The Wife of a Fabulous Redneck

Miracle

2010-08-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

We've named our last-remaining chicken. She is the only one, besides Roo of course, that has been privileged to have a name. I'm not sure why I didn't get into naming them, other than that they all look the same and I can't tell them apart, plus chicken-naming is just hard!

Anyways. RNH and I have the privileged to work with some of the country's finest citizens who often live in city-housing, or in Section 8 housing... I often find that when I meet some of these outstanding people, they change the proper way their names are said. For instance, the other day I am speaking with a woman, and I ask her her name. She smacks her lips and says "Murrrr-acle." Meaning, the commonly known name of, Miracle.

When I returned home that evening to check on my little survivor, it dawned on me... she shall be named "Miracle." But not the proper way of saying the name. She will be called "::lip smack:: Muuuuur-acle." Because she is just that, a miracle!

People at work find this very entertaining.

On another note, I'm heading to Pittsburgh tomorrow with RNH to go to my grandfather's Memorial Service. We're flying, whoopee!

(I took this picture on our last trip, a few weeks ago. This is taken on top of Mount Washington!)

I've Been Pooped On

2010-07-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, but not literally.

My life has sucked lately. I guess my last post was all about the 4th of July party that we were going to have. It was freaking awesome. I never lit the luminaries that I made, mostly because I had one too many from the keg, (which was placed in a wheel barrow, redneck style!) and I completely forgot to take pictures of everything. It doesn't really matter- we had an awesome turn out (I was getting upset at first because it seemed like everyone was cancelling... then everyone and their mother's cousin ended up showing up and we almost ran out of food!) and we all had a blast!

Anyways. For the "lately" stuff. Here is what is happening:

My grandfather walked me down the aisle at my wedding last May. Once he returned to his hometown in Pennsylvania, he found out that the cancer he was battling, had taken a turn for the worse and was beginning to spread. It started out as prostate, and then moved into his bones. The past 2 weeks he has gotten extremely worse. My mom flew up immediately to be with him and called me telling me that she did not feel he was going to make it past August. Getting that kind of news, RNH and I grabbed a rental car and drove up to PA. I got to spend a ton of time with "Poppy," and tell him how much he means to me. The worst part was having to officially say goodbye for the last time. It was terrible.

On a less-personal note, but tragic all the same, I've lost all but one of my first flock of chickens. The first one was taken by a fox. I saw the fox with my own bare-eyes, but it was in the middle of the night and I didn't have a gun ready. It ran off. The others began to mysteriously disappear. There weren't really any signs of entry to the coop, other than feathers where an obvious struggle had taken place. This past weekend I go out and find Roo, my beloved- yet hated rooster, bloody. His eye was badly damaged, his comb was bleeding, and he appeared to be in a lot of pain. His head would slowly droop as I tried to talk to him. RNH and I were faced with a very tough decision. I wanted very badly to try and nurse him back to health, but he looked pretty bad. After a long, long time of weighing all of our options, we decided to put Roo down. I cried. Once the worst of it was over, we examined him a bit further. He was way worse than we thought he was. Under his feathers he had a lot of bleeding and probably a lot of internal damage. I knew immediately that we had made the right decision. It hur though, and I couldn't get past the fact that he fought, almost to the death, inside his coop. It almost seemed as if he didn't need to fight the fight, but just stand back off the fencing so the animal could not get at him. It was all very strange and didn't make sense to me at the time...

Did I mention that all of this tragedy with Roo was happening right as I was leaving to go say goodbye to my grandfather for the last time in PA? I had a 9 hour drive ahead of me, and I was faced with all of this. Not good. While that happened, one of the girls got out. I spent almost 2 hours trying to coax her back in, no luck. I left her food and water and headed to PA. Worst road trip .ever.

I came home tonight. Only one chicken left in the pen. The craziest thing about all of this, even the whole Roo story, there didn't seem to be any place where the fox had gotten in. I was baffled, but so upset over the loss of many chickens, that I did my best to "patch up" places where I thought the fox may have entered. When I came home after my PA trip, it dawned on me... this was no fox. This had to be a skunk (which I smell ALL the time at night when I let the dog out!) or a possum. My belief is furthered by the fact that I found one of my chickens with its head cut off. I heard that skunks do this? Chop off their heads and suck their blood?

So anyways, I got my last hen and put her in a large rabbit cage. The poor thing has been in a struggle and seen a lot, but she appears to not be injured at all. She is in the rabbit cage and the rabbit cage is inside the dog's pen. There is also a wild life camera facing the pen to try and catch whatever is terrorizing my poor babies. Needless to say, I've had a lot of tragedy with my chickens lately, and it doesn't help with family matters.

THEN, when I get home from the PA trip, take care of my last baby, I get a phone call from my mother-in-law, telling me that my niece on my husband's side, had a blood sugar level of 500+ she is 9 years old... Diabetes is genetic on her mother's side, and her father probably has diabetes because he is over weight. Apparently she is doing fine now, but she had to be transported to UNC's Children's Hospital. Poor thing. I hope we get to see her tomorrow.

This has been a week of me getting pooped on! :(

Cholesterol Anyone?

2010-07-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

I just made three dishes for our late-4th of July party tomorrow. In those three dishes, I used 20 eggs. YIKES!!!

One was a Pillsbury strawberry cake mix. It only used 3 eggs. I'm going to make a flag cake with it- strawberry cake, vanilla frosting and strawberries and blueberries to decorate the top

(This is not my cake, but hopefully it will look somewhat like this!!!)

The second was my mom's recipe for "Black Berry Dreamsquares." I'm not sure where she got the recipe from. They were originally "Cherry Dreamsquares" but once I found the canned pie filling section in the grocery store, I considered my options. (For a long time I did not know that they make and can pie fillings commercially. Maybe I'm stupid.) So I tried apple and now blackberry pie fillings in the recipe. Apple was good. Blackberry is awesome. I'm having a hard time trying any other filling because I love blackberries so much. It seems everyone else does too. Its been a big hit-dessert at cookouts. Its so simple, I'll post the recipe at the end of the post!

The third dish I made for the party was "Berries and Cream" from Pioneer Women. I don't know where this lady came from, but she's awesome. She lives on a ranch, takes awesome photos, makes incredibly awesome food, and shares all of her knowledge with everyone. She even breaks down the photography stuff for smart* people like me.

*I am being sarcastic.

Anyways, the recipe called for 10 eggs yolks. Yiikes! All I gotta say is thank God my eggs are free!!! Actually, if they weren't free, I probably would have never attempted the recipe. Eggs aren't expensive, I just wouldn't have bothered with it. Either way, the Berries and Cream are to die for. They are a must have. Especially if you have an abundance of berries on hand!

Okay. Now for the Dreamsquares recipe:

1 Box of Pillsbury white cake (make sure it has pudding in the mix!)
Rolled Oats

Butter

Brown Sugar

1 Egg

Mix the cake mix, 6 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup of oats until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup of crumbs for topping.

To remaining crumbs, add 1 egg and mix thoroughly. Press mixture into bottom of 13x9 pan.

Pour 2 cans (21oz each) of whatever pie filling you'd like on top of the mixture. Try the blackberries!!!

To the reserved crumbs, add 1/4 cup of oats, 2 tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Mix well and sprinkle over the pie filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

VOILA! The best dessert EVER!

Hopefully at the party this weekend I'll remember to take pictures of it and post. Right now it is baking in the oven! :)

Rug Dr.

2010-07-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

Our puppy ruined our carpet. I've tried to be the best doggy-mommy a dog can have, but I just couldn't keep him from messing on the carpet sometimes. Even after he became potty trained, he would wait too long to let us know he had to go out and would end up "sprinkling" on the carpet.

My gracious mother gave us her Bissell steam cleaner that she can no longer use on her new carpet she has. Unbeknownst to her, the steam cleaner's tubes were clogged and it no longer worked. RNH and I took it to a vacuum shop to get it fixed. That cost $100. We got it home and cleaned half of our carpets before the dang thing broke again. Pissed, I decided it was nto worth trying to take back to the shop (it was under warranty, but I'm sure it broke for some other reason than why he had to fix it the first time.) So we've lived with nasty, nasty carpets for months.

Since we are having people come up to the house, RNH decided he wanted to try the "Rug Doctor" machine that you always see in the front of grocery stores. He came home with teh machine and a jug of cleaner for $38. I think the rental was for 24 hours.

That thing saved our lives. I highly recommend it! Our carpets look brand new. It was very easy to do, and no matter what kind of home steam cleaner you may have, this thing will do it better. Trust.

So now we can live our lives a bit better just because we don't have to see how nasty our carpets are on a regular basis. And our guests this weekend actually might not run back out the front door once they arrive!

Post-Holiday Party

2010-07-07T23:26:00.000-07:00

We had to work the entire July 4th weekend. Once it was over, I pretty much felt like I had been hit by a mack truck. I never think it's fair when we have to work holidays, so to fix it, we decided to celebrate July 4th a little later this year. We're going to have a big late-July 4th cookout and bonfire at the house this weekend. I am beyond excited. I love to entertain and this will be the first time we've had an actual party at the house. I love to have people come out to the country and enjoy what we have been blessed with. Most of my city friends can't even burn something in their backyards if they wanted to. We plan on throwing down redneck-style with a small keg, bonfire, tons of food, corn hole, and other things.

So far the menu includes: a keg of beer, orange mint juleps, mint mojitos (with fresh mint from the garden of course!), italian chicken, hot dogs, chips and garden fresh salsa, italian pretzels, black berry dream squares (like a cobbler- BEST. THING. EVER!), a flag cake, and a pound cake. There is more, I just can't think of it all at the moment. And obviously the most important stuff was listed first!

We will have tiny flags lining the walkway, mason jar luminaries with red, white and blue ribbon tied around the tops lining the path to the pond, fun star-shaped platters, star-shaped ice cubes, and everything red, white and blue. I can't wait!

I'm making an attempt to "fog" the yard because I know a lot of people aren't used to the amount of bugs we have (we live right above a swamp!) I bought a $9 bottle of this bug spray stuff that attaches to the end of your hose. I'm thinking I should have bought 2 bottles. Last time we had some people up, one of the girls got chiggers. I don't think she actually got them from my house (she went strawberry picking the next day), since I was sitting across the table from her, also wearing flip flops, and never got them. But either way, I don't want it to be a possibility. If everyone gets eaten up, I'm not gonna have any friends left! Haha!

I hope its fun, and I hope people actually show up! Otherwise it will be up to RNH and I to float the keg ourselves!!!

We Went Swimming

2010-07-02T22:56:00.000-07:00

RNH and I wanted to go on an adventure. We decided to grab the boat and head down to the river. I ended up bringing a long a wet suit, some neoprene booties, and my bathing suit. Why? you ask? Because we decided we'd try swimming in the river!!!

We found a relatively clear spot in the water and decided to try it out. I got nekkid in the woods, (yes it was fun!) to change into my bathing suit and wet suit. I decided if there were any sort of leaches or anything yucky like that, they'd have to get through my wet suit first! Thankfully that didn't happen. RNH plunged in, in a pair of BDU pants and some neoprene shoes he bought on our honeymoon in Mexico. It was tons of fun until RNH started talking about a boy who developed a flesh-eating bacteria by swimming in a nearby lake. Then I started itching when I really didn't have an itch. Thankfully that didn't happen either!

The water cooled us down and we didn't even get bit by a fish! I'll go back, but I'll still probably be wearing that silly wet suit!

Garbage Can Drake

2010-07-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

These are the following things that my dog has eaten: (yes, I know I'm a bad doggy parent!)

Entire family-sized bag of Skittles

Large bag of Sweedish Fish

Two whole pound cakes, including plastic bag they were kept in

Two iPod car transmitters and chargers

Phone charger

3 pairs of slippers

Several pounds of meat, raw and cooked (we now have to keep our left-over meat in the microwave during dinners)

Countless plastic baggies

A dead turtle

An entire box of Cheerios

M&Ms

Lots of kitty cat poo and litter

Strawberries and blackberries right off the bushes

One Adidas sandal

A few cat toys that I don't know he's gotten until I see them laying in the grass outside... stuck in his poo...

Countless paper towels, rolls of toilet paper and used Kleenex.

(There are a million other things I can't think of right now...)

Have you ever seen that TV show on Animal Planet where they talk about terrible animal problems and surgeries? There was a dog on there that ate an entire broom stick. That will be Drake one day... I'm still learning how to live a normal life and keep valuable things away from him. I guess it will always be a work in progress!

Here he is with his pack on, ready to go for a hike!

MIA

2010-07-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

Pretty much since the spring hit, I've been MIA. Winter time is for sitting in front of a computer and typing things that pretty much my mom only cares to read!

Things are in complete and full swing. An update on the garden: we left for the beach for a week long vacation (which was FABULOUS) and while we were gone we got a much-needed week-long rain. By the time we came back, the grass had taken over everything. So pretty much I've been trying to play "catch-up" ever since. I've weeded and weeded, and not had any luck taking back over my garden. So that being said, we have zero harvest. I'm bummed but hopeful. We've got the rest of the summer to get some veggies, so we'll see.

Since there is too much to try and re-cap on, I'll just look forward to the rest of summer. I'll probably try to do several short posts, just for you Mom! Haha!

Last night was awesome. We finally had a break from the 100+ degree weather, so RNH and I sat out on the deck. Summer is great, but not when its so hot outside you can't even enjoy the evenings! So we had fish and chips for dinner. Not fish out of the pond or river, but it was delish! We drug out the deep-fryer for that, and it was perfect since it was nice outside and we didn't stink up the house! We also enjoyed a little bit of vino, Polka Dot's Riesling, which was on sale. It was delish!

That's my boy!!! Isn't he getting big!??!

A Trip Back Home

2010-05-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

RNH and I took an unexpected trip back to his hometown, Aberdeen, NC. While there we spent the majority of our time with his grandparents in Whispering Pines, NC. It was a wonderful time. We sat with them for hours listening to tales of the old and compared chicken stories. I love these people and could hang out with them for days. Its so funny how much a late 20-something girl, and early 30-something guy can have with a couple in their late 80's!!!

While there, we checked out RNH's grandma's biddies. I'm not sure what kind they are, but of course they're adorable! She has about 15 of them, to add to her 15 or so other grown chickens. Grandma's youngest son lives next door and just ordered 30 biddies! Their chickens are getting older and it is time for them to get young ones again! They have a rooster that is the oldest thing I've ever seen. Its hilarious. He gets around just fine but he is old!!!

We also hung out in the fields Grandpa had plowed. We admired all of the work he's done at such an old age! He doesn't do near as much as he used to, but it is still impressive!

RNH and I hung out with him around the grape vines he has growing. He has had Concord and Scuppernong grapes for decades now. He is rooting one of the vines for us to be able to plant at our home. I can't wait for that! I love having something that is meaningful and historic to the family.

Speaking of that, RNH's grandma will be giving us a sprig of a rosebush that has been in the family for over 90 years! Her father gave it to her mother when they moved into their first home. They took the rose bush with them when they moved, and it has been with them ever since. I can't wait to plant it at our house!

Our trip was short, but it was very nice. RNH's grandpa means a lot to him and he seems to be deteriorating very quickly. I think he made some nice memories with this grandpa that he'll have with him the rest of his life. (It also helps when you have a crazy-picture-taker for a wife! I got a ton of good pictures of the two men-being-men. They'll look great as black & whites.) These will be memories to tresure!

Cukes and Cuke Trellis

2010-05-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

We planted Marketmore 76 Cucumbers for making dill pickles, and Burpee's Hybrid II for eating, all over Easter weekend. This year we did not try planting them in hills because last year it didn't seem to make a difference at all. We just used flat ground and put about 4 seeds every 36 inches. Now that they are growing tall, I know I need to thin them out, but I have no clue how far apart each plant should be. I wrote down in my gardening journal that they need at least 10" between each plant. I'm not sure where I got that information, but I guess I'll follow it! It seems like everything I read talks about the hills, and how many plants per hill. But this is all too much to try and convert it to flat ground. I guess I'll try the 10 inches this year and see if it works!

I'll probably thin out the plants after the next rain. I'm not sure if this is bad to do or not, since you're not supposed to work a garden when its wet. I guess as long as I just thin out the cucumbers and nothing else, it will be okay and disease will (hopefully!) not be spread! We'll see!

Since I knew I'd be busy with other things, I decided to go ahead and build a cucumber trellis. My rows are 10 feet long, but I could not find a piece of wood that would be long enough to cover a row. I brought home a few 8x2x1 pieces (I think these measurements are right... sorry if they're not!) Anyways- I figured the plants at the end of the trellis will be able to grow on the ground since the other plants will hopefully be climbing the trellis!

I created an 8 foot long rectangle and put a few center pieces in for support. I then staple-gunned garden netting to the huge rectangle. I thought about using wire or something a bit more heavy-duty than garden netting, but I kept imagining the cucumbers having a "grilled" look on them, as if the wire will cut into the fruit or something. I'm hoping the garden netting will be sturdy enough.

The trellis will be placed outside the garden. One row of cucumbers is on the outer-most row in the garden. These fruits will be able to climb up and out of the garden on the trellis. The next row in, is another set of cucumbers. These cucumbers don't get a trellis, but I'm hoping they'll have double the room to grow since the outer-most row will be growing outside the garden. We'll see if it works!

The Little Vineyard

2010-05-02T21:19:00.001-07:00

I went to Lowes to return something and as I walked in the door, I noticed several bins outside the front door. They were small burlap sacks of grapes, usually $10, marked down to $1. For a dollar, you got two grape plants. Y'all know I can't pass up that kind of deal! I purchased 6 Niagra grape plants and brought them home. They weren't our beloved muscadine variteties, but I figured this would do just fine to start us off.

With that, RNH and I built a little "vineyard." I'm using the term "vineyard" very, very loosely. But its fun and I'm excited!

The dog ended up chewing up one of the plants, so we really only planted 5 grapes. They're not looking all that well, but they had to have been marked down for a reason! Whatever plants don't grow, we'll just replace with a muscadine vine. No biggie!

We planted them 8 feet apart with 6.5x3.5 round posts in between the plants. We ran a sturdy wire between each post along the bottom and top of the posts for support as they grow. We also decided put the posts along the natural curve of our yard for maximum use of the space, and to ensure the grapes get as much sunlight as possible. I like the way it looks, instead of being a straight row. We're already talking about putting in another row, and extending the row we just created! I can't wait til they start producing!!! While we were putting up the posts, our neighbor came over on his tractor and we got to talking. Which eventually led to me filling up a cooler full of beer, ordering pizza, and starting a bonfire. My neighbor was joking about how redneck we were- but there is nothing like hanging out around a bonfire on an almost-summer night!!!

(My neighbor leaving on his tractor.)

Garden Update

2010-04-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty absent from hanging out on the internet, well, actually pretty absent from being indoors. Spring has come on full-swing and I'm loving spending every minute outside. If I'm not playing with my puppy, I'm doing something in the garden.

The broccoli we have is doing very well. We had a few days of unusual 90 degree weather for April, so I was worried that this would cause it some stress. We're back to normal temperatures, around the 70's and 40's at night. It is thriving.
The red potatoes we planted are coming up. I've never grown potatoes so it was really exciting to see them sprout with their velvet-y looking foliage. I can't wait to see them continue growing!

We planted 2 rows of Silver Queen corn, RNH's favorite. We will plant two more rows, 2 weeks from then in order to get a decent crop all summer.

We finally planted cucumbers. Marketmore 76, and a pickling cucumber that I can't remember the name of right now. We planted one row on the very edge of the garden. We will build a trellis that extends off the garden for the cucumbers to grow on. That way the next row of cucumbers in the garden will have double the space they normally would to grow. We have not built the cucumber trellis yet, but I've got a while until it will be needed. I've read that you can grow things like lettuce, under the trellis, however I'm not really interested in that this year. Maybe next!

The garlic and onion are doing wonderfully.

The next days I have off I will be planting squash, zucchini, and okra! Can't wait!

*I wrote this post at the beginng of March. I kept forgetting to upload pictures! Hopefully I'll update the garden's current condition with pictures, its gotten pretty far along!

Hilariousness in Free Ranging

2010-04-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

Even if you don't own chickens or livestock of any sort, you've got to check out this blog! New Life On A Homestead The article is titled "Free Ranging Advice." The pictures are HILARIOUS!!!

RNH and only have chickens to let free range- maybe one day we'll have goats and pigs (if I could only talk him into it!!!) I don't have too many problems with the chickens standing on the hood of my car, but they do cause a bit of trouble...

My next door neighbor's grandson came to live with them for a bit. He is what some would call a thug-wannabe. He is about 14 years old and dresses with his pants down around his ankles. Anyways. He went complaining to his grandma one day about how Roo chased him. I will tell you, I would pay money to have seen that. Its not that I don't like the kid or anything- I've never spoken to him, but it is FUNNY!

She also told me that one day she heard some noise on her front stoop and opened up the front door to see all six chickens hanging out on her front door step. She told them to shoo and they did.

The chickens are also crossing the street. This makes me nervous because we live on a busy road and they're likely to get hit by car. I guess they've heard the joke, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" and they're trying to find the answer for themselves! Hardy har har!

Like I mentioned before, the chickens have found our newly planted apple trees to be a perfect spot for dust bathing. I'm afraid before too long they are going to expose the young plant's root ball and kill the tree. I'm going to need to monitor the situation. They also kick out all of the nicely placed mulch in the front beds that run along the front of our home. Not cool.

Roo has also found his favorite spot where he likes to crow. My deck. Right in front of my bedroom door. Of course, in the early morning. He also likes to leave huge globs of chicken poo on my deck, which then my Labrador likes to gobble up as soon as he walks out the door. And he'll surprise me with a huge, wet, sloppy kiss... and, well, you know where his mouth has been. YUCK!

Anyways- we're going to have to stop the free-ranging very soon. We're working on coop and run plans. We've finally got the miter saw that RNH was coveting... now we just need the money for all of the wood! No more scrap-coop for these chickens, we're going to make a nice home for them to live in 24-7. I'll miss having them run after me when its feeding time, but I know they'll be much safer that way!

Much Needed Home Improvement

2010-04-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

May is a huge month for our little family. Not only will this upcoming month mark our first year of marriage, but it will mark our second year in our little home. The best thing about it all- we've been loving every second of it!

Over these past two years we've tried to make our home, "ours." The house was built in 1999 and had plain white walls with gold accents. RNH and I hate plain, and we hate gold. The plain part was easy to fix- I painted our entire house. The first half-year in our home RNH and I worked exact opposite shifts. That meant a ton of time by myself painting. I actually like painting interior walls and such, so it was fun. Now that 90% of our rooms have paint on the walls, I began tackling the gold accents. I hate them. This isn't like an antique gold or anything like that. It is straight gold. I started with the smallest room in our house, the master bath and began painting the trim, replacing the blinds and eventually the door knobs, with brushed nickle. I love it. The only problem with tackling the gold accents is that there are several door knobs in our house, and door knobs are surprisingly not cheap! I'm determined to do it, however. It just may take some time. So if you ever visit me and notice the mis-matched accents, just ignore them!

Anyways- short story made long... RNH and I had a huge gold chandelier in our living room. The room that we spend the most time in. The room that you first walk into when you enter our home. When I say huge, I mean HUGE. And its gold. You might see a chandelier like this in a million dollar home, however the home was probably built in the 1980's and the glass crystal parts are actually glass, instead of plastic like ours- and our home was nowhere near a million dollars. Oh, and the owners of such a chandelier would probably have paid to have someone clean the dang light piece over the past 12 years. Unlike our previous home owners. And of course I wasn't going to clean the nasty thing!

So our tax money arrived and RNH and I excitedly purchased a new ceiling fan to replace the ugly gaudy chandelier!!! I don't know if anyone can truly understand how great it felt to get rid of that ugly accent. It feels as good as buying a new car or something. It is absolutely WONDERFUL!
So we've lived in our home for 2 years now and we're finally getting things the way we want them. I guess they say that owning a home is always a work in progress and you'll never be done. At least we're one step closer! :)

Dandelion Wine

2010-04-22T17:57:00.000-07:00

I mentioned a while ago that I got this book and recommended it for everyone. One of the chapters inside is on foraging off the land. The book has several suggestions for what you can do with dandelions. I had no idea that the plant was so useful! From roasted roots to make coffee, to the leaves for a salad, this plant is so versatile! I am going to try and use the flowers for dandelion wine! Not only is it fun and easy to make, but its almost free! Y'all know I love free!!!
I started off by picking about 3 and a half quarts of dandelion flowers. Then I sat out on the deck for hours (it was a beautiful, relaxing day!) and I took out the center of the flower. The books says that the more of the green you remove, the less bitter-tasting the wine will be. I don't like bitter, so I took the time and took off 99% of the green stuff. When I ended up doing more research online for other recipes and such, I saw that most people leave the green bottoms on. This process was pretty time-consuming, so next year I might leave the green on!

Dandelions are such a beautiful flower! Our yard is FULL of them! Its almost embarrassing, but whatever! We were told by our neighbor that the previous home-owner had turned over the entire yard three different times in the 10 years that they had lived in the home. Each time they tried different grass seed. Each time, the dandelions came back. Instead of trying to kill them, I guess we decided to live with them- and use them!

As you can see, I took the time and took off a majority of the green leaves and flower bottoms.

I then placed all of the flower pieces into a plastic bucket. RNH had previously used this bucket to make wine with scuppernong grapes last year. Unfortunately we put it in the garage with the grape juice in it last year and completely forgot about it until it was too late. We ended up having a really nasty smelling grape vinegar on our hands instead... Yuck! I am keeping the bucket in the kitchen this time so I will constantly be reminded that it is there every time I trip on it!

I then poured 2 gallons of boiling water over the petals and let it soak for three days. Because of my work schedule, the petals soaked for about 4 days, but I think it will be okay- especially since I took the greens off. If the greens had been on, I'm assuming the bitterness will really have seeped out.
After 3 (or 4!) days, I put the petals and water back on the stove and let it boil again. I stirred in a bunch of sugar, I think 3 or so cups? It was sweet to taste. Almost too sweet. I hope I didn't ruin it!

After the sugar was dissolved, I took the rinds of two oranges and two lemons and put them in to simmer along with the rest of the mixture for an hour. After the hour was up, I poured the mixture back into the plastic bucket. I had to monitor the liquid until it cooled to 70-75F degrees, which took about an hour or so. Once it had cooled to that temperature, I poured active yeast over a piece of bread and laid the bread on top of the mixture and covered the bucket with the lid.

That sat for three days (actually I think 4!). After this I took wine bottles and put several golden raisins in the bottom of each one. I then strained out the bread and fruit and poured the wine over the raisins into the bottles. I made 4 bottles of wine. On the top of each bottle, I placed a balloon with a tiny hole. This will allow the gases to escape out of the bottle, without letting a lot of air into the wine. I didn't take pictures of this.

The bottles are now sitting in my closet going through their processes. I check on them every once and again. Once the balloons are mostly deflated, I will strain the liquid through a cheese cloth and it will go back into the wine bottles with a balloon on top until the yeast finishes. I will have to do this about 3 or 4 times I think. (I'm not to that point just yet!) Once the balloons don't inflate any more, I will cork the bottles and leave them in a cool dark place for a year before I can taste it. I'm not sure I'll be able to wait that long...!!!

In the meantime, I made a Boston Creme pie from scratch. It was in a Hershey's recipe book. I was disappointed at first because it wasn't that great. The recipe says to let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. But who can resist tasting it right after its put together?!?! The next day, once the entire pie had cooled.... SHOOO-WEEE! I can't tell you how good this thing was! It looks pretty and tastes even better! YUM!

Dust Bath?

2010-04-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

My chickens have decided that the best place to have their dust bath is in the newly planted apple tree. Which of course, its not going to be good for the tree. I'm thinking about making a dust box for them. I've read blogs about quite a few people making them. They seem to be pretty successful with their chickens actually using the box. We'll see.

RNH finally got his miter saw that he has been dreaming about for forever. I'm thinking he might have to make the chickens a box!

The indoor kitty, Chloe, decided that she wanted to see what all the fuss was about with these chickens. They all hung out together for about 15 minutes! Chloe just sniffed around them, and Roo, the guardian rooster, didn't seem to mind her hanging out!

Found: Tort!

2010-04-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

RNH and I were walking out the door to try out a 4-mile run on the road in front of the house (it was bad!) and almost stepped on a baby turtle!!!

He was about the size of a quarter.So cute!

I was tempted to keep him, but we released him. Hopefully he'll make it!

I named him Tort, in the few moments that we had with him. As I was running I almost stepped on another one the same size as Tort. I put him back in the grass. Hopefully he'll make it too! I love spring when all of the baby animals come out!!!

Mom is coming up this weekend. With the Umstead Coalition Run and possibly a Durham Bulls game, we've got a full weekend planned. I'll be MIA, but I'll be having fun!!!

Spark People!

2010-04-11T04:58:00.000-07:00

My sister graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in Health and Fitness, and for years now she has worked as an athletic instructor/coordinator, etc. She now has two children and looks absolutely fabulous. I'm jealous of her now, and can only hope after I have kids I look the way she does. Anyways- I can always go to her for health and fitness, as well as nutrition advice.

A few days ago she e-mailed me a link to SparkPeople. Spark People is a FREE website where people can track their caloric intake, fitness, weight, and all sorts of other goals. It was created not to help people loose weight, but to change people's life style for the better. Most websites like ediets.com and weightwatchers.com cost, but this one doesn't. It works by word-of-mouth. So I'm doing my part because I love this site!

Nutrition:

I really like this part. I exercise on a pretty regular basis, but the eating part is what gets me. I love to shove all sorts of stuff in my mouth without thinking. Especially at work. I'm not bored by any means at work, but its like no-thinking eating. My office is a car. It is super easy for me to stop in at the local Quickie Mart and grab a candy bar, chips or slurpee. Thankfully I also have the internet in my car, so I have been keeping this website up at all times while at work. This has REALLY helped me curb my mindless eating. I really like the website because it has "real" food. Spark People have added popular foods so when you eat a Fiber One Oats and Chocolate Chewy Bar, you add this to your daily foods and the calories, fat, carbs, vitamins, etc are specific for that food. You don't have to "guess" on how many calories you're adding. It also breaks down each meal for you, so you know if you ate too much for breakfast, you better slow down for lunch! The best part is it does a report for you at the end of every day. It breaks down your food for the day and tells you if the majority of your calories have come from Carbs, Fat or Protein and breaks it down. It then gives you suggestions for ways to improve your diet.

Water:

This is just an extra on the website, but you can track your water intake for the day. There is a fun little glass on the front page where you can push the "up" button for each cup of water you drink. I am not a water drinker. I could go the whole day and forget that I haven't drank anything. Its not that I drink a ton of soda or any other drink, I just don't drink. This has to be bad for my body! But now that I've been using this website, I have been drinking the 8 cups of water a day. And peeing... a lot!

Fitness:

This part is pretty cool too. They can hook you up with a workout program and even suggest different strength training exercises with instructions and everything. Since my work schedule is crazy, I can't really get on a regular exercise "program" but I'm using it to track what I do the days I can. It also shows you how many calories you burn doing the exercise. Very cool.

Weigh-In:

You track your weight, as well as any measurements that you'd like. I haven't measured anything yet because I should probably do that in the privacy of my own home, not at work while I'm driving around in my "office." :)

My Goals:

Hopefully the more-public I make these, the more I'll be likely to follow through! I'll keep you updated. I am 5'8 with, what I would call, an athletic build. I've always played sports, and up until I graduated college, played some sort of "sport" on a regular basis. Since college, I've been stuck to "gyming-it" for any sort of exercise. I'm not fat, but I've got some chunk in places I'd rather not have it- including my stomach, arms, and back of my thighs. Yuck! I also have none, as in zero muscle definition, despite how much I lift weights. I think it may be a genetic thing, but also because the amount of body fat I'm carrying. Anyways- I'm heading to the beach the last week of May. I'd like to go from 154lbs to 145lbs. I have not weighed 145 since high school. I'm not that far from my goal, but since I haven't been under 150 about 6 years, the goal is sort of hard for me to get to. Thanks to Spark People, the website has created a "diet" for me to follow- as in, my caloric intake should be between 1,300-1,500 a day to drop the weight by the last week of May. Simple enough, but I had no clue how many calories I was really putting in my body. With all of the "dieting" I will continue to exercise as I am currently, including strength training. Hopefully by following the structured caloric intake they've set for me, as well as my regular exercise, I'll get to my goal by beach time. If not, I won't be disappointed. I'll probably try to keep this up until I reach my goal. Maybe even after!

Fun Stuff:

I love when the warmer weather comes and every "cause" is holding some sort of walk or run. I've signed up for two already, the most important one to me, The Run For Our Heroes, as well as the Umstead Coalition run. The first is a 5k, and the second is a 4-mile run. I run a 5k on a treadmill about 2 times a week. I've been running consistently at a 26 to 27 minute rate for 3.1 miles. I would love to get that time down to around the 24 or 25 minute mark. I'm working hard to get it down but I'm not sure it will be possible. Whenever I push myself to run faster, I end up having to walk in order to get the "stitch" out of my side, or to get my breath back. The last time I ran, I ran at an 8:40 minute mile pace, and that was even with about a minute of walking to get my breath back. If I can go without that walking, I'd be down to an 8:30 minute mile. Sweet! The runs are coming up this month, so I doubt I'll make my goal, but it might be something I continue to try for throughout the summer. Plus- this is on a treadmill. Who knows if it is actually accurate, and if I'll run slower when outside on the pavement. We'll see. Can't wait though!

Locks of Love

2010-03-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

I wanted to donate my hair so bad. But I'm just not gonna be able to do it.

A minimum donation to Locks of Love is 10 inches. I'm at 8. That is just two measly inches!!! But in hair-growing time, that is forever! If I was to take all 10 inches off my head right now, my hair would be right at my chin. That is way too short for my type of face, and I have to be able to pull it into a pony tail for work.

In April, it will have been a year since I've cut my hair. Its getting very raggedy and gross. If I'm going to wear it down, I have to straighten it with a hot iron. That is not a very "me" thing to do (because it takes way too much time and effort!). When I have it pulled back in a pony tail at the gym, the ends of it stick to the back of my neck and get all sweaty (GROSS!) so I think its about time to chop it all off.

I'm going to do it Thursday before work. Yes!

My mom used to cut me and my sister's hair. We had long straight, red hair. Everyone. And it was very long. My mom's used to be down to her butt before she chopped it all off and gave it to Locks of Love! But people used to think we were Amish because we had such long hair. My mom would give it a trim every now and then. Nothing special, just a straight-across the bottom trim.

When I moved away to college is when I finally went to a hair salon for a haircut. I actually really enjoyed it because I love to have people brush my hair. It was like going to a spa for me! And I went to Great Clips. Paying $12 for something I used to get for free (and they actually gave me layers and style to my hair!) didn't seem unreasonable.

Then, I upgraded. When I was a Senior in college, I found a "NY Styles" near the campus that would cut my hair for $20. Yiikes, thats $8 more than Great Clips!!! But they did really nice work and told me why they were better than Great Clips. I've been going there ever since. They are now 45 minutes from where I live, so I have to plan my hair cuts according to my work schedule.

I'm a grown adult, who can afford a nice salon, but I'm scared to "upgrade" once again. I'm afraid that I'll get "sucked in" to the more expensive places because they'll do that much better with my hair. I like the way NY Styles cuts my hair, and its relatively inexpensive. Also- when I go in they always ask who did my highlights (because they're fabulous!) and I tell them that they're natural! I have friends that pay big bucks for this stuff! But anyways- I'm sure if I get sucked in someday, its going to be because of my sister's influence. She's new to my area, and I'm sure she's going to convince me to trade in my NY Styles for a Salon Blu, or whatever. We'll see!

RNH is going to the beach with his BFF for the next two days, so he'll have a surprise (if he even notices!) when he gets home!

Me with my hair the shortest its ever been, 2007.

Me about 3 months ago. My hair doesn't look that long because its pulled around and over my shoulders. Its much longer than this now. And stringy/wavy/gross. I can't wait to get rid of it all! :)

Start of an Herb Garden

2010-03-29T01:01:00.000-07:00

I love the idea of having an herb garden right outside my kitchen door. I loved the idea so much that I bought several different types of seeds and began to plan my garden. But the more I planned, the more I realized, RNH and I don't use a lot of the herbs I wanted to plant so bad. So I re-thought my herb garden and cut it down. Based on what we eat, and what we use, I planted only a few herbs. Probably half of what I originally planned.

On the left hand side of the deck stairs, I planted mint. I have no clue what kind it is because I bought it from a man a the Raleigh Farmer's Market. I had never been and took a special trip there with my sister. I was bummed because there really wasn't much for sale (since its still early in the season) and everything was pretty expensive. I purchased three herb plants and that was it. The mint is planted on the left-hand side of the deck because it is very shaded at all times of the day. It is doing very well despite the 90 degree days we have had. I planted it all by itself in its own space since its supposed to spread well. I'm pretty excited about the idea of making fresh mint juleps and dipping the leaves in chocolate. I love anything mint-chocolate. I'm going to have to do some research to figure out what else I can make. Anyone have anything they can recommend?

The right hand side of the deck receives a lot of sun. This is where I planted rosemary. Its not looking too great right now, but the weather is going to be getting better and I think it will be fine. RNH and I don't use a ton of rosemary, but I think it is one of those herbs that we can learn to use a lot. Plus its got such a great aroma and I think it will be nice to smell every time we come in and out of the house.
Next to the rosemary is the dill. We usually only use dill for pickles. We're planning on canning a lot of pickles this year, so having fresh dill on-hand will be perfect. Last year I bought a few sprigs from the grocery store, only to have them wilt in the refrigerator before I could use them. This year there will be less waste. I'll also look into other things that call for dill. Since dill doesn't come back year after year, (at least I think that's what I read!), I went ahead and planted it pretty close to the rosemary. I'm thinking next year the rosemary might take over and get bigger, so the dill will have to find a new spot.

Next to the dill is the basil. The dog chewed the top off of it right after I planted it, so its not looking too great. Ugh. I love basil. One of my favorite things to make is a basil butter. It is just butter, basil, garlic and Parmesan cheese. It is easily frozen and is great on corn, chicken, toast, etc. Love it. Because RNH loves basil too, and he has serious doubts on the recovery of our broken basil, he went ahead and purchased another plant. It was planted in a pot and looks much better.

To the right of the basil is oregano. My mother in-law brought us several small sprigs of oregano from her own garden. I'm not sure what we are going to do with it, but I'm sure we'll use it for something. I'm thinking we're going to be making some marinara sauce with all of these herbs!

RNH and I also purchased some cilantro from our local nursery. We bought two bunches and planted them in a pot as well. RNH makes an awesome salsa, so having fresh cilantro on hand will definitely help. Besides, when he buys cilantro from the grocery store, he often picks up parsley by mistake. Now we won' t have this problem!

Speaking of parsley- I also purchased some flat-leaf. We don't use it a ton, but I love to make shrimp and pasta dishes, with a butter and wine sauce, and sprinkle that with parsley. The herbs were so cheap at the nursery, I couldn't help it and purchased some parsley too! I'm sure we'll find more uses for it!

There is no more room in our herb garden, so the new basil plant, cilantro and parsley were all planted in pots and are kept on the deck. This is actually better for me because I can keep a better eye on them and make sure they're well-watered. They're also out of reach of the chickens (so far!). The chickens don't seem too excited about the herbs in the ground though. Is that usual, or will they become a pest as the garden grows?

So far the chickens have stayed out of the garden for the most part, now that it has garden netting surrounding it. I hope they continue to stay out as everything begins to grow!!!

Meet My Friend

2010-03-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

Meet my friend Skinny. She is insanely hilarious and she is making my chickens famous!

Apple Tree

2010-03-17T12:46:00.000-07:00

RNH and I planted our two apple trees the past two days! It was a bit of a struggle to figure out where we wanted to place our permanent structures for maximum enjoyment, all while keeping them out of the way. Our disease-ridden, terribly pruned pear tree stands next to an ugly light pole in the middle of our yard. It is a terrible eye sore. But when the pear tree has leaves, the light pole doesn't seem so bad. Turns out that there were two other fruit trees also planted nearby to cover up the ugly pole. It stinks- we need the light in our backyard, but its hideous. Anyways. RNH and I dig and dig and dig and remove the two old fruit tree stumps that have decayed and decide to plant our new apple trees in their place.

I'm a bit worried about the Gala apple tree we planted since it was basically set on top of a rotted root ball that we just couldn't get out of the ground. For the most part, the tree trunk had decayed and we pulled out all of the old wood that we could. We then filled the soil back in with garden soil and compost. I'm not sure if this was a good thing to do. I'm also concerned with why these fruit trees had died. Were they diseased? If so, is the old wood going to pass on the disease to my new trees? Only time will tell!

This picture is the corner off of our deck on the back of the house. You might be able to see the tiny red circles I drew in the grass. Those are our apple trees!

As you can see from this angle, the apple tree is planted near the light pole, hopefully to conceal the pole better. Past the light pole is the pear tree. The pear tree is a disaster. Now after I've done all of this research on pruning and care of fruit trees, I feel sad for this pear tree.

I don't know if the poor tree has ever been pruned. I know there are several ways to prune fruit trees, but I like the pyramid shaped trees that have a central leader. I think with a bit of training, it will be possible to recover this pear tree as long as I'm able to remove the one of the Dos Leaders. The one leader, on the right, actually suffered from a severe bout with fireblight last year. It has to go. There are a ton of other branches in this tree that have to go, so I've got my work cut out for me!

Another problem I have: if you look to the right of the pear tree, there are several other small pear trees that have sprouted over the years. I don't think this is a good thing. But if I'm going to loose a pear tree to fire blight, wouldn't it be nice to have another (free!) tree growing in its place? I think that these younger trees probably have a higher chance of also being infected with fire blight, but I'm not sure. I'll pay more attention to them this year since I have a bit of knowledge!

I don't think I'll know whether or not the larger pear tree is salvageable until about 2 years later. By then who knows what kind of shape these tiny pear trees will be in. As the growth continues this year, I think I'll keep an eye on the small ones and see which one looks the healthiest. I'll cut out all other small trees and make sure I prune the small one correctly. As the years pass, if I determine that the large tree is done for good, I'll just hack it down and let the smaller tree continue to grow (properly pruned!) in its place! We'll see. This is a lot to think about, but I'm excited about fruit!!!

If you can give me advice about my pear and apple trees, please do! I need all the advice I can get!

broccoli

2010-03-17T12:29:00.001-07:00

I have finally put my seedlings in the ground!!! We had a pretty cloudy, yet decently warm day and I was finally able to put my nursery-purchased broccoli into the ground, along with my tiny seedlings. At this point I wanted my seedlings to be much bigger than they are, but because my lovely puppy knocked over my first seedlings, I got what I got. I am happy to report that despite my seedlings being a bit small, they are doing very well!

Because the soil is so rocky/full of clay at this end of the garden, even after tilling under manure and compost, (maybe it will be better next year?) I decided to mix some bagged top soil in with the clay while planting. I'm hoping the loose soil will help the young plant's roots settle into the soil better. We'll see if I'm right!
While planting my broccoli, I was minding my own business and all of a sudden I heard clucking behind me. The dang chickens had run over to my little baby plants and begun eating them! It didn't even take a second before the ladies had found my gold mine. I had to quickly put up a temporary fence around my luscious green tops, even while I was working in the garden. Its pretty funny that the chickens have left the garlic and onion alone. I guess those veggies are a bit too potent for them to enjoy. Here is my temporary garden fence. This weekend I am actually going to purchase some more garden netting and go ahead and enclose the entire 1,000 square feet so I don't have to worry about it later. Besides, I snuck carrots in (even though they weren't in my garden plans that I have drawn out... oops!) and I don't want to have to worry about the chickens discovering them as their green tops begin to poke out!
I planted a Rabbit-eye blue berry bush just a few weeks ago. It is doing very nicely. As I recall, my blueberry bushes looked exactly like this last year. Full of buds and looking very promising. They produced a decent amount of berries for being such a small bush, so I was happy with them. But now...The tops of my three bushes that I planted last year look like they're still dormant. With this warm weather, I expected to see something. I took a set of pruning shears to it to determine if the bushes were even still alive. I had to remove the dead branches anyways. Well I might have been a bit too prune-happy, but I cut the bush back a tad and got rid of the dead stuff. Hopefully this will help. I know (now) that the soil is not as acidic as blueberries prefer. I'm hoping this doesn't stop them. I am also planning on mulching the bushes better with pine straw and adding lime to the soil to add to the acidity. We'll see. I'm just praying they produce!

Maybe it was the extra long/harsh winter that we had this year that has kept the bushes from growing as quickly as I expected them to. I'm new to blueberries, does anyone know if its normal for them to look this way? Do I need to just be patient?!?!

Dehydrating Deliciousness

2010-03-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased a food dehydrator from the ultimate redneck store, Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. It is our favorite store. I bought an Open Country 7-tray food dehydrator based on the several reviews and research I did. I found that if I'm not going to be dehydrating large quantities of food on a regular basis, the Open Country would do just fine. It was on sale and I paid $40. I think it is a perfect contraption for a beginner dehydrator. The reviews speak highly of the product, and there are several reviews on it.

The one food I desperately wanted to dehydrate was bananas. I have watched and re-watched the banana making video on this awesome website, Dehydrate2Store, but I just can't get my bananas to taste very good. They taste old and bruised.

Anyways. I have fell in love with other things that I've tried. Fruit cocktail is my favorite thing of all. I am a huge candy eater. Especially at work. I get a bored/sweet tooth and feel the need to go pick up a pack of Skittles or something to chew on. Instead of reaching for candy now, I pick up my dehydrated fruit and its just like eating candy! Sweet, chewy, and all sorts of different flavors. The only difference: its not quite as bad for me!

Canned fruit of any kind; peaches, pears, fruit cocktail, pineapple, apricots, etc. are awesome in the dehydrator. My newest thing: strawberries. I love Special K Cereal with the dried strawberries in it. These strawberries taste like they came right out of the box. Since I don't have a huge amount of strawberry plants right now, I will probably end up drying a lot of my berries to eat later.

Another fun thing that I took from Dehydrate2Store was kiwi infused strawberry. Simply slice the two fruits and lay the slices on top of each other while drying. Magnificent!

A Natural Born Swimmer

2010-03-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

A coworker brought his two dogs over today, a pit mix and dingo-dog mix. They're big dogs and Drake has played with them since he was a tiny puppy. He loves them and loves to have puppy play dates!!!

We went down into the woods and walked along the river. We actually went further than RNH and I had ever been. It was so much fun being in the middle of the woods, in the middle of nowhere. I just love that feeling! The dogs were having a blast running around and chasing each other. Drake found a decaying turtle and the other dog found a ton of beaver holes, but other than that, nothing too exciting.

As we were walking back, RNH and I were on one side of the river, and my coworker had all three dogs on the other side. Drake began whining because he couldn't be with his parents. We stopped along side the river and I coaxed him into the water. He had to swim across to get with me- and he did it!!! It was so great! We made a big deal about it and of course he wanted to do it again. He swam right back across where his two play pals were waiting for him.

Further down river it got much much wider, and he even swam across that! I was upset because I didn't have my camera with me, and it felt as if my child had just taken his first step! I'm sure as the weather continues to warm, he's going to be swimming a lot more. I snapped this picture of a worn out pup after his buddies were gone!

Isn't he getting big!??!

Onion Failure

2010-03-14T01:06:00.000-08:00

I've pretty much given in and have admitted to my failure at growing onions from seed. I read that it was hard to do, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot. Since I read that a common mistake is over-watering onion seedlings, I was careful but ended up under-watering them. So now I have life-less seedlings sitting in my window. I'm bummed. I found some onion bulbs at Walmart, surprisingly, for $1.50, so I'm going to try my hand at them. They went in the ground this past weekend.

The garlic that I moved from one spot in the garden to another, is doing remarkable. I'm excited that it did not die. I'm hoping that once its harvested, I'll be able to dry the bulbs out and make garlic powder. We use a ton of it at our house, so it would be perfect! Our favorite store, Southern States, had a huge grand opening this weekend. Despite working midnights and not being awake during decent hours, RNH and I decided we'd wake up early and go. They were supposed to have biddies there, as well as some good sales, so I really wanted to go. Of course when we got there, all of the chicks are gone. Sold out. The fruit trees were on sale as well, and I had made up my mind that I was going to buy a single peach tree. Most peach varieties are self-pollinating, meaning you only need one tree. And of course like the biddies, the peach trees were gone as well. RNH and I were bummed, but quickly decided that we would like to have some apple trees. They are not self-pollinating so we bought two kinds: Gala and Fuji. I am so ecstatic about the possibility of apples that I can hardly stand it- the only thing of course is that I will have to wait at least 3 years for them to fruit! Oh well! I'm also on a list just in case SS gets some peach trees in. We'll see. Now we just have to find a decent place to plant these trees! We'll have to figure that out on our next day off!

I also bought some carrot seeds for another attempt. Last year I planted them in the fall and they did wonderfully. But because I'm a wimp, I didn't have the heart to thin them out, and I also did not weed them well-enough, oh and I also planted them too late! Now that I've done research on them and have mapped out my garden plans, I think I'm going to squeeze these suckers in. The carrots that did grow last year, were tiny and very very sweet. They were delicious. I think our soil is good for carrots, so I'm hoping I'll have some good luck with these. I read that they should have been planted at the first of the month, but with the rain and everything that we had, I think it is good that I "waited." (Or just didn't think about growing them until now!) :) Putting them in the ground will be the first thing I do on my day off.

My broccoli and eggplant seedlings are now outdoors at all times. Even overnight. They are doing wonderfully, but I think I need to transfer them to a fiber pot or something. The small peat pots that they are in right now are too small. I won't plant them into the ground just yet. I'll just put the round peat pots into the bigger, square fiber pots and wait for them to continue developing.

On the way to the dump, yes the dump, the other day, RNH and I stopped in at a local nursery. It is well off the beaten path and we've never stopped. I wasn't sure if they'd have vegetables, but they sure did! The man who owns the nursery starts everything from seed in his huge greenhouse. He had 4 packs of broccoli started, ready to plant, for $1.60. That is unheard of at Southern States. A 4 pack of smaller broccoli seedlings at SS would be at least $3, and probably more. I was real excited and told him we'd come back for more plants as the season progresses. I purchased 12 broccoli plants, in addition to the 10 or so that I have at the house. I'm hoping that his seedlings will be ready for harvest first, and as long as the heat holds off, I will be harvesting my seedlings weeks later. We'll see if it works out!

Garden Preparations

2010-03-13T10:26:00.000-08:00

So now that this crazy cold winter seems to finally be over, I dug in full steam into the garden. RNH re-tilled the garden while I formed the rows. Afterwards I spread some Black Kow (cow manure) on the rows. I'm not sure if that is the correct way to do things, (its probably better to work the manure into the soil while tilling) but I'm thinking this will be good enough.

While doing all of this hard work, it was very amazing to see the differences in the soil within just a few feet. The soil on the west end is a darker color (I think because I put manure down last spring), and is much more fine. The soil on the east side is harder, full of thick rocks and is like clay. I'm thinking that this is going to be a big problem for our crops at that end of the garden. RNH suggested working in some top soil which I think will be a good idea. If I had been composting all winter, it would have been good to work the compost in. But I was lazy, so now I'm just working with what we've got. And thankfully, we've got topsoil in the shed.

Our soil goes from this:

To this: in a matter of feet.

My next problem to tackle: chickens in the garden. I only have garlic and onions planted so far, but the chickens immediately go over and pluck out all of the onion bulbs. Grrr... I've got to buy some more netting and set up the fence ASAP!

Bad Teeth

2010-03-12T10:16:00.000-08:00

As I promised, I am posting a picture of the beaver skull (just the top half) that we found in the woods recently. The size of the skull makes me think that this was a younger beaver. It is pretty small and the beavers I have seen have to be about 50 lbs. I'd guess this one was about 20 lbs. And I don't think his mom ever showed him the correct way to brush his teeth....

Creatures of the Night

2010-03-11T22:11:00.000-08:00

We finally got pictures of animals (besides birds) on our wildlife camera!!! While at the Dixie Deer Classic we got some good information on setting up the camera the correct way, as well as what the deer are looking for at this time of the year. They're searching out minerals and apparently the salt lick will do them right. So RNH bought a lick and set out some corn. He moved the camera to the side to get a different angle, and Volia! Here are some of the pictures we captured! Nothing too big or exciting, but hopefully we'll see a big buck, fox or something neat on there soon!

A Redneck's Heaven

2010-03-09T20:20:00.000-08:00

Yup, that's right. The Dixie Deer Classic was in Raleigh this past weekend. Of course RNH and I went. I've never been since I'm new to all of the redneck ways, but let me tell you this- I've never seen so many good ol' people in one place. I usually hate crowds, but this crowd didn't make me as nervous as other crowds do...

The first building we went into was full of people and tons of crazy noises. From turkeys gobbling, crows calling, owls hooting, ducks quacking, and deer grunting, there seemed to be a million vendors that were selling the "best" call at the Classic. RNH and I wandered from booth to booth. We were specifically looking for a good wood duck call since that is what we seem to have the most of. I guess that is a popular duck in our area, because the best sounding wood duck call had been sold out on Friday (we were there on Sunday). As we checked out the different duck calls, I began to notice a trend. The vendors had their calls on display. If you asked them to use the call so you could hear the pitch and sound, they would suggest that you try it. Yup. I got suckered into trying a call. A call that probably a million other people had tried that weekend. Surely, I thought, these have to be sanitized in some way. After I made a feeble attempt at doing the "WheeeT" that a wood duck does, the man took the call back from me and wiped it with a dry cloth. A dry cloth. And he put it back on the display. Immediately I regretted having blown on that duck call. Wood ducks being the most popular duck in the area, meaning the most popular call. And he was very good at getting me to try the call, as I'm sure he was good with the 50 bagillion people before me. Yuck. I don't have any diseases (that I know of) so far... We'll see!
Another building was full of guns so we checked prices on things. RNH is really wanting a Springfield 1911. The ultimate 1911 for him would be made by Colt, but he's going to settle for a Springfield. We're also looking at getting revolver of some sort since all we own right now in the handgun department are pistols. I'd also like to get RNH to help me build an M4. He built his, which I think would be pretty cool to do! The other gun he is working towards is the M1 Grandee. Ohhh if we only made a ton of money....

The last building was full of John Deere equipment to buy, deer heads to be judged, and long, long lines. What were the lines for?

Everyone was waiting in line to meet these people:

Michael Waddell of The Bone Collector TV show. He's pretty much every redneck's idol, and Lee and Tiffany Lakosky of "The Crush" on the Outdoor Channel. No, we did not stand in line to meet them. We did walk by and see them though!

The show was a ton of fun. RNH actually bid in a silent auction on 2 turkey calls, one $40 and the other $50. He bid a total of $20 on the two calls and waltzed out the door. No one seemed to be paying attention to the auction- which is pretty funny considering that these calls won awards for best calls in NC. Hmmm... Unfortunately the duck calls were being auctioned on Ebay. I guess they're a bit more popular!

We also got to watch a neat Labrador hunting demonstration. It gave me a renewed hope for Drake and his ability to retrieve. We were so impressed by the labs we saw that day, that once we got home RNH threw Drake into the deep water of the river and made him go swimming! He was a natural at it! Hopefully when it gets warmer, we'll continue to work withi him and the water!

The Dixie Deer Classic was awesome and we can't wait to go again next year!

Making Furniture?

2010-03-05T18:21:00.000-08:00

As you may recall, a couple-friend of ours gave us one of these:

And now I want one of these:

(not this one, but something like this!)

But RNH has a better idea, and wants one of these:

...so he can make me a piece of wine furniture. I think its a great idea because we will be able to custom create it for the wine cooler, and make it custom for a specific place in the kitchen. And we'll be able to stain the wood to match the kitchen cabinets. We've got a million wine glasses from the different wineries we've visited, so a hanging wine glass holder is a must. Then I also want the cross bars that hold the wine bottles because that just looks so cool. I also would like for it to have a drawer to hold any sort of miscellaneous alcohol items, such as cork screws and bar tools.

It may be a bit fancy for our small kitchen, but I have a wine theme, and I think it will be pretty neat. Next month we're buying the miter saw, and then after that we'll be looking into what materials we need. I'm excited and (I hope he can do it!!!).

Dam Beaver!

2010-02-25T15:05:00.000-08:00

It was actually three weekends ago that we noticed this, but we have a new guest at the pond- a beaver! We had gone to visit my mom for the weekend and when we came back and checked things out, there it was: a beaver dam/ lodge.

The pond is man-made and there is even an "over-flow dam" listed on our land survey. The beaver took it upon itself to dam up the dam! The dam isn't huge just yet, but it has definitely stopped the water from flowing through. The pictures don't show this, but as the days went on, there was a large amount of mud that had been pushed up on the edges of the pond- the beaver's failed attempts to dam up the water flow.

We still haven't seen the furry creature, probably because they are mostly nocturnal, but its obvious he's there! I know during hunting season the beaver in the swamp made his presence known very loudly by thwacking his tail on the surface of the water. I keep waiting to hear that noise there, but I never do. Maybe its because the beaver is terrified of Drake?

Here is Drake jumping over/on the beaver's home. If that beaver is asleep under the lodge he is beginning to build, I'm sure he wakes up when Drake stomps across his home!

We were told that beavers have been a problem in the area for quite some time. We've always run into their dams and lodges in the swamp areas, but its odd that a beaver made its way to the pond. We were also told that people used to use dynamite (?) of some sort to blow up their dams. Poor beavers. I have never been that close to one until I had seen one that had been hit by a car on our road. Their coats are so beautiful and thick. I see why people value their furs so much- they're very nice!

We also found the top part of a beaver skull. It was obviously a younger beaver since adult beavers can reach up to 55 lbs! My guess is that this one weighed about 20lbs. I'll have to upload a picture of the skull soon. Pretty neat!

Ghetto Garden No More

2010-02-23T05:39:00.000-08:00

So all of those seedlings I meticulously cared for, are all dead. I knew, I KNEW that I should not have tried to plant them outside so early. I'm not that upset over my hard work because the broccoli actually sprouted very quickly and was not hard to grow from seed at all.

I read on the National Garden Association's Q&A page what was wrong with my seedlings. First I did some research while growing it from seed that once the seedlings reach 3 inches, it is time to plant them. According to my nifty calendar, I was supposed to start hardening off the transplants mid-March. But my seedlings had reached 3 inches in mid-February! What to do? Well (obviously) planting outdoors was not the right choice. In the Q&A section, someone else had the same problem as I did. The person who answered the question said that "drooping broccoli," means that the broccoli has had too much moisture and humidity and that it grew too fast. They recommended removing the plastic covering that sits over the seedlings as soon as the sprouts emerge. Also don't keep them in a warm window sill. Make sure they are getting light, but not too much. Otherwise the broccoli grows too fast and they are ready to plant before its time.

So now that I know all of this, I'm going to wait one more week. Next week I will plant the broccoli seeds exactly the same way I did before. But this time the broccoli will grow quickly, just in time for me to start hardening it off for transplanting outdoors.

Good thing seeds are cheap and starting over isn't that big of a deal! Hopefully this will work, and I no longer have to have an ugly painter's tarp tent in my back yard!!!

This past weekend I was out of town but came home early from my trip to enjoy the nice weather and get out in the garden. The soil was finally dry so I was able to run the tiller through the entire garden again. I found some very old lime in the shed while we were cleaning it out the other week and spread that over the far half of the garden. I hope the lime is okay- I figured it won't hurt it. And I tilled it under. The far half of the garden, where the soil is very heavy clay, I found that the pH is lower, around 5.5. I didn't have much lime, but I figured the lime I did have, may help raise it just a bit.

I also have a compost pile working. Its not in a bin, but I'm hoping RNH and I will make a bin eventually. The chicken poo and food that I have been throwing in it have made a wonderfully dark soil. The small amount that I had I tilled into the garden as well. I think I see why people compost now! It was full of worms!

I also moved the garlic that I had planted earlier in the year, before making a map of my garden. When I planted the garlic I made the rows run from East to West. I did some research and found a nice garden plan where the rows run North to South for certain sunlight reasons. By using this plan, I had to relocate my garlic. It was actually very easy to do and I was able to see if the garlic was growing or not. I threw out some of the bulbs that didn't even have roots (the soil had been so wet, I was worried about the bulbs rotting before growing). I found that the Elephant garlic is growing surprisingly well. I'm hoping that it will continue to grow well after the big move!

BwAk! Oops....

2010-02-20T11:24:00.000-08:00

I took advantage of a sunny day (we haven't had many of them lately- all this crazy snowy weather!) and cleaned out the coop and nest boxes. I left the ladies and Roo in the coop that morning because I took Drake out with me and I didn't want to have to worry about chasing him around and yelling "NO CHASING MOMMY'S CHICKENS!!!" at him. Leaving the chickens in the coop made it easier (they usually have free range of our entire yard).

I grabbed the push broom that I use to brush out the run and stuck it inside the coop. I know that the chickens are scared of the broom, but it hasn't been that big of a deal. Well that was not the case today!

I stuck the broom in the coop and all of a sudden there was a flurry of feathers and BWAKING! I let the ladies run to their nest boxes before trying again. But that is when I saw a surprise...

One (or maybe two) of the ladies had the eggs scared right out of her! There was a full-sized (yet small still) egg, and then an itsy bitsy tiny egg beside it! It was too cute! The egg was about half the size of the eggs that they are laying right now.

I had to reach the egg using the broom, rolling it toward me. But doing this caused it to roll in a bunch of mud and poo, so I ended up tossing the entire egg on the compost pile. I wish I had my camera out there so I could have taken a picture of it.

I'm not sure if this was another hen trying her first attempt at egg-laying, or what, but it was tiny and very cute!

I feel bad though, I didn't mean to scare the eggs right out of them!

Ghetto Garden?

2010-02-19T09:14:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm running into some problems with my ever-so-carefully planned out garden. I've started my broccoli seeds indoors at the time of year when everything I researched says is a good time. So its good right? The broccoli had no problem sprouting, and next thing I know its grown like crazy sitting in the window sill. I read that when the broccoli gets to 3 inches, it should be transplanted. Well what about hardening off the plants? They reached 3 inches so quick, and now its too late. They had to be transplanted. I went out and tried to work the wet clay soil that we're stuck with for now. I formed two 10 foot rows and spaced out half of my broccoli seedlings, 18 inches apart. Everything seemed to be going alright, except for the wind. It is still very cold out, in the 40's during the days and 30's at night. Too cold for my little seedlings to be okay. So I know I need to make a cold frame or something of that sort to protect them. I've got painters plastic and plenty of stakes, so I figure I'll make a tent over the two rows of broccoli! Well I ran into a huge problem with the wind. RNH was trying to help me place the plastic over the rows using the stakes we put in the ground to hold the plastic above the seedlings. The plastic was blowing like crazy in the wind and kept hitting my tiny, fragile broccoli seedlings. I was frustrated and devastated. I'm sure several of them are not going to make it.

I continued with what I was doing, and decided it would be smart to keep half of the seedlings indoors instead of planting all as planned. That way with what dies, I may still have a chance of having a good broccoli harvest.

With the contraption that RNH and I set up, our garden looks WHACK! I don't know if there is such a thing as a "ghetto garden" but if there was, we've got it! I didn't have enough plastic to cover two of the little seedlings, so I had to try and cover those with minature flower pots. So for now we've got huge rocks, painter's plastic, flower pots, stakes and a half-plowed garden. Now that is a ghetto garden!

Odds and Ends of the Shed

2010-02-18T09:50:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to post pictures of our cleaned out shed yet. Its still a work in progress. After a huge truck load to the scrap yard yesterday, we took a huge truck load to the dump. But then we came home with stuff because the landfill wouldn't take certain things, such as metal- yes! we found more! We've got cans of paint that are full (from the previous owner) and huge buckets of oil. Those things are not going to be easy to dispose of. And when we do dispose of them, we'd like to do it properly. After hauling everything off, we were too exhausted to try and clean the shed out, so we let it go. That project will be for another day. So for now, instead of showing you before and after pictures, I'll show you some neat odds and ends we found around the shed. RNH is also hoping that one day we'll be able to level the entire building and put a nice one in its place. We'll see!

I'm sure this hoe has seen plenty of gardens in its long life!

I wonder what sort of big old trucks this chain has towed! It is HUGE!

Neat pulleys. We saved them, for who knows what...

Don't try to open my heart with your skeleton key. Yes, an Allison Krauss song.

This was our first lawn mower when we moved into the house. It works, we just happened to need something a liiiiittle bit bigger!

Hair cutters? Sheep shears? No clue. But cool!

I forget what RNH says this was used for.

So yeah, nothing of value, and nothing really that old, but still some different things we had laying around. We also have an old plow that I forgot to take a picture of. I love old farm equipment!

Chicken Must-Haves

2010-02-17T09:05:00.000-08:00

Every chicken-owner has a few things that they couldn't live without. Here are a few of mine! Some things for fun, and some just because they're useful!

This is just a dish scrubber. Not too abrasive, and not to rough. I use it out at the coop when I'm pulling eggs out of the next boxes. I give them a quick once over, brushing off any chicken poo or pine shavings and then they're ready to eat! I don't wash my eggs, so it is important to have something that is easy to use and does a good job of getting anything that is stuck on the shell. Some of that chicken poo can be stubborn, but this does a great job! (Plus it was only $0.89!!!)Once the eggs are poo and shavings- free, they're ready to go inside. We're getting three eggs a day, so having a basket to take them to the house in is really handy. My mom gave me this basket as a Christmas gift! It is actually a basket for golf balls, but it is perfect to keep the eggs from rolling around and breaking. Plus its just cute!

Chicken poop chap stick. No, this is not chap stick made out of chicken crap- YUCK! But it has a fun name and I love it! Another Christmas gift from my mom!

*I'm not sure where my mom got the Christmas presents, but I know if you'd like to have some of these items you can find them on the BackyardChickens website!

We Got Paid to Clean the Shed!

2010-02-16T13:29:00.000-08:00

When we moved into this home, almost 2 years ago, we told the fragile old widow that it would be fine if she didn't clean out the shed before she left the home to us. We were sure there were tons of good tools inside that would be of value to us, new homeowners that barely had anything to our name. Well, we were wrong. Way wrong.

Sherby was the widow's husband's name. He was some sort of mechanic that worked on big rig trucks. Everything in that shed had something to do with a truck. Huge pieces of metal equipment were laying around collecting dust or may have had a mouse nest in it. After two years in the home, we decided enough was enough. We weren't going to use any of this stuff. Time to get rid of it.

Landfill? Nah. Try to sell it on Ebay? Nah. How about a scrap yard? YES!

We hauled a HUGE amount of metal, from bolts and screws to copper wire, to metal shelves. We hauled it all 19 miles to a scrap yard. We had never been, and it was a weird experience! There were quite a few questionable characters there. We both wish we had been armed.

We went back and forth from the truck scale to big piles of metal, dropping things off where they told us to. There were attendants there, with no teeth, that pulled the metal out of the car so I didn't have to get out (thank God!) RNH did all of the talking so I stayed in the truck the entire time! I didn't like it there!

At the end, RNH went up to a bank-teller type window where a man gave him our ticket. He jumped back in the car with $122 in cash! Not bad, getting paid to clean out the shed! And I now see why criminals like to steal copper wire and metal. You get paid for nothing!

RNH and I decided to put half in savings, and we'd halve the rest of it. So what did I get with my $21??? Well... it only paid for half of the thing, but I got this! And I can't wait to start using it!

I'm hoping that this little machine will help preserve a lot of our harvest this year. I'm planning on getting a dehydrator next paycheck, so I will be able to save my dried goods in these bags as well. $55, but hopefully it will be worth it! (I read that you can save a prepared salad in a vacuum sealed bag like this for 2 weeks! I know what I'll be taking for lunch at work from now on!)

Good Reads

2010-02-16T05:01:00.000-08:00

RNH and I picked up this book at Barnes & Noble when we went into town. LOVE it!

Also, I recently found this website (while I was at work... oops!) and it has a great forum section! I haven't joined yet, so I guess I'm a "lurker," but I don't think I'm hurting anyone! :)

Just thought I'd pass them along to y'all who like to garden and raise chickens!

Sprouts!

2010-02-15T20:10:00.000-08:00

The onion and broccoli have taken off very nicely so far!

I read that for sowing onion seeds indoors, it is necessary to encourage the bulb growth under the soil. You do this by cutting the seedlings back when they reach 3 inches tall. The cool thing about this is that you've got some nice little chives to top your baked potato, soup, etc. They haven't reached 3 inches yet, but I'm excited for them to get high! I have been spraying the tops of the fiber pots with water pretty much every day and I'm making sure that the plastic base the pots sit in stays watered. You have to be careful with onion plants because they can be over-watered very easily. After doing all of this research I read that almost no one starts onions from seeds, they use onion sets. Well I had never seen these sold in local stores, and wasn't a huge seed catalogue-looker, but now I know. If my onion seeds don't do well, I'll have to order some sets online next year!

The broccoli is taking off nicely, but they were sitting under plastic cover along with the eggplant. After the seedlings sprout, you are supposed to take the plastic cover off. I would leave it on, but the broccoli is getting too tall for the cover. I'm going to have to move the broccoli into its own tray with no cover, and cover the eggplant back up so they are under a "greenhouse" type setting. I didn't think that they wouldn't sprout around the same time... oops! Now if only the sun would come out and the temperatures get a bit higher, I could start hardening them off! That will happen next month!

Indoor Sowing

2010-02-14T18:24:00.000-08:00

I started my onions indoors, just as I had scheduled on my trusty calendar. They're doing well. Next came time to sow the broccoli and eggplant*. I calculated that I'm going to have two rows of broccoli. Each row is 10 feet. Doing some calculations according to the spacing between the plants, I decided to sow 26 peat pots of broccoli. This will allow for some error just in case some seeds don't sprout, or some plants die during transplanting.

I used Jiffy's peat pots and I'm trying out Burpee's Green Goliath hybrid broccoli. It looks like it is going to be yummy!!! RNH and I love fresh steamed broccoli, so hopefully this will go well!
I had a little help from Drake while I was sowing seeds. I had to work up and away from him because he thought the seeds were already food and he wanted to eat them!
I placed about two seeds per peat pot. I'm hoping that at least one of these seed will pop up! If I've got two broccoli growing in one pot, I'll thin out the weaker seedling.

I am also going to try out Jiffy's Smart Start eggplant. I am only planning on doing one row of eggplant, which according to spacing, I'll have enough room for 13 eggplant plants. That seems like quite a bit of eggplant to me so I will be giving it away I'm sure. RNH and I really like eggplant parmesan, but now we might have more eggplant to experiment with other recipes!

After the pods were filled, I placed the plastic lid over them and sat them next to the sown onions in the only south-facing window we have in the house. I'm not planning on doing a lot more sowing other than these three vegetables, so hopefully the space I have will be sufficient. Because I have had such terrible luck with corn, I might start them inside as well. The earlier I plant them, the more moisture they'll receive in the season, so that may help. But I will decide that later on.I'm pretty excited about my peat pods. I can't wait for them to sprout!

*The actual sow date of my broccoli and eggplant was February 6th (this is a late post!). I live in the Northern part of Central North Carolina. If you live near me, we can compare notes and see when the best sowing/planting/harvesting dates are!

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T08:22:00.000-08:00

This is me and RNH on our wedding day. It will be a year in May! We're not big Valentine's Day celebrators, plus we have to work. We're going to the restaurant where he proposed to me tomorrow to celebrate. The only way I'd like to celebrate the day is hanging out with RNH and doing the things we love together. I'm pretty excited about going to dinner- its super fancy and the food is to die for! I did tell RNH that I like to get flowers on V-Day (no cheesy boxed chocolates or stuffed animals, I don't even like cards!) so I'm hoping that I will get some pretty flowers to put in the house. We need something to remind us that spring is on the way!

First Plow

2010-02-13T06:37:00.000-08:00

I was FINALLY able to use our brand new tiller!!! RNH kept telling me, "No no no, the soil is way too wet. You're not going to be able to do it." Well, I'm stubborn and I didn't listen. And I'm glad that I didn't!

I set the tiller on the "3" setting, which I'm assuming is 3 inches. I was pretty impressed with the amount of ground that the smallest setting tilled. The amount that the machine tilled up appeared to be about the depth that I tilled by hand the past two years. I can only imagine how great the soil is going to be when I till it at the deeper settings.

Our lovely clay soil (I'm being sarcastic!) was pretty wet, but I was able to scrape up and till the top layer without too much effort. Wait, it was actually VERY hard, but way less work than if I was tilling all of that area by hand. When the soil is dry, it will be very easy.

I wanted to till early because it has been two years since this area had been completely plowed. Two years ago my neighbor tilled it with his tractor. I swear, he made the soil as smooth as butter! But he started saying he would plow the land up around March. It wasn't until May that he actually did it. This is way too late here in NC to try and plant. I was disappointed and my garden was a complete disaster. The next year I plowed the land up by hand because I didn't feel like waiting around for him to do it. This year, time is in my hands once again, but the work load will be much lighter!

By plowing now and scraping off the top layer of grass and weeds, new grass will try to grow in its place when the weather warms. I will till it again before forming rows, killing the new grass that is trying to come up in its place. I forget what tilling like this is called, but it helps with weeding further into the growing season. At least that is what I read- I'm hoping it works out!

I didn't till the area last year's fall garden because the soil was just too wet. Plus I planted garlic (before mapping out my garden) this past fall. Now the garlic is in the way! My rows are no longer going to go east to west, but north to south. I read how growing this way will keep the crops from shadowing over each other, if its planned carefully. For example, corn should be grown in the NorthEastern part of the garden to keep from putting too much of a shadow on the other plants throughout the day!

I don't know what I'm going to do about the garlic. I might try to transplant it, but I'll have to read if this is possible. If the soil doesn't dry out, the moisture may cause the garlic bulbs to rot, so I may dig them up all together. We will have to wait and see!

EGGS!!!

2010-02-07T18:15:00.001-08:00

AHHHH I'm SO EXCITED!!!

We had our first two eggs just the other day! I'll admit- I hadn't been out the coop much (except to make sure they had food and water) for the past three days because of the snow. When the sun broke through, I went out there and decided to check if it was time to clean their nest boxes. To my surprise, I lift up the door and VOILA! Two little brown eggs!!! I was beside myself with excitement!!!

I brought the eggs in and tried to scrape of the gunk (aka chicken poo). If you keep your nest boxes clean, you don't have to worry about this- but because of the weather I had been slightly lazy, hence the semi-poopy egg. Not to worry though- you can just brush the poo off and use the egg. I had purchased an $0.89 kitchen brush that lightly scratches any dirt or pine shavings off the egg.

I love the tiny brown speckles on the eggs! They're so cute!!!

I know there is a lot of different opinions on whether or not to wash eggs before consumption. I've done a lot of reading and talked to RNH's grandma about it. I've determined that I will not wash my eggs. Commercial eggs are rinsed with special machines that regulate the temperature of the water to an exact science. The water must be a certain degree, otherwise the "bloom" inside the shell layer of the egg will break down, making the egg susceptible to bacteria. I don't have a way of regulating the temperature of the water in my kitchen, and knowing that RNH's grandma never washed her eggs and never had a problem, I decided to go without. Simply brushing off any poo and washing my hands after handling the eggs will be sufficient. (Hopefully!)

I also noticed how much smaller my hen's eggs are compared to commercial eggs. I read that as the chickens get older, the egg size will increase. Right now they're a bit smaller than the ones I usually buy in the grocery store.

I was pretty excited to crack open my first two eggs. I'll admit, I was a tad worried that the hen had set on the eggs for the past three days and the egg might be a bit more developed than I wanted. But it was my first egg and I wasn't going to let fear get in the way of tasting my first egg! I cracked it into a bowl and found...

a blood spot. At least I'm assuming that is what this black thing is. I thought a blood spot would be red, but this was very much a black spot. I'm pretty sure it is a blood spot anyway. I've read that a blood spot is the beginning of a fertilized egg, aka baby chick! Ew! I don't like to eat baby chicks... Anyways- I also read that when hens first start laying, the presence of blood spots are more likely. What to do, what to do?!?!

I gathered up some courage and ignored the blood spot by pulling it out with a spoon. Then I scrambled the egg and forgot about it! The events leading up to my cooking the eggs weren't really that dramatic, but I figured the story might sound a bit better if I was scared of the egg! I don't think blood spots are really that big of a deal now that I've encountered my first one. I know a lot of people just throw the whole egg out if they find a blood spot. I definitely didn't want to waste my first egg, so you know I had to cook it! The egg tasted just fine with or without blood spot!

I never thought there would be such a huge difference in the way store-bought and farm-raised eggs would taste. Farm eggs are much fluffier and richer tasting. They are all around a much better egg. I don't know if I'll ever be able to buy eggs from the grocery store ever again. I'm so impressed with my ladies!!!

Wabbit!!!

2010-02-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

We have a rabbit folks!!!

No, no, no! Its not another animal we've taken in. Its a real life wild rabbit!!! RNH and I have been in our home two years and have never seen any rabbits. The land is perfect (at least we think!) for rabbits to thrive. Tons of brambles and things for them to hide in, but we've never seen any wabbits!!!

Finally after the heavy snow fall, we found rabbit tracks! There were actually two rabbits from what we could tell! We tried tracking it, but the snow had made some of the tracks disappear.

RNH is thinking rabbit hunting. I guess I'll try it!

Another thing we're thinking: if we've got rabbits, that means the bobcat might be gone!!! Several months ago someone was running dogs in our woods. RNH heard a terrible screaming noise, that he thinks might have been the bobcat. Either they treed it or killed it. Either way, we haven't heard or seen any signs of its existence. Good riddance bobcat! I really hope its gone. If it is gone, that means a better possibility of having (more) wild turkey, rabbits, and other small game that seems to be non-existent around here. Exciting!!!

The Woes of Snow

2010-02-04T16:18:00.000-08:00

We have a brand new tiller that I'm dying to try. Thanks to the snow, it seems like the ground will never get worked.

I'm complaining now about the soil being too moist. Watch, this summer, it will be dry as a bone and I'll be complaining about that!

Here is my garden. You can barely see where I've put stakes in the ground to mark off the area. Ugh!

The snow is pretty to look at for just a day. Then I'm over it! I could never live in the North if this is what they have to deal with all the time!!!

Garden Organization

2010-02-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

Since I'm "stuck" indoors at the moment for gardening purposes, I've had to create a corner of my indoor world and devote it to gardening. This area is actually the only south-facing window in the house. And it just so happens to be conveniently located to the left of my desk! So it made sense to create a little temporary garden center at the computer!

I've got all of my seeds arranged in a basket according to when they will be planted. In another basket I've got the peat pods still wrapped in their store plastic, waiting to be used. These baskets sit conveniently in the top of my desk. The little set up I've got going on keeps me really organized and its perfect because I've got the computer right here so I can refer back to articles and websites if I've got any questions.
I've got my trusty google calendar to refer to, as well as my gardening journal. In the gardening journal I keep notes of what seeds I'm buying, what brand, cost, what date they're to be planted, the actual date they're planted, and any sort of notes from what I've learned by reading articles or notes from actual experience growing the veggie in previous years. If I've got extra seeds left over, I seal the package up real tight and toss it into the container with other leftovers. I might even reuse them later in the year for a fall garden. We'll see! Then I put the container in a closet and out of the way until its time to plant again!

Last year I attempted to save seeds. I had the worst luck ever. Since I'm still learning, I'm positive there is something that I'm doing wrong. I also think that not every type of seed can be saved. I haven't done much reading yet, but it looks like you can save heirloom versions, but I'm not sure. I'll be looking into this later into the gardening season! These are the only seeds I saved last year. I don't even know what kind of cucumber they were. I might stick them in the ground and see if they do anything. I've bought two other kinds of cucumbers, so if they don't grow- I'll be alright!
So far I've got everything running smoothly. We'll see what happens when I've got an entire greenhouse going in this room! Hopefully with the way I've got things planned out, I will just be cycling out different trays of seedlings. When its time to transplant, it will also be time to start another seed. We'll see! How do you keep your garden organized?

2010-02-02T22:58:00.000-08:00

Get caught in the race of this crazy life

Tryin to be everything

Can make you lose your mind

I just wanna go back in time

to American Honey.

There's a wild wild whisper blowing in the wind.

Calling out my name like a long lost friend

Oh I miss those days

As the years go bye

Nothin' sweeter than summer time

And American Honey.

-American Honey, Lady Antebellum

The Big, White, Uninvited Guest

2010-02-02T09:18:00.000-08:00

It snowed. I hate snow. Actually, I'll clarify- I love to look at the snow, love to play in the snow, and love to be snowed-in. But just for a day. After that, I'm over it. This past weekend we had 8 inches of snow at the house. That is almost the largest amount of snow I've ever seen in my life! When I was 9 I lived in Charlotte and we got a whole foot there! Not quite a foot here, but almost!

The snow stuck around, turned to ice, and the whole shabang. I had to call in to work on Saturday night because I couldn't get out of the road I live on. RNH got snowed in at work and had to stay at a friend's house because he couldn't make it home. Just like the Farmer's Almanac said- we'd have a big winter snow this year. I was born and raised in the south, and yes- we panic when it snows. We don't know how to drive in it. That's because we're never around it! Despite my lack of experience driving in such harsh conditions, I did a great job this weekend! I had to travel my 30 miles to and from work 4 times this weekend during the craziness.... and I didn't wreck!

Anyways- Drake and I went and checked out our surroundings. Being in the country makes you appreciate the snow more and really see God in all of his glory. Here are a few sights that we saw:

Our homestead!
Drake got an ice beard! And when he got an icicle wiener, I had to take him inside!
He had to check on his girls! The chickens weren't sure what to think of the snow!
The pond all frozen over.

Frozen swamp.

This isn't my tractor, but you'd think that if it is parked on my land all year, I'd be using it! Oh well- it makes a beautiful picture!

Finally!

2010-02-01T16:36:00.001-08:00

February is finally here and I'm finally able to start sowing my seeds indoors! I've been doing a lot of research on when to plant and have even created myself a Google Calendar to keep track. I'm actually already using a google calendar for appointments and scheduling, so adding my garden's schedule was a piece of cake! I even labeled the garden activities in a green color so they pop off the page at me!

(This is not my calendar, but you get the gist of the layout!)

Between reading articles on growing different vegetables published by NC State University (Go Pack!) and reading the back of seed packets, I've been able to determine the optimal time for me to plant different veggies. I also found this website on 5 Acres & A Dream's blog, which would have saved a ton of time and research! You find your last date of frost, plug in the number, and Voila! you've got a planting calendar!

So today was the first day of my indoor sowing adventure. I've never done it. RNH has started some seeds indoors, but since he's not an avid gardener, they always seem to get forgotten about. Me, on the other hand... I've already picked out my south-facing window (I read this is the best sunlight for sowing indoors), and I've already got the table set up with the supplies ready to go!

Today I began with a tray full of 50 square fiber pots. I put the Organic Jiffy Starter Mix into each pot and then watered thoroughly, letting the water soak into the dirt for a while. A little while later I returned and began with my first vegetable of the year! Onions!

I've never grown onions, or started them indoors, so this should be an adventure! I am trying out Burpee's Granex Hybrid Onion which is supposed to have a sweet and mild taste. We'll see!

Using a paint brush I pushed a few of the tiny onion seeds below the dirt's surface in each pot. After I did all 50 fiber pots, I watered again and topped off the tray with the plastic covering. I guess I'll have some thinning to do when the onions begin to grow.

I read that you don't need to provide much, if any, sunlight for onions until they sprout. Once they sprout you remove the plastic greenhouse covering and let the sprouts grow. When they begin to grow over 3 inches, you cut them back. Cutting them back continuously makes them concentrate on growing the bulb, not growing the stem. This also helps them become stronger when it comes to moving them outdoors. As it nears time to harden off the onions, you're to let them grow. The stems need to be half the width of a pencil before you transplant them into the harsh outdoors.

Once they're ready to go outdoors, I'm estimating about 40 onion plants to be transplanted. According to the garden map that NCSU has created (of which I'm following) I will have two 10 foot rows for planting onions. I am estimating planting 2 to 4 plants per foot in one row to create large onion bulbs. In the second row I am estimating 4 to 6 bulbs per foot for medium-sized bulbs. We'll see which ones we think taste better and concentrate on that next year. I've got to remember to take notes!

I hope I'm able to follow all of these directions for each of the different veggies! I guess that's when my trusty garden journal will come in handy!

Help Painting

2010-02-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

Drake wanted to help me paint the trim in the kitchen. He got confused and thought that his tongue would make a good paint brush! He also wasn't very careful and got some on his ears!

Update: Bad News

2010-01-30T22:38:00.000-08:00

After a ton of phone calls and number crunching, RNH and I found out that we cannot purchase the land. Why? Because we don't have $44,000 in cash. Yup!

We were hoping to refinance the home and roll the new acreage into the loan. Apparently its not that simple. This is why.

If RNH and I got into financial trouble, the first thing we'd default on is the land. There is not a building on the property, making the land not very valuable to a bank. This is considered a high-risk loan because the bank would also loose out if we had to fold it all in. Because of the risk, the bank is asking that we put at least 20% down on the loan. That is a little over $44,000. Nope. Sorry, we don't have it.

We can easily afford the extra mortgage payments, but unfortunately they want money down. At the rate RNH and I are saving, we could afford to purchase the land in 9 years. We are also planning on bumping up the amount we save each month, so maybe we could decrease the amount of time needed to come up with the cash.

Despite the disappointing news, RNH and I are so blessed to have what we already have. The land we're trying to purchase, isn't even for sale! We've got a wonderful home, all the pets we could ask for, tons of land, endless opportunities and each other. That is the most important thing to us. God has blessed us with more than we both ever thought was possible. I thank Him every day for blessing me with a husband that loves Him as much as I do, and for surrounding me with His nature so I can see His goodness every day. I'm blessed beyond belief!

Beauty

2010-01-30T10:33:00.000-08:00

How can something so beautiful be such a pain in the rear???

I was on the phone the other day, on a "business" call, walking around in the yard. Roo popped up out of no-where and pecked me in the back of my leg. I then had to kindly explain why I was yelping. I'm not sure what the person on the other end was more shocked at, my screaming or the fact that I had just been attacked by a rooster!

A Redneck Bathroom

2010-01-29T21:59:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, RNH and I received an awesome gift- a finished bathroom (and some!) Our camouflaged bathroom is finally complete thanks to my mom and sister! The even better thing- we also got another shower curtain (I love them both and couldn't decide which one I liked better!) that has Labrador puppies all over it! I'm thinking when we get tired of the camo, or the John Deere in the master bath, we will use the puppy shower curtain instead. Decisions! Decisions!

We got matching towels for Christmas too!A duck stamp tin sign, with a duck stamp from our first year in the house and duck feathers from the first duck RNH shot! I have a really neat picture of him holding two ducks up, but I have to get it printed!And the lab puppy accessories that go with our camo-theme, and the lab puppy shower curtain that we'll eventually use! TOO cute!Yes, these are Redhead bath accessories!!!Classy Camo- if there even is such a thing!!! Now this is Redneck!!!

Old Stone Winery- Velvet Red and Wild Horse

2010-01-29T09:52:00.000-08:00

This wine is good, but gets even better when you let it breathe. Old Stone Vineyard is awesome, and I love the label. During our visit they told us that they are going to almost a more "mature" look with their wine labels. They're still sticking with the running horse, but it has a more polished look. I would buy this wine just because of the label!

The Velvet Red is a delicious blend of the darker muscadines. The wine gets its color because it sits on the grape hulls. This wine is deliciously sweet!

The Wild Horse (I love the name!) is also a delicious blend of the bronze and black muscadines. This is one of my favorites because it is not too sweet and not too dry!

Le Jardin

2010-01-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty obsessed with my garden this year (if you couldn't tell) and I'm almost getting depressed because of this weather. I'm so ready to get out there. I can't even till up the dang garden yet because the ground is too wet, and its supposed to snow tomorrow. Yeah... snow. In North Carolina??? Yeah. Ugh. Well, even the Farmer's Almanac said we'd have a much colder winter with more snow than usual. Great. Just my luck!

Anyways, to curb my winter depression, I've been planning and gathering all of my necessary items. I also mapped out my garden and put stakes in the ground to mark the new land. I'm thinking this will make tilling much easier.

This is last year's garden. Small and manageable. I had to hand-plow all of what you see. That is not easy. Back-breaking work. I did very well with weeding and keeping track of harvesting. The garden went very well, despite the fact that I was getting married. The month that I was supposed to plant, was the same month that I was getting married and going on a honeymoon. I had to wait a whole month later to plant. That meant that I was behind. Far behind. Even though that was a problem, everything went well except for the pumpkins and cantaloupe. They failed. I'm not even going to attempt them this year. Everything I am growing should be pretty self-reliant. The tomatoes I might have to keep a real good eye on. We'll see!

This is the area that I have to work with this year. 1,000 square feet! As I said, I've staked out the garden and even put some twine up to see how big the space really will be. Ummm... its gonna be huge! YES!

Gaaaah, can't we get this winter over with already!??!?!

The Not-So-Wild Wild Life Cam

2010-01-28T21:37:00.000-08:00

I bought RNH a wildlife game camera for his birthday last month. He was pretty excited to get it, and I was excited to give it to him. We only spend about $100 on each other for our birthdays, so I didn't have much to work with when it comes to buying these expensive things. They're usually priced at $100 and up. I did a lot of research based on on-line reviews for different cameras that were in my price range. And I also waited for the best one, in my price range, to go on sale. I was pretty proud of all of the research did and was confident in my purchase.

Well, RNH has put the camera out near the chicken coop, where he feeds the deer year-round. He puts down corn, apples and a salt lick for them on a regular basis. We got excited every night for a week after his birthday, but each morning- disappointment. But- we think we've figured out why.

Before leaving for work one night, I had to close up the chicken coop. I went out there in my work clothes and began to do my normal routine, when all of a sudden ***FLASH*** I was blinded by the camera. Not just "blinded," but seriously blinded for several minutes. And after that I was seeing spots!

We think the ginormous flash is scaring off the deer. We did get a deer-butt. But nothing showing us what is really out there. We see monster deer prints on a regular basis, we just don't know how big these suckers are!

We're trying to move the camera around on several different trees to see what angles will work the best and catch the deer off-guard before they can escape the camera's view. We also found a pretty regular "poo" spot for some sort of animal. We're thinking we'd like to try there next! Who knows what we'll find! I just hope we get something!!!

Update: The Louisiana Purchase

2010-01-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

No, we're not purchasing Louisiana. Duh! I mentioned earlier that RNH and I were hoping to purchase an additional 26.81 acres to our 5 acres that we already own. The acreage is right next to our current property. We use the land as if it is ours, but we'd prefer to "own" it before we start doing things to it (like cutting timber to make a field....!!!) or else we could get in trouble!

Anyways, the seller is asking $3150 an acre, but he said he's willing to work with us if we purchase the entire acreage. Well that is exactly what we want to do. We inquired back in October and realized that we would only be able to afford a counter offer of $2600. That is pretty low-balling and we decided to just wait.

In just a short amount of time, RNH and I have really kicked the savings into high-gear. Not for a down payment, but for a personal family cushion. In the next 9 months, we will have a wonderful cushion to sit on, and RNH will have his credit card completely paid off. No debt. Zero. Except for the mortgage. We are thinking that come September, we will be ready to put in our low-ball offer.

I'm sure the seller will counter-offer, but hopefully with the mid-range and it that will be something we can comfortably afford. I am also thinking that in the next few months, we should begin paying ourselves what our new mortgage would be to make sure we don't mind living that type of lifestyle.

We are dying to have this land. We feel that God has blessed us tremendously with what he has given us already, and if its in His Will, the land purchase will work out! Pray for us please!!!

Can We Say We Live On A Farm Now?

2010-01-26T08:55:00.000-08:00

RNH wants to get ducks. Yes, ducks. And yes, RNH wants the animal this time- not me!!!

RNH is planning on purchasing a few Rouen ducklings this spring. Rouens are domesticated Mallards that are about twice the size of a regular wild mallard. Since they are so heavy, they do not fly. RNH is planning on purchasing the ducklings and placing them at the pond. This will help attract wild ducks to the pond for hunting.

I'm beyond excited about this!!!

These are the only problems I see:

The pond is sorta far from the house. The chicken coop is about a half a football field away from my back door, and going out there all the time is kind of a pain in the butt. And then to have ducks all the way down at the pond, I'm not sure they will be easy to take care of. However if RNH plans on planting millet, they will eat that. They also probably won't need constant watering because they've got the pond. Not sure about this- we'll need to do some research. We'll also need to feed them regular waterfowl feed, but like I said, it will be hard to go down there everyday if that is what they require.

We're raising a duck dog. I've been trying to train him more and more to retrieve ducks. We're still working on hard ground since he's still young and the pond was frozen over just last week! But if we have ducks that live at the pond, he might not know the difference and want to retrieve them as well! Right now I'm having a hard enough time trying to teach him not to go after mommy's chickens!!!

Ducks lay eggs just like any other bird- will this be a big deal if our ducks reproduce? How many ducks is too many? How many ducks are we even going to purchase?

Anyways- I'm just super excited about getting a duckling. They are SO cute and SO fun! Plus it will be fun having ducks on the pond year-round. I hope this is something we actually follow through on!!!

We're Tillerific!!!

2010-01-25T08:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, RNH and I bought a tiller. After hours and hours of online research, I finally decided to go for the Yard Machine, sold at Home Depot.

We purchased the Yard Machine 208 cc Rear Tine Tiller that has 12" long tines and 18" tilling width!

Yes, it was $650, but totally worth it. Why am I not renting one instead? Here is the dealio: I'm going to be tilling the land up at least 4 times a year. Once in February to prime the soil, put fertilizer down, compost, etc to get the garden ready for Spring. Then again in spring to loosen it up for planting. I will then till under the spent vegetables, unless I've placed them in my compost pile, and more than likely plant a small winter garden, or rye or wheat grass to put nutrients back into the soil for the next growing season. I will also use the tiller to expand the rose bed and gardenia bed that I have surrounding the deck.

RNH wants to use the tiller in the woods to start a food plot for turkey. He also plans to grow some millet around the pond to attract wild ducks. He is ultimately planning on re-seeding the entire front lawn to make it look nice. Right now we have a "country" yard, meaning we don't do a dang thing to it. RNH wants at least a nice front yard, with a country yard in the back. Kinda like a mullet- business in the front, party in the back!

Anyways- I think we'll get a lot of use out of it. As soon as we brought it home I was out there trying to till up the garden. It had been raining for quite some time, so of course it was just a huge sloppy mess and I couldn't really till anything. There was a few feet of drier soil where I could see what the tiller will do- it is gonna be awesome!!! I'm just praying that the rain stops for a little bit so it will dry out and I can use this new machine. Currently as I'm typing- its raining. Grrr!

The best thing about finally owning a tiller- not having to wait for my drunk neighbor to sober up and come over with the tractor!!! I'm planting ON TIME this year!!!

Buck Shoals Vineyards- Bryan's Legacy

2010-01-24T21:24:00.001-08:00

The trip to the vineyard wasn't that great, but this wine could create a legacy for the Yadkin Valley winery.

Bryan's Legacy is a delicious blend of white grapes. Sweet, but not too sweet. It is a great table wine that would be a perfect pairing with fruits or seafood.

If you happen to stumble upon this winery by accident, pick up a bottle of this. Otherwise, there's not much else going for the place!

Duplin Vineyards- Almond Champagne

2010-01-24T21:17:00.000-08:00

I'm a sucker for anything Almond flavored. Duplin's Almond Champagne just put me right over the top. Literally. This stuff is heaven in a glass!

Too bad the only place I've seen this bottle sold is in the winery itself! (Which I will review later.) Seriously, if you see this stuff, pick up a bottle- and one for me too! :)

Garden Excitement

2010-01-23T22:09:00.000-08:00

I'm sure I'm driving all of my friends nuts. This spring I am going full-tilt into gardening. This will be the first year *fingers crossed* when I can devote a majority of my off-time to gardening. The first year I could even have a garden, we were moving into the house. The second year, I was having to plan a wedding and get married. This year, we have nada. Nothing.

Gardening is all I talk about. I even went so far as to start a gardening journal. I think it will really help my endeavors. I started off by listing each vegetable that I would like to grow, how much I paid for seeds last year, what date it was planted, how fruitful the yield was, etc. Keeping track of this will allow me to maximize my production in the garden.

I also googled "home gardening, North Carolina" and ended up with boat-loads of information from my Alma mater, NC State University. Duh- why didn't I ever think of that! The college has a very vast horticultural program and is basically known for farming. I found a ton of on-line articles about tons of vegetables and information on growing them specifically in NC. Even so far as to what region of NC I am in. Pretty neat. And of course I recorded all of these tips and tidbits of info in my handy-dandy journal!

I got pretty excited about everything and decided to mark off my garden space. This year it will be 24 x 48 feet. Yes, that is over 1,000 square feet. YIKES!!! I found an NCSU article that planned out at garden, complete with diagram of where each vegetable should be planted according to the cardinal directions. It was a 1,000 square foot garden and the note underneath the diagram stated that "a garden of this size will take approximately 30 minutes of work a day." Ha- we'll see about that!

I am also going to attempt to grow everything by seed (except tomatoes) and start them indoors. I've got my south-facing window ready with trays and seed-starting medium. All of this material is just staring at me as I'm typing. Beckoning me to get dirt under my finger nails!!!

February I begin to sow the eggplant and onions indoors. Only a few weeks away- YES!

I am also hoping to plant smart this year. For example, instead of planting all of my rows of corn at the same time, plant them 2 weeks apart so the yield is steadily flowing in. Hopefully that will work!

I'm still working on my compost, which is full of chicken poo. Yum! I tested our soil and we've got a great 6.0 pH, which is perfect for veggie growing!

To add to all of the excitement, RNH and I purchased a tiller!!! That big purchase deserves a post of its own!!! I love that baby!

Today I dug up these bulbs that I had planted right outside the deck last year. I think they are gladiolas? I hate them. They were a beautiful white flower, but as soon as they bloomed, they fell over. I'm sorry but if you're not producing anything I can eat, you better be able to handle yourself on your own. I'm not going to be spending my time pinning you back and helping you stand up straight. So I dug these suckers up and tossed them. I needed the space for the herb garden I'm also planning on having. It is a small 2 by 4 foot space that will be right outside the kitchen for maximum accessibility!

Here is a list of what I'm growing this year!
Silver Queen Sweet Corn
Clemson Spineless Okra
Green Goliath Broccoli
Marketmore 76 Cucumber
Burpee Hybrid II Cucumber
Summer Squash
Black Beauty Zucchini
Black Beauty Eggplant
Kentucky Blue Pole Beans
Bush Blue Lake 156 Beans
Aztec Gold Sunflowers
Sweet Onion
Roma Tomatoes
Better Boy Tomatoes

Cilantro
Sweet Basil
Mammoth Dill
Flat Leaf Parsley
Rosemary

Who's coming over to eat?!?!

Goodies

2010-01-23T22:00:00.000-08:00

RNH's birthday was a week ago. I wanted to make it special for him so I started out the day with some home-made cinnamon rolls. My wonderful mother-in-law let me borrow her bread machine to see if I'd want one of my own. (It is a fun thing to have for a month or so, and then you won't use it again!) Using the machine I created a cinnamon roll dough and made the scrumptious goodies the next day. RNH isn't a huge fan of cinnamon rolls but he loved these!!! Next time we have an overnight guest at the house, they will get this treat!!!

I also tried my hand at making an ice cream cake. Ice cream cakes are RNH's favorite. I used 2 9" pans and made a Chocolate Devils Food cake. In between the two layers I lathered on Reese's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream and then frosted the entire thing over with cool whip and sprinkled crushed peanut butter cups on the top.

I think it looked better than it tasted. I think I'm just a sucker for cake with sweet icing on the top. This was good, just not as good as the old fashioned birthday cake!!!

Curtain Dilemma

2010-01-23T21:42:00.000-08:00

I don't have a ton of people up to the house that often, and I need help. So y'all will have to help me out.

I painted the kitchen doors that lead out to the deck this weekend. I didn't realize how badly these doors needed to be painted until I put the first paint stroke on. They were disgustingly dingy. No amount of cleaning would make these suckers white again. I also did the trim in the kitchen. I swear, it feels like the kitchen is brand new!!!

RNH and I go in and out of these kitchen doors several times a day. We also like to look out the windows of these doors very often. When we go away for the weekend, we'd prefer no one to be able to see inside our back doors. With all of this being said, I decided I wanted window treatments of some sort for the doors.

I ended up at Target (because drapes are somewhat reasonably priced there) and I know they have a red color of curtain that comes close to matching our paint. I ended up purchasing a set of curtains that were on clearance, $10, so its not that bad. But please tell me what you think. I'm not sure what to do!

As you can see, the color of red does not exactly match the paint. Unfortunately, it is the closest I have been able to find. Then, the major problem is that the curtains are too short!!! These curtains are 63 inches. The 84 inch curtains would be way too long. I thought about going that route and pinning them up, but since these are on clearance, the 84" weren't there.

Too short at the top.
And too short at the bottom. From further away, it doesn't look as bad, but this is something that I would probably look at every time I see the curtains. Ugh.
The semi-solution: Since RNH and I love to look out the windows and into the backyard, we would usually have the curtains put up. I just drape them onto each other and get them out of the way. The only time the curtains would be down is when we are out of town (so I won't be around to judge them every time I walk by!) Or on summer mornings when the eastern sun is just too hot.

Anyways- what do you think? If it is terrible, I'd only be out $10, so no biggie. But I'm stuck as to how to create window treatments for these doors!!! And P.S. - I don't like blinds on doors. Thanks! :)

Scared Silly

2010-01-14T22:03:00.000-08:00

RNH and I are back from our Wilmington/ Southern Pines Holiday trip. It was a blast, so I'll talk about that later. Also tomorrow RNH turns 31... YIIKES! And we're working because we forgot to look and take the day off. Oops!

Okay.

Today we have a friend and his two large dogs over to romp around in the woods with Drake. I know he is coming, so I try to plan ahead (since I didn't last time!) and put the chickens up in the coop before he gets there. The chickens have complete freedom to go anywhere they choose, including the front yard near the busy street (maybe they're trying to cross the road?) and into neighbor's yards. But whatever. I can't just call them back to their coop and put them up. They come in at nightfall, which so far hasn't been a problem.

Today I decide to try and entice the chickens back to the coop with a little hard boiled egg. Yes, weird, but chickens like to eat eggs. So the first chicken I see is Roo. I walk up to him with a piece of egg in my hand and calmly ask him if he wants some egg. He quickly begins walking sideways, staring at me the entire time and then ruffles up his feathers. I immediately realize that he is going to charge at me. I have no defense other than my boiled egg. But I can't sacrifice the egg.

Thankfully I had just got home from the gym and had my running shoes on. That damn rooster chased me at least the length of a football field. And I'm not talking about a straight run. I'm talking about through the garden, around the back of the shed, down the hill into the mud, through the tall grass and then back up the hill towards the pear tree and up to the deck. He is flapping his wings and running after me the entire time. And he is right on my heels. I make it safely onto the deck and run into the house. Roo never came up onto the deck but he was waiting right there at the bottom of the steps.

I am sucking wind and my adrenaline is pumping. All from a .rooster. I can't believe what had just happened. I am TOTALLY embarrassed. RNH had gone to Southern States to pick up some feed real quick and wasn't home. He had been telling me how the rooster had been charging him lately, but I just laughed it off. Roo and I have a special relationship where we hang out in the garden together. Well, not anymore.

I guess this gives an entirely new meaning to "chicken sh*t."

And now I can't even go into my backyard without wielding a stick. Ugh.

Silver Coast- Holiday Red

2010-01-04T12:08:00.000-08:00

RNH and I saved this bottle from our beach trip in September to open up on Christmas Day. It was going to be our special wine. We had such great times and fun memories from that beach trip, that we figured the bottle would be a special memento.

We opened the bottle on Christmas Day and we were surprised. The wine was not half as good as we remembered it to be. I'm not sure if it wasn't sealed correctly, or if the wine just deteriorated over time, but I recalled the wine having strong notes of spices like cinnamon that make you automatically think of Christmas. This wine was a tad dry with a hint of sweetness, but nothing like the mulled spice taste I expected.

I think we were pretty intoxicated by the time we tasted this wine and it resulted in a poor decision. Not my all-time favorite, but don't take my word for it. Give it a shot!

Kabin Fever

2010-01-04T11:53:00.000-08:00

It has been crazy cold in the Southeast, and that has limited time outdoors. RNH and I have given up on duck hunting for the week because all of the water is iced over. We feel like we've been cooped up in the house. He's been playing video games and I've been watching TV. We've been making trips out to go to work and the gym, but thats about it. We finally decided that we've got Kabin Fever. Yup, we've planned another trip!

This time we're going to the KOA in Wilmington. I mean, come on... you can't beat $30 a night! They even have a doggie park with a big agility course set up. I'm dying to take Drake on it! The beach is doggie friendly right now during the off season, and there won't be a flood of tourists in the area. We're really excited.

After Wilmington, we're heading to the land of the pines, RNH's hometown. We haven't had our Christmas with his side of the family yet, so we're going to do that. We're also taking his mom to Cypress Bend Winery in Wagram, NC. I'm actually really excited about seeing his grandma and "talking chickens" with her!!! Can't wait for our winter beach excursion!

(We've also already booked our week-long trip to the beach in May. We're heading to the same place we went 2 years ago in Cherry Grove. Can't WAIT!!!)

Old Stone Vineyard, Salisbury NC

2010-01-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

RNH and I decided to check out a vineyard on our way to have an early Christmas with my mom in Charlotte. Since we'd be traveling south on I-85, we figured a vineyard 5 miles off the highway would do just fine. With a puppy in-tow, we drove to the town of Granite Quarry, North Carolina and looked for a vineyard.

I was surprised to not find a vineyard, but a winery. I thought in a small town, there would be fields upon fields of grapes. Nope- not this time. Just a regular old store front. Cute, but not what I was expecting, and I'll admit- I was disappointed.

Once I stepped inside I saw a tasting bar and rows and rows of wine. RNH and I stepped up for a tasting. $10 for a full tasting and you get to keep the glass. Now we're talking!

RNH and I had an awesome wine host. Turns out he was actually the winery's "wine maker." Seriously. He knew everything there was to know about wine. I learned a ton and he seemed very eager to share his knowledge. RNH and I kept sipping and listening. By the time we were done we were the ones doing the talking, and kept repeating ourselves... "Y'all need to bring this up to the triangle area... blah blah blah." We left there feeling like we made a new friend, and broke the bank on a half case of wine. Tipsy or not, the wine this winery makes is phenomenal. They're not a huge winery, and not sold all over North Carolina, but we really wish they were! I highly recommend stopping in for a tasting, or even just grabbing a bottle to go. They're all excellent!

It also helped that this place was dog-friendly and let us walk Drake in the few rows of vines that they had. Drake loved his first winery!

After the winery we decided, instead of getting back on I-85 south, we'd hang out in the small town of Salisbury. RNH's dad finished up his college there and RNH wanted to eat the hot dog stand he and his dad ate at when he was a kid. We tried, but it turns out "Al's Nighthawk," was now a laundry mat. Instead we ate at a hot dog counter, "Happs." One of the best hot dogs I've ever had because of the chili- really, REALLY good chili!!! There isn't any sitting room so we had to eat outside. We also had to wait in line, and they were sold out of hamburgers! I highly suggest this place to anyone that is stopping through the small town!

The other great thing: Happs' had diet Cheerwine... in a bottle. I'm sure everyone would agree, sodas taste so much better out of a bottle! And Cheerwine was actually born in Salisbury, NC! It was a perfect combination- hot dogs and Cheerwine!

For those of you that aren't from the Carolinas, more than likely, you've never had Cheerwine and may have never even heard of it. It is a cherry drink, somewhat like Dr. Pepper, only more cherry-ish and much more carbonated than other sodas. It is DELISH!!!

Cheerwine was founded in 1917 by Carolina Beverage Coporation!!!

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T14:27:00.000-08:00

As I begin a New Year, I'd like to reflect on the year we that has just flown by!

Biggest and Best Event:
Marrying my best friend- the only person who truly gets me and supports me in everything!!! May 2 was the best day of my life!

Travels & Wineries:
Charlotte a half-dozen times for various reasons. Always a fun time! We also got to visit Rocky River Vineyard and Old State Winery.
Southern Pines another half-dozen times, again for various reasons. And again, a fun time!
Mexico- for an awesome honeymoon in the Mayan Riviera. I highly recommend Xcaret!
Hampstead- to our friend's parent's beach house for a cold weather excursion at the beach!
Carolina Beach- a short camping excursion at the beach!
Shallotte Beach- another short beach excursion where we got into wineries- Silver Coast was the start of it all!
Morehead City- the 2009 Seafood Festival was awesome, and we got to visit Hinnant Vineyard!
Boone- a fun excursion with good friends! We got to visit the not-so-liked Buck Shoals Vineyard.
Hurdle Mills- we took a short day-trip from the house to visit Rock of Ages Vineyard.

Animals:
We got 6 chickens that I love dearly.
I finally got my biggest wish of all- Drake the Labrador!!!

Other Highlights:
RNH and I finished our second year in our dream home. Yes it may be a tad small, but perfect for just us two and we love our 5 acres. We never thought we'd be able to find a home that really lets us enjoy all of our hobbies and more! God has truly blessed us in this perfect find!
My sister moved from 3 hours away, to only 20 minutes away and I love seeing her every bit that I can!
Work has been awesome this past year, despite the bad things and politics, I have a BFF to share the craziness and excitement with! She doesn't know how much I appreciate her friendship and her willingness to always help me out of a pickle! Haha! Your awesome Skinny!!!
I gained another family- RNH's family! We don't get to see them often because of our job, and they seem to have a lot going on, but they're still a loving family that I'm happy to be a part of!

Tragedies:
Thankfully there aren't many.
I lost my grandfather on my dad's side to old-age. He was a hard person to get to know these past 25 years. I saw him once a year when I was younger. The older I got, the less I saw him. I loved him, the little that I knew of him.
eerT, my beloved White's tree frog that I was given in high school also passed away of old age. He was an easy pet!

At this point I think I've hit on most of the major things. I'm drawing a blank for the moment, so I guess I better stop. RNH and I have to go to bed at 9pm tonight, so I won't be seeing the LED ball drop on TV this year. Oh darn. RNH is making it a celebration anyways- we're having tilapia and snow crab legs for dinner, YES! I can only hope and pray that 2010 is just as awesome as this year was. God has truly blessed me beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I feel much closer to him this year and only hope that in 2010 he will draw me in even more! Bring it on 2010!!! Happy New Year!!!

Vaccination Mishap

2009-12-28T13:18:00.000-08:00

Drake is coming up on his need for another shot, they are due at 3 to 4 week intervals. This being said, I realized that I forgot to tell everyone how my first shot experience went! It didn't go exactly as planned...

I used to give my mom intramuscular shots for Multiple Sclerosis. It was a very easy thing to do, so I thought that giving a pup one would be no biggie. Well, I was wrong.

The last shot I gave was probably 8 years ago, and I won't beat around the bush- I forgot how to do them. For some reason I thought I'd have a prepared syringe. When we first started my mom's shots, we had to mix the syringe. Eventually there was some sort of breakthrough and her shots came prepared in the syringe.

To my surprise, I opened the bag and found two vials, one with cake and one with liquid. I read the directions to mix the vials, okay- no biggie. I had some difficulty in getting all of the liquid out of the syringe since the tip of the needle doesn't reach to the bottom of the vial. Mixing was no big deal, and again, a little difficulty getting all of the mixture into the syringe. Then, I skip a step.

I knew something was wrong, something was different. But I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Then, mid-shot, I realized... I forgot to get the air out of the syringe.

Shoot. People that have never given shots watch movies and know that you need to do that! Flick the syringe and shoot a little liquid out of the top! DUH! Not me, I forget.

I get RNH to help me hold Drake down. Of course Drake freaks out and is scared silly. He is jumping around, meanwhile I'm trying to hold his scruff and get the needle into his neck and not into my own hands. I ended up jabbing him a total of 5 times. Each time he'd "yelp" and it would break my heart. I was surprised at how tough dog skin is compared to human skin!

The aspirating, where the needle is in his neck, and you have to pull out a bit on the plunger-syringe part to make sure you're not in his veins... was the most difficult. You have to be fast! While I was aspirating, I realized the big mistake I had made about not getting the air out of the syringe. I noticed that most of the air was behind the liquid, so I decided to push the plunger only after all of the liquid was gone. That way the air would stay in the syringe.

After realizing what I had done, I called RNH's mom because she is a nurse. She explained that I would have had to put a LOT of CC's of air into someone to kill them. She said the most damage I might have done would be a small cyst that would develop. She said as long as the cyst didn't become infected, it would be fine and eventually go away by itself.

Well, it has been 3 weeks later and there is no cyst, thank God! He never seemed to be affected by the entire experience, so hopefully next week's vaccination will go much smoother! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!!

He also seems to be doing well with the de-wormer. He loves to lick it out of his bowl so it must taste good!

Now if I could only get him to stop eating the deer and chicken poop...!!!

On another note, I planted 2 rows of garlic today! We've had several frosts and even a rare snow, so I think I'm a bit late in the planting. We also had a torrential downpour a few days ago, so I'm worried that the garlic will get too wet and rot. Hopefully out of the two rows I'll have some good bulbs! We'll see!

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-25T17:54:00.000-08:00

Ok, let me preface this post by saying that I may be a weeeeee bit intoxicated. Oops! Anyways, here's the 4-1-1!

Today RNH and I spent our first married Christmas together! It was raining, so we pretty much opened presents, ate, watched TV, ate, watched movies, ate, watched DVDs, ate, and then started drinking! I got everything I asked for, including an iPod workout arm-holder thingy, an iPod FM tuner thingy to listen to the iPod in my car, and some negligee (sp???) to wear while I dance to music on my iPod. COMPLETELY joking, but seriously. What girl DOESN'T want a secret for Christmas???!?! I haven't tried it on yet, but don't worry... I'll wear it later! :) RNH and I set a $100 limit on each other, (which, what I've heard from co worker's stories... is a GREAT idea!), and I think he was pretty pleased with the stuff I got him!

Okay, now here's the real "meat" of my post-

I ordered a DVD RNH wanted (Spies Like Us, yes the Chevy Chase movie from the '80's, and The Office, Season Quatro), and it never came to my door step. I was upset, because this was part of my Christmas present to him. I woke up around 8am and checked the mail box (which I SELDOM do) and lo' and behold, the gift is in the dang mailbox!!!! So of course I had to do some explaining, and then ran into the guest room to wrap the present real quick. It all worked out- he was excited! Ok, NOW for the meat and potatoes.

Out of the mailbox, I also retrieve a Christmas card from RNH's grandparents that live in Florida. Keep in mind, I've never met these people. I open the card with care, and out falls a $50 check. That is really really nice, I think to myself. Then I read the card... on it is written "Hi RNH and Me, Hope the two of you are doing well. Here is your X-mas check, and you know checks will go to your children, whenever you bless us with great-grands. Have a happy, healthy, holy, & blessed Christmas, Love, Nanny or Grandma & Grandpa Little." Ummmmmmm WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!??!?!?! Are you SERIOUS????? Okay, let me breathe for a second. I get it- they're good old Southern people, and it is UNHEARD OF, for a couple to go a year of marriage without having a kid on the way. Well... NEWS FLASH! RNH and I have a VERY, VERY demanding job, where we have to worry about life or death on a regular basis, and the hours are impossible, PLUS we just don't want to have a dang kid at the moment!!!! SHEESH... CAN'T I GO THROUGH A HOLIDAY WITHOUT BEING PRESSURED TO BEAR A CHILD???? Okay, sorry... I'm calm now. Its just that RNH and I KNOW we're too selfish to have bring a child into the world at this moment and we feel that we need to enjoy our lives as much as possible before that time comes. And I'll be blatantly honest here, I will not mind if God has not planned for us to ever have children. We basically have a zoo/farm here at the house, and I love taking care of my "babies" which is actually a LOT of work, and I LOVE being with RNH. I LOVE him. I LOVE to spend time with him and do the things we do. We LOVE to travel (mostly locally since its cheaper!) but we love to love each other. Kids would screw all of that up. I'm having fun, as is RNH. When we're ready, or when God decides to bless us, that will be it. But we really don't need any pressure from grandparents we hardly know, or haven't EVER met. Thank you! :)

Also- I got a Facebook friend request. From a 10 year old boy I used to babysit. Okay- a little background. I used to babysit this kid during college. He was seriously the cutest kid you've ever seen. I had to pick him up from elementary school and take him home for the afternoon. Sometimes (especially on Mondays,) I would come home with him, to a townhome filled with empty beer bottles and liquor bottles. The entire home stunk of rancid alcohol. No environment for a young man. We'd go outside and play with the neighborhood kids (which were mostly foreign and we couldn't talk to), and I'd try to clean up the house a little bit so things wouldn't be so bad. I got paid $5 an hour, which is CHEAP for a babysitter, and I would transport him around town if his mother needed. Basically I felt bad for their entire situation. His dad was in prison (prison- like doing time) for some financial stuff. His mom and dad were divorced and he barely knew his dad at all. Anyways- things progress- I move on to working at shoe store that pays a bit more, and they move on as well. Years down the road, I get a FB friend request from his mom. I gladly accept, learning that the kid is now living with his dad that recently got out of prison... hmph. Then... I get a FB request (from his mom) to be his friend. A 10 year old's got a Facebook page. Ugh. I'm pretty much disgusted. But of course I accepted his request. I'm sure its actually his mother that is doing the page-managing.... Anyways. I just find the entire situation very disturbing.

On that note, I'm having increasingly difficulty typing and probably should quit drinking so RNH and I can go attempt for that "Christmas Goose" we want so bad.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!!!

Drake's First Snow

2009-12-23T09:08:00.000-08:00

The weathermen were right for once! It snowed!

I was at work and was dreading being there because work is crazy when it snows. And its not the kind of job where I can just say- oh, its snowing, I need to leave early so I can make it home. In the big city, the snow was coming down in huge chunks, but nothing was sticking. I had a feeling that outside Raleigh, it would be a different story. I was released from work 30 minutes early so I could get home. Thank God. Once I got outside the city limits, things began to get treacherous.

RNH was ahead of me on the drive about 20 minutes. He kept calling me with updates. We were both sliding all over the roadway, along with the other people trying to get out of the city at the last minute. We finally decided that he would leave his truck at the local police department (he asked to make sure it wouldn't get towed!) and wait for me to pick him up. My truck has better tires! I barely made it into town. We were worried that the road we live on would be way-worse than the streets of our small town. They were. But we made it. Otherwise we were going to have to park it at the end of the road and walk 2 miles. I would have done it- I just wanted to be home!

Once we got home it was dark already, but that didn't stop me from taking Drake out in it! After all, it was his first time ever seeing snow! He LOVED it. He jumped around, ran through it, chased himself and circles and ate as much snow as he could. It was a pretty funny sight.

(The toy he is playing with is the Chuck-it brand's "Flying Squirrel." I highly recommend this toy for any dogs that like to play fetch or like to go after frisbees. This toy is tough and durable and FUN!)

The next morning, however, was a different story. We only got about 2 inches (which is a lot for central NC!) but the top layer had frozen. He took one step and heard the "crunch" under his paw and decided that he did not like snow anymore! He refused to go out and wanted to pee and poo in the house. There was no stopping him. (He is sneaky!) So we had a few messes to clean up that night and the next morning.

Fortunately he got the hang of the snow on the second day and began to go outside again. Whew! There was still snow on the ground 3 days later and he loved eating it! It was too much fun getting to see a puppy experience snow! I'm glad we got a rare sighting of it!

Crawfish?

2009-12-22T16:46:00.000-08:00

A while ago Skinny and her daughter Popat (an Australian Cattledog- Skinny is that right?!?!) came up to play with me and my son (Drake). Basically, we had a puppy play date! We're hiking along in the woods and the dogs are content to eat deer poop and whatever else they can find. Well, Popat ends up finding something that shocked the mess outta me!

She found an orange crab claw!

Well it turned out not to be a crab claw, but the pinchers on that thing were a pretty decent size and it was orange! The dog has a good nose because she found these little pinchers alongside the swamp. We thought she was eating deer poop and we yelled at her. I think we were pretty shocked when we found the claw of a crustacean instead!

I brought it to RNH, and he explains that its probably that of a crawdad and it has turned bright orange because it is dead. Oh. Okay.

Well today RNH and I are hiking along and Drake finds a crayfish. We had seen them before in another part of the swamp and they seem to be WAY bigger than I remember as a kid.

I was used to seeing them in the creek at my mom's house, or on the dinner table when they're steamed and bright red (yummy!) But these things look like huge nasty scorpions in the water. Yuck!

The ones that Drake found today seemed to be dead. Along our hike he would stop every-so-often and find another crawfish. He must have a good nose! Each one he found though, was dead. RNH and I thought we saw one move and then RNH suggested that they might be hibernating? Who knows.

RNH then suggests we eat them. (Not those crawfish, but ya know- a live one if we find it!) I'm not too sure how I feel about that. The swamp stinks (yes, the whole swamp gas thing- is true!) So I just imagine the crawfish tasting like swamp. And if it looks anything like it does when Drake found it, no thanks!!!

*Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure every state in the US has its own way of saying "crayfish." The water-scorpion is also known as a crawdad, crawfish, mudbugs, yabbies and spiny lobsters. In the south, we call them crawfish!!!

(This is Drake checking out a baby turtle shell. I read that dogs can chew turtle shells because they don't splinter. I was excited to give Drake his first shell... until I realized there was a baby turtle decaying-away inside. YUCK!)

L.O.V.E.

2009-12-21T23:36:00.000-08:00

A couple that hunts together....

....stays together! :)

Seriously though... as we're walking out into the swamp this morning, the sun is breaking through the trees and water, and its so cold we can see our breath and the air almost hurts to breathe. RNH is trudging along behind me and all of a sudden grabs me. He pulls me in and kisses me, giving me a sunrise kiss. Yes, this is very mushy, but its doing these activities that we both enjoy, that really draws us closer!

(Skinny- I know you're totally making gag noises right now! :) )

Annnd, these are our new Redhead waders that we bought ourselves at the Charlotte Bass Pro Shop- they were on sale for $74 from $119! They're perfect for our type of hunting and I was very warm this morning!

This Is It!

2009-12-21T16:27:00.000-08:00

THIS is the longer, colder duck season. It opened on Saturday. RNH and I were working so we couldn't get out. Sundays = no hunting, so we finally made it out on Monday (today!) We're on day shift for a while so it is perfect timing!!! We woke up at 6am and got out there at 6:30, ready to go, waiting in the dark for the ducks.

We set up in the Fatal Funnel, that I had mentioned before. I am on one side, RNH is on the other. I literally see about sixty ducks, which is a ton for us. RNH can't see them because they're behind him and over his head. We have to be quiet, but I constantly want to yell out a squeal when I see a flock flying over. After about an hour and a half, we realize that this Fatal Funnel is just not a good spot. The ducks come off the pond to the south of us, and fly north (shouldn't they be flying the other way!??!). When they're flying- they're GOING. They're not looking for a place to land, so they're clipping along at a good speed. This just isn't going to work. We have no way to line the bead up on the duck and get a shot off. We've got to come up with something else.

Tomorrow we're going to go out and try to set up north of the Fatal Funnel, in a spot where the river meets the pond. It is adjacent to an old tobacco field. We know the ducks fly over this as they're leaving the Fatal Funnel. We're thinking that we might try to set up the decoys and call them in as they're leaving the Secret Pond. We'll see. I'm dying to get a bird. This is it, this is the season I'm going to get a duck!!!

Colors- WR

2009-12-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

This one was an easy one for me. My entire life my three favorite colors have always been blue, green and yellow. When I was in middle school/ high school, I was a big fan of the darker shades and even decorated my bedroom in these colors. When I moved away to college, I kept the same three colors, but used a lighter version of them to decorate my room. I'm still not tired of these colors!

Teal is my all time favorite color. It reminds me of the Caribbean Ocean. Thus the reason it was the main color of the wedding. I also wanted to do something that isn't a typical wedding color. Girls always choose pink and green, black and pink, or brown and baby blue. I wanted something that would stand out and be different. Teal was it!

Lime green is my second favorite, and I love the way the two colors look together.

Yellow is just an accent color to my two favorite colors. As the wedding planning progressed, I decided I'd nix the yellow. Here are a few pictures of how it all turned out, as well as an explanation of some of the "extras" I did for the wedding. Enjoy!

The wedding party!

Coloring books for the kids!
Flip Flops for your dancing feet! They were a hit!
The favors, Jelly Bellies- the groom's favorite candy! These were also a hit. I'm still getting compliments on them from our wedding back in May! They were supposed to be tucked neatly into every one's place setting (which was just fancy-folded napkin since we were having a casual buffet-style dinner. But instead they were placed in front of the napkins, which looked like huge mini-tee pee's in front of every one's place at the table. Weird. Oh well!)
Even the punch at the cocktail hour was color-themed!
As I post more pictures, you'll be able to see the colors! It was pretty vibrant. I knew I had to be very careful to not over-do the color. As someone kindly put it- my wedding colors look like a little kid's birthday party. Thanks, that's NOT the look I was going for....

Despite what some people may think- I loved it and think everything turned out perfectly and different from any other wedding!

New Obsessions

2009-12-16T18:47:00.000-08:00

I have succumbed...

....to internet shopping! Omg- it is the easiest thing EVER!!! Especially when you live in the boondocks and the closest thing to you is a Dollar Store. I bought the majority of RNH's Christmas from Bass Pro Shop online. Even though we were at the store, in person this past weekend and spent $400, plus our entire Christmas came from the store. Maybe we should buy stock in that place... Today was the last day I could get the presents shipped before Christmas. I can't believe I've been so slack this year with him. I've taken care of everyone else, but him! That is terrible! And to top it all off- I think this will be our first Christmas together, not to mention as a married couple! (Since we usually have to work Christmas day.) Man I'm bad! Anyways- I was also told that Amazon.com has free shipping. Sweet! I've never used Amazon, but RNH wanted The Office Season 4, and it was on sale for $22! He also mentioned Spies Like Us (yes, the 1989 movie with Chevy Chase in it!) I did a quick search and found it for $8! And THEN I had free shipping! I don't think it could have been easier! Especially if you figure, a 30 minute drive to the nearest Best Buy, an estimated 25 minutes to get some do-do bird to help me, another estimated 10 minutes to find the dang movie, only to find that it is either out of stock, or way too much money for a 1980's movie with Chevy Chase in it, and then another 30 minute drive back. Yeah, internet shopping is AWESOME!

I have found what all of the hype is for with iPods. I love mine! I just got the Nano, but it is seriously the coolest thing ever. I'm newly obsessed with iTunes and LOVE being able to download a song I've had stuck in my head for days within seconds. It seriously is the coolest thing out there.

My dog. Yes, I'm sure you knew that. He is my best friend and I love him.

Tights. Yes, I said it- tights. They are the new best thing! No, I'm not wearing them like Miley Cyrus. I'm not that fashionable! But I'm wearing them a lot more because its cold outside. I wear them at 4:30am when I take Drake on his regular work-morning walk. And I'm also wearing them to the gym. I get a little more sweaty than usual, but I feel good in them. Not only can I see my fat rolls shrinking (I know- gross!) but I also don't have to hide the fact that I HATE (probably because I'm too lazy!) to shave my legs on a regular basis in the winter, and I also just feel more "secure" in them. When I stretch, or when I'm on my back doing a bench press, I don't feel like my cooch is out there for everyone to see. I hope I'm not grossing anyone out here. I've been buying the Danskin brand from Walmart because the tights are only $7. Not bad.

The Road to Fitness. Seriously- its like having our own private gym. When RNH and I go, it seems to be the perfect time. No one is there. Ever. I talked to the owner and he says their slam-packed from about 3pm and on. Good thing for us we knock it out anywhere from 10am to noon. We're good. We have every piece of equipment to our disposal, and the best thing is that we don't have to worry about stinky people, people answering their cell phones, or just any other weirdos that the gym attracts. (This one time I was at a Planet Fitness and I walked into the ladies locker room. I used to be a gym rat and knew exactly where the ladies locker room was. But when I walked in this time, I saw a man. I didn't even think, Oh! Maybe I'm in the wrong locker room!!! Because I knew I was in the right place. And this man was sitting on the locker room bench, watching the television. But he also had red lipstick on and was wearing two hoop earrings. Yup. A transy. I don't think he was really a transvestite, I think he was a creep-o that just wanted to try and spy on women changing. I promptly left. And quit going there!)

Refurbished iPod

2009-12-08T15:06:00.000-08:00

I've wanted an iPod for quite a while. I finally decided I would get one for myself as a Christmas present (yes, that is terrible, but I need to treat myself sometimes!!! Oh- and it helped when telling people what to get me for Christmas- an iTunes gift card!) So anyways, I was going to take my holiday money and buy the iTouch iPod, or whatever its called. Then I looked at the specs on it. I don't know if I've ever heard songs a million-bagillion songs or want to play video games, so why would I need that much memory space? I also have no desire to sit around and watch music videos on a small screen. And I don't have wi-fi and don't feel necessary to access the internet on a small gadget, when I've got the internet at my disposal, whether I'm at home or at work. (Although I must say- when my phone contract is up, and I'm due for a new phone next year, I think I'm going to get a big upgrade and get internet access on my phone. There have been quite a few times when I've been lost, and google maps would have been much appreciated.) Ok, sorry about all of that!

So after checking everything out, I decided that all I really need is the iPod Nano. It will be plenty for me! Then I get to work and my boss tells me about Refurbished iPods. He bought his daughter one to try it out, and now the entire family has a refurbished one. His daughter has had her's for quite a while. He also explained that it comes with a new outer shell and a new battery. I checked everything out and found that an 8G iPod Nano, holds 2,000 songs, plus video and pictures- $100 with free shipping!!!

So I'm currently downloading some of RNH's CDs, starting with George Strait. I asked for a car adapter thing, so hopefully we'll have tons of songs to listen to for our travels the next few months.

I'm pretty excited to finally have an iPod, and excited about the whole refurbishing thing. I'll be sure to let you know if I end up hating it!

*If you're considering a refurbished iPod, I'd be careful purchasing one from Amazon, or any other company besides Apple. You're not always guaranteed a new battery and outer shell with those stores. Plus Apple gives you a year warranty, just in case you have problems!

The Cake- WR

2009-12-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

This post, you may find interesting. And your assumptions that I am a weirdo will be confirmed (if they haven't been already!)

I love cake. I love yummy, moist, melt-in-your-mouth cake with a nice sugary frosting. So when it came to my wedding cake, the last thing on earth I wanted, was fondant. Yes, I get why people use it. It makes your cake look awesome, nice clean -cut lines and shapes, it doesn't melt as easy, etc etc. But this is my problem- when I eat cake, the icing to me, really is the icing on the cake! Icing is what makes a cake, a cake. When I bite into a beautiful piece of wedding cake with fondant, I want to gag. I hate getting that chewy, plastic tasting nastiness. No offense if you used fondant on your wedding cake, I'm sure it turned out beautiful, and you didn't have the problems I did with mine!

RNH and I have a restaurant in our small town that we love to eat. Its actually where we had our Rehearsal dinner. A casual country bar that serves dessert from the bakery across the street. This is where we fell in love with the cake that eventually would become our wedding cake. The lady who owns the bakery uses her great-grandmother's recipe for icing and I absolutely love it. I love the taste of the cake and the icing. I think its almost perfect, so I didn't have to look far at all when it came to finding my cake.

I also knew the look that I wanted for the cake. I wanted it to be simple and clean cut. I even drew a sketch for the baker and chose the flavors. I wanted to have a plain white cake, with the ribbon that I was using on the invitations, favors, and other parts of the wedding, wrapped around each layer of cake. Four layers, with a simple initial cake topper. Simple= beautiful. Or not so much...

I arrived at the venue after getting my hair and make up done, only to find that the bakery had already delivered the cake. It was May and it was hot. I went to the outdoor tent to check it out. The cake wasn't as clean cut as I had hoped, but it was good enough. I mean, come on. People eat the dang thing. To me, it was not the "center piece" of the wedding. Many people want the cake situated in the middle of the Reception, or whatever so it is the focal point and everyone can admire it. I already knew that I could care less about if the cake was a master focal point. Eat it, like it, be done.

But when I got a phone call later on saying that the cake was "melting" and falling apart, and that they had to move it inside... I wasn't too happy. But, such is life. After getting dressed I went downstairs and saw exactly what had happened. The top two layers had slid off the cake, creating two cakes. It wasn't the prettiest thing I've ever seen.

What's done was done and I wasn't going to get upset over it. Like I said, people eat it. The florist actually came to the rescue. She usually brings extra flowers just in case she forgets something and she used the extra flowers to top both "pieces" of the cake. It ended up looking very pretty- if only it had been one big cake instead of two! The two cakes then messed up the "look" of the cake table that I was going for. Instead of having a clean cut cake table, it was a crowded cake table. No biggie though. I got a lot of compliments on how the cake tasted and I really didn't give it too much thought.

(The sparklers weren't on the table the whole night.)

Do I hate the cake baker? No. Am I terribly upset about the way it turned out? No.

I'm not really sure why the bakery brought a cake for a 4:30 wedding at 1pm. That made no sense to me. She knew what time the wedding was. I guess she just jumped the gun. Does she still get a good review from me? Sorta. Her cakes still taste great, she just might not have the best business practices.

Am I devastated over my wedding cake? Not in the slightest! Thankfully the cake, to me, doesn't make or break an event. Its something to serve afterwards that pleases the guests- and that's exactly what it did!

Our Last Day of the Early Season

2009-12-05T21:02:00.000-08:00

Duck season has come to a close. Thankfully this was only the early season and the longer season is coming up soon. This past short-season has been pretty difficult for us to get out and hunt. Right now our jobs are forcing us to work night-shifts, which are 12 hours long. It's very exhausting and there is no physical way for us to come home after work to get out in the swamp. Bummer. Next season however, we'll be working days. That means every day off we'll be up at the crack of dawn (actually before that!) to get out in the swamp!

Anyways- as I mentioned earlier, we had a lot of rain. Torrential downpour is more like it. RNH and I decide to forget about our much needed sleep, and wake up to get out there on our day off. It was the last chance before this early season ended. We're allowed to start shooting at 6:39am. We make it to the boat by 6:15. We'd be doing well time-wise if it was just a normal hunting day. But today when we got to the boat, we found that the boat was upside down in waste-deep water.

The boat is usually propped up against a tree, on dry land with the paddles tucked up underneath it. Instead it was floating upside down in waste-deep water! It was a crazy sight if you ask me! RNH's waders have a hole in them past his knees, so I had to venture into the cold water and drag the boat to the embankment that I mentioned in the previous post. From there we up righted the boat, trying not to fill it with water and let it sink. Thankfully the paddles were still inside! Otherwise, we'd have to cancel the hunting trip that morning and buy new paddles!

We got into the boat from the embankment and paddled out. We paddled about a length of a football field in water that would normally be completely dry land, or not deep enough for the boat not to drag. And the even crazier thing was that we really didn't need to paddle. The current that was rushing through the swamp carried us (very quickly!) to our regular hunting spot. We usually have to navigate around several stumps, floating logs, and trees. Most of the stumps were covered in water so we didn't have to worry about them. The current was taking us pretty quickly, the only problem is that we weren't able to steer around trees as easily as usual. Instead the current would take the end of the boat and swing it around, slamming it into trees and other debris.

Once we finally made it to our normal hunting spot, I like to affectionately call the duck's "Fatal Funnel," we were amazed. The reeds that we sit in, with water ranging from up to our shins to our knees, was gone. No reeds, just water and a few trees. It was almost past 6:39am, and I began to hear the whistle of duck wings overhead. We watched as about 10 ducks flew overhead while we were trying to figure out what to do. Eventually we paddled the boat over to a clump of trees off to the side of the Fatal Funnel. The anchor in RNH's grandpa's 1970's boat mysteriously disappeared and I tried to tie the boat to the trees. I also put the boat against the trees so that the current was pushing the boat into the trees, securing the boat as best possible. RNH moved across the Fatal Funnel to the other side. I stayed near the boat just in case my anchoring job didn't hold up. If the boat got away- we'd be swimming!!! I had the best view of all the ducks flying overhead. This was the best duck hunting day EVER!!!

I have never seen as many ducks in the swamp as I did that day. They were flying and circling around. There were a few times that I think the ducks were circling and considering landing in the Fatal Funnel, which was now like a Fatal Pond. The problem was the boat. I consider my camouflage job pretty good, but then I've got this huge john boat that sticks out like a sore thumb. RNH thinks the boat was keeping the ducks from landing right on top of us. We both got several shots off and I was beyond excited. I felt that this was the day I was finally going to get a kill.

After an hour and several spent shell casings later, we decided to take the boat and float with the current towards the secret pond. I was a bit hesitant because of the power of the current flowing across the swamp, but I had seen about 15 ducks land in a spot that I was familiar with and wanted badly to see if we could jump them. RNH and I get drug across the swamp in the boat. That current kicked our butts, throwing us into beaver dams and plunging us into trees. Finally we make it to the river where the water opens up a bit and there are not as many obstacles. We still have to paddle some to keep ourselves on track. This means that we're not quite as ready to shoot as we'd like to be. RNH and I are both steering the boat when we near the spot where I had seen several ducks land. We're going very quietly when all of a sudden, WHOOSH! Those 15 ducks that I had seen, all come up off the water.

I have a sort-of freeze-frame in my mind of the ducks coming off the water. At one point, a beautiful Drake (not my dog!) comes up off the water, its wings completely spread, with its chest puffing out in our direction. If RNH hadn't been paddling, he would have had that duck for sure! It was a beautiful sight.

RNH and I both got a few shots off. I even hit a duck. It didn't go down, however, and I was crushed. After running out of luck, we decided to head back in. While going back through the same spot, three more ducks came off the water out of their hiding spots. RNH was able to get a shot off. I wasn't, I had a big human in my way! (Oh the complications of hunting from a boat!) RNH yelled out in excitement "I peppered his ass!" Haha! And again, the bird didn't go down. We were both really disappointed and exhausted at this point. Now time to paddle back in.

The current was so strong the boat was almost impossible to paddle. We couldn't take any breaks or we'd be swept down stream. The mixture of disappointment and exhaustion was not a good thing. I became a frustrated whiny baby and we still had a long way to go. Eventually the boat got turned around, we were going backwards and we pretty much crashed into some trees. The current was pushing the boat into the trees and the trees were keeping us stable. We decided to take a break there.

Needless to say we had a pretty good workout and I was happy to see dry land. I'm excited for the colder, longer duck season. With temperatures reaching 60 degrees on most days, we should have known that this short season would be difficult. I'm excited though, because I'm seeing improvement in both RNH and I every time we get out there. Hopefully during the break between season's we'll practice some skeet shooting. We'll see.

I can't wait for the end of December when the season starts again!!!

The Great Flood of 2009

2009-12-05T20:18:00.000-08:00

This past Thursday we had a crazy amount of rain. The Internet rain gauge is only showing 2 inches of rain, but I swear it was more like 10 inches!!! The rain never stopped all day long and at some points it was pouring so hard that we had to turn up the volume on the television so we could hear our shows!

The rain made for a pretty interesting adventure into the swamp the next day. Half of our land is on a hundred-year flood plain, which I guess means that every 100 years, the land floods. I guess 2009 was the year! Thankfully our house is pretty much on a hill and the swamp is quite a ways from the house, so we don't have to worry about the structural integrity of our home. The swamp however, is a different story. RNH and I have noticed an odd embankment that comes up from the water area of the swamp. It is several feet away from any water line we've seen in the 2 years we've lived in our home. We just assumed that the embankment was where the water level used to be a long time ago. After seeing the flood, we learned that the embankment is where the water should be. It was very impressive to finally see the swamp in all of its glory. It was flooded to a normal water level.

After checking out the swamp, we moved to the river. Again- impressive. The river had swelled to 3 times the normal width. Its current was strong and moving fast. We moved further up stream, away from the swamp. The river usually thins out in this area and you look across to a farm field and silo. Instead today, you saw a huge glistening body of water as the sun hit across the water. The thin part of the river was also at least 3 times the size of its usual width.

And despite the insane amount of water and strong currents, RNH and I decided to take the boat out and go hunting. That itself deserves its own post. More on that later.

After being in the swamp most of the day, I was exhausted and told myself that I would take Drake down to the swamp the next day and take a lot of pictures of the flooded swamp. So I go down there the next day, and it was almost like the water was gone. G-o-n-e. How could that much water just simply disappear? I know I saw a lot of water going down the spill way at our town's water reserve, but I had no clue that it would be gone so fast! Anyways- a bunch of words and no pictures. I took a few, but they just don't do it justice. Hopefully it will flood twice in this hundred years so I can take a few pictures next time!

The Road to Fitness

2009-12-03T19:21:00.001-08:00

Yup... we're on it! RNH and I were told about a gym in our small town and we finally decided to check it out. We got to work-out for free and loved it. It felt great to be in a gym again. I used to be a gym-rat in college and RNH played college football, so we both miss having a good exercise routine. The gym is a little bit on the expensive side for what it is, but you can't beat driving 2.8 miles to the gym, instead of the 30 that we'd have to drive to get to a popular gym in town. I just wouldn't go! The gym is actually in a strip mall, you know, one of the shopping centers that has the typical Food Lion, Dollar General, Subway, Nail Shop and Chinese take-out. Yup. They fit the gym into the size of a Subway.

It is actually pretty good. They've got the newer treadmills that don't tear your knees up, as well as the elliptical trainers that I'm partial to. The thing we were pretty excited about is their large amount of free weights and weight-lifting machines. The first day we were there for 2 hours, just excited to get back into a gym... and I was sore enough the next day to know that my body missed it too! They also offer a few classes, like Spinning, throughout the week that I might like to try!

RNH and I had been working out on a semi-regular basis here at the house. We live on a pretty busy road, so running on the street makes for a treacherous trip. You risk either being hit by a car, or bit by a crazed animal. Not fun. RNH began getting into a circuit-training regiment that would mix running about an eighth of a mile to the pond and back, with workouts in between running sets, like doing push ups, situps, or whatever else to get some strength-training in while keeping the heart-rate up. It was a very good workout, but I just didn't get excited about it.

I then tried the FitTV channel. Gilad kicked my butt but his tight spandex worried me. I was afraid something would pop out of there. Sharon Mann's craziness also scared me. "Shimmy" just isn't the workout for me, and neither is Yoga. I did become obsessed with Cathy Fredrich, but didn't have enough equipment to keep up with her.

I then asked RNH for th Firm's Wave. It seems pretty cool and legit. And you don't need a lot of space inside your home for the workout. Plus the people that came up with it are from South Carolina. If someone from SC can get skinny on this thing, I can too. SC is like the armpit of the United States. They don't do much working out in that state... JUST kidding to any South Carolinians that read this! I do most of my vacationing there- so no harm!!! Anyways- now that we joined the gym for a year, I asked for different things instead of the Wave. Like an armband for the iPod I've got coming to me in the mail! *If you're interested in an iPod but don't want to dish out big bucks- check out the refurbished iPods from Apple. I wouldn't get one off Amazon, or any other similar place because you're not guaranteed much, unlike getting one straight from the Apple store. Plus its free shipping!!!! I bought the smaller- iPod Nano. I mean, do I really want to store over 2,000 songs??? I don't think so!*

Anyways- just thought I'd share my excitement of getting back into a gym! Oh, and I guess I should have explained the title to my post- its the name of the gym!

Invitation Envelopes- WR

2009-11-30T13:18:00.000-08:00

I guess you can call me a tradition-hater. Not really, just on some traditions. Like wedding envelopes. I didn't realize this until I got into reading wedding magazines and websites, but it is tradition and most-formal to use two envelopes to address someone on a wedding invitation. If you're addressing your grandparents, lets say, the first "outer" envelope says something like, Mr. and Mrs. John Doe. And the "inner" envelope says, John and Jane Doe. Or something along those lines.

I just don't. get. it.

For those green people out there- isn't that a huge waste of paper and trees? For those penny-pinchers out there (ME!)- isn't that a waste of money? And for the rest of you- don't you just end up throwing both envelopes away?

I just couldn't bring myself to have an inner and outer envelope. Call me a tradition-breaker, informal-piece-of-crap, or the most ridiculous person you've ever met. I didn't do it. Instead I addressed the outer envelope as formally as possible and then attempted to emboss the back flap to "seal" it. Well because I had a bow on my invitations, it made the back flap not want to lay flat. Thus creating a crafting-disaster. So much for wanting them to look great. I got "rave reviews" on the embossing and the look of the envelope, but I wasn't too happy with them. Once I got done doing 90 envelopes, however, I was over it. I really could have cared less what people thought once they opened the envelope. Just come to my wedding dangit. If I could have sent an e-mail invitation, or created a facebook event, I would have.

Those invitations were super annoying.

Photography- WR

2009-11-29T20:59:00.001-08:00

Besides the way I looked on the day of my wedding (I wanted to look like a princess!), the photographer was the most important thing to me. I could care less about the paper invitations that everyone would throw away, I could care less about the cake that would be eaten, I could care less whether or not someone was eating on china or plastic. I just wanted good pictures taken, so I would have memories that last for forever.

When I was a Junior in high school, one of my BFFs died in a car wreck. When she was gone, I realized that a lot of our memories were gone too. I didn't have a ton of pictures from the times we spent together. I never captured what kind of person she was in photograph to help me remember her fun personality so well. I didn't have pictures of us in the best times of our lives. I was pretty upset by that and after she died, I became a photograph-fanatic. I take pictures of everything and everyone. It is important to me to be able to look back at good times and have those memories. I don't print out all of the pictures and store them away in books, but I do like to sit at the computer and scroll back through them, reminiscing.

Because of this, I wanted an awesome photographer. I also wanted one that was affordable and one that would be able to fit within the budget. I didn't even have to look or do any sort of research. I wanted my sister's wedding photographer. I remembered Eddie Stokes as being a very nice guy that did awesome work. He did my sister's wedding in Charlotte and I barely remember him being there. He was like a fly on the wall. We didn't know he was there, and he caught the essence of the wedding and good times. I had to look no further.

I figured he'd be located in Charlotte and we'd have to pay for his lodging here in town. (I have no clue how my sister came across his work!) But it turns out he actually lives 5 miles down the road from me!!! It turned out to be perfect!

Eddie met RNH and I at our home one evening in November to do our Engagement Pictures. I was pretty stoked about these because I felt that we have the perfect areas at our home to be a great backdrop for the pictures. The leaves were perfect colors and Eddie came as the sun was starting to set. He took a million pictures of us at the tobacco barn, on the trails in the woods, at the pond, and in RNH's grandfather's boat. They were really special pictures that had a lot of meaning and significance in them.

When we received the pictures I was beyond ecstatic to have them. They turned out perfectly. I couldn't wait for the wedding!!! And of course, as you will be able to see in future posts- he is an excellent photographer!!! I highly recommend Eddie for anyone that is looking for a professional photographer. He also gives you the rights to his photos which is great!!!

We ended up using the photograph at the pond as our Save the Date. We uploaded the picture onto Magnet Street and created a magnet for people's refrigerator. I love getting STD's (NO not STDS!!! Save-The-Dates!!!) like these. I keep them on my fridge for forever. I still have people coming up to me and telling me that I'm still on their fridge. I love that! The STDs cost about $80 for 100, I think. They were worth every penny! I put them in Christmas cards that we sent out to everyone to tell them to save our wedding date!!! I have the 4 that were left over on our fridge still!

Dough- WR

2009-11-29T20:52:00.000-08:00

Maybe I should have mentioned this from the beginning? I didn't pay for my wedding. I am spoiled rotten and blessed beyond belief to have parents that thought ahead and felt it necessary to pay for their daughter's weddings. I'm not sure when they started saving for my wedding, but they did. And because of them I was able to have a fantasy wedding.

My mom gave me a budget and I tried my hardest to stick within the lines. It was pretty difficult, especially when my mom would end up buying extra things with non-budgeted money (just because she's awesome and really wanted certain things for the wedding!) I also ended up spending a lot of my own money as well. I'm not sure how much of my own money I spent, but it came out of my day-to-day spending which made money tight elsewhere.

Just so that everyone understands, when I say "I bought my dress, yaddi yaddi yadda," it really wasn't me buying it. If the wedding expenses had been left up to me, we would have been married in our backyard. And yes, I would have borrowed my sister's wedding dress for sure (I know Skinny, I know you're eye balls are popping out of your head again! HAHA!)

So yes, I'm blessed beyond belief. And I know it. And hopefully I let my mom know how appreciative I was of everything she gave me for that big day, and for everything she did. She is my .hero. Without her, it wouldn't have been a fairy tale!!!

Invitations- WR

2009-11-29T20:31:00.000-08:00

I wanted to do a lot of DIY-stuff for our wedding. I read how much wedding invitations would cost, and then found a simple template on how to do it myself and save a TON of money. I was sold.

Card stock is sold pretty cheap and I made a few trips to Michael's and AC Moore to get the paper. I wish I had kept track of how much paper I bought, how many invitations it made, and how many times I messed up, but I didn't. I do know, however, that I saved a ton of money by doing it myself. There were quite a few headaches along the way- such as running out of ink, running out of paper, running out of ribbon, etc etc. Living in the boondocks and not having these stores just down the street from us made a lot of things about wedding planning quite annoying! I also got a phone call that said "Oh, I forgot to add about 15 people to the guest list. Can you send the following people invitations?" Yes, this was after the invitations had been made, and after I had run out of all supplies. Grrrr. Oh the joys of making everyone in the family happy!

I was pleased with the way the invitations came out. They were bright and vibrant, just the way I wanted them. I purchased matching RSVP envelopes to stick in, along with an RSVP card that I DIYed. The whole thing turned out pretty well. I took a deep breath and threw them into the nearest blue mailbox. I was terrified. Terrified that the stamps weren't enough and they'd send all of the envelopes back with a huge stamp across them. I had to take the invitations to two different post offices because they were "right on the line" of needing another stamp. I was told that each post office's scale might be calibrated differently. Grrr. They got mailed out, perfectly. Everyone was excited to get them.

And then I had a huge problem.

The woman in charge of our wedding venue (which I'll eventually dive into at some point- as you may be able to tell- I had a multitude of prob ems with them!), she told me that she gave me the wrong address for the wedding venue. And laughed. So of course I freak out. The address she gave me was about a mile off. Not too bad, but anyone following a GPS or even a map would be lost. This place wasn't off the beaten path, but it doesn't really jump out at you either.

After several furious phone calls to my mom and sister (my backbones through this whole planning process!) we finally figured out a plan. I would have to mail out "address correction" notifications to everyone. I got more envelopes from Swoozies and made new cards that matched the original invitation. It worded something like this "Dear Friends and Family, Due to C.H. being a new venue, the original address given was incorrect. The correct address is ___. We look forward to celebrating our big day with you!" Blah blah blah. How embarrassing. Oh wait, and did I even mention the fact that because of this lady's mess-up, it cost me a ton more time and energy? More card stock, more envelopes, more stamps??? I tried to tell as many of my close friends as possible to save me back-breaking work. It was things like this, that made me hate wedding-planning. And of course, hate my venue. (More on that later!)

I had some douche bag come up to me at the wedding and tell me that I should have given him a better address because he couldn't find the place. Get out of my face douchebag.

He later decided to tell me that the music I was playing was inappropriate because it was talking about smoking marijuana and drinking moonshine. And I was line-dancing to it. He was appalled. Please douchebag, you were born in the Seventies, I'm sure you did this stuff. And all I'm doing is dancing. "Copperhead Road" was my one requested song. I love it. Love. it. And he ruined it. Needless to say, he wasn't a close friend or family member, he was a guest of a friend. I wish I could remember what I came back with, but I promptly turned around and left him standing there. Oh, and the DJ played it for me again! Douchebag. Tried to ruin my wedding!

Missing Holidays

2009-11-29T20:05:00.000-08:00

In our line of work, RNH and I rarely get to celebrate a holiday the way everyone else does. It can be quite a bummer, however holiday pay sure is nice!!! This year's Halloween (although I don't consider it a real holiday, especially because its mostly Satan-related!), I was working. I actually got called in. Boo. However, since we got called in, I got holiday pay! It wasn't too bad of a work-night and I got to see a lot of interesting costumes. The previous Halloweens have been spent at a friend's Halloween party. Its usually a big deal and she didn't have it this year, so I didn't miss out at all!

Thanksgiving was a mess. I slept most of Thanksgiving day and when I woke up I decided to celebrate by having a bowl of Chocolate ice cream. I had to work that night, meaning I ate dinner around 10pm with Skinny. We had a lot to decide on for dinner- Chinese or McDonalds. Ugh. We chose a Chinese place that is probably the nastiest Chinese place I've ever eaten at. When you walk in, it smells like the bathroom, and the food might as well have come from the toilet. So much for a Thanksgiving meal.

Thanksgiving is actually my most favorite meal. I usually load up my plate pretty good. I even bought us a turkey this year. If I spent $35 at Food Lion, I could purchase a $5 turkey. I couldn't pass up on that deal! I did the same thing last year. I guess RNH and I were working last Thanksgiving too because we didn't cook our turkey until Easter. I'm thinking we'll cook it for Christmas this year, since we're actually OFF!

Because we've been so fortunate to work all of the holidays so far this year, I found that I neglected a fall tradition of pumpkin-carving. Our pumpkin has been sitting on our front stoop for several weeks now, and I figured I better use it before it rots.

Today I spent several hours digging out pumpkin seeds, pureeing pumpkin and making pumpkin bread. The end result was some yummy roasted seeds, 3 loaves of pumpkin bread, and about 10 cups worth of pumpkin puree. I might do something a bit nontraditional this year and make a pumpkin pie for Christmas since we missed out on one at Thanksgiving. I love to make pumpkin stuff from scratch, meaning no canned-pumpkin. It is WAY better!

I'm looking forward to Christmas this year. It will be our first Christmas as a married couple, and our first time being able to celebrate the holiday, on the holiday, in three years.

New Years Eve I'm actually off, but will have to work the next day at 7am. A 12 hour shift, means you've GOT to go to bed early. Great, I won't get to see the ball drop. Last year I worked NYE, and at least got to watch everyone else celebrate. This year I don't even get to see the festivities! I might DVR the ball dropping and watch it first thing when I wake up in the morning. We'll see.

That also means I should be coming up with some New Years Resolutions. I usually don't do them but I think I will make a few this year. We'll see!

The Dress- WR

2009-11-25T16:42:00.000-08:00

Maybe I should have mentioned this at the beginning, or maybe you have already figured this out: I am a penny-pincher. I love saving money. Like I'm obsessed with it. For these, and other reasons, I wanted to borrow my sister's wedding dress.

She was beautiful. I mean, magnificent. The dress made her a fairy-tale bride. I loved it on her, so I thought maybe I would love it on me too? And maybe, just maybe, I could be a pretty as she was on her big day!

Everyone thought I was crazy, but aren't you supposed to have something borrowed?

My mom and sister suggested against it, and in hind-sight, I'm glad I had my own. I loved it, and it was perfect and special for my big day!

I knew pretty much exactly what I wanted. I wanted a dress very similar to my sister's, but also different. Her dress was ivory and I wanted white. I also wanted a tad bit more sparkle than hers. I knew where I would get my dress from- the same place she did- Group USA in Concord Mills Mall. My mom, sister and I all went dress shopping. This is the only store we went to for dresses. When I walked in, I knew the dress was "it" when I saw it. I put it on, and of course it made my mom cry. So that told me right then and there, that was it! I tried on a few others, but was sold. I think we bought the dress that day. (I had over a year-long engagement, it wasn't like we were in any sort of rush!) The final cost of my dress: $480. Nice.

I thought the dress fit pretty well, but was talked into getting alterations. I didn't really feel that they were needed, but they have an alterations lady at Group USA. She is very familiar with the dresses there because they are the only wedding dresses she does. She came in and looked at the dress and made suggestions. Boob cups (I wanted them to make it more filled out of course!), a bussel (duh!- not sure if I spelled that right!), and she suggested taking up the dress a tad to make it look like I was "floating" as well as taking it in at the waist to give me more of a figure (which is always nice!) I'm glad I was talked into the alterations thing, it really made the dress what it was. The final damage on the alterations: $220. O.u.c.h. However, shocker! coming from me, I think it was money well spent!

As you can probably already tell, I'm a pretty big tom-boy. However on my wedding day, I wanted to be exactly the opposite. I wanted to be a princess, for the first time in my life. So, I had to have a tiara! And again, the money was totally worth it- I think it was around $60. I also got a veil to tuck in the back of my hair. I didn't want one that went over my face. I think it was elbow-length, and cost about $50. It added elegance to my total look. Each of these items we bought at Group USA because they worked very well with the dress, and I could everything on at the same time in the store! (By the way- they have the BEST customer service back in the wedding dress section!)
Something that helped save money- I took out a Group USA credit card and saved about 15% on the dress. Then they sent a 15% off coupon that I used to purchase the veil and tiara.

And this the help I got on the big day, putting the dang thing on!

I love love LOVE my dress! I felt like a princess because of it. It wasn't too hot that night, and I didn't feel weighed-down by its puffiness. I ended up taking off the crinoline (which was my something borrowed from my sister!) because it was just too hot! My dress is now sitting in my closet. I don't want it to go in a box. I'd like to do something neat with it. Any suggestions?

The Hills Have Bimbos

2009-11-24T20:52:00.000-08:00

I just finished watching the latest episode of The Hills. It made me want to hurl. Seriously??? I remember watching all of these girls in the Laguna Beach days thinking, these girls are only 2 to 3 years younger than me- I'll see if their lives are anything like mine! Well obviously the fame and fortune has got to them I guess... When I was 23 (only 3 years ago) I was not making out with girls at strip clubs. I know Heidi is being a bit baby-crazy, but at least she's got a goal she's working toward! I mean exactly what does Kristin Cavallari do???

Here is what I learned while watching the last episode... and they say shows like these make your brain deteriorate faster... Ha!

Kristin Cavallari: S.L.U.T. Not only a man-whore, but a girl-whore too. I guess I already knew about the man-whore thing, but now she's moved onto girls? Jeez louise. Totally classy.

Justin Bobby: he probably doesn't shower, I wonder if he brushes his teeth?
Stacy: a wanna-be-famous slut that is following Kristin around like a lost puppy dog. I wonder how many STDs she picked up in Vegas, and if she can tell the difference between Cali and Vegas STDs.
Audrina: at least her rabbit teeth are white. JB needs her to show him how to groom.

Someone please tell me where the only two semi-level-headed girls have gone, LC and Lo. Yes, they were a bit drama-filled, but at least they attempted to keep everything classy. Sheesh. Oh wait, I bet they gave up the reality(fake)-tv shows because they've got bigger and better goals in life. (Hopefully at least!)
Sorry, this was probably boring and stupid, I was just utterly shocked at tonight's episode. If I ever have a kid, its not going to be able to watch MTV. My parents didn't let me watch it and I turned out just fine!

On another MTV note, I'm pretty excited about Teen Mom coming out. I mean, I can't wait to see what baby Bently and his trashy mommy are doing these days! Maybe she's keeping her legs shut???

The Engagement and The Ring- WR

2009-11-24T16:26:00.000-08:00

"WR" stands for Wedding Related. If you see this, and don't care about wedding stuff, move on from here on out!

RNH and I actually talked about getting married before he actually proposed. He told me in the kitchen at my apartment, while making dinner one night, that I was the love of his life and he could never be without me. He told me he wanted to marry me, and I told him the same. He said obviously he didn't have ring to give me, but he hoped that he would soon. So with all the mumble-jumble, lovey-dovey stuff being said, we figured out when we wanted to get married. I started planning a wedding, sans ring, but that didn't matter. We also began planning for our married life and soon-ending apartment rents, and ended up buying a home together!

RNH was given my Great-Aunt Rosie's ring, who I was named after. I have no clue the "specs" on it, but its a simple round diamond in 14k white gold that I love. I love the history behind it- she was married to one man her entire 98 years of life. He took me to dinner for my birthday and got down on one knee afterwards while I was getting into his truck. He said a ton of sweet things that I only wish I could remember and gave me the ring on bended knee.

I knew I was set. For life.

That my friends, is the short and sweet of it.

When it came to purchasing wedding bands, RNH had the hook.up. Fo'sho! RNH's godfather died several years ago, and he was a very important person in RNH's life. He would have been in the wedding if he had survived prostate cancer. He may not have been there in person, but he definitely helped us out along the start of our lives together. He was a personal friend of Mr. Hayes, of Haye's Diamonds. A.K.A., the "Diamond King of the East Coast!" We made a trip down to Lexington, NC to see him. While there, I picked out exactly what I wanted- a $5700 wrap to go around my great-aunt's diamond. RNH picked out a simple $300 silver band. The wrap cost $1800 and the band, $100. Holy hookup.

That, my friends, is the story of the rings.

Thank God for friends, otherwise I wouldn't have got exactly what I wanted!!!

(Side note: you'll noticed a "hole" in between the wrap and my main diamond. My aunt's ring is over 90 years old and the prongs are brittle. I'm going to have to get it re-set in order to make sure I don't loose the diamond. When I get that done, the jeweler will make the setting fit perfectly into the wrap and take the hole away!)

Wedding Refreshment

2009-11-24T16:12:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not talking about wine or iced tea. I'm talking about relief!

We got married this year on May 2nd. It was a ton of fun and the best day of my life. Seriously. I had the wedding of my dreams and couldn't have asked for anything better. But the big day didn't go exactly as planned. There were bumps in the road, but I didn't care or got over it quickly! No time for being mad, I was marrying Mr. Right! Anyways- throughout the wedding-planning process I got sick, very sick. Not physically, but just sick and tired of brides-to-be. I can't really explain how I felt, but there are things in a wedding that I just don't feel are quite as important as everyone else does. I understand tradition, but sometimes there are those of us that don't have the money to carry out tradition, or we just don't feel its worth the money. But don't tell a lot of brides-to-be that, they'd kill you.

So the point of this post: my friend is getting marred next year, September 18th to her Mr. Right. (And he is totally that!!!) I am beyond excited for her! We met freshman year of college and I really just admire the mess out of this girl! She is one of the most giving people I've ever met! So to hear her be so incredibly happy makes me so incredibly happy for her! She deserves it!

We recently caught up over dinner and we went over a few wedding details. Let me tell you, it was refreshing to hear someone share the same views about weddings as I do!!! We talked about the cake, the dress, the invites, the bridesmaid dresses, and so much more. She shared a lot of the same feelings on what was important and what was not. What things should have more money put into them, and which things could be skimped on.

With all of this being said, I'm excited for her and got in the "wedding-mood" again. Not to plan, not to have another one, but to share on the details of my planning process. So here we go folks, I'm going to finally blog about my wedding. I'll make sure to put something wedding-related in the post title, so if you don't care, you don't have to read! It was a long and tedious journey and one that I never care to go on, ever again. Thank God I will never have to!

Saving Money on Pups

2009-11-24T13:08:00.000-08:00

I felt the need to post this because I had no idea this was a possibility. Call me stupid, but maybe I'll help someone else out too!

We just got our first lab puppy from a breeder about 2 weeks ago. On the way out the door with the new pup, the breeder casually informs me that she had used a dewormer and some vaccination on the dogs already, if I wanted to use the same brand that she had. Uhhhh what?

"Yeah, just go to Southern States and you'll see it there."

Oh... okay...

I had already called ahead to the vet to see how much the puppy's first visit would be. $75 would include the wellness check, fecal check, all vaccinations required at the puppy's age, and dewormer. I would then need to bring the puppy in for another visit for another dewormer. Then again if another dewormer was necessary and eventually for a rabies shot. $75 was just the beginning.

So I asked the breeder a bit more about the DIY-puppy thing. The conclusion: No Biggie!

I took Drake for his first vet visit to be an ultra-good mommy. I wanted someone who knew what they were talking about, to give me their opinion on him. He was given a clean bill of health after they checked out his eyes, ears, listened to his heart, and a few other things. That gave me a peace of mind and cost me $30. What happened to the $75??? Oh yeah, I didn't have to pay for his vaccinations and deworming.

So today I went to Southern States to pick up everything I need for the end of the week. Drake's vaccinations were written on the family calendar to make sure I kept up with it! Southern States had Nemex, a dewormer. $14.99 for 60mL, and you only give your dog 5mL for each 10 pounds of body weight. He's almost 10lbs, so I have a feeling that this bottle is going to last me a while! Southern States also had Solo-Jec's 7 Plus Canine Vaccine. I actually bought the 5 Plus dose because he is still a puppy. One dose costs $5.49 and protects against diseases caused by Canine Distemper, Adeonvirus 1 and 2, Parainfluenza, both Lepto viruses, and both Parvo viruses. This is the same exact thing that the vet would have given him.

So I left Southern States $20 poorer, but that is a LOT less than what it would have cost me at the vet. And that was only for the first visit. I will have to continue to give Drake his dewormers and vaccinations on a strict schedule (hence the reason he is on the family calendar!) and I should be able to keep up with it, no problem. He'll go back at 12 weeks for his rabies shot, and any other treatment that is needed.

I was pretty excited after buying Drake's first round (given by me at least) of vaccinations and once in RNH's truck, he said "You are going to give him his shots????" Um DUH! YES! He didn't think I'd be able to do it! I used to give my mother intra-muscular shots for her Multiple Sclerosis every week! And he doesn't think I'll be able to give a dog a tiny shot in the scruff? Puh-lease!!! I'll have to have RNH help hold onto him, but it should not be a problem. I'll keep you updated!

I just thought I'd share with people who didn't know. I am all for saving money, and this is definitely going to cut on the expected costs of raising a pup! Now I can buy him more chew toys!!!

Drake's First Boat Ride

2009-11-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

RNH and I were supposed to go back out after a morning hunt. But I just wasn't feeling it. I was exhausted and it was insanely warm. I knew the birds wouldn't be flying much. We had left the boat and the decoys on the river and I decided to take Drake down to the river to get the boat and bring it back to where we usually keep it. Since I'm not the smartest person in the world, I didn't bring waders. I was just wearing boots. Drake and I made it to the boat pretty successfully. Although at one point I had to pick him up and cross a fallen tree. It was like walking across a balance beam and if I fell off, there was at least 3 feet of water on either side. I had to plan to fall, so that if I fell my first reaction would be to save the dog and not myself. He's still too young to swim.

Earlier he jumped into a deep part of water and his head went under. He got his first taste of swamp water, that's for sure! He was a lot more careful after that!

Once we made it to the boat, Drake acted as if he had already done this. "No biggie" he seemed to say. I placed him in it and we drifted down river together, sharing a seat.

At one point it began to rain pretty steady and I took off my jacket to hide my camera. Drake tried to get under it too!

Our goal of this boat outing was to get the boat, pick up the decoys from another part of the swamp, and then take the boat to its usual spot. Well, I didn't think things through all the way. As we were almost to the decoys, I realize that in order to pick up the decoys, we're going to have to get through the reeds. Usually to get through them, the water is shallow so I simply get out of the boat and push the boat through them. This time I didn't have waders on. Oops.

With the rain and everything going on, I decide to try our luck. I shove the boat full tilt into the reeds. It stops. I have to stand up in the boat and use both paddles to push from the back of the boat. I even tried to get out of the boat a few times, each time soaking my boots. I push us to a tree and I swing up onto the tree, and kick at the boat, getting it to nudge along. All of this is happening while Drake is in the boat. "Mommy, WHAT are you doing???" I don't think he was too fond of my James Bond/Indiana Jones impersonations. After several minutes of rigorous boat pushing, we broke free into the open swamp water.

We picked up the decoys and eventually RNH walks over in his waders. He had been hunting nearby but didn't know we had been in such distress! He told me the ducks weren't flying and he was ready to go in. At least this time I made him push us through any mucky parts!

Needless to say, Drake's first boat ride was quite and adventure but he really seemed to enjoy it!

Guest Post: Chloe

2009-11-22T13:09:00.000-08:00

Please welcome my first guest post!!! Her name is Chloe and she is the queen kitty of our household. She is a 2 year old grey and black Tabby cat. A native to Harnett County, NC she enjoys taking long naps, watching the autistic lady across the street watch her, playing with her toys, scratching up the furniture, dreaming of laser pointers, and laying on her mom and dad's shoulder's while they type at the computer. Please welcome her!

Hey y'all. As my mommy said, my name is Chloe. She did get the Queen part right, but I'm not feeling that way much anymore. My days used to be lovely. I did whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I wasn't bothered, I wasn't bugged. Yes, some may say I lived a life of boredom, but it was exactly what I wanted.

One day my mom came home with a huge fluffy pillow. My mom hasn't bought me anything really special in a long while, other than my corner litter box, and I just knew this was way too big to be for me. I also noticed a huge bag of food that smelled nothing like anything I'd ever want.

The next day, my mom comes home with this huge furball in her arms. She sets him down and then I realize, to my greatest fears, that my parents have brought home a dog. A real-live d.o.g.

Now my days are filled with hiding. I can't sit on the couch in the sun light and wave at the autistic lady across the street. Oh how I miss her. I rarely sleep on my my mom's lap and watch Housewives of Orange County anymore- I mean how do I know what crazy thing Vicki is up to now? I don't even know who has survived The Ruins, and I terribly miss Michael Scott and Stewie. My life is in ruins. I can't even sit on the floor and dine on my dinner anymore. I have to sit on the bar table.

When I least expect it, when I'm minding my own business, forgetting that there is a new terror in the house, that little rascal runs around the corner and pins me down... WITH HIS TEETH! I hate him. Oh the misery. He wants to eat me!!! Not only that but the dang thing can't figure out where to use the bathroom, and he pulls on my mom and dad's clothes. I think the worst part about it, is that they spend all of their time with him now. They take him outside and love on him. They give him praises when he comes in from outside and they buy him all sorts of new things.

I'm just not sure what is going on anymore. My life has been turned upside down!!! Hopefully y'all will find me in better spirits next time I appear on my mommy's blog.

With love and whiskers,

Chloe

Puppy Adventures

2009-11-22T11:20:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to get Drake used to a lot of new things. It just seems like there are so many things for him to get used to, I'm not sure how he'll do it.

He loves being outside and I love taking him down into the woods. But I need to get him used to having a collar on. The collar we have right now is too big. But I put it on him anyways. He runs behind me in the woods with the collar in his mouth half the time, but its adorable. I take it off when we get inside so that he won't hang himself with it or anything. And of course the collar is camouflage!

I also tried to get him used to being in a boat. The boat is metal and makes a lot of noises, which don't seem to bother him. I turned the boat right-side-up and let him hang out in it while it was on dry land. He loved it! He tried jumping in and out of it, which didn't work out too well for him! I couldn't wait to take him out on the water!
I also have tried to get him used to gunfire. While he's outside in his pen, he can hear the shotgun blasts all around us. It doesn't even phase him. We'll see how he does with it being right over his head! We know that we have to be very careful not to make him gun shy, but I'm impressed with his bravery so far!

I also took him to the vet for his first visit. They gave him a clean bill of health. Afterwards I decided to treat him with a walk down Main Street in our small town. The speed limit is only 20mph and the traffic is pretty heavy, so I figured it would get him used to the cars. He seemed a bit scared of the loud ones, but otherwise it was a good walk. I also used this time to get him used to being on a leash. While we were walking, the owner of our favorite restaurant in town crossed the street and talked to Drake. Drake was ecstatic! A few blocks further and a mother/daughter couple walked out of the Orthodontist's office. They oo'd and awww'd over him! Drake was ecstatic! On the way back to the truck we saw the men in their heavy equipment putting up the Christmas wreaths and snowflakes onto the town's light poles. Even they stopped to pet Drake. And again- Drake was ecstatic!

Friends of ours came over to the house for a puppy play-date. The couple has two grown adult dogs, both mixes of Pitt, Lab, and a dingo dog! Drake loved every minute they were here. He loved sharing his swamp with them. They all got along great but Drake was sad that he couldn't run as fast and keep up with the big dogs as much.

He has gotten to experience a lot lately and I just hope its not too much for him to handle!

Shelton Vineyards- Salem Fork Blush

2009-11-21T14:55:00.000-08:00

Shelton Vineyards makes this Salem Fork Blush wine that is a lighter, sweet red table wine from the Yadkin Valley Region. The wine is derived from Merlot yet has a full bodied cherry flavor with a delcious after-taste. I recommend for a warm summer day with Eastern style BBQ!

My Wiener Has A First Name...

2009-11-20T09:45:00.000-08:00

... its D-R-A-K-E!!!

*Warning, this post may be a bit graphic (but not really) and it may gross you out!*

Okay, here's the deal. I have not been around a lot of boy dogs in my life. Ever, really. My family only owned a female beagle mutt, and any other interaction I've had with a dog, would be if it belongs to a friend of mine. That means I don't have to care for it or be concerned about its bowel movements.

Wellllll.... Drake is a different story. We are working on potty training, and let me say this, it is a long... and slow... and annoying process! But we're working on it. But every once in a while, I have to snatch the dog up and throw him outside so he can continue peeing. I also have to take him up and down stairs right now because he's too little to get up or down them. (No, I'm not babying him, it is physically impossible for him right now!)

So Drake goes out into the grass, does his business like a good boy, and then I have to pick him up to take him up the deck stairs. And that's when it happens.

His wiener hair touches me. And its wet with pee.

EWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! I HATE WIENER HAIR, WIENERS FOR THAT MATTER, AND PEE!!!!!!!!

So yes, this is what I'm having to deal with right now. I want Drake to hurry up and grow up so bad I can hardly stand it. I am so sick of wiener hair and the pee that it is soaked in.

Please God, please let Drake grow up quick. Puppy is cute and all, but I need some sanity here...

Just thought I'd share! :)

Having Your Ducks In A Row

2009-11-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

RNH and I have had two days of hunting. Two days, meaning waking up at 5:30 to be heading into the woods by 6am. We walk in the dark through the woods into the murky waters of the swamp where the boat awaits. Paddle on out to our spot, park the boat, sit, and wait. And wait. Daybreak begins and the ducks begin to fly!

The first morning out, I don't even want to talk about it. We're setting the decoys out and getting the boat hidden under the trees when we hear the duck's wings twittering overhead. We saw at least 30 ducks fly over while we were getting situated. We also didn't know what time it was. We can shoot 30 minutes before sunrise, but if you don't know when sunrise is, you can't shoot. We heard a shot off in the distance and knew that we could join in on the hunt. Oops. We made sure not to forget a watch the next day! The rest of the morning was spent paddling around the swamp trying to jump the ducks. I kind of think if we had been patient and sat in our spot, we might have seen a few more fly. We jump a total of 3 ducks. One before the secret pond, and 2 at the pond. Boooo. It was pretty warm and it seemed like nothing was flying. Around 10am, I called it quits. RNH followed and we headed in for the morning.

That afternoon we were supposed to go back out. When I realized how warm it was, I decided against it and took Drake on his first boat ride. More on that later!

Today, however, much more successful. But before you get too excited for me- nope, no kills. So if you're not interested, you can skip this post! We got out perfectly on time, knew what time it was, and was set up waiting. Then they began to fly. And fly. And fly. It was awesome. We pretty much already knew that the ducks were coming off the secret pond (south from our spot) and heading north towards some unknown body of water. (We looked at Google Earth and apparently there are tons of bodies of water around us. Who knew?!) Our spot is an area in the middle of the swamp that has few trees. It is actually the largest "clearing" from the secret pond to the south of us, until the river, about a half mile north. It is about the size of a football field. The ducks don't seem to land on the river if they're coming from the secret pond, so I guess we were hoping they'd be interested in the clearing we're standing in. Well of course they're not! The clearing is anywhere from shin to thigh-deep, has a ton of reeds, that are mostly washed down to the ground, and a few trees that don't provide much shelter. I think that a duck would like to hang out there, but of course I'm not a duck. I pull up a bunch of reeds out of the water creating a blind for myself and hang out. The ducks are flying, pretty low, over my head, heading north from the secret pond. They are flying though. Like fast flying! After taking several shots (8!) and several frustrating minutes trying to line the bead up with the ducks, I realize that this is never going to work.

(Please remember, I'm new to this!) I realize that these ducks are on a mission. They're going somewhere, and they're going fast. Wherever they're going, they could care less about the clearing in the swamp that I think is so nice. They are moving out. I have a nice decoy spread set out, but these dang ducks are flying so fast, I doubt they even notice the decoys. I'm pretty sure half of the ducks that flew over, never saw me. Even if I was shooting at them!

Another problem with today's hunt was the fog. It was terrible. I had no idea there were ducks flying until they were right in front of me. I would set the bead on a duck in a flock right in front of me, and next thing I knew, I was having to pull the trigger while looking straight up over my head. This is not going to work. I need to start being a hunter, and think about things like this. After going through half a box of #2 shot, I decided that we needed a better set up. A better blind, a stool to get us out of the water, and we needed to be off to the side of the clearing, not in the middle. This clearing is basically the duck's "fatal funnel." And if I sit off to the side, I'll be able to swing my gun with the flight of the duck, instead of trying to bend over backwards (literally) to get a shot off. DUH! I'm almost embarrassed that it took me half the morning to figure this out.

It was surprisingly warm today, but it made me happy to see as many ducks as I did. I'm heading to Charlotte in a few weeks and will hit up Bass Pro Shops to see if I can get a triangular stool to sit on while I'm out there. My rear end got soaking wet while I was trying to get down in the blind. When the weather gets cooler, that will not fly!

Overall I am pleased with today. Every time I go out and learn a way to hunt better, I'm all for it! Even if I didn't get anything. This year is MY year though. I'm determined!