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I hesitated to write this post. I don't want you to think less of me. What i want is for you to believe that i am the perfect homemaker and that my home is, although unfinished, perfectly spotless. I also want you to believe that my yard is always in perfect order, and although my animals relieve themselves wherever they wish, it simply does not ever stink. These things are not true. Why do i want you to believe these things? Because some part of my brain thinks that the rest of you have it all together all the time, and you won't understand that i don't.....i don't have half of it together most of the time. But i do try. Then i have to realize...i have to plug in some logic to my otherwise not necessarily so logical mind..... and realize that probably, you don't have it all together either. No offense.  Just sayin'. I'm sure some of you have it all perfectly down. But you're probably not having as much fun as i am if you do. Haha

*I totally thought i posted this here yesterday.  Then i discovered that i posted it somewhere else.  How embarrassing.  Anyway, here's yesterday's missing post.* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You know how certain questionnaires will want to know your education level?  It'll be multiple choice, and the options will be something like: a) high school b) some college c) bachelor's degree d) master's degree e) super smarty pants Well, i dislike these options.  I don't think i properly fit. When i graduated from high school, i was sure i knew what i wanted to do with my life.  I was going to be an elementary school teacher.  I prayed a long time about where to go to school, and i picked Oral Roberts University, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ORU is a great school, in my opinion.  And my time there was very beneficial to my development as a person, as an adult, and as a Christian. However, i didn't really know what i wanted to do with my life.  I

First, today was the most beautiful perfect day. During the night a wonderful front came through, brought rain, wiped away all that humidity and stifling heat, and brought a nice cool, pleasant breeze - to which i woke up after a good night's sleep. Perfect. While my darling was still sleeping, i tended to animals, made some extremely minor repairs to the bunnies' cages, spent some time with them trying to get in their heads (yes, still.).  I did get one message loud and clear:  they don't want me to pick them up.  That's unanimous. Sorry, for the little rabbit trail (HAhaha!). Anyway, i tended to animals and enjoyed the beautiful perfection of morning weather, and then my darling awoke. After some breakfast, my dear aunt and cousin visited us to see bunnies and me and get some farm fresh eggs. After they were gone, i tried to sell some chickens to someone on Craigslist but failed because i hold my chickens much too dear. And then things really got sta

I have always know that this part of the country qualifies as a portion of the "Soupy South." (Well, at least as long as i've known that it existed, i probably knew.) This morning, when the weather man said today would be "misty, hot, and humid," i don't think i took him seriously. Something i don't think i remember ever happening before.....happened. The cement floor of my house welled up with moisture from beneath and made the whole floor strangely damp. Just damp enough that my not sweeping the floor this morning resulted in a layer of the thinnest mud in the world. I like to go barefoot in the house on hot days because it helps to keep me cool - with the cool cement floor and all. And i usually get somewhat dirty feet - or maybe dusty feet. But this. Who could prepare for this? The moisture and the dust coated the bottoms of all of our feet with the thin mud. Black foot. I know.  Ew.  Hahahahahahahahahaha! I took so many pic

With all the reinforcement of yesterday's comments (thank you!), i am back to entertain you without the aid of a four-year old (maybe). I've been thinking. Blogs are for sharing our utmost thoughts....i think. But our foremost thoughts are often too personal for interweb consumption. So, maybe our secondarily utmost thoughts. O.k., i'll tell ya. What has been (i've just realized) consuming the biggest part of my secondarily utmost thoughts lately? Rabbit brains. Yes, you read that right. I have eggs hatching, chickens to sell, dogs to train, children to ...... keep safe and pray for, a husband to love, a home to clean, a yard to .... get under control, and i'm thinking about rabbit brains. The problem is i really want to get inside the mind of a rabbit, and this skill is eluding me.  For some reason, i just don't get them. You know, i can't get in their heads. They don't ever SAY anything. Chickens flap, squawk, chirp, and som

My frequency of writing has been....well......infrequent as of late. I apologize. Please forgive me. I don't want you to stop reading my blog.  I have imagined that irregular posting might inspire irregular reading.  But then so might half-hearted posting inspire half-hearted reading. Next week, i'm not babysitting, so perhaps my powers of writing things that are interesting to read will return to me. Today, i will cop out by again, using a four-year-old's material to entertain you.  I hope you enjoy.  The four-year-old  clearly gets more sleep than i do. A couple of days ago, i was sitting on the couch with said child on my lap when i became the subject of some identify-the-parts-of-the-face practice.  I was probably slouching....or meaning to sneak a short nap during Max and Ruby. Four year-old, pointing to the parts of my face and calling out their names: "Eyes.........ears..........forehead...........nose............mouth...........chin.............

I'm babysitting this week again. Normally we would be outside running off some energy this time of day. But today, it's under 60 degrees outside, the children are dressed for the beach, and someone has the sniffles.  So we're staying in until it warms up. Not to mention, i need to get some housework done. I was in the kitchen, making tea, when i hear an unusual version of an old song. "Ring around the rosie Paco!  Paco!  Paco! We all fall down!" ....... followed by "Someone help me UP!" Hilarious! And since i need to get back to that housework, that is all i will tell you today. Tata!

Sometime this past week, i managed some sleep, and consequently inspiration (adequate sleep can do that to you) and did an experiment with boiled eggs.  I took pictures, prepared to blog, and then had utter failure and decided my imagined post would be really boring with these results. SO this post is not about eggs. I know.  You're relieved. This is a post about humble ambitions.  Ironic. One of my humble and unrealized ambitions is to be an excellent gardener. Gardening is a subject that utterly fascinates me - and often confuses me completely. When it comes to things with heartbeats (cats, dogs, chickens, rabbits, husbands)....well, i wouldn't say that what i have on animals is a handle, exactly, but i can be reasonably sure that i can take a heartbeat-containing creature and have better than 80% success at keeping it alive regardless of how much it rains or how the drainage is. I have learned that vegetable gardens are not entirely my strong suit (yet), but a

I thought i would share with you the pictures of the newest lives here in Rogers Country.  These pictures were taken Monday, of day old babies and their proud mama, Kuku (that's Swahili for chicken). This yellow one is special because i think i kind of saved her life - God had me go out to the coop at just the right moment. Here they are tasting some sunlight - and some water.  It's amazing how quickly those instincts kick in.  One day you're in an egg, the next day you're sitting on the ground drinking water next to this giant bird that keeps bossing you around.....and incidentally is really good at keeping you warm. Remember the post about how God is like a chicken?  It's beautiful every single time.  You almost have to shake this chicken to find her babies when they're tucked up under her wings.  No one can shake God.  I'm always safe when i find shelter in His arms.  Under His wings you may seek refuge.   Psalm 91:4

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Someone (not my husband) once lost his tongue and asked me, "so, what do you do while you sit home all day?" Well, i don't SIT so much as the question suggests i do. I admit that i do take it upon myself to make executive decisions about what weeks will be busy weeks and what weeks will be not so busy weeks, but unlike some of these other people who don't SIT home all day - i also don't get any days off at my job.  I don't get to do nothing because it's Saturday or never get out of bed because it's Sunday; all the mouths around here have eat, no matter what day of the week it is, so i think we're even. Today was inventory day. I have begun to find it very important to keep a written record of who does and who does not live and eat around here - and when they were born or hatched or whelped or kindled, as the case may be.  If i don't, things will become chaos in my mind, and i won't feel like i'm doing a very efficient job at my

Today was a weird day. Something had both mine and hubby's tummies doing flips most of the the middle of the day.  So we made a few very sad attempts at productivity, which resulted in not a lot. I finally surrendered to seeing if a nap would help. It sort of did. I napped for 3 hours or something this afternoon - then got up, feeling somewhat better - made dinner, fed the ..... everything, and now here i am, feeling substantially better than before but not yet as well as well should be. Since there was so much sleep and flipping bellies today, hubby and i have plans to stay up and watch Julie and Julia at 11pm.  We're ridiculous, i know. This evening, when i checked on my broodies, i listened and heard one of the soon-to-hatch eggs cheaping at me, so we might have a baby or two in the morning.  New life is nice. Tomorrow marks the end of my kidless week, so there is scheduled to be a good deal more life around here next week again - in the form of small humans.

Yesterday, i had a very peaceful, lazy morning, and when i got over being so very rested, i decided i better get going on getting my cages ready for my bunnies, soon to arrive. Very thankfully, we have inherited a pile of used bird cages from my in-laws, who used to raise a LOT of finches and canaries.  They now have no birds, and a barn full of cages.  They said we could take all we wanted.  WOW These cages, it turns out, are a wonderful size, roughly 1 1/2 by 3 feet, perfect for small chickens - or - if outfitted with some rabbit wire, for bunnies. So really, all i had to do was cut rabbit wire to the appropriate size and convince it to stay in the bottoms of the cages.  Bird cages are conveniently designed with little poop-catching trays beneath the wire, so they're perfect. I was just about to walk outside to work on the cages when the phone rang. It was the bunny man.  He was on his way. He said he would be here in about 40 minutes, and he was bringing 3 bunnies.

O.k. just one. According to thefarm.org , a doe (a female adult rabbit) will or can produce (via offspring) up to 1000% of her body weight in food per year. Hmmm.. What does that mean exactly? A full grown doe is about 8 pounds ( i think ). 1000% of 8 is 80. Until you really sit and think about that statistic, you're thinking 8000 pounds, aren't you?  I know i was. 3 does could then produce 240 pounds of meat (i'm assuming this is without the bones, fur, etc.) in a year. That's really not quite as impressive as what i originally thought that statistic meant, but still.....not bad. They really should have just said "10 times her body weight" - to avoid confusion.  But i guess "1000%" looks more impressive. We may need to review this statistic in the future. ************************* In other news, some of my favorite people (as predicted) came to visit today.  We had a very nice visit, and then i had a very nice nap. The bunn

I think i will give you some short hand updates for now - and pictures later. This week, i am kidless.  Nice.  So my chickens are getting some more attention - or their coop is, and i am having a little more down time. Also, we are expecting to receive 3 or 4 bunnies sometimes this week, and we are way excited about a new addition to our little farm. Jelly's puppies are all but completely weaned, and she has taken to mothering the 2 week-old chicks.  I swear she followed them around all day with a giant smile on her face.  She's having a blast.  Yesterday, she bathed one of the poor darlings, so we're working on instilling proper dog-mothering-chicks behavior.  But i think she's getting it.  Oh, and the chick looked dazed - but survived entirely. One of the puppies, Belle, true to her mother's genes, was trying to wrestle with her chicken friends.  She experienced intensive behavioral modification therapy and is now getting along famously.  It turns out chic

I used to hear people say something about enjoying "getting" to get dressed up and go do something fun.  And i would think they ..... well, let's just say i wouldn't relate to their happiness about getting dressed up. I have pretty much always liked going casual.  In fact, one of my prerequisites for choosing my current church was that i couldn't feel pressure to dress up for church.  I have a little soapbox about that one - but maybe another time..... Tonight, my husband came home and said he wanted to take me out. I looked down at my holey, stained t-shirt, painty hands, and need-to-be-patched-again jeans and thought, "i should change clothes." So i did. I got dressed up. Meaning, i put on a clean - non-holey t-shirt, a relatively clean pair of jeans, and my mostly-non-chicken-poopy-sort-of-new-looking tennis shoes (though i don't think they've ever seen a tennis court), and i combed my hair (novel). We went out to our little town