Myth Confirmed.  I am now of the opinion that the Flying Saucer scene from Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation should in fact be preceded by a "do not try this at home" disclaimer.  Today Grace and I spent the day sledding and skating at the park while Miss Bethany had a visit with Nanny Walk.  After eyeing up the sled that Grace "gave me permission" to use as my own for the day, I decided it would be, perhaps, slightly less humiliating if I just purchased my own on our way.  It's been years since I've done any serious sledding and so I called on Grace's expertise to help me pick out my New, Shiney High Velocity Saucer of Inconceivable Friction Defying Proportions.

As I perched precariously over and then kind of poured, lifted and folded myself into Grace's tiny red sled while she launched down the hill ahead of me on my new Mega Saucer 10,000 Delux Edition in sheer exhileration, I realized she'd shopped with herself in mind.  I couldn't help thinking as I wiggled, scooted and thrusted into motion on my borrowed Vintage K-Car Type Heap of Plastic that it was highly possible that I would likely break myself, or at least some part of myself, on the new machine and it was probably best to let Grace "work out the kinks".  The day continued with us making many references to how the new sled would "just fly" on our hill at home, and then wrapped up having shared many laughs and colisions both on the hill and on the ice.  A shared package of Skittles tipped the day's scale to perfect. 

When we drove in our yard Grace grabbed the new saucer, sat down at the top of our hill and yelled "Ok Mom, give me a shove!"  I explained to Grace that she should just go down the hill easy until we seen how fast this thing would go on our hill.  Now, here is where Mommy's Geriatric Day on the Hill slams head first into Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation, that New, Shiney High Velocity Saucer of Inconceivable Friction Defying Proportions......had apparently been holding back on us.  As I watched my little girl careen towards the bottom of the hill at Mock Speed and praying that the banked snow at the bottom would slow her down, the laws of gravity failed her and she zipped up the bank and sort of catapulted out into oblivion.  A mass of snow, curls and screams flashing before me.  As it turned out, the screams were mine and I ran down the hill to find Grace scrambling back under the electric fence which she apparently managed to duck under in a lightning fast moment of clear thinking.

The scene depicted was of my poor little girl, scrambling to get to her feet, wailing and screaming words that I couldn't decipher with a face all smeared in red.  As I made my way down the hill and kept telling her to "stay still" and "don't move", it finally occurs to me, she's not hurt or scared, she's mad.  The words that she was trying so hard to screech into my thick head was that her "stupid sled was in with the stupid cows and they were going to wreck it".  The red smears on her face, to my elated solace, were Skittles.  The anger ebbed into what was likely fear but came across in some fashion of guilt, when I reached Grace and bent to hug her she just kept apologizing, repeating that she knew better then to go under the fence and that she should have rolled off before she got there.  After I finished hugging her until she grunted and we both took a moment to exhale, the traumatic experience ended with us both laughing hysterically and thanking God that she was ok.

We've been having more sickness in our calves these days, so far the meds are working and the calves seem to come through it ok.  It's so hard to believe but we are fast approaching pasture season and this typically ends theses types of sicknesses in our animals.  Jamie and I are planning a day that I will join him to do some herd health, where every cow, calf and bull will receive Dewormer and the bigger calves will be weaned, dehorned, bulls casterated and everyone innoculated.  This is always a massive undertaking, but one we both enjoy and it gives me a chance to reconnect with the farm.  Something I don't get to do as often as I would like, or as often as I used to, with spending most of my time with our girls.

It was a "Chicken Finger and Smile Fries" kind of night which we balanced with Pineapple and Strawberries in Yogurt Dip.  Then Grace finished our evening with some sort of play dramatically presented by her and her life sized lion of a sailing expedition to Africa. This was complete with a plastic bin boat, a blanket mast, a blue blanket ocean, binoculars, maps, and of course posters and tickets for the show.  All of which she was going to help me clean up before bed and also which she thought she was too busy brushing her teeth to help me with.  In the end with a bit of reverse physcology, she decided she couldn't possibly sleep without her lion and the mess was quickly straightened out.

I'm going to cut right to my laugh of the day, mostly because it is still fresh and I'm still giggling.  I was helping Grace get ready for bed this evening and handed her her Jammies, at which point she casually removes her pants and unveils.......my underwear!  The kid had, at some point in the day rummaged through my dresser and put on my underpants.  Now at the risk of TMI and my own embarrasement it's only fitting to include that these were not my Granny Panties, and as I giggled uncontroleably and tried to gain enough composure to demand she take them off at once, she simply looks at me and calmly explains that she can not take them off because (to paraphrase a 4yr old  here) she would then be exposed.  Given the general style of the garment this reasoning was essentially moot and only caused me to laugh that much harder.

This is not the first time something like this has happened.  Last summer Jamie and I and the girls were making a trip to our local Hardware store and about halfway there Grace pipes up and says, "so, Mom?  It's ok that I wore your Crocs right?"  I looked into the backseat to find that she indeed had worn my Crocs, which on her looked like something she'd bought from BoBo The Clowns Footwear Department for the  freakishly gifted.  These were also the only shoes we had with us for her, so she spent the entire time we were there picking out paint, flopping up and down the isles like a Scuba Diver on parade.

Grace has decided that I should take her to a Spa because she "really really wants to have a mud bath".  I tried to remind her that this is a common occurance for her in the Spring and Summer but never the less she is quite adament.  She is becomming a bit of a "girlie girl" often applying my hand cream and then asking me if she smells nice and yesterday she was going around looking for the "Air Confreshener" to freshen up our house.

This morning started out early with an unexpected visitor that Jamie had to pursuade off of our property.  A coyote had apparently decided that steak would make a great start to the day, and while we really couldn't disagree, particularly with a side of Grace's bubbly eggs,  we were not about to let him sample our wares.  He was in amongst the herd when Jamie went out to try to scare him off, and he was in no hurry to leave.  The poor cattle have been spooky all day jumping and startling at every little sound, our puppy Max likes to go out and harrass them every once in a while, to which the cattle rarely pay him any mind.  Today Max got a surprise to find the already rattled herd poised and ready for battle.  He quickly returned to the safety of our deck. 

ALIENS AMONG US, CAN YOU SEE WHO'S TRYING TO BLEND IN?.....

OUR BULL ENJOYING THE SUN (HARD TO GET A GOOD SHOT OF HIM FROM ON OUR HILL, BUT HE TOWERS OVER OUR CATTLE AND WEIGHS APPX 2400LBS.  GRACE AFFECTIONATELY CALLS HIM "BULLY"

The words Acidic and Alkaline foods have been circulating in our home all afternoon following Jamie's visit with the eye doctor this afternoon.  He has been having issues with blocked oil ducts causing infection in his eyes and will apparently require some minor surgery and dietary to correct this.  According to the Dr. this is caused by his body being too Acidic and it is caused by eating acidic foods and being exposed to chemicals ( Crop Spray, Diesel Fumes, Amonia from the cattle urine and more are all occupational hazards) .  It all sounds like a relatively easy fix and surgery as I said is minor, however he is not allowed to be near dust for 2 weeks post surgery, while I've been looking for a good excuse to dust my house, this is not an option in the barn, perhaps we will be like the Country song Mr. Mom.

We wrapped up this evening by having Jamie's parents over to a Baked Bean supper with Multi-Grain biscuits and Strawberry/Rhubarb Crisp (apparently a relatively Alkaline meal), and of course shared in Graces amusement by, and references to, the after effects of such a meal.  Then before Grace retired for the night, she and I built an "Amazing Grace" style Lego Castle and read a Noah's Ark book.

PIANO LESSON (A BIT LIKE THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND:-)



THE BIG RACE (THERE'S ALWAYS TIME FOR SOME SLEDDING)



RECIPE:

Multigrain Biscuits (sorry no pics tonight)

1 Cup White Flour
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup Wheat Germ
1/4 Cup Bran
1/4 Cup Cornmeal
1/4 Cup Quick Cook Oatmeal
6tsps Baking Powder
1tsp Baking Soda
1/2tsp Creme of Tartar
1/4 Cup Mayo
3 TBSP Brown Sugar
Buttermilk (sorry, this is where I wing it, I am guessing I used appx 1.5 Cups of Buttermilk, but add it slowly until you get a consistancy you can work with.)

Turn dough out on floured board, sprinkle with some additional white flour and knead 3-4 times just enough to be able to handle the dough.  Roll to appx 1.5 inch thickness and cut into rounds, place on greased pan and cook 375 (350 for convection) until golden brown, appx 15-20 minutes.

Grace is a passionate kid. She uses words like "hate" and "horrible" as quickly as she uses words like "love" and "awsome", she seldom wimpers but crys with gut wrenching sobs over seemingly simple issues and equally seldom giggles but throws her head back and roars out the most infectious belly laughs.  She moves quickly and frequently between elation and devestation and generally everyone in the house gets to hear just which one she has chosen for that moment.  That's just her, she feels things strongly and reacts in an equal manner, it's the way God made her, which is why we love her, it's also exhausting from time to time.  Don't get me wrong, our days are not always filled with minute by minute fluxuations in temperment and emotion (although somedays feel that way), it's just that if there is something to be reacted to, there is no gray area in Grace's mind.

Grace is an old soul, I like to tell people that she is really 40yrs old but had to come into the world small.  She is a deep thinker, keeps us constantly on our toes with questions that not even we as adults have considered, and she seems to accept things about life that I'm still working on.  One time when her pony Hiccup spooked and Grace fell off, she quickly scrambled to her feet and, spitting dust and wiping tears, walked over, kissed his nose and told him she was sorry.  I immediately asked her why she was sorry (I was ready to throttle the little you-know-what), she simply kept patting his nose and said "I'm sorry because he was scared and I got mad at him".  She then gathered her wits, took a deep breath and says to me "ok Mom, let's walk him out".  After we walked him a few minutes she handed his lead over to me and put a foot in the stirrup looks at Hiccup and says "ok Hiccup lets start over with baby steps".  I was left to hide my blubbering as I lead her around on him and listened to her encouraging him to be brave and telling him how great he was doing.

HELPING ME FOLD LAUNDREY

A quick witted little person, Grace loves to smile and make others do the same, as I said, she has the most infectious belly laughs.  Often times because she is so old at heart, you can't help but smile or laugh, even when she herself hadn't intended to be humorous.  (This typically renders the above state of devestation)  At just barely 3yrs old, if someone held a door for us at a store it would get them a warm smile and a "why thank-you my good man (or lady)".  At one point when she was just potty training she decided to sit in an awkward way on the toilet, when I told her this just wouldn't work, she looks me straight in the eye and says, "don't worry, I'm a trained professional", which came out "don't wowwy I'sa Twaned Pwofessional".  Just last fall while visiting family in Nova Scotia she met a new friend and she decided that we should buy them both a Kinder Surprise Egg.  She finished hers and as I came into the room where they were at, she tells me that Sadie was being super nice by sharing her Kinder Surprise with her, when I looked at Sadie and told her what a special friend she was for sharing (meanwhile thinking that Grace didn't need more since she'd just had one) Grace looks at me and says "yeah, she only screamed a bit until I gave her a little piece back".  She is constantly thinking or doing, and while she sometimes relapses into her Cave Kid days, struggling as most 4yr olds do with temporary lapses of self-control or moments of sheer and total selfishness, she is often thinking of others and what she can do to make them happy or help out, she loves to help me with the cooking and daily chores and right now she is working tirelessly on Valantines Day cards for all our friends and family.

GRACE ALL GUSSIED UP FOR CHILDRENS MEETING LAST NIGHT,  WHEN WE GOT HOM SHE JUMPED OUT OF THE CAR AND PILED ON HER SLED TO GET DOWN TO THE HOUSE, HAIR AND SKIRTS BLOWING IN THE BREEZE AND SQUEELING ALL THE WAY DOWN  LIKE SOME MAD PERON MAKING A GRAND ESCAPE

Grace keeps comming up with ideas I can use when I Clog and often asks me if I've been Clogging.  This always makes me giggle and while anyone listening might assume that I am pretty handy in a pair of wooden shoes, she is actually trying to add to my new found hobby of "Blogging".

The farm has been running as usual the past few days and with the great wheather we've been having Jamie has been working in the woods, getting our fire wood for next year and cutting lumbar in hopes that we can build a house next summer.  We have been trying to pray about this and leave it to the Lord to decide, but with our mini home having become so tiny to us with two active little girls, and all the stuff they come with, in it, our praying becomes more wishing then anything and we need to remember that God is not a genie.

We had another sick calf a couple of days ago, but this one faired out much better then the last and after some doctoring by Jamie seems to be on the mend, some encouragement after losing three in the last while.

MAX WAITING FOR A COW TO MOVE SO HE CAN CHASE IT

RELAXING IN THE SUN

Bethany is beginning to say a few words, she's been saying Mama, Dadda and Maa (Max) for a while but can occasionally pick out Nanna, Bobba (bottle) and has said Dog a few times.  Today she was crawling around by Jamie and had apparently dirtied her diaper, when Jamie asked her who smells bad she looked right at him and said Dog. (This was probably totally random but timed perfectly.)

PERSONAL ESCORT SERVICE

RECIPE BELOW

RECIPE:

Homemade Chicken Pesto With Brocolli and Cawliflower and Fresh Ceasar Salad

Pesto:  (this sauce will cover a 500g box of Corkscrew Pasta with veggies and chicken added)

1 small pkg Pine Nuts (I think around 100g)

3 Cloves Garlic

1/2 Cup Fresh Grated Parmasean Cheese

3 TBSP Dried Basil

1/4 Cup Olive Oil ( I can't justify the oil so I substitute with appx 1tbsp Olive Oil and the rest in Chicken Stock, I just play with it until I get the consistency I want)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Put all this into a food processor and mix a thick liquid

In the meantime boil 2 chicken breasts and 2-3 cups of Brocolli and Cawliflower steamed.

Cook pasta to box directions

When all is cooked combine it all in a large bowl and serve

Ceasar Salad

1 head fresh Romain Lettuce

1/4 lb bacon cooked and crumbled

1/4 cup fresh grated Parmasean Cheese

Homemade Croutons :  4 Slices of bread (I use homemade white bread but any of your liking will do, Italian is great too), spread garlic butter on both sides, cut into cubes and bake at 350 until golden brown and extra crispy, remember to flip and stir them often as they burn very easy.  Serve fresh over Ceasar Salad.

Ceasar Salad Dressing 

1 cup Mayo (when I can't justify the calories I substitute with plain yogurt, it makes it a bit more watery but still very tasty)

2-3 Garlic Cloves minced

1/4 TBSP Vinegar

1/4 TBSP Lemon Juice

1tsp white sugar

1/4 cup fresh grated Parmasean

Salt and Pepper to taste (I use lots of pepper to add zing)

1-2 TBSP Olive Oil

"I just laughed so hard I tooted, that's how rewounded I am"  This fast breaking news flash just in from Grace as she is trying desperately to juggle three tennis balls while Max is darting back and forth and catching her misses, which with each one she exclaims "Shiver me timbers and pull my beard".  The fact that she is standing in the livingroom sporting only a red juice mustache and underpants completes the effect.

Sunday, Lord's day, family day, a day to slow down, worship our Lord and Saviour and enjoy time as a family.  It begins the same most every week, with the jolting realization that I've overslept and need to hustle to get everyone ready for Morning Meeting.  From there on out it becomes a free for all of franticly flying skirts, hair, and hats as I race up and down the hallway dodging kids and leaping over pets (and vice versa) to get myself and the girls dressed, us all fed, and the diaper and activity bags packed as well as our contribution to the after meeting snack. Jamie makes a flying trip out to the barn, checks over the livestock and lets the horses out, then readies himself for the day. 

Grace has finally, for the most part, come through her days of morphing into a writhing, reeling, grabbing, screeching creature of the deep while at meeting, and generally sits quietly with her friends and entertains herself with her activity bag.  The realization (and appreciation)  for this evolution is always apparent to me as Jamie and I tag team Bethany and try to contain her writhing tentacles from enveloping the person next to us and consuming them and/or anything they are holding or wearing.  Sometime just before the bread and wine are passed our arms generally give out and she ups the anty to include blowing rasberries at anyone within range, giggling hysterically and screeching like a caged animal.  The end result there being one of us sitting in the nursery with an exhausted Bethany frantically trying to evade sleep, and left to wonder why it is that something so tired can move so fast.

We spent the rest of today enjoying a wonderful (and long overdue) feast and visit with good friends in their lovely and, thanks to an over zelous woodstove, tropical home.

We came home with two tuckered out girlies and to an extremely excited and lonely puppy who forgot how badly he had to pee as he sprung out of his kennel to see us, but was abruptly reminded by the puddle he wound up in on the floor.  Grace quickly found her zest again and headed straight out for some sledding with some friends on the lane while Jamie did up his evening chores and headed back to evening meeting, alone.  I cryed Uncle and kept the girls home for an early night to bed.

I am now sitting in our little home wondering how it is that our house seems to get messier the less time we spend in it.  Jamie and Grace are sharing a bedtime snack of popcorn as he tells her a wimsical little story about a little boy that ate so much popcorn and drank so much pop that he exploded and all his innards flew out........pleasant dreams everyone.........





"You don't miss the water 'till the well runs dry" this is not just an old adage, but is one hundred percent accurate and factual.  This morning as I was trying to accept/submit to the unfortunate truth that there are days when getting dressed must in fact go beyond the social unexeptability not to, and get ready for my one day a week office job,  Jamie's brother called to inform us that something was wrong with the well that supplies his parents, our barns and our own home with water.  As I said my goodbyes to the girls, I took a moment to share in the irritation, took a glimpse at the thermometer reading -15, and thought "nothing good can come of this".  The poor guys spent the day digging up and fixing the submersible pump, and thankfully had it going again just shortly after i got home from work.

ABOMINABLE SNOW CHILDREN

When I stopped to pick the kids up at the babysitters (Jamie's Aunt and Uncle) after work I was greeted by a high pitched screech and mock-speed- pitter-patter by what seemed like an overly stimulated Cave Baby, and a long and agonizingly mournfull howl by what may have been it's lunch.  In general, this denoted that Bethany had in fact missed me and was ready to come home, Grace, on the other hand after eight hours of playing was not yet ready to end the fun with her 4 cousins.  It was agreed that after supper she would meet them back at our place for some sledding and hot chocolate. At final tally we had six kids all baring striking resemblance to frenzied abominable snow children, all bundled up in the -17 degree night racing on sleds and snowboards to crash into the piled up snow bumper Jamie makes to keep them from careening into our electric fence.

THE GANG RUNNING TO MEET DREAMERS NEW OWNER

PROBABLY WONDERING WHERE DREAMER WENT

Yesterday we said goodbye to one of our horsey friends and thus the romanticised notion of being horse breeders.  I've spent the last year making, and carrying out, a plan to redirect my energy from having horses as a business to having horses as a family.  It was not an easy decision, I had to overcome many passionate adn overly dramatic notions of having lost my direction and my dream.  I had to come full circle to the fact that I am on the path that God has chosen for me, and right now, at this time, my roll in our family is much more important.  Jamie has been innately understanding and supportive.  However, upon finding him in his "thoughtful spot" yesterday morning on the couch, I was also reminded of his innate nature for, well, making a buck.  As he very quietly and cautiously, as though testing the waters, asked me what I had planned after we sold this horse.  When I told him spending time with my own horses and with Grace and Hiccup, he very nonchalantly threw out the fact that there was a lovely horse up the road that I might enjoy doing something with. But I didn't bite.

Grace had "one of those days"  which began with her tattooing both her arms and the bottoms of both of her legs in all the creative hues that Crayola Non-Toxics have to offer.  Grace has an insatiable appetite, and as I was working on the computer I felt a very quiet presence at my elbow.  When I turned to her she says "I'm not quite sure how to tell you this"  to which I immediately think "What did you flush down our toilet", then she says "I feel guilty just saying it", to which I think "Oh No....Where's Bethany!" At which point she says "well, um, you see, it's just that......well........I'd like some Rice Crispies"  RICE CRISPIES!  The kid wants Rice Crispies and Im left devising a plan to extract the baby from the toilet.  We finally wrapped up "one of those days" by me finding it absalutely impossible to keep my eyes from closing.  Bethany had laid down for her nap and in a semi-concious haze, it occurs to me, "maybe, if I can get her immersed in her favorite cartoon she'll let me snooze beside her for a nano second.  Perhaps, if we could find just the right one she wouldn't notice the uncontrolable and epically proportioned snoring next to her."  It was perfect, flawless.  It lasted the nano second I'd hoped to snooz, and she was gone.  I came to just long enough to hear what I "thought" was her pulling the covers off of her markers, it was just long enough for me to hear what I "thought" was her tearing paper to make one of her "Amazing Grace" style crafts, it was just long enough for me to think "my goodness she is such a good little Cowgirl". Apparently my nano-nap was just long enough for her to crack 1/2 dozen or so eggs in a pot and dump in a litre of milk .  The next thing I know I'm being bounced by a small and sticky messenger letting me know that she'd prepared what she calls bubbly eggs (scrambled eggs) for our supper and it was time for me to do my job and cook them.  We then spent the rest of the afternoon burning energy outside where she is not brave enough to evade me and therefore the threat of assault is less.

TOO BUSY HATING HER SNOWSUIT TO SMILE







GUARD DONKEY "PAPBLO"

SOME OF PABLO'S CHARGE

FARMER JAMES





 Poor little Max had his first encounter with a horse by way of having his foot stepped on  the other day, he is thankfully fine but occasionally whines if anyone touches it.  At one point I heard him whining and thought one of the kids must have been touching his foot, I turned to look over my shoulder and find Bethany chewing on his ear and Max miserably sitting there and whining for help.

UNLOADING THE WOODSLEIGH INTO OUR WOODBOX

FOR REASONS NOT KNOWN TO ME, SPLITTING WOOD IN OUR ENTRY WHILE THE GIRLS ARE TRYING TO SLEEP..........ANYONE ELSE HERE THE SONG "CAMOFLAGE" PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND??

RECIPE:

BUBBLY EGGS

3 eggs per serving
appx 1/2 the amount of eggs worth of milk (1 cup of eggs = 1/3 cup milk)
I then whisk in salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to taste (Grace doesn't know this part)

Cook until almost done then add shredded Cheddar and/or fresh grated parmasean and finish cooking

This is also great with cubed and cooked Ham mixed in

When we are eating like grown-ups Jamie and I add in Mushrooms, Onions (instead of onion powder) and peppers.

I can't hear anything.  Nothing, it's the sound of absolute, tranquil silence.  An unusual concept in our home, we are not a big family, we don't take up alot of space physically, but what we lack in size we make up for in decibels.  I come from a long line of passionate people, we handle most situations by either laughing, crying or singing (and eating mounds of chocolate).   Jamie also has a number of passionate folks in his family, it seems that our girls never had a chance to escape the gene, and so we live in a seemingly continuous hum

But tonight is quiet, peaceful, unusual.  Jamie has taken his father to the Tired Iron Tractor Club Meeting, a club that does beautiful restorations on old tractors, and as a rare treat both of our girls went to bed shortly after 8:00pm.  The only effort of protest comming from Grace by way of one long, sorrowful howl as I turned Garfield and Friends off.  I've been thinking about how nice a quiet evening might be, I love having my girls around but sometimes I can't help but quietly muse on the posibility of going to the bathroom unassisted.  The quiet is a wonderful treat, it's nice, a bit too loud and boring really.  I'm suddenly tempted to go poke Grace and when she grogilly asks what's wrong I can say "Oh, Sorry, did I wake you?" 

Things have been running along smoothly here on Misty Marsh Farms, I hate to jinx it, but since we lost a calf a few days ago, we've had no other illnesses arise.  Jamie's day was mostly spent moving snow and Grace and I got to go out and play in it for a bit.  Even little Bethany got to join in the fun for a bit, while on the way to her Nanny Walks.  Nanny and Poppa Walk are Jamie's parents and live next door to us, their last name is not actually Walk, but they became Nanny and Poppa Walk when Grace was learning to talk as they were the Nanny and Poppa who's house we could walk to.

HEADING TO NANNY AND POPPA WALKS

VISIT WITH A FRIEND



 Grace's friend Courtney dropped in for a play and had supper with Grace again this evening.  The tents were set up in the livingroom and the Dr.s office opened again.  Grace was plagued by what she said was a Heart Infection but was quickly cured by a magical toy Marroca.

ONE OF OUR YOUNG HEIFERS

A YUMMY STIRFRY

JUST A TASTE OF CHOCOLATE

RECIPE:

We love stirfry here and this is a very simple recipe with a delicious sauce.

I tend to use whatever veggies are on hand and typically after I've fried the main veggies I load it up with beansprouts.  As a general rule of thumb I always have lots of mushrooms and onions, a bit of thinly sliced carrot and usually some thinly sliced celery.  Apart from this I ad in whatevers on hand from broccoli and cawliflower to corn and peas.  The main thing I find is to have your pan or wok med-high heat and I use my cooking oil very sparingly, just enough to coat the pan (most recipes call for much more).  Start by cooking the protein, I stick to 2 thinly sliced chicken breasts, 2 thinly sliced pork chops or a thinly sliced steak.  Today I had leftover roast beef so that is what I used and just tossed it in at the end..  Fry your meats until almost cooked, remove from pan and fry veggies from largest and slowest cooking to whatever takes the least time.  Below is a list of what I have in the stirfry pictured above, I started by frying the broccoli, cawliflower and carrots, then threw in the rest of the ingredients.  Add the meat back in just before veggies are done and allow it all to finish cooking together.

I am forever adding and ommiting ingredients from various recipes or creating my own, I highly recommend playing with your food and finding what works for your family.  Different nuts are always a welcome thing here, our favorite are almonds.

Roast Beef

2 thinly sliced carrots

1/2 a head of broccoli cut small

1/2 a head of cawliflower cut small

1/2 an onion diced 

a small amount of red pepper

about 1 cup of  sliced mushrooms

Sauce

10oz beef or chicken stock

3tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp cornstarch

2tbsp Fancy Molasses

I served this on whole grain Basmati rice which I just descovered and love the nutty flavour it offers.





I didn't always know that you can neither "lead" a cow to water nor make it drink, and that you in fact had to "herd" it there, I hadn't always appreciated that something so seemingly (and typically) pleasant, almost dimwitted at times, could if the circumstances warrant, in an instant cause you to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Or at least the nearest gate. I had never found cause to purchase a calander which discussed reproductive organs or how prolific a particular herd sire is, nor did we discuss such matters around the dinner table. I was a horse person, I knew horses, I knew that you could "lead" a horse to water but you couldn't make it drink", I understood that a horse could be pushed too far, and had invested a great deal of energy (and skin and tears for that matter), learning the signs. As for the reproductive practices of equines, well, lets just say, we chatted about other things over dinner.

When I met Jamie (my husband of almost 9yrs now) I was an aspiring horse trainer and show woman, I invested most waking hours into learning, working with or reading about horses, they both consumed and defined me. Being a horseperson I thought I was an animal person in general, and so I was (and still am) in the warm and fuzzy sense of the word. I love animals, but when it came to actually knowing anything about anything to do with cattle, well my ego filled bubble popped pretty quick. Anyone married to a farmer knows what it is like to actually date one, romantic walks to check and repair fences, dimmly lit evenings spent bedding and feeding cattle or snuggled up in a tractor cab and watching a plough turn the earth red (crammed up with a Charlie Horse/snuggled up, it's probably a relative opinion). Of course there were the occasional evenings when we planned to go out, and some actually worked out to be wonderful time spent together. Often though it would turn out to be the same evening that a cow would have a calf hiplock or a newborn that wouldn't suck or one (or several for that matter) of the various machines necessary to run a farm would break. I didn't always "get it", to say that it didn't frusterate me from time to time would be a lie, but usually even the nights that just didn't work out, worked out.

Jamie has the patience of Job, well to be honest there are times when I am not sure that it is patience or a strange and twisted sense of humour. There was (and still is on occasion) the typical pranks like when he waited until I was fixing some part of the electric fence and then turned it on and waited until I screamed in electrocuted hysteria. I truely questioned his sense of humour when he suggested I drive our prehistoric, fossilized dump truck to the field for him. As I gulped and resigned myself to climb up and not let on how terrified I was, Jamie reminded me of the fact that both the power steering and brakes were'nt working. Encouraged by the fact that the doorlatch at least worked I turned the key and proceeded ever so cautiously to pull away from the blocking that kept the truck from rolling down our barnyard hill. The truck stalled. For a split second I thought "no biggy, it'll just roll back to the blocking and stop".....Unfortunately gravity and momentum had taken over and I plummeted backwards down the hill frantically trying to start it, ram it into gear, or something. As I looked up in utter horror, I can still see, the typically laid back and never phazed Jamie, standing on the road watching, slapping his hand on his thigh, head thrown back, and laughing. It was so funny in fact that he was still laughing when I crashed through the pasture gate, and I am sure he was still laughing as I gracefully slammed into the V-Plough that was parked just beyond it. I don't swear, I never swear, I swore, one awkward but fierce word I'll not share and refused to get back in the fossilized piece of prehistoric Dinosaur Poo. Jamie, who had gained his typical laid back composure simply looked down at me and calmly said "Get back in the truck Mag, we gotta get to the field". There was always some sort of excitement such as the time the beaters on our giant manure truck plugged and seized. Jamie tied a towrope from it to our 3/4 ton truck and told me to "hit it" the immediate sound of glass smashing gave me temporary heart failure as I was momentarily sure that my right ear had been removed by the hook which had come undone and crashed through the back window whizzing by my head.

Today is a snowday, a reflective day, one of those days that memories of my earlier times as a farmer and as Jamie's partner in crime, rang to mind and made me smile. There are countless more, perhaps on another snowday there'll be more to share.

Yes, today was a snow day, a day that the farm seemingly stands still and yet becomes busier all at once. Typically in a snowday just the everyday things take double time, which tends to make it busier in itself. Then ad the snow removal of several driveways, the barnyards etc. and Jamie's day is in before it gets started. Today he managed to complete the repairs on our grain mill which he has been working on most of the week. I am sure this made all our cows smile as they have been going without since it seized up on him, this also doesn't do anything in terms of adding weight to our Fat Cattle, and of course where there is no weight there is no profit, so all in all a great job to have done.
The girls and I hybranated indoors today, I did get out for a walk in the morning, it was absalutely beautiful and I managed to slip, slide, and army crawl a full 3kms before succoming to the ice and repeating the motions to get home. Even poor Max slipped and fell a couple of times. When I got in Jamie had the woodstove cozily keeping the house warm, and as I got breakfast I was quite pleased that he did not have to rush out to the barn today. With the bale grazing we have been doing he fed extra yesterday, so there wasn't a rush to get out to feed. Family moments can be precious little at times, although he works very hard to make time for us, in any event the girls were extatic to have him in and Grace kept him busy reading books, which inadvertantly switched to bordom, which consequently lead to wrestling and finally to Grace yelling at me to "make Daddy quit pulling my beard" and Jamie screaming the same until I just wished the snow would quit.

GRACE, APPARENTLY ORDERING AN IPHONE

MY ASSITANT CHEF

HELPING MAKE OUR BREAD A FEW DAYS AGO, ONE OF HER FAVORITE THINGS

After Jamie went out, Grace and I entertained each other while Bethany slept, Grace played a few video games on the Nick Jr. website and then called me over because she was having trouble applying for an Iphone. Apparently she followed some pop-up she shouldn't have....I'll be paying closer attention:-) Together we made a Roast Beef Dinner with all the trimmings. Grace loves to cook and takes part in most everything we make from meals to baking. We had a drop in guest over lunch, a neighbour whom we had not yet met and is going to help us decrease our Coyote population. Finally after lunch I cried Uncle and called in back-up to entertain Grace, by way of her friend and Jamie's cousin Courtney who is 8, together they did some crafting and set up forts in our living room. All this in theory seemed like a great idea except that both Bethany and Max kept crashing the party and tearing down the forts. At one point the girls were apparently playing Dr. and Patient, and while Courtney was "operating" on Grace, Grace pipes up and says, hey Court? Do you notice how I don't have any hair on my legs? Courtney says "yeah Grace why"? To which Grace matter of factly replies "Yeah, it's because I use the No No Hair Remover by Radiance".

It's now just after 10:00pm and the house is finally quiet, Max is asleep by the woodstove and everyone else is snuggled in bed, I'm signing off now and anxious to get to get to sleep, Grace asked Jamie and I if we would meet her in Dreamland and take her Trout Fishing.

LITTERMATES MAKING NEW FUN WITH AN OLD TOY

PASTA CRAFTS!!!

TODAYS TREAT, RECIPE IS BELOW!

GLORIFIED ROCKY ROADS

1KG Milk Chocolate Chips
3 tbsp butter
1 Box of White Bakers Chocolate Squares
3/4 bag of White Mini Marshmellows
1 cup Almonds
3/4 bag of Teddy Grahams ( you can also break up any Digestive Cookies)

Melt Butter and Chocolate over low heat, crush the white chocolate and Teddy Grahams into chunks, mix White Chocolate, Teddy Grahams, Marshmellows and Almonds into Melted Chocolate and let cool for a couple hourse in fridge.  These also freeze beautifully.