The Grand Pick Up Finale!

Guess who is done?!

Guess who is filthy and in dire need of a pedicure?!

Guess who celebrated with one of these?! (Ok, maybe 2....)

If you guessed me, no not you me....

me me. You would be correct! My face is not actually that fat either. The camera adds 80 pounds ya know!

Where did it all go to?

Here! I didn't even let the rain stop me. Worked right in it. Ok, it was really just sprinkling. Now for a little grass seed or alot of sweet talking to my hubby to put on a deck and it will look great.

Next job is to move some rocks! Ugh!

How To Burn 1511 Calories

Now that I am on this live strong kick, I have been burning waaaay more calories than I consume in a day. What, you may ask, have I been doing? Playing in the dirt!

Remember our weekend yard crash?! I know, how could you forget, I have whined enough about it. Well there was some cleanup that just hasn't gotten done and was driving me crazy! I forgot to take pics of the other 2 piles of spoils and was into this one when I remembered. Here is the largest pile by the back door.

I have been moving these to get them out of the way. The kids have been playing "king of the mountain" on this and really packed it down! Thank you babies! This has entailed using a pitchfork and a shovel to move buckets of this junk. Then hopping on Husky Vera to drive it up to the front of the house. Up by the road I have one small section where they put in a new monopole for utilities. After they were done, the bank is now so steep that you can't get the mower up there. So, I am using these spoils to change the grade of the slope so I can mow. By hand. Sweating my arse off.

Here....

....and here....

are where two smaller piles were. These were easy peasy compared to the ginormous one. I have been so filthy for the last 2 days, I actually sweat mud!

Here is the ginormous humonguoso one now. If you want to be my BFF, tell me it's gotten smaller! I'm hoping today that it is gone! Only kidding about the BFF thing, you are ALL my BFF's! MUWAAAAH!

Do you know what I did find out?!

I can grow grass! Atleast I think it is grass. I spread Kentucky Blue Grass seed where we had changed the grade and this is sprouting up now. Aren't my baby grass plants cute?!

Once I get this done, I pinky swear that I will post pics of the new stinking cute haircut. As for the live strong, I have lost 1" off my waist so far! When I look down, my boobs stick out farther than my belly!

OK! Time to get to work! Me and my 34" waist have a hot date with a shovel and a pitchfork!

See Ya!

Live Strong

Wow! It seems that things have gotten carried away here. I can't believe where the time has gone. The hubby was away all last week in Texas so I was head warden of the funny farm. I was so glad when he got back, cause they were about to drive me totally freaking nuts! I was also planning our vacation to Florida next week. I am so ready to go!

The vacation lead to the "I have nothing to wear!" syndrome, which was closely followed by the "I am too fat for anything in this store" malady. Why does the rest of the world have to be a 20 year old size 3? It's just not fair! I totally blame those urchins though. I was a size 3 when my 15 year old was born. I was in such good shape that I pushed her out in 4 pushes. The doctor even told me not to push so hard. Yeah, ok.... that was like stopping peeing in midstream. Now fast forward to when the 4 year old was born. I was so out of shape the doctor had to get out the ice pick grabber thingies and snatch her by the head and pull her out.

Then, to top it off, my sister came over. Ya'll probably don't know what a bad influence she is on me. We were deciding what to do. Simple huh? Not with us. I told her that I wanted to go and get my haircut. She did too, so we went to my hairdresser who ROCKS A HAIRCUT! She is the first woman who has cut my hair that I have walked out and not burst out crying cause I look like a fat bull dyke. My hair is so stinking cute! My sister's was just as adorable, but mine is a smidge better. Not cause I am prejudiced or anything. I know your next question, you want to see it huh? Well, you gotta wait til I can take a decent picture. Probably in the year 2024.

So....after our cutesy haircuts, we walked out like we were the hottest things to EVER walk the face of the earth! So we went and got the unibrows waxed, got some new spiffy clothes and makeup! A total girly day! It was so much fun! It's amazing what a great haircut can do for you. No, I still don't have a pic! Stop asking!

That lead to the next phase. Me and her teaming up and losing weight/getting in shape! Ugh.... I hate this part. I mean the haircut does draw attention from the 8 chins I got going on. No, still no pic....

Which leads me to www.livestrong.com. This site is freaking amazing! I keep it up on my puter all day! It's part of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and totally free. Free is always good! What it does is track what you eat and the excercise you do. Everything you do burns calories. You may not realize all the calories you burn throughout the day. When you register, you punch in your weight and level of activity. It spits out a calorie intake for you to lose weight for the day. All throughout the day you punch in what you eat and what you do. Do you know riding around on a lawn mower burns 196 calories an hour?! Guess who did just that all day yesterday? My lawn looks awesome and I felt great.

Also, this has helped me to make better choices of what I put in my mouth. Being aware of the amount of calories, I grabbed a piece of celery with peanut butter for a snack instead of the bag of doritos. Sorry taco flavored doritos, I still love ya! I made the 0 point cabbage soup, which is only 21 calories a bowl and have eaten that for lunch the last few days. Lots of fiber in that too! I have found that I plan meals for the family, but also make more healthier choices about them.

And, as if it couldn't get any better, you can also track how much water you drink! I am starting to find all the benefits of drinking that tasteless crap now. It's amazing! My skin looks better, my digestion is better and I have more energy. Who woulda thunk it! I would definitely recommend livestrong.com for anyone trying to lose weight, wether it is a little or alot.

Now, you have to excuse me. I have a house to clean. Do you know how many calories you burn cleaning house?! I will probably have the cleanest house in Hartland in no time!

The Fish Man

I grew up in Detroit. I still remember the neighborhood where we lived. I loved our neighborhood. You knew everyone and everyone pitched in to help each other. I can remember the Cunningham Drug Store where you could sit at the counter and order a soda. It came in little paper cones with a silver holder. The little store around the corner from our house was where my "Aunt Mary" lived. Her and her husband owned the store and lived in the apartment over it. Any time that we went in there I always came out with a little paper bag of candy. My dad worked as a body man, doing bumping and painting on cars. Needless to say, during the summer months he didn't have alot of work so money was tight.

We used to different people roaming through the neighborhood selling things. One day I came running into the house asking my mom if I could get an ice cream from the ice cream truck!

"Oh honey, that is the fish man!" she told me.

Huh, the fish man has a brightly colored truck that plays music just like the ice cream man. I would sit at the curb waiting for the ice cream man, waving to all the fish men driving around. Boy, there sure were alot! When I got older my mom told me about it cause she felt guilty. I thought it was funny.

After I had my daughter, we lived in a similiar small neighborhood. She came running in one day all excited about the ice cream man! I giggled and told her "oh honey, that's the fish man!" She bought it and ran out the door to play. Wow, that worked?! I was going to get her an ice cream too, I just couldn't resist.

A few days later, she came running into the house. "Mommy! Mommy! The fish man sells ice cream too!" So that turned into our joke.

The other day here comes the ice cream man. There is Bitty One, "Mommy! Mommy! Can I get a ice cream?!" Before I could say anything else her loving older sister replied "Silly! That's the fish man!" She looked at me and smiled.

Boy, that apple didn't fall far from the tree....

I have no ice cream recipe to share, I am way too lazy and HOT! I just can't resist a great party celebrating this frozen nectar of the gods!

Posted @A Musing Potpourri's Ice Cream Social

What Is Carne Asada?

Probably the best thing ever to happen to meat!

When I lived in California, about 800 years ago, I used to go to the little market around the corner for carne asada. A marinated flank steak that is so crazy good! The one thing that I missed when I moved back to Michigan was the carne asada! I asked everyone about it and they just looked at me like I had grown 3 heads. Really?! No one knows about this?! Well.... after much searching I finally found a recipe that really closely resembles it.

Usually it is a whole flank that you marinate. I am using Highlander Cow back straps for mine. The back straps are the most tender part of the animal. I also sliced mine to let the marinade really get in there and season the meat.

Now for the marinade!

1/3 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

4 cloves of garlic pressed

1/2 cup olive oil

2 limes juiced

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp Mexican oregano

1 tsp paprika

Mix everything together in a small bowl.

Pour over a 4 lb flank steak. Now for the fun part, you get to play with your food! Get your hands in there and mix it all together. Rub it in and swish it around. Cover and refrigerate atleast 4 hours or overnight.

If you keep the steak whole, you can grill it and then slice it. Since I sliced mine before, I cooked it in the marinade in a skillet. Mmmm, all bubbly and good!

To assemble, I just lay a tortilla down, spread some sour cream on the tortilla, add some meat, cheese and roll up! Could it be any easier?!

You can serve this with any type of side dish you want. I served mine with refried beans topped with....

....more cheese! Sorry, I just had to add this pic cause I thought it was so cool.

Dinner is served!

Need a little snack later?

Creamy Guacomole with tortilla chips! This has got to be the ultimate guacomole!

1 Avocado halved, pitted and peeled

6 oz cream cheese

Juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. Serve.

This is so creamy and good. The avocado is not overpowering at all. It's great on burgers too!

So there ya go! Everything you wanted to know about carne asada, but were afraid to ask!

Enjoy!

Bobby Flay Throwdown with Happier Than A Pig In Mud!

When Lynne @ Happier Than A Pig In Mud has a party she really knows how to do it right! This month's celebrity cookalong features Bobby Flay.

So let's get our Bobby on!

I chose to do Bobby's Chicken Chasseur. What a great choice! I did a couple of changes, but here is his recipe.

Chicken Chasseur

Ingredients

• 1 (4-pound) chicken, quartered
• Salt and pepper
• Clarified butter
• 5 ounces cremini mushrooms, emincer (thinly sliced)
• 1 large shallot, ciseler (fine dice)
• 2 ounces Cognac
• 2 ounces dry white wine
• 1 1/2 cups enriched chicken stock
• 1/4 cup tomato concasse (peeled, seeded, and diced tomato)
• 1-ounce cold butter
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh chervil leaves or flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Season chicken pieces on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a few tablespoons of clarified butter in a Dutch oven over high heat. Place chicken in skin side down and cook until golden brown. Turn the chicken over and brown the other side. Remove chicken to a baking sheet and bake in the oven until just cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pan. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and saute until golden brown. Add the shallots and cook for 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and add the Cognac and cook until completely reduced. Add the wine and cook until completely reduced. Add the stock and tomato and bring to a simmer. Cook until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon ("nappe") and then swirl in the butter ("monter au beurre"). Once the butter is added, the sauce can not be further reduced because it will break. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the tarragon and chervil.

Remove the chicken from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Remove the breastbone from the breast. Cut each breast into 2 even pieces on the bias. Cut the legs into 2 pieces at the joint and on the bias and remove the thighbones. Serve 1 leg piece and 1 breast piece. Make sure only 1 piece contains a bone. Serve on hot plates, napped with the sauce.

I did not remove the bones. I also used Marsala wine instead of the Cognac. This was yummylicious! The kids loved it!

I served it with grilled veggies. Really simple.

Grilled Veggies

2 zucchini sliced

2 yellow squash sliced

1 sweet onion, diced

Olive Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Spread a piece of tin foil on a cookie sheet. Add veggies. Add enough olive oil to cover veggies. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss veggies to coat. Cover with a second piece of tin foil and crimp up the edges. Put in a 375 oven for an hour. Let sit for about 5 minutes before uncovering. Serve hot.

Perfect for a summer dinner! I would definitely make this again.

Thank you Lynne for hosting the party! I might have never found this recipe otherwise!

Posted @ Happier In A Pig In Mud's Celebrity Cookoff!

Gollum's Foodie Friday

How to Create A Gift Basket

The lovely Beth @ Beyond The Garden Gate hosted a tea swap recently. I was a bit late getting mine out since it happened while I was sick. I received this lovely basket from my swap partner, Patricia. Lots of little goodies in there! I love it!

Plus, look at the gorgeous Havilland cup and saucer she sent along with it!

Bitty One immediately tried to lay claim to it, but I beat her off. She made me promise that when she gets older and moves out that she gets it. Atleast I have a while to enjoy my beautiful set before she swipes it!

I had been gathering things for the swap, now I just needed to put them all together. I love putting a bunch of little things in one holder that goes with the theme.

For this one I chose a basket. You want to make sure that your holder is large enough to hold everything.

I picked up these pretty vintage tea towels to be included. I hung them over the side of the basket so they wouldn't get all smushed. Also hanging over the edge gives the illusion of an overflowing basket.

I just love the white on white embroidery! After I added the towels, I added some shredded paper to help cushion and help heighten some of the smaller items. You want to gather your items together. Sort them by weight since you will want the heaviest items on the bottom.

My heaviest items were these jars of homemade jam, strawberry and raspberry. I didn't want them to disappear in the bottom and I didn't want the jars to break. I wrapped each jar in bubble wrap and covered them in a pretty tissue paper tied with raffia.

I let the tops of the paper stick up to give a little fluff and color. I them tucked in two tins of tea and a bag of lemon poppyseed scone mix.

This cute little jar of honey was tucked in too. I bought a honey dipper and tied it to him with a bit of raffia. The honey comes from a local apiary. Ooooh, maybe we will have to do a field trip one day! I also tucked in some chocolate spoons that I bought at Crossroads Village. I don't know how they are in tea, but they are great in coffee.

I also included a cute little teapot shaped tea bag rest. I wrapped it in tissue paper and tied with a bit of raffia to protect it. I also put in a tea diffuser. So it didn't get lost in the basket, I hung the chain over the side to add some interest.

The star is this cup and saucer that I found at the tea house located in Hartland. Thyme Well Spent is located in the historical part of downtown Hartland set in a beautiful Victorian. The owner cooks and serves all the guests and is truly a delight! The first floor of the house is dining rooms and the second floor is filled with antiques including tea cup sets. When school starts back up, I am planning on having a relaxing, celebratory lunch here!

Something as fragile as this I wanted to be sure that it arrived undamaged. I took a bit of bubble wrap and rolled it to fit inside the handle of the cup. I put more bubble wrap inside the bowl of the cup and wrapped the cup in more bubble wrap. I also wrapped the saucer in bubble wrap. The two pieces were then wrapped in tissue paper and put in the center of the basket. A larger box of tea celebrating the Royal Wedding is wrapped and tied with raffia at the back of the basket.

Top it all off with a card....

....Carefully put it into a clear gift bag and tie with a bow and TA DAA! We are done!

Now to ship it off to Patricia. I hope she enjoys this tea basket as much as I enjoyed putting it together for her! You know what this makes me think?!

I need to do a giveaway!

Maybe next week.

Maybe inspired by my front flower bed redo.

Maybe I should get my front flower bed done!

Maybe you will have to come back next week to find out about it!

Maybe you should come back tomorrow. I have Carne Asada! Guacomole! Refried Beans!

Maybe I should get off my buttocks and get to work!

But first a lesson to learn from a tea cup.

THE TEACUP


There was a couple that used to go to England to shop in a beautiful antique store.
This trip was to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques
and pottery, and expecially teacups. Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked, "May
we see that? We've never seen a cup quite so beautiful."

As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't understand"
It said. "I have not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a
lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me, pounded and patted me over
and over and I yelled out, "Don't do that. I don't like it!" "Let me alone," but he
smiled, and gently said, "Not yet!!"

Then WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around
and around and around. "Stop it!. I'm getting so dizzy! I'm going to get sick!" I screamed.
But the master only nodded and said, quietly, "Not yet." He spun me and poked and
prodded and bent me out of shape to suit himself and then ...

Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and
pounded at the door. "Help! Get me out of here!" I could see him through the
opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head from side to side, "Not yet."

When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully
took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. Oh, that felt so good!
"Ah, this is much better," I thought.

But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over.
The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. "Oh, please, Stop it, Stop it!!" I cried.
He only shook his head and said "Not yet!"

Then suddenly he put be back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one.
This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded.
I screamed. I cried. I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready
to give up. Just then the door opened and he took me out and again placed me
on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering, "What's he going
to do to me next?"

An hour later he handed me a mirror and said, "Look at yourself." And I did. I
said, "That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!"

Quietly he spoke: "I want you to remember," then, he said "I know it hurt to be
rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you'd have dried up. I
know it made you dizzy to spin around on he wheel, but if I had stopped, you
would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but
if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when
I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have
hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put you back
in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness
would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in
mind when I first began with you."

The moral of this story is this:

God knows what He's doing for each of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay.
He will mold us and make us, and expose us to just enough pressures of just the
right kinds that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fufill His good,
pleasing and perfect will.

So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed
almost beyond endurance; when your world sees to be spinning out of control;
when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when life seems to "stink,"
try this....come to Tyme Well Spent, have a cup of your favorite tea
in a pretty teacup, sit down and think of this story and then, spend a little
time for yourself relaxing, knowing the Potter has everything under control.

Enjoy your day Lovelies!

Dosa and Curry.... YUM!

I promised to introduce to you the wonderful couple that I met at the Flint Farmer's Market. Bruce and Niki McCarthy are the proud owners of Survival Heirlooms and two of the nicest people you will ever meet! I could of stayed and talked to them for hours! I got so many great recipes from them that I definitely will be trying out! They have a booth at the market where they sell dried goods. You can stop by their site and say "hi" here.

Now onto the food!

This is definitely not a last minute type of meal. You use dried beans for both recipes and they need to be soaked overnight.

Dosa

1/3 cup Brown Lentil

1 cup Brown Rice

1 tsp sea salt

3 Tbs sugar

2 Green Onions, chopped

2 Tbs Chopped Fresh Cilantro

1/2 inch Fresh Ginger, grated

1 Serrano chili, seeded and finely chopped

4 cups + 12 Tbs water

Soak the lentils and rice seperately in 2 cups each of water for atleast 4 hours or overnight. Over night is best. Drain water. Pulverize lentils and rice seperately in a food processor with 6 Tbs water each. Mix the two together with salt and sugar. Cover bowl with a damp cloth and set in a warm place for 6-12 hours.

Add remaining ingredients and a bit of water if needed. You want a pancake like batter. Pour a bit of batter on a greased griddle and fry til golden brown on both sides. You can now serve like a latke.

I decided to step it up a bit and turn it into a vegeterian style sandwich. Alot of times when I cook, I "wing it" as I go to get a flavor I want. To serve this sandwich I made a coleslaw type of dressing. I took equal parts of fresh grated cucumber and zucchini and stirred in a bit of homemade yogurt with salt and white pepper to taste. To assemble, I took half a wheat pita pocket, cut a dosa patty in half and put inside. I added a slice of tomato and a bit of the slaw mix. I may just give up meat for these....nah! They are very light and tasty. Perfect for a hot summer day.

Sweet Garbanzo Curry

1 cup dried Garbanzo Beans

4 Tbs Oil

1 Onion, chopped

2 cloves of Garlic, minced

1-3 Tbs Curry Powder

2 tsp each Cumin, coriander, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Salt

1 tsp each Ginger, Cardamon

4 Tbs honey

1 Serrano chile seeded and minced

1 can coconut milk

Soak the beans overnight in 4 cups water. Boil for 10 minutes and simmer for 20 minutes, drain. In a frying pan, cook onion and garlic in oil til tender. Stir in spices, honey and chile.

Add beans and cook on medium heat stirring often for 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Serve warm over rice.

I tried this at the market and LOVED it! It was sweet and not a bit hot at all. When I made it at home, I used Red Curry powder. I don't know if that made a difference or not, but it was very spicy. I would make this again, but adjust the curry powder. Start small with the curry and add from there is my suggestion. My girls loved it at the market. The bitty one had 3 servings of it!

So there ya go! A light summer vegetarian dinner!

Enjoy!

Posted @ Gollum's Foodie Friday

I Heart The Farmer's Market!!

I am so in love with the Flint Farmer's Market!

I plan on gushing and yammering on about it all week in fact! I packed up the girls Saturday morning and headed for Flint. Now granted, this transported city girl was not aware of what was in store. I didn't get up at the butt crack of dawn either cause I am not that hardcore. O.M.G! I was like a kid in a candy store! I was running from booth to booth like a wild woman! A couple of times I did remind myself that I brought the girls and waited for them to catch up. I could of spent the entire day there! The people, the food, the produce.... all were just an enjoyable experience.

Do you know what else resulted from the farmer's market?! A menu plan for the week! So, what is on the menu for the week you may ask. I will let you cause I am going to tell you anyways.

Sunday

Chicken Chasseur

Grilled Veggies

Spinach Salad with Feta Cheese, Strawberries and Raspberry Vinaigrette

Look for an upcoming post about this, this week!

Monday

Dosa

Sweet Garbanzo Curry

Lemon Bars

I will be doing another post about this too! I have to tell you about the wonderful couple that I met at the market. Nikki had samples of the curry and I fell head over heels in love with it! If there is one thing you try this week from my menu, it HAS to be the curry! Yummylicious!

Tuesday

Guacomole Burgers on the Grill

Veggie Macaroni

Guacomole

• 1 medium ripe avocado - halved, seeded and peeled
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 2 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• Tortilla chips

Directions

1. In a small mixing bowl, beat avocado with lime juice. Add the cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce, salt and hot pepper sauce; beat until smooth. Serve with tortilla chips. Store in refrigerator.

Prepare burgers and grill as desired. Top burgers with pepper jack cheese and guacomole. Serve on onion rolls.

Wednesday

Zucchini Latkes

Cabbage Soup

The latke recipe can be found here. Yvonne @ Stone Gable posted the recipe last week and I have been looking forward to trying it! The soup recipe is one I made previously. It's a fabulously tasty one with no calories!

Thursday

Carne Asada

Refried Beans

Guacomole and homemade chips

We love this carne asada recipe! I make it quite alot and there is never any leftovers. Ok, so there is rarely any leftovers with me around anyways. The tortilla recipe can be found in the same post. I just cut the tortillas in 8 triangles and fry in oil. So good!

Friday

Seafood Ravioli with cheese sauce

Spinach Salad

Semifreddo

This will be a winging it kind of night. I have no recipe in particular that I am using for the ravioli. I know what I want so I am creating as I go. I will definitely be making a post about this. The semifreddo recipe is from Purple Chocolat House and can be found here. I have been dying to try it and this will be the perfect ending for this meal.

Saturday

BBQ Ribs

Homemade Baked Beans

Cole Slaw

Grilled Corn on the Cob with Parmesan Cheese

Look for an upcoming post about BBQ sauce. I started making my own sauce a few years ago and now my tribe has banned store bought sauce. I am going to be experimenting and making a few different kinds for this meal. The ribs are from a Highlander Cow and will be served dry with a variety of sauces to slather on them. Lynne @ Happier Than A Pig In Mud posts some great recipes. The baked beans is from her blog and can be found here. The cole slaw recipe can be found in the same post as the cabbage soup above.

So that is our menu for the week! Lots of great stuff inspired by wonderful bloggy friends and the farmers market! As they say at my house....

When's dinner?

Posted @ On The Menu Monday

Day Three

Well here it is, Day 3. Still no honks or whistles! Atleast like Lynne commented there were no squealing tires from people trying to get away! Be grateful for the little things!

I thought we could get so much more done. Where did the time fly? I was ready to go all the way around the house with this, but it was 6 pm and fat girl was hungry! Guess what I have now though?!

A walkway! Who could know that a little thing like this could make me soooo happy! This is just the base for the pavers that are going to be going down but it is usable now. It's also a bit wider than what is actually going to be down too. It's going to be curved from the stairs to the driveway even though there is a corner now.

Watch that first step! The flower bed is going to be coming down to below the first step too. That is going to be all hand shoveling though. Yeah me!

We are thrilled with how it looks right now though. It looks alot cleaner. Thank goodness all the door to door salesmen will know which door to knock on now! I was so worried about them!

I also have to figure out what to do about this side now. I pulled out all the flowers but the grade is going to change here. Decisions, decisions....

This week will be all about doing the flower bed on the porch side, shopping for flower bed edging stuff and putting some of the flowers back in.

I am going to have a giveaway coming up soon. I'll post more about it next week. As for now, I got more work to do....

Day Two

Sorry this is so late! Day 2 kicked my fat buttocks all over the dang place! I was so whupped that I really don't even remember going to bed.

We started at 7 freaking a.m. pushing....

....pulling....

....and digging. Usually at this time I am just trying to get my pajamas untwisted and make coffee at the same time!

I don't know if I have said this before, but I am old and repeat myself quite a bit, but our basement leaks. I knew it was bad last week when I had my son come and take the frog out of there that I found. He was just sitting there all happy like in a puddle. That is why we are doing this now. The grade slopes into the house which makes all the water just pour in too. We also don't have a walk up to the front of the house. Aren't we just the welcomey kind of people.

Me and my faithful companion worked while the man....

....took a ride with his "crew". He was digging alot faster than I was pulling plants so I needed to get a bit ahead of him.

You know what I did realize though?! I am old and fat. Usually when I am working on the front of the house, I get all kinds of honks and whistles. This year, not ONE SINGLE HONK! Not even a pity honk or whistle! I was even in a bikini top and shorts. You know what was the real kick in the butt? I told my hubby about it and when he came back, he couldn't even give me a honk! Ugh! The nerve....

You should also be glad that blogger doesn't have smell a vision! Wooo doggie! Did I stink! I think I sweat about 80 gallons and yes mom, I drank about 300 gallons of water!

So that was about it for day 2. From 7 am to midnight we were working.

Exciting day 3 started at 8:12 am. Seriously! So stayed tuned!

Day One

There is no laying around to be done here buddy! Get up and get to work!

No mistaking, that is definitely a boy squirrel!

This weekend we planned to get some much needed gardening done around. Here at the farmhouse when we dig in the dirt, we go big! It is definitely not for the faint of heart.

Yeah baby!

We don't know how to drive it, but we have it. Just kidding! My hubby is an expert at this machine. I am always amazed at what he can do with it. I mean I could sit there in the shade with a cocktail watching him work on this machine all day! My supervisory skills are STELLAR!

But we got some digging to do!

We have a leak problem in the snake den of dispair here. BIG problem. The stone walls are original to the house and water just POURS in when it rains! So we needed to regrade the lawn away from the house. That meant digging down about 6".

Boys and their toys! I told him that I wanted to learn how to work this thing. He just looked at me like I was either crazy, grew three heads or both. Just because I can't work a can opener doesn't mean I can't drive this!

Isn't the sky pretty?! As you can see I was a big help today! I did cut the grass earlier that we are now ripping up though!

He also regraded the both driveways. You can kinda see the circle driveway around the tree there. See those rocks? I don't know who is the braniac that decided to run those big honkers in a straight line out from the house. They are also on the other side too. I don't know where they are going, but they are out of here! It'll make mowing the grass so much easier.

Speaking of out of here, so is this bush. What a freaking pain to mow around! I know it was a nice bush, but it had to go. The driveway up to the back door is also gone! We tried to get rid of it a few years ago but everyone kept on using it so we dumped that idea. Now though, we are going to seed it. Woo hoo!

One more sky pic!

Ok, maybe two....

That was about it for day 1. Stayed tuned for the exciting adventures on day 2. We are tackling the flower beds, getting rid of MORE rocks and pushing around more dirt!

I love playing in the dirt!