~~What A Day!!~~

     I know I promised to share pictures of the cabin the next time I posted but have you ever had one of those days that you just had to put down in writing so you wouldn’t forget it? Or maybe I want it in writing to make sure I never do anything so dumb again!  Trust me, yesterday was one of those days for me.

    It all started out so innocent.   A perfectly normal day….Fighting with the little ones to get up and get around for school.   Making sure everyone had breakfast and all school books were in one spot.   Then things started to change.   Not just change, I mean it was like a ball rolling downhill. 

    First, I went to the basement to get  meat out of the deepfreeze for supper and to bring up a gallon of milk from our second refrigerator.    Since I’m old & hate to make those stairs, I decided to bring up some other things I was needing at the same time.   That was my first mistake of the day.   With hands full, I reached for a can from our storage unit and dropped the milk.   That plastic bottle shattered like a glass on concrete and in slow motion I watched one gallon of milk flow over that basement floor.  I was in such shock I just watched it running like a river over rocks.   By the time I came to my senses I had milk everywhere!!!!

      I flew up those stairs (Yes by this time who cared about a few stairs!) to grab the mop and a bucket.   Before that could happen, Keith yelled that the garbage cans (Which sit down at the end or our drive on a very busy highway) were gone….The wind had blown them onto the highway!  I just stood there no knowing which way to go.    Did I clean up milk that was making it’s way to our furnace  or run after garbage cans that could cause a wreck?   Thankfully Keith had gotten dressed and said he’s go after the cans.   It was back to the basement for me.

     This weekend is our monthly family get-together and being the smart stupid person I am, I decided this would be a good time to do a little fall cleaning.   Now in case there are any other smart stupid people like me, let me issue a warning here….DO NOT clean a super tiny bathroom with more than one chemical cleaner at a time.  I almost gassed myself to death.    Yes, I have a clean shower floor but no lungs!

     Thanks to my morning ‘milk spill’ I had no milk for our supper.    So, I got really creative and planned a meal around the lack of it.   Since Drew wouldn’t be having the mashed potatoes I had told him he was having, I decided to try a new recipe for a chocolate popcorn for our dessert.    Now this is where my day really took a nose-dive.

     The recipe called for Kettle Corn and staying in tune with the rest of my day, I burnt the first batch.   While the second one was popping, I turned on the oven and started making the sauce.    Suddenly the house was filled with aroma of sweet, gooey goodness.    Being the smart stupid person that I am, I’m thinking this has to be the most wonderful sauce ever to smell so good.   The only thing I couldn’t figure out was why it didn’t smell like chocolate since there was so much chocolate in it.   It was then I opened my oven door.   Inside, puffed up and dripping down from the rack to the oven bottom was a large bag of what had once had been marshmallows!  Yes, one of my darling family members (Okay, maybe it was me!) had stuck a bag of marshmallows in the oven to get it off the counter.    If you haven’t seen what marshmallows and the plastic bag they come in look like melted, just take my word for it….It’s not a pretty sight!!!!

   Of course I screamed and that started a whole new set of problems. ~~~~ Drew’s cat Stormy decided she’d better check out the commotion so she comes running in.     By this time I had pulled out the whole rack (Dripping, hot, gooey marshmallows with every move.) and then stood there no knowing which way to turn.  

      I finally decided the trash can would be my best bet.   If I haven’t lost you by now, keep reading…….. Imagine one fat woman, holding a hot baking rack, dripping hot, sticky marshmallows over a trash can and a large gray cat reaching to pull those very same marshmallows off.  (And we all wondered where the saying, “Curiosity killed the cat” came from!!!)   Of course I’m still screaming only this time I’m trying to kick the cat away from the hot marshmallows.  I didn’t make it.    She dipped both front paws in and then calmly laid down and started licking her prize from her feet.   Yes, she’s enjoying herself and I’m going nuts.

      If you’ve never cleaned hard (Yes, they harden once melted) marshmallows and hard plastic from your oven racks you might want to take my advice and not try it.  It’s not a fun adventure.

     By the time night came I was more than ready to climb into bed and be thankful the whole day was over.   I’m sure each time I turn on the oven these next few weeks I’ll be greeted by the smell of warm marshmallows.   Heck, maybe the day wasn’t so bad after all.    Hugs, Sher

~~ Finally…Fall ~~

     For several weeks now the signs of Fall have been coming to Old Crow Farm.    Gone are the super long, hot days of Summer.   In their place are cooler, shorter days.   Days when you can walk out the door and actually not have your breath taken away.   No longer is the grass bright green.   It’s been replaced with dry, brown earth.   The trees are doing their magic, turning once green leaves to shades of gold, brown, red, yellow and orange.   Fall, you’ve got to love it.

      Long before we actually saw or felt these changes, I was starting to make some changes of my own.    It seemed as if every rug I hooked had a pumpkin or two in it.    I made Keith dig out my “Fall Tote” (He had to do the digging because he had moved it from it where I normally keep it!) and that’s when the real fun started.   

   Each year I add a little something new to my Fall collection so I have tons of things to work with.   Some of the old favorites are left in the bottom of the tote to be replaced with new, others are set out first.   Within hours my “Americana themed” house is transformed with touches of orange.

     Since we’ll be hosting the Halloween party for my side of the family in a few weeks, I’ve gone all out in decorating the outside of our place too.   I started with our tiny little front porch.    I made Keith haul an old primitive table (Which is much to big for that tiny space.) out of his shed and together we some how got it fitted in.     When everyone is here I’ll lay a Fall themed rug on it but for now this is how it looks…..

[The rug will be between the large pumpkin in the wire basket and the small pumpkin in the old metal bucket.]   I haven’t taken a picture of it yet but to the left of the big pumpkin, there’s a an old wooden piece Keith made sixteen years ago hanging.   From it I’ve hung an old ratty broom and a skeleton.      See, I told you I was taking this Fall decorating seriously! HA

      Not to leave any stone unturned, I next moved on to our little bus stop house.  (Which looks more like an outhouse! HA)   I normally decorate with mums out there but this year I decided not to waste my money.   Instead I went with small pumpkins and some hay.   I love the look….Simple & cheap!   In my next post I’ll tell you how I’ve decorated our little cabin for the season.

     The change in our season has also brought some changes to me.   Maybe it’s because I’m getting older or maybe it’s because I’ve suddenly realized I’m never going to accomplish everything I want to do in my life.    Whatever, I’ve decided to start using my time more wisely.   No longer do I spend hours online reading what everyone has been up to.  No longer do I rush to ‘do it all’.   I now have set aside time to do all that’s important to me.   Oh, I’ll never give up my favorite blogs…But they are now checked within the first few hours of my day.   But once that’s been done, I quickly move on to the things that really matter….My family, my home and my many hobbies.   Not only has it made me a much happier person but it’s made my family feel the same way.   The house is clean, there’s wonderful meals on the table, yummy desserts waiting to be ate and I’m smiling because I’ve actually done something FUN that day.    Does it get any better than that????

      So join me on this new journey and let’s see how much I can get accomplished before the snow starts to fall.    Hugs, Sher