in this area.

With the cost of living going up, we really can't think of sustaining ourselves on this small piece of property. We can raise chickens and a garden, but can't supply the chickens with food or raise enough for for ourselves. Being in a northern climate, we can't supply ourselves with heat. We still need to purchase so many things. We are at the mercy of Corporate America, no matter how hard we try. This place has been a good place to learn from and make mistakes, but it is now time to move on.

We are hunting for some wooded land with an existing home. We don't want to be part of the break-up of land and building a new home. If we did that, it would be easier, as we could find the land quite quickly. Now, just to match a job, an affordable place and what we need up all in one area.

Alien Strawberries

Well, the berries didn't do anything overnight. There was no juice leakage - nothing!! They still are the consistency of leather, so I decided to make strawberry rhubarb jam out of those we didn't freeze. The jam turned out nicely, but thick because of the lack of juice. I've decided to mix the strawberries with other fruits to make jams and other things out of, to hide the lack of taste and juiciness of these pathetic berries. Sigh... I feel like I wasted a lot of time and money with these. There's no good homemade flavor to the strawberry jam - heck it rivals the store stuff. The Strawberry Rhubarb Jam at least has a nice rhubarb flavor to it, so all is not lost, and we really stretched the rhubarb as well.

I hope to find another place with better berries before the season ends.

Strawberry Picking Time!

It has been so very hot and humid here over the last few days, that it was difficult to want to get up this morning and go out to pick strawberries. We decided to leave here at 5:30am to beat the heat. We traveled over 30 miles to get to the berry farm, and we were so looking forward to getting done quickly and back home.

It took us over 2 hours for the three of us to pick 24 quarts of strawberries!! They were already well picked over, and those that were nice and ripe were bug eaten. With three of us picking, it should have been no time to get out of there. When we got home, I started to make jam, but found the berries were unusually hard and not juicy at all. They didn't have the flavor and even after sitting, we ended up with no juice spots. I cut up some berries for tonight's dessert - strawberry shortcake. I sprinkled the berries with sugar to draw the juice and they sat all afternoon. When we pulled them out for dessert, there was NO JUICE!! What is wrong with these berries?!! I've picked and put up berries for years and have never seen anything like these things.

I'll be letting the rest sit until tomorrow. Hopefully they will ripen more and get a bit softer. Right now, they have the feeling of a store bought peach - just plain hard!

Restful Weekend

Memorial weekend was very restful for all of us. The kids went with DH camping, and I stayed home to take care of the animals and catch up on work. I got a ton of things done, and actually even had time to cross stitch!! The nicest thing about the family all gone was that I didn't have to stop what I was doing and make dinner, or take care of other things. I could go as long as I liked, and boy, was it productive!!! The kids said they had a great time, and DH enjoyed himself with the kids. He doesn't get much alone time with them, so it was extra special for all of them. It was also a great excuse to have a fire, and DH and the kids love to cook and sit by an open fire.

While the crew was away, I got all caught up on laundry, and with the nice weekend, I could hang it all out. Oh, there's nothing like bed linens dried on the line. The sheets smelled so good when I crawled into bed. I not sure if it was the great smell or just being tuckered out, but I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I also got the end of our winter squash out of storage and put up. I can't believe how well they all stored! All of it is now in the freezer, except for the 3 cups I put aside to make pumpkin muffins and pumpkin dinner rolls with. I was finishing up at 11:30pm, put the squash aside to put in the fridge to use up the next morning, and don't know how it happened, but I never put those 3 cups of squash away. SIGH.... It all had to be tossed. The chickens didn't mind one bit, though. They cleaned it all up. Between those birds, the dog, the cats and the compost pile, we don't waste a thing! It was still such a disappointment not being able to bake those pumpkin muffins, though!

I did have some R&R, even with all the work I got done. I had pulled out a XS pattern that I had kitted up a couple of years ago. I've been wanting to start it, but like everything else, something kept coming up. Finally, I decided it was just time to sit down and do something for me :)



This is "Full Winter Moon" by Katherine Moser of Brown House Studio. Stitched on an unknown 32-ct. linen using the recommended DMC and Stranded by the Sea colors.

Free Razor from Old Spice

My son signed up for one of these razors, and he's looking forward to trying it. I thought the offer was just too good not to share.

http://www.oldspiceshaving.com/promotions.asp

Free Starbucks Coffee At Home Sample

I received a free sample of coffee from Starbucks on Saturday. I was surprised because it wasn't a small sample, but a whole pot! Sunday morning, we tried our new coffee with the Peaches 'n Cream braid. What a treat!!!

My husband likes a dark, rich flavored coffee, so I chose the Sumatra for our sample. It was described as a deep and earthy flavor. It has almost a smoky flavor when we tasted it black (plain), but with a creamer in it, it's flavor changed and it was really good and rich.

This is definitely worth a try. If you'd like to get your own sample, go to Starbucks Coffee at Home and wait for the page to load in. Then click "Explore our Coffees" and then click on "Enjoy a Complimentary Sample".

ENJOY!!!