Judy Garland Kind Of Day

The day here has been just how I like my Saturday's to be.  LL home most the day with me, the rain keeping him inside and us working together getting me caught up on my disaster of a house.  I even got a layer of protectant on the hardwood floor today.  Then us eating a pot of soup and homemade wheat bread. 

LL and I both like old movies, we rented a couple, but I am sitting here waiting for a movie to come on TCM, Meet Me In St. Louis.  Judy Garland.  Doesn't get much better then that.  LL has a fire going and the house just feels like the holidays.

I have been very careful all week about my diet and have now enjoyed three days of relief.  I need to resist the wrong foods which during the holidays will be some feat.  Well my movie is starting.  Have a great weekend.

At the risk of further ridicule by my sister and her daughters, I decided to blog about my mundane day, including cooking and my chickens.  When being home bound most the time, my choice is to blog about my ordinary activities, or not blog at all.  So I choose to blog. 

I was at my cousin's house a couple weeks ago.  She has chickens she lets free range for part of the day.  Those chickens looked so happy.  LL and I live in a more populated part of town, so letting them truly range willy nilly is not an option.  But letting them "free range" within our property which is mostly fenced, we decided was a very humane thing to do.  So today, LL made a lower door for the girls to "escape".

We opened it

And out they came.  Eventually.

"Hey Gals, do you think they noticed we left the coop?"  Hannah said.

"I don't know, but let's make a run for it just in case."  Harriet answered

"Girls, we sure can shake are feather's and do the chicken dance with all this room."  Henrietta exclaimed.

While LL was working on the coop, I decided to do a chore I have managed to not do since well before I got sick two years ago.

Cleaning out the freezer.  Now this is not normally the case.  It gets done at least once a year, but last year I didn't feel like it, and all this year, I have been avoiding it.

But cleaned out and organized is what I finally did.

While at it, I decided it was the perfect time to clean out the refrigerator freezer, so.......

Now I feel like a saint.

Remember my new old turquoise shelves.  LL took the back off, which was in really bad shape.

Cut plywood and painted it barn red to put on the back of the shelves. 

It's still drying

Got my turkey carcass going in the stock pot.  I can't say I am not a wasteful person, but when it comes to making the most of soup bones, chicken and turkey carcasses, my mom taught me well.

Simmered it down by half, seasoned it.  Put 3/4 of it in the freezer and decided to make dinner.

Poor LL.  He walked in while the stock was simmering and thought I was making soup.  He loves soup.  But I am the cook and the cook was not in the mood for soup.  So..........

Turkey Pot Pie was on the menu.

My mom and I have in common, our love for pot pies and always trying to find a better recipe.

Year ago, I found the best recipe and used it for years.  But the recipe did not survive the house fire and I have never been able to find it since.

So today's pot pie is made with puff pastry.  It is a recipe that my mom found in a magazine.

I know!  I am trying to eat most my food from scratch.  But I love Phyllo dough and Puff pastry, and I am not a good enough cook to even try to make these from scratch, so get off my back OK! 

Sorry, I am a little defensive about my backsliding on processed foods.  But seriously, get off my back.

So here is my pot pie.  It was very good but definitely the filling I usually use  for my pot pies is better, so next time I will combine the two recipes.

Need to get going.  LL has informed me that we are going to my moms to watch the Beaver's football game.  We don't get it on any of our channels.  So bye bye for now.

Mama Don't Take My Kodachrome Away!!

Mornings like this morning, I am so happy to have relief from my "digestion"  I was up early, made LL's lunch, emptied dishwasher, cleaned kitchen, started 2 loads of laundry, and made beef stew and put it in the crock pot all before 7:00am. 

I wanted to get my responsibilities done so I could go out and play with Baby, my new camera.  After taking care of the chickens, dogs, Max, and showering and primping.  OK I don't primp but I do brush my teeth.  I was out and about by 9:00.  Put gas in the car,  took a couple mural pictures with my new camera, which you will see in a future post, and made my way to Mt. Angel. 

Stopped at Mom's for a little while and then I was a woman on a mission.  To try out my Baby.

No this is not a professional photo, I just took this of St. Mary's church a few hours ago.

Made my way up the Abbey Hill.

Look how clear and vibrant this picture is.

This is the new bell tower at the abbey.  I like the angle I chose for this picture.

This is the church up at the Abbey.  I then saw that the weather was changing, and I wanted to take pictures at the Oregon Gardens, so I could show you the difference between my point and shoot camera and my new Nikon.

Point and Shoot

Nikon

Point and Shoot

Nikon

Point and Shoot

Nikon

Point and shoot

Nikon

The rain came fast while I was at the Gardens, and I did not want my new camera to get wet.  So I went home and.......

Started bread to go with tonight's stew.

All this before 12:00 noon. 

Love it when my "digestion" allows me such a fabulous morning!!

By the way, this is how new I am at this.  I forgot to mark my photos with the copyright:(

On a down note.  My son Kane, found out yesterday that he has been laid off.  And if the business he has been working for doesn't turn around and do better, he is without a job.  So he is here with me now, working on his resume'

Writing a blog daily has it's ups and downs.  Yesterday, I was not feeling well.  Didn't want to even think about blogging.  Must have been a touch of something because LL is not feeling well today, but still went to work.

I am feeling much better today.  Hopefully have another post later.  But, since I did nothing yesterday, and because I know my digestion is due for a bad spell.  I need to spend the morning getting a lot done.

I need to..........
Pick up Max's prescription at the pharmacy. 
Need to go to grocery store.
Later, if my digestion holds, I need to meet LL and the bank to have something notarized
Make dinner early in case I have bad issues later
Do about 3 loads of laundry and fold around 5 loads
Fill out and take to post office a couple things for my sis Kathy, who I am her guardian.
Pick up house and dust and vacuum.

I know this does not make for an interesting post, but it does give me a chance to cross off the list:)

Favorite type of Sunday

Well almost.  My very favorite Sunday's is when we are RVing, but I love Sundays like yesterday.  All three kids hanging out. Rarity.  and all three kids getting along and working together.  Rarity!!  Went simple but yummy for Sunday dinner.  We had Taco Soup with lots of condiments and my homemade sweet corn bread.

Crumbled taco chips, cheddar cheese, sour cream, diced onions and green chilies for on top

Nothing is as good on a rainy fall day like soup

I use to buy mixes for my corn bread but since I eat much less processed food now, I always make it from scratch.  LL and like our cornbread a little sweet and with cake texture like what you might get at Marie Calendar's restaurant.  This is the very best recipe I have found.

Sweet Corn Bread

Combine dry ingredients

1 1/2 C flour

2/3 C Sugar

1/2 C yellow corn meal

1Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

In another bowl combine

1 1/4 milk

2 large eggs

1/3 C vegetable oil

3 Tablespoons butter or margarine melted

Combine the two together.  Do not over mix.  Bake in a 8 inch square pan at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

Had a glass of this wine with dinner.  I can't drink red wines much anymore.  Bothers me, but at a wine tasting at World Market last week, I tried this wine and  it was very good and under $10.  Doesn't bother me also.  It is 2008 Gnarly Head Zindfidel.

With all the left overs from the weekend, I packed LL's lunch.  Didn't do a cute bento from it but am planning to get back to that soon.  Taco soup, cornbread, pot stickers and rice.  And I now have this..............

to put it in.  If you have been reading my blog awhile, you remember the last lunch box I bought for him.  Guess it looked a little girly.  Been shopping for awhile for the right size and color.  Found it at target on Saturday, so now I can be assured not to confuse his lunch with the sack with my soiled diaper in it:)

I love when my girl gets a bee in her bonnet.  When we put our hard wood floors in 6  yrs ago, the installer said if you want to do yourself a favor, remove your area rug before summer and move furniture around.  Most people have to refinish the floors, not because they fade, but because they fade unevenly.  So around May every year, I remove our rug and it does keep the living room cooler anyway.  Usually around Oct. 1st, I put the rug back in after deep cleaning the living room.  Well I am a bit behind schedule, so Bailey, taking advantage of her brothers being around to help move furniture, deep cleaned living room, moved furniture around, cleaned rug, and put it all back together.  Man, I love having a daughter.

Here is the sorry rug before she cleaned it

She hates her picture taken.  Takes after her God mom Kris.  but got this of her finishing up the rug.

She arranged the furniture different than I usually do.  She has a much better eye, and I really like it.

LL needs to fix the rocker to replace the electric recliner I use after surgery.  It will go between the recliner and sofa.

We had monsoon like rain here this morning.  Although my small run for the chickens is covered, there was no protecting their feed from the rains.  Had to throw the whole feeders worth out.  Until we figure out how to protect the feeder better, I will only put 2 days feed out at a time.

****Big Day for tomorrow.  Tuesday, October 26**  Be sure to check back then to find out why it is one of the greatest days of my life.

Why oh Why

The whys in my life sometimes drive me nuts.  Like

Why do I have to have a clean kitchen before I can cook or bake, but am perfectly comfortable leaving it a mess when I am done?

Why when I am trying to eat healthy do I bake apple and peach pies and........

have to put bacon or ham in my fresh green beans?
Kinda defeats the purpose of eating the healthy green beans.

Why do I laugh at the absurdly funny things LL says one day.............then the next day he is irritating the heck out of me?

Why when May comes along, I can't wait to plant and water my spindly looking flowers and garden.....

But come August when garden is producing and flowers are at the prettiest
, while watering all I can think of is when the heck can I pull all these plants out and be done with it?

How can I get so angry at the Chicken Hawk as he eats my live chicken, snatches up my freshly baked Amish bread that took 10 days to make..........But still I find him the sweetest dog in the world?
Wait a minute........Notice he is licking his chops!  Better go check on the chickens.

Why, when the dogs have a big yard to go in...........do they insist on going right under my clothes line?
Notice the space between towels, yep, piles:(

I have so many why's in my life that I could make this a weekly post.  I know everyone has their own unique whys in their life.  Mine are just really bothering me today:(

Summertime is here

I love the song Summer by War. It is slow, unhurried, lazy and about nothing important. I think that also describes the perfect summer day. Summer has finally come to the Willamette Valley. Today the temperature will be close to 100 degrees. So Bailey picked up the house early. I put a couple of wash loads on the line. Picked some lettuce leaves from garden before they wilted. And Bailey took me to work with her so I could get my hair done next door at the salon.

I am very blessed with a couple of sisters who are great Hairdressers. I forgot to have Bailey take a before picture before we left so I take one of myself in the car. Summer hairstyles I think should be cool and easy. I have been feeling like a shaggy dog over the last couple weeks so I have it in my mind what I want done.

Boy what a sad sight.

Today is my sister Kris's day off. So what does she do on a hot summer day off.........? She comes into the salon and does her daughter Kelli and my hair. Yes we are spoiled and know it.

A nice Aunt would take a picture of Kelli after. But I can't have her looking better than me. No Sirry.

Ta Da!!

A nice sporty summer style.

My hands are suppose to be covering the fact that I am braless and hanging low:) Well come on. I have had three children but am a closet nudist. (Can you call yourself a nudist if you don't come out of the closet?)

And like everyone should do on a hot summer day. Go out to lunch with Sis and Niece. Fondue and Ice tea. Yum.

Kris drove me home. Helped me get eggs. (remember, I am suppose to be taking it easy) and I let the dogs out.

They didn't waste time coming back in and resuming their favorite summer position.

Is that the meaning of Dog days of summer? I alway's wondered.

Well I, like my dogs will be spending the rest of the afternoon sitting and perhaps napping. Dinner will be left over chinese. I think I like this summertime way of life. Slow and lazy. I didn't really choose to have to recover from another surgery for the summer but I guess I will enjoy it while I can.