Almost a year now ???

I can hardly believe it has been a year since I have posted on this blog. Life has been ( and seems to continue to be ) very crazy over the last year. I am trying to settle down and find peace in my life and to continue on my path to a simpler life. I've just not had much to say in quite some time that is worth repeating to others. Nothing to inspire or give meaning of any kind to anyone. Things are ok here at the farm but life could be much better. Even writing these few words I feel that I may be bringing others down in some way or another.

Just a little post to hello to all of you out there...I have missed you.

Hoping to be back soon,

Chris

Where does the time go ??

It seems like years since I have been able to just sit down and blog a little...it has been quite some time I guess. Just so much work to do and then that living thing takes up a lot of time too. Between the farm and the kids the hours fly by, daylight then moonlight, all in the matter of a few minutes it seems. I am so sorry to have let all of my dear friends and faithful readers down these last several months. I feel as if I have let myself down too. I started this blog so I could have a place to bring my thoughts, hopes, dreams and experiences to share with others, good or bad as they may be.

I must report that there have been many failures in these past months here on the farm, garden is as bad as bad can be I think. Just too much rain. Maters and Cukes are doing good, what corn that did manage to grow some was consumed by the goats the other day. When had to go out of town for a few days and when we pulled back in at the house the goats where making their way thru the garden eating the corn as they went. LOL !! Might as well laugh it off, nothing else is going to help it anyway. LOL !! Tater bugs got the best of me yet again this year, trying to have an organic garden is pure hell sometimes. I use NO sprays of any kind and it's hard to fight off all the enemies of a garden without them. But, we get by I guess, at least we know what little we do get is not full of poison, thank God.

Well, got to get back on the run, life calls and I must answer. I hope to be able to get around to reading all of your blogs over the next few days, I miss that more than anything else. Ya'll take care now, ya hear.

Chris

How to keep your cool

Here is a little trick that I use to help keep the house cool. At night I open a few windows, not all of them, just a few on the north side of the house. I then place a window fan in a window on the south side of the house. This fan is blowing air out not in. By doing it this way you are pulling the cool air into the house from the other windows. The key to it working just right is, of course a rather cool night and closing all the windows the next morning thus keeping the cool air in. I close all blinds or curtains on the east and south side of the house to keep the sun from coming in and warming the warm too. This little trick helps keep the house pretty nice until late evening and I sometimes don't use any air condition until 5 or 6 o'clock. Keeps you cool and saves you a little money on your electric bill too. Hope this helps some of you.

Just too much for one man

This place is working me to death. Really!! From daylight til after dark each and every day, it never ends. hahaha!! You all know that I love every minute of it too. From the goats to the chickens to the ducks and the garden, I love it all. I am a little overwhelmed at times with all that needs to be done but I just do what I can and pray there will be a tomorrow. Like so many of you I never seem to have enough time to get it all done no matter how well I plan.

Spent the better part of the morning cutting firewood. Me and my friend are cutting and piling it up in a big pile at his farm. This fall we will take the wood splitter down to the field and spit it all. This way when we haul it home it is seasoned and split and ready to stack and burn this winter. Hard work but he and I both love it. Good hard honest work that pays true benefits, warmth for our families during the winter to come. He's a good friend and we share so many of the same beliefs about the way life should be. I value our time together.

Back home to more work. We bought a Wagner Paint Sprayer from Lowes the other day and it has been a blessing. I wasn't really sold on the idea of getting it but glad that we did. I have always been a roller and brush kinda guy, old habits are hard for me to break. But I love it. We painted our 12X24 out building with it and then painted 6 doors from inside the house. Just take them off the hinge and take them outside and spray away. Does a great job. I highly recommend it to anyone.

Tomorrow will be spent in the garden, again. I need to run the tiller for a few hours and weed some more. Also still have seeds that need to get planted. If time would only stand still for a day I MAY be able to get caught up on my work. It's 10:30 and I am just now getting settled down from the days work. Ate about 9:00 and then hit the shower to try to get some of the daily grime off of me. LOL I think I got most of it. If not it will blend in tomorrow and no one will know any different. lol

For those of you that enjoyed my last post about Little House on the Prairie and left such nice comments, I thank you. I have also found a Amazon link to the first season dvd collection for those that may be interested in getting a copy of your own.

Little House

We a storm roll in yesterday, nothing really bad. Just enough to block our satellite signal. Well, me and Katie have been here by ourselves since Wednesday and the tv kinda keeps us company. Liv has been in WV, some of our friends and family had damage due to the flooding there. Here dad's Law office had 4 foot of water in it and some of our friends had a lot of damage around their homes too. She went to see if there was anything she could do to help them out a bit. She came home today. OK, now, where was I ?? Oh yeah, the tv. After sitting there for a few minutes I though we would maybe watch a movie until the signal came back. After looking thru some of the dvd's I found Season 1 of Little House on the Prairie. Not really sure if Katie would go for I put it in anyway to give it a try. She love it !! We watched the first 2 dvd's yesterday and never even tried the satellite again that day.

I forgot just how much I enjoy that show. The love of Charles and Caroline warms my heart like you will never know. The simple look or touch they give each other sends chills all over me. If people only loved like that the world would be some place to live in today. The genuine goodness of the neighbors from Walnut Grove and their love for each other should be a model for us all. Only to watch as the community would come together when any of the others were in need gives me hope that one day we will live like that once again. With REAL peace and REAL love for our family and friends we would know a joy like the world has never known, one we could never explain to others. I know it's just a television program but I means so much more to me than just actors on a set. I can almost feel the love they have for one another and many times I caught myself getting a little choked up at their simple acts of kindness and love. I guess I'm a softy and some things can just turn my heart to mush. But I am not ashamed that I long for a life with the kind of love and peace that I see portrayed on that prairie and between that couple. If you say that you don't or wouldn't give anything for that kind of love you are either a liar or a fool. I know that not everyone is lovey dovey but we all need to feel loved and to be able to freely love others. I have a lot of love to give, and I do give it. But I could give so much more if I would only allow myself to do so.

I am just happy for my children to know REAL love from their parents. I am happy to have a family that I love and know that they love me too. A refresher course in love can be found in these simple old programs and I am so glad that we decided to watch them.

Chris

Walking on Wood

The wood floor is finally down. We still have to put our trim down but we are taking a few days off to rest up a bit. It's been a pretty big job.

Here yo can see the hall. It may not look it but it's 17 feet long and 40 inches wide.



We also put down 3 pieces of tile in front of the Buck stove too. Still need to grout around the tile. That too can wait another day or two.

We installed this floating floor in the living room dining room and hallway, in all 630 sq feet.

We really love this floor and are kinda proud of doing it ourselfs too. A pretty big DIY project for anyone.

Kids, K-9's and Karpet

Those three just don't do too well together around here. Kids, namely little Miss Katie Bug is well...........hell on carpet. She spills everything everywhere all the time. Really she does. And the dogs, well if you have any that spend anytime at all inside, you know what I mean. Well, I guess we can't part with the kids or the K-9's but we can part ways with the nasty carpet that catches everything. No matter has much you clean it's dirty are you know it. So, out with the old and in with the new, wood floor that is. We have pretty much destroyed the house over the last 3 days, it's a mess. That's the reason there are no pictures just yet. Liv said NO WAY when she seen the camera in my hands. She wins. I'd hate for anyone to see this mess. We cut up and took out the carpet in the living room and hall way so far. Pulled about 4 million staples out of the floor from the carpet and padding. Cleaned up the floor with the shop vac, layed down a layer of foam looking padding for the new floor. It's in a roll and I'm not sure what it's called but it is recommended. Liv and I got the floor down in the living room and the hall way today, well maybe this evening would be the best to say and late at that. Tomorrow we will take out the carpet in the dining room and get the floor down in there or at least that's the plan. Then all will be done except the baseboard trim and some new trim around 2 doors. It's been a job for sure but it looks great. In all we are replacing 630 sq ft of carpet with wood floor, not cheap or easy but it's well worth it. We are installing floating floor and the color is Bay Chestnut. It's made in France not Mexico or China believe it or not.

When this project is over and we get everything cleaned up I promise some pictures but not until then. lol I overheard the lady of the house on the phone today saying that we had some other projects to complete after we get finished up with this one, I pretended not to hear that. Anyway, with all the work here on the farm and in the house there's not much time for anything else. I'll get some pics up of the new floor ASAP.

For those who are interested I have made $237.32 so far with my Survival Seed Vault ad. If you have signed up for their program I hope you are selling seeds too. If you are having success please let me know, just leave me a comment.