This morning, Hubby and I went to the Farmer's Market. It's sort of a date thing with us. We go to the Farmer's Market most Saturday mornings, and then shopping at Winco. Everybody does that, right?? Ahh, true love. It pretty much goes like this: All of a sudden, there we were, alone in a 32,000 square foot building with 25 foot ceilings. Me, totally smitten by this gorgeous hunk of a man, as I was pushing the cart somewhere between the feminine hygiene isle and the 5 lb. bricks of 73% lean ground beef. Him, wielding the shopping list with such keen authority, no wasted motion as he made crucial decisions in mere nano seconds, not unlike a lion chasing his prey on the Serengeti.
Yep, folks. That's us. Each weekend. Anyway, as if that wasn't enough excitement, on our way back, we were looking at the birds in the rice fields. I love this time of year. The rice farmers around us flood the fields as soon as the rice is harvested to give the migrating birds a place to rest, eat and play a little poker when no one is looking. I thought you might like to see a few pictures I took. Here they are, just chillin'.
A few more in the air, but still taking a break.
I think their break is over! There they go!
T urkey. The noble bird.
H ubby. He's my one and only. The love of my life.
A mazing. My life.
N ana. I miss her lots, and think of her often.
K ids. My adult children. I love them like crazy. Cuz they are!
S ister. She's pretty crazy sometimes, too!
G randparents. They're part of who we are.
I n-laws. Mine are pretty cool!
V isitors. Company at our table is the best!
I ndulge. Sometimes too much!
N ap. To settle the turkey and stuffing!
G obble gobble. Or maybe gastronomy?
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
I've been MIA for the past few months. I won't bore you with the details, but I think I'm ready to get back into the groove of things. You know, things like life. Things like work, which means sweet little kids as high as my hip. Things like after school projects! Which brings me to my newest, latest and greatest project. I've been working really hard, only occasionally needing the assistance of either my youngest son or my dear darling hubby. Not that my son isn't dear and darling, but I don't think he really wants to think of himself as that. Anyway, back to my project. My poor chickens were complaining about yet another wet winter in their old coop. They hate wet feet when it's cold and windy. I even heard rumblings of an egg strike if nothing was done! So, I agreed to make them a new coop. They requested a movable coop, so they can have fresh grass and dry feet. I went to work, and.......Ta Da! Here's what I came up with!
David and I had moved it around so hubby could hook onto the lawn tractor and drag it into the pasture.
Umm, yea. That took a little thought and a change of plans.
If we're anything, we're stubborn and persistent. If it doesn't work the first time, try a different approach!
Here it is, on its way down the driveway, ready to make the turn into our pasture. The perfect spot for chickens!
And here they are, in their new home. Ready for winter, ready for a fresh supply of grass, seeds, and bugs! Whew! Strike averted!
I was looking through some pictures of mine, and I thought you might like to see, too! This is a family ranch, where we sometimes go on vacation. We camp, work, and putter. The guys hunt, and I cook. Oh, do I cook! The evenings are cool, and I have a real stove and oven. It's pretty cool. Anyway, last year, Michael and I went up for a long weekend. Michael is our oldest, and he and I had a few things to do. I took the camera, and shot a few pictures. This first one is on the road up to our camp. It's one of the fields next to a fallen down shed. It was made of hand hewn lumber. So cool.
This is the meadow that our camp looks out on. This is seriously cool. Prettiest place on earth. Just ask me. I'll tell you!!
And here's my boy! Kicking back in camp, after a hard day's work.
Yeah, he's back to driving!! Hmmm, I wonder how many miles per gallon this thing gets, and can he go to town and back??? Ha! Anyway, here is my hubby, after a bit of a forced, "relaxation." He decided the pasture was high enough, and it needed mowing.
We even took some of the clippings to my chickens that were moved to a new spot under the trees. They loved it!
I have a question. A bean question. Or, rather, a question about beans. I got home today after a lengthy (for me) absence from home. Can you guess what I did as soon as I got home? I ran (well, more like sauntered) out to my garden to look things over. Among other things, my green beans are producing. And I guess they've been producing for what looks like almost the entire time (3 weeks) I've been gone. There are beans of all maturity, but lots of older ones. Could I use just plain old green beans as dried beans? Could I pick the older ones, dry them, and cook them up later instead of throwing them into the compost heap? Would it be worth the work, or would I be better off to use them as compost, and try a true dried bean variety next season? I've never grown dried beans before, and now am at a total loss as to what to do with this multitude of old beans.
Thank you for any and all help you can give me. Oh, and I know that was more than one question, but I was sort of on a roll. Besides, it's been a long day, and maybe, I might kind of be suffering from the effects of 2 bowls of mint chocolate chip ice cream. I sort of didn't stop after the first one. True story.
Signed,
Just One Simple Human Bean
I've been visiting here at a hospital, and some of the patients have mentioned there's alot of turkey served at meal time. Turkey meat is healthy! It has less fat than beef. It's very versatile, and it tastes good! Hmmmm, but perhaps that's not the only reason???? Look what was crossing the road right in front of my car this morning! I stopped and waited while they walked on by. Whoever said beef is what's for dinner, hasn't spent much time here!
