Darlene

You better make it! It wouldn't be the same without you here

Whatchoo smilin' 'bout? lol

It wouldn't be the same without you and MrMomM, that's for sure! I'm so glad that y'all can make it...you have a gift of organizing chaos

We're up in north Georgia around the Blue Ridge, GA area, about 15 minutes from the TN/NC border. Everyone usually stays here and we have a huge slumber party for a few days. Lots of good food, and even better company. It's always a very special time.

I just wanted to let everyone know that Philbe had contacted me and asked me to change her online id here at MrsS from 'Philbe' to 'The WE2's' so I just did that. Hopefully making this announcement will help cut down on any confusion as we get to know her new name! I'll let her come in and 'splain herself as to what The WE2's mean

At the top of the property there's an area that your RV would fit into. Last fall a friend of mine came down with her husband from Nova Scotia with their RV that was big like yours and that's where they parked. I don't have any utilities up there but there's definitely room. We could always just put you out in one of the pastures too if you'd prefer lol (just kidding lol). The cows and sheep would be very curious lol.

((((annarchy)))) I want you to come too. Time to start praying!

lovinit, no set date yet but I'm open to suggestions

Dogmom...I'm not sure if I can do it this summer. I have Madison graduating and going off to college so it's going to be a whirlwind summer. I know we could do it anytime in the fall...September, early October...that would work better I think. I sure hope you can come though...you've been such a valued and treasured member of MrsS for so long, it would be very special to meet you face to face.

I've talked with a few of you about doing a MrsS get together this fall. We seem to do them every 2 years and we're coming up on our 2 year anniversary since the last one this coming fall. I've (thankfully) come a long way since the first one lol. I was new to moving the farm and there were 1000 things that needed to be done. 2 years after that I was a bit more grounded but there were still 999 things that needed to be done. 2 years after that I was definitely in my grove but there were still 998 things that needed to be done around here. THIS time, not that there's anything that doesn't need to be done on a farm, but I've finally accomplished some of the critical components lol. This time, I specifically want to do something at our gathering if there is any interest in having one this year. I started making soaps and lotions a few years ago. At the end of the last get together, a few of the ladies that were still here put together a body butter and I think it was a sugar scrub. I look back to those formulas and have to laugh (otherwise I'd die of embarassment lolol) at how pitiful they were compared to what I'm able to formulate now. I've come a long way over the last couple of years. My soaps and body products are in several stores. My formulas are unmatched by anyone out there because I work on the premise that if it's good enough for me (I like the best I can do), then it's good enough for everyone else (which is true). I use oils, essential oils, etc etc etc that have such wonderful properties to the skin, whether it be moisturizing, soothing, healing, etc. We have a forum here that goes into detail about alot of these different things. Over the last couple of months I've been feeling a burden to do a serious class on making our own soap and body care products. Even the most basic soap formula of palm, olive and coconut oils is a superior product to any commercial one you can buy. I make body butters, facial creams, lotions, shampoo bars, hair conditioners, deodorants with probiotics, hair styling gels, etc etc etc and they cost pennies on the dollars to what we have to buy. So...I would like to do a several day class on soapmaking...'cold process' and 'hot process'. I'd like to teach those that are interested, in how to make these other body care products themselves. I'd like to teach y'all how to infuse oils with herbs to use in these products and how to incorporate them. I was talking with Mt Rider last night and we figured that if we had 10 people participating, they'd each be able to leave with 1 log of soap which is about 14-16 bars, along with the knowledge to carry on what they learned for their own families. I want to start with teaching how to easily render oils from fats like tallow and lard, which by the way, make the most moisturizing and luxurious soaps. For the vegans, I have a slew of plant based oils that could be used. I want to take it from the foundation on up so that when hard times hit, people are empowered to take care of themselves in a more cost effiencient, healthier manner. I guess we'll start with seeing if there's any interest in a get together. I'm going to say without asking that I'm sure Gunplumber will attend and do his special shooting classes that everyone enjoys. Aside from good food, I, myself will just be focusing on teaching y'all how to make soaps, lotions, butters, deodorants, healing salves and balms, etc. We'll render beeswax from my hives to use in the balms and a ton of other things. If there's enough interest I'll post some of the things we can make and we'll narrow it down to a few specific things to do while everyone is here. I'll attach a picture of a couple of my soaps so y'all can see how much fun it is to make handcrafted products, especially when you delve into the artistic side of things . The first picture is of a soap that I put aloe vera, chlorella and spirulina powders in. The second one incorporates activated charcoal which gently exfoliates the skin while it draws out the toxins and the 3rd picture is just a fun but very involved rainbow . Let me know what y'all think.

Homey, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you" This was the day that He chose for you to be born many years ago. It's very moving when we remember how He knows us even in the womb...how He has chosen our destiny He desires for our lives, seperating us apart, doing the work that He knows is necessary that we might fulfill that destiny. May His abundance of spiritual blessings flow richly over your life today.

Ok, I just got our our hosting plan paid for 2 more years! Praise the Lord and thank everyone who chipped in to cover our fees on this. We won't have to revisit this till the fall of 2015! We just have to finalize what we're going to do with the message board. I know that I'm not interested in losing all our posts that have accumulated for years so I'll get with Annarchy and see what we can trim to bring the cost down.

I just received another $60 in the mail today. Please forgive me if I don't send "thank you's" to everyone individually. I only know some of you by your online name and not your real name and I find myself thinking when I open up an envelope, "hmmmmmmmmmmmm...now who is this?" lolol I think that I'm going to take a portion of the monies and get our server paid for for 2 years...I think it best that it not be something we have to worry about. We'll look at the message board considerations and figure out how we want to proceed with that.

Ok, GoDaddy just called me about the renewal. He said that it would be $108ish for 1 year, and said he could give us a discount if we renewed for 2 years at $195ish. Annarchy suggested we cut out a few 'frills' on this particular message board...I'll have her explain better about which ones. That would bring the renewal down for this message board to around $30ish/6 months or $60ish for a year. The UBB would be free because I bought the licenses over a decade ago when they offered "for life" things like that. We're not sure everything would be transferrable, but Annarchy would have to explain the specifics. Right now, I've received about $180 from the membership to cover these fees. I can put in $20 to bring it to $200. I guess I'm trying to see if we can get the server paid for 2 years vs. 1 year and save $24. Any thoughts?

When I went to pay the message board fee, I ran into a problem (couldn't figure out their invoice) so I had to email them to ask them how to do it. I also asked them about the 'yearly fee' of $55. I'm really offended because they informed me that the message board fees are $55 for 6 months, not a year anymore. This is ridiculous. As with all things, I'm sure that we'll see these types of things going up and up so I've been discussing this with Annarchy. I *think* I still own a license to the UBB board we used to use so I'll ask her to check out the features and see if it's compatible to move the site there. With the UBB board there wouldn't be any yearly fee nonsense. I know this would be a major upheaval to the board but I'm just trying to think of ways that we can secure the site the best we can for the tumultuous days ahead. Anyway, I just wanted to give y'all an update because I haven't paid anything yet with the monies I've received thus far because I'm trying to figure out what will be best for MrsS long term.

awwwwwwwwwwww...you're so sweet. We definitely have enough to cover the yearly fees for the message board and server for the next year. We might just have enough to get the server paid for 2 years so we'll see what happens. It doesn't matter though whether it's 1 or 2 years...y'all have helped more than I can say. Blessings.

I learned from the best. You. lololol

Andrea, yes we could pay for 2 years which would make it something we wouldn't have to deal with for a while. If not, I'm just grateful for a year. I'll pm you my paypal addy.

Yes, several people have sent via paypal but, I think, in just a few short hours the outpouring of the membership giving donations has taken care of of the above site renewal fees. I'm just sitting here amazed at how quickly y'all rushed in to help, and within 12 hours we have what we need. I haven't posted alot for a long time. It started when I just started feeling very quiet...when I felt a need to go into my 'cave' (that happens every so often)...when I felt like I really didn't have anything to give and various things that were going on left me feeling I didn't have anything to say. And then, life became a whirlwind with family coming to visit from all over the world and all the work that went into preparing for that, dealing with that, etc etc etc. I've been feeling for a month or so that this 'quiet' was coming to an end. I've been talking to the Lord alot about it...with so much going on in the world, with all the critical things we face, I keep telling Him that I have nothing to say or offer so if He has something He wanted me to say then He'd have to boil it up in my heart...or at least I prefer that whatever I share be something He's laid on my heart vs. me and my various ramblings. I find it interesting that He begins with me being humble and asking for help. In fact, the more I think about that, the more interesting I find it. I'm such an independent kind of girl...always have been. One of the things He's worked in my life over the past 6 years or so since we moved to the farm, is a growing dependence on Him. The neatest part, or the most meaningful part of that is that dependence grew because He showed me over and over that I could trust Him. Trust is a big thing for me, as it is for all of us and because He's taught me to trust Him, it shouldn't surprise me that He touched many hearts today to reach out and help whether it be financially or in prayer. But it does. Y'all have touched my heart in a very special way today. MrsS has been online for more than 15 years now and the special thing that has always been so meaningful about 'her' hasn't changed over these years. That special thing is all of you. God bless.

An update... The fee for the renewal for our message board program has been taken care of so praise the Lord for that. We're working on the serve renewal fee so I just wanted to let everyone know where we're at with all this. A very heartfelt thank you.

Annarchy checked on the server and it's renewal fee for a year is $107.88. Sheesh that aggravates me.

Annarchy recently contacted me to let me know that our renewal for our server and message board program is due this month... Up until a couple of years ago I paid all the costs for the site. It was my gift to the membership and I've always felt it's my responsibility. Life changed for me however and I found myself in a position where I couldn't afford even the small amounts of renewal fees so I had to be kicked in the hiney by a few of our friends here to come public and ask for help in getting those costs paid for. I'll not whine and go on and on about having to ask for help for those things...it looks ridiculous when I try to put it in the written word. So, I wanted to ask, if there are any members that are able, to help with the 2 fees we have coming up this month. I'm not sure how much it is to renew our yearly fee on our server is (I need to get a concrete number from Annarchy and will make a post here once I find out for sure. I do know that the fees are on sale right now so thank the Lord for that). To renew our message board program is $55 . That will take care of our site for the next year. As usual, we only need enough funds to cover those two things. Once we have enough we won't need any more donations. It doesn't matter if someone wants to donate $1 or $5. As we all know, each dollar adds up quickly and it's not an insurmountable amount. If anyone would like to help, please send me a PM and I'll forward you my info for mailing it. If you're not able to help financially, I'd cherish your prayers over the site. Thanks.

She had a wonderful birthday...said over and over that she didn't want it to end. Thanks for thinking of her.

The 'authorities' are reporting a 31% loss to beekeepers over the past winter. The actual figures are 50%+. I had 8 hives going into the winter and after the hurricane went up the east coast and brought winds full of garbage from the agricultural regions of Florida and south Georgia, it adversely affected everyone's hives and I came out of the winter with 2. Instead of raising colonies to sell my focus has turned to preserving the honeybee and harvesting honey. The bees are very endangered, everyone is sold out in all the states around me and ones that are buying bees are reporting that they are not surviving. It's a very serious situation because we all know that the honeybee does more than give us honey...they pollinate crops and a whole slew of things. For anyone that is in a position to learn how to raise bees I would strongly suggest you add that to your repertoire.

Thanks everyone for your birthday wishes...that was very sweet of y'all to take the time to share. It was a beautiful day with my girls...the kind that you tuck close to your heart and remember forever.