GOOD FOOD AND BABYGIRL AND DARWIN SUNDAY

 Recently when it was a bit chilly, we decided to have one of our favorite cool/cold weather meals...

Pozole!  This was pozole verde (green).  It's a Mexican pork stew made with tomatillos and poblano peppers and hominy.  It's simmered for a couple of hours and then you ladle it into bowls and it is topped with the traditional toppings of onions, cilantro, cabbage and radish.  Oh and our whole fruit margaritas!

Many of you have asked about Babygirl and here she is!!  She was helping me in the garage when I was putting stuff up in the attic because it was so cool.  At one point, she climbed two steps of the ladder.  I wish I had my phone handy it was so cute.

Here's a closeup!  She's still our sweet outdoor girl.  And this week, Friday if we can get an appointment for then, she is going in to be spayed.  We will keep her on the back screened in porch for a few days so that she can recover.  Have already bought a disposable litter pan and we already have her food.  We'll make sure she is taken care of and she'll get better and never have to worry about going through pregnancy again.  Once Darwin is a little bigger and he is vaccinated (she will get vaccinated as well), we might let them meet and see how she is with him.

Speaking of..

Look at this face.  Gosh he's so cute. This was him on my chest, passed out, not a care in the world.

And when he's not on us sleeping, he's curled up on a blanket.  It's funny, when he curls up, he looks so tiny.  But he's getting bigger by the day. 

Here's a bonus picture:

Sigh.  We're attached, no turning back now!*

*as if that was ever an option, HA!

#livinghisbestlife

WE HAVE A POMEGRANATE

You might remember when we posted about a lone pomegranate that we had on our tree/bush.  I've been babying it for a few months and recently, I checked on it and realized...

...it was time to harvest it!

As I went to get it, it fell off.  It was definitely time, ha.  I read that you cut off the blossom end and from what else I learned, you can keep them like this in the fridge for a month or so.  

So excited to have a pomegranate tree that might actually produce them.  Of course, we'll need more than one a season, LOL!

And at almost $5 for four ounces of them, it would definitely be worth it.  We haven't split ours open yet, waiting to figure out how we want to use it.  I know with a bunch we could make juice or something but for one, with probably about 5 or 6 ounces of seeds inside, we want to find just the right dish for it.

GUEST ROOM TOUR

Thought we'd share some inside pics from time to time (warning, lots of pics ahead!). 

Today, the guest room.

Now with what might be perceived as the masculine energy/vibe of the rest of the house has (though we try to soften where we can), we figured the guest room could be softer and comforting in its decor.

It also honors our moms and grandmothers.  My mom loved pinks, 2nd Man's mom loved yellows, and our grandmothers all loved flowers.  Even "Ma", who we bought the land and old house from, had a room in her first house she called the "Spring room" because it was decorated with flowers and soft colors to be welcoming like the first flowers of Spring.

We figured this could all be a great inspiration...

Here's the door in the hallway.

What lies behind?

The guest room!

We were able to use a lot of the furniture from the old farmhouse and move some other stuff we've had into here.  The bedframe was perfect here.  We love it.  A vintage yellow chenille bedspread, a wonderful afghan and the two bears made of quilt pieces.  It all just seems like home and it's always belonged together.

Regular readers have seen these pieces: this artificial rose bush my Mom found somewhere once upon a time, it's SO pretty and realistic.  Also a favorite really old music box and a vintage department store display head that my mom loved.  By the way, that box with the flowers has notes sent to us by blog friends.

Random thing, these beaded chain pulls on the ceiling fan are such a great sparkly touch in the room as they pick up on the colors from various items in the room and when the sun hits just right, they sparkle.  Just noticed how the purple one mimics the painting.

On the other side some more neat items, retro clock, a vintage bunny and a French book and then the focal point: this wonderful and very old lamp that belonged to a great great aunt in the family.  It's called a "parlor lamp" or also a "boudoir lamp" (we like the latter, ha).

The closet doors.

Next to the closet and right as you come in, is this spot.  Beneath my grandmother's favorite painting is this cabinet, a new addition.  We needed something that fit that space and had the same distressed look. 

Bonus points for new added storage space in the drawer & cabinet.

To top it off, some old books, this wonderful vintage rooster/hen set that we use as bookends, a vase with flowers for some color and a bowl given to us for a housewarming at our first house by a very dear former coworker who has since passed away.

At the foot of the bed is the Cedar Hope Chest you all have seen before, given to my parents for their 25th anniversary.  More storage AND a place to sit!

As you turn to the other side, we hung a mirror and this item that some of you may know about.  It's a rug/blanket beater.  We thought it would be fun to hang there as a conversation piece. Oh, and a cane with a pink depression glass topper.

This cabinet was in our apartment, and we used it to store our enameled cast iron cookware.  It wouldn't fit in our new kitchen, but it DOES fit perfectly in the guest room.  Right now, it's not very organized (just unloading things into there that will belong) but eventually it will contain my herbal items and dried flowers and supplies for making all sorts of fun things.  Think of it as a 'future apothecary cabinet'.  

On top, we created this vignette of items.  Flowers we had at the old house, a vase that has dried roses from my dad's funeral, a vintage needlepoint sewing case from 2nd Man's family, a candle (LED of course for safety) and a vintage suitcase that is decoupaged with all sorts of Victorian images.  Bonus points for storage since it's still a functioning suitcase.

Had this strand of funky fabric chickens with small bells on each end that we found at a store several years ago.  It just somehow seemed appropriate and adds some more lively pops of color.

In the last corner, some more prints and the last piece of furniture we were waiting for...

...this chair.  We wanted a comfy chair that fit in the corner to sit in and read a book or just have a 'moment of Zen', ha.  We found it online after much searching for exactly what we wanted; an off-white background with a floral pattern in pinks and yellows and greens.  It's perfect.  We draped a crocheted afghan over it and called it complete.

Little details, like this rise and shine reminder on a bedpost corner...

...and behind the door, we put this as a surprise when the door is closed.  We found it at a thrift store a few years ago.  It is a very detailed needlepoint that someone put a lot of love and time into.  We couldn't let it disappear forever.  We have no idea who did it, most likely they have long since passed, but their work will live on in our house.  "To love and be loved is the greatest joy on earth..."  We couldn't agree more.

Come and sit a spell...life is good and peaceful out here... 😊

GOOD FOOD AND DARWIN SUNDAY

Hey hey!  Another week has gone by.  Can't believe we're almost in November.

Sometimes, when we just want a lite lunch or dinner, we have our own little charcuterie tray with whatever we have on hand.  I know at two of the grocery stores I frequent, they have a basket in their cheese department with the bits and small pieces for "$5.00 and under".  We figure it's a great way for a) portion control and b) to explore different cheeses without paying the expensive price (good if we don't like one).  

I bought three on this day and put it together with some crackers, sunflower seeds, dates, pickles, jam and turkey bacon.  So yummy!  In this case, we loved all three of these, 2nd Man said the lemon/honey would be amazing with a lemon shrimp pasta dish.

And time for DARWIN!

Look at that face. Yeah, we're hooked.

He's growing up fast!  6 weeks old now.  Still on the bottle but we're trying to transition.  We still remind ourselves that being a preemie, he's about a week behind normal development.  We like to say that he's thinking "but I'm just a baby....."

#livinghisbestlife

PUTTING UP MEATLOAF

 Recently, we posted about our meatloaf and that we had cooked it a while ago and put up for future use.  Thought we'd share that.

2nd Man made his meatloaf recipe, we use ground turkey, chicken and pork mixed with a lot of minced veggies and seasonings.  So yummy.  In this case he made four.  We shaped them and put them on the sheet pans and topped them with turkey bacon.

We love that we decided to have the double ovens and this is another win.  We had both going, two in each.  Original plan was microwave at the top and oven at the bottom, but we moved the microwave into the island so we could go ahead and get double ovens.

Watch out Thanksgiving!

We cooked them for about 40 minutes to get the bacon crispy and then we coated it with ketchup and popped them back in until a temp probe showed the meat was fully cooked and done.

After they were done, we took them out and let them cool.  All that was left at that point was to slice them up and portion them out.

We did some packages with four slices and some with two.  Lastly, we put what we call the "butt ends" into separate packages.  This gives us meals (four slices two each), sandwiches (two slices for a couple of sandwiches) and a couple of "we're hungry but don't want to eat a lot before dinner" snacks (the butt ends).

Then we popped them in the freezer and have ready to go food for a few months.

FINALLY A PERFECT WEEKEND

It was an amazing weekend.  We finally had cool "Autumn" weather.  It actually got down to 49 early Saturday morning!

The skies were beautiful too.  I was able to do a lot in the garage and emptied some of the remaining boxes and moved boxes to the barn, trying to get the garage finally cleared out so we can park both cars in there.  It's almost there.  Right now, all that's preventing that now is just getting rid of the empty boxes and trash, should have that done this weekend. 

We opened the windows and the sliding doors in the living room to the screened in porch and the breeze was amazing.  It aired out the house and kept things nice and cool.  We checked our app and found out the air conditioner had not run since Friday!

I also got outside and filled the bird feeders and re-hung them around the yard. Really enjoying watching and learning about the wildlife out here. We used to wonder why people birdwatched and now I think we understand.  There is just something so enjoyable about being in nature and learning something new.

Plus, it's nice to do something good for the wildlife.

GOOD FOOD AND DARWIN SUNDAY

This weekend has been amazing!  Windows open, working in the garage and attic, it's cool and beautiful.  Getting a lot done we have put off because of the heat.  

Time for some good food and some Darwin pics.

2nd Man made his Piccadillo the other night.  Ground turkey, potatoes and veggies in a tomato base with Mexican rice on the side and corn tortillas.  So yummy and always good and healthy comfort food.

After we eat, 2nd Man bottle feeds Darwin and then I take him to weigh him and clean him up.

Here he is taking his post bottle bath on my arm while watching TV!

It wasn't long before he fell asleep...

...and then fell over into a deep sleep, dreaming of more bottles and snuggles.

By the way, he has crossed 500g which is a pound!

Five weeks old and 1 lb.  

#livinghisbestlife

 

GRANDMOTHERS QUILT

Getting things set up in the house. We were going through quilts we had saved and stored away and found this one.  My grandmother (on my mom's side) made most of them and when she passed, we found some that had been made but never used.

With the guest room being pink and yellow in its color palette, we figured this one would be perfect on the bed in there.  Bought some new sheets and put them on and then put on this quilt. 

Here is a closeup.  I remember when we my mom pulled it out of the linen closet at my grandparents' house, she looked at the star shapes and recognized some of the fabric from dresses she had as a child. Most of it was from old flour sacks that doubled as extra fabric for creating things around the house, including dresses and/or quilts.

 I took this picture before we put the bedspread on so you all could see it. Not sure what this pattern/detail is called but I bet some of you out there know, ha. It fits the bed just enough, though it doesn't go down the sides much; it was probably made for a full-size bed instead of a queen, but it still looks awesome on there.

We are waiting on one piece of furniture for the room and it will be finished.  Once it's done, we will be sure and post pictures.  We love how it's coming together.

AWESOME DEAL ON NEW TREES

Recently, when we went to Tractor Supply for kitten supplies, I noticed they had really nice looking fruit trees.  This was end of September.  They were $40 each (till a good deal for the size) and I asked if they go on sale and a guy said that usually sometime in October, they can go down to $20 each.

Saturday, I fired up Bill the Farm Truck bright and early (we were already up at 6am feeding Darwin, I just stayed up, ha) and headed to Tractor Supply.  Sure enough, most of their trees were on sale for $20 each down from $40.

I dug around and found the ones we needed, bought them and loaded them in the truck.  Side note, this truck has been so awesome to have, but I digress, ha. Drove home (a little slower than normal and off the freeway) with a backend full of trees.

I picked up three fruit trees to replace ones we have lost.  They are huge, two of them (apple and plum) are taller than the garage roof, so about 8 or 9 feet high.

Anna Apple

Santa Rosa Plum

Florida King Peach

So excited to have found these, as they are perfect for our zone.  They had other varieties but they are varieties that need many more chill hours, much more than we get here.  These are the actual varieties recommended for our county.  Always remember when fruit tree shopping (or any plant really) to check your zone.  Stores often just get a random selection and you need to buy according to your area's climate. 

And while I was there...

I found PECAN trees!!

Caddo

Kiowa

Creek

I did some checking and of all the varieties they had, three of them are perfect for our area.  Our original plan was just one, but two of them do best with each other for wind pollination, they will produce much better, and then I figured they were such a good deal, lets just get the third one.

The fruit trees will be planted as soon as weather cools down, the pecans will have to wait for something special we are working on.