The Last Two Days

Right this minute, I have the east window open here in the office/tv room... and I am 

listening to frogs croak in our own yard!  The whole east side is now swamped... 

and we definitely are now planning a rain garden on this side. 

There's the grainy view through the window again, looking down on the "pond"... which I ALWAYS WANTED at our old house.  

We aren't going to fight it, but embrace it, though we have a lot of learning to do. 

We do have an electrician coming on Friday to hang some lanterns for us on the front of the house... and we are going to ask him to give us a quote on removing that large electrical box so close to the wet. 

I have been watching birds bathe in it all day long, to my delight. 

Here was our dinner tonight... this is the first time in my life I have EVER made enchiladas! 

Thanks to Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond, who put a recipe for chicken enchiladas on her 

blog yesterday that I happened to see through Facebook... and I adapted the recipe for beef (hamburger). 

I sauteed the onions just as she said... and oh, my... the darn things were good. 

Our problem is that I made four, and we can each only eat one... so I know what my lunch will be 

tomorrow. 

This is also a recipe I'll use when Haleigh and Chris are up in a few weeks to work at the old house. 

They'll love it. 

I dressed them up with some chopped tomato and sour cream on top.  

Look what I got to do yesterday, on the spur of the moment! 

I went to the library in Leavenworth about 1:30... we have had rain off and on for the last two days, so I have been working indoors... 

and I happened to see the billboards for one of my favorite circuses in the world, 

Carson and Barnes.  They were JAMMED into a small lot of a now almost defunct shopping center in Leavenworth. 

I went back for the 4:30 show, after calling Keith and letting him know what I was doing. 

The trucks carry the stringers, the seating sections. 

This lot is small, and was crowded full of tents, the pony sweep, the menagerie top... and various children's games, along with the crew quarters and the individual performer's rigs. 

There was very little walkup, so the small ticket wagon was used... it was sprinkling when I got there at 3:30, and it commenced to rain steadily.  The house was small. 

These two young boys appeared to be twins... their dad had a pole on his shoulders, and they had shinnied up it, and did headstands, while their mom styled beneath.  

They also juggled very well... and did a walkaround in the opening number.  

There were dancing girls... and you can see the top of the "top"... with it's pretty stars. 

There was a slack-wire artist... 

And above him, a few minutes later, a Washington trapeze act done by 

the older brother of the two little boys above that was very good. 

The Globe of Death. 

There had been a notice outside that the elephants would not be performing yesterday.  Carson and Barnes used to carry 30 elephants on the road, it was really something to see.  They also performed in three rings, and are now down to one. 

I heard the "bulls" in back of the tent, and looked up the crowded lot... their menagerie tent was set up farther to the back of the lot, and since it was raining, I did not walk around to see them.  I wondered if they did not show because of the rain and crowded lot. 

The only animals in the show were some wonderful performing poodles... and 

the other "human" acts were so good... that was enough. 

At one time, I could have told you the names of every family appearing on this show during the summer... but not anymore... Time has passed me by. 

This shot of the jugglers is made up of a family who did three other acts in the show (see the two boys again?) 

The show ended not with the elephants, but with the Flying Cavallinis,   a famous group that was led in years past by Teri Cavallini, who, if memory serves me right, was the first American woman to do a triple somersault.  They performed for years at Circus Circus in Las Vegas... and now, Francesca Cavallini not only flies... but also is featured in two numbers singing. 

Here's the passing leap, for your pleasure: 

If you look closely in this short video, you will see that the big Super Trouper lights have been covered with plastic.  By the time the girls were on the fly bar, the rain was pouring outside.  During the season, the top canvas begins to develop small holes as it is loaded and unrolled, put up, and then rolled up again.  The rain was coming in the pinholes and the place where the quarter poles held the tent up. 

The electricians moved to cover the lights, but it was dangerous for the fliers. 

As the show ended, there were wet spots around the tent.  

My guess is that the 7:30 show was cancelled... I would not have been surprised.  I drove home in rain, and it rained all night and half of today. 

Carson and Barnes has gone on now to Illinois... in fact, to the area in Lake County where Keith and I lived while he was on his final year of duty.   I'm glad I had a chance to see it and take a 

short Circus Vacation! 

Friday Before the Storm

Yes, it's for real. 

We're having a snowstorm with 3 to 5 inches of new snow tomorrow, just as I was thinking of storing the snow shovels away.  NOT. 

It called for a snuggly dinner tonight. 

Half a loaf of french bread from the Ft. Leavenworth Commissary. 

Split, and olive oil spooned on.  Put it in the oven at 250 to crisp up a little for about 8 minutes. 

Brown hamburger (I used chuck) and mix some Barilla sauce in it.  

Spoon it across the bread, and put some cheese on top, I used Kraft 5 Cheese Italian. 

I put it back in the oven at 250 for the cheese to melt. 

That's dinner! 

I saw a recipe similar to this on the web early this morning, but forgot to print it out. 

I think I'm close enough, and that's usually how I fly, anyway. 

Now, off to do the chores....

That's it for another wintry spring day at Calamity Acres! 

Bits and Pieces

I read some blogs today, catching up... and commented on a few.  Sometimes I am intimidated, when there are 20 or 30 comments, and feel like my words will be swallowed up in the whole.  I read along with those who are hurting, who are happy, who have been busy... and find their lives (YOUR) lives fascinating, and I learn so very much!

One thing I learned today was very important... backing up your blog.  I refer to this post at

Cedarhill Ranch, and please be sure to go take a look... it will help all of us in the end.  Besides, this is a great blog!

I'm going to do it tonight.  It's funny, I have thought of it from time to time... and it would be so disheartening to lose everything...the week I thought I had lost control, I felt some of that panic.

We had a wonderful day here, except that Keith was worn out from his trips to Harveyville, and rested as much as he could, since he is going down again tomorrow afternoon.  He used a bit of his winnings to get some protective shirts to carry in his go kit, and a hat to protect his face from the sun when he is on a disaster. I took a picture of him in this hat but it is a little blurry, so will not use it. 

It was extremely windy here today, but the wind did not come up until 2 PM.  I tried to get a picture of the llamas blowing in the wind... check out Aztec's haunches, where her wool is blowing so hard.  She is bigger than her mama now, and built like her daddy.

Tony is laying down behind them, he's smart, and stays out of the wind.  The girls were interested in what I was doing, carrying feed and water back and forth.

We keep a bowl on the counter in the kitchen for scraps for the chickens, so they had quite a treat... apple peels, crushed egg shells from breakfast, leftover brownies and some other things.  Oddly enough, the brownies are the FIRST things this flock did not care for.  I noticed when I locked up they had even eaten the apple peels.

I'm sure the mice will take care of the brownies tonight.

Speaking of mice:

I lifted the nest box to see what was under there.   Remember the babies from two weeks ago... batches two and three were under there... I put it down quickly, I was afraid the hens would go nutso and I did not want to hear the mice squealing. We'll be cleaning out the henhouse soon enough.

What we had for dinner.. well part of what we had.  I browned the hamburger, added a drained can of corn... and seasoned it with this:

I love what this does to hamburger, though I think it was designed to put in tomato sauce, I use it on hamburger. 

I then cooked some noodles, and when we ate, we had the meat, corn and noodles all mixed together.

Simple but satisfying, and I will be eating it for lunch for the next 3 days, I think.

We had some baked beans, too, but I always doctor them up.

Yesterday, I cruised Craigslist for a while... I love to see what's for sale in Farm and Garden.... and I was very saddened to see this:

Folks, this is Peppy, who we bought about six years ago and had here for a few short months.  You see, even though I had had riding horses, I let my heart urge Keith to purchase a package of minis.  We got this lovely little Bond-bred stallion who was so very gentle, and two mares, one past breeding age and one already bred.  Our vet came and sat down with us (our first horse vet here, who we soon found we could not afford) and explained to us that Peppy really needed to be kept separately from the mares, and that he could harm the coming foal.  We also had just adopted Beau, the gentle old pony, and Peppy tried to kill him.  (THAT was an evening!).  We ended up returning (for free) the stallion and pregnant mare to the seller, and keeping Lacey, the elderly mare, and Beau.  Peppy wasn't just a beautiful little stud, he was smart and gentle.  He would graze in the yard and come up behind you and rest his head on your shoulder.  When we let them out to graze for a while, a call to them would bring them cantering up the pasture to the pen.   I wish there was some way we could buy him again, but we are not set up here for stallion-keeping.

His owner, an elderly man, sadly passed away in December.  This ad was on Craigslist, with about four or five stud colts born to this herd last year.  The family must be selling part of the herd, now that the patriarch has passed on. I am hoping that Peppy finds a good home where he'll be well cared for.

Tonight, we did some porch-settin' since it was too windy to try to put the plastic on the hoophouse. 

Notice when WE porch-sit... so does Lil

 This cracks us up, in fact, we sat there laughing so hard it was hard to take pictures.  She is like a third person sitting there looking around while we talk.

Now she's out in the yard in the dark, guarding a starling that she killed earlier.

This post is getting out of control... I'm going to leave you now, take an Aleve, and try to save this blog according to the instructions in the Settings tab.  That's if I can find it!

Have a good start to your weeks... and let's hope Mother Nature is calmer this coming week so the poor victims from last week have time to catch their breaths.