Halloween at Carter Caves

We spent last weekend camping at Carter Caves. It was so much fun. I can't wait to do it again next year. They have a Trick or Treat weekend. All the campsites are decorated to the hilt! There are pumpkin contests, site decorating contests, costume contests, ghost stories, scary (ish) movies on the big screen, and more!
Let me just say,,, it's REALLY hard to get a good shot inside a cave without the proper equipment! In Cascade Cave they set up a stage and had two marvelous story tellers sing songs and tell ghost stories. That was a blast and would have been even better had the audience not been incrediably rude. What's up with that? The red blob you see is one of the story tellers dressed up as "The Devil's Daughter". She was great.

I gave the kids the carving equipment and told them to "go to it" this is what they came up with! They had a lot of fun doing it.
The light and the leaves were just perfect.

T2 Dressed up as "A Halo Guy". He and daddy made the costume. Homemade costumes are the way to go aren't they? I mean, anyone can BUY a costume, but it takes more imagination and skill to come up with one on your own!
Oh, and T1 decided he didn't want to dress up but at the last minute he decided he wanted to Trick or Treat. So he went as "average pre-teen boy" ha ha ha Isn't that scary enough?

We'll definately go again next year. That was the best Trick-or-Treating ever!

The legend of Stingy Jack

In old Ireland, there was a drunkard named Jack. Jack was so stingy that he only ate turnips. He spent most of his days and most of his nights at the pub.

On one of these nights he said he'd trade his soul for a shilling for just one more drink. Well the ol' Devil heard this and asked Stingy Jack if he meant it. Jack replied

"oh yes, my soul for another drink".

So the Satan turned himself into a shilling and spun 'round landing on the bar. Kinda gives new meaning to "the love of money is the root of all evil" doesn't it?

Instead of buying a pint with that coin, Stingy Jack put that devil of a coin into his pocket and headed home, munching on a turnip. He kept it there for some time but Old Scratch whined and carried on and made such a ruckus from inside that pocket that Jack struck a deal with him.

"If you'll agree to not come back for my soul for 10 years, I'll let you out"

Well, reluctantly, the devil agreed and Jack took the coin out of his trouser pocket and flipped it into the air. The coin sprung to life, turning back into the Devil. Now you'd think that with such an experience that you'd mend your ways. You'd try to be a better person but being who he was and generally just being human, Jack continued being Jack.

Ten years to the day, Jack was walking home after being at the pub. The 'ol Devil appeared in his path. Jack wasn't surprised but was a little dismayed. He'd hoped the devil had forgotten but he DID strike a deal with him so he said,

"I'm ready to go with you, I am, but first, as my last request, may I have one of those apples from atop that apple tree. I'm so hungry"

The Devil thought this was a reasonable request and was frankly a little thrown at the lack of fighting and opposition on Jacks part. The devil climbed up the tree to get the apple. As soon as he was at the top, Jack took out his knife and cut a cross on the trunk of the tree.Now you and I know that the devil can never come across the sacred symbol of Christianity! Oh but he wailed and cried and carried on. Finally Jack was ready to strike a deal with him again. He said

"I'll get you down but you have to promise to never try and come for my soul again!"

The Devil baulked at this, he did not want to agree to it but he had no choice! Jack threw him up a rope. Satan tied it to a tree limb and Jack tied the other end to the base of a horse hitching post. Together they made a slide of sorts out of the side of the tree so the devil could get down.

Well, Jack went on living his life. Never amending his ways. One day, as all folks do, Jack died a natural death. Since the Devil could not claim his soul Jack went to the Pearly Gates. St. Peter said "Jack? What are you doing here? You were selfish, drunken and unrepentant your whole life, I cannot give you entry into the gates of Heaven!" "You will have to go... DOWNSTAIRS"In an instant, Jack found himself in Hell. The Devil said "Jack? What are you doing here? You know I cannot claim your soul!" Jack explained that he had no where else to go to which the devil replied "GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM!" But the way back was dark and windy so as a final gesture a coal from the pits of Hell was thrown to light his path. Jack scooped up the coal and placed it in a hollowed out turnip he had been eating to keep it from burning his hand. Ever since Jack and his "lantern" has been traveling over the face of the earth looking for a place to rest. The Devil doesn't want any more dealings with that tricky old Jack so be sure to place a Jack-o-lantern on your stoop tonight!

Why it's important to vote.

Well, Today Was NOT Good

Today was "one of those days". I kept fighting "chance" all day and "chance" kept winning. When will I learn??



It started when I woke up late. I hardly ever sleep late anymore. I kinda wake up automatically at 7am or earlier. Today I woke at 9:02am. That's not terrible except we were supposed to be downtown at by 10:00am.



This is when I should have given up.



I persisted though. I looked for some clothes and realized that the majority of the boys clothing was still dirty from our camping trip. I'd thrown some in the washer the night before but they were still wet. I ran in and threw 2 pair of pants in the drier. If I could get them dry-ish by 9:30 we could still make it. I ran back into the bedroom to find myself something to wear and it was like aliens abducted me and I had lost time. It was now 9:25! EGAD!!!! I hadn't even bathed. I gave myself a spit bath and yelled at the kids to get up,, QUICKLY!



(yes, the kids will not get out of bed unless I yell at them)



We managed to get it together and headed out the door at 9:50. We were going to be late but we were still going to make it... kinda.



As we were getting off the exit at 16th st. , I hear THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP



and I thought "when did they put rumble strips in here?"



Then I got a sick feeling, there are no rumble strips, it was my tire.



Where was I going to pull off? I found a RiteAid and pulled towards the back of the parking lot.



Getting out of the car, I hear a loud hiss. T1 also heard it and pointed at the front passenger tire.



"There it is!"



Looking down, I saw this:

Some giant chunk of road trash was lodged in my tire. It was loosing air fast. In just a few moments the tire was almost completely flat. Great, I'm going to have to change the tire. Now I'm no stranger to changing tires, I've done it many times but never on the Pathfinder. I know it makes no difference how big the car is that you're changing the tire on but jacking up that beast made me a little nervous.

First things first though. I had to find the supplies in the back to do it. I located the jack tools pretty easily and then I found the jack. The jack was BOLTED DOWN to the back of the car! Now this seems like a pretty simple obstacle to overcome but nothing is ever simple right?

• It's like 29 degrees out and I'm totally not dressed for 29 degrees because,, oh,,, I don't know,, it's OCTOBER? My hands were freezing. Like icicles I tell you!



• It is unclear where it is bolted down because it's embedded into the frame.



• It's never been removed before and it's REALLY in there.

(not my trunk btw)

I did finally get it unscrewed and I learned stuff I guess. The kids learned a few new curses, too.

So then I stand there and say "Where is the spare?" I seriously didn't know! T1 and T2 both simultaneously pointed under the car.

UNDER THE CAR???? WHAT?? YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDIN' ME!!!

So I have no idea how a person is supposed to get to that so if all else fails? Follow directions. I pulled out the owners manual and you will not believe this.

Really.. you won't. Get this, You have to assemble the jack tool in an unnatural fashion, blindly feed it down a long narrow hole in the bumper, and then imagine how to fit the "T" end of the jack tool into the key slot and then crank the tire down.

Again with the cursing. Really people, this is tricky.

So I get the spare off and by now, I'm FILTHY. That tire is GROSS. I move to the front of the car to put the jack under the frame. I'm laying on the ground trying to determine what is the car, what is the frame and what is fiberglass. It's not as cut and dry as one might think!

About now I hear "YOU NEED SOME HELP?"

The nicest old guy came over and helped me. As he was getting down on the ground to look under the car he said "I just had knee replacement 3 months ago, I better take it slow!"

Oh my goodness. I begged him to let me do it but he wouldn't hear of it.

We worked together and had that tire off and the spare on in no time flat after that. Such a nice guy. I was happy for the help. This also is not the best part of town. 16th St. is known for it's shady company. I knew immediately that this guy was decent. We missed the class at the library of course. This is quite a long and convoluted tale and I could regale you for hours because this is not the end.

We came home and I got a real life shower. By this point, bathing was NOT an option. I was gross. I called my mom to see if she needed a ride to work and she did indeed need a ride. That gave me just enough time to run up to the mall and get the tire fixed.

It's now about a quarter till 12 and I'm at National Tire and Battery. They've always been really good about fixing our tires. We seem to have the worst luck picking up nails in our tires. Pretty sad considering how infrequently that car leaves the driveway.

I tell the tire guy that I've picked up a LARGE piece of metal in my tire and he says that it'll be at least 2 hours. Great. So the boys and I went to wander about the mall for a while. We had lunch and mooched some magazines at Borders. At 3pm I still hadn't heard from NT&B. They were supposed to call my cell when they were ready for me to come pick it up. I decided that we'd walk back to NT&B and wait there. We wait in the waiting room for about 10m when I decide that we have to go. I have to get mom to work by 4. When I step back out to the counter the tire man says "OH, I was just getting to yours!"

Really?

So I told him "how 'bout I leave the tire with you, I have to go" He says... (here's the kicker people) "oh! yeah, you can do that"

Really?

So he goes out to get the tire and comes back in without it. He was gone like 3 minutes? He lets me in on the news

"yeah, that hole is too big, we can't fix it"

Oh. My. God. You couldn't tell me this almost 3 HOURS AGO? I wanted to throttle him. I get to buy new tires. JOY.

So I whip over to Mom's house (which is fortunately right around the corner) and take her to work on 5th St. I got NOTHING accomplished today. NOTHING. No school, no class, none of my other errands and chores. Such a failed day. I didn't get home until 4:30 and I was really feeling my blood pressure rise. So what do I do? Eat Ruffles chips and dip for dinner. Real good for the blood pressure huh? I think I need some orovo.

Now I'm setting here at 1:46am and I realize I didn't turn the chicken light off. My poor birds are trying to sleep with a 45watt bulb shining in their face. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Slow. I like slow

Not a lot to report.

T1 cracked his head at the roller rink on Tuesday and we had to take him to the hospital. He had/has a concussion. How do you know when you no longer have a concussion? When it stops hurting? That was a nice unexpected expense.

We were supposed to go to Fort Boonesborough on Wednesday but we had to stay home and watch his head do nothing. Yay.

Today we didn't do jack squat. Well,, we did go to Lowes. I had to price some PVC pipe and wood for room dividers and shelves.

I finished a scarf today of my own design. I'll post a pattern soon. I think I'll try to write the pattern down and then test knit it myself. It was a quicky so no big whoop.

We're supposed to go camping this weekend. The weather is going to suck but oh well,, it'll be an adventure.

I haven't done laundry or anything else for that matter for days.

I did cook a turkey and made turkey soup. Yippee.

Wow.. I'm just a bundle of fun aren't I?

Oh,, I did finish a Truly Tasha Tudor Shawl on Sunday. Ravelers HERE.

That's a friend of mine from Knittin' Kittens modeling it for me. That's awful yarn is it not? BLECH! I ran out and was only able to put the trim on one side but it turned out very cozy and nice just the same. I donated it to the Oncology Center at Cabell Huntington. I wonder why that one spot looks so messed up? eh,, no matter.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This Tshirt and other funny t-shirts are available at http://www.roadkilltshirts.com/.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yogurt

I'm a little to into my chickens. I've mentioned before that they are "my girls". They make me really happy. One day when we have a lot more room we'll raise some meat birds but My Girls will retire and live as long the Lord lets them.
I've been reading about what things I can add to their diet to keep them healthy and keep their egg production coming at a normal pace. Over and over again, I read that plain unsweetened yogurt was really good for them and they LOVE it. I had to run right out and get them some. It was on sale this week at Kroger. BONUS.
The directions for feeding chickens yogurt are:
1. Put yogurt in a bowl.
2. RUN!!
HOLY MOLY did the yogurt fly! They are crazy for the stuff! Oh we laughed and laughed. So much pleasure for $1.99.

That's Miss Prissy by the way. She's the one who had the egg problems a while back. She and I have a bond now.
Ok,, so it's a weird bond and it's probably only me but whatever... humor me OK?

--------------------------------------------------------------------

What would be the best diet pill for me? One that made white chocolate covered Oreos look gross to me! OMG,, they make me salivate like Homer Simpson. Oreos... tastey Oreos... beautiful white chocolate covered Oreos.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Hovercraft

All da plumbers in da house, pull your pants up!

Ok, I have no idea how long they'll let this stay up but I captured this with my camera. This is one of the best things I've seen yet. Pure gold.
Here's a direct link to it. LINKY

Oh,, the music player is on the right hand side,, just click the square to turn it off.

Ok,, this is nice!!!

For anyone who tunes in here regularly, you know that I complete little assignments and I generally tack them on to the end of my usual posts about my every so boring life in general. I rarely ever identify with any of the products but I say a little something about it and move on. Everyone's happy right?
Today's looked no different but I checked out the link to see what I would be writing about and what a breath of fresh air!! Funny republican baby tshirts! There are always such funny liberal T's and that's cool but rarely do you see any good Libertarian or Republican stuff!
Oh,, and this site has cute baby clothes, too!

Sometimes you just can't help it.

You just loose it, ya know?
So today T1 and I were reviewing exponents and variables. Reviewing mind you.... meaning he should already kinda have this down.. right?
I ask him to simplify -3xrrxxt
Now the right answer is -3 x^3 r^2 t (sorry, I have no clue how to type exponents otherwise)
He says -3x to the "r" to the "t"
Ok,, I'm gonna kick his B to the U to T SQUARED if he doesn't start using his BRAIN!!!

---------------------------------

Do you think some digital signage with math rules on it would help? Yeah,, me neither

---------------------------------

My Hiney Hurts

Because I sat on it all day.
I'm not kidding. I got really into working on a project and I didn't get up for hours!
I really wanted to get it done while I was motivated to do it,, ya know?
A group of us homeschool parents wanted to create a place where everyone could get together, take classes, socialize, hold meetings (scouts, 4H, project day, etc) all on one day. We're all really tired of keeping the roads hot every day of the week. Sure,, sometimes it'll be a really long day but then it'll be OVER and we can sleep in the next day! ha ha (like that'd ever happen!)
So we're getting ready to have the grand kick-off for E.A.G.L.E Education and Group Learning Enrichment. We also wanted to launch a website so I guess this is it's "soft open" as it were!
Check out Homeschooleagle.com.
I made it all by my lonesome! I used real life HTML and everything! It even has a message board! Be sure to check out the links page because that took me FOREVER! ha ha. Now some of the tabs are really lacking content but it's only because I have no content to put in them yet!

-----------------------------------------------

I have to write about acne. Acne stinks... big time.. so there

----------------------------------------------

Some Updates

Monday the 13th- My meeting with other moms about the Homeschool Enrichment Program went exceedingly well. Afterwards I went out and mooched a bale of hay and got a bag of apples. I made apple butter from them that night and canned them the next morning!
Tuesday the 14th- Went to my housecleaning job and I didn't feel like I made any progress. I hate that. I really want to do a spectacular job and sometimes no matter how hard I work, stuff just doesn't show. Oh well, I do what I can do,, you know? That evening we went to a skating birthday party. Fun stuff!
Wednesday the 15th- Spanish class, my kids are dorks, I'm going to leave it at that. After that we came home and got our hovercraft for Science Club. I can't wait until someone sends me some pictures of that contraption because it ROCKS! Really, it was so cool.

OK,, so I have a few complaints about stoopid people.
The Walmart Lady
I ran down to Walmart the other night to get a bit of 5mil plastic for the skirt on our hovercraft. I asked the lady if I could get about 5 feet cut. She grabs her yard stick and scissors and follows me to the rolly rack that has all the plastic and flocked back table cover and the like.
She's trying to measure this 60in wide plastic off the roll with a YARD STICK. She didn't act like she wanted me to help her at all! She kept on giving me that "I'VE GOT IT" huff when I'd offer to hold it taught for her.
Ok,, whatever,, except it's imperative that I not come home with less than 55 inches of the stuff. If she cuts it wrong then I'm bringing it back.
She awkwardly cuts it and takes it to the desk to remeasure it.
I'll let you guess if she did or not.
Answer: No.
48 inches.
She says "I don't know how I did that!" and "I'll just have to try again!"
So we saunter back over to the rolly rack and she pulls out more plastic. Now the roll that I want is all the way at the bottom. I start to mention to her that she should pull it all the way out and then measure it when another walmart lady walks up. They both start to struggle with the measuring of this plastic when I say
"you know,, the tiles on the floor are exactly 12 inches"
WML #2 says "No they aren't"
and by now these women had started to make me nervous because I could see that there was very little plastic left on the roll so I said "Yes they are!"
I grab the yard stick (from the floor, not out of her hand) and measure a tile on the floor
"see, they are exactly 12 inches. If you pull out the plastic, line the bottom up with a row of tiles, and then count up 5 tiles, you'll have 5 feet and the piece will be exactly plum"
They both looked at me like I was an alien.
WML#1 handed me the scissors. I KID YOU NOT.
So we take the piece back over to the table and she acted surprised that it worked!
This is not rocket science people.
Then it gets really good. This stuff is sold by the foot, not by the yard like everything else in the fabric department. She looks over at her conversion chart and says "5 feet isn't a yard and 2/3rds" and I said "sure it is".
She argued and argued with me AND the conversion chart!
She finally charged me for a yard and 2/3rds. Here's the kicker....
It's $1.97 a foot, not a yard. She charged me $2.60 for the entire piece instead of $9.85.
Pure genius.

Fire Station Lady
We needed a slick spot to test our hovercraft. I never imagined when I conceived of making this thing that it would be SO LOUD. I didn't want to run it in the library, you know.. the Shhhhh factor.
So I walked up to the fire station to see if they would let us use the garage floor for about 15 minutes. I talked to a little guy and he said he didn't think that would be a problem, just go upstairs and make an appointment.
Fine.
I go up and talk to the secretary. I tell her what we're doing and why we need the floor.
You'da thought that I was asking to disenbowl kittens or karate chop kindergartners. Every time I pleaded with her she would say "oh no, I don't think so, someone could get hurt, we can't have things floating in here"
"It DOESN'T FLOAT LADY", "you get farther off the floor when you walk!"
"oh no, there's too much liability with that"
OMG. Omg omg omg omg.
I shoulda just showed up and and asked for forgiveness later. I really want to show the boys that to follow procedure and be nice but seriously,, it's really REALLY difficult when people are idiots.
We ended up doing it at the library btw. They are SO good to us!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Appetizer recipes. Now THAT is right up my alley!

----------------------------------------------------------------

The Best

The best sound evah?
Pop..........pop..............pop. pop........... pop.......pop.................................pop....pop.
I just put up 8 pints of apple butter!

I mentioned to a friend yesterday that I was going to stop and pick up a bale of straw for the chicky girls on the way home. She said for me to come out to her house and pick up a bale of hay, she had plenty.
Well,,, YEAH! No problem!
So while we were out there, I picked an apple from her tree. She promtly handed me a bag and an apple picker and said "go to town!"
So I did! YAY FOR FREE APPLES!!!
I'm amazed that I got eight jars out of that little shopping bag full of apples.
I'm also amazed that I didn't eat it all before I got it in the jars!

An Afternoon Hike on the Farm

Egg Bound

Today was total chicken fail.


Just about every thing that went wrong today had something to do with chickens. Our big plan was to pick up a few new hens at the Lucasville Flea market. So we set out this morning with a big box full of straw in which to bring them home.


In the past we've gone up and there have been literally thousands of chickens for sale. Well, there were chickens,, that's certain but every decent chicken that didn't look like it had one talon in the stew pot was a rooster. We decided that we didn't need new birds that bad so we cut our losses and headed home.


When we got home, we noticed that one of our hens was looking poorly. Now, chickens are all new to me, I don't know anything about chicken illnesses or chicken cures. I set a lawn chair out beside the garden and watched her for about an hour.


She wouldn't walk, wouldn't feed, wouldn't stay in the flock, and she had her back all hunched up. I brought out my laptop and googled some stuff. It didn't seem like she had a virus or a parasite but she had all the symptoms of egg binding.


Egg binding happens when a bird is trying to lay an egg that is malformed or too large. Apparently this can kill a bird pretty quickly.


I was panicky. I know I'm not supposed to be attached to these birds but I am. I love my chicky girls. The cure for egg binding is not a pleasant one. I'll spare you the details but it involves a glove and vaseline.


After the invasive procedure I put them to bed. I came out a few hours later to check on her. That poor hen passed two, horribly mishappen, malformed large eggs. That poor ol' girl!!!


I hope she's ok and she goes on to lay another day. Occasionally, from what I read, this means the end of their laying career.


Chris said that we're not running a retirement home for chickens!


PLEASE GET BETTER PRISSY!

------------------------------
Perhaps Prissy could use some time in reno hotels to relax!
------------------------------

Another Busy Week Behind Us,, Another One Ahead.

This week hasn't been too bad. Next week will be busier, as will this weekend. You know, I've kept many planners and calendars in the past but I always set them up and then never write anything in them. Not so much this year! I swear there is NO ROOM left in October. Well, I take that back. I intentially leave Thursdays clear, that's my catch up day.

Monday- We had band class. We had to be there early this week because of the monthly parent meeting. Not too bad of a day.

Tuesday- Blissfully slow. I went to my housecleaning job for about 4 hours, came home and recuperated, we did school late in the evening. No big deal, we're all sharper in the evenings anyway.

Wednesday- Spanish class and school work

Thursday- NOTHING! whoo hoo! We did run errands, school work, and rehearsed the boys Project Day presentation.

Friday- Project Day. We ended up being there too early and had a nice lunch with Steven and Glenna. More errands.

Saturday- Need to go to the Home Depot and get some wood for science club and then we're going on a hike at the family property.

Sunday- Lucasville Flea Market! Gonna pick up a few new chickens.

Monday 13th- Lunch meeting with friends. Band class at 4pm.

Tuesday 14th- House cleaning job and then a Birthday party.

Wednesday 15th- Spanish Class at 9pm and then Science club at 11:30

Thursday 16th- NOTHING! Woot!

Friday- The Corn Maze 11:00am.

That weekend of the 18/19th I have 2 knitting groups to attend. I'd say that's too much but wow.... I really need it.

-------------------------------------------

Need a tv lift cabinet? Yeah, me neither.

------------------------------------------

Science Club

Re-usable Shopping Bags

How do you feel about re-usable shopping bags? Love the idea? Hate it?
I hate it.
Yup, I'm a hater I guess.
Here's why:
1. Inconvenient. I don't want to have to guesstimate how many bags I need to lug into the store with me! Listen people, I'm not shuffling through a street market with bare feet, wearing a dashiki, looking for exotic fruits. I'm bringing home pizza boxes, cereal, gallons of milk and juice, a ton of 2 liters and 6 packs and all other matter of odd shaped heavy stuff. I hit the Kroger HARD.
2. Green-ness. I love birds, and air, and mountains and yes.... even trees. I dig fresh water, warm days, and pretty flowers. I GET IT. But if you're trying to convince me that I'm going to save the planet by using these bags,, you are totally full of crap.
3. Customer Service. Anyone remember what that is? You know, an actual cashier to check you out, a bag boy to help with your packages, BAGS FOR YOUR GROCERIES? I'm sorry, I'm paying HUGE bucks for groceries these days,, don't you tell me that you can't offer up 5 cents worth of flimsy plastic bags for my things.
4. Making me buy something I don't want. Oh yes, it'll happen. Soon you HAVE to buy these deplorable sacks of fail. Are you short one or two bags? No bother,, pick up a few for $1.00 a piece. Did you forget your bags? No bother,, pick up one. Pretty soon, you have 46 reusable shopping bags in the back of your car and you don't know how it happened!!! Now, explain this to me,, we have to pay for the bags that we once got for free? (or the bags that they rolled into the price of my food?)

There are a few reasons I should LOVE reusable bags.

1. I love bags, totes, sacks, storage containers, purses, etc. You'd think I'd jump at the chance to have a wide array of cute reusables.
2. I knit and crochet. There are a ton of great patterns out there to make your own. I've avoided making these. I will NOT CONFORM! LOL
3. I don't like waste. I really don't. I'll reuse anything that is within reason. These bags really piss me off though.

At Kroger the other morning, they forced a bag on me. Yes, I now own one. At the self check out, all they had were reusables. They were free, I didn't have to pay for it but it was a promotion by some pet company. The companies logo is on it.
VERY CLEVER.
I can see this happening a lot in the future. That's another thing I hate. SUBVERSIVE ADVERTISING!! I am not a billboard!!

Ugh,, I may have fought as long as I can though, it may be time to give in.
-----------------------------------------------
How do people on used Harleys do their shopping?
-----------------------------------------------

Ok, it's really hard to get a decent picture in the dark. But these pictures are.. Ok.. bad and I'm going to get my eyes clawed out for posting them but I love the first picture. It cracks ME UP! We have a lot of good conversation and the food at Chedders ROCKED! Yummy. Oh my goodness I had such heartburn but it was totally worth it!!!

WV Pumpkin Festival

Drying Chilis

I love chilis. They are by far some of the prettiest plants that I have in the garden. They are also prolific producers. I think next year I'm going to plant my chilis in pots on the front porch. They pretty enough to use as landscaping and it'll free up space in my garden spot. I've dried chilis a few times this season and I'd had just about enough of it but when I went out the other day and saw how many more had ripened I just couldn't let them waste so I settled myself in to dry another batch.
Let me tell you something that you undoubtably already know. Please wear gloves if you handle peppers. Yeah yeah, I know,, you're tough, you can handle it. Yeah yeah, you won't touch your face or scratch your ear or go potty until you've washed your hands. I hear you but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE,, not only should you wear gloves but put on a do-rag and even sport some goggles if you're doing habeneros. I have a latex allergy and I was out of vinyl gloves. I was very well behaved and very very careful and I still got very bad chemical burns.
DON'T TAKE THIS RISK. COVER YOUR HAIR, EYES AND HANDS.
Ok,,, public service announcement over.... aren't they pretty?

First I cut the icky parts off and this also opens the pepper up.

If you are after heat, just roll the pepper between your fingers and most of the seeds should come out. If you want every last seed out, cut them open and scrape them.

Again.. sooo pretty. These are the Habeneros.


I had a few left over Jalapenos so I seeded those too.

I saved the seeds and spred them in my flower garden. Maybe I'll have some volunteers next year!

Next I spread them out on my handy dandy baking stone. Yes, I know, it's black and gross and perfect. I love that thing.
I put them in the oven at the lowest temp (on my stove it's 170 degrees F.) and propped the door open a smidge with a big metal spoon. Excuse how gross the side of my oven is. It's old. Now at this juncture you may want to open a window and a door and put a fan blowing out for the next 6-8 hours. It REALLY spices up the house!Seal them in an airtight container and they will keep for AGES! I grind mine into flakes but I don't do it until I'm ready to use them. It helps them maintain their potancy and flavor. Also,, should I need to reconstitute them I can.
------------------------------------------free acne treatment-----------------------------------------

The Boys' Newest Hobby

They've been going out to The Man Cave and playing microarmor with Dad. I know nothing about this except they like doing it. I sat here and asked dad to explain it to me so I could write about it but the TV was on so he completely ignored the fact that I was talking and claimed that he didn't hear me. Now he's begging me to ask him again. I dunno,, if you know what it is then enjoy the pictures. If not,, google it.

Here's a link to one of Chris's friend's blogs about gaming.

---------------------------------

Delsey Luggage

---------------------------------