Merry Christmas All!

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends. Wish we were closer & could raise a glass & eat a great meal together. Enjoy your time with family & friends.

Oh My Stars!

Had a great weekend in the country. Weather couldn't have been more perfect. After dinner on Saturday night we decide to don jackets & gloves (& ear muffs for me) & go for a ride on the mule. We are way out in the country about 10 miles away from the closest small town & on a clear night you see can the whole astrological sky. Wish I could name more than the big & little dippers, plus Orion's belt.

We rode in the big field across our dirt road. It's about 1500 acres. We stopped at one point just to look up & admire it for what it is truly worth. We also saw many shooting stars. I heard tonight that it might have been a meteor shower. It was so peaceful & quiet.

Here's an internet pic (I think from the Canon website, but not sure). I know my camera could never do it justice.

I just love this time of year.

This & That

We've been busy little beavers here lately. Thanksgiving was quite nice. We spend it with my husband's family almost every year. MIL is a fantastic cook! We usually take 1 or 2 things to go along with the meal. But, like everyone else there is always a boatload of food left over. This worked out great for us, as we headed to the country on Friday & with all those leftovers didn't have to spend any time cooking up there.

Last summer we had 2 big things happen:

1. Greg bought me a mule for my birthday:

We had a golf cart that was able to pull a small trailer but nothing heavy as the batteries wouldn't last. So he decided to splurge & get something that would last. This thing is a work horse! We've since added a roof & trailer ball. The bed lifts to be able to unload all that poo that I intend to haul!

2. We had a metal building put up on the country property.

It is divided intro 2 separate sections. The front section will house a kitchen, living & dining area, plus a bedroom & bathroom. And, best of all ...... a pantry!

The back will house an office, workbenches & shelving. The 'shop' of Greg's dream.

Over Thanksgiving weekend we laid out the front section & the office. We will be talking to someone about framing it inside, we just don't have the time. We will then hang the sheet rock, run the wiring for the electricity & lay out the duct work for the air. I would have loved to have solar but it just didn't work out. But, we hope to add a wood burning stove for heat.

Over the long weekend, I did get a chance to pick up some pecans from the volunteer trees along the fence line/driveway. I have at least 2 varieties. They are small but very sweet & meaty.

Other than that, I have been very busy at work with year end deadlines. Plus, we had our Christmas party last Saturday afternoon. It was on a boat & we had beautiful weather. Afterwards, we went to a nice dinner & then went to see Jeanne Robertson, a comedian that we really like. Here's a link to one of her YouTube videos if you are so inclined.

Don't send a man to the grocery store.

I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping. Cutting back a bit this year. Taking this Friday off to finish & then it's back to the country for the weekend ... woo hoo!

Happy Thanksgiving & a friend is missing one of her animals.

Hope everyone enjoys their Turkey Day.

My friend from South Carolina is missing one of her dogs, Katie. Katie is one of the sweetest dogs I have ever met. Here is my friend's Facebook post. If anyone knows of anyone in the area, please ask them to be on the lookout.

**KATIE'S STILL MISSING***
Please call me at 803-804-3541 if you see Katie or have taken her in. She's about 50 pounds, so not the big boxer breed, and she's microchipped and is not wearing a collar. Missing since Sunday (11/23) in the Tabernacle area of the Buford community, Rowell RD/Tabernacle RD Lancaster, SC.

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Lucky In-Laws & Firewood for us!

We had bad weather last week here in the city. In-Laws had an 80 foot tree fall in their yard. It fell right beside their house (& power line into the house)! It only damaged 1 small shingle as it fell. It missed my FIL's truck as well. They are 2 very lucky people.

We couldn't even wrap our arms around the base of it & had to call in a tree surgeon. Greg got the majority of it cut up & the tree surgeon took the huge pieces away, as well as the stump.

We got up this past Saturday morning to pick up the cut pieces. Greg cut up any that they hadn't already done (back breaking work!). The result of that tree gave use a whole dump trailer full of firewood to use at the Country House!

Woo hoo!

No Hay, How about Moss?

It was a lovely weekend that almost felt like a real fall day here in the humid south. I'm having a jewelry party next weekend & wanted to dress up my front porch for the occasion. Especially since having company over for a special occasion is about the only time anyone uses our front porch. We are "come on in through the garage" kind of people. Anyway, I went to a pumpkin patch last weekend & got a few pumpkins for a donation to the church & child development center.

Found a few last minute mums on sale, plus a few other plants. But, once I put it all together it looked a little harsh. I don't have access to straw or haw here in the city. I could have raked up some pine straw but that seems like too much work this late in the day. As I was walking back & forth from the driveway to the porch I noticed a few limbs that had fallen in the yard with Spanish Moss on them. Eureka! So I gather some, plus a few pine cones & that did the trick!

I'm not a talented decorator but I really like how this turned out. I thought about making a scare crow for that corner where the faucet is but would be kind of difficult w/o straw. If I happen to see any of the nurseries with corn stalks I may purchase a few to tie together to fill that void.

Also while wondering around in the yard I happened upon this fellow.

That's a canning jar ring. He was about 3" long & as big around as a nickel. He reminded me of a tobacco worm but no one around here is growing tobacco, that I know of anyway. I picked him up with a stick & tossed him in the woods next door.

Why did I have a canning ring handy? We picked up 80 lbs of Zaycon chicken breasts. We purchased 40 lbs last year & went through it pretty fast so decided to double our order this year. We froze about 50 pounds & I canned the rest. Got 14 pints & 7 quarts put up. Well, 1 pint jar didn't seal so we'll have that next week. Maybe make some enchiladas or quesadillas?

Zaycon started out in the Northwest selling seafood. Until recently the fish wasn't offered east of the Mississippi. We are going to try the Wild caught Cod, due to be delivered in January. The good news there, it is flash frozen & put in individual servings so we won't have to process it. Yeah!

Oh well, I'm tired & ready to call it a day. Will be preparing for the party all next week.

Relaxing Weekend

We left last Friday night to head to the country house. We weren’t able to get out of the city before 5:30p & it is about a 3 hour trip so it is dark by the time we arrived. We usually go ‘the back way’ because we have come to loathe Interstates, too many close calls in too short a time period.

Not that accidents can’t happen anywhere but I swear people are just idiots on the Expressways. I remember waaaay back when, you could trust the semi-truck drivers the best because they had the most experience & knew what they were doing.

Not so much anymore. The new drivers are let loose well before they are fully trained & even though they are responsible for many more tons that a regular vehicle, they TEXT. Yep, one almost ran us into a guardrail about a year ago. We were in the left (passing) lane on a three lane highway with a car in front of us that decided they were no longer in the mood to pass & had slowed down & another car behind us so we had nowhere to go. The semi, in the middle lane, just kept easing into our lane. I looked up & he was texting, not just reading a text but actually typing. We were just inches from the concrete guard divider, honking the horn, me flailing my arms. He finally realized & jerked back into his lane. A couple more close calls & we decided to find a different way to go. We did & now we avoid the interstate altogether. It is much more pleasant & a much less stressful drive.

We got the truck unloaded & made an adult beverage & sat on the back screened porch listening to the quiet. So very quiet. Off to bed early with not much to do the next day. I did a couple loads of laundry & hung them on the clothesline & clothes rack & piddled in my raised beds. Otherwise, just kind of took it easy . all . day . long.

My niece & a friend were coming to spend the night on Saturday but didn’t get in until around 6:00. Greg fried the last of our Mayport shrimp & we had cheese grits, broccoli slaw, sliced tomatoes & hush puppies.

We had started our first fire of the season earlier in the afternoon. After supper, we sat by the fire & looked at the stars. It is so remote that you can see millions & millions of them. We turned off the porch & flood lights so all you saw was sky. Absolutely beautiful!

The next day we drove over to a local Goat Farm. The people that own it are friends of friends of ours. When we told them where we were from & where our country place was, they asked “Are you MT’s cousin? We heard about you. Are you going to raise for personal use or with the intent to sell? Don’t go buying this or that without checking with us, it’s possible we already bought it to experiment with & had to upgrade & can sell it to you a whole lot cheaper than brand new. Etc.” Gotta love being in the country.

I didn’t get any pictures but they are just getting started, after many years of planning & getting inspections & finally approval, they are now licensed to sell & are just getting underway. They sell milk, about 8 different kinds of cheese, soap, honey, etc. Super nice people, I asked if I could help out a few days a week, once I’m retired, so I can gain some hands on education before I actually jump in the livestock wagon.

We got back to our place just as my niece & her friend were leaving. We packed up & went over to see my Dad & his wife since they were up as well. They had been on vacation in the mountains for a couple of weeks & instead of driving on to Amish Country, which my Dad loves, they decided to take the rest of their vacation at “The Farm” which is what my Dad & his brothers & sisters call the property.

Oh well, just wanted to document our weekend, we sure do live an exciting life huh?

Comfort Food

After what amounted to 36 hours of a liquid diet, I got home from my procedure yesterday & was craving something savory.

I had bought a container of organic chicken noodle soup which I heated & ate immediately. I took a nap & woke still craving something substantial & tasty.

I decided to make Chicken-N-Dressing Casserole. I had seen this on FB or Pinterest & had been wanting to try it. I baked a skillet of cornbread which, for once, turned out great. It was moist & very flavorful. Must have been the fresh ground corn meal I had purchased from some locals in the country.

You then mix the cornbread with a small chopped onion, 2 boiled & chopped eggs (fresh from the Green Market), 2 cooked & cubed chicken breasts (I used a quart jar of chicken that I had canned last year), 2 c. broth (also used what I had canned) & a can of mushroom soup. Some salt, pepper, a teeny tiny pinch of garlic (we aren't fans of garlic, just like it for the flavor, not the main ingredient) & some sage & oregano (I had dried both a few weeks ago). Mix all together & put in greased casserole dish, bake for about 45 min. at 350 degrees.

Served with steamed broccoli & shaved parmesan cheese (not the kind from the green can of fake stuff). We got our bread, protein, vegetable & dairy.

Boy, did that satisfy my craving.

We ate 1/4, had 1/4 for lunch today & I froze the rest in 2 separate packages for future cravings.

Work, Charities, Health & Garth Brooks

Looking back over Sept. to now, I thought I hadn't been busy but I have. I'll use that excuse for not posting earlier.

I was very busy at work, as our busy season (2 years worth) has begun. Many conf. call, staffing meetings, WebEx sessions & other mundane work stuff. But our office has also been busy with some extras too.

We had a Hands only CPR class. It's a 2 step process if you find someone in need. 1. Call 911 & 2. Do chest compressions until help arrives. The premise behind it, is that more people are apt to do the procedure if you don't have to navigate the mouth area (unless choking or blockage is involved).

We also have gone paperless in our day to day work so we collected gently used file folders, binder clips, paper clips, etc. We donated 28 boxes of stuff to our local county Teacher's Supply Depot where teachers can come once a month to get things for their classroom. They are very creative in what they make out of the donations!

This past week a few of my co-workers & I went to a local Hubbard House fund raising breakfast. Very good organization that helps women (& even some men) & children get counseling & hopefully OUT of the relationship that is harming them. They also offer shelter when needed. Listening to some of the stories really makes me realize just how lucky I am to have had such strong kind men in my life.

Sept. & Oct. are my health awareness months. Labs & Bi-annual regular checkup - good (except my Dr. kindly asked how I had gained 10 lbs. - hint hint).  I also had the dreaded mammogram & bone density tests. Mammo good, bone density - I need to increase my calcium intake. I get about 900 - 1000 g. today (usually) but the Dr. wants me to increase to 1500 (w/o supplements). She suggested the Almond Milk (yuk!). I tried the un-flavored & the only way I could drink it was to put a t. of honey in it. It is very high in calcium. I drink a glass of raw milk with my vitamins each morning but can't get any info on how much calcium is in it. Research thus far only shows that it has a much higher calcium amount than pasteurized milk. If anyone has any links with that info I would appreciate it.

Next week is the dreaded colonoscopy. Actually I dread the day before worse. Jello, broth & a gallon of Meralax (double yuk!). But that Propofil(sp?) will give me the best 2 hours of sleep I'll have all year.

Went to the country last week & did a deep house cleaning. We were having guests come in for the week, for a large Expo nearby. It was a beautiful day & I was able to use my new retractable clothes line to dry the sheets & wipe cloths. It worked beautifully. Here is the last item, our blanket. It didn't get ALL the way dry but I only had to put it in the dryer for about 7 minutes.

Oh well, I'm off work today sprucing up the city house. It's beautiful here, having one of our only handful of fall days. Got relatives from the country coming in tomorrow to go to the Garth Brooks concert. Not so excited to be around that many people but I just won't touch anything & try not to touch anyone I don't know. He does put on a good show & his wife Trisha Yearwood is performing with him & I've never seen her in concert.

Off to cut up watermelon & take rinds to compost. Have a great weekend everyone.

Bugs, Birds & Flowers (Oh, & a promotion!)

Quick update .... Raining here today (in the city). Haven't had a lazy Sunday afternoon in forever. Got my underwear drawer cleaned out, pictures downloaded from camera & a doing a few loads of laundry.

Have found a few weird bugs lately & thought I would share pics of them. Click to bigefy.

I have no idea what any of them are, just thought they were interesting. Not sure if that last one has a baby on top or if they are mating?

We also had an unwanted visitor move in at the country house this past spring.

Not that I don't like swallows, I think they are lovely birds. I just don't want one right . above . the entry . door. We'll have to encourage them to build their nest somewhere else next year, as I hear they come back to the same spot year after year.

We also ran across this beautiful plant along the fence line. I think it's called a Spider Lily? You could tell there were many more that had bloomed but we must have missed them by a week or so. This was the last one & it was falling apart by the end of the weekend.

I also planted some sunflowers at the city house this year that did great. Too bad I started them too late to help with pollination. I think they are Mexican Sun Burst?

w/bee

w/o bee

And last but not least, a few weeks back I got a promotion at work. New management had moved in & this was totally unexpected as I had figured I would remain a Director until I leave. Guess I impressed them without ever meaning to. I will now retire as a Vice President!

Oh well, that's all I've got for now. Still a few more events to catch up on from the summer but I'll write about those in separate posts.