It's A New Year

I have neglected my musings here for about a month. Time flies when you are up to your neck in baking and holiday readying. I did more baking this year for the holidays than I have in probably 5 or 6 years. I think it's because I had a captive kitchen crew - they knew if they wanted goodies they had to help.

We were all covered in flour by the time we finished up that night. It had finally progressed to a flour battle.

But, the cookies were scrumdilyiscious.

Christmas was a flurry of paper and "Wow ! You listened!!!". I kept a small notebook at my computer that I wrote down ideas all year long that the kids asked for. They didn't get hardly any of what they wanted but what they got was exactly what they had hoped for. Another notch in my belt.

The biggest thing that happened on Christmas day was my 14 year old son was taught how to shave for the first time. He was really getting to be a wooly bear. So one of his gifts included a snazzy razor and Daddy taught him all the rules and regulations. Once he got past playing with the shaving creme it was down to business....

Looks like Daddy could use a shave as well.

My husband gave me a wonderful gift - my Poppy. She's a Dwarf Russian Hamster. 5 months old. Quite wild but she's getting used to me as each day passes. She doesn't go for blood with her choppers anymore so that's a good sign.

She was housed temporarily in a very old hamster cage. We have set her up in a 10 gal aquarium now and her favorite thing to do is tunnel. Dwarf hamsters are not your average climbers so the old cage just wasn't suitable for her. Now she has scurry room and is much happier. Now to teach the cats that she is not the snack de'jour.

We've pretty much bedded down for the winter. The green house is limping along. It's a good project and a great learning experience. We've harvested a good many cucumbers and the tomato plants are loaded with fruit but the ripening is so slow going. I'm focusing now on planning out the Spring Garden and starting seeds for it. The greenhouse experiment will definately be expanded next fall - we have learned quite a lot even if it's trial by fire.

The weather changed so fast for us that we did not get all the trees down that we had intended to. We have enough down to open up the back area to more sunlight but not enough to proceed with our shed building plans. Perhaps that will happen closer to spring. Right now we are having what we Southerners call an Arctic Blast - nights in the teens and days in the 30's. Not conducive to working outside if you are not acclimated to it. Thankfully, we have a delivery of pre-split wood coming tomorrow - yes we had to purchase wood as we have run out of suitable wood after 12 years here. We don't yet own a vehicle that can transport wood so we had to pay for it to be delivered - won't happen again, I can assure you. What we have coming should last the winter for us. Using the fireplace to assist in the heating saves us a ton on the electric bill. We once entertained the idea of buying land and homesteading in Montana. Uhhhh NO! The last week or so has convinced me that we are quite content right where we are (for now).

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.

Bing Bing

SILENCE!!!! night

My Hero - Achmed.
You folks will have to forgive for a bit. I just discovered embedding youtube videos and well.....I have to play yanno............

Muppets!!!!!