I need a wha ??

FEIN, LLC, LLP, Sole Proprietorship, Business Plans, Sales and Use Tax, and since we're on the subject of Taxes we might as well throw in the IRS! How about and EIN? SSID?

It's almost here, this "starting a business" deal. It's oh-so-much-easier spoken about than actually starting the first thing on the list. That's because it's unclear what the first "thing" is!

When approaching my husband with the idea of writing an actual business plan he says, "the plan is, buy stuff, grow stuff, raise stuff, and sell it." Agreed. Because he's actually up with the chickens, I can't complain too loudly. Sometimes, however, I get a little stuck on the fine print and need a break.

Since life is what happens while we're making other plans, I'm a little behind on the official stuff and will be catching up here in the next few weeks.

I just had to rant a bit about how a great idea can get the fluff taken out of it when one looks at the hard knock requirements of business. If only it were so easy as Captain Strong Arms makes it out to be.

If you need me, I'll be over here, in this mound of governmental bureaucratic paperwork with fine print as far as the almost-forty-year-old eye can see. Ahem.

Life is still good.

There is nothing

like being sick to make you ever-grateful for all the "stuff" that needs to get done.

Today, I'm grateful that I have the energy to DO some of it! I'll reflect back on this the next time I come close to complaining about having "too much stuff to do".

more things that seems wrong

Looks serene. Ideal. Fishing with mom and dad at the lake.























Nice Sign.






Read closer.












This got me thinking about what we put in our waterways, collectively, as a human society. I've long thought that things our ancestors did before they knew better set the stage for earth-damage and we've furthered it with our quest for bigger, better, faster cultural ideals.

Over the weekend of September 17 & 18, 2010 we visited the quaint little town of Badin, NC for their "Best of Badin Festival" and had a blast. One of the unexpected highlights was the tour of the Narrows Dam which I enjoyed the most. I can get cotton candy, home-made peach ice cream and most of the other stuff at any other given festival, but what I cannot get but once a year is a tour of the dam.

Have a go at this document, the watershed locations are extraordinary. North Carolina is bursting at the seams with small streams and waterway. Which leads me to a close-to-home thought; we have a well. A beloved, never-gone-dry well. A well that we drink from, bathe in, and use water to cook with.

That said, what got me thinking about all this was the fact that this lake we were fishing at is downstream from this dam - this hydroelectric power plant - owned by ALCOA . And here is another fascinating and informative piece from Wikipedia about Alcoa . Of primary interest to me is the part where it talks about the levels of PCB's in the groundwater because of "improper management".

I know I'm throwing a lot of links in here, but in order to fully understand what I'm talking about I think it's important to have a sort of "show and tell" where I tell and you show yourself by clicking on the links.

Speaking of which, here's another great article about Badin, wherein it talks about the origin of the power plant and the history of the town. Plus, it's got a great photograph of the dam, which having seen it myself, does not do it justice at all.

Speaking of justice, here's another great article from nearly a year ago. A lot of interesting points.

All this to say, I won't be eating any fish out of Badin Lake, or any other river, lake, stream or watershed around here. And at some soon point, am going to have our well tested.

when I'm sick

I like to do stuff that isn't strenuous. Since during my mom's recent visit from California she taught me to crochet "rag rugs" I've been picking up flat sheets from thrift stores and making rugs. I gave one to a girlfriend as a gift at her most recent baby shower and she said she really liked it. I'm hoping to make some more and put them up for sale. Problem is, I want to keep them all!

When I start doing crafty stuff, I like to browse for inspiration. When a friend of mine posted her link on Face Book I ended up here.

I really enjoy seeing what others create and where their inspiration comes from. When I saw that Paige was only 14 I was not only impressed but slightly jealous! I didn't get the creative bug until I had a home of my own and my son was not so time-consuming. So in other words, the last couple years I've been trying new things, from canning and preserving to crocheting and attempting my first quilt.

Anyhow, I entered her giveaway and my favorite item from The Pretty Poppy are the Chrysanthemum earrings! So cute! I like the turquoise ones as they would go with that cute dress I wore to the baby shower on Saturday (I even dusted off the high heels!!).

When I get one of the three cameras in this house up and running (one needs a special battery, the other needs a new memory card and the third needs a lobotomy, but we all need something, right?) I'll snap a few pics of these fun rag rugs I've been making.

Stay well friends!

contentment

is doing dishes while looking out the window with this in the view.

computer up, camera down

For whatever reason, because I've been busy with company, and other stuff too, I have not taken the time to post on this blog. Part of that reason, I've justified to myself, is that my camera quit working right after I got back online with a computer. I have none of my collection of photos on this computer. Because of that, I feel uninspired to blog. Not that I can't write without a photograph, but when my mind goes blank, it helps to stir up a feeling, and then a post commences.

It's Monday. The air is crisp and I can feel the change of the season in the air and in my toes. (they're a wee bit cold) When I look outside I see the subtle changes in the colors of the leaves. I see the extra fuzz coming onto the horses' coats. And the waning of the flowers in the gardens. Most things still flowering are going to seed. And there is this overwhelming desire to grab my camera and capture it all but, alas, I cannot.

It was hot enough this summer to delay my complaints of cold until at LEAST November. Although my vegetable garden suffered for the heat this year, I do feel as though every year gets better and better around here. I learn something new on an almost daily basis. Like how high heat, humidity and irregular watering can make for the most bitter cucumber you've ever tasted. Not even the hogs will eat them. They typically eat everything except for citrus rinds. As we give them all of our scraps (except meat) they have come to love the leavings in the garden. I've also learned not to throw the seeds and trimmings from hot peppers in the pig slop. Poor things, that lesson was a one-time event.

I did some transplanting of Chrysanthemums, red Salvia, Hollyhocks and Periwinkle this morning and now I'm going to make use of the pine straw that Captain Strong Arms is gathering for me. I'm enjoying this bit of sunshine today, with a high of nearly 90* well into October and am now going to burn some memories onto my own personal memory card; my brain. Camera or no, I'll remember this fall with fondness. And I'll just have to work a bit harder at jogging my post-generating senses sans photographs.

It's beautiful out there, you'll just have to take my word for it.