Dormant

While my blog has been dormant I have thought of my many blog friends often.Life has a way of getting in the way of the best laid plans.As we all know, crap(sorry to offend) happens is a phrase that is brandished about  many times.Well if crap happens then my life has had a serious virus of late.LOL! But it all has worked out,it just made for a very stress and work filled six months or so.

So  you can  understand that my  blog absence was not just my being neglectful,I will try to explain some  of the issues.In the early days of Spring, my chicken pen was raided by a group of coons and opossums.In one night alone they killed roughly 40 birds.They killed  the chickens  and ducks then took them to the top of the chicken house intending to return at night to finish eating them.I know this because we set out traps to catch them along with a camera..The animals we caught were not harmed but relocated to another area where they would not cause anymore damage.Even though I was angry I realized that they were only doing what comes natural to them.I fed and watered them while they were waiting to be transported.This has meant that each night I must catch and cage the remaining birds.It takes extra time each day to do this chore.

As some of you know  my son and his girlfriend have been living with us the last few years.They purchased a mobile home last year and it sits on our property.They decided  then to save their money so that they could pay as they go to have the septic ,electric ,and water hooked up since it is an expensive process..It was decided that this summer was the time to start getting their home ready for them to move.Hubby and I decided to save them some money that they could hook up to our well.That meant a 134 foot long ditch needed to be dug.The kids decided ,hey that is not so far lets do it by hand ,boy did they learn a lesson and get  a few blisters.Hubby and I helped of course and even though it was extremely hard we let  them do it so that they could learn that not everything comes easy in life.It took four days but we all felt proud when it was finished.Hubby and son hooked up the water to find that the pipes had all burst.This meant that hubby and I had to replace every water line in the home.Hubs was laid off work so we worked on it while my son and his girlfriend were at work.Finally after several weeks the  septic,electric and water were all hooked up and they are now living contently in their own home!Samantha(girlfriend) started a new and wonderful job in the midst of trying to move.I am so proud of them both.Best news of all ....they have became engaged!!!! I am one happy momma!

The next saga begins in the life of a country mouse...
The kids are moved out.Hubby and I decide to go in their old bedroom to start cleaning and make plans to remodel it next Spring to make it into a master bedroom for us.It has been the plan ever since our son was small.We gave him the largest bedroom as we had the rest of the house.We are in there discussing and hubby pulls up the carpet in one corner and oh no is what I hear.What is wrong ? Mold is the answer! Yes, my home has become infected with mold! It has been beyond horrible.We had to take that one room completely apart and I mean completely apart.The walls were stripped bare, the sub floor taken up ,insulation had to be replaced.Everything was a mess.It was only the start of our troubles.. we have found it in other places as well.We are slowly but steadily working to clean the entire house and replace the things that need it .Hubby has  been spraying mold killer and a preventive on the underneath of the house using the crawlspace.Right in the middle of all this our well pump went out so that had to be replaced as well.But as a friend once told me I  find a way to laugh about it.While I laughed outside there have been times that inside I have been crying . The stress has been heavy and the work hard  but we have made it through the worst of  it.God continues to bless us no matter how bad things may look and feel.As long as I continue to remember that then I will continue to laugh.

Sorry about the long post but I just wanted to explain where I have been the last several months. A horrible blogger I am, but my thoughts and prayers have continued to be with you all.I am hopeful that in the coming days that I can play catch up on your blogs.I have missed my blogger friends.Blessings,Jen

I have been hacked.

Just wanted to let everyone to know that my account has been hacked so please don't open any emails sent from my account.I am so sorry ,apparently someone has nothing better to do than to harass people.Please accept my apologies.Hugs,Jen

A Wonderful Win

Hi friends,I hope that you all are doing ok this Friday morning.The weather has turned cool for today.Do you have any big plans for the weekend? Me,well I hope to work in my flower gardens.Not real exciting but it needs to be done.It is always fun to play in the dirt.

It has been a very hard week for a lot of the folks in the heartland .My thoughts and prayers continue to be with all those struggling with the aftermath of the terrible storms  of this week.

As the title of the post hinted,I have some lovely goodies to share with all of my wonderful friends.Shirlee of The Easily Influenced Stitcher recently held an awesome surprise giveaway and I was blessed to be one of the seven winners.Yes, you read that right the ever generous Shirlee gave away 7 prize packages to celebrate her two years of blogging.We knew the theme of each category but not what items we would receive,fun huh! I thought so too. Really folks if you don't know Shirlee please check out her blog.She is ever so sweet, funny and she is just a flat out awesome stitcher.I feel so very blessed to have Shirlee in my life and to call her friend.A visit to her blog is always fun and interesting,she has a wonderful way of telling a story.Thanks Shirlee for hosting the giveaway and congrats on two years of great blogging! Here are the wonderful goodies I got in the mail..

A large wooden plate,so pretty!

A lovely sheepie!

Love this little sheep pic

Another Sheep ,so adorable

Two cute sheep soap,that smell yummy!

A beautiful card that needs to be framed.

Yep,I won the sheep package!Yippee me!As I said Shirlee was so generous.I never dreamed that she would send so many awesome things.Thanks so much sweetie! Hubby doesn't know it yet but he is going to build me a new shelf for my things. I am sure that he thanks you as well.LOL! Shirlee is hoping to sell her house soon and is dealing with some medical issues so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Well this post is a tad later than anticipated, but life or should I say my mamma has been keeping me busy.LOL! The way I see it she comes first because I know if positions were reversed that she would do the same.Someday hopefully my blogging will become more consistent.I have been reading your  blogs but for some reason on  a lot of them I can't seem to leave a comment.

To all of my friends near and far it is my wish that you have a safe and happy holiday weekend.God Bless you all.Hugs,Jen

Prayers

Words seem inadequate this morning for the folks dealing with the aftermath of the destructive storms of the past day or two.My heart, thoughts, and prayers are with all of you.May the Lord comfort you in the hours to come.Hugs,Jen

A Beautiful Postcard and a few finishes

Good morning friends! The sun is finally shining and the skies are pretty and blue today.Here in Kentucky we have been having a lot of rain for the last week.I don't really mind the rain as it is refreshing the land by giving the flowers and fields a much needed drink.I know that the grass in the yard has really jumped up,time to hop on the mower and get it taken care of before it gets out of hand .

I wanted to share a beautiful postcard that Danice of Homespun Hannah's sent to me .If you click on her name it will take you to her post about postcards becoming obsolete.The really neat thing about this postcard is that Danice made it!! Here let me just show you what I  am talking about with the card,it is great.

Thanks so much Danice!When ever I see this postcard I will be sure to think of you.You are such a sweet and talented lady.

Since it has been raining this week I decided to finish up some on going projects.I had stitched these earlier in the Spring but never found the time to finish them.It may be getting late to use  them this season but I will have them for next year,Well that is if I don't forget where I store them.LOL!

I just loved this pattern!

 The next one is probably my most favorite of these finishes...

Here is a close up of how I painted the frame,it started off  a yucky yellow.

This is another Spring stitching piece that was made into a ditty bag

Last but not least is this punch needle strawberry.It is not that great because the rabbit is kind of all wonky but it is a first attempt at doing such a project.Gotta take the bad with the good and laugh at your mistakes.

Well at the start of this post I wished you a good morning at the end I will wish you a good afternoon.It has taken me nearly four hours to get my pics uploaded to blogger.Yes I am frustrated but my  mouth has not uttered one bad sound.LOL! Honestly  I can not blame blogger,I had my camera set to large and the  pics were huge that I was trying to upload.Sadly, I did not figure that out until the last two pics were uploaded.

I hope to be back in a couple of days with more pics and another post until then stay safe my friends.May you all be richly blessed.Hugs,Jen

Hello World!

Hi everyone ,thought I would take a moment to introduce myself.I am Kaitlyn Grace and arrived this past Friday at 5:54 pm! Some of you already know my Great Aunt Jen and boy she is excited to get to spoil me.She makes these weird noises and faces but I guess she will okay,it may just take some time to get used to her.LOL!

Happy Thursday,New Camera,New Chicks

Hello everyone,yes I am still around.What can I say...once more I could and do say that I am sorry that I haven't been around but you probably would not believe it.I could say it will not happen again but then that would probably be a lie.I am not going to say that  at all because right now in my life it probably will happen even though I don't want it to be that way.My main goal for this new year was to be a better blogger,heavens to Betsy, but I've blown that one for sure!There are some hurtful things going on involving my mom and family that have really thrown me for a loop.Things that I would never have dreamed or thought that my momma would have to deal with at her age,it has filled the family with anger.I would ask if you could please put the family in your prayers and that my momma has the strength and health to deal with the problems she has had thrust into her lap.Sorry to be so gloomy but I felt that you all deserved honesty about why I seem to have forgotten you all.I truly have missed you all but there have been many days that my computer has been shut down and time just hasn't  been there for me to keep up.Add to the things happening at home with the devastating events in Boston,the horrible explosion in West Texas and the flooding  conditions in many areas my heart has been to heavy to try for a post.My thoughts and prayers have been with and will continue to be with eveyone dealing with these issues.

As you read I finally figured out my camera dilemma.Canon Power Shot SX500 called my name and I am so happy it did because I love it.I haven't had time to play with it much but the 30 x optical zoom has been so much fun to use.The above pic shows an apple tree in bloom,love seeing that because it is a sure a sign that Spring is here! 
Here is a  close up of a few of the blossoms.

Tabby is my shadow when I am outside and these pics show him being lazy on my momma's flowerbed.

 Now for some more fun! When I was a young girl ,we had some Polish chickens that I adored.Pebbles,one of the hens would come at lunch time to the patio door and peck on it wanting to come inside.When we opened the door and she would come inside to have her lunch of crumbled corn bread,after eating she would peck on the door to go back outside.For years I have wanted to own some more,I could have ordered them from a hatchery but I only wanted a few so I searched locally but had no luck.Well this past Friday I was blessed enough to find some close enough(only a 35 minute drive one way)to make it worth the trip.You bet I was excited!Seven golden lace and three buff Polish came home with me. I have kept them in the house since then as we have had some cold nights,hopefully this weekend hubby and I will get them settled in a new home.Please just look at the chickens and not the mess around them.LOL! I am in the middle of doing a swap causing the craft room to be a disaster.The chicks are all different ages but I don't care.LOL!
Isn't it cute!

They have since moved to a larger box and have much more room. Gretchen is used to different critters being inside and usually takes it all in stride but these chicks have her torn up.She sits and cries and when they were in this tote she would look at them and sound so pitiful.I don't know if it is the chirping or what but she has had me getting up at night just so she can check on them.

Well I guess that is all for today.I thank each of you that continue to  stop by and haven't given up on me.It has gone across my mind to close my blog but truthfully I would miss it.If things hold together and nothing else happens I will be back with more pics in a couple of days.There are several projects that I would love to share .It is my hope that each of you are happy and safe today.