I AM SUCH A WIMP!

 Before addressing the WIMP issue, here are some of the goodies from the garden.

 The smaller tomatos are Early Girls and the larger ones are Beef Master.

 Killer dog Tilly told me this morning that there was a mouse in the desk drawer in the kitchen. I opened one drawer but no mouse. Tilly practically crawled into the drawer. I opened the bottom drawer and saw a flash of grey. I took a box out of the drawer and out jumped a mouse. It took off across the floor, I was screaming and doing the jive and Tilly caught the mouse in two seconds flat. I've never seen a dog move so fast. Heck, I've never seen ME move so fast!!!! Pa had a good laugh about that. Tilly didn't want to eat the mouse so I gave her a doggie snack and took the mouse out to the burn barrel. I was sure hoping that mouse wasn't playing dead when I carried him out. If it had wiggled one little bit, you'd find me outside dead of a heart attack.

 I finally got some pictures of my friend, Tom's baskets. He weaves them out of willow or some other branch. Then when he is done with that, he beads the entire thing. He's worked on this one for a year. He is a perfectionist and thinks nothing of tearing out a full inch of beads.

 Here are some others he's done in the past. I love his baskets and keep hinting I'd love to have one. He said he would teach me how to weave one. I know I would never have the patience to bead one.

 Here is a birthday card I made for my grand daughter, Sarah. I was planning on doing something girly but one of the frogs fell out of my stash so the rest is history.

 Now for the WIMP part. Pa went out to put up more fence and asked if I'd like to help. I said no.

 Then I thought, how hard can it be? So off I went, hat on head, water bottle at my side, gloves in my pocket.

 I helped pull the bottom wire tight, put on 3 clips, walked down the fence line to do more tightening and That's All Folks! I got light headed, woozy and hotter than heck even tho it was 80 degrees.

 Pa brought me back to the house to recuperate. I fixed him some breakfast and finally an hour later, I'm feeling a bit better. I've always had issues with the heat and sun. When I was a kid, my mom would take us to the beach once a week and she told me she would just get settled in and I would want to go home because I was so miserable. Neither of us at the time realized I didn't sweat. I'd just get so hot on the inside, I was like a boiler with no way to let off steam. Well, some things never change. That's why I feel so much better in the winter.

It took many years for Pa to understand my quirky little problem. He can work out side on the hottest day and not bat an eyelash. I still feel like I'm percolating on the inside. It will take hours for this feeling to go away unless I jump in the shower and cool off.
He and Wayne went to Show Low yesterday to get the last three rolls of wire we need and found a gate that Lowe's had on sale. It's a bit@@h having to wait till payday to buy supplies. But it sure beats having to go back to work!!!
Lawsey, I think I will go jump in the shower!

Oh my Gosh!!!!!

I got featured on Create with TLC with my underwear cards!!!! Check out her blog:
 http://createwithtlc-createwithtlc.blogspot.com/
Just scroll down a little bit and you will see them.

Some crafty stuff

 Just thought I'd share what I've been up to in the craft room. I made the cardstock myself! I found an image on line of the birds in a nest plus the bird, imported it into Inkscape and made a digi stamp file. While in Inkscape, I saved the images in different colors. I really love the Inkscape program. I only know how to do a couple of things but it is what I need but you can do many more graphic things. I need to get a book but it won't do me any good unless it is in dummy English and not computer speak.

 Downloaded a free bicycle font and made this card front. It was way too much work and took a lot of time.

 I've been practicing coloring my digi stamp images with alcohol ink markers. These are all card fronts that I need to glue onto cards.

 I found this image on line and used Inkscape to turn it into a cutting file. Cut it with my trusty Silhouette Cameo. Bless Pa for getting me this for Christmas.

 More card fronts.

This is a card with a window for the front. I made the window cutting file as well as the shutter file and window box file. I used punches for the flowers and stems.

 More practice with digital stamps.

This morning on Create with TLC's blog she had this sentiment which gave me a big laugh so I had to sit down and make a card to go along with it. I made the undie cutting file and the lace file also. So there ya have it! Off to craft some more!

The Garden of Weedin'

 We are still in the monsoon season and that has given us some beautiful sunsets. You've heard it before but it is so beautiful here at the ranch.

 Isn't this stunning?  I am trying to spend  more time outside in the evening and less watching TV. There isn't anything on anyway.

 I've been wanting all the tree stumps moved out of the front yard. It wasn't high on Pa's priority list so I made a deal with Wayne. I'd do his laundry if he would get rid of the stumps. They are gone! Wayne has clean laundry and my front yard is cleared so I can plant fruit trees next spring.

 Thought I'd give you an update on the Garden of Weedin'. Here are some tomatoes. Unfortunately, they are experiencing blossom end rot. I read that it is a shortage of calcium and in a pinch you can use powdered milk. I used almost an entire box of powdered milk so I hope that helps. I've thrown so many tomatoes away.

 Oh look! A Beefmaster tomato. I will pick it tomorrow.

 The okra is kinda sparse. We don't get enough at one time to do anything with them. That's a pepperocini  next to the tin can. It is just starting to get peppers. It will be interesting to see if they are as hot as they were last year.

 Brocolli! I've gathered three stalks so far.

 More tomatoes.

 Finally some green beans. This is my 5th planting. They are starting to blossom.

 This is a red bell pepper. Sure hope I can wait long enough for them to turn red.  The plant is so heavy with peppers, it fell over so I had to prop it up with stakes.

 This is two yellow crooked neck squash. For two people, do you really need more? They don't freeze well so we are eating a lot of them.

 One zucchini which is plenty for us. There are some onions in the front.

 Grape tomatoes. The potato bugs did a lot of damage to them so they are spindly. We aren't expecting many tomatoes from them.

 In the back are yellow straight squash. The one in the front is butternut squash with cantaloupe to the left. We probably won't get any ripe cantaloupe unless they hurry up and grow more.

 Can you see the butternut squash? There are two of them all together. I've started cutting the vines back so all the nutrients will go to the squash.

 One row of asparagus. I'm going to order more and maybe plant 5 or 6 more rows. It's doing great in spite of being eaten down to the ground early in the season.

 Rhubarb. It should be big enough to eat by next year. I'm the only one who likes it.

 Little cantaloupe!

 Potatoes. This was an experiment. Supposedly you put straw on top of the greens as they grow and when you take the cover off, the potatoes will just fall out. I don't think so! I took the cover off one and there were no potatoes. I think they will all be under ground.

 One of the new grapes I planted this summer after the other one got frozen. The frozen one did come back but it is small so hopefully it will grow like crazy next year.

 My raised flower bed. I'm hoping to find some galvanized horse troughs to plant in next year. Used ones are hard to come across.

 This is my favorite piece of furniture. It is from the 50's I think and is made from sprung steel. A friend of mine had it for 30 years and I coveted it that long. He found an entire set in the dump!!! After years of badgering, he finally gave it to me. I call it a star chair because when you sit in it you can lean back and rock and see the stars. I have plans to repaint it and put a cushion in it but haven't got that far yet. I'd love an entire set of these chairs.

 We had rain all day and this is a picture during one of the lulls. We got about an inch of rain so Pa had to pump all the rain barrels empty so we would be ready for the next deluge. I love the rain.

 As I was wandering around looking for wild flowers to take pictures of, I scared this bunny out of it's hiding place. He let me get pretty close before he hopped away.

 I need to look this up. It looks like Sweet Alysum . It is sprinkled here and there around the ranch.

This hummer is named Tubby. I think it is the same one I pried off the back bird feeder earlier in the year. Last night I was wandering around just about dusk and the strangest bird flew over head. It had the shape of a Heron and landed in one of the juniper trees. As I approached to get a closer look, it flew off. I couldn't tell what color it was since it was getting dark. The closest lake is 25 miles away so I have no idea where it came from.
I dug up some wild yellow daisy plants today and replanted in the front yard. Hope they take off. My Spiderworts are thriving.
Yesterday Pa and I went to Springerville and bought a ton of London Broil. It was on sale for $2.29 a pound which is cheaper than hamburger which was on sale for $4.49 a pound for the 10% fat content. I divided it up into 2 serving sizes and froze it. I'll grind it up with my meat grinder when we use it. I could have it ground at the store but I like it the way we do it. It tastes 10 times better than store bought hamburger. Our freezer is jam packed full of chicken breasts and London broil so we are set for awhile. When ya live in the boonies, ya gotta take advantage of sales and buy in bulk and use coupons when ever possible. Actually, I did that in Vegas also. Must have something to do with those Scottish ancestors altho I am more Irish and English with a bit of Gypsy thrown in. Really, I have some Gypsy blood. My many great grandfathers in the past was a Gypsy and roamed around in one of those Gypsy wagons. He had a wooden leg and big ear rings in his ears. He became a Christian and then started preaching the Gospel.
That catches us up for now. Stay tuned for the next installment . Ohhhhh Pa just ran outside to chase cows off the property. We will be so glad to get the fence finished,

No Regrets

NO REGRETS

There is only one thing about which
I shall have no regrets when my life ends.
I have savored to the full all the small daily joys.
The bright sunshine on the breakfast table;
The smell of the air at dusk;
The sound of the clock ticking;
The light rains that start gently after midnight;
The hour when the family comes home;
Sunday evening tea before the fire!
I have never missed one moment of beauty,
not ever taken it for granted.
Spring, summer, autumn or winter.
I wish I had failed as little in other ways.
~Agnes Sligh Turnbull

I don't know where I found this but I thought it was so beautiful. I've always (well almost always) found the joy in each day, the beauty of the moment. I was talking to an old friend in Vegas last night and he said that has been what has kept me young at heart. He said I'll  never get old. I hope and pray I never lose that gift.... The gift of joy, seeing the wonder in the smallest thing, the beauty that surrounds me, the friends that touch me and love me no matter what stupid or unwise thing I do and accepts me for who I am.

P.S.

Oh, I just wanted to encourage you to listen to InTouch ministries on TV. That's where we go to church every Sunday since town is so far away. Dr. Stanley is doing a series on the Promises of God and it is awesome! He is offering a set of 8 Promises of God cards for free. You can put them in your wallet and whip them out whenever you need encouragement. InTouch is on the Family Channel at 7 in the morning here but he is on other channels during the day on Sunday. If you want teaching straight out of the Word of God, this is the place.

Update

Things went pretty well at the meeting. The officers thought they'd intimidate Wayne by all showing up and about dropped their teeth when they saw Pa there also. Everything was cool and calm and when they realized Wayne was serious about lawsuits, they fell all over themselves to make him happy. They will replace his marker at no cost to him and things are looking very promising to get the well fixed. Pa said it was so sad to see the officers. They looked and acted like a bunch of sheep. What ever the president said, they nodded their heads like those bobble heads. All they are is yes men/women to what the president says. Pa said one guy looked like he didn't even know what day it was and only one other guy looked like he had a brain in his head. None of the officers even live out here so I don't know how they can be aware of what's going on. It will be interesting to see if they open up the monthly meetings to the property owners. It was pointed out to them that it is illegal in Arizona to have them in secret.. Honestly, the president of the association acts like he doesn't know a thing but I think that is a cloak to protect himself. He knew absolutely nothing about the well except it didn't work up to snuff. He's been the realtor for these properties forever so how could he not know anything about it. We've spoken to the well driller who did the well and related what he said to the prez but he didn't remember that. Yeah, right!
I'll keep ya posted!

Catching Up

How do you like my new look? Isn't this just me? A girl's gotta be prepared for anything out here. and boy, I'm ready for anything.
Seriously, I found this photo on The Graphics Fairy and fell in love with it. I thought I should put it in every post so you would know how "country" I've become.

Finally the hummers are back. We've had a couple earlier in the summer but now we have 12-15 fighting over the feeder. I finally had to put up a second one in the back yard so there would be enough food for everyone.

 I can't help myself, I just love these little birds.

 We've had some great rains. We just love it. Lots of lightning and thunder. We got an inch from this rain which filled up our barrels and water tanks, 650 gallons and then they were running over.

 The next afternoon, we got another inch in a short time. Another 650 gallons.

 Our big rain tank has close to 2500 gallons in it for the garden. Wayne was over for dinner on Wednesday and left to go home around 10:30 pm. Pa and I took our showers and went to bed and the phone started ringing. Everytime Pa answered it, no one was there but caller ID showed it was Wayne. I told Pa I bet he was stuck in the wash and couldn't get a signal and we had better drive down the road to see if he was ok. There he was, in the wash, stuck up to his hubcaps. We tried to pull him out but he was too stuck. He had to leave the truck in the wash and come home with us for the night. We figured it would be a good signal for others to see the truck there so they wouldn't try to make it across.
The next morning, we used Wayne's tractor to pull the truck out. It was so stuck, the tractor had a hard time getting it out.

 We drove down to our new friend, Noah's place to see how he was coming along with his earth house. He has a lot of work to do!!!

 It doesn't seem that big to me for a family of four plus mother. Maybe it will be bigger when he gets it done.

 All that packed earth should provide some good insulation. He isn't going to put in traditional windows. He is going to use glass blocks. I would have to have more windows if it were me and ones that open but hey, it's his house and he can make it like he wants.

 We were showing Wayne one of Pa's cowboy hats. Handsome dude, isn't he?

 This is Wayne's hat that Pa tried on. Personally I think I looked better in it than Pa did but I was the one taking the pictures, so ya can't see how beautiful I looked in it, ha ha.

 I looked out the kitchen window during dinner and let out a scream. "Look at the rainbow!!!!It is so beautiful!" The guys looked at me like I was crazy and went on eating. What's wrong with guys that they can't appreciate the beauty surrounding them?

 My Mars pictures look better than the Mars Rover, don't ya think? I don't know why the colors turned out so weird. I still think the rainbow was beautiful. It was huge and no matter what, I couldn't get the whole thing in the lens.

 Just beautiful

Ya gotta admit, they are different!
Last Saturday I spent the day in Flagstaff with my bud, Katie. We went everywhere. I left the house at 6 in the morning and didn't get home till 8 in the evening. I was exhausted but it was worth it just to spend some time with another woman. I don't know what I would do without that girl!!!! She came over Thursday and we played in my craft room. A good time was had by all.
Today Pa is over at Wayne's to give him some moral support. All of us are so tired of our corrupt POA board. Wayne finally reached the boiling point and went to town to ask some questions of one of the officers and she wouldn't talk to him so he let it be known that he and some others out here are ready to sue. The president of the board called and set up a meeting to discuss the issues with him this morning. Arizona has laws concerning the operation of HOA'S/POA's but no office to make sure the laws are being obeyed. Our officers won't even let the property owners attend the meetings which is illegal. The Attorney General's Office said it wasn't their problem, just vote the officers out. We can't do that because the president of the board controls over 300 properties between what he owns and what the real estate company owns. He controls the votes for all of them. He hand picks who he wants on the board, all "yes" men/women and votes to put them on there. Their main goal is to make sure their buddy has the road contract. They don't even bid the contract out, just hand it to him. I think a kid in a sand box could do a better job on the roads. And get this, he is not responsible for the survey markers he knocks out and loses!!!! Aren't those legal markers? How are you supposed to know where your property boundaries are? They expect people to hire a surveyor to come and resurvey the property!!!! We can't even use the community well. It takes 3 hours to fill up a 250 gallon tote. Each property owner is supposed to get 4000 gallons from the community well a month. At the last yearly meeting which we were allowed to attend, everyone voted to get the well fixed with a huge tank and a solar pump. There wasn't one NO vote. Guess what, the officers decided not to do what the property owners want. Unfortunately most of the property owners don't live out here, they are scattered all over the U.S. so they don't know what it is like to live out here. We are being forced to either put in a well or drive to town to buy water. The big selling point for buying out here is that you didn't have to put in a well since you could use the community well. What a crock!!!!!
In spite of the cons of living out here, we try to concentrate on the pros . We are just so tired of our corrupt board. But all in all we absolutely love it.If we ever move again, we will never buy property where they have an association. When we speak to an attorney, we will ask him if there is anyway, we can legally withdraw from the association. Probably not.