THERE'S really no point in trying to keep events in order as so much happened in such a short amount of time that unless I tried to keep notes (which I didn't) there would be no way to remember them as they unfolded. In all we had a most wonderful visit and Christmas wouldn't have been the same without everyone here.
As you know I worked just a half day on Tuesday of last week. Don't think it wasn't busy though. After my regular work day was done, then the real work began. I shouldn't say "work" because it was really all fun since it was in preparation of the holiday to come. First I met Wally for lunch at Snappy's Pizza in Fairview. While I waited for him to get there I listened to the other patrons talk about what they had gotten for their loved ones for Christmas. The kids were getting bikes, video games, dolls and toy trucks. The wives were getting gift cards (uh!), clothes and jewelry. There weren't any wives in Snappy's having lunch that day so I don't know what the husbands were getting. There were some women in there but they had come in from the veterinary office next door and I couldn't hear what they were saying. I could tell, however, that it was their Christmas lunch as it were. There were 5 women all dressed in scrubs and one man. I take it he was the vet and they were all manner of assistants. While they were there, he handed out envelopes to each of them which they then opened. They didn't sound very surprised or even the least bit excited but they did thank him and say that it was really nice of him to do that. hmmmm maybe it wasn't quite the bonus they were hoping for?? These days we should be grateful just to have jobs...:)
I didn't need anything from the store so after we ate our pizza, we headed for home. I started making the dough for the cookies I was giving out to our friends here as Christmas presents. The one batch made 5 dozen cookies so it wasn't so much the mixing but more so of the spooning it out, baking them off, cooling them down and packing them in the tins. It took a little longer than I expected to say the least. I think it was 9:00 before we hit the sack and I was tired of being on my feet, tired of setting and resetting the timer, tired of smelling but not eating any of those darn pecan shortbread cookies that were coated in powdered sugar! I was glad to have them all packed up and ready to go far away from us. Okay, I did eat one but it was only to make sure they were decent enough to give away - yes, they were! omg they were wonderful.
I haven't heard from any one of the people to whom they were delivered so I have no idea if they even ate them or not. I guess we'll have to wait until we see them again at Pee Wee's to know if they even tried them. LOL
Wednesday we went to Centerville to pay the taxes on our Hidden Valley Lakes properties and we took care of some other business while we were in town. Of course we stopped by to see Darryl and Pee Wee and wish them a Merry Christmas. We left all the cookies there so Darryl could hand them out as the others stopped by. After an hour or so we were on our way back home. I was tired from the night before and I was beginning to feel just a slight little tickle in the back of my throat...oh no, you know what that means...dang it.
I slept fitfully that night. I'm sure it was mostly in anticipation of my guests arriving but either way, I think I kept Wally awake with my tossing and turning. We wouldn't get caught up on our sleep for days to come...
I drove off to the airport without a clue how to get there. Sure I'd been there before, many times throughout the years, but I never drove there myself. It's different. There was construction. It was a little confusing. But, I made it with about 10 minutes to spare. I did have to circle around one time but then Mom and Neccy were there waiting for me. It didn't take much to get them loaded into the car since Jack had their luggage in the truck with him and the kids. They weren't far behind...
I drove us safely home and introduced them to the roosters, the dogs and the new puppies. The horses were waiting to be fed so we somehow managed to load Mom on the 4 wheeler and I drove her over there to witness the event. Smokey put on his usual show and Rebel came right up and let her pet his nose. Of course he thought she had food but by then she had already pet him. I gathered their feed buckets and scooped out the feed. Mom said the horses looked much bigger in person than they do on the blog. I guess I'll have to get a picture of me standing by them so you can see how big they really are. Neccy declined coming to pet them. She said they weren't "people" horses. I'm not sure what that means exactly but it definitely meant she wasn't going to pet them... not that day anyway.
She spent all her time petting the puppies. Literally. She was out there with them for a good 2, 2 and a half hours. She was on the ground, in the straw, climbing in and out of the dog house and playing with them the whole time. They still didn't have names yet so I'm not sure what she called them but they loved playing with her and running all over the yard. Until now, they weren't fond of leaving the dog house. After playing with Neccy they were off and running! Now, it's hard to catch one of them without a treat in your hand...lol
They are some cute puppies and they are true to their breed. They have been herding the roosters since Thursday of last week and they are darn good at it too. They can't quite get Roo in the mix, he's too smart for that, but those other roosters don't stand a chance against the puppies. It's funny to watch the little guys go chasing after the roosters. One stays put and the other one rounds them up. They really just want to play but the roosters really just want to eat. The puppies always win. LOL Roo? Well, he gets away before the puppies get to him. He'll be out by the horses or over by the outhouse or even up by the house under the deck. He'll hide behind the 4 wheelers or fly up in the tree. He's not going to be herded no matter what...ha ha ha that may change when those puppies get to be 100 lb dogs! We'll see...
They do have names now - they are officially Colt and Ruger. While all the suggestions you sent in were taken to heart, Colt and Ruger were the end result. You'll see a bunch of new pictures of them on the flickr account that I updated today.
Wally took Neccy in the black truck and went down to the barn through the holler. She loved the ride and enjoyed seeing the place again. Not much has changed since she was last here but it's been a few years and we've made some progress outside.
After Mom's ride on the 4 wheeler, which she says she'll never do again..., we took her back inside and showed her around the cabin. Right around noon time I went and met Jack and the kids at the bank. They all started talking at once just as soon as my window was rolled down. Poor Jack. He had been with them for 12 hours and I'm sure he was tired of listening to them but he smiled and followed me to the cabin without complaining at all.
By the time we got back to the cabin, Neccy and Wally were leaving on the 4 wheelers. He showed her the trails and apparently left her to die on one of the steeper hills...lol at least that's how she described it...!! Gosh, I guess I'm used to it because I didn't think they were that steep... to hear Neccy tell it is hilarious!
So, with the kids in tow, Neccy and I insisted Mom go upstairs to see our room, the loft and the deck. There's nothing quite like the view from the deck and she really wanted to go see it. The problem was her knees and back weren't quite as willing as her mind was.
We pushed and pulled and prodded her up the spiral staircase and before too long, we had her at the top. She promptly layed down on the waterbed and threatened to never get up... lol The kids were laying there too and only then did they notice the painting on the ceiling... you'll have to come visit to see what it is :)
We got Mom out to the deck and seated in a chair and the kids went wild taking pictures. Between the three of them there should be a complete panoramic view of the property. I'll get Rebecca to send the pictures to me so I can post them. Mom said she was glad she went up there even if it was hard on her to do so. Like the ride on the 4 wheeler, she says she'll never go up there again...lol
While Jack and Wally cooked the ribs on the smoker, I took the kids on the 4 wheelers and showed them the trails. They too thought the hills were pretty steep. I had Jarrett on the back with me and we could have sworn we heard Rebecca and Kain squealing like little girls as they made their way, bug eyed, down the hill...LOL Jarrett quickly caught on to how the trails run, with the fence to his left, and he was ready to be set free.
They rode those things more than they visited with their mama but that's exactly what Wally said they would do. They had their orange hats on, their helmets and their gloves. They had their coats on and they were gone! They took pictures of themselves out on the property all along the way. If you haven't already seen the pictures on Rebecca's FB, you'll see them here soon. She did a very good job.
The ribs were steaming hot and fresh off the smoker and we all dug in like we hadn't eaten in months. With bbq rub all over our faces and hands we chowed until we could chow no more. Talk about quiet... all you could hear was the mmm, mmmm, mmmms and the occasional "oh how good," or "I was so hungry." With bellies all filled to the brim and the mess in the kitchen all cleaned up, each of us realized how tired we were - some from anticipation, others weary from travel. It was still daylight as we snuggled into our beds for a night of deep sleep.
Friday dawned and the kids were up and antsy to be on the 4 wheelers again. I made them all breakfast of venison and pork sausage and pancakes hot enough to melt the butter that was spread on top of them. They cover the pancakes with syrup or honey or both and somehow between the 8 of us we managed to eat about 20 pancakes in all. We were out of syrup by the time it was over. lol I think Jarrett had at least 8 pancakes himself - must have been a while since he had them. I thought...my child is growing like a weed. He is 6 feet tall and just 13 years old. No wonder he could eat 8 pancakes... I'll cook them for him anytime he wants...:)
We all visited while the kids were out exploring. Wally worked on the tractor so he could get the new gravel spread out before the weather set in and I had chicken & dumplins on the menu. Mom and I fed the horses but this time she took her walker instead of riding the 4 wheeler and then the kids and I fed the roosters. Jack put some sort of part on his truck while Neccy, of course, played with the puppies and the day passed in record time. What is it with vacation days that they go by so quickly? When we're working, the days just seem to drag on and on but let it be a vacation day and you have no idea where the time went or how it went so fast... that's how Friday was for us.
With hot, bubbly bowls of dumplins warming their hands and tummies, the kids made trips for seconds and thirds and I thought they would never fill up. We all sipped the gravy-like juice and slurped the dumplins up like they were going out of style and when it was all over and done with there was only a small bit left and I hid it away for my lunch today :) LOL Bedtime on Friday, oh say about 6:30-7:00. They were amazed at how sleepy they were so early in the day. Even when we considered FL time, it would only have been 7:30-8:00. I know they all stay up later than that...lol There's just something about being here that makes you want to go to bed early. You'll have to come visit and see for yourself. Maybe you can figure it out?
If we were all dreaming of a white Christmas then all of our dreams came true for sure enough, come Christmas morning, the snow was on the ground and still coming down... it was a perfect Christmas morning. I woke up beside my honey, my family was all safely warm and snug in their cabin beds and snow was drifting slowly to the ground for our first white Christmas together - ever.
You might be asking yourself how I could ever top breakfast from the day before but trust me, I had a plan. We opened gifts first and everyone laughed and took pictures and threw wrapping paper everywhere. We didn't do a big Christmas as you know - it was more important to be together - but everyone had at least one thing to open. Rebecca got a set of pots and pans (non-stick) and some rubbermaid utensils to use with them. Jarrett and Kain got socks and underwear and they were actually excited that they were the right size and everything. The boys also got McDonald's gift cards and have probably already used them up by now...lol They all got candy and their stockings were stuffed with all manner of toiletries.
Back to breakfast... I thawed out some of the tenderized pork tenderloin that we got from the meat place (the best you've ever had...ask Dizzy Debbie) and Mom promised to help me make the gravy from the pan drippings. I made biscuits and scrambled eggs and best of all - I managed to get it all done at the same time!! The crew gobbled it up faster than you can say cock-a-doodle-do and before I knew it, the kids were off on the 4 wheelers and Darryl, Jack and Wally were getting the burn pile fired up. It was about 8 feet in diameter and probably 12 feet tall. Mom and I watched as everyone stood along side and warmed themselves by the fire. It was a little later when I finally convinced her to get her walker and come join the fun.
The kids had snowball fights and ran round playing until their noses were red and their lips were getting numb then they too joined us around the fire. Before too long the fire began to dwindle and we were ready to get back inside where it was warm and cozy. That big old ham had been in the oven for about 3 hours and Wally had started slicing it up. The cabin smelled like smoked pork and all of our mouths were watering as we came through the back door. I made mashed potatoes and green beans and we ate and ate and ate... Me and Kain were tied for who could eat the most ham. I'm pretty sure Mom won the prize for who could eat the most mashed potatoes. As always the talk turned to tales of yester-years and we were all laughing and cutting up remember the funny things the kids said when they were little. We told about how Rebecca cried until she finally learned to talk and hasn't stopped since... We told about how Jarrett cursed like a construction worker and about how Kain learned all his 4 letter words from Uncle Dee. I think we stayed up until 9:00 Christmas night. To have all those special people in my home warmed me more than any heater in the world could have.
Sunday we were slow to get about. Staying up that late really took it out of us. Neccy and Jack had gone to the store for coffee as our coffee maker crapped out and while they were out they decided it would be better for Jack and the kids to leave early and try to miss some of the bad weather that was headed toward Atlanta. While I didn't want to see them go, I knew it was best they got an early start. Jack made breakfast while I gathered up their clean laundry. The kids started packing and Neccy made sure they weren't forgetting anything.
Before long, they had showered, packed their bags and were ready to begin loading the truck. I wasn't ready to being saying good bye so soon but what choice was there? Jack had everything organized in the back of the truck and the kids were packed in the front with pillows and blankets and warm clothes. They were on their way home. :( :( :( I still had Mom and Neccy but the house was immediately 100 times quieter with no kids in it. Have you ever noticed how that happens?
We weren't up late that night. But come Monday we were all in better spirits, Jack had some car problems on the way home but they made it safely. Wally went into town (Centerville) to get sweet feed for the horses and I took Mom and Neccy into town (Dickson) to pick up a prescription and get them some coffee...I'm so glad I'm not addicted to that stuff. Some people can be so grumpy without it... not them, just saying...lol!!
They ended up getting Dunkin' Donuts coffee and claimed it to be the very best in the world. Whew! Thank goodness. I finally managed to find the Dickson Food Lion (I've only been there a couple times and both times Wally drove so leave me alone...) and we picked up a couple things there before going back home. I made spaghetti for those of us who were left and we spent the time hanging out in the kitchen. Neccy and Mom showed me how to get the pictures from the camera Ernie & Britney gave me and then I watched a movie with Wally. It was called "The Condemned" and it was pretty good. For someone who never, ever watches movies, I really enjoyed this one. It had it's hokey moments but all movies do... it was nice to just sit for an hour or so after all those days of being on my feet.
Well folks, this is by no means the end but it's time for me to pack up for the day. I'll have to finish updating when I return on Monday. I hope this tides you over til then.... Happy New Year to all of you. Drive safe, call a cab, just don't drink and drive!
"New Year's Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual." ~Mark Twain
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
3...2...1............................C'mon Thursday!!!!
“Tennessee springtime showed me new beginnings with the blooming of the flowers and trees
Tennessee summertime showed me new beginnings with sweltering heat and sweat bees
Tennessee fall showed me new beginnings with the changing of the leaves
And now the Tennessee winter is here to show me what it’s like to freeze!”
I thought I'd start you out with a quote today instead of leaving it for the end. This quote is different than the others though as it is one I wrote myself just a few minutes ago. I hope you like it and I hope you feel it reflects what I've been writing about since I started the blog. The day after Christmas marks my 9 month anniversary of being here and still I feel like there are millions of words to be written for your reading enjoyment. I hope you'll keep reading them as days go by.
What little bit of shopping I did this year reminded me of years gone by when it was such a hustle and bustle to get everything done. Going to this store or that one, dealing with the traffic, finding parking spaces, hiding gifts so my sister and kids wouldn't know what they were getting (thank you Ernie and Mom) and of course deciding what to cook and who all to have over. These days I take it easy and I don't worry so much about whether everything will get done. Somehow it always does, right?
Today is the first day of winter and last night there was a lunar eclipse. I don't think there will be another one for 3 more years. While I forgot to get up and go see it, I heard this morning on the radio that it was too cloudy to see it anyway. You may be asking yourself, how in the world I could remember to be awake at 2:15am in order to see a lunar eclipse...that's just how things work for me. I haven't used an alarm clock in so many years I can't remember. After a certain age, or after getting up at the same time year after year, my body just knows when to wake up. Of course, here lately, it's been waking up earlier than I want it to but at least I'm getting 6 hours in.
As office people will do, around here the food has been coming in non-stop since last week and it's all completely fat and calorie free (ha ha ha ha ha) so no one holds back. We have had chocolate covered pretzels with sprinkles on them, little spinach quiches, hash brown casserole with the cheese ever so slightly burned on the bottom, sausage balls, fudge, brownies, ham and cheese roll ups, a cream cheese ball with scallions and chipped beef (like Marcia makes!!), home made sugar cookies, chex mix and chocolate - chocolate - chocolate galore!!!!!
You don't know what it takes for me to stay away from that table!! But stay away I do - for the most part. I had a little bit of the casserole and two roll-ups. I had one pretzel and a small scoop of the cheese ball. I had to have that in Marcia's honor :) I had one cookie and that was it for me. I can't eat like that anymore or it upsets my stomach in the worst way...lol at work that's not a good thing.
Arriving home last night, the ho-dog house was lit in red so I knew the puppies had warmth. Still the old dogs wouldn't go in there them... :( Wally has been working with them but it's going to take some time. The little guys sit right on the edge of the doorway looking out to see who is passing by. They still aren't brave enough to take that first step so the dog house is kind of a baby sitter for now. They were barking when I got out of my car but settled down before I had time to get all the groceries inside. I had a trunk-load full I tell ya!
The weather has warmed up enough for the roosters to hit the trees again. They go under the porch when it's cold so I've missed seeing them fly up to roost. This morning they were cock-a-doodle-doing their little rooster heads off...it seemed like they were all going at it at the same time! lol I only hear them when I first wake up, while I'm making my lunch and when I'm leaving but Wally gets to enjoy it for about an hour or so after I've left the farm. I hope Neccy and company will get as much laughter out of my roosters as I do...lol!!
I was a little worn out after the grocery store as I was trying to find all the sorts of foods that I don't buy - ever. You know, Doritos, sugary cereal, frozen french fries, mac & cheese, Ramen noodle soup, etc. Indeed all the stuff that kids love to eat and that which is decidedly bad for them on the healthy scale.. I did find a very cool thing while I was looking at the frozen biscuits (whatever, they're easier when you're feeding a crowd, okay?) and that was whole wheat frozen dumplings... How about that?
As excited as I was about the sugar free cake mix, the excitement about whole wheat dumplings is doubled! Now we can eat them knowing that whole wheat is once again nourishing our bodies while tasting just as good, if not better (we'll know before long) than the originals... woo hoo!!! Sure there are still calories and probably some fat too but at least there is no refined white flour - evil words in the world of a diabetic.
So my buggy was overflowing with junk food. That's the only way to describe it. I bought soda, people...I never buy soda unless it's the Diet Mt. Dews that Wally drinks. Coke Zero (whatever that is, it was on sale so I bought it), diet Dr. Pepper (way too much caffeine - Jarrett is not allowed to have this even when he stops by the Oriole's) and caffeine free Coke all in 2 liter bottles. Yuck to all of it! If the kids don't drink it while they're here, I'm donating it to a food collection place. They would likely go crazy living here - there wouldn't be any of that on a regular basis, that's for sure!
After putting away all that food I was in the mood for something simple, warm and filling for dinner. BLTs won out over fried ham, egg and cheese sandwiches. There's just something about bacon frying in a cast iron skillet while you're standing in the kitchen of a log cabin on the eve of your first true winter...can't you just smell it? I know you can hear the sizzling... mmmm makes you want to go get a BLT,huh? :) C'mon up here and I'll make you one!
I'm hoping to get some farm fresh eggs for Mom and Darryl said he would check on them for me. Even if I only get a half dozen, they'll all be for her. She had them growing up and she's been reading about me having them all the time since my arrival here so it's the least I can do. The problem is, the hens have temporarily stopped laying so I'm in a bit of a situation. I'll check with Darryl tomorrow to see if he had any luck. C'mon little chickens, get to laying again...lol! I actually had to buy eggs at the grocery store :(
Today it's very cloudy and promises to rain. I'm sure it won't cut loose until I'm ready to leave work for the day...ha ha It's okay with me. Who cares if it's raining when you are off work for 7 and a half days in a row????? It's not going to be easy coming back on the 29th but I'll be here. I'm sure I'll have much to blog about so you can expect a long posting that day. Hopefully it will be entertaining enough to make up for not having anything to read in all that time.
My list of things to do is quite small. I have one gift card to pick up and get in the mail and then I'm bound for the cabin to make cookies. Instead of trying to buy gifts for everyone I've met since I've been here, they're all getting a tin of cookies. I found a recipe for Pecan Shortbread cookies on the Kraft foods website. It makes 5 dozen!! That's my kind of recipe. Mix, drop, bake, cool, pack, repeat from the word "drop" until all the batter is gone...One recipe, 5 ingredients, 12 minutes in the oven for each batch. Done.
I bought some tins at Rite-Aid the other day when we were making use of the beer special. They are Christmassy looking but I have to add my own little touch to them. I'm not sure if I'll wrap them or just make a nice big bow to go on top with some sort of ornament hanging from it. Maybe a little of both... you know what will be the deciding factor, don't you? Time - it will depend on how much of it I've got. We want to get them delivered to Pee Wee's on Wednesday because we probably won't make it back by there again before Christmas. Everyone who gets cookies is pretty much a regular at Pee Wee's so it's a neutral place to drop things off for other people. It's like we do at the club...
Wrapping is a favorite past time of mine and one I won't have much opportunity to do this Christmas. I'll have to do some fancy wrapping when birthdays roll around or surely I'll lose my touch...oh noooooooo!
Well, as you know, I'm only here until 11:00 (CST) today, which is 12:00 if you're in FL and 10:00 if you're in AZ. That time is quickly approaching and I have to finish up some work so this is it for today's blog.
Merry Christmas to all!!!!!! Love & miss you,
Darcy
Okay, I couldn't resist, here's your quote...
"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." ~Burton Hillis
Tennessee summertime showed me new beginnings with sweltering heat and sweat bees
Tennessee fall showed me new beginnings with the changing of the leaves
And now the Tennessee winter is here to show me what it’s like to freeze!”
I thought I'd start you out with a quote today instead of leaving it for the end. This quote is different than the others though as it is one I wrote myself just a few minutes ago. I hope you like it and I hope you feel it reflects what I've been writing about since I started the blog. The day after Christmas marks my 9 month anniversary of being here and still I feel like there are millions of words to be written for your reading enjoyment. I hope you'll keep reading them as days go by.
What little bit of shopping I did this year reminded me of years gone by when it was such a hustle and bustle to get everything done. Going to this store or that one, dealing with the traffic, finding parking spaces, hiding gifts so my sister and kids wouldn't know what they were getting (thank you Ernie and Mom) and of course deciding what to cook and who all to have over. These days I take it easy and I don't worry so much about whether everything will get done. Somehow it always does, right?
Today is the first day of winter and last night there was a lunar eclipse. I don't think there will be another one for 3 more years. While I forgot to get up and go see it, I heard this morning on the radio that it was too cloudy to see it anyway. You may be asking yourself, how in the world I could remember to be awake at 2:15am in order to see a lunar eclipse...that's just how things work for me. I haven't used an alarm clock in so many years I can't remember. After a certain age, or after getting up at the same time year after year, my body just knows when to wake up. Of course, here lately, it's been waking up earlier than I want it to but at least I'm getting 6 hours in.
As office people will do, around here the food has been coming in non-stop since last week and it's all completely fat and calorie free (ha ha ha ha ha) so no one holds back. We have had chocolate covered pretzels with sprinkles on them, little spinach quiches, hash brown casserole with the cheese ever so slightly burned on the bottom, sausage balls, fudge, brownies, ham and cheese roll ups, a cream cheese ball with scallions and chipped beef (like Marcia makes!!), home made sugar cookies, chex mix and chocolate - chocolate - chocolate galore!!!!!
You don't know what it takes for me to stay away from that table!! But stay away I do - for the most part. I had a little bit of the casserole and two roll-ups. I had one pretzel and a small scoop of the cheese ball. I had to have that in Marcia's honor :) I had one cookie and that was it for me. I can't eat like that anymore or it upsets my stomach in the worst way...lol at work that's not a good thing.
Arriving home last night, the ho-dog house was lit in red so I knew the puppies had warmth. Still the old dogs wouldn't go in there them... :( Wally has been working with them but it's going to take some time. The little guys sit right on the edge of the doorway looking out to see who is passing by. They still aren't brave enough to take that first step so the dog house is kind of a baby sitter for now. They were barking when I got out of my car but settled down before I had time to get all the groceries inside. I had a trunk-load full I tell ya!
The weather has warmed up enough for the roosters to hit the trees again. They go under the porch when it's cold so I've missed seeing them fly up to roost. This morning they were cock-a-doodle-doing their little rooster heads off...it seemed like they were all going at it at the same time! lol I only hear them when I first wake up, while I'm making my lunch and when I'm leaving but Wally gets to enjoy it for about an hour or so after I've left the farm. I hope Neccy and company will get as much laughter out of my roosters as I do...lol!!
I was a little worn out after the grocery store as I was trying to find all the sorts of foods that I don't buy - ever. You know, Doritos, sugary cereal, frozen french fries, mac & cheese, Ramen noodle soup, etc. Indeed all the stuff that kids love to eat and that which is decidedly bad for them on the healthy scale.. I did find a very cool thing while I was looking at the frozen biscuits (whatever, they're easier when you're feeding a crowd, okay?) and that was whole wheat frozen dumplings... How about that?
As excited as I was about the sugar free cake mix, the excitement about whole wheat dumplings is doubled! Now we can eat them knowing that whole wheat is once again nourishing our bodies while tasting just as good, if not better (we'll know before long) than the originals... woo hoo!!! Sure there are still calories and probably some fat too but at least there is no refined white flour - evil words in the world of a diabetic.
So my buggy was overflowing with junk food. That's the only way to describe it. I bought soda, people...I never buy soda unless it's the Diet Mt. Dews that Wally drinks. Coke Zero (whatever that is, it was on sale so I bought it), diet Dr. Pepper (way too much caffeine - Jarrett is not allowed to have this even when he stops by the Oriole's) and caffeine free Coke all in 2 liter bottles. Yuck to all of it! If the kids don't drink it while they're here, I'm donating it to a food collection place. They would likely go crazy living here - there wouldn't be any of that on a regular basis, that's for sure!
After putting away all that food I was in the mood for something simple, warm and filling for dinner. BLTs won out over fried ham, egg and cheese sandwiches. There's just something about bacon frying in a cast iron skillet while you're standing in the kitchen of a log cabin on the eve of your first true winter...can't you just smell it? I know you can hear the sizzling... mmmm makes you want to go get a BLT,huh? :) C'mon up here and I'll make you one!
I'm hoping to get some farm fresh eggs for Mom and Darryl said he would check on them for me. Even if I only get a half dozen, they'll all be for her. She had them growing up and she's been reading about me having them all the time since my arrival here so it's the least I can do. The problem is, the hens have temporarily stopped laying so I'm in a bit of a situation. I'll check with Darryl tomorrow to see if he had any luck. C'mon little chickens, get to laying again...lol! I actually had to buy eggs at the grocery store :(
Today it's very cloudy and promises to rain. I'm sure it won't cut loose until I'm ready to leave work for the day...ha ha It's okay with me. Who cares if it's raining when you are off work for 7 and a half days in a row????? It's not going to be easy coming back on the 29th but I'll be here. I'm sure I'll have much to blog about so you can expect a long posting that day. Hopefully it will be entertaining enough to make up for not having anything to read in all that time.
My list of things to do is quite small. I have one gift card to pick up and get in the mail and then I'm bound for the cabin to make cookies. Instead of trying to buy gifts for everyone I've met since I've been here, they're all getting a tin of cookies. I found a recipe for Pecan Shortbread cookies on the Kraft foods website. It makes 5 dozen!! That's my kind of recipe. Mix, drop, bake, cool, pack, repeat from the word "drop" until all the batter is gone...One recipe, 5 ingredients, 12 minutes in the oven for each batch. Done.
I bought some tins at Rite-Aid the other day when we were making use of the beer special. They are Christmassy looking but I have to add my own little touch to them. I'm not sure if I'll wrap them or just make a nice big bow to go on top with some sort of ornament hanging from it. Maybe a little of both... you know what will be the deciding factor, don't you? Time - it will depend on how much of it I've got. We want to get them delivered to Pee Wee's on Wednesday because we probably won't make it back by there again before Christmas. Everyone who gets cookies is pretty much a regular at Pee Wee's so it's a neutral place to drop things off for other people. It's like we do at the club...
Wrapping is a favorite past time of mine and one I won't have much opportunity to do this Christmas. I'll have to do some fancy wrapping when birthdays roll around or surely I'll lose my touch...oh noooooooo!
Well, as you know, I'm only here until 11:00 (CST) today, which is 12:00 if you're in FL and 10:00 if you're in AZ. That time is quickly approaching and I have to finish up some work so this is it for today's blog.
Merry Christmas to all!!!!!! Love & miss you,
Darcy
Okay, I couldn't resist, here's your quote...
"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." ~Burton Hillis
Monday, December 20, 2010
4...3...2...1....................ETA 8:00am CST
That's all we have left of the countdown to the arrival of Mom, Neccy, Jack, Kain, Jarrett and Rebecca. The pantry is stocked, the bedding is ready, the 4 wheelers have been fueled up and firewood has been stacked.
What more could we ask for? Well, a white Christmas would be nice but we don't want to be greedy. It's enough to know that we'll spend this, my first Christmas in my new home, with family.
The weather is supposed to be rainy tomorrow, clearing on Wednesday, partly cloudy on Thursday and a 20% chance of snow for Friday evening. Of course, there are no guarantees but we can hope for the snow to come overnight and into Christmas morning.
I think everyone has seen snow except Jarrett. He's 13 years old and never been on an airplane (not that he will be on one for this trip either) and he's never seen snow but he does have a girlfriend. Her name is Haleigh and she's the granddaughter of our good friends Dennis and Debbie Hall. What a small world. Haleigh won't be coming up with everyone but maybe next time...
We took the frozen 30-something pound smoked ham from the freezer yesterday. For now it's sitting on the bar. When I felt of it this morning, it was still hard as a rock. I'm hoping it will thaw before Saturday! lol Otherwise, well, there is no otherwise - we'll have to heat it up as it is and dig in when it's hot! I can't wait and I know Kain can't wait either. He's the ham eater of the family - next to me, of course. He'll even give hugs for hunks of ham :) lol!
We have firewood stacked up and ready to burn should we decide to build a fire - that will be weather dependent as we would prefer to have the fire outside as opposed to inside. We can have one inside but it's more fun to be outside, there's just something about it.
There was a full moon shining brightly as I left the warmth of the cabin this morning. It sure was hard to leave I'll tell you that much. The tree lights were on, the heater was warming the living room and it smelled like brownies in the kitchen. No, I didn't make brownies but I did make another sugar-free chocolate cake and it was sitting there on the cutting board just waiting for someone to slice into it. That someone was me :) I packed a piece for my lunch while Wally had some for breakfast. It is so delicious with a moist, almost gooey center and those brownie-like crunchy edges, my oh my you just want to eat the whole thing!! ha ha ha indeed that would be too much but you know what I'm talking about when you can smell cake through the whole house? If not, you should really go ahead and bake one just to see what I'm talking about.
Friday we chilled at the cabin. Neither of us felt much like venturing out so I added to and heated up the left-over whatchamacallit for dinner and after that, we sat in our chairs in the living room, watching tv and talking about our plans for Saturday and Sunday. I suggested we go see The Grinder Switch Hour on Saturday because they aren't likely to have it over the holidays. That was the only thing I really had in mind.
It was an overcast night and chilly outside. It was warmly lit by the tree and heated inside. We turned on the light for the dogs to be warm overnight and it wasn't long before we hit the hay ourselves. Saturday dawned with a light dusting of snow on the ground which we marred with footprints in going to feed the horses.
Smokey has done a turn-around of sorts. For the last couple of weeks he has stayed far from the feeding area and only comes close once we walk away. This Saturday, he was all Mr. Nice Guy for some reason. I walked over to give him some sweet feed out of the bucket and he came right up and helped himself to a mouthful. He even leaned inward so that I could scratch up under his halter and down his black, furry neck. He actually seemed to enjoy it and I know I did. It's probably been at least two weeks since he came close enough for me to touch him without him shying away.
There's no guarantee this pattern will continue but it would be nice for him to act decent when our company arrives. I know Mom will enjoy petting him and Rebel both. It was cold enough that his whiskers had ice on them... in a big show of affection, he let me rub it off for him. lol!
We had boneless pork chops with gravy, scrambled eggs and orange slices for breakfast and then we were off to see The Grinders Switch Hour in Centerville. I wish they would be playing when Mom is here but as it turns out, they won't be on stage again until January 8th. Oh well. The show was just incredible this week as they had a band called Double Down who made a guest appearance. These guys do a little bit of everything from old country western to Allman Brothers to more current country... they were really good considering they had played until wee hours of the morning the night before and they were back on stage at 10:00am.
The building was decorated for Christmas with a tree and mechanical Santa and Mrs. Claus. There were lights strung around the windows and garland around the stage. The band members were in red sweaters and some sported Santa hats on top of their cowboy hats :) Very festive!
For New Years Eve, the Double Down Band invited everyone to a restaurant/bar called the River Rat in Howenwald, TN. It's not too far from Centerville if you look on the map. The band will be playing and they're having a champagne toast at midnight. Afterwards they'll be serving a breakfast buffet for all patrons to enjoy. I forget what the whole thing costs but it wasn't much as I recall. Well, we're not going but it wasn't a bad deal considering it will be New Year's Eve and all.
The regular band played some Christmas songs and did a couple of tributes and then the owner of the radio station that hosts the show got up and played his guitar and sang Jambalaya and Culiga, both old Hank songs... He really got the place hopping with those two oldies but goodies. We tapped and sang and clapped our hands with the best of them and in no time, the show was over. They did say that they were taping the shows for the next two Saturdays if we all wanted to hang around and listen to them but I thought I would rather wait and listen to them on the radio at home while everyone is here. We put our donation in the bucket, donated another .50 for a newspaper and we left.
Besides, they have a Snappy's Pizza in Centerville and we were ready for some of that action as soon as we could get our hands on it. We ordered one for us and another for Darryl and hit the highway for Pee Wee's Place. By now it was just after 11am so we knew they would be open. It was cold enough outside for me to wear my gray jacket with a scarf around my neck and a turtle-neck sweater underneath. The guys were all in T-shirts and jeans, mostly without a jacket of any sort... I'm not that tough yet lol!! Don't know that I'll ever be...ha ha ha
We shared our pizza with Darryl's son Dwayne and Darryl ate what he could of his. I'm sure the rest was planned for dinner :), we had a few beers and chatted up the news from the paper - the big newsworthy item of the day is that the judge's son was arrested for taking pictures of female inmates in various stages of undress. From what I gathered, he thought he would just get a slap on the wrist, pay a fine and be done with it. Much to his surprise, he's in big, big trouble and will likely see some jail time. Apparently, forcing inmates to do things like that is a felony and he gets a felony count for each instance. It's not looking good for him. Poor little rich guy, right? At least it's nice to know that there is justice in the world... sometimes.
After Pee Wee's we stopped and got beer at the Right-Aid store. Believe it or not, it's cheaper than the grocery store or the gas station...lol! We meandered along the back roads enjoying the sunshine and the lack of traffic, just laughing and commenting on the scenery. We saw where they're doing some logging along the way to Washer Road (the road to PeeWee's) and because of the recent rain and snow they now have a big old mess down on the side of the road. The logging truck can't get in there so the other machinery has to bring the logs out of the woods and get them on the truck - they make deep ruts in the mud and tear up the little shrub trees all along the way. It's a mess and a shame but we see it all the time. The big trees are slowly being logged to the point where only pulp wood trees are left. There's no stopping progress even way out here in the country. :(
Saturday afternoon we settled in quick after feeding the dogs and roosters and ourselves. I made us tuna sandwiches with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese and regular old Fritos on the side. mmm mmm good - we haven't had tuna sandwiches in forever and they were perfect for finishing off the day. I cleaned up the kitchen like you would for spring cleaning. I scrubbed the cabinets and the range hood (ew what a dirty, greasy mess that was) and bleached the counter tops with Clorox Clean-Up. I'm pretty sure that range hood hadn't been cleaned in, well, probably forever...lol just kidding! I'm sure it was cleaned as the years have gone by but it had been a long time since the last good cleaning. I hung my trivets on the wall and started up the dish-washer... you know it's bad when I resort to using that thing. I was hoping it would cut the grease on the few things that were above and beside the stove. What the dish-washer didn't get, the Greased Lightning sure did a number on! That is a truly amazing product and one I don't plan to ever be without.
The night came quickly with an overcast sky and a forecast calling for more snow. We sat in the living room watching tv as the sun set down off the back side of the cabin. It's not long after this happens that we find ourselves feeling relaxed and sleepy having spent most of the day away from home. After a couple episodes of Criminal Minds, it was off to bed for us.
Little did I know we were going to be on the hunt for puppies come Sunday morning. We talked about getting a pair of brothers so they can begin their young lives with the two older dogs around to teach them. We set off for the Country Kitchen for breakfast and picked up a newspaper at the gas station next door. While we awaited our order, Wally looked through the "Pets For Sale" section. Before breakfast was even served, he had found an ad for Great White Pyrenees puppies. The guy had 5 left; 3 males, 2 females. Sounded good to us.
We ate our breakfast, all the while I was wishing I had copied Wally's order, and then tried the number. The guy gave us directions and we told him we would be there to take a look at them. I'll step back to the breakfast thing for a minute just in case you were wondering...he ordered a whole slice of country ham, eggs over medium, biscuits and gravy and fried potatoes. I ordered whole wheat toast, eggs over medium and the tenderloin. My tenderloin was tough and my toast was cold. My eggs were over-cooked and barely had enough runny yellow stuff to even dip my toast in. Wally gave me his potatoes. In all, that was a disappointing breakfast and it reminded me of why I prefer to make breakfast at home. So there.
We took my car home, found a box big enough for puppies to be transported in, loaded the cooler into the black truck, I put on a heavier coat and we were headed back out towards Dickson. Wally pretty much knew where the guy lived and I had just been down this road not too long ago so I was somewhat familiar with it myself. I couldn't have gotten us there by any means but at least things are starting to look familiar. We found the house, met the guy (Norm) and he showed us around. He raises TN Walking horses and has 4 or 5 in the pasture, another three in the stables, 4 barn cats, 2 pit bulls that stay penned up, the mom to the puppies and then finally - the puppies!!
They were all very shy and didn't want to come to us. Wally picked up a couple of them by the scruff of their necks and eliminated the two females. We ended up with the biggest two out of three and he handed one off to me. Okay, it's been a while since I held a nervous little pup and my guess was it had been a while since he had been held by a nervous new owner. He didn't pee on me (thank goodness) but he sure was shaking like a leaf on a tree. I was petting him and trying to talk in a calm voice but he just kept shaking... once Wally had his brother in hand, he seemed to calm down.
We carried them outside and stood holding them and talking to Norm. He's a talker that Norm... him and Wally talked about engines and numbers of engines and all the rest of that engine talk that might as well be Spanish for all I understand of it...before long my arm was getting sore from holding the pup but there was nothing I could do. The box was in the back of the truck where I couldn't reach and there didn't seem to be a break in the car talk action so I just stood there holding my new little guy, rubbing his head and hoping he didn't have to "go." I was so happy to hear Wally say it was nice to meet Norm - I knew we would soon be on the road to home with our new bundles in tow.
We put them in the box on the front seat between us and they both stopped shaking...hmmm? The one I was holding stuck is nose up under my arm pit and didn't come out the whole trip home. The other little guy was looking all around, watching Wally and snuggling into this brother. Neither of them cried, they didn't pee in the box, they just sat there. Just before we got back home it looked like they were relaxed enough to go to sleep. We got them from the box and put them on the ramp up to the dog house (it's on the backside and you can't see it in the pictures) so they could learn to get in and out. Ha! They just sat there on the ramp. Wally nudged the first one up and he did finally go then we did the same with the second one. Puppies don't understand English apparently. I kept saying, get up in there, and they just kept sitting there. Finally they were both in the house and getting to know their new surroundings.
Once in the house they thought they were king of the hill. They were barking and growling in their little puppy way and when they were introduced to Smith and Wesson, they were ready to play!! Too bad Smith and Wesson wanted nothing to do with them. They wouldn't go back in the dog house the rest of the night. They slept under the porch instead. Poor old guys. We're not having that again tonight. Hopefully, by the time I get home Wally will have had them around each other enough so that the big dogs can tolerate the little ones at least through the nighttime hours when it's colder outside.
The puppies are hot-blooded and prefer cooler temperatures. They are also nocturnal - true to their breed, as they grow older, they will stay awake nights and patrol the property protecting our other animals from predators and protecting us from would-be intruders. Not that we've ever had an intruder but regardless. They will do the majority of their sleeping during the day when we will be in charge of protecting the place. I like the little puppies but I'm anxious to see them do their job as the Great White Pyrenees are supposed to do. I'll let you know what their names are as soon as we have names picked out for them :)
Dinner on Sunday was Dirty Rice made with not just ground beef but also some cubed venison tenderloin pieces thrown in with it. I made a double batch and there was just enough left over for Wally to have for lunch today. I had the left over tuna. That Dirty Rice is something else... another one you should try if you haven't already. I'm not sure it makes a difference what brand you get but I always pick up Zatarran's when it's on sale. Sometimes they have it 10 for $10.00 (what a deal!!). We rarely have white rice in the house so this was a big treat for us both. The pot was full of rice just simmering away with all that beef, the venison and the Cajun seasonings. It was hard to say which was the stronger scent - the Dirty Rice or the Chocolate cake... :) Both were equally enticing...
So our weekend came to a close with two new additions to the farm, two old dogs that weren't so happy, roosters roosting back up in the trees after sleeping under the porch during the colder nights, and our bellies warmed by steaming rice and red meat cooked to seasoned perfection...ahhhhhh wouldn't you like to come visit sometime?
I hope you had fun at the Christmas party/Birthday Bash at the Oriole's and I'm sure you passed on all my hugs and greetings to everyone! If you're not an Oriole, well, you probably really should be but I still hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as we did ours. I'll be here for just a half day tomorrow so the blog posting is iffy....if I don't get back on tomorrow, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!
What more could we ask for? Well, a white Christmas would be nice but we don't want to be greedy. It's enough to know that we'll spend this, my first Christmas in my new home, with family.
The weather is supposed to be rainy tomorrow, clearing on Wednesday, partly cloudy on Thursday and a 20% chance of snow for Friday evening. Of course, there are no guarantees but we can hope for the snow to come overnight and into Christmas morning.
I think everyone has seen snow except Jarrett. He's 13 years old and never been on an airplane (not that he will be on one for this trip either) and he's never seen snow but he does have a girlfriend. Her name is Haleigh and she's the granddaughter of our good friends Dennis and Debbie Hall. What a small world. Haleigh won't be coming up with everyone but maybe next time...
We took the frozen 30-something pound smoked ham from the freezer yesterday. For now it's sitting on the bar. When I felt of it this morning, it was still hard as a rock. I'm hoping it will thaw before Saturday! lol Otherwise, well, there is no otherwise - we'll have to heat it up as it is and dig in when it's hot! I can't wait and I know Kain can't wait either. He's the ham eater of the family - next to me, of course. He'll even give hugs for hunks of ham :) lol!
We have firewood stacked up and ready to burn should we decide to build a fire - that will be weather dependent as we would prefer to have the fire outside as opposed to inside. We can have one inside but it's more fun to be outside, there's just something about it.
There was a full moon shining brightly as I left the warmth of the cabin this morning. It sure was hard to leave I'll tell you that much. The tree lights were on, the heater was warming the living room and it smelled like brownies in the kitchen. No, I didn't make brownies but I did make another sugar-free chocolate cake and it was sitting there on the cutting board just waiting for someone to slice into it. That someone was me :) I packed a piece for my lunch while Wally had some for breakfast. It is so delicious with a moist, almost gooey center and those brownie-like crunchy edges, my oh my you just want to eat the whole thing!! ha ha ha indeed that would be too much but you know what I'm talking about when you can smell cake through the whole house? If not, you should really go ahead and bake one just to see what I'm talking about.
Friday we chilled at the cabin. Neither of us felt much like venturing out so I added to and heated up the left-over whatchamacallit for dinner and after that, we sat in our chairs in the living room, watching tv and talking about our plans for Saturday and Sunday. I suggested we go see The Grinder Switch Hour on Saturday because they aren't likely to have it over the holidays. That was the only thing I really had in mind.
It was an overcast night and chilly outside. It was warmly lit by the tree and heated inside. We turned on the light for the dogs to be warm overnight and it wasn't long before we hit the hay ourselves. Saturday dawned with a light dusting of snow on the ground which we marred with footprints in going to feed the horses.
Smokey has done a turn-around of sorts. For the last couple of weeks he has stayed far from the feeding area and only comes close once we walk away. This Saturday, he was all Mr. Nice Guy for some reason. I walked over to give him some sweet feed out of the bucket and he came right up and helped himself to a mouthful. He even leaned inward so that I could scratch up under his halter and down his black, furry neck. He actually seemed to enjoy it and I know I did. It's probably been at least two weeks since he came close enough for me to touch him without him shying away.
There's no guarantee this pattern will continue but it would be nice for him to act decent when our company arrives. I know Mom will enjoy petting him and Rebel both. It was cold enough that his whiskers had ice on them... in a big show of affection, he let me rub it off for him. lol!
We had boneless pork chops with gravy, scrambled eggs and orange slices for breakfast and then we were off to see The Grinders Switch Hour in Centerville. I wish they would be playing when Mom is here but as it turns out, they won't be on stage again until January 8th. Oh well. The show was just incredible this week as they had a band called Double Down who made a guest appearance. These guys do a little bit of everything from old country western to Allman Brothers to more current country... they were really good considering they had played until wee hours of the morning the night before and they were back on stage at 10:00am.
The building was decorated for Christmas with a tree and mechanical Santa and Mrs. Claus. There were lights strung around the windows and garland around the stage. The band members were in red sweaters and some sported Santa hats on top of their cowboy hats :) Very festive!
For New Years Eve, the Double Down Band invited everyone to a restaurant/bar called the River Rat in Howenwald, TN. It's not too far from Centerville if you look on the map. The band will be playing and they're having a champagne toast at midnight. Afterwards they'll be serving a breakfast buffet for all patrons to enjoy. I forget what the whole thing costs but it wasn't much as I recall. Well, we're not going but it wasn't a bad deal considering it will be New Year's Eve and all.
The regular band played some Christmas songs and did a couple of tributes and then the owner of the radio station that hosts the show got up and played his guitar and sang Jambalaya and Culiga, both old Hank songs... He really got the place hopping with those two oldies but goodies. We tapped and sang and clapped our hands with the best of them and in no time, the show was over. They did say that they were taping the shows for the next two Saturdays if we all wanted to hang around and listen to them but I thought I would rather wait and listen to them on the radio at home while everyone is here. We put our donation in the bucket, donated another .50 for a newspaper and we left.
Besides, they have a Snappy's Pizza in Centerville and we were ready for some of that action as soon as we could get our hands on it. We ordered one for us and another for Darryl and hit the highway for Pee Wee's Place. By now it was just after 11am so we knew they would be open. It was cold enough outside for me to wear my gray jacket with a scarf around my neck and a turtle-neck sweater underneath. The guys were all in T-shirts and jeans, mostly without a jacket of any sort... I'm not that tough yet lol!! Don't know that I'll ever be...ha ha ha
We shared our pizza with Darryl's son Dwayne and Darryl ate what he could of his. I'm sure the rest was planned for dinner :), we had a few beers and chatted up the news from the paper - the big newsworthy item of the day is that the judge's son was arrested for taking pictures of female inmates in various stages of undress. From what I gathered, he thought he would just get a slap on the wrist, pay a fine and be done with it. Much to his surprise, he's in big, big trouble and will likely see some jail time. Apparently, forcing inmates to do things like that is a felony and he gets a felony count for each instance. It's not looking good for him. Poor little rich guy, right? At least it's nice to know that there is justice in the world... sometimes.
After Pee Wee's we stopped and got beer at the Right-Aid store. Believe it or not, it's cheaper than the grocery store or the gas station...lol! We meandered along the back roads enjoying the sunshine and the lack of traffic, just laughing and commenting on the scenery. We saw where they're doing some logging along the way to Washer Road (the road to PeeWee's) and because of the recent rain and snow they now have a big old mess down on the side of the road. The logging truck can't get in there so the other machinery has to bring the logs out of the woods and get them on the truck - they make deep ruts in the mud and tear up the little shrub trees all along the way. It's a mess and a shame but we see it all the time. The big trees are slowly being logged to the point where only pulp wood trees are left. There's no stopping progress even way out here in the country. :(
Saturday afternoon we settled in quick after feeding the dogs and roosters and ourselves. I made us tuna sandwiches with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese and regular old Fritos on the side. mmm mmm good - we haven't had tuna sandwiches in forever and they were perfect for finishing off the day. I cleaned up the kitchen like you would for spring cleaning. I scrubbed the cabinets and the range hood (ew what a dirty, greasy mess that was) and bleached the counter tops with Clorox Clean-Up. I'm pretty sure that range hood hadn't been cleaned in, well, probably forever...lol just kidding! I'm sure it was cleaned as the years have gone by but it had been a long time since the last good cleaning. I hung my trivets on the wall and started up the dish-washer... you know it's bad when I resort to using that thing. I was hoping it would cut the grease on the few things that were above and beside the stove. What the dish-washer didn't get, the Greased Lightning sure did a number on! That is a truly amazing product and one I don't plan to ever be without.
The night came quickly with an overcast sky and a forecast calling for more snow. We sat in the living room watching tv as the sun set down off the back side of the cabin. It's not long after this happens that we find ourselves feeling relaxed and sleepy having spent most of the day away from home. After a couple episodes of Criminal Minds, it was off to bed for us.
Little did I know we were going to be on the hunt for puppies come Sunday morning. We talked about getting a pair of brothers so they can begin their young lives with the two older dogs around to teach them. We set off for the Country Kitchen for breakfast and picked up a newspaper at the gas station next door. While we awaited our order, Wally looked through the "Pets For Sale" section. Before breakfast was even served, he had found an ad for Great White Pyrenees puppies. The guy had 5 left; 3 males, 2 females. Sounded good to us.
We ate our breakfast, all the while I was wishing I had copied Wally's order, and then tried the number. The guy gave us directions and we told him we would be there to take a look at them. I'll step back to the breakfast thing for a minute just in case you were wondering...he ordered a whole slice of country ham, eggs over medium, biscuits and gravy and fried potatoes. I ordered whole wheat toast, eggs over medium and the tenderloin. My tenderloin was tough and my toast was cold. My eggs were over-cooked and barely had enough runny yellow stuff to even dip my toast in. Wally gave me his potatoes. In all, that was a disappointing breakfast and it reminded me of why I prefer to make breakfast at home. So there.
We took my car home, found a box big enough for puppies to be transported in, loaded the cooler into the black truck, I put on a heavier coat and we were headed back out towards Dickson. Wally pretty much knew where the guy lived and I had just been down this road not too long ago so I was somewhat familiar with it myself. I couldn't have gotten us there by any means but at least things are starting to look familiar. We found the house, met the guy (Norm) and he showed us around. He raises TN Walking horses and has 4 or 5 in the pasture, another three in the stables, 4 barn cats, 2 pit bulls that stay penned up, the mom to the puppies and then finally - the puppies!!
They were all very shy and didn't want to come to us. Wally picked up a couple of them by the scruff of their necks and eliminated the two females. We ended up with the biggest two out of three and he handed one off to me. Okay, it's been a while since I held a nervous little pup and my guess was it had been a while since he had been held by a nervous new owner. He didn't pee on me (thank goodness) but he sure was shaking like a leaf on a tree. I was petting him and trying to talk in a calm voice but he just kept shaking... once Wally had his brother in hand, he seemed to calm down.
We carried them outside and stood holding them and talking to Norm. He's a talker that Norm... him and Wally talked about engines and numbers of engines and all the rest of that engine talk that might as well be Spanish for all I understand of it...before long my arm was getting sore from holding the pup but there was nothing I could do. The box was in the back of the truck where I couldn't reach and there didn't seem to be a break in the car talk action so I just stood there holding my new little guy, rubbing his head and hoping he didn't have to "go." I was so happy to hear Wally say it was nice to meet Norm - I knew we would soon be on the road to home with our new bundles in tow.
We put them in the box on the front seat between us and they both stopped shaking...hmmm? The one I was holding stuck is nose up under my arm pit and didn't come out the whole trip home. The other little guy was looking all around, watching Wally and snuggling into this brother. Neither of them cried, they didn't pee in the box, they just sat there. Just before we got back home it looked like they were relaxed enough to go to sleep. We got them from the box and put them on the ramp up to the dog house (it's on the backside and you can't see it in the pictures) so they could learn to get in and out. Ha! They just sat there on the ramp. Wally nudged the first one up and he did finally go then we did the same with the second one. Puppies don't understand English apparently. I kept saying, get up in there, and they just kept sitting there. Finally they were both in the house and getting to know their new surroundings.
Once in the house they thought they were king of the hill. They were barking and growling in their little puppy way and when they were introduced to Smith and Wesson, they were ready to play!! Too bad Smith and Wesson wanted nothing to do with them. They wouldn't go back in the dog house the rest of the night. They slept under the porch instead. Poor old guys. We're not having that again tonight. Hopefully, by the time I get home Wally will have had them around each other enough so that the big dogs can tolerate the little ones at least through the nighttime hours when it's colder outside.
The puppies are hot-blooded and prefer cooler temperatures. They are also nocturnal - true to their breed, as they grow older, they will stay awake nights and patrol the property protecting our other animals from predators and protecting us from would-be intruders. Not that we've ever had an intruder but regardless. They will do the majority of their sleeping during the day when we will be in charge of protecting the place. I like the little puppies but I'm anxious to see them do their job as the Great White Pyrenees are supposed to do. I'll let you know what their names are as soon as we have names picked out for them :)
Dinner on Sunday was Dirty Rice made with not just ground beef but also some cubed venison tenderloin pieces thrown in with it. I made a double batch and there was just enough left over for Wally to have for lunch today. I had the left over tuna. That Dirty Rice is something else... another one you should try if you haven't already. I'm not sure it makes a difference what brand you get but I always pick up Zatarran's when it's on sale. Sometimes they have it 10 for $10.00 (what a deal!!). We rarely have white rice in the house so this was a big treat for us both. The pot was full of rice just simmering away with all that beef, the venison and the Cajun seasonings. It was hard to say which was the stronger scent - the Dirty Rice or the Chocolate cake... :) Both were equally enticing...
So our weekend came to a close with two new additions to the farm, two old dogs that weren't so happy, roosters roosting back up in the trees after sleeping under the porch during the colder nights, and our bellies warmed by steaming rice and red meat cooked to seasoned perfection...ahhhhhh wouldn't you like to come visit sometime?
I hope you had fun at the Christmas party/Birthday Bash at the Oriole's and I'm sure you passed on all my hugs and greetings to everyone! If you're not an Oriole, well, you probably really should be but I still hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as we did ours. I'll be here for just a half day tomorrow so the blog posting is iffy....if I don't get back on tomorrow, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!
I have two quotes for you today... they both seemed appropriate;
"I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2000 of something."
Mitch Hedberg"Even as an adult I find it difficult to sleep on Christmas Eve. Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age." ~Carrie Latet
Friday, December 17, 2010
How Many Days Until Christmas?????
Just ask any kid you know and they'll be able to tell you without hesitation. That's a pretty funny thing about kids too you know... they can say exactly how many days until Christmas but ask them how many days until Easter or Valentine's Day or even their birthday and it's likely they won't have a clue.
It's not too difficult to figure out what's important to them. On the flip side though it is difficult to figure out how to scale back on everything to make it more about the reason for the season rather than "I want, I want, I want." It just gets to be too much.
Sure it's fun to give gifts and it's even better to see the wonder in a child's eye when Christmas morning finally comes. No one would dispute that. It sure is a lot of work and a lot of money to try and get something for everyone and even worse to try and get your hands on the "newest cool toy" or "gadget of the year."
For us, we're taking it easy this year. It will be enough for Neccy, Jack, Mom, Kain, Rebecca and Jarrett to all be here with us. The time spent just listening to them talk about all that they've been up to and laughing at their antics will be priceless. Of course I'll do my fair share of cooking for them - please, Neccy has already put in her food requests - and we'll show them the property on the 4 wheelers. Mostly, they will get to see me in my new home and witness first hand how happy I am to be here.
It's a beautiful place this time of year (sick of hearing that yet?) what with the trees bare of leaves and proudly showing off their limbs. It's nice to see them in bloom and in all their fine greenery but when a tree is bare, it shows you its true structure. It shows you what holds it upright throughout the years. Looking through the branches you can see the balance and strength of the tree - the leaves are mere decorations from that point on.
The bare trees also show all the nests the birds have built within that you wouldn't even know were there if winter never came. Sure you can sometimes spot a nest or two being held by the arms of the tree but for the most part they are hidden. Those smart little birds know best how to keep their homes secret. What's a tree to do? lol
We have a few winter birds flying around, mostly little, blue birds or big, brown and red hawks soaring in the wind coming off the top of the hill that is our front yard. There has been the occasional Cardinal sighting but they haven't made our trees their home as of yet. Don't worry - I still plan to feed them until they just can't resist my charming ways... lol hey - it worked on most of you :)
As I stand at the front door looking across the hills, the land that seemed to be so evenly laid in summer now looks more menacing with its slopes and dips and drop offs. The snow really helped to more clearly define just how the lay of the land really is. They say that the best time to buy land in Tennessee is when it snows. You can see so much more about it with the white stuff leading the way. In spring and summer when the trees are full of leaves and the bushes and shrubs grow wildly, it's hard to see when your next step could be off the edge. In the snow, you have no doubt where that edge is... lol and it's not like there are rails to keep you from going over. Nope, you're pretty much on your own. It takes some getting used to folks and I'm here to tell you it's a learning experience every day. I wouldn't trade it.
The cedar and pine trees are still green so it's not like we're without all color. The bark on the trees varies as well from the dark, black of the walnut trees to the powdery, peeling, white of the birch trees. In the winter, the county workers come along and clear out all the vines that grew so heavily over the summer so you can see around the corners that were blind spots for so many months. It looks so different that I find my eyes wandering again just as they did when I first arrived. I'd rather Wally do the driving so I can look at every little detail...
So last night I met Wally at Pee Wee's and we had a couple beers before coming back home. It was a pretty big crowd for a Thursday night and everyone was jovial and happy and getting in the holiday spirit. With me and Wally there I think the numbers totalled 15. ha ha ha and trust me, that is a pretty big crowd! I drove us home and as I came around a corner, I saw two deer in the road. I had already slowed to a crawl because it's a pretty tight corner but still I came right up on them before they wandered off into the woods. Had I been speeding like most people, I'd have slammed right into them both. Good thing I'm not a speeder... :)
I understand why so many people speed on these roads. They are likely to be the only person on them at any given time of day. It's not like they're racing to beat a light - ha! not many of those around at all. It's more just the fact that they know the roads, they've lived here forever and rarely do they ever see a cop. I think I've seen a total of two on the way to and from Pee Wee's. Now if you go through the town of Centerville, you're likely to see a few more but we don't go that way often. The back roads are so much prettier. Come on up and I'll show you what I'm talking about... :)
Well once we got back home, we were both hungry and didn't want to wait forever to eat. Here's what I had on hand - a pound of ground beef, a pound of ground venison, a can of dark, red kidney beans, a can of whole tomatoes, some garlic, cilantro, onions and peppers and some left over whole wheat noodles. Here's what I did with it all - I browned the meat with the onions, peppers and garlic. I seasoned it with seasoning salt, adobo, black pepper and garlic powder. It turns out that wasn't quite enough so I added some beef bouillon too. I chopped up the tomatoes and poured them in with the juice from the can, I poured in the kidney beans, also with the juice from the can and then dumped in the bowl full of noodles (the macaroni kind). Once all that got heated up and started to boil, I dropped in the chopped up cilantro, gave it a quick stir and turned it off. While it was cooling, I sprinkled on some shredded cheddar cheese and dinner was served! Talk about your homemade hamburger helper type dinner - indeed this one topped even my own chart...lol
From start to finish it was probably 20 minutes and we were eating. mmm mmm good I tell ya. Kids could make it, it was so easy. If all you had was an electric skillet, it could easily be made in that. If you didn't have 2 lbs of meat to use, you could quickly scale it back to suit what you have. If you don't like kidney beans (hard to believe but whatever...) you could use black beans, red beans, even black eyed peas would work well in this dish. Improvise people and let me know what you come up with!! I will say that the garlic is critical to the flavor. Anything else you could probably substitute with whatever your favorites are. I know I'm looking forward to having this one again and Wally had it both for breakfast and lunch today :) Guess he must have liked it too... :)
It's going to be hard to top it tonight - maybe I'll see if he wants to meet me at the diner... lol!! Friday night is catfish night. It comes with hush puppies, cole slaw, corn on the cob (when they don't run out), green beans and a roll with butter. Way too much to eat but the fish is hot and crispy fried - just what you want on a 34 degree night. Even though I will always order the cheeseburger no matter what... We'll see how that works out for me. If not there's always tuna sandwiches... ha ha ha ha ha!
The weather has been much improved. By that I mean the ice has melted away. The snow is gone too but there's supposed to be more tonight and tomorrow night. Temperatures aren't supposed to get out of the thirties through the weekend and Monday calls for more rain. The snow I don't mind and the rain I don't mind. I don't even mind overcast skies but that ice is some pretty tricky stuff. Just keep in mind, when there's no posting because I can't get to work, it's probably because of ice. lol now you can not like it too...
We have no plans for the weekend which means I might try to catch the Grinder Switch hour again Saturday morning. It's such a small town kind of thing what with their little radio station (we pass it on the way to Pee Wee's lol) broadcasting as far through Centerville as possible...it barely comes in on my radio at home :) The time spent there makes me feel at home even though I don't know anyone - it's just that kind of atmosphere. Plus, I can pick up the Hickman County Times newspaper...woo hoo - get caught up on the local happenings. One of our friends, JR, has a son who made the paper last week. He shot a 15 point buck on his first hunt of the year. Way to go dude! I've only seen two bucks the whole season and neither were that big. I think I have just a month or so left and I'm getting antsy...this was supposed to be the year of the deer for me :( so much for being nicknamed the great white hunter... boooooooo
You'll think I'm a nerd but I finally found a radio station that is playing all Christmas music, all day long, all the way up to and through Christmas Day. Woo Hoo!! I always listened to the one in FL (I think it was 106.7)and hardly ever changed it to my news channel during that time. The station I found here plays all Christmas music sung by country music singers so it's a little different. Although this morning I heard, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" sung by James Taylor and "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" sung by Dean Martin (heart fluttering, face flushing, butterflies in stomach...). Those are the ones I really enjoy! If you haven't yet, take some time to listen to some Christmas music - it could help get rid of any ba-humbugs you might be harboring, it might even make you smile.
If that doesn't make you smile, think of this, there's a guy sitting a couple cubicles over from me who whistles all day long. He throws in the occasional song but mostly, he whistles. All Day LONG!!! The partitions are high enough that we can't see each other even when standing up. That's fortunate for me because while he's whistling ALL DAY LONG, I'm making faces of anguish, severe pain and silent screeching...he can't carry a tune in a bucket and the whistling is most horrible...aaarrrggggghhhhhh!!! stop the whistling! lol I think he has one of those music players so he only hears what comes from the headphones - surely he's never heard himself or the torture would end!
I ask you - how do you tell someone something like that? You don't. You sit at your desk and you put up with it day in and day out. Thank goodness he works from home 3 or 4 days a week. I think I would be climbing the walls otherwise and then only because the windows don't open... lol!
So my weekend should be somewhat uneventful, possibly snowy, definitely rainy and definitely home bound if I can help it. How are your plans shaping up? I know some of you will be going to the Oriole's for the Christmas party slash Birthday Bash slash Gift Exchange. If you would please give hugs to everyone for me - especially Mikey and Kaylee, if they'll let you. Give one to Ricky Kline and Pappy if you see them and please don't forget Shawna and Chris and Charlie O. Gosh - just hug everyone and tell everyone I said hi and I miss them and I hope they have a very Merry Christmas and a super Happy, Healthy New Year :) There are too many of you to try and list all the names here - my wishes are for the entire membership of the Oriole's Nest #278. How's that? lol
Have a good weekend!
"Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect." ~Oren Arnold
It's not too difficult to figure out what's important to them. On the flip side though it is difficult to figure out how to scale back on everything to make it more about the reason for the season rather than "I want, I want, I want." It just gets to be too much.
Sure it's fun to give gifts and it's even better to see the wonder in a child's eye when Christmas morning finally comes. No one would dispute that. It sure is a lot of work and a lot of money to try and get something for everyone and even worse to try and get your hands on the "newest cool toy" or "gadget of the year."
For us, we're taking it easy this year. It will be enough for Neccy, Jack, Mom, Kain, Rebecca and Jarrett to all be here with us. The time spent just listening to them talk about all that they've been up to and laughing at their antics will be priceless. Of course I'll do my fair share of cooking for them - please, Neccy has already put in her food requests - and we'll show them the property on the 4 wheelers. Mostly, they will get to see me in my new home and witness first hand how happy I am to be here.
It's a beautiful place this time of year (sick of hearing that yet?) what with the trees bare of leaves and proudly showing off their limbs. It's nice to see them in bloom and in all their fine greenery but when a tree is bare, it shows you its true structure. It shows you what holds it upright throughout the years. Looking through the branches you can see the balance and strength of the tree - the leaves are mere decorations from that point on.
The bare trees also show all the nests the birds have built within that you wouldn't even know were there if winter never came. Sure you can sometimes spot a nest or two being held by the arms of the tree but for the most part they are hidden. Those smart little birds know best how to keep their homes secret. What's a tree to do? lol
We have a few winter birds flying around, mostly little, blue birds or big, brown and red hawks soaring in the wind coming off the top of the hill that is our front yard. There has been the occasional Cardinal sighting but they haven't made our trees their home as of yet. Don't worry - I still plan to feed them until they just can't resist my charming ways... lol hey - it worked on most of you :)
As I stand at the front door looking across the hills, the land that seemed to be so evenly laid in summer now looks more menacing with its slopes and dips and drop offs. The snow really helped to more clearly define just how the lay of the land really is. They say that the best time to buy land in Tennessee is when it snows. You can see so much more about it with the white stuff leading the way. In spring and summer when the trees are full of leaves and the bushes and shrubs grow wildly, it's hard to see when your next step could be off the edge. In the snow, you have no doubt where that edge is... lol and it's not like there are rails to keep you from going over. Nope, you're pretty much on your own. It takes some getting used to folks and I'm here to tell you it's a learning experience every day. I wouldn't trade it.
The cedar and pine trees are still green so it's not like we're without all color. The bark on the trees varies as well from the dark, black of the walnut trees to the powdery, peeling, white of the birch trees. In the winter, the county workers come along and clear out all the vines that grew so heavily over the summer so you can see around the corners that were blind spots for so many months. It looks so different that I find my eyes wandering again just as they did when I first arrived. I'd rather Wally do the driving so I can look at every little detail...
So last night I met Wally at Pee Wee's and we had a couple beers before coming back home. It was a pretty big crowd for a Thursday night and everyone was jovial and happy and getting in the holiday spirit. With me and Wally there I think the numbers totalled 15. ha ha ha and trust me, that is a pretty big crowd! I drove us home and as I came around a corner, I saw two deer in the road. I had already slowed to a crawl because it's a pretty tight corner but still I came right up on them before they wandered off into the woods. Had I been speeding like most people, I'd have slammed right into them both. Good thing I'm not a speeder... :)
I understand why so many people speed on these roads. They are likely to be the only person on them at any given time of day. It's not like they're racing to beat a light - ha! not many of those around at all. It's more just the fact that they know the roads, they've lived here forever and rarely do they ever see a cop. I think I've seen a total of two on the way to and from Pee Wee's. Now if you go through the town of Centerville, you're likely to see a few more but we don't go that way often. The back roads are so much prettier. Come on up and I'll show you what I'm talking about... :)
Well once we got back home, we were both hungry and didn't want to wait forever to eat. Here's what I had on hand - a pound of ground beef, a pound of ground venison, a can of dark, red kidney beans, a can of whole tomatoes, some garlic, cilantro, onions and peppers and some left over whole wheat noodles. Here's what I did with it all - I browned the meat with the onions, peppers and garlic. I seasoned it with seasoning salt, adobo, black pepper and garlic powder. It turns out that wasn't quite enough so I added some beef bouillon too. I chopped up the tomatoes and poured them in with the juice from the can, I poured in the kidney beans, also with the juice from the can and then dumped in the bowl full of noodles (the macaroni kind). Once all that got heated up and started to boil, I dropped in the chopped up cilantro, gave it a quick stir and turned it off. While it was cooling, I sprinkled on some shredded cheddar cheese and dinner was served! Talk about your homemade hamburger helper type dinner - indeed this one topped even my own chart...lol
From start to finish it was probably 20 minutes and we were eating. mmm mmm good I tell ya. Kids could make it, it was so easy. If all you had was an electric skillet, it could easily be made in that. If you didn't have 2 lbs of meat to use, you could quickly scale it back to suit what you have. If you don't like kidney beans (hard to believe but whatever...) you could use black beans, red beans, even black eyed peas would work well in this dish. Improvise people and let me know what you come up with!! I will say that the garlic is critical to the flavor. Anything else you could probably substitute with whatever your favorites are. I know I'm looking forward to having this one again and Wally had it both for breakfast and lunch today :) Guess he must have liked it too... :)
It's going to be hard to top it tonight - maybe I'll see if he wants to meet me at the diner... lol!! Friday night is catfish night. It comes with hush puppies, cole slaw, corn on the cob (when they don't run out), green beans and a roll with butter. Way too much to eat but the fish is hot and crispy fried - just what you want on a 34 degree night. Even though I will always order the cheeseburger no matter what... We'll see how that works out for me. If not there's always tuna sandwiches... ha ha ha ha ha!
The weather has been much improved. By that I mean the ice has melted away. The snow is gone too but there's supposed to be more tonight and tomorrow night. Temperatures aren't supposed to get out of the thirties through the weekend and Monday calls for more rain. The snow I don't mind and the rain I don't mind. I don't even mind overcast skies but that ice is some pretty tricky stuff. Just keep in mind, when there's no posting because I can't get to work, it's probably because of ice. lol now you can not like it too...
We have no plans for the weekend which means I might try to catch the Grinder Switch hour again Saturday morning. It's such a small town kind of thing what with their little radio station (we pass it on the way to Pee Wee's lol) broadcasting as far through Centerville as possible...it barely comes in on my radio at home :) The time spent there makes me feel at home even though I don't know anyone - it's just that kind of atmosphere. Plus, I can pick up the Hickman County Times newspaper...woo hoo - get caught up on the local happenings. One of our friends, JR, has a son who made the paper last week. He shot a 15 point buck on his first hunt of the year. Way to go dude! I've only seen two bucks the whole season and neither were that big. I think I have just a month or so left and I'm getting antsy...this was supposed to be the year of the deer for me :( so much for being nicknamed the great white hunter... boooooooo
You'll think I'm a nerd but I finally found a radio station that is playing all Christmas music, all day long, all the way up to and through Christmas Day. Woo Hoo!! I always listened to the one in FL (I think it was 106.7)and hardly ever changed it to my news channel during that time. The station I found here plays all Christmas music sung by country music singers so it's a little different. Although this morning I heard, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" sung by James Taylor and "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" sung by Dean Martin (heart fluttering, face flushing, butterflies in stomach...). Those are the ones I really enjoy! If you haven't yet, take some time to listen to some Christmas music - it could help get rid of any ba-humbugs you might be harboring, it might even make you smile.
If that doesn't make you smile, think of this, there's a guy sitting a couple cubicles over from me who whistles all day long. He throws in the occasional song but mostly, he whistles. All Day LONG!!! The partitions are high enough that we can't see each other even when standing up. That's fortunate for me because while he's whistling ALL DAY LONG, I'm making faces of anguish, severe pain and silent screeching...he can't carry a tune in a bucket and the whistling is most horrible...aaarrrggggghhhhhh!!! stop the whistling! lol I think he has one of those music players so he only hears what comes from the headphones - surely he's never heard himself or the torture would end!
I ask you - how do you tell someone something like that? You don't. You sit at your desk and you put up with it day in and day out. Thank goodness he works from home 3 or 4 days a week. I think I would be climbing the walls otherwise and then only because the windows don't open... lol!
So my weekend should be somewhat uneventful, possibly snowy, definitely rainy and definitely home bound if I can help it. How are your plans shaping up? I know some of you will be going to the Oriole's for the Christmas party slash Birthday Bash slash Gift Exchange. If you would please give hugs to everyone for me - especially Mikey and Kaylee, if they'll let you. Give one to Ricky Kline and Pappy if you see them and please don't forget Shawna and Chris and Charlie O. Gosh - just hug everyone and tell everyone I said hi and I miss them and I hope they have a very Merry Christmas and a super Happy, Healthy New Year :) There are too many of you to try and list all the names here - my wishes are for the entire membership of the Oriole's Nest #278. How's that? lol
Have a good weekend!
"Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect." ~Oren Arnold
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Eight Days and Counting...
Our guests are expected in just 8 more days! Of course we're all set and ready at the cabin - we just need them here! lol
The weekend was one filled with wonder and glittering whiteness as we watched temperatures drop from the mid 50s on Friday to the mid teens overnight Saturday into Sunday morning. The snow started falling around mid-night and it didn't stop until sometime Monday morning. I've seen this much snow before but not since having moved here.
It was forecasted that we would see about 1-2 inches. Indeed we easily saw 5-6 inches, possibly more in some areas. The snow fell slowly at first and the little snowflakes seemed to be so small and delicate. As they began to pile up and blow around in the wind, they gained not only speed but size. They came to be so big that they appeared to be falling in clumps. It was like watching a big, fat, fluffy, white cotton ball drift slowly to the ground.
They blew from the back yard and they blew from the front yard only to meet in the middle as I watched from the kitchen window. The snowflakes swirled up and around in a dance only they knew and one which I'd be surprised could ever be duplicated. They twinkled like tiny, glistening, little stars in that December sunshine but even the sun could not deter them. Their mission? To softly pile up on the ground so Darcy won't have to drive to work on Monday :) ha ha ha
Well, whether or not that was their mission - that's exactly what was accomplished :) Yes, it snowed so much throughout the day and night that come Monday, the roads were impassable. The interstate had been cleared (after a 20 mile back-up) and some of the secondary roads had been worked on a little bit. The roads off the secondary roads? You know, the ones leading to where we live? Well, the news people advised that those roads shouldn't be traveled unless there was absolutely no other choice. Well, thankfully, I had another choice. Stay home. That's what I did.
It was a very productive day for me. Other than taking pictures of my Christmas decorations I was also able to get all the empty boxes cleared out of the living room. Well, there are a few left but I got all the ones out of the way of the view of the front door and out of the way of the view of the fireplace. Don't look beside the pinball machine...that's another story.
I made a chicken and andouille sausage stew with peppers, onions and barley. It was super-duper wonderful and made the house smell like all the good comfort foods you can imagine. First it was the warm chicken simmering, then the added peppers and onions and finally the spicy, New Orleans sausage. What a great combination not just for your sense of smell but your sense of taste. I chopped up some cilantro and added that to the pot along with some chopped garlic and black pepper. It was just a little on the spicy side - enough to warm your stomach and make you want something cool to drink to keep the fire at bay. The barley added texture in place of white rice (which would be equally nice in this pot) or noodles and you know already how much I enjoy the fiber benefits of barley.
If you can picture it, me in the kitchen looking out the window down the snowy driveway, my big, red pot full of nourishing food and Wally in the living room watching the snow drift by out the windows on either side of him. The tree was plugged in and candles were lit. The horses were at the gate waiting for some sweet feed and the roosters were under the back porch making their little cooing sounds. The dogs were on patrol around the house as they awaited the bones from the chicken...that's what my sunny, snowy, December Sunday was like. :)
Finally those little birds that have been eating off the ground, right below my darn bird feeder, finally, they decided to take me up on my offer of the bird seed. Wally caught one eating on the perch and then another one flew up and joined in. It just looks so pretty to have a white blanket background and then see a fat, little, blue bird land there and take his fill of the corn and seeds that fall automatically into the slots. I have to refill it tonight when I get home because it was too cold to go get feed for the roosters so I gave them the birdseed instead. The roosters and birds could all share it there was so much!
The roosters aren't very fond of the cold, snowy weather we've been having. They stay huddled together up under the back porch and rarely come out. Roo came out for a little while and made some tracks in the snow. You'll see them in the pictures I posted. Of course we knew it was Roo - there was only the one guy so it had to be. If all of them would have been out in the snow, there would have been 6 sets of prints instead of just one set :) lol!
The ho-dogs have been spending most of their time in the ho-doghouse. It looks very warm and inviting in there what with the bedding of straw, the blankets and the warming light. They get in and turn around so they're looking out the door at us. I know they love it because they stay in there until they just can't stand it anymore and then they come out and make their rounds. They walk around the cabin a few times, making sure all is well no doubt. After their patrol is over, they plop down on the front porch, in the best sunlight possible, and then they nap. It's cute!
The horses come up every day now and they are both a little on the spooked side. I think it's in part due to the fact that we aren't handling them all the time like we did over the summer months. There's also the problem of the hunters everywhere. All the animals in the woods are on edge. There are dogs are heard barking all around us, the rabbits are pretty scarce and even the squirrel population has dwindled. The deer still come up in the driveway but they eat for a few minutes and then run back off into the woods. If I'm going to get one at this point, I can't be picky about whether or not it's male or female. They just don't stay in one place long enough anymore.
Saturday was our shopping day. We weren't going to go but we needed a few things and in hindsight, it's a good thing we did go. After all that snow we wouldn't have been able to until today. We stopped by Fred's to see what they had in the way of a Fry Daddy. I know, I know, bad - bad - bad... but for the wings we've discovered we love, it's so much more handy to have around. Not only that but I could justify the purchase if only for when the kids are here...french fries, stuffed jalapenos, etc. Fred's had a few to choose from and one of them had the Black Friday price of $19.99. Well, when I checked on it, the manager said, no - it would really be $29.99. hmmmmm we didn't really want to spend that much. As we kept looking at them, the mgr. came over and we discussed the different functions, pricing and makes. We decided to get the $29.99 fryer even though it wasn't really what we wanted to spend. When we got up to the register, the mgr. came by and told the girl to ring it up at $19.99 instead...woo hoo!!! I think Wally impressed her when he was able to reach the very top shelf and get down an unopened box for comparison. LOL She said 'oh, look at you!' and I said, 'yeah, you should see him with light bulbs..." lol she laughed!
On to Food Lion we went and as we were walking in, Wally noticed a dollar bill on the ground. Hey - it was shaping up to be a really good shopping day! We got what we needed, including some frozen shrimp (BOGO) and we got the heck out of there. Since it's on the way, we stopped at Tractor Supply. We wanted to see if they had any sock caps - the kind that cover your whole head with the eye cutouts...? Well, they didn't have any of those but they did have a nice pair of boots for Wally. The high top, insulated kind that will keep those feet very, very warm.
Our last stop was the gas station to fuel up my car. Gas prices were high everywhere so we gave our business to the little, independent, small business owner even though he's a little further down the road. We like going there because he gives you a free bag of ice when you buy a 12 pack. NOT that we needed any ice...lol!! After that, we were cabin-bound and had no other plans to leave for the remainder of the weekend.
We've been trying to get me on a better sleep schedule. One that is more normal anyway. Saturday night "It's a Wonderful Life" was on so we set out to watch the whole thing. I don't know what time it was supposed to start but I knew it wasn't going to go off until 10:00...whew, that's late!
So here I am watching a movie that is named for how wonderful life is meanwhile the main character is completely miserable through the whole darn thing...what is up with that? Wally was laughing at me for saying that but c'mon, there was no happiness up until the very end...Let me just say that the title had my expectations set all wrong... It should have been titled "It's a miserable life, until the last 15 minutes" and then I wouldn't have been anticipating so many wonderful things happening that simply did not... Movies...bah humbug on that one! LOL Okay, the story was alright but really, don't you agree it was somewhat poorly named?
I made it to 10pm and that was a miracle... I started to doze off but Wally caught me and kept me awake. Then he started to doze off and I was like, oh no you don't... if I have to stay up, so do you! He laughed and said he had already seen the movie so it was okay for him to fall asleep...that wasn't my point :) ha ha ha
We had sausage and whole wheat pancakes for breakfast again...they are so good together. Like bacon and eggs, pork chops and applesauce, pizza and beer...some things just go together well. I poured the honey on mine while Wally mixed the honey and butter together. I'm pretty much over the whole syrup thing now that honey has come to my kitchen. It's good on everything when you want just a little sweetness...biscuits, pancakes, banana ice cream, even cake... just come on up here and I'll make it for you so you can see what I mean...open invitation! Don't tell me you're scared of a little snow...? lol!!! ha ha ha
I changed around a few decorations, took lots of pictures for you because I'm sweet that way and cooked until my little heart was content. I got lots of boxes out of the way and made a snowman in the snow. I did all my laundry and cleaned the bathrooms. I have very little to do but wait... and watch it snow again tomorrow. They say it's going to start with sleet, then move to snow and then to top it off, around 10am it will begin a freezing rain. Folks, I'd love to come back to work and write about all of that but it will probably be Thursday before you hear from me again. When the weather advisory says not to drive - I believe them :)
Enjoy the chilly temps wherever you happen to be and check out ours on the weather channel... you'll get to see some pretty awesome sights - just as I have :)
"oh, what a blamed uncertain thing This pesky weather is; It blew and snew and then it thew, And now, by jing, it's friz!"
Philander Johnson
The weekend was one filled with wonder and glittering whiteness as we watched temperatures drop from the mid 50s on Friday to the mid teens overnight Saturday into Sunday morning. The snow started falling around mid-night and it didn't stop until sometime Monday morning. I've seen this much snow before but not since having moved here.
It was forecasted that we would see about 1-2 inches. Indeed we easily saw 5-6 inches, possibly more in some areas. The snow fell slowly at first and the little snowflakes seemed to be so small and delicate. As they began to pile up and blow around in the wind, they gained not only speed but size. They came to be so big that they appeared to be falling in clumps. It was like watching a big, fat, fluffy, white cotton ball drift slowly to the ground.
They blew from the back yard and they blew from the front yard only to meet in the middle as I watched from the kitchen window. The snowflakes swirled up and around in a dance only they knew and one which I'd be surprised could ever be duplicated. They twinkled like tiny, glistening, little stars in that December sunshine but even the sun could not deter them. Their mission? To softly pile up on the ground so Darcy won't have to drive to work on Monday :) ha ha ha
Well, whether or not that was their mission - that's exactly what was accomplished :) Yes, it snowed so much throughout the day and night that come Monday, the roads were impassable. The interstate had been cleared (after a 20 mile back-up) and some of the secondary roads had been worked on a little bit. The roads off the secondary roads? You know, the ones leading to where we live? Well, the news people advised that those roads shouldn't be traveled unless there was absolutely no other choice. Well, thankfully, I had another choice. Stay home. That's what I did.
It was a very productive day for me. Other than taking pictures of my Christmas decorations I was also able to get all the empty boxes cleared out of the living room. Well, there are a few left but I got all the ones out of the way of the view of the front door and out of the way of the view of the fireplace. Don't look beside the pinball machine...that's another story.
I made a chicken and andouille sausage stew with peppers, onions and barley. It was super-duper wonderful and made the house smell like all the good comfort foods you can imagine. First it was the warm chicken simmering, then the added peppers and onions and finally the spicy, New Orleans sausage. What a great combination not just for your sense of smell but your sense of taste. I chopped up some cilantro and added that to the pot along with some chopped garlic and black pepper. It was just a little on the spicy side - enough to warm your stomach and make you want something cool to drink to keep the fire at bay. The barley added texture in place of white rice (which would be equally nice in this pot) or noodles and you know already how much I enjoy the fiber benefits of barley.
If you can picture it, me in the kitchen looking out the window down the snowy driveway, my big, red pot full of nourishing food and Wally in the living room watching the snow drift by out the windows on either side of him. The tree was plugged in and candles were lit. The horses were at the gate waiting for some sweet feed and the roosters were under the back porch making their little cooing sounds. The dogs were on patrol around the house as they awaited the bones from the chicken...that's what my sunny, snowy, December Sunday was like. :)
Finally those little birds that have been eating off the ground, right below my darn bird feeder, finally, they decided to take me up on my offer of the bird seed. Wally caught one eating on the perch and then another one flew up and joined in. It just looks so pretty to have a white blanket background and then see a fat, little, blue bird land there and take his fill of the corn and seeds that fall automatically into the slots. I have to refill it tonight when I get home because it was too cold to go get feed for the roosters so I gave them the birdseed instead. The roosters and birds could all share it there was so much!
The roosters aren't very fond of the cold, snowy weather we've been having. They stay huddled together up under the back porch and rarely come out. Roo came out for a little while and made some tracks in the snow. You'll see them in the pictures I posted. Of course we knew it was Roo - there was only the one guy so it had to be. If all of them would have been out in the snow, there would have been 6 sets of prints instead of just one set :) lol!
The ho-dogs have been spending most of their time in the ho-doghouse. It looks very warm and inviting in there what with the bedding of straw, the blankets and the warming light. They get in and turn around so they're looking out the door at us. I know they love it because they stay in there until they just can't stand it anymore and then they come out and make their rounds. They walk around the cabin a few times, making sure all is well no doubt. After their patrol is over, they plop down on the front porch, in the best sunlight possible, and then they nap. It's cute!
The horses come up every day now and they are both a little on the spooked side. I think it's in part due to the fact that we aren't handling them all the time like we did over the summer months. There's also the problem of the hunters everywhere. All the animals in the woods are on edge. There are dogs are heard barking all around us, the rabbits are pretty scarce and even the squirrel population has dwindled. The deer still come up in the driveway but they eat for a few minutes and then run back off into the woods. If I'm going to get one at this point, I can't be picky about whether or not it's male or female. They just don't stay in one place long enough anymore.
Saturday was our shopping day. We weren't going to go but we needed a few things and in hindsight, it's a good thing we did go. After all that snow we wouldn't have been able to until today. We stopped by Fred's to see what they had in the way of a Fry Daddy. I know, I know, bad - bad - bad... but for the wings we've discovered we love, it's so much more handy to have around. Not only that but I could justify the purchase if only for when the kids are here...french fries, stuffed jalapenos, etc. Fred's had a few to choose from and one of them had the Black Friday price of $19.99. Well, when I checked on it, the manager said, no - it would really be $29.99. hmmmmm we didn't really want to spend that much. As we kept looking at them, the mgr. came over and we discussed the different functions, pricing and makes. We decided to get the $29.99 fryer even though it wasn't really what we wanted to spend. When we got up to the register, the mgr. came by and told the girl to ring it up at $19.99 instead...woo hoo!!! I think Wally impressed her when he was able to reach the very top shelf and get down an unopened box for comparison. LOL She said 'oh, look at you!' and I said, 'yeah, you should see him with light bulbs..." lol she laughed!
On to Food Lion we went and as we were walking in, Wally noticed a dollar bill on the ground. Hey - it was shaping up to be a really good shopping day! We got what we needed, including some frozen shrimp (BOGO) and we got the heck out of there. Since it's on the way, we stopped at Tractor Supply. We wanted to see if they had any sock caps - the kind that cover your whole head with the eye cutouts...? Well, they didn't have any of those but they did have a nice pair of boots for Wally. The high top, insulated kind that will keep those feet very, very warm.
Our last stop was the gas station to fuel up my car. Gas prices were high everywhere so we gave our business to the little, independent, small business owner even though he's a little further down the road. We like going there because he gives you a free bag of ice when you buy a 12 pack. NOT that we needed any ice...lol!! After that, we were cabin-bound and had no other plans to leave for the remainder of the weekend.
We've been trying to get me on a better sleep schedule. One that is more normal anyway. Saturday night "It's a Wonderful Life" was on so we set out to watch the whole thing. I don't know what time it was supposed to start but I knew it wasn't going to go off until 10:00...whew, that's late!
So here I am watching a movie that is named for how wonderful life is meanwhile the main character is completely miserable through the whole darn thing...what is up with that? Wally was laughing at me for saying that but c'mon, there was no happiness up until the very end...Let me just say that the title had my expectations set all wrong... It should have been titled "It's a miserable life, until the last 15 minutes" and then I wouldn't have been anticipating so many wonderful things happening that simply did not... Movies...bah humbug on that one! LOL Okay, the story was alright but really, don't you agree it was somewhat poorly named?
I made it to 10pm and that was a miracle... I started to doze off but Wally caught me and kept me awake. Then he started to doze off and I was like, oh no you don't... if I have to stay up, so do you! He laughed and said he had already seen the movie so it was okay for him to fall asleep...that wasn't my point :) ha ha ha
We had sausage and whole wheat pancakes for breakfast again...they are so good together. Like bacon and eggs, pork chops and applesauce, pizza and beer...some things just go together well. I poured the honey on mine while Wally mixed the honey and butter together. I'm pretty much over the whole syrup thing now that honey has come to my kitchen. It's good on everything when you want just a little sweetness...biscuits, pancakes, banana ice cream, even cake... just come on up here and I'll make it for you so you can see what I mean...open invitation! Don't tell me you're scared of a little snow...? lol!!! ha ha ha
I changed around a few decorations, took lots of pictures for you because I'm sweet that way and cooked until my little heart was content. I got lots of boxes out of the way and made a snowman in the snow. I did all my laundry and cleaned the bathrooms. I have very little to do but wait... and watch it snow again tomorrow. They say it's going to start with sleet, then move to snow and then to top it off, around 10am it will begin a freezing rain. Folks, I'd love to come back to work and write about all of that but it will probably be Thursday before you hear from me again. When the weather advisory says not to drive - I believe them :)
Enjoy the chilly temps wherever you happen to be and check out ours on the weather channel... you'll get to see some pretty awesome sights - just as I have :)
"oh, what a blamed uncertain thing This pesky weather is; It blew and snew and then it thew, And now, by jing, it's friz!"
Philander Johnson
Thursday, December 9, 2010
14 Days And Counting...
In just two short weeks (that seemingly take forever), around 8am Central Time, Neccy and Mom will arrive at the Nashville airport while Jack and the kids will come in sometime later in the day via car. I think everyone is pretty much just as excited as they can be...me too!! The flight is only two hours but I betcha it's going to feel like it takes all day...I'll be there waiting, with the heater on, when the flight comes in :)
We don't have anything planned except maybe a trip to Pee Wee's Place if the weather allows for it. Maybe the Diner or the Farmer's Family buffet for breakfast one morning. We'll see. These are just a few of the local (sorta) places we tend to gravitate towards if and when we leave the farm. Oh, and the new pizza place, Snappy's. I don't think Jarrett will be able to survive 3 or 4 days without pizza! LOL
The pizza there was just the way I like it when I'm going to eat pizza, which is a very rare occasion indeed. The crust was thin and slightly crunchy. We ordered the all meat pizza but had them go light on the sausage and heavier on the ham (in consideration of my system, of course). It was wonderful. Plenty of cheese, not too much sauce, lots of toppings and they kept it in the oven long enough to brown the tips of the ham and pepperoni. We ordered a large and it was eight slices. We had 4 slices each and that was plenty to fill us up with a couple beers on the side. It was way off the healthy eating meter but it was worth the splurge!
After we ate the pizza, we went to Tractor Supply. We had a coupon for 15% off for "Friends and Family" night. A friend of ours gave us the coupon and it was only good this one night and only from 6-9pm. I know, I know, that's a stretch for me to even be awake that late, let alone be out shopping...ha ha ha! Well, TS isn't so bad if you absolutely must shop.
At this time of year they have their holiday stuff out everywhere. John Deere green tractor ornaments, clocks, cups, etc. All manner of farm animals are also ornaments; cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, etc. Horses are a big thing as ornaments and decorations go. You can get a string of lighted plastic horses, a garland of green with little plastic horses hanging on it, even horses on wrapping paper. If you haven't visited a Tractor Supply in a while, you might want to check them out for Christmas. They have some pretty cool gift ideas if you're into that sort of thing.
We ended up getting Wally some boots, getting the horses some sweet feed, getting me a scoop for scooping out the sweet feed and a couple extra lights for the dog house. With our 15% off coupon we realized a pretty decent savings! The dogs now have a 250 watt red light in their house...lol They're living in the red light district so I called them ho'dogs, Wally said they were retired ho'dogs...too old for any of the antics of their younger days...lol!! kinda like us :)
By the time we got home, the roosters were up in their trees. Since it's gotten colder, I noticed that they sleep two or three together instead of on separate limbs or in separate trees. Roo sleeps in his own tree and he's alone on his tree limb. I know he doesn't mind - he's got enough body fat to keep him warm without having to snuggle with a rooster thug!! He might like a little chicken action though...LOL!
Speaking of the weather - it was 13 degrees at the cabin this morning when we got up. By 10:30 central time, it had warmed up to 17 degrees... lol! The high is supposed to be 46, we'll see if we get there. I see the high in FL is supposed to be 63...not bad, not bad at all. I double my socks and I wear a thermal shirt under my regular shirt. I wear my Carhart jacket with one of the two scarves that Teri brought me and my goatskin gloves that we got from Tractor Supply on Saturday. I stay pretty warm all things considered :)
Now, when I have to get out of the car or leave the cabin or my work building...that's when I get cold. Something about those outside temperatures that just so darn low these days...lol!!! ha ha ha ha ha Like for instance, yesterday I needed to fuel up my car before the price goes over $2.89 a gallon and I needed a few things from the grocery store. Well, after pumping gas in 32 degree weather, I decided to pass on the groceries. We can make it another day without stinky old milk anyway...lol!
Here's my new plan (you knew I'd have to have one to survive the winter, didn't you?), I'll do my shopping on whatever day the weather-person says is going to be the warmest! LOL No matter what I'm out of! I'll fill up my car in the afternoon when the temperatures are at their highest! I already don't let my gauge get below a quarter of a tank. It's too far to the nearest gas station to take that chance - especially as early as I leave in the morning. We always have gas in the cans on the farm because we need it for the farm truck, the 4 wheelers, the generator, etc. so if I had to, I could use that. I won't let it get that low though - I'm already used to it :)
The forecast for the weekend says Friday will be the warmest at 50 something (sounds like grocery day for me!). From there it cools down and rains come in Saturday night and Sunday. Sunday they are calling for rain and snow storms. I don't know the difference between "regular snowing" and "snow storms" but it doesn't sound good for driving conditions on Monday...The truck Wally gave me isn't ready for me to drive yet so he said if it's that bad, he'll bring me to work :) whew! More new things for me to learn about - driving in the snow... heck, just walking in it will be a challenge! ha ha ha I'll be slipping all over the place. Those poor rooster's feet are going to be like little icicles!
I'm going through some lotion like it's going out of style. My skin is missing the humidity of Florida big time. Hand lotion is a must. Good hand lotion, the kind with glycerin seems to work best for me, that and shay (?) butter. My skin soaks it right up! It reminds me of when Ernie and I flew out to AZ to visit with Dizzy Debbie when she moved there the first time. We were literally slathering the lotion all over, all day long when we were out there. Talk about no humidity - it was worse than what I'm experiencing now :)
I also remember that I was cold and wore long sleeve shirts and/or a jacket the whole time while those other two hot mamas were in tank tops and regular old T-shirts... I'm pretty sure Debbie wore her Nike shirt a few times ha ha ha j/k. We had some kick-butt Mexican food out there too... to date, nothing compares. The ones here are pretty close but just not quite the same. Of course, we were on vacation so everything was good no matter what! ah yes, that was one heck of a good time we had that year :) We'll have to do it again sometime...
Well we're definitely getting into the "comfort food" time of year. We've had Hamburger Buddy a couple times now since it is the newest recipe for me. It's one that we really enjoy. There are quite a few ingredients but most of them we have on hand. It is both warm and filling but not so heavy that you don't feel like doing anything after you eat it. We have had meatloaf, Swedish meatballs w/gravy over noodles and for tonight, the chili is defrosting. It sounds like lots of beef but there is venison in there too and as we all know (right?) venison is super-duper lean. There is so little fat that we actually have to add fat in order to keep it from sticking to the pan.
I'm looking forward to getting that squash out (either canned or frozen over the hot, hazy days of summer) and having a nice gooey squash casserole with lots of cheese, some dill and maybe some cream of chicken or cream of celery soup. That and a nice, thick slab of ham and maybe some green beans (also from over the summer) to go with it...sounds like a winner :)
What are you cooking now that the weather has cooled off in Florida? Have you had a chili cook-off at the Oriole's yet? It's always a good little fund raiser as it generates a lot of participation both in the cooking of it and the judging of it. Get them chili pots out!! For those of you in AZ, Dizzy, I know you know how to make chili...maybe it's time to give it a try again. Have Megan make some, you make some and Mom can make some. Let Brian and Meg's boyfriend be the judges :) lol your own little cook-off. Better yet, suggest that they have one over at the place where you play poker...????hmmmmm
As I travel back and forth each day, more and more people have put up Christmas decorations. There are some really nice lights decorating the entrance to one of the fancier neighborhoods I drive passed every day. They have those ones that you drape over a shrub...whatever they're called. Anyway, they have shaped them into snowflake shapes and they look very cool! I have no idea how they did it but I always hope the lights will be on when I go by...sometimes I think I'm too early and then I miss out :(
Another house has a huge tree in the front yard (don't ask me what kind, I'm still studying the trees too...) and it stays green all year. They have decorated it with lights from top to bottom and they couldn't possibly have left any lights at the store where they shopped. It is jam-packed with multi-colored lights and they are hung perfectly. They must have had a bucket truck out there or something because the tree is about as high as a two story house. The house is only a one story. It always makes me smile when I drive by that house...so glad they did all that work for me :) lol!
I'm coming to the end of my decorating and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the cabin. Hey, at least I haven't bought another Christmas item this whole year...well, except the one little snowman that I got at the awesome garage sale (where my Timberlands were bought) and he was only a quarter. That shouldn't really count... :)
I'll take some more pictures this weekend once all the boxes have been cleared from the living room....
Do you have all your shopping done? Are you doing a gift exchange at the Oriole's? Tell me, tell me, tell me who got whom... I get a big kick out of knowing who everyone got on the list. That is one of the funnest things to do there and I miss it. But, hey, don't get me wrong...this is real good too :)
As Days Go By Until Christmas, I hope all yours will be merry and bright...I doubt all your Christmases will be white but maybe, just maybe ours will this year...
"No matter how carefully you stored the lights last year, they will be snarled again this Christmas." ~Robert Kirby
We don't have anything planned except maybe a trip to Pee Wee's Place if the weather allows for it. Maybe the Diner or the Farmer's Family buffet for breakfast one morning. We'll see. These are just a few of the local (sorta) places we tend to gravitate towards if and when we leave the farm. Oh, and the new pizza place, Snappy's. I don't think Jarrett will be able to survive 3 or 4 days without pizza! LOL
The pizza there was just the way I like it when I'm going to eat pizza, which is a very rare occasion indeed. The crust was thin and slightly crunchy. We ordered the all meat pizza but had them go light on the sausage and heavier on the ham (in consideration of my system, of course). It was wonderful. Plenty of cheese, not too much sauce, lots of toppings and they kept it in the oven long enough to brown the tips of the ham and pepperoni. We ordered a large and it was eight slices. We had 4 slices each and that was plenty to fill us up with a couple beers on the side. It was way off the healthy eating meter but it was worth the splurge!
After we ate the pizza, we went to Tractor Supply. We had a coupon for 15% off for "Friends and Family" night. A friend of ours gave us the coupon and it was only good this one night and only from 6-9pm. I know, I know, that's a stretch for me to even be awake that late, let alone be out shopping...ha ha ha! Well, TS isn't so bad if you absolutely must shop.
At this time of year they have their holiday stuff out everywhere. John Deere green tractor ornaments, clocks, cups, etc. All manner of farm animals are also ornaments; cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, etc. Horses are a big thing as ornaments and decorations go. You can get a string of lighted plastic horses, a garland of green with little plastic horses hanging on it, even horses on wrapping paper. If you haven't visited a Tractor Supply in a while, you might want to check them out for Christmas. They have some pretty cool gift ideas if you're into that sort of thing.
We ended up getting Wally some boots, getting the horses some sweet feed, getting me a scoop for scooping out the sweet feed and a couple extra lights for the dog house. With our 15% off coupon we realized a pretty decent savings! The dogs now have a 250 watt red light in their house...lol They're living in the red light district so I called them ho'dogs, Wally said they were retired ho'dogs...too old for any of the antics of their younger days...lol!! kinda like us :)
By the time we got home, the roosters were up in their trees. Since it's gotten colder, I noticed that they sleep two or three together instead of on separate limbs or in separate trees. Roo sleeps in his own tree and he's alone on his tree limb. I know he doesn't mind - he's got enough body fat to keep him warm without having to snuggle with a rooster thug!! He might like a little chicken action though...LOL!
Speaking of the weather - it was 13 degrees at the cabin this morning when we got up. By 10:30 central time, it had warmed up to 17 degrees... lol! The high is supposed to be 46, we'll see if we get there. I see the high in FL is supposed to be 63...not bad, not bad at all. I double my socks and I wear a thermal shirt under my regular shirt. I wear my Carhart jacket with one of the two scarves that Teri brought me and my goatskin gloves that we got from Tractor Supply on Saturday. I stay pretty warm all things considered :)
Now, when I have to get out of the car or leave the cabin or my work building...that's when I get cold. Something about those outside temperatures that just so darn low these days...lol!!! ha ha ha ha ha Like for instance, yesterday I needed to fuel up my car before the price goes over $2.89 a gallon and I needed a few things from the grocery store. Well, after pumping gas in 32 degree weather, I decided to pass on the groceries. We can make it another day without stinky old milk anyway...lol!
Here's my new plan (you knew I'd have to have one to survive the winter, didn't you?), I'll do my shopping on whatever day the weather-person says is going to be the warmest! LOL No matter what I'm out of! I'll fill up my car in the afternoon when the temperatures are at their highest! I already don't let my gauge get below a quarter of a tank. It's too far to the nearest gas station to take that chance - especially as early as I leave in the morning. We always have gas in the cans on the farm because we need it for the farm truck, the 4 wheelers, the generator, etc. so if I had to, I could use that. I won't let it get that low though - I'm already used to it :)
The forecast for the weekend says Friday will be the warmest at 50 something (sounds like grocery day for me!). From there it cools down and rains come in Saturday night and Sunday. Sunday they are calling for rain and snow storms. I don't know the difference between "regular snowing" and "snow storms" but it doesn't sound good for driving conditions on Monday...The truck Wally gave me isn't ready for me to drive yet so he said if it's that bad, he'll bring me to work :) whew! More new things for me to learn about - driving in the snow... heck, just walking in it will be a challenge! ha ha ha I'll be slipping all over the place. Those poor rooster's feet are going to be like little icicles!
I'm going through some lotion like it's going out of style. My skin is missing the humidity of Florida big time. Hand lotion is a must. Good hand lotion, the kind with glycerin seems to work best for me, that and shay (?) butter. My skin soaks it right up! It reminds me of when Ernie and I flew out to AZ to visit with Dizzy Debbie when she moved there the first time. We were literally slathering the lotion all over, all day long when we were out there. Talk about no humidity - it was worse than what I'm experiencing now :)
I also remember that I was cold and wore long sleeve shirts and/or a jacket the whole time while those other two hot mamas were in tank tops and regular old T-shirts... I'm pretty sure Debbie wore her Nike shirt a few times ha ha ha j/k. We had some kick-butt Mexican food out there too... to date, nothing compares. The ones here are pretty close but just not quite the same. Of course, we were on vacation so everything was good no matter what! ah yes, that was one heck of a good time we had that year :) We'll have to do it again sometime...
Well we're definitely getting into the "comfort food" time of year. We've had Hamburger Buddy a couple times now since it is the newest recipe for me. It's one that we really enjoy. There are quite a few ingredients but most of them we have on hand. It is both warm and filling but not so heavy that you don't feel like doing anything after you eat it. We have had meatloaf, Swedish meatballs w/gravy over noodles and for tonight, the chili is defrosting. It sounds like lots of beef but there is venison in there too and as we all know (right?) venison is super-duper lean. There is so little fat that we actually have to add fat in order to keep it from sticking to the pan.
I'm looking forward to getting that squash out (either canned or frozen over the hot, hazy days of summer) and having a nice gooey squash casserole with lots of cheese, some dill and maybe some cream of chicken or cream of celery soup. That and a nice, thick slab of ham and maybe some green beans (also from over the summer) to go with it...sounds like a winner :)
What are you cooking now that the weather has cooled off in Florida? Have you had a chili cook-off at the Oriole's yet? It's always a good little fund raiser as it generates a lot of participation both in the cooking of it and the judging of it. Get them chili pots out!! For those of you in AZ, Dizzy, I know you know how to make chili...maybe it's time to give it a try again. Have Megan make some, you make some and Mom can make some. Let Brian and Meg's boyfriend be the judges :) lol your own little cook-off. Better yet, suggest that they have one over at the place where you play poker...????hmmmmm
As I travel back and forth each day, more and more people have put up Christmas decorations. There are some really nice lights decorating the entrance to one of the fancier neighborhoods I drive passed every day. They have those ones that you drape over a shrub...whatever they're called. Anyway, they have shaped them into snowflake shapes and they look very cool! I have no idea how they did it but I always hope the lights will be on when I go by...sometimes I think I'm too early and then I miss out :(
Another house has a huge tree in the front yard (don't ask me what kind, I'm still studying the trees too...) and it stays green all year. They have decorated it with lights from top to bottom and they couldn't possibly have left any lights at the store where they shopped. It is jam-packed with multi-colored lights and they are hung perfectly. They must have had a bucket truck out there or something because the tree is about as high as a two story house. The house is only a one story. It always makes me smile when I drive by that house...so glad they did all that work for me :) lol!
I'm coming to the end of my decorating and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the cabin. Hey, at least I haven't bought another Christmas item this whole year...well, except the one little snowman that I got at the awesome garage sale (where my Timberlands were bought) and he was only a quarter. That shouldn't really count... :)
I'll take some more pictures this weekend once all the boxes have been cleared from the living room....
Do you have all your shopping done? Are you doing a gift exchange at the Oriole's? Tell me, tell me, tell me who got whom... I get a big kick out of knowing who everyone got on the list. That is one of the funnest things to do there and I miss it. But, hey, don't get me wrong...this is real good too :)
As Days Go By Until Christmas, I hope all yours will be merry and bright...I doubt all your Christmases will be white but maybe, just maybe ours will this year...
"No matter how carefully you stored the lights last year, they will be snarled again this Christmas." ~Robert Kirby
Monday, December 6, 2010
It Sure Did Snow on Sunday!
OUR weekend started when I arrived home Friday afternoon. I think it was about 3:15 when I got there and outside it was gray, cloudy, windy and cold. Wally was off to the side of the driveway splitting logs on the log splitter. I've wanted to see how that thing works for some time now so I drove on up to the cabin to put my stuff away, use the bathroom (hey - it's an hour drive...) and season the steaks for dinner. The dogs greeted me as I pulled up and they tried to get in the car with me when I opened the door. They haven't ever tried that before so I'm guessing it's because I had the heater on and it was nice and toasty warm in the there. Maybe they felt the heat coming out the door? Even so I just wanted to gather up my stuff and get inside but they weren't having anything to do with that.
They wouldn't move until I petted both of them and promised them a dinner of steak fat over top of their dog food. Inside it was so nice I didn't want to venture back out into the cold but that was the only way I could learn about the log splitter. So I did what I had to do, grabbed a couple of beers, and took off down the driveway on the 4 wheeler. Whew-hoo was it cold on my face on that thing - the wind has a definite bite! Note to self - get a ski mask for use when riding on the 4 wheeler in cold weather!
Wally showed me how the log splitter worked and I was able to help get that one pile split up and ready to go into the truck for the trip to the barn. Let me just say that logs are much heavier than they look. I bent to pick up a piece that looked about the size of a basketball (except not round like that...) and it was all I could do to get it off the ground. My goodness - who knew? In my mind I know that it is part of a tree and everyone knows trees are heavy but it just never occurred to me that that little piece would hold so much weight. huh! I'm really going to have to get strong if I'm going to be of any help whatsoever out here in the woods.
The splitter does good work and it was probably only a half hour that we were out there and we had a pretty nice size pile of logs. They're to go in the wood-burning stoves in the barn/garage so it's warm enough to work in there during the winter. The barn is where all the mechanic-ing goes on... It's not a horse barn in case that's what you were thinking. It's all about working on cars, trucks, and anything else that has a motor. There's also all manner of painting supplies, electrical cords, drills, etc. Everything you would have in a garage except all my junk... lol!
Well we didn't feel like loading the wood and taking it down to the barn so we just left it where it was split and drove on back to the cabin. It was really looking inviting with the kitchen lights glowing and us knowing the heater was on. Kind of like how inviting it was over the summer when we had been working outside in the relentless heat all day long... and we knew the a/c was on... :) I was really looking forward to some time at home.
I started doing some more decorating for Christmas so everything will be ready when our guests arrive. I finished the mantel but the picture came out kind of dark. I'll try to get a better one. I took a picture of the paperwhites and as you can see there is a paint stirrer in the pot with them. We put it in there because those bulbs were growing so quickly it was almost as if we could watch them! I put the stirrer in the pot on Thanksgiving Day while Jay and Teri were here. I took that picture this past Saturday. So there was that much growth in just 9 days. Amazing.
The paperwhites have bloomed and true to their reputation, they are as stinky as can be. They sure are pretty though :) so I'm glad I bought them and even more glad that Arlene (my gardening guru) advised me to bring them inside. They wouldn't have survived the temperatures yet to come over the weekend. Even knowing how bad they smell, I still had to sniff them... what's up with that? Maybe I was hoping I would have developed a fondness for them...? Who knows, it didn't matter, they still stunk. EW!
Now, I have heard that some people like the scent of paperwhites. I've never met one of these people but the gardening websites all insist they exist. Indeed, when I asked Wally if he could smell them, guess what? Nope. He couldn't smell them and I just simply couldn't believe it. He did try again later and said he could kind of smell them and that they really didn't smell good. I guess the smell wasn't so strong as to offend his senses like it did mine LOL.
They were so easy to grow that I think I'll double my purchases next year :) Stinky or not, they give color to the room and anything that blooms when the weather is cold, is nice to have in the house.
I was tired from not sleeping (now waking up at quarter to 3 in the darn morning... ugh!) so I didn't feel like going anywhere and Wally was fine with that. We had ribeyes thawed out and they were already seasoned so I made some pea salad (recipe compliments of Sheila Crites, thank you very much) and some sweet corn to go with them. Pea salad may not be on your list of sides to make for dinner but truly it should be. It's so easy to make and seems almost like a comfort food in its simplicity. Of course, coming from a huge pea fan, there's almost nothing better... if you're not a fan, I guess I can understand why you wouldn't make this. I am always amazed that there are actually people out there who don't eat peas... What do you eat in your pea salad?? lol!! ha ha ha
The horses, roosters, dogs and humans were all generously fed and the animals were all tucked in for the night so we called it a night too. Upstairs, that big bed was warm and inviting and I couldn't wait to get in it. The cabin was quieted and dark and even the roosters had stopped their nighttime crowing (yes, it's morning, noon and night for them). We were asleep in no time...
I'm trying to stay up later in the hope that I will sleep later. That sounds good in theory, right? Well, just try to convince my body to believe it, would ya? Three am rolled around and I was wide awake. I just laid there watching tv until Wally woke up. We caught the first newscast of the day so we would know what to expect weather-wise and we were downstairs before the sun came up over the front yard.
I had taken out some of the venison sausage that Wally and Darryl had ground up (from the deer meat Kurt gave us Thanksgiving Day) and it was ready to fry for breakfast. Venison sausage coupled with scrambled eggs and warm, buttered, whole wheat toast - now that's a farmhouse breakfast to behold. We have plenty more so I'll be sure to make it for you when you come visit.
Now that my house was full of breakfast smells (instead of the stinky paperwhites) I could get to work on the decorations. I've been through many, many boxes and there are still more to come. At some point in my Christmas decoration collecting, I must have known I would someday be decorating a place the size of this one. It's no use trying to scale back now...there are just so many pretty places to set things! I'm in search of two specific items that I'm sure must be still in the trailer... my little candy dish called, "Chilly Treats" and my family of deer (mom, dad and baby) that are wood carvings and critical to my woodland trees scene that I put together with pine cones and tea lights. Wally is no doubt wondering when it will all come to an end. Personally, so am I... LOL! I haven't seen some of this stuff in years and it just never ends...
Aw well, we all have to have something that we thoroughly enjoy and get the most delightful pleasure from... my thing is Christmas ornaments and decorations. The tree appears to be full of ornaments but from where I sit, I can see at least 10 branches that are bare - that won't last long. I haven't even hung the little, tiny ornaments that are saved for the very tippy top branches and the kids ornaments are set aside for them to hang when they get here (December 23rd... counting down...). Plenty still to be done.
There's a wreath on the door and glittery snowflakes hanging from the kitchen and spare bedroom windows. There are cowboy boot - shaped stockings beside the fireplace and a snowman candle holder in the bathroom. There are only a few window ledges that haven't got something Christmassy on them... and the piano has the frosted glass snowmen that Chrystal has ever so thoughtfully given me through the years. I bought three more strands of lights that I hope to hang under the bridge with some garland and inside the kitchen window so you see them when you drive up. Just in case you think that's all, I have some candy canes that stick in the ground and they will be up at the flag pole where my fall decorations used to be :)
I like to think that Christmas has come to the cabin. I don't know that it's ever been decorated before but it sure is decorated this year... just like I had pictured when I first decided to move here. Now - I have to find a place for all the boxes again... lol
I changed the quilt on my bed to one that Bud and Tammy gave me. It's king size, hand-stitched and very warm. I made up the bed in the loft for Neccy and Jack and decorated the head board with a little white Christmas basket and berry and cedar sprays across the top - you just have to see it to believe it. I can't imagine anyone walking by that bed and not being tempted to climb up on it. There's even a stool underneath it so you can reach :) ha ha ha - it is kind of high up. Watch your head on the side by the wall... the cabin has a dutch barn roof and it slopes downward on that side. I've bonked my head 3 or 4 times just moving things around... lol! It gets me every time :)
It was supposed to snow Saturday but we never saw it happen. It looked like it was going to, according to Wally, and it felt like it was cold enough too but I guess conditions just weren't quite right. Still it was cold enough for jackets and the heater. We had to stop at Food Lion and we had already decided to get a gate opener so we bundled up, packed the cooler and headed over to Fairview to make our purchases. Food Lion was a quick trip and luckily we had just missed the Christmas parade. I would have loved to have seen the parade but I forgot all about it. Since we missed it anyway, it was a good thing we didn't get to Fairview any earlier than we did. We would have been stuck in the parade traffic. On to the Tractor Supply where they had one gate opener on sale and as it turned out, it was the one we wanted. We had looked at them before but didn't buy one.
While we were there Wally showed me where the gloves were. They have lots of gloves to choose from at Tractor Supply - who knew? lol So he picked out a few for me to try on but alas, with my freakishly small hands, they were all way too big and even drooped off the ends of my fingers. Finally, he handed me a pair that were made of goatskin and which were reasonably priced. I tried them on and guess what? They fit like a glove!! ha ha ha ha ha oh that's so funny - sorry, I couldn't resist!
We had our gate opener and I had my gloves - it was a good day. On the way home, we stopped at Fred's so I could pick up a couple toys for the Toys For Tots drive at work and some candy for my candy dish at work. In no time we were back on the road and bound for the cabin. While I had a signal on my phone, I called Rebecca and wished her a happy 20th birthday. She and Jarrett and Kain were all watching the Harry Potter marathon. For her present, I asked Neccy to pick up a Wolfgang Puck skillet like the one she got me a few years back. Thankfully, they had one more left at Ross when Neccy stopped by there. Rebecca can now do some cooking for us when she comes up... lol!! I'm sure she went out later but I don't need to know the details of that...
We were going to do chicken wings again but decided to use chicken legs instead. We bought some wing sauce that was so hot we had to dilute it with some Trappey's Bull hot sauce and I made ranch dip for the celery. I don't care much for ranch but these legs were so spicy, anything cool and creamy was nice to put the fire out. lol
I did some more decorating... lol, it really never ends, while we watched "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and a couple other shows before calling it a night. The dogs were already in their doghouse with the straw strewn about the floor, their two blankets spread out and their warming light hanging above. They looked so cuddly warm. They must have been exactly that too because they weren't about to come out even for food. The roosters were flying up into their tree beds and the horses had left for the bottom pasture. The temperature was steadily dropping and went from the fifty-something down to twenty-something overnight. Brrrrrr
I got out of bed Sunday morning just knowing the ground would be covered with snow. I was a little disappointed to find that it mustn't have been my day - it wasn't snowing at all and there was no snow on the ground either. :( :( :( I crossed the bridge to the loft and found my Christmas candles, I grabbed a snowman sweatshirt and we went downstairs for breakfast.
While we didn't see any snow, we did see that the horses had come back up and they were awaiting our arrival to feed them. The dogs were still encased in their log cabin dog house and the roosters were already down from the trees and wandering over towards the water bucket. No one gets fed until we get fed so off to the kitchen I go. This morning we were having pan fried venison tenderloin medallions with golden mushroom gravy, whole wheat pancakes with honey and/or blueberry syrup and naval orange slices fairly bursting with summer sweetness. Talk about full bellies! Whew! We had to go feed the animals just to work off some of the breakfast. It was nourishing, filling and mostly healthy - the little bit of olive oil used to fry the tenderloins and the real butter on the pancakes did add some fat but not that much. And it's the good kind of fat :)
As I was cleaning the kitchen, Wally came in and told me to look at his truck. Ah!!! It was my day after all - it had begun to snow!!! It was coming down pretty good for a while there so I went outside (ffffrrrreeezing) and took some pictures. I'll send them to my phone tonight so you can see them. For the first time ever, my little car got snowed on! lol I was pretty darn excited and couldn't keep my eyes from looking outside the window. As I stood there watching the fluffy, white, flakes silently floating to the ground, I saw that there were 5 deer (all females) standing over behind the dog house nibbling what grass they could find in the yard. There was one that looked to be very young and she was the bravest of them all. She stood right there in the driveway without a care in the world. I called Wally to come see them and as we watched, they were spooked by a gunshot and took off running and leaping for the cover of the trees in the holler. There would be no hunting for me this snowy, December Sunday. The deer were as jittery as the horses only they had better reason to be.
The horses are so jittery these days we can barely get Smokey to come into the feeding pen. One little sound sends him running wildly through the woods. There must be lots of hunters down near the bottom pasture for him to be so spooked all the time. Even Rebel, with his wonderfully, kind demeanor was on edge like I've never seen him. He comes up to let you pet him but backs off as soon as anything moves - your hands, the dogs, the roosters, even the leaves blowing around.
We finally got Smokey to come into the pen to eat but he wasn't happy about it. He snorted and stomped and threw his head back over and over... finally he settled down enough to eat but even then he was ready to dart. I petted his neck, now full with his winter coat, and rubbed his nose to warm it up. He tolerated me I suppose is the best way to put it. When I turned to walk away, he ran out of the pen again. Since he saw that I was really leaving, he waited a few minutes and then came back in to finish the bucket of sweet feed. I wish the hunters would just go away and leave the horses alone...I may be one myself but that remains to be seen since I haven't actually shot anything yet...
Sunday, Wally worked on the gate opener, getting done with what he could do while inside the cabin. I worked on the laundry and together we watched Speed channel, football and the weather updates. It continued to snow on and off all day and the sky was both blue and gray. As grateful as I was for my clothesline during the summer, I was that grateful again for my drying in winter. It warmed the room and the clothes were soft and full of static as I folded them. I know all about fabric softener and dryer sheets but I don't like either one. I'd rather deal with the static. It wasn't so bad except for the white clothes. Those socks were all diligently clinging tightly to my tablecloth! LOL it looked like a sock hangar :) just pick a pair!
Not quite finished with my appetite for venison, I put together Lizzard's Amazing Meatloaf with 1/2 ground chuck and 1/2 ground venison (instead of the pork). If at all possible, the meatloaf was even more amazing than before! It held together very well and stayed juicy and moist inside even after we cut into it. While the meatloaf cooked for dinner, I began the process of making my beef, barley and vegetable soup. This time I added some cabbage - had it in the refrigerator so what the heck?
The cabbage had a decidedly different cast on the flavor of the broth but it was most definitely a hit. I sampled it while it cooked and brought a bowl of it for lunch today. The meat seemed fatty when I was cutting it up so I removed most of that. It simmered in that big red pot for over an hour and was so tender you could cut it with a fork - perfectly hot and steamy, perfectly full of vegetables and a perfectly beefy broth all combined to make another successful pot of soup! Wish you were here to enjoy a bowl with me :)
No deer lost their life on account of me, rather my yard was a safe haven instead. No belly went unfed on account of me, rather we were all sufficiently fed and our bodies were busy absorbing all the nutrients from the meats and vegetables we had consumed. No snowflake was left unappreciated as I was sure to say thanks for such a beautiful sight. So while our weekend was mostly uneventful by Florida standards, for us it was a source of contentment and peacefulness. We can only hope to have more of the same :)
"Many people think that if they were only in some other place, or had some other job, they would be happy. Well, that is doubtful. So get as much happiness out of what you are doing as you can and don't put off being happy until some future date." – Dale Carnegie
They wouldn't move until I petted both of them and promised them a dinner of steak fat over top of their dog food. Inside it was so nice I didn't want to venture back out into the cold but that was the only way I could learn about the log splitter. So I did what I had to do, grabbed a couple of beers, and took off down the driveway on the 4 wheeler. Whew-hoo was it cold on my face on that thing - the wind has a definite bite! Note to self - get a ski mask for use when riding on the 4 wheeler in cold weather!
Wally showed me how the log splitter worked and I was able to help get that one pile split up and ready to go into the truck for the trip to the barn. Let me just say that logs are much heavier than they look. I bent to pick up a piece that looked about the size of a basketball (except not round like that...) and it was all I could do to get it off the ground. My goodness - who knew? In my mind I know that it is part of a tree and everyone knows trees are heavy but it just never occurred to me that that little piece would hold so much weight. huh! I'm really going to have to get strong if I'm going to be of any help whatsoever out here in the woods.
The splitter does good work and it was probably only a half hour that we were out there and we had a pretty nice size pile of logs. They're to go in the wood-burning stoves in the barn/garage so it's warm enough to work in there during the winter. The barn is where all the mechanic-ing goes on... It's not a horse barn in case that's what you were thinking. It's all about working on cars, trucks, and anything else that has a motor. There's also all manner of painting supplies, electrical cords, drills, etc. Everything you would have in a garage except all my junk... lol!
Well we didn't feel like loading the wood and taking it down to the barn so we just left it where it was split and drove on back to the cabin. It was really looking inviting with the kitchen lights glowing and us knowing the heater was on. Kind of like how inviting it was over the summer when we had been working outside in the relentless heat all day long... and we knew the a/c was on... :) I was really looking forward to some time at home.
I started doing some more decorating for Christmas so everything will be ready when our guests arrive. I finished the mantel but the picture came out kind of dark. I'll try to get a better one. I took a picture of the paperwhites and as you can see there is a paint stirrer in the pot with them. We put it in there because those bulbs were growing so quickly it was almost as if we could watch them! I put the stirrer in the pot on Thanksgiving Day while Jay and Teri were here. I took that picture this past Saturday. So there was that much growth in just 9 days. Amazing.
The paperwhites have bloomed and true to their reputation, they are as stinky as can be. They sure are pretty though :) so I'm glad I bought them and even more glad that Arlene (my gardening guru) advised me to bring them inside. They wouldn't have survived the temperatures yet to come over the weekend. Even knowing how bad they smell, I still had to sniff them... what's up with that? Maybe I was hoping I would have developed a fondness for them...? Who knows, it didn't matter, they still stunk. EW!
Now, I have heard that some people like the scent of paperwhites. I've never met one of these people but the gardening websites all insist they exist. Indeed, when I asked Wally if he could smell them, guess what? Nope. He couldn't smell them and I just simply couldn't believe it. He did try again later and said he could kind of smell them and that they really didn't smell good. I guess the smell wasn't so strong as to offend his senses like it did mine LOL.
They were so easy to grow that I think I'll double my purchases next year :) Stinky or not, they give color to the room and anything that blooms when the weather is cold, is nice to have in the house.
I was tired from not sleeping (now waking up at quarter to 3 in the darn morning... ugh!) so I didn't feel like going anywhere and Wally was fine with that. We had ribeyes thawed out and they were already seasoned so I made some pea salad (recipe compliments of Sheila Crites, thank you very much) and some sweet corn to go with them. Pea salad may not be on your list of sides to make for dinner but truly it should be. It's so easy to make and seems almost like a comfort food in its simplicity. Of course, coming from a huge pea fan, there's almost nothing better... if you're not a fan, I guess I can understand why you wouldn't make this. I am always amazed that there are actually people out there who don't eat peas... What do you eat in your pea salad?? lol!! ha ha ha
The horses, roosters, dogs and humans were all generously fed and the animals were all tucked in for the night so we called it a night too. Upstairs, that big bed was warm and inviting and I couldn't wait to get in it. The cabin was quieted and dark and even the roosters had stopped their nighttime crowing (yes, it's morning, noon and night for them). We were asleep in no time...
I'm trying to stay up later in the hope that I will sleep later. That sounds good in theory, right? Well, just try to convince my body to believe it, would ya? Three am rolled around and I was wide awake. I just laid there watching tv until Wally woke up. We caught the first newscast of the day so we would know what to expect weather-wise and we were downstairs before the sun came up over the front yard.
I had taken out some of the venison sausage that Wally and Darryl had ground up (from the deer meat Kurt gave us Thanksgiving Day) and it was ready to fry for breakfast. Venison sausage coupled with scrambled eggs and warm, buttered, whole wheat toast - now that's a farmhouse breakfast to behold. We have plenty more so I'll be sure to make it for you when you come visit.
Now that my house was full of breakfast smells (instead of the stinky paperwhites) I could get to work on the decorations. I've been through many, many boxes and there are still more to come. At some point in my Christmas decoration collecting, I must have known I would someday be decorating a place the size of this one. It's no use trying to scale back now...there are just so many pretty places to set things! I'm in search of two specific items that I'm sure must be still in the trailer... my little candy dish called, "Chilly Treats" and my family of deer (mom, dad and baby) that are wood carvings and critical to my woodland trees scene that I put together with pine cones and tea lights. Wally is no doubt wondering when it will all come to an end. Personally, so am I... LOL! I haven't seen some of this stuff in years and it just never ends...
Aw well, we all have to have something that we thoroughly enjoy and get the most delightful pleasure from... my thing is Christmas ornaments and decorations. The tree appears to be full of ornaments but from where I sit, I can see at least 10 branches that are bare - that won't last long. I haven't even hung the little, tiny ornaments that are saved for the very tippy top branches and the kids ornaments are set aside for them to hang when they get here (December 23rd... counting down...). Plenty still to be done.
There's a wreath on the door and glittery snowflakes hanging from the kitchen and spare bedroom windows. There are cowboy boot - shaped stockings beside the fireplace and a snowman candle holder in the bathroom. There are only a few window ledges that haven't got something Christmassy on them... and the piano has the frosted glass snowmen that Chrystal has ever so thoughtfully given me through the years. I bought three more strands of lights that I hope to hang under the bridge with some garland and inside the kitchen window so you see them when you drive up. Just in case you think that's all, I have some candy canes that stick in the ground and they will be up at the flag pole where my fall decorations used to be :)
I like to think that Christmas has come to the cabin. I don't know that it's ever been decorated before but it sure is decorated this year... just like I had pictured when I first decided to move here. Now - I have to find a place for all the boxes again... lol
I changed the quilt on my bed to one that Bud and Tammy gave me. It's king size, hand-stitched and very warm. I made up the bed in the loft for Neccy and Jack and decorated the head board with a little white Christmas basket and berry and cedar sprays across the top - you just have to see it to believe it. I can't imagine anyone walking by that bed and not being tempted to climb up on it. There's even a stool underneath it so you can reach :) ha ha ha - it is kind of high up. Watch your head on the side by the wall... the cabin has a dutch barn roof and it slopes downward on that side. I've bonked my head 3 or 4 times just moving things around... lol! It gets me every time :)
It was supposed to snow Saturday but we never saw it happen. It looked like it was going to, according to Wally, and it felt like it was cold enough too but I guess conditions just weren't quite right. Still it was cold enough for jackets and the heater. We had to stop at Food Lion and we had already decided to get a gate opener so we bundled up, packed the cooler and headed over to Fairview to make our purchases. Food Lion was a quick trip and luckily we had just missed the Christmas parade. I would have loved to have seen the parade but I forgot all about it. Since we missed it anyway, it was a good thing we didn't get to Fairview any earlier than we did. We would have been stuck in the parade traffic. On to the Tractor Supply where they had one gate opener on sale and as it turned out, it was the one we wanted. We had looked at them before but didn't buy one.
While we were there Wally showed me where the gloves were. They have lots of gloves to choose from at Tractor Supply - who knew? lol So he picked out a few for me to try on but alas, with my freakishly small hands, they were all way too big and even drooped off the ends of my fingers. Finally, he handed me a pair that were made of goatskin and which were reasonably priced. I tried them on and guess what? They fit like a glove!! ha ha ha ha ha oh that's so funny - sorry, I couldn't resist!
We had our gate opener and I had my gloves - it was a good day. On the way home, we stopped at Fred's so I could pick up a couple toys for the Toys For Tots drive at work and some candy for my candy dish at work. In no time we were back on the road and bound for the cabin. While I had a signal on my phone, I called Rebecca and wished her a happy 20th birthday. She and Jarrett and Kain were all watching the Harry Potter marathon. For her present, I asked Neccy to pick up a Wolfgang Puck skillet like the one she got me a few years back. Thankfully, they had one more left at Ross when Neccy stopped by there. Rebecca can now do some cooking for us when she comes up... lol!! I'm sure she went out later but I don't need to know the details of that...
We were going to do chicken wings again but decided to use chicken legs instead. We bought some wing sauce that was so hot we had to dilute it with some Trappey's Bull hot sauce and I made ranch dip for the celery. I don't care much for ranch but these legs were so spicy, anything cool and creamy was nice to put the fire out. lol
I did some more decorating... lol, it really never ends, while we watched "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and a couple other shows before calling it a night. The dogs were already in their doghouse with the straw strewn about the floor, their two blankets spread out and their warming light hanging above. They looked so cuddly warm. They must have been exactly that too because they weren't about to come out even for food. The roosters were flying up into their tree beds and the horses had left for the bottom pasture. The temperature was steadily dropping and went from the fifty-something down to twenty-something overnight. Brrrrrr
I got out of bed Sunday morning just knowing the ground would be covered with snow. I was a little disappointed to find that it mustn't have been my day - it wasn't snowing at all and there was no snow on the ground either. :( :( :( I crossed the bridge to the loft and found my Christmas candles, I grabbed a snowman sweatshirt and we went downstairs for breakfast.
While we didn't see any snow, we did see that the horses had come back up and they were awaiting our arrival to feed them. The dogs were still encased in their log cabin dog house and the roosters were already down from the trees and wandering over towards the water bucket. No one gets fed until we get fed so off to the kitchen I go. This morning we were having pan fried venison tenderloin medallions with golden mushroom gravy, whole wheat pancakes with honey and/or blueberry syrup and naval orange slices fairly bursting with summer sweetness. Talk about full bellies! Whew! We had to go feed the animals just to work off some of the breakfast. It was nourishing, filling and mostly healthy - the little bit of olive oil used to fry the tenderloins and the real butter on the pancakes did add some fat but not that much. And it's the good kind of fat :)
As I was cleaning the kitchen, Wally came in and told me to look at his truck. Ah!!! It was my day after all - it had begun to snow!!! It was coming down pretty good for a while there so I went outside (ffffrrrreeezing) and took some pictures. I'll send them to my phone tonight so you can see them. For the first time ever, my little car got snowed on! lol I was pretty darn excited and couldn't keep my eyes from looking outside the window. As I stood there watching the fluffy, white, flakes silently floating to the ground, I saw that there were 5 deer (all females) standing over behind the dog house nibbling what grass they could find in the yard. There was one that looked to be very young and she was the bravest of them all. She stood right there in the driveway without a care in the world. I called Wally to come see them and as we watched, they were spooked by a gunshot and took off running and leaping for the cover of the trees in the holler. There would be no hunting for me this snowy, December Sunday. The deer were as jittery as the horses only they had better reason to be.
The horses are so jittery these days we can barely get Smokey to come into the feeding pen. One little sound sends him running wildly through the woods. There must be lots of hunters down near the bottom pasture for him to be so spooked all the time. Even Rebel, with his wonderfully, kind demeanor was on edge like I've never seen him. He comes up to let you pet him but backs off as soon as anything moves - your hands, the dogs, the roosters, even the leaves blowing around.
We finally got Smokey to come into the pen to eat but he wasn't happy about it. He snorted and stomped and threw his head back over and over... finally he settled down enough to eat but even then he was ready to dart. I petted his neck, now full with his winter coat, and rubbed his nose to warm it up. He tolerated me I suppose is the best way to put it. When I turned to walk away, he ran out of the pen again. Since he saw that I was really leaving, he waited a few minutes and then came back in to finish the bucket of sweet feed. I wish the hunters would just go away and leave the horses alone...I may be one myself but that remains to be seen since I haven't actually shot anything yet...
Sunday, Wally worked on the gate opener, getting done with what he could do while inside the cabin. I worked on the laundry and together we watched Speed channel, football and the weather updates. It continued to snow on and off all day and the sky was both blue and gray. As grateful as I was for my clothesline during the summer, I was that grateful again for my drying in winter. It warmed the room and the clothes were soft and full of static as I folded them. I know all about fabric softener and dryer sheets but I don't like either one. I'd rather deal with the static. It wasn't so bad except for the white clothes. Those socks were all diligently clinging tightly to my tablecloth! LOL it looked like a sock hangar :) just pick a pair!
Not quite finished with my appetite for venison, I put together Lizzard's Amazing Meatloaf with 1/2 ground chuck and 1/2 ground venison (instead of the pork). If at all possible, the meatloaf was even more amazing than before! It held together very well and stayed juicy and moist inside even after we cut into it. While the meatloaf cooked for dinner, I began the process of making my beef, barley and vegetable soup. This time I added some cabbage - had it in the refrigerator so what the heck?
The cabbage had a decidedly different cast on the flavor of the broth but it was most definitely a hit. I sampled it while it cooked and brought a bowl of it for lunch today. The meat seemed fatty when I was cutting it up so I removed most of that. It simmered in that big red pot for over an hour and was so tender you could cut it with a fork - perfectly hot and steamy, perfectly full of vegetables and a perfectly beefy broth all combined to make another successful pot of soup! Wish you were here to enjoy a bowl with me :)
No deer lost their life on account of me, rather my yard was a safe haven instead. No belly went unfed on account of me, rather we were all sufficiently fed and our bodies were busy absorbing all the nutrients from the meats and vegetables we had consumed. No snowflake was left unappreciated as I was sure to say thanks for such a beautiful sight. So while our weekend was mostly uneventful by Florida standards, for us it was a source of contentment and peacefulness. We can only hope to have more of the same :)
"Many people think that if they were only in some other place, or had some other job, they would be happy. Well, that is doubtful. So get as much happiness out of what you are doing as you can and don't put off being happy until some future date." – Dale Carnegie
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