Friday, May 15, 2009

A Country Livin' Surprise

This is a spring job our boys "love" to get called on to do, cleaning out the window well. It was G's turn and he was less than thrilled but he went on down there to dig out all the nasty leaves and the toads and the frogs that get down in there.





See he's headin down, no problem.
Then, Oh my goodness what is that? After much discussion he decided to go get his big brother for assistance.

Big brother climbed in and got a box and a rake to pull this guy or girl or whatever out. Can you see it? Here's a better look.


Those are some big ol pinchers on that thing.


Here it is up close and personal. It's huge!



Ha! not really, but it looked really big and scary to G.


This picture is pretty normal around here. P is sitting all calm and G is moving so he's blurry. Hold. Still. For. Just. One. Picture. Please!


This is the crawdaddy rescuer headin out to move Mr. or Mrs. Crawdaddy to a safe location. Well, unless a raccoon finds him or her tonight.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Welcome To My Garden 2009 Part 1

Dwarf Iris', Shasta Daisy "Snowcap" and behind the sign Siberian Iris'.

Yellow Rose Bushes
started with five to six small starts two years ago.

Beautiful Rose Blossoms


Hmmm, well I thought this was Lamb's Ear growing wild along the edge of the trees. After transplanting it to my flower bed and seeing other lamb's ear around I'm not so sure. Could it be Lamb's Ear Giganticus? lol


This is all reseeded cilantro from a plant I bought last year! Yum, Pico De Gallo!


A lovely gift from a Sis-n-law. A tea cup bird bath.


How gorgeous is this, a ball of blooms on my snowball bush.


Sedum, ground cover-Dragon's Blood?



This is Lemon Balm and every spring and every fall I rip it out with a vengeance and it just. keeps. coming!


One of my fav decorations. Rooster jumping rope. I picked this up at a Big Lots! one year. Every year I go back looking for some more uniqueness only to be disappointed.


Second all time fav, Hula hoopin frog.



First Iris bloom of the 2009 season


Dianthus, this was a dead looking plant at church that I brought home, stuck in the ground and watered. Lovely.


Dianthus bloom

I love daisies, they're so friendly, dontcha think that daisies are the friendliest flower. (name that movie!)


Mouse Ear Coreopsis bloom



Flowering Chives, mmmm.


Alum Blooms

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Playing Catch Up

Boy we sure have been busy around here. Once the rain left we got busy on all the outdoor stuff.



Garden bed #1 ready, check.





Flower beds weeded and flowers moved, checked.






Two new veggie patches tilled and amended, check.




Laundry on the line, check.



Spring here in all it's green and flowering goodness, check!





Chickens happy and growing, check.



A lovely Mother's Day gift, check.



A spring surprise, check.



Thursday, April 23, 2009

Sheldon In All His Glory

Sheldon is done! I loved making him and lots of love went into the knitting of him and all his costumes for lil G. Take a look back to see him in all his stages.



Sheldon the Chicken


Superhero w/cape




Superhero shield waiting for name to be stitched on.




Beach bum turtle w/life preserver shell and beach shorts.







A very happy Lil G!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Menu Monday 4/13 -- A Day Late

Sorry I missed last week, I was sick and then with the boys being off for spring break, yesterday came and went sooooo, better late than never.

Monday--Shrimp Scampi Pasta, salad and bread

Tuesday-- Biscuits n Gravy

Wednesday-- Pork Chops Fake n bake style, baked apples and green beans

Thursday-- Leftovers

Friday-- Homemade Pizza

Saturday-- Out of Town--eating out

Sunday-- Frittata

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Seed Swap Excitement

How excited do you think I was when I opened my mail box and saw this big fat envelope?



To be honest at first I thought it was yarn, because that would just be super great if someone sent me a big bag of yarn(FYI, I prefer natural fibers. ;0p). But then I realized it was from the seed swap Howling Hill started. And I was just as excited about the seeds as I was when I thought it was yarn(are you getting the idea that I have a thing for yarn?) I signed up last year but the seeds never made it to me. This year though everybody was able to take and give and send it on and now it's my turn.

Jenna Z. over at Corgipants sent them to me, funny thing I forgot to mention to Jenna Z. I use to live in her neck of the woods. Kind of ironic isn't it.

I chose these veggies and flowers:

Watermelon-Moon & Stars, Chelsea and Sugar Babies
Squash-Gold Nugget
White Tipped Scarlet Radish
Eggplant-Long Purple
Sweet Fennel
Cucumber-Marketer
Pumpkin- Rouge d'etamps and Blue Moon
Peppers-Pretty In Purple
White Cleome
Swamp Milkweed
False Indigo
Larkspur (Pink)
Yellow 4 O'Clocks

And I put these seeds in:

Veggies:
Rhubarb
Tomatoes-Black Krim and Amish Paste
Parisian Pickling Cucumber
Heat Tolerant Lettuce
NuMex Big Jim Chili Peppers
Green Culinary Sage
Grandma Eink's Dill
Flowers:
Tall Blue Larkspur
Bee Balm
Gian Imperial Larkspur
Black Hollyhocks
Sunflowers-dwarf mix
Red Columbine
Giant White Moonflower
Cabbage Leaf Poppies
Rose of Sharon

I'm mailing them off to Melissa @ Melissa's Ramblings.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Knitting News

Just keep knitting, knitting, knitting........ Pretty much if I'm sitting still somewhere I've been knitting lately. I'm still working on this and today I posted here on the many items that go along with him. As well as, a pair of socks thrown in there for good measure. Cause ya know I can't just do one thing at a time.

Sheldon is not done. In addition to the animal costumes there are a couple of "career" costumes I have to knit yet and I've been toying, ha get it, with the idea of a couple more outfits. Of course I don't have patterns for those outfits so we will see if it happens. If not now maybe later on after I figure out how to make them.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Menu Monday 3/23

Here it is again:

Monday 3/23: Leftovers from weekend

Tuesday 3/24: Superfast Salisbury Steak and Boston Market Dill Potato Wedges

Wednesday 3/25: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Thursday 3/26: Family Style Shrimp Scampi and Oven Roasted Veggies

Friday 3/27: Homemade Pizza

Saturday 3/28: Sesame Chicken Fingers w/ Peanut Sauce and Sesame Garlic Broccoli

Sunday 3/29: Leftovers

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Recipe I

Here's the recipes for Runsas, this is a fav at our house, frugalmom's too!

Runsas (Beef and Cabbage Buns w/ cheese)
( Cook's Country Mag. Apr/May 2007 )

Note: Don't overcook the cabbage--you want it to provide some crunch when you bite into the sandwich.

Dough:

3/4 c. warm water (110 degrees)
1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk
1/4 c. veggie oil
2 Tbls. sugar
1 lg. egg
3 1/2 c. all purp flour, plus extra for rolling out dough
2 pks instant or rapid rise yeast
1 tsp salt

Filling:

3 Tbls unsalted butter, 2 Tbls melted
1 1/2 lbs. 90% lean ground beef
1 lg onion, chopped fine
1/2 sm head cabbage, chopped(about 3 cups)
salt and pepper
8 slices deli American cheese (now some would say this is "cheese food", not real cheese and I would agree, but do not skip this or replace it. The creamyness it provides is soooo worth it.)

1. For the dough: lightly grease lg bowl w/cooking spray. Mix water, sweetened condensed milk, oil, sugar, and egg in lg measuring cup. Mix flour, yeast, and salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook. With mixer on low, add water mixture. After dough comes together, increase speed to medium and mix until shiny and smooth, 4 to 6 minutes. Turn dough out onto heavily floured work surface, shape into ball, and place in greased bowl. (Mixing can also be done by hand)
Cover bowl w/plastic wrap and let rest in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

2. For the filling: Melt 1 Tbls. butter in lg skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook until just beginning to brown, about 6 minutes, breaking up any lg clumps. Using slotted spoon, transfer beef to paper towel-lined plate.

3. Pour off all but 2 Tbls. fat from pan. Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add cabbage and toss until just beginning to wilt, 2 to 4 minutes. Return beef to pan and season with salt and pepper.

4. To assemble and bake: Adjust oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Working on lightly floured work surface, roll each piece of dough into 7-inch circle. Place one dough round in deep cereal bowl and top with one slice of cheese. Spoon 3/4 cup filling over cheese and pinch edges of dough together to form bun. Transfer bun, seam side down, to prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, cheese and filling, placing 4 buns on each baking sheet. Cover buns with plastic wrap and let rise until puffed, about 20 minutes.

5. Bake buns until golden brown, about 20 minutes, switching and rotating positions of baking sheets halfway through baking time. Brush buns with melted butter and serve.

*I think frugalmom told me these freeze well, ours never last long enough to get frozen. ;0)

Monday, March 16, 2009

Menu Monday 3/16

Well, since my blogging has been lean I thought I would start posting my menu for the week. We shall see if it lasts. If something sounds good and you want the recipe let me know.

Monday 3/16: Crispy Pan Fried Pork Chops w/ Beer Braised Cabbage

Tuesday 3/17: Egg Sandwiches and Hashbrown Casserole

Wednesday 3/18: Three Meat Calzones and Salad

Thursday 3/19: Sausage Asparagus Skillet and Salad

Friday 3/20: Homemade Pizza

Saturday 3/21: Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Corn & Green Beans

Sunday 3/22: Runsas and Broccoli Casserole

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

A Surprise or not

I mentioned a project I would be working on a few posts back. Here is the finished product.

After talking to frugalmom, I'm quite sure lil G will not be surprised as it seems he's mentioned several times that I'm knitting him a turtle. But I'm sure he will be pleased anyway, now his mother may not be as pleased. Getting that lil turtle out of his shell and into his other costumes is a bit finicky. But well worth the hours of playtime in my humble opinion.


Sheldon in progress(this is the pattern name, it is my understanding he will be called Franklin)

Naked Turtle!

Finished turtle in the sun.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

I'm good at finding things

I'm known around these here parts as "the finder". Lost something, call Mim, within a short period of time I will find what is missing. I'm an observant person. I notice things, little things that other people may overlook. So, when I read this, I bout peed my pants laughing. I live with three males, most of the time they can't find anything.

Now I know why, it's my uterus!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Happy 8th Birthday G

My "baby" turned 8 this last week. I can hardly believe it's been 8 years already. He really wanted to have his party at a gym where they screw you throw birthday parties for children.

He decided mid week that he would like to have a football cake. That brown smudge is, absolutely not a place I dropped icing, it's a spot where a football players cleat ripped the turf.

The birthday boy getting ready to run.


This is how most of the pics turned out that I took. Blurred! Either from the constant motions of the kids or from my lack of camera skills.


Here are quite a few of the kids "stuck" in the foam block pit.


Fun was had by all. Even a Daddy had some fun!