First Thanksgiving

Well, now we've had our first Thanksgiving at the farm.   Joel and I drove up to the farm with both of the dogs in the backseat of my car.   We towed the utility trailer filled with our fire pit and adirondack chairs and the back of the Tahoe was packed to the roof.   When we got up to the farm Joel had to de-winterize the travel trailer so we could use the water systems for cooking and washing and flushing.    Didn't take us long though to warm it up as the fireplace pumped out heat along with the propane heater.   The dogs settled down in front of the fireplace and "assumed the position".  Ha!

They look pretty comfy, don't they?     It just cracked us up that they plopped down on their towels and promptly fell asleep.  It was pretty cold the next morning when I took Molly outside at 6:30am.   As a matter of fact, it was 17 degrees and a bit breezy.   A couple of days later we even had sleet!

 The leaves were "crunchy" under our feet because they had a thin layer of ice on them.

I have always thought it was goofy to put articles of clothing on animals, but when I saw this water repellant coat for Molly, I just couldn't resist.   And at least it kept her from getting so wet.....awww, come on.....she looks adorable, don't you think?

 Not only did  the temps stay in the 20's and 30's for most of the week, we also got some snow!

 Just enough snow to put a soft coating on the ground....

 ....and on the roofs.....

.....and around the trees.   It was fun to see snow again, even if it was only a dusting.

 It was cold enough outside that we put food on the picnic table to keep it frozen until we were ready to heat it up.    There just wasn't enough room in the RV refrigerator, but that wasn't a problem with the low temps we were experiencing.

On Thanksgiving Day, I put the pumpkin pies outside to finish cooling and then to chill them before we had them for dessert!

Jeremy drove in from S.D. and arrived in time for Thanksgiving dinner.   We had Jeremy call us when he was in the nearest town and we quickly got in our car and drove out to the highway to meet him and show him how to get to the farm.   Boy, was he ever a sight for sore eyes.   And this mama was just grateful that he had safely made the trip to be with us for the holiday.

And his dog, Winston, looked pretty happy to see him, too.    Jeremy took Winston back to S.D. with him as he is his dog and we were just dog sitting for a while.   Now it's just us and the little fluffy dog.

 After we had our fill of turkey, mashed potatoes and all the trimmings, Jeremy brought out his guitar and played for us.

 Early next morning I made my guys one of their favorite breakfasts......thick, smokey bacon fried crisp with biscuits and scrambled eggs and lots of coffee to go with it all.  I just love cooking for my boys.

 Later on Friday the guys went into the woods and collected a bunch of wood and we sat around the campfire, catching up with each other.   It was so nice to have the whole day Friday to just relax and explore around the farm.

 Friday night we surprised Jeremy by celebrating his birthday 2 days early.    We cooked his favorite dinner....steaks on the grill and baked potatoes.

He had asked for some t-shirts from the local sports teams so, we got him a selection of shirts and baseball caps representing Tampa Bay that he can proudly wear around Sioux Falls.

 Saturday morning came all too soon and it was time for Jeremy to "turn and burn" as he had a 16 hour drive ahead of him to get back home.    We couldn't find Molly and then I turned the corner and there she was.....sitting in the passenger seat of Jeremy's truck.   He had the door to his truck open and she jumped in and made herself at home.  She loves to go for a ride!

 One last time for the dogs to play together......for Molly's whole life she has had Winston around to play with her.   We wondered how she was going to react without having him in the house anymore.  Winston will probably be glad to sleep more as he is much older than she is.

 Ok, buddy, time to get in the car.....this time your ride is going to be even longer.

 It was hard to watch Jeremy drive away again, but we're sure he will come back to the farm one day soon.    He confided to me that when we told him we had bought the farm he thought we were nuts.   But now that he saw it all in person, he understood why we were so excited about it.   That was a really nice thing for this mama to hear.

Hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday,
Debbie

Happy Hump Day

While outside with the dogs early this morning, I looked in the direction of the Gulf  and saw this huge rainbow.   Unfortunately, the camera doesn't seem to capture the full range of color of the rainbow and it was so large it wouldn't all fit in the lens of my camera at once.   But it gladdened my heart to have a cool breeze on my face as I gave thanks to a gracious God whose gave us a promise to never again flood the earth as he did in Noah's day......a promise he sealed by giving us the rainbow.  

 Too bad all the electrical lines were in the shot, but the rainbow is pretty evident behind them.

 And it reached so far over to the north.....

What pretty colors against an early morning sky.....

Wishing you a lovely day,
Debbie

Bug Fest

What a crazy weekend we've had!   Julie and Jarrad's dad and his girlfriend, Suzie, flew in for the weekend to help celebrate Jarrad's 40th birthday today.    Julie and Cam came over from Orlando and Dawn's parents joined us, too.  Saturday night 11 of us went to dinner at the Colombia Restaurant on Sand Key......yumm!   The food was awesome and laughter permeated the conversation.   We really did have a great time.

Then, yesterday in the wee hours before dawn broke, Jarrad and his dad headed out in the VW bus for the Pasco County Fairgrounds so Jarrad could participate in a Volkswagon show.   It's supposed to be the largest one in the southeast and it happened right in our own backyard.   The guys got up there before 7 so they could shine up Jarrad's VW bus and prepare for the judging which began at 8am.  I got there just after noon and had to wait in a one mile line just to get into the fairgrounds.   I was totally unprepared for how huge this event is and the variety of VW's in various stages of restoration.

I just so happened to run into Dawn and the grandkids as soon as I entered the fairgrounds and we met up with Jarrad, who was grinning from ear to ear.   Boy, was he ever in his element!

  There was a constant stream of folks who stopped to look and ask questions and praise Jarrad for a job well done.

 A reporter from the Tampa Bay Times stopped to admire the bus......

....and then he came back again to interview Jarrad!   Pretty cool, huh?

Dawn picked up eats for the kids as Jarrad's dad looks on.    Nothing like "anything" fried on a stick!

 For me, there was nothing cooler than this bus towing it's own matching camper.

 Look at all those windows and the retractable roof.

Isn't this the coolest little camper?   I just love it......

.....especially the original turquoise colored sink, stove and refrigerator!

 Jarrad's dad and I took a break and walked around the show to check out the huge variety of vehicles.   This bug really caught my eye. 

 Oh. My. Gosh!   Isn't that a gorgeous paint job?    I could have driven this one home right on the spot.

And I really love the cream leather interior with matching steering wheel and gearshift.   Very nice!

Before I left the show, I asked Dawn's  mom, Vicki, to take a picture of Jarrad and I together.   I'm always behind the lens and wanted just one shot with Jarrad to mark the occasion.   What a great weekend!

As I was walking back across the field to my car I glanced thru the chain link fence and spotted Jarrad chatting to yet another couple about his pride and joy.    What a great way to mark his big birthday...... 

Made me smile,
Debbie

Walnut Ink Trials

We have lots of walnuts

I know, who ever heard of walnut ink?  Until recently, I had never heard of it either.   But when we brought home all those black walnuts, I got online and found out that our ancestors used to boil the walnuts (and lots of other roots, etc.) to create their own ink.   Makes sense....it's not like they could drive the horse and buggy down to the local Office Depot and buy a bottle of ink.   So I figured....how hard could it be?    Again, more fits of giggles.   Oh, ye of little faith....harumph!

They're just under the size of a tennis ball

So I swung by our church's thrift shop and found a great pot with a colander insert that was pretty much perfect for the job and it only cost me $5.   Works for me!   

I filled the pot with walnuts and covered them with water and brought the whole mess up to a low simmer.   The water was a dark color within 10 minutes, but very diluted.

At this point I was wondering how long I should simmer the nuts to achieve the dark color I was looking for in ink.

Well, I cooked them for 8 hours that first day.   Yes, I said that first day!   As they cooked, the husks became soft and I used a metal spoon to remove them from the walnut itself.   By removing the hard walnuts, the dark husks were turning into mush, creating a darker and darker fluid and it was easier to stir the mess every half hour or so as I checked the pot to make sure the water had not boiled completely off.

I didn't even bother trying to open the walnuts that were removed from the pot.   Don't you think they would have been mushy or something after being cooked for 8 hours?  Besides, my focus was now on the ink I was trying to create.

 Well, I let the walnut mush sit overnight in the pot with the heat turned off.   And the next morning I turned the heat on again under the pot and gently simmered it for another 6 hours, checking it every hour or so to see how dark the liquid had become.   I lined a fine strainer with 2 layers of cheesecloth and spooned the mush into the strainer.   After letting it drain for a few minutes, I used the slotted spoon to push on the mess to get as much liquid out of it as possible.

 And this is what resulted......2 cups of really dark brown ink!   It really does work!

I also read  online that in order to prevent  mold forming you should store the ink in a jar with as little room for air as possible and add denatured alcohol to the ink, about 5% of the volume should do it.
Now it was time to test out the final product.

 So I pulled out the dip pen and nibs I bought along with some watercolor paper.

They even came with a handy little tin to hold all the different sized nibs so they won't get lost or damaged.

 OHMYGOSH!   It worked!    Now I just have to learn how to draw.....ha ha.

I tried all 5 nibs out but found the two I preferred were the two on the left hand side of the page.   The other three were much more difficult to manipulate and I kept getting blobs of ink on the page.   Of course, it would help if I knew what I was doing, but I'll just keep trying to learn by trial and error.   Imagine.....George Washington wrote all his papers with this kind of pen!    I have a lot of practicing to do.

Having a ball,
Debbie