Truly Fall

The light at the end of the tunnel was so apparent Saturday night, as I got home from church. 

Mass starts at 4PM, now that daylight savings time has ended, so it will be dark 

when I get home this weekend. 

That's the snow that greeted us on Thanksgiving morning, and I don't think Fritzi was glad to see it!

Where we spent the day. 

Likewise Jester, sucking on his little blue bear. 

Jester has lost two pounds in his weight loss journey, Fritzi gained a pound and a half BUT, she has done much, much better since last Tuesday's weigh in, so I am excited to see what happens when we go again. 

I made two huge pots of vegetable beef soup for the shelter, I put noodles in one, and no noodles in the other.  I asked for feedback, because I used ramen noodles for the first time.  I made this soup with chuck steak, and I had a chuck roast for the second pot, it was a lot of meat. 

What happens when the animals below get onto your deck. 

You look so innocent!

(I swear to you that Niblet is smirking at me) 

This cute little Cruella DeVil is my great-granddaughter, Maci Lynn, who just turned two!

This cow was out on the road two weeks ago today, and I brought her into my yard for safety. 

I told the owners "DO NOT CUT MY FENCE, bring a trailer and load her."

I left for the ag hall.... they pushed her THROUGH my fence, tearing up a whole section. 

This is the second time I have helped them, and I won't, again. 

The cattle (bull, cows and calves) have been moved for the winter.  I'll have that fence stretched and tightened in the spring. 

You see they had NO grass in the pasture, I don't blame her a bit. 

I love seeing tracks in the snow.  

Not the right date, and I have pretty much quit using the Bushnell camera, 

but I thought this was a fun picture. 

I am having a problem with a black possum who is living under the storage building in my yard.  He is hanging around the chicken house, and I can tell when he is near, because the hens won't go in. 

I mentioned that it will be dark when I get home from church this week.... this worries me.  I am no longer leaving food on the side porch for Rusty (at the hen house) because it was attracting the possum.  There is still food out, but it is in the yard behind the house. 

Rusty also knows to eat on the front porch of the house, or in the feeder in the pasture.  I have had numerous pictures of this possum on the game cam, but must not have saved any... 

October 17 was the third anniversary of Keith's death.  Here he is with Jace, his 

oldest grandson.  He loved the little grands so! 

The Here, There, and Everywhere Post

I have a lot of little things to talk about today, and 

the first is kind of a big thing. 

One of my favorite bloggers and a good person is leaving the blogging world. 

Our friend, Deweena Callis, of "Across the Way" on our sidewall down below, is 

going to stop her blog.  She has only been blogging for a year, but I can 

tell you she is a beaut.  She found it was taking up much precious time, and has decided to stop. 

Deweena will be a loss to the blogging world. 

Deweena is not the only one to leave... some others I used to follow 

regularly have stopped, because folks, life and circumstances change, and 

that's all there is to say about that.  I just know that I'll miss Deweena's wonderful posts. 

I'll leave her last post up on our sidebar for a few days, in case you want to read it.  I thank her for reading us so faithfully for the last year. (The link above will take you to it). 

After talking about how I was going to leave everything up until Epiphany, I have undressed the Christmas trees and have taken about half of the things outside to move to the storage sheds.  In a few weeks, Chris will come up to help me rearrange things out there, and we will store everything where it is easily found next year. I am leaving our Nativity scene up until Epiphany. 

Look what I'm doing:

Chris will be so proud of his old Gran. 

I am marking EVERYTHING this year. 

On the top and on the side, so we can SEE WHAT WE ARE DOING. 

Quite the organizer! 

Of course, there is a mess in the living room right now. 

And a mess on the porch, which stretches out by the sheds... because I have things stacked out there, too. 

Lilly Ann, by the way, would absolutely blow a gasket to know that there are CHICKENS ON HER DECK.  I let the henspa flock out to get some exercise.  Mysteriously, it has gone up to 30 degrees, so I am going to go out shortly and hitch up the cart and move some of those boxes the easy way across to the storage sheds.  The goats are in the pasture getting some exercise, and away from where they can get in my way. 

Here was the start of our soup for tonight's dinner.  I added orzo and small pieces of chicken. 

We're having corn muffins with it.  Simple and filling and good. 

And I made some celery sticks filled with pimento cheese for Keith to snack on, as we are trying to get away from the Christmas candy. 

I wanted a goat ornament for the tree this year, because we have goats now. 

I found one in the unlikeliest of places... at the Vaile Mansion gift shop.  I got a goat, a rabbit and a deer, all like this little one.  They were each 3.00, and I was glad to get them, as there were only the three. 

I never saw another goat ornament the whole season.  

Last night on PBS was a holiday special for "Call the Midwife", a series I dearly loved. 

While watching it, I looked down at the afghan covering my lap. 

This is it... is it not beautifully made?  I paid 3.00 for this one and for a plain 

brown one at an estate sale this year.  They were beautifully and probably lovingly made by someone in the past, and I am blessed to have them. 

I'll tell you something else I am blessed for... as I sat at the kitchen table this morning 

writing the checks for the few bills I pay around here... I began to decide to which charities to send 

money this month... I have a few that I try to get several times a year... and a new one or two. 

I realized while writing the small checks to them that I am able to do this because of Keith's kindness to me. 

It is Keith who carries the financial burden here, and always has.  Yes, I helped while working... and I have used my 40lK money to do some of the improvements... but Keith is the one who carries the load, and because of his largesse, I am able to help others.  God bless him. 

I have also spent some time with these favorites this morning.  

I was sorely disappointed with my "heirloom" tomatoes last year, and the touted 

SuperSauce.  I am going to be much pickier with what I order, because I hope to start seeds indoors again. 

I am looking at flower seeds, too. 

I do have some Baker Creek lettuce left over, and some other odds and ends, but am 

in no hurry to get everything out... yet. 

One other thing, in this eclectic post... I realized after "speaking" with 

Deweena that I have changed in my blogging habits, too. 

For several years, I sat down at the computer for several hours a day, reading blog after blog. 

I don't do that anymore.  It seems I have enough to do without sitting in front of the computer for hours on end, and Abby lets me know by barking when I have sat too long.  I rarely am on Pinterest any more, either... because I realized that once pinned, I was not going back to really LOOK at things.  Yes, I still pin... but I am more judicious in what I am pinning.  Things change, don't they? 

Sadness and Cookies

Sadness this morning for several reasons in Blog World.  

Leontien Vandelaar lost her fight against cancer yesterday at noon, surrounded by loving family.  Leontien, as some of you know, emigrated from Holland, and, with her husband Bastiaan, worked at a huge dairy in Indiana.  Her blog is here.  You may also remember that bloggers united to send "Flowers to Leontien" and "Leaves to Leontien" last year, and she wrote in November how it made her feel to know that everyone was pulling for her.  A beautiful young woman, gone to her Maker too soon.  I hope everyone can stop and say a prayer for her family today. 

And one of our side-bar bloggers, Kerin, at "Always Fixin', Never Sittin'" has announced yesterday her decision to stop blogging.  She has had two lovely blogs, and did stop once before, last year.  How I will miss her posts... I suspected this was coming again, as she had stopped posting regularly.  She did come up against the dread Blogger freeze, but I am not sure knew that downloading Google Chrome or using Firefox would have solved it.  Her "Attitude of Gratitude" made me stop daily to say a thank you for my blessings.  Kerin, we will miss you! 

And speaking of the Google changes.... I find that since switching to Chrome to do my posts, they move along at the speed of light!  No more sitting here, waiting for things to load.  I am so very grateful to everyone who gave me the information to move things along. 

Today we were told that the temps would get up to the high sixties, after yesterday's rain.  Right now, at 2:19 PM as I type this, it's 57 degrees out. My plans of opening windows and airing the house out did not work out.  It is also very gray out, and looks like more rain. 

Keith has gone to Salina for a meeting, so I am "batching it" today. 

Two years ago, I bought this from my sister in law, and put it on a shelf in the laundry room, and NEVER USED IT.  

I was intimidated, and I'm not kidding. 

So, all along, I've been using a 20 year old hand mixer. 

Four days ago, I got this out and thoroughly cleaned it.  Then, I let it sit on the sink all week while I studied it and was very sick on Wednesday, the day I had planned to bake.  

I had to figure out how to raise and lower it, etc., because I got no book with it, and also, how to put the attachments on. 

My gosh, I was stunned at it's ease of use. 

Here's what I was making.  Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies... look how big they are! 

You can find the recipe here from the Brown Eyed Baker. 

Keith will be surprised when he gets home.  Someone else ate one, though, when I turned my back.  And she wanted more....

While I made the cookies (most of which will be going to son Jim's family tonight or tomorrow morning), 

I had soup cooking on the stove.  I have become very adept at using small amounts of meat left from meals to start soup or stew batches.  We are trying very hard to cut down on large amounts of meat, and eating more vegetables and fruits.  I had maybe an ounce or two of meat left from our Swiss steak meal the other night, and made soup with it and plenty of vegetables, and that was my lunch. 

We had a sourdough boule of bread with our dinner last night, and I had a piece off of it with my soup.  Now the soup is on low, and I'll have another bowl at dinner time.  Keith will be back fairly late, and I'm thinking a small bowl of soup might just satisfy him if he's hungry when he gets there.

Here's Lilly this morning, laying out in the yard and intimidating the squirrels from eating at our feeders. 

This pretty girl cracks me up! (and as of 2:43, she's back in the same place!) 

A Cold Day in Leav Co

It was 30 here today, but felt much colder.  I had to get out to do a few errands, and I told Keith when he got home from work that it felt like the cold was biting at me.  He agreed, and put on a sweatshirt under his Carhartt to do a few things out in the yard and run an errand.  I went out later to finish up after dark, and I swear it was ten degrees colder, and the wind blowing... but the thermometer says it is still 27.  It's snowing, though.

 

Keith is out sorting out the feed sacks as I type this.  I paid attention at the feed store, as someone was in front of me asking about hay.  It was Friday, and they still had hay!  Brome is still 9.00 a bale.  They also had orchard grass and alfalfa, and I did not hear the prices. 

 

I found a receipt from the same mill, Valley Feed and Supply Co., in Bonner Springs, Kansas, for some feed I bought in 1999, on August 21st.   

 

25 pounds of Sunflower Seeds = $ 5.50

20 pounds Scratch =                       3.50

50 pounds Quick Grower =            5.50  (I must have still had chicks)

50 pounds Oyster Shell grit =         5.50

50 pounds Wild Bird mix =            7.95

1 Bale Alfalfa Hay =                       4.50  (I fed this to my rabbits)

 

Compare this with today:

 

100 pounds of Chopped Corn =      22.00 (I use this instead of      scratch, a lot of which they left)

50 pounds layer pellets (20%) =     13.10

40 pounds Backyard Blend =          22.99 (This is a wild bird mix

                                                         of sunflower, safflower, peanut,

                                                         millet, cheaper than trying 

                                                         to mix my own. I actually 

                                                                                     bought 80 pounds.)

   

I took the tree down today, and will move all the containers out tomorrow.  There are still a few things to put away, but the majority is down.  I'll leave our Nativity set up until Epiphany, though.

 

Yesterday, I bought a new dog bed for Ranger, who appears to be unable to get up on it.  Someone else figured it out, though.

That's good, because she gave me the stink-eye earlier.

 

I'm not sure what that was about... do dogs get tired of being photographed like kids do?

 

 

Here are Jackson and Rosie, tonight.  Helen was on the roost opposite, facing them.  Rosie follows Jackson around like his biggest fan.  They are lovely turkeys. We should have trained the first Turkettes to roost inside.

 

 

This rather disgusting mess was the remains of the roast that I cooked on Christmas Day. The following night, we had roast beef sandwiches.  This (above) turned into this: below:

 

 

There was a LITTLE bit more meat than what showed above, but not much.  It made a very satisfying beef/vegetable/barley soup, and there is enough for me to eat while Keith drives to Council Bluffs tomorrow to take son Brandon and his friend Paige to lunch.  I am baking goodies tonight for him to take... an apple crisp, and some cookies.  The last of the Christmas fudge is going with him, too.

We did not get to see Bran over Christmas, as he is a working man now.

 

We want to thank everyone for their loving comments this week.  I have had a very bad head cold, and coupled with the sadness we had here on Monday, it has been a long one.  Thank you all for your supportive words.  I am trying to remember to keep Christmas in my heart.

 

 

 

 

Super Tuesday

Gosh, compared to yesterday, what an absolutely beautiful fall day we had here in Leavenworth County!

 

The skies were the bluest of blue...

 

 

 

After excercising my civic privilege,

 

I took advantage of the 50+ degree temps to do some cleaning up in the hoop house and garden.

 

 

I was in the middle of pulling all the flapping, worn out plastic down when I took this.  I got all of it but the strips along the ground on either side... when I pulled on them I began to pull the structure up, it's anchored with long spikes.  I'm going to talk to Keith before I do anything like that. 

We are going to put up a small greenhouse in the spring. 

I pulled out all the tomato plants, and will get those whiskey barrels ready to plant again next year.

Believe it or not, there are still herbs growing in the bins on the right, so I watered everything thoroughly.  We may possibly have some rain on Saturday here.

 

All the small garden supplies were put away in the shop for the winter... and just a general tidy-up, which I will continue into the garden beds to get them ready.  Over the next few months, I'll buy planting soil and start topping the beds off, one by one. 

 

 

I had lots and lots of help.

 

After awhile, I went in, as I was trying to water and the wind had come up, making the water blow back in on me. 

 

Have any of you used these yet?

 

 

I started using them about a month ago... I can throw together a soup, a stew, or a goulash quickly with the different flavors that Progresso offers.  This was Creamy Parmesan Basil... so I threw a chicken soup together with onions, celery and carrots in butter, then a can of chicken broth, some chicken that I pulled off a baked chicken, a can of Progresso... and then some noodles.  I also grated Gruyere into it... it was so good.

 

 

We have come to rely on soups for dinner a lot lately, I can usually find something to fix one, and they satisfy us.  I make croutons (and splurge)... I cut up two hot dog buns and throw them in a skillet with butter... then put them in the oven to warm up and dry out a little... put them on top of our bowls of soup.... YUMMMM.

 

Something good to watch the results by!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soup for Supper

Oh my goodness.  we had a wonderful soup tonight.  Here it is in it's home-made glory:

 

I had eaten most of the broth when I remembered to take a picture, and that was my second helping!

 

Here is where I found the recipe, it was on the front cover of Food Network magazine this month.  This link will take you directly to the recipe on their website. 

 

Here is how I customized it for us:

 

I did use orzo... I highly recommend it... I could have used almost any small macaroni but the orzo was just perfect. 

 

Instead of a panini maker I cut up about five pieces of white bread (any bread will do) and fried it in the skillet for a minute with some melted butter.  Then I put it in the oven on warm after shaving some Gruyere cheese over it.  YUMMMMMM.  It only took a few minutes for the cheese to get melty, and then I served us up each a bowl, and we enjoyed the cheesy goodness on top of the good soup. 

 

Very good, and perfect for a chilly afternoon, after a chilly weekend.

 

Enjoy!

 

(and don't forget to see my earlier post today for a wonderful piece of reading from a new blog commentator)