Makin' Hooch

Did you know that you can make hooch from sourdough starter? Yep. I'm over here trying to get my sourdough starter to do its thing, and I end up making hooch.

Have any of you made sourdough bread from a starter? I'm going all homesteady and trying my hand at it. (My good friend Marcy, whom I bought my chickens and get my milk from, is helping me.) It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. After messing up the first batch of starter by accidentally putting in too much flour, she helped me fix it and get it going on the right track. Then the liquid that formed on top turned really dark. It had me worried, so I googled it. 

IT'S HOOCH, FOLKS. I've become a homesteadin' bootlegger! However, it's harmless. Whew. Just mix it back in and keep feeding the starter. Okeydokey. 

The other day I tried to make a couple of whole wheat loaves. They turned out heavy as bricks. Tasty, but very, very dense. Once I saw them into cubes, I'll make croutons.

I have managed to make a couple batches of sourdough pancakes. They are delicious! So at least it's not going to waste, though with our having chickens now, nothing goes to waste.

This evening I went round two with the bread. The loaves turned out a teeny bit lighter, so I think the starter is beginning to kick in and do what it's supposed to do. I'm bound and determined to tweak this until I get a good loaf. 

In the meantime...hooch anyone?

It's All Bootleggin' Good!

Brenda

A Page from My Life 4 - Modesty

This is my favorite page in my art journal so far. It seemed to come together quickly. I like when my thoughts flow from my head through my hands without struggle.

It began with this old McCall's sewing pattern I had sitting on my desk for quite some time. Why it got me to thinking about modesty, I don't know.

Modesty. A word that is mocked in today's society. Is modesty a thing of the past? Not in this house. What we have to endure with our eyes outside our home only reinforces our desire to dress in a way that is holy and pleasing in God's eyes.

. 

I appreciate my 14 year old being conscientious about what she wears. She is learning at a young age that someday she'll meet her prince who will be attracted to her because of her Godly beauty, not her boobs or booty.

(If you're interested in seeing previous pages, you can find them under the My Art Journal tab at the top of my blog.)

Items I used:

Antique sewing pattern and tissue.
Tan scrapbook paper.
Sticky letters.
A row of Green Stamps...anyone remember those? I remember helping my mom fill her green stamp books, as well as going to the store to redeem them. Good memories.
Floral embellishments that I brushed with brown ink to age them.
I should've added the scripture in John 17 where Jesus says, "I am not of this world". (Note to self.)
Rather than gluing the paper down, I taped it down with strips of medical tape.
Red embroidery ribbon.

It's All Good!

Brenda

Fun Day at the Shooting Range

We couldn't have asked for a nicer day to head over to the shooting range. 60 degree weather...not bad for January in Colorado!

This is my husband Sunny concentrating on his target.

And this is Sunny wondering why his ears are ringing!

My brother and sister-in-law Lisa.

I enjoy the friendship I have with Lisa. She and Jimbo have been married going on three years now. I've never seen my brother more relaxed and happy than he has been since he met his bride.

Lisa and I are trying to do the typical 'hand on hip, one leg behind the other' stance every other girl in the world does. I guess we're not cool or hip or whatever the 'in' word is. Me? I'm not balanced enough! And we forgot the duck lips.

Sunny wasn't the only one out there shooting. We all enjoyed shooting our guns. If we're gonna carry, then we better stay practiced up. But we also enjoyed goofing off in the warm weather.

We ended the evening with a nice dinner at our house. We had enchiladas, refried beans, spanish rice and a nice colorful salad. I made chocolate chip cookies for dessert. And, of course, we dipped them in fresh cow's milk. I skimmed some of the cream of the top and gave it to my brother, so his was more like half-and-half. It brought back neat memories of our Grandma's gallon jug of milk with three inches of cream on top.

It's All I Love My Family Good!

Brenda

This and That

I love my life. To some our life in a small farming community of 1200 folks could seem humdrum. But in reality, it is anything but. Now if you are used the city life--the constant noise of traffic, the smell of exhaust, the bright lights--then rural living would probably seem mundane.

My day begins with getting up to tend to the chickens. Right now, we are getting one egg a day, sometimes two. I don't think I'll ever tire of going out collecting eggs. It just makes my heart happy. This morning I made scrambled eggs with onion, yellow and orange bell pepper, and garlic and spinach. Yum! Don't worry, my next post won't be pictures of boiled eggs!

After breakfast I have devotions before beginning the day, which usually means taking care of our plumbing business (or estate business which I can't wait to be done with). When I get some free time, I try and get in my 'studio' and play with my paper and glue once or twice a week, or I'll work on getting things up in my Ebay store. And...this just in...in February I'll be renting a booth (well, actually a five-shelf cabinet) at an antiques/collectibles store, JC Mercantile, in another town 20 miles away. (More on that in another post, but can you guess what the JC may stand for? and no, it's not Jesus Christ!)

A few times a week we'll go over to the Bunkhouse General Store for lunch. This is a coffee/pastry/sandwich shop. Grace is actually working there a couple of days a week. Trudy is the owner and a gem of a gal. Everything is made from scratch including her bread for sandwiches. Her cinnamon rolls are the best! The atmosphere is like sitting around the table in her kitchen. She'll come out and sit with us when she has a break in the action. Everybody visits with each other.

Our oldest daughter, Chels, works at the Tamarack Bar & Grill that serves the all-American cuisine. And while this restaurant is more formal than the coffee shop, you pretty much know or recognize nearly everyone who comes in. You won't find that in the city! We like to eat there a couple times a month.

Have I told you I am now buying fresh milk? Oh my! There is no comparison between this fresh milk and the milk I used to buy at the store. No comparison at all! So, my next project is making homemade butter from the cream. I'll let you know how that turns out. I think I'm turning into a little ol' homesteader, which suits this small-town gal just fine!

It's All Randomly Good!

Brenda

A Page from My Life - UM

A couple of months ago I began sharing some of my entries in my journaling notebook. It's my personal journaling challenge to try and get a page done in 15 minutes. You can read more about it in my first post  A Page from My Life 1.

This entry came to me after attending a Colorado Municipal League (CML) conference this past summer in Breakenridge. 

How many times do I say "Um" in my conversations? It really got me to asking that question about myself after listening to three days of seminars where nearly every speaker would say it to fill silence between thoughts. 

I began listening to myself in my conversations and, yes, I do it too. So I decided to work on it. Because what is wrong with a silent pause between thoughts? Does a void always need to be filled with some kind of utterance? Or is it a way of telling another person or persons that we're not finished speaking? I don't know. 

At any rate, this became the topic for my 15 minute journal page. How many "Um's" do you see?

Items used:

Scrapbook paper. I love tearing my paper. That way I don't have to measure, and my mistakes look like they're done on purpose.
Stickers in various sizes and fonts
Buttons
Ribbon


There you have it. I've let you into my head again!

A Page from My Life 2

Um...It's All Good!

Brenda

Up with the Chickens

I am so excited that we finally got our chickens about 5 weeks ago!

I wrote back in September about getting the coop ready (You can read about it here)

I am having a ball raising chickens. They are 9 months and their names are Millie, Dorcas, Eliza, Sarah, Martha and Alice. Do you recognize these names from an old musical? Actually I just call them my chickies. Corny I know.








They hadn't started laying yet, and being winter time we didn't know when to expect them to begin. My friend whom we bought the chickens from had told me at church last Sunday that she had gotten her first egg. So after church I decided to go out and check for the fun of it, and lo and behold ONE egg. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I could not believe how excited we all were. I yelled across the yard for Grace, who was in the house. She came running out. You would've thought we won the lottery!



Isn't it pretty. I will never buy a store-bought egg again if I can help it. There is no comparison.



We are excited to be one step closer to becoming more self-sufficient.

There are several things I want to learn how to make in the near future. We are able to buy fresh cow's milk from a friend, so butter, yogurt, cheese and kefir are on the list. Homemade sour dough bread is another.

I guess I'm becoming like Laura Ingalls!

It's All Good!

Brenda

Gramies hugs

2016.

That's just crazy!

I hope you all had a very nice Christmas season, I know we did.

I love a calm, serene Christmas, don't you? I get so tired of all the craziness that happens around the holidays. It's nice to step back and reflect on what it's all about. The birth of our Savior. That's it.

Many of you know that my MIL, Gracie, passed away last April. She was a colorful woman. For many years my in-laws sold southwestern jewelry at trunk shows around Colorado. I'm not talking costume jewelry, but authentic southwestern jewelry hand-crafted by Native Americans. Gracie would buy or trade jewelry for her colorful Navajo-style skirts--it was like her trademark.

As we were going through her clothing to give away, the thought occurred to me that her skirts would make a couple of nice memory quilts for my girls. So, rather than donating them, I took a tub of her skirts to a quilting friend of mine. She had them finished a couple of days before Christmas, and they turned out fabulous!

It was an emotional Christmas for the girls especially, being the first without their Gramies. The quilts were perfect to help them through. Happy/sad tears were cried, but as you can see they love them.



I had to snap this pic of Grace buried in her Gramies quilt the next morning.




It's All Gramies Hugs Good!

Brenda

Pretty Trashy

I never knew how pretty trash could be. Our home school group toured the recycling plant. It is located in what warehouses are left of the original sugar beet factory--Holly Sugar. 

When they get enough bales of one type of plastic, a semi will take them to another location to be recycled into other reusable items. So really, this isn't trash. What makes it trash is when it ends up in the landfill. 

The kids got to work in the assembly line sorting plastics. They also had a free section that you could browse and take anything you wanted home. I chose some old books including a Bible. I just couldn't handle seeing a Bible in a recycling box.

They also recycle paper, cardboard, glass, computers/electronics, each having its own process.

Grace was the photographer for the day. Here's one from a funky angle. 

We all walked away with more knowledge about the importance of recycling along with a large bag given to use for our recyclables.

I thought these pictures put it into perspective.

It's All Good!

Brenda

A Page From My Life - Studio 613

Here is another peek into my art journal. You can read about my first page here. I wanted to see how fast I could come up with something by quickly opening my paper drawer, grabbing what caught my eye and taking it from there.

The gray polka dot paper was what popped out. I then began opening a drawer, file or cubby and randomly pulled items out. I didn't allow myself to think about it--would this work or not? Now I had a little pile of goodies to play with.

This journal entry talks about my 'Studio 613' which is what I call my crafting space. 6-13 is the month and day of my birthday. Oddly, and without thinking about it, I see 6:13 on the clock in the evenings two or three times a week. So I decided to call my craft space 'Studio 613'. Does that happen to you? And before you think I've gone off my rocker, I'm not into 'signs' or omens and such. This is just a quirky thing that happens periodically. I'll stick with the Word for my signs!

About the former gallery as mentioned in my journal entry: When Sunny's mom bought her little house she thought she would get too claustrophobic, so she had her garage turned into a family room. She had all of her photos hung on every wall and called it her 'gallery'. She ended up hardly using the room, finding her new home to be a comfort and not claustrophobic like she thought it would be. We ended up using the space as a workout room. After she passed away, I claimed a section of it for my own.

Items used:

Scrapbook paper

Old 'large print' rotary telephone dialer

Floral vellum from a vintage greeting card

Cartoon from an old science book

Inside cover of an old child's reader

Miniature tea-dyed tags

Bingo buttons

Thanks for once again getting into my head!

It's All Studio 613 Good!

Brenda

Crud and Jury Duty

After our whirlwind couple of weeks getting ready for our town's harvest festival, the first week of November got off to a much calmer start (until Thursday when the crud came knocking).

On Wednesday we announced the winners for our Scarecrow contest (see previous post). I didn't post all of the entries on here, because I didn't get around to asking permission to do so. We had two kiddos each win a $25 gift certificate from a couple of local businesses. 

Then the crud. Actually it didn't knock but just barged in and attacked Grace during the wee hours of the morning...1:30 a.m. (to be exact) and didn't go away until 6 a.m. (to be more exact) leaving her a very exhausted and wimpy young lady for the rest of the day. Her Dad was right there with her, because that's what this dad does. Being a plumber and a former septic tank cleaner, Sunny is used to being around...yuckiness. 

Me? Not so much. You hurl, I hurl. That's just the way it is. My gag reflex goes into overtime. So Sunny takes care of that business, and I pat her on the head when she's done and say, "There, there". It's all about teamwork, right?!

Fast forward 24 hours. Guess who's got the crud now? Sunny. Yep. But he's over it. And just in time. This morning he had to show up for jury duty. We kept calling the number hoping beyond hope that it would be canceled. Nine times out of 10 they do. But apparently murder trials don't just get canceled (who knew?) It all worked out in the end. He was released to go after he explained to the friendly judge that it would really be a hardship on our family and business, being self-employed and having no one to carry on the business for the two or three weeks of trial. Thank you, Your Honor!

So far I've managed to escape...the crud...but I wouldn't mind jury duty.

Have you ever done jury duty for an actual trial?

It's All Good!

Brenda

Cotton Candy and Edward Plunger Hands

Sunny and I had a booth at our town's harvest festival at the park yesterday. We had free cotton candy and popcorn. Our booth was promoting our Fowler Area Watch group. We started it on Facebook as a place for people to report suspicious and/or criminal activity. So far we have 335 people who have liked the page. That's so encouraging because it tells us that there are at least 335 people who have their eyes and ears open, being vigilant to protect our town. And I'm happy to say it's working! 

So here is Mr. Care Bear working the cotton candy machine. We ran that puppy practically non-stop for three hours. The town's kiddos were so hyped up on sugar...and then they went trick-or-treating! Sugar overload! 

The Fowler Area Watch booth also sponsored having the police come and do free finger printing with the kids. Messy but fun!

Because we were up to our necks in cotton candy and popcorn, I was a tad disappointed that I didn't get a chance to walk around the park and see the different booths. There was pumpkin painting, a hay maze, a small bounce house, football toss, hay rides, and several others I can't recall. I did manage to participate in the last cake walk. Aiming for a lemon cake. But I wasn't a winner, oh well maybe next year.

Part of the festival that started last week was the businesses scarecrow contest  We decided to bring ours to the park so people could participate in our Edward Needs Your Head Contest on Facebook. We currently have seven contestants with their pics uploaded to our Eddy Plumbing & Heating FB page. Two of them will win a $25 gift certificate from local businesses if they get the most likes/comments on their pic. Feel free to go to our page and vote for the head that fits Edward Plunger Hands the best. Several of them are running neck and neck, so we may need some tie breakers! The winner will be announced on Wednesday.

This is my friend Trudy. I love how the light is shining through her piggy ears!

We were pretty tuckered out when this was all over. I'm glad we were able to have that extra hour of sleep last night!

It's All November Good!

Brenda

A Page from My Life - Intro

I thought I'd share with you today a page from my art journal. I started this journal last spring after my mother-in-law passed away. It had been so long since I could get in my studio and play with the ideas rolling around in my head. I missed it pretty badly. (And, by the way, the word 'studio' is used in the loosest sense of the word, but I like that better than saying 'craft room'.)

The next best thing was to get online and see other people's work. As I was doing this I came across a site that talked about how to make a 15 minute journal page or entry. The idea was to use three different mediums and incorporate them into your journal page spending only five minutes on each medium. For instance, using pictures, ribbon, and markers or scrap paper, stickers, and chalk. What I liked about this is that it didn't allow time for perfection. The aim was to dive in and get a little messy expressing a thought or a picture or a quote.

I was intrigued because I tend to lean towards making my pages look just so. I challenged myself to let my hair down, so to speak, and not allow myself to think the outcome needed to be perfect.

As we were going through my MIL's belongings I came across her old spiral-bound monthly calendars. I thought it would be neat to repurpose them into my art journals. I'm not necessarily following the exact process I mentioned above, but I am trying to accomplish it in 15 minutes.

This is what the calendars look like. I haven't decided how I'm going to cover this one, but that hasn't stopped me from starting on the inside. I glue two pages together for more thickness.

This is my introductory page--what my journal is about. Ok now...don't laugh! Get in my head and work with me folks! Remember this is supposed to be random and quick.

Here's the items I used:

Christmas wrapping paper.

A very old return address from the 40's with my FIL's name. 

A sanded gold paint chip from Home Depot.

A library envelope from the inside cover of a book with 'discard' stamped on it.

The scared-lady picture was from an old science text book. My point was that no matter how random or messy the pages were going to be--even if it didn't turn out the way I pictured in my mind--this journal is meant to be a keepsake for me, a diary of sorts. Not to be discarded.

The ring and fuzzy yarn are random do-dad embellishments to give more dimension.

The note slips into the library envelope. 

This has been such a fun outlet for me!

It's All Good!

Brenda

Yummy Apple Butter

 Our home school group went to the local orchard and picked apples. There weren't many left and a lot were pretty wormy, but we managed to collect 17 pounds of decent ones. (I'm kicking myself for not snapping pictures.)
I had found a recipe for crock pot apple butter on Pinterest last season. It is so easy to do. Here Grace is coring the apples.

We filled two crock pots up to the brim with approximately five pounds of apples each. To that I added one cup organic coconut sugar, about 1/3 cup of honey, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, one teaspoon nutmeg and a little salt. Recipe says to turn on low for 10 hours, however one of my crock pots only works on high. I let it go all night and it was fine. It cooks 2/3 down leaving 1/3 applebutter.

And here are the delicious results. I spread it on my toasted Ezekiel bread. Sunny and Grace eat it by the spoonsful, like applesauce! I did manage to get three 1/2 quart bags in the freezer. I have one more batch to make. 

It's All Apple Pickin' Good!

Brenda

A Day in My Life: Evening Walk

My friend Mari posts what she calls A Day in My Life on or near the first day of every month. I thought it would be neat to join her, and while I'm a little late in posting, this was my first day of October. (My previous post is included--and I did manage to get that posted on the first!) Here's the rest of that day.

Grace and I take Ajack for a walk around our little town. The route we take is a little less than two miles.

I'm surprised I got this action shot. At the beginning of our walk Ajack is very excited and moving at a pretty fast pace. It takes him a couple of blocks before he slows down a little and gets in his groove.

 Our church is five blocks from our house (45 seconds by car!) An old school converted to a church, there is lots of history in those old walls. It was the high school Sunny's dad went to way back in the 30's. It became the 4th-6th grade school when Sunny attended. It's been a church building for about 10 years now.

We're at the 3/4 mile mark now. The horses usually ignore us, but this evening this mare decided to come over and greet us. 

When we walk by this field you can feel the coolness from the irrigation. I wish you could see what I see that my camera (or more like the photographer) can't capture. It was obviously a little too late to capture the beautiful sunset. I love this time of year when the land is preparing itself for dormancy.

We're about a mile and a quarter now. These pretty flowers are in one of the prettiest yards in town. Just as I was taking the picture the one blossom blew right in front of me as if it wanted to make sure she was included. A flower photo bomber!

The rest of our walk takes us back around and up Main St., past the town park and on back home.

Thanks for letting me share a little of my day with you.

It's All Peacefully Good!

Brenda

Chickens in Our Backyard!

I thought I'd share some pics of our new adventure...chickens! Our town finally passed an ordinance that would allow us to have up to six chickens and/or rabbits within the city limits. We live in a farming community of 1200 people, and we couldn't have them in town. Go figure. Even Denver and Colorado Springs allowed chickens. But that is a story for another day.

My dad had already given us a chicken coop he made. Talk about a handy-dandy thing. He even had a scale model of it, and has drawn out plans for it if anyone wants to build one. Our coop will be mobile so we can move it around anywhere in the yard. Can you say weed control?!

Today he brought down the chicken run which you will see him and Sunny putting together. There are just a couple more adjustments to make. We have to get it inspected by the Code-Enforcement Officer who will sign off on it, and then it'll be all set for the ladies. No roosters allowed.

My dad and I along with Ajack's tail.

After the coop and run were all set up, we went to the restaurant where our daughter Chelsie, works. Mexican food day. Yum! Here she is serving our lunch.

My dad ordered the Green Chili Slopper. I don't know if you all have Sloppers in your neck of the woods, but it's quite a big deal here. I think Guy with Diners, Drive-ins and Dives did a show on a Slopper contest in the city 35 miles west of us. It's basically a open-faced hamburger with green chili poured over the top along with the fixins and served with smothered fries. It's not my favorite as I'm not big on soggy bread. Dad loved it!

Have you ever had a waitress eat off your plate? While her sister is in the ladies room, Chels decides to help herself to some of Grace's food. Just another thing you can get away with in a dinky town I guess!

Hopefully we'll have everything ready for our chickens in the next couple of weeks. I'm so excited!

It's All Good!

Brenda

This One's a First!

"You're lucky."

"You're blessed."

"Must be nice."

"You're privileged."

"I wish I could but..."

These are some typical comments I get periodically from moms who work outside the home. I don't let it get to me, because I am blessed to be a stay-at-home-mom. 

But today I received a different one, and I honestly do not know what brought it on other than the fact that this was a very unhappy working mom:

"You don't understand. You either stay at home or go to church."

Really. 

I almost laughed. 

Out loud.

{And, by the way, are you stalking me?!}

Because this conversation was happening at the local hardware store--she behind the counter, me the customer--I figured it wasn't the place to give her a run down of a typical day around here (which does not include housecleaning), but if I could, this is what I'd say in one long breath:

Inhale--up and at 'em breakfast devotions make bed discuss school work for the day with Grace laundry answer any school questions {find me in a fetal position in the corner when the algebra questions start} answer business phone calls filing accounting make deposits fit in a shower post office fix lunch more office work fold clothes iron if necessary fix dinner walk the dog relax with Sunny and Grace usually watching NCIS reruns down time before bed--Exhale.

'Gladys' must not have been peeking out her window when Grace and I left for a monthly home school field trip, or my weekly lunch with friend, or to the bi-monthly council meeting, or utility board meeting, or monthly library coffee hour/committee meeting, safety meeting, low-power FM radio meeting, harvest festival meeting, or at random times to city hall to sign checks, or to Pueblo (35 miles away) to get parts for the business, grocery shopping ETC.!

And with all of this I do still have time to enjoy my hobbies of playing the piano, reading, crafting and working my Ebay store to name a few.

Oh, and let's not forget church, which is what made me want to laugh in the first place.

Everyone's lives are different. This is the path I've chosen and am blessed to walk with my family beside me.

It's All Good!

Brenda

Don't Scratch Your Nose at An Auction

Do you like to attend auctions? I headed over to one today. It was the second official auction I've attended. 

I will have to admit I'm not good at it. For one thing I feel like I can't be myself at an auction. When I have to scratch my nose, I have to scratch my nose. When I scratch my nose at an auction, I could very well be the highest bidder on some box of junk, as was the case today.

So I try not to scratch. But you know what happens when you try not to scratch? You start itching everywhere. It's that whole subconscious thing we humans have to endure. Not supposed to laugh, I get the giggles. Bad time to cough? My throat starts tickling. 

But back to the auction. I didn't get all the things I was looking at or bidding for, but I did walk away with a black filing cabinet for six bucks. I've been needing one for when we finish remodeling our office space. I priced them at Sam's at around $150. I'd say that is a pretty good savings.

For three dollars I ended up with around 100 or so cooking magazines like Light and Tasty. I used to have that subscription and loved it. 

What's interesting to me is watching the people. Today I had my limit of what I wanted to spend on something and didn't go over. And consequently I didn't get much because there was always the one person who couldn't stop. It's the thrill of the hunt for them. And sad to say, for some it's an addiction, like gambling.

I think I'll stick to my thrifting and garage sales.

It's All Good!

Brenda

Professor Leo Picatune

This was our entertainment for the Colorado Municipal League (CML) Southeastern District dinner. This is an annual business meeting/dinner put on by the big-wigs from CML for the mayors, trustees, city clerks and administrators of the towns in the lower Arkansas valley. Each year one of our towns sponsors the dinner. This year it was our neighboring town, Manzanola, CO.

Professor Leo Picatune and his Medicine Show. An odd sorta man. Told off-color jokes and played the accordion. It was...different. I'm sure some were entertained, but off-color jokes do not humor me, and neither does singing along to the accordion playing Polly Wolly Doodle All the Day. In fact I wanted to shout "SHOOT ME!" 

And if that wasn't entertaining enough, his fly was down the whole time. Sheesh!

And guess what town was nominated to host the meeting next year? 

Professor Picatune won't be on our list of prospective entertainers.

It's All Possum Slime Good! (yes, Possum Slime was one of the labels on one his medicine bottles!)

Brenda

Budding Photographer?

Our daughter is very interested in photography. I thought I'd give you a sampling of some of her pics. I think she's doing pretty well considering the camera she's working with--her Mom's old Kodak EasyShare. She's saving her money for a Canon. She's going to use Photoshop as one of her 9th grade elective classes. 

I love these pics of her cowboy boots, mud and all!

This is the old livery stable door across the alley from our house. Perfectly chippy yellow! The stable was built in the late 1800's and is still standing. It makes a great backdrop for fun photos.

Meet Chester. He's our neighbor's golden retriever. He and Ajack (our golden) are great buddies, which has made it hard for me to train ours as Chester is a great distraction. But we love him!

Grace has already had her first 'photo shoot' with one of her best friends as her 'model'. I think she's got an eye for it, don't you?

It's All Good!

Brenda

Once and for All!

I've added my weight-loss accountability ticker to the top of the page. It's out there now. My current weight and my goal weight.

I've been seriously plugging away at losing 22 pounds this year. So far I've lost 10. This summer I seemed to bounce back and forth, not really making any progress. I know part of the fluctuation has been water retention (there is no way I can gain 3 pounds overnight), but the other part has been willingly opening my mouth and inserting food (but not 3 pounds worth!) I guess sometimes a person needs to learn how to shut their mouth!

At the beginning of the year I started a Facebook page called Staying on Task. I wanted to have a place where I could log my progress and be accountable. But the page isn't only for those wanting to lose weight. It is meant for anyone who has a goal they are trying to reach. Sometimes it helps to have a community of friends who encourage you to keep pushing forward one step at a time. I like the saying, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." That is the purpose of this page--taking your goal and breaking it down into bite-sized pieces. Feel free to join the page if you're on Facebook.

I've started using the My Fitness Pal app that my brother told me about. I also read about it on Barbara's Stray Thoughts blog. So far it seems user friendly. It has me set at losing one pound a week. My goal is to be done with this by the end of the year--almost 16 weeks.

I CAN DO THIS!

It's All 12 pounds to goal Good!

Brenda