Hi Everyone...MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope you can all bear with me! My 3 day a week job has turned into much more! I have received pictures from Donna, wait til you see what she shared! BEAUTIFUL...if anyone else is going to share, please send your pictures to thedilletanteproprietor@yahoo.com along with a description of what it is you love so much about it or why it is not your favorite spot or room and I will get a post up about it! I am so excited about Donna's,  I can't wait to see everyone else's!

Can you believe Christmas is day after tomorrow? I have worked so many days in a row, it has completely gotten away from me!

Last year, when I moved into this house, we had a little" Charlie Brown"  fake tree...well, this year? I still have it! HEE HEE! When we set it up last year, we had no decorations beyond a few bows and a couple strands of ribbon....we had no money...we did have 3 rolls of curly ribbon...so we spent a couple of hours making bunches of curly ribbon strands, the kind you usually put on presents and were absolutely delighted! We had so much fun making those and putting them on our tree...that this year? We decided to do it again! The ribbons were mostly free since we bought them several years ago and saved them for when we got a home...the memories of how happy it made us? They are priceless! In addition to the ribbons this year, we spent the evening making Gingerbread men...I tried  using red hot candies for buttons and that worked out o.k...but don't use them as eyes! They tend to turn into "Gingerbread Aliens" instead...the one's with red hot eyes creeped my Honey out so much, I had to stick them in the back down on the bottom of the tree...

My living room smells of gingerbread...YUM! I overcooked them a wee bit and they are  ginger bread rock men...so my little guys...Rudy and Louis...

do not even try to eat them! Louis, however...he seems to have a love/hate relationship with the tree...he loves the ribbons...but the tree itself? he has declared war on it...he takes a flying leap... runs up the center... snarling and hissing...my poor little tree was bent all to heck for the first week...now? he only snatches a few curlies and takes off...

You can see the bottom is still lopsided from Louis....had to close the curtains, it was so bright I couldn't get a picture!

Tons of cookies....I love cookies!

It is such a winter wonderland in my back yard...

Rudy...the snow man...

My Honey has snow blowed a path to each pen...

With all the lights out there, it is quite enchanting to walk out to the chickens and ducks at night...and walk along the paths all over the yard...I so miss my garden, though...buried under all that snow....I spent quite a bit of time yesterday pouring over seeds and flowers and dreaming about the improvements I am going to make to my gardens...I was so tired and sore from work that I couldn't get off the couch...it was a really wonderful day....can't wait to share my thoughts with you all about my plans for spring!

May your holidays be inspiring...full of love and the wealth of family and friends...MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I was wondering if anyone was interested in a chicken and duck processing tutorial? It is a sensitive subject to some so I thought I would ask first!

My 3 day a week job has turned into 6 days a week...but it's fun and I will have my bed soon! Hope all of you are staying warm and enjoying all the sparkly lights!

How I got the house....Needs vs. Wants

GOOD MORNING!

 I have a few new followers this week and I want to say WELCOME to our blog! I read the profiles of everyone who chooses to follow us... if they have one...I also check out the blogs that they follow and wow, there are some incredible blogs out there! Thank you for sharing the wealth!

I also got a request to share how I came across a $600.00 house...from Starrwit on Rate My Space...this post is for her...she is also "trapped" renting...and wanting her own dream...

I have one new follower in particular that I would like to mention...her name is Daisy...Her profile is wonderful...Daisy? you sound just like me when I was out there...wanting some dirt and some homegrown food...I wanted it so bad I could taste it! I dreamed about it daily and planned, schemed....I would stick my head out the window of my truck and take a big breath every time I passed an agricultural truck...when I had my ranch in Montana...I was also in the medical field...I was the Training and Orientation Specialist for United Cerebral Palsy and I brought special needs folks to my ranch...the animals did wonders for them..

I miss that place so much but the drought and the way things were in my life...I couldn't stay...I went in search of another place...

The way the economy was going at that time, I thought I had to save some really big bucks to buy a place...and my account was getting rather large!  but it never seemed like enough...There are things I knew I had to have...things I really wanted...things that would be very nice...and things that people told me I JUST HAD TO DO before I could start searching...

We had planned to buy a large acreage in a remote spot and build a cabin...we looked at tons of plans...but the one that stuck out the most to us was a vertical log cabin...it seemed easy for two non builders, well...easier than most structures!  It was the way the early Canadian Settlers built their housing structures as their was not a lot of man power to help with the building and they had to go up quickly...

Dorothy Ainsworth Vertical Log Cabin

Dorothy Ainsworth Inside Vertical Log Cabin

We searched and searched for directions on how put one together...and I finally found some e-books on how to build one...the books were fantastic and for the price...they made it seem very real and very plausible that two do do's with no sense and no skills could actually do it! So, if we got a piece of property with trees on it, we could very well do it cheaply too! And this incredible WOMAN! Built the above vertical house mostly by herself and EVERYTHING in it... even the doors! I would encourage anyone to read her story, she is awesome!
http://www.dorothyainsworth.com/
http://www.alaskacabin.net/

We knew from experience that windows were easy to find cheap and for free and so were doors...we were willing to live without conventional electricity...we put together plans for building solar panels (which are really easy to do!) and which, people are really doing....plans for how to get water...we found a couple that...since the 70's...have been pumping water into tanks to run their house...by using a bicycle to build pressure in two 40 gallon tanks...in their basement... from a shallow well outside...they get water and a 6 minute work out every day! FORGET the gym! LOL! The magazine had the plans and how to do it...it had a filtration system and they shocked their well with bleach so the water was amazing! It is relatively inexpensive to build and cost nothing but a few minutes a day to pump water...right up my alley! They are going this route in Africa to get water to villages as they have no electricity...http://www.off-grid.net/2010/06/09/bike-powered-water-pump/

Bicycle water pump

You have to dig a shallow well...approximately 25ft deep...but we had plans for this too!

This is how the early settlers did it.... and we actually built a motorized one with the help of my Son, Garrett...with a lawn mower motor and scavenged metal pipe for the tripod...a few pulleys and a railroad track section hooked on to a cable as the drive point...it works! and I am thinking of driving a shallow well in my yard for irrigation and to water animals...wash the car...etc...this summer! Our water table is very high here...and from the experience of digging 3ft post holes for fencing, we would not have to go 25ft!  It would save me an enormous amount on my water bill every month...

 We planned all this...and how long it would take and what we wanted to end up with...we bought stuff in our travels, scrounged things and put them in storage...and then...my Honey hurt himself and had to go home and visit the Doc...He went thru a couple months of therapy...while he was there...he realized how homesick he was and how much he wanted off that truck...I wasn't thrilled about living in Michigan...I knew nothing about it...over the course of a couple of weeks...with his cajoling...I finally did some research on it...Hmmmmm....where he was from was beautiful...small...rural...INEXPENSIVE....and they had a right to farm act, even when you lived within city limits! SOLD...
During this time...I ran across an article for homesteaders...it was all about needs vs. wants...that article was the start of whole entirely different perspective for me... I had always had big houses...new cars...large bank accounts....clothes...100 dollar hair cuts...but the only thing I have ever really wanted was to be on a piece of dirt with animals and a garden...I was tired of having to be somewhere at a certain time every day...racing thru my life with the attitude to have more...more...more...and I began asking myself...more what? "Lisa...you have survived living in a 18ft square place for three years...no running water, no bathroom, minimal electricity...food that was substandard..."  for what? Money....that I never seemed to have enough of....so I pared down my wants to almost nothing and started ruminating on my NEEDS....Shelter...food...water...clothing..dirt...animals...seeds...my life became very simple...and very clear...I threw out all the clutter in my head...

We started looking for a place...we could pay cash for a sizable piece of property...or we could settle for something that would fill JUST our needs...and pretty much retire to work that piece of heaven...I, of course, still wanted that enormous tract that could feed any animal or grow large crops...but I became realistic...

While searching on the net for Michigan in September 2009...I came across this site....http://www.tax-sale.info/...it had all the tax foreclosed property coming up for auction in the month of October, by county...I found several houses...they were in town though...well, my Honey, being at home with his injury... went and looked at all of them...some were immense, rambling houses...on little lots...the ground is what I wanted most...and there were a few very small vacant pieces of land...and a couple miniscule, mining houses...they were all in terrible shape...nothing was move in ready..they had been vacant for a long time...people just got up and left...didn't want to deal with the taxes...or the up keep...some were properties given to them that they just didn't care if they had or not...my house was one such house...the man that had it...got up one day...and left...that was it...

My Honey went and looked at it several times...against my outright "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"  and he kept on me...he said "this is the one, Lisa! wait til you see it!" and my response? "I can see the pictures...nuff said"...well, he kept looking at it and he kept on me...and finally...I went to Missouri, turned in my truck and set out for the Upper Peninsula...the auction was in 5 days...I spent the first couple of days touring the town...going to the shops...looking at the Hut...and he was right...I fell in love with it...at that time the city was buying up all the vacant property and demolishing the houses as people were buying them from out of state and letting them fall into disrepair, neglect and the yards were over grown...and then trying to resell them for more money on ebay and such...the city had plans to buy them all and knock them down...they were prepared and determined to buy up every tax auction property to save the city the liability associated with vacant properties...I literally had to fight them not to outbid me...make promises that I was going to live here and that I was a resident...and that I would not leave the house to fall down...and I also had to promise to tear down all the out buildings...as they were considered hazardous...We finally made friends with the city officials...thanks to my Honey prepping the way...he had been showing up in their offices on a daily basis..and went to the auction...there were two bidders for this house...and of course...the city...well, as soon as the other party found they were bidding against the city and what the story was (I told them..in hushed tones...of course...hee hee) they quit bidding...and I got this house for $600.00...flat out....the tax bill for the year of 2009 was $33.90...there are two separate bills...one for summer and one for winter...that was my winter bill...my summer bill? $237.00...I think...I can handle that! LOL! I have since, filled out a Primary Resident Homestead form and submitted it to the county...they will never be able to raise my tax liability as long as I own this house...according to Michigan's " Homestead" laws...my needs, thanks to the Blessed Lord above...were being taken care of left and right...by the time we were able to get home from the auction...it was dark and we decided to go to the Hut first thing in the morning...I opened that door...and the smell was awful...it was raining in all the rooms and there was a river running down the stairs...I went to the car...got a sledge hammer and beat the tar outta the couch that was blocking the path into the kitchen...it was soaking wet...and I pitched it, in pieces,  into the trailer  we had backed up to the front door...so begins the journey of my very first day of living my American Dream...

My Honey was on his way to beg roofing materials from anybody and everybody..the next day, he was on the roof...patching and redoing sections with green, red and  black shingles...seemed everyone had one bundle saved from redoing their roofs...he had also got a roll of rolled roofing to seal the eaves...and it is still holding strong THIS winter! We decided to not redo the roof last summer..we are waiting because we wanted to tear off the siding and build the porch first...with all that was done in the first seven months to this house? It was just too much...over the course of the first month...it was dry finally, we got a free wood stove to put in the basement...scrounged firewood and installed our cookstove...we ran a lamp and power tools off of a borrowed generator and left when it got dark...we got plumbing parts for Christmas and scrounged romex from anyone who would listen and be generous...plug ins, light switches, fixtures...all given to us...or found in "free" boxes on curbs...it was a lot of work and I would do it ten times over again...exactly the same way...the neighbors all walked by...thinking I was another crazy that moved in...but over the course of time...they started stopping and talking...and thanking me...and then? they started contributing...anything they would see that was beautiful or nobody wanted...they would bring in boxes and either give them to me or put them inside my back door...thinking about it brings tears of gratitude to my eyes...especially to Christine...she is a lady....she lives directly diagonal from me...two blocks up...she brought residents that were born in the houses surrounding mine...to give me information...and she brought me beautiful lilies from her church to put in my garden and she also let me have the pick of flowering plants from her garden...her generosity is great and her support is a wonder...and also Aaron and Christel...they snowblowed me out of my driveway every day til I could aquire my own tools...they brought me food and laughter...and a family of my own...support and safety in a community that watched out for us and inquired as to our needs...I am blessed in my little hut...

My needs are small...my wants? LARGE...but I am happy...happier than I have ever been in my life...and basically...according to American standards...I live in poverty...I make do with what I have and what is provided to me and I feel amazingly wealthy...wealthier than 99 percent of America...


So Daisy and Starrwit? if you read this post...and you have a "barnheart"...do it now...don't wait...you can have all your hearts desire with not much of anything...

Every state has these auctions...it is just a matter of finding them...I encourage everyone with a barn heart or a desire to own a home... to look at the link I provided for Michigan...there are no less than 5 houses that sold for less than a thousand dollars...I also encourage anyone with a state of mind like myself or Daisy? to really search their hearts and pinpoint what is the difference between their Needs and their Wants...I can pretty much guarantee, from experience, that once you do? and you throw out the clutter that has become an American standard...you will get everything from it....Simplicity is the key to HAPPY!

So...I've been thinking...

I know..".UH OH"...that is what my Honey says when I say that!  Hee Hee!

I was wondering if any of you would want to show your homes to all of us on here? or maybe if not a whole room...maybe just your favorite nook...I know that when I come down my stairs every morning...my eye is captured on a certain spot...and if you haven't noticed, I seem to keep taking pictures of it over and over again cuz I love it soooo much!  That spot..is this corner of my kitchen..

It might be that because...when I wake up...my only thought is "COFFEEEEEE".......I haven't quite discerned exactly what it is yet... but I love this corner...

I thought it would be wonderful to show all of YOUR favorites rooms or nooks in a post...or maybe a favorite piece of furniture? something you love just because of where you found it? or a loved one gave it to you? or that it just has something you love about it...you can even send what you don't like about something...that would be fun too!


I think for Christmas...since this is a house blog...that maybe...to me, at least...that would be the ultimate in sharing this season...


Please tell me what you think and if you would be willing...o.k. o.k...! I admit...I think about all of you all the time...talk to you in my head...wonder what your responses will be...can't wait for your input or opinions...however off you think I am...but I just love knowing that you all are willing to help me and be candid about what I should do to make my home exciting and beautiful....and I would love to see what your own homes are like and where you sit to read our blog! or cook dinner or share with your family....


If you are willing...I thought you could send a picture to my email  thedilletanteproprietor@yahoo.com with a description and why you love it so much....and we could all share our homes...or pieces of our homes... this month...

I have thought about this for awhile now and if you think I am a nut...it is perfectly fine to say so!

BIG HUGS!
Lisa

Cabinets...to paint or not to paint?

Gun Cabinet

As you all know I have this cabinet...it was my Honey's gun cabinet he made in high school...I have always loved it...just not the gun part or the 1980's finish on it! Well...keeping everything in storage for so long, it got mildew damage on most of it...I bleached it, I washed it...I even sanded it a little trying to get the mildew off. Nothing worked...so I ended up priming it with Kilz Primer trying to stop the damage...and that is how it sat for the better part of a year...

Primered repurposed Gun Cabinet

 I put on my best Honnaaay Hat and begged for repurposing this cabinet...well, being the generous, loving sort my Honey is? He gave it to me to do what I would...
I took it apart and took out the "gun racks"...and put in two shelves from the wood I had taken off the wall upstairs...the planks are fabulous! They are 1/2" thick cedar with beveled tongue and groove. They have remnants of this house on them...paint, paper and knicks...rough on one side, smooth on the other...loads of character!  I was at a loss as to what kind of finish to use to incorporate it into my house...I wanted white but I didn't want everything to be matched...I like the crackle finishes but my patience level is low...I could paint the whole thing bright white, cream...but then we are back to picking paint.....uh uh...that is the worst thing someone could go thru while trying to redo their house! I love the time worn finishes..chipping paint...worn corners...but it is hard to achieve the affects of time and have it look like it is authentic...
In my internet travels, I have saved pictures of various cabinets and display units...I have had this picture for the whole year I have been here:

I just love it...it's old..worn...beautiful! and it suits my aesthetics and my plan for furnishing my English/Cottage style living room...

As I have referenced before...I have a heat gun...they are the most wonderful things! They zip paint, varnish, any kind of finish off anything...they make nice, neat little paint chips to vacuum up or sweep into a bag...and they also burn your fingers...:) I am a testament to that...you really have to pay attention to what you are doing...Anyways...I decided to go with the above cabinet...it has everything...wood...white...old...worn...character!

Shabby Chic paint job

And this is what I ended up doing...taking the paint off...

repurposed weathered wood cabinet

White shabby cabinet

reused weathered cabinet

I am going to ask Santa for a palm sander...so I can finish sanding it down to bare wood with only flecks of white like my inspiration cabinet....my poor lil arms are tuckered out! I also think it needs a beadboard backing or a color inside?  My Honey LOVES it...


http://www.countryliving.com/homes/makeovers/room-makeovers-vote 

Free, recycled...repurposed....

I was asking the Honey how much it snowed last night...he was in a panic to snow blow the drive way...he is home today as he smashed his whole hand with a 3lb sledge hammer yesterday and had to go to the hospital for x-rays...I really thought he broke his wrist because it was swollen to the size of one of his shoes...they are very large shoes...it wasn't broke, thank goodness, but it was purple and like I said...large....

I was arguing with him about his need to run a piece of equipment that required two hands...as he only had one..and he felt the need to say..."I still have two hands..."  AAAAAH! I used the tactic I always use when he argues...I feed him...then he gets all sleepy and TA DAH...Nap time....

So...anyways...I kept thinking about snow....why did he think we got so much snow and went to look out the front window....and I saw this...

My new...SNOW METER....yep, I am thinking that is the best use for the bird house I have ever had and obviously the previous owner didn't appreciate the value of it either...as it was in the dumpster....I would say we got about 9 inches last night....better go scoop out the mail box so the mail man does not have to trudge thru it....

Rugs...they are EXPENSIVE!

Well, lately I have been researching rugs...I want one so bad for my living room...one of the big piles on the curb last summer...had a rug...an old, nasty, orange...yucky, filthy...stiff...I don't think there are enough icky words to describe this rug I found on the curb....my friend that was with me? she looked at me like I had two heads when I grabbed it...."YOU REALLY DON'T WANT THAT, DO YOU?" The longest UUUUUUGGGGHHHH came out of her...and she is a little lady...the UUUUUGGGHHH was way bigger than her whole body! And...it made me put the rug back in shame....think twice...well...I thought about that icky rug all day....something said GO...GET...THE...RUG....so I waited til dusk, slunk back there... and snatched it....really fast...so no one would see me....I took it home...holding it with two fingers...stood there holding it with two fingers so it wouldn't touch anything...filled up the washing machine with bleach, soap...more bleach...and stuffed it in there...that rug...was a 1950's Mamie Pink Bathroom Rug...and it matches my bathroom...to perfection! The little lady with the gigantic UGH? has since asked me where I got it...my face turned as pink as that rug when I told her...she laughed at me...but I am so glad I went back and at least tried to salvage it...it looks darker in the picture than it is...but it is in great shape!

But a living room rug? It has to be large....and it has to have the right colors....and to me? it has to be round....and they are between 600 and 1800 dollars for a real braided rug...I can't bring myself to buy a plastic one from the chain stores...and I can't bring myself to work outside my house long enough to save for a rug...a 700 dollar mattress? yes...rug...no....priorities...

So what does one retired...back to the land...semi granola tight wad do to get a rug?  She gets on computer and researches a way to MAKE ONE! YAAAY hand made!  and she searches thru her treasures and multiple boxes of saved "I will never use this"... stuff.....

Now...last year I delved into little rugs...rag ones... and I found out how to make a toothbrush rug out of scraps... and I made the tool required... out of a hanger and duct tape.....I made it out of old sheets I found in this house...there was only one problem...I have never crocheted or knitted much..my stitches are uneven and I still have no idea how to "increase" at the corners so the rug lays flat...somehow, somewhere...you have to put extra stitches in to make the rug lay flat....well...my cute toothbrush rug made an awesome....sombrero...with plenty of air circulation holes...

This is what they should look like....

and they will with lot's of practice...and knowledge...about increasing...I am still going to redo my sombrero into a rag rug...some day...

So...after more research...I turned to a different technique...one that was more my style...one that did not require a whole lot of....patience...or learning new concepts...my brain just cannot...at this point...accept the information on increasing...but I know how to braid...I have a little (well...big now..) girl! With hair...that always looked like she had rolled around on the forest floor for weeks at a time...so braiding was a way to deal with her and her hair!

Hmmmm...what to make a sturdy braid rug out of that is, of course...inexpensive...(I am trying to delete the word cheap from my vocabulary...it just sounds, well, cheap...haha)

I actually didn't have to think long...lot's of material...it's going to take lot's! Ummm...sturdy...absorbent...soft...neutral....thick...and of course...inexpensive.....Painters DROP CLOTHS!
I went to the hardware store and picked one out...9x12...it was different than my curtains as it was ivory colored but it had a grid in it...the grid being the same color as my curtains! and one table cloth that I have been keeping forever cuz it's purdy....and it has the prettiest red in it!

 I worked on the table cloth first...I ended up with a few jagged strips before my Honey went and got me a pair of pinking shears....and a pair of real scissors! I now have REAL scissors! I promise not to cut wire or straw bale twine with them...I promise not to use them to pry open pain cans...and so on and so forth...

Pinking shears are a wonder...they make it so that your material does not fray when you cut it! but I found that I liked the fray...it gave the braids a lot of texture..and it looked antique! I folded all the strips over to make 1" strips and ironed them, then sewed them closed...besides not liking having to make sure my toothbrush rug strips were all right side up...the little strings drove me crazy!   I ended up with strips that had a nice neat fringe...all right sides showing... to braid together...This was the center medallion for my red accented living room rug...

These are basically what I am after...they are both hand made....and I love the way they look!

I wanted to use the table cloth because...remember all the comments on my living room post? My want to use that red lady picture as inspiration and also the English cottage look I was after?  Using the browns and golds and warm colors with all the white was suggested! this cloth has all those things! but they are muted and it looks so vintage!
I tried sewing it together at first...my fingers were raw and bleeding by the end and remember the Barbie clothes we made in first grade? The back side of my rug looked like those Barbie clothes...the Amish would have seriously kicked me out of the colony if they saw the way this was put together!  So more research...you can get a blunt end needle to "lace" them together...I used my toothbrush tool and upholstery thread.

Just to make sure I had no "sombrero" effect? I ironed the crap outta the braids...they are all flat and they lay FLAT! So to date...I work on it a little at a time...here is my first attempt at braided rugdom...

I am going to make this rug approximately 8ft round....and I am also going to add different material to the braids...more than likely? My curtains are going to be a rug because I really, really want Toile or a pattern material for the curtains....but I might just keep them and add some accent material to them...whatever is left over? I am adding to this rug...it won't be BLAM in your face matchy matchy? but it will have tidbits that match!

Sorry the picture is so dark!

So that is what I am up to at the moment...Whadya think?

THANK YOU!

I had a succession of posts planned out and most drafted...BUT my internet service, as always was inadequate...soooo...I went cable...it was a hard decision for me...being the tight wad that I am....but my tight fist...opened slowly...and I called the thieves...I NOW HAVE DIGITAL INTERNET! and my service is constant....YAAAY! 

A hulking brute came thru my tiny house...drilled a hole in my 100 year old molding and stuck modern technology right thru it! I have to admit...that hurt...but I am getting over it...

I also wanted to say...THANK YOU for being loyal to me...when I planned this blog I knew what some of the problems would be with accessing it all of the time as I had my wireless service for awhile...I planned this blog so that if anything happened and I had to fork over more money for service or have any other problems....that this blog would be able to help defray the costs...and it is...I put Google ads on here not hoping for much but hoping that it would help if those things happened...

Thanks to you...our blog is up and running...the ads you all have so generously tolerated are generating an average of 16.00 dollars a month and I will be using it to pay for the new service...I thought you all should know that because this is OUR blog and I feel accountable to ALL of you...

SOOOOOO! Thank you! and I hope you all know how much I appreciate you and am grateful for your comments, ideas, thoughts and that you all read it!

GREAT BIG HUGS FOR ALL OF YOU!

Thanksgiving

I was sitting today...lamenting that it is almost 13 months since I have been here...Thanksgiving is tomorrow...and I STILL don't have this done...or that....or that...or....so I decided it was time for a reality check...I went back over the pictures of this house....mostly looking for inspiration...and to reminisce...to get my buns moving into doing SOMETHING!

But...I started feeling a little shamed....looking at my pictures...and I started thinking..."self...you are a paradox"...Ungrateful on the eve of giving thanks....for all you have...I have utterly worn out my Muffins...all my pictures are of them working...or sleeping...because that is what I asked of them....Nothing like a little humility to show you the way to a change of attitude!

My Muffins...my boys..my loves...

My beautiful Grand Babies...

I was sitting here utterly thankless for what I have...I needed to change my view of things....

Same views...different attitude...

From Ungrateful....to the true spirit of Thanksgiving...A picture paints a thousand words...and these? paint THOUSANDS upon thousands....Thankful? ABSOLUTELY...