SUNDAY STILL COLD

Well after the "great blizzard of 2017" on Friday, we had to check things at the farm. Though the temperature only dipped down to about 31 for a couple of hours, it took a bit of a toll...

The Lantana has a bit of frostbite, hoping it bounces back.  Thought it was a more freeze tolerant but maybe it just needs to be bigger for that.  

The Penta's on the other hand, dead.  Didn't make it all.  Scratch Penta off the list of flowerbed plants.  

The garden though is doing well.  The garlic is doing what it does.

This is the cabbage, each planted a week apart and each growing nicely.  I think they like the cold weather. 

And these are the collards, also doing well and enjoying the cold.  

The Fall garden (as is the Spring garden) is just a test to see what varieties grow best so that in the future we can plan ahead for planting without being so hit and miss.  These collards and cabbage, so far anyway, appear to be hits.  

So at the farm I worked in the barn/workshop, got a lot done but not finished by any means (post on that coming up too).  We also cleaned out the dining room which is a relief too (it had become a holding station for stuff that never made it to the barn).  

Never could tell that just a couple days ago this was covered in snow.  But I'm guessing the grass and leaves are not long for the world now.  Should be interesting to see how much it all changes by this time next weekend.  

Tomorrow we'll have a post up with the snow pictures from in town and at the farm.  It's quite impressive, for these parts of the country anyway, ha. 

COLD BUT BEAUTIFUL SATURDAY

I'm sure some of you may have heard about our rare snowfall, yep it snowed in Houston. We have some pics to share in a later post, but here is a quick one (click to enlarge):

Snow in downtown Houston

This was Thursday night as the snow started to fall.  I wasn't going to take pictures because, well, it was night and we're in downtown, but I thought I'd try.  Turns out the flash reflected off the snowflakes and made for a really cool picture.  Anyway, that was just the beginning.  Will have a "snow post" later this weekend including pictures from in town and pictures from 2nd Family.

The weather for the next week is amazing. This is what we wait for around these parts.   

So today it's off to the farm to check on things and see what I can continue doing in the barn/workshop while it's cool and I'm not sweating my you know what off.  Hope you are warm and your weekend is off to a great start.  

DESKTOP SANDBOX TRASH TO TREASURE FIND

Regular readers know that I have a favorite place to look for bargains...our downstairs trash area!  Our building has trash chutes on every floor and they feed into a separate room, but for boxes and other things that people can't put in the chute, there is an area (indoor) near the loading dock, where people can put the things they don't want.  

I've found several cool items so far.

Last weekend I went down and someone had left this beside the trash bin with a note "FREE".  It's an indoor sandbox of sorts. Or maybe for building sand castles?  It had the sand in it, two sticks for smoothing and leveling and drawing designs and...

Wooden molds to make shapes! 

It's pretty cool and I will admit to spending about 30 minutes after this photo was taken just "playing in the sand".  Hey, someone got their use out of it and instead of consigning it to the landfill, they gave someone else the opportunity to have fun with it.  

I think the right person found it. 

I think, knock on wood, I've successfully fended off the cold/flu bug.  Lots of Vitamin C, Zinc, liquids and rest.  So the goal tonight is to get back to replying to all your wonderful comments.  

Oh, and guess what happened last night here in Houston?  IT SNOWED!

More on that later...

FIRE PIT AREA INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Every Thursday we like to post a picture of something we've found online that inspires us to do something similar at the farm. Sort of our own blog bulletin board so that we can eventually look back and someday, hopefully anyway, recreate it...enjoy!

Image via pinterest.com

We are in the thinking stages of an area for a fire ring.  We've gone back and forth with just putting the ring in the spot and then chairs/seating around it.  Then we thought a small sort of raised bed around it and the chairs around that.  

Then we saw this picture on Pinterest (source unknown) but we kind of like the way this is done.  It sets aside a part of the yard and delineates it from everything else as the designated fire pit area.  We have access to those large timbers like that (delivered of course, ha) and we'd have to have a lot of gravel delivered (after putting our commercial woodblock fabric down of course) but it seems like a nice solution.  We're still planning but it's getting there (and here's a hint, we just bought the fire ring!).  

Be inspired!

 

PIMENTO CHEESE SPREAD

Pimento cheese spread is one of my guilty pleasures.  For 2nd Man though, not so much.  He said it tastes like the middle of an olive, which in a way makes sense since the red thing in middle of a green olive is usually a pimento, ha!

For those in other parts of the country (or world) who haven't heard of it, it's a Southern staple for sure, a mixture cheddar, mayo, pimentos and other goodies.

Pimento Cheese Spread

I bought some this Thanksgiving and put in a bowl.  I think I ate most of it, I even put some on a slice of bread and ate it like a sandwich. 

Price's Pimiento Cheese Spread

This is the brand I usually buy because it's good and is made with real cheese and all natural ingredients.  Honestly though, I've never made it from scratch, I just buy good tasting brands. That being said, maybe 2nd Man needs to have some homemade spread to realize how good it can be?    

I know I can Google it of course but I'd like to try something that someone we know has tried and can give firsthand reviews of how good it might be. 

Does anyone have a good recipe?

WE HAVE COYOTES

We're sure many of you are familiar with Coyotes.  They are in many places across the United States.  

The Texas variety is of course different. 

TEXAS COYOTE INFO 

Coyote, image courtesy of Wikicommons

Since our video captures have been at night, we thought we'd post a picture of what they look like. 

Here is the video we captured:

This is through the wooded area that we cleared this Summer.  One quickly at the beginning, followed by a second and then wait for it...a third right at the end of the video.  It seems to be a path, from the front yard, diagonally across into this area and then I presume they hop the fence at the back and then have a few hundred acres of empty land to explore/hunt.  

Now, let's just hope we don't capture a video of a coyote chasing down a fawn...

WEEKEND SO FAR

Since I'm feeling a little bit under the weather, I'm bulking up on Vitamin C and Zinc and so far, I'm staying ahead of it. 

Homemade chicken soup with butternut squash and carrots

While I was at the farm yesterday, 2nd Man made me some homemade chicken soup!  With parsley and garlic and carrots and butternut squash diced up.  

It was so good.  I've eaten several bowls. 

I still had to go to the farm just to check on things.  Speaking of checking on things, I found this!  Two scorpions (thankfully dead) in this clay wine chiller in the mudroom/pantry.  

Since I'm guessing we all want to see something cute after nasty scorpions, I found this online.  This is a young, Golden Snub-nosed monkey.  Quite possibly the cutest thing I've seen lately.  

A. DOR. ABLE.

It's a rainy weekend (so much for watering yesterday, ha) but we need it so it's OK.  Plus it's a good day to stay in and eat soup!

We hope you are having a good weekend...

OFF TO THE FARM TODAY

Feel like I might be getting sick, but I'm bulking up on Vitamin C, etc. Still have to go to the farm and check on things and water, etc.  Might not do too much, just come back and rest.  

Here's a different angle of the barn and shed.  Thought it might be fun to take some pictures from different angles/directions.  This is from the wooded area that I cleared, looking back toward them.

Lots of potential there for future things, flowerbeds, planters, awnings, decor, etc. 

We have a wet forecast coming this week.   And then cold.  Next weekend looks to be like it might be really nice and cool.  

Hope you are having a good start to the weekend!  More later!

WORDS OF WISDOM

Short post today, Internet connection was spotty last night.  So here are some words of wisdom for a Friday posting...

I took this picture a few weeks ago and ran across this quote.  They seemed the perfect match...

Whoa!  It's DECEMBER already?  

Where DOES the year go?

CEDAR CLOSETS INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Every Thursday we like to post a picture of something we've found online that inspires us to do something similar at the farm. Sort of our own blog bulletin board so that we can eventually look back and someday, hopefully anyway, recreate it...enjoy!

Small cedar closet 

Here is something that's always been in the back of our minds and when we were at the farm the other weekend, we both kind of said it at the same time while we were hanging up some t-shirts in the closet.  Cedar closets!!

Our closets are small, not too different from either of these.  So when I Googled some images and found them, we knew immediately that this is what they  could come out like and we like it!

Cedar closet with shelves

It appears that they are mostly DIY kits that you can easily (according to them, ha) do yourself.  You just get the wood, either composite sheets or tongue and groove planks.  We'd choose the planks just to make a nice finished and more "substantial" look. 

We only have three closets at the farm, all about the same size, and we'd like all of them to be cedar.  

We'll see!  That might be a good project for this time next year.  A good cool weather, two weekend, kind of project.  

Be inspired!

BROCCOLI RICE CASSEROLE RECIPE

OK...so here was my contribution to our Thanksgiving dinner. This is kickin' it old school.  60's? 70's? 80's?  I'm not sure.  When was Cheez Whiz invented?  The 50's I guess?  Maybe this has been around that long.  There have been a ton of recipes, all a variation on a basic set of ingredients.

I had this dish almost monthly growing up and this is the recipe my Mom used.  I'm none the worse for wear all these years later (most would say so anyway, ha).  Is there any more non-food sounding name than "CHEEZ WHIZ"?  It's the magic ingredient. I know it's processed cheese, but I've tried making this with just regular cheese and it just seems like something is missing.

 Broccoli rice casserole ingredients

Ingredients:

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 can of milk (use the empty mushroom soup can)

2 cups cooked, fluffy rice

1 14oz jar of Cheez Whiz

1 pkg of frozen chopped broccoli partially thawed

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped mixed bell peppers (we like red/orange for the color)

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Melt the butter in a skillet and add the celery, onion and peppers. 

Saute..

Cook the rice. The classic recipe calls for Minute Rice, I figured we could at least have regular rice.  So I had 2nd Man cook up two cups of his wonderful fluffy rice and set aside...

Saute the onion, celery, pepper mixture until it just starts to have color and is softened...

In a large mixing bowl, put the rice and and add jar of Cheez Whiz, broccoli, cream of mushroom soup, one soup can of milk, and the sautéed vegetables.

Stir to combine...

Place in a greased casserole and top with shredded cheese...

Retro broccoli rice casserole 

Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until cheese is golden and bubbly....

Broccoli cheese casserole

Remove from oven, let stand a bit and dish it up. We must say, this went SO well with the flavors of the ham as the main course and the glazed carrots.  We'll definitely be having it again. I caught 2nd Man going back in the fridge a couple times for some leftovers. 

So take a trip back in time and have this retro casserole in all its glory!

NEIGHBORS COME TO VISIT

At the farm, as I was in and out of the barn, I kept hearing noises on the property next to us.  So I glanced outside and saw this.

I walked closer to get a better view...

And leaned over the fence to get a better look. I think there are some new ones from the last time we saw them.  Saw a few young ones too, we guess they are breeding.

They were actually friendly, these two came over to the fence and let me scratch them on the head.  Beautiful animals for sure, we love their coloring and the curve of their horns.  Very exotic looking.

Not sure if they are all the same breed, etc, but it was fun to interact with them and watch them do their thing (eat everything). Having neighbor animals at the fence when I'm outside (be it cows or donkeys or horses or these guys) is like having company over.  Plus they are fun to just have around and we can leave whenever we want to, ha. 

AFTER THANKSGIVING UPDATE

Post Thanksgiving, we feel like this cat...

By the way, this is not Brisbane, LOL, it's just random Internet cat that summarized how we feel, ha!

With a four day weekend, we had to maximize our time off.  Thursday was eating day of course.  

Friday was off to the farm, after oversleeping a bit, to work in the barn and do some stuff in the house.  Saturday was more of the same but back into town a bit earlier so we could relax.  

Garlic is growing nicely...

The cabbage which was planted in three plantings each a week apart, is growing small, medium and large, just like we wanted.  So far so good...

Collards have finally all popped upright and are getting taller.  We might be inundated with collard greens soon.  Will be looking for some recipes!

Sunday was our day of rest before back to work today.  And eating.  The last of the leftovers. 

Don't forget, today is CyberMonday.  

It's a great day for online deals. 

We did a great deal of our shopping at Amazon.com (affiliate link) but I think most of the rest of it has been done online as well. I'd link to some of the other sites we shopped at but of course, that would give away the gift giving, ha. 

Happy shopping!

Thank you for being our blog family of friends, we appreciate you all more than you could know!

DAY OF REST

Shhhhh...

Brisbane is sleeping...

Hobart is sleeping...

AND WE ARE SLEEPING...

It's a good day to rest and recover.

Will catch up on your wonderful comments later and until then, here are some words of wisdom:

THANKSGIVING DINNER 2017

We opted for a different Thanksgiving dinner this year than we usually do. We started the holiday weekend with steak for the night before.  It's something we did a couple years ago with 2nd Man's family and decided to do it on our own and make it a tradition for ourselves. Sometimes we have to realize that in the end, all we have is each other, am I right?

We started the day with snacks. Chips, crackers and dips, cheese and salami, nuts, and mini bologna and cheese sandwiches.  This was so we could eat dinner later in the day and sleep in a bit on the first day of the long weekend. 

2nd Man made some homemade yeast rolls and let them rise...

They came out golden and delicious (as always!)

Then he made some honey glazed carrots with parsley in butter...  

For this year's main course, we decided on a ham.  But not just any ham, this is called a "carver ham".  It's by a company called FRICK'S and is the first time we've ever had one of theirs.  WOW, was it ever GOOD!  I think it might be the best ham we've ever had.  Since it is not pre-sliced, you can cut to whatever size.

By the way, we don't get anything for mentioning them (we bought ours at HEB, a local grocery store) but we thought we'd put their link in case anyone wants to see where else they are sold.

So this was our dinner (oh and I made a retro classic casserole side-dish, more on that next week).  All together, it was a relatively simple dinner, the flavors were perfect together and it was a nice change for Thanksgiving.  

Oh and there was pie.

Pecan pie.  

Life is good.  

And so is the food!