Fruit Fly Traps, getting ready for Winter and Easy Macaroni & Cheese!

I'm all about comfort foods at the moment.  We're working hard to get everything buttoned down for the season and Nanny likes food that's easy to eat. 

Macaroni & Cheese - how can you go wrong on that?
Easy Recipe:  Boil water, add two cups favorite pasta & cook til tender.  Meanwhile, put an egg, a cup of milk & two cups of shredded cheddar or combo of cheese (we like grated parmesan) and a squirt of honey mustard in a casserole dish.
When pasta is done, drain it, add it to cheese mixture, cover and bake at 350* for 30 minutes.  All done....

I'm about done working on Fall primitive projects.  Here are some tags I did....I've worked my way through pumpkins, bats, pigs, rabbits, witches & witches hats. 

Today I finished up a pair of Californian Rabbits, a
trio of Fat Lil Crows and started on some Gingerbread Boys.

  I had to quit after that because I promised myself I'd clean all my rabbit pans today - I was joking to myself about weakly rabbit cleaning (pun intended).  I have 24 'holes' in my rabbitry and they all have rabbits in them!  That's a lot of pans to empty and lots of bunny pals to pet!
I took my hummingbird & finch feeders down & cleaned them for the season.  I need to get the porch furniture put away and find all the scattered shovels, rakes & forks, too, but not today.

 How do you like my new 'designer' scissors?  They are a stunning pattern of orange - perfect for my favorite season....FALL!!!

 Recently we've canned apple pie filling and 12 half gallon jars of cider.  To finish up the apple canning, we made applesauce & apple butter.  This year the trees made GAZILLIONS of apples - the orchard floor is a carpet of apples, way more than we could even think of using.  Every night the fat bush bunnies and trio of deer come and stuff themselves. 

 My cellar shelves have changed.  When the kids were growing up I put everything in quart jars.  Now, it seems like we always end up wasting stuff, so we've canned a lot in pints.  We'll see how that works out. 

 Yesterday the sun shone long enough for me to get out on my beloved John Deere lawn tractor and mow, mow, mow my fields! 

My family thinks I'm weird because I LOVE to mow!  I'm in my own little world on my mower - high on my hilltop farm enjoying the air, the leaves, the hills...  I thank God every day for letting me live on this farm that I love.

On the other hand, I HATE fruit flies!  I cannot remember ever having a fruit fly infestation like this year!  GROSS.  However, I googled fruit fly traps and it actually WORKED.  Canning jar, paper funnel and vinegar in the bottom.  All gone fruit flies.  It only took about 3 days to get them all.

Ahhhhhhh.  Much better!

Well, the day is done.  Daughter had us down to her place for lasagna, green beans, garlic bread, orange jello & whipped cream and then coffee & blondies for dessert!  Back to the 'big house' now and time to settle down in my chair and catch up on some sleep reading now. 

Caregiving is hard so take a break and come tour my personal Sewing Machine Museum!

Fifteen weeks have passed since my last entry.  Seems like it's been longer...an age, an era.  Three weeks after my last post, my mom (hereafter referred to as Nanny) came down with chemotherapy-induced pneumonia and spent three long weeks in the hospital.  She came home changed. 

Now we are caregivers.  We have learned many new and exciting things.  Can you say.....oxygen?  Ensure?  Prednisone?  Depends?  Wheelchair?  Immodium?  Steroid psychosis?  Memory loss?  Confusion?   I used to be the mother of small children that needed my watchful eye upon them at all times; my finely tuned ear trained to hear the merest whimper, the slightest cry.  I am 55 and thought I was done with all that and then.....this.  And I am reinvented.  I alternate between patient and loving, then exasperated and frustrated.  And I am unhappy with me when I cannot be pleasant and detached during the hard moments.  I am newly devoted to prayer, to depending on God even more than usual.  I am insufficient for this job for sure.  The Lord gives me the grace to continue each day.  I am doing better as each day goes by.  But then, so is Nanny.  So am I only handling it better because she is getting better?  I have an all new respect and admiration for caregivers EVERYWHERE!  Bless you, whoever and wherever you are.

My refuge is my Sewing Room.  My Craft Room.  My Museum (don't laugh).  I shall take you on a tour and you will love it, too.  I'm serious.

There.  Don't you feel better now?  I should be slim, trim and beautiful before long.  This haven is UPSTAIRS in my house, so I run the stairs many times a day.  I have MANY machines (no, I don't know how many....)  Some are common, some are not.  Yes, I sew on them.  I make sure that each is complete and works as it was intended.  They are beautiful.

Recently I learned of a musician named Peter Hollens.  You can look him up on YouTube and listen to Shenendoah and then, The Prayer.   At the moment, they are my favorites and I have listened to them about a zillion times.

I made four loaves of bread today.  Dinner is in the oven.  Nanny is watching TV in her room.  Dinner is in the oven.  At this moment, all is well and peaceful.  Thank you Lord, for every good and perfect gift.....and this moment is one.

Until next time,

Matthew 6:34King James Version (KJV)

³⁴ Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

 I live in a very GREEN part of Washington State.  I always have, and I love it!

We camped (yes, again!), this time at Cape Disappointment State Park, home of the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, the Coast Guard Station and former military batteries which were part of the 'Harbor Defense of the Columbia'.  Originally built in 1904 with 6" guns, they were decommissioned in May of 1945.

Our climate is very suited to rust, mold & decay, so much of the wood used is gone but the concrete

 remains and is very fun to explore and imagine the past activity there.

 Of course, WE did not add graffiti to our list of fun things to do, just took advantage for a pic!

 No American camp-out would be complete without the token S'mores.  This was our first time to try out the GIANT marshmallows.  I was not impressed, though we got slightly hysterical watching one of us try to consume the sticky mass.

Several good friends/relatives have been in our thoughts and prayers this month as one lovely lady passed away, another friend fell and broke several bones in her shoulder/clavicle and my mom's brother fell and broke his hip AND collar bone!  So hard to see those you love hurting and many prayers have been going up for these loved ones!

 Later this past month we hauled our camper over the pass into Eastern Washington to atttend the Washington State Convention Rabbit Show.  We stayed at a KOA on the Yakima River and showed 4 French Lops, one English Lop and one red New Zealand.  The bunnies did well - better than we did, actually.  I suffered a nasty attack of vertigo and was glad to exit the huge building teeming with rabbits, dust & people!

 A typical meal for us while camping - salisbury steaks, potato wedges & roasted brussels sprouts.  Yum.  We like our 'real' food, so we take it along!

 Eastern Washinton - many parts are barren, dry, and well, ugly!

Did I mention...hot?  In its defense, there were some very lovely farms, stunning old barns and lush alfalfa fields in the valleys.

 By the time we were headed home, the top of White Pass was looking much more like our familiar tree-scapes and we stopped at the top for coffee & goodies (red licorice, cheddar cheese & sour cream potato chips) and a stretch of the legs.

 Last stop for the day - La Wis Wis Campground.  A primitive campground in the heart of the Cascade foothills.  Stunning rivers, old growth trees, quiet......

The water was GLACIAL.  Can you tell?
Beautiful La Wis Wis is located in the Tatoosh Wilderness area of the Cowlitz Valley Ranger District. The campground sits where the Ohanapecosh River, Cowlitz River and Purcell Creek meet. 








A funny thing happened that evening. About 9:30ish, we were in the camper, settled in for the evening reading in our jammies when we hear a knock on the door.  "Is it too late to see the rabbits?  Have the rabbits gone to bed?" in an English accent, no less!  Of course we love to show off the show bunnies, so we came out and opened the tailgate of the truck, got out a couple of impressive 15 pound French Lops and visited with the interesting stranger for a half hour or so.  She was originally from Yorkshire, hence the accent.  She was suitably impressed and we enjoyed the visit.
 

Back home here it seems like everything grew a foot in the 4 days we were gone and the work to do has doubled!  We're breeding rabbits for the ARBA National Convention in Texas this coming Fall - only a 9-day window of time to get them bred in order for the young bunnies to be old enough to travel with their transporter come Fall.  Garden to weed, strawberry jam to can & lots of other stuff so I'd best get to doing something useful! 

Psalm 62:8

King James Version (KJV)

⁸ Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Life is Stressful....Go Camping, milk a goat, enjoy the scenery!

 More than two months have slipped by since I last wrote in this 'journal'.  It always amazes me to look back on the calendar and realize how many things happen in such a short time.  My calendar says that, since I last posted, my daughter had oral surgery, I took my mother to at least 21 cancer clinic appointments (many of them 4 hour appointments) and 1 emergency room visit.  We celebrated my only son's 29th birthday (honest!), attended a 2nd Annual Ladies Tea Party at our church, had a table & sold breads, pies & sewing machines at our annual Baw Faw Spring Festival at the grange, one goat gave birth to triplets, one to twins, we camped for 2 nights at Fort Stevens in Astoria Oregon and attended two
Quilting classes.

 No wonder I'm tired.
In my 'spare' time I de-stressed by sewing, crafting, painting.....reading, mowing the law, milking goats, feeding rabbits, cooking meals, cleaning house....Ok, so I lied.  I didn't really clean the house!

A lot of life goes by in a short time!

 Camping in April in Western Washington or Western Oregon looks like this picture, taken from our camp trailer while camping at Fort Stevens.  You'll notice that we are NOT sitting around a smoke.  You might refer to it as a campfire, depending on where you live, but around here it's easier to sit INSIDE the camper in April.  The guy in the next site over started his campfire with a HUGE propane ACME 5000 FLAME THROWER.  I'm serious.

 This is my beloved view from my front porch.  You can see my husband's toy tractor down below the grazing goats and lots of beautiful timber growing on the hillsides.

The roof in the pic is our Bee Bear-icade Building.  It is very sturdy now - reinforced since an encounter with a very destructive bear a few years back.

 My husband told me these look like Zombies.  Having never actually SEEN a Zombie, I couldn't really deny it, but I was actually aiming for 'Patriotic Primitives'. 

They sold nicely on Ebay, regardless of his opinion.

 I enjoyed making these primitive flags, too.  It reminds me of attending 4th of July parades in our very small town and realizing that hardly anyone stands up for the flag anymore as it passes by.  Is no one teaching patriotism anymore????  Do they not realize what those veterans carrying those flags DID for them?????

So far this Spring we've seen tree swallows, barn swallows, goldfinches, one purple finch, starlings, band-tailed pigeons, wild turkeys, stellar's jays, crows, ravens, turkey buzzards, a pair of geese, a pair of ducks, a pair of sandhill cranes, a couple of grouse, and about a bazillion robins, but I haven't seen any of the really big birds yet this season - no eagles or red-tailed hawks.

When a person in your family has cancer, life can be very stressful and your time alternately filled with heartaches & joys.  Every days has its stresses, but even more its joys.  I thank the Lord every day for choosing ME to live on this beautiful piece of acreage - a haven to come home to. 

Well, I've got to go live some more life (make dinner....), so off I go.  Until we meet again, my God hold you in the palm of His hand - the only safe place to be.

March, Saunter, Amble or Meander! Look! A pomegranate!

 I've just decided that the reason I'm so tired is because it's March.  Why didn't they call it....Saunter?  Or Amble?  Maybe Meander or Drift?  Or even Stroll?  Nope, they just had to name it March!

That seems to be the pace around here on the farm.  MARCH!
In between cancer clinic appointments with my Mom which seem to take all day on Wednesdays, the rest of the time is filled with Spring farm chores, Spring cleaning, making meals and making primitives for my Ebay store.

Here's a rooster.  I love taking a flat piece of fabric, imagining it to be something and then creating it.  Doesn't always turn out like I pictured it, but some fun stuff appears anyhow!

 I've done a bunch of special orders lately.  I counted up and realize I've made over 500 little rabbits of one sort or another!

Did I mention I'm tired? 

My blogging friend, Mr. RWP, had to go and say it was PI day today.  That got me thinking about PI.....No, actually I have never once thought about PI.  I was thinking about pie.  I made an apple pie & a marionberry pie and ate a piece of marionberry hot right out of the oven.  A little slice of heaven!

 I love to make these life-sized crows, too.  I love how mischievous and pesky crows are.  They always seem to confident and cocky.

 This is Barnaby the rabbit.  He just left for his new home yesterday.

 This is a family of barn cats.  Our own barn cats actually look pretty much like this.....only all ours are geriatric at the moment! 

We've got Tunyr, his sister Baby Deeds, another sister Bitty Boots, Clawdette and her daughter Tippy.  And to round out the bunch, one old tom named Amos.  I know Spring is here because Amos has been SINGING on the porch at night, the frogs are croaking in the beaver ponds and I've heard a big ole owl hooting down in the valley.

 This is my English Lop litter.  They are all boys except seven......

I named them Varley, Starly, Slater, McQuinn, Eclipse, Agenoria, Taylor-Bird and Britannia.

You know....just good old ordinary everyday names. 

 I've got my Hole in the Wall quilt coming along pretty well now.  I had to order the outside border online and just got it, so now I've no excuse not to finish it up!  The outside border will be the same as the 'hole' in the door.....

 My pomegranate plant has a fruit!!!  They bloom the most fabulous coral colored flowers, and this time one finally stayed on the bush and is growing into a tiny pomegranate!

It's been a long time since I blogged.  The days go swiftly past - all full of pretty much the same things.  Lots of ordinary everyday chores - housekeeping, cooking, sewing.  Today I put a new floor in one of a pair of rabbit cages I am double stacking.  I got almost done, only mashed my finger twice, and then my husband called to say he needed me to come pick him up at work (50 minutes away)and drive him to the mechanic to pick up his truck in town.  I put rabbits back in their cages, changed into my 'town' clothes and headed out.  Convinced my dearest that he should take me out for Chinese food (and he did!)  I headed for home - he headed for the feed store.  Once I got home he called to say he was bringing new chickies & turkeys, so out I went again to prepare chickie & turkey pens.  Into the house for a short time, then he drove up so out I went once AGAIN to put the new poultry to bed.  BACK into the house, only to realize I left my chore jacket in the rabbit house.  OUT again to get it.......noticed that I forgot to water a couple of rabbits so I did that.  BACK into the house only to realize I still hadn't remembered my jacket!   I left it there.  Did I mention I'm tired?  And old?
Well, 'nuf said for today.  I came.  I blogged.  I feel better now :-)

Of Elk, Rain, Sewing and Raspberry Vinaigrette & Lyme Disease

 It's been raining a lot.  You could say it's raining cats & dogs, but here on the hilltop it's actually elk.  Eleven of them decided that the pasture just outside the window was a good place to smash the fence graze on the non-growing grass early this morning.

 We saw one bull, several large cows and last spring's yearlings.  One was limping on one hind leg, favoring it quite a bit.  It always amazes me to realize that these enormous beasts roam the woods, yet if you're actually hunting for them, they're not easy to find. 

 I've been spending my days in my usual Winter routine - morning chores, which consists of milking goats, feeding kids, feeding & watering rabbits.  Right now six of the rabbits have litters so it's a lot more interesting to do chores when you can also check on the cuteness progress of the youngsters.  Once my outdoor and minimal indoor chores are done, I'm off to sew!!!

 This is probably the only picture of me you'll ever see.  I am NOT photogenic nor beautiful and I don't do 'selfies' etc. but I wanted to show the pile of 100 little bunnies I made (yep, one hundred).  I've recently done special orders (my Ebay store: http://stores.ebay.com/hilltophomesteadprimitives) for 100, 75, three orders of 25, and a couple orders of 20 various and assorted primitive rabbits!
It would seem that rabbits rule my world at present.

 .....in the process....












.....and VOILA! One hundred coffee/cinnamon
grunged bunnies!

 I made floppy eared Scrunge Bunnies, too.

 ....and then I made FeedBag Bunnies!!!

 Mainly I made a big mess out of my crafting & sewing areas.

Then, a FABULOUS thing occurred!  A dear, sweet friend came for a visit and brought me THIS!!!!  An AMAZING knitted doily absolutely bursting with ACORNS!!!  I LOVE acorns.  She knows this and said that as the doily was taking shape and she saw the giant acorns it became clear that THIS doily was to belong to me!   WOW.  

My family has Lyme Disease.  Some people don't believe in Lyme Disease.  Apparently they've never had it.  Some think you should just 'get over it'.  Wish we could.  Mainly what we do is soldier on each day, working through whatever the day brings.
Right now we're on an Anti-Inflammatory Lyme Diet for a week.  Mainly that means you can only eat certain fruits, veggies & fish.  Which would be easier if it were summer and all that stuff was in season.  And if I actually LIKED fish.  Not to mention I'm hungry for a big fat steak or maybe a bagel.

Our salad last night was made quite delicious by a very simple Raspberry Vinaigrette (I had to look up the spelling of that one!).  1 cup raspberries (frozen), 1 cup olive oil, 2 Tblsp. honey and 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar.  Blend it up til smooth and that salad was WAY easier to eat!!!

Here's what's on my mind today:  
Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. —1 Peter 5:6-7
Sometimes our lives can seem overloaded with struggles, heartaches & fears. We can even feel that we are in danger of going under. In those times, however, it is reassuring to know that we have a heavenly Father who stands ready to help us carry every load. Though the testings of life may feel like a burden too heavy to bear, we can have full assurance that our heavenly Father loves us deeply and knows our load limits. Whatever we face, He will help us to bear it.  Trust in Him.  (excerpted & revised from Our Daily Bread)

Back to sewing!