A Few Good Things

• Popchips
• Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel
• Homemade polenta
• Figs
• Alpicella Bakery's Sourdough
  
• Chocolate Stout
• A Schwinn recumbent bicycle (for obvious reasons)
  

A Common Theme

If I had to sum up this year in one word, it just might be "Craigslist"! Nuts! Working on the house and acreage, preparing for baby Luke, caring for livestock, and upgrading vehicles all had the potential to hugely impact our bank accounts...but it isn't so bad with good ol' craigslist! The other day we were compiling a mental list of the things we've bought and sold within the last year and were amazed! Saddles, cars, furniture, animals, etc., etc.

One upside of the current state of our economy is that everybody seems to be downloading little extras to make some ready cash. Bonus, if you're shopping! We're in the process of trying to simplify our house a bit - getting rid of bulky furniture to make room for a piano in the front room and clearing out our guest room to make it double as an office.

There was a very exciting moment today when I ran across this fabulous item on craigslist with mattresses included for $150!

I emailed AND called immediately...but someone had beat me to it! Sadness. I have been mourning the loss all day. It would have been perfect for our flexible office/guest room...and then would work great as a kid's bed during the post-crib years. All that and storage drawers too! Have I mentioned how sad I am about this missed opportunity? I just hope the lucky purchaser will enjoy it as much as I imagine I would!

From Our House to Yours!

baby

gone gone gone so long

It's been so long since I posted that I had to pop by and read my own blog today just to remember the last thing I said!

Lame.

Not much new here. Luke and I are hanging out a lot and I'm trying to cram in lots of snuggles before I head back to work at the beginning of November. That will be a sad day, but at the same time I'm happy that my new work schedule is now confirmed and I will only be in the office 3 days per week! Things just seem to work out they way they need to and I'm feeling very blessed.

This has been a busy month. Casey is finished with the fire season but it is now hunting season. The deer hunt yielded some venison for the freezer, and hopefully the upcoming elk hunt will do the same. It is 11 pm and I can hear Casey and his dad in the garage packing up gear and scheming about tomorrow mornings' start to the shenanigans. This is the first big pack trip with the mules we now "co-own", and much hair pulling is going into the planning to make sure it is, indeed, a hunting trip and not a disastrous rodeo. We shall see....

Here's a picture of a practice run in the pasture: