Time Flies...

(Wednesday Reminds Me Of A Long And Windy Road)

Here we are again, yet another Wednesday!  Another long day for me and I am running on little sleep today, I didn't sleep well last night.  I don't know about other people, but if I get something in my mind it plays on and on and I cannot go to sleep.  I get excited when I get something I like and then want to think about it nonstop.  I got an old school, I wouldn't say vintage because I don't think it's old enough, swivel rocker from my facebook yard sale page.  I love the barrel shape of it and the height of the back is perfect for me.  But, it is blue, and blue, although a lovely color, is not my color. So, at Walmart last night, I found some fabric that I can cover the chair with that is my style.  A faux, older worn looking leather fabric that would be very rustic and perfect and only $4.97 a yard.  However, if you have a Walmart like I do, then you know that it was virtually impossible to get anyone to assist you and I had the chair in the back of the truck and didn't want anyone to take it so I had to leave.  I will go back this week and see if I can't rustle up someone that will help me.  I will need a lot of patience and a lot of time when I go back.  They have all these departments, sporting goods, paint, fabric but never anyone around to help you with what you need.  It gets so frustrating.  Anyway, enough about my Walmart rant, I got the chair and a bunch of rose bushes yesterday.  I couldn't stop thinking of any of it and daydreaming my flower beds planted and my chair recovered and of course there are my chicks in my bathroom.  Every time they peep, it's like a newborn baby crying, I wake up to listen to see if they need help or if they are just peeping to peep.  I know I will sleep well tonight after last nights lack of sleep and my long day and evening.

I have our church supper and service tonight.  I didn't sign up to take food this week, although I'm helping to set it up and clean it up after.  I am going to take a tub of tuna salad that I will make this morning and a couple loaves of bread and I'm going to put together a trifle that is a family favorite. Just in case, because last week more people than I signed up to bring sandwiches, and I was the only one that did, so had I not, we would not have had any.  I think someone that signed up ended up ill and didn't come.  So, just to be on the safe side, I'm going to take a couple of things.  It's not like they won't get eaten either at church or at home! haha

My husband is bringing home pallets from work and I am so excited with all the things we can do with them! First we want to do our ceilings, I love this look, it's so rustic and warm. There are a million and one things to do with pallets.  I can't wait to start making things around here with them.  Doing a floor in them is another amazing idea! I just want everything made out of pallets these days! haha

I'm off to trudge through this Wallowing Wednesday, but I shall leave you with one sweet reminder of happiness, my trifle recipe!

Orange Trifle

One vanilla or yellow cake mix, prepared according to the directions on the package
2 tubs of cool whip or one large super size tub
2 cans mandarin oranges

Bake the cake according to the package directions in a 9 x 13 pan.  Let cool.  Mix all the oranges with the juice into the cool whip.  Break up the cake and crumble a layer on the bottom of a large bowl.  I use a clear bowl so the layers show through.   Add a light layer of the fruit mixed cool whip over the cake, repeat until all the cool whip is used.  I like to spread cool whip or use spray whip topping over the top and then with a reserved hand full of cake crumbles just lightly dust the top.  You can add an additional can of mandarin orange slices over the top for garnish as well.  This is a family favorite.  It is light and tasty and just the right amount of sweetness after a meal. Enjoy!

Happy Wednesday!

How I Love Thee, Baby Chicks, Let Me Count the Ways!

The baby chicks are doing well so far and I just adore them!  I could sit all day long just watching them play and scurry around.  I love peeking into the bathroom early in the morning and seeing them all quiet, and sleeping.  Just like newborn babies they just melt my heart!  I can't wait to start seeing them growing into chickens, watching their colors evolve and finding out who is the "top dog" in the group!  I think I'm already finding my little favorites, the ones that love to see me as much as I do them.  Of course, I will love each and every one of them, you can't help yourself.  I love to go out and sit and watch my adult chickens every day.  They are so entertaining watching them interact with each other like chickens do in their little world.  A lot of people think chickens are dumb, but when you really watch them, they are really smart and crafty.  They have their own set personalities and you can get a good laugh every time!  I'm just in love with my chickens, and I suppose there are worst things to be than a crazy chicken lady that lives on a mountain, haha!

I had all these things I wanted to do yesterday, but it was so windy and the cold just cut threw me, there was no way I was spending time outdoors unless I had to, which was to feed the animals and run right back inside. I did clean out all my saved two liter bottles.  Today, I will fill them with fresh water and store them in my darkened pantry that I have for water storage.  I am shooting for 6 months of water for the family, it might be a stretch to find places for all of those bottles, but I'm working on it.  My daughter asked me what do you do with it in 6 months, when she saw me writing the fill date on the bottle.  I said "use it in the gardens and start over".  She nodded like she was showing interest for my sake, because she had lost interest  before I finished my sentence.  I just love teenagers, they do keep us in constant wonderment.  I am obsessed with my  sprouted seedlings and hoping for seedlings to sprout that I'm watching often waiting to see them pop out of the soil.  My tomatoes are starting to get tiny little sets of second leaves on them and finally, after talking, demanding, praying over them, my eggplants are starting to sprout. I'm excited to see how they grow, I've never grown eggplant before.  My peppers are sprouting too, and my tomatoes and broccoli are growing big and tall.  I cannot wait to get them into the dirt in a few weeks.  I'm leery of the weather it has been so strange this winter so I'm not going to let it fool me and plant too early, but I certainly want to right now.

I have been on facebook for ages, and other than checking the birthdays to wish someone a happy birthday or sharing photos with family, back when my camera wasn't my enemy, I really had no use for it.  But, as of late, I have joined some yard sale groups, and livestock groups and gardening groups, and now I honestly could sit here all day reading this and that.  It could be a real time eater if I allowed myself that privilege.  I found a swivel rocker yesterday and am going to pick it up today.  I can't wait, I have been searching for an old school swivel rocker for my living room for a long time now.  They are hard to come by, and when I saw the post on the local yard sale page, I was like a girl invited to the prom, I was so excited!  I can't wait to go and get it this evening.  I plan to recover it, it's the old traditional blue and that is not my favorite color, but I will have something pretty that goes with my decor when I get it all finished.

I am making a pork loin for dinner tonight, and there is a recipe for Napa Cabbage salad that shows up at church from time to time that I adore.  I broke out my church cookbook and found the recipe and I am making that today to go with dinner.  I just love all the flavors and the crunchiness and I'm already wanting to eat it, I could eat it for breakfast!  I am sharing my new found favorite salad recipe with you, I hope you like it as much as I do.

Napa Cabbage Salad

1 head Nappa Cabbage
1 bunch green onions chopped

Dressing:
5 T butter
4 T sesame seeds
2 packages of ramen noodles, the seasoning packets removed
1 oz sliced almonds
1/4 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup oil
2 T soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar

In a skillet brown crunchy noodles in the butter add sesame seeds and almonds and finish off browning. In a saucepan, combine vinegar, oil, soy sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil for one minute. Cool and stir well.  Fifteen minutes before serving, toss cabbage mixture, noodles, nuts and seeds mixture and vinegar, oil sugar, soy sauce dressing. Toss well.  This serves 12 but can be altered depending on the amount of Nappy Cabbage you use.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

What A Surprise!

(An Old Liquor Bottle Would Make A Great Terrarium!)

Deep into a dead sleep, I hear this sound in my dreams.  At least I thought it was my dreams when my hubby said "hey, the phone" and I jumped up and ran to the phone it was 5:14 a.m. The robotic voice on the other end started talking about shipping and calling the post office, Oh my chicks are coming! I mumble to myself that I have to get in touch with the post office on Monday as I crawl back into bed.  We get up and start preparing to get ready for church, it's a little after 8:00 a.m., the phone rings.  I joke, it's probably about the chicks again, and I say hello and it is the post office.  They have my chicks already and what a surprise that was on a Sunday morning.  First, I wasn't expecting them to even ship until today, and then finding out they shipped on Saturday, I certainly didn't expect them until today.  For them to have arrived at our post office the very next day, well that is incredibly impressive. Way to go McMurray's Hatchery, you are the best!  My husband jumped in the car and ran up to the post office to retrieve our new babies.  I wasn't completely prepared, we were going after church today to buy an additional brooder light and medicated chick feed.  My other lights are being used and all I had on hand was laying pellets.  He gets home and we open the box to see the cutest, most adorable, colorful, peeping chicks.  My heart melted instantly, I fell in love and they are just precious.  I started giving them all a dipped beak of water and we packed them back in the box and put a heating pad around them with the oil heaters on in the bathroom, and left for Tractor supply straight away.  We had to miss church because of our unexpected surprise, and I hated doing that, but I really needed to get feed and heat on these babies.
Needless to say, I spent most of the day sitting on the floor watching these darlings play and eat and drink and chirp.  My son popped in on a break from work and said "you've been sitting here all day haven't you?" I laughed and said "no, I've done other things today!" He laughed and mumbled "yeah, right!" as he closed the door and left me to my maternal bliss.

I have come across a nice glass liquor bottle, and I am thinking of making a terrarium out of it. I just need to figure out what sort of plants to put into it, they will need to be small.  I look at it every time I walk into the kitchen where it is awaiting a good soak and cleaning.  I think the next time I go to town I will take a peek at Lowes to see what little plants they have to make my terrarium.  I am picturing a few of these bottles together on a shelf to really set it off. I need my drinking friends to save bottles for me!

 My flower bed is coming along nicely, my husband worked all weekend in the cold, getting the logs just right, and it's really going to be pretty when I get it planted.  We had some scary storms on Friday night.  I know there was a lot of devastation with storms and tornadoes recently, and my heart goes out to all that have suffered.  We didn't really have any damage, but I lost a lot of sleep sitting up worried and scared during the night Friday.  The storms and rain brought with it very cool temperatures and a lot of wind for Saturday and Sunday.  It was a hard adjustment after two weeks of warmth and sun.

Some yummy fun in my kitchen this weekend included:

I made a pork chop recipe Sunday that turned out quite well.  First, I marinated the pork chops in Worcestershire sauce and beer after rubbing them down with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and onion powder.  I let them sit overnight.
I put them in a glass baking dish and covered them with chopped onions and 1/4 cup of water.  I put foil over the dish and put them into a 350 degree oven for one hour.  They were so tender they were falling off the bone.  They turned out so well, I'm going to do them like this more often.

I also made a coconut custard pie type dessert.  That turned out really well too, I didn't feel like making a pie crust, so I mixed up 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 stick of butter and pressed it into a 9 x 13 glass dish.  I put 4 1/2 cups of milk, 1/3 cup of flour, 1/2 a bag of coconut (that is all I had), 2/3 cups of sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt into a saucepan and brought that to a simmer where I added 6 beaten eggs and a good splash of vanilla, probably a tablespoon.  I mixed that well over low heat and then poured it over the graham cracker crust and baked it at 350 for one hour.  I let it sit for an hour before we even thought about eating it, and it turned out so well.  Really easy, simple and delicious for quick throw together dessert!

Mother Nature, You Can't Fool Me!

It has been so pretty and sunny and warm that it is hard not to get fooled by it all and run to the nursery to buy bedding plants. But, I have fallen for it more than once in my lifetime and I know better. Mother Nature is not going to fool me this time! I have been working on my two beds and the pathway I'm making on the side of the house. The big hole is going to make such a lovely Koi pond and once I have it all finished and planted I am going to have hubby build me a nice arbor from down trees to set the pathway off beautifully. I took the chairs and glass top, faux-granite based table from the deck and put it under a shade tree at the beginning of my little garden bed, pathway paradise and it looks so relaxing and I just want to sit there all day. I can't wait to plant flowers in the beds. I am going to put in some rose bushes and some herbs and pretty, colorful flowers and I want to line the empty side behind the one bed that isn't against the house with forsythia bushes to give it a back drop and balance the space. I will plant climbing roses against my arbor that I have eventually. It is going to be so pretty, I can see it in my mind and I just love how it is turning out.

Our church has a praise band, and I started last night with them at practice. Now I am far from a guitar player and I haven't played in years! But, I was asked over and over to give it a try so I broke down and started practicing. I am so rusty and have so much trouble changing chords again, I know I will get there if I keep practicing. I am such a perfectionist that I get frustrated when I can't do something just right and last night at practice was a trial in my patience that is for sure. I hope that I can get this down and not embarrass myself. Although, it is nice to have something to do with the kids that are in the bad too, my daughter sings, my oldest plays the mandolin and banjo and my middle son plays the guitar and sings. Maybe dear old mom will get back into the swing of things eventually.

I threw together dinner with a half made up recipe last night that turned out really tasty, and even my hubby, Mr. Picky said it was good. I thought I would share it for those that need a quick dinner.

Sweet and Sour Sausages with Onions and Peppers

3 packages of polish sausage, cut in bite sized pieces

1 onion chopped

1 bell pepper chopped

1/2 small jar grape jelly

1 bottle chili sauce

Chop onion and pepper and start sauteing in a skillet. When tender add the sausage and jelly and chili sauce. Mix well. Put on low and let simmer with a lid on the skillet until ready to eat. The longer it cooks the better it gets.

I diced up some potatoes added a couple tablespoons of butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to taste and put them in my microwave dish with a lid. Microwaved for 15 minutes until tender. (This is an easy side dish that is a family favorite at our house)

This dinner went over well and took no time to prepare, it worked out well with everything going on last night and it held well for those who ate later.  Happy Friday!

Re-purposed Treasures...

I am so tired today.  I have been going and going and just trudging along, working, cleaning up, cooking, digging dirt for my flower bed, caring for the animals etc., and I think it's all caught up with me today.  Life never stops at 6 o'clock, wouldn't it be nice to have bankers hours with a family, farm and job?  I am happy that I don't have a long list of things to do today, but I do have things I want to do!

Oh what a joyful treat I received yesterday! My oldest went into town to pick up some goodies from a free listing that I see everyday.  I was elated when he returned with things I didn't know were coming home.  I was very excited to get some old coffee cups and bowls to plant flowers in and set outside on my porch.  But, he brought home an old particle board and metal tubing desk and a lovely round wicker, glass top table and 4 chairs that I can put outside under a lovely shade tree. I was just beside myself with happiness over my free treasures to re-purpose and give new life.  Now I am on a mission to get busy with my new "toys"! Getting something free is wonderful and being able to bring an old thing back to life again, well that is a big adrenaline rush for me!  I am going to figure out how to do a mosaic on the desk to give it some color and I think I'm going to make it an indoor sort of potting bench for flowers.  At least for now that is where my mind is going with it.  I have a bunch of broken white tiles that would be perfect to use on it and would  change its appearance dramatically.  Broken white tiles, mastic and some grout and a little time to put it together and I will have a lovely new addition for zero cost.  Who doesn't love that in this down economy!

Last nights dinner and church service was wonderful and although I was so tired by the time I sat down in the pew, I was very thankful to have this quiet, serene service to share in worship during lent.  We had some very tasty soups and all of my sandwiches turned out well and were all eaten and everyone loved my cheesecake. I am happy that all the food and fellowship turned out well.  I was so thankful that my oldest was able to help me get it all together, otherwise things would of been less than perfect with me doing it all alone and trying to be on time.  Note to self, never sign up for soup again, I was wearing some of it by the time I got to the church! Live and learned that lesson haha.  Pumpkin soup meets denim equals the look of baby spit up all over.  I had to get it all off in the restroom at church and I still had "dark stains" all over, I'm glad I opted to wear jeans last night.

I'm hearing things about March clean-up challenge, I think I may undertake that and see what I can get accomplished in 31 days.  I think today I will start with my living room, something easy to work on when I would rather plant myself in the recliner and watch DIY network all day!  Happy Thursday everyone!

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.