I'm stuck

Lately I've been working at a good clip on my book- I'm down to the last chapter or two, which is incredibly exciting for me. 

Unfortunately- I'm a little stuck.  I know what has to happen, I am just drawing a blank how to get my characters where they need to go.

When it comes to times like these, I don't try to force it.  I'll spend sometime (not tomorrow, tomorrow is the SUPER BOWL!) sketching and outline of this next series of events. I'll even rework the previous chapter to see if I can take everyone down a new path which will open up things for me.

It is a very intense thing, writing a novel.  I almost wonder if I haven't put this wall in my own mind because I'm a little scared to finish the story.

Anyway, it's almost DONE. I anticipate having it finished in the next two weeks.  Then I'll go back, work my rewrites and get my readers lined up.

I'm really, really excited- writing is a passion of mine and I can't wait to submit an actual work.  I pray I can get it published, but even if I can't pick up an agent, there are so many options out there now- quite a few writers self-publish and when they show they can attract readers, are offered publishing contracts for subsequent books.

Wish me luck!

-Kristen

It's all over but the crying...

Is that a southern saying, or do other areas use it too?  "All over but the crying..."

I have decided that after many years, I'm giving up one of my hobbies.  I plan to sell out my herd of rabbits.  I have debated it quite a bit and I won't lie- there have been plenty of tears as I think of letting my beautiful babies and hard work leave me forever.

There are a lot of reasons, but this isn't the place to discuss them.  Instead, I want to focus on the New Year.

2014 is the year:

I will finish my book.  Yes, it's going to happen THIS YEAR. I've told myself you either finish it, or delete it.  No excuses.

I will work on my Thirty One business.  Things have been going really well, but I won't lie, I've also been lazy.  I'm going to ROCK this year and have more payouts like November- when I equaled what I would have made at my last job.

I will finally use my stash of yarn before I go off and buy more.  It's gotten a little ridiculous.  I am going to finish up some custom pieces, then build up a stockpile to sell in Greensboro, one of the last rabbit shows I have.

What are your goals for 2014?

-Kristen

Crocheting my brains out

It has been an interesting few weeks around my house.  To begin with, Tim & I temporarily switched laptops.  He had to work on ordination papers and his "B" and "N" keys randomly stop working- not really helpful for writing papers.   Now that I am back on my personal laptop (which is much larger than Tim's), it's like the height of luxury.  I'm also having trouble with my fingers hitting incorrect keys on the keyboard.  Ha, it's an adjustment.

I have been crocheting like crazy lately.  I had several orders to meet before Christmas.  Thankfully, the last one of those went out in the mail yesterday.  Now I just have one more item to finish up, hopefully by Christmas Eve, but definitely by Christmas Day.  Tim says I am going crazy.  I counter that years with him has already put me there.

I have done well this holiday season- I've managed to fight the urge to spend a lot of money on little dinky things that no one needs- even though it pained me to pass up some of the deals.

I better get back to the crocheting- Christmas is coming up SOON!

-Kristen

Crafting Craziness

With the church yard sale/ craft show coming up this weekend, things have been crazy lately.

I'm using this opportunity to downsize how many crafting things I have and I am even running "Clearance" on some of the earrings I had made in the past, just to get them gone!

I've also been crocheting like crazy, trying to build up a non-existent inventory in three weeks.  I've managed some amigurumi (toys) and some dishcloths, but nothing like what I was hoping to have done!  Luckily I still have a few days in which to try to finish up a large stuffed puppy and more dishcloths.

I am hoping the items sell! I've posted some pictures of the amigurumi items on facebook and the response has been good- I even have one or two folks looking to commission their own items, so that gives me hope.

Mostly, I just really enjoy the process of crafting, crocheting especially.  I love to make things, but after a while, what do you do with all you've made?  This way, I can cover my costs for materials and continue to do things I enjoy.

-Kristen

Making Soap!

I had a block of melt and pour coconut soap base that was sitting around, taking up space in the house.

Today, I decided to finally use it up!

To begin with, melt and pour is extremely easy soap to make. You literally chop the block of soap in small pieces, melt it in the microwave, then pour it in to molds.  Done.  Oh yes, you can color it, and fragrance it- you can add things to make it an exfoliating bar, but ultimately, it's as easy as its name implies.

My one pound block of based made 4-3oz. bars of soap and 2 2-oz. bars of soap.   A few of them are Eucalyptus scented, the rest are apple scented.

I think that ultimately, melt and pour soap will be less satisfactory than the soap you're used to using in the stores.  Not to mention that start up costs, while not prohibitive, they are at least going to cost you around $15 for the bare minimum block of soap, fragrances and mold(s).  The fancier you get, the more costs you have.

Now, if you are clever with your use of coupons (think 40% off at Michaels), you can cut your start up costs to $9.00 or under.  Still, you are looking at $0.56 per ounce of soap, plus the time to actually make it, costs to wrap it up and keep it clean, etc.

Now, if you have an excess of goats milk, a good market and really want to go at this in a business sense, I know there is money to be made selling a good quality milk soap.  However, it is certainly not melt and pour easy.

If you don't mind the extra costs and time involved, if this is something you just want to do for the pleasure of working with your hands, then it's enjoyable to see your creations pop out of the mold.  If you think you are going to save a ton of money, then at best I am thinking you can eventually get down to around $0.32 an ounce or cheaper, but you can still purchase soap at the store cheaper, especially if you coupon.  So- it is what it is. 

-Kristen

Crocheting Excitement

I just placed a large order online for various sizes of safety eyes! Those are plastic eyes with locking backs that keep them from coming out of whatever material you put them in.  Once they arrive, I can continue with my crocheting and begin to build my inventory for the craft show I want to do this summer.

My plan is to have an inventory for the show, but also see about starting a facebook page and selling via it as well.

Unfortunately, I'm stuck until those eyes come in.  I have been to all the craft stores in town and can't find one that sells the size I want- they are all much too big.

The sad thing is scarves won't be in demand in the middle of the summer.  I really enjoy making those.  Oh well, I can channel that energy in to making washcloths I suppose.

-Kristen

Book Update

Slowly but surely I'm getting closer to the end of the book- I'm working on "the beginning of the end" as we speak now.  After that, it's more edits, then I'll be ready to get a few folks to read it cover to cover for continuity and understanding.

Then it will be time to start Book 2- as well as shopping around for publishing options.

It's a very scary thing- writing a book.  You pour a lot of yourself in to it.  Even if it isn't written about you or people you know- or even your world, you created those characters, situations, interactions...it's very much one of the hardest things I've ever done.  I think I've put my roadblocks in my own path because I want this book to be perfect.  I have to accept it won't be perfect, but it will be the absolute best I can make it.  I will do justice to my characters.  If it works, it works.  If it doesn't, I will try again :).

-Kristen

Making Money with a Hobby

I've been working on my crochet recently.  Not only have I been using specialty yarn and trying out new stitches, I've also been working on amigurumi- crocheting small toys. 

It's so much fun and so relaxing! I enjoy learning new skills and have been getting some really positive feedback on my creations.

I've decided that since I have so much yarn and want to get in more practice with "easy" toys before I start moving on to more complicated patterns, I'm going to go to a free craft show in June.  There is no set up fee, so I am not really losing anything by going, other than perhaps wasting a day- but then again, is sitting around watching tv any less of a waste?

I buy most of my yarn when it is on sale and that is going to allow me to put very reasonable prices on my toys- I'm not expecting to recoup very much for my time.  After all, I'm working on perfecting my technique so I'd be doing all of this anyway.

I am excited for this new venture! I need to set a goal for each week so that I can build a reasonable inventory.  Maybe this will give me an opportunity to get rid of some excess jewelry I made a while back as well!

-Kristen

Reading

bookishly.com

I'm a voracious reader- I always have been.  Sometimes it is almost like I am afflicted with the desire to read.  In the past 5 days, I've devoured 6 books.

So what- 6 books in 3 days? Geez.

If I enjoy a book, I will read it over and over again- sometimes back to back.  I've had to replace several worn out copies of my favorite paperbacks thanks to reading them so often- thank God for the Kindle!

Sometimes when the mood to read strikes me, it becomes an obsession.  Even as I type this, as I sit at work, all I can think of is the plot in one of the stories I'm reading.  Thankfully I was able to leave it this morning on a good note- if they were in danger, if there was a problem, it would have been almost impossible. 

I almost rush through the books, in an eagerness to find out what happens, to predict the outcome.  I never flip to the back and read the ending first- that's cheating.  I will admit I often rush the journey to get to the destination.  Maybe that's why I reread novels so many times?

Tim, on the other head, reads a book once and he's done with it.  Occasionally, years later, he may pick up a book and read it again but that is a rarity.

At least I can say that rereading books is frugal- after all, I don't have to buy new ones if I'm content to read the ones I already have!

-Kristen

Overwhelmed

Sometimes I feel like I keep too many irons in the fire.   There is a case for why I feel this way-  currently I am:

• Learning to crochet more complicated patterns
• Working on the book
• Working two part time jobs
• tending to 3 dogs, 3 cats, 9 chickens and a barn full of show rabbits
• Starting a new business (I'm a Thirty-One Consultant!)
• Couponing for our daily needs
• Maintaining two blogs

And that isn't including the regular business of trying to clean the house,  cooking dinner, maintaining some semblance of a social life, rabbit shows, etc. as well as finding time to enjoy reading and my other hobbies.

I'm also noting that it has been dark, dreary and cold the past few days here- all recipes for seasonal depression to rear it's ugly head.  Feeling overwhelmed is generally an early warning sign for me, as is obsessing about money. In this case, I find myself beginning to obsess about thirty-one product sales.  Always gotta be obsessing about something!

I am thinking I need to sit down and prioritize things in my life right now, figure out how I can enjoy all my hobbies and balance those with work.

-Kristen

New Skills

I've known how to crochet in a while, in the most basic way possible. I have perfected the art of chaining and double crochets.  There, my knowledge ended.

It gets incredibly boring to only do double crochets.  A friend taught me to do a V stitch and suddenly my world opened up again- only to close back down when I got bored with that stitch.

I finally made the leap and purchased Crochet for Dummies.  I am usually much more of a visual learner, benefiting more by having a real teacher than trying to learn from a book or video (which I tried).  However, I've found it to be really helpful to have this book! Not only has it taught me several new stitches, I've got tabs on each page so I can quickly refresh my memory on some little part of a stitch- like the half double.  Do I yarn over first? I flip to my page and see yes- yes I do yarn over.

The book has also managed to teach me a rudimentary crochet circle!  I am planning on practicing a bit more, then finding a very easy amigurumi pattern and trying to make my first stuffed toy!  It will probably end up a stuffed dog toy, but we all have to start somewhere.

I'm really happy to finally taking my crochet to another level.  It is so relaxing and at the same time it is so empowering! You start with a little piece of yarn and then you make cloth.  You, all by yourself, create.  Dish towels, scarves, sweaters, toys- it doesn't matter what it is, you did it with nothing but a little hook and a ball of yarn. 

It's incredible.

-Kristen

Book Update

So, I posted a while back (here and here) about the book(s) I'm writing.

I've been concentrating on the one closest to completion, the one nearest and dearest to my heart.  I *think*, perhaps, I finally have a title.

The first 10 chapters have been sent to the beta reader and I'm getting some really positive feedback, as well as some valuable notes about anything that needs clarification.

Apparently I am also quite fond of commas.  I already knew this about myself.  I'm ok with it.

I'm currently working on some rewrites of later chapters.  The book started out going one direction and actually ended up metamorphosing into a whole new creatures as the characters developed their personalities beyond my first scribbled notes.  Regardless of how or why they changed, several chapters are severely out of date, trying to propel them down a path that just doesn't exist later on. I'm saving these chapters in case they fit into later projects and rewriting them from the ground up.

Occasionally I go through periods where I can't get the words down quickly enough.  Other times, like last night, it takes me well over an hour to bang out a few paragraphs to my satisfaction. It helps to have the pressure of the beta reader to keep me powering through the tough-to-perfect parts.  Even if I try to distract myself by cleaning (or blogging) I know I have to get back to work to keep ahead of the demand for new chapters.


So there you have it.  I'm still plugging along.

-Kristen

All is Quiet

So far, things have been fairly quiet here. 

I mean that in a very literal way.  I finally rehomed the rooster!  Hallelujah, no more sneaking out there at dusk to haul him in to the bunny barn.

Speaking of bunnies, we are having a baby bunny explosion! I had 9 more born today to two different bunny mamas.  I'm very excited to see the little ones grow, they should be excellent show bunnies.  The slightly older baby bunnies are hopping out of their nestboxes and spending a lot of fun time hiding behind Mama whenever I come around.   The even older baby bunnies are learning that I bring food and pet them, so they are learning to run to me.

The black broiler chicks are here, as well as the Americaunas and the Australorps.  We had a few fatalities, which tends to happen in shipping, but so far everyone else is doing great.  These little chicks eat like pigs.  Since the broilers will be ready for processing in seven weeks, I guess they have to eat nonstop.

The garden has perked back up since we had a week of rain and cooler weather.  We picked a grocery bag full of tomatoes the other day and even were able to harvest a few peppers.  I'm planning on swinging by the Farmer's Market for a few green peppers and some cilantro and get started on making my much beloved salsa!

Our weekends are filling up quickly.  It seems like for the next few months, we have something going on every weekend- which is good! It keeps Tim from getting bored and wanting to go spend money to do something.
-Kristen

Labor of Love

This weekend has truly been a lot of what we call a "labor of love".

It started out bright and early Saturday with a trip to Lowes with my Dad.  We purchased another set of insulation for the rabbit barn while Tim was at home pulling out cages and cleaning trays.  When we returned, I ran inside to order pizza for lunch.  Tim was off to go pick it up, while "Deddy" (I am going to spell it phonetically, rather than what I consider the more childish "Daddy") and I started cutting insulation in to strips.

After a quick lunch, we worked until 7pm, putting up insulation, cutting "specialty" pieces and putting up a heavy duty plastic to shield the new insulation from stray urine streams.  When young bucks figure hit puberty, a favorite game is to see how far they can shoot their pee.  Gross but true, especially in the presence of other males!

Unfortunately we ran out of staples in the home stretch- we were literally shy just the last few to finish putting the plastic around one window and the last small space by the door.  It figures!

We completely rearranged the barn- I pulled out 10 cages for sale and moved my hay container in to one corner.  I plan on putting up shelves to accommodate nestboxes and other supplies.  The rabbits seem to enjoy the new space and I can't believe how much room we have!

Sunday was a more work- after a farewell church luncheon for the intern, we got down to business!  We took a quick trip back to Lowes for zip ties, wire cutters and more staples of course.

Once home, it took less than 5 minutes to finish putting up the plastic.  We move the new AC into it's window and it's running now on a test basis so I can get a sense of how great the insulation is going to work.

I reinforced one of the walls of the chicken coop with a taller, heavier duty wire- thus the need for the wire cutters.  We also moved around their ceiling tarp so that they have more sun on the west side of the coop.  They seemed to love the new sunshine- though the new suet holder stuffed with chickweed and dandelions may have sweetened their temperaments too.

We bought a packet of sunflower seeds and I planted six today.  My plan is to harvest the blooms for us and for the chickens to enjoy, especially after pricing bags of bird seed! Yeoch! I thought rabbits were an expensive hobby, but bird seed gives rabbit food a run for it's money!

So we've worked ourselves to death this weekend.  My back is super sore, but I'm so happy that all the animals are taken care of- I can go on our vacation and not worry about them... as much.

-Kristen

It's not always easy

It's not always easy to have so many animals.  Unlike cats or dogs, rabbits are prone to just dropping dead for no reason.  Luckily, as an experienced show breeder, I can more easily detect early warning signs than your average pet owner.  One thing I can't predict is when the rabbits are going to have trouble giving birth. 

I lost 9 rabbit babies this week.  Four were because the mother didn't make a nest for them, five died because of birthing trouble the mothers had.  I had only two babies survive and they aren't out of the woods yet- between birth and weaning, so many things can kill baby bunnies- from abrupt temperature changes to leaving the nests too soon- to genetic defects not visible to the eye or troubles with processing their food.  I don't breathe easy until a rabbit is at least 10 weeks old.

The chickens are a whole new set of problems.  I only have owned two in my life before this set.  I was lucky in that Boo and Nugget were healthy girls who survived everything life and my inexperience could throw at them.

Yesterday one of the black pullets, Kettle, came up sick.  She was lethargic and hanging out in the back of their house.  She refused to eat or drink and looked like she had been blowing snot, as well as exhibiting signs of diarrhea.

I immediately began to panic, knowing full well I didn't know what was wrong with her, much less have any idea how to treat her.  Google is only so helpful when you know what exactly you need information on.  "Sick Chicken"...that's not so helpful.

We did a few commonsense measures- she was removed from the flock and quarantined.  I mixed up some electrolyte and vitamin water and dipped her beak in it repeatedly until she drank a little, more to get me to leave her alone than for any real want of the liquid.  I dipped some bread in to the water and tried to get her to nibble that to no avail.  In the end, I just sat and talked to her, stroking her head and back.

There comes a point where you can do all you can do.  Then you just have to hope they survive the night.

Thankfully, Kettle did survive the night.  She ate a bit of chick food out of my hand and lightly fussed at me for keeping her away from the other flock members.  I was incredibly relieved.  I had prepared myself for the worst.

She still isn't out of the woods.  I'll keep her quarantined a few more days until I am sure she won't relapse.  Then she will have to deal with the joys of reintegrating back in to the flock. 

It's not always joy and sunshine when you own pets- especially not those of the dual purpose/livestock variety.

Thankfully it seems like a crisis has been averted this time!

-Kristen

A Growing Mini Farm

This post has been a long time coming! We added something new to the "mini farm". I dearly wish I could go buy acreage somewhere and have the farm I truly want! Some day... some day.

We drove an hour and a half to pick up this little building.  It was well worth the price, though by the time I put gas in my dad's truck (though I use that as a sneaky excuse to help him out) and bought us all lunch, it turned out to be a little expensive.  Still cheaper than the one from Tractor Supply that was smaller and flimsy!

We spent a few days doing some conversion to the dog pen.  They only hang out there when we are outside feeding the rabbits or working in the garden and they continually disobey orders to stay in the yard, so they didn't really need such a large pen.  So we reinforced the bottom with extra wire.  Due to the extreme costs of wire right now, we weren't able to fence over the top like we originally intended.  Right now, a heavy duty tarp is taking care of over-head predators.

Here are the little creatures that we've done so much back-breaking work for over the past few days!  These bantam cochins will hopefully provide us with extra eggs and perhaps even baby chicks! I have quite a color variety and they are very sweet little birds. 

The chickens spent their first night out in the pen locked into their coop.  I a m hoping they will learn that when it gets dark, that's where they need to go.  We shall see, chickens are definitely not the brightest birds.

I spent a bit on this project- the actual chickens were "free" because I had excess and sold them all, which paid for the initial order.  In fact, I pretty much also paid for their first bag of food.  Thankfully We had been planning on doing this last summer, so I didn't get a gift for our anniversary since my gift was going to be getting chickens.  So I can offset some of the costs by saying "oh it's my gift from last year that we never spent the money on".  I will probably also tell Tim it counts as this year's anniversary gift as well. 

Whew, glad I justified those start up costs in my mind! :)

-Kristen

Guess what I'm getting?

Chickens!

I had planned on getting some last summer, but unfortunately things didn't work out.  However, I have recently decided to get bantams instead.  I will be keeping 4-6 bantam hens.  My plan is to convert one of the 3-hole rabbit stackers to make chicken stackers instead.  The girls will be paired up and stay in the cages when we're not home or at night.

During the day when we are home, they will have the use of roomy "chicken tractors" to play in the sunshine and in the grass.  I also want to turn them loose in the garden plot and let them go to town there!

I am looking forward to getting eggs from the girls.  While bantam chickens don't lay as well as larger chickens, they are going to be easier to keep and tend.  I think the smaller eggs will be beneficial for us as well, as I don't run through dozens of eggs each week- so using 2 eggs to make up one large is not going to be a hardship.

I had to order 25 chicks, so I am going to be selling off excess.  Luckily, I don't think that will be a problem at all.

They are going to ship out on February 22nd! I expect them on the 23rd, which gives me time to get everything set up, thankfully!

Be prepared to be bombarded with pictures! My Homesteading dream is slowly coming true, hehe.

-Kristen

One-track-mind

I seem to very much have a one-track-mind.

For instance- when I am crocheting, I only want to spend my spare time crocheting.  I have a project (the scarf) and by-God, I want to finish that scarf.

Or let's say I'm reading and get very involved in a story/series.  I only want to spend my spare time reading.

You would think there would be an easy way for me to juggle what I want to do in my spare time (ie. read, crochet, play the wii, work on my story).  Instead, I find myself going whole hog down one way or the other.

I wonder if this is why I seem to flit from hobby to hobby? This week feeding my insatiable lust for books, next week cooking, baking, canning like crazy, then spending a few days working out plot issues, which quickly is abandoned to spend time with my coin collection.

I think I burn myself out too quickly.  That may be why the closet is full of half completed crafting projects or tons of crafting supplies.  Why my stories have gone unfinished, why I have countless skeins of yarn and why I blow through books like they are going out of style.

Is it too late to make New Years Resolutions?  If it is, too bad! I resolve to work on spreading my time around, not concentrating with iron focus on just one thing. 

Maybe I can keep from burning out on everything and returning to the trusty old internet to fritter my time away second by second until bed time. 

We shall see!

-Kristen

Crocheting

I'm working on crocheting.  This isn't a new venture, I've been "working" on crocheting off and on since middle school.  Somehow, it always falls by the wayside, then I completely forget what in the world I was doing.  I have to relearn how to do it.  The same thing happened with knitting, though luckily I can only loom knit, which is considerably easier than "real knitting".

I have spent the last few days rolling yarn in to balls. It's simultaneously very satisfying to see how quickly it transforms and very boring.  I used a particularly ugly ball of yarn to single and double crochet to reacquaint myself with the stitches.

Anyway, last night I decided to go ahead and start working on what everyone starts out doing- a scarf.

Unfortunately, I used a yarn I liked.  I say unfortunately because this sucker is way too wide. It also has some fun random holes in the side of it.  I absolutely despise turning the project to start a new row.  Hate it.

So now I'm torn.  Do I start over and unravel my "scarf" which is roughly the size of a dish cloth right now?  Do I just accept it's going to be goofy and recognize I can always go buy more fun yarn?  Mostly, I don't want to waste all that work, but this thing is seriously going to be super bulky. 

Maybe it can be a baby rabbit blanket or something instead.

-Kristen

The Book

I wrote before about my books.  The plan had been to read it as objectively as possible, then start editing and writing more. 

That completely fell by the wayside.  After the month from Hell I dealt with in December, I figured it would be smarter to just wait and make a fresh start in January.

After reading the Hunger Games, it really slowed down my inspiration to iron out some plot wrinkles. It's hard to concentrate on writing your own story after just having finished someone else's.

I pulled out a pad at work yesterday and started a general sketch of another story that has been bouncing around my head.  Suddenly the ideas began to flow for the one I most want to work on and get finished.  It figures that it was time to head home as these ideas spewed out of my pen, so I was trying to write trigger words on a pad, in my lap, at stoplights.   Of course, it also figures this is the one time I don't get stopped by any stoplights on the way home.

So, I'm re-energized and excited about this project! My goal is to work for a month and in February, print the book out and hand it to Tim to get some feed back.  Then I want to edit it again and start bugging friends to take a critical look at it.

I'm excited! Finally, I'm excited again about writing.

-Kristen