Dog Hair!!!!!!!!!!

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I'm seriously considering a Roomba!!

Monk is shedding again and I can't keep up!

Does anyone out there have one of these??

And what do you think of it?

Shirley

Another Kids and Chickens Video!

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My grand kids were to visit on Saturday and they are fascinated with the chickens.

Ava is 5 and Jack is 3. 

They like to visit Nanna's little "Square Acre Homestead"!

I bet they'd really love it if I got a couple little pygmy goats!!

Sweet, sweet, Sweet!

Shirley

I'm a Messy Baker!

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Lemon Pound Cake

This sounded so good to me and I had some fresh lemons.

I assembled everything; I found I have to do at least that to be able to make things go smooth.

And everything did go fairly smooth except that I always end up with a mess of dishes and flour all over the place.  The only thing that I had a problem with was squeezing 6 Tbsp of lemon juice from the lemons and also zest a lemon which I had never done before.  I just bought a zester!

Here's the recipe:  It came from:  http://www.plainchicken.com/ 

Butter pans

Assemble ingredients

I didn't take a photo of the mixing part and the mess I made doing that!!!

Pans in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour.  I kept them in an extra 10 minutes till my poker stick came out clean.

They rose a little over the top.

 . . . and ran down in my oven.  (and smoked)

OK, here, they don't look too bad.  (Still in the pans.)

However getting them out of the pans was a problem.

And then flipping them onto the rack to cool was a mess!!!

I don't know how they do things on TV so neat!!!

Well, it's very tasty anyway!  However, I may have mixed it too much because it doesn't have the consistency of pound cake.  It's too fluffy, more like regular cake.

However really good.  I'm going to attempt to freeze one!!!!!!!!

Wish me luck.

Is anyone out there a really neat cook like on the cooking shows on TV??

I think I'm missing something.

Shirley

Update on Animal Things!

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•Rocky is doing fine.  No more re-occurrences of seizure activity thank goodness.

•Monk's allergies haven't improved at all since he's been on his special food and nothing else.  He's been on it almost a full month now.  I'm hoping there will be a big improvement after the first hard freeze!  If not, it's going to get even more expensive!!

•Preacher clipped and threw another shoe!  2nd one in a week!!  Another $50+

(If I didn't have animals, I'd be wealthy!!!  But oh what a boring life!!)

•Pepsi was missing for a day and a half and I was starting to fear the worse.  (cars or coyotes)

But this morning after if started to rain, she came home!  She was hungry and very glad to see me.  I don't know if she wandered off and it took her awhile to find her way back or what.

She's afraid to come into the house.  She's never lived in a house before plus my dogs and other (not so nice) cat is in here!  She may try it after she's here awhile.  At least I got flea medicine on her now.

•My chickens are doing good.

Shirley

Rocky Has a Seizure

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I was just about to get ready to go meet Michele at the barn about 1pm and I was letting the dogs out and Rocky had a full blown, grand mal seizure right on the edge of the deck of which he fell off of during the seizure.  I got him on his side and it lasted a full minute or more then he slowly came out of it.  He was a little confused at first and a little wobbly but by the end of an hour he was fine and running around.  He was restless but then came in and sat with me on the couch and went into a deep sleep for a couple hours.  He seems fine now.  Never stopped eating or drinking.  I talked to the vet and she said it could be a change in his metabolism because he is 9 now and this could be just an isolated one.  If he has anymore in the next week or if he acts different than normal then she wants to see him.  His last bloodwork was the end of January and was all normal.  Of course there's lots of things that can cause seizures.  So of course I stayed home with him all day.  He's been acting normal the rest of the day.

"Mom, really, I'm fine!"

I just hate that our pets have to get old!

Shirley

The Chickens and the String Cheese

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This is the first time I offered the chickies some string cheese for a treat.

(Click on YouTube to see it bigger.)

I can't find any worms in my soil.  It must be because it's been so dry!

But I think the chickies may think these are worms!!

Funny little creatures!

Shirley

Inspiring Homesteading Blog Site

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I was reading blogs about farms and gardening last night when I came across this great one.  I have to pass it on.  I spent quite a lot of time looking all over the site and going to other homesteading sites that you can get from there.

 When I walked out this morning to let my chickies out, I looked at my acre of land in a whole new light. 

I'm naming it My Square Acre Homestead.

Have fun looking around!  She almost makes me want to get goats now!!!

http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/popular-posts

Shirley

Easy Basic Chicken Meal

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I just got this recipe off of pinterest yesterday.  It doesn't give a source site though.

It looked good and is certainly easy and this makes 3 meals for me!!!!

4-6 raw chicken breasts, new potatoes, green beans (fresh 

or canned-really any green veggie would work. Broccoli is good, too). Arrange in 9x13 dish. Sprinkle with a packet of Italian dressing mix and then top with a melted stick of butter. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Enjoy!

(I left mine in for 15 minutes longer.)

I'm linking this up with:

http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com/

http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/

Getting Back Into Riding

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Echo has been in training with Stephanie and Sarah this summer.  Besides working on his phobia about things on the ground, Stephanie has been working on polishing up his attention to our aides and getting him more collected etc.

(To watch it bigger, click on YouTube)

Here is his jog with Stephanie

And his nice canter departure he is developing.  I really like that.  He used to just leap into it!

I rode him after she was done.  And today was my first lesson since early summer and the heat wave hit us!  It was a great lesson and Echo feels so much better.

The temperature today was perfect.

Shirley

Good Morning!

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Daisies and Mint

My daisies are fading fast so I have to pick some bouquets and bring them in.

It's going to be a delightful day.  Temps in the 70's.  This afternoon I plan on going to the barn and riding Preacher and Echo with my daughter.

I've had breakfast, fed the pets and let my chickens out into the run.

They got a little yogurt this morning for a treat.

I baked chocolate chip cookies last night.  I'll take some to my daughter so I won't eat the whole batch myself!!

What are you planing today?

Shirley

Silly Chickens

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Here's a better picture of Lily with her always dirty little face!

I was sitting in the run with them yesterday and I decided to turn my iTunes music on.  Well, they RAN into the coop. 

One by one they peeked out and slowly came out to see what it was.

Silly Chickens  : ))

Shirley

First Video Blog, Boxwood

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I'm trying something new.  I thought I would do a post with a video instead of just printed words and photos.

Please let me know if you like it and if I should do more once in awhile.

Thanks!

Shirley

Just Perfect

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Look at this down feather from Lily.  

It is absolute perfection.

So much for that "big bang" theory!!

Shirley

Chicks and Horses

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Today was an interesting day at the barn.  The chiropractor was there.  She comes about every 3 months to see several horses.  I had her look at Preacher and Echo.  Echo didn't need too many adjustments but Preacher needed more.  They will be at rest for about 24 hours.  You could really see a difference in Preachers walk in his hips when she was done.  I hope the adjustment lasts for awhile, he's never been treated by a chiropractor as far as I know.  They both seemed to like it!

It rained off and on the past couple days so the chickens were only outside for part of each day.  As soon as they feel rain drops they run in the coop!  They don't like getting wet. 

It's hard getting a good photo of them because as soon as I come into the run, they come and practically stand on my feet!

That's Martha in the middle.  She keeps uttering a low "Bwaaaak" whenever she sees me.

That's Eggo pecking at my pants leg!

I wish this was a clearer photo.  This is Lily.  She's an Easter-egger.  She has tuffs on her cheeks like a chipmunk and they are always dirty. 

Tomorrow I think it is supposed to be sunny so I will clean out their run.

For a treat today they had peas and yogurt.  They couldn't eat it fast enough!!

Funny little birdies.

They are 12 weeks old.

I think I was meant to have chickens!  This is the old weather vane on top of the cupola and one part of my house!

Shirley

Houston, There's a Problem!

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It rained a lot last night and today.  (A blessing!)

But it's the first substantial rain we've had since I put the tarp on top of the chicken run!

This was already a lot of water up there.

And very heavy as you can see, it's starting to bow the top of the run!!

The ground was already soaked so I poked a couple holes in the tarp to get the water down.

There's a stream of water going into that bucket.

I took off one of the tarps.  It can't get any wetter in there!

Now I've got to come up with a better plan or just leave it open.

These tarps wouldn't work in the winter anyway with heavy snow laying on them.

Any ideas people????

Shirley

Echo's Accomplishment For Today

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Now, this may not look like a lot.  But Echo says, "My feet are on it and I'm still alive!!!"

As you might have read in earlier posts, Echo was frightened by a slight accident with a caveletti about 4 years ago.  He tripped over it when jumping and his feet got tangled up and he scuffed up 3 out of 4 legs.  (Minor scuffs)  But it left a lasting impression.  He has been frightened to go over any ground poles or really anything on the ground that his feet may touch.

The trainers at this barn are working with him for the last 2 months and he will now hop over the poles and even can be ridden over them but he wants to do it in a rush.  He doesn't just want to leisurely walk over things.  

So, YES, him standing on this piece of cardboard, (which took every bit of a half hour) IS a big deal for him.

Good boy Echo!!  

You can watch a video of his third training session here when he starts to go over the poles.
http://shirleys-world.blogspot.com/2012/05/echos-training.html


Shirley

A Ride on Preacher etc.

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My daughter and I meet at least once a week to ride.  We got to the barn a little late and the trainer had just got done working Echo so we decided to just both ride Preacher.

It was still hot yesterday so Preacher had no energy and was ready to go back to his stall before we even started but he put up with us for about 45 minutes.

These pictures were just taken with my phone so any movement ones aren't very clear.

I love the deep, no dust footing in this arena!!!!

Good boy, Preacher.

I know those aren't very exciting pictures but the video I took wasn't any better and Michele would kill me if I put it on here  : ))

___________________________________________________

So, here at home I got my coop signs put up.

This one is on the gate to the run.

My new handy man, who I really like, straightened up my garage as much as he could.  At least I can get my car in there!  Now I have to go through stuff and start ridding out!

My new handy man also cleaned out all my gutters on the house, even on the high part.  He cut down a bunch of dead limbs from my trees, cleaned up around the area, trimmed some of my hedges till my battery operated hedge clippers gave out.  He's bringing his electric ones next time.  He's going to power wash my porches, scrape them and paint them with oil based paint.  (I hate using oil based paint when I paint.)  Of course that's probably why the porches need painted every other year!!  I'll have him back in a week or two.  In the meantime, I'm working on my to-do list for him!

Well, that's it for this mish-mash post for today!

If it cools down, I plan on going to the barn the next couple days.

Be good.

Shirley

A New Gadget

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Probably a lot of you have this already but it's new to me.  

I always seeing people use them on cooking shows and I ran across one at Marshalls so I got it.

It works like a charm for even little mounds of wonderful cookies!

No more greasy hands.  I love it!

I had such a taste for these today.  Of course chocolate chip are my most favorite.  I just use the toll house recipe on the Nestles chocolate chips but use half butter and half Crisco.  I think it makes them the perfect consistency.

I'm linking up with "Sundae Scoop"

http://www.iheartnaptime.net/

Shirley

Way Too Hot!

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I'm really beginning to hate this summer!!

I am looking forward to cooler temps!  Dare I say even a nice winter!!!!!

It was in the 90's again today and will be tomorrow too.  It's too hot to do anything so I don't even go to the barn on these days.  I'm so thankful that we are boarding in a place that we don't have to worry about our horses and don't feel we have to be there all the time.

I filled up Monk's pool with fresh cool water, even though he doesn't want to be out long enough to even go in it.  I was tempted to do some wading myself today.

I gave the girls their own little pool to stand in too.

They have been doing pretty well in this heat.  They are in shade but it is still suffocating outside.

They haven't even been panting.  I keep their water cold and give them cold watermelon most hot days.

I found this wooden plaque that I had put away in the garage.  Cleaned it all off and hung it on my kitchen door.

This is a photo of my cone flowers about a month ago before all the 90 degree days and no rain!

I'm not showing you my gardens now!  Nothing is blooming.

 and my grass has all but gone dormant!

There is a slim chance for a storm and rain over the weekend.  I'm hoping!!!!

I made an appearance at our county fair a couple days ago but it was too hot to enjoy so I didn't stay very long.

All I can say is thank heavens for air conditioning!!!!

Shirley

To Die For Blueberry Muffins, a repost

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I decided to repost this recipe because I got a big container of blueberries on sale and I have such a taste for these that I couldn't stop thinking about them!!!
They're THAT good!
I'm going to make them tomorrow.

The Best Blueberry Muffins!!!!

(Recipe is at the end of the post.)

Here are the ingredients that I collected before I started. There should be cinnamon there to but I got it later!

Cut up your streusel topping till it looks like this and set aside. Top the muffins before baking.

Here are the muffins going into the oven. This recipe makes 12 of these medium muffins or 8 large ones.

When done, cool for 10-15 minutes then remove to wire rack. Use paper muffin cups or grease your muffin tin well.

Then enjoy with some butter. These are the best blueberry muffins I've ever had!!!!!!!!!!

To Die for Blueberry Muffins

from http://allrecipes.com/

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour

3/4 Cup white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Mix these dry ingredients in a mixing bowl

Using a measuring cup, combine

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg and enough milk to make 1 cup.

Mix this with dry ingredients.

Fold in 1 cup fresh (or frozen) blueberries.

Fill muffin ups right to the top and sprinkle with streusel topping.

Streusel Topping:

1/2 Cup sugar

1/3 Cup flour, 1/4 Cup butter

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix with a pastry cutter or fork.

Add to muffins before baking. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 in.

Enjoy!

I'm again linking this post with:  "Foodie Friday"  at  http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/

Shirley