Happy New Year!

I wish for you to have......
12 months of happiness, 52 weeks of fun, 365 days of success, 8760 hours of good health, 525,600 minutes of good luck and 31,536,000 seconds of joy!

Happy New Year!

I want this sign to put down by the pond

LOL

A Wonderful Blessed Christmas!

The Marine had a blast today opening gifts.  He scored on the funny shirts today.  He loves the ones with the funny sayings.

 He received socks with deer on them.

And wanted to wear them immediately.

 The marines sister got him this crazy thing called a Horri-Ballz.  This one is called the ninjaah. You bop him on the head and he vibrates and makes a lot of ninja noises.

 One of my presents was a funny t-shirt too!  

Papa Bear got one too!

 Our funnest family present has been the new Great Pyrenees puppy!  He is 8 weeks old today on Christmas day.

 
He's so calm and laid back.  We named him Yeti.




Christmas Eve we had a small family gathering.  My daughter and family had to get to the airport to pick up her boyfriends family who flew in from California.  I was busy in the kitchen so did not get their pictures.  Here are a few of the rest of the gang.

Our niece and also the Marines assistant

Our great nephew

 Our great niece

My Mom...aka Mimmie

and our big guy....Papa Bear.  I really need to get that man a Santa suit!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

The Very First King Size Bed

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.

To one without faith, no explanation is possible.

~Thomas  Aquinas

Thank God For That Bed And The Baby Who Slept There!

Merry Christmas!

The cost of Christmas

Last night I attended a Christmas Recital. I forgot my camera.   My great niece was in it.  She has been taking piano lessons this year and is doing very well.  Both young and old participated.  Some played the piano, one played the flute and one played the violin.  It was all beautiful.  The kids were dressed in their elegant, glittery finest.  My great nephew had on a black suit with a cranberry colored vest and bow tie.  He also had a top hat with cranberry colored trim.  He looked adorable.

Midway through the program a young man, who is wise beyond his years, spoke.  He told us a story of a young singing group who wanted to record a Christmas album that would be out just in time for the holidays.  They chose 24 Christmas songs to record. While meeting with their lawyers they learned a very hard lesson of royalties and copyrights.  They found out that all of the songs having to do with Santa would cost more in having to paying royalties than they ever would recoup from the sales of their Christmas album.  One by one songs were deleted from their list until all that were left were 10 songs having to do with Christ the Lord.  The true meaning of Christmas.  All of these songs were free and any song having to do with Santa was very costly.   Just as it is in most peoples life today.

Let Christmas be not about the presents which can be very costly to many but instead focus on the free Gift which was given to all of the world as we celebrate His birth.  Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Figures.....

Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups:
Feedback2@aetn.com
There's a problem with the recipient's mailbox. Please try resending the message. If the problem continues, please contact your helpdesk.

  My letter sent by email was returned from A&E's server.  I read other blogs where folks were trying to call A&E and the lines have been busy all day.  Just hoping it will do some good.

Duck Dynasty

I am a Christian and agree with Phil Robertson.  I think A & E is making a huge mistake by taking Phil off the air because of a magazine interview when he was asked his opinions on  homosexuals. My guess is more Christians and or straight people watch this show than homosexuals and we need to let our voices be heard.   I am tired of a few ruining things for the people trying to live right.  I found this email address for A& E.

 feedback@aenetworks.com (with the subject line "Questions, Comments or Complaints")

 Drop them a line and let them know how you feel.  I will be complaining for sure.

Peanut Butter Fudge Rice Crispy Treats

This is a recipe even a Pioneer Preppy , man or older child can make for Christmas goodies.






 

Don we now our gay apparel.  I got these cute Christmas aprons after Christmas at our local mall Dollar General Store for 50 cents each two years ago.....  On to the recipe with step by step instructions.  At the bottom of the page is the entire recipe with instructions you can copy and print.






Gather all your ingredients.  I used the store brand crispy rice cereal.  It all will go snap, crackle and pop.  I buy the huge containers of peanut butter from Sam's Club, it's cheaper for me but feel free to use any brand or generic if that's what you have on hand.  I used a cup of my honey that had almost crystallized but you can use light corn syrup if you have no honey. (I know for sure some of you have honey)


Line an 8x8 pan with waxed or parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside. 

 Pour 4 cups of crispy rice cereal into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, place 1 cup of honey, 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar.  Bring to a boil over medium to medium high heat while stirring constantly. 




Once it reaches a boil, remove from heat and stir in 1 1/2 cups of peanut butter and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until peanut butter is fully melted and mixture is smooth.




Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal.  







 

Stir until well coated. 

Spoon into prepared pan and pat down with back of spoon.  Make sure to leave some dripping down the side of the bowl for taste testing.




 Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.  I put mine in the freezer about 40 minutes, turned out on a cutting board and cut into one inch squares.  These are much richer and denser than the regular rice crispy treats and besides that I am making variety trays for friends and family and they will go further cutting them smaller.  I wonder what happened to that corner square?

The most important thing to remember is to cover your tread climber with Christmas bears so you will have an excuse for gaining five pounds over the holidays!

Enjoy everyone!

Peanut Butter  Fudge Rice Crispy Treats

Ingredients

• 4 cups crispy rice cereal
•  
• 1 cup honey (or light corn syrup)
•  
• 1/2 cup white sugar
•  
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
•  
• 1+1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
•  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
•  

Instructions

1. Line an 8x8 pan with waxed or parchment paper and spray paper with cooking spray. Set aside. Pour 4 cups of cereal into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, place honey and sugars. Bring to a boil over medium to medium high heat while stirring constantly. Once it reaches a boil, remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until peanut butter is fully melted and mixture is smooth.
3. Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal. Stir until well coated.
4. Spoon into prepared pan and pat down with back of a spoon. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Cold and Frosty Morning

This morning there was so much frost it looked like a light dusting of snow.

The barrel that holds the grain for the goats was frozen.  I had to take a board and knock it loose!

There was still a small amount of frost on top of the blocks on the 3 hives when I went by them this morning.  Much to cold for any activity.  Thursday we are supposed to be back in the 70's so I will open the hives and do a good check on them.

 The greenhouse has still managed to stay warm enough for the bell peppers.

 Some nice chilli peppers growing.

and the tomatoes are still growing nicely.  You can see behind the tomatoes where I planted the pineapple straight into the ground too.   It is getting a bit much to dig and repot them every year so they will live in the ground in the greenhouse.
I had a picture of the entire two rows of pineapple but my computer seems to have hid it from me.

 I am experimenting with squash in the ground inside the greenhouse.  I sprouted the seed in the house wrapped in a damp paper towel and then put it in the ground.  We'll see if I get summer squash in the winter!

Before the first frost Papa Bear used his tractor and dug up several large banana trees for me and plopped them  in the ground right in the center of the greenhouse where it is taller.  I think the ceiling height is 14 feet and some of the upright leaves are already touching.  Hopefully we'll get some bananas by letting them grow in the greenhouse.  It has been several years since our trees produced. 

Before he got sick, Papa Bear was working on a wood stove heater made from a barrel kit.  He decide to make a double one as it will have a heat exchanger and warm a larger area.  The temps has already dropped to 27 degrees outside but the greenhouse stayed above freezing. With heat the plants should produce more.  It's fun experimenting at any rate to see what works and what doesn't.

Hope everyone is warm and toasty in whatever you are doing today!

 

Garden Porn

I received my first seed catalog in the mail yesterday.  I love Baker Creek for varieties I can't get locally and I love that all of their seeds are heirloom, non-hybtid, non- GMO,  non- treated and non-patented.  This years catalog is 212 pages of natural goodness in full color. 

I buy what I know grows here in my area from the local feed and seed stores.  They are usually open pollinated and perform well,  but for variety and something different I order from Baker Creek.  If you didn't get a catalog in mail, you can request one for free!  Makes good reading on the long, cold days of winter while we wait on spring.  Do you have a favorite seed company you order from?  Would love to hear about it.

Click for FREE CATALOG

Caught on Camera

I guess I got the PIR set correctly on the camera as these were two  very clear pictures.  It's a female.  She looks real healthy and may have pups.  Can't see a collar .  Have never seen her in the neighborhood.

I wonder if she is one of the hounds from hell? 

I got to go and see what that weed is in front of the camera.

Closing the barn door after the horse got out!

After the massacre of the chickens and turkeys on two separate nights, we have realized how vulnerable our animals and ourselves really are.  We have had a big wake up call.

Yesterday we put up two motion sensor lights.  I had purchased these a couple of months ago to put on our new barn.  They work surprisingly well.    They were actually picking us up 50 or 60 feet away.  If it detects no other movement, it will turn off in 30 seconds.  I ordered 2 more from Harbor Freight last night.

They run off of a small solar panel. 

We picked up a cheap wildlife cam from the feed store and Papa Bear set up an old hospital bed frame and hooked the camera to it near the trail something has been traveling.  There wasn't a tree nearby.  I didn't even ask why he didn't put a post in the ground and mount it to that instead of adding more junk in the back.  Sometimes I am good that way.

I did not have the PIR set right on the camera so it is a really bad picture but it did get a shot of something.  It is in the bottom center.  Brindle in color.  It came in just before 1AM.  It ate all the snacks Papa Bear left for it and also drug off a dead chicken he had left in the trail.  Most of that was ate just in the edge of the woods.

The camera went off again a little after 2 AM.  I could not tell anything in this picture.  I have changed the PIR so we will see if anything comes tonight and see if the picture quality is any better.  Papa Bear put out more "snacks" but it is pouring rain so I don't know if they will be roaming or not.  I used to have a great picture editing program on the computer that I may have been able to sharpen these enough to see something but I can't find it.  I wonder if it has been accidentally erased?



I took the advice of Glock Mom, Senior and Lotta Joy (thanks guys!) and ordered 2 different types of driveway announcers.  I ordered two of each one.  One is on back order but I should have 2 of them before the week is out.   I also ordered 2 rechargeable spot lights.  We should be able to go out onto the back deck and sweep the back with one, the other I will use on the golf cart at night as the lights refuse to work on it now..  Trying to hold a flash light, drive and reach for a weapon just doesn't get it.

For the past few months I have been looking for a full blooded Great Pyrenees.  At $600.00 and up plus the cost to have it shipped was way too pricey for us as I could not find one local.   Today I was looking on Craigs list and found a male less than 75 miles from me.   We had decided not to get each other presents this year and put all the money into the new barn but when I saw this little fellow (he's on the left) I went and found Papa Bear.  Merry Christmas to us!  Sent the lady a deposit through Paypal and will pick him up on December 23rd. Showed the Marine the picture and told him we were getting him for Christmas.  He wants to name him Harley...We'll see if the name fits when we get him.

We always get a reminder in one form or another.....

I helped the Marine open a somewhat bulky Christmas card from his Mimmie this morning .  This is what was inside.  A chain with a pewter guitar pick with the words "You Never Let Go" on the front and on the flip side "and I will fear no evil for my God is with me"  The necklace  is inspired from a praise song "You Never let go"  Listen to it.  It will give your day an uplift!

While burning the midnight oil......

Papa Bear is outside waiting on the hounds from hell to come back, the Marine has a temp and I'm keeping him company in between reading and looking through pictures. 

I know it is too late this year but I wanted to show a picture of a veggie tray my daughter made for her staff party at the hospital for Thanksgiving.  I will have to remember this for next year.  Cute huh?