Fun & Games

What a week it has been!
Monday landed me in the hospital. I went in for a stress test and after getting hooked up to the EKG they decided to admit me. Long story short I was there for three days, had an angio, found out my dissections never healed and I have a blockage.
I'm not sure whats going to happen next, but I think it's dumb.

Tomorrow is game night at my house and I'm so excited. We're going to play Cards Against Humanity and from what I hear it's the best game ever!
I'm giving out free found or stolen prizes to the winner of each round so the pressure to win is going to be intense.

I have some new soap in the Etsy shop.

 Lavender, juniper, cotton candy, and I just cut some honey soap that will be listed soon. 

As always, the smell and feel of these soaps is amazing.

Wyatt has a few rings and a pair of earrings he's made that I will try and have listed tomorrow too.

I know he's my kid, so I may be a bit bias, but I think he's kind of talented ;)

Today's recipe is the bomb!

You can make it exactly like the recipe suggests, or you can alter it a bit the way I did.

Either way, you will L.O.V.E it.

I promise.

Peanut Butter & Peppers 

Grilled Cheesy Buffalo Chicken

Her blog is full of fantastic recipes, so be sure to look around a bit once you get there.

The only change I made was to up the butter to 1/4 cup and reduce the Franks to 1/3 cup because I'm a wuss like that, and I did make mine in the oven and it was crazy good and crazy easy.

Speaking of chicken, the geese are still sitting on eggs and I'm beginning to wonder if they're a bunch of duds (the eggs, not the geese).

I'll give it a little more time, but I'm sure it's been a month or more by now.

O.M.G, do you remember how cute Chicken was last year with the Neighbor?

I can't promise that I'm not hoping for another bummer goose this year to raise in the house.

She was so much fun.

But now she's all grown up and an outside goose, but secretly, deep down, I know she really wants to come back in the house and sit on the couch and watch T.V.

Peas.

Has It Been Sixteen Years Already?

Happy Birthday Wyatt James!

I'm so glad you're sixteen because

I couldn't stand one more day with a fifteen year old!

XOXOXO

Another Weekend Update

I've been busy this weekend with all things Etsy.
Making stuff, shipping stuff and then cleaning up all the stuff.
I have some new soap listed, french milled vanilla latte and it is amazing.

French milled means that it's been double processed, so it's extra rich and moisturizing and is ready to use right away, it doesn't have to cure the normal 4-6 weeks.

The rain here in Northwest Oregon has been c.r.a.z.y. for the last few days.

It started Friday and didn't quit until last night and along with it we had the biggest thunder and lightning I have ever experienced

First the lightning lit up the house, like we had gone from dark of night to bright light of day, and then the thunder started with just a rumble, and then the house shook and it ended with a boom that was comparable to a finale at a Fourth of July fireworks display.

It kept on for over an hour, just one after another.

My dogs were ready for some intense psychiatric rehabilitation when it finally ended.

We also had wind that started on Friday afternoon and as many of you know, we live in an old barn that has old single pane windows with storm windows clipped to the outside frames, and every time we get more than a gust, the wind rushes through the cracks and rattles the windows to the point I think they're either going to blow off and shatter in the yard, or blow in and explode in the living room, and then of course there's the barn that looses a bit more of itself with every breeze. 

And that is why, we don't like wind

I think I need to start playing the lottery.

I don't want to talk about this but I'm going to for just a minute.

My favorite chicken Millie passed away in her sleep Friday night.

She waits on her roost every morning for me to carry her up for breakfast here in the house with me, and then spends an hour or so in front of the fire or on the rug in front of the glass door.

My heart broke when I went in to get her Saturday morning and she was laying in her nest box.

She was a used chicken that someone left in a plastic tub on the front steps of the little house six years ago, so I'm not sure how old she was, but I'm going to miss her very, very much.

Rest in Peace sweet Millie.

I gave Buddy a bath yesterday.

I don't want to talk about that either.

He was gross.

Really gross.

Sheep poop gross.

No after pictures, but here's an idea of what he looked like before...

That was taken last spring after he rolled in sheep poop, he only looked a little bit worse this time.

What is it with black and white dogs and anything poop?

I think the bathtub was the biggest looser in this story though.

Here's a blurry picture of Steve soaking wet sitting under the bird feeder patiently waiting for Spring.

Peas.

Cracked

Mannnnn, my soap cracked.
This is the second batch to crack.
I need to figure out why this is happening, I think it's heating up too fast, so I didn't insulate the last batch, but it still happened, so I think I'll cut down on the coconut oil.
Maybe it's too hot.
I'll rebatch this one, because the crack is pretty deep and and I don't want to list ugly soap and then it's back to the drawing board to come up with a new recipe.
Keep your fingers crossed.

I started and almost finished another rug yesterday.
This one is flannel and soooo soft.
And round.

The coyotes are really bad right now.
They were in the pasture three different times yesterday during the DAY, which makes Buddy the black and white dog lose his mind.
We've had them bad before, but never to the point that they would stalk the pasture during the day, and Fish & Game won't do anything because any measure they take is too much of a liabilty to other livestock and pets.
I need to learn to shoot.
I don't know if I could actually shoot one but I would come close enough to scare them.

Wyatt is going out of town for the weekend for a friends birthday party so I'll have the house all to myself.
I'm thinking of doing something really off the hook like staying up past 10:00, making some GF brownies, binge watch revenge and not wash the dishes.
I know what you're thinking... At my age is that really such a good idea?
Let me just tell you something you may not realize about me. I have a bit of a wild side.
I used to drink to the point of bad judgment and I have five ex-husbands to prove it.
That's when I was  5'9, 137 pounds and blonde (the blonde part is true).

This is what's for dinner tonight.
Carlsbad Cravings Korean Beef.
No quinoa.

Be sure to check out her blog or her Pinterest, she has some great recipes!

Peas.

Updated Etsy!

What is the deal with cats and computers?
Every time I sit down to do anything at the desktop, there's a cat rubbing up against the screen or trying to nap on the keyboard, and I swear they have something equal to the transporter on Star Trek because they always seem to materialize out of thin air.
That's all I have to say about cats.

I spent my morning yesterday finishing up all the Etsy listings, and let me tell you, that's no small job.
It's always surprising to me and somehow I always forget how much effort goes into these listings. from the time it takes to make whatever it is you're making, taking the photos, telling the story and writing a description, you can get pretty lost in space (another intergalactic reference, I'm on a roll).
But anyway, it's done.

I hooked up another rug over the weekend, made two batches of soap, stitched up a pile of dishcloths and a handful of teeny weeny preemy beenies, so I have a little bit of selection in the virtual storefront.

I'm really digging rectangle rugs right now. 

I've always done round, but I'm liking the look of these, and you know what they say, it's hip to be square. 

Or almost square.

I also had a few bars of my orange chamomile soap left and it is w.o.n.d.e.r.f.u.l.
The chamomile is from here on the farm and paired with the orange oil... Amazing.

I made a tri tip in the crock pot yesterday and I really wish I hadn't.

I didn't care for it. At all.

Kind of like the quinoa.

I feel like Pinterest really misled me on this one, because when I talked to my sister about it she let out a heavy sigh and told me that it's against the rules to cook a tri tip in the crock pot.

Live and learn.

Let's talk some more about Pinterest.

Last night I discovered the reason behind my lingering obesity, and it's ALL Pinterests fault.

I had recipes pinned that had so much butter and sugar they should be probably be illegal.

Cookies, cakes, candies, custards, coffees and canned soup recipes.

I kid you not, I think I gained weight just cleaning out my Deelish board.

I'm still losing weight.

Two juices or smoothies a day and a protein for dinner.

No added sugars and no wheat.

No coffee.

I feel like a lot of my puffiness is gone, but I also feel like I'm 5'9 and weigh 137 pounds, so in all reality I'm still probably pretty puffy.

Around my middle. And my ankles. And my thighs. And my butt.

Mostly my butt.

Peas.