What's In The Garden?

 It's starting to feel a bit like winter around here.

High 40's or low 50's at night.

70's during the day.

Low humidity.

THIS is what winter should be like!

And the garden says "WEEEE! Canadian Summer!"

Houston!

We have a PEA!!!!!

SO exciting!

I didn't think we would get any for a 

couple more weeks!

But most of the plants have lots of little white

flowers on them and some are turning into peas!

YEA!

Also, hopefully I don't jinx it,

but we might have a yellow squash!

Don't tell the squash bugs.

Maybe the secret is to grow them in the winter???

Who knows.

Don't get excited yet.

My cilantro is looking great too!

And check out Kyle's roses!

This purple one always smells so awesome!

But my favorite will always be a red rose bud.

Anyhow.

I don't have any students tonight,

so I'm going to cancel my class

and go eat my Turkey Pot Pie.

It's hard to take a good picture in my kitchen.

The lighting is TERRIBLE.

It looks much better than that....

I used the toaster oven which is why

it got a little brown in the middle.

Hope its yummy.

I'm HUNGRY!

Way Behind

 We've been busy!

And we are WAAAAY behind

decorating for Christmas.

Usually by now we have the tree up

and all the gates decorated.

But we don't even HAVE a tree!

Friday the guys put the new steps on Kyle's

giant truck so we short people can get in.

And I had to teach in the morning.

Then Saturday they did... something else.

And we didn't get to the store in time.

Sunday we went to church and I played

the organ and it went well... whew!

Monday (today) I was going to have us go

this morning and get a tree but Rod got

a call for a job for Kyle down in Vero Beach

and so they loaded up and headed south.

So I did some grocery shopping and installed

the new Roku thingies on our TVs.

(Oh THAT'S what we did Friday night...

we went to the store and bought a new TV

for our bedroom because I cancelled the

TV cable during the day.)

So anyhow.

I'm behind.

I just finished teaching my class tonight.

I work at the Town tomorrow and teach

the Orientation tomorrow night.

But I don't have anything except a 

Stake Primary Presidency meeting down on Vero

on Wednesday.

So... maybe we can buy a tree before Rod

has to go to work?

If they are done with their job by then...

They are going back down tomorrow again.

Meanwhile, I DID do some MINOR decorating.

I bought a couple sets of wall art stickers.

So this is on the closet in the front hall where

I usually hang the Christmas cards,

but since those are nearly a thing of the past....

And I stuck this one in the kitchen.

It's in the wrong spot, but I'm

afraid to move it because it might not

stick again....

And I found some fun Zoom backgrounds

that are Christmas themes.

I forgot to put one on tonight,

but I'll use one when I do the more casual

Saturday "wrap up" session.

So......

That's us and our pathetic attempt at

Christmas decorations.

So far.....

Stay tuned!

It can only get better.

(I hope.)

More Baby Chicks!

 One of the little boys in our ward had

to do a science project.

They chose to try to hatch chicks.

They asked if we could take some if they

were successful hatching them.

I said "sure".

I don't NEED more chicks but...

Anyhow.

They started with SEVENTY TWO EGGS!!!!

(Yikes!!!)

They did them in two batches.

In the first batch, 24 of them hatched, but

luckily another family in the ward took those.

The second batch wasn't nearly as successful.

They had an even dozen but one died last night.

This afternoon they brought them over to our place.

We got them all set up.

I have one "broody" hen who has been

sitting on eggs for a couple of weeks.

When we put the babies in the pen next door

she went NUTS!

Trying and trying to get in with them.

If she's still fussing later maybe I'll catch her

and put here in there and let her broody them.

But we'll see.

They are happy and catching her "sounds" easy...

Lolololol!

Anyhow.

I guess we are back in the baby chick business.

(Just glad I got eleven and NOT 72!)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 Yesterday was a lovely day.

While Rod met with the guy about the

new water treatment system

(our water is SUPER hard and is

killing our appliances... the ice maker

doesn't make ice, the washing machine

had to be replaced last month,

and the dishwasher isn't looking good...)

Anyhow. 

While Rod was dealing with that,

Kyle and I got the TV etc all set up 

on the new stand he made for me.

It looks fantastic in the living room!

It's the perfect size, color, shape, everything!!!

And!

I got a package from the Arizona Gang!

Right now he is standing on the table out on the patio.

The patio needs some design / decoration / style work.

(Or we just need to put all the bug killer stuff

someplace else...)

The old TV stand is right there too - we put it on the

free marketplace to see if anybody wants it.

If there are no takers, we'll carry it out

to the curb and somebody will be sure to

pick it up.

Then last night Rod took us to Texas Roadhouse

for dinner. I had pulled pork.

Kyle had chicken.

Rod had steak.

Ours is better, which is why Kyle and I opted

for something else.

We ran into a Back40Beef customer there who

chided Rod for going out to a steakhouse when

we have a freezer full of the best beef around.

Rod said "It's my wife's birthday and this is what

she wanted - why are YOU here when you also

have a freezer full of the best beef around?"

Big Mike said - "Anniversary - and this was MY wife's choice..."

Hahahahahahaha

After dinner we went across the street to Lowe's

 and looked at kitchen sinks and faucets,

then went over to look at kitchen remodels,

and after deciding what we want

and then remembering we haven't won

a lottery recently we just bought a new 

doorknob and headed home for some

cheesecake I made on Tuesday.

This morning, of course, we are all busy.

Rod finished fixing my Trooper.

(the power steering line popped a hole, so he

had to replace it, but that meant taking out the

radiator, and finding a broken mount, so making

a NEW mount {my men are SO handy} and then

putting it all back together...!)

Kyle made his contribution to the dinner - his

specialty is the sweet potato casserole.

But the kitchen isn't big enough for ALL of us

to be working on our parts at the same time,

so he did his this morning.

It's in the fridge, waiting for it's turn in the oven.

Then he replaced the doorknob on the patio

door - which was sticking and we couldn't get it open!

(And the front door has been broken since we moved

into the house - 17 years ago! So.... yeah.)

Now he's out in the garden.

The peas have FLOWERS!!!!!!

I put the turkey in the oven, made breakfast, made

the dog food for the next 6 days,

put the rolls (Rhodes) on to rise,

and put some brussels sprouts in the crockpot.

Now I'm going to sit for a few minutes and then

it's time for round two.

No idea what that means, but I'm sure there is

something I'm supposed to be doing... 

lol

I'm 62 now.

So I'm allowed to be forgetful.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Happy Birthday to ME

 Happy Birthday to ME!

Hahahahahaha

Rod and Kyle are out on a job for a church.

(Rod has the rest of the week off....

the benefits of working for the university! YEA!)

I taught a class this morning for 4 hours.

But now I'm off until Friday morning.

Last week Kyle has been working HARD

on a birthday present I have been requesting

for YEARS.

Ever since he made one for himself.

I've been JEALOUS!

It was  TON of work.

He distressed the wood,

then stained it an "aging" stain,

then sanded it off,

then stained it Walnut, then

sanded and clear coated EACH piece.

Plus the top is all put together with dove joints.

The screws are sunk and capped.

It is an amazing piece of furniture.

And replaces the ugly black glass TV stand

I bought for him a billion years ago.

That thing gets dusty AS you are dusting it.

I'm SO excited to get this in

and get the TV on it,

but I'm not brave enough to move it on my own.

So I'll wait for the guys to get back.

I made myself a cheesecake in the pressure cooker

yesterday, so I'm going to make a chicken/cheese quesadilla

and then have a yummy (fingers crossed) piece of 

cheesecake and read a book!

Hope you are having a wonderful day prepping

for the Thanksgiving festivities tomorrow.

Jim and Sabrina are going to come over.

And we MIGHT go get a tree tonight and

decorate it tomorrow.

We'll see.

I have to teach Friday and Saturday mornings

so I'd like to get it done.

Beau and I are SO excited!

Baking

I had a little time on ... Saturday?

After my morning class and before my evening class.

(One of my instructors has the flu so I covered

for her on Fri and Sat evenings).

 I decided to make some food.

Since Rod quit working 24/7

I quit making so much food!

Poor man!

He's used to there being lots of pre-made

food in the freezer for his lunches.

And the theory is I would cook dinner

and he would take the leftover for his lunch.

But like many theories - it didn't work.

So this week I'll be filling the freezer again.

Probably.

Once I get all the Thanksgiving food out of the way.

(He's only working today and tomorrow...)

Anyhow.

I baked bread.

In the PRESSURE COOKER!

(takes WAAAAY longer, but they say it's a lighter,

fluffier result - I'm going to try again in the

regular oven and see if its true...)

But anyhow.

It was a flourless (almond flour) and cheese/chive bread.

So I got some fresh chives from the garden

and got to work.

It was SUPER simple.

I baked it in the springform pan I usually use

for cheesecakes. (which reminds me, I want to

make a cheesecake to take to work tomorrow...)

And then when it was done I put my crisp lid on,

added some more cheese and browned it up a bit.

 It looked really nice!

I could have browned it a little longer, but was

afraid of burning the cheese. (white cheese)

It had nice "crumb" - it looks a bit wet,

but that's just the lighting.

It was actually really yummy.

As evidenced by the fact that Rod eats a piece

with every dinner since...

And, while that was cooking in the pressure cooker

I put a "Guilt Gone Cranberry Pie" in

the toaster oven.

It got a little brown, but it's DELICIOUS!

(You can tell its fall cuz the stores start selling

fresh cranberries and I start making this pie/cake/thing...)

I just finished today's class.

So now it's laundry, etc etc etc...

Have a great Monday!

Tractor Fun

 Yesterday after class Kyle and I headed out 

to the back pasture to seed the grass.

We have to hand seed, we have one of those

little whirly gig jobbies that you pour the

seed into and then walk up and down the

pasture and turn the little crank and seed

spits out in a big arc in front of you.

Which is awesome because you are walking

forward, INTO the stream of seed.

So it gets in your shirt.

But walking backwards looses its appeal

pretty quickly.

Anyhow.

We took turns spreading the seed and then

Kyle hooked the drag to the tractor

and 

I DROVE IT!

It was fun!

Kyle took a picture of me, but with the sun behind

me its hard to see...

And if you look closely, you can see

I had a little stow-away.

He was standing on my accelerator foot.

Made it awesome.

Should have taken a "before"

because then you can recognize the awesomeness of the "after".

Hahahahahahaha

Now we are just waiting for the promised 70% rain.

(It's 3 in the afternoon and nothing yet.....)

Rod says I'm a "real" farmer now.

Since I can drive the tractor.

Kyle says he's pretty sure butchering my own 

rabbits and chickens and keeping the horses,

and steers etc alive and thriving makes me a 

"real" farmer...

but hey... I'll take either or both!

~Real Farmer

HAIR CUT!

 I'm not excited at all....

I decided to get my hair cut today.

After I finish teaching.

So when I hopped on the app,

it said my last cut was...

SEVEN MONTHS AGO!

Sheesh.

So... no pictures yet.

But... depending on how it looks,

AND whether I can get a decent

picture... I'll update the post later.

Here's my before in my zoom room

in my zoom shirt

with my scraggly, thin, long hair.....

Try to forget THAT picture... lol.

AND................

Here we are with it up...

And down...

She cut it dry so it's STRAIGHT and kind of staw-ish...

I'll wet it tomorrow before class and see how it

looks down with some natural curl in it.

It's a REALLY blunt cut and I like it,

but "up" might still have to be the way it goes.

And either way... its my hair for the next six months.

There's always a ponytail.

Or, you know, a hat.

Monday Afternoon

 This week I am teaching the morning classes.

I just finished today's... I had 4 students.

Which is about average for the morning.

Most people have stuff to do.

Anyhow.

Yesterday was the big day.

We (and by we I mean Kyle)

mulched the sun hemp!

It's gotten really leggy.

We should have done it earlier, but he has been busy.

You know... buying a new truck and all that.

Anyhow.

Even standing on a pile of bricks I only got glimpses of him.

(That's a low spot)

Mostly it was... I'm sure he's in there.. but WHERE?

It didn't take long!

It chewed it right up and spit it right out.

(along with a little dirt when there is a hidden hill...)

Oh look!

There are the truck and jeep! 

Haven's seen them in a long time!

And then it was time to hook up the neighbor's tiller

and turn it all in.

Work all that "green manure" into the soil.

It's like instant gratification!

Kyle did those two passes and then let

Rod take over the driver's seat.

He did the rest.

And I went inside to start dinner.

And Kyle built a small fire in the wash tub

and cooked himself a couple of marshmallows.

I didn't get a picture when it was all done because

Rod finished up after dark using the headlights.

And this morning I've been in the Zoom Room.

Kyle went out to smooth it out and seed it with

some winter rye seed I bought,

but it's still kind of rough and he's having trouble

with his neck, so he's going to have Rod drag

it tomorrow.

And then we'll seed it.

I'll be working at the Town.

So again with the "royal" we.... lol.

But it's looking good!

The steers were VERY interested.

(And tried really hard to stretch under the fence

and grab up the bits they could reach...)

When he first started they RAN all over the pasture and back and forth

up to the barn and back to the back and up to the barn...

but then settled down and decided to just stand there and watch.

They are getting bigger.... slowly.

Speaking of bigger...

Kyle's little strawberry plants that only had about 3

leaves on them when he bought them are getting

bigger and one even has a couple of flowers!

If these two do well, he wants to get a bunch more.

Fall seems to be the time to grow them!

It's been much cooler!

(I'm wearing a long sleeved shirt and PANTS to teach

today - and when I'm done here I'm going to grab

a bite to eat and then we're going to take the dog

for a walk in the woods. My computer says is 69 outside.

BRRRRRRR!)

Have a wonderful day!

Hope the trip home from Pine Top was uneventful

and the dr visits go well this week.

Love you guys!!!!

IBotta Thanksgiving

 Have you ever heard of the app "ibotta"?

It's an app you can put on your phone

or computer or iPad or whatever....

and then it gives you cash back when you

buy specific groceries.

I've used Fetch for a long time.

It's another app that gives you points

when you scan ANY receipt.

And then the points can be traded for

gift cards (YEA AMAZON!)

A regular receipt (gas, groceries, fast food)

will get you 25 points and then sometimes

if you buy something they are promoting

you get bonus points.

But since I RARELY buy name brand,

I rarely get the extra points.

And that's also why I don't use ibotta.

You have to buy the specific brand.

However.

ibotta is running a special right now.

FREE THANKSGIVING MEAL.

So I took the time to go through the app

and then took the extra time at the store

to buy the specific stuff.

It would have been easier if I was alone

and if I was more familiar with the app

and had planned correctly.

I spent a lot of time running back and forth

between aisles (since our WalMart just 

re-organized AGAIN! SHEESH!)

Kyle was with me and its harder to

bounce around the store with another person.

Anyhow.....

here's how we did!

I forgot to put the Dreamfields pasta in the picture,

but I got a good discount on that as well,

and since I use it all the time I was happy to see that!

They had one free can of cranberry sauce too,

but by the time I got to the store, it had expired.

So I bought some, but didn't get it free.

So...

Turkey - FREE (up to $15 and that guy was $14.56)

Marie Calendar pie - FREE (I don't like pie and never buy it,

but hey, FREE!)

FREE french fried onions and cream of mushroom soup

(forgot to put that can in the picture too!)

FREE instant mashed potatoes.

FREE frozen veggies. 

FREE brown gravy mix. (Kyle prefers that over turkey...)

And good discounts (like $1 back) on all the rest including

the toothpaste.

As I shopped, I scanned the barcode on each of

the products on the app to make sure it was what

they specifically required. It's easy - it either says

Barcode Matched or NO match.

And it takes it off your list.

So when I was all done I could have just scanned

the barcode on my receipt, but because I linked

ibotta with my WalMart account it did it automatically.

And returned .... wait for it!!!!!

$35.33 back into my bank account!

So... it is a little extra work both before shopping

and at the store, but if you are going to buy

name brand groceries (and with the discounts

it ends up cheaper than the store brand)

it was worth it.

I might not do it all the time....

but it was fun for this trip!

Samsula

 We have a "busy week" planned.

So this morning Kyle and I headed

north to our feed mill.

It was a BEAUTIFUL cloudless day.

We had a "cold front" come through over

the weekend and it has been pretty chilly.

(Florida version...)

But the humidity is low so it's wonderful!

It's a cute little place.

Old as dirt.

Been in the family for many years.

But the brothers are friendly (well, one is... the

other can be grouchy, but he warms up eventually...)

and there are a GAZILLION dogs running around

who are always happy for a pet or an ear scratch.

We enjoy our monthly jaunts up.

And our animals enjoy the excellent,

FRESH feed.

(They grind it right into our barrels!)

GOOD STUFF!

And now we have plenty of feed for the month!

Fall Garden

 We have been planting all the garden beds.

One at a time...

The vast majority of them are planted in peas.

Some have carrots too...

You have to look VERRRRRRRY carefully to see

the little baby carrots right next to the brown

drip lines. They are teeeny tiny.

There is also a bed of zucchini, yellow squash and nasturtiums.

I know, we keep saying NO MORE SQUASH.

But we had to try again........

One side of the tunnel is planted with tomatoes and peppers.

The other three panels are cucumbers.

But there's nothing to see yet.

They are SLOW.

And the skinny bed along the back of the garden is planted in

watermelons (no sign of them yet) and down at the end closest

to the barn we have 2 black berry plants, 2 strawberries and a

little cherry tree that might someday be something.

Fingers crossed that everything will come up and

be a HUGE heavy producer.

I'd love to have a bunch of frozen peas!

(Or just fresh ones to eat in the garden!)

Beach!

 Kyle and I headed to the beach this afternoon.

The weather here is GORGEOUS!

It's the best time of the year...

The humidity was pretty low and

the temps were in the low 80's.

PERFECT!

And I guess everybody thought so,

because our little "local's only" 

stretch of beach was much more 

populated than normal.

(Not crowded, but there were actually

PEOPLE there... often there are only

5 or 6 total, today maybe 20?)

Anyhow.

We sat in our chairs and watched the 

waves and the fish and the sailboats

waaaaaaaaaay out on the horizon 

for about 30 minutes and then got up

for a walk.

We did 3.42 miles today.

There were several very large jellies on the beach!

(And we even saw one in the surf!)

And someone got creative with the beach art again.

From a distance it looked like a cactus.

With a smile.

Also sadly a dead sea turtle.

(No picture - you're welcome...)

We didn't go up and look closer.

Eeeeeeuuuuwwww.

It was a lovely day!

And then home to feed the animals.

I'm trying a new recipe tonight for a 

chicken queso casserole thingie.

Hope it's good.

The buzzer just went off, so time

to go pull it out of the oven.

Hope your day was lovely as well!

Tuesday!

 It's been a hot minute since my last post.

I've stayed busy!

Yesterday was my co-worker's birthday so I worked

the full day to cover for her... and then Jim came

over to visit!

First time in THREE MONTHS!

He's been crazy busy as well...

People are FINALLY buying cars again, 

so he's working crazy hours (and got 2 phone

calls from prospective buyers while he was here)

selling pre-order / custom order cars.

I guess it's the wave of the future.

(It's how Kyle was able to buy his truck...

had to custom order it...)

Anyhow.

Then this morning it was back to the office,

then to the grocery store with Kyle,

and then home to teach my Orientation class.

No pictures.

But the garden is all planted

and there are baby sugar snap peas starting

to peek out of the dirt.

I'll try to get a picture tomorrow.

I have (shhhhh) nothing to do tomorrow!

First time in over a month!

I'm going to enjoy it!

And I hope you enjoy your day too......