This past months crap is enough to scare most people. I don’t like to dwell on the bad so we move on in our lives knowing that tomorrow the sun is going to rise, you know the saying you breathe in, you breathe out, you go on.

Bruce has been busy on many new projects and I’m happy to say that  fencing in 2 acres has him in great shape. Everyday I get to hear, oh man are my arms sore. The new fence involves not only putting it in but he has to cut the tree, strip the bark, dig the hole, place the post…repeat 50 times then he can rest. I’ll take more pictures later.

The Thanksgiving break was nice we headed to Myrtle beach to eat turkey with the folks and to play on their new boat. The boat scares me, I know we’ll all see on the news that 2 old people were lost at sea. My mother can’t swim and my father seems to get lost real easy. GPS or no GPS they best stick to the river.

The dogs got to go play in the ocean and ride the boat so for them it was a great time to.

Now that Justin has his nice camera most of the photography gets left to him, but he never gives me copies. I have to steal them off facebook.

Facebook is a time thief, it’s hard to stay off. I think it sucks up  to much time but that’s how the kids keep me updated. Without it I wouldn’t get to see Erin getting tackled on her rugby team. I would have missed Justin’s Clemson football pictures and I would never have seen Erin with red hair. Both the kids are loving the college life so even though the Chinese classes are hard, Erin is doing great. The military side of things has her involved in all kinds of cool things so the Army career is still what she plans on. I love listening to her speak in Chinese it sounds so funny. She will be living in China for 2 summers so she will be fluent by the time she graduates college. The army is paying her an extra hundred dollars a month if she passes the classes. Her plan at this point is to serve in Army intelligence, but Erin is fickle so who knows what will happen. I’m happy she’ll graduate and have an instant job that pays well.

Erin is the one looking at the camera.

Erin is on the Rugby team. After the game she put on a dress and went to a semi formal, where does she get the energy?

I need to hire a photographer next year.

We again had the scavenger hunt trail in the woods, if the 8 items were found then you had a chance to spin the wheel of fate. The fates could be kind to you or evil. Evil fates included having to get on all fours and howl like a werewolf or drinking evil potions made up of moonshine. We had fun, good fates included winning lottery tickets and dvds. Bruce was the ringmaster I was and evil clown. We had clear weather and a full moon what more could you want. There was a 9 foot tall bonfire along with fireworks I wish I could have video taped lots of the happenings but it’s hard to have fun carrying a camera. I’m grateful for what little pictures I did get.

This is as evil as we could make our clowns. My sisters kid, me and my mom.

Our midway

My sister the bearded lady, she was called Candy.

The trapeze girls and another clown standing in front of the wheel of fate.

Our fortune teller. I think shes seen better days.

The twins in their cage for our safety

Of course there’s lots more I can show you but it’s to hard with only pictures. Your all invited to see the madness in 2011 ‘

Enjoy the video for an extra peek at the decor

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” One Second After” by William Forstchen, it’s the tale of a town in NC. near Asheville post EMP attack. I’m not sure how many of you know what an EMP does, it’s an electromagnetic pulse it can happen by natural causes such as a large sun flare or by man made causes such as a nuclear bomb detonated in the atmosphere.EMP the scariest attack ever devised. Forget bombs, forget getting killed then think about being alive and suddenly your cell phone stops working, your car stops running and anything that uses electronics stops working. No more electricity for a long time.  The book chronicles such an attack and what a family and a town does to survive the event. I found it an easy read that made me take stock of our family.

What happens if a catastrophic event were to strike our family, either thru an EMP or a hurricane or any other means that would stop outside help from reaching us for an extended period of time? Yes at first I laughed and said chances are unlikely but then I took stock. Do I have the means to get clean water, one adult uses one gallon a day so two adults needing to survive for one week would need 14 gallons. Then I looked at food, yes I have food to last a week but what if we had to leave this area due to fire or some other catastrophe, do I have food I can easily transport? The book not only makes you think but it opens your mind to taking stock of your own personal preparedness. Hopefully the EMP scenario never plays out, but a little preparedness goes a long way. We started to put together a 72 hour bag. This is a backpack loaded with the necessary items needed to survive for 3 days on our own. I think there’s  a lot of differences in what I would pack compared to a family with small children.

I found a site that sells the kit all ready to go. I’m putting one together on my own.

http://www.thereadystore.com/

Preparedness in this economy, in this political climate, might not be a bad idea.

Ok, so now I hope I got you thinking. My family, we got a plan, we also have  the means to protect our plan. I just want more of you to stop and think, cause when the shit hits the fan our plan doesn’t include more than 4 people . So far, I have in my backpack a water filter, 7 days worth of dehydrated food, a few glow sticks, a knife, a medical kit. I’ll eventually take some pictures of our pack when it’s finished.

I’m never one to dwell on the bad. Even though I’ll be prepared, I’m thinking that on the famous mayan calender end of the world date, I’m going to throw a party. The idea is that we eat only survival food, and we use no electricity, of course there will be plenty of beer. 12/21/12 sounds like a plan to me!

Sounds silly I know, but talk to any home haunter as were known and they’ll tell you it’s crunch time. We’ve been working hard on our carnival theme. The new man arrived

I’ve had to hide him in Erins room, every time I came in the kitchen he scared me he’s over 6 feet. Bruce has already placed the cemetery in the woods and he’s made a few new stones he thinks he’s clever. He made one that says RIP Ben Dover  I’ll take some pictures later. The other new build was another casket. I told him in hard times he can squeeze me in he didn’t believe me so I squeezed in.

I think the dog wants to go with me. The casket will be lined in red satin and there will be a body in there, not mine of course.

The scavenger hunt note reads, He stopped laughing long ago but his song lingers. The casket will be slightly open and you’ll have to reach in and pull out a kazoo. Nothing here is that easy so of course Bruce also has his big upright casket next to the little casket its animated and it’ll swing open and a body will fall foward. Scary stuff we hope.

On another scary note. Bruce wanted to go on a mountain motorcycle trip. I agreed to the 6 hour round trip deal only if there was a destination involved, so off to the Apple Festival we went.

Did I mention I really, really, hate crowds. It’s like putting me in that little coffin and closing the lid, now put a nail in the coffin everytime a sweaty obese person rubbed up against me and I’m sure you would have nailed all the way around the coffin.

Is it just me or does this sea of people make you cringe too.  Next time I’ll just agree on the ride with no particular place to go.

We are really excited about this new theme, sure there’s a lot of work involved but that’s half the fun.Let me set the scene, an evil carnival has come to town and everyone is invited. The haunted trail will involve a scavenger hunt where you have to find carnival related items. If all the items are turned in your allowed to spin the Wheel of fate. If the fates are kind to you, then you win a scratch off lottery ticket, or a dvd. If the fates are cruel you’ll will be served an evil shot of liquor.

I’ve painted multiple banners for the carnival atmosphere. I can show you a few elements but nothing is really finished. Bruce has built the ultimate, “Wheel of Fate” The entire cantina will be draped in fabric to give the illusion of being in the Big Top. Keep in mind that this is an evil carnival so the decor will have lots of surprises. The next item we plan to introduce is a very cool effect in the trail. I will try to video it once we have it working, but it is a laser lit vortex. The other trail items include a very scary maze/funhouse that you’ll have to navigate to get out of the woods.

Ok I’ll keep you informed but this years party is going to be a lot of fun.

She started her first day of classes today so I’m sure crap will go wrong. I’m the most concerned about her knee, 3 weeks ago she went for a run and out of nowhere she started having pain in the front of her knee. I didn’t waste any time and sent her to an orthopedic doctor so she could have it xrayed. I wish I could have been there for the visit but Bruce was the only one there with her.  The doctor said there was no damage and to just take it easy. The pain is still not going away and now she has the added pressure of doing a 2 mile run in 18 minutes to keep her scholarship. I hope she makes it, 6am this thursday is the running test. I’m not going to relax till it’s over and I’m sure she’s more worried than me.

The plum tree isn’t ready for picking but at least the japanese beetles haven’t touched the fruit on this tree. The smaller dwarf plum was also covered in fruit but the beetles have attacked that one and I’ve yet to get a good plum. I don’t want to spray the trees but next year I might consider it.

Yes I have apples too.

What the heck am I going to do with all this fruit?

I’ve worked on a kitchen make over, a kid of mine graduated from high school, Bruce is turning into a decent horse trainer, the barn got landscaped, the garden is growing, my chickens are drowning me in eggs , and as usual Bruce damaged my truck.

I say all this and there are some funny stories that come with each thing but lets not dwell on the past. I’ll show you the pictures and you use your imagination. I promise to be better this month and keep you filled in.