<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><rss xmlns:atom='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' version='2.0'><channel><atom:id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580</atom:id><lastBuildDate>Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:56:32 +0000</lastBuildDate><title>Country Life with Country Wife</title><description>A blog about homesteading, homeschooling, self-sufficiency, and living in the country. Also a lot of ranting about..um..everything.</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/</link><managingEditor>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</managingEditor><generator>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>227</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-8926642515616842857</guid><pubDate>Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:12:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-21T23:56:33.107-05:00</atom:updated><title>Long time, no post</title><description>I sort of miss the pressure of NabloWriMo.  At least it had me posting daily, or close enough.  Then again, with all the Holiday Hubbub, I still wouldn't have time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Only four days till Christmas!! Are you ready? Presents wrapped and stockings ready to be stuffed?  Me? Eh, not so much.  Almost, though! Nothing left but wrapping and baking. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I don't really enjoy wrapping, and I'm certainly not very good at it.  My gifts end up looking like footballs wrapped by the tape-challenged.  Lucky for me, Little Sis &lt;em&gt;loves &lt;/em&gt;to trim those holiday bundles and does a neat job of it.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This year, we went with more homemade items.  We're doing gift baskets of home canned items such as: pickled peppers, both hot and mild; dill pickles; tomatillo and tomato salsa; soups; and even pickled eggs.  These baskets will also include some made from scratch baked goodies: chocolate chip cookies; fudge; baklava; orange crisp cookies; and maybe even a pie.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've also made lavender and chamomile infused bath oils, chamomile lip balm, tea tree ointment, and cinnamon massage oil.  Little Sis is whipping up a batch of scented bath salts. The beauty items will most likely be stocking stuffers for the gals.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm no Martha Stewart, though, so don't get the idea that I'm bouncing about the kitchen, perfectly coiffed, in a frilled apron.  I do pull up my cavewoman hair, mostly just so that it doesn't end up infusing itself in the bath oil along with the chamomile.  I actually own a couple of aprons. One was my grandmother's, and one my mom made for me. I can't wear either one unless I'm dressed up and desperate to stay clean, because I feel like I'm being choked by June Cleaver.  I'm just me, flannel shirts and jeans, so Martha's empire is safe...for now...**evil laugh**&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-8926642515616842857?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/12/long-time-no-post.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-393758956027314988</guid><pubDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:49:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-15T15:29:30.417-05:00</atom:updated><title>All quiet on the western front...</title><description>&lt;div&gt;...as the saying goes.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Truly it was blissfully quiet here over the weekend. We sort of took the weekend off. Not intentionally, it just worked out that way. The past few weekends we've been working on firewood (as usual for this time of year; it seems we are never finished). &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Saturday morning, Hubby and I cleaned out the animal houses. (You know you are a farm girl when you take a bath, wash your hair, and chicken feathers float by. ) Then we sipped coffee and worked on some minor projects while Little Sis sorted all of the fishing gear. She's already hyped about fishing next summer, so we are going to be sure to make time for that. We may even take an actual fishing trip to some lake with bigger (or at least more) fish than we have locally. (Mermaids be warned! When Little Sis casts a line, she shows no mercy!) All of us, sitting around the living room, chatting about our summer plans and holiday wishes, no tv or pc... it was nice. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Sunday was equally quiet. Little Sis baked a cake and we drove around (after dark of course) to see all of the Christmas lights. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Due to recent health issues, I've taken a lot more time to just live. Less 'net and more time with Little Sis doing things she enjoys. It seems that sometimes, time gets away from us, what with the farm type chores and remodeling and day to day drudgery. We're trying not to let that happen anymore than absolutely necessary. Life is too short.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Next week will be a flurry of holiday baking and candy making. Little Sis is excited and looking forward to learning to make some of our traditional holiday goodies. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;For now, I'm off to make Christmas ornaments with Her Royal Highness, Little Sis. And she has asked that I remind you all that it's only TEN DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS!!!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415562374429335154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 169px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/SyfxSWLU3nI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/QjedwNHEbWo/s200/frosty-snowman.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-393758956027314988?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/12/all-quiet-on-western-front.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/SyfxSWLU3nI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/QjedwNHEbWo/s72-c/frosty-snowman.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-6148964220369302915</guid><pubDate>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:45:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-08T19:46:55.208-05:00</atom:updated><title>A trip to the dr</title><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.stus.com/"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go to dr's office, sign in at reception desk, receive huge pile of paperwork to fill out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Return paperwork. Wait.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Get called back to exam area. Nurse asks all of the same questions you just answered on forms.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nurse asks, "And why are we seeing you today?", so you tell nurse your complaints, and she jots them down in your chart.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nurse takes your vitals, says, "hmmmm" a few times, jots notes, and leaves.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wait. Look around room. Read pamphlets, posters, magazines and cross-stitched wall hangings.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dr enters, asks what the problem is, and you repeat yourself...again...and again...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dr pokes at you with cold stethoscope. Says "hmmmm". Jots notes. Sends in lab assistant to take blood.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Vampire arrives. Searches desperately for a vein that isn't desiccated. Finds one, strikes oil, and takes so much blood you need a transfusion. Smiles, wipes mouth, and leaves.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wait. Re-read pamphlets, posters, magazines, and cross-stitched wall hangings.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dr returns. Gives referral. Orders scary tests.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;See specialist.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Repeat. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-6148964220369302915?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/12/trip-to-dr.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-1979043752258320401</guid><pubDate>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:21:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-08T16:45:28.543-05:00</atom:updated><title>Christmas Cheer</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10714;111/st/20091225/e/Christmas/k/0a1a/event.png"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28GUU1YbP_E"&gt;Christmas Cheer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-1979043752258320401?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-cheer.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-7513835928353335343</guid><pubDate>Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:04:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-07T21:07:49.362-05:00</atom:updated><title>Observations on the medical profession and growing old gracefully</title><description>This is going to skip around a lot. Try to keep up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For reasons I don't want to go into at the moment, I've had to have contact with doctors and other medical types. Blogging about the reason right now just feels like bad ju-ju.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, knowing I needed to see a doctor, I decided to find a new one. My old doc is the type that will write you a scrip no matter why you are there to see him, loves to leave you waiting for well over two hours, and once told me I had sexy underwear. Creep.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I don't care for the total homeopathic type of doctor; I really can't see how a chiropractor can help with the flu and I'm already familiar with what most local herbs are capable of. I also didn't want another dr that would write scrips for symptoms while ignoring the cause. So I chose an &lt;a href="http://www.osteopathic.org/index.cfm?PageID=ado_whatis"&gt;Osteopath&lt;/a&gt;, thinking I'd get a nice mix of the two.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The new doc is nice, the wait wasn't too long, and there were no comments on my underwear.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I did notice that the patient information included a little blurb about Medicaid and Medicare. Apparently, should I ever find myself old or indigent, I'll be immediately transferred to another physician.  Not altogether comforting. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I learned a new word from the patient info packet: &lt;strong&gt;hospitalist&lt;/strong&gt;.  That's a doctor that treats you while you are in the hospital.  He/she does not have an office and patients of their own.  They basically work for the hospital.  In other words, I should not expect to see the new doc there.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm not quite old enough to remember doctors making house calls, but I do remember when it was your very own doctor that treated you during hospitalizations.  Maybe he/she didn't do your surgery, but they at least made rounds and checked in on you once a day.  In fact, I can recall choosing doctors based on which hospital they were affiliated with (we had two in that town). And it really wasn't that long ago that, if you had to make an ER visit, your very own doctor would meet you there!  But I digress.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was also shocked at the number of displays advertising new prescription medications, since O.D.s are supposed to lean toward an overall wellness. That's where I learned that I could grow lovely, long, thick &lt;a href="http://www.latisse.com/"&gt;eyelashes&lt;/a&gt;, as long as I continue to use the medication as prescribed. Once you stop using it, I guess you get bald eyelids. Or at least you are back to your old, puny, useless eyelashes that are only good for keeping stuff out of your eyes and no where near what you need to flutter at passing millionaires. I couldn't even count the number of beauty products available for purchase directly from the doctor.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; There was an infomercial for the &lt;a href="http://www.obagi.com/article/forpatients/ourproducts/obaginu-dermsystem/obaginu-dermsystem.html"&gt;Obagi system &lt;/a&gt;running in the lobby, for crying out loud. And, well, after sitting through it three or four times, I was curious, so I looked it up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This product supposedly will leave you with a baby butt complexion, but only after you are confined to the house for several weeks, out of sheer embarrassment, with what looks like severe leprosy of the face.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The infomercial boasts that no face powder or foundation was used on the patients during their makeover in the 'after' segment. We aren't supposed to notice the perfectly placed, very bright lighting that keeps wrinkles from casting shadows, sags, bags and freckles from showing. You want to impress me? Let's see these ladies first thing in the morning (forget hair and makeup artists; I'm talking straight out of bed, robe and fuzzy slippers, groggy and coffee-less) outside in REAL sunlight.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whatever happened to growing old gracefully? Why is it that we are, once we hit 30, supposed to have repeated tucks, tightenings, and lifts?  By the time we hit 40, our eyebrows will be so high on our foreheads we'll wear a look of perpetual surprise.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The medical industry is ready to ward off those encroaching years:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are prescription drops to brighten the whites of your eyes, in case your eyeballs look old and yellow.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can get collagen (or even some of your own butt fat) injected into your lips, to give them that full, pouting, I am a fish, stick me to a window look.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;How about a bit of botulism? We'll just inject it right here, into your forehead, so nothing above your eyelids will move.  Have you noticed that, somewhere along the way, we've stopped expecting actresses to actually show emotion by facial expression? They all just look surprised, no matter what they are portraying.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gravity? Not a problem. We'll just move those boobs right here, under your chin, to catch any dribbles from your non-fat, non-dairy, non-flavorful, non-food.  Never mind that no woman naturally has boobs directly under her chin. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get lots of exercise in an indoor gym, then hit the tanning beds so you look like you've been outside, but don't -whatever you do- get out in the sun! You may get a wrinkle!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;No longer do we just have to worry about driving the right cars, wearing the right clothes, and having the right address. Now we have to deal with the fact that society expects us to be ageless. Lovely.  And the gals we are supposed to look like? Those modeling the cosmetics/clothes/whatever? They don't even exist! Remember the &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U"&gt;Dove Evolution &lt;/a&gt;commercial?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I gave up the 'keeping up with the Jones' life when my ex and I split.  Among other issues, that life really just wasn't a happy one.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Homesteading must be the antithesis of the 'keeping up with the Jones' life.  Hubby (the perfect one that I have now) and I are very happy.  I never had a wrinkle before he came along, and now my eyes are all crinkly when I smile, which is often.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are people that would love to have nothing more to worry about than thin eyelashes.  There are cancer patients that would give anything to have those ten pounds you can't seem to shake.  And if you are spending all of your time worrying about your lines, wrinkles, and sagging boobs, &lt;em&gt;then you are not living your life&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;Go. Live. Laugh. Love.  And may all of your wrinkles be laugh lines&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-7513835928353335343?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/12/observations-on-medical-profession-and.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-5247322951416213191</guid><pubDate>Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:32:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-04T23:52:57.064-05:00</atom:updated><title>I Believe!</title><description>&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/SxnkOh-kINI/AAAAAAAAAkA/9RzI7OEURM8/s1600-h/santa-is-real.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411607365552447698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 112px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/SxnkOh-kINI/AAAAAAAAAkA/9RzI7OEURM8/s200/santa-is-real.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/Sxnj4oJZFJI/AAAAAAAAAj4/_QoGP6ssre4/s1600-h/santa-is-real.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Yesterday's &lt;span&gt;dose of &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQLhFpXPiKY&amp;amp;feature=youtube_gdata"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#009900;"&gt;Christmas Cheer&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; was lost at the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; bottom of my&lt;/span&gt; post, &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQLhFpXPiKY&amp;amp;feature=youtube_gdata"&gt;so here it is again.&lt;/a&gt;  It's Bing Crosby and Judy Garland singing Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, which is my all time favorite version of that song.  Check it out!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;I confess: I'm a last minute shopper.   Also a last minute, rushing around in blind panic, where-did-I-put-the-glue-and-where-are-my-sewing-needles-homemade-gifts-are-great type of gal.  I have exactly, um,  **checks ticker at bottom of page** 21 days left, to sew, sort, glue, print, shop, and wrap.  Yep, I can do it. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Besides, shopping way ahead and having it all wrapped before Thanksgiving is...well...boring. *shrugs*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bonzai!!!!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-5247322951416213191?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/12/i-believe.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/SxnkOh-kINI/AAAAAAAAAkA/9RzI7OEURM8/s72-c/santa-is-real.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-6507461935207136109</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:51:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-04T00:48:43.732-05:00</atom:updated><title>Shaz-BOT!</title><description>Lovely. Now I'm getting comments from spambots.   Annoying? Yep. Good for a few laughs? You betcha!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let's take a peek, shall we?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#3333ff;"&gt;Hello !.might , perhaps very interested to know how one can reach 2000 per day of income . There is no initial capital needed You may begin to get income with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#3333ff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Ah, I see that English is neither your first nor second language!  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.tickerfactory.com/"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#3333ff;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;I`m happy and lucky, I started to take up income with the help of this company, and I invite you to do the same. It`s all about how to select a correct partner who uses your funds in a right way - that`s&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;{d&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;eleted-no free ads, baby}!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;!.I make 2G daily, and my first deposit was 1 grand only! &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#3333ff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;How generous that someone that makes 2G daily wants to invite me to join, don't you think?  Good thing I'm not gullible.  Yep, I may have just fallen off the turnip truck, but I didn't hit my head!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#3333ff;"&gt;Let`s take our chance together to feel the smell of real money&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Oookay?  &lt;em&gt;FEEL&lt;/em&gt; the &lt;em&gt;SMELL&lt;/em&gt;?? &lt;strong&gt;What&lt;/strong&gt; are you smokin', dude?  Why don't I just invest in that (the stuff you're smoking)?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-----------------------------------------------&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today's bit of &lt;span style="color:#009900;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQLhFpXPiKY&amp;amp;feature=youtube_gdata"&gt;Christmas Cheer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#009900;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-6507461935207136109?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/12/shaz-bot.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-6558297977498084903</guid><pubDate>Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:14:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-02T22:10:26.913-05:00</atom:updated><title>A Little Pick-Me-Up</title><description>A nice &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf9R0_e-RC4&amp;amp;feature=related"&gt;pick-me-up&lt;/a&gt; for a dreary day.  I needed one, thought maybe you could use one, too.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-6558297977498084903?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/12/little-pick-me-up.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-632674396092545158</guid><pubDate>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:28:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-02T14:31:42.178-05:00</atom:updated><title>You know you are old when...</title><description>Your new doctor is 8 years (or more) younger than you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whatever happened to the old dr. from the Norman Rockwell paintings?  Somehow, that guy inspired more confidence than the young guy with the manicured nails and cool hair cut.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Am I right, or am I right?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-632674396092545158?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/12/you-know-you-are-old-when.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-1801248611148898038</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:37:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-01T18:42:31.739-05:00</atom:updated><title>Now I really have heard everything...</title><description>How is it I'm just now finding out about &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.latisse.com/Default.aspx?return=true"&gt;this??&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yep, technology is amazing.  We can't cure the common cold, don't have a clue about curing cancer, but by granny we can make sure you have lovely eyelashes. Oh, and I hope you wanted &lt;a href="http://www.latisse.com/FAQs.aspx?state=14"&gt;brown eyes&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;un-FREAKIN-believable&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-1801248611148898038?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/12/now-i-really-have-heard-everything.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-4134679484418980107</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:01:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-30T21:21:32.043-05:00</atom:updated><title>It had to be a man</title><description>Who was the moron that thought up the idea of a lint filter ON TOP of the dryer?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What, was it just too much trouble to clean out the filter in the front of the dryer with the door open?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So Col. Dimmwitty says, "I know! I'll put the lint filter on top. It'll be a long, curved filter, so it's sure to spread small particles of lint as it is pulled out, insuring an even coating of fine, lint-y dust on every surface in the laundry room. Eureka!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Someone kick that guy in the nose for me, ok?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-4134679484418980107?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/it-had-to-be-man.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-1059867428269672713</guid><pubDate>Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:54:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-29T18:56:04.977-05:00</atom:updated><title>I know you are there...</title><description>...I can hear you breathing!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Time to de-lurk!  (ok, so maybe it's delurk, or unlurk, but you get the idea)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-1059867428269672713?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-know-you-are-there.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-3464416750334044882</guid><pubDate>Sat, 28 Nov 2009 21:52:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-28T17:18:05.036-05:00</atom:updated><title>The only time I miss tv...</title><description>...is Thanksgiving Day.  The &lt;a href="http://social.macys.com/parade2009/"&gt;Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade&lt;/a&gt;!! woot!  The parade was the only reason I bothered to put the rabbit ears on our tv. No cable/satellite, remember? Anyhoo, I was pretty content without tv until parade day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've always loved the parade. I never really get to sit down and watch it, of course, usually being tied up in the kitchen preparing Thanksgiving dinner.  But still, it was nice to have in the background and I could sneak a peek in between whipping potatoes and frosting cakes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rabbit ears only got us one channel, and it had to be CBS. Not great for parade watching, let me tell ya. Exactly WHY do they think we find the commentators so enthralling? They are telling us all about the parade, which is happening way in the background on a tiny portion of the screen. What the heck?  I really don't care to see 'on the street' interviews of parade watchers, since &lt;em&gt;I'm trying to watch the friggin' parade myself!!  &lt;/em&gt;Seriously, CBS, take a hint and can the  talking heads, ok?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This year, no rabbit ears would help due to the big digital changeover. But my mom, bless her wonderful heart, taped the parade for us! I think two channel's worth, and &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; CBS! She brought it with her to dinner and we watched it as I finished up dinner preparations.  Thanks, Mom!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So I got my parade fix, and even have it on tape for future watching.  Hubby says we'll just play the same parade every year. lol&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By the way, did anyone catch Cyndi Lauper on the parade route? Oh my gosh does she just look amazing or what? I don't think she's aged a day since the 80's! (Of course Little Sis had to ask, "Who's Cyndi Lauper?"! lol)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-3464416750334044882?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/only-time-i-miss-tv.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-1266982346590136146</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:35:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-27T14:45:23.331-05:00</atom:updated><title>Infomercial</title><description>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Are you depressed?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Do you have trouble sleeping??&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Are you suffering from anxiety?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Do you harbor a lack of self-esteem?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:lucida grande;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then try new &lt;span style="font-family:georgia;color:#993399;"&gt;HOMESTEADING &lt;span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"&gt;!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Yes, that's right! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;color:#993399;"&gt;HOMESTEADING &lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000000;"&gt;is a technological breakthrough! Top scientists have worked night and day and now new &lt;span style="font-family:georgia;color:#993399;"&gt;HOMESTEADING &lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000000;"&gt;is available to &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt;!&lt;/span&gt;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;color:#993300;"&gt;You'll enjoy gourmet meals prepared from 100% natural ingredients: planted, tended, harvested, and prepared all by yourself!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;color:#993399;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;color:#993399;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408830515618899330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/SxAGsl3B5YI/AAAAAAAAAjY/hLtsWYoIkC0/s200/garden.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;"&gt;Battle fierce beasts as they vie for the fruit of your labor!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408830509968470322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/SxAGsQz3MTI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/n-K07CTJ7Dk/s200/bunny.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;"&gt;Frolic by a bonfire on a summer night or autumn evening! (Warning: If alcohol is consumed, singed eyebrows may result.)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408830521215094434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/SxAGs6tRDqI/AAAAAAAAAjg/3LfOakGnav8/s200/bonfire.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;"&gt;To avoid winter's piercing cold, you'll revel in the harvest of firewood in the fall: cutting down dead trees, cutting them up, hauling them to a convenient area and splitting and stacking the resulting fuel.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;color:#993399;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408830505286251330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/SxAGr_XiM0I/AAAAAAAAAjA/0QE__wpltB8/s200/firewood.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;"&gt;Bask in the warm glow of a fire produced by your very own hands. Feel that sense of self-esteem returning!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;color:#993399;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408855391071496706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/SxAdUiJF6gI/AAAAAAAAAjo/pkmWHRQkTJA/s200/woodstove.JPG" border="0" /&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;color:#993399;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;Anxiety and depression are things of the past! No longer do you have &lt;em&gt;time or energy &lt;/em&gt;to wallow in self-pity! Sleepless night? GONE!! You'll fall into bed every single night, dead dog tired, and sleep like the dead!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;color:#993399;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/SxAGsPwpfKI/AAAAAAAAAjI/DK-oLcQhOjo/s1600/let+sleeping+dogs+lie.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408830509686553762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/SxAGsPwpfKI/AAAAAAAAAjI/DK-oLcQhOjo/s200/let+sleeping+dogs+lie.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Side effects may include: strains, sprains, bruises, pains, and occasional bouts of Tourette's.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Use of &lt;span style="color:#993399;"&gt;HOMESTEADING&lt;/span&gt; may result in dangerous overconfidence and rare moments of stupidity, such as battling a pack of coyotes with a machete.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#6633ff;"&gt;Satisfaction Guaranteed! If not 100% satisfied: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#6633ff;"&gt;take your whiny ass back to the city and STFU!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-1266982346590136146?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/infomercial.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/SxAGsl3B5YI/AAAAAAAAAjY/hLtsWYoIkC0/s72-c/garden.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-5408307900715223034</guid><pubDate>Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:58:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-26T21:44:52.551-05:00</atom:updated><title>Happy Thanksgiving!</title><description>I have to say this was one amazing Thanksgiving Day. It started with me actually &lt;em&gt;sitting&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;sipping coffee&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;strong&gt;Unheard of&lt;/strong&gt; in the past. I'm not really sure how it worked out that way, other than I got a lot of stuff done yesterday: pies were baked, sweet potato casserole assembled and in the fridge, ready to pop into the oven, the housework done, etc.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The only sad part was that only one of my little ones was here. Biggest Brother and family couldn't make it due to an attack of some sort of crud/virus.  We missed them, but were grateful for their thoughtfulness, as we really don't want any crud.  The other two babies are off in far away places, and we miss them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This was my first wild turkey, and I've wanted one for ages. I was a little worried it would be tough and dry, but it wasn't. It was delicious. And &lt;em&gt;filling&lt;/em&gt;. You know, that's one thing that strikes me about game and homegrown meat: it just doesn't take much to fill you up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dinner went well. It was fun. The mess is already cleaned up, dishes are done, leftovers refrigerated, and all of the furniture back in its proper place. I'm not even tired. That truly is a first.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Little Sis made a lovely blueberry pie, all by herself. I'm so proud!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408607391863515410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/Sw87xFGTqRI/AAAAAAAAAi4/N7UZfhYB3tY/s200/pie.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-5408307900715223034?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/happy-thanksgiving.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0dUQYJNtheA/Sw87xFGTqRI/AAAAAAAAAi4/N7UZfhYB3tY/s72-c/pie.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-6025354961485783836</guid><pubDate>Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:19:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-26T10:58:45.045-05:00</atom:updated><title>There's no place like home</title><description>Sometimes I get overwhelmed; remodeling a home &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; homesteading can be difficult, even in the best of times.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But today, out of the blue, I looked around and thought, "What a cozy little home we have." I realized that, at some point, this place in the woods went from being 'our remodeling nightmare' and 'the money pit'...to &lt;em&gt;home. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No longer is it just a place to keep our stuff while we make it liveable. Funny how it happened without my realizing it. Sure, it's what we've been striving for all along, but to one day look around and see that something has been accomplished, even though I've often felt like we were running in place...it's pretty amazing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Things aren't always as tidy as I'd like them to be, but now that we have more space, that's improving. (Everyone thinks it's a bit odd - my use of the word 'tidy'.  But I like it. It's exactly what I want our home to be: not just clean, as in no dirt, but tidy. A place for everything, and everything in its place.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm happy here.  Content.  More so than I have ever been.  Having friends and family over; homecooked meals; a warm, glowing fire in the woodstove...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;...there's no place like home.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-6025354961485783836?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/theres-no-place-like-home.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-6564750581766950512</guid><pubDate>Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:49:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-24T01:54:56.948-05:00</atom:updated><title>Still behind</title><description>I must still be running behind; it's 2 a.m., Tuesday morning.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The painting is &lt;em&gt;finally&lt;/em&gt; done.  What took so long? you ask.  Well, Big Sis' room was covered in graffiti and Nightmare Before Christmas murals.  It took more than two coats of paint, dontcha know.  Yeah, I could've used Kilz ...or mustard gas...but I can't take the fumes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I still have to put the room back together, clean the windows, paper the ceiling, etc etc etc. But for now, I can at least put my paint brushes away and start putting the house back together.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The main living area has been dusted, vacuumed, mopped, etc...company coming tomorrow, which is kind of a big deal for us.  The down side of being a family of hermits, I suppose.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So now I'm off to bed...visions of turkeys and pies to dance in my head...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-6564750581766950512?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/still-behind.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-8554084000684384987</guid><pubDate>Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:37:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-23T15:55:04.701-05:00</atom:updated><title>running behind</title><description>I was doing so great with Nablowrimo, and then I ended up skipping last night. The day just got away from me. I was busy from the time I got up until I fell, exhausted, into bed.  Oh, well...I'll make up for it today.  I know I have one other date that has two posts, but that was due to my post being made after midnight.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanksgiving and painting are still the big news here. I'm almost done with the room..at least with the painting part. Papering the ceiling will have to wait; there's just no time before T-Day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm excited about Thanksgiving.  I'm glad we are having people here; otherwise I'd be pretty depressed due to Big Sis spending her first holiday away from home.  She's not close enough, geographically, to make it home for any of the upcoming holidays.  We miss you, Rainbow Brite!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I plan to do some of the baking tomorrow. I can at least go ahead and bake the squash that I'll use in the pies.  Wednesday will be chaos with a last minute run to the market and then a marathon of cooking.  I'll be exhausted by the time Thanksgiving is over, but it'll be fun.  Last year, I was baking well past midnight on Thanksgiving Eve, and Hubby and I were laughing, sipping wine, and dancing around to Adam Ant.  It was just one of those fun times that I'll always remember, you know?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ok...so it's not a great post...but it'll do.  I'm off to paint and then do another post tonight!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-8554084000684384987?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/running-behind.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-4989593714389670279</guid><pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:07:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-21T23:16:26.706-05:00</atom:updated><title>T-Day: 5 days...and counting</title><description>I got a neat new counter thingie, but it's way at the bottom of the page.  Sheesh I have such a time with blogger ...and no patience...so it's stuck way down there where I had some room. Bah humbug.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Our menu...so far...is as follows:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2 turkeys: These are wild turkeys, which I'm pretty excited about, since it'll be the first ones I've ever had.  They are hens, and on the small side, thus...cooking two of them. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sweet potato casserole&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Stuffing:  I usually use the box stuff...I know!! I'm such a barbarian!!  Anyhoo...I can't find a recipe that sounds good so I'm just making one up.  But if you have a good recipe, feel free to post it here!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cranberry relish&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mashed potatoes: yukon gold from our garden&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Green beans: from the garden&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Zucchini: you guessed it...garden&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Corn: yet again...from the garden&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fresh baked bread&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pavlova&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pumpkin...actually Pink Banana Squash...Pie&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;and....what else?  I am looking for something different to add...so far no ideas.  Help!!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-4989593714389670279?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/t-day-5-daysand-counting.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-2725867409743753037</guid><pubDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:22:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-21T00:28:55.445-05:00</atom:updated><title>World's Best Sweet Potato Casserole!!</title><description>3 cups mashed sweet potatoes&lt;br /&gt;1 cup white sugar&lt;br /&gt;2 eggs&lt;br /&gt;1 Tablespoon vanilla&lt;br /&gt;1/2 cup butter&lt;br /&gt;1/3 cup milk&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mix all of the above ingredients well.  Spoon into buttered baking dish (9x9).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a separate bowl, mix topping:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1 cup brown sugar&lt;br /&gt;1/3 cup flour&lt;br /&gt;1/3 cup butter&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Stir in:&lt;br /&gt;1 cup chopped pecans&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sprinkle over sweet potato mixture.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-2725867409743753037?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/worlds-best-sweet-potato-casserole.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-4005289208787150991</guid><pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:29:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-19T22:33:00.931-05:00</atom:updated><title>Someday...</title><description>...someday...I will know the simple pleasure of planning a family holiday gathering...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;without &lt;/em&gt;the insane rush to first finish yet another remodeling project....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;...maybe someday....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*sigh*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-4005289208787150991?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/someday.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-995466096619485503</guid><pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:38:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-19T01:44:32.937-05:00</atom:updated><title>Countdown to Turkey Day!</title><description>T-day is about a week away.  Hubby is already humming the Mission Impossible theme while describing the day's events.  I'm going to choke on popcorn laughing at him.  Here's his take:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;5 a.m.: Open one eye, look at clock. Tell myself to put the turkey in.  Drift off again, mumbling about croutons...and how giblets have ruined humanity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;5:30 am: Smack that snooze bar...again!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Flash forward to 9 am:  Senor Soliel stabs me in the brain through my eyelids.  Look at clock, put glasses on, look at clock again, curse loudly while throwing covers onto hubby.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Grab shower while dusting.  Fix hair while vacuuming.  Realize the impossibility of my task. Open first bottle of wine.  Look at clock: 10: 15 am.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mission Impossible Theme begins now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Frantically search for mop, having spilled wine while trying to stuff turkey and drink at the same time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;10:17 a.m.: finish bottle of wine and open second bottle&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;10:18 am:  try to determine actual origin of this strange custom. Why do we feel the need to run around like rabid monkeys, eat until we can't keep our pants closed, and gather relatives in vast numbers?  Pilgrims? I think not.  Native Americans? Heck no, they knew better!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Noon: sob hysterically as I spray fire extinguisher at crispy, black turkey.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2 pm: Family arrives to find me passed out and surrounded by empty wine bottles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2: 03 pm: Family orders Chinese take out and pokes my unconscious body with chopsticks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This message will now self destruct.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-995466096619485503?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/countdown-to-turkey-day.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-9206749735653674653</guid><pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:36:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-17T23:58:07.063-05:00</atom:updated><title>Random junk...</title><description>...cause it's nearly midnight and I'm too tired to be coherent.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;I've been working on Big Sis' vacated room, soon to be guest room/library.  You'll never guess &lt;em&gt;what&lt;/em&gt; I've been doing in there.  Yep, chipping plaster off the friggin' ceiling!  Why? Well, before the new roof was put on, the sky used to pee in that room.  So the plaster coating over the other plaster coating (yeah, what gives?) is flaking off. Not all of it, of course, because that would make things simple.  I'm taking down the loose stuff and then I'll paper the ceiling.  My neck hurts already. ugh.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I managed to get our &lt;a href="http://www.nightwoodforge.etsy.com/"&gt;Etsy&lt;/a&gt; page updated.   Hubby makes the stuff, all I have to do is get it online. You'd think I could keep up.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;On Sunday, I split firewood &lt;em&gt;and &lt;/em&gt;baked angel food cake, from scratch.  &lt;em&gt;At the same time&lt;/em&gt;.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Today, I baked oatmeal cookies so Hubby would have freshly baked goodies for work.  Then I hauled firewood (uphill, dontcha know). Someone tell him he's a lucky man.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I love wine, but I hate whiners.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I have two very spoiled chihuahuas.  Don't look the type, do I? lol I do also own a large dobe mix with blue eyes. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I don't really care for cats, so how come we have THREE?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I refuse to eat organ meat. Gross gross gross. Liver? Um...pass!! Don't you know what that organ is for?? Ew!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I love Asian food.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I have the greatest husband in the whole wide world. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;And now,  I must go brush the plaster out of my hair, and fall into bed.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-9206749735653674653?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/random-junk.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-4794078904624818733</guid><pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:49:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-16T23:33:34.666-05:00</atom:updated><title>Look! I can juggle!!</title><description>**Deftly juggles paintbrush, paint roller, chainsaw, ax, splitting maul, and wheelbarrow**&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wasn't I doing the same thing &lt;a href="http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2008/11/new-royal-family-wild-nobility-we-are.html"&gt;about this time last year&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But now it's Big Sis' (aka Rainbow Brite's) room getting the makeover.  Our little Rainbow has grown up and moved on to the big, wide world.  I miss her like crazy and sorting out her room has been emotional chaos, not to mention the &lt;em&gt;actual chaos&lt;/em&gt; she left behind.  She took the opportunity to streamline her things, leaving behind what she didn't want...for mom to deal with.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks, honey. I still love ya, though. ;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The extra space will be nice, I suppose, as our house is cozy (read: teensy weensy).  So here I am again, doing firewood on nice days, working on the room on rainy days.  I'm hoping to concentrate on getting the room done this week, as it will free up space in other areas of the house that need more remodeling.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's weird for me to go back and read last year's posts, when Little Sis moved on from fairies, pink, princesses and dolls to blue and horses.  And now, here I am, preparing to paint over some very cool Nightmare Before Christmas murals.  *sigh*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of course, it looks like once again I'll be racing to finish things up before Thanksgiving.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-4794078904624818733?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/look-i-can-juggle.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725923972629727580.post-986915560952995202</guid><pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:06:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-15T23:19:36.611-05:00</atom:updated><title>Christmas Muzac</title><description>One local radio station has been playing Christmas Music for at least two weeks now.  Little Sis has rigged up a bizarre antennae in her room on her portable radio just to get the signal (so it's not &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; local).  She loves Christmas music.  So do I.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But WHY, with all the 473920000572727 holiday songs that have been recorded over the years, do they have to play the SAME dozen or so...all day...over...and over...and over...ad nauseam??&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I really used to love Hall and Oates.  But if I hear their version of Jingle Bell Rock &lt;em&gt;one more time...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh dear gawd it's only mid November.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4725923972629727580-986915560952995202?l=countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://countrylifewithcountrywife.blogspot.com/2009/11/christmas-muzac.html</link><author>countrylifewithcountrywife@yahoo.com (Country Wife)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item></channel></rss>