Just a Country Girl stuck in the City

Home schooling info for all, I fixed the link

Kristi has been board with her school books, so I took out of storage  the Far Above Rubies unit study based on Proverbs 31:10-31.  I was looking for things to use for this unit study like books, web info and so on.

I was happy to find this site :

http://www.geocities.com/trishnonaka/FAR_intro.htm

I fixed the link.

This site has soo much info for each of the 20 unit studies in the set.  But it also has a ton of pages for parents not using the study on every subject.  I found that most of them are Christian site and Christian info.

I had to stop looking at it for a few minutes to share this amazing place to you all.  Some of the pages are no longer there, but look around and see all the stuff they have.   Who ever did this did a ton of work looking up hundreds of web site for us all.

Go check it out, God bless, mj

We finally decided on the decor for inside the house!!

About 1.5 years ago when we were going to sell this house and move to our ranch I packed up so much of the house.  I then broke my leg and it is STILL broken a year later, yup a year!!  I broke it on 12-27-07.  Any way due to my leg I did not unpack.  I have done some but need to do more.  Hubby is going to help next week, thank you God.  I can not move the heavy boxes any more and he stacked the boxes too high for me to reach.

So hubby and were talking about redoing the decor in the house again and we could not agree, Husbands!  I have leaning towards cowboy decor, hubby was wishy washy about it.  But he saw his friends house (his mentor) Pat (uncle pat) and his house was cowboy decor and he loved it !!!  Finally we agree on it.

So we are going to redo the house in cowboy decor.  I loved a rug uncle Pat has in his living room. I asked where he got it?  He told us the national finals redo.  So we talked about that and now we are going with him to the next one in December 09, ( can you believe it 09??).   I have found a rug we like on ebay, so we will get that.  But I am going to save up a few thousand for the decor for the home at the finals.

As I have been shopping on line hubby is sitting next to me watching his hunting shows.  I hate it when the hunt turkeys!  The dumb turkeys answer back when they are called and then get shot.   I think hubby love to put turkey hunting on because I yell at the turkeys, telling them to not talk, hide, what are you doing?? .   But do they listen noooo.  

We have had 3 pet turkeys.  Whitey even went to a turkey dinner at church one year (alive).  We also had Wanda and Waddles.  Waddles was a 65 pound tom that was a blast to play with. As for Wanda well she was funny to watch because she like to fight the chickens!  We laughed so much watching her fight because when she was done she sat on the chickens .   We all pulled out feed buckets and sat on them watching her.   No one ever got hurt or killed, we would never let that happen.  They all have passed on but the stories we have. 

That's all for now.  God Bless to all, mj

Got more than I bargined for

  I do hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I did. Lots of smiles, my favorite thing, great gifts and tons of food.

  I received everything I asked for, a MP3 player from my husband, a Bath and Body basket from my daughter Kristy, a great smell good candle from my youngest Zack and a gift certificate from my  son Eric. But the one thing that I got that I did not ask for was three pounds added on. LOL Yes I gained three lbs. of the weight I worked so hard to get off. I was kinda depressed this morning when I got on the scale, but I knew what I had done and was prepared for the outcome. And so be it. BUT the reason I asked for the MP3 player was so that I can start walking again. I don't like to walk during  the grinding season with all the big trucks and tractors all over the place, so now that grinding is over, Thank God, I can start back up with my routine. I'm so looking forward to getting out there and burning off this ham and cornbread dressing.

  So other than the "gifts", Christmas was pretty uneventful. The weather was so un-Christmas like here. We were actually all in shorts and I had to at one point, turn the AC on so we could open gifts and eat without breaking a sweat. I think it was in the high 70s. So Un-Christmas like!

   Well now I'm off to the after Christmas sales to pick up goodies for next year.  So see ya'll at Walmart..........

Merry Christmas

I want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas. I hope your day is filled with love and laughter. Always remember to make lots of new memories to cherish. I also hope that everyone gets everything they've asked for. My greatest gift is just having my loved one close to me, and with that, I want for nothing. God Bless each of you............Kitty

Its been rough around here!

The weather is taking its toll on our homestead this year--with temps in the single digits, freezing rain and a bit of snow our critters are not fairing well--I have lost 15 chicks even though they are in a brood box outside they have 2 heat lamps on them--but we figured it was just not enough and added one more and begin medicating them, something we rarely do--My 4 year old buttercup rooster died--our buckling(not real sure what happened to him--he was doing so well--Many of our critters have not experienced temps like this--I am not fairing well in these temps--LOL--for those of you up north--I honestly do not know how you do it--I told hubby I am seriously considering moving to the 'very deep south'--LOL--my old body just does not do well with single digit temps!--

On a better note--all my Christmas shopping is done--it is a very simple Christmas this year with several homemade gifts--we will celebrate with our children and grandchildren christmas morning and enjoy our traditional breakfast--then open gifts and listen to christmas carols--I have enjoyed this season so much more than in past years and I truly think its because we did not buy into the commercialism of it all--we have tried very hard to keep our focus on Christ and HIS gift to us--Salvation--

We are still very busy with the critters and making preparations to move in the early spring--we are still keeping odd hours with hubbys 2nd job--but we are blessed beyond measure so complain we will not!

Take care--Stay warm--and bless someone this Christmas season!

~Kris

~Mini Nubians~

 Well from my breeding Mini Nubians and milking them, I can tell you what we have experienced.

My does range from 26 to 28 inches at the withers.

My Bucks range from 26 to 32 inches at the withers.

We have breed Mini Nubians from the spring of 2002 to present.  We started with 1st and 2nd generation stock.  Now keep in mind that they are bred to begin with from a Nigerien buck bred to a Nubian Doe.  That cross makes 1st generation mini nubians of a 50/50% . ie. half Nigerien /half Nubian. We started with goats of this cross.  Some having ears that were shorter or not down like Nubians then.  We worked with those first 5 goats and from that got our first 3rd gen stock born that summer.  Ears were much improved !

My does milk between 4 to 9 qts per day , depending on what freshening it was and if they were from good milking stock.

in 2004 I bred for our first 75/25% 1st generation stock.  ie. a mini nubian buck bred to purebred Nubian does or American Does.  All registered stock, ie. ADGA and MDGA then. Again Ears were much improved as was breed character.  We have had many nice goats born to us along the way in 6 years.

This year I had my 5th gen doe give birth to the first registered Purebred Mini Nubian Stock in the US that is of 6th generations.  One buckling as you read on my blog went to OK to Good Goats near Tulsa. I retained a buck Faithful Acres Gad and his Sister Faithful Acres Asher, both are Purebred Mini Nubians and registered with The Miniature Dairy Goat Association . MDGA     This kidding I have allowed Magnolia to raise her own kids and have not milked her as I believe she may be bred for February of this coming year.  I bred her to my 2nd generation buck for 3rd gen kids, as he is very nice, shorter and from excellent milking mini nubian lines that have nice breed character and He himself won 1st place in intermediate bucks on MDGA's Virtual Show. 

Mini Nubians have wonderful personalities.  Magnoia my herd queen is rather talkative, but at times she is silent too. Each goat is different, as people are.

I will try to post pictures here soon so you all can see the mini nubians There is a picture of Faithful Acres Benjamin in my posts with his new owner Suriyah Fish of Good Goats in OK.

Blessings

Linda

This might explain it..........

Yesterday I came across this website that was mentioned on my yahoo home page. The site is called Hungry Girl and she post many great tips on diets and buying food in general. I signed up for her daily newsletter and today after reading my very first one, learned about something that may very well be affecting me personally. Here is the clip that I'm talking about.

Do Low-Carb Diets Hurt Your Brain?!

A recent study out of Tufts University has found that diets low in carbs could actually impair your memory. The study looked at two groups -- one on a practically carb-free diet and the other on a balanced low-calorie diet. The low-carb group performed worse on tests measuring memory-related skills. Researchers explain that since the brain runs primarily on glucose (which comes from carbs), low-carb diets can affect your ability to learn and remember things. And while the low-carb dieters did rank higher when it came to attention skills and task-oriented tests, experts chalk that up to the fact that they had more protein and fat in their diets. The low-carb group members showed improvement about a week after adding carbs back to their plates. Sooooo, what have we learned here? EAT A WELL-BALANCED DIET!  And get your carbs from high-fiber healthy stuff like fruits, veggies, and whole grains.

Now, since I am a diabetic I have leaned towards a very low-carb diet. And I have to say that my memory seems to be shot, some days more than others. Also with my mom having Alzheimers, I really get scared whenever I find myself not remembering something, even small somethings. I was also told that women once they reach the memopause stage starts showing signs of memory lost. How true that is, I don't know.

  My plan is to changed my diet habits and see what happens with my mind. HUMMMMM this would explain so much. LOL

To check out the Hungry Girl website, and I suggest you do, go here:

                    >>>HUNGRY GIRL<<<

Christmas Beans

Have you finished your Christmas shopping?  What little I did is done, thank goodness for 2 day delivery and online shopping ! 

My plans for a completely home-made and home-grown Christmas did not come to pass this year....too many moves and other distractions kept me from accomplishing my holiday goal.  But, there is always next year...and I plan to start much, much earlier then! 

I'm making a list now, and collecting ideas along the way.  Here's one that caught my eye, and would be fun for the gardener on your list (or yourself if you love to grow things as I do):

How about growing or gifting some Christmas Beans next year!

I pray you have a peaceful blessed Christmas!

I'll see you here on January 5th and we'll begin perusing all the gorgeous seed catalogs that are arriving in my mail box these days.... they've been another distraction from my Christmas crafting and baking ! 

Catherine

The Christmas Pageant

                                  "THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT."

  My proudest moment came during the
  children's Christmas pageant. My daughter was playing
  Mary, two of my sons were shepherds and my
  youngest son was a wise man.
  This was their moment to shine. My five-year-old
  shepherd had practiced his line,
  'We found the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes.'
  But he was nervous and said, 'The baby was wrapped
  in wrinkled clothes.' My four-year-old 'Mary' said,
  'That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly. That's dirty, rotten clothes.'
  A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd
  and was stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost
  her left wing. I slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary
  dropped the doll representing Baby Jesus, and it bounced
  down the aisle crying, 'Mama-mama.'
  Mary grabbed the doll, wrapped it back up and held it tightly
  as the wise men arrived.  My other son stepped
  forward wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown, knelt at the
  manger and announced, 'We are the three wise guys,
  and we are bringing gifts of gold, common sense and fur.'
  The congregation dissolved into laughter, and the pageant
  got a standing ovation.

  'I've never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as this
  one,' laughed the Pastor, wiping tears from his eyes.
  'For the rest of my life, I'll never hear the Christmas story
  without thinking of gold, common sense and fur.'
  'My children are my pride  and my joy and my greatest
  blessing,' I said as I dug through my purse for an aspirin.
                                                Author, Unknown

Tip of the Day

"Who needs potpourri, just fry up some bacon!"

We had BLT's for supper last night and it made the house smell so good. I could still smell it this morning when I woke up. Hummm I wonder if I could sell bacon scented potpourri? Just a thought. LOL Have a great day.