Down Mulberry Lane

Rude people today in the market

I ran into more rude people today at the market.  I breed and train service dogs. Plus we own 4 service dogs.  2 are going to replace the 2 older service dogs.  We have a total of 7 dogs.  1 is a wolf and 1 is a half wolf.

Any way we ran to the market to pick up cabbage for dinner.  I take one of the service dogs, Alex with me in.  Alex is a 20 month old 120+ golden.  We are finishing up his training. We just finished Kristi's volleyball practice and we stopped in real quick.   Shayna and Kristi waited in the truck with Kristi's one service dog Gracie.

So Alex and I run in.  Alex has on is id stating he is a medical alert service dog.  So off we go in the store.   Alex does his job, he stays right by my side , he ignores the people.  We get some rude looks , that is normal.   A few people say look a dog!  What guy said what the f word they let dogs in here???  I look at Alex and say I know we just do not talk to people like, that loud enough for that nice man to hear . 

As we are getting in line a store worker comes up to me and says "Miss are you blind?"  I look right at him and say no.  I then turned away from him.  Again "Miss??"  I look at him , yes.  "Miss does this dog assist you???"    (Do you think?? , I did not say that but wanted too)  I looked at him and said yes.   We were next in line and the phone rings at the check stand.  The manager says yes I see and he leans over to look at Alex and then he looks at me.   I just smile.

When it is our turn to pay the manager asks me what kind of dog is he?  I say he is a medical alert.  He was very nice about it all.  He said his manager was giving him a hard time about it.

Hello. Alex has on his id stating he is a medical alert dog.  He is well behaved , more than some peoples children.   The problem??  I am not blind nor in a wheelchair.   I look normal, what do you need a service dog for ????????????????. 

Do to this we started a service to help people with their service dogs.  I do not like dealing with the people who do not know the law and I know other have the same problem.  What a pain in the tush!!

I do not mind people when they are interested in what the dogs do or what breed.  I love to tell people how they can help people out with service dogs.   I tell some where they can go to be puppy raisers and so on.....   But, I do not like to deal with rude people.  

 Some people go look a dog what is it doing here real loud and rude.  The girls and I go where ??? And we look they some times point to our dogs and we say no that is a ? Horse, Monkey, or many types of zoo animals  .  Ok , we do it to get back at them.  We just can't hold it in some times.   We don't go look they let rude people in.

Ok I will get off the box now.

God Bless, mj

Family Fitness

My family is trying to stick to a simple family fitness plan . We are trying not to gain all the extra pounds during the holidays . Which is so hard ,because this is when I love to do all my baking .Yes,its heathier for me to bake . And it warms the house . But, it really does sneak up on you all the extra weight . We all are(very) healthy and really need to lose some more weight and firm up . It for us has got to be a family effort. If I miss a day or two ,so does everyone else . NOt sure why ? Because it is for their health also .NOt just mine . Those of you that know I hurt my ankle 7or 8 weeks ago ,and I am still having problems with it . I have to wear a brace for 5 more weeks . My point was I have hadn't been able to do things as I ussually would because of my ankle hurting me . So everyone else quit exercising because I have to til my Dr say different . HUMMM............

It's so hard to keep going and exercising .I know if my son see me keeping fit then,he will be interested also. So I try to set a good example . Him being home schooled is different that the norm P/E class. We have much more fun playing tennis,catch ball or walking at the park . If takes alot of encourgement and self-discipline to keep you self and family fit. I'll be glad when I can get completely back to exercising .Our family trys to walk atleast 3 times a week of 30 mins. It's a start and isn't always easy to squeeze in our daily lives. But ,here's the kicker ,if we don't keep ourselves healthy we want have a life . We make time for everything else ,so we need to be sure that we take time for ourself. What are some ways your family keeps fit ?? Have a great week everyone ,Shaune 

Rainy Monday

It has been gloomy and dreary all day long.........and tomorrow is supposed to be the same or worse.  Yuck!  I really need sunshine to have any ambition at all, so as you can imagine, I haven't gotten much done today.  I have a "few" indoor projects I could be doing, maybe tomorrow some of them will inspire me, I sure hope so.

We actually didn't buy anything at the auction Saturday except 4 roller pigeons.  There was lots of critters there for sale, but nothing that really interested us, so we left about 1/2 way through the sale. 

Got home that evening and found out a lady wanted pies made for Sunday........so I spent Saturday night baking.  Remember I just said I was glad the pressure of baking every Friday was over for the summer??  Well, I had an order for 3 pies on Friday afternoon, and then made 6 more on Saturday night.

We had a pot-luck dinner at church yesterday.  A friend and neighbor gave me some eggplant and a recipe last week, so I tried it out.  It turned out good.  As always there was lots of good food there.

We have an interim pastor right now, he has been there about 6 weeks.  I can see the Lord working through him and it is exciting!  He is such a caring man and really stresses prayer.  Almost every Sunday there have been people going forward for baptism ( our church is Baptist) and to join the church.  You would not think people would make those kinds of decisions without a full time pastor.  There is just a different attitude, very exciting indeed!

Hubby has been working, until the rain, on getting the garden worked up.  It will be quite a bit bigger next year.  We also need to have a spot ready for some blackberry plants.  Some friends asked if we wanted some starts next spring.....of course I said yes!  They will have to be someplace safe from goat escapes.  Not sure there is any such place???

I know there are mixed feelings about Oprah, but I saw advertised today that her show tomorrow, Tuesday, might be interesting.  It is Where does our food come from, or something close to that.   They showed some free range chickens.  Don't know what it will include, but I thought it might be of interest to watch and see how they present the topic.  It may make us small producers look bad or it may bring us some great advertisement............

The weather man said there are frost warnings for the north-west part of Kansas tonight.........yikes, I know it is coming soon enough but I am not ready! 

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

Transitions

The weather is turning cooler, although still dry enough to hang the laundry on the line.  We had one light freeze, but luckily DH and I finished the cold frame the day before so my lettuce was safe inside.  We are finishing our food preservation today with the last of the corn.  We put up 950 packages of food in addition to what we had left from last year for a total of 1200 packages.  I am very satisfied with all the hard work.

Now we start transitioning to fall and although we still have some items to collect - mushrooms, nuts, and elderberries - our focus is on sewing.  I have finished 3 dresses and 3 pinafores.  I have 5 more dresses and 4 vests to finish so that church clothes are finished for this season.  Children need play clothes and everday clothes, but there is no possibility of finishing it all before the new year.  Because . . . there are only ten sewing weeks left until Christmas!

In an effort to cut down on costs, I am making most of my kids' gifts.  I can share because they don't read my blog.  Boys are getting cowboy and Indian dress up clothes.  They always ask why the dress up box only has things for their sisters.  Everyone is getting new pajamas.  Several kids need new special blankets.  Girls are getting doll clothes.  I am planning that everyone will get one store bought item.  The kids will pool their money to buy one gift for each of their siblings.  This allows them to experience the joy of giving without being too much to manage.  Seven kids buying for seven kids is 49 gifts - that it is too much shopping for Mom.

We have been doing a few cost cutting measures around here.  Using our wood stove in the house to heat.  Using our outside boiler to heat hot water.  The combination of these 2 means zero electricity for heat and water.  We are getting our laundry done early in the morning so it can be hung on the line for the day.  We are making our own baby wipes to use with cloth diapers.  We made our own cleaning rags for each bathroom.  Since we don't use paper towels I occasionally buy white wash cloths for the rag drawer.  We placed these in old baby wipe boxes and put a mixture of water, vinegar, and dish soap over the top.  Now we have pre-moistened, chemical free bathroom wipes ready to be used.  We already use cloth napkins and avoid buying paper products.

The price of food is definately on the rise around here.  I spend about $350 per month on food, but I could spend $0 if need be.  I buy dairy products, wheat, rice, oats, sugar, baking products, and spices.  I keep stocking up a little each month.  This amount includes toilet paper, laundry soap, cleaning products, etc.  I figure I have a years worth of food on hand. 

I have seen a few bloggers posing questions about how to begin to prepare for poor economic times.  I think it is helpful to think about the what if's in order to make a list.  What if we had no income for 1 month - okay we have enough cash on hand to cover the bills and we have enough food on hand to feed us.  We are building a 3 month supply of animal food and we would like to have fuel tanks to stock up on fuel.  What if things were really bad and we had to go a year without income - okay we have food but we would have difficulty paying our bills.  We could probably defend what we have but our animals would have trouble surviving with little store bought feed.  These "what if's" allow us to think about where our priorities should be.  I have found it helpful to tackle more than one preparation thing at a time, so all our eggs are not in one basket.

Happy homesteading . . .

October 13, 2008

Well yesterday was a day from dickens.... got a phone call from our 20 year old son in northern Ohio, and he was saying that he had run into some problems and now he had no where to live... so we went and picked him up, a 3 hour drive, waited while he finished up some business, and came home. We got home about 11:30pm.

All the children get one chance to come home, and if they do well, then Praise God... if not... next time around, they can figure out their own way (providing nothing horrible happens and they REALLY need us, you know..)

It was good to see our two boys that we hadn't seen in almost 3 years. It's blurry, I know, but you get the idea. The young lady to the extreme right of the picture is the Mother of my grandson.

I also got to see my grandson that I had never seen before.  I had seen pictures, but never in person...

This is Keegan Matthew.... and he has eyes like his Great Grandpa (my Daddy).

I called off work today and of course, got guff from a co-worker who  says, "I'll just give you Be**y's number and YOU can call HER, cause it looks like NO-ONE is coming in tomorrow!" I told her to just write it down, and hung up. I did my part, now let them do theirs.... *SIGH*

I finished up laundry today, had quite a time with 11 y/o disobedient child continuing to be disobedient, cooked supper, had the washer overflow, took 15 y/o to work, picked 15 y/o up from work, helped ds make appointments for tomorrow to look for work, and yes..... I am still alive! :)

Just finishing up putting 2 quarts beef broth up and 2 quarts of chicken broth up.

Made 4 loaves of bread today (2 white and 2 wheat).

Quite the busy past two days, I would say!

Life is good, and God even better.

Here's a quick pic of the 14 year old sister and the 25 year old brother.... she's climbed up him and is hanging on his back. He is way over 6 foot tall by the way! (She's barely 5 ft)

Can you see the love?

Too bad we don't live closer.

Good lookin' kids the good Lord gave me, eh?

~~Blessings~

A Day in the Life of Me

Sunday, Oct. 12:

We went to church as usual.  We had a guest preacher today because today starts our week long revival meetings.  The preacher talked about alot of different stories in the bible but one really stood out from among the rest.  The story of Noah & the ark.  The preacher said that Noah built the ark not only for his family & the animals but for all mankind.  He said that no one would take heed of Moses warning so no one but Noah & his family were saved.  I have never heard this take on this story before.  Very interesting.

Monday, Oct. 13:

Today was a busy day as usual.  Exercising, vacuuming, dishes, homeschool, 5 loads of laundry & grocery shopping.  Everything was smooth sailing....

until....

I got home from the grocery store!  I was unloading the groceries from the back of the van.  I went to pick up the sack that contained 4 half gallons of milk in it and pulled a muscle in my lower back.  OUCH!  IT REALLY HURTS!  So now I'm kind of laid up.  It takes me forever to walk around the house, thank the Lord I don't have stairs!  I went to lay down in my bed & watch some t.v hoping that some rest would make it feel better.  NOT THE CASE!  I practically screamed when I had to raise myself off of the bed in order to get up to make something for supper.  We are just having some spaghetti & a salad tonight.  I was going to fix lasagna but I couldn't muster up enough pain tolerance to accomplish that.

My youngest has been feeling sick to her stomach today.  We just got over with a round of colds last week and now another?  UGH!  She woke up this morning saying that she felt like she was going to throw up.  She has eaten a few things & has been sipping on some Gatorade, water, & Sprite.  She has kept those down so hopefully she will be back to herself tomorrow.

Until next time....

Our Newest Family member

Ok ok I know,,, we really have enough dogs already but this one just had to join us. Isn't he just to cute. His name is Adam and his is full blooded Cocker Spaniel, two years old and a total spaz. Now all you prayer warriors out there, pray for me. I agreed to keep him but told my hubby and my children that the time has come for a large kennel to be built. We have seven dogs now and well., only two can stay in the house. My precious P-Lee and Blair. Those are the only two that are house broken and well, calm! hehe

Adam does not get a long with our Beagle (which is the only one of the dogs that are NOT fixed) and well, he has tried fighting for the death. There has to be a line drawn somewhere so we are going to spend the rest of the week building a kennel for five dogs.  Wish us luck.

Simple Woman's Daybook

Ahhh another Monday. I woke early this morning (around 6am) and wasn't feeling to great so I decided to rest for a few more hours. I woke again at 9m and decided I had better get busy with our chores and lessons, I wanted to get this week off to a good start.  Soooo, lessons are over, the chores are done (with the exception of caring for the horses which the girls are doing now) and now I have time to play. What better way to spend my play time then to update my Simple Woman's Daybook, so here it goes....

Outside My Window…The sun is shinning, it is about 73* and the view is breathtaking. The colors of Autumn surround me. Golden yellow, firebrick red, cinnamon brown and a hint of green. Ahh God's pallet is so elegant.   

I am thinking…about all the things I have planned for this week. For lessons, artsy stuff, and all the friends I am going to write and catch up with.

I am thankful for…all that the Lord helped me to accomplish today. Lessons, cleaning, canning applesauce and the time I spent with my children just talking! 

From the kitchen…I can smell the the cinnamon applesauce simmering in the canning pot.

I am wearing…a blue t-shirt with a prairie mouse the front, white and brown diabetic socks, and my black shorts. I really need to get some new clothes:-(

I am creating… more cupcakes, some ATC's and a few new seasonal post cards.

I am going…nowhere today.

I am reading…nothing at the moment (other than Bible study)

I am hoping…that this week will be a lot of fun for us and that we will accomplish everything we set out to do.

I am hearing…The loud sounds of my children singing as they dance around the house acting like children. :-) ahhh the wonderful sound of laughter.

Around the house…there is still work to be done but that is a never ending task. I need to do a couple more loads of laundry and then prepare dinner.

One of my favorite things…Cute MICE, Cuddly Mice, brown mice, white mice,  and umm did I say Mice!! :-)

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Visiting Williams Orchard, sharing time with Deb and her family, doing something artsy at the park.

Here is picture thought I am sharing....

Trade days weekend!

Praying for our country - 40 Days of Prayer - Day 19

Day Nineteen: October 13, 2008
21 days, 10 hours and 14 minutes left until election day.

For Candidates to Express Their Views on Issues Candidly

To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue. All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD.
--Proverbs 16:1-2

Mighty Lord, God, You know all things, and nothing is hidden from You—even the deepest intentions of hearts.  Your knowledge and authority rule over all the affairs of humankind, and Your ways govern over all our ways.  I praise You today for the way You understand and weigh our words, thoughts and motives. 

As candidates continue to seek our votes, speaking with us about their plans, may they freely share their intentions with candor so that we may discern with wisdom who best deserves our vote.  Grant that the deepest desires of the candidates’ hearts will be seen and known, and give to us Your discernment as we listen and observe.  In the name of Jesus, amen.