Year: 2018

September 17, 2018 Family Post a Comment

A NEW BABY IS COMING!

One of my darling sons along with, of course, his wonderful wife, is expecting their first child this year. We are SOOO excited! This will be our sixth grandchild and second grand-daughter. She is due on our 17 year olds birthday.

We just attended the baby shower which was lovely. Sadly, some folks selected gifts from the registry but didn’t actually get them.  NO WORRIES!  My husband and I are ready to help out. Miss Ava Mae will have everything that Mommy and Daddy want her to have.  🙂

So this is what we will be buying for the little princess:

Snookums Baby Mirror

 

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We hope these will help Mommy and Daddy keep Miss Ava Mae comfortable.

Maybe in the next post I will share what we have already given the little family…really wish I had already taken the pictures.  sigh…

(Last of my delayed drafts hiding among my folders…time to move on to current items!)

August 2, 2018 Camping Post a Comment

It’s been a long time.

Posting here has been limited, ok ok, VERY limited. Not forgotten, merely placed far on the back burner. Summertime is when I have far more flexibility to accomplish things that are less than home related. Getting things organized and ticking off those pesky items on the ever growing to-do list has been the grand focus of my attention. Progress has been made, except toward our homestead plans.

My husband called me out the other day for not delving deeper into our homestead plans. This was no surprise to me, I knew I wasn’t, but by actually saying it made me consider “why” I hadn’t pursued further action. What I realized, to my surprise, was that I was feeling more positive and didn’t have the SHTF concerns. Why? Our financial situation has improved and our President speaks so positively about our country that I felt uplifted rather than the swirling downward spiral of being sucked dry with tax expenses.

The other reason (which I am certain my husband would say is a result of my lack of action) is he has strongly considered, instead of buying a few acres for a homestead, would choose to buy ourselves a larger motorhome and just travel everywhere, maybe even live full-time in our RV.

Honestly, I would be happy to travel down either road. What is our best option?  At this point, who knows. However, I feel that BOTH would result in the most amazing journey. When will this happen? I imagine the first step would to create a micro-homestead. That can happen sooner, I can plant some seeds, have a little garden. Implement my solar heater to save a speck of energy. Reduce waste in other areas, such as disposable paper products (paper towels, which we rarely use anyway, napkins, TP, tissues), sewing is almost at the top of my to-do list. I’m no expert, but I can sew almost straight lines. 😉

To prepare for the traveling portion I am *forced* to downsize. This brings anxiety. There are many things that I love. One of my most prized possessions that would not be able to make that trip is my dining room set. THIS is why I feel maintaining a modest (tiny) homestead would be good…so I can keep my table. <3 Would it be unreasonable to build a home around a table??

I am not a minimalist by nature, but I am willing to part with things that don’t make me joyful. Many things though are not suitable for the trash. I must connect with someone, anyone who sees the value and turn it over to them. Pinterest is no help what-so-ever! I had amassed quite a pile of TP rolls knowing they could have another life. One day I decided, nah, I don’t want to continue collecting them and tossed them into the recycle bin. Within a couple weeks I had stumbled across some amazing ideas for them.  WHY?? Why did I ditch them?? UGH!  How about those flat plastic bread ties (not the twisties), the square/rectangle ones, mmmm-hmmmm, yeah, I save those now.  Geez!  All the power cords, chargers, ear buds, and plugs all have them indicating what their purpose is, or to whom they belong.

(Yep, this is another draft hibernating in my draft folder…time to share.)

January 5, 2018 Crafts, Family Post a Comment

Welcome 2018!

2017 was a great year.

It had it’s moments of unpleasantness, but overall it was quite lovely. Certainly more wonderful than 2016. It is my great hope that 2018 will be better still. Towards the end of the year I opted to do many things related to my “business”. As October was underway, I pulled my items from the local store and chose to focus on craft fairs. The tricky part about wanting a business is that you want to make money, right? Most folks know that you also must invest (spend) money to make money…why is it tricky? I didn’t happen to have money to spend to have products to sell.  UGH! Some of my items are created from re-purposed materials, which helps, but in addition to having items, if you are looking to sell at craft fairs, you have to pay for your space up front.

SOOOOO, I only attended one craft fair, but I feel it was successful as I came home with more money than I had paid for the space.  Did it cover my materials and time? Not really. Maybe next year. Meanwhile, I have been enjoying making designs to sell on Etsy.  the beauty of those are that, being digital files, I do not have to physically mail anything, it is automatic. Sure, there are substantial fees (compared to the price per item), and sales are slower than my dreams. I’m happy knowing that I have moved beyond the starting line.

Therefore this means, to me, that I have a head start on 2018 and things will be terrific!

Wishing you all similar terrific-ness and success for your 2018!

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