Happy Friday Eve!!

GOSH here it is Thursday already and I've only been able to get one posting on the blog. Sorry about that but you know how it is coming back to work after all those days off. Email jail, calls to return, finalizing year end reports/projects, etc. Okay, those of you who are retired might not remember what this time of year is like but those of us in the daily grind are deep in the middle of it right now...lol

By the time I arrived home Monday afternoon, I was bushed. I think my brain was just tired of having to work...lol I fed the roosters and then got some doggy biscuits and gave them to all the dogs. The little guys will come up long enough to grab one from my hand and the big guys sit and wait their turn. Both puppies are going up on their hind legs and barking at me from about 2-3 feet away. I just hold my ground and eventually they sneak in for the grab! Of course Ruger takes his and runs up under the porch. Colt is such a pig, he just gobbles it up without waiting to see what it is...lol!

First, I pay attention to the big dogs because they are patiently sitting there waiting their turn. I'm hoping the little guys will learn from them but so far, those little pups have no manners whatsoever! They are beginning to learn their names but you have to say them two or three times before they pay attention. This puppy stuff is hard work but they're still so cute and playful we don't try to make them learn too much too fast.

Remember how the old dogs wouldn't have anything to do with the new dogs when they first came home? They have slowly started to accept them, except when it comes to major food in their bowls. Tuesday morning as I drove by the Ho dog house, they were all in there together...finally!! I had turned on the light the night before because it was supposed to be 28 degrees. The old dogs were huddled together and sound asleep across from the light and the pups were sitting opposite of them looking out as I drove by.

I'm sure they were anxiously awaiting the awakening of Smith and Wesson as I'm sure they were more than ready to start playing. It was 4:51 am :) Apparently the puppies are morning dogs like I'm a morning person while Smith and Wesson are more "brunch" dogs...LOL! oh that's funny :)

They are still too little to get up on the back porch but the front porch is now fair game. Colt figured out how to use the stump to get up there but Ruger still uses the ramps. He's far too cautious to just take the leap like Colt does. Ruger is a little less coordinated too. I'm not saying anything bad about him, it's just that when he tries to jump up on the ramp from the side, he always falls down. Colt never misses. It's like Colt has springs on his feet - he jumps right on up like it's nothing. Ruger is a little bigger than Colt and less likely to be out in the open as much. Ruger is the last one to come around for food of all the dogs. He's making sure we aren't trying to catch him...most of the time, we aren't but sometimes we have to.

Tonight we have to catch them so we can check on their collars. They (the collars) were small when we got them and that has been a couple weeks now. I'm picking up size large after work so we can change them out. They (the pups) aren't going to like it but it has to be done. We have some hunks of pork fat to lure them in....ha ha ha pork works on everyone at the farm!

So Monday's dinner was quick and simple and much like comfort food is, very warm and filling. I wanted peas but I have to be careful not to burn out Wally on them because I could eat them two or three times a week and not think twice about it. He's not as big a fan. I thought well, let me see what's in the pantry. I found a partially filled bag of those fried onions and thought, hmmm, maybe I could made a pea casserole like the green bean casserole we all enjoy for Thanksgiving... I grabbed the onions, a couple cans of peas, a can of mushroom soup and off I went to the kitchen. The kitchen is only a couple steps from the pantry so it wasn't like I was doing a "Rachel Ray Balancing Act." lol!

I mixed the cream of mushroom soup with a little bit of half and half that Teri had left here and then added some black pepper to it. I drained the peas and then mixed it all together. I crushed the fried onions and sprinkled them all over the top of it and popped it in the oven. Easy!! After about 30 minutes that little casserole was hot and bubbly - just what I was looking for.

I could have eaten just the peas but I knew that was not going to fly with Wally...lol! Darryl had given us a whole pork tenderloin off of which I cut a few slices. I seasoned them with garlic powder, seasoning salt and black pepper then I got out my trusty Wolfgang Puck skillet. I coated it with olive oil, heated it until the meat would sizzle when it hit the pan and set in the pork to fry. It was sliced thin enough that it didn't take long to finish. The little tiny bit of fat that I left on the edge was crunchy on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth on the inside. I would have been hard pressed to get any of it if my kids or Dizzy Debbie were here. But alas, they were in their respective states... :)

We had our dinner and then watched a little tv (sound familiar) until bedtime. We have been following "How I Met Your Mother" which I didn't care for at first but now I like it as it sort of reminds me of Friends without the rudeness...I like Friends but they go a little too far for my tastes sometimes. Another favorite is "That 70s Show." I love that one even if it is all re-runs. Fez cracks me up and so does Mrs. Foreman! Anyway, all of those shows are good for a laugh and since they're re-runs, we don't feel so bad if we miss out on them by falling asleep :)

Tuesday I guess I was doing a little better but still busy as heck at work. Then, about an hour before I was to leave, my boss sent out a project for the whole team that she needed back that same day... boooooo. Well I was able to get my part done but my poor brain was once again on overload by 2:30 in the afternoon. The weather was chilly but not freezing, the drive was really nice because the kids still weren't back in school and the farm was calling my name! I came down the driveway to see all the roosters come running up, Smith was on the porch watching me and Wesson was following me alongside the driveway. The puppies were bouncing up and down like I was the best thing to show up since sliced bread...not that they know what that means but you get my drift. I felt so welcome :)

I pet all those who would let me and took my junk inside. I cleaned out my bag and put away my scarf, gloves and satchel. Back outside, I picked up the jug for the rooster food and headed towards the outhouse. Oh they all came running and all the while making their little cooing sounds. If I run, they run. If I run faster, they run faster and they coo faster too...it's funny! Roo is too cool for all those antics. He takes his time and stays off to the side of the Rooster Thugs. :)

I fill up their jug and sprinkle the scratch around in a circle. I always take and drop a couple handfuls behind me for Roo because, even if they would let him in the circle, he wouldn't follow those restrictions regardless. He stays where he can watch them because we all know they'll try to run him off if they can. Meanies! Before they even finished eating all the food, they suddenly just lined up and trotted off to hit the trees for the night. I guess I was too late for them to finish their dinner. Roo flew up last and had the whole big ole' tree all to himself. Good boy.

I didn't have any dog biscuits with me so the puppies didn't want anything to do with me. I donned my coat and a scarf and some gloves and jumped on the 4 wheeler to go see Wally at the barn. Brrrr it was cold on my face but the sun was still out and it was a nice ride. He heard me coming through the holler before I even got anywhere near the barn. Things echo down in the holler :) He showed me the work he had done and what was to come next and then we loaded up in the white farm truck and headed back to the cabin. By then, it was too cold for me on the 4 wheeler :)

Jeff was working with Wally so we drove up to the gate to let him out and then down through the trails we went making our way home...The cabin looked so inviting with my kitchen light glowing gold against the onset of darkness.

Does anyone actually walk into the house and start cooking or does everyone have a million things to do before the cooking can begin? For me, I like to change into my "cooking clothes" as Neccy calls them. All they are is a pair of stretchy shorts and a tank top - preferably bra-less (ahhhhhh) and my slippers. I like to take out my contacts and put my hair up in a scrunchy. Once all that is done, it's time to decide what I'm having with whatever meat I took out earlier that morning. While I'm deciding, I'm pilfering through the mail sorting it into trash - burn pile - file or take to work. If I don't sort it as soon as possible, it'll never get done and that stuff really piles up quickly!

Once the decision has been made on side dishes, I'm off to the refrigerator and pantry to collect the ingredients. Of course I notice that I've been neglecting the floors lately and make a mental note to sweep them as soon as dinner can be left alone to cook. But first, last night's dishes need to be put away and the tea needs to be made... lol is it the same in every household or am I that unique?

I made cube steaks that we bought at the meat-getting-place and to go with them some steamed broccoli and some canned corn. The broccoli was smothered in Velveeta cheese otherwise some of us would prefer not to eat it...I won't mention who. The corn boiled in its own juices until the juices were about gone and then it was heavily peppered. Those cube steaks came out really good and I'm proud to say I made my Mom's burnt flour gravy to go over top of them. It may not sound good but it is actually to die for. It is just so wonderful you can't imagine.

Mom made it (with me watching closely and helping to stir) while she was here over Christmas and I think I would like to have it every night if at all possible. Mine was a little thicker than hers but the flavor was right on the money. For my first time making it, I didn't do too bad at all. We ate every bit of it :) Sorry dogs and puppies, there weren't any leftovers to be had... except for some of that broccoli ha ha ha I took it for lunch the next day :)

With dinner out of the way I thought I would give myself a break and just rinse the dishes and wash them the next day. Well, you know how that goes....you start putting everything away and wiping down the stove, counters and cutting board and next thing you know, you're washing dishes. Yeah well that's how it went for me... what's the point in leaving 2 of everything for the next day when it won't take but about 10 minutes to just wash them? Dang it - no break. By the way, I forgot all about the floors...

Wednesday came early as I woke up at 3am on the nose. Just one more hour would have been nice but it wasn't the case. I watched that show about "Tool Time," whatever the name of it is...? There were two of them back to back so I waited to get up until they were over at 4. So began my day. As soon as I start moving around I hear the "cock-a-doodle-dooing" start up. I think all 6 of them get going at the same time and I laugh to myself when I think of our visitors soundly sleeping until that song starts... hee hee hee

When I walked out to get in my car, I was greeted by the puppies barking their little heads off...you would have thought I was a robber! They were growling and half way lunging at me and acting real threatening :)
At least they are doing their job even if they don't have good judgement on who gets barked at and who doesn't...lol

My car was cold and needed warmed up so I played with them while that went on and then it was off to work! woo hoo I can't complain, the roads were clear and the traffic was, well, non-existent for the most part. The day passed pretty quick and while I was typing an email about the weather forecast predicting snow, it actually started to snow. It didn't last long but it was pretty to see it coming down in front of the mountain view out my window at work. Those were some big, fluffy snowflakes too... then they turned into rain. They say we'll have some more between tonight and tomorrow morning. I hope the roads are clear enough for me to get to work - I don't want to get behind after just now getting caught up :)

Before I knew it, I was on my way back home. The sun had come out just long enough for me to get to my car and get about 20 minutes down the road and then it clouded over again. Just as I was entering into Hickman county someone had run over a skunk and it was stinking to high heaven...oh my goodness that is one smell I could do without ever having to experience again. ARF! I couldn't get it out of my car. It was cold outside and drizzling rain but I had to open that window and let it out. It was worse than anything Jarrett ever did in the car...lol!  Oh, it was terrible, just terrible.

Since it was cold, snowy, rainy and colder still, I decided we would have chili for dinner. I have the easiest recipe ever and it cooks up real fast so, I thought, what the heck? I browned the meat and added some chopped up onion and green pepper. I poured in two cans of tomato sauce and a can of chili beans. I usually add two cans of beans but it seemed like that would be too much this time - don't know why. Anyway, I dropped in a dried red chili pepper and a packet of chili seasoning and stirred it all together. Once that got going I chopped up some canned tomatoes and added those along with about half a beer. I peppered it up and got it simmering until, after about 20 minutes, everything tasted just right! Dinner was served and I was a pig. I had two bowls while Wally had just the one. There's not much to compare to sleeping on a belly full of chili...I was snug as a bug in a rug in that big ol' bed and I slept all the way up until 3am again this morning...whatever :) I'm getting used to it... lol!

You'll be happy to know I haven't seen a deer since a week ago today. Wally says hunting season ends at the end of January so there's not much time left for me to get one in the freezer... keep your fingers crossed! lol I'm sure some of you will cross them in the hope that I don't get one - that's okay, I know who you are! ha ha ha ha ha

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home." ~Edith Sitwell