Fork Chronicles has moved!

Please visit the new and improved Fork Chronicles, where I’m still blogging about chickens!

Why I bother with a Blog

 

I write this blog because my hubby, (the one giving the thumbs up; the other one is Billy) works away from home.  And three of our kids live in other states, and so does my dad and his wife,  and all of my brothers, and most of the in-laws.   So this is one way of keeping the peeps informed.

And, this blog exist to share interesting stuff like this: This is why you are fat. And this: Sea Pearls.  And this: Jar Pies.

Which begs the question:  Is there anything that can not be found on the web?  Well, as a matter of fact, I could not find printable steno (6 x 9 in) planner pages today.  Therefore, I spent most of my day putting together a 2010 planner…

that I really will use this year because it’s one of my resolutions…

I’m a reader ….. so I read The Reader

And I wish I had not.  They took a story with sex, war, the Holocaust , a trial, a death and made it b-o-r-i-n-g!  HOW DID THEY DO THAT?  I say “they”, because I don’t know if the author or the translator is responsible…but somebody did it! 

The only reason I will watch the movie is because Ralph Fiennes is in it, and I love to watch him act.  Oh, I hope Ralph and the director salvage what should have been a fantastic story!

Sew, Sew Happy!

I decided I wanted some long skirts to wear with boots this winter, so I went to Stage, Dress Barn and a few other places thinking it would be easy to find a long plain black or brown skirt.  Guess what? I couldn’t find one anywhere.  So on my next trip to wally world, I picked up some fabric.  Then I drug out the Singer 15 I bought about three years ago, and hadn’t used yet.   Isn’t it great?  After some initial struggle with the needle position, and breaking thread, it is working like a charm!!! 

This website has some great information about vintage machines, and this one is great for determining the year model of old machines.  Mine is from March 1952.

While I was struggling to make the 15 work, I also decided to try out the Singer 221 Featherweight that was given to me by Alvin’s friend, Mike and his wife Pepper, last month. 

 

They were going to throw it away, even though iit’s in wonderful condition.  It was made in 1955.  I’m sure glad they didn’t look on E-bay before he brought it to me!  (No take backs, Mike!)  By the way, I learned a couple of things from this E-bay site, and hope to learn a lot more from this Featherweight site.

Boy, do I have some great toys!!

LiveJournal Tags: vintage sewing machines,sewing,skirts

It is a Holiday, not a Holy Day

I’ve noticed on other social networks that many Christians are against the term, “Happy Holidays”.  While I admit to being among those who expressed this  predominantly evangelical opinion in the past, “Happy Holidays” seems perfect to me now.  Why?  Because the Christmas holidays have very little to do with Christ anymore—and that’s okay.  Why again?  Because Christ didn’t celebrate his birthday either.  So, maybe it’s okay to admit that Christmas is really a Catholic tradition, not a biblical requirement, so Catholics and others can celebrate Christ’s Mass just because they want to.

And the protestants can have Christmas programs celebrating the beautiful, miraculous, and true story of Jesus birth because it is in the bible, and they want to remember and honor it. 

And the Jewish Christians can celebrate Hanukkah because Jesus did—even though it is not a Torah Holy Day.

So what does this mean for someone like me, a  fledgling berean, who wants to honor, appreciate and celebrate in a manner befitting a Holy God?

It means I can acknowledge the wonderfulness of Jesus’ holy birth this time of year.  It means I can learn about and appreciate the Jewish celebrations Jesus participated in and why they are important to him.  And it means I can attend parades, decorate trees, and fill stockings with simple holiday cheer.

In short, let the happy things be happy, and the Holy things be Holy!

Happy Holidays!

On blogging…

I’ve been reflecting a lot lately on what I want from the internet and what I don’t want to spend my time doing. While I would like to maintain a small blog of some kind for my far away family and friends, the time it takes to upload pictures on wordpress is way too long.

I’d also like to easily connect to friends and family without typing on three different pages.

The set up on Windows live looks great. The pictures upload is a little bit faster, and the latest blog is on the “tami’s space” page (soon to be renamed!), plus you can read old blogs on the blog tab.

Feel free to join my network or just visit my new space at http://ilovebigfork.spaces.live.com/.

Fork chronicles will stay up for a while.

Chicken Soap

There once was a handsome cockerel name Vegas, who freely roamed the land

and crowed over his first love, Reno.

Vegas was brokenhearted when he lost Reno in a tragic accident.  To ease his pain, Ugly Betty was moved into his castle and  roamed with him about the land.

Granted, she claimed none of the beauty of Reno, but she did eventually come into her own.

But her beauty was simply not enough, especially when Vegas became enamored with a feisty red head who escaped the confinements of the coop to roam freely, too.

Vegas loved the red head (literally), and was devastated when she was returned to the coop.  He circled and circled the coop seeking her, but to no avail.

The red head had returned to her first love, Romeo, who ruled the coop.

Now, another beautiful babe, Juliet was upset when this certain red head returned to the coop.  In a rage,  Juliet flew out of the coop and into the trees.

In a state of revenge, Juliet then abandoned Romeo to join Vegas and Ugly Betty in the free land.

Now, you would think Vegas would be satisfied with either the beautiful Juliet or  Ugly Betty-who is after all, his own kind- but, no!

Vegas turned his back on the two available chicks…and on freedom!

For in his small chicken brain, he believed love was worth it.

Vegas flew INTO the coop, and after a dual with Romeo, declared himself

KING OF THE ROOST- and confinement?!!

And there he remains, sacrificing his freedom for love of one redhead.  Or could it be for the love of multiple redheads?

Feathering the Nest

After a summer of gardening and babysitting, the time has come to finish decorating and settling into our home.  We’ve been here just over a year, but it doesn’t quite feel like home yet.  So, I’ve been enjoying every minute of trying to remedy that. I’ve rearranged and changed the decor in the living room, removed a table and added valances and comfortable chairs to the kitchen,  made shades , rewired and stripped lamps and picture frames, and more.

More pictures when I’m finished.  Now, I have to get back to making pound cake to use up the excess eggs our chickens are producing!

Whata Summer!

Wow! Talk about a busy summer! The garden is finally slowing down, and so am I.

The trailer is finished, and my mother-in law is finishing her move.

Today was my last full day of baby sitting the grandchildren. Ava starts day care on Monday, and Colin starts Kindergarten Wednesday. I’ll help in the afternoons still, but I should have more free time.

And that free time will include blogging again, pottery, soap making, cheese making and finishing up some of the house projects.

So stay tuned!

That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Real fresh food.  It was such a joy to eat our dinner last night. Ribs with BBQ sauce made from our tomatoes.   Home grown potatoes, with freshly picked green peppers, smothered in butter.   Fried green tomatoes, using tomatoes picked just a couple of hours before, freshly ground flour and cornmeal to bread them, and eggs from my chickens to make the flour stick!

Yep, that’s right!  The girls have started laying-early!  I’m so proud!

Produce that has been trucked in days before, and sat in stores for who knows how long, just does not create the flavor of a personal garden.  So good… Sigh….

Back to the tomato preserves that are boiling on my stove top as I type…