Aww, Come On .. Cram More In A Day

I love that saying. I loved the blog that made it very clear that we can all be awesome in so many ways. Maybe that's why I feel so bogged-down. I'm trying to be awesome in so many ways and so all of them make me just blah. I want finish all my projects before all the next batch of lambs and goat kids. The lambs could come tonight or the end of the week and the kids are due on the 30th of April.

This is me ... and I don't know why this is all happening. I started on my genealogy and tons of names fly-out and jump at me, like they're saying, "Put me in your book." "Don't forget me." "Get all the names right." My intention is to do this all again in a new program and make sure all my names have sources and also having all the correct names. My Steve's mother just gave me a whole box full of genealogy. I am very excited. I am excited. Excited! Really.

Best Reminder, Ever!

I'm still on a diet, was there a bet going that I'd quit?

Oh My... What Have I Started?

I do love it and it's surrounding me right now. I've learned so much, just this week and somehow  a lot of the fog is clearing, but I know it's going to be a long process. My new goal is to try and do one family group sheet everyday and do it exactly right. I want to be perfect.

I totally wish knitting was so cute and enjoyable right now! I've started knitting in the round and let me tell you those knitting needles with fishing line aren't good for anything except maybe picking the cotton out of medicine bottles. My daughter wanted me to make this cute little skirt. I know I can make it, but the soft yarn was a double spun and a little elastic. Fishing line and elastic yarn, hmmmm. It was a fight from the beginning picking up each stitch, up and over to the needle tops and then knit it and try and scoot it down again and then the stupid "fishing line" would flip back and forth having a memory of being looped like an old watering hose. I ordered a new type of knitting needle and if it works, I will put it on my blog so I will remember the shop I bought it!  I would love for this to go easier. No wonder Bernet Yarn is discontinuing their line of elastic yarn because there're no needles in the tri-counties that make it easy to knit. (actually impossible) I'm really looking forward to making these little skirts.

My Mess Just Waiting For Some Maybe Great Needles?

Here's my other project. I've only promised to finish this since Christmas. I've manage to paint the gold and silver bottle caps and now the white. That Rust-preventative type pain paint, doesn't work. The rainy-mist yesterday made my bottle caps rust through the white. So I did it all over again. One more time with the red caps and I can look for the little, sweet pictures. My grand daughters want put their own pictures on the inside of the caps with resin and then on "dog-chains" or little pin-backs that I bought over an year ago.

Believe it or not I have a big area to clean-out and need to redecorate and my walk-in bathroom closet is already sanded and ready for primer. This isn't a summer project, not at all. It needs to be the Spring.

So much is going great with our farm. Steve's getting someone to bring us some good soil for our bins and we are "going-to-town" with our garden. Plans include a greenhouse for the winter and we've got all the needed supplies already. We don't need that yet, just love pondering it my head.

I have another small project I had to paint but it may have not worked, but I'm not going to add it here because I may be producing a flop. My dear husband may come to my rescue by throwing it in the trash. hahahaha. Better place for it anyway.

Great Flowers Without Us Even Trying. Matilija Poppies

I thought if I listed all that I have that I'm working on right now--not mentioning the tending of our grand children. I might feel a bit overwhelmed. I know I have a horse to move and give shots to two of them. They love that (naht-ugh) and Sonny is in this total high-gear "twitter-patted" manic-state of Spring. He'll be NOT fun to move. I have his picture at the top of my blog. He's the black Bashkir Curly that's so cute that when he nips at you, ya' think he's giving-out kisses. *Truly I'm blessed to have fun stuff to do*

Funny, I don't feel stressed, hurried, or overwhelmed. I'll just do what I feel up to be doing and the rest will just wait. Goat kids and lambs can come and I can start milking and now I think I'm going to bed. Wow, I forgot. I'm going to be milking again. Milking?

I'm On a Stupid Diet! Period!

Honestly, I hate juicing, but everyone of my five girls and their aunt are doing it. We have our own Facebook update page and I was sucked-right in with dreams of losing lots of weight. I know they didn't want to leave me out so one of my daughter's even went out and bought me this fancy juicer.

Today the juice tasted like dirt. I added a lime, I did that! I think it was the red cabbage and small, not ripe sweet potato. It wasn't sweet. I could've gone grazing in the Malva weeds and it would've tasted better. Yip, I'm complaining until after one week, I lost 8 pounds and it's not water loss. How'd that happen when I was so full?

I'm trying to vary my foods and now I'm just following what my daughter posts online. She finds the best recipes so I need to stick to them and not just fly-out on my own. One thing for sure our Chickens are sure loving the pulp! And our eggs our rich with the super-dark yolk. I want an egg.

Tonight I'm eating for reals...2 bananas in the blender (I have to have those to replace take the potassium I need from the heart pills I take) I hate bananas, but I don't anymore this way. Okay, 2 bananas, I know I said that ... a box of beautiful strawberries picked just about noon today, coconut milk plain, no sugar--no additives, etc, just coconut milk and 2 scoops of Whey protein powder mixed with the coconut milk to get the blending going. Okay, I don't need an egg. I'll give this another day.

I'm really wanting to do this, but I'm feeling everyone is losing faster than I am. I'm not sure I can stay on this eating plan. So I just ask myself, "How can I feel a year from now?" "I'll have the same sore knees and tight clothes or will I be feeling better?" I read this last quote from Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Can't quit.

Queensland Heeler Puppies

Just a Short Update on Darby and Duelly Our Queensland Heelers 

 They are Expecting!

May 29th

I have the details and date on my other page and there's 

tab now just above and that's a link to our sweet dogs.

Darby Can't Quit Being A Mom For All The Baby Animals-One day Old

Update: Laney is pregnant too and her pups due date is June 8th!

Darby's Wild Child!

Laney is our middle daughter's dog and she hangs-out with her mom and her best friend and now mate, Duelly. Laney's sire is from Piru and is named Turbo. I have him somewhere on my Queensland Heeler site. She's a lot smaller than Darby and a sweetie-pie. 

I found these very cute magnets and art prints on a great dog site.
Link: Heelers and the pictures were done by Kari Egan

We haven't had a real "Ankle Biter" since Freckles and he was old in 1994. He was herding our neighbor and broke his skin on his ankle. Our neighbor who was not a relative; went to the ER and our dog was quarantined by Animal Control. We would have been in huge trouble if he hadn't had his rabies or license from our city. Whew! 

We have learned that we need to train our dogs early-on that the biting behavior is not OKAY. We see all three dogs herd our grandchildren inside and outside the house and we watch carefully to make sure biting doesn't happen. 

I'm not good with the dogs even nipping at our sheep pasterns. The goats too, but makes it more fun for Heelers because the goats turn around and fight-back. Negative reinforcement. Didn't work for the cattle because they just about knocked there heads-off every time, no matter if they duck, run, or scoot-back as fast a a blur. The cattle's perspective and experience know just where to kick. All survived scalpings. I love these dogs.

¡Easter! Estoy Tan Hecho. Okay, Listo

I've wasted so much time this week! I decided last Sunday that this would be the year that I would have a new dress for Easter. I've worn the same dress for15 years straight and not only is it way out of style, it's faded, thread-bare, and practically see-through. I still love it however, the best part is when everyone talked about their new Easter dress ... I could really brag that this was the same Easter dress I've worn every year since 1998. That started being impressive about the sixth year and at that time it still looked new. My Easter dress wasn't that memorable because it wasn't just an Easter dress. I wore it just like all my other Spring and Summer dresses. It wasn't a lot of money, but was so cheerful and had the very best colors for me which are coral and turquoise. Both of the colors were on this broomstick-style dress and the material is so soft. I suppose even softer now since it's totally worn-out.

No kidding, I was still resolved in not buying fancy duds, but making my own Spring dress (and get-this) I bought the material for only $7.00. Yep, I am amazing.

I had the pattern and I had already made a dress from it. The dress really is "a-piece-of-cake" to make, that is-until I was coming to the sleeve facing. It has a cuff with a placket. I did it easily before but this time it was terrible. I left it and thought I could cover it with a button. So tired of doing something over and the little tufts of material were making this dress construction so much harder, even the ironing.

I decided to cut the facing sleeve off and use the other version that doesn't have the placket. I've made this before and not long ago. How did I mess this up? I ironed it before I sewed it, duhr ... and the other is that I didn't copy the dots to match-up. I measured, but obviously it wasn't right.

I had to make a new facing for this new dress I'm working on because I lost part of my pattern and even though I had made another facing for the recently made dress. I made this dress a little bigger and had no zipper and I didn't have a back seam. Oh, my gosh ... I wasn't ever super good at sewing, but I made the dress way tooo big. I hope you can follow this. Bummer! I could handle the too big, maybe, but I needed to redo the facing again. I was too worried about the curve, etc. and I then, Oh my gosh! I realized I cut the facing out of the center section of my already cut-out piece at the bottom. Sewing used to be relaxing until I turned dumb. 

hahahaha I Love John Wayne!

  I'm going to sleep "on" it and not "in" it to figure this out. 

  I really may have a new nightgown for Easter *sigh* 

My Cutting Board Is An Old Closet Door I Put On The Bed.

My wonderful Easter dress. I cut the dress down to try and take-out and even-out the hem line. Oh of course, when I did that it became to short and I wouldn't be able to even lean-over. I have extra fabric so to find-out just how much I needed to try it on. Noooo! Not only did I already know it was too big, it was WAY to big! I had finished all the seams and blind-stitched the neck facing. A lot a good that would do the neck was so big it will fall off one of my shoulders. 

So, I went in and went to bed and cried. No time to make another with my Uncle Dan and Aunt Barbara here to visit tomorrow and I need to see them and the next day was Tatum's soft-ball game and Dustin couldn't be there right when it started my other grand daughter needed a ride from her class. Tatum needs fans, right?  Honest, I'd put on my "happy face" outside and come in the house and complain. It was along the lines, "I'm so stupid! I just made that dress perfect a couple months ago." "I've lost all my desire to ever, ever sew again!" "I'm wearing my black dress for Easter." That was my choice and I had or my nice Fall outfit I got for Kiely's wedding two years ago.

We don't have a stinking dime, right now while Steve's on Workman's Comp. (he completely hates it, it hurts, and he can't work) Steve took me out for the discount Sumo sushi roll and we laughed at their sign. We see "Happy Hour" at a lot of restaurants, but "Reverse Happy Hour" Steve asked, "What's that?" The picture in our heads was a brawl in the resturant and everyone's yelling at each other? We laughed so hard, but I think both we needed something funny to cheer us up. Steve then drove me over to a little shop around the corner and I got a Spring blouse. Nothing fancy, but it was turquoise and bits of brown and I could wear it with my brown Fall skirt. The blouse's name is the "Pity Easter Top." I was so happy. I may even sew again.

Sunday was a wonderful Church meeting, especially seeing the huge crowd at Church. There were lots of visitors, but one really great thing was that our regular Primary that sang--none of them visitors, filled the podium area and I counted 20 children and our four grandchildren that attend our ward, too, were back East. We haven't had that many children in our Primary for over 10 years. The whole ward was excited and we even had a confirmation of newly baptized member. It was so spiritual, amazing, and a side-thought ... it was great to see we all didn't dress-up.

Perfect Spring Blouse

Steve and I rushed home and laid our Easter clothes out on the bed and put work clothes on to make colored Easter Eggs. All of them had been cooked but we needed to do something special with them. Luana, my sister-in-law had decided to make them, but I also volunteered, so she let us do it. Luana wanted to color the whites with pastels and gave us the directions and she was going to make a plate of chicks in another. My cake pipping kit was missing the large tip, so it looked like I was squirting-out worms as I filled the eggs. Steve and I got our good clothes back-on and carried the eggs out to the car and hustled to Ventura, just 15 minutes away. The weird chicks and eggs went with us.  Oh well, here again I learned a lot and it was fun seeing all the grandchildren and nieces and nephews say "Cool! Messed-up Chicks!" Little malformed, but every single eggs we made was eaten and we made tons of eggs.

We went over to my son's girlfriend's place on the ocean and our whole family invaded her home. She's so good to us and it wasn't exactly perfect weather, but completely perfect weather for us. We love the beach and ocean when it's sprinkling or a storm is overhead. Pretty rare site for Ventura and there was going to be a "red-tide" that night. Kids all got really excited. I wondered why the water looked so icky. I thought it was from the run-off. If you kick the water at night it's a whole different deal, it's beautiful! The ocean water will be florescent blue like the movie Avatar and the more agitated the water becomes the more the magical it all becomes. It's not a good thing for the sea life, I've know that my whole life, but when you can't fish or really swim you can sure kick it and bright-blue flies though the air. Images are on Google. We did stay after dark and it's one of the those nights when you are so happy to see the "Red Tide" that everyone forgets to take a picture. I have to only think that it's a such a happy time because a lot of my childhood nights were spent running through and making crazy, blue water during a "Red Tide" event.

I think we'll think of another reason to make colored eggs before Easter again. I pulled-out my stored-up material today and picked a new fabric to redo the same dress. I put the other in the sewing cabinet. I'll fix it for summer and maybe by then I can figure-out how to make that dress work. Sometimes holidays are hard especially when there's a bit of a rush and because of money we can't be prepared. Wait for the money for the eggs, wait for sewing, a longer Church time means we need to go faster to travel or be ready for guests. It's all worth it, every bit and I'm still laughing out-loud, by myself ... picturing and thinking about the sign at the sushi restaurant and their "Reverse Happy Hour."