First let me say that I havn't been blogging  much of late due to the fact that "LIFE" is happening all around me, so please forgive me. I do intend to come back full time once things settle down.

   My mom is going down hill a little more with each new day. As of yesterday she has blood in her catherter bag, lots of blood. We knew that the catherter would cause infections, so there it goes.  Things not any better with my husband, divorce more than likely still  happening.

   But even that is not the worst of things going on right now. As many of you are aware there is a storm, Gustav, in the Gulf of Mexico. Well they are predicting it's land fall, as of now, to be none other than on yours truly, lol. Yes it is headed straight for us.  We live approx 50 or so miles north of the gulf. And with my home being an older one, it can no longer be insured, so we would lose everything. My car is on the blink right now so leaving is out of the question, and even if we did have a  good vehicle, mom can't travel.

  When I tell you I have never been so scared, it's not a lie. I have lived through so many storms here in Louisiana and none has ever effected me like this one is. That is why  I am asking for you wonderful people to pray for us down here in the south. I know it's hard to pray for it to go somewhere else, cuz that would mean it has to hit some one else. I am a nervous wreck to say the least. I have been on the edge for several weeks now about mom and her condition and this storm is kicking my butt but good. All of this is taking a great toll on me physically too. I have lost almost 20 lbs in the last two weeks. Although I am excited about the weigth loss, it's not the healthiest of ways to do it. I am feeling the effects of the stress on my body, and I have to say, I'm a little worried about that too.

   SOOOOOOO ladies, PLEASE pray for us. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer and that is why I am posting this.   I will probably be without power for sometime if hits us ( i hope that is the worst of it, I can live with that), so I will update as soon as I can.

PLEASE KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS...................MUCH LOVE......KITTY

Hello Homestead bloggers.  I'd like to say a special hello to the handfull of ladies that posted on my blog, asking about me since I've been away from the computer.  Thank you Trixi, Farrah and Julia  and of course, Kitty who is a close friend that I keep in touch with in other ways.   

I'm dissappointed that one can go from being a long standing  "top commenter" here  (one who reads and comments on others' blogs) to not blogging at all for a long time and come back to wonder if all those friends from my "friends list" even cared I'd been away.  Plus bunches had removed me as a friend of theirs altogether I noticed.  So I'm hurt but won't stay that way.        Blogging is strange....

On a different note some of the things that have been going on have been:

We took a short trip to Memphis with hubby on business.

My hubby's dad has been really sick and in the hospital.

Our oldest daughter is in hospital passing kidney stones.

Been gathering lots of eggs.  (getting double yolks from our new chickens!  I'll take a pic soon of the pretty baby blues and greens and avacado green and browns and white eggs.)

Got lots of rain from Faye which relieved our parched area.

Gearing up for Gustav here in South Mississippi  : (  When Katrina hit we were without power for over a week and lost all our food in freezers/fridg, waited in long lines to get gas that got higher by the minute, lots of clean up, etc....We're going tonight to the store to stock up on some things for the storm.  We've already got some batteries.  And since Katrina we've gotten a generator and a window unit air conditioner so we can at least stay in the house during 90 plus temps outside if the power goes out. 

Lots of things going on at Church.  I'll be teaching 1st and 2nd grade Sunday School for the new Church year again and it will begin Sept. 1st.

Our 26th Wedding Anniversary is next Wednesday.

Our oldest granddaughter turned 5 this week.  Her party is Saturday.

Our 3rd grandchild is due Thanksgiving day!  It's a boy!

Several little trips planned to flea markets and such.

My first post in so long should be more exciting but maybe next time.   With pictures! 

~God bless everyone~

Today was Tasha Tudor's Birthday, she would have been 93, but she passed away on June 18th of this year. I have been a huge fan of her's for years. She was a very talanted lady and passionate gardner. The lifestyle that she lived was, for me, admirable. Several of us fans, we call ourselfs Kindred Spirits, had tea today in her honor, all accross the United States and probably around the world. She had a large following in Japan. This wonderful lady is and will be missed by many.

Take Joy,

Jan

Time for my monthly measurements... Overall, I'm happy.  Sure, I wish it was a bit bigger difference, but I know some muscle building is going on and my arms are not as flabby, even if they haven't gone down a whole lot.  You can kind of see a trend... second month measurements went up, most likely due to muscle increase.  This month my hips went down just slightly which I was surprised, because I did alot more biking with a bike with no speeds and I could feel it with my upper thighs and buttocks.  Figured they'd be bulging!  LOL.  I see that I am trimming from the top down.... reminds me of those weight loss commercials where you see both man and wife gain weight (cartoons), and then they lose weight and the woman loses her arms and *****, yet keeps her tummy and hips.  Hope that trend doesn't continue... at least the difference isn't large and overall I am not loosing ***** yet, LOL, considering I gained a bit of muscle underneath when I started exercising more regularly.    I was smiling big a couple weeks ago when the doctor's office visit confirmed some weight loss.  I know my pants are getting looser in places, but my tummy is staying put, so my skirts I don't really see a difference.  I try on old pants every so often just to see if I can fit into them or how different they fit.  Last year's capri's were too tight to fit into, but now I can fit into them as I did last year (even though I weighed less last year). 

August 28:

Upper Chest: 34.25, Breast: 36, Waist: 36.5, Hips: 41.75, Upper Thighs: 23.75, Lower Thighs: 18.75, Calves:  15, Upper Arms:  12 1/8,  Weight:  144.5 (Two weeks ago at Doctor's office). 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Previous Measurings:

June 26: 

Upper Chest:  34, Breast: 36,  Waist:  36.5,  Hips:  42,  Upper thigh: 24.25, Lower thigh:  17.5, and Calves:  15 inches, Upper Arm 12-7/8ths.    Weight:  150 pounds. 

July 28th:

Upper Chest 34.5,  Breast 36.5,  Waist 37,  Hips:  41.5,  Upper Thigh: 23.75,  Lower Thigh:  18.75,  Calves:  14.75,   Upper Arm:  12.5

I am pleased to host this week's Carnival of Homesteading. I'm calling this one the "Beginning the Farewell to Summer Edition" as we are going back to school and about to welcome the harvest season....The Carnival of Homesteading #62

We've been gone camping and I am about settled into home (about...still much to do, but I am getting into a routine).  We took a spur of the moment trip to camp at Governor Dodge State Park in Wisconsin.  It is a quiet place, huge campground and a very large state park.   We enjoyed some lazy summer relaxation before heading back home to meet what is there to get done. 

Back home, Kate started college this week.  She is learning her schedule.  Unfortunately we can't get her into ONE more class and she isn't sure she is happy or sad about that.  One more class would give her official full-time status according to the college.  They told us that she was full-time, but this seminar class the financial aid office tells us, does not qualify her for full time.  So, I am researching having her take a correspondence course that will transfer to her 4 year college in religion (which our local college doesn't carry).  She is really struggling with the amount of work with the 3 classes currently and tells me she is not sure another class is a good idea.  She was up until 12:58 am last night (with me by her side for the last hour and a half) doing her chemistry assignment.  An entire chapter in one day and gobs of questions... lots of math problems and formulas...  But she got it done and this morning looked ready to tackle another day.  She will be working after classes today, which will bring her home straight to do homework until bed again. 

We also started gearing up with our homeschool.  Getting out some of those books and beginning a few classes.  I am not totally organized, but this week was a week of organizing and cleaning up from camping and still cleaning out from the kitchen fire.  Our first day of "school" the two older girls painted their baby sister's room.  New to them and they did a great job.  They've watched us paint through the years, now it was time for them.  We also in doing this were moving her into this room, which was previously the "tv room" and in doing it, it has in effect decreased some tv watching time. 

Today the girls are picking some pears from our pear tree.  They are near ripe and need to be picked before they drop and "splat" on the ground.  I wasn't expecting any pears as we didn't get hardly a dozen last year even having bees to pollinate them... but this year... no bees and a full tree. 

The girls already have a mindset of completing their school year on time... which means every time I break off for school to do something constructive, I am finding a not so welcome front from the girls.  They pestered me about picking pears and really needing to do some "book work".  My 13 yo isn't like that so much, she's been homeschooled from the start, but I fought this mentality all the way through with my oldest and my second (still) likely because they went to school and consider school just that... book work.  While we have followed the Moore Formula and tried alternate forms of teaching, the two older girls have always come back to school meaning "text books".  And with not having many other than math and occasionally an English textbook, they have really struggled with feeling like they have accomplished something.  It  took my oldest getting a good score on her ACT to realize she actually learned something without the regimented school routine.  She has always felt behind her classmates who remained in school.  Just because she was different.  Not every day was a struggle though, she enjoyed homeschooling, but every so often the "oh, no, Mom's not a real teacher... thought would creep in and we'd be in for a rough day or two until they worked through that again".  (Usually spurred on my an educational event at her previous school.)  Anyways, I don't mean to make it sound like we don't accomplish things, it just doesn't seem that way when we don't school traditionally to the kids at times.  I think that means I need to put in some more praise days for completing a project or unit study. 

Organizing is going more quickly since the girls are back to help watch their sister.  I have to remind myself to break away and spend time with little Paige doing "Nothing" so that she will have her Mommy time.  WHile I'd love to have the house put together in a week or so... it likely won't be that quick.  But happy kids are worth more than a Martha Stewart House. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Awhile back someone askd me to post a few pictures of my many gingham aprons. Here are a few.  love the ones with the "Chicken Scratch" worked in them.

Oven Fried Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 cup corn flake crumbs or bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten or 1/4 cup milk
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In pie plate, combine crumbs, thyme, oregano, paprika and salt. Pour egg whites into second pie plate. Dip chicken in egg whites, then into crumb mixture, coating evenly. Place chicken in greased shallow 1 quart baking dish. Drizzle butter over chicken. Bake, uncovered, 20-25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle.