Life is Like Jam

Sometimes life's best lesson are learned through some of the simplest everyday tasks. Saturday Chelsee and I made homemade Peach Jam. Through the process of preparing and making the jam I felt like there was a little lesson to be learned. Not just in the jam making, but a life lesson. Preparation, having a plan, adjusting the plan if needed, having all the ingredients needed, and of course enjoyment of the finished product. We haven't made jam for a couple years, so the search was on for all the utensils. Once everything was gathered, and the instruction read, we began. Most of the process went pretty smooth, but there were some little bumps along the way. No matter... we worked it, figured out how we could adjust and kept going. That is exactly how life is. We have a recipe, or plan for our life. Many times along the way things happen that make it necessary to adjust or change our plan. If we let it happen, we find that the change or adjustments actually can be challenging, but often work out very well. So, enjoy the process, and have a slice of fresh Peach Jam, and don't let the "sticky" times keep you from enjoying your life.

Puppy Vision

Cash was having trouble coming back to us when we called him outside. So we decided to try the "Hide & Seek" method to see if it would help him. We started with Chelsee hiding someplace in the house and then whistling and calling for him. It did not take long for him to figure this game out. Since then he has improved greatly on returning when called outside, but still has not perfected it. This morning I decided to play Hide and Seek with him..I had been sitting by my computer in the computer room. I called him to me a couple times, then praised him when he came, and then returned him to a different room. The third time I hid on the left side of the doorway, then called for Cash. He came running right away and went right to the last place he had found me, which was by the computer. I purposely left a picture of Chelsee holding Cash up on the monitor. I couldn't believe his response. He looked at the screen and noticed Chelsee right away, and did the cute ears up and turn the head side to side look, then he did a little yipe bark at her picture. So cute. He did find me after I called him again. This game seems to greatly be improving his return to us when called. So I give it 5 Doggie Treats rating with 5 as the top!

ATTITUDE

Something a friend emailed to me reminded me of this quote. It is one I have liked for a long time, but sometimes have to be reminded of it.

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of Attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the Attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have and that is our Attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...you are in charge of your Attitude." Charles Swindoll

Puppy Energy

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

That is what my brain is thinking. Our Johnny Cash "Cash" has soooooooooooooooooo much energy. How will I ever keep up with him when Chelsee goes back to college. He is so sweet sometimes. But we can tell when he is getting tired for the night, because he gets naughty. So then it's to the bathroom outside..and kennel up. So far he has been really good about kenneling up for the night..not much whining..in fact hardly ever. Let's hope I didn't just jinx that by saying that. Some of Cash's favorite play things are:

Chewing on his little squeaky mouse

Chewing on "chewies"

Chewing on cardboard boxes

Chewing on small tree branches

Chewing on water bottles

Chewing on toys

Chewing on tennis balls

Are you noticing a theme here...Chew, Chew, chew...which we expected. I know puppies tend to chew...the next thing he likes is digging holes in my lawn. We will have fun filling in all the dips. Some are pretty deep, and Cash likes to bury his stash of "chewies" in them.

He also still likes to play in his blue wading pool, which helps keep him cooled off.

Chelsee has done a great job training him so far. He learned to let us know when he needed to go outdoors for "his business". He has learned to sit, lay down, roll over, and shake hands. We had trouble getting him to come when called. So Chelsee and I started playing hide and seek with him. I think that has improved his response greatly. Chelsee also taught him to go back up to the house when he is where he doesn't belong by saying loudly..and pointing...GO HOME. Works most of the time.

Cash had his Dr. Vet check up on Tuesday, he now weighs 20 lbs and received his Parvo/Distemper and Rabies shots. So I guess we are set for awhile. We also got him the Heartworm tablets. Definitely do not want him to get heartworm, awful looking what it does to the doggie heart.

So, any ideas on puppy training, let us know.

Cuming County Fair Super Saturday

Every Cowgirl needs her own cowboy hat, and Briana even had cute pink top leather cow"girl" boots. She didn't call them cowboy boots, they were cowgirl boots.

Alyssa, Lonnie, and Briana enjoyed watching the Bull Riding and cheering on the cowboys

These little guys look like they are anxious to give bull riding a try, or dreaming of the day when they can.

Ok..explanations here...the picture above is the shot I was trying to get, of the cowboys, (local and from elsewhere) getting ready for the bull riding right before their names were announced to the crowd. Well, I was taking pictures without my glasses, (which apparently is just as bad as when I text without my glasses) and zoomed, but did not see what was being zoomed in on, I just kept shooting pictures, because with the bright sunlight, you can not see the screen on the back of the digital cameras..so I kinda lined up and shot pictures. The lower picture is what I got...believe me, I did not mean to take it, but Briana saw it and thought it was hilarious...ok..seriously MB....I feel a book mark "Cowboy Up!" design developing !!!! just kidding.

Cuming County Fair Friday

My top two favorite finds for Fair Friday were easy to spot. My number one find was the book " Images of Nebraska State Fair" by Mary Maas. The author was sitting in a shady spot welcoming anyone interested in her book. I was lucky to get to chat with her for a bit, and she also autographed my book. The book is full of interesting facts and photos from years of Nebraska State Fair. One of the most interesting facts so far is that the Wright Brothers brought one of their planes to Nebraska and performed at the State Fair. Pretty cool.

I have always wanted to try Watkins products. I've heard by word of mouth of the quality of this product. Since there was a local vendor of Watkins with a booth at the fair it was easy to check it out. My Mom wanted me to pick up a container of Watkins Cinnamon for her, so I thought it was about time I tried it. As you can tell by the picture I splurged a little bit. I just love the look of the containers with their nostalgic design. Also, Watkins has a "gold" card that you get a punch for the items you buy and when it's full, you get $10 off of their product...that's a great BONUS!

Cuming County Fair 2011

Today was opening day at Cuming County Fair. My two favorites of the day, (other than the Pork Burgers with sauerkraut on them). #1 The windmills that were part of the Cattleman's Ball were lined up all together, it looked so neat seeing all the tops of the windmill blades blowing in the wind.

Also a favorite was the cake that the daughter of a friend of ours made for her 4-H cake entry. She won Grand Champion with it. When I went to look for her cake I didn't know what her design was, I looked and looked and did not see a "cake". Finally here MOM gave me a clue..and there it was ....a "cake" box of popcorn. The cake looked exactly like a box of popcorn, and she used fondant frosting to form the "popcorn", very realistic looking. Congratulations Kaylie on a job well done.

Hoot Hoot whose Quilting!

My Granddaughter Alexa came for a visit to the farm and brought along some fabric. I was surprised when she said she had brought fabric to make a blanket. Made me feel so good that she brought it without me suggesting. That let's me know she really wanted to sew and not just because I wanted her to sew!!! YEAH! Her fabric was a busy print of trees with owls perched in them, really cool colors. For the backing she chose orange minkie. I let her rummage through my batik fabric and she found most of her accent colors in there for the block border. We tried to keep it simple, so had her sew 2 different sets of 3 rows of different fabric, then cut them to 6" widths. That made putting the outer block border together pretty fast and simple. We did not put any batting it, the minkie had enough body and it has a wonderful feel to it. I did sew on the binding just to wind things up. To make it an even more fun day, Chelsee was sewing also. She is making a batik tridazzle type quilt using purples and blues for the main blocks, and creams for another block. Beautiful batiks! So all in all a fun Monday and Tues of sewing at the farm. Alexa was excited to be able to take home her quilt and show it off to her Mom and Dad.

Clay

Dear Lord

Mold and shape me

Like Clay upon the potters wheel

Strengthen me through fire

So that I may become a

Strong & sturdy

Vessel of Your Love & Joy

Amen

I took this photo at the Open Air Art & Craft show at Okoboji last summer. I have always wished for the opportunity to form clay on a potters wheel. There is just something so wonderful about having your hand covered with God's wonderful clay earth, and creating something beautiful or useful. The gentlemen in the picture actually turned out to be from Norfolk, Ne, not far from where I live. He and his wife travel to different Art & Craft Festivals.

Murphy Bed

I really, really, really would like to get a Murphy Bed to use in our computer room. Whenever the kids are home we never have enough room for them. We have been using the queen air mattresses..which work ok, but are not very convenient. The nice thing about a Murphy bed is that it will fold up into a wall cupboard and be completely out of the way, and look nice too when not in use. I really like this simple version, with side shelf units on each side. It would be perfect.

Bazinga!

I have thinking about "sitting on the dock of the bay" a lot lately. Just plain miss the relaxing atmosphere of that special vacation. There was lots of laughter and silliness...so to refresh the memory...I think the word BAZINGA! covers it all

Sunshine

Sometimes a flower is just a bit of Sunshine in my day!