Beautiful Day!

Finally a great day here! Working in the garden is a pleasure when the breeze is cool & the sun is shining. Going to have to pick more lettuce & spinach as it is growing like gang busters!



Dan & I went to pick up some tractor tires this am in Webster City-2 hour drive at 7am! It was great! We love to take drives & look at the countryside!

I took an order from my Etsy site into the post office & of course had to make a detour to go to the Teen Challenge Garage Sale! I love to go garage saling!!

Hope you have a great week end!

Colossians 4:2 Continue praying, keeping alert, and always thanking God.

Summer?

It is June 1st. But when I went out to chore this morning the thermometer said 40 DEGREES! THAT IS 8 DEGREES ABOVE FREEZING! How crazy is that?!? The sun is out so maybe it will warm up a bit.

This week end needs to find me out in the garden weeding! I am sure this rain & sun are going to make the weeds spring up like crazy! We are having a wonderful garden salad for lunch today! It is so nice to be able to grow your own food! Makes you feel a bit self reliant!

Yesterdays rainy day left me getting plenty done-laundry, knitting, pictures, roast in oven-YUMMY! Having the oven on warmed the house nicely! Oh the smell! Love the smell of a roast cooking!

Acts 20:32 Now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all thoses who are sanctified.

Rain! Yeah!

Finally a nice gentle rain! The garden needs it so badly! I am hoping for this to stick around all day! It needs to soak the ground pretty good for it to help!

It is a great day to stick something in the oven- so I have a pork roast in low & slow all day! Yummy! It may be a good day for some zucchini bread also! I like to do a couple of things at a time in the oven on cooler days!

I will be working on taking more pictures of sale items for my Etsy shop today as I can't get outside to the garden! I hope to get more listed this week end.

I also have a knitted vest for a certain little boy that I am working on so today might be a good day for that! I love rainy days! It is so nice to have time to do inside stuff for a change!

Enjoy your day where ever you are!

Psalm 139:14 I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.
There are things that God has made only for you to do-find them today!

Needing Rain

Well, the garden is in & now we are waiting for rain. I am watering the plants everyday & the rows with seeds every other day! I have beans popping up. We have the trellis already in place as when they grow they grow fast!

The goats are done having babies for this spring! I ended up with 1 buckling & 1 doeling!  But with no rain we are having to feed them extra hay as the grass is not growing very well.

The duck is still setting on her eggs so hopefully we will have ducklings running around soon!

Going out to the garden to pick some lettuce & radishes for supper!

Psalm 46:10 Be still & know that I am God.

SPRING HAS ARRIVED!

The clematis is in full bloom! It has hundreds on it this year!

Two New Babies!

Faith had her babies today! She had 2 little boys. One is black & white, the other is brown & white! The black & white one is in the house-not sucking-so will have to tube then feed him. The other one is up & about & sucking on his own!

HERE IS A REPOST OF MY FAVORITE RECIPE!

Eggs! Eggs! More Eggs! (not sure where the pics went)
What do you do when you are overcome with eggs from your lovely ladies? Why you can always make pasta! I made several kinds last week.




First you put 2 cups flour in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Add 1 1/2 tsp salt & 2 eggs. Mix with a heavy fork. As it comes together in a ball take it out & knead it until smooth & elastic. You don't want it to be too sticky so if you need to add a small amount of flour.





Next you roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch thick.



Next I lay my dough out on flour sack towels to dry briefly. Usually until I am done rolling out the other dough. The it is time to decide what shape pasta you are going to make! This is the fun part! I have several pictures of different shapes that I made last week. You can make almost anythign that you can buy with the exception of the tube pasta unless you have a pasta maker with those attachments.







Ravioli cutter











Finished ravioli.











Cutting egg noodles.











Tortellini











Finished egg noodles.





I usually let them dry for a couple of hours. Then I either cook them or freeze them. They make the best home made chicken noodle soup!! Yummy!!



Here is the finished display after the ceiling is done!

It has been fun finding things around the house to put up there.

SPRING IS HERE!

It is really almost here! I saw my first robin this morning. She was singing to me from the walnut tree-announcing her arrival!  I know when she arrives that the warmer days of spring are not too far behind. Thank you Father for helping me survive another winter!  Thank you for sending the spring & new life!

REMODEL

We have been tackling a remodeling project since December & it is soon to be finished!! It is exciting to see the progress! My husband & I have done all of it by ourselves & that is quite a feeling!!

Here are some before pictures:

This is the suspended ceiling which we took out!

This shows the 10 foot ceilings hiding underneath!

This shot is all of the wires & ceiling gone!

Here is the new ceiling fan & light!

Here is a shot of the car siding going up!

Here is a shot of the ceiling after it is painted!

It looks just like bead board!

Now I have space over my cupboards for some displaying of antique items & such! We have some trim work & painting yet to do & it will be completely done!!







A NEW PANTRY IS BORN!!

My husband & I spent a couple of days re-doing a closet into a pantry. Here are some pictures!

From studs to full pantry! WOW! I am so proud of my husband!!

Plowing Day 2011

Every year my husband & I host a plowing day for the tractor club! It is a lot of fun to see all the old tractors out in the field plowing. We had quite a few this year!


I make chili & crackers, brownies, coffee, & this year I made some deviled eggs. The tractor club usually sends meat from their picnic so there is a sandwich to go along with my food!

These are just a few of the tractor pictures I took! What fun!

Come on Over!

Come on over to Untrained Housewife & catch my article on Keep It Simple!!

http://www.untrainedhousewife.com/keeping-it-simple-this-season

It Is Out!!

I have a 9 page spread in the latest edition of the Countryside Magazine! Here is the link to the web site!


http://www.countrysidemag.com/issues/95/95-5/learning_is_saving_small_changes_can_really_add_up.html


What fun!

Canning season Has Begun!!

It has begun! I have been canning salsa & potatoes for the last 3 days! It is hot in my kitchen but oh, what joy I get when I see the jars lined up!

I am trying something new this year! I am going to try & dehydrate some of my potatoes & see how easy they are to use.

Along with the canning I have been freezing zucchini to use in the winter months for chocolate zucchini bread! Yummy!

It is a busy time of year here at the farm! I will keep you posted!

Iowa State Fair Time!

Yesterday we went to the state fair! I got to see my friend who makes & sells soaps! She has some great stuff! Here is her website to go over & check it out! I have purchased her plain soap for years as this is the only kind I can use on my face!
www.sudsysoapcakes.com

Love This!

This is an 8 foot farm table-handmade! Wow! It is just beautiful!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Shenandoah-Primitives/172983730078

I Made It!

I made the Jalapeno Cheddar Bread & it is yummy! It is not as hot as you think it would be. I didn't have canned jalapenos so I used some frozen ones & chopped them up in the processor & it worked fine. Probably gave it more bite than the canned ones but I like!!

Lazy J Bar C Farm: Jalapeno Cheddar Artisan Bread

I LOVE THE SOUND OF THIS! I AM GOING TO MAKE IT TONIGHT!
Lazy J Bar C Farm: Jalapeno Cheddar Artisan Bread: "When I was baking and selling bread at the Farmers Markets, I had over 30 different kinds of bread and rolls on my table for sale. This Jala..."

Farmgirl Barbie

I made these for a fellow Farmgirl's daughter. My old one armed Barbie just doesn't do it justice. I forgot how challenging it is to sew in miniature! What fun!!

Looking for Vintage??

Here is a friend of mine who sells vintage items on her Esty site. Take a look! She has some nice pieces.

http://www.uniquelynan.etsy.com/

Quick Mix #16

Sunshine Coffeecake

3 cups Quick Mix
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg beaten
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cinnamon Crumble topping-see below

Cinnamon Crumble topping
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup cookie or cake crumbs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter an 8 inch square pan.
In a medium bowl, combine Quick Mix & sugar til evenly distributed.
In a small bowl, combine egg, milk & vanilla.
Stir til just blended.
Add liquid ingredients all at once.
Fold mixture together til blended.
Prepare Cinnamon Crumble Topping.
Spread half the batter in the prepared pan.
Spread half of topping over the batter.
Top with remaining batter & topping.
Bake 40-50 minutes.
Makes one 8 inch cake.


Cinnamon Crumble Topping
In a medium bowl, combine flour, crumbs, brown sugar & cinnamon.
With a pastry blender/fork cut in butter til mixture is crumbly.

Quick Mix #15

Super-Duper Doughnuts

Cooking oil for frying
2 cups Quick Mix
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup milk
Vanilla glaze-recipe follows

Vanilla Glaze:Combine all ingredients & stir until smooth.
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


In a deep fryer, heat oil to 375 degrees.
In a medium bowl, combine Quick Mix, sugar, cinnamon, & nutmeg.
Blend well.
In a small bowl, mix together vanilla, egg & milk.
Add all at once to dry ingredients.
Stir until well blended.
On a lightly floured surface, knead dough about 10 minutes.
Roll out to 1/2 inch thickness & cut with a floured doughnut cutter.
Fry in hot oil about 1 minute on each side, until golden brown.
Drain on paper towels.
While doughnuts cool slightly, prepare vanilla glaze.
Dip warm doughnuts in glaze.

Makes about 12 doughnuts.

Quick Mix #14

Sunday Shortcake

3 cups Quick Mix
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter-melted
1/2 cup milk
1 egg beaten
fruit-as desired
whipped cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine Quick Mix & sugar in medium bowl.
Mix well.
In a small bowl, combine melted butter, milk & egg.
Add to dry ingredients.
Stir with a fork til just moistened.
On a lightly floured surface, knead 8-10 times.
Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness.
Cut with a lightly floured 3 inch round cutter.
Bake on an unbuttered baking sheet about 10 minutes til golden.
Cool.
Top with fruit as desired & whipped cream.
Makes 6 shortcakes.

Quick Mix #13

Apple-Nut Cake

2 1/3 cups Quick Mix
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 cups pared, cored grated apples
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup nuts-optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly grease an 8 inch square pan.
In medium bowl, combine Quick Mix, brown sugar, cinnamon & cloves.
Mix well.
Add eggs & milk.
Blend with an electric mixer 1 minute.
Add apples & blend 2 more minutes.
Stir in raisins & nuts.
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake 40-50 minutes until a tooth pick in center comes out clean.
Cool in pan 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.
Makes 1 eight inch cake.

Variation:
Banana Nut Cake-omit raisins.
Substitute 1 cup mashed bananas for apples.