Recycled

Living out here has its wonderful slices.  Many of which present themselves in a different manner than their original state. Remember those eggs I found the other day? 

My wonderful hen, one of them at least, who found enough strength within herself to lay eggs even in the dead of winter.  Bless her little feather bedecked heart!  I love fresh eggs and she blessed me with fresh eggs!




Well we have found some delicious uses for fresh eggs.



Breakfast bacon and EGGS.  Mmmmm.

 And......

My absolute favorite is chocolate chip cookies.

The cookies topped off the day. My kids all but dragged me to see Avatar.  I am ashamed they had to almost drag me.  That was the most fabulous movie I have seen since Star Wars in 1977 and I have seen a ton of movies since 1977.  My only regret about today was that I did not take the long drive to the big city to see it at the IMAX in 3D.

I highly recommend the visual experience of Avatar.

Love, Jeannene

Cold

Today I understand frostbite.  I just spent forty-five minutes outside. I came in every fifteen minutes to thaw my poor fingers and they were covered with wool lined leather gloves. It was necessary to venture in the Arkansas arctic.  The chickens' water containers were frozen solid, the dog's water was a solid block of ice and our poor horses have at least four inches ice around a small pocket of water.

Does it look like anything could drink from that?









This is AFTER I broke the surface with a hammer.  Believe me those hunks of ice are floating in water.

We are having fun and this is today's slice.

Love, Jeannene

Frozen Huevos?

Last night was cold.  It is only expected to get colder later on this week, so I shouldn't be so shocked.  This morning I went out to punch holes in the ice covering each water bucket and check on the chickens.  In the barn I discovered these.....

                            Eggs!!!

Chickens lay eggs.  They don't usually lay in the winter, so these surprised me.  I thought they were frozen solid in the 14 degree temperature, but evidently eggs don't freeze at the temperature because I cracked one open and it was perfect.  What a grand surprise in such wintery weather.

This was my perfect slice of heaven for today.

Love, Jeannene

Security

I know I seem obsessed with heat and warmth and staying that way and the things that keep us warm, but I am cold natured and this is the beginning of the cold season in Arkansas.  A reality that was grimly brought to our attention this morning as we awoke to falling snow and a thicker blanket of the white stuff on the ground than when our heads hit the pillow last night.  This really was not a bad thing, for me at least.  I did not have to drive in the stuff at 4:30 this morning - I'm on vacation! It really was a wonderful feeling to lie in the bed as flakes fell all around us.

This was the state of our wood pile last week.  It is a small remnant of a full rick.  This was not going to be adequate to heat our home during the ensuing cold snap.  Hurry, hurry somebody find some more wood!

A really wonderful slice of heaven is this...


Can you see the pile of wood has grown?  It is two or three rows deep! This means warmth and comfort.  AHH.  Notice the axe.  Corvette man has been out chopping some of that into smaller pieces. (Could have been our son as well.)  At any rate, I will be warm and cozy.

Hope this finds all of you warm and cozy.

Love Jeannene

The warm glow

This slice was the scene in our living room this morning at 5:30.  The weather has turned cold and our little home was heated by our trusty wood stove, its warmth radiating more than just physical heat. Isn't that a wonderful glow?  I drank my tea in the muted shadows.  It was heaven. I must comment that even the roosters did not stir until 5:30 today.  This is a sure indication of the frigid temperature, those birds try to conserve body warmth when it gets below 25 degrees and even THEY don't get up early.  Of course that meant I actually slept in!

Our little farm was also blessed with its first seasonal dusting of snow.  Regrettably it was only a dusting.  I would have welcomed a solid cover, being as I have no need to venture beyond our front gate for the next eleven days. 

This sort of day calls for comfort food and my thing is fresh bread.  I made two of these loaves.  The other one is only half what it used to be.  It went well with the pot of cabbage soup.  AHHH! The simple pleasures of life.

Happy New Year all

Love  Jeannene

Early Mornings

Today we were awakened by the cocaphony of rooster crows at 4:30 this morning to a chilly 58 degree in our small house.  Corvette Man had already been up an hour, but it was my intent to sleep in on the first day of my vacation.  Those roosters were crowing at the full moon high in the sky, crazy birds.

Those are two of our seven or eight roosters eating from the cat's food!!

Corvette Man rekindled the fire in the wood stove and made me a cup of tea.  We lolled in the bed in the quiet - that was after the roosters had finished their serenade - and watched the yellow flames warm the house as the sky pinkened in the east.  It was heaven. 

It's the quiet of the morning that makes me appreciate everything around me. 

Saturday mornings are my favorite.  Corvette Man and I go get feed before the kids stir and then we make it a date by adding a Starbucks.  I am not a Starbucks kind of girl, but I love our alone time.

Happy weekend
Love Jeannene

Vacation!!

Today's slice is the beginning of a twelve day respite from the drudge of my every day job.  The sun is shining in its resplendent glory and Corvette Man has a warm blaze in the wood stove to welcome me home; not to mention my wonderful children have cleaned up the festivities from the previous night.  I had to work on New Year's.  Regardless, I have the next twelve days to bask in my little house and watch the chickens and visit the horses and laugh at the zany antics of our seven, or is it eight, cats. 

My plans are to write.  I will cook and bake.  Did I say write?  I will write, again.  I'll take some time to clear out the cobwebs accumilating in the corner after the last sweep of a couple months ago.  I'll write some more.  It is so much easier to write in the quiet solitude of my humble abode sans children.  Did I tell you I will write?  I'll spend some time on this blog, but I will write.