Grandma Hanna

There was sort of a recurring theme

this year for Christmas.

That theme was Grandma Hanna.

Mom sent me a wonderful surprise.

Yes, it's upside down, but it hangs on
a pin, so when you look down,
you can tell the time!

This was Grandma's watch

some 40 years ago.

It came with it's own story!

Dear Collette:

This little watch has an interesting history.  It

belonged to Grandma Hanna in the 1970's.

Later in the '90's she decided it was a neat item

 and she'd like to wear it again, so she took it to a 

jeweler in Butte for a new battery.

He very kindly suggested 

"Let's just wind it up!"

Hope you enjoy having it.

Love,

Mom

Isn't that a great story?

Unfortunately, simply winding doesn't

seem to do the trick anymore,

so I'll be taking it to a watch repair

to see if they can get it working again.

I'd LOVE to wear it when I teach!

Meanwhile,

I wanted to send something special

to Mom and each of my sisters.

I was looking in my cabinet and

spied just the thing!

Some of Grandma's recipe cards!

In her handwriting.

And obviously well loved.

I went through and found 4 that

were written on matching little cards.

(Not that it mattered, since I

was sending them to 4 different houses)

Then I found 4 little black frames

and some dark grey paper to

mount them on.

I think they turned out cute!

(Rod scanned them for me,

so some day I might make

a complete set for MY kitchen!)

On top of being a fun gift,

they cleared up a mystery!

Mom KNEW she had Grandma's recipe box.

She had looked EVERYWHERE!

Who had snagged it?

I've got it!

I've even featured it in a couple of blog posts.

I LOVE it!

(But I didn't snag it, Mom gave it to 

me when we were both packing to leave Tucson.)

A year or so ago I took out 

Grandma's recipe cards

and now it is chock full of the recipes

that I use for my family.

It sits in a place of honor on my

kitchen counter.

I use it daily.

I think Grandma would approve.

LOVE YOU GRANDMA!

MKMESMYL

Saturday morning I was driving up the interstate

to run all my weekly errands.

There was an out of state car in front of me.

His license plate read:

MKMESMYL

Took a minute to figure out it

said "Make Me Smile"

And of course, it made me smile.

LOL

I've thought about it a bunch today.

There are LOTS of little things

that make me smile on a daily basis.

Like just now, I was posting

medical payments.

A man just paid a $34.65 bill

using check #3465.

Couldn't do THAT twice!

(although I do see it once in awhile.)

(I post an average of 600 checks each day

so stuff sometimes happens...)

And then I opened another envelope

and a bunch of Christmas glitter

fell out!

Not enough to make a mess.

Just enough to make me smile.

SMILE today!

We are all supposed to start exercising

for the New Year.

They say smiling uses a bunch of muscles.

So there you go!

Boxing Day

Happy Boxing Day to all my

Canadian family!

Boxing Day.

The day you box up all the extra stuff,

left overs,

etc

and share it with those less fortunate.

(ie: the kitchen / wait staff back in the day)

Boxing Day.

The day you show up at work

and do all the junk you stuffed in a box

for that one day when you didn't have

anything else to do.

LOL

We had a nice Christmas.

Christmas Eve was the traditional

"Santa on the Fire Truck"

with the traditional horrible pictures.

I think Kyle got a nice couple with his fancy

new camera, but I don't have them...

That's Rod and Kyle.

Maybe.

Or Jim and Sabrina.

Maybe.

It's not me.

This is our tree BEFORE the gift opening.

It was actually pretty nice and low key.

Jim and Sabrina showed up around 10:30(ish)

we opened presents and enjoyed a yummy

scrambled egg/omelet thing Jim made.

(And some bacon Rod baked.)

I did not participate in the cooking.

I was ensconced on the couch

with my feet happily stuffed in our new

Shiatsu massager thingie.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh.

(Thanks Mom & Dad!)

If you are ever looking for me in the future,

Look there first.

Made two big bowls of Pop Pop's famous

fruit salad (with his approved ingredients)

and two big pans of family approved

dinner rolls (Rhodes dough).

(That's not cheating, right?)

Headed to Scott and Janis' for dinner/lunch

at 2:30.  Enjoyed a yummy meal with

lots of good company, laughter and conversation.

The kids entertained us with a rousing game (or 15)

of digital/phone charades.

It got a little crazy, but they had fun.

Jim, Sabrina, Rod and I left about 5 so we could

feed the animals and they could go let their dog out.

Kyle stayed and played with the cousins until later.

Relaxing evening watching the last of this year's

cheesy Christmas movies on Hallmark channel

and eating leftover fruit salad with

cheese, salami and crackers.

YUM!

Rod is "celebrating" Boxing Day by donating

plasma first thing and then climbing up on the

patio roof and peeling everything back so he

and Kyle can replace the roof.

(Who invented the FLAT roof in Florida???

Stupid idea!)

I hope you all enjoyed YOUR holiday!



Small Town Christmas

This past weekend I got to substitute in a little

town called Miami Lakes.

It's a tiny suburb of Miami

really exclusive

really fancy

and totally all in for Christmas.

They don't like traffic in their little town.

If you look at their map

it looks like one of those little pencil mazes

they draw in the back of kid's magazines.

Thank goodness for GPS!

(But I was still lost most of the time...)

When I FINALLY found my hotel on

Saturday evening, I headed back down

and wandered along Main Street

and enjoyed the Christmas Spirit

for a little while.

It was all decorated nicely,

there was an elementary school

choir singing on the corner.

Lots of people walking up and down the

sidewalks and streets.



It was fun to spend an evening in a small

town enjoying the atmosphere.

(My small town has a beautiful tree all lit

up in front of the fire station and the town

hall is all lit up, but we don't

have a "downtown"... it's a farming

community.)

Hope you are enjoying the build up

to Christmas!

Mom's Spiced Punch

I was at the health food store the other day.

I love to drink decaf Chai tea.

I mix it with chinese Oolong tea,

almond milk, apple pie spice

and a dash of cayenne.

YUM!

But a NEW box of tea caught my eye.

The "red" part is Rooibos, which is a

naturally caffeine free tea with all

sorts of wonderful properties.

Rooibos is thought to assist with nervous tension,

allergies and digestive problems.

Two flavonoids found in rooibos, quercetin and luteolin,

have been known to have cancer fighting qualities.

Traditional medicinal uses of rooibos in South Africa include

alleviating infantile colic, allergies, asthma and dermatological problems.

~Wikipedia

I bought some.

And it sat on my shelf at work for a couple of weeks.

This morning a co-worker wanted to borrow some

Chai since she forgot hers at home.

I offered her some of my regular or said she

could be the guinea pig and try this new stuff.

We brewed up a cup.

Oh my goodness!!!!

We BOTH said

"Mom's Christmas Spiced Punch!!!"

(We are from the same generation)

HER Mom used to keep a pot of it

simmering on the back of HER stove

for when friends stopped by over the

Christmas break too!

(I didn't ask if she ever exploded a glass

coffee decanter thing on the stove though...)

So if you want a quick trip down memory lane

(that tastes REALLY GOOD)

brew up a cup!

Merry Sipping!

Bacon Makes Everything Better!

Today both Rod and I have our annual

office Christmas potluck lunches.

I signed up to cook a turkey.

Don't be impressed,

it's easy

and cheap.

Rod somehow got assigned

bacon wrapped asparagus!

He did these himself.

Quite the culinary masterpiece!

(of course, this was BEFORE baking...)

Looks yummy darling!

When are you making some for US???



Twig

In our church

there are Stakes

and there are Wards

and there are Branches

But did you know...

there are also TWIGS!

That just makes me giggle.

We have a twig.

(If you want to get all technical,

I think we only qualify as a leaf,

but twig sounds cuter...)

This weekend I got to go with Rod.

He is "the" home teacher for most of

the families that live in a little

retirement community to the south of us.

Because many of them are retired

and many of them are single women

it can be a struggle to get into town

on Sunday for church.

We got approval from the Stake to

start a mini branch (twig) down there

once a month.

It is slowly growing.

This weekend we had 17 people

(not counting the presiding Bishopric reps and

the set of Elders who administered the sacrament.)

Pretty good turnout!

It helps that we only have Sacrament Meeting

and Sunday School.

Following by PIE!

(A big drawing card for the 65+ crowd...)

It's really nice to worship in a tiny group like that.

Almost nobody falls asleep (ahem, ALMOST)

and nobody is playing on their tablets.

Less formal.

More interactive.

VERY Spiritual.

The music is "canned" which means you

are stuck with the tempo SLC assigned.

And it turns out the 65+ crowd sings slowly.

But it all works out.

Being December, and all, the hymns were all

Christmas Carols.  The sister on the front row

has a beautiful, clear, sweet soprano voice.

Reminded me of Mom's voice.

Except that she was 3.5 notes off the ENTIRE song.

We call that "strong and wrong". 

But still beautiful.

She's a convert.

Gave the first talk.

About keeping Christ in Christmas.

With a large section devoted to an admonition to

NOT drink and drive this Christmas season.

LOL

It was well intended, and ended with a suggestion to

make that a subject of prayer this week.

(Helping OTHERS to not drink and drive)

Good save.

After Twig we stopped by briefly and visited Rod's

"families" and brought a plate of brownies.

Ending at our friend's (snowbirds) who just arrived

from Utah.  Enjoyed a lovely bowl of soup

and a walk around their little lake.

All in all, a really nice Sabbath!

Hope you all enjoyed yours!

Friday...

Sometimes I just name my blog post something.

And then I forget to change it.

I often have no idea what I'm going to write

about until I start writing.

And then the title just sort of presents itself.

But I need SOMETHING up there...

We'll see what happens today.

Random stuff:

Kyle has a new camera.

HOLY TOLEDO!

That thing takes amazing pictures.

I think he cheated and took a picture of a moldy

cantelope and made it black and white.

Who knew the moon had a navel???

He went out last night with his new camera

and tri-pod and took a bunch of pictures.

This was the best one.

He's always wanted a camera that would

take awesome pictures, mostly of the sky.

He loves sunsets (as we all know) but

gets so frustrated that the camera changes the colors.

This one seems to be truer to color.

We'll see.

Since he got it, we've had some boring skies.

Speaking of skies.

The Orion rocket went off this morning.

The sky was FULL of clouds and it was

raining in the north end of the county.

I was pretty sure it wasn't going to go.

I didn't even pay attention.

Not that I could have seen anything

but clouds...

But I guess the sky was clear over the Cape!

Congrats to the Orion team!!!

And if you don't follow me on Facebook,

I stole this picture from an old Calgary friend.

This is a GREAT nativity!

Love the creativity.

And Batman is the BEST ANGEL!



Slug

It's December.

NO WAY!!!!!

Yup.

It's December.

It comes every year.

Right after Thanksgiving.

And this year I've had 2 weekends off

In a ROW!

(With one more coming...)

And what do I have to show for it?

NOT A THING!

My house hasn't got a single Christmas decoration.

Not a single one!

Although there IS some extra rabbit in the freezer.

There is NO extra chicken/rooster.

And I didn't ride my horse.

And I didn't walk in the woods.

I HAVE worked out for 3 days in a row.

So there's that...

I guess I'd best get BUSY!!!

Hopefully on Monday I'll have lovely pictures

for you of our gorgeous tree.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

(I have pictures from last year, if all else fails...)

Hope you are doing better than we are!

SEND FAIRY DUST!

Oh, and I spoke in church last Sunday.

That was my excuse for not doing anything on Saturday.

I was "writing" my talk.

In my head.

(I didn't write anything down...)

(I spoke on Charity/Pure Love of Christ)

(Mom's story was a HIT!)

And then I couldn't do anything on Sunday.

Cuz I was recovering from speaking in church.

And Rod misplaced some decals he made for a client.

So he cleaned the entire office.

It looks AWESOME!

And once it was clean,

he remembered they were in the Trooper.

So, a double WIN!

(Yup, I'm riding HIS coat tails... HE was VERY productive...)

How I Spent My Birthday

Yesterday I said I would tell you more

about how I spent my day yesterday.

First we got to sleep in!

What a TREAT!

(I took the day off work and

Monday is Rod's regular day...)

After a yummy breakfast of a

"Mint Chocolate Chip" smoothie

and a breakfast burrito with eggs,

light swiss cheese, turkey bacon

on a tortilla crisped in butter...

we headed out to the barn.

Kyle joined us with his rifle.

I processed 4 rabbits on Saturday,

but then (1st world problem) I snapped

my finger nail trying to pull the skin

off the carcass - and it really HURT!

So instead of doing any more, I headed

to the nail salon and got them done.

Now they are beautiful.

And short.

And not painful.

Monday morning we had 7 more

rabbits that needed to be processed.

You might be a redneck if...

(Super flattering!  But who puts on makeup

or a nice shirt to butcher rabbits???)

It is so much nicer working with a partner!

We did 2 at a time

and it went so nice and smooth!

(Helps that it was overcast! It was

in the high 70's but without the sun

beating down on you, that's GLORIOUS!)

ALERT!

DEAD RABBIT PICTURE...

We have the perfect tree.

Unfortunately, it also died.

We will need to cut it down soon

before it falls and lands on the shed.

Darn it!

We wanted to "do" some roosters too,

but Sunday night we forgot to close the coops,

so when we got up, all the chickens

were running loose in their yard.

There's no way I can catch those boys.

They are small and FAST!

(And loud and obnoxious which explains

why they need to head to the freezer...)

(Unfortunately, they are also CUTE!)

(cute chicken picture to atone for the rabbit one...)

If you look carefully you can see her

blue "earring" right behind her beak.

This is a stock photo,

but gives you a good idea what they look like.

They have feathers that look and feel like fur!

SUPER soft.

A bit bigger than half the size of my other chickens.

With feathers on their feet.

Looks like they are wearing bedroom slippers!

Adorable.

But still loud and obnoxious.

They also have BLACK skin, bones, and MEAT!

So this should be an adventure.

Anyhow.

They escaped once again.

But this weekend - time's up!

(We counted over the weekend and we have

208 chickens!  Including the new babies...)

Aren't they darling???

They will be 2 weeks old tomorrow.

So...

after we "did the deed" and got them in

every single crockpot and stockpot we own...

we got cleaned up and headed out to run errands.

Drove around the corner to the front gate and...

SO AWESOME!

We have a GATE ORNAMENT!

I TOTALLY love it!

The T-Shirt is a gift as well.

Here's a hilarious note...

It says

"Farm girls aren't afraid to get dirty".

Rod waited until after we were done

to give it to me.

He didn't want me to get it dirty.

LOL!!!

Finished up the evening with a fabulous dinner

of ribeye and veggies at Texas Roadhouse

and then curled up on the couch to watch

cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies.

A PERFECT birthday!

Happy Birthday - to ME!

If you read my blog

(well duh, obviously you do)

then you know that I try to do

a tribute post for each of my

loved ones on their birthdays.

This year my dearest loved one,

my darling Rod

organized a tribute from those I love.

They posted it on Facebook.

Is it tacky that I'm posting it here?

Who cares.

It's my blog, and my informal journal.

So I think its appropriate...

Anyhow,

here it is, so I'll always be able

to find these wonderful words

and look back on them

when I need a boost,

encouragement,

a hug.

Happy Birthday Collette

Collette
My Darling Sister


I remember as an older sister, (A big 4 years older), I loved to gaze at her. She was such a beautiful child. She had dark hair that belied a label. It was black, but it was more than that, it was rich in color, the perfect marriage of Moms rich red and Dads strong black. And the texture! Fine as spun angora. And just as soft. Mom kept it in a bob, just chin length. One day I watched her from my bedroom window as she came home from school, riding her imaginary pony, with her hair moving to the rhythm of her prancing body. So pretty!


She had beautiful dewy skin, white as white with cheery pink cheeks and full rosy lips. And those dancing eyes! There was always a story going on behind those eyes, full of color and imagination, and generally only known by her. But we were privy to the energy and joy that created those private worlds.


Perhaps as a result of my perspective more than a reflection of reality, I felt that she was a delicate thing, more suited to a gentler world than this one we live in now. So it has been with delight and surprise as through the years I have come to know the adult Collette. The one that maintains the characteristics of gentle wonder, but also manifests a streak of grit and courage.


The same woman who delights in a crateful of fuzzy chicks, in 6 months can, with a few skillful strokes, harvest them for their next contribution to her families wellbeing. She delights in the re-reading of stories she has known for decades, and those same hands that cradles her books, creates knitted blankets and nutritious meals for those she loves. Dad says she reminds him of Aunt Maxine, someone, he feels can do anything she puts her mind too, and do it well.


I agree with Dad.


Happy Birthday my Darling
Love, Son

************************************

My Dear Collette,
Happy Birthday!
I hope today will be one that you will never forget.
I want you to know what a great example you have been to
me. I've seen you face up to what seemed to be
insurmountable, meeting it head long. Your powerful prayers and humble
faith have given you peace that comes from leaving your burdens at Gods
feet and choosing to follow Him. You and Rod have shown me how two people
can work together and play together , laugh and cry together, serve and worship
together. I love how honest you are and how you stay true to who you are and what
you believe.
I love you!

Nancy

**********************************

So I have 3 sisters. All older! All wonderful! But today is Collette's birthday - she is the sister I shared a room with, who read to me when I was little, who told me stories of her own making, who taught me about Santa, who played "pillow sandwich" at night with me when we were supposed to be sleeping (so she also taught me about 'quiet giggling'). She is also the sister who lives farthest away from me, so I get to see her less than the others - but I love her just as much! She is a great example - she is a hard worker, a great mother, a wonderful wife, a farmer, an equestrian, a teacher, a photographer, a blogger and SO MUCH MORE. When I was a young mother, we chatted online for hours and hours, then when I was a working woman, we emailed daily - now that we are both older and busier - we get to chat less, but I think of her often and whenever I do, I can always get a glimpse of her life by checking out her blog where she documents small moments of her life, and things of 'interest' and important in her life.
I am so lucky to have her in my life - and to call her my sister!

Love you Collette!
Rozann

**********************************

You have no idea how thankful that I am that you agreed to go out with me when we worked at Rocky Mountain Helicopters in Provo, Utah. I love you more each and everyday. You are my best friend, my soul mate, you put up with all of my short comings. You stick by me through good times and bad. You are the best thing that has happened to me. I want to wish you a Happy Birthday and to tell you how much I love you.
Love you the most...
Rod Buffaloe

BABY Collette

Birthday rides - my favorite thing!

Christmas 2013

"racing" at Disney World circa 1980's

My amazing family
Utah 2013

Temple Marriage is so important!  I LOVE YOU Rod!

Our little wedding chapel in Las Vegas.
Yup, THAT  Las Vegas.
NOT by Elvis.

Our wedding party
Rod's brother Scott and my sister Son (Sondra)

Thank you to my wonderful family.

We had a great day today.

Didn't manage to fit in a ride*,

but did lots of other great stuff.

I'll add some more photos and tell you

all the particulars tomorrow.

Gotta save SOMETHING for "blog fodder".

*we have a date for a ride Thursday morning.

And maybe another one on Saturday!

Practical Practice

Kyle has been doing lots of practice welding lately.

He was working on his welds to join 

two square pipes together.

But then his boss gave him a task.

His boss bought a "new" dump truck.

But the bed is too tall.

His tractor can't lift a bucket of dirt

over the sides.

So they decided to shorten the sides.

Kyle drove the truck to our house

and spent several days removing the

wood sides and then cutting down all the

steel supports.

Then he had to cut the rear doors in half.

Cut off the giant bumper thing on the back.

And weld a bunch of stuff back together.

He has been working hard.

He still needs to cut back the roller

thingie at the front.

It hangs right in the way

and they are afraid when people climb

in and out they will knock their heads.

But it's getting there.

His welds look really good!

Good to get some practical practice.

The Chickens Have Landed

Look what we got this morning...

I forgot to take a picture

This was my last bunch.

But it's exactly what they looked like today.

Same breed.

Same box.

Red (Buff) Stars.

These are my 63 little girls this morning.

Hatched on 11/12/14.

Arrived 11/14/14.

Should start laying 03/15.

Not that I'm counting or anything.

There's just nothing cuter than baby chicks.

SO CUTE!

(And noisy)

However, when asked, I did the math and realized

we are now up to 200 chickens.

Good thing the freezer is nearly empty.

And next weekend is a long weekend.

I have work to do!

Eeeeuuuuwwww

I was checking out Pioneer Woman's

Tasty Kitchen blog this morning

when something caught my eye.

Little orangish squares.

The recipe title was

Butterfinger Fudge.

Interesting.

Absolutely NOT on my "way of eating"

but maybe something I could

tweak and make anyway.

First ingredient:

3 Cups Candy Corn

I gag!

I shudder!

I pinch up my mouth!

I will NOT be attempting

Butterfinger Fudge.

GROSS!!!!!

New Favorite

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada

and Veteran's Day in the US.

Either way,

it's a bank / school / post office holiday.

Not a doctor's office holiday.

Since Rod works for the school,

he had the day off.

But since I had to work,

he volunteered to work.

(and get PAID)

(grin)

I should have taken the day off.

I worked like a crazy woman yesterday

and got everything all caught up.

Forgetting today there was no mail delivery.

So I'm sitting here perusing some blogs I used

to follow with regularity.

I stumbled on an LDS woman's blog several

years ago after their home was destroyed in a tornado.

In the meantime they have had 2 more children.

I like to peek into her life now and again.

(voyeur!)

I haven't been there in awhile, so was going

back through her history and found THIS!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Kms9jlHgUso

Oh my goodness!

(I'm typically "out of the loop" so you may already

know about these two - I was last to The Piano Guys

party, so I might be slow on this one too...)

I'll be adding this to my iPod (thanks Mom and Dad,

BEST Christmas present EVER!)

and listening to it over and over and over and over.

Hope you enjoy it too.

Is it GONE yet?????

My goodness this was a crazy weekend!

I was VERY proud of myself.

I remembered to put out the

"Scouting for Food"

bag on our gate Saturday morning.

I was teaching 30 miles north.

So I got to stay home for the weekend.

I was all kinds of organized.

Rod helped me move my books

from the truck to his trunk.

(My truck sprung a leak in the water pump)

I got my class candy and roster,

gathered up my laptop and put it by the door.
Made chocolate/banana smoothies for Rod and I,
and a yummy tub of "waldorf" salad for my snack.

Hung a bag of food on the gate

for the Boy Scouts.

And even left on time to get to school EARLY!

Which is good.

Because about half way there,

I remembered that the laptop was still

in it's case next to the door.

Sigh.

I can not conduct my class without my laptop.

(Well, technically, I CAN... if absolutely necessary,

but if I had an auditor in the class, it would be a MAJOR

ding...  I forgot my chord a couple of weeks ago and
once the battery died... that was all she wrote.)
(Thankfully we eventually found a chord that works
in one of the student's cases!)

So...

Turn around at the next highway exit

and head home again.

I made it to school with 5 minutes to spare.

Sheesh.

I HATE starting out looking and feeling disorganized.

The day went ok from that point.

But there were little things.

Questions I'd never been asked before.

Issues I'd never encountered before.

Which put me behind all day!

(which also drives me NUTS)



full moon above the barn

 OH!

Well, that explains a lot.

Is it gone yet?????