This little piggy....went to the freezer

The boys came down and butchered their hogs for Christmas. They love getting a hog. Can you tell from the smile? It was an all day process with four of us. The boys cut up the hogs, I ground meat and a daughter-in-law wrapped everything for the freezer. I lost count of the number of coolers they took home. Each had lots of ham, roasts, bacon, ribs, porkchops, loin chops and ground meat. We all felt good at the end of the day. Me especially as all the mess was cleaned up!

Hair today...gone tomorrow

10 year old granddaughter cut 9 inches off my hair and I am sending it in to Pantene for wigs for cancer children and adults. I still have plenty of hair left so maybe I'll grow it out again for them! As long as it doesn't get any more gray hair as they can't take anything over 5% gray! I went in to a beautician and she "straightened" it up for me although it really didn't take much. One of those things on my "bucket list"! I don't miss it a bit, hair is hair. lol

Happy Thanksgiving

I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Helping friends

Scooping corn on the ear into the grinder which ground it all up. Ervyn is going to feed it to the ducks that he is raising to sell for meat and we will have a couple hogs to feed for about a week. There is another part of the grinder that LaVern needs to look at that will take the corn off the cob and then grind. Ervyn has some organic corn that he wants to sell that way. Getting lots done with the nice weather.

Long awaited table

Started 2 years ago and put aside but now finally in the house! Worth the wait! I was gone one weekend and LaVern started it. He built the base thinking I said a 36 inch table when I really wanted a 40 inch. So, discouraged it was put aside and put lower on the "to do" list. I finally encouraged him to just "make do" and put a top on it. No planed, glued or bisquit(?) jointed top, just plain ole rough sawn boards, cracks between boards and knots, too. You can't tell from the picture but the legs are hedge posts with the bark still on them! love, love

Grinding corn

LaVern got his grinder out and greased it all up and gave it a try. It works! So he went after a load of corn (on the cob) and is coming home to grind corn. He is in his element!

Determination

We seldom give our dogs "people" food but this morning after I had cooked a ham bone in the pressure cooker I relented and threw the dog a bone. There actually was some left on the bone so I divided the bone and gave each dog a piece. This is our rat terrier Mattie, who at age 14, doesn't have many teeth left and gets soft dog food as she can't chew the hard stuff. She went after that bone with dog gone determination and had it licked clean. I'm not sure what the corgi, Owyn did with his. I saw him go off the deck with it in his mouth but shortly he was back with no bone. They both are laid out on the rug now so I guess they are happy dogs. Baking chocolate chip cookies for LaVern so he'll be happy, too!

Provided

Last year we fed out some hogs and because corn was so high at the time we were not going to make any money by selling them. We decided to give our sons a hog each for Christmas but they would have to either butcher it themselves or pay their own processing. They all pitched in and butchered their hogs and loved their gift. It worked out great because they were able to do that over Thanksgiving when they had extra days off. We didn't feed any out this year and a couple months ago one of the boys asked if I could find a fat hog he could buy as he sure would like to put one in the freezer again. It helped them tremendously on their grocery bill. I have searched and searched but kept coming up empty. Finally turned it over to the Lord and forgot about it. Instead I have been stock piling groceries when things were on sale planning on giving each family that. I got a call from an Amish fellow needing rides this week for his work crew. It ends up taking about two hours round trip and usually I don't like to do those but thought the extra cash would be great towards those groceries. We visited during the ride and lo and behold I find out one guy has hogs ready. Imagine that. Today I will barter for those hogs and once again the boys will butcher over Thanksgiving. I called them last night and they were thrilled. Wait until Christmas and they get the groceries!! lol Provided just by turning it over to Him. (you got to love the timing)

The best just got better

The above title is a favorite slogan with advertisers and since the "season" is on it seems the commercials are endless. The Book of Hebrews could use the same slogan or how about this, when Christ came, the best got better. One of my favorite verses, Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have. God has said, "I will never leave you; I will never forget you." This shopping season be especially mindful of what you are spending.....a homemade gift is a gift of love.....and you won't have the worry of the credit card bill after the holidays! I love "shopping" during this time even though I'm not out there to buy. It's fun being in the hub bub, the lights, smells and watching other people. Some are happy but most stressed. They really should read Hebrews before going out! Their attitudes would be alot different! March out thinking the best just got better and be reminded of why there is this "season".

Mouse in the house

I find it very interesting that when I went in to my search engine, Dogpile, and searched the word "mouse" that the entire first page was for the computer mouse. I had to search before I found something about the common house mouse. I guess it's just where we are today. Anyway, there is a new mouse in our house and guess which one!

The trouble with having a laptop, wireless internet and wireless MOUSE is that the mouse gets dropped occasionally......mmmmm....maybe more than that. I know, we can forego the mouse and use the keypad but neither of us likes doing that. And so the mouse is dropped and put back together. After a recent mouse dropping (lolol) I noticed that a few little things were not working properly on the computer. Couldn't use the arrow and keep the sound volumn up, in favorites I couldn't arrow up and click on anything. I said to LaVern that I thought it must be the mouse or else we had a virus. He said the mouse was "working" so we must have a virus. Not sure how long we've had the old mouse so I decided to try that first. It's been a while since I purchased a mouse as I was shocked at the $25 price tag but the mouse came home with me anyway. To make the story short, everything is working properly now with the new mouse in the house.

Celebrating Veteran's Day

Our grandson, Reid. I hope one day he will be an Eagle Scout. Thinking of all our veterans and thanking them.

steaves, stocks, shocks

Thought you would enjoy seeing my Amish neighbor's shocks of corn. This is the way everyone use to do it and the way the Amish still put up their corn. Last week the scholars (kids in school) had the week off for the fall shredding of the corn. These bundles will be loaded on to a hay wagon and brought up to the barn. From there a shredder will take the corn off and throw it in a wagon and then the stalks will be chopped and blown in to the barn. This will be fed to the cattle and horses. Corn will be used for feed also as well as the cob itself. Interesting to watch the "English" farmer across the road with the huge tractors running through the fields, just after the corn. I'm guessing the shredding will be going strong today since rain coming in tonight. The Amish all go from one farm to the other and help each other shred. Wish I could get pictures of that to show you!

Splitting, splitting, splitting

We are using the nifty log splitter that I bought at a farm auction for $30.00. It is run from hydraulics on the tractor. We just have it sitting on the ground and then LaVern doesn't have to pick up the really big logs. So far it is working great, even on the BIG oak chunks that we have. As you can see from the above picture we still have plenty of wood to split! LaVern is really "in to" splitting the wood. I sit on the tractor and run the lever and he lines up the wood to be split. He looks the ends all over and then just places it so. I push the lever that moves the splitter and CRACK, nicely split wood. He said it will be dark now when he gets home from work but we could fire up the Coleman lantern and cut a pile tomorrow night. The man just loves splitting wood! It's kind of boring for me but I do like the stacking part!

Time change woes

"Falling back" with an extra hour of sleep for an adult is.....indescribable. So why is it that for me the time change wreaks havoc? Do I have this internal biological clock (like a rooster) or maybe I'm just a "light sleeper" or could it be stress or I sleep too much during the day (yea, right)? Studies (don't get me started on that subject) have shown that adults need 6~8 hours of sleep a night. Okay. I'm doing that. I go to be at 9 (old time) and get up at 3 AM (old time). So now I'm in bed at 8 and up at 2 AM. That's realistic. Right? Maybe I should try vinegar and honey, it cures everything. Hypnosis? I've tried warm milk. NOT. I've tried lavendar. NOT. Ahh, why bother. Who needs sleep anyway? (yawning)

Parliament

This morning I have a parliament of owls hooting. Yes, a group of owls is called a parliament. And like most parliaments there has been lots of discussion going on but I'm not sure how much, if anything, is being done. Oops...they must have reached a diplomatic agreement because it's quiet now. Do you really give a hoot about any of this?

Praying for someone who is struggling

When we get caught up in our own problems one of the best ways I have found to forget them is to focus on the struggles and needs of others. I just received word that a dear friend of ours has colon cancer. He will stand firm in his faith but he is still afraid. Prayer always takes me into the presence of God and reminds me of his ability to transform even the most difficult problem into a blessing. While praying for him my headache became more bearable. Praying for him has released God's grace in ways you cannot imagine. 2Corinthians 1:6 When we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Encourage someone by praying for them.

Sunday Supper Soup

I have lots of soup recipes as during the cold winter months we enjoy a cup (big bowl) of soup. Here is a easy, fast to put together one that can simmer all day and still taste great.
Meatballs:
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 tablespoons water
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 tablespoons butter
Soup:
2 cups water
1 can (10 1/2 oz.) condensed beef broth, undiluted
1 can (1 pd, 12 oz.) tomatoes, undrained.....I just used a quart of home canned tomatoes
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 cup sliced carrots
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup parsley
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1/4 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 bay leaf
To make the meatballs, combine beef, egg, water, bread crumbs, salt and parsley. Mix lightly, shape into 24 balls. In 5 qt. Dutch oven, melt butter and brown the meatballs, a single layer at a time, on all sides. Drain off fat; remove meatballs and set aside. To make soup, combine ingredients in same Dutch oven. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add meatballs, simmer 20 minutes longer. Yield: 6-8 servings, about 2 qts.

Almost perfect morning

It is raining (I wish it were snow) and we have had thunder and lightning. Suppose to get windy alittle later. LaVern took the pickup to work and pulled the car out of the garage so that both vehicles get the free car wash. I fired up the wood cookstove (with my nifty firestarters I made) and I have the meatballs cooking for Sunday Supper Soup (we are calling it Wednesday soup). Next I will stir up some artisian crusty bread and supper is prepared! Rug hooking is calling me for today. The house is clean and vehicles and trailers all put away. We even got the tin put on the east side of the barn and LaVern put his windows in for his workshop located there. My niece lives in Denver and it is 29 degrees and snowing again there. She said maybe another foot of snow for them. Even my friends in NW Kansas are getting some light snow this AM. We are thrilled to have the rain as it is dry. Best go check on the soup and turn the computer off. Need to watch my electricity usage although tomorrow to be sunny so I'm not worried. Hope you are enjoying the weather where ever you are at!

Web cam thought

I just had a great idea!! Surely there is someone back there in Kansas who loves techno stuff that could get a cheap web cam and mount it there at home and then put it on the web so that I can see your weather!! lol How about it, John?? McCook use to have one but I haven't been able to bring it up. Hmmm....I need to go see where there is one close to us! Later. Peace.

Last minute weather change stuff

Today sunny, high of 70 degrees. Tomorrow rain then snow with a high of 45! lol So I am racing around this morning getting as much done as I can with the sun shining. 3 loads of clothes washed and on the line, trash burned, all the wood boxes full, water tank filled, floors vacumned and LaVern's tools gathered up and put away that were on the porch. We have the porch all opened up now but still have the tin walls to put on. Haven't had to worry about tools getting wet until now. Weather man says 100% chance of rain/snow so I'm going with that. We really need the moisture as it is dry here. Need to look through my soup recipes and find one to make tomorrow along with some homemade bread. I love dreary wet, snowy days!!! Let is snow, let it snow, let it snow. (My niece in Denver is suppose to get another foot of white stuff so I'll have to watch the web cams!!)