Home Alone Today!

Knowing that I'd have the day home alone..... I made a mental list of things I'd like to accomplish today beginning with tidying up. My list started with folding laundry, dishes, cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming etc. etc. I also added... finish the last 30 pages of my most recent book "Arkansas" by Christine Lynxwiler, bake, vacuum the van, watch a movie and perhaps pull out the stamps and create a card! :)

I got up at about 5:50AM and finished my book with my morning cup of tea and then helped get Pete & Audrey out the door by 7:15 and Austin was gone by 7:40! Ahhhh, now what?! I took the practical route and finished cleaning the kitchen & folded the rest of the laundry THEN, I decided to get out a few stamps to see if I could wake up the creative juices!

I popped in Reese Witherspoon's "Vanity Fair" dvd (ended up being a so/so movie) and proceeded to look over my stamps sets before deciding towork with the ever trusted "Gentle Thoughts" and "Never Ending Joy" sets from Stamping Up!I don't know if they show up well .... but the flower card is suppose to be eggplant & mellow moss while the teapot card is using navy blue & mellow moss! I enjoyed my quiet day..... It sure felt good to dust off this old hobby and try my hand at it again!

PS..... I never did finish my chores!!

The "Girls" Are Going For A Ride...

Another decision has been made by way of preparing for *G*U*L*P* winter... It is time for the 'girls' to move on to greener pastures. We've had the goats for 4 years I think, and although they are sweet and sooo personable, it is time for them to be loved by another family! It has been a blast to have them! We've bred them, enjoyed lots of 'goatie babies' and had lots of fun that goes with watching the antics of such loving and curious animals! (Sigh....) Oh the memories of fun!! Like the first babies being born on Christmas morning.... within half an hour of our 'suppose to leave' time to go to my brother's house! That was one awesome Christmas morning.... two bucks we appropriately named: Frankincense & Myrrh (Frankie & Murray)!!

The chickens are also leaving us.... we've had chickens (not this flock) for years and most likely we'll start up again in the spring. Once you've been 'spoiled' with fresh eggs, it is hard to go back to the pale yellow yoked eggs we buy at the store! We'll manage until we get our next order of chicks then wait the 22-24 weeks until they are ready to lay!Oh boy... I hope I don't let my heart rule over my head this afternoon. Pete is coming home later this afternoon to help load them up.... it is a family decision and truly one for the best! New Thought...(grin...) I'll just keep reminding myself that spring is coming.... and springtime brings more barnyard babies!! :) HMMMM, maybe more chicks..... maybe turkeys, maybe a calf..... or a piglet or two!!

Tomatoes, Tomatoes and more Tomatoes!

The killer frost is coming.... it has struck about 25 miles north of us over the past couple of nights, so we know it won't be too much longer for us! I'm trying to get the tomatoes all picked and decide what to do with them! (Canning, freezing, salsa, sauce...???) This year it will be sauce! (Hmmm, this picture doesn't show just how many tomatoes I am dealing with... since it only shows a few plants!)

We've enjoyed fresh tomatoes in salads, eating them as one would eat an apple, in open face tomatoe & cheese broiled sandwiches.... etc. etc. Now to save some for the long (sigh) winter months ahead. After picking & washing the tomatoes I diced up and froze

some containers of tomatoes for soups, chili and to add to the store bought spaghetti sauce later on. With what is left I filled up two big crock pots with even more diced tomatoes!!

They cooked down over night and in the morning I added diced green peppers (from the garden) and some mushrooms and it cooked down some more. The tomatoes shrunk down by 50% and I added some onion powder, garlic, a little bit of sugar and some baking soda to the sauce (to help 'kill' the acid...)!

It will go into the freezer (instead of canning jars) and when

I thaw it.... I'll add Italian spices and perhaps some

meat! I can't wait to try it on spaghetti, lasagna & pizza!

(Can you smell it? IT SMELLS SOOOO YUMMY!)

Next.... I'll be moving on to apple picking and finding creative ways to store them!! (I may be making apple jelly again this year!) I'll keep you posted!

Wordless Wednesday...