Cold, cold weekend

Since it was going to be so cold out on Sunday, I decided to make vegetable/noodle soup for dinner Saturday night. I sort of followed Kelli'e recipe at the Sugar Creek Farm blog for at least cooking my soup bones (which worked out fantastic by the way), and then added some carrots, green beans, diced tomatos and a packet of pea/alphabet noodle soup mix I got at our local bulk food store:

Even Todd, who is not a big soup eater (more meat and potatos) liked it. With a loaf of homemade bread, it definitely hit the spot. And now I know how to cook those soup bones so I don't end up throwing them out in the spring when it is time to clean out the freezers.

No baby calves yet, but 2 of the girls are looking rather close. We were praying it was not going to be last night, as with the windchill the temps were -30 degrees, but so far this morning, there were none on the ground. We have a nice shed with lots of straw for all the cows, so hopefully the mothers won't be dumb and have them out in the field, but these are cows and you never know.

My pond hasn't frozen yet - guess our little stock tank heater is doing it's job, but the water is so murky - I am dying to get in there and clean it up and make it crystal clear again:

School was canceled for today due to the cold, so the kids are enjoying a day at the babysitter's while we are both at work. I didn't get any sewing done this weekend, but my house is clean and my freezers are somewhat organized.

Stay warm,

Kris

Sunbonnet Sue

Quilting is ALL DONE!!! I was up until 11:30 last night quilting it, but now it's just figure out what to do for the binding. I'm thinking I'm just going to fold the edges over twice to the back and machine stitch them down. There's enough fabric to do it, I won't have to worry about yellows/prints matching (I do tend to obsess about these weird things) and I think it will work. That is, in my mind it should work, in person is another story entirely. I absolutely love it, and at the same time, I am SO glad I decided against using this on Jessie's bed.

The animals are happy if a little dirty and muddy after all the rain/sleet/snow/50's then 20's we've had - it was fairly nice out today here. These are just a couple of the "girls" - and hopefully a couple of them will be calving here before too long:

This is the bull. We took him away from his harem last weekend - while he is very tame as far as bulls go, if we should have trouble with calving, we don't need to be dealing with him:

The horses are so shaggy right now. I can't wait to get them cleaned up this spring, but it would be a loosing battle at the moment:

The guineas will hopefully not be here too much longer. While they are excellent at keeping down the bugs, there is guinea poo EVERYWHERE. Last summer they took to roosting on the top rail of the kids' swingset - which meant that it had to be washed down EVERY DAY. They are amusing when they chase each other (or our Jack Russell) but I am tired of dealing with guinea poo all over the barns, the tractors, the 4 wheeler. . . . I was showing Todd everyone else's blogs today, and he actually said - maybe we ought to get a few chickens, but if we do that, I WANT a couple roosters. Not sure about breeds - I always thought a chicken was a chicken, but I'm going to look into it here before too long, especially if he's thinking it might be nice to have a supply of eggs!!

And last, but certainly not least, is my garden/weed patch from last year. It is probably 50 x 200 feet (give or take) and after I was showing Todd what I want to do, he is talking that it needs to be enlarged a little bit???

Yes, it looks bad now, but here in a few weeks, weather cooperating, we'll start getting it ready, and hopefully with being involved in the Take Five group, I'll be able to keep up on it this summer.

Tomorrow's high with wind chill is -15. I'm hoping to get lots done inside. Stay warm everyone,

Kris

Homemade Granola Bars

Tonight I made homemade granola bars. These are absolutely to die for:



1 c. brown sugar

2/3 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. corn syrup or honey

2 tsp. vanilla

3 c. quick oats

1/2 c. coconut

1/2 c. shelled sunflower seeds

1/3 c. wheat germ

1 c. choc chips

1/2 c. raisins or craisins (we use craisins)

1/2 c. butter



heat oven to 350 - grease 9x13 pan



melt peanut butter, brown sugar, corn syrup/honey, vanilla and butter. Add remaining ingredients, press into pan.



Bake 15 - 20 minutes. Cool completely, if everyone will leave them alone, that is (our pan has been out of the oven for 20 minutes, and there's 4 inches of it gone already, if that tells you anything).

Enjoy

Quilting Night

I love nights like this one - busy, but relaxing and I actually got a chance to sit down and sew:

I also love quilting when I am further along than I realize:

(yes, the one row has a jig jog in it, but I will rip that out tonight and redo it).

Now it's just do the outer borders, bind it and DONE. I had originally just intended to quilt around each Sunbonnet Sue and the inside of the blocks and let that be enough, but realized quickly that if I ever want to wash it, it needs to be a little more sturdy. So I did straight lines up and down the inside borders, and will go around the outside in straight lines. All in all, I am pleased with how it is coming out.


I should have worked on Tyler's firetruck quilt, but really wasn't in the mood to do a lot of thinking. This weekend it's supposed to be super cold out, so I will get some work done on it.


My sister's recovery seems to be moving very fast. She is on the regular heart ward hospital floor, eating and talking and starting to move around. Still very weak, but much, much improved. She was not believing anyone who said it was Tuesday/Wednesday 1 week later when she was really with it, and I would have loved to have been a mouse in the corner to see and hear her reaction. Her sons went up to visit her tonight, I am sure they are much relieved. **I just heard early on Friday that she could be discharged completely from the hospital as early as this Sunday, as soon as her chest tubes come out - YIPPEEE**


I am getting anxious for spring - so anxious I had to go out and buy some herbs to start in pots this weekend. We have a southeast facing room with lots of windows and it gets nice and sunny and warm. I figured I'll start them out now, and later on transplant them into my garden. Just couldn't wait for decent weather thought - had to get my greenhouse fix in February. I am really looking forward to gardening this year - I think it will be fun to be part of the Take Five group from childreninthecorn.


No cattle babies yet, but a couple are looking closer. The race is on already - more boys or more girls (and the kids are the main culprits - "HAHA we've got more boys" or vice versa). At least they are into raising animals and living on the farm.


Stay warm, everyone.

Back To Normal

With my sister moving to a regular hospital room (hopefully tomorrow) things should settle back down a little bit, and I'll be able to get some sewing done before Spring. That is my plan, anyhow. Thanks everyone for your good wishes - it really helped our spirits here in Ohio.

Tonight Jessie had girl scouts, Todd had fire meeting, and I feel like I ran all evening. I did manage to make some peanut butter cookies:

Now, before anyone tells me I am insane (which I am believing I am) - there is a great bulk food store not 5 minutes from my work. These peanut butter cookies went like this: dump bag into mixing bowl, add 1/4 c. of water, mix, roll into balls and bake for 10 minutes - and out comes 32 yummy cookies. I also brought bread flour, brownie mix, soup mix, cornbread mix and more cookie mixes and pizza crust mix. I did ask the lady if everything was grown locally, and she said "as local as they can get it."

I thought since I'm thinking of food, I'd also post a picture of the last of the groundhog cookies. Todd had 5 friends over last Saturday to go bunny hunting, and I fixed lunch and they inhaled lunch and the cookies. Good thing, as I'm sure these cookies are fattening:

Here is my recipe - these cookies stay moist and chewy for days on end:

Cut out cookies:

1. 2 sticks parkay


2. 2 sticks butter


3. 2 Tbsp. vanilla


4. 2 eggs


5. 1 1/2 c. sugar


6. 2 tsp.baking soda


7. 6 c. flour

Mix and bake at 350 for 8 minutes (in my oven - the recipe says 12 - but we like ours barely done).

Frosting:

1. 2 sticks parkay


2. 1 spatula scoop regular crisco


3. 2 tsp. vanilla


4. 2 lbs. powdered sugar

Mix and add a little milk to the frosting until desired thickness is obtained.

Fattening yes with all the butter and crisco, but oh so yummy. Of course, when your children or grandchildren are taking them to school for groundhogs day, you need this as well:

Phil napkins, cups and cookie cutter. All purchased from the Punxsutawney Area Chamber of Commerce. Your kids will be a hit on groundhogs day.

Anyhow, I am determined that tomorrow, I will be back to sewing - I have GOT to get Tyler's quilt done, as well as some other smaller projects. Although, I think I am going to start with something small, just to get back in the groove. He hasn't asked about his quilt yet, so . . . .there may be time after all to get it done.

Thanks all,

Kris

Sara Update

My sister's surgery was such an amazing success - she is off the ventilator, off most of her meds (but pain medicine), awake and coherent now and she should be out of ICU by Wednesday and into a regular room where my kids can visit her (they adore their Aunt Sara - it's like having another kid around sometimes). Her heart is functioning the way it should, so she should be set for a few years now.

Does anyone else take pictures of flower beds and gardens while driving down the road? I realized I have a bunch of pictures of flower beds that I see that I like on my computer at home, so I can someday (?) duplicate them.

I ordered some seeds yesterday - can't wait to get started. Of course, when I'm planting all these plants this spring, I'll be wondering why I want to work so hard. . . . but when it comes time to eat it all, we will be so thankful to have fresh fruits and veggies - and since my kids don't like a lot of sweets, it will be nice. They'd rather eat a cucumber than a cookie.

See ya,

Busy, busy weekends

UGH. I feel like this weekend has just flown by, and can I say that I do not like it, not one little bit?

My sister had open heart surgery last Wednesday and Thursday for a congenital defect. The surgery was a success, but Thursday night she gave us some scary moments that needless to say, left Todd and I at 11:00 p.m. driving to my parents house to take care of their animals as they weren't sure if they were going to get home that night. We got home close to 12:30, so I took Friday off to go sit in ICU with her and her husband, Rich and just lend moral support. Then Saturday was the usual run around, call the million relatives to let them know how she was doing, and today was back up there to visit her in ICU. She is progressing, it is just going to be a long, slow road taken in baby steps. We are confident that she will prevail, but her temper is coming out at this point (she is fighting them every step of the way, which I personally think is great - her spirit to live is so strong), but it's hard to see her at this point.

I didn't do any quilting on Tyler's firetruck quilt this weekend - I was afraid that with my mind not on it, I would make some mistakes that are best not made.

Jessie had a friend's birthday party today as well, so my in-laws took her. Of course, she had to have a gift, so I quick made her a woven necklace, earrings and a bracelet. Hopefully she liked them!!!

Last year when Jessie was in 1st grade, I made these quilts for her teachers (she had 2 teachers that job shared). The kids all decorated a fabric square with fabric markers, and I sewed them together into a quilt. It was such a positive experience for the kids, they loved seeing what their efforts had created. The teachers absolutely loved them (I did too, and would have loved to have 1 for me, but . . . .I'm not the teacher:)). Somehow I got 2 pictures of 1 of the quilts - no biggie, I'll figure out one of these days how to erase it.

Mom and Aunt Darlene - you can now post annonomously. I had no clue it was set that way. What can I say - I'm a newbie!!!