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A heritage skill that i have been given by my mother and grandmother is crochet, and i am very grateful for it.  I love having it.  In addition to having a great (and cheap) hobby for relaxation, crocheting is a great source of homemade and often very appreciated gifts.  Not to mention, again, cheap. Right now, my crocheting hobby is very cheap.  Over the past two years, i have accumulated an entire chest full of free yarn.  Two different people gifted me with entire trash bags filled with old, unused yarn...one a friend, and one a freecycle member.  This makes it very easy for me to give inexpensive, unique, heartfelt, hand made gifts that cost me nothing but my heart, thoughts, and labor.  A labor i love. This weekend, i had a one-year old's birthday party to attend.  While i love this particular one-year-old, i had a hard time deciding what i should give him for a gift.  One-year-olds are tricky like that.  I started looking and cam...

Incubating chicks -- i started a new hatch on Friday.  Twenty-four new eggs. Broody hens incubating chicks -- i have a new broody hen, who is safe in the brooder, and i gave her seven eggs on Friday night.  She took to the move immediately and never protested.  What a relief! I have a hunch i won't see those eggs for even a second until they hatch.  She's a very determined and steadfast mother hen. Sassafrass -- This morning, i went sassafrass root hunting.  Since it grows a little more heartily than the weeds here, there was lots to be found.  Grand fun.  Grand smell.  I'm going to try some tea this year i think.  If it tastes as good as it smells......yum! Cold weather.  It was 40 degrees this morning.  I had to get out my long sleeved t-shirt winter clothes so i could go outside and take care of my animals.  Cool weather makes me want to do stuff.  I love it.  Let me clarify.  I love Texas' co...

On a rare political note, this morning i got to see a video of the House Minority Leader, John Boehner, in his Weekly Republican Address, and i fell in love . . . in a political way. Then i did some searching and found his speech to the House, which he gave in March, before they voted on the health care bill.  And i fell in love again. I like him because he doesn't seem to mind telling the truth in clear, succinct words, and because he seems to understand the meaning of the word, "representative."  So i thought i would share.  I don't consider myself a Republican, or anything else with an official name.  I simply believe in the original Constitution of the United States - and in the right to vote in officials who support my Christian World View.  Nuff said. Also, Tuesday is election day.  If you haven't already, i hope you'll get to studying your local sample ballots and learn about who you're voting for in every level of government.  It's important...

I have splinters in my fingers, soreness in my shoulders, pain in my butt muscles gluteas maximus fanny, and satisfaction in my heart. I believe i've mentioned our chicken management issues lately.  In addition to the numbers i've mentioned, i should also tell you that my younger chickens have not figured out where to go to sleep, and i have spent nearly every evening for the past couple of months moving between 12 and 33 chicks from some unsafe, unsheltered place where they insist on sleeping, to some place safe.  This is an evening ritual which quickly grows old. Also it has a solution. Once a chicken recognizes a certain place as home, he or she will go back to that place to sleep.  Happily, one can teach a chicken where home is by locking it into "home" for about a week.  After that, she will go home at dusk unless something happens to sort of reset her "home" button. I want all the chickens to see the coop as home, but i don't want to loc...

Before i started writing this post, i had to go and look to see what my blog looks like right now.  I couldn't remember in what state i had left it.  I have spent a large portion of today attempting to discern the mysteries of blogger code and the "easy" methods in place to help you do whatever you want.  I have used two programs i had previously never heard of, learned a couple of new computer skills, and still have not succeeded in affecting the appearance of my blog. Perseverance.  I must persevere. Additionally, at the end of our food supply before pay day, i have discovered a couple of handy shortcuts for tastier food when supplies are minimal. Handy shortcut #1: A can of spam can season a couple of pots of beans pretty nicely. Handy shortcut #2: After i nicely seasoned a pot of beans using Handy shortcut #1, i managed to scorch it, making it inedible to humans and very appetizing to some very lucky dogs.  That was my chosen side for this evenin...

Today was such an exciting day! I spent countless hours remodeling my blog only to find it still wanting for improvement. Then i took a nap. After i woke up, i experimented with some crafting and then discovered that our kitchen had been taken over by flies in plague proportions.  Flies everywhere!   Flies! So my GSSH put up some fly paper, and now most of the flies are dead or dying while stuck to fly paper.  Sorry flies. That was my very awesome crazy stupendous exciting eventful day! There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven.  A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.  A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to rebuild.  A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.  A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away.  A time to search and a time to lose. A time to keep a...

Hello Friends, I am about to do some remodeling here on Humble Ambitions, so if you check in for updates and find cotton candy stripes covered with purple polka dots, or the print of the post has turned to neon green, please bear with me.  I'm working on it.  I promise not to leave it like that. It seems the template i'm using is now badly outdated, so for ease of technology (ease later, not so much now), i am going to change out a few things. Hopefully we'll be back to some state of normal in about 24 hours. Thanks for stopping by, even though this is a very short and anticlimactic post.  If you do, however, have some complaint or frustration, or suggestion as to the design of this blog, this would be the time to shout it out, and i'll see what i can do. Here's your inspirational scripture for the day: Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good.  Love each other with genuine affection...