Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We are looking forward to the New Year and all the exciting activities that are heading our way.

   Bo and Luke are a year old now. Wow! they are big boys now. There favorite activites are Sleeping, Doggy Treats and being chased in the yard.

  Our garden is in the process of getting ready for spring. We are adding new plants, berries and fruits. We are hoping all our fruits and vegetables will do very well this year. With the time we spent reading books, studying magazines and all the back breaking work. We are keeping our fingers crossed for a successful garden.

   Sandra is getting her canning list together for some canning now and when the garden is ready. She is digging through all her booking and pulling the best recipes from last year and adding new recipes to try.

She is hoping to coordinate the canning with her cooking recipes in hopes to cut the grocery bill even more than what she has. Her goal is to only buy what you cannot make, to keep the grocery bill for 4 adults at 80.00 every two weeks.

 We added two homesteading items to our homestead this year. We added a wood burning stove and a cast iron bath tub with claw feet. Steffon already refinished the stove and we have enjoyed it several times. The Tub will need a professional finish and we hope to get that done soon. Both will be in full use on our future farm.

Our Christmas was wonderful! We spent it with our family's and enjoyed all the good cooking, visiting.

August And September 2010

The Texas Weather is Hot, Hot, Hot this month! But we are surviving!!!
Steffon Started Home Inspection School  August 16th. We never found a contractor for the Electrical School. But it is still on his list. We both are very excited about this. The market looks good for this as a home based business.
I'm  currently reorganizing and relabeling our things. In some cases repacking. After so many moves the boxes give out. Sigh! I will get it done so when we move it will go smooth.  My sewing, lately I have been making  small things,  Table runners, napkin rings, dog bandannas, etc. My goal is to use up all of my supplies, then start fresh with new fabrics and more complicated patterns.
 But ...... On the other hand lately I have enjoyed the cooking/baking scene. Don't get me wrong my first hobby is quilting/sewing. My second hobby is the cooking/baking. With this hobby I have enjoyed the cooking Cd's. These Cd's are wonderful! I can add recipes, organize them, print a grocery list and go! The baking I have enjoyed and will might continue at home. I see bread/cakes everyday . so the Idea of cake decorating/bread making at home. Well.. I will probably not do it as much at home. Maybe just on Holidays! But my plan is to wow my guests in every way with my cooking/baking and Steffon's grilling!
The garden is still producing hot peppers, banana peppers, and tomato's . We now a have our fall garden planted, which consists of carrots, spinach, onions and cantaloupe. We are keeping our fingers crossed, due to the fact the spinach, carrots did not make it in the first garden. We are trying again!he
Bo and Luke are doing great and growing like weeds. They love the water and love playing ball in the yard.
But they really enjoy waking up Steffon in the morning, sometimes even wrestle over who is waking him up first!

June and July 2010

We have been  staying busy. Keeping our garden plants alive with this Texas heat things tend to dry up and die easily! So far our garden has produced onions and tomatoes.The potatoes didn't do too well. We will try growing them again.Possibly using some different gardening tips and tricks we have picked up along the way.

Canning is going well. We just upgraded our canning equipment, so we are still learning the tricks of the trade. I had only one issue during the canning of salsa it didn't seal properly, so I lost a batch. We will be canning more later as our garden becomes ready.

May 2010

Steffon and I released the Ducks at our friends lake house this month. They Loved it! They thought they died and went to heaven. Bandit also went to a new home this month.  Due to him being a very active doggy who loves to run and play. But also has some behavior issues that need more attention than we can give or afford to fix. He is going to live with a rancher who have 114 aces and also has a older black Lab. Good Luck Bandit You will be missed!

The puppies are doing great and growing like weeds! Bo is learning to play ball. Luke, well he is to busy exploring to play ball. But he will eventually learn how.

The garden is doing well and we are due to harvest our first round of potatoes in a couple of weeks. The rest of the garden should be ready around July/August. There will be a lot of canning going on if everything survives/produces a lot of veggies and fruit.

April 23, 2010

We are adjusting to the loss of our beloved Golden Retriever Jake who passed away April 1st 2010. We think he had internal cancer in his abdomen. Poor Jake! I adopted him when he was only 1 year old. He was the best dog I had ever had. He went everywhere and did everything with me. He acted more like a person than a dog.
At least I was able to be there with him all the way to the end, as I held him in my arms when he passed away.

We ended up adopting two new Golden babies into our hectic lives April 9, 2010.
We named them Bo and Luke to remember the great Dukes of Hazzard TV series that ran for 7 seasons during the late '70's and early '80'st hey are our blond Golden Babies. Nothing has been the same Since!
Steff and I now have puppy diaper duty(lol). Oh the joys of having puppies they are fun but will wear you out!
The garden is doing good. We have had our ups and downs. Having to replace some plants several times! But we will get the hang of it eventually. Hopefully before the growing season officially ends. LOL
The ducks are keeping up with there share of bug eating and waddling, swimming most of the day.
 As for sewing it is moving slowly with puppies, ducks and working nights. I do not have a lot of time. I manage to squeeze it in when I can. 

Pictures of the  Norris Crew

                                                 

                                                                  

                                                   

March 2010

I know, I know! I'm behind on my newsletters! Probably have some unhappy readers. But LIFE happens! So things have changed for now instead of home inspection (will pick back up at a later date).
Steffon and I surprised every one by getting our electrical licenses (apprentice license). We will be starting our training soon!
With this in the works and with me looking to join the ranks in the electrical world. We have been busy studying. I have been making flash cards to help with memorizing all sorts of codes, types of wire and how to use it. Although I have to say he still is itching to take my sewing machine apart to see how it works. He still has some of the IT personality in him. So Honey, hands off of my machine! LOL
Our garden is coming along. Although I think we lost the strawberries and they are hard to grow after all. We will conquer and have strawberries one day! All other veggies are doing good. You can read our garden blog , it has more garden details that the family news letter.
Steffon should have the ground tilled and ready after Easter for the transplant of the plants.

We are also busy with our hobbies. I'm currently working on block for my guild, and decorating some towels for our house, and working on orders people have placed for quilts.
Steffon has been doing some wood working and antique furniture restoration,and running his model trains.

January Norris News

I hope everyone had a Great and MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! We stayed home and celebrated by watching movies and eating pizza with some friends. Nothing fancy here!

Steffon is starting the New Year off going back to School. He going to become a Home Inspector. GO Baby! I'm cheering on the side lines as he starts the 4 month process of doing this.
My Job is a job at this point LOL. Wal Mart has changed the way employees are handled and treated. They have made all full time employees part time, with no choice in the matter. There are also many other changes coming in the near future. So when your at Wal Mart and see only 3 check outs open you will know why. Please feel free to complain. We can provide the direct number if need! lol They deserve it! We no longer support Wal-Mart or any corporation that does not value or treat their employee's fairly.

As for sewing / knitting/ Crocheting/ Quilting I'm pretty busy with Clubs and meet up groups. I really enjoy them. Steffon is getting a taste of quilting. He has gone a couple times with me., And seems to enjoy it. Of course you mention computer, Car, Train, Wood working and he is detoured for a while. I give him credit ! Lately he seems interested in the quilting programs on the computer. You never know, he might decide to start quilting. lol

Our four legged babies are doing well. The Golden Oldie has been in good spirits lately. Moving slow but enjoying life. Wile our 7 month old black lab pup is exploring and testing his limits. He has not figured out he is scheduled for the snip here pretty soon LOL. Which will probably slow him down a little.


Till next time!
Steffon and Sandra