The Life of a Real Life Housewife....LOL

Laundry is a daily occurrence here. Have no idea why?!! We are only two people but I have at least one load to do almost EVERY day!

 

 

Decided to be all domesticated and stuff and baked some Oatmeal Raisin cookies.....this afternoon.

 Then let's have some nice garden veggies with dinner...YUMM...we have been eating fresh veggies for a while....first it was beets...then the carrots started coming in....now it's corn and beans, although there are still some beets and carrots too.

 

Brad working on his latest project....

 

 Not to be confused with THIS latest project!! The last of the grapes were harvested today...we de-stemmed and bagged them up. They'll be stored in the freezer until we can deal with them. We only have two primary fermentation buckets and they are both full right now.....once they can be transferred to their glass holding bins then we can start another batch....

 

 

 And finally time to relax with some Sweet Muscat Wine from Simon Creek Winery up in Door County.

My Day So Far

 

 

 

Out of bed sleepy head.....

 

 Ready to get my exercise on.....

 But first......Coffee!!!

 Start if Off with Start it Up!

 Then a quick bit of cardio on the treadmill...

 Only did 20 minutes today :(

 OOTD

 

White Top-Walmart-old

Olive Jersey Knit Skirt-Hanes- Walmart -old

Dressy Flipflops -Cato- Old

 

We now have two tubs fermenting. The yeast has been added. Now they just sit for a while.....

Inspired By........

So today's outfit is one of those 'Inspired By' type outfits. I read lot of Fashion and Style blogs...the other day I came across this one: Two Birds . The idea is , every week they post an 'inspiration" picture, usually of a celebrity or just another stylish blogger. And on Monday you post your own version of this 'look'. Here was todays Inspiration :

And here is my version....

  Thin cotton top in Navy-I think I got it at Target a good 5 or 6 years ago..I used to wear this top ALL the time. It's comfortable and just loose enough without being too baggy. It goes with a lot of things. VERY versatile . I haven't worn it much this year and not sure why. It is a little thin and not exactly 'see-thru' but a little? Still love it though!

Black Cargo style twill shorts-Walmart last year. I have two others also from Walmart and a few similar shorts from Old Navy and Target. Love them ...super comfy again. Can be dressed up or down.

And then my  Floral shoes.... Again these are pretty old....about 4 or 5 years? They are from Target, part of the Liberty of London line. I wore them all the time when I first got them and quite a bit over the last few years...but I think this is the first time I've worn them this summer. I almost got rid of them even! Not sure why.....they are cute and comfortable!

 So there you have MY version of the Inspiration pic. I think I did a good job. I absolutely LOVED this outfit today...I felt great in it all day. I even felt: Dare I Say It? Slim???? LOL

 

 

In other news I also started my Exercise Program today. I am going to try to make it thru all 6 weeks of Slim in Six by BeachBody.....I've had it for years and have almost finished it a couple of times. Giving it one more shot. I did the Start it Up workout. 25 minutes. It's mostly a 'practice' workout to get you used to the moves in the 'real' workout. But at 25 minutes it's a pretty good workout itself and I was sweating by the end and I  know I will be feeling my muscles tomorrow..so I'm going to stick with it for the rest of the week and then move up to Ramp it Up......

 

This is how I looked today in my workout gear on Day 1.....Believe me, it's a flattering pose...LOL

As you can see I have some lumps and bumps I need to get rid of...I weighed in at 204!! YIKES! Yes 204.....NOT acceptable.

After my Slim in Six workout I decided to do a little more Cardio and walked on the treadmill for almost 40 minutes. It felt good and I could have gone longer, but it was getting close to noon and I had a lot of other things to get done today. I need to get up earlier and workout earlier so I can workout longer.

Not a bad day though. I feel good and looking forward to tomorrow!

OOTD

Today was just going to be a hanging around the house day( we didn't go to church this morning) ...then I had to run to town to pick up a few groceries.




OOTD # 3, originally uploaded by maggiibleu.

Via Flickr:
Jersey Knit Navy Dress-Target(I think) years ago......
Silver Cross Necklace-Shopko-New...
Silver Garnet Earrings-bought years ago online....A silver site where everything was 'free' you just paid shipping...
Rose Gold Cuff-Current Custom-bought online last year...
Turquoise Espadrilles-Can't remember but I've also had these for years...

I've only worn them a few times..not sure why...they are pretty comfortable and I love espadrilles....

Making Wine!

We started our first batch today....oh my this is going to be a LOT of work....you can read more about it over at my new Wine -Making Blog......I'll post short little quips about it all here once in a while but I'll be doing more detailed posting over there.....A Backyard Vineyard.

 Our grape harvest so far.....we used all the Edelweiss and Kay Gray and a small amount of the Frontenac Gris(the dark ones up there)

 Using a potato masher to crush the grapes...tedious work!

The Crushed grapes get placed in this mesh bag, and as they break down even further the juice can seep out and we can remove the bag and be left with just the juice......This was the Primary Fermentation. In about 24 hours we'll start with the next step....

OOTD

OOTD 9/7/2013-Justing hanging around home on a Saturday afternoon....., originally uploaded by maggiibleu.

Via Flickr:
Mustard and Cream striped T-not sure...Target I think, a few years ago..
Gray Skirt-again not sure...Target I think...LOL
Sandals- Target last year or the year before...I've only worn these one other time...need to wear more often.

 Rose Gold Bracelet from Current Custom...it was my reward last year when I lost 10 pounds....the plan was to get a new one for every 10 pounds.....If I manage to get back on the Weight loss Bandwagon again I'll follow thru with that plan...part of me feels I shouldn't wear it anymore since I've gained the weight back....but part of me thinks wearing it will motivate to get back on it!....

 Earring's from Kohl's this past April- They were a Birthday Present to myself. Rose Gold with White and Brown Crystals.....very pretty and have worn them all year....

And finally my Sandals......bought these last year or the year before at Target...Another of those shoved them in my closet and forgot about them things....these are pretty cute and I like them...I could see them replacing the brown ones from yesterday. The only thing is they don't quite seem to fit right...my toes are pushed too far forward....it's not a major issue....and I think with wear the canvas will stretch a little and they'll fit more properly....they aren't uncomfortable or anything ...so I think I just need to get used to them. They ARE pretty cute!

OOTD

Just thought I'd do a quick Outfit of the Day..

My top is Webster Miami from Target a year or two ago. I've worn it quite a bit this summer.  The pants are Converse One-Stars, again from Target. They are a navy cropped cargo and really comfortable. I've had these for a few years and used to wear them ALL the time.  I haven't worn them much this year though. I think I just keep forgetting I have them.

And my Sandals are also Target...Can't remember the brand and everything has worn off by now. I LOVE these sandals and wore them ALL the time last summer and this summer. I think they are on their way out though. You can see where they are fraying at the front...and if you look close you might even notice some beads are starting to go missing. I really wish I could have found another good pair like this. I looked all summer and just didn't find ANYthing I like as much as these.  And Gosh ...I sooooo need a Pedicure!!!LOL

A New Adventure

I just realized there's so much that has happened in this past year that I haven't really shared with all of y'all. One BIG project around here is that CDR decided he would like to start a Winery....YES Seriously!! We have NEVER made Wine before and I haven't got the slightest clue what goes into it all(other than the little bit I've learned from various Winery tours) but CDR has decided it would be a fun endeavor for the two of us and any other family members who'd like to participate, so last year we purchased about 60 grapevines.....6 different varieties....and we planted them on a hill in our backyard....they took off really well last year. We pinched off all the grapes, as you're not supposed to let them go to fruit the first year or two....you want all the energy to go to the plants instead.....but they did so well last year that we decided to take a chance this year and let some of them go to fruit.....So far , so good!

 We've now started to harvest them and we are getting quite a yeild!! So far we've harvested 3 of the varieties...we still have 3 more to harvest. Our first batch we had only about 5lbs.  The second we had about 18lbs. and today's we had 29lbs!!

I think these were Frontenac......

 These we harvested today....they are Kay Grays...

 I think we'll try to harvest the rest tomorrow and CDR plans to start wine-making this weekend. It will take a good year before the wine will be ready...so we wont know for a while if it all turned out okay...LOL Like I said next year we'll allow more of the plants to go to grapes and probably have a much larger harvest. Eventually the plan is to buy more land and really make it a business. IF we enjoy it!..I think we will!