My New Purse

I have been needing a new purse.  But being who I am,  I carry a good bit of stuff with me most days.  Things like batteries for the aerobics microphone and a water bottle and lots of little things like that, to help me attempt to keep up with this crazy life. 

A couple of years ago,  Charlie's unit switched to the new style of BDUs.  When he could no longer wear the style he had worn when I first met him,  I asked Charlie to pack the old uniforms away for future projects, and just in case the kids wanted them.  And I rather thought this project would come along. 

I made a similar purse for my niece last year, and about a month ago, I asked Charlie to sit out a few sets for me to work on some projects with.  As I began to cut this out, We made a few camouflage stockings, and Wyatt even learned to use the sewing machine while making one. 

As luck would have it, the uniform which would become my new purse was one of his favorites, sporting some random paint for character. The outside reveals four pockets,  including two with unit insignia. The inside has six, formed from material from the jacket back and arm, just for fun. 

So here is the finished product, complete with handles found on after Christmas sale at the fabric store!

Here it is,  almost completely loaded,  and with room to spare! Next up? Making one specifically designed for and by Bailey.  AND this next one will have goat patches,  too!  Stay tuned for that design,  coming soon!  Though for now, this edition got Charlie's seal of approval,  telling me that it looked good enough to make for sale. 

It is pretty exciting when he likes my work! But for now, I will be doing most of my work on a by request basis, so that my time is focused on what matters. So I have to ask, if you could design your own purse, what fabric would you choose, and what features would you want?

Colonial Boston Dinner- Well, Sort Of!

One of the home shooling thoughts for me was cooking our way through history. I let life get in the way, but Wyatt and I decided to go back and try it from Colonial times anyhow. So Saturday, we set out on our first adventure.

In the interest of getting through recipes which required hour hours of cooking before Charlie was ready to fall asleep, I let Wyatt use the mixer on the bread, which we began at 1:20 in the afternoon.

Wyatt made the Boston Brown Bread. He caught his sister glancing over, but not reading the history in the cookbook and called her out on it. I hadn't actually given her that instruction. Wyatt isn't exactly fond of raisins, so he wasn't too thrilled with making something that already had a strike against it! 

Also, we didn't have coffee cans to bake the bread in, so we used a metal loaf pan with really high sides in the water bath in the dutch oven.

Here is the roasting pan we used the way a dutch oven would be used, it was just a different shape to accommodate the pan...

Here it is with the pan in it.

 Here are the beans. The kids really tag teamed on this part. They boiled  the beans and bacon for over an hour and a half, before the other items were added and it was put it he oven. Good thing wood was plentiful during colonial times, as otherwise things would have taken a great deal of fuel!

The brown bread when it came out from cooking.

And once it was turned out on the plate.It is very dense, and you can easily taste the course grains. We all tried it, it seemed best with butter to offset the dense and dry nature of the bread.

And the Boston Baked Beans were also a hit.

Where Did the Weekend Go?

I think these photos were left over from Saturday. I was really enjoying the sunset while the kids and I were working on our special pen project and watering and doing evening chores.

I was also really enjoying the way the last rays of sun were extending further into the sky with each picture.

We didn't get much finished, but did make a little progress.

Okay, this one is likely my favorite shot of them...

Or maybe this one...

Charlie and Wyatt were supposed to be putting things away when it got too late to work. Then they talked me into trying on this hunting vest and Wyatt started messing around making funny horns with the cow horns we have been threatening to affix to Bailey's truck.

Okay, here is the vest. How much could I lose in all of those pockets?

I was working on putting some things away and the box from some leftover fabric had disintegrated. As a temporary patch, I used a big old ammo can.  It got me thinking, I could hide a lot of craft supplies in ammo cans and Charlie might not notice it was even there... 

The sunsets really are amazing out here. For those who accuse me of ADHD behavior, I don't know where you are getting it from...

On Sunday, we made a few stops on the way home from church. One was Bookman's, where Wyatt found a couple books. We also picked up a soaker hose. That project will be coming along later this week But while we were at Bookman's, we found a pigeon that is really fancy and doesn't require any feed. We thought it was perfect for a new 4-H project, but apparently it doesn't meet the breed standard.  Picky, picky...

We also stopped for tortillas. Wyatt was really enjoying the architecture a the El Rio bakery.

Once we finally got home and got things rolling, we did finish the main structure and roof of the special pen project. This will hold for a week or so while we select the right primer, but it is almost ready! In fact, the chickens moved in, and seem to like it for now. I look forward to not only checking this project off the list once and for all, but also sharing the photos of the final project. The kids have something fun planned for the next stage!

This is the hole in the kids' bathroom wall. The towel racks just don't do well in there. The kids have finally decided what to try next, and they think they like their Grandma's idea of going to well secured hooks. That being decided, Wyatt is learning to patch the wall. When all is said and done, I will share a separate post with photos of the learning process on this one!

Charlie is going to exchange some wood tomorrow, and we should get back on task with the doe barn project when it comes home. Because of that, all of the walls are not yet complete. We have had some extra bracing at the edges of the wood panels, and Shine has taken advantage of them to go visit the pens and come back tot he house. What a spoiled little guy! So Bailey got you all a couple videos to enjoy!

He is sure enjoying having the best of both worlds- the companionship of the goats, but the great house like alongside the dog and kids!

Well, that is not to say that we didn't take time to appreciate the reasons why we are free to be as silly and independent as we are.  We know all too well that we are the lucky ones. As a military family, we are blessed to be together and to have each other to drive crazy!  Our family has been military in nearly every generation since the war for independence, so our military tradition is a proud one, spanning several branches of service.

Well, we finished off the weekend with a much appreciated family dinner of elk round steak, roadkill potatoes and melon. I have also been trying hard to reorganize the house completely, so Charlie and the kids brought this into the house temporarily for me to work with along the way this summer.

As well as it will keep a lot of things organized, it is rather big, so hopefully I will be ready for it to move out soon.

Well, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Hug a veteran, love your family, and enjoy the coming week for all of the promise that it is. Love to all.

me

Spending the week trying to get our feet back under us!

We are finishing a crazy time in our lives. I have been immensely thankful for having chosen to home school this year. We will spent a good bit of the hot, desert summer finishing up the studies, but we're able to be there with our family when we really needed to.  What a blessing. 

Sunday, we kicked off the week with a fruit tart the boys were craving before heading of to church. . Bailey is settling in to her new assignment teaching the 4 and 5 year old class,  and I got to help while Wyatt enjoyed helping lead games in the last hour of Sunday school next door. 

Monday was a big return to studies, and also the last official 4h meeting of the year. Little Let Your Light Shine wasn't thrilled with sharing his Bailey with her school work, so he embarked on a mission to eat her assignment list.

This was in the back seat on the way to town to go to the meeting. When we walked in to the meeting,  the club president automatically saw Shine, called out, and brought the attention to the club leader . Since Shine was a distraction, he and I were sent outside. 

The youth updated one another, and then voted on officers for the next year. Bailey was elected Vice President, but was the only one who had signed up to run for Treasurer, so she slid over to the Treasurer slot to give her friend the job he wanted for his last year.

After the meeting, we all went down to the park for a potluck.  The kids had so much fun that some of us didn't leave the park until well after 9!

Finally, I rounded them up, with big kids carrying little ones on and over their shoulders, since I needed to open the gym in the morning. 

After my morning shift,  I stopped by to donate my ponytail. I thought we agreed on 11 inches for the donation and enough left for a decent ponytail to stay back from my face while I am teaching, but instead the ponytail was cut off at about 14 inches. 

This is how it came out. It was a bit of a shock for me, but it will be pretty cool for hiking this summer. I have to admit, though, that when the other moms waited for me after girls group, I felt like part of the family. It reminded me of when Charlie had let Bailey take Wyatt ' s ultrasound to school years back (strange, I know, I wasn't going to tell anyone yet) and I got to the daycare after work to find all of the moms waiting for me. I really feel blessed to be finding a true church home. 

Shine is really settling in to living with his people and his four legged friend, Shadow.  He would like to watch the baby chickens in the brooder, but  isn't tall enough to peek. So at this point, he was perched up on a couple of my boxes just below the brooder.

Sometimes he hangs out on the trampoline next to this, but Shadow loves it too, and this was closer to the noisy little ones!

We tried hard so far this week to settle back in to homeschooling, and when the wind wasn't too bad, getting our work done outside. Shadow seems to really be loving that, she curled up next to Wyatt to look at the white board list while he was working on Spanish.

While they were working on this, I tried to figure out what to do with all the ribbons from fair. This pile took more than the bed, and didn't include any from the livestock. The blue rosettes were what they used for purple ribbons for photography this year. I think I will let the kids decide if they want any photos up in their room, and put it all in photo albums by year. 

There is just so much, and they really did learn from the process this year, as well as from the feedback on the judging notes. They have one final photo competition this weekend, but they seem to really enjoy telling a story with their work and having time to dedicate to it.

Shine and Shadow have taken to sharing bowls, but last night he was guarding his bucket of hay pellets. His actual bowl is next to Shadow's, and for as much as Shine is appreciating the company, Shadow is too. We have lost several very special family members this year, including Shadow's brother Vegas, and she likes having a buddy around.

Shine has taken to sleeping on the bed with Bailey, like Shadow does with Wyatt. Here, Shine was practicing Shadow's skill at keeping the kids company during Spanish studies. In the morning when I go to wake them all up, Shadow and Shine lay there awake and wait for me to call them.

The spring hatch continues, as little partridge Cochins joined us, along with light Brahmas and more.

There are three little new ones in the brooder this evening who hatched last night and this morning, with more talking and pipping away in the incubator now. There are also blue Cochin bantams, which came from the same stock as those bailey took to fair this year. They all earned blue except for one, which had a comb injury from earlier on when he had stuck his head through the fence. Wyatt is eagerly awaiting his next batch of Silkies, after selling his favorite hen in the auction and bringing in new roosters to improve his stock. Some are sue almost any day now.

This was the first Polish to hatch from the ones we brought home this Spring. Cannot wait to see how it comes out!

Well, we did get a little going to try to finish the new pen, and Charlie brought home the wood we asked for for the doe barn project.  We will see what we get done tomorrow! What's going on at your house?

Always a Project to Keep Me Busy

This weekend was Charlie's Birthday. We packed up two cakes, and he picked up pizza, and we enjoyed the Arizona game with his Mom, Dad, Grandma and Uncle. Wyatt and Bunky were so funny about the scores up and down, of course we were rooting for our home team, my alma mater, but it was not to be. So we enjoyed sunshine cake and the family time and a good game anyway!

I got working on the garden Saturday afternoon. I have been wrapped up in pen building, seedlings, sprouting, baby chickens and baby goats and haven't gotten much done. Not to mention work and home schooling, right?  So I wet down a corner of the garden by the asparagus which just won't give up, got to pulling weeds (yes, it was the easier corner) and got the new blueberry and grape plants in.

The asparagus is just left of center. It always fights through a little on its own, but once I get things on track again it will come back I believe. Notice the hose? Cannot get the sprinklers o turn on, but we will work on that and until then I can get it done with a hose.

That is the little ten by four or so patch I got weeded. About one twelfth of the garden. Baby steps, right?

I really have my work cut out for me, though on Sunday, Charlie went in and burned a lot of the tall weeds so I can get to raking, pulling, and tilling faster.

The garden as a whole. Yup, lots to do. But it will get there!

The gander is being so very protective of his goose, who is sitting on seven eggs. They are an adorable couple. When he gets bored, he goes in and chases Shadow for fun, though, at this moment I had just changed out the feed and water in their regular enclosure, so he walked all the way back to where she decided to nest by the swing set, hollering for her all the way, and made her come back to eat.

I rather believe she just got up then to get him to pipe down and be quiet, though she does love the water when it is freshly changed each afternoon.

Shadow Paws is absolutely in love with the baby goats. She wants to be the babysitter, but we then babysit all of them, as this is her first time with baby goats. This little one had a hard time getting the suction going on mama, so we were syringe feeding for the first four days, trying a bottle but not getting anywhere. The other one only took a day, and this one had to go with us on Sunday so we could keep food in it. After a bath Sunday night, he took a bottle for me! Not much of it, mind you, but when his brother went out, and mama took him, and then this guy went out, his mama was climbing the pen gate to get to him, and he LATCHED ON! Thanks goodness!

He did get to visit the Sunday School classes at church, along with seven baby chicks, as they kick off the Easter units, and was a huge hit!  He did beautifully, and eventually we decided he on his name. But he evening, Bailey had both of their names.

So, introducing Patriot's Dream Freedom's Prayer on the left, and Patriot's Dream Let Your Light Shine on the right .

I also baked a large batch of egg shells. Did you know you can bake them at 350 degrees to kill any bacteria, then grind them up to add calcium to the hens' diet? Well, here is one batch!

Well, here we go, off to start another wild week as we get ready for county fair and the heat to set in. Hope things are beautiful where you are, and you are feeling all of the wonder of Spring!