The ol' homestead

What a glorious day *today* is!

*Today The Little was born. What a doll he is.

*Today because of The Little Being born, I had all my children in the same room, which is a huge thing anymore...

*Today I french braided Little Miss's hair.... Okay not really as you can tell, this is not french braiding but fishbone braid. Oh well, I am still working on it.

*Today I rode with Frontier Man in the wind. I was really trying to concentrate on the beautiful scenery, the cows in the pastures and that cute white colt with its momma. But the wind, the wind, kept forcing Frontier Mans smart smelling cologne into my nostrils and I kept getting side tracked. I tried, really, I did, but some things are just beyond my control. Now, going 60 on that bike feels like 80 and I kept telling myself I AM NOT going to dig my nails into him, cause then he would know I was chicken ( and I want him to think I am as tough as he) So I was brave and I kept concentrating on that beautiful scenery.... and trying to ignore that cologne. And my butt going to sleep. And it almost worked too..... I just kept telling myself that surely I MUST look good on this cool bike...behind this cool man.... but there was that little voice in my head telling me that the people driving behind us must be totally repulsed by my underarm fat flapping in the wind....

And how could you enjoy your evening ride after that ?

Even with a great smelling Frontier Man in charge ???

Good morning! We had a productive day on the homestead this week-end. It seems we worked sun up to sun down every day and few is the evening when we come in before dark thirty anymore. There is just so much to do on the place this time of year. The garden is coming along quite well now. We have blooms on almost everything and small green tomatoes but no red yet.

And the asparagus bed is in...

On Friday, we went to the Ok City Summer Classic Dog Show. Little Miss was just delighted by all the different breeds and watching them in obedience and Rally was really enjoyable. We laughed at the many antics and of snooty odd breeds (Chinese Crested?) and some looked like giant pandas, some like puffballs and some like mops. Little Miss's favorite of course, was the spotted Dalmatians. She even met a pair up close and was rooting for "Leo" and "Dixie."

I believe we are on the verge of an explosion of babies. Yesterday we seen 2 more chicks peeping out behind another hen. So cute! But we have more sitting and so we will have to see how they are all going to co-habitate with each other. I know they don't like the turkey chicks and so we have graduated them out of the run in the daytime now. Last week-end we ran across a chicken snake that had his mind set on chicks but Frontier Man changed his mind for him and then yesterday we found another snake who just expired from swallowing a decoy egg. Sorry for this to be so graphic but this is the real part of animal husbandry and if I report the good, you have to know the bad to get the whole picture. Keeping vermin away is an everyday challenge when you have animals and the wild is looking for it's next meal.

The big Marshmallow says "Get out here so I can heard you little guys!"

Our good friend Max stopped by the other day to show his his old 1972 VW bug that he had restored for his daughter. She lives in Tx and was taking it to her this week-end. What a surprise she will have! She didn't know it was being done and it took 2 years to be restored. Beautiful huh?

I talked with Pianomanjess yesterday and it looks like the baby is full term and they do not want her to go much further because of size and so they will be inducing Grand-Doll Mom on Wednesday. So looks like The Little will be making an entrance real soon. I just went and picked up some baby things and can't wait for the time to get here already!

Well, we are all getting ready for the yearly river trip. All the kids are excited and we are too, but we have to work around all the animals and get them situated before we go. We work so hard on the garden, just to leave it every year right when it is time for the veggies to be picked. We either get sister or son to keep it watered until our return (10 days) along with the animals.

This is Frontier Man's motorcycle sanctuary in the works.

"I can't wait to take this bad puppy out all by myself..... the wind in my hair...   sun on my skin...   uh...bugs in my teeth"

Until then... you can be my bug protector dad!

 I love the part in the movie "Dances With Wolves", where the indian is trading with Kevin Costner and he finally gets the idea of a "goot trade." I had a good trade myself this last week-end. I traded 5 loaves of my fresh bread for 5 baby turkeys that are about 4-6 weeks old. I was happy about the trade and am hoping that I have a pair (tom and hen) and if the rest are toms we will dress them out around Thanksgiving. Yep, I think it was a "goot trade."

As I mentioned before, Pianomanjess is really sick. They found out that the cause was mononucleosis. He sounds a bit better these last few days and I hope he will be able to return to work without being overly tired. Grand-Doll Mom is getting quite close to due date and I am sure she is very tired herself. We continue to pray and lift them up to God and they will be all well soon.

We heard of devastating news this week. A family in our homeschool group is going through a very tough situation right now. It has just been confirmed that the father (age 34) has colon cancer and it has also spread to the liver. They will be doing surgery on Monday. The family has only lived here a short while and some of their relatives have come to take care of their 3 little boys. How do you deal with such a thing??? Our hearts go out to them and if you can, please say a prayer for the Miller family.

 I really want to learn how to french braid. I want to be able to do my own hair. I want to be able to wear that pretty hand beaded hair piece that I bought at Red Earth. I searched and found instructions online and it seemed feasable -until I actually tried to do it. Man, this isn't so easy. Maybe I need instruction in live time instead of on paper. I did figure out all you need is 12 fingers and 3 hands....

Well here is the pool in full use. The olders (Police Son, Big Miss and Cuda Man) decided to "swim" with Little Miss and when I happened out this is what I saw:

Chicken fighting ???

And the victors were serious too!

This past week-end we also planted 10 asparagus plants. I know right now is not the ideal time to plant but mom ordered them for a surprise for me and they just arrived ( I think she probably got tired of me saying for the last 2 years that I want to get some asparagus planted.) Now it takes a couple years to be able to harvest them -depending on the variety but if I had got some and planted when I first started whining about them, then I would be eating some fresh asparagus right now! Thank goodness for moms!

Well I had my first ride on my Frontier Man's new motorcycle this week-end. We went up to town to get gas and it was a really nice ride. The wind blowing in my hair, the sun beating on my skin, and people stopping what they are doing to look at. the. unique. sound of a Harley. It's like those drag pipes are screaming "Hey, look over here at me, will ya." Well, anyway, it was kinda sensual wrapping my arms about the Frontier Man and he being defenseless and all... Uh hum...well enough of that... this being a family friendly site and all.

This last week we have done a lot of mowing, trimming trees and weed-eating -about 3 days worth so far. Man, we are about tuckered and I told Frontier Man I bet he was glad to go back to work so he wouldn't have to work so hard, but we both know that is just a joke. His job is demanding and very physical and I know he is tired most days but he gives to the ol' homestead without fail.

The kids are back from San Diego.They had so much fun.... they went to the San Diego Zoo, a ship museum, the mall, Sea World and more shopping and more restaurants and on the way back stopped at The Grand Canyon. Those teens... the ones I missed so much, happened to drive through the night to arrive at about 5:30 on SATURDAY morning and thought it would be fun to burst into our room whoopin' and hollerin'! Both Frontier Man and I sat straight up in bed out of a deep sleep thinkin a world war ll tank had lost it's way through our bedroom. Two silly grinning teens imploring "but we brought presents -it's like Christmas.... (as if that would make up for it !) Man I missed those kids.... I had to remind myself this about 2 hours after they were home and they were sleeping peacefully from driving all night and we were sitting wide awake tired on our Saturday morn!

I made some really yummy (not to mention fattening) amazing butterscotch maple cookies this week. I know they were not on the menu, but sometimes I throw something in the mix just because.... well, just because, and this was this weeks "just because." Several ladies fell in love with them and I do believe the maple flavoring is what really made them tasteful. Also keep in mind these are very crispy and resemble a shortbread. Go and bake some!

Look what we have this morning.

15 baby guineas so far. Mama hen is just talkin' away to them and they are just too cute!

With the promise of more to come.....

I leave you with a picture of Little Miss working on my hair at her "salon." Have a great week-end.

Good Morning!

~It's raining, it's pouring, the ol' man is .... ~

Wow, it is raining today but we sure are happy to have some, our garden is always happy to get REAL water. We had a nice week-end and spent some of it enjoying the Red Earth festival. Lots of nice colors and drumming and many tribes in full regalia. We were able to tear ourselves away from the dancing long enough to check out some of the Native American artists. Full House folks purchased a few nice prints but I was after some beadwork and finally found a hairpiece that had a beautiful design that reminded me of the one one an old friend used to wear in her hair. I bought it and will have to get a picture of it for you to see. My friend used to french braid her hair and clip it on over.... it was just beautiful. Anyway, we had some indian tacos and mosied around and soaked in some culture. A native American couple was honored for the 50th anniversary and they held a special dance for them where friends and family greeted them and danced behind... it was so touching we all sat and was quite moved to tears. Folks, don't ever doubt it, this is the good stuff, what matters !

Well, I will have a surprise photo in the next few days. One that has been unfolding for a few weeks and that Frontier Man is quite ecstatic about. So stayed tuned for my Baby's new Baby!

How many broody hens did I have last week? One. Righto, but lets take another count now. One, two, three, four. Yep, can you imagine? Three more hens fighting over a nest to sit upon. So last night Frontier Man built for each their very own home sweet home for hatching peeps. Number one is still sitting on 24 guinea eggs, remember? Well, this should be interesting mess of poultry.

I snapped this picture of the flowers Big Miss gave me at her graduation. Aren't they just lovely? I wish I could grow flowers that looked like that!

Speaking of Big Miss -she has left for a week with her dad and step-mom, along with Police Son to San Diego, Ca. They are driving out and visiting for a week. I talked to her yesterday, at the half way point, and she is already tired of riding, riding, riding. I am so glad it is not me and more importantly, my bottom, riding for 24 hours!

This is the girls enjoying their lunch out together before she left... isn't it quite interesting that they can find so little to amuse themselves with?!

I have been thinking of Sunshine this week and the fun we had once with a jicama. Have you ever had it before? It is a tuber that reminds me of water chestnut. Fun to eat and fun to say. Say it a few times with me... hee-kah-mah, hee-kah-mah, hee-kah-mah... see, it is fun. We used it in a salad once that Sunshine didn't care for but I am sure there are lots of places to use a hee-kah-mah, so go buy one and see for yourself.

My Pianomanjess is very sick and running high fever. He made it to the doctor to get meds but is still feeling pretty low. We have been praying for him and Grand-doll mom as she is getting quite close to due date. They are running tests on her this week for pre-eclampsia. I know this must feel like a lot for them right now, but all will pass and they will be soon holding that Little and all will be right.

I will be putting up the menu shortly, I hope you have a productive monday!

Good evening to you.

Well things here are starting to settle down from all the pre and post graduate stuff. We were at the college yesterday admitting Big Miss into the Sign Language Interpretation classes. We were able to block all her classes into 2 days to help with the traveling and time it will take from driving from home. The college takes a good hour and a half to get to. She is so excited and was able to talk to some of the people from that department and is relieved to know that it seems like it will be everything she was hoping for. She is so looking forward to the Fall now!

The homeplace seems to have made it ok this last week or two. I have not had as much time for chores and upkeep but I don't see anything that has missed me too much. The garden is doing well with lots of cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, peppers, okra, and watermelon. The basil, garlic, cilantro, oregano, parsley and strawberries are just growing away. The berries on the blackberry bush are just turning red but there won't be many this year anyway. We had a nice rain and it seemed to perk everything up the way that rain always does.

We have a hen setting again. The last one made it to her full time but the eggs were brittle and they all had broke on her. I am going to have to start giving them some oyster shell I guess. I have never had this problem before , especially since they free range. Anyway, the hen that is sitting now, I exchanged her eggs out for 24 guinea eggs so we will see what happens.

Little Miss has been so happy that her pool finally got full and has been enjoying it everyday. I bought test strips as it is looking a little cloudy and found that the ph is really high and so will have to purchase something to bring it down. UHHH..... guess I can add pool maintenance to my list of things now....

10 years ago when I moved here -well not exactly here, we lived down the road a piece for the first 4 or so years, but here on this same road anyway. When we walked, as we do now, we sometimes pass an old home place that has had the same dead tree up on a hill for 10 years. The tree, I have always thought, was just cool looking.... like you'd expect to see in an old scary movie with crows on it. I thought I would share our scary tree view with you.

We did manage our weenie roast here on Monday night. The kids really enjoyed it.... okayyy, the adults really enjoyed it too. It is always nice to get together with friends and drop burnt weenies into the fire and sling flaming marshmallows together. We look forward to "entertaining" again real soon !

We are starting our vacation annual river plans and figuering in the added gas costs. Just crazy to see what it will be up to by July. We are planning the trip for mid July and look forward to seeing Frontier Man's daddy -whom I dearly love and his sister "Sunshine" ( her smile, her sweet way just reminds me of pure sunshine ) It seems too long apart as we missed our Thanksgiving visit with them and maybe, just maybe, Parachuting Penguins have been wondering where I am!

The next pictures are on here for one purpose only... to make your mouth water and wish to gobble up a sample. I made up a few pans for youth and they did they gobbling.

Before frosting...

After...

Here is what I do once a week with our daily bread. Of course I grind the wheat into flour, then mix and knead it and then let it rise and bake it. Once it has cooled a couple hours I put it into the guide and slice it. I then bag it and all goes into the freezer. This 4 loaves usually lasts a week to a week and a half. Frozen fresh wheat bread is nothing like store bought bread. Store bought bread if you freeze it is usually yucky, but because fresh wheat is baked and frozen right away and has a heavier texture and weight, it is perfect to freeze and once thawed you cannot tell if set side by side with a loaf that has not been frozen. Too cool, huh?

Well, I will be posting a couple new recipes this week since we will be back on schedule for our New Recipe Thursday again. It is one you will want to try!

Have a great week-end!

WE DID IT!

Big Miss is now a high school g-r-a-g-e-e-a-t-e. The ceremony had lots of music, laughter and a little “thrilling” surprise at the end.

First off let me say in defense of myself about that little dance there at the end. Big Miss does not have an embarrassed bone in her body…. sometimes I’m in awe, “Is this my child, MY child, up there doing the Thriller dance in front of an audience?“, this is hard for me to grasp, I don’t get where her courage comes from. All through my younger years I was trying to get people to NOT look at me instead of purposefully drawing attention to myself. She is my child….(sigh)… I just can’t pinpoint where the mutation happened.

Anyway it was a great graduation ceremony that was designed for Big Miss, by Big Miss and one could not mistake it otherwise. Full of livelyness (is that even a word?)

I thought I would share some pictures for those of you that were not able to be there.

Here she is ready to go in her silver cap and gown.

This is a picture of her senior table that held a lot of photos and momentos that she holds dear.

Here were the chocolate fountain table and punch fountain table pre-use (it is much more tidy than the post use) All the kids enjoyed it tremendously and stayed there as if glued to the chocolate by force.

She entered wildly to “Pomp And Circumstance”, jazzed up by Cuda Mans younger brother playing it on electric guitar.

Police Son did a great job of MC and although his jokes always fall short, we love him that much more (or maybe we just feel sorry for him….)

Pianomanjess did not get to play like originally planned but we were so happy to see him, Grand Doll Mom and especially our little Grand-Doll. Isn’t she as cute as a bugs ear???? No, cuter by far. Pianomanjess was running on no sleep from odd hours at work and they also drove that long ways without air conditioning on a hot day and I just want to thank them for their sacrifice, it would not have been the same without them there.

See, cuter than a bugs ear…

Hey, Hey, Cuda Man, take your arm off around my mutation….

nah, I really didn’t say that….

Here we are just about to start. That is me and Frontier Man and Little Miss on the front row. There was about 80 people there.

A couple friends sang songs and were just awesome. We also had a friend speak who did a fantastic job. I made a brief speech and we presented her with her diploma. At the close of the ceremony, the lights went dark and Michael Jacksons "Thriller" music played. 4 others dead walked up to the stage were they began the dance from the video. It was so cool! They had secretly practiced it for 2 weeks and told no-one about it. She had seen a clip from a wedding party that had done the same thing and she was determined to make it work. It was really neat and everyone enjoyed the "show".

Here is my mom and dad. Behind them is some Girl Scout leaders that Big Miss was so happy to see that came.

Here was me and my old childhood friend. We share so many wild sweet memories. She still has Marilyn Monroe hair, I don't care what she says. I was trying to tell her something…

But it turned out we could still laugh about nothing!

This is her ex-husband Max (on the right) who I love dearly in this world and having both together was very very mind warping. They seem to be fine. (But I am not so sure about me)  Now this is where the story gets really bizarre. His adult step-daughter was there (invited by Big Miss) and he was there invited also, since they live in seperate homes we had no idea they were related until we seen them speaking. Really strange goings on at that graduation me thinks!

Pretty blue eyes there on the left is childhood friends oldest. I told him it was a shame he was not a girl with those eyelashes..... hee hee.

Here is both graduates (try to ignore the little pug with dirt up his nose in the background… moles ya know )

I promise a regular homestead post tomorrow and menu for the week….really….I Promise!

Good mornin' to you. Hope you all have had a great week, we have been busy as beavers here this week. Cowgirl Cutie and her mom the Purple Lady stopped by last night and it has been ages since we have got to see them. They are doing fine, the Purple Lady works all the time and now that Cowgirl Cutie can drive, that helps her out with the miles and time. Can you believe our Cowgirl Cutie can drive? Legally? Wow, AND she has a beau too! I understand he is quite the gentleman and Purple Lady wants a grown up version of him for herself. Oh those kids,  they want to grow up and leave us too fast.

Speaking of men.... my man, who has been aforementioned as Randy has now the official title as Frontier Man. Yep. Yep, I am quite proud of his name as I have pondered long and hard over it and this is what he lives up to.... the frontier. He was just born in the wrong time frame is all. Now just because he is a frontier man type does not make his woman, me namely, the frontier type. I think of myself as more the pioneer type. I am really not sure what the difference is between the two but pioneer sounds more... liveable and peaceful, doesn't it? The Wild Frontier was... well, WILD, wasn't it? And I don't think I am the women to have gone and tried to tame it, unlike Frontier Man who could have tamed it and still had it left in him to help me on the pioneer.... hahaha. Well, enough of that.

 ~Where O where has all the metal coffee cans gone??? O where oh where can they be???~  Do you remember them, ya know, the ones that held coffee grounds to make coffee. Those things were the bomb. You could use them for many things around your homeplace. Especially nice for scooping feed and planting things in and also cutting the bottoms out to put around your garden plants till they got off to a good start. Many, many uses and frugality at it's finest it was. We still have a few here on our homestead, not because we bought them recently but because they last for YYEEAARRSS! They lasted because they were made from a rare thing called METAL. Plastics are taking over and filling our landfills and will be there for millions of years. Did you ever see any metal coffee cans in the dump? Nope, because they were all at your homeplaces being used because they lasted forever!!!! HMMMMMMMM

We have officially started a tractor fund. A tractor? Yes, we have wanted one for a long time and dream of all the things that Frontier Man can do with one, but it has always been out of reach. We have decided to start a fund for it or it will always be out of reach, it may take a while but we feel in a few years we will be riding high on our John Deere (okay probably not a John Deere but a mean, lean, sod plowin' machine anyway!) We believe perserverence will pay off.

I have been making another crochet filet name this week. An old friend from years past contacted me and asked if I still made them. I told her I do on occasion, like the one I made for Full House for Christmas. How odd that the name she needs is the name of Purple Ladies ex- husband. I HAD to inquire if it was indeed the same man, because it did strange things to my nerves to think that it was the same man indeed, but no, it was not and I was thankfully glad to tell her I was happy to do it.

Our nightly walks have been really nice of late. We had a lot of rain last week and Little Miss LOVES when it rains as it fills up the creeks and it pools at the bottom of the bridge which is where we generally walk to each night. All the water allows her to "get a little wet". Now that is funny how a little one can say they are "a little wet" but have water dripping from their clothes. Must be the perpective.....

I made this yummy pot of Italian Pinto's this week in place of bean soup (it is better than bean soup) Frontier Man loved it and so did Full House Mom as she came and had a taste too and took with her the recipe. You may think 'Oh, just beans", but these are way better beans than you can imagine. They have all kinds of sausage, cheese, and tomatoes in them , doesn't that already sound like you want to try them??? What are you waitin' on? Walk, no run, and put them on. Your family will be singing you praises 'for the supper is done.

Well, I will be posting up this weeks menu soon, including a "New Recipe Thursday" from TJAF again (remember That Jane Austen...) and is sounds to be delectable so stay tuned....

This is Saturday morn and we are off to look at flash.... Frontier Man thinks he might want a tattoo for his other arm. Me, being the sneaky one that I am, told him how nice my name would look intertwined in that design. And if my name is included, I should have some say in the decision (after all, it is my name right?) That was until we discussed where (and I use the term "we " loosely here.) I had the perfect place in mind and I and told him where I thought the perfect place to have it put, was. After several moments of silence, I stole a glance in his direction and saw the "Have you lost your freakin' mind stare" and he clearly stated that he would rather have his right index chopped off with a dull ax before ever considering that!   Well, I was just trying to be helpful and it was just a thought..... BWAAHAAHAA

Have a grand week-end though!