Come take a walk with me....

Another look at Holidays

2011-11-23T18:03:00.000-05:00

While I am baking like crazy today to prepare for Thanksgiving tomorrow I thought I'd share some thoughts about what makes this day special for me.

I started preparations yesterday , making the dough for my Moms "famous" sticky buns. I misplaced the recipe for awhile and had to try a few different recipes but none of them measured up for my family. When I found it again I pretty much "lost" it for a bit ( I am a VERY emotional person that my family can attest to.) Having the recipe in my Moms own hand writing makes it even that much more special and I can't count the number of times that I kiss the recipe card before I make those rolls, Holidays are wonderful times but they sure make you miss the people who are gone from your life. ( photo shows the precious recipe being held by the recipe card holder my son made me in Boy scouts.

This morning I got up at 6:30 to start the prep work for the days events ahead. I got out my two sets of measuring cups, 3 sets of measuring spoons, bowls etc. and to think I used to think you only needed one set. Hah! I love have extra ! When your baking a lot of things, having the extra supplies comes in handy. First thing I did was to peel up a pie pumpkin and get it steaming. While that was going I put together the gingerbread cookies at a request from my son for "nannas" frosted gingerbread cookies. The ingredients call for baking soda, ginger and vinegar , I had to call my Husband in when I put in the vinegar! It reminded me of when I had my daycare and all the kids loved the chemical reaction in the cookie dough when I added the vinegar to the baking soda and ginger. He wasn't nearly as excited as they used to be though. But that was okay it brought back a great memory for me and made me excited to think of baking with the Grandkids soon!  I took out Anders Moms big rolling pin to roll the dough out and cut out the turkey shapes , baked them to frost later.

Next came making a couple loaves of pumpkin bread with the pumpkin I just pureed in the food processor. Soon the kitchen was smelling so good with memories of thanksgiving, Christmas Carols playing on the radio, making it seem so much more like an oncoming Holiday. My Husband came down from upstairs and started his work cleaning up the house for the arrival of the kids and Grand babies tomorrow. While the pumpkin bread was baking I put together the dough for butter honey bread since if your going to roast a turkey you need bread for cold turkey sandwiches later on. Oh now that I love. I have to say I think Turkey is my favorite meal of all. I love the smell, the taste and all the leftovers!

The pumpkin bread was out of the oven and I put the butter honey bread in the loaf pans to rise again, then started work on a cheese cake, while in that process realized I didn't have sour cream so my Husband offered to run an errand for me. Whew!

While he was out I opened up a bag of nuts and started looking for a nut cracker, low and behold in the bottom of our silverware/everything drawer was a tarnished old nutcracker but once I held it in my hand I knew where it came from. It for sure came across the ocean with Anders and his family when they immigrated from Denmark so long ago. I dug around to find some silver polish, when Anders got home he polished it up. It felt good knowing we have a few treasured things from Anders family to be apart of our celebration no matter how small, they are so important to us.

Speaking of the nutcracker reminds me that this summer my daughter in laws Mom was over for a few months from Germany. One after noon she and I were peeling potatoes and she shook her head at my sad potato peeler and told me that she would be sure I got a better one. Well low and behold when my son and wife went to visit her family in Germany last month she sent them home with her potato peeler for me. So yes of course tomorrow will will indeed be using it. Another family member represented!

  Back to preparations, After Anders returned with the sour cream for the cheese cake I pulled out my cheesecake pan. Now this is another special pan for me. This pan belonged to my ex husbands Mother. Barbara was a very special lady, although when her son and I were to marry she wasn't happy about it because we were so very young. But I won her over eventually with the fact we had so many things in common, we both loved crafting, sewing and baking! Yes she was right about us marrying to young but I am so happy that I do have a couple treasured things that belonged to her as she was such an important part of my life too. I remember when she was diagnosed with Cancer, when she and "Dad" moved to florida and before hand she gave me some of her baking things, at the time I wondered why because I didn't know why she would want to get rid of them since she loved to bake so. But now I know why, since I guess she must of known what lie ahead. I remember sitting with her knitting a sweater she was making me while she lie in bed. So, yes I am happy that I have her cheesecake pan and a wonderful cookie sheet I used earlier. Also I am so happy that her son and I even though we are no longer married are very good friends and I'm sorry that he and his wife Debbie won't be here to join us like that were last year and so many years before that as well. I'm so glad that for our children and grandchildren we have come together as a big family.

   The cheesecake was baking so I started peeling the apples for an apple pie for my daughter Melissa. She isn't a big cookie eater but I know she loves apple pies. Then of course since you have to have ice cream on apple pie ( although my Dad always had his with an extra sharp slice of cheese) I prefer the ice cream so I started some vanilla gelato.

Then pureed some more pumpkin and made a pumpkin pie, now you may look at the crust and say, what did she do, but I am one person who doesn't like pie crust, my Mom used to actually make me little pies without crust..yes I was spoiled! So anyhow I made a "skinny" crust for this pie since actually not too many of our family here even LIKES pumpkin pie...oh how handy!

   I put together the sticky buns and baked them leaving a few extras plain for us to eat ourselves later, made some raspberry sauce for the cheese cake and pulled out a stick of butter to use for the frosting for the cookies.I made a huge pan of sticky buns which will disappear magically tomorrow either by eating or when the kids go home.

The apple pie was done, alls thats left to do is frost the cookies then tomorrow do the usual peeling potatoes, squash and getting that big turkey ready! I can't wait!

I won't bake with any else buy King Arthur Flour ( made in Vermont!) or Domino Sugar!
Yes that IS a 25 lb bag of flour and I buy once at least every other month!

So tomorrow we will have a wonderful day with our kids and grandkids and even though new traditions have come in, we still have a few old ones around although with the precious things that I use to bake with. Of course tomorrow I'll use my Moms turkey pan and put the turkey in a brown paper bag just like my Mom did and my Grandmother before her did. No dry turkey here! I get a lot of odd looks when I tell people about that but I will never cook it any other way.

Another great look at our day today. We had a fresh fall of snow and even though by February I really will be tired of shoveling it, I sure do love seeing it. Makes all our "sticks" look so beautiful!

Have a Blessed Holiday and I do hope you have as many cherished memories as I do and that you and your family enjoy the day as much as we will here!

God Bless!

"Its Complicated"

2011-04-17T21:11:00.000-04:00

Yep, this is the 2nd time a movie inspired me to find a recipe for something that looked just too yummy to NOT make! The first one was the movie "Chocolat" , in the movie there is a woman who makes this hot chocolate that is so thick it just looks soooo good! So I went on a search and found an awesome recipe and oh my its so yummy!
Rich and Tasty Hot Chocolate - Johnny Depp 's Favorite ( another good reason to make it maybe he'll come visit! ha!)
1 1/2 Tbls unsweeted chocolate powder I prefer Ghirardelli
3 Tbls sugar
mix this with 1 1/2 Tbls boiling water
add 1 tsp vanilla ( home made 1 vanilla bean 1 cup water 1 cup vodka soak 2 months, shake
occasionally)

add to the powder, sugar , water and vanilla
3/4 cup of hot milk which has been heated till bubbles form.
then add 2 tables heavy cream.
oh my......yes....its so good...

Anyhow the other night I watched the movie "its complicated" AGAIN. If you haven't seen it, pretty good movie. During the movie Meryl Streep makes Steve Martin some Chocolate Croissants. Its fun watching the process of her making them but then when Steve bites into one you KNOW you've GOT to have one! Course I could of gone to buy one but decided I wanted to go through that process of making them so I did! Great IDEA too!
So if you'd like to make some set aside a few hours because they aren't doughboy style!

Croissants filled with Chocolate - can you say mmm?
_________________________________
take 1/4 cup of warm water and add 1 1/2 tsp of yeast let sit for 5 minutes until dissolved.
while your waiting add to a mixing bowl:
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tbs dry milk powder
1 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbs softened butter
make a well in the center of this mixture an add the yeast mixture to it, stir a small amount of this until its thickened and let rest for 20 minutes.

While this is setting take a stick of unsalted butter and place it between 2 sheets of waxed paper - use your rolling pin to make this a 3x5 rectangle then place in refrigerator.

I use my Kitchen Aide mixer with bread hook now and add
1/2 cup of warm water to the flour and yeast mixture and stir till all is incorporated.

sprinkle flour on a bread board and roll out the dough to a 8 x 12 rectangle.
take the butter out of the fridge and place it on one 1/2 of the rectangle fold the other half of the dough over on top and pinch dough on edges to seal together. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Now roll the dough out to a 6 x 14 rectangle , then fold in 3rds and cover again and put in fridge for another 20 minutes.

Now roll the dough out ( with the fold side facing you) to a 6 x 14 rectangle , then fold in 3rds and cover again and put in fridge for another 20 minutes. ( nope I didn't just make a mistake I really want you to do that again )

Now roll the dough out ( with the fold side facing you) to a 6 x 14 rectangle , then fold in 3rds and cover again and put in fridge this time for 3o minutes.

Now this time roll the dough out 12x 24 at this point I made this into 2 - 6 x 24 strips and made each strip into triangles.

Take a egg yolk and mix it with a tbl of milk and brush on the edges of the triangles.
place your choice of chocolate on the thick end of the triangle ( I used one rectangle of a hershey bar and I broke up a dark chocolate bar and added about a 1/2 "piece of that to it)
roll up the dough thick end to thin end and add to a greased cookie sheet, cover when done with a plastic wrap and let rise for 30 -40 minutes brush the remaining egg wash on croissants and bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

TASTE !
Ready in 4 hours....but so worth it!

In comes Whiskey!

2011-03-21T11:58:00.001-04:00

Saturday I got up at 7AM, fed the goats, cats and Chester. By 8Am I was on the road for a 3 1/2 hour drive south to go pick up the puppy that had been on the road since Thursday morning. "Bruno" who we had renamed Whiskey was coming all the way from Arkansas to meet me and for me to bring him all the way to Northern Vermont. What a trip for a 14 week old puppy! On the way I stopped at West Lebanon Pet and Aquarium to get some toys and a collar and leash for Whiskey, and got some new toys for our crazy kitties too. Its an awesome store, I love the bird room but didn't have the time to look around I had an appointment to keep!

I was back on the road after a 1/2 hour and got to the park in ride in North Londonderry, NH about an hour later, an hour early so I got out the Jeep and started walking around the parking lot. It wasn't much long after though that more cars were turning up and people go out holding leashes and collars, the questions always. "you waiting for a dog?" Then, "where is yours coming from?" After pacing around for an hour finally I saw the truck coming into the parking lot.

As soon as the truck and trailer pulled in a crowd gathered to line up to meet their new friends. Can you believe this trailer was full of dog crates? They come up once a week...

It actually made me cry just thinking about that fact when they drove in...

They opened up the door and even though you can't see him , my puppy was in the top left hand crate. I had to wait my turn though.

It was pretty sad to see older dogs come off thinking that if the rescue organizations hasn't found them more than likely they would of been put to sleep. This guy had found a great new home!

So many puppies!

His brother comes next!

getting ready to go home!

Another puppy , still waiting for mine!

So cute!

dogs everywhere, just makes you feel good to see them getting homes!

awwwww

Makes you wonder what the dogs are thinking...

Now where am I going?

Oh but he'll be really happy now..:)

made me feel so good to see all these dogs find new homes. If you are thinking of getting a new dog its a really rewarding way to get one. Go to Petfinder.com and get started.

Before long it was my turn and when I told them which puppy it was they said "oh him!" I think he barked the whole way from Arkansas! " since he has been hear I've hardly heard him make a sound so I think he was just excited he was coming to live with us. :)

yep we love him already, but sure takes a bit getting used to a puppy...oh the joys of housebreaking!! :)

On a further note lots of people have been asking me how Whiskey ended up being at a shelter. On February 14th, a fellow came in to the shelter and surrendered him said he found him wandering through his yard and didn't know who he belonged to. He was pretty small at that point being only approx. 10 weeks old at the time. He is a Golden Retriever has a sweet temperament and we love him already.

A new life comes

2011-03-18T17:39:00.000-04:00

After the last few weeks, loosing our Dog Bandit, rehoming our dog Yukon and my husband heading off to work almost a month early this season I knew this 2400 square foot house was going to seem emptier then ever.

I started thinking about my daily hikes in the woods ( after the snow melts) and realized that Chester our Shitzu was going to have a hard time keeping up. He likes walking with me but he is apt to stop part way up the mountain and just sit there and either wait for me to pick him up or turn around and go back to the house, I often find him sitting in the porch chair when I get back. I don't think he is a mountain dog more a couch dog. Oh but I love him, ( as I type this he is curled up on the couch next to me snoring with all four feet in the air)

Now of course the goats love going for hikes and they keep up really well the follow me everywhere and if I run they run, I stop they just stop and eat till I move on again. But they don't offer my much security , neither does Chester. Now Yukon I felt safe with .... Yep, I knew before we rehomed him that he would leave a big hole in my heart and a big empty space in our house. I knew I needed to do something about that.

I went on a search, my Daughter had adopted a rescue shortly after we moved here to Vermont.

Good ol Ollie , he looks to be a Lab cross of some sort. He is a sweetie and we all love him. So Anders and I talked about it and decided we would look for a puppy that we could train from the start to respect the goats and could give me a little more security than Chester but a little less that Yukon. There are so many rescue organizations around and its so sad that there are so very many dogs that need homes. The numbers are staggering.

I found this one site Golden Huggs which is local to Vermont and I found a few puppies who could fit the bill there. I filled out the application and luckily since our family had adopted a rescue before we got in the fast track. She gave me the phone numbers to call and talk to the different organizations where the puppies were. One was in Arkansas the other I think was in Tennessee . By the time I got off the phone with Kathy at Wynne friends of animals I had already decided. She asked me if I wanted to drive down to meet the transport or if I wanted to pick up my puppy in Burlington. There was no way I would miss meeting the transport even though its a 3 1/2 hour drive. So tomorrow Saturday the 19th I am loading up the new dog crate and driving down to welcome the newest member to our family. I am bringing kleenex I remember how when I went with Melissa there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd of 50 or more people as we watched all the dogs come out of the transport and into the arms of their new loving homes.

So watch for pictures and a story about that adventure later...
Meet Whiskey who is coming from Arkansas...

Life goes on

2011-03-16T09:11:00.001-04:00

So my last post "what did he say life is like a box of chocolates" my husband and I had made the decision to rehome our beautiful German Shepherd Dog Yukon. We posted an ad on Craigs List along with some photos and a description of why we were rehoming him. I tell you it was a pretty emotional ride. Amazed the people who emailed me , must have gotten over 50 responses, some of them were pretty easy to pass aside. People who wanted him, oh and would he be okay with a bunny lose in the house, or a ferret? Right, a German Shepherd who chases goats wouldn't hurt a bunny or a ferret..... or the ones who wanted him and they lived in downtown St. Albans or Montpelier. Come on people a 120 lb German Shepherd Dog is not an apartment sized dog. The one that really got me though was the woman who asked me , "oh he sounds wonderful , could we have him on "trial" for 2 or 3 days?"

So a few people came up to see him and it didn't work out one way or the other. For one he is a big big dog, when I said in the ad 120 lbs I don't think people realized what that meant. Finally a fellow emailed me and with all the questions he asked and the background information I was hopeful. I checked him out on Facebook and I could see he was active. He asked if he could come up and meet Yukon so a date was set. I invited my kids over to spend the day , not only to meet him but for their support if indeed Yukon did set off on a new adventure.

The young man came to the door and already I could see he was the outdoors type, Yukon gave his usual bark since he didn't know him but then when the fellow came in and sat down he came over to give him a sniff to see what he was all about. We talked a bit about Yukons behaviors and what he needed and then the two of them set off on a walk. Yukon was already excited because just seeing his leash made him excited that he was going to do something. They were gone about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes and when they came back Yukon couldn't keep his eyes off him. We went out back so I could show him how he interacted with the goats, not that he was aggressive just that he was overly playful. So that was it , Yukon found a new forever home. I was really sad to see him go, the house is so empty now without our Bandit and Yukon. But I felt good in knowing I could feel comfortable again for our little goats and also that he would be getting all the exercise and attention a big dog like him deserved. And on a further note after only being there for a few days I hear he is already loved...:)

Here on the homestead the house is quiet, the two young kittens we got this winter are taking over the house. Oh do they have a surprise ahead for them....

What did he say? "Life is like a box of chocolates" ?

2011-03-05T16:03:00.002-05:00

I have decided to tell you a story, a story about the box of chocolates that was given to our family recently. It all began...well when did it begin? Did it begin back in the spring of 2001 when our Corgi /border collie who never left the yard for some reason decided to go visit the neighbors and was killed by a car? I think it did , because two days later we went to the dog pound in search of a dog to fill the hole in our hearts that "Murry" left by his heartbreaking passing.
Of course their were a couple dogs before Murry too , there was Sugarbear my very first dog that I got on Mothersday. We were naive though and had bought her at a pet store, a purebred cocker spaniel who after 5 years had developed so many problems one of which was blindness that we had to put her down after she lost control of her hind end. Then there was Buster, oh I loved that dog, a purebred we thought that by buying him from a local breeder would save us the heart ache of loosing a dog after 5 years...but alas Buster too was a victim of the over breeding of the Cocker Spaniel Breed. He developed an enlarged liver I remember the vet telling me he couldn't believe he was alive after examining him, but I think the love we had between us kept him going, one day he just fell asleep and never woke up. I remember burying him with the help of my two children with his carebear and his favorite blanket. When you loose a pet its like loosing a member of your family. I had nightmares for months about it was probably elevated because I had lost my Dad about the same time.
So back to the dog pound, my Husband, my daughter and I packed into my little Ford Ranger truck and went to find us a new dog. We looked at all the faces and kept going back to one. The woman there said "This boy has been with us for 6 months, we don't normally keep dogs that long but he is the best dog, people just don't want him because he is so big" Big? wait...Big? The dog was HUGE. Of course my daughter asked if we could take him out for a walk, we didn't walk him, he walked US, pulling us all over their back field like nobodies business. He did however know how to sit, lay down and shook paws. Oh and play fetch I think thats the thing that got us, along with those big Brown eyes.

We brought him home , they even let us take him home that day because they knew us which was handy. Although we thought it was weird when they asked where are you going to put him and we answered in the house....they both looked shocked and said "your going to keep him in your house". We didn't understand that until we got him IN the house and he sat next to us at the kitchen table and rested his head on it...or when later that evening he took 3 steaks off the kitchen counter and devoured them in a matter of seconds. hmmmm Is THAT why they had named him Bandit? During the course of his life Bandit, ate more steaks, loaves of banana bread, chocolate, fudge, butter , an ant trap, oh my gosh if he could get it, he'd eat it. But being as big as he was I guess he had a stomach of iron, and a heart to go along with it. There wasn't a soul that met him that didn't fall in love with him, he never realized how big he was ever. If you pat him while you were sitting in a chair somehow he would always end up in your lap. His tail ever wagging would clear shelves off in seconds. He loved to play tug of war while giving his toughest growls that worried us a first but soon we found he was just Playing the part.
He traveled with us to Canada with his new brother McKenzie a beautiful German Shepherd

we had flown back from Alberta with us, my father in laws dog whom after his passing had no place to go so my husbands sister and I devised a plan to get him home to Vermont and once hearing the plan the airlines even gave us a bereavement rate for the dog. McKenzie and Bandit loved it at our lakeshore home where behind a big fenced in yard they could sit on the deck and watch the world go by, bandit could safely chase the neighbor that lived behind us that he knew made his Mom a little nervous. But yet Dave his best buddy who lived next door he would whine and whine until Dave came over to give him a scratch and finally he figured out a way to wiggle his big 120 lb body under the fence so he could go scatch on Daves front door and get invited in for doggie treats and a nap on Daves bed.

Some time during our stay in Canada while we were all relaxing in the gazebo by the lakeshore, a white ball of fluff rolled? by. The dogs tore off to see what it was and I not soon after. I thought a rabbit? What was that? I soon find this little white dog sitting in the corner in the fenced in yard ( must of crawled through Bandits hole) I knew that a woman a few doors down bred dogs so figured it must be hers. If my husband knew what was going to happen then he would of brought the dog back to the lady ( Anne) himself. But it was I who carried the little dog back innocently knocking on the door to ask if it was her dog. "oh yes that is my dog, come in and see my PUPPIES!" oh no....anyone who loves animals, puppies in general Never , I say NEVER look at a litter of shitzu puppies unless you plan on falling in love.....it wasn't long after that when I walked down to her house and brought "Chester" home. A little ball of fur that was the size of Bandits head.....one day I put all 3 of them in the yard and the two big dogs were wrestling with him. I thought for sure they were going to kill that little puppy so I pulled him out of the mess and brought him into the front yard. I put him down and what did he do? He ran as fast as he could go wrestle with those big dogs again. So it started I guess just as Bandit never knew how big he was, Chester still doesn't know he is a little dog.

A few years later we bought a home in Vermont and before we moved out there my daughter and her fiance' moved in to occupy it until we could sell our Canada home. My daughter requested that Bandit come live with her and keep her company while making her feel safe and secure with that big ol bark he had. So thats what he did. He loved running through the woods with his nose up in the air smelling all the new and exciting smells in the woods. He soon met the neighbors and loved to go down to visit and get treats from Penny and go play with his buddy "Otis" another big dog close by.
   Before we could make the move to Vermont our beautiful dog Mckenzie developed a huge tumor in his gut , little did we know but the Vet said it had to have been growing their a long time but he being the kind of dog he was, just kept on doing his job looking after me and never complained until he got so bad he couldn't hide it any longer. It broke our hearts but he had to put him down. It hurt so bad that he was never going to get to run in the woods of Vermont but we have him here with us in the Cedar box that rests on the shelf behind me.
   My Husband is a Ship Captain so there are times when he goes and is gone for up to 2 months at a time, it was time for him to go to work and here I was alone on the lake with .... Chester...hmmm this wasn't reassuring at all, not to insult you Chester but that yap yap yap wasn't going to deter anyone from coming into our house or yard!
   My husband suggested a new dog and we went in search of a German Shepherd dog at a local breeders since they had puppies for sale. We never got to even SEE the puppies, they had a year old dog there that they couldn't seem to place, he was as big as a bear with a dark black face and floppy ears, I guess the people who came to see him wouldn't take him because he would show no aggressive behavior at all just a big MUSH....I can't say I fell in love with him at first sight, he was a gangly thing and nervous because he didn't know us. I had just lost McKenzie and I wasn't sure that this guy was going to fill the void, but he was beautiful and I wouldn't have to do the "puppy thing" well he had lived in his kennel all his life so yes he did need to be house trained. But before we could do that we had to get him in the car, afraid of the car, afraid of getting out of the car, afraid of going through the gate, afraid of going through the front door, afraid of going up the stairs, afraid of going down the stairs...really???
   But yes this was our new dog. He thought Chester was a live chew toy and Chester soon discovered he could avoid that by sitting in the middle of the kitchen table. Eventually Yukon realized that the chew toy would bite him if he played too hard so they learned to play together this 12lb Shitzu and this 100 lb German Shepherd...what a sight!

So we moved to Vermont and Bandit got to meet his new brother. It was funny how Bandit would head off on one of his hikes and Yukon would tag along behind ,me imagining him saying " where are you going? can I come? Please can I come?" Bandit tolerated his excess energy! Sometime during the next year, that German Shepherd snuck into my heart deep , now Bandit loved his walks but when we walked in the woods he would abandon me for whatever smell caught his nose. I could call him over and over but until he was ready he would look at me and then turn his head back and go on his way. Yukon on the other hand was never far from my side and if by chance Bandit did let him go on a hike with him if I called "Yukon" he would come running with leaps and bounds. Oh I love to watch him run, to hear him is like hearing a horse galloping on a soft field. Yukon became my protector, fretting only if I was out of his sight. I almost thought I was going to loose him last summer when I awoke to him whimpering and I could tell it was serious, frightened by his symptoms that by some Grace of God I had read about just weeks before. I called our Vets at 1AM to only have him say "Bring him in first thing in the morning" and when I said "Will he make it till morning" he replied "I don't know but you should of thought of that earlier in the day"....and no we don't go there anymore. We called another Vet who told us to get the dog in the car and bring him immediately 45 minutes away. And yes after an x'ray told us he did indeed have a twisted gut, and would die if he didn't have surgery, so our choice was put him down or spend $3000.00 on surgery. I left the room, I couldn't make the decision, my husband came out and I knew that we were going to be sitting in the waiting room praying for Yukon to survive the surgery..which he did and came back fast. I love our new Vet. :) LUVS in Morrisville.
2 summers ago I told my husband that after weed whacking the backfield for the 5th time that summer that I was going to get a couple goats to help keep it cleared off. After convincing him that I was serious My daughter, son and Law and I went to a farm and brought home 5 goats, 3 for me and 2 for them. I was supposed to bring home 2 but I couldn't make up my mind they were so cute.

We named them Tornado, Twister and Cyclone since my husband and I are kind of weather nerds. Soon the three little goats became five little goats adding Hurricane and Tsunami. Anyone who has never had experience with these little Nigerian Dwarf goats has no idea that they are pretty much dogs. The love to get scratched and petted. They will follow you everywhere you go and if you sit down , they'll be in your lap just like our dog bandit. We built them a nice fenced in yard attached to our fenced in back yard. And built them a nice little stall in the workshop. In the summer they have electric fencing or sometimes I just let them run loose since they never really stray far from their safe little barn. If they hear a noise they aren't sure of , they'll come running with leaps and bounds and run to the safety of their barn. There was one day that one of the little boys squeezed through the fence into the back yard I was unaware of until I saw Yukon and Bandit with the little thing. Luckily I stopped them and got Cyclone back in the barn where I treated him for shock and all was well. It was pretty frightening though and I went to work fixing every spot I could find in the fence that divided the dogs and goats. All was well and we got three more little goats Thunder, Lightening and Snowflake. There was twice that two of these little guys found a place to squeeze through the fence before I covered everything that even had a one inch space in it and all was well no more goat sightings in the back yard. Yukon loved chasing them on his side of the fence though and it was worrying me more and more of what would happen if a Goat ever did jump in the fence when I wasn't home.
Anders and I had to go to his company meetings in Ontario and we had asked our neighbor to watch our animals for us but a week before we were going to go my daughter and son in law thought they would come stay at the house and have a sort of Holiday, getting a break from their home and getting a chance to relax here while her husband cut trees for firewood for the next season. Sounded like a wonderful idea , our pets would be looked after and the house too so we went off on our way. It would be nice to get away from the Huge amounts of snow we had received this winter to the point of just being able to get out the back door .

Before we left actually long before we left we had been treating Bandit with 5 different medications for pain he had been in and he was doing wonderfully, at 12 years old his old bones were complaining but the medication was making him comfortable enough that he was able to go for those hikes that he hadn't been making lately.

But sometime during our trip Bandit took a turn for the worse and my daughter could only tell me "its not good Mom" We both cried with each other on the phone ....my stomach turned ...I was so sorry that my daughter was feeling such pain and so worried about our big boy Bandit. So my husband I returned home early. It was on our way home that he and I decided that we needed to find a new home for Yukon too to protect our little goats and be responsible pet owners just not any home but the home that he deserved were someone who would love him, just as I loved him who would take care of him for the rest of his life. We had a 9 hour drive and all the while we both ached knowing that our dog Bandit needed to go to the vets and we were more than sure of how that outcome would be and also for the decision we had made about Yukon. We took Bandit to the vets and the three of us sat with him as he took his last breath and he was no longer in pain. And next week I will bring my beautiful dog Yukon to and old friend who has a farm , has horses and loves to go for walks in the woods like I do. I know she will fall in love with Yukon just as I did and she will give him the home he deserves where he can run and have fun and stretch those long legs of his.

Chester has a big job starting Wednesday filling in a huge hole.

So thats the box of Chocolates that was handed to us, I am hoping the bottom layer might be tastier....

Home made Mayonnaise

2011-02-21T16:46:00.000-05:00

I am trying really hard to remember how this came about. Me attempting to make things instead of buy them at the grocery store. I think it might have been when we started getting "home grown" Chickens from my daughter. The more we thought about it the more it made sense , we have a big garden why not work at trying to avoid those "pre packaged" foods that come with all those ingredients I can't spell or pronounce! So it started I put up jars and jars of tomato sauce last fall that I've been making, spaghetti sauce , tomato soup and ketchup with. Making our own breads, rolls, muffins, cookies , granola bars. Make our own vanilla ( easy, put a sliced open vanilla bean in a pint canning jar filled 1/3 up with water , the rest with rum or vodka , cover and put away. Shake it when ever you open your cupboard and see it there and its ready to use in a couple months. I try to have a couple so that I never run out, its so good in not just baking but in hot chocolate, waffles , drinks! Any how so I'm feeling really good about the fact that our trips to the grocery store are sure different since we don't go down even 1/2 the aisles! Next I think I need a pasta maker.... :)

So this was my newest experiment and my Husband gave it his sign of approval so here is the recipe!
I used my food processor but I'm sure a blender would work just as well.

blend slowly :
1 egg
1 tsp dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
and 1/4 cup of oil
while the machine is still blending add another
1/2 cup of oil
3 tablespoons of vinegar

then add another 1/2 cup of oil
blend till smooth and add
a bit of cayenne pepper

This recipe makes about 2 cups.
tasty!

Recipe time! Home made Poppycock

2011-02-08T20:03:00.001-05:00

Hate going to the store to buy one of my favorite treats, spend $4.00 on this little bag.....soooo

pop yourself 8 cups of popcorn, I used two bags in the microwave.
put that in a really big bowl and mix in a couple cups of your favorite nuts ( roast them first if you like)

melt two sticks of butter (or Margarine) in a pan on the stove.
Add 1 and 1/3 cups of white sugar, 1/2 cup clear corn syrup and 1/2 tsp cream of tarter.
heat this while stirring constantly to 255 or a hard ball stage.
remove from heat add 1/2 baking soda and 1 tsp vanilla stir well and pour over
the popcorn.

Mix well and pour on greased cookie sheets ( or I use waxed paper) when its cool break it up and store in airproof ziplock bags or plastic wear. It is sooo good!

Life gets better and better

2011-02-04T09:44:00.001-05:00

Wow its been awhile since I posted anything here, I've still been baking, sewing, painting etc but I guess the events of the winter months have kept me pretty busy or at least kept my mind too busy to spend too much time sitting here at the computer! First off my Husband has been home since early December which is awesome, we spend all our time together, playing games like backgammon and have now started playing a German game called carassonne its a lot of fun!
The most exciting thing that has happened this winter though is becoming a Grandmother!
I spent February 11th with my daughter Melissa, we went shopping , out to lunch and to her doctors appointments, she was so uncomfortable since her baby Isabel was getting so big and she had so much extra fluid I felt so badly for her. That night though 10Pm we got a call from our son in law Kyle and he told us that Melissa's water had broken! I was so excited but my Mom's instincts kicked in and I was just plain worried about my daughter so we hopped in the car and drove to the hospital. Copley hospital in Morrisville is wonderful, they welcomed us into the birthing center where we waited ( I paced) in the waiting room until Kyle came out to see us and ask if I wanted to see Melissa. OH YES! Seeing her assured me she was doing okay although must admit after all the things she had gone through in her pregnancy I was still doing the Mom worrying thing...we sat with her until they took her into surgery which I think helped her as we all were keeping things rather light for her as I knew she was worried too. They took her in for her C-Section and then my pacing really started...! About 20 minutes later the pediatrician came in and told us that we had a beautiful HEALTHY baby granddaughter and Melissa was doing good too.. Oh my gosh..yep...I lost it...LOL I wish I had thought to take a picture of Kyle when I saw him through the windows ( I had positioned myself in the hallway so I could see both sets of doors he might come through) He was walking in the hallway carrying Isabel wrapped in a blanket , it still brings tears to my eyes! We went to their room while we waited for them to get Melissa taken care of and I got to hold my Granddaughter for the first time. Oh my goodness what an amazing feeling. How can you love someone so much that soon??!!
We watched as they measured her and weighed her and Kyle so proudly holding his new daughter. It was wonderful and I'm so happy we were a part of it.
Around 1 AM they told us Melissa was now in recovery so Kyle could go see her, She was going to be in there awhile so I begged the surgeon to just let me go see her to ease my mind that she was okay ( Yep that Mom thing again) and seeing as though it was a small hospital, he said okay but only for a few minutes. :) Thats all I needed I went in, looked at her smiling , gave her a kiss and told her how beautiful her baby girl was and told her I'd see her tomorrow. ( course she doesn't remember that but I do!) Course the next day we had a huge snow storm in Vermont so I had to wait till the next day to go back and hold that new baby but that we did. My life has just gotten better, can't wait till May when our Son and daughter in law have there little boy! Oh my goodness!!

meanwhile since I'm making baby things I decided to Make baby things!

Mrs Captains Place

Mrs Captains Chewy Blonde Brownies ..mmmmm

2010-09-10T19:51:00.000-04:00

These brownies are moist and chewy and have a really nice butterscotch flavor. Its fun to switch up the tidbits added to them as well! The recipe fills an 8" square pan but I admit to doubling to most often as they go fast!

1/4 cup CABOT No salt added Butter
1 cup Domino Light brown Sugar
1 farm fresh egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract ( oh yes I make my own and its so good!)
3/4 cup King Arthur Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Melt butter over low heat on stovetop. Removed from heat and add brown sugar, stir until well blended and cool. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Stir in dry ingredients than add 1 cup of mixed goodies, the picture shows a mixture of milk chocolate chips, sliced almonds and Heath Bar Bits.
Bake in a well greased 8 in square pan in a 350 oven for about 25 minutes. Cool in pan.
So good!

Donnas Maple Oatbread

2010-08-13T09:51:00.001-04:00

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water (70 to 80 degrees)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
2 1/2 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

The recipe was originally for a bread maker but I use my Kitchen aid mixer and it comes out so very good!

1. take 1/2 cup of warm water in a small bowl sprinkle the yeast on top and let set for 15 minutes

2. add the oats, flour and salt to the bowl mix and then make a well in the center ,
add the dissolved yeast and water to the well . Gently stir incorporating a small about of the flour to make a sticky dough, cover and let set for 20 mintues ( the dough should rise by then )

3.add the remaining 1/4 cup plus 2 tbs water
the maple syrup and oil

mix well , sometimes I find I need to add just a sprinkle more of flour as you just want the dough to be dry enough that you can touch it and form it in a ball with out getting your hands all sticky..ha!

cover and let rise for one hour.

punch down ( I put it back in the mixer) then grease a bread pan , add the dough and let rise again until doubled.

bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

how green does/will my Garden Grow? Part VI

2010-08-12T21:09:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my son in law Kyle came up to help me with the greenhouse again. We got all the rest of the ribs up secured inside and out AND got the Shell on , oh my what a job, it seemed easy enough cut a piece of plastic 20x 25 and pull it over the top. Sure that worked but now how do you keep it from coming off??? We first tried staples but realized after a VERY SHORT while that staples were just going to come out. Even though Kyle was really enjoying using my stapler on the compressor. ( Boys, they just like tools eh?)
Anyhow after much debate we finally came up with securing the bottoms by screwing a row of 2x4's to the bottom which would catch the plastic with the screws but also hold it tight with the 2x4's we worked from 10:30AM til 3:30PM with a short break for lunch!

Wow it was really looking like a greenhouse now! I still wasn't totally sure how I was going to do the ends but I would tackle that tomorrow!

So how would I tackle this tomorrow..hmmm

I felt really good , it was really coming together.

So I slept on it and thing I had an idea about how to put the ends on. Lets see how it turns out.

So the east side had enough plastic over hanging that I just wrapped it over and tacked it down with the plywood I finished it off with on the bottoms since we do get SNOW here in the winter.
I built a door for the west side and I was pretty pleased that indeed it did fit! I put the hinges on thought hmm maybe I'll be done for the day.

Our dog Bandit found a nice spot in one of the raised beds to keep cool.

One side all done!

Heck the door even works..:) Oh I am happy! I decided to not be fancy with the door latch, I just stuck a 2x4 up on the corner , wanna open it? Just slide the 2x4 up..:) works for me!

I was thinking I was going to be "done for the day" but after I had dinner I thought , hmm its still light out maybe I could get the other door finish if I get started now. So the boys and I went back outside to do some more work.

Oh I was more happy! Yes another door finished , the main construction was finally finished!

Yep that door works too..:)

The humidity was already going up.

Now all that is left to do is make some shelving to start our seedlings on. I need a couple steel barrels, I'm going to fill them with water and surround them with big stones in hopes to help hold the heat in, I also have a compost pile in there between two of the raised beds. Then I'll line the lower part with plastic inside and top it with with crushed stone. That will be something my husband can help me with I'm sure!
so I"m done working on it for a few days, My back can use the rest! Tomorrow I need to weed the gardens, make some pickles and mow the lawn!

how green does/will my Garden Grow? Part V

2010-08-10T21:11:00.000-04:00

Well.....I have discovered that building a 12x18' building (greenhouse) is a bit harder than I planned seeing as though I really didn't have plans other than a drawing. Harder still seeing as though the spot I put it is sloped not only north /south but also east /west. But I am happily gaining ground and so glad I am using 3" screws since not only do I think it will be stronger but next year if I want to change some of the inside support structure it will be so much easier to "rip it out" .

So my daughter and her husband came up on Sunday and they helped me cut all 40- 4" strips of plywood and we got all the North side strips up, what a big job!

Today I put up the last two horizontal supports - the ones I was working on when I kept dropping everything on my head!
They are up and everything is level so I'm happy! Now its ready to put up the south facing ribs!

Meanwhile we've got so many tomatoes! The ones in the greenhouse have been taking a beating with me dropping things on them but still they are loaded!
We'll be canning tomatoes like crazy soon!

I'm thinking when I'm done doing this I could build a barn..ha!
Here you can see all the plywood strips that Kyle cut up for me, what a great help! They are screwed on together but one is above the side support and one is below it.

The back side will have plywood on the bottom edge , this side will have plastic but in the winter I'll put plywood up over the top of it to protect it from the drifting snow.

So tomorrow we'll get the rest of the "ribs" up and I'll get the plywood on the back and ends I hope , then I need to make a door for the west side and a window that will open on the East side. Still lots to do but by then end of tomorrow I should be able to put the plastic over the top!

By Request - Mrs Captains Flat Bread (Pizza)

2010-08-10T12:05:00.000-04:00

I started a search for homemade flatbread after visiting "American Flatbread" in Burlington , Vermont. They have the best flatbread I've ever tasted and there I learned to NOT call it Pizza..ha! The crust is just what they call it flat and its crisp. So going along with my make it myself mode this is how I make it.

Take 2 Tablespoons of yeast and mix with 2 teaspoons of sugar. Add 1 cup of warm water, stir and let that sit for about 5 minutes, this should give you a nice foaming mixture. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

In another bowl add 2 1/2 cups of flour and 2 teaspoons of salt add the yeast mixture to this ( I use my kitchen aide mixer with dough hook for this ) kneading the dough until I have a nice consistency. You may need to add more flour this is critical you need a soft dough that is smooth and elastic but not tough. I sometimes add a much as 1/4 cup more of flour during this kneading process.

Since I like my flatbreads to fix on my pizza stone I cut this dough in half each half will make a small 12" flatbread. take each half and form into a ball by kneading in at the edges. Place on a pan which has been coated with olive oil and let the dough rest for about 20 minutes , you don't need to cover it.

After it has rested form it into a 12" round which is no more than 1/4" thick. Now I know that using a pizza stone your supposed to heat it first but I don't have one of those neat big wooden things to transfer it so I just dust the stone with cornmeal and place the dough on the cold stone. add your toppings and bake for about 15 minutes.

Now toppings on a flatbread , less is better, you want the crust to be crispy and not soggy.
The photo I took of my flatbread is just asiago cheese with italian herbs, sundried tomatoes and pineapple. no sauce.. I love it!

if you add sauce just use it sparely! Enjoy!

Its Pickle Time!

2010-08-07T20:47:00.000-04:00

Okay , so my Greenhouse has taken a break since the last time I worked on it I dropped way to many things on my head. I took a break and built a new center island in our kitchen....

Its not totally done yet, I still need to add a layer of cement board, some wood trim and some neat ceramic tile on top. Then put a few coats of poly coat on the wood. No, I haven't forgotten about the greenhouse but have to admit I got a bit discouraged, or frustrated the last time out there. Hopefully Sunday I'll take another crack at it.

Meanwhile the vegetable garden is doing well, I've put up beets, peas and beans into our freezer and now the cukes are coming fast and furious. I do love eating them but the majority of them are going into pickles. PICKLES...mmmmm

This is how I go about doing ours....

Onions, Cukes and Sweet Red Peppers.

First you gotta go out in your garden and gather up some nice cukes long and slender. I am also lucky enough to have some nice onions growing too, but admit to having to buy the red peppers.

Before I do anything I fill the canning pot with water and start it going. It might start boiling before I'm ready, if so I just turn it off or turn it down depending on how much longer before I'm ready for it. Course from now until the cukes are done I'll leave the canner on the stove full so it won't take long to warm up , plus I'm not wasting water refilling it.

wash those veggies

Wash all the veggies really well, nothing worse then dirt in your pickles!

Nice clean veggies

After you've got them cleaned up slice them all up no thicker than about 1/4" I usually cut up about 3 cukes, then layer some sliced Onion and Peppers then sprinkle about some pickling salt on top, then another 3 cukes , onions and peppers and more salt using about 1/3 cup for that quantity.

After you got the amount of veggies cut up you need then you need to cover the bowl with Ice.

Leave the ice on there for about an hour and a half. ( this is a good time to make a few loaves of Butter Honey Bread !)

Now you need to rinse the veggies off, drain them and rinse them again.
In a big pot on your stove, put 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of vinegar and 1 tablespoon celery seeds. ( lots of time I double this to be sure I'll have enough if I cut up extra cukes) boil the mixture and once its boiling good, add the veggies and bring to another boil. While your waiting get your jars ready.

Its always nice to have a kitchen buddy with you while your cooking. Even if your buddy is just sleeping on a dish towel. :)

Wash your jars in hot hot water or if you prefer heat them in the oven at 250 for about 15 minutes. I usually wash mine and leave the lids and covers in the hot water until the jars are filled. Fill the jars full with the pickle, onions and peppers then topping off with the liquid til 1/4 inch from the top, slide your spoon or knife around in the jar to remove air bubbles top off the jars with the lids and cover, usually I have a towel in my hand since the jars are quite hot now and it helps to be able to tighten the covers.

After all the jars are filled put them in the boiling water canner and process for 10 minutes.

Be careful when removing the jars. You'll want to use some good rubber coated tongs. While the jars are cooling you should hear the "pop" of the lids and before storing the jars away push the top of the lids and be sure all have a good seal. You should be able to remove the cover and give the lid a gentle pull and it not come off.

Store jars in a dark place. They won't last long though these pickes are awesome!

The pickes I just made are on the left. I like the bright clear brine for these versus the bread and butter pickles to the right that have some different spices which makes the brine more a yellow color. Both are good but I really like these tasty ones better, crunchy and sweet!

Go make some pickles! :)

How green does/will my Garden Grow? Part IV

2010-07-26T20:44:00.000-04:00

I'm starting to think this is going to be a bigger project than I first anticipated! The "plans" I found were for an 8x12 green house and I turned it into a 12x18 greenhouse. Now I am not a builder but I do like to build. I think because of this some of the things I've done well, it reminds me of when I sew something, I like to sew but I am not a seamstress like my Mom was she taught me really well but when I sew sometimes I need to rip things out and do them again. So now of the things I've been building I need to rip out too, thing is its not so easy to rip out boards! Luckily for this project I have been using nice long wood screws so its easy to back um out if I need to!
My daughter and son in law came over tonight to have dinner we had one of her favorites tonight "Jack Daniels Salmon" with wild rice and fresh beans from the garden. Then they went out to help me with the greenhouse! I was so happy I didn't need to cut that 30 degree angle on the `12 foot 2x6's...:) Course once they were cut I realized that the doors I made were wider than the angle of the board allowed plus it was going to make the top too flat so we decided to raise the ridge board up higher to make the angle steeper. So we raised it up about 4 1/2 inches and I think now once I tack on the 1x6 to the ridge board I should be all set to start adding the 1/4 plywood ribs.

Now there is one small problem which is why I'm glad I used screws, the 2nd doorway from the left I didn't measure it right, the door is the right size alright but it sits 2 inches further over then the others ...ugh so tomorrow I will go unscrew it and recut the support boards and hitch it back up again...ripping out..I hate ripping out...but I want it to be right so I will add another day on to this job because of my mistake. I think for fun I will tack on the 1 x6 to the ridge board though and then hitch on a couple ribs just to be sure they are going to work!

I'm getting closer to having a greenhouse...:)

How green does/will my Garden Grow? Part III

2010-07-25T15:49:00.000-04:00

Whew this is a LOT of work! When I saw the design I was going to make I thought , "easy , Peasy!" Okay so not quite as easy as I thought but I'm getting there.
I sent my photos to my brother in Myrtle Beach who is an excellent carpenter. He said "It looks good but don't be sad if this winter you get a big snow storm and it blows over or caves in" Hmmmm that didn't give me a ton of confidence although I knew that there is danger of the plastic ripping apart in the winter but I really didn't want my construction to fall in after all this. So far the materials were $400.00 not bad for a greenhouse but still don't want to have to do it again in the spring. Plus as of now its taken about 4 days and I can see I probably have another 4 to go.

After his suggestion that I double up the 2x6 ridgepole I told him I was going to put up there on top, I decided that I was going to double up on all the supports and add one more right at the 12' mark where I would be having to join the board since I got 12 ' stock.

I'd say after 4 hours I had all four "doorways" sturdied up and all ready to put up the ridgepole.

so tomorrow or maybe the next day :) I will start cutting the 30 degree angle on the ridgepole after I figure out how I want to do that...I guess its the handy dandy table saw that I hate using ! Hopefully next time I post something here I will still be able to type because I'll still have all my fingers! Tally Ho and away!

How Green does/will my Garden Grow? Part II

2010-07-23T09:13:00.000-04:00

So yesterday I went out early to get a jump start on the day ahead working on our new greenhouse. I studied it carefully to be sure my days work yesterday was met with no errors that I couldn't live with. I needed to finish the baseboards and put up the support on the east side so I could start attaching the center beam.

So after a days work this is what I came up with, I used my carpenters string to be sure everything was level. I knew once I put up that center beam if its not level I'm stuck!
the far left corner vertical support was too short so I had to replace it and will cut them all off with the reciprocating saw today. I also will be adding 3 more vertical supports on both long sides to hold the ribs of the greenhouse. I've decided I'm only going to make one door though but make the opening at the far end a window with which I can put a screen in for the "summer when the weather is hot" .

I also decided that it was alot of rocks I was going to have to use to fill in that gap on the bottom from the slope so put another piece of 2x8 down there, I should of stained that piece first but I'll do that later , I am going to add wood to the back doing the same thing. Then I'll back fill it with crushed stones.

Now this is my whole reason for doing this, yep we are way up in Northern Vermont where spring comes late and winter comes early. Its almost August and the cukes are just barely looking like cukes! :)

And the tomatoes have a little ways to go too!

a few shots below of some things around the gardens

Now I must get back to work! Thanks for visiting! More work to be done on this green house I'm planting some experimental crops in it now!

How Green does/will my Garden Grow?

2010-07-20T17:14:00.001-04:00

Living in Northern ( Almost in Quebec, Canada) Vermont, where I see just as many Quebec License plates as Vermont ones. The growing season she is short. When we bought the house up here on the mountain my daughter in law joked that since we are living on the North Face of the peak that we'd never see the sun. Well we do see it but I admit to it being slow to come and fast to go. But regardless both my Husband and I love to garden so it wasn't long before I started ...

first with a few flower beds with natural stones surrounding them but then I kept looking at the grass.....
One day when my Husband had returned from his ship for a months holiday I said "Honey, why do we want to spend our time mowing that grass out front?" So it wasn't long before the tractor was digging it up!

wha la a garden has emerged !

We started with this center garden filling it with a few annuals , hostas and started "collecting" perennials which we had around the property. I built a few raised beds for more flowers and started some vegetables. It wasn't long before I realized I really wanted a bigger vegetable garden though so...

This year we added 12 more 4x4 raised beds filling them with squash, cukes, peas, onions, carrots, beans, herbs, potatoes, corn and LOTS of tomatoes since we want to make our own pasta sauces and soups.

Now came the reason for this ... the plants are late, we don't get enough sun in the house to start seedlings until way late in the spring, I made a few make shift greenhouses this spring but they met with disaster after we had a 2' snow fall in April. I needed a more permanent solution and started scanning the web for small green house designs. Finally finding one that I thought would fill our needs in an old gardening book I've had for years!

So I drew up the design and calculated how much wood I would need to complete the project and ordered the wood.

Now keep in mind some of this wood is for a couple more projects I am working on maybe I'l blog about that after I finish this one! ha!
The greenhouse base is 2x8 pressure treated wood so I hauled the 5 pieces I was going to need to start over to the "site".

Yes I was going to need to cut one board as the dimensions of the base will be 12x18.
I decided before I got the saw out I'd see how level things were.

Level? Well I guess I should of expected this since we do live on the side of a mountain. So I go and get the spade and think I'm really happy my Husband didn't use up all the crushed stone as I was going to need it to grade the base.

I finally got it close enough that I was going to have to dig the front down 4 inches and build up the back about 6 inches to get a level grade , now I wish the stones we not already around these beds as I'm going to have to rake them out so I can dig out the front.

Day two: I got distracted chasing a butterfly, wish I had my long lens on my camera though.!

So I finally got the level done and 3 sides squared up and I started filling in the ditch I dug with crushed stones we had ordered for the basement and used the extra around the gardens.

The East side of the greenhouse for sure sits higher up , our ground is really sloped here.
I'm going to get big rocks to put around the edges and fill it with crushed stones...or maybe get another piece of pressure treated wood to help fill the gap...still deciding on that one.

Done for the day since I needed to cut more 2 x8's the front I'm still debating if I should put plexiglass on the straight sides to protect it from the high drifts of snow we get...the back sits high enough already I think...

I think I've decided to just get alot of rocks to fill this, since they are free on the property..and I have the crushed stone for the inside. It will just mean a few trips in the woods to find them!

I took a walk inside the greenhouse to get a feel for it. There are 4 raised beds and I've already started my compost pile to help keep the heat in in the fall and spring. I want to find a couple big metal barrels to put water in. , Right now there are tomatoes, Squash and cukes growing in here.:)

standing in the other side of the greenhouse I am standing where I will build shelving to hold trays of seedlings..:)

So thats it for today. Next I will continue adding the 2x8s' around the edges and add the 3' supports , doors will be at both ends so that will be next.

Stay tuned!

Tasty BlueBerry Muffins( Sparkle Muffins)

2010-07-20T08:16:00.001-04:00

2 cups King Arthur flour

1/3 cup Domino sugar

1 tbls baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 Farm fresh egg

1 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

1 cup blueberries

additional Domino sugar ( I prefer brown)

1. add dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix well.

2. in a smaller bowl add egg, milk and oil mix well.

3. add egg mixture to flour mixture , don't mix this too much just enough to mix in all

the ingredients.

4. gently fold in 1 cup of blueberries

5. add to oiled muffin tins or lined with papers...

6. sprinkle with sugar

7. bake at 400 for 25 to 30 minutes

8. remove from muffin tins

9. eat and enjoy! Oh yummy!

as a further note, these muffins are tasty I'm not OVERLY fond of the nutmeg in them though, next time I think I will add vanilla or cinnamon instead..:)

How does a Country Girl Meet a Sailor Guy?

2010-07-11T11:09:00.000-04:00

   Well its Sunday July 11th its been 2 weeks since I kissed my Sailor Guy goodbye again and I swore that the next two months I would NOT complain that he isn't here with me. Too many people around me, husbands gone to war, husbands passing away ...I know I am lucky I get to talk to him everyday, he spoils me mercilessly by calling me so often and sometimes more than once, if we have no cell service then we are so lucky the company has given the ships internet so we can chat on facebook, I don't get to here his comforting voice but at least I can smile from his humor. :) So here I am not complaining but spending the day around the house vowing to be busy , my mistake I turn on my ITUNES and my favorite songs are songs that remind me of him and of course how much I miss him!

   So I think, how did this happen to me? Heck I was just an innocent Country Girl living in Chester Vermont minding my own business way back in the year 2000. Yes, I was a recently divorced woman, my daughter still living at home so I kept our house and my business a Retail Store with a strong web based business attached to it. I sold horse equipment. Handy since we did indeed have horses and I spent the most wonderful times in my life in the barn with my daughter, going to horse shows or just riding the trails, even getting my son involved in the horseback riding too until the skateboard took over. :) So since I did have a web based business I found it handy to have a chat program for customers to ask me questions about the products in the store or on my storefront web business. It was here on ICQ that I innocently responded to a "Hi, How you doing"? from a message from someone called "BIG JOHN" It was against my better judgement to respond but for some reason, I did.

   It was February 14, 2000 maybe I was feeling a bit out of sorts since I'm sure my daughter was out doing something valentiney ( is that a word?) My son away at college, my dearest friend at the time Rhonda was out at a gig with...egad Les?? ( another story in itself!) So I responded to "BIG JOHN" only to find out really quickly that indeed he was NOT BIG JOHN but living at BIG JOHNS house so was using his ICQ account. So I found out that this fellow was Anders...not Andre very quickly and when he said he was a Ship Captain I thought.......

Living in Vermont I really didn't have much experience with Ships, sure I grew up vacationing on weekends, holidays etc at my parents camp or on our own cabin Cruiser on Lake Champlain. That was a big lake and had big boats ....right? He did his best to explain. I found I was drawn to the computer and walked by it frequently to see if "Big Johns" name was on my "online" list of buddies. ( and it was like "Hey, You've got mail, in so many ways) He told me that he'd be going back to work in April , I thought..what he isn't working now?? Who doesn't work for 3 months?? Then he asked me for my address so that he could write me while he was away. I thought ...what are you crazy?? No way I'm giving a complete stranger my address..no no no! But yet I still caught myself looking for him online. We laughed and talked for hours and a week or so later I said " So, you still want my address? " Nope , I didn't want to loose track of this man , who made me laugh so hard I'd cry and gave me goose bumps sometimes too and just from his words. I think it was a few days later that he asked for my phone number. Oh yeah a BIG HUGE knot formed in my stomach. How can I do this? I was scared, I was excited, my heart was pounding out of my chest when I typed the numbers and waited for what seemed like hours to push the send button...... then RING.....do I answer it??? YIKES....its ringing, he is typing.. "Answer the phone!" So I pick up the phone, its a hand held job and my hand must of been sweaty because I dropped it, and when it fell on the floor the battery broke out...HA! So yep it disconnected and as I"m explaining online, I get it back in and it starts ringing again. This time its in my hand already and I pressed..."TALK" and oh man did we ever! He had the most amazing voice, deep and smooth, with an accent that I had never heard in Vermont! We laughed oh did we laugh! We were on the phone for 5 hours maybe more and this continued for a couple weeks. He had a birthday coming in March and I don't remember how that all came about but he surprised me by saying he was coming out to see me on his birthday!

Now most people would say, How could you let a Man you don't even know come to your home after only talking to him online or on the phone for a month? I don't know how I knew, but I knew , and on March 14, 2000 Anders Rasmussen arrived at my door and my life has never been the same since. :o)

We were married on August 11, 2001 with me making crazy trips out to visit him on his ship ( anther story itself that can be found here on my website : www.mrscaptainsplace.com . Funny I started the site as a joke since I had a business , I had a website so I did some art work on a photo of his Ship and wrote the "COOLBEANS" on the hull . Little did I know what I started.... :o)

We moved to Canada in 2004 finding a wonderful home on Lake Erie right down the road from the plant in Nanticoke where his ship docks quite frequently. It was a wonderful experience living there and I made so many wonderful friends but I did miss my "Vermont" its mountains and most of all my children. So when I asked "Honey, do you think when you retire we could move back to Vermont?" My wonderful husband didn't even bat an eyelash he just said "why wait?" and thats what we did....I'm so lucky...I'm so blessed...I'm so in Love...

A Visit to Applecheek Farm

2010-06-19T17:34:00.000-04:00

I've learned a lot from my Daughter , I've learned to pay more attention to where our food comes from and what foods I am going to feed our family. We've come to the decision that we are no longer buying any meat products from the grocery stores. For two good reasons, the mistreatment and mass production of the animals and what they feed them . Since my daughter and son in law are "growing" chickens and pigs" which we will buy from them. We decided to find a local farm to buy good quality home grown beef from , not that we eat alot of beef these days but when we do we want to buy beef from a farm that takes good care of their animals. We decided to go visit Applecheek Farm and see if they would "fit the bill".
Its a nice drive from Montgomery to Hyde Park, Vermont and there were lots of signs to lead our way to the Farm. As we approached we could see right away how well taken care of the farm is.

too bad I took these through the dirty windshield of the Jeep ( yes I should of edited them!)

Love their sign...:)

A lovely store front greeted us when we got there and the inside was neat and clean and filled with all sorts of "goodies!" Vermont made, syrup, jam , jelly, cheese, RAW milk , eggs, you name it and a really friendly person in there to visit with too..:) We bought a farm raised chicken since ours were ready yet and a nice steak to eat in a few days. Then we went out to check out the baby EMUS that they were raising there on the farm.

strange looking birds! I guess they are quite tasty when they grow up though!

That is one HUGE egg! I think she said the mother laid like 40 of them! OUCH!

Hello Mamma

Picnic area with a beautiful view of Mount Mansfield in the background!

With our purchases in hand we got under way to head back home again talking about what a nice clean place this farm was and how friendly the folk were and how well cared for the animals were. We decided we for sure would go back to buy any beef we buy from now on as well as stock for my Maple Syrup addiction....:o)

It is so very nice to see dairy cows on grass! They just look so peaceful and content and HAPPY!

Had a GREAT visit to Applecheek farm and we are looking forward to going again.:)

Honey Butter Wheat Bread - can you say MMMM???

2010-06-18T21:07:00.000-04:00

ingredients:
1 cup water
2 Tbs butter
2 tbs honey
2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup dry milk powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp yeast ( or one package)

1.add yeast to warm water in a small bowl, let set for 5 minutes and stir to dissolve.
2. add flours, dry milk power and salt to large bowl stir to mix and then make a well in the center, add the water/yeast mixture to well and stir lightly pulling in some of the flour mixture to form a soft dough. Cover and let this set for 20 minutes.
3. add softened butter, honey, and mix, I use a kitchen aid mixer for this with a bread hook, you should have a nice soft dough that is slightly sticky but not TOO sticky. Add small amounts of water ( tbl at a time) or if its too sticky add small amounts of flour.

4. cover and let this rise for 90 minutes.
5. punch down and add to bread pan and let rise again for 60 minutes.
6. Bake at 400 for 35 minutes, I like to butter the top to make a nice soft crust.

this is a great sandwich bread with a sweet flavor, its slices beautifully.

Yummy English Muffins...mmmm mmmmm Good!

2010-06-10T09:47:00.000-04:00

Ingredient List:
1 cup warm milk
2 tbls white sugar
2 1/4 tsps yeast ( or one package)
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup melted shortening
6 cups flour
1 tsp salt

Warm the milk in a saucepan til it bubbles around the edges. Mix in the sugar until it disolves then let it cool some. In another small bowl dissolve the yeast in the water and let stand about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the milk mixture, yeast mixture, shortening, and 1/2 the flour, beat until smooth then add the salt and enough flour to make a soft dough. I use a Kitchen aid mixer but if you don't have one, knead the dough then place in a greased bowl , cover and let rise til doubled.

punch down the dough, I made the dough into a long cylinder and then cut slices but I think if you want them more uniform rolling it out and using a biscuit cutter is the way to go although they taste good even if they are perfectly round..:)

lay out some waxed paper and dust with cornmeal, lay the rounds on top then dust with cornmeal again, cover and let rise JUST 1/2 hour , you don't want them getting too puffy.

heat a greased griddle using medium heat , cook the muffins 10 minutes per side,
Oh my goodness these are so very tasty, you'll never want to buy the store bought version again!

I made about 18 using this recipe.

Because I was too Chicken to read it...

2010-05-20T19:30:00.004-04:00

Eric R. Gardner my brother in law passed away from a courageous battle with Cancer last week,

receiving the diagnosis in February only to pass away in May. My sister emailed me and asked if

there was anything I would like to say in Celebration of Eric's Life on which was to be held on

Wednesday. I thought to myself. “Oh my, I could never do that, I’m a pretty emotional person and not sure

sure I would be able to actually speak in any coherent language."

Anyway I had pretty much decided I would bow out but...

I was outside in the sun on Monday , I always feel a special connection to God and my own loved

ones past when the sun is shining down on me , it always just feels so good and the sun shine

always makes me feel like I’m smiling inside.

While washing my car I was thinking when our own Dad had a heart attack so many years ago

, (coincidentally right on the same golf course where this service is being held and my brother just told

me it was on the 16th Tee ) Eric was the first one to offer to come pick my children and I up and

bring us to Keene to be with our grieving family it was a long trip and he kept me talking the whole way to

keep everyone relaxed, smiling and even laughing at some of his famous stories.

Eric was the one at our fathers funeral who brought all our spirits up with his witty story and that big

smile of his while telling us about the last few hours of our Dads life in a funny story about the

Golf game He, my dad and my brother shared. While I was thinking about that I

thought how little I really knew about Eric, never really spending more than an

after noon holiday or a quick dinner with He and Missy. But I do know this, he made my

Sister happy and for that I am grateful and I thank him, He was a loved Father and

Grampa and for that I am grateful and Thank him. People always say bad things about

lawyers especially in the line of practice Eric worked in but I know very well how

compassionate Eric was just from being around him. And how loved he was by his family.

I have one thing I want to say to all who are left behind, Missy, all the children and the

Grand children. I do so believe in God, I do so believe in the power of prayer. I do

know you are going to feel sad, and your going to miss Eric, there is no doubt about

that But I also know that he is still here with us in spirit. You just have to believe and

watch for the signs. One day you’ll feel so sad and you’ll look and

there will be a beautiful rainbow in the sky, one day you’ll feel all alone and the song of

a bird or the color of a bright flower will remind that your not,

one day you’ll be hurting inside and a song will come on the radio that will bring a smile

to your face Watch for the signs and welcome them and feel good knowing he is

watching over you. And be like me , feel good when the sun shines down on you, warming

your shoulders like a warm hug.

Tomato Soup can you say MMM Mmmm Good?

2010-05-13T19:19:00.000-04:00

Taking in my new style of living I am learning from my son and daughter I have decided if I can make it then I am no longer going to buy it. So I've started making my own soups, sauces, bread you name it. The garden has been started so even better, sometime this fall I'll be putting up my very own tomatoes to make this soup! OH I am so excited about this, its a great feeling ! Anyhow the soup !

I start of with about:
10 Good sized tomatos quartered.
( I've tried several types so far I have no favorites so I think any kind works fine.)
Get a good sized soup pot and put about 1/4 cup of water in the bottom then add the tomatoes, I usually take a chopper at that point and chop them well so they cook down a bit quicker or you can do that before you add them to the pot too whichever works easier for you! Boil the tomatoes until they are soft the juice is boiling well.
I take them off the stove and put them through my blender at this point, and then strain to remove the seeds. Of course if you don't want to go through this process you can buy a couple cans of tomatoes but you'll be surprised how much salt is in that can.

Get another large pot and add :
2 tablespoons of Oil.
1 Large chopped Onion
2 chopped garlic cloves
1/2 cup of chopped carrots
1/4 cup of celery
your tomatoes or 2 large cans of crushed tomatoes
1 quart of vegetable broth
1 tablespoon of worcester sauce

simmer this for about 1/2 an hour or until the vegetables are soft.
Removed from stove and blend with your blender or food processor until smooth.

Add:
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp pepper
and a few drops of Franks Extra Hot

Pour into a cup and mmm mmm good!

A walk to home and back to town?

2010-05-07T21:46:00.001-04:00

Yep so I needed to take our Jeep in to get the winter snow tires off, of course its my fault if it snows this weekend, you can put the blame right on me well and a bunch of other people who were doing the same thing, we were thinking that it must be spring NOW! I decided since it was a perfect walking day in the upper 50's with a light breeze blowing that I would walk home and back later to get the car about 2 1/2 miles each way.

First thing along my walk I noticed to discover it IS Spring was the sound of "Peepers" in the air! Some places people might have snakes or crocs in their swamps..well we have "Peepers" they won't hurt you but if you don't like the sound of "Peep, Peep, Peep" over and over then they might just drive you a bit nutty. Me, I love um.!

We have had alot of rain this spring, plus a huge snow storm dropping 2 feet of snow and melting in 3 days so we've got no water shortages here!

Interesting how the trees in in full bloom down in the valley where up in the mountains where we live the buds haven't opened fully yet.

Uh Oh, the skies were getting really dark ahead at this point I still had about a mile and a half to walk , luckily from this point on there were plenty of places to duck in to if it started raining. This is the reason I brought my cell phone to take photos and nt my Canon Rebel Xti, the cell phone is MUCH easier to stuff in a pocket to stay dry!

Now I"m walking into Montgomery Village, I love it here, such a quaint little Town with well taken care of homes and beautiful gardens to enjoy.

Another sign of all that water, course with all the mountains around the water does have to come down..:) This is a beautiful little brook though with a few water falls further up which I can even hear from our house after the rains fall.

Looking at back at where I had been, the road had recently been graded and was quite slick and muddy to walk on glad I wore my hiking shoes with the grippy soles. Almost home about 1/2 mile to go but the hardest part as the elevation is about to move up from 400 feet to 800 feet quick!

There is something special about Vermont. Usually though I can see a mountain in the distance there but it was all covered up with clouds from the upcoming storm.

In the distance I can see the hill that soon I'll be climbing, I remember when I first moved here it took me so long to walk up there , having to stop and rest so many times, but living here has made me healthier and now I can walk up it and rest just to enjoy the sites! What do they stay , you have to stop to smell the roses , right?

Up we go , luckily the mud was drier here or the walk up would of been quite difficult.

First grade almost over on to the next one. It was a beautiful day, what a great walk.

Around here we've got animals everywhere, I found several deer tracks crossing the road.

Almost home and I'm still smiling.:)

When I got home I did some gardening until the storm hit. Oh and what a storm it was, the wind came up like crazy and I saw two trees topple over , I ran inside and I thought, " oh my, I'm so glad I got home before THAT started!"

Later on that afternoon, I had to walk back down into the center to pick up my Jeep, the sky was blue and it looked like the storm was over so I got my sneakers back on and grabbed my raincoat just incase. The sky was blue most of the way but when I got on the stretch where there are no houses I looked behind me to see this...

Yep, there was rain in the air and it was coming fast, so I put it in high gear to see if I could beat it before it got to where I was.

Well, after a bit I could see that wasn't going to happen, luckily the town garage was right up ahead and I knew they had a big open garage for the sand and salt , I walked inside a bit a few minutes later it let loose! Wow I was glad I had a place to take cover!

When the rain let up to a sprinkle I stepped outside and looked back to see blue sky coming so I zipped up my coat and put up my hood and started walking again. It actually felt quite refreshing!

I was in the center soon and enjoying the fresh smells of the flowering trees again.

Spring is in the air!

So I finally saw the garage in site , the chill in the air had got to my bones so when I saw this sign I thought. hmmmm PIzza for dinner...what a great idea! Usually I do make my own but after walking 5 miles today I figured heck let someone else make me dinner! And thats what I did!

So that was my adventure for the day! Now I hear we are getting snow...I guess its my fault since I had the snow tires taken off!

Mmmmmmm Banana Bread

2010-05-05T10:27:00.000-04:00

Tried a new recipe and added my own twist and ooo I like it...:) Only thing is my bread pan was a bit too big next time I will use the 8" pan to give the bread more depth.

If using a conventional bread pan grease and flour it (I just got some of those nifty rubber looking loaf pans wow! no oil needed and the bread just POPS out! love them!)

Mix together:
1/2 cup nuts ( I know my daughter doesn't like nuts in bread but I love um...:)
1 farm fresh egg
3 ripened bananas
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup light brown sugar
4 tbls unsalted butter melted
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

add to this mixture
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
only stir enough to mix in the ingredients over mixing will make the bread tough.

spoon into pan and bake for 1 hour in a preheated 350 degree oven
when done let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.
If you have a big dog put it up HIGH......(I've lost many loaves by thinking, its hot, he won't eat it....)

Jack Daniels Glazed Salmon - can I say MMM mmmm Good?!

2010-04-25T18:54:00.002-04:00

Combine :
3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
3 Tablespoons Jack Daniels
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
4 minced garlic cloves
dash of pepper

Add some olive oil to a frying pan and preheat
add the above ingredients then add to that
4 salmon fillets ( best without the skin unless you eat it , you won't want to waste this
glaze!)

Cook fish 4 minutes per side and wha la you've got dinner!

in the photo you will also see beans ...to make.

take some seeds and put them in the ground...water regularly , weed occassionally.
When you see beans growing , pick them! Cut them up, add them to some boiling water and cook just enough...I like them crispy...mmm

Dinner for one today but 5 weeks I'll make this again for my sailor guy.:)

Peanut Butter Granola Bars - Yummy

2010-03-27T09:06:00.003-04:00

1 cup of peanut butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 1/3 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup coconut

stir together then add 1 1/2 cups of your favorite ingredients:
sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts , chocolate chips, raisins whatever you want thats small and tasty.

press into a 13x9 greased pan and bake for 20 -25 minutes at 350 degrees, I cut them when they are warm as they tend to get a bit crumbly if you don't.

A trip to Frustration

2010-02-05T19:31:00.001-05:00

The day started early today getting up at 3:30AM to feed the dogs and get ready to take our trip to Montreal for my husbands interview with the US Consulate there for his immigrate Visa to the USA. We had a quick breakfast and set the GPS to head us towards Rouses Point to cross into Canada there on the 87.
It was a great day to drive with clear sky and dry roads which made things easier. We got across the border and went to pick up Anders medical papers first and chatted with a few friendly people there in the lobby while we waited for the office to open. Always nice to have a pleasant conversation with friendly people.
We then walked over to the consulate but since we were early we headed over to Tim Hortons for a coffee and donut to wait for a bit since it was so cold out and our appointment wasn't for another hour. While there we met a father and son who were waiting for the same thing. We chatted the whole time we waited with them it was nice to meet them and laugh about stories we all had about the process involved in getting permission to stay in the country.
We walked to the consulate and waited in line to get checked by security. Quite a different process then the last time we went there 6 years ago. No longer allowed to bring lap tops, cell phones, food, beverages heck they even took our car keys and held them for us while we went up with the rest of the crowd who were there waiting for different steps in the process they were involved with. That didn't bother me though. I'm all for keeping me safe..:)
We took our turn in line and were given a number to watch for on the screen which would tell us what window to go to down "the hall" While waiting we were happy to see the father and son come in and sit with us which was fun to share more stories with them throughout the morning. Our number came up about and hour later and we went to "the window" where a friendly woman went through the 2" stack of paper work that is required to be sure we had it all which we did have all the paperwork they required us to have we gave her Anders medical papers and she took his fingerprints with a cool digital finger printer. She was very helpful in trying to find the answer to a question I had but in the end she said we'd have to ask our interviewer both the questions we had. Okay no problem so far things were going well.
We went back to sit with our new friends and waited another hour or so to be called for our interview. Finally our number came on the screen again and we walked down that hall again and went to a very small little room with a little window. The woman there promptly told us to put down everything we were carrying because she needed our hands. So okay no problem. Anders just needed to confirm who he was by putting his thumb on a finger print machine. No biggie . Then she started with questions, Where did we meet? When did Anders propose...? Why was she asking us this when we had been married for 9 years almost? We did our best to answer her questions , then she asked for proof that I was living in the USA...gave her my drivers license..she didn't like that, gave her my mortage loan papers, nope that only has a post office box, I gave her 3 other papers but then she said that only proves I have an address there...doesn't prove I LIVE there...( I guess I need someone to record me living in the house????) Then she asked Anders a few questions and told him " Don't answer me until I'm finished talking because I don't think your listening to me, I tell you this woman was getting worse and worse, when she asked about Anders employment and my lack of employment she said Anders was going to need to file this certain form and I said I had filed it she looked at me and said " I do know my job" after a few more remarks she gave us Anders passport back and said we were going to need a few more things before he could get his visa, Anders started to say "When I get my visa...." She wouldn't even let him finish " I will not say you will get a visa", then I said " IF he gets a visa will he be allowed to come and go into the country" Where she looked a me and said with a face like you are so stupid woman " YOU SHOULD KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE APPLIED FOR" and then she opened the door to leave the interview room....I've never wanted to flip someone off in my life before but I sure wanted to then...and I politely left the room and shut the door before I turned to Anders and said in a quiet voice " what a bitch " ( excuse me)
Why, tell me why when two people have been married for 9 years...why do they have to make it so difficult for them to be together? Why do they have to treat you like your some kind of criminals??? I have never been so insulted in my life...Thank God we don't have to go back there we just have to file some more paperwork...and that form she said we needed , I read it...we don't but of course we'll send it in..and the $70.00 that needs to go with it....
I need a drink......

A walk in the woods with Cyclone, Twister, Tornado, Hurricane and Tsunami!

2009-12-15T19:34:00.001-05:00

Back in November I was out working in the yard getting ready for winter, raking leaves, covering plants and getting all my gardening tools put away when Twister looked at me and said " Mom , can we go for a walk?"

I really had a lot to do and taking the "boys" for a walk takes about an hour since they fool around a lot. But Twister was nice and said "please"????

So we went off for a walk in the woods, my Husband and I own 11 acres in the woods of Vermont and we've made some great hiking trails, its really neat how the little goats will follow me where ever I go so they really are fun to take for walks.

Tsunami was soon munching away at all the yummy stuff he could find!

"Thanks Twister , that was a GREAT idea to go for a walk!"

Hurricane, my little butterball, (or as my daughter likes to call him a toasted marshmellow) He wasn't so sure, he had plenty of hay in the barn he looked at me as if to say "You know this green stuff is getting lots harder to find!"

Tornado was quite happy though! "Mom, this stuff is really yummy!"

"Aren't I CUTE Mom?"

Meanwhile Tornado was bragging about how he tricked me into taking him for a walk when he really only wanted to go as far as the nearest patch of brush in the woods!

Hey! make room for me!!!

Cylone is a bit older than the others and he decided to get away from them fooling around and went to find his own patch of weeds to eat!

Tsunami found some that everyone else missed!

I love walking in the woods this time of year, the leaves all have that great crunch to them and the steady swoosh, swoosh sound can be heard with every step! Meanwhile I enjoy being able to see further into the woods, the trees are so beautiful, I'm really glad that Twister wanted to go for a walk!

MMMM MMMM MMMM Munch, Munch, MMM I, mmmucnch, Love munch, munch, you mmmmmm Mom!!! Munch, Munch!

Twister decided to show of his acrobatic skills and practice his balance beam routine.

"So how did I do Mom? How many points do you give me?"

The Sun was starting to head down behind the mountain and soon it would be getting dark in the woods so we started to wander our way back down the hill. "Mom, can we PLEASE stay out longer? "

Goats are just like deer pretty much , when they hear something they freeze then run!

"Wait, what was that?" ....... "Oh, it was just one of those silly striped things"

Hurricane thought it was funny that Tornado was scared of a Chipmunk and he started running around laughing at him!

Cyclone had to come back with the bunch to see what was so funny. But he told Hurricane it wasn't nice to laugh at Tornado even though it was silly to be scared of a Chipmunk.

Hey Tornado come on look at all these good ferns! MMMM they are yummy!!

"I'm coming Hurricane! ...oh , wait, what was THAT?"

" Tornado, it was just another Chipmunk, come on! We still want to have fun before Mom makes us go back in our fence"

Its fun to watch the goats as they try to reach all the leaves on the pricker bushes. The reach like a giraffe with short legs! Tornado was still looking for that illusive chipmunk!

We were almost down the hill when the boys discovered a newly uncovered pile of logs.

"Hey Hurricane, wanna climb up here?"

"Okay Tornado, I'll go first"

"Push over Tornado, I'm going next"

"Hey! That was fun! Tsunami are you coming!?"

"Yep! Watch OUT! Here I come!"

"That was so much fun I want to do that again!"

"Well, maybe not that was alot of work, I'll just pretend my foot itches instead"

"I'll just go down this way instead"

The boys were having a really good time nibbling this and that and then running back to me , I'd get just so far away from them and they would just run as fast as they could to catch up. They are just so much fun!

Twister was going to eat everything he could find.

Hurricane was doing his best to clean up all the dried leaves he could find.

" Oh geez Mom really?? Do I have to ? Okay.....*sigh* "CHEESE"

So we were back to the bottom of the hill again I picked the boys some yummy berry bushes for them to nibble on inside their fence, they could munch on then until Dinner time later on. It was a nice walk, nothing better than being out doors and having someone to go for a walk with!

Mrs Captains Pumpkin Bread

2009-12-13T15:56:00.001-05:00

Mrs Captains Pumpkin Bread

Today at 8:10am | Edit Note | Delete

Occassionally I intend to share some of my favorite recipes with you ! I love making bread! This reciepe makes two yummy loaves , one for now , one for later!

3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
3 cups white sugar
1 cup applesauce
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin
2/3 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 grease two loaf pans

combine flour, soda, salt, baking powder and spices and set aside

in large bowl blend sugar , applesauce and eggs, stir in pumpkin, mix in flour mixture while adding water. Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 90 minutes.

let cool at least 10 minutes before removing from pan .

This bread is soft and very tasty heated up in the toaster and then spread with cinnamon butter!

First Hike to Eagle Mountain

2009-11-20T20:03:00.001-05:00

My son and his wife has asked us to take them to the start of the Long Trail in North Adams Ma and they spent a week hiking the long trail before we picked them up the following Saturday in Danby, Vermont.
Zachary had given me his old Long Trail Guide so I enjoyed looking at it everyday imaging where they were hiking and what they were seeing etc. It was wonderful when we picked them up to hear about their adventure and it really got me itching to start hiking again.

My birthday came up in a few months and I got a Long Trail Day trip guide along with some spiffy new hiking poles! Oh I was excited! So on my actual birthday I found a short hike to start with in the general area of where Anders and I were planning on traveling for the day. I picked Eagle Mountain because they said it was good for kids so figured since we hadn't hiked anything other than our back yard slope in along time so this would be a good place to start.

Eagle Mountain is on the shore of Lake Champlain and over looks the islands. Its a 2-3 mile hike with a 560 ft accent. They estimated the hiking time to be only an hour up and a half hour down. A great place to start as its only a little bit more than hiking out mountain out back behind our house!

We arrived at the mountain and both were very excited as Anders signed the traditional Long Trail Guest book at the Trail Head. We read the sign as to which trail to take and we were off on our way with my handy Day trip guide and hiking posts in hand. The signs were a bit confusing as the text at the bottom of the hill said one thing and this guide post said something else. We went to the top First , honestly expecting a view but only thing up there was a few old stone walls, it was a beautiful hike though with well maintained trails and being in the woods was so peaceful, we talked the whole way up , not like Anders and I are ever at a loss for words..:)

After we did the summit we wandered our way back down to the guide post again and started our way to Hoyt lookout hoping to see a view of the Lake . We weren't dissappointed.

It was really wonderful to just sit and look at the lake, bringing such fond memories to me , since I basically grew up here. Looking at the islands that we came up to see many times on my Dads boat.
After having a snack we wandered back down to our car again stopping now and then just to take it all in, it might have been a short little hike but we sure did enjoy being in the arms of mother nature. Vermont at its finest and look forward to another hike in our beautiful state!

A Learning Experience

2009-11-20T19:19:00.002-05:00

So I've discovered that after living 4 years in the Southern Penninsula of Ontario Canada ( where the land is flat like its been ironed) that my legs don't really remember what its like to go up and down hills! I've got some work to do! Back in Ontario I would walk 3 miles a day and last summer biked over 250 Miles. Now the walking maybe easy but the biking its different as even though there are no hills to pump up, there are no hills for coasting down either so its a constant pedal , pedal, pedal. Not to bad with a heavy 15 year old mountain bike!

So now we live on the side of a mountain, I've been walking 2 or 3 times a day on the trails Melissa and Kyle have made on the land out back so figured okay, I'm going to walk to the post office down at the foot of our road. Sounds easy right? Hecks its probably only 2 miles max , could be less, I'll have to measure it just for curiosity now. I headed off on a cool afternoon with my camera in tow incase I saw some interesting things to photograph. Its so beautiful here with all the green coming in on the trees and the birds singing. I walked down the road and soon noticed that at one point I had to really lean back to walk down the steep part of the hill....hmmm what would this be like going up?

So it took me 1/2 an hour to walk to the post office, thats with stopping to chat with a neighbor and taking a couple shots with the camera, I visited with our friendly Post Master John for a bit and headed back home, my legs immediatly

noticed that something was different in the terrain, as I started back up the road, it looked flat but for "flat lander legs" I could tell it wasn't indeed flat! :o)

I complained to myself and said " oh right Donna, and you said you were going to do this everyday! ha! yeah right! But I was really enjoying the walk though, its so wonderful to be back in the Mountains again, even as good as being on the lake... :o)Shortly after turning around to go back home I noticed the grade going up hill a bit more after awhile but I just took a few stops "to take some photos of course!" :o)
So yep the hill turned into a bigger hill, and It came to mind that this winter we most always put our Jeep in 4 wheel drive to get up it and occassionally Kyle couldn't make it up the hill with Melissas little car....
I was really glad that Melissa got a magazine in the mail so I could read a bit after walking up the really steep part...:o) Finally could see the top of the hill , I was enjoying the coolness in the wooded shade of the woods.
And then finally I could see the end of our driveway...:o) And there was our house, yea! Okay, I'm not proud of it but it took me 1 and 1/2 hours to walk back up the hill! Yikes! So thats a goal for the summer! Course I did stop several times to take photos though too. :o)

Before we actually moved here and I was still living in Ontario, I was worried that I'ld really miss living on the lake , I saw some amazing sites while living there and glad I got to experience the storms on the Lake. Now that I'm here I realize this truly is my home, Vermont is something that gets in your blood, the peace, the beauty, the comfort I get from being in the Mountains. Then of course its so wonderful to be closer to Zach and Melissa and Viola and Kyle too! Now alls I need is for Anders to get his butt home! Nice thing? As I am typing this thats just what hes doing, driving our Jeep to Vermont for a months holiday here at our home in the Mountains of Vermont.
mmmmm this is the life!

Amazed

2009-11-20T19:18:00.004-05:00

This is a weather forecast for Lake Erie where I live, the forecast was issued on Sunday morning the 23rd of December

...STORM WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST MONDAY....OVERNIGHT...SOUTHWEST STORM FORCE WINDS TO 50 KNOTS. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS AND SQUALLS. WAVES 17 TO 22 FEET.

.MONDAY...SOUTHWEST GALES TO 40 KNOTS BECOMING WEST. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS. WAVES 15 TO 20 FEET.

I woke up Sunday morning at 5:30AM to the sound of wind blowing hard at the house from the southeast , our house basically faces SSE so it was hitting the house pretty hard. Our "windometer" was readying 48MPH , it was really loud and with the sound of the lake out front it was like standing next to a jet engine.

Now for those who don't know who might read this, my Husband is a Ship Captain so hes out on the lakes, along with many other ships ( something I never thought of when I lived in Vermont) I never imagined what a 15 to 20' wave looked like, never really thought about it, but go outside and look at the roof of your house, now imagine a wave that high...lots of them...

The wind, well yes we've all experience wind but again when you live on the shore of a lake, there is nothing in front of you to break the wind. Like when you stand in the shelter of a building to break the wind when your waiting for a bus or something, the house here is pretty much out in the opened so that wind was hitting us pretty hard.

I was worried for a few reasons, 1st one was my Husband and his crew of course out there in the storm, luckiy not on Lake Erie where this time the storm was to be the worst of all the Great Lakes but still in bad weather. 2ndly we have our house for sale here on the lake as we've decied to move back to Vermont to be closer to our family. I was worried with the wind that the house would be damaged in some way.

Well, I did what most Christian people will do when they are worried, I prayed, first I sent a request out to my Christian friends and to 4 different churches and then I went to church Christmas Sunday.

The wind switched direction as the weather forecast said it would to a direction where our house has more protection and no , there was no damage. But the most amazing thing is, my husbands ship, he never even had to anchor for the weather , of course My Husband weather routed to keep the Ship safe, but I find it amazing that while we were riding out the 50MPH winds here on Lake Erie, where his ship was on the biggest Lake on the Great lakes there was no wind hardly at all There was wind in the southern half of the Big Lake but in the north where his ship was riding he said, no wind, the lake..it was calm.......the company he works for said he was one of the only ships actually moving as most of the others were in parts of the lakes where the weather was too bad for them to move. They were anchored in Bays and rivers to stay out of the wind.

I sometimes wonder what I did to be so blessed, but I tell you I am so grateful and thankful to God for looking out for my Husband and I, if it wasn't for God I don't see how I ever would of met him in the first place and ever since then , well just amazing things in my life I have been witness to. Now I'm sure that our move to Vemont will go just as planned and I'll smile again and our blessings. Sometimes you just have to be reminded, and boy I sure was over this one.

Reflections in Ontario

2009-11-20T19:17:00.005-05:00

I wrote this back while I was living on the shores of Lake Erie a moment I'ld like to share with you, I'm looking forward to many more moments like this now living in the Green Mountains of Vermont again!

March 2005,
The day was going by very quickly when I realized I hadn't got my daily walk in after lunch. Right after dinner I decided it was time I went. My walks usually take place in the mid afternoon when the sun is high and shinning bright but today I waited and I'm so very glad I did. I got Bandit and McKenzie's collars and leashes on and headed down the road. We started out at our usual pace of about 3 miles an hour, my big Rottweiler and German Shepard having to trot along to keep up. We were heading west along our quiet little lakeside road. As I rushed the dogs along I barely looked at the seagulls and ducks fishing in the lake, and I had to pull the boys along as they stopped frequently to explore interesting smells they were finding. By the time we got to the spot where we turn around to go home the sun was just starting to set in front of us. As we turned and I looked at the field of wheat beside me the rows and rows showed golden as the sun cast shadows on them. I stopped to look, and as I did, I couldn't help but hear all the sounds around me. Birds of every sort were singing their songs, each one wanting to be heard above the others. Robins, Grackles, Redwing blackbirds, Chickadees, and more singing as if to say listen to me! As we started to walk back I took my time to listen and look at the wonderful place I was in. All of a sudden everything was in my ears, the sound of the birds, the loud flapping of wings as a flock of white swans took flight right as we went by, the ducks and seagulls arguing over their fishing spots. I could hear the water flapping against the shore, with the occasional clunk as some lingering ice chucks bounced about in the currents. Streams of water coming from the fields into the lake, gurgling and splashing. The wind was blowing gently against my face as we continued on our way back home the sun now casting a pink hue on everything it touched. The dogs even realizing that I just wanted to walk slowly along my way weren't pulling to smell everything they could but walking quietly at my side. I couldn't help but think how lucky I am. I sometimes wipe away tears thinking I am all alone, but at that point I realized how very wrong I am. I have been blessed and I feel Gods love around me everyday, but at that moment in time it was like he was saying. “Stop, look, enjoy the beauty of this place.” There is no camera that can capture a moment of this sort, the sounds, the smells, and the enormous world around me. I thank God for everything he has given me, my two beautiful children, my wonderful husband, and the life I can now life in this beautiful place

Thoughts byDonna Mae Rasmussen