T'Was 2 Days After Christmas

And all through the house,

not a creature was stirring,

not even a mouse.

"This simply will not do", my husband remarked.

So off in the van he dashed to PetsMart.

He raced through the streets where the drivers were wonky

and arriving back home he handed me

POPPY

Christmas On The Cheap

I read this on another site and thought it was a very good lesson to learn and think about.

It's said that you can never have to many friends, but Christmas was just a week away and I had five people left to shop for on my Christmas list and only three dollars to my name. How do you tell you mother, brother, and three friends that you can only spend sixty cent on each of them?
"Let's set a price limit on our gifts this year," I suggested to my best friend, Joanie.
"That's a good idea," Joanie agreed. "How about nothing over five dollars?"
"How about nothing over sixty cents?" I felt like the biggest cheapskate in the world.
"I guess this is where I'm supposed to say it's not the gift, it's the thought that counts," Joanie smiled. "But don't blame me if all you get is a stick of gum!"
It is almost impossible to buy anything for under sixty cents, so it was going to have to be very small gifts with very big thoughts. I'd never spent so much time or effort trying to come up with the right gift for the right person. Finally, Christmas day arrived, and I was worried how people would feel about my "cheap" gifts.
I gave my mother a scented candle with a note that said, "You are the brightest light in my life." Shoe almost cried when she read the note.
I gave my brother a wooden ruler. On the back of it I'd painted. "No brother in the world could measure up to you." He gave me a bag of sugar and had written on i t "You're sweet." He'd never said anything like that to me before.
For Joanie, I painted an old pair of shoes gold and stuck flowers in them with a note that said, "No one could ever fill your shoes." She gave me a feather and a Band Aid. She said I always tickled her funny bone and made her laugh until her sides ached.
To my other two friends, I gave one a paper fan and wrote on it, "I'm your biggest fan." To the other, I gave a calculator that cost one dollar and I painted a message on the back, "You can always count on me." They gave me a rusty horseshoe for luck and a bundle of sticks tied with a red ribbon because "friends stick together."
I don't remember all the other gifts that I got from people last Christmas, but I remember every one of the "cheap" gifts.
My brother thinks I am sweet. My mother knows she is the most important person in my life. Joanie thinks I'm funny and I made her laugh, which is important because her dad moved away last year and she misses him and is sad sometimes.
I was worried I wouldn't have enough money for Christmas gift, but I gave to five people and still had twenty cents left over. We all still talk about our "cheap" gifts and how much fun it was to come up with a gift that cost pennies but told someone how we really felt about them. On my bookshelf, I still have a bag of sugar, a feather, a horseshoe, and a bundle of sticks. . . and they are priceless

Mom....this one's for you...............

Greenhouse Update

The greenhouse is doing wonderfully well. Better than anticipated. We are managing to keep the night temperatures hovering around 68 - 72. Day temps are still hard to regulate but we are learning fast. One thing I have discovered though - the reason why "hot house" produce is much more expensive. It takes longer for the plants to produce to a ripened stage, plus the upkeep is much more labor intensive than traditional gardening.
Because we are growing directly in the soil, the soil temps are lower but no where near as low as the outside ground. Next year will see the greenhouse majorly expanded and raised grow boxes installed.

Cucumbers by Christmas time ........

They look so inviting and it's hard to keep from picking one just to taste.

The Tomato plants are thriving. I have noticed they are not as big as a traditional garden tomato plant. But they sure are blooming. The Basil is doing way better than it did all summer long.
We are trying Snow Peas. Just a few vines. They are growing by leaps and bounds but no signs of blossoms just yet.

This has really been an adventure in learning for us. It has also satisfied my husbands' yearning to dig in the dirt during the barren winter months here. Even though I have a degree in Horticulture, my husband is the one who "digs" gardening more than I do. Many a day can find him puttering around in the garden and now in the greenhouse. He even has a lawn chair in it so he can sit and enjoy the "fruits" of his labor. 

Root Beer Bread

Yes you read that correctly - ROOT BEER Bread. Sounds funky don't it?
A couple of years ago I was gifted with a gift box of specialty bread mixes. I used all but the beer bread mix. That box kept getting shunted around in the pantry. Why? No beer in the house unless I am making a big pot of chili. Well the other day I pulled that box out with every intention of tossing it. I read the instructions and it said use beer, soda or carbonated water. I got a wild hair. Root beer. I have that. It's "beer". It's soda. It's carbonated. So, there it all went into the mixing bowl. The end result was a bit different. Sweet. Aftertaste of Root beer. Not bad. My son has decided he wants that bread all the time. Guess what boys and girls. It was a mix. I can't replicate it since the box it came in was used as firestarter in the fireplace.

Fast forward to today. I go online and search out recipes for Root Beer Bread. No luck. Then my feeble mind reminds me "Dummy, it's beer bread". So I find a suitable recipe for beer bread. Recipe Goldmine has saved my butt many a time. I used the recipe, doubled it, and replaced the beer with root beer. Tossed it all in the bread machine and voila. End result part 2 - that's some goooooooood bread. Not sweet yet not bland. Just the right amount of flavor.

Root Beer Bread

1/2 cup water (room temp)

1 1/3 cup Root Beer (room temp) you can use regular beer if you wish

2 Tablespoons oil

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons salt

4 Tablespoons Sugar

4 cups all purpose flour or Bread flour

1 individual packet of yeast.

Place liquids then other ingredients in the bread pan first. Add flour. Place yeast on top. Choose 2# loaf size and light color.

The Grinch Missed One

23 days before Christmas. Apparently the Grinch got his calendar mixed up. He came and took all my Who pudding and Roast Beast. However, he failed to remove the most annoying thing.

Peanut decided he was the bestest, most cutest ornament on the whole tree. Until we tried to get him out of it, that is. Photo and finger compliments of my daughter.