Tough Pants for Tough Work

As I have mentioned before on this blog, my husband is the fire chief in our little town. He doesn't have a uniform but he does need tough clothes to fight fires in our wildland environment. I am always looking for places for him to find things to wear. Well I have found another one and they offer well priced BDU pants which are usually used by policemen but they are very tough and might just work for him. They look like they have lots of pockets and they are made of material that can take a beating. Just what he needs when fire season rolls around.

And So it Begins...

The long, long days.

The heat.

The steam.

The dreaded pressure canner.

I thought I had more time.

Perhaps I do.

It's only the first small harvest.

But yet, it is there, staring at me.

A big, whomping pile o' spinach waiting to be processed.

Of course spinach is easy. It's just that fact that it is the harbinger of things to come. Of the carrots that need peeling, cutting, some to be pickled some to be frozen.

Of the green beans. The ENDLESS bowls of green beans. And the snow peas. And the beets. I hate beets yet I pickle and can them each year for the hubby to enjoy.

Dare I mention the zucchini? Like a thief in the night the zucchini takes over my kitchen - every space covered in green squash waiting their turn for processing.

The ears of corn. Last year there were 248 of them. How many this year? Blanch them, cut them off the cob and into the freezer.

The tomatoes.

It is wonderful to have it. I love the middle of winter when I open a bag of summer and it tastes so good but I really, really dread the work in this all too small kitchen.

And it begins today.

The photo is from last year.....

Learning From Living with a Lifelong Firefighter - Always Have EMS Products on Hand

My husband is the fire chief in our town. It is a "part time" job. Uh huh. He is very dedicated to the job and to his firemen. He has been since his college years a volunteer fireman or EMT (Emergency Medical Technician). I got one of the good guys, in many senses - but his attention to fire safe practices - especially here in fire country - and first aid preparedness have filtered into my head as well.

I always, always have ems products on hand. Emergency Medical Service - I learned to talk the lingo a while back. My first aid kit is full, complete and up to date. You never know what is going to happen especially on a small working farm. It could be a cut, a burn or that time I dropped my kitchen knife and it landed in my foot between my toes. But that is a tale for another post. I think everyone should have at least a basic first aid kit on hand and should learn about the ems products available for the home.

This is doubly important if you live in an area where a natural disaster might strike. Be it flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake or the one we fear here - fire - it is just plain smart to have a kit you can grab and go. I have one for us humans and one for the animals. It makes it easier and much less stressful if you find yourself in a strange location with lots of other people also feeling confused and lost. You will at least have the means to care for the small cuts, burns, etc. that come with an evacuation. I have evacuated. I know what a trial it can be.

Why Not Be Stylish Whilst You Cook? And Other Random Cat Comments

As you know from my many posts on this blog I love to cook. While I would not classify myself as an apron Goddess I do enjoy reading The Apron Goddesses Blog. I get the biggest kick out of the little ones in the teeny, tiny aprons. Could there be anything cuter?

Every week the Goddess in Chief, Julia runs an apron giveaway; this week the winner will receive an adorable apron from D-Lux 57. I went browsing through the site and found some really great looking and dare I say it, sexy aprons.

So why not pop on over and check out the site; you won't be disappointed. You might even win a cute apron!

On to the random cat comments.....

I am sound asleep last night when I feel this shake on the bed and hear this rather odd sound. Turns out it really wasn't night but closer to dawn as it was somewhat light in the bedroom. As you know I am STILL living in my fifthwheel trailer as the yurt is STILL being built. I mention this because a fifthwheel does have a rather low bedroom ceiling.

I open my eyes (poor, double vision and all) and I see Pumpkin hanging from the ceiling by one paw! My husband opens his eyes (poor vision but not doubled) and he confirms the one paw from the ceiling hanging cat. Pumpkin falls to the bed.

We can only assume Pumpkin heard the mouse running around in the upper regions of the trailer. We hear it running around up there...I keep telling the cats to catch it and I guess Pumpkin took that to heart.

My husband and I couldn't get back to sleep for laughing so hard. Pumpkin on the other hand went right back to sleep on the end of the bed.

I guess I should start sleeping with the camera at my bedside. *sigh*

Scenes from a Hike

It has been soooooo busy around here; the house, the goats, the chickens. Making jewelry, making soap. Baking, cooking, cleaning. Ugh! Not to mention the fact that I generally just feel like crap. My poor husband has been overloaded at work, is building the house, the chicken tractors, putting in the garden, adding new fence for the goats.

It was time for a break.

So we took a couple of hours today and went into the woods. I LOVE the woods. They are quiet. They are peaceful. And best of all there are no people, goats, cats or chickens in the woods. There were possibly bear, mountain lion, deer, elk or moose but we didn't see them.

We went on a trail my husband knows by the oxymoronic name of Dry Creek. As you can see dry it is not.

Along the way I saw some very pretty wildflowers - I so prefer that name to weeds. I have no clue what they are; perhaps if Julia is reading this she can enlighten me :)

My husband said he thought these were called Trilliums. Hmmm, brain surgeon in the making?.

They were scattered all along the trail in a myriad of color combinations; purple with white, white with purple, pink, etc. They are quite pretty.

I especially liked this little orchidy looking flower. It is very tiny - about the size of a quarter.

I also saw some snails along the trail - quite a few. These are also small - along the lines of a nickel.

We stopped for a picnic lunch here. The water was so loud we could hardly hear the birds singing. The only wildlife we saw was a red squirrel but he was on the other side of the creek so there is no photo.

We did see the remains of what was probably an elk or a moose. VERY little remains. My husband said it was a shoulder bone.

All in all a very beautiful day and delightful place to get away from the chaos of life for a few sweet hours.

How I Met My Hubby

I saw this cool idea on the blog Sited and Blogged as I was dropping my Entrecards this afternoon. The topic for this weeks "If I Could Turn Back Time Thursday" is how you met your significant other. The tale of how I met my hubby is a funny one and I do enjoy the telling.

I was a young (very young -21 years old) drive in teller at a small community bank. I was in the midst of a 4 year unpleasant relationship with a total ass. It had reached the point that we had decided to take a break and see other people; timing, as they say, is everything.

The next day a bright red sports car drove into my window with a very attractive man at the wheel. I give him credit - he did first ask for my name. Then he asked me if I wanted to go out with him. This was not just any date - oh no! This was to New York City to see a Broadway play, The Elephant Man. Little did he know that I was a Broadway addict. The whole teller line was egging me on and they cheered when I said yes.

We were to go with another couple; friends of his. It was to be a matinee performance and then dinner in Chinatown. The show was wonderful. The dinner was excellent. The company was delightful. The date was magical.

Six weeks later we were engaged. My father was less than thrilled; I was his only girl. I was his baby. I was 21 he was 30.

9 months after that we had our wedding. The Catholic Church wouldn't marry us. They said we didn't know each other well enough. They said it would never last.

27 years later we are still married.

Artisan Spotlight: Ainsley from Kaskaad

It is time again to show you some beautiful jewelry from another one of my talented team mates from The Artisan Beaders Street Team. This time it is the lovely Ainsley from Kaskaad; a name derived from her initials and of her friend. They both design and create jewelry for the shop. Ainsley is in Canada and loves to make beautiful, blingy rings. This is something that I have never been able to do so I truly respect her ability. I mean, just look at this artisan gorgeousness!

You will really be the belle of the ball wearing that stunner. It's called Rhapsody in Color and boy won't it send out the sparkle when the light hits that Swarovski crystal.

I am also partial to this sweet bracelet. The pretty flowers and the delightful blue color make it perfect for brightening up a suit or your jeans. I love a handcrafted piece that can be dressed up or down.

Ainsley is a beautiful person who designs beautiful jewelry. You can learn more about her and her creations by reading her blog or checking out her creations on flickr. But most important of all you can own one of her delightful designs and have it all to yourself! Just go shopping at Kaskaad! You won't be disappointed.

Unrelated Commentaries

Oooh, we had a doozy of a storm Monday night! The sky was amazing...I took photos but sky pictures are always a challenge. It was late when I took this - around 9:30PM and shortly afterward the skies opened. Thunder. Lightening. Hail. Rain. Wind. It was fearsome. It went by quickly. So did the second one, the third one and the fourth one. By the fifth one I was REALLY ready for the storms to end. I am sure the goats were not happy either. I can only imaging the sound of the hail on the metal roof of their barn. I do hate thunderstorms...but it was a beautiful sky.




Tuesday morning I woke up and went out to milk Pricilla. Abby is not being milked right now because she is due to kid shortly. I looked on the side of trailer and saw this little slug sliding up the trailer wall. I am odd in that I think slugs are cool. It seemed to know I was watching it as its little antennae were moving back and forth. It was gone by the time I came in from dealing with the goats. I wonder where it is...

The Best Pizza EVER

I have complained in the past about not being able to find good pizza West of the Mississippi. I grew up on good ole New Jersey pizza and I can't find anything better except maybe New York pizza. Must be something in the water back there. But I think I have finally succeeded in finding a pizza I liked as much as the pizza from "back home."

And it was in my oven all the time.

A very good friend gifted me with some of her homemade goat's milk mozzarella. This is the one goat's milk cheese I have attempted and completely failed at making. My chevre, my feta, my cheddar and especially my Colby have all been delicious. My mozzarella was goat's milk plastic. It was horrible. All three times I tried it. I have given up. But my friend has more perseverance than I and she has created mozzarella nirvana. She even gave me her recipe. I might even try it to see if I can make something other than caulk for my house.

So having been presented with this gorgeous mass of cheese I immediately thought of pizza. I know, I know, how pedestrian. But the pizza I managed to produce was a little pie of pizza heaven. I made a nice batch of fresh pizza dough turning this time not to my Jewish Baker cookbook but rather to my pizza - Any Way You Slice It! cookbook. Yes, I actually have a pizza cookbook. After the dough had risen I put a nice layer of my homemade pesto on it - I had frozen a slew of pesto with last year's basil. It is so nice to have in the freezer.

While the dough was rising I had taken some of the tomatoes I had dehydrated and put them in a bowl of warm water. After they had plumped up I poured off the water, added a little bit of olive oil and a clove of garlic. These tomatoes are so strong in their flavor I wish I had dried more. I am almost out...I am very happy with how they came out. I will be drying many more this summer.

The softened tomatoes went on top of the pesto, then some of the chicken meat from my mad stock making. Some icky anchovies went on the hubby's side. Then it was all topped with that glorious mozzarella. It was beautiful:

Into the hot oven it went onto my pizza stone - which BARELY fits in my little oven. When it came out it smelled heavenly and there was not a crumb left.

It was delicious. I thank my friend for starting me on my pizza baking odyssey. Her cheese was perfect. It melted beautifully and tasted delicious. It was the ultimate topper to a delightful dinner. There is another ball of dough in the freezer...hmmm, what will the next pizza be?

Being A Farm Wife

Today I did some things that definitely fit in the farm wife category. Very far removed from my former life. Not that I didn't do a lot of cooking in my former life; it was just cooking with a different focus.


Whole chickens were on sale at our local store yesterday so I bought two. I have no problem breaking a chicken down into the parts you would buy in your grocer's freezer as they say. When money is tight this is an easy way to save; the whole chickens were $1.18 a pound where the pieces were anywhere from $1.98 to $4.99 for breast cutlets. Granted you don't get 6 legs but it is just my husband and myself so this works. If you have a big family nothing says you couldn't buy several chickens and package them up by piece to suit your needs.


It took me about half an hour to break down and package the two chickens. I ended up with the 4 breast pieces off the bone and packaged, two sets of legs and wings (I love the wings) and two packages of two thighs. This will feed us for quite a few meals as you can see. I then took the remaining bones, roasted them a bit and tossed them in my big stock pot along with some bones I had frozen from my last whole roasted chicken. After they boiled a bit I pulled out the bones and tossed in some celery, carrots, onions, a head of garlic and some bay leaves. The trailer smelled like my grandmother's kitchen.

Now came the fun part. I have a love/hate relationship with my pressure canner. I live in fear that the thing is going to explode and kill me. It's one of those irrational fears; we each have them. Mine include said canner fear and anything with more than 4 legs. Nonetheless if I was going to can my stock I had to use the pressure canner. *sigh*


Obviously I won this time as I am typing this post. But one day, I swear that thing is going to get me! But I do now have 6 quarts and one pint of delicious homemade chicken stock that is going to be far better than anything I can buy in the store. I use A LOT of boxed stock. A LOT. This is going to save me a fortune and make my soups and risottos taste much, much better.


Aren't they gorgeous?

DirecTV is Full of Summer Fun

I have DirecTV and have for quite a bit. It works really great for folks traveling in motorhomes or trailers because they set you up with local channel feeds for East Coast and West Coast affiliates. That way you can be sure to see all of your favorite summer programming no matter what time zone you might be in.

DirecTV also provides a wide line up of great channels for cool summer movies or sports events. I know that my hubby is big fan of NASCAR so he is happy to have access to ALL the channels they use to broadcast. Me, I just like my cooking shows.... So why not check it out?

Old Friends and Zucchini Bread

Ah, Facebook. The finder of old friends. Someone I probably haven't seen in over 30 years found me on Facebook. This is what she saw:

When I joined Facebook I only had this one photo of myself as the laptop had crashed taking all of my photos with it. I now have others but it amuses me to keep this one up there. Nothing like a goat in pearls as a conversation starter.

You have to wonder what she was thinking. The last time she saw me I was a chubby teenager living on a barrier island off the coast of New Jersey. I was still in glasses; hadn't gotten my contacts yet. All things go full circle...but goats were no where in my thoughts. I learned in our recent conversations that she thought my mother was so cool and hip because she ate yogurt and drank wine. Little did she know that my mother drank that wine all day long....Most of my friends thought my mother was cool. They didn't have to live with her. But I suspect that is how it goes with most perceptions.

We had a nice visit. She found herself in Wyoming - moving West after the sudden death of her first husband. The irony of two beach girls living in rural Montana and Wyoming and finding themselves again in such a technological way is rather amusing. She and her boyfriend were on their way to Washington for a vacation and were driving right by so they stopped for a visit. It was fun to talk about old times; times of course, that I really don't remember due to my surgery. So they were like new times to me. Embarrassing as she recounted stories from my teenage years to my husband. For me, hearing them as if told of someone else...it is just so very odd. This memory loss devils me.

Of course I baked. Zucchini bread with zucchini I had frozen from the garden last summer. (Vicki if you read this I used my Jewish Baker cookbook - wonderful recipe. If I am feeling "light" I replace half the oil with orange juice and I always add raisins.)

Here they are before they went into the oven:

After they came out of the pan:

And after I tested one loaf to make sure it wasn't poisoned. A good cook always does that, you know :)

The recipe claims to make three loaves but I think because I have professional size pans I only get two. But who cares, they are yummy whether there are two or three.

Old friends and zucchini bread. It truly was a lovely visit. And now I know a little more about myself.

Artisan Spotlight - Etsy Seller Rosevine Design

I would like to introduce you to another wonderful, talented member of The Artisan Beaders Street Team; Deb from Rosevine Design. Deb does THE most amazing things with teeny, tiny seed beads. You know, the ones that drive me so far to distraction I gave them up after making one piece with them. The ones that are so tiny my eye doctor couldn't give me a prescription strong enough to work with them - THOSE beads. And yet Deb creates magic from the untold millions of colors, shapes, shades and shimmers available. I mean look at this handcrafted necklace; She made a cool polymer clay lizard and then perfectly accented it with teeny, tiny shimmery beads. Wow!

Then there is the subtle perfection of this handcrafted bracelet; all dark tones but so beautifully woven you would think it was liquid midnight sky adorning your wrist.

If you are looking for some cha cha cha this is your chance. An artisan bracelet full of movement, color and fun! What more could you ask? (It is a bracelet and not a necklace....)

There are so many other incredibly detailed items to see in Deb's shop. So go on over and check them out. I am sure you will be impressed. I sure was! You can also read Deb's blog to keep up with her shop and activities.

High Rocky Mountain

To take liberties with song lyrics....wouldn't it be totally cool to go mountain climbing? I think it would be cool if I could have a Sherpa shlep me up the mountain but that isn't going to happen any time soon so perhaps I will just have to dream about seeing the world from well, the top of the world. There is an amazing amount of really cool Mountain Climbing Gear out there. Who knew? I didn't, but now I do. I love to watch the adventure shows on television and watching one recently on mountain climbers really got me thinking - again, not that I will ever get to the top, but what it must be like for the trekkers who do. They really need some heavy duty gear. They are trusting their lives in some cases to rope and metal. Wow!

I am sure a good headlamp is vital so being the curious type I of course had to go look. I have a headlamp (ha - you scoff, but I do. I used it for walking the campground at night when I was a campground host, so there!) I am sure it is nothing as fancy or powerful as the ones you can get from Petzl but it worked for me. But I wasn't climbing a mountain or running a marathon late at night. Perhaps in my next life...

Another important piece of equipment, well two pieces, would be a good pair of shoes. For those you can check out La Sportiva where you will find a wide range of mountaineering shoes and shoes for hiking and running. Hmmm, I hike. Sometimes. Well, OK it's more like walking but still, a girl still needs shoes!

So there you go. One stop shopping for all of your mountain climbing needs. Now you just need the mountain. I don't think you are going to find THAT in a shop online. But I could be wrong....

Summer is Coming

Yes, the heat, the sun. I love the heat. There is nothing I like more than lying out in the sun. One of my favorite places for that was Honaunau in Hawaii. It was a lava rock beach so you just put your towel down on a nice flat piece of beautifully warmed rock and you had the best of both worlds; the warm, tropical sun beating down on you and the delicious heat of the day radiating upwards. Oooh, how I miss my trips to Hawaii.

Now when I want to soak up the sun I put on my suit and lie in my hammock. I LOVE my hammock. My husband gave it to me before we hit the road in the trailer and I can't say enough about it. It is comfortable, it is portable and it is mine. I refuse to answer questions about whether I have ever fallen out of it. Nope, off limits....

Now, I guess it is about time to go shopping for bathing suits for this summer. I mean I have a few and it's not like Montana is a bastion of beach going. But despite my almost 50 year old body I don't look half bad in a one piece and I rather like this one:

I love the bright colors and a halter neckline has always done wonders for my lack of well, wonders. The price is right too. Gotta love a good price these days. You think I could buy the hair as well?

My Goats are Going to Drive Me Insane

Why you ask? Oooh, any number of reasons:

1. Michael and Luke have figured out how to escape their pen. AGAIN. So they do and they run over to where Mallory and Jillian are penned and drool, stamp their feet, spit and spray. Oooh, sexy...

2. Kevin has figured out how to escape by climbing the fence up onto the mulch pile. So far he hasn't figured out he can jump down and get into the yard. He just gets up there and then can't get down - so he wails and I have to go rescue him.

3. Mallory has figured out how to jump the fence between her pen and Pricilla and Abby's. This causes much consternation on the part of Pricilla and Abby. The other day it was raining and Mallory figured she liked the other goat house better so over the fence she went. She butted out Pricilla, Abby and Kevin and there they stood in the rain while Mallory just peaked happily out of the goat house. Jillian was not pleased as she could not clear the fence to join her.

4. Kevin likes to hop. Hop, hop, hop. On anything. Including me. While I am milking his mother. This sends my glasses flying and then I can't see a thing. Every time I look that little guy is hopping on something.

5. Kevin is obsessed with getting in the buck pen. He snuck in there once behind me and the boys almost killed him. Doesn't seem to matter to him he wants back in. He is not longer a buck in the true sense of the word since he had his little sack banded but I guess he wants to run with the big boys.

6. Pricilla, Abby, Jillian and Mallory had it out today. Not somewhere simple, oh no. On the pile of 2x4s my husband has sitting on the barn pad. 4 adult goats and one kid all butting and fighting on a pile of 2x4s. THIS is when I gave up....

I didn't even have my camera to take photos of it.

It's Be Kind to Animals Week

As I am sure you are all aware by now, I love my animals. My cats and my goats pretty much rule my life. All three of my cats were strays that some unkind person pretty much threw away. I will never understand this. May 3 - 9 is National Be Kind to Animals Week and I think we should all do just that!

Home Again supports the Humane Societies efforts to Be Kind to Animals and encourages all pet owners to chip their pets to make them easier to find should they ever get lost. For every pet registered during Be Kind To Animals Week - May 3 - 9 -
Home Again Web Site will donate $1 to Bring Pets Home.

Bring Pets Home is a fundraising Web site specifically created to help shelter animals . What better way is there to celebrate being Kind to Animals than to help the animals in shelters. The site gives you access to a broad range of pet retailers and they donate a portion of your purchases to go towards food and medical care in the shelters.

Home Again helped recover over 500,000 lost pets. Isn't that wonderful? Can you imagine the relief of the owners?HomeAgain is a comprehensive national pet-recovery service that goes beyond microchipping. For an annual subscription fee, HomeAgain members have telephone access to pet-recovery specialists and 24/7 emergency medical assistance at 1-888-HomeAgain. The program also includes up to $3,000 (less a $50 deductible) in medical pet insurance for lost pets and up to $500 in reimbursable travel expenses for pets found more than 500 miles from home. Now that's a good service!

Who Rules?

Around this household it surely is not me.

I was trying to sleep last night and discovered that I was all twisted up like a pretzel. Maybe THIS is why my back is giving me so much trouble. In the bed my husband has one half, my cats have one half and that leaves exactly WHAT for me?

One cat at my feet. One cat by my shoulder and one cat between my husband and myself. Trying to get out of bed to go to bathroom is like playing some kind of bizarre game. I lift up Fred (the cat on my shoulder) and move him so I can get out of bed and he immediately goes back to where he was. I do it again, and again. I finally growl at Fred and he figures out I am serious about this moving thing. He then hops onto the sink and wants a drink; because of course he can't drink out of his bowl he has to drink out of the sink. He now won't stop meowing until he gets said drink. *sigh*

Now I want to get back INTO bed but the three cats have suddenly spread out to such a degree that I need six hands to move them. After much hissing and spitting due to the fact that they do not want to get too close to each other I manage to get back to my teeny, tiny allowable space in MY BED.

After such a good night's sleep I wake up to rain. The goats hate rain. So of course they don't want to leave the barn. Nor do they want to stay in the barn. This is a problem. They come out of their pens but won't walk out the door. Then they won't go back in their pens. *sigh*

I think I need a vacation from my animals....

Business Reading

Sometimes I like to read the business news and learn about new companies. It is always interesting to delve into the details of up and coming businesses. One I found recently is called ProfitFuel. You would think with a name like that AND being based in Texas it would be a company involved with oil. But no! It is an online marketing company that can help small to medium business create online directories. With the explosive growth of online sales I can see where this would be a wonderful area for growth for a new company. I know that I do a lot more of my shopping online these days and I'll bet that you do to! That makes it all the more important for a business with an online presence to be easy to find and for their site to be easy to navigate.

ProfitFuel was started in 2002 and in 2007 reported $6.5million in revenue. There are 65 employees so it is a nice size and the working conditions sound really cool. For example there is a cook on the premises just for the employees and the food is free. If the employees are feeling stressed all they need do is head over to the on site massage therapist - aaaaah. No ties or suit coats here - no! Casual dress all the way. And to top it all off there are a variety of sales incentive contests to keep productivity up and sales constant. This innovative, employee based environment has led to ProfitFuel winning a number of awards.

Inc500 has named ProfitFuel one of it's fastest growing companies. It has also been ranked by the following

Ranked No. 11 in the Top 50 Businesses in Austin-Round Rock, TX
Ranked No. 33 in the Top 100 Advertising & Marketing Companies

Sure makes for interesting reading and boy would I have loved to have worked in a place with massage therapists....it would have made my work years a LOT more relaxing.

The Lure of the M&M

So my girlfriend calls this morning. She is heading into Missoula and wants to know if I would like to accompany her. Uh, duh! I love any opportunity to get my butt off of the Farm and into the big town. I hesitate to call Missoula a city but is probably because I am an awful Easterner. But I really don't care. It's not the Farm.

She comes to pick me up but first we have to show her little ones Kevin the goat. I don't blame them the attraction of a 3 week old goat for a 4 year old boy and a 3 year old girl is enormous. Kevin was remarkably calm with the two of them chasing after him. He let them pet him. Then it was off to see the chicks. Nothing like little animals to make little humans happy. Finally we could head to town.

It was a lovely day. We visiting various stores and my friend found some really pretty flowers for her garden. She hit the Target and I sat with the kids in the car. I sang more stanzas of Old MacDonald than I thought possible. EIEIO

Then it was the COSTCO. I found my basics; olive oil, canola oil, butter, apples. Then the seduction began. The chocolate aisle. They called. The Kisses, the Reeses, the Milky Ways. It was too much. I couldn't resist. I was going to be good though, I wasn't going to be a chocolate hog.

I only bought the 56oz XXL RESEALABLE bag of M&Ms. Burp.

Charter Delivers Prizes in New Sweepstakes

With all of the choices out there for your cable, internet and telephone needs it is sometimes hard to know which one is for you. During the month of May you can visit the Charter Communication site and enter Charter's Free Gift Card Sweepstakes . Woo hoo! They are giving away a Grand Prize of $5,000 and four weekly prizes of $1,000. You can pick and choose your gift cards in $500 increments. Isn't that just wonderful? Just imagine what you could buy from a selection of popular companies. The contest is open to all and you don't have to make a purchase to win.

There are also incentives for new and existing customers in exciting ways so it sure pays to at least check it out. Get this; if you are a current or new customer who orders anything online at Charter in the month May you are automatically entered to win and will receive $75 or $150 in gift cards depending on your bundle selection.

Now, to keep up with Charter and get deals and access to great sweepstakes like this one you can take one very simple step: FollowCharter on Twitter This way you can keep up with all of the buzz; for example in April Charter gave away an HDTV a day with a grand prize of a Home Theatre System and a whole year of free Charter Digital Cable® service. Before that it was laptops and gaming systems. So keeping up with Charter could win you something cool.

So why not check it out. Learn about the services. Enter the contest and you might just win big.

Yay! New Jewelry

I sat hunched like Quasimodo due to my bad back but I did manage to make some new jewelry today. It was probably BECAUSE of my bad back that I could even do so. I was unable to do many of my other tasks so I got to play. Hooray for me!

As usual, I had no idea what I wanted to make when I sat down to start. I ended up with two totally different pairs of earrings. One pair is sparkly and dressy; perfect for a wedding or the prom. The second is much simpler; great for wearing with jeans, shorts or to work.

I started with some beautiful smooth opal beads (I guess I am keeping them, Deb) with illusive flashes of lavender and pink. I figured the best way to honor the flash was to use those colors. Enter the beautiful, glowing lavender opal hearts and sparkling pink tourmaline pears. The earrings were all tied together with gem grade morganite rondelles and Hill Tribe black silver seed beads. I have to laugh at myself; I can't feel my hands and yet I have this penchant for the tiniest of beads. 2mm rondelles and 1mm seed beads. *sigh* I won't even tell you how many I dropped. But I am quite happy with how the earrings turned out:

The second pair is a study in flash; smooth labradorite meets smooth spectrolite. The blue flash is present in both beads but, as always, hard to photograph. I put the 8mm and 6mm beads on elongated hooks for a dramatic look:

So, not a huge amount accomplished but I was very happy just to be able to get my beads out and create. The opals are listed in my etsy shop and the other pair will be soon. EDIT - they are listed here now!

Aaaaah, sparkle. Aaaaah, flash. Aaaaah, fun!