The Front Porch Swing

[Oldmomma]

Sounds like we all got our blessings this week. Lost power twice yesterday and its only 930 and muggy today. Heavy clouds so it will be cooler I hope but its early and living next to the sea weather can change rapidly. Saw a bit of bbc news and saw lots of bad weather back in usa. I honestly am so happy to be away from all that. My roo choir is getting better almost a full cocka doodle doo lol. No new voices that I can tell. Got up and fed them this morning and they had overturned their water dish and were very thirsty. Need to add another dimension to their sitting but it leaves little ground space for them. But I cant move them upstairs until my daughter finishes with the dog she is training. He is too curious and keeps trying to get into the area we made. I dont know how we will work it out for her dog needs and growing chicken needs. My fil not getting better and hubby not here and life seems to be upside down while relatively calm. Just move with it all I can do. I put my oars in the water to go around hazards but let God do the steering for now. Take care all will try and post more pics.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Sure. I love history.  Do you mean Green Bay Wisconsin or Green Bay Michigan?

Sorry I meant 1860 and Michigan I think.

 

[LindaB220]

It was lovely weather, the food was excellent, the family were their usual selfish, boorish, ungrateful selves, their kids were raging hellions and they all left the mess for their 80 yr old mother and I to clean up....so, things went as they usually do.

The farthest drive was 4 hrs away and that group stayed all night the night before....and that was a real slice of life. Never again.

Don't know why we expect it to get better each year but each year it gets worse and worse. Mom says this was the last year.

As you may have gathered, my family are not the Waltons......

As a new bride, I went to a get together at ex's Mothers. After lunch, I went into the living room with the guys. Johnny leaned over and said, "You need to go to the kitchen and help with the clean up". What an eye opener. At my house, when we had company, dishes were put in the sink and done after everybody left. That way Mama could come in and enjoy her day. I never made that mistake again.

 

[tntchix]

As a new bride, I went to a get together at ex's Mothers. After lunch, I went into the living room with the guys. Johnny leaned over and said, "You need to go to the kitchen and help with the clean up". What an eye opener. At my house, when we had company, dishes were put in the sink and done after everybody left. That way Mama could come in and enjoy her day. I never made that mistake again.

It was lovely weather, the food was excellent, the family were their usual selfish, boorish, ungrateful selves, their kids were raging hellions and they all left the mess for their 80 yr old mother and I to clean up....so, things went as they usually do.

The farthest drive was 4 hrs away and that group stayed all night the night before....and that was a real slice of life. Never again.

Don't know why we expect it to get better each year but each year it gets worse and worse. Mom says this was the last year.

As you may have gathered, my family are not the Waltons......

I use this technique, I gather up the dishes and fill the sink with steaming hot water, if someone comes in to help fine, if not, I let them "soak" til they leave. That way I don't miss anything.

Oh, and I don't invite the obnoxious ones anymore, who never want to be here in the first place. Time is too precious for BS.

 

[Oldmomma]

Friend just posted that she had been 15 hours with no power! Yikes. And its not even begun to get hot. Sometimes I think these blackouts and gas crisis are just ways to keep people not thinking beyond basics. Elections are coming in few weeks and trying to even know whose running or how qualified they might be is beyond me. Think about our founding fathers. They came from a form of democracy and by the time we could actually vote we knew who was who. You can go online and check out any candidate but here is still word of mouth. I remember first election was paper ballots. Like watching paint dry....and yet technology was available but just not thought about while setting up fancy desks and getting all the folks into 5 star hotels...yep congress here that dont live locally get free rooms in the few hotels here. Long way to go for equality in many areas but thats most countries. Here instability is a pawn for those who wish to gain or stay in power. Then couple it with illiteracy rate of those over 45 and you need signs and finger prints to vote. There are days I really feel like a time traveler. Will try to add my patio and coop pics today if site cooperates. Then off for some burgers for dinner.

 

[tntchix]

A quick chick story

Yesterday we were doing well checks on all 24 chicks and as I grabbed Oreo Cookie, Cupcake came screaming over like how dare you touch her!

I thought it was a fluke so after I was almost done (with the clean bill of health for 24 TSC chicks YAY!) I picked her up again and the same thing happened. So, I guess they are bonded.

It will be interesting to see who ends up the top hen in this crowd.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Please forgive me for not remembering... Are you looking for a position in Wyoming? What you describe is pretty much what I am wanting.... I am hoping to get new software soon. A friend is supposed to be sending me a current copy ... AutoCad and SolidWorks.

For what its worth in the ninetys I was able to pay my mortgage for a year working out of the house WAY before internet existed. Just doing Drawing Transcriptions to Autocad. Also doing a little bit of form fit and function checking. I was chatting with a Pipe corral delivery guy just a couple of months ago... come to find out he was not only the delivery guy he was also a partner in a family owned company. He also does the designs for their pipe corrals. I am just saying this because a niche can be found in just about any industry.

PLEASE never ever discount the people you talk to because just by looking you cant necessarily know their power.... Networking is probably the most powerful tool to find a job. I asked him if his company ever hired designers for piecework. He said no and it sparked his interest in me.... then he told me straight drawing conversion is now being done through software. Scan the drawing in and the software converts it to CAD. My experience with stuff like that tells me thats NOT the end of the story.

Once I find out if I have CAD software I am placing an ad in Craigslist for drawing conversions and indicating other stuff I can do.

But back to where you live... or are wanting to work.... I dont need to know details but if you can give me an idea of the Area I can do a little digging and send you some resources...

Working out of the house has its own issues... I hope to set up a designated space here... Which means a lawn shed out in the back yard. But it really needs to be a space where You can don your worker bee hat.

deb "waiting to exhale for the next part of her own profession."

Deb, your skills are a bit more marketable than mine. I am only used to 2D, and civil engineering design - think roads and sewers. And I am looking in the Green Bay, WI area. I've done a lot in my career - land conservation, stormwater management, road design, construction observation, survey and development layout. I had a friend who worked for a custom home builder drafting house plans in the evenings as a side job, it helped put her kids through school.

Every time DH decided he didn't like his job or something we had to move, and I moved with him and started over again. Which was every 5-7 years, and luckily he was able to move within his company. He has been told by me that he better like it there, because this is my last move. He can change jobs if he decides to - but we ain't moving nowhere. Well, lets see if I still love the house when I live there full time. Lots of plans and ideas for the place, we'll just see what come to reality.

 

[Tomtommom]

I totally agree with you! I have a hunk of a husband and two wonderful kids. I look at him and think 'WOW, how did I get him....me of all people'.

Tomtommom, can we pretty please see your 'skunk' hair?

Lisa

Hard to see..

That's my wedding cake by the way. That thing was so sweet it gave me a headache (and I love sweet!).. we also had it several days before we got married.

We went with a 'justice of the peace'... trouble was it was election season for judges! So we couldn't find one to do the deed until after voting

The day we got married I was sick as a dog, fever and everything... we ran out of time to wait (I had 90 days to get married on my visa). Worst wedding ever. We wanted to keep it really small, but my husband's grandma wasn't having any of that so she came in and tried to run the show. She never liked me, always tried to argue with me... Heck, she argued that Amsterdam was a country in Scandinavia... LADY, I'm FROM Holland, I do believe I know where Amsterdam is...

Argh. Anyway. Skunk hair.

My father-in-law was like "I didn't know you were blonde!" after I let it all grow out and got the black cut off

Still better than the fire engine red I ended up with on accident. It was supposed to be stuff that only lasts a few washes. Apparently not in blonde hair. I had red hair for a year.

I hated high school. My husband always says he wishes he could go back to high school, but for me that was the absolute worst time of my life. I'm very practical, I don't do drama, I say what I mean and don't do this politically correct stuff very well. I don't ever try to be mean, but I wont pretend to be something I'm not. Obviously not a good fit for high school.
Like Blooie mentioned earlier, I also dropped out of high school. Sophomore year I got my drivers license and never went back. I wouldn't have graduated on time anyway I was so many credits behind from skipping school, because I couldn't cope with the drama. I went to tech. got my GED. realized I love to learn. Who knew?? The program was self paced and I caught up and graduated a year ahead of the kids I went to school with. Hmm I guess I wasn't so dumb after all. My self confidence soared.
Got married at 19, at 24, with a 2 yr. old and a 3 week old child I headed back to school for Registered Nurse. I believe very strongly in education. Through my personal experience I know regular public school is not a good fit for a lot of kids.
Now I take care of disabled children and accompany many of them to school. I spend a lot of time in the special ed class rooms with these kids. I see a lot of things that make me sad. That is were my practical, no drama, not politically correct self struggles with our system.
Ok jumping off the soap box.
I got my chickens out of my basement today. The coop isn't 100% done, but I've been living in a house that isn't 100% done for 30 years now, if it's good enough for me it will be good enough for my chickens.

,

I love that coop!

I confess that sometimes I've gotten so wrapped up in the day to day care of my grandkids that I'd kinda forgotten the fun factor. Austin's death reminded me that I don't want to miss a minute of laughing and smiling and silly-time with the amazing little people I have left. In a few days it will be the second anniversary of his death. I usually don't dwell on it - partly because I can't change it anyway and partly because I still haven't accepted his death completely. But his lovely wife, Joy, just posted something on Facebook that reminded me of his amazing sense of humor.

Austin was a kid who made fun wherever he went - please allow me to tell a little Austin story I learned from the young lady he married 8 months before his death. It began with a question about a photo of Austin wearing a fake moustache. After he died Joy took a photo of herself wearing that same moustache. I knew there was a story there, so I asked her about it.

Their first winter together the kids were broke - way broke! But it was their first Christmas as man and wife and he wanted it to be memorable. He and Joy, with a handful of quarters, set out on a quest to find their Christmas. They hit every quarter toy machine they could find and the goodies went into one bag. Christmas Eve Austin took the few ornaments he could scape up and decorated their car for Christmas. He put a warm, red blanket in the car. Then he and Joy sat out in the Christmas car during a freezing cold, snowy Iowa Christmas Eve, and took turns pulling items out of the mystery bag. A huge, gaudy "ruby" ring and that moustache were Austin's favorite gifts that year. Austin actually wore that ring for days, until the cheap plastic finally broke! They had no way to know that their first Christmas would be their only one - but they knew they had to make it count, the way they made every day count!



Austin in his Christmas moustache.



When he was little we all called him "AJ". Somehow that got corrupted into "Ajax", which we all called him for years. So he proposed to Joy by buying them each a bottle of dishwashing liquid, his way of telling her that from that day forward they would work together as a Dream Team.

What a cute story with the soap haha

He sounds like he was a hoot to be around.

Deb, you and I should have been buddies in grade school! I would have loved a horsey friend. I galloped to school every morning on my imaginary horse and tied him to the bicycle rack. Never had a real horse of my own because my parents thought they were too dangerous. But I was horse mad! Sat for hours on farmers' fences talking to their pastured horses.

Flash forward twenty or so years and I have an eight year old daughter who is horse mad! Ta da! All she can talk about is horses, so I buy her a helmet, get her riding lessons, lo and behold, she loves it, so I waltz out out and buy her a pony. Biggest craziest best thing I ever did. She's 28 now and still a good horsewoman. And that same pony is chomping the grass in my own back pasture this morning.

But you and I would have had good times Deb, if we'd met as kids.

Suprisingly my worst tormentor was a horse nut. Heck. Everyone was a horse nut. And everyone got riding lessons, except for the poor kid (me), ofcourse.

Funny enough, pretty much all the folks I call friends are horse nuts these days

That or chicken nuts. Or both.

I have two big transformer fans in my family. So it was a given when we ended up with a black and yellow duckling that his name ended up Bumblebee. Our Pekin is named Diva because she overreacts to everything.

I made those for my step-son's 4th birthday party. That pinata was so solid, it took several adults to smash it

OK front porch swingers - I need some good vibes on a job application I submitted on Friday. If I get the job, I can move to the new place and live with my hubby again.
Getting really tired of this separation and need to get there to weed the flower gardens! there are so many of them there. Here are a couple pics that DH sent.





I am thinking these are day lilies ... I'm hoping for tiger lilies ... I guess I will know when they bloom.

Gorgeous! Hope you get to be there soon, that just looks like a lovely place to be at.

Well, our sweet DIL Stephanie is on her way to Cleveland clinic for her first round of evaluations for her lung transplant. It has been a very rough weekend. She has been in the hospital since Wednesday night. Was released yesterday afternoon. She was coughing up blood, had to be put on a breathing machine for a couple of days. Weaned her off of that on saturday so she could come home. They didn't want her to miss her cleveland appointments. She is still feeling very bad and weak. I asked her if she was ready for all of this and she said not really. The first thing they will do is a PFT, pulmonary function test. She hasn't had one for several months, because they are afraid it could cause her lung to collapse again, or now the bleeding to start up. So please pray for her, for strength, for the Drs., for my precious son and their 2 equally precious children, her parents. They had an 18 year old son pass away from cf. It's going to be a long haul, and she is growing weaker quickly.

Blooie! I hope a pray your trip is going the way you dreamed it would! Be safe and have so much fun!

Best wishes and prayers and all the strength you need.

I use this technique, I gather up the dishes and fill the sink with steaming hot water, if someone comes in to help fine, if not, I let them "soak" til they leave. That way I don't miss anything.

Oh, and I don't invite the obnoxious ones anymore, who never want to be here in the first place. Time is too precious for BS.

That's my technique... only two days later the dishes are still there

For all my high school misfits:

I love the Guild

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Dad does most of our dishes. He doesn't even seem to notice he is doing them! So ... shhhhhhhhhhh!

 

[tntchix]

Hard to see..

Too cute!

That's my wedding cake by the way. That thing was so sweet it gave me a headache (and I love sweet!).. we also had it several days before we got married.

We went with a 'justice of the peace'... trouble was it was election season for judges! So we couldn't find one to do the deed until after voting

The day we got married I was sick as a dog, fever and everything... we ran out of time to wait (I had 90 days to get married on my visa). Worst wedding ever. We wanted to keep it really small, but my husband's grandma wasn't having any of that so she came in and tried to run the show. She never liked me, always tried to argue with me... Heck, she argued that Amsterdam was a country in Scandinavia... LADY, I'm FROM Holland, I do believe I know where Amsterdam is...

Argh. Anyway. Skunk hair.

My father-in-law was like "I didn't know you were blonde!" after I let it all grow out and got the black cut off

Still better than the fire engine red I ended up with on accident. It was supposed to be stuff that only lasts a few washes. Apparently not in blonde hair. I had red hair for a year. I colored my hair for eons and one day after noticing my gray was growing like a stripe, I decided I was done coloring. It's been 3 yrs and I LOVE my skunk stripe! Embraced who I really am and not going back.

I love that coop!


What a cute story with the soap haha

He sounds like he was a hoot to be around.


Suprisingly my worst tormentor was a horse nut. Heck. Everyone was a horse nut. And everyone got riding lessons, except for the poor kid (me), ofcourse.

Funny enough, pretty much all the folks I call friends are horse nuts these days

That or chicken nuts. Or both.








I made those for my step-son's 4th birthday party. That pinata was so solid, it took several adults to smash it

Wow, we are Still waiting on the Transformer vs. Decepticon names for chicks as we several left to name. Cool cake!


Gorgeous! Hope you get to be there soon, that just looks like a lovely place to be at.

Best wishes and prayers and all the strength you need.


That's my technique... only two days later the dishes are still there

Mine too.

For all my high school misfits:

I love the Guild