~Embracing the situation, and memories~

Written by Sue, Thursday, January 30, 2014         30 degrees, sunny, but snowed in.
Having snow only once in a blue moon, can bring about memories that you have tucked away in your heart, one such memory came to mind yesterday...... I remember many years ago, leaving the hospital with a tiny bundle of joy in my arms, it had started snowing early afternoon and by the time I was officially discharged it was almost dusk, the snow was coming down so fast and hard , that I didn't know if we would get our precious newborn home safely.We did, he is our snowbird, he loves snow and has moved to where there is snow on the ground for months!~smile~

At this time babies wore cloth diapers, I had no clothes dryer other than the sun to dry and kiss my clothes! Having a new baby meant diapers that needed washing, back then, I would find myself washing clothes as soon as they were soiled, my how things change. I so vividly remember the next day being out in ankle deep snow hanging diapers and baby clothes on the line,(Mr P. was at work, and would have had a conniption fit) The sun had come out and the temps. were above freezing. One thing we can count on here in the south, when it snows it doesn't stay around for long, with 2014 being an exception. ~smile~

~Mr P.'s photos, ~

Taken while out feeding the animals yesterday~

 Sheep absolutely do not like snow, 

they only came out to eat, 

 then high tailed it back to the shelter!

 The pond is partly frozen, 

just a thin sheet of ice, 

no walking on this stuff!!

Ducks take it all in stride!

 A lesson for me to learn!!

It truly is a winter wonderland,

however, I am getting cabin fever, 

as soon as the secondary roads are clear,(tomorrow)

I will be out and about, with camera in hand,~grin~

But first homemade chicken, rice soup, 

a perfect cure for cabin fever!

Enjoy your day,

Blessings,

Sue

~Patience my friend, gets you information, and a new friend~

Written by Sue, Tuesday,January 28, 2014.........  Snow Snow Snow! today temps. 20's

~Good Morning, no snow yet, but soon~

Sometimes something happens that just amazes me, such a thing happened yesterday. Running errands included stopping by the grocery store, one feat I was not looking forward to for this reason.... It seems if the word "snow" is ever mentioned, we southerners go in "panic mode", though I was not in panic mode yesterday just in necessity mode, by the time I got to the grocery store there were only five grocery carts available, I almost turned and ran out of the store, but since I was on a mission I went ahead. I was swift in getting my groceries which were minimal, 4 chickens on sale, and oatmeal, but the checkout lines were long,... there was this lady ahead of me with a cart full of groceries,she had this notebook, and envelope filled with coupons,

I am thinking "Oh no , Sue, you will be here forever." I took a deep breath and decided to "embrace" this moment ( this is one of my words for the new year)! The longer I stood there the more fascinated I became, I was thinking of all the time and work it took for her to organize these coupons, just to save her family money. (patience kicks in)

~Granny doesn't have coupons, just photos, but she is still slowing up the line~

She kept looking at me and smiling, almost apologetically, as we kept exchanging smiles, it seemed we were connecting,.... me with envy as I have always wanted to be this organized with coupons,.... she being grateful I was patient! By the time the cashier had finished there had been so many smiles exchanged that I felt like we had become friends, so much so that I could ask her a personal question or two.~grin~ I shyly walked over to this lady, and asked her how much she had saved, smiling proudly she said "it was over $100.00," Since we had become bosom buddies by now, I was comfortable enough at this point to ask her what she had paid for all those groceries, she again proudly says, "Only $15.00, but it takes a lot of work."My jaw dropped, you could have knocked me over with a feather, I applauded her for her efforts, she left with her head held high and a cart full of bagged groceries, I left with two bagsin hand and my head hung low! I have decided that I am now going to"embrace" coupon redeeming with more gusto!!

Enjoy your day,

Sue

Who knows what a "Goodies Box" is?

Written by Sue, Monday evening, January 27, 2014......... today was sunny, temps. 68 degrees

What a pleasant surprise this morning, I stopped by the dining room and what to my wondering eyes appeared, not a sleigh with reindeer, but this beautiful cactus blooming 

Have you ever examined a flowering cactus bloom up close, absolutely stunning!

The day gets even better, my mom called asked if we would stop by while out running errands. She had this "goodies box" for us.  A "goody box" is a box filled with goodies with lots of love in it.  She said "I knew the snow was coming and thought you might need some warm boots, (and were they ever warm, faux fur inside),a few sweet clementines,walnuts, and here are a few extras too."

 And if that wasn't enough, it gets even better, she hands me a box with this beautiful cannister set, by Susan Winget, I could hardly wait to get home and set it out!

Some might would say, I am spoiled, but Mr P. says I am just loved a lot. ~smile~

The other surprise, which I am not sure how I feel about it, is, the weatherman is predicting 6 to 12 inches of snow, tomorrow! I am not a snowbird, I like to see it fall, and maybe stay for a few days, but with the extra cold temps., coming I have a feeling it might decide to wear its "welcome" out! So for now I am going to enjoy our "Goody Box", and have my camera ready! Stay tuned.

Enjoy your evening,

Hugs,

Sue

~Speaking of Pie~

Written by Sue, Saturday January25,2014          partly sunny, still cold, temps. 40's it's winter don't cha know
Here is something to warm your tummy on a cold winter day, it is absolutely delicious, and can be prepared very quickly. I call this my 'Baked Oatmeal Pie".

Combine:dry ingredients and mix well:

1 1/2 cups steel cut oatmeal~

1 tsp.baking powder~

1/2 tsp. fine sea salt~

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon~

1 cup chopped walnuts~

Mix wet ingredients:

1 3/4 cups. almond or coconut milk, I used coconut, reg. milk will do too!~

2 small eggs beaten~

1/3 cup maple syrup or honey, I used honey, not quite 1/3cup~

2 tsp. vanilla flavoring, the real stuff~

Place 1 cup berries in bottom of pie plate, I used blackberries, any berry would be fine, I am also going to try apples soon,add dry ingredients over the berries,pour liquid over this, do not stir, top with as many berries as you like, bake in 350* oven until golden brown, or set, sorry I didn't time it. *note* this looks extra rich and yellow, because of the farm eggs from my hens!

 Serve as is, or you might want to pour some maple syrup over it for the kids. If you want a real hearty breakfast serve some bacon or sausage patty with this on the side!

This can also be used as dessert, serve warm from the oven, add ice cream  or whipped cream, This morning I added whipped cream with a sprinkle of cinnamon for Mr. P. He has been extra sweet this week, helping me with the garage! ~wink~

You can decide  for yourself if this is pie or not! ~Grin~ I don't scoop it(though it can be) I slice it, so does that qualify as pie?~smile~

Enjoy your day,

Hugs,

Sue

The prayers we weave into matching socks, the stirring of oatmeal, the reading of stories, they survive the fire.

Ann Voskamp.

Would you like a slice of pie?

Written by Sue, Thursday, January 23, 2014        Cold, sunny,  a beautiful day, temps. 40's

Did you know today is National Pie Day, I didn't until I visited bj over at Sweet Nothings, like me, she loves pie too! As a matter of fact I prefer pie over cake,I don't really have a favorite, cherry, pumpkin, chocolate, lemon meringue,pecan, well you get the picture!

When I was a child I always loved coming home after school, opening the door, smelling something yummy baking in the oven, usually it was a pie. My Mom always, and continues to do special things for her family. If I ever needed her, most of the time I would find her in her kitchen either baking, or cooking something special for us.Even when times were lean she always made sure our meals were special, as was our time spent at the table.

 It was then that our Father, engaged us in conversation about matters of the heart as well as school, news, and goings on in the neighborhood.Each of us were made to feel important, because our parents "listened".

 It was also at this table, manners were taught, if we wanted something we were to say "pass me this or that please." No elbows were on the table, napkins were in our laps, we chewed with our mouth closed. ~smile~and  never ever were we allowed to get down from the table without asking to be excused! I never once thought this was to rigid, because this was a practice that was going on in most homes at this time. I am truly thankful today for my parents and  my heritage!!   OH!! where have table manners gone?

Oh! my goodness this was suppose to be a post about pie!!So in honor of National Pie Day, Have a slice or two of pie, how about chocolate meringue!

To all who come by to visit us here at the farm, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart, I truly have missed visiting with you my friends, and have been trying to do some catching up since yesterday! I have done both blogging and face book, and have found blogging to be more personable, and blogging wins hands down, however I have wanted to try Pinterest for awhile, we shall see!! If it stays cold as long as they say it is, I will be doing more sitting by the fire chatting with y'all! ~smile~

Hugs,

Sue

~Have you missed me?~

Written by Sue, Wednesday, January 22, 2014              sunny, cold, 20's, not used to this. ~smile~ 
Taking some time today to try and get back to blogging, My friend Vee, once stated that the longer you stay away from blogging the easier it is to stay away, I have found this to be so true! Truth is the farm and farmhouse keep us so busy, our ewes have been lambing, we have been blessed this year 35 new babies, no losses, last year we lost 8 lambs. We decided to keep them locked up during lambing, it seems to have been the right thing to do. Yesterday, Mr P decided to give them a treat and let them roam in the front yard, they were jumping and running everywhere, I love watching the lambs, play, they are like children.

 I have finished taking inside Christmas decorations, down, and packing them away! When you have as many trees as I do, that takes a while, however, when it is just the two of us at Christmas I only have one, but when the family comes home we really go all out,that is because we know that they expect nothing else, and because we love them!

 This is one of my favorite photos it explains one of the reasons we go all out with family, it is a time when they can totally relax and be themselves,enjoy sitting by the fire, with a hot beverage, colorful lights glowing, either conversing with us, or just taking a nap! If I had to describe "Home" in one word it would be "Refuge", the outside world can be pretty tough at times but "Home" offers us, warmth, contentment and safety!

Simply as a little child, we learn a home is made from love,

Warm as the golden hearthfire on the floor.

Anonymous

I didn't have a Christmas tour of the farmhouse this past season ,so this is my one and only, until next Christmas.~smile~

 Some might think wrapping each ornament might be silly but I have done this for years, and years, and that is probably why, I still have most of them with me, except those I break while either decorating or undecoratiing, I seem to have butter fingers. I got lucky this year, I only broke one glass ornament. This happened while I was taking the last tree down and was bragging to myself of how I had not broken one. Remember pride goes before a fall.

I wrap with toilet tissue, because it is soft,it cushions, is reusable, and inexpensive,Jack who is my faithful buddy, got tired of waiting, and watching me wrap, he says "enough already".

DH and I decided, (okay I decided) this would be a good time to clean and organize the garage, it took us three days, to dust, wipe, and wash the walls,  go through, clean, and organize the other boxes. When we were finished I told DH that it was clean but  looked junky,  his reply was "that's because we, (moi, tries and keeps everything),yes I am guilty, I am a hoarder, he is a throw away er, why I even found a cord in the trash, he was trying to get rid of, needless to say, it went right back.  And yes, Dh placed all of the boxes on the shelf, with a little help from me, I was the pusher upper!!Just in case you are wondering that bike has my name on it and has been pleading for me to take it for a ride.~grinning~ You think!!!!And that chopping block in the corner is a future project, I am going to restore it, and give to a friend.

Lots more been going on here at the farm, doing a lot of planning, baking (just can't seem to stop, lol),  just nesting. 

Enjoy your day, 

Hugs,

Sue 

~New Year Thoughts~

Written by Sue, Thursday January2, 2014, Raining today, cold, breezy, temps. low 40s and getting colder!
Daughter Susan is home for Christmas and New Year, on the very first day of the new year, we had our traditional collard greens, blackeye peas,with my mom's corn bread patties!

went fishing,, while Dear One built the bon fire!

 First and only caught fish of the new year !!

We ended the day with a bon fire.What a great way to start the new year! Hope your first day was special too!

Of course toasted marshmallows!

As I was sitting by the fire gazing at the sky last night, I noticed the trees above us and of how they had shed their leaves,  there they stood, bare, just waiting for a new beginning, in a few months these trees will begin to bud , as we enter summer the trees will eventually be in full bloom, when fall arrives the leaves will burst forth in a blaze of glory, then winter slowly creeps in, and  the leaves will once again shed to their bare branches, and the process begins again.

~The love between a dog and his master is priceless~

Just like the trees on this cold rainy day we are all bare and beginning a new year, filled with hopes and dreams for 2014, and like the trees we will once again begin to bud, as time presses on, and we work to bring these dreams to fruition we will blossom into full bloom, soon the year begins to draw to a close, and hopefully by then we will have accomplished our goals,just like the leaves in fall show their beautiful color!
As the  year comes to an end,  we will once again shed all of the things of the past year, especially the things we don't want in our lives,  we are once again given a new slate to continue to write our life's story!
Last night as I looked at the clock at midnight, (yes, we are staying up late while daughter is here) I looked at my family and said, "Wow, we have just used a full day of this new year, and it was a fast and glorious day." I have found since getting older that the days do fly by! ~smile~
Wishing you a most Blessed and Happiest of New Years!

Love, 

Sue

P.S. I have not been a very good bloggers lately, I do apologize, I am trying to change this! When famiy visits, Mr P. and I lay down as much as possible things that occupy our time so as to spend quality time with them.