He is totally fascinated with the pet rats. He is the one that killed our first pet rat so we have to watch him close. The rats live in the basket, entering and exiting through a whole in the other side very similar to the hole on this side.
I thought this was funny.

I didn't get home yesterday like I thought, I was there another day but did get to come home this morning. I was hoping for a pretty day so I could work outside but that was over ruled so I decided to take the rat dog in the above pictures to the groomer. He got a bath and a blow dry, combed out a little, and his under carrige shaved. He definitely smells better. I am going to get a few good pictures of him with his long hair then going to get it all shaved off. An inside-outside, country dog does not do well with such long fine hair.

I have no idea whats been going on at home. I have been here at Bea's now for 5 days and 5 nights. The last time I went home I was so disgusted with the mess that Terry felt sorry for me and volenteered to keep the dishes washed while I was away. I know he washed them once but I would be suprised if they are still washed. I ask him to just keep the kitchen table cleaned off and it would look so much cleaner in there with just that. Usually it is covered with mail, newspapers, receipts and dirty dishes. I hope he has been a good boy. Sis has her chores to do, mainly keep the bathroom clean but I bet the floors have not been vacumed in days. Oh well..... I wont trade them off just yet. I think I will still keep them around a little longer.

Mom's over her little sickness and should be back tomorrow. I'll be glad to see her coming.

I can't seem to post a comment on my blog so I'll just put it here. Yes, I do remember the little dog. It's name was Peanut and we have a picture of it curled up in the dog bowl, taken one Sunday morning before leaving for church. I do remember about the kittens too. He was the only little dog we ever had and he didn't last very long.

I have been at Bea's now for 3 days and will have one more to go. This can get old. I took Nidrah's dog for a walk around the park this morning while Nidrah was feeding Bea lunch. It's was quite brisk. Hot while the sun was shining and cold when the wind blew. It felt good to get out and get some exercise though, and I really needed it.

Sis called me and said that her and her dad went mushroom hunting today and actually found some. She was all excited. They put them to soak in salt water and we will probably have them for supper tomorrow night.

Terry said he and sis might come over here to Bea's and visit with me for a while this evening. That will be nice. It is 8pm and Bea is in bed and all is quiet.

Any body need any grapes? Terry went to the auction in Taswell Friday and bought a whole flat of seedless green grapes for $5.00! I already gave Nidrah a bag full. I guess I ought to quit here now and go eat some grapes.

Here is our new banner sign for the shop. I had plans to paint one on plywood and hang it here but that plan has been in the works for about a year now and it wasn't happening so I thought I better just spend a little money and get it done. Click on the picture and see it bigger. I have plans to order a couple more of these to hang up. I just can't seem to get one painted.



Please help us welcome our new additions. There are 2, a male and a female. Some one told us they were giving these away so we went to check it out. It was more of a rescue then anything else. Bad conditions, eating only breakfast cereal and really too young to leave mommy. Sis has claimed them and is doing all the caretaking. She named them Tinkerbell and Titan. They are a mix of Chihuahua/boxer and Min Pin/Terrier. They are very small, possible smaller then my Yorkie pups at this age. They still sleep 90 % of the day but are eating canned dog food really well. The plan was to put their pictures on my website and sell them for a little extra cash but they are still too young for that and I am afraid by the time they are old enough we wont be able to pry them loose with a stick. We'll just wait and see how thing so. They are cute enough that they still could be sold when they are older so .........

We were just playing around, trying to get the plum blossoms in the photo. This one above is my favorite.

Congratulations girls on your diets or...... new lifestyles. I salute you and wish you luck. I too could stand to loose a few. 50 would be nice but since that is not reasonable, 5 will do for now. I am walking every chance I get and cutting back on food. I don't have a plan to follow, I don't think I could follow one if I did but I am trying something. A perfect day for me is to get up and drink a cup of coffee with Terry while he eats breakfast. When he leaves I go for my 2 mile walk with the dogs. I get back and eat one or two grapefruits. I have developed a taste for grapefruits lately, I love em! About noon I will open a Slimfast and sip on that until about 3pm and sit down and watch Dr. Phil and eat another grapefruit. Then start fixing supper and about 5 or 6 sit down and eat supper. I have accomplished that routine for about 3 or 4 days a week now and I am happy with that. Any day that I can just eat one meal a day I will accept. Since Christmas I have cut out sweets, chips and junk food so something has got to be better then it was. When I was sick for a few days I lost about 3-4 lbs but those pounds usually don't stay gone.

So I say, YOU GO GIRLS! I am feeling your pain.

Happy Birthday to youuuuuu, Happy Birthday to youuuuuuu.......

Here is my new teenager.

She likes her "Letters of Encouragement" scrapbook. She told me several times thank-you for taking the time. I want to thank everybody that contributed, everybody did a great job. Give your self a pat on the back. She will enjoy it for many years.

This is your page, Aunt Marge, thank you for sending the letter. It looks great. I was able to take the small photo you sent and blow it up to a 5x7 and it turned out great. There is a flap that she can lift over the letter then lift the first page to read the second page.
Sharon, I need a picture of you and Sis again. The ones we took didn't work right last time.

Lois helped me with her page, she had some cute little things to add to it. Bless her little heart, she is the one that said she didn't have any thing to write but handed me 6 pages when she was done.
Rachel, you have to show yourself soon, I need a picture of you and Sis together to complete your page. Your page looks good too.
Sarah, you did a good job on your letter. I guess it helps to be the one that was 13 the last. You can still remember what it was like.
Even Kenny had his two cents to say. Thanks again everybody, I believe it was a sucess. There was also 6 or 7 people from church that wrote her an encouraging letter too. The book is pretty full. Anybody that wants to add something is more then welcome, knock your self out.

The kid can fish! This is from the neighbors pond, taken about a week ago. No, we didn't eat it. It went back in so she can catch it again sometime.

Our Walk Today

This is one happy dog, can't you see that smile? She loves to go for a walk and I know that is a doggy smile.

These guys look like they are having fun too.

We found a little pond in the woods and did a little science for school.

Frog eggs anyone? This is a fascinating subject for 7 year old boys!

Whiskers found a good spot to cool off.

The pond was about a mile out from the house and it was a beautiful day for a walk in the woods.

We are on our way home now but it has been about a mile and a quarter. Timmy has been sick and was getting a bit tired so we had to take a few rest stops.

Always time for a little loving for Timmy's favorite girl.

"Do-Me-To" dog doesn't want to be left out

At about a mile and a half thats all, its over folks. He wasn't complaining but didn't turn down a ride.

The neighbors tractor looks like a good place to rest while......

Sis goes home for the 4-wheeler.

Help is on the way!

Now is she an angel or what?

Now, the race is on. This is the view from the back of the moving 4-wheeler.

You should have seen her when she flopped down in the nearest mud puddle. I tried to get a picture but she moved too fast.

Home just in time for breakfast. The country air is good for a kid. I think it was 3 pancakes before he quit.

Just a side note, Sis collected a quart of sap while the maple trees were running and we boiled it down today. Thats water in the jar but it represents the amount of sap compared to the syrup derived from it. It was good though.

She was quit proud of herself for actually making maple syrup herself.

Look what we found when we got home tonight! 4 of the little stinkers. We didn't even know she was preggers. They gestate for 90 days and we have only had her for about 2 months so she was pregnant when we got her. They are about an inch and a half long, not counting the tail. Born with all their hair and with their eyes open, ready to run in about a day.

Ed shoots em, Terry feeds em. I guess it takes all kinds. This could be the one we raised from a baby one year. It's a cute one anyway. This is the view from my kitchen window. I see him or her every morning when I get up and start the coffee pot. He can see me too but doesn't seem to mind.

I planted some tulips today, about 4-5 months late. The neighbor gave them to me last fall and when she did she said, "Today would be a great day to plant them." Well, I didn't plant them that day or the next. I figured hers will be blooming soon and she will me looking to see if mine are blooming too. I hate to disappoint her but maybe I can just say that I got them in the ground a little late. Think she will notice?

Look what I found in the yard today! Now doesn't spring make you so glad to be alive? It does me. Today is the first time I have been home on a warm day and been able to be outside and enjoy it. I just had to go for a walk. I am glad I have the dogs to more or less make me walk. They have gotten so fat and lazy this winter that I have to get them out and get some exercise. That makes it good for me because I think I have gotten fat and lazy this winter too.

I decided to walk around the 9 acre field in the front instead of just out the driveway. That is where we want to build our cabin some day. It is fun to stand there and try and imagine what it will look like. I think I have decided that a smaller house will be better. I first wanted a large cabin like, 30'x50', but that seems so overwhelming to accomplish, especially on our income. I have been thinking that I could survive in a smaller house. Maybe, 25'x30', one bedroom and a loft upstairs, one bedroom, a nice big kitchen and a decent size laundry/boot room downstairs. If I invest some of the money that I would have put in a larger house and use it to create a more organized space I could be happy.

Wow, I'm impressed! It is blurry but I just had to snap this shot. She had just turned off the TV so she could read a book. I have been trying for years to get her interested in reading, a pass time that I have enjoyed for years, but had not had much sucess. She got interested in some mediaeval era movies and then found some books at the library about that time and managed to actually finish a book or two. The one she has here is about 3 inches thick and it took her about a month but she did finish it today and can't wait for the library to open so she can get some more.

Rachel, I need to know how to contact you on the internet. Do you have an email address? Is it the same as before? Do you have a Yahoo name? Same as before?

We went and got our taxes done last night and this was the first time since we have been self employed that I didn't get a stress headache or stomach just thinking about going. I have even threatened to quit self employment and go get a job because tax time was so stressful! Not this year, I think I finally got a handle on it. I probably shouldnt say that, then something else will pop up but this year I had it laid out for the tax preparer and all she had to do was enter the figures, hit the right button at the bottom and it all popped out the printer! I made Terry some spread sheets for each day of the week with headings like, Gas, Maintenance, Bought Logs, Sold Ties, Sold Lumber, Paid help, etc. Every night when he comes home he has to fill that out and at the end of the week I add that info to my Monthly Expenses and Income spread sheet and by the end of the year I add up each months income, subtract the expences and there you go. That seems like a lot of work for what little we made but we got back a nice piece of change this year, mostly because of Sis and her earned income credit. This time of the year I always wish I had about 6 kids, but only if I can give them away after tax time again. We wont be going on vacation with our refund, that is for sure. Just will be able to get caught up in outstanding bills with it but I thank the Lord that we can do that much!