Ode To Wednesday...

Most people dislike Monday, but I love Monday! Monday everyone goes back to their daily grind and I have a chance to recuperate after the weekend, clean up all their messes and take a big, deep breath and say "Ahhh".  What I am not a big fan of is Wednesday.  I know a lot of people love hump day, the down slide into the weekend, but not me!  Wednesday is my long day to work, its the day that seems to smack me in the head and say you have not gotten everything done yet, which makes me feel rushed for Thursday and Friday to get ready for the weekend, where...they all are home again.  Whew, just thinking about all of it makes my head spin!

My neighbor brought me some mail delivered to him the other day and we chatted about chickens, foxes and coyotes.  He has lost 7 chickens to the foxes and coyotes.  I fear that they will work their way up here, but my husband and son tell me have no fear, the dogs will keep them at bay.  We have been so lucky and not had any trouble with predators so far.  We do have hawks, and although I don't worry so much about my big, fat, heavy chickens, I do worry more about my rabbits, that I let out to play in their yard, and my chihuahua.  I had three circling around yesterday when the chickens were out in the yard to play.  I was out there telling them to go away like a mad woman, we all know yelling at hawks, they understand us right? haha  I finally decided to let all 7 of my dogs out on the porch to bark their heads off in hopes of keeping them away.  It worked, they flew off, but returned later, probably disappointed to find out that I was out there again with all seven dogs to ruin their evening search for food.  With the weather getting nicer and it being warm I am sure I will have many encounters with the hawks, yelling at them to move on, even though I know it doesn't work.  But, nonetheless, it does make me feel like I'm a protective chicken, rabbit, chihuahua mommy!  The date for my chicks to be sent is nearing, March 5, 2012, and I am getting so excited.  I can't wait to have that little peeping filling my ears, watching them grow and enjoying my deep, conversations with them, even though I know they don't quite get all the big words haha.

Today is our dinner at church and our Lenten service.  I'm very excited and feel very organized since I got most of the food done yesterday.  Today. I just have to finish off my pumpkin soup, make up the sandwiches and I am ready to go.  I love having a Wednesday service too, it's nice to go in the middle of the week for a little positive, spiritual up do.  Now, that does make Wednesday worthwhile, but sadly doesn't last all year, just through Easter.  I dug more soil for my beds and my son, as strong as he is went out and drug up a nice big pine long almost the entire length that I needed.  I told him, you can boast to your dad and brother that you got this one with your bare hands.  It had fallen into the arms of another tree and he tugged and wiggled and brought the entire thing down, the part we didn't need cracked off when it hit the ground and we had a perfect log for the rustic beds.  I'm making quite the hole digging up the dirt from under a tree that had a bunch of old wood beneath it, breaking down, decomposing and making gorgeous soil.  I think I am going to use the hole and make a little Koi pond there at the end of my pathway, garden area.  That or dig my way to China!

Since it is Wednesday and some of us need a treat to get through it, I thought I would share, my always requested, cheesecake recipe!  If you have the ingredients on hand, throw one together, you will forget that it is Wednesday and feel like you are in heaven!

Chocolate and Nut Topped New York Cheesecake

• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 stick melted butter

Filling

• 4 packages of cream cheese
• 1 ¹⁄₃; cups sugar
• 5 large eggs plus 2 yolks
• 1 cup sour cream
• ¼ cup flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla 
• 
  

Directions:

 All above ingredients should be at room temperature before your begin.

1. 
   
   Crust: Mix all graham cracker crumbs with sugar and melted butter and press into a 9 inch spring form pan, trying to line the sides as much as possible about 1 1/2" up the sides of the pan, set aside.
2. Mixing the Filling.
   
   
   Start by beating the cream cheese until light and fluffy.
3. Add the sugar a little at a time and continue beating until creamy.
4. Add one egg at a time and beat after each egg.
5. When eggs have been mixed into the cream cheese add flour, vanilla and mix well.
6. Add the sour cream last and beat well.
7. Pour cream cheese into the spring pan.
8. 
   
   Place on the top rack in the middle of a 400 degrees preheated oven for 10 minutes.
   Lower the temperature to 250 degrees and bake for an additional 1 hour.  Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for two hours with the door cracked open on the oven.  Remove and let cool for  2 hours or  long enough before the cheesecake is put into the refrigerator for 24 hours.
   
   
   TOPPING:
   Melt one cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of whipping cream in the microwave for one minute.  Stir to incorporate and spread over the top of the cheesecake, letting extras run off the side.  Top with chopped walnuts or pecans or any nut of your choice.  Cut and serve!

On the hunt...

I have been looking for goats for awhile, and I knew in my mind that spring will bring many babies into the world.  I miss goats, we had them before and they make wonderful pets and hard workers when brush needs to be cleared.  We got our goats in Texas for a very low price.  In Georgia, goats must poop gold because they seem so expensive.  I am still on the hunt, I don't want to sign over my first born or spend an arm and a leg for a couple of sweet babies, so I am hoping that spring will lead me to affordable goats.  I want to be able to milk, so I need a good breed that milks and I want more than one goat, they are social animals and don't do well alone.  If anyone knows a good resource for me in North Georgia, I am open to all suggestions!  Until I find my sweet goat babies, I love seeing the photos and reading about them on other peoples blogs.  For the time being I do have my chickens and rabbits and all my dogs that keep me busy, but obviously I'm not busy enough I want goats and eventually a pig to raise.  Of course, I know absolutely nothing about pigs so that will be a fun learning challenge for me.

I am helping with the Lenten service soup, salad, sandwich dinners during Lent. They are on Wednesdays and I have to make sandwiches and soup and a dessert this week.  I am going to make a nice chicken salad with grapes and pecans and a ham salad with Swiss cheese and a delicious pumpkin soup with the pumpkin from our garden.  I found the cutest cross to set in the center of my cheesecake I'm going to make and take.  I was surprised at Wal-Mart that the little crosses like the one I bought were the only thing there that was "religious" everything else was chicks and bunnies.  It makes me feel sad that the biggest christian holiday has been downplayed so badly that the only thing you can find, in a big store like that, is a 3 inch cross tucked deep in the corner on a shelf.  I am always one to believe "to each his own" and allow everyone their own free will, as God gave us on this earth.  But, for those of us that are Christians, that follow our lives through Christ, wouldn't it be nice that we were allowed "to each his own" and our own free will? It saddens me that the principles this country was built on, In God We Trust, has been virtually denied and buried, with disregard to how it makes us feel, with all the political correctness to not make others feel left out.  I feel very left out sometimes when it comes to my beliefs and it's just as wrong to deny Christians as it is to deny anyone's beliefs. Okay, I had my little rant and I'm better now! At least I found that sweet, little, resin cross, and I am thankful for it.

I'm including my recipe for pumpkin soup, this is a family favorite and even my husband likes it and he does not like pumpkin!  Give it a try if you are looking for something that goes perfect with a nice light chicken salad for an easy dinner, lunch or brunch.

Pumpkin Soup

• 
  6 cups chicken stock
• 2 -3 cups pumpkin
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic , minced or 1 Tablespoon powdered garlic
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 5 peppercorns or 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ cup cream or evaporated milk 
• 1 teaspoon chopped parsley

1. 
   
   In a covered saucepan, heat the stock, pumpkin, onion, garlic, salt, thyme, and peppercorns to boiling; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes.
2. Remove 2 cups of the pumpkin with a slotted spoon; reserve.
3. Simmer remaining pumpkin mixture, uncovered, 20 minutes longer; transfer to a large bowl.
4. Puree 2 cups of the pumpkin mixture in a blender or food processor; return pureed mixture to the pot.
5. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
6. Stir warm cream into the mixture and simmer 10 minutes.
7. Serve hot.

Weekends

(The old fence on our land, Rustic, worn and full of untold stories)

The excitement of the weekend stills comes upon me on Friday, as if I am a child still in school and have two days of carefree living.  However, they aren't that carefree anymore like when I was a child; But, I still love the weekends! Saturday wasn't very eventful for me, I had to bake cookies and cakes for fellowship on Sunday.  Although, I normally love to bake and cook, I wasn't really in the mood Saturday so it made it hard to enjoy.  I was so tired, honestly, I could of gone back to bed and slept all day!  The youth group from church was going to the movies, and my oldest was going out of town so that left dad to take my daughter to the outing.  I think they had fun, it is nice when the two of them spend time together.  I want them to have that special bond between father and daughter.

We have a chicken that is getting into the bunny hutch to lay eggs.  I get a giggle every time I find one.  Sunday, I found three!  It must be a good spot and the one chicken has told her friends and they all want to try it out. I get that vision of the Cadbury commercial in my mind where the bunny is clucking like a chicken when I think of the hens in his hutch.  I'm getting more and more eggs every week and that is exciting.  My dreams are coming true, finally, after feeding and caring for these chickens for so long now.  I was starting to think I'd never see an egg!

Sunday was the best day by far from the weekend.  Church was lovely and our Sunday school class is just so in tune and amazing, you leave the room feeling so up beat and positive for the week.  The service was, as usual, touching and positive.  As we move through our 40 days of lent, I feel a strong attraction to following the times of Jesus and what he went through during his life.  I love to read the scripture and follow the story of his journey to the cross.  Although, a feeling of sadness comes over me considering what he endured, a feeling of peace, love and hope over shadows that feeling with knowing that he died for our sins, and there was a purpose in the large scheme of things. Truly, no better gift could ever have been given to us and I am so thankful for it.  After church we went out to eat dinner and ran into to shop for pants for my middle son, who...drum roll please... GOT A JOB!  It has been such a difficult process for him to get a job.  But, finally after almost a year of consistent applying and trying, he succeeded.  Yay, I'm so proud of him!  We all came home and started working on my flower beds that I have designed in my mind.  We have so many downed trees laying there and it is such a waste not to re-purpose them somehow. I have decided to build all my beds from the trees, stacking two or three high, and securing them with very large screws to hold them together.  We have the first row of logs on both sides of the area now and I can see it coming together.  It is going to be exactly what I pictured in my mind.  The beds will be rustic, beautiful and perfect for years to come. So, today I will continue to shovel dirt and fill the areas with soil so that I can begin planting in the next few weeks. What a wonderful weekend overall!

Bunny Wars

The stillness of early morning really fills my spirit. I get up very early, before anyone in the house, to sip my cup of tea and just ponder on thoughts that fill my head. I feel close to God, as I have my morning chat and rattle on with him about things he already knows and understands, yet I'm still learning. I am thankful that I have God there with me all the time as my constant companion. Sometimes words are never needed, just the feelings in my heart are enough for our conversations.

This morning, when I let the dogs outside I could feel it is still warm outdoors. We were expecting rain that would cool things off again. I am happy that we may have another warm day, yesterday was gorgeous and it made my spring fever even stronger. I know better than to let Mother Nature fool me, but I yearn to do something, anything that requires planting and beautiful flowers. I was outside gathering small twigs to hot glue on my self-watering pot I made the other day. That turned out so cute. I had some fabric that looks like burlap and I gathered it all up around the neck of the mason jar where the other part meets and tied a red ribbon. I'm quite proud of my creation and now have to do the same to the other two I made.

I had another day of bunny drama and finally have sorted out the trouble, I think! We have one bunny that has chewed through the wire on his hutch, and I didn't know that when I let the other buck out into the yard to play. I was standing in the kitchen window looking out and saw this white fluff flying, and dropped everything to run out and break up the fight. I grabbed the one bunny by the scruff of his neck and carried him into the chicken pen and let him run around. I originally was worried about letting the rabbits in the chicken pen, due to being pecked. But, they have dug into the chicken pen so many times that the chickens couldn't care less about them. I had the boys move an old hutch into the pen so that he can live on that side of the fence and the other buck can have the rabbit yard all to himself. We house our two females together in our old chicken tractor. They love that they are always able to run around. They have ten kits between them and they are starting to run around now. They are adorable when they are babies! I hope that I have finally found the right solution to the bunny wars and that we don't see anymore drama. Of course, I know when I say that I mean for today!

Literacy

Literacy is very important to me and I try to keep it in the forefront of what I strongly believe in, help with and want to see improve all over the world.  A new article I have written is included here.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is always a very reflective day for me.  Today is the beginning of Lent and a time to be  repentant and remember the shortness of life.  The weeks prior to Easter, during Lent allow me to get closer to God.  To realize my downfalls and be thankful that God's grace wraps me up like a big warm hug and lets me know that I am loved, even with my faults.  I feel drawn to the life of Jesus and how his journey even then, so long ago, is still so relevant and important in my life; and in other Christian's lives.  Lent is a good time to bring something new and positive into my life.  I try to find something that will become part of me and enhance my spirit and bring goodness into my life and my family. I am looking forward to our Ash Wednesday service this evening.  The men of our church will provide a pancake supper before the service and I am proud that my two sons will be participating in this event.  Every Wednesday for the next seven weeks we will have a service and a nice soup, sandwich and desert dinner.  I am looking forward to all of them and bringing some yummy things.

I made the neatest little flower pots yesterday.  First, I'm a saver and love to re-purpose a lot of things!  I have some old large, plastic, vodka bottles that were given to me.  I love the long neck on liquor bottles, perfect for a self watering flower pot.  I cut them in half, keeping the bottom part to use as feed scoops for my chickens and rabbits.  I put a small piece of nylon pantyhose in the bottom where the hole is to keep the soil from spilling through, also the liquor bottles have that little spout in the hole to keep it from flowing freely, this makes a nice stopper for soil. Once you fill it with soil you set it into a water- filled, large, quart, mason jar. Plant your flower or foliage into the top.  I like to mist it with water to get the soil damp and then you just have to watch the level of water in the jar and keep it filled.  It is a great self watering flower pot.  It can look a little plain un-decorated.  I like to tie a wide ribbon around the top of the mason jar where the two pieces come together, just to give it a little color.  Some colored stones in the bottom of the jar are pretty and if you are a fish lover, even a nice Betta Fish in the bottom is lovely, they don't like a lot of space and would love the bottom of the mason jar.  I kept a big pickle jar for years with Pothos vine in the water and a betta fish.  He lived for years and loved the vines and roots to swim through.  However, I digress, back to the flower pot!  I made three of these yesterday and nothing looks more simple and lovely than a few of them in a row in front of a sunny window. It is good medicine for Spring fever, to see a few colorful blooms in the light of the window.  Hopefully, those that know me will save their liquor bottles for me so that I can make a few more of these.  I do think a 2-liter bottle could work but they don't have the long neck like the liquor bottles do so it would have to sit in something shallow to be self watering.  I wish I could take a photo and show it off, I will eventually get that new camera I want.  And then, look out I will be a picture taking fool!

General Musings from a Scattered Mind!

                          (the sunset from my front porch through the trees)

Sitting on our front porch is the best place I find to think and ponder!  Rocking back and forth in my favorite rocking chair and watching the birds fly, seeing the bright blue sky or the dusky evening sky and setting sun and listening to the sounds of nature, especially my wonderful clucking hens in the background, is the perfect place for me.  I am on top of the world, contemplating foreign affairs, great inventions, Nobel prize worthy writing; oh yeah, and to do lists, what is for dinner, how to fix something that is continually breaking and what is the best way to break up the next teenage argument.  I think the latter is more apt to my style then the ways of the world.  I love when it is warm enough to sit outside in the mornings to drink my tea and I am yearning for those days to get here quickly.  I get a warm sensation in my heart when we sit outside together as a family and eat dinner, laughing and enjoying ourselves.  I get nostalgic and remember wonderful moments in my life outside under the bright stars and vast, black sky.  I just love to be outdoors.  Although we have had a mild winter, and I am so thankful for that, I am about over the dreary cold days and all the rain, that again I am thankful for, but am ready to see warmer weather.  I have an urge to play in the dirt, to see blooms and color.  I want to go for long walks with my herd of dogs and enjoy the sun on my face and not wear a jacket or long sleeves.  I am severely infected with a disease that is Spring Fever!  

I am including tonight's dinner recipe.  I have some chicken already cooked and I thought it would be a good day for some comfort food.  I have to learn to start writing things down more often, I get these great ideas for dinners throughout the week when I'm doing something off the wall like mopping or cleaning the bathroom.  They disappear from my memory as fast as they come to it and then I find myself standing at the freezer mumbling "what will I cook for dinner?"  Just yesterday I had three different things come to mind and I thought right then, you should write these things down!  So, I have concluded that I am going to make myself a little string line against the inside of my pantry cupboard door, so that I can close pin notes to it.  That way it will be nearby and easy to write with and I will have everything I need right there, pen, paper and a way to keep from losing it.

I am in a very crafty mood lately, and I really think that I have to thank Pinterest for it.  I get so many great ideas from that website, and then my mind goes wild and I come up with even more.  I have been storing water, for that emergency mode that I am in lately, and I made myself a nice dark place to store it for up to six months.  I used two coordinating pillow cases to make a cute drape over the front and I was quite proud of myself.  So, thank you everyone at Pinterest for cultivating my creative juices again, I think they had gone flat!

Chicken Biscuit Pie

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1 cup frozen diced carrots
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken meat
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons shortening
• 3/4 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2.  Butter a 2 quart casserole dish.
3. In a large saucepan, saute chopped onion in the butter. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add frozen peas and carrots and cooked chicken. Pour into buttered 2 quart casserole dish.
4. In a medium bowl, mix together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Stir in milk just until dough is moistened, then drop by spoonfuls onto chicken mixture.
5. Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown, and cooked on the bottom. This tends to bubble over so I place a piece of aluminum foil under the pan to catch the drips.