Tomato-Cheese Pie

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I have to thank Judy Von Duyke for this recipe!

She is the mom of the owner and trainer of the barn where my horses are.

Judy is about the same age as me.

One big difference.

She  can really cook!!!!

She brought a piece of this pie to the barn last week for us to try.

I loved it so much I made it yesterday again.

I had a big bunch of cherry tomatoes that I wanted to use up so that's why mine is so lumpy!!

All big slices from regular sized tomatoes look so much nicer!

Well . . . next time.

 Ingredients:

A single pie crust that was baking in the oven first.

Tomatoes, provolone cheese, herbs, and creamy Caesar dressing.

I used fresh basil, oregano and sage from my garden.

 Then you layer it.

I wasn't sure what to start with so I laid down tomatoes first, then dressing and herbs then cheese.

Then repeat layers.

Ending with cheese.

Now just place in the oven at about 400 degrees for about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

 See, how lumpy mine is!!!!

And this is after Dexter tasted it because I had it too close to the edge of the counter and he was watching!!

Last night's supper:

Tomato-cheese pie and a turkey burger.

Only 16 carbs in the whole meal!

Yum!!

Thanks Judy.

I hope you hold some cooking classes this winter at your house!!

Shirley

Poor Eggo!

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The hens are molting.

However, Eggo is losing a lot of her big tail feathers and wing feathers all at once.

She is the lowest in the pecking order as it is and I hope no one is 

"helping" her lose any!

The last couple nights when I did my last check for eggs, I saw that Eggo was roasting in one of the nests instead of the normal place on the roasting poles with the rest of the little flock.

So last night I watched inside the coop.  I wanted to make sure that the rest of them, namely Martha, was not being mean to her and chasing her off.  But I saw her try to flutter up to the poles with the rest of them and she couldn't make it because her wing feathers are almost gone.  She may have a couple on one side and not the other so she would fly crooked.

Anyway she couldn't make it so she went back to the nesting box to sleep.

Here she is outside today.

See, almost no long feathers and no tail feathers!

Poor little girl!

Shirley

Outside Today

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I'm taking advantage of this wonderful stretch of warm weather we're having and spent most all of today outside.

This morning was crisp but warmed up into the 70s pretty quick.

 See Dexter racing toward me at 50mph!!

 My herb garden has done really well this year.  I have to cut some to hang and dry or freeze.

I spent most of the morning cleaning up my front gardens and planting the mums that I've gotten.

That's little Pepsi.

One of my daily jobs in the fall is sweeping off the deck.  The acorns are falling like crazy right now.  I've been hit by them several times.

My daughter-in-law and grandkids will come to gather them up to take to feed the herd of deer that come to their yard  They are all over the grass.  It's getting hard to walk.

They are from these huge red oak trees.

Here is the "birth of a buckeye"!

You don't want to get hit by one of these when they fall.  The outer shell has spikes on it and they're heavy!!

Guess what another one of my daily jobs is?

I'll give you a hint.

I have two dogs.

And one is a St. Bernard!

Here's another hint:

That's all for now!

Hope you're having great weather too.

Shirley

Miss Ellie Has Gone On To Heaven

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Here are some pictures of Miss Ellie from 4 years ago when she was a healthy and very obstinate cat!
AND a little fat!

Her personality then was just sort of grouchy, stand offish and sometimes downright mean!

After Squeaker, my other cat died, Ellie's personality took an about face.  She got nice!

She even got on your lap at times!

Obviously she liked being the only cat in the house!

She kept all dogs at bay however.
She was the good mouser of this old house.
I hope I don't get over-run now!!

This past year she started to lose weight.  I took her to the vet for blood work but everything was normal.
However the last few weeks she had lost a huge amount of weight and then it went to not eating and today she wasn't even keeping water down.
She just wanted to sleep.
She lived a good long life.  She was about 14 years old.
She went on to the Rainbow Bridge to be with all my others that have gone before.

Good kitty.




Shirley

Lax Again!

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I don't know how I let so much time go between posts.  

I guess my excuse is that my sister was visiting and I don't like to be in here on the computer.

She has gone home now and I'm hoping that we have a nice long Fall so that she can get another visit in before winter sets in!

We've had some wonderfully warm days this past week.

A cold front is coming in tonight and it will only reach 50's tomorrow but then it's supposed to go back up into the 70's for the next week.

That sounds good to me!

So much for the weather report!!

Let's see . . . . 

I had another lesson in showmanship last week.

here's some clips from that.

               


               

Then today I was out at the barn all afternoon with my girl friend and her horse Taffy and my two and we were just playing with them in the arena on the ground.

A nice relaxed, fun afternoon.

Here is the only photo I took today.  It's preacher, my grumpy old gelding QH.

He's very lovable though.

He followed me everywhere today as long as the cookies were in my pocket!

We had a wonderful clinic at the barn yesterday about body language of horse and handler.

So we were working with that today.

Shirley

Carriage Driving Lessons

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I had my lesson at the barn again on carriage driving.

My sister was here to take more pictures.

The trouble was though, my phone ran out of storage so she only got to take me driving at a walk instead of at the trot also.

I had to delete some videos and pictures off my phone to free up some storage.

Oh well!

Next time, next week.

Here's a little of what there is.

             

My helmet?  Yes, I wear one!  I want to keep the few brains I have left!

I have no idea why my pants look this bright blue.  They are really dark blue denim!!

Shirley

My Sister's Here : ))

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My sister Sue is here visiting me for 2 weeks.  She came last Saturday.

We do a little of this and that when she's here.

And we eat out a lot!

So, that's one reason why I'm not blogging real often this week.  

We are gone a lot of the time.

Here's our selfie.

And here's Dexter trying to photo-bomb us.

We stayed home today while I did some washing and other things I had to get done.

I made chicken in the crockpot and had it over biscuits.

Sue is also helping me with a puzzle I had started.  It's a really hard one!!

Tomorrow we're going to the library, and to the town square and walk around, if it's nice, to see what new shops there are.

Exciting stuff hey!!

Shirley

My Carriage Driving Lessons

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I have started to take carriage driving lessons.

Since I cannot ride my horses at more than maybe a walk right now because of my back,

my instructor thought this would be a good alternative.

I didn't know if I'd like it because I don't have my own driving horse.  

My two are not candidates for that!

It's probably true that you can drive longer into your senior years than ride, so I thought I would give it a try.

Right now, I feel it is more dangerous in a carriage than on the back of a horse but I'm hoping that's because I don't know what I'm doing yet!!

I've taken a couple lesson awhile ago in a two wheel cart.  That was quite bumpy.

Now I'm taking them in a four wheel carriage and it is much smoother.

I couldn't be learning with a better horse!

Justina is last year's Champion from the Arab Nationals!!

My instructor owns and drives Justina along with her assistant trainer, Stephanie.

I must say it is great fun and a lot different from riding!

I'm sure everyone thinks it is so easy because they see little Amish kids driving.

Awwwwww, , , , , , NO!

There is a lot to it, just like there's a lot more to riding than non-horse people think!

Here's Justina as she is starting to get harnessed up.

Even that is confusing for me right now.

Lots of new names of things.

Next week I will have someone take more photos of me in the carriage!

I love learning new things!

Shirley

Poor, Hormonal Martha!

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Yes, she's been in and out of her cage for a week.  After 3 days I thought she was done running to her nest because she would come out into the run in the morning and go out into the yard with the flock.

However, she started running back to the nest every time I put them back into the run.  She made a bee line for the ramp!

Today I tossed her out of the nest 5 times before I put her back into the cage!

Another thing, I've noticed that she has been downright mean to all the other girls.  Just pecking them in the head if they got near her while she was eating in the yard.!  Yes, she's downright hormonal!!

Shirley

Note:  I have another blog called "It's Always Something".

It's about health issues, the many difficulties and hurdles of aging and about diabetes type 2.

So take a look if you want, especially if you are a senior.

Here's the link:

http://shirleysworldproblems.blogspot.com/ 

A DELICIOUS Way to Use Your Garden Tomatoes

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I suppose it could be because I'm starving all the time . . .

but,

I don't think so.

This afternoon after picking MORE tomatoes, I made some bruschetta.

I found some good looking recipes on Pinterest then just winged it.

Here's mine.

 Dice up tomatoes, cucumber, fresh basil and red onion.

I removed the seeds from the cucumber.

 Drizzle olive oil over top and add salt and pepper.

 Cut some crusty bread wedges and butter.  You can rub fresh garlic on top but I used this 

garlic spread that I got.  It's wonderful!

Broil the slices for just a few minutes.  Watch closely.

I would also flip over and do both sides.

Spoon your Bruschetta mixture on top.

Now enjoy by just picking them up and eating!

This is one of those foods that I just closed my eyes to really enjoy!!  You know, how you can get the full taste that way.

It was one of the best things I ever made!!!

I'm going to make it for my sister when she comes!

Shirley