One Year Down! A Bunch More to Go-God Willing!

Hi!  It's been so long perhaps you thought I died?  Nope!  Just busy traveling, gardening, working, studying, eating... and so on and on.  I have so much to say I don't even know where to start.  I guess first I better note that a whole year has passed since I began torturing you with my favorite subject... food.  As it relates to me.  Yeah. it's all about me.  :)   It's been quite a year.  From fat to much thinner, back to fatter, thinner... whew!  Anybody else live on this roller coaster?  Well fortunately at this point I can report that over all I'm down just about 15 pounds and my blood sugar levels are WAY healthier than they were a year ago!  Usually... almost always. :)  So progress has been made!  But it's not over.  It will have to be a lifetime change.  Going back means so many bad things. I better press on! Blog wise - I guess I could just quit here.  And if I trail off never to be heard from again you'll know that's exactly what I did.  I think I have at least one more post in me so here goes!  Bummer for you!  Hmm...  I had so many titles today I almost couldn't pick one.  I wanted to begin with, There's No Place Like Home - having just come back from my visit to TN to hang out with my family.  Of course I think of Tennessee as home too.  Then I wanted to change it to There's No Place Like Fat - which is an overreaction to my blood glucose level this morning.  Man!  I have been so used to getting a reading in the 90 to 95 range that I was stunned to see 123 leap off the screen at me this morning.  I don't know why I should be stunned!  It is what happens when you eat cookies and chips at ladies bible study then stop by the grocery store on the way home, load up on fruit and eat half of it before going to bed at 11pm.  And while I'm at it I just have to confess... the night before, I went to bed around 10:30, couldn't sleep so I got up because I was thirsty, went into the kitchen and ransacked the pantry, eating a handful of everything I could find.  What a stooge!

That reminds me of one of the stories we laughed about last week in TN.  My mama is very successful when it comes to weight loss.  Over the years she has lost probably 150 pounds.  Of course it's the same couple of pounds over and over again.  :)  At one particular point in her life, somewhere back in the 70's she was stalled out and couldn't seem to lose any weight.  My three brothers and I decided we would help her.  We made sure she wasn't eating too much at dinner.  We were present for some of her weigh ins.  We were stumped!  Sure enough... no weight loss!  We began discussing this among ourselves and came up with a couple of possible reasons.  We began testing our theories.  Late one evening... around midnight the creaking began.  Some little mouse was slowly creeping, tip toeing up the stairs in the dark.  Sneaking round the corner into the kitchen.  The light appears as the refrigerator door swings open then POUNCE!  The kitchen lights flood the scene like a search light and all of us kids leap from our hiding places with fingers pointed, yelling, "BUSTED!!!"  Our clever little mama never missed a beat!  She jerked straight up with arms stretched out in front of her and sleep walked right back to bed.  Riiiiiiight!  :)  Talk about your generational curses!  Well, I am happy to inform you that I actually did not gain a bunch of pounds down in TN.  This morning the fatometer was as ungracious as it's been for the last couple of weeks by proclaiming 156.3.  Which is pretty much the same as when I left.  So I'm just about even money.  Still fat. :)  But not fater!  Yay!

Well!  That was a super long intro to my TN trip.  I'll share some of the pics with you and narrate.  A good time was had by all.  Of course there were a couple of low points felt by Bobby my youngest baby (20 years old) who accompanied me to TN.  At times he had to go outside and play with frogs in order to avoid being overwhelmed by conversations about dead people and menopause.  :)  Very fortunately he was rescued from us old women by various cousins who had also come home to attend the BBQ.  Let's see what pics I can  find... Hmm... I better go load up on coffee before I start in on this.  We better have an intermission here.  Or perhaps you may just want to leave the theater... this could be as long and drawn out as, Gone With the Wind!

Ok, I'm back!  Is the microphone on?  Again... I apologize... it's ok if you fade in and out or fall asleep completely.  Some of you may not be as fascinated with my trip home as I am :)  This reminds me that yesterday as I sat down to compose a post my little mini computer died.  It was probably suicide... NO!!!  Don't make me listen to another one of her insane rambling stories... CRASH!  Can you blame it?  Unfortunately for it... it's still under warranty so it will live again!  Hmm... I believe this is the definition of ADD.  The inability to complete a thought or task... ever!!!  :)  Ok... roll em!

Starting at the beginning... Bobby and me leaving his apartment.  We were very excited.

On to to the airport.  I will spare you the details of the drama of having TWO flights cancelled and having to spend the night in Chicago.  Well... maybe I didn't spare you... but it was the Evelyn Woods speed reading version...  There's no place like the airport :)  Look how exciting... :)

Finally on the plane!

At Pa and Granny's at last!  This was after they got over the shock of having Bobby walk up the driveway.  He was a surprise visitor.  :)

I'm so happy to see my mommy!  She is so sweet not to scream.  I'm squishing my poor mother!

And now Bobby knows he truly has arrived.  He found his first frog!

And a beautiful moth

Later that evening Jeff and Andrea arrived.  We had a nice visit and went off to bed.  You can't sleep in at Granny's, you wouldn't want to miss breakfast!  I realized right away that unless I wanted to buy an extra plane ticket on the way home for my mid section I was going to have to show some restraint so rather than going whole hog I settled for half  of a biscuit to go with my gravy.  Biscuits must only be eaten with the brown sides up.  If you mistakenly turn the fluffy insides up Pa is happy to instruct you and even turn them over for you.  :)

               

We had a wonderful surprise early that morning.  Pat's son Josh brought our new Marine Andy home for a visit.  Nobody knew he was coming.  We were all so happy to see him.  Josh too!  He's all grown up and moved off to the big city so he's rarely seen around small time Dover anymore!    This is my brother Pat with three of his boys.  Brian, Andy and Josh.  Pat thinks he the favorite child.  He's not but we let him wear a crown so he feels special.  He is special... if you know what I mean.  :)

That evening Pa and Granny took us all out to Southernaire for dinner.  Here are a few of us lounging around the table...

Yep... as far as the eye can see... the Taylor clan...

It's so relaxing to hang out at my parents house.  No cares and worries.  They live so far out my cares and worries would have to work super hard to find me.  No cell phone reception.  So what did I do for entertainment?  Well... I read, visited with family, listened to my brother play the guitar.  

Oh, you want to get in on that?  Ok...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_Yef1h3Z3Y

And now the main event... the BBQ.  

I was told that our family BBQ's have been happening for about 60 years.  I'll have to take their word for it... that's before my time!  They are so much fun!  It's a time to gather together and celebrate family.  A time to be thankful for the rich heritage we have been blessed with.  I believe Daddy Quinn was still alive when they began.  He passed away before I was born so I never met him but I have very fond memories of BBQ's when I was a child.  Back in the day I remember them being held at Aunt Rita and Uncle Dalton's house.  Mama Quinn's little trailer was also parked close by.  She was a wonderful grandmother!  Very saintly... and fiesty!!!  Of course I never got into any trouble :)  but I've seen her chase my brother Gene around the house and tackle and whip him with her shoe!  Whew boy!  I happen to know he always deserved it!  Mama Quinn was an insulin dependant type two diabetic.  And she loved to eat.  Of course she loved to eat the things she shouldn't - corn bread comes to mind.  She used to lock the door to her trailer and mix up a batch of corn bread and bake it up in her cast iron skillet.  Pretty soon Aunt Rita would smell it baking and would come over and start pounding on Mama Quinn's door trying to get in so she could prevent her from eating the corn bread.  Every time she would fail to gain entry.  Mama Quinn would tell her she might as well go away because she wasn't going to open the door until she had eaten the whole pan.  Hmm... that sounds someone else I know :)  

So many of my loved ones who were always so much a part of this wonderful tradition when I was a child are no longer with us.  I sure miss my aunts and uncles who have already moved to heaven!  Aunts Rita, Lou, Patricia, Carol and very recently we lost my Uncle JP.  And my brother Gene always loved the BBQ.  I hope the younger generation will continue this tradition.  It's very special!  This year they set up a memorial table with pictures of all of our family who have passed away as well as pictures of our family members who serve or have served in the military.

Here are the sisters who we are still blessed to have in our lives:  In the back standing up is Aunt Robbye and Aunt Betty.  Seated on the left is my mother Molly, Aunt Bea and Aunt Snooky (Mary Evelyn).  I could tell you wonderful stories about each of these awesome ladies and how they have blessed my life and helped shape who I am today.  Thank you Mama and Aunties!

The BBQ is really a two part event.  Saturday is hog day.  The hog get's slow cooked over coals all day and all night.  Lot's of family gather around on Saturday and enjoy a big picnic where BBQ chickens are the star of the show accompanied by lots of yummy food that everyone brings.  Of course all the stories come out.  Then the guitars come out.  As dark falls the crowd breaks up and only the hard core dedicated souls remain to keep watch over the pig all night long.  Ole cousin Jeff has been the pit master for as long as I can remember.  I know this job has been shared by many over the years but in recent history Jeff is the one I recall sweating over the fire.  I think he got his beard braids a little too close this year.  I saw some singed ends Saturday afternoon.  :)  Here are a few pics of Hog Saturday.  The pic above of the sisters is from Hog Saturday.

Here is the guest of honor... the hog.  I really should have gotten a picture of the hog all crispy... oh well...

Cousin Jeff taking a quick peek.

                                                        Bryan, Isaac, Pat, Aaron telling stories.

                                                                                         Bobby and Robbye

                                                                   Pa wandering by

A RARE picture with my cousin Debby (along with Andy) who hates being in pictures as much as I do.  Well actually  I wouldn't mind being in pictures if I wasn't so mugly :)

and of course here's a sampling of lunch...  this includes a tiny strip of ribs that cousin Jeff was trying to tell me was gopher of some other varmint.  Who knows!?!   

Here are a couple of the pickers, cousin Jimmy and Tony my cousin Robin's sweet heart.  Pa is singing along with them.

Early in the morning on Sunday comes the job of picking the pig and turning it in to sandwich meat.  I fortunately slept too late to take part in this job but brother Jeff did.  I'm so proud of him for getting up like that at 5am.  After that the party moves to the church where after a good old southern Baptist sermon we once again gather for the real feast.  Everyone brings a dish.  The table is loaded with wonderful food made by wonderful cooks.  I had a great time visiting AND eating.  I did a pretty good job of choosing things that wouldn't launch my blood sugar into orbit.  

then of course I had two pieces of pie.   :)

This picture is of my mother with me and my "twin" cousins Dee and Mary Beth.  These are Aunt Carol's daughters.  Aunt Carol was my mom's twin sister who passed away when I was only about 10 years old.  I know they miss her still!  Dee is coming to visit me here in Chewelah in September and dragging Robin along... right Robin???  And any other cousins who want to come!  That will be so much fun!   

Here I am with my brothers...  loafing around after lunch

And finally I'll close with a picture of me, Jeff, Mama and my aunts.  We are admiring the beautiful chocolate pie that Aunt Betty made for Jeff.  Oh... of course she said it was for me too... but I'm pretty sure she whispered in his ear that it was really for him :)  How does he rate anyway???  I suppose it must be like Aunt Lou used to always say, "He has the eyes of Jesus".  I guess I'm just chopped liver  :)  Which is a whole "nother" story!

Look at that linebacker all dressed in red!  I look like I could seriously injure someone.  Ok well... as Aunt Rita used to say...  I gotta go to bed!

Ciao!  Thank God right?  :)

 

A Seriously Rainy Day - Perfect for Making Bread

Just what I need right?  :)  Bread!  The thing is... I'm leaving early in the morning to go to Woodinville for the week so I thought I would bake some bread and leave Dave to eat it all up.  That ought to work out just right!  Today's stats, just to get it out of the way:  fatometer 157.3 and glucose 91.  Ok, back to the rain.  Sort of.  About noon today I walked out of church and did a little dance of joy as the sun was out and shining.  I had all kinds of plans for the day.  Making bread was actually on my to do list but I decided against it since there were green house shelves to paint and seedlings to re-pot, packing for my trip, bills to pay, weeding around the base of the fruit trees.  The list goes on and on.  I quickly changed into my shorts and a tank top and ran out to the green house.  I did get my shelves painted and they are drying.  Dave just finished putting them up yesterday.  I had planned on doing the re-potting out in the garden.  There is no room to work in the garden shed yet since it does not have it's counter and Dave's tools and saw horses are still inside.  The shed is not complete yet but it's sure coming along.  Dave get's so irritated at me because I keep taking pictures of it and he keeps telling me to stop because it's not done yet.  Here are a couple from a few days ago.

Very nice garbage can on the porch huh?

Lucy is like me... she's imagining what it will be like to 

sit on the porch when it's all done

.



Here we have the beginning of shelves.  Now there are layers of shelves on all three sides.  Dave's getting pretty frustrated with me.  I keep moving
plants in and he keeps having to move them out so he can work :)   See where the board sits cross ways?  That will be a sliding glass door that will separate the green house from the shed part.


Let's see... other news...   Dave has now installed all his cattle guards and has most of the new fence posts in for the new pasture.  Here he is on his little tractor placing the last cattle guard.

Such a busy little worker bee!  His reward after a long hard days work is to sit on the front porch and gaze out over the field where his oats are just coming up and drink in the beauty of the rock painted golden red by the setting sun.  

And perhaps have a nice piece of strawberry-rhubarb cobbler :)

Today there was no such treat.  The sky turned from beautiful blue to a dark, dreary gray and the rain poured down.  The mist covered the red rocks and the mountains were nowhere to be seen.  I had to change out of my shorts and put on a coat.  Such a cruel trick!   :(  What a drippy, messy, rainy, gross day it turned into!  Yuk!  Of course that put an end to most of my plans for the day.  So... there was bread.

Ciao!

Happy Mother's Day!

'

Mommy and Me!  :)

I sat down yesterday to write this post.  Three times I attempted to say something worthy of my mother.  Each time I crashed and burned.  (Insert big sigh here!)  Finally I decided I needed a little divine intervention as my words were obviously not cutting it so I humbly asked God to help me write something fitting to honor my sweet mother.  I got nothing.  I went to bed.  :)  This morning at 4:15 my eyes popped open and my first thought was... Shazam!  I couldn't scramble out of bed fast enough.  Ha ha!  God is always just in time right?  And so here are some inspired words written about my mother that I'd like to share with you... only I didn't write them at all.  I mean seriously... who'se going to come up with something better than this?!?

From the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament,

Proverbs:10-31

¹⁰ A wife (mother) of noble character who can find? 

   She is worth far more than rubies. 

¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her 

   and lacks nothing of value. 

¹² She brings him good, not harm, 

   all the days of her life. 

¹³ She selects wool and flax 

   and works with eager hands. 

¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships, 

   bringing her food from afar. 

¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night; 

   she provides food for her family 

   and portions for her female servants. 

¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it; 

   out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. 

¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously; 

   her arms are strong for her tasks. 

¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable, 

   and her lamp does not go out at night. 

¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff 

   and grasps the spindle with her fingers. 

²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor 

   and extends her hands to the needy. 

²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household; 

   for all of them are clothed in scarlet. 

²² She makes coverings for her bed; 

   she is clothed in fine linen and purple. 

²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate, 

   where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. 

²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them, 

   and supplies the merchants with sashes. 

²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity; 

   she can laugh at the days to come. 

²⁶ She speaks with wisdom, 

   and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 

²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household 

   and does not eat the bread of idleness. 

²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed; 

   her husband also, and he praises her: 

²⁹ “Many women do noble things, 

   but you surpass them all.” 

³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; 

   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. 

³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done, 

   and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Any of you who know my mother will recognize her is these words.  She has set before me an amazing example of what a mother and wife should be.  It is doubtful that I will ever live up to her example but I will keep plugging away at it.  Thank you Mama for all that you have done for me.  You are an amazing woman and I love you!

I also want to say happy mother's day to Katie and Nicole who are the mothers of my beautiful grand daughters.  You are God's gift to them and they to you.  Treasure that gift!

And now I shall leave you with one last picture.  This was when I was still cute :)

Three Aunts, Two Cousins and a Daughter

And Dave!  Can't forget Dave for sure!  He's not so nimble today.  He pounded nails all day yesterday until it rained as darkness began to fall.  Today he is feeling quite sore.  Today he thinks he'll relax and hang with the girls.  We'll see how that goes :)

Well... I forgot to report my stats yesterday so I better not forget today.  Glucose was 78 which is low/fine but the fatometer actually said to me this morning when I stepped on, "Suuuuuuiieeee, oink, snort, you big fat pig!"  What abuse!  I'm about to get rid of that thing!  Hhmfff!  157.8.  I was supposed to be losing a bunch of weight. Apparently I lost my focus.  It will be me stretched out on the spit over Memorial Day at this rate.  To quote a favorite phrase of my daughter KTBug the birthday girl who turned 22 today (April 15th), "I suck at life!"  :)  Oh well!  There's always tomorrow... until there isn't.  So I'll either have the opportunity to do better tomorrow, or they won't be saying as they stare at me in the box, "she looks good doesn't she?"  At least I know my hair will look great, my bff Brenda promised to make sure of that.  I don't know if I should trust her though... she may just take the opportunity to pay me back for all the times I experimented on her in our early days of being hair dressers.  Like one Halloween...  Oh man, how does this happen?  Someone throw me a line before I drift off into oblivion!

Too late!  I was gone.  And that was as far as I got that day.  Here we are... May 28th.  Fat still!  156.6 glucose 99.  Some time ago my dad told me I should rename my blog "The Unsuccessful Dieter".  He was right.  :) Major fail!  But... there's always tomorrow... until there isn't.  Oh yeah!  I already said that.  Well... back to the title of the post...my Aunts who are my dad's sisters, my cousins, Aunt Joyce's daughters came to visit me... last weekend.  I thoroughly enjoyed having them.  What a treat!  Aunt Joyce and my cousin Karen traveled all the way from Tacoma and brought with them my other aunts, Marge who traveled all the way from TN and Anetta who traveled all the way from Germany!  Cousin Cheryl lives in the Tri Cities area and we were very fortunate to be able to steal her away for the night.  We ate (naturally) played games, went on walks, played games, drank cousin Karen's home made Green Tomato Wine, played games and admired Daffy.  Here are a few of the pics from their visit...

This is Aunt Joyce on the left, Aunty M, Aunt Netta and me getting ready to go out and feed little Daffy.

Aunt Joyce and Aunt Netta playing Mexican Train

Aunty M and Cuz Karen, more Mexican Train

Here we are clustered around the counter eating... oh... I think that was salmon topped with citrus spinach and veggie quinoa.  Looks like some green tomato wine going on too.

Again, clustered around the kitchen counter at breakfast time, coffee cups in hand.  Check out Aunty M's stylin jammies :)  This is me, auntys and cousin Cheryl.  Too bad you can't make out the beautiful colors on the baby blanket Aunty M made to send to my new little granddaughter who is due in July.  I would tell you her name if only her parents would decide what it's going to be.  Here's a suggestion... Mary Camille Muhammad.  She would be named after her favorite people in the whole world, her Mommy, Her Mumsey and of course her Daddy.  Works for me!  :)  It's not that hard!

This is me, cuz Karen and aunts standing on what will be the front porch of my garden shed that my awesome husband is building while he is recovering from his surgery.  Which reminds me.  Today we are rejoicing because he is getting his cast off.  Typically I go shopping while he has his check ups but today I'm going in with him because I just have to see the look on their faces when they see the crumbling cast they will be removing.  I doubt whether any other cast has seen this much mileage.  :)

In this pic it's a long way from finished... but tell me.  Who else has a front porch on their garden shed?  Hmm?  I love my husband!  :)

Amberlyn also came over and spent the weekend.  She slept a lot and did homework a lot so we didn't really see that much of her.  She stayed most of the day on Sunday though so we got to visit with her then.  Here she is feeding the adorable Daffy

Well... I better just let this be the end of this post because I also have to write one where I show Aubrey hunting Easter eggs :)  But not today.  I best get to work :)

Ciao!

Jack's Back!

Of course when I say Jack I am referring to my awesome husband Dave.  Why do I call him Jack?  Well, a few reasons come to mind.  First of all, he really is a Jack of all trades.  And then he reminds me of a jumping Jack because he's never still for long.  My bff Brenda must be shaking her head and thinking, riiiiight!  Her pet name for him, and the heading on his contact in her phone is Jackass!  Well... that's a different story and we won't go there - although it did just make me smile.  Memories :)  Of course I have to confess that my name in her phone is Lame Ass.  Apparently we are the Ass family.  :)  Ok!  Moving on :)  Anyway... for the last few months Dave's been a very sad Jack since he's been out of commission for months now.  But like I said... he's back!  He finally got clearance from the tower to begin putting a bit of weight on his foot.  Now I probably won't see him again until winter.  Of course he didn't do just nothing while he was down.  He planned and schemed and even started my garden shed.  He didn't get too far crawling around on his hands and knees.  Still it was an impressive effort... remember, hands and knees.

Yes... he's pretty resourceful.  Somehow he talked our neighbor Denny into letting him plant his large field just on the other side of our driveway with oats.  Just for fun.  Then he talked our neighbor Ed (he's a REAL farmer!) into providing him with a seeder full of oats.  Dave drove his tractor up and over the hill through a couple of neighbors places to get to Ed and Donna's farm where the seeder was.  I'm not really sure how that worked.  I was upstairs working while this all happened yesterday.  And poor Ed had to take time out from "real" farming to come show Jack how to hook up the seeder... and you should have seen the look on Jack's face!  He was having more fun than any injured man should.  He still has the cast on for another two weeks.  I'm sure I'll be amazed at all he accomplishes by the time the cast comes off and he can really get back to work!  Anyway... here is is "sowing his oats".  You can see our little house and barn in the back ground.

If you want go check out the tiny video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy_RiueElbg

He finished up that task and moved back to the shed...

I'm not sure what he's doing now.  I don't hear any power tools running.  Wonder what he's going to do tomorrow... :)

Well... on Monday we got Carol and Granny to come over and help us round up our little man, Chuck so he could join the boys choir.  :(  Such a sad business!  He was very brave about it though.  It's a great thing to have such wonderful neighbors.  Dave was still on crutches and I'm just useless when it comes to tackling cows and such.  :)  But he's much happier today.  Perhaps a little sore.  Here are the kids coming to see what's for dinner ... Daffy in the back, Chuck up front.

Such cute babies.  Daffy knows when it's bottle time.  She comes running.  Check her out...  and good ole Tank is all in there :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xrUAQYmV0I

Ok I'll quit pestering you with my silly little videos.  Hmm... not sure why but I'm getting super hungry.  Think I'll go grill some rib steaks!  :)

Ciao!

22 Degrees - REALLY?!!!

It's so cold out there the calves are huddled up to the big pile of poop and straw!  I don't even want to go out and feed them.  This is stupid!  Oh well... it also means the sky is clear as a bell and we should see a high of 53 today.  Yay!!!  Perfect weather for another round of roto-tilling.  My little spinach and lettuce seeds Dave has been hovering over down in his man cave have sprouted are now reaching for the light so I want to have the garden ready soon!  Now if only the darn belt will stay on that machine!  He wants to buy a tiller attachment for the tractor.  For my small garden that would be like... two passes and done.

So this morning the fatometer read 155.9.  Creeeeeping downwards ever so slowly.  I'll be excited when I get back down to the fatness I was when I came back from the cruise!  :)  Glucose was 80.  A good sign.  Means I'm doing something right and if I keep it up then zipping my pants is in my foreseeable future.  Awesome!

A couple of entertaining events occurred in the barnyard yesterday.  First... I'm still supplementing Daffy with two bottles a day.  When I fed her yesterday evening Tank who always has to be right in the middle of everything, stood right there and licked her face the whole time she was drinking the bottle so he could have the milk foam she was dribbling out.  It was so funny to watch I just couldn't stop him.  I do hope he's smart enough not to try that when she's nursing off mama!  Ginger will not think it's funny at all and will kick Tank's dogie butt to the moon.

The second was the chickens.  I mentioned a couple of posts ago that our little mama hen was sitting right?  Well she is seldom off the nest now.  About a week ago she was feeding in the chicken yard and I happened to be out there.  I took a peek to see how many eggs she was sitting on and noticed there were six.  I had helped by placing two eggs from the other hens under her myself.  Then yesterday I noticed once again that she was off the nest feeding so I checked back again and there were probably a dozen eggs!  I couldn't figure that out!  I didn't know they kept on laying eggs!  How ever would they all hatch at the same time?   Well... later in the evening when I went back in to check for eggs that the other hens might have laid I glanced over toward her...

I had to do a double take.  Up until today I've only seen our little blonde hen sitting and now it appears we have two "sitters".  The hen on the right is her little chick from last year.  Out of the five eggs she hatched last summer four of them were roosters and just the one little hen.  Mother and daughter sharing the nest.  How cute!  I'm not sure what this means since the newer eggs were laid more recently.  As you can tell I'm not a chicken expert!  We'll see what happens.  One thing I do know is that we need a better hen house.  That's also on Dave's project list for this year.

Well... that's all folks!  Have a great weekend!

Miscelaneous News From The Farm

Good morning!  :)  It's 5:45 and dawn is just breaking.  First light.  I love it.  Dave has not crawled out of bed and begun to ask me to go find his glasses or bring him more tea.  Poor man.  He wants to be off of his crutches as much as I want it.  He realizes he did not marry a nurse.  He said if he ever becomes paralyzed to please just shoot him.  You are all my witnesses.  He asked for it!  :)  Ahh... humor!  How energizing.  Especially the kind aimed at someone else.  That is unfortunately a genetic flaw.  :)  I apologize for the sins of my father.  :)

Well.. first of all... my renewed commitment to drop a few unwanted winter pounds is almost discouraging!  I'm two weeks in and I've only lost a few pounds.  156.6  :(  But... my glucose level  is staying right where it needs to be.  It was 78 this morning and I'm eating super healthy stuff.  Here's an example of some recent creations from my kitchen that either are healthy - or I have deluded myself into believing they are...

Breakfast Parfait made with plain Greek yogurt mixed with sugar free strawberry syrup and crunchy bits like sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds (my newest addiction).

Beef & Tofu Stir Fry topped with slivered almonds.  Made from the left over roast.  I know... a sweet potato!  But!  It's only a quarter of a spud.  I realize this looks like an enormous plate of food but it's a salad plate.  I usually eat off of a salad plate.  Small portions look pathetically small on a diner plate!  It's the oldest trick in the book but pretty effective.  And pretty fun if your husband is not on a diet.  Make's him feel like a big fat pig when I bring his big fat plate   :)  That's a little mean but it's  pretty emotionally satisfying especially after having to witness ice cream being consumed.  This is not the case right now... but in the recent past I have had to witness such atrocities.  Hmm... I must be feeling mean this morning.  A great day to make some collection calls.  :)  Anyway...moving on...  how bout this...

This was dinner last night getting ready to go in the oven to roast.  Sausage and lots of veg.  Sausage is healthy you ask?  Well... not really except that it's a pretty small amount.  And very lean for sausage.  This is a toaster oven size pan.  Also this is special sausage.  Crafted specially for us from just one cow, which is why we call them Panda Dogs.  :)  I know... I'm sick!  Poor Panda!  She is so tasty!

Or for lunch... Turkey Lentil soup with a lovely salad with mozzarella cheese and pistachios.

 I'm starting to get more exercise now too.  For instance, on Tuesday because Dave is still on crutches I had to fork all the hay ( a wonderful gift from our super star neighbor farmer Ed) from the trailer out into the pasture.  I was pitching it to them a little at a time but when we got close to the end Dave said to feed them the rest.   We had to unload it in order to take a road trip to Spirit Lake, ID to pick up some wooden fence posts and rails for Dave's spring fence project.  Of course he can't actually work on it - with the crutches and all, but the material is here.  I had to drive the truck and trailer since it's his right foot.
I really don't like driving anything big but I didn't really have a choice because... he'd already made up his mind :)  It was a fun trip though.  It turned but to be partly sunny all day and we took the back roads.  So pretty.

With the fencing loaded onto the 20' trailer we wound our way through the Pend O'Reille valley then up over Flowery Trail Rd and flew past the ski resort at an astounding 30 miles per hour.  Good thing there was pretty much NO traffic all the way from Idaho.  It's one of the benefits of living out in the sticks.  Anyway, I did a nice job driving.  The trailer is parked as requested right alongside the chicken coup waiting for the cast to come off.  Unfortunately we have to make one more trip back on Saturday to pick up the rest of the fencing.  It didn't all fit on the trailer.

Next week while he waits for the cast on his right foot to come off he thinks he can get my garden shed and green house framed in.  Here is a pic of a garden shed that is similar to what mine may look like when it's complete... a mini barn.  Won't the teeny tiny weather-vane that sits up on our barn look adorable on top of this?  Yes!  You can barely see it on the barn.  I'll probably have to go up and get it down though.  :)

I got back in the garden with the roto tiller again.  That's a work out!  :)  That machine feels like it's beating the hell out of me!  But I love to see the soil being worked and turned.

And once again... the most exciting news of all is our newest baby...

Meet Chuck!  We deliberated over the name for a few days and this is finally what Dave likes best.  Short for Chuck roast.  I know... boo!  He was born Sunday morning and is beautiful and healthy.  This was taken just a few hours after he was born. He's up and about now, bouncing around the pasture with his mommy Mumbo.  Here he is meeting his sister for the first time...

Chuck is on the left.  Daffy is on the right.  Yesterday we moved the mamas and babies into the same pasture which meant we could let Red Bull out of his small pen.  He has his own pasture now.  I think he was glad to have a bit more room to move around in.  

Here is Mumbo with Everett (on the right) and baby Chuck.   Everett is Mumbo's calf from last year.  I took this yesterday.  It was sweet to watch them.  Baby was nursing and Mumbo was grooming Everett (named because she was born on 4/25 which is the Everett area code).   We think Everett will be a good mama too.

It is not a great pic but it shows you Mumbo's little family.  Everett looks just like Mumbo!  Little Chuck is very dark red courtesy of his daddy Red Bull... the Red Angus. 

Red Bull is just a youngster too.  He is two years old so he still has some growing to do.  He obviously did a fine job this year.  Dave has only attempted to ride him once so far.  It was only a half hearted attempt and not very successful.  I'll request that he let me video the next attempt as it may be his last appearance on camera.  The likelihood of him becoming paralyzed and therefore shot is quite high!  :)

Ok... gotta get rolling.  I have cows to feed and breakfast to make and tea to deliver.  And... it's Thursday already.  Wow!  Where did the week go.  Happy Friday Eve!

Ciao!