Worth Crowing About

Since it has been a very trying garden season for all of us out there,  I thought maybe I'd show off a few good things going on here for a change!

Black Turtle Soup Beans Blossoming

 

Yellow Eyed Beans..."Beaning"
As my friend Tricia would say!

PEAS!!



We officially celebrated my nephews HS Graduation over the weekend.  Here are four generations of the boys:

Front and center is my brothers Grampa.  He turns 100 this October!  Still spry and sharp as a tack! 

Can you imagine the things he's seen? 

And what this little guy might see someday?

We got to visit our newest nephew yesterday!  We even had a brief glimpse of his eyes!

Happy Momma

Proud Grama

And for your further viewing pleasure, Julee and Gardener (no, really that's his name) brought the kids by today.

Don't you wish you could still sit like this?  And not pay for it dearly?

You may or may not find this pretty darn cute:

I know you might not believe me when I swear this...YES, I asked the questions.  I did NOT coach the answers.  She's just a little farm girl in the makings!  :o)

See anything wrong with this picture?

Why are there chickens on both sides of the fence?  Dunno, but it took me 10 minutes and a pound of sweat to wrangle her back in!

See, I told ya there were some things worth crowing about! 

Huh...well, isn't he just the star of the show?  I wonder if he realizes he only has two tail feathers?

Men

Baby Owen "Sprouted"!

I told you something sprouted!

Just a few short weeks ago, we were showering the Mommy-to-be, whom most of you couldn't even tell was pregnant!  I am sure she appreciated that by the way!

Well yesterday, little baby Owen graced our lives!

We are happy to report that Owen and Mommy are doing just fine!  Meg was battling preeclampsia, so the little guy came a month early weighing in at ... Are ya ready for this? 

Did ya catch the part that he was a month early??? 

Considering that he's perfectly healthy, I'd say Mommy might be appreciating the fact that he didn't have four more weeks to stew! 

What do you think?  She looks pretty darn happy to me!

Oh yes!  Someone else made it thru delivery just fine too...

The proud new Daddy holding his first born son!  Rumor has it, Daddy was a bit squeamish...heheee!

The New Family

Meagan, Ryan and Owen

A photo of Meagan's family!  This is the first baby for the new Grama Mona, Grampa Eric and Aunt Tricia!

To our dearest nephew Owen,

Uncle Pig Pen and Auntie Apple wish you the best of everything! 

May your life be filled with much joy, lots of dirt and many, many blessings.

We love you already!

Wait for it, Little Man!!

Chicks and Little "Peeple"

Happily, I can report in that no Chicks were harmed during this experiment!  :o}

Today was all about introducing the Chicks to The Little Peeple...aka my niece and nephew!  My SIL, Jen and her kids, Addison and Blake (Beek) came for lunch and play time.  Unfortunately, Julee and her flock weren't able to attend!  Another time maybe, when they are older, uglier, meaner...

The chickens that is!

Now - how can this be??? 

No fear, no screamin', no throw downs...just this:

A kiss. 

Is that not the sweetest thing you have ever seen?

We had a little 'talk' first, just to make sure we understood a few simple rules and in we went!

Can you feel the anticipation? 

"Oooooh, gimme da boodie!" 

(She didn't really say that but that is how she would say it.)

Here she is getting her first encounter with her beloved "Pluto":

Coco was the peep getting the kiss by the way. 

She named them herself!

She so badly wanted to hold one with "Two Hands". 

So we sat her down and let her do just that...with Kelso!

Not once did she not do what she was told!  I was very, very proud of her!

She will hence forth be called, "The Chicken Whisperer"!

She even tried feeding them:

Don't worry, I had ahold of her coat!  Visions of smooshed chickens raced in my head too!

Here she got to feel her first little 'peck'.  Didn't.  Even.  Flinch.

Then, not to be left out, Little Beek got some action too! 

We, umm, had an almost incident, but it's all good!  All Good!

Can you see his little face all happy like?

I think next year he will graduate to holding his own peep and naming them for himself! 

When he can reach...or not  :)

He too - never flinched or showed any fear!

And I think the part that Pig Pen will be most proud of though:

His Sister.

Thank You Jenny, for sharing this day with us! 

We love you all very much!

Be sure to check out Jen's other photo's and story from today too!

Babysitting 101 or 911?

I used to babysit alot.  As a kid growing up, as an Aunt to my now 16 and 18 year old niece and nephew and a few little munchkins in between.

Some how over the past 10 years, not so much.  I don't know if most people thought that maybe I had an aversion to kids because we couldn't have any of our own, or if I grew spikes in my arms that gave'em little pin pricks, or maybe I am just getting older and my patience or lack thereof wears on my sleeve???  No, can't be that, I have the patience of a saint most days.  However, nowadays, I am pretty much the last resort.  The one you call when you are desperate.  The one who'll do in a pinch.  I don't take it personally, I find it humorous that I have them all fooled!

I love kids!  Especially the squishy, beat'em up and they come back for more kind!  So when my best friend, Julee, called in pure desperation-last resort-ohmigoshwhatamigonnadopleasehelpme way, I said "Sure!!"  Gee, that was easy!

Top of the morning today, I arrived with coffee in hand to help me keep up with not one, but two curtain climbers.

Colton played with blocks...

He also took a little rest...

Holli colored...

Then Aunt Diana colored...

Gee we had fun!

Here comes the 911 part...

HOLY MOLY, she even poses like her Mutha! 

I am such a bad Aunt.  How could I?  Oh, it was so easy.  I have been scheming of ways to get these kids all to myself for months!  And you know how I got thanked???  I got to change Colton's poopie diaper all by myself.  This kids got some serious clench-factor.   I haven't changed a poopie diaper in forever!  Blechie!

So after having done all these horrible things to Julee's daughter, here is her reaction:

She said something like "Aunt Diana's gonna be in trouble!"

It did not get me in trouble.  But ya wanna know what did???

THIS:

Poor little Boomer!  He was such a good boy.  In my defense, when I caught him up on the couch, I asked Holli if he was allowed to be there.  She said, "Yes."

Dirty little brat...

Wait till I get my hands on them NEXT TIME!

Riiiight, as if anyone will ask me to babysit again!

Me smart like that.



 

Is It Bad Manners or Bread?

Mahumisbredsralygut!!

Translation:  Mmm hmm, this bread is really good! 

And talking with your mouth full is bad manners, right?  Sorta like a good belch is a compliment to the cook I say! 

I suppose that when I set my mind to something I go berserk!  I finally got down to the business of bread making!  I have been wanting to get back to this for some time now and I know many of you are pretty good at it.  It has me motivated!  Most of my bread making experience is with a bread machine so I want to broaden my horizons a bit.

I'll need help here, so be ready!  There are questions in italics scattered thru out where I am soliciting your advice and expertise! 
 
A while back, MamaTea emailed me her recipe for Honey White/Wheat Bread and she later posted it HERE.  Everything she said I found to be spot on!  I didn't take many photos, but here are the before and afters:

The 'after' photo is really more about the vultures descending upon it!  aka Da Moms!

I ended up with 3 loaves and 4 mini's.  Mini's because I have to keep my Apple Dumplin's happy too!  Nana brought her a loaf and she didn't hesitate...or wait for it to be sliced!  One question for Mom...is that bed head or is she making a fashion statement?  Heheheee!

She had it for breakfast the next morning too!  This bread was really good toasted!

We also made homemade butter to go along with it.  Have you ever made it?  It was so easy I almost felt stupid!

Not stopping there, I had a Halloween Party to go to and needed something to go along with the Hot Pizza Dip I was bringing...

My Bro and SIL

So I made Focaccia! 

I've never made it and I am not entirely certain that I have even eaten any in the recent past.  I read that it is akin to pizza dough and judging from the texture, it was a bit chewy like a pizza dough.  Does that seem right?  It tasted great and sometimes that's all that matters, huh?

Hot Pizza Dip - Compliments of my good friend, Heather 

1 block Cream Cheese, softened
1 t. Italian Seasoning
1 C Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
3/4 C Parmesan Cheese, grated
8 oz Pizza or Spaghetti Sauce
4 T Green Pepper, chopped
4 T Green Onion, chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, sliced (I added that part)

Combine Cream Cheese and Italian Seasoning and spread in bottom of shallow baker. 
Layer half of the Cheeses
Peppers, Onions, Garlic
Sauce
Other half of the Cheeses
Sprinkle top with Granulated Garlic and Oregano (I added that too)
Bake in 350 oven about 15-20 minutes
Serve with bite sized pieces of bread

I doubled the recipe in a large round stone.  A brownie pan would work well.

Focaccia -Taken from Grit Country Skills Series "Guide to Homemade Bread" and Allison Martin

2 1/2 t. Yeast
2 1/2 C Water
2 T olive oil
About 7 C all-purpose flour
1/4 t. salt

Mix all ingredients in stand mixer for about 5-6 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic.
Let dough rise 1 1/2 hours
Press dough into oiled pan.  I used my stone jelly roll pan.
Let rise 30 minutes
Dimple the dough w/ your fingertips all over
Brush with olive oil
Here's where I went off the recipe...I sprinkled the top with Kosher Salt, Granulated Garlic and Oregano
Let rise another 1 1/2 hours
Bake in 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes

Then because I needed something for breakfast, I made Jane's English Muffins!  You can find Jane's recipe HERE. 

This was a first for me too!  Jane must have known this was on my hit list and one of Pig Pens favorites!  These will be a goner!  And a KEEPER!  Is that possible??  I absolutely loved these!  P.S.  I used a fork!

Now that I am totally Carbohydrated up for a few days, I think I will try to incorporate some proteins or something else in my diet.  But alas, I love carbs so I think it should include something on a bun...Hmmm...wonder where that recipe will come from???

Thanks for sharing your great recipes...I'm having a blast here!

Are We Bad??

Today I went back to the local Pumpkin Farm with my best friend Julee and her two crumb snatchers.

Holli actually got bit by a goat.  Ooops!

But what made my day, was the slide.  It's a pretty big jungle gym.  Julee had to stay down with Colton, who is just a little over 1.  So like any good Aunt, I climbed up with Holli, who's 3.  I settled her little butt in place and told her when to go and said, "Mommy will catch you!"

Now granted, Julee and I have never been the brightest, but today our combined IQ was ... one brain.  Holli took off like a torpedo!!  And...Mommy did not catch her!  She skipped like a rock on water across the sand and onto her butt!

I wish you could have heard the other Mom's and the intakes of air, the Oh's!, the heart palpitations and the pure unashamed tenth of a second it took Julee and I to bust.out.laughing!

I can't speak for Julee (well I can), but it just happened!  And it was so darn hilarious!  Holli didn't cry, not a flinch...nada! 

So, Are We Bad??

My only regret was not having the camera on record, so you could all see.  You'd have been right there with us - laughing!  But I did get it the second time which was uneventful...unless of course you listen thru to the end.

Wait...What did her Mother just tell me to do???

O-K, so I did. 

Onto other Fall fun!  I promised MamaPea I would get off my duff once my huge mum bloomed and take a picture so she would know what color it is.  It's just one plant, so it's what?  Purple albino?

My mom got her Fall color yesterday... 

Gonna pay for that one!!!

And then this is what greeted me yesterday morning when I got up: 

Notice anything off about that? 

Did I tell you guys I got the cooooolest pumpkin ever ever this week??

I need to remember that tactic, it seemed to have worked well!  ;)