The Courtship of Eddy, the Father

Well, we needed that one more project around here. So, on Thursday Eddy came over. Eddy is the father of Forbes and apparently quite the stud. His job to enter some sort of courtship with Bambi that will produce a lamb in the spring. He's a good looking ram.

But is this not the funnies face you've seen? I've been told it's the "breeding" face. To me it appears to be the face that will ensure bachelorhood. But, that's just me. Not sure how and when we will find out if there will be lambs in the spring. But we'll be sure by the end of March or early April.

Meanwhile, in puppy world, Koa got an introduction to everyone in the family and the critters. Here you can see Madelyn helping with the introduction to Forbes.

Here is Koa on his first day of "work". He put on his little vest and went to school with Ellie May, er, I mean, Valerie.

After a long day of school and play Valerie cuddles with Koa on the doggie bed. Honestly, everyone but Koa uses the doggie bed. It's pretty comfy.

Michael got this awesome picture so it had to be posted. 

Last night Madelyn and Valerie came in carrying Koa. Apparently he found a big muddy puddle. So, he got his first bath. He loved it.

The night we first got Koa, he seemed so melancholy. But when we got him home and gave him a nyla bone, he turned into a real puppy! He is truly a little lab. Lots of tail wagging and stick fetching.

Again, everyone but Koa uses that dog bed!

Dennise is the woman at Remedy Service Dogs that hooked us up with Koa. She posted this on her Facebook page. It made me laugh. Man, this has turned into the dog blog!


And you may have heard about drought in California. We were so grateful for the rain. And we got quite a show on Monday night. Here is the start of of the storm and Valerie's reaction.

Hakuna Matata

Meet Koa and Snoopy.


Koa is super mellow and 16 weeks adorable. Snoopy was less mellow and went home with a different family.


He is Valerie's latest FFA project. She will be socializing him and working on his training. He will ultimately finish his training elsewhere & become a service dog probably for a child with autism or someone with PTSD. He will put on his training vest and go off to school with Valerie tomorrow.

He's pretty darn adorable!

Men at Work!

Sometimes it's hard to explain what Michael does for a living. But, as the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words ..." Here is a great photo of Michael back stage at the show in Barcelona. Love the glowing background. So many electronics. 

So, here you have it. Michael at work.

Once his job finished in Barcelona, it was off to Seville for a little R&R with Matt & Eamonn. The three of them are sharing a little apartment for a couple of days to escape and catch up. Good for them! I hope I get more photos. I've not been to Spain before. So, this is how I get a vicarious piece.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch ... I'm doing laundry and grazing Valerie's sheep and testing muffin recipes. I see some toilet scrubbing in my future and maybe some mopping too. But let's talk about muffins. That's more fun.

Valerie is always a fan of pumpkin muffins in the fall. Well, that and pumpkin pie. I'm just a fan of all things pumpkin or squashy. Yum! In an effort to curb some of the simple carbs and sugar load I continue to experiment with grain free recipes. I'm particularly fond of the recipe from the Detoxinista. You can link her recipe for grain free Pumpkin Spice Muffins here. I'm eating them as I type this. Now I'm going to go wash my keyboard.

Barcelona, Baby!

Thank goodness for photostream! Michael is off in Barcelona working with Morgan & Rick.

I got this photo of Michael and Morgan outside the event. They look like crossing guards here, don't you think?

It sounds like they've been able to go into town and have some delicious seafood and see some sights. Here's Michael and Rick out for a stroll. Probably mildly jet-lagged.

There's a happy guy! I'm glad that he is getting out to see some of the city and not just be cooped up in a dark ballroom back stage. I guess every city looks similar from back stage.

Here is a panorama with two Michaels. Sounds like a Star Trek episode. Remember, the bad one always has the goatee. Uh oh.

Meanwhile, back at home ... Valerie has bee telling us about the many students at her school who have taken on a project of socializing service dogs. The way she talks makes it sound like one could see loads of students with puppies wearing vests in the halls of the school. Well, I had to go into her school the other day and I was surprised to see loads of students with puppies wearing vests in the halls of the school! This is for a program called Remedy Retrievers. It sounds really neat. Michael says we can't have a dog. But he's in Spain ... okay, just kidding. Not getting a puppy ... yet.

This weekend I was sort of abandoned by the family for Saturday night. Rex was off at paintball, Valerie was off at Fiber Fusion, Amira was off at a sleepover with a friend. It was kind strange having the house all to myself. I spent my time making broccoli soup, an apple pie and folding laundry while watching Outlander. Guilty pleasure! I mean, what would I do with myself? I really didn't want to go out. I had to savor the quiet evening at home. I was a little sorry I didn't have Michael home for this moment. We so rarely have an evening at home alone. Actually ... we have to go out to have that sort of evening. 

So, while Valerie is off doing her fiber/sheep thing, I get a text with this photo of her and Hailey that says they went shopping for Bacon Sprouts. Awesome. Valerie is getting the full farm experience. She is also now very experienced at wrangling little piggies. Honestly, that looks like fun to wrangle little piggies, er, "bacon sprouts"!

Well, tonight I try to recapture some of my kiddos so we can get ready for another week of school. I'm looking forward to another week of horse lessons with Amira. Horse Mondays make everything better!

Feeling Like Fall

Last weekend was not entirely out of the ordinary. Rex was out paintballing. Valerie was off at another sheep show. Michael was out earning money for said activities. Amira and I were left behind. So, it was a good weekend to bust out the autumn motifs around here. She was supposed to go to a pumpkin patch with a friend on Sunday, but that didn't work out. So we hopped in the van and scooted out there ourselves. It was quite a scene.

I briefly remembered traveling around to pumpkin patches with all three kids when they were smaller. And now it was just myself and Amira. And, frankly, she is just past the wonder and awe stage. But I can pry a photo out of her. She was a good sport. 

"Come on, Amira! Just one photo?" 

"I already let you take one photo."

"Okay, one more? Please? For Daddy?"

And here comes the snarky-squinty grin:

Isn't the squash display behind her in the old truck was impressive? Look at the colors! I'm inspired again to look forward to next summer's growing season so I can provide my own colorful displays out of the yard.

We were inspired to do some decorating around the house too. Here is our mini bale of straw with mini corn and mini pumpkins and mini scarecrow out front.

And just in front of our mini display are the maxi pumpkins and standard sized Indian corn on stalks. I love the autumn!

The other thing about Autumn is that it sort of kicks off the baking season. Well, it used to. I've really been trying to curb the sugar. But I love the smell of ginger, apples, molasses, pumpkin, etc. I guess I could just light a candle or something. But nothing says, "Come on in!" like the scent of something baking.

I found a recipe for these Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies and gave them a whirl. They are grain/gluten/dairy free. One cookie will fill you up for a few hours. Also, the house will smell amazing. Below photo are what the cookies actually look like. Yes, you should make them. Now.

Of course, Fall is the harvest time. And although I have to wait for the broccoli, cauliflower, brussels, beets to mature, I have been pulling some lovely lettuces out of the garden. This one was so beautiful that it begged for a photo before being consumed. It's like a lettuce bouquet. And I cannot tell you how crisp it was. CRUNCH!!

Also, the Apple Fairy stopped by. My friend has a brother who is starting a cidery. She took her family up to pick apples at the orchard providing the goods for said cider. I asked if she could grab some seconds for maybe some pie or apple sauce making over here. Look what popped up on the front porch! Thank you, Apple Fairy!

Now before I leave off this post, I have been promising some of you a list of movies that I recommend. While I have not yet gotten around to compiling the whole list, I can say that one of my favorite films just popped up streaming on Netflix. If you have not seen Moonrise Kingdom yet, I recommend it! It's a Wes Anderson Film. So, if you are familiar with his films, you will know that it is quirky and strange with some understated humor. You can click on this link for more information about the film to see if it suits your taste. But I think you will enjoy. 

Happy Autumn everyone!

Goodies for You

As many of you may know we have had to learn how to bake gluten free at our house over the past several years. It's been a learning curve as when we started our adventure there were not a plethora of GF items on the market. And I used to be such a baker. We have to avoid contamination as best we can, so no wheat flour in this house. 

To seemingly complicate matters, I have had to watch the sugar. So, then I tried baking gluten free and low carb. This often means grain free and using just a tad bit of honey or maple syrup as sweetener instead of white sugar. I'm not sugar free over here! I mean, I'm still human. 

And, as age would have it, I have added dairy free to my repetoire. Really, I don't have a dairy allergy. But my family thanks me to not partake of the dairy. We all feel better when I don't! You'll also thank me to not go into detail here.

One of my kids' favorite desserts is brownie bites with a cream cheese frosting (with a little orange zest). I can make these gluten free easily enough by using a GF brownie mix. But I was recently challenged to make a lower carb and gluten free dessert. And because I miss eating the little scrumptious bites, I made them dairy free as well. The below recipe is not calorie free, mind you! But it won't crash your sugar. And just one of these delicious little treats will leave you feeling satisfied without the bloat.

Friends with food allergies? As long as nuts is not one of them, you may want to give these a go!

Grain Free Brownie Bites with Cashew Cream Frosting

Brownies:

• 1 cup almond butter
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 325*. Blend all the above ingredients in a Cuisinart. Fill silicone mini muffin pan rounds each 3/4 full with batter. (If you are not using silicone, you will want to use liners for a traditional mini muffin pan). Bake 14 mins. Allow to cool about 4 to 5 mins and use a wooden tart shaper or bottom of a shot glass to indent each brownie bite. Test to make sure they are cool enough to dent without smushing it all over. If they are too cool, it will be difficult to make a good indentation. I recommend using a timer for the cooling process. 4 to 5 mins is a good consistent cool window for indenting.

Cashew Cream Frosting:

• 3/4 cup raw cashews soaked about 3 hours then rinsed
• 2 table spoons coconut oil (melted)
• 3 table spoons honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 table spoon lemon juice
• zest of 1 lemon
• zest of 1 orange
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all the above ingredients in high powered blender (like Vitamix) and blend until smooth. You can add a little water if necessary - but not too much.

Chill frosting in the freezer for 1 hour to thicken.

Use pastry bag to pipe frosting into each indentation of the brownies. Garnish with mint leaf and a berry. You'll want to keep these refrigerated. The coconut oil in the frosting needs to stay cool so it doesn't melt.

Then eat these little guys and enjoy pure satisfaction without the sugar crash or bloating. (Unless you are allergic to nuts ... then you may not enjoy these).

Bon Appetite! 

(The picture above is an actual photo from my kitchen of these yummy little guys).

More Appreciation

Well, following that last blog post I received some lovely e-mails just full of appreciation. Thank you to all of you! 

My brother, "Uncle Scott" sent some old photos of us. I seem to be terrible about keeping old photos, or maybe just finding them. It might be hereditary. I know my mother seemed to believe that evidence of our entire childhood was lost by the movers. So, when I stumble upon old photos, they are that much more precious. I visualize a lost moving van somewhere just chock full of old photos.

Thanks for sharing, Scott! And, may I say, you were adorable!

Appreciation

I confess to sitting down yesterday and lamenting that I felt unappreciated. Michael was getting ready to go out of town on a series of jobs that will have him out and about from now through most of October while I had just spent the day jumping through hoops to get paperwork turned in for kids and organizing rides to here and there and listened to complaints from cranky teenagers. Upon my return home the kids went through the kitchen leaving a mess in their wake that needed to be cleaned up before dinner could be prepared and I reached the end of my rope.

Amira heard me complaining to Michael and came over and said, "It sounds like you need a hug." Michael explained that hugs are always nice, but sometimes people just need to be told they are appreciated for the things they do.

Later, Amira came to me with her camera and showed me some images. She said, "You should put these on the blog. They show the hard work you do. And you should title the blog, Appreciation."

Well, this went miles to making me feel better. Amira and Michael definitely bucked me up a bit. And it is nice to see photos through the eyes of someone else too. Below are images taken by Amira that she titles, "Appreciation":

September Activities

It being September and all, the kids are back in their assorted schools and in the thick of their assorted activities. Amira is continuing with the horse lessons she started last January.

Last week I had the opportunity to join the lesson. Wow! I got quite a few pointers from both Amira and her instructor. I learned so much and had such a great time that I hope to go back for another lesson tomorrow.


The day that I got to tag along for lessons it was a cloudy and rainy-ish day. It was so thrilling to be out of the heat and smoke for a change. Also, everything seems to slow down and look better from the top of a horse.


Amira is the leader here. I love the way she sits up tall with her shoulders square and looks straight ahead with confidence. My posture needs a little bit of work, but I hope to get there some day.


Valerie attended her FFA Greenhand event last week. Here are some other newbies from her school. They all seemed to have a great time. Valerie is working hard to save money to buy market sheep to take to the fair this year for her FFA project. She's doing loads of pet sitting, baby sitting and yard work around the neighborhood to pull in some cash. She also has daily chores of taking care of the chickens and turkeys at our house. For her side project, non-FFA, she plans to breed her ewe at home to lamb in the spring. And she still looks forward to working with her former 4-H project leader on fiber sheep events.


In the meantime Rex is very into paintball. He is on a team and has a numbered jersey with his name on it and everything. Also, he got a job as a paintball referee on Saturdays. He is super into it and really enjoys it.



Here is a team photo from a tournament in Sacramento last week. I think they got 4th place. What fun!

Now, back at the ranch ... I have finally pulled out my tomato plants. They told me they were done for the season. So, I picked the last few 'maters and pulled up the plants. I put few pansies in as place holders until my seedlings of lettuces and kales get big enough to transplant. You can see some of the early starts of cabbages and broccoli in front of the token corn in our front garden. And I expect we will still get some peppers, basil, chives and other herbs and flowers out of this patch for a bit. 

Our front yard is just busting out with bumble bees, honey bees, humming birds and other gorgeous pollinators. My profusion zinnias are really at their peak. They will be removed later this month and I'll have to put the pansies back in for the winter. But we will enjoy all the blooms here and the salvias in the main front yard until the cold weather sets in. I can hear this path to the front door hum as I walk up it each day. This is really my happy place.

Michael and I made a serious attempt to reclaim the back garden this year. Michael and Rex cut a boarder around the perimeter and then cut and soaked the interior and tented it with plastic for a good part of the summer. The idea was that the weed seeds would germinate and then incinerate in the heat. Yes, many did. But the bermuda really thrived. Bermuda!!!

So, then we took a pick axe through the area and removed as much as we could and brought in some clean compost and made rows. Michael set up the watering and I had some starts ready to go in. Already I'm pulling out bind weed starts. And it's just a matter of time before the Bermuda comes back. But I figure I might just get the winter garden head start. Bermuda might have to wait until next year to start the next round with me.

Right now we have assorted lettuces, kale, chard, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cilantro and parsley started. And I have some more seed trays with additional starts ready to come in behind these guys. I'll probably throw some garlic in here too. Not sure about onions. Maybe a few.

 Speaking of preparation for the next season, Michael built a wood shed. And he has been busily chopping and stacking. It's the "home gym". Notice the blue skies in the background? It's true, it has been really smoky lately. But today was clear as a bell. What a gorgeous blue!

Also, we have some cornish cross birds here that will be harvested next week. This is not our favorite breed to raise. They don't behave much like real chickens. They mostly sit down and eat and scooch across the yard to the water as they are too chunky and grow too fast to walk like normal chickens. Even the turkeys look smart in comparison to this lot. Speaking of turkeys, you can see two in the foreground. I'm rather enjoying the turkeys.

We also have some new layers mixed in here. We have 3 rhode island reds and 3 barred rocks. Hopefully they will start laying next spring to make up for the old slackers we have taken up space on the other side of the fence.

Location:September Activities