So apparently no body has an opinion on my chucking the whole thing and moving to an inner city apartment. Thanks a lot.
I suppose I am going to drag myself up and deal with it then.
I do feel better today. I think I am going to be able to do this. I may not feel that way tomorrow but for today, I'm good. It really is all mental isn't it? I mean you get so bogged down with the sheer amount of stuff..and then you get on the computer and see everything everyone else seems to be doing and get even more disillusioned..and on and on. I think I forget to take time for me..Just a couple of hours to go horseback riding or for a walk or whatever..I have books I have wanted to read for months an haven't done...I am hoping I can deal with my inner whiner this weekend and come up with a schedule that I will stick to. And there are so many reasons I love living here..Look at this picture. One of our chickens decided to hitch a ride..













Meanwhile..this is serious kitchen porn...


Yep..I told you. That is what I want..along with the clawfoot tub...AND IceStone counters..and the million it will take to do all of that.. That sink, by the way, is available at Vintage Tub... there is a ad on the sidebar..all the sinks are on sale through labor day, they have free shipping..and...look what I have just for you...
FREE Towel Warmer

Receive a FREE Towel Warmer with the purchase of any complete tub set (tub, faucet, drain, and supply lines).
Coupon Code FreeTW
Expires October, 1st 2007

FREE SHIPPING
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EXCLUSIVE COUPON Save $100 with the purchase of a Complete Tub Set (tub, faucet, drain, & supply lines).
Coupon Code WEB100
No Expiration Date

Yeah, I know, that was very commercial of me. But they do have cool stuff.
Next thing:
I wrote an article today on the Thoreau Farm Restoration Project. If you are interested in history and the environment you will like this article. Thoreau Farm Historical Restoration Project

Regular Readers...Read the post just below this before voting.
New Readers..read several posts before voting

should I pack it in, sell cheap and move us to an efficiency apartment?
	yes..you are meant for better things...like lounging
	yes..you could then invest the leftover money and become rich
	yes, will the horses have their own room?
	No. You are just tired and I am sending you chocolate
	No..things are going to be better very soon..I talked to God and He said so
	No. You deserve to spend the rest of your life working on the house
pollcode.com free polls

I just found out that Marc's boss is advertising for a replacement for Marc. I am trying not to be upset..or frustrated but I am scared sort of. Nervous is a better term. I don't blame him in one way, Marc is in the wheelchair and the store is not set up for that..Marc has about 3-4 VA appointments a month and we can't always schedule them on MArc's days off..Marc is sometimes spacey from the meds..
How can I begin to find a job with the kids, the house, and being here for him?
God's purposes will prevail..He knows the plans He has for me...I just wish I did..
I wrote an article on Hub on heritage veggies. it is pretty interesting.
Heirlooms come in many varieties. There are numerous unusual colors, patterns, shapes, and flavors. With these fabulous plants you don't have to settle for mediocre flavors in your food but can experience many different flavors within the same type of vegetable.read more-(and submit to stumble, digg, or whatever..thanks!)

Autumn is arriving. Even here in Texas I can sense it's closeness. Like the part in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe where Father Christmas shows up so they know that Aslan is on his way and the white witch is losing her power..95 degrees does not feel so blasted hot...the light is changing color and the shadows are different.
It is this time of year that I miss my home. I don;t knwo exactly what I mean by that...there seems to be a place deep in my heart that I have never been able to find, a place that was, perhaps, birthed the summer I read every book int he children's section of the library in West Windsor, New Jersey. It seems to be a farm, a place where the leaves turn crimson in the Autumn, where some other dimensional me picks raspberries and blackberries in summer, and sips hot coffee whilst curled on a cosy windowseat during a snowy winter day. In spring this other me walks down drizzly country lanes and watches the birds return to their nesting places, picks the first few narcissus and iris, and gathers new asparagus and fiddle head ferns.
The odd thing is that every once in awhile I get a deep longing for that place that I have been- like today.
Anyway. I planted green beans. I could not till up the old garden because the tiller is not working and the garden itself has been fallow for 2 seasons. I just bought large bages of dirt at Home Depot and punched holes in the bottom to let the water run through. Then I punched holes in the top to plant into and voila! My simple, weed free green bean garden..if it works. I am tentitavely working on plans for my gardens, thinking that if i plan now I will be able to do them in the spring. I would like peonies, but am not sure about how they would do here..and I am a strong believer in xeriscapes and natural plantings so I will have to look into that more. I have a huge expanse of poison ivy growing nicely since the sheep are gone..I am thinking it will be a good place for blackberries.
Maybe rather than longing for what I dont have I need to create those things here.
The front entryway will get worked on this weekend. I swear I am going to do it.


I am going to finish taking the vinyl stuff off and put in new trim where the wood has rotted out...I know how to finish it off now, with a certain type of molding, blessedly inexpensive, and I am hoping that I will have it done by Monday. Good intentions anyway..and you kow what they say about those!

how to make cloth diapers

save money, help the environment! CLoth diapers are easy to make and you can sell them on ebay!

read more | digg story

My daughter and son in law left yesterday..the house feels empty the way it does when someone is missing. ;(
I have to get organized ...I used to be so incredbly oprganized it wasnt funny and now...not. I know alot of it is becuase I am overwhelmed.
Anyway.I think I had better turn my attention to the office bathroom. The tiles are going to start to come up because it was never sealed and finished. There is no way Marc can do this so I guess I will just do it. After all, I am reasonably intelligent...I can follow instructions..surely I can mud a wall and patch, cut baseboards and nail them in..right? right???
I have written a couple of more articles on Hubpages. Look..please read them..if you like them digg, stumble, or whatever them..I especially like stumble. The last one I wrote is on making cloth diapers ...I made ALOT of them in the past altho I am beyond that stage now..and NO I do not miss it.
how to make cloth diapers

Raising Turkey for food and profit on the homestead

how to raise organic pasture fed tukey and make money doing it.

read more | digg story

I just wrote a thing on straw bale construction...I really am interested in it..ever since (o.k..I know..that does not look right..is it my country roots showing? Is it ever since or every since? ) the three little pigs I thought houses mad e of straw were cool.
I mean, straw smells good...It is itchy and you really don't want to roll around in it too much :;:snicker::: because you will have little red bumps that itch..but the smell is heavenly.
That has absolutely nothing to do with straw bale construction.
I talked to Marc about building a straw bale barn..I just really like the idea and think it is cool..I've got some cool pictures in the article of homes and I think it was translate well into a nice snug barn. He was skeptical.
There is nothing new about that. I am the one that runs ahead..he is the one that is very downt o earth but he loves me so he will sort of nod and smile at my antics. Really...it is like I Love Lucy around here about half the time but without the cuban. He is an Iraqi linguist (learned in the Marines) so I guess he could yell at me in Iraqi...IF he could remember how to say anything other than military terms. I was actually going ot use real phrases and then I remembered that it would probably lead to black helicopters on whisper mode hovering outside my window.

If you get a chance please read the articles....or just go and click on things...or leave a comment or whatever. Thank you.straw bale homes

It is still hot. And summer has hit, albeit late, here none the less..It is hot, dry and ...dry and hot. Texas being on the cutting edge also added an unusual twist this year..North Carolina humidity.
So we are breathing through straws, fanning ourselves and just being generally miserable.
Trees are falling down like crazy..I would feel a little paranoid but it isnt just our property. It is all over town..and I know our horses, devious as they are, are not sneaking out at night to strip bark off of all the trees in the county. There is some other force at work here. We will have firewood to last until the Rapture..and that is a good thing.
I cant concentrate enough to know hwat to do next.There are so many needs that they overwhelm me right now and i am doing next to nothing. Research of course, but that allows me to enter a glazed and dazed state as I stare at the computer so it is no good for actually getitng things done.
I made donuts this morning. That is something. I tend to be a person, who, in spite of being a mature christian (ha! whatever that is) still has trouble defining myself by other than what I do..so right now my esteem is very low..I am doing nothing, accomplishing nothing..and the voice of my mom haunts me in my sleep. :( I keep reminding myself survival is an accomplishment right now. Not screaming at the kids in frustration is an accomplishment now. Getting math and english and reading done is an accomplishment.
I wish I could wipe the slate clean and have a do over. Where is that darn Easy Button?
I need to get the office cleared. We had a college student move in (Bible College) to help him ..we cant afford to contribute financially but can give to him in this way..anyway he moved into what was my sewing, crafting, staging room for all the house projects..all of htose things are now stacked int he office with a narrow walkway between stacks. :( I am tempted to just toss everything..but so much of it is unspun fiber, fabric and such that I hate to do it.
I need to replace a board on the soffit face in the back..and I need to finish repairing the door frame in the front. I have no clue how to do this or where to start. I keep trying to argue with God that I am a GIRL. I don't know HOW..but He will have none of it.
I have written a couple more articles on Hub:
Minimizing Your Carbon Footprint about how to have less impact on the earth by the choices you make daily. There is a cool link there to help you calculate your footprint.
Green investment has some thoughts on how to invest your money in a socially responsible way..if, say, you had any to invest after buying all you needed for the trim on the 3rd floor balcony or something...anyway..check them out.
HAppy Saturday.

wordless wednesday

O.k..a few days ago Momlady gave me the Nice Matters Award. I wanted to p[ass that on because I have met SO many really NICE bloggers..new friends and old..SO...

1. I want to give this award to a very special blogger, someone i have known for many years altho we have never met in real life. This woman has called me to check on me, has encouraged me, and prayed for me through all of the weirdness my life seems to ooze even though she has faced major hardships and pain in her own life. So..Marla, thank you.
confessions of an adhd artist sahm

2. My next award person is Jenny at Up the Hill Gang who has also been a friend and sweetly COMMENTS on my blogs unlike the rest of you lot. :)

3. Next is someone who I never met IRL but I think *might* be in the same odd genetic whirlpool as me. I am adopted so who knows? Rechelle at Country Doctor's Wife is hysterically funny and never fails to make me laugh..and totally identify with what she is writing about...because we both know what it is to be the mom of a plethora of testosterone laden individuals that truly believe the way to a woman's heart is being able to burp the Star Spangled Banner.

4. Valli, from More Than Burnt TOast is rapidly becomming one of my favorite bloggers ..especially with her *droolworthy* pictures.

There are actually a ton of other people but this is it for now.. :) Enjoy your awards.... you deserved them


On to the next thing...
I have been writing for Hubpages. According to my very lucrative contract with them I need to promote myself on my other blogs...this and apron strings..so ...
I have been really looking into green techniques. I think that as a Christian it is important to be gentle with the earth. I don't understand the mentality that has no concept of the intricate details that went in to creating htis planet. Personally if I was God people would get smote regularly.
Luckily I am not God.
Anyway..I want to restore this house but I also want it to be off grid, sustainable and gorgeous. All on the $3 I found in my pocket this morning. One way is to create a sustainable garden, one that is created especially for the climate and soil conditions here...
I wrote baout some of the hows of that last night, Sustainable Organic GArden Design so check it out.

I seriously have a great idea. I have been designing rainwater collection systems in my head for months..and also gray water irrigation systems and I thought today how cool it would be to recycle your free water! I mean...the calculation for rainwater harvest is 75% of 600 gallons per 1000 sq ft of catchment per inch of rain..The other 25% is figured to be evaporation and loss. SO for our house that is 1200 +/- gallons of water per 1 " of rain. WOW! Then once you hooked your system up to your house for your free water you could reroute the graywater pipes to be collected in a seperate cistern to be utilized for garden. WOW! again.
Now..I just need time, materials..materials and time... :)
I did write an article on this today, since i was thinking about it..If even half of the houses in our town had rainwater collection systems in place there would be virtually no flooding and it's residual negative effects on the environment. If rainwater collection systems were in place the drought and dropping water tables that we face every summer in North Central Texas would not cause undue problems. read the rest here and take a look at the picture from when our proerty flooded. An entire storage shed floated on to our property..it is now a chicken coop..Thanks God!

ATTENTION RECHELLE at Country Doctor's Wife

I can't get to your website. I keep getting an error message... I think the government suspects our plan and is trying to infiltrate our communications codes and has programmed your blog to ignore my blog. Don't tell them about Hoffa...no matter how much chocolate they offer you.

I am tired.
I am cranky.
I want a small apartment somewhere where I can call maintenence to come fix anything that needs fixing.
And while they were doing that I would get my nails done and have a massage.

It has been about 700F outside..which means it has been 768 F inside since we dont use A/C. It is humid..I mean really humid..no at all like Texas..more like Michigan only MUCH hotter...or North Carolina around Camp Le Jeune (I spent a decade there at Tarrawa Terrace one year..It is when I got interested in raising livestock..The roaches were huge...but really really hard to milk.)
Everyone is melty..and headachy..and cranky. And we had ANOTHER stupid huge branch come down and tear up one more fence.
Have I mentioned my fantasy apartment? >:(

Oh..I wrote a hugely fascinating article about heritage breed goats. Please...read it..comment on it...meanwhile I think I am going to just sit here and sweat...
My fascinating article about goats. Actually there is a hysterical video there about the tennessee Fainting Goats. :)


Grin is obviously dreaming of a small efficiency apartment as well.....

This is what I want. For my entire life I have wanted a clawfoot tub to relax in at the end of the day ..well maybe not when I was little...but since I started reading books anyway.


Marc doesn't like tubs because at 6'6" it is difficult for him to get into them..


But THIS tub is 72". Surely that is big enough even for him?
It just seems to me that clawfoot tubs are past of the ambiance in almost every romantic book or movie I have been entertained by.\
Anyway do you remember this bathroom?

Well this is where I want the clawfoot. I am saving my money but I imagine I am going to have quite a wait since it isn't high on the to do list.
Vintage Tub and Bath has the one that I want (72") and they are running 100.00 off coupons..plus free shipping..if you happen to be in the market for one check them out.


I really really want to get the bathroom finished before the end of the year. I have looked back at the dates the project got started and it is almost embarrassing (umm FEBRUARY)I reconcile my self to the time aspect by repeating my favorite mantra..."someday this house will be awesome..."
It will, won't it? :/

I cannot imagine anyone ever giving me this..but wendy at The Adventures of Momlady has blessed me with an *Nice Matters* award. :) My very first. Ever. And now I get to display it proudly on my blogs....and pass it on to those who I feel are very deserving..
(email me with your financial offer and I will put you on the list...) I will be back later with my choices.
I am thoroughly enjoying my grandkids, altho not the humidity that is making us feel wet all the time. :( Marc has perked up with the joy of seeing our aughter/son in law/ grandkids for the first time in 2 years and even though he is still in pain he is much more relaxed. This is such an answer to prayer and I know so many of you have been praying for us in this. Thank you.
My son in law has wrested the chain saw from my fingers and is busily sawing and chopping...and is planning on moving on to other projects. I am too blessed for words and am showing my appreciation by cooking. :)
I need to get out to the barn to get a picture of how awesome it looks with the pegboard up. :)

Well..I knew this but I couldn't say anything in case Marc read it...Our daughter, Erin, and her family showed up this mornign from Pa. It was a surprise for Marc, and a blessing for us both! It was so funny because yesterday AOL news said that Tropical storm Erin was scheduled to hit Texas Thursday morning, and I knew that my own *tropical storm* Erin was assuredy on her way. They hit about the same time...
Two blessed weeks with the grandkids, and spending time with daughter and son in law. Marc looks better all ready! And our son in law is excellent about getting projects done. :)
A few days ago I felt so lonely and today I just feel so blessed.

The Hub article I wrote today was on choosing heritage breeds for the small homestead. Here is a bit:For centuries farmers all over the globe have raised an assortment of livestock for food, for fiber, and for work. When small, family farms flourished animals were carefully chosen for their unique abilities and ability to survive in harsh conditionsHeritage Breeds

I have been doing alot of thinking about money lately, for many reasons. I wrote about various ways to finance home restoration here,Options For FInancing Green Restoration You have found your dream house. Maybe it is an old farmhouse on a few acres of rolling meadows. Maybe it is a stately Victorian in an old area of town that is being renewed by forward thinking people such as your self. Either way, now that you have it what do you do with it?
..Do you have any ways I haven't thought of? Check it out, leave a comment...I would love to know!

Wordless Wednesday:

Numerous colors of paint tend to come to light when you start stripping the trim. I think it is amazing at the pure kaleidoscope of color that appears as the top layers bubble off.

Under the vinyl on our house there was white paint. Predictable. Then a layer of odd chartreuse..beneath that a layer of the pepto bismol pinkiest pink..and finally the beautiful stain. In some places. In others large areas of wood trim was replaced. The siding is like that too...From what I can tell some places it is white and some places it is light yellow..But all of it is peeling.
I am still hoping to get to some of the work this week. I have been so busy I have yet to prime the new trim from the door being replaced and we have a storm coming into the gulf.. :( Hopefully it will go around. Just this once.
I still haven't decided whether to stain or paint the doors. Maybe I will post a survey tomorrow and you guys can decide for me.

From my other blog:
Ten years ago the question, "paper or plastic?" caused much discussion as to which was the more responsible choice. Today that question has evolved into, "Is it better for the environment to build new or restore an existing structure?". Click here ot read more-
Which Is Better? Build New or Restore an Existing Structure?

O.k..well I just started writing on hubpages about *green restoration*. I kmow..I really needed another blog, right?
but the thing is that I am passionatly interested in both restoration and the environment and the more i learn about it the more positive i am that we are doing the right thing.
So, do me a favor and check it out..Build New or Restore?..Leave me a comment and let me kinow that you have been there.

I COMPLETED a project this weeked! YAY!

No, not hte shed..we are still working on that, altho closer ot the goal..I have pegboard out side ready to be put up to create a completely organized space.
For about 10 minutes.

No..even better. I have replaced the stainless steel top to my stove. WHy you may ask? Well, fist of all I will NEVER EVER have another stinless steel top on a stove. Yuck. EWW. Double spit. Ptooey.
Because they get hot. So that that a couple of the kids AND myself have burned our arms to the point that we had 2nd degree burns by brushing against the top. ANd..it burns on the food when you spill..and I am messy. Yes. SO here is a picture of the old top. You might need a throw up bowl ...keep one handy. A paper bag will probably suffie, unless you have had a really huge breakfast...
This is embarrassing..but..in the interest of home restorers everywhere..here goes..
..


yeah. Told ya it was bad..And it really is bad because I am also a food writer. You
are supposed to have lovely chef kitchens when you are a foodie. Really. It is in the foodie rule book page 345, column 8, rule 47B.


SO with the help of my 15year old we got the rusted screws out, broke a few important stove pieces and dragged that bad boy out to the trash area. And then we struggled to put the new top on.
And finally....


And finally we gave up and sort of laid it on top until we can find the other hinge that fell through a hole in the floor. But doesn't it look great? But now the REST of the kitchen looks awful..
Sort of if you give a restorer a new stove top she will want cabinets...Maybe i shoudl write a book like that? What do you think?

some of you have wondered what I am alluding to about our situation...I have posted a brief (trust me)story about it on
Road Not Taken

It is time to tackle the front door. The door itself is fine, I stripped it and replaced the chipping wood putty that was in it and repainted it a couple of years ago..but I just couldn't seem to get myself to start on the frame trim. I didn't know where to start.



Obviously there are alot of places TO start..maybe that was part of the problem.
Anyway, so when the door guy was here the other day I asked him if I could pick his brain for a bit after he was done and, he being one of the nicest door framer guys I ever met (as wella s the only one) stayed to show me what I needed to do to fix the woodwork and what type of trim to do.
So I showed hime what I had picked up from Home Depot

and he agreed that it would be a perfect finish molding for the exterior! YAY!
So next week I will begin to pull the rest of hte vinyl down and pull the old torn up molding out...and begin on the door. I am scared that I will muck this up royally but I have never been one for not taking a chance, right

Since my camera was out of batteries this morning I decided to take a few pictures when they were recharged. I had to take some pictures for my food blogs (baking delights and apron strings & simmering things, so I decided to take some of just what is happenign here today.
Yes..we have had alot of trees come down this year but the blessing in that is that we have alot of wood for the fireplace. In the winder we try to close the doors into the kitchen and stay in there by the fire for the most part. I know..shade of The Long Winter. Hey, right now we save money where we can.

There is more where that came from...I still have several trees to saw up.
O.k..this may seem strange to you...but htis rock came from Bucks County Pa. When I was 4 we lived there and I found this huge rock. I went home to get my dad and he came back with me, thinking it was a small rock I had found...Not so. He went and got a wheelbarrow, bless the man, and hefted this huge thing up on the wheelbarrow, took it home for me, set it next to the play house he had built for me...and then proceeded to move it everytime we moved for the next 14 years. It is sitting in what will be my prayer garden someday. Right now it is just the side of the house

Next on the magical mystery tour we have my flower garden which, at the moment, is boasting a couple of scraggly roses and some marigolds...but they are flowers.

Now, this is not our meadow..this is by the back door. :( If only the pasture looked like this.

I bet you are wondering why my kids are cleaning the shed on the hottest day of the year? Because they have fiddled around all week..and ran out of fiddle time. :)

The chickens are getting really big. I think they are depressed today, mourning hte loss of their comrade...they seem to be subdued.


Grin saw me out htere and thought it was time for dinner. HA!
No way!
and this......this is where someday Iw ill relax with a book and a glass of iced tea, surveying my completed house in all it's glory......

and then I will grab my walker, put my teeth in and hobble in to see my visiting great great grandchildren. :)

I regret to announce the demise of yet one more of our chickens.
Could I have a moment of silence please?
Apparently she was showing off. You know, these freak accidents always happen when you show off...and she perched precariously on the edge of an empty tupperware type dish that normally holds water. It flipped, trapping her underneath in 101 degrees.
By the time she was discovered she was fried chicken. Feathers and all.
let's see. that puts us at 26 out of the original 30. Last time we had chickens it was raccoons. This time..well..I don't know. Anyway...with 26, and I think 1-2 of them are roosters, we should still have plenty of eggs and some to sell. I hope. Eventually we will have, you know ::whispering:::extra chickens..for.. e-a-t-i-n-g. Which was the whole point of getting roosters. That, and there is nothing crankier than a sexually frustrated chicken. Well almost nothing.
O.k..so I was going to take some neat pictures but my camera batteries are dead so it will be later that I do that. The subject for the day is, The Tao of Door Frames.
This weekend I have to prime the new door frames and trim outside before it rains. The kids are cleaning out the shed/barn. ANd I plan on getting bags of dirt to plant vegetables in. My tiller isn't working and so we didnt have a garden and my finances felt the lack...so I am buying the plastic bags of dirt, poking some holes int he bottom for drainage and planting right in the bags.
Next week I hope to have an old bus up on blocks in the front yard. :/

so..because of WENDY at The Adventures of MomLady I am making my third post on THIS blog alone today and my children are moaning from lack of food...May God forgive her. Oh...and I allready did a thankful Thursday meme on one of my other blogs,road not taken check it out because it is cool..

Here are the rules:

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.

2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.

3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.

4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.

5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

G is for Grandma...and I am one. I like being a grandma, actually a memere because Marc's family is all french canadian and that is their term..so when the grandkids came along I became memere rather than gramma. I am adopted and I love the fact that my grandaughter resembles me at her age. It is the first time I have seen a real family resemblance in other than immediate family. Somehow..being a grandma helps me know that life goes on and on. I miss my grandkids alot because they moved to Pa a couple of years ago and they cant afford to come here/we can't afford to go there..



R is for Restaurant. We used to own one. I am a pretty good cook. apronstrings and simmeringthings.. R is also for RENT and we own 2 rental homes.

A is for Anne of Green Gables, one of my favorite books.

It is also for antiques..I love them!

C is for COW (marc, notice this?) I want one. I want a Mini Dexter for milking, cheesemaking, and butter making. Goat's milk is good but just not as versatile


E is excellence. It is something I strive for and I see much to little of these days. :)

o.k..my 5 tags will be:

BC at BEans and Caviar because turnabout is fair play.

Dharm at Dad-baker & chef because he is about to enter the world of chipotle addiction

Jenny at Up the Hill Gang because I believe she is of the race that knows Joseph.as Anne would say

Crystal at God's In COntrol- not me! because she has been such an encouragement to me this week

and, last but certainly not least....

Marla at Confessions of an artist, adhd sahm because she is an old..old..old..old...did I mention really old friend.
so there ya go!

One of the things I wanted to do from the very start was to get rid of the vinyl siding on the house. First of all, I dislike vinyl siding. DO you knwo that it is actually more angerous in a fire than wood because it holds the heat in the wall and creates a more intense fire and sometype of toxic fumes are released.. I can't remember all of the information about it..but here is a post from John atThe Devil Queen that expresses my sentiments exactly and almost entirely. Anyway..Marc was not as comfortable with the idea...his concern was that the vinyl was covering up a major problem. Yes, he does tend to be passive aggressive. :) If thereis a problem I want to tackle it head on. Sometimes literally.
Anyway, so we got the doors replaced and..oh the horror! They tore up the vinyl siding by the doors and the original beveled siding peeked through.
Paint badly peeling, trim removed (of course) wood dried out..but it looks like it is going to be o.k..
SO I am going to do on section at a time..and...
THAT STUPID SIDING IS OUT OF HERE.
Maybe I will drop it off at walmart. With the Devil. :)

"The Devil is at walmart."
You know how as you are moving around the house you pick up snippets of conversation that are intriguing?
Well this morning Nick (7) and Sean (8) were havign a conversation and I didn't htink much of it until I heard THAT! My attention was caught.
Actually, I was priding myself on the fact that my children were picking up my social conciousness. We don't shop at walmsrt because of some of their business practices...and imports. However, that is for another time...Back to the conversation:
Nick: The Devil is at walmart!"
Sean:Uh unh. He isn't
Nick:yeah Sean, I saw it in the paper.
Sean: You are lying. The Devil isn't suppose to be out yet.

:::o.k..at this point i was also amazed at the amount of understanding my kids had of spiritual warfare. Patting myself on the back so hard my arm nearly fell out of socket:::::

Nick: Well he IS out.
Sean: No Nick. They aren't releasing him yet.
Nick: I'll ask mom. She knows.

::feeling good here. Trying to figure out how to explain spiritual warfare and end time prophecy..:::::

Nick: Mom..isn't the Devil at Wal-mart?
Me: Well, Nick, you see.....
Nick: He is mom! LOOK!

Nick then shoves a page from his newest Lego magazine in my face. Bionicles. He was talking about a particular BIONICLE.

Sean, yelling from the other room: Well he might be at walmart but YOU'RE not getting him. Mom doesn't like walmart. SHE won't even buy TOILET paper there.

Maybe the devil IS at walmart?

umm..if you are looking for the wordless wednesday post scroll down.

as I was checking links and pages I came across a link to a post where one of MY posts had been quoted. WHOOOOHOOO my 15 minutes of fame. Blogher
But as I read the post, and the quotes she had included I realized that it isn't just me! Lots of us are overwhelmed wiht what we have gotten ourselves into. Lots of us feel like they can't drive one more nail..or tear up one more floor board, or handle one more marble that rolls by itself when it is placed on the floor.
Life is hard right now for me. Marc is moving between a wheelchair and crutches, and his disability rating has been held up at the VA for over 18 months. He is in constant pain, and on constant narcotics for the pain...and don't even get me started about how they owe us 26 years in back disability for service connected issues because of a glitch that happened when he got out. We are making semi weekly, sometimes, semi daily treks to the hospital...it takes an average of 2-3 months to be seen by the ortho department...and that is in a serious situation. My lump that was found in the mammogram wont be sonogramed for over 2 months..Marc and I are both veterans...someone i know had a lump discovered in her mammo and was sono-ed in a matter of days....I am driving Marc ot and from work because he can't drive..I homeschool 6 kids, I blog, I write, I have livestock, I am now doing the work on the house by myself...our finances are growing worse by the day because of these things and more...The VA is not in a hurry because, after all, we are not the only ones, nor are we the most important. I agree with that. I understand it. But it doesn't help uy his meds right now, or pay our mounting bills or buy groceries. ANd it doesn't help when I am trying ot fix a fence that hte neighbors are complaining about because the horses are leaning over it to eat their yard, or when I am chain-sawing a huge fallen tree, or when I am trying to figure out how to toenail a two by four.
I have grace. I have the Creator of the entire Universe Who watches me with love and helps me in all I do....and I am grateful. But sometimes it would be nice if someone with skin on noticed. If someone thought, wow-she is only 5'4" and that chainsaw must be heavy!
What kind of culture have we become that we cease to reach out to those around us. We will send money to missions and missionaries, and that is awesome, yet we do that and think we have done our part and settle in in front of the t.v...
So..to those of you who are overwhelmed with life right now...I understand. I wish I could bake you this:
and bring you some coffee, and help you hammer some nails. I wish I could watch your kids for an hour while you take a bath, or hold you while you have a good cry. I wish I could give you money to cover the project you need to finish, or to bring oer a couple of sacks of groceries.
SInce I can't..the best I can do is say I understand. And if enough of us tell eachother we understand, and if enough of us encourage one another then maybe we will be exchanging pictures of our glorious restorations a few years from know and maybe we will finally get our house ont he cover of Victorian Homes!

Wordless Wednesday


See more wordless wednesday participants here:

Tackle it Tuesday Update...
ANd here are the pictures of the doors IN and installed..I just need to prime and paint...or stain.

Tackle It Tuesday.

O.k...you know I really like the theme days. This post will be much better than the long whine I had planned about how overwhelmed I am with repairs. Really.
Today, I am not sure if this *counts* but a guy is here installing 2 new doors. I really wanted to replace with vintage doors but Marc wanted to get new and have them installed because of some wood rot issues we had in the frames. This had needed to be done for several months and we haven't been able to use the kitchen door at all! The doors are arts and crafts style, at least, and I think they will look good. The cool thing is that when he took the wood off I saw, as I suspected, the door had actually been a window.

You can see where the support was cut out...AND what a lousy job they did.

And..Old wood/New wood..THERE is a HUGE difference in grain.


Here are a couple of the door being installed. As it isn't finished yet I will have to get back with those.


find out moe about Tackle it Tuesday at
5 Minutes For Mom

We have had a ton of rain this year. It may sound odd to you if you live somewhere that actually GETS rain in the summer but here by August everything tends to be a lush shade of brown.
I remember that when we lived in Florida it would rain nearly every afternoon just about 2 o clock. Mom used to do the wash early so she could bring it in off the line before the rain. Not so here. You could actually, most years, do the laundry July 5th and not bring it in until Sept 5.
Of all the years that I didn't get a garden in it HAD to be THIS one... :/
As you can see, I am carefully dodging any information on what has been going on with my house projects. :p
I have made the dread appointment witht he insurance inspector and he will be arriving at 9 a.m. monday morning. I think I will make cinnamon rolls that day and have a fresh pot of coffee going, perhaps the bourbon pecan flavor....I did explain to him that he would be inspecting an ongoing restoration at a small acreage farm so he should be prepared for that and not something off the cover of Victorian Homes.



Well we are house fanatics, we spend time in attics
and we're known at Home Depot
We hammer and we drill and grumble alot
Cause our retirement fund doesn't grow.
We use all kinds of tools, people call us fools
Cause we're not interested in the Astrodome
We just keep on working, there is no shirking
To get ourselves on the cover of Victorian Home

Refrain:
Victorian Home
Wanna see my picture on the cover
Victorian Home
Wanna send five copies to my brother
Victorian Home
Wanna see my faux grain paint
On the cover of Victorian Home

I've got alot of guys, it's no surprise
Who want me to pay my bills
I've got my adolescent son stripping window sills!
Now it's all designed to make us lose our minds
But our minds won't need to roam
If we could just get one picture
On the cover of Victorian Home

refrain:
Victorian Home
Wanna see my picture on the cover
Victorian Home
Wanna send five copies to my brother
Victorian Home
Wanna see my faux grain paint
On the cover of Victorian Home

We've got anaglypta and beadboard
To put up nearly everywhere
We have tons of Bradbury wallpaper
And even a Roycroft chair!
All our friends they dodge us
One even moved to Nome
And we don't even care, we're a desperate pair
We want our picture on VIctorian Home

(c) Marye Audet
A parody of the song, On the Cover of Rolling Stone by Dr. Hook