Where has the time gone!!

Well I am a little behind on the blog updates, so here is what is new all wraped up in a nut shell...
The new house is almost liveable....its just takes an act of congress to get the mortgage company to give you some of the insurance money to do the work...but by friday we should be able to live and work in the house....It is rather butt biting cold in the camper with the temps getting down to low 30's at night...

my oldest son has safely returned from his second Iraq deployment and I do hope it is the last....he will now get to be with his baby girl that he has only met for 2 weeks while home on R&R...as soon as the internet is at the new house I will be able to post the progress pics of the house ....Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers ...better wish it to you all now who knows when I will get back on here.....LOL

Moving Forward...Finally :)

So the day finally came where we tore down the old house and started to dig the foundation for the new house...it was a little eye opening to see the bats fly out and then the snakes and yes we had flying squirrels had moved in too!!! YUCK

The foundation digging has not gone as well as hoped....we hit ground water LOTS of it and yes there was even ledge but we can work around it all...foundation is soon to come

Moving Forward

Well we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak...we now have signed off with the insurance company...which is a blessing ...I did not care for the adjuster....we have ordered our log cabin kit we have the equipment comming in a week or so to tear down the old curse ....
and I think we have now had 5 days of sun in a row....the month of June in New Hampshire was very trying it rained 26 out of 30 days....

Finally posted are the fire pics

These Pics are all of the loft bedroom that my 3 year old used he was playing up there just hours before the fire

Another month has passed

Well it has now been 2 plus months since the house fire and a lot has happened but not much with the house...still dealing with insurance hope to have construction under way in July..was in a slight car accident...I was stopped in traffic but the man behind me thought otherwise...1200. in damage to my van but all is well it was fixed 2 weeks later and I had mild whiplash and my 3 year old never woke in his car seat.....
the 2 weeks with my son were great it was hard to see them off so I did not go to the airport I have posted my favorite pic called daddys first kiss...hope is well with all that stop to read..

My solider is home on R&R

OK so things are a tad bit crazy right now in my life.....trying to settle the insurance drama on the house...I would not wish this task on anyone...we are all settled in our 32' rented self contained camper...its nice...2 weeks ago my daughter in law flew in with my 3 month old grand daughter ...and a week after she arrived we all went to the airport to pick up my son. It was a very emotional day...he got to hold his little baby girl for the first time...it was heart warming..as soon as I get the internet back up on my computer I will add pics...Enjoy your day

Fire update

Just a quick updateon our fire we will be getting settled soon in the 36' camper soon the power and water are just waiting to be connected, we have retained a lawyer to help us with the insurance negitions...first estimate was rather low and would not cover the costs of the materials we hope to start the domolition as soon but it looks like it will be the middle of May...just as my sone and wife will be here for a visit...which will be well deserved , he is in Iraq and she will be flying in from Missouir with my first grandchild Ava...who I cant wait to kiss a million times..I will try and get the pics posted for you all to see the progress, just not enought time in the day for things..

I have hit a slight speed bump

Hello readers...I just wanted to let everyone know that I have hit a slight speed bump in my life recently...well its was more like a sink hole...but we are getting things somewhat in order....On March 23,09 at 3:30 pm I was just getting ready to go outside when I looked up and there was somoke comming out of the wall.....we were on fire....I was and still am surprised at how well I did...I called 911 and reported the fire....I grabbed my cell phone car keys winter jackets and ran out side to gather up the little guy.....his dad was just getting home from work and we did the one thing they tell you not to do....we went back in the house.....with the 3 year old locked in the van with the dog...I went in to get shoes and some of my sons clothes....the other went in to save his hunting collection of rifles and deer mounts......I made 2 trips to save the clothes 1 for the TV and on the last on in I was able to save the computer.....the smoke and flames wereso far advanced we just waited for the fire dept.....who arrived 7 minutes after my call ....they were wonderful...
The house was gutted and most of the contents were lost....but we are all safe pets also survived and were all found.....I will keep this updated as much as possible to let all follow in the progress of the rebuild..

MV Fiber Farm another chance to win

She is having another chance to win some great books just pop on over and read the interesting post, pass the word, and leave a comment as to where you posted the info...simple as that
and don't forget to turn on the lamb cam as the new little ones are a week away from arriving
(ps I jacked her pic ) don't ya just want to kiss that nose!!

Sap update.....

To date I have boiled a total of 24 gallons of sap and have 8 pint jars on the back shelf........and the little 1/2 pint bottle along with some pre packaged pancakes (from Market Basket ) will be on their way to Iraq for my son who is currently on his second deployment....just a touch of home to remind him that we love him

I am thinking of giving candy a shot this year too....but that is still a thought in progress!!

I have entered a contest

I have entered a before and after contest at http://quiltotaku.blogspot.com/2009/03/quilterknitter-photo-contest-let-games.html
Before shot(left) was taken in the house on a white cloth....the after shot (right) was taken outside this morning on the snow...

so this is how it works I post my before pic then read her quick help guide she has written and take a second pic...the after shot..
the pic is of an item out of my pet line...its a door sack to hold all the treats and toys ($5.00+s/h)
fish shaped for the kitty and I also have bone shaped for the doggie of the house
I would love any and all feed back positive or negative

It's Boiling Time

Well the spare fridge is now stocked with 15 gallons of sap and the trees are being very kind with giving the sap so we started the boil process...mind you we are no large operation here....just 10 pails and a gas grill, but everyone likes to help..Jeremiah and dad get the sap Molly the dog,well she just likes to watch so at 11:30 sunday morning we are ready to start to boil I took 5 gallons of sap dumped it into the lobster pot turned on the grill, sat in the sun with my knitting..I had NO IDEA what was in store for the hours to come...at 12:30 Monday morning I could not take it any longer...I placed the less than 1/2 a gallon of syrup in a glass jar and went to bed...8:30 Monday morning I finished the first boil.. 5 gallons of sap produced a pint of very sweet syrup..

Another boil is in process as I type....I am cheating this time I am using thecook stove in the house with the windows open to help with the steam and the heat...Its going a lot quicker now that I kind of know what I am doing....

5 Gallons WOW

Well a cold night and a very warm day was a success for our sap project, we made the rounds today to the 10 buckets that we have hanging in our yard and we had to make a second run 2 hours later...we collected a total of 5+ gallons and today when I went out I gathered another 3 and once the rain stops and it warms up again today I think we should have enough to begin a trial run of boiling in the next few days...oh and yes that is a old wooden ladder in the way..the roof requires our company when it snows...(it leaks more than the running sap!!) but fear not a new standing seam metal roof is in the near future....

~*~50 degrees today

~~~It was like summer today...it hit 50 degrees today and that was in the shade...the snow banks melted there were little rivers of water running out of driveways and down the hill today...but there is always the down fall to a nice day...the driveway is now like a mud bog...its going to cool down and possibly bring 1-3 inches of snow....BUT the sap ran today we collected 2 gallons....so lets think warm days and cold nights for atleast a week....I am hoping to boil soon...

MV Fiber Farm Contest~Its a hum dinger of one

All you have to do is leave a comment and you could win all this stuff....Hurry you only have until Saturday morning at 10 EST, 3/7/2009...follow the link below to leave a comment...

A book Teach yourself visually handspinning

The winner will also receive a drop spindle kit from Silversun Alpacas. I’ve ordered this kit before to give as a gift and it is just lovely. The kit includes a top spindle, 2 oz of white/cream wool Top Fiber roving, which is very easy to start your spinning with, and 2 oz. of hand dyed alpaca and wool batt (soft and fluffy as a cloud) wool Top fiber

also going to send the winner 4 ounces of MVFF/HVFF cormo roving

http://www.fiberfarm.com/2009/03/another-giveaway-have-i-lost-my-mind/comment-page-4#comment-9465
PS you want want to add this to your to watch list her contest are great...

WARNING...EMAIL VIRUS--HOAX

I just found this on snoops and it turns out that this is a hoax and has been around for years....sorry for false info....
ETA I have deleted the info...to read about it go to http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/lifeisbeautiful.asp

Another month comes to an end

Well things are moving a long well....today there was sap in the buckets , we have not had snow in 3 days..thank god the last storm was a gem...15+inches



My yarn stash has grown with some wonderful new colors and textures...I have added some great new books to my small but ever growing knitting library.all form fellow Ravelers.....


My grandaughter is growing and is very healthy and she looks forward to her daddy comming home from Iraq to meet her and kiss her chubby little face

And I finished a ton of afghan squares for the Caring Crafters group on Yahoo that makes afghans for injured soliders, new babies and also for the Whiteriver Reservation in AZ..

Fabric & Yarn Give away

http://kristenunraveled.blogspot.com/2009/02/fabric-yarn-giveaway-and-yarn-sale.html
follow the link above to visit this blog to have a chance to win one of 2 prizes..she also has some fantastic yarns for sale....I have my eye on the vintage knitting needles....OH and HURRY the contest ends soon

What is UP Mother Nature

It appears that Mother Nature is just in a big crabby mood.....snow storm 3 days ago dumped 10 inches for shoveling.....a couple of days of some sun...and WHAM here comes a mother of a storm 12-24 inches depending on location.....I guess that the sap project will be on hold a little longer than expected....

During the last storm it was heavy wet perfect snowman making snow so my little guy and I took advantage of the nice day and the great snow....

It's Sapping Season

It's that time of year in New England where you the sap bucket's are hung in anticipation of a good warm day and a cool night to make the sap run...well I should say the sap lines are strung, we are just backyard burners so we choose to go the "old fashion" way with the buckets.

In the long run we hope to be able to make enought to share with our family and to have enjoyed a touch of the good old days when thing were not so commercalized, in hopes that it is a good year we may opt to invest more into equipment in the years to come, our new found hobby has run us so far about $130.00 and that is just the taps, pails, and storage & collection buckets,

A New Baby

Well she finally arrived and it appeared it was against her will...as my DIL said they had to "smoke her out" son in Iraq was able to spend some time on the web cam during labor but was not able to log back on to see the birth....Ava was a healthy 7 pounds 15 ounces 19 1/2 inches long...has some very dark hair and these really chubby cheeks for me to kiss in May when they come to visit....a pic of the princess will follow soon

Visit my store

hard covered craft pattern books Crochet book is sold

Visit my store for more details just click on the blujay link located at the top right of the page

New England Weather

Several days of extreme cold weather, frozen drain pipes, stuffing the wood stove full non stop, and its finally going to warm up.......just to bring us some more snow....just another 4-8 inches, and the only good thing this has forced me to do is make leaps and bounds on my charity knitting/crocheting....I have made several squares for the Hooks and Needles for our troops group.....we make afghans for wounded soldiers during their recovery, for 2009 we will be expanding our services even further this year to help some in need on the reservation in Arizona....we are going to be voting soon on a new name for the group, and also Esther our dear founder is also thinking of making the group a non profit .....feel free to contact me if you would like to join in our mission....or make donations of supplies

Off to a slow start

Well the New Year has arrived with a big bang for me, and it has me very disorganized..and not spending time doing the things that I love and enjoy....all should be settled in a few months and I can get back to my knitting, I have found a few minutes in each day to do some of my charity crochet, I have made 25 squares for baby quilts....this is part of my Yahoo group that I belong to, we make afghan and baby items for injured soldiers and for babies born at the navel hospital ....this year our founder is expanding out and we will begin to help folk on the reservation where she works as a nurse..... hooks and needles for our troops is the yahoo group swing in and see what we are all about, its a great cause that I enjoy being part of

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL