Freetobeme

Does Jack get to kick Simon's butt now????

If you make lye soap, make sure you let it set and cure for a few weeks before you use it. Otherwise it is very strong and will irritate your skin.

Pixie - you have to use the letters in Jo's name to say something nice about her.

We were beginning our homeschooling adventure shortly after our state group fought in court to legalize it. At first we had to file an affidavit with the state and have the kids tested every year. Now, with the history of successes here, we don't have to do that anymore. You just file a notice of intent with the state and go on your merry way. The universities here also recognize homeschooling as a legitimate educational option and homeschoolers simply take the ACT or SAT and gain entrance. They can also just go to community college first. Youngsters who are not 'college age' but are advanced enough take college courses, too. I never felt the need to join a legal defense organization, but check your state's laws carefully.

Teaberry is getting a bit dangerous with her hugging!!! Here's another dose of smelling salts. Ok ladies, we have to do it for everyone's safety. Grab Teaberry's hands and let's tie 'em nice and secure. Set her over there in the corner until she settles down a bit. All this hugging has her a bit over enthusiastic. Anyone have a nice calming tonic? Or even a shot of vodka?

Teaberry, you naughty girl!!! It's a good thing I have the smelling salts and know CPR. Let's get them revived. Send them up to the Sunporch to meet Moongoddess and have some chocolate cake I left up there. Really, you don't know your own strength!

Let's see who has been hugged. I'm a little behind in my hugging it seems!!!

Rabbit skin is too thin for most leather. It is mainly tanned with the fur still on and used as material for hats, jackets, and such. If you decide to get into tanning, there are methods that don't require so many purchased, noxious chemicals. You can also do 'brain tanning'. If you want durable leather for moccasins, belts, or harness type applications, you need something tougher along the lines of cow or elk hide. Deer skin will work for the uppers of moccasins, but wears out really fast on the bottom. It does make good gloves though. If you are really interested in tanning, let me know and I will try to give enough detail to walk you through it.

It seems that every time I start to do a 'simple' job around here it turns into several... I wanted to replace the vanity and sink in the master bedroom dressing area. So, I disconnected the old sink, ripped out the vanity and counter and discovered that, not only had the old sink rusted through, but the water supply lines needed new shut off valves. Ok, easy enough. Except...the copper part of the hot water line had been seriously abused at some point so a new compression fitting would not seal properly. Off to Home Depot for a coupler and more copper pipe. After trimming the supply pipe and putting on the new copper pipe, no leaks.

I guess I have a knack for trivia. I scored 10 out of 10!

Spalding is an excellent and low cost phonics program. If you want your child to learn to read, read to them and read to them some more! I home schooled my three who are all grown now. I teach 7th and 8th grade and routinely have 3 or more ADD and ADHD kids as well as EH in one class. If your think your ADD son drives you up the wall try having several of other people's kids with those problems in one classroom of 30+ kids with various needs from 2nd grade reading level to gifted and assorted family, behavioral, and emotional problems! I would much rather deal with one ADD child on a one-to-one basis. At least then they can be taught coping strategies and have a very regulated diet, sleep, and exercise program to help with the problem. Good luck with your home schooling!

So do we. Unfortunately, we are talking about way too many for two people to eat right away as fried green tomatoes!

Yesterday we had hail. Lots of hail. Our neighbor has an apricot tree and was going out of town. We now have lots of ripe and semi-ripe and over-ripe apricots. I'm processing the ripe ones into jam, letting the semi-ripe ones set a bit, and feeding the over-ripe ones to the chickens. I got through one batch of jam today (4 1/2 pints). I have about four times that much to go since I have a couple of bowls full of ripe apricots and more to pick. Of course the nice neighbor will get some jam for her kindness. I also need to do something with hail damaged green tomatoes. I was thinking of bread and butter pickles. If only they had been ripe!

I guess we are pretty well prepared. We have the food issues handled. As for water storage, you can store water in other types of containers especially for animals and washing. We have food grade 55 gallon drums as well as our drinking water containers. We have a very large supply of wood, just got more yesterday, and the means to harvest more if needed. As for toilets...keep a 5 gallon bucket and a supply of sawdust or peatmoss for emergencies. Periodically bury the contents. That reminds me... we do need toilet paper!

Sorry I haven't been on in awhile. I've been up and down the road moving stuff. We finally got a lot of rain up here, shortly after the fire was out! Unfortunately, the rain also brought hail which damaged the garden . I'm still not all the way moved and there's still work to be done on the house before I can sell it, but work starts the 23rd. I guess I will be spending even more time running back and forth. Oh well, it has to be done, why complain about it? It can't last forever!

Today or tomorrow (depending on how quickly my son gets his vehicle ready to roll) we have to go to Payson. We are moving his Blazer up there since this house is going on the market and he will be at sea soon. If you've noticed in the news, the biggest wild fire in AZ is now burning just a few miles west of Payson. There are huge plumes of smoke and ash is falling on the town. So far it is just moving north (23000 acres and growing), but if the winds change or thunderstorms kick up it could quickly swing east into town. I've told my mom that she needs to have important papers, medicines, clothes, etc. ready in case she is required to leave, but her response is that the fire isn't going to turn toward town, 'they' always give lots of warning to people if they are going to evacuate, and it only takes her a few minutes to get her stuff together! I used to think she was sensible. I know that with a fire 5 miles away in tinder dry forest it can travel a long way in a short time with the right winds. It can be "You have 15 minutes to leave." And I know how long (hours) it can take her to gather up her stuff to come for an overnight visit! I'm just hoping that this one passes Payson by. From the photos I've seen on TV there are an awful lot of trees that were killed by bark beetles between the fire and town. That's scary!

Actually, I think it's more the attitude some folks (mostly city slickers) develop when they 'go cowboy' and buy a big truck. I grew up with big trucks as work vehicles so I don't look at them as a power trip just as a tool.

A 2001 Dodge Ram extend cab 4x4. Getting closer to being paid off and great for hauling stuff and room enough for extra people or my dogs in the cab! Got a great deal on it as a rental return with less than 6000 miles on it and still under warranty. Now if I could just train it to use less gas!

Borax (hydrated sodium borate) is a laundry booster.Borax converts some water molecules to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). This reaction works better in hotter water. The pH of borax is about 9.5, makes a basic solution in water increasing the effectiveness of bleach and other cleaners. Borax also acts as a disinfectant. Borax also acts as a surficant (keeps other cleaning agents mixed with the water so fabrics and such get 'wetter' and dirt and oils are removed). Washing soda, on the other hand, has a pH of about 11 and is useful in removing oils and grease. The combination of washing soda and borax makes a more effective cleaning combination and allows your soap or detergent and bleach to clean more efficiently. Please note: although borax is considered 'safe' it is capable of causing skin reactions and even being poisonous if ingested. Keep it away from pets and children and wear rubber gloves when working with it. Make sure your clothes are well rinsed to avoid skin reactions. Borax can also be used to kill insects by mixing it with flour, sugar and water to make dough balls. Roaches and ants eat it and die.

Well, today is my last day at school. My kids usually wear uniforms, but for promotion, they can wear regular clothes within certain guidelines. They all look so grown up! I did have to send one young lady home to change because she wore hip huggers and an short shirt. Oh well, they signed a dress code agreement so should have known better! I don't want to have a contracted teaching position in Payson this year because we are looking at property in Snowflake. Things have just fallen into place it seems. The fellow that supplies my mom with wood want to buy her place because it is an acre of commercial property where he could have his business. We are going to look at a place outside of Snowflake as soon as it can be arranged. We have an investment that is paying out soon, so all of our ducks seem to be lining up! As for teaching, I'll probably sub next year. I don't know if I want to go back full time. I have too many other projects I want to pursue. Right now I have 3, maybe 4 books I want to get on paper. I also want to turn whatever farm we get into a profitable enterprise. Most of all I want to spend time with my mom while we still have time. My kids get promoted at 8:15 then I clean out my room, turn in my keys and stuff, pick up my last check, and I'm officially unemployed!

This is my last 'real' day at school. Tomorrow we are just here to get the kids through promotion exercises (at least for the 8th graders). We ran them through rehearsal today and right now my class is playing dodge-baseball with a big nerf ball, playing cards and signing yearbooks. I have most of my stuff packed and will load up my truck tomorrow. Then, I'll be going to Payson for a few days. Leaving is somewhat bittersweet. I'll miss the kids, but I'll be happy to be in Payson.

Temp today is supposed to be 112. No rain. Still working on the house. Yesterday we put in a new bathroom door and hung some closet doors. With the prospect of getting property in Snowflake, and the fact that I've resigned from my job, I'm getting very motivated to finish this house and sell it. It's definitely time to move on! Just three more days of work (my students graduate on Wed.) and I'm 'unemployed'.

Today is another hot one, about 110

For anyone interested in producing electricity through solar or wind power try http://www.Otherpower.com for info and ideas. Some of the folks on there do some pretty interesting 'do it yourself' projects.

Congratulations! On the subject of animals, be sure you have adequate housing for them before you get them. I don't know if you have predator problems there, but that's something we have always had to deal with. Coyotes, foxes, racoons, skunks, feral dogs, bobcats, mountain lions, are all issues in areas where I've lived (and plan to go again!). Your best bet, I think, for chickens is to find someone with grown hens less than 2 years old or some young pullets. Here such hens can be had for $3 to $4 each, sometimes for free. Don't get more than you can reasonably afford to feed. You might find a market for eggs, but check first. For 2 people on a regular basis, 6 hens would be a good start. You don't need a rooster unless you intend to raise your own chickens. Chickens are probably the easiest thing to butcher too. For milk, a goat or two is a good choice, but make sure you have absolutely secure pens. Goats are masters of escape! Just remember, it's devilishly hard to separate cream from goat's milk to make butter without a cream separator (usually expensive). Unless you have experience with butchering larger animals or can find someone to show you how, I would suggest you start by having them butchered. It's very important to have the facilities to chill the meat quickly. Good luck.