Wax poetic

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I realize that some of my post come across (and will) romanticizing this lifestyle. I do have the rustic cabin in the woods. One thing that has annoyed me in the past is those that over romanced the lifestyle of a homesteader. Either they are wonderfully lucky individuals or flat out lying. Omitting the trails by fire can be dangerous to those just starting out.

I try my best not to do such things. However right now I am in love with my new surroundings, I am a babe in the woods. Wide eyed and exuberant about everything in my path. Yet I do see some trouble on the horizon. Something that I will have to flounder through to survive the hills. 

When you read my future posts (several have already been written) remember all of this. I may be an old hand (giggle, sure) at homesteading the Great Plains, but I am an utter neophyte in the hills and woods. Things I knew there, don't always work here. I have to be careful in my excitement not to blow it all.

And I will continue to tell you all. The good, the bad, the ridiculous mistakes, like I have always done. 

Someone commented that they were impressed that I was still able to do everything and still have time to blog. It impresses me as well! The thing is, I am sitting in the dark, sipping on over brewed coffee, chilled by the sudden dip in temperature, writing this note to you. Buckets (the old staffy) is snoring away in the other room, Husband and the boys sleeping soundly, the puppies out on patrol while Sprocket (blue tick/German Shepard) curls up in front of the door as sentry.  

I write when I have down time. I have little else to distract me. My hands may be bleeding, my back sore, my knee may be burning, but there is time. To be honest, I don't spend very long writing my posts. The longer ones with pictures involved may take 30 minutes. It's not that I don't care, it's just that the words are already there, and I type at a decent speed. I love to write, I am a storyteller, the bard for my family clan. If I don't tell the stories, there will be no one else to do so. 

I can see my breath against the light of the tablet this morning. Fall has been ushered in. The family is starting to move around, so it is time for me to end this tale. 

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.

Get 10% off your Seed Purchase

I received this email from Hometown Seeds Yesterday, your supplier of survival seeds.

We at Hometown Seeds have been overwhelmed by the help given to us by the online gardening community. From advice on products, tips to improve our website, and links to help increase traffic to our site, we sincerely appreciate all you have done for us.

In appreciation for your help, we would like to offer a 10% discount on all of our products to you and your web community. By entering the coupon code thanks, 10% will be reduced from the total cost of any order. The code will be good through February 28, 2010. Feel free to offer this to your readers and visitors.

Sincerely,

Scott

Scott Peterson

Public Relations

If you go for the easy green. . .

Normally I am not the type of person that refers you to a company, period. Let alone a company who has decided to advertise their greenness. This green thing seems to be another way to "keep up with the Jones' ". And as more and more companies push this in their ads, the more annoyed I get.

I did however receive an email the other day, it was asking if I would write about a company's plant a tree drive. I took some time to mull it over and look at the people involved. Eventually agreeing to write up a post. Most of you know my addiction to books. I have my fair share of paper books. So my hesitation is not purely based on the greenness factor, ichapters is a company that sells text book chapters to people when they need just those chapters. If I was in school, this would be great for me, personally however, I am not fond of the online media form. It doesn't feel a intimate to me, plus it gives me a headache. Yet this is an era in which more and more people are choosing to read their assignments and entertainment online.

If you buy a book or chapter from ichapters.com, they will plant a tree in your name. Unlike other companies that end up charging you for this program, they have partnered up with Changing the Present, there will be no other fees involved.

So if you really want a tree planted in your name, hey it could end up next to mine, this is a good way to go. Especially those of you that have nowhere else to plant a tree.

Making a living OFF Land

I normally do not place ads here. I have in the past tried referral programs, I didn't like them. I have refused to do pay-per-post. Unfortunately I have to make a living some how. And free- lancing only earns me so much.

So, Just in time for Christmas I have an oversize Calender just for you. Some of the photos you have seen here, some you haven't.

You can see it here. This sale is only good until Monday, but I really don't expect you guys to spend anything.

If you do decide to buy one, Thank you!

We will return you to your regular programming after this

Hope everyone is enjoying their Labor Day here in the US. Good Monday to everyone else.

Today is a busy day, as my middle son's 6th birthday party is today. They grow up a little too quickly. Makes me feel old. ~ha!~

I also have a few pounds of tomatoes to gather out of the garden. Speaking of canning, I received an email the other day. The proprietor of CanningUSA.com dropped me a note to tell me about the website. Normally I read the email, nod, look at the site and thank them for letting me know. Most the time I do not review or link out to them because of how I feel about unsolicited solicitation. But this one was different. I liked the mood of the email, this wasn't from someone that was professional about spamming. Instead it was an awkward and sincere try at getting a person to look at their website and hopefully buy something so that they can make a living. With as many of these, please look at my site and mention me emails I get, this one stood out.

I rank a PR 4, not super high when it comes to blogs or websites, but high enough where people will bother me about their wares. If the person is truly sincere, then I will think about mentioning them here, so that you can go look at them. Of course bribery never hurts either. ~wink~ No, they did not offer up anything.

Now about this site, CanningUSA.com. It is definitely a low tech site. Easy to navigate, and not so many fancy graphics that my country dial-up screams and shuts down. They have a few recipes, and are still adding to it. They even ask if you have one to share. They have several instructional videos, how-to's/ basics of home canning. My dial-up doesn't like videos, so I am slowly accessing them. If you watch them, please tell me how informative they are.

As for the shopping. Their pricing is competitive with my high priced small town store. I have yet to buy something from them, but when I do I will let you know about the experience. My only problem is that they are Amazon.com associates, and you buy through them. Not too long ago I got a little ticked with Amazon and their associate practices and deleted my account.

I do recommend checking out the website, CanningUSA.com. Hopefully with their re-vamping they will continue to keep the site simple.

Please let me know how you found the site to be.

Kitchen Confidential

A few weeks back, I was asked to review a DVD set call Kitchen Confidential. It is a situation comedy based on the memoirs of Chef Anthony Bourdain. It only ran 4 episodes before being pulled from the air.

The DVD set I was sent had a total of 12 episodes.

Jack Bourdain enjoys a celebrity lifestyle before hitting bottom. He eventually gets a job running an upscale restaurant in New York City, and is determined to prove he is no longer wild.

This series comes from the same people that did Sex in the City. I am not a big fan of that program, never really watched. But Kitchen Confidential is actually pretty good. It had me giggling through most of it. The actors are engaging in their roles, all except the female love interest that was thrown in.

I agreed to watch and review this DVD because it sounded like something my father would enjoy. Unfortunately he his now in Hospice, sharing a room and TV with another man. Hopefully I can bring it up to him soon to watch, this is the kind of dry witty humor he enjoys. And I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did.

I am also surprised that it was only aired for 4 episodes, and I would personally enjoy it as a more long run program. As a comedy it is both witty and crude, a wonderful mixture.