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Address plaques as a gift

My oldest daughter and her family are planning on buying a house, that is totally awesome and fits their needs perfectly. I went to see the home, and decided right away to look at residential address plaques as a house warming gift. Since the house is way out on a country road, and set back from the road quite a way, it is rather hidden, or will be, once the corn and wheat fields start to grow, which is what the house is surrounded by. Also there is a dirt road before the house that literally just leads into a small woods. It’s easy to mistake that for a drive way.

I know that they are going to put in a new mail box, and that will have the house number on it, but sometimes since the road doesn’t have any street lights, it is hard to read the numbers in the dark, despite of head lights shining on them. I thought about browsing through the custom address plaques, that areilluminated for the house front its self. My daughter will keep the porch light on at night, if her husband isn’t home, but when he is home, she shuts it off, and if they had company at night, it would be hard to read the house number. Besides, if I find the right plaque, it’s a gift that my daughter wouldn’t buy for her self. It’s also a home improvement item…at least I think it makes an improvement on a home.

The personalized address plaques are what I am definitely looking to buy. The give a touch of class to a home, and I know my daughter would love that. She likes nice little touches that make a house more of a home. I did find a few that are in my budget range, so that is a financial help. I think it’s a good and unique gift to give.

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Plugged up sinks

My kitchen sink is totally plugged up. It could be from the kids not putting the little strainer thing in the drain, so it catches the icky stuff that they like to just wash down the sink. Usually I can unplug it all, but today, I gave up trying and have decided I need to borrow my friend’s “snake” and weave it down in to my drains, then hopefully it will free what ever is stuck or built up in there. At times like this, I wish this old house had a garbage disposal.

There are a lot of small, “must do,” things on my list for this weekend. We’re supposed to have some awesome warm weather coming in, so it would be a perfect time to get to these little jobs that need done. My husband has to work, and since he works nights, he’ll sleep during the day, but my boys and daughter told me that they would help me with the chores on my list. I’m kind of wondering if they really will when they have a change to get outside in the great weather, if we have what the forecasters are saying we will.

I do plan on the little home improvement things getting done…chores that just in case I need to, can be done by myself alone with out any help from others. I also want to get out in the yard, if it isn’t too muddy from the storms that we have been getting the last few days. Even if it is muddy, it’ll be great to sink my bare toes and feet into the earth again. The yard needs a major clean up and some branches and wood to be hauled away that can’t be used as kindling. Hopefully all goes according to a somewhat plan of what I want to do. That saying, “Even the best laid plans can go by the wayside, ” keeps running through the back of my mind.

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Veggies, fruit and animal fertilizer

Normally of course I would say that horses and gardens do not mix, as last spring I woke up one morning, went out to the farm and found my horse Black Jack, eating his way through my veggie garden. He also did his morning constitutional (a few times) in my brussel sprouts, and I wasn’t too pleased at the time about it at all. But, “nature called” and it landed on nature. LOL!

While walking Jack back to his pasture, I wasn’t really thinking about his poop in my garden. I was looking at the fence and gate and trying to figure out how my Houdini had gotten out again. Of course, the rest of the morning was spent checking for broken fence or low fencing, faulty gates and ways Jack could have escaped AGAIN. I was thankful that he doesn’t go far, of course…but it was starting to become a weekly event. I went back to my house perplexed, and the doo doo was forgotten for the moment.

That night it rained really hard, and then into the next day. I was happy for all of my gardens and went about farm chores in the rain, and when the sun finally came out, I was kind of lazy and just turned the manure over into the dirt (mud at the time) and called it good enough…though I actually didn’t know if it was okay, since I had never done that before. By the end of the summer, I figured I did the right thing, despite some of the gardening magazine articles I had read. My brussel sprouts did very well! So perhaps this year, I may add a little extra “Black Jack constitutional” to my mulch and fertilizer then see what happens. No one ever called me an ordinary stick to tried and true gardener. I love experimenting and trying things that perhaps others have, but I’ve not read or heard about. Or, some things I make up as I go along. I’m sure others have done this, but I never had, so to me…it’s a new trial and error thing

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Help with Home Energy

I always thought the words home energy auditors, meant something really terrible, because of hearing about other kinds of auditors. Mainly like in the IRS kind.  As a matter of fact, after talking to my friend Destiny who lives in New Jersey, it is a wonderful and helpful idea to save on home energy bills and receiving help with getting your home to be fuel efficient and cozy, while saving a bunch of money in the process. We sure could use this up here in the North.

My friend is now in the process of getting estimates and then choosing home insulation contractors. Spring I would imagine, (at least for me) would be the perfect time to do this and the work, since it’s beginning to get warm outside and means that contractors wouldn’t be tracking snow into the house, or I wouldn’t be cooped up in the house and be in the way while the contractors did their work.

After doing some “homework,” I’ve decide to start looking into solar thermal system installation. I have always wanted to have this type of system in my home and we sure could save a lot of money on lower heating bills. Plus using solar, to me makes perfect sense. It’s clean, efficient, plentiful and beside that, I just really like the idea. Every time I think of solar, I think of the sun. That in it’s self makes me warm and happy. I’m glad my friend Destiny will be warm in New Jersey come winter and I might even find the same kind of services and help up here in the North. It sure would help.

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Getting away from it all

My daughter and I are at other place that we both love, and have left the guys to fend for themselves over the weekend. It’s good to go a bit South for awhile, to get away as there has been a bit of turmoil going on over stupid stuff that I just didn’t feel like dealing with this weekend. My daughter and I just needed to get away. My daughter Iris, is a sensitive young lady and she is the kind that likes and wants to keep the peace, but I could tell she needed the break as much as I Having my two sons stay with their dad for a time might be a wake up call for them, and it might be a good one…I don’t know. He lets them get away with basically anything, and I’m kind of tired of being the bad guy all the time. Of course, they will indeed take full advantage of the fact that their father when home, tends to get lost into the sofa and television and doesn’t have a clue what is happening around him. Yes, I am a bit worried, but I’m leaving that worry to fate. What happens if anything, will.

In the mean time, once we got here it was like we breathed a deep one and then relaxed. It’s so peaceful here.  I am however a Mom first and foremost, and indeed want to call to see if everything is going alright. BUT, I have to have Faith it is and then let it go.

Tomorrow I think Ris and I are going to go shopping. I need to try and find some film for my old camera and also want to get more acrylics to finish a painting I’ve been working on here. I’ll also take Ris out to lunch and to any shops or stores she would like to go to also. We’ll go to mass on Sunday and it’ll give me a chance to get updated on what is happening in the community and the congregation. It’s Lent and I’m anxious to catch up on what is happening and if there is any volunteer work that needed to be done, that Ris and I usually sign up for if we know for sure we can get down here. Other than that, we have plans to do things around the house and in general…relax a bit.

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Survival tips and information

Lately a few of my blogging buddies and I have started talking about what would happen if something like a natural disaster struck us, or even something worse. How we would live. We are all into gardening and all of us are actually really self sufficient and handy when it comes to making something we need. A rig type deal, perhaps…but it’s the kinds of things “That will do in a pinch.”

My friend Lindsay who is really into it, will be a big help. She out of all of us, is more nature minded, and a live off the land type lady, than most in our little group. I have a feeling she is going to give us a lot of tips, since I know at one time, she lived up in the hills in Virginia for a two years, as sort of a “test” to herself and also out of necessity at the time. Something I never asked about and she never has told. I value her privacy as she is a very wide open type person, except for about certain things in her past. When she lived up in the hills,  she didn’t have electricity or even any running water. Bless her heart…she liked it like that. I personally need more civilization, but if need be I could indeed do without a lot of things if I had to, to keep alive and keep my family alive and sheltered.

To be honest,  I’m looking forward to the books recommended, along with the links and videos to learn what I can, but I think I’m going to leave the real hard core living off the land to my little friend. And yes…she indeed is a very small person, but can chop wood with the rest of them!

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Dependable generators for every need

We usually just have to use our generator in the winter when we have a bad storm and the power goes out. I decided to check out a company called, Generators AtoZ, when our power went out then, because the one we had only powered a few lights and one of our refrigerators. I had just bought a small chest freezer full of meat and the other two refrigerator freezers were stocked full with other freezable grocery items. We didn’t loose much, but I decided with grocery and meat prices as high as they are now, and rising quite steadily all the time, that I wasn’t going to take any changes. We live in a section of the state where it seems that the power will go out even during a slight breeze. Okay, I am exaggerating a little…but not all THAT much, since our power company isn’t all that bright. (pun intended) A few weeks ago, the wind caused a power outage and the generator didn’t kick in. I needed a new one, I knew.

While looking for a  generators, I have to say that I picked Generators AtoZ, because I liked the name.  I’m like that. I figured with a name like this, I would find what I was looking for. I mean, AtoZ about covers it all, right? At least in my way of thinking.

I ended up buying a bigger generator, since my job is writing and I work at home. I have two computers, plus the three that the kids use,  and my telephone, that I need and use all day or sometimes in my case into the night, for work also. Not to mention my freezers have to have power. Generators AtoZ pretty much helped me find what I was looking for that would be in my price range also. It’s amazing how many brands and variety’s they carry for every need.  Now, I feel a lot better about the power going out, though I still worry about the weather and what it may bring.

 

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March Winds

March winds around here get bothersome and scary at times. Today it was so windy that two of my wind chimes went East. Yes, literally. The wind is coming in for the West. It was warm and sunny today but the wind made it quite a bit colder. Had the wind not been blowing so hard, it no doubt would have been in the high 60’s.

Because of the wind, one of my neighbor’s big tree branches cracked and I heard it while in my house. I went outside in time to see the whole middle branch of the tree, crack again and fall. The neighbor wasn’t home, and had he been…his car would have been toast. The HUGH branch came down in the exact spot he always parks his car. Talk about a fortunate person, eh?

I found three bird’s nests that fell and also all kinds of debris kept blowing by. I sort of felt like I was in Kansas with Dorthy and Toto, for awhile. There indeed was a lot of damage caused by this wind and it is supposed to be windy tomorrow also, but temps won’t be so warm and rain is called for also. Wonder what the weekend will bring. I see a great deal of our shingles have blown away. More property damage, that isn’t the up to the deductible rate, with our insurance, so we’ll have to shell out more money to fix it. *deep sigh*

 

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A new telephone

The telephone I had, wasn’t working well and I have known for awhile I’ve needed a new one. I wanted to get one with two handsets so I didn’t have to keep the phone off the charger when I wanted it near me. Unfortunately we only have two phone jacks in this house, and one doesn’t work. I was told by the telephone company that I would have to pay at least 400.00 (this may not include labor) to get it fixed. I personally have never heard of such a thing, paying THAT much just to fix a phone jack, but this is what I was told by our little local telephone company.

Delaying buying a new telephone wasn’t an option as of last night, when the older one got totally demolished. I’m not going to go into how, but lets just say…I’ve got a kid that is grounded for life. Anyway, my husband went out and got a new telephone. I have to say, being techno challenged, it is going to take some time for me to figure this one out. All the buttons it has on the phone and answering machine, look like it is a control panel for NASA use.

While talking to my daughter, I accidentally hit a button that turned out to be speaker phone and nearly dropped the phone because it freaked me out. My oldest son is the one who hooked up and set all the buttons on this thing…I have to find the manual he put someplace and read it well.

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Thinking vessel sinks and faucets

When looking at sinks online, I saw a lot of models that were very nice, but I wanted something that was not ordinary and then I started looking at vessel sinks. I really like the look of them. Right now, I have a nice sink that is sort of like a vanity, but it takes up so much space, that despite of the extra storage, I’d rather have the bathroom look more spacious. Right now, our bathroom is under construction, and slowly but surely I am getting the look I want. But I also want more room.

I saw a vessel sink that was stone and fell in total love with it, right on the spot. I collect stones of all kinds, shapes and sizes. Rare stones, stones that are nearly fossilized, some that indeed are. I have stones and rocks in my gardens as not only ornaments, but also as a divider between my plants. The stone vessel sink was perfect for my personality. I’d have a beautiful big stone in my bathroom!!

Of course what vessel sink would be complete without vessel sink faucets? Not MINE! I found some that would match and compliment my sink perfectly! So, now all I have to do is sort of sweet talk my husband for a few days, and keep showing him the pictures of what I really want. I have a feeling he’ll like them as much as I do!