Rubber Stamps

This my rubber stamp company- Pretty In Ink. See my site at www.prettyinink.biz .
About 5 yrs ago I was making my own cards and a friend said, "Not for nothin, but you should see what these ladies are doing". She was talking about her neighbor ladies who were using rubber stamps from Stampin Up. I went for a visit to see what all the fuss was about. Well I was hooked. About a yr later I wanted to have some of my own art turned into stamps so I hired a seasoned stamp maker, Don Grover, to do some custom work. Upon collecting my stamps I said," I should find out how a person goes about doing making stamps". He said to come over and he'd show me how it worked. He was great. In the end he sold me some equiptment, hooked me up with his wholesalers and set me on my way. Considering he was trying to run his own business this was VERY generous. So- I was on my way. When 911 happened I was providing day care for toddles 50 hrs a week and I was fried. I realized that day that life is way too short to be miserable so I quit my day care job and went into the rubber stamp business full time. Now I have realized my dream of owning my own little shop in my home as well as an Ebay store, Etsy store and successful web store. I have about 1500 of my own designs and I do lots and lots of custom work.

The Baha'i Faith

The Baha'i Faith

Our Family is Baha'i. I converted to Baha'i 12 yrs ago. I was raised going to Methodist and Presbyterian churches. Though we went to church pretty regularly throughout my junior high and high school yrs we didn't practice much at home. It was just something we did on Sunday. All the while however, I had this amazing friend, Lauretta. She was being raised Baha'i in a huge family. All of her friends were Baha'i. Through the many yrs of hanging out with Rett I got a healthy dose of the Faith. Even with these forces in play, when I was 19 ish I would confidently say that I didn't believe in God. It was after the birth of my first daughter and a separation from her father that knocked me on my butt that caused me to question my beliefs. I began looking around for the 'right' answers. I started visiting churches on Sundays. I figured Christianity had to be the 'right' choice. After all there was a church literally on every corner in my town. I did this for about two yrs. I settled into an Episcopal church as they had provided 'moms day out' gatherings each month. So- it was one Sunday morning in the middle of services there that I stood up in worship along with the crowd and was bopped on the head with the realization that I was a Baha'i! Yep. That's how it happened. I went home and called my dear friend, Rett, and asked "how do I become a Baha'i ?" She about fell out of her chair! :)

As a result of this conversion, I met my current husband. He was brought to the Faith through his first wife and had long been a Baha'i. He was also the only other Baha'i in my town. So we met and the rest is history.

After all these yrs I still love the Faith. I have had my ups and downs spiritually. The reason the Faith is so dear to me is because of its drive for Unity. Unity of all the world's religions, unity of the human race, unity of the sexes. You don't have to hate anyone to be a Baha'i. Its ok to love. You don't have to be perfect either. As my husband says- to become a Baha'i doest mean you have reached a destination (perfection) but rather that you agree to get in the car and go for the ride.

In this months Mother Earth News there was a large add for the Baha'i Faith. Here is the official site for the United States. www.us.bahai.org its worth checking out.

Home-steading- Gardening

Gardening

Gardening was never my 'thing'. I always associated it with grandma's. While we still lived in Ithaca, I gave a tomato garden a try. Planted too many and harvested few. My neighbors tomatoes flourished. I was bummed. We moved and I tried again with a wide row/ mound technique and failed...ugh. I didn't know I had to add compost etc to make it go. I was just mounding spent dirt.

Then last yr I saw the above picture on the web and I got inspired! I had a dozen gigantic and freakin heavy tractor tires delivered to my yard. Both my mother and my husband looked at me cross eyed for this stunt. I spent a few weeks mastering the saws-all and opening each tire up. Bout vibrated my arm off. I moved the tires into neat rows of 4.

Then I ran in circles collecting free manure from here and there. I shoveled each and every scoop of compost and manure into my 15 passenger van then out of the van and into the tires. Serious hard core labor!

Then I planted. It wasn't long before I saw amazing results. I have never seen tomatoes so big! The great thing about this method is that once its set up its unbelievably easy. There is virtually no weeding and a lot less bending.

This year is the second yr with the raised beds and there was virtually no prep before planting. All I did was take our home supply of composted manure from the bins and top off the tires and stir. I planted directly into the beds with milk jug hot caps and am wildly successful. This yr I opted to mulch around the tires just for pretty sake. We also added 4 long narrow beds for collards, kale, spinach and strawberries. For these we just outlined our bed with bricks and dumped in compost. There were more weeds with these but still very successful. I would totally recommend these raised tire beds.

Home-steading- Canning

Canning

Canning is a great thing! This image is not my root cellar but its my dream cellar :) I started canning 3 yrs ago and what a mess I made. lol. The next yr I managed to create some eatable jam. This year I am rockin!
So for this season I have put up...
30 pints of zucchini relish- my aunt Helen turned me on to this delight- we planted the zuc last yr .
55 pints of navy beans, black eyed peas and black beans- I buy them dry and make them up all at once. I know I could just make them as I need them but I am too much of an impulse cook for that. They work out to about 15 cents per pint.
52 pints of jam- strawberry and blue berry from U-pick farms and rasberry from the produce auction in PenYan. They work out to about $1.45 per pint. I pay about $3.29 for a comparable product at a local market so that's a deal.
69 qts of salt potatoes. These were from the auction. I way over paid but they worked out to .75 cents per quart anyway. Not too bad.

36 Quarts of chicken soup using our old laying hens.

24 Quarts of collards. I find that no one around here eats collards. Guess its more of a southern food. I learned to like collards from an African American catering group out of Ithaca. I use them hidden in chili & sauce. They are a good source of leafy greens and they grow great here.

48 pints of tomato soup. My goal is actually 100 or more. We can eat a lot of this yummy stuff. This year with Maya Rae being home schooled I figure we are gonna be looking at a lot of soup for lunch around here. She thinks that's a great idea. I am getting the tomatoes from our garden.

If and when I finish the soup I will be moving on to 52 quarts of spaghetti sauce, some pizza sauce and a little catsup. By that time I should be able to lay my mits on some free apples and get moving on apple sauce and apple rings....maybe a little juice. And...if there is any spunk left in me I want to make some half pint jars of rice pudding for Jody.

Home-steading- Chickens

Chickens on the Homestead

Chickens are the easiest thing in the world. You can confine them or free range them and they are simply a joy. Well unless they are eating your garden..lol. They will eat all of your kitchen scraps and never complain. They are the only critter that rewards you daily while you lazy about. A fresh egg is a lovely thing.

Home-steading- Goats

Goats
Great Goats! Goats where my first choice following chickens for a homestead animal. I chose several Saanen does to start us out. What an adventure! We learned soooooooo much from the goats. We learned to milk for starters. We learned hoof care, coat care, how to build a decent fence. We learned how to assist in birthing. That was great for all of us. We learned how to give shots and to castrate and band horns. The fresh raw milk was just awesome!!!

We had goats for 2 yrs. I decided to get out of goats just because of the level of work involved. The twice a day every day thing was a bit much for me. It was tough to pass them along. I know they are all receiving great care in their new homes but we still miss them.

Home-steading- Cows

The Cow

Now- on the day I brought home a whole cow we knew we had crossed a line. :) You can call yourself whatever you want when you own a handful of chickens, a rabbit or two and even a few goats but....when you are carrying an 80lb calf across your back yard you are definitely a crazy old homesteader!

that's what I did last spring. I went to a local large animal auction and bought a critter that looked healthy enough to my untrained eye. Cost me $38. Brought him home and set him down. Then I ended up carrying him across the yard! Then I learned the art of bottle feeding a snot nosed cow. Wow. Took a few days of being slimed from top to bottom and socked in the eye with a wet nose that felt like a jello fist I got the hang of it. We still have that critter a yr later. He's about 600lbs now. I have learned to casterate and run electric fencing thanks to him. About two weeks ago we repeated the pattern. So right now we have a big ol cow and a cute little calf.

I think the cows are the easiest thing next to chickens believe it or now. They don't ask for much and they are quiet and smell ok too. The best part is that for $0.32 a pound for processing they will fill or freezer with grass fed beef. Pretty cool!

Home-steading- Rabbits

Rabbits


Rabbits! I love rabbits. We have 5 does and a buck and varied #s of babies at any given time. I think they are a delight to watch. The kids and I built our rabbit/ hen houses and run. We have soggy land so the plan was to get them up off the ground. We created the building from recycled barn wood and economy 2x4s. Cheap. One of the pics show the project half done and one shows the buildings painted barn red.

We have had mixed luck with the rabbits. We have managed to put many in the freezer. We do like the meat but feel that its not much different than chicken. From what I can figure its a lot cheaper to raise a broiler sized chicken and they are a lot sturdier too. We may keep a few of the does for decoration and entertainment but I think I am rethinking these critters.

Just too cute to eat anyway.

Home-steading- How come?

Homesteading? How Come???

Home steading is my way of life. Money drove the train for me. After creating a family of 9 I found that it was too hard to live life in the middle. Ya know...soccer mom, kids in lessons, fancy tags on their shirts, two incomes etc. It kind of came to me all at once after yet another finacial struggle...that with 7 kids we were living kind of an 'old fashioned' life style. After all, its not really the norm to have beyond 2-3 kids these days. But, we were trying to stuff ourselves and these kids into the rat race box and it just wasn't working at all. So one day I decided to make a plan. It started with a few chickens.....otherwise known as 'free' eggs...and it went from there.
Here are our very first chicks. I was freaked right out that I had to buy 25 chicks all at once! BUT, I figured that if this crazy idea didn't work I could always put a sign out front that said, " Free Chickens". These ladies have since grown up and most have moved into the soup pot.

Step Families

Ohhhhh the joy of step families!

Well they are what they are. A mashing together of numberous different minds with their varied baggage. Jody calls us- Marbles in a can.

When I met Jody through the Faith I was still married to my two older girls' father. Jody had been divorced a year. Jody and I were acquaintances for a yr or so and after my marriage split I looked him up. It was another year until our wedding day. You can tell how much I love Jody. He was a single dad of 4- that's right four- full time kids. I was twenty six and had been a mom for all of 5 yrs. Combined we had kids aged 15, 13, 10, 6, 5 & 3. Two years later we added an "ours" to the 'yours and mine' senerio. We spent several years running kids to and from various visitations and juggling the needs of angry teens and cuddly school agers. We are 9 yrs into it and now have just 4 kids at home. Things are a lot calmer though we still experience big bumps.

Knowing what I know now...would I do it all over. No way! I would just kid nap Jody and run far away! Would I recommend doing the blended thing? Never! Its a hard road and I am not sure there is any winning in the end. All I can say is that I figure if 4 out of 7 of them come back for Thanksgiving when their grown- then we did alright. We'll have to see how that all turns out. In the mean time, we keep doing our best.

This picture was taken two yrs ago when the oldest came home for a visit.