Thursday, August 1, 2013

Highlights and Happenings

Obligatory Outhouse Photo
Thank you so much for bearing with me as I've been plowing my way through a crazy-busy summer.  I am about a week away from handing the reins of the business I started over to the new owners - so I have been working like a mad-woman trying to get all of the loose ends tied up.  I'm thrilled to pass Naturally Cozy on to its new owners - they will do nothing but good things for the business!  I'm pretty sure they will  immensely improve what I began.  Their entire family will be working at Naturally Cozy - I'm excited to see were it goes from here.

Piles of pads
Summer is my time to clean and organize, so in my spare moments I have been cleaning every nook and cranny around our place.  I tackled our container (a yearly, dreaded task) and mostly have it finished.  I would like to spend a little more time and do some really intensive organization, but that will have to wait until later in the month.  After the container, I cleaned out the horse trailer.  It had been full of boxes that I had packed when I was still hopeful that we were going to move.  I have determined that our moving is in God's timing, not mine, so I unpacked the trailer just in case we needed to use it for something.  It felt good to go through everything, toss what I found we could live without, and reintegrate everything else.  Once the horse trailer was finished, I went to work on the 55 gallon barrels in our shed.  Because we have so little storage space in the "shouse", I store a lot in the barrels.  Just like everything else, the barrels get messy - things are put in the wrong place, or things are stored that really need to be donated or thrown away.  The kids and I spent an afternoon putting everything to rights.  It is wonderful to have a handle on what we have and were it is!

"Operation Organization"



The horse trailer cleaned out and swept

Organizing and labeling 55 gallon barrels
I have been diligently working on getting my cookbook ready for our Book Bomb day (which is August 25th, by the way)!  I had 4 proofs, one of which I took my pen and a highlighter to and marked it up.  I have finished editing, ordered more proofs (some of which I will be sending out to be reviewed) and will have the book done and ready in time for Book Bomb day.

Cookbook in progress


We spent last weekend at the Patriot Rally at Farragut State Park.  It was awesome!  We met a ton of people, even some of the folks that read this blog!  There was really an air of camaraderie at the event.  There was a great exchange of information, feeling much more like a rendezvous than a rally.  The highlight, at least for the guys, was a mini-gun mounted to a 4-wheeler.  Sir Knight thinks we really have to have one, however, all I can think is that it shoots 4000 rounds a minute, which means, when you are shooting .308, it  translates into $4000 a minute!

Master Hand Grenade at the Helm

And Miss Serenity
Now that I have gotten a lot of the outside cleaning and organization done, I have turned my sights to the "shouse".  I started by finding a "pot rack" for my pots.  I'm thrilled to have them all in one place and easily accessible.  Next I have to tackle the pantry shelves and everything else!
My new pot rack is a repurposed military shelf
I haven't forgotten about you!  I'll be back - thanks for hanging in there!

11 comments:

  1. You've been very busy Enola, everything looks well organized and in place. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of your cookbook when it comes out.

    I think all the men would love that 4 wheel setup with the gun......including mine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This link is video of the owner, Tina Kunishige, shooting her minigun!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o01SCGj4HSM&feature=player_embedded

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have been so busy it feels like the summer is running away from me. Soon it will be snowing and cold out. Again I can't wait to order the cookbook. I made your pork chops and onions on top of the stove and I LOVE IT.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love this post Enola! Especially how you organize and use the 55 gallon barrels. Looks like I need more than I thought! Thanks for sharing all your wisdom and hard work!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds like you are extremely busy. Your posts are always wonderful and worth the wait.

    I'm looking forward to your cookbook. I very much appreciate your viewpoint and all you share on your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Everything looks super. It has inspired me to organize my little house. If you don't mind sharing - what material did you use to make your pads? I have used flannel, but I am wanting something more absorbent. Thanks bunches.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Enola,

    Great looking kids! Is Master HG thinking about enlisting?

    James

    ReplyDelete
  8. I really wanted to get over to see you at your booth but was running around the site, tending to our volunteers and other issues. I'm so sorry you were there on Sunday when things calmed down, a bit. I hope you'll join us again next year.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Enola,

    (captaincrunch)

    The inside of your shipping container looks like the inside of my house. I'm having to move stuff and around and reorganize just so I can shove a 9'6 Longboard (surfboard) into what was the guest bedroom which has been (converted) into a workshop.
    Now I'm starting to store all my tools in the living room. I got rid of the TV years ago and I never use the living room for anything else. In the gulf coast, tools rust real easy so taking care of all my tools is priority. I would love to buy a giant Snapon Toolbox and keep that with all my tools in the living room. Maybe I can assesorize with a Dillion reloarder and a drill press. I've always wanted a lathe. Maybe I can get a lathe and keep it in the living room and use it there too (The truck takes up the garage)

    This is one BIG advantage to being single. No one complains about anything I do with my house and my house is really far from being kid friendly with a few swords, machetes, axes, and a gun in every room because of the meth lab up the street.
    I still got that part-time meth lab/drug house up the street that wont go away and one of my neighbors had a .380 auto pulled on him by a meth addict last week when he ask her if she needed an ambulance after this lady fell into a ditch in a drug induced haze (I guess she don't like Obamacare)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Enola,

    (captaincrunch)

    I found something of interest on guirellamerica and I left a response on it on lagunamadrepirate's blog (he's a friend of mine)

    I copied it here it is with the link it guirellaamerica


    check this out

    http://guerrillamerica.com/2013/08/mugabe-and-the-white-african/

    Sometimes you cant win a fight so maybe the best thing to do is leave. The White African farmers need to leave, poison their fields with Monsanto’s finest and let the Communist starve.

    my ancestors left Scotland because of the Brit’s and went to Ireland. Later the Brit’s went and trashed Ireland and my ancestors came to America before the Revolutionary War. If things get to messed up here, maybe a time will come when the “Free Stuff Army” can have my house and I will take my talents, skills and money elsewhere and prosper as they run this country into the ground.

    There comes a time when a man is way for outnumbered and it may be easier just to relocate to an area were his skills, talents are valued and he can resume being a productive member of society.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Enola,

    thought this might interest you: An editorial in Science (!) this week on disaster preparedness
    http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6146/592.full

    ReplyDelete