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The other day, i was sitting on a bench, as i often do, during one of my breaks during the day at work, and something i read reminded me of my long unrequited desire to raise Muscovy Ducks. A quick search on craigslist located a nearby raiser of these treasures, and this weekend, i plan to go and pick up a small flock of hatchling Muscovy Ducks and bring them home to my tiny farm.  And i am SO excited!  I just can't wait to show you pictures.  I've never had ducks before, and i'm just giddy.   And not just because ducks have bills and look cute either.   Muscovy Ducks are different from any of the quacking varieties of ducks that most of us have some familiarity with.  First of all, they don't quack.  Muscovies originate in central America, unlike pretty much all other ducks, and they fly, roost, have claws, are wonderful mothers, provide virtually all of their own food, and according to rumor, are some of the best meat you will ever eat. ...

The other day, i shared with y'all, a few of my thoughts and ambitions concerning where the products that i buy are produced.  If you missed it, you can read it here .  In response to that post, a reader, named Tracee, posted this: "I really don't want to offend you here, but do you realize that it is American corporations that are sending those items to China to have them manufactured? The Chinese aren't dreaming this stuff up on their own! American Corporations can no longer afford to manufacture here because the labor and benefits cost do not make it cost effective for them to make any money...and that's all they care about. Money. It all comes down to money, money, money. China gets a bad rap. Yes, there are sweat shops, child laborers, long hours and poor wages. If we want to protest that? I'm right there with you. I'm all for buying U.S. made. Just follow the chain on the products that come out of China and they will lead you right back to the g...

Sunday night, i pulled out of the drive to go buy gas and noticed that something was different.  When i got to the gas station, there was a Sheriff's Deputy gassing up, who confirmed my concern. "You've got a problem with your car there, don't you?," he accused, like an awkward rookie cop.  I much prefer the older guys who don't look at you like you're the devil if you have an expired sticker or something.  From the tone of his voice, i thought the trunk was on fire or something, but he was just pointing out that my driver's side head light had gone out. "I thought it looked dim.  I think it just went out.  It hasn't been like that," i defended. The deputy gave me a we'll see sort of look and left me alone while i pumped my gas. Monday was going to be a long day.  I already had plans to go to Wal-mart and the AT&T store after work, and now i needed to add replacing a headlamp. I left out early Monday morning, and it was...

For those of you who are interested, i have created a tab on this blog, up there at the top, labeled, "not made in China."  I have listed those resources that i am presently aware of for finding businesses creating products here in the USA. I hope that this page will grow as i learn of more and more businesses and products that we can all be proud to support, as Americans. Please check it out and let me know what i can add.

Domesticity, i love you Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And i'm very thankful for Dr. King's contribution to our nation, but at this very moment, i am way more thankful to have had the day off. No offense to Dr. King, of course. Even though the holiday season is riddled with days off from work, all of those days are usually filled with festive activity, and so today, my being home while my super hero was working, is the first real day off i've had in quite a long time. So i pretended it was the old days. I swept the floor, and i cleaned the house, and washed dishes and made tea, and i made lunch for my darling, and i fixed dinner and baked a cake. And i truly enjoyed myself. Sometimes i feel very angry toward the women who started the "women's lib" movement back in the day. I blame them for turning the social tide from the days when it was normal to be domestic, toward the present days when it's abnormal to not have a "paying job...

I think i'm probably a little behind the ball on this one, but it's finally very important to me, so i want to share. A few weeks before Christmas, i had a few minutes to wander through one of my very favorite stores in the world, Hobby Lobby.   I love Hobby Lobby because it is kind of a fantasy wonderland of craft supplies and craft ideas, and if you're not feeling all that industrious, you can buy all sorts of crafty looking items that someone else made. And something in Hobby Lobby is ALWAYS on sale.  Always. On top of all that, the music playing in the store is instrumentals of Christian worship songs, and the store is closed on Sundays, allowing all of their employees the opportunity to go to a traditional Sunday worship service of their choosing. These are all reasons that i have always loved Hobby Lobby. ------------------- Now, in recent months, i have been paying more attention, partially due to our present national economic condition, to where the it...

Tonight, i am embarking on a new old way ...  or an old new way ...  of doing things. As you know, i guess, a few months ago, my husband and i decided to enter the expansive and mobile world of smart phones.  Since both of us are away from home more than we are at home (these days), we decided to spend our budgeted internet money on internet accessibility in our pockets, which meant forfeiting internet accessibility from our massive and out-dated personal desktop computers. It didn't take long before i figured out how to blog from my phone/tiny computer in my pocket (there's an app for that), but no matter how much i try, i just can't begin to get my thoughts down in blog format as easily by tapping it out on a touch phone keyboard, as i can on an old fashioned, tappity-tap-tap, full-sized, computer keyboard. And thus, besides all the other reasons that i've been too busy to do some of the things i love the most, my smart phone was impeding my blogging.  ...

January. Already? Are you sure? Because i'm sure i haven't gotten to do everything i planned for the year yet. I mean. There has to be more. I have a TON of stuff to do! But that's how i feel on many New Years Days. I think, "Where did the year go?" At the beginning of the year, when all things are new, and you've survived the Christmas season, and you're looking at the beginning of a brand new-born year, a year, kind of like a life, seems like a really. long. time. I should be able to accomplish anything in a year. A year is forever ! But at the beginning of a new year, when i plan for all things new, i must also look back to the last year, and some years, such as this year, i don't want to review what i said i would do in this past year. I'm sure it didn't happen. Now, i know i should cut myself a break on this. What i thought 2011 was going to look like when it was still January, took a very definite turn as early as February (whe...