Ugh! I Hurt My Back

Again. This is the second time in three weeks. I really wish I could say I did it doing something tough and Farm like. The first time it was picking up little Kevin the goat. At the time he didn't even weigh 5lbs. This is just sad. I pick up a small, fluffy white goat and I am incapacitated.

But I couldn't be incapacitated as there is just too much to do around here. I live in pain any way because of all of my other health problems and I do have my days where I simply CANNOT get out of bed but a sore back; I can't let that keep me down. Which is probably why it is "out" again today. What did I do today. Oooooh, I lifted four flakes of hay. What do they weigh you ask? Probably around 3lbs. If that. I suspect that since I did not do what I should have the FIRST time my back went kaflooey this is why it is out again and much worse this time.

I want my heating pad.

A New Ride at SeaWorld Orlando - Manta Ride the Flying Ray

I went to SeaWorld with my goddaughters a few years back. I have the fondest memories of that vacation;. I loved petting dolphins and watching Shamu splash and play. The girls loved going on the rides; that was their favorite part of the whole adventure. I had the BEST time watching them. I'll bet they would love the newest ride coming to SeaWorld on May 22nd - the Manta . They are such magnificent creatures - I actually got to go night diving with some! But that is fodder for another post.

Now SeaWorld is presenting you with a fantastic opportunity. They are giving you a chance to GET TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE. Seriously! You know how wonderful that would be with a new ride. And it's so simple;
First you need to register.

Then you can follow @RealShamu on Twitter to learn all kinds of inside tips.

Search through the Manta site to learn all about the fascinating Manta Rays.

Finally it is quiz time - you need to answer 5 questions about Manta Rays but be sure you know your stuff! You only get three chances.

If you have answered correctly you will get an email from RideTheFlyingRay.

If you complete two of the activities on the totally cool Manta site you will get ONE electronic photo from your ride. If you complete all SIX you will get your FRONT OF THE LINE PASS for SeaWorld Orlando.

Sounds like fun to me! Here are the rules. It is always good to read the rules!

Vegas Baby

I love Las Vegas. For short stays. I don't think I could live there but I really do love going there. I have been twice; both times while traveling in the fifth wheel. The first time we stayed for 4 days the second for about a week. My brothers were in town for a convention on the second trip so we altered our plans to go meet them. I was glad to see my brothers and you cannot beat the people watching there.

But I also love the fantasy. The lights. The fun. The shopping. The restaurants and of course the Las Vegas Shows. You can see just about anything you might want; a Broadway musical, burlesque, a rock band, magicians,comics, singers,dancers. The list goes on and on. Just like Las Vegas itself the choice of shows is bright, bold and eclectic.

I would love to go back someday and we don't live all that far away now. Flights can be very inexpensive. It would make a lovely long weekend. The weather can't be beat especially as I watch the snow fall here in April. Some great meals, a good show and lots of fantastic people watching. Sounds good to me!

Things I Hate: Snow and Pasty Butt

I wake up today and it is snowing. It is April 28th and it is snowing. It is snowing hard. It is sticking. Not just to the grass but to the road. This, in my humble opinion sucks. Just a few days ago it was sunny and 75*. I do not believe in snow in April. There is just something wrong about it. My goats don't believe in snow any time of the year. They refused to come out of the barn. To me that makes them very smart goats.

Snow. In April. It's wrong.

That was the first wrong thing of the day. We went to visit the chicks and they are either incomplete poopers or we have the beginnings of pasty butt. I really don't want to have to deal with pasty butt. I outlined it in this post. Just the name makes me laugh. I don't think I can effectively help little tiny chicks with something called pasty butt if I am laughing hysterically the entire time I am trying to help them. I did not sign on for pasty butt. I signed on for cute little fuzzy things that peep. *sigh* The life of a chicken farmer. The husband has read about adding something to their diet to help with this possible situation. They look and act quite healthy so it might just be their systems starting up with the introduction of food. I sure hope so.

Excuse me while I go clean some pasty butts.

Cats are Special Too

I write a lot about my goats on this blog. Probably because they consume my life. Now the chickens have arrived and I am sure they will suck up more of my time. Only occasionally do I mention my cats. There are three of them, Fred, Stinky and Pumpkin. You read a bit about Pumpkin when I won a blog prize. You basically learned she was a thief. I really do love my cats and perhaps they should get some blog love from me.

I was browsing around the web and saw the coolest cat thing EVER. It's called a Kittywalk and it's available at North Coast Pets. Don't you think any cat would just love that?! It is too cool for words. And it comes apart so you can take your cat out for a walk in a cat stroller. I'm dying.

North Coast Pets doesn't just cater to cat people like me. They have a supply of products for folks with fish, birds and even horses. It looks like you could find just what you needed for any pet you might have.

The best thing? If you want to start your dog or cat on a raw food diet the folks at North Coast Pets can help you with that along with a wide range of books and grooming supplies. Go ahead, check them out.

The Chickens are Here!

Last night at about 9:30pm the phone rings. I don't like late night phone calls; they make me nervous. But this one was the Missoula Post Office calling to tell us that our chickens were there and did we want to come and get them. Uh, no. They were supposed to be delivered to our Post Office in Superior. Missoula is over an hour away and it was, as I mentioned 9:30 at night. So the Missoula lady said she would send them to Superior on the truck in the morning. My hubby could hear them peeping in the background.

So at 7:00 am this morning the phone call comes from our Post Office that our little chicks have arrived. The hubby trucks off to get them. Now, we had been told the little cluckers would be arriving around May 1st so of course we are not completely ready for them. I rush down to the basement to put the paper towels over the wood chips in the little enclosure we have for them. Apparently they are so stupid they would eat the wood chips. I also fill their little water containers.

They arrive. Peeping away. The hubby takes them out of their little box.

One did not survive the trip. He was apparently already dead in Missoula so we did not cause his passing. This is, from what we read a sad but common occurrence in the shipping of chicks. The others are all cute and fluffy. We have to introduce them to water which we do by holding them and putting their little beaks in their water bowls. Suckers are surprisingly strong! And thirsty.

After they have had their water they huddle under the heat lamp and warm up.

Then the food arrives and it's every chicken for itself as they run and jump and dive to get to the chick food. They are so funny to watch. These are Rhode Island Red chicks with one exception. With every order you get one free exotic chick. Ours is a little grey chick. We are going to TRY and figure out what it is. Ha! Perhaps as it gets older....

They will stay in the basement for 5 to 8 weeks. Different books say different things. And I suppose it will depend on our crazy weather up here. They make such happy sounds I suspect I am going to enjoy watching them grow.

Isn't it Time to BeeWell?

We all want to live healthier lives. Simple lifestyle changes can lead to living longer and I don't know about you but I want to be here as long as I can. The good people at Bumble Bee Foods want to help you and the Breast Cancer Network of Strength all at the same time. How, you ask? Through a really wonderful program called BeeWell Miles . Nothing could be simpler; just go to the Bee Well Miles site and set up your account. Then start logging in the miles you have walked. Simple, right? And get this:

From 4/1/09-10/31/09, Bumble Bee Foods will donate $0.15/mile for every mile logged at BeeWellMiles.com (up to $200,000) to help Breast Cancer Network of Strength.

That's right; you can get yourself healthier and help others. Why not get your friends together and do this as a team. Nothing like a little group motivation to make it all the more fun. Eat healthier too! A nice salad with some Bumble Bee white tuna in water would be a great way to start. If you look for the cans with pink labels you can enter the game codes on the site for chances to win prizes. There are 15,000 prizes to be won. Cool! There is also a calorie calculator to help you keep your meals in line with your daily needs.

Bee Well Miles can also help you as you start on your way to this new healthy way of living. There is a place to ask questions, tips from a trainer, and recipes.

So go for it. Go walking. Eat healthy food. BEEWELL!

Is it Time?

I often wonder if it is time for me to set up my own website for Broken Teepee Designs. It would offer me additional web exposure in addition to my shop on etsy. I just need to learn more about website hosting. I admit to being a novice in this area so it is good there is so much information to be found. I have lots of questions; for example, does it have to cost a lot of money? Is is something I can do myself or do I need a designer? Is one hosting company better than another?

I know this is not something that I will accomplish for myself overnight. It will take a lot of research and learning on my part. I like to learn new things, though and this will be no different that the other new things I have had to learn to promote my online business. I am just glad that there are sites that can help me with information and useful articles.

It will be a big step for my little business but a good step. I suspect it is still many months down the road but it doesn't hurt to do the research now so that when I am ready to jump in I will know exactly what I want and need. And then I will be ready to do the same thing for Pricilla's soap.

You Should Write a Cookbook

My husband tells me this all the time. My retort is usually something to the effect of, "I have no idea what I put in that, just enjoy it." He then counters with, " well, write it down while you are making it."

He has a point, I could do that. I have had a few (4) recipes published. It is a wonderful feeling when a magazine tells you that an idea you created is good enough for publication for its readers to duplicate. My problem is my cooking process. For example: last night I made Venison Filets with Sour Cherry Sauce. Sounds impressive, huh? This was how it all came to pass.

Took the venison out of the freezer. Butcher marked it as a roast so I thought I was having a roast. Opened the package to find it was, in fact 6 small filets. *sigh* Why can't butcher mark packages correctly. Must now rethink dinner after all was planned. (It was 5pm at this point.)

OK - toss filets in bowl with some olive oil, pressed garlic, crushed rosemary, salt and pepper. Oops, forgot to write down how much. Enough....not exactly precise.

Look in refrigerator, find half bag of sour cherries left over from when I made the apple/sour cherry pie last weekend. Hmmmm, would go well with venison. Toss in pot.

Little voice in head says add whiskey. Look in pantry. No whiskey but do have bourbon. OK, bourbon will work. Take lid off of bourbon, trip over cat sitting by stove and drop bottle of bourbon into pot. Have no blessed idea of how much bourbon is now in pot but the bottle is almost empty. Curse at cat. Not sure this adds to the recipe but it makes me feel better.

Little voice in head reminds me that these are sour cherries so I must add sugar. I get the sugar canister out of the closet and pour some into the pot. Don't even ask, I don't know.

Add some salt and crushed rosemary so as to complement the venison. Pepper too!

Little voice in head says cardamom goes will with cherries. I search through every blessed Tupperware spice container looking for cardamom. Twice. Finally find it - in my hand. I was holding it because I had found it and was making sure I did not put it back in the spice pantry. *sigh*

Add a couple of shakes of cardamom and some balsamic vinegar. I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH, A BIT.

I let it cook down a bit and I taste it. It needs something.

The little voice in my head says it needs lemon juice. I reply that I have no lemons. The little voice reminds me that I have RealLemon. Not the best but better than nothing. I add some in. How much? What ever was left in the bottle.

Aaaah, just what it needed. I let the sauce cook down to a syrupy consistency and I take it off the heat.

I broil the venison filets. 3 minutes on one side. 2 minutes on the other. While the steaks are resting I reheat the sauce until it bubbles. I take it back off the heat and add butter. How much?

A BIG WHOMPIN' PIECE.

So this is why my cookbook would never work. I don't measure and I rarely make things the same way twice. Feel free to use this recipe. It was an excellent meal.....

Woo Hoo for the Cats - Well, Pumpkin Anyway

I like to enter blog contests. They are fun and the prizes are from other independent artisans like myself. And now my cats got lucky. I won a prize in a giveaway at The Copper Brick Road - a delightful blog full of freebies, coupons, giveaways and good advice for living frugally. Good for these times. The prize was a catnip toy from Colorado Catnip Toys - an etsy seller. I hadn't run into the shop before so it was nice to learn of a shop for my cats. That is Pumpkin up there. She is my most recent cat - a stray that I found living under my shed just about starving to death. As you can see she has made herself at home.

Now on to the prize. My cats won this cool catnip fishie. Pardon the fuzzies - you will read why in a minute.

I really should say Pumpkin won a cool catnip fishie 'cause Pumpkin stole it and hid it. It took me two days to find it. But I am not one to be defeated by a cat. I was going to blog about my fun win and Pumpkin was not going to keep me from doing so. So I searched. Finally I found the fishie and two other cat toys that had gone missing. Fred's favorite "bird" and Stinky's mouse without a tail. Hmmmm, Pumpkin appears to be a thief. And a hoarder. All toys have been returned to their respective cat. How long that will last is any one's guess.

Pumpkin is enjoying her fishie. I am sorry for the photos. My camera has the brightest flash in the universe. And I can't figure out how to turn it off.

Pumpkin has also taken possession of the cat scratcher. No one else is allowed on it. Poor Fred and Stinky!

I want to thank Copper Brick Road for holding the contest and Colorado Catnip Toys for providing the prize. I think you check out the blog for more great giveaways and the shop for cool stuff for your kitties.

Getting Closer on Moving In!

As I blog ad nauseum, we are building our yurt. And building our yurt. And building our yurt. But we are getting closer. The sheetrock is progressing and soon the bamboo flooring will be going down. Once that happens the appliances can be installed and we can move in and then work on the finishing projects. I am not stupid. I know the house will never really be finished but at least I will be out of the trailer.

And I will get to start decorating. The bathroom should be fun. I want to put a nice slate down on the floor and I am looking at a different types of glass tile to put in the bathtub area. They sparkle! My plan is to do the bathroom in shades of blue and grey. Rather like the color of Montana's sky in Summer and Winter....

Spotlight! Artisan Jewelry From The Jewelry Box

If you like beautiful jewelry that features sparkling crystals, lampwork and beautiful design well then I have the shop for you! The Jewelry Box has lovely handcrafted items made by Brenda a member of the Artisan Beaders Street Team. As I was browsing through her shop I was immediately struck by these earrings. I love the way the shimmering aquamarine plays against the antiqued copper.






I love lampwork beads. I have a bit of a stash myself so I really appreciate pretty beads when I see them. This necklace has a beauty of a focal bead. It is simple, yet stunning.








These handcrafted earrings are so much fun and I have to admit the name of them made me laugh out loud! You'll have to go look for yourself :)






I guess I had my blue on when I made my choices - a gorgeous color to be sure. Brenda is having a big sale in her shop right now so it is a perfect time to try one of her beautiful items. This is directly from her shop announcement:



***(((***(((***(((***EVERYTHING IS ON SALE***)))***)))***)))***That's right! I'm having a *CrAZy SPRING FLING SALE!* Take 25% off of each and every item in my entire shop! Even brand new jewelry pieces! The 25% discount counts towards each item you purchase, whether it be 1 item or up to 5 items. Be sure to *WAIT TO PAY*! I will email you a revised invoice reflecting your 25% discount for each item you purchase. (((***THIS CrAZy SPRING FLING SALE ENDS APRIL 30th!***)))""Happy Shopping""


Cool, huh?


Brenda also has a shop on 1000Markets.
Her blog be found here.


Hmmm, pretty jewelry made by a truly lovely artisan and a sale to boot. What more could you ask?

They are Cute, but Can be Troublesome

What do I refer to with that header? You would think I was talking about my goats. It could indeed be about them; they are cute and they ARE troublesome at times but no, this post is about rodents. Squirrels in particular. I love the little things. I mean, how can you resist them; the cute little eyes, the long, lush tail? My husband he is not so much of a lover of the rodent, squirrel or otherwise. I have blogged about our Victorian house in New Jersey. It was a beauty; full basement, two stories and then the full attic. I hear you all going, aaaaaahhhhh. Because yes, some squirrels decided my attic was the perfect place to live. We could hear them up there; the sound of many little feet running back and forth. I wouldn't let my husband use lethal means to eradicate them so we turned to Havahart® . They have a wide array of squirrel repellents designed to keep the little rodents away. Of course their moving into the attic was my fault in the first place because I had several bird feeders and I have to admit it amused me to watch the squirrels' antics.

When we moved into our fifthwheel and started traveling my husband soon discovered that not only did I have catdar for attracting every stray cat within a 50 mile radius I also had squirreldar. When we set up camp in Montana at the campground where we were volunteering for the summer we probably could have used those squirrel repellents as I soon discovered the Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel. It is a rodent that looks like a chipmunk and a squirrel had a collision. They were everywhere. And they loved me. Me and my peanuts. The problem was they set up a nest in my hubby's BMW motorcycle. This did not make him happy. Hmmm, can't IMAGINE why.....

All the New Goats on the Farm

I realized today that I have been most lax about posting photos of my new goats. Yes, goats in the plural. Pricilla only had one goatling; a little buck we named Kevin. He is growing big and strong and is quite adorable as most little animals tend to be.

We also acquired two does that we named Jillian and Mallory. Their former owner did not want them any longer and so being the place for all things cat and goat they now abide at the Happy Goats Farm. They really are very sweet girls, if a little skittish. This is Jillian.

And this is Mallory.

Jillian and Michael the goat had a date the other day and perhaps there will be more kids around the farm in around 5 months....

If you click on the links you will end up at Pricilla's blog with more in-depth information and lots more photos of the goats. While there you can sign up for her newsletter. She is running a contest right now. Anyone who signs up for her newsletter through May 16th is entered into a drawing for THREE BARS of her rich soap. She promises not to spam you - she is a busy goat with raising Kevin and all...the newsletter will come out once a month or so.

Hubby's Birthday Dinner

Last night we celebrated my hubby's birthday. He real birthday was earlier in the week but he had a meeting that night and wasn't home. I always cook him a special dinner for his big day and this year was no exception. His favorite meal always includes some form of salmon so this year I took a lovely filet and topped it with a king crab stuffing. I don't care for salmon so I just had the rest of the king crab meat. I also made him some carrots roasted in balsamic vinegar - his own homegrown carrots! The meal was rounded out with some couscous.


Aaaah, but dessert. Dessert is what I spent most of the day creating. He is not much of a cake man as much as I love to bake a big 4 layer Italian buttercream cake. It's his birthday so he can have any dessert he likes. This year I made him an apple and sour cherry pie with homemade goat's milk vanilla ice cream. We had picked the cherries last summer and I had been using most of them to make sorbet but I thought they would add a delicious, tart touch to the pie. He LOVES tart food. Since that is the case I used Granny Smith apples with the cherries. Get ready to pucker up! I little white sugar and a great big handful of brown sugar plus a splash of fresh lemon juice and a pinch of salt. That was all that was necessary as the fruit was so fresh. I hadn't made a pie in a bit and I am soooooooo bad about following a recipe I did forget to add some flour to the fruit mixture. This did make for a slightly runny pie; it was still delicious, just juicier than it should have been.


So here are the before and after shots of the pie; I am pretty proud of myself. I don't bake that many pies and pie crust can be a bear. This one turned out nice and flaky.















The ice cream was simple, delicious and a perfect accompaniment to the pie. REAL French Vanilla ice cream; full fat goat's milk (of course!), vanilla beans, heavy cream, 8 (!) egg yolks and a pinch of salt. Into my trusty Kitchen aid....


A few hours later we ate a delicious dinner and had this for dessert. Yum!

Radiant Glow

As I get older (did I just type that?) my skin gets older too. Sad, but true. While I have been blessed with great genes and am always told I look younger than I am the fact remains that the wrinkles are coming. Especially around my eyes. I know this is because I smile too much. Not that that is a bad thing but it does cause the ole crow's feet to deepen. I am NOT going to stop smiling so I guess I must find some nice moisturizers to help plump them up. I know that no retinol or super cream is going to make me look 20 again but this almost 50 year old can look back towards 4o pretty easily.

Part of that is that my mother had beautiful skin. Part of that is that I stay out of the sun. I was never one to have to have a dark tan. Mostly because I only turn a darker shade of beige anyway. I also never suffered from bad acne. I realize that acne can be difficult for many young men and women in their teens and beyond. Fortunately there are so many wonderful products out there right now that can help.

I also try to take care of the skin on the rest of my body too. I love to lavish rich body care products on my legs and arms to try and keep my skin moisturized. It is very dry here in Montana so if I don't I end up looking like sandpaper. That and I drink a lot of water which is always a good plan.

Perfect for Prom

I have been so busy with just...life that I have had near enough time to devote to my jewelry making. This is not fun for me as it is something that I truly enjoy and miss. I had a few spare hours yesterday and a custom order to fill so I sat down to create. It felt good to get back into the swing of sparkling stones and vibrant color combinations. Since I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to my creating any time soon after I made the necklace for my customer I concentrated on making some more earrings for my Sweet Nothings series. They are pretty, dainty and perfect for prom or Mother's Day for that matter. I am keeping the quality of the gemstone up and the cost down so they will fit today's budgets. They are not flashy and fully loaded like some of my older designs but they all have high grade gemstones and attention to detail.

I love ruby and labradorite together so I made earrings with super sparkly faceted ruby hearts and smooth, flashy labradorite coins. The coins are fascinating; they flash labradorite's famous neon blue but when held to the light they have a gorgeous grey translucency with red undertones. It's not just from the ruby - these stones have shown this before.

I also paired rich royal blue kyanite in smooth teardrops with creamy white Akoya pearls.

The only man-made stone I used was emerald green hydroquartz. The coins are stunners though, beautifully faceted and super sparkly. I paired them with rondelles of kyanite. It was a kyanite kind of day I guess...

These are not in my Sweet Nothing series. They are called Beautifully Baroque and I am sure you can see why. Two large, rectangular, natural baroque pearls. That's it. They are so gorgeous on their own they need no embellishment. They are not a perfect match, but what in nature is? The nacre on these pearls is rich and thick and the shine is amazing.

I am trying a new photo style with my earrings. Well, with all but the pearls as that photo did not come out well. What do you think? Better than on the earring holder as in this photo?

The custom order was a pleasure. It is always an honor when someone comes to you to make them a piece of jewelry. In this case it was for a rich piece of kyanite on a sterling chain. Simple but oh, so elegant.

The pieces will be added to the shop over the course of the next few days so stop in and check out the new works plus some of my older pieces. I will be adding new pretties to the SALE section this week too.

Baking Challenges

Today I baked the world's ugliest thumbprint cookies. I was making them for my husband's fire company meeting tomorrow night. It was a recipe I had never tried before but I mean, they are cookies. How hard could they be? I don't know what the devil happened. Maybe it was because I tripled the recipe; but I do that all the time. Maybe it was just a bad recipe - thanks for THAT Martha Stewart! I got about halfway through the dough and knew they would not work for the meeting. I could never send anything that bad looking. They tasted good but man, they were u.g.l.y.

So I improvised. I took the rest of the dough and put it in a 13x9 pan. I blind baked it and let it cool. I made a basic streusel. I spread the baked cookie bottom half with homemade (not by me but by uber-talented friends) apricot and half with strawberry currant jams. I sprinkled the streusel and back in the oven it went. It still needs its confectioners sugar but it looks pretty good. THIS I can send to the meeting. (Pardon the flash - my camera loves its flash.)

Time to Head East

Every year to go back East to visit my family. It is a trip I truly look forward to. I love my nieces and nephews and my brothers and sisters in law. I love to pack and there are so many cool suitcases now; weekenders, suit hangers, make up cases, carry on bags, big suitcases and duffle bags. My favorite is my wheeled carry on luggage bag that holds all those things you can't live without; medication, a clean pair of underwear, chocolate. You all know what I mean! That way if I go to New Jersey and my suitcase goes to Alabama I will be set. There is nothing like chocolate to make life's challenges all better.

I love the wide variety of Carry-On Luggage that you can find nowadays. The bags are spacious, full of cool compartments and they have wheels. I love the wheels that turn. There is no effort required to pull those bags. Plus luggage comes in the wildest colors these days. No more worrying that you won't recognize your bag when it comes down the conveyor belt.

If taking a short trip I choose from my Briefcases. I look cool and it still holds a remarkable amount of stuff. Then I just look like any other business traveler instead of a goat farmer. Sometimes it is nice to not be a goat farmer...

So where do you all long to go?

Easter Dinner Recap

I had so much fun at my friend's house for Easter dinner. The food was excellent and the friends were delightful. On the menu was a succulent pineapple ham, a perfect prime rib, plenty of sides including cheesy mashed potatoes (mmmmmm - potatoes, cheese, butter and cream. IS there a more perfect food?) and a strawberry and romaine salad. Aaahhh, but the desserts, the desserts were heavenly. Homemade apple pie, cherry pie and huckleberry pie. Cheesecake. And what we called Toxic dessert. It was actually a very tasty orange cheesecake like dessert but it was topped with a white chocolate icing to which A FEW DROPS of orange food coloring were to be added. Well, the bottle slipped and let's just say that more than a few drops went in and the color was....toxic. I tasted good, though and that is all that mattered.

The only event that marred the day was that my hubby had to respond to a fire. Right BEFORE dinner was served of course. Someone tried to start a fire to burn off some brush and they thought it didn't take so they went home to enjoy THEIR Easter dinner. Of course it did take and turned into quite a little blaze and the fire company had to be called. All of the men were pulled from their families because of one person's carelessness. But that is what these men do. Night or day, winter, summer, spring and fall. No matter what time, no matter the day. They go out and put out the fires.

Hubby got back and ate the meal I had saved for him. With an especially large piece of that huckleberry pie - one of his favorites. On the ride home we saw an amazing site; a half albino mule deer. It looked like a pinto deer - at least on its back end. The front of him/her was all brown but it's back end was bright white with brown splotches. Of course I did not have my camera. You never have your camera at moments like that. It was really neat to see, though.

I hope everyone had a lovely Sunday.

Frightening Election in NJ

I used to live in NJ as I have mentioned before in this blog. For part of the time that my husband and I lived in our town he was on our town council. When he was running for his second term we had some, let's say frightening experiences. His opponent was a gentleman who had run against my husband in the past and my husband had handily won. This time someone decided to try some new tactics. We never did find out the culprit but it was not a fun time.

We had just moved into our new house and our old house was on the market. One night someone shot out the windows of the old house. These weren't just any windows they were curved greenhouse windows that covered the whole front of the house. We were also received death threat phone calls directed at my husband; basically drop out of the election or you will die. Classy stuff, huh?

Needless to say I was not feeling very safe in my new house. It really would have been nice to have a wireless security system in place. I would have felt so much better knowing that my doors and windows were going to give an alarm if breached. With the Silver Package 10 entry points would have been alarmed and I would have felt so much safer. It would have been easy to set with just one button so I know I would have rested easier.

You can make your home safe today by calling 877-470-2751. If you do call you get two free key chain remotes. How cool is that?

Baking for Easter Dinner

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my husband and I are off to a friend's house for Easter dinner. I was put in charge of bread. By now you all know how much I love to bake/eat bread. I probably like to eat it more than I like to bake it but the only way to eating fresh,hot bread is to bake it. Unless you live right next door to a bakery and well, I live right next door to a bull pine tree. It is not about to start baking me bread.

I made rolls out of Challah dough - does this come as ANY surprise? I also made croissants. Croissants are my second most favorite thing to bake. I would probably bake them more often but they do not provide the instant (as instant as mix,knead,rise, punch down,shape, rise, bake, cool, eat) gratification that the Challah provides. The croissants are a two day process. The first day is the mixing, mild kneading and the rolling in of the butter. This is so you get the millions - actually 81 but millions sounds better - of buttery, flakey layers. Then they get a long, slow rise in the refrigerator overnight. Then they get rolled out, cut and shaped. Another rise and into the oven. Don't they look...white and slimey?

But boy do they look good when they come out of the oven! The hard part is making sure they actually get to my friend's house and not consumed.

I did make a double batch so I would have some to eat. I added some homemade apricot jam to half of my batch and I refuse to discuss how many of those are left. Burp.

Last time I took rolls to my friend's house I took them in my beautiful blue bowl from JD Wolfe Pottery. It is the largest bowl in a set of nine and I love my bowls. So did everyone at the party. In fact, the bowl garnered more attention than my rolls. I started to wonder why I spent two days baking. I figured this time I HAVE to take the bowl again. It would be like a member of the family had not come along...

The rolls do look lovely in the beautiful bowl. Jennifer makes the most beautiful pieces. I covet many of them.

And please, PLEASE someone stop me before I eat all the croissants!

Stinky the Cat's thoughts on Michael the Buck

For those of you who also frequent my goat Pricilla's blog you will have already seen this photo. Otherwise I present Stinky telling Michael how she really feels about him:

Sometimes you just click the camera button at the right time.

What My Yard Could Be

My yard is a mess. Of course we are still building our house and there are trucks constantly coming in - well not as many as in the beginning - but still enough to make plenty of ruts and gullies and such. We aren't going to do any landscaping until the yurt is finished. It will probably be very simple and something the goats can eat.

Now if I lived elsewhere I probably wouldn't have these problems. Say, San Diego. I could simply look up a San Diego landscaper, have him pop right out and have a gorgeous yard in no time. And I'll bet I wouldn't have to worry about having it goat friendly; I doubt there are too many goats living it up in the city! I can imagine all the pretty flowers that would be just starting to pop up through the ground right now and how beautiful they would look as they bloomed. That would be gorgeous. Here everything I plant has to be considered carefully as it might just get eaten by a wandering goat.

Aaaaah, life in the country.

Have a Simply Shiny Easter - Celebrate with Artisan Kristy of Shiny Adornments

I would like to introduce you to a wonderfully talented artisan jewelry designer. Her name is Kristy and her shop is Shiny Adornments. Kristy is a member of the Artisan Beaders Street Team with me and before I knew her there I remember sending her a message when I saw this necklace on Etsy because I was struck with how gorgeous it was. The design and the colors just amazed me. Isn't it stunning?

Kristy also handcrafts all of her own ear wires and has a distinct line of hoop earrings. I particularly like these twisted hoops; they are still simple but have just that dash of panache that makes them well, a Shiny Adornment!

Another delightful find in the shop are artisan beaded hairsticks. Isn't that a way to stand out from the crowd? These are not some rubber band to hold your hair out of your face. These are s.t.u.n.n.i.n.g. handcrafted sticks with artisan lampwork, beads and sterling silver. And just think how sexy you will look when you pull those babies out of your hair. I really like this pair. It is a shame I have no where to go and no one to impress except maybe a goat or two. *sigh*

Kristy writes an informative blog full of Friday Funnies, features on sellers from many different areas of the crafting world and tips and techniques for jewelry makers. You don't want to miss a day of Simply Shiny!

In addition to the Etsy shop you can find Shiny Adornments on Artfire as well. So why not go shopping and Get Shiny!!!!

Easter

I am looking forward to Easter. My friend just invited me over to dinner at her house. It is the same friend with whom I spent Christmas. She has four wonderful children and I love spending time at her home. I am in charge of bread. Of course you all know how much I love baking bread! I will of course make some Challah and if I am feeling perky I might just make some croissants. Mmmmm, buttery.

My friend and her children are going to stop by on Saturday to visit with baby Kevin so here is a baby goat picture to end this post. Nothing like a baby goat to brighten your day!

Nieces and Nephews

I think I could use some more nieces and nephews. I really enjoyed my sisters in law pregnancies. Seriously. What was there not to enjoy? I wasn't the one having the baby so I could have all the fun. I didn't have to worry about labor or any of the questions and worries that go along with the whole being pregnant thing. But that didn't mean I didn't have questions or didn't want to be involved. In fact when my goddaughter was born I was lucky enough to be in the delivery room. THAT was exciting. But all of my sisters in law had questions when they were pregnant; what are those stitches I am feeling in my side? Is it OK to eat certain things? What exercise can I do while I am pregnant?

Well, now there is a site they can go to for the answers. Isn't that great? The internet is a wonderful resource. There are so many great places to go for information and support. So if you are pregnant or thinking of being pregnant check it out.

Party Time

This is a busy month for me, birthday wise. Two nephews, one goddaughter, my girlfriend and oh, my husband. That makes for a lot of birthday parties. Easy planning when it comes to the adults; a good meal and a birthday cake, but the kids are a little bit more challenging. There you have to plan the big birthday party. With the party comes the goodie bags. In goodie bag goes the candy. Now don't get me wrong - I LOVE candy and therein is the issue. I buy the candy and then I EAT the candy. Often before it ends up in the goodie bags.

But on to how to make those parties easier! Buy bulk candy! It works out to be less expensive and you can give more to the children attending the party. Cool things like the vintage candy we, uhm, older folk, remember from our childhoods and Wrigley's Gum which will keep them busy chewing for a while. There are a million different ideas to put in those goodie bags.

Just try and stay out of them yourself :0

Too Cute for Words

As promised here are some more photos of Pricilla's new kid, Kevin. Isn't he adorable?

Working on the Yurt

As I have mentioned several times now, my husband and I are building our house. It is a yurt style house so it is round. He is currently sheet rocking and the next task will be to put down the flooring. We are installing wood flooring and if I lived in the New York area I would surely check out Rochester flooring. It would be such a pleasure to have the floors installed by professionals. I could have my pick of a wide range of woods and styles and all the work would be done for me. Wouldn't that just be wonderful? My husband and I have picked out bamboo flooring because we are trying to be as ecologically friendly as possible as we can with the building of our yurt as we can. But there are a wide range of options available for flooring today from bamboo to regular hardwoods to laminates. With a professional you can discuss all of your options and know you are making the best decision for your project.

I would just love to think of the pros at Rochester flooring doing the work instead of well, me! So if you are in the New York region I would check them out and see if they would work for you.

Meet Kevin

My Pricilla went into labor yesterday and instead of the twins I was expecting presented me with one large buck. His name is Kevin. He is a cute little guy; mostly white with black knee pads and some random black splotches on his body. It will be interesting to see if the splotches stay or go as he grows older. I took some photos but of course my husband could take them better....he decided that the flash was necessary which of course in the small barn made the resultant photos totally unusable. Oh well. A couple of them came out and so I present Kevin the goat, the newest member of the Happy Goats Farm.

He went for his first walk in the sun today and of course I took more photos which I should have cropped and ready to go for tomorrow. Pricilla is a very good nanny and doesn't let him get too far away from her. This is probably her last kid as she is getting on in years for a goat. I am going to let her keep him for a bit. All of her others were taken from her to be bottle fed. I think she will enjoy having this one with her.