2012 New York State Festival of Balloons NYSFOB

This past Summer we went to a hot air balloon festival for the first time.  The New York State Festival of Balloons was held in Dansville, NY.  We all had a great time, even my 10 year old son who was sure it was going to be boring!

There were a lot of booths and vendors and we had a fun time exploring while we waited for the balloon launch.  One cool spot was the Pan for Gold booth.  The kids were given a bucket of sand with little treasures in it, which they then wash out in a sieve.  The shark's tooth necklace they each found was a hit with both of them!

Another unique spot was the Game trailer.  They had TV screens and game consoles set up and you could rent screen time for different lengths of time.  For a boy with Asperger's on a very hot, sunny, dusty day... it was an awesome break to help him get through the day.  I was thrilled (as was he)!

When the time came, we set up our lawn chairs to watch the balloons launch. It was an awe inspiring sight!

Why Rent a Timeshare? Review and Giveaway

I'm very excited!  This is the first year I will be renting a timeshare for my vacation.  In the past I've always stayed at hotels.  My sister was talking about a vacation that she has coming up where she will be sharing a place with some other couples and I was intrigued.  When the time came to plan our vacation, I decided to look in to the possibility.

I found that, while prices vary, there are many affordable options for a family on a budget (like us).  Some of the ways that I found to save money with a timeshare rental are:

• Making meals - Most timeshares have a full sized fully equipped kitchen where we can prepare many of our own meals.  For our family of five it is a HUGE money saver to not have to eat 3 meals a day at restaurants!
• Sharing - Most timeshares have multiple bedrooms, bathrooms, and living spaces which makes convenient and economical (and fun) to share the home with good friends or family.
• Activities - Many timeshares are resorts or condos with amenities like pools, free wi-fi, game rooms, exercise rooms, private beaches, and more included for no extra fee.
• Affordability - Many timeshares are available for less than the price of a hotel room

So, because this was going on I was intrigued when I was offered the opportunity to receive a free subscription to RedWeek for a year and an additional two year subscription to give away to one of my readers!

One of the first things I noticed on their website is that in the middle of the page they list the Top Destinations for Timeshare Rentals.  There are some great deals in some amazing locations!

Then I used the green Find a Timeshare tab in the upper left corner.  You can choose by location using the map or by feature (such as kid-friendly, beaches, theme parks) along the right sidebar.  One of the locations that I immediately checked out was Virginia Beach.  I found a bunch of great places right away with reviews so that I can see if it sounds like a good fit for my family.

My favorite find is a timeshare in a Costa Rican resort for just $107 a night. I've been to Costa Rica a couple of times on business and I would love to take my husband there to experience what a beautiful country it is.

You can learn a lot about RedWeek and how it works by clicking on the green Resource tab at the top of the site.

On to the giveaway! a Rafflecopter giveaway I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Wordless Wednesday - Horses are Good for Girls!

My daughter is so cool!  One of her best friends is a horse named Bell.  I love seeing how she has matured, gained confidence, and become a good caretaker thanks to her love of this horse. 

It's Spring and horses shed

There's more hair on the girl then on the horse

Just a couple of beautiful gals

Pick up your hoof Bell!

Filthy hoof prior to being picked

A game she plays with Bell.  She takes off the lead rope and Bell follows her around like a puppy.

George the friendliest barn cat stopped by for a petting

Ok, so it wasn't wordless.  : )  Thank you for visiting!!

180 Year Old Well!

Would you like to see a well that is about 180 years old?  I know that I was pretty excited to see it!

This well would have been dug back in 1832 or 1833 when the original house was built on our land.  As long as we have lived here it's had a cover on it made of plywood and tin.  We gave it a wide berth and had no problems.  My husband decided to check on it and discovered that the plywood was rotted and needed to be replaced.  We were all interested to find out what had been hiding under the ground all of these years.

Here's what we found.  Stones that were fitted together so well that they have stood the test of time.  There is 8 feet of water and then 4 feet visible for a total depth of 12 feet.  While I certainly don't yearn for a time before running water, I can't help but imagine people from over a hundred years ago performing the daily chore of fetching water from our well.

My husband made an extremely sturdy (and attractive) new cover for the well.  It'll probably last another 180 years.  I told him that it will be my own personal deck where I will drink iced tea and watch the chickens peck in the yard.

Thank you for visiting!

Love Never Fails

I'm feeling sad tonight and I was thinking of how with Love for God and our family we can endure and have hope.

PSCPets Daily Enzymes and Prebiotics - Review

I'm a big believer in probiotics, prebiotics, and enzymes.  I make sure my family gets plenty of all of these things.  But I didn't think of my dog needing them too.  I was pleased to learn about this product and get a chance to try prebiotics and enzymes for dogs.  Emily is a rescued Jack Russell Terrier and she has brought us a lot of happiness.

The first thing I checked was to see where it was made, and the bottle indicates it was made in the US.  That's a big plus right there.  I always check that for food and treats for my dog.

Then the taste test was important to see how these would go over in our house.  My dog Emily LOVES them.  When this jar comes out, she forgets how to "sit" and just dances around trying to get one.  Very cute!  So that's another big hurdle that it passed.

As a plus for me, the chews have a mild and not unpleasant scent.  I hate opening a container of soft chews that have a strong awful order.  Yay!

Looking at the ingredients, it shows the first two are Dried Poultry Liver and Molasses.  Both are healthy for her and tasty!  It also includes inulin, ginger, protease, cellulase, lipase, and alpha-amylase which assist with digestion and use of nutrients.  It contains calcium carbonate which is a calcium supplement helpful in maintaining bone strength.  I was interested to read that alpha-amylase can help dogs maintain a healthy weight by reducing the amount of carbohydrates that are stored as fat.

One thing I've noticed after just a week is that she is having less gas and her digestion seems to have improved.

The full name of the product is PSCPets Daily Enzymes and Prebiotics and it's available at Probioticsmart.com.

Disclosure:  I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Chickens in Five Minutes a Day - Book Review and Giveaway!

Murray McMurray Hatchery's Chickens in Five Minutes a Day: Raising, Tending and Getting Eggs from a Small Backyard Flock Made Easy

by Farmers at Murray McMurray Hatchery

176 pages

I was thrilled to receive an advanced copy of Chickens in Five Minutes a Day to review and giveaway.  I've been raising chickens for seven years and I still love to read about chickens and how to care for them.

This book is meant for those getting ready to start raising chickens for egg production.  The idea is to set things up in such a way that in general the chicken chores can be cared for in five minutes a day.  However, as the book points out you'll probably spend quite a bit more time enjoying watching them.

Too cute!

I found the book to be easy to read.  It wasn't dry or boring.  The illustrations are both cute and informative. I was impressed with how thorough the book was and I wish I had it before I started raising chickens!   There were many important points that I thought the book needed to make and they hit on all of them (e.g., what NOT to feed chickens, checking for pasting up, etc).

I also learned some interesting facts about hatcheries and the history of Murray McMurray Hatchery in particular.

I found that in the few cases where I disagreed with the book it was simply a difference of opinion rather than any lack in the book.  For example, the book suggests to add sugar to the chicks water and I chose not to.  

I like the use of safety gear!

I was glad to see the book recommend the use of diatomaceous earth as a natural way to reduce parasites in the flock.  However, I would have liked to see them warn against using the kind that is sold for pool filters.

I highly recommend this book for those who are looking into or planning on raising chickens for egg production.  It's an excellent place to start.  

The book is being released on 5/14/13 and it's available for preorder at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.  I noticed that the e-reader copies are currently being sold at about 50% off of the listed price of $19.99!

The Giveaway:

One of my readers will receive a copy of this excellent book!  The giveaway is limited to readers in the US and Canada.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book to provide a review. No compensation was received for this post. My opinions are my own and may differ from yours. This giveaway is NOT affiliated with Facebook or any other social media networks. City Girl Bought the Farm is not responsible for shipment/prize fulfillment. There will be no monetary value given instead of products.