Kitchen still in progress...

This is some paint I already had...

Sometimes it works better for me just to take all the options away and use what I have instead of too many choices...

Still much work left to do.  And for knobs?  I am waiting to see what my mom has in her arsenal.

Ice Cream Daze

My lovely friends came for a visit and we tore up the town:

The nice little gang.

Awe!  I already miss you guys!  Shantell, you need the yellow sunglasses! You guys need to move to this town.

a nice mess

Dancing in the living room... 

Shaking oh yeah -a-a-a

Layers

favorite spot so far

Kitchen Step 1: Upper Cabinets Gone

Still not pretty, but much better!

Why are these projects always more complicated than they should be?

Next step, remove the wainscot paneling and re-texture.

The dining room:

and  uncleared breakfast dishes..

Normandy? Yes, I'll take one.

I love all things French (excluding their politics).

via http://myfrenchcountryhome.blogspot.com/

The best French blog I have found.  However, this one is really good as well:                           http://decordeprovence.blogspot.com/

Even though I will not likely ever get to go to France, I can still be inspired and hopefully bring a little French style to our simple New Mexico life.

Got Water?

the 3rd and biggest bench,  the last one watered
The Pecos River is on the other side of the field where those trees are.

They called Casey at 2:30 in the morning to say "you have the water."  And he was glad to get up and irrigate for the next 10 hours.  It was awsome weather!  Perfect, almost 8o degrees and no wind!  Thats right I said no wind.

The front yard, the kids really enjoyed this of course!

This is how the ditches are here, so the kids call it the river.  Its kind of our own personal River Walk w/out the shops!

Our side yard and the middle field beyond that...

Soaked!  The irrigator  is out there working.  He had a good time. (Those are pecans on the ground...another topic.)

Some smart homemaking blogs I love:

Below is the link to a couple websites that I have learned so much from.

 It all started a few years ago when I wanted to make homemade yogurt.  I Googled it and found this lady.  She has a lot of kids, and a lot of money saving homemaking tips.  I love learning this stuff.  From her site I learned about Nourishing Traditions, a cookbook of how and why food was cooked the way it was in the past.  Sally Fallon is the author, she promotes grass-fed meats and food fats, while giving a good argument against sugar and white flour. 

Last month I made homemade laundry detergent.  The stuff is awesome and so cheap.  Someone figured it about .71 cents per 2 gallons.  I make it in the powder form, my HE washing machine only uses 1 Tablespoon per load  (I spent about 10.00 to make a huge amount that will prob last at least 6 months if not longer).  It took a little getting used to, but I love the smell of Fels Naptha (one of the 3 ingredients).  I use vinegar in the rinse, and the sun to dry the clothes.  I actually don't hate laundry as much as I used to, it makes me feel like I am saving and being efficient.

Next on my list is homemade toothpaste.  The little girls brush their teeth a lot and love toothpaste.  When I read the label I am not comfortable with this.  I found a recipe which uses coconut oil, baking soda, and peppermint essential oil.  All common ingredients at our house.  I just need a good way to dispense it.  The funny thing is that I saw a recipe for homemade deodorant using these same ingredients. The other website is where I saw the deodorant recipe, she also has a cool lip balm recipe I would love to try. 

My favorite thing about the internet how much stuff you can learn from other people.  Its like having a really smart grandmother-teacher at the tip of your fingers....

http://homesteadinghomemaker.blogspot.com/
http://doublenickelfarm.blogspot.com/

A big thank you to the ladies from the above blogs and all the others who share there wonderful homemaking knowledge with us!

In Like a Lion

The wind is bad, but it could be worse.  

Speaking of which.  This is a very good read.  Have you read it?  This is the about the area I am from.  The heart of the Dust Bowl.

So, like I was saying,  I guess we can handle this wind.  Sending you warm breezy thoughts and happy March!

We are moved!

This is an old pic of Fort Sumner.

Here is where I would post a picture of our new (to us) home.  However, I don't know where my camera is.    We are all moved in, now I need to start painting!  First we have to get all the pecans picked up from the back yard.  It is covered in pecans.  Our puppy, Pippi, loves to eat them so we renamed her Pecan Pippi of the Pecos. (As we  now live on the banks of the Pecos River.)  Yeah!

Pecos River

Yes, this is a town.

Fort Sumner is famous for Billy the Kid.

 

It was established as a reservation to hold  both Navajo and Apache Indians who were marched across NM  "The Long Walk."  It is a horrifying tale.

This is the Bosque Redondo Memorial dedicated to those whose lives were lost on the reservation and "The Long Walk."