Comstock Ferre & Sandwich Bread

This past week, I was in Hartford, CT on a business trip. Had a bit of sleet & snow & of course, cold. Everyone up there is pinning for Spring very badly. I'll admit the snow in the woods & parks was beautiful but I wouldn't want it in my backyard in March either!

While there, I took the opportunity to visit  Comstock Ferre Seed Company in Wethersfield, CT.

They are a very old company (selling seeds since 1820) and were purchased by Baker Creek a few years back. It's so nice to go in there & just browse.

Wouldn't you love a couple of those seed bins?

They also have a nice selection of antique garden implements & I wish they marked what everything was. I just had to use my imagination. The seed selection was sparse but I was able to purchase some seeds to add to my inventory.

Overall, had a great meetings with happy clients, nice dinners w/my travel companion & travel wasn't a hassle.

After getting home late & realizing that I had not asked Greg to water my veggie plants, so I watered them at midnight & then not getting to bed until around 1:30p this morning,  I decided to stay home today. After the morning conference calls, what to do, what to do? Experiment with more bread making!

I purchased a Pullman Loaf Pan last year but was too intimidated to use it.

This pan makes a uniformly shaped sandwich bread so I decided to try a recipe today.

Bread cooked.

Out to cool.

Hey it worked! I'll let you know how it tastes after breakfast tomorrow.

I also gained another follower while I was gone. Cherie Campbell decided to hit my follower button. Cherie, it doesn't appear that you have a blog, but if I am mistaken, please let me know.

Glad to be home! Tomorrow we are headed to St. Augustine to purchase a few vegetables at our favorite produce stand ... County Line Produce, just outside of St. Aug. & then off to the farmers market at the Ampitheatre & last but not least a bit of lunch at our newest favorite restaurant - Gas Full Service (no website, FB only). They serve only local food (meat & produce) & are excellent!

Expecting rain this weekend. Plan to catch up on blogs while it's raining on Sunday.

I was Homesteading Hannah for the Day

I was home from work today & decided to do a few things.

Dehydrating - I had received more carrots from the CSA & also dug up some from our garden (about 10 or so little fat stumpy ones). I also had some green bell peppers & cubanelles that we weren't going to eat any time soon. Also had a 1/2 bag of frozen peas I wanted to try.

Yogurt - I was out so I bought a 1/2 gallon of raw milk yesterday on my lunch hour.

Plants - Needed to start hardening them off.

Laundry - Every time we go to the Country House, I get behind in laundry as Saturdays are generally laundry day around here.

Bread - We are out, so instead of buying I decided to make some.

I got up a little late, around 7:00 (hate the time change). And, here was my day ....

- Made coffee & fed the cat(s). One is ours & another just eats here.

- Took out milk for yogurt. Took out chicken breasts to thaw for dinner.

- Washed, peeled & sliced the carrots. Started the water to boil, to blanch.

- Washed, seeded & de-veined & sliced the peppers.

- Rinsed the peas & put on a towel to dry.

- Blanched the carrots & spread on a towel to dry.

- Got dehydrator out & arranged the veggies on all 9 trays. Turned on for 6 hours.

- Warmed milk to 180 degrees (watched carefully so it never boiled). Let cool to 110 degrees.

- While milk was cooling took plants out of rack & put on patio table to harden. Noticed they were a bit dry & had some bugs flying around. Watered dry plants & tried to spray my homemade concoction of garlic, cayenne, diotamacious earth & dish detergent. It was stopped up so started straining process through a coffee filter.

- Took out & chopped frozen veggie for worms.

- While waiting for concoction to strain, tempered leftover yogurt & mixed into the cooled milk.

- Put yogurt in containers & filled mason jars w/hot water & put in a cooler.

- Concoction still straining so I warmed the whey from the last time I made yogurt & made the bread with it.

- Put bread in a bowl to rise.

- Put strained concoction back in sprayer & sprayed plants.

- Fed worms.

- 45 min conference call.

- Warmed & ate leftover lunch.

- Divided bread dough. Rolled out 8 herb rolls for dinner (w/dried herbs from a few weeks ago) & put in a baking dish to rise. Rolled out 2 loafs & put in bread pans. Put one in fridge & left the other one out to rise.

- Cut tops off beets (from CSA as well). Took turnips out of fridge (from CSA 2 weeks ago).

- Another 45 min conference call.

- Put loaf of bread in oven. Checked dehydrating veggies.

- Took compost material to compost bin & added leaves.

- Took bread out of oven.

- Started taking veggies from dehydrator. All done except the peas, put those on for another hour.

- Cut chicken breasts in 1/2, seasoned, made a marinade & put them in to marinate for a couple of hours.

- Peeled & cut up beets & turnips. Seasoned & sprinked w/olive oil.

- Strung beans for dinner.

It's 6:00 & I just realized I never started even one load of laundry. And, I still need to make dinner, take plants in, put dried veggies in mason jars, drain the yogurt & put in containers. Glad Greg is home so he can help!

In addition to keeping up with the dishes, I did stop to heat & eat leftovers from the night before (pork tenderloin w/sauteed squash & onions). But, it has been one busy day! I guess that's what I get from trying to do it all in a day. I should have washed, peeled & sliced the veggies last night. That would have saved at least 1.5 hours.

Regardless, it was a productive day!

I felt like Mama Pea, Leigh, Jane, Canned Quilter, Mary Ann, Michelle, Sandy & kymber all rolled into one. I don't know what I would do if I had animals to take care of too!

p.s. We did make some progress on the garden over the weekend. Got the blocks straightened (a relative term) & the hay bales torn down. I'll post on that separately.

Putting the cave before the cheese & It's not a Squeezo but ...

No new news on the Garden Prep, Driveway or In-laws move. Weather & life have gotten in the way. We have had over 18" of rain at the Country House since we started the driveway (about 4 weeks ago). We should have put it in last summer when there was an 18" deficit ;)

I decided to test re-hydrating a few of my carrots. It works!

Top - dehydrated / Bottom - looks just like the original!

On another note, it's windy & COLD. If it was just cold I would be a happy camper. But, the wind makes it miserable. Woke up to 33 degrees w/wind gusts 16 -20 mph & it's supposed to be 28 tomorrow morning. I know that's not anything like many of you guys are dealing with, but for us here in the Southeast, that's COLD. But it's going to warm up to normal, in the upper 60s w/lows in the upper 40s, the next week. I like those temps & am looking forward to Spring but dreading the heat & humidity that comes afterwards. My little seedlings are growing & the plan was to start hardening off this weekend but with the cold temps, I'll wait to start next week.

This was a typical week for me ... Estate Sales Thursday at lunch & Friday afternoon. I try leave work around 3:00 on Fridays & if there is sale nearby, I'll stop. Found a mini muffin pan & 'like new' blanket at one -- ho hum. Then went to one at a very eclectic house where 2 nice gentlemen used to live. There was life sized Betty Boop in the foyer, Marilyn Monroe memorabilia in 1 bedroom & Adonis like memorabilia in another bedroom. However, the kitchen had a lot of nice items, all priced too high (this particular vendor isn't apt to discount unless it is a REALLY high dollar item). I didn't need a Kitchenaide 620 mixer. This particular model sells new for around $800 & they had it listed for $445. I guess that would be a bargain to some, but like I said I don't need one as I already have a lesser one that works just fine for me.

While I continued to browse, I came around the other side of the kitchen & I saw it! It's something I have had on my Craig's List items for quite some time & NONE ever show up. I even mentioned that fact over at  5 acres & a dream a week or so ago. Well, there she stood,  the same brand that Leigh has (but w/o the strainer attachments).

It's a Roma & I got it for $20 & if it's been used, you can't tell. Woo Hoo! 

Now the bad news. I know when I see something that I think will get good use I should just go ahead & buy it (if it's a decent price). I've lost too many deals by not acting quickly. Well, I happened to notice a dial gauge on a pot in a partially closed cabinet. I pulled it out & it was a 21 qt. Presto Pressure Canner! It was one of the older models but was in great shape. It didn't have a price. The vendors were busy & I was on my lunch break so I walked away w/o finding how much they wanted. Told Greg about it & he said that we should ride back over there Saturday morning. We did, & it was gone ;( Oh well, they probably wanted $75 for a $110 item. 

After the Estate Sale we headed to my bosses house. He just remodeled his kitchen & had an old wine cooler that he wanted to give me. Yes, I said give me! 

I have a smaller wine cooler that is stocked w/wine so didn't really need another one for that purpose. But, I have been reading about cheese making & have learned that if you don't have an actual wine cave, root cellar or continually cool spot to age cheese, that a wine cooler will work great. So, even though I have never made hard or aged cheese & I don't have a source for milk yet, I have a place to age my cheese when I do get around to making it. Plus, the price was right this time.

Lastly, we are yet again making meat stock. This batch is the best yet. I used frozen meat pieces, leftover pork roast, porkchop bones, ribs bones & of course chicken bones. We cooked it in my roasting pan for about 28 hours, cooled, skimmed off the fat, warmed & canned 12 pints this morning. 

I put Tattler lids/rings on 2 of the pints as a test. The only real difference in instructions that I can tell so far, is that you tighten the outer ring as soon as you take them out of the canner. Crossing fingers that they work as advertised. Of course, the real test is the 2nd, 3rd, etc. uses in the future.

I also saved all the bones I had used & put those in the crock pot, covered w/water last night. Today, we are trying our hand at making mock demi glace with that bone broth. We started with about 2 quarts of triple strained bone stock & it has been simmering for about 6 hours & reduced by a little more than 1/2. It doesn't seem to be thickening though, so we'll see. Probably not enough marrow left in the bones.

It's marinated ribeyes, twice baked potatoes & roasted asparagus for dinner. Going to cook those steaks quickly, cause it's windy & COLD outside.

I'm full & I even culled this year!

OK, I'll admit it. It hurts me to toss even the tiniest of seedlings. I want to give them a chance since I lovingly planted them & (in my mind) they are trying so hard. But, I realized that this year I just had waay too many seedlings & not enough room, so I culled. I had saved tomato & pepper seeds & also had leftover seeds in the packets.

Sorry for the bad pic. Southern light streaming in!

My plan is to plant one from the seed packet & one from saved seed (SS) to compare the plants & harvests. I have German Cherry, Reinstaldt Grape, & Park's Whopper tomatoes. Along with California Wonder Pepper that I am experimenting with. Plus, I planted a couple of new (to me) peppers (an Orange & a Yellow from Baker Creek). Plus one new tomato - Homestead from local seed supply store.

Even with culling I still wound up with well over 90 plants! I'll give most to friends since I don't have enough room here in the City & not ready for the Country. I've got to keep experimenting, right?

Full growing rack!

Not so much luck with my herbs. The only thing that came up were a few Cilantro & Flat Leaf parsley plants which got transplanted. No basil or thyme even came up. I'll take another stab at those.

I let my broccoli, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage & romaine from the 'fall' garden, go to seed but wasn't having any luck actually getting seeds ... until yesterday. I finally had the romaine get a few of the dead flower heads get that puffy white stuff & sure enough there were seeds in there! Boy, I need better light & better sight to do much lettuce seed harvesting. I think I got about 1/8 of a teaspoon from 4 or 5 heads.

The broccoli was flowering but I couldn't tell if it had 'gone to seed' until yesterday when one of the separated plants had these on the top. Are these broccoli seed pods?

Sure look like it to me. Note: My Seed to Seed Saving Book is at the Country House & I keep forgetting to bring it home. And, I just haven't made the time to search the internet.

Nothing is happening with the Chinese cabbage or cauliflower & I may have to give up on those as I need to prepare the beds for the spring planting. Plus, I've read that you shouldn't let too many Brassicas(sp?) go to seed at one time.

Our cat (Rister) decided to lay in the area of one of the beds that I had covered due to the cold weather this past weekend. Carrots, onions & leeks under the cover, w/garlic in the uncovered area.

Just taking a nap

What do I hear?

Since we were going to have a hard freeze, I decided to cut back my already growing herbs - Rosemary, Oregano, Sage & Thyme (very little). I dehydrated them on Saturday, Sunday & Monday & wound up w/ 1 qt. + 1 pint Rosemary, 1 1/2 pt Oregano, 1/2 pt Sage & 1 few tablespoons of Thyme.

Also had a couple of bananas that were reaching ripeness & decided to make banana bread using the small pans I had recently bought at an Estate Sale (4$ for 20 of them!).

On another note, moving In-Law's porch & extra buildings is proving to be more difficult than expected. But it is, so we'll deal with it. Should have everything (even the Crepe Myrtles) out of their current location this coming weekend, crossing fingers & toes.

The Driveway at the Country House was cleared but it has been raining almost every day since. Too wet to work. There are 2 VERY wet spots that will need to be filled in & the one over the actual branch will also need a large culvert installed. Plus, they are estimating 30 - 50 loads of dirt will need to be brought in! It all just sounds like much more than we had estimated cost wise. But, it has to be done, so something will be pushed aside until later.

Christmas in February

Got a call from my sister last week, asking if we were going to the Country over the weekend. If so, they (her, my BIL & 16 year old niece) would like to come up and celebrate Christmas. They haven't done anything much for the past 6 weeks & thought the change of scenery would be nice. Our Dad & his wife would be at the Country as well. Their place is across the pond from ours.

Pole Tree w/moon Circa 2007 at the Country House

Greg had already committed to moving the 2nd 1/2 of his parent's porch to the Country. So, the in-laws would be in 'town' as well. He left with them to their 'other' property on Saturday morning.

I finished wrapping presents, loaded my vehicle & drove up on Friday afternoon. I had to get there ahead of time, as I haven't dusted in forever. Which actually was a blessing in disguise as there had been a terrible wind storm during the week. No matter how sealed your house is, when the wind is blowing & the farmers are harrowing & people are driving up & down the dirt road, dust & grit gets in and settles. It only took me about an hour to do a somewhat thorough job (it's a small house <1300 sq. ft.). I took a suggestion I had read about recently & used damp micro fiber towels (we have a boatload of them) on the swiffer for the floors. It did a great job. I also got the sheets washed & the beds made up & then ate a salad.

They arrived around 7:00p, after stopping at my Dad's, they got to our house around 8:30a. We just sat & talked a bit before retiring early.

I got up Saturday morning & made Pecan Pie Muffins. Everyone else got up & we just sat around and drank coffee, checked email, facebook, etc. We talked while the television made noise in the background. They are very melancholy & stoic & as we talked Brooke's stories intermingled with ours. One item we were discussing is coffee. Everyone that comes & stays at our Country House just raves about the coffee & my BIL is no exception. They all say, what kind is it? & where can I find it?! I always answer .... Maxwell House Lite / the grocery store. I don't know why it tastes so good there, but it does.

Everyone went to town except me. I stayed home & made soup & a couple of loaves of bread & puppy sat with my Sister's cutest toy poodle, Lexie. She is a very sweet dog & we had a wonderful afternoon waiting.

Once everyone got home we put on a low country boil & had a fine time over dinner. We then opened presents & sat around & talked some more.

Talking about Brooke throughout the morning, afternoon & evening came so natural to us all. I am especially proud that her Mom, Dad & Sister feel so comfortable talking about her. All the Pandora charms that I had bought Brooke are now displayed on my Sister's bracelet, as they should be. It was all so comfortable & natural. We ALL miss her but know that nothing we do can bring her back so we must just celebrate her life & memories that each of us had with her & just keep remembering our moments with her.

Since Greg & I had driven separately, I took the long way home Sunday & stopped at Brooke's resting place. Yes, I cried, just as I do every night & most times when I am driving alone (very dangerous as my eyes get very blurry), but it's what I am now conditioned to do & I feel better each time I do it.

Her gravesite had been cleaned of all the flower arrangements & only held a couple of mementos, until her headstone is ordered. I wanted it to all be a bit neater, but will wait until my sister moves forward to keep it as I know Brooke would want it.

It's quiet, out of the way & peaceful there. Like I said before, her resting place is not where she is, but where I can go to reflect on her life & my short time with her. I will never stop missing her but she would want us all to move on & just keep thinking about her.

I doubt Christmas will ever be the same again but that's okay. Presents are not what it's about, it's just nice to spend time & just be, with those I love.

Soup Sunday, New Welcomes & a Strange Vegetable

The last couple of weeks have been uneventful. We went to the Country last weekend & got the 2 asparagus beds straightened & filled w/sticks, poo & straw. Will continue adding compost material until time for planting in March. Forgot the camera so no pic.

Had a bit of drama though. When we got there we were basically locked out of our way in to the property. We had to go to the other side of the property & use my Dad's gate & drive across the pond damn. Quite a ways out of the way but doable. The person who let us use his gate for access has 'gone off his meds' & is a bit crazy w/o them. This is the 3rd or 4th time he's done this so we are done w/him. We'll be putting in a driveway just down the road from my Dad's gate but have  few obstacles we will need to be overcome, such as clearing some woods that has a branch running through it. I'll post our progress.

I got this strange vegetable in my last CSA delivery. 

I cut it up along w/some onion, mushrooms & yellow peppers & roasted them.

I served it w/organic chicken in a creamy asiago cheese sauce. It was delicious.

Greg got some bathroom shelves put up so I could display my milk vases (he calls them graveyard vases). We've had these shelves since last summer & I've been collecting the vases from estate sales during that time. I'm quite pleased w/the results.

For Souper Sunday, I made sausage, kale & lentil soup. I don't like kale & this is about the only way I've found that I can stomach it. I like all other greens (turnip, mustard, collards, etc.), just not this one.

Saute some spicy sausage w/the casing removed
Add onions & any other vegetables you would like (I used parsnip, carrot & a couple of potatoes)
Add rosemary, salt, pepper & cumin
Saute until slightly tender
Wilt in chopped kale along w/some grated nutmeg
Stir in some tomato paste & a cup or so of white wine
I also added a can of chopped tomatoes at this point.
Add lentils & 6-8 cups of liquid (I used a quart of homemade tomato juice, 3 pints of homemade meat stock & 2 cups of water.
Bring to a boil then reduce heat & cook until lentils are tender (about 45 minutes)

This made a lot of soup so I canned most of it (12 pints). I also found a couple of containers of spaghetti & meatballs in the freezer so I thawed those & canned 2 pints of that along w/the soup. The pressure canner is whistling while I type this. Note: This is my 1st time canning any meat products. 75 minutes at 10lb pressure.

Greg just put some ribs on for dinner & I harvested my cauliflower & last of the broccoli. Here's a picture of my bounty.

The largest cauliflower floret is about the size of a baseball. Guess I need to add more sun & fertilizer to my fall/winter garden - lol.

Lastly, I'd like to welcome a few new followers:

Lara from A Primitive Homestead. She's got a real nice blog that talks about a lot of the things we all like. She's going through a rough time right now, as she lost a child last year, so she could use any support available.

Barbara Fitch also joined. Barbara, I didn't see if you have a blog. If so, send me the link, I'd like to read along. Update1: Barbara's blog is 3 Acre Homestead. Head on over & tell her hello. She has a lot to offer.

Lastly, Garland Girl from Crap Happens Acres. From what I can tell, she just started her blog & it looks like it will be very interesting & entertaining.

Update2: Suzi from Chores and Chandeliers also decided to come join the party. She's a very talented wife & mother we could all learn a lot from.

Thank you all for joining me on my journey.

Brooke

Many years ago, Greg & I decided not to have children. This was a disappointment to my parents (& his) but we were just too busy & made the conscience decision to not have children ourselves.

But my sister did (she's 10 years my junior) .... thank goodness, she took all our pressure away! I remember the day she called me to tell me I was going to be an Aunt. It was late & I was still at the office with only a few people around. Once she gave me the news, I just started squealing (like a happy girl)! The few left on my floor came running but were relieved to find that I was screaming from happiness. I . was . going . to . be . an . Aunt!

The birth, the coming Christmases & Birthdays were wonderful. My sister & BIL always brought her to our house 2 days before Thanksgiving & we babysat & would do projects that she loved, & return her on Thanksgiving Day. Her sister came along 4 years later & both of them came to our house for this 'ritual' year after year.

I think this my favorite all time picture of her as a child.

My 2nd all time favorite. Uncle making her laugh. Getting ready for a parade.

The family.

She was so sure of herself!

Cooking crab legs w/Uncle

We also spent several New Year's Eve with those 2, as my Dad's side of the family always had their family reunion around that time & they would always sleep at our house.

She was insistent on driving at that age.

Then she let her sister drive.

At 6, Brooke insisted she was going to be a nurse when she grew up. I also 'mentioned' that I would take her wherever she wanted to go (within the continental United States) when she turned 16. She announced then, that she wanted to go to NY.

10 years later, 6 months before her 16th birthday, she reminded me of my promise. We agreed on a date & I immediately made reservations for flights & hotels, telling her that she had to find restaurants & other things to do. She did & I made arrangements for it all. We went to NY in 2008 & saw  a couple of plays, bought purses in China Town, ate at wonderful restaurants & shopped to her heart's content. We did all that she wanted, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Macy's, Greenwich Village, Little Italy, etc.

She was so glad to have seen Lady Liberty!

The last day we were there we stumbled upon a street market. It was windy & rainy & we came upon a vendor at a street market from Venice selling glass jewelry. He looked at her & told  her that she was "just lovely". She gushed about that. No one had ever described her as 'lovely'. Lots of people told her how beautiful, smart, sweet, nice, kind, etc. But, never 'lovely'. She loved that term. I will always cherice the necklace from that day.

She graduated in 2010, as class president.

After graduation, she started planning her wedding & began nursing school & started a job at one of the local hospitals.

At her job, all the full-time nurses wanted her to work with them & all the patients wanted to take her home with them. I know this because my Dad's wife has worked at that same hospital, as a nurse, for over 20 years & was told this same thing about her, over & over again.

She had met her future husband at 15 years years of age, the year before we went to NY. At one point in NY, I asked her if she shouldn't broaden her range & make sure he was THE one. She explained to me, her silly Aunt, that she had made up her mind & that was that. She loved him & his sister & parents & that made all the difference in the world. They loved her & she could tell, just as I knew with Uncle Greg, that it was the right choice. I agreed with her & let it go.

At 20 she got married. She was a beautiful bride, with nothing but love & excitement in her heart for the future.

In the next picture she isn't posing for the camera at all, just looking at the person she loved so much, & knowing that he loved her the same. Oh how happy she was on that day!

On Saturday night the 15th of December they had celebrated Christmas with her husband's Grandmother. It was such a beautiful night, they decided to ride the dirt roads on their ATVs. At one point, her husband missed the turn onto another road, hit the brakes & turned a hard right. Brooke wasn't expecting the sudden stop & hit her on head on what we think was the roll bar of the Ranger she was riding in.

It was just a terrible accident. The next 3 days were a bit of a blur, visitors stopping by to give hugs & bring food. Then the families having to make the funeral arrangements, the viewing & then the funeral itself.

There were 800 people that attended the viewing. Along with my Sister & BIL & Brooke's husband & his family, my 16 year old niece stood there & greeted every.single.one of those people. The funeral was the next day with about 500 or so in attendance. It just proved to all of us, how much people loved & respected her.

Just a note on the funeral ... I had written before, about southern traditions & that people, no matter where they are headed or how big of a hurry they are in the pull to the side of the road to pay their respects to friends & family when they come upon a funeral procession. I noticed 2 such occurrences during Brooke's procession.

The 1st was the county Sheriff at the first turn just past the church. He was in a suit & tie, instead of his usual uniform, as he had attended the service as a family friend. Even though he wasn't on duty & could have let another officer do that 1st turn, he stepped in & stopped traffic on a US highway to let those in mourning pass, as HIS show of respect.

Along the route various drivers we met along the way stopped to pay their respects ... cement & dump truck drivers, mothers & fathers on their way home, school buses full of children, etc.

But what caught our eye was one young man in particular.

After driving along the US highway for a couple of miles, we turned onto 'the back roads' heading to the cemetery where Brooke was to be laid to rest. We passed a neighborhood that contains houses on 5 - 10 acre lots. Most have swing sets, some have gardens, some animals, etc. Along the way, at the end of one of these driveways by the road, sat a boy 8 - 10 years on his go-cart.

He had stopped riding & shut off his 'vehicle', standing w/his hand over his heart, watching us, until we passed. It was truly touching that this child, without his parents immediate direction, knew to do what he did. It made me cry all the harder, but made me believe that there is hope in our future generation!

The following pictures were taken last December (2011), by Brooke's best friend, as a gift to my sister. These are just 2 of the loveliest photos I have to look back on.

Brooke on the left.

Brooke on the right.

Her sister is again quoting silly things on FB, along with scripture, which makes me feel that she will go on with her life, as it should be.

I miss Brooke with my whole being, but I do know that she is in heaven awaiting all of us. She was called to heaven the day after that horrible CT/Sandy Hook massacre. Maybe she was needed to help take care of those precious children? It's definitely what she was called to do... help others.

We stopped by the grave site on our way home the other day. We won't be going there to 'visit' her because she isn't there. It will only be a place to reflect on her life on occasion.

I am still very sad. I am ok when I am around others or working on something. But when I am alone, the tears come back ... mostly on my drives to & from work & during my shower just before bed. I am really trying hard not to think of what might have been. I have to push those thoughts away because there is no need in thinking them because nothing will change the fact that she's gone & certain things will never be.

POEM of LIFE (Author unknown)

Life is but a stopping place,

A pause in what's to be,

A resting place along the road,

To sweet eternity.

We all have different journeys,

Different paths along the way.

We all were meant to learn some things,

But never meant to stay..

Our destination is a place,
Far greater than we know.
For some the journey's quicker,
For some the journey's slow.

And when the journey finally ends,
We'll claim a great reward,
And find an everlasting peace,
Together with the Lord.

Update: I heard my sister laugh, however brief, this past weekend. Also, my younger niece requested that Brooke's husband & one of his best friends go to church w/her on Sunday. She picked them up & they had lunch afterwards. Life does go on, no matter how painful.

Happy New Year, Souper Sunday & New Welcomes

Happy Near Year everyone! Thank you for all your kindness, support & prayers. We made it through the New Year 'celebration' by cooking a rib roast (aka prime rib), twice baked potatoes (can't remember the last time we had these!) & roasted asparagus. Plus, one of my favorite wines ever ... Terra Bianca! It was delicious, many times over.

We ended the year on such a sad note that it's hard to look back at all I got accomplished. But, we must forge ahead, no matter how painful at times.

So, instead of looking back, I'll look forward. My sister is now speaking in complete sentences instead of just one word answers to questions. And, she shared the Hobby Lobby postings this week. All signs that she will move forward with her life as well.

I'm still working on the post for Brooke but having trouble with just the right words, much less the problems with photos. Oh well, I'll get it worked out somehow.

I went back to work last Wednesday (1/2/13). Hard, but getting better. I still have a few friends to face but after that, I think things will work themselves out for the normal side of things.

Our house is still clean & uncluttered. One of the goals we have set for ourselves .... when laundry is done, put it ALL up. That may take some cleaning of drawers & closets but rest assured, we are going to really try.

This past weekend was another round of accomplishments. Not much to speak about for Saturday but Sunday was a busy day. 

I tried a carpet cleaning recipe that really seemed to work. Our last house guests (in Oct.) apparently filled their coffee cups too full & 'dribbled' coffee straight across the room which I didn't notice until we started cleaning last week. I put about an 1/8th of a cup of baking soda in a spray bottle, then filled with hydrogen peroxide. Sprayed the stains, waited a few & then dabbed scrubbed the spots, then vacuumed a little while later. All gone!

Update: No pictures. Just trust me, it worked!

I then started some yogurt with whole milk (pasteurized but not homogenized) from Wainwright Dairy I warmed 1 quart milk to 180 degrees, let cool to 110 & then added 1/2 c. Greek yogurt w/life cultures. Put it in a covered glass container & put it in an insulated cooler with a qt. jar of very hot water. I just changed the quart jar of now luke warm water w/another qt. of hot. I take it out at 8pm tonight & will set it in the fridge to drain to get some nice thick yogurt.

Update: Got it & it's delicious! It is a toss between sour cream & butter. Soooo good! I can only handle a 4 or 5 teaspoons at a time.

I decided to make French Baguettes today as well. I had bought 2 Williams Sonoma baguette pans at an estate sale last year ($10, retail for $30). I mixed the yeast, sugar & salt, let that sit, then added flour & kneaded for 10 minutes (my 2nd workout for the day) then let it rise for 45 minutes. Then every 30 minutes took out, turned, folded & put back to rise for another 30. Next was to shape in balls, let rest for 5, then flatten & roll into loafs. Let that sit for another 30 & then bake for 20 min. in a 450 degree oven. They smell heavenly, & they tasted wonderful! Update: It's now Tuesday & I just had a couple of slices w/my wonderful salad, delicious.

Note: Will cook at 425 degrees for 25 in the future. They were very good but I think a lower temp. would work better.

Since it was such a dreary day & on queue from Mama Pea I decided to join in Souper Sunday & made homemade soup.

Cream of Broccoli that I adapted from Granny Miller is what I decided on. I steamed Organic broccoli that I got from the The Veggie Bin & then finely chopped & put it in with some whey that I had frozen from the last time I made cheese & heated that up. In a separate pan I melted 3 T. of butter, added dehydrated shallots, s & p & then added about 1/2 c. flour. I browned all that & then added about a quart of the Wainwright Dairy whole milk. Once it thickened, I added the broccoli mixture to that & it has been simmering for about an hour. Update: Added about a 1/2 c. of freshly grated parmesan cheese, just before serving. 

Sorry for the bad pic, but rest assured there is broccoli & cream in there!

I picked 3 different lettuces from my grow stand. Made a simple salad of lettuce, scallions, a little bit of tomato & crumbled blue cheese with balsamic vinaigrette. It was very good!

2 of the 3 different kinds of winter lettuce!

Home grown lettuce!

And last, but certainly not leastly I would like to welcome a few new blog friends:

Red Woman - She's a woman who speaks her mind & makes no apologies. Very refreshing.

Pat. It doesn't appear that you have a website, but I welcome you as you follow along.

Terri from Our Crazy Farm. She is probably one of the most spiritual person I have 'conversed' with. She's been through a lot but continues moving through her purposed driven life.

Thank you all for joining me on my journey!

That's it. Good night, sweet dreams, don't let the bed bugs bite, etc., etc.

Another update: I also made homemade yogurt that is nothing if not exceptional!