Skiing

 I got a chance to go skiing on Christmas day.
 There is one thing good about living in a winter wonderland. I can ski right out my back door.
 So with a few hours to spare I strapped on my ski's and headed for the lake, trusty dog Fluffy by my side.

We saw some cool ice formations & tree's.

 The wind picked up and was quite chilly on my face & Fluffys paws so we decided to start back home.

 On the way we saw this wildlife.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

I hope you had a wonderful Holiday!!!!

Seperat Living Qaurters

 There has been some domestic violence going on at the farm.

 The big chickens have been picking on my little Bantams.

We decided to move them to a bigger coop (The telephone Office) but that didn't work,
So last night when darkness began to fall we decided to intervene.
 We snuck in, packed up the Bantams and moved them back to the small coop.

They should be safe from danger away from those big mean chickens.

Christmas Gremlins

 I think we have Christmas gremlins.

or maybe The Grinch who stole Christmas is after us.

Our fireplace is missing

The lights on our tree don't work.

The cards I ordered turned out to be just pictures

That mean old Grinch can't steal the Christmas out of our hearts.

We will still gather around and sing beautiful caroles.

"oogh ah, oogh ah merry Christmas, merry Christmas"

Turn The Page tuesday

 

 Decembers "Turn The Page Tuesday" is magazines.

 It gave me a great excuse to pick up a new magazine at the store.

 I love to read magazines. They can be so inspiring with there bright shining pictures and short feature stories.

 Mary Janes Farm is the reading material I chose. It is packed full of articles about organic country lifestyles.

 Recently I unpacked a few box's of old photo's and displayed some of them on my dresser. The pictures make our room look so homey.

 In this magazine I found this wonderful quote

  "Family faces

are magic mirrors.

Looking at people

who belong to us,

We see the past,

Present, and future."

                                            ~Gail Lumet Buckley

  Check out more great magazines at Turn The Page Tuesday

Sweet Sixteen

Our baby girl has turned sixteen!

Happy Birthday Dawn!

Suprise in The Mail

 Look at what has arrived in the mail. just in time for Thanksgiving baking.
 I won this great cook book in Paula's "Fabulous Fall Food Friday" contest.
 I can't wait to start whipping up a few of these dish's.
 This book not only has recipes but is packed full of fall time idea's, tips & crafts, for example
 Time Together
 "Once my sister arrives at our home for Thanksgiving, she joins my daughter and me in our truck. We trim berry branches and pines to fill the window boxes on our homes. We walk through the trees with a big basket in hand to fill with our treasures. There's always such a feeling of contentment and joy when we do this. We hope that my daughter will continue this tradition with her family someday."
                                                                                                                Cindy DeMay
                                                                                                                West Springfield, MA

With the winter storms in the North lots of people are canceling travel plans. It might be a good time to grab a "Goose Berry Patch" book and get some projects going.

 I asked this question at work "You've no doubt heard the expression "They couldn't pay me enough to do that job."  What job would that be for you?"

 Some of the answers I got where, coal miner & sewer pumper.

 One man who went into the service when he was young and worked on the railroad most of his life said he couldn't think of any job he wouldn't do.
 I asked, "How about pounding steaks & putting in railroad tyes?"
 He replied,"That's not that hard."
 Then I said,"What about building fence and digging all the post holes by hand."
 His answer was "How long of a fence do you want?"

 Give me your answer"What job could they not pay you enough to do?"

Dream Catcher Contest

Dreams interest me.

Do they have a deeper meaning?

Can they foretell the futcher?

Are they your brains way of rebooting & restoring while you sleep?

Do you dream in color?

Do you have a recurring dream that haunts you?

 I often times awaken to a nightmare of a spider slowly descending from the ceiling onto me. When I open my eyes I can actually see the spider and have at times gotten up, turned on the light and pulled back the covers to search for the creepy crawly that I am sure must be in my bed.

 I have a pair of handmade dream catcher earrings that I bought in Montana.

 The dream catchers where believed to catch any harm that might be in the air as a spider's web catches and holds whatever comes in contact with it.

 Dream catchers hung above the bed are used as charms to protect sleeping children from nightmares.

 Bad dreams would stay in the net disappearing with the light of day.

 Good dreams would pass through and slide down the feathers to the sleeper.

 Leave me a comment on this post and you will be entered into a drawing to win these pretty earrings.

Turn The Page Tuesday

 Today is "Turn The Page Tuesday" the first Tuesday of the month.

 This months book is "Forever..." by Jude Deveraux. It was a fun book to read full of good & evil, Mystery & intrigue.

 "Darci Monroe overcame a childhood of neglect with an ebullient spirit, a positive attitude...and extraordinary determination. Now the resourceful young woman, hired as Adam Montgomery's personal assistant, devotes more than just professional attention to this devastatingly handsome millionaire. But one thing bars Adam from accepting Darci's love: he is intent on discovering the secret of his parent's disappearance, for she possesses the otherworldly abilities needed to help him fight a terrifying mistress of the dark arts. What Darci ends up offering is a gift greater than Adam ever hoped for, for Darci loves with all her heart, and all her soul, forever...."

Check out more good books at Some Of a Kind

Fab Fall Food Friday-Sankey Ranch Cornbread

 My sister Susan sent me a "Beyond The Bull" cookbook for my birthday.
 "A 100 year celebration of kickin it up with good food and great parties at The Pendleton Round-up."

 Growing up in the area we always made it to Pendleton during Round-up time to spend time with cousins, watch the parade and join in on the celebrations.

 While thumbing through this cookbook, I came acrossed the recipe for "Sankey Ranch Cornbread" & just had to try it.

 Ike Sankey is a stock contractor for many rodeos. They owned a ranch just a few miles out of Cody Wyoming where my husband & I lived.
 Years ago Ike had a bunch of young horses with out enough buck in them for the rodeo circuit so he would hire young people to come ride and work with them.
 My husband Willie & I took on this job for a short period. Silly me (I fancied myself as a cowgirl back then.)
 We got paid a whopping $25 a day each. Enough money to go down to "The Irma" the local cowboy hangout, have a few beers & tell tall tales.

Sankey Ranch Cornbread

2/3 cup butter

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 cups milk

2 3/4 tablespoons baking powder

1 1/3 teaspoon salt

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

Mix butter, granulated sugar, eggs, and milk together.

Mix baking powder, salt, flour, and cornmeal together.

Mix both mixtures together and pour into a greased 9x13-inch pan.

bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until done in middle.

For more great recipes go to "On A Rainy Night"



Snow Day

The frost is on the pumpkin & the snow is in the air.

This is what we woke up to this morning.

Our first snow day of the season.

School has been cancelled.

It's a great day for baking, taking naps & reading.

Fall Food Friday- Carrot Cake

 Once again it is "Fabulous Fall Food Friday" hosted by Paula. I love participating in this & have found some great recipes in the process.

 Dave & Elaine, Friends from a near by town planted several long rows of carrots. We drove over to help dig them & came home with several five gallon buckets of these plump orange veggies.
 I decided to make carrot cake. One of my favorite desserts.

Spicy Carrot Cake

1/3 cup boiling water

2 cups shredded carrots

2 cups flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts

Pour boiling water on carrots in large mixer bowl.

Heat oven to 350; Grease & flour 13x9 pan.

Beat carrots & remaining ingredients on low speed, scraping bowl 1 minute.

Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.

Pour into pan.

Bake until wooden pick comes out clean, 45- 50 minutes. Cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1- pound package powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Mix together until smooth. Frost cooled cake & serve.

 Be sure to check out all the recipe's at On A Rainy Night.

Spring or Fall?

Fall? Spring? What time of year is it anyway?

 This hen doesn't seem to know the answer to this question. She just hatched out five baby chicks.

 Imagine that, baby chicks in October. Something is a little mixed up here.

 We put them in the green house and hopefully they don't freeze to death with the cold weather that soon will be knocking at our doors.

Red sky in morning sailer take warning.

Fab. Fall Food Friday- Lemon Mallow Pie

 My recipe this week is "Lemon Mallow Pie". It is a very simple recipe that turns out fantastic.
 Just the right amount of sweet tartness.

Lemon Mallow Pie

1 (10 oz.) Pkg. Marshmallows

1/4 Cup water

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 Tbsp. Grated lemon rind

1 cup heavy cream, whipped

1 9 inch graham cracker crust

a few drops yellow food coloring

Melt marshmallows with water & lemon juice in double boiler.

Stir until smooth.

Add lemon rind and food coloring and mix well.

Chill until thickened;

Mix until well blended.

Fold in whipped cream.

Pour into crust.

Chill until firm or freeze.

 To find more great recipes check out Paula's  Blog.

Ranch Burgers

 I found this recipe and made the burgers for supper a few nights ago. They where quite tasty. A welcome change from the plain old hamburger.

Ranch Burgers

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

4 teaspoons spicy seasoning mi (recipe below)

4 egg-bread hamburger buns

Romain lettuce

tomato slices

1/4 cup prepared creamy ranch dressing

2 tablespoons canned french fried onions

Spicy Seasoning Mix

Combine 2 teaspoons sweet paprika,

2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves, crushed, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt,

1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder,

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper,

and 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper.

 Store in airtight container, shake before using to blend.

1. prepare spicy seasoning mix.

2. Shape ground beef into four 3/4 inch-thick patties.

 press spicy seasoning mix evenly into both sides of each Pattie.

3. Heat large heavy nonstick skillet 5 minutes over medium heat until hot.

Add patties to skillet.

Cook 12 to 15 minutes to medium doneness. turn once.

4. Line bottom of each bun with lettuce and tomato: top with burger.

spoon ranch dressing evenly over burgers; sprinkle with onion.

close sandwiches.

 Join us on Paula's Blog for "Fabulous Fall Food Fridays" for a chance to win "Goose Berry Patch's" latest Fall cookbook.

Turn the Page tuesday- "The Fall Hunt"

 I'm a day late again with "Turn The Page Tuesday"
 I found this months selection in the free book box at work & couldn't resist the bright fall colors on the cover.

 This book was a fun little mystery to read perfect for this time of the year.

 "The Fall Hunt" by Joanne Clarey starts "Trouble was the last thing on Ellie's mind as she pushed open the Greenberg Federal Bank front door. For the last twenty minutes, she had enjoyed the scenic drive downhill from her cabin located in the tiny mountain village of Hummingbird Falls, to the city of Greenberg. Her beloved mutt, Buddy, whom she had rescued at the village dump last year, accompanied her as usual.

 This pocket book starts out with a bank robbery & has a murder or two to be solved.Packed full of fall festivities, pumpkins & ghouls.

To find more books to read go to "Some Of A Kind"

Fall Food Friday-Taco Soup

 Once again it is "Fabulous Fall Food Friday" The day Paula has brought us together to share recipe's.

My recipe this week is "Crock pot Taco Soup". It's a great time of year to dig out the slow cooker and start brewing up some hearty soups & stews.

 I love to have the crock pot simmering away with our meal all ready when we come in from a busy day.

Crock pot Taco Soup

1 pound ground beef

1 onion chopped

1(15-oz.) can kidney beans, with liquid

1(16-oz.) can chili beans, with liquid

1 (15-oz.) can whole-kernel corn, with liquid

1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce

2 c. water

2 (14.5-oz.) cans peeled and diced tomatoes

1 (4-oz.) can diced green chili peppers

1 package taco seasoning mix

In medium skillet, cook ground beef until browned over medium heat. Drain thoroughly. Place ground beef, onion, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce, water, diced tomatoes, green chili peppers and seasoning mix in a slow cooker. Mix and cook on low setting for eight hours.

Makes 10 servings.

Zucchini Saves The Day

 I just heard this story on the news. So all of you zucchini haters listen up.

 This happened by Missoula Montana.

 A bear attacked a lady's 12 year old dog so she started yelling at the bear. It charged her and clawed the lady's leg. She made it into her house and grabbed the closest weapon she could find which was a zucchini on her counter. Hitting the beast with the vegetable was just the ticket. The bear ran off into the woods.

 With this story in mind, you should always keep a zucchini handy.

 If you don't need the zucchini as a weapon you could always make the cookie's in the following post.

Fall Recipe Friday

My sister Paula is hosting a Fall recipe Friday.

This is the first Friday. I think this is a great idea.

It's always fun to see what other folks are cooking and try out new dish's.

My first recipe is one I got from my Mom before getting married. I wrote down some of Mom's tried & true recipe's in a notebook. That notebook got pretty ratty in the last 26 years, so I have since transferred them to note cards and put them in this special little book.

This recipe is for zucchini cookies.

1 cup grated zucchini

1 cup sugar

1 egg beaten

1/2 cup margarine

1tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. soda

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp cloves

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped nuts

Mix all ingredient, drop by spoon onto baking sheet & bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 min.

Enjoy

Walk In The Woods

Our first frost has arrived. We covered the tomatoes &; peppers. Hopefully they will have a little more time to produce.

The leaves are starting to turn colors and look beautiful against the crisp blue sky. I just had to wander off into the woods for a picture taking expedition.

I met a pretty green frog.

A grasshopper tagged along for awhile.

Tally hoe. I must be on my way.

I hope you have a chance to get in a few good walks before the weather turns bitterly cold.

Spotted Steve

Meet Steve. He is Dawn & friends favorite chicken.

Such a unique looking bird.

The girls think he might be part lama.

Doesn't he have nice legs?

We are not sure if Spotted Steve is a he or a she.

We've never herd him crow and don't think he has laid an egg.

Maybe Steve is an it?

Being so unique has saved Steve's life.

Under no circumstances is he to go into the stew pot. 

Even if this bird never lays an egg, we will keep Spotted Steve as a pet.

Turn The Page Tuesday/ An Absence So Great

Jane Kirkpatrick is one of my favorite authors. this book is a sequel to "A Flickering Light".
Jane wrote these books with her Grandma Jessie Ann Gaebele as the main character. Jessie is a photographer back in the day when these professions are dominated by men.

 It starts out "Jessie Gaebele's thoughts at times behaved like a toddler's: one moment they stayed safely hidden in the pump organ's shadow, and the next minute they popped up to pull out all the stops, increasing in volume, shouting in her head, underscoring the aching loneliness that defined her days.
 Today, as she stood in this men's refuge permeated by the scent of oil and grease and gasoline, she flicked away those toddler voices. She had good reason to be here. She was eighteen years old, it was 1910, and young women alone were going places they'd never gone before."

 I'm sure that like me if you read a Jane Kirkpatrick book you will have to read them all.

To check out more great books go to Some of a Kind

Until next month, Happy reading!!!

Plum Wine?

 The wine experiment didn't work, but I did grow some nice mold spores.

 I had high expectations of serving homemade plum wine to dinner guests.

 I think next time I will just make plum juice and refrigerate it.

 Does anybody out there know how to make wine?

Fall

There is a crispness to the air.

Hurry, Hurry we must prepare.

Get that wood piled high.

We will have fires burning

the geese are flying by.

Dig those potatoes.

Shuck that corn.

Soon snowy land will be the norm.

Coligha

 This is one of the many collectibles left at our farmstead when we bought it.
Every time I see him an old Charlie Pride song runs through my head.

"Coligha was a wooden Indian standing by the door.
He fell in love with an Indian maiden over in the antique store.
Coligha yoohoo
Then one day a wealthy customer bought the Indian maid.
Took the girl so far away that old Coligha stayed.
Cooligha yoohoo
Poor old Coligha never got a kiss.
Poor old Coligha don't know what he missed.
Is it any wonder that his face is red.
Coligha that poor old wooden head."

Zucchini Bandit

 It's a very dangerous time of year you know.

 Keep your windows and doors locked at all times. Even if you are just running into the bank or post office.

 It can happen in an instant. Picture this scenario. You hop out of your car in a great mood. isn't it a beautifully day. Step into the bank to deposit your pay check and visit with the friendly teller a few minutes to long. You notice something very odd while walking back to your car. It looks as if your vehicle has turned green on the inside. You slowly open the door "creak" and scream. To your horror the car has been filled up with zucchini. Oh how you wish you would have taken the time to press that lock, for this is the time of year huge zucchini's are growing on the vine & the zucchini bandit is at it again.

 What is the most important thing you grab while heading out the door?

 The keys are in the Blazer. I grab my jacket & purse off the hook in the mud room, but I must have one more thing, my book. I hate to leave the house with out my book. You never know when a reading opportunity might arise,

 Waiting to pick someone up, or you arrive early & have a few precious moments to open the pages and escape into another world for a bit. In fact sometimes I leave early just so I can do this. The car is one of the best places to read. Nobody is there to bother you. You can't look around the house and see all of the unfinished chores you should be doing.

 I even carry an emergency book in my glove compartment. A small paperback mystery. Just in case I've forgotten to bring the current novel I'm reading.

Turn The Page Tuesday

  Yes, I seem to be a day late and a dollar short.
 My book this month is "The Year Of Fog" by Michelle Richmond.

 A great book to read at the beach, but would be spooky if you had children with you. You would dare not take your eyes from them for a second to read this intriguing novel.

 The first chapter starts like this "Here is the truth, this is what I know: we were walking on Ocean Beach, hand in hand. It was a summer morning, cold, July in San Francisco. The fog lay white and dense over the sand and ocean- an enveloping mist so thick I could see only a few feet in front of me."

 The ending is a surprise. It does leave you wondering "What happens next" since there is no sequel you are left to make up your own story.

 Check out other good books with Adrian

Happy reading!

Goodbye & Good luck Alfonzo

Alfonzo has grown up and flown away.

He tried out his wings and decided it would be more fun to be a bird then live in a house with humans. 

Here he is discussing travel plans with a friend.

                                                     We will miss you Alfonzo.
                                          I hope you come back for a visit every now & then.

Whimsy Jar Swap

Things have been a little bit crazy around here lately.

It's just been go, go ,go.

Dawn & I are both working at the hospital & I'm the driver most of the time so we've had allot of car time.

I did manage to do a "Whimsy Jar Swap" sponsored by Jessica 

You should check out her websight. Jessica is always doing fun swaps!!!

In this swap you decorate and fill jars with small objects, hopefully to your partners liking and send them off.

These are the two I made.

They where fun to put together and didn't take to much time.

I received this

one in the mail from Jessica

So cute with the lady bug on top.

It even has a tiny ice cream cone in it.

This one is from Michelle 

Isn't this the cutest tag Michelle has put on the jar!

I just love the colors and all the small little treasures packed into these jars!!!

Turn The Page Tuesday

Happy fourth of July!!!

This months Turn the Page Tuesday is of a partiotic nature. It is an American classic.

I picked "Two Old Women" an Alaskan legend of betrayal, courage and survival. by Velma Wallis.

This was a fast book to read. I enjoyed it & it made me think of things in a different manner.

Based on an Athabascan Indian legend passed along for many generations from mother to daughters of the upper Yukon River Valley in Alaska, this is the suspenseful, shocking, ultimately inspirational tale of two old women abandoned by their tribe during a brutal winter famine.

Though these women have been known to complain more than contribute, they now must either survive on their own or die trying. In simple but vivid detail, Velma Wallis depicts a landscape and way of life that are at once merciless and starkly beautiful. In her old women, she has created two heroines of steely determination whose story of betrayal, friendship, community and forgiveness speaks straight to the heart with clarity, sweetness and wisdom.

The first paragraph starts out: "The air stretched tight, quiet and cold over the vast land. Tall spruce branches hung heavily laden with snow, awaiting distant spring winds. The frosted willows seemed to tremble in the freezing temperatures."