A new, fresh year in store for me!

Today is a new year.  Today starts a fresh, new start to begin anew and reevaluate all the goals and plans for the coming months.

I’m excited about today and this entire year.  This year is my ‘moment of truth’.  In my lifetime, I’ve ran many of my own businesses and worked for myself most of my lifetime.  I managed to make ends meet, but something has always come up that I had to end my business.   It is said that a millionaire will fail 13 times before succeeding into the million dollar business.  I feel that it is my turn and my 13 times are behind me now.  I’m ready — not to become a millionaire, but to become and DO what makes me happy in my life.  That in itself is success.  I want to be able to sustain my income and lifestyle doing what brings a smile to my face each morning when I willingly jump out of bed to start the day.  Right now, that is farming!

Today begins my journey toward farming as a living, not as a hobby.  I will take each day to prepare for the upcoming spring gardens and to build the necessary coops for the chickens, turkey’s and other farm animals.

My goal is to produce eating eggs and deliver them to my customers.  (move over milkman, here comes the egg lady!).  As produce from the garden and orchards are ready to harvest, the delivery service will be able to offer other items, along with the eggs, throughout the year.

My farm offers my customers a chance to see where their food comes from.  They will be welcome to come and pull weeds, gather eggs, feed the animals and the compost bin (shoveling poop)!  They can pick their own produce and get a good feel of the hard work and satisfying feeling it is to know your own food. 

Customers will also have a chance to give back to the farm by recycling table scraps to feed the chickens and pig.  Egg cartons are recycled here, too, which keeps them out of the landfill.

Life is simple on the farm, yet hard.  It gets back to the putting dirt between your fingers while planting your own food.  There is a lot to always learn on the farm and education continues to bring more and more success learning as we go.

If you are interested in becoming part of the farm and finding out where your food comes from… KNOWING where your food comes from, drop me an email and feel free to leave a comment.  I will put you on our waiting list for eggs and produce.  This will not be a CSA this year because I’m not ready to conquer the drought,  floods, deer and whatever else that mother nature has ready to pounce on the garden.  As I grow, a CSA may be more likely once irrigation systems and other projects are completed.  Until then, I will grow slowly and build a reputation for high quality food for my customers.

Along with food, the farm will offer a chance for you to raise your own backyard chickens.  We hatch and sell chicks, or sell hatching eggs so YOU can hatch your own chicks.

Keep up with our farm and join us!  I love all the support and encouragement to keep it moving forward throughout the year!

 

 

Tips for attending a poultry auction

I go to a lot of animal auctions. I really enjoy them and eventually build relationships with the staff and owners of the auction house. My foot keeps time with the voice of the auctioneer and my eyes keep a sharp watch on what’s up for bid and how much it goes for. There’s always the burst of excitement when a chicken flies out of the hands of the floor man and straight into the audience or when when a dove or guinea escapes and the entire audience and staff are diving and chasing it, until it gives up and allows someone to grab it!

There’s a few things I’ve learned about animal auctions. Each one is different in some ways, but basically they are the same.

When you arrive at an auction, you’ll want to find the desk where you can get your auction number. They usually want to see your license and copy it before giving you a number. After you’ve gotten your number (usually on a piece of card stock paper), find a seat where you can see well and ‘hold’ that seat with a jacket or other non-valuable object (surely not your new number or your wallet)!

Some auctions allow you to view the merchandise before the show starts. That gives you a chance to see what you want to bid on. I use the back of my number card to jot down the number on the boxes I see that interest me. Each box or item has a number on it. Some auctions don’t, but they may have the number of the seller on it. Then, you jot that down and wait until that sellers number comes up and you’ll have an idea that your item is soon to be displayed.

Find your seat again and get ready for the fun! The auctioneer is fast paced and the boxes move through quickly. Some auctions take the animal out of the box and holds it up for all to see and others just hold up the box with the number on it. The auctioneer will do his/her best to describe the animal or item. When a box comes up that you wish to buy, you can start the bid by holding up the number of fingers you wish to begin the bid with (ex. one finger- NOT the middle one- for $1.00). Many bidders will continue the same motion to stay in the bid. Some raise their hand, other nod or move their fingers continuously until the price reaches more than they are willing to pay. It’s fun to watch the audience and see who and how the bids are placed. It’s also fun to watch the bidder when the item has went over the amount they have chosen to decline. It is usually one shake of the head to the side or lowering the eyes to no longer make contact. Some just stare ahead without making any emotion until the floor person ignores them.

At every poultry auction I have been to, there is a rule called, one times your money. That means, if there are three chickens in the box and your bid was $4.00. You will pay $12.00 for that box because it is $4.00 per bird. That can run your budget up quicker than you realize if you forget how many birds are in the box. I’ve watched at nearly every auction, people that come up to pay and didn’t realize that they were buying 20 chicks at $2.00 each and couldn’t pay for them. Each auction I go to, they explain this at the beginning, but it always happens that someone didn’t ‘get it’. Once you bid on an item, it is yours. You are expected to pay for it.

I had someone today ask me if they had to buy the chickens at the auction if they got them and they were sick. The answer is yes, because you had the chance to look at them before the auction and if you didn’t, that would have been your fault for bidding on them. You bid, you buy and take them home; end of story. I guess there are always exceptions, but that is the general idea. I’ve bought many boxes of chickens that I wished I had not when I got them home and saw how sick they really were.

A word of caution from my experience is to watch what you bring home. It is so easy to bring home one sick animal that infects the rest of your farm or animals. Be sure to quarantine your new purchase until you are sure it is healthy. Some illnesses are air borne which makes quarantine even hard to handle, since taking care of the animal may spread on your clothing or shoes.

Another thought about the auctions is that seasons and times of year changes the prices drastically on animals. As expected, turkeys bring in a big price during Thanksgiving and chickens sell best during spring. Fall and winter is a hard time to make any profit on your poultry. Rabbits sell well at Easter time, but the rest of the year, will not go as high. If you are a careful buyer, learn the off season and you can buy animals cheaper than you could raise them and feed them. (again, watch the health of the animal).

When you are out of money or just finished buying, you can stop at anytime and turn in your number to the same window/space that you got it. They will tally up your order and give you a receipt of your purchases. Some auctions charge a buyers fee (10% or so) of everything you buy, so be sure to look for that or ask about that before you budget your spending. Some auctions only take cash and others will allow debit/credit. Find out before you go up to pay.

It’s also easy to be a seller. The process is nearly the same as far as getting a seller number (usually the same place you get your buyers number). Most auctions (if not all) charge a sellers fee, which is around 20% at the auctions I attend. When you are ready to leave and your items have sold, you can tally up at the desk. The staff will either hand you a check or just give you the difference of the money you made and spent, all with receipts, of course.

At most auctions, you will take your receipts to the person holding the animals, and he/she will collect your purchases and check them off your list (or you check them off to make sure you got all of them). Usually, this is the fun part for me, because I had forgotten exactly what all I had bought! Then comes the part of trying to figure out how to fit them all in the back of the truck!

Lastly, take your purchases home and remember to quarantine. I can’t stress that enough. You may not see any immediate signs of illness but give it a few days and the stress of the auction and trip of the animal might show up as a cold or illness that is contagious. Some chickens carry illnesses for life and stress will bring it out. You’ll want to know about that BEFORE you introduce them to your own flock.

Enjoy the auction and feel free to leave comments about your experiences!

Chickens “101″

This is for the newbie, the person that just discovered the beauty in a baby chick and that ‘gotta have one’ mood hit them upside their heart like a freight train. I’m composing all the tips and things I have learned together to help you successfully raise that chick to a laying hen or an alarm clock that makes you smile when you hear it, instead of wanting to slap it!

Think ahead carefully! This baby chick will (hopefully) grow up! Where will it live and thrive at your house? Can you have chicken sounds coming from your backyard that won’t irritate the neighbors? Hens are NOT quiet, especially during laying and when ticked off that someone or something is chasing them. They are loud when they they are startled, such as a police siren or a helicopter may be hovering a little too low. Chickens aren’t silent pets like a fish, so take the sound effect seriously before falling in love with that fluffy baby chick. As stated earlier, chicks grow up and need space. The happiest chickens need a ‘free range’ area with grass to scratch up bugs and pieces of food. They need somewhere dry and would like a roost to fly up in at night. Adult chickens can handle hot and cold days, but help from you with blocking wind and offering a draft free coop will make your chicken much happier. My best advice; plan out a home for an adult chicken before buying baby chicks. They grow faster than you will build that coop ‘one day’. One day will come and the chick is now a rooster or hen.

Also, considering the fact of the noise level for an adult, consider what you will do with a rooster. Most chicks are ‘straight run,’ which means that they are not sexed. It can be difficult to sex some breeds of chicks and I would dare say that there is never a 100% guarantee that you will not end up with a rooster. Consider if you will be able to keep a crowing rooster at your home or will you be able to find a new home for your rooster. (Also think ahead to what will happen if you ‘fall in love’ with your chicks and later find out one is a rooster. What will you do? Can you keep him? Can you see yourself parting with your rooster if you have to do so?

Ok, so you have a place in mind for your new members of the family. You’ve come to me to buy chicks (or not) and decide you want to raise a chicken. The first thing I’m going to suggest, is to make sure it has a friend. Chickens are social and do not like being alone.

I’m also going to suggest that you buy more than you want. Technically, half of your choice will become roosters, unless you have been told that they are sexed, which I wouldn’t trust 100% unless you are buying sex-link chicks. Secondly, chicks can die for whatever reason you can imagine.

I’ve had chicks drown in the water, get crushed by the others, get hung by its toenail on the tiniest piece of wire. If there is a way to die, some will figure it out!

Speaking of water, keep the water dish shallow or your chicks will either drown or get so wet that they can’t keep warm. Always keep fresh water available. You can buy a water-er at the farm store that screws into a mason jar, which helps supply water for longer periods. The lip at the bottom is still deep enough to drown in. I place pebbles or marbles in the bottom when they are new born to avoid getting too wet. There is no need to force them or ‘show’ them where the water is by pushing their face down in it. They are the curious of creatures and will have it figured out in a few moments. Once one figures it out, the rest will come to see what the excitement is and follow her lead.

Heat is very important for a baby chick. A newborn should have access to 99.5% temperature. You can accomplish this with a reading lamp that bends down into the brooder box or buy a heat lamp at the farm store. Nearly every Wal-mart sells them, also. Make sure you have room for the chicks to go away from the heat, as well. They are smart enough to know what they need and they’ll find a happy medium between the heat and the space around them to rest.

Bunched up chicks making loud chirping sounds (and it can be loud), means, “I’m freezing in here. We need HEAT!”.
Chicks running around, eating and drinking and spread apart, are happy chicks. Chicks DO like to rest on one another. You may see their chins resting on the back of another or they may be nestled up under the wing of another. They seem to find comfort in snuggling.

The ideal heat is to ease off 5 degrees per week. This builds the chicks adjustment to going outside one day, as he begins the process of feathering out. A chick can usually go outside once it is feathered out, with feathers- not fluff, on it’s back and wings. Of course, that depends on if it is the middle of summer or winter in your area.

I will mention, your dog and/or you cat is NOT going to be the angel you think they are. At least, make them earn their wings before you trust him or her to your new flock. I have heard so many stories of people that come to buy chicks and tell me that there dog/cat would NEVER harm another creature. It will become ‘friend’s’ with it. In about a week, they are calling me to buy more chicks. Folks, trust me on this one…Make your dog/cat earn the right to be ‘friends’ with your chicks or you may see nothing more than feathers sticking out of the mouth of your angel.

A baby chick really needs one type of feed. It is called ‘Start and Gro”. You can get it medicated or not. That is a personal choice, depending on what you intend to do with your chickens. You can also buy electrolytes for your chicks to put in the water. I wouldn’t use it every time, but for the first few days, it may be a good idea, ESPECIALLY, if they had a stressful ride, getting to your home. If they were shipped by air, mail or even a drive in a hot car, it will give them a boost to help them de-stress.

Stress is another thing worth mentioning. If you think humans have a stressful life, think again! Everything likes to eat a chicken! Chickens can get too hot/cold, hungry/thirsty, wet/humid, spooked over anything, mites, illness, get their head stuck in a small hole, get an egg stuck in their vent… the list goes on and on. Chickens can NOT handle stress well. Stress leads to illness, so that being said, the less stress your chickens have to deal with, the healthier they will be AND the more eggs they will lay. I have one hen that will never lay when it thunders! That’s not stress I can keep her from, but I can keep the dog from trying to chase her around and around her pen. Do what you can to make your chickens, happy and they will repay you.

Baby chicks are a magnet for children. It is great to expose your children to chicks at young ages, but remember that the chick is fragile. Most children squeeze too hard for a chick or a sudden move from a chick and the child drops it. Either case, is probably the end of the chick. Baby chicks do not need to be handled much and will become lethargic if they are. (especially squeeze or dropped). It is best to watch for a few days, and begin slowly introducing chick to child. It is a wonderful thing to expose your chick to your children and your family, because the chicken will love seeing you and respond to you with attention. Most will sit on your lap or let you ‘pet’ them, if they are used to be handled. Just be careful as baby chicks, because ‘less is good’ at that age.

Vaccinations are another option to your chicks. I will save that for another blog, because it is such a controversial topic.

My last tip for this blog is the brooder box that you raise your baby chicks in. Through experience, I have found that rounded edge box works best. It avoids your chicks from pushing one in the corner and suffocating it. Never use a box with a slick bottom or it will cause them to do the splits and they may not recover from that, ever. Your chick will have one leg out to the side and hobble around until it dies. I do use storage bins a lot, and put pine shavings in the bottom. I would not suggest cedar shavings. I think that may harm or kill your chicks. Pine works for me and it is easy and cheap to buy. Replace poop shavings as needed. I find that feed that gets wet smells much worse than poop. Flies are wildly attracted to wet feed and soon you have maggots if you don’t keep it cleaned. Unfortunately, your chicks aren’t into ‘bugs’ yet, so you have to clean them out for them. A brooder with a wire bottom works best for keeping your chicks clean. Just change the tray often to avoid smell and bugs.

I will be posting blogs about different breeds of chickens and my experience raising them soon.

If you know of any more tips or ideas for someone just starting out, please feel free to post comments here!

I’m wishing each of you that are interested in your own chickens, success and feel free to comment any questions I may have missed. I don’t know all the answers, but I will try my best to find out! I don’t claim to be a pro, but I have been raising chicks long enough to learn the hard way!

I have a farm page on facebook, if you would like to check it out, like or join. I’d love for you to ‘follow me’ through my farm experiences.
My farm page is:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Harvest-to-Home-Locally-grown-foods/410447969256?ref=mf

Ameraucana Chickens

If you are searching for pure Ameraucana chickens, they  can be the most confusing breed of chicken in the United States. That’s the way it seems to me, anyway.  I raise a lot of different breed of chickens and have avoided the Ameraucana, because I know there are so many versions of ‘Araucana’, Easter Eggers’ and just mixed breed’s of  Ameraucana. 

To add to the confusion, there are Bantam Ameraucana and Large Fowl Ameraucana.  They come in black, blue, blue-wheaten, brown-red, buff, silver, wheaten and white.

I also found it very difficult to tell the roosters from the hens.  So, I’m producing this blog as and educational ‘show and tell’ report of my research.  I’m hoping this will help others that strive to find pure bred chickens.  The Ameraucanas are beautiful birds and lay blue eggs.  The ones that I have raised seem to be fairly human friendly and even will jump up and sit on my lap, when I come to visit.

The Standard of the Ameraucana Male is:

AMERAUCANA SHAPE (Large Fowl & Bantam Males)

 

COMB:  Pea.

BEAK:  Curved.

FACE:  Nearly hidden by muffs.

EYES:  Expressive.

WATTLES:  Small, preferably absent.

EARLOBES:  Small.

MUFFS AND BEARD:  Full, well-rounded, medium length.

HEAD:  Medium size.

NECK:  Well-arched.

HACKLE:  Full.

BACK:  Medium length.

SADDLE:  Medium in length.

TAIL:  Well spread, medium length, carried at 45º above horizontal.

WINGS:  Fairly large, tips carried above the hock joint.

BREAST:  Prominent.

BODY AND STEARN:  Body of medium length, stern well-tucked up.

LEGS AND TOES:  Medium length set apart, four toes.  The legs are blue slate in color.

The Ameraucana Female:

AMERAUCANA SHAPE (Large Fowl & Bantam Females)

 

COMB:  Pea.
BEAK:  Curved.

FACE:  Nearly hidden by muffs.

EYES:  Expressive.

WATTLES:  Small, preferably absent.

EARLOBES:  Small.

MUFFS AND BEARD:  Full, well-rounded, medium length.

HEAD:  Medium size.

NECK:  Medium length.

HACKLE:  Full.

BACK:  Medium length.

CUSHION:  Moderate.

TAIL:  Medium length, well spread, carried at 40º angle above horizontal.

WINGS:  Fairly prominent, carried above the hock joint.

BREAST:  Full.

BODY AND STEARN:  Full but trim, fluff well-tucked up.
LEGS AND TOES:  Medium length, four toes.  The legs are blue slate in color.

*information from The Ameraucana Breeding Club

To keep a long story short, the Ameraucana breed is the newest recognized breed added to the APA/ABA Standard Breed.  This began after many attempts to standardize the Araucana breed without success.   In 1979, the Ameraucana’s began.

If you are looking for a reputable breeder in your area, here is the ‘Ameraucana Breeder Club’ Directory.  You can look for the color and size that you are wanting and find someone in your area to seek out.

http://www.ameraucana.org/DnLd/BreedersDirectory.pdf

Ameraucanas are good back yard chickens.  They are fairly docile and friendly.  They fare well in coops and free ranging, as well.  The chickens can handle the winter days just fine and do as well in the summer.

The Ameraucana hens lay blue eggs and (on average) about 3 eggs per week.  This, of course, doesn’t count during molt and short days.  The hens are not a broody bunch, so you may have to find a broody hen or an incubator to reproduce more chicks.

If you raise Ameraucana’s and have some information or comments you would like to share, please feel free to leave a comment.

 

Is there a Dentist in the house?!

Calling a Dentist in Dallas!

Or someone to may sponsor dental work

Here is Karen’s story (not real name). She tells her story so well, I’m going to let her use her own words to share her story with you.

My husband and I are young couple of 24, which we recently got married, moved from Los Angeles to Dallas, and started Dallas seminary all within the last year and a half. For a while, I was working as a licensed hair stylist to help support our family while my husband attends grad school full-time, but once we got pregnant that all changed. I happened to be one of those women in the 2% that have severe illness during the first four months of pregnancy. So needless to say, I was unable to work completely and was on bed rest for 3 of those 4 months due to the amount of medication I had to stay on in order to eat or drink anything. So my husband was pulling quadruple duty taking care of me, the house, school, work to keep an income in our home.

Since then, my symptoms have eased up to where I am not constantly sick, but at the same time, still not consistently well enough to go out and get a job. So being a self-employed cosmetologist, I do what I can every now and then to add a little income so we can pay our bills. My husband is a musician at two churches, so we are both self employed workers that do not receive any insurance. He makes just enough to pay rent, some groceries, gas, and some utilities. And we both have cars that are more than ten years old that are in constant need of repair, an expense which does not fit in our budget. So in order to make sure the baby would be cared for, we got Medicaid to cover the pregnancy and so that I could receive decent medical care in a clinic. We cannot afford insurance for ourselves, and I have had serious dental needs for a while. Before we were married, my parents insurance covered some of my dental needs, but we never got to finish all the work, and so now my teeth are going downhill again, which I hear can affect my overall health, and that concerns me. I am searching for a Dentist that will help me fix my teeth or someone who will offer to pay all/part of some work directly to a Dentist that I can see.  In return, I can offer some services.

Like I said before, I am a licensed cosmetologist, skilled in hair care, nail care, and make up. I do not necessarily have all the tools and equipment that a shop has or the mobility and capability that I had before pregnancy, but this is definitely a skill set that I can use to help someone else. Or if there is anything else, for that matter that can give or know of that someone else can be helped by, I would like to help in whatever way I can.

If you are a Dentist in the Dallas, TX area or someone that understands the importance of healthy teeth and want to send payment to a Dentist she can see, please comment or leave an email for me.  This couple is working hard in ministry life and Karen is willing to serve others in need.

Little Zackary’s wish will cost you less than a dollar! Great way for your children to give!

Zackary’s story (real name)

 

Seven year old Zackary would like one thing to brighten his day!  He would like to get something in the mail from someone.  So, for the cost of a stamp, you can help brighten this little boy’s day. 

Zackary and his family were escorted back in January to Disney World, compliments of Make a Wish Foundation.  You see, Zackary has a life threatening disease called Neurofibromatosis. (NF2)  This disease generally causes tumors on nerves in every part of the body and makes him suffer from neural tissue damage.  Zackary currently has over 60 tumors.

 Here is a little information about Neurofibromatosis:(http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1112001-overview)

 

            Neurofibromatosis is an autosomal dominant disorder that affects the bone, the nervous system, soft tissue, and the skin. At least 8 different clinical phenotypes of neurofibromatosis have been identified and are linked to at least 2 genetic disorders. Clinical manifestations increase over time. Neurologic problems and malignancy development may supervene.

 

1. http://www.neurologychannel.com/neurofibromatosis/index.shtml  

            Type 2neurofibromatosis results from mutation (or rarely, deletion) of the NF2 gene and is transmitted on chromosome 22. In this type, tumors form in the nervous system, usually within the skull (intracranial tumors) and spinal canal (intraspinal tumors). Tumors on the eighth cranial nerve (vestibulocochlear nerve), which are sometimes referred to as acoustic neuromas, are most common. This type causes hearing loss and loss of sense of balance (equilibrium), usually during the late teens or early 20s. These tumors may become cancerous.

Zackary lives with his dad & mom.  He has a brother and two sisters.  Mom is Zackary’s primary caregiver and says that Zackary loves getting mail.  Her wish is that people will shower him with love by sending him a card.   

   

One thing about Zackary that I have learned is that he, EVEN with the NF2 he is a giver.  He is a part of his church group called “Royal Ambassadors” and was part of the group that raised over $5,000 for “heat from the heart” where they donated the money to make sure people had heat over the winter. 

If you REALLY want to make Zackary smile, make sure your card has Buzz Lightyear on it! That was his favorite character at Disney! 

Leave a comment or email me and I’ll happily send their address to mail your card.  My 5 year old is making his card for Zackary tomorrow and sending it in the mail.  What a great way to allow your children to do something wonderful for another child!  It’s so simple, cost VERY little and yet, will do so much for this little boy! 

Hey Moms…Patsy is the primary care giver for Zackary AND his dad.  Both have NF2.  I can not know the energy and time it takes to balance the entire family’s needs, wants and wishes each day.  Why not drop a card in the mail to support her, as well.  I’m sure she could use a smile, also! 

To see the article written about this family going with the Make a Wish Foundation to Disney, click here:

http://www.thetimesnews.com/articles/zackary-22054-scott-wish.html

Brenda’s Story & Needs

Brenda’s Story (not her real name)

 Brenda’s life is busy.   She has 4 children!  If that didn’t make life busy enough, all four children have disabilities and require her constant attention.  Brenda also is a full time student (on line) to learn medical coding and get a billing degree so she can continue to work from home. 

Her oldest is 8 and is so excited to learn to read!  She has overcome many disabilities such as being born with hip dysphasia and a lazy eye.  She was in a body cast for the first 6 months of her life.  Since, she’s had three eye surgeries, has tubes and hearing aids in her ears.

 The 7 year old has been in the family a year, today.  She has a speech disability and is getting help.  Her mother says she is a wonderful, happy child now that she is in a safe home… 

 The 6 year old is all boy!  He also has learned to read.  He has asthma and needs open communication from his doctors to make sure he stays healthy.

 Last, but certainly not least, is the 5 year old.  He has a development issues and stays in contact with medical services for everything that can help him grow up healthy.   

 Life took a harsh turn when her fiancée was laid off from work 6 months ago.  He is out looking for work everyday, but has yet been able to find anything.  He’s never been able to receive any unemployment compensation which has put a huge strain on the family.  He is an electrician by trade.  He’s also talented in fixing computers and cars.  He is able to accept work in Clayton, Smithfield , Garner, and Raleigh, Cary  NC or surrounding areas.  He will be happy to accept p/t, one time/side work or full time work.  You can leave a comment if you have some work or know someone that does. 

 With the hardship of a lost job, Brenda and her fiancée have been trying to sell everything they can on craigslist and has already pawned everything possible to make sure the children were provided for during this crunch time.

 Money has become scarce and Brenda can’t keep up with the month to month bills, such as the phone bill.  She says, “We don’t go anywhere that we don’t need to so we can conserve money and are at the point children are in need.”

 It’s not a luxury for Brenda to keep a phone due to her children’s medical condition.  It’s a dire need to keep in touch with the children’s doctors.  This is the most important line of communication for Brenda and the children’s doctors.  The phone may be cut off tomorrow.  The total bill (including the past months not paid) is $277.26.  She has a cell phone (pre-paid) and a home phone.  This covers both phones which are about to be turned off.  The home phone covers her Internet Service that she needs to keep on for class. 

 If you feel that you can help with the phone bill (or even donate a part of it), leave a comment or email me.  I will find out the account # and the money will go directly to the phone companies. 

 The family also needs gas cards to get back and forth to the doctors.  If you are interested in donating a gas card, email me or comment.  I will give you an address to get it to the family.  I personally will make sure they get the cards.  I will also encourage the family to comment as they receive anything from this blog, so that the giver KNOWS the gift was received. 

 Hopefully, this family can find relief with a job!  That is the long term answer to securing this family’s financial situation.  If you know a place hiring that needs Brenda’s fiancée’s talents, please feel free to leave a comment or get in touch with me. 

Together, we can make a difference.  If everyone pitched in a small amount of money, we’d be able to help this family catch up on the phone bill, have some gas to put in their vehicle and even better, maybe someone out there is looking for a man with the fiancees talents and offer him a full time position.

Time to focus!

It’s time to get back to the focus of this blog… Inspired by another!  My goal with this blog site is to help others and inspire others and I will start with that with new stories about people. 

Some of these people are struggling and need help in some way.  I will tell their stories and send out their needs to my readers.  If you are a person who wants to help another – inspire another-  and you find a chance to help someone on my site, please comment and let me know or email me.  I will figure out the correct way to get that help to the person in need. 

Maybe you are asking… What are YOU getting out of this?  Right now, nothing (financially).  One day, I would like to figure out how to feed my own family and continue to help people as a full time job.  Right now, it’s a ‘hobby’  that feeds my soul.  I feel fruitful and like my life counts for something more than just driving back and forth to a job.  There is so much more that we can do and I want to be a part of the giving!  A go-giver, so to speak.

There are a few rules to the people who ask for help or want me to write their story. 

• The person I’m writing about can tell about their hardship and needs.
• They need to tell what they are doing to help themselves.
• They need to give back/forward in any way they can to help someone else and commit to helping another. I know for a fact that no one is so bad off that they can’t share a talent or something they have to help out someone else.
• Cash is not given to the person from this site.  If money is needed to pay a bill (for example), it will go directly into the account. 
• The person’s needs are limited to once per need.  (For example, I will NOT post another story about the same person asking for money for electricity to the same account number.) 

I do not know these people personally and in some instances, I will NOT be able to verify that everything I am told is 100% true.   At some point, I would like to be able to verify all information so that we all know that the effort to help is for a good reason.  I understand we are reluctant to help another because of all the scams going on.  It ruins it for those in real need.  That is why cash will not be given to anyone. 

So, my goal is to build a reader list of givers!  I want to offer givers to have the chance to give to those in need.  You read the stories.  You decide who to give to and help.  If you need more information, ask.  If you have any comments or questions about any story, feel free to comment or email. 

So, on with the first story!  (OH… and always check the comments for results.  I will follow up each time I have a match of a giver/helper.  I will also follow up with the person to find out when the needs are met.)

Could this be the real deal?

I just tried this new ‘at home’ business.  I could not find anything negative about it, it’s totally affordable, and it looks like there is a lot of potential for this one to work. 

Take a look at this link:  http://www.4x1fortune.com/index2.php?id=2674 and see for yourself. 

1.  It cost $11.00 ONLY ONE TIME  to do this business.

2.  You can continue into 4 levels.

3.  The people above and BELOW you will add to your income.  So, you aren’t doing it all alone.

4.  Gives you a chance to ‘pay it forward’ and help others get started.

5.  They offer free training on how to make this happen.

If you’ve done this before, please comment and let me know what you think.  If you haven’t, take my invitation and let’s give it a try!  I’ve turned down a lot of home businesses and have been staying up really late at night studying them!  This one is the best that I’ve come up with that doesn’t cost so much to get started.

I’ll keep you posted.  I know many people have to ‘see to believe’ and I’ll be happy to be the ‘guinea pig’ here and let you know how it turns out!

My “Perfect Job” is a Scam!

I placed an ad on www.craigslist.com, looking to work from home.   I’ve gotten a few responses and this one.

I don’t think of this as an ‘inspiring” blog, but if I can help someone else that gets this job offer not to get involved, then this blog is worth the time it takes to write it.

My offer came from Chad Gaven from the UK.  He writes me (and I quote- grammar mistakes and all):

Hello good day am Chad Gaven from Md.textile am looking for an assistance who will be able to help me get my job updated in the state i am in UK now and i gues i will stay in UK for about 3 month before coming back to the state so i will want you to assiste me in printing out check to our client in the state  i do print check to our client and post to each of there address through ups carier or FeDex pls if you have a printer and you think you will be able to do this job kindly reply and immediately add me to your yahoo IM messanger for easier comunication chadgaven@yahoo.com you will be earning more than $1000 Monthly.

The red flag is already waiving madly in my face,  but I want to be sure.  I don’t want to turn down a good paying “stay at home” job.  So, I respond with a few more questions.  (and I quote myself, bad grammar and all).

can you tell me more about this?  What is the full name of the company?  What is it that you are wanting me to do?  Print out checks?  I do have a printer.  Tell me more of what my job description is exactly and how it will be that I will earn $1,000 or more a month.

He quickly responds with (his words exactly). He seem to forget to answer my questions about the name of the Company, but does detail my ‘job description’ a little more.  Note the spelling of a Hiring Employee that can write Company checks!  (again in his own writing).

thanks for your interest…. the job is all partime job and never distob you not to do other busines of yours
1. is all about printing of necesary notice to all our client in the state
2. you will be printing checks to our client for there payment weekly
3. and you will get it sent to them through UPS carier or fedex to each of there address
4. the company will provide you their Bank Account details to download on your printer to print out checks from and ups account which you will use for the internet label and they will order for envelop to get it dispach to each of our client addreses
All you needed for the job to start is
1. you will need to get and download versal check 2008 software to your printer
2. you will need to order for check paper
After this have been done you will be train how to get work started and you will be provided all necessary things then you get this done once in a week depends how many client you will get check printed to and you will be paid through western union or cash monthly for your work well done
i will be looking forward to hear from you if you are realy willing to do business with us.

Ok.  I didn’t respond to this and he quickly adds another email…. Here we go with the personal information. 

and also we will like to know your full name and address phone number for better record to keep asap.

Before I enter into any more conversation with my new pal Chad, I began doing a little research about buying the software and this type of check writing.  Very quickly I found an article from Dateline “Promises, promises:  Work from home scams.” After reading it, it sounds almost identical to my above emails.  The ‘rest of the story’ is played out by unsuspecting folks, like myself,  just looking for some work during these hard times.  See the link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29903354/page/2/

and the videos:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30070044#30070176.

So this is one job I won’t be taking and I’m very happy to have the internet to research things like this before I make a move.  Please be very careful out there.   I know there are many people, like me, searching hard for good jobs – at home.  Don’t make your life worse than it is with scams like this one.