I HATE SPENDING MONEY

BUT I HAD TO BUY A DISHWASHER. I CANT KEEP UP WITH MY DISHES. SINCE I DECIDED THAT I WOULD NOT PURCHASE ANY MORE PRE-PACKAGED FOOD AND WOULD BE COOKING REAL FOOD, I CAN'T KEEP UP WITH THE DISHES. I KNOW THIS IS HORRIBLE BUT SOMETIMES I GET IN FROM WORK, CUBSCOUTS, ERRANDS AFTER 8PM. SO EVEN THOUGH IT SEEMS LIKE A LUXURY I AM HAVING A DISHWASHER DELIVERED AND INSTALLED AND THE OLD UNIT TAKEN AWAY.

DERBY DAY

One took 3rd and a trophy. They other only got a certificate. Learning to be a gracious loser is one of the hardest life lessons that scouts helps with.Sorry about the fuzzy pics. Boys just don't stop moving.

A NEW FAVORITE

We had a chili cook off last week at work. As I was leaving it I ended up walking down the all with my bosses bosses boss. He is very friendly and was telling me about his favorite chili and he had to buy it online because they don't sell it here in TX. Yesterday I was leaving work and he walked up and gave me a packet of it!

Here is is:




If any of you can get some you won't regret it. But it has a very distinct taste and he says that it is traditionally served over spaghetti.

If you do get it please figure out what the spice is that is in it. It is very familiar and I know I should know it but can't figure it out.

LEUCAENA IS HERE!

I am so excited. Really my area is too cold for this plant but I will do my best in the late fall to heavily mulch and cover them so that the roots don't die.

This is a high protien legume that makes a good livestock feed. I will be feeding this to my rabbits and my chickens.

THE TO DO LIST

Here is this weekend's to do list:

1. Work with grand boys to earn their Bear and Wolf badges

2. Clean and press their uniforms and change their pack numbers, add their belt loops and add their badges

3. Go to the farm and get milk

4. Make chicken soup for a sick friend

5. Take all bunnies out of the cages, clip toenails, brush them and check their ears.

6. Move the fuzzy rabbits somewhere else. Go get a new cage for momma rabbit and move her to her own cage. (new babies are due in 2 wks)

7. Do Laundry

8. Help boys clean their room

9. Have boys help me pack the metal box that is in the bed of my truck and talk about emergency preparedness.

10. Work with boys on arts and crafts and whittling

I hope I get all of this done. I would love to also clean out my frig.

Hope your weekend is full of wonder and grand boys

PANTRY

Thursday night I went to the local wally world and had pre-decided my $ limit. I actually needed little but wanted to boost my emergency stock pile. So instead of running in and out, I decided to walk slowly down the isles and look at the sales. It paid off. I came in under my limit and I left with 1.5 grocery carts full of food.

Friday when my grandboys got there we looked at all of the food and discussed what would happen if an ice storm came and we couldn't get to the store or worse if the stores went away.

I woke this morning and realized that If I did not re-organize my kitchen shelves I would not have room for all of the new groceries that had been sitting on my counter since Thursday night. I had been dreading this! It is like spring cleaning...you have to tear it apart first and then put it back...twice the work.

So I am done with the shelves. Not perfect but organized into Pastas, rice, beans, cereals, breads, oils, sweetners, meats, veggies, sauces, condiments, etc.



Now for the rest of the house! Have I told you lately how much I hate cleaning house?

Outside it is raining and drippy. But it is not freezing which is a great thing. If I ever get my house cleaned, I might go work on the tool shed.

I didn't get to go to the rabbit show yesterday because of a sick grandboy. He was disapointed also.

EVERYBODY'S GOT EM

In these anything can get done. There is nothing you will shy away from. (ok maybe deep mud) but certainly not poo of any kind, tall grass, piles of leaves, things that need to be built, painted or killed.

Yep I am talking about that favorite pair of work shoes.

Here's mine:



Also, I took a vacation day today. So far here is what I have gotten done:
1. watered last years apple trees with compost tea
2. cleaned, scraped and raked out the chicken house, and bleached their water containers
3. Sat for 2 hours at the dealer while they tried to find the noise in Boo's rear end.

Pathetic I know...it's noon...half the day is gone and really only 2 things checked off of the to do list. My ADD kicks in after about 1 hour and I want to change jobs.

BUT...while I was bleaching the water containers, I heard one of my new hens fly out of the hen house so I walked over to see what she was doing and couldn't see her right away. Then found her behind the feed bin. Getting ready to deposit an egg on a nest of 3. Tonight! All wings get clipped.



I have been wondering why my Brown Leggorns have not been laying. They lay white eggs so I knew I would know them. I hope this is the only secret nest.

Getting ready to go pick up the grand boys! Woohoo then a 2:30 conference call. And the rest of the day is mine! Gotta get the bunnies ready for our firs Bunny show tomorrow. We leave at 5am.

BOO'S NEW WHEELS

Can you believe that Boo has over 52k miles on her!!! I had driven the tread right off of the tires.

I started pricing truck tires! Wow! They start at $750 and go way up. I went to one used tire place and the guy told me that I will never find them.

As I was walking out a young man in a nice black coat approached me and told me he had a dealership in town and all of his used cars get tires from another used tire shop in town.

So I drove another mile down the road and found Castillo's Tires and they were so nice. I got 4 almost brand new tires mounted and balanced for $50/tire!!

One more night of cold weather and it will warm up for a while. I bought TX 10/15 sweet onions sets today at Calloways Nursery. And oh my goodness their trees are huge and beautiful and were only $24.99. But none of them (apple or pear) were of the crisp variety. So I abstained. But I might go back for a fig tree. Those were beautiful also. Very heavy branches.

They told me that I should go to the TX A&M website and see what fruit and nut trees will do well here as it is warmer and wetter and there are more diseases due to that.

A LITTLE NIPPY

BABIES ARE GROWING UP

Today we go get cream from the farm and the boys and I will wash up this old butter churn to make home made butter.



Momma is running out of room fast. The babies are getting big and they love to lay on her head.





Some like to sit high on her back.



Sharing a sip.



Hanging with the bubbas and sissys.



Henrietta doesn't care for the cage but today we will splint her leg and I now have a heat lamp on her. She is eating and drinking. So she should mend.

HEN WITH A BROKE LEG

RAIN WATER STORAGE BEGINS SOON

BILLY GRAHAM

I am listening to old archives of Billy Grahams sermons.

The first one is on making a choice...either choose to serve Christ or choose to serve what ever other god...but make a choice. Don't sit in the middle.

He says in this sermon that he can not live the Christian life. He is a total flop when he tries. God must live it through him because he fails every time.

This is startling. That someone like Billy Graham felt the same way that I do.

NOTE THOUGH: NOT TO MAKE THIS DECISION IS IN IT'S SELF...DECIDING NOT TO. SO YOU SEE THERE NEEDS TO BE NO DELAY

NEW ADDITION: MORINGA AND LEUCEANA

I PURCHACED 5 MORINGA SEEDLINGS FROM
EMILY TACK

I ORDERED LEUCEANA SEEDS FROM AUSTRALIA ALSO FROM

ORGANICS AUSTRALIA ONLINE

I WILL BE USING BOTH OF THESE AS A HIGH PROTEIN FOOD SOURCE FOR MY LIVESTOCK.

I WISH YOU COULD SEE THIS BETTER

I stood up and looked out my window to the bunny cages. Tonight is cold so I turned on the heat lamps to keep the waters from freezing; Here is what I saw.



I zoomed in and it is fuzzy. But what you are seeing is the blue water bottle in the back ground: momma rabbit laying down with her two big ears up and on her back...actually laying on her neck with it's head between her ears is a tiny baby that escaped from the nest.

ORGANIC RUSTIC MEYER LEMONS

I bought a half dozen of these at the organic farm I purchase my greens from. The owners daughter has a tree in Louisiana.

I will grate the peel for lemon zest. I will juice the pulp and make lemonade.

Yum!

A NEW YEAR

Well like 90% of America, the resolutions have begun.

Last night I made homemade yogurt.

1 gallon milk
4 T of starter (I used Dannon plain yogurt)

From this point I will simply use my own yogurt as starter.

In a stainless steel pan I warmed the milk to body temperature. When you touch the liquid it is not warm or cold.

Then I whisked in the starter.

Then I loaded the cultured milk into pint jars and put them in my new dehydrator.





I set the temp to 100 but that was too low so mid day I increased the temp to 115.

At bed time I put all the jars into the refrigerator.

This morning breakfast was 1/4 cup of my homemade granola, 1/4 cup of homemade yogurt and 1 T of local honey. Doesn't get any better than this!