Just a Country Girl stuck in the City

Dinner at my sisters

This afternoon we went to my sister Tracy's house to see it and have dinner.  Tracy and her husband Andy bought this house a coupleweeks ago, but have just finished painting and fixing it up.   The house is cute and big, I love it.  I love the color she painted it.  This is her 1st time owning a house.  There was only one problem . "How many men does it take to hang one picture"?

We girls were laughing so hard. We kept telling each other if we did it we would be done by now   !!

From left to right is my husband Shannon, my dad Mike, my b-i-l Andy.  Shhh, it took them about 15 + minutes !

Dinner was great.  It was Tracy and Andy , our parents, our aunt and 2 cousins and Michelle, Gill and the babies and of course us 4.   We thought that the babies would come with us because when they see us they always want to come back "home".   The grand-babies cam home with us .

We had a blast and can't wait to go again.

God Bless all, mj

Pondering Palin

I was visiting over at here this morning and I was shocked at the number of "Palin Post' over here...I had no idea many were questioning as I am...BUT what I noticed was division among people....It shouldn't be that way...It made my heart sad, that so many cannot ponder their own thoughts or feeling with other "Christians" because they will be made to feel like 'freaks' or somehow unchristian if they disagree with a woman in office...One post even referred to people to think that the woman needs to home is a "know it all"....how very sad...Also one said those who 'question' Palin are for Obama...People just don't get it....Did any of us ever stop to think that this division is not of God?? That quite possibly Satan has jumped on the "Palin" bandwagon and is totally using this situation to divert our attention from what the real issue is?? and that is "What is best for our Country" weather it be McCain/Palin or the other the true heart of the matter is 'Who will uphold "YOUR" values, "YOUR" morals, "YOUR" liberities!! Period! If you do not feel either party will uphold "YOUR" values then you have a right to decide to not vote...that will NOT make you a bad "Christian" or a horrible "person" it just means you are exercising your God given freedoms...there may come a time when you cannot do that, you will not be given a choice...enjoy it now...We should ALL(including myself) pray about what we are to do..and after praying in earnest you are led to vote for Obama who I am to stand in your way? If you led to vote for McCain, Awesome! If you are led to not vote, so be it...its not my place to judge anyone...but I do have a right, just as you and everyone else in america has the right to his or her own opinion...and none of us have the right to attack the other just because our opinions differ...maybe, just maybe if we listen to the other side we might learn something! I am personally not a  fan of a woman being in the White House in a that position...before you gasp and choke on your coffe let me say this...I love the woman, she is kind, she is pro-life, she is sharp, BUT she has a family and in that family is a special needs child. As a mother of a special  needs child I personally know the amount of time it takes to raise a child like that...as much as we want things to be 'normal' they are not. I am sure she will make a great VP if elected along with McCain, however with that said...she needs to be home with her children...Example: Her baby is seriously ill, but she has peace talks with Iran...which gets neglected? The child or Iran peace talks? Kapish? Think about if McCain died in office Palin would be in line for the President, how will she balance home and office...I mean really, she will be running the U.S....our country is in perilous times we need someone who can be focused on this country...I don't know...its just silly the way this has become so divided...For those that are pondering Palin in office not being a good thing..I commend you for stating your opinion...Thank You...for those that think its ok...I have also read and considered your opinions...thank you...Who will I vote for...Certainly not Obama, but not sure for McCain either...Not voting does  NOT mean a vote for Obama....it means simply not voting! If you have comments you can either private message me here on blogger or you can use my email hs_fmly@,msn.com I have chosen not to allow comments on this post.

My .02---

~Kris

The Start

My name is mj and I am Shannon's help meet.  Shannon is a Mr. Command Man, as described in Debi Pearl's book.   Some times it is hard to be a wife of a Command Man, if you are a strong dominant woman.   I am just about as hard headed as Shannon.  It took me years to give him the head of the household role and I do mean YEARS!   But it was all worth it!   To have him in charge of it all is such a weight off me. 

But some times there are problems.  An example is with our older daughter Shayna.  Shayna is a very good girl, but boy is she strong willed, I have no clue where she got that from .   The problem was Shayna spoke to me rude and then to her dad.  He and I talked to her about it but stopped when it was dinner time.  Shannon said he would talk to her again after dinner but did not.   That was hard for me because it was not resolved.  I wanted it done and over with.

It was hard for me to not say something about his not talking to her more.  He knew I wanted to say it, but did not.

This blog is a part of my journey of working everyday on being the help meet Shannon needs and God wants me to be.

God Bless, mj

Pictures

Here is a picture of my husband and  one of his fish he caught on one of his trips to Mexico, my hubby is the one in the red tank top:

Here is one from 2 weeks ago:

Have you ever seen a horse drink from a park fountain:

That is Kristi and Cody. It was taken last fall.

This next one is my father on his bike with his little dog George.  They ride around Vegas like this.  Aren't they cute!

Moose for sale.  As Shayna was listing some books for sale on E-bay her cat Moose was helping out.  Yup he wore some stickers that said 50% off and 75% off.  I think he thought he was worth more as you can tell he was not happy about his price .

God Bless, mj

Mom ,what one do you like ?

Kristi is a bad girl .  While we were out shopping she picked up on 3 guys, three!!!

Here is boy friend number 1, he's cute but kinda stiff:

Next we have boy friend number 2, but he is kind of two faced:

And last we have boy friend number 3, my favorite, he cost $74.36 just for 1 date, so he must be worth it :

Who says shopping at Sam's with a cell phone is not fun .  Kristi and I had a blast .  But really Kristi you need to stop picking up new boy friends when we shop.  LOL

Teenagers what can I do?!?!?!

God Bless, mj

Written Wednesday, not posted til Friday!

Well, we did it, we restarted school!

It's been a very strange summer for us – almost none of the things I hoped to do got done, mainly because it never stopped raining long enough to do them!

We did survive Pony Club Camp, and having the kitchen floor ripped up, and the sitting room carpeted. We took a couple of trips, though not very adventurous ones, until last weekend when we left the animals with a friend and went up to wild, wet Wales for a Homeschool Conference. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, and we came back refreshed, and ready to begin again.

I guess God knew I needed the help, because our close encounter with the notion of christian school had left me a little disconsolate.

So today, we had a kind of trial run day, since tomorrow we are off to see a friend, and then Friday we will hopefully have another run through, and then Monday we can begin in earnest – and then I shall feel like autumn is here.

Granny Square Tutorial with Pictures

Alright my friends, I am going to attempt my first EVER sewing tutorial!   I told you that I was taught how to make a granny square while I was on my Ladies Retreat.  It was so much easier for me to learn from the ladies teaching than it was for me to look at a book and try.  The picture quality is not wonderful, I just saw some of the pictures I took last night, but hopefully you will get the hang of it as easily as I did and you will be turning out some beautiful squares as well!
If you are a Newbie to Crochet HERE is a site to help you with basic stitches, you will see me refer to several in this tutorial... Chain, Slip Stitch, Double Crochet.

Step 1: Chain 5
Cool, you got that! Alrighty we are on our way!

Step 2: You want to turn that chain into a round so you will go to the first chain and slip stitch...
Now we have our center, we will build on from there! Woohoo!

Step 3: Chain 3
Here we are building out from the center and we will begin making a larger circle to build on from here

Step 4: Two(2) Double Crochets and chain 1
Alright, here we are in process of making our circle, so what we are going to do is we are going to double crochet 2 times and then chain 1.  The chain will make the space we need to help us along in future steps...

Step 5: 3 Double Crochets and chain 1 (3 more times) slip stitch to complete the circle
Now we have a circle!! Yippee... but wait I told you we were making Granny Squares right?  Ok, bear with me we will get to the square in a minute.
So to make sure we are cool to this point, counting the first 3 chains as one DC (double crochet) you will have 4 sets of 3 double crochets with one chain in between.... clear as mud??

Step 6: Chain 3 and then double crochet 2, chain 1, double crochet 3 and chain 1 in the same hole
If you will look at your round you will see 3 double crochets and then a hole/space in between each set of 3.  This space is where you will go into to make your next layer or sets of 3.  Does this make sense... I am trying!
What you are doing now is building your edges... we can't make this granny square stay a circle any longer, we are going to put some corners on it!

Step 7: Look for next hole, double crochet 3 and chain 1~ 2 times in each hole.  (You will do this in each hole till you meet back up with your first set.  This will form your first square. Slip Stitch to complete the square and now you are ready to build on. 

Step 8: Chain 3, double crochet 2, chain 1
You will notice that there is now a hole between each of the four edges, you are going to do almost the same thing in each hole... meaning you don't want an edge you just want a set of 3 dc's to fill the hole.
So dc three times and chain one and move to your edge.

Step 9: Double Crochet 3 times, chain 1, Double Crochet 3 times, chain 1 in corner hole.
Again, you are making corners for this square, you should be catching on to a pattern if I have successfully portrayed this to you.  So in each of the corners you are making 3 dc's, chain 1, 3 dc's, chain 1.  Simple!

Step 10: Slip stitch to join the square together

Step 12: All the way baby... go all around just as I told you, come together again, slip stitch and tie off your end. 
The lady who taught me only does 4 layers, but of course you can do more if you like. 
Now you want a bunch of these... so get to it!
I don't have nearly as many as I would like to have had done by now, but remember I am teaching myself to hold the crochet needle/hook in the proper way, so I am SLOW JOE right now. 
Once you get several made you can do all kinds of things with them...
Make them into an afghan by stitching them together, make potholders out of them by putting several layers together on top of each other and stitching, use them as coasters, make a pillow cover, make your dd a doll blanket out of a few... whatever you like.
I hope you enjoyed and understood my attempt of spreading the knowledge that I received this past weekend.  If you see a mistake, feel free to email me or message me and I will change it, and now go get your yarn and your hook and go for it!  If I can do it YOU can do it!

With Love From My Homestead to Yours,
~Chas~
Chasity L. Burrell
Senior Editor Homesteadblogger
Heritage Acres Farm

Shayna's school

Shayna wants to got to cooking school.  Fine, but the school wants us to pay for the whole thing.  The grants they offer is only 5 thousand.  It will cost 55 thousand for her to go for 21 months.   That means the payment will be 22 hundred a month.   The offer the parents loans and such.    We have an appointment next week to see about her going and what all it will take to get her in.   Pray for us.

God Bless, mj

We started School & how Kristi learned to ride

We started school yesterday and it is going ok.  Kristi does not like her bible study , it has to much stuff of marriage.   So I have to find a new bible study.   Other wise it is going good.  One thing she loves about being home schooled is we can us everyday things for classes.  Kristi loves p.e. because she gets to ride her horse for it.  It is hard work to learn how to ride english after riding after riding western for 13 years. 

Do I ever tell how Kristi got started riding??     I do not think I did so I will tell now:   When Kristi was 3 years old I was working at a race horse rescue.  Kristi went to work with me.  She loved to help feed and water and help me with the vet care.  She had away of making the horse relax while I was doing this like cleaning wounds , stitching them up.  Kristi also had away calming the horse fresh off the track that were highly drugged going threw withdrawals. 

 After awhile Kristi just ran around like she owned the place.  She would help everyone out she could and just go in pastures and pet and love them.  It was cute to see this tiny 3 year old girl going from horse to horse , under their legs.  The horse took care of her.

  One day she was off in with King he was a 19 hand gelding , next thing I know a barn worker come running to me yelling that Kristi is on King.   I run to go see what was going on and yup she was on King.  He was running with her on his back.   No bridle, halter, saddle , but she was on him having a blast.  We all just watched her for awhile then King brought her to me.  I took her off.

  After seeing them a few more times I just left her alone.  Kristi never fell off, how she got on remained a mystery.  We all got use to seeing her going under the horse, riding them.  When we had a new worker they would freak out and come running to us and tell us what she was doing and we just laughed.  They would look at us like we were crazzy , the would tell us what she was doing and we would laugh. 

 After awhile of them watching her they understood.  At 3 years old she had the run of the ranch and rode like a pro.  Yes,  my 3 year old daughter learned how to ride horses on race horse going full speed.   I will look for some pictures of her at work and post them soon.

Kristi worked with me there until she was about 4 and a half then   we started our own animal rescue. 

God Bless, mj

Flavored Vinegars

I recieved these in my inbox today . They sound so fresh and inviting I wanted to share them.

Grandma Rosie

Blueberry Vinegar

3/4 cup fresh blueberries
white vinegar, to fill

Crush blueberries and put into half pint jar. Fill with white vinegar. Cover and
let stand in a cool place for 3 days.

Strain and fill bottle or leave in for a stronger flavor.

Makes: 1 half pint
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Chive Vinegar

chives, length of jar height or 1" lengths
1 lemon peel, 1" square
4 peppercorns
3 mustard seeds
white vinegar, to fill

Fill pint jar loosely with chives. Add lemon peel, peppercorns and mustard seeds.
Fill with vinegar. Cover.

Let stand in cool place for 4 weeks. Strain into pretty bottle. Two or three
lengths of chives can be left in botle for looks.

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Herb Vinegar

2 cups white cider or wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs, basil, rosemary or tarragon thyme or oregano
3 to 4 whole garlic cloves, optional
1 fresh herb sprig per bottle, optional
1 whole red or green chili per bottle, optional

Place the vinegar in a non-aluminum saucepan and bring to a boil. Place the
chopped herbs in a clean, hot glass jar. Add the garlic. Pour the hot vinegar
over, cover and place in a cool, dark place for 5 days, stirring once a day.
Strain. Add the sprigs of fresh herbs and chili for a zestier taste and garnish.

Store in a cool, dark place for up to 2 months. Refrigerate for longer storage.

Makes: 2 cups
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 Italian Vinegar

2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh oregano
1 sprig fresh sage
2 sprigs fresh basil
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 pint white wine vinegar

Sterilize a glass bottle.

Insert spices in bottle. Add vinegar.

Let the mixture rest in a dark cabinet or closet for at least a month.

Makes: 2 cups
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Tarragon Vinegar

4 sprigs of tarragon, about 5 inches each
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 lemon peel, 1 inch square
2 black peppercorns
5 white vinegar, to fill

Fill pint jar carefully with tarragon, without bruising. Add garlic clove,lemon
peel and peppercorns.

Fill jar with vinegar. Cover. Let stand in a cool place for 4 weeks. Strain.

Return 1 sprig of tarragon to bottle for looks. Keeps at least 1 year.

Makes: 1 pint