Our "Brief 2-day Spring"

Good Morning Puffins.... technically it's morning as it was at 3:45 a.m. both yesterday and today.  Farmer-dear is working some over-time at the factory, so we all get up then... him, me and the cattle.  I don't mind quite as much in the summer as it is dawn about then, but in March, after daylight savings time has started (Way too early IMHO!), it's DARK!   But it is morning so we'll just get on with it...

Remember a few days ago when I mentioned the Blue-eyed One had the tractor and disk out for oats sowing?  I remember it well, for it was our 2-day Spring.  Here, let me show you how we spent it....

We had a thunderstorm complete with HAIL!  Those white blurs are more hail stones falling.   The hail ranged from quarter to pea-size .

This was a marble-sized hail stone outside the front porch.  If you look closely you can see a few pea-sized.

But shortly after that brief storm, the sun came out!  I hung jeans on the clothes line in the breeze and Farmer-dear did this...

Opening the drill boxes.

Reading the settings for oats.  (Notice the glorious sunshine on the hills.)

Pouring in the oats seed.  This was the last bag.  I helped by lifting the bags onto the walkboard. (I'm sure there is a technical term for that, but I don't know what it is.  I should ask Mr. Thinker.  )

Dumping out the last bits, as this was rather pricey seed!  And then off he went behind the hill until way after dark.  He was pleased he got finished and used all the seed.  

These "beauties" will have feed this winter.  We have a variety of colors in our lot now.  From pure white calves to these  funny brownish ones to dirt-colored ones.  Most of the Mommas are black, with a few brown and one white.  The Bull, Amos, is a white Charolais. 

Hello, Inquisitive.

And then it turned cooler (ok, cold) and Winter came barreling in for another round of rotten weather.  **sigh~**  To keep my spirits up, I went to the Thrift Store and found some bargains.

A gardening book, (the Farm Animal Ailment book is for Farmer-dear... I just don't want to know about any of that!), a Grace Livingston Hill book and an audio book for my sewing room.  Some serger thread.  I only got one spool to see if it will work for piecing quilts or if is too thick.  Some greeting cards.  And music cds.   

This morning (yes, I could see it in the dark) we awoke to snow on the ground, snow coming down and more in the forecast.   **bigger sigh~~**   On the bright side, we also had 2 new calves in the last 24 hours.  All is well with them and their mothers.  We are past the half-way mark on calving.  YAY!


I believe I'll be home today and while I should do some bookwork, I think it will more cozy to do my Bible Study, read more chapterz for our church's Bible Reading Challenge and then see how  many pinwheel blocks I can sew.  Also feeling like sewing some small giftie-type items like bags and tissue holders.  Both the laundry and dishes are caught up and it will only take a short amount of time to do the rest of the dailies.  


Final question... Chocolate Chip Cookies or Brownies?  


I hope Spring is firmly in place wherever you are (unless you are in the Southern Hemisphere, then I hope you are having a nice long, beautiful Autumn.)


Hugs!
K~
** "Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine."  ~Anthony J. D'Angelo

Randomness Becomes Me in January

My companion these cold winter days.

Hi There Puffins!

I’ve been scolded by several people for letting my blog sit stagnant these past few weeks.  I’ve had a bit of writer’s block. There has been either too many posts flitting about my brain and they all wanted out at once which would have resulted in pure chaos or nothing of any interest to write.

In any case, that is no excuse for just running off and leaving you all here bored to death.  ;o)

I'm sorry. 

So without any further adieu, here are a few things that have been on my mind lately (in a very random order):

1.  Reading the Bible through, chronologically.  I found a website that gives you different translation options and the formates/schedules.  I’ve always wanted to read the Bible chronologically, as we read most books that way.  Over the past several years we have gone through much of the OT in Sunday School and I like to know how the history fits together.  It makes more sense to me that way.

The website is:  www.biblestudytools.com .  Look for the Bible reading plans.  You can start at on any date, read the day’s selection from the site and have it marked “read.”  I’m in Job right now.  His “friends” sure weren’t very friend-like, were they?


2.  It’s cold here.  And we have 6-10” of snow on the ground. And ice in places.  And I fell on the ice again last Sunday at church so my ego was newly bruised and my wrist/hand is STILL not 100% healed.  Prairie Farm workman’s comp is a joke.  But the other benefits are great!  (warm showers and time to sew!)

BFF's "Roses" quilt top, before quilting

3.  Speaking of sewing.... !!  Did you hear the joyous celebration?  BFF’s quilt is pieced and quilted and as soon as I get my behind out of this desk chair, I’m going to continue hand-stitching the binding down.  AND... She likes it... She really likes it!!  (I knew she would... even though she had reservations about the initial fabric choices.)

I love these bright girlie fabrics!!

Dgd3 (who is still incubating inside momma) will have a birth quilt.  I started cutting out pinks and purples and bright blues and yellows yesterday.  It will be my first foray into fusible machine applique.  Oh my~~  Hearts and flowers and lots of bright colors.  And then the need to buy more as my stash of bright girlie fabrics is woefully sparse!  Cosmic Cow.. here I come!!

4.  More sewing... I received a gift card to Joann’s Fabrics because ds2 knows me so very well.  Along with a 40% off coupon rewarded me with 3 pieces of pink flannel (receiving blankets or quilts or ??) and a rotating cutting board.  I dislike having to constantly turn blocks I’m trimming or have to walk around my cutting table.  It’s not always handy. 
I’m also impatiently waiting for Cosmic Cow 2 to open in our hometown. Work continues on the inside.  Would it be too rude to put a note on the door that says “HURRY UP!  I need more Fabric!!”  I suppose it would.  lol
And thread!  Who knew I was low on dark colored thread!  Doggone it! Guess I need to do some online shopping at Signature Threads dot com.  Or Connecting Threads.  I like “good thread” as opposed to el-cheapo stuff from Wal-mart.  The lint is unbelievable from the cheap stuff and my Kenmore chokes and spits out thread wads then.  Not fun!

Told you my mind was a wild and wooly place these days.  This is just scratching the surface. 

Stay tuned as I churn out more in the days to come.

Hugs!
K~

PS  I LOVE my new windows.  Makes me sick to think of all the money we lost from our old drafty ones letting in the cold and letting out the warmth. 

The best laid plans of women and quilters...

well, you know the song and dance I live by now....

I had plans for today, with my sewing machines and fabric and thread.

I told the Farmer of my plans. He agreed to my plans and told me to go enjoy myself.

And then my better nature & wifely guilt took over.... and I ended up going along to look at and buy 6 preggo cows from one of his co-workers; the one with the Bohemian accent that reminds me of my childhood days.

We got home and unloaded them and he said after I recorded their numbers and we let the baby and cow out of the barn, I could go sew. But first he needed to tag and band the little guy. And could I watch so the mother didn't go too nuts on him. Ok.... **sigh**

Then we notice a red cow up on the knoll in the lot had just had her calf. (Storms coming in will bring along babies.) Good job Mama Cow! All was well up there and so I went in, started the laundry, and got the ingredients out for the Cold-Oven Pound Cake I was going to make for Sunday School tomorrow. And then I was going to go down to the sewing room for an hour.

But I happened to glance out the window to see how Blue-eyed Farmer was coming along with his revamping some fencing for bedding areas and feeding areas.
Only he wasn't making fence, instead he was carrying the new calf towards the barns. So off I trotted to change back into a chore coat & boots & help him get this calf & it's mother into the barn.

And since it was starting to snow, he wanted to get a hay bale and more bedding for the herd and it would be a big help if I watched the gates and directed him as he put the feed bales in the right spots.

After a good hour of all that, I was getting too cold to be outside anymore. I had hurried out without a hat or scarf and my toes were numb. Plus I had that cake to finish up and we had had plans to go out for supper with friends & we needed to be ready to leave before 6 p.m. I hurried in and made that pound cake (which did not turn out) and was just getting ready to go out, when our friends called and said they were having calving issues at their place and needed to postpone.

With that change in plans, we settled in for a quiet evening at home. We found a quick supper for ourselves here and I did the laundry that I didn't get done earlier today and mixed up a second/different cake which just finished baking.

It is now 9:30 p.m. and not a single stitch was sewn today.

But we have a another new calf and its mother safe and warm in the barn; warm bedding down for the rest of the herd; 6 new cows to replace several we need to cull out later this spring.
We're fed, warm and have clean clothes for this coming week and we'll have cake to eat tomorrow.

Life is still good, even if I my plans did go all ca-flooey today.

Did your day go according to plan?

Hugs!
Kay~

** "There is never enough time to do everything,
but there is always enough time to do the most important thing."
~Brian Tracy~

Tis the Season of Snud

Remember the big snow drifts we had over our road?

Well, in the past weeks the county has hired a bull dozer to move the huge mounds of snow way into the drifts and beyond. In the process of widening and opening the roads, the dozer really chewed up the roads.

And now with the fog, moisture, thawing and refreezing every day, mixing with the slush/snow left on the gravel roads, we had Snud (snow + mud). And Ruts! Big ruts! Deep Ruts! To the point of having to rethink our route to the highway. As of this evening, we have one, maybe two options that are not too bad . . . yet.

With the deep snud and ruts, this means Farmer-dear and I will be driving into town together again. If ever there was a year to have a 4-wd or all-wd vehicle, This is it!

And to liven things up a bit, more drizzle, fog, frizzle, rain, snow and 40° (can you say melting!) temps, all in the forecast for the weekend.

They say mud is good for the skin, but what about car exteriors??

If I disappear into a sink-hole, just remember, I loved you first!

Hugs,
K~

** "I know that, all my life, I've been going around in a fog.
You're just a bunch of molecules until you know who you are."
~ Cary Grant

Musing on Monday

Nothing very new to report.... it's still winter, it's still cold & foggy and frizzle, freezing rain and a wintery mix are all in the forecast for the rest of the week. yippee.

I spent 2 hours figuring out the Wii Fit today. My Fit Age is 34. I feel pretty proud of that, considering my fluffy body and all.

I cooked a basic dinner of Meatloaf, Mashed potatoes, Gravy, Roasted Carrots and Biscuits this evening. Comforting and homey and good, but not very exciting.

So just to jazz up this post, I opened iPhoto to all my photos. I closed my eyes and scrolled up and down and then pointed my mouse and clicked. Here is my random photo for today:


Autumn leaves over our pond, October 2008.

Hugs,
K~

** "It is a good thing to be rich, it is a good thing to be strong, but
it is a better thing to be beloved of many friends."
-- Euripides (480-406 BC) Greek Playwright

Day 3 of Winter Storm #3-- Getting Restless

Blog Jan 8

Day 3 of the January Blizzard/Snow-In.... The natives are getting restless. Going out into the frigid temperatures doesn’t faze the Farmer anymore. The Farmer’s Wife has even succumb to doing farm bookwork as a diversion from looking out at all the snow, all the same snow... that never melts.

Of course I’m just joking, mostly...

We are still snow-bound. Watching for the snowplow has become one of our new pass-times. We are also passing the time by catching up on projects. Farmer-dear continues to do all the chores alone. The ice on the pond is still 15” thick.

Today he tore out the old lazy susan from under the counter in the kitchen. The same cupboard that the mice use as their “condo.” He had given me a glide-out trash can for Christmas (I know. lol) to go in this cupboard. We’ll see how it works if (when) the mice get in again.

While he’s been busy with chores and tools, I’ve been catching up on the farm bookwork. I’m 90% done with 2009! As I’m filing receipts, I’ve been fine-tuning my files so we can find specific items more easily.

I also did a little sewing on the autumn table runner. It is my first Stash Busting project for 2010. My goal this year is to see how many projects I can complete or make entirely from my stash. I have enough fabric, patterns, books, batting, backing, embellishments, thread, rulers, and sewing machines, that I shouldn’t have to buy anything this year. That doesn’t mean, I won’t want to buy some new fabric. *grin*

I also tried a new whole grain bread recipe today from Cook’s Illustrated. It was not a success. I’m not sure if it’s because I got interrupted several times in the process of mixing up the dough or if my home-milled wheat flour absorbs more liquid than purchased whole wheat flour? The recipe made two loaves but the dough was very dense from the start, and the loaves never really raised well and baked into bricks. I guess the birds will be happy for a few days. I’ll try the recipe again when I get more 7-grain hot cereal.

Another diversion to the snow and cold has been the Wii. This evening I tried Bowling for the first time. I don’t want to brag, but let’s just say, in this household, Women Rule at Wii Bowling!

So I can’t say we’re bored, exactly; but we are getting a little stir-crazy. We are both so very thankful for our warm home, our shelter and refuge, heat, food and all the entertainment we have available. And we’ll be happy to see other real live people and do something besides chores, work, being home. The Big City calls loudly.

But in the mean time, we’ll just continue on. If you don’t see us by June, someone send in the Mounties!

Hugs!
K~

** Most people are about as happy
as they make their minds up to be.
- Abraham Lincoln

Garden 2009 final report

Blog Jan 7

A small update on the Garden 2009, I finally had to toss the last 3 onions. 2 were very sprouted and the third was rotting. It was definitely worth the cost of the sets and the time and effort of planting them and harvesting them. I can’t say I did anything else to them. Matter of fact we had to hunt for them in the weeds & grass to pull them up. They lasted from a good 3-4 months in my pantry, resting in a coffee-filter lined colander.

The last 5 pounds of red potatoes are still in the pantry in a cardboard box.




A few of them are getting wrinkly and sprouted so I need to get them cooked up asap. I’ve been reading through some old food-preserving Yahoo group emails and found a method of shredding the potatoes, boiling them, then drying for 8-12 hours. When dried you can power them for “instant” potatoes. It may not be as good as commercial instant mashed potatoes but it’s better than throwing away 5 pounds of home-grown potatoes. That may be my project for this weekend. The dehydrator will help keep the kitchen warmer.

I also found a way to dry pumpkin, which was exciting to me. I did freeze some pumpkin pulp blobs last year but didn’t vacuum-seal them, so they are getting freezer-burnt. The pumpkin was free so I’m only out of my time and the electricity used to cook it, but still....

Speaking of freezer-burn, I’m so miffed at myself. I tossed 2 bags of frozen vegetables this evening, that were all freezer burnt. It’s been months since we’ve eaten frozen vegetables, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. Just erks me that they were wasted. There just wasn’t any way to save them. I doubt they’d even be good in soup or pureed and added to red sauce or meat loaf.
And that zucchini in the fridge, was wasted also. But the peppers are still looking good.

I also did a little pantry reorganization after the holidays it got to be a bit of a mess with all the big storage containers stacked up and then falling down. I can see I need to watch for some canned vegetable sales, but everything else seems to be plentiful for now. I need to do a thorough freezer inventory yet and then will have a complete restocking list. Right now I know I need walnut pieces and bacon. Also I think the cheddar cheese is low. I have a gift card to our local natural foods store and can’t wait to get some local organic cheese for eating fresh. We don’t drink alot of milk, so we get our calcium from cheese, half-n-half and yogurt.

Winter is also a great time to plan ahead for the growing season. Even if you don’t plan to garden, there are local farmer’s markets, pick-your-own farms, road-side stands, neighbors with extra produce; all that can be processed and stored for eating later. I would much rather eat locally produced foods.

Have you done a recent pantry and freezer inventory? What is your favorite long-term storage method? Canning? Drying? Freezing? Do you use what you store? Are you planning to learn a new skill this year?

My goal is to can some meat this year.... if I still have my pressure canner and if it works. I am hoping to have a neighbor help me do this. I’ve never pressure canned anything before.

Hugs!
K~

"Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end.
It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing;
it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it."
~ Margaret Thatcher ~

Winter Storm #3 report

Blog 1/6/10

Here we go again Dear Readers. Winter Storm #3! We received about 4” (guessing here, as _I’m_ not going out there to measure!) of new snow and now the howling winds of 30-40 mph have kicked in. We are being warned of dangerous wind-chill temperatures. As in -30° and lower. All the area schools are closed, the highways are closed and snowplows will not be out on the country roads until the wind dies down.

But on a happy note, my Farmer and I are safe and warm. Ds2 is safe in the city. The power is on and we have plenty of propane and the infrared heater is going. As a precaution, Farmer-dear had the generator fixed, we have kerosene and that heater in the garage nearby. We have 5 gal of drinking water in containers, and a 5-gal bucket of “flushing water” if needed.

I’m still doing the Pantry Challenge, so while I did get a very few groceries on Monday, I did not go into a panic yesterday to get ready for the storm. I sat and thought of what I could possibly need if we were home-bound for several days (which we will be).

I have on hand the following: Milk, Bread & the ingredients to make more, Coffee and Juice, Soup, at least 2 dozen Eggs, a variety of Meat in the freezers, lots of canned goods and pasta, cereals and dry goods in the pantry and prepared dessert items in the pantry & freezers.

We have some produce and I purposely did not buy more so we would eat up what we have in the fridge. The bag salad is about gone, but we have some shredded lettuce for tacos or sandwiches. There are carrots, and if they are too limp for raw eating, will be fine cooked or juiced. There is a pound each of apples and oranges. I need to check on the peppers and zucchini that are in there too. They were fine last weekend but now, who knows. I may be cooking them and pureeing to put into meatloaf or soup.

I thought about foods that we could eat if the power did go out, things like protein bars, canned soups and mixes we could heat over the heater. Nuts and the fruit also.

I also mentally double-checked on dish soap, laundry soap, toilet paper and other personal hygiene items.

And then I thought about how we will keep our minds and bodies occupied. Of course there are the twice (or more) daily chores that we have for the cattle and cats. That gets us outside whether we want to go or not.
Farmer-dear bought me/us a Wii for Christmas. He has been playing that in the evenings and I join in occasionally.
I also stopped by the public library on Tuesday and brought home 5 books for me. I have a large personal library here at home, but I also want to patronize the public library.

Also in the entertainment department, we have our satellite tv and several dvds. We normally have our internet connection but today we are experiencing “outages.” I still have over 1500 emails from my email groups to read (food groups that are timely whenever I read them) and many quilt/craft patterns and photos to organize.
And of course I have my HUGE fabric stash and sewing machines for quilting downstairs.

All in all, I don’t think we’ll starve or be bored.

So, dear Readers... if you were snow-bound for 3-4 days, right now; would you be prepared? For those of you in warm climates, (who I am trying to not envy too much today), are you ready for hurricane, wild fire evacuation or high smog alert season?

What are the top 5 items you have to have to be happy? (Besides family & pets, basic food/drink, heat/cool & shelter)

My top 5:
1. Coffee with half-n-half
2. Some kind of dessert or means to make it
3. SmartWool socks! (I hate cold feet.)
4. A book or two to read.
5. Some way to play cds or iTunes or the radio

Looking forward to reading your comments on how you are prepared and what would make you happy in a storm.

Hugs!
K~

** Bundle me up in an old, worn quilt with hand-sewn stitches,
and soft cotton batting. Place a book on my lap,
a cup of tea in my hand, a light by my side,
and leave me in a world of rest and delight.
~Roy Lessin

Ya'll Come on this cold Sunday

It's a happy day here on the Prairie Farm.
The Blue-eyed Farmer is feeling a lot better than yesterday.

We got the obvious Christmas decorations put away.
I left out the more "wintery" ones for some color and sparkle yet.

And I messed around with these kind of ingredients.

(But not this, because I'm lazy today.)

And went from this.....



to this....

because I have this.

And because it's still like this outside. **sigh**

Which means it's a good day to play with this.

Ya'll can come on over to eat and play too.

Hugs!
Kay~

** "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in,
where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. " ~John Muir

Photos of the Christmas Blizzard 2009

The Prairie Farm after the Christmas Blizzard of 2009

I'm still behind here on my blog. I promised you all photos of the Christmas Blizzard of 2009, and here they are. Those of you who frequent my Facebook page, have seen these. Sorry.

As it's a bitterly cold evening here tonight on the Farm. The weather people say this next week should be our coldest of the season. That can only mean, it'll be warmer the next week, right? I shouldn't be surprised at the cold. It is always frigid sometime in early January. I guess I'm just getting older and not as able to deal with it. Either that or I'm just turning into a huge weinie!

And now on to the photos:

First we had ice. (We still have ice! It's just all covered with the snow now. I hate ice!)

During the night and during the snowstorm, we kept hearing the cracks and crashes of tree branches. We were relieved to find all the biggest ones fell behind the garage and not on the roof.


Ds2 was here for the Christmas Holiday, coming out mid-day on Christmas Eve day. It was good to have him here safe and sound under our roof during the storm. And he was a huge help with trying to get the generator going and the kerosene heater going when the power was out. He helped with chores and all the other hard jobs that come up on a farm during a major winter storm. He was more than ready to get back to "civilization" by the Sunday after Christmas, when the snowplow finally opened up our road.

He scooped the steps by the garage and I did the sidewalk, while Farmer-dear did the "big" scooping with the John Deere.


This is our neighbors' across the road. Can you find their car?
And just past their place, we had this....


This is looking west from our mailbox. Somewhere in that big drift past the blue 9-1-1 sign is their mailbox. The road was totally drifted shut. The last snowstorm, there was a drift a bit smaller than this. We tried to go through it. and couldn't make it as far as that first pole past the plum thicket. Needless to say we did not try it this time. The drifts were deeper and harder and longer.

After the snowplow went through and we knew Ds2 was back in the city, Farmer-dear took the pickup out to see if we could get to work in the morning. He found the neighbor's mailbox. Or at least the front of it.

At the top of the hill to the west, in the middle of what was the big drift. (Looking east. Those first trees on the left are the neighbors'. We are just about 100 ft further down the hill, and to the right.)


Yeah, it was/is just a little deep, when it comes up above the pickup door. Some areas, it is taller than the pickup roof.

I've had enough snow for this winter. And I've had more than enough ice! And the cold can go back up North. I'm ready for Spring!

Warm hugs,
Kay

** "Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home."
- Edith Sitwell

Merry Christmas, post-Christmas Blizzard 2009

I finally have enough band-width to say

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my dear readers.

Unfortunately my internet is sporadic at best yet, so no photos until later.

In a nutshell, freezing drizzle & rain on Wednesday, icy and then the snow started on Friday (Christmas Eve) which turned on full-force with wind overnight. We lost power for good around 4 a.m Christmas Day. It was a chilly morning as the guys (F-R and ds2) attempted to start the generator and then started the kerosene heater.
It was quiet while we opened gifts, but we were warm. We had a cold sandwich Christmas Dinner but we had hot drinks as I could heat water on top of the heater. The guys slept after their ventures out in the frozen wasteland. I stayed awake so we wouldn't succumb to carbon monoxide (You never know!)
We phoned our neighbors around to make sure everyone had some kind of heat. We would have had to really work to get to them, but would have made the effort if needed.
Finally around 3:30 p.m., the power came back on. Schwoo~~~ (Thank you again SCPPD workers!!!)
We had some off and on blinks while the power company continued to repair lines but at least we could cook our Christmas meal, run the furnace, run water and have music/tv on.
We were fine for those 10 hours but it really made us appreciate again how much we rely on electricity.
The word around the neighborhood now is that everyone is getting a generator that run off the tractor PTO. Sounds like a plan to me. And when we redo the kitchen I Am putting in a gas range. At least then we will be able to cook a hot meal.

Today was spent shoveling out as much as we could. Farmer-dear dug out the driveway and up by the shop & garage. Ds2 & I scooped out the walk through a hip-high drift. Farmer-dear then got a call to help a neighbor who lives in town but has cattle just the next place east. Off he went to dig out the drive and check the house, cattle. On to the last neighbors' to the east. On the way he found a pickup, high-centered in the road, with it's tires 2 ft off the surface of the road, on top of the drifts, stuck. No one was in it or around so we hope whoever it was, found a warm spot to wait out the storm.

After 3 hours he had the neighborhood dug out, but we are not going anywhere past our one mile little cleared road. There is a 5ft deep and 70 ft long drift up the hill to the west and who knows what past the neighbors' to the east. We'll just wait for the snowplow. And from what we hear on the news, Interstate 80 is still closed both east and west bound and the state highways nearby. Not to mention our gravel roads still have a sheet of thick ice under the snow.

But it's ok, we have power now, plenty of food, entertainment. We can stay put for several days yet. Ds2 is going a bit stir-crazy but that's to be expected if you are 25 yo and stuck on the farm with the old folks.

And as the Whos in Whoville know, Christmas came even without all the special effects-- the music, lights and meal.

Thank you Lord Jesus for leaving Your Heavenly Throne to come to this sinful world, for taking on human flesh, in order that we could see God face-t0-face and come to know You.

K~
** "The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:
the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other."
~Burton Hillis~

Sunday Stills

It was a foggy day. Now it's a freezing mist/drizzle evening. Winter in Nebraska....







But despite the cold and snow, there is still a little happiness and color in our lives.




Hugs
K~

I'm not giving up my

MERRY CHRISTMAS

joy to anyone.

But if I know of someone that celebrates another holiday
during this time of year, I will be glad to wish them
whatever holiday they want.
Just tell me what it is and I'll shout it to the world
and wish you a grand celebration.

Do they celebrate Christmas in China?

Here is our tree for this year. It's new and tall-er and LED-lit.

I'm slowly getting the decorations up. Actually I'm done except a few of the snow village pieces in the hutch and bookcase. Hopefully this weekend.

I've been scarce around here I know. Things got busy at the Green office right before Thanksgiving and it's just gotten worse/better (depending on your point of view.)

And then we had this little blizzard this week. You may have heard about that. Snow (14" here on the Prairie Farm), wind (45 mph gusts), cold (-20 wind chills and highs in the single digits and teens). We were snowed in for a day and a half with drifts over the road up to the truck windows.
And yet it had a beauty...


And through it all... the busyness, the cold weather, the slippery streets, the snow, the crazy phones at the office, the pressure to "make" Christmas.... through all that, I'm reminded that there is a beautiful, calm, peaceful, Holiness to contemplate.


Blessings,
K~

PS China stopped in to read my blog! *see sidebar* I'm so glad you did. Please come again.

GREAT Dining Out Deal (and Flowers!)

In this era of economic woes and PORKulus spending, we are all looking for ways to conserve and yet no one wants to feel deprived, right?
In my on-going blog reading I found this great deal. (go HERE)

Save 60% on a restaurant.com certificate and get 15% off at FTD.com (The FTD certificate must be used by 3/31/09. I just happen to have someone's bday coming in March, I can use it on.)

I just found a $25 certificate to Skeeter Barnes (regional [?] BBQ place) for $10, applied the coupon code and paid $4 !!! That's right, a $25 gift certificate for $4!! We have 3 different "dates" with 3 different couples coming up in the next few weeks. I plan to look for more restaurants we want to try. Between this and the gift cards we already have, I can see lots of "date nights" for very little money.



So a BIG Thank You to Iva at Horizontal Yo-Yo for linking me to The Bargain Shopper Lady at bargainshopperlady.com which shared Esscie's blog, Coupon by Coupon, where I found this deal.

It just started SNOWING and "they" are predicting 4-8 inches or more for our area. Soon it will look like this out there:


I have to go to the mailbox this morning and then I'm snuggling in for the duration.

I'll be making either Chili or Baked Potato Soup, trying out that No-Knead Bread recipe (finally! It has to ferment for 8-18 hours and I have to figure out how to schedule that into my life.), putting those pineapple pieces in the dryer (Farmer-dear is not eating it fast enough) and finding something sweet & warm to make for my Valentine.



I stopped at the library yesterday and brought home 3 audio books and 3 other regular books to add to my stack. And I have several projects in the sewing room calling to me.

The house is pretty clean, the laundry almost caught up and the dishes too. I will have a snuggly day. I hope you can have one too. Local-Yokels, stay safe!

Hugs!
Kay~

** "Come now the wild dark days of February when the house seems a
lovely warm little island with winter billowing outside."
~Gladys Taber