First day of the new school year for us

Happy First Day of Homeschool!

As I ease back into the roll of teacher...

I am reminded of how much

I learn from the experience

<3

Gods eye

 Little Hands

some extra yarn bits

we gathered a few sticks before the storm

and spent some time amongst the pillows

on our big comfy sofa

  

careful wrapping

dexterity 

and Id Imagine He looked down and smiled

as she made this...

sunshine and a cabinet

The benefit (and sometimes downfall)

of living in an area with many military families

is that folks are always moving 

in and out.

and so it goes.

Some lovely neighbors of ours were heading out and had a garage sale.

They sold us this old cabinet for $40

Don't ask me WHY I did not take a BEFORE photo!

*head smack*

 It WAS an old brown cabinet

I just absolutely loved it!

Their were some chipped decorative bits on the front

(which I removed and then replaced)

and the inside was painted a "not so lovely" shade of... peach?

I took it apart in our driveway and sanded it.

removed all loose bits and smoothed and cleaned it up a bit

I added some decorative circles on the front

and then the fun part.

PAINT!

I painted the inside a lovely robins egg-ish color

and the outside took a bit of thought

but I figured this bright yellow would make me smile 

and it does!

So even when its gloomy outside

I have my little bit of sunshine 

inside :)

babies at our doorstep

  I heard the little cries 

          Tiny tiny babies barely audible over the wind from an incoming storm. We searched and searched. The man went under the porch, even under the house! Flashlights in hand.. it was dark and I knew there was at least one kitten somewhere under our porch. Finally after prying up the lowest ground level board on our front steps we found them.

 Now I have never owned a cat, much less a day old kitten... and now I had three. One still had the ambilical cord attached. My first thought was they need milk! (WRONG) No thanks to every cartoon I've ever seen growing up.. kittens should NOT drink milk. (not cows milk at least)

So the man ran out to the only open store and grabbed some baby formula and an eye dropper. Thankfully some detailed instructions from a google search helped us get these little felines warm and fed. 

We woke up the natives to come see the tiny furballs we found. Though a bit apprehensive they were soon warming up to them and loving on them and watching over them. 

The Man and I then woke up every two hours to feed them, burp them (yes they do that apparently) and then rub their little parts with a warm cloth so that they could go "potty". Who knew!

Exhausted, the next morning we searched and called and prayed for someone who could take them and nurse them and find good homes for them once needed. Unfortunately it seemed no one was equipped to take in two day old kittens..

That or we were told they would be immediately "put down".

 No Bueno 

We were finally able to get some actual kitten formula and a tiny bottle to see if they would start feeding.

I got two out of the three to latch on. The last little one ( I named her suki) still took the dropper of formula

by the end of the day I was a bit in love with these tiny tigers <3

My Hubby then agreed to let us care for them until they were big enough to find good homes. 

But not a few minutes after that... we got a call from a woman who

had found a lady that had taken in many newborn kittens and fostered them until they were ready for homes of their own.

So sadly we fed them one last time and by now the natives had named them

Hampstead, Foghorn (the one who cried out), and Suki

We loved on them a few minutes more before meeting up with 

their new foster mommy!

The lady who ran the "saving cats" program was quite impressed with how well we took care of them. And offered us the opportunity

to sign up to be foster parents to other kittens that may be found.

We may actually do it too! 

For someone who was definitely NOT a cat person.. 

I have to say they won me over fast. ;)

Eber

 So I painted this guy today.

A lovely place to walk

Shoes.. check

comfy exercise clothes.. check

Well after I broke my leg last year

(yes both lower bones in my right leg)

I have been unable to run 

BUT..

I can walk now!

So I am taking full advantage of this lovely area God has placed us

and walking along the ocean 

These mornings when its just me and waves

I find it so beautiful

and makes exercise a little more fun!

This my turn around point.

Usually by the time I reach this pier I am ready for a small break.

I stop for a minute. Do a little stretching

So the hips make it back ;)

And head back toward my starting point. 

On the way I like to pick up a few random shells for the natives 

homemade laundry detergent recipe

• 1 bar grated Fels Naptha Soap
• 1 cup washing soap 
• 1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
• 4 1/2 gallons water

• 5 gallon bucket
• 4-5 empty gallon jugs

Put grated Fels Naptha in saucepan and cover with water. Heat on low until dissolved. Fill bucket 1/2 way with hot water and add soap. Stir. Add 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup borax and mix well. Fill bucket with more HOT water. 

 As it cools, it will thicken.
If mixture becomes too thick you may add some more hot water to thin it out.

Then we funneled it into the empty gallon jugs. 

This recipe made up 4 full gallons

for us. 

I occasionally have to shake up the gallons

as they tend to settle over time.

 We love using this recipe

it smells good 

and is mild enough for even our "sensitive skin" natives. 

                                                                     
    We have front loading washers as well and it works just great!

And with at least a load of laundry a day

we have saved a ton in the detergent area! 

win win.