Give me some sugar baby

I did it. I Sugared.

To make Sugaring Paste you will need

2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water

Place all ingredients into a heavy bottom sauce pan, mix together and bring to a boil over a med-high heat. Reduce hat and simmer at least 25 minutes until it is a dark Amber color. Cool slightly and pour into a container and allow it to come to room temperature before using.

I did all that. Husband was really interested in the entire project so he hoovered and actually tended to the mixture as it simmered. I got it into the container, and started scrapping the stuff that stuck in the pan. Of course we tasted it. Tastes like lemon drops. Our boys, including a neighbor kid tried it as well. As soon as all of them had a bit in their mouths I announced that what they were eating would be ripping the hair off my legs. They all paused, looked at me, then shrugged. Tastes good!

As the mixture sat cooling more than once I had to tell everyone to STOP EATING IT!

Mixture has now cooled to room temperature. I grabbed the corn starch, and the boys wanted to try it. So small little balls were made, and I ripped the hair off their arms. Evil mama! It was like removing a band aid. They howled and laughed running though the house to show their father. I still say boys are silly, but girls are insane.

Why? Why did I decide to do this? My main goal was something that I didn't need water for, like shaving. And as I have sensitive to chemical skin, I opted to try the natural stuff.

Have you waxed before? I was informed that this was less painful than waxing. I rubbed just a bit of corn starch on my leg. Not a lot, just enough to keep the sugar from sticking to my skin. I pulled out a bit of the mixture, like pulling taffy, and formed a ball, warming the mixture back up a bit. Next I pulled it up my leg against the grain if you will. Took a deep breath and. . .

I turned into an opera singer.

Quickly pull the sugar down, with the grain.

ok, ok. I've got it down. Let's try it again.

I LOVE MY MOTHER! of course not what I said, sailors could be seen blushing.

I tried it again. Sugar Honey Ice Tea that hurts. Oh look, a root. Oh look, blood.

Are you kidding me. I am so done. I informed husband that I will try this again when I am super drunk and have no feeling in any of my extremities. Put a lid on the container and save for latter. If it gets to hard, add a bit of water and put it in the microwave a few moments, allow to cool before using.

But hey, it works.

Snowed in

Last night we were in town, getting our taxes done. When we went into the office, snow had just began to fall. An hour and 15 minutes later, there was over an inch of snow covering the ground. On the way home, husband told Small that if we get snowed in, h would have to be thrown through the window and he would have to dig us out

Small took him seriously. I woke this morning to a lot of snow, not sure how much fell. School was canceled and the doors wouldn't open very far because of the snow drifts. I went back to bed, nothing else I could do, and when I got up, Small had dug out the back door.

Two Updates

My little brother had surgery yesterday, and is on his way home today. He got a total of 2 plates and fourteen screws put in his arm. He hurts, but the surgery went well

Stepfather will be bumped tomorrow. He tried to file a grievance but it was denied. He is the only one that was working in his household.

Funny, my mother was consoling me when husband was laid off, 2 years ago now. And. . . now it seems to be my turn to do the same for her.

It hurts not only watching my family go through this, but other families as well. My mother and I were out and about a few weeks back. We decided to grab something to eat at a local place. The older gentleman behind the counter was new, and just learning how to take orders. If you have spent your entire life around the aircraft industry like I have, you know an engineer when you see one. There is just something about these guys that sticks out. I felt awful for him. Here is was, close to retirement age, having a kid teach him how to work at a fast food restaurant after working years to get were he was before being laid off. But then I was also proud of the man. He found the work he needed.

We are seeing more and more people like him in our community. And I am sure you are seeing it as well.

Doing the Bump

There is this really cool union thing called the bump.

Now imagine this, you have been working hard at your job for the last 20 plus years, suddenly the aircraft manufacturer that you work for is have financial issues, well heck let's be honest, the entire US is having some financial issues.

Some of your co-workers are getting pink slips that very day, and given 2 months severance pay. Other of your co-worker are given 90 day notices and no severance pay. You know the layoffs are coming to you because they have already announced that your job is going to Mexico. So you wait.

Suddenly a laid off worker is rehired in your area. This means you are now higher up on the list to get laid off first. Seniority no longer matters. And you wait.

Now here comes the fun part, another laid off worker decides thy don't want to be laid off, and according to the union rules, you can actually want this, so this one person decided that they will go ahead and move to your department, even though in the next few months it is going to Mexico, and BOOM!!! You are bumped.

Bumped means no warning, no severance pay. Bumped means you are out in the cold with nothing but thank you for your years of service. You've done nothing wrong, but you are done here. It is like getting fired without getting fired. And because you weren't laid off, you don't get to do the bump with someone else.

That is what the Phelan Family is about to face. At least we can see it happening and know that it is coming very soon.

Just got this email "it is that some men who where laid off put in a grievance. They say that since they use to work 30 years ago, in Step-father's department, they should be able to come back. They do not know how to do the job. They won and they will be coming back. This means that 80% of the department will not know how to do the job"

The Same Thing We Do Every Night Pinky. . .

Project! Project Alert!

For a few years now, husband and I have planed and plotted and dreamed of building a Walipini (link is a pdf.) aka a pit greenhouse.

Average temperature the ground stays is 50F, that means you only need to get another 30 degrees to reach perfect growing temperatures for the majority of plants. A Walipini means no weeds, no bad weather, it has it's own water collecting system, as well as a ventilation system that can be opened and closed to allow bees access. Bannies can be placed in there to help control insect problems and fertilize. A family of 7 needs about 900 sq feet to feed themselves all year round in one of these. We have some plans on improving the space inside of it.

oh I can't wait.

The picture above is a whole lot of windows and sliding glass doors. A friend of ours installs them, and we get all the ones he pulls out.

What we will be doing, is digging a 4foot + deep hole, reserving the top soil for later, and using the other dirt to berm it to 8ft. The glass will be the pitched roof set at a certain angle to utilize the winter solstice and decrease the summer's. Bridge planks will be used (you know those old wooden bridges?) to create the walls, almost like they do in mines. We plan on using tiers for the cool weather items, and creating adobe type pots that can be placed high on the walls to allow vine plants, like cucumbers, to crawl down the walls. The floor will be set at a slight angle, allowing moisture to drain into a french drain.

We will be creating a miniature one here at the homestead. And hopefully convince my mother and step-father to allow us to create a full size one at the farmstead. NO WEEDING MOTHER!!!

Commercial Break

Lushae Jewelry contacted me about trying out some of their Jewelry. Now I am not the biggest fan of the sparklies (me having a Secret of the N.I.M.H. moment) But sometimes it's nice to have something on hand.

I checked the site out, and was really tempted to get the Skull and Cross Bones ring. Alas! I decided to play the grown-up and picked out the Impressionist Ring

The order arrived via USPS within a couple of days, in a great little blue and beige box. At first I was a little disappointed in the ring. It is casted, and has very little weight to it. I bought it as a thumb ring, because that' s how I like it. It was bulkier than I thought it would be, and is bright shinning chrome. The picture above shows the tribal work in great fat detail, however the lines on the piece I received were not as predominant. In the bright light, all you see is a slight indentation and chrome.

However, once I got use to the lightness, and got it away from the direct light, I grew rather fond of it. Out of the direct light you can see the details of the ring.

LuShae also carries pendants as well as earrings.

And looking around the site, it seems they have a contest going as well. If you put up their link and badge, you can be entered to win $5,000. They also have a $200 monthly winner, paid via paypal, to spend however you like.

Hey Ladies

So I have been sitting on about 4 different sugaring recipes for about a year now. I have waxed before . . . . boys, the title of the post should have warned you. . .but have never sugared.

Currently I use a straight razor. I Love my straight razor, I don't have to throw it away or buy new blades for it.

So my question is, have you sugared, and if so, what recipe do you use?

And yes, I will be posting a very graphic post full of sailors blushing once I break down and decide to try it. ~insert evil, yet painful laugh here~

Just Say No

I know that some of you can't watch video's on your pc I am sorry about posting one. But it is a very good video about GMO's