More Space

Saturday we got the chickens more space in their lot. They really seem to enjoy having more room. We put the additional 5 hens in with our hens. It will take them a while to get used to being in there. You see the coup at the far side of the lot. That is what they have been in since they were bought by the man who gave them to us. They don’t really understand the concept of being able to run about. When we turn them all out in the evening, those 5 don’t really know to go outside. I’m sure they will figure it out pretty soon though. The small coup you see in the front is just for emergency use. In case we need to separate a hen from the rest of them for a short time.

Yesterday, we made salsa. We ended up with 16 pts. The Horn’s came over for a while in the evening. We ate supper, talked, picked a few blackberries and talked some more. It seemed like it had been a long time since they had come over. We had a really nice evening and even got a little rain. God is good! Our temperatures have definitely been cooler this week. This morning it was 60 degrees when we got up. There is a slight feel of fall in the air. Humidity is not near as bad. That always makes it seem cooler.

I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

August 11, 2011 5

Little Okie

Here’s a picture of the little kitten the girls have decided to give lots of love to. He is the runt of the liter. His mother is one of the wild cats that stay here but he is anything but wild. He is definitely a people kitty. He loves being where we are and will come running when they call his name. His mother’s name is Mexico so they decided to call him Oklahoma-Okie for short. We have been feeding him special food hoping he will catch up to his brothers and sisters.

I have a whole chicken in the crock pot for supper. I tried a new recipe that I found online. This is the first time I’ve tried it so I’ll have to let you know if we like it but it smells delicious. I think I have mentioned before I want to try out new crock pot recipes more this summer. Hopefully, it will mean easier for me and less heat in the kitchen. Along with the chicken we will be having stir fry veggies-fresh from our garden. Squash, zucchini, green onions and peas. YUM!! The recipe is as follows.

4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 large roasting chicken
1 cup chopped onion

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the spices.
Remove any giblets from chicken and clean chicken.
Rub spice mixture onto the chicken.
When ready to cook, put chopped onion in bottom of crock pot.
Add chicken. No liquid is needed, the chicken will make it’s own juices.
Cook on low 4-8 hours.

Today is a beautiful day here in Floyd. Temperature is about 72 degrees right now. We have a strong breeze and the sun is shining. We got a little rain last night which our plants really appreciated. I have clothes to hang on the line. My girls are doing school on the front porch. My Hubby is at work and our supper is cooking in the crockpot. God is SO good. I am indeed a truly blessed woman.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

June 22, 2011 2

Our Latest Find

Here’s a picture of our latest yard sale find. Saturday we went down to Jessica’s to celebrate Sam’s first birthday. Happy birthday, baby boy. We ended up not getting to stay for the party as Grace was not feeling well. When we got down there, though, one of her neighbors was having a yard sale. We walked over with Dave to check it out and found these books. I could not believe it when she told me the price. $5.00! Yeah, I was one happy mama. 10 childrens classics. I love old books.

Yesterday was my beautiful Julie’s 13th birthday. Happy birthday my darling girl. After church we went out to eat and then went to the movies. We watched Kung Fu Panda 2. Going to the movies is still a big treat for us. We don’t do it very often because we want it to remain special and because there are very few good movies to go see. Anyway we had a fun but busy weekend.

We got a little rain last night. Hopefully enough to get the garden growing. Sunshine today with comfortable temperatures. Saturday morning we were down in the 40’s but I think that will be the last of the cooler mornings. Well, I have clothes to hang out and school to do. Enjoy your day and God bless.

June 6, 2011 6

The Cost of Berry Picking

I decided yesterday to pick some more gooseberries and make a gooseberry cobbler. I had never made this before. It turned out very good. Tasted a lot like cherry cobbler. The recipe I used is:

1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 1 tsp almond extract, 1/2 cup water, 4 cups gooseberries. Melt butter in 9X13 baking dish. Combine sugar and flour. Mix almond extract and water and add to sugar mixture; add berries. Pour into pan. TOPPING: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 tbsp oil, 1 egg-mix ingredients until crumbly. Put on top of berry mixture and bake at 375 degrees for 40 min. I think this would work with just about any fruit.

Somehow during my picking I managed to get too close to a wasp. Not good! I also made my own tortillas yesterday for supper. Another first. They were really good and not too hard to make. I think I would try them again.

We got a little rain last night. Lots and lots of thunder and lightning. I could have done without the thunder and lightning but we really need rain. Hopefully we will get more this weekend. The garden and yard really need a drink. Jess and family will be coming up tomorrow for a little visit. I can hardly wait to see them. I know Sam has grown so much already and Daniel seems to grow up more each time I see him. Family is such a blessing from God.

Bible study today so I need to start getting ready. Take care and God bless.

July 9, 2010 2

Remember This

Who remembers these? Obviously I do. This machine was given to me by my mother-in-law several years ago. And yes we do still use it. Last summer, we had very little rain. Our water source is a spring. So in order to save the spring water, we washed our clothes on the wringer. Wringer washers use much less water than automatic washers. It was a lot of fun. The girls really enjoyed it. Now however it will be much easier to use. My hubby hooked it up in his wood working shop. Am I special or what? It now has hot and cold water at the touch of a faucet. It also has it’s own drain. No more carrying water to fill it up and then carrying water to empty it. I know the body of the machine looks pretty “rustic”. It works great though and thats what counts. Well, I thought some of you might like a trip down memory lane. Have a great day and God Bless.

December 1, 2009 0