What a difference a simple phone call can make! I have gained another sweet, special friend in my life who, until today, I had only spoken with through email. What a surprise she gave me today when she called me! Oh, I was so excited. We had a wonderful conversation. As I tried to finish up supper and all the watering and animal feedings, I couldn't help but think how the phone call made me smile from the inside out. I wanted to do the same for someone else. Who better to pick than another very special, close friend? I have been missing her quite a bit more than I have slowed down enough to realize. There was a song we used to sing in my Girl Scout days that said, "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other's gold." Oh, how true! It is so good to have friends who have and will continue to stick with you through the thick and thin of life. What a blessing it is, too, when God places in our lives new friends, and we can journey along life's road together!
I love the close friends I have, new and old. Each is beautiful in her own unique strengths and weaknesses. What a blessing it is to have bonds with those who can share the special and ordinary moments in life.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Tacos Without the Seasoning Packet
Most of the time, I love it when my kitchen looks like this, at least until I have to clean it up, lol! If my kitchen look like this, it means something fun is going on in the kitchen. This is the mess I made tonight when I made homemade pizza- again. Of course, the eggs and yellow onion had nothing to do with the pizza. They were just waiting their turn to be put away after grocery shopping and egg gathering! I have practiced and practiced the recipe, and I have finally gotten it right! It is so soft and light! I had to take a picture of the pizza I made to suit everyone.
But! The real purpose of this post was to ask you this one question: What could you make if you had all these spices and a pound of ground chuck?
I made tacos! I really do not like using store-bought seasoning mixes. I have several recipes to make a large quantity of taco seasoning mix to keep on hand, but I have yet to read through them or try any of them. When I made tacos last night, I just looked at the back of a taco seasoning mix packet to see what spices were used, then I started experimenting! This is what I came up with. I'm sure it will change with time, but I heard no complaints last night!
Taco Seasoning
3/4 tsp salt
1 t paprika
3/4 t onion powder
3/4 t garlic powder
1 T chili powder
To make the tacos, I browned the meat and drained it. Then I added all the spices and 1/2 cup of water. I let the mixture come up to a boil. Then I turned down the heat to let it simmer uncovered until most of the liquid was gone.
Do you have a favorite seasoning mix you like to make? Perhaps you have a taco seasoning mix that is better. I would love for you to share!
You know I just have to give you a better look at the eggs in the basket. These are the eggs I got out of one nest today! We have four nests, but all the chickens want to lay in the same nest where Fern has been sitting on her eggs. For two days the chickens and I couldn't synchronize our timing for me to retrieve the eggs. Poor Fern was trying to lay on nine eggs this morning! She finally got off the nest to let Rosetta get on, and at last, I was able to get the eggs. I know Fern was happy!
Until we meet again, may you be blessed!
Where the Wild Things Are
For weeks my eyes have been watching, looking, searching. Not one trip by a window has found me not stretching my eyes as far as they might see. The ears, too, filtering every sound of movement, filtering the joyful songs of spring from the birds, the grunts and squeals of my own hogs, the brays and calls of the neighbors' donkey and peacocks. It is close. It is near, but when, where?
Is that it I hear in the woods as I stand alone feeding my hogs? Is that it I smell? My heart tries to race with fear, but my mind tells it no. It is only the rustling of the leaves blowing in the wind, the sounds of little critters playing in the cover of trees, the smell of my own hogs as the spring temperatures rise.
Supper is over. Alissa runs to play in her room, and Jake runs outside to find his daddy. I remain in the kitchen finishing up the cleaning. In and out a couple of times little Jake runs wanting to know where Daddy is. For one last searching trip to the front he heads. I turn to put away some little something, and there I catch the sight from the kitchen that has no window but only a view from the adjacent breakfast room. No, the eyes are playing tricks with the shadows again. There is nothing there, but the heart commands the eyes not to move as hard as they try to look away. There is a black bear in the field, my baby is running around somewhere out there, and what is that I see moving just now? The brain commands the eyes to focus. Hogs! I run to the front to find Jake. Praise God both he and his Daddy are on the front porch! I feel sick as Bill asks me what's wrong. "What's wrong?" I want to sarcastically repeat at him. Is he not sitting on the front porch seeing right in front of him what I saw from a windowless kitchen?!? Better yet, can he still not see what I still see that was not spooked off when I ran out of a noisy front door? Are my eyes still playing mean tricks? Feeling rather dumb, I ask, "Is that not the hogs?" He looks up and scans the field before replying, "Oh, I guess it is." Then he tells Jake and me to be quiet. Really? I just run through the house, tear open a terribly noisy front door to rescue my baby, stand on the porch talking about hogs that had remained invisible to eyes that looked out over them, and now I have to be quiet so they won't run off?
Satisfied that my baby was safe and my husband was still crazy :), I went back through the noisy door only to find my little girl had slipped out the garage door to head to the swing set, completely unaware of the terror that lay in the field in front of her. Though I knew Bill was outside, the sight of my precious little girl within seventy-five yards of those vile creatures (okay, maybe that was a little exaggerated?) turned my blood cold. I've seen them run. I know how quick they are. I quietly gathered her back into the house. The sprinklers came on causing the smelly creatures to become mildly concerned enough to return to the woods. Why can't they find some other woods besides the woods that border my children's swing set, the animals, and me? So much for my hopes of a garden this year.
The reality is here again. What I already knew without seeing, has made itself known by sight. It is spring, and the hogs have returned. Even if they are just passing through to somewhere beyond, as Bill tries to tell me, they are still passing too closely for me. Gone is my beautiful carefree spring. Gone is my false sense of security. My already heightened sense of alarm will be even more heightened until late September or November when the hogs are gone again. How in the world am I supposed to let my children play on their new swing set, and how am I supposed to not be afraid to go feed the animals? It is already after 9:00 in the morning, and I am dreading going up to feed them. I've normally already fed the hogs and turned out the chickens by now. I don't like feeling like a prisoner of my own home and land. All I can do is pray for God's protection...and ask for a holster for Mother's Day! ;)
Is that it I hear in the woods as I stand alone feeding my hogs? Is that it I smell? My heart tries to race with fear, but my mind tells it no. It is only the rustling of the leaves blowing in the wind, the sounds of little critters playing in the cover of trees, the smell of my own hogs as the spring temperatures rise.
Supper is over. Alissa runs to play in her room, and Jake runs outside to find his daddy. I remain in the kitchen finishing up the cleaning. In and out a couple of times little Jake runs wanting to know where Daddy is. For one last searching trip to the front he heads. I turn to put away some little something, and there I catch the sight from the kitchen that has no window but only a view from the adjacent breakfast room. No, the eyes are playing tricks with the shadows again. There is nothing there, but the heart commands the eyes not to move as hard as they try to look away. There is a black bear in the field, my baby is running around somewhere out there, and what is that I see moving just now? The brain commands the eyes to focus. Hogs! I run to the front to find Jake. Praise God both he and his Daddy are on the front porch! I feel sick as Bill asks me what's wrong. "What's wrong?" I want to sarcastically repeat at him. Is he not sitting on the front porch seeing right in front of him what I saw from a windowless kitchen?!? Better yet, can he still not see what I still see that was not spooked off when I ran out of a noisy front door? Are my eyes still playing mean tricks? Feeling rather dumb, I ask, "Is that not the hogs?" He looks up and scans the field before replying, "Oh, I guess it is." Then he tells Jake and me to be quiet. Really? I just run through the house, tear open a terribly noisy front door to rescue my baby, stand on the porch talking about hogs that had remained invisible to eyes that looked out over them, and now I have to be quiet so they won't run off?
Satisfied that my baby was safe and my husband was still crazy :), I went back through the noisy door only to find my little girl had slipped out the garage door to head to the swing set, completely unaware of the terror that lay in the field in front of her. Though I knew Bill was outside, the sight of my precious little girl within seventy-five yards of those vile creatures (okay, maybe that was a little exaggerated?) turned my blood cold. I've seen them run. I know how quick they are. I quietly gathered her back into the house. The sprinklers came on causing the smelly creatures to become mildly concerned enough to return to the woods. Why can't they find some other woods besides the woods that border my children's swing set, the animals, and me? So much for my hopes of a garden this year.
The reality is here again. What I already knew without seeing, has made itself known by sight. It is spring, and the hogs have returned. Even if they are just passing through to somewhere beyond, as Bill tries to tell me, they are still passing too closely for me. Gone is my beautiful carefree spring. Gone is my false sense of security. My already heightened sense of alarm will be even more heightened until late September or November when the hogs are gone again. How in the world am I supposed to let my children play on their new swing set, and how am I supposed to not be afraid to go feed the animals? It is already after 9:00 in the morning, and I am dreading going up to feed them. I've normally already fed the hogs and turned out the chickens by now. I don't like feeling like a prisoner of my own home and land. All I can do is pray for God's protection...and ask for a holster for Mother's Day! ;)
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| These are very young wild hogs from late last summer. |
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| This is one of the hogs Bill killed last summer. It made a couple of nice meals! |
Monday, April 23, 2012
Easter Egg!
This morning was such a special morning. I have had my chickens for a while now. One of them, my sweet Marge, is an Easter Egger. She is a true pet. No matter where she is, when I walk outside she comes running and clucking her "hello," and she follows me wherever I go. She's never laid an egg, but she's such a sweetheart, I just didn't care.
This morning when I went to the chicken pen, she didn't come out, and she is usually the first out the door. She was poking around the nests which I found odd because she has never had any interest in them. I wanted to stay with her, but I had to go feed the hogs. When I had fed the hogs and she still hadn't come out, I went back to check on her. She was sitting on the eggs my broody Fern has been sitting on, and Fern was still sitting on the perch. I thought it was very odd and thought something was wrong with one of them.
I went back out and threw out some scratch feed for the chickens that were outside and gave them some water. When I went back to the chicken pen, I knew Marge was either very sick or about to lay an egg. I didn't want to leave her so I just stayed. Suddenly, there plopped out the prettiest blue-green egg! My eyes must have been as wide as my mouth that fell open in amazement. I was with my sweet girl when she laid her first egg! I just couldn't believe it! I rubbed her head and back for a few seconds and told her what a great job she did! :)
She kept standing, acting like she didn't know what to do, and I was worried about the other eggs that are about ready to hatch getting too cold. I was just as inexperienced as her. I lifted her off the nest, put her in the next nest, and put her egg in my jacket pocket. It didn't occur to me to put her egg in the nest with her until I was walking back to the house. After I moved her, I turned around and got Fern to put her back on the nest of eggs that she's been sitting on. I hope they didn't get too cold. I guess we will find out in a couple of days! If I have remembered and figured correctly, the eggs should hatch by the end of the week!
Until we meet again, be blessed!
This morning when I went to the chicken pen, she didn't come out, and she is usually the first out the door. She was poking around the nests which I found odd because she has never had any interest in them. I wanted to stay with her, but I had to go feed the hogs. When I had fed the hogs and she still hadn't come out, I went back to check on her. She was sitting on the eggs my broody Fern has been sitting on, and Fern was still sitting on the perch. I thought it was very odd and thought something was wrong with one of them.
I went back out and threw out some scratch feed for the chickens that were outside and gave them some water. When I went back to the chicken pen, I knew Marge was either very sick or about to lay an egg. I didn't want to leave her so I just stayed. Suddenly, there plopped out the prettiest blue-green egg! My eyes must have been as wide as my mouth that fell open in amazement. I was with my sweet girl when she laid her first egg! I just couldn't believe it! I rubbed her head and back for a few seconds and told her what a great job she did! :)
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| Marge's egg in the middle |
She kept standing, acting like she didn't know what to do, and I was worried about the other eggs that are about ready to hatch getting too cold. I was just as inexperienced as her. I lifted her off the nest, put her in the next nest, and put her egg in my jacket pocket. It didn't occur to me to put her egg in the nest with her until I was walking back to the house. After I moved her, I turned around and got Fern to put her back on the nest of eggs that she's been sitting on. I hope they didn't get too cold. I guess we will find out in a couple of days! If I have remembered and figured correctly, the eggs should hatch by the end of the week!
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| Fern on the nest |
Sunday, April 22, 2012
How Not to Cook in Your Kitchen
There are so many blogs out there with such helpful suggestions on how to cook and be neat, clean, and organized that I thought I might try something a little different. This post is dedicated to all those who are as scatterbrained as I!
How Not To Cook in Your Kitchen
- Don't start your supper on the stove, bringing your meal almost up to boiling, and then have a sudden emergency sending you running to the restroom. If you do, you will work through the thinking process way too quickly bringing you to the conclusion that the best, logical solution is to turn of the stove and run.
- When you return to your kitchen don't look at your pot and ponder why it is taking so long to boil. If you do, you will come to the conclusion it was because the food you added to the pot was frozen and it's just taking a little extra time to heat up. Don't stress over this step too much, though. If you do accidentally do this, you will eventually realize you never turned the stove back on. Your supper will just take some extra time to cook.
- When you make your peach cobbler, don't use all-purpose flour when the recipe calls for self-rising. If you do, you may be lucky enough to realize the error of your ways. If you do realize your error, you could make a big mess trying to pour the wrong flour back into the canister.
- Finally, when you are cleaning up, don't turn the warm water on too high when washing out a bowl. You could accidentally soak your daughter who is standing nearby admiring the cobbler baking in the convection oven! Warning! Please be very careful not to do this. It can cause uncontrolled giggling and laughing!
I hope you enjoy experimenting in your kitchen. Until we meet again, may you be blessed!
Friday, April 20, 2012
Hog Wash
What a Crazy day! You just haven't lived until, in one single day, you've nearly been the victim of road rage and been given a shower of dirty pig water!
I did my normal Friday trip to Thomaston to do my grocery shopping, but the children decided to stay at home and play since Bill was on vacation and could watch them. What a rare treat for me to be able to shop alone! I decided to treat myself to the Country Cupboard Deli for lunch. It was very good! I've never had wheat bread so light and soft. For all my readers who live in Thomaston, if you haven't tried it, you should! I only had half a sandwhich, but it was very filling.
After getting groceries and gas (where I nearly became the victim of road rage) I headed to Cake House Bakery to take my mother a little something for her birthday.
This evening, I decided to experiment in the kitchen. I found the cutest little bell peppers in the store today and decided to use them in spaghetti for supper tonight. They were called Baby Bells and came in a package of one yellow, orange, and red bell pepper. They were so good in the spaghetti!
I did my normal Friday trip to Thomaston to do my grocery shopping, but the children decided to stay at home and play since Bill was on vacation and could watch them. What a rare treat for me to be able to shop alone! I decided to treat myself to the Country Cupboard Deli for lunch. It was very good! I've never had wheat bread so light and soft. For all my readers who live in Thomaston, if you haven't tried it, you should! I only had half a sandwhich, but it was very filling.
After getting groceries and gas (where I nearly became the victim of road rage) I headed to Cake House Bakery to take my mother a little something for her birthday.
This evening, I decided to experiment in the kitchen. I found the cutest little bell peppers in the store today and decided to use them in spaghetti for supper tonight. They were called Baby Bells and came in a package of one yellow, orange, and red bell pepper. They were so good in the spaghetti!
What? You don't plant seeds while you cook in the kitchen? Lol! That's right. The experiment wasn't using the peppers in the spaghetti, it was seeing if I could grow my own cute peppers. Bill did plant a couple of pepper plants for me last week, but they were regular green bell peppers. I wanted to see if I could grow these cute colored peppers that I never buy in the store due to the outrageous price! I didn't have a clue what I was doing, but as the food cooked on the stove, I planted bell pepper seeds right there in the kitchen! I don't know if they will grow, but I tried! Any suggestions for next year are certainly welcomed!
As I we finished up eating supper, the power went out. Since I couldn't do much until the power came back on. I finished up the little things and headed outside to the animals. I got tickled as Marge, the hen, and Otis, the pig, came running to me as usual. Bill finally got to see it for himself as he was already at the hog pen when I joined him. Little Otis will stick his snout through the hog wire as far as he can trying to reach me. I have to reach in and love on him to make him stop. His favorite place to be rubbed is the soft area just behind his ears. He's so sweet! I'm glad we don't have to eat him!
I also took advantage of the power outage to catch up on some weeding and planting. I got one whole bed and part of another weeded. I also got forty cups of lavendar seeds planted/started and my two lemon verbenas transplanted into a bigger pot. Does anyone out there have and suggestions for how to use the lavender and verbena?
I hope you enjoyed a great day today, too! Until we meet again, may you be blessed!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Vacation?
Bill's vacation started Saturday, but I haven't worked this hard in a long time! One whole day was spent finishing up a swing set. The "neighbors" came over to help with that project. I cooked lunch for everyone that day. As they finished up, I wasn't much help, so I took care of all the animals and watering (And there was A LOT of it! Bill had just bought three drake elm trees for shade and twelve crepe myrtles for the beds. Then there was my normal watering of tomatoes, peppers, and flowers. ;) ). I knew Bill was exhausted and wouldn't feel like doing it when he got through. They ended up working so late that I cooked supper for everyone too. It was close to 10:00 before I got everything cleaned back up, but I am so thankful to be blessed with one set of kind neighbors that live just a little down the dirt road.
The next day we had to go to Thomaston to get weed block fabric to finish up our flower beds, to get more hoses, nozzles and a sprinkler to make watering the new trees and garden easier, and to get landscape timbers to go around the swing set so we can cover the dirty sand (the children are getting so filthy playing up there all day!). Unfortunately, the sprinkler for the garden didn't work, the nozzles we paid for never made it into the truck, and two of the hoses were missing a rubber ring. In addition, when we got home, we found one large shelf holding all my stuff that I was storing from my classroom had fallen over. Bill was not a happy camper! I had already planned to sort through all the school stuff this week, so I guess that was God's way of making sure it got done, lol!
We had time to plant the three Drake Elm trees and finish one complete bed when we got home. I started sorting through boxes in between helping Bill. As he finished putting in the river rock, I took care of all the feeding and cooked supper. It was nice to enjoy a nice, late supper on the porch that evening.
We worked ALL day Tuesday finishing up the beds but first thing that morning, Bill took the training wheels off Alissa's bike. She has been waiting for a long time!
The children also stayed outside on their new swing set all day. I continued sorting in between helping Bill. Why did I have so much stuff? I had so many files to sort through! It is Wednesday, and I am still not done! It was overwhelming to see how much I used to try to teach in one year! I have saved less than I got rid of, but I don't know where in the world I will put it! I can use it with Alissa this year and Jake in a few years. Then I can get rid of all of it for good! :)
These are pictures I took this afternoon of two of the new trees and the flower beds. We still need border flowers, but that will have to wait...maybe for a very long time! :)
Thank goodness it is Wednesday, and it is finally raining! I am way behind on my cleaning, and I need to catch up, but I thought I would share a few farm pictures while I have the rare free time!
Thank you for stopping by to share in our time and adventures on Southland Farm! I'd love to hear about your own adventures, big or small!
Until next time, be blessed!
The next day we had to go to Thomaston to get weed block fabric to finish up our flower beds, to get more hoses, nozzles and a sprinkler to make watering the new trees and garden easier, and to get landscape timbers to go around the swing set so we can cover the dirty sand (the children are getting so filthy playing up there all day!). Unfortunately, the sprinkler for the garden didn't work, the nozzles we paid for never made it into the truck, and two of the hoses were missing a rubber ring. In addition, when we got home, we found one large shelf holding all my stuff that I was storing from my classroom had fallen over. Bill was not a happy camper! I had already planned to sort through all the school stuff this week, so I guess that was God's way of making sure it got done, lol!
We had time to plant the three Drake Elm trees and finish one complete bed when we got home. I started sorting through boxes in between helping Bill. As he finished putting in the river rock, I took care of all the feeding and cooked supper. It was nice to enjoy a nice, late supper on the porch that evening.
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| The sprinklers take care of these trees now! |
We worked ALL day Tuesday finishing up the beds but first thing that morning, Bill took the training wheels off Alissa's bike. She has been waiting for a long time!
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| Silly Daddy! |
The children also stayed outside on their new swing set all day. I continued sorting in between helping Bill. Why did I have so much stuff? I had so many files to sort through! It is Wednesday, and I am still not done! It was overwhelming to see how much I used to try to teach in one year! I have saved less than I got rid of, but I don't know where in the world I will put it! I can use it with Alissa this year and Jake in a few years. Then I can get rid of all of it for good! :)
These are pictures I took this afternoon of two of the new trees and the flower beds. We still need border flowers, but that will have to wait...maybe for a very long time! :)
Thank goodness it is Wednesday, and it is finally raining! I am way behind on my cleaning, and I need to catch up, but I thought I would share a few farm pictures while I have the rare free time!
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| Fern has turned broody on us. I hope we have a couple of chicks in a couple of weeks! |
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| The pigs enjoy playing with the empty pool and each other! |
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| Psst! Can you keep a secret?. |
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| A pig with a full belly is a happy, sleepy pig! |
Until next time, be blessed!
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