*  I spent yesterday cleaning up the garden.  Since it was a cool and rainy summer, I left the tomatoes a bit longer hoping that more would ripen and I could make tomato sauce for the upcoming winter months.  It frosted twice this week.  The first night everything was covered the second night we forgot.  I picked a bunch of green tomatoes and will hope that they ripen in a box in the basement.

*  A couple of weeks ago I made this Apple Dumpling desert that was absolutely fabulous.  The only thing healthy about it is the apples.  But, oh my, is it ever good.  Don't let the amount of butter and sugar scare you.  Or the bottle of Mountain Dew.  Go for the taste.  It's definitely a once in a while type of desert.


Happy Thursday!

It is Wednesday again and that means it is time for the weekly yarn along.  I am joining with Ginny and everyone to share yarn and books.

*  I have a mouse problem in my chicken coop.  Little %&$@$'s are eating the chicken food.  I've seen the ladies chase them, catch them by the tails and fling them in the air.  But that was months ago.  I'm not sure if the ladies are just used to the mice now, but they don't seem to be bothered by them.  I am, however, bothered by them.  I'm not scared of them.  But rather annoyed the mice are eating the food.  We (and by that I mean Bryan) put out small little live traps.  I don't want to use glue traps and I'm afraid the ladies would set off traditional traps.  I've read posts about rigging a bucket of water and drowning them.  I would be a little disturbed to find dead, floating mice in a bucket.  I'm also disturbed by the thought of the poor mice stuck in a live trap, starving to death until we (again I mean Bryan) either let them go somewhere else or just toss the whole trap in the trash.  Now, I'm a big believer in Karma and I haven't quite come to terms with the idea of killing the mice.  I mean, I kind of invited the buggers with the chicken feed...

*  We (and by this I mean me) only ended up with 18 New England Pumpkin Pie pumpkins!  Still way too many for this no pumpkin eating person!  C carried one into the house and said "I brought you a pumpkin mama, so you can make me a pie."  I may.  Or I may just have her carry it over to Oma's house!

*  We've had an explosion of chicken feathers in our chicken run.  The ladies are molting.  We haven't had an egg in over a week.   Poor Gracie is naked from the top of her head to the middle of her back.

*  My 52 Project photo album that I have been putting together since the beginning of January is missing.  I'm pretty sure that I put it together in Shutterfly but I can't seem to find it.  And I know I hit the save button.  Ack.  So I'm starting over.

It is Wednesday again and that means it is time for the weekly yarn along.  I'm joining with Ginny and everyone to share yarn and books.  I seem to be spending a lot of time on my braided scarf and my two-at-a-time-toe-up-magic-loop socks.  I thought I was at a halfway point on the scarf, but realized that I had to complete six 90" cords and not five cords.  Ugh.  At least it is mindless knitting and I can pretty much do it anywhere.  Because of my self imposed deadline of mid November to complete this project, it has pretty much taken the forefront in my knitting these days.  I have also worked on my socks.  I'm now knitting the leg and will knit until I think I'm close the end of yarn and then will knit a ribbed cuff to finish them off.
I have been on vacation and I haven't picked up a book in weeks.  What?  I know.  Crazy.

Happy Yarn Along Wednesday.

We had just save our $1000 baby emergency fund when Murphy showed up.  (which I'm learning is always the case).  My car needed a $600 repair.  Which we didn't stress over since we had cash to fix it.  But then I screwed up.  I had a rather large medical bill coming due (from my shoulder surgery last summer) but it came sooner than I realized so there went the other $400.  Now I need new tires, new brakes and the timing belt on my car is coming due.  Hello overtime!

While I was feeling incredibly stressed out over the amount of money I was going to need in a short amount of time, I decided that I needed a refresher course of Financial Peace University.  On the Dave Ramsey website I found a church right down the street with a class starting the next week.  I emailed the facilitator and she signed me up.  The beauty of FPU is that once you've paid for the kit, you can attend class again and again.  There is an option to buy an updated kit for a fraction of the price and this includes a log in for the website.  I used my kit and I don't need the website since I have a log in at www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com.

While it is hard for me to work as many hours as I used to and still see my husband and not have my parents watch C more than retired grandparents should (without feeling they are raising her), I am feeling a little less stressed.  The reason... I signed up to be an ambassador for Plexus Worldwide.  What?  Never heard of Plexus?  Neither had I.  But I had seen posts on friends Facebook pages about this pink drink they were drinking.  And they were losing weight and they felt great.  I watched for a while then finally bit the bullet and inquired what it was all about.

Plexus Slim is a powdered drink that is mixed in water.  It was originally developed for Type 2 diabetics as a way to help control blood glucose and lipid levels.  But it had an unexpected side effect in that it also helped them lose weight!  It is gluten free, vegan and vegetarian.  It is all natural and it tastes good!  Other benefits of Slim are better sleep and more energy.

I had decided to try Slim because I had been feeling run down.  I was at the doctor in July for a diabetes exam.  I thought I was feeling run down because my thyroid medication was off.  I was a little disappointed when she told me that it was fine.  I just couldn't figure out why I wanted a nap every day by 10AM.  That's when I decided that I should follow up on all of the FB posts I had been reading.  I ordered a 3 day trial pack.  And while I didn't feel any better after three days I didn't hate the way the drink tastes so I ordered a months supply.  Within a week it was a night and day difference in the way I felt.  I actually slept all night (with the exception of the nightly trip to the restroom) and didn't have any trouble falling asleep if I did wake up.  I have more energy every day.  I didn't try it to lose weight, that was never my intention, but it has helped maintain where I am at weight wise without longer & harder workouts, which I don't have time for.   It has also helped me reduce food (sugar) craving, which as a diabetic I shouldn't eat that much sugar!

There are a whole combination of products that Plexus sells.  There is a weight loss line, a detox line and a pain relief line.  For more information please see my website.* www.plexusslim.com/jenfeymiller

I go back to the doctor mid November.  I am anxious to find out what my blood sugar numbers are as well as what my cholesterol is.

*Disclaimer- I am a Independent Ambassador for Plexus.  I get paid a commission each month from Plexus Worldwide.  While I do get paid, I am not pushing Plexus...my intention is to inform the benefits of Plexus.  And what better way than my own testimony.  

 This was an ore chute.  The miners used gravity to move the heavy materials down the mountain.  The ruins are covered in snow.


 This was what was left of the boardinghouse.
 This was the only cabin that was completely intact.
 Some random animal tracks in the snow.

 The cabin.
 All that remains of one of the buildings.

 The view from the parking lot.
 Buffett was one tired puppy dog after our hike.  The hike was a short one, only about four miles.  But you know how dogs are...they walk double our miles wandering about.
 It turned out to be a gorgeous day.  The wind in the camp was chilly, but once back a the car it was warm enough to shed our jackets.   The old wagon road we hiked on was snowy and icy to start but turned slick and slushy.   I think this is a hike we'd do again.  The out and back to the mine camp was easy enough that C could walk or ride in the back pack.  But there is also a loop that goes higher and comes back around to the parking lot.

It's Wednesday again and it is time to share yarn and books.  I'm joining with Ginny and every one to share what we've been reading and working on.  Rather than share yet one more post on my socks, sweater, and scarf, this week I'm sharing a finished project!

It's Wednesday again and that means it is once again time for the weekly yarn along.  I'm joining with Ginny and everyone to share yarn and books.  It's been forever since I've played along.  I've been busy with work and just haven't been knitting.

I have worked so sporadically on my Sylvi that it always takes me a few minutes to figure where I am in the pattern.  I make notations on the pattern, but I still have to review.  I just finished the right front and while I lost track of the number of rows, I think it will all work out in the end.  I am know ready to begin the back of this sweater and I'm kind of freaking out about that.  Mostly because of the intricacy of the cables, I will have to really pay attention to what I am doing.  That means I will not be working on sweater at crafting or at home.  This is strictly a go sit a quiet spot and create project.
I have just finished Storm Front by John Sanford.  It is a suspense novel in the Virgil Flowers series.  I had been listening to it on audio CD in my car on the way to work.  I couldn't get disc 5 to play so I took it back to the library and ordered another copy.  I think they gave me back the same copy!  Disc 5 didn't play.  So I checked out the ebook and finished it.  The person who read the audio book did a wonderful job and I wish I could have finished it that way.  His tone of voice and the way he read Virgil had me laughing like a crazy woman in my car.

Happy Yarn Along Wednesday!