Winners Chosen in the Postcard Giveaway - Yay!!!!!

  I went to Random.org and let it pick the winners for the custom postcard giveaway. Can we have cheers for the two winners?!



Min: Max: Result: 19
 Anonymous said... wouldn't it be great and not have to pay for your own business cards. Thanks

Min: Max: Result: 7

Melodie said...

Good luck to me!!!!! I will be emailing them both and they have 48hrs to get back to me or I will pick again.  Thanks to everyone who entered and congratulations to the winners.

Let's Get Down to Business

It's time for another giveaway from my wonderful blog sponsor Uprinting. Hooray! This time I have two sets of business cards for my readers. Yes, you read that correctly - TWO SETS of 500 business cards. How cool is that?

They are available in three different Business Card Sizes: 2x3.5”, 2x3”, 2x2" so you have choices
You can also have die cut business cards for a special look.

So how do you win? It's easy but there are a few rules first:
Shipping must be paid by Winner. Offer Valid for UNITED STATES SHIPPING ONLY.
Please be sure to leave me a way to contact you in your comments.
One prize per person.


 So here we go for a chance for two of you to win:

500 Business Cards

Choose size: 2x3.5”, 2x3”, 2x2";

Choose paper:  14pt cardstock (matte or gloss coating) & 13 pt cardstock uncoated

Choose Color:  (4/4) Color both sides; (4/1) Color 1 side , B/W backside; (4/0) Color 1 side, black backside

1. Comment as to how you would use the cards
2. Follow my blog publicly or comment that you already follow 
3. Follow me on twitter
4. Tweet the giveaway: Broken Teepee and Uprinting are giving away 500 Business cards to 2 Winners @ http://tinyurl.com/m3lm5z
5. Blog about the giveaway for 5 entries - be sure to comment 5 times

 So that's it! Be sure to enter for your chance to win 500 beautiful cards.I will pick the winners on September 9th at 9pm MDT. I have gotten cards from Uprinting and I am thrilled with them. You can read about it here.

Well, Someone Was Lucky

And who was it?

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 52 

Post #52 !!!!!
Hooray!!!!
I will contact SL Colman and she will have 48 hours to get back to me. If I don't hear from her I will pick a new winner. I thank everyone for participating and making this giveaway so successful! 

SLColman said...

4. I blogged about the contest! http://reviewsofanythingandeverything.blogspot.com/2009/08/broken-teepee-50th-birthday-bash.html

Long Process to a Yummy Dinner

So I wanted Eggplant Rollatini.

I had the eggplant thanks to the hubby's great gardening skills. This was our first year for eggplant and they are growing well. I never follow a recipe; I take and idea and well, improvise so my rollatini were going to incorporate my homemade pesto.

I was only lacking the ricotta. Hmmmm. What to do? Being the nutcase that I am - make some goat's milk feta so I would have the whey to make the ricotta. Sometimes I really worry about myself. *sigh*

Homemade ricotta is indescribable. The stuff you get in the store is practically tasteless compared to the fresh cheese. Isn't it pretty? I know, I know. I am crazy. I have admitted it.

So I baked my strips of eggplant with a bit of olive oil and salt. Then I put a bit of the pesto on them.

 
Added the ricotta and rolled them up. This picture sucks wind. I REALLY have to learn to work my blasted camera in low light situations.

I then took a can of organic tomatoes and ran them through the food processor 'cause I wanted a smooth sauce and mixed them with more pesto. I topped the rollatinis with the sauce and some parmesean.

I baked them in a 350* oven for about 20 minutes. I served them over some whole wheat angel hair pasta and well, there were no leftovers.

Brother Against Brother and it's All Good

It's that time.
It happens every year, right around now.
They get together on Sundays. They sit. They eat snacks. They drink beer.
They scream. They shout.
They cheer for different teams.
My brothers, the football fans.

I grew up in a male dominated environment; I have three brothers so of course sports was a big part of my life whether I liked it or not. Some I did, some I did not. Football was OK and now I have something really cool I can show my brothers. For once I will be one up on them. Ha!

I know they think they know everything about football, the players and the best teams out there but what if they could create their own fantasy teams and play in their own fantasy league? Just think of the family rivalry that would result! Well, there is a site called WaiverWire  where they can do just that.

Brand spanking new, WaiverWire was created by some former Wall Street guys; they took all their knowlege and skill about analying stocks and the financial markets and used it to analyze the NFL and its teams. Wall Street got old, football never does. So now my brothers and the men in your life  (or heck even all of you football lovin' ladies out there) can take advantage of WaiverWire's analysis and back work to create YOUR fantasy team.  It will give you:

*Fantasy football draft software
*Fantasy football news
*Fantasy football analysis
*Fantasy football forum
*Fantasy football research
*Access to over 100 Local NFL team news feeds
*Fantasy football rankings
*Fantasy player comparisons

and lots more! How cool is this? So why not give WaiverWire a try?

Wordless Wednesday

Who says goats can't fly?

Relaxing Would Be Nice

I had a dream the other night; I was being chased by many legged carrots and a gang of zucchini. I THINK I NEED A VACATION. A nice relaxing vacation, aaaaaaaaaah. Wouldn't that be wonderful? No goats, no cats, no laundry, and best of all no zucchini - unless I decided to order it for dinner.

Since I can't go on a real vacation I like to surf around on the computer and cybervisit all the places I might like to see one day. Branson, Missouri is one of the stops I was very sorry we didn't make when we were traveling around in the trailer. Now if I went I would have to stay in a hotel - isn't that a shame? There are a couple that provide great locations and great service; the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing and the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel.
Both are known for luxurious service and provide access to great shopping. The rooms are spacious and look really, really comfortable. Best of all I wouldn't have to make the bed! To me that is one of the best parts of staying in a hotel. Maid service!

There are so many opportunities for fun in Branson - exciting concerts by Lost Highway, Firefall and Big Smith at the Branson Landing, the 21st Annual Downtown Branson Fiddlefest ( the hubby would love that one!), and nearby Silver Dollar City’s fun-filled National Kidsfest. So much for the entire family. If you are a golfer the award winning Payne Stewart Golf Course (any many others) is nearby. Plus there are 49 theatres offering live entertainment. That is a lot of singing and dancing!

Yup, I think I could have a great time in Branson. I think the problem would be having to leave to come home. It's a year round destination so maybe I could just go and not come back; do you think the goats would notice?

Random Tuesday!

It's Tuesday, it's Tuesday! Time to get all random. This is the product of The UnMom. Now of course I have proven to be totally random all the time but heck I love a party and didn't want to miss the fun.

Now to start all this off I cannot think of anything more random than this carrot:




I mean, seriously.
It goes this way.
It goes that way.
It goes any which way.
What was it's little carrot seed thinking?

I was lucky. During my wild dancing/bad singing/carrot peeling orgy of yesterday no one stopped by. I wasn't really all that worried. Usually the only thing that knocks on my door is a goat.
Or a cat.
My life sucks.
Maybe next time I'll do it naked.
Then for sure someone will stop by. I must be getting desperate for some daytime company that does something other than maaaa or meow.
*sigh*

The last couple of mornings it has been 45*. Autumn is definitely on the way. This is good for the brussels sprouts, the broccoli, the cauliflower and the deer. This is not good for me. I love the heat. I mean yesterday I was doing the aforementioned singing, dancing, peeling and processing of carrots while also pressure canning chicken stock. It was about 90* in the trailer and I was in my glory. This drives the hubby crazy. He comes home and wonders how I can stand it. He starts opening windows and stripping. Well the latter is good but the former, not so much.

I seem to have a no clothes theme going here today. I will have to ruminate on that a bit later. Hmmmm....

Now for some random self promotion - be sure to check out my giveaway for a pair of gemstone earrings and a $25.00 gift certificate to my shop. In addition all items in my shop are 25% off with free shipping. I am still celebrating (mourning) my 50ieth birthday. The giveaway ends on 8/28 the sale ends on 8/31.
I need someone to teach me how to do that cross out thing.

I am also giving away two sets, that's right TWO SETS, of Custom Postcards. That giveaway ends on 8/31. Just think of what you could do with 200 post cards. They would make great holiday greetings for one thing.....

OK. I think that has been random enough. Or maybe not. I will leave you with a gratutious photo of my little goat, Harry in action. Everyone loves Harry:




Have a great Tuesday, everyone. Be Random. Visit the UnMom - she's the expert.

Gear Up for the Ironman 70.3 in Branson!

September 19, 2010

Remember that date.

Why, you ask? Because that is the date of the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Race, Branson will take place. This will be one of only 34 worldwide Ironman 70.3 qualifying races for the 2010 Foster Grant Ironman World Championship in Clearwater, Florida.

Wouldn't you just love to see the first Ironman 70.3 race that Branson will hold? I think it would be really cool. And what better place to stay than the Hilton Branson Convention Center? Hilton, is of course, the first name in luxury, so why not be pampered while all those Ironmen are working their butts off? Just because they are working so hard doesn't mean you have to, right? Not to mention that the finish line and awards ceremony will be right across the street from the Hilton Branson Convention Center at the Fountains of Branson Landing. You will also have easy access to events before and after the race. It's the extras that make a vacation special!

Plus there is the fun of just being in Branson! You have access to great shopping, wonderful restaurants and a world class golf course. Not to mention all of the concerts and shows going on at any given time in this entertainment capitol. What a wonderful place to take the family, enjoy an exciting race, and so much more!

Packages are available at the Hilton Branson Convention Center to make your trip easy and friendly on your wallet so why not explore the possibilities? Fun for all can be found.

Broadway, Carrots, Beans, Eggplant and Meatloaf

No, it's not Random Tuesday. But with that title it sure seems like it, eh? Yesterday my husband (whom I love dearly) brought me a bit of his harvest from his garden (which he loves dearly.)

We had some of it for dinner last night including these beautiful Japanese eggplant.(Doesn't he look like a proud farmer?) This is the second set these beautiful nightshades he has brought me and they are so sweet and delicious. I just cut them in circles, pop them in a bowl with some olive oil and salt. Lay them out on a cookie sheet. Put them in a 350* oven for about 20 minutes, turn them over, back for another 20 minutes and by then they are usually nicely soft and lightly brown. Last night I tossed them with some oricchiette and the last of my fresh homemade pesto. Yummy!



We also had some corn. The corn has been slowly coming in. The big harvest should be this week sometime. Last year I did 248 ears and he planted more this year. (Oy!) As you can see it has color. It is some manner of organic corn that grows well in a short season. It is at its sweetest when the red and blue appears. And yes, the color remains after cooking.


Then I of course received beans. WILL THE BEANS NEVER END? We sold five pounds at the Farmer's Market on Saturday. Woo hoo. That was 5 pounds I didn't have to deal with.


And carrots. The last of the carrots were ready for harvest. Look what I found in my kitchen this morning.



After I took off the greens and fed them to the goats (happy goats!) I was left with this



Now I am about to cut them, blanch them, and get them in the freezer. In that mix I found this sucker. It is 13" long. Now that is a carrot!


I also found this. I think I may have found JD's fetus! It moved into our garden!



Here is a close up...tell me you don't think that doesn't look like the fetus?!

Where do Broadway and Meatloaf fit into all of this, you ask? Well, I LOVE Broadway. I miss it like mad. We used to go up at least twice a year if not four times a year and see a show, grab dinner and head back to the boondocks of Southern New Jersey. I have more CDs of Broadway musicals than I can count. So as I am dealing with all of this produce I am singing - loudly. I am dancing - like a wild woman. It helps the boring tasks like peeling 30some pounds of carrots and taking the tops off of 5 pounds of beans go so much more quickly. And I love Meatloaf; the singer, not the entree. A curious mix I know. But his ballads, you must admit are mighty dramatic and a bit showy.

I just hope no one stops by.....

Chickens of the Corn and Other Strange Happenings

This week, like most weeks this time of year has been busy but that doesn't mean there hasn't been some strange things going on around here. One of the strangest happened just this morning. I was in the goat pen petting Harry and Kevin. This is one of my more enjoyable tasks of the day; those two kids are just too much fun. Harry is still stuffed animal soft and Kevin is super affectionate. I am going to miss them when they head off to their new home. I mean, look at them, aren't they just the cutest?


But on to the strangeness. I heard the chickens making their warning noise - it's rather like half a cluck, in bass. I look up to the garden and ah - ha! I see the neighbor's cat Tango wandering around. The chickens are obviously not happy but they suddenly start to line up along the garden fence on both sides of the corner and almost growl at the cat. They were like little Stepford chickens. It was eerie. The cat really didn't care at all. He did his tour of the garden and he headed out. After he left, the chickens went back to their pecking and scratching. Of course, I didn't have my camera.

The garden harvest continues but there is sad news; we have tomato blight. It is apparently a HUGE problem back East. After the problem emerged Bonnie Plants recalled their plants from East Coast and Mid-West locations as a precaution. They did not recall them out here. In the past we have bought our tomato plants from an organic nursery but this year the hubby grew most of his from seed. He did buy a few plants from a shop in town and they were from you got it, Bonnie Plants. Our seedlings were also affected but, volunteers that came up in other parts of the garden were not. If you go to their site there is no contact form or information if you want to know what to do if you bought their plants. Which we did. *sigh* The hubby is out culling the worst of it in hopes of preserving some of our tomato harvest. He has pulled in the green tomatoes and put them in boxes and we hope they will turn red and be blightless.

The carrots are doing well and as always the harvest provides some entertainment. The carrots that grow down, hit a rock and then grow sideways I get. We even pulled one that was anatomically correct (male) from the waist down. This one baffles; what in heaven's name caused it to grow this way? I could untwist it to peel it and twist it back again. I cooked it whole by roasting it with a light sauce of balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and orange juice concentrate. The hubby loved it...


Tonight I get more eggplants. Yum! I hope we grow more of them next year. I can't believe the difference in taste when I cook them right from the garden as opposed to buying them in the store. We only have two plants in this year as the seedling effort did not go well and these too, were bought in town. Apparently eggplant seeds need to be very warm to germinate. I can hardly keep from laughing as I type this 'cause it just is not very warm in Montana in the Spring.

I made my first Parmesan yesterday. It is in brine as I type. Woo hoo! Tonight is the last night I milk the extra goats so I won't have all the extra milk going forward. It was a time drain and a challenge to our schedule but I have managed to get 8 cheese wheels up and there will be one more after tonight's milking. I am VERY happy about that!

Random Tuesday

It's Tuesday, known in the blogosphere as Randomday. At least according to the UnMom. Since she just got back from vacation or as they call it in Canada, holiday, we have to listen to her. So let's get random:

I am about ready to stuff my little white goat. He keeps escaping. I keep hauling him up to the barn for a little "solitary confinement" to try and teach him that escaping is not a good idea. It is not working. In fact the only thing it is working is my last nerve. Anyone want a little white goat?

I am making cheese again today. Cheddar. To go with the multitude of Colby already in the refrigerator. My supplies come today so I will be able to get going on the Parmesean tomorrow. Hooray for that. Something new. And I use A LOT of Parmesean cheese.

There is still soap on every level surface of my trailer. I don't think this is going to change for a long time. I suppose I should be happy I am selling this much soap. I am. It just would be nice to be able to put a cup of coffee down without moving a bar of soap.

I now must go and process vegetables. Did you think that had stopped? Oh, no! Beans and snow peas today. He has been kind to me. Said I can feed the zucchini to the chickens until the tomatoes come in. We did eat the eggplant and they were divine! Of those I can't wait for more.

So go forth and be Random people. Visit the UnMom to learn how....

Custom Postcard Giveaway!!!!

My blog sponsor, Uprinting, has come to me with a wonderful giveaway for my readers!

200 CUSTOM POSTCARDS

That's right! And what is even better I have TWO prizes to give away! Yes, you read that correctly. Two lucky readers will each win 200 custom postcards.

Just think of what you could do:

You could use them as your Christmas cards this year. How great would it be to have custom greeting cards with a photo of the family on the front? And think of how much less postage that would cost you!

If you are having any kind of big party coming up they would serve as wonderful, personal invitations.

Think of the promotional opportunities if you have a small business - a special sale, the introduction of a new product. Your business will stand out with custom postcards made just for you!

If you do home parties you could use the postcards for your mailers.

Anyone who just got married and you have all those thank you notes to write - again what a great savings on postage to do it with a postcard. You can pick a lovely photo from the wedding and off you go.

I am sure there are a myriad of other uses but I will stop here.

I am sure you want to know how to enter - well it's easy but there are some rules first:

(2) PRIZE WINNERS WILL RECEIVE

200 Custom Postcards (choose your size: 4x6, 4.25x6, 5x7"); 14pt gloss or matte, 13 pt uncoated

Full Color on both sides (4/4)

Shipping must be paid by Winner. Offer Valid for UNITED STATES SHIPPING ONLY

OK - now for how to enter:

1. leave a comment on this post telling me how you might use your custom postcards
2. follow my blog publicly and comment that you have
3.Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway: Broken Teepee and Uprinting are giving away 200 Custom Postcards http://tinyurl.com/q736cd
4. blog about this contest and leave a link to the post - this is good for 5 entries so leave 5 comments


Easy, right? I will go to Random.org and pick the two winners on August 31st at 9PM MDT. I will contact the winners and they will have two days to get back to me. If I don't hear back I will pick another winner. Coupons for the postcards will be sent directly to the winners from Uprinting.

Good luck!!!

The Weekend

I didn't post over the weekend for a couple of reasons. Number one I wanted my Giveaway to have some time in the sun. I wasn't getting any sun so something should have. Our weather has been really goofy! We have had rain and really cool weather more typical to Fall rather than the bright sun and hot temperatures we usually see in mid-August. I think the goats are happy with the cooler air but they HATE the rain. The sounds they make with just the slightest drip from the sky are quite funny. You would think they were being hit with caustic liquid rather than water. They are very silly creatures.

It was, of course, a busy weekend. I had the Farmer's Market on Saturday. It was busy but we sold more produce than soap. Happily all of the beets sold so I don't have an overload to have to deal with at home. Hooray for that. I will probably just have one canner load of pickled beets this year. I still have some left over from last year so we decided to sell most of this years crop. I don't like beets so I forget to serve them. Ooops....

We are still milking the extra goats so I am making lots of cheese. I did two more Colby wheels. My supplies are coming from Hoeger's (our favorite shop for all things goat and dairy) tomorrow so I will be able to start making Parmesan and Monteray Jack as well. All of this extra milk should allow me to get about 10 cheeses in to cure above and beyond what I might have done with my little goat's production. So it will be a banner cheese year on the Happy Goat Farm!

I also did a huge batch of chicken stock and got that canned. It was helpful just to get the bag of bones out of the freezer. We are starting to run out of freezer space! We have two large chest freezers and with the garden being so productive and having all the extra milk - some of which I am also freezing for soap down the road - we are starting to reach maximum capacity. The hubby looked at me and asked if we needed to buy a third! We are going to butcher the rest of the chickens on Thursday so that will be about 30 chickens going in a freezer somewhere. I will probably cut most of them up - they take up less space that way; but still that's a lot of chicken.

Plus there were beans and snow peas, cauliflower and broccoli from the garden. Oh, we had our first eggplants too. And they were delicious! I just put a bit of olive oil on them with some garlic and roasted them in the oven. Mixed them up with orricchiete and pesto. It was a perfect summer meal.

The pesto - that was my last project. Last week at the Farmer's Market there was a vendor with gorgeous produce. I asked if he had any basil - he didn't but promised to bring me some the next week. Oh my! It was gorgeous! I usually buy a big bunch down in Missoula - for a small fortune I might add - and make up a batch of pesto and freeze it to use all winter. Well, this man brought me the most lovely basil I have ever seen. It was only $4 and I was able to make three huge batches of pesto! I froze two batches - I put them in ice cube trays for easy use - and kept one batch for now. I LOVE pesto!

Saturday, even though rainy gave us a gorgeous rainbow. A full arc! I hadn't ever seen a full arc of a rainbow in my life. I took photos but of course they never show the full glory.


It was funny - when I went into photoshop the first picture showed a double rainbow. And neither my husband or I had seen the second arc when we were looking at it live. Odd, huh? You have to look closely, but it is there on the left. You can click on the picture to biggify as Daisy the Curly Cat would say.....



Be sure to enter my GIVEAWAY - it is for a pair of my gemstone earrings and a $25.00 gift certificate to Broken Teepee Designs!

Are You Feeling Lucky?

To further the celebration of my 50ieth birthday I have decided to have a giveaway in my shop!
I thought it would be a fun way to continue my ruminations on a half century of life. I know, I know you just want to know what is up for grabs! Well, how about this pretty pair of earrings:



They are made with Champagne Quartz and Pink Topaz on gold fill leverbacks AND a $25 gift certificate!! How cool is that?

Now, how do you enter? There are several ways, of course!

This first entry is required and you need do it before you can take advantage of any other entries:

1. Go to my shop and let me know what your favorite item is and post it in the comments section

For additional entries:

2. Follow this blog publicly. If you already are a follower just put that in your comment.
3. Follow me on Twitter @BrokenTeepee and tweet:

Great Giveaway for earrings and GC at Broken Teepee!! http://tinyurl.com/pjebcz

you can tweet once a day 'til the giveaway ends on 8/28/09. Post a comment for each tweet.

4. Post about this giveaway on your blog and post back with the link - good for 5 entries. Just be sure to post 5 comments.

The giveaway will end on 8/29/09 at 9pm MDT when I will go to Random.org and have it pick a winner.

Also, feel free to take advantage of the sale I have going on - 25% off with free shipping. That goes on until the end of August!!!

Today

Aaaah, today. While it took three days of posts for Pricilla to blog about my day I am just going to post about what I need to accomplish today. First off, I have been milking two full sized goats for another goat farmer while they are away. Man, those big goats give A LOT of milk. I am used to my little dwarf goats. I am getting about a gallon a day on top of the quart and a half from my goats. This is serious milk for a two person household. So I am making cheese. Lots and lots of cheese. Today it is going to be a Colby. I was going to photograph the event for Pricilla's blog but it is raining and grey (in Montana you comment, shocked!) and the photos just won't come out today so it will have to wait. No worries - I am milking these extra goats for over a week - yes, I am insane.

I also have the harvest to contend with. Yesterday he brought me about eight cauliflowers, snow peas and the dreaded zucchini. I also have to package soap and make soap. And then go and milk the big and little goats.

I will see you all sometime in the Fall.

ONE DAY ONLY!!!!

Remember back in the old days when you would go into Kmart and you would hear the loudspeaker calling, "Blue Light Special?" Perhaps I am dating myself here but I remember those days - and I wasn't a child. The Blue Light Special could be anything but you knew it was going to be a bargain! Everyone would rush right over and whatever it was - a toy, a pot, a set of dishes - would sell right out. Well, I have good news for you - just in time for back to school! The Kmart Bluelight IS BACK! But FOR ONE DAY ONLY!

That's right. To take advantage of all of the exciting Blue Light Specials you will have to go to your local Kmart on 8/15 where you can get super deals on all manner of items like:

*Kids Backpacks (Athletech, Route 66 and Licensed) reg. $19.99 – Bluelight $8!
* American Fare Vita-Water 2 for $1
* All Patio Furniture 70% off! (+ an extra 20% off during bluelight!)
* 70 count Notebooks – Buy 2 Get 1 Free
* Diamond Jewelry extra 10% (Diamonds are already 70% off this week!)

Can you beat those deals?! I know I need patio furniture so I think I am going to have to go take a look and see what I can find. And who knows what else there might be. All those blue lights will make shopping fun!

Also you can find Kmart on Twitter so you can have the latest information at hand. Tweet! Tweet!

Remember these deals are only going to be around FOR ONE DAY ONLY - 8/15 -SO GET YOURSELF TO KMART AND SHOP!

Aaaah, the Garden

I love the garden. I really do. Really. All winter long I get to eat yummy vegetables that my hubby has grown. I know exactly where they were grown. I know they have no pesticides on them and I know what was in the fertilizer - goat poop! Last year we had green and yellow beans, snow peas, carrots, corn, cucumbers, beets, broccoli and tomatoes. This year we added cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, eggplant, onions, shallots and horseradish. We also tried celery but it didn't take.

It's growing like crazy! The weather has been good and so should the harvest. I have been blanching and freezing beans and snow peas for days. I have done one round of carrots and beets. This is what I was given this morning:

I am taking a break from preparing the beans. I am going to make stuffed zucchini for dinner tonight. It is a good thing we like zucchini around here. I put 5 loaves of zucchini bread in the freezer yesterday, not to mention untold bags of shredded and cut squash. I am looking forward to the corn. And the tomatoes.

And to the end of the processing so I can have my life back.

Satellite TV for You and Me

I have had satellite TV for quite a long time now. When the hubby and I took off in the trailer we wanted to be able to have TV no matter where we were. A lot of campgrounds offered the ability to hook up to cable but we had plans to spend time camping away from commercial campgrounds so the satellite TV option was the best for us. When we were getting ready to start our tour of the country we investigated the two companies Dish and DirecTV. The main difference at the time was that I could get local channels through DirecTV - so that is the choice we made.

Now that we are settling down and will soon be moving into the house it may be time to review the two companies to see if one offers better options for my current location. There are several sites to go to to compare all the satellite tv channels out there which will make my life a bit easier. Isn't it wonderful how the internet makes it easy to just sit in the comfort of your home and compare your options?

It's Tuesday - So?

So apparently it's time to get all random again. This is thanks to The Un Mom who has the nerve to be on vacation. Hmmmm.

I don't get to go on vacation any more. Who would be crazy enough to come here and take care of 8 goats, 43 chickens and three cats? Exactly. I don't hear anyone breaking down my door saying, " Sure, Patty I will take care of the Farm. You go away for a week and have a jolly good time." But sucker that I am - I start taking care of three goats and god knows how many chickens for someone today who is going away for a week and a half. Big goats. Full sized goats. Goats that are going to give me a gallon of milk a day. That's a freakin' lot of milk. *sigh* Guess I'll get a lot of cheese put up for this year.

The osprey that next on the river just off of my lot are training their baby ospreylets to hunt. I am sure there is some official name for baby osprey I just don't know what it is. It is rather fascinating to watch this process but the screeches can get annoying. The funniest part of the whole scenario is watching the chickens run helter skelter to get under some kind of cover 'cause they think they are being targeted. heh heh

Kevin the goat keeps climbing on top of the chicken house to lounge in the sun. He thinks he is some kind of mountain goat or something. Problem is the chicken house is just 2 x 4s and chicken wire and if he keeps this up he is gonna fall through the chicken wire and hurt himself. Now the roof is covered with metal and he is fine up there; it's the getting there that's the problem. We are trying to stop him from this behavior by putting him up in the barn by himself - goats HATE to be alone - but the only thing this is doing is causing him to bleat so loudly he loses his voice. Which is funny but not a training aid.

My husband is in the garden as I type. He is probably going to bring me more zucchini....

Progress

Progress is being made on the yurt. I might actually get in BEFORE 2012. Wouldn't that be news? The hubby has the interior all sheetrocked and is now working on the taping. He has most of it done. Some rooms have even been sanded and mudded up for the second go round. Woo hoo! He also bought the siding for the foundation/basement and has started putting that up. It is the same metal as the roof - very fire safe - but in a brick red color instead of the green. I am quite pleased with how it looks. Although this thing is always gonna look like a containment barrel...



It will eventually have a deck (2020?) off of the sliding glass doors and he talks about one all the way around the yurt and I try and contain my laughter at that comment 'cause I know that ain't never gonna happen. We HAVE the materials for the slider deck so there is a CHANCE of that getting done. Plus we do need the steps to get up to the thing.

The sheetrock is nice. It really lets the rooms define themselves. And I love when I turn the corner from the hallway, enter the living/dining/kitchen area and see this:


The view to the river is just beautiful and all that glass shows it off to great advantage.

The County Fair - I Survived!

Yesterday was the last day of the Fair and I have survived!

It was actually a very long day because I also had the Farmer's Market in the morning. The one good thing about that was it put me in a very good position to see the parade. Getting up so early though caused me to be tired which then created some, er, technical difficulties. I brought my old camera to take pictures because it is small and then I wouldn't have to lug around my SLR. Now I love my Canon Rebel but it's not compact. My old Sony Cybershot is very compact. Problem is I haven't used the Sony in YEARS. Soooo I pushed a few wrong buttons and we don't have as many photos as I would like. I think we might have video of the street but I am not sure. Anyway, we do have SOME photos which is better than NO photos. We don't have a photo of the hubby driving his firetruck though. Bummer.

Here is the start of the parade. Superior's own High Line Drifters. These ladies do AMAZING things on the backs of their horses. Now get your minds out of the gutter. These riders do some really cool precision drills. With flags! I love to watch them at the beginning of the rodeo.



Here are the requisite parade Shriners. These mini ATV driving gentlemen were imported from Missoula. They did quite the little show on their little machines.



This is the library float. Lots of little kids throwing candy to lots of other little kids...and some adults. It was like Halloween for the kids. They had bags just chock full of candy. And I didn't get any. sniff sniff




OK. This is where I had my technical breakdown so there are no more parade shots. Plenty of shots of the street, though. But I doubt you want to see them. I WAS TIRED.

And if we are still calculating my bad for you food index I had a truly delicious and monstrously huge caramel cinnamon bun at the Farmer's Market. Well 3/4s of it anyway. It was so big I couldn't eat the whole thing and the hubby finished it off when he picked me up to take me to the Fair.

Ah, yes. Day two of selling tickets for the Food Bank. Luckily the weather was much better yesterday and the fair grounds were packed full of people eating as badly as I was. They were also being very generous to the food bank. Hooray! We sold lots of tickets yesterday making our fundraiser a success. I don't have final numbers yet but the president was happy with what she was seeing.

I started out my stay there more nachos. It just wouldn't be the Fair without them. Then I had and ice cream sandwich, and egg roll, a pulled pork sandwich with corn on the cob and cole slaw and an ice cream cone. B.U.R.P.!

Man, do I need a rest from the junk food. I am making something vegetarian tonight. Whew. I am still burping. But it was worth it. I had a great time, we made money for the food bank and I got to eat stuff I just plain do not eat all year round. So I leave you now with a photo of the crowd watching the Talent Show. You don't want to know.....




Until next year!

The Fair - Day One

BURP!

Aaaah, yes. Fair food. Guaranteed to make you burp. And burp. And burp some more. Especially if you don't eat processed or fried normally. And I don't. I pretty much make what we eat from scratch; all of our bread, most of our pasta, all of our cookies, cakes, muffins and the like. I don't use any processed foods at all so you feed me the greasy, yummy stuff you get at the fair and my system goes into overdrive.

BURP!

So what did I eat today. Let's see if I can remember. I had the fry bread. I do look forward to it all year. It is simply thawed store bought bread dough. Fried. Then rolled in cinnamon suger. Don't tell anyone but I ate two of these. Mmmmm. They were hot from the oil and just perfect. Then I went for the classic ice cream sandwich. Don't tell anyone but I had two of these. They were perfect; crisp chocolate cookie outside and cold vanilla ice cream inside. Oh, inbetween I had nachos. Crisp chips and spicy, warm melted "cheese." I really don't consider Velveta cheese but what would Fair nachos be without it? Oh, and somewhere in there I had a soft pretzel.

BURP!

This is a month's (year's?) worth of junk food people! And there is still tomorrow to get through. *sigh*

The weather was just awful as predicted. But at least the rain did hold off for most of the day. It poured in the morning until about 9 but then it just stayed overcast and cool. I think it kept the crowds way down. We, unfortunately, did not sell many raffle tickets for the food bank. This is not good. We are hoping to do better tomorrow. Right now we have barely covered the cost of the prize. It is difficult in a depressed area that has seen a huge surge in usage of the food bank to ask people to donate to the food bank. Ordinarily we would have quite a few people from out of the county coming to the Fair but I think the weather kept them away. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

I will let you know how the second day goes and if I am still burping.

Why Not Help Spread the Word....

When we go to travel nowadays most of us look to the internet first to research air fares, car rentals and hotel rates. There is now a site that has the world's largest hotel search engine - www.HotelsCombined.com. They not only provide you with the information you need to find a hotel anywhere in the world they are looking to Spread The Word For Charity. What does that mean? Well I'm going to tell you!

Instead of spending huge amounts of money on a traditional ad campaign HotelsCombined decided to go the social networking route and get the power of the internet behind it. It is using it's advertising budget in a very creative and beneficial way. And you can help. There are three ways you can help spread the word and get those dollars to the charities:

1. For every blog post $20.00 will be donated
2. For every tweet $10.00 will be donated
3. For every fan on their Facebook page $5.00 will be donated

So you see - easy! Why not make a difference and spread the word about a simple way to find a hotel for your next vacation or business trip. You might help someone find a cheaper hotel rate and you will help a charity as well. Could it get any better?

County Fair

This weekend is our annual County Fair. I always have a good time at the Fair. I love wandering around and looking at all the animals although, sadly there are never any goats. And you all know how much I love goats. But there are lots of chickens and rabbits and the occasional lamb. The fancy chickens crack me up. Some of them look like they have hats on that are suitable (and to be honest, better looking than some you see) for Ascot. The bunnies are soft and fluffy. What's not to love?

Then there is Fair food. Fried and greasy and oh, so bad for you. But I don't think it will kill me if I eat it once a year. Out here they have something called Fried Bread which is just that. They take bread dough and fry it. After it comes out of the hot oil it is rolled in cinnamon sugar. Almost a donut but not quite. Gotta have some of that. And nachos and ice cream. And maybe a gyro. Then I will burp for a week and ask why I ate all that bad for me food.

I volunteer at the Fair for my food bank selling tickets for our annual fundraiser raffle. This year we are raffling meat. Everyone - well almost everyone and this IS Montana - needs meat. In fact when two state politicians were running against each other this year one called the other a VEGETARIAN and it was considered political mudslinging. It went back and forth in the local paper for several days. It was really funny. But we are in cow country here so you don't diss the meat! Anyway, we will hopefully sell lots of raffle tickets and that is all I really care about - the food bank has been extra busy so the money will be welcome.

We are watching the weather 'cause after weeks of unending sunshine it is, of course threatening rain this weekend. It rained last night; thunderstormed actually. A glorious light show that has probably started more fires. *sigh*

I will report on the Fair after it is all over. If I have not overeaten....

Congratulations!!!!!!

I did the draw at Random.org for the 18 x 24 Large Print Poster and the lucky comment was ....


#24


Which belonged to Split Rock Ranch. So congratulations. There will soon be a big picture of a llama!
I want to thank everyone who entered and made my first sponsored giveaway so much fun.

Good News!!!

I have decided to extend my birthday sale in my shop! that's right...you can still shop at Broken Teepee Designs and take a 25% discount! Plus free shipping. The sale will continue through the end of August. I figured one is only 5o once so I should celebrate for a whole summer. So why not go shopping for earrings like this:




Or a bracelet like this:



Or really treat yourself to a necklace like this:


If you click on the photos it will take you to the listing in my shop.
If you decide to treat yourself you can either pay and I will send you a refund for the discount or I can send you a revised paypal invoice. Sales are fun!

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY for the Large Print Poster. It ends Wednesday, August 5th at 9PM MDT. Just leave a comment on this post to be entered. There are other ways to enter and you learn how here.

New Flavors of the World

Here is some good news for my readers from Canada!

Stouffers is introducing four new varieties and to celebrate Stouffers-panini is having a wonderful contest. The delightful new dishes are globally inspired and so are the prizes.

The four varieties really look yummy; they include Bistro Meatballs & Peppers, Bistro Chicken Souvlaki, Lean Cuisine Grilled Vegetables & Goat Cheese, Lean Cuisine Mango Chicken Tikka. Wow! With choices like that you can eat around the world in the comfort of your own home. But I am sure you want to know about the contest and what you can win.

As I said the new dishes are global and the three Grand Prizes are $10,000.00 gift cards so you can take a trip to India, Greece, Italy or France. See, the trips celebrate the dishes. How cool is that? But these are not the only prizes available, oh no!

There are also 12 Secondary Prizes. Yes, you also have a chance to win a Sony Digital Camcorder worth $500.00. Just think of the fun you could have with that.

There are also daily instant win prizes of coupons for Stouffer products. So how do you enter? That's easy - register here. You can get all the details you want including rules and regulations here.

REMEMBER, THIS IS FOR MY CANADIAN READERS ONLY.

I'm on the Random Train

It's Tuesday and I'm supposed to be random. So says Keely at The UnMom. I guess if and UnMom is telling me to do something I should do it. I never listened to my mom so....heh heh.

I think my goats are drunks. Yup, drunks. I have been giving them apples every night. They have for the most part been windfall apples and they have been sitting around for a bit so I think they have fermented. (That was a long winded sentence. Very random, I should be proud.) They gobble those apples down like you cannot believe. Then they burp and go to sleep. Aaaah, peace in the barn. Well, I was just given some lovely FRESH apples. I made applesauce and had a few left and gave them to the goats. I though they would be thrilled to have nice fresh apples. No, not MY goats. They turned their collective noses up at the nice, ripe apples. They want their fermented apples. *sigh*

My husband just walked in the door with a bowl full of zucchini. I SWEAR TO GOD IF HE BRINGS ME ONE MORE ZUCCHINI I AM GOING...I must calm down now. It is only the start of the zucchini season. There are, at last count 20 zucchini in my refrigerator that I have to deal with. Anyone want a zucchini?

It has been beautiful lately. The sun has been shining, it has been hot. My kind of weather. But what has been relaxing in my hammock? Not me! My soap molds. I put them in my hammock to dry after I wash them. This is just wrong. I should be in my hammock.

The cherry applesauce I made the other day is really good. My husband said when I was pitting the 40lbs of cherries I pit earlier in the summer that he would like cherry applesauce but I said you don't get cherries and apples at the same time. Some strange fruit god must have wanted to prove me wrong 'cause what was I given on Friday? Cherries and apples at the same time. Hmmmm.

Are You Campus Ready?

This post was sponsored by Sears. All the opinions are mine.
It is getting to be that time of year. The time of year when college calls to the graduating High School seniors. How exciting. How expensive! But it doesn't have to be thanks to Sears! They also have a really cool website to help you and your college bound child prepare for the big day. It is called CampusReady and how perfect a name. I went and checked it out and found it very easy to navigate; in fact it almost made me want to go back to college and have a dorm room to decorate. I was particularly fond of the "Funky Femme" theme - it was pink, how could I resist? But the site was not only about decor, oh no! There is so much more there to help you.

There is a section on Money Sense that helps your child with budgeting ideas as well as thoughts on how to economize while away at school such as seeking out free entertainment opportunities and using his or her bicycle to get around. Good ideas for those first steps into adulthood.

Sears is, of course, a great place for your fashion conscious student to shop for current yet budget friendly clothes for those all important college days. From cold Northern schools to warm Southern campuses you will find all of the outfits necessary for their needs.

We can't forget Social networking now can we? CampusReady on Facebook was created by Sears to help ease a college freshman's way into the college life.

Sears is also combining with Upromise to offer a you a chance to win money towards your child's college education. A total of $25,000.00 will be given away. College is not getting any cheaper so why not take advantage of any opportunity you can to enhance that college fund? Upromise members are automatically entered with a sears.com purchase through Upromise.com, or enter free at sears.com/campusready. See sears.com/campusready for full rules and complete details.

Overabundance

It IS all good in the long run...but does everything have to come at the same time? Our garden is coming in late this year. Probably due to the wet, cold spring. But coming in it is. The beets are here, the snow peas are showing up daily in amazing quantities, the green beans have started and I don't even want to talk about the zucchini. He brings me between 5 and 10 zucchini EVERY NIGHT. It would just be nice if it spread itself out a bit.

Plus I have wonderful friends. Montana is a very giving place. Someone gave me 4 dozen eggs. We are talking farm fresh from their chickens. Mine aren't laying yet so these are yummy eggs. But 4 dozen are more than I can use immediately. And I was gifted with 50lbs of apples and 18lbs of cherries. I know, WOW! But it all had to be dealt with. Like soon.

Oh, and we had the opportunity to buy some huckleberries. We really want to go pick some ourselves but our time right now just doesn't allow it so we bought some at the weekly Superior Farmer's Market. Whew! So guess what I did this weekend?



I now have 9 1/2 quarts of cherry applesauce and 8 half pints of huckleberry jam. Plus I made 8 quiches, 7 of which are now in the freezer for future dinners. I still have some eggs but they will serve me through the next weeks baking needs.

Today I woke up feeling just plain yucky and went back to bed and didn't wake up until after noon. I am now baking blondies thanks to a recipe from my good friend Vicki at Orion Designs. I always bake for my husband's fire meetings so the firemen have a nice snack at the end. Then I have to wax my Colby cheese so it can cure for 4 months, then it is on to dealing with about 5lbs of beans and snow peas. Oy! But I will be thankful come winter.

The blessings and curses of abundance.