Even though I made a deal with Mike that I would re-home my Seramas if Felicity could have a kitten, they are still here. The friend that was going to buy them just hasn’t gotten here to get them yet.

Eleanor has been broody for 6-8 weeks with a small break, but she continues to want to be a Mommy.

Thus far, we have been eating all the eggs that she and Lily lay. We aren’t ones that can manage eating the fertile ones, so we crack each one individually before using them to check for that “red spot”. Both gals started laying in May and we have not seen any ominous spots yet.

Until today.

I keep taking away the eggs that Eleanor tries to confiscate for her own, and put them in the refrigerator. I last took eggs from her on Thursday or Friday. I planned on cleaning their cage this weekend, and just forgot to watch for eggs.

Today, Felicity and I got ready to clean their cage. We put all three birds (Roosevelt, too) out in the backyard for a little scratching time. After that, Felicity got 2 eggs out of the area where Eleanor “sits”. I told Felicity I wanted to open them, just to see if Roosevelt’s work is “working” yet. (She has no idea what I mean) We opened up the first one, nothing, as usual. The second one OMG! I wanted to cry. There was a bunch of blood area and a teeny tiny chick moving around!!!! It was about 1/4″ long, and if the egg started incubation on Thurs/Fri, it would have been 4-5 days developed. Seramas generally hatch at 18 days, so it was almost 1/3 of the way “done”.

I decided that if Eleanor wants to be a Mommy, she can. So I went to the store and got some things to put together to make her an actual nest. She loves it and has only gotten out for a couple of minutes to eat since I put her on it.

I told Mike that I will uphold my deal, but not until Eleanor is over her spell of wanting to be a Mommy. Funny though, I think Lily is getting the same idea as Eleanor

I just found this and wanted to share. It’s hilarious!

I just joined what looks to be an awfully fun apron swap!  Shawnee hosts these apron swaps on a regular basis and I participated in one about a year and a half ago and had such fun!

Y’all come on and join in with me! It’ll be a great time!  Click here to see the goodies I sent and received in the last swap I did hosted by Shawnee.

Over a year ago, I watched the DVD from Homestead Blessings, The Art of Bread Making. They include all of the recipes that they show on the DVD that you can print out on your computer. I printed them out way back then, and never did anything with them.

Today, I was reading Sandra’s blog, Diary of a Stay at Home Mom, and she posted about the same DVD and the sourdough starter.

I decided I would start my starter the minute I read her post. I figured it would be fun to go on the journey along with a fellow blogger. So immediately, I got up from the computer, got all of the ingredients out and whipped up the starter. I used a wide mouth quart canning jar. Didn’t take me long at all to realize that a quart jar was way.too.small.

Here’s the recipe from Sandra’s blog, credit of Homestead Blessings.
Making Sourdough
Credit: Homestead Blessings - The Art of Bread Making

• 2 cups of All Purpose Flour
• 3 tablespoons of Sugar
• 1 tablespoon of Active Dry Yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon of Salt
• 2 cups of Warm Water

Mix in plastic or glass bowl till blended. Cover with cloth and set in warm place out of draft. Stir several times each day. Let ferment 2 to 3 days.

To use, remove starter needed for recipe then refrigerate remaining starter. Replenish every 7 to 10 days by stirring equal amounts of water and flour. Let stand at room temperature overnight and return to fridge.

As soon as I put away everything, I made a quick trip to the store to look for a larger jar to move the starter to. I left it sitting on my dryer (not running) with a handi-wipe over it. I thought it would take it a bit to start reacting.

While at the store, I called Mike and jokingly asked if it had blown up. He said he didn’t even pay any attention to it.  I was gone maybe a total of 25 minutes. I walked in the door and Mike said “it blew up”. Uh oh! He had cleaned up the mess all over the top of the dryer and this is what I found sitting on the sink.

Sorry for the bad photo. I was standing way too close.

I bought a nice 2qt jar. Now the starter has a nice, roomy new home.

I’ll post my progress as we go. Even after moving it, it’s still bubbling like crazy.

Yes, this DVD is part of the famous set that I have on the top of my wish list. You can see the entire set here.

This wonderful set of DVDs is still on my wish list. Unfortunately, other things must come first.

I have seen three of these DVDs; The Art of Bread Making, The Art of Candle Making and The Art of Soap Making and just loved them all! I saw them way back after they were first released a few years ago. (Netflix offered the first 3, but has since stopped). I was so excited to see that The West Ladies continued the series.

So, do any of you own this set? Any of the DVDs besides the ones I’ve seen?  I have decided that for now, I need to live vicariously through you. Please leave a comment and let me (um…my readers) know what you think about them. I can’t wait to hear!

I found a wonderful new blog today! Raising Homemakers

She’s offering the full 10-DVD set for a give away!

Can you imagine winning this glorious set!!!! I have submitted my entries!!!  Run get your entries in, too!

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone!

Yesterday, I didn’t touch the computer all day. Hubby, kids and brother-in-law took care of everything around the house and I was able to sew all.day.long!

The fact that I am sick sure didn’t help matters. I got a lot of unfinished projects done, but had I felt better, I could have knocked out more.

This photo shows most of what I completed. There is 1 pair of shorts and 1 pair of flannel lounge pants missing. Gregory wore the shorts to school today, and the pants last night. The pants have now disappeared someplace and I couldn’t find them for the photo.

Complete!: 4 pairs of Bermuda shorts and 2 pair of flannel lounge pants for Gregory, 2 flannel night gowns (1 for Felicity and 1 for a family friend), 2 skirts (1 for Felicity and 1 for Katie), 2 pillowcases (1 for Felicity and 1 for Steve: bro-in-law), and a quilted table runner!  All are COMPLETE!!! I won’t even tell you how long some of those items have been sitting, unfinished, on my sewing table. LOL  I hope to get a few more projects done today.

The weather here today is warm and sunny but OH SO WINDY! We are expecting wind gusts of up to 60mph this afternoon!  Thank goodness, even though it’s windy alot up here, that spring is the worst and those crazy gusty days will pass soon.

Have a great Monday!

I just love the West Ladies!  I have watched their first three DVDs, The Art of Candle Making, The Art of Bread Making and The Art of Soap Making.

They have released many more DVDs and the most recent is The Art of Quilting, which was released just a short time ago. (This one is not yet included in the entire set).

Here’s a quick trailer on the series:

You can view the information on the entire set by clicking here to view on the Franklin Springs website.

I will be ordering my set plus the Quilting DVD next week. I can’t wait for them to arrive!!!

I just know you would enjoy these DVDs as much as I have. They used to be available on Netflix, but they no longer offer them. That just stinks.

These DVDs would make wonderful gifts for Mother’s Day or even Graduation!

Have a joyous Sunday!

Alrighty! It’s time to start with all the exciting give aways I have planned for my blog.

This give away is for a Scentsy plug-in warmer (in the design of your choice )and 3 (yes, three!) Scentsy bars in the scents of your choice! This is a $25 value!

How’s that for an awesome give away?

There are three opportunities for you to register for the drawing:
Go to my Scentsy website and pick the Scentsy plug-in warmer design that you like best, along with 3 scents for the bars you like best. Then…

1. Come back to this blog post and leave me a comment with your choices. This will get you 1 entry in the drawing.
2. Post on your own blog about this awesome give away, come back to this post and leave ANOTHER comment letting me know about your post and a link to see it.
3. Post on Facebook about my give away, come back here to this post and leave yet ANOTHER comment letting me know you posted on Facebook.

Then wait for me to announce the winner on Monday, May 3. I will post sometime in the evening. The last entry I will accept will be at Noon, CST on Monday, May 3.

Click Here to go to my Scentsy website.

Also remember that Mother’s Day, Graduation and end of the year Teacher Gifts are right around the corner and Scentsy makes perfect gifts!!!

If you (or someone you referred to me) sign up to join my Scentsy team, I will award you the same gift!

Have Fun!

I’m starting a new adventure today. It involves wood, fabric, glue, paint and embelishments. Here’s the beginnings. I’ll post more photos as I go.

Have a great Monday!