Wear What You Have

Well, we've hit the ground running in 2011. We enjoyed such a lovely vacation. Oh the joy of waking up with no real plans, only to spend the day with each other. Perhaps a little outing here and there...playing with Christmas toys and finishing projects that were put on the waiting list during the Fall. Have I mentioned that I love vacation... Not to be confused with a vacation. Going somewhere to visit/tour/sight see is a ton of fun. But I love the other vacations... summer vacation, Christmas vacation, Spring Break vacation, even Thanksgiving vacation. The go nowhere vacation. Love them!
Here's what I got for Christmas. It's a little 6'x9' spot o' sunshine!

For the week after Christmas I got to do a little planting. I've since been up to my elbows in seed catalogs and gardening books. I really want to try to do year-round gardening, so my Handy Man got me this to help me out. And, he got it on sale with free shipping! Even better.

We lost one of our chickens a few weeks ago and replaced her with a new Aracauna. The new one is called Muffin and she's so sweet. She gave us her very first egg this week. I'd forgotten how small their first eggs are. We all just oo-ed and ah-ed over her first delivery. She can stay now.

Also, after quite a bit of purging last month (I made 3 trips to the Salvation Army), I've been a little convicted about how many clothes I have. So, I'm going to be trying a new project this year... It's called Wear What I Have. Honestly, it's embarrassing all the clothes I have when I consider the poor. So, I'm going to keep track of what I wear and get rid of anything that doesn't go on my body this year. Don't worry...I will buy new underwear and socks as needed :-) but that's it...I hope.

Jan. 1 - Black tuxedo shirt (Walmart), brown boucle sweater vest (J Jill), cozy knit pants (J Jill)

The Verdict - Love this. Very comfortable and I like the way it makes me feel. Casual but not dressing down. I suspect you'll be seeing me wear these a lot this year.

Jan 2 - Black skirt, long sweater, black boots, tights.

The verdict - I wore this to church and I liked it. I don't wear this sweater too often, but I like the way it looks and feels. I'll keep this.

Jan. 3 - J Jill Arctic sweater, J Jill True Fit jeans

The verdict - I've had this sweater for over 4 years. It's gotten too stretched out over the years and I just don't like the way it feels anymore. Notice that I had to roll up the sleeves... The sweater is going into the "give away" pile. The jeans stay.

Jan. 4 - Cozy knit pants (J Jill), black tuxedo shirt, heather gray knit jacket (J Jill)

The verdict - I really like this. I got the jacket so I could layer without having to do a sweatshirt. I like things that hang down a little over the "back side". I feel good in this and can remove the jacket if I need to. This all will stay.

Jan. 5 - Black turtleneck, brown vest, green velour pants (all from J Jill).

The verdict. I like this too... The pants are almost too short, but their are so super comfortable that I just ignore it.

Jan. 6 - Cozy knit pants, gray striped shirt (J Jill)

The verdict - This is really comfortable too. The shirt is a little tighter around my behind than I'm used too, but not enough to make me get rid of it. And, I like the way it looks with the pants.


Jan. 7 - New blue button down shirt, blue boyfriend pants (all from J Jill)

The verdict - I love this. I like that the shirt has a little bit of shaping and is super comfortable. The pants are a little thin for the winter time, but I just love them. I feel casual and put together, but very comfortable.

Jan. 8 - Purple heater sweater, gray straight let jeans (all from J Jill). The red house shoes are from Land's End.

The verdict - This is a sweater that I really liked until I washed it. It's just a little tighter around the behind than I like. I suspect it will be "eliminated" sometime this year. I really like the gray jeans for the color, but the cut is not good. These ride really low on the waist. When I first put them on, the stay put just fine, but as the day goes on, I'm constantly having to pull them up. Because they ride low, I don't have a belt that fits around my hips! Right now they will stay in the game because I like the color and the look of them, but I probably need to find a belt for them that fits or I'll probably start avoiding them.

There you have it. The first week of Jan. Can you guess what my favorite clothing store is?

December Drama...

It's been an eventful 2 weeks. You probably don't remember, but last year I went to an auction at a restaurant that was closing. I was able to win a new freezer. Not just any freezer, but my DREAM freezer. It has 3 doors and 75 cubic square feet. It's beautiful!! It was only 1 1/2 years old when I got it. It's so tall that it wouldn't fit through the garage door. Not a regular door, but the door you raise up and down to drive your car it... it's tall. Anyway, it's such a blessing and I use it a lot. I mean it. A LOT. It is packed to the brim. Ten days ago I went in to the garage to put something in the freezer and when I opened the door the light didn't come one. I looked at the thermostat and saw that the temp in the freezer was 38 degrees. It's usually -3. So, I knew it had been off for a while. My ice cream was already squishy! Roger came home and looked at it and couldn't find anything wrong with it. I called a heat/air guy and he said he'd come look at it the next day, which was a Saturday. I waited for him all day. I called him 4 times! He never showed and never picked up and never called. I was so frustrated because my food was defrosting! I called another heat/air guy and he came out the following Monday and said it looked like the compressor was out. So, I spent the next 2 days farming out all my stuff. We had 1/2 a cow, 5 turkeys, all my veggies/fruit from my garden, about 20 lbs. of chicken breasts...the list goes on. Thanks to the generosity and empty freezers of good friends, all our food is taken care of. The compressor should come in this week and I'm hoping it will be fixed before the weekend. It's going to cost a lot... Merry Christmas.

Then, to top it all off... Our neighbor's dog, of of the 2 that run loose, got into our chicken yard and killed 3 of our chickens. Thankfully, my Reds were in the coop and were safe. But the young chicks we were raising to try to get another female were in the yard and he got 3 of the 4. Naturally, the one that survived was the rooster! Ugh!! My Handy Man was able to go ahead and butcher 2 of the chickens, so I guess it's not a total loss. One of my friends has a rooster that she needed to get rid of, so she brought it over this weekend. He is gorgeous and crows every morning and evening. Handy Man likes to hear the crowing...he says it reminds him of his time growing up in Africa. I don't think the neighbors will appreciate it though, so he has to go...

But, not everything has been so full of drama. I had a few ladies over last week for a cookie party and it went really well. Of course, I didn't slow down enough to take pictures, so you'll just have to believe me that it was fun. I was chosen to host a Betty Crocker Cookie Party. They sent me a package in the mail that had several cookie mixes, treats for goody bags, recipes, and a $15 visa card for supplies. Fun.
I've just been chosen to do a Fun and Fit party in January. They are sending me a package with a special game for the Wii and also some healthy treats. If you're interested, let me know.

We're winding down our school and beginning to get excited about Christmas break. The kids have their piano recital this week and I have a get-together on Wed. evening. I think that's about it for us. Not a lot of things schedule after that... I like it that way :-) Handy Man has been working on his windmill and he's hoping it will be up in January. I keep telling him there's no rush, but he is excited to get it done.

I pray that anyone reading this is able to enjoy the holidays and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Much joy to you....

Hatching a chicken...

Here's what's been going on at my house. We happened to peek in on this little one as he/she was beginning to hatch, so we caught the whole think on the camera. Science!!

Meet The Girls

We have chickens. I can't even begin to explain how unlikely it is that this city girl, a lazy city girl at that, has decided to welcome these feathered creatures into our life. I have come a long way baby!

We have 3 girls that we hope will supply us with fresh eggs. Here's what they looked like when they arrived. They were little balls of puff that gave the sweetest chirps. They eat and poop like pros. Their first home was a box. It worked well for about a week. We then expanded their apartment to a larger box and it's worked well as they grow big enough to put outside in their permanent home...the Chicken Castle...otherwise knows as the chicken coop. They are named after our grandmothers. There is Bertha, Mildred, and Irene. They were much easier to tell apart when they were little...we've since had to put a black spot on their feet to make sure we keep them straight... Not that they care.

Here's what they look like now. They are about 4 weeks old and we have been putting them in their Castle during the warm days and bringing them back in the house during the chilly nights. We have a warming lamp in their Castle and in the evening they chow down on the unsuspecting moths. The hole in the floor leads down to the bottom of the coop which is fenced in and lets them be on the grass. They haven't really figured that out yet.

I think this is Mildred. She's the leader of the pack...just like grandma.

Here's a picture of their Castle. There are screened windows on the sides and a large door to check on them...or just visit with them. The nesting box goes over the porch so I don't even have to put my shoes on when we need to start gathering their eggs. Aren't I smart? And lazy?