Today

Sometimes driving with dad I see my life flash before my eyes as he whizzes through traffic on the freeway just squeezing between semis and other vehicles at 75 miles per hour. Tonight I was nearly sure he was trying to run the semi in front of us off the road! We made a quick trip across the mountains to Renton this afternoon to pick up a riding lawn mower to replace the one we just killed last week, I was along in case he needed a hand with loading. My payment was a chocolate milkshake at the end of the day. Yes, I know the tires are flat...we had to let the air out so it would fit into the back of our mini-van.

This past week we had quite a load of entries at our local fair. It took about 10 hours on entry day to gather all of my entries and fill out the forms...thankfully it only took one and a half hours to remove the items from display. Not counting anyone else in our family I entered about 75 items, mostly vegetables from my garden. Rivers and I both won the vegetable combination exhibit for our age groups! They kinda look sad after a week on display...

Though veggies are normally where I have the most fun, my favorite entries this year were my sewing projects. I didn't win all blue ribbons but it was nice to get the feedback from the judges on the forms.

Shabbat Shalom!

Shabbat Shalom my dear friends! I spent a good portion of this week sewing garments for myself so I'm uploading a photo to share with y'all of me enjoying one of my new modest garments this lovely Shabbat evening.

Mom also got a new dress, so we both got dressed up. :)

Yep, we're goofing off, I love attacking mom with an almost too cozy hug from time to time... It may look like she's trying to choke me but she actually pushing me away before the slobbery kisses start, heh.

Sukkot Preparation Odds N' Ends

Sukkot is getting so close now and I'm excited! Since we are traveling for Sukkot there are many things to prepare. I packed my suitcase already just so it would be out of the way and I won't have to think about it anymore until it's time to load the van.

Today I delivered the goats to the goat sitter then mom and I made a huge batch of veggie juice and green smoothies. We are going 100% raw for a few days before and after Yom Kippur. Since she is trying to improve her health and I'm trying to keep mine we thought it was a good time to insert a bit of a fast before a fast followed by another bit of a fast. :) Though right now I'm craving cheese and corn chips, I'll resist the urge and drinking my peach, blackberry, spinach, banana, and swiss chard smoothie, which by the way is quite delicious!

Tomorrow dad and I will drive to either Biggs OR, or Portland to pick up my niece Rachael who will be keeping the feasts with us. I'm very excited to be including her. She will miss 3 weeks of school so my job through out the feast is to make sure she stays caught up on homework in between high days and Sabbaths. I pray that by including her, Torah observant lifestyle will affect her life positively in the long run.

So somehow between now and early Tuesday morning we have to pack the last minute stuff like ice chests with food for the road and fresh produce from the garden, and yes, of course we will take our Champion juicer...I'll be juicing each day whether in a hotel or a sukkah. Perhaps I will sew on the last of my buttons for the new jumper I made while dad is driving.

The bright side of all this busy-ness is that we have Shabbat to rest on and Yom Kippur as well. Two days to set aside all busy plans and preparations and focus on Yahweh. During this season, extra days off from work are SO appreciated!

Then there is my poor cat Flavia, she doesn't get to keep the feast with us this year :( Last year we took her to the mountains with us and even though she hated the drive she enjoyed the stay. This year the amount of miles we have to drive, I decided would be harder on her than being separated from the family. She thinks she is a person after all, sleeps on the bed, watches tv, and she likes me to watch her eat several times a day. Sometimes she won't touch her food unless I stand there and watch, it's crazy! Also she is best friends with our dog who gets to come to the feast...it's just not fair being a cat I guess. Hope she eats while I'm gone.

Anyway after 2 and a half days of driving we should reach our destination in Indiana, Yahweh willing.

May Yahweh bless your Yom Kippur and Sukkot!

Something new

These days I have been preparing for Sukkot. Our family will be traveling to Indiana to meet with some brethren there. I'm so excited about the trip and being the goosy girl that I am I just had to have some new clothes for the trip! One thing you learn really fast when you dress in modest dresses all the time(not to mention, natural fibers) is that there is no where convenient to shop especially in a town like Moses Lake. So I decided to order a few unsewn jumpers and a dress online. After my order arrived and I examined the lovely cut-outs, I started thinking about the insides of all my other homemade garments which begin to fray after being washed once. I knew the only answer was to buy a serger so I headed to town the next day and bought a Bernina 1150.The store had to order it and while I waited for it's arrival I learned how to operate the same machine at the store. The funny part of it is that I had ordered the garments unsewn to save money but then here I am buying a new serger! Dad did reassure me that since I've been sewing since I was 10 years old that it would be a good investment so I went ahead. After my new little treasure arrived I set to serging my garments. It's so unbelievable!!! Every edge that I've sewn...and I was just smiling the whole time knowing that the insides of my clothes would look as nice as the outsides even after being washed. I've officially renamed my serger "the happiness machine" lol! Mom says I'm totally spoiled but I don't care...just look at the inside of my dress!

A long day in the life of me.

I didn't feel like doing anything today, not sure what's up with that. When lack of motivation strikes what is one to do? I woke at the reasonable time of 6:30 and hopped right out of bed. I made straight for the kitchen and juiced 9 carrots, a huge beet greens and all, 3 stalks of celery, 5 small cucumbers, half of a yellow pepper, and an apple. With a breakfast like that I should have felt ready for the long day of hard work that lay ahead(and for those of you who are wondering if I drank all that juice by myself, no I did not, I shared with dad and mom). Next I headed for the barn but somehow I ended up sitting in dad's office(which, by the way is in the opposite direction) when I should have been milking the goats. I did eventually make it out to the barn a half hour late. After coming back in and cleaning the kitchen the "blahs" hit. I was determined to go outside and get something done but since I was feeling uninspired I asked dad to assign me a job! He gave me a few things to do and it's a good thing they were quick and easy because half way into the first job I was BORED and it was hot. I followed with a few chores of my own choosing and gave them 100% of my half hearted effort. By 1 in the afternoon I was fed up so I showered and set up my sewing station to do some mending. I mended one skirt in about 10 minutes then got sidetracked by the fabric supply in the sewing room which proved to be somewhat productive since I was able to sort out a few things that needed to go away. I never found the dream piece of fabric to make a new dress from but I did manage to cover every surface in the living room with pieces of clothing and cloth.

Somehow in the middle of that I started thinking about FOOD! Homemade bread and nutty crackers, yum! Last time I had thought to make bread I could not find my favorite recipe but I was pretty certain I knew where to find the cracker recipe. So I abandoned the sewing machine, the clothing scattered all over the place, and the boxes in the sewing room for the recipe shelf in the kitchen. To my delight I found both the bread and cracker recipe together! I set to digging out the grains, nuts, and seeds that make the yummiest bread and crackers.

Now as it's getting to be evening, the crackers are finished and the bread is rising. I still feel like a slug but at least sometime in the next hour I'll be a slug full of the yummiest bread ever. Then with the way I feel, perhaps I should take a nap...maybe I should have taken a nap this morning at 11 when the thought first crossed my mind...on the other hand would I have found my favorite bread recipe if I had taken a nap?...come to think of it, I can't take a nap(exasperated sigh), I have a big mess to clean up!