Great Harvest Bread Co - yummy!

Went to GH this weekend to buy some soap. Yes, you read that right – soap. One of my favorite soaps in the whole wide world is made right here in Hannibal MO at Sweet Spirits Farm handmade Goats Milk Soap ! I loves this stuff – anyway, she posted on her FB that she had started stocking it at the BH in St. Charles so I went to get me some.

While there we perused the shelves (had never been there before) and OMG! The wonderful people that work there give you samples of any bread they currently have! And by samples I mean a whole slice! I had whole wheat and High Five Whole Grain *melts* Oh it was good! So of course I bought some. Erik tried the Cinnamon chip bread and we bought some of that. We sampled a few others and made our purchases which included a smoothie for Erik. On the way home Erik ate ¾ of the loaf of the cinnamon bread by himself! I think the only reason he didn’t finish it was we were teasing him! So I had some High Five toasted and with Homemade apple butter for breakfast this morning – ohhh yummy!

WooHoo!!

I weighed in a Weight Watchers last night and I have hit 60 total pounds lost!  I’m so excited!  I celebrated by going next door to DSW and buying new shoes.  Hey, a girl can never have enough shoes – right?   ;)

Then when I got home Erik and Austen had bought me flowers for Valentines Day.  Roses and Carnations and baby’s breath – mmmm they smell so good! 

So it was a very nice Valentines Day.  J

Weekend Roundup

Had a really good weekend in the country.  It was bitterly cold so we didn’t do anything outside and not really much inside but I still feel like I accomplished something.  You see I’ve tried to learn to crochet for years.  My mother tried to teach me, a couple of friends have tried to show me but I just didn’t get it.  I could cast on fine but once I had to start back into what I had already done to add to it – well, I got lost.

But this weekend I bought an “I taught myself to crochet” booklet (my second one mind you) and Bill had some old yarn and I did it.  Not without much mumbling and grumbling but I finally got it!  I only have a couple of stitches (and I still don’t get that slip stitch) but I can single and one and a half crochet now with reasonable results.  (Sorry, forgot to take pictures.)

I think my problem was one of yarn.  You see I knit and I like the nubby yarn because it hides mistakes but for crocheting, it sucks!  So, Bill had some smooth yarn in a pale baby mint green *gads!* and I was able to figure it all out.  I have a long way to go before I’m crocheting anything useful (well, ok, my first little sample looked sort of like one side of a string bikini!  And the second one is now a coaster on my night stand LOL – but yeah, it’ll be a while.)

In other news, it was Noah’s 5^th birthday.  They had the party at an indoor pool which was sort of cool for the kids.  Noah received a bike from his mom and dad that he proceeded to ride around the pool (with a parent walking between him and the pool just in case.)  I didn’t even know he knew how to ride a bike!

Then yesterday we went to Lowes and purchased a dusk to dawn light for the outside of the shop.  It has been very very dark walking up to the door at night – I’ve had to use a flashlight – so I decided that we needed a light.  Notice how I decided so we got one!  LOL.  We also bought more lights for the inside and we put tarps up over the stairs to keep the heat down in the shop and not let it escape upstairs.  With the temps down below freezing this weekend the furnace could barely keep up – we also priced more insulation.

On my way home from the country last night I stopped at Global Market in Kirkwood and bought Gyro meat, goat, and lamb chops.  All things I can’t get at my local grocery store.  I also picked up a bag of flax seed to make a pillow to heat.  These pillows hold the heat for quite some time so they are good heat packs (or just to warm up the bed before you get in.)

Well, I’m off this morning to class (not working from home today) at work for JAVA.  Wish me luck.

Snow today, Cold tomorrow

It was supposed to rain all day yesterday but we only had overcast skies and fog in the morning. By midday the sun was shining.

Last night on my way home from Weight Watches I noticed little snow flakes dancing in the car headlights. Just barely – you had to really look to see them. I commented to Aubri and she saw them too.

We went home and the first thing I did was go find my purse because I had left my phone in it and was expecting someone to come by with my Pure Romance order. But my purse was no where to be found. I looked all over the house. I was sure I brought it home – my medication box was in it and I had taken that into the kitchen to refill it. I looked in the car – Aubri looked in the car. We couldn’t find it anywhere! I was starting to panic – not for the purse but for the phone that was in it – when Aubri called Erik.

Apparently he had the night off and had texted me to see what we were doing for dinner. When he heard the phone go off in my purse he decided to bring the purse to me at Weight Watchers. Unfortunately, the meeting was moved up a half hour so I was leaving as he was coming. We missed somewhere in the middle. So I told him to come on home and we would think about dinner after my guest left.

So after she left he told me that he was going to take me to dinner (woot!) and to the mall because he wanted my opinion on a gift for Bill. So, we headed back out – the snow was coming down harder now and you could see it and feel it falling. We went to Racanelli’s for dinner and then to the mall.

Erik bought Bill a pocket watch and had it engraved. Very nice – I know he doesn’t have one so I think it will be a nice present. Then on the way home it really started to snow. I told Bill when he called later that by morning we would probably have white grass but I wasn’t sure about the roads. I turned the ringer off on my phone just in case – the school texts when there is no school. The problem is they text at like 6:00 – well before any of us are up. So having been woken at 6:10 that morning by my sister I decided that I could check the phone once I was awake and text Aubri then if needed. They did not cancel school.

But I did wake to white grass. The streets were fine. A little wet but not slick at all. It had stopped snowing by morning but the trees are all covered in a thin layer of snow and everything looks clean and white. This is probably the last of our snow this winter – we’ve had a really warm winter (it was in the 60s last week) so the flowers are starting to come up and the trees are all budding already. I don’t know what that is going to do for summer – I sure hope it’s not unbearably hot!

I bought an almanac last weekend but forgot it at Bill’s house so I’ll have to check this weekend. I had already checked the Chicago area in June (PSG) and it’s supposed to be cool and have possibly rain. Sounds like last year.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is sunny and cold. 35 for our high. I don’t mind cold – it’s February – it’s supposed to be cold. And I don’t want to have to start thinking about shorts just yet. I will have to buy all new this summer because all my shorts were falling off last fall so I know they will be too big this year. I wonder when Goodwill will start putting out summer clothes.



Both pictures taken from the 2nd story window of my building - looking out over the pond.

Unwelcome visitors

I got a call from Bill on Thursday saying that when he got down to the ‘Barn’ that morning there was a cow and her calf in the yard. They had walked all over leaving lots of tracks in the mud (as well as cow pies) but had only broken one thing so far. He was going to call around to the farmers nearby to see who she might belong to.



So, on Friday when I got down there he had found out that they were indeed one of the neighbors and not only had this cow and calf gotten out but 37 total cows had gotten out. Guess where they all ended up? In our Campground! I drove the mule back to check out the damage and make sure we didn’t still have cows and it’s a mess. (Sorry no pictures, I was too busy trying to right everything) They had knocked over every statue we had except two. I was afraid they had broken one but on closer inspection they hadn’t – thankfully. They trampled everything leaving a muddy mess for us.

We had straw stored in the lean to from Samhain that we use in the spring to cover wet patches for Beltane. They not only ate some of it (I didn’t think cows would eat straw – just hay) they managed to spread it all over the place breaking every bale we had. So now we will have to purchase new straw next year – unless the farmer is willing to replace it.

Well, I guess it could have been worse but we are planning on having Imbolc this weekend in the campground – Bill will have to shovel up the cow pies (in the fire pit!) and try to spread some of that straw around a bit over the churned up mess the cows left before we can use it.

In other news, we have STAIRS! Woot! I have wanted him to get the stairs done for quite some time and now we finally have them. He even ran electric upstairs for me so that I can possibly work from up there on Friday or Mondays. I’m so excited!





He also has been bringing more and more of this shop equipment down to the new shop – this piece was especially heavy – and he thought just the top would be heavy – the bottom half was worse but he did it all by himself!

What's Cookin?

Monday: Lunch: Venison B leftovers Dinner: Boof and Needles
Tuesday: Lunch: Pork roast dinner Dinner: chicken helper
Wednesday: Lunch: Naked Burrito Dinner: Spam Sandwich
Thursday: Lunch: Don’t know yet – going with a friend Dinner: Grilled Cheese and tomato soup
Friday: Lunch: McDonalds grilled chicken salad Dinner: Kielbasa, kraut and potatoes
Saturday: Lunch: green beans, ham and potatoes Dinner: Pork Chops, potatoes, greens
Sunday: Lunch: hamburger helper w mushrooms and carrots Dinner: Long John Silvers

As usual if you want a recipe just ask.

What's for dinner?

I’ve been doing much better if I track my lunch and dinner choices ahead of time. Most of my lunch choices are leftovers from the last week or so that have been frozen. Dinners are cooked fresh every night unless otherwise stated. Most of the WW recipes come off of either the website or out of my new Power Foods Cookbook. As usual, if you want a recipe – just let me know.

Monday: Lunch as Ham and Vegetable Cheese soup from my sister’s recipe
Breakfast for Dinner (Or Brinner as the kids call it) Bacon, Eggs and Toast
Tuesday: Lunch: Leftover soup Dinner: eating out with Erik, Meghan and Meghan’s mom
Wednesday: Lunch: Roasted Garlic Chicken and veggies
Dinner: Blackened Salmon with Herb/butter rice and salad
Thursday: Lunch: Ham and Veg Cheese Soup
Dinner: Chicken Helper
Friday: Lunch: 3 bean chili
Dinner: Rosemary roasted Pork with Potatoes and carrots w/ Hollywood rolls
Saturday: Lunch: Leftover pork
Dinner: Venison Bourguignon (WW Recipe)
Sunday: this is Austen’s Birthday so I’m not sure what the plan is yet.