Thursday, October 13, 2022
Menu Plan: October 9 - 15
What a couple weeks! I have been remiss in posting here, but am trying to catch up a bit. We've been home, but barely, it feels like. It has just been incredibly busy. However, people still need to be fed, and we are still trucking along in our daily routines. I hope to have my weekly (not so much lately) craft on post ready by tomorrow, too. A frugality post is in the works, as well.
This week is the anniversary of what Rich and I count as our first date. We will have been together as a couple for 28 years this week. That is one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I am so grateful to share my life with this wonderful man. He has been such a good example to our kids, and a model of a husband. I can't wait for the rest of our lives together. We have been teaching a social dance class at the ballet studio where the girls go, and aside from being fun exercise that also permits us to teach other people, it has been a good mid-week decompress for us, because it is fun work, and we even get to dance with each other occasionally in class.
On the food score, we are inundated with apples, pears, squash, potatoes and tomatoes, and onions on the way. I think we have bought ourselves enough time with them, with how we are storing them, that I can put off canning and so on until next week, but we are eating a lot of them right now. Basically, at every meal, you are likely to see tomatoes, pears and/or apples. The potatoes will get used faster than you might think, we use almost 10 pounds of onions a week, and squash can be stored nearly forever. However, there will be canned pears, apple pie filling in the freezer, green tomato chutney, and possibly tomato sauce and pear sauce. We are so grateful for our gleaning club, as all of Rich's efforts in the garden were thwarted, and we had such a weird spring and summer here.
We picked up several muscovy ducks a couple weeks ago and are acclimating them to our property and animals, but are really excited about the eggs and meat we will have in a few months. Rich still has our other ducks to harvest, but they will make a few really good meals for us during this winter. I am looking forward to roast duck and cassoulet and other delicious things. Not to mention all the duck fat for onions and potatoes!
Since Jerome did so poorly with the bananas, we have given him a couple weeks off from testing back any new foods. He isn't starting anything new until next week. We are on the road toward the end now, though, and I think the rest of the foods should be fine. Because of the delay, he will still be testing food back after December, rather than being completely finished before the end of this year, but we thought it was important to give his skin and body a bit of a break.
- Sunday
Breakfast: Cottage Cheese and Sliced Cucumbers, Pears, Coffee and Tea
Dinner: Pastitsio (Gluten-free for Jerome), Salad, Navy Beans with Sausage, Watermelon - Monday
Breakfast: Fried Eggs and Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Watermelon, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Ham and Turkey Sandwiches/Wraps (Gluten-free for Jerome), Pickles, Sliced Apples and Pears - Tuesday
Breakfast: Cottage Cheese Parfait with Diced Fruit, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Chamorro Shrimp and Vegetable Fritters, Garlic Fried Rice, Fruit Plate - Wednesday
Breakfast: Tomato Toast with Za’atar and Olive Oil (Grain-free Granola and Coconut Milk for Jerome), Pears, Tea with Honey
Dinner: Moroccan Chickpea Wraps (Gluten-free for Jerome), Sliced Oranges - Thursday - Feast of Saint Edward the Confessor
Breakfast: Steel Cut Oats with Chopped Apples and Brown Sugar, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Adobo Pork, Rice, Tomato Salad, Fruit Plate - Friday
Breakfast: Apple Coconut Breakfast Bowls, Tea and Honey
Dinner: Potato Soup, Crackers (Gluten-free for Jerome), Pears - Saturday
Breakfast: Kids Make Breakfast, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: One Pot Tandoori Chicken with Spiced Coconut Rice and Peas, Pears
Labels: Blog Info, Family, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Homemaking, Homesteading, Menu Plans, Prayer Requests, Romance and Relationship, Tales from the Kitchen
Wednesday, February 02, 2022
Craft On: First Finished Objects of the Year
Not only did I finish this baby blanket, but I made a little wash mitt to go with it. Both still need to be washed and blocked, and the blanket needs its ends woven in, too. Those are my first two FOs of the year, and I think Imbat will be finished by the end of the week (or at least the knitting of it and the pattern writing).
We have a new yarn shop in town and I was able to go to one of their sit and stitch sessions and chat with the owner. She used to own a shop on the west side I would visit when we were staying with a priest family with whom we are friends. It will be great to have a LYS here after about five have not stuck around here. I really hope she succeeds and thrives.
We finished Rainbow Valley and started Rilla of Ingleside. Reading these books have sparked all sorts of discussions on Protestantism in the Americas at the turn of the 20th century, Canadian and American history, and the run up to World War I. I think they want to read the Cheaper by the Dozen books next. Also, I have finally finished Desert Queen! The book and the woman were fascinating, especially to me, but I have to admit that I did not like her. I did enjoy watching her learn and grow and seeing how her opinion was modified by her greater knowledge of the people and culture of the Arab world. We are still dealing with the problems that she both foresaw and aided in creating now. Her disdain of women reminded me of why I despise that saying about well behaved women rarely making history, though. While there is an element of truth in that, as it is truly extraordinary people, both men and women, who mark the world so indelibly, well behaved women are busy making society and culture.
Now, I have returned to Bearing God: The Life and Works of St. Ignatius of Antioch the God-Bearer, whose life has come up at church this past week and his teaching and legacy come up in various theological discussions and articles we have been reading. His influence is so important to the Church, and I really want to know him better.
There is something I am frustrated about, though I have tried to keep my blog and social media largely free of political discussion. My apologies to those of you who follow me to avoid that. I am a woman of color, ethnic minority, daughter of immigrants, raised in relative poverty. Ostensibly, it is my voice that is supposed to be highlighted, though I have never wanted artificial, token propping up, which implies or assumes that my work is not good enough to stand on its own without the help of young, "socially conscious" saviors to lift me from my savage ignorance and incompetence. However, because I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and do not simply form an opinion on a person or organization based on what the mob currently thinks, I am in the cross hairs of these same people who think that minority voices should be magnified.
I try not to pay too much attention to small changes in my followers on social media, follows fluctuate, and maybe someone is no longer interested in my work or now likes it more. However, it was hard not to notice the large drop off of the last week or so, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why, as I hadn't said anything political, nor had I said anything controversial. I attributed it to it being January, and people cleaning up their feeds. Then a post from a publication came up in my feed, and I saw that I didn't really agree with what they were putting out, so I went to unfollow them. Someone had linked to them in the last couple weeks of January, and I followed to see what they might have to say or contribute. Then, I realized that this was likely the reason for the drop in my followers. I have already had evidence of people screen shotting my social media activity to prove my racism (snort), and I have had a young, white, privileged woman tell me that I didn't understand the experience of minorities and immigrants in this country. I have not wanted to dignify their venomous, petty, attacks with a response or acknowledgement. Let me make this clear, though. These are people with nothing better to do than sniff for blood in the water and go on the attack. I don't have time in my day to keep track of the activities of people I don't care for or know. I just don't. I'm not sure how they do. But I am tired of their nonsense. Since none of them were my customers or supported my work, it is not a big loss, but I am tired of all of these white saviors somehow thinking that this brown woman is too stupid to know her life and needs them to tell her how life is. What happened to holding space and sitting in discomfort to listen? I will still give people the benefit of the doubt and explore their words and actions myself to form my own opinion, regardless of the sharks. The funny thing is that sometimes I draw the same or similar conclusions, but because I am unwilling to toe the line and cast off anyone the crowd hates, and instead take the time to evaluate each person or situation myself, I am somehow a traitor. I may regret this free expression, but for now it stays. Thank you for reading my frustrated ramblings. We will go back to our normal crafting and reading after this.
Linking to Unraveled Wednesday.
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Labels: Blog Info, Books, Design, FOs, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Homemaking, Knitting, WIP, Yarn Along
Sunday, June 27, 2021
Menu Plan: June 27 - July 3
Rich didn't get to take tomorrow off, because of necessary meetings, but was able to get Thursday off, though he still had to do work at home, not only Thursday, but Friday and Saturday, though he still had his four day weekend to "rest." He didn't really rest, because he worked on the air conditioners, planted in the garden, and worked on his CFII renewal, however, he got to do so on his own schedule. Because of a lot of the responsibilities we had to the airshow, we ended up pushing our end of schoolyear work to this week, so we are finishing up our school term this past week. We will take a break to just rest and read, and then we will pick up some science and history and a little math for the summer.
It is another scorcher this week, so again we are trying to eat cool things or things that can be grilled, cooked in the pressure or slow cooker, made ahead, or made quickly. Some of the meals from last week have been moved because of this. Our whole week is supposed to be in the 100˚ - 115˚ range. We are also getting one and a quarter beef delivered this week, which means we are rearranging freezers (at least that is cold work) and eating as much as we can from our freezers.
We still have quite a lot of asparagus, so we are eating a bit of that. There was no time for pickling, between the airshow and the ballet recital. The girls' recital (sans audience) went well, and all the dancers worked so hard. We are immensely proud of them. However, we are hoping that these next couple weeks of rest, even in the heat, will help get us moving for summer fun and projects. This weekend, some newer, but dear, friends are coming into town, and we are planning on spending a bit of time with them. Their kids are friends with ours, and haven't seen each other since the middle of April.
We are still making meals that are safe for Jerome, so if you have allergies and need ideas, I hope that helps. If you have ideas for us, please share them! We are also keeping the Wednesday and Friday abstinent fasts, though not perfectly strictly. Also, if you didn't see my announcement, please note that I am working through the comments of the last year and a half, now that I know they are there.
- Sunday
Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs (Scrambled Chickpeas for Jerome), Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Fruit, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives, Rustic Bread (Gluten-free for Jerome), Green Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette, Gluten-Free Blackberry Cobbler with Whipped Cream (Coconut Cream for Jerome) - Monday - Feast of Saint Irenaeus of Lyons
Breakfast: Ham with Potatoes O'Brien, Fruit, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Grilled Pork and Lamb Chops, Green Salad, Fruit Plate - Tuesday - Feast of Saints Peter and Paul
Breakfast: Yogurt and Jam (Coconut Yogurt for Jerome), Fruit Plate, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Greek Lamb Ribs, Loaded Vegetable Pasta Salad, Sorbet - Wednesday
Breakfast: Apple-Coconut Breakfast Bowl with Honey Peanut Butter, Tea with Honey
Dinner: Raclette with Potatoes and Toast (Gluten-Free for Jerome), Chopped Salad, Fruit - Thursday
Breakfast: Peanut Butter Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Fruit Plate, Tea with Honey
Dinner: Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Salad, Fruit - Friday
Breakfast: Labneh (Faux Cream Cheese for Jerome) with Tomatoes, Radishes, Dill and Olive Oil, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Fruit, Tea and Honey
Dinner: Tuna Pasta Salad (Gluten-free pasta for Jerome), Fruit Plate - Saturday
Breakfast: Pancakes with Maple Syrup (Gluten-free Pancakes for Jerome), Bacon, Fruit Plate, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Grilled Sausages and Burgers, Coleslaw, Pickles, Chips, Ice Cream
Labels: Blog Info, Church Year, Family, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Homemaking, Homeschooling, Menu Plans, Special Diet, Tales from the Kitchen
Monday, June 21, 2021
Many Apologies for the Inconvenience
Please accept my apologies. Some of those were questions, and I am working to answer those notes first. I will try to answer all of them, however. Also, I think I have made sure that I will actually get my notifications from now on - Google actually turned it off and removed my e-mail address, even though that is the address I use to log in and I asked for notification (and used to get them for each and every one without ever turning it off myself).
Labels: Blog Info
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Arabian Knits Blog Re-Boot
Rather than try to reconfigure all 13 years' worth of posts with their photographs, though as I can I hope to put the pictures back, my new posts will be equipped with photography. Thank you to those of you who have kept up with me in other ways. If you want to follow me on social media, please check out the links in the sidebar, but if you just want to read my ramblings and get updates on my designs, see my knitting and other crafts, get some menu ideas, this is the place to see it.
My first pattern of the year is about to come out, and I hope you will be as excited about it as I am. Sah'aab is a hooded scarflette full to bursting with squishy cables. It's a quick knit, made with super-bulky yarn and minimal seaming. It will be available for sale Monday on both Love Crafts Knitting and Ravelry, both stores are linked in the sidebar. If you want to get the first notice of new patterns like this, please sign up for my newsletter, 1,001 Knits.
Labels: Blog Info, Design, Knitting
Friday, July 07, 2017
Blog Update
They want $400 a year to be able to post a link to my photos here. There is no tiered pricing option to permit smaller blogs/websites like mine to continue. They announced the change to the terms of service just before the holiday weekend, and then enacted it almost immediately, holding all bloggers', Amazon or e-Bay sellers', or help forum posters' pictures hostage, essentially. The only way we have access to publishing our photos is to cough up the $400. Per year. When they already have a website that was getting harder and harder to use and tons of advertising all over it. I'm not willing to pay that much, though I would be willing to pay a smaller amount. However, since I didn't even have time to absorb the information before they started spamming my own blog (rather than simply putting up something that said photo unavailable, or better, to permit the photos that had been loaded when the policy was to allow linking to stay and simply not permit new photos to be linked), I'm not in a place to think about that a lot right now. I have used .6 GB of my 2 GB allotment on their site. I am a fairly small time, low traffic blogger, so I don't think I'm using enough bandwidth to justify $400 a year, and they are neither budging on their change or answering anyone's concerns or questions. In fact, on their website, the contact us link is broken. Oh, and I checked through my e-mail and spam files, I received no notice of the change except for what I read online and seeing my photos changed to spam.
Please accept my apologies for how the blog looks and the upcoming silence. You can follow me on Instagram or on my (also low traffic) Arabian Knits Facebook Page, join the conversations on my Ravelry Group, or subscribe to 1,001 Knits, my monthly newsletter. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Labels: Blog Info
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Menu Plan: July 27 - August 2
Our plans for next weekend are still up in the air, so I'm not sure if our menu planning will stick for that part of the week. However, the rest should be pretty stable. It's heating up again, so I'm going to try to get as many trips to the pool as possible this week. I didn't get the breakfast casserole recipe posted, as our internets have been spotty for much of this week. I will try to post that in the next couple days, after talking to our ISP.
This afternoon was our church picnic, so we filled up there for linner and ate veggies, fruit, leftover lunch meat, olives, toast, and potato salad left over from the picnic for a semi-dinner. I couldn't find a way not to cook at all this week, in the heat, but I'm trying to use the oven as little as possible, and I'm using the slow cooker for the short ribs.
Our apricots are ripening well, so we'll probably be eating a whole lot of them in the coming weeks, as well as preserving and freezing as many as we can. Those of you who are local to us may want to check in and see if you can come pick, too, as we will have extras.
- Sunday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Craisins, Milk
Dinner: Snack Tray - Monday
Breakfast: Strata, Strawberries, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Saucy Sour Cream Meatballs with Green Beans and Egg Noodles, Sliced Cantaloupe - Tuesday - Sts. Mary and Martha
Breakfast: Dutch Baby Pancake with Lemon, Butter, and Powdered Sugar, Fruit, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Chicken Fried Steak with Biscuits and Cream Gravy, Steam Sautéed Carrots and Red Onion with Garlic and Basil - Wednesday
Breakfast: Peanut Butter Toast, Apricots, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Grilled Salmon, Garlic Pasta, Tomato, Cucumber and Onion Salad, Sliced Cantaloupe - Thursday - St. Joseph of Arimathea
Breakfast: Peanut Butter Pancakes with Butter and Apricot Preserves, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Braised Short Ribs and White Beans in the Slow Cooker, Sour Dough French Bread, Fruit Plate - Friday - Macabbean Martyrs (The Maccabean Mother, her seven children, and their teacher Eleazar)
Breakfast: Chocolate Pop Tarts (yes, we are - organic junk), Fruit, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Macaroni & Cheese, Buttered Peas, Apricots - Saturday
Breakfast: Berry Pancakes with Maple Syrup, Sausage, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Greek Lemon, Chicken & Spinach, Phyllo Pie, Fruit Plate
Labels: Blog Info, Church Year, Family, Homemaking, Homesteading, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen
Sunday, February 09, 2014
Menu Plan Monday: February 9 - 15
I don't think there are many repetitions this week, except in breakfasts, and that is normal for us. We are only about three weeks from Lent, so we are readying our hearts and our kitchen for that. There will be some more extravagant and rich meals in these weeks as well.
- Sunday
Breakfast: Strawberry Yogurt, Cuties, Hot Chocolate & Coffee
Dinner: Turkey Sandwiches, Fried Mashed Potato Patties - Monday
Breakfast: Slow Cooker Rice Pudding with Dried Cranberries, Coconut, and Coconut Milk, Hot Chocolate & Coffee
Dinner: Chile Relleno Casserole, Salsa Rice - Tuesday
Breakfast: Feta with Za'atar, Toast, Milk & Coffee
Dinner: Baked Kofta with Potatoes and Onions in Tomato Sauce, Rice - Wednesday
Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Cheese, Toast, Milk & Coffee
Dinner: Tacos de Papa, Avocado Relish, Fruit Plate - Thursday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Raisins and Cinnamon Sugar, Milk & Coffee
Dinner: Curried Lamb with Tomatoes, Jalapeños, and Coconut Milk, Brown Rice - Friday
Breakfast: Almond Butter Toast, Applesauce, Milk & Coffee
Dinner: Macaroni and Cheese with Carrot Sticks for the kids, Seafood Dinner for Rich and me - Saturday
Breakfast: Dutch Baby Pancake, Bacon, Milk & Coffee
Dinner: Baked Ziti, Salad
Labels: Blog Info, Church Year, Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Resurfacing
I'm hoping to open up the blog again. It would be nice to have my menu plans posted again, to show you what I've been doing with my knitting (and crocheting, and maybe sewing), and to have a place to write about my faith and thoughts. I hope there will be people to read it.
I won't try to recap last year except to say that I had an expensive "rest" in the hospital for a month, shortly after my last post, and a preemie. We were blessed that Rich was able to stay with me in the hospital the whole time, he worked part time from the hospital with his phone and iPad and next day air for some documents. The rest of our children were able to stay at home, together, with some friends of ours who moved in with their family for the entire time we were gone. Modern technology permitted us to still talk to our children at night and see each other, we did Morning Prayer together some mornings, they were able to see their baby sister. We were so thankful for that.
Our baby is doing fine now, but she's still tiny. Nejat was born last May, and much of our year has been taken up in keeping her in, keeping her safe and well, adjusting to a homeschooling life with a small child who requires much more attention and care.
There is much to say about that, but this is not the time. Mostly I think that I will know that all is alright when I stop taking pictures to show scale. This last shot is from her baptism on the weekend of All Saints.
Much more knitting and crocheting was finished last year than I have been able to do since we moved. That is a good sign, I think. Part of that was how much time I had, uninterrupted, in the hospital while on modified bed rest, part of that was that I was forced to take the full 40 days of rest after Nejat was born, part is that I feel settled enough here to work on creative projects. I'm on Ravelry, and have posted some new designs there (and some pdfs of my free patterns I've posted on my blogs, too): Arabian Knits Designs. I finished 27 knit or crocheted objects last year! I'm currently working on a design for a submission to another book. I hope to have good news on that score in the near future.
I have so much to write and share, and I hope I am able to exercise that discipline of regular writing again.
Labels: Blog Info, Family, Homeschooling, Knitting
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Update
Labels: Blog Info, Prayer Requests
Monday, April 23, 2012
Menu Plan: April 22 - April 28
Next. We have had a wonderful couple weeks visiting with my dad, who came into the country for the first time in 13 1/2 years. We were so excited to see him, and he was thrilled to meet our children. Because of that, we took an extra week off of school and traveled with him around the state. Trying to plan menus with the grandfather who wanted to spoil us all was rather difficult. This week, we are back to school and back to work and menu planning and all of that. Slamming back into work was a little difficult, but it has gone well. We have some repeats this week and some will be showing up in future weeks as well. We are still in the Paschal season, though the eight days of the feast are complete. Rich is determined to have as much festive food as is possible. Even the children are craving salads, however. Spring has sprung, though, and our plants are taking off, the sun is shining, and we are all much happier in and out of our house.
- Sunday
Breakfast: Hotel Buffet Breakfast
Dinner: Grilled Bratwursts, Mustard, Sauteed Onions, Sauerkraut, Sliced Oranges - Monday Feast of St. George
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Dates, Milk & Coffee
Dinner: Oven Fried Chicken (using panko and drizzling butter over the chicken before baking), Mashed Potatoes, Coleslaw, Gravy, Chocolate Chunk and Pecan Cookies - Tuesday
Breakfast: Brown Sugar Biscuits, Chocolate Gravy, Hard Boiled Eggs, Mandarin Oranges, Milk & Coffee
Dinner: Thai Chicken over Shredded Lettuce, Thai Basil Noodles, Homemade Samoas - Wednesday - Feast of St. Mark
Breakfast: Ful with Tomatoes and Onions, Bread, Green Hot Sauce, Milk & Coffee
Dinner: Salad with Sardines, Olives and Parmesan Cheese, Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies - Thursday
Breakfast: Cherry Almond Granola, Yogurt and Honey, Milk & Coffee
Dinner: Chicken Fried Steak, Biscuits, Corn and Gravy, Nutella Brownies - Friday
Breakfast: Apple Cinnamon Waffles with Butter, Milk & Coffee
Dinner: Eggs in Purgatory, Pasta, Sliced Oranges - Saturday
Breakfast: Blintz Casserole with Sour Cream and Raspberry Jam, Rosti, Fried Eggs, Milk & Coffee
Dinner: Italian Beef Sandwiches, Potatoes, Peppers and Onions, Cherry Pie (using frozen sour cherries from last summer) with Vanilla Ice Cream
Labels: Blog Info, Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen
Sunday, August 07, 2011
Menu Plan
Labels: Blog Info
Thursday, January 07, 2010
No Menu Plan
Labels: Blog Info
Friday, October 30, 2009
Four Great Giveaways
The first is for stainless steel food storage. We've been trying to get away from plastics with BPA in them and using more stainless steel and glass anyway.
The second is for handmade jewelry. Yes, I am a sucker for pretty, sparkly things.
The third is for 5 gallons of beef tallow. Can you say french fries? Yummy!
The fourth is the big surprise. Don't tell Rich! It is for an Excalibur dehydrator! Woo hoo! This would make our lives so much nicer!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Apricot Season
It is actually pretty close to the end of apricot season here, but because our tree hasn't been pruned or taken care of in several years, the fruit was later than the fruit of our neighbors and farmers around here. So, we are still gorging ourselves on apricots at just about every meal.
We would have gotten larger fruit had the tree been cared for properly, but we are happy with our abundance and windfall nonetheless.
We do have internets at home now, though we are still so busy with house projects I probably won't be able to post much for a little while longer. I'll try to get some more photos of the property and our projects up soon.
Labels: Blog Info, Family, House
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Another Brief Post for My Fans
It turns out we have an apricot tree in the front yard. It needs pruning in the fall, but the fruit up high is ripening right now. I have taken a couple pictures of the house before the changes have been made. When we get up and running on the home computer, I'll post them.
Labels: Blog Info, Family, Homesteading, House
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Arrived, But Not Settled
In the meantime, we are ripping out original 1970s carpet which looks like Muppets were slaughtered and skinned and laid out across the floors. There is hard wood underneath, so the plan is to sand and seal.
We will get pictures up as soon as we can. The place needs a lot of work, but has great structure and bones. We've already met some neighbors and are going to a neighborhood potluck on Sunday after church. It is hard living out of boxes and suit cases, but we are glad to be here.
Monday, June 29, 2009
No Menu Plan This Week
Between the moving and the fixing up the new house, it will be a while before I can post a whole lot. I'll try to check in at least a little bit.
It looks like we've found a house. The size of the property is a bit smaller than we were interested in at first, but it is surrounded by a farm field that is owned by the same person selling and the family is willing to sell more acreage to us in a few years.
The house needs a lot of work, but the structure is good. It will take a lot of time and effort on our part, though, to make the insides what we want and need. There is room for our chickens already a small pasture that is fenced, but needs to have weeds cut down and burned and soil turned over and reseeded before we could put sheep or anything else out on it. The owners are farmers who have owned the property in their family for years, they are nice people, they are Christian, they are willing to work with our family. So much so, that they are willing to let us move in before the sale is through on a month to month lease until all the paperwork and money is taken care of for the purchase. We still need to do a building/property inspection and do all the back and forth that goes with this before we can own it, but barring any really bad news about the property or problems in timing with the loan, we should own it within four months.
Both Rich and I feel good about this, even though we were both skeptical about the property when the realtor told us about it. We both have a little bit of trepidation about the whole process of buying and the responsibility that comes with that, as we've either rented or had a house connected with Rich's job (which was kind of the best of both worlds, we didn't get equity, but we didn't have to pay for repairs or pay the mortgage/rent either). Fortunately, we have a little nest egg of money to put into a house and Rich has a VA loan available to him for his service.
Please be praying for the whole situation that it would go smoothly and well for all parties. We are excited and nervous to be moving into this house. Pray for us as we are still sorting, tossing, packing and cleaning. Pray also for the family that has been living in this home we are considering. There are some serious spiritual and familial problems in their home. The couple has three children, the younger two who are still very sweet, the oldest who is in a lot of trouble. All of them are being affected by the problems in the parents. It was heartbreaking to see the children, we left with much concern for their children as well as them.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Forgetful
I am still woefully behind on several posts. Including my daring baker's post. I hope I will get time in the next week to get all of those up, thank you for continuing to bear with me.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Strangest Search Terms Thus Far
These words are what someone used to end up here at Arabian Knits. I think that is the weirdest combination of words used as search terms that I've seen since starting this blog. Whoever it was didn't spend much time here and, somehow, ended up on an Ash Wednesday post.
