Hatfield House (in the city)

October 12, 2008

Well, yesterday was a failrly productive day... you know those days when you have so much to do but you have no clue where to begin? I had one of those... so really, not a whole lot was accomplished.

DH went to our son's house to have some coffee in the AM with him, and brought back our beautiful little granddaughter... so that was a good thing... except when she started getting tired, and fussy....

She refused to lay in her little portable bed that Grandpa and I have here for all the grandchildren, so she made a little attempt at the couch....with Grandma rubbing her little face and hair, she finally went to sleep...At least until the rambuncious and loud Uncle Logan woke her up....

Amelia went to work for her first day yesterday... and boy! did she look spiffy in her uniform! She said all she did was serve coffee, but that's pretty good for her 1st day, eh? She was excited, and I hope and pray that this will help her understand finances a little better. She just doesn't understand the concept that money really doesn't grow on trees.... do any young ones really understand that though?

I am proud of her....

Here's after work....and with her neice that never leaves her side when she's home....

And of course, DH and I did some impromptu grocery shopping after we dropped Amelia off at work. Weren't going to, but they had some 10 for $10 sales going on that we couldn't resist! When we came home, we straightened up our pantry downstairs and took inventory, so we have a running list of what we have and don't have. DH did it, but I can think if certain things he missed, so I think I will double check today. It was in pretty big disarray down there, and he was cleaning up as he was going, so that's probaly why things were missed.... and that's ok. I'd like to have a list of what's in the freezer too...

I have started the $5 a Week Food Pantry List ( http://theideadoor.com/Preparedness/food_storage_for_5.htm)  and want to be prepared, so I need to see just what I have down there.

Hey! I did get 2 buckets from Meijers bakery yesterday! The ladies gave them to me! Now when I buy in bulk, I can put separate baggies into the buckets and keep critters out of my food! I'm washing them up real good today, and I have some wheat that needs to be stored, so I will accomplish that today.

And that was yesterday....

Today has already begun... at 3:30am as matter of fact... with a crying baby who didn't want to go back to sleep until 5am for her Grandma. But that's ok. It gives me time to read my Bible a bit, and make my family a good breakfast.

So see? Waking up early is a good thing... even when you DON'T have to work that day!!

~Blessings to you all~

October 10, 2008

Well, hubby is back safe and sound from his overnight to Kentucky. I called him this AM when I got up for work, and all was well. He had a partner with him, but he said that he (DH) drove on the way home. I kind of figured he would. He drives on 98% of our trips anywhere. He's a good driver, and besides, I tend to sleep whenever I am in the car )passenger side)! LOL!

We finally have Amelia set and ready for work. She starts tomorrow!  She got her physical and we went to pick up her uniforms today. Of course, she looks adorable! Black pants, white tuxedo shirt, black vest and black tie. We just returned from having to search at the Mall for some black shoes. I wouldn't have went there, but they closed our Payless Shoe Source this spring! I'll post pictures when I get some (probably tomorrow) of her in her work uniform....

Last night, Amelia slept with me. She asked if she could, and who am I to say "No" to my 15 year old? All too soon, I won't have her and she'll be grown with a family of her own.... So, my baby girl slept with me last night.  I woke up about 1:30a to do what I always do in the middle of the night, and I saw the upstairs light still on, and 2 children (11 year odl son and 14 year old daughter) up there giggling and carrying on.... so I told them to turn the lights out, and of course, when I got back to bed, I still hear my very disobedient young man still carrying on. But 4:00 am comes way too early for me anyway, and if I would have gotten back up, I would have been awake all night.

THIS TIME, I let it go, cause I KNEW he would get tangled in his little snare before the day was out... and he did. He asked the same question of both DH and I 3 times today and got the same answer... he wanted to go out front to play.

Now mind you, he's grounded, but we have been allowing him a bit more freedom these days due to good behavior. But after asking 3 times if he could go out front, and being told 3 times, "No, you cannot."

DH came in the house to talk to me about his trip, and within 2 minutes.....

Our son had snuck outside and down the road!!!!!!!!!!

Because he said, "I wanted to walk...."

Can we say.... "Grounding again, with a more strict regimen this time?"

*SIGH*

What are we gonna do with him?

Any suggestions?

Anyone?

~Blessings~

October 9, 2008

As always, there's good news, bad news and in between news....

Let's start with the good, so we can look back and say... "Hey.. it ain't so bad!"

DH has found a job, It isn't the best, but it'll help pay the bills! YEA! But it may also take away his disability that he earned back when he was hurt so many years ago. (Oh! That goes in the "Bad" news, right?) Anyhoo~ he's a delivery driver. It pays by the trip, and tonight, my precious dh is taking off to go to KY at 9pm for an overnight delivery. I'm not used to being without him! But, we will survive. We have the Lord here and I'll make sure to lock up tight after he leaves and before I head off to bed....

We've been having revival at church this week, and it has been good. The young preacher is wonderful and he's doing alot of good! The past two nights, we've had 4 saved, and 3 re-dedications! YIPEE!

I just had an offer to buy our bird for a straight up $800. I think I may take it. DH doesn't want to get rid of the bird, but it bites, and it doesn't let him touch it. And we need the money! LOL!

Bad news is...

We're behind in bills, I don't have the children's school schedules ready, and another nurse at work is angry with me (I just found out today) because she says that "I don't work as hard as she does." Now we have to have a meeting with all 4 nurses that work days, and "clear the air" so to speak.  I just have a question... if I don't work as hard as she does... then why do I NOT get breaks or lunches and have 21 patients to take care of and she has 12 and takes breaks and lunches? Just a thought.... but I didn't know she was upset with me until today (it all came out in an impromptu meeting we had with the boss today) and frankly, it rather has me un-nerved a bit.

And the in-between news is that... Amelia goes tomorrow for her pre- employment physical, and gets her uniforms and her schedule!

We went today and got her a picture ID (which was like pulling teeth) and yesterday to get her work permit.

I am a proud Momma!

:)

She cooked supper tonight, chicken legs and thighs, creamed corn, homemade biscuits and mashed potatoes.... yea, I know.. lots of starch, but good hillbilly cookin'!! And she sure is turning out to be a fantastic cook!

Well... suppers on the table, so I am getting off here and filling my belly before I work on the children's schedules tonight.

~Blessings to all who read here~

October 6, 2008

Quick note for tonight.....

Green tomatoes are finished up and put away for winter use! :) :) :)

9 quarts of dilled tomatoes (sorry~ no pics of those) yesterday and 11 quarts of green tomato relish today!

Ain't it purty?

Gotta get to bed, unfortunately, 4am comes a bit on the early side for me.

Just in time to go to work and get yelled at and made snide comments to and about....

*SIGH* I'd rather be home playing in my tomatoes....

Maybe someday....

October 5, 2008

This weekend, we have made quite a jump in preparing for the colder months... finished up a big pile of wood, cut and chopped. DH taught me to use a chainsaw! LOL!

This is what we have so far...

This still needs done...

We also finished up the garden, and I got 9 quarts of dilled tomatoes put up yesterday, and plan on finishing up today with some tomato relish... here's what we had left...

Abi made the family bread yesterday. 4 loaves. 2 white and 2 wheat. She's getting pretty good at knowing her way around the kitchen! And believe it or not, we are going to need to make 4 more today! (There's still 2 loaves left.)

Today, I am making the children's school schedules. So Dad (and I) can stay on track with what's going on. We get so lost sometimes, and find it hard to "regain composure" one might say... LOL!

Although the past 2 weeks have been purposely taken off so we could get caught up on everything needing done around the house, and that's ok.

I am going to try using the CIMT Math for our son, and place him at a slightly lower level than he is used to, but by doing this, he can play catch up, and whiz right through it and get a review while working toward the next level!

There really is a method to my madness, I promise!

Most of it is my fault for not keeping up with what I promise myself I can do....I make schedules, and then they fall off the face of the earth within a week.... bad habit....

30 lessons have just printed. So I had better go and get myself around, eh?

~Blessings~

October 2, 2008

October. Is it really October, already? Where did the summer go? For that matter.. where did spring go? LOL! Momma always told me that the older I get, the faster time flies.... Momma was a wise old woman.

The weather is getting more chilly in the evenings, dh built a small fire in the wood burner yesterday. It was nice.

Today he was busy and cleaned the stove (wood burner) and the chimney to prepare for winter. He scrubbed and shined, and made it all nice and ready for when we need it all day, every day!

He called Family Video today about the interview he was in on Tuesday. Turns out they've not graded his test yet. Said they'll probably do it this weekend. But at least he checked, which I am proud of. And he did go to a couple of other places and returned applications. I do realize that it must be degrading for a man his age to have to go to places where mostly teenagers work for a job, but right now, we are sinking, and I am getting scared. DH is a hard worker that puts everything into his work, but he doesn't think he is smart enough. He calls himself a "back breaker". Jack of all trades, master of none describes him. He knows how to do alot of things, and do them well, but he has no "hire-able" skill.

He keeps telling me that God will provide, which He has, but I think God also wants us to prepare and be ready.

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We had chili and homemade bread for supper tonight, which was good. DH made some "walnut" butter, which we used in leiu of peanut butter. Tasted pretty good! Guess I had better be thinking ahead to tomorrow night, eh?

Good news on the horizon though!

Amelia got the job at the local retirement community working in dietary! YEA!!! Tomorrow, dh is going to take her and see about getting a work permit. I looked up how homeschoolers go about getting one, and it is pretty much the same as public school children. Just have to have proof of age, and schooling.

She understands that the same rules apply as did her older sister when she began working as a teenager.... 10% comes straight off the top as a tithe, then the paycheck is split in half. Half goes in the bank, and the other half is yours to spend as you wish!

I am a proud Momma......

I am also proud of Abi, who did not get angry because she was not even interviewed (due to her age and the hours needed to work), but was instead genuinely happy for her sister when she told us that she got the job!

I see that I have rambled on enough, so I shall go for now (as I am also getting sleepy), and I wish to read my Bible a bit before I sleep.

~Blessings~

September 30, 2008

Here we are, facing another evening of good old fashioned home cookin'! Dear hubby asked for another dose of chicken and dumplings.. so I made some homemade noodles as soon as I got home from some errands after work. Found a new way to dry them, instead of putting them between 2 sheets of wax paper and suffering through the having to try and p-e-e-l them off the bottom sheet.... today I hung them over a drying rack that I use for my clothes! LOL! Oh my goodness! Worked like a charm!

Now I know how I'll be doin' my noodle dryin' from here on out! I also did some searching on another board that I belong to, and found a lady that drieshers for 24 hours or so, then stores them in glass jars for future use. Maybe I'll try that for days like today where we are rushing around....

Yes, I have to double and triple batch everything to feed this family! :)

We had to go to the Amish store to get some fresh eggs as soon as I came home. We like the eggs from there, not the store bought ones. So I picked up a few staples that I needed while I was there also, andbought the children a pack of Root Beer flavored licorice as a treat.

On the way home, we stopped at the bank to get money from the ATM (from the account for our grandson's child support) to put into our account, and the ATm quit working altogether! Kept our card for the longest time, and didn't give us our money! So we went to another bank, and that ATM kept saying that we had insufficient funds... I called our regularbank the second I walked in the door, and the gal told me that it sounded like the money was stuck in the machine and she would be over (in money) in the morning. And that she would give us a call as soon as she got to the machine, but not to worry. How can one NOT worry? That was $60! But the Lord shall watch over us.... HE always does! :)

Well, suppertime! Time to go eat some good ol' downhome chicken and dumplins!

~Blessings to each of you!~

and the verdict is.....

25 quarts of baking apples canned

and

4 quarts frozen

and

16 quarts of applesauce

put up for yummy winter eating! :) (That was just THIS batch of apples!  LOL! ~ I don't remember what we got from the previous batch!)

There's chicken to be de-boned today and noodles to make tonight, cause dh is requesting chicken and dumplings again this evening....

YAHOO! God is SO good!

September 29, 2008

Today was a beautiful day weather-wise. By the time I came home from work, dh and the children had almost finished the rest of the apples, and at this time, I have 19 quarts of baking apples ready to go! :)

News flash!!!

Our 2 DD's still at home both have job interviews at a local retirement community working in dietary. Pray for them. They are both nervous about the interviews, and possible jobs! :)

DH had a surprise for me this afternoon.... but first a bit of background.... I am a VERY old fashioned gal. I like to have old fashioned things, I like to wear old fashioned clothes, I teach my children from old fashioned text books (McGuffey's Readers, anyone?) and I truly think I was born 100 years too late....

But I digress. DH Uncle knows what an oddball I am and he gave me a dream come true yesterday. An old rusty (but still working) reel mower, made by the Grand States Company of Shelbyville, Indiana! My precious DH worked on it all day to get it running again for me, and it was running pretty good, too! (I think my boy has a bit of Mom in him... he loves it as much as I do!)

We had so much fun with it, mowing some here and there, until the wheel fell off.... LOL! What can I expect from an ancient piece of machinery? I'm sure it mowed a ton of grass in its day, and as soon as DH can get 'er up and running again, she'll mow here too!

Ain't she purty? And my son isn't too bad looking himself, huh? :)

Then, toward the end of the apple saga, one of our dd's came over. Her car was leaking fluid. So Dad needed to look at it and get it up and running again.

But I got the best part~ I got to play with my little grandson. And of course, lots of Grandma hugs and lovins made my day! :)

Ah.... the Lord continues to bless us even in the little things we see and do every day.

Thank You God for making me rich.

Rich in life, love and happiness.

September 28, 2008

We've been very busy around Hatfield House today... I started deep cleaning for Fall by washing ALL curtains and windows. The only curtains that are not quite finished yet are my sewing room ones, because I got involved with our other main task of the day, and that was peeling apples, cooking apples, processing apples and making appleauce!

We went to dh uncle's today and picked to our hearts content. We ended up with 2 HUGE totes worth and I still have one tote to go needing peeled and everything!

But we ended up with 16 quarts of applesauce, so I surely cannot complain! Tomorrow I am finishing up by putting up baking apples.

DH cleaned to firewood stove for me and then my cast iron teapot.... both are beautiful now! :)

Ah yes... life is good.

~Blessings~

September 27, 2008

Here we are, at the end of the city wide yard sale, tired as the dickens, and almost $100 richer! YEA! Although we did spend $21 dollars buying food for the children, cause not having a clear brain this AM, didn't help me in figuring that we needed to PACK something to eat for 4 growing children! Oh well... it went for a good cause. The Volunteer Firemen.

Folks didn't want to look through the clothes too much, but they wanted the Halloween stuff we had, which is good, since we are not celebrating that anymore. As a personal family decision, we have decided to forego the witches, ghosts and goblins, for what we want to call a "Harvest Dinner". We intend to make cookies, cakes, and just celebrate our wonderful gifts that the Lord has given us as He has supplied our needs this year.

Anyway, whatever did not sell, went straight to Goodwill. I wasn't bringing anything back into the house that went out! LOL! DH's Uncle let me have some of those old canning jars that clamp with the wires on top of a glass lid, and a couple of drinking glasses that I wanted, so we didn't actually "spend" any money! DH made light of me getting those by saying, "I'll spend $10 this year on stuff and sell it next year for .50 cents!" But he didn't mind.

Then we came home and ganged up on the kitchen. Sparkling and shiny now! :)

Now tomorrow, we are heading out to DH's Uncle's house to gather some apples. I'll spend the rest of the afternoon then processing them!

Isn't the Lord wonderful?

He always provides, even when we don't think He is.....

September 26, 2008

We're getting ready for a city-wide yard sale tomorrow. Hopefully, we can make enough to get the insurance paid and maybe have a few dollars left over for some grocery items we need.

I paid hubby's truck payment today online, that was 2 months behind. The Lord graced us enough to allow that! Thank You, God!

Something we have discovered in the midst of this financial bind we are in, is this :

The Lord didn't say that He would supply our "wants" but He did say that He would supply our "needs", and He has. He has OVER abundantly blessed us with enough fire wood to last this winter, and some is seasoning for next, and something I have also noticed... we haven't went to the grocery (just for a few items here and there) in over 3 months, but we are eating better than we ever did!

Found some steaks in the freezer and cooked those over an open flame on the grill, has some green fried tomatoes, potatoes, green beans (canned last year) and homemade biscuits.... What a dinner! (His saints will never beg for bread...)

Thank You Lord for always being on time.

You may not be early, but You are never late...

September 25, 2008

DH and I found out this AM that the young man that we asked for prayer for has passed away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was kept on life support long enough to donate his organs, something he had told his family that he wished to do.

What a wonderful, yet tragic thing, to be 16, and have your life taken so suddenly, but be thoughtful enough to want others to benefit from your death.

God bless you, Corey... God bless you.

We will miss you, but your legacy will live on from your love.

September 24, 2008

I wanted to thank those of you who did, for praying for the young man and his Dad last night. The last we heard was that he is in critical condition, still in Indy. I will update as I know more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life at the Hatfield House is a joy like no other. I have solitude, laughter, joy and peace here within these walls. I have a husband that loves me and children that I enjoy watching them grow and learn. I have dogs to snuggle and that snuggle me, birds that sing, and squirrels that give me pleasure by watching their antics (yes, they are still here!) LOL!

With money being as tight as it is, I am learning (And having fun with) new recipes, and how to stretch a dollar as far as I can without it snapping...

Splurging to us used to be going to WalMart and spending $200 on things we didn't need, now it is going to Goodwill and finding treasures with $50! Or cooking a new recipe... found an awesome biscuit recipe the other night that will definitely be replacing my old one...

The girls have become more proficient with crocheting and Christmas crafting,  and our son with wood chopping and reading (since the cable has been turned off). He feels more "manly" now (as "manly" as 11 year old boys do feel).

I'm becomg a true believer of the old adage, "Less is More".

Sure seems to ring true in our case anyway.

~Blessings~

Please Pray

A dear friend of mine and DH, his son was shot in the head tonight. The current story is they were playing Russian Roulette, but we don't know.

The boy is on a life flight right now to Indy to Methodist Hospital.

Please pray for him and his Dad.

September 22nd, 2008

Today was a busy day at work. Not hard, but busy. We've been getting alot of terminal patients, and it's just so disheartening to have to watch their bodies finally give up. The separation of body and spirit is a hard one.

One of my patients, a lovely lady I'll call Mrs. S, may very well be gone by the time I get back to work in the morning.

We had talked before of many things, one of which was her learning to drive in a Model T Ford.

 LOL!

I came home to children working on school, and dh laying on the bed. So I needed to get things motivated and got the family around to go get another load of wood, and now I am cooking supper.

Do any of you ever feel defeated?

Like your household would fall apart and your children starve if you weren't around?

I do, and I don't like feeling this way.

Now, after the wood has been gotten and stacked, and I have supper on, there are phone calls to be made and a house to clean......

I may go to bed early and read my Bible. Yes, I need to.

Sorry about the rambling.

I should be more thankful for what I do have.

I think Mrs. S and the amount of suffering she has gone through (even to this point) has me a bit out of sorts today.

~Blessings~

September 22, 2008

We've still been a wood choppin' round here, we just have to wait to go get another load. We are pretty close to done with what we have here at home, and what we don't have chopped, is stacked nicely by the kennel outside.

Abi even got into the act for awhile.

Amelia was going to help, but she was too engrossed in crafting her Christmas gifts.... LOL!

We found this little guy (or gal) while we were getting all the "extra" pieces that we were burning right then.

I spent a good part of the afternoon inside getting some turkey broth prepared and canned for later use!

YUM! Looks good, eh?

When we finished up with the work for the day, we ate supper and for dessert, Mom had made a delish peach pie while no one was looking! Quite a surprise with a scoop of ice cream on it! YAHOO!

September 17, 2008

Around these parts, we've been working on getting ready for winter. Getting wood, splitting wood, stacking wood....

This is Michael, a neighbor boy that is fancying one of our daughters... so in true hillbilly Dad fashion, dh put him to work... LOL! The young man stood up to the test, though! With flying colors!

Here's a shot of our son learning to use an axe. He's gotten pretty good the past couple of days!

We've been inordinately blessed, even with the storm, which gave us a lot of wood, that is still being worked on, but now, a lady and her husband down the street, asked us if we wanted his Mom's wood.....of course! So we went today and got the FIRST truckload.... tomorrow the second, and Friday, we may be able to finish it out! Oh my, God is sooooo good!

Another blessing happened yesterday.  DH was called to by a group of children on the street. They asked him to get a couple of baby squirrels that were trapped (and terrified) in a pile of brush that had been swept up after the storm.  So now, guess what I have in a cage in my sewing room?

Is my sewing room EVER going to be JUST my sewing room ever again? LOL!

Somehow, I think not...

~Blessings~

WIND STORM!!!

Wow.

We had winds today in excess of 60mph. Of course, nothing compared to Ike's initial fury in Texas, but I certainly never thought it would reach to Indiana, for Pete's sake!

The winds began to rise and a few limbs snapped, then a neighbors porch roof blew off, then another neighbors side porch roof blew off, a TV anntena bent and caught the outside gas line in it's path.... yea, it was bad around here. But it did do one thing. Neighbors that hadn't spoken in a few years were eager to help each other, and people that didn't even know each other's names, got to talk and to meet.

Weather brought our street together.

After the wind had subsided and before the power came back on, dh took the children out and asked people if he could cut the branches and trees that had fallen in their yards. He was successful in bringing home 2 truckloads of wood that we can burn next year! YEA! And he is heading back out again tomorrow AM to see about getting some more!

Praise God for the little things in life, right?

Speaking of praising Him, church was good today. The Pastor preached on Revelations 21 when satan is thrown into hell for good! What a day of rejoicing it will be!!!

We got to take our granddaughter with us, and she screamed all the way through, until Aunt Mili had to take her out awhile.  Pastor said she wasn't disturbing him, and that he could preach over 10 screaming babies... but we were afraid she was disturbing the others. She was just tired and didn't feel very good. I think she has a summer cold.

Anyhoo~ life is good, and the Lord is always better, and I have to work tomorrow! SO I had better get going, and try to get some sleep tonight.

Blessings to you all, and have a wonderful day tomorrow, where ever you are or where ever you wish to be....

In addition to....

being happy over having my grandchildren around me, apparently I have raised a bit of ire in a person who does not wish to allow anyone to see who they are, so it has been posted by an anonymous person that I hit and abuse my grandson when his mother is not around.

Nothing is farther from the truth. And I did tell my daughter AND her husband exactly what happened and why he was swatted on his backside. They both understood and didn't say a word about it. You can rest assured, that if my daughter (or son in law) ever thought I was abusive to the children, I would not be here.

Thank you for your comment. At least it shows someone is reading my blog, even if it is someone like you.

~Blessings~