Barter System

I love to barter. Perfect example of how this works in everyone's favor: I needed a name tag clip for the show this weekend. I wanted something snazzy and pretty that looked nice with everything. A friend of mine agreed to make a couple for me, in exchange for soap. She wouldn't even consider accepting money (not even for supplies), she just asked me, 'What can I have that you've got?'. Love it. She got some bars of soap, and I got a couple of necklaces for our name tags.

She did a great job with the necklaces. They look fantastic with the aprons. She matched the colors perfectly!

Finally made some aprons

I don't know why I don't make more aprons. I love aprons, I wear them constantly, and they can be SOOOOO easy to sew. I did 3 out of a remnant of decorator fabric from Joanne's that I snatched up for $6. Perfect tvala colors, and so cute with the paisley print. I made nice deep pockets for all the 'supplies' I want on hand for the show. Tape, scissors, pens, calculator, etc.

Like the sneak peak of the soap barn??

...Sidenote, I got a long overdue hair cut and I'm lovin' it. ;)


Edited to add: I just noticed how similar this pose of me looks to the Cinderella pose below. Cheese.

Stocked up

Dancer, our angus steer, yeilded us 762 lbs to pack into the freezer. That's a lot. Both freezers are now crammed with gorgeously marbled meat. It really was too bad that there wasn't any room for the Rocky Road anymore....we had to eat it for breakfast so it wouldn't waste. ;)

I'm disappointed that Syrup kicked the bucket so unexpectedly and that we don't have another steer beefing up for us at the moment. We'll use what we have for now, but we'll probably be on the lookout for a nice angus or limousine steer as a replacement.

Surprise, I know.

Can't believe it. Cinderella?

Dignified and hard working. With a gentle and soft-spoken manner you have something many people don't. Patience. Even through the moments of heartbreak you're still able to hold onto all of your hopes and dreams. Bide your time; your dream will come true.

Let's hear it....who are you?

Oh.

I saw this link on another blog, and thought it would be interesting to see if I was a 'good 1930s housewife'. Turns out, I'm not.

21 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

I found myself laughing out loud as I went through the questions; I guess I have a lot to improve on....c'mmon. Do it. I know you're curious....just takes a couple minutes....

Brutal

We lost our steer yesterday. First we just lost it, and then WE really lost it, and finally we REALLY lost it.

Explain:

Syrup, the steer of the Funny Farm, decided to role play the cow jumping over the moon. He lept the fence and galloped around the empty yard a bit. Funny, and BIL & I tried to round him back up into the yard. Syrup didn't agree and plowed through our neighbor's fence. Through their RV gate and out into the street. That's when we lost him.

Ran around the neighborhood a bit, tracking him down. Thankfully, SIL a few streets away had spotted Syrup and was able to direct us. 115*, BTW. 2PM. No clouds.

I jumped in SIL's truck (SIL #2 of 3 that were in the neighborhood) and we drove after him. At the end of the road, expecting to turn left to where he was last spotted, I happened to look straight ahead and saw a brownish/ black mass, bounding through the acres and acres of alfalfa.

After about a mile and a half, part running/ part driving, we (with the help of a farm Jose who was working the field) managed to run him down and have him 'cornered' in a triangle of the 3 of us. Just me, SIL, and Jose.....still 115*......2:45ish...

We all got a chance to play rodeo clown, getting tossed and plowed and mowed. Finally, we got a rope around him and waited for our friend to bring his trailer.

3:15ish....in the trailer, on the way back home. BIL managed to back SIL's van into the irrigation ditch, where it was high-centered and stayed there until later....

Syrup was home, and we turned him into the pen. He walked around in a circle, layed down with a couple desperate 'moooooo's.....and died!

Today, I feel like I was hit by a car. Maybe a truck. I'm pretty beat up, and so is poor SIL, who took a couple plows (and was drug as she hung onto the rope)....Mostly, I am TO'd that we now have to pay $250 to have the carcass removed, after loosing all that beef. ($500 inital investment, plus feed since we've had him....). At this point, though, I am just glad we are all ok, and that when I really needed help, I had oodles of family nearby and a friend who dropped everything at a moment's notice to take part in the excitement. ;)

In the end, as I was whining about my injuries, DH pointed out, 'Well, you won!' (vs. the steer). Yeah, we sure showed him. Dang fly-covered lump in the pen......The cow's gone Home.

Carnage

My garden lays in ruins. Between the oven-roasting heat and the sneaky chickens and the curious bunnies all that remains is:

2 pumpkin vines, struggling and about half shriveled,

3 yellow/brown tomato plants with 9 wrinkley yellow-orange tomatoes,

1 zombie squash plant, with a lone 1 1/2" squash, about to give up,

and about a baker's dozen 6" tall sunflowers, which were packaged and sold under the impression that they were 'enormous' with 'edible seeds'.

I had about 8 cucumbers that were looking quite promising 1 week ago, but alas....the cottontails found them before I could pick them. Of course, they didn't finish them off. Oh, no, they had to only munch through the center-- the most tender moist part and leave the rest. Pancake enjoyed a mid-day snack of the remains.

Next year, I will be asking our neighbor what seeds he plants that gives such gorgeous sunflowers. His are at least 8 feet tall, with 12" heads. Did I mention mine are 6"? Yes, I did....