A God Thing

A God Thing.

I am seeing more and more of his hand work and ways.  Last night we discovered that our one female golden Gracie is pregnant!!!  We are so happy.  She was breed to our new golden male Alex.   We want this so bad.  You see both dogs are service dogs.  We have 2 families we want to help out with their puppies.  The both have children with special needs, where a service dog can help out.   My daughters and I train service dogs. 

Last night Tammy and her hubby one of the parents prayed that Gracie was going to have puppies.  That was night we discovered she was.  See a God thing.

Another was they were looking for a new place to have the children with special needs to ride horse.  Another God thing, because we have been praying about that for over a year.  See another God thing.

God sure is a great.  He puts us together to help one another.

God Bless, mj

I have been tagged!!

I have been tagged !!

Rule~ 1. Link the person who tagged you.

Rule~2. Post the rules on your blog.

Rule~3. Write 6 random things about yourself.

Rule~ 4. Tag 6 people at the end of your blog.

Rule~5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their Blog.

Rule #6 ~ Let the tagger know your entry is up.

I was tagged by :  http://www.homesteadblogger.com/avravounou/

6 Things about me :

1. I love animals and have many.

2. I am a young grandma. I am 39 years old with 2 and 1 more on the way.

3. I did not know how to cook or clean when I moved out on my own .

4. I love to grow veggies and can them.

5. My husband never know if we will have a new critter in our house when he comes home, .

6. I love to read in bed snuggling one of my dogs.

People I am tagging:

1. is  :   http://www.homesteadblogger.com/profiles/walkinginhisgrace/

2. is :  http://www.homesteadblogger.com/profiles/kjprice616/

3. is :  http://www.homesteadblogger.com/gabbie427/

4. is :   http://www.homesteadblogger.com/hopefulheart/

5. is :   http://www.homesteadblogger.com/abigasfarm/

6. is :   http://www.homesteadblogger.com/countrygirlsheartstr/

That is all . Hope I did it right.  God bless, mj

New Sewing Machine

     Why am I up so early? Am I Crazy? Yes! I was suppose to get up at 5 but I kept watching the clock so I decided to get up out of bed. I am driving to buy a "new" sewing machine this morning. If all goes well, I will be there by 8:30, purchase it, and be on the way home. Please keep me in your prayers this morning. I am directionally challenged and this is a new place(20 yrs since I have been to this city/ never this place) for me. My dh gave me directions last night and it was VERY frustrating. This is when he is from MARS and I am from VENUS or whatever. lol. I am not sure if directions should be the Number One cause of DIVORCE in America.  I am going to look over the direction while the house is quiet. If all else fails, I will go the long way. Hope everyone has a wonderful day. I

Raindrops on Roses!

Well, I promised Id report back here after making my cinnamon rolls this evening and so....the verdict is in : They were awesome!!! My husband and both my boys LOVED them! My husband said "Hon, you should make these and sell them, they are that good! " I had never contemplated that, but there`s an idea. lol Anyhow, I made my dough in my bread machine and rolled it out and cut into the strips like the recipie required. I managed to get three huge rolls out of the recipie. I placed each one to rise in an aluminum pie tin, they were just the right size. Once the rolls had risen some, I popped them into the oven and they were good to go. I took the first one out and iced it while it was warm. They tore into it like there was no tomorrow! I had planned on taking one to my daughter and her husband tomorrow morning for breakfeast, but no guy, my three guys inhaled all 3 of them!!! So...I have decided that I probably wont be making them to sell anytime soon (too much red tape) but, I will be making them for a nice gift to give during the Holiday Season. Im gonna make some for people that we know and are casually aquainted with and wrap them nicely in colored saran wrap and attach a bow, along with a nice card with the recipie intact. Ill pass them out with a Christmas Card from our family. I thought it would be a nice gesture. As soon as I start making them up Ill be sure and post a pic of one, wrapped and ready to give. So, with that being said, I think homemade gifts are a nice gesture. I have a lot of Fruit Jars that are sitting in my cabinent and I would like to put them to use making some Jar Mixes and Bath Salts and the like. If anyone here has any good recipies, please, by all means, share them with me. 

It is raining here tonight, its suppose to turn into snow before morning, we are not expected to get any accumulation but the roads could be slick tomorrow due to the drop in temperatures. While there are not any roses left for me to find raindrops on, I am reminded of a Christmas Album that my husband and I bought the first year we were married, is was by Kenny Rogers and it had the song:

Raindrops on Roses,

and Whiskers on Kittens,

Bright Copper Kettles

and Warm Woolen Mittens.

Brown paper packages

tied up in strings,

these are a few of my favorite things....

So...I hope I have shared just a few of my favorite things with you this evening. You can bet Ill be posting again real soon. Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend. God bless each of you from my home to yours!

Gwen

Here piggy ,piggy, Kristi and Ee

I am sharing pictures of Kristi and her pet sow Ee.  Ee is from our old sow Tuna.  Kristi picked Ee out as soon as she was born.  She told us with her cute little smile and batting her eyelashes " this is my baby".   With that cute look how could we say no.   Her brother begged Kristi so much to let him have her, but Kristi held firm on it, NO!!

This is Kristi and Ee when Ee was about 3 weeks old:

Don't they look cute!!

Here is Ee on her 1st birthday.  Kristi made her a birthday cake :

Here is Kristi playing with Ee at night:

Here is a head shot of Ee next to Kristi:

Kristi hurt her knee one day and the Dr told her no horse back riding for 2 weeks.  So what does she do??? See for your self :

A real piggy back ride!!  We took a picture to show her Dr. her "New ride".   Our Dr. knowing our family ( a bunch of smart butts, Dr. is also one)  just laughed and went around showing the nurses and other Dr.'s her new ride!!!

Here is Ee's mom Tuna:

Last we have some of Ee's puppies (babies I every baby a puppy)

One more. This is Ee with her children Tommie and Heffa:

We still have Ee and Tommi , but we sold Heffa to a neighbor.  We did not have enough room in our freezer for her.

God Bless, mj

Some Thanksgiving Tidbits

Just thought Id post an additional entry today with some pics and stuff from our Thanksgiving this past week. I cooked up a storm! This was our menu:

• Golden Roast Turkey
• Baked Ham
• Homemade Whipped Potatos
• Homemade Turkey Gravy
• Sweet Potato Mallow
• Green Beans with Whole Potatos
• Buttered Corn
• Dinner Rolls
• Pumpkin Pie
• Pumpkin Roll
• Pecan Pie
• Chocolate Pie
• Softdrinks & Spice of Christmas Life Punch

Everyone ate till they couldnt eat anymore. lol I was suprised I had room for dessert even though I only ate one platefull. So, I wanted to share a few pics we took that day:

This was my Pumpkin Cream Cheese Roll

Our Turkey in the Beginning...lol

My Grandbaby Lillianna Rose and I

My daughter Brittany & Granddaughter Lilly

Gigantic Cinnamon Rolls

Good afternoon ladies. I trust everyone had a good Thanksgiving this past week? Ours was good. I cooked so much food. You would think I would still be full. But Im back in the kitchen today. lol The temps are dropping outside and they are calling for snow this evening. There is just something about the cold air and the mention of snow that puts me in the Holiday Cooking Mood. So, I made some Maple Pecan Fudge and it is in the kitchen setting up. I wanted to share something else with you today.

So....here while back (thats country talk dont cha know? ) lol Anyhow, a while back my son Matt and I were bored so we decided to make a trip out to the local Old Timers Flea Market. For those of you who dont know what that is its like a Giant Yard Sale inside a huge building! We LOVE it. Anyhow, so we went. And I had heard ppl talk about these good cinnnamon rolls that some lady makes and brings in there to sell, they almost always sell out rather quickly and I have never been fortunate enough to get there in time to grab one. But this time we lucked out and did! I mean these things are as big as a Dinner Plate and DELICIOUS!!! They are chock full of Cinnamon too. One is big enough to feed a family of 4! So, after we enjoyed the roll as a family, I was wondering if maybe I could duplicate them. I have a bread machine that I was fortunate enough to pick up at my Thrift Store for $8.00!! It worked perfect too, so that in itself was a deal as much as my husband loves Yeast Bread and Rolls.
Well, I had no sooner decided that I was going to try and duplicate that recipie until I was in Wal-Mart shopping and I picked up Taste of Homes New 2008 Holiday Recipie Guide and Smack Dab in the front of the book there is a recipie that catches my eye: GIGANTIC CINNAMON ROLLS!!!

I COULD not believe my eyes! There they were!!! FATE indeeed! lol So......I got out my amish bread recipie and have the dough inside of my bread machine mixing and rising. And Im am going to try this recipie!! I will let you know if it turns out.
Meantime, here it is if you would like to try it for yourself:

1/2 C.
Sugar
1/2 C.
Packed Brown Sugar
2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
2 loaves of frozen bread dough, thawed (or u fav recipie)
1/2 C.
Melted Butter
1/2 C.
Chopped Pecans
1-1/4 C. Powd.
Sugar
6 tsp Milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

In shallow bowl combine sugars and cinnamon, set aside. On lightly floured surface roll each loaf of bread dough into a 12 x 4 rectangle, Cut each rectangle into four 1 inch strips. Roll each strip into a 18 inch long rope. Dip in butter and then roll in the sugar mixture.

Coil one rope in the center of a 12 inch greased Pizza Pan, add 3 more ropes (Im going to use a pie pan and might go with 3 ropes instead of 4) Pinch ends to seal together in order to fill one pan. Sprinkle with pecans and remaining cinnamon sugar. Cover until doubled, about 45 mins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 mins or till golden brown. Mix powd sugar and milk and vanilla till smooth in another small bowl, drizzle over the warm rolls.

If you do make them let me know how they turned out! I am hoping they are as good as the ones this lady makes. Ill be sure to let you all know though!

Update on Christmas cards for soldiers

After my post a few days ago about sending cards to Recovering Soldiers, I found out that is not going to work.  Walter Reed gets so many that they cannot handle them, so the Red Cross has a program to distribute cards in many areas.   Following is some information and the address to use.  Please disregard the previous post I made, sorry for the confusion. 

Also note that the cards must be sent by Dec. 10!

Another thought I had was to plan to do something for patients in your local V.A. hospital.

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Not a Creature was Stirring

All through my house, it is so quiet. I am home alone, busy as a bee, getting things done. I have wrapped the last of the gifts for the grandbabies and nephews and am glad that it is done. This now gives me time to doing any baking that needs to be done and actually work on ideas and projects for my store at Etsy. My store has been empty for some time with all the commotion going on this year, but I have pledged to myself to get it up and running again for next year. It is something that had excited me, and since I can not actualy have a building store, this will do for now.

Yesterday hubby and I had to travel up to Spokane for his doctors appointment. We thought we would kill some time and walk the big two story, huge mall up there. Now mind you, I have not been to a huge mall in over 5 years, and I really don't like crowds, but hubby wanted to go, so I bit the bullet and went. Oh my Lord, what a hectic mess it was. My first clue about not wanting to be there was my anxiety level starting, just by trying to find a parking space. It really kicked in when we stepped inside the mall, and it was just masses amount of people. Anxiety up a huge notch. The kicker was trying to sit down so that I could get a bite to eat, since by an hour later, my ears had shut down and all I could hear is a loud hum noise. I couldn't even hear what my hubby was saying to me across the table. We finaly got up and left. Of course, by the time we got to the car, it was starting to snow pretty good. This is the time that you have to be careful doing anything out on the road because people think that they can stop on a dime! Well, of course they can, it's the sliding through the intersection that they don't forsee. Well we made it to the appointment, and while sitting there, I happened to run across the Family Circle magazine. Now I haven't read one of these in so long. I would love to get them, but there is just to much advertisements for my taste. Anyways, I was reading this wonderful article about a small town that had turned itself around, and it all started with a book. One of the founding women had seen this book, read it, and loved the furniture in it. She then go other people involved making some other things and kept alot of people that had been out of work, working again. I just loved the story and may have to go buy the book, if just for that.There small little town is now known world wide and they were even invited to the White House for most of their tree decorations. Again what a great story. By the way, the cover of the magazine has a coconut cake on the front with blue background, if you go looking for it.

I was expecting snow this morning, but no go. We are in a nice layer of fog and wet, that's about it. I am going to get things out for our pizza night tonight since we skipped it last night. Both of us weren't hungry and had just a slice of pie and hot tea. I know, not the best choice, but hey it was good.

Well I should be off and get more done while I'm alone.

Will talk to you later

Tuckered out

That's what we both are tonight!  Hubby announced this morning that he was going to back a trailer into the shed and we were going to start cleaning it out.  Well all I could say was WooHoo!   I should have taken a picture of the mess we had, but honestly it was a little too bad.  It is a shed that is open to the south and we use it for shelter for the goats.  They have been using the front half, but there was a cattle panel across the middle and the back half was total junk!  When we moved here 71/2 years ago, we stored things we didn't know what to do with there..........well, you know boxes got damp and gave out and stuff just got to be a total mess.  I have had the best intentions every year to get it cleaned out so the goats could use all of the building as well as just getting the junk cleared out.  But everytime I looked at it, it just seemed like too big of a job to start on myself, so I would just walk away.  So when hubby was in the mood to start on it this morning, I was overjoyed!  A lot of work, but a good tired at the end of the day.  I am guessing we burned 10 or more trash bags full, plus some boxes that we just carried to the burn pile.  Besides a trailer pretty full of stuff to haul to the dump tomorrow.  There is a huge pile of used lumber along one side that my Dad had stored there, so we will have to start on that tomorrow too.  We are thinking some of it may be no good, but some can be  salvaged.  Then of course there is a row of "stuff" that we want to keep that will need to find a home before we can say we are finished. I doubt that we can finish it tomorrow, but we sure have made a good start and I am thrilled.

This shed is where we hold the Live Nativity that we host each year.  So that is another reason to be happy to get this project done now before Christmas.  Past years we have just hung a tarp across, covering up the mess.

Today was a perfect day to work outside, we were out of the wind, so not cold, but just right to work and not get hot either.  There was very little wind, so we were able to keep the burn pile going and get rid of the burnable stuff right away.

One more blessing to share with you.  I send out a newsletter from our farm, and in the one I did last week I added a wish list of things we could use here that folks might have laying around and want to get rid of.  Included was a baby monitor,  jelly jars, concrete wire, and pieces of chain link fence to cover gates.  In response, a friend emailed and offered some fencing.  We borrowed a trailer and picked it up yesterday when we were in the area for Thanksgiving.  There was part of a roll of wire, several hog panels, some are bent, but we cut them up and use the pieces for hay feeders, a chain link walk thru gate, some steel posts.  And they also gave us 2 rubber buckets, a rubber feed pan, some metal wash tubs.  I think that is everything........  We were so happy to be blessed with these items and she told me she had wondered for 2 years what she was going to do with this stuff.  So we helped her out as well.  Isn't God Good!!!

I have 2 pies to bake by noon tomorrow.  Being busy all day and worn out tonight, I was very happy that I had made an extra single pie crust last week and put it in the freezer.   I stirred up  the filling for a custard pie in no time and it baked while I got the dishes from the day caught up.  In the morning when I have a little more energy, I will make an apple and be done baking till Monday I hope!

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead