November? Really? Are you sure?

Well, it's here; December (and eek). Are you ready? Believe it or not, I'm almost there, which is quite bizarre (but in a really good way). *grin* I even got to cross "Endometrial Biopsy" off my bucket list, although I can't say I remember actually putting that one on there ;o) Seems there might be cancer in there somewhere; dunno. The results are due back on the 22nd so we shall see (either way, God is awesome). Although the hospital must have gotten the green memo about paper (it was down to half a tree), they must have missed the part about the plastic as I got one bracelet the day before surgery for my anesthesia appointment and another the day of (couldn't we just use one and save the planet guys?) I have to say, though, that what never fails to make my right eye twitch is the sticker on the antibacterial soap they give you to wash with before surgery (next photo). Does this label scare anyone besides me?

The fact that there's a warning on there means that someone, somewhere along the line, actually drank the soap instead of washing with it (eeeew!) Boggles the mind, doesn't it? Blech.

I think (I think, I think) I may have just discovered the source of Shadow's colic. It seems to be stress-related. He had another, milder case yesterday morning and while we were strolling around the pasture looking for poopin-spiration (post mineral oil dose) I noticed something that definitely didn't belong in one of the sandy patches. While DH is our resident hunter, I was pretty sure I had this particular puzzle solved all by my lonesome (although I did take a picture and show it to him just to verify my suspicions). The hoof print the arrow is pointing to is Max's, which should give you an idea of the size (although Max's feet are on the small side). Can you guess what they are?

Here's a closer look:

There's a copse on the other side of the fence(s) at the top right corner of the pasture, which is where I'd bet the owner of these foot prints originated. I'm guessing those new little sprigs of green stuff you can see popping up in the photo - otherwise known as winter rye grass - provided the motivation behind the invasion. Looks like Champ and Max aren't the only ones capable of midnight raids around here (and over two fences no less - wow). Should make for an interesting winter, eh?

I have a tag fetish. Aside from the whole color-coordinated wrapping paper thing- doesn't everyone? - I love to play with the gift tags every year. Can't seem to help myself (and I don'wanna either, so there ;o) Since I have yet to put my hands on my favorite program - the Creative Lettering SuperCombo - I'm having to wing it this year. I had previously downloaded the font "Angel" from daFont's website (awesome place), but didn't like that particular font for whole words. It did, however, look fabulous used for first initial only tags. Aren't they fun? A heart punch rescued from a clearance pile someplace was the perfect place for the string. Looks pretty cute on scrapbook paper too, doesn't it? It didn't show in the photo, but (in keeping with my obsession) there is a narrow green outline around the letters which matches the green string. Since I only made these for this photo and it doesn't match anyone's initials around here (I was playing; I'm sure that shocks you ;o) how about I give them away? If you'd like the L-O-V-E tags, just leave a comment about this post and I'll choose the winner from the list of commenters. Follow the blog or fan us and comment and I'll toss your name in the random hat twice (just be sure to tell me what else you did please). Yay! From today until Saturday night - fair enough? It's gonna be a beautiful day...

Have a blessed week and a wonderful day everyone!

In the pink (well, mostly)

Anybody besides me feel like they have entered a time warp? Geez - where in the heck did October go? Wait I know...it went *POOF!* Sometimes I am quite alarmed by the speed of the days going by; I can't help but wonder how much faster they can go since time passes more quickly as you age. Scary stuff indeed; so we're just not even gonna go there (how's that for a coping strategy? Ha.) Hopefully, the rest of you are not as freaked out about the fact that Thanksgiving is hurtling towards us at the speed of light with Christmas right behind (and eek ;o) I love this autumn photo. It was actually taken last year, but I never did get around to posting it. Remember the tragic accident that befell my old camera? This was right after I got the new one; I was experimenting very early in the morning (hence the mist) with some of the fancy-schmancy photo settings on my new toy (if you weren't here then or want a refresher, you can read all about that particular tale of woe and its happy ending here and here). They are - if it matters - two of my favorite posts (is it tacky to say that? Oh well, I can be tacky ;o)

Since we're there (at tacky) we'll just throw in some shameless self-promotion too and offer up a link to one of my Squidoo lenses. I did one for a non-profit challenge awhile back, and although we lost, it has some of my favorite ideas and recipes. I am always looking for new Fall/Thanksgiving recipes so I thought maybe some of you might be interested in them too (including the silly little turkey in the photo). The lens has a little of everything, so don't worry if you're not a genius in the kitchen (me either ;o) There are "real" recipes as well for those of you who like confectionery challenges; like a scrumptious white chocolate cake complete with cooked frosting. It's called Treats for the Tall and the Small if you'd like to pop on over and visit me in the kitchen - but don't forget to come back!

Look at this photo I took of Shadow the other night; isn't it wild? Sometimes I just can't take in all of God's handiwork; nor can I quite seem to capture its magnificence through the lens of the camera (not for lack of trying though, is it? ;o) We've had some unbelievable skies over the past week or so; I've probably taken a hundred pictures or more. Last Sunday evening was phenomenal. I made the mad dash back indoors to grab the camera, and when I came panting back up the hill I let out a "Holy cow!" (a favorite phrase *laugh*) at the spectacular range of colors splashed across the sky. I guess it was a little louder than I'd intended, as Shadow made a beeline across the pasture to see what all the fuss was about and this is what I got. Would you like to see a few more? Maybe we should have another giveaway (an itty bitty one this time). And DAISY? If you and your mom are reading this, I'm still waiting for your address from the last giveaway (unless you don't want it). 
Rules? Simply leave me a comment telling me which one of the following sky shots is your favorite and I'll pick the name from my commenters next weekend (I'll shoot for Friday night) and announce the winner Saturday or Sunday.  If you like my Autumn tree (the first pic), you are welcome to choose that one instead. The winner will receive a 3x5 or 4x6 print (your call) of the photo you liked best. I'll take the date stamp off first though; these came pretty much straight out of the camera. Sound good? Well allrighty then, here we go...
I named this one "Daydreams", because it was reminiscent of my childhood and those long afternoons spent laying in the grass gazing at the clouds in a brilliant blue summer sky;

Wasn't sure what to call this one; "Misty's Twilight" was all I could think of (and meh). If you have any suggestions, I'd be happy to have them.

This one is "Twilight's Dawning". Doesn't it look more like a sunrise than sunset? If you look carefully at the colors, you can tell it is actually the setting sun;

Here is "Heaven's Purl" (did you know that purl is also a synonym for swirl, in addition to a knitting stitch? I didn't; I just learned that - yay ;o)

One more and I think we're good...Um, let's see. How about this one? It's one of my favorites. I added a piece of scripture to it from Isaiah 60:1 because it seemed to fit perfectly:

Holy cow! I can't believe I actually finished my post on time (and I'm not even late for anything *grin*). Have a blessed week everyone!

Woodworking woes? Oh, say it isn't so!

I'm baaaack! I cannot believe it has taken me over an entire week to get everything technologically reassembled but it has been quite the adventure, let me tell you. Sometimes, even when you are careful you can get got - and boy did I ever. Check out my lovely error message to the left. *rolls eyes* "This should never happen", Ha. Yeah, tell me about it. Seems Firefox had some sort of a hiccup and Trend Micro was scrambling over some heinous new Rootkit virus (and leave it to me to get the latest and greatest there *sigh*). Managed to not only sneak past my antivirus protection, it also disabled the antivirus software without shutting it down; it still appeared to be working fine right there in my taskbar. Put the word out to fellow nasties (the Guard Online Virus winning in the "Most Obnoxious" category) and they were all partying hardy on my hard drive. Grr. Two days going back and forth with Trend Micro's tech support and the final answer was "you have to do a system restore". Now, system restore is supposed (key word there) to let you go back to a specific time; as in say, a month or two or three before your computer was infected. You are not supposed to lose any files that were saved prior to that point. Uh-huh. So you say...

Well color me paranoid, but I asked DH for a portable hard drive just in case (happy birthday, Merry Christmas, yadda yadda to me) ;oP Office Depot had this nice little Western Digital drive - that is only slightly larger than my cell phone - on sale for $89.95 that holds a TB (and holy cow!). Pretty nifty little gizmo, isn't it? I spent the large part of a day manually copying more than 20,000 files; 23,421 to be precise. You should never use the automated system backup when a virus is present as it will backup the virus right along with everything else on your hard drive. The portable drive turned out to be a good call, as Windows never even bothered to ask me to what point I wished to restore my system; it just wiped everything out and sent me clear back to the original factory settings. Do you know how many updates there were to Windows between 2006 and now? I'll give you a hint: it was more than 200 plus two ginormous service packs. That took another two days of updating and rebooting (and geez whatta pain!) I am [I think/I hope] in the clear and back up and running, although I have an awful lot left to do. I'll give a big thumbs up to Malwarebytes who was able to actually tell me I had a Rootkit virus about a nanosecond before the virus shut it down. Great shareware program, if you're interested in running a free scan click here.
As I'm sure you've noticed, I have turned the blog pink for this month. I'm happy to say that this is a whole lot earlier than last year when I spent what seemed like half the month trying to figure out how to change the header ;o) I'll add that the new format is definitely easier to navigate (note:  No bad words were uttered in the updating of this header. *laugh* I'm also happy to say that I am going to try <--operative word there) to have two giveaways this month. The first will be a couple of hand made (by moi) pink ribbon items that you can keep for yourself or share with a friend (or family ;o) This crocheted angel is still on my pinning board and missing the pink ribbon, but here 'tis:

I will be poking around in my stash to see what other little goodies I can find to tuck in there and let you know when I do the next post. To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment. Preferably something nice; like how much you missed my smart mouth regular post last week (ha). That's all; it's been complicated enough around here recently ;o) Giveaway will run through Saturday, October 22nd and the winner will be announced in next weekend's post (Sunday).
My craft table is now 90% complete, and 100% useable - WOO! I have one last series of shelves for the front and we could really use a coat of paint, but other than that I am done (and thank goodness!) Want to see?

I added a shelf along the back that ran the entire length of the counter top to accommodate my scrap booking cubes. I had to make it slightly raised to allow for the counter top's thickness. Even though the table will be 3 feet deep, the cubes would have eaten up 14 inches, and I'm a space hog (I wanted every square inch I could get for my creative benders *grin*).

While I still have to put on another coat of paint (this is primer), I didn't bother to paint the top as it won't show. Below picture is where we are right now; I just have that last set of shelves to install (by the arrow).  The wire rack intruding rudely into the photo on the left will ultimately go in the Epic Farms room (when we finally have one ;o)

I love those organizer cubes! I've been buying about one a year for the past few years (when they went on sale for half price after Christmas) and had just enough to go the distance - yay! 
One last thing. Ann, Ann are you listening? This is [for the record] completely your fault *laugh* for being such a crafty bad influence... I just couldn't stand it anymore, so for the first project on my craft table I made a Maze Book. Click here to visit Ann's post (but don't forget to come back!)

Some great two sided paper let me resolve a pet peeve - how to tell the back [L] from the front [R] - without detracting from the charm of the book :o) A friend who was having a pretty tough week was also having a birthday, so I thought this might lift her spirits a little. She loves sunrises and sunsets (and those of you who've been here for a bit know how addicted I am to those sky shots *grin*) so I thought I'd use a few of them to try and brighten her day:

Some relevant quotes typed in a fancy font, yellow and orange reversible paper to match my sunny theme (I'm just a teensy bit OCD ;o) then put it all together and...TaDaaaa! What do you think?

Gosh that was kind of a lot; sorry. It has been awhile though, and what's a chatterbox to do after all? *laugh* Have a blessed week everyone - I missed you!

It's a glorious day for a giveaway

But first things first:

PLEASE don't forget about the giveaway! I've figured out GoodSearch (and it's powered by Yahoo so it's a "regular" search engine - hooray!) To enter the giveaway this week - or just help us out - join us on GoodSearch. If you entered last week, doing this means you'll have your name in the hat two times (yay). Simply select Epic Farms as your charity and download the toolbar or the plug in (it adds GoodSearch to your existing search box if you don't want another toolbar). Be sure to set GoodSearch as your default search engine, and voila! you are helping us out every time you search the internet. GoodSearch donates a penny to us with each search you make, and you can follow our progress. You can even track your own progress and see how much money you've raised for us (pretty cool, eh?) We're up to a whopping .84c right now. Obviously we could use quite a bit of help. *laugh* And if you shop online, there are tons of coupons for all kinds of stores through GoodShop (same site).
Even better? When you shop through GoodShop and have Epic Farms selected as your charity, the store will make a donation to us too. Hot diggity dog! Is that awesome or what?!? This is a numbers thing, so please ask everyone you can to use the search engine under Epic Farms. As you can see on their page, the big well-known charities are raking in thousands in donations. But even just 100 people searching for us generates around $700 in donations a year. To an itty-bitty charity like Epic Farms, that's HUGE. Boo-yeah. Plus, it's a great way to enable people that can't afford to donate to help a good cause. Should I say that about us [good cause] or is that tacky? 
Well anyway, it's a piece of cake (a nice, big frosty one ;o) Yum.

I'm just sure that I will be glad to have my office done and monster craft table completed to use for all my creative benders. As a matter of fact, I know I will. But right now I am tired of wood, of flooring, and paint. Definitely the paint. Painting stinks (literally). I opted to paint outside on our "almost patio", which is probably why we got some rain (hooray!). *laugh* Had I known that was all it would take, I would have found something to paint outside weeks ago. Because I'm building in sections and pieces, I ended up having to number all of them so I could keep them straight. Here are just a few I laid out on the table to paint (didn't I tell you I could complicate anything? ;o)

The back piece is the only really long piece (below). I thought it might be prudent to have some serious support on the back side since my scrapbooking cubes will be back there (and they are pretty heavy). The black on the bottom (above) is felt; I am SO not messing up that brand new floor!

DD used the router on the 2x4's for me (between that and the paint, I hope to cut down on the cheesiness factor - like the word "stud" which is stamped all over everywhere ;o) Whaddaya expect on a poverty stricken budget, right? I guess these are the ones that were not worthy of becoming Christmas trees (says DFIR in the little triangle, which I assume means "Douglas Fir"). Weird. We have, as you can see from the photo below, made a spectacular mess. I am distinctly UNexcited about cleaning this up... particularly since I seem to have misplaced the doggone dustpan. *sigh*

I'm getting there...but it's taking FOREVER. Swept up all the stupid sawdust with a broom and piece of cardboard; not the way to go. Had dust wafting everywhere and sneezed my head off. Oy. I've figured out that I am currently on Phase IX* [9] of my Monster Craft Table project. Here's the rundown:

Phase I: A great big home made craft table. This is going to be SO awesome; I can't wait to get started! *bounce*bounce*bounce*

Phase II: Hmm. Okay, this is a little harder than I thought. Why doesn't everything fit right on the plans?? Nuts. I need to get some more wood.

Phase III: Ai!! My checkbook! How can cheap lumber be so expensive?? Okay, okay, I just know this will all be worth it in the end. *whimper*

Phase IV: Mid-project clean up. I had it, I know I had it...where the heck did it go?? There's sawdust everywhere and I can't find the screws I dropped all over the floor - whatta mess! Where's that doggone dustpan? Raspberries. Found it... right after I finished cleaning it up by hand. ARRGH!

Phase V: Start marking and/or assembling section pieces. This was NOT supposed to be this much of a pain in the patootie. *scowling*

Phase VI: Why did I ever start this?? Remind me to NEVER do this again.

Phase VII: I hate painting. Now I need more paint. Who knew that particleboard could suck down an entire pint of primer for two measly shelves?? Geez! *bangs head on partially completed table*

Phase VIII: Changed name from Monster Craft Table to Project from Hades. Personal remarks withheld due to "G" Rating on blog. *snarl*

I am here-->*Phase IX: Painting, painting, painting. I hate painting. Not enough hours in the day. Hallooo...what's with the stupid brush? Have you never heard of spray paint you ninny? Why do I not think of these things until AFTER?!? *slaps forehead*

Phase X: Lug remaining pieces into the office/craft room for assembly. Hit all walls enroute with long back piece. Drop on toe. Stomp around to locate craft supplies stashed and stacked all over the house to put them in their [finally finished] new home. Solemnly swear NEVER to do this again. Ever. Idiot.

Phase XI: Admire finished project <--apologize for swearing (using the "P" word).  Renew vow to never do this again (better yet, recite as litany). Shake head at massive self-inflicted stupidity. Post photos to blog as proof that the nightmare is finally OVER. :oP

Well, that's where I've stopped work this morning; painting. Not to worry, there LOTS more left to do...Meh. Thanks so much for visiting, and have a very blessed week.
And don't forget to enter the giveaway - or just join us on GoodSearch - we really need your help!

Read carefully ('cause you will never see this again)

I got to wash dishes yesterday!! I'm soooo excited!  Woo-Hoo! We have a sink We have a sink We have a sink. An amazing one with a handle, and running water and everything. What joy! Happy-happy-happy :o) Sorry, couldn't help myself...YAY! Okay, I'm done. *laugh* Have you ever noticed how often we take things for granted? If you haven't, it's probably because you have been unusually blessed with all things functional. I mean, I never really considered how handy legs were for taking you where you wanted to go until mine didn't work anymore (and talk about your attitude adjustments, right? ;o) Same thing with the kitchen sink; just one of those things that you don't really pay attention to until it's out of order. Then it'll make you crazy. A week and a half doesn't sound like a long time, but it sure did feel like forever to me. As much as I absolutely detest washing dishes, I could not wait to scrub something... and how wrong is that??. Pretty darn wrong if you ask me.

I don't know about the weather where you live, but here it's still dry as a bone. Looked like Texas was finally getting rain; at least in some places. Could you please send it our way when you've finished with it? This has been a super strange year for weather, don't you think? I mean chunks of the country are all but under water, with massive droughts burning up other parts (literally). Outside of a winter frost, I'm mostly sure that grass is not supposed to have a crunch factor. Sounds like potato chips in our pasture. Taya came down to supper the other day with what looked like a tumbleweed wannabe stuck to the end of her tail. Geez. Looks like it's time to bang [trim] her tail anyway; it's dragging the ground and collecting stuff. Meh.

We signed up for GoodSearch, and were approved the week before last. That was supposed to be my grand plan for the giveaway  - to ask you to help us by using it as your default search - but I just didn't have time to get there and figure it all out. Rats. *sigh* So we're going with Plan B (which I came up with about 37 seconds ago - Ha). Visit just one - or more than one to be entered more than once - of my lenses on Squidoo and leave a comment there, like it, blog it, tweet it, tell a friend, call your mom, or post a link to your Facebook page and then come back and tell me which one you visited, what you liked, and where you shared it. Participants will be pulled from the blog comments here, so if you visit multiple lenses don't forget to list them all! This is not nearly as complicated as I just made it sound. *scratching head* Huh. I don't know why that sounds like a lot, 'cause it isn't. Okay, well, hmm. Anyway, there should be something to interest everyone here (I hope :o)  

Since I'm kind of into everything, my topics are pretty much all over the place. Life is short, what can I say? *grin* Ready? Okey-doke, here goes...

1.Horsey folks might be interested in Equine Body Language (here);

2.Hookers (bwah-ha-ha-ha) might like the lens on crochet (here);

3.Scrapbookers might like to try heritage scrapbooking (here); OR if you are just starting to scrapbook or like handy tips (4.go here);

5.Cooks can get some unique ideas for fall treats (here);

6.Readers might like our kid-friendly summer reading list lens (here);

7.Dry humor lovers might get a giggle out of my ConnieCrankpot lens (here);

8.Family historians may like my genealogy lens (here);

9.Parents with nosey kids (like mine) can get some sneaky and fun gift-giving ideas (here);

10.Curious about parenting a deaf child? Visit my Momography lens (here);

Hopefully, you found at least one lens up there that interested you enough to visit...That's 10 different lenses to choose from. If you didn't or would like to see a complete list of all my Squidoo lenses and what each one is about, you can go here. So what are the giveaway goodies, you ask? I went for some smaller items this time, because I almost had apoplexy when I paid the postage from the last giveaway (heavy stuff at just under $9-yikes!). *laugh* Sooo, how about a cute little canine zipper pull, a fun pair of felines for your footies (knee-hi's), a pretty pair of sparkly handmade dangles just in time for fall, and (because I always get carried away) a $10 gift card for PetSmart. Here's a look-see:

Don't forget to come back and leave a comment. Just tell me which lens(es) you visited and where you shared it!

Drawing will be on Friday, September 30th so you have almost two weeks to do this; until 8p.m. CST Friday (unless I doze off like grandma on the sofa again, in which case you'll have until about 3a.m. CST the next morning). The winner will be announced in that weekend's post (on whichever day I get it done ;o) Good luck!

In the meantime, guess what DD and I have finally gotten around to working on again...(pray for us, will you? ;o) I've manage to unearth (okay, shovel out) the last corner in my office/craft room to do the rest of flooring - remember the banquet table that was buried under a ton of craft supplies (right behind the paper avalanche - here). I have just a few more vinyl tiles left to do and then we can finish up the work on my craft table. A helpful hint for anyone that plans to lay vinyl tile: spray adhesive. It will keep the tiles from sliding or shifting while they set. Sure wish I had known about that when I did the kitchen floor way back when. There are a couple of small gaps between some of the tiles near the stove where DH walked across the floor too soon. The tiles shifted and then stuck fast. The gaps constantly trap dirt and drive me nutso. Hopefully I'll have finished photos of this project by the next post, because that will mean we got it DONE! Here's a shot of the plans (the salvaged and pretty countertop from the Habitat store is visible underneath)...I know it looks like the whole room on the graph paper, but that's actually just my monster craft table. Trust me, I can complicate anything. *grin*

Since I like to start the day with a smile (I try anyway), I thought I'd share this one from yesterday:

I've got to say Bella makes the BEST yawning faces. Megaweird, at the very least. Wouldn't you agree? Here's hoping it gave you a smile, and maybe a giggle as well. Have a blessed week every one!