Amish Cookbook Give Away!

I haven't had a give away in ages!

Big, thick, 360-page, Amish cookbook I picked up while shopping at the Amish Trading Post last Friday.

I got one for you too! Be a follower and leave me a comment to enter! I'll post the random winner on Friday morning about 9:00!Good luck!!

Blog of the Month

I have decided to start supporting my "local" bloggers! I received the nicest email from a blog follower complimenting me on my blog and offering to exchange links. I've been mulling over the possibility of doing a spotlight blog post recently and saw this as the perfect opportunity to combine a "blog of the month" and a give away!

BLOG OF THE MONTH


Go over and check it out! She has a market full of goodies that I want! I'm ordering an Amish made egg (tulip) basket just for me and I'm giving one away too!


I love egg baskets! There's something just so country about them!

To enter: You have to be a follower of my blog and go to Stephanie's blog and become a follower. You can also find her on Facebook through the link on her site. Come back and let me know you have hopped on board over at Stephanie's and you're in!

Contest will end Wednesday, Friday, April 22 at 9:00 Central time! Winner will be announced shortly after!

Green Living Give Away

Well, it is March!!
I'm thinking leprechauns, shamrocks and pots of gold! Something green seems appropriate for a give away this month! I am also working on my "Laundry Room Savings" series so this fits right in!

If I pick YOU, you get your choice of one of these books (also available in Kindle edition).

Click on each book cover to see the details.


Photos are property of Amazon.com

All you have to do is follow me and tell me one thing you and your family have done (or are planning to do) to "go green".

I have also added a Green Living Tips button to my left sidebar. It's a great little site where you can get green living tips and add your own! I spent an hour looking through tips last night. There are so many things that are so simple to do that I never even thought of.

Green Living is taking one step at a time to make a better place for us and our future generations to live a happy, healthy life!

Give away will close on Saturday, March 12 at 9:00 a.m. Central time with winner announced shortly thereafter! Now, I'm heading over there to order both of these books for myself!

A Valentine Give Away!

This graphic is property of Amazon.com.

I promised you a give away and here it is! Since I have men and women readers, I wanted to do something that either could enjoy if he/she is the lucky winner! I am giving away a $20 Amazon.com gift card! I know it's not a lot but hey it's 20 bucks! That buys a bag of chicken feed around here!

I've been playing with the new lens, Photoshop and some free Valentine templates I got from The Album Cafe. I made Jake's Valentine's for his class this year.


I'll have them printed as 3.5 x 2.5 and put them in little Valentine envelopes.

All you have to do to win the gift card is be a follower and leave me a comment. You can tell me what your plans are for Valentine's Day or how you met your significant other or just say I want that gift card!!


Good luck! Winner will be chosen Valentine's Day, Monday, February 14th at 9:00 a.m. Central time!

Today I Play (January Give Away)

The new job went well yesterday. I did a lot of orientation, policy and procedure testing and staring at a computer screen. Thursday, I start some actual "job" stuff. I think I'll take today as a play day! It's been over a month since I made soap and I miss it!


A friend of mine sent me a box of essential and fragrance oils she found in a box of craft items from a yard sale so I decided to go through them this morning and see what I have. Lots and lots of different scents to play with. Some are labeled, some are not. The unlabeled are going in the "use for candle-making" pile. I haven't decided what scent I'm going with today but it will be a cold process soap and I will post the results on Friday.

My give away is for a year's subscription (6 issues) Mary Jane's Farm magazine.


(Photo property of Mary Jane's Farm magazine)

This is not sponsored by MJF magazine and I, in no way, benefit from this give away other than the good feeling I get from sharing it with my readers. I received an offer for a free issue a few weeks ago and took advantage of it. The magazine is full of wonderful ideas and articles on everything from gardening secrets to featured artists to growing organic foods. Check out the link above and see some of the wonderful things this magazine has to offer.

To enter, leave me a comment telling me you want to win! Contest ends Monday, January 10th at 9:00 a.m. central time!

Fix-It-And-Forget-It Give Away!!

Fix-it and Forget-it Christmas Cookbook: 600 Slow Cooker Holiday Recipes

I love these Fix-It-And-Forget-It Cookbooks and I found a new Christmas one! I'm ordering one for me AND ONE FOR ONE OF YOU!! You get to pick whether you want it in hardback or paperback!

All you have to do is follow my blog AND tell me what you want for Christmas this year!!!

I want a new desk for my office and a new lens and speedlight for my camera. Oh wait, I think I have already asked for a jerky maker and didn't I get that food processor as an early Christmas gift?? SSShhhhhh!!!!

I'm going to try something a little different this time. I usually don't do second entries, third entries....you know how it goes...but this time I am! If you want to be entered a second, third, fourth, etc. time, refer a friend because I love new friends for the HOLIDAYS!

Just send them a link to my blog and if they follow me and enter the give away, have them put your username in their post and I'll give you as many entries as friends that show up!!

Contest ends on Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. Central time and winner will me announced shortly after!!!

Glass Light Block Give Away

Want one without having to make it?? You get to choose between this one (it won't have the little glass globs on the bottom - they sit flat now)

and this one...

To enter, follow along and leave me a comment. It can be about Christmas, holiday memories, crafts or just stop in and say Hi!

Drawing will be Wednesday morning, November 10th, 2010, at 9:00 Central time. That gives you time to enjoy it with all your other Christmas decorations!

I am also sponsoring a BBB Give Away over at Chickens in the Road today. Check it out!

Peppermint Goodies Give Away!

I promised you Peppermint and here it is!

You get 1 bar of cold process Peppermint Soap (which will need to cure for about 3 more weeks at least), 1 bar of hot process Peppermint Goat Milk Soap (it's ready to use), 1 jar of Peppermint Candy Sugar Face and Body scrub and a tube of Peppermint lip balm.

I will be offering these little peppermint kits as well as the individual products in my Etsy store when it's up and running (it's a WIP right now!)

All you have to do is follow my blog and tell my what you're crafting. If you're not crafting anything, then tell me something about a craft that means something to you...a childhood craft memory, something you want to try, crafts your kids do at school, anything crafty! Maybe you could tell me a good use for acorns in crafts. I have a backyard full of huge acorns this year!

I don't usually ask that you follow my blog for giveaways but I worked hard on this one. I made you soap! So come on, I deserve a little something, right? It makes me smile when I see someone else that cares enough to follow along with my busy, crazy farm life.

Give away ends Saturday morning, October 16, 2010 at 9:00 Central time! Winner will be chosen by Randomizer.org and posted soon after!

Another Magazine Give Away!

It was such a hit last time, I thought I'd do it again!
I am giving away a years subscription to your choice of Reiman Publications. I love Birds and Blooms, Country Woman and Taste of Home. If you are chosen as the winner, you should receive your first magazine in 6-8 weeks. Just in time for getting settled into cooler weather and the fall and winter months.

I'll pick a winner next Saturday, September 4, 2010....that gives you a week to comment and send friends this way. You don't have to be a follower but I would love it if you decide to be.

To enter, just leave me a comment about your favorite fall festivities. We did winter last time so we can't leave out fall! I'm always torn between spring and fall as my favorite time of year so I'll just enjoy both of them to the fullest while they are here! We love to visit the pumpkin patch, carve Jack-O-Lanterns and decorate with fall colors, hay bales and corn shocks, have wiener roasts and hayrides and spend a few nights camping in our tent under the stars. I love sweatshirt weather!

What do you and your family do during this beautiful time of year?

If you are chosen for this give away, you get to pick one of these magazines:
Birds and Blooms
Country
Country Woman
Farm and Ranch Living
Healthy Cooking
Simple and Delicious
Reminisce
Taste of Home

Reiman Publications is not aware of or endorsing this give away. I just like their magazines and want to share with my wonderful readers.

Comments must be in by Saturday, September 4, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. Central time. Winner will be announced shortly after! Good luck!

Magazine Give Away

Putting up all this produce for the winters months got me to thinking about those cold winter days and watching the birds at the feeder, snuggling on the couch with a good magazine and drinking a cup of hot cocoa. The temp got up to 101 here today so it's not easy to imagine that scene right now but it will be here before we know it. Some of my favorite magazines are from Reiman Publications. Birds and Blooms, Country Woman and Taste of Home are my three favorites. My give away today is a years subscription to one of their magazines. Why? Because I'm ordering mine right now so I'll have plenty of reading material come those cold winter days.

I'll pick a winner next Saturday, July 31st....that gives you a week to comment and send friends this way. You don't have to be a follower but I would love it if you decide to be. Just leave me a comment about what you love to do during the winter months when there's less canning, gardening, farming, etc. taking up all your time.

You can email me with your choice of magazine if you win.
The choices are:
Birds and Blooms
Country
Country Woman
Farm and Ranch Living
Healthy Cooking
Simple and Delicious
Reminisce
Taste of Home

Reiman Publications is not aware of or endorsing this give away. I just like their magazines and want to share with my wonderful readers.

Comments must be in by Saturday, July 31st at 9:00 a.m. Central time. Winner will be announced shortly after! Good luck!

Crazy Busy!!

Please don't give up on me my faithful followers/readers! I haven't forgotten that I have a blog and wonderful blog friends, I haven't taken to bed with a grave illness, I haven't even fallen of the face of the earth. I promise! This is such a busy time of year here on the farm.

The garden is doing great and growing fast but so are the weeds so I'm weeding.

Bella waits for no one. When her tank is full, it's full and she let's me know it. There has been a little cheese-making, yogurt-making and milk-freezing going on. At 1/2 gallon a day, it adds up fast.

Jake goes to a private school and they decided he and his classmates were far enough ahead that they would change the last day of school from the 28th to the 21st so I lost a week of "preparing for summer". He still has graduation on the 30th so we've been practicing for his lines in the graduation program and I try to do a little school work during the summer just to keep him in practice but not enough to ruin summer fun. So I'm sort of homeschooling and playing. Jake's request for a graduation gift was a swimming pool so we've spent the afternoons leveling and sort of destroying our backyard to make my boys happy but the big piles of dirt that I have to look over to see the deer in the back field are worth it when I saw the smiles on their faces as they head out the door to get in the pool. That water is still a little too cold for me!

There's a thousand other things going on as well...like the cherries are ripe and need picking, pitting and canning and freezing and the blackberries are right on their heels.


Oh and the boys have ball games, both 2 times a week. One plays T-ball, one plays baseball. They are both Yankees and both #5.

I have 2 brooders of chicks I'm raising and 5 new 1-month old geese that I couldn't resist taking from a friend.

And mowing the yard which my husband usual does but I try to fit it in if I can because he's as busy as I am this time of year...oh and I forgot...I do have a job that takes up a few hours a day.

That position for egg-washer is still open!

That's what's going on here on our little farm.....what about your late spring/early summer?? What fills your calendar this time of year??

Since I haven't been quite as faithful to my readers as I would like to be, I'm giving away one of my cookbooks. Just tell me how busy YOU are in the month of May and June! I'll post the winner Saturday morning around 9:00 a.m.

Canning Give Away!!!

I love to can! I love opening those jars on cold winter days and having a little summer goodness right there in front of me. I can apples, cherries, strawberries, peaches, beans, tomatoes, salsa, pickles, beets....and on and on....I haven't gotten into canning meats yet. I prefer to put that in the freezer but I did get a pressure canner last year so you never know what I might decide to try.

I am hoping by doing this give away that someone else will decide to try canning. I promise you won't be disappointed. You don't even have to grown your own fruits and veggies if you don't have the space or time. I grown a lot of mine but I do buy some of my stuff from the local farmer's market or the Amish community nearby.


Today's give away includes this 5-piece home canning kit.

and the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

How to enter...
Leave me a comment about canning, why you like to, why you want to, your favorite things to can, etc. You do not have to be a follower of my blog but I would love it if you decided to be! Send your friends this way too!

A winner will be drawn on Monday morning, May 10th, at 9:00 am Central time. The items will be shipped to you directly from Amazon and I am going to have to limit this to U.S. entries only after I checked the price of shipping for other countries. Sorry about that, I hope everyone understands.

What I Did Today!

I had a thousand things on my list. I got up early and took Biscuit to the vet to get him neutered. He's back home and doing great. He and Bessie missed each other terribly. I went by the doctor's office and had my blood drawn to check my cholesterol and the levels are looking good. All of this was done by 8:00 this morning (on Thursday - it's late so you may not read this until Friday). I had it in my head that I was going to come home and do some in-depth cleaning on the house, my MT work, put something on for supper and get all caught up with everything that needed to be done including laundry and dishes. Jake was at school and Luke was with his buddies at Mamaw Shirlene's house so the day was mine. I headed home to do all those things that needed to be done and then........I drove past my mom and dad's house. Mom was at work and Dad was heading in from feeding the horses. I can't drive by and see my Dad outside and not stop and see him, even if he does only live 1.3 miles down the road. I pulled in, rolled the window down, opened my mouth to say "Hi" but instead I said, "Hey, you wanna go fishing?" There went my plans! It was a gloriously sunny day, the temp was already up to 57 this morning and I felt like spending the day with my Dad on the pond bank. He grinned and said "Yep."

We loaded up all the fishing gear, climbed on the 4-wheeler and headed for the pond.

My Dad is the most patient man I know. He sat right here ALL day and I sat right beside him.

And we talked and laughed and ate snacks from the cooler and talked and laughed some more.

And you know what? All we caught was one little bitty bass, but we had such a great time!

Of course, mom had to check her Farmer's Almanac Calender and inform us that we picked a POOR fishing day! She lives by her almanac calender!

Oh and I did stop by the store this morning on my way home and I saw these....

Aren't they the cutest measuring cups and spoons? I am addicted to measuring devices, I have an entire cabinet drawer full of different ones and several larger ones on shelves around my kitchen but I didn't have any in these spring colors! I had to have them! And I thought you had to have them too. So I bought an extra set just for one of you!
See....

Just leave me a comment and you're entered. I'll draw a name on Monday morning! Good luck! And do something unexpected......throw all your plans out the window and spend the entire day with someone you love. You won't regret it, I promise!

Spring Give Away!!!

Biscuit is very disappointed in me for not getting this up earlier but here it is, finally! I was going to call this my "Spring is in the Air" Give Away but since it's still COLD here, I'm going to call it my "Wishing for Spring" Give Away!

Here's the loot!

I couldn't help it! I just kept putting Springy things into my cart!!!
First, I found these!

I have two of these in my kitchen window. I also gave one to a friend for her birthday (Hi Candy! She has started reading my blog and wants to come to my house and can this summer...yeah!) and I picked up 2 more to share with one lucky reader.
Sticking with the Spring theme, I found the latest edition of the Old Farmer's Almanac Garden Guide.

Don't tell, but I bought one of those for myself also!
How can you have Spring without seeds, seeds and

more seeds???

There's everything from cosmos to sunflowers to morning glories in here!
Then, I found these adorable little blue glass votive cups that look like flower pots! There's 4 of them in all!

Cute! Cute! Cute!
And when you're done gardening for the day, you can come inside and write down all the things you planted in this cute little Springy journal and make sticky notes of things that still need to be done!

Relax and light a pineapple scented candle...

(I added this cute little Spring graphic that I got from PCCrafter.com © Laurie Furnell. I just love her stuff!)
Then, take a long, hot soak in the tub with some English Lavender soap.

When you're done soaking, you can get all dressed up and wear this pretty pink pendent out to dinner! Dragonflies are so cool! I have two boys, I have to like bugs!

Well, at least that's what I would do with all this stuff! You can do whatever you want with all the goodies if you win!

Julie over at Cliff Circle Views (link to her giveaway is at the top under ANNOUNCEMENTS!) had an excellent idea when she decided to keep it simple! One entry per person. You don't have to be a follower (but I would love it if you decided to be), you don't have to share the link (of course, that would be awesome if you wanted to share it because you're just one of those sharing kind of people, but it's not necessary). You don't have to do anything EXCEPT post that you want the loot and make sure I have a way of getting in touch with you if you win, like leaving your name/username instead of anonymous. There's always a few of those. You can't win if I don't know who you are!! If you have a blogger dashboard and your username is a clickable link to your blog or email address then you're good! No worries, I'll find ya; otherwise, tell me where I can find you in case you win!

The first day of Spring is March 20th but I won't make you wait that long! I want you to have your goodies by then! So deadline is in 1 week! March 5th, 2010! Winner will be announced Saturday, March 6th!

Vacation Is Over!

At least for a couple of days, then everyone is off for Thanksgiving again! I have missed you all! I have been busy making dreamsickle fudge, chocolate fudge (with and without nuts), lemon fudge, coconut balls, peanut butter balls, and pumpkin rolls! This was something I always enjoyed doing at Christmas but the last couple of years things have been so crazy that I felt rushed and pressured to get it done and that took the joy out of it. This year I decided to do it early so I could enjoy doing it!

I sent 2 large trays (one for the hospital employees and one for the clinic employees) with my husband this morning and I have two more smaller ones to deliver this afternoon. And yes, I kept just a little but for myself!

I promised a Christmas Give Away and since I'm not sure the fudge would make it through the postal service, I am giving away one of my Christmas Light Blocks!

This is the "There's No Place Like Home" light block. This is not the greatest pic but it's the only one I have on my computer at the time. I'll try to get a better one posted before the giveaway ends! It's beautiful, I promise. It is is trimmed with a pretty burgundy colored bow that matches the holly on the graphic.

I use a light cord like this one with all my light blocks so the bulb is changeable and you can easily switch it on and off without unplugging each time!


How to enter:
Tell me a Christmas/holiday tradition you do simply because you enjoy it! Like baking or calling old friends to say Merry Christmas or trekking through the woods to cut your own tree......I wanna hear them!

If your email is not linked in your profile, please use the "contact me" link in the right sidebar to send me your username and email address otherwise I have no way of contacting you if you win!

Blog about this giveaway and get an extra entry! Contest will end December 10th at 9:00 a.m.

Don't forget to vote for Suzanne!

Good Mood Gig from SAM-e

Sit Back and Relax Give Away

My boys have been sick with colds so I haven't been blogging in the last couple of days. What better way to redeem blogger slacking than to have a give away?

Both boys are better and back in Kindergarten and at the sitters so I am calling this the "Sit Back and Relax" Give Away!

It includes one of my cookbooks, a Nora Roberts romance novel (Cordina's Crown Jewel-it's not new, it's a hand-me-down), a rooster coffee mug and 3 little Fall scented candles.

You can put on an easy crockpot recipe from my cookbook, grab a cup of coffee or hot cocoa, light your candles and sit back, relax and read for awhile! That's my idea of relaxing, I just can't seem to find the time to actually do it!

All you have to do to enter is tell me what you do to relax when you can sneak a few minutes away from the hustle and bustle of life!

If you post about the giveaway on your blog, leave me an additional comment with a link to it and I'll give you another entry.

Give Away will end in 1 week October 29th at 9:00 a.m. Central time!

"Attitude of Gratitude" Give Away

THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED: WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY!

Is it a sin to blog 3 times in one day? If so then I'm bad!

I am calling this my "Attitude of Gratitude" give away - thank you for the name Oakie (Arlene) - in honor of all I am thankful for plus I just like to give stuff away! It makes me feel good, so there's something in it for me too!

Here it is....a little bit of Summer and a little bit of Fall!
Shopping list, picture frame and album in a cute gift bag, an address book, 3 adorable little fall scented candles, some peach mango lotion and a dance, love and sing coffee mug!

Here's how to enter:
Tell me what you are thankful/grateful for!

Blog about it and get an extra entry, just leave me an additional comment with a link to the post mentioning the give away!

Contest will end a week from today, September 8 at 8:00 am Central time. Winner will be announced soon after.

Light Block Give Away

If you read my blog, you probably already know that this weekend is the annual get together for my gardening forum. This will be the 5th year that 8 - give or take one or two each year - get together for 4 days of absolutely silliness, abandon and laughing so hard you pass gas, snort and pee in your pants fun. Not necessarily all at the same time but it has been known to happen. Hi Linda Curley - Names have been changed to protect the not so innocent!!

In honor of this friendship gathering, I am giving away one of my light blocks. This is the Old Teddys light block. If you collect old teddies, have a child or grandchild who needs a cute night light or just think this little light is adorable and would look good at your house then jump right in and join the contest!

All my light blocks come with this style cord for ease in turning on and off and changing the bulb.

All you have to do is comment and tell me one memory that you cherish of something you and a friend did together! If you blog or twitter about this giveaway let me know and you will get an extra 2 entries for each!

Good Luck!

Contest closes Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. Central time. Drawing will be Monday evening after my friends have left and I am crying my eyes out from missing them already and planning for next year which will be in Oklahoma City.

HenPals Nest Box Give Away

The very generous couple over at Life On a Southern Farm are giving away 2 of their awesome nest boxes! You can find their giveaway here.

I need this box for my new chicken coop and I can earn 3 more entries by telling you all about it! Ok, that's not the only reason...I would love for you to have a chance to win it also but forgive me for being selfish and secretly hoping I win! There's 2, I'll be hoping that you win the other one, how's that??

So go on over and enter!

Give Aways!

I love blog giveaways and want to mention a couple that are going on right now.


Farm Clothes Pin Bag
Linda over at Prairie Flower Farm is giving away this Farm Clothes Pin Bag! Make sure to go over and enter the drawing for this adorable prize.
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Coveted Yarn/Amazon Gift Card Give Away
Marissa over at Maine Island Knits is giving away a wonderful bunch of yarn or if you're not a knitter, she is also giving away a $100 Amazon gift card! Go on over and leave her a comment to enter her give away!

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