Country Adventures Birthday Party

We have been invited to a birthday party in Blythewood (up near Columbia) tomorrow. Normally we wouldn't go so far for a birthday party but this one is being held at a farm called Country Adventures. So we decided it would be a lot of fun for the Peanut. There is supposed to be a petting area, pony rides, a hayride, roasted hot dogs, all kinds of fun like that. I am excited about going. The Peanut is so much fun, I know she will just love it. Plus I will get some really cute pictures with my fantastic new camera that my wonderful Hubby got for my birthday. It will be quite a drive but it will be an adventure. Check out their web site to see what they are all about - www.countryadventures.us

Apple Festival this weekend

I love festivals. And the Apple Festival at Saint Johns United Methodist Church is a very nice one to visit. They have lots of things to buy, fun activities, and food galore! I plan to head to it early tomorrow morning to check out the Second Hand Rose sale, which is their used item section. The festival is Friday and Saturday, so you can still enjoy it even if you have to work. If you are short on something to do this weekend, take a trip downtown and check out this family festival.

Commence with the rending of garments

We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our home computer. Somehow we contracted some viruses that our Norton would not remove. In the process of trying to remove said viruses, our computer went kaput. And that is a technical term, I promise. So thankfully the Hubby has a laptop for work that I can use at night. It has opened my eyes to how much I rely on the computer and how much I use it during the day. I have to say it hasn't been all bad, not being able to use it during the day. It has been a little refreshing to not even think about it during the day. Kind of old school.
Sadly I might be losing some of my files because I haven't been as diligent in backing up my stuff. I had just downloaded and deleted from my camera some pictures from the fair and now they may be lost. I am going to look into some professional help to see about cleaning off our hard drive before we wipe the computer and start from scratch. I am really hoping that we can get that done.
So if I seem like I am missing days here and there, you will know why. I am hoping to have this resolved one way or another in the next few days. Good luck to us!

Amazing Race Mondays

This season has seen a lot of folks benefiting from other's catastrophes and terrible finishes. Especially when they least expect it. How about the poker girls not being eliminated after Zev lost his passport? Or the globetrotters last week after that girl wouldn't go down the really long water slide? I didn't care for the way that the fellows egged her on but her boyfriend was even worse when he tried to push her down the slide. Anyways this week follows the same tradition. The teams find themselves in the Netherlands. After several contests that relate in some way to the country, the final challenge is to either ring a bell with a hammer like at the fair, learn a dance and then eat a salted herring; or field farmer golf and make three holes in 8 strokes or less after taking a brief swim in long johns. Both require some arm strength. Unfortunately for the poker girls, playing cards does not give one great arm strength. After Brian and his beauty queen girlfriend fuddle through all the challenges, it looks like they will be last. But the poker girls just don't have the arm strength to finish the challenge so they quit. That means free pass this week to Brian and his beauty queen. I skipped a lot of the episode but I have to admit that even though this is still my favorite reality show, it has been a little boring. The gay brothers finished first. Next week should be interesting when the Amazing Race revisits the infamous needle-in-the-haystack challenge.

My banners are a hit!

My etsy store has been a little bit busy this week. I had 4 sales! It is a record. One sale was some more wallpaper samples. A while back I was able to obtain a bunch of sample books and I am selling them by the sheets. It is a little time consuming, but not everyone wants a whole book. But three of my sales have been custom name banners. I am very excited about that. I use the wallpaper for them, as well. They are so cute. Three have been for babies or showers but I now have one for a 9 year old. It will be fun. I am hoping to get to the point where I do enough sales on etsy that I can pay for the Peanut's Mother's Day Out. Next year I want her to be able to go two days a week. She loves going. They do a lot of fun stuff.

Anyhoo, our home computer is experiencing some difficulties due to a virus so I may not be on as much as usual. Hopefully we will have it fixed soon. Until then, check out my etsy page! Just click on the link to the right. Have a great Monday!

The Aiken Fair, a final summary of awards

Tomorrow is the last day for the fair in town and we are finally going to go as a family. Therefore I can finally tell you about the awards my stuff won. I was able to enter ten categories this year. They are as follows, with the award noted after.

1. Apple Jelly - none
2. Pumpkin Butter - none
3. Pear Preserves - second in preserves, judges choice
4. Original Acrylic - none
5. Original Watercolor - second place
6. Mixed Media - second place (picture to the left)
7. Pound Cake - first place
8. Cookies - first place
9. Biscuits - first place
10. Plant (other) - none

So seven ribbons in all and about $24 in prize money. Not bad for the first time I have entered in the fair. Next year's goal is to enter 11 items. I will try to start earlier next time, we will see how that goes! (the photo was taken by my mother-in-law while she was at the fair with the Peanut)

Happy Birthday to Me

Happy birthday to me,
I live in a tree,
I smell like a monkey,
oh, wait that's not me!