Happy Birthday, Evie!

Today is a special day because three years ago you chose to grace us with your presence and we are so glad you did!

You are like a multi-faceted, sparkling jewel!

Adventurous and Playful...

Sassy...

Tenacious...

Independent...

Introspective...

Curious...

Serious...

Intent...

Prissy...

Intelligent...

Adorable...

Shy...

Stylish...

Silly...

Precious...

Loved and Cherished.

Happy Birthday!

Cold Snap

We are experiencing a cold snap - you know, that day or two when the temperature drops down into the range where we would think it is comfortable in the winter months but in the spring after we have been enjoying sixty, seventy, and even some eighty degree temperatures it seems c-o-l-d.  I think the old wives' tales say that this is blackberry winter or dogwood winter or something like that.  I don't know whose winter this is but it is a bit nippy and breezy out there after we have had several sunny and warm days - and after Mike and I have already planted a few little veggies in our garden. 

These are days that I enjoy, though, in reality.  We have been working just enough to get sore and tired but not back into condition for longer days and grass cutting and weed pulling and extra chores that the sunny and warm weather beckons us outside to tackle.  It reminds me not to get in too much of a hurry to plant flowers or sow seeds and to step back and give Mother Nature a little bit more time.  So, it gives us an excuse to take it easy on a Sunday afternoon - which, by the way, is exactly what we did this weekend. 

It also gives me a chance to have a last blast of some cold-weather-type foods.  So, I stirred up a pot of chili.  Then, later this week we might also enjoy chili-dogs, hay-stacks, Frito-chili-pies, or pour the left-overs atop a salad from the jar!  Yum!  I also dug deep and found a recipe that used to be a go-to for me when I was a busy farm woman.  It comes from when I worked with chores that kept me out at the barn till it was later than most people even think about eating, much less stirring something up for supper (the evening meal for those of you who are hoity-toity). I could come in from the barn and stir up a pot of chili or something equally as quick, easy, and filling simple, tasty, and nourishing, dump the ingredients for this cake into a pan and we had a gourmet meal in a jif! 

Dump Cake is also a recipe that was a good one for when you got a call from a friend telling you they were going to stop by for a visit.  Mercy!  God help any good southern woman who doesn't have something to dish up and serve guests!  The name of it sounds terrible but the taste of it makes up the difference.  I sometimes like it with some vanilla ice cream melting over top of it or with pecan pieces sprinkled on top just before baking.  In a stretch, it could be called a fruit cobbler, I guess.  Mostly, I just think it is delicious. 

Anyway, I couldn't find my old recipe and a quick search through my favorite cook books didn't turn it up either.  So, I had to resort to surfing the net do some further research for the recipe.  Even though I had heard mention of her cookbooks and blog, I had never visited The Pioneer Woman's site.  Boy!  I sure have been missing out!  I got distracted did a little more research and found several recipes I plan to try.  I highly recommend that you click over HERE and check it out. 

I did have to adapt The Pioneer Woman's Dump Cake Recipe just a tad.  She used margarine in her recipe and being the good dairy farmer's daughter that I am, I just couldn't bring myself to do that.  Plus, I don't buy margarine.  It is just one of those things I that is deeply ingrained into my raisin's.  My Daddy told us that if we don't support the hand that feeds us who is going to do it?  Therefore, we always have REAL cheese and REAL butter in our household.  (Mike must have been taught the same things because he never has mentioned it.) 

That advice is just one morsel of the wisdom imparted upon us when we were growing up on the farm.  Another bit is that a lady is a woman who can be knee-deep in cow manure one minute and in less than an hour be decked out in a dress, hair fluffed, and smelling like a rose.  A lady isn't one of those pampered, pale-skinned, women who don't know what it means to really work.  Being a lady is a woman's actions and includes more than just her appearance.  A real lady knows how to work hard and appreciate others who do.  She treats other people with respect, courtesy, and consideration and presents her best at all times.  I think I got this lecture morsel of wisdom imparted upon me when I was trying to shirk some chore so I could go to the house and get spiffed up and fluffed up to impress some no 'count boy (maybe even the man to whom I'm now married!).  At the time I didn't question how my Daddy would know the qualifications and characteristics of a lady.  I guess I just knew the qualifications and characteristics of that man and how I could easily get his number ten boot in my fanny.  At any rate, when I reflect now, I guess he was pretty much on target with that one, too. 

So, back to my recipe, instead of margarine, I simply used all butter.  HERE is my adapted recipe for the Dump Cake.  It and our pot of chili warmed us up on this breezy evening!

Family Gatherings

One thing that is hard to coordinate when combining two families in marriage is the visitation and celebrations of holidays.  We all want to be at every family gathering so we can catch up on all the news of the relatives.  Mike and I like to see the granddaughters and watch them play.  We enjoy learning what is going on in the lives of the nieces and nephews.  Yet, it always seems we are pulled in more than one direction on such occasions.  This past Easter was no different.

We decided well in advance that we didn't like splitting up and going in different directions - him to his family's and me to mine.  We did that last year and it just isn't what works for us.  We like to be together as much as we can - sharing the experiences.  The first year we went to his family's Easter gathering first and then trekked over to my folks'.  We were too full to eat at both places and didn't get to visit with either set of relatives as much as we would have liked.  Plus, we felt rushed at both places. 

This spring was kind of unique, too, because my mother seemed to be the one who needed the most help.  She has been suffering terribly with pain in her hips and legs.  [First, it was thought to be risidual from her knee replacement and then the fall in the creek which cracked her hip.  (Yes, she does WAY too much and thinks she is invincible.)  Then, the thought was that perhaps some physical therapy might help the situation.  When that didn't seem to be working, she revisited her doctor and he scheduled surgery which took place last Friday.  She seems to be doing well and is recovering nicely with hardly any pain at this point.  So, we are grateful for another huge blessing!]  Bridgette and I went over and pulled weeds and did some cleaning - Bridgette was far more industrious and productive than me.  You can read about that afternoon HERE. 

So, on Easter Sunday, all the folks who gathered there at Mom and Daddy's simply brought a dish or two and we had a delicious feast almost like we always have.  Mom and Daddy had baked a ham and had rolls ready to go in the oven when Mike and I got there.  Mike decided that we also needed another meat and decided to roast some chicken on the grill.

Saturday night found him mixing concoctions and injecting it into the chickens.  Then, on Sunday morning he rose and began his culinary magic.  He likes to cook with charcoal and seems to be in heaven when he gets to cook for other folks.  I guess cooking can be therapeutic for us even though it is a lot of work!  Here is a shot of his work in progress.

Chicken leg quarters with his specially concocted dry rub sprinkled on top

He also roasted three whole chickens.  I must say, I ate my share of these!  They tasted just as wonderful as they look here.

Yes, I forgot to take photos of everybody assembled and the delicious feast we had while we chatted and caught up on all the news that is news with one another.  Trust me, though, that it was all fabulous.  Mike and I learned about Dwayne's new purchase of a lawn mower for Brenda.  (She cannot have something too modern or fast because she has a reputation of being a bit wild behind the wheel - like the time when we were young girls and she ran through the plank yard fence and just circled back through and finished cutting the yard.) 

When we finally had things back to normal - chairs put away, the tables collapsed back down from being stretched with the leaves added, dishes washed, and left-over food stored in the fridge, Mike's family had dispersed and gone on to other family gatherings or returned home.  So, we missed out on seeing all of them. 

I'm grateful to have sons who respect their wive's family and cherish their wives enough to want to spend time with their extended families.  I'm also grateful to have a son-in-law who is an only child and his parents are willing to travel and share their time with us.  I hate sacrificing and missing out.  I'm greedy and want it all.  I wish I knew of a way to solve this issue and make it where we can be with both crews without feeling rushed or missing out.  Does anybody have a solution?

I think the best thing I can remind myself of when it comes to such situations is that I am grateful to have close family ties with both my own parents and children as well as with Mike's parents and children.  I am grateful that we are all healthy and the ease of gathering together when we can is simply a matter of a short trip down the road and we are not separated by long distances or even oceans.  I hope that I can always enjoy the luxury of having family nearby where we can get together.

Snacks Before Supper

Some days when I get home from work I feel like I am just starving - could eat the paint off the walls.  Is that a conditioned thing from when I got home from school and Mom gave us a little snack and sent us to the barn to do chores?  Is it some sort of emotional eating disorder thing?  Most days I can fight off that urge to snack late in the afternoon but sometimes I just cannot do it.

Yesterday I did that thing our mothers always tell us not to do.  I made myself a snack before supper.  I was also craving my comfort food - chocolate.  So, I made myself an individual serving of chocolate cake using the Five Minute Mug Chocolate Cake recipe that you can find HERE. 

The real beauty of this recipe is that it dirties almost no dishes.  It can be mixed in the mug you cook and eat from.  I did mix it in a mixing bowl yesterday so I had three items to wash up in order to cover my tracks before Mike came home expecting dinner. 

1.  The mixing bowl
2.  The measuring scoop
3.  The mug

I thought it might be a good time to share one of my favorite kitchen tools.  I learned about it HERE from Susan at Between Naps On The Porch. 

I liked the look of Susan's so well that I not only ordered one for myself, but also got one for my mother, my mother-in-law, and my four daughters!  It works just as well as shown in the promotional video about it HERE.  I ordered them HERE from Sierra Trading Post. 

One of the features which is not mentioned in the video is the magnet that is on the bottom of the scoop.  That is a handy feature if I wanted to keep it here on the fridge, I guess.

However, it wasn't so handy when it stuck to my sink and I had a hard time pulling it off.  (No, I didn't rush for the camera and reveal my dirty dishwater and all, I re-inacted it here.)

I'm sure I was a funny sight pulling it away from the side of the sink and dishwater sloshing everywhere! 

Note:  I am not being paid to advertise this product.  I just really like it and wanted to share!

Easter Morning

Here is the view looking off my front porch. 

What a promise!

Happy Easter to you and yours.

Following Their Dream

A few years back (October, 2006) this young couple took a big step and began to follow their dream. 

They focused on building a business in hopes of establishing a career.  At first it was humble beginnings, a big lump in their throat, and lots of faith.  They rented a small metal building hidden back behind another business.

 I'm sure they felt as small as they look in the photo below - dwarfed by the leap they had taken and swallowed by the responsibility but smiling with excitement at making a go of this big venture.  Daily dedication and hard work have helped their business to grow.  I'm often told by Bonnie that it takes the team of the two of them to make this work.

I can easily see that the two are exceptional partners - she is the perky business woman dealing with the customers day-in-and-day-out.  She always wears a smile and has a chipper and cheerful outlook to greet everyone who walks through the door.  Stephen is the no-nonsense fellow who keeps things organized, supervises the young fellows who do the loading and unloading, and provides the machismo needed for some of those livestock producers and farmers (not that I don't think Bonnie doesn't have that firm side when she needs it or that Stephen isn't the pleasant 'how-may-I-help-you-ma'am kind of fellow when the occasion calls for it).  Yet, they truly tend to work together and balance things harmoniously and seamlessly.  So, for the past several years, they have made their business work and grow.

Maybe Mother Nature was foretelling the future with this rainbow seemingly ending right at the corner of their rented building...

With all the multicolored tubs and buckets out front, there is a rainbow on both ends!

Due to their dedication to the goal, they are now taking another big step.  There have been hurdles to overcome and obstacles to work around.  There have been frustrations and headaches galore.  Yet, like anything worth having, they have stuck it through and persevered.  Then, back when the weather was just beginning to be shivery and frost was crisp in the air, the foundation for their own building was begun just a few miles down the road from their current site.

Next came the framework and things suddenly seemed to begin taking shape.  That dream started looking like a reality.

At this point I remember thinking and beginning to worry that they were taking on too much.  This seemed like more than a progressive step - it was more like one of those giant leaps!

At times I think we have all been alternatively giddy with excitement and shivering with fear.  I know that Mike and I have also been furrowed with worry and concern - just like anyone would be for their children.  Yes, I am not really as open-minded and reasonable about this new venture as some folks might be because Stephen is Mike's son.  I love these two folks shamefully!

I drove by there today and this is how it is looking:

Doesn't it look fabulous?  I can hardly wait to see all that stock they have stacked atop one another in that little show-room spread out in this larger building!  I can hardly wait to see their smiling faces as they greet their customers and load their merchandise.  Soon the billboard on the bottom will be old news and taken down and the billboard on the top will be the new home of their business!

If you are in the middle Tennessee area and have pet and livestock feeds and needs, stop by and let Bonnie and Stephen load your vehicle.  Their smiling faces will make you feel at home.

We hope they will call upon us when they need support.  We are ultra proud of their accomplishments.  We are grateful for all who have supported them.  We love them beyond measure.  We wish them the best of luck! Keep following your dreams...

Gardening

I have been on spring break this week and the weather has been gorgeous.  So, Mike and I worked together to get our garden started.  I know it is a bit early and we have taken a chance, but spring fever has just taken over!

First, we planted potatoes.  Even though we have never had success with this, we are giving it a strong try. 

Then, Mike tilled up some new ground - a place where he had some vegetables when he first moved here and claims the best tomatoes ever grown came from that little plot.  The good thing about this new-to-me plot is that it will have shade late in the evening!

The first row of our garden.

We have bell peppers, a couple of banana peppers, cabbage, and broccoli in the ground!  The above shot shows the 'special formula' Mike has me use to get things started.  I cannot reveal much more than that but each spring since we have gardened together our plants have gotten a pretty good start in spite of weather threats like flooding, drought, etc.  So, I am not going to question his wisdom!

Sweet Bell Peppers

Cabbage

Broccoli

Finished Row

I worry about having to fight grassy weeds all summer, but Mike assures me that he has a secret potion trick plan and that won't be a problem.  Stay tuned.