A Little Birdie told me

O birds, your perfect
virtues bring, Your song,
your forms, your rhythmic
flight, Your manners for
your heart's delight. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, "May Day" Allison painted this feeder for me a lonnnnnggggg time ago. It's still my favorite!!!

I remember the day I was taught about "protective coloration" from one of my girls, they were small and very eager to let me know how animals stayed safe in the wild.

One of my greatest pleasures.... Watching the many birds come to my yard!!!! Tell me about what you enjoy in the long summer days.

Blessings, Sue

An apple a day..........

" I think I may have finally done it"..... she squealed with delight, while pulling the perfectly browned, filling the air with fragrance, mouth watering pie from the oven.

Let me tell you of my dilemma. You see I have always been deathly afraid of pie making. I know, I know. This from a girl who has been baking since she had to stand on a chair to whip up a batch of cookies. But its true. I can remember baking just about everything with my grama when I was little. Cinnamon rolls, cookies, heck we even made raised doughnuts in the Sierra mountains one year while camping. (we used a dental floss container to punch out the holes haha).... But pies....... We never made one and so somewhere in my tiny mind I became totally intimidated by them.
I know grama made them..... We had just never made one together.

When other friends were busy making yummy pies I would scoff and say " nah I don't like baking pies" All the while thinking how much fun it would be to pull one out of the oven and serve it up with a big ol' scoop of vanilla ice cream. Especially since Apple is Seth's favorite.

I wrote awhile back about learning to make a crust from an accomplished pie maker and ever since I have been practicing.... and practicing.... and practicing..experimenting..... and practicing again. I even have a few of my own tricks. Its been stressful and its been fun and now I feel like I can make one without tragedy happening. (spoken like a true perfectionist)
Ha I say that today...hahahaha
Anyway.......... Care for a slice and a cuppa..... Fresh from the oven and filled with love......
Bless You....Sue

Let me spin you a yarn.....

Once upon a time..... not to long ago...... there lived a girl and a boy in a small California community.

The girl lived by herself in a very tiny but cute studio apartment, keeping herself busy with a job and a garden. Even though she had her cats for companions she was lonely.

Meanwhile the boy lived not so very far from her, at a fire station in Pozo, and kept himself busy putting out wild fires and saving small animals and ranches from imminent death and destruction by incineration. He was lonely too.

One day while buying a sandwich at a local market the girl was offered a second job at a saloon serving hamburgers, homemade chili (made by her) and salad with lots of beer and wine to wash it all down. This saloon was located not to far from the girls house and since she already worked all day and this was in the evenings, she took it.

It didn't take long for the handsome boy fireman to notice the girl since it was well and fast travelling news that not only did she now work there, but she was kinda cute, and made a killer burger and knew how to serve it up with a smile.

In fact it didn't take long for all the silly firemen to notice the girl but alas, she had noticed the handsome boy as well, and made sure that his was truly THE BEST burger in town (wink,wink)

Each night the boy would come in after work to talk, and each day the girl would look forward to nothing else. They soon decided that they didn't want to be apart in any way and being young and not caring about anything else they were soon married.

This was just the beginning......They have lived happily ever after ever since...... Twenty eight years later on June 20, 2009. Pozo Saloon, Pozo California

Blissful Blessings to you my friends, Sue

As long as we're on the subject.....

Ok..... With age must come wisdom..... Yes? Take for example the happy little Hen lovingly in the presence of her growing chicks. Enjoying their time together. Teaching them how to become the best little chickens (in this case, let's just say.... hens) they can become. Then realizing that she has done such a fine job that these chicks(not so little anymore) are starting to be able to be actually do the things she intended to teach them from the beginning.. And really well.....That was the plan was it not??????...... Yes
Brood-y -adjective, brood -i- er, brood-i-est
1. moody; gloomy
2. inclined to sit on eggs: a broody hen

One of the most innate instincts certain types of hens have is laying her eggs and incubating them by sitting on them. Then raising her young. A Broody Hen is an accomplished, attentive and fiercely protective mother.

This is an amazing gift from God... As long as chicks are your goal.... If you have already gotten all the chicks you want and are interested in egg production this can become an annoyance and even a problem.....

Sitting on eggs exclusively can become damaging to the hen herself as she will neglect her own needs and seriously compromise her own health. You need to break the broodiness as soon as possible, the longer you let it go on..... the longer it will continue and be even harder to break.

Her temperament will change the longer this goes on , she well be both lethargic and her interactions with the other hens will change. She will become less and less involved in coop life even to the point of attacking anyone who comes close to her nest.

1. Block her nest box. this may take a few tries. She will not be happy about this and you may find her settling back in as soon as you turn your back.

2. Remove her from the eggs, and the eggs from the nest.

3. Make her go out of the coop. Give her food and water outside the coop environment and keep her away for bits of time.

Carlye left on Thursday morning....... Jennifer left this morning....... One back to Georgia, to her wonderful husband and home... the other to Maryland for a summer job. They will return..... Not in the same capacity they were when they were "little chicks"

I decided I could go one of two ways.... I decided on the harder choice.

I got up... I cried for a bit...got showered and dressed and left the house. I stayed gone for quite awhile. I bought some little things I have had on my "self" list for awhile. I bought dinner out and didn't think of what I am missing by not being in close physical contact with all my girls everyday.
I thought about how very blessed I am. They have given me what I have always wanted. To be called Momma. And hey... Its not like I'm done with the "mothering" thing just yet... Allison is still home. But that's another story.......

Be, and know that you are blessed, Sue

I'm Just sitten' here with all my chicks

What do you think this contented little hen and I have have in common? That's right all my chicks are home.......I haven't gone anywhere...... Just enjoying my girls.
This isn't my picture I found it on google. I hope I haven't offended any ones copyrights or anything.

I'm sure you have all had time to make at least one batch of those yummy cookies. No need to worry about storage with them huh? The biggest concern around here is having any left when Daddy gets home. If you have gotten around to baking up a batch.... please let me know what you and your family think of them.

Things will slow down here in a week or so..... I've got alot to share with you.........

Until then Enjoy your Blessings, Sue

Hugs and Kisses

Some days are just cookie baking days. This was one of them. This recipe has been around for as long as home-baked cookies have. I'm sure there are many different variations, but this is a favorite of mine. Sometimes and often called Peanut Butter Blossoms I prefer.....

Hugs and Kisses Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 Tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Granulated sugar

1 bag Hershey Hugs and Kisses ( any Hershey kiss will do)

Cream butter, peanut butter and sugars together till creamy. Add milk, egg and vanilla and beat together. Add dry ingredients. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes or while oven is pre-heating to 375 degrees. I use a cookie scoop but you can just roll into balls and then roll in sugar.

Refrigerating makes the dough a bit firmer and easier to handle while rolling in sugar. Place on cookie sheet and DO NOT flatten. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden around edges.

Place kiss on each cookie and then remove to cooling rack. Try to keep everyone away until they cool. The kiss will melt and then re-harden while cookie cools.

Blessings Sue

Junior Fair #1 And the winner is......

Here she is, back home, absolutely exhausted, and very happy after a LONG week at Junior Fair.

Boy have I learned alot. There are alot of really amazing people who give alot of their time and much energy to give our kids experiences they will never forget. This is a lifestyle. These kids work HARD. The parents that I met were just like us. Really into their kids and PROUD of their achievements and successes. The local businesses give and give and give. I am amazed at the amount of sponsorship involved and to mention the scholarship's made available. Truly a learning experience. Makes you feel proud you belong to the community of East County.

These are some of the judges. When you show an animal you learn all about that animal. So she had to cram to learn all about the other animals. Because she won Master showmanship with Louie she had to show one of each of the animals being represented. Steer, Dairy heifer, Boer Goat, Sheep, Pig And know about them as well. Having never done this she did REALLY WELL.

She was laughing later at some of the questions: How many teeth do a sheep have? She told the judge "Hold on, let me count" haha

She competed with these 5 kids and received 3rd place. Right smack dab in the middle. We are so happy. She really wanted the belt buckle but now she has something to look forward to.

Let me list a few more things I learned or was reminded of:

1. Steer, Its called a STEER. Not a boy cow, not a cow... In fact I never heard the word cow the entire time.

2. Farm animals are really LOUD and really STINKY. They are also very loving animals and deserve our respect and gratitude.

3. Yes, this is where our meat comes from and even though I prefer to buy my meat at the store and forget this particular part, it still exists. God bless the people who do this part and are kind to the animals during the process.

4. There is a reason for wearing boots. HOOFS HURT TOES !!!!!!! and they don't walk around on carpet...... Very dusty,dirty.

5. People who work with animals are good people. This I have always known, but it was very re-enforced. It is HARD and tedious and requires either and/or much devotion.

6. Poop is gross, flys are annoying.

7. Even though white and poop/mud/etc. do not mix, It sure makes for a sharp combination when it comes to a uniform while paired with a cool jacket, scarf or hat.

8. I am a spinner. I enjoy my part of this circle. I will always be a spinner. I like fiber. I would not enjoy the hands on part of the market animal thing. I like to know that I can work together with the animal to keep doing what I enjoy. and I definitely want to pass this skill on to others.

This is the piggy Allison showed, She was a dear piggy. She behaved herself in the ring while some of the other pigs were being very naughty. Snoozing........... Good times, thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed this with me. Keep reading second part of post for more pictures.

Blessings Sue