Our first foster-to-adopt son had arrived at our home! I’ve posted about it on the new blog.

I have started our new family blog under a new name:  Our Own Village Click on the name and come on over and follow us!

I will only have this blog up for short time now.

Have loved having you here and will love having you at the new blog.

See you there!

Not only has our blog moved, it has a new name. With the move to our new little home and our journey into being foster and adoptive parents, it seemed like the right time to make a change.

Head on over to the new blog and be sure to follow for all the new adventures, crafts and everything else.

Our Own Village

I’ve also started a separate blog for recipes!  Recipe Roundup

See you there!

I’ve been wanting to join in on Ginny’s yarn along and finally got out my camera, took a photo and joined in!

I am so in love with this afghan with which I am nearly done! I found out about it from Heather/The Good Life in her post here. I just love the colors she is using and decided to do one in similar colors. The pattern came from Bella Dia. I am not including the link because it isn’t working to directly link to it. Instead, I have to go to Swagbucks and enter the words “vintage vertical stripe crochet afghan” and it is one of the first entries to come up. I don’t know why her direct link won’t work.

I had lots of difficulty doing the ends of the rows as the pattern stated. So I finally started doing them the way I know how to do ends of rows. I do double crochet in each space across to the end, chain 2 then turn. I then begin dc in the very first space. My ends are straight and this is a much easier way to do it. I just love how this pattern makes the afghan almost look like it is woven. Once I am done, I will post photos of the completed project.

I got the new issue of Crochet World the other day. The adorable little sheep on the front had me from the minute I saw it! There’s many projects in this issue that I’d like to make, as well.

I’ve been eying the “Love Finds You In” series of books for quite a while. I couldn’t decide which one I should start with, though. Lettie, at Colletta’s Kitchen Sink, reads A LOT! She posted a review on LFYI Revenge, Ohio so I decided I would start the series with that one. I just got it from the library the other day and have only read a few pages. I’ll share my review when I am done.

Now. Where I’ve been. As I posted back in January, we finally found a little farm to purchase. We close in 2 weeks!!! We have enjoyed having a stress free packing spree, since we had so long to get it done. Now we’re down to the wire and just have to finish up. I can’t wait to get moved!

My posts for the next month or so may be sporadic because of the move, but rest assured, I’ll be back into the swing of things as soon as possible.

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Felicity has a new *project*. Four Khaki Campbell ducklings.

We put them in the bath tub today to let them swim. So cute!

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Well I am finally *getting* this couponing stuff!

I went last night (Saturday) to catch last week’s deals before it was too late. Turns out that CVS had already put up some of this week’s ECB tags on the shelves, so they gave me the ECB’s anyway, because THEY didn’t realize they weren’t correct. I realized it this morning once I saw this week’s sale flyer. The checker at CVS was so rude. This is the first time I’ve dealt with a rude grumpy clerk while using my coupons and flyer deals. Guess I’m lucky.

Here’s what I got:

CVS

• 8pk Sparkle paper towels
• 5 Dawn dishwashing liquid (small size)
• 5 Softsoap
• 4 boxes Excedrin (3 had bonus samples of Excedrin PM on them)
• 1 baby wipes (only because the machine gave me a $1 off any wipes coupon, so these ended up being $.49 and I’m keeping them in my car for spills)
• 2 bottles Maalox (I had two $5 off 1 coupons, these ended up costing me only $.99 each bottle)
• 1 Aussie hair conditioner
• 1 Aussie hair spray
• 1 Colgate toothpaste (free after ECB and coupon!)
• 2 52 load Tide w/bleach
• 2 1 ltr Listerine (after ECB and coupons, cheaper than W*lmart brand)
• 2 Head & Shoulders 2 in 1

This was split into 2 transactions.

Total value $134.85

Total spent after sale prices, ECB and coupons $66.91 AND I came home with $10 in ECB to use at another time.

That’s a 49.6% savings! Not too shabby, considering I only buy certain brands on many I items we use. I also don’t do much in the way of getting items just because I can get them very cheaply and keep them in a closet for donation or guests.

Walgreens

I went to 3 separate Walgreens stores (each only within 5 minutes from my house, so didn’t use bunches of gas to get deals)

• 9 Kraft Macaroni & Cheese dinners
• 9 Hunts tomato sauce
• 9 Bumble Bee tuna in spring water
• 6 Campbells cream of chicken soup
• 3 Campbells cream of mushroom soup
• 9 boxes of Kleenex (110 count each)
• 3 8lb bags of potting soil (for the new house)
• 6 Swanson chicken broth
• 1 50ct Aleve
• 2 Glade oil candles
• 1 Airheads (paid $.19 because of coupon)
• 2 Tilex
• 3 small Mentos gum

Total value $103.90

Total spent out of pocket $56.41 after sale prices and coupons. No register rewards to redeem, but brought home $2 in RR for next trip.

That’s a 54.2% savings! Again, I think I did very well, considering I only buy certain brands on many I items we use. I also don’t do much in the way of getting items just because I can get them very cheaply and keep them in a closet for donation or guests.

Also keep in mind that I know the prices for things (especially food items) at the grocery and W*lmart. I only buy those items at CVS or Walgreens if I get a price better than elsewhere.

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They’re at it again!

GaFarmWoman Pam and FarmMan are giving away another of their wonderful HenPals 2 hole nest boxes.

I enter every time they have one, hopefully one day, I’ll win. This would be especially nice since we will be moving to our new little farm in April.

Click here or on the photo to go register to win.

I’ve joined in the Barn Hop over at Homestead Revival. Head on over and take a look and visit all the wonderful link-up blogs.

Here’s today’s first *hop*.

I finished two more UFO quilts from years past this week!

The first is a baby size red, white and blue quilt. I had this tye-dye fabric and one night was just wanting to do something with it, so I made the top. Years.Ago.

The other one is a 9-11 memorial quilt. Shortly after the occurance of 9-11, someone on one of the swap sites I participated in hosted this swap. Since Felicity was born in 2001, this quilt will be hers once she is grown. I got the top together in time to display it for 9-11-2002, but then it was packed away. Now it is complete and will be displayed in honor of the 10th anniversary this September. I should have taken a photo of the back, it has the print of the stamps with the firefighters raising the flag at ground zero.

So I am still on a roll. I have another top I just finished and plan to get it quilted and in the mail to my sister (um, 13 years after I was supposed to get it to her). She will be tickled to death.

What have you finished lately?

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It was the post office. Guess what had arrived for us? Baby chicks!

So I got up, dressed and headed out the door. I had to stop at W*lmart to get a plastic tub to use as a brooder for them.

When I got home, Gregory was up and so excited to hear all the little chrip-chirps coming from the box. You can see where he lost his first tooth last month.

We got a Weekly Special from Ideal Poultry of 25 mixed breeds pullets only. We will have lots of fresh eggs starting around the end of June. YAY! I also ordered 10 Nankin bantams for a local friend.

Here’s our cute little ladies! Felicity wants to name each one. I told her good luck.

And the 10 Nankins. These are a critically endangered breed. The only bantam breed on the endangered list and also a *true* bantam. This means that they do not have a large fowl counterpart.

They are doing well. I did have two deaths upon arrival, but that is to be expected with shipped chicks.

I’ve also got 12 eggs in the incubator that went into *lock down* this morning. Meaning, today is day 18 and the last day to turn, increase humidity and leave them alone to hatch in three days. I’ll share photos when they do.

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For the first time ever, after seeing so many beautifully decorated homes on the blogs I read, I did a little decorating for Valentine’s Day.

I only decorated the mantel of the fireplace, but it turned out nicely.

I made these hearts by just cutting them out free hand, stitching them up and stuffing them. I am pleased with how they turned out.

Here’s a closer up of each end of the mantel. I bought the “Love” and other little decorations half-off at Hobby Lobby.  The red oil lamp is inherited. My mother had it for as long as I can remember in my childhood, though it was always kept put away. I love it and proudly display it year-round. We burn it (as our other oil lamps) pretty regularly, as well. I think it actually belonged to one of my grandmothers or someone way back in the family.

Notice my Moon & Stars jar, that wonderful thrift store find I previously posted about. I wanted a splash of color and got the silk tulips half-off at Hobby Lobby, too. I already had the clay pot, and bought just 1/8th of a yard of the fabrics to dress up the pot a bit making the bow. The jar or Christmas ornaments stays on display year-round. They are ornaments that were special to my mother and many, if not most, are older than I am.

I hope each and every one of you has a wonderful Valentine’s Day. I appreciate you all!