Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside My Window...  The sky is hazy & gray with smoke from the many fires burning south of us

I am thinking... That I have not done a daybook in ages

I am thankful for...  air conditioning

From the kitchen... my toast just popped up

I am creating... plans for the day

 I am going... to take my daughter to piano lessons today

 I am wearing... shhhh! my p.j.s, consisting of my husbands shirt & old shorts

I am reading... I just finished the Beany Malone Series for maybe the 20th time

I am hoping... to get my new roses planted today

I am hearing... The Little Man asking his daddy for toast

 Around the house... is mostly quiet. The "olders" are still sleeping

One of my favorite things... Sandhill cranes

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

go to the feedstore

catch up on laundry mountain

celebrate the birth of my country

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

Come join the fun with Peggy at  http://thesimplewoman.blogspot.com/

Blessings.

Grrrrrrr!

This is cyber-world right? Nobody actually "knows" me right? So I can freely express my opinions of government entities without fear of reprisal right?

Let me just say, the FHA has nice loans. Good interest rates, easy terms, nice loans. Okay, now that that is out of the way, let me just also say, The FHA is anal retentive, arbitrary and STUPID . Okay, I feel better now.

We're refinancing right? So we had an appraisal right? After sitting on the appraisal for 2 weeks, the appraisor says, "oh by the way....." 

Apparently, the FHA is offended by reclaiming gray water. We have our washing machine set up to drain on the lawn. I don't wash in hot water usually and I use homemade, non-toxic, laundry soap. It doesn't hurt the lawn and it is a way of recycling 1000's of gallons of water every year. Well, the FHA would rather I dumped all that water in my septic tank. So we had to unhook our recycling system and hook it back into the septic system. No big deal really. Just annoying and completely environmentally unsound. But then, come to find out, you can't have an FHA loan unless you have a heating source in EVERY room.

We had to waste several hundred dollars (which we were saving for our new roof--something we actually NEED) and 2 days on baseboard heaters which we don't want, won't use and didn't need anyway.

The lamest part of all of this? Where we live, when it is really cold, the power usually goes out and the only way to heat the house is our woodstove, which is what we use anyway. So the lame baseboard heaters are useless. Blah.

Needless to say this has been frustrating. But, now that we have jumped through all the hoops, maybe they  will FINALLY get our loan done and we can move on.  That would be SO nice.

Blessings.

Yogurt Pie

One of the super easiest, super yummiest summer treats is yogurt pie. You can make this with any flavor yogurt (I like raspberry & strawberry best) you can also make this with all homemade, homegrown, raw ingredients or it can be totally store bought. Tastes great either way. Oh, and for all of you 'must have precise measurements' people--you are at the wrong blog  This all total approximation and a little fudging either way isn't going to hurt. That's my disclaimer for the day

Yogurt Pie

2 c yogurt

2 c whipped cream

1 graham cracker pie crust

Mix yogurt w/ 1 cup whipped cream. Spread in pie crust. Top w/ another cup whipped cream. Smooth & swirl to look pretty. Garnish w/ berries if desired. Freeze until firm. Pig out.

You can modify this in many ways. You can add berries into the yogurt, you can top w/ berries. You can exchange the yogurt for chocolate pudding & use a cookie crust. Add mini choc chips to the pie & top w/ crushed oreos. You can do so much w/ this simple idea. It is so fast & easy & depending on how much you put into it, it can come out looking really fancy. And it is just soooo yummy. Great for a quickie dessert or a potluck.

Blessings.

A FREE Piano

Yes, that's what I said, a free piano.

A few days back a friend of ours called and asked if we wanted a piano.  A lady she cleans for had a piano she was trying to get rid of. She had even gone so far as to call to find out how much it would cost to have it hauled to the dump

We called and went to look at it that night. One of the legs needs repairing, the music stand had been broken off and it needs tuning. Two of the keys are "clinkers" but the overall it sounds beautiful. Truly amazing for a piano that hasn't been tuned since 1975!

So of course we said "Yes". My husband spent the last week trying to figure out how one moves a piano and whom does one get to help you? Did you know there is such a thing as a piano dolly? Nifty little invention. With the help of our pastor, his stock trailer, a neighbor and our son, they got it moved with no major drama. Praise the Lord!

The next major hurdle was where to put the thing. We have a small house (less than 1000sft) and our living room is rather unusual in that it lacks any solid walls. It has 2 picture windows, a wall of built in shelves, a woodstove and 4 (yes, 4) doorways.  Which is all why we bought our daughter an electric piano in the first place.

But how do you pass up a free piano? So it is here. The entire living room has been turned topsy-turvy. I still haven't figured out where to put the rocking chair and it is exiled to the bedroom. The poor piano is parked on an outside wall in front of one of the picture windows. The worst possible place for a piano. But, the only place available.

I've done a few cosmetic repairs to it and we hope to have the tuner out next week. Our daughter is ecstatic and constantly sits down to play fake "lounge" music . I've done a little research online. It is a Bradbury, which is a fairly well known  brand. It was made between 1935 & 1940. The people we got it from brought it out to Oregon from Kansas and it had belonged to the husbands grandmother. So now you know all about our free piano.

Blessings.

Bad Blogger

My husband has informed me that I am a bad blogger. I have been neglecting my blog. Bad blogger. Bad.

But in my defense I really haven't been feeling good. And it is hard to be witty and interesting when all you want to do is curl up in a ball and die. Where's the barfing smiley when you need him?

So in the interest of keeping your interest, how about some pics?

Silly kids

Pretty flowers

A spot to reflect

Chickens in the garden?

And last but not least: You might be a redneck if.....

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Blessings.

Bred!

Woo Hooo! We had the vet out today and my cow is bred! Yeehaw! I am very happy. She's about 50 days along, so in 5 months we have to dry her off and give her a 2 month break before she calves. The plan is to milk the goat while the cow is dry but that will be kind of pushing it for the goat. That means milking her thru the winter and goats usually dry up and breed then. The good thing is we bred her late this year. She won't kid until July, so that is well within the milking time frame just kind of the wrong season. Oh well, we will see how it goes. I don't think I could stomach store bought milk    

I've been running my weed eater like mad and the place looks great (if I do say so myself ) I just have to say, I love, love, love my electric Stihl weed eater. For most of our marriage we had gas powered weed eaters. I could NEVER get them to start. I have cried more tears of frustration and uttered more swear words trying to start those things than I care to recall.  I would always have to get my husband to start it for me and if he wasn't home I was just out of luck. So frustrating. I kept asking for an electric one but my husband always said "NO" I think they offend his sensibilitys. But the thing he is, he hardly ever uses the thing. I am the chief weed eater. So a few years ago after yet another day of NOT being able to start the silly  gas powered monster, I thru a fit. I begged. I pleaded. I whined. I was a bad wife  He finally gave in and bought me my Stihl. No messing around with gas and oil and spark plugs, I just plug it in and away we go. Have I mentioned how much I love that thing?

I found a wonderful surprise in the garden today

My asparagus is alive! I had just about given up hope. I was even considering pulling them out  but today little skinny shoots are popping up all over. Yay! My spinach is growing gang busters

Mmmm. Yummy fresh spinach. So good. And last but not least, we put up the split rail fence in front of the house

Not the greatest picture but you get the idea.

Blessings.

Appraisal

Well. We finally have an appointment for our appraisal. Next Tuesday. So we can have a frantic weekend of "perfecting". I have to mow, weed eat, and just generally clean up anything that doesn't look "appraisal worthy". My husband and kids have to cut and stack all the firewood we just brought home. And I want to build a split rail fence out front. I already have the rails, we just have to put it together.

This is a really good loan at a low interest rate. Our loan and rate now SUCK. Sorry but they do. And the company that has the loan is awful. I think they outsource everything to India. No one speaks english and they are constantly trying to tack on "fees". Grrr. I will not miss them. And I will be soooo glad to have it done.

We still have to put on our new roof. And if I can find a way, we really want to add a deck on the back of the house. Put in a nice french door leading out of the kitchen. That would be sooo nice. Now you enter thru the laundry room. Not the nicest first impression .

All of my berry bushes are leafing out and the new trees  I planted are growing. One of my cherry trees didn't make it thru the winter so I need to replace it. I would like to get 2 more and I want some new apple trees too. Maybe a Fuji and a Pink Lady. I can't wait until all the berries and trees are producing. That will be a fabulous thing.

Blessings.

Daybook

Outside My Window...  Beautiful blue, sunny skies with a cool breeze

I am thinking... that I must finish planting the garden this week

I am thankful for...  a husband who loves & spoils me

From the kitchen... ham & turkey sandwiches for lunch (w/ BBQ chips  )

I am creating... plans for a small green house

 I am going... to weed eat after lunch

 I am wearing... a knee length red gingham dress I made more than 20 years ago

I am reading... old magazines again

I am hoping... to get all of the garden planted by the weekend

I am hearing... old episodes of MacGyver

 Around the house... everything is a mess!

One of my favorite things... walking out the back door to pick your salad

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

till, rake & plant the garden

butcher 3 rabbits

mulch the garden paths

bake bread

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

Come join the fun with Peggy at  http://thesimplewoman.blogspot.com/

Blessings.