Stunning

All week I have been walking past this beautiful shrub!  There are multiple colors of leaves on ones stem.  A few colors of green and burgundy.  Then at the tip of the branch is a multi-colored delicate, pink flower.

There are many varieties which all look the same. The shrub is called Loropetalum shrub.

From a distance it looks almost entirely burgendy.  Up close you can see all of green inside.  Beautifully amazing!

Travel day

I woke up before sunrise to finish the last few cleaning projects before traveling.  It was a beautiful sunrise!

Once I got to the airport, I walked on the moving walkway. It says stamd on the right and walk on rhe left.  It should say walk on the right and run on the left.  I wondered at one point if my feet were really moving. 

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I bought a sandwich and bottle of water at Minneapolis airport.  That was a good choice because there waz so much turbulence that there wasn't any service.  That was a bad choice because it was the worst sandwich I've ever eaten. It was so dry that I kept gagging on it.

Back in the Atlanta airport (down the escalator, on the plane train aka tram then back up an escalator.)

They called it the plane train. I thought it was a tram.

As I was waiting at the gate, the monitor changed from next flight Monroe to Charlottesville. WHAT?!  My flight was delayed 2 1/2 hours.

I walked down to the other side of the wing into the Southwest area.  I found a Texas Longhorn restaurant. Steak tips covered in cheese and spicy fries. I had to follow that up with peppermint ice cream. 

It was puddle jumper time!  It is a good thing that I'm not very tall.

The sun was in the process of setting as we waited on the tarmac.

Oh cool! There was  plane flying out parallel to us. It looks so tiny which means there is nothing to worry about.

We chased the sunset for quite a while. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't keep up. 

I finally got to the hotel!

I was given the same room as last time. Until I found out there was water leaking somewhere around the bathroom!

Luckily they had anotherroom to move me into!

I don't like basements

Especially in old farmhouses!  Spiders, spiders everywhere.  I tried to be a pacifist but they were invading too much of my house.  Time to take the house back.  A few weeks ago my sister and I created a non-toxic insecticide.  We used the following:

(20 drops of each Young Living oil in about 6-8 ounces of water)

Citronella

patchouli

clove

basil

rosemary

I sprayed all of the spider webs, especially where I saw spiders.  Today as I was vacuuming I saw a lot of dead spiders in the webs.  I was able to vacuum up a few live spiders as well.  They must have run into hiding when I sprayed or were born after I sprayed.  I got about 80% of the basement completed.  I ran out of tolerance for the dark, dusty basement and it was time to do chores.

Stopping the spiders from their massive home invasion was only a portion of my purpose for getting rid of the spiders and spider webs.  

It is mouse time again.  I have put Young Living Purification on six cotton balls and placed them at key places in the basement where I think the mice can get in.  These areas are old windows or coal/wood chutes that have been filled in with foam insulation.  I couldn't get to them before because of the spider webs which went from ceiling to floor.  Aaaahhhhh! Creepy.

Rain, rain ...

I have been working every evening this past week to weed the manual part of the garden.  You know, where the peonies, strawberries, rhubarb and mint plants are planted.  

Today from 10 AM until 3 PM  I hit the garden hard.  The big green in the center is a group of flocks.  They are still going to seed so I chose to leave them alone.

I still have the asparagus to cut down and weed. I also have a row of peppers and some weeds to clear out just South of the asparagus.  I chose to stop because the rain was due in soon and I wanted to make sure the weeds made it to the weed pile in back before the rain started.  I also needed to chase down the guineas.  They were bad birds today and kept running away.  (They were exploring ditches about half mile away.)

The rain came and went.  I got my gardening work done between the morning rain and the afternoon rain.  The window was too short to get everything done.  The rest will need to wait for a week.

The day ended with a beautiful sunset.  As I took photos, the dogs played in the hayfield.  This is a favorite time of year for them.  I don't let them tromp down the hay when we are growing it for a cutting.  Since the last cutting of the year was done about a month ago, they can run all they want.

Dark chocolate and coconut

When I travel, I like to create my own trail mix containing, nuts, seeds and some dark chocolate.  The last time that I made these I found dark chocolate coconut balls which were a delicious mix. 

The store where I bought the nuts and seeds this time didn't have the coconut balls.  No problem, I'd make an alternate.  I started by taking a dark chocolate candy bar and carefully melting it.  Then I dumped in a bunch of coconut flakes and about 5 drops of  peppermint oil.

I put my stone server in the freezer for about an hour.  This helps the chocolate treats set up faster.  I also covered it with wax paper to remove them easier.  Then I dropped small amounts onto the wax paper.  I tried my best to get them consistent.  That didn't work too well. These are about the diameter of a penny.

I left enough in the bowl for an instant treat!  After all, what is cooking something good for if you don't get to lick the bowl.

In a gallon size baggie I mixed the seeds, nuts and banana chips.  Why do I always do that?  One of these days I will remember to add the banana chips to each bag.  They just don't mix very well.

Yeah, I made it worse by mixing the chocolate/coconut treats in the bag.  I overcame the issue by carefully packaging each snack bag with a few chips, a few sweets and a lot of seeds/nuts.

Once again, I had a few leftover.  It wasn't enough for a full bag.  I got out a cupcake liner and filled it with the final little bit.  Do I need to mention that there was several hours between cleaning out the chocolate/coconut bowl and eating the leftover mixture? But YUM!

Clean the refrigerator Quiche

Yes, periodically the refrigerator needs to be cleaned out.  I started with a package of ground pork from the freezer with about a tablespoon of Italian seasoning.  I added about a cup of shredded kohlrabi. two cups of shredded zucchini and two small cans of mushrooms.  

I had about 1 1/3 squeeze bottles of  sour cream and some horseradish sauce for a little extra flavor. I blended that together and spread it over the top of the partially cooked mixture.

I whipped 8 eggs together with about half a cup of heavy whipping cream.  Have you noticed the ingredients?  This would qualify for a paleo meal.  

I carefully mix all the layers together before putting the mixture into the oven for an hour at 350 degrees.  Then I went outside to work in the garden with my alarm set.  By the time that I made it back inside it was closer to an hour and 15 minutes.

I took the cover off then turned off the oven an put the quiche back in.  The stored heat allowed the top to brown just a touch.

The nice thing about using the Copperchef Pan is that even though the edge gets crispy brown, it still serves well.  The flavors blended together well giving our supper quiche many layers of flavor.

Pumpkin Spice Fat Bombs a Paleo treat

Are you ready for a special treat?  You see pumpkin spice everywhere.  So here is one that you can make at home.

8 oz cream cheese

8 ounces pureed pumpkin-spiced

25 drops pumpkin spice stevia

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Start with an 8 ounce cake of cream cheese.  The original is better for you than the low fat.  Then I added 8 ounces of pureed pumpkin which I froze in years past.  I spiced it when I pureed it.  Probably about a teaspoon of pumpkin spice which is added to a pumpkin pie.

I blended the two together then added about a cup of heavy whipping cream.  I slowly and carefully mix the heavy whipping cream into the cream cheese and pureed pumpkin.  At this point I also add the stevia so that it gets blended well into the mixture.

The heavy whipping cream helps to set the mixture.  Taste it to decide if you want to add more flavored stevia or heavy whipping cream added.  This mixture is designed to be frozen.  

I use my tablespoon scoop to create consistent size balls.  I have put a piece of wax paper over a cookie sheet.  After most of the mixture is placed onto the cookie sheet, I move it to the freezer.  I said "most" because I leave a serving or two in the bowl to eat right away!  YUM!!!

It's hump day

I don't think the commercial has that phrase trademarked.  But it is Wednesday today and the week is half over.

There is just enough clouds to create a spectacular sunset!

Gizem started the parade to see the people.  He is so needy.  If I am inside the pasture, he comes over right away.  Sometimes at full speed which is a bit scary.

The girls follow closely behind him.  It is so cute.  It doesn't take much to distract them.  OH! A patch of fresh green grass!

After petting Gizem, the sun had gone down enough for me to get a wide angle shot and still have the vibrant colors.  

Something was chewing the back of my coat!  Ah ha!  It was Danny the white donkey.  He came up behind me while I was watching the sunset.  Donny, the jealous young man pushed his way between us. 

For a short time, I walked in a circle trying to get a better picture of Donny.  That didn't work.  They followed me in a circle.  I tried to get a video but they were too close.  Now that is quite a change!  Before Donny went to Jeannie's for the summer, both donkeys would run away.  Now they are running to us (at least some of the time.)

As I walked out of the pasture, I noticed that the clouds to the Northeast were reflecting pink.  Doesn't that look beautiful with the red and orange trees in the foreground? 

The sun was set by the time chores were done.  I slow cooked the beef short ribs all afternoon with a seasoning rub.  I put a little bit of barbecue sauce over the top and finished them out on the grill.

We are almost out of beef from the first steer that we butchered.  We kept half a beef.  I think maybe this next one that we will need to clear out more freezer space and keep a larger portion.