Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Apple crisp mix and lazy cats






So sounday we cleaned out the greenhouse as I had flats of veggies outside since it was so warm. We found 3 mice in the empty trays under the shelfs, no wonder why only a few seeds here and there came up they have been digging them up and stockpiling them under trays. URGGGGG!! OK so in the pic is one of our cats Sammy, do you see anything odd with this pic??? To the backside of her was one of the mice that jumped out of the greenhouse, yepper that dang mouse ran under sammy and sat there. What did our fearless Sammy do you might ask??? SHE laid down and rolled over for us to scratch her belly!! Yes she did!!! And the mouse sat up on its hind legs and almost was touching her nose!! It didnt run off and she didnt move just was oblivious to that dang vermin!!! So as you see we apparently feed our cats way too good!! some mouser she is!!!








This is another of our cats MIMI!! crazy mimi that is!! You can see he caught one of the mice that ran off, the tail is stickin out of his mouth (DONT FRET HE DIDNT KILL IT) dangit!! LOL, he played and chased it around a bit then it took off into a wood pile and GONE!! another one that can come back to eat my seeds!! URGGGGGGGG!! and another well fed cat too!!















Well the sun is finally back out!! and it is t shirt weather out too!! YEAH!! so this am I got some mixes made up for the shop and at market!







Apple crisp mix is made using flour, spices, organic oats and brown sugar, this package will make a full 9x13 pan size and also you could add 1 cup chopped pecans to the mix. EASY PEASY to make and enjoy! especially with vanilla ice cream or some whip cream!! or both!


I made just a plain ol muslin bag turned it right side out and stamped a couple of red flowers on it then attached my label to it and finished it with a bit of red/white gingham. My table covers are all red/white gingham and I love those colors for market!!What do you think???


I did add this to my etsy shop but you could also order thru me here if yall like!! IT is $5.50 plus travel expenses, it does weight 2 pounds with a small box to ship.




So have a wonderful tues!!


~~HUGS~~


Darlene

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Stormin Weekend!!

OUR EGGS FROM THE WEEKEND!!


Hey Everyone!! GOSH what a weekend!! Yesterday started out beautiful but by mid afternoon it started gettin really dark and then big ol rain drops started and that was it! windy, rainy, downpouring, lightin,thunderin well into the night!! and then around 5pm last night!! BAM!!!!!!!!! we went black!!power out!! yuk so hubby and I ran to the grocery store and grabbed something to eat and when we got back home round 10pm it was back on!! YEAH!! but today it is rainin and dark and gloomy outside. BUT>>>>>>>>>>> april showers bring may flowers so I say rain rain RAIN RAIN!! LOL. it will be good for the morel mushrooms and also the asparagus crop. My lilac trees have open green leaves and the grass looks a shade of such beautiful green I forgot how pretty green is!! My hyacinths are up and blooming and oh the smell when you walk past them is breathtakin!! daffodils in full bloom and also my climatis plants I see are starting to emerge on their trellis. YEAH!! LOVE LOVE LOVE SPRINGTIME!!


We arent doin too much today, probably since it is rainy I will go up to the shop and work on replacin our counter top, hubby has work on one of our tractors to do to get her ready for tillin up the gardens.


And we have more chickies!! 6 more brown guys hatched and hopefully they are hens!!well actual term is pullets. I am goin to our feed store tomorrow to pick up some Brown Islas I ordered they lay big ol jumbo brown eggs and are suppossed to be very personable and friendly. DONT need any more ANGRY hens round here!! I do have to nip a problem in the butt asap though. We have an egg breaker amongst the gals!! YEPPER we do and when I find out who it is LOOK OUT!!! chicky heads are gonna roll!!LOL right! well someone out there is breaking most of our green/blue eggs and some brown so they are NOT to be considered prejudice. Maybe they are tellin me they need some extra oyster shell in their layin mash?? Will have to ask the feed store.


I will be all about the bakin soon so will be sure to take my camera to the bakery with me for some yummy shots.


Until tomorrow hope yall have a blessed sunday.


~HUGS~~


Darlene

Thursday, April 23, 2009

New team!!

I wanted to let yall know I have been accepted into an etsy street team!! YEAH!! all about the food!! and let me tell ya yummy yummies are offered there too! chick it out
just type in the letters eeat into your search on etsy and it will pull up all the great members
also here is a link to their blog.
http://etsyedibleartsteam.blogspot.com/

Have a great afternoon!!

Productive wed!!

Here are a few pieces of scraps I had laying around, an old bannister piece, some wire coat hangers (hubby gets em with his uniforms and I refuse to let them be among the good plastic ones in the closet so we have tons) and a piece of pine board. PUT EM ALL TOGETHER AND WHAT DO YOU GET YOU MIGHT ASK????? A new holder to hang my pendants on for at the shop!! What do yall think?? I think it turned out very cool and once I get the for sale ones hanging on it i will take another pic!!

Just sanded the wood, cleaned it up and painted the whole thing white with some black drybrushed on for depth. Hubby wants to put some kind of finial on the very top to hide all the holes for the ends of the wire hangers so guess its not quite done yet!!






I did work in my studio this am a bit and made this layout for a dear friend. I am gonna frame it for her as a surprise. It is a pic of her new grandbaby! ISNT he too stinkin cute!!





WOW what a BEEEEEEEEEEATUIFUL day outside!! It is almost noon and already 65degrees here!! YEAH!! YIPPEE!! My mom and I made up these sample wrist corsages last week since 2 local proms are this sat thought we better get some made up for them to see. I love the red mini carnations and white alstromeria together and that one is what they have been ordering.










This one is just white alstromeria and a few light pink mini carnations along with some caspia filler and some bling!@! glass beads!! Gotta have the BLING!! They all get a shot of some glitter spray before leaving the shop too.







This is one that I used some older white mini carnations on (that is why they dont look too good plus sittin in the cooler since last week) with a bit of blue ribbons and baby breath. I am so happy since it is callin to be near 80 degrees this weekend!! YEAH!! so glad they will have nice weather for this special and memorable occassion!!! Keeping fingers crossed it does stay that way too!! Well that is about all I got for right now so I am off to sit on the deck outside with my boys and read thru a few scrappin books!!
HAVE A HAPPY HAPPY THURSDAY!!
~~HUGS~~
Darlene




























Ok so

Monday, April 20, 2009

Spring Monday

Happy Happy spring monday!! It is lookin abit more like spring round here anyway, but raining and cold, the grass is sure gettin bright green and oh cant wait to smell the freshly cut grass, which will be right round the corner. It was an absolutely beautiful weekend here and almost 73 degrees on sat but kind of gloomy and rainy on sunday and only in the 50s. The little seedlings in the greenhouse and coming up nice, usually we dont plant outdoors til memorial day weekend and believe me I am waiting til then!! Every year i get overly anxious to have some bloomin flowers around the house and then out of the blue all of a sudden BAM!! a late frost and they are done in!! NO MORE I SAY!! NO MORE EARLY PLANTING!! I did get a beautiful pink azalea from one of my favorite doctors while in the hospital and a very dear dear friend brought me a bloomin easter lily so those are in the kitchen bay window adding such nice colors, another friend made me a very cool necklace and gave me a scarf to wear, and then another dear friend (family by choice) brought me a super pink pair of pjs and some chocolates and a lovely jasmine scented bath and body gift set. We had alot to haul home from the hospital that week.
I am on the mend and just taking things slowly, sure are learning my limits though i have to say!! NO pushing myself right now I gotta be good!! My boys are sure lovin spending so much time on the couch with me!! LOL of cource i love being with them as much as possible. In fact my parents took us out to dinner last night, OH AND I DID finally find some black marble look floor tiling!!! yeah!! (will show ya a pic when we have this cabinet done we are using it on) anyway after dinner hubby wanted to run in the grocery store and get his pepsi and snacks for during the week well after dinner we were on our way and parked and both said let's just go home! We both missed our boys so much we couldnt wait to get back home so tonight he has to go to the store instead!! LOL I know we are quite a pair huh!!! LOL
Ok so that is about all that is new round here, nothing too excitin' but am lookin forward to a week of gettin something accomplished. My plans today are to work maybe on a few scrappy things that i have been thinkin up and watch a couple of movies we recorded over the weekend!! so with that said I will leave yall for right now and talk to ya soon!!
Take Care and have a happy happy monday!!
~~HUGS!!~
Darlene

Saturday, April 18, 2009

HAPPY WEEKEND!! and spring chicks

Here was us this past week!! I slept on one of our couches almost all week after surgery!! As you can see my boys were right with me!! LOL


Buster was on one end and Bubba and Barney in the middle which didnt leave a whole lot a room for me but we were cozy!! LOL they are such sweeties.

Well the first of the new additions to the farm for 09!!! there guys are 2 weeks old here and hopefully are all hens! please=) Rhode Island Reds which we have alot of and they are such honeys and also great reliable egg layers for us.






OH they are just too stinkin cute at this age arent they?? Love all my babies! We are on the look out for a female white peking duck as our daisy and daphney both passed this past winter so poor Donald is without a mate right now and he does walk around chasing the geese.
Springtime is just such a glorious time on a farm all the babies and new things and the seeds sprouting so lovely!!! My mini japanese iris are about 4 in tall and the big iris are comin up nicely. Oh and the lilac trees are full of green buds so with a couple more warm days and then the rain it will pop them fast! cant wait they are just beautiful and the aroma in the air is breathtaking when they bloom!!
Well hope yall have a blessed weekend and all get to enjoy some nice weather out there!! I am resting but plan on goin outside and sitting in that warm sun a bit this afternoon, maybe will take a journal book with me and watch and write about the chickens running around!! LOL they are always fun to watch!!
Talk to yall soon!!
~~HUGS~~
Darlene




Thursday, April 16, 2009

HELLO AGAIN!!

HELLO ALL!!
WOW! It has been so long since I last posted well since i have been on the computer actually!! BUT I AM BACK!! and will be sharing some pics tomorrow with ya of a few of our new babies!! we have 6 hatched rhode Island reds (hopefully hens) LOL dont need any more roosters as we have 4 and that is plenty believe me!! they have quite a few gals to choose from too!! so at least they are not aggressive with each other nor with us!! Well surgery went well I had a rough time last week though as my blood count was slow to rise back to normal but today and yesterday I am feeling more like myself again. I actually got dressed and walked around the farm with my boys and also did plant 3 more flats of come cosmos seeds and 2 flats of yellow zucchinis so am trying to do a bit a day not to overdo it though!! I am getting really excited for markets as I am starting one in may and the other the weekend after mothers day and I did talk to an area tourist attraction place this am and they are goin to be gettin some of my goodies to sell there thru the summer!! YEAH!! So i am thinkin of doin chocolate dipped rice krispy treats on sticks and some individual pkgs of cookies and then the pretzels and maybe some bags of granola bites!! Cant wait to get to the kitchen and start bakin some new goodies!!! Hubby sanded down that green/white old cabinet for me and tomorrow I am goin to put a couple of coats of paint on her and then distress it a bit with maybe some dry brush white on top. LOTS and LOTS of fun things to do. I do need some input from all of you if you dont mind. I will be using a white canopy for one of the markets and am wanting to make a sign to hang from the back pieces like by my checkout. My question for yall is what would you have it say?? keep in mind i do have a standing sign that will be in the front that has chicken scratch farm on it with a couple of chickens so now what should this other one say? I was kind of thinking baked goods, fresh baked treats, or homemade goodies?? What do ya think???
Well gotta go chick on our babies I will take my digital cam with me into the coop to get a few pics of the little darlin's!! too cute they are almost 2 weeks old!!!
Have a blessed night and will talk to ya tomorrow!!
~~HUGS~~
Darlene

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Seedlings and Surgery

I am so so sorry for not being current on my postings!! I have been so danged sick the past couple of weeks with female troubles and this weekend has been horrible. Anyway will be mia for a few days next week as tues am I am having more surgery this time a hyst so hopefully all these issues will be gone and I will be back to myself!! I have so much to do and so much planting to get done in the greenhouse it is sad!! If i wasnt so worn out and tired and crampy I would be out there right now but this is really kickin this farmgirls butt!! BIGTIME TOO!! So after layin around mostly in my recliner in the living room the past couple of days, and believe me the seat has my butt print well engraved into it now I am goin to post a few pics here. My boys have been so sweet Buster laid down next to me last night and rested his head on my belly and off to dream about cookies we both went!~LOL and actually Barney and Bubba both have been right in the chair with me at all times! and Bubba is such a big daddys boy he must know mommy needs him right now!!LOL It is just kind of hard since this is a decision that cannot be reversed ya know and there is no goin back but will totally look forward to the future and hope there are big things happening for us!!THIS IS CAUGHT IN THE ACT TIME!!! I bought a little milkbone bear for each of the boys last week while gettin prescriptions (have you been in a walgreens lately?? they have cool doggie toys for only a couple of bucks) anyway thought they would like a toy!! Bryan is always saying his Bubba is such a little angel he NEVER does anything wrong!! WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL>>>>..... lookie here, the top pic is him playing nice with the bear and all of a sudden i heard a RIPPPPPPPPPP and look at what that little angel did!!!

Yepper had to snap this pic even with a little bit of stuffin on his piggy!! CAUGHT !! AH HA~~that poor bear didnt make it even 2 min and gone!~~LOL just had to share that with hubby to prove his bubba isnt all angel!! LOL of cource he said we planted the stuffin on his piggy to make it look like he did it!! RIGHT!!



Here are a couple of the sugar snap peas i planted a couple of weeks ago, the rest should be sprouting any day now. I put in 8 flats of them so we should have plenty to take to markets. Oh and by the way I am goin to be doing 2 markets this summer since I will be out of a job in may!! South Haven will be on saturdays and now Allegan will be on thursdays so I will be getttin around!! LOL
I may have not mentioned it but the third week of may is my last week as a regular employee and then after that i am goin to be what they call tpe or basically on call for when they need fill ins!! EXCITING!! this way i can focus on the markets and on my bakery stuff!!! YEAH!! cant wait!~! My partner and I met up last week to discuss all this and we are both really excited and hope it will be a prosperous adventure!! Scarey but well this felt right and I feel down in my heart this is what i am meant to do!! Wish me luck!! and I promise to keep yall updated with plenty of news and pics!! LOL








Here's my Buster Brown!! he is such a loving sweet dog and has his mommy wrapped around his little piggy for sure!~~





OPPPS oh there is Naughty Bubba with Barneys bear trying to rip that one apart too~LOL stinker!!







This is a freebie that I just adore!! A crow of cource!! My dear friend Old Dame Penniwig has such great freebies chick her out!! And she is a sweetheart!!
Well gotta get to doin something! maybe just gettin dressed will be enough for right now! NOT that i am nekked or anything I do have pjs on but need to take a shower and put regular clothes on !LOL
Have a most blessed sunday and will keep ya updated!!
~HUGS~~
Darlene