Have you guys ever heard of a cricut?

And no, I don’t mean the noisy little bugger that gets behind your dresser and refuses to let you sleep!

It’s this fabulous little machine:

Image from cricut.com

It doesn’t look like much, but it’s a mean crafting machine!!

My friend had one and she always talked about how much she loved it. “Those crazy crafters!” I would think to myself “Always looking for something to spend money on.”

Then I tried hers out and LOVED IT. We were using it to cut out shapes and decorations for a scrapbook I work on for MrC and myself sometimes… and it’s so easy! And so neat!

I decided that if I still wanted one when I got my tax refund, that I would buy myself one.

Then two days later (and I still haven’t filed my taxes, if that tells you anything) I got on ebay and bid on one and WON! (Insert excitement here!)

So here’s a quick how-they-work

You have the above machine (the one pictured is the Cricut Expression).

You buy a cartridge:

(Note- these are NOT CHEAP! If you buy them at Wal-Mart or online at cricut.com, you will pay up to $80!!! So far I’ve been stalking ebay and craft stores for good deals- I will never pay more than $25.00 for one!)

You plug the cartridge into your machine.

Then you take the keypad overlay (included with the cartridge) and put it on your cricut:

Then you place a sheet of cardstock (or other paper, thicker usually works better) on the ’sticky sheet’ that comes with your cricut. And you pick what you want to print from the keyboard and add any options that may be available (shadowing, italic, bold, etc). Here are some shape options that come with this particular cartridge:

Each cartridge (when bought new) also comes with an ‘ideas’ book where you can pick up hints and tips on what works well.

Also? You know the lettering that you see on people’s walls? With the sayings like “Home is where the heart is…” or “Good times happen around the kitchen table…” Well, you can also print those vinyl letters with your cricut! Really I’m just getting started, but there are so many possibilities!

Now the big question: What are you going to pay for this cutting wonder?

You can find them at Wal-Mart (with one or two cartridges included) for around $290.00. Which isn’t too bad of a deal. But I went on ebay and bought a brand new one (no cartridges included) for $200 and free shipping. I bought it from a user named craft-e-corner (click the name to go to their site) and it was shipped quickly (and free!) and it arrived in perfect condition. And really, I’ve seen them go (from that same seller) for under $175.00.

There’s also a new cricut out for cake decorating, which is pretty neat.

Do you guys have one? Have you heard of them?

Found these remains at the lake last weekend. I think it’s a cicada, but feel free to correct me!

You used duct tape to hold together your clothes-pin bag that the mice chewed through the previous winter.

Feel free to share your own ‘redneckedness’.

FYI: It’s hard to take a picture when you have three dog leashes attached to your wrist.

We had a visitor at the lakehouse during the July 4th weekend…

Doesn’t he look cute?

Well, then you should see the rest of him…

all 5 plus feet!

After he scared the crud out of me (see the empty bird feeder there in the right hand corner? I was getting ready to fill it up and I went to go move the ’stick’ that was laying across the bird feed container and the snake’s head popped up! AHHH!! ) he proceeded to crawl up the doorway. He wasn’t aggressive, but we weren’t sure what kind it was and Mr. C killed it. I feel bad for killing it… but the thought of running into him again, maybe this time in the dark? Was enought to give me nightmares.

I still wonder what kind of snake it was. His pupils were round, I think that means that he wasn’t poisonous.

For those who have been following the happenings of Speckles, the broody hen, (and if not: here’s Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) things took a turn for the stinkier last night. We got home from the lakehouse and this horrible, horrible smell was coming from her cage. I lifted her up and one of the eggs had busted. It was an infamous ‘exploding egg’. Apparently, if a hen sets on a non-fertilized egg for long enough, it will rot and eventually explode underneath of her. And the smell? The smell is HORRIBLE. It was all over the other eggs, all over her… I’ve never smelled a rotten egg smell, and it was enough to make me want to hurl. No kidding.

 So, I candled again and none of the eggs were showing signs of further growth. Even the ones I could see moving around before weren’t moving anymore.

Today when I went in to the chicken coop, Speckles was wanting out of her cage, so I let her out and decided to throw her eggs away. I cracked each of them open (I know, it sounds horrible… but how am I supposed to learn otherwise?) and she had one more rotten egg underneath of her (that splattered all over my arm when I cracked it- HURL! HURL!). The other eggs were all in various stages of growth, but none of them seemed to still be alive. (Or alive before I cracked the shell…)

So, I decided to see what she’d do and she went back in, got on another nest and went back to her broody ways. So I cleaned out her cage (I had to scrub it with Comet to get the smell out. HORRIBLE) and will take eggs that are laid today and put her back in the cage tonight.

I know some of you are probably tired of hearing about my Broody Escapades, so here is my plan (all of this hinges on her staying broody, of course)

1. Collect 12 eggs from todays eggs. Number them 1-12.
2. Put her in her cage again with food and water and new, non-stinky hay. This keeps her away from the other chickens and makes sure that she doesn’t swap her eggs out.
3. Check eggs on Day 9. If no veining, eggs will get thrown out. No ifs-ands-or buts. (Trust me, once you smell a rotten egg, you don’t want another one near you) Also, after looking through images on this website, I think I can pick out a rotten egg now.
4. Check eggs a week later for further growth.
5. Hopefully hatch out some cute babies the week of May 25!

Did I mention that the rotten egg smell is the worst thing I’ve ever smelled? And I grew up on a hog farm!!

The chicken saddles arrived!! Actually, they arrived this past Saturday. For those who don’t have experience with overly-anxious roosters, here is a picture of one of the hens whose feathers had all been pulled out:

You can see that her back was almost bloody from all the ‘action’.

But now she has a beautiful sunflower chicken saddle:

Hopefully her feathers will be growing back very soon. And I happen to think she looks fabulous in a saddle!

 The Staples of a Fridge

Ah yes. Alcohol. Milk. And a CRAPLOAD of eggs. And that’s after I gave my family 4 dozen!!!!