Happy Thursday!

Good morning!

I haven't been blogging like I planned to this year, but of course, when I have time, I never have anything to talk about. When I'm crazy busy, I have a million things I want to blog, and never do. Ah well...

So, I'm working on the January FLRR block, which is themed "Bridge To Terabithia", and this thing had me puzzled. I have been searching online for ideas, when lo and behold, I was looking through our DVD's to find something to watch, and discovered that we actually have the movie! And I have no idea why I had not watched this movie before now, as this is "my" kind of movie! It was fantastic, I loved it! I have a ton of ideas now, thankfully as I will not kid you, I was stumped! So, when I get it all finished up, I'll post pics of what I have done. I'm also back to working on Ing's heart...and I'm almost there, I promise Ing! I'll be winging it home to you real soon!

So, we had fantastic weather over the past weekend, temperatures up in the 40's and 50's, which is amazing for us in January! We got to put the horses out and leave them for the first time this winter. This sounds silly to horse-folk, but Cherokee is so old that we don't like to leave him out in the extreme cold, so Dakota doesn't get out either. It's a jealousy thing...and he DOES get jealous. I put the new pet-eye camera on her, and dingaling me forgot to turn it on. I was all excited about having some pics from it, and when I hooked it up to upload pics, there was nothing there. Yep, I forgot to turn it on. So...the next time it warms up a little, I'll put it BACK on her and try again. We also managed to get our outside Christmas decor taken down, which has to be a world record for us! We normally just wait until it warms up a little to do it, usually around the middle of February or even March. It feels good to have it already down! Things are back to normal in the weather department, cold and snowy. It's currently 13*. Brrrrr!

Well, I hope everyone is having a fantastic year, so far 2010 hasn't brought any major catastophies for us, so that is always a plus!

Happy Thursday!

Looking For A Good Blacksmith

Hello all!

So, our blacksmith has dissappeared off the face of the earth. Really, really strange since he has been soooo faithful in taking care of Cherokee for the past 3 years. I'm a little worried, as not only has his number been disconnected, so has his son's.

Anyone know a good blacksmith in the Muncie, Indiana area that wuold be willing to work on an old pony and a young paint horse?

I'm fairly sure I can take care of Cherokee myself, however, Dakota needs a blacksmith to keep her in working order.

Thanks for any info!

3 Very Good Reasons...

...to NEVER let a salesman in your house!

Last week, we were visited by a Kirby vacuum sales team. Had I answered the door, I would never had let them in the house. However, I was busy, hubs answered the door, and the next thing I knew, I had a Kirby sales person in my house. She fumbled, wasn't very knowledgable, and quite honestly was just kind of a twit. So, I understand how this stuff works...she does the presentation, she makes money. Fine...I'll deal with it. I know how hard money is to come by.

Reason #1: They actually said, "We'd like to ask a few questions of an honest homeowner." A few questions turned into 2 hours taken from my life that I will never get back. Just think of the things I could have done in those 2 hours!!! And the questions were merely attacks on how dirty my house was and how horrible a job our vacuum does. Ah well...I'll get to that in a minute...

Reason #2: The jack-ass sale closer that appeared after 2 hours of listening to this twit drone on about how great the Kirby is, and all of it's spectacular features. BTW, She never got to the carpet cleaner part...so hard telling how much MORE of my time she would have taken up. So this guy comes in, cocky as all get out...and starts pitching me the sales shtick. After 5 or so minutes of talking about the vacuum, he lays it on me. $2,500.00. Are you serious? I knew it was going to be high, but I'll tell ya, I just about fell off of the couch! This guy has no idea what we're dealing with, and I know that...however, all he really had to do was take a look around and he would have KNOWN there was no way in HELL I'd ever pay $2,500 for a vacuum. I mean really...I only paid $200 for my CAR! I told him no...politely. He asked if I had a credit card, and then INFORMED me to slap in on the card. When I said no more forcefully, he started dropping the price! It went from $2,500, to $1,999, to $1,500, and finally to a (as he put it) desperate $999. Again, are you serious????? I basically grabbed him by the ear and tossed him to the curb.

Reason #3: Fleas. Yes, you read that right, FLEAS. DOG fleas....and I don't have a dog! We are now infested with dog fleas, and the only reasonable explaination I have, is that they dragged them in here in that $2,500 vacuum that they were pushing down our throats. I'm mad...madder than a bulldog with a toothache!

Now the part that I said I'd get back to....

We have a Eureka Capture vacuum. It's lime green...and MEAN! This girl quickly ran my vaccum over the area that she planned to demonstrate how great the Kirby was, and then proceeded to put filter disk after filter disk into the Kirby and get dirt out of my carpet. Not that much dirt either...and she really had to work at it. She then proceeded to do the same routine on one of my chairs. Now, I haven't really cleaned my furniture in a couple of months, so I wasn't surprised at all when she started pulling dirt from the depths of hell out of my chair. Anyone who has ever had a bird and a cat will know what I mean. They shed...constantly! The part that I was amused by...was when the Kirby failed to get anymore dirt...I got out my Eureka Capture a couple of days later and sucked a TON of dirt out of that thing! And I didn't work half as hard at it as she did. So, now....why did I want a $2,500 vacuum? When my $160 vacuum done twice the job, with half the work? Of course, with any vacuum, you have to keep them up...clean filters and a tight belt. So, I honestly wouldn't have traded my Eureka for that Kirby even if he had offered an even trade!!!

So in closing...beware of the Kirby sales team...they are on the prowl, and the only thing they'll leave behind is a wasted night and a lot of fleas.

Have a fabulous weekend!

That Is One Cool Gift!

Happy Monday!

I had the greatest idea this morning! And I really thought long and hard about it, then I realized it won't work. Are you ready?

We went to the farm last night despite the really cold temperatures, (17* was the HIGH yesterday!), to let the horses out. With all of the hub-bub over the holidays they got a little neglected in the getting-out-to-play department. After watching Dakota run herself silly for about 10 minutes, and getting Cherokee to play for a little while, we got into a little snowball fight. We are such big kids when it comes to the snow! We don't get much free time to do "nothing", so we really had a good time, and the farm provides great cover and tons of space to get away from each other. So...this led to the idea this morning...

What if someone really DID sell snowballs!??? I mean, really, sell snowballs? What a great idea! Especially for the snowball-making challenged! And YES, there are plenty of snowball-making challenged people out there. You could set up a stand in the park, we have one in particular that has a big hill that we all sled on. Wouldn't that be great??? Sell snowballs and have a huge snowball fight going on all the time! How cool would it be to make a little money off this white stuff, and have fun at the same time! Of course, they wouldn't be expensive...like 10 cents each. And then it hit me, that wouldn't be such a good idea at all.... Especially when we've had snow on top of snow lately, and we have yet to see one single kid out playing in it. Can it be that the art of snowman building and snowball fights have gone to the days of old, like letter writing? Yet, I logged into my facebook account, and had a snowball fight request. So, I guess now instead of going out and playing in the snow, people have virtual snowball fights too. Another good idea that's past it's prime....

Anyway, my real reason for this post is to brag about the gift the my bestie got me for Christmas! We just had our Christmas with them on Saturday night, and they got me the coolest gift! They got me (and Dakota!), a "Pet's Eye View" camera. It's this little camera that you clip on your dog and cat to see what they do when you aren't with them. They thought it would be fun to put it on Dakota and see what she's up to when I'm busy with other things! It takes pictures at set intervals, 1, 5, or 15 minutes apart. How cool is that???? I'm so excited to try it out on her...so be ready for some really strange pictures coming from her point of view. Hubs was teasing me about it, he said all we'd ever see is grass, water, grass, water.... We'll see!

So thanks so much to Lisa and EJ, I'm sure we're gonna have a ball with it as soon as I get it all charged up and ready to go!

Have a super day,

Hello 2010, Will You Be My Friend?

Hello Friends! And a hearty welcome to 2010!

We had a very quiet evening as the New Year came in, partaking in a couple of movies and some finger foods with Mom and Dad. At Midnight, we were able to see the fireworks that were set off downtown from Mom and Dad's driveway, so that was a nice end to the evening. We don't normally get all jazzed up about the new year, but this year, I think we were even more quiet than usual. Things have been so messed up for the past few years, especially the last few months of 2009, that I spent most of the night trying to decide whether to be happy to see '09 go or sad because of everything that had happened. Eventually, by the time 2010 arrived, I realized that there is no point in being sad, only to look forward to better times. And better times will not come easy for us, so we're going to have to make our own happy memories as the new year rolls on. So, 2010, whaddaya say, wanna be friends?

I was asked a few minutes ago if I had made any resolutions, and sadly, I hadn't even thought about it yet. So, no, for now, no resolutions for me. I plan to work on myself consistently throughout the whole year, so I guess that's one. I guess I could go with the old standby, lose weight...but I have all but given up on that all the way around. Ah well, if I happen to think of any, I'll let you know.

To all of my friends, may the new year find you happy in the smallest of ways, as I realize that happiness means more than anything else in life. The rest is just...shall I say, "fluff". :)

Take care and Happy New Year!

glitter-graphics.com

Still alive and kicking...but just barely...

Hello all. I hope everyone had a safe and Merry Christmas! Ours was nice, it was less about gifts and more about family this year. Things are tight for our whole family, so everyone did the best they could and that was just good enough. The food was spectacular as always, Mom can just about outcook anyone, and we managed to keep our sanity, so that's always a plus!

I've had some serious trials for the past few months and have basically alienated myself from everyone. I talked with Ingrid the other day, and it felt so nice to feel like I still have a friend. I also chatted with Lori for a few minutes, and it was just like we'd never stopped talking. I spend most of my days feeling alone, so these calls were a welcome interruption to my usual stress-filled day. Thank you ladies!

I am having a very hard time dealing with some of the stress that I'm going through and I don't quite no how to get my act together. I won't devulge the details here, as I know prying eyes are reading, and quite frankly...it's none of their business. But I wish that I had more time for my friends, as I'm sure that they could help me through this time. However, some have written me off, and that hurts..more than words can say. I do know that everyone has bad times, and I do know that sometimes you have to get rid of the bad in your life in order to feel good, but how can people that I have known for years just turn their back on me, especially when I am already falling apart? I have been there for them, listened to their every bitch, piss and moan, but when it comes time for me to rely on them, they are no where to be seen. I guess that says it all...they didn't want to be my friend, they only wanted me to be theirs. They wanted me to be there for them to bitch at, but turn their head when I have something to say. I'm hurt...very, very hurt. I shouldn't rely on people, and this is a hard lesson learned for me. I come from a background of helping anyone you possibly can at all costs, and if they never return the favor so be it. But to completely shut me out when I need a shoulder to cry on is cold. Very cold. I guess it's a sign of the times...

Anyway, to all of the friends that feel like I have done this to them, I am very sorry. I did not intend to hurt anyone and I now know how it feels. Very alone.

On a brighter note, we're through Christmas...on to New Year's. I hope next year is kinder to all of us, we've just about had all we can take.

If I don't get to write again...Happy New Year friends!

Lesa's FLRR Block

Really? It has been 2 months since I have blogged? REALLY? Okay. I have got to get out of this little time warp thing I'm in and keep better time. I just don't know where my time goes anymore...

Anyway, I finished working on Lesa's block eons ago and forgot to post it. Of course, we had a month void of mailing and I forgot totally about it, mailed late. The usual. ARG. One of these days I'll see a surgeon about removing my head from my ass. Until then, I guess I'll just have to deal with the discomfort.

Here's the pics...

I appliqued 2 toadstools on, and embroidered a little fairy peeking over the big one. I thought she turned out really well, until I looked at the pic and realized that it looks like she's wearing bunny ears. Well, crap... Also, you can see the toadstool seam treatment I did beside her using cast-on stitch and bullions for stems, I used DMC perl 5 for those. Those did turn out cute! The viney leaves underneath are done using fly stitch in varigated Edmar Iris threads.

An overall view of my work...the curved seam is me too. I also added a shooting star in the sky, and somehow forgot to take a picture of it.

Hope you like my work Lesa!

Have a wonderful day all,

Another Trip Around The Sun

Hello Friends!

I'm doing this post more for myself than for public viewing, so if you get bored, I understand! It's been about 10 days since my birthday, and staying as busy as I do, I seldom have time to reflect on things, so I guess that's kind of what I'm doing today. Not that I'm not busy today, believe me, I am...just having a little bit of self doubt these days. I am hoping that if I make a list of things that I have learned and/or accomplished this year, that maybe I won't feel so bad about things. And if I put it here, I'll be able to look back at it...

So here goes... (I'm doing this from memory...trying to get it on a month by month basis, and will most likely be adding to it for some time.)

*I learned how to plan and execute a baby shower. I also learned how to make several new crafty decorations, and did everything by hand. It was a ton of work, but saved us a fortune! Learning how to make diaper cakes and baby bootie nut cups may never come in handy, but I know how to do it.

*I learned how to demolish a room without tearing the whole house down. It's a lot of work, but in the end, I did learn how to do it!

*I learned how to install exterior doors, trim and all, in an existing hole. Crooked, unlevel, existing hole. It was no easy task, that's for sure.

*I discovered that I am afraid of circular saws. Love jigsaws, handsaws, and reciprocating saws. Petrified of circular saws.

*I have become the master of the drill. Drilling and screwing. No problemo!

*I have learned that the only thing that will keep your car between the ditches in the winter is patience. I have none.

*No matter how much I love the snow, it still has to be shoveled, and that I don't like. I will like it even less this year, now that we have 2 horses to care for, and a realllllly long walk to shovel to get to Dakota.

*I learned that I can keep up with the housework. IF I don't have anything else to do. For 4 months, I managed to keep my house spotless, the laundry done, and the kids in clean cages. After that it was downhill to say the least.

*I learned that my Mom and Dad are packrats. The hard way!

*I managed to get the farm in decent shape this year, that's a major milestone. Cleaning out one of the barns led to the previous list item.

*I built a stall for Dakota.

*I learned the basics of conditioning horses. I knew a lot of it already, but have learned much more now that I'm actually doing it.

*I learned how to treat horses for Thrush. Not fun...but very handy to know.

*I learned how to vaccinate horses.

*I learned how to build a corral.

*I have learned and I am still learning the basics of caring for my horses hooves. That is trimming and rasping and frog-maintenance. Very glad I'm learning!

*I learned how prepare and seal a blacktop driveway. Again, not fun...

*I learned how much work painting trim on a house can be. Ugh...Harbor Sky blue....

*I learned how to properly caulk windows and doors. After I totally screwed up the first one :(

*I learned that when you do for people, do NOT expect them to greatful, most of the time, it doesn't happen. When it does, be surprised!

*I have discovered that in order to do what I want to do, I have to go without sleep. I don't get that much anyway, but I manage.

*I learned that organization is not a strong point for me, and I am no longer fighting it.

*I have learned that a bad situation can produce something good, since the barn was burned, we have made several friends in the neighborhood. It's nice to see a smiling face once in a while when we're at the farm.

*Every year, I wonder more and more why I bother decorating for the holidays. I learned this year that I have special decorations with a lot of memories, and that is why I do it.

*I built Dakota's barn doors all by myself. Yes, I'm proud of that! They aren't small and it wasn't easy, but I did it. The doors measure 6' wide X 12' tall, and 7' wide x 12' tall.

*We hung new runners for the barn doors, and got them up. It was a coooold windy day that we decided to do that, and it was difficult. So glad we got it done when we did, as it snowed and blowed 2 days later. Kept the snow out of the barn!

*We installed our 2nd garage door in 5 years. The first one was new, this one is new to us. (Used, but in GREAT shape!) Thank you to our wonderful neighbors for giving us their old door when they got their new one. We really wouldn't have been able to afford one this year.

*I have learned that I have a great lot of wants in life, and no idea how to achieve them. What a horrible feeling.

*I have learned that we can make due with the slimmest budget ever. Although, things look grim now, I am sure they will get better. Hopefully close to normal.

*I spent many hours shopping for the perfect thing, only to realize that it still sucks.

*I have come to despise plow trucks. I can't for the life of me understand why they think it is best to plow roads down to a sheet of ice rather than leave snow on them.

*There are times in my life when I have to stay away from other people. I can't deal with everything without losing my mind. I have been put through the paces for the past few months and I'm having a really hard time dealing with it. I just can't manage to keep my foot out of my mouth when I'm overstressed.

*We cut windows in both barns for the horses and framed them out. We still have to attach the plexiglass for them to keep the weather out, but they are sooooo enjoying them! Cherokee especially, as everyone in the neighborhood is officially wrapped around his little hoof. Sheesh, he's spoiled rotten!


To be continued....(I'm sure there's more, I just can't think of anything else right now!)

Alien World-FLRR

Happy October all! I can't believe it's already October. No really, where did August and September go? Ah well...another trip around the sun for me, and still no spare time....

I finally finished working on Janet's Alien World Fantasy Landscape RR block and got it mailed. Geez...only 2 weeks late! And I know that I didn't do enough work on it, but I had to deal with life. And believe me, this past month has done nothing but reinforce the fact that I have NO spare time to do the things that I love. I'm sad because of it, but it's the honest to God truth. It took every ounce of spare time I had to get this much done, so please, please, please, don't be too angry with me ladies. And Janet, if you are reading this, I will gladly work on your block again once the RR is over and it comes back home. I really do want to do my fair share, but life gets in the way for me all to often. Ask Ing, she's been waiting for her fairy heart for eons now...and I promise to get it to her ASAP! (Even tho I'm sure she doesn't believe me!)

So anyway, wanted to share what I did manage to accomplish...


close up of the eyeball tree

close up of my version of alien flowers

and an overall view of my work

So anyway, I hope everyone is doing well, and I'm praying for more time for me.

Hugs~