Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

I want my life back or should I say my mind back, oh heck I am not sure what I want, that is the problem in a nutshell. Do they make blinders for people or is it mind blinders I need? My house is a disaster, the yard is a disaster and all I can think of is new projects, till I think them through and it seems like to much work.God help me please or kick me square in the butt.
       Last year my father in law past away and since then I have become the Fuzzy's hired hand, sounding post, and numerous other things, you get the picture. Years ago when we were newlyweds I was under the misconception that we would work together just the two of us, but that was not the way things turned out. Family that have always worked together do not easily let new people into the mix and I gave up trying and just helped during the calving and when no one else was available, hence my nickname( the last  resort). As the years went by I found my own life, raised my girls, went to work off the farm and worked on the yard ,gardens,sewed,did crafts and the cattle. Okay so life changes, but at my age I am not handling it well I like my space, oh God do I like my space. I never thought of myself as a person who needs to be some what organized and others would laugh at this but I like to now that I can start a job and get it done if the mood is right I can't be sure of that anymore. Now its a case of "Bob can you come and give me a hand for five minutes or I only need you for twenty minutes," does not matter that I might be in the middle of something, and good lord don't say that you are busy because then you hear" well what is more important " or my favorite" well if you don't care about this place we might as well sell it". Forgot to mention  that my dear sweet man does not know the difference between five minutes and two hours. In his defense though he does need help at times and things have to be done, but why ,when I am busy with my own life. Guess that would be a case of Murphy's law coming into play.
    So here I sit because things have got bad around here and I don't seem to be able to know what to finish or were to start. The washer has just quit and so it should be changed, the dishes should be put away the floor needs sweeping the carrots are ready to be put in the jars, and I sit here typing because I can, no one is here but me, it is so peaceful . In my defense I do have the bed made the pickles put in the basement and the table washed off and new cloth on, the dog and cat fed some of the flowers watered wash started dishes washed. I feel a sense of impending doom because of my lack of  work done , I just know I will get caught in this mess and there is no one to blame but me .
Now that I have got that out of my system maybe just maybe I can find those blinders and stick to one job at a time and get it done,please Fuzzy stay away I think I can feel the motivation coming on.Darn it, I hear the tractor,he is home for lunch,oh well life goes on. Someday I will get everything done,maybe in time for my funeral.

Royality and the New Project

O.K I admit it I am a freak about the Royal Family. I have been a royalist since I was nine years old and Her Majesty The Queen,their Royal Highnesses Prince Philip,Prince Charles, and Princess Anne came to my hometown for the provincial centennial celebrations. Wow what  excitement, and I was chosen as one of the two children to present flowers from the town,caused a little excitement at our house, that was the beginning. Since then I have watched the royal weddings and every highlight that has taken place on the television, read most of the newspaper stories,and have a collection of books,china and assorted other things royal.
   This winter was long and hard, but the one thing that kept me going was the knowledge that there was a royal wedding in the spring, along with Colin Firth in a Kings Speech, love that man.I decided to be brave and invite a few around to share my excitement for the young couple and watch the wedding live from the comfort of the family room. I thought champagne,strawberries,p.j.s and hats would be wonderful for our gathering. Then the week before, the idea that fasinators would be the way to go and figured I could just whip them up that day.Wrong the Fuzzy had plans of his own for me, so they were done in a heck of a hurry just before the guests arrived. Thus they were not what I had imagined they would be.The ladies arrived, those who were brave enough to join in the fun or just a little nutty like me and we had a blast. The wedding was beautiful and we managed to stay awake.
    In June our church was taking part in the annual parish picnic, we are an interesting group and like to go with a theme to these affairs, guess what we chose this year,yes it was a tribute to the royal wedding by way of fasinators for the ladies and top hats for the men or replicas of military dress head gear. A dear friend and myself were to look after the ladies, so out they came and I touched them up a bit and she made some also.Well we all arrived at the destination of the picnic and went to the church service quite proud of our efforts.Upon entering the church we seemed to create quite a stir,our beloved vicar was almost beside himself when he saw us,which caused a lot of head turning and strange looks smiles and other reactions. Poor Rev. had trouble all through the service as he was trying not to burst forth in laughter.Our rector's warden who is quite tall was wearing a lovely number with pheasant feathers and cabbage roses,she was a stunner almost as great as Princess Beatrice!Our wonderful Vicar was thinking of William Tell and how he had missed the mark, every time he looked at the warden, he was rolling with laughter, not the effect we were after I'm afraid. It was all worth it as it set the stage for a relaxed fun filled day.(and we won the games championship)
    Each month the church puts in the village paper an article of our comings and goings, our highlights from the parish picnic were published and it was jokingly mentioned about our fasinators and how they would be offered on eBay for sale to raise funds for the church.(all a joke) Now there is a group of young women who all get together at the local lake each summer and have their idea of a traveling tea party with gowns and gloves and this year they decided fasinators. Guess who they called after reading the article? Yes they called me and requested the use of the fasinators, got me back in action as I felt they need some touching up and changing, and I got on a roll and created more, so much fun!
 So here are some of the creations.

Harvest Time

Yes it is the beginning of harvest! I love the smell ,the excitement,and my little bit of harvesting I do from nature and the garden. The swathers and combines are rolling, to be outside working in the evening and hear the hum of the machines, the smell of the grain, does my heart good. You hope and pray everything will go good, no breakdowns,good yields, and no untimely rain.
     I love the smell of fresh made pickles,relishes, jellies and to see the counter covered in neatly lined up jars ready to go to the basement for the winter.I don't  even mind the sticky floor or the stains on the tea towels from wiping the jars off, I forget just to use a dish cloth. This year so far I have been quite daring and have tried some new recipes woo ho! I made a mean nanking cherry jelly, dilled green beans and mustard bean pickle,so far everyone in the family has approved, so those new recipes won't hit file 13.I have to get to the dilled carrots yet and then find a good hiding place for them as for some reason they go missing very fast and I just find empty jars hmmm. Boo have you been home again, or was your sister here. The chokecherries are ready,not many to be found this year,but I am on the hunt for more, makes the most wonderful jelly and makes not a bad liqueur when mixed with gin, that is chokecherries and gin.The oldest has put in her request for red pepper jelly and has even provided more jars so how can I refuse, nice to be able to do something for her as she tries to help me when she can.I am blessed with two great girls who when they can are the best help you could ask for. Boo has not given me her requests yet, but I think it might be the dilled carrots and mustard cucumber relish.
   So here is to the farmers out in the fields, fruit trees laden with fruit, the coop for having such a good sale on sugar, garden that  is pretty good in spite of the weeds, and the smells of harvest during a full moon.Oops and I almost forgot Mr. clean for the help with the clean up.