Not At My Best

I don't know if it because there are two of them this time,

or because they are my babies,

or because I have high deductible insurance,

or because I am too old for this,

but teaching the twins to drive

has been an unpleasant experience all around.

Maybe it was the driving in circles in parking lots

that started it off bad.

I am very prone to car sickness.

Yes, that must have been it.

(Tess agrees)

Maybe it was the leg cramps from

constantly pushing on the

imaginary brake pedal on

the passengers side.

Yes, that too.

Maybe it was just the fact that I was

in the passengers seat, where I never ride,

that I could swear we were going to hit every curb.

Maybe it was because I couldn't build their

confidence, when I needed them to build it in me.

And I couldn't afford the $700 to have someone else teach them.

I thought it bizarre that I should be teaching them to drive.

They could be hurt or killed by driving.

It goes against all parenting instincts.

It has been hard.  

Harder than we thought it would be.

But we are getting there.

We have left the parking lots

and ventured into traffic.

We have ran yellow, then red lights.

We have confused the brake with the gas.

We have driven too slow and too fast.

But we have driven.

The nausea has subsided,

the mistakes have been lucky misses,

the confidence is building

and we are driving.

And that is huge.

Did I mention it is winter?

p.s. If you haven't already entered my give-away drawing go HERE to sign up : )

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Do Yoga

Do you want to sleep more soundly at night?  Do yoga.

Do you want to be able to tolerate sitting for long periods of time? Do yoga.

Do you want to tone your entire body without using weights or equipment?  Do yoga.

Do you want to be able to move, bend and twist when you need to?  Do yoga.

Do you want to move toxins from your major organs?  Do yoga.

Do you want as much energy at the end of the work day as you have at the start of the day?  Do yoga.

Do you want to stand taller, breathe deeper, and be more positive?  Do yoga.

Do you want to kick-start a healthy diet and exercise regime?  Do yoga.

For today – just for today – lie on the floor on your back. Relax and breathe.

When you are ready, bend your right knee and bring it to your chest and hold it there with your hands. Breathe.  When you are ready, let it go and lay flat again. Then bend your left knee and bring your leg to your chest and hold it there.  Breathe. Repeat 3 or 4 times with each leg.

Congratulations, you have done yoga.  It’s that easy to start and feels that good.  Imagine how much better it will feel to awaken, stretch and tone all the muscles of your body.  Imagine…

I am very passionate about the benefits of mindfulness, the mind-body connection, yoga and meditation.  I refrain everyday from sharing this on my blog and try to keep this this blog on topic as much as I can.  But I just need an outlet. I am thinking of starting a new blog.  I will let you know : )




p.s   Sage is all better today :  )  She was back to her fat, fuzzy, ornery, peanut eating, pantleg chewing, shoelace untying self today and I couldn't be happier.  Thanks for the well wishes for her.  

Better Days

Someone wasn't feeling good today

This is all she wanted to do.

Just stand there.

That's all.

This is what she got.

Think of it as liquid vitamins 

and yogurt, for us.

Most likely the problem was too much grain and too little hay.

Goats are great hay wasters.

In an effort to get them to clean up some of the old hay,

I didn't give them more, but did give them the usual grain.

I am thinking she just turned her nose up at the old hay

and only ate the grain.

The probiotics and hay should straighten her digestive system out.

I am keeping my fingers crossed.

It's hard enough being pregnant,

let alone sick and pregnant.

I hate it when they are sick.

It consumes me with worry.

We have to take good care of our babies you know.

Hope your Sunday is going well.

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Snowy Day Art

The farm got a couple inches of really pretty snow this week.

The animals weren't real excited about it, but they were very glad to see me.

Here we are, the end of February, and I have not had enough snow days

to hunker down and spin wool or do any needle felting projects.

Why is it that something I love so much, is always at the bottom

of the list?

Well, today I stole.

I stole time from cleaning, soap and lotion making,

exercising, shopping, chores, laundry, cooking and blogging (gasp).

With that stolen time,

I felted,

and it felted good  : 0)

p.s. I did not steal time from the girls, as they were at a slumber party, and I did not steal time from reading, because I had a book-on-tape.

Friday Fun

Shhhhhh...

Nap time.

Hey you,

wake up.

Cocoa wants to know...

"Does this shadow make me look fat?"

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A Better Beveler and a March Give-Away

I attended  a poultry industries convention today.

I would love to talk about it.

But vowed not to blog about my job.

So, I will just show you this neat key chain I got.

And tell you that we had pork for lunch

and that made no sense at all.

Now, on to the subject of beveling soap.

I made some new spring soaps a few days ago.

The top one is Rosemary with ground apricot seed.

This is my Gardeners Hand Soap.

The apricot seed is just abrasive enough to

really scrub up dirty hands.

The bottom one is Rise and Shine with chamomile buds.

This bar would also make a nice soap

for hard working hands.

First we cut the bars,

and then, to make the soap "hand friendly"

we bevel the bars.

When I first started making soap I beveled 

each bar by hand with a paring knife.

Then I graduated to this type of beveler. 

This is the bottom side, to show you the blade.

This is the top side.

We just run the edges of the soap across

like so.

One time, while cleaning the house for a showing,

I hid this beveler from myself and couldn't find it anywhere.

Being too cheap to replace it, knowing someday I would

find it again,

I bought a less expensive beveler to get me through.

I love this one.

It's easy to hold, less cumbersome,

and more importantly, gets the job done without

stripping away as much soap.

The pile on the left is from the box type beveler.

The pile on the right is from the hand held beveler.

None of the scraps will go to waste

as soon as I figure out how to make laundry soap

or something out of them.

But the new beveler leaves more soap on the bar.

So, there is your bit of soap beveling trivia for the day.

Now, for all of you who have stayed with me on this post,

it is time for another give-away.

I had so much fun with my steel stamping set that I posted about yesterday,

I thought I would share the joy

and offer a set to a lucky winner.

If you would like to enter the drawing, just be a follower of this blog

and leave a comment below.

The first name drawn on March 8 will win the stamping set.

The second name drawn will win a bar of our

White Tea and Ginger goat's milk soap.

Luck of the Irish to you  :  )

Linking up with Lisa and Nancy for Rural Thursday Blog Hop.

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DIY Herb Markers

What's there to do on a rainy holiday off work?

Well, you can whip up some bread dough,

but that's a lot of work.

So after that,

why not start your herbs indoors?

I like to use the pods for herbs.

Then, for even more fun. you can

make your own herb markers.

All you need is a  Steel Stamping Set,

a hammer, some washers and a black sharpie.

Make sure you lay the washer on a hard cement surface.

Place the stamp where you want it,

and hit it hard a couple of times.

Then trace over the letters with the Sharpie,

give it a few seconds to dry 

and then rub off the excess marker with a damp rag.

Oh - but don't stop there   : )

So
much
fun.

Along the subject of seeds - did you know that Clint Baker over at The Redeemed Gardner is having a seed give-away?  He would love for you to stop by and leave him a comment.  The seeds are from Botanical Interests, which is the same place that the herb seeds in my photo above came from.  He has LOTS of useful and practical advice for gardeners on his blog.  

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Fluffed

Windy?

Well, yes,

it was a little windy today.

Why do you ask?

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