Our son and his wife and their little baby girl all headed down south to visit with family for Thanksgiving. Their dog, Trigger doesn’t get to go, but he did get to stay here on the farm with us. He is a good boy and loves it here even though he does miss the family. Believe it or not; this is his happy face :o)
My Life and Family
27
Nov 15
View From My Window – Trigger
30
Oct 15
View From My Window – Teach Them Well
Teach them well.  Just in case you haven’t figured it out yet, we really love having our grandkids come up and hang out here. Dean would tell you that we like the free labor.  But anyone who tries to get work done with 4 kids, between the ages of 2 and 6 would tell you it is more work to have them “help” then if you did it yourself.  But we just enjoy having them around.
I saw something recently that reinforced what we did with our kids, and now teach our grandkids too.  What am I talking about?  Getting kids involved in work, creative activities that are a reward in itself.  Teach real life skills like gardening, raising animals, repair skills, sewing, cooking, camping, hiking, exploring and helping others. Things that shape them. These things give kids a real feeling of accomplishment and are important life lessons.
Working with your kids and grandkids on projects, adventures and responsibilities like these not only teach useful skills, they also instill values, self-reliance and caring for others. We enjoyed our kids when they were little – not to say we don’t enjoy them now too :o) – and they worked along side us and also learned to like the things we liked, x-country skiing, rock climbing, camping, horseback riding etc.  I think letting your kids be involved in your life is one of the best things you can teach them.
30
Aug 15
View From My Window: Carpal Tunnel
I’ve had carpal tunnel pain on and off for years. If you do a lot of repetitive motion you are more prone to get it. I think mine started 20 years ago when I did a lot of canning. About 4 years ago I had some tests done and surgery was suggested. I decided to try alternative therapy first. I splinted my hands at night and did stretching exercises during the day. It really helped for about 3 years. But it had gotten to the point that it was keeping me awake at night and nothing was helping anymore.
I finally just had the surgery. Â I thought it was funny that after I had my surgery I found out my brother had his other hand done on a Tuesday, my little sister that Wednesday and me on Thursday. Anyway, after surgery you are only restricted by your pain, not that bad, but I pretty much didn’t do anything at all for two days. I also had to keep it dry (yeah, I wasn’t very good at that, but I’m really good at re-bandaging). By 2 weeks l thought I had full use of my hand but found out clipping Chia was a little too much too soon. But my hand hasn’t bothered me at all at night since the surgery. So I’m happy that I finally had it fixed. Â A big thank you to Dr. Ferrara for a great job and for being so nice.
Anyway I just thought I’d share my experience since I know a lot of people also experience carpal tunnel pain.
24
Jul 15
View From My Window: Soap Boxer
Number Two was feeling sad because Number One is at summer camp all day having lots of fun without her. So I asked Number Two ( I can’t call her that in person because she gets mad as says I’m 4) if she would come work at Alabu and she was excited to come and help. Well I knew she would brighten up my day, but I had no idea she would be such a good soap boxer.
At first she was a little disappointed that I had already stamped the boxes, but it turns out Number Two is a first rate soap boxer. If you buy our Oat and Honey soap chances are it was boxed by Number Two.  Learn how from an expert Soap Boxer.  Watch Number Two in action below.  She is a great helper and we are both having fun.
28
Jun 15
View From My Window: Startling Creatures
It seems as if all creatures great and small have come to life around here lately. We are always happy to see the hummingbirds come back, but there are a few creatures I’d rather not see. Although it is better to see them so I can avoid them I suppose.
So far we have seen lots of deer (hope they are not checking out the menu in my garden), turkeys, fox and pileated woodpeckers. I almost ran over 3 woodcock chicks when I was wheeling mulch to the garden; it startled me when I saw the mom fly away and I stopped in my tracks until I figured out where all the babies were hiding in the grass. Then while I was mulching, I was startled again by a large toad, also not a big deal once I realized what it was.
Dean inadvertently picked up a small northern brown snake in the mulch he was bringing me; he was deposited in a bucket and brought back home on Dean’s next run to the mulch pile. These are all creatures that can startle but I’m not really afraid of them. Then Dean pointed out that there was a large snapping turtle out near the garden. It was a really big snapping turtle. Ok, that is one I am afraid of. It made me shudder to think my little grand babies ( I know they are not quite babies anymore) were out playing just an hour before we found the snapper there. Fortunately Dean is not afraid of much and he asked Mr. Snapper to get in a bucket and he was able to move him to a swampy area away from where my precious grandbabies play.