Well, it's almost Christmas

In fact, we will be having our Christtmas with all the kids, tonight at David's and Robin's house. I made a cake, Kim is making the bread, Julie will be making cheese dip, with chips. And Robin is making Mexican Chicken and baked potatoes.

We bought our Christmas yesterday, I guess. We went to an auction of a cabinet shop, and bought some really nice lumber, plywood, and cabinet blanks. I also got a large amount of plastic laminate, some is large sheets, other is not that wide, but enough to do a cabinet top. I guess we will be building a few cabinets to recoup our investment. Julie needs new cabinets, and I'm sure we can make a few other things and sell them.

Poinsetta arrrangement

I had a couple of bunches of poinsetta flowers, so decided to do an arrangement.

It is about 24 inches or so, in size. I took the picture after dark, and in the garage, so it isn't

the best, but I thin it turned out ok.

Mannfred

Lil Mann, Mannfred, Manny

at 6 weeks and 5 days, he is one fearless 1 1/2 pound hound, lol.

He is an attack dog, just ask his mommy.

Sadness and Soap

My sister, Belinda, lost her baby today, Lil-Bit was a 7 year old Chihuahua-Rat Terrier mix, who she had gotten when LB was about 4 or so weeks old. Lil-bit didn't know she was a dog, and today a large dog got loose from it's chain, and came over to their yard. It grabbed LB and crushed her chest, while Belinda was doing everything in her power to distract, and pull the dog off. The owners have agreed to pay the vet bill and the cremation cost. If it were me, I'd have insisted on calling the police.





I made Gingersnap soap yesterday, and today I made Peppermint Orange soap today. Looks like I may need to make more, as I've got several interested in purchasing it. I made 20 bars in gingerbread man shape, and I think I'll have about 18 Christmas trees out of the peppermint.

Summer

Summer has turned very hot, our temps are up to 104 degrees today. It makes for miserable days for kids who wish they could play outside.

Jd found a small puppy out back about a month ago, and named him FLASH. He moved in, and has become a very active member of the family, with all the kids enjoying him. He has been doing pretty well on his potty training, and is growing pretty quickly. I don't know exactly how large he will be.

Then, about 2 weeks ago, a cream colored Shepard showed up in the neighborhood, and seems to think she lives here, too. Jd named her Goldie...We are still trying to decide whether she is staying, or if we will have to find another home for her. I guess it depends on her, and how she manages to get along with everyone.

Stephen and Skylar both start school next week. Stephen will be in 2nd grade at MPS campus, and Mrs. Driggers will be his teacher, he goes to meet her tonight. Skylar starts at what was Mrs. Turners on Monday, too. I don't know for sure what it is being called, since it is now run by Mrs. Turner's daughter. Will have to get the name and number, so that I can call, if I need to get in touch. Julie will be picking Skylar up, because she gets off work at about the time that Skylar gets out of school.

The garden did well, until the weather got dry, and now there is nothing left. The melons , which looked so good about 2 weeks ago, now are withered and drying up. Oh well, next year will maybe be different.

Chiggers and ticks and mosquitos, oh my

We managed to get into some chiggers during the fishing trip, yesterday. At least the kids did, and dh managed to get some ticks, somewhere. I had sprayed the kids with repellant before leaving, and took the bottle with us. I tried to watch where they stepped, at the river, but I guess it only takes one little brush with a leaf or stick that has chiggers on it, to get a full crop of them. Next time we go, I will take the 'power' spray, I don't think this worked too well.
Today, it was mosquitos that tried to eat us up. And then, at 11:50am, our power went off, when a tree fell on the power line about a mile from our house. It took them 4 hrs to get it fixed, and that was during the hottest part of the day. We survived, and the kids actually enjoyed their time with ice packs. They did ask to go to their room and watch tv, since the big one wasn't working, lol. And kept asking if we could turn the air back on, as they were getting warm.
Jettie

Big Fishing Expedition

Dh and the boys have been talking fishing for months, so yesterday they dug a few worms, and promptly set them in the sun, to die....So yesterday, no fishing.
This morning, they went digging, again, and found about 50 worms, so they pitched the fishing poles in the back of my car, I buckled all three excited kids, ages 7-4-4 into the back seat, and off we went. I don't even have a license, but what difference can that make, when I wouldn't have time to fish, anyway...
We get to the lake, and saw about 50 Canadian Geese on the bank. I put hooks on all the rods, and send them one by one to poppy, who is out on the fishing ramp, waiting. The wind had picked up, so that meant that all the kids thought the ramp was moving, and they wanted to know if we were headed to 'the island', which is two little high spots, with trees on them, about 500 ft from where we were fishing. After about an hour of running back to car, taking kids to bathroom, and getting sodas, but not even bringing one tiny fish to the bank, we left there, and went to the Fourche LaFave' boat ramp. No one was there, so we got out the rods, put worms on them, and Skylar promptly slid down in the mud, Stephen managed to break his line, and there was a weak spot in the line, so he ended up with Skylar's rod. Jerry took his rod around to the bank on the left of the boat ramp, and left me with all three kids, so I spent my time casting their lines, and putting worms on for them. Stephen finally went around where Jerry was, and of course the other two were wanting to follow, but I put a stop to that, by putting Jd's line in a small area of roots, and he caught a 'whopper', but it got away, just as we got it clear of the water. It was all of about 3 inches long, but to hear them tell it, it was a keeper. By that time, all 3 kids were bored with fishing, wanting to go to Sonic, and pitching sticks and rocks into the water. Jerry saw a big fish jump after a bug, and cast one more time, caught a small branch on a tree just above where he was aiming, and managed to break his line....So, I buckled everyone in the car, and came home, vowing never to go fishing again, lol. I didn't stop at Sonic, as it would have taken more money than I had in my purse to feed that bunch of hungry fishermen and gals..

Isn't it funny how men have such short memories about these 'trips'? He will be ready to do it again, in a couple of weeks....I still remember these trips from when our girls were little, and the youngest will soon be 29.