Friday, December 25, 2015
Our Christmas Card to You
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Merry Christmas from the Farm!
I posted a little Christmas greeting over on my professional blog today. Hop on over there to see it!
That is about the only way you are going to see snow around here! Rain, mud, and sloshiness abound but Mike and I have been out in T-shirt sleeves for the past couple of days.
Mike ground up a batch of sausage and got another batch ready to grind yesterday. Last night we sacked up twenty pounds to meet the requests for today. Then, when we were getting ready for bed (about midnight), I stood at the sink drinking a glass of water and noticed a calf stroll out the front door of the barn. So, we jumped into our boots and sloshed out through the rain water and mud to get him hemmed up in a pen.
This is just a sampling of some of Mike's spoiled babies.
Those darn calves are so spoiled. They will come right up to Mike and will follow him most anywhere with a bucket. He pets and rubs on them and they are just like big old puppy dogs at times. Not last night, of course. This fellow would follow me with the bucket for a bit. Then, he would turn around and run back to stand by his friends who were watching the proceedings just across the fence. After two or three circlings of this game, Mike decided he would get the friends into the upper barn (Pop's Barn). So, he drove up the hill, taking a bucket with a bit of grain in it and called the fellows up there. Worked like a charm, they all jogged up there to him - even the fellow on the wrong side of the fence. Mike opened the gate and the errant fellow went into the lot fairly easily.
Even though these are some of the little fellows, the yearlings, who reach Mike's shoulders, also crowd round him when he takes a bucket into their area.
Mike decided to pen up all that group of yearlings until he could find where there was a hole or a tree bending the fence down. So, he began a trek over to the gate. Well, those guys began to follow him because he was carrying that bucket. Mike had to lead them back to the trough and feed them the few bites of grain to distract them in order to get the gate closed.
By the time we got back to the house, neither of us was in a frame of mind for relaxing and sleeping. Plus, we were sweating like we had been trying to herd cows on foot. Imagine that!
Sunday, December 6, 2015
A Few of Our Favorite Things
I've noticed a few blogs are offering up a few of their favorite things. I know that these bloggers are promoting products for sponsors of their blog. Since I have no sponsors, I am truly offering up a few of our favorite things!
We have the 8" and 10" Combo Frypan set. I saw these on special at the grocery store a couple of months ago and thought I would give them a try. You see we are hard on skillets. We tend to eat good old country breakfasts most mornings. We eat sausage or bacon almost every day. So, this is a utensil we have had to replace almost yearly during our married life. I use the large one for browning ground beef or pork. Mike uses it to bread and fry pork tenderloin or fish or ocra. Nothing sticks! Clean up is easy!
This is another of those things I got on sale at the grocery store. I love it for three reasons. First, it can be programmed to have coffee ready when I wake up in the morning. Secondly, it is easy to clean. It comes apart and is submersable and can all be washed right in the sink next to where it sits. Lastly, it doesn't leak or drip or make a mess when filling the cup. It comes straight from the machine right into the cup. I use one of those fancy one-cup coffee makers at work and it is fine. However, you have to wait for each cup to brew. I like the coffee to be ready when I am and to dispense right into my cup as well. My sister recommended it and I absolutely think it is the best coffee maker on the market.
I was so angry last year when our fridge went out. I was angry that we had to buy a new one. I was angry at having to spend so much money. However, as it turns out, getting exactly what we wanted was a wonderful gift in our lives. I didn't want the in-the-door ice/water dispenser but I have grown to like it. I can taste the difference in the filtered water and it doesn't leave a big mess like the old fridge did. I love the bottom freezer drawer. I love that both doors open at the top to put something big like a casserole on the shelves. If you have to replace your fridge, I highly recommend getting one just like this!
I also love having a TV in my kitchen. It helps me know the headlines because I can turn it on when cooking breakfast or dinner and learn what is going on in the world in snippets from the local or national news broadcasts. It also brings me programs like The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I have a cookbook or two of hers and they are not only beautiful but they are practical and easy to follow recipes. Not necessarily fancy and difficult recipes but good fare and she shows step-by-step how to prepare dishes that we have grown to love. Someday I'd like to turn my recipe blog into a cookbook to share with the grandchildren as they go out into the world and Ree is my inspiration!
One of the best gifts I've ever gotten was my camera that Mike gave me last year. I've had such fun learning to use it. I like the quality photos I get from it without having a single photography lesson. I think it has helped me to look at the world a little differently and I look forward to making photos, posting them to my blog, and maybe someday using it to create those books I've always wanted to write!
Google+ and FaceTime are another couple of wonderful tools. I've used Google Hangouts with teachers when I cannot get to their school due to time constraints. I love that it allows me or the teacher to share our screen and makes for an easy way to teach something simple. I also love having Hangouts with my granddaughters. They live a bit more than an hour away and we can chat by phone but getting to see them and have them visually share something is so wonderful. It is almost like having them visit right through the back door. The same goes for FaceTime with one of our grandsons. He is just two-years-old but he will chat and look at the screen to see us or the dog and will dash around to show us things he is growing and learning. It sure helps to bide the time when we actually can visit through our or their back doors! I also use Google+ to share photos with the family and not have to post them for the world to see online. I choose who gets to see the photos and who does not and that makes me feel more secure. I love so many features involving technology and bringing folks closer is certainly one of the most important!
We are so fortunate to have loads of things to love. Of course the roof over our head and the opportunities and blessings we are graced with on a daily basis are wonderful and listing each as a favorite would be impossible but today I've shared a few of the big things that are our household favorites. Enjoy!
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Thanksgiving Menu
We had a Thanksgiving Feast this Thursday past!
Even though I tried to do a little bit along, I came to realize that I am getting old and I am w-a-y out of shape when it comes to cooking a big feast!
Here was our menu:
The food was great. The company was better!
I wound up not taking photos. Again, old and out of shape influenced this, I guess. I did happen to get a shot of the Mamas preparing plates for the little grands.
Those little grands sat patiently.
Well, for the most part, they sat patiently. There was one little who had to sneek a roll out of the basket.
He was pretty cute about it, though.
Somebody else was pretty patient, too. He just sniffed around and hoped one of the grands (or a grown-up) would drop a crumb or two.
We ate hearty and visited with one another and had a nice Thanksgiving feast. One bunch stayed for a while but the other crew had to trek off to their next stop of feasting.
Even though I tried to do a little bit along, I came to realize that I am getting old and I am w-a-y out of shape when it comes to cooking a big feast!
Here was our menu:
Corn Casserole by Jessica
Macaroni and Cheese by Bridgette
Pumpkin Cheesecake by Bridgette
The food was great. The company was better!
I wound up not taking photos. Again, old and out of shape influenced this, I guess. I did happen to get a shot of the Mamas preparing plates for the little grands.
We ate hearty and visited with one another and had a nice Thanksgiving feast. One bunch stayed for a while but the other crew had to trek off to their next stop of feasting.
Saturday, November 28, 2015
List-Making
Are you a list-maker? I am a list-maker. I make lists of things to pick up at the grocery store. I make lists of books I want to read. I make lists of errands that need to be run. I make lists of steps of food items to prepare for a big feast. I keep lists of appointments on a calendar to help clarify where and with which teacher I will be working on each day. Lately I've been making LOTS of lists! Yet, there are still some things I forget to add to the list. Why is that?
I used to make lists as reminders because I was responsible for shuttling children here and there and then back again and I needed the reminder to keep me focused with so much going on and so many places to be. Now, I make lists as reminders because I KNOW that I won't remember things!
I use sticky notes - with lines - to help me remember. I use Google Keep because I know that I am slipping both at home and at work.
I am noticing that lots of others seem to rely on lists as well. I noticed it most recently in some blog posts. For example, there are the five evening habits of successful people. When looking at that short list, I decided I need to add walking to my repertoire. I'm not saying I need to do it at night - I just know I need to add it to some point of my day. I do read each night before going to sleep. I wonder what it is Gates is reading, though? Somehow, I don't think we have or do read the same things because, financially, he seems a bit more successful than me.
I also noticed this list on productivity. I don't know if I am not stepping outside my comfort zone enough or if I am multi-tasking and that is impeding me from becoming more like Zuckerberg. Or, maybe the folks I'm hanging with are too negative. Come on guys! Be more positive!
I loved the concept of the top ten things we should be informed about in life. I think it is great to be a bit reflective. What kind of advice would you give to a younger self? That question truly made me stop and think...and begin to jot down a list.
Then, this is an entire post focused on important lists to keep if you want to be successful. I know this concept to be completely true. I think back on a time when I was asked to write down something that was a goal for five days from that moment, a goal for five months from that moment, a goal for five years from that moment. I don't recall what I wrote for the first couple of goals but the one I wrote as a goal for five years from that moment was that I wanted to be teaching adults. Within a couple of years of writing that goal, I was teaching at the local community college on a part-time basis. Then, four-and-a-half years later I began my current job as an instructional technology coach working with teachers every day to seamlessly integrate student use of technology in their classroom. I didn't really consciously work toward that because I wrote it down. I do think it might have happened more because I gave some thought to the idea and worked toward making it a reality.
While I have many of the lists mentioned in the linked posts, I certainly don't have all of them. Plus, I've got some that aren't even listed - my Christmas gift list, for example. Some of them mentioned in those posts I think might be valuable and beneficial. So, guess what I'm going to do as soon as I click publish? Yep, I'm making some more lists! How about you?
I used to make lists as reminders because I was responsible for shuttling children here and there and then back again and I needed the reminder to keep me focused with so much going on and so many places to be. Now, I make lists as reminders because I KNOW that I won't remember things!
I use sticky notes - with lines - to help me remember. I use Google Keep because I know that I am slipping both at home and at work.
I am noticing that lots of others seem to rely on lists as well. I noticed it most recently in some blog posts. For example, there are the five evening habits of successful people. When looking at that short list, I decided I need to add walking to my repertoire. I'm not saying I need to do it at night - I just know I need to add it to some point of my day. I do read each night before going to sleep. I wonder what it is Gates is reading, though? Somehow, I don't think we have or do read the same things because, financially, he seems a bit more successful than me.
I also noticed this list on productivity. I don't know if I am not stepping outside my comfort zone enough or if I am multi-tasking and that is impeding me from becoming more like Zuckerberg. Or, maybe the folks I'm hanging with are too negative. Come on guys! Be more positive!
I loved the concept of the top ten things we should be informed about in life. I think it is great to be a bit reflective. What kind of advice would you give to a younger self? That question truly made me stop and think...and begin to jot down a list.
Then, this is an entire post focused on important lists to keep if you want to be successful. I know this concept to be completely true. I think back on a time when I was asked to write down something that was a goal for five days from that moment, a goal for five months from that moment, a goal for five years from that moment. I don't recall what I wrote for the first couple of goals but the one I wrote as a goal for five years from that moment was that I wanted to be teaching adults. Within a couple of years of writing that goal, I was teaching at the local community college on a part-time basis. Then, four-and-a-half years later I began my current job as an instructional technology coach working with teachers every day to seamlessly integrate student use of technology in their classroom. I didn't really consciously work toward that because I wrote it down. I do think it might have happened more because I gave some thought to the idea and worked toward making it a reality.
While I have many of the lists mentioned in the linked posts, I certainly don't have all of them. Plus, I've got some that aren't even listed - my Christmas gift list, for example. Some of them mentioned in those posts I think might be valuable and beneficial. So, guess what I'm going to do as soon as I click publish? Yep, I'm making some more lists! How about you?
Thursday, November 26, 2015
This Turkey Says...
Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
A Little Along
Mike and I are having a Thanksgiving Feast right here at home this year. Mama and Daddy changed up the day of their feast to try to accommodate some of the family but we already had plans. So, the two of us will be feasting right here at home on Thursday. We are not doing anything nearly so elaborate as the year we tackled Big Tom. However, there are a few things that just mean Thanksgiving Feast to us. So, on the menu this year for us is:
Turkey
Southern Cornbread Dressing
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
Macaroni and Cheese
Cranberry Salad
Home-made Rolls
Pecan Pie
With a menu like that, we will eat rich all next week, probably! Today I've stirred up the Cranberry Salad,
the Southern Cornbread for the dressing,
and cooked the sweet potatoes. I figure if I do a little bit each day this week I won't be exhausted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)