At risk of being tacky…. July 10, 2009

Since I’m neither registering or having a shower for lil Mowgli, I thought I’d share the few things that we still need.  He doesn’t need much, as I have learned to become pretty minimalist as far as infants go, and most of what he needs we’ve been lucky enough to find secondhand.  He has quite a bit of clothes to get him started already, and don’t forget, Christmas will be right around the corner for the “fun” stuff like baby toys, most of which I have gotten rid of.

We need/want/can really use:

Evenflo Titan Elite Convertible Seat – Madagascar

or

Evenflow Titan Advance Convertible Seat

We are only getting the one seat and it will last him until well into toddlerhood. We are not getting a baby bucket that goes in and out of the car, and these are both VERY padded, which we hope will make him happier on long trips to visit relatives.   Since our shopping options are limited, we found them at Kmart but they are out of stock and there is not really anywhere else in town to look for one. Perhaps you would have better luck elsewhere.

We are cloth diapering again! Trouble is, most of what I used before is pink or purple, so I”m sure he’d like to have something a bit more macho covering his bum.  These are the diapers we want to use:

https://www.smartipants.com/

They are currently running a special even!

We need a new monitor set up. Our old one lasted through 3 kids, it’s time for a new one with a long range.  We would like two recievers so we each can have one if we are outside working.  Again, Kmart was the only place we looked, but this one seems to have both a long range, dual recievers and in addition has the light features which are nice.

Fisher-Price Dual Sound and Lights Monitor:

Our room theme is intended to be “Disney’s Jungle Book”. However, since we are on a time crunch, we aren’t going to be able to do the mural for that, and since this is not a popular Disney movie right now, there is not a line of decor to help us out. So, for now anyway, we are just going to do solid colors of royal blue and lime green, picking up the colors that are in his hammock. (Yes, we are not having a crib for this one).   If you find things with the Disney’s Jungle book theme though, we’d be pretty excited about it.

Yep, that’s it. That’s all I can think of that we need. See, not much at all, right?  However, we need to focus our funds on completing his bedroom–which still doesn’t even have all the walls or a window yet–so if anyone wants to help us out with these few items, it would be a big help.  In lieu of that, anyone want to come down and help build walls and paint?

Ready to Fall Out July 1, 2009

Man I”m whupped.   Market day is exhausting–but the upside is coming! Read on

We get up and pick blackberries by 8:30. We have to get out early before it gets hot because we have to wear long sleeves, long pants, tube sockes, hats, etc.  Still pretty hot.

In 2 hrs, we picked 5 pts!  (they sell for $4/pt)

From there, I had about 45 min to pick before I had to take N to gymnastics.  I took the two little ones, picked 4 lbs of beans, some squash and 28 pickles. A few reg. cukes too.  Meanwhile, K starts the really hard work busting sod to get out the potatos. He dug 11 lbs today.

I ran Nick to gym, and went and got my WIC while I was right across the street.

Came back, and spent a while with K processing things–getting counts for that ultra nifty spreadsheet my dad made for us, sorting out the best berries to sell etc.  I had about 40 min this afternoon when I told K that I HAD to rest a while and put my feet up. During that time, he was loading up everything to haul to market and we left for there a little after 3.

And now, the upside.

We made $45 tonight!!!!!!!!  Our initial goal for this venture was to try to make $50/week, and we are already nearly there–and we still have Saturday!!

Last week, with 2 market days, and special orders (still rolling in! woot!!) we made almost $70-and we barely sold anything last Tues. We are hoping to be swamped on Saturday morning with people buying fresh produce for their 4th of July get togethers.

2.5 days of exhaustion is not a bad deal for a part time job.  My fear is that as I get bigger, I will be able to work less and yet the same amount of work will need to be done. I don’t know how it’s going to get done.  I will say though, I have felt REALLY well today–not even feeling my size issues and having no BP issues either.

Tomorrow is the only day this week I will really have to relax. Except I volunteered to keep Zach for Shannon so she could spend time at the hosp. with Big Tree (her psuedo grandpa).  We have swimming thurs am, and then the whole Miller/Thompson crew here Thurs pm for pickling, gardening, hanging out. And then Friday, it’s bust tail again to be ready to get to market at 5:30 am on Saturday.

Being a farmer is hard, but at least we are seeing tangible rewards! We really feel like God is blessing us in this venture Praise God!

Super Summer So far June 14, 2009

Summer is in full swing around here.

We found a fantastic deal on raspberries, and ended up buying 4 gallons.  I learned how to make cooked jam, and have made 5 batches, totalling 45 jars. I am proud that I tried something new for me and it turned out really well.  We are going to sell about 2/3 of the jars at the farmers market when we go.  I still have scads of raspberries in the fridge, but i’m out of supplies for jam, and out of money to get more. Therefore, I have to flash freeze them, which is a very long process as I only have room to do about 3 trays at a time.

Our beans are in! (Tote board updated!)  I knew I was going to pick them today and planned a crockpot chicken around them, which is one of our particular family favorite meals.  Those beans were so amazing, I wish I could give everyone some! So exciting!  Emme and I put girl power to those beans–she helped me both plant and harvest them, and then sat and kept me company while I snapped them. I managed to remember most of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk while we snapped, and we had a little moment. *aaawwwww*

I figured out what is wrong with my strawberries. I think they are getting sunburned! We’ve had plenty of water, so I knew that wasn’t it, but we had several really bright sunny days in a row, and the berries were huge, but not ripening properly.  I have a few more up there, I may gather them tomorrow. I hope they are ok, today is the first sunny day after about 3 of overcast/rain.

We are starting to get a few peas here and there as well.  Unfortuantely a storm blew down our second patch of corn–the one that was struggling anyway. Keith went out and tried to salvage it, so we’ll just have to see.  Cukes and squash are blossoming and we are going to be busy very soon keeping up with everything. I try to put up the produce the same day as it is picked, so I’m going to be spending a lot of time in the kitchen. We are on blackberry watch as well, so a lot is going to start happening all at once.  I just hope we get enough for our own stock and to also sell to market, since that is our goal.

I am also getting ready to do a yard sale this month if I can get everything ready logistically.

Seems not enough hours in the day sometimes, esp since I need frequent breaks and I try to get a nap in the afternoon if I can. I get really short of breath-even sometimes when i’m just sitting.  I have been to my OB appt, and my BP is pretty low, but they are not concerned but that explains the lightheadedness, right? I passed my glucose test fine as well.

We have so much to do before the baby comes as far as finishing his space. And not enough time or money to do it, so it is a bit of  a stressor right now.  I don’t need a whole lot of baby gear (just a few of the larger things) but I sure do need a place to put him! Oh well, if the room doesn’t get done, he’ll be here anyway, and I’m sure we’ll figure something out. He certainly isn’t going to care, now is he?

I guess that’s about it. I have more berries needing my attention!

New Post May 21, 2009

I am adding a separate page here that will help me to keep track of the harvest.  Judging by my past record of doing updates, that page will probably get more action then the main page, but you just never know. Maybe by having to make a pointed effort to come and update the Tote Board, I’ll  also start updating the rest of things more.

May as well start now, with a few random tidbits.

We all just had the most delicious homemade strawberry shortcake for lunch. Yep, only that. What????  It was probably more nutrituous then the hot dogs or processed food they would have eaten!  I prefer my strawberries over warm fresh bisquick biscuits and not pound cake. (Not that I’d turn down pound cake if it was offered, let’s not go crazy.)

The baby is apparantly enjoying his strawberry infusion as well, judging by the activity going on in there.  We are not settled on a name. We have right now two front runners, and the family is split on a favorite. My vote counts as two, but I can’t decide either. The door is still open for a third option to come along and win out.  We have decided on a Jungle Book theme for the baby’s space (too small to be a room!) and so he has been nicknamed Mowgli.  With any luck, we’ll choose something before it’s time to file the birth certificate.

School is out around here, but not for us. We just got back this week from 2 weeks off, and we’ll take mini breaks all summer long.  It is better this way. They don’t forget as much, and they don’t get so bored and squirrelly either. We all prefer a routine.

A water fight is about to commence outside.  I have a naked child streaking around looking for a swimsuit, so I guess I better go find it for her.

Great day to be alive April 24, 2009

I love that song by Travis Tritt.

And it’s a great day to be alive
I know the sun’s still shinin when I close my eyes
There’s some hard times in the neigborhood
But why can’t every day be just this good?

Spring is moving in at a rapid pace, and life is moving along with it.  It is in the 80’s here today, and while we are all thrilled, it doesn’t bode well for anything less then a sweltering summer. Good thing I like hot weather!

We have nearly all of our (4!) gardens planted. A friend wants to come and use some space, and until she gets her stuff in, we don’t know what else we can put in just yet.  Last weekend was nice as well, and Team Foster worked together like a well oiled machine and got the biggest garden finished in record time. Even Emme was a big help, and everyone had happy hearts and working hands. At one point Em started singing, and Alex and I joined in.  It was a magical thing! Our neighbor took pictures of us from his house, and I’m very glad he did.

As far as I know the chicks are doing well. They have been down in their coop for over a week now and seem to be fine. I leave them up to the boys to manage!  I don’t think I’ve even seen them, which is fine by me.

God has been answering many prayers this week and has shown me, in particular, His amazing grace and faithfulness.  Some prayers have been going on a few months, others just a few days, but they seemed to be all answered in two days time.  It is a RUSH!

The baby is doing well, and my pregnancy is uneventful, just like it should be. Any discomfort or illness I’ve had is not related to the pregnancy (although I did have some morning sickness for severl weeks. Glad that’s behind me) I have an abscessed tooth that is causing me great pain and am having  a root canal on Monday morning.  My gallbladder bothered me quite a bit my second/third month, but the last 6 weeks has been quiet, so I have been able to put on some weight.  We hope to find out the gender soon.

Keith has a new toy to tinker with, a 1972 John Deere Tractor.  It runs, but now he has to clean it and paint it and put new belts and stuff like that on to it.  His latest project I guess. It sure is an eyesore right now!

May is shaping up to be rip-roarin, with every single weekend having some activity or another planned.

Sick Chick March 26, 2009

I have a bird that has come up lame. We are so new to this we don’t really know the cause or what to do. The others were picking on it, so we separated her, but she kept getting stuck on her side and screeching, so now she is just chillin in our laps, dozing. We are going to call the extension office in the morning to see what the recommendation is.

Life Verse March 21, 2009

I think I just found my life verse! It’s funny how God reveals himself sometimes, always with the right verse at the right time.

I have a verse of the day function on my home page and today’s is:

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jer 17:7-8

Amen and AMEN!!!

Compound post March 18, 2009

This post will be quite random indeed and will mix together a few of the entries from my private journal.

On the vivid dreams of pregnancy:
Yesterday, it was sleeping crocodiles.

Last night’s prevailing image was of a phone call. From a can of spaghettios.

The can was on the counter, it started ringing. Knowing that to answer it would be messy (you have to open it to answer it) I hesitated, but had a feeling it was a favorite client that I hadn’t heard from in a while. So I bit the bullet, opened the can and had a pleasent but sloppy conversation with my client. (who knew I was talking on a can and it seemed totally normal to him too)

On the arrival of spring to the farm:
Regardless of what the calender says, spring has come to Eastern TN. You want proof you say?

Temp: 67 degrees

Trees and plants: flowered out and lovely. Bradford pear everywhere, phlox and forsythia, and even red magnolia!

And:

chicks have arrived!

The weather is supposed to get cool again starting tomorrow, but it is supposed to stay sunny at least!

Expansion Project March 12, 2009

It has come to my attention that there may be some people who do not know that we are expecting a new baby in the fall! We are all very excited, except Alex who is less so because he is not thrilled at the prospect of having to potentially lose his birthday this year and share it from here on out. (My due date is 9-19) So everyone cross your fingers for the baby to come a couple weeks early or late. (9-9-09 sounds like a perfect date to me!)

In addition, we are keeping busy around the farm as well. We are just waiting for the final frost so that it will be safe to get the early gardens in. Keith was busy all last week preparing the fields while the weather was nice. They should be ready to go as soon as spring arrives.

He’s also been busy preparing the chicken house and we’ve been making plans for our renovations on the house. The boys huge room (16×20) will be split into 4 smaller rooms. Nicholas in particular is excited to get his own room, and I get a small space for myself as well for sewing or crafting.

I can’t imagine anything else anyone needs to be caught up on.

On this occasion… March 10, 2009

I will endeavor to do better with updating this page! I have gotten really behind on news bits!

However, this entry is dedicated to the celebration of sweet Emme’s 4th birthday!  I have been doing a bit of online scrapbooking, let’s see if I can get this working properly.


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